A classic from the Chuck!

It's been awhile since my last post.  Quick rundown of the past month (in no particular order):
Mild downturn in poker
Bad play in poker
Lack of sleep (probably a factor in my downturn / bad play)
Put my dog to sleep
Vacation to Myrtle Beach
School started
Work is a bit hectic

 Anyway, I haven't had a reason to post until I saw this classic from a fellow reader:

I just had to share this poker hand with you, it is without a doubt the absolute worst hand I have ever watched being played but two very bad players. It witnessed this foolery of course at the Chuck last Monday evening. The two players involved were older "good old boy redneck" types, one at seat 10 and the other at seat 1.

For your reading pleasure or horror, which ever may apply. Onto the hand.........


WORST HAND I HAVE EVER SEEN
I had just changed tables and shortly after I arrived I watched the absolute worst played hand I have ever seen unfold before my eyes. I cannot recall exactly how the action started but the pot was raised to 12.00 and called by several players. I was card dead and had my usual 10 2 off suit so I folded out and was not involved.

Flop comes:

K 3 A rainbow.

Player in seat 10 bets out pot, 40.00 or so I think. Action goes to seat 1 who over bets and shoves "all in" for 220.00. Everyone folds and the action goes to seat 10 who is contemplating a call.

Seat 1 suddenly stands up and says, "don't do it, I have two pair" and then puts his cards face up on the table.

He shows K 3 of diamonds.

Seat 10 looks stunned and says, "What just happend?" Dealer says, "The player just showed you his cards sir he has shown K 3 of diamonds, the action is to you and it's 180.00 more if you want to call".

Seat 10 thinks and thinks and still looks stunned. He then fucking calls and turns over A J. WHAT THE FUCK??? OH MY GOD, HOW CAN YOU DO THAT?

So seat 1 shoves all in with just two pair and then shows his hand? Knowing that he's beaten Seat 10 calls for 180.00 more? What kind of fuck donkery is going on here? Am I dreaming, is this even real? No, it's Charles Town.

Turn and river brick, seat 1 rakes in a massive pot.

For the record this took place on table 22 on Monday 8-26-2013 at or around 6:00 PM.  

About 45 minutes later seat 1 has lost all those chips and is reaching into his wallet, pulling out hundreds and re buying. I watched him go down another 400 - 500 before he left.

Unfortunately for me I was not able to capitalize, I was totally and utterly card dead and a lot of hands were going to show down. Not a good table for trying to run bluffs, but a great table if you have a good hand.

Anyway I thought you might get a laugh out of that one. Feel free to post on your blog.


L-O-FRIGGIN-L.

FWIW, Maryland Live opened a few days ago.  I'm going to try to get in a few hours to check it out on Monday.

How to win $500+ without a bet

Thursday at the Chuck.  I've seen a gentleman go through $1.2k within the past two hours.  I've been in the habit of back raising him, since he's wont to raise limpers to $12 and call any 3bets (of reasonable size; my most recent one was $45).  At any rate, my session is effectively over - I just called down the LAG who flopped two pair turned boat (2 3 from UTG) and my stack sits at $120 or thereabout.  Prior to the hand I'm about to describe, I debated topping off, but opted to just run my orbit out & be done with the session.  Anyone who reads my blog and/or comments knows that I NEVER do this; I'm always at $180+ no matter.  On this particular night, though, I was into the game for 2 buy ins + and just wanted to end & be done without fishing out money from my pocket.

Anyway, I'm UTG now - this is literally my last hand.  I look down and see Ah8h and opt to limp.  This is a very loose aggro table - a whipsaw.  Last hand, modest hand.  Well, LAG (immediately on my left) that I paid off earlier raises to $15 with $~600 behind.  This starts a chain reaction and I see 5 callers before it winds its way around to me.  I call (pot odds if I ever heard of them...) with $~105 behind and we see a ~7 way flop (including me) of KhTh3h.  Yahtzee!

$~100 in the pot - I opt to check my nuts and the LAG leads for $50.  It calls 4 ways before coming around to the seat on my right, who pops it to $150.  I sigh & call (obviously), and 3 players call the $150 behind, creating a sidepot.  Turn is a 6s and dude to my right leads for $240 with $380 behind.  LAG shoves all in, 2 folds and dude to my right calls.

River is a brick and I take the main pot of $500+ - though the real winner of the hand was probably the dude to my right with a set of 3's - the side pot was over $1k.  The LAG apparently had QhJx, and another player hit a low flush and folded it (he was deep too).

From a poker standpoint, this was a somewhat boring, standard hand.  From a statistical standpoint, this was such a weird hand.  I did not bet a single round, yet made ~5x my money.  I was just astounded that a set of 3's was able to extract so much value out of the hand...

Anyway, that hand broke me even on the session and I would go on to show a decent profit for the night.

Critical thinking about hands

Through the years, this blog has been a great outlet for me.  When I was playing regularly online, this blog served as a way to expose my frustrations as well as solicit thoughts on alternate ways of playing the same hand.  I think this blog helped me a ton back then - particularly when I was just starting out - but as I became more comfortable in whatever stakes I was playing, the imperative to push out hand histories waned.

Unfortunately, those days of online grinding have come & gone - thanks to the U.S. government (see Black Friday).  The blog took on a new role, though - allowing me to solicit advice from a field of players with a wealth of experience in the live arena.  The live arena, as near as a year and a half ago, was a new frontier for me.  In a lot of ways, it continues to be a new frontier.  While the improvements to my game are much less scientifically measurable, like playing at the live felt, I must rely on my own intuition to discern whether I am indeed improving my game.

It's very easy to say "Look at the results; is your $/hr rate improving?  Yes?  Then you're getting better as a player!"  Looking at the results tells me nothing.  I could be running really hot, I could be sucking out... any number of factors.  The reality is that I need to look at myself and give myself a non-biased, thorough evaluation.  What am I doing differently?  Is what I'm doing differently working for me?  Where am I losing money?  Why am I losing money in those spots?

One continual source of contention where I think I'm improving is the live reads / paying attention.  I feel as though I go through periods where I play poker by rote - effectively auto-piloting through sessions.  Although it ebbs & flows, I'm actively working on thinking about each hand rather than taking a linear approach.  I'm actively asking myself the what-if tree of variability, going beyond what the villain holds.  What cards are good for me on the turn?  What cards are bad for me?  What cards would be seemingly bad but are actually not (i.e. turn Ace)?  What does my opponent think about my action?

Another point of improvement with a ton of room is sitting through a 5-8 hour session and keeping myself 95% attentive.  When I fold, it's very easy to be distracted.  For example, there were 2-3 hands last night where players built up a big pot and I had no idea how the action had gone down so that each player had their stack in the middle.  Hands like those are critical attention grabbers; I need to watch for tells which I can verify at showdown because hands like those actually go to showdown and can be verified.  I've been pretty good with folding and watching, but there's still a ton of room for improvement.

I guess ultimately, here's the original goal of this post: thank you.  Thank you for the comments I've received in the past, thank you for the comments I will [hopefully] receive in the future.  The comments, private emails, etc. are what keeps me enthusiastic about the game.  Although I acknowledge I don't always take traditional lines (i.e. my c/r flop leaving me scratching my head on the turn & river), the comments give me a much wider view of what other players are thinking and doing in a similar situation.  They also spur me to think about what I'm doing to evaluate my game play.  Again, thanks for the comments!

I'm going to drop this post with 2 hand histories from last night which aren't all that interesting per se, but just kinda stuck with me, showing how bad some of the play is at the Chuck / showing how I luckboxed:

Hand 1:
KJo in CO - $250, facing a host of limpers.  I raise to $15 and get 4(!!!) callers.

Jc 7c 2d (if memory serves me, but a board similar to that) flop
Short stack open shoves for $65.
Another short stack calls for $40 (all in).
Another short stack calls for precisely $65 (all in).
I think for a few seconds.  I have to be beat here.  I can't imagine winning this sucker with KJ.  The pot is FAR too large to fold so I call my $65.
Dude to my left, another short stack, calls for $45 (all in).


Turn is a T, river a K.  By the turn and definitely river, I'm sure I'm dead.
Nope!  I scoop: Kc4c vs. Ac6c vs. Tc8d vs. ??? vs. my KJ (two pair).

