Poker Player League

Date: Sun, Feb 20, 2011 Live

This is the full opinion piece started on Gulf Coast Poker.Net, the Gulf Coast best poker news site. Scan down a couple of paragraphs if you began reading there and got shipped here.

Annie Duke and Jeffrey Pollacks new league is on first blush kind of a pratical attempt to settle the debate I (Wild Bill) have been having with a lot of poker players/contributors to the site. I think a PGA league with sponsors supplying the prize money and covering the entry fees is the logical next step for poker players. On the most basic level, rather than rakes taking money out of the poker economy there would be injections of cash into these freerolls which would be good for us all.

I think in theory it should have been done long ago. Unfortunately, I also think the greed of poker players will keep it from happening... again. Though I should distinguish the argument, some contributors feel a league would be bad for the game, not that they think it couldn't work. I think a league would be good for the game, I think it could work, though I don't think it will work.

As it stands there is a great deal of supplemental income that the most players don't get much, or any of, meanwhile tours, casinos, and sometimes broadcasters benefit from all the risk assumed by the players. Why not a PGA-Nike tour kind of circuit for poker players where they assume control of the game. Win-win-win for everybody but those who currently "win" with the game in the state that is (casinos, tour operators, and online sites though increasingly those three are all become one).

Questions to the converse: would a tour of freerolls, that tend to play a little bit different than tournaments where players have to put up their own money be as appealing a product to casual fans of poker viewers? Afteral, part of the allure of poker is players gambling for high-stakes with icey calm. For game play in general would there be greater incentive to chop or perhaps play a different line of strategy that would hurt appeal the game? Also, will tournament poker lose its appeal without the every-man if the tours offers barriers to entry?

This league is chaired by Annie Duke and Jeffrey Pollack (former WSOP commissioner) which could be worrisome or positive depending on your opinion of the two. To be fair, opinion is split on both personalities. Duke hopes to solve the problem of the freeroll by still requiring players to pony up cash but offering Main Events with seven figure overlays. As for the everyman, there will still be a small number of seats to satellite into a given event.

Listening to them on a recent ESPN poker edge podcast offered new insight on some of the recent failures and why this time the league could work and not fall prey to the same things. Some negatives it sounds like it will be easier for live pros to get their "cards" than online pros---Duke calls them two separate skill sets. Though she admits, somewhat begrudginly, that many of the best online players can and do excel in live poker as well. Thus, she contends they wouldn't be under-represented.

They want to try to be neutral and a friend of everybody, but where is there room for another live Poker Tour, in the already congested schedule. The online sites are now trying to grow their businesses by owning the live tournament markets too, what's the incentive for them to fund (yet another) third-party that wants cut into that area of growth.

This is a great idea but probably five years too late. Shame that politics, greed, and mismanagement stymied earlier attempts when the marketplace was ripe for such a reorganization. As it stands poker players will likely continue to fund other people profiting from the game instead of any other sport/game where it is mostly just the opposite. This league will likely fail, not that it was that much an improvement for players in general when you really get down to it.

There are few name players in the poker world, and they represent only a thin slice of the game, unfortunately they are wealthy due to their (mostly online poker) sponsors so they are also beholden to those sponsors. Expecting them to rock the boat and advocate for the bottom tier grinders is setting yourself up to be disappointed. Without them you are merely creating a new league that will be destined for failure. While the current model obviously injects some money into the economy it is on a far smaller scale then a well-run players league would do. Not sure if Duke's league is going to pump any more money in, either, because it looks like it's a for-profit business too, and not a players' organization.

Right now, the top handful of players probably make more than they would under a new model, so no incentive to for them to change, the next tier of pros and everybody else (even us grinders) make far less than we could in an optimal model. Arguably players 50 to 150 might make more in Duke's league, might, but as they don't control the league per se, they could just be used as persuasive point of entry for a new entity that could change the rules once they earn a big enough market share.

What's best for everybody, but those top-tier players that either own the big poker sites or essentially owned by them, would be a PGA model. Won't happen, even though it should. Arguably, the only way it could happen would be for players to create a league, somehow find some sponsors outside of poker (yeah... that'll happen), and create new stars because they aren't going to get the back sites to release their guys to play in a league that competes with their own. Then, the PGA league will have to some how lock up the new stars from joining the payrolls of their competition. Maybe one day, I'll champion that cause, which is like saying maybe one day I'll bash my head into a cinder block because there is a chance I could break it.

Still, as I've said before, the optimal league would be four to five majors and a few circuit type events. Players sponsors or players themselves would buy-in for a set number of seats (tour cards are a good idea for say the top 200). League revenues would cover the prize pools in addition to the buy-ins, so overlays could be generous. Then allow, an unlimited number of satellites for people to get into the events (with a juice that helps fund the league until advertising or broadcasting dollars could handle it on its own). In this model, the players would finally get rich from poker instead of everybody else getting rich off the players.

Interested in commenting on Wild Bill's commentary? Head over to our facebook page and weigh-in. Friend us while you are there too.

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Harrahs Donkley 2/16

Date: Wed, Feb 16, 2011 Live

So I played today and made the final table. I won a coin flip early, I came from behind with A6 suited and the small blind woke up to JJ (cue... Frush), and I got some big hands and big pots late.

