2011 Goals

So I am late posting this. Blame Rush Poker. It's tough to write when you're folding 260 hands per hour.

Here are my lofty goals for the 2011 poker year.

1. Withdrawal $3,000 net from poker sites.

• I thought about the amount I wanted to set for a long time. I have been doubling each year the amount I net. However I wanted this goal to be attainable. $4,800 seemed like stretching it given my current deployable job. $3,000 is over $300/month for 10 months. That's already stretching it. I will update this goal if I manage to swing some large early months. My actual goal (as usual) is to make as much money as possible. ;-)

2. Qualify (at least) Bronze Iron Man on FTP each month that I am not deployed.

• Easy-peasy. 125 points every other day, or 50 points for 20 days/month. At a $25 max table that's about 500 hands per day. This allows me to get some much needed work on my cash game play. Also, the rewards for qualifying are excellent: Freerolls, cash bonuses, and a lot of FTP points for purchasing tournament tickets. At 1,475 points per month I can purchase a $26 ticket every 4 months.

3. Play more step tournaments starting at the $8 level in an effort to play Sunday Majors.

• An $8 step pays 8 of 18 players. Top 5 pays out a step 3, $26 ticket. 6th gets you your money back. A 7th or 8th drops you down a step, which is an "easy" tournament to get right back where you started. My ultimate goal here is to buy into the Sunday $216 buy-in Majors. The more I play, the bigger shot I have at some real, life-altering money.

Best Laid Plans

On Saturday I woke up happy that I had written for the blog for the first time since May. I was refreshed after a very lazy Post-Thanksgiving Friday (ask my wife). That night I was having my first poker tourney at our new place and I wanted to straighten up the house. I started in the living room and worked my way into the kitchen. I finally got most of it done and started a pot of coffee while I logged on to FTP. 4 minutes prior to registration closing I signed up for the $10+1 $12.5K Guaranteed Rush tourney. Blinds were already 120/240 and I started with 3K in the BB. The good news was that well over 1/2 of the field of ‎1,863 had already been eliminated.

A few hours later I ran my KTo into and A5o and finished 4th place for ‎$1,471.77.

So about that plan for $900 in the next month... Time to reevaluate. I was planning on playing rush tourneys as much as possible and slowly creeping toward the goal while taking shots in $2 and $3 buyin MTTs with huge payouts. I was also going to run a stake on Part Time Poker for miniFTOPS. Admittedly, All of these approaches were long-shots for an entire $900. To put it in terms any poker player can understand, I was at least a 2:1 dog.

Now I'm a lock for accomplishing my goal and it feels great! I have some decisions to make though. Foremost I need to decide how much money to leave in my account. Historically I play my worst poker after a big win. I don't plan on that this time. That, coupled with the fact that I have accomplished my goal means I probably should leave plenty in my account. But we all know how plans go sometimes...

Next, I need to start formulating a goal for next year. Doubling a bankroll is an easy target (in terms of planning, not neccisarily hitting), but I want to find the best balance between challenging and realistic. FTOPS, WSOP, and WPT entry come to mind.

Either way, it means more writing for me, which means that part of the plan is still in tact.

With a Banner Like Mine, I Should be Writing More

And I will. I always do this time of year. It's freaking freezing outside, and I tend to get a little nostalgic around now. Also, the weather lends itself to mass-poker playing. So does my amount of off time. That means fewer Rush tournaments, and more massive MTT's with opportunity for huge payouts on eensy-weensy buyins. Historically I always make more money playing in winter time.

And I'm hoping the trend will continue. So far this year I've yanked over $1,500 off the Internet playing poker. Last year my total was $1,200. Secretly (or not) I've been attempting to double each year's production. That's a lofty goal for someone who doesn't like letting more than $200 sit in his bankroll without pulling some out so that "they'll never get it back". Most of the time, $5 and $10, (and all of the time $24) tournaments are out of my range. But I've got a plan. One month left. $900 to go!

