H.O.E., Finished on the Bubble

Top 4 paid, I finished 5th and to be honest I have no idea of how I got that far. Seriously, the best starting hand I was dealt the whole evening was K99 in Stud 8. I just played tight and passive because I had nothing to bet with. I think I played well, just never got a hand that I could win a huge pot on. The tourney was fun, I just hate playing 5 hours to finish just out of the money. Leaves a sour taste. I just wish I could have gotten that one hand.

Bad Beats, Brutal 5th Streets, and Sickening Defeats: "The Mint," April 24th, 2007

In my poker playing days I had not encountered such a wild poker game until last night at Anthony's game at "The Mint." Somehow, all the forces lined up to bring forth this frustrating night. The games played were 5-10 limit Hold Em', Omaha 8, Razz, Stud, Stud 8, Omaha, 2-7 Triple Draw, Badugi, 5 Card Stud and a 5-25 spread limit 5 Card Draw Game set in a Dealer's Choice format.

The game started at 8 and the action started off quicly as 5 Stud was one of the first games called. The game was 7 handed and Anthony won all but one round in the series. It was a sick start, as I lost two nice pots as he paired his board on the end each time. I kept betting and he would re-raise with nothing, then hit his cards. Needless to say I was quite bitter to start. Yet, this was only the beginning, as emotions would run heavy throughot the game for everyone at some point during the night. The tone of the night was big hands and great starting hand were going to get cracked. There was no stopping the draw out. The pot was steaming and it was not even 10.

A bit later, Anthony would start to steam a little himself, something I never saw him do, when he started to get big hands cracked. Then the tensions mounted even more as he called his roommate with a pair of 9's to the guys full house in Omaha Hi/Lo. Quite the little argument broke out after Anthony called the bet with his 9 and the guy kept saying, "You had the audacity to call me with a pair of 9's." Man, it was rough. Then, when Anthony busted Pop's for a big pot in 5 draw (see below about hand), Pops told Anthony to "shut the fuck up." I mean we are talking about a wild west shoot-out starting here. I have never seen Pops that frustrated. But it did suck as that was the worst beat I have seen in ages. I myself went of a rampage in 5 draw, when the guy drew one card against my dealt set, and pulled the K to make his full-house. i went steaming into the kitchen cursing about one and two outers.

There was so much more, and even two guys almost got in a brawl over calling Omaha 8. By the end of the night we were all a little dained and sickened by the bad beats. Anthony was the victor of the night along with Rocco. I lost 80 bones and I believe Pops was in the valley of death along with the other guy. Dave, who had been winning was also down a bit. I can't remember what BigSlickster did, but he did much better than his other nights, plus the added bonus of a possible south side brawl.

That is about it on this crazy game. I hope that next time emotions don't run so high, but that can happen with bad beat after bad beat. We are all friends, but none of us like donating hundreds to close to a thousand dollars. The game at "The MInt' is great though, and I the the chance to play all those great games and the older ones too.



BELOW IS QUOTED FROM "POPS":
Here are some of the ingredients to throwing a party (not a social gathering, but a full blown hoe down):

- As mentioned above, get DEALT 22244 in 5 card draw in the BB. Cap the spread limit at 100 with 3 players in the hand. Pat the pull and watch opponent somehow take 3 cards. It gets to a hundo again and I'm shown the TTTAA. Stirfry, can you pull the math for me on that one. First, the odds of getting dealt a made boat in 5card. Then, how about the pulling of the 2-out Ten first, then having exactly a pair with it. Can't wait for the results.

- Have a wheel in Stud HI only, and be in 3rd place to a 10 high straight, that got beat by broadway.

- Lose with 555AA in Stud HI/LO to 666QQ after having A/2/5 suited on first 3.

- Have JJTT after 4 cards to get run down by runner, runner, runner straight in Stud.

- Have EVERYONE fold with a made nut Badugi for one bet. Only hand entire evening that everyone folded to a single bet.

I had about 10 other coolers last night that I can't even remember. Sets being no good in 5-card draw, 7-5 Badugi's being crushed, just over and over. Folding to raises (rightfully) only to have pulled the miracle that would have shipped me a $400 pot, etc. It was the most painful poker experience in quite some time, one can imagine my demeanor. I will say the 5-card draw spread limit 5-20 is a pretty sick game, may even dedicate one cash game to it in the near future (if Tim allows me to steal his thunder). Crazy fucking game last night, I'm still shaking my head, unreal!

