Chicago Poker Club

Chicago Poker Club has moved - this site is going away

2011-12-02T10:59:00.002-06:00

Chicago Poker Club can be found at http://chicagopokerclub.net. This site will be retired, gone, erased, vamoose, at the end of 2011.

We are the home to

Chicago Poker Club is at http://chicagopokerclub.net

2010-09-16T14:29:00.003-05:00

Yes, indeed, we've moved.

If you've missed us, here are some highlights:

We've Moved! Chicago Poker Club Has a New Home

2010-08-12T23:09:00.002-05:00

That's right, we moved into a bigger and better site. Please update your bookmarks to http://chicagopokerclub.net and update your RSS Feed Readers to CPC RSS Feed.

Main Event Charity Games Deep Stack - Day 1b

2010-08-05T11:03:00.005-05:00

Day 1b wrapped up late on Saturday, July 31 at Adams Roadhouse in Buffalo Grove, IL with three players advancing to Day 2, including Windy City Poker Championship's Kirk Fallah. The 1b advancing players and their respective chip stacks are:

Position	Player	Chip Count
2	David Baldwin	124,375
7	Kirk Fallah	42,975
9	Vic Magsino	32,650

Each of the "Day 1 Flights" plays down to 25% of the starting field, with the survivors moving on to "Day 2" which will be held in late November, followed by a "Day 3". Players may compete in any of the Day 1 flights, and players not advancing may re-enter additional Day 1 flights until they advance, if they choose.

For more information, head to Main Event Charity Games.

$100,000 Deep Stack - Chicago's Largest Poker Tournament of All Time?

2010-07-19T19:34:00.004-05:00

The Main Event Charity Games Deep Stack event, possibly the largest poker tournament in Chicago history, and the main attraction for Season Two of Windy City Poker Championship, kicked off this past Saturday at the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago. 27 players competed in "Flight 1a", the first of five or more flights over the next four months, leading to Day Two of the Televised Deep Stack, major prize pool event.

Each of the "Day 1 Flights" plays down to 25% of the starting field, with the survivors moving on to "Day 2" which will be held in late November, followed by a "Day 3". Players may compete in any of the Day 1 flights, and players not advancing may re-enter additional Day 1 flights until they advance, if they choose.

For more information, head to Main Event Charity Games.

This Saturday - Chicago Poker Open!

2010-05-19T11:35:00.002-05:00

This Saturday, at the State Restaurant in Lincoln Park, we will be playing No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em. Players will have the opportunity to compete for prizes while helping out the kids of the Boys & Girls Clubs. There will also be single table tournaments available, so even if you didn’t get in on the tournament, you can still get in on the action.

We highly encourage people who are not playing to come to the party! In addition to watching the tournament, take advantage of the great atmosphere, drink specials and dozens of flat screen HDTVs at the sleek restaurant.

Please click here to view Tournament Rules and Regulations.

Register today - seats are limited!

Recent Broadcasts - Windy City Poker Championship

2010-04-26T18:22:00.004-05:00

If you've missed any of the first three broadcasts of the Windy City Poker Championship finale (5 parts), you can always watch them on http://windycitypokerchampionship.com, or search for them on YouTube.

Thanks for tuning in.

Tonight on Windy City Poker Championship

2010-04-17T14:55:00.008-05:00

Here I am. Bet you thought I forgot about you, didn't I?

On a personal note, the last three months have been the busiest of my life. I'm working like a dog - two full-time ventures, in addition to hosting the Windy City Poker Championship. Most importantly, my wife and I had our fist child, a son, in late January. So, I've been absent from this site, the forums, and most of the talk around the world of poker. I've even had to really stretch t find time to play.

I just thought I let you all know I'm still here, and remind you to watch the second of five new WCPC shows tonight on Comcast SportsNet, Bright House Networks, or Cox Communications. Here's the Comcast details:

Comcast SportsNet 9pm - featuring Richard Roeper, Bernard Lee, and Dennis Phillips. Available on DISH ch 429, Direct TV ch 665, Comcast ch 200 & 37, and AT&T ch 200 & 37.

I will be playing at the feature table tonight and next Sunday (subject to NHL hockey schedule) and hosting the finale episodes the following two weekends. Tune in!

Jason's 2010 WSOP Results

2010-01-01T18:06:00.000-06:00

Season Finale - Chicago's Largest Poker Tournament

2009-12-24T13:08:00.007-06:00

Main Event Charity Games and Windy City Poker Championship teamed up to throw the biggest poker party in Chicago history. On Friday and Saturday, December 18 & 19, 2009, 180 tournament players, and a host of cash game players, spectators, and sponsors made history at the Irish American Heritage Center, raising funds for two worthy charities in the process.

The tournament kicked off at about 8pm on Friday, after tournament organizers scrambled to accommodate their largest field to date. The play went until 1AM, when the 140 remaining players bagged their chips, and headed home for the night. Play resumed at noon on Saturday.

The publishers of Ante Up, Florida's Poker Magazine, Chris Cosenza and Scott Long were on hand to kick off the event and handle emcee duties. They could be seen throughout the event representing their business, and playing plenty of Chinese Poker and mixed cash games.

The television crew at Windy City Poker Championship, of which this author is affiliated, did an incredible job of converting the lounge area of the facility into a TV set, home to the "featured table", and when the field was down to 8, the Final Table.

At the start of day 2, there was a buzz of discontent in the crowd as the tournament organizers announced a change in the tournament structure. This author had estimated that we were about an hour short of the time required to complete the tournament - as the State of Illinois does not permit charity games to be played after 2am. The tournament organizers, concerned that we would run out of time for the conclusion of the tournament, particularly given the overhead of the televised final table, announced that levels would be temporarily shortened from 30 minutes to 20, and that 3 levels would be removed from the structure over the course of the day.

When the next few levels brought a host of bust-outs, the organizers returned the structure back to normal, having made up the one hour via 10-minutes off of three levels, and the removal of one, single 30-minute level. The event was back on course.

The event feature a number of notable attendees, including Chicago's own Richard Roeper, 2008 WSOP Main Event Final Tablist Dennis Phillips, host of ESPN Inside Deal Bernard Lee, and author of Eat Professional Poker Players Alive Frank Wiese.

I had the good fortune of playing between Roeper and Lee at the featured table on Day One (at left).

Day Two saw the field shrink from 140 remaining players down to 20 when the tournament went "hand-for-hand". Some players tightened up, trying to eek their way into the payouts which were awarded to the top 18 finishers. About five hands in to hand-for-hand the field narrowed to 19, and the then three hands later, the field celebrated making it into the money.

The event played with two balanced tables until this author (yeah, me!) found Ah Qc at our five-handed table. With a reputation for being a loose, aggressive player, and only 9 big blinds remaining, I happily shoved all of my chips to the middle. The player immediately to my left, on the button promptly called, and when the blinds folded, showed me two Kings. My hand did not improve, and the remaining players combined to a single table.

Once the field eliminated two players, the remaining eight, including the Windy City Poker Championship Executive Producer David McDermott, moved to the televised final table.

After a battery of player interviews, television preparation, and several introductory takes and re-takes featuring WCPC hosts Kirk Fallah and this column's author, the televised final table was under way. The players competed for over two hours, until an eventual champion was crowned.

Leroy Carver was crowned the season finale Windy City Poker Champion, followed by Marty Masar in second, and Ken Felten in third place.

[Featured at left, Windy City Poker Championship's Creator and co-host Kirk Fallah, Chicago Poker Club author and WCPC co-host Jason Finn, and previous WCPC co-host Michael Lapidus.]

The event will be televised on Chicago's Comcast Sports Net and Florida's Bright House Network in late February/early March 2010.

Dec 18th & 19th Windy City Poker Finale!

2009-12-06T18:51:00.002-06:00

Last Filming of Season One

The final filming of Season One for the Windy City Poker Championship TV show will be a two day spectacular event

$55,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool *

Probable Payouts

Blind Structure

Dennis Phillips

Poker Pros and Celebrities Who Are Coming!
Dennis Phillips is Scheduled to Attend
Bernard Lee is Scheduled to Attend
Richard Roeper is Scheduled to Attend
Tai Streets (former NFL player) is Scheduled to Attend
Scott Long and Chris Cosenza from Ante Up magazine will attend

December 18th and 19th.

Irish American Heritage Center
4626 N. Knox Ave, Chicago 60630
Plenty of FREE parking

Tournament will begin on Friday Dec 18th at 7:00 pm and will go until 1:00 am. If you pre-register without pre-paying you must arrive 1 hour before the start of the event.

Tournament will continue on Sat Dec 19th at 12:00 sharp for those players still in the tournament

There will be a Feature Table on Friday night, at the start of the tournament, with players moving in and out of, at the discretion of Main Event Charity Games. The Feature Table, along with the Final Table will be filmed for broadcasting on
Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Bright House Sports Network. **

Friday 7:00 PM

Buy In:	$300
Entry:	$60	($10 discount when paying with cash)
Add On:	$10

Starting Chips:	20,000
Add On Chips:	5,000

It is highly recommended that you pre-register.

WSOP Circuit - 2009 Hammond IN

2009-10-20T15:37:00.007-05:00

The 2009 WSOP Circuit Season is underway, its 6th season, kicked off with the 13-Event schedule at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN.

Despite a so-called down economy, the Chicago market showed strong, featuring 1,412 entrants, breaking the previous WSOP Circuit attendance record.

Event #1 saw 23-year-old poker pro Josh Schmerl, or "Schmu" as he's know at the table, take down an approximately $60,000 first prize, after arranging a three-way chop with our own CJ "Seeej" Sullivan (okay, I call him that) taking 3rd, and Windy City Poker Championship final table-finisher Aaron Massey taking 2nd. (From left to right, Massey, Schmerl, Sullivan featured above.) Event #1 was $345 buy-in NLHE event.

Third-place finisher CJ Sullivan is a professional comic, co-host of The Visitor's Locker Room, and the 11th best player in my home game.

Schmerl finished 2nd in his first official WSOP cash, last February in Council Bluffs, IA, and finished one spot better this year to win this, his first WSOP Circuit ring. Schmu also finished 2nd in a Venetian Deep Stack event last year in Las Vegas.

Event #2 was a $555 event, featuring 550 entrants, and a total prize pool of $261,550. Marvin Thompson of Fowler, IN won the $60,156 first-prize and WSOP Circuit ring, featured below:

More results as we have them, and as time allows. WSOP official results are found here.

Special thanks to Nolan Dalla, media relations at WSOP/Harrah's for the results and photographs.

Windy City Poker Championship - Annie Duke, Joe Navarro

2009-10-04T17:27:00.005-05:00

A few of you have asked me when Windy City Poker Championship next airs on Comcast SportsNet. To the best of my knowledge, the next broadcast is next Sunday at 7pm. You can find their broadcast schedule here, though it is subject to change.

The next broadcast is a replay of the most recent episode (ep. 9), part 1 of the Chieff O'neills event. Part 2 will be broadcast near the end of the month, including my interview with Joe Navarro (teaser below), Kirk's interview with Annie Duke, and a hand analysis involving the lowly 7-2!

Find Comcast SportsNet on your local provider here.

Setting Goals

2009-10-01T10:59:00.005-05:00

Lately, some of the players I've talked to have discussed 'setting goals' in their play. Some examples include:

I'd like to increase my bankroll to $XXX by the end of the year,
I'd like to be able to move up from $2/5 NL to $5/10 NL by the holidays (very similar to the first),
I'd like to play 30 hours a week,
I'd like to increase my win rate to $XX per hour.

How do you set your goals? Personally, I'm always trying to eliminate leaks my game, including focus issues. I have a tendency to lose focus on the game, but to continue to play as though I have a good read on all of my opponents. This can be an expensive mistake!

I like to set mini in-session goals, things like making some sort of mental note each time a hand completes, who won, and what did they show (if they did). This exercise seems, and is, quite fundamental, but can be more difficult than you'd assume.

Another goal, update this blog more than once a month! :)

How about you? What are you poker goals?

Sensing Weakness, Playing Your Opponent

2009-09-28T13:47:00.012-05:00

On tonight's Windy City Poker Championship, down to 6-handed, the two chip leaders get into a heads up hand in which the chip leader perceives weakness from his opponent, and takes advantage to take down a good pot without a fight.

Brent is in early position with a medium-strength A9 off. He looks at his cards, and then contemplates his action, showing his opponents his diffidence while considering his options. He engages in what WCPC-friend and interviewee Joe Navarro would refer to as "pacifying behavior", holding his torso, lowering his head, and rubbing his opposite shoulder with his palm.

He makes a small raise to 25,000 chips, and the action folds to Chris on the button, who has 88.

Normally, I believe Chris would probably just call here with 88, after some thought, but in this case I believe he has two strong indicators to make a raise.

Brent's early position raise was smallish, and seemed tenuous. I believe Chris observed his behavior and did not read him for strength.
Chris and Brent are the two big stacks at the table; Chris is the only player that can eliminate Brent from the tournament, and Brent has been playing survival.

Chris makes a small re-raise to 60,000 chips. At this point, there's 106,000 in the pot, and it would only cost Brent 35,000 to call. However, he started the hand with just 129,000 chips, so the call would reflect about half of that starting stack. Chris is effectively testing Brent's resolve by re-raising small, rather than pushing all-in. This move shows great strength, and is quietly putting Brent to the "All In" test.

Exploiting Your Opponents Tendencies

2009-07-27T14:42:00.007-05:00

If you caught last night's Windy City Poker Championship, you heard me comment on a few hands of a recent televised final table. In one particular hand, we witnessed Kevin Thanonsinh make a big bluff with half of his chips out of the small blind, holding 9-4 off-suit. Brian White, in the big blind, wakes up with a big hand for this stage in the tournament an Ace-9 off-suit, having Kevin dominated. Kevin has committed half of his chips, and if Brian raises he'll either fold. getting 3:1 on his money, or will call completely dominated for his tournament life.

Brian Folded.

What happened here? How did Kevin make this bluff, and why did Brian fold?

The key to long-term success in poker is understanding your opponents' playing styles and tendencies, and looking for opportunities to exploit them.

If your opponent plays too loosely, making calls out of position with mediocre holdings, you need to punish him/her by making big raises with premium holdings. If you flop your hand, bet for value on every street. There's no sense getting tricky with an opponent if they'll call you all the way down with one pair and no kicker.

If your opponent is too tight, don't let them limp. Your tight opponent limps in middle position, you know he or she doesn't have a premium holding. If they can't call a raise, you'll pick up the extra chips, which add up quickly. If they do call the raise, they will fold to a continuation bet unless they flop a strong hand. Finding out which is which generally won't be too expensive.

In the prior hand, Brian demonstrated that he was playing the tournament for survival, and that he was playing extremely tight poker. When the players folded all the way around to Kevin in the small blind, he knew he only had one player to beat, and that player was playing way too tight. He exploited this flaw in Brian's game, and Brian demonstrated a tightness in excess of what Kevin likely suspected.

In the prior hand, Brian found himself in early position with a suited AQ. He made a minimum raise to 20k chips. Another player, David Marcus, sitting in middle position also found AQ suited, and decided to make the call. Getting almost 6:1 on his call, Kevin makes the call of one additional big blind to see a flop with two suited cards. He checks dark.

The flop comes Q-high (Qs 8d 7h), exactly what Brian had hoped for, and he leads out for a bet of 40k chips into a pot of 71k. David also hits his top-pair top-kicker, and reraises for the rest of his chips, an additional 36k in chips, ballooning the pot to 187k. Kevin quickly folds, and Brian goes into the tank, facing a reraise that will pay him over 5-to-1 on a call.

Brian did much of his thinking out loud, and was concerned that David might have flopped a set of 7s or 8s. This is certainly a possibility, as I commented on the show, but when you're 6-handed, late in a tournament, you raise with a premium hand, you're short on chips, and you hit your flop, you are going to commit yourself to the hand. If your opponent flopped a monster, like a set, you simply got unlucky, and you're going to go broke.

The rest of the table notices how slowly Brian acted in making the call, and how tightly he's playing. The good players at the table put this in their memory banks for future exploitation. The players at the table, and the viewers at home don't have to wait long, as Kevin takes advantage on the very next hand.

When Kevin bets 30k into Brian, Brian doesn't even think for more than 15-20 seconds before folding his relative monster. Kevin then turns his hand face up to show it (incidentally, I'm not a fan of this sort of advertising). Brian realizes that not only was he ahead, he had Kevin dominated, as they were sharing a 9. (Brian was better than a 3:1 favorite.) Brian comments to Kevin what he had, "I had an Ace Nine off".

Kevin's only response is "Wow." And so was mine.

Tune in to Windy City Poker Championship to see what happens next!

Two weeks late, but on my way...

2009-06-26T20:37:00.002-05:00

Mrs. Chicago and I are sitting at Chicago's Midway airport, waiting for our delayed flight to Las Vegas. I had planned to head out two weeks ago, and to spend at least 8-10 days in toasty LV for the World Series of Poker this year. Alas, life got in the way, as it sometimes does.

I'm looking forward to seeing what changes this year's event have brought. Certainly the advance of technology and social networking have continued to have an impact. Once again, "real time" chip counts are available on the WSOP site, but this year, there's an added twist, a number of professionals have Twitter feeds, so you can sweat them from afar (or right at their table).

If you're interested in following my progress, you can do so at http://twitter.com/chicagojason, or in the feed in the right column of this here blog.

I plan to play in the Deep Stack Extravagaza event tomorrow at noon at the Venetian. Sunday will likely involve satellites at the Rio. And Monday, I'll play in WSOP event #54. My fourth year of playing at least one event at the WSOP.

In other exciting news, I make my Poker Analyst television debut this Sunday evening at 7pm Central. For those of you in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa, you can tune in on Comcast SportsNet (DirecTv 665, Comcast HD 300, Comcast 37).

Enjoy.

PokerStars WSOP 4X ShootOut

2009-06-19T22:18:00.002-05:00

This is sick - just finished Level 1 of a 4x ShootOut on Stars. The first round literally lasted 20 hands (there are 10 players). My stats:

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 20 hands and saw flop:
- 2 out of 5 times while in big blind (40%)
- 5 out of 6 times while in small blind (83%)
- 4 out of 9 times in other positions (44%)
- a total of 11 out of 20 (55%)
Pots won at showdown - 6 of 6 (100%)
Pots won without showdown - 6

I won the table in 20 hands. There were still MANY other tables with 10 players remaining. I had the best run of cards I've ever seen. Got it in good 11 of 12 times. Got 66 in against AA and flop was 6TT.

The saddest part is that there will still be 1000 players left after this level. If I win two more levels, I'll make it to another tournament where I need to beat 4000 players or so to get a seat....

Register Now - Chicago Poker Open - This Friday!

2009-05-06T11:02:00.011-05:00

This year's Chicago Poker Open is shaping up to be a great success, and with your help, will be our best event to date!

Join Chicago's great celebs, like Richard Roeper, Pro-Bowler Jerry Azumah, Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne, WTMX's Melissa McGurren, and Fox Chicago's Sondra Solarte on the green felt, and take your chance at winning WSOP Circuit Event Entries, Curacao vacation getaways, and much more!

Reminder that the Fourth Annual Chicago Poker Open to benefit the General Wood and Little Village Boys & Girls Club is THIS Friday, May 8^th at the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown Chicago. Doors open at 6:00 PM. RSVP online now at: http://www.chicagopokeropen.com/Welcome.html

Hope we see you Friday and please tell your friends!

Chicago Jason

PS – Even if you cannot come, please make a donation<($50 does a lot of good!!!) and forward this to your friends!!!

Friday, May 8 - Chicago Poker Open!

2009-04-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

Please join us on Friday, May 8, 2009 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago for the 4th Annual Chicago Poker Open. Click the logo above for more information.

Prizes will include Amex Gift Cards, Buy-Ins to World Series of Poker Circuit Events, a Harrah's Entertainment Package, and a trip to an exotic and tropical locale!

Sponsorship opportunities are available, so let me know if you're interested.

Poker Best of 2008 - Podcasts

2009-04-11T14:48:00.005-05:00

As I sit here in my favorite coffee shop, less than a week before Tax Day, I lament that I have not updated the blog more often this year. More frustrating is the fact that I have not yet posted my annual favorite, the "Best Of's..."

The most important of these posts, in my mind, is the Best of Podcast version. 2008 saw its best Podcast product, with the rise of PokerRoad.com, a Joe Sebok joint (with Barry Greenstein in tow). Last Year's Best Of, Ante Up, got new digs and a new lease on life. Team 1040 lost their Rounders: The Poker Show as Mike and Adam moved to Two Plus Two, to produce a superior output.

Without much time for writing, and hence, without much ado:

Best of 2008
Cash Plays, hosted by Bart Hanson. Sadly, this show, in this format, is gone as of the time of this writing. This is a bit of a shame as the production of Poker Road, paired with the cash game perspective of Bart Hanson, in this format, made for the all-time greatest poker podcast. Bart has since moved his show over to Deuces Cracked in the form of Deuce Plays, with a similar format, but hasn't quite picked up the steam he had at Poker Road. Time will tell, but I suspect this will soon be the new best poker show on the internet.

Bart's weekly show featured one-on-one discussions with successful cash players. Bart asked insightful questions and dug deep into the strategy, psychology, and meta game required for successful cash game play. His celebrated interview with Samoleus (Niman Kenkre) was one of my favorites. Recently, Jeremiah Smith has taken over the PokerRoad.com version of the show with a similar format. He is slowly gaining momentum, but the show is currently lacking that je nous se qua.

Runners Up
Two Plus Two Pokercast, hosted by Mike Johnson and Adam Schwartz. This is a beast of a show, weighing in regularly at 2 hours plus, and offers something for everyone, if you can get through the full show. This Podcast generally takes me a few days, over many sessions, to get from start to finish, but they don't disappoint. Adam Schwartz is the resident poker professional, while Mike Johnson does play-by-play duties. In the early years, at Team 1040, I had difficulty with Johnson's cadence and audible breathing, but he has smoothed it out and makes a great co-host over at his new Two Plus Two home.