Oops

Full Tilt Poker Game #21122842538: $5 + $0.50 Rush Tournament (162538399), Table 106 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:40:13 ET - 2010/05/25
Seat 1: omg73 (20,320)
Seat 2: rafaellhp77 (3,456)
Seat 3: shirzulino (17,189)
Seat 4: usa13 (4,170), is sitting out
Seat 5: SuperCheese21 (13,712)
Seat 6: DM_Hand2 (9,825)
Seat 7: CgCook38 (5,482)
Seat 8: KillDevil666 (9,088)
Seat 9: DoubLLeTroubLLe (13,172)
rafaellhp77 posts the small blind of 50
shirzulino posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [2s 2h]
usa13 folds
SuperCheese21 folds
DM_Hand2 folds
CgCook38 calls 100
KillDevil666 folds
DoubLLeTroubLLe folds
omg73 calls 100
rafaellhp77 raises to 500
shirzulino calls 400
CgCook38 calls 400
omg73 calls 400
*** FLOP *** [Tc 5s 2c]
rafaellhp77 bets 400
shirzulino folds
CgCook38 raises to 4,982, and is all in
omg73 calls 4,982
rafaellhp77 calls 2,556, and is all in
CgCook38 shows [2s 2h]
omg73 shows [Ac Td]
rafaellhp77 shows [Kd Ks]
*** TURN *** [Tc 5s 2c] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 5s 2c 9h] [Th]
CgCook38 shows a full house, Twos full of Tens
omg73 shows three of a kind, Tens
CgCook38 wins the side pot (4,052) with a full house, Twos full of Tens
rafaellhp77 shows two pair, Kings and Tens
CgCook38 wins the main pot (10,868) with a full house, Twos full of Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 14,920 Main pot 10,868. Side pot 4,052. | Rake 0
Board: [Tc 5s 2c 9h Th]
Seat 1: omg73 (button) showed [Ac Td] and lost with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 2: rafaellhp77 (small blind) showed [Kd Ks] and lost with two pair, Kings and Tens
Seat 3: shirzulino (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: usa13 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: SuperCheese21 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: DM_Hand2 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: CgCook38 showed [2s 2h] and won (14,920) with a full house, Twos full of Tens
Seat 8: KillDevil666 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: DoubLLeTroubLLe didn't bet (folded)

My Brother is Missing

Please spread the word and review the information and pics on this site. Every little bit helps. Thanks.

More FTPA

Full Tilt's Poker Academy continues to fill holes in my poker game. One area that it has really helped me in is making situational aggresive decisions from out of position when I plan on calling anyway. Here's a situation that came up recently. I made a raise UTG 5-handed with KQo and flopped top pair with a late position opponent. My "continuation" bet was called and the turn paired the board with another 6.

At this point, there was $0.62 in the pot. My opponent had $1.16 remaining. If I bet my top pair again, I'd likely make it a $0.40 bet, meaning if my opponent called or shoved, I'd be committed to the hand regardless of what the river was. That bet and any call or raise would put at least $1.42 in the pot and I would only have to worry about my opponent's remaining $0.76.

If, however, I check, there's a chance that I can play the hand to showdown for only another $0 - $0.62. That's preferred, since I ONLY have two pair, and not even AQ for the top kicker. I'd rather ONLY invest $0.40 into this pot unless a Q comes on the river.

So I determined that my best course of action was a check on the turn. Any bet by my opponent would automatically commit me to the pot, therefore I would check-raise all-in if necessary on the turn, or check-check-call to showdown otherwise. Either way, folding never crossed my mind. It turned out to be the correct move. My opponent gave no credence to my continuation bet and probably put me on AK or AJ, with the second 6 giving him an extra hand to represent. Here's the run down.

