Tick-Tick-Tick-BOOM! Part 1
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
"Per Lohan's responses, she's been busy playing poker, buying puppies ("Sober impulse buying of companions who will help me stay home etc.," she typed) and avoiding questions about sex scenes."
--Natalie Finn, E!-Online
You see that, Drizz? Now you got your openning line: Baby, I'd like to check-raise your puppies!
So, let's get into the simulblog. I am a HUGE fan of rushes. It often has less to do with getting lucky cards and more to do with using your opponent's predisposition to continue to fold. Of course, you can get more mileage out of it when you are getting a rush of good cards. You also have to be very careful about when the tide has turned. Someone may eventually play back at you out of frustration OR they may actually get some cards. Whatever the case, its a delicate balance, and hopefully you have accumulated enough chips to fold with confidence when someone eventually plays back at you. Let's take a look at the first hand in the tournament.
HAND 1- an easy start to a rush
I amd dealt JsTc in the SB.Everyone is playing hesitant to start off and it folds to me. I complete the blinds and Kat checks in the BB. The flop is JJ3 with two clubs. The hand basically falls into my lap. I bet pot, 60, and Kat folds. Oh well. I don't necessarily see me getting much out of this hand, and I hoped to look like a betting fool early on. I'm up 30 so far.
HAND 2- building the rush
I'm on the button now with KQc. It folds to me, so we've already established that for the most part, everyone is playing tight (no limping). On the button, I bet the pot, 105, and Kat and WillWonka fold. Easy money. I am now up 75 from the first two hands (30+45).
HAND 6- sleeping rush (playing on perception)
I fold for four very necessary hands, and in Hand 6, I am dealt Q8d in UTG+1. It's hardly a big hand, and I have a loose image, but people are folding away. I sincerely believe that if you are going to play a hand, you might as well raise with it. In this case, it builds deception, and it is not as thought I even want to tussle with anyone. If that does happen, I want them to think that I have a strong hand and I want them to know that they have a strong hand as well (otherwise, they'd presumably fold). I raise to 3x the BB, or 90 total, gambling with the 75 I accumulated earlier (and only 15 of my own money). The low blinds and deep stacks also allows a move like this to be potentially profitable. Wippy, a player who I have never seen before, calls me from the BB. I don't know what to make of it, but I have to assume that he does not have the knowledge of my loose aggressive style. The flop is 876, rainbow. Wippy bets below the pot, 165. I consider this a steal play. I figure him for two overcards, or maybe a middle pair if he got lucky. I don't necessarily put him on the scarier straight possibility. We are deep enough that I can take a chance, and I passively call. The turn is a useless 2. Wippy now bets 324, an odd choice, and to me, a sign that something is screwy with his hand. I'm curious so I call, because I still have an unassuming TPGK and I can afford to lose 324 if I am wrong and he has an overpair or the straight. The river is an Ace, which, if nothing else, kills all action. He checks and I consider the possibility that he played A7 or something from the blind, so I check too. He shows T8o and I outkick him.
Now, admittedly, we had some luck in that hand, hitting the 8. However, Wippy should not have been in that hand, and may've called in the first place because he was me play 50% of the pots so far. Since the stacks are deep, I can take the chance to steal some more blinds and build an image, but once I get called, I also can take the chance of calling him down once I hit top pair and he bets so weakly.
HAND 10- be aggressive and continue the rush...
I am now up to 3645, 20% higher than my starting stack. I'm dealt ATs on the button. The table remains passive and it folds around to me. This is a no-brainer, especially considering the conditioning I have done to the table. I raise pot, 105, and Kat folds in the SB. WillWonka in the BB calls. His range is sufficiently loosened by my table image. The flop is A65, with two spades, so I have top pair and the nut flush draw. Wonka checks, and I easily bet the pot, 225. He folds. This is another tee-ball hand. When I bet, I considered the possibility that the tides had turned and he could have been slowplaying me or preparing for a check-raise, knowing full-well that I am aggressively raising. However, with the flush draw as a backup, I was willing to push on top of him to really lay the pressure on. Luckily, he gave up a lot easier, probably becuase he was willing to call me preflop with crap cards. I'm dealt T8c UTG+1. I decide to limp because its a nice deceptive suited gap hand, and I can easily fold if I face a raise preflop out of position. I can also afford to play speculatively.
