Low Limit Grinder

more photos

2005-10-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

I like PokerStars

2005-10-04T11:59:00.001-07:00

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 9805238

2005-09-06T11:44:00.001-07:00

2005-09-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

2005-09-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it takes a month...

2005-06-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

I've been holidaying a lot in June. Since I usually write in my blog to pass the boring hours at my job, I haven't had to log in and post anything for a while.

I went to Vegas for the start of the WSOP. It was a good experience, but I won't go back there without a plan, that's for sure.

Playing with Josh really taught me a lot. Not that he gave me some great lessons, but he does really well playing on the 30/60 games on Party. So I spent some time thinking about his game, and trying to figure out the success of it. I came to the following:

1. Don't give anything away. 76s is still 7-high... not worth defending the blinds with.
2. Don't dig yourself into holes. Play good poker and bury your opponents.

With that in mind, I hit the internet micro-limit games pretty hard. I'm up $500 over the last week playing $1/2 6-handed on Doylesroom.com. That's awesome. When I get it to a thousand I'm going to move up limits.

I've also decided to take my poker play a lot more seriously. I'm keeping a new book starting on Friday and I plan to meticulously monitor every wager and keep track of as many players as I can handle.

The big component of all of this is to play more tournaments where the money means something. I'm going to try to earn enough to spend about $200-$400/month on tournament entries. I intend to play in the big Saturday tournament at RiverRock each month followed by the big money tournaments on Sunday at Pokerstars.com and Partypoker.com. I honestly believe that I now have the ability and the chops to go pretty deep in these things. It's just a matter of time before I'm sitting on TV antagonizing whether or not to push it all in with AJs. (Probably a good fold!)

Now... part of the secret of this latest success is the general poor play of the opponents where I've been playing. Here's a fun hand from today. I'm ME, and he's IDIOT.

I have AdQs in the SB. Idiot UTG. 6 players see flop for one bet.

FLOP: As Ks JcI bet, call, idiot raises, call, fold, fold. I re-raise, fold, call, call. 3players.

TURN: KhI check, idiot bets, fold, I call.

RIVER: AcI bet, idiot raises. I re-raise, idiot caps, I call.

SHOWDOWN: IDIOT: Td5d for two pair AAKKJ ME: AdQs for Full House AAAKK

So you see... there's a lot of money to be made by me of late. I'll try to score some more tonight. The trick is to not try to get too big too quickly.

For the record... my Doylesroom.com $1000 project: $625

Wedding weekend and more fun...

2005-05-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

This has been a very high and low weekend. Well... it hasn't really been low at all. I guess it's been a real salad bar of emotions.

I started off with an all-nighter with my friend Jehu playing poker matches at my place. He's a sharp player and likes to mix it up, but I think he get's a little down on himself sometimes. I'm just guessing, though. This may not be the case at all. Either way, I have to play my best poker if I want to beat him. That's why I like playing him so much... he's a great acid test for me.

Whenever he's confronted with a big decision, he vocally works his way through the hand to put me on something. he's usually correct in his analysis, so it's very difficult to get paid off when I have a monster. But he's not incapable of coming back over top of me for all my stack, so I have to time my moves perfectly.

Anyway, he seldom calls off all his chips which makes beating him a real challenge.

When we first started playing, he took about $300 out of my place one night... $100 of it mine playing heads-up until sunrise. Now we play a pretty standard set of matches for $20 a piece. I won 5 of 6 on Friday night, so I'm starting to win my money back. We're about even, but I don't think he felt that way leaving my place. Something tells me that I might have had home court advantage or something supernatural. We'll probably change the venue next time.

WEDDING

On Saturday, I flew to Calgary for a wedding. My family (including my niece... God Bless that glorious child!) came to meet me for breakfast. My dad and I spoke mostly baseball and poker (as usual) before my mom drove me to Banff for the ceremony.

Stephen and Tara were married at the Banff Springs hotel in the most beautiful ceremony I've ever been to. I hope my upcoming wedding is as memorable.

Blah blah blah... so much fun partying and drinking and eating and smoking cigars... I hope to do well at the tables and buy a place there.

