All the right moves

Every time I bust out I second guess my move. Even going all-in pre-flop, short stacked with pocket Queens I'd think, "If I'd had just limped in, when A/K on the flop I might have bailed and saved doubled or tripled up a few hands later," even though I *know* that I made the proper move (IE, the move with the best results over the long term).

I've been reading Harrington on Hold'em Volume II: The Endgame and it's really improved the way I view my short stack game. I highly recommend that you get a copy if you haven't read it yet (but be sure to read Volume I first). As conservative as "Action Dan" Harrington is, he advocates making big do-or-die moves while you still have enough chips to scare people off. That is, if you wait too long for a great hand to double up with you'll get a lot more callers, reducing your chances of staying in the game. Also, since you have fewer chips to bet with the rewards are slimmer.

It feels comforting to get confirmation that you made the right decision.
If you read my last post you'll see that when I went out I had around 300 (325 I think) in chips with 40/80 blinds. That gave me an "M" (your M is basically the number of rounds you can see before being blinded out) of about 2.5, clearly in Harrington's "Red Zone." I was first to act with King/Ten at a full 9-player table, and I went all-in pre-flop.
This evening I flipped back through around 20 example hands to see if I could drum up a similiar hand, and came upon this beauty:

His examples are taken from real hands that people have played, and the results are the actual results (sometimes good, sometimes bad). My situation was almost identical to his, but my results were very different. Two people called, one with an Ace that hit the flop and ended up winning the pot.
I think I got the two calls because I had gone all-in about a dozen hands earlier with 8/8, and nobody looked me up. I think the first guy called with A/4 because he wasn't going to put up with me going all-in again, and the other caller was the most aggressive guy at the table and called just to help knock me out. Earlier he'd called someone's 400'ish all-in even though he only had 10/8 off-suit, declaring "I have nothing but I'll make the call to knock you out." He lost that hand. But he never did reveal his hand when he knocked me out, so he may have had some legitimate drawing hand. Knowing him it was probably something like middle connectors.

Tournament results

All week I've been obnoxiously confident about doing well at the tournament.

Of course, out of the three of us who carpooled out there I was the first one eliminated. During the break my buddy asked me how I was going to win now that I was eliminated.
I told him it would be tough, but I would still be a winner for the night, and that I'd write a book on coming back from elimination to win the tournament. (Positive thinking to the extreme)
A few minutes later they drew raffle tickets and sure enough they drew my number ...88! My buddy had ...89 and another person nearby had ...87. Ha ha!
I won $48! Victory!
And I took their tickets as trophies since I had to turn mine in:

The torn Kc (King of clubs) is from another drawing they had. They spread a deck out face up, and you choose a card. They tear it, give you half, and throw the other half in the lot. At the break a torn card from the lot and the person with the other half gets half the money ($26) while the other half goes to the non-profit organization running the event.
This was the first time I'd bought a card. They drew 8d. I told my friend that the announcer should have started off by saying "It's a diamond..." to give 1/4 of the audience a quick thrill. Maybe I should mention that the the guy who does the drawing?
I heard a few "I was close" comments after the drawing, which stuck in my head. How can anybody know that they were close?
Those drawings are pretty much reliant on the butterfly effect. Picking 7d or 9d when 8d is drawn is only the illusion of being close. The only thing that matters is where the guy threw your ticket/card in relationship to the position of every other ticket/card deposited or yet to be deposited. Plus there's all the events that lead up to how the lot is drawn. Maybe if you spent a few more seconds choosing your cards the man would have adjusted his feet with impatience and dropped the card a few inches left, making it the winner.
That is, getting #...88 or picking 8d has nothing to do with those cards being the winner. It was the moment that they were bought in relationship to all other events that made them the winners. So the idea of being close because your number or card looked the same is ridiculous.

The two buddies I carpooled with were short stack, and even though one tripled up they were eliminated a short time later. I was home by 10:30.

As for my play, I did pretty good, but I should have done a lot better.

I wasn't paying attention the first couple hands. I don't really fault myself for that. I was just getting warmed up, and I was the dealer on hand #2. It wasn't until hand #3 that I started studying the players.

