Sure I would have flopped a boat here, but how often would the flop have come with 3 over cards?  Or something like 5-A-3.  Or God forbid something like 8-2-3.  On an 8 high flop I’d have no idea where I stood in the hand.  Sure I’ve got top pair, but I’m out of position in a raised pot with a 5 kicker.  Not the spot I want to be.

See you after the flop!

I’m certainly not prone to these online bad beats – here are a couple from my latest session.

Hand #1
I’m on the button with A7 of diamonds.  When it comes to me it’s unraised so I put in a standard “3 times the big blind” raise.  I get called by the big blind and we’re off to the flop.

BEAUTIFUL!  With the exception of my opponent holding AA in the big blind I’ve just flopped the nuts.  He makes a standard bet which I raise and puts him into the tank.  He uses just about all of his time before he puts me all in.  Hmm.  At this point I’m putting him on one of three hands – a 7 with a bad kicker, a big ace or a flush draw.  Based on the way he’d played up till this point in the tourney I don’t have him on aces.  I call and he shows a pair of twos.  Yep… you read that right, twos.  Not sure what he was thinking other than maybe he was putting me on a flush draw or a bluff of my own.

As I’m sure you can tell from the title of this post, this hand did not turn out well for me.  Of course the turn and river came like this:

I sat there in stunned silence as I got the pop up telling me my tournament was over.  I don’t even want to begin to think about what the odds of that beat are.

Hand #2
In another tournament I’m once again on the button and this time getting low on chips.  I’ve been trying to play but the cards just haven’t been coming my way.  I find myself with KQ of clubs on the button and make a standard raise.  This leaves me with just over 3 big blinds.  I’m raised by the big blind and I figure he’s making a play at the short stack so I decide to put the rest of my stack in jeopardy.  I’m happy to see that I’ve made the right play when he turns over KJ off suit (with the Jack of diamonds).

The board came out and once again I was left speechless.

Sure I had an Ace high flush but he was holding the Jack and once again I was done.  This is less of a bad beat than the first hand but they came in back to back tournaments and I had had enough for the evening.  As I said in my last post, “The best you can do is get your money in good and pray to the poker gods.”  I did just that and came out on the short end of the flop both times but as they say – that’s poker!

See you after the flop!

The poker Gods were laughing at me this night and continued to give me Seven/Three off suit.  As I stated before we were playing 6 handed and I must have had it 4 times in the first 3 rounds of the table.  Well I finally decided that I was going to take a stand (against who I have no idea) and make a raise with my garbage.  I looked down and saw the aforementioned Seven/Three in first position and bumped it up to three times the big blind.  Only the button called and we were off to the flop.  As it should, the flop came down:

The blinds had folded to my pre-flop raise so I was first to act.  I led right out and went into my standard “I’ve just made a bet” mode where I’ve got my head down so I can see the cards and my opponent’s hands but he can’t see my eyes.  I obviously didn’t think I had the best hand but figured I could represent a big hand with my pre-flop raise and if he hadn’t caught anything I’d be good to go.  He had the call in his hands and I was already determining how much I was going to have to bluff off on 4th street when he folded his hand.  Whew.  VERDICT: Good play for the wrong reason.

The second hand of note was once again Seven/Three (this time suited in diamonds).  I decided not to press my luck and checked this hand in the big blind.  Someone made a comment a hand earlier about how Seven/Duce and Seven/Three where such crap hands and why would anyone ever play them.  The flop came and I couldn’t believe my eyes:

The player in the small blind fired out at this pot and I just called hoping he’d hit a flush on the turn.  The turn came a non-heart ten and he checked.  Not sure why but I moved all in on this street and he immediately folded.  I showed my hand and got a big “oooh” from the players at the table.  He ended up having nothing so my play here wouldn’t have mattered (as he said he was checking it down and folding to any bet) but in retrospect I should have given him another free card.  VERDICT: Bad play that didn’t matter.

