Well, I'm not sure.
As is typical it seems for me in MTT's, hence my remarkably low(-alot %) ROI in MTT's despite being a drastically winning cash game player online and live...and I think a fairly knowledgable smart player...my results are just keyed on the same situation. Over and over it repeatedly beats me in the head.
Last night was FTOPS Event #1. 5200-someodd players I beleive, and as we progressed I had a relatively tight table, which meant my hands I was getting(AA and KK both twice in the first few hours) weren't getting me any action whatsoever. I was however, again fortunate enough to be at the tight table so although my big hands weren't getting payed so I didn't get a chance to accumulate a great stack, I was able to hold myself above the average stack...and then ultimately we got to my big showdown hand. The first time I was playing a huge pot...and naturally, the result is obvious...
Blinds are 25/200/400, folds around to the SB(me), and I raise to 1400 with AKo. He calls out of the BB. We're both about 12k deep to start this hand.
Flop is K/7/8 rainbow. I decide to take a trappy route and make a smallish bet at the pot that looks like I'm weak and hoping to enduce a raise. I bet out 1400 again into a 3k pot. He obliges me perfectly and raises it up to 3800. I shove over, and he calls and shows 9/10 off.
Turn 6. There's his open ended straight draw and he wins...but, just to rub salt in my wound...
River Jack.
And yet again, I'm bust out of a tournament in my usual, very standard style. But that's fine, today was PLO!
So, the PLO event starts up and I run into some real bad luck right off the hop, TheFatFISH is to my left, and he's a super strong, agressive, incredibly profitable MTT player on Full Tilt Poker, who won an FTOPS event last FTOPS series in August. That said, again I manage to chip up here and there with no real showdown value hands. I have a couple big pots that go both ways, but eventually I'm doubled up to around 10k after a few hours, which is around the average stack give or take...
Blinds are 150/300 I beleive, and in MP I pick up Jd/Jh/Ac/Qc, and raise it up hard. Get one caller. Flop is(sorry I don't have the hand history infront of me so I can't remember the EXACT flop, I just remember it was 7 high with 2 spades), I lead out comitting myself, he overshoves, I snap call, he has, again I don't have the exact hand infront of me, I just remember it was a fairly raggy hand to be calling, and Q high spade draw, and he turns the spades but of course.
So there's my FTOPS so far. Funny thing is I feel like I'm playing really well right now, and feel like if I can just ONE MOTHER FUCKING TIME not run so bad in key spots like that in MTT's for big money, I'll run real deep in one of these things.
Next up is a double-header on Sunday, 2 real nice structured tournies, so that's my next time to play.
Side note of fun : I happen to make what I felt like was a fairly tight pre-flop fold real early in the tourney, I fold Q/J/J/2 double suited UTG+1, so I MSN Marc just to see if he thinks that's too tight.
We have a breif conversation about it and that's it. Right before break I play a big pot where I flop a wrap-straight draw and win a substantial pot with it when I river the nuts. I just happen to msg Marc about it, on accident because I opened his MSN window instead of another friend of mine's that's playing the tourney...and Marc responds with "I joined the tourney after you mentioned it on a late registration".
So I ask him what his name is on Full Tilt and he tells me, so I check. And of course, his late registration has turned his 5k stack into over 20k already and is top 10 in chips in the tournament.
Am I surprised? Of course not, it's Marc fucking Karam. It's as standard as me running bad...which is troublingly standard.
Oh well, at least as I said, I feel confident and it's gotta come at some point. I'm putting myself in good positions.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
November month is poker month for me!
So...ya. I'm about to embark on one insane month of poker, I'm really eager to get it all going since I've snapped out of the funk I was in for most of the summer. The bad streak she ends! And I didn't take time off even, just stuck around. I think the thing that kept me going through it was Bruno calling me a fucking asshole and telling me he hated me in a pm when I posted here frustrated one night during the run. Thanks Bro!
So, November she comes at a good time, because I'm going to be playing alot of poker, and investing a fairly large chunk of money into poker in this coming month. At least I'm hoping. I still haven't been able to book all the days off work for this, but tenatively my schedule for November looks a little something like this :
Starting with FTOPS X(I think it's 10, too lazy to check) my schedule for that is crammed full :
Wendesday November 5th : $216 buyin, $1,000,000 guarantee NL 6-Max.
Thursday November 6th : $256 buyin, $200,000 guarantee PLO.
Friday November 7th : $216 buyin, $150,000 guarantee Limit Hold'Em 6-Max.
Saturday November 8th : $535 buyin, $350,000 guarantee PLO 6-Max.
Sunday November 9th : $256 buyin, $600,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em Knockout(bounties per elimination)
Sunday November 9th(later that night) : $322 buyin, $1,500,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em
Monday November 10th : $322 buyin, $250,000 guarantee Mixed Hold'Em
Tuesday November 11th : $216 buyin, $150,000 guarantee PL HA(Hold'Em, Omaha)
Friday November 14th : $216 buyin, $400,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em
Saturday November 15th : $535 buyin, $500,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em Heads Up Tourney
Sunday November 16th : $129 buyin, $500,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em KO
Sunday November 16th(later that night) : $535 buyin, $2,500,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em Main Event
Then after that, tenatively depending on what I can work out with work, I hope to be taking vacations and heading down to Vegas for 2 weeks. Down there I'll probably be mixing in some heavy cash game action with some more tourney action down there.
I know Venetian has their 4th DeepStack Extravaganza down there running all November, so I'll probably hit up at least a couple of those. The structure looks solid, $330 buyins and $12,500 chips to start with, only thing I can't remember is the timeframe of the levels, I played alot last time I was in Vegas, I just can't recall if they were 40 minutes or an hour per level. I was hoping to get to play some of the Caesers Palace Mega-Stack Series but it looks very unlikely unless I leave home on the Monday immediately after FTOPS wraps itself up, and make it down to Vegas in time for the $1k buyin Championship Event of the series, 25,000 starting stacks and hour levels, 3 day event. I'm not 100% sure about that.
So ya, looks like November's going to be a busy month. And potentially cripplingly expensive, between that and the fact that I also now have to buy a new computer thanks to my PC melting or exploding or getting herpes or something...
I've been pricing some PC's around, and also asking a few people I know about monitor situations, so I'm going to pose that question publicly now : What do you guys recommend for a screen setup? I'm thinking two 25.5" Samsung SyncMaster's, I'm just not sure if that's the best idea. Does anyone recommend just buying a 30" Screen instead? Any other ideas?
So, November she comes at a good time, because I'm going to be playing alot of poker, and investing a fairly large chunk of money into poker in this coming month. At least I'm hoping. I still haven't been able to book all the days off work for this, but tenatively my schedule for November looks a little something like this :
Starting with FTOPS X(I think it's 10, too lazy to check) my schedule for that is crammed full :
Wendesday November 5th : $216 buyin, $1,000,000 guarantee NL 6-Max.
Thursday November 6th : $256 buyin, $200,000 guarantee PLO.
Friday November 7th : $216 buyin, $150,000 guarantee Limit Hold'Em 6-Max.
Saturday November 8th : $535 buyin, $350,000 guarantee PLO 6-Max.
Sunday November 9th : $256 buyin, $600,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em Knockout(bounties per elimination)
Sunday November 9th(later that night) : $322 buyin, $1,500,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em
Monday November 10th : $322 buyin, $250,000 guarantee Mixed Hold'Em
Tuesday November 11th : $216 buyin, $150,000 guarantee PL HA(Hold'Em, Omaha)
Friday November 14th : $216 buyin, $400,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em
Saturday November 15th : $535 buyin, $500,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em Heads Up Tourney
Sunday November 16th : $129 buyin, $500,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em KO
Sunday November 16th(later that night) : $535 buyin, $2,500,000 guarantee NL Hold'Em Main Event
Then after that, tenatively depending on what I can work out with work, I hope to be taking vacations and heading down to Vegas for 2 weeks. Down there I'll probably be mixing in some heavy cash game action with some more tourney action down there.
