Soft Play?.....No Heart?

Those of you that read Hella Hold 'Em know that I played at Trump Wednesday night. I varied from my Friday night routine thinking that the night before Thanksgiving would be a busy evening in the poker room. It wasn't as busy as I had anticipated but was busy enough to get some solid poker in. I arrived not long after maigrey and was followed shortly by Shelly.

I was seated at the feeder 200 maxNL table and got busy. I was in the 10 seat and Shelly was quickly seated in the 1 seat. Not 10 minutes later the Princess herself was seated in the 9 seat as she moved from the big game. The only hand of real note at the feeder table was when I raised pre-flop with AKs and the board came 10 high rainbow. I bet $15 and was raised by a guy on the end (I think he was in the 4 seat). I mucked and he stated "10 high is good" while showing and something about my Ace King being no good. There were a few comments over on Hella about AK and how they are played in NL cash games. I personally sometimes raise and sometimes limp and I don't always continue betting the flop if missing after I raised pre-flop. It depends on the table.....my stack......the number of players still in....who they are and how they play...my position.....etc. It threw me off for a few minutes but I got over it quickly....I don't think I gave away any info here just think I played it in a standard way.........I would have played it exactly the same if I held JJ - AA except for the mucking part which would have been replaced with a re-raise.

I was moved to a main game rather quickly and there were several big stacks at the table. I was in the 1 seat this time and Shelly followed behind me to the same main game and was in the 5 seat. I had to re-buy before too long after my two pair AQ ran into a straight which I knew was out there if he held J 10 and I called anyway.......I should have recognized that right there as a sign I wasn't playing my "A" game. After I re-bought I played a much more soft passive game than I usually do.......I played without heart. Almost like I was playing not to lose my second buy-in and that's a recipe for disaster.

I limped in with AKs and the flop came Ace high with a two flush (not mine). I check called the flop and turn to any two card johnny with the big stack and the river went check check. I took down the pot but was not AT ALL happy with the way I played it. As I'm talking to myself in my head about how soft and scared I played that one I hear any two card johnny whisper to his buddy in the 10 seat about how softly I play hands. Now I was just telling myself in my own head practically the same damn thing........but hearing him say it set me off......I'm not a player prone to tilt.......but I tilted.....and I'm not happy about it.

I had built my stack back up to close to even kick started by the set of 4's against Shelly which you can read about over on Hella. I limped with K 10 suited. The flop came K high rainbow and I bet the pot. Any two cards Johnny doubled my bet and I called. The turn put a goofy straight possible out there and I check raised him.......he re-raised me all in and I had about $140 left. I kept hearing him saying how I play soft......I knew I didn't play this one soft and realized too late I played it WAY TOO hard........I called off the rest of my chips and he had the goofy straight. Truth is he could have EASILY simply had me outkicked. Horrible playing on my part.......I stood up......said good bye to maigrey.......and stopped at the deli to try the maigrey recommended Polish before heading home earlier than I ever have previously.

I learned from the evening.......just wish the lessons weren't so damn expensive.

On a positive note.......ordered a new video card for my computer yesterday......the fan on my current one is going out and I could use the upgrade anyway.

Taking my wife to Empress Saturday night for some -EV Blackjack......should be a good time. Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.

Til next time.

Baz Out.

First meeting with a Hella Lady.......

Headed to my Friday night live poker stomping grounds Friday night......solo this time out.
Got into the room around 9:30pm and got immediately sat in the 200NL game.....feeder table. (I had called ahead to get my name on the list as usual which is awesome to do so your name moves up the list as you're still driving to the casino.)

By the time a couple of people had been pulled from our table it became a "regular" table as they had started another feeder table. This first table was fairly tight with solid players. I built my stack up to just over $300 from my initial $200 buy-in. I had seen a player I thought to be Shelly playing 3/6 and told myself I would introduce myself when I got the chance. Princess Maigrey walked by and I said "Hello".....she told me Shelly was there and I said I would say hi......I was glad she confirmed that it was in fact Shelly I had seen.

