The worst hand history replayer!

 Hello all [or whomever peruses this site after several years of absence]!  Been a long time - been playing on Global and BetOnline.  Moreso BetOnline of late because it allows HUDs and I was running in place with the HUD-less Global.  Not to say that there's no money to be made at that site; there definitely is!  It just takes far more concentration.

Hand of the day is nothing really of consequence but more of a brag post of the villain spazzing out:

Not sure if you can see it, but I steal from the HJ with the powerful 52s.  My opponent, who's been very verbal in the chat box, decides to 3bet me to 10BB.  Mind you we're around 200BB to start the hand so we're pretty deep...  SB & BB fold and I decide to flat and take a flop.  Pretty easy hand to get away from if I miss.  If I hit, I'm looking at knocking it out of the park given how big he talks in chat and his prior hands - he's complaining particularly about my lack of hand quality that shows down and wins (i.e. QT vs. his T8s, or his witnessed turned set of mine vs. my opponent's overpair...)  He's seeing what he perceives as generally fishy play and in his mind he confirms it as he dumps his stack to me...

Anyway, back to the hand: I of course flop magic (would I be posting a folded 3bet pot on the flop otherwise :-) ???).  I lead given his strong-ish 3bet and he decides to jack me to all in (WTF????  Couldn't you accomplish the same thing by just raising a normal amount and deciding from there???).  Needless to say, by the end of the hand, all he's left with is and empty stack while muttering to himself...  At least he'll have a good story!

Montreal Playground Poker Club trip report: just when I think I’ve seen it all, I realize that I haven’t seen anything

My wife and I took the kids up to Montreal, Canada for an extended weekend so that my wife could see her Canadian cousins. It had been a while since we’d been up there, so I took a few days off of work and we all drove the 10 hours from our house. It was nice; we got to see all of my wife’s family, and met the newest member of our family, a 3 month old baby boy. The weather was nice for the most part, so we were able to spend time outside, walking around and checking out Montreal’s sites. My kids have never experienced poutine, so we definitely had a serving to share. We broke up the trip on the trek home, making a stopover in New Jersey to visit my cousins. My cousin’s kids are close in age to my kids, so it was a welcomed relief from the all-too-long car ride.

To cut to the poker content, throughout the 15 years my wife and I have been married, I can’t recall a single time where I’ve been able to get away and check out the Montreal poker scene. For years, I knew about the Casino de Montréal, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually played poker there – I’ve read the games are bad, the poker room is tiny, and it’s generally expensive. However, I googled Montreal poker and found a place I’ve been reading about over the past few years, the Playground Poker Club. The poker club is a strictly poker room located on the Native American [Indian] Mohawk reservation. Saturday night, I was able to get away for a few hours and check it out. It happened to be around 25 minutes driving from the place we were staying.

My initial impression of the poker room was that it was imposingly big. 78 tables big. Seemingly just a warehouse of poker tables surrounded by TVs. Getting on a table was fairly easy; I needed to first get a Playground card to get on the waitlist. After doing that, I had a short 5 minute wait to get on a table. The place maybe had 30-40 tables running at 10:00 on a Saturday night. I went and got chips; using U.S. dollars, they changed my $200 into $256 CAD. The $1/2 tables were $200 max, so I pocketed my extra $56 and put the $200 on the table when I got called.

Some observations:

•  The room is very strict and rule-oriented; non-players are not allowed to congregate around the table; they must stay behind the rail at all times.
• Rake is 10% up to $8 + $1 for the bad beat drop!  Ouch.
• You don’t have to post when entering the game though you can buy the button if you’d like.
• The chairs and table are very comfortable.  They have 9 player tables, so there’s lots of room as well.
• All food and drinks are free.  They have an extensive menu of food selections and it appears that they have a fully stocked bar.  The food looked very good; order as much as you’d like and your only cost is the tip for the server.
• The food and drink service seemed very quick.  There’s seemingly always a server around.
• The Montreal players seem to like to bet their draws.
• The play was very poor.

A real quick inconsequential hand history relating to the title of the post:

I’m sitting for maybe an hour – there’s a lady across from me who I’ve pegged as absolutely atrocious. She’s hitting hands right & left; only bets when she has top pair or better (top pair - she’s never folding regardless the action). Anyway, I’ve seen her runner a boat, straight, two pair, etc. Usually, she has no idea that she has the winner, but somehow gets there. Anyway, I’m in the BB in seat 8; she’s in the 2 seat across from me as the second to act. As she’s lifting her cards, she accidentally flashes me the Deuce of diamonds, but also accidentally flips over the Ten of clubs for the entire table to see. She looks at the dealer and asks for a replacement card, but he relents; it’s her fault for flipping the Ten. The whole conversation is taking place in French; I don’t think she speaks any English. Therefore, I’m embellishing a little bit; she may have said to the dealer, “Beautiful weather in Montreal this weekend; what are you doing on Sunday?” while he replied, “Very fine weather – I’m planning a nice Easter brunch,” but what do I know? Body language -wise, it looked like she wanted a new card and was trying to blame the dealer for her folly. Anyway, despite showing the table 50% of her hand and me the other 50%, she decides to limp her powerhouse, throwing in the $2.

So, it’s not unexpected that she limped T2o (I've seen her play 93o to a raise; she's calling nearly every hand she sees), but I don’t get continuing to play your hand when you’ve played half of it face up! This is not a hand that should be too hard to fold! WTF? Have you ever seen that before?  Unfortunately, I looked down from the BB to see T3o, so I had her dominated, but we both totally missed the flop and one of the other 4 or 5 limps took it down :-(.

It's like kissing your sister...

I had a "long" session last night - played until about 2:30 AM.  I was having too good of a time, playing with the young'ins whom I've become friendly with at the 'Shoe.  A 7 hour session yielded a $50 gain...  puke.  I'm happy with the turnaround from down $300 early on, but still - breaking even for all those hours is a crappy result.  Breaking even is like kissing your sister.  I guess there's something to be said about the entertainment factor of having fun conversations the whole night.