I received a ton of Jack/rag cards all night (several J/7's and J/9's), but I did have some playable hands. I had A/K twice, once chasing someone off a flop we both missed, and the other time getting chased off a flop that I *think* we both missed, but it wasn't worth going broke over.

I remember limping in with 5/5 after several other limps, and being chased off when the small blind made a large raise.

As the big blind with one limper I checked with 8/3. I watched my opponent and he made the classic "I missed the flop" tell. Then I looked down and saw the flop was Q/J/9. The blinds were 40/80, with 200 in, so I made a 100 raise. He called.
The flop was a 7, and I made a big mistake by just checking. He checked.
The river was a 3, pairing my 3. Very weak but I made another bet of 200. He called and showed me A/7. Doh!
If I had continued my aggression, representing the Queen, I am sure he would have folded. But I let my "getting beat by A/A when I knew he missed the flop" beat last time scare me off.

Had I been more aggressive I wouldn't have lost the 380 from my stack, and would have ended the hand at least 220 richer. That's pretty substantial, considering that we start with 1,000 in chips.

Eventually I ended up with around 250 in chips (40/80 blinds) and went all-in with 8/8, winning just the blinds.

Not too long after that I went all-in with K/10 and was called by the two players with the biggest chip stacks. Ugh! The best player checked in the dark, to show that he just wanted to check all the way to eliminate me.
They both checked every hand, and the good guy won when his A/4 paired an Ace on the flop.

I went out swinging. I made my all-in while I still had enough chips to discourage a call, and I'd have been a coin flip against most calling hands. It just didn't work out.

So be it.

Pre-Poker

I've been going through my pre-game ritual this week. No red meat, minimal junk food, smaller portions, and no alcohol. I honestly think I play better when I'm a little hungry. I don't know why that is. Maybe food makes me lethargic, or lack of food puts me into predatory mode?
In fact, I haven't had an alcoholic beverage in over a week. Of course, that's not all by my choosing. Normally I'd start consciously not drinking on Sunday or Monday. I probably had a beer last Monday or Tuesday, but I know I didn't any Wednesday or Thursday. Friday I would have had one with dinner (we ate at Ruby Tuesday) but we were staying in a dry county, so there was no alcohol available. We were in the dry county until Sunday afternoon, and by the time I got home Sunday night all I wanted to do was go online and meet my 100,000 goal. I was playing serious poker then, and I will not mix alcohol with serious poker.

Serious poker = Me doing everything I can to win. I actively look for holes in people's games spot tells, study betting patterns, give off fake tells, calculate percentages/odds/outs, etc.
Play poker = Social poker, where winning isn't the goal. I tend to just play my cards, and tend to gamble a lot more. Basically I become just an average schlub at the table, only my goal is to break even. Usually after playing like a schlub most of the night I'll change gears into serious-mode in an attempt at breaking even. If I'm playing for free chips online though, I tend to just kamikaze myself in do-or-die situations to double-up.

I haven't played a single hand of poker since Sunday night. I don't have a steadfast rule against playing before a tournament, but I'd like to abstain from playing serious poker. That is, I don't want to put a lot of effort into a game, making me care about the results, as I think it could effect my mindset. I don't want to be dealt "A/Q" and think to myself, "Maybe I shouldn't raise because the last six times I had Ace/paint" the wrong paint showed up on the flop. I mean, I know I'd still make the right play, but I don't want to question it due to some silly misguided notion of bad luck.
I also think that playing serious poker drains my batteries, especially if variance throws me a dry spell. I want to hit the game with a full tank of gas, optimistic and eager to take the lead and do my best. If I hit the game a little bored of poker my attention will wane, and that's not good. I'd like to pay attention as much as I can, as long as I can.
..not 110%. That's impossible.

The law school dropout's poker blog

I've been reading through The law school dropout poker blog archive, and find it pretty interesting. It's nice to follow his long term ups and downs. I'm barely a year through it right now, but will probably read through the entire thing.

I got the law school dropout link from Raze's post in the 2+2 forum.

I got to the 2+2 forums because of they guy who runs PlusEV.net (a poker comic) recommended going there in his forum.

