Advice.....

.....from you poor suckers who mite have stumbled onto my blog! (Thanx btw!)

I'm thinking of starting a 'broader' poker career.... i.e. starting to learn the variants involved in HORSE! The reason being that Omaha has really helped me look at hands in a different way. I mean it can't hurt my Hold'em game now can it? Or can it?!

Anyway, is there a site or similar which can not only clue me into the rules of the HORSE variants I don't know, and where I can donk around learning?! HORSE is barely known or understood here in Oz, as far as I know.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

It's a long weekend here in Western Australia this weekend. (Queen's Bday I believe, which I'll take, but I'm for an Aussie republic, so I don't really care for it or her!) It's also the start of the school holidays for the kids, and it's AFL Grand Final tomorrow at the MCG. Geelong Cats versus Port Adelaide Power.

Go Geelong! They haven't won a flag since the mid 60's and they finished on top of the ladder after the 'home and away' season, so they would be deserving!

Prediction. Cats by 47 pts.

Add to FUCKING FRIEND!

Jesus! Impromptu Wednesday night shuffle and party with the Deerhunter .... again .... surprize!

He's on a Facebook bender at the moment. I have no idea why. I mean, I'm a 'poker blogger' and that's all I really give a shit about these days! Poker and blogging about it. Nothing else, well ....matters, apart from my gal Suzie, my boy Zac and my work. Anyway, he was on and on and on at me about getting a (fucking) Facebook page, so he could add me to his (fucking) friends list.

Whatever.

My point is that aside from playing poker, he DID NOT SHUT UP ABOUT FUCKING FACEBOOK!

Once again it was a mix of Omaha and Hold'em. Dealers choice. We started off mainly with Hold'em, and I was racking up serious hands on good cards early.

Add to fucking friend .....

About third hand in I was dealt some shite hand in the BB. 8d4s or similar. The Deerhunter just limped and I was just happy to see a flop.

Flop. 7d 9d 10d. Woot! OESFD! Funny. The Deerhunter said out loud "Geez, my 8 of diamonds is looking better now!" Little internal girlie giggle!

Bet, call. Turn - 6d! Double w00t! Bet, call. Meaningless river. Check, check. Show! Ha! My first ever straight flush in a live game! Stoked! He asked why I didn't bet the river, and I said I'm a nice guy! After all, this is the guy who has accused me of being too good and ruthless a couple of weeks ago!

Add to fucking friend .......

Very next hand. I get dealt AKs. Flop. Qs 7s 3s. W00t and w00t again! He had some part of it again and I get paid off again!

Then I go seriously card dead for fucking ages. Got hurt (when I knew I could) with KJ and he had AK. I ended up hitting my J on the turn which gave him the str8, and I knew it immediately. I slowed it down right there but lost some chips prior to that card coming out tho. Shit happens.

Add to fucking friend .....

Dealt KK in the SB and put in a standard PrF raise to which he folded. Fuggit!

No other serious cards to speak of, but still managed to stack him three times before the night was over. The Deerhunter just picks terrible spots to shove, when I'm only going to call him when I'm ahead or drawing two cards to a monster. I turned the nut flush once when he had bottom pair. He was pissed, but I said to him .... "what if I had middle or top pair? You're still dead!!" Mind you, I made some truly sick laydowns when I was probably ahead. Folded trips on a flush board. Dunno if he had it. Folded top 2 on a str8 board. Dunno if he had it! But he didn't stack me once. W00t!

Great night as usual. And in bed by 1am ... ish!

Add to fucking friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stooopid c*nt!

More heads-up fun.

Flicked cards with the Deerhunter a couple more times since my last post (All this since he said he was 'over it'!)

Funnily enough we've thrown a bit of Omaha in the mix, particularly last week. It's always a variant I've enjoyed (as does C-nut) but never really tickled the Deerhunters' fancy. But he really enjoyed the change up. We made it 'dealers choice' as to which game it was. Interesting mix! Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha, Hold'em, Hold'em, Omaha .... Great fun. I play my pocket cards pre a hell of a lot tighter than Deerhunter, but that's probably because he hasn't played a lot of it.

Both times I managed to play some really solid poker. I never really got any cards to work with last week but still seemed to have the Deerhunter's measure. He's always competitive, and knows how to play, but I just seemed to pop him at the right time, and put the pressure on at the right time.

Oh, and here's something I forgot to mention.

We've stopped 'showing'! He said (and rightly so) that he doesn't want his decisions validated. It's very very weird tho, especially when you've been showing for so long. In fact there were still times when I'd accidently flip over my cards!

