Donkeys Always Draw

gone and back, and gary owes me 30 sklansky bucks

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:17:39 GMT

well, been away for a bit..... took the vacation down to Mississippi and back.... more on that later.... rejoined things with the Mookie tonite - and while I final tabled, I was the Bubble Boy, 7th of 52. I don't think I even got one bounty.

Started slow, never got a thing going until the middle of hour two, not even sure how I managed to actually start chipping up, but started opening things up with two tables left and made some hands... had a decent but not average stack at the final table, finally GCox25 openraises half his short stack from UTG+1 seven handed (4375 at 500/1000/125) - I reship AKs from the button, he calls with AJo, but rivers a running fourflush. I have one blind left and go out the next hand.

I'm not sure why he's betting half his stack instead of just shoving with AJo, because it just narrows a reshipper's range to something AJo fairs poorly against, getting 3-1 or not. Thoughts? I mean, I'd ship that holding with less than 10BB way before bet/calling, but whatever - not like it changes anything in that spot..

Anyhow, I joked that I thought about folding AKs (riiiiiiiiiiiight) because of how bad I've been running lately when I shove..... Which brings us to the playing part of the Mississippi experience, the Beau Rivage... the players there owe Jenn and I mad Sklansky bucks, because we kept getting the chips in good and not holding.

9s9x vs. As2x on a 6s7s8s flop
QQ vs. JJ on a 789r flop
AJ vs. KQ on a KQTr flop
AA vs. QQ vs. 77 all in preflop on bubble, naturally the board binks a 7

I ended up playing a lot of 4/8 LHE just to not have to worry about all the stupid variance - plus the $6/down time charge and way deep stacked 1/2NL games just weren't any real fun - I actually rather enjoyed live limit's more relaxed pace, as much as it can make your head asplode and would have played 10/20 if it was spread when I was around. Tournaments were fine, although structures were too slow early and too fast in the middle, so a lot of play was gone by hour two or so.. A fun room, but I'd rather play in AC, all things considered - even if the players are more interesting in the South..

Anyhow, going to try to enjoy a few weeks with Jenn and without the kiddies, get some decent play in, try to run good a few times.. Later

Heff

bleh.

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:06:27 GMT

21 of 48 in tonite's Mookie. A total snoozefest for me - no hands, no hitting flops, no decent places to resteal, every check-raise got snapped off - only way I chipped up was by stealing blinds and shoving QQ into AA preflop and spiking a set. Finally open shove A6 in the hijack seven-handed for 8BB and (gee, this is a recording) someone in the blinds wakes up with a hand - though they did semitank before reshoving with AQ.

Yawn. Maybe someday I do something interesting.

perhaps games still are good...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:03:55 GMT

just not in unlimited hold them.... from a PLO8 SnG last night - villain directly on my right basically won 9 of the first 13 pots by
1) minraising every pot
2) donking some silly 1/5 pot bet on the flop OOP into five people
3) doing it again on the turn into the three people left and
4) donking the river again and either getting a fold or showing down some ridiculous running winner.

Case in point, donkboy open minraises at 15/30 to 60 in MP with 3K behind, I cover and call with QT98ss on the button, blinds come along,.
Flop Qs9s3d. SB bets 60, donkboy minraises to 120, I pot to 660 with top two, all fold, he calls.
Turn 4s, check, I check behind with no spades.
River 3c, he makes an obvious value bet, 210 into a 1600 chip pot, I crying call and see, no not a flush, not a boat, but A237 no spades for rivered trips.

Which made the next two hands all the sweeter.

Donkboy openraises 3x to 90 from UTG+1. I call behind with AQ35ss, SB calls.
Flop QT5r. SB checks, villain bets 90, I'm sure I'm way in front and pot to 570, SB folds, donkboy calls.
Turn Qs, HE DONKS 90 AGAIN. I shove for 1700 with the virtual nizzles because he loves to call, and does with AAK8. River bricks. Pay me.

NEXT hand, donkboy openraises 3x to 90 again from UTG with 2K behind, I call again with AT98ss, one caller behind with 1600 in chips, I cover with 4800..
Flop Jh8h7s. Nice to flop the nizzles again, though vulnerable. yes, our villain DONKS AGAIN for 150, I pot again for 765, coldcaller comes along, so does donkboy. hmmmm.
Turn 8c. VILLAIN DONKS AGAIN (this is a recording) for 150. I decide to shove anyway into the coldcaller's potential boat, BOTH players call off their stacks.

