sniffing out the bluff

Sometimes, you can just tell your opponent didn't get there. This hand was fun; comments in CAPS; track OUR HERO.
This was the second hand dealt in a $55 buy-in single table tournament, blinds 20/40.
OUR HERO went on to take 1st.

Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 10

Seat 2: OUR HERO (2000)

ageah posts small blind (20)
msd21 posts big blind (40)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to OUR HERO [ Kh, Js ]
OUR HERO raises (120) to 120 -- EVERYONE FOLDS TO ME; I'LL MAKE A SMALL RAISE IN LATE POSITION; LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!
msd21 calls (80) ONLY THE BIG BLIND WANTS TO PLAY...
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6s, Jd, 3d ]
msd21 bets (150)
OUR HERO calls (150) INTERESTING; I HIT TOP PAIR, NICE KICKER WITH MY AGGRESSIVE PRE-FLOP RAISE; LET'S SEE WHAT THE TURN BRINGS, AS THOSE DIAMONDS ARE SCARY.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6c ]
msd21 bets (250)
OUR HERO calls (250) SHOULD I RAISE OR LET HIM BLUFF THE RIVER?
** Dealing River ** : [ As ]
msd21 bets (600)
OUR HERO calls (600) IF HE'S BLUFFING, I WIN; IF HE ACTUALLY CAUGHT A HAND, I LOSE THE MINIMUM
** Summary **
Main Pot: 2260
Board: [ 6s Jd 3d 6c As ]

OUR HERO balance 3140, bet 1120, collected 2260, net +1140 [ Kh Js ]
[ two pairs, jacks and sixes -- As,Js,Jd,6s,6c ]
msd21 balance 880, lost 1120 [ Td Qd ] [ a pair of sixes -- As,Qd,Jd,6s,6c ] MISSED THE FLUSH AND TRIED TO BUY IT ON THE RIVER. DIDN'T WORK THIS TIME!

out-run by a 10 outer

Recent $33 buy-in tournament, I was dealt 98 suited in spades on the button. The blinds were 20/40, I limped behind 3 limpers; the big blind raised to 150, and we took the flop 5 handed.
The flop came 5, 6, 7, rainbow [the 7 was a spade] -- I flopped the stone cold nuts, office hours -- a straight from 9 to 5.
The action was checked to me and I bet about 1/2 the pot - $300.
One player called and the turn was the ten of spades. I still had the nuts -- now a ten high straight, and still the best possible hand -- but I also picked up an open-ended straight flush draw. Action was checked to me and I bet about 1/2 the pot -- $600. He check-raised me for all his chips -- about another 1000 (I had him outchipped by about $600) -- and I of course called with the current nuts and the chance to catch the immortals.
He turned over 66 -- he had flopped a set.
The river paired the 10, giving him sixes full and cracking my straight.
On the turn, out of the 44 unseen cards left in the deck (the four cards on board plus my hole cards plus his hole cards is 8 known cards, leaving 44 unknown cards in a 52 card deck), he had 10 outs: any 5, 7, 10 or the case 6. He was about a 3.5 to 1 dog to make his hand, but I'm sure he thought that his set of sixes -- the mark of the beast -- was good and that he didn't need to improve his hand to win. When my hand was turned over, I bet he was pissed, and when the 10 paired, I imagine he about jumped for joy.
Poker -- it's a roller coaster. You can hold the nuts but on the turn of a card, fortunes change hands.

AQ may dominate KQ, but it doesn't always win

$10/20 limit game with a 1/2 kill, this was a killed pot, so the action was $15/30.
I was in the small blind; the kill poster checked his option, everyone else folded to a middle position player who raised. A late position player called.
I peeped AQ, and felt the raiser was pushing a mediocre hand.
I three-bet, the big blind -- a loose passive player who almost never folded before the flop -- called, as did everyone else.
The flop hit A, Q, J, rainbow.
I led into the pot -- which was swelled with $225 in pre-flop calls -- with my top two pair and everyone called.
The turn was a ten, putting four parts of a straight on board.
I checked, and it was checked to the initial raiser, who bet.
It was folded to me and the big blind was holding chips to call.
I slipped my $30 in to call, knowing I need an A or Q to win the pot, and the big blind did likewise.
The river was a blank, I checked, the big blind checked and the initial pre-flop raiser bet.
I wish I was typing that I made a smart fold and saved a bet, but I called, the big blind folded, and my opponent showed KQ -- a straight.
While my AQ dominated her KQ, she still made a straight and took the pot, and I was still a donkey for paying off the river. On the turn -- getting pot odds of 330 to 30 [11 to 1], and anticipating the big blind's call, which would make the odds 360 to 30 [12 to 1] -- I was getting close to the right price to chase my four out draw [11 to 1 against].
But paying off the river -- dumb mistake.