The show regularly features top guests from the world of live and online poker, both cash and tournament players. The conversations are always topical, and mix the news, strategy, and personality quite nicely. They are well complemented by an active forum on TwoPlusTwo.

Poker Road Radio, hosted commonly by Ali Nejad, Joe Sebok, and Gavin Smith, with occasional guest hosts including Scott Huff, Jimmy Fricke, and regular appearances by Court "The Hick"Harrington. This is the latest incarnation of a show started at CardPlayer called "The Circuit". When they're at their peak, and all in the studio, this is the most entertaining poker show in the internet. They don't spend much time discussing strategy, but rather focus on news and happenings from an insider's perspective. The show seems to have lost a little traction in early 2009, with travel and other obligations taking the hosts away from regular appearances, but Sebok and Huff have carried the torch and continued to pull together an entertaining show.

Sentimental Favorite
Ante Up PokerCast brought to you by Ante Up Magazine, brainchild of Scott Long and Chris Cosenza. Our long-time friends at Ante Up, formerly a St Pete Times and TBT (Tampa Bay Times) production, picked up their personal items and headed off on their own to start Florida's only all-poker magazine. As one might expect of two guys leaving the security and cush of "paycheck jobs" in this economic environment, and heading off to start their own business, their attention waned in 2008. When they began making their plans, it seemed the poker show lost a little momentum. When they started under their on auwning, they also took some time to get rolling. The company relies on three media - print magazine, poker podcast, and their website/forums for attracting and entertaining their fans and customers. While we once shared an active forum at cardclubs.net, they have moved exclusively over to their own site, losing a bit of crossover traffic, but building their own loyal audience.

Recent months have brought entertaining shows, new guests, and big name sponsorship. Chris and Scott continue to build on what made them great in the first place, promotions like the AIPS online tournament series, and a new listener event, a poker cruise. Time will tell what brings Scott and Chris in 2009, but we certainly wish them the very best.

Also Rans
Fiercely entertaining, and now defunct, Big Poker Sundays, with Bob and Huff was a favorite of mine in early 2008. Haralabos Voulgaris and Scott Huff hosted a seriously un-serious show that predominantly poked fun at the goings on of the poker world. When "Haralabob" left the show, no one could quite fill his dry-witted and sarcasm soak shoes, and the folks at Poker Road decided to retire the show near it's peak. ... You have a purpose for me... Let... Me... Win..." we miss you.

All Strategy with Justin Bonomo and Daniel Negreanu has the potential to be the best poker show on the Internet, if they continued to produce the show. I suspect its just too hard to get Bonomo and Negreanu in the room together, and away from the table, long enough to produce the show. The concept is a good one, and fills a gap in poker programming - let's hope they get back at it soon.

Tuesdays with Ivey and The Bear Blog are great productions, also from PokerRoad.com, featuring Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein, respectively. They are quick snippets, generally 10 minutes or less. Tuesdays features a weekly phone call from Greenstein to Ivey, trying to extract his latest thoughts, experiences, and prop betting adventures. This is one of Poker Road's most listened to shows. The Bear Blog is typically a quick stream of consciousness from Greenstein related to a single strategic topic. Both are worth the listen.

An Omaha Conundrum - Flop the Nuts, a Set of Aces, and Have 31% Equity!

2009-03-07T15:27:00.007-06:00

Ferret and I were just talking Pot Limit Omaha post-flop and I was musing about the sort of trouble you can get into with top set on a semi-connected board. One situation we considered was flopping top pair with second set, making it unlikely your opponent has top set. Another is flopping top set against two opponents - its good on the flop, and yet you have less than 33% equity in the hand.

Both situations are employed in this example.

Ferret is in the big blind, Gramps is in middle position, Scotty is on the button.

Gramps is well behaved today, and just limps in with his 5h 7s 8h 9s.

Scotty wakes up on the button with Aces, and another Broadway card which is suited. Ah Ac Qd 2d. He raises pot.

Wil folds the small blind and Ferret finds 6s Ad Td 6d. He has a suited Ace, two Broadway cards, and a small pair. He knows Gramps will call, so he figures he’ll take a flop.

Gramps calls.

The flop is 4s 6h As. Ferret flopped second set. He also believes Scotty will continuation bet, representing Aces, but thinks it is unlikely he has them, since Ferret holds an Ace himself. He checks.

Gramps checks his disgusting wrap with 9-high flush draw and backdoor 8-high flush draw.

Scotty bets full pot, protecting his flopped top set. Ferret believes he has trapped his opponent, and re-raises the full amount of the pot.

Gramps is now getting sickening pot odds, and has a full pot-sized bet remaining. He believes the numbers support getting it all in and he does. Scotty has the nuts, and calls off his remaining chips. Ferret feels he’s committed, and believes he may be wrong about Scotty’s holdings, but knows he’s capable of having a wrap here as well. He calls off the remainder of his chips.

Who is in good shape? Scotty doesn't know...

Twodimes.net says the players have the following pot equity:

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=6134307
pokenum -o ah ac qd 2d - 5h 7s 8h 9s - ad 6d 6s td -- 4s 6h as

Omaha Hi: 666 enumerated boards containing As 4s 6h

cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Scotty Ac Qd 2d Ah 213 31.98 453 68.02 0 0.00 0.320
Gramps 9s 7s 8h 5h 417 62.61 249 37.39 0 0.00 0.626
Ferret 6s Ad Td 6d 36 5.41 630 94.59 0 0.00 0.054

Interestingly, the set of Aces, currently the nuts, have only 31%, while the wrap and two live flush draws have nearly 63% equity! The small mammal is in mammal jail, drawing to the case 6 for quads.

Win a WSOP Main Event Seat Next Friday

2009-02-27T14:04:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow is the last day to register at the discounted rate of $250 for this terrific charity event, being held next Friday night at McGrath Lexus on Division. Click the picture for more details and registration!

2009 WSOP Schedule Posted

2009-01-27T00:23:00.004-06:00

The 2009 WSOP Schedule was just released.

Some observations -

There are no rebuy tournaments at all. This was discussed recently, and apparently, concluded.

There are a couple $1000 events early on to stimulate the amateurs. There were no $1000 "open" events last year.

There's a $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold 'em event early in the schedule (Event 2).

Event 10 is a mixed pot-limit Hold 'em, pot limit Omaha. Yum!

Event 50 is a Limit Hold 'em Shootout, on top of the return of the NL Shootout.

Event 52 is "Triple Chance" tournament, which I believe gives players three stacks of chips, and they can elect to take the second and third stacks at any time in the first few levels (i.e. start with all three, or take them at two or three disparate times).

There are 57 total events this year, 38 of them are $2500 or less. Ten are "Championship" events. Two are $40,000 or more.

One Night in the Hard Rock Poker Lounge

2009-01-26T23:14:00.004-06:00

Last Saturday night, while in Las Vegas, Mr. F and I headed of to Hard Rock to check out the still-fairly-new Poker Lounge. The 18-table room features nice, if loud, decor, nice poker tables, comfortable chairs, and ample space for getting to, and reclining at, your seat. The room was spreading 1-2 NLHE, 2-5 NLHE, and the final table of a Vince Neal's charity tournament. I did not observe other games, but that isn't to say they didn't exist.

The table depicted in this post shows the nice purple felt that was featured on the lowest limit tables. The $2/5 tables, on the other hand, had very busy purple felt, covered in promotions, and reminiscent of a NASCAR driver's jumpsuit (but prettier). Often the cards and chips would become camouflaged in the design.

Room highlights:
First of all, the dealers were hot. Pretty much all of the dealers were attractive females. Distracting, but nice. They were not great dealers in the technical sense, but most of the male players were willing to let things slide. Once I caught a dealer shipping a pot to the incorrect recipient. I pointed this out, Mr. F corroborated the oversight, the floor came to oversee, and the rightful winner was awarded the pot.

Second, the limits are nice. The $2/5 table has a maximum buy-in of $2000. Like it.

Finally, a unique, if un-kosher, twist on the rules - the Hard Rock Straddle (Alright! Nrrr nrr!) The room allows the button to post a straddle of two times the big blind. The action proceeds in the typical fashion pre-flop, starting with the player to the left of the big blind having the first action. Then, action proceeds around the table, SKIPS the button, moves to the blinds, and then the button has last action pre-flop. There's an exception. If there are two raises prior to the action reaching the button, he then proceeds in order (before the blinds) with his $10 committed to the pot. This clearly generates action, and seems to be a gigantic advantage for the button. I do not appreciate the inconsistency of the progress ased upon the number of raises pre-flop. Beyond that, I'm not sure how I feel about this bastardization of rules.

Highlight Hand of the Night:
Early on I got a bunch of speculative hands, and played them passively. I saw a bunch of flops, very few turns, and even less rivers. I blew off a good chunk of my initial buy-in, and then added on. I had moved seats, and was out of position against a fairly new joiner to the table. After my early run of passive play and missed draws, I had tightened up consideralby, and perceived that my opponent in this hand labeled me as an A, B, C player.

I had 8s 5s in early position - a pet hand of mine, and know in my regular games as "Suited Bears" (as in the '85 Super Bowl Chicago Bears).

I raised to $25 up front and got 4 callers. With $127 in the pot, the flop came Js 9h 6s. Not exactly 'gin', but with 8-high, what did I expect. It was actually reasonably good, I had a four-flush and a gut-shot straight draw. I decided to feel out the field, and set up a play on later streets. I ventured out with a $40 bet. The new joiner smooth called. Mr. F also "flatted", and the other players folded. Both my opponents were fairly tricky players, as I perceived them, so their calling range here is fairly broad.

There was $247 in the pot when the turn came with the 5d. Certainly that card was unlikely to help my opponents, and now gave me a pair to add to my draws. Despite improving (ehem), I decided to check, and evaluate the response. I considered that calling, folding to, or check-raising a bet were all possibilities, depending on the action. The player behind me, either sensing weakness, protecting a big hand, or both, et out nearly the size of the pot $220. Mr. F folded, and I went into the tank.

I felt fairly confident that my opponent had a made hand. I thought it could be a strong Jack (A-J), but was more likely to be two pair. I actually thought he put me on an overpair, based on our short history, and his strength in the hand. My read was that he was most likely "trapping me" with J9. If that was the case, making two pair wouldn't help me - an 8 on the river was no good. Cards I was looking for included the last 2 fives, any of the 4 sevens, or the 8 remaining spades (not recounting the 7s). That made 14 outs, or gave me 29.5% equity in the pot. (Add 3 8s against an AJ, and my equity goes up almost to 39%).

Clearly I wasn't quite getting pot odds, but a call balooned the pot to $687, and I had another $430 or so behind. If I hit my 5 or 7, I was pretty certain that I'd get a big bet on the river. If I made my flush, I was less likely to get paid, but realistically, I thought he wouldn't give me much credit for a flush draw, and might pay me there as well.

I called.

The river was a nice, shiny 4s, giving me a flush. I paused, glanced at my opponent, and dramatically announced "all in". My opponent tanked (great sign), and after about 45 seconds made a crying call. I announced "flush", he gave me a concessionary nod, and I flipped over my cards. He blinked thrice in rapid succession, and I scooped in a huge pot.

Highlight Event:
The final table of the charity tournament was playing behind us. Without warning, two players jumped to their feet, and one yelled something incoherent at the other. Seconds later, a hippie-looking 40-something had pinned his over-sized opponent on the floor and landed 8 or 10 punches to the guy's ear before tablemates and on-lookers could seperate the two. It took another 3 or 4 minutes before Hard Rock security made it to the table. Both players were kicked out, but one was allowed back into the room later. I was told it was to "collect his chips", but as they were tournament chips, not cash equivalent, that didn't make much sense to me.

Mr F and I combined for a number of one-liners after things cooled down. The winner - "Boy was he disappointed to learn that the Bad Beat had just been paid out."

The real punchline? All the players at the table were actually co-workers.

AWWWK-WARD.....

Picking Up, Dusting Off, and Rebuilding... My Bankroll

2009-01-20T17:01:00.007-06:00

This, my first full day back in Chicago after an enjoyable weekend in Las Vegas, is also the first day of Barack Obama's administration as the 44th president of the US of A. Being in Las Vegas is like being in Neverneverland - the outside world, news, politics, fades away, and the lights, sounds, and poker chips take focus.

For me, this trip to Las Vegas was a chance to pick myself up, dust off the bad poker decisions of November and December, and rebuild my poker bankroll. Returning to Chicago, and my reality, I got to observe Obama's first days away from Chicago, where he faces his new reality - a place where he intends to pick up, dust off, and rebuild a nation, indeed a world, in distress.

For dramatic purposes, I'd argue my poker bankroll was in distress in late 2008. I was playing poorly, making bad decisions, and to top it off, simply running bad. I can count the number of bad beats I applied on one hand, and for the bad beats laid on me, removing shoes and socks simply would not suffice.

Mr. F, Meester Dave (formerly Omaha Dave), and I headed out on Soutwest Airlines on Thursday night. A check in and a dinner at CraftSteak later, and we headed off to the biggest game running in the MGM Grand poker room, $2/5 NLHE. :) Several uneventful hours later, I headed off to bed, up less than a half buy-in in this game.

Friday morning Meester Dave and I decided to hit the best low-buy-in tournament in the city, the Venetian Daily. It is a $150 buy-in ($130 to prize pool, $15 vig, and $5 staff bonus). The tournament had 211 runners.

The beauty of the tournament is that the starting stacks are deep, T$7500, the levels are decent, 30 minutes, and the blind increases are reasonable - typically increasing by about 50%. In the first several button revolutions, I had already lost about a third of my starting stack, having flopped big draws, playing slow, and not hitting. But I understood, as many of the players did not, that the structure of the tournament allows its participants to play a little looser, a little more like a cash game, early on. After losing 1/3 of my chips, of course, I needed to tighten up a bit, conscious that as my stack shrank, the blinds increased, and I was looking at more tournament-type ratio of blinds to stack.

I was impressed by the general competition level, particularly in a $150 buy-in tournament. At my starting table six or seven of the players were reasonably cabable - three were regulars, one or two were full-time grinders, and a couple were recreational players from out of town.

After a few levels I managed to consume a little breakfast at the table, and pick up some additional chips. By the first break, I was back above the starting stack level and looking good for levels 4+. After the break, my table broke, the first of several times over the course of the day. Time to learn a bit about my new opponents.

The tournament itself was largely a blur to me. Looking back, I can find few memorable hands.

By the time we were down to 27 players, I was ready for a table massage, and for $2/minute, she didn't disappoint. I immediately felt more relaxed and tuned in to my opponents.

By the time we had made the money (top 18 participants), I was starving - I started to get the shakes from low blood sugar, and was again losing my focus. Fortunately, Mr. F had come over to The Venetian, and was kind enough to pick up a couple Balance Bars for me.

It was at this point that I was starting to recognize the fact that I had made the final two tables without picking up a single big hand. I hadn't had a pocket pair above 9s the entire tournament. I had AK once, and AQ never. I never flopped a set. I merely played solid hands, in position. I was never the first limper, and I never went crazy with my draws.

I really settled in as we approached the final table. The blinds and antes started to get fairly big, but I never felt short-stacked, and never was I all-in. Finally I started to pick up some pre-flop hands. When we were down to 14 players, I went on a tear, raising 2 out of 3 hands for a period of 10 or 11 hands. I picked up lots of antes, blinds, and several pre-flop calls. I didn't lose a hand.

When we got down to 9 players, and drew seats for the final table, I was the tournament chip leader by a small margin. I also had a great seat, immediately to the left two of the more talented and aggressive players. It took some time to get down to 6 players, but when we had, both of those dangerous opponents had been eliminated. Down to 6, we had many short stacked all-ins who refused to be eliminated. I faced a couple of losing coin-flips for about 8-12% of my stack each time. I continued to play aggressively, however, and stayed amongst the chip leaders.

When we finally lost player #6, i was second in chips by a close margin, and well ahead of #s 3 & $. Player #5 was very short stacked. It was #5, of course, who was strongly encouraging a chop. The other three players at the table agreed that a chop would be acceptable. Given the disparity in chips, I was really surprised by the chip leader's willingness, and also myself unwilling to agree. The chip leader confessed that he'd gotten "really lucky" and didn't care that he was giving up some value. Clearly he was a relative rookie.

We had the tournament director run a "chip chop", assigning the remaining prize pool to each chip stack size, based upon ratio of chips to total chips. I indicated that I'd be willing to give up a little bit of my equity to make the chip chop work, but not much. Since everyone seemed eager to make a deal, I was able to work out a fairly strong one, and we agreed to two tiers, with the chip leader and I taking the effective First Place prize, and the remaining three players splitting a smaller prize amount.

First big win of the trip.... more story to come.

Horseshoe Memories - A Letter to Mr. F

2009-01-12T14:47:00.003-06:00

Mr. F –

Mr. C and I played some cards last night, and I had one of my worst losing sessions of all time. In my estimation, I played pretty well, having gotten very few opportunities for getting value out of strong hands (had none) and only a few real steal opportunities (two fairly loose passive tables), I am keying in on my key hands.

We started the evening at the $2/5 PLO table, with its sick variance. We were 8-handed, on average, with a few solid-aggressive players, and one total nut job, whom Mr. C and I have played with on many occasions. Mr. Nut Job basically raised every hand.

Due to the aggressiveness of the table, and the relative stack-size to pot-size ratios (especially mine), I was playing very tight pre-flop. An average flop cost about $30, or 5% of my average stack during the session. Certainly hitting a flop would be rewarding, with 4 or 5 players seeing many flops, but hitting a flop was not my specialty on this night.

I kept my stack-size hovering around my initial $600 buy-in by stealing orphaned pots from Mr. Nut Job. Only on a couple occasions did my hands rate playable (note: not strong, just playable) enough to three-bet Mr. Peanut, but on those two occasions I was able to take the pots away from Mr. Nut on the flop, despite never improving.

Finally, I got all my chips in on a hand wherein I flop trips with three over cards, and turned the third nuts. At this table, third nuts was generally immortal, but on this unfortunate hand I was sandwiched between Mr. Nutty Bar and Mr. C, and when I got my chips in on the turn, and Mr. C quickly called, I knew I was the sawdust in his whipsaw. Mr. C had flopped the top boat, and I was drawing to an 8 or one of two kings to improve to a better boat. I did not. Had Mr. Nutskies not been in the hand, I would have played my underfull much more cautiously, but his aggression and Mr. C’s savvy lead me off the cliff.

One buy-in and many folds later, I woke up with a reasonable hand, a mediocre set of Aces. I had shy of $800 in front of me. Being in early position, and immediately to the left of Mr. Nutballs, I decided to limp my Aces. Mr. Nuts, of course, raised to $20. I smooth called with what I’d like to call Bears Aces (AA85). The Aces were not suited, but the 85 were both diamonds. This is a good hand head’s up, but far from a great hand, and one in which I’d like to get all my money in without having to make any later decisions, if I think I can get someone to make a big mistake pre-flop. Several players behind me called, and the big blind, a solid and aggressive player raised to $200. Play folded to me, and I considered whether to fold, call, or raise. Certainly folding Aces, in position, is difficult without a really strong read that my opponent has better Aces (certainly his range was much broader), if I’m confident I can get head’s up and can withstand some variance. I favor calling when the stacks are much deeper, and we can have some play after the flop. On a bad flop I could evaluate my opponent’s strength, and occasionally fold when conditions were ugly, or play slowly in the face of uncertainty. When I can get most, if not all, of my chips in pre-flop with Aces, I think I must.

I re-raised to $700, effectively putting me all in. It folded back to the big blind who pondered for a moment, and then shoved with Ac Ks Qc Th. According to twodimes.net, I was a 2-to-1 favorite to win this $1850 pot, having contributed only 42% of the funds. I like those odds. Alas, it was not to be my Omaha day, again. My opponent made a flush on the turn to leave me drawing dead on an unpaired board.

I made my way over to the $2/5 Hold ‘em table, where there were some very deep stacks. I bought in for the full amount, and bided my time. My cards were absolutely terrible, with the occasional 6d7d looking like pocket Aces. I won a few small pots, and limp folded or call-folded a few hands over the course of a couple hours. I’d say my VPIP was around 9-11%. There were a few weak players at the table with really big stacks, and I never found an opportunity to tangle with them. In fact, I didn’t have any tangles for much of the session, and after a few hours, found myself with $485 of the $500 for which I had bought in.

Finally, I flopped a flush in a 5-way limped pot. I bet about $20 into a $25 pot and took it down. Four hands later, I flopped another flush in a limped pot, holding 6h7h. I bet $25 into a $25 or $30 pot and got two callers – one from a small-blind chaser with a big stack, and one from Mr. C who was now sitting at my table under the gun. The turn was an off-suit Queen and Mr. C bet out $50. I thought this was a quite odd bet for him, leaving only three real likely holdings, in my mind. First, the Queen could have made him a straight, and he didn’t believe either of us had a flush yet. Second, he had flopped a larger flush, which was certainly possible. Finally, and least likely, he had made a set (possibly even on the turn, holding two Queens with one of them a heart), and again, believed he was good. I didn’t think it likely that he limped pocket Queens up front, and with a smaller set, he’d likely have made a move on the flop. I decided that he made a straight, probably with a big heart, and he was hoping to get some value from a bad call, defend his pot by taking away odds to draw, and also determine if he was badly beaten, and could release the hand.

I decided to let him know where I was, and raised his $50 to $150, leaving myself only about $155 behind. The small blind smooth called (??) and Mr. C called as well. At this point, I wasn’t sure what was going on, except that a heart was the last thing I wanted to see on the river. On cue, the 3 of hearts peeled right off. The small blind checked (wha’?), Mr. C check, and I gave the little speech – “well, I flopped it, but I guess you both beat me now”. Mr. C turned over QQh, for the turned set and the Queen-high flush. Then, the small blind slowed the Kh6d. Nice hand sir. And way to extract that value.