Once at the final table this hand came up. I had a pretty good feeling from conversations with most of the table we were going to chop. The chipleader was on my left and he seemed open to it 10 handed when I brought it up. I didn't say anything because there were two short stacks.

One went down, then a guy blew up his stack and couldn't make the ante so likely two were going to go out soon. The other shortie was two to my left and about to hit the big and small blinds. Then this hand happened right before the break:

Guy limps from third position. Extreme shortie shoves. Folded to me in the big blind. I look at 5-2 and check.

Flop comes 559 two hearts. I was just thinking about eliminating the short stack and getting closer to the chop. I check almost without thinking about it, and the limper checks also (he might have bet 3k and I called but I think he checked). This is how bad I play immediately after checking (or calling), I see the two hearts and the sizable side pot we were building and ask myself why I didn't bet there.

While my agenda was to stay safe and knock out the really short guys my opponent wasn't on the same plan. A Jack of hearts hits the turn and I check. He bets 6k. I call. River is a Q. I check and he shoves.

I stewed forever, and it's clear to me this guy is confident he has the best hand. I ask him if he flopped a boat, and I can tell he doesn't really like the question as it might be signifcantly stronger than his hand. Really felt like I had him beat for a second but what could he shove with that I beat?

Than I started running through hands that he could think are winners. He limped so maybe 99, JJ, QQ or a monster but during the hand it didn't feel like he had a monster. Clearly he wasn't bluffing so flushes were possible. K10 possible too. So many hands, A5 suited in there, and they all beat mine. Eventually, I release. I show my trip 5s and he shows QJ. At the time that made complete sense.

I didn't mind the fold because I thought I left myself enough to be in the conversation when the shorty blinded out. But, still knowing I could have eliminated two players (his two pair eliminated the super short stack) and been comfortable for any chopping conversation irked me.

So, on break I think I was tilted. As much as I was focused on playing it like a mega... part of me had to be upset.

We come back and I'm in the small blind. Folded to me. I look at an Ace. I got enough chips that the guy on my left can only call me with a big hand. So, going on auto-mtt mode I go all in. He insta-calls with AK. Oops.

Suddenly, the chop might happen but it ain't going to be with me.

I talked to some people afterward and as Reid G said the lay-down was fine and I was wrong to beat myself up over it, because the only possible hand I could beat in that spot was QJ. I easily could have folded and waited half a rotation and been in the chop. Sux.

Melvin asked me as he escorted me to the cage if I let the previous hand get to me. I said no, because at the time I believed that, standard to shove an Ace there I think. But in retrospect, I think I was I left a lot of money on the table, considering my payout and what the chop was.

Talked to some nice people in the tournament including a couple of guys who read the site, and this blog. One of them recently finished 6th at a Southern Poker Championship event and we discussed a hand we played from a couple of weeks ago. Nice guy. He made the chop. So too Ms. Janice who always seems to go deep in these things. I was happy for them.

I quickly jumped into a 1-2 game to log some time for the Harrahs freeroll. I only had thirty minutes to play. I bluffed at two pots and made a dollar a minute and got up. I was extra cautious considering I was still focusing on the money I didn't win vs. the money I did.

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

More poker updates... Tipping the cashier

Date: Mon, Feb 14, 2011 Live

Sorry been playing lots of poker lately and that usually translate into fewer blog posts. Last go round I mentioned how I got angry at a cashier but didn't go into it.

We had just chopped the weekly and we took our tickets to the poker cage, and the new cashier behind the counter said he couldn't pay us out (first time I've ever heard that in all the times I've cashed there) because basically it would be too hard with the change. Ummm... what? A number of us are confused and he told us to find a different cashier. Okay, mental note taken. Mental picture taken. This guy with his attitude and lack of interest in helping us probably wouldn't ever get a tip from me. I'll revisit this.

So, everybody follows me to the middle cashier cage. Not too bad as every window is open and everybody is about to get serviced at once. Even though I'm there slightly first I have the misfortune of running into Sh$$y cashier number two on the day. It was also a male. This one seemed straight, so apparently the bad attitude of Harrahs cashiers is attributed to maleness not choice of sexuality.

He starts looking at the ticket I have to cash and his eyes widen in fake astonishment. "Whoa, did you hit a jackpot?"

"Um no, it's a poker tournament."

He smiled broadly and fakely, "Well congratulations on your good fortune today! That's awesome."

I smell his angle shoot from a mile away. I'm already ticked off about the first guy so no way was this guy's fake niceness going to get him a bigger tip. Meanwhile, the other cashiers are just paying out the winners.

My guy tries to make nice some more "You were really lucky to win all this huh?", and I'm just thinking pay me already. So he comes back with my money, finally, and after the hundos are counted out, he stops and instead of giving me a twenty he breaks it into two tens. Yeah, like I'm tipping this guy $10 on a poker win (meanwhile I'm fully intent on giving something back to the dealers even with their $10 juice on everybody--$870 on that day). Maybe people that hit slots jackpots in their exuberance tip out cashiers money, and maybe if I had won something that was more luck than skill, I would have tipped him more, but I consider poker at the least supplemental income and this guy had nothing to do with me winning.