Side note: my opponent made an aggressive play with KQ pre-flop, but not necessarily a mistake. When I re-raised, she had proper odds to call to see the flop.
On the flop, she had middle pair and a gutshot draw, so her call was smart (calling $15 with $270 in the pot and only one player -- who had only passively called to that point in the hand -- to act behind her). A gutshot is about 11 to 1 against to hit (same odds I later had on the turn when I needed an ace or a queen to make a full house), and the pot was offering odds 18 to 1.
Of course, this gets more complicated if she factors in the likelihood of my holding AK, or another hand containing a king and whether or not the big blind has a king. If either of us holds a king, it would be a split pot, changing the pot odds. If we all have a king, the pot could be split three-ways, changing the pot odds even more!

*******If any of the odds or lingo above is confusing, you need
DRAWING DEAD TO A GUTSHOT: How to Talk Poker (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569803080/ref=sr_11_1/102-7480320-0644163?ie=UTF8)
and Poker Flash Cards for Texas Hold'Em: Learn the Odds to
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097650250X/sr=1-1/qid=1156289481/ref=sr_1_1/102-7480320-0644163?ie=UTF8&s=books).

Tournament Play: Jacks: One example of what NOT to do

In a recent single table tournament, in the first round of play, three players got all the chips in pre-flop.
With blinds 20/40, an early position player raised to 250. A player in middle position re-raised all of his chips, to 1900. A third player -- chip leader before the hand began -- raised all of his chips, to 2400.
The early position player called all-in.
The hands were turned over: early position player showed AA; middle position player showed KK; late position player turned over JJ.
My thoughts:
I like raising with AA (though I mix it up a little and sometimes just call, and might have raised a smaller amount here; 250 was 6x the big blind...). With KK in middle position, I think you can raise or just call and see the flop; I prefer to raise, but definitely wouldn't raise my entire stack, given the opener's raise to 250. I would have probably raised to 750 -- enough to show you're serious, but also an amount that leaves your options open.
With JJ -- in the first round of the tournament and a player re-raising all-in against an early position raise -- this is a clear fold. At a full table of players in the first round of the tournament, there is no reason to gamble with JJ here, especially considering this hand is likely to play three-handed, not heads-up.
With potential three-way action, even if the jacks are the best hand pre-flop, your two opponents are likely to hold overcards.
A pocket pair versus two overcards will win about 55% of the time in heads-up action.
Pocket jacks look good but, at a full table and playing against a raise and a re-raise, there's no reason to risk your tournament -- especially not in the first round, and especially when you start the hand as the chip leader!!

more lingo

Fido - a king with a 9 ('canine')

noodles - a pair of 9s

kibitzer - a player who talks a lot

quackers - 2s ('ducks')

read Roy Cooke, improve your limit poker

If you haven't, check out Roy Cooke's columns in Cardplayer.com (www.cardplayer.com); great column, great poker insight, particularly for limit players.
Here's a link to a recent column:
http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/15582

straight on the turn, but the river helped the fish

First round of a $70 + 7 SNG on Party; this one didn't work out too well, though I ended up taking 3rd place. Track OUR HERO in the summary below.

