Poker Journal

December 2005

December 29
I have had some serious swings in online ring games over the past couple days. The bottom line is I won on both days, but what a ride it has been. I mostly played $30-60 Omaha, but I played in some limit Holdem with limits ranging from $25-50 to $3-6. I even played in a couple NL tournaments.

I haven't played $3-6 Limit Holdem online in a long time. I logged onto Paradise Poker to see what kind of tournaments they had going and I decided to sit down in a small game while I read through the whole tourney lobby and read up on the upcoming Masters events. It seems that every time they offer a new Masters tournament, it gets better and better. This time around, they are offering a week long series. They have multi-table tournaments starting on Saturday January 7th and ending with their big event on Sunday January 15th. The first tournament is NL with a $300 buy-in and a $300,000 guaranteed prize pool. I am probably going to play in that event and plan on playing in 3 others including their NL short-handed event, $300NL w/ rebuys, and the main event which has a $1,000 buy-in. The main event is great because the final table gets flown to a mystery tropical location where they get to play out the remainder of the tournament.

In both tournaments I played in ($150 buy-in), I lasted a long time, but couldn't seem to get things going when it was important. The first tournament I almost made it into the money, but I seriously was in the cooler for the last twenty minutes of the tourney. In the second one, I finished in 29th place which netted me $185. That was a far cry from the first prize of over $17,000.

On a final note, I finally woke up this morning feeling decent. It was a brutal cold (or flu) and I am so glad to see that the end is in sight.

December 27
I enjoyed my Christmas with my family and now it's time for me to think about the New Year. I have had a wonderful year and have achieved some things professionally that I would have only dreamed of a couple of years ago. Although I am happy of what I have accomplished, I am ready to strive for more. I plan on making a few changes within the week and I will post my goals as soon as I get a few things taken care of.

I am excited about some of the changes PokerStars has made regarding their frequent player points. Today, I spent most of the day playing online ring games to see how difficult it will be to achieve their highest VIP status and it looks like I might be able to pull it off. The players with the highest status can use their points to buy into the WSOP and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. It will be nice to earn my way into these big events without having to satellite my way into them.

I am not sure if I am going to work tomorrow. I planned on going in because I wanted to have a talk with the boss, but I am still feeling like crap. There is nothing worse than having a cold for a week without an end in sight.

December 25
I will be spending the day with my family, but I wanted to wish everybody a Merry Christmas.

December 22
Last night's show was annoying from my point of view. I started the show off by having a debate with Bart about the definition of "counterfeit". On one hand, Yosh held pocket sixes and another player held pocket nines. The flop was TT8 and there was a bet and call. The turn was a seven and again there was a bet and call. The river was an eight (board was TT878). Bart said, "Look at this, Yosh just got counterfeited." I tried to explain it wasn't a counterfeit (even if it killed his hand). I said that counterfeit happens in Omaha. I don't think that I said it happens in Omaha more than Holdem, but I should have said that.

On my definitions page, I define counterfeit as "when the board duplicates a card in your hand." In Omaha, if you had A2 low and a deuce comes, then you are counterfeited. It copied the rank of the card in your hand. In Holdem, it doesn't happen as often. One example is when one person is holding AQ and the other is holding AJ and the board is AAQ6 and the river is another queen. That last queen counterfeited your hand and resulted in a chopped pot. This is the standard definition also available on the Conjelco, Poker Tips and Dan Kimberg's Poker Dictionary.

Some viewers posted on message boards that I had no clue. I get criticism from time to time from novices like this and sometimes it bothers me. This time it did not. I know I was correct in what I was saying. The funny thing is one of the people said, "a lot of people would say that hand was a counterfeit." That was one of the worst arguments I have ever heard. You know a lot of people say stupid things but that doesn't make it so.

After the show was over, I went out and talked to Phil Laak and he told me he was looking forward to watching the rebroadcast and I told him, "You will see Bart and I argue when the show first starts." I told him the story and he said I was correct. The person next to him said that a lot of people would say that it was a counterfeit and he turned to Phil and said, "How would you define it?" Phil's response was, "It is exactly like she said, when a card copies the rank in a player's hand and decreases your value in the hand."