Donkbet boy - AKK6, King-high heart draw, chasing it with the overpair on a paired, drawy board
Coldcaller - A238, nut low draw and the other 8. Boo, might get quartered.

River T. Sweet, pay me again. I scoop a 5K pot with Mr. Full House.
If only everyone played like that.....

EDIT: this has nothing to do with anything above, but this thread is gold, Jerry, gold!

the week ends, the week begins

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:43:15 GMT

ah, a pleasant weekend....

- Saw Dave Matthews Band over at Datsun/Nissan Pavilion Saturday night - I'm sure it's a band that gets a lot of eyerolls from people at times, but hey, I have a soft spot for a group that was slogging away in Charlottesville the same time I was working at WXJM over in Harrisonburg as your average college radio DJ - they did headline a small benefit show for us back in the day that may have drawn a few hundred people.. and now they can easily fill an amphitheatre with 20,000 people...

Say what you will, but when you see a DMB show, especially in their backyard, you are guaranteed full effort and full value for your ticket - they still play a very tight, energetic live show... and on a wonderfully clear, non-humid Virginia night, that definitely works...

-Ran semi decently at our weekly bar poker tourneys... Of course, Jenn came out last week after missing a few sessions and won, naturally, because she crushes.... I picked up a third place this week.... since we start out with 7K in chips at 100/200, it's not deep stacked at all, so between this and all the recent SnGs I'm working on, I've gotten really, really good at pushbot poker with 8-12BB - that's all I can really do there, because it's so, so hard to pick up pots without a hand, and after an hour or two, there really isn't any room for play past the flop.

One interesting hand this week.

Seven handed, folded around to me in the SB, I have about 30K at 1K/2K, I barely cover the BB who is a known tight player. I complete with 97o, she checks.

Flop QQ9. I check, she bets pot, 4K, I call.

Turn 9. I like it, but check - can't think of anything she calls with that isn't Qx if I lede - she checks behind.

River 4. I check intending to call a bet. She only bets 4K. Now I start thinking, there's no way she has a Queen with that bet and decide to move in. She instacalls, I instasay, "shit."

She has 44 for the rivered underboat. MHIG, strangely enough.

I don't think I'd ever do that in a real money situation. Line's pretty meh, right?

Anyhow, one week from a vacation of sorts. mini-woot.

Heff

AIPS drought

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:03:22 GMT

Almost forgot the AIPS Razz tourney was last night... decided not to play Riverchasers and concentrate on getting kicked in the nutz instead..... finished 35th of 81, out just after Cosenza himself.. I've played so bad this year in AIPS, not even close to one cash - I try too hard to run over people and end up spewing chips like crazy.

I ended up wiffing every 7-low draw in the first hour, drove myself nuts - made a 65 on fifth street, led into a guy who spiked a 64 on sixth, and he never raised, just called down with the second nutz. After that, yeah, I got the Razz tilt going. Ended up folding a pot on seventh to leave myself with just 125-odd chips, but somehow managed to win every pot I play from there to get above average by the first break.
Second hour, more card deadness, catch bad when villains catch good on every fourth street - finally go down when I can't beat a ten low after starting (A5)7A.as a short stack - but honestly, I was bringing a C game to a tourney where most of the players actually play and like Razz, so I'm lucky I wasn't 81st.

Anyhow, what's more vital is that these guys are leaving the place I used to draw a check from to go off and do their own independent thing - I hope it works out, just like for another guy - this poker economy is still pretty fluid, and I really want everyone to find a profitable, successful niche they can be happy with...

Anyhow, GL, fellas.

Heff

the weekly mook update, deja vu

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:46:48 GMT

out in 11th (again, I should just call it the Heff) getting completely coolered.. I have 8K at 250/500/50 at a six handed table in the cutoff. DrewFours open shoves for 7K, I reshove, NYRambler reshoves again for 9k
.
DrewFours - QQ
Me - AK
NYRambler - KK
Flop - A.. K... who cares, I'm toast, gg me.

Win the pot, become a chip leader. Lose, buh-bye

That'll happen. Almost made enough in KOs to pay for the tourney, though. Very first hand, stack LJ, although she had other fish to fry final tabling MSOP 44 at the same time.