At risk of becoming a Rob-like post, the first table featured a regular who was totally drunk.  He was the chattiest I've ever seen.  There was one lady, an older - maybe late 60's woman - who was mixing it up with us in the conversation.  The conversation started out as folding out of turn and the rules (whether or not you can call after you've folded out of turn but pulled your cards back) spawned from my "brilliant" call down of AJ high vs. AQ high on the river for $100 when the AQ threw his cards towards the muck in a forward motion but did not muck the cards.  Long story, about the latter, but regardless, the conversation quickly turned to "what would you do for a million bucks."

It stayed within the poker realm at first - would you mis-call your hand to illicit a fold from your opponent for $3k, then $1M, then $10M.  There was a particularly honest individual who would not do it.  Then it turned to - well, what WOULD YOU DO for $1M.  Apparently, there's a Facebook post trending about this - and the question was would you step on puppies for $1M or more.  I said I would, and my end of the table started talking about it.  The dude to my left claimed he would step on 10 puppies...  hell, for the money, he'd step on his own dog's puppies!  The dealer, who's an animal lover, was telling us to stop it, but the aforementioned lady got so upset she called floor over to us for a reprimand while also requesting a table change.  I couldn't believe her reaction / outrage at what I felt was a silly hypothetical conversation.  The dude to my left continued to talk about how he puts his lhaso apso in the dog ring ala Michael Vick and watches him tear the fur off of random poodles.  This sent her over the edge.  I think we all made an enemy for life last night.  Some people can't take a joke I guess...

Odds & ends - nothing much to write about

In no order of importance, only items that I'm remembering:

• Had my biggest session ever last night - a session on the shorter side, but very profitable!
• Went through a streak of 9 winning sessions in a row (longest streak ever) from around my trip to Vegas through mid-August.
• Lost 1 or 2 sessions after that streak, and then had a streak of 7 winning sessions.
• It's pretty cool that seemingly no matter what happens with poker, there's always regression to the mean:
• 62% of my sessions are winning sessions - 2 plus 2 reports ~60% of sessions should be winners.
• My hourly rate at 1/2 is ~$19/hr, my hourly rate at 1/3 is ~$33/hr - 2 plus 2 reports ~10x BB / hr is handily beating the game.
• The hourly rates for 1/2 include a terrible run at Maryland Live! where I average a measly $1.49 / hr.
• I've put in more hours this year than any other year, with less sessions than the prior years' maximums.  In other words, I'm averaging more hours per session.  If I keep to the pace I'm on right now, I should end the year with the most sessions eve
• It's pretty cool (or pathetic depending on which side of the coin you're on) that we play and win at a game that requires no formal degree nor education, no resume nor any job interview, yet we can make more per hour than a skilled laborer or degree'd career job.
• It's a nice fallback plan that if the economy goes to the dumper, there's always gambling and poker!
• I've been thinking about moving back into the 2/5 games, yet the 1/3 games are so juicy it's tough to justify an additional $200 on the table.
• I met a few regs that I've seen around the room since I've been playing at the 'Shoe, yet never sat down at the same table with them.  Nice folks!
• I think I got labeled a 1/3 donk because I called 3 streets + checked a river against an aggro 2/5 player who: PF raised $25 (called with 99), bet $35 on a Ts 7s 2 board (I called), bet $75 on a 5 turn (call) and checked the J river - I was shown AQo.  I was checking for value the whole way and debated betting the river, figuring she could potentially call A high as a bluff catcher against my missed spade draw, but in the end, couldn't find the fortitude to bet it (it would have been for naught since she claimed she would have folded any bet there).

Finally, 3 hand histories for thought:

•  This one is from last night and deals with a mega aggro (maniac) at 1/3:
  
  He's at my table for around 14 hands and has straddled at every chance.  He's on my left, so that's nice so far as straddles are concerned, but he's totally unpredictable, and within the 8 hands, he's shown QQ and KK as well as a ton of bluffs and non-value hands.  Outside of me, he's running the table over with his $300 buy in because he's forcing folds out of discomfort from the rest of them - his stack is up to around $360.  I don't remember the details, but I took a pot off him by raising one of his straddles and cbetting which nets him back down to $320 to start the hand (I have him easily covered as this is my all time winningest session).
  
  He's straddling the BTN for $8 and I'm in the hijack with KQo.  Not normally a hand I'd limp a straddle (that's a raise IMO, particularly from late position like that), but I suspect he'll raise on queue with 3 other limpers and perceived dead money.  Well, this Yogi may be smarter than the average bear since he checks through the option - perhaps thinking one of the limpers is laying in wait to limp / raise him.
  
  Well, all that said, we see a flop of K 8 2 - rainbow.  All check to the aggro who leads for $20 into the $40 pot.  He gets 2 calls and action is to me - $100 in the middle now.  I'm debating thinning the herd:
  1.  I don't know what kinds of hands the callers have, so I'm not going to be happy with any turn card - particularly a non-King board pairing.
  2.  I think Mr. Aggro will take my move as an indicator that I'm trying to "make a move on him."  He's somewhat scared of me - if nothing else he respects me, and wouldn't expect me to check / raise such a dry board.  After all, "what am I scared of?"
  3.  I don't want to raise too much here; I want action because I'm likely way ahead here - Mr. Aggro and the rest of the field are drawing to 25% hands most likely, since there aren't any draws and very few backdoors (mainly T9s).  I want value out of at least one person so Mr. Aggro is my target.
  
  $100 is too much to check / raise, from a limped pot - as I think it's too dissuasive for seeing another card if I'm looking for my 2 pair / 3 of a kind outs...  Min raise ($40) is a snap call from all parties, so that's too little.  Therefore, I decide on between $60-70 - I check / raise to $65.  Mr. Aggro snaps it off and lets me know that he "hopes I have better than just 1 pair, because I'm gonna need it!"  Turn is an off suit 4 completing the rainbow.
  
  I debate going for a check / raise once again, but just go with the most direct route: I lead for $100 and he folds, showing 2 5 and lecturing me that the 4 missed him by a 'pip and how lucky I was...  Critical thought to the hand: Should I be trying for a c/r again, or should I have bet less?  More?  Thought at the time was he can call a c/r to $65 and the pot now has close to $200 - half pot on the turn should be a snap call, no?  Guess not...
• A few nights ago, again 1/3:
  
  I'm dealt 88h as my first hand, facing a $15 raise from an early position raiser.  No data on the guy except he's in his late 30's / early 40's.  I call along with one full time player who's always at the 'Shoe.
  