Okay some novices think I have no clue, but the pros actually say that I know what I am talking about. (Of course on a live show I do sometimes make mistakes analyzing hands.) I even got a call while I was in the show from another professional that said, "To be counterfeited is when a card of the same rank goes on the board that is the same as a card in your hand. So with two sixes here, you don't get counterfeited, you just end up making a hand that plays the board." Later he said, "When you are counterfeited, you end up with the same value hand, like in Omaha if the board comes K8762, and your deuce is paired, you still have an 8762A low, but your hand isn't as strong. With 66, the player was definitely not 'counterfeited' because his hand changed."

Next time maybe I'll get flamed for pointing out that "set" and "trips" describe different situations.

One other problem with tonight's show was that I got interrupted in the middle of a story I was telling. I think I might have said, "I laid down the nut straight today because I knew I wasn't the favorite." Because I was interrupted (another hand was taking place), I came across sounding more than a little strange. There was actually a good point to my story and it got lost. I figured that since the viewers of Live at the Bike didn't get to listen to it, I should share it with my readers. I was in the $200 No Limit game. There were four players in a limped pot and I was in the blind with J9. The flop was T87 all clubs and I had no club in my hand. I bet $20 into the $20 pot and was called by the player on my left. Meanwhile, I get a phone call from another World Series bracelet holder and told him to hold on because I was in a hand. The next guy moves in for about $150 and the next player calls the all-in. I actually thought it likely one player had a set and the other on a flush draw, but I only had $20 invested and at best I wasn't a big favorite against two opponents. Of course if one had a flush I would be drawing dead. Not only that, I had one other player that needed to act behind me! I folded my hand and got back on the phone. I told him that I just flopped the straight with three clubs on board and laid my hand down to two all-in bets for $150 and told him my opponents had exactly what I most likely put them on. One had a set and the other had the king of clubs. He said, "you made the right move. What happened on the turn and river?" I said, "It just went club, club." It doesn't matter if I would have won the hand or lost, what matters to me is if I made the correct decision. In this instance, it was an easy laydown and the correct laydown. I made the decision that would be most profitable to me in the long run.

December 21
The Live at the Bike show was pretty good last night. David Tuchman played in the game and played like I know he is capable of playing. He won more money than anybody on the table and I don't think he made one mistake during the session.

We got word that Phil Laak is going to join the Whale game tonight. That should make for an entertaining show. I would suggest if you have time, try and check it out at 6:00-9:00pm Pacific time.

I played Omaha last night and wasn't happy with my performance. I started out playing really well and made almost $2000. For some reason, I started playing passively and lost most of my profit. I still ended up winning for the night, but not as much as I should have. I am an aggressive Omaha player and playing like a pansy just doesn't work for me. The one thing that I was pleased about is that I was able to recognize that I wasn't playing up to par and got up from the game.

December 20
I am still not feeling up to par, so I spent the day resting and playing a little online poker. In the Omaha games, I had one of my better days. I am still amazed at some of the hands my opponents play. There was one hand that stood out from the rest today. I raised in the middle position with AJT3 and was called by the player in the button and the player in the small blind. The flop was JT6 with two spades. The small blind checked, I bet, the button folded and the small blind called. The turn was a nine of diamonds and the blind checked called me. The river was a two of hearts. After he checked, I thought about checking behind because of the possible straight, but this player was a loose player and I didn't want to miss a value bet. I was pretty sure that he would have bet the straight when he hit it. I fired and he called again. His hand was mucked after mine was turned up and I wondered what he had. I pulled up the instant hand history (great tool on PokerStars) and was shocked to see that he played KKK7. It was even stranger when I saw that he didn't have the king high spade draw.

I love Omaha Hi/Low because most players don't understand a lot of the concepts of the game. Every once in awhile, I come across a player who gets it and sometimes that shocks me even more than the wacky players. Today, on a board of KQJT2 rainbow, the player in first position bet, the second player called, and I raised. I knew the player in first position had the same hand as I did, but I was hoping that he knew how to "cooperative bet". Instead of making a raise and driving the losing player out of the pot, it is better to call in that position so the two nut hands can chop up one extra bet. He called instead of raising and I received half a bet more because of it. I don't take many notes on the same player in Omaha because I play with most of the players play on a regular basis. If they aren't regulars, it takes me just a few minutes to realize if they are one of the types of weaker players. Since I don't take many notes, there are only a few players who have anything positive in their notes section. I added one today: "understands cooperative betting."

