Sensei’s Poker Dojo

So lately I’ve decided to start playing a little more heads-up unlimited hold them, on account of all the cool kids doing it. I figure there are plenty of fish in the games, game selection is great since you only have to play against fish, and it’ll help my overall game become stronger and more dangerous. Some of the things I’ve learned so far are:

1. HU games are much more tilt-inducing. Something about so many chips flying around to battle with such marginal hands, over and over again, just leads to strong tilty impulses. In many games where the players are somewhat evenly matched, the one who tilts less has a huge advantage. I’m fortunate in this regard since I tend to be pretty good at not tilting, but I can see how important it is to keep a level head.
2. Its important to avoid grudge matches unless you know you have an edge. Its pretty easy to sit down against an unknown, play for a while, lose a stack for some reason, and then say “screw that I’m gonna get that money back” without considering your edge (or lack thereof). If he’s a better player than you and you’re steaming a little because of the last beat, thats a recipe for 7-layer busto dip, and chances are you won’t have any chips left for it!
3. People who buy in for weird small amounts are usually fish (sometimes on the last of their bankroll). If they start shoving the first few hands, you know they’re looking to gamble for a double-up or a bust, and you should just play tight until the latter happens. If they seem to be playing tight, chances are they’re afraid to lose it, so you should open up and steal lots of little pots from them (but beware when their stack heads for the middle!)
4. Top pair is the nuts.

Tonight I sat down at some 5/10 HUNL tables, with the following results:

On my fulltilt table, a shortstack sits in with $219. I open the button with A2o the first hand, he shoves, I call, and I hold up over his 43s. He leaves.

Shortly thereafter, a dude sits with a full stack. We steal blinds back and forth for about 12 hands, and then this happens:

FullTiltPoker Game #5063361147: Table Firm (heads up) – $5/$10 – No Limit Hold’em – 3:11:59 ET – 2008/01/31
Seat 1: DJ Sensei ($1,030)
Seat 2: hellaxela ($1,033.50)
hellaxela posts the small blind of $5
DJ Sensei posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Jc Qs]
hellaxela raises to $36
DJ Sensei calls $26
*** FLOP *** [Jd Tc 2c]
DJ Sensei checks
hellaxela bets $60
DJ Sensei raises to $180
hellaxela raises to $997.50, and is all in
DJ Sensei calls $814, and is all in
hellaxela shows [3c 9c]
DJ Sensei shows [Jc Qs]
Uncalled bet of $3.50 returned to hellaxela
*** TURN *** [Jd Tc 2c] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Jd Tc 2c Jh] [2s]
hellaxela shows two pair, Jacks and Twos
DJ Sensei shows a full house, Jacks full of Twos
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($2,059.50) with a full house, Jacks full of Twos
hellaxela is sitting out

He leaves too. Ordinarily in a ring game I would rarely checkraise this flop with a hand like QJo, because if he shoves I don’t know what to do, and if he calls i’m in an equally tough spot. But when playing HU, its such a standard flop to bluff or semibluff that I can do it with top pair decent kicker and be pretty happy to get the monies in. And of course I got them in as a 65/35 favorite (or something like that). (See HU observation #4 above)

Over on the pokerstars tables, a dude sits and this is our first hand:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951196095: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:03:55 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: street13 ($942.50 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($600 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $5
street13: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [As Kh]
DJ Sensei: raises $23 to $33
street13: calls $23
*** FLOP *** [6d 3s 6s]
street13: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $45
street13: raises $864.50 to $909.50 and is all-in
DJ Sensei: calls $522 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [6d 3s 6s] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [6d 3s 6s 9c] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
street13: shows [2s 2d] (two pair, Sixes and Deuces)
DJ Sensei: mucks hand
street13 collected $1199.50 from pot

Kind of a funny outcome, but i’m pretty sure i’m ahead of his range here. Especially if he came to gamble, which judging by his stack size, he did. Note that I started with only $600. That was kind of some bait; in case the fish were afraid of a full $1000 stack, $600 seems a little more inviting. After the hand he told me he didn’t want to play against somebody who could call there with AK, to which I asked why not since it was basically free money. He sat back in and said he’d play a little more. We played like 5 more hands and he gave me a “bye” and left. So it goes. Many players including myself find these so-called “hit and runs” to be quite annoying, but you have to be able to tolerate them in order to play much HU.

On my other stars table, a dude sat in to play and we got into a nice little match. The first big hand was the following:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951216126: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:06:09 (ET)
Table ‘Klymene’ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($898 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($1101.50 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $5
nemuii: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Jh Ad]
DJ Sensei: raises $23 to $33
nemuii: raises $87 to $120
DJ Sensei: calls $87
*** FLOP *** [3d 7h 4s]
nemuii: checks
DJ Sensei: checks
*** TURN *** [3d 7h 4s] [Jd]
nemuii: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $130
nemuii: calls $130
*** RIVER *** [3d 7h 4s Jd] [5c]
nemuii: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $275
nemuii: raises $373 to $648 and is all-in
DJ Sensei: calls $373
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nemuii: shows [Kd Ah] (high card Ace)
DJ Sensei: shows [Jh Ad] (a pair of Jacks)
DJ Sensei collected $1795.50 from pot

