Razz is a pretty straightforward game. The best hand is the “lowest” hand, in this case, the wheel (A2345). As long as you know the rules to the game, there really isn’t that much strategy involved. Well, there is some strategy, but most of the time, if you are playing someone who knows what he is doing, hands end by 4th or 5th street.
Now, a lot of what I write here is for heads up strategies. Obviously for full table strategies, you just play with strong starting hands. Usually, a starting hand with 3 babies (5 of lower) is extremely strong, and it doesn’t matter what your up card is. But, just remember if you have an 8 showing, even if you have A2 in the hole, it is not as strong as having an Ace showing with 29 in the hole. A lot of stud play is more about what you are showing and what your opponent is showing. That’s why playing baby cards is always advantageous.
On a side note, one of the reasons I love playing HORSE is that on Full Tilt, lots of players who join have never played razz before. It’s hilarious when you get to razz, and players think that they are playing stud. Of course, you won’t find it as much at the $200 levels, but you see it occasionally at the $100 tables and a decent amount at the $50 tables.
Anyway, razz is just about betting when you have a lower face up card than your opponent. The best strategy is to raise, and see what happens on the turn. Usually, if you are more patient than your opponent, this strategy works amazingly well. Only play past 4th street if you are ahead, and you’ll be playing better than 80% of the players who join your games.
Now, there are tons of subtle strategies that I use, but as I mentioned in my Omaha post, I will save them for another time, as this is just an introduction to the razz. Just remember to read up on the basics of razz, and follow the book. It really isn’t that hard.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Busy Times...
Wow, I can't believe its been almost 2 weeks since I last posted... I must've really been caught up doing god knows what. Well, this week I have an exam Thursday, so I've been studying for that. Work is starting to pick up, and I can't write entries during the day anymore, sighs. Adult life definitely sucks. All I do is work, study, sleep, and repeat.
On a happier note, I went home for Thanksgiving to see the family. I caught up with a bunch of high school friends and then just relaxed with the family, watching Kansas beat Missouri (GO JAYHAWKS!!). Eating turkey leftovers for days on end is just gross, and makes me never want to touch anything with turkey again.
Anyway, I have a few drafts of basic strategies for some more HORSE games, and I will try my best to get them up Thursday night after my exam. And I will definitely try to post some more hands to analyze. In the meantime, I thought this picture was pretty funny ;)
On a happier note, I went home for Thanksgiving to see the family. I caught up with a bunch of high school friends and then just relaxed with the family, watching Kansas beat Missouri (GO JAYHAWKS!!). Eating turkey leftovers for days on end is just gross, and makes me never want to touch anything with turkey again.
Anyway, I have a few drafts of basic strategies for some more HORSE games, and I will try my best to get them up Thursday night after my exam. And I will definitely try to post some more hands to analyze. In the meantime, I thought this picture was pretty funny ;)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
h.O.r.s.e. – Omaha High / Low (O8) - Part I
After I lost my first 500 bucks on PartyPoker, for some odd reason, I hated hold em and decided to learn how to play Omaha. And not just regular Omaha, it was high/low. Haha, I don’t know why it happened, but it became my best and favorite game.
Initially, I was grinding back my 500 bucks on $10 SnGs. Those limit O8 games were so slow, but I learned all the basics of how to play O8. Eventually, I was playing PL games, and never went back to limit until I started HORSE. But there were a few things I learned then that I still use today.
First, before I start writing about O8, I want to recognize that a lot of what I learned was from a guy named Ribbo. He had his own site / blog that I constantly read, and he gave a bunch of great O8 tips. Now, he plays a lot more Omaha high, and he posts his hands on pokerhand.
So I’m assuming most players reading this have a basic understanding of O8. It is similar to Omaha, except that when there are at least 3 low cards on the board, there can be a low hand and the pot is split. If you don’t know the basics of Omaha, like the fact that you are dealt 4 cards instead of 2 and that you must use 2 out of those 4 cards, then I suggest reading up on Omaha before continuing.
Here is a good site to get started.
The most important thing to remember in O8 is to scoop. That means that your main goal is to win the whole pot. I know this sounds very common sense, but trust me, after years of playing O8, players keep making the same mistake over and over. They keep putting more money into the pot just so that they can win half the final pot.
For example, if you are holding TJQK and the board comes A58 and you have a draw to the nut flush, most bad players will see that draw until the river, and raise / fold depending on if they hit or miss.
DO NOT DO THIS!!
Any good O8 player folds this on the flop, especially if the pot was raised preflop. That is because you are drawing to win half the pot. There is no chance of you scooping this pot, because you cannot make a low hand. Someone could be freerolling you, and you don't want to risk your stack on a draw just to get your money back.
