Friday, April 22, 2016

What's the definition of insanity? Oh yeah... right...

I once again had the pleasure of playing against my new favorite whale last night... the one featured in my prior post here.  Now I'm admittedly not much of a table selector, but tonight I became a bum hunter extraordinaire.  I'm not above turning down a free meal because the pickins' are too easy, so I requested a table change immediately upon sitting down.  When I saw a seat become available, I jumped on it only to find out that the floor had inadvertently sat someone new at my requested table.  I talked with the new player, tried to convince him to switch with me, and bought him a beer to swap.  He happily accepted and just like that, I had the Jesus seat on our whale.  Needless, last night did not disappoint - this guy has predictably not changed his game at all, hence the title of the post.  The purchase of a beer was money well spent because the whole table was very profitable.

I was going through the hand history that I mentally filed away last night, because there were quite a few interesting spots:
  • Hand 1: I call an EP raise to $8 with 77 in MP, as do around 2 players including the whale.  We see a flop of 7h 9d Qh.  Checks to me and I lead for $20.  Whale insta-raises to $55 and folds the table back around to me.  I hesitate for a bit before calling the raise.  Turn comes a blank and I check to the raiser.  He leads out a smooth $100 on the turn and I flat.  River is an 8 and I decide to check.  He checks through and flips over AA.  I feel a little sick that I should have stacked him for around $400+ but got 0 value on the river.  I was half-afraid of set over set given his aggression, but I was also thinking he'd bet the river - but I should have thought about it more and perceived that he would be afraid of JT.
  • Hand 2: I wind up calling [smallish] flop / turn / river bet from a fishy player with JT on a K 9  x T 9 board.  When I call his river bet he hesitates for a while, looks at me and asks "Do you think you're good here?"  When I say "I sure do hope so," he flips over QJ and scoops.  I think he was just a fish and didn't realize he held the straight, intending on just going for a gag bluff, but still - what an ass.
  • Hand 3: Our whale got involved in a hand where his opponent shoved the river on a Q 9 T x Q board.  Our whale (I'm guessing he was tilting majorly since he claimed to be in for $1900+ AT A 1/3 GAME!!!) shook his head and claimed "I can't believe I let you get there on me..." before waiting 30 seconds to call with the nuts - QT vs. his opponent's KJ straight.  Really?  He knows better than that...  WTF?
  • Hand 4: I raise to $15 with 88.  Our whale and one other see a flop of K 9 4.  We check to whale who bets $15.  Folds to me and I call, not believing.  Turn is a blank.  I check again and he bets $20.  Call.  River: 8.  I check again expecting a bet (theme of title of post), yet he fails to bet and I'm shown KT vs. my river suckout...  Again, 0 value on the river.
  • Hand 5: Tighter player raises to $10 (a very small bet) and I look down at KK.  I raise to $35.  Folds around to original raiser who puts out $100.  Uh oh!  I start thinking about AA and try to stifle those thoughts...  I'm like 1 and 1 for laying down KK correctly - last time I did it I was up against AQ and would have been way ahead.  That memory is still burning in my head so I just call the 4bet.  He shoves in the dark for $140 on a 3 3 6 or so board.  I even say, "This is a HUGE cooler," but somehow can't find the fold button - I call.  Board runs clean and I'm up against AA.  Bummer.  Do I get extra points for being very very close to folding pre flop or flop?
  • Hand 6: I raise $15 with KQo and get called in 2 spots.  Flop is Q 2 4.  I bet $25 and am called by a nittier retiree.  Retiree fiddles with his chips a bit - looking like he's deciding between raising, calling or folding.  The tell I had was deciding between calling / folding.  Turn is an 8.  I bet $35 and nit again fiddles with his chips before raising to $75.  Was my read wrong?  I wind up folding.  A few hours later,  I ask him about the hand and he stares at me without blinking - eyeballs fixed - and says he had 33, claiming he put me squarely on AK.  He was planning on shutting down if I called the raise.  Not quite sure what the fixed eyeball thing was all about, but had the distinct feeling of being lied to while trying to appear truthful.  I felt much more like he had 22 or 44.  Maybe I tell that to myself to escape the bad laydown...
  • Hand 7: I look down at AQo on the BTN, facing a $15 raise from the best player at the table - TAG Asian dude who knows what's up.  One caller between us & I 3bet to $45.  Asian guy flats and monkey-in-the-middle folds.  Flop comes J high.  He checks and I cbet $60 (he has about $200 behind).  He raises $100 to $160 to go.  I think for a while and can't help but put him on QQ, JJ so I fold.
  • Hand 8: I raise to $15 with AKss in EP.  2 callers between aforementioned Asian dude and me.  Asian dude raises to $55 and it folds to me.  I flat, all else fold.  Flop comes K Q high.  I check to aggressor and he bets $65.  I call.  Turn is a blank.  He bets $150 and I try to shove but wind up calling because I didn't put enough of my stack out (I miscalculated the size of villain's bet).  River is a blank and I check since I gave away my check/raise.  He winds up betting after a long pause - $60 all in.  I snap and am shown AKo for the chop.
  • Hand 9: I raise to $15 with 88.  Get called in 2 spots and have position.  Flop comes 8 9 4 - 2 clubs.  I lead for $35 and get called in both spots (one is the fishy player from Hand 2, one is a decent reg).  Turn is a Qd putting 2 diamonds, 2 clubs out there.  Checks to me and I lead for $75.  Fishy player folds and reg thinks a bit and calls.  River is a 2c completing the flush draw.  Reg checks to me and I weakly check through.  Reg shows TT (oddly played, sir) and I scoop.
  • Hand 10: I limp / call $10 with K2dd as do 4 other players.  Flop is K 2 3 with 2 spades.  The fishy player mentioned in Hand 2 leads for $15.  I raise to $45.  Fishy player calls.  Turn is an off suit 9.  Fishy player leads for $100 with $70 or so behind.  I shove all in [correctly this time] and am snapped off my fishy player.  River is of no consequence and fishy player proudly flips over AKo.  I flip over K2 for the flopped 2 pair and scoop.  It was nice getting a bit of karma.
Overall, I had a solid session.  These kinds of sessions are nice because the cards fell into place, rather than me playing well.  What I beat myself up about is the lack of value obtained on the river in multiple spots.  I hit a miracle set and got nothing for it.  I  should have stacked the whale with my set of 7's but only got around 1/2 stacks...  Towards the end of the night, I became more fearless and tenacious, but I definitely missed opportunities for stackage.  I don't know why earlier in the night I was so gun shy.  I kept on feeling like I was going to be set over set - and ironically, I was KK over AA and didn't shy away when I should have!  Get 'em next time!