I am not looking forward to going to work tomorrow. I would much rather get the rest I need, but the show has to go on. If I don't sound up to par, you have been forewarned.

December 18
I haven't been playing much online poker over the last couple of days because I have been getting my Christmas shopping done. It feels good to be on top of it this year. I only have two more gifts to buy and one of them is a tough one. I am sure you can relate to the one person who has everything (and if he doesn't have it, he has more than enough money to go out and buy it). This is where my creativity has to come into play and I am drawing a blank. It doesn't help that I am catching a cold and feeling really down at the moment.

I made sure that I made enough time to play in the Omaha tournament on Stars tonight. I started out doing really well and then couldn't keep it going. The person who knocked me out is a regular in the $30-60 game. The situation was perfect or so I thought. He raised (he usually does when he comes into the pot) and I three bet all-in with AKT3 double suited. We turned up our hands and he actually had a monster, AA22 of the other two suits. Although I flopped the nut flush draw and turned another flush draw, I couldn't get there and was eliminated.

I am really looking forward to the LA Poker Classic this year. I told Steve that I was going to play in a lot of events and work really hard to achieve my goals for this series. He said that he wished I had that kind of dedication in some other areas in my life. Sometimes, he is such a pain, but he is brutally honest. I guess the truth really does hurt.

December 15
The last two nights of Live at the Bike were eventful. One of our fellow commentators, David Tuchman decided to play in the game both nights and he gave us enough to talk about to fill 10 shows.

Last night was the $300-500 Restricted NL Holdem game with $5-$5 blinds. David normally plays a little higher and for some reason he decided to donk it up for us on this show. After the show was over, he asked me if he kept it entertaining and I told him, "No, I didn't like it." I know that it is difficult to make great decisions when you are playing in a game that is lower than what you are used to, but it was especially important for him to play well and show the audience that he is "suited" to be a commentator. When I saw him today, he told me that he agreed with me and that he will play better on the next show.

Tonight we spread the $5,000 buy-in NL game with $25-50 blinds and David decided to play. Although his play was much better than it was last night, it was still not up to par. I think tonight's game was too large of a game for David and he seemed to play with "scared money". It really proved that it is important to find a game that is within your bankroll.

Bart and I got on the subject of Omaha during the segment and I refused to discuss my strategy on the air. First of all, I think it was more important for us to discuss the game at hand. Secondly, I don't want to tell thousands of people what I know. I got a little heat on the forum for not sharing my "secrets", but I didn't really want to go into some of the reasons I raise with AA87. I have been thinking about writing a couple Omaha strategy articles for my site, but I have to try and squeeze in some time which is especially difficult because of the holidays.

I played NL before the show today and my session was very profitable. I got extremely lucky on one hand and I actually felt bad about it for a whole one second. I missed my blinds and decided to make them up by straddling*. The player in first position folded and the next player made it $40 to go. All of the players folded and I decided to call the extra $30 with J9. I normally wouldn't call that big of a raise, but I had a lot of chips and I thought the player was just messing around with me. I have known this player since I was in high school and haven't seen him for awhile. The flop was QT8 and I got all of his chips by the turn. He actually had a hand and lost with his pocket queens (he flopped a set). Unlike many players in that situation, he didn't cry about the loss and quietly did his rebuy. However, he did request that I come back and play in the game after I finished the show. I did not oblige.

*straddling is posting an extra big blind twice the size of the big blind which gives the player last option to act before the flop.  Normally I never straddle, but sometimes it helps to really juice up the game and this seemed like a good time.

December 13
The taping of the Survivor show did not go as planned. I liked Danni (the person who won), but of the final three contestants, she was my least favorite. Every time the show comes to an end, I am shocked by how the eliminated players let their emotions get the best of them. Instead of voting for who played the best game, they vote for the person who they think screwed them over the least. The game is similar to poker in several ways and that's why it makes me crazy when players get mad at the others for lying. All is fair in competition.

Last year, there was an after party right on the lot of CBS. This year there was not. I had the best time at the party last year. They had great food and free drinks and as a bonus, I got to meet a lot of ex-survivor members. I was bummed when the taping was over and they sent us home.