Full Tilt Poker Game #18973203949: Table Gushing Spring (6 max, shallow) - $0.02/$0.05 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:25:41 ET - 2010/03/04
Seat 1: jojo972 ($1.76)
Seat 3: Shinobao ($2.17)
Seat 4: tb1984 ($1)
Seat 5: CgCook38 ($3.19)
Seat 6: baseball14t ($1.51)
Shinobao posts the small blind of $0.02
tb1984 posts the big blind of $0.05
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [Qc Ks]
CgCook38 raises to $0.15
baseball14t calls $0.15
jojo972 has 15 seconds left to act
jojo972 folds
Shinobao folds
tb1984 folds
*** FLOP *** [Qs 6h 2d]
CgCook38 bets $0.20
baseball14t calls $0.20
*** TURN *** [Qs 6h 2d] [6c]
tino_g43 sits down
tino_g43 adds $2
CgCook38 has 15 seconds left to act
CgCook38 checks
baseball14t bets $0.40
CgCook38 raises to $2.84, and is all in
baseball14t calls $0.76, and is all in
CgCook38 shows [Qc Ks]
baseball14t shows [8s 8h]
Uncalled bet of $1.68 returned to CgCook38
*** RIVER *** [Qs 6h 2d 6c] [Js]
CgCook38 shows two pair, Queens and Sixes
baseball14t shows two pair, Eights and Sixes
CgCook38 wins the pot ($2.89) with two pair, Queens and Sixes
baseball14t is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3.09 | Rake $0.20
Board: [Qs 6h 2d 6c Js]
Seat 1: jojo972 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Shinobao (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: tb1984 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: CgCook38 showed [Qc Ks] and won ($2.89) with two pair, Queens and Sixes
Seat 6: baseball14t showed [8s 8h] and lost with two pair, Eights and Sixes

Full Tilt Poker Academy

On the recommendation of some friends at The Poker Pod, I've started horsing around in the Full Tilt Poker Academy. What an amazing resource! I know there are a lot of resources on the web these days. What Full Tilt offers is pretty awesome though. All original content offered up to anyone who signs up. Furthermore, participation is rewarded on a points system that can be converted to merchandise and poker money.

I started the program while in Attu on temporary duty. However due to experiencing the Dark Side of Internet, I didn't really step into it until just recently. What I really and truly like about the program is that it makes me focus more on my online play. Obviously their pros offer extremely sound advice, and applying the principles will generally increase my bankroll over time.

Essentially the program has a progression that it takes a player through. The first step is a video lesson with a Full Tilt Pro. So far I've watched videos from Chris Ferguson, Phil Gordon, Howard Lederer, and my favorite so far: Aaron Bartley. Each video is professionally presented and the advice is solid. Following the video, the player can take a "Sit N Learn" Quiz, where they are presented with seven questions related to the video. Accurately answering the questions in a timely manner can score the player access to monthly freeroll poker tournaments. Finally the player can take the related challenge for the lesson. The challenge actually tracks the user's actions on Full Tilt and rewards task completion with Academy points redeemable in the Academy store.

In all, I've only broken even since starting the academy. However, most of that fault lies with my absolute lack of focus at times. I recommend the Academy to any level amateur player, live or online. Many of the lessons are helpful in either environment.

Losing Left – Why Stack Size (and thereby Tournament vs. Cash) Matters

Last week I introduced my “new” rule about playing weak hands out of position in online tournaments. Basically my theory is based on the fact that I can wait out these situations and hope for either a) a better hand later, or b) a passive opponent that assists me to a showdown cheaply. I also relied heavily on the fact that blinds chop away at a stack quickly in a tournament.

This week I want to talk about the exception that makes the rule. What happens when I have 10,000 chips and the blinds are 25/50 for the next 15 minutes online, or 40 minutes in a brick and mortar? Am I going to play this situation the same way? Well, I will say that this will be my general rule for tournaments. However, the deeper the stack sizes are, the more I’m willing to make an exception. Also, reading the board can’t be dismissed. If there are draws out there, then a called bet by a positional player becomes weaker based on the chance that they are chasing a draw.

The definitive example of this exception comes in cash game play. While the game is technically “table stakes”, ultimately the amount of money that can be won is only limited by how many times players reach into their deep pockets. There is some money out there to be made in value with middle pair. While my intention is usually to keep the pot small, in a cash game, or a deep stack tournament, the best way to insure a small pot it to be sure to take control of the pot, which means taking the lead after the flop.

Here’s another example- top pair, mediocre kicker. But with a deeper stack (and as important my opponents had deep stacks), I was able to take control of the hand on the flop, and put it away on the turn when it became apparent I had the best hand.