I swung by Shelly's 3/6 table a couple of times and each time she had cards in front of her...........Maigrey had stopped by and told me she was on table 18 and I should put in for a table change over there.....for a minute I thought 18 was the big game but she informed me that she was playing the 200NL game.....she had been playing a feeder for the big game and it broke up. I put in for my table change when a seat opened and couldn't wait......my current table wasn't great anyway and I looked forward to being able to play with the Princess. It took a little while as the room was slowing down somewhat and they were keeping tables even since the 200NL feeder had broken up. In the meantime I had tapped Shelly on the shoulder and introduced myself. I told her I was waiting for a seat at Maigrey's 200NL table 18 and she said she'd look into it.

I was moved to table 18 shortly thereafter and took the 10 seat two to the left of Maigrey. I was glad to be on her left and got busy observing the players at the table. One guy had a monster stack but no one else had a ton of chips in front of them. I was dealt KK in MP and there was a raise to $30 or $35 in front of me.........I re-raised to $75 and was called in one spot. The flop came x-A-x and I thought shit. I bet out and he folded. Around 15 minutes later the guy in the 2 seat asked me what I had when I re-raised to $75 before.....I told him AK.

Shelly made it over before long and got the 9 seat between me and maigrey. I was again glad to have her on my right as well. It wasn't long and I was dealt KK again. (my memory is sketchy so I hope I have the whole thing right) I was in late position and made a standard raise to somewhere between $20 and $30. I was called in two spots and the flop came J-10-6 with two hearts. I can't remember if he bet and I raised or if he checked and I bet but we lost one and it was down to me and the big stack at the table. The turn was a blank and as he checked to me he exposed a Jack. It was not the Jack of hearts as that was on the board so I knew then he wasn't on the flush draw. I bet out a good amount and he called. The river was a blank heart and he checked to me again. I bet out a good amount (can't remember specific amounts) and he check raised me all in. (he may have check raised me all in on the turn...my memory is lacking here....I apologize) I had around $130 left and thought for a few moments. He exposed the Jack to make me question whether or not he had the set and probably to get my reaction to it being exposed. I don't know if I reacted (hope not) My thought was if he actually had the set he would never had exposed one. I pushed my remaining chips in and stated "call". He flipped his other card which was a King and I doubled up with a monster pot.

A little while later I got dealt the Hammer and raised it up to $35 and it folded all the way back around to me while I proudly flipped it onto the felt and smiled. There was some grumbling....it was beautiful. A little while previous a guy on the other end of the table stated after a raise that he couldn't call with 7-2 and maigrey hollered down, "No. But you could re-raise with them...play them like aces." Beautiful.

Anyway.....I logged a nice session and it was great playing with a fellow blogger and Trump regulars.

I will be heading back to Trump Wednesday night so holler if you're heading there. No Friday for me this week.

Take care all.

Baz Out.

Trump, A Princess, and a couple of questions......

I made a run to Trump last night with my brother..........I was supposed to be out of town but plans had to be changed and instead of checking out the poker action at Prairie Meadows in Des Moines Iowa I was back in my familiar Trump surroundings.

I decided that I was going to give the baby NL game (200 max buy-in 2/5 blinds) a go again as the 6/12 grind had been wearing on me and I wanted a change. I've played it a couple of times with some success. My brother wanted to play NL as well so when I called ahead I got us both on the NL list. We got there around 9:30pm and they were getting ready to open a new NL table which would be the feeder table for the evening. Our names were around 10-12 on the list depending on who had checked in and would before they called names so we knew it wouldn't be long before we were sat. I wandered the room quickly and noticed The Princess seated playing NL in a game that uses those nice green chips.......larger than my bankroll can handle. I told myself that once I got settled I was GOING TO SAY HI AND INTRODUCE MYSELF. I bought chips and while in line my name was the 10th called to start the feeder table. I sat in seat 7 and knew we wouldn't be there long before we'd be pulled to a main table. You never know where you'll end up so it's always nice to have increased your stack somewhat before getting pulled.

