Bubbly
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Lord knows why I haven't been posting. I guess I've just been too busy with other things, poker included.
This weekend was like a poker binge. I spent some time Friday night and Saturday losing a couple of Omaha and Omaha 8 tourneys, after making it deep. I pretty much bubbled the three or four long events I played, so it was frustrating to say the least. More often than not, I got my money in good, but against players who had decent draws that eventually hit. It's lemony, and I spent some time thinking about where I went wrong; the only conclusion I could come with (at least in reference to the hands that busted me near the bubble) was that I could perhaps tighten up as we near the money, but that just isn't my style. I suppose I'd rather bubble trying to double up to a sizeable stack that would make a deep run possible, rather than playing survival poker and making the lowest money spot. It's definitely something I need to mull over, though, because there are few things in poker as disheartening as going deep in a large field tourney only to end up with $0 and a wasted day.
On that note, I spent my Saturday night going deep into a live tournament at Dawn's apartment and then bubbling for $0. I had amassed a big stack very early, at one point holding just about every rebuy in my stack (there were 7 rebuys at my table at that point and I had a stack 8x the size of the starting stack). Luck helped. I flopped Broadway with AK and had Paul-in-the-Hamily push all-in on the QJT flop with his QT. Once again, though, I have to take some credit. My raise preflop did not scare him off, probably because it's me raising preflop. People underestimate the benefit of a loose image in situations like that. I then literally got lucky in a hand where I called an all-in with QQ against K-Roll's KK (K-Roll = Karol, the other half of the I Had Outs crew). The hand was a doozie.
I limped in EP with QQ and blinds of 100/200, expecting to re-raise. RonLad (K-Roll's brother, who plays a loose game) raised to 600 and then K-Roll raised to 1200. I re-raised to 3000, RonLad called all-in, and K-Roll pushed for another 5k or so more. I was the big stack and had her covered by probably 3k or more, but I didn't want to take such a big hit. I was trying to figure out whether she saw an opportunity to make a play against two loose players or if she actually had the goods. The re-re-raise told me she had it, but when we were trying to figure out how much I had to call, she said, "Wait, he raised to $3,000?" I guess she thought Ron had raised when he called my push, meaning that she thought I was not a factor. To cripple K-Roll would mean that I would be the collosal chip leader, and after trying to get a tell from her, I decided that I had to take the chance that she was making a play against two loosey gooseys. I even asked K-Roll if she had Aces, because it is surprising how often people will tell you the truth. In the end, I made the call. Of course, I was wrong. RonLad had 88, but K-Roll had the goods, KK. The turn, though, was a Queen, and I amassed a huge stack. FYI, these last two hands are out of order. I busted Ron and K-Roll before Pauly pushed into me.
Well, all those chips didn't mean squat because even though I was in good shape at the final table, things just fell apart. I was re-raised a bunch of times where I had to lay down hands. I also had a tremendous amount of trouble playing against one guy, a Scrabble player who played poker in the oddest way. It honestly felt like a Scrabble player playing poker, because he seemed so analytical and clueless at the same time.
I had one funny run that is worth noting. Karol pushed all-in with only 450 or so, UTG, with blinds probably at 200/400. I raised to 1450, pushing out a couple of players, who groaned. I had J9 and she had Q9. I was willing to make this play because if I isolated, I was getting good pot odds, and frankly, I was also willing to double up K-Roll if need be. She won, then amassed about 1800 in chips, before busting to me. So, in the end, I invested 450 to keep K-Roll in the tourney and then "cash out" on my investment 1800 when I busted her, not a bad return on my investment.
In the end, the blinds caught up with me and I think I ended up all-in with an Ace against KQ. The KQ hit and I was busted. It was mildly disheartening, but I did my best to not let it bother me. I want to learn from my losses, but not dwell on them.
I returned to the Tuna Club on Sunday, since wifey Kim was in PA for a bridal shower. Thank god wifey Kim has so many friends. It gives me time for poker and keeps us a social unit.
I arrived at the club at 3pm for the 3pm tourney...and there was only one other player there. It was maddening. I HATE IT when games don't go off. You end up sitting around like a douschebag with nothing better to do. By 4pm, YES, ONE HOUR LATER, there were only 5 players willing to play the tourney. I finally got up and announced: "OK, guys. I'm out of here. I wait an hour and then I leave. That's it. Either we play something or I'm out." Finally, people gave in and we started a 6-handed $100+20 tourney (the juice on such a short-handed game makes me ill to think of it), with one of the dealers in the game.