It's amazing how no one ever thinks about another player being on a better flush draw... and how they can call $15 with $65 behind with hands like K4s, T8o, A6s (though in fairness, once K4s calls and ??? calls, A6s is priced and T8o is priced).  I just ran the numbers - I'm 50% to the field with A6s behind me with 37% equity.  I figured I would be further behind than that!

Hand 2:
QJ in SB - $450+, straddled for $5.  4 limpers, I complete the $5 straddle, BB folds and UTG checks his option.

6 way pot of Q J T
I check, UTG checks and UTG+1 leads for $20 (40 behind).  Folds to me and I c/r to $60.  UTG folds.
UTG+1 thinks and thinks and thinks.

Side note: The UTG, UTG+1, UTG+2 end of the table was the "gambling section."  They tied themselves up in numerous hands prior where just stupid hands would wind up winning huge pots; UTG (straddler) was sitting on $1.2k, UTG+1 was steaming from being down to $30 to up to $500 to down to $60 to start the hand, and UTG+2 was sitting on $6-700.  Regardless, UTG+1 is thinking about calling a $40 all in raise and finally mucks, face up.  He folded T9o.  WTF?  $40 to call to win $110?

Granted, much different hand from the QJ hand the other day, where I was advised against a c/r from a few of the comments, but still...  In retrospect, I'm happy for the fold; I think he's getting pretty close to proper odds to make the call (65/35), but he's just shown how willing he is to gamble it up for $400+ on prior hands that he's folding for $40?  WTF?  Sometimes, I just don't get it...

What Would You Do #245 - A difference of opinion

1/2 at Charles Town.  I'm starting to come out of the funk that I've experienced over the last 2 months where I've been running poorly and playing (not as) poorly.  Effective stacks are $200 when the following happens:

I call my option in the SB with QJo and the BB checks.  We see a limped 5-way pot of Q J 6, rainbow.

I opt to check my top two to the BB who leads for $10 into the $10 pot.  A 30ish Asian dude calls (been pretty by-the-book, though I sense he's frustrated with me because I've check / raised him a bit in the past few hands) and action folds back to me.  I feel very much that he's drawing, so I c/r the pot to $45.  BB folds and Asian dude thinks for a bit - before finally calling.

$110 in the pot and we see a offsuit K turn.  T9, the obvious draw, just got there.  Damn!  I check.  My opponent, again thinking for a bit, opts to check behind.

River is an Ace, completing the rainbow.

I consider a small bet for value - partial blocking, partial value.  My thought here is this: villain called a largish flop check / raise but checked through the turn.  There aren't many hands that he limps and calls a c/r on the flop that have an Ace in them.  I think my river bet is more of a catch up from the turn check.  The river card is "scary" to all non-Ten hands, so I want to make a small bet that can be called with a Qx.  Therefore, I lead for $25.

Again, he thinks for a bit before finally raising to $75.

What would you do?  What would you do differently?


Click to see results

I feel like the turn is such a bad card for me (it completes KQ, T9, a few AT).  The river makes it even worse, and much harder for him to raise without a T.  Therefore, I fold.  Believe me, the frustration I thought he was having with me factored in all the more for me wanting to call the $50 on top.  In the end, this has to be a sick bluff for him to make - particularly with him calling the $35 c/r on the flop.  By showdown, the two hands in my head that made sense here are AQ and T9, with a strong weighting towards T9.

In talking afterwards (I had shown my cards to two "respected" table mates which caused quite a discussion), we asked him.  He said he had T9 and made his hand on the turn - I'm still not 100% sure that's the truth. He said that he hoped I would bet the river (like I did) when he checked the turn, feeling that I would fold the turn if he bet.

Last week's session summary - When is not a hand a hand?

I think it was Caro or someone of the like that said that an observant / vigilant player should see free cards every so often.  This could come in the form of hole cards, burn cards, etc.  However, in my readings, the behavior of seeking out free looks at cards is not only condoned, but also encouraged.  As a habit, I try not to go out of my way to see others' cards - encouraged or not.  I think it's a blurry line when you start to seek other people's cards on purpose.  I'm a believer that it's not my place to notify people that they're showing their cards - it's their job to protect the cards.  However, I'm also a believer of the idea that what is seen cannot be unseen.  Therefore, I'm not going to try to look away when another player is giving me a show, just the same as I'm not going to crane my neck to get a peek.

I sat down to play a session last week.  As has been typical these days (past 2 months), my session was mostly sideways to losing slightly.  I had just ran my flopped set into a donkey who snap called my open shove with an OES + bottom pair and turned his straight (details unimportant, but it was truly donkish of the other player).  I re-filled my stack back up to $200 when the following happens:

New player (I've played with him before and he can be difficult to play against; usually knows where he is, gives me respect and I give him respect) posts & checks his option to me on the button.  I don't remember the hand I had, but I limped as well (3-4 other limpers before) and we see a 2 diamond 7 high flop.  New player lifts up his cards lazily and flashes paint.  I believe his paint was a black King.  He weak leads the flop and I determine that any overcards / diamonds on the turn will allow me to take the pot away on the turn / river.  So long as there's no King, I'm likely good here as a bluff.  I call and the table folds.  Turn is a diamond (Q?).  He leads for $25.  Executing my plan, I raise.  He mulls it over and calls, which surprises me with TP at best here.  River is a blank and he checks to me now.  Sensing my opportunity, I charge largish for $65 and he pauses for a second before calling.  Utter shock on my face that he could make such a call in this spot with such a weak second (or even third at this point - don't really remember) pair.  I'm mystified and wondering what the heck I did wrong - that's one hell of a read on his part.  So much so that I want to peel away from the table with a player who just completely owned me with his mid pair on a scary board.  He waits for me to show, as I expect him to do - I show my bluff pair of 2's (I think that's what my hand amounted to at this point) and he flips Kd8d for the second nuts.

It's one thing to see other players' cards...  it's a whole other thing to see them and read them correctly!

Bumping fuzzies?

All too infrequently do I see women sitting at the tables here in EBF, I mean Charles Town, WV.  See, you players out in Vegas have it good; you have eye candy in the waitresses and apparently, according to this guy, the players are lookers too!  Out here in the sticks, which is all of 60 minutes from DC, there's nothing but cowpoke and bumpkins.  It's a rarity if there's a girl in the poker room who would raise an eye.

The other night, you see, was indeed a rarity.  I not only had one attractive girl at my table, but two!  Sitting next to each other.  Sitting to my left.  2 cute blondes.  It was their first time playing live casino poker.  Very friendly.  Very smiley.  Very drinky.  Very talky.

Procedurally, they both were in tune, able to post their blinds without needing to be reminded, understood and followed the action, and weren't playing like total noobs.  We started chatting it up - the 3 of us - and I was quick to find out that she never got to play [errr... poker] because her "ex-girlfriend" didn't like to gamble.  My slow, dimwitted mind processed that statement as - her "ex-friend who was a girl" didn't like to gamble, which made little to no sense to me: why would a friend exert such control over this chick?  Damned if I'll allow a friend to tell me what to do!  Hell, my wife is the only person with real influence over my my daily life plans...  wait a second....  Moreover, I've never referred to a friend as an "ex-friend."  It's not like on facebook where you unfriend someone and call them your "ex-friend."  You simply don't refer to said person anymore.  Well, the wheels started a'churnin' and I process it to mean that she's advertising that she's a pink player.  High five!

Now how often is it that you meet a girl and find out she's from the island of lesbos - that she's a card-carrying member of the lesbian community?  Moreover, how often do you find that she's a cute lesbian - and her girlfriend is a cute lesbian?  Perhaps I'm skating on thin ice by saying this, but I can count on 1 finger the amount of times I've seen a cute chick with another cute chick in the Biblical sense (is it Biblical if they're engaged in lesbianism?).  Nothing against your typical run-of-the-mill lesbian, but in my experience, they're just not generally cute; sometimes one is somewhat cute and the other is the more masculine type - just like with homosexual guys (all in a stereotypical sense - of course they're are cute gay couples out there, but again, GENERALLY the pairing is cute / dainty with more gruff).  Also, it should be noted that I'm not talking about that lesbian BS they put into porn that they CALL lesbianism, where the girls aren't real lesbos and they're inevitably having a guy join in because they crave the [WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS!?!?!?]... I'm talking about real, honest-to-goodness gay chicks.  Moreover, they're sitting at the poker table, next to me, chatting it up!