Another important point, if there are a lot of players in the hand, it is likely someone has or is drawing to the nuts, so always play strong hands that can become the nuts. Nothing sucks more than having a king high flush beat by the ace high flush.
Now, by remembering to scoop, players don’t get caught playing marginal hands like A68J or A77Q. A lot of new players see an ace, and they get way too excited and play them like it is the nuts. If there are a lot of players in the hand, A77Q will almost never win the low hand, and your only shot at winning the high is if a straight came (or a flush, which is why double suited (DS) hands are so strong). Obviously, any decent player can play any 4 cards, but those strategies will be for another time since they are more advanced.
In general, for new players, stick to strong starting hands. Those include A2’s or A3’s, hopefully with the ace suited (ace of diamonds, 2 of diamonds). Obviously, AA23 DS is the “best” O8 starting hand but always remember that Omaha is a game played after the flop, while games like hold em can be played pre or post – flop.
One last thing to remember, there will always be a high hand. There may not always be a low hand.
That will be it for now. I'll continue my Omaha strategies later, but I want to at least cover all the basics of the 5 games of HORSE before I move to advanced strategies. Next up, razz?
Initially, I was grinding back my 500 bucks on $10 SnGs. Those limit O8 games were so slow, but I learned all the basics of how to play O8. Eventually, I was playing PL games, and never went back to limit until I started HORSE. But there were a few things I learned then that I still use today.
First, before I start writing about O8, I want to recognize that a lot of what I learned was from a guy named Ribbo. He had his own site / blog that I constantly read, and he gave a bunch of great O8 tips. Now, he plays a lot more Omaha high, and he posts his hands on pokerhand.
So I’m assuming most players reading this have a basic understanding of O8. It is similar to Omaha, except that when there are at least 3 low cards on the board, there can be a low hand and the pot is split. If you don’t know the basics of Omaha, like the fact that you are dealt 4 cards instead of 2 and that you must use 2 out of those 4 cards, then I suggest reading up on Omaha before continuing.
Here is a good site to get started.
The most important thing to remember in O8 is to scoop. That means that your main goal is to win the whole pot. I know this sounds very common sense, but trust me, after years of playing O8, players keep making the same mistake over and over. They keep putting more money into the pot just so that they can win half the final pot.
For example, if you are holding TJQK and the board comes A58 and you have a draw to the nut flush, most bad players will see that draw until the river, and raise / fold depending on if they hit or miss.
DO NOT DO THIS!!
Any good O8 player folds this on the flop, especially if the pot was raised preflop. That is because you are drawing to win half the pot. There is no chance of you scooping this pot, because you cannot make a low hand. Someone could be freerolling you, and you don't want to risk your stack on a draw just to get your money back.
Another important point, if there are a lot of players in the hand, it is likely someone has or is drawing to the nuts, so always play strong hands that can become the nuts. Nothing sucks more than having a king high flush beat by the ace high flush.
Now, by remembering to scoop, players don’t get caught playing marginal hands like A68J or A77Q. A lot of new players see an ace, and they get way too excited and play them like it is the nuts. If there are a lot of players in the hand, A77Q will almost never win the low hand, and your only shot at winning the high is if a straight came (or a flush, which is why double suited (DS) hands are so strong). Obviously, any decent player can play any 4 cards, but those strategies will be for another time since they are more advanced.
In general, for new players, stick to strong starting hands. Those include A2’s or A3’s, hopefully with the ace suited (ace of diamonds, 2 of diamonds). Obviously, AA23 DS is the “best” O8 starting hand but always remember that Omaha is a game played after the flop, while games like hold em can be played pre or post – flop.
One last thing to remember, there will always be a high hand. There may not always be a low hand.
That will be it for now. I'll continue my Omaha strategies later, but I want to at least cover all the basics of the 5 games of HORSE before I move to advanced strategies. Next up, razz?
I Love a Good Bluff
It's not often when you can pull off a good bluff in HORSE limit games. If a player is calling you down, they usually have the correct odds to call a river bet. In the following hand, I played it the way I did because I was pretty agitated at the guy. He had just beat me in a HU match through some terrible suckouts, and after sharkscoping him, found out that he was a consistently losing player.
He was playing pretty LAGgy and bet hard till the river almost every hand. I had just been waiting around for a good hand. This was the best hand I saw in a while and decided to make a play when the turn came.
Enjoy :)
(Courtesy of Greg.ca, thanks for the converter!!)
Full Tilt Poker Game: HORSE $50 + $2.50 Heads Up Sit & Go, Table 1 - 40/80 - Limit Omaha H/L - 2008/11/16
Seat 1: Hero (1,790 in chips)
Seat 2: Villain (1,210 in chips)
Hero posts the small blind 20
Villain posts the big blind 40
Seat #1 is the button
Preflop:
The Flop: [
]
The Turn: [ 
]
The River: [ 
]
He was playing pretty LAGgy and bet hard till the river almost every hand. I had just been waiting around for a good hand. This was the best hand I saw in a while and decided to make a play when the turn came.