I had $150 left in front of me, and elected not to add-on. After another 20 minutes of folding, I went on a baby tear, and worked my now $122 up to $395. My objective was to build to $400 and call it a night. I was only $5 short of the goal when the $5 big blind came to me. A smarter man than I would have noted that $5 blind is $5 in the wrong direction, and picked up just short of goal, but not I.

Crazy Max had moved into the seat to my left an hour earlier, and had been playing aggressively, but not overly so. He had straddled twice before, and elected to waive his raising option once, and folded to a raise the second time. I had a strong sensation that he would raise with almost any two cards if the field limped to him, and I prayed for a set-up hand.

Important observation: a new player had come to the table recently and sat to Max’s left. When he was seated, he was overheard talking to the floor. He wanted a $1/2 seat, his “usual game”. Rather than wait, he somewhat hesitantly sat in our game. He asked for the buy-in limits, indicated that he only brought $500 with him, and bought in for all of it. He played his few early hands diffidently. He wore sunglasses while he played, and stared down his opponents (or one would assert that, behind his glasses, based on his head movements). I read him as a very weak player, but hadn’t tangled with him.

The new player called the $10 straddle in the one-hole. Most of the table followed suit. In the big blind, I hoped to find a hand in my pre-selected range of stealing hands, and found one at the bottom for this particular situation – KcJc. I called the $5 more, and Max immediately said “raise”. He counted out $110 in chips and pushed them forward. The new player to his left, paused, hesitated, paused, and then counted out $100 more, in the way that a semi-green player would. As the rest of the table folded to me, I had to consider what his call meant. I put him on a small pair, and bad call, or a bad Ace, hoping to play Max in position. With a big holding, I had every confidence, this player would simply shove and take the already big pot – a full buy-in at $1/2 with no risk.

When the action got to me, I had decided to continue with Plan A. I promptly, and without pause, stacked my loose chips on my three stacks of red, and pushed forward $495, including the initial call. Max folded instantly. The new player tanked. He stared me down. I calmly looked back at him for a few seconds, then at the chips in the center. I moved slowly, and without purpose. Someone said something to me, and I looked and acknowledged, but didn’t really engage. The player pondered for about 90 seconds, then stacked his chips, and pushed his full bankroll for the evening into the pot. In my head I screamed, “oh shit”, for surely he had me dominated, or I was flipping a coin for $1000. I really didn’t put him on a hand worse than 88 or 99, which cut into my straights as well.

The flop came off K75, beautiful beautiful King. I stood up and said to the player, “I have a King”. He looked unhappy. The turn was a blank – deuce, or similar, and the river a four. I asked, “is my King good??” In slow motion he reached for his hand and ever… so… slowly… turned over 4h 4s.

Sincerely,
ChicagoJason a.k.a. Gramps

Holidays - A Time for Poker Reflection

2008-12-23T13:45:00.003-06:00

You still come here? I mean, you still read this page? Thank you, and apologies. I've been a bad poker blogger this year - posting infrequently and promising updates that never come.

Secondly, happy holidays! 'Tis the season to frustrate your family - they want to spend time together and share the holiday spirit, you're taking advantage of friends in town to get a poker game together - and THIS YEAR, you're a favorite to take all of their money. (Yes, that is a picture of the No Limit Texas Dreidel game embedded at left.)

Lately I've been reflecting on my play over the course of the year, and in recent months. Two phenomena have taken place this year. First, I think my understanding of the game has continued to expand. I think about certain aspects more than I previously had, I am thinking about and applying new concepts. I've expanded the number of games that I play regularly just a bit, and it has helped me with the games that I play more frequently (i.e. the number of PLO hands I played this year has improved my No Limit Hold 'em play). Second, and conversely, after having a really strong September and early October, I got cocky, and started to neglect the many things that were contributing to my success. I began trying to outplay my opponents on every hand, trying to win every pot, stopped paying close attention to my opponents and their betting patterns, and finally, berated them (mostly in my head, I hope) for playing badly, when in fact, they were playing ME beautifully. THEY knew what I was doing wrong long before I did. That is a recipe for disaster. After playing my best poker ever, I spent two months playing some of my very worst.

In my last couple of sessions, I have changed my approach to the game, and re-adopted several tenets, which I believe are the key to any poker player's long-term success:

Let the game come to me. Don't try to win every pot, don't try to outplay my opponents on every hand. Look for opportunities to get value on your big hands, and pick up orphaned pots. Having a winning session doesn't mean winning the most pots, it means winning the important pots, and winning them big.

In my most recent session, I employed a gimmick. I'd been playing so unruly that my opponents never believed me. What's more, when they didn't, it reinforced my behavior - "they don't believe that I'm playing good hands, why shouldn't I see every flop?" Sure, I could get equity on my big hands, however rarely they came (I literally didn't flop a set in hold 'em for 8 weeks), but I had zero bluff equity. I was winning disproportionately large pots with strong hands, but losing tons of medium pots by people calling me down with third pair and the disproportionately large number of suck outs on the turn and river, because they NEVER gave me credit for a good hand.

The gimmick? I told my opponents I was only betting with the best hand, and that I would show it to them every time I won a pot (by attrition or at showdown). And I did. I showed them, I told them that I knew second pair was good, or that I knew they were on a flush draw. After a couple hours of winning with the best hand, things returned to equilibrium. I was able to get them to fold just enough. By next session, they'll forget that I'm not a maniac 100% of the time, and I'll have to make big hands and kill them with 'em, or look for a new gimmick.
Respect the competition. The players at your table will have varied ability, but if they've played a dozen times previously, and they're back, they have some idea of what they're doing. Apply your energy to learn what they do well, and what mistakes they make. Don't assume you'll win every, or even most, hands against them - and don't try. When you do get involved, exploit their leaks, look for value; you'll come out ahead in the long run.
Observe, study, absorb. Remember your best sessions? Remember how you knew what your opponents held, knew when they were bluffing, knew when you had to lay down a big hand? You were observing their movements, even subconsciously. You were watching how they put their bets in, what types of hands they held, how they reacted to board cards, how they were sitting... you observed everything. It takes practice, and I was out of practice. When you observe on this level, you cannot help but win.

That's it. Three steps to success. Think you can do it? I know you can.

The Audacity of Attire - Barack Obama All In Shirt

2008-11-06T16:55:00.004-06:00

Get yourself one of these while they last!

Macau Poker Report - Pt. 1

2008-10-23T23:22:00.005-05:00

Nine days into our Asian tour, Mrs. Chicago and I landed in Macau, via ferry from Hong Kong. The Hong Kong ferry is quite convenient – about a $10 (US) or less taxi ride from just about anywhere in Hong Kong and a $17 economy class ferry ticket – you can be in Macau in less than an hour.

Macau was a Portuguese colony less than a decade ago, and the influence upon the Chinese administrative region is evident. The local currency is the Pataca (MOP) which has an exchange rate of 103.20 MOP to $100 Hong Kong (HKG). Everyone will accept HKG, and sometimes you’ll even get change in HKG; keep in mind you’re paying a 3% premium on the exchange rate.

We landed in the arrivals hall and had to clear immigration, collect our bags, and clear customs. All were done in a short time, and we headed out to the taxi stand with little fanfare. We directed the driver to take us to the Sofitel, which apparently is not info enough. The beautiful Sofitel hotel came to be just 2 months ago, so most still know it by its former name, Pier 16. Everyone else has never heard of it at all. The accommodations were beautiful, high-end, and accompanied by top class service. One limiting factor is the hotel’s location at the far west end of the Macau peninsula, but the whole region is small and transportation, cheap. Our ride to the hotel, from the eastern coast of the peninsula to the hotel was 40 MOP, or $5 US.

After checking in and grabbing a great lunch at the hotel, we headed out for a quick tour of Macau. We walked through a fairly prominent square and tourist area on our way to the ruins of St. John’s Cathedral. The ruins are worth a visit, as only the façade remains where a large cathedral once stood. The walk to and from the site provided us exposure to the local commerce and throngs of tourists.

Next we hit a few of the casinos, starting with Stanley Ho’s latest incarnation, the Grand Lisboa. There were plenty of games that American’s would be familiar with – Black Jack, Craps, Caribbean Stud Poker, and Roulette (the European, single zero version). There are more Baccarat tables than you can shake a stick at. Then, there are several other games that are unique to the region, or at least this hemisphere. There was a game where three dice are thrown and one can bet on the cumulative roll being high (10 or higher) or low. There are also, of course, bets on specific rolls, etc, like Craps. There was a variation of Roulette with a smaller wheel (I think this is “Boule”). There’s also some crazy game with a silver cup, buttons, and some guessing as to the number of buttons captured (think jelly bean jar guessing).

After heading up a few levels, getting lost, and getting found again, we stumbled on the very smoky poker area. There were about 16 tables in the room, with four in use on this Tuesday afternoon. The area was cordoned off with ropes and a sign that indicated “Players Only”. Apparently they don’t like spectators. This is bad for business, in my mind. First of all, spouses and friends might want to watch, and players might avoid playing and alienating their traveling companion instead of getting in a few hands until their spectating companion get bored. Second, why not encourages newbies to try out the game by letting them get a feel from the rail?

The room manager at least let me in to observe the action at the moment, stack sizes, etc. Much like my experiences playing in Europe, the room favors smaller stacks of higher denomination chips, quite contrary to the North American custom, making it difficult to see how deep some of the players were.

We decided to continue our tour and delay the card playing until later. We hopped in a cab and traveled across the Bay of Pak On, bordering the South China Sea, to the Taipa Island side of Macau, and to the worlds largest casino, The Venetian Macau. The building was immense and housed six or eight separate playing floors, with all of the same games, except many more tables. We walked through two gaming areas and found that about ¼ to 1/3 of the tables were in use. There were a couple of non-smoking gaming areas, which generally consisted of one or two non-smoking tables completely ringed by throngs of gamblers smoking away at the adjacent tables. There was no escaping it. Mrs. Chicago and I grabbed a drink in the Bellini Lounge and rested our feet. Later we explored the high-end Canal Shoppes, which were completely devoid of tourists or customers.

I suggested we should go explore the Grand Waldo casino to see the Pokerstars Poker Room and the supposed “incredible” spa. We exited the west end of the Venetian and walked the city block length walkway out to the road. Glancing across some undeveloped land and a construction site, we could see two or three structures where we supposed the Grand Waldo should be, but all were dark, and none appeared to be completed projects. We bagged the GW and jumped aboard an arriving bus that was headed to the Sands Casino, which was conveniently on the Macau Peninsula side.

After about a twenty minute ride, we arrived at the Sands. This particular hotel and casino had several floors of gaming, as did most, but was somewhat small in gaming floor size (at least as compared to the biggies we had previously visited). The name Sands evokes old Vegas and the erstwhile Las Vegas property that bore its name. I was surprised by the scene, with music and ambience targeted at a much younger audience. We stomped the yard, and then headed over to the neighboring Mandarin Oriental Hotel for dinner.

At the Mandarin we had dinner at a Thai restaurant called Naam. The interior of the restaurant was simple, elegant, and quite attractive. From our table we had a view of the Mandarin pool area, which was also very nice. The service was friendly and attentive. The menu was broad and accessible. The food was disappointingly mediocre. Mrs. Chicago’s dish was seasoned by garlic, always welcomed at our table, but it wasn’t fresh, instead they had used jarred garlic. We didn’t expect that at a restaurant of this caliber. Worse, was my Phad Thai Pak. This dish is made by every chef who has ever claimed to make Thai food. This was one of the poorer iterations I’d experienced. This particular version was “vegetable” and featured carrots, peas, and corn. That was okay with me, except that they had clearly come directly out of a can, and tasted it. Ho, ho, ho Grean Giant faux pas.

After dinner, we headed out on foot, intending to return to the Grand Lisboa poker room...

Rebuilding Your Roll

2008-10-14T08:59:00.002-05:00

Since Chicago Jason hasn't updated for a bit, and is off traveling with Miss Chicago somewhere in the Pacific, figured I'd write one. So the first month at the Horeshoe was a brilliant one, after 7 visits I was up 12 grand. Playing everything from 2/5 to 5/10/20 mixed Holdem/Omaha. I usually keep my roll around 5 grand, and stay around 1/2, 2/5 games. I would take from my roll anytime I was over 7 grand, and buy stupid new toys or pay off bills. Well after a month of killing it, I took everything but a grand from my roll and applied it to my student loans. Thinking I was running so well, I could keep winning with only a grand behind.
Any who I than ran into the worst poker 10 days of my life, as everyone could have guessed. Starting with two trips chasing quads and straight flush bonuses the Horeshoe promo was offering with Chicago Jason. We all we're playing hands we shouldn't have in 2/5 Omaha, any suited connectors..I mean any, 4-3 of clubs, perfect! It was sick that someone would hit the bonus every 90 minutes. Although I did hit the quads bonus I was still down in play. Third trip I got served at a 5/10 table.. was slow playing a straight and my opponent hit his flush for all the mula I had that day. Finlay the end of my roll, and the beginning of my negative roll (on a buddy's finger for 2 grand) was a Saturday with Mr. Porsche. He settled into a 5/10 table, where I, like a kid high on whip its, I bounced from 5/10 to 2/5 Omaha, blew through the end of my role and 2 grand I borrowed in a matter of less than three hours. It was not pretty, the end of it was me with Pocket Kings 1 right of the button with the 3 left to act. I raise it 120$, folds to the caller under the gun. He asks me if i want action, I don't respond, he says well, you got 300 all day, I'll put you all in, I think about it, and say I doubt he has aces (he was playing ATC as far as i could tell... a bit drunk too) I call, he shows 2, 3 off suit.. and of course flop hits 2, 3. I haven't lost it at the table since back at Fox Woods 8 years ago, but I wanted to punch this guy...I said some stupid shit, and Mr. Porsche and I left. Wasn't really mad at him, just at myself, I had killed my bank roll that's been alive for the better part of the decade... keeping it at 5 grand and enjoying the profit from it.
So that was a month ago, I started my bank roll up again with $200 out of my income and 30 days later up almost to four grand. I've played incredibly smart from hands to game selections. I think that's the most important, game selection. I've stayed away from my usual games LP, Mr. Porshe, Coligate, Ryans and even the Horeshoe somewhat and tried the easier neighborhood games, just until I get back to where I was. In fact I think I want to get to 10gees and sustain it there, so this never happens again. Either way I still have some work to do, but its going well. And if anyone beats me with 2,3 off suit again, I still might punch you. Watch your rolls people, and your stocks ;p

Banco Casino Prague - Mini Trip Report

2008-09-11T17:53:00.005-05:00

After a great day of sightseeing in the gorgeous city that is Prague, and a nice dinner with Mrs. Chicago and her colleagues, I headed to the Banco Casino on Na Příkopě in Prague, Czech Republic.

The casino consists of two small floors, as do many of the so-termed "casinos" in Prague. The first floor is about 20 slot machines, and a staircase up to the second floor. Upstairs there's a registration desk and three sub-divided rooms. One room contains two black jack tables, a couple roulette wheels, two "stud poker" (a house game) tables, and some assorted machines and chairs, etc. The second room is the "player buffet", which consists of a few hot plates of unidentifiable Asian fare, surrounded exclusively by Asian players. The third room features some additional slots, and automated roulette wheel/interface, a bar with room for 4 or 5 bar stools (but no actual stools), a Wheel of Fortune, and three poker tables.

The three tables were in use the prior night when I stopped in during a 1000 Kr ($60) re-buy tournament. This night there was one table in play, a 9-seater, with no open seats and at least 4 smokers smoking at the table. It was a NLHE table with 25Kr/50Kr blinds (~$1.50/$3) and a 2000Kr min and 10,000Kr max buy-in.

After about a 30 minute wait, I got a seat and bought in for 4000 Kr. The play was fairly loose-weak. Three or four action players did almost all the raising pre-flop and typically one or more of their counterparts called a raise, in or out of position. I took advantage of the loose play by raising up a couple hands preflop and c-betting with little fight.

I built my stack to about 9,500 when the following hand occurred. I had Ac2c in the small blind and the action limped around to me, I completed and the big blind checked. There were 7 of us and 450 in the pot. The flop came As4c5c - gin! I had top pair, nut flush draw, gutshot straight draw, and a straight flush draw.

I led 250 into the pot to see what action would ensue. I got a fold, a call from a super loose-weak player, a call from a super loose aggressive player, and several folds to the cutoff (also super LAGgy) who popped it to 1250. I decided that I was a favorite against just about any hand head's up, and that the two calls behind me meant virtually nothing. Moreover, they didn't even represent flush draws, meaning that most of my spades could be live. I decided to three-bet, giving me some fold equity and trapping the limpers in between. I didn't really expect the re-raiser to fold what must be a temporarily stronger hand, but it was certainly possible.

I put 4000 on top, effectively demonstrating that I was all-in. It folded back to the raiser who paused and said "I have to go with this". He shoved and I called. He showed 4h5d. Bottom two. Wow! This was best case scenario. I had 17 outs on the turn, and assuming neither of us improved, 20 on the river. I was almost a 3-2 favorite with 25,000 Kr in the pot. Of course, I did not improve, and my opponent raked in a tremendous pot, sure to reak havoc on the rest of the table for hours to come.

After just a couple hours and no strong hands to speak of, I headed out... walking down Na Příkopě and through Wenceslas Square back to my hotel. Perhaps we'll pay the place another visit tonight. Pictures to come...

Poker in Chicago - September Charitable Games

2008-09-01T14:09:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of ChicagoJoe ....

Thu 9-4 ... Bolingbrook Chicago Charitable Games
Fri 9-5 .....Woodridge Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-6 ......Tinley Park Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-6 ......Wood Dale Rockford Charitable Games
Sun 9-7 ......Park Ridge Midwest Poker Live
Tue 9-9 .....Addison Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 9-10 ..Skokie Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 9-11 ....Mt Prospect Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 9-11 ...Tinley Park Chicago Charitable Games
Fri 9-12 .....Bolingbrook Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-13 .....Glencoe Michael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer 4th Annual Casino Night
Sat 9-13 ...Lake Zurick Rockford Charitable Games
Sun 9-14 .....Park Ridge Midwest Poker Live
Tue 9-16 .....Buffalo Grove Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 9-17 ....River Grove Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 9-18 ....Schiller Park Rockford Charitable Games
Fri 9-19 ......Bolingbrook Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-20 .....Burbank Main Event Charity Games
Sat 9-20 .....Hillside Chicago Charitable Games
Tue 9-23 ....Elmhurst Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 9-24 ...Niles Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 9-25 ....Des Plaines Rockford Charitable Games
Fri 9-26 ......Villa Park Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-27 ......Villa Park Chicago Charitable Games

Chicago Charitable Games www.chicagocharitablegames.com

Main Event Charity Games www.maineventcharitygames.com

Midwest Poker Live www.midwestcharitablegames.com/

Rockford Chartiable Games www.rockfordcharitablegames.com

Flopped a Set, Disconnected Board, Folded on the Flop?!

2008-08-24T17:08:00.004-05:00

Last night a few of us headed to the Horseshoe in Hammond for a late night poker session. We had called about an hour + ahead to put our names on the list for a few games. In particular, I was looking to play $2/5 Pot-Limit Omaha, which was very good to me last week, but would play $2/5 No Limit Hold'em or $5/10 if it looked like a good game.

When we arrived at the casino none of our names were on the list! Most rooms have a policy where your name is removed if you don't show for an hour, but several of the lists were over an hour long (!), so I didn't anticipate that being the case here. The brush looked to see if we had been on the list (I presume that's what he was doing), but couldn't find us. He was kind enough to try get us close to whole again by putting us near the top of the list for each of our preferred games. The other fellas got into their games pretty quickly, as there were eight to ten $1/2 tables and a half dozen $2/5 NLHE tables, but I was on the PLO list, where neither of the two tables were moving at all.

I was #3 on the PLO list, so I took a little walk and cam back to the room to find myself #4 on the list - WTF!?! Then I was just grumpy. I glowered at passersby as I hovered from table to table, area to area. Soon I got my name on the $5/10 list as well.

After an hour or so I finally got on the feeder table for the $5/10 NLHE game (feeder, as in it was a must-move game). This was one of the softest No Limit tables I have been at in a long time, at any stakes. It was really incredible - I didn't know for sure that all of the players had actually played before. Unfortunately, when you're at a table of people who will play any pair to the river, you need to bring a hand, and I was short on them. When I moved to the "fixed" table I had slightly more than my original buy-in, around $1000.

After an hour or so at the new table, playing solid, tight poker in position, this hand came up. I was in the small-blind and an old AC/Nashland good-guy, Jimmy, was in the big blind. The under the gun plus one was a pretty solid player who had amassed some chips through patient, solid play. He was not particularly agressive, but played pretty straight, stayed out of trouble, and won a few pots in the time I was at the table. I did not perceive him as someone who would overplay a hand too terribly. He raise to $30, a smallish raise.

Two later position players called, and with $105 in the pot, Jimmy on my left, and a small pocket pair, I called, looking for set value. Jimmy called behind me as I expected. I'll insert the hand replayer here for ease of discussion, and pick up my commentary below.

The flop was gorgeous, 2 4 7 rainbow. The only real draw was a 5-6.

There was $150 in the pot and I could hope for a check-raise without too much risk, but there was also a risk of the flop checking around and me missing value. Additionally, I called from the small blind and could have virtually anything, so an over-pair to the board might call or raise for information/to slow me down. If it checked around and a 3 or 8 came off, or any even a 5 or 6, I'd be in a tougher spot. I wanted to be raised, so I poked with a $70 bet, less than 1/2 pot.

Jimmy folded and the pre-flop raiser raised me to $220. The other players folded it around to me. Something about the raiser displayed a lot of confidence, not projected strength, just a great deal of confidence and anticipation. I actually considered a set of 7s as a reasonable possibility here.