Now, those that read my blog on a regular basis (well - "regular" is a loose term because I don't post all that frequently anymore) know that I'm a married, devoted husband and father of 3 children.  I honestly would not be interested in these girls other than for the flirtation of the chance to watch the two of them make out with each other while I eat popcorn, enjoy the show and not join in but wish I could *.  At any rate, I busted one of the two out of her original buy in ($100), and the other guys at the table were working hard NOT to bust the remaining chick (she would wind up running a failed bluff into a guy who called her down the whole way trying to not let her bust herself moreso than value betting / value calling).  There was no conversation of interest to me that is worth mentioning on the blog - they didn't start making out at the table, nor did they escape to the bathroom for a quickie, much to the chagrin of me and my fellow straight table mates.

After the girls left, the table got a little chatty Kathy about the whole thing.  Fill-ins began to trickle into the table including an older gentleman and a younger 30's -aged guy.  They listened about the legacy whose seats they were filling.  Clearly, they were not suitable substitutes.  The older guy, not having said a word nearly the entire 30 minutes he was there, started rolling on the floor when the mid-30's guy heard our story and determined that these girls were indeed "Bumping fuzzies."  Watching him process the whole "fuzzy bumper" metaphor was a comedy act unto itself; within about 20 seconds, he was tearing at the eyes.

Anyway, thought I'd share this little tale with you all.  It's not often that I write about non-poker poker stories, but I found this one amusing and I hope that you will too.

* If my wife is reading this, EWWW!  Another chick?  Gross me out!  I wouldn't ever want to look at or see another chick, much less touch one!  I said the above for effect for my readers, lest they think worse of me than they already do!

Improvements to Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races' Poker Room

As talked about a few months back, I aired my grievances with CTRS, aka "The Chuck."  In it, I complained about the lack of promotions, among other things.  I've been back numerous times since (of course, because there is no other poker offering in my area - YET).  However, I was in there last week and low & behold - I found a flyer listing the daily tournaments... and more importantly to my interests - a list of Poker Promotions.

I thought I'd share them here, to expose egg on my face (for not knowing about the promotions; shows what a good job they do promoting the promotions), as well as allow me to recant some of the issues I have with the Chuck as far as their lack of promotions.  Apparently, these promotions were introduced in April, but it looks as though they'll end at the end of June.

The following is quoted from Hollywood Casino's flier (verbatim):

• Full House Mondays - Every Monday from April 1, 2013 - June 24, 2013, players will receive entries for every hand where they make a Full House or better.  From 8am-11:45am, players will receive two entries.  From 11:45am-9:45pm, players will receive one entry.
  
  From 12pm-10pm, entries will be randomly selected from the drawing drum.  The prizes and times are as follows: 12pm: $100, 1pm: $100, 2pm: $200, 3pm: $200, 4pm: $300, 5pm: $300, 6pm: $400, 7pm: $400, 8pm: $500, 9pm: $600, 10pm: $700.  There will be no drawings held on May 27, 2013.
  
• Full House Thursdays - Every Monday from April 1, 2013 - June 24, 2013, players will receive entries for every hand where they make a Full House or better.  Players will receive entries from 2pm - 11:45pm.
  
  From 3pm-11:59pm, entries will be randomly selected from the drawing drum.  The prizes and times are as listed: 3pm: $100, 4pm: $100, 5pm: $200, 6pm: $200, 7pm: $300, 8pm: $300, 9pm: $400, 10pm: $500, 11pm: $600, 11:59pm: $700.
  
• High Hand Wednesdays - Every Wednesday from April 3, 2013 - June 26, 2013, players will be eligible for the High Hand Promotion.  High Hands will be tracked from 11:00am-10:00pm with the first drawing at 12pm.
  
  Each hour at the top of the hour a player will be awarded $100 for making the high hand of the previous hour (minimum high hand 5 high straight).  The current high hand of the hour will be posted conspicuously in the room.
  
• Suited Royal Flush Daily - Every day, when a player achieves a Royal Flush using both hole cards, they will win the current jackpot amount.  $100 will be added to the prize pool each day for each suit (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs).  Only one royal flush prize pool for each suit may be won each gaming day.  If any of the price pools reach $1000 or more, it will be divided as follows: 50% of the funds will go to the player that received the Royal Flush and 50% will be divided equally among the remaining players at the table.
  
• Mustang Giveaway - The Mustang Giveaway Promotion will run between March 11, 2013 and April 7, 2013.  Players will receive 1 entry into the drawing for 60 hours of BRAVO tracked eligible play and an additional ticket will be issued for every 10 additional hours of BRAVO tracked eligible play.  EXAMPLE: 80 hours equals 3 tickets in the drawing.
  
  The drawing(s) will be held on April 14, 2013 from 10am-9:45pm.  A ticket will be drawn every 15 minutes for a prize pool of $1,000.00 in valued chips.  At 3pm and 8 pm an additional ticket will be drawn for the grand prize winners who will have the choice of a 2013 Mustang GT Coupe or $25,000 in valued chips!

Today is the last day of the promotions listed above.  I sincerely hope The Chuck continues or betters their promotions.  As for the Suited Royal Flush daily promotion, it should be noted (although it is not explicit on the flier) that you must be clocked in with your Hollywood Rewards Card in order to be eligible.

My next post will be a list of the daily tournaments they started running since April 2, 2013.

A stupid hand at 1/2 - nutted on with nary a chance of catching up...

I had forgotten about putting a post together to detail last week's session, so I'm going by memory here:

5 hands in, I am dealt TT from the BB and raise to $14 after a host of 4 limpers (including SB).  I get 2 callers and see a Qh 7h 4 flop.  I cbet $25 and get called in one spot, an alert player who thinks he's fancy but ABC.  The turn is Th and I lead again - he took his time in calling the flop bet so I don't put him on a draw; he's got KQ or some such hand.  I lead for $50 and he INSTA-raises me all in to $200.  I call and he slams down his pocket 4's for the flopped set (with the 4h).  I show my set of T's and he proceeds to hit a heart on the river for the scoop.  Amazing part was he was genuinely surprised to be pushed the pot; he didn't realize he 4 flushed me.  Buy in down.

I'm over it.

But here's the hand that annoys me:
AK on the BTN.  I raise to $16 after 5 limps (don't remember effective stack sizes but I have $200; in reverse, I guess villain has $~100).  One caller - older tightish player.  Flop comes 3 7 7.  Checks.  I cbet $25 and he calls (60 behind).  King on the turn and I lead for $30, he c/r's all in to $60 and I pay him off with his flopped 3's full.

What annoys me is the continuing bet of $30 on the turn - I am doubting myself as to whether I should have checked through the turn and c/c the river or c/f the river.  Tight old man making a call on the flop - my thinking at the time is he has a ton of pocket pairs + x7 + set of 3's.  Him check / raising the turn all in, he *has to have a 7 or set of 3's*.  I just can't see him showing up with worse.  Sometimes, the internet play gets the better of me & I think "cooler, meh, gonna pay it off; I'm either way behind or way ahead."  I have to get out of this mindset in live play because FAR MORE FREQUENTLY THAN NOT, I'm way behind.  Even for $30 +$30 additional.

On taking Hollywood / Charles Town to task

I read a post about the M Resort the other day from a fellow blogger and it kindled a little fire inside of me to get out my thoughts and feelings about my home casino, which happens to be part of the same chain of Penn National casinos, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.

As a semi-astute investor (I actually have the reverse Midas touch, who am I kidding?), I always look at the various places I visit / frequent from the eyes of "would I invest in this place," or "would I hire this employee?"  It is rare that I come away from a place with such a strong negative emotion / disdain that not only would I not invest, but I would sell short on the particular place.  Unfortunately, the HC@CTRS poker room is one such place.

