We sit down with 7500 in chips playing 25-50 6-handed (table will fill to 9 later).
We start on the button and throw our first few hands away - J2, Q4, J7, A6. No one is betting on anything. This seems so far (too early to tell) to be a very tight table.
In the bb we have K4. Seat 4 raises to 125 and gets calls from seat 5 and the sb. For 75 we call. Flop comes 223. Scary flop for people. We check and everyone checks. Turn comes 7. We bet 200 and they all fold. Tight.
Everyone fold to us in the sb and we limp with Q3s. Bb checks and flop comes 47T with one spade. We check. He checks and turn comes 2s. Okay, we have a flush draw so at least we can bluff. We bet 75 and he raises to 275. Hmmmm. Does he have a T? Would he have checked the flop then? 2 spades? Did the 2 help him? Does he think we bluffed last hand and are bluffing again, so he's rebuffing? We can afford to put some money in bc we have the Spades and a Q, so likely 12 outs. If we call the pot will be 650. We want him to have to put close to that in to call. We raise to 875. He folds. Great result.
We fold every hand around to our bb. Best starting hand we have had is 9T, and that was in seat 3. Now playing 7-handed.
Button raises to 125 and we call for 75 with Q2s. Flop comes an amazing J22. We check and he bets 225. We smooth call and the turn comes Th putting 2 hearts on the board. Not really worried about hearts but here's the deal. If he can't beat a T he likely won't bet again. If he can we want a big bet out of him. We bet 325 hoping he has a J and will raise. He folds. Oh well.
Seat 3 raises to 125 and we fold 95 in the sb.
Seat 5 limps and 6 limps. We are on the button with AJd and raise to 200. The blinds fold and 5 and 6 call. Flop comes 7KK with Kd. Not good. They check and we check. Turn comes Td giving us a gut shot straight draw and a flush draw as well as a royal flush draw. Seat 5 bets 300 and 6 folds. Hmmmm. If we hit the straight we could still lose to a full house (if he has QK), but let's not worry about that. For 300 we go fishing. We could semi bluff raise but we have a loose image and he's too likely to call. We call and the river comes 8c. He bets 450 and we fold.
In seat 3 we raise to 125 with AJc and the bb calls. Flop comes 57T. He checks and we bet 175. He folds.
Seat 4 raises to 125 and we call from seat 6 w KT. The blinds call and we see the flop 3TK with 2 hearts. Great flop! The seat 4 bets 150 and we just call we have been aggressively pushing people out after the turn; let's wait and hope no flush card comes so we can get aggressive and catch someone watching our patter. We call and the sb raises to 475. Giddey-up. Seat 4 folds. We have to raise enough to push out the flush. We raise to 1250 and sb calls. Turn comes Jh. Terrible card. He could have a flush or a straight. Unlikely but possible in light of how loose our image is. He could have KJ. He checks. Let's see if we river a boat before we bet and let him check raise us out. River comes Qc. One of the worst possible cards for us. The board is now 3TJQK. Any 9 or A has a straight. He bets 1600 and we fold.
After grinding slowly up we have 7075 in chips. Okay. Let's do it some more.
We fold to our bb and get 95. Seat 4 raises to 125 and sb calls. For 75 we call. Flop comes 36A all spades. We have the 9s. Sb checks, we check and seat 4 checks. Turn comes 9h giving us a pair. We can't beat anyone with an A but hopefully if they have an A their other card isn't a big spade. We bet 200 and they both fold.
Everyone folds to us on the button and we have our first premium hand. AQd. We bet 125 and the blinds call. Flop comes 36Q with 2 hearts. Great. They check and we bet 175. Sb folds and bb raises to 525? Hearts? Set of 3s or 6s? A Q? A pair and hoping we missed? We just call. Turn comes 3c. Not good but at least not a heart. He bets 600 and we call. Does he have a 3? River comes 9s and he bets 1800. No idea. He could have a Q or be bluffing. He could have a pocket pair. He could have us crushed. We call and he shows 66. He has a full house and crushes us.
We raise from seat 4 with TQ and get called by the button who just crushed us. Flop comes 89J with 2 clubs. We flipped a straight. We check and he bets 175. We call. Turn comes Kc. We still have a great straight and he is unlikely to have 2 clubs so we bet 375. Let's build a pot. He calls and the river comes 8c. Really? Wtf. We check and he bets 1200. We call and e shows Ac to take it down. He had a 5d with it. He literally needed runner runner clubs to win after the flop. Wtf. We are down to 2200 in chips. Heading home soon and we just entered the second round playing 50-100.
Seat 4 raises to 300 and gets calls from seats 5 and 6. We are in the bb with KQd and push all in for 2250. Seat 5 calls w JJ. It's a race. His jacks hold up and we are actually going home.
Wow. Nothing to learn from this one. Big hands were hitting top top against a set and hitting a straight agains someone who runner runnered clubs. His odds on that hand were about 5%. wtf. At least that's out of the way before July 5.
All the best,
Just pissed off
Sent from my iPhone
Monday, June 29, 2015
Thursday, June 18, 2015
NLH 6-Handed Championship Rounds 9-10
Playing 400-800 with 100 antes.
Seat 5 raises to 1600. He has done this every time he is in a late seat with no raise before him. We call from Sb with TK. Bb calls and flop comes 23T. All diamonds. We bet 2300 and bb folds but seat 5 raises to 7200. We fold.
Seat 4 raises to 1800 and we call from the bb with JT. Flop comes AQJ. We check and he bets 3000. We call. Turn comes 6. We check he bets we fold.
We raise in the Sb with 67h to 2200 and the bb calls. Flop comes 679. Giddey up. We bet 2600 and he calls. Turn comes J. We bet 5200 and he calls. River comes Q. We bet 9200 and he raises to 21200. What? We call and he shows JQ. Runner runner for 2 pair. Wow.
We lose a couple small hands and look down at our dwindling chip stack. The swings happen but this has been harsh. We lost half our stack. We're down to 53000.
On the button we raise to 2100 with AQ and the Sb raises to 5600. We call. Flop comes JKK. He checks and we check. Turn comes 4. He bets 4500 and we fold.
Button raises to 2200 and we raise to 6500 in the Sb with AKc. He raises to 18500. Do we fold? That would leave us with 40000. We are a favorite over anything but KK or AA, which hopefully he doesn't have as we have one of each. Rather race than accept 40000. We push and he calls with AA. He takes it down. It's 2am. I actually feel physically ill. What a terrible hour.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Sent from my iPhone
Seat 5 raises to 1600. He has done this every time he is in a late seat with no raise before him. We call from Sb with TK. Bb calls and flop comes 23T. All diamonds. We bet 2300 and bb folds but seat 5 raises to 7200. We fold.
Seat 4 raises to 1800 and we call from the bb with JT. Flop comes AQJ. We check and he bets 3000. We call. Turn comes 6. We check he bets we fold.
We raise in the Sb with 67h to 2200 and the bb calls. Flop comes 679. Giddey up. We bet 2600 and he calls. Turn comes J. We bet 5200 and he calls. River comes Q. We bet 9200 and he raises to 21200. What? We call and he shows JQ. Runner runner for 2 pair. Wow.
We lose a couple small hands and look down at our dwindling chip stack. The swings happen but this has been harsh. We lost half our stack. We're down to 53000.
On the button we raise to 2100 with AQ and the Sb raises to 5600. We call. Flop comes JKK. He checks and we check. Turn comes 4. He bets 4500 and we fold.
Button raises to 2200 and we raise to 6500 in the Sb with AKc. He raises to 18500. Do we fold? That would leave us with 40000. We are a favorite over anything but KK or AA, which hopefully he doesn't have as we have one of each. Rather race than accept 40000. We push and he calls with AA. He takes it down. It's 2am. I actually feel physically ill. What a terrible hour.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Sent from my iPhone
NLH 6-Handed Championship Rounds 7-8
Playing 250-500 with 50 antes. 5 players right now so pre card pots of 1000.
Button raises to 1100 and we are in the Sb with KK. Cowboys again! Normally we would raise but the bb is short stacked with 7000 and hopefully will go all in when we call. That would allow us to raise the button with a 21000 pot in the backdrop (assuming he calls the bb all in). Sadly bb folds. Flop comes 45Q. We slow play and check. He checks. Damn burn comes 6. We bet 2500 and he calls. River pairs the Q. Unlikely he has a Q because he checked and then called, so not worried. We bet 5000 and he calls. He mucks when he sees the Cowboys.
We then go into a strange small pot losing streak. No one is betting large into us. It's like they're afraid, but we keep missing. Twice we flop flush draws that never hit, once an open ended straight draw that fails and once KQ that never finds a pair. It's a one way outward door for chips for a while that drains close to 20000. One of the problems is the short stack to our left has pushed all in for 8 or 9 thousand pushing us out. Time to narrow the playing hands?
Now playing 300-600 with 75 antes. 6-handed so 1350 in the pot before cards are dealt. We have about 95000 in chips.
Seat 3 bets 1400 and the button calls. We are in the bb being visited by a pair of aces. Hello boys. We raise to 3600 and they both call. Flop comes 24Q with 2 diamonds. We should check. If they got a Q they will bet. If they didn't and we bet they will fold. Sucks to be out of position here. We bet 6000 and they both fold.
Seat 5 limps and we are on the button with A9. The limp is strange as he hasn't done that in the last 7 hours and he only has 10000 in chips. He either has a monster pair awaiting or a drawing hand like suited connectors or a small pair. We bet 1700 and the blinds fold to him. He pushes all in and we call. He shows 22. It's a race. Flop comes AA8. Giddey up. Turn and river don't help him and we take it down.
We see a few flops and fold. Each flop has a sticker price of about 1500 so we can't do too much of this shopping.
Also, we are 5-handed now so playing so drawing hands are less valuable when they hit.
In a 3-handed pot button raises to 1600 and we re-raise in the bb to 3600 w KK. Third time! He calls and flop comes 8TQ with 2 hearts. We bet 3000 and he calls. Turn comes 6. We bet 10000 and he calls. River comes 6c and we go all in. He has about 40000 left. He folds.
We lose a handful of small pots and a couple mid size ones that I can't specifically recall and couldn't take notes on.
Last hand of the round seat 5 bets 1250 and we call from the bb with J5. Flop comes 678 with 2 clubs. We bet 1600 and he raises to 3600. We call with the open ended straight draw. Turn is a Td. We check and he checks. River is a 3d. We have nothing. We bet 4400 and he folds. Geat result.
We end round 8 with 109000 in chips. It's 1am and we have 2 hours to go. We are tired. Have to play in a calm state and avoid big mistakes and big bluffs.
All the best,
Steady Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Button raises to 1100 and we are in the Sb with KK. Cowboys again! Normally we would raise but the bb is short stacked with 7000 and hopefully will go all in when we call. That would allow us to raise the button with a 21000 pot in the backdrop (assuming he calls the bb all in). Sadly bb folds. Flop comes 45Q. We slow play and check. He checks. Damn burn comes 6. We bet 2500 and he calls. River pairs the Q. Unlikely he has a Q because he checked and then called, so not worried. We bet 5000 and he calls. He mucks when he sees the Cowboys.
We then go into a strange small pot losing streak. No one is betting large into us. It's like they're afraid, but we keep missing. Twice we flop flush draws that never hit, once an open ended straight draw that fails and once KQ that never finds a pair. It's a one way outward door for chips for a while that drains close to 20000. One of the problems is the short stack to our left has pushed all in for 8 or 9 thousand pushing us out. Time to narrow the playing hands?
Now playing 300-600 with 75 antes. 6-handed so 1350 in the pot before cards are dealt. We have about 95000 in chips.
Seat 3 bets 1400 and the button calls. We are in the bb being visited by a pair of aces. Hello boys. We raise to 3600 and they both call. Flop comes 24Q with 2 diamonds. We should check. If they got a Q they will bet. If they didn't and we bet they will fold. Sucks to be out of position here. We bet 6000 and they both fold.
Seat 5 limps and we are on the button with A9. The limp is strange as he hasn't done that in the last 7 hours and he only has 10000 in chips. He either has a monster pair awaiting or a drawing hand like suited connectors or a small pair. We bet 1700 and the blinds fold to him. He pushes all in and we call. He shows 22. It's a race. Flop comes AA8. Giddey up. Turn and river don't help him and we take it down.
We see a few flops and fold. Each flop has a sticker price of about 1500 so we can't do too much of this shopping.
Also, we are 5-handed now so playing so drawing hands are less valuable when they hit.
In a 3-handed pot button raises to 1600 and we re-raise in the bb to 3600 w KK. Third time! He calls and flop comes 8TQ with 2 hearts. We bet 3000 and he calls. Turn comes 6. We bet 10000 and he calls. River comes 6c and we go all in. He has about 40000 left. He folds.
We lose a handful of small pots and a couple mid size ones that I can't specifically recall and couldn't take notes on.
Last hand of the round seat 5 bets 1250 and we call from the bb with J5. Flop comes 678 with 2 clubs. We bet 1600 and he raises to 3600. We call with the open ended straight draw. Turn is a Td. We check and he checks. River is a 3d. We have nothing. We bet 4400 and he folds. Geat result.
We end round 8 with 109000 in chips. It's 1am and we have 2 hours to go. We are tired. Have to play in a calm state and avoid big mistakes and big bluffs.
All the best,
Steady Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
NLH 6-Handed Championship Rounds 5-6
Playing 150-300 with 25 antes.
Button raises to 650 and we call with J3s. Flop comes 9JQ with 2 clubs. We check and he bets 1000. We call and the turn comes 2h. We check and he checks. River comes Tc putting straights and flushes all over the board. We check and he bets 2700. We fold.
Seat 5, who we will refer to as 58, raises to 1000. We are in the bb with QQ. We want him pot committed pre flop and he has 8000. We raise to 3000 and he folds. Okay. Too bad, but we do hate watching flops with QQ.
We raise to 850 with 88 in seat 4 playing 5-handed. Seat 5 calls and the flop comes 667. Pretty good for us. We bet 1500 and he calls. The turn comes 9 giving us an open ended straight draw. We bet 2500 and he raises to 7000. Hmmm. We have a really good hand, but did he hit the 9? We would need a 5, 8, or T to win. We call and the river comes K. We check and he bets 12000. It's just too much to risk. We probably have him beat but we throw it away and maintain our 31000 stack for more confident wagers.
Playing 6-handed again. New guy just sat down who we recognize from yesterday. He finished 18th.
Seat 5 raises to 700 and we call from the Sb with K8h. New guy in bb raises to 3500. Seat 5 calls and we fold. They had AK (new guy) and TQ. TQ took it down.
We sit out about 15 hands. In seat 3 we raise to 700 with ATc. New guy raises in seat 4 to 2100 and gets called by the button. We call and the flop comes 4TJ with one club. We bet 2700. Seat 4 folds but the button calls. Turn comes As. No good. We check. He bets. We fold.
We play a few small hands and between the losses and the blinds and antes we are down to 22900 in chips.
Now playing 200-400 with 50 antes so 900 in the pot to start.
New guy bets 1000 from seat 3 and seat 4 raises to 2500. We are in the bb w KK. Go cowboys! We raise to 7000 and seat 4 calls. Flop comes 246 rainbow. Great flop. We check knowing he will bet. He's the guy who pushed our 88 out earlier. He doesn't know how to check. He bets 7000 and we go all in for 16500. The dealer then does something I've literally never seen. She turns to him holding the deck in her left hand and hits it with her right hand knocking half of it out of her hand and upsidedown. We can see several cards including an ace. The floor comes over and allows seat 4 to finish his action, which he acknowledges is unfair to me. Seat 4 calls and shows KQ. Then the dealer reshuffles the deck and deals out an ace and a 7. We double up!
Seat 3 raises to 800 and gets called by the button. We call from the Sb with 66 and the bb calls. We silently remind anyone who can hear our thoughts that we have yet to flop a set. However the flop comes 59K. We check and everyone checks. The turn comes 6! We bet 1300 and get called by the button. The river is a 4. We bet 3000 and he goes into the tank. Unfortunately he folds.
Seat 5 bets 800 and the button raises to 2100. We call from the bb with 67d and seat 5 calls. The flop comes 89Q. This gives us an open ended straight draw but if we hit the T anyone w a J has a bigger straight. We bet 2200 and seat 5 calls. The turn is a T! We check and he bets 2800. We min raise to 5600 to see if he has a J. there are two spades on the board, so he should raise if he does. He just calls. Probably no jack. River comes 3c. We push all in. He has about 15000 but folds.
Seat 3 bets 900 and we call from the button with 77. The bb pushes all in for 3200 and seat 3 (The guy with the 15,000) calls. We want to play this heads up. We push all in and seat three folds leaving his dead money in the pot. The bb shows AK. It's a race. Our sevens hold up and we take it down.
Seat three raises to 900 and everyone folds to us in the big blind with 46. Terrible hand but for 500 let's go bargain shopping. Flop comes 235 rainbow. Amazing. We have been slow playing our big hands a little and he's seen this so we bet out 1100 and he calls. The turn comes 9s putting a second spade on the board. We bet 2800 and he raises to 6000. He has another 12000 behind. Let's see if we can get him pot committed. We raise to 11000 and he goes into the tank for several minutes and then folds. Okay.
We end round 6 with 89700. Seems like a few minutes ago we wee under 5000!
All the best,
Crushing everything in our path (or close enough to reach) Donkey
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Button raises to 650 and we call with J3s. Flop comes 9JQ with 2 clubs. We check and he bets 1000. We call and the turn comes 2h. We check and he checks. River comes Tc putting straights and flushes all over the board. We check and he bets 2700. We fold.
Seat 5, who we will refer to as 58, raises to 1000. We are in the bb with QQ. We want him pot committed pre flop and he has 8000. We raise to 3000 and he folds. Okay. Too bad, but we do hate watching flops with QQ.
We raise to 850 with 88 in seat 4 playing 5-handed. Seat 5 calls and the flop comes 667. Pretty good for us. We bet 1500 and he calls. The turn comes 9 giving us an open ended straight draw. We bet 2500 and he raises to 7000. Hmmm. We have a really good hand, but did he hit the 9? We would need a 5, 8, or T to win. We call and the river comes K. We check and he bets 12000. It's just too much to risk. We probably have him beat but we throw it away and maintain our 31000 stack for more confident wagers.
Playing 6-handed again. New guy just sat down who we recognize from yesterday. He finished 18th.
Seat 5 raises to 700 and we call from the Sb with K8h. New guy in bb raises to 3500. Seat 5 calls and we fold. They had AK (new guy) and TQ. TQ took it down.
We sit out about 15 hands. In seat 3 we raise to 700 with ATc. New guy raises in seat 4 to 2100 and gets called by the button. We call and the flop comes 4TJ with one club. We bet 2700. Seat 4 folds but the button calls. Turn comes As. No good. We check. He bets. We fold.
We play a few small hands and between the losses and the blinds and antes we are down to 22900 in chips.
Now playing 200-400 with 50 antes so 900 in the pot to start.
New guy bets 1000 from seat 3 and seat 4 raises to 2500. We are in the bb w KK. Go cowboys! We raise to 7000 and seat 4 calls. Flop comes 246 rainbow. Great flop. We check knowing he will bet. He's the guy who pushed our 88 out earlier. He doesn't know how to check. He bets 7000 and we go all in for 16500. The dealer then does something I've literally never seen. She turns to him holding the deck in her left hand and hits it with her right hand knocking half of it out of her hand and upsidedown. We can see several cards including an ace. The floor comes over and allows seat 4 to finish his action, which he acknowledges is unfair to me. Seat 4 calls and shows KQ. Then the dealer reshuffles the deck and deals out an ace and a 7. We double up!
Seat 3 raises to 800 and gets called by the button. We call from the Sb with 66 and the bb calls. We silently remind anyone who can hear our thoughts that we have yet to flop a set. However the flop comes 59K. We check and everyone checks. The turn comes 6! We bet 1300 and get called by the button. The river is a 4. We bet 3000 and he goes into the tank. Unfortunately he folds.
