Yeah, you read the title correctly. I played Crazy Pineapple High/Low this weekend. But wait for it: ... in a licensed card room, no less!

First, the back story. I went down to Santa Cruz to visit Megan and play in a $100 buy-in WSOP Feeder tournament set up by AceOfJames. I didn't fare so well in that and was way ahead of schedule for meeting up with Megan. I decided to swing by the Ocean View Card Room, as I've played in the Saturday noon tournaments, but not their cash games.

I was hoping for some normal spread limit Hold'em, but to my dismay, there was only one table running, and they were betting in increments of 3 and 6. Ugh! As you might know, I'm not a huge fan of limit. In fact, I haven't played it in years. There was a consolation - they were playing dealer's choice, which could include Hold'em, Crazy Pineapple (3 cards, discard one after the flop), and Omaha. Furthermore, you could choose to play "high" or "high/low (8 to qualify)". I pondered the uniqueness of this situation and decided I'd give it a try. Besides, I hadn't fulfilled my poker quota for the evening.

I sit down with a rack and proceed to bluff off $24 the fist hand. I thought the guy was weak. He was. Top pair, weak kicker. Of course, it's hard to fold to a $6 bet into a $36 pot, right? Ugh! I guess I might have lost more if it was no limit and he still called.

I backed into a great low with playing Hold'em High/Low when I was going for a flush and had a pair. That was good for $60. Nice!

Playing Omaha I had and the flop was and then I turned a nut straight and rivered a bigger nut straight , but ended up splitting the pot with for the low. I think I messed up on the turn when I raised it after making the nuts. I cut out 2 players who may have called. I was scared about the flush draw, but talking with a friend later on led me to believe that the big flush draws may have called anyway, especially if they had low draws, too. Oh well.

I won't bore you with the rest of the hands. I picked up $200 in a couple hours. I folded it up in my waistline on my way out. Evidently people have been getting mugged frequently in that area. Lame.

I can't figure out if I was extremely lucky or if I played well, or a little bit of both. I know you aren't supposed to pick up much more than a couple big bets an hour. Out of the 6-8 people at the table, more than one had trouble reading the Omaha hands. That was good for me, of course, but probably not $200 good.

The biggest point I'm trying to make is this was a fun game. They drop $3 or $4 per hand, but most people there were loose enough to make up for it. If you're ever in town, check it out.

By some confluence of events that I do not want to make the whole world privy to at this point, I am playing in the 3-Day $1500 Event 49 No Limit Hold'em at the 2008 World Series of Poker in fabulous Las Vegas.

Structure

If you take a look at the structure sheet, there are some interesting points:

• The "rake" is 9% of all the entry fees (that's the same as your $10+$1 game on Full Tilt
• Each player starts with 3000, which is 60 big blinds when it starts at 25/50 :/
• Each level is one hour long, and the first day is over in after round 10, when the blind level is 600/1200 + 100 antes

Schedule

Tournaments that have finished have information posted on the schedule. Interesting... You can check out details on event 13, which is the same as #49 except the buy-in was $2500. There were 1013 entrants and first place took $522k.

Did You Know?

You can wear headphones throughout the tournament until you are "in the money" at which point you need to take them off.

To pre-register (and guarantee a spot), you have to pay for entry with a wire transfer (and then fax the appropriate forms) or mail the forms with a cashiers check. In the case of this event, which will be held on 6/28, the forms have to be in by the 14th. I guess it's probably 2 weeks.

Well, I thought I was going to be able to keep the streak alive, but I didn't win last night's game. I had the chip lead for most of the tourney, too, but the blinds crept up and the end and I refused to call away over half my stack with mediocre hands. Turns out, maybe I should have...

Ridiculous Hand

I forget the order, but Tony, Adrian, and Dave get all in preflop with similar stacks. Tony and Dave had a side pot for about 550. Tony flips over , Dave flips over and Adrian has . Wow.

The flop comes . Oh man!

The turn is the . What?!

The river is the . The room erupts.

Set over set over set is about a 1-in-421 chance of happening. And in reverse order, no less... What a tease. At least the hands finished in the same order that they started - nobody suffered a suck-out :p

Call?

I had been playing unusually tight, but either nobody noticed it or the fact that I had four top-10 hands in the first 4 or 5 blind round disguised it (even though I showed 3 of them down). My goal was to try and get into the mindset I'll need to do well in Vegas at the end of the month (more on that later).

At this point I was either the chip leader or close, and was feeling pretty healthy at 10k or so. If I remember correctly, the blinds were at 200/400 and I was in middle position. I looked down to see and raised it up to 1300. The button and small blind called. The flop came - not the worst flop possible, but I did not like the ace much at all.