It was a fun game, too. There was the usual sloppy guy who was out soon enough. The dealer/player busted next. But it was a long form tourney with 20 min blinds but a very slow structure, so it was a good while before our next bustout. The four players were me, a guy who I will only call The Dentist, a Chick, and a Friendly Guy. I'd played with the Dentist a handful of times from back in the day Genoa Poker Club days (aka Salami Club), and he was a good, conservative player. I had seen the chick around, and quite frankly, she was probably the person I was most concerned with at the table, mostly because she carried herself well, as though she knew what she were doing. We had some heated words back and forth after one hand. In the hand, it was just me and Friendly, and I made two light calls with K4h. I was in the BB and he was in the SB. The flop was AKJ and we both checked. The turn was another Ace and he bet out. I called, figuring that he did not have the Ace. If he did, he would've raised preflop (4-handed) or on the flop. Friendly was, well, friendly, but by his own account, he wasn't the most adept player. He was better than he let on, which I think he later admitted was a calculated act, but he was not playing fancy. If he had that ace, he would've bet it. The river was a Ten, and when he bet, I called again, taking down the pot. The Chick chimed in, "How are you calling there?" I figured we were being friendly, so I said, "It wasn't that hard. I knew he didn't have the Ace." She was snooty. "How about the Queen?" "There was no chance he had the Queen either." She didn't like my confidence. "Oh, you knew that he didn't have an Ace or a Queen. It's that easy, huh? You just knew it." I sighed and then did my best to set her straight, "Look, we can discuss this later, but the bottom line is, I had a read and I went with it, and I was correct. If I were wrong, we'd be having another conversation, but I was correct. That's what we do...we make reads." Fucking imbecile.
When we started 4-handed, I was the shortstack, along with the Dentist, who doubled up a couple of times, leaving me in the dust. That's when I announced that I was a Short Stack Specialist. This is one of my favorite gimmicks. People just don't know how to respond. It's obviously tongue-in-cheek, and at first is taken as such, but the truth is, I actually am pretty good on a short stack. Calling oneself a SSS probably also gets a few more folds.
Using my SSS gimmick, I pretty much pushed about 5-6 times at opportune spots, without getting called once. Long story short, it was no time before I was the chip leader, with Friendly close behind. The Dentist was slowly being blinded out, as he tried to push a few times, eventually losing to Friendly. The Chick was starting to bleed chips and my relentless aggression was obviously getting to her. She also eventually fell to Friendly, which left Friendly with a good 3:1 advantage in chips when we got heads up.
It took no time to discuss making a deal, since it was a winner-takes-all tourney. He suggested $200-$400, and I countered that I wanted at least $100 profit. Since the buyin was $100+20+ a $10 toke for extra chips, that meant I wanted $230. He agreed and then admitted that he was initially just setting numbers for 1st and 2nd place, and he had expected us to play it out. At that point, I realized that I probably made a bad deal and started to haggle. "Well, to be frank, I gave myself a pretty bad deal..." I was going to continue on, but Friendly did the friendly thing and offered, "I'll take care of the tip." "Deal!" Without having to tip, my $230 win was really closer to $250. And yes, it sucks tipping when the dealers get an automatic $10 toke, but when someone else is paying the tip, it's a lot easier to accept it.
I guess that's another lesson learned. I should've taken more time with the chop discussion. Of course, after 2 days of bubbling, I think I just really wanted to put a win under my belt, but I probably left some equity on the table.
If all goes well, I'll be back at Tuna Club on Wednesday for the 5/10 LO8 cash game. I may skip it though, since this is one helluva week. Meanwhile, online poker doesn't really register. My interest is very low...but don't be too surprised if you see me online tonight anyway.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 11:57 AM,
9 Comments:
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At 2:24 PM,
1Queens Up1 said...
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I was really hoping you were gonna flame the crap out of the snooty beeyotch.
Just wanted to say I got the book and I will start reading tonight.
Thanks again! -
At 2:27 PM,
Dawn Summers said...
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Buuurn. You saying that K-roll was just holding those chips for you?
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At 3:06 PM,
Tom said...
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Better to bust on the bubble like a champion than limp into the money with less than 5 big blinds.
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At 4:17 PM,
SirFWALGMan said...
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I did not think you could have a boat on a TQJ flop.. other than that nice post. After reading the ladies recap I was wondering how Jordon went from massive chip lead to small stack.
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At 4:22 PM,
Dawn Summers said...
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I resent that Tom. I'm going to buy something now with my $360 to make myself feel better.
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At 4:30 PM,
Jordan said...
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Good catch, Woffles. Now I know why I hired you as my editor. It's been changed.
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At 6:44 PM,
Karol said...
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I can't believe you squandered my chips, you donkey! Don't come back without your superman shirt.
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At 10:41 PM,
Jamie said...
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When someone asks you, "How did you know he/she/I had such-and-such?", the correct answer is a line from The Cincinnati Kid:
"Son, you just paid the looking price. Lessons are extra." -
At 12:39 PM,
Alceste said...
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Unfortunately for Jordan, when ScrabbleMatt came to our table, Jordan was the one who paid on behalf of the table to see how he played (would call/bet w/anything - but not in a calculated way).