*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #39510252010: Tournament #241450085, $0.25+$0.00 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (25/50) - 2010/02/09 19:32:10 PT [2010/02/09 22:32:10 ET]
Table '241450085 10' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: amour59 (1615 in chips)
Seat 2: horizon58 (2975 in chips)
Seat 3: shaydushane (6155 in chips)
Seat 4: CgCook38 (4910 in chips)
Seat 5: moneymaica (750 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 6: clingfree (2550 in chips)
Seat 7: lexxl19 (8900 in chips)
Seat 8: JimmiBlY (9540 in chips)
Seat 9: TJ1812 (6960 in chips)
amour59: posts small blind 25
horizon58: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [Th Ah]
shaydushane: folds
CgCook38: calls 50
moneymaica: folds
clingfree: folds
lexxl19: folds
JimmiBlY: calls 50
TJ1812: folds
amour59: folds
horizon58: checks
*** FLOP *** [8s As 6d]
horizon58: checks
CgCook38: bets 100
JimmiBlY: calls 100
horizon58: calls 100
*** TURN *** [8s As 6d] [9c]
horizon58: checks
CgCook38: bets 350
JimmiBlY: folds
horizon58: folds
Uncalled bet (350) returned to CgCook38
CgCook38 collected 475 from pot
CgCook38: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 475 | Rake 0
Board [8s As 6d 9c]
Seat 1: amour59 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: horizon58 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 3: shaydushane folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: CgCook38 collected (475)
Seat 5: moneymaica folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: clingfree folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: lexxl19 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: JimmiBlY folded on the Turn
Seat 9: TJ1812 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

The Poker Pod Home Game

Yesterday I managed to win the Poker Pod home game! It was tough throughout. I had to suck out a river queen to trip up against AA and KK early on.

To add to my successful day I competed against 7 others in the Attu home game and won a marathon session. :D Quite a poker day!

Losing Left – Small Pot, Pretty Please

The biggest problem with players to your left is that they will get to see what you do before they have to make any decisions. It seems that recently I’ve been crushed online while out of position, especially when I have a small hand – top pair, okay kicker or weaker hand. The strategy I try to employ is pretty basic: invest the smallest amount of chips in order to get to a showdown.

This presents one very basic problem, and it’s where a positional player gets his power. If I check to invest no chips, I am showing that I am weak (which I am, of course). An astute player can bet any two cards and I am likely to fold. If I bet I am increasing the pot size (which is already going against my strategy). Either way, I have no idea how the other player feels about their hand, even after he acts behind me.

In online tournaments, I should check nearly every time when I have a mediocre hand. The reason is that I simply won’t know either way whether I have the best hand. Checking keeps the pot smaller, tying up fewer chips from my stack. Since the blinds are ever increasing toward the size of my stack, I need to find better places (then mediocre hand, out of position) to invest them.

Here’s a great example:

PokerStars Game #39149867931: Tournament #238986486, $3.00+$0.40 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2010/02/02 19:17:35 PT [2010/02/02 22:17:35 ET]
Table '238986486 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: Betty73 (905 in chips)
Seat 3: nedoshlo (1550 in chips)
Seat 4: CgCook38 (1975 in chips)
Seat 5: jefferson577 (1415 in chips)
Seat 6: mad pounder (2560 in chips)
Seat 7: amyi (3980 in chips)
Seat 8: Simonelli2 (2530 in chips)
Seat 9: Bakster (7085 in chips)
Betty73: posts small blind 50
nedoshlo: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [Ah 8h]
CgCook38: calls 100 I've been trying to limp more with playable hands before I reach that iffy 10 rounds left level. This is part of that strategy.
jefferson577: folds
mad pounder: folds
amyi: calls 100
Simonelli2: calls 100
Bakster: folds
Betty73: folds
nedoshlo: checks
*** FLOP *** [Qc 6d 8c]
nedoshlo: checks Alright - Second pair, best kicker. My new strategy says check nearly every time. Instead I....
CgCook38: bets 300 ....into a 450 chip pot
amyi: folds
Simonelli2: calls 300
nedoshlo: folds
*** TURN *** [Qc 6d 8c] [Th]
my bet on the flop increased the pot size by over 130 percent!! Not quite the desired result with one opponent still remaining. I'm still out of position with the pot now at 1050 and 1575 left in my stack. What do I do now? I should check and fold to a bet here. That Th didn't help me and helped so many hands that may still be out there. 9Tc, 79c, TT, JTc, AKc, ATc.
CgCook38: checks
Simonelli2: bets 300 I'm beat bad right now, but I don't want to admit it. A stupid bet on the flop begets a stupid call on the turn...
CgCook38: calls 300 after all, I have five or fewer outs, I'm being offered 3.5 : 1 odds, and I only need to invest nearly 20% of my remaining stack. This is the kind of losing poker that I've been playing for months online. I need to get away from it.
*** RIVER *** [Qc 6d 8c Th] [Qd]
CgCook38: checks No miracle card on the river. Thank goodness. The villain took down the pot with a full house, sixes over queens. I was drawing dead on the turn. I shook this off and managed to place third in the tournament.