I know Venetian has their 4th DeepStack Extravaganza down there running all November, so I'll probably hit up at least a couple of those. The structure looks solid, $330 buyins and $12,500 chips to start with, only thing I can't remember is the timeframe of the levels, I played alot last time I was in Vegas, I just can't recall if they were 40 minutes or an hour per level. I was hoping to get to play some of the Caesers Palace Mega-Stack Series but it looks very unlikely unless I leave home on the Monday immediately after FTOPS wraps itself up, and make it down to Vegas in time for the $1k buyin Championship Event of the series, 25,000 starting stacks and hour levels, 3 day event. I'm not 100% sure about that.
So ya, looks like November's going to be a busy month. And potentially cripplingly expensive, between that and the fact that I also now have to buy a new computer thanks to my PC melting or exploding or getting herpes or something...
I've been pricing some PC's around, and also asking a few people I know about monitor situations, so I'm going to pose that question publicly now : What do you guys recommend for a screen setup? I'm thinking two 25.5" Samsung SyncMaster's, I'm just not sure if that's the best idea. Does anyone recommend just buying a 30" Screen instead? Any other ideas?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Congratulations, and more accurately, thanks, to Marc Karam...
This week, I had alot of fun in Niagara. I went down there and watched Marc play alot. We hung out on breaks, I railed him a fair amount while he was playing and talked to other pro players who were standing on the rail. Just a small list of players I had very in depth conversations with during this week : Mike "Timex" McDonald, Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, Jean-Robert Bellande, Joe Sebok, Vivek Rajkumar, and more.
The thing is, I started to realize. I'm not out of place here. I watch Marc play and beleive me I get it, I'm not on Marc Karam's level. But in fairness, who is? :P
But I AM on the level of many players who have made millions playing this game. We had several in depth discussions over hands they had played, or hands they had just seen played etc, and I realized during this timeframe something sort of profound about my poker life.
Grinding sucks ass. I had this discussion with Marco and Frank eating breakfast at 6:00am at Fallsview after Marc's final table. Grinding is fucking hell. Beleive me, I know alot of friends of mine local here, you all admire or envy the fact that the main way I make a living is playing poker online. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I "work" more than any of you. Literally no one I know puts in more hours a week working than me. Not at my job...but at my "career". I pull sometimes 15-16 hours a day, grinding my life away. I'm not UPSET about it, it has it's perks. The money is great, and I don't have a schedule that I need to follow...I work on my own time. It also, however, has negatives. Insane amounts of hours namely.
The way you make a good living playing poker, as we echoed in that conversation, is simply repitition. I earn about 2.5 BB / 100 hands. That's my ratio over thousands upon thousands upon thousands of hands. So how do I make a living playing poker? I play as many sets of 100 hands as I can possibly fathom. That's "professional" poker.
The one thing I realized while I was there this week watching Marc play is a gigantic regret I have. I have NEVER taken a shot. I have NEVER in my life, played a single satalite, to a 10k buyin tournament. Ever.
The biggest "shot" I ever took, was playing a $1500 buyin WSOP event. I did, I think, VERY well there. Granted 182nd out of 3300-someodd players is modestly strong as a result, but given the fact that in 16 hours of poker, I never saw AA, KK, QQ, AK suited. Never flopped a set, never made a flush, never made any real hands that got ANY action whatsoever...I think finishing that strong still is a statement that I can play.
My poker career, frankly I realize now, I've been kind of lazy, I grind and I grind online and live, but I have never tried to position myself to move up another level. It's not even "taking a shot", because the buyins to any satalite can't possibly hurt me.
So, as I said, congratulations are in order to Marc. Cashing 3 straight years at the same 10k buyin event. Making a 5th 10k buyin final table inside 2 and a half years. Again cruising through an insane field...and ultimately only losing out because Glen is the god of flipping coins.
But more importantly, thanks to Marc Karam. Not just for the tickets to the FT, not just for sushi and every other courtesy he extended, but moreso, for the motivation.
After this week, I know Marc said he felt incredibly motivated to play ALOT of live tournaments next year, and that's great news.
I guess maybe slightly less great news, or more great news depending on who you're looking at this from, is the fact that I've been motivated too. I have a new goal...a "New Years Resolution" that is already set in stone before New Years.
I am going to bust my ass to qualify for some 10k buyin tournaments next year. It is my entire goal in poker for next year to play at least one major buyin tournament in the year 2009.
So thanks Marc, for the motivation to try and advance my poker career forward.
The thing is, I started to realize. I'm not out of place here. I watch Marc play and beleive me I get it, I'm not on Marc Karam's level. But in fairness, who is? :P
But I AM on the level of many players who have made millions playing this game. We had several in depth discussions over hands they had played, or hands they had just seen played etc, and I realized during this timeframe something sort of profound about my poker life.
Grinding sucks ass. I had this discussion with Marco and Frank eating breakfast at 6:00am at Fallsview after Marc's final table. Grinding is fucking hell. Beleive me, I know alot of friends of mine local here, you all admire or envy the fact that the main way I make a living is playing poker online. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I "work" more than any of you. Literally no one I know puts in more hours a week working than me. Not at my job...but at my "career". I pull sometimes 15-16 hours a day, grinding my life away. I'm not UPSET about it, it has it's perks. The money is great, and I don't have a schedule that I need to follow...I work on my own time. It also, however, has negatives. Insane amounts of hours namely.
The way you make a good living playing poker, as we echoed in that conversation, is simply repitition. I earn about 2.5 BB / 100 hands. That's my ratio over thousands upon thousands upon thousands of hands. So how do I make a living playing poker? I play as many sets of 100 hands as I can possibly fathom. That's "professional" poker.
The one thing I realized while I was there this week watching Marc play is a gigantic regret I have. I have NEVER taken a shot. I have NEVER in my life, played a single satalite, to a 10k buyin tournament. Ever.
The biggest "shot" I ever took, was playing a $1500 buyin WSOP event. I did, I think, VERY well there. Granted 182nd out of 3300-someodd players is modestly strong as a result, but given the fact that in 16 hours of poker, I never saw AA, KK, QQ, AK suited. Never flopped a set, never made a flush, never made any real hands that got ANY action whatsoever...I think finishing that strong still is a statement that I can play.
My poker career, frankly I realize now, I've been kind of lazy, I grind and I grind online and live, but I have never tried to position myself to move up another level. It's not even "taking a shot", because the buyins to any satalite can't possibly hurt me.
So, as I said, congratulations are in order to Marc. Cashing 3 straight years at the same 10k buyin event. Making a 5th 10k buyin final table inside 2 and a half years. Again cruising through an insane field...and ultimately only losing out because Glen is the god of flipping coins.
But more importantly, thanks to Marc Karam. Not just for the tickets to the FT, not just for sushi and every other courtesy he extended, but moreso, for the motivation.
After this week, I know Marc said he felt incredibly motivated to play ALOT of live tournaments next year, and that's great news.
I guess maybe slightly less great news, or more great news depending on who you're looking at this from, is the fact that I've been motivated too. I have a new goal...a "New Years Resolution" that is already set in stone before New Years.
I am going to bust my ass to qualify for some 10k buyin tournaments next year. It is my entire goal in poker for next year to play at least one major buyin tournament in the year 2009.
So thanks Marc, for the motivation to try and advance my poker career forward.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Best hourly income of my life...
So, I headed down to the good old Fallsview today. Got down there around 2:30pm, put my name on a few lists, and ran down to check on the WPT situation. Got down there just as they were going on break, and had a chat with Marc, which more or less became a running theme throughout the day. It was actually I've gotta say, alot of fun, and very insightful discussing hands with Marc that he had played, and having him explain why he did what he did. It also became a theme that while I was down there, I'd always run into other players I have respect for and have some interesting conversations as well about poker, hands they had played etc. I had a couple very interesting conversations with Mike "Timex" McDonald while he was railing Steve Paul Ambrose who was at Marc's table. It was way more fun than I figured it would be, so I actually intend on going down there tomorrow and pretty much chilling for the day on the WPT rail.
It's hectic to get on a cash game table right now anyway, although it is starting to clear up a bit. I finally did manage to get myself on a 5/10 NL table, although I didn't wind up there for very long.
I sat down and took off a peice of a rotation, the table was full of older guys, all very tight and very weak players. I sat down and played a few hands, and then I decided to get into pots and get involved.