Wednesday just gone, we did pretty much the same again, minus as many hands of Omaha. The Deerhunter was a veritable card rack! Jesus. The amount of massive cards he had was incredible. Pocket pairs galore. Paint sooooted connectors. The whole 'kit and kaboodle'. Quite scarey.

Incredibly we finished the night absolutely dead even. We play with three yellow chips each which count as rebuys. The Deerhunter started out like a maniac, busting me out twice in the first few hours. It was a combination of him racking up the cards like nobody's business and me being card dead and trying to make shit happen with 'not much'. Mind you, he sucked out on me bigtime on one hand. I think I got in waaaaay in front with trips. Jam. Call. He flips over TPTK. I said, you've got a runner runner flush out. And FUCK ME, it comes. Unrooool.

RUNNER RUNNER NUTZZZZZZZ! We did laugh tho. Despite the fact I felt sick to my guts!

The Deerhunter even commented how well I played with sweet fuck all in the way of cards. In fact I'm still amazed that I was able to draw even by nights end, let alone not get annihilated!

Great fun, and already looking forward to the next time!

P.S. Funny how things work out. Discovered that two loose mates (meaning we know them but not very well) play mates games reasonably regularly, with invites to join in anytime we can. Great to feel like we're building a broader circle. Can't wait to get in on them!

P.P.S. Came fifth (630 ppl) in another Aussie Millions qualifier on FT the other night. Frustrating! All in A 10h versus pocket 7s and didn't improve when the shorty. Bugger bugger bugger!

MTT Satellites

Jumped on Full Tilt last night and for something different, tried to freebie satellite into a few tournaments. As I've noted before, my bankroll is non existant, so I figured I'd try my luck at getting one rolling for nothing. Of course, first I'd have to win a satellite, then cash in the tourney itself!

Oh well. Gotta aim high and allow for some trajectory!

Played 4 tourneys. 3 x 630 player turbo SnG and one other one. 300 odd players? Can't remember exactly!

Out of the four, I played very well in three. As most of you would know, the standard of play is abhorently low. In fact it's downright appalling! That's 90% of the problem for a player with half a clue. It's just too easy to be sucked out on by someone who shouldn't even be in a hand.

Part of 'my theory' of MTT poker (and there's really nothing new in this!) is to just play solid poker. Of course, the earlier you build a stack in a turbo event, the better, but to my way of thinking there's no need to go crazy. And that's what most of the donks on FT seem to think you have to do. Wrong! Three words ... PICK YOUR SPOTS. TAG poker all the way.

One tournament, very early ... my pocket Queens went down after a pre flop all-in. Shit happens. It's alright. Unless you spike another Lady, they're just soooo vulnerable.

The other tourneys I did really well and was (generally) happy with my play. I do like the structure of the turbo events. It puts the acid on players to make the most of their cards, and frankly, most of them can't and don't. It doesn't hurt that I got Big Slick (soooooted) in the first hand of one of the tourneys, so I quadrupled up instantly, but I still felt that I picked my spots really succesfully, using many of the tips I've read (thankyou Hoy) on blogs and other sites. Particularly in terms of stealing, weilding a big stack with feeling and playing small pocket pairs smart.

I did run pretty goooot too, which is handy, but it's never going to last the whole way thru. My use of mediocre cards to win the blinds tho still amazes me. I mean, once you're down to the last 200 of 600+ players (read - a lot of the donks are gone) it's such an effective play. That's where A9 - A5, K10 - K7 sooooted, suited connectors and decent offsuit connectors really come into play. You can still get away from them if need be, but they help maintain the action and create the table image that you're not to be fucked with. Thin the field pre .... see a flop ... and re-evaluate. And the bonus... they can hit you HARD, and when they do, you get paid off.

Anyway. To the point. I spent quite a bit of time as chip leader in two of the games. Up to 100k in chips in one and 80k in another. In the 'other' one, I was short stacked for ages, stayed patient, and then went mad about halfway thru, changing it up according to my stack size, got lucky a few times and built up to 70k.

I made the final table of the table where I had the 100+k Stack and finally went out in 8th. I was severely 'hurt' just prior to the final table when I had top two pair against a mediocre stack post flop, and while not exactly slowplaying it, maybe didn't kill the hand early enough. Another case of runner runner took me down to about 50k in chips. In fact I didn't 'fill up' after flopping two pair all night in any of the tournaments! Bloody frustrating! I then got killed With pocket Jacks which made trips on a paired board, and the other guy had a book. He was playing a hand which I never would've have been in there with, after I put in a hefty pre flop raise, but you get that. Still, it sux BALLZ!