She openraises to 90, I call on button with T9. blinds fold.
flop QJx, she c-bets 2/3 pot, I call in position with the draw.
turn K (cool), she leads, I reraise, she tanks and shoves, I call, board doesn't pair for her KK.

Run a stack up to about 7500, then donk if off to twoblackaces....

Open raise AQ in MP at 50/100 to 300, TBA calls in the BB.
Flop AK8r, he donks into me a pot size bet... I think - no, a big hand doesn't bet pot here, he's got a K or meh A trying to see if I'll lay down. I reraise half his stack, he shoves, I have to call and see his K8s and I'm smoked down to 2200.

Nice line, actually, by him. I can't pay him off unless I have a hand, might as well take a strong line, lede, and induce a raise, because he's getting it in the middle every time on that board if I let him. ALMOST flatted the flop to see what he'd do on the turn (fold if he bets, flip a coin on WTFto do if he checks) but convinced myself he didn't have twopair/set enough to fall into the tarp. I freaking pay him off FAR too much when he outflops me.

Short stack ninja my way around for the next hour, win a race with when I shove 66 over an AK raise and hold...but otherwise standard poker until I dust off my stack. Always fun to play the Mook, even when the host is in LV..

Which reminds me, we're solid for a Beau Rivage stay in Biloxi next month, so we'll see how the time charge at 1/2NL treats us....

Oh, and PL... I had complete crap on the QQ hand. Open raised A3o in EP.
Just screwing around - not a complete nit.

Heff

mook time.. and we have a rule violation!

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:17:51 GMT

fun as usual, almost final tabled, out in 11th.... I need to run better in all in pots.

open raise to 210 at 30/60, Da ImPacTt cold calls with only 1080 behind, I ship 5K with AK, he calls allin with 33 and holds.

UTG raise to 500 at 80/160, Da ImPacTt cold calls on the button, I ship 1750 from the blinds with 99, UTG folds, Da ImPacTt calls with AQo, I win the flip (see, I don't lose every time....)

EP shove for 650 at 300/600, Da ImPacTt cold calls (notice a pattern), I raise to 4000 with AKs, all folds around, he ships for 5200 total, I call off the last 1200. his KQ turns and rivers a Queen.

Finally, I open shove 14K at 400/800 five handed in the cutoff with A6s. Evy35 tanks in the SB (good for me) then reshoves 17K (bad, this is never a weaker ace) with A8o. flop A8x, gg me.

BUT, Evy violated the number one rule of late night tournament play in the process.

Evy35 has 15 seconds left to act
Evy35 raises to 16,980, and is all in
InstantTragedy folds
Evy35 shows [8s Ad]
heffmike shows [6s As]
Evy35: im so tired...need sleep
Uncalled bet of 3,124 returned to Evy35
*** FLOP *** [4s 8c Ah]
Evy35: %%#@
*** TURN *** [4s 8c Ah] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [4s 8c Ah Ts] [7c]
Evy35 shows two pair, Aces and Eights
heffmike shows a pair of Aces
Evy35 wins the pot (29,012) with two pair, Aces and Eights
heffmike stands up
Evy35: god dammit

Never, ever try to leave a tournament when you are tired and want to go by shoving your chips all in. Raise/fold every pot. Just sit out and shut off the computer and get blinded off.

Because, when you shove your chips in the middle and say you're tired and want to go, you are guaranteed to win the pot.

That must have been a level - Say you want to go so the RNG smacks you in the head, even when you're getting it in as a 70/30 favorite... Hey, I know someone who can give you pointers on playing the Mookie only being awake every other hand.. :-)

It's a completely standard spot anyway, so it doesn't matter... and as I type this Evy's fourth in chips going to the third break with five players left, so no sleepy anytime soon, haha - although it looks like she finally checked out after the break and is automucking her way to fourth....

Anyhow, a mellow evening, boo no money, though. I gotta start grinding SnGs again and making some bank, I'm falling behind on my $T conversion after the Stud/8 fiasco Tuesday.

Oh, forgot to give the shoutout to LJ and Iggy for actually surviving the Sunday satellite minefields and getting ME seats. woot!

Later - Heff

rinse and repeat.

