After a long haitus, the dinkey trots to the table with 3000 in chips for no lomit holdem.
Second hand of the day is AQs in seat 7. We raise to 75 (playing 25 25) and get a call from the button and a raise to 225 from the big blind.
Do we call or do we raise? We have a premium hand, but we could face an ace king, or under pairs from either player. Either way, it would be nice to see the flop before getting too committed. More than that, in a three way hand, if we beat one of them, we should beat both. So we don't want to scare anyone out of the hand. So we call him the button calls.
Flop comes 9s Ts Qc. Wow! Top pair and nut flush draw. To make matters better, the big blind bets 350 into us. To keep the button in the game, we call instead of raising, but the button folds. That's okay, hopefully our slow play will lead the big blind to bet into us after the turn. The turn comes king of spades. Could this get any better? We now have the nut flush. The big blind bets 600 into us just to prove it can get better, and we raise to 1200. If he has a set, we want him to commit now, before he has a chance to get a full house. He pushes all in, much to our delight. We call and he shows JK. Poor guy flopped a straight and got killed on the turn.
Mental note - Donkey is not alway on the losing end of colossal hands
We play a series of small hands losing all of them except one where four diamonds flop and turn, three players check to us and we peek under our cards to confirm we have a diamond. Seeing 2 black cards we throw a solitary 100 chip into the 300 pot and everyone folds to our imaginary diamond.
Playing 25 50, seat six limps and we limp from the button with 5T of clubs. The small blind, oddly, folds, and the big blind checks, so three of us see the flop. The flop comes 458 with two clubs, what a great flop for us. The big blind bets 200 and seat six folds. We raise to 400 and he calls. The call means he likely doesn't have a set or a straight or a big 8. The turn comes Td giving us 2 pair and he checks. We want to make him pay to see the river bit not scare him away. We bet 425 and he calls. The river comes A. His post flop call makes it unlikely he has A8 but he could have A4 or A5. He checks and we bet 950. He goes into the tank and calls. He mucks when we show 2 pair.
We play a few medium size hand and lose, including our first pocket pair 66 losing to a 22.
We close round 2 with 9450 in chips. We have not yet had AK or any pocket pairs except the losing 6s, but the flops have been great for us. Great lucky rounds against a relatively weak field.
Hopefully the next update is 2 hours away!
Dancing Donkey
Sent from my dPhone
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
Quick update
After three more hours of play, and with only about 50 players left, We pushed all in post flop with top pair against someone who had made a straight on the flop. That did not work out well for us and we went home to cry.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Sent from my iPhone
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Sent from my iPhone
BBD - Not Bel Biv Devoe, but Bad Beatin Donkey
Dear Herd,
I have been relatively silent lately because I have played in a HORSE tournament that is difficult to relay and then I played in a Pot Limit Hold'em tournament and thought I would try to focus more on the play and less on the blog. So, here are some thoughts on the PLH (PLH plays just like No Limit Hold'em except one can only bet the amount that is in the pot. These amounts grow very quickly and ultimately there's little difference between PLH and NLH, but there are some times, such as a short stack unable to simply push all in, where it becomes relevant).
Yesterday we played for 8 hours. The first four were painfully boring as we never had a hand to play and slowly drained our 15,000 starting chip stack to about 6,000. The last four hours were very active and involved a ridiculous number of bad beats, both for and against us. Having earlier in the day discussed with someone the sadness that we as a poker society only remember the bad beats against us, I have here decided to completely ignore those, as painful as they are, and only tell you the good stories, where we unfairly beat down on players who should have laughed at us as we walked, tail between our legs, to the chariot home.
Our story starts with the 6,000 in chips. Playing 200 400, a small stack raised to 1400, leaving him with only 500 more in chips. He was in an early seat and could have been pushing with almost anything as he would soon be blinded down to almost nothing. We call from the button with KJh. We could raise him and get his other 500 in, but he will put that in after the flop no matter what, so let's see what the flop is first. The flop comes 56K. Great for us! He predictably tosses in his 500 and we call. He turns over AK! Terrible. We are a 12% dog, but the "river delivers"; we river a J to put 2,000 chips in our stack and send him home.