19 comments:

  1. easiest way to stack his aa with the 77 was to go allin on the flop there is a flush draw u know.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Tony! I wasn't sure about that - so I should go all in on the flop huh... Good advice!

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  2. Nice session and post. How long are your sessions typically, if you don't mind sharing? That was a big number of playable hands imo.

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    1. That session was around 6-7 hours. My typical session lasts around 6 hours. I'm getting in around 1 session per week (actually 1.5 sessions on average lately), but I don't get there until after 6pm. It makes getting up the next morning very difficult. I usually don't remember the particulars of the hands, but last night was anomalous in that I was involved in quite a few hands - and remembered most if not all of the important ones.

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    2. Very interesting. Keep up the good work. Does the Shoe offer any yearly bonuses if you put in a certain number of hours? I think Live! gives poker players that play 500 hours per year $500 free slot play.

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    3. The 'Shoe gives a bunch of offers to me - but no massive $500 free slot play for 500 hours:
      1. They give $2/hr in comps straight away, regardless status. Sometimes they'll have point multiplier promotions ongoing and that can increase the comp rate to upwards of $10/hr, but $2/hr is the "safe" estimate.
      2. They give 50 tier credits (important tiers are 15,000 & 40,000 for Diamond status)
      1. Diamond status tier 0 (15,000) gives me $100 dinner at any Harrah's property
      2. Diamond status tier 1 (40,000) gives me 4 nights free at any Harrah's property + another $100 dinner at any Harrah's property
      3. I get around $120+ / WEEK in free promotional bets / chips (i.e. even money bets at the tables) - this comes in the form of bonus weekend bets + twice or three times per week comp chips of around $30 per visit. I get around $10 per month in comp dollars for food or slots. Unfortunately, I don't live close to the 'Shoe, otherwise I'd be constantly grabbing the free money (just stop in & claim the chips), but as is, I probably average around $50 / week in promotional chips
      4. They're always offering promotional household items such as toasters, blenders, luggage, sweatshirts, cash gift cards, gas gift cards, Macy's gift cards, etc.
      5. Access to the Diamond lounge at any Harrah's properties (i.e. free food & drinks in non-Maryland properties and heavily discounted drinks / free finger food at the Maryland property)
      6. Discounts & comp nights at any Harrah's properties subject to availability. For example, I'll usually get a stay at any AC property for free, Rio, Linq, Harrah's, Flamingo and Bally's in Vegas for free, but Planet Hollywood & Caesars will have to be paid for via comp $$$ or out of pocket.