Peru

Today was strange. I took my girlfriend, Erin, to the airport and sent her off to Peru for three weeks. She's been looking forward to this trip for years. Having travelled and backpacked myself, I knew the excitement she must have been holding back. No tears at the airport. She just kissed me and reminded me to feed the cats.

She'll be back in three weeks. I hope to have lots of stories to share and money to blow on her.

Bad night?

2005-05-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

I lost $200 last night. That's my stop loss. No big deal. I wasn't really on my game, but I wasn't playing that poorly either. I trapped well on a few monster hands (pocket 4s for a set again... wow!) and stole a pot here and there. Last night seemed like I was playing in an alternate poker universe. The probabilities were backwards and every unlikely event was kicking me in the crotch.

There is a guy who play at the River Rock who looks like one of those hear/speak/see no evil monkeys. I call him Mr. Monkey. He's a Chinese man and enjoys playing 'fortune-gambo-gambo-frushdraw-nihan-nihan" poker. I like this attribute since it means I can bet more when I want him to call and he'll more than likely come in.

Three hands got me.

QQ vs ATo and he called an all-in bet on the flop needing two running cards for a straight or an ace. Also, there were three clubs on the flop, so his club outs were dead. I lost to a straight.

A6 (BB) vs KT I bet $30 at a $25 pot on the turn with two pair. He called and hit a gutshot on the river and checked to me. I check and lose.

This hand just baffles me. I limped behind 4 others with Q3h. The flop came 8h 9h Th. A betting frenzy ensues with a short-stack committing his stack, Mr. Monkey calling, and me pushing my stack in. He shows Jh 7h for the pure nuts. What can you do?

I'm not really whining. Just scratching my head. I think it's like in those movies when a guy gets shot, but it takes him a moment to realize that he's been shot... you know? This more than makes up for the quads I made last weekend. We're even, you hear me poker?!?!?!

But here's what bugs me about it all. I put all my checks in play on two of the above hands. In retrospect, I don't see how I couldn't have. Once I was a favourite, and the other time... well... I'll win that pot more often than I'll lose it. So, I can't figure out if I played poorly. I made a few poor calls earlier when I underestimated my opponent and I made a few laydowns when I probably hand the winner. I know my play wasn't stellar, but did I lose because I was bad, or because I was unlucky?

I'm going to take a moment and decide... hang on....

Okay... I'm settling on this. Some bad play (limping with spec hands from up front/calling weak opponents with marginal hands) with a little more good play (trapping well with trips twice/reading a bluff from a good player) combined with horrible luck (above).

I think I'll shake it off and get back in there.

A good trap: The beauty of a Flopped Set

2005-05-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

I have great things to say about the new casino in Langley. Gateway, who used to operate the casino in Chinatown (Vancouver) opened the Cascades in Langley and it's awesome. It's about 10 steps from the front door to your first wager, which is the mark of a great room. The next good thing is that you can park right by the front door! Finally, the poker room is right at the front of the casino! So I can park my car and be at the poker room in about 30 seconds. I love the place!

On top of all this, the NL action is remarkably soft. If only it were a convenient distance from home. Alas, it isn't. It's about 20 minutes from my girlfriend's place, so when I was house-sitting for her all last week I could find myself at the Cascades regularly. The convenient game for me is at the River Rock.

I don't like this casino very much... the parkade seems to be about a mile away from the poker room. And the room isn't very well run. Darell has done a great job getting it up and running, getting more games in there, and generally improving it of late. But you still run into some hassles here and there that I wish wouldn't happen. Attention to detail, you know?

I actually have a good story, so I'll quit complaining and get to my story.

I play there a few nights a week after work when there are a lot of young guys playing in the $1/2 NL game. These players aren't exactly terrible players. Some of them are. Some of them are very aggressive... at times, to a fault. Most of the butter in this game is in the errors that most players make. You know the game.

I dumped $100 early on what I thought was a great bluff, but with no table image... I learned my lesson. Shortly there after, I caught KK and my opponent moved all in with AK to double me up. This hand doesn't beg analysis, but there is a right and a wrong way to play AK from early position.

He opens for $10. I raise right behind him to $30. He move all in for $60 more. I call and hold up.

I guess if he thinks I'd make that play with AQ it's not a bad push, but I don't like his line and the result speaks for itself.