The best way I've figured to list my complaints - and this is all poker room focused, FWIW, is in a bulletized list.  Here goes:

• The rules.  Perhaps I'm way off base, but shouldn't a poker room have a rule book?  Shouldn't players be allowed to see the rule book?  If I play blackjack, I can see exactly what and how I'm playing the house.  I have been refused numerous times to see the rule book.  Either through being blown off but persisting, or told outright that I cannot see the book, I am told to refer to Robert's Rules of Poker as the basis for the casino's rulebook.  That's great, but when I want to see why or how they're going to rule a certain way, I want consistency.  An example is awhile ago when I saw a limp / raise / re-raise all-in which did not cover the full raise.  The limper called the re-raise and the original raiser was able to re-open his betting to re-raise all-in himself.  To my understanding, this should not have been allowed, yet it was at the time by the floor personnel running the games.  Had a rulebook been available for floor personnel, I'd imagine this issue would have been resolved pretty quickly.  Had a rulebook been allowed for me to read, I could have pointed to page and verse.
• The no-flop, HELL YES THERE'S A DROP policy...  Oh yeah, and no-flop, there's a bad beat drop too!  Seriously?  I have to pay for a bad beat drop even though there is not chance of winning a bad beat?  95% of all poker rooms do not charge rake when we don't see a flop (86% of all statistics are made up on the spot), yet CTRS does?  Why is that?  It seems that management loves to stick their finger in the customer's eye continually, nickel and diming every chance they get.  Which leads me to the next issue...
• 10% service charge on take out orders for food.  What?  Yes.  If you want to take food to-go after a night of playing, you are charged a 10% fee on top of the normal exorbitant food prices for the privilege of taking it to-go.  So if I buy a few rolls of sushi for $20, I pay $2 take out fee for the singular tray, the same as if I order $10 lomein and pay $1 for the singular box.  More importantly, why am I paying 10%?!?!?!  for take out?  I've just paid you a TON of money in rake, and my fellow slot player has paid you a TON of money in losses.  Stick it to the customer!  Let him lose - and then him lose a bit more!
• Lack of a comp system.  The good majority of casinos, INCLUDING other Hollywood Casinos, offer a point system redeemable for food, drinks, etc.  Does the CTRS poker room?  No.  Nothing to speak of.  Every other gambler at the establishment gets comps - blackjack, slots, roulette, etc..  Nothing to be seen for poker players.  Why not?  Is it not a sustainable business model at Charles Town, yet it is sustainable at the other Penn National properties?  Give me comps, damn you!
• Lack of promotions.  I will say they are getting better in this department, giving back some of the bad beat jackpot drop to the regulars.  Although I rarely if ever personally qualify, CTRS does semi-regularly offer players clocking more than ~60 hours chances at freerolls, drawings, etc.  In addition, they offer a full time royal flush promotion (I believe they start at $100 per suit and add $100 for every day that the suit's royal flush has not hit).  In fact, I personally won $800 from the royal flush promotion.  On certain days at certain times, they offer a high hand jackpot as well.
  If this bullet sounds complimentary, I really should come back with the following: THIS IS NOT GIVE-BACK FROM THE CASINO.  In other words, the promotion dollars come from the bad beat jackpot, that is the PLAYER CONTRIBUTED bad beat jackpot.
  The point is, though, the casino does have a few promotions going - whether you like the promotions or not (personally, I despise the bad beat jackpot; I'd rather keep my $1 per pot won contribution and exclude myself from future jackpots).  In the past, they had no promotions whatsoever with the exception of the BBJ.
  One further comment here: get rid of the hours for freeroll promotions.  If management is intent on "giving back," run a drawing or offer rakeback, but don't force regs to play freerolls for the chance to win additional $$$.  Personally, it's good for a player like me when the regs are away fighting it out with each other (cat's away, the mouse'll play), but theoretically:
• It takes away seat time from the regs
• It pulls dealers away for a free event
• Not that I really care, but it reduces house rake for the duration of the freeroll
• I'm theorizing that the structure probably stinks and is a crap shoot
• Lack of communication.  Does it hurt to send out an email once in awhile promoting the casino, poker room, etc.?  I rarely go to Delaware Park, yet every birthday, without fail, they send me a complimentary $20 dinner.  They want and love my business.  Unfortunately, they're double the driving time, so I only go up when I have a full day to devote to playing (few and far between).
• The rake.  10% up to $6 + $1 BBJ.  I'm under the impression that the prevalent rake in AC is 10% up to $4 + $1 BBJ.  I guess they can charge whatever they want if they can get away with it - which they can and will.  In fact, I'm surprised that in their waning moments of casino monopoly, they haven't bumped the rake to $7 or higher.  Why not?  It's not like the customers have somewhere else to go...
• The BBJ payout.  The way the BBJ is paid out is 50% losing hand (pocket 7's + 77 board beaten by 2 hole cards + 3 board cards, quad 8's or better), 25% winning hand, 25% table share.  I'd like to see them go the route of Vegas; a room share or perhaps even a Penn National share.  Why not have everyone contribute to a singular jackpot to be distributed to all players playing throughout all the rooms under Penn National control?  I would think that would be a bigger incentive to bring action - having the "biggest BBJ in the world."  Look, I realize that the odds are I'll never even get a whiff of a BBJ, much less be seated at the same table where a BBJ was hit.  At least give me a 20x (figure 20 tables are running at the given time) chance when I have seat time.

I'm going to commend the dealers of the poker room.  99% of them are awesome.  Certainly, there are the occasional dealers who think they know best and don't check with the floor to verify the rules, but for the large large majority, the dealers at CTRS are among the best I've had the pleasure to work with.   The dealers are professional and curtious, efficient and fast.  For the most part, the floor personnel is good at their job.  They are efficient at finding seats, covering the room effectively and quick to respond to problems.

It's most unfortunate for the workers at CTRS; Maryland recently approved gaming within their borders, so CTRS is looking at competition from Baltimore (Harrah's), Anne Arundel (Maryland Live!) and National Harbor (MGM).  I anticipate CTRS will be experiencing a slow death over the next 3-5 years as the competitors come online to offer closer alternates to the long West Virginia drive.  It's too bad they didn't formulate a loyalty plan years ago to ensure continued success.  It's too bad they've never made an attempt to connect with the players, or establish a relationship.  They were the fat cats for years and knew it, but their business will soon be eroding.  Good luck in the future, CTRS!  I can't wait to switch to MGM / Harrah's.

I'm going to start a petition, "F*ck the Chuck."

What Would You Do #245 - Dummy end of a straight

1/2 game; I've been there 25 minutes.  A "new" player (2 hands into his session) comes in and raises 5 limpers to $7 from the CO.  I'm on the BTN and opt to call my 74ss with $260, as do the blinds and 5 limpers.  We see an 8(!!!!) way flop of K 5 8 (one spade) rainbow.

It checks around to me and I opt to take the free card after considering for a fleeting moment betting out.  I have a gutter and a backdoor with $56 in the pot.  Nothing I'm betting is going to get folds when they have a piece here - why not see a card on the turn for free with my 16% equity?

The turn is the LOVELY and BEAUTIFUL 6, completing my straight and completing a rainbow board.  Bingo!  Or not?  MP leads out for $15 and it gets instantly raised to $75 from a fairly reasonable, affable ABC player (at least my belief at the time).  This was an insta-raise, FWIW.  I consider my options, know that he's VERY strong here, but  contemplate a raise or call.  I think about 79 as a remote possibility, which trumps my 2nd nut straight.  I opt to call (this is another topic for a WWYD), and the original bettor pushes all-in for his remaining $60 even (which closes out the betting round).

The river is a 7, putting a 4 straight on the board.  The aggro raiser instantly chucks out a $100 black chip.

What would you do?


Click to see results

He had AK for the TPTK.  I made a crying call on the river - not seeing him raising K9 in this spot like that on the turn.  97 is still in his range.  Perhaps I'm making more out the hand than it's worth; he either had 97 on the turn for the better straight, or is overplaying his hand non-straight.  I think I can safely make this 4 straight call and be good a very high percentage of the time.  I was kicking myself later, because I should have pushed out my last $~75, but snapped it off pretty quickly.  I didn't see what the MP guy had, though he was pissed that I made the call; he claimed to have made two pair by the river.

