Cut Throat

I saw a great example of when Implicit Collusion should not apply. I was observing a hand that I folded in which one player was all-in pre-flop. Five people were remaining in a tournament that only paid four. The big blind made a modest (strange) re-raise to against the small blind's call. There was 900 chips in the main pot and 800 chips in the side pot with blinds at 60/120. The flop came JK9 rainbow and both remaining players checked.

The turn was a 6, putting two hearts on the board. The BB had 1,600 chips behind, and the SB had 2,600. If you were the small blind I would encourage you to bet out about 400 chips here. The big blind would likely fold if he had anything less than a pair of Jacks, and would be crazy even to do that. That would risk 400 to win 800, and possibly 1,700 if you win both pots. Knocking the fifth place player out would be beneficial to both players, but betting out would leave him with only 900 chips if he beat you anyway. Meanwhile the big blind would be left with only 1,600 chips after folding and you would have at least 3,400.

Players tend to get angry when you do this to them (especially if they would have KO'd the other player). The big blind probably feels entitled to a check down to try and guarantee money. However, mathematically getting 2:1 odds on a bet here is simply too good to pass up. Only the most stubborn player would continue with the hand once you bet.

Tilt is Good

I love Full Tilt Poker. I am playing terrible poker there lately, but I still love it. Their technique for allowing access to their pros and celebrities is awesome. Recently I observed Gabriela Hill playing a tournament. I wished her luck and asked her to join my friends and me in a private $2 tournament. A minute later she was registered, making someone’s night when she gets knocked out by them (that person receives a pro bounty and t-shirt) or beats them heads-up for the win, while increasing the amount of entries into the tourney. Another group from Railbirds got Michael Craig in their tournament (same bat-format, same bat-time). The result was both tourneys being pushed over the 50 buy-in mark with half-an-hour left to start time.

In the Mood for Cash

I play terribly at cash games most of the time. The reason is simple: I take too many risks. When I am successful, I make laydowns that I would never think of doing in a tournament because (chances are) I am beat. In a tournament, you’ll never stay above the increasing blinds if you never take a risk. Here’s an example. Unfortunately this guy made an impossible bluff, and I would have had him beat. The decision was correct given the circumstances.

PokerStars Game #24347069285: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2009/01/27 21:09:19 ET
Table 'Lilaea V' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Tyler_WinAA ($25.90 in chips)
Seat 2: GoodFight.gf ($7 in chips)
Seat 3: board2 ($32.50 in chips)
Seat 4: legionverde ($25 in chips)
Seat 6: Couzin P ($9.75 in chips)
Seat 7: CgCook38 ($23.90 in chips)
Seat 8: Asterix 76 ($30.05 in chips)
CgCook38: posts small blind $0.10
Asterix 76: posts big blind $0.25
Snurrespratt: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [Kd Kh]
aintitkewl joins the table at seat #5
Tyler_WinAA: calls $0.25
GoodFight.gf: folds
board2: folds
legionverde: folds
Couzin P: calls $0.25
CgCook38: raises $1.25 to $1.50
Asterix 76: folds
Tyler_WinAA: calls $1.25
Couzin P: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jd As Jh]
CgCook38: checks
Tyler_WinAA: checks
*** TURN *** [Jd As Jh] [8s]
CgCook38: checks
Tyler_WinAA: checks
*** RIVER *** [Jd As Jh 8s] [4h]
CgCook38: bets $1
Tyler_WinAA: raises $3 to $4
CgCook38: folds
Uncalled bet ($3) returned to Tyler_WinAA
Tyler_WinAA collected $5.25 from pot
Tyler_WinAA: shows [7h 7d] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $5.50 | Rake $0.25
Board [Jd As Jh 8s 4h]
Seat 1: Tyler_WinAA collected ($5.25)
Seat 2: GoodFight.gf folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: board2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: legionverde folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Couzin P (button) folded before Flop
Seat 7: CgCook38 (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 8: Asterix 76 (big blind) folded before Flop

Close Call

I was playing in an MTT, likely needing about 10,000 chips in the next hour to make the money. I almost got it here.