J9 vs. J9 wrap in Omaha

I managed to ship like 400 at The PL Omaha game last night. I had J967 and flopped the nut straight on a rainbow board. So the betting on the flop goes something like this. Dude bets pot (GUPPIE (Y)), dude calls (NOTUAEGREG), I raise pot (DUMB ASS 299), dude re-raises pot (GUPLET), other dude folds (NOTUAEGREED), I go all-in (REALLY DUMB ASS 299). I knew at that point I was against the K wrap. With no flush possibilites, I was playing for a split-pot and praying that a few cards didn't fall off. Of course, on the river the 9 fell off and I was cooked. anyway, the moral of the story is, FUCK NUT STRAIGHTS IN OMAHA. I will probably fold those motherfuckers everytime unless I have something strong as a backup. Anyway, they lose like 50% of the time. I was playing so well last night too. Oh well, that is the way the donkey kicks at "The Donkey Corral."

More Pink Talk and Strategy

I bought into the pink game last night for a rack and a stack last night and managed to work my way up to two racks and a stack before I self-destructed a bit. What I am saying is I left the game down 119 bones for 8 hours of play after being up. So what happened is the normal for me and that is I take a bad beat and fly open a little too much and give money back on hands that I should fold. I really try to stay away from tilting because it is such a horrible thing for me to do. I expect bad beats in the pink game and should not get overly frustrated when it happens. It is limit poker and that is the way it goes. Get your money in there wiht the best of it and protect when you don't have anything going. But, I got a little shaky after that hand and played a few stupid hands and dumped all my winnings and a few dollars back. I guess I should be glad I did not dump it all, but I realized what I was doing and tightened up. Also, it never fails after taking a bad beat, the cold deck hits me right in the face for the rest of the night. I know I would have liked to stay longer because limit is such a fuckin' grind you have to sit there for 20 hours to make a nice profit. I still love it though but just wish I did not make the few mistakes that cost me a winning night. I need to stop playing hands that can't turn a win in limit. Let's face it, in Omaha 8, 789 are killers, as is hands that don't have all 4 cards working together. Yet, I play them anyway when I get frustrated. and I watch my money get scattered around the table. So next week, i will try to stay away from falling off the cliff after a bad beat or even a bad call and then see what happens.

QQTT vs QQT2

What is the difference between QQTT and QQT2? The latter got me knocked out of the Pot-Limit Omaha Tourney at "The Shop". The tourney was a 70 bone buy-in deal that ended up with 17 players that played for 1st 600 bones, 2nd 390 bones, and 3rd 200 bones. Of course, I ended up in third. In any case, the QQTT was a huge pot early in the tournament that ended up with the whole table calling a 350 TC raise. I flopped top set and there was a club draw and some type of gut shot possiblility out there. Anyway, Pop's bet pot and I repotted, and planted some tomato vines, quickly. Pops thought about it and decideed his fluuuuusheeeee draw and gut shot were possible money against my obvious set of ladies. So all the money was in and the turn card paired 6's giving me the pot. That gave me a ton of chips and the possibilty to coast right through the tourney. as the game went on I did not catch many hands but did get into a big pot with Lance somewhere mid tourney. The board had J9X on it . I was first to act and the initial man who raised was next to me. I put him on Aces and I had flopped top two. So I bet pot and it folded to Lance and he called. The next card was a blank so I had to push all in with what was possibly the best hand or to buy the pot with a second best hand and hope that he had nothing or a hand that he could fold. Thank God, he folded because I was sweating bullets there. I am alwayse sweating in Omaha. So to my last hand. The game was three handed and I was UTG with QQT2, and short handed, short stacked this is a raising hand. In fact, I would raise with it with a gallon and a half of chips in front of me. I don't like the dangler, but I know this is a very good hand three handed. I bet pot 10,500 as the blinds were 1500, 3000 and I had like 5000 left after the bet. Lance thought and called and I smoked in the last 5000 or so and he called before the flop. He had a nice rundown hand of T887 I believe. Again, a playable hand, to knock someone off and if you are big stack, why not go for it. Well, the 8 came off for the set and I was a cooked goose. I felt good to know I did get my money in with the best of it though. Just the way Omaha is and no hand a real favorite. In fact no hand is ever 4-1 pre-flop. I played as well as I could and the only fault I think I may have had was laying down a hand or two I should have not. But, I would rather save a bet in a tourney when I am not 90-100 % sure of what the other player has. So third place felt good in the sense that I have not done well in a tournament in a while. And I have to get that program Pop's uses, that is sweet.