First hand, there was a raise from EP to 30, and 2 callers to me, and given how weak and passive the table was I just randomly decided to pull a squeeze play. So I re-popped to 125 with 9/4 offsuit, and everyone cleared the way. Free $100.
Next hand, there was a raise as well to 30, and 2 callers again, all 3 were the same players, and again no one was showing any real strength, so I decided I'd do it one more time to try and send a message. This time I had a hand I wouldn't mind seeing a flop with either if it came to that, 7h/5h. Not great holdings, but I had position, and they were playing ultra tight, so I re-raised to 125 once again, and again they both cleared the way. Free $100.
Now, if you could sculpt your ideal cash game session what would it be? For a great many of us, I suspect it's something like this...you sit down, play a little reckless, accumulate some chips, tighten up after your image is nice and LAG, and have people pay you off. Here's how in literally 3 hands, I accomplished that.
Once again an EP raise to 35 this time, and 2 callers yet again. I look down at Qc/Qd. Perfect. A real hand, and I KNOW someone's going to start getting a little wary of my constant re-raising, and I have a great chance of getting played back at with a hand players this tight would never play a huge pot with. So yet again I re-raise to 125. This time, the first of the callers, after the initial raiser folds, decides to take a stand, and he moves all in for $820 total. I call instantly because given the circumstances of the last few hands, and the way this one was played, I'm literally behind here -10% of the time. Somehow negative percents are invented specifically for this case. These aren't players that are at all sophisticated enough to smoothe call KK or AA hoping I'll squeeze behind.
Sure enough, he shows 9/9 and I hold. Suddenly in literally 3 hands of poker, I'm holding $2100. $1100 profit. I play for a bit more, slowly chipping away with some real LAG play at the table, and eventually cash out for $1400 profit after less than an hour at the table.
I'd typically be all about sitting down and putting in a marathon session, but a few things were working against me so to speak. 1 - I couldn't help but be way more interested in how Marc was doing than my own game, so I kept running down to the WPT room after my puck every so often and see how he was doing, so my mind wasn't really in the game. 2, and more importantly - The game had really started to dry up. Somehow my ultra LAG style at this table, encouraged people to play less hands and play super tight, so I was risking alot of chips because the only action I started to get were PREMIUM hands against me. I was chipping 15 bucks here and there taking blinds, but in all relative terms it was kind of a risky game for me to be in since they were all squarely focussed on me and waiting to pick me off. And to make matters worse, the table started to lose a few of the older guys I was abusing, and got replaced with some talented young kids that weren't going to be easy to deal with. The game just became really undesirable in the span of an hour. I think I broke it. :)
Anyway, congrats to Marc are in order, it's absolutely bat-shit insane that you've cashed all 3 years the WPT's been in Niagara, and your play never ceases to amaze. It's about time you won a million dollars THIS year I think...you've been kinda slackin'. :P
Side note : My money management skills are at an all time high. This coming from the guy that bought a 61" HDTV, and then 3 months later bought a 40" LCD for his room because "I don't like regular TV anymore, gotta be HD!"
Today I went into a watch store they have in Fallsview, and saw a watch I desperately want, a new Movado. The price was $1250. And I managed to restrain myself from buying it, at least for today...kinda hoping I can manage another day like that.
It's hectic to get on a cash game table right now anyway, although it is starting to clear up a bit. I finally did manage to get myself on a 5/10 NL table, although I didn't wind up there for very long.
I sat down and took off a peice of a rotation, the table was full of older guys, all very tight and very weak players. I sat down and played a few hands, and then I decided to get into pots and get involved.
First hand, there was a raise from EP to 30, and 2 callers to me, and given how weak and passive the table was I just randomly decided to pull a squeeze play. So I re-popped to 125 with 9/4 offsuit, and everyone cleared the way. Free $100.
Next hand, there was a raise as well to 30, and 2 callers again, all 3 were the same players, and again no one was showing any real strength, so I decided I'd do it one more time to try and send a message. This time I had a hand I wouldn't mind seeing a flop with either if it came to that, 7h/5h. Not great holdings, but I had position, and they were playing ultra tight, so I re-raised to 125 once again, and again they both cleared the way. Free $100.
Now, if you could sculpt your ideal cash game session what would it be? For a great many of us, I suspect it's something like this...you sit down, play a little reckless, accumulate some chips, tighten up after your image is nice and LAG, and have people pay you off. Here's how in literally 3 hands, I accomplished that.
Once again an EP raise to 35 this time, and 2 callers yet again. I look down at Qc/Qd. Perfect. A real hand, and I KNOW someone's going to start getting a little wary of my constant re-raising, and I have a great chance of getting played back at with a hand players this tight would never play a huge pot with. So yet again I re-raise to 125. This time, the first of the callers, after the initial raiser folds, decides to take a stand, and he moves all in for $820 total. I call instantly because given the circumstances of the last few hands, and the way this one was played, I'm literally behind here -10% of the time. Somehow negative percents are invented specifically for this case. These aren't players that are at all sophisticated enough to smoothe call KK or AA hoping I'll squeeze behind.
Sure enough, he shows 9/9 and I hold. Suddenly in literally 3 hands of poker, I'm holding $2100. $1100 profit. I play for a bit more, slowly chipping away with some real LAG play at the table, and eventually cash out for $1400 profit after less than an hour at the table.
I'd typically be all about sitting down and putting in a marathon session, but a few things were working against me so to speak. 1 - I couldn't help but be way more interested in how Marc was doing than my own game, so I kept running down to the WPT room after my puck every so often and see how he was doing, so my mind wasn't really in the game. 2, and more importantly - The game had really started to dry up. Somehow my ultra LAG style at this table, encouraged people to play less hands and play super tight, so I was risking alot of chips because the only action I started to get were PREMIUM hands against me. I was chipping 15 bucks here and there taking blinds, but in all relative terms it was kind of a risky game for me to be in since they were all squarely focussed on me and waiting to pick me off. And to make matters worse, the table started to lose a few of the older guys I was abusing, and got replaced with some talented young kids that weren't going to be easy to deal with. The game just became really undesirable in the span of an hour. I think I broke it. :)
Anyway, congrats to Marc are in order, it's absolutely bat-shit insane that you've cashed all 3 years the WPT's been in Niagara, and your play never ceases to amaze. It's about time you won a million dollars THIS year I think...you've been kinda slackin'. :P
Side note : My money management skills are at an all time high. This coming from the guy that bought a 61" HDTV, and then 3 months later bought a 40" LCD for his room because "I don't like regular TV anymore, gotta be HD!"
Today I went into a watch store they have in Fallsview, and saw a watch I desperately want, a new Movado. The price was $1250. And I managed to restrain myself from buying it, at least for today...kinda hoping I can manage another day like that.
Monday, October 6, 2008
A night out at fallsview leads to the sickest hand I've ever played(Marc knows :P)
So, I went down to Fallsview to play some 5/10 PLO for the 2nd or 3rd time in the span of 3 days, and it went pretty badly, to pretty well, to really badly, to pretty well again. Let me explain...
I worked through the day, so once I got off work I just immediately hopped in the car and headed down to the poker room at Fallsview. I did the old "change en route" thing swapping shirts to get out of my work uniform. And then I promptly got to Fallsview and immediately did something stupid. I locked my keys in my car as I went to grab some things from the trunk, and toss my work uniform in there.
Thankfully, Marc was kind enough to let me drop off the uniform in his room until such time as I could get a spare set of keys for the car and get it open. Thanks again Marc.
Fallsview poker room is officially booming. WPT is in town and there are guys all around the room playing now. They had some big games, 25/50 NL was open while I was there. Tuan Lam was floating around the poker room, and naturally, Marc's been around for most of the week, no doubt crushifying the poker room.
Anyway, on to my funfunfun Omaha session.
I sit down to play 5/10 PLO, and whatever will be will be, any hand that happened in the entire session doesn't matter one bit until this one, which I will never forget as long as I live, because it was so bizarre I actually had to ask the dealer at first blush, what he had...
Here we go! At the point where the hand takes place I've chipped up to nearly $2000 from my $1000 buyin.
There are 5 limps around the table to me in the BB, I look down at Kh/Kc/Qc/9d. So I decide to raise pot and try and thin the herd. I raise pot, to $70, and get 2 callers.