Seat 5 bets 800 and the button raises to 2100. We call from the bb with 67d and seat 5 calls. The flop comes 89Q. This gives us an open ended straight draw but if we hit the T anyone w a J has a bigger straight. We bet 2200 and seat 5 calls. The turn is a T! We check and he bets 2800. We min raise to 5600 to see if he has a J. there are two spades on the board, so he should raise if he does. He just calls. Probably no jack. River comes 3c. We push all in. He has about 15000 but folds.
Seat 3 bets 900 and we call from the button with 77. The bb pushes all in for 3200 and seat 3 (The guy with the 15,000) calls. We want to play this heads up. We push all in and seat three folds leaving his dead money in the pot. The bb shows AK. It's a race. Our sevens hold up and we take it down.
Seat three raises to 900 and everyone folds to us in the big blind with 46. Terrible hand but for 500 let's go bargain shopping. Flop comes 235 rainbow. Amazing. We have been slow playing our big hands a little and he's seen this so we bet out 1100 and he calls. The turn comes 9s putting a second spade on the board. We bet 2800 and he raises to 6000. He has another 12000 behind. Let's see if we can get him pot committed. We raise to 11000 and he goes into the tank for several minutes and then folds. Okay.
We end round 6 with 89700. Seems like a few minutes ago we wee under 5000!
All the best,
Crushing everything in our path (or close enough to reach) Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
NLH 6-Handed Championship Rounds 3-4
Playing 100-200.
AB gets randomly removed from our table to balance out 4 lucky guys somewhere else. We are 5-handed now.
Seat 3 raises to 600 and we have 66 in the Sb. We want to take this down pre flop if we can. We raise to 2500. He tanks and calls. Okay, unlikely to have AQ suited or better. Flop comes 49Q. Did the Q hit him? We bet 5000 hoping he will fold. He tanks and then calls. The turn comes another 9. That likely doesn't help him. If we don't push he will bet and we will fold regardless of what he has. We push all in with about 10000. He folds. Great result. Happy to not let him fish on the river.
We play a couple small pots and fold and count our chips. Just over 24000 now.
Seat 3 bets 500 and we call from seat 4 with KT. Seat 5 calls and the flop comes 468 all spades. We Have the Ks. Seat 3 checks and we bet 750. Seat 5 calls and the turn comes Ad. Not good. We check and he bets 2300. We fold.
Hand after hand we are in for the flop and miss entirely. Very frustrating.
In seat 4 we raise to 550 with ATh and get calls from seat 5 and the bb. Flop comes 248 with 2 hearts. Bb checks and we bet 1100. Let's take it down now if we can. Seat 5 calls. Turn comes Td. Wanted a heart, but top pair works. We bet 1800 and he calls. River comes 7d. We check top top and he bets 2600. We call and he shows 8T to take it down.
We have just over 15000 and we are again playing 6-handed.
Button limps and Sb raises to 700. We call from Sb with TJ. Button calls and flop comes 4QQ. We exit. Repeat this hand over and over. We play with KQs, AJ, 99, etc and fold after every flop. We are down to 11500. It's level 3 and we're headed toward push territory!
From the button we raise to 550 with A5d. Not a great hand but from the button we like it. Bb calls and flop comes A47 with 2 hearts. We finally hit a flop. He checks and we bet 700. He raises to 1500. Hmmmm, does he have a set? 2 pair? A bigger ace than ours? Hearts? We call and see the turn. Jh. Not good. He bets 2600 and we fold. We have less than 10000.
Seat 3 bets 550 and seat 4 raises to 1100. We are on the button with 55. If we flop a set for the first time in 3 days of this game we will easily get 8x our bet, so we call. Flop comes 38T. Seat 3 checks and 4 bets 1000. We call to see the turn. Seat 3 Cal's and the turn comes K. We fold to seat 4s next bet.
We are under 5000. Seat 3 bets 600 and we call from the bb with 8T. Flop comes 66T. Wow, we hit one. We check and he bets 1500. We push all in for about 4000 and he folds.
We win another small hand and build the stack to over 8000.
Seat 5 raises to 550 and we call from the button with 9Th. Flop comes 99J with 2 spades. Wow. The flop tide is turning. He bets 800 and we call. The turn comes 6c putting 2 clubs on the board. He bets 1500 and we push all in for 7000. He calls and shows KK. We are about 95%. River comes 7d and we double up! Deep breath. We can play cards.
Seat 3 raises to 600 and seat 4 calls. We are in the bb with AQ. Slow play? No - we're out of position. We raise to 1900 and they both call. Flop comes 7TT. We bet 2000. We have already advertised big hand and they have to interpret that as two big cards, likely paired. If they didn't hit the T they should fold. They do. Great result.
We have breached 20000.
Quick note on a hand we didn't play. We folded 27h on the button and then watched the board come Ah 9h 7d 2s Qh. Monster for us that we missed.
We raise from seat 3 to 600 with 58c. Kind of weak but gimme a break - closest thing to the 27h we could find. The button raises to 1600 and the bb calls. Pot odds are great - we call. 5000 in the pot and the flop comes 37T. ALL CLUBS! Could it get better? Why yes, glad you asked. The button bets 2000 into us. We can't let him see another club fall so we raise to 7000 as that should get rid of the club draws. The button calls! Bb folds and the two of us see the turn - anything red please. 6d comes. The pot is 20000 so we push all in for 12000 and he calls showing QQ with the Qc. Any non club wins it for us. River comes 3s. Our heart skipped a beat when we saw a black card but we take it down.
In seat 4 we raise to 600 with TQc. Clubs have been good to us. The button raises to 1500. The bb calls and we call. Flop comes AQT with 2 hearts. The BB bets 4000 and has another 11000 behind. What does he have that could beat us? AA or QQ would have raised pre flop. TT is possible but would require him to have both outstanding Ts. Unlikely. This is also a problem for QQ. AT or QT are possible and big problems, as is JK. He could also have Ax (likely with a J or K straight draw) or two hearts. Of all these possibilities, I suspect 2 hearts to be most likely. Do we call and let him fish for a heart or a straight. If he misses and bets are we ever folding? No, we are never folding. So we may as well try to push out the flush draw and straight draw and hope that's what he has. We raise him all in and he calls showing AQ. Ouch. Terrible. His AQ holds up.
Well, we could have folded, but that was not going to happen. As it played out, our push didn't matter. The turn was a 7d. He likely would have bet at least 5000 and we would have called. And he would have put his last 6000 in on the river. Uggggghhhh.
Last hand of the round we are in seat 3 with 58c again. Oh the memories! We bet 600 and the button raises to 1600. Bb calls and see call flop comes 234 with 2 clubs. Wow! We bet 1500 and they both call. The turn comes Ac giving us a flush. Would have preferred a different ace for the straight, but still elated. We bet 3000 and the button (the guy we last crushed with 58c) calls. The river comes Ks. Perfect. We hem and haw and finally bet 7200. He calls and shows A8. Crazy call. We take it down.
We finish round 4 with 38900 in chips. In light of where we were, pretty damn happy with that.
All the best,
Still on 4-hooves Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
AB gets randomly removed from our table to balance out 4 lucky guys somewhere else. We are 5-handed now.
Seat 3 raises to 600 and we have 66 in the Sb. We want to take this down pre flop if we can. We raise to 2500. He tanks and calls. Okay, unlikely to have AQ suited or better. Flop comes 49Q. Did the Q hit him? We bet 5000 hoping he will fold. He tanks and then calls. The turn comes another 9. That likely doesn't help him. If we don't push he will bet and we will fold regardless of what he has. We push all in with about 10000. He folds. Great result. Happy to not let him fish on the river.
We play a couple small pots and fold and count our chips. Just over 24000 now.
Seat 3 bets 500 and we call from seat 4 with KT. Seat 5 calls and the flop comes 468 all spades. We Have the Ks. Seat 3 checks and we bet 750. Seat 5 calls and the turn comes Ad. Not good. We check and he bets 2300. We fold.
Hand after hand we are in for the flop and miss entirely. Very frustrating.
In seat 4 we raise to 550 with ATh and get calls from seat 5 and the bb. Flop comes 248 with 2 hearts. Bb checks and we bet 1100. Let's take it down now if we can. Seat 5 calls. Turn comes Td. Wanted a heart, but top pair works. We bet 1800 and he calls. River comes 7d. We check top top and he bets 2600. We call and he shows 8T to take it down.
We have just over 15000 and we are again playing 6-handed.
Button limps and Sb raises to 700. We call from Sb with TJ. Button calls and flop comes 4QQ. We exit. Repeat this hand over and over. We play with KQs, AJ, 99, etc and fold after every flop. We are down to 11500. It's level 3 and we're headed toward push territory!
From the button we raise to 550 with A5d. Not a great hand but from the button we like it. Bb calls and flop comes A47 with 2 hearts. We finally hit a flop. He checks and we bet 700. He raises to 1500. Hmmmm, does he have a set? 2 pair? A bigger ace than ours? Hearts? We call and see the turn. Jh. Not good. He bets 2600 and we fold. We have less than 10000.
Seat 3 bets 550 and seat 4 raises to 1100. We are on the button with 55. If we flop a set for the first time in 3 days of this game we will easily get 8x our bet, so we call. Flop comes 38T. Seat 3 checks and 4 bets 1000. We call to see the turn. Seat 3 Cal's and the turn comes K. We fold to seat 4s next bet.
We are under 5000. Seat 3 bets 600 and we call from the bb with 8T. Flop comes 66T. Wow, we hit one. We check and he bets 1500. We push all in for about 4000 and he folds.
We win another small hand and build the stack to over 8000.
Seat 5 raises to 550 and we call from the button with 9Th. Flop comes 99J with 2 spades. Wow. The flop tide is turning. He bets 800 and we call. The turn comes 6c putting 2 clubs on the board. He bets 1500 and we push all in for 7000. He calls and shows KK. We are about 95%. River comes 7d and we double up! Deep breath. We can play cards.
Seat 3 raises to 600 and seat 4 calls. We are in the bb with AQ. Slow play? No - we're out of position. We raise to 1900 and they both call. Flop comes 7TT. We bet 2000. We have already advertised big hand and they have to interpret that as two big cards, likely paired. If they didn't hit the T they should fold. They do. Great result.
We have breached 20000.
Quick note on a hand we didn't play. We folded 27h on the button and then watched the board come Ah 9h 7d 2s Qh. Monster for us that we missed.
We raise from seat 3 to 600 with 58c. Kind of weak but gimme a break - closest thing to the 27h we could find. The button raises to 1600 and the bb calls. Pot odds are great - we call. 5000 in the pot and the flop comes 37T. ALL CLUBS! Could it get better? Why yes, glad you asked. The button bets 2000 into us. We can't let him see another club fall so we raise to 7000 as that should get rid of the club draws. The button calls! Bb folds and the two of us see the turn - anything red please. 6d comes. The pot is 20000 so we push all in for 12000 and he calls showing QQ with the Qc. Any non club wins it for us. River comes 3s. Our heart skipped a beat when we saw a black card but we take it down.
In seat 4 we raise to 600 with TQc. Clubs have been good to us. The button raises to 1500. The bb calls and we call. Flop comes AQT with 2 hearts. The BB bets 4000 and has another 11000 behind. What does he have that could beat us? AA or QQ would have raised pre flop. TT is possible but would require him to have both outstanding Ts. Unlikely. This is also a problem for QQ. AT or QT are possible and big problems, as is JK. He could also have Ax (likely with a J or K straight draw) or two hearts. Of all these possibilities, I suspect 2 hearts to be most likely. Do we call and let him fish for a heart or a straight. If he misses and bets are we ever folding? No, we are never folding. So we may as well try to push out the flush draw and straight draw and hope that's what he has. We raise him all in and he calls showing AQ. Ouch. Terrible. His AQ holds up.
Well, we could have folded, but that was not going to happen. As it played out, our push didn't matter. The turn was a 7d. He likely would have bet at least 5000 and we would have called. And he would have put his last 6000 in on the river. Uggggghhhh.
Last hand of the round we are in seat 3 with 58c again. Oh the memories! We bet 600 and the button raises to 1600. Bb calls and see call flop comes 234 with 2 clubs. Wow! We bet 1500 and they both call. The turn comes Ac giving us a flush. Would have preferred a different ace for the straight, but still elated. We bet 3000 and the button (the guy we last crushed with 58c) calls. The river comes Ks. Perfect. We hem and haw and finally bet 7200. He calls and shows A8. Crazy call. We take it down.
We finish round 4 with 38900 in chips. In light of where we were, pretty damn happy with that.
All the best,
Still on 4-hooves Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
NLH 6-Handed Championship Rounds 1-2
We can't help ourselves. There are only 2 6-handed no limit tournaments this year. The one we just placed in, and the one that starts today at 4 o'clock, the championship. We saddle up to the table to play in the championship.
We start with 30,000 in chips, playing 50–100.
Playing 3-handed for a bit. Button raises to 300 and Sb calls. We call from the bb with Q8s. Flop comes 345 with 2 spades. Sb checks. We bet 450 and button raises to 1100. We call. Turn comes 2c. We wanted a spade but the 2 will slow him down unless he has an A. We check and he checks. River comes 9s. We bet 1200 and he calls. He mucks when he sees our flush.
Button raises to 300 and we raise to 900 with 55 from the Sb. Bb calls and button folds. Flop comes 4QK. We check and he bets 1200. We fold.
Fourth player joins.
Sb limps and we check from the bb with T4o. Flop comes 349. He checks and we bet 150. He calls. Jack turns and he checks. We bet 300 and he raises to 800. We fold.
Seat 3 is already down to 7000. Very aggressive and not a good player. He bets 250 so we call from the button just to play with him. We have J8. Sb folds and bb calls. Flop comes 59T. We have an open ended straight draw. They both check. We check and see the turn. It's a Q! They both check and we bet 350. Bb folds and seat 3 raises to 1300. Giddey up! The only hand that beats us is JK and we can't be so afraid of that that we don't try to get all in here. The Q did put 2 clubs on the board, but raising the flush draw would be overly aggressive even for him. We raise to 3300 and he pushes all in. We happily call. He shows JK. Amazing. Seriously. Wtf? Okay, if he had had a full stack we would be going home with second nut. Happy to still have a good stack of chips. 24300. Head up.
Playing 5-handed now. Room is filling.
Seat 3 raises to 300 and the button calls. We call from the Sb with 8Q. Bb calls. Flop comes JKA with AJd. Flush draw and gut shot straight draw. We bet 450 and bb calls. Turn comes 7s. We bet 950 and he raises to 2250. Hmmm. We call. River comes Q. We check and he bets 2500. Our pair of queens is not going to be good. We fold.
Aggressive boy on the button raises to 300 and we call from the Sb with 88. Would love to his a set on this guy! Flop comes AA5 with 2 spades. He bets 400 and we call. Let's see what he does on the turn. Turn comes 9s. He checks. Hmmm, we lose to a big pocket pair, an ace, a 9 or 2 spades. We bet 1000 and he calls. He would have raised if he had any of the above better than a 9. River comes 2h. He bets 1500. Makes no sense. The only hand that really would help is if he's playing 22. We should raise, but if he reraises it we won't know what to do. We call and he shows K5h. We take it down.
Playing 75-150 seat 3 raises to 450 and aggressive boy on the button calls. We are in the Sb with 99 and raise to 1750. Seat 3 calls (sign of weakness) and aggressive boy pushes all in for about 6000. With 99 we want to be heads up against him, particularly if we can get seat 3's 1750 as dead money. We push all in and seat 3 folds. Aggressive boy shows A4c. We are about a 70% favorite. Flop comes A56 with 2 spades. Turns a Js to give us a flush draw. River is Qd. Wow. Painful bad beat.
Overall by the way we're doing well. We have 18000 in chips left despite getting hammered unexpectedly twice by all in aggressive boy or AB.
Now playing 6-handed. Someone sat between us and AB. AB raises to 300 from seat 3. Seat 4 calls and we call from seat 5 with 46s. Button calls and Sb raises to 1200. AB calls and seat 4 calls. Wow. We have to call. Button folds. Big pot! Flop comes JKK no spades. Hmmm. We fold as soon as possible.
From seat 3 we raise to 450 with AK and get calls from 4, 5 and bb. We are 5-handed again and everyone but AB is in the pot. Flop comes JJ9. Everyone checks to seat 5 who bets 1000. Bb folds. A steal? We call. We see the turn heads up. It's an A. We check and he bets 1500. We call. River comes 7. We check and he checks. We show AK and he shows A9. We take it down.
Seat 3 raises to 450 and AB calls from seat 4. We call from the Button with 77. I know I have the seats a little wrong on this one, but that's the best I can piece the action together so please excuse the oddity if you caught it. Flop comes 235 with 2 hearts. Great flop. They check and we bet 700 and seat 3 raises to 2100. Wow. AB calls. Wow. Does seat 3 have hearts? An overpair? On a semi bluff with 2 big cards? We can call and hope for a 7, but there are only 2 in the deck and one of them is a heart. Hmmm, we call. Turn comes 4s putting a 2345 on the board. They both check. Anyone with an A has a straight. They probably don't have it and if they are on over cards or have paired the board once, we are in the lead. We bet 2200 and they both fold.
Back to 22400. Good.
Playing 6-handed again.
I sit here painfully watching AB slowly lose what were once our chips to everyone else at the table.
We play half a dozen hands to see the flop but never hit anything. We take one opportunity to launch a failed semi bluff and finish the round with just over 18000 in chips. All things considered, not bad.
All the best,
Still on four hooves Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
We start with 30,000 in chips, playing 50–100.
Playing 3-handed for a bit. Button raises to 300 and Sb calls. We call from the bb with Q8s. Flop comes 345 with 2 spades. Sb checks. We bet 450 and button raises to 1100. We call. Turn comes 2c. We wanted a spade but the 2 will slow him down unless he has an A. We check and he checks. River comes 9s. We bet 1200 and he calls. He mucks when he sees our flush.
Button raises to 300 and we raise to 900 with 55 from the Sb. Bb calls and button folds. Flop comes 4QK. We check and he bets 1200. We fold.
Fourth player joins.
Sb limps and we check from the bb with T4o. Flop comes 349. He checks and we bet 150. He calls. Jack turns and he checks. We bet 300 and he raises to 800. We fold.
Seat 3 is already down to 7000. Very aggressive and not a good player. He bets 250 so we call from the button just to play with him. We have J8. Sb folds and bb calls. Flop comes 59T. We have an open ended straight draw. They both check. We check and see the turn. It's a Q! They both check and we bet 350. Bb folds and seat 3 raises to 1300. Giddey up! The only hand that beats us is JK and we can't be so afraid of that that we don't try to get all in here. The Q did put 2 clubs on the board, but raising the flush draw would be overly aggressive even for him. We raise to 3300 and he pushes all in. We happily call. He shows JK. Amazing. Seriously. Wtf? Okay, if he had had a full stack we would be going home with second nut. Happy to still have a good stack of chips. 24300. Head up.
Playing 5-handed now. Room is filling.
Seat 3 raises to 300 and the button calls. We call from the Sb with 8Q. Bb calls. Flop comes JKA with AJd. Flush draw and gut shot straight draw. We bet 450 and bb calls. Turn comes 7s. We bet 950 and he raises to 2250. Hmmm. We call. River comes Q. We check and he bets 2500. Our pair of queens is not going to be good. We fold.
Aggressive boy on the button raises to 300 and we call from the Sb with 88. Would love to his a set on this guy! Flop comes AA5 with 2 spades. He bets 400 and we call. Let's see what he does on the turn. Turn comes 9s. He checks. Hmmm, we lose to a big pocket pair, an ace, a 9 or 2 spades. We bet 1000 and he calls. He would have raised if he had any of the above better than a 9. River comes 2h. He bets 1500. Makes no sense. The only hand that really would help is if he's playing 22. We should raise, but if he reraises it we won't know what to do. We call and he shows K5h. We take it down.
Playing 75-150 seat 3 raises to 450 and aggressive boy on the button calls. We are in the Sb with 99 and raise to 1750. Seat 3 calls (sign of weakness) and aggressive boy pushes all in for about 6000. With 99 we want to be heads up against him, particularly if we can get seat 3's 1750 as dead money. We push all in and seat 3 folds. Aggressive boy shows A4c. We are about a 70% favorite. Flop comes A56 with 2 spades. Turns a Js to give us a flush draw. River is Qd. Wow. Painful bad beat.