This is my hand of the night though. There is a player in this game who is generally fearless. He is in a lot of pots. Raises and bets from any position. He is a strong player, but if he has a weakness it is his hand-reading skill. He can't smell a monster or a bluff. This is the 3rd session we've been in together and I've been looking for a good chance to trap him and break into his stack. I've got it all planned out and am waiting for the opportunity when...

He raises to $10 from MP.
I call with 4c 4s on the button.
BB calls.

POT: $31
Flop: Ks 6c 4h

This is it. I've put him on AA, KK, QQ, or AK. If he has KK he'll check. If he has AK, AA, or QQ he'll bet. Probably about $20.

BB checks.
He bets $12.

I'm convinced that he has AA with this bet. I think he was worried about losing anybody with a bigger bet. I'll call and hope he bets big on the turn.

I call $12.
BB folds.

POT: $55
TURN: 8d

He bets $40
I raise to $110 (so that if he doesn't put me all in, he'll have to call my $50 river bet.)
He raises all-in.
I call.

RIVER: 3s

I remember reading a story in the back of McEvoy/Cloutier book where they were watching a hand in the WSOP. There was a preflop raise and caller. The the raiser bet the flop and was called. TJ noted that the bettor should hit the breaks because he's likely up against a set.

I'd been looking for a way to break into this guy's stack for a few sessions and I'd finally found the opportunity. But when you have a huge win like this, or you put a great beat on a guy. Maybe you run a great bluff and steal a pot. While these moments pump you up and get you off, you should try to learn the lesson from the other end. I think I've done that here.

On a side note, I booked my ticket to Vegas a few hours ago. I'm going to be at the Imperial Palace for four nights on the 5th. If I win $1000 by then, I'll play in the PLO8 tourney.

Good luck... and may your implied odds be through the roof.

Oh yeah... I have a blog...

2005-05-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

I forgot about this blog. Too bad really, but I'll make an effort to contribute a little more to it. It doesn't matter that much, since nobody else reads it. But in the event that I win the WSOP main event and then die tragically the following day... I should hope to have an account of my last month on Earth.

Lately, I've been playing more golf, less limit poker... and driving too far to play in a really juicy 1-2 NL game.

The truth about my NL game is that I am very good. I'm not great and I don't have blinding moves that'll thwart any seasoned rounder, but I'm very good meaning that it's hard to get chips out of me. In my first few sessions (a while ago) I learned the perils of drawing hands and Ace-rag situations. With more experience and artillery under my belt, I'm a little more of a force at the table. Just being at the table is a learning experience for me now. I'm starting to pick up on more of the subtle nuances of NL play.

For example, last weekend after a three hours of solid winning poker, I opened a pot with a raise from the back with 87o and got only one caller; the Big Blind. The flop came 2 9 A. It was checked to me and I bet about 3/4 of the pot and was called. The turn was a 6 completing a rainbow and giving me the nut draw. It was checked to me and I peeled a card. This is the correct play. Some might suggest that betting is right here, but if you're against a player who was planning on trapping you with a big check-raise on the turn, then you must avoid this. Besides that, what hand could I possibly be beating. It's not likely that he held 43 or 54 the way this hand has played out thus far. It's more likely that he has A with a marginal kicker (like T) and is hoping for a showdown. Another ripple here is that I want to show this hand down. Now if I miss my draw I can show that I had a busted straight draw and garner some action.

The river card was a miracle (T) but my opponent didn't bet. I'd hoped he'd made 2 pair (I think now that he had A8) and would lead out at me. I bet $50 looking for a call and he called. I showed down mu 87o which I'd raised with preflop.

For the rest of the night, people will remember that I am capable of raising with 87o from late position and I'll earn more calls on my raises from players holding QT0 and the like. Still, you must manage these things and not over use them. Raising a hand like 87o two seats off the button isn't awesome poker, but doing it again and again and again is stupid poker... unless you're that feared I guess.

Now I'm going on and on and on. I'm not trying to sound preachy with the above, and I'm certainly not trying to come off as an authority, but I am trying to illustrate that you can manipulate the players in your game.