Flop comes Ks/Js/7c. The nuts for now, but obviously a large action flop potentially. I decide to jam the pot hard, and lead out $200. I get one caller. The turn is a great card. 5d. I jam pot yet again to $600. He smoothe calls again. Pot is now somewhere in the $1800 range. The river is a 4h. Good card yet again so I shove hoping he calls off with JJ. Instead, he pretty much snap calls here which was weird because he had been tanking on most streets. And then he rolls it over, the hand I will never forget...
Keep in mind the board : Flop, Ks/Js/7c, turn 5d. river 4h. I jammed pot every single street.
He rolls over, Ah/9h/6h/3d. Straight. $3400 pot.
He actually managed to be calling drawing stone dead in an Omaha game, he picks up a double gutshot on the turn and calls another pot jam, and rivers his straight. I could see the flop containing something than maybe that hand plays out like that, but given the way the hand played, there's never a way he should be in preflop, or on the flop. Or even on the turn despite the fact the turn finally gave him some outs or a draw.
Anyway, after that setback I went for a walk, ironically around this time my spare keys showed up, so I tended to that and then went back to work at the table. I won back a fair amount again, and ended up mostly even for the session, I'll be blogging a fair amount in the next week, largely because I'll probably spend a great deal of time at Fallsview playing in that Omaha game this week...it's drawing alot of action right now as WPT approaches.
I worked through the day, so once I got off work I just immediately hopped in the car and headed down to the poker room at Fallsview. I did the old "change en route" thing swapping shirts to get out of my work uniform. And then I promptly got to Fallsview and immediately did something stupid. I locked my keys in my car as I went to grab some things from the trunk, and toss my work uniform in there.
Thankfully, Marc was kind enough to let me drop off the uniform in his room until such time as I could get a spare set of keys for the car and get it open. Thanks again Marc.
Fallsview poker room is officially booming. WPT is in town and there are guys all around the room playing now. They had some big games, 25/50 NL was open while I was there. Tuan Lam was floating around the poker room, and naturally, Marc's been around for most of the week, no doubt crushifying the poker room.
Anyway, on to my funfunfun Omaha session.
I sit down to play 5/10 PLO, and whatever will be will be, any hand that happened in the entire session doesn't matter one bit until this one, which I will never forget as long as I live, because it was so bizarre I actually had to ask the dealer at first blush, what he had...
Here we go! At the point where the hand takes place I've chipped up to nearly $2000 from my $1000 buyin.
There are 5 limps around the table to me in the BB, I look down at Kh/Kc/Qc/9d. So I decide to raise pot and try and thin the herd. I raise pot, to $70, and get 2 callers.
Flop comes Ks/Js/7c. The nuts for now, but obviously a large action flop potentially. I decide to jam the pot hard, and lead out $200. I get one caller. The turn is a great card. 5d. I jam pot yet again to $600. He smoothe calls again. Pot is now somewhere in the $1800 range. The river is a 4h. Good card yet again so I shove hoping he calls off with JJ. Instead, he pretty much snap calls here which was weird because he had been tanking on most streets. And then he rolls it over, the hand I will never forget...
Keep in mind the board : Flop, Ks/Js/7c, turn 5d. river 4h. I jammed pot every single street.
He rolls over, Ah/9h/6h/3d. Straight. $3400 pot.
He actually managed to be calling drawing stone dead in an Omaha game, he picks up a double gutshot on the turn and calls another pot jam, and rivers his straight. I could see the flop containing something than maybe that hand plays out like that, but given the way the hand played, there's never a way he should be in preflop, or on the flop. Or even on the turn despite the fact the turn finally gave him some outs or a draw.
Anyway, after that setback I went for a walk, ironically around this time my spare keys showed up, so I tended to that and then went back to work at the table. I won back a fair amount again, and ended up mostly even for the session, I'll be blogging a fair amount in the next week, largely because I'll probably spend a great deal of time at Fallsview playing in that Omaha game this week...it's drawing alot of action right now as WPT approaches.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
How a Fallsview Poker dealer cost me $750(sick story)
Ah yes, it's always nice to read a heartwarming fairy tale.
Unfortunately, this isn't it. This made me want to commit murder. Something I'm normally very opposed to(murder).
So, let's start at the beginning shall we?
A few friends of mine from Toronto have been staying at Fallsview for a few days now and playing, I went down once earlier this week but nothing really came of it as the session was just a real boring grind. Yesterday and today I was busy moving(packing more specifically), so I didn't go out to meet them again, but after today's trips to look for new places to reside, I got a call inviting me down and I decided to take them up on it.
So I went down and sat at the 2/5 NL game at Fallsview. It's actually a nice game...the buyin is up, although still not where it should be, 300 isnt a TERRIBLE buyin, and the play is relatively tight, I never saw an open raise of more than 4x the BB($20) all night.
So let's get to a few fun hands before the real big one happens.
The first fairly big pot I play is after I've chipped up to around $430, and there are a couple limps to me on the button with JJ. I decide to raise over a bit to try and deny the "mass call" effect you find from raising a standard raise here, so I go to $35, and get 2 callers.
The flop comes Qc/6s/4d. They both check check to me. These are the spots where I really hate c-betting. I know I have position and I know that's not a too terrible flop for my hand, but I still don't like it because any Q will gladly call and inflate the pot. So instead I try and control pot size and check behind. The turn is an interesting enough card. Qh. Now the first of my 2 callers decides he's gonna take a stab, and he bets $20 at the $120 pot. There is also a precisely 0% chance he has me beat. However, the other player flats also, which makes things slightly trickier. I decide to play along and flat also here...hoping to just get to a showdown relatively cheaply. Side note, or maybe something worth clarifying, the player who flatted the turn bet has left himself only $35 more.
River peels a 5. Not a scare card at all since 78 is deffinitely not a range here, at least IMO. The first position player checks, and short stack shoves his last $35. I'm still unsure of what I'm supposed to do here, I mean, the pot odds alone are fairly fantastic with nearly 7 to 1 on my money, but also I just legitimately could not see how he would have a Q and have played it like this. Maybe a boat after flopping a set...but I just couldn't see how a Q checks the flop. So I call and he shows Q/10 of course. I still think this is a must-call, his range is fairly wide I beleive, any 88, 99, 10/10 type hand would surely think he's best. I could see A/6 playing this that way, although the call pre would be suspect it wouldn't be unexpected in this game.
Anyway...
Next hand I play is my big one for the session before rediculous ensues. It folds all the way around to me in the cut-off, this is after a few hours at the table, I had a fairly TAG image, and the table was playing very tight for the most part, so I decided to move in a raise with Ks/6s to 20. I got a caller from the SB. The flop was pretty super-fantastic, 10s/8s/3s. Okay, flopped the 2nd nuts, nice. SB checks and I lead for $25. He check raises me straight, to $50 total. I "tank" at this point, and then 3-bet him to $175 total. He now tanks for a long time, asks how much I have back, which I inform him is around $225, and he sets me all in. I snap call and he, without turning his cards over, goes "I have a 10". I'm still unsure if he had the As to go with it, but it's irrelevant, turn and river bricked and I got shipped up to just over $800 total for the session now.
A while later, basically the same stack, comes the one hand of the session I really regret my play on, and I'll explain why in some detail. 2 limpers including "Chris Ferguson" as me and my buddy started calling him(not because he looked like Chris, anything but actually, we dubbed him this because he took FOREVER to do ANYTHING, at any time at all) from fairly EP, and I peak in the hijack at AA. Yay. I've lost 11 straight pots with AA online or live, gotta win this one! So I bump it up to $30 total, and get 2 callers again. The flop is Qs/Qd/4d. They both check, and I bet $50. Here is where good cash game players are immediately finding why I hate the way I played this hand. I HATE my bet on this flop. There are 0h-so many reasons I hate this bet. My hand has significant showdown value, there are alot of hands I'm still beating, anything without a Q or 44 is still beaten. There are, however, ALOT of hands that like that flop, that also don't contain a Q. Any diamond draw, any pair 55 through KK or AA are fans of that flop, as well as obviously any hand containing a Q enjoying the flop.