Overall by the way we're doing well. We have 18000 in chips left despite getting hammered unexpectedly twice by all in aggressive boy or AB.
Now playing 6-handed. Someone sat between us and AB. AB raises to 300 from seat 3. Seat 4 calls and we call from seat 5 with 46s. Button calls and Sb raises to 1200. AB calls and seat 4 calls. Wow. We have to call. Button folds. Big pot! Flop comes JKK no spades. Hmmm. We fold as soon as possible.
From seat 3 we raise to 450 with AK and get calls from 4, 5 and bb. We are 5-handed again and everyone but AB is in the pot. Flop comes JJ9. Everyone checks to seat 5 who bets 1000. Bb folds. A steal? We call. We see the turn heads up. It's an A. We check and he bets 1500. We call. River comes 7. We check and he checks. We show AK and he shows A9. We take it down.
Seat 3 raises to 450 and AB calls from seat 4. We call from the Button with 77. I know I have the seats a little wrong on this one, but that's the best I can piece the action together so please excuse the oddity if you caught it. Flop comes 235 with 2 hearts. Great flop. They check and we bet 700 and seat 3 raises to 2100. Wow. AB calls. Wow. Does seat 3 have hearts? An overpair? On a semi bluff with 2 big cards? We can call and hope for a 7, but there are only 2 in the deck and one of them is a heart. Hmmm, we call. Turn comes 4s putting a 2345 on the board. They both check. Anyone with an A has a straight. They probably don't have it and if they are on over cards or have paired the board once, we are in the lead. We bet 2200 and they both fold.
Back to 22400. Good.
Playing 6-handed again.
I sit here painfully watching AB slowly lose what were once our chips to everyone else at the table.
We play half a dozen hands to see the flop but never hit anything. We take one opportunity to launch a failed semi bluff and finish the round with just over 18000 in chips. All things considered, not bad.
All the best,
Still on four hooves Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Nlh rounds 17-18
Hand to hand is incredibly boring. We fold our 66, then our 79. Why even look? Would we play AA? Mmmmm, yes. Economically it makes no sense, but we would do it. We fold and fold and fold. Seat 3 raises to 10000 and we fold the 9Th from the bb instead of chipping in 6000 to see if we hit a monster. Why? Because 60th place is so important. The inhumanity of it.
Finally someone busts. We are in the money and can play poker now, but we are down to 34000 in chips. Our only move is to push really.
First hand in the money someone at our table busts. A lot of people were playing uber tight as we were. Now it's like the ending of a terrible constipation. Yep, donkey has gone dark.
Seat 4 bets 9000 and we are in the bb with Q9s. We push all in. He folds. Great.
We push all in on the button with A8. The blinds fold. Great.
Next hand we push all in from seat 5 with AQ and everyone folds. Would have liked a call, but fine taking down a pot of 10000 as we are playing 2500-5000 with 500 antes.
Another player busts from our table and we are on hold waiting for a table to break. After it took an hour for one person to break, six broke in 11 minutes.
We have 93500.
Seat 4 raises to 11000 and the Sb calls. We have AT in the bb. We could call, but we are out of position. We push hoping they will fold but okay with a call. Seat 4 calls with AQ. We are a big dog. His Q holds up and we exit in 50th place.
Had some frustration this tournament. Still mad about finding the JQ. Maybe we would have gotten knocked out but more likely we would have had a big stack. Oh well - glad to finally cash this year!
Thanks for following along. Tomorrow is PLO so probably won't be blogging. May play the next nlh 6 handed tourney though - this one went well and tomorrow's starts at 4.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Sent from my iPhone
Finally someone busts. We are in the money and can play poker now, but we are down to 34000 in chips. Our only move is to push really.
First hand in the money someone at our table busts. A lot of people were playing uber tight as we were. Now it's like the ending of a terrible constipation. Yep, donkey has gone dark.
Seat 4 bets 9000 and we are in the bb with Q9s. We push all in. He folds. Great.
We push all in on the button with A8. The blinds fold. Great.
Next hand we push all in from seat 5 with AQ and everyone folds. Would have liked a call, but fine taking down a pot of 10000 as we are playing 2500-5000 with 500 antes.
Another player busts from our table and we are on hold waiting for a table to break. After it took an hour for one person to break, six broke in 11 minutes.
We have 93500.
Seat 4 raises to 11000 and the Sb calls. We have AT in the bb. We could call, but we are out of position. We push hoping they will fold but okay with a call. Seat 4 calls with AQ. We are a big dog. His Q holds up and we exit in 50th place.
Had some frustration this tournament. Still mad about finding the JQ. Maybe we would have gotten knocked out but more likely we would have had a big stack. Oh well - glad to finally cash this year!
Thanks for following along. Tomorrow is PLO so probably won't be blogging. May play the next nlh 6 handed tourney though - this one went well and tomorrow's starts at 4.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Sent from my iPhone
Nlh rounds 15-16
Playing 1500-3000 with 500 antes. 7500 in the pot pre deal.
In seat 4 we raise to 7500 with 88 and the blinds both call. Flop comes 249. They check. Ever hear the expression "beware the 9"? No? That's because it doesn't exist. We bet 18000 and they fold.
Seat 3 raises to 6500 and we call from the Sb with 8T. Flop comes 6TK. We check and he bets 9500. We call looking for a second pair. Turn comes 6 pairing the board. We check and he bets 14500. We raise to 30000 hoping the check raise will drive him out. He re-raises to 60000. Not what we were looking for. Obviously not worried we have a 6. We fold. Big loss. Ouch.
In seat 3 we make a questionable raise to 6500 with QT and get calls from seat 5 and both blinds. Flop comes 35T with 2 hearts. We have the Qh. Blinds check and we bet 18000. Seat 5 goes into the tank. He has more chips than we do and we can't get into a big hand with him unless we feel stronger than we do. He folds. The blinds fold. Good result.
We are down to 71 players on 12 tables. We have 233500 in chips.
In seat 4 we raise to 6500 with JQc and the button raises to 15000. The bb calls and we call. Flop comes 56J. Great flop. Bb checks and we bet 22000. Button folds and bb calls. Turn comes 4 putting 2 diamonds on the board. Bb checks and we bet 42000. He goes into the tank and then pushes all in. Wow. We are 80000 into this pot but how do we call an all in? He could be bluffing but otherwise he has 2 pair at least. Maybe a set or straight. If he has 2 small pair we are a desperate dog. Could he be making a six figure semi-bluff with a flush draw? Wtf? We fold. Ouch. Wow. Ouch.
Playing 6 handed 2000-4000 with 500 antes. 9000 in the pot before the deal. We have about 140000 chips.
In seat 4 we raise to 9500 with 89c. Seat 5 raises to 28500. We fold.
We are getting shit canned. Time to regroup.
We raise from seat 5 with AT to 9500. Bb calls us and flop comes 45J. He checks and we check turn comes q. He checks and we check. River comes 7. He bets 4000. We call and he shows 56 to take it down with a pair of 5s.
We are down to 101000. This has been a straight down path for 90 minutes. We don't want to bubble out so its hard to play big right now (62 players left).
Seat 5 raises to 10000 and we call from the Sb with 44. Maybe we will finally flop a set? Bb calls and flop comes 67Q with 2 spades. We check and they both check. Hmmmm, if seat 5 has something he should bet to get the flush draw out. Turn comes 2h. Total rag. We could bet and hope to take it down but if someone calls we won't be able to bet the river. We are now playing with fear. We check. Bb checks and seat 5 bets. We both fold.
61 players. We are now playing hand by hand. Every table plays one hand and waits for every table to finish before dealing the next hand. This is a sucky time. We don't want to be the guy who placed 61st in a tourney paying 60, but we have to continue to play and try to rebuild our stack.
Our 5th hand to hand hand everyone folds to the Sb who pushes all in for 51000. We have 82000. If we call and lose we can still limp to the money but that would suck. We have 77. We are probably the favorite, by at least a little. Do we call and hope to repair our stack a little, even if losing means limping our way to the money. Our do we play like a giant vag?
We call and he shows A7. We are about 70% favorite. Just no aces! Flop comes A36. Oiy! Turn comes 5 and river a miracle 4 to give both of us straights. We split the pot. Phew!
In between hands i walk the floor. There are only 2 or 3 players with fewer chips than we have. This could be a long slow hand to hand.
We end round 16 with 42000 in chips. Frustrating. We are going to have to fold to the money and then die. Hopefully we make it to the money.
To add to my frustration, I ran into the guy who pushed all in on the 456j board when we had JQ and asked him what he had. He responded quickly AQd. He had a diamond draw and two overcards. I hadn't really thought of that, but it's not much different from just the diamond draw. He needed a diamond or an ace. We were about a 75% favorite to double up to about 450k and instead we folded. Cowardly donkey.
All the best,
Oiy Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
In seat 4 we raise to 7500 with 88 and the blinds both call. Flop comes 249. They check. Ever hear the expression "beware the 9"? No? That's because it doesn't exist. We bet 18000 and they fold.
Seat 3 raises to 6500 and we call from the Sb with 8T. Flop comes 6TK. We check and he bets 9500. We call looking for a second pair. Turn comes 6 pairing the board. We check and he bets 14500. We raise to 30000 hoping the check raise will drive him out. He re-raises to 60000. Not what we were looking for. Obviously not worried we have a 6. We fold. Big loss. Ouch.
In seat 3 we make a questionable raise to 6500 with QT and get calls from seat 5 and both blinds. Flop comes 35T with 2 hearts. We have the Qh. Blinds check and we bet 18000. Seat 5 goes into the tank. He has more chips than we do and we can't get into a big hand with him unless we feel stronger than we do. He folds. The blinds fold. Good result.
We are down to 71 players on 12 tables. We have 233500 in chips.
In seat 4 we raise to 6500 with JQc and the button raises to 15000. The bb calls and we call. Flop comes 56J. Great flop. Bb checks and we bet 22000. Button folds and bb calls. Turn comes 4 putting 2 diamonds on the board. Bb checks and we bet 42000. He goes into the tank and then pushes all in. Wow. We are 80000 into this pot but how do we call an all in? He could be bluffing but otherwise he has 2 pair at least. Maybe a set or straight. If he has 2 small pair we are a desperate dog. Could he be making a six figure semi-bluff with a flush draw? Wtf? We fold. Ouch. Wow. Ouch.
Playing 6 handed 2000-4000 with 500 antes. 9000 in the pot before the deal. We have about 140000 chips.
In seat 4 we raise to 9500 with 89c. Seat 5 raises to 28500. We fold.
We are getting shit canned. Time to regroup.
We raise from seat 5 with AT to 9500. Bb calls us and flop comes 45J. He checks and we check turn comes q. He checks and we check. River comes 7. He bets 4000. We call and he shows 56 to take it down with a pair of 5s.
We are down to 101000. This has been a straight down path for 90 minutes. We don't want to bubble out so its hard to play big right now (62 players left).
Seat 5 raises to 10000 and we call from the Sb with 44. Maybe we will finally flop a set? Bb calls and flop comes 67Q with 2 spades. We check and they both check. Hmmmm, if seat 5 has something he should bet to get the flush draw out. Turn comes 2h. Total rag. We could bet and hope to take it down but if someone calls we won't be able to bet the river. We are now playing with fear. We check. Bb checks and seat 5 bets. We both fold.
61 players. We are now playing hand by hand. Every table plays one hand and waits for every table to finish before dealing the next hand. This is a sucky time. We don't want to be the guy who placed 61st in a tourney paying 60, but we have to continue to play and try to rebuild our stack.
Our 5th hand to hand hand everyone folds to the Sb who pushes all in for 51000. We have 82000. If we call and lose we can still limp to the money but that would suck. We have 77. We are probably the favorite, by at least a little. Do we call and hope to repair our stack a little, even if losing means limping our way to the money. Our do we play like a giant vag?
We call and he shows A7. We are about 70% favorite. Just no aces! Flop comes A36. Oiy! Turn comes 5 and river a miracle 4 to give both of us straights. We split the pot. Phew!
In between hands i walk the floor. There are only 2 or 3 players with fewer chips than we have. This could be a long slow hand to hand.
We end round 16 with 42000 in chips. Frustrating. We are going to have to fold to the money and then die. Hopefully we make it to the money.
To add to my frustration, I ran into the guy who pushed all in on the 456j board when we had JQ and asked him what he had. He responded quickly AQd. He had a diamond draw and two overcards. I hadn't really thought of that, but it's not much different from just the diamond draw. He needed a diamond or an ace. We were about a 75% favorite to double up to about 450k and instead we folded. Cowardly donkey.
All the best,
Oiy Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Nlh rounds 13-14
Playing 5-handed 1000-2000 with 300 antes. So 4500 in the pot before cards are dealt.
We raise to 4200 from the button with QQ and get called by the bb. Flop comes 5TA with 2 spades. Not good. He checks and we bet 5500. He raises to 15000 and we fold.
We proceed to get great cards. 9Js, JKs, and JJ, not really going up or down much.
Button raises to 4000 and we call from Sb with K7s. Flop comes 5TK with one spade. We are probably in the lead. We check and he bets 4500. We call. Turn comes 8 putting 2 diamonds on the board. We check and he bets 9900. Hmmmm, maybe he has a K? Do we call, fold or push? Fold doesn't feel good. If we push and he's bluffing, we get no river bet from him. Bad. If he's not bluffing he calls us and we are out. Also bad. The push is only good if he has a Tx and is hunting for a second pair. Or an ace looking for another. Very possible. Hmmmm, we call. River comes Q. Not good. Ace would be worse. But Tx could well hit a Q. Betting here is much the same as pushing the turn. We check and he bets 18000. We are likely a loser but we call. He mucks! He was on nothing but a bluff!
Seat 3 bets 4000 and the button calls. We call from the bb with K6d. Flop comes 68J with 2 spades. We check. Seat 3 checks and the button bets 4000. Kind of weak. If seat 3 hit he would have bet and the button is showing weakness. We raise to 14000. Seat 3 folds and the button calls. The turn comes a 6! Giddey-up. We bet 17000 and he calls. Wow. River comes Qs putting a third spade on the board as well as a possible straight. Hmmm. We check and he pushes all in for about 20000. We call and he shows A7o. He was bluffing! Who are these fools who think they can scare the Donkey?
Sb raises to 4500 and we call from the bb with J9. Flop comes 4JA. He bets 4500 again and we call. Turn comes 8h giving us a weak flush draw (we have 9h). He bets 9800 and we go into the tank for a bit and then call. River comes 3s. He pushes all in. On the one hand this is a guy who mucked when we called a few minutes ago so he has little credibility. On the other hand, he knows we will call with top pair and no kicker, which is more than we have now. And he still betting into us! We fold. Ouch.
We fold a few more small pots but have just over 135000 in chips. Take that Donkey-bluffers.
Seat 3 raises to 4400 and we call from the bb with 33. He has a huge stack so let's see if we can flop a set. Flop comes 249 with 2 hearts. Probably didn't hit him. We bet 4500 and he calls. Turn comes 3h. Yay! We hit a set. Hopefully he doesn't have hearts. We bet 8200 and he raises to 18200. Not good. We call looking for the board to pair. River comes 2d! We have a full house! We bet 40000 and he calls. He mucks his hand when we show, but I think I caught a glimpse of a 4d. Not sure what he could have had? 24?
We're still taking that in when seat 5 raises to 5000 and we raise to 17000 from the Sb with QKh. Seat 5 goes all in for about 100000. Hmmm, that's silly talk. We fold. Wish we had just called to see the flop.
We pissed away 12000 there, but we still have 187900.
Playing 1200-2400 with 400 antes. That's 6000 in the pot before cards are dealt.
We raise to 6600 from the button with A6 and the Sb calls. Flop comes 67K. He checks. We bet 7500 and he calls. Turn comes T. He checks and we check. River comes Q. He checks and we check. He shows 22 and folds to our 6.
Table breaks and 5 new stoppable faces appear.
We lose a medium size pot to the guy on our left as an intro to the table. Don't remember the details but we folded to his river bet.
We raise to 5500 from the button with 94d trying to steal. Sb calls and flop comes 2QA with 2 diamonds. He checks and we bet 6000. He calls. Turn comes 4s. We wanted a diamond but at least we made a pair. He checks and we bet 10500. He calls. River comes 2d. Giddey-up. We have a flush. He checks and we bet 22000. He folds. Okay.
Seat 3 raises to 5000 and we call from the bb with Q6c. Flop comes 589. We check and he bets 5500. We call, looking for a 7 or Q or to see what he does. Turn pairs the 5. We check and he checks. Must be afraid we called with a 5. River comes 2. We bet 9500 looking for a fold. Instead we get a raise to 25000. We fold.
We end the round with 254500 in chips with 84 players. Yep, a cool quarter million. Almost 10 times where we came in with today.
We will soon be on the bubble and play will slow down as people try to avoid getting knocked out before we get into the money, which is at 60 players.
All the best,
Fearless Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
We raise to 4200 from the button with QQ and get called by the bb. Flop comes 5TA with 2 spades. Not good. He checks and we bet 5500. He raises to 15000 and we fold.
We proceed to get great cards. 9Js, JKs, and JJ, not really going up or down much.
Button raises to 4000 and we call from Sb with K7s. Flop comes 5TK with one spade. We are probably in the lead. We check and he bets 4500. We call. Turn comes 8 putting 2 diamonds on the board. We check and he bets 9900. Hmmmm, maybe he has a K? Do we call, fold or push? Fold doesn't feel good. If we push and he's bluffing, we get no river bet from him. Bad. If he's not bluffing he calls us and we are out. Also bad. The push is only good if he has a Tx and is hunting for a second pair. Or an ace looking for another. Very possible. Hmmmm, we call. River comes Q. Not good. Ace would be worse. But Tx could well hit a Q. Betting here is much the same as pushing the turn. We check and he bets 18000. We are likely a loser but we call. He mucks! He was on nothing but a bluff!
Seat 3 bets 4000 and the button calls. We call from the bb with K6d. Flop comes 68J with 2 spades. We check. Seat 3 checks and the button bets 4000. Kind of weak. If seat 3 hit he would have bet and the button is showing weakness. We raise to 14000. Seat 3 folds and the button calls. The turn comes a 6! Giddey-up. We bet 17000 and he calls. Wow. River comes Qs putting a third spade on the board as well as a possible straight. Hmmm. We check and he pushes all in for about 20000. We call and he shows A7o. He was bluffing! Who are these fools who think they can scare the Donkey?
Sb raises to 4500 and we call from the bb with J9. Flop comes 4JA. He bets 4500 again and we call. Turn comes 8h giving us a weak flush draw (we have 9h). He bets 9800 and we go into the tank for a bit and then call. River comes 3s. He pushes all in. On the one hand this is a guy who mucked when we called a few minutes ago so he has little credibility. On the other hand, he knows we will call with top pair and no kicker, which is more than we have now. And he still betting into us! We fold. Ouch.
We fold a few more small pots but have just over 135000 in chips. Take that Donkey-bluffers.
Seat 3 raises to 4400 and we call from the bb with 33. He has a huge stack so let's see if we can flop a set. Flop comes 249 with 2 hearts. Probably didn't hit him. We bet 4500 and he calls. Turn comes 3h. Yay! We hit a set. Hopefully he doesn't have hearts. We bet 8200 and he raises to 18200. Not good. We call looking for the board to pair. River comes 2d! We have a full house! We bet 40000 and he calls. He mucks his hand when we show, but I think I caught a glimpse of a 4d. Not sure what he could have had? 24?
We're still taking that in when seat 5 raises to 5000 and we raise to 17000 from the Sb with QKh. Seat 5 goes all in for about 100000. Hmmm, that's silly talk. We fold. Wish we had just called to see the flop.
We pissed away 12000 there, but we still have 187900.
Playing 1200-2400 with 400 antes. That's 6000 in the pot before cards are dealt.
We raise to 6600 from the button with A6 and the Sb calls. Flop comes 67K. He checks. We bet 7500 and he calls. Turn comes T. He checks and we check. River comes Q. He checks and we check. He shows 22 and folds to our 6.
Table breaks and 5 new stoppable faces appear.
We lose a medium size pot to the guy on our left as an intro to the table. Don't remember the details but we folded to his river bet.