A day of thin value betting - Friday at the Chuck

There were two opportunities during Friday's session were I was faced with a bet /check through moment that raised quite a few eyebrows at the table.  Normally, I don't think too much of what my opponents think of my play but at least one spot is perhaps controversial.

The first was the easy of the two: I am in the BB with As9s in a limped 5-way board of A 3 5.  It had been checked through and the turn was a 4.  I led pot for $10 and got a singe caller who did not seem very happy...  the scowl on his face pretty much told me he had a naked Ace.  With A9, I'm not sure I'm ahead here, so I bet $30 when the river is a 9 and I river top two.  Snap call by villain and he shows A 7 for a way behind pair regardless...  I caught myself wondering, though, whether I would be getting value on the river if I hadn't turned aces up.  I still think about that.

Here's the more interesting hand, though: I limp QdTd from the button against a two loose players, one tilted and one more in tune but loose nevertheless.  Tilted player fancies himself a knowledgeable player - and I wasn't going to discourage him otherwise.  So we see a 5 way flop (BB and SB called) of QJ5 rainbow and tilted loose player leads for $10 into $10.  Tilted guy and in tune guy call as do I with my top pair plus backdoors (one diamond on the flop and the backdoor straight).  We see a turn of a King and in tune guy leads now for $15 into the burgeoning pot.  Tilt guy calls and I call.  The river: ten, completing the 4 straight.  It checks to me and I think for a bit.  I think I'm most concerned about qj but I almost totally discount any of them holding Aces save for A5.  They're the types who raise these A/Broadway hands so them limping any of those is highly improbable.  On that same thought, I can discount kq because they'd raise those hands as well.  What I don't think about are q9 and x9 hands that came along with the flop and turn...  it just doesn't seem reasonable.  The other thought is how much can I bet to get what now seems like weak hands to call?  And if they raise I can get out without too much hurt?

I opt to keep inline with the established pattern and bet out $20.  I get called by both spots and "in tune" guys shows Kx while tilt guy shows J5 for a flopped two pair.  Lol wut?  I expected one call not both...  is this thin or is this just plain crazy and I got lucky that they had the perfect hands for my hand?  Comments?

What Would You Do #244 - A contest for 50 SWC chips

Go me!  I was able to get some seat time in last week after about a month off.  I opted to "play down" at 1/2 to work off the rust.  I quickly found myself in a $400 hole and tilting, something I rarely do.  I ran my QQ into KK, AKs into KK, and a host of other mishaps.  As readers of the blog know, I'm not prone to tilting nor do I usually let things get to me, but this table was an unusually difficult table for a 1/2 game.  After running my AK into the KK, I RAN to a new table.  Who needs this kinda aggravation?

My new table was FAR softer than the prior.  I was able to work my way out of the 2 buy in hole and was actually up about 2 buy ins when the following happened (I was seated for around 4 hours a the new table):

I am dealt 9h3h in the SB and it limps around to me.  I complete and the BB checks his option.

7-8 see a flop of Ah Kh 7c

It checks through to the turn Td.

I decide to get "frisky" on my flush draw.  I seriously doubt anyone has ANYTHING here - they would certainly bet out the flop on a draw heavy board such as it is.  I lead for $10 into the $~15 and immediately get min raised to $20 by the tight tight tight retiree to my left on the BB.  We've been talking for the duration, so I know his type fairly well; he sits and waits to get paid off, and the fish, inevitably as fish do, pay him off continually.  He's chipped up to $~500; as described above, I'm sitting on $800, so we're deep.  I call on account of our being so deep.  I have a crack at winning a lot because this guy seems to really love his hand.

River is 6h

I fire out $50

He raises to $150 and says "I'm gonna make it easy on you 'cause I like you.  You should fold."
We've been talking quite a bit; he is a very nice guy - retired - "doesn't need the money..." yada yada yada.

What would you do?



Click to see results

The speech really confused me. Is this guy ever min raise semi-bluffing? Is he ever min raising without really good goods? Min raising can mean a set, or more likely (he'd raise AA,KK, probably not TT,77 though) TT,77 is a possibility. He'd min raise QJ. Those are the hands that I'm beating.

Is he min raising Qxhh? I can't see it. I started talking aloud and going through the hand possibilities.  I'm doubtful he'd raise the limp pot turn with a naked Jh Xh or Qh Xh.  He was in the BB, so his range is open. However, he clearly loves his hand.  What does he have?

Not gonna say what he had because I'm curious about your speculation.  What would you do and what did he have?  First guy to get it wins 50 Seals with Clubs chips.

What Would You Do #243 - Rivered a pair on a paired board + my questionable play

First, a Hand History for all to see how I [possibly] butchered a hand:

Played a bit more 2/5 the other night.  It's going to be awhile until I'm back in the saddle as my wife & I are going on a little vacation.  Anyway, I'd like to share a hand which I'm not sure I blundered or just got unlucky:

QsTs - I raise to $40 into 5 limpers; semi-loose UTG older guy with gruff attitude calls.  I have $650 in front of me, and he's sitting on around $1400, chipping up steadily all night.  He's been continually making un-callable bets, and I've been putting him on a lot of bluffs even though I have yet to truly tango with him.  I've seen him make large cbets with middle pairs (i.e. A9o on a J 9 3 board - and he got me to fold QJo) and call a river bluff vs. bottom pair.  He knows how to play.

Anyway, I smash the flop; we see a flop of QdQh9s.

My plan is to check here, as I had been cbetting every hand all night and not getting any value.  Against this particular guy, my cbets were met with auto-folds.  I also think that this guy is going to bluff a high percentage of the time when he sees a check on the flop, particularly when I change my patterns by not cbetting.

The turn is an offsuit 3, completing the rainbow board.  I "weak" (what I felt was weak for me as I had been cbetting close to pot for most of the night) lead for $55 into the $~110 pot and he snap check / raises me to $200, as per my plan.  I "hesitate" for a good long while and decide on calling - raising here is only going to push him off of his bluffs, while I'm getting crushed by better Q's.

The river is an A, which I think is a great card.  His "bluffs" now have impetus to call the river when I shove over his expected continuation bluff if he was bluffing with an A, etc. and he "caught me."  As expected, he fires out another $200 and I snap raise him the remaining $195 on top.  He thinks for a good long time and calls with 3 3 for the turned boat - I suppose he was afraid of AQ, AA, QQ?

A couple of comments on this hand from my perspective:

• I'm not 100% sure I like the check on the flop, but if I do wind up cbetting instead, I think it folds most of his hands as per prior history.  If he opts to float me in disbelief, we get it all in on the turn anyway.  My point, though, is that I doubt he'll c/r on the flop and wait until the turn to put me to the test.  If he does c/r the flop, I'm taking the same line I took above where I flat him and call the turn / river.
• I think I hate my river shove.  I fell into a static thought process where "this is my plan all along and it's working."  The reality is, who is calling the shove?  Very few hands call that.  I should have saved the $200 additional.

Here is the What Would You Do of the week:

Granted, it's a bit simpler, but here goes...

I raise to $30 in the CO with AcJc into 2 limpers (tight MP & loose UTG).  I get a call from the UTG; the tight MP folds.
Of note, I've played 1.5 hours with him during this session - I haven't seen him get completely out of line, but he does limp / call a HUGE variety of crazy hands.  He's shown down a bunch of random 2 pairs by the river, etc.  Preflop, he's been fairly passive, but he can be semi-aggro post flop.

We see a 2-way flop of Td9dTs - $70 in the pot.

It checks to me and I cbet $45.  He calls.

Turn is 2s and we check through.

River is Js and UTG leads $115 into the $160 pot.  WWYD?


Click to see results

There's so many busted straight draws / flush draws + QJ given his wide range that in particular that are betting this after I check the turn for pot control.  Clearly, he's repping a Tx hand, but I have to think he wants value from those hands, not folds.  Is it likely that he makes a big bet like that for value when I just checked through, signalling weakness?  He wants a call, therefore he bets smaller.  He wants a fold, therefore he bets bigger.  In fact, as the night progressed, I saw this exact trait in his play.