Enjoy :)
(Courtesy of Greg.ca, thanks for the converter!!)
Full Tilt Poker Game: HORSE $50 + $2.50 Heads Up Sit & Go, Table 1 - 40/80 - Limit Omaha H/L - 2008/11/16
Seat 1: Hero (1,790 in chips)
Seat 2: Villain (1,210 in chips)
Hero posts the small blind 20
Villain posts the big blind 40
Seat #1 is the button
Dealt to Hero [     ]Hero raises to 80 Villain calls 40 |
The Flop: [
]Villain bets 40 Hero calls 40 |
The Turn: [
]Villain bets 80 Hero raises to 160 Villain raises to 240 Hero raises to 320 Villain calls 80 |
The River: [
]Villain checks Hero bets 80 Villain has 15 second left to act Villain folds Uncalled bet of 80 returned to Hero Hero mucks Hero wins the pot 880 |
Poker Bankroll Management
The below is a very good introduction to bankroll management. I'm sure most people who play online poker know what a bankroll is, but for those who don't, please be sure to read the following article.
For those who do know a little about bankroll management, HORSE, especially heads up games, doesn't require nearly as large a bankroll as say, NL hold em. I typically keep between 10-20X my buy-in for HU games. I win around 60-70% of my HORSE games, but when I tilt, I tend to do stupid things once in awhile that kill my bankroll.
Anyway, enjoy the article:
If you’re looking to play poker in the long run, then you need to learn poker bankroll management. No matter how good you are, you’re going to run into variance and lose money. Bankroll management is what will keep you from going broke, and instead, knowing exactly when to drop down or move up in stakes
Most players have heard the standard 500 big bet rule for limit games and 40 buy-in rule for no limit cash games, tournaments, and sit&go’s. While this is definitely a great starting point, there’s so much more involved in poker bankroll management. You can’t have one bankroll management equation everyone, you need to define your own comfort points and work from there.
I’ll start with the basic definitions and theories and move towards the advanced and even controversial bankroll management techniques.
What is your poker bankroll?
Your poker bankroll is the sum of all the money you have set aside for poker. You have to look at it as a whole, so it doesn’t matter if you have $5,000 spread across 5 poker sites and a payment processor or just $5,000 in one.
You should always know exactly what your poker bankroll is because your bankroll will define what stakes you’re able to comfortably play. You can even take this idea one step further and chart your bankrolls growth on a daily basis.
If you don’t have a separate poker bankroll then do yourself a favor and make one! If you’re serious about poker, you need to be able to manage your poker bankroll on a day to day basis.
The basic rules of bankroll management
The short and sweet method for poker bankroll management is 500 big bets for limit cash games and 40 full buy-ins for no limit cash games and tournaments. A big bet in limit is the higher number when the stakes are listed, which is usually twice the big blind. A buy-in is either the tournament entry fee or usually 100 times the big blind in a NL game
When to drop down in stakes
The mistake a lot of people make is never dropping down in stakes. They’ll start with 500 big bets and then just play till they’re out of money. That’s not good! It’s really important to drop down a limit when your poker bankroll isn’t large enough. Don’t worry, you can always make that money back and move up again as a stronger player.
A good time to drop down is when you become about 30% under-bankrolled for the stakes you’re playing. So let’s say for example, you’re using the standard 40 buy-in bankroll for No Limit games. You just moved up to 1/2 NL stakes, but hit a terrible string of bad luck and lose 30 buy-ins over the course of a month. Yes, it can happen to the best of us.
Without bankroll management, you’d be left with 10 buy-ins - a $2,000 bankroll.
With bankroll management, you would have dropped down to .5/1NL after losing about 11 buy-ins, giving you a 58 buy-in bankroll at those stakes. Then after losing 19 more, you’d still be left with a 39 buy-ins, or a $4000 bankroll.
So without bankroll management, you’d be left with 75% of your money, sufficient enough funds to play .25/.50 NL. With bankroll management, you’d only have to drop down one limit to .50/1.00 NL.
If you happened to have lost 40 buy-ins then you would have gone broke without bankroll management, but still have a $3,000 bankroll to work your way back up. That’s much better then being broke and having to start over again from a new deposit!
Start low and work your way up
Many players assume that if they only had the money to play higher stakes poker games, they’d be able to earn a standard hourly rate there. This simply isn’t true. You’re not going to earn 25x your current hourly rate by moving from 1/2NL to 25/50NL. As you move up, the fish to shark ratio decreases and the games get tougher.