The third hand of note came when we were heads up.  I had built up a small chip lead and was prepared to grind it out playing pretty straight forward poker.  I looked down and saw Seven/Ten on the button and just called.  My opponent checked and we were off to the flop:

Pretty much a dream flop unless I was up against a set.  Opponent bet and I moved all in over top of him.  He picked up his hand and said “I’ve got a sucker hand”.  I figured he had something like King/Ten and was loving life.  He called off all his chips and showed Ace/King.  The turn came a Queen and put me WAY behind.  The board unfortunately didn’t pair up and I was down to the felt.  We made a deal here and started the next game. VERDICT: good play – bad result.

About 3 hands into the second game I woke up with Queens on the button.  There were two callers and I put in a standard size raise.  The big blind moved all in on me and the guy to his left folded.  I immediately called figuring that in a 6 handed game I had to be good.  He of course flipped up Aces and ended my night.  In retrospect I probably should have thought about it a bit more but I don’t see how I could have gotten away from my ladies in that spot.  VERDICT: good play – bad result.

See you after the flop!

Hinkle is on the button and raises to $350,000 (which is just over a minimum raise) with a:

Akenhead raises to $1,200,000 with: .  Hinkle thinks about it for a moment and moves all in with his ten high!  Akenhead calls immediately and we’re off to the flop.

I suppose I can justify a raise from the button with a suited T4 heads up, but when your opponent comes over the top there I’m thinking you’ve got to let it go or at the very least just call.  Moving all in when you’re a slight chip leader is just crazy here in my opinion.  Now I will say that I obviously wasn’t at the table and I didn’t see all the hands being played so maybe there was something more to Hinkle’s raise here, but it seems REALLY risky.

The Flop

Talk about a perfect flop for you hand.  When they turned over their cards prior to the flop Akenhead asked if Hinkle had a pair — Hinkle kind of dropped his head and he flipped over his cards showing that he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  After this flop you could just see the defeat on Akenhead’s face and Hinkle immediately apologized.  At this point Akendead needed running Aces or running Kings to give him a victory.  Unfortunately neither would come.

The turn came the and the river came a giving Hinkle four Tens and his bracelet.

I suppose this is an example of how being aggressive at the poker table can pay big dividends.  Personally I would have gotten rid of my T4 long before all the money went into the middle — perhaps that why I’m blogging about it and they’re playing???

See you after the flop!!!

I was in a neighborhood tourney a few weeks ago and had a pretty nice hand. Here’s how it went…

I started with and came into the hand with a pre-flop bet, probably double the BB. One opponent calls my bet to stay in the hand with . The flop comes up . A nice straight draw for me, and my opponent paired their A to feel compelled to stay in the hand. I don’t remember exactly how my betting went (it’s been two weeks since this game!), but rest assured I was betting or raising from the flop through each round.

The turn comes up and now I’m really starting to like this hand. Not only does my straight draw improve with more outs, but also I’m now looking at a flush possibility. To make it even better, my opponent paired their 9, so now with two pair AA 99 they are feeling pretty good.  They should be…they still have me beat. They had to think I’d be on a straight draw but also knew I couldn’t have it yet. The pot was pretty big by now, and I pushed all in before the river and they called me. Mind you, I don’t have anything at this point in time, but with a flush draw and multiple straight draws (and my good luck up to this point in the game) I decided to play the odds and go for it.

The river comes up and it took me a few seconds to realize that yeah, I hit my flush, but also hit the straight, too! Straight flush…woohoo!

So, nice hand, took the pot and knocked the player out at the same time. Gotta love it.

We’re down to three handed (I’d been out for quite a while so I was just watching at this point ) and the players are trading chips back and forth. Tony is a slight chip leader at this point over Judy and Kathy who’s on the short stack (but not by much).

Judy calls on the button, Kathy calls from the small blind and Tony checks his option from the big blind. The flop comes out:

Kathy makes a bet from the small blind, Tony calls from the big blind and Judy moves all in from the button.  Kathy thinks about her hand for a moment and calls for all her chips.  Tony looks at his hand once more and he calls as well!