I won a couple of pots and turned my $200 stack into just over $300 before being pulled to table 15. It was a good looking table at first.......only two LARGE stacks (over $1000) with one of them leaving shortly after I sat down. I told myself, "play solid poker....nothing fancy....trust my reads." The new dealer was waiting to tap in so I posted my time after mucking and headed to introdce myself to Princess Maigrey. I'm very glad I finally introduced myself. We chatted briefly and I returned to my table.............I owe the Princess an apology as well......sorry I didn't stop to say good-bye before bailing.....it was way earlier that I expected when I took off and I was steamed a bit......more on that in minute.........it was a pleasure to finally meet you and I look forward to chatting more in future visits.

Now I just need to hook up with One Hella Hold 'Em player and a DonkeyPuncher on other trips to the Trump. Another time Shelly and DP.

Back to the action.........

I was slowly building a nice stack........with my BB unraised and me holding 7 4o the flop came 4 4 6 rainbow. It checked around and the turn came a J. I checked and a short stacked player in MP Over bet the pot to $45 leaving him with less than fifty in his stack. It folded to me and I raised him all in and he called. He had J 9 suited with no flush draw and I caught a 7 on the river for the full house.

I had a tight image to the people that were paying attention and actually got a couple to fold after the flop with a continuation bet when I missed and they checked to me when I was in position. There was one guy that would call and/or raise with any part of the board or two overcards. I couldn't put him on a hand. When the seat immediately to my left opened he moved there and I wasn't thrilled with it. It wasn't long and we tangled in a hand.

I'd love to hear opinions from anyone and everyone on how I played the following two hands. I need help.

I had built my stack to around $550. I was in LP with Kc 10c. There were several limpers and I limped as well (should have raised here?) as did the gentleman immediately to my left. There was roughly $30 in the pot. The flop came Ac 5h 8c. It checked to me and I bet $20 with my nut flush draw. The guy to my left called and everyone else folded. I was concerned about the Ace but had seen this guy play and show down any piece of a board. The pot was $70. The turn was the 10h giving me second pair with the nut flush draw. I bet out $50 and he called. The pot was $170. The guy had around $80 left in his stack and the river brought the 6d. I thought my ten could be good and figured if he had an Ace with a weak kicker he would lay it down. I bet out $75 basically putting him all in......he pushed all in and it actually cost me another $20 as he had $95 total and he turned over Aces up.......Aces and 6's catching the second pair on the river and both were hearts giving him the heart flush draw on the turn.

This hand put a dent in my stack........thoughts on how I played this?

It was right after this hand that maigrey stopped by to say "Hi" and commented how I had a lot more chips a little while ago. Sorry if I was short with you.....I was trying not to be steamed from this hand but it bothered me......maybe I should have picked the good Princess's brain there but she was moving to the BIG Game and her thoughts seemed occupied with that.

3 hands later...................I'm sitting with roughly $250.

I'm dealt the lovely Hilton Sisters in MP. The player two to my right raises it up to $35. Standard raises at this table had been $15 or $20 with one guy always min. raising. This struck me as odd and I put him on a mid-pair or AJs type hand. I just called as did the big blind. There was roughly $110 in the pot. The flop came 3 6 8 with two diamonds. The BB checked and the MP player bet out $75. I thought about it for a minute..........I decided if I called here I was going to end up with all of it in anyway so I wanted to get rid of the Big Blind player and put the bettor to the test. I also thought he could be on a diamond draw and wanted him to have to pay to draw to it. I pushed for $212 total and the Big Blind folded. The bettor hesitated for a moment and then said I call asking me if I had a set. He flipped over KK and had my Queens dominated. The turn brought another low diamond and he didn't have the King of diamonds so I had more outs at the river but the river was the Jack of hearts and I was felted. I got up and walked out.