Blinds 20/40.
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Streaker2006 (1975)
Seat 2: maxbettor (1720)
Seat 3: Cottondaisy (2631)
Seat 4: OUR HERO (1860)
Seat 5: DAVY1TN (2690)
Seat 6: jozxyqkq (1400)
Seat 7: barleelegal (2100)
Seat 8: goingtowpt (1995)
Seat 9: cantab (1769)
Seat 10: ih8txhldm (1860)
jozxyqkq posts small blind (20)
barleelegal posts big blind (40)
** Dealing down cards
**Dealt to OUR HERO [ 9d, Jd ]
goingtowpt folds.
cantab calls (40)
ih8txhldm folds.
Streaker2006 folds.
maxbettor folds.
Cottondaisy calls (40)
pokergirl804 calls (40) SUITED ON THE BUTTON - FUN!
DAVY1TN calls (40)
jozxyqkq calls (20)
barleelegal checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Tc, Td, Qd ]
jozxyqkq checks.
barleelegal checks.
cantab bets (140)
Cottondaisy folds.
OUR HERO calls (140) OPEN-ENDED STRAIGHT FLUSH DRAW -- very fun!!
DAVY1TN calls (140)
jozxyqkq calls (140)
barleelegal folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Ks ]
jozxyqkq checks.
cantab checks.
OUR HERO bets (475) Hit my hand, might as well try to make some money!
DAVY1TN folds.
jozxyqkq calls (475)
cantab calls (475) Two callers?! Hmmm... am I drawing dead?
** Dealing River ** : [ 6c ]
jozxyqkq checks.
cantab checks.
OUR HERO checks. No sense betting and letting a better hand check-raise; my hand is strong enough to show down here, I don't need to try to maximize when I might be crushed...
** Summary **Main Pot: 2225
Board: [ Tc Td Qd Ks 6c ]

OUR HERO balance 1205, lost 655 [ 9d Jd ] [ a straight, nine to king -- Ks,Qd,Jd,Tc,9d ]
jozxyqkq balance 2970, bet 655, collected 2225, net +1570 [ 6h Th ] [ a full house, Tens full of sixes -- Th,Tc,Td,6h,6c ]. HUH! He did have the full house, but caught on the river... I probably would have called a small-to-medium sized bet, but thanks for the free showdown.

cantab balance 1114, lost 655 [ Qh Js ] [ two pairs, queens and tens -- Ks,Qh,Qd,Tc,Td ]. what were you thinking?! Paired board and three-way action, possible straights and full houses out there -- bad play, bad play.

Lots of lingo for "Jack"

Dy-No-Mite - JJ from "Good Times"
Fishhook
Hector - the Jack of diamonds
Hogier - the Jack of spades
Hook
Jackal
J-Boy
John
Knave
La Hire - Jack of hearts
Lancelot - Jack of clubs
Trout Line - four jacks (four fishhooks)
Valet

An Inconvenient Truth

Saw An Inconvenient Truth last night; definitely makes you think. The way things are going, the oceans will rise 20 feet, which will put the Hudson River on Canal Street. Every thing we can do to reduce carbon emmisions can make a difference, and we have to act now, before things get even worse. Last week's heat wave may be just a glimpse of what's coming if we don't get involved and protect the health of the earth.But Kermit was wrong -- it is easy being green, or at least being greener. Every little bit can help.

Visit http://www.conedsolutions.com for info on how you can make a difference by switching your power to a greener solution, see An Inconvenient Truth for more ideas and think about the consequences of inaction. We have one planet, and won't get a second chance.
Spread the word.
Save the world.

Visit www.climatecrisis.net for more information.

more lingo

Hunter's Hand - pocket deuces when in the big blind ('ducks in the blind')

Play Sheriff - to call your opponents in hopes of catch a bluff.

Buy DRAWING DEAD TO A GUTSHOT: How to Talk Poker, available wherever books are sold, including Barnes & Noble!
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=1569803080&itm=1

Gorillas in the BB!

Short-stacked player goes all-in with A7s, another player calls with AJ, hero PokerGirl804 re-raises all in from the BB with KK, the AJ limper calls (wow! what a bad call here!!) and Kings hold up to win a monster pot!!

Table Table 112794 (Real Money) -- Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: pokergirl804 (2478)
Seat 3: jafrye111 (7095)
Seat 5: Cpt_Yzrmn (3780)
Seat 6: Swedenstar (2751)
Seat 8: hunters___72 (1721)
Seat 9: AtticusAA (2175)
AtticusAA posts small blind (100)
pokergirl804 posts big blind (200)
** Dealing down cards
**Dealt to pokergirl804 [ Kh, Kc ]
jafrye111 raises (1143) to 1143
Cpt_Yzrmn folds.
Swedenstar folds.
hunters___72 raises (1721) to 1721
hunters___72 is all-In.
AtticusAA folds.
pokergirl804 raises (2278) to 2478
pokergirl804 is all-In.
jafrye111 calls (1335)
Creating Main Pot with $5263 with hunters___72
Creating Side Pot 1 with $1514 with pokergirl804
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 8d, 7d, Td ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Ts ]
** Dealing River ** : [ 4s ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: 5263
Side Pot 1: 1514
Board: [ 8d 7d Td Ts 4s ]
pokergirl804 balance 6777, bet 2478, collected 6777, net +4299 [ Kh Kc ]
[ two pairs, kings and tens -- Kh,Kc,Td,Ts,8d ]
jafrye111 balance 4617, lost 2478 [ Ad Js ] [ a pair of tens -- Ad,Js,Td,Ts,8d ]
hunters___72 balance 0, lost 1721 [ 7s As ] [ two pairs, tens and sevens -- As,Td,Ts,7s,7d ]

