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It had been nearly two months since the Cleveland Poker League had a game so I was REALLY itching to play.  I talked in some previous posts about the plan that I had moving into this game so I won’t recap it here.  This post will be dedicated to some interesting hands that I played/saw throughout the night.  Feedback is always welcome… enjoy!

Hand #1
I held 33 in the big blind and per my rules for this game raised and got two callers (the small blind and the player two to my left).  The flop comes:

The small blind bets and I immediately fold.  With two overcards out there to my threes and him calling my raise out of the small blind there’s no reason for me to think I’m good here.

Hand #2
I raised out of the small blind with 55.  The player 3 to my left raised and then was promptly re-raised.  Per my rule for the game I folded (though this is an EASY lay down regardless).  55 just isn’t that strong with all that action behind it.

At this point in the tourney I’d been laying low.  The two hands above are the only two hands that I played worth describing other than a couple where I was in the big blind and it was checked around to me.  We were headed into the first break of the evening (after two half hour blind levels) when these next two hands came up.

Hand #3
66 in the big blind.  I raised and got two callers: the complete “on a roll” player two to my left and the player directly to his left.  The flop is just about perfect:

Beautiful!  I’ve got top set in a raised pot!  There’s no flush possibility out there yet and I’m guessing that neither of my callers are holding 45 for a flopped straight.  I lead out with a pot sized bet and get one caller.  The turn comes a Q and I bet again taking down the pot.

Hand #4
Two hands later I’m on the button and look down to find KJ of spades.  I limped and was in the hand with only the two blinds.  The flop comes with two spades and I led out with my spade draw and got one caller (the big blind).  The turn brought a blank and we both checked.  I made the second nut flush on the river and bet out again.  The big blind immediately called and I was REALLY worried he was going to show me the nut flush.  Luckily for me (and my stack) he turned up 74 of spades for the second best flush.

Now that we’re on break I’m feeling pretty good about myself.  After those last two hands I’m way above average and if I’m not chip leader at my table I’m close to it.  I figure to go into conservation mode and try to make it to the final table.

Hand #5
We have a Winner’s Bounty in play and the bounty happened to be seated to my left.  The table folded around to me in the small blind and I called with 97.  He moved in out of the big blind for not much more and even though I figured to be behind I called trying to pick up the bounty.  He showed 55 for a race situation which I won by rivering a 9.  I picked up the bounty (making money for the night) and cruised to the final table.

Hand #6
I look down and find 77 on the button and I raise.  I get one caller (a larger stack that I) and we’re off to the flop:

I’ve got bottom set and he puts me all in.  I’m scared of the flush draw but I’m confident that I’ve currently got the best hand so I call off all my chips.  Luckily my hand holds up and I double up.

Hand #7
I looked down under the gun and found JJ.  At exactly the same time my wife calls and for some reason I don’t raise (going against my rule for this game).  There are two other callers (three to my left and the big blind seated directly to my right).  The flop contains and ugly Q and since I was a dumb ass and didn’t raise I have absolutely NO IDEA where I stand in the hand.  The big blind leads out for a small bet and I decide to call and the other player folds.  To make a long story short, I go to the river calling these small bets and he turns up Q6 for two pairs (not that it matters cause the Q alone would have won it).

Hand #8
I’m one off the button and look down at QQ.  At this point in the tournament I’m either low man at the table or very close to it.  It’s an obvious all in move which is exactly what I do.  The small blind thinks for a moment moves all in himself.  Incidentally, this happens to be the same player that put me out of last game.   The big blind thinks for a LONG time and decides to call based on the pot odds he’s getting.  The big blind (who is also the big stack at the table) hits a king on the turn and puts of BOTH out.  This is some bad luck on my part cause if the small blind wouldn’t have moved all in the big blind wouldn’t have called.  That said, I should never had allowed myself to get so low that I could no longer do any damage with an all in move but using “all in” as a bluff went against the rules for this game.

All in all, I’m pretty happy about the way I played.  I wouldn’t have changed much except for raising with my jacks in Hand #7 above and not allowing myself to get so low that my all in wouldn’t scare anyone.  Oh well… as they say, that’s poker.

See you after the flop!

Tags: Cleveland Poker League, easy lay down, game recap, limped in, out drawn, raised pot, rules, second nut flush, small blind raise, strategy, top set, winner's bounty

I my previous post I talked about how I had a specific plan going into a tournament even though this is not typically a good strategy.  Prevailing ideology says that you should roll with the punches and be able to change up your game based on how the table is breaking and the cards you’re being dealt.  I decided to take a set of hard rules and stick with them throughout the tournament.  Without any further adieu, here were the rules that I played by:

1. Do not utter the words “all in” unless I absolutely felt I had the best hand.  That said, do not use an all in move as a bluff or even a semi-bluff.
2. Raise with any paired hand regardless of position or previous action.
3. After applying point #2, fold to any re-raise when holding 88 or lower.

So… how did things go.  Was I successful in my strategy?  Well, it depends on how you define success I suppose.  I did not win the tournament so I suppose ultimately I was not successful.  That said the odds of winning every tournament you enter is slim to none so I’m not sure I’m comfortable rating success or failure just on whether I won the tournament.  I can tell you that I followed my rules to a “T” and did not deviate from this strategy… with one exception (see Hand #7).

As for rule #1.  I only said the words “all in” once in the tournament.  Unfortunately I was outdrawn and was out of the tournament.  I am happy to report though that I had far-and-away the best hand when I did make my move (telling me that I was at least reading the situation correctly).  Part of the reason that was not successful in that particular hand was that I had allowed myself to get so low that I had two callers.  Had I made the move earlier in the game I would have had a larger stack and might have been able to scare some people into folding.  As it was my stack was just too small to do any damage.

As for points #2 & #3.  I was faced with this situation twice.  Once with 22 in the big blind and once with 66 in the small.  I was reraised when I had my duces and per rule #3 folded immediately.  When I held my sixes I raised and promptly flopped top set!!!

All in all this was a good little experiment.  I plan on putting some new rules in place the next time I play.  I’ve been doing this type of thing all season long and have only just recently been sharing it here.  My results (winning and losing) have been TERRIBLE but I think it’s making me a better player.  Time will tell.

See you after the flop!

Tags: experiment, fold to re-raise, out flopped, pre-determined plan, shift gears, short stacked, strategy

So for the first time in nearly two months I’m going to hit the felt for a poker tournament.  Real life has been SUPER busy lately and the Cleveland Poker League hasn’t played a game since early January so tomorrow is the first real opportunity I’ve had for a live game.

Traditional thought is that you should never go into a game/tournament with a specific agenda in mind.  I’m not a very traditional guy on or off the poker table so that’s exactly what I’m planning.  I’m certainly not going to say here what my pre-determined strategy is (seeing as quite a few of the players I’ll be playing against are readers of this blog) but I’ll be back after the game to tell you what the strategy is and how it worked out.  Wish me luck!

See you after the flop!

Click here to read the follow up to this post…

Tags: pre-determined plan, specific agenda, strategy