Judy shows for top pair with top kicker.

Kathy shows for middle pair.

Tony shows for bottom two pair.

The turn comes a giving Tony a full house.  Both Kathy (Jacks) and Judy (Kings) are drawing to 3 outs which don’t come on the river ending the tournament with Tony as the champion.  You can see a picture of the hand here.

Looking back on the hand now I can’t find a whole lot of fault with any of the plays here.  Judy’s call on the button with AK possibly should have been a raise, but she most likely would have won the hand right there winning just the blinds.  Of course hindsight is 20/20 and this would have been the play to make but I would probably call in that spot with AK as well.  Once there is no raise, Kathy has an easy call and Tony has an even easier check.  I suppose if Kathy read weakness she could have made a raise out of the small blind with suited semi-connectors but I like the call here as well — there’s too many hands that may have limped (QJ, J10, AJ, etc.) where she’d be in really bad shape.

After the flop has come out the hand pretty much plays itself.  I might have checked with middle pair if I were in Kathy’s position but I certainly can’t fault her for making a feeler bet to see where she was.  Tony’s obviously calling with two pair here really only being afraid of a flopped set of Threes.  I supposed KJ is a possibility here as well, but I simply cannot see getting away from bottom two pair in an un-raised three-way pot with three players remaining in a tournament.  Judy’s all in move here is aggressive but I actually like it.  I’d be thinking that she may have caught one of them with a Jack and the other one with some kind of a draw.  This is the one time that I can see Kathy getting away from her hand with middle pair and no draw, but she may have felt priced in at this point with so much money in the middle.  Like I said before Tony is pretty much committed unless he thinks someone flopped a set of Threes and at this point it would be a near impossible laydown.

With the third Jack coming on the turn there’s absolutely no way all of the money wouldn’t have gone in anyhow.  There is just simply no way that Judy with top two pair with an Ace kicker, Kathy with trip Jacks and Tony with a full house could ever get away from the hand at this point.  The fact that they got it all in on the flop might have been a bit soon for the reasons listed above but like I said, I can’t find too much fault.  Also, keep in mind that while I’d been standing there watching for while I wasn’t actually playing and I hadn’t picked up any tells that might have lead me to read the hand differently.

As always… That’s poker.  See you after the flop!

I find myself in the small blind with . It’s an unraised pot and I while I really don’t like calling with this hand cause I typically either win a small pot or lose a big one (ominous foreshadowing). I call and the big blind checks behind me so we go to the flop 4 handed which comes:

I figure I’m in pretty good shape even against a flopped flush. I make a pot sized bet to try and scare some folks with no diamonds away. The big blind and the player to his left fold and the button goes all in for nearly all of my chips. Like I said before I figure I’m in pretty good shape but it’s relatively early in the tournament and I’d hate to be down so low so soon. I decide to go with my gut and make the call with my two overcards and nut flush draw.

The button turned over for an overpair and a flush draw of his own. The turn and the river brought blanks for my hand leaving me near the felt but on the button. The antes hadn’t kicked in yet so I figure at the very least I can play another round waiting for a good hand before I go broke. I’m already to the point where I’m low stack at the table so I know I’m going to get action from just about any ace if I move in. The action folds around to an aggressive player who makes a big raise. I look at my hand and see:

I’m still steaming a bit from my last beat but I know that the raiser is aggressive and I figure this is probably as good as it’s going to get in the next round before the blinds hit me so I move all in for less than the big blind (which is always so imposing). The blinds fold leaving me heads up with the raiser. After he takes back the portion of his bet that I can’t cover he flips over his hand:

which is actually right around where I figured he’d be.

The flop comes out and I’m feeling pretty damn good about my hand:

and it just keeps getting better from there. The turn comes a giving me a royal flush.

The river comes a giving my opponent a sucker straight that didn’t matter. So with my best hand of my life I collected a pot that still left me as the short stack at the table. Such is life… that’s poker! You can see a picture of the hand here.

See you after the flop!