Here's the lesson I've learned from my play over the last few weeks: The key to NL is to sit in a game with 2 or 3 soft spots and exploit them. It may be a young guy who hasn't a clue, an old guy who likes to gamble, or a guy who simply over values a hand like top pair good kicker. Sit in that game and look for every opportunity to get that person heads-up and outplay them.

Okay... I'll post something in the days to come. I'm still on the fence about going to Vegas. I made about $1000 this week, but I'd be pretty hard up if I got broke down there and had to pass the time. I guess I could watch the WSOP, but I'd rather play in it.

Send money!!!

Bad in live action, good online...

2005-05-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

This seems to be a juxtaposition of my attitudes towards poker. I normally hate playing online and do so as a means of preventing me from being out in the world spending money I don't have. Lately, it's been all my profit, but not much at that. I'm on the bumpy road of B&M play.

I can't decide if I was the fish at the mixed game with FellKnight, Monkeyman, Josh, and a few other totally fish.... (Wait, I guess I wasn't) or if I was just card dead. I recall getting outdrawn on some pretty narrow draws on two occasions, but I lost track of the mistakes I made playing Stud for the first time. I was most impressed with Monkeyman's play. I'd like to play more with him because I could learn a lot from that guy. However, I'm sure it would cost me.

He made a great move with QQ in a NL hand. I don't remember, but I think he was in the SB with QQ. The flop was something like J T 6 and he just pushed at it. Everybody mucked to the button who was one of the aforementioned fish. He'd been catching cards and hitting left and right and smiling and laughing and being really annoying. He'd already gone in for $400 and was showing a profit at this point. Anyway, he called off his whole stack with top pair and didn't improve. Monkey broke him and wiped the grin off his face in a nanosecond. RGPers won the day.

Myself, I was stuck $220 in that game. Maybe it'll get me a few more calls in the future games! ha!

On Monday, we (Girlfriend and some pals) went to Seattle to see the Mariners game. I always like to stop off at a little card room I know on the way down. In my few trips there, I've always shown a profit. But it's the overcalls that keep me coming back.

K7s in the cutoff. (I love these hands in loose-passive games where players are super easy to read and carry their hands too far.) I limp in behind about 4 other and the SB raises. BB calls ands 7 of us see the flop. I think I could re-raise here, but if flop to this hand I want to slow play the flop and spring on the turn.

The SB bets in the dark (which I think it sorta silly in this kind of game) and I egg him on. The flop is K J 6 with one club. I'm not crazy about it, but I have some ways to win and the pot will be laying 21 small bets after this round of betting. So I call and peel off a K on the turn for a complete rainbow board. Both blinds call my raise on the turn and my river bet. The SB mucks and the BB shows AA. Unbelievable! He never took the lead. So that's why I like this game and look for any excuse to drive down.

I won $140 in 40 minutes in a $3/6 game. That's pretty good.

Back to work on Tuesday night, then off to the River Rock for the $1/2 NL game. I won the first hand that I posted (KT... broadway cracks KK) and was quickly ahead, only to blow it all an hour later when my KK got nailed.

KcKh UTG. I make it $8 and get called in 3 places. Flop is J 9 3 with two clubs. I bet $30 and get one caller. My read at this point is that he has a J. Probably QJ or KJ. I think the player would re-raise with AJ preflop and he didn't. I thought to that if he had a club draw he'd have raised me to get me off the lead. None of this happened so I thought I was ahead with a big redraw.

I pushed my remaining $86 on the turn and he said, "It's a tough one, but I'm going to have to call to see if I can make a straight flush." That's the kind of thing I like to hear. Anyway, I didn't improve and got broke.

So I lose, I win, I lose, I win, I lose. It's been a while since I've put together a solid winning streak of more than 5 sessions. I could really use one too!

DOYLESROOM.COM UPDATE:
I have $56 dollars. Started with $0.

Finally! Something to write about

2005-04-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today was a breakthrough day! Not really, but it seems that I have something poker related to write about, which is the point of this whole blog, I think.

I woke up this morning, took the dog out and sat down in a PLO8 freeroll. I'm still trying to make $1000 without depositing any money on Doylesroom.com. These freerolls are great because the players are horrible, the blinds go up every 8 minutes, and they pay the top 18 or something. Anyway, I was playing pretty well, not getting into any trouble and not getting quartered. I got out of the gate slow, but built my stack up to contender status. I only made one bad fold; laying down top two (Q T) when the board was 2-flushed after an aggressive player bet half my stack and another player moved all-in before me. I think I'd fold that almost every time because it was near the end of the tournament, but the turn was another T and I'd have surely tripled up. Damn! Ah well, I didn't need that one.