I am still a little bummed about finishing third in the Aussie qualifier. There was on hand when we were down to four players that I keep going over in my head. I probably shouldn't beat myself up about the hand, but I want to at least learn from the experience.

The Player of the Year battle is going strong right now. Of course my top choice is Mark Seif. He finished strong today, but still has a long way to go. One thing I know about Mark is that when he has his mind set on something, nothing can stand in his way except himself. I hope he can stay focused for another few days and pull off the clutch win like Daniel did last year.

I had a wild ride in the Omaha game this last session. I sat down and won a nice chunk of change immediately. The game started getting short, so I switched to another table and then got my butt kicked. I could not win a hand and the table was playing like maniacs. I lost some big pots, but I knew that if I continued to play my game (not go on tilt), I would come out okay. The game was incredible. I knew my break would come. I dug myself out of the hole and made a small profit and then took a break. I logged on later and booked another win. The day ended up being profitable, but I spent a lot of hours accomplishing that.

December 10
It looks like I won't be going to the PokerStars WPT event. I tried winning my seat this weekend in the $33 w/rebuy tournament and got close both times.

On Friday night I was one of the chip leaders throughout the tournament. I won a hand in the middle stages of the tournament that helped out a lot. I flopped a set of nines and got all of my chips in on the river with a board of K965K and my opponent had AK. That hand put me at about $50,000 in chips which was way above average.

There was one hand that I remember specifically that helped keep me at the top. The funny part about it is that I folded the hand preflop and I ended up not losing my whole stack. I was in the big blind (blinds were 1,500-3,000) with 43. The player in first position doubled the blind and the next player called. It was folded around to me and I decided to fold. Normally, I would play a hand like this to hit a home run, but for some reason I just mucked. The flop was 652 and I would have had the nut straight if I had stayed in. The first player bet 9,000, the second player moved all-in for 54,000 and was called. The first player showed pocket kings and the second player showed pocket sixes. The turn was a five giving the second player a full house and I gave myself a pat on the back.

I ended up making it to the final table and they were only awarding one seat. They paid the top six players, but 2nd-5th place was only chump change. I was one of the big stacks when we were 8 handed and I got ended up playing for all of my chips against a player who had me slightly covered. The blinds were 3,000-6,000 and I was in the small blind. The player in first position raised to 18,000 and I just flat called. The big blind moved all-in for an additional 4,751 which wasn't enough to open up the betting to a reraise. The original raiser called and I called as well. The flop was QT5. I checked, my opponent bet 24,000 and I moved in for almost 80,000 more. He thought about it for a long time and finally decided to call with KQ. He ended up catching a king on the river and I finished the tournament on the bubble. (By the way, the all-in player had A3). The player who won the hand eventually won the tournament.

I don't usually have time to play the big qualifiers on Saturday, but since this is the last weekend to win my entry, I decided to make time for it. I figured that since I have no problem getting close in the 33 w/ rebuys, the big satellite would be right up my alley. Not today! I was one of the first players out.

I played in the $33 w/ rebuys tonight, but only made it down to about 40th or so. The person who made a turned a straight (he had KQ) against my aces ended up winning the seat. See a pattern here? Beat me while holding KQ and you should win your seat. :) While I was playing in that event, I decided to try and win my way into the Aussie Millions. They gave two seats away and I ended up finishing in third place when my KK lost to QJ. I was really disappointed in that finish because I was so close. I ended up winning $380 which is what it cost me to enter the tournament. I spent over 4 hours playing and didn't even make a small profit.

I will not be playing in the Omaha tournament Sunday night because I am going to be at the finale of Survivor. I have watched every season and I have been fortunate to have seats to the live finale two years in a row. Last year, I had a great time and I am sure it will be fun this time around. Hopefully, Boston Rob will be at the after party. I loved the way he played the game (both Survivor and Amazing Race) and I know he enjoys playing poker.

December 5
I went to lunch with Pauly (from Tao of Poker) on Saturday and we had a great time playing catch up. I haven't seen Pauly since the World Series (and only talked with him a couple of times), so there was a lot to talk about. He invited me to go to the bloggers tournament this weekend, but I am not sure if my time permits it.

I played in the Omaha tournament on Stars last night, but only made it down to about 40 people. I don't remember the last time I made the final table on this event, but I am sure that I am due.