Often I would smooth-call here and re-evaluate on the turn, potentially even looking for a check-raise on the turn. This time, however, I really was starting to wonder if I was even ahead in the hand, and really wanted some more information. I replayed the events in my head, and mentally re-counted my stack, I had about $1170 after my flop bet. I had just enough, I thought, to get the information I needed and still be able to fold for a decent amount of my stack. There was $440 in the pot, and I was facing a $150 raise. I decided that a re-raise to $500 would be a sufficient amount to get some information from his reaction, and still leave myself some options. I made it $500, and had about $750 left.

The Villain asked me to count down my stack, and I informed him of my remaining chip count. He paused only momentarily, and then said "raise". He first pushed out the $500 call, and then an additional tower of chips approximately equal to my remaining stack. I perked up.

What the hell could he have here? I replayed the hand. Solid player makes a small raise in early position and gets 4 callers. Flop comes totally uncoordinated and small-blind bets out with a 1/2 pot bet. When the action is to him, there are still two people left to act behind him. After they fold, the initial bettor puts in a three-bet for almost half of his stack. He is projecting confidence, and hasn't done anything totally out of line. When it gets back to the Villain, he doesn't think too long, and four-bets, putting the small blind all-in.

Could he have an over-pair? I mean, why does he re-raise me twice with such a strong hand? Why not smooth-call either bet and extract on later streets? Perhaps the first re-raise gets out drawers (there can't be more than one), but isolates us. On the other hand, I'm in the small blind, I could have flopped two pair here, and he would be behind with AA -88, would he really four-bet against me? Does he have any confidence that I would lay down a better hand than his?

Could he have a draw? Seems pretty unlikely. I don't see him raising in early position with 5-6 too often, but when he does, he probably folds to my $500 bet with only a straight draw.

Two pair? I just don't see any two-pair hand he could have here. 7-4 would be odd for an early position raise. 4-2 is almost impossible, especially given that I hold two of the twos. Same with 7-2.

What else could he have? 77 made, by far, the most sense. 44 was conceivable, and would be the only reason (other than calculating the cost of a failed bluff, or to be misleading), to ask for my stack size before his bet. If he has 44, he knows I could have 77 as a possibility, but probably wouldn't fold to any anmount of money I'd have on the table here.

At this point I'm almost certain he has an over-set. I can only otherwise imagine that he thinks I have a big pair, slow-played, and he has AA. Given the fact that a) I've demonstrated a fairly solid image here, and wouldn't go broke with TT-JJ, b) I could have the set, any set, and c) I was in the small blind and would be very unlikely to slow play a medium-big pair with four people behind me, and then play so recklessly on the flop, I decide that the chances of this crazy story finding its way into his head is slim.

So... I ask.

"No way. Seriously. I can't believe what a cold deck this is!" I Hollywood. I look him straight in the eye, and he's looking right back at me. "Did you really flop a set of sevens?" I ask him. He immediately blinks exactly one time and then glances away. He cannot look back at me.

I am now 95% certain that I am beat. With my perceived 5% equity in the pot, plus my perceived 5% chance of being ahead, I am not getting 9-to-1 on my money and I fold my hand.

Do you think I made the right decision?

Horseshoe Hammond - We Love the 'Shoe

2008-08-06T10:09:00.004-05:00

We love the 'Shoe.

Members, friends, and associates of the Chicago Poker Club have all given the new Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, and specifically the new poker room, two thumbs up. There are at least four active threads on our forum discussing the new room.

The Horseshoe Poker Room pulls together the best elements of card rooms around the country (if not world), but has a decidedly Las Vegas feel. The room I'd most closely compare it to is the Venetian, which if you've read this site, you know is a major compliment coming from me. The size, spacing, colors, and decor are all well done. The open wall dividing the room from the casino floor, and the design of the high limit room in the back, are straight Belaggio. There are elements of the Wynn poker room thrown in for good measure.

With 34 tables, two Pokertek tables, plasma tvs, and table-side service, this is a poker player's dream.

Chicago Joe had this to say:

Tuesday July 29th will go down as the greatest day in history for Chicago Poker Players. The Horseshoe casino is what area poker players have dreamed about for decades.

Walking into the poker room is like taking a magical trip into the top poker rooms of Las Vegas. Looking around the room filled with pictures of the legends. Doyle Brunson, Jack Straus, Stu Unger, Johnny Moss, Bobby Baldwin than as you walk into the high rollers room you see a larger than life picture of Benny Binion sitting at the end of a poker table with his famous shitty grin.

Poker players who are familiar with area local poker rooms will find many familiar faces among the Horseshoe’s staff. I saw many warm welcomes among players and staff through out the day. Instead of just building a poker room the Horseshoe designed this room for the poker player. The Horseshoe is the first Chicago area casino to have nine handed tables for a more comfortable and faster play. This room is truly legendary.

Thanks Horseshoe the dream came true.

Need I say more?

Just about everything in this room was done right. There are a couple of minor complaints, and most of those are being addressed, or will work themselves out in time.

The biggest issue/challenge I've faced is the poor phone reception in the room. Through no fault of the Horseshoe, of course, both T-Mobile and Verizon coverage are virtually non-existent in the room. In true customer-first form, Jeremy and the guys at Horseshoe are strategizing solutions. They've put in trouble tickets with the cell providers and are evaluating hardware that would boost the signal.

Critique two is the felt, which has been screen printed to promote the Horseshoe brand. At first glance, its kind of cool - throwback. The challenge is that the letters are white and the cards get lost in the text. There are two answers - first, the dealers need to learn to place the cards in the correct position, which would put them on the green felt, the second is that the room has already indicated that the next felt, when this felt retires, will not have the large lettering. That's only a matter of time. Its worth noting that the tables on the high limit floor (just a step up from the main poker floor) have yellow letters, and the problem is therefore diminished.

Finally, the chairs. The chairs on the main poker floor look attractive, but are uncomfortable. This is unfortunate as I'm sure they weren't inexpensive. Hopefully these will be phased out over time, as they need to be replaced. That's probably way out on the horizon. It seemed to meet that the chairs on the high-limit poker floor were a bit of an upgrade, though the same style, with a more cushioned, higher seat. Perhaps it was my imagination.

Overall, I give the room a big, fat A. If they're able to address the aforementioned shortcomings, I have no hesitation about giving the room a solid A+. Nice work guys!

Horseshoe Hammond Now Open

2008-07-29T14:48:00.002-05:00

According to our man on the ground, Chicago Joe, the new casino (new boat, existing casino presence) opened this afternoon around 2:20 pm, after being rescheduled several times in the last week.

This represents Harrah's newest vessel's soft opening, to be followed by the grand opening in less than two weeks, on August 8, 2008.

Poker in Chicago - August Charitable Games

2008-07-28T17:20:00.002-05:00

As always, thanks to Chicago Joe for compiling these dates...

Fri 8-1 ..........West Chicago................... Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 8-2 ..........Bolingbrook ....................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun 8-3.......... Willowbrook ..................Chicago Charitable Games
Mon 8-4.......... Niles ..............................Rockford Charitable Games
Tue 8-5.......... Skokie ............................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 8-6.......... Rolling Meadows ..........Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 8-7.......... Schiller Park ................Rockford Charitable Games
Fri 8-8.......... Villa Park ......................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 8-9.......... Wauconda ....................Rockford Charitable Games
Sun 8-10 ..........Chicago .......................Chicago Charitable Games
Mon 8-11 ..........DesPlaines ..................Rockford Charitable Games
Tue 8-12 ..........Streamwood ................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 8-13 ..........Rolling Meadows ........Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 8-14 ..........Mt Prospect .................Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 8-14 ..........Tinley Park ..................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 8-16 ..........West Chicago ................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun 8-17 ..........Willowbrook .................Chicago Charitable Games
Tue 8-19 ..........Addison ........................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 8-20 ..........Rolling Meadows .........Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 8-21 ..........Buffalo Grove ...............Rockford Charitable Games
Fri 8-22 ..........Tinley Park ....................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 8-23 ..........Hillside ..........................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun 8-24 ..........Downers Grove ..............Chicago Charitable Games
Tue 8-26 ..........Schiller Park .................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 8-27 ..........Rolling Meadows ..........Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 8-28 ..........DesPlaines ....................Rockford Charitable Games
Fri 8-29 ..........Homer Glen ....................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun 8-31 ..........Naperville .....................Chicago Charitable Games

All Charity Poker www.allcharitypoker.com

Chicago Charitable Games www.chicagocharitablegames.com

Illinois Chartiable Games www.icgapokerevents.com

Midwest Poker Live www.midwestcharitablegames.com/

Rockford Chartiable Games www.rockfordcharitablegames.com

Ace of Draws

2008-07-22T15:26:00.010-05:00

I guess I owe Wil an ice cream cone.

He had a pretty solid session on Thursday night - playing well and catching very well. After the game we made a quick run to Baskin-Robbins, and he was nice enough to buy me a cone. I did not run well that night.

Sunday was a different story. I feel that I played very well, as well as I have in awhile. I had a strong handle on the game, and felt my read was pinpoint in its accuracy. I also found either the cards or the opportunities to make some money, and those cards and opportunities are not always there.

Wil was also playing a little faster and looser than he typically does, probably riding the wave of his Thursday night success.

I played a hand head's up against Wil that he did not enjoy. I'm not going to say I played it perfectly, by any stretch, but I did enjoy the thought process and gamesmanship that went into it.

I was in middle position, in a 1/2 NLHE ring game with 8 or 9 at the table, and raised it to $11 with Ah4h. If memory serves, I opened the pot, though there may have been one limper. Occasionally I'll fold this hand here, and much of the time at this table I'll limp. I was feeling particularly frisky, and thought I was playing well after the flop. So I raised.

The action folded to Wil in the small blind; he paused and then raised to $30 total. The blinds (and limper?) folded to me. I considered the situation and called. Wil's range is fairly tight here, at least for him, but he knows my range is really broad, so he sought to put pressure on me, define my hand, and isolate. His range is probably 1/2 of my opening range in this position. I put him on any pocket pair 7s or better, and Ace-King, Ace Queen (or even AT suited or bigger). He doesn't like that he's in the small blind here, but if he can isolate, he's feeling comfortable enough to make this three-bet with good middle pairs, in my opinion.

The flop comes 855 with two hearts, giving me a four-flush. My Ace would also be good against most of his range. With about $65 in the pot, Wil makes a continuation be of $50. To me, this doesn't narrow his range much. He might elect to check with a big pair, inducing me to bet, or he might bet right out. With Jacks or smaller, and with a big Ace, I think he makes this bet most of the time, hoping to take down the pot, or cause me to make a bad call.

I consider my options here. There's about $115 in the pot and Wil has about $220 left, if memory serves.

I can call here with my flush draw and hope to hit on the turn. I'm getting just better than 2-to-1 on my money, and I'm about 4-to-1 to catch my flush card. If I do hit my flush, I can get paid a bit on a later street, but Wil may not pay me much more unless he has JJ - KK with one heart. This may or may not be a profitable decision, and puts no pressure on my opponent.

I can also fold. I played what amounts to a garbage hand and my opponent has shown a lot of strength by re-raising in the small blind and then leading into me for 75-80% of the pot. I'm am undoubtedly behind, and potentially only my flush draw is good.

I can raise on a semi-bluff. When I evaluate this option, I need to consider how much fold equity I have. What can I hold that Wil would be concerned about? Having a 5 in my hand for flopped trips is possible, given the way I play, but not that likely. Wil may write off losing to flopped trips with a 5 as "the cost of doing business". Of course, in this particular case I had a 4 in my hand, so it is obviously within my range. I could have a pocket pair of 8s, giving me a flopped boat. He isn't expecting a monster. In this case I probably would call behind most of the time, though a small raise is probably my best option. If Wil has an over pair I put him to a really tough decision with a small raise. He has to think about it, at least. I could have an overpair to his pocket pair, if he has one. It is entirely conceivable that I'd smooth call his re-raise pre-flop with KK or AA. I've done it before, and I'll do it again. And he knows it. Finally, if he does have an A-X hand, he probably has to fold to any raise of mine. Even 66 in my hand would put him in bad shape.

I elect to raise on a semi-bluff. I figure to have 9 flush outs (he could have a flopped boat) and possibly 3 Ace outs. As we discussed, if he holds just a big Ace, he probably has to fold to my raise. This creates a terrific dynamic for me in that he'll fold in occasions where I'm dominated (i.e. he has a bigger Ace) and he'll call/shove in situations where my Ace is live, which gives me 14 full outs (barring a full house). With 14 outs against an overpair, I am a 2-to-3 underdog (including 88 in his range), with enough money in the pot to justify getting it all in. Factor in my fold equity, and I think this is a strong decision.

The amount of my raise may not be as interesting a question as you think. Wil just put in a $50 bet, and there's $65 in there on the flop. The amount of my call will make the pot $165 and Wil has just over $200 remaining. He knows that if he just calls a small raise on the flop that he will face a big decision on the turn. If he has a very strong read on me, however, he can actually just call a small raise from me and make a big bet into a safe turn card. Because of that, I am well served by making a fairly significant re-raise, from $110 on top of his bet, up to an all-in bet.

I do not perform this thorough of an analysis, and decide that a small re-raise will actually make him think harder and put me on a stronger hand. I re-raise him to $110, or just $60 on top of his initial $50. My rationale is that I'm forcing him to make a decision for all of his chips even though I've just made a small raise. This is a bad analysis on my part as he could actually afford to call the flop and fold the turn if a heart came (if he thought that helped me).

I believe Wil evaluated it the same way I did in the heat of the moment and re-raised all-in for his last $200+. With $445 or more in the pot, I only had to call $160 more, I was getting almost 3 to 1. I also "knew" that Wil didn't have an Ace in his hand, and thus figured to be a 3-to-2 favorite over my holding. Getting great odds to draw, I called his bet. [Wil could have held AA here, for certain. Two things caused me to diminish this likelihood. First, I had an Ace, meaning there were only three combinations of AA left in the deck. Second, I had a feeling that he did not. Sometimes I have a feeling about something, or sometimes my opponent may have a baby tell that gives away a little something, and I go with it. These feelings are rare, but frighteningly accurate.]

The turn was a blank and the river was the A of diamonds. Wil said, "well, you called my shove, so you must be good".

I declared "umm... Aces and Fives?" His eyes shot daggers, and he mucked his cards as I opened my Ah 4h and sheepishly raked in the pot. I attribute my sheepishness more to Wil's reaction than my plan, in retrospect. I occasionally feel sheepish or guilty when I suck out, but if I have the odds to do so, I wouldn't have it any other way (would I rather not hit?)

I didn't have to risk all of that money with a bad Ace, even a suited one, pre-flop, but I like all of my decisions even in hindsight. If I could change one thing, it would be the size of my raise on the turn; it should have been bigger. As it turns out, it didn't affect the hand. Wil probably reraises on the turn either way.

What did Wil have? Based on the information on all streets, I'm going to guess QQ. It could have been KK and JJ is a possibility, but with TT or smaller, I believe he would have a hard time shoving on the turn.

Freakin' Hilarious

2008-07-21T14:43:00.003-05:00

I don't know where this came from, other than Phishguy on Two Plus Two - I cannot take any credit for it. However, it is freakin' hilarious, I wanted his (or the creator's, whomever that may be) hard work to be seen by as many people as possible.

Wow.

Back from the Rio - WSOP 2008

2008-06-26T18:30:00.007-05:00

Our five day adventure came to a close with a thud, as our plane clumsily bumped down at Chicago's Midway airport on Monday night. Although the WSOP tourneys didn't go as planned, the trip was an entertaining and satisfying affair, once again.

Started at the beginning... We landed in Las Vegas on Wednesday night. The night air, just steps from McCarran International, made it clear that this trip wouldn't be replete with outdoor time. It was 7:45pm, and it felt like it was still 102 degrees. It may have been 101.

We checked in at Caesars, and walked over to Chinois for dinner.

Thursday was the first event, #36, and I learned 30 minutes before that I'd be sitting in the "Buzios area". For those of you unaware, Buzios is the seafood restaurant at the Rio, and the Buzios area constitutes 16 poker tables in the hallway right out front of the restaurant, and a 10 minute walk from the Amazon ballroom. No worries, I'd never make it to the Amazon ballroom.

Just 48 minutes after the cards were in the air, I was packing my stuff and heading for the Harrah's shuttle to Caesars. Yes. 48 minutes... (that's $31.25/minute, as Wil points out).

The structure was the same as last year; a $1500 buy-in gets you 3000 chips. Blinds start at 25-50 and double every hour for the first three rounds. By 30 minutes in I had picked up AQ three times, netting me approximately -1970 chips. I raised three times, missed my flop all three, continuation bet two of the three, and was informed all three times that I had been out flopped (or perhaps I was behind to start with on one or more occasions). In this structure, you cannot afford to raise three pots and lose three pots in the first hour.

I locked down my last 1030 chips for not more than 12-14 minutes when I found AK on the button. A middle position raiser, who'd voluntarily put money in the pot at least a third of the hands, raise yet again, to about 250 after an early player limped. Knowing that he had a very broad range, and that I shouldn't be worse than a coin-flip, I re-raised for my last 1030 chips. He thought for about 2 seconds, maybe a couple seconds less than that, and shipped it in with 77 (granted it was about 25% of his stack, not 100% like me). The flop didn't help me, but he appreciated a third 7 to make him a flopped set. The turn was no help, so I was drawing dead on the river when a King kicked sand in my face.

Friday morning some of the Chicago boys came into town and we played some cash games. Jeremy registered and unregistered for a tournament at Caesars (way to read the fine print!) and we headed over to the Venetian. After a little play at the $2/5 No Limit Hold 'em tables, all three of us moved to a Pot Limit Omaha game that varied between $2/5 and $5/5 blinds, depending on who you asked and who was dealing. The amusing thing about this is that a $2/5 game is capped at a $1000 buy-in, while a $5/5 game is uncapped. This becomes pertinent later.

The game started 6-handed and slowly filled in until we had a list of about 6 players waiting to join us. I went on a sick run of good cards and well-executed bluffs, and more than quadrupled my initial buy-in (until the last hand of the session). At some point we noticed that they were filming a television show in the salon adjacent to our table. As we sat there, the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Gabe Thayler, Phil Ivey, Bob Bright, and Phil Laak walked by in and out of the salon.
I looked over my shoulder and noticed that Phil was headed our way. "We've got a seat open", I yelled in his general direction. "Yep, that's what I'm coming for," he retorted. Great. I was already 'that guy'.

Holy shizzle... was he really going to sit at our table. Plop, he took seat 3. "What are we playing?" the 'bomber asks. "5-5 PLO" comes the reply. "Awesome", says he.

"What's the cap?"

"None."

"Nice", he plops a bag of $30,000 in the table. In that bag, a key. The home for that key, his Venetian box. The contents of that Venetian box, "oh, the other $100k", he informed us.

He stuck around for about 45 minutes. Jeremy was away when he sat, and being that he was in the 4 seat, I couldn't wait for his return. As I saw Jeremy emerged from the main poker room I was giddy with anticipation.

He returned to his seat, not noticing our new tablemate. His eyes worked their way up from the rail, to his chips, to the felt, to the chips in the 3 seat. "Whoa!" he managed oh so tactfully His eyes worked their way up to the chip owner, "Oh", he nodded as if the presence of poker royalty explained the bag of rubies and sapphires before him.

The play itself, with Phil at the table, was nothing special. He played uber tight, losing a few calls and maybe taking down a pot. He later informed me that he lost $12. Well played sir.

... anyway... a few people have given me shit for taking so long to post the update... life's little gems have surfaced, and I've been otherwise occupied in recent weeks. Here I am posting my incomplete synopsis for the sake of an update. I will try to provide the rest of the trip report as times allows...

WSOP 2008 - The Adventure Begins

2008-06-18T10:38:00.003-05:00

Mrs. Chicago and I are headed to the airport in about 5 hours, and will be in Las Vegas (Baby) through Monday afternoon. To say I'm looking forward to my little piece of World Series action this year would be an understatement.

I feeling good about my game, I'm running well, and I'm hoping to make it deep in an event for the second year in a row.

I plan to play Event #36 on Thursday and Event #39 on Saturday. Both are $1500 NLHE events, which means the starting chip stack is only T$3000. There isn't much room for mistakes early, but if I can accumulate a few chips, I'll be off and running.

I will be updating my Twitter feed as time allows, so check back here (right column) for frequent updates.

P.S. Sincere condolences to the friends and family of a strong member of the Chicago Poker community who passed last night. A young man, a genuinely good guy, and a fantastic rounder was taken from us all too early. Hopefully he'll remind us to find joy in every day.

This Guy Really Gives Me the Creeps (aka Dwan vs Clay Head's Up)

2008-06-11T13:57:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure what to say, exactly. Odd over-confidence based on conquering a single skill with major deficiencies in other obvious skill sets... inexplicably poor social skills.What? This is two different guys?

Anybody else rubbed the wrong way?

Horseshoe Hammond Expansion Complete 8/8/08

2008-06-10T18:07:00.002-05:00

The hotly anticipated expansion of Horseshoe Hammond will be complete on August 8 (as in 8/8/08), complete with the Midwest's largest poker room.

The new room will house 34 traditional tables and 2 Pokertek electronic tables.

The Horseshoe will also be hosting the 2009 season's first WSOP Circuit Event, planned for some time around the end of October (2008). You may remember Jeremy Smith from the Majestic Star, he is now one of the shift managers at the new Horseshoe. He has made himself available to answer questions about the new room on our forum at Chicago Poker Club Forums. Welcome, and thank you Jeremy! Check back here and at the forums for updates.

Chicago Poker Open - Don't Forget to Pre-Register!

2008-06-09T18:33:00.003-05:00

The event is this Friday, and pre-registration will save you $25-50, depending on the event.

Please go here to pre-register.