We raise to 5500 from the button with 94d trying to steal. Sb calls and flop comes 2QA with 2 diamonds. He checks and we bet 6000. He calls. Turn comes 4s. We wanted a diamond but at least we made a pair. He checks and we bet 10500. He calls. River comes 2d. Giddey-up. We have a flush. He checks and we bet 22000. He folds. Okay.
Seat 3 raises to 5000 and we call from the bb with Q6c. Flop comes 589. We check and he bets 5500. We call, looking for a 7 or Q or to see what he does. Turn pairs the 5. We check and he checks. Must be afraid we called with a 5. River comes 2. We bet 9500 looking for a fold. Instead we get a raise to 25000. We fold.
We end the round with 254500 in chips with 84 players. Yep, a cool quarter million. Almost 10 times where we came in with today.
We will soon be on the bubble and play will slow down as people try to avoid getting knocked out before we get into the money, which is at 60 players.
All the best,
Fearless Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Nlh rounds 11-12
We start round 11 playing 600-1200 with 200 antes. Five players at the table. Thats 2800 before cards are dealt. We only have 26000 in chips so this is going to be quick when it happens.
Three players at our table have at least twice our stack. The fourth is a very short stack - about 10000. Unfortunately he is sitting to our immediate left and will likely push quickly. So anything we bet, we have to be ready to bet 10000 on. Anything we would bet 10000 on, we would have to be willing to push our whole stack in on. So his existence more than anything narrows our options some.
We raise from seat 3 with AJc to 3200 and everyone folds. Great.
Seat 4 raises to 2500 and we call from the bb intending to make a large post flop bet in a little stop and go. Flop comes 8TJ giving us an open ended straight draw. We bet 5200 and he folds.
We raise to 3600 from the button with QK and the blinds fold.
Up to about 34000.
Seat 3 bets 2500 and we call from the bb with 67s. Stop and go won't work here because even though we had a decent flop last time, it had the appearance of stop and go. The flop comes TQA with one spade. We check, he bets 2600 and we fold.
On the button we raise to 3600 with AJc. Second time in 14 minutes! Sb pushes all in for 1800 of the bet and bb folds. Sb shows 25c. We flop a jack. He rivers a 2 but it's over for him.
34000
Seat 3 raises to 2500 and the button calls. It's 1300 to us in the bb with 68. Do we push and hope they fold? Call and hope to hit something? Or fold. For 1300 we call.
Flop comes 39T. All we have is a gut shot straight draw. We check. Seat 3 checks and the button bets 4500. He was weak preflop but may have hit a pair. If we push we win about 15000 if he's bluffing but we lose everything if he's not. We fold.
32500.
Playing 6 handed.
Seat 3 raises to 2500 and the button raises to 5200. Seat 3 raises a lot of pre flop action so his bet means little. The button could have this same read and be re-stealing. Time to play ball.
We push all in from the bb with TKo. Not a bad hand and we have 30k in chips so we can give anyone a black eye. Seat 3 folds. The button goes in the tank for a minute and then folds. Great. That's about 9000 victory chips.
43500. We can actually play a little poker now. At least until the blinds go up in 14 minutes.
Seat 3 bets 2500 and the button calls. We are in the bb with 77. If we push and get a call, we are prob a slight favorite. Or we can play poker. We play poker and just call. Flop comes 235. No 7 but a great flop for us. We bet 7500 and seat 3 calls. That means he likely has 2 big cards but not a pair. We are in the lead. The turn comes 5. Again, great card for us. We push. He thinks for a minute and folds. Great.
We raise to 2800 on the button with 9T. Bb calls. Unfortunately i think we priced him in. We should have bet a little more. Flop comes 78K giving us an open ended straight draw. He checks and we bet 3200. He calls and the turn comes Jc! We made a straight! To make it better, he bets 5200 into us. Hmmm.
We want him in and betting. He could now have a flush draw, an open ended straight draw or a gut shot straight draw. We want to bet enough to get the gut shot out. The flush will be more visible to us, but if he has AT we don't want to see a Q river and surprise us. We raise to 15200.
He goes into the tank. He's staring at us a lot. After a while we take a drink and try to make our hand mildly shake. Candidly not hard to do. He bites and calls as soon as he sees that. Now we just need a rag on the river.
River comes 3s. Perfect. We have the nuts. He checks and we push all in for just over 30000. He goes into the tank again but calls and then folds when we show the bits. Donkey's back!
playing 800-1600 with 200 antes (for a while now) seat 3 raises to 3500 and we call from seat 4 with 55. We have not flopped a set yet in this tourney. Flop comes 47T. He bets 4500. What did he pre flop bet that that hits. A T maybe. Let's find out now if he has us beat rather than call and call. We raise to 12500 and he folds. Great result.
In 78 minutes we've gone from 26000 to 126600. Giddey-up.
We raise to 3400 from seat 4 with 99 and the button (guy we Nutted with the 9T) pushes all in for 16000. We call and he shows ATo. We are a slight favorite, but it's a race. Flop comes 278. Turn comes 4. River pairs the 8 and we take it down. Bye bye.
Seat 3 raises to 3500 and the button calls. For 1900 we call from the bb with 59. Flop comes 56J. We bet 4500 and seat 3 calls. The turn comes A. We check and he bets 7000. Hmmm. 7000 to win about 28000. Also, this guy had a huge stack coming in but doubled two people up calling an all in with a Q high and going all in with a small pair. He has gone from 160000 to about 40000. The strangest player I have ever seen. We call and the river comes 9! We have 2 pair. We bet 15000 and he goes in the tank. Then he pushes all in for 40k. Hmmm, history says call because he's on crack like we've never seen before. Could he have J9 or AJ. Or a set? We have to call hoping he has Jx or Ax. We call and he shows pocket jacks. He flopped a set. Wow, donkey got punched hard.
Down to about 65000. Okay, head in the game.
Our table breaks and we head to four new faces to try to stomp on.
Playing 5-handed the button raises to 3500. We raise to 10500 from the bb with AT. He folds showing A4s.
We finish round 12 with 132 players and 74300 in chips.
All the best,
Donkey Live
Sent from my iPhone
Three players at our table have at least twice our stack. The fourth is a very short stack - about 10000. Unfortunately he is sitting to our immediate left and will likely push quickly. So anything we bet, we have to be ready to bet 10000 on. Anything we would bet 10000 on, we would have to be willing to push our whole stack in on. So his existence more than anything narrows our options some.
We raise from seat 3 with AJc to 3200 and everyone folds. Great.
Seat 4 raises to 2500 and we call from the bb intending to make a large post flop bet in a little stop and go. Flop comes 8TJ giving us an open ended straight draw. We bet 5200 and he folds.
We raise to 3600 from the button with QK and the blinds fold.
Up to about 34000.
Seat 3 bets 2500 and we call from the bb with 67s. Stop and go won't work here because even though we had a decent flop last time, it had the appearance of stop and go. The flop comes TQA with one spade. We check, he bets 2600 and we fold.
On the button we raise to 3600 with AJc. Second time in 14 minutes! Sb pushes all in for 1800 of the bet and bb folds. Sb shows 25c. We flop a jack. He rivers a 2 but it's over for him.
34000
Seat 3 raises to 2500 and the button calls. It's 1300 to us in the bb with 68. Do we push and hope they fold? Call and hope to hit something? Or fold. For 1300 we call.
Flop comes 39T. All we have is a gut shot straight draw. We check. Seat 3 checks and the button bets 4500. He was weak preflop but may have hit a pair. If we push we win about 15000 if he's bluffing but we lose everything if he's not. We fold.
32500.
Playing 6 handed.
Seat 3 raises to 2500 and the button raises to 5200. Seat 3 raises a lot of pre flop action so his bet means little. The button could have this same read and be re-stealing. Time to play ball.
We push all in from the bb with TKo. Not a bad hand and we have 30k in chips so we can give anyone a black eye. Seat 3 folds. The button goes in the tank for a minute and then folds. Great. That's about 9000 victory chips.
43500. We can actually play a little poker now. At least until the blinds go up in 14 minutes.
Seat 3 bets 2500 and the button calls. We are in the bb with 77. If we push and get a call, we are prob a slight favorite. Or we can play poker. We play poker and just call. Flop comes 235. No 7 but a great flop for us. We bet 7500 and seat 3 calls. That means he likely has 2 big cards but not a pair. We are in the lead. The turn comes 5. Again, great card for us. We push. He thinks for a minute and folds. Great.
We raise to 2800 on the button with 9T. Bb calls. Unfortunately i think we priced him in. We should have bet a little more. Flop comes 78K giving us an open ended straight draw. He checks and we bet 3200. He calls and the turn comes Jc! We made a straight! To make it better, he bets 5200 into us. Hmmm.
We want him in and betting. He could now have a flush draw, an open ended straight draw or a gut shot straight draw. We want to bet enough to get the gut shot out. The flush will be more visible to us, but if he has AT we don't want to see a Q river and surprise us. We raise to 15200.
He goes into the tank. He's staring at us a lot. After a while we take a drink and try to make our hand mildly shake. Candidly not hard to do. He bites and calls as soon as he sees that. Now we just need a rag on the river.
River comes 3s. Perfect. We have the nuts. He checks and we push all in for just over 30000. He goes into the tank again but calls and then folds when we show the bits. Donkey's back!
playing 800-1600 with 200 antes (for a while now) seat 3 raises to 3500 and we call from seat 4 with 55. We have not flopped a set yet in this tourney. Flop comes 47T. He bets 4500. What did he pre flop bet that that hits. A T maybe. Let's find out now if he has us beat rather than call and call. We raise to 12500 and he folds. Great result.
In 78 minutes we've gone from 26000 to 126600. Giddey-up.
We raise to 3400 from seat 4 with 99 and the button (guy we Nutted with the 9T) pushes all in for 16000. We call and he shows ATo. We are a slight favorite, but it's a race. Flop comes 278. Turn comes 4. River pairs the 8 and we take it down. Bye bye.
Seat 3 raises to 3500 and the button calls. For 1900 we call from the bb with 59. Flop comes 56J. We bet 4500 and seat 3 calls. The turn comes A. We check and he bets 7000. Hmmm. 7000 to win about 28000. Also, this guy had a huge stack coming in but doubled two people up calling an all in with a Q high and going all in with a small pair. He has gone from 160000 to about 40000. The strangest player I have ever seen. We call and the river comes 9! We have 2 pair. We bet 15000 and he goes in the tank. Then he pushes all in for 40k. Hmmm, history says call because he's on crack like we've never seen before. Could he have J9 or AJ. Or a set? We have to call hoping he has Jx or Ax. We call and he shows pocket jacks. He flopped a set. Wow, donkey got punched hard.
Down to about 65000. Okay, head in the game.
Our table breaks and we head to four new faces to try to stomp on.
Playing 5-handed the button raises to 3500. We raise to 10500 from the bb with AT. He folds showing A4s.
We finish round 12 with 132 players and 74300 in chips.
All the best,
Donkey Live
Sent from my iPhone
Nlh rounds 9-10
First hand back playing 400-800 with 100 antes seat 3 raises to 2000. We are in seat 4 and raise to 7000 with AK. He pushes all in for 25000. Wow. Quick start. We call and he shows 88. It's a race.
Flop comes 25Q all clubs. We have the Kc so we have 15 outs, so we actually improved on the flop. The turn and river were both 8s giving him quads. We did make the flush on the river though. Loss of 25000 on the first hand!
On the button we raise to 2100 with AQ. Nemesis calls from the bb and we see the flop A28 rainbow. Perfect. He checks and we bet 2200. He calls. Turn comes 3. He checks and we bet 4400. He calls. River comes 9. He checks and we bet 6300. He raises to 16300. Wow. Hmmmm, wtf? He is hyper aggressive but . . . We call and he shows A8 to take it down.
Wow. Bad round. Shit. We have 68000 now, 50k down from 30 minutes ago. Have to find that zen space.
Nemesis in seat 3 raises to 1800 and we call from SB with 89. Bb calls and flop comes 248 with 2 spades. Should be good for us. We bet 2200 and bb raises to 7000. Hmmm. Set? Flush draw? A8? Nemesis raises to 22000. We fold and they proceed all in. Bb had 35s and ultimately made a flush to beat nemesis pocket queens.
We raise to 2000 on the button w QQ. Nemesis raises to 7000 from the bb. Would love to be all in before the flop but really don't want to see a flop. We raise to 28000 and he goes in the tank and then folds. Okay.
We get kind of scrappy and play a bunch of small hands rather successfully, including slapping the nemesis a few times in a row. Back up to 90000.
We raise to 2500 from seat 3 with AQ. Nemesis calls from seat 4 and the bb calls. The flop comes A36 with 2 spades. We bet 4000 and nemesis calls. The bb folds. The turn is 3s. We bet 6500. Nemesis raises to 15000. This is his pattern. Board gets scary and he goes shopping. He could have 2 spades, but more likely has an ace with a big spade and wants to push us out. We call. River comes 9c. We check and he goes all in for 24000. We go in the tank. Huge pot.
It's 24000 to win 70000. Does he have Ax? We call and he shows Q7s to take it down. Wow that hurt. Donkey limping badly.
We had been grinding back up from 68 to over 90 again but now we are down to 48000. Time to grind again. Damn.
We grind back up to 55,000 and then raise to 2500 from the button with AQ. The Sb raises to 8000 and we call. The flop comes 4QK rainbow. He checks and we bet 8000. He calls. The turn comes 6. He checks and we check. The river comes A and he checks. We bet 8000 again and he raises to 18000. We call and he shows AK to take it down.
Terrible couple of rounds. Wow. Need to look back at that one. The only really questionable thing I can think of was the misread on the big flush, but that was huge.
We finish round 10 and end the day along with about 190 other players and 26000 chips. We start tomorrow at 1pm, but will basically be in a position to push or fold. Not much real poker for a while.
All the best,
Disappointed Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Flop comes 25Q all clubs. We have the Kc so we have 15 outs, so we actually improved on the flop. The turn and river were both 8s giving him quads. We did make the flush on the river though. Loss of 25000 on the first hand!
On the button we raise to 2100 with AQ. Nemesis calls from the bb and we see the flop A28 rainbow. Perfect. He checks and we bet 2200. He calls. Turn comes 3. He checks and we bet 4400. He calls. River comes 9. He checks and we bet 6300. He raises to 16300. Wow. Hmmmm, wtf? He is hyper aggressive but . . . We call and he shows A8 to take it down.
Wow. Bad round. Shit. We have 68000 now, 50k down from 30 minutes ago. Have to find that zen space.
Nemesis in seat 3 raises to 1800 and we call from SB with 89. Bb calls and flop comes 248 with 2 spades. Should be good for us. We bet 2200 and bb raises to 7000. Hmmm. Set? Flush draw? A8? Nemesis raises to 22000. We fold and they proceed all in. Bb had 35s and ultimately made a flush to beat nemesis pocket queens.
We raise to 2000 on the button w QQ. Nemesis raises to 7000 from the bb. Would love to be all in before the flop but really don't want to see a flop. We raise to 28000 and he goes in the tank and then folds. Okay.
We get kind of scrappy and play a bunch of small hands rather successfully, including slapping the nemesis a few times in a row. Back up to 90000.
We raise to 2500 from seat 3 with AQ. Nemesis calls from seat 4 and the bb calls. The flop comes A36 with 2 spades. We bet 4000 and nemesis calls. The bb folds. The turn is 3s. We bet 6500. Nemesis raises to 15000. This is his pattern. Board gets scary and he goes shopping. He could have 2 spades, but more likely has an ace with a big spade and wants to push us out. We call. River comes 9c. We check and he goes all in for 24000. We go in the tank. Huge pot.
It's 24000 to win 70000. Does he have Ax? We call and he shows Q7s to take it down. Wow that hurt. Donkey limping badly.
We had been grinding back up from 68 to over 90 again but now we are down to 48000. Time to grind again. Damn.
We grind back up to 55,000 and then raise to 2500 from the button with AQ. The Sb raises to 8000 and we call. The flop comes 4QK rainbow. He checks and we bet 8000. He calls. The turn comes 6. He checks and we check. The river comes A and he checks. We bet 8000 again and he raises to 18000. We call and he shows AK to take it down.
Terrible couple of rounds. Wow. Need to look back at that one. The only really questionable thing I can think of was the misread on the big flush, but that was huge.
We finish round 10 and end the day along with about 190 other players and 26000 chips. We start tomorrow at 1pm, but will basically be in a position to push or fold. Not much real poker for a while.
All the best,
Disappointed Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Monday, June 15, 2015
Nlh rounds 7-8
Remember the AJ hand I should have played. Same set up. Playing 250-500 with 50 antes seat 5 raises to 1100 and the button makes is 2200. We are in the bb with 79d and call. Same players as the AJ hand. Seat 5 calls and the three of us see the 256 flop with 2 diamonds. We have a flush draw and a gut shot straight draw. We check, seat 4 checks and seat 5 bets 2000. We call and seat 4 unfortunately folds. The turn comes Jd giving us a flush. We don't want to see another diamond but check hoping he will bet into us again. He checks. River comes Tc. We bet 3100 and he folds. Okay. Glad we played this one.
In seat 4 playing 300-600 with 75 antes it finally happens. An ace in each fore hoof. We bet 1250 and get called by the most aggressive player, seat 6. Flop comes 6TT. Uggggghhhh. Kind of ugly. We check and he checks. Turn comes J. We bet 1600. He calls and the river comes 4. I think we're good unless he's very very patient with the ten. We bet 2200 and he raises to 6800. Hmmmm, I really think we are good but he has a lot of chips and could raise us out of the pot. We call and he shows AJ. Unable to pull the chips in with the back hooves, we drop our aces to pull the chips in.
We raise to 1200 from seat 3 with 77. Seat 4 calls and aggressive seat 5 raises to 5000. We call and seat 4 folds. Flop comes 389 with 2 hearts. We check and he bets 5000. Hmmm, if he has something like TT or JJ this all makes sense. We call to see the turn. It's a 4h. We check and he bets 10000. Really don't know if we are ahead, but not willing to spend 10+k finding out. We fold. That sucked - 10k of suckage.
We raise from seat 5 to 1500 with 77 again. Our nemesis of the day calls from the sb. Flop comes 368 all hearts. He checks. We bet 3100 and he calls. Turn comes 2c. He checks and we bet 5500. He calls. River comes Jc. He checks and we check. He shows A8 to take it down.
Two hands running almost identically, and both terrible results.
Getting frustrated so time to step out.
After that we buy a couple small pots and lose a couple small pots determined to play slowly, we get sucked into a big hand at the end of the round.
The button raises to 1500 and we are in the bb with JQc. Normally, we would think he is stealing, but he has not been a very aggressive player on the button. Nonetheless, we raise to 4500. He goes into the tank for a minute and re-raises to 10,500. He has about another 15,000 in chips behind so this could be a good win or a bad loss, but it will not be the biggest pot of the night. We just call.
The flop comes 568 with two clubs. We have some confidence that if we check he will push all in. What would we do then? Assuming he has pocket aces, we would have nine outs, or about a 35% chance. We would certainly call a 15,000 push to win 35,000 in that scenario. If he has two over cards then we have even more outs. For example, if he has ace queen, then a jack is a winner for us in addition to any club. The only hand that we are truly afraid of, where the pot odds do not justify calling his push, is if he has the ace king of clubs.
Recognizing that we would call his all in push, we push all in first. This way we have the additional chance of pushing him out. However, he calls. He shows ace king, with the king of clubs.
We are rooting for a club, Jack, or queen. We have 14 outs, or just over a 50% chance. 14 outs is, I believe, the closest thing to a coin toss you can get.
The turn comes nine of hearts. Not a winner card for us, but it does open up the door to a straight if it 10 comes. We now have 17 outs on the river. The river comes queen of diamonds and we take it down!
We finish round 8 with 115000 chips.
All the best,
Calm Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
In seat 4 playing 300-600 with 75 antes it finally happens. An ace in each fore hoof. We bet 1250 and get called by the most aggressive player, seat 6. Flop comes 6TT. Uggggghhhh. Kind of ugly. We check and he checks. Turn comes J. We bet 1600. He calls and the river comes 4. I think we're good unless he's very very patient with the ten. We bet 2200 and he raises to 6800. Hmmmm, I really think we are good but he has a lot of chips and could raise us out of the pot. We call and he shows AJ. Unable to pull the chips in with the back hooves, we drop our aces to pull the chips in.