  Flop comes As 4h 5h - EP cbets $20.  It seems like such a weak cbet - to the tune of nuts or air.  $20 into $45?  Weak sauce.  I call to take one off and take it away on the turn, and the reg to my left folds.
  
  Turn is an 8s.  EP now checks to me.  It's annoying to hit a nut card on the turn and now "value bet" instead of bluff take it away as planned.  $85 in the pot and I know he's not calling any bet unless he turned a flush draw / flopped a flush draw.  Unless he's extremely tricky (unlikely for 1/3), he's signaled the classic "give up" on the turn by checking the A high board.  How do you get value out of a board that you planned to bluff but now want value?  I felt compelled to bet here, but I don't know if I did the right thing; perhaps checking nets a small value bet on the river - but I bet $40 and he snap folded.
• Last night, 1/3 - pressing up against my session maximums (winningest session ever):
  
  Not entirely happy with this hand, though I don't know if I'm going to take a lesson learned.  I'm effectively running the table over by combinations of value and bluffs.  $11 cbets on limped pots (non- Ace high, in position) seem to continually take it down.  These dogs won't hunt without top pair minimum.  Good for me.  Limp more often, bet more often.
  
  I'm dealt 66 from mid position with a 50's woman (weak / tight) who limped to my right.  I raise to $16 and get a 2-3 callers.  Moves around to a short stack who shoves for $43.  Lady to my right thinks for a while and just calls.
  
  Action to me:
  
  Lady has flat called twice now and betting is re-opened.  I want to capture dead money and get heads up with the all in.  I think the lady is always raising QQ+, most of the time JJ+.  I can mostly exclude that from her range.  The part I'm not thinking about is that she's super frustrated with taking a beating the whole night.  I want her to fold, so I put $100 on top for $143 to go which folds out everyone except for the woman (and the all-in).  She thinks for a very long time before sighing and finally shoves her remaining $170 total.  I snap call and am shown 88 (lady) vs. J9.  88 holds to scoop a nice sized pot.  I gave her too much credit that she could fold her hand - she had showed a prior fold for $20 on the turn with a flopped trip Aces, deuce kicker against another player (with $50 in front of her), she had continually folded out of fear of kicker problems, etc.
  
  Again, don't know if there's a lesson learned here.  Flatting $3, then $43?  Perhaps I need to expand her range even though her range was exactly what I suspected it would be...?

Alright - too long of a post after not posting for about a month...  Hope you enjoy :-)

Playing poker in Tampa

I finally had a nice session here in Tampa, Florida.  The last time I was in Tampa, towards the end of summer in 2013, the results were mixed but negative.  This session evened me up for the two trips, though.  The session was a mostly decision-free session, albeit on the short side.  I got to the Tampa Hard Rock Hotel & Casino around 8:30 and was seated almost immediately at a shorthanded table for a little 2/5 action.  (I’m still executing my New Year’s resolution to play a lot more 2/5 in 2014.)

The table consisted of (in clockwise fashion:

1. A “pro” to my immediate left (who was nice enough, wasn’t trying to run me over, who was capable of a few moves and loved to raise limped pots with position)
2.  An older gentleman in seat 10 (or 9; not sure whether the tables are 10- or 9- handed) who would lead almost every flop regardless of action pre-flop
3. A few nits in the 1-4 seats
4. A complete and utter fish in the 5 seat (who was more than happy to dump buy in after buy in, before getting bored and going to play Blackjack for $25-100 / hand)
5. A newbie / straight forward chick to my right, which rounds out the table

There weren’t too many hands of note, but I have 5 hands to discuss / share.

Hand 1: I take advantage of seat 10.  It’s limped around to me in the SB with 89hh and I complete.  We see a flop of 3 5 6 – not sure whether there’s a heart on board.  On queue, seat 10 leads $15 (as he always does) into the $25 pot and it folds to me.  I flat my gutter + 2 overs.

Turn is bingo – I hit an 8.  Of course, I’m checking to him yet again and he leads for $25 this time.  I just call.

River is a 5, pairing the board.  I’m not happy with that card, but I’m happier than the river being an overcard.  I check a 3^rd time and he contemplates his bet – and leads for $30.  I beat him to the pot and say “call.”  I wait a while for him to flip and he shows KJcc for a complete bluff.  I scoop with my 8’s and a few eyebrows are raised with my snap / “weak” call.  Really?  Why are they surprised?  Have they been paying any attention?

Hand 2: I raise on the BTN with AQo to $25 after one limper.  Seat 10, in the BB is the only one to call and we see a HU flop of 5 7 T, two hearts.  He leads (on queue once again) for $20.  I raise to $55.  He thinks for a bit and flats.

We check the non-heart 2 turn and check the blank river.  I wait for him to flip once again (not sure whether the rules are last action flips first or clockwise flips first).  He shows after a bit, he shows A6ss for a missed backdoor (????) and I show AQ for the scoop.  I should have bet the turn!  Oh well.

Hand 3 (questionable hand): I’m dealt KK (with Kd) in the BTN.  I raise to $35 after 2 limpers and seat 4 (tight gentleman) calls.

Flop comes 7 8 T (2 diamonds).  He checks and I lead $40 into $~70.  He check raises to $90.  We’re sitting on about $275 effective to start the hand, so I’m looking down at around $200.  There’s $200 in the pot - $250 if I make the call with $150 behind.  It’s very possible this guy limped 77’s and 88’s (I think he raises TT, but I haven’t seen him make an aggressive move all day), but I doubt he’s showing up with J9, after calling a sizable PF raise.  I just don’t see waiting for the turn to get it all in when there’s not a lot of turn cards that I will like: a 9 sucks, a diamond sucks, a face card sucks, a T sucks.  I put him on a cross between a diamond draw and A T (both with about 25-35% equity), so after careful deliberation, I opt to shove.  He thinks for a few and finally folds.  Is it wrong to shove there?  Should I be flatting and letting him shove the turn, calling off all cards?  It just felt so wrong to let him have a card here.