After he checkraised the river I wasn’t too pleased, but given the price I was getting and his suspiciously goofy line, I felt obligated to call. Once he turned over AK there I decided this guy was a good one to keep playing against. Soon after this one he sat down at my other table, and we got into it hot and heavy. The first time I 4-bet him turned out to be a pretty weird hand:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951342158: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:20:49 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($985 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($1746 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $5
nemuii: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [5s 6h]
DJ Sensei: raises $23 to $33
nemuii: raises $77 to $110
DJ Sensei: raises $169 to $279
nemuii: calls $169
*** FLOP *** [6s 4s Ks]
nemuii: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $370
nemuii has timed out
nemuii: folds
DJ Sensei collected $557.50 from pot
DJ Sensei: doesn’t show hand

I think I have to call if he shoves, but I’m much happier to just take the pot the easy way.

In the next hand I make my first big call of the match, one that I’m pretty proud of.

POKERSTARS GAME #14951460819: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:34:57 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($1035 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($3109.50 in chips)
nemuii: posts small blind $5
DJ Sensei: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Ah Ks]
nemuii: raises $20 to $30
DJ Sensei: raises $80 to $110
nemuii: calls $80
*** FLOP *** [2h 7h 5s]
DJ Sensei: checks
nemuii: checks
*** TURN *** [2h 7h 5s] [7s]
DJ Sensei: checks
nemuii: bets $160
DJ Sensei: calls $160
*** RIVER *** [2h 7h 5s 7s] [Qd]
DJ Sensei: checks
nemuii: bets $400
DJ Sensei: calls $400
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nemuii: shows [6d 8d] (a pair of Sevens)
DJ Sensei: shows [Ah Ks] (a pair of Sevens – Ace kicker)
DJ Sensei collected $1339.50 from pot

Unfortunately it was closely followed by this lame suckout. If I had won this pot, I think theres a good chance he would have tilted pretty hard and lost way more to me, but he got lucky and seemed to get his head back on track a little. Again, see HU observation #4 above.

POKERSTARS GAME #14951477925: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:36:59 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($1032.50 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($3746 in chips)
nemuii: posts small blind $5
DJ Sensei: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Qd 9d]
nemuii: raises $20 to $30
DJ Sensei: calls $20
*** FLOP *** [9c 8s 3c]
DJ Sensei: bets $46
nemuii: raises $46 to $92
DJ Sensei: raises $176 to $268
nemuii: calls $176
*** TURN *** [9c 8s 3c] [4d]
DJ Sensei: bets $361
nemuii: raises $373.50 to $734.50 and is all-in
DJ Sensei: calls $373.50
*** RIVER *** [9c 8s 3c 4d] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [Qd 9d] (a pair of Nines)
nemuii: shows [Jd 9h] (two pair, Jacks and Nines)
nemuii collected $2064.50 from pot

This hand he luckboxes his way into a real hand, and I somehow don’t get there with my semibluff:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951488802: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:38:17 (ET)
Table ‘Klymene’ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($1629.50 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($1356.50 in chips)
nemuii: posts small blind $5
DJ Sensei: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Jh 9h]
nemuii: raises $20 to $30
DJ Sensei: raises $80 to $110
nemuii: calls $80
*** FLOP *** [7s 7h 2c]
DJ Sensei: bets $130
nemuii: calls $130
*** TURN *** [7s 7h 2c] [8h]
DJ Sensei: checks
nemuii: bets $330
DJ Sensei: raises $786.50 to $1116.50 and is all-in
nemuii: calls $786.50
*** RIVER *** [7s 7h 2c 8h] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [Jh 9h] (two pair, Eights and Sevens)
nemuii: shows [Ks Kh] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
nemuii collected $2712.50 from pot

At this point in the match we’re almost even, but a few big hands at the end turn it into a nice win for me. This hand was only my second 4-bet of the match, and, well, it worked out pretty nicely, as you can see . Its been a pretty long time since the last time I won one of these.

POKERSTARS GAME #14951598523: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:51:29 (ET)
Table ‘Ara’ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($2214.50 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($2558.50 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $5
nemuii: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Ad Ah]
DJ Sensei: raises $23 to $33
nemuii: raises $87 to $120
DJ Sensei: raises $179 to $299
nemuii: raises $400 to $699
DJ Sensei: calls $400
*** FLOP *** [6d Td 5h]
nemuii: bets $677
DJ Sensei: raises $1182.50 to $1859.50 and is all-in
nemuii: calls $838.50 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [6d Td 5h] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [6d Td 5h 7d] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nemuii: shows [Ac As] (a pair of Aces)
DJ Sensei: shows [Ad Ah] (a flush, Ace high)
DJ Sensei collected $4428.50 from pot

Almost immediately afterwards, on the other table, this hand happened:

POKERSTARS GAME #14951612851: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($5/$10) – 2008/01/31 – 03:53:11 (ET)
Table ‘Klymene’ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: nemuii ($3543 in chips)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($1114.50 in chips)
nemuii: posts small blind $5
DJ Sensei: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Ts Th]
nemuii: raises $20 to $30
DJ Sensei: raises $80 to $110
nemuii: calls $80
*** FLOP *** [2c 8h 5s]
DJ Sensei: bets $130
nemuii: raises $3303 to $3433 and is all-in
DJ Sensei: calls $874.50 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [2c 8h 5s] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [2c 8h 5s Qs] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [Ts Th] (a pair of Tens)
nemuii: mucks hand
nemuii leaves the table
DJ Sensei collected $2228.50 from pot

Then he gave me a “gg” and left.