I called and was shown Kd8d for the busted flush draw / backdoor straight draw.

Annoyed with myself - and my foray into 2/5

I was determined to play 2/5 tonight, so I put myself on the list without even checking the 1/2 seating.  I was able to grab a seat almost immediately - and bought $1k in chips to sit down (figuring I'd top off along the way).  I never even needed to fish any additional money out of my pocket, as I doubled through within 4 hands with a turned flush - I raised pre and got it in on the flop with AhQh vs. QcTh on a 8h9hJd board.  I figured my gutter, over or flush would be good and got it in on the flop.  Turned 7h sealed it when the river blanked.  Playing a few more hands, I switched tables and doubled through again (for $750) with a set.  This 2/5 thing is pretty cool.  I was able to steal a few straddle limps and worked my way up to a $2k profit, which I would leak back a few due to missed flush draws / straight flush draws / etc.

After awhile, I took a dinner break and decided I would go home in an hour.  I switched over to 1/2 because I just didn't want to deal with the stress of every hand, and [illogically] wanted to "book a win."

Here's the hand that has me so peeved - I'm so annoyed that I didin't stick the turn:

I'm in late position and feign raising to limp my KTo.  I'm pretty sure people saw me hesitate over my reds before sticking in 2 whites.  The BTN, as the BTN has been doing since I sat down, played position poker and raised to $12 among 5 limpers.  Calls back to me and I decide to get "tricky" by back raising $25 on top.  In retrospect, it should have been $30-35, but I'm cool with the results.  Calls all around - EVERY.SINGLE.ONE.CALLED.  We see a 56T 2 club board and I lead for $100.  Folds to the young-ish mega chip guy (had $1300 in front of him) who calls.  I tell him to just stick it in; he does not oblige and tells me he's not on a draw.  Turn is a 2 or something off suit.  He checks to me and I get gunshy.  I weakly check with $160 behind.  I have NO IDEA why I didn't just stick it in.  Then, to compound matters, the Jc hits the river and he auto ships.  Tells me he has the flush.  I call anyway in disbelief.  Kc9c FTW!

I'm annoyed with myself.  I lost concentration.  I lost my gut.  I think the end result is the same; he calls my ship on the turn, but I still would rather be shipping than calling.  I talked myself into him having a set on the turn, but yet I called anyway!  WTF??!?!?!

Enough said.  I should be happy with a nice win.  I'm still very upset with the donkey turn check.

What Would You Do #242? - Turned flush

Here's an interesting hand that came up last week at my weekly Charles Town session:

I look down to find 8d4d in the BB after 6 players limp and I check my option.

Flop comes 5d6dTh
I'm pretty happy with this flop; I have a gutter to the weak-ish straight + a flush draw.  I want to juice this pot, as I figure I'm drawing pretty good to any made hands at this point.

Therefore, I lead out for $10 and get called in 1 spot, UTG+1 who is a tight, by-the-book player.  Rarely raised at the table, limps too many hands, but I've never seen him get out of line, thus far.

Turn is Ad
I hit my flush and check through to the caller.  He fast-checks the turn. A note as to why I check the turn here: He's the type of player who will be scared off a bad turn card such as this. Not only is this turn an overcard to the board, but it completes a lot of two pair combos and the flush. Not wanting to scare him off his hand, I opt to check the turn and value the river.

River is Kh
I bet $25 into the $32 pot.  He insta-raises me to $100 to go.  It should be noted that this was a fairly easy table up until that time.  I was able to raise at will and sweep away limps with regular frequency.  In fact, after my 3rd or 4th PF value raise, this same guy turned to me and said, "One of these times, I'm going to run you down / catch you," believing that my raises were disingenuous (some were for value, some were of the "air" variety).  So this weighs into my decision. 

WWYD?

Click to see results

After quite a bit of time, piecing the hand together, I came up with a few possibilities for his hand.  I doubt he's ever calling QJ and backing into the straight...  I simply can't see him doing that.  However, I can see him limping Ax (AT, A5, A6), or some such hand.  I can't see him calling a flop bet of $10 with a flopped 2 pair 56 combo, nor can I see him calling a flop bet with an overpair to the board or flopped sets.  I see him raising all of those hands.  However, there are a TON of diamond combo cards that he could limp and overcall the flop bet.  As a matter of fact, there are only 3 [unlikely] combos that I can beat here: 23dd, 72dd and 73dd.  All other diamond combos have me crushed, of which there are a whole bunch.  Remember, he loves to limp / fold to a raise, but he'll definitely try to get in there cheaply.

Back to the hand, though, I told the dealer I wasn't making a decision, but wanted to flip my cards over to get a reaction.  He definitely looked, but I could not discern a reaction.  I kept coming back to the question: was this a guy to make a "big" raise on a 3flush board, where I could have easily gotten there...  Was this a guy to turn his hand into a bluff on the river?  Was this a guy to never put me on a flush against his turned or rivered 2 pair?  I kinda concluded at this point that he's never bluffing the river.  He's always value betting the river.  In effect, the trouble for me was whether he believed his hand (because he had a 2 pair combo) was the best or whether his hand actually was the best (he had turned the better flush).

After much deliberation, I mucked my hand (face up at this point), and got a ton of snickering / laughs from a few guys down at my end of the table...  I'm not one to be deterred by popular belief / opinion... certainly not from a few donkeys who believe that they would NEVER lay down a 3flush - probably under any circumstances - but that caused a bit of conversation with the guy who won the pot.  A healthy debate led to asking him what he had; he had no problem answer our question - he was leaving in 3 hands anyway.  He said he had Qd7d.  The disbelievers were still disbelieving, though I'm fairly certain he told the truth: he has no reason to lie, Q7 is too precise of a hand to make up, and he was somewhat impressed with the laydown.

During the whole session, I had run terribly - I found myself down 3 buy ins within the first hour (JJ < Kc6c -> KKx board, AJ < AT -> QT9Q board, AQ < J5 -> 235 board, and how can I forget about the JT < 89 -> 389Q 9 etc.).  It's interesting how, when you can make a "big" laydown (don't know if I quite consider this "big"), it's karmic.  I immediately proceeded to stack and stack again, eventually breaking even on what was the makings of a terrible losing session.  In my book, a 3 buy in swing: that's a win.

I met a second blogger in person!

I want to give a quick shout out to Brian, over at Birdies & Bad Beats.  I linked up with him last night while playing at Ctown.  He's a BAMF playing 5/5 PLO...  Don't know how he plays that game with the variance he must experience - I couldn't handle the swings!  I'm scared about 2/5 and here he is at the 5/5 $1500 Omaha tables!

Brian - I hope you cleaned up last night, because if you have the cojones for it, I'd imagine you can really kill the game.

As to the 2/5 comment above, I think 2/5 needs to make it into my regular rotation.  I need to get past the feeling of safety that 1/2 gives me and also stop being so complacent.  I am going to make a concerted effort to play the "bigger" game.  If Brian has the cajones, I'm gonna grow a pair myself.

One quick poker hand which I feel I played well, because last night really lacked any true need for decision making:

I raise to $17(!!!!!) with from the BTN with AdQx and get 2 callers, a wonky, loose, though passive 50+ gentleman, and a 40+ gentleman who is an engineer in business for himself in a similar line of work to myself.  Also loose, the 40+ has a habit of overcalling when he limps most of his hands (and he raises his premiums without a doubt).  Otherwise, I thin out the field of around 5 limpers.

FWIW, the 50+ has $95 remaining and the 40+ has a stack of around $400 (I have him easily covered - booyah!).

The flop comes Kd Tx 3d.

Checks to me and I weak lead for $30 into the $60 pot.  I figure this will not be a clear stab because both players have a tendency to check / fold most missed flops and I don't want a diamond or random QJ J9 to "get there" on me, even though my hand isn't great at this point.  Two calls and I'm pretty much done with the hand.

The turn is the Kx.
Checks again to me and I check through.  Either the river misses and I take down the pot with a sizable bet, or I fold out of the hand.  I'm reasonably certain that no one holds a K though.

The river is an offsuit J and here's where the action becomes interesting.
The 50+ tries to ship his remaining $65, but can only manage $60 because he string bets his remaining $5 in white $1 chips.  The 40+ hesitates for around 10 seconds and calls.  Action to me.