Full Tilt Poker Game #10005734496: $2 + $0.25 Tournament (75878198), Table 27 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:32:40 ET - 2009/01/12
Seat 1: CgCook38 (5,870)
Seat 2: kelark82 (7,850)
Seat 3: tellysavallas (4,420)
Seat 4: mike59760 (6,610)
Seat 5: beavis mac (9,195)
Seat 6: rover199 (9,080)
Seat 8: solgerr (15,735)
Seat 9: Zorba300 (2,060)
beavis mac posts the small blind of 100
rover199 posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [Tc Qs]
solgerr folds
Zorba300 folds
CgCook38 raises to 600
kelark82 folds
tellysavallas raises to 1,000
mike59760 folds
beavis mac folds
rover199 folds
CgCook38 calls 400
*** FLOP *** [Qc 8h Qh]
CgCook38 bets 1,200
tellysavallas calls 1,200
*** TURN *** [Qc 8h Qh] [7s]
CgCook38 bets 3,670, and is all in
tellysavallas calls 2,220, and is all in
CgCook38 shows [Tc Qs]
tellysavallas shows [Ad Ac]
Uncalled bet of 1,450 returned to CgCook38
*** RIVER *** [Qc 8h Qh 7s] [Ah]
CgCook38 shows three of a kind, Queens
tellysavallas shows a full house, Aces full of Queens
tellysavallas wins the pot (9,140) with a full house, Aces full of Queens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9,140 Rake 0
Board: [Qc 8h Qh 7s Ah]
Seat 1: CgCook38 showed [Tc Qs] and lost with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 2: kelark82 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: tellysavallas showed [Ad Ac] and won (9,140) with a full house, Aces full of Queens
Seat 4: mike59760 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: beavis mac (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: rover199 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: solgerr didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Zorba300 didn't bet (folded)

January

I saw a total of $475 cashed out for the month. This is excellent progress towards my goal of $1200 for the year. Actually it puts me on pace to earn nearly $5600 for the year (@ over $15/day). That is an unrealistic expectation, as I likely won’t play as much as I did in January in the coming months. However, you never know, since the ever-increasing bankroll allows me to take larger risks.

My most consistent success came on PokerStars at the $1 S&G and the .10/.25 cash game at the end of the month. Most of my money came from FullTilt however, as I hit the $26 45-person S&G and finished first. Since my cash out from that site, I have done nothing but lose. I have some theories as to why this always seems to happen after a cash-out. I’ll have to write about it sometime. I want to say right now that it’s no master-plan of the poker sites to make you lose money after you cash out. That theory simply makes no sense (you already have your money, what does it matter if you lose?).I have been terrible in the last two weeks at Full Tilt MTTs, and I am convinced that it is my aggression level compared to their blind structure. When I switched back to PStars, I saw a lot more success and consistency.For February I am going to stay focused on my cash game. So far everything is going great. In limited action on the 1st, I was able to secure another $100 cash out, bringing me half-way to my goal for the year. I am terribly excited about my play right now, and I can’t wait to take my game to the real life felt in Laughlin later this month.

Speaking of Laughlin, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the support they have shown since my Uncle’s passing. My family and I are doing much better of late. There is a small sense of normalcy that has returned to phone conversations with my dad (poker stories, rooting for the less-hated football team together, a general sense of disappointment after another football season with the bad guy at the top, you know – normal). I’m able to tell stories about my uncle to my coworkers and my kids without choking up. In general, there is a lot more smiling and laughter this week than there was last week.

For Billy

On Saturday I was home from work with nothing to do but think about my uncle's passing. I was unsure of how I would do on the felts given my emotional state. I decided that I would play one game for the day, and dedicate my performance to him. I chose a $4.40 180-person S&G. Billy used to buy me into these all of the time. In over 30 attempts for him, I only ever broke even. I was surprisingly focused, and I got lucky a couple of times. Here's the result:

PokerStars Tournament #136136584, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $4.00/$0.40
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $720.00
Tournament started 2009/01/24 11:10:07 ET

Dear CgCook38,

You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $216.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 218.47 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/leader-board/


Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.