So it was a pretty nice little session. Hopefully I’ll put in a lot more hands in these HU games over the next few weeks so I can be a superstar and win all the monies!

Earlier today I was browsing Green Options and checking out the green scene, when I happened upon this video:

Needless to say, it put me in a pretty grim mood. Obviously most Americans and other people around the world are opposed to the quagmire we’ve gotten ourselves into in Iraq, but rarely do you hear about the damage it’s doing in terms of opportunity cost. As a poker player and an investor, it really cuts me deep to see so much money (my tax dollars, no less!) spent on a war far away when there really are so many problems here in our homeland that I believe should take priority. Not the least of these problems is the future of our planet, of course.

Now with the world’s oil reserves beginning to dwindle, it certainly is strategically valuable to have some claim to what remains, but I am of the opinion that we are better off spending our time and money to peacefully prepare for the long-term future of the earth and humanity rather than violently fighting for the short-term future of some non-renewable resource deposits that we’ll just burn right through anyhow. If we don’t figure out a better way to power our country and our world, the human species will either perish or massively contract in size and scale. Of course I probably won’t be around when that happens, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we begin to see the far-reaching effects of the oil shortage within a few decades. $3 a gallon for gas is just the tip of the iceberg. If the thought of paying more for gas doesn’t strike a chord with you, what about your children and grandchildren. Do you want to hand over to them a world that is doomed to self-destruct in the not-too-distant future?

But thats enough doom and gloom, you didn’t come here to get a lecture about foreign policies. Lets look at the positive side of things: the potential to invest your money in a better future (and profit from it!). The key to successful investing (and successful poker play as well) is forward thinking. Given all we know about the current status and future potential for oil and other dirty, non-renewable resources, it stands to reason that they will only become more expensive and more scarce as time goes on. An inexpensive and clean alternative will be more and more appealing, and thus the market for clean energy will only grow from here on out. As any investor (or poker player) knows, a growing market is a profitable market for the ones who got there first! So, begin to invest now in clean energy companies and markets, and you should reap the benefits down the road, not only in your bank account but also on your planet, in your air, and in the future of our troublesome little species. And chances are you’ll feel pretty good about it, too!

I’ll probably have more to say about this down the road, but if you’re interested in learning more about these issues or possibilities, check out these websites:
GreenMoney Journal
Investopedia
Green Century Funds

Its been an up-and-down month so far, but there have certainly been highlights (in both directions). Here are some of them, with sweet multi-colored commentary! (Correction: commentary will only be black because I haven’t figured out yet how to make it other colors. Its a process.)

Table ‘Walkure’ 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: LuckyTC ($4925 in chips)
Seat 2: BrynKenney ($6418.80 in chips)
Seat 3: DJ Sensei ($4830.65 in chips)
Seat 4: Angie0502 ($2889 in chips)
Seat 5: bart spijker ($4825 in chips)
Seat 7: ktrieu ($6320 in chips)
Seat 8: Vaga_Lion ($6147 in chips)
Seat 9: a320 ($5075 in chips)
Angie0502: posts small blind $25
bart spijker: posts big blind $50
twin-caracas: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [3h 5h]
ktrieu: folds
Vaga_Lion: folds
a320: folds
LuckyTC: raises $125 to $175
BrynKenney: folds
DJ Sensei: raises $475 to $650 – lol
Angie0502: folds
bart spijker: folds
LuckyTC: calls $475
*** FLOP *** [6h 4d 4c]
LuckyTC: checks – Its a tarp!
DJ Sensei: checks – alright, i’ll take a free card
*** TURN *** [6h 4d 4c] [9s]
LuckyTC: checks – Still a tarp!
DJ Sensei: checks – alright then lets see one more the easy way
*** RIVER *** [6h 4d 4c 9s] [7c] – jackpot
LuckyTC: bets $1100 – alright no more tarping!
DJ Sensei: raises $3080.65 to $4180.65 and is all-in
LuckyTC: calls $3080.65
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [3h 5h] (a straight, Three to Seven)
LuckyTC: mucks [Ah Ac]
DJ Sensei collected $9733.30 from pot

I thoroughly enjoyed that one, from start to finish. Mostly finish though. Nothing too strategical about it probably, except that since he was pretty tight I put him on a big pair rather than some speculative junk, and figured my best play was to try and get there before putting any more money in. It worked.