It's funny how links lead to other links. I remember visiting cruel.com daily to find funny links. Cruel.com linked to ActsOfGord.com, a brilliant of account of one game rental store owner's dealings with dumb and/or obnoxious customers.
ActsOfGord.com linked to WilWheaton.net. Wheaton went to my high school (he left before I started going there), and I was sort of liked Star Trek & Stand By Me so I read it, and enjoyed it. Well, Wil linked to Fark.com and I've been visiting that website just about every day for the past six or so years.

A poker bud emailed me this interesting hand. Obviously he made the correct decision, but given the information I'm not sure that I would have. All said and done I'd only be 50% sure that he was bluffing.
--------------------------------------------------------------
That said, the big moment for me was when the
tournament was down to five people. I had become a
sizable chip leader. One of the regular players,
"R," called the big blind, and my "Uncle K" (the
small blind), my cousin's boyfriend (the big blind)
and I stayed in to see the flop. I had pocket 4s.
After the flop — something like J-8-5 rainbow —
"R" went all-in. I was hoping someone else would
call.

"Uncle K" folded. My cousin's boyfriend folded. I looked
at my stack. I looked at what it would take to call
(about 1/3 of my stack), and then I looked at "R."
For some reason, he picked up his cards, looked at the
flop and looked at his cards again. Something in that
look told me he didn't have anything on the flop. I
thought he's got a face card or an ace, but he doesn't
have a pair.

I decided my pocket 4s were the best hand still
playing, so I called him (a few people have told me
pot odds would dictate folding; I never tried to do
the math). "R" turned over K-6 (or some other
rag). He didn't hit his pair and I added to my growing
stack.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Now compare that to how I went out at my last live tournament:
Mid-way through the tournament I was big blind and had 10/4. One lady with twice the big blind went all-in, one guy who had been playing way too many pots (personally busting out two people in the first round, and a third a short time later!) limped in, so I called.
The flop was K/Q/4. I watched the "plays too many pots but wins" guy and he had the classic "I didn't connect with that flop" tell. Regardless, he put me all-in. I called, and he showed pocket Aces.
Doh!
I made the call primarily because I didn't want to work to get my chips back (I was bored with the game), and because I figured there was a 40% chance that he was bluffing with A/rag. 40% was fine for me to gamble with. Had I cared a little more I'd never have called unless I was was 55% sure that it was a bluff.

Sunaday! Sunday! Sunday!

On Wednesday or Thursday, the last time I was on Full Tilt, I think I had around 74k, well on my way to hitting my 100k goal. I spent Friday night, all day Saturday, and most of today out of town with my wife.

I helped her run her art booth. During the slow times I studied Dan Harrington on Hold'em Volume II. I read the thing like a textbook before a final exam. I read one example/chapter at a time, slowly, making sure I understand the nuances. I only continue when I feel that I can give the next chapter/example my full concentration. So if I'm bored (so my attention will wane) or feel that I'll be distracted I will not continue reading.

When I got home this evening my mother-in-law dropped off our 4 year old, and when she fell asleep I started playing Full Tilt. I noticed that when my daughter is awake I don't do nearly as well. I can pretty much only concentrate enough to play my cards, not the players.

I started playing two 10/20 table games. I had to rebuy in one, but finished the other at around 2,400. I think I ended up with 1,500 in the game I rebought in.
The game was slow, but I was pretty sure that I wouldn't donk-off my chips so I entered the 100/200 table games.

Like I said, I think I started with about 74k and probably had around 75k going in to the 100/200 games. Both tables were really tight. I slow played a few hands, but still didn't get a lot of action.

Quads and nobody called my small bet on the river.

The very next hand...

Min bet with trips and the schmucks all bailed.

The most anybody put in this game was a 2,400 all-in a donkey made, and I called with my A/Q suited. He had K/Q off, and failed to hit his King. Somehow he failed to his a straight too. Weird.

The games were really tight, so I to make occasional, well-timed bluffs. I didn't win any monster pots but made a steady profit throughout the games.

But did I make enough to hit my 100k goal?


Now, after I took that screencap I quit one game, and played another until just before I'd have to post a big blind. I folded about five hands in a row. Of course, the last hand I had A/J suited and had to bail after investing around 2k and getting re-raised. I'm glad I folded, because both the two remaining players had the pair of Jack I flopped beat with a Kings. So now I'm down to 101k. But I just had to be above 100k at any point, and I was (and still am) so... VICTORY!