Not too bad for an unraised big blind hand. Off to the flop we went which looked like this:

Now based on the way the game was being played I wasn’t too worried. I was obviously not in the lead here but I figured if I made my flush I’d be in great shape. The small blind checked to me and I decided to try and take a free card to catch my flush so I checked. The next player checked. He was followed by a small bet, a call and a call from the button. The small blind folded and I thought for a moment before calling. The only reason I thought for a moment was because this was SUCH a tight game that any betting was out of the ordinary.

The turn came a and the betting was on me. I decided to make a bet to see just where I stood in this hand. The player to my left folded followed by a call and a raise! (remember, I’m surprised by this only because of how tight the game was). I immediately threw my hand away knowing that I was up against either a bigger flush draw, trips or at the very least a Q making my J no good if I hit it. The player who had called my original bet called the raise and we were off to the river.

The river came a making me feel very good about my laydown and VERY interested to see the cards that remained in play (2 players). The first player bet (very small bet in relation to the size of the pot) and the next player called.

I simply could not believe my eyes when the cards were flipped…

for a flopped quad 3s and for a flopped full house.

Remember that this hand was LIMPED AROUND TO ME IN THE BIG BLIND!!! I really can’t fault limping with a pair of 3s but for my money I’d be in there raising with a pair of queens in a 6 handed game. Not sure that a raise would have forced the threes to fold before the flop and there wasn’t anything in hell that was going to get them to fold after flopping quads. The best thing that I can say for the gentlemen with the queens is that he didn’t lose his entire stack on this hand which I definitely would have.

Just goes to show why I love this game… you never know what you’re going to see!

I have a new appreciation for the MTT players out there. I don’t know how you people do it. It’s no wonder you are all basket cases, Kidding.

Started up my regular SNGs last night. Nothing noteworthy, average stuff. Started snooping around the site and found a $3r tourney starting in eighteen minutes. Joined it. Played TAG picking my spots and things went well. Total investment $12. Started with 700 + players. 2 1/2 hours in and I’m 50th in chips with 200 left. 2nd in chips at my table. Card dead for about an hour with a steal here and there. Started thinking I could go deep in this one (back of my mind) but there is a lot of work to be done.

Woke up with KK. BBs are at 600 with an ante. UTG min raises. UTG + 1 flat calls and I’m thinking this is pretty normal with what people have been doing to see a flop. The min raise UTG did spike my radar. So, I figured I would have to clear some people out to see where I stood. I made it 4200 to go (A little on the low side in retrospect). Everyone folded around to the UTG raiser and he shoved all in. Our stacks were about even. I thought for a moment that he’s screaming AA. But then I thought he had a lot of people to get through and from what HAS been happening, he would get alot of callers. I was thinking if he had AA, he would not want everyone calling. I eventually put him on AK or a middle pair. I called.

He showed AcQx. I’m thinking this could be good. Flop came rags with two clubs. Still no problem. Turn, rag club.

NOW I’m screaming at the screen “Hold, Hold you $^%&*# HOLD! No aces, no clubs you %$&*%^ ^%$*#. HOLD!

YEP. Rag club falls on the river and the &$%#^ caught his nut flush with four on the board. I was crippled and out soon after. But not before making a few notes on the guy that can’t be repeated. Suffice to say it was a litany of profanity followed by a little synopsis of how he violated me.

The Aftermath;

I had the sinking feeling that I just pissed away 2 1/2 hours. I was not happy. I still had one SNG open and I knew how that was going to go. But then I attempted to real myself in and blow it off. I did a TILT Stop N Go. I said to myself, “Self” you need to forget about that and consentrate on what you have in front of you. I did. Then, between hands, I would start thinking…2 1/2 hours wasted, that stupid
%$#^ing  jack#@$.  Rinse and repeat, (Tilt Stop N Go = Donkey.)

After I donked off the only table I had up, I had the strength to realize I was on Tilt and shut it down for the night. Good Me. And only down -$30ish for the session.

I finally understand the MTT player pain = Respect.

Done rambling, Gl at the tables.