Hand 4 (questionable hand): I get mixed up with Seat 4, the fish where I limp Ad8d along with ~3 others.  I’m sitting on $225 effective.

Flop comes 8 9 4 (two diamonds).  Fish leads $20 into $30 and I raise to $65.  He calls.

The turn is a diamond (which also completes the straight – though don’t remember which particular card – may have been the Td if that makes a difference).  He leads for $75 into the growing pot and with less than $175 behind, I shove the remainder.  Is this a mistake?  He deliberates for a good long time and finally folds.  Before he folds, I show my 8d to rile him up a bit that he’s folding to mid pair because he thinks I have a diamond flush.  I told him I didn’t want to see the river diamond because I wasn’t sure my 8d would be good enough.  This hand bothered him quite a bit because he went on to dump about $1.3k to the table over the course of about an hour and a half.  Unfortunately, none of his dumping was to me – but this guy took his losses in stride; I think he had a good time doing it.

Hand 5 (I think I played it okay, but open to opinions): I raise to $35 with AKo from SB after a few limpers.  "Pro" to my left flats and everyone else folds.  Flop comes K Q X and I check.  I think if I bet here, I blow pro off all his bluff hands, and this seems like a "scary" flop for a PF raise / flop check that pro can lead.  As expected, pro leads for $40; I consider check / raising but opt to call hoping for further continuation bets.

Turn is J and we check through.  River is another J and here's where I think I should consider leading about $50-60 but I'm hoping he can't let it drop the fact that I checked 3 times.  I opt to check and he insta-checks.  I don't know whether he'd call a small value bet - perhaps $40-50 instead of $50-60.  I begrudge the fact that he respects my play and isn't trying to push me off hands.  As soon as he checks, I know I'm good and flip up AK without waiting for him to move.  He sighs and folds; I think he had a pair of Q's.  I just felt like it was so standard for him to at least fire off one more barrel, but I guess I judged him wrong.

 Oh yeah!  I almost forgot to detail that I had the opportunity to play with a former bracelet winner and 2004 6^th place WSOP main event finisher, Al Krux.  It was pretty cool sitting down with a guy who has likely seen it all.  I categorized him as a tight nit – he never really made any moves in the time that I spent at the table.  He was more having fun, enjoying a cocktail.  Cool experience, nevertheless.

Are you a blogger?  Do you like free money?  Be sure to sign up & play in the Bitcoin Blogger Freeroll poker tournament coming up over the next few weeks!

Not complaining, but finding a lot of weird lines from the players lately...

It's been a long while since I've posted any online hand histories.  I've been forced to adapt to 6max play if I want to 8+ table online at seals.  There simply aren't enough tables to go around where I am forced to mix in 6max.  I've really taken to the amped up aggression levels.  It's kinda shocking.  The players seem to understand that aggression is the key to the game, but they don't understand when they need to apply the aggression.  Much like in my play, they realize that they can bluff certain spots.  However, what they don't realize is that they need to adjust to me, who is willing to call down "light" and understands good bluff spots.


I got lucky here, admittedly, but there's no way this guy should be stacking off with a pair of Aces, crap kicker:

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $26.58
Hero: $20.87
CO: $31.82
BTN: $20.86
SB: $24.83 (Loose passive player)

Pre Flop: ($0.30)
Hero is dealt Js Qd
Hero raises to $0.60, 2 folds, SB calls $0.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.40) 8s 5s Ad (2 players)
SB bets $1.00, Heroraises to $2.25, SB calls $1.25

Turn: ($5.90) 9c (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $5.00, SB calls $5

River: ($15.90) Ts (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $13.02 all in, SB calls $13.02

Hero shows Js Qd, Q high straight
SB shows Ac 2c, pair of Aces

Final Pot: $41.94
Hero wins $41.34
(Rake: $0.60)

But more to the point, I'm finding a lot of crazy crazy lines and play at the 6max table...  so much so that it has me wondering whether I should have been playing 6max all along for the past 4-5 years...

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $26.95 (LAG, wide steal range)

SB: $20.10

Hero: $25.32

UTG: $4.09

CO: $19.34

Hero is dealt Qc Tc

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

2 folds, BTN raises to $0.60, 1 fold, BB raises to $1.80, BTN calls $1.20 - standard 3bet re-steal

Flop: ($3.70) Qh 5s 2h (2 players)

Hero bets $2.75, BTN calls $2.75 - I hit top pair, way ahead of his range.  His call is somewhat unsettling, but his aggression factor is off the charts - in the 50% realm over 400+ hands.  He's like *NEVER* just calling on a drawing board.

Turn: ($9.20) 5c (2 players)

Hero bets $5.00, BTN raises to $10.00, Hero calls $5 - Now I'm concerned, but if he has a 5, is he min raising or going for an all-in raise?  I have to imagine he's pushing the turn with a random 5, but I'll play along...  His line deviates far from standard for this particular player.

River: ($29.20) 9h (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $12.40 all in, Hero calls $10.77 all in - Such a sick crappy card, completing the obvious straight.  But now his story makes no sense.  He repped the trips on the turn (or he could have a set of 2's), but now he's trying to rep the heart flush.  In the end, I'm not buying any of it, so I tank call with my Q's mid kicker...

BTN shows As Th, pair of 5's, A high

Hero shows Qc Tc, pair of Q's

Final Pot: $50.74

Hero wins $50.14

(Rake: $0.60)

This is the hand that drives this guy INSANE (he went on the blow through >5 buy ins):

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $19.06

BTN: $32.10

Hero: $54.38

BB: $20.70 (Total LAGbot - loves to steal and 3bet; certainly not afraid of throwing money around, another very high aggression factor)

UTG: $45.20

Hero is dealt Tc Th

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

3 folds, SB raises to $0.60, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) 5c 3s 4c (2 players)

Hero bets $1.20, BB calls $1.20 - pretty sure he has Ax; I think he's raising a paired Ace thinking his inside straight draw & Ace are good outs as well as his pair.  However, he flats leading me to believe he has Ax.