Here's the difference between me a year or two ago and me now:  The old me would consider this a call / fold situation.  The current me says I'm never folding here; the only decision is whether to raise.  If I'm beat from the 50+, whatever...  He probably has KJ, end of story.  However, if I am indeed beat, I want to get value out of the 40+ guy who has a larger stack.  I want him committing more than $100 to this hand.  I ponder the decision for awhile and figure that he had to think about his decision for a $60 call, so therefore likely does not hold a K - and neither does he put me on a K or a rivered broadway.  I decide to put in a raise for $75.  50+ guy snaps the $5 effective, but I can't get 40+ guy to make the call.  He hesitates for a long while, realizes he'll see a showdown regardless of his action, and convinces himself of the fold.

FWIW, 50+ guy held Jd6d for the rivered JJ KK two pair - WTF?  What is he ever beating when getting called / raised?  In a comical moment afterwards, I hear him talking about how I sucked out on the river!  LULZ!

GG sirs...

Status update & a hand history

My wife & I took our kids on their first cruise this past week.  We went from Miami to the Bahamas.  Fortunately, the kids had a blast (5, 7 & 9) - cruises will likely be the Poker Meister family's vacation of choice going forward.  Better, since cruises leave from Baltimore, we won't have to pay for airfare; cruises seem to be great value for the money.

Onboard, I got to sit in on some of the fishiest games I've ever played.  Either the players were partially retarded or spewtarded.  Numerous times... check that... almost every time - I'd see limp / calls with $12 behind and auto folds to cbets.  Every once in awhile, it's a good feeling to be the HUGE fish in a little pond, as I was far & away the best player at the tables.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to put my skill into quantifiable dollar terms.  The digital PokerPro tables treated me terribly; I would get it all in more than 3 times as a dominating favorite only to be sucked out on.  Notables included: KQo vs. K9o all in PF (I raised and he 3bet all in to not much more; running 4 flush), 33 vs. K6 on a 3 6 8 K board (6 on the riv; checked flop and check / raised AI turn to ~$100 stack), AT vs KTdd on a 2c 5s 7d (aggrodonk called PF $15 raise and shoved $42 into $45 on flop - good call by me) board (diamond turn, K river).  Nevertheless, I persevered for a +break-even 3 nights, happy to escape the clutches of run bad.

Trying to get back in gear, I went out & played a session at Charles Town yesterday, with mixed results.  I had to make my own luck as I simply was not getting the cards.  For the majority of my 3-4 hour session, I was break-even, never swaying more than +-$25.  Towards the end of the session, I limped 32o in mid to late position and saw a 3 way flop where I flopped a J56 under-gutter with 2 hearts and a spade on board.  I lead the flop for $15 into a large-ish field and got 2 callers.  At this point, I was determined to boom or bust and steeled myself to pound away at the pot.  To date, I had never really been to showdown and hardly played any hands.  I figured my reputation, for anyone watching, would precede itself, and I could be given credit fora  two pair / set type hand.  The turn brought a 3s, giving me a bit of equity to the river.  I was fairly sure that the pair of 3's was not the best hand, but continued my story regardless - firing $35 into the $50-ish pot.  1 sticky caller was all who remained to a blank river.  After his check, I shoved my remaining $200+ into his effective $160, repping a two pair / set.  He folded after a few seconds of thought and showed 64ss so I showed my 23 bluff and was done with the session + 1/2 buy in...  Not bad for a completely card dead  / water treading session.

Hand History

From a session ~2 weeks ago at Charles Town:
New player (claims to have just turned 21; his first time casino, playing "pro" poker).  He's on the HJ and opens to $12 (note that whether or not he's a new 21, he handles his chips poorly and is clearly new to poker).  I decide to 3bet him to $40 with QQ on the BB.  My 3bet folds out the limpers and he shoves $200.  The action is on me, so I start to talk...  I ask him what he has and get an answer: he tells me Aces.  I tank and fold.  Comments?




BTW, he showed his Aces.  :-)  Next hand.

From the timebank; Raising AKo in position at Ctown

The following hand takes place a few weeks ago, where I went on a complete heater at Charles Town and tore up the table:

I'm dealt AKo mid position.  I raise to $14 and get two callers - tight-ish, cute blonde girl mid 20's (SB), and a lagtard (mid position limp / caller).  I think I have both covered; blondie has $78 and lagtard has $~160(?) and I have position on both of them for this hand.

Flop comes down A J T rainbow.  Blondie immediately open shoves $78 into $42 and folds out the lagtard.  I'm facing a $78 call into $42.  Prior hands I've seen her play Aces in continual c/c mode.  She's somewhat passive, but has seen me make a few moves that undoubtedly she didn't understand (i.e. raising draws, check raising air, etc.).  She views me as supremely aggressive and volatile.  Am I making a mistake snapping her off here with TPTK + the draw or should I always be calling all short stacks like this?  She's not a short stack player - she bled her chips down to a shorty.

FWIW, she showed down AJ for flopped Aces up.  I sucked out to the Q on the turn and the hand was over.

I'm not sure I think this is a huge leak either way; perhaps it is due to her passive nature - she could potentially show up with a set of Tens or Jacks - but I really think she wants the pot immediately with any Ace in her hand, not wanting to see the turn K or Q and having to guess the rest of the way out of position.  I feel like folding TPTK with $42 in the middle is just so weak with such a short stack behind.  Clearly, I'm not getting the correct price for the hand she held, but I honestly think there's so many more hands that she shows here where I'm way ahead...

I was the motherf*cker! I F*ed their motherfs for once!

Welcome to the New Year, I guess.  I played my first session last night, and it ended in a bang.  It's rare when I can hit my hands... and also get paid, consistently.  Lately, I've been having these statistical anomalies where I'll sit for hours and go through a streak of 10-15 hands and simply clean up.  Last night was one of those nights.  My mother wasn't f*'ed...  I did the motherf*ing!

Summary

I played spot on poker against 8 out of the 9 other players at the table.  The 9th player, natch, was a curmudgeonly white guy (early 60s) who would literally play any two cards to any sized raise and get there by the turn or river (against all comers).  He knew how to call when he was behind and suckout / bet when he was ahead, which was about all he needed.  Throughout the course of the night, in addition to felting me early on for full stacks, he would take in the neighborhood of $2-300 from me.  It was almost like a funnel where I would crush up the table by bluffs and value, and he'd swoop in to take the winnings by storm (me being the donkey I am, was always incredulous when his top pair crap kicker or middle pair no kicker would trip up on the river to my usually overpairs, and I'd sucker pay him off).

Given the background that all 9 players at my table are HUGE fish (not including myself), 8 out of the 9 are weak / tight / passive and the 9th loves to gamble it up and bluff frequently.  My nemisis fits in the former camp of weak / tight, but not entirely passive.  Let's recap the first hand, which I want to take as a learning lesson because I made a HUGE error on the river:

Hand 1: Flush over Flush

I'm dealt 3c5c in mid position facing a host of limpers.  I limp along as I am wont to do with those types of suited gappers.  Finally the BTN decides to raise to $12, and the limpers trickle through with calls (as do I).  We go to the flop ~5 way ($60) and see an Ac 4h Tc flop.

Checks around to the original raiser who leads $20.  The nemesis (SB) and the gambler (BB) call, and I opt to check / raise, intending to take down the pot right then & there.  I c/r to $80 and the original raiser folds.  The nemesis snap calls and the gambler is fraught with emotion.  He hesitantly calls.

Turn shows the Kd.  It checks around to the gambler who deliberates on a bet for a good 25-30 seconds, when I smartly pick up my chips and go into my "intending to bet" pose.  He finally realizes my "intentions" and checks (he had a very poorly played AK) to me.  Not wanting to be all in for the additional $200 behind (because he's absolutely c/ring ai and I don't think I can call), I follow with a check.