Losing Left

How many millions of chips, how many hundreds of dollars have been lost to the person sitting to my immediate left? When I started poker I had no idea what position meant. I had no clue of the various advantages gained when acting last. I couldn’t begin to formulate plans for protecting chips from those on my left, simply because I did not realize I needed protection.

I am temporarily assigned to Attu Island right now. My plan for this trip is to look over my last 100 hands played on PokerStars. Specifically I will be looking at hands where I was out of position. Where I am looking to improve is the following areas:

1. Having a small hand and keeping the pot small.
2. Extracting chips with a monster hand.
3. Getting medium strength hands to showdown.
4. Staying away from bluffing at the wrong times.

Hopefully this will improve my game. I’ve been doing better over this period (last 100 hands) and I’d like to know what’s changed.

1st Annual Billy Watson Memorial Tournament, Results

Last Saturday brought our Sitka Poker group to the Bell Residence for the first annual Billy Watson Memorial Tournament. This year’s event was a $5 rebuy with the first buy-in from each player donated to the Hard Six program of TLC in Mesa, AZ. Hard Six is the program responsible for bringing Billy back to our family after years of drug abuse. Each day he struggled with emotional instability and addiction, and my family and I are grateful for the strength he showed for so many years.

23 players showed up for the tournament on Saturday. Along with other donations, we were able to gather $300 for the cause! The tournament itself was fast paced and gut-wrenching (as rebuys tend to be). There were 82 rebuys and 21 add-ons, making the total prize pool $515 after the charitable deduction!

My brother Erick flew up from San Diego, and my Dad (and Billy’s best friend) flew up from Arizona to participate. I was so very glad they made it, and I hope that wherever we hold the tournament next year, we can have even more family members participate. This was my tournament though, as I fought through the brutal blinds schedule (the tournament lasted only about 4 hours), the extremely tough field that our group comprises, and the other three money winners to take 1st place overall.

Thank you so much to everyone that participated! Thanks again to those that donated on the side. Thank you, thank you, thank you! to the Bells for hosting! And I hope to see a lot more people next year!

The winning hand:

Late night poker:

Cash game followed. Joe the Pro ruled!
Winners: Yours truly: 1st, Betty 2nd, Emy 3rd, and Tammy 4th.

1st Annual Billy Watson Memorial Tournament

Hosted by John Bell
Tournament Director: Brandon Saiz

On January 21st, 2009, my uncle Billy died after a lifetime of fighting drug addiction. An avid poker player and a great friend, Billy reminded us how important it is to grasp every moment of time with friends and family. Help us celebrate life and remember Billy this Saturday, January 23rd, by playing in a $5 rebuy charity event.

This is how it works:

$5* gets you 1,000 chips to start.
If before the first break you are at or below the starting 1,000 chips you may rebuy for $5.
This allows you to start the tournament with either 1,000 or 2,000 chips. Also, if you lose all of your chips during the rebuy period, you may pay $5 or $10 to stay in the tournament with 1,000 or 2,000 chips respectively.

At the break, anyone may finish rebuying up to 2,000. An add-on will then be available: 2,000 chips for only $5.

*The first buy-in from each player ($5) will be donated to TLC’s Hard Six rehabilitation program in Mesa, AZ in memory of Billy Watson, my uncle and fellow poker player.

Each table will have seated a designated “table captain” to assist with buyins/rebuys. These players’ seats will be locked from movement until tables merge.

The following is a rough blinds schedule**. The first break will be 1 hour and 15 minutes in. At that time add-ons will be allowed. Before play continues the total prize pool, payouts, and total chips in play will be announced.