Starting low and working your way up ensures that you’re good enough to beat each limit. The experience you’ll gain while working your way through the limits will make you a much better player.
Conservative vs. Aggressive Bankroll Management
There’s two methods you can go with in terms of bankroll management and they both can work effectively. It just depend on your personality.
The conservative bankroll - 1000 Limit big bets or 100 No Limit buy-ins.
This favors the long-term poker players, especially the ones who are looking to avoid variance and earn a steady salary. With a deep bankroll you don’t have to worry as much about large downswings, because losing days should have little effect on the size of your bankroll.
The Aggressive bankroll - 250 Limit big bets or 20 No Limit buy-ins.
An aggressive poker bankroll favors the players who are looking to move up quick and see results. You have to understand though, that you’re going to hit a lot of variance and won’t always going to move straight to the top. With an aggressive bankroll, losses will have more of an impact and you’ll need to drop down any time you lose a few buy-ins. An aggressive bankroll is much harder to manage and it takes a really controlled player to know when they have to drop down to keep their bankroll intact.
The Standard Bankroll 500 limit big bets or 40 No Limit buy-ins.
This one has the best of both worlds and should be the method players use when first starting out. Daily wins and losses shouldn’t have a huge impact on your bankroll size, so you won’t drive yourself crazy with the swings, but it will be enough to see results.
Make a Chart
Once you decide on your ideal bankroll management method, make a bankroll management chart. Write down when you’re going to move up in stakes and how much you’d need to lose to drop back down. Keep the chart somewhere where you’ll always see it, so you can be sure that your poker bankroll never strays from it.
Fight the temptations
The concept of bankroll management is simple, but putting it into practice can be difficult. It’s easy to want to move up in stakes to try to win back your money after taking a hit, or to never drop down a limit, because it makes you feel like you’ve lost. But in time, not staying true to your bankroll will cause you to go broke, while the players who are using poker bankroll management will stay in the game, continue to get better, and grow their bankroll.
source
For those who do know a little about bankroll management, HORSE, especially heads up games, doesn't require nearly as large a bankroll as say, NL hold em. I typically keep between 10-20X my buy-in for HU games. I win around 60-70% of my HORSE games, but when I tilt, I tend to do stupid things once in awhile that kill my bankroll.
Anyway, enjoy the article:
If you’re looking to play poker in the long run, then you need to learn poker bankroll management. No matter how good you are, you’re going to run into variance and lose money. Bankroll management is what will keep you from going broke, and instead, knowing exactly when to drop down or move up in stakes
Most players have heard the standard 500 big bet rule for limit games and 40 buy-in rule for no limit cash games, tournaments, and sit&go’s. While this is definitely a great starting point, there’s so much more involved in poker bankroll management. You can’t have one bankroll management equation everyone, you need to define your own comfort points and work from there.
I’ll start with the basic definitions and theories and move towards the advanced and even controversial bankroll management techniques.
What is your poker bankroll?
Your poker bankroll is the sum of all the money you have set aside for poker. You have to look at it as a whole, so it doesn’t matter if you have $5,000 spread across 5 poker sites and a payment processor or just $5,000 in one.
You should always know exactly what your poker bankroll is because your bankroll will define what stakes you’re able to comfortably play. You can even take this idea one step further and chart your bankrolls growth on a daily basis.
If you don’t have a separate poker bankroll then do yourself a favor and make one! If you’re serious about poker, you need to be able to manage your poker bankroll on a day to day basis.
The basic rules of bankroll management
The short and sweet method for poker bankroll management is 500 big bets for limit cash games and 40 full buy-ins for no limit cash games and tournaments. A big bet in limit is the higher number when the stakes are listed, which is usually twice the big blind. A buy-in is either the tournament entry fee or usually 100 times the big blind in a NL game
When to drop down in stakes
The mistake a lot of people make is never dropping down in stakes. They’ll start with 500 big bets and then just play till they’re out of money. That’s not good! It’s really important to drop down a limit when your poker bankroll isn’t large enough. Don’t worry, you can always make that money back and move up again as a stronger player.
A good time to drop down is when you become about 30% under-bankrolled for the stakes you’re playing. So let’s say for example, you’re using the standard 40 buy-in bankroll for No Limit games. You just moved up to 1/2 NL stakes, but hit a terrible string of bad luck and lose 30 buy-ins over the course of a month. Yes, it can happen to the best of us.
Without bankroll management, you’d be left with 10 buy-ins - a $2,000 bankroll.
With bankroll management, you would have dropped down to .5/1NL after losing about 11 buy-ins, giving you a 58 buy-in bankroll at those stakes. Then after losing 19 more, you’d still be left with a 39 buy-ins, or a $4000 bankroll.
So without bankroll management, you’d be left with 75% of your money, sufficient enough funds to play .25/.50 NL. With bankroll management, you’d only have to drop down one limit to .50/1.00 NL.