If I had it back, I'd check behind. Not intending to fold necessarily, but intending to try and navigate the cheapest way possible to a showdown which is where my hand still contains significant value.
Instead, I fire out a bet. What's worse, it really feels like a c-bet to someone whose alert, which Jesus was for the most part(he should be considering it takes him 9 minutes to do anything). After I fire, I almost immediately regret it, realizing that now what I've done is opened the door for any of those previously mentioned hands, a flush draw, or ESPECIALLY 55 through KK to raise me here and find out where they're at. I literally start to wonder what I'm going to do when he straight raises me to $100 total before he even does it...which he no doubt does do.
Eventually I decide that the reason I hate my play there so much is now I'm handcuffed, and my hand no longer has any real value. I can't call because he'll shove 99% of turns. And raising isn't really an option either, although I suppose a super LAG player could try and explain it, it's just not a solid option to shove here knowing you're now only getting called by 44 and a Q which both crush you badly. So I end up mucking obviously, but not without regretting trapping myself into that.
And now we get to all the real fun. Around this time a table breaks into us, and a few real big stacks come strolling over to our table. This is where a dealer decides she'd like to completely fuck me.
Little backstory for any who don't know me, I am a poker dealer. I understand that mistakes happen and it sucks, but the way this all went down is inexcusible(for one thing she did).
Anyway, she starts dealing the cards, and my first card kind of catches my hand that's just resting on the table, and rides up my arm and flips face up on the table, exposed Kd(that'll be really significant in a minute so keep that card in mind for fun). This is no problem, this happens, it's certainly not her fault, I can deffinitely deal with it. She finishes dealing the hand obeying proper rules when dealing with an exposed card. Then, for some absolutely GODLY unknown reason, she literally reaches across the table to my cards, and like, tries to push them from an inch infront of me, where I currently have ahold of them for gods sakes...the extra inch to me, I guess. I really, for the life of me, do not know what she was doing, but whatever it was. It was bad. Real bad. And it got alot worse when that motion she somehow managed to while PUSHING a card across a table, FLIP it over also exposing it now too. The card? The Ad. Great, I just had my Ad/Kd killed. But it wouldn't actually have been by Ad/Kd because the King was already gone.
The hand is at this point dead, two exposed cards during a deal means it's a misdeal. So I can't help myself because I'm sick. I take a look at the other card that I would have had to go with the Ad.
Wanna guess?
Ac.
At this point, I become, obviously, a little angry. I can stomach any natural mistakes the a dealer makes, because a) I make them too from time to time, and b) I understand they're not always going to be perfect.
But this was rediculous. She had NO business putting her hands on my cards in the situation she did(kind of hard for me to describe) and what's more, it would take someone of extreme talent to actually flip a card over while pushing it flat across a table.
But oh wait. I know what you're saying. How did this mistake cost you $750 dollars Kevin? And how is the Kd really relevent after it flips up? Those alert readers will now have peiced it together. My chipstack for the hand was right around $750. The guy beside me when I flip the other Ace up frustrated at the situation, exposes KK. With a dead Kd on the top of the deck.
Thank you Madame dealer at Fallsview. You suck.
Anyway, the session I ended up around $350. Still, so, so sick about that situation. As I said, if it was at all a natural mistake that'd be fine, but just the way she dealt me both my cards, I HAD MY HANDS ON THEM and then she like, reached out and tried to "help me" push them over towards me and somehow in that process managed to flip a card, is just rediculous and that's not an excusable natural dealer error. That's just flagrant stupidity.
Unfortunately, this isn't it. This made me want to commit murder. Something I'm normally very opposed to(murder).
So, let's start at the beginning shall we?
A few friends of mine from Toronto have been staying at Fallsview for a few days now and playing, I went down once earlier this week but nothing really came of it as the session was just a real boring grind. Yesterday and today I was busy moving(packing more specifically), so I didn't go out to meet them again, but after today's trips to look for new places to reside, I got a call inviting me down and I decided to take them up on it.
So I went down and sat at the 2/5 NL game at Fallsview. It's actually a nice game...the buyin is up, although still not where it should be, 300 isnt a TERRIBLE buyin, and the play is relatively tight, I never saw an open raise of more than 4x the BB($20) all night.
So let's get to a few fun hands before the real big one happens.
The first fairly big pot I play is after I've chipped up to around $430, and there are a couple limps to me on the button with JJ. I decide to raise over a bit to try and deny the "mass call" effect you find from raising a standard raise here, so I go to $35, and get 2 callers.
The flop comes Qc/6s/4d. They both check check to me. These are the spots where I really hate c-betting. I know I have position and I know that's not a too terrible flop for my hand, but I still don't like it because any Q will gladly call and inflate the pot. So instead I try and control pot size and check behind. The turn is an interesting enough card. Qh. Now the first of my 2 callers decides he's gonna take a stab, and he bets $20 at the $120 pot. There is also a precisely 0% chance he has me beat. However, the other player flats also, which makes things slightly trickier. I decide to play along and flat also here...hoping to just get to a showdown relatively cheaply. Side note, or maybe something worth clarifying, the player who flatted the turn bet has left himself only $35 more.
River peels a 5. Not a scare card at all since 78 is deffinitely not a range here, at least IMO. The first position player checks, and short stack shoves his last $35. I'm still unsure of what I'm supposed to do here, I mean, the pot odds alone are fairly fantastic with nearly 7 to 1 on my money, but also I just legitimately could not see how he would have a Q and have played it like this. Maybe a boat after flopping a set...but I just couldn't see how a Q checks the flop. So I call and he shows Q/10 of course. I still think this is a must-call, his range is fairly wide I beleive, any 88, 99, 10/10 type hand would surely think he's best. I could see A/6 playing this that way, although the call pre would be suspect it wouldn't be unexpected in this game.
Anyway...
Next hand I play is my big one for the session before rediculous ensues. It folds all the way around to me in the cut-off, this is after a few hours at the table, I had a fairly TAG image, and the table was playing very tight for the most part, so I decided to move in a raise with Ks/6s to 20. I got a caller from the SB. The flop was pretty super-fantastic, 10s/8s/3s. Okay, flopped the 2nd nuts, nice. SB checks and I lead for $25. He check raises me straight, to $50 total. I "tank" at this point, and then 3-bet him to $175 total. He now tanks for a long time, asks how much I have back, which I inform him is around $225, and he sets me all in. I snap call and he, without turning his cards over, goes "I have a 10". I'm still unsure if he had the As to go with it, but it's irrelevant, turn and river bricked and I got shipped up to just over $800 total for the session now.
A while later, basically the same stack, comes the one hand of the session I really regret my play on, and I'll explain why in some detail. 2 limpers including "Chris Ferguson" as me and my buddy started calling him(not because he looked like Chris, anything but actually, we dubbed him this because he took FOREVER to do ANYTHING, at any time at all) from fairly EP, and I peak in the hijack at AA. Yay. I've lost 11 straight pots with AA online or live, gotta win this one! So I bump it up to $30 total, and get 2 callers again. The flop is Qs/Qd/4d. They both check, and I bet $50. Here is where good cash game players are immediately finding why I hate the way I played this hand. I HATE my bet on this flop. There are 0h-so many reasons I hate this bet. My hand has significant showdown value, there are alot of hands I'm still beating, anything without a Q or 44 is still beaten. There are, however, ALOT of hands that like that flop, that also don't contain a Q. Any diamond draw, any pair 55 through KK or AA are fans of that flop, as well as obviously any hand containing a Q enjoying the flop.
If I had it back, I'd check behind. Not intending to fold necessarily, but intending to try and navigate the cheapest way possible to a showdown which is where my hand still contains significant value.
Instead, I fire out a bet. What's worse, it really feels like a c-bet to someone whose alert, which Jesus was for the most part(he should be considering it takes him 9 minutes to do anything). After I fire, I almost immediately regret it, realizing that now what I've done is opened the door for any of those previously mentioned hands, a flush draw, or ESPECIALLY 55 through KK to raise me here and find out where they're at. I literally start to wonder what I'm going to do when he straight raises me to $100 total before he even does it...which he no doubt does do.