I was pretty pissed though because I couldn't get the tournament lobby to load and tell me what my status was. I knew I was on the bubble and I wanted to cash (it was actually worth it to sneak into the money in this freeroll.) The damn lobby wouldn't load, so I couldn't get the information. Believing that I was still a few spots out of the money, I felt that I was going to have to win a hand. UTG with enough to pay the BB, I got AQ83 with a suited Q. Not a great starting hand, but probably better than average. I limped in and saw a flop that couldn't have teased me more: J T 4. Long story short, I lost and didn't make a low hand. So I was out. Then the window pops up to say, "Thanks for playing. You finished 19th." I was boiling. That would have been an easy fold given the chip stacks around me, but I didn't know that since I couldn't see the bloody lobby. Now I'm out 2000 Action Points!!! :)

After that horrible beat, and with $3.50 in my account (I lost a few dollars at PL HE) I sat in a $.05/.10 PLO8 game. With a $2 buy-in against 2 other players - total maniacs - I promptly doubled. Then the game started to fill.

PLO8 is not a game you can run a lot of bluffs in. Not when there are 6 players seeing the flop and calling your pot-sized bet. One of the maniacs didn't learn that and within a half-hour, I was up $30.

I know this sounds like peanuts, and it is, but I started with $0. So I'm way ahead.

Tonight is the second last night for poker at the Mandarin in Chinatown, so I'll head down for some gamble (and gamble they do). That's kinda where I learned a lot about poker... Vancouver poker.

Tomorrow is my buddy's wedding. Probably no poker going on with the condition I'm likely to be in. But Sunday... whoa nelly! Hopefully I'll have something to write about then.

G'night

'Prentice night...

2005-04-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

I've decided to take the week off from playing live poker. I'll be playing myself ragged in May, so I wanted to refresh myself.

I love Thursday nights. I work a night shift and my girlfriend works days. We don't get to spend as much time together as we should. Thursday nights are our designated night together. In about 20 mins I'll race home from work and we'll drink beers, or whiskeys... martinis maybe, and watch the apprentice on tape. It's the simple things, you know?

No poker playing tonight. I have spent some time today on poker theory, however. I'm still trying to get a handle on Stud. Seems like there are more opportunities for bluffing. Having said that, I think I'll work on my reputation as a rock for those hands. (refering to the mixed game on Sunday)

I'm working on my bankroll right now. I'm cutting it up and trying to figure out how I'm going to make $5,000 by June to get to the WSOP. I think it's plausable for me, but I've got a few more things to manage than just playing poker, so I can't sit down for 6-8 hours a day. I blew a great opportunity today for a couple hun...

My chiropractor (I highly recommend you see one of these guys. Get a good Musculo-skeletal guy) and I played a round at Point Roberts G&CC. Easily the nicest track I've played in some time. Brutal tee boxes, though. We usually play a $100 Nassau and I work him for a few strokes on the first tee. We agreed that I could have 3 strokes per nine by handicap. Awesome deal for me! Even though we were playing match-play, this was still a big edge.

I opened with a great drive down the middle. Doc lost his drive to the right. I scored par. He carded a 10. Damn! Should have gone for stroke play. I won the first three holes, tied on #4, won #5 and #6. $100! Then I shot an 8 on #7, made five on the next par three and a bogie on #9. Doc, who is easily a better golfer than I, was having the worst round of his season, but starting to find his game.

I felt a stiffness in my shoulder coming on and negotiated my way out of the bet. He agreed that we'd pick up the bet next time we play. Good thing, because I shot a 51 on the back nine utterly ruining my round.

We're all winners though because we stuffed the trunk with cheap beer before crossing back into Canada.

Tomorrow is a neat day. I have tonne of canned goods in my pantry that I don't think I'll be eating soon, so I'm going to take them to the food bank. I think you should do the same. We never think of the food bank in the summertime. It seems like a Christmas charity, but people are always hungry. Then, I'll check out Superiorpoker.com after a friend told me it's the only site he plays at. He tells me he's winning a few hundred a day there. Cool! I'll give it a go. Maybe I can cash in too.