Turn: ($3.60) 5h (2 players)

Hero bets $3.50, BB raises to $8.00, SB calls $4.50 - His raise throws me off, but I can't see him showing up with any random 5 here.  There's simply not a ton of holdings that he can have with a 5; 65, A5, 75, but again, I think he raises the flop with those cards.  He may be LAGgy, but he's not outright dumb; he's not playing 72o or Q5...

River: ($19.60) Qc (2 players)

Hero checks, BB bets $10.90 all in, SB calls $10.90 - I check to let him bet his air again.  By this point, he's so polarized to air / monster that given his aggression factor, he's far more air...  If he got lucky and hit a Q on the end, so be it...

BB shows 7d 2d, pair of 5's Q high  - OOPS!  I guess he can show up with 72 here...  FWIW, I will be folding all 2's, A's and 6's (and possibly 7's) on this board.

Hero shows Tc Th, 2 pair, T's and 5's

Final Pot: $41.40

Hero wins $40.80

(Rake: $0.60)

A few hands later, I drive him nuts again with the following:

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 4 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $32.28

Hero: $74.75

BB: $19.00

CO: $44.60

Hero is dealt 2c Ac

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

2 folds, Hero raises to $0.60, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) 6h 2h Ks (2 players)

Hero checks, BB checks - if he has something, he's going to bet here

Turn: ($1.20) 5s (2 players)

Hero bets $1.00, BB calls $1 - 5 is pretty blank.  He hasn't shown any aggression and therefore I want to shut him down.

River: ($3.20) 6s (2 players)

Hero checks, BB bets $2.00, Hero calls $2 - He's always going to bet when checked to on the river.  Therefore, why not let him hang himself?  Also, it cuts down on his ability to get crafty and river raise me off my showdown worthy hand.  C/c river with 2's and he goes balistic - what a terrible call, yada yada yada....

BB shows Jh 4h, pair of 6's K kicker

Hero shows Ah 2h, 2 pair, 6's and 2's

Final Pot: $7.20

Hero wins $7.02

(Rake: $0.18)

Sorry for the chat capture,  but I had to replay this one out...  It's just funny...  He compares me to Phil Ivey, in fact!  Admittedly, he had a big target on his back based on his screen name...  I can't stand the YOLO crap, and I certainly can't stand the second half of his name...

YOLO-nigga: 65 hands played, 7 wins

YOLO-nigga: perfect

Heisenberg44: aight i gotta go, peace yall

YOLO-nigga: i should stop playing

YOLO-nigga: because my high percentage hands will obviously not outdraw anyone

keepfloppin: nahhh..... -> Can't help but to fan the flames

YOLO-nigga: 69 hands, 9 wins

YOLO-nigga: 6 handed

YOLO-nigga: no biggie

Dealer: keepfloppin, you have 10 seconds to act

Dealer: keepfloppin shows [2c Ac] (Two Pair, Sixes and Deuces +A)

Dealer: YOLO-nigga shows [4h Jh] (a Pair of Sixes +KJ5)

Dealer: keepfloppin wins Pot (7.02) with Two Pair --> Rubbing it in with the 2's showdown

YOLO-nigga: another airball

YOLO-nigga: against the guy who calls everything

YOLO-nigga: yes

keepfloppin: like the pr 2's lookup?

YOLO-nigga: yeah you call everything

YOLO-nigga: congrats

YOLO-nigga: epic dode, everytime

YOLO-nigga: dodge*

YOLO-nigga: this is how this is gonna go

YOLO-nigga: you're gonna pay me off one hand

YOLO-nigga: and then you're gonna leave

YOLO-nigga: guaranteed, 100% thats how this is going to go

keepfloppin: hope not

keepfloppin: but cant be perfect

YOLO-nigga: there's no way you stay here long

keepfloppin: not always 100% with my reads

YOLO-nigga: because your hero calls don't work everytuime

YOLO-nigga: and then you'll bail

keepfloppin: yup

YOLO-nigga: rick, any commentary on this shit show?

YOLO-nigga: or is it just standard, can't catch a fucking break yolo runbad?

YOLO-nigga: 16 outs and can't hit, guys calling me down with bottom pair, guys jamming all in 20% and slamming the river

KillaKat420: i havent been watching i will go through the hand history later, too many tables up now

YOLO-nigga: want a rundown?

keepfloppin: you half explain it

YOLO-nigga: leo is a certified retard and lucky

YOLO-nigga: keepflopping thinks he's phil ivey and can't fold

Leoprox: such lose. wow.

keepfloppin: LOL

keepfloppin: that's awasome

KillaKat420: good beat bad beat can't let emotion get the best of ya

keepfloppin: gotta capture this

YOLO-nigga: no emotion

YOLO-nigga: i just don't understand how through all these reps, i can't make ONE FUCKING HAND

YOLO-nigga: NOT ONE

keepfloppin: is he ur zen psychologist?

YOLO-nigga: AGAINST GUYS WHO CAN"T WAIT TO CALL

keepfloppin: cant wait to check call that is --> again stoking those flames...

Anyway, moving on...  I think I goofed on this hand; I should have checked the turn to let him bet.  However, he's passive post flop for the most part...

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $19.06

SB: $41.60

Hero: $41.41

UTG: $10.04

MP: $21.22

CO: $48.20

Hero is dealt Ah Qh

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

UTG raises to $0.52, MP calls $0.52, CO calls $0.52, 1 fold, SB calls $0.42, Hero raises to $3.00, 2 folds, CO calls $2.48, SB calls $2.48 - this is a somewhat standard squeeze.  A .52 open is a really weird bet sizing; standard is .6, or 3x.  Therefore I give it a good pop to 6x and get 2(!!!!!) callers.  I figured I'd take it down with a 6x raise, but these guys are just so LAGgy.

Flop: ($10.04) Jh 2s Qs (3 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $6.50, CO folds, SB calls $6.50 - Nice flop, TPTK.  I'm not going to let this one go.  I lead ~2/3 pot, looking for a raise, but just get compliance with a call.

Turn: ($23.04) 3h (2 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $15.00, SB folds - I turn the heart draw to go with my TPTK and I'm never letting go of this.  Note the stack sizes are such that we are both 200BB deep.  Given how LAGgy these guys are, I think I'm almost always good getting it in here and don't mind stacking of 200BB with TPTK + FD.  Alas, it's a no go...