The other two tourneys I made it into the top twenty. Once again a paired board was my undoing in one. I just don't (sometimes) give players credit for holding that 2, 3 or 4 when there's a couple on the board. Pocket threes did me in that instance. I'd definitely consider this a leak, and plan to plug it in the immediate future. Or maybe I just need to slow down at the pointy end. I'm sure I'll work it out.

The other tourney end game, I had to shove my pocket fives when short stacked. Called by one player with KJs and he spiked his card. Easy shove by me, easy call by the biggie. Too bad.

Fucking annoying to get so deep in three MTTs and not get the choccies. Still I proved to myself that I do have the potential to run deep in these things, and maybe, earn some $$$ down the track. Until I do though, according to Blinders, I'll be happily wasting my time!

Peace!

I am a victim....

... of my own improvement.

Weird sorta post today.

I haven't made many posts of late coz, well, it's been quiet on the poker front. Aside from the last mates game, it's been either a) a heads up shuffle with the Deerhunter (twice) or stuffing around at the 300/600 level on Full Tilt. I'm currently at 900+k in freebie money, so I'm doing okay. But it's the heads up game with my great mate Deerhunter that has taken a weird turn.

A bit over a week ago, we played and had a great night. We played for maybe four or five hours and partied hard as well. The Deerhunter was getting pretty much nothing in the way of cards, and I was getting better, but not great cards ... and I ended up beating him convincingly. Just making good reads and changing up my style from time to time. It's very important to remember that we play together A LOT. A hell of a lot, and we know each others games 'intimately'. So I 'won' that night, altho I definitely had the better of the cards.

But the last time we did it (Thursday last week?) has created a dilemma.

The Deerhunter basically said I was too good and it wasn't fun anymore.

Now .....

The first point that I want to make is that the title of my blog, The Poker Sponge, wasn't just for the hell of it. My whole reason for starting it was to improve my play, but I don't just want to be a solid player, or a good player. I want to be a fucking DEMON hold'em player. I want to be able to sit down at any table anywhere on the fucking planet and mix it up with whoever happens to be there. That's the aim. I've read Harrington I and II, as well as Doyle's books. I read other blogs almost daily. I sit on my fat arse at work watching Pokertube clips. I am a sponge, and if I wasn't I wouldn't improve.

But ... I didn't want it to come to this.

Here's (sorta) how it panned out. It boiled down to this, but it's hard to describe. I just sorta play. Smart and hard. I make plays for pots. With cards and without. I'm happy to lose chips to find out where I'm at in a hand. I'm happy to lay down 2nd pair or bottom pair if I feel I'm behind. (I feel) I pick my spots really well nowadays. The Deerhunters reaction kind of reinforces it. He was just flabbergasted by the time he said 'enough'.

A few times I laid down 'halfa' hand when he had a better hand. These hands he was banking on winning some chips off me. He admitted as much. I seemed to be raking lots of small to decent pots thru my shrewd play, whereas the ones he'd win didn't eat into my stack. He commented that 'six months ago' I'd go along for the ride in those hands and potentially spew chips. But not anymore.

Another example. A few times he'd limp in with not much. J6 off and hands like that. I'd be holding J8 off, sense weakness, and raise. He'd fold. In fact I can't remember how often it happened, but happened a fair bit and almost every time my read was right. It didn't matter what he had or what I had, almost every time I was in front. My 'kicker sense' is spot on at the moment. And it really got to the poor bastard.

Now in one respect I'm really proud of the fact that someone else whose 'game' I admire has said "You're too good for me". I mean it's one thing to feel you've improved based on your own assessment, but another thing entirely when someone else gives you that exact same feedback. But I'm kinda crushed that the one guy who I love playing with, and he's the only fella that I can play with regularly, doesn't feel that keen anymore!

I'm sure (well, I HOPE) he'll 'get over it' and we'll play sometime down the track again. The fact that I have improved means a hell of a lot to me, but I don't want it to 'ruin' a good thing.

Rapt!

Here's something I found on Rizen's poker blog today. I'm sure he won't mind me posting this with due credit to him. This is exactly what i was taking about in my post re Saturday night's game with the fellas. At least my gut feeling was right!

One thing I did a lot of to improve my short stack game is figure out what kinds of hands do well when called (even though they may be behind). Many people are surprised to figure out that you'd rather have JTs than A9o against most people's calling range to a standard push from most positions. By knowing what types of hands do the best when called and you're pushing as a steal short stacked you can buy yourself an extra 5-6% of equity, which may not seem like much, but over the long term it adds up to a lot of $$$. Remember when you're pushing as a short stack your cards never matter until you're called, so even though A9 may look like a better hand, I'd rather have JTs in the event that I do get called.