Doylesroom.com update #1

2005-04-27T02:40:00.000-07:00

I got home from work and get a seat in the $150 guaranteed Freeroll. I finished 4th and won $12. AWESOME! My plan is coming together. I promptly dumped $4 playing like an idiot on my PLO8 table.

Current Status: $8.30

Great weather, Great Dog, Great girl...

2005-04-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

It's hot today. It's Tuesday. I live in Vancouver, a few blocks from the beach. It's awesome. My girlfriend lives about 45 mins that-a-way, so driving to her place on such a morning isn't the best use of the sunshine, but she's well worth it. Besides, she needed somebody to fix her barbeque. I don't know if you've ever done any barbeque repair, but it's not all that daunting. So... the barbeque works again.

My black dog (I'll post a pic if I decide to learn how) didn't care for the long drive in the black car. She went for a swim when we took her for a walk. By noon, I'd pleased both of the bitches in my life. (note: That line was for comic effect. I don't consider my gf to be a bitch.)

Now... I'm at work learning Stud. I've played some 7-stud online. I've played a little bit at home games. (I've played a lot of Chicago, but never really learned much about the fundamentals of Stud while I was at it.)

The reason I'm working on my Stud game is because of this RGP mixed game coming up at River Rock on Sunday. We'll be playing $5/10 HE, Stud, and Omaha and NLHE. I'm looking forward to the game because it will be the most fun I've had playing poker in a long time, but I'm trying to make sure I don't piss away any momentum I build being completely inept at Stud.

Anyway... I guess this entry is just a waste of time. I'll try and do something constructive.

A while ago, I discovered $3 in my PokerStars account. I set out on a mission to turn the $3 into $1000. It was fun! I started out playing $.01/.02 PL Omaha. At the end of my first session, I had $12. I did it again the next day on two tables and worked it up to $26. I was en fuego.

From there, I played a few $5 SnGs. I'd sit out three rounds and sneak into the money. Cashing was more important than winning at this point. I did that about five or six time, winning one of them. I had $60 at this point, so I started playing some 4-player heads-up HE matches. I do really well in this arena after learning one key fundamental which I'm hesitant to tell anybody else.

When I got over the $100 mark, I started multi-taksing. I'd play SnG, usually PLO8, and then play a short-handed $.50/1 HE game. It took off from here and I had it over $200 in a few days. I remember getting stuck at $225 and yo-yoing between there and $180 for about a week and a half. Nothing seemed to work. Then... a breakthrough.

I started on a mad rush. All my bluffs were working. All my big draws were hitting. My game was sharp... no leaks! I ran it up to $300 before jumping up to three tables. One $1/2 PLO8 and two $2/4 short-handed HE tables. For you non-PLO8 players this is like playing 2 1/2 tables. PLO8 is a real grind of a game.

I had my $3 ran up to $1330 a few days later. I cashed out $1100 and promptly lost the balance playing the same games I was killing the days before. Which makes sense because online poker is rigged!

Now, I'm onto a new project. I reformated my hard drive and only thought to install PokerStars on the revamped machine. Then, as I was reading SS2 I thought to myself, "What is the point of marshmallows?" No... sorry... "Hey, I got this book from Doylesroom.com. I wonder if I still have some money there."

So I downloaded it and found my account empty, but I had 12000+ of their 'action points.' Doylesroom.com has some of the worst poker players I've ever encountered online. I've only made one $50 deposit there to get the book and cashed out $800 a few days after earning my copy by getting 10000 of these points.

The site also does some bonus tourneys which you can buy into with these points, so I'm going to try to win $1000 off these points. I'll keep you posted. So far, I'm winning. In last night's $30 freeroll (first place - $8.10) I finished 28th for a profit of $.30. I played well until I fell asleep. I was in 3rd at one point with over T12000. There were 98 players left. Next thing I remember, I was in 33rd with about T6000. As soon as I got past the bubble, I moved all-in.

I won the first all-in, lost the second. Then I went to bed. Tonight I shall try to build on the $.30 in the same fashion.