You want a tell on me? If after a big hand, I don't tip the dealer much, it's because I bluffed the other guy. Suck-outs and big hands get bigger tips. If I have to do all the work to earn the money the dealers aren't going to get much. So, in no way would a cashier be entitled to a chunk of change for winning a tournament in my mind.

I don't know why I even slid him a dollar but I did so. Then he takes the dollar and mocks me, "Ooooh, one whole dollar!" he turns to the cashier next to him, "He tipped me a dollar! A DOLLAR!"

I normally don't lose it but to be mocked for giving a guy money for essentially making change had me blow my cool, I said (and I might be omitting expletives) "You better bite your lip! I'm going to go tip the dealers now and I didn't have to tip you anything. You are lucky you got a dollar." As my wife said, I should have said, "You don't want the dollar? Give it back."

Meanwhile, my invective got the attention of all the cashiers behind the cage who turned to see my dude holding his dollar skyward. I'm guessing complaining about tips is a no-no there, it certainly should be, because he immediately changed his tune. And seemed almost authentically grateful for the dollar. Vermin.

Okay, so now cashiers at Harrahs make that male cashiers are on my s-list. I'll come back to this.

This past weekend I played the tournament and busted in the 30 to 40 range. I played some cash and finished the day a winner even with the loss of the tournament buy-in. Some terrible players at my cash table. For example, short stacked I won a $400 something pot shoving on the turn with A10, a 10 on the board. I got called in three spots, and I was confident I was way ahead. There was a flush draw out there which didn't hit.

Sure enough I scooped the entire pot when pocket nines, K10 and garbage (gutshot straight draw that said the pot was too big not to call) showed their hands. Never felt so safe about a pair of 10s with an Ace kicker in four way action in all my life.

That pot paced me to victory and I took off to go spend part of my Saturday with my family. As I got to the cage, I pocketed some chips (anything over $50 intervals which I add to my freeroll jar at home) and slided the rest to... the guy that didn't want to pay out the tournament the previous week.

As he counts out my winnings, I notice I had an extra white chip in there. Normally, I'll tip at least a dollar whether or not I win. I pay that every time I play win or lose (unless I'm felted), well not today... I look at him and remember what an ass he was last week, and say, "You know what slide that back to me."

"Slide that back to you?" He asks like he's Kurt on the TV show Glee with atonished indignance.

"Yeah..."

He kind of shakes his head.

I put my hand out and he returns it. I was still thinking about tipping the guy because I always like to give people the benefit of the "Had a terrible day" doubt. He then decides to play dirty pool and re-counts every stack taking them out of the tray to do so and stalls taking his time to get some measure of revenge (I guess). I laugh to myself, wait for the money, and then paused as though I might still slide him the dollar... instead I flicked it up and catched it. When I see he's still looking at me, I change my mind and just drop it on the floor, on the outside of his cage, shrug at him, and walk off. Yeah, not one of my prouder moments but I hate lazy people, unwilling to do the minimum of what their job requires, and always looking for handouts, despite being terrible employees.

I worked basically in a fast food joint during the summers in college. I used to man the rotisserie chicken ovens and I would lose weight almost every day just from the sweat of working in that heat. Yet, unlike my fellow employees I worked as hard as could as long as I was on the clock. The only guy to get tips... me. The customers appreciated it. I never expected it but I was always grateful when I got any tip and I got a lot of them. Nobody else did. I don't want to hear bitching about working in some low pay job and having to deal with aholes... I lived it, do your job and you'll be rewarded. Don't and expect something for nothing and you'll be disappointed.

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Running Hot

Date: Mon, Feb 7, 2011 Live

Been running pretty good recently. Will have to check the poker archives to see if this is my best heater. Anyway, I've chopped another tournament, this time six split up the pool at the Harrahs Saturday Weekly. Blinds were about to jump to 10k 20k. Total chips were a little under 450k. Young kid didn't want to chop at first, his buddy was telling him he was the best player at the table, he might have been. I'd like to think I was, but one or two other guys might have also felt the same. Once he lost the chip lead he was willing to negotiate.

One of the others that probably thought he was the best was a guy named Mac from Baton Rouge. He's a very good player and I enjoyed talking to him quite a bit. He refused any kind of equity chop (to my advantage as I was the short stack through out the discussions) because the blinds were too big. Good point to remember in that format for future discussions.

Eventually, after I doubled up, the kid capitulated. Pretty nice chop. This calender year, I've been on a bit of heater. Split up some nightlys at the Beau Rivage (the format was a chop at 10% left in the field though usually we chopped with a couple of extra players). One time I had enough chips to demand more and the short stacks paid it. I never had to take less than the field to receive the chop, though at times people got more than most of us. This is my second chop at Harrahs too.

This weekly involed some good fortune on my part. I was getting short with maybe four or five tables left and Melvin moved me when I hit the big blind (which would have been a big chunk of my stack and I was considering if I would have to play ATC for everything I had left). At my new table, the empty seat was just behind the button so suddenly I had more hands. A couple of hands later I looked at AA after a shorter stack had shoved. Lots of big stacks and I wanted action.