So, how'd it go then?

Hard to believe it maybe, but I'm not really looking forward to recapping our Saturday night mates shuffle.

Firstly it could be lengthy.

Secondly, well .... I'm pissed off!

See, I'm very frustrated with the way I played. On a scale of 1 - 10, my cards were probably a 5-6. Not great but not totally unplayable. But I'm really pretty steamed with the way I played a couple of hands that cost me. Hindsight tho, is a beautiful thing and I'm sure after I diarise the night's events I'll let it go and hopefully, improve. There's gotta be some reason behind starting a poker blog surely?!

Quick recap of structure. $25 buy in. $10 rebuy for half your original stack. Double rebuys allowed. Blinds go up when we 'feel like it'. Starting blinds 25/50.

Another interesting point, we 'show'. A lot. Rarely do we muck.

Players. 4 player game. Self, Deerhunter, C-nut and noob ... a great fella who shall herefore be known as Schmoll. I've known Schmoll for a good few years, altho loosely thru mutual friends. C-nut's known him better for longer. Really nice guy tho, and picked up the game very, very quickly. He'd never played the game before, but certainly had a nice run of 'beginner's cards'. The great thing is that he seemed to really enjoy himself, so if there's any justice, he might be up for it again down the track!

Anyway. After a few open hands to give Schmoll a clue about the way it's played, we got into it. It made for interesting play early, because it took a lot of the 'aggro' out of the game, because we had a noob there. See first hand covered.

(Note. All hand histories are approx. No notes are taken at the time and we do party while playing!)

About second hand in, I pick up something like KJ. There was a min raise before me, and I just called.

Flop. Rag - 7 - Jack.

So I pick up TPDK (Top pair, decent kicker). The Deerhunter leads out with a decent but not scary bet and I raise double his bet. Reasonably quick call. Turn card, another medium rag. Bet, raise, call. WTF? River another unthreatening card. Bet by the Deerhunter. Reluctant, crying call. He flips up red bullets. FUCK!

Not great play, sure, but not exactly diabolical. I didn't quite find out where I was 'at' in the hand tho, and I probably should have read it better. Part of the thing is, that The Deerhunter's every chance of firing a couple of shots with air when he commits to a pot, so I was reluctant to let this go. I definitely didn't put him on a set, and there were no flush or straight draws out there. Overpair? DING DING!!!! Earth to Dillo!!! Oh well. (When we 'regular' three guys shuffle up, we rarely read it when someone's playing bullets. I slowplayed bullets on someone (Pretty sure it was C-nut) later in the night, and he said he had NO idea. We'll call it even!)

I was playing pretty tight, which is NOT my normal game. I tend to be (and probably play my best) when I'm aggressive and play quite a few pots. I've always felt like a decent post flop player. That's probably why I'm pretty annoyed with the way the night panned out. I laid a fair few hands down (when not in the blinds) that I'd normally play. Suited connectors and gappers. Unsuited medium connectors. K9 - K5 etc. With some of them the flop wouldn't have helped me. Some of them, I would've fucking cleaned up. That's the old 'roundabout' style game that I really enjoy playing. See flops. Bigger swings in stacks, sure .... but the flops where you hit HARD, you more than make up for the extra chips you put in to play those extra hands. I'm sure some of you play that style too. But Saturday night, I didn't ... for some reason. Hence my frustration.

I was taking down a few pots early with reasonable preflop raises. A8 off. Medium pocket pairs. Stuff I'm happy just to pick up the blinds with. Also got tangled in a few pots that I maybe shouldn't have. The Deerhunter and C-nut (in particular) are quite happy to pop you with 'not much'. And if I wasn't absolutely sure that I had them, I'd get away from it. Maybe, more than I should have.

Another hand that came up, and looking back on it, I reckon it could be something that needs attention and some modification in my play.

I'm dealt AJ off. Two players in this pot. The Deerhunter and myself. Quite a bit of action pre. He raises it up and I pop him double his bet. Call. I put him on a decent Ace at least, but has he got me?

Flop comes A - x - x.

Deerhunter leads out with a pot sized bet. (500?) What do I do here? My automatic response was to raise. If he's holding AK or AQ I'm behind, and it's in my best interests to find out NOW. So I raise, and he thinks, then folds.

Poser #1. Should I have flat called here and let another card come off?