      The tier scores are not always 50 tier credits per hour because they'll run various promotions like the tier credit match they did during the last few months of last year - or the 50% bonus tier credits from April through June. In other words, I have around 138 hours in play this year (100% poker) but have around 9000 tier credits total which is an average of 65 tier credits per hour. At that rate, I'll make tier 1 at 615 hours (probably not possible for me because I simply don't have that kind of time). If you make 150,000 tier credits (Seven Star) you get free flights, cruises, etc. ~3000 hours is in the stratosphere for me though... I'm unwilling to run money through the slots and tables like a blogger we all know... ahem... Mr. TBC.

      Nevertheless, I save the promotional chips when I get them, and every few months, my wife & I will go up to Baltimore, have a nice dinner, and she plays Blackjack to turn the chips into cash. Last time we did it, I had around $1200 in chips and we turned it into $600 - about even expectation... I'm currently sitting on around $800 in chips since the beginning of the year.

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    4. Appreciate the detailed response. Those are good offers. Past three years Live! increased the $500 each year by $500 for players playing 500 hours of poker each year. So this year people were getting $1500 free slot play for continuing their yearly streak. Of course, I'm barely putting in 75 hours per year haha. TBC does it all. I'll be curious to see how MGM affects the Shoe and Live! poker rooms and their promotions.

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    5. I'm also curious about how MGM affects the ecosystem. FWIW, the most hours I've ever put in yearly is 414 hours (2015), but that's in all poker rooms across the country. I had 350 hours of CET play. At my current pace, I'll have 417 hours to close out this year; I'll be close to 500 hours, but I doubt I'll ever get there...

      If you haven't checked out Baltimore, I highly suggest at least playing a session. For the part-time grinder, I think it offers the best rewards, plus the 1/3 game is so much better than the 1/2 game, while the players are worse at Baltimore than at MDL.

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    6. I'll give Shoe a try in the fall probably.

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    7. I received this email: Visit Horseshoe Baltimore this May 2016 and simply swipe your Total Rewards card at a Promotional Kiosk to receive your $40 promotional chip voucher, which can be redeemed at any casino cashier.

      Does this mean I don't even have to play anything to get $40?

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  3. Hand 1: pre is fine. Flop is fine. turn - I hate your line. It would only make sense to take your line with a combo draw and then overbet the hell out of it when you get there on the river. Otherwise given your history with the Whale and our prior conversations, you know he has TPTK or better like always. I really don't understand the flat call on a turn blank. The river can only hurt your ability to extract value,either by getting counterfeited or scaring him away. If it is a set over set oh well nh, gg. But there are so few combos of that compared to his range of AA, TPTK, TPGK, 2pairs.

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  4. Do I get extra points for being very very close to folding pre flop or flop?

    No, you don't. If you start folding to these $1/3 monkeys, you're making a big mistake. Once in a while they have A-A and you pay up.

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  5. Wow -- I feel like such a piker regarding the comps since I don't have a local casino to go to. When I do travel to Par-A-Dice (about 85 miles away), they do not track poker play, which really sucks. It is a Boyd property, so my slot play does get me some comps. And at least Boyd has offered me some free rooms in Las Vegas at the Gold Coast whereas Caesars no longer gives me much more than a minimal discount.

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    Replies
    1. How far is Horseshoe Hammond? I thought that was reasonably close as well? Wouldn't they track play there? You could potentially get CET rewards through them instead...

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  6. Congrats on making the top-100 poker blogs -- well deserved.

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    1. Thanks MOJO! I was a bit surprised at the ordering, but congrats to you as well! I'm curious what the criteria was - i.e. ESPN Poker blog was top 10 material?

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    2. only reason im further down than PPP is because he is a flaming left winger, so he puts those high up who share his views. is why he comments as he did about my blog.

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    3. Tony, I think it has more to do with you sexist, racist, and homophobic rants. How many hours of poker did play last year?

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