Still, I didn't want to just call, so I went over the top and everybody folded. With the blinds and antes almost a full double up. Then, Melvin broke that table and tried to apologize to me for moving me so quickly. I told him not to, just the opposite it was a very good move.

At my new table, again I slotted in just behind the button, and dragged a couple of blinds and antes to get somewhat respectable. Then, I found myself in the big blind with a big stack in the small. A couple of times he'd just complete. I'd see the flop and hit something and bet him off. A couple of other times he gave me a walk. That's fortunate.

Still, being card dead all tournament long except for the AA hand, I managed to get short as the blinds continued to escalate and we got to two tables. I shoved with QJ suited and the big blind woke up with A5 and had to call me as I barely had 3x the blind. Flop came out 996. Turn was a 6. I called out for a six and instead hit a Jack.

BB was at my table and asked if I still got the pot since I asked for a six. I'll take a 6 outer to win the hand on the river, though I had four outs to chop. Later my good fortune was simply a matter of my better hands holding. Dodging flush draws and not getting three outed when facing weaker aces is fun when you can do it.

One hand of note, is one I played pretty bad in one perspective, but not so bad from another one, considering I play these things to chop. This kid was getting three betted left and right by olding tighter guys preflop and folding every time. I could read his frustration from across the table. Looked like he was about at his breaking point, and I decided I wasn't going to try and three bet steal from him, and I wasn't coming over the top unless I was going to play for all my chips.

Under the Gun I look at Ak suited, with the cards I had been getting that day it looked like the nuts. I put out a bet and action folded to him. He asked me how many chips I had. I showed and he bet just under half my stack. Folded back to me and I was confused.

I didn't think he left me any fold equity at all if I went over the top. The bet was either weakness or real strength because from my perspective he can't fold if I go over the top, not with what the pot is laying him. Course, if he was stealing he could fold and move on content I defined my hand.

It's also AK suited... pretty standard to just shove here regardless. I took my time and I just had a bad feeling about it. I asked him some questions and couldn't get a solid read one way or the other. He seemed pretty strong and not like he was representing strength--like it was natural, but there were a couple of other things that made me fearful that he was actually weak.

Tough part was I think he was married to the hand. It might not have been AA or KK but he was locked in, and that resolve could have been responsible for strength as I tanked. Eventually, I folded, I had chips and I didn't have to win that pot, but in that format you really can't lay down in that spot too often. I concluded he definitely had a big pair, two of which decimate me, and the other one or two I was coin flipping with. Therefore, calling or shoving (pretty confident he insta-calls) At best I only had a 25% chance to win the hand. I mucked.

I pestered him for his hand and he said "hooks," I told him he wouldn't believe what I folded, AK suited. He seemed to believe it. I didn't really care what he had since I had folded, but I didn't want to hear AK or AQ.

By the way next time I'll talk about the cashier ridiculing my tip...

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Continuing the Beau Nightly at the Southern Poker Championship...

Date: Thu, Jan 27, 2011 Live

...Continued from previous post in the middle of Texas Holdem game hand where at first I was trying to get my opponent to find a call. Then, I just started to get this really bad feeling that she was going to outdraw me. Even if it she didn’t, the pot was already big why risk my tournament life (or most of it) on this hand, many of you might say I have a long way to go to learn poker with a statement like that.

Mid-stream I changed course. Yes, I was a big favorite but I didn’t need all her chips. So, I said to her “Ace Jack huh?” Yeah, suddenly I was strong enough to talk. She winced. I was pretty close.

“No! Is that what you have?” she asked. I said very confidently “No.” I had hoped I hit her hand and she wouldn’t want to call and show that I was right especially if there was the chance she was no good there. I could tell she was now leaning toward fold. Maybe I did hit her hand. She folded and at the break she suggested AQ but I think it was AJ.

A couple of hands later as she got shorter, she checked to me on a flop I bricked and I asked how many chips she had. She pounded them into the table to count them in a strong is weak move and I shoved. She folded.

Later, as we were much closer to the money and on a different table a massive pot that allowed me to coast came up. Again, I had A suited, I think it was a 9. Flop came out 10 high two of my suit. She checked I bet out. This time she asked me how much I had l left. I showed. She decided to just call. I thought weakness but she had to have something.

Then on the turn I said something and she gave me this fake smile. Typically a big sign of weakness, in retrospect I think she was luring me in. I think she picked up on my read of strong is weak before and was giving me a false tell of strong is weak. Artificial smile is that. Authentic smile is generally strong is strong. The river gave me the flush but paired 10s. She opened shoved and I called hoping I wasn’t coolered.

She just had A10 for trips. Definitely was going to be my day. I felt assured. Early Baton Rouge had worked out that 64k in chips was going to be enough to make the money. I got to about 70k with three tables left. We redrew at two tables and my chips went on lockdown as people got jettisoned. I got fortunate because my small blind would give me a walk every couple of levels.

Any time I considered trying to buy some blinds someone would beat me into the pot. I watched some craziness like the guy giving me walks, barely able to pay his ante, he had one more chip than that, wind up one of the chipleaders a rotation later. Incredibly, he was basically blinding out, then won all the antes utg. Then I found my first pocket pair of the entire tournament KK on the next hand (me utg) I put my first bet out into that table.