I just feel that I could've really put some hurt on him here and increased my stack. We all know how AJ is fraught with danger. Very easily dominated. Plus I figured that if I was to even give him a chance to pair his kicker I wanted more chips in the pot to do it. Still, I rake a sizeable pot and you can't be too disappointed with that. But, could I have played that differently?

At this point C-nut was chip leader. Then Schmoll, and myself and the Deerhunter slowly losing ground. Not long after, deerhunter busts and rebuys his full stack again for another $20.

Not long after that, I pick up J8c out of the blinds. Rather than just limp, I pop in a smallish raise to change it up. Remember, I'm the shorty now. (Not a percentage play, but nonetheless.) The Deerhunter in the BB calls.

Flop. 10 - 8 - 4.

Deerhunter checks. I'm holding middle pair, I'm going to have a crack at this pot. Pot sized bet. Raise. Narp, he's putting the acid on me coz I'm the shorty. Jam. He flips over .......

10 fucking 4.

So after I lambast him for calling my preflop raise with that shite, shite hand, he busts my sorry (and very donkish) arse. Trappy bastard!!!!

Rebuy for my original stack. Fuggit.

Then (and things get a wee bit murky here coz we're partying reasonably hard) I'm slowly blinded away. Not playing what I'd usually play .... moan... and C-nut bullying the table a bit which he always does with the big stack. Schmoll went on a nice run with great cards, and a few very nice bluffs (!) for a noob.

This another part where I'd love some advice and feedback. I was getting mown down slowly but surely with not much in the way of cards. Really, not much! I'd be guessing, but my M would've been around 7/8 and I was looking to make a move and swell my stack some.

Got Kings once in the BB and everyone (even the SB) folded. Un-fucking-real.

One hand that pissed me off. I was in the SB, C-nut in the BB. I pick up pocket 9's. I raised to 500. He pops it up to 1k pre! I agonized over this. He's obviously on a very decent hand. I went into the tank for about 3 minutes (I never usually take that long) before folding. He had two over cards, (A-10?) which is what I feared. To my way of thinking, 9's was right on the cusp of what I could shove there. It's a coinflip. 10's, I woulda insta jammed. 9's I reluctantly folded. We ended up playing the hand out 'for fun' and he got his card that woulda busted me. At least my read was right. That's something!

Poser #2. Was I playing scared in that spot, or would you call that an ok laydown?

Over the next hour I picked up A2 thru A5 maybe six or seven times. Now I really wanted to push here. Heck, I needed to at some stage. (And in fairness, I did twice. With A8d and QJh, picking up the blinds in the process.) But the other A - shite hands, I didn't. Couldn't. WOULDN'T for some reason. And it's gnawing away at me STILL.

My (perceived) problem here was C-nut. As the big stack, he'd happily call my shove, barely denting his stack, and happy to knock me out (knowing it was too late to rebuy again.)

Is ANY ace really good to stuff down his throat here? My thought process was this. If he's holding any two reasonable cards here (say 9's and better), he's gonna call. If he's holding Ace, his kicker is every chance, statistically, to be better than mine. So basically I'm throwing all my chips out there on a A high card. He spikes a shit 10 or something and I brick out with my A, nigh nighs.

Poser #3. Feedback pliz!

My final hand of the night. Freeeky shizzle.

I pick up 59c in the BB. Two players, self and C-nut. He raises pre and I'm happy to call and at least see a flop here. You just can't fold your BB every freakin time there's a raise, especially the way my mates play.

Flop. 6 - 7 - 8. All spades.

Sorta W00t! But not really. I've flopped a str8 but have NO piece of that flush action. I've got to lead out here and try and get some chips. Now we all know that a flopped flush occurs very rarely. I can assume that he might have one spade. The chances of him having two is pretty slim.

So I lead out strong. He raises me, which he, or I would happily do if we were still drawing to the flush to try and take the pot down there and then. So now I figure I've got to jam here with my short stack, and a made hand, and give him a chance to fold. So I do ....

He flips up J4s. GG me.

FARK!!!!!

I can't really complain about my play there. "That's poker" comes to mind. I mean I had a great hand, but got trumped by a better one, and I'd jam with the short stack there again and again and again, regardless of the board. Because the next 20 times we replayed that exact same hand, I'd be in front 90% of the time. Shit happens.

Poser #4. Am I a complete idiot? Don't answer that.

So there it is. A really frustrating (but very enjoyable!) night of fun. Better cards would have been nice. Even the Deerhunter commented that my cards were nowhere near as good as what he was dealt, and I played as well as I could, considering.

If you've bothered wading thru this post, by all means, leave me a note. It would be appreciated.

For the record....

Winner - Deerhunter!
Money back - C-nut.

There's always next week ......