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:55:04 GMT

yes, played the MSOP #33 Stud/8 last night. slightly different verse this time. I'm starting to believe the key in these tourneys is win one or two huge pots by sticking your money in behind on every street and rivering some 10% chance to scoop, then start gambooling with your luckboxed big stack and take every thin edge you can, because, gee, you can't lose every pot, no matter how hard you try..... sigh. Anyhow, story is...

-Run ridiculous hot first hour, double thru in chips, top 10% stack.
-Go cold in second hour, drift back to middle of the pack.
-Get on a little heater again in hour three, stay around top 30 in chips. See some of the usual split pot suspects, LJ, Lucko, djhomeschool, predator06, bounce out....
-Get a table change, get absolutely hosed on every big hand, have people drive me batty by bringing-in, then TANKING on whether or not to call a completion with (KK)3 heads up, supposedly, before folding. Head asplodes as in a heads-up pot on third street in Stud/8 there's a decision that demands a time bank like MAYBE 1% of the time. Play or don't play, but don't waste our time.

In hour four make some silly, thin value bets on seventh when checked to that 1) get called and 2) I actually get scooped on, oops. Finally get (A3)7 capped all-in on third against (87)8, make two pair no low on the river as villain rivers a flush, out in 45th, 32 pay.

This is getting very tiresome, as I keep going carddead late in tourneys around bubble time, where if I can just win one big pot, I'm in solid shape, but if I lose that pot I'm barely alive. Every time in these limit tourneys, I end up on a knife edge in hour three: I can't just run over the table and bet people off of hands, I've got to bet for value, get to and win showdowns to stay alive. I'm just really pissed off to spend over three hours to bubble more than anything else, while I watch people that play ok, but make really bad decisions that luckily pay off, get deep....

Unlike the Skillz game, where I played like a muppet and waslucky not to finish 17 of 17 - I like HOE. I like it better when I don't get rivered or outflopped every other pot, and play horribly the other half of the time. It was enjoyable despite that, because I really don't care if I get hosed or not in these tourneys post-BBT3 and am happy to talk about lines and situations in blogger tourneys where I wouldn't go there under other circumstances. Out in 14th or 15th, but I honestly wasn't paying that much attention after I got short, I was focused on the other tournament I was wiffing Tuesday night.....

Sigh. Tonite was just a waste of time and money. Boo.

ah, what a wonderful day...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:16:37 GMT

instead of trying to sweat a ME seat on the ridiculously huge FTP and Stars satellites, spent the day with the wife at the place we got married a year ago downing a lovely bottle of Virginia sparkling wine/champagne... :-) Going to take my pop to a Nationals game with money seats for a belated Father's Day gift in a couple of weekends, and I have a rare day off tomorrow. So life is goot..

Catching up on the ridiculous blogger drama in the wake of the BBT3 and the BoDog TOC, all I can say is, there's probably a very good reason I'm a lurker in this society that comments occasionally, but hasn't actually met another poker blogger in person - I have enough drama in my life as it is, and for the life of me, I could give two shits about what anyone says or does in cyberspace. To paraphrase Bad Religion, it's only entertainment..... unless money's involved, then everyone better watch their ass, period.

It is a little disappointing to see all the wacky behavior - hell, it's even disappointing to see most of the big winners choose to pocket their winnings instead actually buying into WSOP events, which was the original intent of these series to begin with - but you know, it's their money, they won it, they can do what they want with it.

Maybe everyone's an angleshooting rat.
Maybe everyone's just a good egg and are simply misinterpreted.

I often wonder if it's worth my time and effort to split some hairs and discern the difference.

So, all I'm going to do is play some cards and try to enjoy myself sans drama. Who's with me?

Heff

nothing notable, but posting anyway

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:57:41 GMT

- yeah, ran the MSOP HORSE tourney last night - ran nowhere first hour, great second hour, then (as usual) played a loose rotation in the third hour to dump all my chips, out in the 200s.... Not really looking good schedule-wise to play many more of these - which is probably good, since I keep managing to run into monkeys that luckbox and put me on megatilt every time in these limit events. Which naturally means I'm interested in next Tuesday's Stud/8 tourney...

Otherwise, grinding on schedule with that T535. Final tabled the Mookie last night with nothing notable happening on the way to finishing fifth for a small cash. Smaller field as a double stacked knockout tourney is teh nutz.

Heff