Baton Rouge was there and came with me, I sensed he was strong, but I was worried he thought I was making a play on the short stack. The short stack came as he committed the rest of his chips. Flop came out Queen high. I was content to check it down with Baton Rouge despite the side pot. Ace on the turn made me regret it but I was willing to fold if he had it. It went check check. Brick on the river two more checks.

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Continuing the Beau Nightly at the Southern Poker Championship...

Date: Wed, Jan 26, 2011 Live

Things had changed quite drastically and I was enjoying it. Sometimes when you feel like you've been pounded into submission in say a Texas Holdem online tournament and then you just start winning every coin race and in a couple of laps you are back to where you started, well that's how I felt. It's a good thing. Having life when you thought you were dead usually makes you a lot more grateful to be alive.

That's Holdem poker for you. Even with all that being said, I still had some work with barely more than my starting stack, but I was in the 15 BB range. Now, I could shove over a limp or small raise and have fold equity. The good player who won the massive pot opened again, he had really started to open his range and lead into a lot of pots. I looked at KQ from the button and saw likely folds in the blinds and decided to shove. ...I thought I had fold equity.

The Blinds folded and then the good player thought for a while. I looked at his chip stack and saw he had way too much to find a fold even if he was opening with garbage. Perhaps, he might want to save face and not show that hand and could fold but it wasn’t to be. He reluctantly called with A10 thinking he might be crushed.

Nope. You know what though, I felt like the guy who gets in bad but was going to win the hand. Sho' nuff... Spa-dow! But... King ball on the flop, and I was off and running.

Sometimes when you scoop a lot of pots, even if you are showing down second best hand preflop, I think people just subconsciously accord you the same respect as if you are playing tight. Fear of the winner sets in. I hit the gas and quickly amassed some chips. Throughout the tournament I never had a pocket pair. Yes, not once. Well once when we were on the money bubble, but I’ll get to that. Before that, I certainly never got AA, KK, QQ, though I did suggest that, after people laid down and I don’t remember any other pair being in my hand.

Basically, this tournament became a bit of a freeroll for me because I was crippled twice, and recovered from a missed giant pot. After that just about every pot I scooped was a bluff or semi-bluff. C-bets were working, shoving on shorties was working, and I kept pulling in chips without getting called. At some point me and the other two good players, Baton Rouge, and the table-chip leader came to a game flow understanding (I think) and didn’t play hands with each other. We just picked on the other seats and stockpiled chips.

I will say that I three-bet the guy not from Baton Rouge a few times including when we switched tables and I was put immediately on his left. I just started to have a sense of when he was rasing out of line and he found folds. It was a good spot for me as I could tighten up and drag fewer pots but bigger pots.

I was literally repopping with hands like 10-4 o/s, J-3, 34 suited and taking pots down. I mixed it up with this nice older lady later who definitely relied on her reads to make a decisions. A guy opened she called and from the button I looked at A4 suited. I called. Flop came AK4. First guy checked she bet and action was to me. I shoved.

The guy folded and she went into the tank. She kept trying to decide whether or not to call. I went full on weakness acting mode as she studied me, sloppily drinking my water, gulping big swallows, and I could tell I was motivating a call. Then I had this weird premonition or feeling or something. Maybe it was all those times I coaxed people into calls and it didn't work out. Suddenly, I wanted to change course... manipulate her out of a call.

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Continuing the Beau Nightly at the Southern Poker Championship... part 999

Date: Tue, Jan 25, 2011 Live

Where was I in this post thread that will never end about a small nightly I slap-chopped. Shame for you readers that I write this all out in word in one huge post one night after I play poker and then break it up into all these little posts. It's like two weeks later and I'm still talking about the same tournaments.

Oh well..in the hand, I left you spellbound on... I came out third best. Wasn't even really a poker bad beat as I let second place get there and take the side pot. Baton Rouge held AK and the small blind AQ for two pair. He’d get Aces twice in big pots and they’d hold. Ironically, even with a big stack he still gave me walks.

On one hand a guy shoved on my big blind and I had garbage. Also, with the Harrahs incident fresh in my mind with Merle, I wasn’t going to commit any chips to the pot that I didn’t need to when we were playing for a chop. A strong player who was avoiding pots with me, and me him, flat called after eying me. I think he wanted me to call and check it down. Again, I ended up with a big card and a low card, which probably weren’t going to be live.

Also, I wasn’t entirely sure, the other guy might be trapping. What would I do if I partially hit the flop? Be committed to calling at least one more bet? Discretion is often the better part of valor and despite getting encouraging eyes from the strong player I folded.

He shook his head and whispered disappointment to Baron Whipple on his right loud enough for me to hear that I didn’t understand how to gang up on the short stacks in this situation. I let it go, because I wasn’t going to splash any chips I did’t have too. I already watched a couple of guys with big stacks get too cute and find themselves on the rail to know I didn’t need to get drawn into anything. Oddly, I thought my play was making me the most exploitable player at the table but nobody came after me. If anything it felt like that made them fear me. So weird. If I needed to go after blinds as some of them did, mine would have been first on the list.

I didn’t play another hand and agreed to an offer of a chop 13 or 14 handed. I was down to about 40k. The little stacks wisely bribed the big stacks by offering them money to take the chop. I didn’t quite have enough to bargain for that and the guy to my left who I had somewhat befriended was desperate for a chop, too.