The big blind checked, and it was up to me and the button. The button had about 4k left, and he is a good enough player to take a shot at this pot without an ace. He is a relatively tight player, so any pocket pair as well as a good ace are in his range. If I put out a feeler bet of 2-3k, and he went all in, I was committed against him, and there was still another player left to act (the big blind). If I bet and he folded, I didn't make any money, and the big blind could still raise me for almost my whole stack (he could have or something like that. It seemed good to check and if the button bets, see what the big blind does. If the blind folds, I can put on my thinking cap.

I decided all of this quickly enough to make a quick check in succession to the big blind, and the button immediately went all in, which was followed by a prompt fold from the big blind. I counted my chips again, measured up where I'd be at if I was wrong, and thought... I really wanted to believe I was beat - saving chips is like making chips. He probably didn't have due to the cards that were out, but he could easily have a big enough ace or decided to get fun on the button with a weak ace.

I thought some more... My gut told me to fold, to not risk my chip lead, but the way his chips went in and his posture made me want to call. Strong means weak, right? I had called him down in a similar position before, and it was reasonable to believe he had a pocket pair. I ended up calling and he showed .

Blinded

As the blinds catapulted up, I kept folding. Every time I wanted to make a stand, I made the right lay-down, I think. I had against and against . Or sometimes just absolute crap like . I guess if it can win the main event, I should consider it. Hah, I think I folded , too. Anyway, I finally put all my chips in with against and lost. Boo!

!! Suck It!

That last heading was for those in the know. If you weren't at the game last night, don't worry about it :) What was it, Alexis, ? Something like that...

I'm allowed to sound cocky for 3 in a row, right? If not, sorry :p Let's get right into it...

Setup

We started with 20k in chips and blinds were 100/200 to start. The schedule was set up to support 27 players with about 10 rebuys and finish before it became too late on this school night, but we only had 25 players and 5 rebuys. That made for some pretty tough (but fair!) blinds...

Slaying the Steamroller

The first two rounds went by pretty quickly. I played a lot of small pots and built up a little bit. I picked up in middle position and tried to do a triple-BB raise to 600. The players informed me the blinds were at 200/400 so a raise would be 800, so they let me bump it to 800. Yuri on the button and a couple others called, so we had a nice pot.

Of course the flop is , right? I check, Yuri bets, and I call. The turn is the , giving me a larger straight (lol) and a flush draw. I bet out and Yuri goes all in. I call and he shows for top two pair. The river is the and I double up with my runner-runner flush (aka flopped straight).

KK No Good (Craig's)

I limped in with in late position and Craig popped it 4 times. Everybody folded to me, and I called, since there were about 4 big blinds in the pot already. The flop was and two rags. Craig bet out, but it didn't seem like a "I have the best hand" bet, so I decided to smooth call hoping to indicate I had an ace. He checked the turn, I bet, and he grudgingly folded.

I frisbeed my cards in, but they hit off my other hand and flipped up. OMG :/ People accused me of doing it on purpose to be mean, but I explained that would be stupid for two reasons.

1. Never make your opponents regret folding monster hands to you. I guess you might want to use it against them later, but I think it's more profitable to allow them to feel okay about it. Now I'm going to have to think harder next time I get into a pot with Craig ;)
2. I like playing cards with these people and hanging out with them; poker is poker, but making your friends feel bad purposefully is just not cool

KK No Good (Mine)

I folded for a while, played a few pots, made a mistake against Mike when he bet his bottom pair and I just called. He hit trips on the turn and I still thought he was weak, but I was wrong. I should have just raised when I thought I had the best hand.

Anyway, people are busting out left and right at this point, so we are balancing tables and writing the results down and I'm barely at my table. One moment I'm there, I look and see . Rebecca goes all in UTG and I have to stop the clock for the other table, so I just say "tell me when it's my turn." They do, I say "re-raise all in" and come back to the table.

Rebecca shows . The door card is the , but it's quickly followed up by . I walk away to balance the other table and the table erupts... I ask "did I get quads or did she runner-runner? Rebecca won with a straight :p

! Repaid!

• I moved all in with and Melonee called and lost with .
• I got into a 3-way all-in with Kyle with my against his overcards by rivering a full house. E paid me off with her mini-house. Woo!
• The very next hand I had the button, so I decided to go for a blind steal with my new money with . It turned out Parag had and wasn't going anywhere... until I picked up two-pair on the flop, that is. Wow.
• In the small blind for 15k I went all in with against E in the big blind with one more big blind behind. She of course called with her but they didn't hold up.

The End

I won! Trish and I played heads up for a while pausing the blinds and she ended up not being able to double up on me. The final hand I even sucked out. My paired up on the river against Trish's when she only had one big blind left.

Remember, don't trap the trapper :) If you know what it means, then it was for you.

Lately I've been terrible at keeping up with this thing. I meant to write a post about how I'd be taking a break from poker for a while for various reasons.