Final Pot: $23.04

Hero wins $22.47

(Rake: $0.57)

Last hand for this huge hand history:

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players

The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $26.65

BTN: $19.70

SB: $34.72

BB: $4.00

Hero: $20.30

MP: $19.70

Hero is dealt Jh Ah

Pre Flop: ($0.30)

Hero raises to $0.60, 1 fold, CO calls $0.60, 3 folds

Flop: ($1.50) 9s 8h Jd (2 players)

Hero bets $1.25, CO calls $1.25

Turn: ($4.00) Ts (2 players)

Hero checks, CO bets $2.20, Hero calls $2.20 - I consider continuing my betting, but opt to slow down into check / call mode.  I know this is dangerous, but with a 4 straight on the board, he can easily have hands with a Q that called a gutter on the flop.  To me, though, it feels so week to c/f here.  It's such an obvious bluff spot as well.  Unless he starts really putting pressure on, I'm going to continue to c/c to his story.

River: ($8.40) 2h (2 players)

Hero checks, CO bets $5.80, Hero calls $5.80 - He makes a fairly weak river bet and I get to showdown fairly cheaply.

CO shows Ad, 9d, pair of 9's

Hero shows Ah, Jh, pair of J's

Final Pot: $20.00

Hero wins $19.50

(Rake: $0.50)

Rare 4-way all-in... How did I hold up with my AA?

I'm figuring an AA vs. AA vs. KK vs. QQ type setup hand...

Surprisingly, I'm up against random pairs - 88, 55, QQ (maybe I understand, but given the action.... WTF?)

Somehow, I hold up though:

($ represent .001 BTC; roughly $20NL)
Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $21.84
BB: $3.20
Hero / UTG: $20.00
CO: $20.00
BTN: $43.19

Pre Flop: ($0.30)
Hero raises to $0.60, CO raises to $2.60, BTN calls $2.60, 1 fold, BB calls $2.40, Hero raises to $20.00 all in, CO calls $17.40 all in, BTN calls $17.40, BB calls $0.60 all in

Flop: ($63.30) 2d Ks 7s (4 players - 3 are all in)

Turn: ($63.30) 4c (4 players - 3 are all in)

River: ($63.30) 2h (4 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: $63.30
UTG wins $62.70
(Rake: $0.60)
Board [2d Ks 7s 4c 2h]

Seat 2: BB mucked [Qc Qd] -- Unkown
Seat 4: Hero collected (mɃ62.7) shows [As Ad]
Seat 5: CO mucked [8s 8h]  -- Aggro, loose
Seat 6: BTN mucked [5s 5c] --  Aggro, donkish (clearly)

Getting a fold from a fish

A few sessions ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with a complete and utter fish.  This fish was the type that had no idea about the strength of hands, no idea about anything.  One thing he did understand is raising and being aggressive.  He loved to splash money in the pot, which was interesting because he didn't have a lot of money.

The table was a new table, but it was evident from the start that this guy had no idea what he was doing.  He'd be all in on a bottom pair, betting and raising like he flopped the nuts.  Inevitably, with these kinds of players, he would suck out to the best hand and amass a small but formidable stack.  It was like watching a roller coaster, though.  His raises were sickly - $20 with Q2, $30 with T8.  No rhyme  or reason seemed to apply - some people just like to watch the world burn, I guess.

Anyway, the roller coaster comes abruptly to a stop when he gets looked up by a second pair which finally holds, and he busts.  He gets up and asks about rebuys.  I smartly tell him they can hold the seat for him as long as he'd like - he was ready to leave and not come back.  Upon hearing that, he raced over to the ATM and was back 20 minutes later.

He sits down and within 5 minutes, his $100 rebuy is up to around $120 when he raises like $20 into me (I'm on his left, thankfully, but can't hit a freaking hand that plays well against his any two cards).  I have 8 8 and I consider 3betting, but feel like I can get it in on kind flop just the same as if I got it in pre flop - he's shown that he can fold 3bets and I don't really want him folding his BS cards.  Therefore, I just call and the table folds.

We see a flop of 3 7 7 and he bets into me - like $20 again.  This is a great flop for me.  This is so far ahead of his range, but he calls off stacks with Q6, etc. so I have no problem raising here.  Therefore, I raise to $60 and he just calls.

Turn is a blank and he checks.  I shove for $100 (he has $40 or so behind) and he tanks and tanks...  He starts talking about how he thinks I have a 7 and have him beat, which raises my eyebrows...  I need trips to beat him?  WTF?  Then he asks me if he folds, will I show him my cards?  I think this is a genuine question, not a probe for information, and I like the guy, so I agree - I ask if he'll show his cards which he quickly agrees.

He declares a fold and drops 33 for the flopped boat.  I show my 8 8 and scoop.  The table quietly stifles a gasp and an uneasy laugh as I scoop the pot for his perceived bluff.  He busts out 5 hands later and says his farewells to the table (I think they cleaned him out completely).  WTF?  I get the one friggin time the LAGtard has an actual hand!!!  DAMNIT!!!  But WOW!!!!

As we (the table) discussed the hand afterwards, we tried to piece together his thought process (which was admittedly a difficult thing to do).  The common thought was that he didn't understand poker hands, and thought he just had trip 3's, not a full house.  He thought if I held a 7, I had him beat with higher trips.

LOL

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.

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...

When is the losing hand not a loser?

When it's a winner and you don't realize it!

Bodog $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $23.65
UTG+2: $25.00
MP1: $23.15
MP2: $4.95
CO: $17.56
BTN: $23.40
SB: $59.11
BB: $24.75
Hero (UTG): $49.92

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG with 9h Qh
Hero calls $0.25, 5 folds, BTN calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15, BB checks

Flop: ($1.00) 5h 9d Qs (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $0.75, SB calls $0.75, BB folds, Hero raises to $3.00, BTN calls $2.25, SB folds

Turn: ($7.75) 4h (2 players)
Hero bets $6.00, BTN calls $6

River: ($19.75) Kh (2 players)
Hero bets $15.00, BTN calls $14.15 all in

I was *HOPPING* mad when I saw his hand - and that he had sucked out on a 3 outter on the river.  I couldn't believe that he hit his King kicker to take the pot away from me, when I realized that the pot was being shipped my way.  I had to actually go into the hand history to realize that I had hit my backdoor flush!