short-stacked, desperate play works

getting short stacked, and felt it was time to make a move; got lucky when K7 outran an ace... PokerGirl804 is the hero...

Table Table 112794 (Real Money) -- Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: pokergirl804 (1189)
Seat 3: jafrye111 (7484)
Seat 5: Cpt_Yzrmn (1690)
Seat 6: Swedenstar (4541)
Seat 8: hunters___72 (2521)
Seat 9: AtticusAA (2575)
jafrye111 posts small blind (100)
Cpt_Yzrmn posts big blind (200)
** Dealing down cards
**Dealt to pokergirl804 [ 7d, Kc ]
Swedenstar folds.hunters___72 folds.
AtticusAA folds.
pokergirl804 raises (1189) to 1189 "M" is 4, and the chance to open on the button; no time like right now to try to make a move.
pokergirl804 is all-In.
jafrye111 calls (1089) oops - didn't want called!
Cpt_Yzrmn folds.
Creating Main Pot with $2578 with pokergirl804
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6d, 5d, 3d ] Any K or diamond and this works out OK
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4h ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Kd ] King AND Diamond - excellent!!
** Summary **Main Pot: 2578
Board: [ 6d 5d 3d 4h Kd ]
pokergirl804 balance 2578, bet 1189, collected 2578, net +1389 [ 7d Kc ] [ a flush, king high -- Kd,7d,6d,5d,3d ]
jafrye111 balance 6295, lost 1189 [ 9h Ah ] [ high card ace -- Ah,Kd,9h,6d,5d ]

99 v 22

this mutt got cute with 22 and hit; he went on to take 4th, while hero Pokergirl804 snagged 3rd... karma came around!

Table Table 112794 (Real Money) -- Seat 7 is the buttonTotal number of players : 8
Seat 2: pokergirl804 (1790)
Seat 3: jafrye111 (521)
Seat 5: Cpt_Yzrmn (2250)
Seat 6: Swedenstar (3891)
Seat 7: BARNEY_2 (2490)
Seat 8: hunters___72 (4158)
Seat 9: AtticusAA (2870)
Seat 10: MadMan_22 (2030)
hunters___72 posts small blind (30)
AtticusAA posts big blind (60)
** Dealing down cards
**Dealt to pokergirl804 [ 9h, 9d ]
MadMan_22 folds.pokergirl804 raises (120) to 120
jafrye111 raises (521) to 521
jafrye111 is all-In.
Cpt_Yzrmn folds.
Swedenstar folds.
BARNEY_2 folds.
hunters___72 folds.
AtticusAA folds.
pokergirl804 calls (401)
Creating Main Pot with $1132 with jafrye111
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Td, As, 5c ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4d ]
** Dealing River ** : [ 2s ]
** Summary **Main Pot: 1132
Board: [ Td As 5c 4d 2s ]
pokergirl804 balance 1269, lost 521 [ 9h 9d ] [ a pair of nines -- As,Td,9h,9d,5c ]
jafrye111 balance 1132, bet 521, collected 1132, net +611 [ 2h 2c ]
[ three of a kind, twos -- As,Td,2h,2c,2s ]

Aces are fun

from a recent $33 buy-in SNG; PokerGirl804 is the hero; went on to finish 2nd.