First, I'm moving (yay), but not far. Moving is a pain. Secondly, I haven't had enough time to relax and just hang out and still get all my work and other necessary stuff done. Finally, I haven't won in a while, and in fact lost a good chunk at Lucky Chances, so it would be a good financial decision to take a break, especially considering my rent is going up by 30%.

Hatred

Check this blog out. Chris Fargis describes why he hates poker, but not in a whiny way. He suggests a book called "Fooled by Randomness" that might help you cope with your hatred of poker, too. He also says the book "is a great read if you're into markets/investing, math, probability, logic, philosophy, or identifying which successful people are lucky idiots." If you know me, you know I'm adding it to my wish list.

Anyway, I was doing just fine not playing poker. I was able to focus on other important things, and I realized the thing I missed the most was not the actual playing of cards or gambling - it was the social aspect. Thankfully, I could still keep in touch with what was going on in the groups I play with on this wonderful site ;)

Foiled! (TYVM)

Last week Wednesday I was going to attend a game, but then decided I should continue my break, work a bit late, and then take care of some stuff at home. Adrian had other ideas, though, and he convinced me to play in the game instead of being responsible.

To make a long story short, Adrian busted out early because he needed to get home, Teresa and I pounded some Coronas and had a few margaritas, and I somehow won.

I folded more than usual in the later stages of the game, partially due to my tasty chip stack, and partially due to the fact that I didn't feel I could make very good judgment calls, so I just stuck to the math. Whenever somebody put me all in after I made an infrequent raise, I calculated my expected odds against their range of hands and either called or folded. Each time I was right and didn't get unlucky.

Lesson?

The lesson is for me is that maybe my judgment calls aren't as good as straight math and increased folding. I'm going to have to think on that one for next time.

Again!

Off to South Lake Tahoe for some relaxation. Darren and his girlfriend (Jessica) procured the supplies, did the driving, and planned most of the activities for Megan and me. Overall, it was a very good time. Of note: the Beatles tribute show by the band "Yesterday" was surprisingly good/cheap.

We didn't have much time for poker, but Darren dragged me out of bed to hit the 10am tournament on Saturday. Thirty-five mugs showed up to give us their money. I was pretty spleepy and tried to "resteal" with a flush draw, but it turned out my opponent flopped a straight. Good thing I had two cards coming (and hit). I later got my money in with twice against underpairs and made it. When I went in with against , I didn't get unlucky, either.

Chop?!

At this point, we were down to 8 players and the blinds were near 1000/2000. Some players had as little as 4000 in chips, yet everybody but me wanted to chop the $1400 prize pool. Insane! We played on and a few other players dropped. Again, everybody wanted to chop. I had a very healthy stack and others were doing quite well, but I guess they just wanted to not have fun and play.

Acquiescence

People stopped bothering with the chop when they realized "I came to play" and we made it down to 3 players. I had roughly 30 big blinds and my opponents had 10 and 5 or so. My luck finally went south and I lost 5 in a row when I was way ahead or even each time. So now I have the short stack, and they offer to chop again so I agree. :p

Lesson

Early in the game, four times I put my money in on a 50-50. Four times in a row I won. Not very likely... However, after the first time, I would have been in great shape had I lost any of those other coin flips. I'm sure there were other times when I pressed and people just folded similar match-ups. Fold equity is your friend. If you have a big stack, take advantage of it. And remember, if you get called, you can still win!

So What?

I guess I'm rounding again :p

That's random and ramblings. Witty, huh?

Some Strategy

I've been posting some hands on the strategy forum, and was hoping to get some feedback. Either comment here or on the forums. Or both :p

I talked about putting your opponent on a hand (and following through!)

And then a random what the heck should I do on this flop?

Some Freerolls

I've played in a few PokerStars freerolls. "Hubble's" NL Hold'em freeroll, a limit Razz game (yeah, really), and some Stud. These tournaments have 12000 max entrants and the top 99 or 88 or whatever qualify for yet another weekly freeroll, which has a $2000 pot. Not bad for practicing weird games or blowing some time if you don't have a real money account (or just want to supplement a movie or something mostly brainless. I did the best in the Razz game - 384 out of 3.5k or so.

I also played in this week's WSOP qualifier on PokerStars. I lost with trips when my opponent turned his full house after I had his trips dominated on the flop. Oh well :p

Phone Fun

At a recent tourney I picked up pocket aces in late position and was fortunate enough to have a regular non-believer in the big blind. I raised 4x the big blind and was called. The flop came king-high, and my phone rang. I picked it up, told them I'd call them on a break, then checked while saying "what should I do with pocket aces here?" My opponent bet near pot, I smooth-called. The turn was an ace (lucky me). Now I just have to hope my opponent really has that king. I check, they bet, I call. The river is a blank, and I lead out. Unfortunately they fold (their draw?) but fortunately they missed their draw. Fun stuff.