Eventually I decide that the reason I hate my play there so much is now I'm handcuffed, and my hand no longer has any real value. I can't call because he'll shove 99% of turns. And raising isn't really an option either, although I suppose a super LAG player could try and explain it, it's just not a solid option to shove here knowing you're now only getting called by 44 and a Q which both crush you badly. So I end up mucking obviously, but not without regretting trapping myself into that.
And now we get to all the real fun. Around this time a table breaks into us, and a few real big stacks come strolling over to our table. This is where a dealer decides she'd like to completely fuck me.
Little backstory for any who don't know me, I am a poker dealer. I understand that mistakes happen and it sucks, but the way this all went down is inexcusible(for one thing she did).
Anyway, she starts dealing the cards, and my first card kind of catches my hand that's just resting on the table, and rides up my arm and flips face up on the table, exposed Kd(that'll be really significant in a minute so keep that card in mind for fun). This is no problem, this happens, it's certainly not her fault, I can deffinitely deal with it. She finishes dealing the hand obeying proper rules when dealing with an exposed card. Then, for some absolutely GODLY unknown reason, she literally reaches across the table to my cards, and like, tries to push them from an inch infront of me, where I currently have ahold of them for gods sakes...the extra inch to me, I guess. I really, for the life of me, do not know what she was doing, but whatever it was. It was bad. Real bad. And it got alot worse when that motion she somehow managed to while PUSHING a card across a table, FLIP it over also exposing it now too. The card? The Ad. Great, I just had my Ad/Kd killed. But it wouldn't actually have been by Ad/Kd because the King was already gone.
The hand is at this point dead, two exposed cards during a deal means it's a misdeal. So I can't help myself because I'm sick. I take a look at the other card that I would have had to go with the Ad.
Wanna guess?
Ac.
At this point, I become, obviously, a little angry. I can stomach any natural mistakes the a dealer makes, because a) I make them too from time to time, and b) I understand they're not always going to be perfect.
But this was rediculous. She had NO business putting her hands on my cards in the situation she did(kind of hard for me to describe) and what's more, it would take someone of extreme talent to actually flip a card over while pushing it flat across a table.
But oh wait. I know what you're saying. How did this mistake cost you $750 dollars Kevin? And how is the Kd really relevent after it flips up? Those alert readers will now have peiced it together. My chipstack for the hand was right around $750. The guy beside me when I flip the other Ace up frustrated at the situation, exposes KK. With a dead Kd on the top of the deck.
Thank you Madame dealer at Fallsview. You suck.
Anyway, the session I ended up around $350. Still, so, so sick about that situation. As I said, if it was at all a natural mistake that'd be fine, but just the way she dealt me both my cards, I HAD MY HANDS ON THEM and then she like, reached out and tried to "help me" push them over towards me and somehow in that process managed to flip a card, is just rediculous and that's not an excusable natural dealer error. That's just flagrant stupidity.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Omaha for a living?
For a long time now I've been making very steady profits playing Hold'Em live and online. I've made damn good money doing it, although I still do hold a steady job at a casino dealing Hold'Em so I wouldn't consider myself a professional, I do make more money playing poker than I do dealing it at the casino.
In the last calendar year, from the time I went to the WSOP last summer in Vegas, cashed in an event and had very steady cash game profits during the trip, I can now basically give a rough estimate of my net profit in one calendar year from poker :
$55,000
Certainly it's not totally a life altering some of money, but coupled with a steady high paying job that gives me a ton of freedom to drop shifts whenever I feel like it and pick them up whenever I feel like it between co-workers, it's made the calendar year very kind to me financially.
With that said, the last month now has been very trying for me along those same levels. First of all, our casino walked out for a strike on June 1st(we just returned to work on Saturday) which took those paychecks from me. Couple that with what was easily the worst downswing of my poker career, where I felt like I was playing fine, and Hold'Em Managers EV rating for me during my sessions in this timeframe basically told me that same story, I could not for the life of me win any hands. No matter what I did, it was never good enough, and no matter how far ahead I put my money in, I never held. It was a very sour timeframe for me pokerwise.
I recently messaged a friend of mine who plays 5/10 NL online for a living, and we had a long discussion, because he had been telling me about a month ago that he had gone through a similar immense and terrible downswing of his own despite very high EV ratings during that timeframe. I asked him what he did to go about getting out of the swing and got some ideas. Now, I know I made a long post last year about dealing with downswings, and at the time I got alot of compliments for the way it was written. This isn't meant to be another one of those posts, it's just more a story of how I got to this point now :
One of the things my buddy suggested was I should try and play Omaha a bit, because he felt like most players play hold'em moderately decent, but there are still a vast majority of mid-limit Omaha players that won't play a single hand right in an entire session, and play nightmarishly bad. The edge a solid players has in Omaha is way higher than the edge a solid player has in Hold'em in mid-limit play.
So about a week ago now, I took him up on that theory, and started playing .50/1 PL Omaha cash games on Full Tilt.
He was right, I just had no idea how right he actually was. In truth, people actually don't have the slightest clue what they're doing at this level.
The truth is, the Omaha games in low-mid limits are hold'em players playing Omaha with no idea what the difference is, and they're just playing Hold'Em over here. The edge I carry in this game is VASTLY better than it is in Hold'Em, not that I don't hold an edge in hold'em...
So I'm starting to really consider, not necessarily never going back to Hold'Em, but playing drastically less Hold'Em than Omaha for the forseeable future. My downswing is almost all recouped in the last week playing Omaha. And I see so many fundamental mistakes in the way the players play Omaha on here that it's hard not to see this as a better long term option than Hold'Em.
One big mistake I see is the drastic overplaying of Aces/Kings/Queens if it has rag rag with it, as I mentioned earlier, it's like players see that and their hold'em mentality of "omfg AA allin" takes over. It's not necessarily that I'm saying AAxx should be folded preflop, but playing it slower unless it comes with something else is always a more sound way to play in my eyes. I actually frequently wonder, do you think players realize that in Omaha, AAxx isn't always a favourite? Or, like I said, are they all Hold'Em players playing Omaha with no idea that AA-rag-rag is an underdog against powerful drawing hands like 6-7-8-9 double suited? Hence my theory of taking it easy unless my AA comes with some draw cards also.
The other one that really puzzles me is XXYY, I've seen that overplayed so many times this last week it makes my headspin. All in preflop with 8/8/5/5 as if it's some kind of magic superhand. Infact, as I type this paragraph I shit you not, I'm playing Omaha and just saw a kid get into a $225 dollar pot all in preflop at .50/1 PL against As/Ah/Qh/Js with 8c/8d/3c/3h. Oh wow! Two opportunities to make a set! You've got, uh....4 outs. YA!
So this is where I stand now, Omaha is my game online until someone tells me otherwise.
My NL Hold'Em .50/1 or 1/2 winrate was about 4.67 BB/100 hands.
My PL Omaha .50/1 winrate is at 10.47 BB/100 hands for the last week and a half now.
Granted it's a small sample size, but it's also not like I'm running really hot, infact, my wins are actually still below my EV for the time I've been playing because of a few bad beats including one memorable massive pot for .50/1 PL where I had my Ah/As/Ks/Jh cracked by QQxx with a Q on the river for a nearly 480 dollar pot(buyin is 100 to the game, we got all in preflop...like I said, ruthlessly overplay their hands).
Here's a sample of one of the tables from the session I just played. Nothing fancy, but it gives you a small idea...