Any thoughts on this hand? On the way home I thought a lot about it and was actually impressed that I was able to play it in much the same fashion that I would in a tournament......when in the past I had trouble getting over the fact that those chips are actually money and I looked at them this time as simply chips to be used.......good or bad?

Insight is needed.....HELP!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Baz Out.

Results........

It was a long day.......I don't have the time or the energy for a major recap. I am very happy with the way I played in the WSOP live Rockford tourney today.......I built a big stack early and picked spots to use it but the structure of this tourney had the blind levels catch back up with me before too long. I had the Hilton Sisters twice and they held up both times.......one time tripling me up from around T3000 to around T9000......I was called in two spots with the first caller having pocket Jacks and the second caller having pocket tens. Two Kings came on the flop and I turned a Queen sealing the deal for me. I pushed all in from MP when folded to me with the blind levels at 2000/4000 and about to go up........I had just over T10000 and had two beautiful looking ducks in the hole.......I was hoping to pick up the blinds but was called by the big blind with AJo. The flop was all low......turn was low......river was a Jack......ouch......I went out around 60th of the 250 in the first session.....was the last person out before the second break and the tables were combined from 6 to 5.

Had a good time and am happy with the way I played today. Didn't fare too well in the side games and after losing $150 there as well decided to call it a night and get home in time to help get the kids bathed and in bed.......only missed an exit and added 1/2 hour to the trip causing me to miss it..........next time.

Here's wishing everyone a good week.

Baz Out.

Thoughts.....

I turned 32 on Tuesday. Birthday's at this stage are simply like another day except the best thing now is my little ones love the fact that it's someone's birthday.....my two year old daughter was pretty bummed however when she realized later that evening that we weren't going to Chuck-E-Cheese. That's only for the kids birthdays (although I have a blast there with them)......she doesn't fully grasp that just yet. When you have a 2 and 4 year old you don't even get to open your own gifts......which is quite all right with me. They have a blast doing it and I have a blast watching them tear it apart. Our 7 month old even wanted to get in on the action.....next year little buddy.

I got NCAA Basketball 06 for PS2 along with Tiger Woods 06 and the network thing to hook up online.......except I'm an idiot and didn't fully think about the fact that the dsl modem is upstairs and the PS2 is downstairs and I have to be able to hook the two together to play online. I don't have a wireless router/network so I think I'm going to buy a 100' ethernet cable and simply run the wire when I play. It will always be in the evenings after all the kids are in bed so the cord won't really affect anyone but the wife. We'll see. Also got an Urlacher jersey which is a gentleman that plays a little football for the First Place Chicago Bears. Lastly I got a wireless remote for the PS2 which is sweet.......my wife definitely had a theme working and it was nice to get such things that I don't normally buy for myself but love to mess around with.

I had missed the first two showings of the main event and have them all TIVO'd so I watched the first two last night. I was on the broadcast........only you couldn't see me. If either of you two that stop in here from time to time remember I had a stake in MicroBob (sorry...can't link from work) for the 2005 WSOP and volunteered to update his blog as the day went on........if any of you remember the show when Johnny Chan sat down at his table they showed a gentleman talking on his cell phone stating "Johnny Chan is at my table." That was MicroBob and he was talking to me. I saw the good Dr. Pauly and looked for AL but missed him if that's the show he was on.

I stayed up and played in the $6000 gauranteed tourney on Full Tilt which started at 12am on Nov. 1st as a birthday present to myself. 288 players and I went out uneventfully around 122. I will be playing in the WSOP 2006 tourney in Rockford this Sunday and am looking forward to it. Not making it to Trump this Friday night so will hopefully get some online poker in. Maybe I will look to play some MTT's to get ready for Sunday. Played a bunch of HUSNG's on Full Tilt anywhere from $10 - $30 and have been doing quite well. Not sure if those count towards my bonus but I needed a change of pace.

Anyway.....gotta run.

Baz Out