We raise to 1200 from seat 3 with 77. Seat 4 calls and aggressive seat 5 raises to 5000. We call and seat 4 folds. Flop comes 389 with 2 hearts. We check and he bets 5000. Hmmm, if he has something like TT or JJ this all makes sense. We call to see the turn. It's a 4h. We check and he bets 10000. Really don't know if we are ahead, but not willing to spend 10+k finding out. We fold. That sucked - 10k of suckage.
We raise from seat 5 to 1500 with 77 again. Our nemesis of the day calls from the sb. Flop comes 368 all hearts. He checks. We bet 3100 and he calls. Turn comes 2c. He checks and we bet 5500. He calls. River comes Jc. He checks and we check. He shows A8 to take it down.
Two hands running almost identically, and both terrible results.
Getting frustrated so time to step out.
After that we buy a couple small pots and lose a couple small pots determined to play slowly, we get sucked into a big hand at the end of the round.
The button raises to 1500 and we are in the bb with JQc. Normally, we would think he is stealing, but he has not been a very aggressive player on the button. Nonetheless, we raise to 4500. He goes into the tank for a minute and re-raises to 10,500. He has about another 15,000 in chips behind so this could be a good win or a bad loss, but it will not be the biggest pot of the night. We just call.
The flop comes 568 with two clubs. We have some confidence that if we check he will push all in. What would we do then? Assuming he has pocket aces, we would have nine outs, or about a 35% chance. We would certainly call a 15,000 push to win 35,000 in that scenario. If he has two over cards then we have even more outs. For example, if he has ace queen, then a jack is a winner for us in addition to any club. The only hand that we are truly afraid of, where the pot odds do not justify calling his push, is if he has the ace king of clubs.
Recognizing that we would call his all in push, we push all in first. This way we have the additional chance of pushing him out. However, he calls. He shows ace king, with the king of clubs.
We are rooting for a club, Jack, or queen. We have 14 outs, or just over a 50% chance. 14 outs is, I believe, the closest thing to a coin toss you can get.
The turn comes nine of hearts. Not a winner card for us, but it does open up the door to a straight if it 10 comes. We now have 17 outs on the river. The river comes queen of diamonds and we take it down!
We finish round 8 with 115000 chips.
All the best,
Calm Donkey
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Nlh rounds 5-6
Playing 150-300 with 25 antes seat 4 limps and we raise to 850 from seat 5 with QK. The bb and seat 4 call. Flop comes JQK with 2 spades. Fantastic flop. They check and we bet 1400. They both call. Huge pot brewing. Turn comes Ts. Wow. Hard to get worse. Put a flush on the board and anyone with a 9 or ace has a straight. They check and we check hoping to river a Q or K for a boat or the As for a straight flush. Any spade would give us the second nut flush. River comes 5d. Useless. Bb bets 2000. Seat 4 folds and we call. It's a sick et but let's make sure he has it. He takes it down with 9A including the As.
Playing 200-400 with 50 antes. Seat 4 raises to 900 and seat 5 re-raises to 2000. We are in the SB with AJ. Great hand six-handed but we are out of position and seat 4 may raise again. We fold. The action continues with the board flopping A78. Turning a J. We never see the river because a 5200 bet goes uncalled. Oiy - wish we had played that one!
It's easy to play after you see the flop. We should have played from the button the next hand with our 34o and flopped 338! If only we could use a crystal ball at the table.
From seat 5 we min raise to 800 with K9s and get called by the bb. Flop comes 233 with 2 spades. Great flop. He checks. We check and hope for a spade. If we bet and he raises we have to fold, so let's see the turn. Turn comes Kd. Great card. The only thing we are afraid of is a 3. He bets 2200. Strange. If he has a 3, he would likely bet something a little smaller. That's a pot-size bet. We call. River comes another 3. He checks. He prob doesn't have a 3 and we have 3s full of kings. If we bet and he has less than a king he will probably fold (he might call with a small pocket pair). But he could make a large raise posing like he has the case 3 and drive us out. It would suck to face a check raise here. We check and he shows 5Ts. He would have folded had we bet. Too bad a spade didn't come!
We raise from Seat 5 with 8Tc to 900. The button raises to 2500 and everyone else folds. The button has another 8000 in chips. We call and the flop comes 69T with two diamonds and a heart. We bet 3100 hoping that he will fold. If he does not fold, he is pot committed. He really has to fold or push, which means his push range is huge (maybe as low as 22 or Ax. He pushes all in. We call and he shows pocket queens (no diamonds). That's certainly at the upper end of his push zone. He is in the lead, but we have a lot of outs. Any 7, 8 or 10 gives us the winner. We are about 34%. The turn comes 10 of diamonds. The river comes a seven, and we take it down.
We go up and down in little movements, mostly up, taking down small pots when we have the advantage instead of shooting for the big score. We end round 6 and head to dinner with about 90000 chips.
I feel like I need a helmet.
All the best,
Roll on you Donkeys
Sent from my iPhone
Playing 200-400 with 50 antes. Seat 4 raises to 900 and seat 5 re-raises to 2000. We are in the SB with AJ. Great hand six-handed but we are out of position and seat 4 may raise again. We fold. The action continues with the board flopping A78. Turning a J. We never see the river because a 5200 bet goes uncalled. Oiy - wish we had played that one!
It's easy to play after you see the flop. We should have played from the button the next hand with our 34o and flopped 338! If only we could use a crystal ball at the table.
From seat 5 we min raise to 800 with K9s and get called by the bb. Flop comes 233 with 2 spades. Great flop. He checks. We check and hope for a spade. If we bet and he raises we have to fold, so let's see the turn. Turn comes Kd. Great card. The only thing we are afraid of is a 3. He bets 2200. Strange. If he has a 3, he would likely bet something a little smaller. That's a pot-size bet. We call. River comes another 3. He checks. He prob doesn't have a 3 and we have 3s full of kings. If we bet and he has less than a king he will probably fold (he might call with a small pocket pair). But he could make a large raise posing like he has the case 3 and drive us out. It would suck to face a check raise here. We check and he shows 5Ts. He would have folded had we bet. Too bad a spade didn't come!
We raise from Seat 5 with 8Tc to 900. The button raises to 2500 and everyone else folds. The button has another 8000 in chips. We call and the flop comes 69T with two diamonds and a heart. We bet 3100 hoping that he will fold. If he does not fold, he is pot committed. He really has to fold or push, which means his push range is huge (maybe as low as 22 or Ax. He pushes all in. We call and he shows pocket queens (no diamonds). That's certainly at the upper end of his push zone. He is in the lead, but we have a lot of outs. Any 7, 8 or 10 gives us the winner. We are about 34%. The turn comes 10 of diamonds. The river comes a seven, and we take it down.
We go up and down in little movements, mostly up, taking down small pots when we have the advantage instead of shooting for the big score. We end round 6 and head to dinner with about 90000 chips.
I feel like I need a helmet.
All the best,
Roll on you Donkeys
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Nlh rounds three and four
We slowly drip down to 45,000 and then slowly get up to 55,000, Engaging only in relatively small pot action.
With an incredible amount of luck, we keep hitting the flop in some small way, giving us an opportunity to bet post flop and pick up a lot of little pots. We get up to about 60,000 in chips.
I only have time for two hands' discussion.
Seat 5 raises the minimum, to 400, and we call from the small blind with ace king of clubs. Normally we would bet this hand, but we feel like slow play.The big blind calls and the flop comes 4TA. Great flop for us. We check and it checks around. The turn comes a jack. We bet 800 and the big blind folds and seat five calls. The river comes a rag deuce. We bet 1200 and Seat 5 raises to 5200.
We have a great hand, but it just feels like he has us beat. He could have 10 Jack, Ace 10, Ace Jack, pocket tens or pocket jacks, or who knows what, perhaps even a queen king for the straight. Any of these would justify his pre-flop bet, his post flop slow play, his calling the turn, and his quest for money on the river. I don't know what it is, but it feels like he has us beat and I don't want to spend 4000 in chips to find out how. We lay down.
Halfway through round four we are in Seat 5 with AJ of clubs and raise to 550 playing 100 200 with 25 antes.The button raises to 1300 and we call.
The flop comes 58 Queen with two spades and one club. Not a good flop for us. However, we've been taking down a lot of pots by simply betting the flop, so we do so here in an attempt to purchase. We bet 1100. He calls. The turn comes Jd. Great turn for us. Unless he has a queen or an overpair, we are in good position. We bet out 1600 and again he calls. We would've liked to see a fold here, but let's just see what the river brings and hope for in an ace or Jack. The river comes Jack of hearts! We have a set of Jack's.
We bet 3200 hoping for a call. He must've been watching our play for quite some time, because if he did, this would be the time for him to raise and push us out, which he does. He raises to 11,000. We look over and ask him how many more chips he has. About 8000. We push all in and he folds. Great hand.
We end round four with almost 70,000 chips. So far, this has been our best tournament yet. That said, we are only four hours in. Time to find that zen space.
All the best,
Zen Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
With an incredible amount of luck, we keep hitting the flop in some small way, giving us an opportunity to bet post flop and pick up a lot of little pots. We get up to about 60,000 in chips.
I only have time for two hands' discussion.
Seat 5 raises the minimum, to 400, and we call from the small blind with ace king of clubs. Normally we would bet this hand, but we feel like slow play.The big blind calls and the flop comes 4TA. Great flop for us. We check and it checks around. The turn comes a jack. We bet 800 and the big blind folds and seat five calls. The river comes a rag deuce. We bet 1200 and Seat 5 raises to 5200.
We have a great hand, but it just feels like he has us beat. He could have 10 Jack, Ace 10, Ace Jack, pocket tens or pocket jacks, or who knows what, perhaps even a queen king for the straight. Any of these would justify his pre-flop bet, his post flop slow play, his calling the turn, and his quest for money on the river. I don't know what it is, but it feels like he has us beat and I don't want to spend 4000 in chips to find out how. We lay down.
Halfway through round four we are in Seat 5 with AJ of clubs and raise to 550 playing 100 200 with 25 antes.The button raises to 1300 and we call.
The flop comes 58 Queen with two spades and one club. Not a good flop for us. However, we've been taking down a lot of pots by simply betting the flop, so we do so here in an attempt to purchase. We bet 1100. He calls. The turn comes Jd. Great turn for us. Unless he has a queen or an overpair, we are in good position. We bet out 1600 and again he calls. We would've liked to see a fold here, but let's just see what the river brings and hope for in an ace or Jack. The river comes Jack of hearts! We have a set of Jack's.
We bet 3200 hoping for a call. He must've been watching our play for quite some time, because if he did, this would be the time for him to raise and push us out, which he does. He raises to 11,000. We look over and ask him how many more chips he has. About 8000. We push all in and he folds. Great hand.
We end round four with almost 70,000 chips. So far, this has been our best tournament yet. That said, we are only four hours in. Time to find that zen space.
All the best,
Zen Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
NLH
Let's start by recognizing that this has been by far the worst World Series of poker ever. We have played poorly, and had matching luck. Today we are enrolled in a very high-level no limit hold'em tourney. Because of the level, there will be very few players, perhaps 500.
We are playing six handed, so the game moves too quickly to take notes or to write commentary. I can only tell you one of the hands from the first two rounds.
I will give it to you like a television show. Seat number three has about the 25000 starting stack and has ace king of hearts, playing 75–150, he raises to 400. Everyone folds to the Big blind who has about 30,000 in chips and holds an eight of clubs and nine of hearts and calls.
The flop comes 3TJ with two hearts.The big blind bets 600 with his open ended straight draw. Seat 3 has a nut gut shot straight draw and a nut flush draw. He considers for a moment. Any queen gives him the nuts. Any heart that doesn't match the board gives him the nuts. The king or ace are also likely good.The 600 bet could be an attempt to steal, and the ace king wants to keep him in. So Seat 3 min-raises to 1200.The big blind calls hunting for his straight.
The turn comes queen of clubs. Miracle card for both players. The big blind bets out his straight for 1600. Seat 3 sees not only that he has the nut straight but even if his opponent also has a king ace, any heart will still give seat 3 the nut flush. Seat three min-raises to 3200.
Protecting his straight from the perceived threats of a bigger straight (king or ace river), a flush draw or a set filling up, the big blind raises to 9500. Seat 3 thinks for a moment and then pushes all in. The big blind calls and they show their cards. The big blind is drawing dead. The river pairs the Jack and Seat 3 takes it down to double up his chip stack.
Standing up on all four legs from Seat 3 the donkey raises his head and brays!
We close round two with 50,000 in chips.
All the best,
Braying Donkey
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We are playing six handed, so the game moves too quickly to take notes or to write commentary. I can only tell you one of the hands from the first two rounds.
I will give it to you like a television show. Seat number three has about the 25000 starting stack and has ace king of hearts, playing 75–150, he raises to 400. Everyone folds to the Big blind who has about 30,000 in chips and holds an eight of clubs and nine of hearts and calls.
The flop comes 3TJ with two hearts.The big blind bets 600 with his open ended straight draw. Seat 3 has a nut gut shot straight draw and a nut flush draw. He considers for a moment. Any queen gives him the nuts. Any heart that doesn't match the board gives him the nuts. The king or ace are also likely good.The 600 bet could be an attempt to steal, and the ace king wants to keep him in. So Seat 3 min-raises to 1200.The big blind calls hunting for his straight.
The turn comes queen of clubs. Miracle card for both players. The big blind bets out his straight for 1600. Seat 3 sees not only that he has the nut straight but even if his opponent also has a king ace, any heart will still give seat 3 the nut flush. Seat three min-raises to 3200.
Protecting his straight from the perceived threats of a bigger straight (king or ace river), a flush draw or a set filling up, the big blind raises to 9500. Seat 3 thinks for a moment and then pushes all in. The big blind calls and they show their cards. The big blind is drawing dead. The river pairs the Jack and Seat 3 takes it down to double up his chip stack.
Standing up on all four legs from Seat 3 the donkey raises his head and brays!
We close round two with 50,000 in chips.
All the best,
Braying Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Round 9
Sorry, for some reason, possibly karma related, my last message last night didn't go out and I can't find any trace of it. My memory of it has faded some, but I will give you the one hand that is pretty clear in my mind.
We stole a few blinds and re-stole one, so we had managed to keep our head above water and even add a bit to our stack, but we were still in the "need to double up" position.
Our nemesis in Seat 6 raised and was re-raised by Seat 7. We woke up in the big blind with JJ, our first JJ all day. Somewhat exciting as we hadn't seen QQ, KK or AA either, and now we need it. We push all in. Seat 6 thinks for a while and then calls. Seat 7 folds, so his re-raise is now dead money in the pot - if we win we will do far better than just doubling up.
Seat 6 shows TT - we're an 82% favorite! The flop comes 469. We are now a 90% favorite! Not sure why, but we're thinking "7", and sure enough a 7 turns. I'm not sure why, but I couldn't get the vision of an 8 out of my mind - I was thinking, "no 8, no 8" and sure enough an 8 hit the river giving him a straight! Bye-bye donkey.
I left pretty incredibly frustrated. Should have had 35,000 plus in chips. Oh well, I understand luck is part of the game, and we did win a race with AQ against QQ earlier.
Tomorrow we're playing Hi-Lo Pot Limit Omaha, which is too difficult to describe in a play by play, but Donkey will check back in next time hold'em is dealt.
All the best,
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Friday, June 12, 2015
NLH rounds 7-8
Round 7 - playing 200-400 with 50 antes. 8 players right now so 1000 in the pot before cards are dealt.
We fold our bb.
Seat 4 raises to 900 and seat 7 calls. We call from Sb with 78c. Flop comes 36J with 2 hearts and we exit when seat 7 bets 1400.
In seat 7 we raise to 850 with AJh. The button (short stacked woman) raises to 2100 and we call. Flop comes 46J with one heart. Great flop. We check and she pushes all in as expected for 5150. We call and she shows AA. Terrible. We are an 8% dog. Her aces hold up. Our worst single hand loss yet.
In seat 5 we bet 900 with 34c and everyone folds. Great result as we pick up the 1000 in the pot.
Next hand in seat 4 we raise to 900 with AJ and the blinds call. Flop comes 238 with 2 hearts. Sb bets 1300 representing he his something. Bb flat calls. He probably did hit something and is looking to get a second pair. We raise to 4300 because that's what we would do if we had an overpair. They both fold.
Seat 6 (very aggressive guy) raises to 900 and we call from the bb with Q4. Flop comes 36Q with 2 hearts. We check and he bets 1200. We knew he would bet regardless of his holding. We raise to 2400. He tanks for a bit and then three bets to 6000. Wow. We call hoping for a great turn or for him to check it down. Could his preflop raise have been Qx? Turn is a 3c. We check and he bets 10000. Calling would basically make us pot committed. It's fold or push. I think we have a winner. If we push, I think he may fold, but Q4 just doesn't feel like a good hand to risk everything on. We fold and take our new worst beat on a hand. We have just over 30000 in chips now.
Same guy in seat 6 makes it 900 and gets calls from 7 and the button. We call from the bb with 56d. Good time to see a flop with suited connectors. Flop comes 2JK rainbow no diamonds. Tough to be uglier. Seat 6 bets 2200 and we fold.
Seat 8 bets 900 and we call from the Sb with 8Ts. Flop comes 48K with 2 spades. Great flop for us but we're not there yet. We check and he bets 1100. We call and the turn comes 5c. Yuck. We check and he bets 2400. We call and the river comes Kd. We check and he bets 5000. Huge pot. Does he have a K? He's betting like he does but it also could be a triple barrel bluff and the river king makes it less likely that he has one. What to do with second pair? We call and he shows the king to take it down. Ouch. We're not doing well.
Seat 4 raises to 900. We raise from seat 7 with TT to 3800 and seat 4 calls. The flop comes JQA of diamonds. We don't have a diamond. He bets 4900 and we fold. We have about 14000 in chips. We are now in push territory. Now I'm wishing we had called with the Q4!
Round 8 playing 250-500 with 50 antes and 9 players, so pst have 1200 before cards are dealt.
Button raises to 1100 and we are in the bb with Q3o. Terrible hand but he is clearly trying to purchase the 1200 pot. We raise to 4400 and he folds.
Seat 6 raises to 1050 and we call from the button with 55. Thought about pushing, but we're in position so let's see what flops. Bb calls and flop comes 3TJ. They both check and we bet 3300 to purchase it. They both fold.
We have just over 18000 now.
Seat 6, our nemesis, raises to 1100 and we call from the bb with K6s. Flop comes 35Q with 2 spades. We check and he bets 1200. We consider pushing but just call. Turn comes 7d. Now we have a gut shot straight draw. We check and he checks. River pairs the Q. No good. He checked the turn though so we bluff with 3200. He goes into the tank and then calls with ace high to take it down. Wow. Great call. We are back down to just over 12000.
The button raises to 1150 and we are in the bb with J2. He is trying to steal again but we can only re-steal so many times. Let's try. We raise to 4400. He goes into the tank. Then folds.
Last hand of the round everyone folds to us in the Sb. We have k5. Heads up against random hands that's better than most (Q8o is the median I believe). We push all in and the bb folds.
Terrible couple of rounds but we head to dinner with almost 15000 in chips. We need to double up soon so we can play poker again.
All the best,
Hungry Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
We fold our bb.
Seat 4 raises to 900 and seat 7 calls. We call from Sb with 78c. Flop comes 36J with 2 hearts and we exit when seat 7 bets 1400.
In seat 7 we raise to 850 with AJh. The button (short stacked woman) raises to 2100 and we call. Flop comes 46J with one heart. Great flop. We check and she pushes all in as expected for 5150. We call and she shows AA. Terrible. We are an 8% dog. Her aces hold up. Our worst single hand loss yet.
In seat 5 we bet 900 with 34c and everyone folds. Great result as we pick up the 1000 in the pot.
Next hand in seat 4 we raise to 900 with AJ and the blinds call. Flop comes 238 with 2 hearts. Sb bets 1300 representing he his something. Bb flat calls. He probably did hit something and is looking to get a second pair. We raise to 4300 because that's what we would do if we had an overpair. They both fold.
