1. 2008-04-07 22:33:47

   Crazy Poker Weekend

   I haven't posted in a while, so I'm taking a few moments to write about the games I played this weekend. I haven't played this much poker all at once for a very long time (aside from Vegas, which is different). I have a couple other blog posts in the works, including my Vegas wrap-up, but the longer I wait, the less details I remember, so let's get to it.

   Friday

   I played in a regular every-other-week game at Dub's. This is a great group of people who play well and have a lot of fun doing so. We start out with 20k in chips, 25/50 blinds, and 12 people at the table, so the dynamics are unusual and it has taken me a couple tries to get used to it. I still don't have a great strategy, but at least I'm not shooting in the dark.

   Queens

   This night was all about Queens. They were there on almost every flop. People tripped up with their pocket queens four times. It was nuts. So, of course, when I get my , it's a foregone conclusion in my mind that I will be taking down this pot. I get into it with Yasko, who won a large pot against me with his trip queens and another decent pot earlier with his second trip queens. I raise, Yasko and another call. The flop is and Yasko makes a sucker bet of one tenth the pot, so I shove since I have him covered 4 to 1 or so. He does indeed have the ten, but I say not to worry, the queen is coming. The turn is the and somebody said they folded their ten, so that ends it.

   Not long after that, I raise it up from late position with and accidentally take Art out when he wakes up with in the big blind. Lame, but I guess it's luck-sack city for me tonight.

   Not much else happens. I made a questionable play with my pocket eights and lose half my stack. I should have raised more preflop, bet less post flop, or folded to the raise. Three chances to not screw up, but alas, I screwed up. I played tight but the blinds grew large and I finally made a play in a heads up pot with middle pair. Dub called me with his middle pair and ace kicker. Oops! Out in fifth, but I manage to get away with minor injuries after collecting 3 bounties. Congrats to Dub for taking it down.

   Early Saturday

   Another game at Dub's, but this one is worth double points on the leaderboard. I am fortunate enough to pick up AA, AA, AA, KK, and KK (as well as about 5 other pocket pairs) over the course of the early to mid game, and there are a lot of limpers with decent blinds, so I take down some big uncontested pots and some huge pots where I'm substantially in the lead with all the chips in. Due to my very lucky streak of big hands, I build up a substantial stack

   Return of the Queens

   I'm not proud of this next one... I limp in on the button or so with and we see the flop 4-ways. It's . Salty, in the small blind, bets, JP in the big blind raises, and I smooth call. Salty re-raises all-in, JP goes all in on top of that, and I'm left to decide. I decide Salty has the pocket deuces and hope JP was going for isolation with a mid pocket pair, but I think that was just a way to convince myself to call... I did have a ton of chips, but I really should have laid it down. What am I beating? or a pocket pair that's not 2s. Well, I call and JP shows the deuces and Salty shows the . Ugh. Turn , river , for the split. Oh man. Yet another terrible beat laid out by yours truly. Salty wasn't feeling so salty, either :)

   Conclusion

   I ride the chip lead until the blinds go nuts, and manage to double up 3 short stacks in coin flip situations. I guess what goes around comes around. I still manage to fold out and steal some blinds to get 3rd place, so I scooped a few more bounties and an actual paid spot.

   Props to Yvonne for not realizing she had a King-high straight flush against Kristi's full house. Good thing she folded it face up :p

   !!! To San Jose!

   I got out of Dub's at about 6:45pm and had to give Buddha (my cat) his medicine before I headed to San Jose for a 7pm tournament. I let them know I'll be late, and show up in the middle of the second round. I proceeded to get AA two more times and KK three more times, as well as QQ, JJ, and some other pocket pairs. What a day!

   Steph the Wrecker

   I'm SB, Steph is BB, and Dave is UTG. Dave calls (or min raises), everybody else folds, so I call with my and Steph checks.

   The flop is . I check, Steph checks, Dave bets a modest bet, which I take to be a stab, so I call, and then Steph calls. I didn't expect that, as she has been playing very tight and I figured she'd bet if she had something. I put her on the flush draw.

   The turn is the . I check, Steph instantly goes all in, Dave folds, and it's on me. At this point, the pot is about 8k, and Steph bet only about 2k. I have about 7k in my stack, so the 2k is a lot to me, even though it's such a small fraction of the total pot. I can't figure out if she'd make that move without the flush or a high king, but it doesn't seem like she would. I grudgingly fold.

   Later she claims she had . I'm not sure if I completely believe her, but if she did - damn!

   Conclusion

   Fold, fold, fold, make a play, make a play, fold, fold, get caught making a play, fold even more, steal some blinds, etc. etc. I last to the top 4 and get all in against the chip leader with my against his . I lose, which seems just, considering the weekend I've had thus far. I have to play the short stack along with Bert, but I manage to squeak in to 3rd place, as Bert busts out a couple hands before I do. Yoink!

   Cash

   I sat down at the cash game for a bit to hang out. My cousin was playing and I figured I'd wait for him to double up or lose it before we left. I only buy in for $5, figuring I won't get into much. My first hand, in the BB, I see - a hand that I have had a good relationship with in the past. I limp in, only to be raised and re-raised, so I figure "whatever" and put my $5 in. I hit a 2 and the board is all over the place. Everybody checks it down, and the deuces prevail! Next hand I pick up and face a large raise folded to me. What to do other than re-raise all in? Pocket tens call and I spike the K on the turn, of course. I don't get into much after that and the game breaks up a while later.

   Thanks

   Thanks to the great hosts (Dub and Darren) and all of the fun players this weekend.

   Posted by Jason M at 2008-04-07 22:33:47

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Comments on “Crazy Poker Weekend”

1. • Posted by Jason M g 2008-04-14 06:53:38
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   • Yeah, it was a crazy weekend. I definitely got my poker fix that weekend :) I loved seeing that queen!

2. • Posted by Nick L g 2008-04-14 04:32:30
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   • Nice post I liked the whole speeding on the freeway to the next tournament. That is very funny with the Q on the turn nice call on getting that card.

3. • Posted by Jason M g 2008-04-08 00:23:31
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   • I'm still working on setting up my place to have an 8- or 10-person Omaha tourney. I'll let you know if I get some time to hit the casino, but this week is tax week for me. Yay for that. I'll let you know when I hear about any games that you might want to check out, though. The Tuesday game I'm playing in filled up immediately, but might have a last-minute spot... LMK.

4. • Posted by Krishna g 2008-04-08 00:06:11
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   • Looks like you had lot of fun.
     Let me know if you want to play Omaha - cash or tournaments.

     I did not have fun in hold'em this weekend.
     Lot of bad beats - nut straight losing to 4 outer full house on the river.
     I also got coolered when my middle set lost to top set.
     After all of this I am glad I broke even.