I might have refused because the other table had at least one player on fumes bribing the big stacks that we could have eliminated but the guy to my left was jonesing for a chop. Plus, I’m not dick enough to do what I should do and say I’ll chop after we lose you. Also, I based the chop on a non-official payout that was closer to 1400 than what it really was.

People are so petty. A guy with a large stack demanded a certain amount and the little stacks made right with him. Baron Whipple went from a shorty to a big stack and was eying the little stack on the other table and resisted the chop. Quickly the two shorties offered him an extra hundred each. Before that I overheard the first big stack say to his table, “Now that guy’s complaining…”

What? When he did it was, I guess to him, negotiating when, Baron simply offered resistance he was “complaining.” How hypocritical and so sleazy to frame it that way on his table so they would get angry with Baron because now that he had the extra cash (and lost some chips too btw) why not paint Baron in a bad light. You got to look out for number one but have a little integrity. Anyway we chopped.

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Catching up to the Beau tales..

Date: Tue, Jan 25, 2011 Live

So, I left you in the middle of the hand. The plot could not be any thicker, so I'll refrain from saying the plot thickens. A refresher though: I was playig in the nightly Texas Hold em poker
survivor tournament where top ten per cent get paid.
Course there I was i this poker tournament one hand away from busting and having the option to throw all my chips in the middle but I didn't.

Whatever the last guy had it was it was dead except for a four of a kind draw. And yeah, he also lacked clubs. Oh… I was live. I’d have to dodge a paired board and runner-runner clubs but a club would have been the gin card for me. I thought about the pot and saw that if I hit I’d have about 15k.

Awesome. At that point I would be sitting pretty just one hand after rebuying. With the weak spots at the table and us having a pretty good breaking order I could have coasted til deep in the tournament. When the club hit the turn I was cursing myself.

The board didn’t pair and another club didn’t hit and the good player at the table raked in a massive pot. Oddly, except for maybe one rebuy (that I might have missed), I think the order of the hands went from shortest to tallest stacks so no eliminations. I was in extreme interior tilt. Hard not to have chip envy with the guy across the table and to play that dangerous mental game “I should have this many chips…”.

Then I went inside and said to myself “You still got chips, the structure is slow enough that you still got play, and you have a good table image and a good table.” I blinded down to under 1200 not willing to make a stupid all-in blind steal with nothing. I kept finding good folds and not just angrily putting my chips in the middle. Then I shoved from the button with Q5 on an unopened pot. I told myself if the first card was Queen or better and nobody had raised I was shoving. The small blind was short and shoved. I didn’t like it but I was resigned to fate. Baton Rouge called us both.

Baton Rouge held Q8, the big blind 52 or something. Nice. Down to two cards or so, but I had this odd sense of serenity. I felt like because I had weathered the tilt and still played solid, things were going to go my way. Sure enough we ended up chopping when we hit a queen an three cards bigger than an eight rolled out. I took a small profit.

I shoved on the only stack smaller than me with AQ and ran into AA again, fun. Yet, still I had chips but again down to under 1500. I got lucky again when I shoved in the hijack with Q10 and found AK in the BB. Again, I felt during the hand I was going to be safe, though I might have stood up for good luck. Sometimes you know you are toast even if you have the best hand going into a flop and sometimes you know you are going to catch up.

I did, hitting a 10, though I was looking for a queen and almost missed it when it fell on the flop. I felt good and just had a sense things were going my way. I came to the Beau with a plan of winning at least 1200 and they announced the top 11 would get 1700. Not too shabby. More buy-ins if I could hold on. Sidenote for some reason the nightlies aren't important enough to make http://www.facebook.com/beaurivagepoker, I mean Brian is only covering three other tournaments why not walk clean across the room and give us some credit.

To be continued...

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Southern Poker Championship Nightly... cont.

Date: Wed, Jan 19, 2011 Live

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Harrahs Weekly Poker Donkley 1.12.11 Wrap up And Beau Rivage Nightly

Date: Tue, Jan 18, 2011 Live

Continued from previous posts but I have a feeling you realize that. Anyway was talking about the final table at the No limit Texas Hold'em tournament at Harrahs I call the Donkley.

The chatter continued about me having to call there. I challenged the gentleman who didn’t want to chop a little bit. I regret it because I like him and he’s usually a nice easy going guy who takes his beats well and wins well too. Still, I reminded him that I didn’t have to call there because Merle had almost folded AQ earlier at the table, he had shoved UTG, and with King-Two many of the hands he shoves with from there crush that hand. Also, with the blinds what they were 4k was nothing to sniff at but I was't there to give out Texas Holdem poker tips.

Next hand, it gets folded to me in the small blind. I raise Merle and he calls. I think I have 86 suited (it was some sort of one gapper). I flop open ended. Check call Merle. Turn a brick, I check call again. River is another brick and I check fold showing Merle my draw he showed me a flopped set of fives.

Now, I had just given him about 17k in two hands and he was in good shape. The other short stack survived a couple of all ins and suddenly the entire table was about even in chips. We chopped it and I was fine with it. I decided it was basically a free roll for the Beau tournaments I was going to on weekend and it was actually more than what I set a goal of leaving with.