The blind structure has been improved from last year, and I think you'll find it more player friendly than most (or all) other charity events!

		Round Time
Level 1	25 - 50	20
Level 2	50 - 100	20
Level 3	75 - 150	20
First Break (Add On Period)		15
Level 4	100 - 200	20
Level 5	150 - 300	20
Level 6	200 - 400	20
Second Break (Color Up)		15
Level 7	300 - 600	20
Level 8	400 - 800	20
Level 9	500 - 1000	20
Level 10	1000 - 2000	20
Third Break (Color Up)		15
Level 11	1500 - 3000	20
Level 12	2500 - 5000	20
Level 13	5000 - 10000	20
Level 14	10000 - 20000	20

Big Oops at theTable

2008-06-08T13:34:00.004-05:00

There was a new face at my usual Thursday night game this week at "the LP". After a half an hour, we realized that we knew one another from the internets and chatted a bit about some of the things that I've previously written here, and about some of the Podcasts we listen to. We both have hacked iPhones on T-Mobile, which is funny in a what-a-coincidence kind of way, and we visually compared Podcast lists.

Kmon, as he's known online, posted a nice recap of his experience at the game and made reference to an "oops" of mine. I appreciate his politeness at not posting the details, but I don't mind, and it was pretty hilarious at the time. I've written here (and particularly in my personal session notes) about the dangers of playing tired, and it has impacted me tremendously in recent months, and in particular in the lowest stakes games. I don't play particularly big, but when I play in a bigger game the cash does a better job of keeping me focused. When I play $1/$2 on Thursdays with the usual crowd, I treat it more like a social event and often make big mistakes. This one was funny.

I actually don't remember the details of the hand specifically (another bad sign), but Scotty and I saw a flop head's up, and I was in position. Scotty and I have become good friends away from the LP, and we always have goofy hands the way you might with your demented (I was going to use a non-PC word here, but I don't think it's required) little brother. Scotty is the demented brother. :)

I thought he had a semi-strong hand, and he had raised pre-flop. I think he bet the flop and I called with two big cards. He checked the turn dark, which he really only does when he's soft-playing someone, and I thought he might have a middle pair or two big cards bigger than mine (or even dominating mine). Either way, neither of us had a monster and neither of us seemed to want to fight for it. It wasn't a "way ahead or way behind" situation, but rather the opposite.

I decided that my hand had some showdown value and I didn't want to get check raised, so I just checked behind and exposed my cards. The problem was... we were at the turn. Not the river.

Oh yeah, I was at the top of my game. Here's the kicker - Scotty laughs hysterically and then bets $10 and turns his hand over! As it turns out, I'm behind, but have two live cards, or 6 outs. The pot was laying me the odds to call, so I did, knowing that there would be effectively no action since we knew exactly where we stood. The river didn't help me, he bet $1 and I folded.

Then, Kmon says, "you know you didn't need to call that turn bet." And I'm sitting there like the moron I am trying to determine if I've miscalculated the pot odds. I give him a quizzical expression and he reminds me that Scotty had already checked dark on the turn.

Apparently no one in the room was paying the slightest bit of attention as everyone else realized the truth of Kmon's words. He checked, I check, I opened my hand, he bet, I called.

That $10 goes on my IRS return as "Idiot Tax".

What I Had. What He Had.

2008-06-07T21:42:00.004-05:00

This is the second part of What Did I Have? What Did He Have? - so you should read that post first.

Did you figure it out? Remember, my decisions were based on seeing his action pre-flop and his check-raise on the flop. I didn't know he was going to call my re-raise, but if I did, I wouldn't have put him on... Pocket Sixes. Sixes?

He quickly called pre-flop when I made a big raise from late position. I did not have a loose or aggressive image when I raised (as far as I could tell, and based on my actions).

So, what could he beat with 66 after I re-raised his bet on the flop with only $160 left? He was getting 4-to-1 on his money, but if he was behind there was only a 9% chance he would catch one of the two remaining sixes to overcome the deficit. The pot would need to lay him more than twice that, nearly 11-1 if he was behind.

Unfortunately my opponent didn't make the same analysis I did, and decided to call. He actually made a good call (in terms of pot equity) - I held only Ace of clubs, 9 of clubs for two over cards to the board.

So, how bad was my play? With only $160 for him to call, and $640 in the pot, he was getting 4-to-1 on the call, but with only 9% to win. So, what if he thought I could be bluffing? If I could bluff here 12% of the time and he would improve to sixes-full 9% of the time (ignoring the chances of me improving if I had what I supposed to), then he would believe that he'd be good, or improve to best, 21% of the time, and 4-to-1 would be good enough... right?

Wrong.

If he was correct, and he was, there was still two cards to come, and I had two overcards (he had to assume I didn't have undercards if his sixes were winning.) With two overcards to his sixes, I'm actually 31% to improve (with 6 cards to make a pair, and two streets to make a running flush). If he does make the call and is ahead of me, he'd still lose almost a third of the time!

In this particular case, the board went blank, blank, and the dealer pushed my opponent the pot.
If he thought I could bluff 12% of the time (my arbitrary number), then I would win the hand a third of the time when I was, and he would only have about 17% equity in the hand. With those numbers, the pot would need to lay him almost 6-to-1 for him to make a good call.

As it turns out, I'd actually need to be bluffing about 20% of the time for him to have a decent call on the flop. Am I actually crazy enough to bluff here, with only $160 behind, 1 out of every 5 times....?? Well... maybe...

What Did I Have? What Did He Have?

2008-06-03T23:37:00.005-05:00

I got in a nice long session at Majestic Star yesterday. Around 10 PM I finally got a seat at the $2/5 No Limit Hold 'em Table - a "must move" table. Everyone bought in a little short, between $250-450 (most hovering around $400) at a $500 max. table. I bought in close to full, I brought about $500 over from my $1/2 table. I was surprised at the number of short-buys.

After about 90 minutes or so, the action had been fast and furious at my table, and many of the stacks had increased by 50% or more from big pots and frequent rebuys.

There were two limpers to me, hence $17 in the pot, and I raised to $30, which was fairly standard. I hadn't played many hands, had been whittled down to about $370, and had a stronger than average hand. The kind of hand I'm happy to play for a raise in position if I can get one or two opponents to see a flop with me.

The aggressive button folded and the small blind smooth-called fairly quickly. He hadn't played too many hands, and I perceived him to be fairly solid for this game. Not a big thinker, but capable of thinking on multiple levels. He played more-or-less by the math. At least, that was my perception. I took note of his smooth call - it surprised me. From out of position, facing a fairly large, but reasonable, pre-flop raise I wouldn't expect to see him make a quick call with a suited-connector or suited-Ace type hand. With a big pair, I very much expected a raise, or at least a few seconds of contemplating a raise. In my mind, his most likely holdings were a middle pair or AQ suited or AK.

Both other limpers called. Because there was $70 in the pot and then $95 in the pot for each of them, facing a $25 call, with $5 committed, I couldn't narrow their range too much at this point.

There was $120 in the pot, and we saw a flop. It came down 882, and if memory serves, a rainbow (three different suits).

All three players checked to me. I had represented a big hand pre-flop with my raise, and I decided to make a bet in an effort to take down a big pot. If I got resistance from either of the two limpers, I could put them on a suited connector with an 8, and fold. I bet $80.

The small blind really surprised me. He took a full minute to decide what to do. Then, he raised to $180, $100 on top of my bet. Both limpers instantly folded an it was back to me.

The pot now had $380 in it, and I had $260 left - that would be $160 after a $100 call. I didn't call. I considered what my opponent had. I went back to my pre-flop suspicions. I did not think he could play two big cards this way. He smooth-called my raise, and if he had AK or AQ, he did so hoping to catch on me, not looking to get all his money in without a pair. My initial read of a middle pair was making sense - 55 through 99 was most likely. With only two 8s left in the deck the odds of pocket 8s were slim. Also, with flopped quads, would he really put so much pressure on me this early? Wouldn't this particular player be likely to slow-play?

I put him on 55, 66, 77, or 99. Certainly 22 was conceivable for the flopped full house. I believed that he called a big bet too quickly pre-flop for 22 also, and I had put a lot of confidence in my read this night, and was correct much more often than not.

With a middle pair, I reasoned, perhaps he hoped I had two big cards and his two pair was good. His $100 re-raise was an expensive test, but perhaps he read me for weak? Also, I only had $160 more than his raise. If I came back over the top, I had to have him beat, right? My raise wasn't big enough to intimidate a pretty strong hand, so if I re-raised, I'd have to be expecting a call from anything TT or better... didn't I? But, it was also a big enough bet for him to be happy to save $160 once I indicated to him that he was beat with my re-raise.

I decided that he couldn't possibly call a re-raise with the range of hands that he could have. I had paused 30-40 seconds considering all of this information, careful not to give away too much non-verbal information, and I stated "I'm all in" and pushed my chips forward.

As I mentioned, there was $380 in the pot, and I pushed in my last $260, making it a $640 pot, and $160 for him to call. He was getting exactly 4-1 on his money, but was there a 20% chance that he was good with his likely range of holdings? Remember, this was all on the flop, and there were two cards yet to come.

He said, "okay, I guess you win", but put his chips in as he said it. In other words, I call but you must have me beat.

What did he have?

What did I hold?

What cards would you have played the way he played, given the progression of action?

Answers coming soon.

Poker in Chicago - June 2008 Charitable Events

2008-05-28T17:16:00.005-05:00

Thank you again Joe, for your tireless contributions.

Sun.....6/1.......Tinley Park...................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun.....6/1.......Flossmoor.....................SouthStar Services
Mon....6/2........Elmhurst.......................Rockford Charitable Games
Tue.....6/3.......Elmhurst.......................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed....6/4.......Des Plaines..................Rockford Charitable Games
Thu.....6/5.......Niles..............................Rockford Charitable Games
Sat.....6/7.......Tivoli..............................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat.....6/7........Lemont..........................All Charity Poker
Sun.....6/8.......Darien..........................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun.....6/8.......Willowbrook.................Illinois Charitable Games
Mon....6/9........Buffalo Grove..............Rockford Charitable Games
Tue.....6/10......Mt Prospect.................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed....6/11.....Chicago........................Gateway Green: GREEN TIE BALL - new!
Wed....6/11......Skokie.........................Rockford Charitable Games
Thu.....6/12......River Grove................Rockford Charitable Games
Fri......6/13.......Chicago.......................Chicago Poker Open
Fri......6/13.......Tinley Park.................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat.....6/14......Tivoli............................Chicago Charitable Games
Mon....6/16......Addison.......................Rockford Charitable Games
Tue.....6/17......Skokie.........................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed....6/18.....Streamwood...............Rockford Charitable Games
Thu.....6/19......Artington Heights.......Rockford Charitable Games
Fri.......6/20......Woodridge..................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat.....6/21......Hickory Hills...............Chicago Charitable Games
Sun.....6/22......Naperville..................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun.....6/22......Park Ridge..................Chicago Poker Live
Fri......6/27......Tinley Park..................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat.....6/28......West Chicago.............Chicago Charitable Games
Sat.....6/28......Joliet..............................Road Dawg Softball

All Charity Poker www.allcharitypoker.com

Chicago Charitable Games www.chicagocharitablegames.com

Chicago Gateway Green http://gatewaygreen.org

Chicago Poker Open http://chicagopokeropen.com

Illinois Chartiable Games www.icgapokerevents.com

Midwest Poker Live www.midwestcharitablegames.com/

Rockford Chartiable Games www.rockfordcharitablegames.com

Books to Read, Just Not on Vacation

2008-05-13T05:27:00.007-05:00

As I packed my carry-on, the last thing I do before heading out on a trip of 3 days or more, I grabbed two books off the nightstand, two tourist books on Dubai, my latest issue of CardPlayer magazine, my 30GB video iPod (to supplement my ubiquitous iPhone), my laptop computer, my wife's digital camera (it's the good one, which means I'm responsible for carrying it and using it, really making it our digital camera - plus, I bought it), and all of the shows and movies that I threw on a DVD rather than transferring them from our desktop or downloading them onto the laptop and taking up valuable hard drive space.

After slinging my 30 lb. (14kg) backpack full of electronic excess and reading material onto my back, into a cab, through an x-ray machine, under the seat in front of me on the airplane, off the airplane in Frankfurt, and back onto another airplane, once again under the seat in front of me, the contents were largely untouched by the time we arrived in Dubai. I looked at one tour book and listened to my iPod - that was it. Most of our entertainment was provided by the in-seat, on-demand entertainment, and the inside of my eyelids.

Fortunately for my travel planning psyche, the bag has been fully disrupted now, two days into our trip. Mrs. C and I watched an episode of Flight of the Conchords (I burned the first season to a DVD before departure) last night before bed, and while she was doing some last minute meeting prep, I watched two episodes of I Bet You, that prop bet show with Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari. We've read and re-read both books on how to be a tourist in Dubai. I've read one-off articles from the latest CardPlayer while waiting for the wife. Surprisingly I haven't used the camera yet, but the iPhone has provided a few snaps (as seen here). And I've read a few chapters of Lee Nelson and Kim Lee's sequel to Kill Phil. The problem, the book's title and cover, and my location.

Kill Everyone, by Jones, Lee, and Tyson Streib is turning out to be a really excellent tournament Hold 'em book, exploring strategies, approaches, and mathematical considerations. The thing is, it's hard enough to read this book sitting on the eL in Chicago, or laying in the park while children and their parents play nearby. The cover features a big cross-hair target and the words "KILL EVERYONE" emblazoned across the title, and here I am, 9 time zones from home, in the middle east, displaying my book cover at the pool. After a few odd looks, it occurred to me that most people probably didn't recognize this as a card-playing instructional book, and not a manifesto, never mind the local government's position on the game of poker, or any other game they'd throw into the category of "gambling".

In fairness to me, there is a sign near the pool that reads "no bombing" which probably also refers to a form of game playing and not actual violence. (Let me digress again - "no ducking"?! Huh?)

For the next hour or so I carefully folded back the first three or four pages, or made sure the front cover and spine were obscured by my knees as I attempted to improve my tournament game and my chances of making it back to Chicago safely.

Off to Dubai - Land of No Poker?

2008-05-10T15:22:00.004-05:00

In just a couple hours the Mrs. and I will be headed to off to sweltering Dubai, via Frankfort, via O'hare airport.

As you may or may not know, gambling is not permitted in Dubai, and hence, there will be no poker. What's more, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seems to have just two internet service providers, both of which block a good amount of the internet, including VOIP providers (like Skype), adult content, and "gambling" sites (like Full Tilt and Poker Stars).

What will I do for 8 days without VOIP, YOINK, and SHOVE (ahem..)?

I'll explore, sunbathe, read, and ride a camel. We plan to go skiing - yep, skiing in the desert. Mrs. Chicago has a couple days of business there, and we'll join her colleagues for a night in the desert for open-air dining with belly dancers, henna tattoo artists, and live music. Finally, we plan to have afternoon tea at the world's only 7-star hotel, the Burj al Arab, depicted at left. You may recognize the heli-pad, from which Tiger Woods once hit a golf ball. No word on whether he got it back.

I plan to get a little poker reading in too, and perhaps that will inspire a post or two while I'm away. If not, see you in a week!

Support Your Hundy Runner

2008-05-07T13:00:00.005-05:00

Support Cosenza or Fasso, you decide!

	New Fasso T, “Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.”
	New lower priced Cosenza T, available in several colors.

Race for the Hundy Fan Tees

2008-05-06T22:55:00.006-05:00

Our friends Chris Cosenza and Mike Fasso over at Chicago Poker Club's top-rated Ante Up Poker Podcast have a big race scheduled for this Saturday. Show your fandom with these stylish tees and buttons! I couldn't resist...

3rd Annual Chicago Poker Open

2008-04-29T17:49:00.003-05:00

June 13th, 2008. I am involved in the planning this year, so please let me know if you have suggestions.

Upcoming Chicagoland Charitable Games

2008-04-28T23:52:00.012-05:00

Chicago Joe is the absolute man. The guys gives and gives, including a list of charitable poker events in the Chicagoland area every month (that is, he compiles the list for us). In lieu of giving you actual poker content, I am sharing the list that he assembled for us.

Also, please save the date - the Third Annual Chicago Poker Open will be on Friday, June 13th at the Hard Rock Hotel. Send any questions my way, and I will post more info here as it develops.

May Charitable Events Schedule

Thu.....5/1.......Arlington Heights............Rockford Charitable Games
Fri.....5/2.......Tinley Park..................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun.....5/4.......St Charles...................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun.....5/4.......Willowbrook..................Illinois Charitable Games
Tue.....5/6.......Skokie.......................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed.....5/7.......Buffalo Grove................Rockford Charitable Games
Thu.....5/8.......Addison......................Rockford Charitable Games
Fri.....5/9.......Woodridge....................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat.....5/10......Midlothian...................Chicago Charitable Games
Mon.....5/12......Niles........................Rockford Charitable Games
Tue.....5/13......Des Plaines..................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed.....5/14......Des Plaines..................Rockford Charitable Games
Thu.....5/15......Streamwood...................Rockford Charitable Games
Sat.....5/17......Tinley Park..................Chicago Charitable Games
Sun.....5/18......Naperville...................Chicago Charitable Games
Mon.....5/19......Addison......................Rockford Charitable Games
Tue.....5/20......Mt. Prospect.................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed.....5/21......Arlington Heights............Rockford Charitable Games
Thu.....5/22......Addison......................Rockford Charitable Games
Fri.....5/23......Homer Glen...................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat.....5/24......West Chicago.................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat.....5/24......Arlington Heights............Rockford Charitable Games
Tue.....5/27......Addison......................Rockford Charitable Games
Wed.....5/28......Niles........................Rockford Charitable Games
Thu.....5/29......Skokie.......................Rockford Charitable Games
Fri.....5/30......Oak Forest...................Chicago Charitable Games
Sat.....5/31......Bolingbrook..................Chicago Charitable Games

Chicago Charitable Games www.chicagocharitablegames.com
Illinois Charitable Games www.icgapokerevents.com
Rockford Charitable Games www.rockfordcharitablegames.com

Last edited by ChicagoJoe on Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:54 pm

This Week in Poker

2008-04-04T10:48:00.011-05:00

This is just a stream of consciousness on what I've been reading, watching, listening to, and playing in the realm of poker.

Reading
Secrets of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha by Rolf Slotboom. An excellent read...

Mr. Slotboom discusses several approaches to the game, based upon the make up of your opponents, your position at the table, and your relative stack size. He also reprises a number of articles that he's written over the years, providing good thoughts and concepts to improve your game.

Kill Everyone: Advanced Strategies for No-limit Hold 'em Poker Tournaments and Sit-n-go's by Lee Nelson, Tyson Streib, and Kim Lee.

My buddy Wil was thoughtful and generous, and contributed this to the Gramps Library. I just started reading this follow-up to the successful Kill Phil: The Fast Track to Success in No-Limit Hold 'em Poker Tournaments by the same writing team, along with Blair Rodman. I have high hopes for this one.

Watching
WPT Season 6 - How did Kevin Saul, "the human Q-tip", manage to give away a serious chip lead at the final table, and then come back from the short stack to win it all? The Chicago-area native gets mad props (no, people aren't still saying that). The WPT also deserves propers for making this a two-episode final table. What a great final table it was, and they actually gave us four hours of footage to enjoy it!

And Poker After Dark - last week was Ladies Week, with Gus Hansen. Huh? How badly did Beth Shak play? Eeesh...

Listening To
Ante Up, of course.
Bart Hanson's Cash Plays on Poker Road Radio - excellent! I just started listening, and Bart does a great job with even better guests.
And, Two Plus Two Pokercast, formerly Rounders the Poker Show with Mike Johnson and Adam Schwartz. This show keeps getting better and better.

Playing
I made a stop at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan on a recent trip east. Electronic poker tables, mmm juicy. Check out Mr. Serious at a $1/$2 blind max $200 NLHE:

Wow! I couldn't get a read at all...

I read him for serious enough to make a big laydown, and then to have the pride to show it. I was right, as he surrendered a $550 with trip Aces. I bluffed with two pair... little did I know I was actually good on the turn, but the board was scary, and I had position.

The Right Way to Play Pocket Jacks

2008-03-21T13:12:00.012-05:00

Ask the average No Limit Hold 'em poker player what they consider their most problematic starting hand, and chances are good that they'll tell you it's pocket Jacks. Middle pairs, like 7s, 8s, and 9s are difficult to play, but they're much easier to get away from when a flop comes with over cards (as it's wont to do). Aces and Kings are so pretty, and they often reign over the flop, causing less concern about getting out-flopped (and maybe giving us false security and costing us more poker dollars in the long run, but that's a topic for another time).

Hands like pocket 10s, Jacks, and Queens can be difficult to play, particularly out of position, because they are strong starting hands that usually face identity crises when the board comes down. So what's the solution? Make a big raise in early position, and just take down the blinds? Make a standard raise, and pray for a small flop? Just limp, and hope someone re-raises? "No set, no bet" the flop?

First you must consider 'What is your approach to the game, and what type of strategy do you employ?'

My feelings are thus:

The first objective of no limit hold 'em is to trap your opponents for a big hand. Unlike limit hold 'em where you're looking to earn one more bet or save one last bet, no limit creates the opportunity for a big score on a single hand. I'm looking to get my opponent to put in a lot of chips with the second best hand.
Next, look for opportunities and weakness at the table, and take advantage. If you're facing a player capable of folding a moderate hand, you don't always need the best hand. If you can take down big pots without always having to make a hand, you've got the opportunity for a winning session, even if the cards don't cooperate. This approach is far more effective when in position.
Finally, look for value from made hands. Over the course of a session, I should be looking for opportunities to extract bets and take down medium-sized pots with made hands. This is obvious, but note that I put it third on the list. This will lower your variance, but if you want to be a big winner over time, tenets 1 and 2 are often over-looked and under-appreciated.