Final Pot: $48.05
BTN shows Kd Qc
Hero shows 9h Qh
Hero wins $45.65
(Rake: $2.40)

Hands that make me smile... guess he truly doesn't believe me

Bodog $50.00 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $50.00
Hero (UTG): $102.83
UTG+1: $57.05 - 50/7 @ 14 hands
MP: $26.35
CO: $47.25
BTN: $43.65
SB: $50.55

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG with 5c Ac
Hero calls $0.50, UTG+1 raises to $2, 5 folds, Hero calls $1.50
I'm at a passive table where I'll usually see a flop with my suited gapper for cheap.  When UTG+1 raises, I debated folding - primarily for the position.  I am not in favor of normally seeing a raised flop, OOP.  However, there were two thoughts for calling: if the flop comes in correct, I will have a seriously concealed hand, and this guy has already shown (though 14 hands) generally fishy behavior.

Flop: ($4.75) Ad 5h 2h (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $4.75, Hero raises to $12, UTG+1 calls $7.25
AK, AQ?

Turn: ($28.75) Js (2 players)
Hero bets $30.00, UTG+1 raises to $43.05, Hero calls $13.05
When he raises all in, I'm annoyed that he hit his AJ, but I'm not going to fold this for $13.05 remaining.

River: ($114.85) 5d (2 players)

Final Pot: $114.85
Hero shows 5c Ac
UTG+1 shows Kd Kh - ????
Hero wins $111.85
(Rake: $3.00)

Hands that make me smile... more LOL moments

Bodog $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: $44.40
BB: $42.60
UTG: $36.40
UTG+1: $24.15
UTG+2: $79.25 - reg who knows better than to call a 3bet
MP1: $46.70 - fishy reg with mid 20s VPIP / low single digit PFR
Hero (MP2): $195.50
CO: $53.40
BTN: $100.76

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP2 with Qc Qd
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, UTG+2 raises to $2.25, MP1 calls $2.25, Hero raises to $7.50, 6 folds, MP1 calls $5.25
LOL calling a 15xBB 3bet, OOP.


Flop: ($18.50) Qh 8c 6d (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks
Pretty certain that the flop did not hit him.  It really smacked me, though.  Given that he called my 3bet/squeeze, I'm putting him on a fairly tight range of AK, TT+.  I want him to "catch up."

Turn: ($18.50) Jh (2 players)
MP1 bets $18.50, Hero raises to $40.00, MP1 calls $20.70 all in
Good enough for me!  Set of Jacks, anyone?

River: ($96.90) Tc (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $96.90
MP1 shows 6h 6c - GG sir.  Calling a 3bet to $7.50 with 6 6.  You'll be profitable, one of these days!
Hero shows Qc Qd
Hero wins $93.90
(Rake: $3.00)

Hands that make me smile... value value value

Bodog $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $67.89
UTG+1: $51.57
MP1: $48.20
Hero (MP2): $101.95
CO: $46.75
BTN: $46.50
SB: $35.38
BB: $59.60

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP2 with 9h 8h
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, 2 folds, SB calls $1.25, BB calls $1, UTG calls $1

Flop: ($7.50) 5h 3h 2s (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, MP1 bets $3.75, Hero calls $3.75, SB calls $3.75, BB folds, UTG calls $3.75

Turn: ($22.50) Ah (4 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, MP1 bets $4.00, Hero raises to $16.00, SB calls $16, UTG calls $16, MP1 calls $12
They're not going away, given my raise.  I'm mildly concerned about the possibility of a flush over flush - particularly due to the 2 low cards out there already.  Their flat on the turn is troubling, though it is re-assuring that the Ah is on the board, meaning that the hand combos of flushes dramatically drop (barring random Kh7h -type hands).

"Reasonable" combos include non-Ace broadways (i.e. KQ, JT, etc.) and suited connectors / gappers, which aren't that abundant.

River: ($86.50) 9s (4 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $30.00, SB calls $14.13 all in, UTG calls $30, MP1 folds
Given the flat on the turn and the lack of action on the river (given the brick), I have to imagine that I'm only getting called by worse hands (and folding out the draws who missed), which is why I choose to value bet.

I consider an open shove, where I have the table covered, but honestly don't think he calls his effective $47 stack with a non-flush.  Therefore, I settle on a "smaller" value bet, trying to get each of the 3 remaining players to call.  Note that the difference between "smaller" and "shove is really $17, but I do think it makes a difference to UTG and MP1, who will be most affected by bet sizing.  Betting $30 into $87 is much more reasonable to me than $50 into $87.  2 out of 3 ain't bad, and it's a decent pot for my suited connector gamble.  I'm surprised, though, that when MP1 calls, UTG calls as well.

Final Pot: $160.63
Hero shows 9h 8h
Hero wins $31.15
Hero wins $126.48 (FWIW, MP1 had 4d6d for the flopped straight and UTG had 4c 4s for the turned straight, though HandGrabber didn't pick up the showdown results)
(Rake: $3.00)

Hands that make me smile...

Bodog $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $35.08
UTG+1: $44.00
MP1: $32.05
MP2: $44.70
CO: $17.24
Hero (BTN): $112.98
SB: $30.22
BB: $47.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with Td Qd
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.50, 1 fold, CO calls $0.50, Hero raises to $3.50, 4 folds, CO calls $3

Flop: ($8.75) 8d Qc Jd (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $3.50, CO calls $3.50

Turn: ($15.75) 6s (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $10.25, CO calls $10.24 all in

River: ($36.23) 7h (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $36.23
CO shows Tc As - Come on!  His Ace high *HAS* to be good on the turn.  He's got a double gutter + an overcard.  Great equity, except for the fact that 3 of your outs are dirty to diamonds, so you're drawing to 6 outs on the river.  GG sir.  Next time, please show up with a full stack.
Hero shows Td Qd
Hero wins $34.43
(Rake: $1.80)

Hands that make me smile... more overbet shoves

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

CO: $57.90
BTN: $70.95
Hero (SB): $100.00
BB: $173.75
UTG: $28.30
UTG+1: $190.55
UTG+2: $121.70
MP1: $123.65
MP2: $127.90

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with 7s 8h
3 folds, MP1 calls $1, 3 folds, Hero calls $0.50, BB checks
2nd hand at the table.  I limp along with connectors...  It's half price - why not?