Seat 6 (very aggressive guy) raises to 900 and we call from the bb with Q4. Flop comes 36Q with 2 hearts. We check and he bets 1200. We knew he would bet regardless of his holding. We raise to 2400. He tanks for a bit and then three bets to 6000. Wow. We call hoping for a great turn or for him to check it down. Could his preflop raise have been Qx? Turn is a 3c. We check and he bets 10000. Calling would basically make us pot committed. It's fold or push. I think we have a winner. If we push, I think he may fold, but Q4 just doesn't feel like a good hand to risk everything on. We fold and take our new worst beat on a hand. We have just over 30000 in chips now.
Same guy in seat 6 makes it 900 and gets calls from 7 and the button. We call from the bb with 56d. Good time to see a flop with suited connectors. Flop comes 2JK rainbow no diamonds. Tough to be uglier. Seat 6 bets 2200 and we fold.
Seat 8 bets 900 and we call from the Sb with 8Ts. Flop comes 48K with 2 spades. Great flop for us but we're not there yet. We check and he bets 1100. We call and the turn comes 5c. Yuck. We check and he bets 2400. We call and the river comes Kd. We check and he bets 5000. Huge pot. Does he have a K? He's betting like he does but it also could be a triple barrel bluff and the river king makes it less likely that he has one. What to do with second pair? We call and he shows the king to take it down. Ouch. We're not doing well.
Seat 4 raises to 900. We raise from seat 7 with TT to 3800 and seat 4 calls. The flop comes JQA of diamonds. We don't have a diamond. He bets 4900 and we fold. We have about 14000 in chips. We are now in push territory. Now I'm wishing we had called with the Q4!
Round 8 playing 250-500 with 50 antes and 9 players, so pst have 1200 before cards are dealt.
Button raises to 1100 and we are in the bb with Q3o. Terrible hand but he is clearly trying to purchase the 1200 pot. We raise to 4400 and he folds.
Seat 6 raises to 1050 and we call from the button with 55. Thought about pushing, but we're in position so let's see what flops. Bb calls and flop comes 3TJ. They both check and we bet 3300 to purchase it. They both fold.
We have just over 18000 now.
Seat 6, our nemesis, raises to 1100 and we call from the bb with K6s. Flop comes 35Q with 2 spades. We check and he bets 1200. We consider pushing but just call. Turn comes 7d. Now we have a gut shot straight draw. We check and he checks. River pairs the Q. No good. He checked the turn though so we bluff with 3200. He goes into the tank and then calls with ace high to take it down. Wow. Great call. We are back down to just over 12000.
The button raises to 1150 and we are in the bb with J2. He is trying to steal again but we can only re-steal so many times. Let's try. We raise to 4400. He goes into the tank. Then folds.
Last hand of the round everyone folds to us in the Sb. We have k5. Heads up against random hands that's better than most (Q8o is the median I believe). We push all in and the bb folds.
Terrible couple of rounds but we head to dinner with almost 15000 in chips. We need to double up soon so we can play poker again.
All the best,
Hungry Donkey
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NLH Rounds 5-6
Playing 100-200 with 25 antes. Currently 9 players at the table so pots are 525 before cards are dealt.
Seat 5 raises to 500 and we call from the button with AJ. Flop comes 599. Doubtful that hit him but he bets 600. We call to see what he does on the turn and hopefully hit an A or J. Turn comes 8 and he bets 1300. All bad things. We fold.
Seat 4 bets 525 and seats 5 and 7 call. We call from bb with K5o and the four of us see 467 flop with 2 spades. Open ended straight draw that likely didn't hit others. We check though hoping to see a cheap card. Seat 4 bets 1600. Hmmmm. If others call we will as the pot odds will be good. Seat 5 raises to 3900. Seat 7 folds and so do we. Far too much for us on a 32% or less draw, particularly with Seat 4 still behind us to act. Seat 4 pushes all in and they are both in with cards up. One flopped a set with 44 and the other has a straight draw, flush draw and pair with 78s. Turn and river were both jacks so we would have missed. The guy with pocket fours takes it down with his full house.
Seat 5 bet 525 and we call with Q7s from small blind. Bb calls and flop comes 57A. We check and seat 5 bets 800. Hmmm - pot is big enough to spend 800 looking for a second pair or set on the turn. We call and bb calls. Turn comes Tc. We check and seat 5 bets 2200. Big bet and not sure what he has. Maybe an A or a big pocket pair and clearly not afraid of us having an ace. Either way, we fold.
We limp from seat 4 with 33. Seat 6 calls and seat 8 raises to 600. The blinds fold and its on is. Seat 6 tends to call hands down and is pretty aggressive. In a race, we are likely a slight favorite and that's probably what this would be, but let's not hope to race with 33. We call and seat 6 calls. The flop comes 48Q with 2 clubs. No good. We check and they both check. Free card. Turn comes 3s! It's the perfect time to bet because the post flop checks make it look like we are trying to buy the pot. We bet 1000 and seat 6 calls but unfortunately seat 8 folds. The river comes Jh. We bet 2600 and he calls and mucks his hand when he sees the set of tres.
Seat 7 raises to 500 and we call in the Sb with KTh. Bb calls and flop comes 5QK with 2 clubs. We check assuming someone behind us will bet but they both check and the 9c turns putting a flush and a straight on the board. Oiy! That's the danger of slow play. We bet 1100 and seat 7 calls. The river comes 8d. Seems like a rag. We bet 1500 and he calls and mucks when we show our cards.
We briefly play a few small hands that we discard quickly and round 5 ends. Now in 6 - Playing 150-300 with 25 antes so pots are 675 before cards are dealt.
Seat 5 bets 650 and seat 6 raises to 4500. We are in seat 8 with 99 and ask to see how many chips he has left as he seems to be hiding them. 150. Yep, he didn't want to have people think he was all in. Hmmmm. We call and everyone else folds. Doesn't matter what the flop is, the last 150 will go in. Nonetheless, flop is fantastic - 39A. We hit a set. He shows AK. The turn is a 6 and he's drawing dead when he hits his ace on the river. Our set of 9s beats his aces and kings. Bye bye.
We raise to 650 in seat 5 with 55 and get calls from seat 7 and the bb. Flop comes 4TQ. Bb checks and we bet 1000 hoping to purchase it. Unfortunately seat 7 calls. The turn comes J and we check. He bets 3500 and we lay it down.
In seat 3 we raise to 700 with JQh and seat 6 re-raises to 2300. Everyone else folds. Hmmmm. It's 1600 to call and there's about 3700 in the pot. He has more chips than we do, so if we hit, the sky's the limit. We call. Flop comes 236 with 2 spades and no hearts. We check. He bets 2800. We fold.
Unfortunately the woman to my left (yep - two tables in a row) has about 6000 in chips. We have to know that she could push all in at any time which makes it tough to play a lot of hands we would like to play (eg 78d).
After a good run and then losing small pieces of our stack quite a few times, we finish round 6 with just over 40000 in chips. That puts us in third at our table but a lot of people have already left the building. Feeling good.
All the best,
Zen Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Seat 5 raises to 500 and we call from the button with AJ. Flop comes 599. Doubtful that hit him but he bets 600. We call to see what he does on the turn and hopefully hit an A or J. Turn comes 8 and he bets 1300. All bad things. We fold.
Seat 4 bets 525 and seats 5 and 7 call. We call from bb with K5o and the four of us see 467 flop with 2 spades. Open ended straight draw that likely didn't hit others. We check though hoping to see a cheap card. Seat 4 bets 1600. Hmmmm. If others call we will as the pot odds will be good. Seat 5 raises to 3900. Seat 7 folds and so do we. Far too much for us on a 32% or less draw, particularly with Seat 4 still behind us to act. Seat 4 pushes all in and they are both in with cards up. One flopped a set with 44 and the other has a straight draw, flush draw and pair with 78s. Turn and river were both jacks so we would have missed. The guy with pocket fours takes it down with his full house.
Seat 5 bet 525 and we call with Q7s from small blind. Bb calls and flop comes 57A. We check and seat 5 bets 800. Hmmm - pot is big enough to spend 800 looking for a second pair or set on the turn. We call and bb calls. Turn comes Tc. We check and seat 5 bets 2200. Big bet and not sure what he has. Maybe an A or a big pocket pair and clearly not afraid of us having an ace. Either way, we fold.
We limp from seat 4 with 33. Seat 6 calls and seat 8 raises to 600. The blinds fold and its on is. Seat 6 tends to call hands down and is pretty aggressive. In a race, we are likely a slight favorite and that's probably what this would be, but let's not hope to race with 33. We call and seat 6 calls. The flop comes 48Q with 2 clubs. No good. We check and they both check. Free card. Turn comes 3s! It's the perfect time to bet because the post flop checks make it look like we are trying to buy the pot. We bet 1000 and seat 6 calls but unfortunately seat 8 folds. The river comes Jh. We bet 2600 and he calls and mucks his hand when he sees the set of tres.
Seat 7 raises to 500 and we call in the Sb with KTh. Bb calls and flop comes 5QK with 2 clubs. We check assuming someone behind us will bet but they both check and the 9c turns putting a flush and a straight on the board. Oiy! That's the danger of slow play. We bet 1100 and seat 7 calls. The river comes 8d. Seems like a rag. We bet 1500 and he calls and mucks when we show our cards.
We briefly play a few small hands that we discard quickly and round 5 ends. Now in 6 - Playing 150-300 with 25 antes so pots are 675 before cards are dealt.
Seat 5 bets 650 and seat 6 raises to 4500. We are in seat 8 with 99 and ask to see how many chips he has left as he seems to be hiding them. 150. Yep, he didn't want to have people think he was all in. Hmmmm. We call and everyone else folds. Doesn't matter what the flop is, the last 150 will go in. Nonetheless, flop is fantastic - 39A. We hit a set. He shows AK. The turn is a 6 and he's drawing dead when he hits his ace on the river. Our set of 9s beats his aces and kings. Bye bye.
We raise to 650 in seat 5 with 55 and get calls from seat 7 and the bb. Flop comes 4TQ. Bb checks and we bet 1000 hoping to purchase it. Unfortunately seat 7 calls. The turn comes J and we check. He bets 3500 and we lay it down.
In seat 3 we raise to 700 with JQh and seat 6 re-raises to 2300. Everyone else folds. Hmmmm. It's 1600 to call and there's about 3700 in the pot. He has more chips than we do, so if we hit, the sky's the limit. We call. Flop comes 236 with 2 spades and no hearts. We check. He bets 2800. We fold.
Unfortunately the woman to my left (yep - two tables in a row) has about 6000 in chips. We have to know that she could push all in at any time which makes it tough to play a lot of hands we would like to play (eg 78d).
After a good run and then losing small pieces of our stack quite a few times, we finish round 6 with just over 40000 in chips. That puts us in third at our table but a lot of people have already left the building. Feeling good.
All the best,
Zen Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
NLH Deep Stack Rounds 3-4
Playing 75-150.
Everyone folds to us on the button with KJs and we raise to 450. The Sb raises to 1475 and the bb folds. Hmmm, we are strong but she must have a pocket pair or a strong ace. We call. Flop comes AA9 with no spades. She bets out 2000. Likely doesn't have an ace, but even against 22 we are about a 24% dog. We could bluff, but this just isn't right time. We fold.
We raise with 7 10 of hearts from seat 5 to 300. Seat eight raises to 700 and everyone else folds. We call and the flop comes JQK. We check and he bets 700. We call with our open ended straight draw and the turn comes 4. No good. We check and he bets 2200. Too much. We fold. Our table breaks immediately after and he tells me he had pocket jacks. Any big card was good enough for him to beat us. We needed a 9 or ace no matter what.
We move to the amazon room and a table of people we need to learn about all over. We have 12000 in chips.
In seat 5 we raise to 400 with ATh. Seat 7 calls and the bb pushes all in for 3800. We fold and seat 5 calls. Bb had KK and seat 5 had 99. The board wouldn't have hit us and rivered a 9 to give it to seat 5. Terrible river for bb, but he's bye bye now.
Seat 4 raises to 400 and seat 6 calls. We call from bb with A6. Flop comes AT2 with 2 spades. We check. 4 checks and 6 bets 600. We raise to 1800 hoping to take it down but he calls. The turn comes 2s pairing the board and putting the flush on there. Scare cards are good for us here. We bet 1500 in a suck bet kind of way. He raises to 4000. Either he has a good ace or a flush or he's doing great bluff. We fold. We are down just under 10000.
Seat 3 bets 450 and seat 6 calls. We are on the button with AQ and raise to 1450. Seat 3 raises to 4500 and seat 6 folds. If we call we are pot committed, so it's fold or push. We push and he calls showing QQ. Ouch. We are about 30%. We flop an ace! It holds up and we double up to almost 20000. Great luck!
Seat 4 raises to 400. Seat 5 calls and we call from the button with 47h. The bb calls and 4 of us see the flop 47J with 2 diamonds. Great - 2 pair. Seat 5 bets 900. If he has a jack, we need to make him pay to see more cards. We raise to 2700 and he calls. The two of us see the turn come 2s. Total rag. Great for us. He bets 3000. He must think we are on a flush draw. Unlikely he flopped a set and didn't raise our post flop bet so we have to be ahead right now. With flush draws and two pair draws we would rather take the pot now than watch the river (what if a 2d hit!). We push all in and he folds. That's fine. Would have preferred a call as we were likely an 80% favorite (if he had Jx), but wanted to either be done or get the money in before he could see if he hit.
Seat 5 makes it 450 and seat 6 calls. We have TT in seat 8 and raise to 1350. The bb calls and we see the flop 58A with 2 hearts. He checks. Does he have an A and he's slow playing it? Let's find out. We bet 1600 and he pushes all in for 5600. We fold.
Seat 3 raises to 500 and seat 8 calls. We are in the Sb with AKh. Premium hand. Would love to slow play but we are out of position. We raise to 1500. They both call and flop comes 25K rainbow (one heart). Perfect flop for us. The only over card to our pair of kings would give us aces to boot. We check and seat 3 checks. Seat 8 throws in a 5000 chip and says 25. The dealer halts us and declares it's a bet for 250, as opposed to the clearly intended 2500. I say that's fine but I think the call is wrong. I could raise but instead smooth call the 250 at the same time to further the image of our weak hand. Seat 3 repeats my statements and action and we ultimately get the floor called who of course says its 2500. So we put 2500 in and unfortunately seat 3 folds. The turn is a 2, pairing the board but continuing the rainbow and relatively uneventful. We check hoping he will bet. He checks and the river comes 4. We bet 5000 and he calls showing JK. Our KA takes it down.
Seat 4 bets 450 and we call from the bb with 58. Bad hand but cheap to call and who knows what the flop will bring. Flop comes A67 with 2 clubs giving us an open ended straight draw. We check and he bets 525. We call and the turn comes A pairing the board. We check and he checks. Hmmmm, he likely doesn't have an ace or a pocket pair. The river comes Jc. No good for us but does put a flush on the board and if we bet it now he will likely think we called the flop hunting for a flush. If he doesn't have a J, he will probably fold anyway thinking that we at least flopped a pair of not a flush draw. We bet 1200 and he folds.
Seat 3 raises to 500 and everyone folds to us in the bb. We call with 46. We have discussed the questionable reasoning behind this. Flop comes 6TK. We hit a pair but there's a good chance he did too or that he started with a bigger one. We need a second pair. We check and he bets 700. We call and the turn comes Q. Not good. If he has any big card he should have us beat. We check and oddly he does too. River comes 5. Total rag. Hmmmm - his turn check is very odd. True sign of weakness. We bluff in with 1400 and he calls showing JJ. Wow. Great call with a QK on the board. He takes it down.
We finish round 4 with 33000. We still haven't seen a pocket pair bigger than Ts and haven't hit a set with the 5 or 6 flops we've seen with pocket pairs, but can't complain about the luck here as we should have been walking out the door when our AQ ran against QQ.
All the best,
Lucky Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Everyone folds to us on the button with KJs and we raise to 450. The Sb raises to 1475 and the bb folds. Hmmm, we are strong but she must have a pocket pair or a strong ace. We call. Flop comes AA9 with no spades. She bets out 2000. Likely doesn't have an ace, but even against 22 we are about a 24% dog. We could bluff, but this just isn't right time. We fold.
We raise with 7 10 of hearts from seat 5 to 300. Seat eight raises to 700 and everyone else folds. We call and the flop comes JQK. We check and he bets 700. We call with our open ended straight draw and the turn comes 4. No good. We check and he bets 2200. Too much. We fold. Our table breaks immediately after and he tells me he had pocket jacks. Any big card was good enough for him to beat us. We needed a 9 or ace no matter what.
We move to the amazon room and a table of people we need to learn about all over. We have 12000 in chips.
In seat 5 we raise to 400 with ATh. Seat 7 calls and the bb pushes all in for 3800. We fold and seat 5 calls. Bb had KK and seat 5 had 99. The board wouldn't have hit us and rivered a 9 to give it to seat 5. Terrible river for bb, but he's bye bye now.
Seat 4 raises to 400 and seat 6 calls. We call from bb with A6. Flop comes AT2 with 2 spades. We check. 4 checks and 6 bets 600. We raise to 1800 hoping to take it down but he calls. The turn comes 2s pairing the board and putting the flush on there. Scare cards are good for us here. We bet 1500 in a suck bet kind of way. He raises to 4000. Either he has a good ace or a flush or he's doing great bluff. We fold. We are down just under 10000.
Seat 3 bets 450 and seat 6 calls. We are on the button with AQ and raise to 1450. Seat 3 raises to 4500 and seat 6 folds. If we call we are pot committed, so it's fold or push. We push and he calls showing QQ. Ouch. We are about 30%. We flop an ace! It holds up and we double up to almost 20000. Great luck!
Seat 4 raises to 400. Seat 5 calls and we call from the button with 47h. The bb calls and 4 of us see the flop 47J with 2 diamonds. Great - 2 pair. Seat 5 bets 900. If he has a jack, we need to make him pay to see more cards. We raise to 2700 and he calls. The two of us see the turn come 2s. Total rag. Great for us. He bets 3000. He must think we are on a flush draw. Unlikely he flopped a set and didn't raise our post flop bet so we have to be ahead right now. With flush draws and two pair draws we would rather take the pot now than watch the river (what if a 2d hit!). We push all in and he folds. That's fine. Would have preferred a call as we were likely an 80% favorite (if he had Jx), but wanted to either be done or get the money in before he could see if he hit.
Seat 5 makes it 450 and seat 6 calls. We have TT in seat 8 and raise to 1350. The bb calls and we see the flop 58A with 2 hearts. He checks. Does he have an A and he's slow playing it? Let's find out. We bet 1600 and he pushes all in for 5600. We fold.
Seat 3 raises to 500 and seat 8 calls. We are in the Sb with AKh. Premium hand. Would love to slow play but we are out of position. We raise to 1500. They both call and flop comes 25K rainbow (one heart). Perfect flop for us. The only over card to our pair of kings would give us aces to boot. We check and seat 3 checks. Seat 8 throws in a 5000 chip and says 25. The dealer halts us and declares it's a bet for 250, as opposed to the clearly intended 2500. I say that's fine but I think the call is wrong. I could raise but instead smooth call the 250 at the same time to further the image of our weak hand. Seat 3 repeats my statements and action and we ultimately get the floor called who of course says its 2500. So we put 2500 in and unfortunately seat 3 folds. The turn is a 2, pairing the board but continuing the rainbow and relatively uneventful. We check hoping he will bet. He checks and the river comes 4. We bet 5000 and he calls showing JK. Our KA takes it down.
Seat 4 bets 450 and we call from the bb with 58. Bad hand but cheap to call and who knows what the flop will bring. Flop comes A67 with 2 clubs giving us an open ended straight draw. We check and he bets 525. We call and the turn comes A pairing the board. We check and he checks. Hmmmm, he likely doesn't have an ace or a pocket pair. The river comes Jc. No good for us but does put a flush on the board and if we bet it now he will likely think we called the flop hunting for a flush. If he doesn't have a J, he will probably fold anyway thinking that we at least flopped a pair of not a flush draw. We bet 1200 and he folds.