Table Tailgate Party (Real Money)
-- Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 7
Seat 2: demon4203 (2849)
Seat 3: pokergirl804 (1710)
Seat 4: CTB333 (3706)
Seat 5: Blue_LabelA (1680)
Seat 7: tophat1 (901)
Seat 8: TIZLAW (3570)
Seat 9: bayballer1 (5584)
demon4203 posts small blind (50)
pokergirl804 posts big blind (100)
** Dealing down cards
**Dealt to pokergirl804 [ Ah, As ] --EXCELLENT! Bullets in the big blind!
CTB333 calls (100)
Blue_LabelA folds.
tophat1 raises (901) to 901 --Action!!
tophat1 is all-In.
TIZLAW folds.
bayballer1 folds.
demon4203 folds.
pokergirl804 calls (801) -- I HAVE HIM COVERED AND I HAVE THE BEST HAND -- HOW CAN I FOLD ?!
CTB333 folds.
Creating Main Pot with $1952 with tophat1
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Tc, Jc, 7s ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 2d ]
** Dealing River ** : [ 3d ]
** Summary **Main Pot: 1952 Board: [ Tc Jc 7s 2d 3d ]

pokergirl804 balance 2761, bet 901, collected 1952, net +1051 [ Ah As ] [ a pair of aces -- Ah,As,Jc,Tc,7s ]

tophat1 balance 0, lost 901 [ 9s Jd ] [ a pair of jacks -- Jd,Jc,Tc,9s,7s ] -- ALL-IN PRE-FLOP WITH JACK-9 -- MAYBE HE WAS LATE FOR AN APPOINTMENT, BECAUSE THIS WAS A DONKEY MOVE.

more lingo

Get Smart - a pair of nines ('Agent 99')

Montana Banana - a nine with a 2. Bananas will grow in Montana before you'll win with nine deuce.

Railroad Bible - a deck of cards. "I always carry a Railroad Bible with me," he said as he pulled out a fresh deck of Bicycle Riderback Poker Playing Cards.
[Visit the U.S. Playing Card Company, makers of Bicycles here: http://www.usplayingcard.com/]

Visit Gambler's Book Shop at http://www.gamblersbook.com/ to pre-order a copy of DRAWING DEAD TO A GUTSHOT: How to Talk Poker now!

great poker site/blog

I spend too much time at the poker tables to keep up with all my poker reading, but this is great site for poker players: www.identitytheory.com/poker.
There's lots of great content, and more than just poker stuff, too. It's a great outlet.
Check it out.

more lingo

Billy Dee Williams - a five with a four ("Colt .45, works everytime" was Billy Dee's catch phrase in their popular ad campaign).

DRAWING DEAD TO A GUTSHOT: How to Talk Poker - In Bookstores Everywhere, September 2006. It's the poker lingo you need to know to talk like a pro!

fun little KK hand

This is a fun little hand; PokerGirl804 is the hero with KK.
Opponent flops a set with QQ, but PokerGirl804 sucks out and catches a runner-runner flush...
History below. PokerGirl804 goes on to take 2nd place.

Sat Jul 29 14:35:35 EDT 2006
Table Table 112741 (Real Money) -- Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: liondore (1852)
Seat 3: rsavage (9292)
Seat 4: MarkKathy (1392)
Seat 5: LennyG55 (1132)
Seat 7: MVMJJ2 (3582)
Seat 8: pokergirl804 (2750)
LennyG55 posts small blind (100)
MVMJJ2 posts big blind (200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to pokergirl804 [ Kh, Ks ]
pokergirl804 calls (200)
liondore folds.rsavage raises (500) to 500
MarkKathy folds.
LennyG55 folds.
MVMJJ2 folds.
pokergirl804 raises (1300) to 1500
rsavage raises (8792) to 9292
rsavage is all-In.pokergirl804 calls (1250)
pokergirl804 is all-In.
Creating Main Pot with $5800 with pokergirl804
Creating Side Pot 1 with $6542 with rsavage
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 2s, Qh, Jh ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 7h ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Ah ]
** Summary **Main Pot: 5800
Side Pot 1: 6542
Board: [ 2s Qh Jh 7h Ah ]

rsavage balance 6542, bet 9292, collected 6542, lost -2750 [ Qc Qd ]
[ three of a kind, queens -- Ah,Qc,Qd,Qh,Jh ]

pokergirl804 balance 5800, bet 2750, collected 5800, net +3050 [ Kh Ks ] [ a flush, ace high -- Ah,Kh,Qh,Jh,7h ]

more lingo

Biscuit - a chip

Pass the Sherbert to Herbert - to award a player a pot.