Rules Question

Check this out. What should we have done?

I haven't been playing as much live poker lately as usual, due to my inability to cash for the last month among other things, but I was finally able to turn a profit last night. I've been at the JavaOne conference since Tuesday, and that makes for some long days. But I just couldn't pass up the game last night.

Unfortunately, I was roped into the cash game after the tourney, so I was up far too late and I'm running on 4.5 hours of sleep. Ugh. I'm trying to stay awake to at least finish this. I wanted to mention a couple crazy situations before I forget about them.

!! Case Jack, FTW!

Early in the tournament, I had played a few pots against The Steamroller and I hadn't faired too well. One hand I flopped the 3rd nut flush draw, turned top pair, and rivered two pair, only to pay him off with his 2nd nut flush. Ugh. So when I picked , made a 3-4x raise from mid-late position and the flop came , I had a hard time believing my opponent flopped a flush yet again.

Both flop-perusers checked to me and I bet about half the pot with my overpair. Check-raised! The raise was about 3 times my bet, so I decided to call and proceed carefully, putting my opponent on a ten and/or a diamond draw. That put about 8k in the pot and we each had about 13k behind. The turn was the , which didn't exactly enthuse me. My opponent repeated the 2.5k bet, so I just flat-called. My only hope was they were on the diamond draw or were making a ridiculous steal attempt with or something. Wishful thinking, I know...

Somebody from the 2nd table yelled over to ask how I was doing and I replied "I'm probably going to be out in a few seconds, unless I get super-lucky on the river" (fully intending to fold on the river). I was saying this as the river was coming out, and it was nothing other than the , of course! At this point, I'm only losing to quads, so I'm pretty happy with my hand. I could have wished for the instead, to practically ensure my opponent had their flush, but beggars can't be choosers.

My opponent bets 4k, I re-raise all in, and he calls, showing , for the flopped nut flush. Sorry, dude! Maybe this makes up for the mega-cooler sessions I had this past weekend ;) I'll take it either way. I should have dropped the jacks on the flop and almost especially on the turn, but I really had it in my head my opponent was trying to work me. I really need to stop trying to think so trickily like that.

They Cut The Hard Line

The hardcorers convinced me to stay for the cash game. And by convinced, I mean after we finished at the tournament table, I visited the bathroom, got a tasty cookie, and plopped down in the closet open seat without a word to or from anybody :)

A couple hours in, the lad directly on my right decided it was time for a pocket pair. He chanted "pocket pair, pocket pair" and said he would raise if he got one. I said I'd call if he raised. He was under the gun and bumped it to 5 times the big blind - bastard! I immediately "smooth call" with my giant (hah) and we see on the flop. He bets out the pot, and I grudgingly fold thinking he doesn't have an ace but he probably has nines beat, as unlikely as it seems after the pocket pair prediction. He turns up . Awesome!

I decide I should get a pocket pair too, so I repeat the same chant. I also straddle my opponent (his blind, you sicko), which he is not excited about. I tell him if I'm going to get a pocket pair, I want a bigger pot. I look down and see . HUH?! Seems good, I guess. Everybody folds to my power-straddle, and he limps in. I pop it to 3.5x the straddle, and he whines for a bit and calls. I tell him you gotta pump it a bit with pocket jacks, and he rolls his eyes. The flop comes . At least I don't have to sweat the ace he had to. He checks, I bet about the pot, and he folds. He shows and I show the jacks. Good stuff.

Overcard Comfort?

During the tournament, I took out a couple players when I had overcards to their pocket pairs and we got all in preflop. In one case, I was the aggressor with and in the other case I made the call with . Both times I won, but I was never risking more than half my stack (and the blinds were starting to get mega), so it seemd good to me.

Late in the tournament, I folded and when players went all in before me for similar amounts (half my stack). And I picked up in an unopened pot and went all in, but lost to (how appropriately) .

Why when I pushed and called with my overcards did I feel quite fine, but when I picked up baby pairs I didn't call and when I pushed with my nines I was sweating it pretty hard? Pairs are better than overcards, heads up! People having overcards are more likely than pairs. Doesn't that mean I should be more comfortable with my pairs?

PokerStars World Series of Poker Satellite Challenge

I placed 884 out of 2289 in the satellite game tonight. Top 50 get invites to the weekly WSOP qualifier game. The blind levels went up about ever 3 hands because people were taking max time. The tournament is labeled a "turbo" tournament, but I thought that meant players only had a short time to make a decision. It seems PokerStars still gives you a good half a minute. Anyway, I lost to in the big blind when I raised in late position with and misplayed after the flop of . Oh well :p

BTW, does anybody else think PokerStars GUI is about as cool as a festering ball of dog snot?

OUT

Sleep time!