River shows the 9c and bingo.  Here's where I go wrong.  My hand is a bluff catcher - nothing more than a bluff catcher - when my nemesis leads for $75.  Pained, gambler calls, and I deliberate whether to raise.  Again, in retrospect, my hand is a bluff catcher I should be calling or folding and never raising, but I somehow convince myself that my nemesis is betting his two pair vs. gambler's two pair and my flush is actually good...  And I'm missing value by not raising.  Needless, I raise $100 on top, get a call from my nemesis (fold from gambler) and effectively stack myself when he shows Kc4c.

However, the rest of the night was not to be in the same direction; I have two additional hands that I will share where I'm proud of the way I played.  They relied on excellent reads of the situation.

Hand 2: Calling KQo to a back-raise

Apparently, the gambler is a little more observant than I gave him credit for.  I typically raise my BTN / CO with a WIDE range, hoping to take the pot of limpers immediately, or take it down with a cbet on the flop.  It's profitable, it works online, and when you don't get a bunch of overcallers, it works live.  However, the gambler caught onto my little scheme and decided to lay in wait and back raise my BTN raise.

Facing 6 (yes 6!!!) limpers, I raised to $20 with KQo from the BTN.  It folds out the SB/BB and 1 early limper.  The gambler, in middle position, decides to back raise me to $45 and that clears out the limpers between us.  We're heads up and I'm facing a call for $25 with a "trouble hand."  I'm not really aware of the earlier observation note at the time, but at that time, he feels like he doesn't have AA, KK because he's always shown in prior hands to open raise without hesitation.  He's never back raised before, and I feel like it's WAY too obvious for him to back raise even JJ+.  I have a K and a Q in my hand as a "blocker" (as all the internet kids say), so the likelihood of him holding QQ / KK is somewhat diminished.  Again, it just seems WAY too obvious for him to back raise those premium hands.  Granted, there is a prior hand earlier in the night where he saw me back raise and go to showdown / win with my AJs to an unsuspecting customer, where I was trying to trap my nemesis and the gambler (who did not oblige but opted to limp / fold instead).

We go to a flop and see Q Q T.  He insta-leads for $60 and I insta-flat.  Can we see "retribution" from last week, where I got sucked out on with AK vs KQ?  This time, though, it's a bit different because we're looking at $~350 effective stacks, and I sensed weakness PF.  So, again, I flat and we go to the turn.

The turn is an A.  I think this card only hurts me.  If he is weak, then he doesn't hold an Ace.  If I read him wrong, then he just filled up on me.  However, he decides on an ill-advised check.  Let's recap: he's effectively led twice now, and has committed $100 to the pot.  He now decides to put on the brakes, even though he's desperately trying to rep AA / KK?  This is not a player who wants to give a free card when he has the nuts and a "fish on the hook."  He'd bet same bet or something similar.  Something doesn't smell right, and I opt to "same bet," - $60.  He, again, ill-advised, decides to check/raise me to $150.  His story has a TON of holes in it, and after thinking about it, I push all in for my remaining $225+.  No snap call = no Aces full.  After a TON of decision for the remaining $75, he folds and I drag a nice pot to push my way back to above even on the heels of the flush over flush disaster.

I would later find out, in talking with him, that he was indeed weak, holding Jx (he said he had a gutshot).  It was a well-thought out hand; creative on his part, but not consistent, and read well on my part.

Hand 3: 87o calling for a gutter with huge implications

Like a broken record, host of limpers, late position raise to $12, 5 callers (miracle of all miracles, nemesis and gambler call as first in), flop of 3 6 T rainbow.  I'm in middle position with 87o, sitting on about $500+.  Nemesis and gambler both have me roughly covered.

We all check the $60 pot to the original raiser who leads for $20... weak sauce. Nemesis (CO) and gambler (BTN) call, and after thinking about it, I call because I have an opportunity to make $300+ on a turn 9 or get away from the hand when I miss.  The original raiser seems very comfortable, leading into 4 callers, so I also figure if worst comes to worst, I'll at least get his $~120 remaining stack.

Turn is [obviously, since I wouldn't be writing this up] a 9, putting a 2 flush clubs on the board.  Check check check and late position / BTN(?) leads for $30 (into $140 lolaments).  Same 2 fish call, and I opt to c/r the nuts to $120.  I want juice in the pot, and I want it now!  Bettor folds, nemesis (damn) folds, and gambler snap calls ($500 here I come...  no club no club no club no pair no pair no pair).

River is an offsuit 2, making the final board read 3 6 T 9 2, rainbow.  Now having been an observant player for most of the night, I know that the gambler loves to gamble.  I also know that he loves to make large bluff bets on any street, and had been able to get many players off the best hands by bluffing 4 straights, etc.  I'd seen him do it multiple times, it was position-based betting, and on one occasion, I couldn't look him up for fear of the 4 other players ahead of me who likely had better hands and could easily be looking him up themselves.  He got away from each of those, winning without showdown and stealing numerous $200+ pots.  Given my information on him, I opt to check to his bluff, figuring that's the only way I'll make money on this pot, given the strength I showed on the turn.

On a board such as this, though, unless you're a somewhat dumb player like my fish is, you have to realize that it's really difficult to show up with a strong hand or bluff on this type of board given:

a.  the amount of players starting the pot (5 players)
b.  the prior action (2 streets of betting with no raises except for my turn c/r which meant business)
c.  whatever "value" hand he has is likely a bluff catch and should be checked behind

Given all of the above, my fish leads for $175 on the river.  I already had a plan in my head as to what I would do when he acts, and went on auto-pilot into my best Emmy performance.  I insta-snap shoved (seriously... his chips hit the line and I shipped so quickly that there was a dust plume behind them) and jumped out of my chair.  Oh yeah... the snap shove was about $400 total...  I started pacing a bit, then sat back down and tried to avoid eye contact, blinking fast and acting a bit squirmy when I felt his gaze upon me.  He took around 2 minutes before I nastily called clock.  When the floor started timing him, it took him about 20 seconds to eek out a "call."  No slowroll; I called out nuts and flipped over the 87 for the monsterpotten. 

I would go on to run through the table, nutting about 4 times, but the above were the notable hands.

Wishing you all run good (just not against me).  And thus completes my start to 2013.

NOTE:  Hands 1 & 3 edited to reflect accurate cards as per recollection.  Hand 1 board 4c -> 4h and Th -> Tc.  Hand 3 board 4 -> 3.

A stranger in a strange land... news & notes on 2/5

Although a departure from the normal paragraph form of posting, I wanted to take down some notes / observations from the 2/5 tables and share them with you:

• Game speed: Everyone knows their move and has thought about it in advance.  The action moves along much more quickly as there isn't as much thought for routine plays.  Players are paying attention to the action and are well aware when the action is on them.
• Awareness of odds: On a number of occasions, I made an "outlandish" raise of 8x in the various positions (mostly from SB/BB because I really don't want to see a multi-way flop from OOP for the hand) and almost every time, would-be callers were investigating my stack to ensure proper odds.  On a few instances, I got folds around the table because the odds to call and set mine simply were not there.
• Aggression factor: Most players have a good grasp that aggression wins.  There were much fewer limped pots, must less willingness to stack off on limped pots, and a TON more positional raising.  Blind stealing is much more rampant and there is far less calling of 3bets.
• Bluffing: 2- and 3- street bluffing seems to be more normal.  There are definitely players who will 3bet or bet 3 streets with air.  The game is somewhat of a sit down and strap in situation.
• Thin value bets: I saw a lot of betting on the river where a 1/2 game would likely check through.  Two pair hands got more value in this game than they do in lower stakes.
• There are still donkeys: As I sat down, I quickly was reminded that this is still the same game: NLHE.  Once the nerves wore off, I settled down to play my hands and put other players on a hand to the best of my abilities.  It's still the same old game I've been playing all these years.

In summary, I was a winner for the night.  I ran well on the first table, doubling my initial buy in.  Not feeling comfortable with 200BB quite yet, I requested a table change and pocketed 100BB.  Upon switching, I immediately got hit with suckouts and monster draws not getting there, and found myself down 50BB.  I wound up winning around 50BB for the short night - I'll take that; it's around double my hourly rate!

I'll probably wind up playing 2/5 at nights and 1/2 during days until I'm more comfortable with the flow of the game.  I can still crush 1/2 and I think it's a cash cow that I shouldn't readily give up.  In the meantime, I look to 1/2 for ego support.