1. 2009-10-17 21:45:06

   Friday 10/16 at Deuces Wild

   
   Friday 10/16 7pm High-Rollers tourney at Deuces Wild: $110+5 buy-in, 11,000 chips, 37 players >> Chop 5-way ($680 prize)

   I'm back! Those past few weeks have not been very active poker-wise (family & visitors, wife's surgery...) and any post would have been about bad beats (the excuse often for bad play...) So it's good news to return to the game with some success.

   First, I'd like to explain why a chop - again, some would say who would read this blog... Chopping came in the discussion as we formed the final table with 10 players. But there was such a mismatch of huge and tiny stacks, that few even responded. When bubble-boy was gone, and then 6th place finish took his money ($115) the proposal came back. It was almost 11:30pm, over 5 hours of play after a long day at work (for most of us at least.) But any of us was a legitimate candidate for first place as the drunk and the very old were already busted. So what made the difference was the blinds (just about to go up to 4,000 and 8,000 I believe) and the respective stacks: I had exactly 70,000, 67,000 on my left, then a bit over 100,000 for the chip leader, and around 80,000 for the last two guys, in fact the exact average stack. We all held the "top stack" at one point of time, and with the upcoming blinds, we had M's hovering around 6, meaning it was going to be a crab shoot. With almost $700 apiece, we made about the prize for 2nd, better than 5th, 4th or 3rd. Deal.

   Second, I'd like to share my thoughts about how I play very small pairs (deuces up to four's.) Early in the game, with big stacks (or small blinds,) I might limp in, see a cheap flop: I make trips, I stay in, otherwise I go away - well at least 80% of the time, and if I don't smell weakness. Late in the game, things change and I play them exactly like very weak aces: fold most of the time, stay in if low risk only but won't lead. Let me share two hands I played Friday. With on the button I see the average stack UTG guy raise, the short-stack UTG+2 barely re-raise going all-in. I show my trips to the guy on my right and fold too. He called me over-tight, that he'd go all-in with that, and so on. Cards proved him right: UTG had while UTG+2 had , none improved up to the river, my pair would have played. I'm still confident that the fold was the right action. Even knowing what they had (which was not much,) I was not ahead:

   Player	Statistic	Result
   	%Win	29.78%
   	%Tie	0.35%
   	Odds	2.34 to 1
   	%Win	34.50%
   	%Tie	0.35%
   	Odds	1.89 to 1
   	%Win	35.37%
   	%Tie	0.35%
   	Odds	1.82 to 1

   A bit later, down to two tables, Nader was UTG+2 and raised my 1,000 big-blind all-in to around 8,000. I had about 13,000 left with and decided to call as I knew Nader could shove on a range down to average hand. He showed and I secretly rated his move as overly audacious. Flop came and he kept smiling nervously, uneventful turn , but then river makes two over-pairs on the board, my ace plays and he's busted, he's pissed off and throw me a "Nice call!" that I felt was not entirely sincere. Any thoughts?

   Posted by Frederic at 2009-10-17 21:45:06

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Comments on “Friday 10/16 at Deuces Wild”

1. • Posted by Frederic g 2009-10-28 02:07:25
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   • Hi!

     Their website is in bad shape, but this page still works, I believe:
     http://www.deuceswildcasino.net/Deuceswildweb2map.html

     They are North of Auburn.

     Cheers!

2. • Posted by FREMONTkyle g 2009-10-22 22:46:07
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   • hey i live in the marysville area where is this dueces wild tourney? whats the structure like?

3. • Posted by Frederic g 2009-10-19 17:49:35
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   • Thanks Jason, for the comments and encouragement.
     Fred

4. • Posted by Jason M g 2009-10-18 06:40:44
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   • Hey Frederic, congrats on the cash. It's always good to come back to a win! It seems like the chop was a good play if the average stack had an M of 6, although if you are a variance fiend and know your math, you can probably squeak out an edge in there.

     I absolutely like your fold with the pocket 3s. For the most part, I only call all ins with small pocket pairs (77 or less in my book) if it's less than 25% of my stack or there are some other unusual circumstances. Even when you are "ahead", you lose ~46% of the time, and sometimes you are mega-crushed. And against 2 opponents, you are barely getting pot odds and will lose ~70% of the time. Easy fold!

     I'm not sure if I'd call with the . It seems like he had an M of 5 or less, and if you felt you know his range to be very big, it seems like a decent call. It seems like a pretty high-variance play because it's for so much of your stack when it's still 2 tables. For example, if he showed you , would you call, knowing you had ~60% to win? What if he showed you but you had the same chips as him so your tournament was on the line? It just seems you might be able to let that one go and do the shoving yourself, hoping for the folds or a bad call. It turns out you made a fine call this time. It's always fun to beat a small pair with a double-paired board ;)

     Keep up the good work.