Old School Pink Twisted

I opened up a bottle of wine and started to think about poker. Usually I drink beer and don't think, but wine makes me think. Anyway, I was thinking about 5 card draw and 5 card stud. Now there are two games you just don't hear about anymore and I want to bring them back. And since I ordered pink chips, I am thinking about doing what I am going to title, "Old School Pink Twisted." Now that just sounds cool. But I am going ot add a twist to "Old School Pink Twisted." Ahhh, there is that Tim thinking of crazy things to do with games. So here it is: this is a 5-10 limit pink game, with the 2.50 pink chips and ran with these 2 games with a variation thrown in. Here it is, 1 round of 5 card stud, 1 round of 5 card draw, then the twist....1 round of 5 card stud hi/lo 8, and one round of 5 card triple draw, hi only. I think this would be a great game. I don't know if I can find the players for it, but it would be damn fun. Just the thought of 5 card stud hi/lo sounds silly, but why not......So this is what I think of during the day and night; mixed games and variations of them. This is the poker that I love and love to play. I think anyone that knows me probably knows that by now....Actually, I thought even harder today about the 5 Stud and came up with a new version for the hi/lo....It would be 5 stud but the best 4 card hand wins. There for all the hand rankings would be 4 of a kind, Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Trips, Flush, Straight, 2 Pair, Pair, High Card. And for the low, instead of it being a regular low, it would have to be the best 4 card Badugi low, but still 8 or lower to qualify. So pairs and suits are killers. I call this game 5 CARD STUDUGI HI/LO.

My O.E. Pink Game and Other Thoughts of Poker

I am excited about the Omaha 8, Stud 8 game I am going to have on Thursdays. I like the idea of the three rounds of Omaha and then three rounds of stud and so forth. I want to have each game go in half hour shifts, but I like the three rounds of each idea better. I am glad to see mixed games are starting to play more in the area too. Sure is nice to get a mixed of NL Hold Em' and limit games. I think that it makes poker more interesting and stimulates the mind more. Sure, a 5-10 limit game can be hell on your chip stack due to the draw out possibilites of Omaha 8, but it is so much fun. As for the Stud 8, I love to watch people play and try to understand they play the hands they do. I like thinking about the thought processes of the other players and why they think it is okay to gamble with certain types of hands. The truth is, I just have many ideas of games that I would like to run and and hopefully I can get people to try them out. I have this idea of runiing a mixed game that alternates with 1/3 NL Hold Em' with a $300.00 cap per player per pot, 5-10 limit omaha 8, NL 2-7 Single Draw with a 300.00 cap, and 5-10 Stud Hi with a .50 ante and a 1.00 bring-in. To me this adds a little bit of all the games and different strategies and skills to play them all are involved. To alternate between limit and NL can really test someone's skills. Also, the cap allows for someone not to lose everything on one hand.

Nut Flush vs. Stu and his set of 8's

The game is Omaha 8, or Omaha Hi/Lo, or whatever you want to call it. Anyway, last night at The Pink Game, a 5-10 limit game that rotates Omaha 8, Stud 8, and Crazy Pineapple 8 was supposed to be the highlight of my day. Not a chance this week. The fact is, I have been cold-decked there the last two weeks and when that happens you can forget about making any kind of money there. Sometime early in the evening we are playing my favorite game, Omaha 8, and I am dealt A9 of diamonds, with a 3 of hearts and I think a Queen of spades or clubs. Whatever, it was black. Before the flop the action is capped at 20.00 with 3 or 4 players in. One being Andy who raised and I suspect had A2 something.....My A3, with the suited 9 looked fairly good and I knew what I needed to win a big pot. Well the flop is all diamonds with a low draw. So I have the nut flush with second low draw. Andy bet, I raise and it is capped. Next card off is a J. I bet and it is called around. I pray that the board don't pair. Next card............A $%$# JACK!!!!! I knew automatically I was beat. Stu got me and a healty pot. And that set the tone for my night. I never saw a great hand after that and lost the last 80 dollars I had. The thing is with me raising and such Stu had to know I had the nut flush. I could not give off free cards for the low or boat. Anyway, I guess that is low limit poker and calling down with second best hand hoping to hit the 3rd cherry is the way to play. I mean, why play poker? I guess that is the only way to win a large pot off of me and that is to draw out. I don't mind the action, but I still think he should have folded the turn....And worst, in limit poker it can be so hard to recover after you take a beat like that. You just have to catch some cards and that never happened. So I will go back to it next week and hopefully if I get lucky enough to get a great hand, it will hold up. And for the record, I like playing with Stu and I am sure he would have ripped out his hair if the same happened to him. It was such a big pot................AND PLAYING MIDDLE CARDS IN OMAHA 8 IS SUICIDE!!!!