HAND 14- keep on betting away...
I now have a comfortable 3774. I've built up 774 just by betting, betting and betting again. You'll also note that, except for the Q8 hand, no one has seen my cards yet. Hoy calls in mid-late position. Zeem then immediately raises to 150, a 120 raise, from the SB. I like this, and I call the 120. I have deception and position on my side, and I have enough chips to gamble. I guess this is the point to all my previous hands. I'm building up my stack (which is already a deep stack due to the format of the game) so I can take chances and build it up even more. I'm not surprised when Hoy calls. The flop is Q84 with two spades. I hit middle pair. Zeem checks. He likely missed the flop completely. I use my middle position and the likelihood that the hand also missed Hoy. Really, all I'm betting on is that Hoy and Zeem do not have a Queen or two spades (or, I suppose 99-AA). I bet out 240, a less-than-pot-sized bet, because I want it to look suspicious, like I'm trying to value bet. Both fold, and I'm up to 4k or so. I still only showed one hand
HAND 16- the pleasure of aggression...
This will be the last hand for now. Just two hands later and I'm still making moves. This will be the 6th out of 16 hands that I've played (having won all prior hands played), cementing either the table image of very loose aggressive (and scary at that, so don't get into a pot with me!) or very lucky (even scarier). I have 4104, over a K over my nearest competition at the table. In fact, I'm the only one over the starting stack and this is an all-star table.I'm in the BB (20/40 level now). Kat, UTG, raises 3x the BB to 120. It folds to me. Silly Passives, chips are for Aggros! I have 37d, another suited gap (this time a bigger gap), but since I can put her on two decent cards since she is raising from UTG, I decide to call in an effort to crack her. Once again, the bet is so small compared to my stack that I am willing to gamble. Make no doubt about it, calling with 37d out of position to a raiser is gambling.
The flop is A29 with two hearts. I can do a few things here, but I opt to bet 200, another one of those oddly sized bets when compared to the 260 pot. It looks like I'm trying to eke out a few bucks. The way I see it, I am once again gambling. I'm getting 1.3 to 1 odds that Kat does not have an Ace or a big pocket pair that she is willing to gamble with. Basically, I put her 50/50 on big ace or a vulnerable pocket pair, so I'm betting 200 to win 260. If she calls or raises, I fold and lose, but that is okay, because the 320 I voluntarily put into the pot is not going to crush me. I still have room to maneuver. But as you know, Kat folded and I win some more easy money.
I'm curious about what the masses think. Reviewing my play, I can see that I was just relentlessly aggressive. I also know that this does not work all the time. It all depends on the table and how well you can control the action. I think the deepstacks helped me, especially since everyone was playing so passively. I'm sure I'll get my detractors who think I am just a luckboxing dousche, but without any significant cards, I was able to increase my starting stack by almost 50% in less than 20 hands and I only showed down my hand once.
More later...
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 10:15 AM,
3 Comments:
-
At 1:07 PM,
Pokerwolf said...
-
If the table is dictating your strategy, keep playing that way until things change (such as someone playing back at you). If people are willing to give you their chips, take them.
-
At 1:19 PM,
WillWonka said...
-
I'm sure that we were just feeding your aggressivesness in order to trap you later... lol
As they say, don't fix it if it ain't broke.. nicely done so far. -
At 10:40 AM,
Unknown said...
-
I really really want to tell that girl to eat a damn sandwich and show her how to play 99 in early position while she's in a bikini of course.