Fish who think they're smart...

2005-04-26T03:55:00.000-07:00

I hate it when a fish sucks out a big pot, makes a horrible error... and then acts all smug and says something to make you look like an idiot.

My $2/4 game.

Hero: Kc 3c (I know...)
Villain: Ad Th

Flop: Ac Ks Kd
Turn: Jc (Okay.... I got him to put in 5 bets here.)
River. Qh The fish checks. I check. He wins.

Don't get me wrong. I'll take that action any day of the week. But don't try to tell me that I'm a dummy when you hit one of 5 cards that win you the pot but you don't have the brains to bet it?

I was pretty stunned by this pot.

Anyway, I wouldn't have played any differently tonight. I lost $10 on the night. That's completely brutal, I know. I couldn't hit my draws towards the end of my session. Most of the value in this game is the fact that most of the players will call two or three bets cold on the flop just to see if the turn helps them. It's not uncommon to see a player call 3 bets with nothing but overcards when the board is suited.

I consider a straight/flush draw a great hand worth betting. Because when you hit it, they'll keep paying you off. I couldn't hit these draws tonight despite flopping three of them in my last hour.

Whatever... I clearly don't have this game beat. I'll have to re-think it.

The good news is... the Vietnamese place was open and were happy to make me a #45 to go. I'm eating it now. I think this is pork!

I'm hoping to learn a lot about poker in the next few months. I plan on going to the WSOP in June with my friend Josh. I don't know which tournaments he's planning on playing in, but I'm all about the PLO 8 tourney on the 6th. I have to make the $1500 thought. Plus my airfare. Yikes... I'd better get to work. I'm looking forward to this.

Vancouver is so full of superstitious and fortune based players. There is little skill in the low-limit games here. I know how that sounds, but there is way less skill here than anywhere. The players in Vancouver are terrible. Sure, some guy will show you the World's Fair all night long, but that guy's a losing player in the long run. The problem is... on any given night you're up against nine of them. The only way to control your varience is to bring a friend to the table!!!

So, I'm going to take a few days off and get some sleep. I'm going to adjust my approach. I'm going to get ready for this mixed game we're playing at the River Rock on Sunday. I'm going to need all the help I can get.

Later...
sr

Welcome to the Low Limit Grinder

2005-04-25T23:36:00.000-07:00

Hey...

Thanks for popping by. I was a little bored at work tonight and decided to start a blog. Everybody seems to be doing it... it's the Nineties!

I'll tell you flat out that this won't be the greatest blog in the world. It will probably be better than AcesUp's blog though. I'd put it somewhere between Dostoyevski and an Archie comic.

My deal is this: I'm a low-limit player. I've been playing seriously(B&M) for about 6 or 7 years now. My father taught me to play poker when I was very young. I watched him play his monthly homegame and learned a lot from the characters who came by. They played a lot of goofy games, but Chicago and a variation of Omaha were mixed in there.

Now, I play Hold 'em. I've only been playing HE for about 5 years. I've learned a lot and am certainly no fish, but my problem is that I've stopped learning at level 2.

Level 1: What do I have?
Level 2: What does he have?

So, I'm getting beat in the bigger games despite what I consider to be great efforts. This is why I've started the blog. So that I will be able to document my play a little better.

Tonight, I'm going to play in this $2/4 game near my house. I call it "the trifecta" because it's 5 mins from where I live, it's across the street from a great Vietnamese place, and it's full of fish. I'm not too crazy about the limits, but I've played it 6 times now and each time I've made about $200. That's not a typo. The game is that silly. The only issue with it is that I'm not learning much.

The players raise in spots where they shouldn't. They don't fold when they are drawing dead or are clearly beat. They have no starting hand selection. Nobody will 3-bet me when I raise the flop. They just don't get it. They don't understand why they are getting beat. Give me JTs over AA in this game any day.

So, the game is that good. It's quite an adjustment to play in any other game though. For instance, I played NL Saturday afternoon (about 4 hands/hr). Later, I went to a regular $4/8 game in Chinatown (maybe 8-10 hands/hr) then to the $2/4 game (>20 hands/hr)

I'm going to take my dog out and then hit the game. I'll let you know how I do! And I'll post a few of my ambitions next time.

Later...