If you happened to have lost 40 buy-ins then you would have gone broke without bankroll management, but still have a $3,000 bankroll to work your way back up. That’s much better then being broke and having to start over again from a new deposit!
Start low and work your way up
Many players assume that if they only had the money to play higher stakes poker games, they’d be able to earn a standard hourly rate there. This simply isn’t true. You’re not going to earn 25x your current hourly rate by moving from 1/2NL to 25/50NL. As you move up, the fish to shark ratio decreases and the games get tougher.
Starting low and working your way up ensures that you’re good enough to beat each limit. The experience you’ll gain while working your way through the limits will make you a much better player.
Conservative vs. Aggressive Bankroll Management
There’s two methods you can go with in terms of bankroll management and they both can work effectively. It just depend on your personality.
The conservative bankroll - 1000 Limit big bets or 100 No Limit buy-ins.
This favors the long-term poker players, especially the ones who are looking to avoid variance and earn a steady salary. With a deep bankroll you don’t have to worry as much about large downswings, because losing days should have little effect on the size of your bankroll.
The Aggressive bankroll - 250 Limit big bets or 20 No Limit buy-ins.
An aggressive poker bankroll favors the players who are looking to move up quick and see results. You have to understand though, that you’re going to hit a lot of variance and won’t always going to move straight to the top. With an aggressive bankroll, losses will have more of an impact and you’ll need to drop down any time you lose a few buy-ins. An aggressive bankroll is much harder to manage and it takes a really controlled player to know when they have to drop down to keep their bankroll intact.
The Standard Bankroll 500 limit big bets or 40 No Limit buy-ins.
This one has the best of both worlds and should be the method players use when first starting out. Daily wins and losses shouldn’t have a huge impact on your bankroll size, so you won’t drive yourself crazy with the swings, but it will be enough to see results.
Make a Chart
Once you decide on your ideal bankroll management method, make a bankroll management chart. Write down when you’re going to move up in stakes and how much you’d need to lose to drop back down. Keep the chart somewhere where you’ll always see it, so you can be sure that your poker bankroll never strays from it.
Fight the temptations
The concept of bankroll management is simple, but putting it into practice can be difficult. It’s easy to want to move up in stakes to try to win back your money after taking a hit, or to never drop down a limit, because it makes you feel like you’ve lost. But in time, not staying true to your bankroll will cause you to go broke, while the players who are using poker bankroll management will stay in the game, continue to get better, and grow their bankroll.
source
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Congrats LaTanyaWilliams
I forgot to mention, the FTOP championships are going on right now at Full Tilt. Man, I hate these tournies now. I have had the worst luck with them. I don't think I've even cashed once in any event (I can't remember, maybe a very low cash...). I've played in the last 3 HORSE FTOPs though not the one last night... I didn't qualify :( And most times, I bubble out. I've come in 70th twice when top 64 pays, and the one in August, I finished around 200th? Arghhh, when is it my turn to win of these damn things? My highest cash in a multi table tourny was only $3500 or so... maybe I don't play enough?
Anyway, I tried qualifying for the HORSE tourny, and in a 133 SNG, I bubbled out in 3rd (top 2 get entry). I was so pissed off I almost punched the wall (I've done this once, and made a huge hole which I had to patch up). I was chip leader, and 2 hands in hold em killed me. I also got knocked out of the 6:30 $100 qualifier due to some unfortunate beats, and I was crying on the inside from not being able to play in my favorite game... :*(
But still, I have to congratulate LaTanyaWilliams on her/his win. It's always a great win to be able to pull through in the HORSE tourny, though some ppl think its a luck shoot when blinds get higher. Plus, playing till 6 in the morning is always mentally challenging, so congrats again LaTanyaWilliams!!
Anyway, I tried qualifying for the HORSE tourny, and in a 133 SNG, I bubbled out in 3rd (top 2 get entry). I was so pissed off I almost punched the wall (I've done this once, and made a huge hole which I had to patch up). I was chip leader, and 2 hands in hold em killed me. I also got knocked out of the 6:30 $100 qualifier due to some unfortunate beats, and I was crying on the inside from not being able to play in my favorite game... :*(
But still, I have to congratulate LaTanyaWilliams on her/his win. It's always a great win to be able to pull through in the HORSE tourny, though some ppl think its a luck shoot when blinds get higher. Plus, playing till 6 in the morning is always mentally challenging, so congrats again LaTanyaWilliams!!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Portland Trailblazers
Man, the Trailblazers are gonna be good. I just watched them play the Heat, and Rudy Fernandez is gonna be rookie of the year. No, not Beasley or Rose, or even Greg Oden (kinda, since he's basically a second year rookie). But Fernandez is sick. Absolutely sick. He's got great range, decent handles, and can take some big shots. And with the rest of Portland's stacked lineup, they should develop into a top western contender in the next few years. Think about it, if Oden develops a stronger low post game, Aldridge bulks up a little, and they already have a solid backcourt with Roy and now Fernandez, whew, what a team.