With that in mind, if you find yourself with Jacks, or one of his cousins, in early position, you are hoping to employ approaches 1 or 3. You may end up in position against only one or both of the blinds, but I believe 1 and 3 are more typical, particularly if you embrace my approach. For the purposes of this discussion, we are talking about a full (9 or 10 handed) ring game.

You're going to be playing the entire hand out of position (in most cases) and so building a pot, while gathering only limited information, is dangerous. Putting in a standard raise will often result in one, two, or even three callers (depending on the game) and merely has the effect of building a big pot (10-15 big blinds?). Now you're out of position, with very limited information, and here comes the flop.

Obviously a Jack-high, unconnected, rainbow board is ideal - I'll let you decide how to play that one. 2/3 of the time, there's going to be at least one Ace, King, or Queen on the flop. With players to act behind you, how confident are you in your Jacks? If the board cards are all lower than the Jack, chances are good that the board is connected - could anyone behind you have flopped two pair or a big draw? How will you protect your Jacks in this situation? If there are 15 big blinds in the pot, how many big blinds will you need to bet to eliminate draws? If you get called or raised, what do you know about your relative position in the hand? You've created a pot that represents a real percentage of your stack, and you're lost. This approach generates more difficult questions than comforting answers.

I've often seen players compensate by making a very large pre-flop raise. You're under the gun and you raised to 8x the Big Blind. What does that accomplish? First, you've given information about the relative strength of your hand. Against some players, I know with 90% accuracy that they have JJ or TT when the make this bet. You certainly don't want to play with your cards face up!? Second, you've invest 10x to only win 1.5x big blinds. Not a sound investment. Finally, winning the 1.5x big blinds is best case, but if you do get called or raised, it's typically going to only be by a bigger hand. If it's a call, you're seeing a flop out of position, with 21.5 BB already in the pot, and you have no idea where you stand. If you get raised, you're almost assuredly behind, and you've risked 10 Big Blinds for virtually nothing, and you don't even get to see the flop. Lose - lose - lose.

Should you just fold re-flop? Depending on the table, you could make an argument for that move, but I don't advocate open-folding medium-large pocket pairs pre-flop in the vast majority of cases.

Just call. Just... call. Just call?

If you just call the big blind, several things can happen. First, the table could limp around. Let's say that five people see the flop. Now there are only five big blinds in the pot, and you've only invested one. If the flop comes with an over card (and it probably will), just check-fold, you've lost one big blind and faced no difficult decisions. If the board is all lower than Jacks, you still need to proceed cautiously. In particular, because this is an un-raised pot, the range of hands behind you is incredibly broad. What's more, the small and big blinds saw a discounted and free flop, respectively. They could literally have any two cards. Flop is 2-2-7? You could be drawing extremely thin - or you might be way ahead. You just don't know.

So we do what we're supposed to do, we bet for information. You can bet 80% of the pot with only a 4 big blind bet - see how much better this is than the 15 BB pot we had previously? If everyone folds, you've taken down a small pot with Jacks. Congratulations - that's objective 3 above. If you get called or raised, you need to evaluate your opponent and their situation. If they raise, could they just have top pair and top kicker? Remember, you didn't raise, so they don't assume you have an over-pair, and your decision is a little more difficult. Are they the type of player to raise behind with a semi-bluff? If you call and they miss, will they check behind on the turn? If you decide to fold to a raise here, and you're wrong, you've only made a small mistake, and you've only spent 5 big blinds, that's much cheaper than your pre-flop raise and lead out scenario above.

So what happens if you limp into the pot pre-flop, and it gets raised behind you? You need to consider your opponent. If they are super tight, perhaps you just fold. If they are tight-ish, they still have AK, AQ, and maybe even a lesser Ace or suited KQ in their range if they're the first into an un-opened pot in late position. Might they have 99 and TT in their range too? You're actually a slight favorite against this range. You could call the raise and see how daunting the flop looks. If there's no A, K, or Q, maybe you lead out, or maybe you check-call a flop bet if they'll slow down with 99 or TT on the turn. What if the board brings a Jack (on the flop, or on a cheap turn)? Once in eight tries it will. If your opponent has pocket Kings or Aces will they give you their whole stack when you make trips (Sorry, Wil, I mean "set")? ;) Congratulations, this is your primary objective (number one above).

If you limp pre-flop and a loose player raises in late position, you can put them on a huge range of hands. Let's say you limp, two people limp behind you, and then the table aggressor makes a 5x raise on the button. The blinds fold. Now there are 8.5 big blinds in the pot and you have JJ with only one aggressor in the hand (and two apparently weak limpers). Here you need to make a good-sized raise.

Take into consideration the amount of money already in the pot, the odds you will be giving your opponent to call, and the fact that you will be out of position for the rest of the hand. You probably are well served by taking down the pot here, but you don't want to over-commit your stack, in case your opponent actually has a monster. You need to bet at least 3 1/2 times your opponents raise, and probably 4x, to get the information you need. So, there are 3.5 big blinds in the pot and your opponent makes it 5x. You make it 3.5 times that, or about 18x BB to go. Your bet reflects a call of the 5x raise, making the pot (8.5 + 5) 13.5 big blinds, and putting him to the test for another 13x - giving him a little better than 2-to-1 on his money. With any king-high or worse, AQ or worse, or pair under Queens (including the other Jacks), he needs to fear domination, making a 2-to-1 call difficult, even with position. Most of the time he'll have to fold, and you've taken down 13.5 big blinds without seeing a flop. You've taken down a respectable pot with pocket Jacks under the gun. That's a victory.

If your opponent re-raises all in, you're probably beat. Unless he's a real maniac, he'll have AK, AA, KK, QQ, and maybe the other JJ. You're a 2-to-1 underdog against that range, even though you'll sometimes fold to AK where you're a slight favorite. You found out you were beat, and it cost you 18 big blinds, but you didn't risk your whole stack.

If your opponent smooth calls, you are in a tough spot. He might be likely to do that with AK or AQ, or even a really strong drawing hand like T9 suited, if he thinks you'll pay him off when he flops good. The good news on the speculative hands is that he's less likely to have TJ or QJ since you have two Jacks in your hand. Could your opponent play QQ, KK, or AA this way? Many players can, and so even an all low board isn't safe for you.

Post-flop play here is entirely dependent upon your read of your opponent, the history of this particular session, and your perception of your opponent's read on you (if you are inclined to think this deeply, and I recommend starting to do so.)

If the flop comes with a Jack, with the exception of the rare case of your opponent flopping an over-set or Broadway on a Q,J,T flop, you are probably going to take down a huge pot - Objective number 1 again. If the flop comes with overs, you've still just invested 18 big blinds (not your stack), and you can get away fairly easily (please do). If the flop comes all unders, you need to quickly determine if your opponent has AK or a bigger pocket pair. How you do that depends on your style and your opponent, that's hard for me to prescribe. Often a bet of 2/3 to 3/4 of the pot will be a good way to find out (and much cheaper than check-raising, though more expensive than hoping for check-check).

Admittedly, the deeper we go into the hand, the broader the decision tree, and the more difficult it is to try to suggest a formulaic approach. More importantly, following the same formula each time is not recommended either - you certainly don't want to telegraph your passes. However, this approach, I believe, is greatly under-considered and under-implemented.

This approach to playing pocket Jacks in early position is the superior approach at a typical medium-stakes No Limit Hold 'em table. If you implement this strategy most times you're in this situation, you will reduce your variability, increase your opportunity to extract value, and overall increase your expected value over time.

Running Hot, Running Cold, Monster Draws

2008-03-10T17:38:00.009-05:00

What a difference a week makes.

Running Hot

I just returned from a long and lucrative weekend in Las Vegas. I ran well the entire trip, have positive sessions in 6 of 6 tries, and just about every time I decided to draw, I hit.

Here’s an example of a monster.

I’m several hours into a good session in the Venetian Poker Room. I find myself under the gun plus one, with the K 5.

This was a $1/2 NLHE table, and it played fairly weak-passive in general. It was substantially different from the $2/5 game I'd play in later. I had identified a couple seats where players had a good sense of the game, but by-and-large, these were recreational players, tourists, and aspiring online players. This is the type of game I'd expect on the weekend at a Vegas Strip Casino, and this table didn't disappoint.

The under the gun player (UTG), for whom I did have respect, limped into the hand. This could mean virtually anything for him, any pocket pair from 2s up, and any suited connector. He could also play a monster this way, hoping to limp-raise. I had been playing fairly responsibly, as I like to say, but I decided to step out a little and play this hand. I was reading the table very well, I felt, and hoped I'd see a cheap flop. I called the $2 big blind.

There were a couple additional limpers to the big blind (BB), who appeared to have woken up with a big hand. He was an inexperienced player who often disclosed the strength of his hand based on the size of his pre-flop bet. He did not typically consider position or number of opponents in bet-sizing. He raised to $10 total, and there was already $8-10 in the pot. He would be out of position the rest of the hand, but I didn't get the impression that he considered such things. To me, a $10 bet from him either meant a big hand (AA, KK, AK AQs - in his mind), and he didn't want to lose anybody, or a middling hand (77-99, AJ - A9), and he didn't want to invest too much. This is my perception of how beginning players consider their bet sizing, and I've found it to be useful in many cases. With a big, but vulnerable hand (TT, JJ, maybe QQ) I would expect a huge raise. Players with Jacks are always afraid of the flop.

The under the gun player called, and there was (we'll call it) $30 in the pot and it was $8 more to me. I called and the rest of the players (one or two limpers) folded. Isn't that funny? In my regular game, two smooth calls on a small raise, and everyone would have gladly called. I now had position!

The flop was a great one. Q T 5 I had bottom pair and the second nut flush draw. If all my outs were "live", I had 14 of them - twice. I would be a mathematical favorite.

The big blind and original raiser bet out $20, which seemed like a fine continuation bet, not scared... Perhaps he has AQ? Maybe. Perhaps AA? Yes, there's a good possibility. KK and QQ work too. For an inexperienced player like this one, I wouldn't rule out AK either.

The under the gun player raised. Yep, raised, to $50 total, only $30 more. Now there's $100 in the pot, and I'm getting 2-to-1 on my money. The big blind started the hand with about $350 in front of him, and the under the gun player has about $550 to start the hand. I have both players covered.

Now I'm in an awkward spot. What if the original bettor has a set of Queens and the under the gun has the only bigger flush draw? That's worst case scenario. If I just call I can get whip-sawed by a reraise from the BB. Of course, if I raise, I could be risking a big stack of chips and facing a massive re-raise without even seeing a turn.

So should I fold? Maybe. I considered it. I decided that I couldn't assume I was in such bad shape and maybe I'd call and see how the big blind reacted.

I called the $50. The big blind now raises... but only $40 more. Forty dollars?! That's odd from many players, but I think it's just inexperience acting here. Now I'm pretty sure he has AQ, KK or AA. With QQ I think he'd make a big reraise in fear of the flush draw and two players behind him. He had a big starting hand, but was not overly confident in his holding - at least that was my perception of the moment.

Now, the under the gun just calls. Just calls?! What the heck is going on here?

Okay, so there's $260 in the pot and it's $40 to me. I decide that it's time to make something happen. If I make a big enough raise, I should be able to either scare both opponents out of the hand (if the BB has 1 pair and is willing to fold) and the under the gun has a bigger flush draw. I'm looking for fold equity here to make sure at least one of my draws (to trips or two pair, or the flush) is good. If the BB calls with just a pair, and the UTG doesn't have the nut flush draw, he should fold. If the BB calls, and the UTG does have the Ace-high flush draw, he may be priced in and decide to call, at least I've got 5 outs twice, and a bunch of money in the pot. This is not a good situation, but the way the hand has played out, I cannot think either player quite so strong.

I decide to raise $200 on top of the $40 call I must make - this is intended to basically put the BB all-in if he calls, and take away odds from the UTG if the BB folds. I'd like to trap his dead money in the pot. I stack 8 red chips on top of two towers of red chips and slide the bet into the pot. Now the BB thinks for just a minute and says, "okay, I guess I'm all in", which is about $245 total. The UTG thinks for a little longer, but all things considered, not so long. He says, "I think I have to put all my chips in too", which is a raise of about $200 additional on top of the BB. Now there's $1150 in the pot and it's $245 back to me. I sheepishly call the bet, waiting to see what bad shape I've gotten myself into.

The BB turns over KK, which is about as bad as a set of Queens in this spot. My 5s are still good, but my King is not. Then, the UTG turns over.... wait for it.... T5 for a flopped two pair.

How the hell does he have that? How did he limp UTG AND smooth call the raise immediately to his right with T5 off? I haven't seen him step out of line like this in two hours. Of course, it was better than the 55 he was supposed to have there, but still, very bad for me. Now, I need one of the two case Kings for the side-pot of $500, and my 5 is completely useless in that there is only 1 left, and it gives my opponent a full house.

The good news is that my flush draw is completely clean. I have 9 outs twice, assuming one of the two remain tens or case 5 doesn't come first. That's about 36% equity, and I've got about 38% of the money in the pot. What's more, when I put my money in, the was substantial money in the pot to make my odds correct. Now I can only cross my fingers.

The turn was a blank for all of us, but the river was that sweet, sweet 7 to give me the flush and about $1450 in red chips. I was stacking them for the next five hands.

Running Cold

This week, I’m back in the Windy City. Aside from being cold and icy, with occasional moments of no snow, I am running pretty poorly. I’m also playing with less focus, so I can blame myself more than the cards. And I haven’t hit a draw in 14 hours of poker.

Here’s an example.

We're $1/2 NLHE playing at a full table in my local game, and I find KJ in early position. I limp in, as do two or three players behind me. The button, who is very loose aggressive pre-flop, and fairly loose-weak post-flop raises to $16. It folds to me in early position, and there's $25 in the pot and it's $14 more to me. Getting close to 2-to-1 on my money, I decide to call. I could be up against any pair 88 or better, AT suited or better, or AQ or better. I could also be against KQ suited. This is my range for this particular player in this position. I'm a little better off than a 2-to-1 underdog against this range. I also know that if my opponent makes top pair top kicker, or top two pair, and I make a better hand, I will likely double up. This has been a rough session, and I have only about $82 left in front of me to start the hand.

We see the flop head's up, and it comes T98. That's a pretty darn good flop for me. I'm open-ended, I'm four to the second nut flush, and I have one out to the straight-flush.

I decide to check because my opponent always make a continuation bet. Betting into him would be odd, regardless of what I held. I don't care if I get priced in, because I'm getting all my chips in. Also, given my mindset, and my opponents very loose tendencies, I'd rather see all five cards than try to get him to fold. Even with a shove, my fold equity is slim, and he is NOT a mathematical player.

There's $39 in the pot, and my opponent bets $30. I have only $66 left, and I check-raise all in. If my opponent has a pair or a flush draw, he is pretty well priced in. Against the range of hands I put him on, I am a 55-45 favorite. Against AT, I am a better than 2-1 favorite. In fact, I'm a favorite against all hands (including two pair), save for two types - I am a 2-1 dog against any set, and I am almost a 3-1 dog against exactly one hand - AQ.

My opponent insta-calls and turns over... exactly... AQ. The turn and river brick out, and he unceremoniously scoops up the remainder of my chips with Ace high.

Set of NBC Head's Up Poker Championship

2008-03-01T03:31:00.000-06:00

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Harrington On Hold 'em Cash

2008-02-24T19:37:00.003-06:00

Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie, authors of the seminal works Harrington on Hold 'em, Expert Strategy on No Limit Tournaments, are back with books for the cash game player. These are available in pre-release, and if their predecessor's are any indication, you competition will be reading them and so you should too.

Ante Up Meetup in Chicago

2008-01-28T17:24:00.000-06:00

Last night Scott Long co-host of Ante Up, and his wife Laura were in town visiting. Six of us got together at the Billy Goat Tavern for a few laughs and more than a few beers. The mood was light and fun, though one of the attendees couldn't stop himself from bad-mouthing the absent co-host, Chris Cosenza. No... it wasn't Scott. ;) Nor me.

You can see Laura, Scott, and I on the left side of the table. Everyone on the right side of the table was named Chicago, but we'll call them (back to front) Mike, Brian, and Joe.

This was my second night of drinking with Scott and Laura in less than a week, and I'd have to rate it as... dangerous. One of us left last night with a bandage on her/his finger, and it was the size of one of those bad boys you put on a skinned knee. Yikes!

Chicago Joe is definitely the historian of the group, as well as the Midwest ambassador. He shared his experience of standing 15 feet from Doyle Brunson as he won the 1976 Main event of the World Series of Poker. He also knows every room manager from Greektown to Council Bluffs, Turtle Lake to Caesar's Indiana...

Mike, however, was the documentarian (yup, made it up). This photo is courtesy of his camera. He also brought a digital recorder, so maybe we'll get some nuggets....

Thanks for the beers, boys!

Poker Best of 2007 - Podcast

2008-01-22T09:24:00.000-06:00

It's that time again....

Winner: Ante Up!

For the second year in a row, our good buddies in the Tampa Bay area, Chris Cosenza and Scott Long have turned out Poker Podcast gold, earning them the annual medal of the same precious metal. Chicago Poker Club is proud to promote Ante Up! as the Best Poker Podcast of 2008.

Scott and Chris have built their genuine interest in the game, thirst for growth, and affable style into a weekly 1½ hour broadcast that entertains and educates an ever-growing listener base. The Ante Up Nation, as they are now termed, is treated to a featured topic each week –a game style, a discussion of strategy, a special guest, or a trip report provide the hub of the week’s show. The show also features Columbo’s perennial One Minute Mystery, which sets the listener’s up with a situation and a question of strategy or approach to a poker situation. The next week Columbo returns to solve the Poker conundrum.

Ante Up’s accessible style and its consistency are the two keys to its success. Other great Podcasts have come and gone, waxed and waned, or disbanded and rejoined, but Ante Up marches on as Poker’s Podcast beacon.

Honorable Mentions

Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok have provided great entertainment value for three different media outposts to date. They made their Podcast on CardPlayer’s The Circuit, departed, and returned at Pokerwire.com, only to depart again, and finally to return to the Greenstein-Sebok influenced Poker Road Radio. Sebok and Smith’s show provides an insider’s look at the poker circuit, entertain fans with stories that would be otherwise accessible only to poker insiders. They discuss strategy and pull no punches in analyzing and criticizing one another’s, and that of their fellow circuit-competitor’s, play.

Only Sebok and Smith’s frequent moves and intermittent recording/broadcasting schedule have held them back from becoming a Poker Podcast Powerhouse. Nonetheless, their content is loyally tracked and embraced by thousands of minions the world over.

Vancouver-based Rounders – The Poker Show underwent some changed in 2007, going from a pseudo-simulcast AM radio show and internet-based podcast to an exclusively internet-based show, to the featured podcast of Two Plus Two, home of the internet’s most read poker forum.

Filling out the pack of next-tier podcasts is ESPN Radio’s The Poker Edge, featuring Phil Gordon. While entertaining, and a good source of poker news, the show leaves listener’s wondering why they can’t get more out of broadcasting powerhouse ESPN and poker’s most media-friendly broadcaster Phil Gordon.

The Tragedy of Poker on the High Seas

2008-01-16T19:44:00.000-06:00

Mrs. Chicago and I just got back from an 8-day cruise on the Mexican Riviera. Historically, we find a cruise to be an ideal vacation for us, especially when we need to just get away. If we visit a place we've never been before, we spend the whole trip on a schedule, eager to see everything beautiful, historical, or otherwise notable about a locality. When we cruise, we can sit back, relax, and let the captain do the driving.

What's more, my wife enjoys laying by the pool without a plan, or on the beach; whereas I get bored after an hour or two of reading in the sun. A cruise is a perfect compromise for her to lay in the sun and relax, and me to take advantage of the typically poor play in the casino. On a good cruise, even with low stakes and despite high variability, I can usually pay for a chunk of our trip in poker winnings.

On two previous Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) cruises I've had the opportunity to play each night in the ship's casino. Apart from a terribly structured, high vigorish tournament (or three) they offered cash games; and they typically ran nightly. In prior years I've experienced that the passenger's preferred game was a fixed limit hold 'em game, and on both my previous NCL trips, we played $3/$6 limit, despite some players begging for $5/$10 all week.

On this trip, I was informed that they recently changed the game, spreading a max buy-in $200 No Limit game instead of Limit. That was fine with me. Or so I thought.

Prior to departure, I was reading a popular poker forum and was warned that the rake would likely be incredibly high. The warning was correct - the casino took a 10% rake, up to $25 of the pot. $25 on a $200 buy-in game?! When I first sat down, we were 6-handed, with an average stack of $120. Fourteen big hands over the course of several hours and half of the money would be off the table!! With players like these, and short stacks, there are many, many big hands. There was no way the game could be profitable for even a good player. Great skill and lots of luck and you could hope to be the one player to not lose money.

There was much complaining by the table's elder statesmen. I didn't agree with his style, but his message was true and good, though there was nothing the casino could (or at least would do about it). After about 40 minutes of play, 3 of our table mates had left the table out of frustration with the game's structure, and we were too short-handed to play.

I tried again the next night. This time we were 5-handed to start. My fellow players were nice and conversational, we had fun for a bit. About 15 minutes into the session, I mad a $7 raise on the button and both the $1 small blind and $2 big blind folded. The dealer took $1 for the rake and gave me the other $2. I was flabbergasted.

"What!? Why did you rake a dollar!?"

"Sorry sir, house rules."

"What rule? I thought it was a 10% rake, max $25 {which is ridiculous}", I couldn't help but add.

"$1 minimum sir."

"No flop, no drop!" I argued, as though I had invented that stupid phrase myself. "Floor!"

I explained that $1 out of a $3 pot is 33%. I explained that the posted rules do not, in fact, indicate that there's a minimum rake. The house tried to explain that they can't "deal for free". I almost lost it with that comment, though I never did raise my voice. "Deal for free!?! I don't think anyone will accuse you of that."