Attack of the Snowmen

I made a rare move with pocket eights. Forgive me, I have a horrible time remembering how hands actually played out but it went something like this. I limped with 88 and someone the pot was raised and then Seth re-raised to 45. I put him on AK, and decided that it was the right time to take a pot down with my tight image. I immediatly re-raised to 100. Now I would not do this against any player, but I think Seth is a good player and will lay a hand down. So he thought about it for a moment and folded to my imaginary pocket Aces or Kings. I am just glad my little snowmen did not melt away, because if he re-raised me I would have lost a hundo on the spot and been wishing I never made that move. It does feel good to play poker and not to always have to sit back and wait on the best hand as you do so often when playing pure home grown donklets. I enjoyed the game last night not only because I won, but the players there were playing poker and not joker poker.

Pops' Torture

I was at The Shop last night playing in the 4/8 dealers choice. This is a game that consist of some good and some silly games. The silliest being double flop Omaha. Anyway, we were playing Crazy Pineapple High and Pops raised from early posistion, so I figured he had some big hand like KKX or QQX. So when the action gets around to me I look down to see the sweet 75 of diamonds with the 5 of hearts as an added bonus. Ahhh, the good ole' 755 hand. I called, knowing all I had to do was out flop Pop's and I would be paid off. Well wouldn't you know it, the 5 came up and I had to go right to bettin', and Pops called all the way. Of course, his complaint was I drew out on him with a two outer.....Now that is the craziest thing I have heard, since a few weeks ago he called to the river to hit a one out straight flush. At least I only had to out flop him. In any case, it felt good to get a little redemtion. In any case, I had a great time playing there but had to bring up this hand since I hit a TWO-OUTER to beat Pops. I can't wait until the next HORSE tourney there to get a chance to play in.

Pink Shipment

I played at "The Pink Game" Friday night and somehow managed to send 260 bones every which way possiblle. This is a 5-10 limit game the offers Omaha 8, Stud 8 and Crazy Pineapple 8, and uses pink chips worth 2.50 each. A very interesting game. A game that people find a resaon to any damned set of cards. Me, I am a simpleton, so I keep my starting standards simple and try to work from there. And I did get some nice startng hands. Since raising people out aof a pot is almost unheard of, I usually elect to see a flop. And that usually cost 10.00. So if I see 12 flops and hit none of them, well you do the math. And that is the way it goes in limit poker sometimes. I had some critical hands that could have sent me some big pots but they never panned out that way. And that is what I need to get myself going. In Stud 8, I got rolled up Aces and ended up splitting the pot when the guy hit the low. Then in Omaha 8, I had 3 2's and the person hit the low on me. I never play for a split unless I am strong enough on that one side. So you make them pay to play and if the low hits on the end you split it up. then my last hand of the night in Stud 8, I had A43, and called to see forth street. The card fell off a 3. So there were bets and I called. The next card is a 2. A4332, is a whopper of a hand in this game and one where you have to gamble a bit because I know I can hit a 3 or an A to win the hand high and a 5,6, 7, or 8 to take the low. I knew I was up against 2 pair and I hand 2 cards to come. I checked then there was a bet and re-raise and I re-raised, of course and still got the action. Now, I know if I am a player looking at a guy with that board I am going to slow down to see what happens. Because there are too many cards to beat me even with two pair. Well, I bricked off and lost, but this is a hand you have to push in that game. So I look to play this game again next time and see what I can do.