No, I'm not from Portland or anything, I'd want to see a Lakers - Celtics final again, but its nice to see different teams develop. Growing up and watching basketball since the mid 90's, basically it was the Bulls, Lakers, and Spurs. Oh on a random note, I saw an interesting video today of Obama playing basketball. Finally, a President that plays a sport we can all relate to (golf and hunting are definitely too rich for me...).
No, I'm not from Portland or anything, I'd want to see a Lakers - Celtics final again, but its nice to see different teams develop. Growing up and watching basketball since the mid 90's, basically it was the Bulls, Lakers, and Spurs. Oh on a random note, I saw an interesting video today of Obama playing basketball. Finally, a President that plays a sport we can all relate to (golf and hunting are definitely too rich for me...).
Monday, November 10, 2008
Atlantic City Trip
I would say my weekend was pretty exciting, compared to my usual activities of hanging out w/ friends and then catching up on some sleep.
Well to start off, Friday I had to take an exam so I got to leave work at around 2:30. I went out for drinks later at this place called Johnny Utah, which was great cause they have a mechanical bull, and there were a few drunk, well-endowed girls who tried riding it. It actually looked fun, so I signed a waiver, and tried it for the first time. I somehow managed to stay on the bull the longest out of everyone at the bar (though everyone was slightly more drunk than me) but the bull got the last laugh, as it flung me around like a rag doll and eventually whacked me after it threw me off.
Anyway, one of my buddies from school had gotten a room comped at the Borgata, so we decided to head to AC on Saturday and stay the night. We took one of the Chinatown buses, which is great cause you pay $17 and as soon as you get off the bus, you get a $25 coupon redeemable at the cashier. We took the bus to Caesars, and then took taxis to the Borgata. Once there, we all split up and did our own thing for awhile. Some went to play blackjack, some roulette, while I went to play 1-2 NL hold em (not a good idea as I’ll soon explain).
I only played for about an hour before my first big hand happened. The table was extremely tight, and I stole a few times, but with blinds at 1-2, stealing was pretty much useless. People were nut-peddling, and I was getting restless. So on this one hand, I had A8 of spades in the BB, and a few people limp in. It gets to me and I check, and then the flop comes out A 9 5, two clubs and a spade. Someone in the middle bets out ($10 I think) and I’m the only caller. Turn is a 7 of spades. Now I have an ace with a weak kicker, a nut flush draw, and a straight draw. If the other guy has an ace, I’m probably beat (which was the hand I put him on), so I thought that if I pull a check raise here, maybe I could represent 2 pair, push him off his hand since he was really tight, and still have some outs if he calls. So he bets 20, I raise to put him all in since he only has about 80 left, and he insta calls and flips over a set of 5’s. I miss my outs :(
I probably could have played that better, maybe saved some chips if I just called him down since now that I look back at the hand, he was underbetting since he had a monster, and didn’t understand to bet more to push me off my draws. Anyway, I don’t think that was too bad compared to the next two hands later in the night.
I moved tables, and after playing on a looser table for awhile, I had 7 T of spades in the BB, and the guy to my left raises it up to $10, and 5 or 6 people call, so since I was last to act, I obviously called.
Flop comes out Q 9 4 all spades. I check, and the initial bettor bets out again, $25 or so. There was one other caller, and then I pop it up to $100, and the initial bettor goes all in. Other guy folds, and I don’t have much left, maybe 50 or 75 more, so I call. The guy doesn’t want to show his hand, so we wait for the cards to deal out. Turn is a 2 of clubs. River is a 7 of spades. I cry… knowing he has a higher spade. He flips over AK, K of spades… sighs…
So nothing I could really do about that. The guy was pretty bad, and my friend at the table was like, tough break. But I didn’t bring any more money with me, so I had to borrow another 200 off my friend, which leads me to my third big hand of the night.
I walked around, and then switched tables again, and I sat to the left of another buddy. After sitting down for 5 minutes, I noticed this was the loosest table I’ve ever seen before in my life, so I just decided to sit back and wait for a hand. Well, I found AK on the BB, and while not in a great position, it was the best hand I saw at the table. There were a bunch of limpers, and my buddy who was on the button raises it up to 11 or 12, and I tell him to stop stealing, and reraise it to 40, hoping to just pick up the blinds and his raise. One guy to my left flat calls the 40 raise, and everyone else folds. Now it’s heads up between me and a guy who couldn’t count his chips.