Shortly thereafter, the game broke, the night of the first full day at sea. It never resumed for the rest of the trip.

A disaster. A travesty. A total tragedy. And a week with no poker.

Happy 2008! Upcoming CPC Posts...

2008-01-14T11:24:00.000-06:00

Happy 2008 Everyone!!

December was a crazy month for me, business-wise, travel-wise, and holiday-wise. I owe the faithful readers a few updates. In the coming days, check back for the following posts:

The Tragedy of Poker on the High Seas
Poker Investment Strategies - Don't Go Broke with Your Big Pairs
and our third annual - BEST OF POKER year in review [2007, in this case]

Pressure on Poker: Reason.tv's Texas Close'em

2007-12-14T10:09:00.000-06:00

Recent busts, crackdowns, and related press stories have gotten many of us thinking about the societal impacts and legality of the game, and the rights and concerns of people who play it.

Author Lou Krieger has this to say about the poker:

I believe in poker the way I believe in the American Dream. Poker is good for you. It enriches the soul, sharpens the intellect, heals the spirit, and - when played well, nourishes the wallet.

Reason.tv and Drew Carey present their perspective in "TEXAS CLOSE'EM: COPS RAID POKER GAMES"

Jack Binion mused:

I've often thought, if I got really hungry for a good milk shake, how much would I pay for one? People will pay a hundred dollars for a bottle of wine; to me that's not worth it. But I'm not going to say it is foolish or wrong to spend that kind of money, if that's what you want. So if a guy wants to bet twenty or thirty thousand dollars in a poker game, that is his privilege."

Other famous poker quotes.

John Lukács, in Poker and the American Character -"Poker is the game closest to the western conception of life, where life and thought are recognized as intimately combined, where free will prevails over philosophies of fate or of chance, where men are considered moral agents and where- at least in the short run- the important thing is not what happens but what people think happens."

Mark Twain - "There are few things that are so unpardonably neglected in our country as poker. The upper class knows very little about it. Now and then you find ambassadors who have sort of a general knowledge of the game, but the ignorance of the people is fearful. Why, I have known clergymen, good men, kind-hearted, liberal, sincere, and all that, who did not know the meaning of a 'flush.' It is enough to make one ashamed of the species."

Krieger again - "Poker is a microcosm of all we admire and disdain about capitalism and democracy. It can be rough-hewn or polished, warm or cold, charitable and caring, or hard and impersonal, fickle and elusive, but ultimately it is fair, and right, and just."

And finally, Steven Wright - "Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died."

”There's opportunity in poker.... If Horace Greeley were alive today, his advice wouldn't be "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country." Instead, he'd point to that deck of cards on table and say, "Shuffle up and deal.”
- Krieger

Full Tilt's Charm - Art of the Uneccessary Suck Out

2007-12-11T14:37:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to pull together a couple new posts since I got home from Vegas a week ago. Something about catching up on business and in life always seems to get in the way. Look for a couple new posts soon.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on this Full Tilt hand. Are you sick of seeing these every time you play? I know I am.

I was in an $8 + 0.70 two-table Sit-n-go. The top 5 finishers win a $26 token, which I had planned to use in the Ante Up AIPS Main Event this Sunday. I was merely treading water by playing tighter than O.J. Simpson's glove, when I was pushed off a pre-flop raised hand by two opponents with worse hands (of course). I was left with less than 700 chips and blinds were at 120-240.

Under the gun plus one, and I find myself with a middling Ace - which I normally don't like to go broke with, but the blinds would wipe me out in two hands. I pushed all-in, and miraculously no one called.

The very next hand, under the gun, I find myself with Ace-Jack off. Save the AJ salvo, please. 8-handed, with players trying to get into the cash (top 6) or pick up a token (top 5) I shoved my remaining 1230 chips. The average stack was around 2400, and a double up would put me back in a position to get my token. That said, the 360 in blinds would have been just fine.

It folded around to the big blind, who had 9700 chips, the prohibitive favorite, who insta-called with 3-4 off. (You expected a face card?)

The flop came 6, J, 7 rainbow, giving me top pair top kicker and 90%+ equity in the hand.
He had only four 5s in the deck for a gut shot straight.

If you could have paused time for an instant and offered me even money that a 5 would come and eliminate me, I would have bet $1000 right then and there, calling you a sucker for taking the bet all the while... The turn brought the 5c, of course, and I was drawing dead.

Full Tilt.

The Aristocrats!

Barcelona Poker - A Little Variety

2007-11-16T16:40:00.000-06:00

Should you focus on one game, or learn them all? That is a common question posed by players who’ve reached a plateau in their poker education.If my recent trip to Barcelona is any indication, and I think it is, I suggest at least some combination of the two.

Poker authors and educators like Steve Zolotow and Bob Ciaffone extol the virtues of learning a variety of games. They suggest that playing multiple games will help you across the board – being a good Stud player will make you a better Hold ‘em player, and vice versa. They also make the argument that you may not always have the opportunity to play your preferred game, or another variety may have a much weaker table running in your purview, and hence choosing another flavor of poker is your superior, or only, option. “When would I not have the option to play Hold ‘em, but have access to only something else!?” you ask ever so calmly.

Just this last week in Spain, such a situation arose. Fortunately, I have been playing a more mixed bag of poker in recent months. More than anything else, I’ve been playing a good amount of Pot Limit Omaha (PLO). What a game! And I think I’ve gotten to the point where I am comfortable enough with the nuances to apply my skills in other games, namely No Limit Hold ‘em, to the game of PLO.

I visited the Gran Casino Barcelona on three consecutive days last week. I can’t say the room is well run, and despite about 18 people waiting to get into action, there were only three tables being spread on the Monday night I arrived. There was a €5/€10 (about $7.50/$15) No Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Game, a €10/€20 NLHE game, and a €5/€10 PLO game. After about 90 minutes of waiting, it was getting late, and I was getting no closer to a seat. The wifie had an early morning, so we headed back to our hotel with no poker played.

On day two I arrived within an hour of the casino’s opening (yes, the close. This one is open from 3pm to 2am). I put my name on the list for €2/€5 and €5/€10 NLHE and €5/€10 PLO. Only a €10/€20 NLHE table was running, with a list. After maybe 75 minutes a €5/€10 PLO table was opened, and I was given a seat. How much to buy in for? I really didn’t have access to enough local currency to buy in for more than the €300 amount I decided on. Yes, I know, only 30 BB in a PLO game, I needed to play tight-tight-tight.

I was very patient, and watch the table play loose-passive, and generally poor, PLO. I didn’t get many raising hands, and saw a handful of cheap flops for a limp, in position. I had a little up and down, but hovered around €200 for most of the session.

Finally I woke up with a 7, 8, 9, J three-suited. I saw an unraised flop in mid-position and the board came 4,7,10 with two suits. I bet out for about ¾ of the pot and got a ½ pot raise and a call behind me. I decided to push with my super wrap and one pair, and both opponents called. Both opponents caught their shared flush draw on the river – putting me in third place behind an ace-high and a king-high diamond flush (diamante color).

I called it an evening and headed out for dinner with my wife and her colleagues.

On day three, I headed to the casino around the same time, and had approximately the same experience in getting a seat and buying in. This time my marginal edges held up and I began to build a bit of a stack.

After a short time, a new player was seated to my left, and I could tell he was unfamiliar with playing live poker. He seemed very tentative in his actions and nervous much of the time. He had a friend in the casino who would come by occasionally, and they would speak in hushed tones. I noticed that he opened his hand at every showdown, even if it had been established that he could not have the winning hand. When he did show his cards, they were often very marginal holdings, with two or three cards working together, but never a complete Omaha hand.

Later, I found myself in the big blind with a suited ace, a J, and two small connected cards. There had been a small raise early (a "pot builder") and several calls. I had €10 in, and decided to make a loose call of €15 more, given the pot odds. The board came with two aces and two hearts. With four players to act behind me at this loose table, I was unsure how to proceed. (What WAS I hoping for with this hand?!) I had trips, but was probably in trouble against the case Ace, which I suspected was out, given the number of opponents. If I bet an opponent raised, how could I know if they were on a flush draw (people bet flushes into paired boards here) or a bigger Ace (or even a smaller Ace at this table). I checked, and it checked around. I decided that if a non-heart came, I was in good shape, and I would bet out the turn.

Voila! The turn was the case Ace. Well, that settles that. I decided to be coy, since there were no other real hands to be had out there. Maybe someone with pocket kings or queens would decide that there was no ace out and would make a bet.

It checked around and the river put a third heart on the board. I grinned inside, thinking to myself, "if this guy [to my right] was on a flush draw, he'd probably call a bet". No one else at the table was poor enough to do that. I bet out about €90, he thought for a minute and then called. Everyone folded behind. "Quads", I said, and turned over my hand to avoid any language confusion.

My opponent turned over (of course he did) his hand, a big heart flush. Geez... I was right, but 'huh'!?

This was a nice pad to my stack, and I continued to play my tight-aggressive game. I didn't raise a single hand pre-flop for about an hour until I found myself with AA double-suited in the big blind. I hate having aces up front, but at least they were suited.

The rookie to my left had been replaced by a new, loose player with deep pockets. The whole table had gotten crazy loose-aggressive pre-flop.

I was praying for someone to make a raise as I watched the table limp, fold, limp, fold, limp, around to the button. He raised it up to €30, which of course was going to get nothing but calls with €75 in the pot, including his raise. The small blind smooth called the raise, and the pot-size was €100 with my big blind. "Pot," I said. "Ciento cuarenta", came the response from the dealer. I plunked €140 onto the felt.

"Ahz Ahz doble color," my new neighbor inappropriately declared my holding to the whole table in his native tongue. Not that it was really a secret to anyone. "Posiblemente, pero quales colores?" I jested back in my lousy Spanish. He was both surprised at my comprehension and tickled by my response at the same time. I got a pat on the back.

Then he called. Called. He just... called. Then, three more players called behind, including the small blind. Five players saw the flop for €140. Five players. WTF?!

There was €700 (over $1000) in the pot as we watch a Jack, 7, and 4 dress the felt. Not a bad flop for my hand, but not a great one, and I was in terrible position. The small blind paused, riffled some chips, turned to look me straight in the eye, got completely wide-eyed, and said, as if he was talking just to me, "POT!" He said it with an almost playfully mocking American accent. He had only about €540 behind, so that was the bet.

At this point, it really didn't matter what I thought he had - as if I had enough information to detect anything. There were three players behind me, three unmatching cards on the board, and I was facing a several car payment-sized bet. One pair and one backdoor flush draw didn't look so delicious and I mucked.

After some fanfare and Hollywooding, the rest of the table conceded the pot to the small blind.

So much for Aces.

Not so fast my friend.

Later I got two Aces, three-suited in late position. I made a pot-sized raise pre-flop and took down the pot with a flop bet.

Even later I found two aces, three-suited again. I was in mid-position, and a player on either side of me called my pre-flop pot-sized bet. The flop came A-7-4 with two diamonds. Bingo! Top set, currently the nuts. I was aware that there were two draws, but was less worried about the 7-4 than I was the "diamante color". I bet 'pot'.

The player behind me thought for only a moment and then called. Eek! I had to put him on diamonds AND something. Maybe he had a gut-shot or something? If he had a huge two-way draw, maybe he'd put it all in then. But what hand do you call with that has a straight draw AND a meaningful flush draw here? Not too many.

The player to my right when into the tank. I had respect for his game, so now I really wondered what he was considering. After a couple minutes, he mucked and it was head's up. The pot was huge, and I prayed for a blank. The turn brought a black face card. I don't know if it also gave my opponent a gutshot broadway draw, but when I pushed the rest of my stack in (close to the size of the pot), my opponent decided that he needed to call. The river blanked out and I took down a GiNormous pot.

Stacking those chips was a fine feeling.

About 30 minutes later I cashed out a big stack, and headed to a big, fancy dinner with my wife and some colleagues. Guess who treated?

Chicago Sports Weekly Covers Chicago Club's Demise

2007-10-30T21:33:00.001-05:00

The latest issue of Chicago Sports Weekly covers the recent Chicago club theft as its cover story! Take a peek.

Kudos to author Clay Champlin for his fine research and storytelling. Thanks also, for the Chicago Poker Club shout out.

Armed Robbers Take Down Underground Chicago Card Room

2007-10-12T16:02:00.001-05:00

A local Chicago underground poker room was robbed last Saturday, August 6, amidst a 30-player No Limit Hold 'em tournament. The club, located in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood was hosting a $250 rebuy tournament that had been advertised amongst its "members" in the weeks leading up to the event. The tournament had been underway for a couple hours and was down to two tables when the masked gunmen reportedly entered through the back door of the second-story club.

All participants and observers present in the club were told to lay face down on the floor while the gunmen heisted an estimated $20,000 from the club and the players. The players were also made to surrender their wallets, jewelry, and cell phones, and were warned against calling the police. According to one interviewed player, another player refused to give up his wedding ring, and one of the robbers made a remark about respecting the institution of marriage and did not take wedding rings from the players.

The gunmen appeared to have a general awareness for the layout of the club, including a third-story annex and the location of the cash box, leading many to believe that this was some type of inside job. Aside from a couple minor injuries, including one player who was pistol whipped for acknowledging a comment that he mistakenly believed was intended for him, no one was seriously hurt in the theft.

The Bucktown-neighborhood poker club remains closed indefinitely.

This reporter was present hours before the robbery occurred, and was deeply saddened to hear of the stress inflicted on the players and card room operators. I also lament the loss of what was becoming a Chicago institution on the local poker scene - a room full of genial Chicago area residents full of good conversations and many new friendships. While the connections made will endure, the game will be sorely missed.

Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets In

2007-09-24T10:08:00.000-05:00

And keeps my mind from wondering, where it will go...

The Beatles recorded it in 1967, and I've been replaying it in my head all week. My game, at least my online game, at least my online SnG game, has taken a bit of a beating in recent weeks. Hell, who am I kidding, my live game, my online game, my tournament game, and my ring game have probably all suffered. Its hard to know exactly, when playing against a variety of competition, at different levels, in different games. Some of these sessions have been winning ones, but could they have been more lucrative?

I've felt some holes in my game, and during a series of SnGs on Full Tilt in the last week, its been downright breezy! If memory serves (and I'm 500 miles from my desktop and Poker Tracker), I failed to cash in seven straight Sit-n-Gos of 9 to 45 participants. That is unusual for me at the stakes I play.

In live games, I've gotten careless. I've occasionally missed logical holdings of my opponents, I've played middling holdings for big pots out of position, I've made loose river calls against opponents who rarely bluff beyond the flop.

Here's a hand I played where I lost a "big" pot. A year ago I'd have gone broke on this hand every time, but in the last 12 months, I feel my game has progressed. I have focused on controlling pot-size, reading my opponents, narrowing their hand ranges, etc.

I was playing in a micro-blind No Limit hold 'em game in the neighborhood. This is a weekly game with many regular (repeat) players. There's a maximum $200 buy-in and blinds are $0.50/$1.

A player who I seemed to get tied up with regularly was under the gun, and came in for a BIG raise - 12x the big blind. This guy seems to have a very high opinion of his own game, and for whatever reason, I enjoy get involved in hands with him. This is probably my first mistake, as most players have more success when emotion isn't involved in the hand. I was on the button with a suited Jack-Ten, and after all of the players in between us folded, I made the call.

Jack-Ten suited is a fun hand against multiple opponents, and I will often play this in a raised pot. However, against a single opponent, facing a big raise, when I have no money invested in the hand, this should typically be an easy fold. I decided that I wanted to make a big hand and get paid off.

The flop came QTT. Gin! I flopped trip tens, and unless my opponent played AT for a big raise, I should be WAY ahead. Notice that this is the first time I've mentioned what my opponent may have. Notice my incredibly myopic assessment of what could beat me. I'm not just foreshadowing here, this is demonstrative of how careless and short-sighted I've been playing.

My opponent made a standard continuation bet, and I decided to set a little trap. I smooth-called behind him.

The turn was an incidental 6 (suits not relevant in the hand). He checked. Oooh, did I freeze him with my smooth call on the flop? I got cagey and checked behind. Plus, what if he DID have me beat? At least I could control the pot size. Note again, I didn't really consider HOW he might have me beat, just that he could - I knew enough to consider that I didn't have the nuts. The turn was like magic - a nice shiny Jack. There were no flush possibilities, but AK would give my opponent Broadway (the Ace-high straight). I had a monster, tens full of Jacks.

My opponent made a smallish bet into me with little thought. "I've got him in my cross hairs", I thought to myself. I put on a little act - considering his bet, counting my chips, reviewing the board. Then I cracked a little smile and said "raise". I put in a pretty good size raise. I had started the hand with less than $200, and had now just put the majority of the remainder of my chips in the pot. Now my opponent went into the tank for a full minute. Finally he said, "okay, I'm all in". I insta-called and turned over my full house.

He turned over... QQ, having flopped Queens full of Tens for a bigger full house. I shook my hed and re-bought. Then I proceed to get bad beat (yes, truly bad beat) for another $200 when I got outdrawn on 5 of the next 7 hands I played (I'm being literal here - I got my money in good all five times).

Most of the table seemed to think there was nothing I could do about this full house over full house hand, and that made me feel a little better. In fact, it made me feel good - their deterministic attitude is the reason I like playing in that game. Perhaps they would have all gone broker there, but when I'm playing tuned in, I should have lost a small pot. Better yet, I would have folded pre-flop.

Where was my biggest mistake in that hand? I should have folded pre-flop, certainly, for my aforementioned reasons. Against many opponents in many positions I will make the call here - but in this case, the right decision would have been to fold.

My bigger mistake, however, was not considering what my opponent held. In fact, had I considered it for a moment, I would have know with 99%+ accuracy that I had to be beat on the river, and with 75%+ accuracy that I was beat on every street. This particular player will make a big raise under the gun (UTG) with only a very small range of holdings. With AK, AA, KK, or a medium pocket pair he will make a standard raise UTG the vast majority of the time. With "trouble hands" like QQ, JJ, TT, he will always make a big pre-flop raise. He has expressed that he'd rather "just take it down" before the flop than play one of these hands out of position. Of course, this is a big hole in his game - why risk $12 to win the $1.50 in blinds? If he does get a call, now he's playing a $25 pot out of position with no idea where he is. Nothing requires him to play these hands in this seat, and while it isn't the play I'd recommend, I think he is better off open folding than making a 12x raise.

So, had I considered his play, even for a moment, I would KNOW that he had QQ, JJ, or TT in this spot. I've never seen him play any other holding this way. That's pretty damn good information to have - if you use it. When the flop came QTT, which of these holdings could I beat? AHA!! We have a decision here. I should have considered that before. Since I have JT, before the flop I should have thought it less likely that he had JJ or TT. QQ is most likely. Since there was a Queen on the flop, now JJ and QQ are equally likely (I know where one J and one Q are that are not in his hand). Because there are two tens on the board, he is highly unlikely to have the other two, but its certainly a possibility. [EDIT: Um, no it isn't. Thanks to Kenneth for pointing out that two tens on board and one in my hand makes it exceptionally unlikely for him to have two tens. If he did, at least I'd get my money back. :) ]

Now I know his holdings - he has Queens full of Tens or Jacks and Tens [D'OH: or Quad Tens]. I can beat one of those. When he bets the flop, I can call behind, to save money and see if he fires again, or I can raise to find out where I am. Because he might call a raise with Jacks and Tens, I think calling is my best option here (or folding?)

We both check the turn. He's likely to check with an of these holdings. He likes to slowplay monsters, and if he has Jacks, the Queen on the board, coupled with my call, has slowed him down. I could actually get him to fold with a bet on the turn, if he has Jacks. If he calls or raises I know I'm beat and I fold (or check it down).

When the Jack comes on the river, I am up a creek. I cannot beat QQ or JJ at this point. Calling a bet on the end is not advised, but my play, making a big raise... well, now we all know how smart that was.

I'm filling the cracks that ran though the door and kept my mind from wandering where it will go
...
See the people standing there who disagree and never win

When I start playing poorly, and when I know I've opened cracks that were previously closed, I go back to my spiritual guides. Those guides, of course, are David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth, Dan Harrington, Phil Gordon, Chris Ferguson, etc.

I recently picked up The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition, which has been sitting on my nightstand waiting for me to finish reading the two other non-poker books I've been reading. (Incidentally, one of the "non-poker" books is Positively Fifth Street. I'm a junky).

I decided that I could wait no longer, and started reading Ferguson's chapter on No Limit Tourneys. I've only read the first 15 pages or so, and I've found nothing revolutionary or profound. In fact, I haven't read anything that I hadn't already considered and applied. But... I hadn't been applying it well lately, and Jesus' text (heh heh) really helped me to eliminate mistakes that I'd been making, mistakes that I used to make when I was a beginning player. Jesus helped me to eliminate some of my original sin. (Cue the rim shot).

I have continued to find that continued play, and continued success, leads me to get careless, cocky, and impatient. Just spending an hour or two thinking about the game, reading about the game, or talking about the game turns me back towards the correct direction.

Since I read those eighteen pages, I have played in two small online tournaments. I cashed in both, winning the first. I plan to finish the book next week.

I'm taking my time for a number of things
that weren't important yesterday

and I still go
I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
and stops my mind from wandering where it will go
where it will go

Chicago Poker Hand of the Week

2007-09-14T13:12:00.000-05:00

In a ring game, No Limit hold ‘em, at a local poker club. The stakes are $1/$2 blinds with a $300 max buy-in. I have about $850, and am the biggest stack at the table by at least $150. We are at a full table (9 or 10 players) and I am UTG + 2.

The table is fairly loose pre-flop, typically we’ll will have one raise pre-flop to between $8 and $16, depending on the position of the raise, number of limpers, and identity of raiser.

PRE-FLOP

There is a $5 live straddle, so there is $7 in the pot when it comes to me – one player has folded.