After the event, I played some live action $30-60 Omaha Hi/Low and killed the game in one hour. I had one of my best sessions to date and it confirmed to me that I belong in this game. I talked with my good friend, Mark Seif this morning and he basically told me the same thing. "If you are making that amount of money, then you should focus your time on that particular game. Honestly, it isn't extremely difficult to make a profit in this game (although I know it is impossible to win a large amount of money every night like I did last night) because the players are unbelievable. I will post one of the hand histories of this session below to show how players at the higher limits still have difficulty grasping the concepts of this game.

PokerStars Game #3245775184: Omaha Hi/Lo Limit ($30/$60) - 2005/12/05
Table 'Trinculo III' Seat #10 is the button
Seat 1: Pinkster52 ($359 in chips)
Seat 2: HOLDEMBACK ($600 in chips)
Seat 4: bostoner ($3240 in chips)
Seat 5: what is 7x6 ($891.50 in chips)
Seat 6: yamaha r 1 ($1155 in chips)
Seat 8: Siren ($1580 in chips)
Seat 10: bobby25 ($129 in chips)
Pinkster52: posts small blind $15
HOLDEMBACK: posts big blind $30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Siren [Ah 7c 8h As]
bostoner: folds
what is 7x6: raises $30 to $60
yamaha r 1: calls $60
Siren: raises $30 to $90
bobby25: raises $30 to $120
Betting is capped
Pinkster52: calls $105
HOLDEMBACK: calls $90
what is 7x6: calls $60
yamaha r 1: calls $60
Siren: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [2d Kh Ad]
Pinkster52: checks
HOLDEMBACK: checks
what is 7x6: bets $30
yamaha r 1: raises $30 to $60
Siren: raises $30 to $90
bobby25: calls $9 and is all-in
Pinkster52: calls $90
HOLDEMBACK: calls $90
what is 7x6: raises $30 to $120
Betting is capped
yamaha r 1: calls $60
Siren: calls $30
Pinkster52: calls $30
HOLDEMBACK: calls $30
*** TURN *** [2d Kh Ad] [Ks]
Pinkster52: checks
HOLDEMBACK: checks
what is 7x6: bets $60
yamaha r 1: calls $60
Siren: raises $60 to $120
Pinkster52: folds
HOLDEMBACK: calls $120
what is 7x6: calls $60
yamaha r 1: calls $60
*** RIVER *** [2d Kh Ad Ks] [5c]
HOLDEMBACK: checks
what is 7x6: checks
yamaha r 1: bets $60
Siren: calls $60
HOLDEMBACK: calls $60
what is 7x6: calls $60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
yamaha r 1: shows [3d 6s 4h 7s] (HI: a straight, Ace to Five; LO: 5,4,3,2,A)
Siren: shows [Ah 7c 8h As] (HI: a full house, Aces full of Kings; LO: 8,7,5,2,A)
HOLDEMBACK: mucks hand
what is 7x6: mucks hand
Siren collected $637.50 from side pot
yamaha r 1 collected $637.50 from side pot
bobby25: mucks hand
Siren collected $385.50 from main pot
yamaha r 1 collected $385.50 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2049 Main pot $771. Side pot $1275.
Board [2d Kh Ad Ks 5c]
Seat 1: Pinkster52 (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 2: HOLDEMBACK (big blind) mucked [Qh 6c 9s Kc]
Seat 4: bostoner folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: what is 7x6 mucked [4c Jh 2c 2s]
Seat 6: yamaha r 1 showed [3d 6s 4h 7s] and won ($1023) with LO: 5,4,3,2,A
Seat 8: Siren showed [Ah 7c 8h As] and won ($1023) with HI: a full house, Aces full of Kings
Seat 10: bobby25 (button) mucked [9h 9c 6h 4d]

As you can see, I was pushing the envelope with this hand and wasn't hoping for the action that I got. It seems that no matter how out of line I might get, my opponents are miles further. And I want to emphasize the fact that they are not a little out of line, they are hugely out of line. It starts with one player staying after the flop holding KQ96 with no diamonds and it only gets crazier from there.

December 1
I had the night off from Live at the Bike and decided to use my free time to play the Bike's $200 with one rebuy No Limit Holdem tournament. I probably should have spent the night at home updating my website and playing some online poker because I only made it down to about 60 players.