Table ‘Cake: Oslo (6-max) 11924′ Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: DoctorDoom ($6,215.00 in chips)
Seat 2: element42 ($11,673.00 in chips)
Seat 3: RedSoxIn08 ($8,264.00 in chips)
Seat 8: jabbajaw ($2,717.00 in chips)
Seat 9: LVKG2 ($9,168.00 in chips)
Seat 10: taktix ($7,295.00 in chips)
taktix: posts small blind $25
DoctorDoom: posts big blind $50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DoctorDoom [Kh 7h]
element42: folds
RedSoxIn08: folds
jabbajaw: folds
LVKG2: folds
taktix: raises $100.00 to $150.00
DoctorDoom: calls $100.00
*** FLOP *** [Qh Jd 3s]
taktix: checks
DoctorDoom: bets $220.00
taktix: raises $350.00 to $570.00
DoctorDoom: calls $350.00 – normally I don’t call here, obviously, but there was something fishy about that checkraise
*** TURN *** [Qh Jd 3s] [3h]
taktix: bets $800.00
DoctorDoom: calls $800.00 – picked up a flush draw, but since I don’t really know whats going on yet, I’ll just call with it and see the river
*** RIVER *** [Qh Jd 3s 3h] [9c] – oh hey my “straight” got there!
taktix: bets $2,300.00 – And this bet size was fishy too
DoctorDoom: raises $2,395.00 to $4,695.00 and is all-in – not quite a minraise, but ALMOST
taktix: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DoctorDoom collected $7,635.00 from pot
DoctorDoom shows hand – How can you not after a move like this?

Seat 1: DressedInBlack ($5,000)
Seat 2: negroblanco ($5,286)
Seat 3: jerrbai ($3,174)
Seat 4: sd bum ($9,742)
Seat 5: DJ Sensei ($5,000)
Seat 6: GodsPetMonkey ($6,297)
sd bum posts the small blind of $25
DJ Sensei posts the big blind of $50
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Qc Ad]
GodsPetMonkey folds
DressedInBlack folds
negroblanco raises to $150
jerrbai folds
sd bum folds
DJ Sensei calls $100
*** FLOP *** [4c 4s 9c]
DJ Sensei checks
negroblanco bets $200
DJ Sensei calls $200 – I’ve got the best hand
*** TURN *** [4c 4s 9c] [Ac]
DJ Sensei checks
negroblanco has 15 seconds left to act
negroblanco bets $550
DJ Sensei calls $550 – I’ve definitely got the best hand
*** RIVER *** [4c 4s 9c Ac] [Ah]
DJ Sensei checks – here fishy fishy
negroblanco has 15 seconds left to act
negroblanco bets $1,900
DJ Sensei raises to $4,100, and is all in
negroblanco folds – aww, air is no good
Uncalled bet of $2,200 returned to DJ Sensei
DJ Sensei mucks
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($5,622)

An impressive river play by SamH, and a pretty bad river play by JCarver:

Seat 1: supalunatik ($2,563)
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($7,167.50)
Seat 3: SamH133 ($10,381)
Seat 4: iTilt4Fun ($5,000)
Seat 5: TUTKU_IRMAK ($4,875)
Seat 6: JCarver ($14,046.90)
DJ Sensei posts the small blind of $25
SamH133 posts the big blind of $50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Jd Kd]
iTilt4Fun folds
TUTKU_IRMAK folds
JCarver raises to $150
supalunatik folds
DJ Sensei calls $125
SamH133 calls $100
*** FLOP *** [3d 9s Jc]
DJ Sensei checks
SamH133 bets $350
JCarver calls $350
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei calls $350
*** TURN *** [3d 9s Jc] [Ks]
DJ Sensei checks
SamH133 checks
JCarver checks
*** RIVER *** [3d 9s Jc Ks] [Kh]
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei bets $850
SamH133 calls $850
JCarver has 15 seconds left to act
JCarver has requested TIME
JCarver calls $850
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei shows [Jd Kd] a full house, Kings full of Jacks
SamH133 mucks [Qs Ts]
JCarver mucks [Js Ah]
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($4,047) with a full house, Kings full of Jacks

Table ‘Zeuxo’ 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: DJ Sensei ($2000 in chips)
Seat 3: tjbentham ($2098 in chips)
Seat 6: betIwin ($2042.60 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $10
tjbentham: posts big blind $20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [As Td]
betIwin: folds
DJ Sensei: raises $50 to $70
tjbentham: calls $50 – he probably doesnt have an ace
*** FLOP *** [Qd 3s Ac]
DJ Sensei: bets $140
tjbentham: raises $140 to $280 – on this board in this spot, thats always a bluff
DJ Sensei: raises $240 to $520 – “this is a bluff too”. If I call he knows I have a hand, but if I make a small reraise I can still be bluffing!
tjbentham: calls $240
*** TURN *** [Qd 3s Ac] [Jd]
DJ Sensei: checks – now we “give up on our bluff”
tjbentham: bets $440
DJ Sensei: calls $440 – “but we picked up a draw?”
*** RIVER *** [Qd 3s Ac Jd] [2d]
DJ Sensei: checks – I guess we “missed our draw”?
tjbentham: bets $1068 and is all-in
DJ Sensei: calls $970 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tjbentham: shows [8h Tc] (high card Ace) – thank you, come again!
DJ Sensei: shows [As Td] (a pair of Aces)
DJ Sensei collected $3999 from pot

Now heres some hands where I got owned, because it can’t all be sunshine and butterflies:

Table ‘Cake: Oslo 11925′ Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: SteelersFan5 ($5,263.00 in chips)
Seat 2: LVKG2 ($7,880.50 in chips)
Seat 4: DoctorDoom ($6,326.00 in chips)
Seat 5: Fish942 ($12,046.00 in chips)
Seat 10: WinOrBust ($9,672.58 in chips)
WinOrBust: posts small blind $25
SteelersFan5: posts big blind $50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DoctorDoom [8d 8h]
LVKG2: folds
DoctorDoom: raises $125.00 to $175.00
Fish942: calls $175.00
WinOrBust: calls $150.00
SteelersFan5: folds
*** FLOP *** [2d 9d 2s]
WinOrBust: checks
DoctorDoom: bets $350.00
Fish942: raises $538.00 to $888.00
WinOrBust: folds
DoctorDoom: raises $2,000.00 to $2,888.00
Fish942: raises $8,983.00 to $11,871.00 and is all-in
DoctorDoom: calls $3,263.00 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [2d 9d 2s] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [2d 9d 2s Jd] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fish942: shows [9h 9s] (Full House, Nines full of Deuces)
DoctorDoom: mucks hand
Fish942 collected $12,874.00 from pot

His super-sick flop raise got me to put in my whole stack drawing dead. I figured he rarely had a 2 or an overpair, and it wouldn’t really make sense for a 9 to raise the flop (and even if he did, he kinda has to fold it to a 3-bet, which is why he shouldnt raise with one in the first place), so he’s either got a flush draw or a bluff, a range against which I do pretty well. Nope, he had the flopped overfull. Very well played by the villain, I reckon.

Seat 1: LucLongley ($6,679.50)
Seat 2: Kinetica ($1,000)
Seat 3: Semifaded ($5,375), is sitting out
Seat 4: fishyest ($3,782)
Seat 5: AAAction ($3,746)
Seat 6: DJ Sensei ($9,883)
fishyest posts the small blind of $25
AAAction posts the big blind of $50
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Th 8h]
DJ Sensei raises to $175
LucLongley folds
Kinetica folds
fishyest folds
AAAction calls $125
*** FLOP *** [Ad 7d 9h]
AAAction checks
DJ Sensei bets $250
AAAction raises to $1,125
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei calls $875
*** TURN *** [Ad 7d 9h] [2h]
AAAction bets $2,446, and is all in
DJ Sensei has 15 seconds left to act
DJ Sensei has requested TIME
DJ Sensei calls $2,446
AAAction shows [6d 8d]
DJ Sensei shows [Th 8h]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 7d 9h 2h] [Jd]
AAAction shows a flush, Ace high
DJ Sensei shows a straight, Jack high
AAAction wins the pot ($7,514) with a flush, Ace high

That one was just a pretty lame beat, but at least my super-thin turn call was correct! Against AK here I have a little over 30% equity, and i’m getting about 2-1, so if you throw in some goofy other hands (like, say, 86dd), the price is probably right.

I don’t see any other particularly cool hands in there, but i’m sure more will come. Hope you can learn something from these!

(more…)

Well I’ve realized that I probably should just beast out these reports quickly after I get back, or perhaps even while the trip is going on, since its hard to remember details a few weeks later. But anyhow, I’ll do what I can to fill in the blanks.

So, on New Years Eve we had a reservation for a “loft” at a club called LAX in the Luxor. Again, clubbing isn’t really my thing, but seeing as how it was new years eve and we were in Vegas, there wasn’t really any other option. Unless of course you take my gameplan from last year:

1. Stand in line for club for way too long
2. Throw up in trash can at entrance to club. (Not because you’re drunk, but because you’re just super sick and have been the entire week.)
3. Bouncer tells you you’re out for the night.
4. Slouch back up to hotel suite
5. Sit on computer alone in suite while the rest of the world is celebrating the new year.
6. ???
7. Not profit.

This year was going to be different though! So, the whole posse headed out to the Luxor pretty early, because they apparently close down the strip early and we had to get there before that. We had dinner reservations but they weren’t quite due yet, so we grabbed a few drinks at a bar. We were then faced with the all-too-common dilemma of what to do when you’re in a casino and have time to kill. The answer, of course, was brackjack. Vanessa, myself, Chris (trivial), Jonathan (fatal error), and Andy (tufat) sat down at the table and proceeded to lay waste to the house, probably winning about 4k between us before dinner. Mostly we were just running hot, but at one point the dealer paid Andy twice for his hand. Obviously none of us said anything until we were far from the table, but was a nice little bonus of a few hundred free dollars.

Dinner was at the Luxor steakhouse, which strangely enough is called “the steakhouse”. Food was good; we ate a feast of steaks and seafood and wine. After that we went straight for the club, and got in without too much more hassle than expected. The whole process to get into a club feels kind of like the process of leading animals to slaughter, except instead of killing us to get our meat they took us to a private little table area on the second floor, and it was stocked with booze and some strawberries and stuff. Unfortunately the club itself doesn’t come with a sweet report, as it wasn’t all that great. Paris Hilton was there, hosting the ‘party’, but of course I don’t really care at all about her or anyone like her. However, after we got home, I played some texas holdem on the internet, and made some money. Woo!