I look down to find QQ. I would raise here about 80% of the time, but this is not one of those times. I have two aggressive players behind me in late position, and the straddle will raise his option about 15% of the time. I call the $5 straddle, as do 2 people behind me. The small blind folds, and the big blind, who is the tightest player by far, calls the big blind. There is $26 in the pot, and the straddle uses his option to raise, $35 more. This is a typical raise for him in this spot with a strong hand. He does not want to play this big pot out of position against 4 or 5 callers, and he would probably be content to take it down right here.

I am next to act and there is now $51 in the pot. This is exactly the way I had hoped this hand played out. Given the action on the first rotation, I don’t believe anyone else is in a position to call a big bet. If I re-raise, we are likely to play this hand head’s up with me in position. If the straddler comes back over the top, I may have to consider folding, but I’ll know where I am. He is most likely to merely smooth call a modest re-raise.

I raise to $82, or $47 on top of his $35 (this is ignoring the round of $5 straddle-calls). There is $133 in the pot. One of the callers behind me puts his last $93 in the pot (raising me $11). It folds to the big blind who, much to my GREAT SURPRISE smooth calls the bet. The straddle position, the original raiser, folds. It is $11 back to me, and I do not have the option of re-raising. There is $319 in the pot pre-flop, and it is $11 to me. If I know for a fact that my two opponents have AA and KK, I must still call the $11. I call.

At this point I am not thinking about the all-in player behind me – what’s done is done. I am thinking about the exceptionally tight and solid play in the big blind who merely called the $3 straddle against four other opponents, with only the straddler left to play. There is no way that he could make the assumption that this would be the 1 in 6 time that the straddling player raises – could he? The three of us have played together enough to know one another’s tendencies. I want to rule out AA or KK here, as those would certainly get a raise from his position. Wouldn’t they? He IS the tightest player at the table. I consider that he has one of three hands – a monster (AA or KK). A larger middle-pair like 88 through JJ is possible. Maybe he wants a baby board, or to flop a middle set to crush me and double-up. Or, and most likely, he has AK. He can call most bets with this hand, he’s probably a coin-flip or dominating, but doesn’t want to commit to a “drawing hand”. If a A or K hits the flop, he’ll bet out and take it down – or better, check raise.

FLOP

The flop comes 2, 4, 5 rainbow. This is a great flop for me. I am 99.999% certain that he doesn’t have A-3, and he certainly doesn’t have two pair. I also can’t imagine this player would have called a very large bet out of position with any pocket pair that would give him a set here. Other players at this table would – not him.

Here’s the thing… he bets $100 INTO A DRY SIDE POT. There’s $331 in the main pot and $100 in the dry side pot. Why did he bet? He has about $250 behind… what should I do?!?

THOUGHTS….

I cannot call here and face another bet on the turn. With $441 in the pot, if he puts another dollar in he will be committing himself. What can he have? Pre-flop I assumed AK was most likely. I am way ahead of AK, but would he have bet $100 into the dry side pot with it? Unlikely. What about the second most likely 99-JJ. Absolutely. This was a perfect flop for that range, and if I have two overs, he may assume that he can get me to fold with that bet, after all, there’s no money in the side pot other than his bet. I have to beat him and the all in player to be eligible for the main pot. Is $100 too small? Is he trying to induce a re-raise? Finally, the third most likely holding, AA or KK. Could he have that? I still feel that he pre-flop raise action is very perplexing if he holds either of these hands. On the other hand, is he tight enough to keep a small pot out of position pre-flop and fold he big holding to any scary board or resistance? Even with Aces? Maybe, but that’s hard to take.

What do I do?

I am on the fence, but after about 90 seconds I decide that my opponent is most likely to have the medium pair. In fact, I convince myself that he has JJ. I push all in, which puts him to a decision for his remaining $255. He thinks for a minute or so and says “you can’t have A3, can you?” I love that he finds me unpredictable enough to even consider this. Then, I think I hear him say, “maybe you have 8s??” This makes me relax a ton… Now I believe he has 99.

After another minute, he calls and shows…. TWO KINGS!?! I’m dead to two outs and neither comes on the turn or river and he rakes in a monster. The all in player mucks face down. I decide that he probably had 7s in this spot, but perhaps he would play AJ suited like this.

I ask my crafty opponent two questions:

1. “Why did you ask if I had 8s?” He responds “I said ACES, not eights!” – I misunderstood his accent, and it gave me a false sense of security.

2. I mused really, rather than asked, “I can’t believe you’d limp there, pre-flop, with Kings”. The original straddle says, “did you really think I was going to raise there? Can you take that chance?” My opponent just shrugged, smiled, and stacked his chips….

Bad Mouthing Ace Jack!

2007-07-22T14:18:00.000-05:00

Many of our friends on the Card Club Forums have been bad mouthing Ace Jack as a starting hand in No Limit Hold Em, and those who play it poorly. They are breaking bad under the guise of helping their forum buddies to become better tournament players, but the reality is, they just can't stand losing to such a "mediocre" hand.

I was able to reach Ace Jack by telephone yesterday, and he asked me to do a little sticking up for him.

Now, I don't advocate calling off your chip stack with Ace Jack, don't get me wrong, but it does have a lot of value.

First off, when opening the pot, from any position, AJ is (any) two cards, which sometimes is simply good enough. I have played 8T and 46 in a manner which these AJ-naysayers would quickly chastise my play, were I to have two cards as good as AJ - and I have had a lot of success doing so. To talk about the hand, irrespective of your image, position in the hand, and general playing style of the table, I believe, is a mistake. I concede that we are starting to discuss the hands themselves, but please don't bad mouth Ace Jack in a vacuum!! Now his mother, AQ, is even starting to call me to ask for my help.

Ace Jack, against a random hand, is a 2:1 favorite, and against two random hands it is about even money. Of course if you're facing heat after the flop with it, you're not against any old random hand, but if you can make good on an inexpensive flop, there's obvious value.

Would I ever call an all-in bet, pre-flop, with AJ?

Of course! In the following situations:

Against a short-stacked opponent who is all in, and the call represents a small percentage of my stack.
Against a player who consistently overvalues his holdings, and plays aggressive pre-flop and passive post.
Against a player on whom I have a good read and I am in position.

Would I ever raise pre-flop from early position with AJ?

Yes! In the following situations:

Against a tight table, where there is much to be gained by taking the pot down pre-flop (blinds and antes are significant)
Against a predictable table where most opponents will re-raise with a hand that beats AJ and call with marginal holdings, like a smaller Ace or a medium to small pair.
Against one or two very loose opponents who will consistently call with worse hands, hoping to out-flop me. It is best if these opponents will play predictably when they hit or miss their holdings (and many do play this way).

I'm confident that in most of these situations I will play my opponents and the board to an advantage post-flop. I also know that a disconnected board, with a single ace, can be very dangerous. I might check-call a small bet on the flop to see what happens on the turn. I might check fold to a big bet (fearing an overpair or bigger Ace). Of course, it all depends on my opponent and his/her tendencies. Sometimes, the bigger the flop bet, the weaker their holding.

With a medium tournament stack, this becomes a very marginal hand. You cannot afford to "explore" with this hand, nor to make a mistake that will cost you any measurable portion of your chips.

I will fold this hand up front.
I will fold this hand in late position with any action up front.
I will come in for a raise if no one has acted, and get away from a re-raise (unless odds strongly dictate a call - AJ is a 5:2 dog against AA-TT and AK, AQ).

Each hand has its merits at the right place and the right time. When faced with a tough decision, consider your table, consider your image at the table, consider your position relative to the button, and consider your transportation options should AJ suffer the inevitable bad beat. ;)

My phone is ringing.... If this is Ace Ten calling, leave a message!

WSOP2007 - Event #38 Recap Part 3

2007-07-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

Continued from this part 2 post.

Coming back from dinner break, I felt like a new man. I was rejuvenated, refreshed, and well nourished. I don't know if it was the overfull bladder keeping me awake, but I was now focused on my opponents and their play.

I kept ahead of the blinds and antes for the next couple hours and just played my game.

I moved tables twice after the break. The second move was to a table along the rail all the way at the north-end of the Amazon ballroom. I had been broken from table 36, which was really good news. We were 9-handed at this point, and 35 tables meant 315 people remained in the event. The top 270 would get paid.

I was seat next to a very tall, muscular, athletic, and intimidating looking fellow. Actually, he was intimidating in build and size, but had a friendly face and a warm demeanor. I decided to break the ice right way.

After stacking my chips at the new table, I found an unused chair a few feet away and stacked it on top of my chair. I had done this a few times throughout the tournament, preferring to sit a little higher on the table. After sitting on my double-stacked chair, I turned to the physical speciman to my right, who had noticed my stacking efforts, and said "it's for physical intimidation". He broke into a huge grin. We became fast friends... until I took some of his chips, that is.

I soon learned that he was Audley Harrison, Superweight olympic gold medalist boxer, Briton, Audley Harrison. The dude's hands were so big, I never knew if he had cards under them. Hell, I often didn't know if I had cards under them.

Within an hour or so, we were down to 275 players, five from the money. From here, the whole field would play hand-for-hand, meaning that each table would start each hand simultaneously, and then wait for all of the tables to complete that hand. It seemed to take forever to lose five players, and coordinating hand-for-hand across 30 tables was a logistical challenge.

There were short-stacked players at my table who simply stopped playing. They reported of AK hands and midle-pair hands that were simply mucked while they tried to squeeze into the money. And they did. One player at my table had 3 antes left (less than a small blind) when the bubble was burst. He busted in the next hand, in 270th place - the first to cash.

Now it was back to work. I had a fairly aggressive table, and as time went on, all of the chips were accumulating to my left. I continued to maintain and pick up a few chips here and there. When 2 AM rolled around, and we were packing it in for the night, I had a decent and above average stack, but it felt short compared to the three players to my left.

About two hands before we broke for the night, the player to my immediate left, already the table chip-leader, busted two players in a huge pot to nearly double his stack. After we broke for the night, I learned that he was the big stack in the tournament at the end of Day 1.

What a bad beat! I was coming back Sunday morning in the absolute worst seat in the tournament, to the immediate right of the biggest stack in the tournament. And what's more, the two stacks to his left had me covered as well.

Regardless, I was ecstatic to be coming back the next day, and exhausted. It took Mrs. Chicago and I more than 30 minutes to get a cab back to Caesar's, and less than 30 minutes to pass out upon returning.

To be continued...

WSOP2007 - Event #38 Recap Part 2

2007-07-01T21:40:00.001-05:00

Continued from the first recap post.

After my big call, the cards dried up completely. It felt like I passed on 40 or 50 hands and we were getting close to the break. It became evident that the hand being dealt would be the last hand before break.

I was in the big blind, and as I watched the action proceed around the table, I reflected upon all of the anecdotal stories and tips about playing right before the break. "Don't go broke before the break" say some, while others like to take advantage of everyone's desire to get to break and get aggressive. I decided that if I woke up with something playable, I would put pressure on my opponents.

There was a mid- late-position raise from a somewhat quiet, tight player. The button thought for a moment, and then smooth called. The SB folded, and I looked down to find pocket kings! I think I had four premium hands in two days of poker (and never aces) - this was one of those hands.

I was out of position and there was already a good stack of chips in the pot. I wasn't particularly deep, so I decided to simply push and hope that the first raiser didn't have Aces. I pushed and he pondered. This was a good sign. Eventually both players folded, and I picked up a nice little pot without a fight. I was short, but comfortable going into the break.

Coming back from break, I looked for my opportunities. I played very tight, very aggressive. I continued to get my money in good, but was chased down twice. My opponent got his money all in twice against me, both times that overcame the odds (two-outter once, three-outter another time) to suck out and chop out my proverbial chip legs. Fortunately both opponents were short-stacked at the time, and I managed to hang on. I built my stack to about 9500 by the second break. Personally, I had been all in at least four times in those two hours, but called only once, where I had the best hand.

Four hours down and I felt like I had been playing for days.... I was exhausted, not as exhausted as Mark Vos (pictured above sleeping on a bench in the huge hallways of the Rio), but exhausted nonetheless.

We broke and returned for round five. The details of rounds four and five are very fuzzy to me. It must have gone well, because I built my 9500 chips to 45,000 chips. This put me in the chip lead for the table, and probably near the higher end of the field. I was counting down the moments until the dinner break, and when it finally came I ran straight to the Tilted Kilt bar and restaurant.

An hour and a half break, a vodka tonic, some pasta, and about six glasses of water rejuvenated me for the post-dinner run. I missed most of the next round in the men's room, but I was rejuvenated....

CONTINUING....

WSOP2007 - Event #38 Recap

2007-06-27T17:17:00.000-05:00

Like the first Star Wars movie, this post comes first in delivery, though not in chronology. The recap of my trip is forthcoming, time allowing.

Saturday morning came early for me. I was still tired from the night before, when I decided to get in a couple hours of cash game before bed. I had been playing bad and running bad since arriving in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, I was undeterred, and jumped out of bed with both feet hitting the ground simultaneously. I showered and dressed for comfort, with a t-shirt layered under a long sleeve warm-ish collared shirt. The over-shirt was black with a collar, for a little subconscious intimidation and a little concealment of my neck (pulse and adam's apple/swallowing motion.) As it turns out, the room was a little warmer than I expected and than was advertised. Most of the first day I was sporting my Pink Floyd t-shirt with the pink pig. I also wear a hat in tournament play, which keeps minimizes distractions (like blinders on a horse) and to conceal my eyes when I opted to tilt my head down. I selected my Detroit Pistons hat for this occasion. (Yes, I'm a huge Pistons fan living in Chicago).

We got on the Caesar's-Rio shuttle around 10AM, 2 hours before cards were in the air. I had already registered, so I just needed food and walking time from the front doors of the Rio to the Amazon Room (about 3 days by dogsled).

When we got to the Sao Paulo Cafe, there was a line out the door of about 50 people. It seemed to be moving fast, so I was unconcerned. After 20 feet, the line slowed considerably, and then seemed to come to a stop for many minutes at a time. It didn't help that there was a separate line for "Platinum Guests" (which reflects their tier of privilege in Harrah's Total Rewards program), and that they would simply walk in and be seated rapidly, and ahead of all the patiently waiting "Gold" and Gold-minus guests.

We finally got our food at about 11:35 or 11:40. I finished eating at about 11:56am, and left Mrs. Chicago with the bill. I hoofed it to the table, arriving about 5 after, or 8 minutes before the first cards were actually dealt.

I didn't recognize anybody at my table when the game began, but about 12 hands in, a familiar face sat down. I couldn't place him at first, but after 30 minutes I had a good idea - it was Brian Fidler, Daniel Negreanu's first Protege. He struck me as overly confident, but was nice enough.

I played mainly tight poker for the first 40 minutes, and refrained from voluntarily putting chips into the pot for the first two or three rotations. On the third rotation or so a player in early-mid-position put in a 3x raise. It folded around to me on the button, and I looked down to see the JT of clubs. Since I had been talkative, friendly, and confident, but had yet to play a hand, and the player seemed to be a bit concerned when he put his chips in, I decided to see how a smooth call would be perceived. The raising player immediately shot me a glance and I nodded.

The flop came fairly innocuous and with two clubs. My opponent made a continuation bet and I called. The turn was a blank and we checked it through. The river was a third club, giving me a flush. My opponent checked, I bet half the pot, he called. I had more than my starting 3000 chips for the first moment of the tournament.

I played very tight for another few rotations until it became obvious that the table was playing extremely tightly. I played a couple hands merely to benefit from that fact, and before long the table broke and I was moved all the way across the room - Table 199.

This table was substantially more aggressive. I recognized a player four seats to my right, but couldn't place him. I knew who he was, but didn't know WHO he was. I just got to the bottom of that mystery - he was Shannon Freakin' Shorr! This 22-year old poker phenom won the Bellagio Cup II main event last year after having won one of the undercard events. He cashed twice already at the WSOP this year, and has 26 cashes in major events for a total of $1.6 Million in winnings. He finished 4th in the POY standings last year.

I'm glad I didn't know who he was for sure, as it may have intimidated the hell out of me. He was pretty quiet, as he was short on chips for much of the time we shared a table. He did make a few fancy moves to keep himself in the game. We played a couple hands together, though I was aggressive and he couldn't play on without committing his stack.

After a few rough hands, I was back below my starting stack again. When the second level ended, I was getting nervous.

An aggressive player in his young twenties moved to our table two seats to my left. He was wearing a hood, and was not a pleasant addition to the table. [Sidenote: the vast majority of people I shared a tournament with were polite, conversational, and in many cases, even fun. I was pleasantly surprised.]

As I was getting nervous about my shrinking stack (back around 3000), I was looking for opportunities to pick up a few chips. I was on the button with one limper in the pot and found A6 of hearts. In general, this is NOT an automatic raise, and a strong argument could be made for folding in this spot with short chips. A better argument might be made for folding. I made a smallish raise (3x?) and got the aggressive player in the BB and the original limper to join me for a flop. The flop came 5,6,9 with two spades. Both players checked to me and I decided to protect what I thought could be the best hand. Both players called. I wasn't sure where I was in the hand. Could they both be drawing?

The turn was a non-spade ten and both players checked to me. I thought I might be behind at this point. A big bet would probably get two folds, but would risk my tournament life. A check seemed safest, despite the fact that I may be sacrificing the pot. The pre-flop limper was likely to have the best hand, I surmised. And I was almost sure that the big blind was on a draw - spades most likely. That was my feeling at this point anyway.

The turn came something unhelpful (3c maybe?), though if I remember correctly, put three clubs on the board (running clubs). The big blind thought for a moment and then put out a bet of 1800 chips. This was about half his remaining stack, and about 70% of mine. The mid-position player folded. Now all I was left with was third pair on a messy board, but his bet was so fishy. What could he have that would cause him to call pre-flop and check-call the flop and check the turn? If he flopped a made hand, there were draws to fear and he would have to protect them. If he had a club flush, his cards would have to be good in another direction (i.e. pair and straight draw?) to call the flop bet. I was confident that he either had made two pair with two little cards or had absolutely nothing (still imagining a spade draw). Also, his bet was a little too big for me to call without a big hand, which I wasn't likely to have either. At this point, I was sure he wanted a fold... so I called.

He said, "nice call" and held his cards face down over the muck. He clearly didn't want to turn them over, and I didn't want to be a jerk.

I said, "third pair", with a half-grin that someone who knew me would describe as a little bit smug. I turned my cards face up and proudly spread them on the felt as if to say, "Don't f@*k with me!" This guy was an agressive pot stealer, and I didn't want him in anymore of my pots.

He released his cards and I got at least three "nice call!" and "wow, excellent"-type remarks. Not only had a gotten my chips healthy again, but my confidence was healthy as well.

The mid-position player, who folded to the flop bet with me remaining to act behind him let me know that he had actually folded the best hand. Now I really felt good about the way I had analyzed the hand.

I stood up for a few minutes during the next hand to get rid of the heebie-jeebies that crept in when I thought I may have just called my way into deep doo-doo...

To be continued...

Teaser Post: ChicagoJason vs Chris "Jesus" Ferguson

2007-06-26T00:09:00.000-05:00

ChicagoJason assumes the "Jesus" pose against Jesus himself.

Out in 81st Place

2007-06-24T19:42:00.001-05:00

Getting slightly short, I needed to find some chips. A mid-position player raised and a late player called. I tried the ole squeeze with Q9 of hearts. The initial raiser folded, as planned. The caller called my bet with AKc. Neither of us improved and I finished in 81st.

115k in chips second break day 2

2007-06-24T17:48:00.001-05:00

And Chris Ferguson just busted from two seats to my left.

The Aristocrats!

This is me on Day Two Baby...

2007-06-24T14:52:00.001-05:00

This is me on Day Two.

(No picture, just a BNL reference.)

End of Day One

2007-06-24T04:38:00.000-05:00

Its 2:30 and I'm in a cabs line with no cabs.

We're down to 176 players and I have just under average chips with 37,100. I took a bad beat about 30 minutes ago when my pocket tens raise was called all-in with A-7. There was a 7 on the flop and a 7 on the river to take more than 1/4 of my chips.

I went through the both blinds afterwards and was raised off both hands.

We're back tomorrow at 2pm and I'll try to rebuild...

We're in the money....

2007-06-24T03:01:00.000-05:00

We're down to 252 out of 2770 and on break. Another 45 minutes of play after break.

I have about 50,000 in chips. Average is 31,000.

Dinner Break

2007-06-23T21:52:00.001-05:00

I've got around 37,000 in chips, which is a little above average. I went head's up with the guy at the table most capable of inflicting damage, and he did. I folded to an all-in re-reraise on the turn after giving him over a third of my chips. Oops.

I've had kings twice and no other pocket pairs above 8s all day. I did run my AQ into an AK a couple hours ago. He was all in from a blind, and I felt I was priced in. The flop came AQQ. The case queen on the turn eliminated all hope for him.

I feel like I've been playing for a week. It requires all my focus to calculate bet sizes and pot sizes.

Perhaps a nice dinner at the Tilted Kilt will straighten me out....

Strong Run

2007-06-23T20:57:00.001-05:00

A strong run in level 6, after being in a little scary territory (M=7) has put me in decent shape. I have close to 45,000 chips, putting me at the top of my table.

By the way...

2007-06-23T18:43:00.001-05:00

The fourth round was brutal. I got snapped off by a 3-outter and a 2-outter. It was dangerous territory treading back. I picked off a big bluff to win a big pot (with fourth pair). Losing it would have crippled me.

5th round starting now....

2nd Break

2007-06-23T18:29:00.000-05:00

About 9500 in chips. Blinds going up to 150-300 with 25 ante.

I've been all in way too many times!

Table 35, Seat 3.

First Break

2007-06-23T16:08:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Kings in the small blind right before the break, I turned 50 minutes of frustration into a little gain. I'm a little below average, but can afford to wait for some cards before getting nervous....