Seat 3 raises to 500 and everyone folds to us in the bb. We call with 46. We have discussed the questionable reasoning behind this. Flop comes 6TK. We hit a pair but there's a good chance he did too or that he started with a bigger one. We need a second pair. We check and he bets 700. We call and the turn comes Q. Not good. If he has any big card he should have us beat. We check and oddly he does too. River comes 5. Total rag. Hmmmm - his turn check is very odd. True sign of weakness. We bluff in with 1400 and he calls showing JJ. Wow. Great call with a QK on the board. He takes it down.
We finish round 4 with 33000. We still haven't seen a pocket pair bigger than Ts and haven't hit a set with the 5 or 6 flops we've seen with pocket pairs, but can't complain about the luck here as we should have been walking out the door when our AQ ran against QQ.
All the best,
Lucky Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
NLH Deep Stack Rounds 1-2
Imagine a ragged busted pissed off donkey angrily saddling up to a seat at the wsop. We have had a terrible ride thus far and long for the saner days of Don Quixote.
Today is a 10am start - very strange. It's a deep stack tournament, which we prefer because it allows us to play more hands hunting and then play post flop (which we believe, perhaps incorrectly, is where we are strongest) starting 25-50 with 15,000 in chips.
We don't play a hand for the first five or six and then play four in a row. It was too fast to take notes so this will be a little sketchy.
Seats 3 and 4 limp and 5 raises to 125. Weak raise with 175 already in. We call from seat 6 with 9To. Weak hand but this is why we like deep stack. Seat 8 raises to 375 and everyone folds to weak ass seat 5 who calls. We call and the pot is about 1300 when the flop comes 359 with 2 spades. Hmmm. Seat 5 checks and we check believing that seat 8 will try to buy it. He does. He bets 1100, which is like screaming "please don't call!" Seat 5 folds and we min raise to 2200. He thinks for a minute and calls. Hmmm, probably doesn't have an over-pair. Turn comes Ts giving us top 2 pair but 3 spades on the board. We don't want another spade. We bet 3000 and he calls. Hmmmm. River comes 4d. Perfect. No spade and didn't pair the board. We bet 5500 hoping he's misplayed AA or KK. He goes into the tank and folds. Oh well, great pick up anyway.
Next hand we have TJ and flop a jack against 3 players. Two of them call our small bet and the turn is a rag. The bb calls our turn bet and the river is a rag. He checks and we check. He had flopped an open ended straight draw and rivered a pair. Our jacks take it down.
Next hand we have JQh. Yep 9T followed by TJ followed by JQ. We raise preflop and get 2 callers. The board flopped something like 34T. We check and they check and the turn comes J. We bet and they fold.
We at under the gun with AQd and raise to 125. We get 2 callers and the flop comes 9TA with one diamond. We check. We are most likely good but someone could have 2 pair. Seat 4 bets 175 and we call to see the turn heads up. It's a K. Hmmm. Not good as this does nothing for us but create a gut shot straight draw and it increases her 2 pair odds (yep - lady in seat 4). We check and she bets 375. We call. River comes J giving us the nut straight. We bet 1500 and she raises to 3300. We three bet and she pushes to split the pot with her JQ. We had her pre-flop and post flop but she turned a straight and we got lucky to catch up on the river.
We raise to 150 from seat 5 with 88 and get called by the blinds. Flop comes KQQ. Sb checks and bb bets 250. Hmmm, looks like a bluff. Here's what we're thinking - I've been pretty aggressive so if he did hit the flop, he would more likely check and let me bet it. The fact that he bet it, in this case, weighs a little against him having it. Also, as long as he doesn't have one of the Ks or Qs we are very likely in the lead. We call and watch for his turn action. Sb folds. Turn comes another K. He checks. Fantastic card for us. It couldn't have made him better because if he had one he already had us beat. However if he has a Q, he has to worry that we called with a K and now have kings full. We bet 375 hoping it will look like a suck bet, just low enough to make him call when we have a monster. He folds. Great.
Playing 50-100. We are in seat 4 with QK and raise to 250. Seats 6, 8 and 9 call and the bb raises to 1250. Hmmm. We call and seat 6 calls. The flop comes A9T with two diamonds. All we have is a gut shot straight draw when bb bets 700. Weird. The pot is over 4000. There's no hand he can have that makes that make sense. There's a straight draw and a flush draw and lions and tigers and bears. For 700 we call and hope a jack turns. Seat 6 calls and the turn comes a 4c. Total rag. Bb checks and we check. Seat 6 bets 2200. Bb folds. This is the suck bet scenario. The pot is over 6000 and we would think he's begging for a call, but like the flop bet, there are just too many possibilities on this board for a suck bet to make sense. And his call on the flop, as opposed to a raise of the weak 700 means he doesn't have much to defend. We are in a perfect position to raise to 6600 and bluff him out of a big pot. The problem is that he could have a weak ace and call us and we literally have nothing but a jack prayer to back up our bluff. We fold. Hmmmmm.
Seat 3 limps and seat 4 raises to 300. We call from seat 6 with 55 and see the flop with the blinds and seat 4. It comes 467. Great flop for us as it probably didn't hit seat 4 and gives us the open ended straight. Unfortunately there's a good chance it hit one of the blinds but they both check. Seat 4 bets 450 and we raise to 1450 hoping to take it down. We are happy to see he blinds fold but seat 4 calls. The turn comes T. That could have hit him but he checks. We take another stab betting 2200 and he tanks for a minute and then calls. The river comes 6, pairing the board. He checks. Hmmm. The river didn't help him but he's been calling us down and likely won't call with anything we beat (even AK) or fold anything that beats us. We check and he shows KK to take it down. Ouch. We are back around our starting stack.
Seat 3 raises to 250 and gets called by seat 4. We call with 9Qd in seat 5 and the bb calls. 4 of us see the flop 279 with 2 diamonds. Great flop for us. Bb checks and seat 3 bets 700. Seat 4 calls and we just call. He could have an overpair and let's see if we get a diamond before he gets to bet again. Bb folds and 3 of us see the turn Ks. Seats 3 and 4 check. Strange. We check to see the river and its a 9! Seat 3 bets 1200. Hmmm. Does he have a 9. His betting would support that, but is his kicker better than Q? He preflop raised, which doesn't support A9. He checked the turn, which doesn't support K9, 97 or 92. We raise to 3600 and he calls. He had A9 and takes it down. It was a loose preflop raise, but it worked for him and donkey is limping.
Seat 3 raises to 300 and gets calls from seat 7 and 8. We call from the bb with 46o. Bad starting hand but we're already in for 100 and there's no one behind us to raise. Flop comes 6JQ. We check our tiny pair and seat 3 bets 800. Seat 8 calls. The pot is almost 3000 so we call. This would only happen with the deep stacks. The turn comes 4 giving us 2 pair and surely not helping them. We check and seat 3 bets 1200. Seat 8 calls. We can't slow play anymore. They each likely have a pair and are looking for their second to crush our small two pair. We raise to 4200 and they both fold.
We play a handful of less memorable hands, winning and losing a few hundred here and there. We end round 2 with 16000 in chips. Just about where we started, ragged busted and pissed off.
All the best,
El Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Today is a 10am start - very strange. It's a deep stack tournament, which we prefer because it allows us to play more hands hunting and then play post flop (which we believe, perhaps incorrectly, is where we are strongest) starting 25-50 with 15,000 in chips.
We don't play a hand for the first five or six and then play four in a row. It was too fast to take notes so this will be a little sketchy.
Seats 3 and 4 limp and 5 raises to 125. Weak raise with 175 already in. We call from seat 6 with 9To. Weak hand but this is why we like deep stack. Seat 8 raises to 375 and everyone folds to weak ass seat 5 who calls. We call and the pot is about 1300 when the flop comes 359 with 2 spades. Hmmm. Seat 5 checks and we check believing that seat 8 will try to buy it. He does. He bets 1100, which is like screaming "please don't call!" Seat 5 folds and we min raise to 2200. He thinks for a minute and calls. Hmmm, probably doesn't have an over-pair. Turn comes Ts giving us top 2 pair but 3 spades on the board. We don't want another spade. We bet 3000 and he calls. Hmmmm. River comes 4d. Perfect. No spade and didn't pair the board. We bet 5500 hoping he's misplayed AA or KK. He goes into the tank and folds. Oh well, great pick up anyway.
Next hand we have TJ and flop a jack against 3 players. Two of them call our small bet and the turn is a rag. The bb calls our turn bet and the river is a rag. He checks and we check. He had flopped an open ended straight draw and rivered a pair. Our jacks take it down.
Next hand we have JQh. Yep 9T followed by TJ followed by JQ. We raise preflop and get 2 callers. The board flopped something like 34T. We check and they check and the turn comes J. We bet and they fold.
We at under the gun with AQd and raise to 125. We get 2 callers and the flop comes 9TA with one diamond. We check. We are most likely good but someone could have 2 pair. Seat 4 bets 175 and we call to see the turn heads up. It's a K. Hmmm. Not good as this does nothing for us but create a gut shot straight draw and it increases her 2 pair odds (yep - lady in seat 4). We check and she bets 375. We call. River comes J giving us the nut straight. We bet 1500 and she raises to 3300. We three bet and she pushes to split the pot with her JQ. We had her pre-flop and post flop but she turned a straight and we got lucky to catch up on the river.
We raise to 150 from seat 5 with 88 and get called by the blinds. Flop comes KQQ. Sb checks and bb bets 250. Hmmm, looks like a bluff. Here's what we're thinking - I've been pretty aggressive so if he did hit the flop, he would more likely check and let me bet it. The fact that he bet it, in this case, weighs a little against him having it. Also, as long as he doesn't have one of the Ks or Qs we are very likely in the lead. We call and watch for his turn action. Sb folds. Turn comes another K. He checks. Fantastic card for us. It couldn't have made him better because if he had one he already had us beat. However if he has a Q, he has to worry that we called with a K and now have kings full. We bet 375 hoping it will look like a suck bet, just low enough to make him call when we have a monster. He folds. Great.
Playing 50-100. We are in seat 4 with QK and raise to 250. Seats 6, 8 and 9 call and the bb raises to 1250. Hmmm. We call and seat 6 calls. The flop comes A9T with two diamonds. All we have is a gut shot straight draw when bb bets 700. Weird. The pot is over 4000. There's no hand he can have that makes that make sense. There's a straight draw and a flush draw and lions and tigers and bears. For 700 we call and hope a jack turns. Seat 6 calls and the turn comes a 4c. Total rag. Bb checks and we check. Seat 6 bets 2200. Bb folds. This is the suck bet scenario. The pot is over 6000 and we would think he's begging for a call, but like the flop bet, there are just too many possibilities on this board for a suck bet to make sense. And his call on the flop, as opposed to a raise of the weak 700 means he doesn't have much to defend. We are in a perfect position to raise to 6600 and bluff him out of a big pot. The problem is that he could have a weak ace and call us and we literally have nothing but a jack prayer to back up our bluff. We fold. Hmmmmm.
Seat 3 limps and seat 4 raises to 300. We call from seat 6 with 55 and see the flop with the blinds and seat 4. It comes 467. Great flop for us as it probably didn't hit seat 4 and gives us the open ended straight. Unfortunately there's a good chance it hit one of the blinds but they both check. Seat 4 bets 450 and we raise to 1450 hoping to take it down. We are happy to see he blinds fold but seat 4 calls. The turn comes T. That could have hit him but he checks. We take another stab betting 2200 and he tanks for a minute and then calls. The river comes 6, pairing the board. He checks. Hmmm. The river didn't help him but he's been calling us down and likely won't call with anything we beat (even AK) or fold anything that beats us. We check and he shows KK to take it down. Ouch. We are back around our starting stack.
Seat 3 raises to 250 and gets called by seat 4. We call with 9Qd in seat 5 and the bb calls. 4 of us see the flop 279 with 2 diamonds. Great flop for us. Bb checks and seat 3 bets 700. Seat 4 calls and we just call. He could have an overpair and let's see if we get a diamond before he gets to bet again. Bb folds and 3 of us see the turn Ks. Seats 3 and 4 check. Strange. We check to see the river and its a 9! Seat 3 bets 1200. Hmmm. Does he have a 9. His betting would support that, but is his kicker better than Q? He preflop raised, which doesn't support A9. He checked the turn, which doesn't support K9, 97 or 92. We raise to 3600 and he calls. He had A9 and takes it down. It was a loose preflop raise, but it worked for him and donkey is limping.
Seat 3 raises to 300 and gets calls from seat 7 and 8. We call from the bb with 46o. Bad starting hand but we're already in for 100 and there's no one behind us to raise. Flop comes 6JQ. We check our tiny pair and seat 3 bets 800. Seat 8 calls. The pot is almost 3000 so we call. This would only happen with the deep stacks. The turn comes 4 giving us 2 pair and surely not helping them. We check and seat 3 bets 1200. Seat 8 calls. We can't slow play anymore. They each likely have a pair and are looking for their second to crush our small two pair. We raise to 4200 and they both fold.
We play a handful of less memorable hands, winning and losing a few hundred here and there. We end round 2 with 16000 in chips. Just about where we started, ragged busted and pissed off.
All the best,
El Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
NLH rounds 3-4
We start round 3 playing 75-150. There's a new dynamic at the table as 2 players have less than 2000 in chips and are likely to shove if they have a playable hand. This makes premium hands more valuable and hands like 78s less playable.
Seat 4 raises to 300 and gets calls from 6 and 7. We call from the button with 79s and the blinds call. 6 players see the flop JJ6 with 2 spades. Hmmmm. Everyone checks to seat 6 who bets 1200. Seat 7 folds and we call, looking for a flush. Seat 4 calls and the turn comes Qc. Seat 4 checks and seat 6 pushes all in for 2200. We go into the tank and while we are there Seat 4, evidently not realizing we were in the hand, pushes out his chips calling. He then starts questioning players about whether we had called the prior 1200 wager. So, what do we do? The cheap entry into the hand means either player could actually have higher spades than ours, in which case we are drawing pretty dead. The all in push should be 2 spades or a jack. Even if it's a jack, he could make a full house while I make my flush (or could already have one). The seat 4 inappropriate call is somewhat irrelevant as he thought it was heads up. All we know is his hand is good enough to call the push. Unsure what to do we fold. As it's an all in, they show. Seat 4 has AJh. Solid hand. Seat 6 has K2c. Total bluff. No one had spades. River comes 8h, so we would have missed anyway. Seat 4 took it down.
Seat 3 limps and the Sb limps. We get to see the flop for free from the bb with 46h. Flop comes 359 rainbow (one heart). We have an open ended straight. We bet 325 hoping they will fold but the Sb calls. Turn comes A and he checks. We fire away again with 600 and he calls again. River comes 9. He bets 1100. He is advertising that he hit, but it doesn't matter. We have nothing. We fold.
Everyone folds to us on the button with JQd and we raise to 475. Both blinds call and flop comes A67 with 2 diamonds. They both check and we bet 700. Sb pushes all in for 2300 and bb folds. Hmmm - he probably has an ace, which means we need a diamond. We are about 35% likely to hit the flush and its 1600 to us to win a pot of about 4500. It's basically a toss up. However, there's some chance he has an open ended straight draw or is bluffing, in which cases we are way ahead. We call and he shows A6. He flopped 2 pair. We fish for a diamond on the turn and river but come up empty and he takes it down.
Playing 100-200 Seat 6 raises to 450 and we call from 7 with TQd. The two of us see the flop 57T. He bets 600 and we raise to 1200. He calls. Turn comes 5. He checks and we bet 1800. He calls. River comes 3 and he checks. Not sure what he's calling with. We just check. He shows AT to take it down.
We raise from seat 5 to 475 with AA. Giddey-up. Everyone folds. Wtf? Probably the second time that's happened today and it happened on the AA! Gggrrrrr.
We raise to 475 from seat 3 with 99 and get calls from seat 6 and the bb. Flop comes 45T. Bb bets 600 and we raise to 1200 hoping to take the pot down. Seat 6 folds and the bb calls. Turn comes A and bb bets 1500. If he didn't have us beat on the flop, he does now. We fold.
Seat 7 - very aggressive player - bets 775 and we are on the button with 44. Probably a race if he calls but we raise to 2400 hoping he will fold. He has a huge range of raising hands and hopefully he's on the low end. The blinds fold but seat 7 calls. The turn comes 662. Very unlikely that hit him if he raised and called. He checks. If he has a big pair he would have four bet pre flop. If he had a mid-pair he probably would have bet the flop. He probably has 2 overcards, so we should be a 75% favorite right now. We push in our 8000 chips hoping to just take down the 5000 pot. He calls and shows A6. His range is evidently far broader than I had thought. He has a set of sixes! The turn comes 4 - miracle card giving us a full house, 4s full of 6s. The river comes 2 - horrible card giving him a full house, 6s full of 2s - we are busted. Terrible two rounds!
Donkey down
Sent from my iPhone
Seat 4 raises to 300 and gets calls from 6 and 7. We call from the button with 79s and the blinds call. 6 players see the flop JJ6 with 2 spades. Hmmmm. Everyone checks to seat 6 who bets 1200. Seat 7 folds and we call, looking for a flush. Seat 4 calls and the turn comes Qc. Seat 4 checks and seat 6 pushes all in for 2200. We go into the tank and while we are there Seat 4, evidently not realizing we were in the hand, pushes out his chips calling. He then starts questioning players about whether we had called the prior 1200 wager. So, what do we do? The cheap entry into the hand means either player could actually have higher spades than ours, in which case we are drawing pretty dead. The all in push should be 2 spades or a jack. Even if it's a jack, he could make a full house while I make my flush (or could already have one). The seat 4 inappropriate call is somewhat irrelevant as he thought it was heads up. All we know is his hand is good enough to call the push. Unsure what to do we fold. As it's an all in, they show. Seat 4 has AJh. Solid hand. Seat 6 has K2c. Total bluff. No one had spades. River comes 8h, so we would have missed anyway. Seat 4 took it down.
Seat 3 limps and the Sb limps. We get to see the flop for free from the bb with 46h. Flop comes 359 rainbow (one heart). We have an open ended straight. We bet 325 hoping they will fold but the Sb calls. Turn comes A and he checks. We fire away again with 600 and he calls again. River comes 9. He bets 1100. He is advertising that he hit, but it doesn't matter. We have nothing. We fold.
Everyone folds to us on the button with JQd and we raise to 475. Both blinds call and flop comes A67 with 2 diamonds. They both check and we bet 700. Sb pushes all in for 2300 and bb folds. Hmmm - he probably has an ace, which means we need a diamond. We are about 35% likely to hit the flush and its 1600 to us to win a pot of about 4500. It's basically a toss up. However, there's some chance he has an open ended straight draw or is bluffing, in which cases we are way ahead. We call and he shows A6. He flopped 2 pair. We fish for a diamond on the turn and river but come up empty and he takes it down.
Playing 100-200 Seat 6 raises to 450 and we call from 7 with TQd. The two of us see the flop 57T. He bets 600 and we raise to 1200. He calls. Turn comes 5. He checks and we bet 1800. He calls. River comes 3 and he checks. Not sure what he's calling with. We just check. He shows AT to take it down.
We raise from seat 5 to 475 with AA. Giddey-up. Everyone folds. Wtf? Probably the second time that's happened today and it happened on the AA! Gggrrrrr.
We raise to 475 from seat 3 with 99 and get calls from seat 6 and the bb. Flop comes 45T. Bb bets 600 and we raise to 1200 hoping to take the pot down. Seat 6 folds and the bb calls. Turn comes A and bb bets 1500. If he didn't have us beat on the flop, he does now. We fold.
Seat 7 - very aggressive player - bets 775 and we are on the button with 44. Probably a race if he calls but we raise to 2400 hoping he will fold. He has a huge range of raising hands and hopefully he's on the low end. The blinds fold but seat 7 calls. The turn comes 662. Very unlikely that hit him if he raised and called. He checks. If he has a big pair he would have four bet pre flop. If he had a mid-pair he probably would have bet the flop. He probably has 2 overcards, so we should be a 75% favorite right now. We push in our 8000 chips hoping to just take down the 5000 pot. He calls and shows A6. His range is evidently far broader than I had thought. He has a set of sixes! The turn comes 4 - miracle card giving us a full house, 4s full of 6s. The river comes 2 - horrible card giving him a full house, 6s full of 2s - we are busted. Terrible two rounds!