Level	Duration	Small Blind	Big Blind	Start Time	Chip Up
Round 1	15m	$25	$50	0:00
Round 2	15m	$50	$100	0:15
Round 3	15m	$75	$150	0:30
Round 4	15m	$100	$200	0:45
Round 5	15m	$150	$300	1:00
Break 1	10m			1:15	yes
Round 6	15m	$200	$400	1:25
Round 7	15m	$300	$600	1:40
Round 8	15m	$600	$1,200	1:55
Round 9	15m	$800	$1,600	2:10
Break 2	10m			2:25	yes
Round 10	15m	$1,000	$2,000	2:35
Round 11	15m	$1,500	$3,000	2:50
Round 12	15m	$2,500	$5,000	3:05
Round 13	15m	$4,000	$8,000	3:20
Break 3	10m			3:35	yes
Round 14	15m	$5,000	$10,000	3:45
Round 15	15m	$8,000	$16,000	4:00
Round 16	15m	$10,000	$20,000	4:15
Round 17	15m	$15,000	$30,000	4:30

**Please note that the later blinds may be extended/eliminated to bring about the end of the tournament around midnight based on the total chips in play.

Tony Plays Too

A new blog starting up in place of another I had been reading:

http://tonyplayspoker.blogspot.com/

Check it out.

Our Cash Game

I arrived back in Sitka to find my old cash game in what I considered to be disarray. When I left three years ago we had two standard formats. Mostly we played .05/.10 blinds, with a $5 minimum and a $20 to $25 maximum. When we really wanted to throw money around, we would play a .10/.25 game with a $10/$50 min/max. The result of our 200+ big blind maximum was obvious to an experienced player. Differences in starting hand values were reduced because of the implied odds that a deep stack no-limit game presents. Playing solid poker, it would be very difficult for a player to get felted in one hand. Players who excelled at decision making post-flop were rewarded consistently.

Currently the games that are run use much shorter stacks. The .25/.50 game allows a buy-in of only $20, or 40 big blinds. The results are obvious. One of the first games I played in saw a very high percentage of all-ins (with calls) in the first 20-30 hands. On the first hand a player raised with pocket eights and had a couple callers. The flop came out something not so coordinated like Jx-7x-4x. It was checked to the better and he made a standard continuation bet. The player in the big blind check-raised, and the original better considered his options. He re-raised all-in and was called and beat by something like a J9o.

How do you lose your whole stack when an overcard falls on the flop in a cash game? With 40 BB, you might not have a choice. There are 75 cents in the pot to start. The raise made it $2 to go and was called by two players; let's say they were in the blinds, making the pot $6. Both blinds check and the original better makes it $5. He gets check-raised to $12. There is $23 in the pot and it only costs $7 to call. In a deep stack game, he might call to see if the turn is an 8, 9 or 10 - he's getting over 3:1 odds for the call. However, now he only has $13 behind if he folds. With $23 bucks in the pot, he's getting the same odds to move all-in and attempt to win $36 with his $13 as he would get with a flat call here. Given a loose-aggressive player on the big blind, he might have something like A7 with three of one suit, or 74 for a beatable two-pair. Given an overly conservative (not to be confused with tight) player, he might lay down 99 or TT here to a re-raise. So it's easy to see why a player would move in with merely pocket eights in this small stack situation.

There is another factor that may have influenced the move. House rules stated that a player can't chip up a short stack unless it falls below the $2 mark. Now a player with $13 behind is forced to try a tournament-style pre-flop move with strong hands. Otherwise his $2 raise commits too much of his stack.

The other game played is a $1/$2 game with a $50 max - only 25 big blinds!!! I refuse to try it because I can't afford to have my aces cracked and end up tabling $100 in a single night.

And Then There Was One

After three long, wonderful years in Maine I will be hosting my final poker game of this tour on Memorial Day, May 25th starting at 12pm. I am excited about this game. The first event will be a heads-up tournament. We'll follow that up with a standard format NL Hold'em game and finish up with a cash game.

I am also a little upset about this game. I've made some great, life-long friends here. It will be sad to see them [me] go. But I've learned from the Coast Guard that there's no telling when I'll be playing poker with these friends again in the future. If you're reading this, I hope you are close enough to make it.

Adventures in Pot Limit

I have been playing PL Hold'em cash games recently - doing very well at them I might add. I am in no way an expert at pot-limit Hold'em, and I make many small mistakes along the way. I've never read a book specific to the game, nor have I seen many articles related to it.