Full Tilt Poker Game #7546261584: Table Peartree (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 8:36:02 ET - 2008/08/07
Seat 1: ufl1279 ($100)
Seat 2: manychoicezrong ($60.95)
Seat 3: ice2601 ($102.95), is sitting out
Seat 5: crystal_donkey ($100.85)
Seat 6: FeiereiAlda ($182.60)
FeiereiAlda posts the small blind of $0.50
ufl1279 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [8s Kh 9s Qh]
manychoicezrong calls $1
crystal_donkey raises to $4.50
FeiereiAlda folds
ufl1279 calls $3.50
manychoicezrong calls $3.50
*** FLOP *** [9c 2h Qc]
ufl1279 bets $10
manychoicezrong folds
crystal_donkey calls $10
*** TURN *** [9c 2h Qc] [Jc]
ufl1279 has 15 seconds left to act
ufl1279 bets $10
crystal_donkey calls $10
*** RIVER *** [9c 2h Qc Jc] [9d]
ufl1279 has 15 seconds left to act
ufl1279 bets $10
crystal_donkey has 15 seconds left to act
crystal_donkey raises to $76.35, and is all in
ufl1279 has 15 seconds left to act
ufl1279 has requested TIME
ufl1279 calls $65.50, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $0.85 returned to crystal_donkey
*** SHOW DOWN ***
crystal_donkey shows [8s Kh 9s Qh] a full house, Nines full of Queens
ufl1279 mucks
crystal_donkey wins the pot ($203) with a full house, Nines full of Queens
ufl1279 is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $205 Rake $2
Board: [9c 2h Qc Jc 9d]
Seat 1: ufl1279 (big blind) mucked [As 2c Qs Ac] - a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: manychoicezrong folded on the Flop
Seat 3: ice2601 is sitting out
Seat 5: crystal_donkey (button) showed [8s Kh 9s Qh] and won ($203) with a full house, Nines full of Queens
Seat 6: FeiereiAlda (small blind) folded before the Flop
A pretty good first example, anyone who stacks off an entire buyin with a flush on a paired board in Omaha cash game play is playing badly. There's not a single thing I can push there that a flush has beat on that river. Not one.
Full Tilt Poker Game #7546280814: Table Peartree (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 8:39:23 ET - 2008/08/07
Seat 1: ufl1279 ($104.15)
Seat 2: manychoicezrong ($50.95)
Seat 3: ice2601 ($102.95), is sitting out
Seat 4: suktej ($20)
Seat 5: crystal_donkey ($206.55)
Seat 6: FeiereiAlda ($180.10)
FeiereiAlda posts the small blind of $0.50
ufl1279 posts the big blind of $1
suktej posts $1
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Ts 7d 5s Tc]
manychoicezrong calls $1
suktej checks
crystal_donkey has 15 seconds left to act
crystal_donkey calls $1
FeiereiAlda calls $0.50
ufl1279 checks
*** FLOP *** [6h Js 4s]
FeiereiAlda checks
ufl1279 checks
manychoicezrong checks
suktej bets $5
crystal_donkey raises to $12.50
FeiereiAlda foldsufl1279 has 15 seconds left to act
ufl1279 folds
manychoicezrong folds
suktej has 15 seconds left to act
suktej has requested TIME
suktej raises to $19, and is all in
crystal_donkey calls $6.50
suktej shows [2d Th 6d Jh]
crystal_donkey shows [Ts 7d 5s Tc]
*** TURN *** [6h Js 4s] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [6h Js 4s Td] [Qc]
suktej shows two pair, Jacks and Tens
crystal_donkey shows three of a kind, Tens
crystal_donkey wins the pot ($40.85) with three of a kind, Tens
suktej is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $43 Rake $2.15
Board: [6h Js 4s Td Qc]
Seat 1: ufl1279 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: manychoicezrong folded on the Flop
Seat 3: ice2601 is sitting out
Seat 4: suktej showed [2d Th 6d Jh] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Tens
Seat 5: crystal_donkey (button) showed [Ts 7d 5s Tc] and won ($40.85) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 6: FeiereiAlda (small blind) folded on the Flop
Pretty standard hand Omaha hand, gigantic draw against a made hand. I got my outs but not the ones I was expecting. I am a favourite when the money went in though, 52-48.
From the other table I was playing...I'm not sure if I like my play on this hand, the flop looked real good for me though flopping top pair and the flush draw...
Full Tilt Poker Game #7546292371: Table Cecile (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 8:41:22 ET - 2008/08/07
Seat 1: crystal_donkey ($155.15)
Seat 2: kern3 ($106.20)
Seat 3: Udaff76 ($133.60)
Seat 4: maugiu ($41)
Seat 5: dritto ($100)
Seat 6: Goro_78_ ($61.65), is sitting out
Udaff76 posts the small blind of $0.50
maugiu posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Th 6c 7h Ac]
crystal_donkey raises to $3.50
kern3 folds
Udaff76 calls $3
maugiu calls $2.50
*** FLOP *** [2h As 8h]
Udaff76 checks
maugiu checks
crystal_donkey bets $10.50
Udaff76 folds
maugiu calls $10.50
*** TURN *** [2h As 8h] [Ks]
maugiu checks
crystal_donkey bets $31.50
maugiu calls $27, and is all in
crystal_donkey shows [Th 6c 7h Ac]
maugiu shows [Kh Jd Qs 3h]
Uncalled bet of $4.50 returned to crystal_donkey
*** RIVER *** [2h As 8h Ks] [8c]
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Aces and Eights
maugiu shows two pair, Kings and Eights
crystal_donkey wins the pot ($83.50) with two pair, Aces and Eights
maugiu is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $85.50 Rake $2
Board: [2h As 8h Ks 8c]
Seat 1: crystal_donkey showed [Th 6c 7h Ac] and won ($83.50) with two pair, Aces and Eights
Seat 2: kern3 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Udaff76 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: maugiu (big blind) showed [Kh Jd Qs 3h] and lost with two pair, Kings and Eights
Seat 5: dritto is sitting outSeat 6: Goro_78_ is sitting out
So ya, those are a few of the hands I played this last session, I ended up making $350 for the session, I was only on two tables and only put in 2 hours, so in that timeframe I made almost 2 buyins an hour...
I would highly recommend if you have a grasp on Omaha play, start playing it cash game style, the play is a whole lot weaker than Hold'Em crowds. Not that the Hold'Em play is spectacular, but people literally don't know what they're doing in Omaha.
In the last calendar year, from the time I went to the WSOP last summer in Vegas, cashed in an event and had very steady cash game profits during the trip, I can now basically give a rough estimate of my net profit in one calendar year from poker :
$55,000
Certainly it's not totally a life altering some of money, but coupled with a steady high paying job that gives me a ton of freedom to drop shifts whenever I feel like it and pick them up whenever I feel like it between co-workers, it's made the calendar year very kind to me financially.
With that said, the last month now has been very trying for me along those same levels. First of all, our casino walked out for a strike on June 1st(we just returned to work on Saturday) which took those paychecks from me. Couple that with what was easily the worst downswing of my poker career, where I felt like I was playing fine, and Hold'Em Managers EV rating for me during my sessions in this timeframe basically told me that same story, I could not for the life of me win any hands. No matter what I did, it was never good enough, and no matter how far ahead I put my money in, I never held. It was a very sour timeframe for me pokerwise.
I recently messaged a friend of mine who plays 5/10 NL online for a living, and we had a long discussion, because he had been telling me about a month ago that he had gone through a similar immense and terrible downswing of his own despite very high EV ratings during that timeframe. I asked him what he did to go about getting out of the swing and got some ideas. Now, I know I made a long post last year about dealing with downswings, and at the time I got alot of compliments for the way it was written. This isn't meant to be another one of those posts, it's just more a story of how I got to this point now :
One of the things my buddy suggested was I should try and play Omaha a bit, because he felt like most players play hold'em moderately decent, but there are still a vast majority of mid-limit Omaha players that won't play a single hand right in an entire session, and play nightmarishly bad. The edge a solid players has in Omaha is way higher than the edge a solid player has in Hold'em in mid-limit play.
So about a week ago now, I took him up on that theory, and started playing .50/1 PL Omaha cash games on Full Tilt.
He was right, I just had no idea how right he actually was. In truth, people actually don't have the slightest clue what they're doing at this level.
The truth is, the Omaha games in low-mid limits are hold'em players playing Omaha with no idea what the difference is, and they're just playing Hold'Em over here. The edge I carry in this game is VASTLY better than it is in Hold'Em, not that I don't hold an edge in hold'em...
So I'm starting to really consider, not necessarily never going back to Hold'Em, but playing drastically less Hold'Em than Omaha for the forseeable future. My downswing is almost all recouped in the last week playing Omaha. And I see so many fundamental mistakes in the way the players play Omaha on here that it's hard not to see this as a better long term option than Hold'Em.