Flop comes out A 3 4, with 2 spades (I have the ace of spades). With AK, I can only hope that it’s good here, especially against the range of hands someone would flat call a 40 preflop raise with at 1-2. So I make a very small bet (25 or 30), just to see what he does, and he min raises… I’m about to scream, thinking if this guy called a 40 raise with a pair of 3’s or 4’s, I’m going to flip a shit. But, I remembered about 2 hands ago, this guy did the same thing (min raise) to another dude, with a flush draw, and he hit his flush on the river. So now, I decide to call to clear the turn, and then bet out if it’s a non-spade. So the turn comes and is a K of hearts. With my 2 pair, all I can hope is that he doesn’t have a set, and I bet out 90, and he puts me all in, and I call with my last 30 or so. He turns over A 3 (OMG right…) and I’m more than a 90% favorite here, and of course the river is a 3… so I go broke… again. And to make it worse, my buddy on the button told me he had a 3 in his hand also, so the guy hits his case 3.
Haha, so sorry this is sounding like a bad beat blog. This was the first time I lost money playing poker live (yes I know, playing at 1-2 isn't much to brag about). But other than that, the trip was pretty fun, since I got to catch up w/ some college buddies. Oh, luckily, one of the guys brought his laptop there, so I ended up playing HU HORSE games at 3 in the morning, and made 300 bucks in about half an hour. One guy who was on tilt, lost a 200 HU HORSE game in 5 minutes, LOL.
Unfortunately, its back to the real world now... working stinks :(
Well to start off, Friday I had to take an exam so I got to leave work at around 2:30. I went out for drinks later at this place called Johnny Utah, which was great cause they have a mechanical bull, and there were a few drunk, well-endowed girls who tried riding it. It actually looked fun, so I signed a waiver, and tried it for the first time. I somehow managed to stay on the bull the longest out of everyone at the bar (though everyone was slightly more drunk than me) but the bull got the last laugh, as it flung me around like a rag doll and eventually whacked me after it threw me off.
Haha, I just read something about a few lawsuits against Johnny Utah. It’s a freaking mechanical bull!! What do people expect?? Sheesh, what people do for easy money...
Anyway, one of my buddies from school had gotten a room comped at the Borgata, so we decided to head to AC on Saturday and stay the night. We took one of the Chinatown buses, which is great cause you pay $17 and as soon as you get off the bus, you get a $25 coupon redeemable at the cashier. We took the bus to Caesars, and then took taxis to the Borgata. Once there, we all split up and did our own thing for awhile. Some went to play blackjack, some roulette, while I went to play 1-2 NL hold em (not a good idea as I’ll soon explain).
I only played for about an hour before my first big hand happened. The table was extremely tight, and I stole a few times, but with blinds at 1-2, stealing was pretty much useless. People were nut-peddling, and I was getting restless. So on this one hand, I had A8 of spades in the BB, and a few people limp in. It gets to me and I check, and then the flop comes out A 9 5, two clubs and a spade. Someone in the middle bets out ($10 I think) and I’m the only caller. Turn is a 7 of spades. Now I have an ace with a weak kicker, a nut flush draw, and a straight draw. If the other guy has an ace, I’m probably beat (which was the hand I put him on), so I thought that if I pull a check raise here, maybe I could represent 2 pair, push him off his hand since he was really tight, and still have some outs if he calls. So he bets 20, I raise to put him all in since he only has about 80 left, and he insta calls and flips over a set of 5’s. I miss my outs :(
I probably could have played that better, maybe saved some chips if I just called him down since now that I look back at the hand, he was underbetting since he had a monster, and didn’t understand to bet more to push me off my draws. Anyway, I don’t think that was too bad compared to the next two hands later in the night.
I moved tables, and after playing on a looser table for awhile, I had 7 T of spades in the BB, and the guy to my left raises it up to $10, and 5 or 6 people call, so since I was last to act, I obviously called.
Flop comes out Q 9 4 all spades. I check, and the initial bettor bets out again, $25 or so. There was one other caller, and then I pop it up to $100, and the initial bettor goes all in. Other guy folds, and I don’t have much left, maybe 50 or 75 more, so I call. The guy doesn’t want to show his hand, so we wait for the cards to deal out. Turn is a 2 of clubs. River is a 7 of spades. I cry… knowing he has a higher spade. He flips over AK, K of spades… sighs…
So nothing I could really do about that. The guy was pretty bad, and my friend at the table was like, tough break. But I didn’t bring any more money with me, so I had to borrow another 200 off my friend, which leads me to my third big hand of the night.