On new years day, most of us spent the day loafing around as usual, but the day came with an added bonus: DeucesCracked.com finally launched! Of course it was extra sweet for me and Vanessa, since we had put a lot of work into our series and it was finally out there for the masses to swoon at. Additionally, the house was full of small to mid-stakes NL players who were pretty excited about the new content, too, so we had the bonus of being the superstars of the day. I forget what else happened that day, but I don’t think it was anything too interesting. The last few days of the trip kinda blend together, too, at least at this point. I’ll try to pick out the more interesting things that happened those days and put them in a report soon. Spoiler: it involves Vanessa coolering me in another goofy live poker pot, though not for quite as much money as the last time. Also, a check-raise river bluff! Woo!

Full Tilt Poker Game #4891652585: Table Sonador (6 max) – $25/$50 – No Limit Hold’em – 8:31:27 ET – 2008/01/17
Seat 1: scout315 ($4,122)
Seat 2: AllenCunningham ($7,922)
Seat 3: raaastaman ($2,716)
Seat 4: skier_5 ($6,459)
Seat 5: DJ Sensei ($5,387)
Seat 6: HenryDozer ($2,326.40)
HenryDozer posts the small blind of $25
scout315 has 5 seconds left to act
scout315 posts the big blind of $50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [5d 5c]
AllenCunningham raises to $150
raaastaman calls $150
skier_5 folds
DJ Sensei calls $150
HenryDozer folds
scout315 calls $100
*** FLOP *** [Ks Kc 5s]
scout315 checks
AllenCunningham bets $350
raaastaman calls $350
DJ Sensei raises to $1,050
scout315 folds
AllenCunningham has 15 seconds left to act
AllenCunningham has requested TIME
AllenCunningham raises to $7,772, and is all in
raaastaman folds
DJ Sensei: hold one time
DJ Sensei calls $4,187, and is all in
AllenCunningham shows [Kh Qc]
DJ Sensei shows [5d 5c]
Uncalled bet of $2,535 returned to AllenCunningham
*** TURN *** [Ks Kc 5s] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [Ks Kc 5s 9d] [4d]
AllenCunningham shows three of a kind, Kings
DJ Sensei shows a full house, Fives full of Kings
DJ Sensei wins the pot ($11,446) with a full house, Fives full of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $11,449 | Rake $3
Board: [Ks Kc 5s 9d 4d]
Seat 1: scout315 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: AllenCunningham showed [Kh Qc] and lost with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 3: raaastaman folded on the Flop
Seat 4: skier_5 didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 5: DJ Sensei (button) showed [5d 5c] and won ($11,446) with a full house, Fives full of Kings
Seat 6: HenryDozer (small blind) folded before the Flop

Obviously nothing special with the hand itself (aside from my hand actually holding up!), but its always nice to stack the famous ones. Ship it.

This is my current homework for myself, but I think its a pretty good idea for all players to do something like it now and again so feel free to try it yourself. If you do, let me know how it works out for you!

1. Go through my database of hands from the last few months at 10/20nl and 25/50nl and find the players against whom I play the most (or at least have the most data mined on).
2. Sort all of their hands by size, and pick out the biggest losing hands (principally, those when they lost stacks)
3. Distribute the data in a spreadsheet, sorted by mechanism (cooler, couldnt fold a loser, bluffed it off, bad beat, etc.)
4. I’ll then have available a list of their most likely weaknesses, catalogued by relative frequency (note: sample sizes will probably be too small for this, but I think any data is useful data)

Then, once i’ve got that all made, I can take a look at it before I start playing a given table, to see how I should set up hands against these particular opponents. I think it’ll be a good accompaniment to a HUD, but we’ll see. At the very least, i’ll probably get a better idea of who’s a better regular and who has some real leaks.

Alright so where were we? Ah yes, the third day there, or something like that. Well, it was another lazy day, probably involving some home games and some playing online and some not eating enough food. I went with a few of the guys to the “fashion show mall” because I needed to acquire some more appropriate attire if we were to be going to any fancy places. I bought a few shirts and a pair of jeans, which were way too expensive, but they were also pretty nice, so I figure I can just wear them from now on whenever I need fancy-type clothes. As we were driving back to the house, I got pulled over for speeding. It was completely lame, because the road was utterly empty save the dark warehouses on either side. It was a four-lane road with a divider lane in the middle, and yet the speed limit was apparently 25mph. So, 57 was apparently a bit too fast. But I couldn’t complain too much, since I was up 5 or 6k on the day from playing online earlier. But it was still a hassle, and since I was not from around there, it’d be a whole to-do if I wanted to contest it in court or anything.

Well by the time I got back to the house it was almost nighttime, and it was time to make some evening-type plans. Now Lior (one of the dudes in the house) had a lady friend from LA who was in town with a bunch of friends, so they came over to the house for a while. We all had some beers and some laughs, though it was naturally a pretty hilarious situation; There we were, 12 or 15 young poker ballers (most of whom were fairly marginal in the social aptitude category due to being nerds) and 7 or 8 dressed-up California girls looking to party. It worked out pretty well though, we didn’t stay around the house too long before heading out to some sort of night-club via a few stretch limousines. We had a table reserved, which probably cost way too much, but at least we had a place to sit and plenty of booze to drink. Unfortunately I don’t have any exciting stories to tell about the club itself, aside from the fact that it was completely ridiculous in decoration and regulation and such. Clubs are not my scene typically, though it can’t hurt to go now and again when you’re in vegas or something.