However, I am learning a lot as I play. PL seems to give me better control over the size of the pot on a given hand. For example, if I end up out of position with QQ in a heads-up pot, I can check call and (presumably) save some money to a single overcard on the board. This is great for me, as in No-Limit games I have lost a lot of money due to stubbornness on hands.

I've noticed that my play at these tables tends to resemble the style that I play in NL Hold'em real-life cash games. I see a lot more flops waiting to get paid off for others' large mistakes. I let go of big pre-flop hands to silly little small bets when there's virtually no way for me to pull the pot. I raise less from the blinds and from late position when there's no chance of me chasing limpers out anyway. The following hand illustrates the powerful disguise that these situations when I actually hit my hand. All credit to my opponent, as they appeared to lose the minimum with this hand.

Full Tilt Poker Game #12083621865: Table Galva (6 max, deep) - $0.02/$0.05 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 15:24:14 ET - 2009/05/07
Seat 1: Steve345 ($5.53)
Seat 2: WiseRabbit ($10)
Seat 3: ricoquad ($5.16)
Seat 4: weguewegue ($9.80)
Seat 5: CgCook38 ($17.89)
Seat 6: bentlyb ($8.98)
CgCook38 posts the small blind of $0.02
bentlyb posts the big blind of $0.05
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [As Kd]
Steve345 folds
WiseRabbit folds
ricoquad has 15 seconds left to act
ricoquad calls $0.05
weguewegue calls $0.05
CgCook38 calls $0.03
bentlyb checks
*** FLOP *** [Jh 6h Qs]
CgCook38 checks
bentlyb checks
ricoquad bets $0.05
weguewegue folds
CgCook38 calls $0.05
bentlyb calls $0.05
*** TURN *** [Jh 6h Qs] [Tc]
CgCook38 checks
bentlyb bets $0.35
ricoquad calls $0.35
CgCook38 raises to $1.75
bentlyb calls $1.40
ricoquad folds
*** RIVER *** [Jh 6h Qs Tc] [4s]
CgCook38 bets $4.20
bentlyb calls $4.20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CgCook38 shows [As Kd] a straight, Ace high
bentlyb shows [9c Kh] a straight, King high
CgCook38 wins the pot ($11.76) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $12.60 | Rake $0.84
Board: [Jh 6h Qs Tc 4s]
Seat 1: Steve345 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: WiseRabbit didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: ricoquad folded on the Turn
Seat 4: weguewegue (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: CgCook38 (small blind) showed [As Kd] and won ($11.76) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 6: bentlyb (big blind) showed [9c Kh] and lost with a straight, King high

Scary Dog, Scary Hand

I played the following hand with my good friend Brian (Watchdog26). It was interesting because I was simply trying to single up against the ultra short-stack and steal the blinds (and change) with a likely coin-flip-or-better situation. Unfortunately for me - or rather: eventually fortunately for me, Brian had a pretty significant hand and decided to call my raise pre-flop. I found myself in another possible implied collusion situation. However my pre-flop raise created a large side pot that offered lucrative odds if I could grab it from Brian. So I decided to bet out with my sixes and hope that Brian had a big Ace and decided to fold it. It all worked out well for me, as I would have lost the hand outright to the short-stack, but instead I collected a bigger side pot.

Full Tilt Poker Game #11868700621: The Poker Pod Home Game (85237044), Table 3 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:27:28 ET - 2009/04/25
Seat 2: xycroma_zone (525)
Seat 3: watchdog26 (1,575)
Seat 4: CgCook38 (1,850)
Seat 5: Jens73 (6,190)
Seat 6: Mothura (3,885)
Seat 7: HouCowboy (85)
Seat 8: given68 (1,560)
Seat 9: garden42 (845)
Jens73 posts the small blind of 25
Mothura posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [6s 6c]
Mothura: nh
CgCook38: nh
xycroma_zone: nh
HouCowboy raises to 85, and is all in
Jens73: ty
given68 folds
garden42 folds
Mothura: and I hade 3's
xycroma_zone folds
watchdog26 calls 85
xycroma_zone: should not have shoved
CgCook38 raises to 450
Jens73 folds
Mothura folds
watchdog26 calls 365
*** FLOP *** [3s 4h 8d]
watchdog26 checks
CgCook38 has 15 seconds left to act
CgCook38 bets 400
watchdog26 has 15 seconds left to act
watchdog26 folds
CgCook38 shows [6s 6c]
HouCowboy shows [Ts Qh]
Uncalled bet of 400 returned to CgCook38
*** TURN *** [3s 4h 8d] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [3s 4h 8d Td] [4d]
CgCook38 wins the side pot (730)
CgCook38 shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
HouCowboy shows two pair, Tens and Fours
HouCowboy wins the main pot (330) with two pair, Tens and Fours
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,060 Main pot 330. Side pot 730. | Rake 0
Board: [3s 4h 8d Td 4d]
Seat 2: xycroma_zone didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: watchdog26 folded on the Flop
Seat 4: CgCook38 (button) showed [6s 6c] and won (730) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
Seat 5: Jens73 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Mothura (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: HouCowboy showed [Ts Qh] and won (330) with two pair, Tens and Fours
Seat 8: given68 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: garden42 didn't bet (folded)