I walked around, and then switched tables again, and I sat to the left of another buddy. After sitting down for 5 minutes, I noticed this was the loosest table I’ve ever seen before in my life, so I just decided to sit back and wait for a hand. Well, I found AK on the BB, and while not in a great position, it was the best hand I saw at the table. There were a bunch of limpers, and my buddy who was on the button raises it up to 11 or 12, and I tell him to stop stealing, and reraise it to 40, hoping to just pick up the blinds and his raise. One guy to my left flat calls the 40 raise, and everyone else folds. Now it’s heads up between me and a guy who couldn’t count his chips.
Flop comes out A 3 4, with 2 spades (I have the ace of spades). With AK, I can only hope that it’s good here, especially against the range of hands someone would flat call a 40 preflop raise with at 1-2. So I make a very small bet (25 or 30), just to see what he does, and he min raises… I’m about to scream, thinking if this guy called a 40 raise with a pair of 3’s or 4’s, I’m going to flip a shit. But, I remembered about 2 hands ago, this guy did the same thing (min raise) to another dude, with a flush draw, and he hit his flush on the river. So now, I decide to call to clear the turn, and then bet out if it’s a non-spade. So the turn comes and is a K of hearts. With my 2 pair, all I can hope is that he doesn’t have a set, and I bet out 90, and he puts me all in, and I call with my last 30 or so. He turns over A 3 (OMG right…) and I’m more than a 90% favorite here, and of course the river is a 3… so I go broke… again. And to make it worse, my buddy on the button told me he had a 3 in his hand also, so the guy hits his case 3.
Haha, so sorry this is sounding like a bad beat blog. This was the first time I lost money playing poker live (yes I know, playing at 1-2 isn't much to brag about). But other than that, the trip was pretty fun, since I got to catch up w/ some college buddies. Oh, luckily, one of the guys brought his laptop there, so I ended up playing HU HORSE games at 3 in the morning, and made 300 bucks in about half an hour. One guy who was on tilt, lost a 200 HU HORSE game in 5 minutes, LOL.
Unfortunately, its back to the real world now... working stinks :(
Thursday, November 6, 2008
I8anSUV?
I thought now might be a good time to explain the title of my blog. The name “I8ansuv” should read, “I ate an SUV.” Get it? The 8 sounds like “ate.” Haha I know I’m a dork. I once saw that on the license plate of a hummer, and I thought it was one of the wittiest and most hilarious things I’ve seen. Well, that and this recently (it cracks me up every time I watch it, LOL).
I8ansuv is my username on Pokerstars, though I rarely play there anymore. If I do, its usually on a pot limit Omaha hi/lo SNG (sometimes HORSE heads up, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I don’t particularly like their HU format).
Oh, and another thing. I was on sharkscope the other day, and they had an update that stated players aren’t allowed to use their site while playing on Pokerstars or else Stars is threatening to close players’ accounts. WTF?? (update: sharkscope doesn’t have the posting up anymore, I’m trying to find more info about it)
Well, at least sharkscope still works fine w/ Full Tilt, and that's where I mostly play now anyway. The HU games are pretty beatable, there are only a few players I hate playing against (either cause they're good, or just horrendous but for some reason suck out enough to win consistently against me...???) But sorry to disappoint, I don't think I'll be disclosing my username... yet? I don't know, I guess it'll feel weird if I play someone who reads my blog (if there are any of you) and knows how I think and play. Well whatever, I'll probably end up accidentally pasting it in an entry one day anyhow, haha.
Alright, so hopefully in the near future (I have some exams coming up, so might be a little busier), I'll be able to write an entry for each game of HORSE. I haven't decided exactly what I'll say yet, since I don't want to disclose ALL my strategies, but I'll have enough to make it worth your while. Stay tuned...
I8ansuv is my username on Pokerstars, though I rarely play there anymore. If I do, its usually on a pot limit Omaha hi/lo SNG (sometimes HORSE heads up, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I don’t particularly like their HU format).
Oh, and another thing. I was on sharkscope the other day, and they had an update that stated players aren’t allowed to use their site while playing on Pokerstars or else Stars is threatening to close players’ accounts. WTF?? (update: sharkscope doesn’t have the posting up anymore, I’m trying to find more info about it)
Well, at least sharkscope still works fine w/ Full Tilt, and that's where I mostly play now anyway. The HU games are pretty beatable, there are only a few players I hate playing against (either cause they're good, or just horrendous but for some reason suck out enough to win consistently against me...???) But sorry to disappoint, I don't think I'll be disclosing my username... yet? I don't know, I guess it'll feel weird if I play someone who reads my blog (if there are any of you) and knows how I think and play. Well whatever, I'll probably end up accidentally pasting it in an entry one day anyhow, haha.
Alright, so hopefully in the near future (I have some exams coming up, so might be a little busier), I'll be able to write an entry for each game of HORSE. I haven't decided exactly what I'll say yet, since I don't want to disclose ALL my strategies, but I'll have enough to make it worth your while. Stay tuned...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