At the Beau nightly I played one of the stranger hands I’ve been involved with, was beating myself up o the inside about it, but didn’t let it affect my play. I couldn’t get there early enough on Friday to play the $350 so I decided to play the survivor tournament at 7.

I got out of New Orleans early but found myself getting to Gulfport with two hours to kill. I stopped into Barnes and Noble and read the first few chapters of Titanic Thompson, great read by the way, but reading the stories about a hustler card pro and poker cheat from the turn of the century, I entered the Beau thinking everybody with a long fingernail was marking the cards.

For the first couple of levels I was just looking for angle-shooters, collusion, mechanic dealers and all kinds of nonsense. Fortunately, I didn’t have to make too many decisions because of poor starting hands. I chipped up a good bit. Then I ran AK into a set of Aces and paid off the loosest player at the table but even as I called his river bet I just kind of felt beat me.

He’s a player from Baton Rouge I’ve played with ~fairly often who has enough patter and a distinctive look for me to file away a memory of him, even though I’m probably just a guy that looks vaguely familiar to him. He killed me “in the money” of a tournament at the IP a couple of years ago, but I’ve gotten him at the Harrahs tournament and in a couple of cash games since.

Definitely have learned how to play loose players a little better since the IP tournament. He’s a good player and on that day he definitely was getting the better of me. Earlier, I hit two pair on him on the river as he hit his flush card. I paid him off knowing it was the only flush card that could get me to pay.

He drove most of the action on our table and I've seen him make good laydowns, good bluffs, and a lot of good decisios so I was wary.

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Harrahs Weekly Poker Donkley 1.12.11 Part Three

Date: Mon, Jan 17, 2011 Live

Continued from the previous two posts but you probably deduced that since this is titled part three...

We get to the final Texas Hold'em table and Merle Bourgeois gets seated to my left. I don’t know Merle well but he’s a funny and nice guy when we have talked, and enough people that I know pretty well really like him, so he's okay in my book. I took a snapshot of him for the GCP page because he was a good enough sport to do it after he chopped the tournament. If you need a visual go there. Ugh, that came out short of ickey. Let's just leave it at he knows how to play poker and move on.

In fairly short order, we knocked off two players to get into the money. Merle was a bit of a short stack at the time. They said an even chop would get us all $600. I had a goal of at least $500 so I was going to be willing to share. One gentleman refused it. He wanted Merle and another to get lost before divvying up the prize pool. I didn’t blame him, but from the payouts I deduced we’d only get $56 more losing one player and $68 for the next guy.

All of us were even in chips so seemed a lot to risk, almost third place money, to win $124 more. The real benefit for outlasting short stacks was going to be getting rid of 5th and 6th, I thought.

Still, the guy didn’t want to chop so fair was fair. I folded a lot because he tipped his hand he’d be willing to chop later and I had chips to spare. Then, Merle was under the gun and shoved, folded to me in the big blind. It was barely double the bet.

I was conflicted, part of me wanted to just give Merle a walk, but I didn’t want to collude or cheat the other players out of money by folding when I shouldn’t. Also, we were pretty open about our friendliness as we chatted at the table so I realized that even if I could rationalize a fold, there would be at least be the appearance of collusion. I felt compelled to call. So when I saw a deuce I hated it.

Especially as other big stacks had tried to eliminate the shorties. I flipped over a king next which was even worse. In that spot I’d much rather deuce three than deuce-ace or deuce-king because I’m so dominated by so many hands Merle shoves with under the gun.

Lots of players shove any two cards under the gun, because if they are so short they recognize the value of fighting against the blinds rather than being in the blinds and having to call off. I don’t know if Merle thinks that way, but I did know he has solid hand selection and was showing only premiums in the time I was there.

So, eventually I call not wanting to wrong the table. The weird thing was, I asked myself if I would call if it wasn’t Merle and I decided I might find a fold there. I was going to wait for the chop, so chips were precious at that point. If I were playing for the win, I call in a heartbeat. Still, I called because I thought the table would think I was up to no good by folding.

As soon as I did call, two or three players chastised me for taking so long, including the guy who didn’t want to chop. Merle turned over something like AQ. I don’t think the second card was quite as good as a Queen but it was irrelevant as it was much higher than my 2. Also it was within range of his Ace to get additional minimal odds for me to hit a king and him make a broadway straight. Merle survived the flop, turn, and river despite my live hand. I was happy for him, though a little pissed about donating.

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Harrahs Weekly Poker Donkley 1.12.11 Part Two

Date: Sun, Jan 16, 2011 Live

Continued from previous post:

So at the Harrahs Donkley their weekly Wednesday Holdem poker tournament. Now that they have the Saturday tournament two I guess I'll have to come up with a name for that one too? The weekend Donkley? Doesn't roll off the tongue. Oh well, I'll put some thought into it.

Where was I? I just quizzed the kid to see if I had a shot at buying the pot with a third barrel bluff. I wasn’t quite prepared for the answer to the question (though I'm pocketing it for next time), but I read it for real strength. It wasn’t “Strong” is weak it was kind of like reluctant acceptance that he was tied to the hand. Maybe a quick assertive move could have gotten him to change his mind but maybe not. I finally, meekly, checked, which I hate to do but is sometimes the best poker strategy. He said “I got an Ace,” and turned over Ace rag. I nodded and mucked, knowing any hand he had beat me.