Oh yeah... I just wanted to say that Dan Harrington's book is awesome. It started out with stuff I already knew, but now... wow.

I can't wait for the poker game this Thursday. If I don't get the final table I'll be disappointed.

Full Tilt emails

Here's some emails I sent a bud. I mostly send them so I can look back at what I was doing.
I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't play the cash tournament unless I could get my Full Tilt account to 100,000 chips. Much of this deals with my attempts to hit the 100k mark.


May 21
This is a pretty hand.

Not a great Omaha hand, but it sure is pretty.

After that Omaha game I hit a 9 player Hold'em sit & go. I had pocket
Q/9 in 3 of the first 4 hands. I ended up getting second place, but
that was due to a couple suck outs on my part.
---------------------------------------------------------------
June 11
Blew 30-something thousand, my entire stack, on Full Tilt this evening.
Pocket aces getting cracked by a flush on the river, straight on the
turn getting beat by a bigger straight on the river, and there were
two other big beats that ended with river flushes but I forget the
details. Anyway, the people did *not* have the odds to chase their
flushes, but did, and I paid the price.

I worked my 1,000 welfare chips back up to 11k I think. So I'm not in
terrible position.

Went home last night and played.
---------------------------------------------------------------
June 13
Got back to 12k from 0.
I can't say that I earned it, as there was a lot of luck involved.

In the attached photo I was all-in after the flop, with a couple callers.
My flush blindness continues. I was too busy thinking "I bet I get
cracked by another straight."
Then all I could think of is "I know someone has a 10".
Then I saw the 10.
Then I got the chips! Sweet!

---------------------------------------------------------------
June 15
Up to 37k now on Full Tilt.
I just wanted to get up to 20k, but things worked out well.

I'm attaching my biggest hand of the night. Things worked out perfect.

I played a smart game, not getting myself in too much trouble. Not a
single pocket pair in the 1:45 minutes I played. I ended up folding
my best hand A/Q suited pre-flop to a bunch of all-ins, but
occasionally I'd draw to some nice hands.

We have a free preview of ESPN classic. I just finished watching the
end of the 2003 WSoP (Moneymaker) and am watching the 2004 now.

---------------------------------------------------------------
June 16
I played on Full Tilt this morning, two tables, maybe 40 minutes.
I'm up to 71k now.

I've been playing well, though I did gamble in my first hand on the
second table, going all-in pre-flop with A/K suited. A guy called
with A/T and hit his ten on the flop, though, I hit my flush on the
turn.

I like going all-in with a great hand when I first join a table, as
people think I'm an all-in-idiot and are apt to call just to look me
up.

I'm pretty sure that when I hit 100k, having met the "100k or no
tournament obligation" I imposed on myself, I'll go into spew mode and
blow all the chips.
---------------------------------------------------------------
June 16
Got back on. Bad beat my way down to around 50k before getting it up to 85k.
Then I got aces, and got squashed all-in pre-flop.
I had both of them covered, but it really hurt my chip stack.

Anyway, I'm at 71k, again. I figured I'd quit while I was even.

---------------------------------------------------------------
June 18
Played Full Tilt, didn't concentrate, and blew all my chips.
Once I put my 4-year-old daughter to bed I could concentrate, and worked my 1k starter up to 23k.
---------------------------------------------------------------
June 21
Have a 6:00 apt at work.
On Full Tilt now.
Kicking much ass.

---------------------------------------------------------------
June 22
I played two 5/10 tables and reloaded my $1k twice on each. But I ended up getting close to breaking even by the end.

Then I moved up to the 100/200 tables. I just couldn't get a hand. Lots of hands I'd make an opening 1,200 bet with (A/J suited) that would be worthless after a lousy flop followed by some bit bets and raises.

One time I got an Ace high flush, only to be beat by a guy who managed to get a straight flush.
Another time someone called my A/K 1,200 bet with 6/4, with an K/6/4 flop... and he was smart enough not to bet enough to chase me off.

Anyway, I was about to quit when I hit a hot streak. First I felted three people, then a couple hands later I felted a couple more.

After that I the good people feared me and I could actually steal some pots.