Flop: ($3.00) Qd 6d 5s (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP1 checks
OESD.  Decent enough...

Turn: ($3.00) 4h (3 players)
Hero bets $2.10, BB raises to $7, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $15, BB calls $8
What does he have that he's willing to raise a limped pot?  He is a losing / break-even player with 36.5/13 stats, and an AF of 1.74...  He's not overboard aggro, but for him to be raising a limped pot and calling my 3bet, he's likely married to his hand.

River: ($33.00) Tc (2 players)
Hero bets $84 all in, BB requests TIME, BB calls $84
Max value time.  I don't want him to get away from this.  The Tc changes absolutely nothing.  This board is dry as hell with exception of the up & down straight.  I need him to have a monster hand where he can't lay it down, and he obliges my ~2.5x pot shove.

Final Pot: $201.00
Hero shows 7s 8h (a straight, Eight high)
BB mucks 2c 3c - Coolered?  No.  Dopey call?  Yes.
Hero wins $198.00
(Rake: $3.00)

Hands that make me smile... calling a shove with NPNK (no pair, no kicker)

Chips for sale, anyone?

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP2: $55.40
CO: $59.10
BTN: $169.20
SB: $73.80 - 32/30 14.3% 3bet / 50% steal @ 37 hands
Hero (BB): $69.75
UTG: $96.05
UTG+1: $87.50
UTG+2: $43.35
MP1: $51.25

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Tc Th
7 folds, SB raises to $1, Hero raises to $5, SB raises to $12.50, Hero calls $7.50

Flop: ($25.00) 3h Ks 5c (2 players)
SB bets $16, Hero calls $16
I call.  Really?  Is he betting so big with AK or a set or overpair?  I totally disagree with his line - it does not make sense AT ALL, especially given his aggro PF nature.

Turn: ($57.00) Kh (2 players)
SB bets $26, Hero raises to $41.25 all in, SB requests TIME, SB calls $15.25
A turned King makes it far less likely that he holds a King himself.  The WTF part is why he's calling my re-raise shove; what can he possibly beat to warrant a call?  WTF?!?!??!

River: ($139.50) 8c (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $139.50
SB shows 8s Qc (two pair, Kings and Eights) - LOL calling the turn with a Q as your equity; 3 outs once!  Did you really think I'm shoving Q7 or worse?  Oh yeah!  I could have 2 4 and been drawing.
Hero shows Tc Th (two pair, Kings and Tens)
Hero wins $136.50
(Rake: $3.00)

Hands that make me smile... busting 2 players

Bodog $50.00 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $37.43
MP1: $81.72
MP2: $42.90
CO: $50.00
Hero (BTN): $105.30
SB: $30.15
BB: $26.74
UTG: $48.50

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 3h 3c
4 folds, CO raises to $1, Hero calls $1, SB calls $0.75, BB calls $0.50

Flop: ($4.00) 8h 3s 9c (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, CO bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50, SB raises to $9, BB folds, CO raises to $49, Hero calls $46.50, SB calls $20.15 all in

Turn: ($131.15) Td (3 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($131.15) Kc (3 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $131.15
CO shows Ah 9s  - LOL!  DONK!
Hero shows 3h 3c - Note that I'm *CALLING* the HUGE 3bet shove.  I have called 3 times in this hand, acting totally un-aggressively.
SB shows 8s 9d - 4 outs twice.  16% FTW!
Hero wins $38.79
Hero wins $89.36
(Rake: $3.00)

Hands that make me smile... an LOL overbet for value

Bodog $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): $51.75
UTG+1: $26.52
MP: $43.05
CO: $32.35
BTN: $52.50
SB: $85.29
BB: $62.80

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG with As Ad
Hero raises to $1.50, 5 folds, BB calls $1

Flop: ($3.25) Ah Jd Js (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($3.25) 7h (2 players)
BB bets $2.50, Hero raises to $7.00, BB calls $4.50
If he has a Jx hand, he can call the raise.  At this point, based on his call, I believe he has trips.  He's a donkey and I want to value own him.

River: ($17.25) 4s (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $43.25 all in, BB calls $43.25
He checks to limit the pot size, going into pot control mode.  Given that he's a donkey (unfortunately, I don't have his stats readily available, but they're north of 50% VPIP), I think he's check / calling any and all river bets here.  I also don't think he's good enough to lay down trips, or even trips / no kicker.  After careful consideration, I settle on open shoving as the most effective means of getting all in as I don't believe he's ever check / raising the river without a A J / J 4 / J 7 hand, and he wants desperately to get to showdown.

Shipping 2.5x pot on the river is always fun!

Final Pot: $103.75
Hero shows As Ad
BB shows Jc 9d
Hero wins $100.75
(Rake: $3.00)

Hands that make me smile... a rare 7bet shove

Bodog $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
The DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $22.00
MP1: $27.55
MP2: $64.20 - 76/38
CO: $51.30
BTN: $65.15
SB: $46.78
Hero (BB): $59.75
UTG: $37.40

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with Js Ts
3 folds, MP2 raises to $1.00, CO calls $1, 1 fold, SB calls $0.75, Hero calls $0.50

Flop: ($4.00) 8s 9d Qc (4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP2 bets $0.50, CO folds, SB calls $0.50, Hero raises to $3.50, MP2 raises to $6.50, SB folds, Hero raises to $12.00, MP2 raises to $17.50, Hero raises to $57.00, MP2 raises to $63.20 all in, Hero calls $1.75 all in

Turn: ($122.00) Kd (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($122.00) Qs (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $122.00
MP2 shows Qd 4s
Hero shows Js Ts
Hero wins $119.00
(Rake: $3.00)