He told me during the break, he had decided on the turn he was definitely calling any river bet from me, so perhaps, my gambit would have failed anyway.
I rebuilt again. I played AA pretty badly and was rewarded for it. The same kid in early position opened for a 650 raise, blinds 1-2. On this table that was fairly large. I saw my Aces and knew he had been opening fairly light and I decided I was going to be willing to die with them. If he passed me with the community cards oh well, but we were going to take a flop together and I was going to give him an opportunity to bluff me or stack off.

I said I played them stupid, because I did. There were two calling stations in late position and one right in the blind. My call encourages those three to jump in. It did swell the pot (never a bad thing when you need chips) but now I was playing AA against four people. Not the best situation for rockets and a now dwindling stack. Should have put in a modest re-raise and played with the kid but didn’t. If I had paid attention to the table I would have known a call would only encourage the stations to jump in.

So we see the flop and I believe a 9, an 8, and maybe a 4 hit the board. I think it was rainbow. The blinds check, the kid checks, I eye one of the guys in late position amassing his chips and hold off on betting. Luckily he wasn’t running an angle (okay, not an angle but a fake-out is a better word) on me and that was his intention, he opened shoved. He didn’t have much. One of the other two stations got out of the way, the other called and then my friend flat called.

I looked at my stack and I had enough to put a hurting into both the callers stacks. After some time I shoved over the top. The first caller folded immediately, the kid who I couldn’t bluff earlier thought longer. He folded.
The guy that shoved had middle pair a redraw with a gut-shot (couldn’t have been 4 must have been a 5).

He said “I thought I had the best had,” when he turned it over. I was happy to see it. My Aces held and I ended up dragging a stack re-invigorating pot because I played them incorrectly. Granted I was willing to gamble with them but I didn’t think that meant gambling against four others. Btw another 9 hit the river and both the two people that called the flop but then folded to my re-raise claimed to have a 9. The kid rued not calling as he probably had the chips to spare

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

Harrahs Weekly Poker Donkley 1.12.111 Part One

Date: Sat, Jan 15, 2011 Live

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post

BCS Title Game, Southern Poker Championship, and other tidbits... part five

Date: Tue, Jan 11, 2011 Live

So, I write this before the BCS title game and it'll be published the day after the game, so bare with me for not discussing the winner or the loser. Obviously, I hope it's Auburn, but my head tells me Oregon might have an edge. Would love to be wrong on this one. I’m sure, if Auburn prevails I might have a summation of my experience but should they lose probably it’s just back to poker only content. Speaking of which the rest of this post is poker only content.

I’ve heard players are mostly pleased with the Texas Holdem poker structure at the Beau. There are some early inflection points where you are going have to take risks but apparently that is going to leave plenty of play “in the money” and at the final table. I have to say, if true, that I appreciate that more. I’ve cashed a couple of times at the Beau in past events and found the latter action to be too luck dependent.

I’ll have to see it for myself, as me and my source differ fundamentally on what a good structure is. I tend to side with Monkey’s player perspective, my source is a little more considerate of the dealers and the venue, and what it takes to keep good dealers in the box. I don’t discount what he says, but the fact remains, player friendly structures exist and the venues that offer them benefit from that.

Granted like the next guy, I like to get some play for my buck, and hate tournaments that I’m going have to push marginal hands early and take risks I wouldn’t normally, so hopefully, the Beau figured out the happy medium. You want people to come back so you need to give some early play, and you need people to be able to play when it’s most critical so you need late play, it’s like the middle has to force the action.

Clearly the Beau isn’t going to do what Steve Fraser and Jimmy Sommerfeld do for the WSOP Circuit and just make every tournament a long one. With play throughout, I like that best as a more NITish player, but if I had to choose when to have the blinds catch up to you it would be in the middle of a tournament. Last year at Harrahs I got into the swing of anticipating the inflection points of their weekly tournament and using my stack a level early for fold equity and chip accumulation than everybody else. Hopefully, I’d be able to read the structure sheet at the Beau and figure out when the right time would be to do just that.

Incidentally, I wonder if Harrahs has re-started their weekly. I like it when it’s running during tournaments on the coast. A lot of the younger players head to Biloxi and the field dwindles down to about 50 to the mid 60s, and those present are usually weaker casual players. Good value in scooping a top five place. Maybe I’ll go to Harrahs on Wednesday first if they’ve restarted. Oddly, I prefer the field to be in that 50 to 60 range or almost full at 100 to 120.

On one side it’s a lot easier to make the money in a small field, on the other side you are getting full value on your buy-in. I’m sure some math guy could tell my feelings are way off base on this, but I also feel more comfortable in either scenario which isn’t something you could measure tangibly. With the smaller fields I take less risks and can wait for hands and pick on some easier targets in critical spots.

In close to sell-outs I know that I have to take risks and can ramp up the speed of play. For whatever reason when the number is in between I have trouble with the pacing.

www.gulfcoastpoker.net

Read Full Blog Post