Giving and Taking

A response to a fellow Railbird's post about hitting top pair after raising pre-flop and betting every street only to be drowned by a river flush card:

I know it's been pounded into my head since I started playing that you can't give free cards.

However I think this is a place where you want to do just that. You only have a pair and you KNOW you won't get rid of a flush draw with any reasonable bet. So check. Then if the turn is safe, fire off the 2/3 pot bet, giving the player his 9 outs only once, thereby reducing his odds of winning by nearly half.

This is a helpful tactic in smallish buy-in loose-passive tournaments. Of course, you're basically losing chips by not betting on every street when you are ahead. But in a tournament you can only rarely win the thing with a single hand; you can always lose it.

Lee Jones' Winning Low Limit Hold'em

I wanted to take some weeks to review the poker books in my library. I will start at the beginning for me. My first read was Lee Jones’ Winning Low Limit Hold’em, published by ConJelCo. I own the third edition (2005). I borrowed the book from my dad originally. I am not sure if the version I have right now is that book or if it is the one I bought. If I recall, the pages were so torn up after I got through with it that I just bought my dad a new one.

The forward is written by Wil Wheaton, which is pretty damn cool (is that the word?). The book itself is written for a wide range of players; it is specifically not for those who have never played any version of poker, or those who have mastered the lower limits. This was a great fit for me, as I had played poker before (mostly Texas Hold’em or 5-card Draw), and I was extremely familiar with the mechanics of the game thanks to television coverage.

The book is divided into four main sections. Each section is followed by a helpful quiz on the knowledge provided. The first section is an overview of the game itself. Along with the basic structure of a typical limit game, it covers pot odds, implied odds, and how to read the board. Lee also covers what types of stereotypical tables you’ll encounter, and why it’s important to know how passive or aggressive the table is. Most importantly, Mr. Jones covers the most important basic considerations a player must take into account prior to playing each hand. Namely these include starting cards, position, the action before you, and other players that may enter the hand.

The next section is the meat of the reading. It is really two separate sections: pre-flop play and post-flop play, each of them containing their own quiz. It covers the most important considerations for pre-flop play – how to play your two starting cards in a variety of situations. Lee covers which hands play better with fewer players and which you can play against multiple opponents hoping for a monster return on your investment. He also keeps you out of trouble with trap hands and dominated hands.

Post-flop play is highlighted by Jones’ stressing of why position is so very important in Limit Hold’em. He talks about each street in detail. He shares the important concept of earning a “free card” by showing aggression from position on the flop. He also gives in depth coverage of why deception is usually not the preferred method of earning money at small limits.

Arguably the most helpful section for me was the book’s coverage of Internet tournaments and sit-and-go play. At the very least Lee provides my favorite part of the book in this section. Under a subtitle Calling a big bet on the flop with AK (no pair) there is simply the word “Don’t”.

The final section of the book also proved to be useful. It gives the standard four stereotypes that most poker players fall under. Jones also writes about which stereotype you should fall under. He also gives tips on playing in public cards rooms and on other topics.

Winning Low Limit Hold’em is undoubtedly the most profitable book I’ve ever read regarding poker. The reason is very simple – it breaks down the game into the most profitable approach towards players who don’t have a clue what they’re doing. Since I mostly play on the Internet at some very small stakes, these are the players I most often play against. When my game breaks down and I start to lose, I run back to this book to get back on track. I highly recommend it as a first book to someone starting a poker library.