Anyhow, eventually our party left the club and a few of us headed down to the poker room in the Venetian (thats where the club was). Vanessa had left earlier, and was down playing some cards, so we wanted to check in and see how she was doing. She was playing 5/10nl, and probably bitched about some bad beats when we got there, but seemed to be enjoying herself. We noticed that there was a game going in the salon, so leaned in to check it out. Turns out it was the 100/200nl game that had been running on and off for a while. I asked what the buyin was, and when they saw that I was curious and drunk they seemed interested in getting me in the game, but 20k was of course way more than I had on me at the time. Plus I was drunk, and it would have been a terrible idea (though the game did look pretty soft!). Vanessa wanted to get into the game, and that seemed like a pretty good idea, but we couldn’t put together the necessary amount between all of us, so we just let it go. I did join the 5/10 table though, as I had a hankering for some pokers.

Within the first orbit or so, I got into two big hands. First, I flopped a Jack-high flush (with the king on board) and led out $160 into the pot (which may have been $200 or something, I dunno). This old fishy guy sitting next to Vanessa then tried to raise me to $300. Sigh. Once he was informed that he had to make it $320, I then called then check-called his $300 and $400 bets on the turn and river on blanks, and his nut flush was good. A few hands later, I raised from late position with 97dd, and Vanessa called in the blinds. There may have been another player in the pot, but if so they didn’t matter much. The flop was T96 with two diamonds, so I had a huge draw. She checked, I bet, and she checkraised. I didn’t want to necessarily get stacks in this deep (4k or so?), plus I had position, so I just called. Turn was an offsuit K, she led out again, and I moved it all-in. She pretty quickly called with K8dd, and I didn’t improve on the river. Lame, though thats pretty much what happens when two maniacs have huge combo draws.

After that hand, I headed back to the house with the few guys who were still hanging around, and we left Vanessa to take care of the fish. I don’t think anything more particularly exciting happened that night, though we did probably stay up until after the sun came up.

The deck is dealt into 4 hands of 13 cards each, which are given to 2, 3, or 4 players (2 players: each gets 2 individual and separate hands, 3 players: each gets one hand, the last is discarded or given to a friend to play for funsies, 4 players: each player gets a hand).

Each player uses his 13 cards to make a 3-card hand (the ‘front’) and two 5-card hands (the ‘middle’ and ‘back’). Each hand must be stronger than the hand before it, so the strongest is in the back and the weakest is in the front. The version that I most often play in involves setting the middle hand as a deuce to seven lowball hand, and the front and back as regular high hands. This leads to a little more interesting decision-making, and probably a more skillful game, as well as usually stronger front and back hands. Once all players set their hands, they are each revealed and scored against each other. Each hand is scored heads-up against each other hand, and ‘points’ are distributed accordingly: If you take 2 out of 3 hands from somebody, they owe you 2 points. If you take all 3, they owe you 4 points. And vice versa, of course. If the hands are called A, B, C, and D, there are 6 iterations of points exchange (3 for each player/hand): AvB, AvC, AvD, BvC, BvD, CvD. If playing headsup, there are 4 points exchanges per game obviously.

The amount of money that each point is for is decided upon before the game, and ranges from $1-$5 for a smaller, fun-type game to $100-$1000 for a high-stakes, degenerate-type game. Its also worth noting that the players in a game can play for different stakes, even at the same time. For instance, if players A B and C want to play for $20 a point, and player D only wants to play for $5 a point, thats totally doable since the points are all exchanged in a heads-up manner. Just make sure to use color-coded chips to make it easy. In any case, Chinese poker is pretty much a neutral-EV game so long as every player is competent, but sometimes people will make mistakes that cost them some points.

The key to successful play in Chinese poker is to balance your hands in such a manner as to maximize your total EV. If you can set a monster back hand like a straight flush, but in doing so have to give up on (’punt’) the middle and front, chances are you’re better off putting 3 moderately strong hands down instead. Now this may change if you play with royalties (bonus points that are earned for playing particularly strong hands), but normally I don’t. Of course, as a poker player, that part shouldn’t be hard to figure out when you are put into a situation to do so.