One big mistake I see is the drastic overplaying of Aces/Kings/Queens if it has rag rag with it, as I mentioned earlier, it's like players see that and their hold'em mentality of "omfg AA allin" takes over. It's not necessarily that I'm saying AAxx should be folded preflop, but playing it slower unless it comes with something else is always a more sound way to play in my eyes. I actually frequently wonder, do you think players realize that in Omaha, AAxx isn't always a favourite? Or, like I said, are they all Hold'Em players playing Omaha with no idea that AA-rag-rag is an underdog against powerful drawing hands like 6-7-8-9 double suited? Hence my theory of taking it easy unless my AA comes with some draw cards also.
The other one that really puzzles me is XXYY, I've seen that overplayed so many times this last week it makes my headspin. All in preflop with 8/8/5/5 as if it's some kind of magic superhand. Infact, as I type this paragraph I shit you not, I'm playing Omaha and just saw a kid get into a $225 dollar pot all in preflop at .50/1 PL against As/Ah/Qh/Js with 8c/8d/3c/3h. Oh wow! Two opportunities to make a set! You've got, uh....4 outs. YA!
So this is where I stand now, Omaha is my game online until someone tells me otherwise.
My NL Hold'Em .50/1 or 1/2 winrate was about 4.67 BB/100 hands.
My PL Omaha .50/1 winrate is at 10.47 BB/100 hands for the last week and a half now.
Granted it's a small sample size, but it's also not like I'm running really hot, infact, my wins are actually still below my EV for the time I've been playing because of a few bad beats including one memorable massive pot for .50/1 PL where I had my Ah/As/Ks/Jh cracked by QQxx with a Q on the river for a nearly 480 dollar pot(buyin is 100 to the game, we got all in preflop...like I said, ruthlessly overplay their hands).
Here's a sample of one of the tables from the session I just played. Nothing fancy, but it gives you a small idea...
Full Tilt Poker Game #7546261584: Table Peartree (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 8:36:02 ET - 2008/08/07
Seat 1: ufl1279 ($100)
Seat 2: manychoicezrong ($60.95)
Seat 3: ice2601 ($102.95), is sitting out
Seat 5: crystal_donkey ($100.85)
Seat 6: FeiereiAlda ($182.60)
FeiereiAlda posts the small blind of $0.50
ufl1279 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [8s Kh 9s Qh]
manychoicezrong calls $1
crystal_donkey raises to $4.50
FeiereiAlda folds
ufl1279 calls $3.50
manychoicezrong calls $3.50
*** FLOP *** [9c 2h Qc]
ufl1279 bets $10
manychoicezrong folds
crystal_donkey calls $10
*** TURN *** [9c 2h Qc] [Jc]
ufl1279 has 15 seconds left to act
ufl1279 bets $10
crystal_donkey calls $10
*** RIVER *** [9c 2h Qc Jc] [9d]
ufl1279 has 15 seconds left to act
ufl1279 bets $10
crystal_donkey has 15 seconds left to act
crystal_donkey raises to $76.35, and is all in
ufl1279 has 15 seconds left to act
ufl1279 has requested TIME
ufl1279 calls $65.50, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $0.85 returned to crystal_donkey
*** SHOW DOWN ***
crystal_donkey shows [8s Kh 9s Qh] a full house, Nines full of Queens
ufl1279 mucks
crystal_donkey wins the pot ($203) with a full house, Nines full of Queens
ufl1279 is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $205 Rake $2
Board: [9c 2h Qc Jc 9d]
Seat 1: ufl1279 (big blind) mucked [As 2c Qs Ac] - a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: manychoicezrong folded on the Flop
Seat 3: ice2601 is sitting out
Seat 5: crystal_donkey (button) showed [8s Kh 9s Qh] and won ($203) with a full house, Nines full of Queens
Seat 6: FeiereiAlda (small blind) folded before the Flop
A pretty good first example, anyone who stacks off an entire buyin with a flush on a paired board in Omaha cash game play is playing badly. There's not a single thing I can push there that a flush has beat on that river. Not one.
Full Tilt Poker Game #7546280814: Table Peartree (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 8:39:23 ET - 2008/08/07
Seat 1: ufl1279 ($104.15)
Seat 2: manychoicezrong ($50.95)
Seat 3: ice2601 ($102.95), is sitting out
Seat 4: suktej ($20)
Seat 5: crystal_donkey ($206.55)
Seat 6: FeiereiAlda ($180.10)
FeiereiAlda posts the small blind of $0.50
ufl1279 posts the big blind of $1
suktej posts $1
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Ts 7d 5s Tc]
manychoicezrong calls $1
suktej checks
crystal_donkey has 15 seconds left to act
crystal_donkey calls $1
FeiereiAlda calls $0.50
ufl1279 checks
*** FLOP *** [6h Js 4s]
FeiereiAlda checks
ufl1279 checks
manychoicezrong checks
suktej bets $5
crystal_donkey raises to $12.50
FeiereiAlda foldsufl1279 has 15 seconds left to act
ufl1279 folds
manychoicezrong folds
suktej has 15 seconds left to act
suktej has requested TIME
suktej raises to $19, and is all in
crystal_donkey calls $6.50
suktej shows [2d Th 6d Jh]
crystal_donkey shows [Ts 7d 5s Tc]
*** TURN *** [6h Js 4s] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [6h Js 4s Td] [Qc]
suktej shows two pair, Jacks and Tens
crystal_donkey shows three of a kind, Tens
crystal_donkey wins the pot ($40.85) with three of a kind, Tens
suktej is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $43 Rake $2.15
Board: [6h Js 4s Td Qc]
Seat 1: ufl1279 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: manychoicezrong folded on the Flop
Seat 3: ice2601 is sitting out
Seat 4: suktej showed [2d Th 6d Jh] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Tens
Seat 5: crystal_donkey (button) showed [Ts 7d 5s Tc] and won ($40.85) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 6: FeiereiAlda (small blind) folded on the Flop
Pretty standard hand Omaha hand, gigantic draw against a made hand. I got my outs but not the ones I was expecting. I am a favourite when the money went in though, 52-48.
From the other table I was playing...I'm not sure if I like my play on this hand, the flop looked real good for me though flopping top pair and the flush draw...
Full Tilt Poker Game #7546292371: Table Cecile (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 8:41:22 ET - 2008/08/07
Seat 1: crystal_donkey ($155.15)
Seat 2: kern3 ($106.20)
Seat 3: Udaff76 ($133.60)
Seat 4: maugiu ($41)
Seat 5: dritto ($100)
Seat 6: Goro_78_ ($61.65), is sitting out
Udaff76 posts the small blind of $0.50
maugiu posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Th 6c 7h Ac]
crystal_donkey raises to $3.50
kern3 folds
Udaff76 calls $3
maugiu calls $2.50
*** FLOP *** [2h As 8h]
Udaff76 checks
maugiu checks
crystal_donkey bets $10.50
Udaff76 folds
maugiu calls $10.50
*** TURN *** [2h As 8h] [Ks]
maugiu checks
crystal_donkey bets $31.50
maugiu calls $27, and is all in
crystal_donkey shows [Th 6c 7h Ac]
maugiu shows [Kh Jd Qs 3h]
Uncalled bet of $4.50 returned to crystal_donkey
*** RIVER *** [2h As 8h Ks] [8c]
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Aces and Eights
maugiu shows two pair, Kings and Eights
crystal_donkey wins the pot ($83.50) with two pair, Aces and Eights
maugiu is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $85.50 Rake $2
Board: [2h As 8h Ks 8c]
Seat 1: crystal_donkey showed [Th 6c 7h Ac] and won ($83.50) with two pair, Aces and Eights
Seat 2: kern3 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Udaff76 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: maugiu (big blind) showed [Kh Jd Qs 3h] and lost with two pair, Kings and Eights
Seat 5: dritto is sitting outSeat 6: Goro_78_ is sitting out
So ya, those are a few of the hands I played this last session, I ended up making $350 for the session, I was only on two tables and only put in 2 hours, so in that timeframe I made almost 2 buyins an hour...
I would highly recommend if you have a grasp on Omaha play, start playing it cash game style, the play is a whole lot weaker than Hold'Em crowds. Not that the Hold'Em play is spectacular, but people literally don't know what they're doing in Omaha.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)