Donkey down
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NLH rounds 1-2
Donkey is back playing the bloggable NLH. This is a $1000 tournament so the first couple hours will have lots of fish. They will be quickly harvested.
We start with 5000 chips playing 25-50.
In round 1 we only play two big hands.
Seat 6 and 7 limp. The button raises to 200 and we raise to 900 with 99 in the bb. Seat 6 and the button call. Seat 6's action makes no sense. He could have limped a monster but then he should have four-bet after we raised. Anything he can't four bet with he should have folded in fear of the button four-betting. Anyway, the three of us see the AQ4 rainbow flop. Terrible. We check, seat 6 checks and the button bets 1500. We fold and seat 6 folds behind us.
3 people limp to us in seat 8 and we limp with 25o. Yep, one of the worst possible hands, but the play in this tournament is so weak we want to see as many cheap flops as possible. Button calls and blinds call. 7 players see the flop 349. We have an open ended straight. Everyone checks to us. We like the big field for our straight draw but don't want to give anyone a chance to check raise us out so we check. The button bets 250 and everyone folds to us. Hmmmm, heads up we are about a 32% against any hand that has made a pair. We raise to 950 hoping he folds or we get lucky on the turn. He folds.
Playing 50-100 we are in seat 4 with AKo. We raise to 350 and get called by seat 6. Flop comes 37K rainbow. Beautiful. We check and he bets 450. Beautiful. There's really no risk here so we just call. Turn comes Qc. We check again and he bets 1000. Now there's risk. There is a flush draw, a straight draw, and 2 high cards he could have paired or be looking for a second pair. We raise to 2700 and he folds. Good result.
We are in seat 6 and raise to 400 with TT. Seat 7 calls and the blinds fold. The two of us see the flop 9AA. Two aces are less scary than one because he's less likely to have one now. Nonetheless, we check and he bets 450. Hmmmm. We call. Let's see what he does on the turn. If he bets it we will fold. Turn comes T! No folding here - we have a full house. We check as planned and he checks. That's sad. River comes K. He beats us with KK if he has it, but there's no other hand he could have that he would have bet the flop And not the turn. A9 AA AT or AK all would have either checked the flop or bet the turn. We bet 750 and he folds. No ace there.
We are in seat 4 with Q9h. Not a great hand. It's a slightly good hand heads up, but we are playing 9-handed! We raise to 325 anyway because if we hit we will be able to go fishing. Probably not a good play but we did it anyway. We get calls from seats 6 and 7 and see the flop 26Q with 2 diamonds. Great! We bet 525 hoping they fold but seat 7 calls. Hmmmm, does he have diamonds or a Q? Turn comes 9s putting two spades on the board and giving us 2 pair. Probably the best card we could have received. If he does have a Q, we are almost surely in the lead. We bet 925 hoping he will stay on board and he does. River comes Ac. Well, no flushes, but could he have aces up now? Unlikely he has AQ and hasn't raised, but he could have been playing A2 or A6. A2 he could have played with diamonds. Hmmmm. Those are all unlikely. Also, he shouldn't have a set as he would have raised the flop and turn to make us pay for the flush draw. Have to feel confident here. We bet 2000 and he looks us in the eyes for a moment and then looks away. He was looking for something that shows fear or confidence. By the way, that's really hard to see in most players and when you do see something, it's just as hard to interpret. Nonetheless I felt bad that I had missed my chance to act scared. He went into the tank and then looked up at me again, this time at my body and this time I was ready. I took a slightly extra deep breath, something that is more of a bluff tell. He immediately grabbed two yellow chips and tossed them in. Just as quickly he mucked when he saw the Q9.
Seat 5 raises to 200 and we are in seat 8 with AQc. Seat five is a very aggressive fish who has actually pushed us out of several small pots already. Although none of them are worthy of individual mention, the end result is a pattern we would like to capitalize on. While normally we would raise to 700 or more with this hand, here we flat call. Blinds both call and we see the flop come 79K with 2 clubs. Now all we need is a third club! The blinds check and seat 5 bets 500. We call and the blinds fold. The turn comes Td. Not what we were looking for. Now we need a club for a flush, Jack for a straight, or an ace is probably also a winning card for us. He bets 1500 and we call. The river comes ace of spades. He thinks about it for minute and then checks. what should we do? We probably have a winner, and we can simply check and find out. on the other hand, we can bet and get more money by winning. However, if we bet, we give him the opportunity to check raise us and crush us if he does have a monster and if he doesn't have a monster, he may just fold anyway. based on the last two hours of play, and the fact that this player has been in many hands, he does not seem like he has the savvy or patience to check raise here. We bet 2200 and he goes into the tank. After a minute he calls and throws his cards away when he sees our ace.
We end round 2 with just over 16,000 in chips. What a great first two rounds.
All the best,
Donkey en fuego
Sent from my iPhone
We start with 5000 chips playing 25-50.
In round 1 we only play two big hands.
Seat 6 and 7 limp. The button raises to 200 and we raise to 900 with 99 in the bb. Seat 6 and the button call. Seat 6's action makes no sense. He could have limped a monster but then he should have four-bet after we raised. Anything he can't four bet with he should have folded in fear of the button four-betting. Anyway, the three of us see the AQ4 rainbow flop. Terrible. We check, seat 6 checks and the button bets 1500. We fold and seat 6 folds behind us.
3 people limp to us in seat 8 and we limp with 25o. Yep, one of the worst possible hands, but the play in this tournament is so weak we want to see as many cheap flops as possible. Button calls and blinds call. 7 players see the flop 349. We have an open ended straight. Everyone checks to us. We like the big field for our straight draw but don't want to give anyone a chance to check raise us out so we check. The button bets 250 and everyone folds to us. Hmmmm, heads up we are about a 32% against any hand that has made a pair. We raise to 950 hoping he folds or we get lucky on the turn. He folds.
Playing 50-100 we are in seat 4 with AKo. We raise to 350 and get called by seat 6. Flop comes 37K rainbow. Beautiful. We check and he bets 450. Beautiful. There's really no risk here so we just call. Turn comes Qc. We check again and he bets 1000. Now there's risk. There is a flush draw, a straight draw, and 2 high cards he could have paired or be looking for a second pair. We raise to 2700 and he folds. Good result.
We are in seat 6 and raise to 400 with TT. Seat 7 calls and the blinds fold. The two of us see the flop 9AA. Two aces are less scary than one because he's less likely to have one now. Nonetheless, we check and he bets 450. Hmmmm. We call. Let's see what he does on the turn. If he bets it we will fold. Turn comes T! No folding here - we have a full house. We check as planned and he checks. That's sad. River comes K. He beats us with KK if he has it, but there's no other hand he could have that he would have bet the flop And not the turn. A9 AA AT or AK all would have either checked the flop or bet the turn. We bet 750 and he folds. No ace there.
We are in seat 4 with Q9h. Not a great hand. It's a slightly good hand heads up, but we are playing 9-handed! We raise to 325 anyway because if we hit we will be able to go fishing. Probably not a good play but we did it anyway. We get calls from seats 6 and 7 and see the flop 26Q with 2 diamonds. Great! We bet 525 hoping they fold but seat 7 calls. Hmmmm, does he have diamonds or a Q? Turn comes 9s putting two spades on the board and giving us 2 pair. Probably the best card we could have received. If he does have a Q, we are almost surely in the lead. We bet 925 hoping he will stay on board and he does. River comes Ac. Well, no flushes, but could he have aces up now? Unlikely he has AQ and hasn't raised, but he could have been playing A2 or A6. A2 he could have played with diamonds. Hmmmm. Those are all unlikely. Also, he shouldn't have a set as he would have raised the flop and turn to make us pay for the flush draw. Have to feel confident here. We bet 2000 and he looks us in the eyes for a moment and then looks away. He was looking for something that shows fear or confidence. By the way, that's really hard to see in most players and when you do see something, it's just as hard to interpret. Nonetheless I felt bad that I had missed my chance to act scared. He went into the tank and then looked up at me again, this time at my body and this time I was ready. I took a slightly extra deep breath, something that is more of a bluff tell. He immediately grabbed two yellow chips and tossed them in. Just as quickly he mucked when he saw the Q9.
Seat 5 raises to 200 and we are in seat 8 with AQc. Seat five is a very aggressive fish who has actually pushed us out of several small pots already. Although none of them are worthy of individual mention, the end result is a pattern we would like to capitalize on. While normally we would raise to 700 or more with this hand, here we flat call. Blinds both call and we see the flop come 79K with 2 clubs. Now all we need is a third club! The blinds check and seat 5 bets 500. We call and the blinds fold. The turn comes Td. Not what we were looking for. Now we need a club for a flush, Jack for a straight, or an ace is probably also a winning card for us. He bets 1500 and we call. The river comes ace of spades. He thinks about it for minute and then checks. what should we do? We probably have a winner, and we can simply check and find out. on the other hand, we can bet and get more money by winning. However, if we bet, we give him the opportunity to check raise us and crush us if he does have a monster and if he doesn't have a monster, he may just fold anyway. based on the last two hours of play, and the fact that this player has been in many hands, he does not seem like he has the savvy or patience to check raise here. We bet 2200 and he goes into the tank. After a minute he calls and throws his cards away when he sees our ace.
We end round 2 with just over 16,000 in chips. What a great first two rounds.
All the best,
Donkey en fuego
Sent from my iPhone
Monday, June 1, 2015
Pot limit hold em
First hand playing 25-50 seat 3 raises to 125. Good time for him to steal bc the bb hasn't sat down yet so his 50 is dead. We r in seat 4 with JQ and re-raise to 425. Everyone folds. Table leader!
Button raises to 150 and its on us with 6Th in the bb. For 100 more we see the flop heads up AJ4. 2 diamonds and a heart. Pot is 325 and we bet 175 hoping the ace didn't hit him and we can scare him out. He looks like he's going to fold and then calls. Turn comes Ah giving us a flush draw. We continue the semi bluff with 300 and he calls. River comes Ks. We could launch 700 in as a bluff but it's too early to commit that much to a bluff and unless he's been calling w two diamonds he will likely continue to call. We check. He checks. He shows K9d. So he was playing 2 diamonds but he likely would have called anyway as one was the K, which he hit on the river. He takes it down.
Everyone folds to us in seat 5 and we raise to 150 with KhQd. Seat 7 and bb call and flop comes 347 - all hearts. We do have the K! Bb checks. We bet 300 - seat 7 folds and the bb calls. River comes 6c and bb bets 800 representing a 5 in his hand for a straight. Do we bet 800 to win 2000 if a heart comes on the river (assuming he doesn't have the Ah)? We go into the tank. Will we get more from him if a heart rivers? Not unless he has a mid or bigger heart. So we are hoping he has a big heart but not the Ah and that a heart rivers. We fold.
Button raises to 125 and Sb re-raises to 450. We are in the bb with TT. We don't want to see a flop. We re-raise to 1450. Button folds his steal and Sb goes into the tank. And then folds. Good result. We picked up 575.
Seat 6 raises to 125 and we call from seat 8 with 44. Bb calls and the three of us see a 6Jk flop. They check. We check and watch the turn for a 4. Nope. An 8. They check again. Maybe they have nothing? We bet 200 and the bb folds but seat 6 calls. River comes 3. That shouldn't change anyone's hand. He checks. We check as he likely won't call unless he has us beat and he is unlikely to fold now if he didn't on the turn. The river didn't change our hands. He shows AQ and we take it down with our little pair.
Sb raises to 150 and we call from bb with A4s to see 3JA flop (one spade). He bets 250 and we call. Our A is probably not good but let's see if he bets the turn. Turn comes 8s. Now we have a flush draw. He bets 650 and we call. He probably has an ace so we really need a spade. River comes 8c. He checks. Maybe he doesn't have an ace? Do we have him beat? Our hand is suddenly good. Aces and eights with a jack kicker. We lose to a flopped set (unlikely) an 8 (unlikely) or an AK or AQ or AJ (possible?). That said he's not calling our bet without an ace, which would tie or beat us. We check and he shows QQ. Our baby ace takes it down.
At this point I stopped taking notes for a while. The table was moving fast and I wanted to get a better feel for the players. We rejoin a couple hours later.
We have pillaged for a while and build our stack to about 27000 - table leader. We are playing 200-400.
Seat 4 raises to 950 and we call from seat 6 with JQc. Seat 8 calls and the flop comes 37J with 2 diamonds. Seat 4 bets 800 and we make it 1600. They both call. Turn comes 2c. Total rag. Seat 4 checks. We want to chase out the guy with 2 diamonds. There's about 8500 in the pot and we bet 6000. That should do it. Seat 8 calls and seat 4 folds (if seat 4 had 2 diamonds that would have merited a call because of the money already in from us and seat 8, but seat 8 shouldn't have 3 diamonds). River comes 3d. Hmmm. We have hacks and 3s with a Q kicker. We are afraid of 2 diamonds (should not be the case), a 3 (hard to see him having a 3 and calling this whole way unless he flopped 2 pair), a big pocket pair (aces kings or queens) , which wouldn't make sense because he should have been betting them, or a big jack. A jack with an ace or king that would beat us. His play has us a little confused. We check and he bets 8000. We go into the tank and fold. That will be the big question mark of the day.
We grind back up to about 25000 in chips and are in seat 4 and raise to 1100 with JJ. Seat 6 (same guy from the hand above) calls as does the bb. Flop comes 39J with 2 spades and a club. Giddey up. We continuation bet 1900 and seat 6 calls. Turn comes 4c. Total rag. We have the nuts right now but there are 2 flush draws and a straight draw on the board. We bet 5500 into the 7500 pot and he calls. River comes Tc. Hmmm. Strange card. It does hit the flush draw, but only if he's playing 2 clubs and called the flop and then hit runner runner clubs to make the flush. Highly unlikely. It also hits the straight draw, but in a very weird way. The 9j flop promotes an 8T or TQ to stay with an open ended straight draw, but not a 78, 8Q or QK looking for a Golub shot T for the straight. So straight is even more unlikely than flush. Except the QK. He could have been calling with QK believing I had a jack and he had 6 outs in queens and kings and four more in tens. Even that puts him at about 38% after the flop. The pot has about 18500 in it and we bet 6000. He pushes all in. We have about 10000 more in chips. Based on the above analysis we call and he shows QKc and knocks us out.
Wow. So the pre flop call makes perfect sense. The post flop call (particularly with someone behind him) is questionable but he did have 10 good cards he was fishing for. The call on the river made sense because suddenly he had a flush draw too, increasing his fishing targets to 18 cards (although 2 of these would have given us a full house or quads). At that point there were 42 unknown cards, 16 off which were winners for him, about 38%. With the pot odds his play made great sense. Also, if he hit a ten he would have the nuts and acting after me have a shot at my remaining chips. He hit the straight and the flush!
Oiy - more tomorrow.
All the best,
Somewhat distressed donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Button raises to 150 and its on us with 6Th in the bb. For 100 more we see the flop heads up AJ4. 2 diamonds and a heart. Pot is 325 and we bet 175 hoping the ace didn't hit him and we can scare him out. He looks like he's going to fold and then calls. Turn comes Ah giving us a flush draw. We continue the semi bluff with 300 and he calls. River comes Ks. We could launch 700 in as a bluff but it's too early to commit that much to a bluff and unless he's been calling w two diamonds he will likely continue to call. We check. He checks. He shows K9d. So he was playing 2 diamonds but he likely would have called anyway as one was the K, which he hit on the river. He takes it down.
Everyone folds to us in seat 5 and we raise to 150 with KhQd. Seat 7 and bb call and flop comes 347 - all hearts. We do have the K! Bb checks. We bet 300 - seat 7 folds and the bb calls. River comes 6c and bb bets 800 representing a 5 in his hand for a straight. Do we bet 800 to win 2000 if a heart comes on the river (assuming he doesn't have the Ah)? We go into the tank. Will we get more from him if a heart rivers? Not unless he has a mid or bigger heart. So we are hoping he has a big heart but not the Ah and that a heart rivers. We fold.
Button raises to 125 and Sb re-raises to 450. We are in the bb with TT. We don't want to see a flop. We re-raise to 1450. Button folds his steal and Sb goes into the tank. And then folds. Good result. We picked up 575.
Seat 6 raises to 125 and we call from seat 8 with 44. Bb calls and the three of us see a 6Jk flop. They check. We check and watch the turn for a 4. Nope. An 8. They check again. Maybe they have nothing? We bet 200 and the bb folds but seat 6 calls. River comes 3. That shouldn't change anyone's hand. He checks. We check as he likely won't call unless he has us beat and he is unlikely to fold now if he didn't on the turn. The river didn't change our hands. He shows AQ and we take it down with our little pair.
Sb raises to 150 and we call from bb with A4s to see 3JA flop (one spade). He bets 250 and we call. Our A is probably not good but let's see if he bets the turn. Turn comes 8s. Now we have a flush draw. He bets 650 and we call. He probably has an ace so we really need a spade. River comes 8c. He checks. Maybe he doesn't have an ace? Do we have him beat? Our hand is suddenly good. Aces and eights with a jack kicker. We lose to a flopped set (unlikely) an 8 (unlikely) or an AK or AQ or AJ (possible?). That said he's not calling our bet without an ace, which would tie or beat us. We check and he shows QQ. Our baby ace takes it down.
At this point I stopped taking notes for a while. The table was moving fast and I wanted to get a better feel for the players. We rejoin a couple hours later.
We have pillaged for a while and build our stack to about 27000 - table leader. We are playing 200-400.
Seat 4 raises to 950 and we call from seat 6 with JQc. Seat 8 calls and the flop comes 37J with 2 diamonds. Seat 4 bets 800 and we make it 1600. They both call. Turn comes 2c. Total rag. Seat 4 checks. We want to chase out the guy with 2 diamonds. There's about 8500 in the pot and we bet 6000. That should do it. Seat 8 calls and seat 4 folds (if seat 4 had 2 diamonds that would have merited a call because of the money already in from us and seat 8, but seat 8 shouldn't have 3 diamonds). River comes 3d. Hmmm. We have hacks and 3s with a Q kicker. We are afraid of 2 diamonds (should not be the case), a 3 (hard to see him having a 3 and calling this whole way unless he flopped 2 pair), a big pocket pair (aces kings or queens) , which wouldn't make sense because he should have been betting them, or a big jack. A jack with an ace or king that would beat us. His play has us a little confused. We check and he bets 8000. We go into the tank and fold. That will be the big question mark of the day.
We grind back up to about 25000 in chips and are in seat 4 and raise to 1100 with JJ. Seat 6 (same guy from the hand above) calls as does the bb. Flop comes 39J with 2 spades and a club. Giddey up. We continuation bet 1900 and seat 6 calls. Turn comes 4c. Total rag. We have the nuts right now but there are 2 flush draws and a straight draw on the board. We bet 5500 into the 7500 pot and he calls. River comes Tc. Hmmm. Strange card. It does hit the flush draw, but only if he's playing 2 clubs and called the flop and then hit runner runner clubs to make the flush. Highly unlikely. It also hits the straight draw, but in a very weird way. The 9j flop promotes an 8T or TQ to stay with an open ended straight draw, but not a 78, 8Q or QK looking for a Golub shot T for the straight. So straight is even more unlikely than flush. Except the QK. He could have been calling with QK believing I had a jack and he had 6 outs in queens and kings and four more in tens. Even that puts him at about 38% after the flop. The pot has about 18500 in it and we bet 6000. He pushes all in. We have about 10000 more in chips. Based on the above analysis we call and he shows QKc and knocks us out.
Wow. So the pre flop call makes perfect sense. The post flop call (particularly with someone behind him) is questionable but he did have 10 good cards he was fishing for. The call on the river made sense because suddenly he had a flush draw too, increasing his fishing targets to 18 cards (although 2 of these would have given us a full house or quads). At that point there were 42 unknown cards, 16 off which were winners for him, about 38%. With the pot odds his play made great sense. Also, if he hit a ten he would have the nuts and acting after me have a shot at my remaining chips. He hit the straight and the flush!
Oiy - more tomorrow.
All the best,
Somewhat distressed donkey
Sent from my iPhone
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