I said "last hand" and folded crap after someone raised on the river, but stayed to see what hand I'd get... A/K. Doh! Looks like I'd be playing one more hand.
So I bet, got top pair, and ended up losing to trips. It was only an 6k or 8k loss I think, but I wish I'd left when I said I would have.

Full Tilt'ing again

I haven't played online in awhile.
Yesterday I decided that I shouldn't be hitting the real game unless I'm crushing the free Full Tilt tables. I was up over 100k with this account at one point but I've been slowly using money with it for quite awhile now.

I was down to just over 4,000 when I started this evening, and worked that up to 32k.
I got my first big hand Q/Q, and raised to 1,000 when three people limped in before me. The guy on my left called, then a short stack raised all-in, then someone else raised all-in. I had both of these people covered (side por city) so I went all-in myself to encourage the guy on my left (who had me covered) to fold. He called.

Then I saw their cards. What where they thinking?
Okay, maybe the guy on my left thought I was stealing, but the next guy responding to two people out of position putting in 1k apiece by going all-in with 2/2? Insane!
And then guy #3 reacting to all that action by going all in with just A/T????
Then the last guy calling all that insane action with an A/2?
Ugh!

At least justice prevailed and neither the one remaining 2 nor the two remaining Aces showed up, giving me the entire pot. Sweet!

99 players last night

Well, last night was a bust for me.

I just couldn't get psyched up for the game. Even when I was doing pretty well at the first break, I just wasn't in the mood.

I had average cards. My biggest pocket pair was 3/3, but at least I'd get suited connectors and occasional Ace/junk suited and stuff like that. I think my best hand was an A/T that I folded to big action (the guy had pocket Aces), so I never got a great hand, but at least it wasn't a garbage-fest.
The table was weak, lost of people limping so I could afford to prospect, and it usually paid off. I won several hands by noticing when people missed the flop and betting accordingly.

I did have one major blunder early on, where I blew a little over 1/3 of my chip stack (costing me about 500 chips) by bluffing at a pot stupidly with bottom pair. I should have either bet more or bailed. I was sort of waiting around for something scary to hit so I could bluff at the pot, but nothing happened. I just wasted money.

My friend had some tough luck. He played A/T and the flop was A/J/10 or something like that, giving him two pair. He was put all-in and called, as the other guy turned up K/Q. My friend failed to hit one of his six outs (25%?) and was eliminated from the tournament before the break.
In retrospect, the guy could have had trips or an Ace with a Jack kicker to still dominate. But still, he had to make the call with that much already in the pot. You'd have thought that with trips or a straight he'd have slow played a bit, so the all-in seemed too aggressive. But it worked.

At one point I decided to prospect with 3/5 suited (hearts). People were limping in all-over so I figured why not?
The flop was 4/6/7 rainbow. Sweet!
I soooo wanted to check my cards to make sure that I had what I thought I had. But I didn't.
I ended up tripling up that hand when someone put me all-in with his middle pair.

That put the guy on tilt. Later he was complaining, "Maybe I should start playing 5/4?" and I corrected him, "It was 5/3. But they were suited!"
Yes, I know "but they were suited" is the classic Donkey line. That's why I said it.
That guy didn't last too much longer.

Anyway, I didn't feel the need to play during the game. I just didn't have the drive, even when I was doing well.

Mid-way through the tournament I was big blind and had 10/4. One lady with twice the big blind went all-in, one guy who had been playing way too many pots (personally busting out two people in the first round, and a third a short time later!) limped in, so I called.
The flop was K/Q/4. I watched the "plays too many pots but wins" guy and he had the classic "I didn't connect with that flop" tell. Regardless, he put me all-in. I called, and he showed pocket Aces.
Doh!
I had what, a 20% chance at hitting two pair or a full house? But the turn and river were junk, and I was eliminated.

It was actually sort of a relief to be out of the game. I was sort of phoning in my performance. I'd catch myself not paying attention, then not bother to correct my behavior.

One guy we carpooled with ended up making the final table and finishing in the money (8th place). My friend and I, after drinking our "loser beers," watched him at the final table.
Another guy I know was at the final table as well. I don't know how he finished, as we left earlier, but I'd guess he made it to 6th or 7th place. If he hit another good hand under the right conditions who knows, maybe he could have won?