There are a few other very important things to keep in mind when playing Chinese poker:

1. Slowroll whenever possible. The best slowrolls are the ones where your opponent celebrates pre-emptively and doesn’t see it coming, though there is always room for the standard “two pair….. tens…. and tens!” when you really have quads in the back, and “pair of sixes…. with a six kicker!” when you have trips in front. Another regular slowroll is when you have a monster hand and your opponent throws down a huge, but slightly smaller one before anybody else. In that case, you should act like you’re disgusted, then wait for the rest to flip their hands before turning yours slowly and letting them figure out that they’re crushed without words. But the important thing is that you be creative with your slowrolls, and be sure to use them more liberally against people who are winning and/or gloating, as they’re less likely to flip out ninja-style or something.
2. If ever a player leaves for long enough that you can pull it off successfully, you should rig the deck against him as hilariously as possible. Royal flush over straight flush, quads over quads, 76432 vs. 75432 etc. Basically you have to give them a huge hand that gets scooped across the board anyhow. Be sure not to blow your cover until after the whole hand plays out, and he’s about to start paying out.
3. As you’re setting your hand, be sure to bitch and moan a lot about how bad it is. This is common practice in Chinese poker and should not be avoided.
4. A common beginner mistake is to pick up your whole hand at once and then sort it out. This is wrong, and will lead to losing points. The correct method for looking at your hand is the “Bakes sweat” , which I learned from my friend Bakes. Leave all the cards face down, then pick them up one by one and add them to your hand, arranging as you go. This method is more enjoyable, and it also will lead to you seeing your hand more clearly as a whole, so that you can make the best decisions.
5. Don’t ever play Chinese poker against Vanessa Selbst (unless theres also a fish in the game). She runs hotter than the sun.

I can’t think of any actual strategy for setting hands off the top of my head, but the next time I play I’ll try to catalogue the hands that are shown down so as to make a sort of rankings chart that’ll help you sort out the EV of your hands.

I’ve noticed an interesting trend in my play as of late: when I put in long sessions over many tables, my results are generally good, but modest. When I put in shorter sessions and only play a few tables at a time (generally at higher stakes) I crush the game. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but it does go a little bit against conventional wisdom. There are a few factors in play here, I think.

1) Game Selection: if I am playing 6-9 tables my game selection is usually good (but not great). I won’t keep playing at a table if there are no fish, but chances are if theres one guy who’s not so good and 4 who are solid, I’ll probably stay. When I am playing just one table though, chances are theres a whale there and he’s got a lot of money in front of him. Especially if its a big 25/50 game (or higher!). At that point, its a race between me and the rest of the table to get his stack first, and if they’re paying attention to 5 other tables at the same time, I’ll probably get a few more shots at the jackpot than they will.

2) “A” Game: This one should be a no-brainer. Sitting at one or two tables at a time and focused well on the goal, I’m playing my best poker. I make very few mistakes, but I do make a number of creative, expert plays that I might miss if i’m on many tables and thus have less time to concoct them. The frequency of “spewing” stacks while playing just a few tables is significantly smaller.

3) Development as a player: This one is probably the key to it all, and the reason that I think playing just a few tables at once is generally better in the long run. Your reads are sharper, your plays are better, and you’re able to react real-time to the changes in the game and your opponents. At the end of a session, do you think you will have learned more by playing a few hundred hands on top of your game, or a few thousand hands on auto-pilot?

4) Stress, strain, and psychology: It is certainly much more relaxing on the ol’ noggin to stick to just a few tables where you have a nice edge. When you’re relaxed, you play better, your variance will be lower, and all of these things intertwine into one big ball of money and success, without the stress of the grind! How cool is that? Plus when you do decide to get back into it and put in a long session, you’ll be fresher and ready to rock.

Now of course I don’t recommend ALWAYS playing just one or two tables. But I think that the key (like so many other things in poker) is to balance it out. Spend a few days grinding out thousands of hands, and then a day or two hunting whales on just a few tables. Although I’m the last person who should be making analogies to weightlifting, I think its rather applicable here. The most accomplished bodybuilders don’t push it to the max every day, if they did that their bodies would fail pretty quickly. But on their off-days, they’re not just sitting around swilling beer and watching football, they’re working on other muscles or perhaps doing some cardiovascular exercise. (disclaimer: I know nothing about bodybuilding other than my governator used to be one). As a poker player, you should do the same (though I do think that you should take some actual off-days)

For many players, their bankroll is insufficient to take shots at the big high-stakes whales. And the last thing I’d recommend to any up-and-coming player is to bust your roll chasing them way above your head. But thats not to say they shouldn’t step it up a notch anyhow. If you’re playing 2/4 and are used to playing 6 or 8 tables, find a soft game at 3/6 or 5/10 and just play one for a while. You’ll probably learn a lot that way, and chances are if you’re playing your best, you’ll come out ahead anyhow. And if you don’t, well, its not like you can’t handle losing a buyin or two there if you’re properly rolled for your regular game.

When any of the following things happen, take a drink:

1. Hulk hogan says “brother”
2. Anybody falls into the water
3. A woman falls off the hand-bike
4. A gladiator (or contender) besmirches their ethnic heritage
5. The camera shows the family of a contender in the crowd
6. Wolf growls
7. Somebody breaks through a wall of foam bricks
8. There is a rules infraction
9. If any contender or gladiator is crying, drink until they stop
10. Somebody gets injured (finish your beer)

Edit 1/14/08: Episode 4 report

There occurred 6 “brother”s, 11 family shots, 2 women falling off the handbike, 11 falls into water, 4 ethnic besmirchings, 2 wolf howls, 3 wall breaks (because that one dude was a loser and just ran through the winner’s pre-smashed hole), 1 rule infraction, 1 injury, and about 20 seconds of crying.