Playing 250 500, an early bettor raises to 1200 and we raise to 3600 with 88. The button raises to a figure beyond our 8,000 stack and the early bettor folds. We call, pushing our remaining 4400 in chips in hoping for a race (e.g. against AK we are a 55% favorite). Unfortunately, he turns over AA. He has the red aces and we have the black 8s, which makes us a 20% dog. The flop comes 3 high spades and the turn comes 7s (important that it's smaller than our 8 because 5 spades above our 8, although difficult to do, would be a split pot). We take it down with a flush and double up! On a side note, this same player about 30 minutes later cracked someone else's aces with TJ and we laughed about it on the way to our cars - our table was a crazy series of bad beats.
Skipping the bad beat story that brought us back down to 5,000 in chips, let's assume that's where we are, at 5,000. From the button playing 300 600 we raise to 1500 hoping to steal the blinds with A2s. The big blind raises to 4000 and we push all in. He shows 55 (heart and club). We are a 33% dog. The flop comes 27Q with two spades! Great flop for us. Now we need one of the remaining 2s, an Ace or a spade. We are now a 52% favorite. The turn comes A, giving us 2 pair! His only hope now is the 5d (because the 5s gives us a flush). The river comes Js, giving us the flush. We went from pair to two-pair to flush to double up.
With 14,000 in chips we limp in for 600 under the gun with 33 and get four other players (including the blinds). Five of us see the flop come 389 with 89 both clubs. The blinds check. We bet 1500 and seat 5 raises to 5500. Everyone folds to us and we push all in. He calls and shows 67c. He has a straight flush draw. he needs a 5 or a T for a straight, or a club for a flush (5 or T of clubs gives him a straight flush). We are in the lead officially, but would love to see the board pair for a boat. The turn comes 4d and the river comes 9d. We take it down and double up. On a side note, the next hand he pushed all in with his remaining 2000 in chips, which we took off of him with KK.
We ended day 1 with 30,800 in chips (average stack is just over 36,000. There are 81 players returning for day 2 (195 started) at 2pm today. I will, again, not be blogging, but hope to give you some good news at some point in the day.
Y'all's
Bad Beatin Donkey
I have been relatively silent lately because I have played in a HORSE tournament that is difficult to relay and then I played in a Pot Limit Hold'em tournament and thought I would try to focus more on the play and less on the blog. So, here are some thoughts on the PLH (PLH plays just like No Limit Hold'em except one can only bet the amount that is in the pot. These amounts grow very quickly and ultimately there's little difference between PLH and NLH, but there are some times, such as a short stack unable to simply push all in, where it becomes relevant).
Yesterday we played for 8 hours. The first four were painfully boring as we never had a hand to play and slowly drained our 15,000 starting chip stack to about 6,000. The last four hours were very active and involved a ridiculous number of bad beats, both for and against us. Having earlier in the day discussed with someone the sadness that we as a poker society only remember the bad beats against us, I have here decided to completely ignore those, as painful as they are, and only tell you the good stories, where we unfairly beat down on players who should have laughed at us as we walked, tail between our legs, to the chariot home.
Our story starts with the 6,000 in chips. Playing 200 400, a small stack raised to 1400, leaving him with only 500 more in chips. He was in an early seat and could have been pushing with almost anything as he would soon be blinded down to almost nothing. We call from the button with KJh. We could raise him and get his other 500 in, but he will put that in after the flop no matter what, so let's see what the flop is first. The flop comes 56K. Great for us! He predictably tosses in his 500 and we call. He turns over AK! Terrible. We are a 12% dog, but the "river delivers"; we river a J to put 2,000 chips in our stack and send him home.
Playing 250 500, an early bettor raises to 1200 and we raise to 3600 with 88. The button raises to a figure beyond our 8,000 stack and the early bettor folds. We call, pushing our remaining 4400 in chips in hoping for a race (e.g. against AK we are a 55% favorite). Unfortunately, he turns over AA. He has the red aces and we have the black 8s, which makes us a 20% dog. The flop comes 3 high spades and the turn comes 7s (important that it's smaller than our 8 because 5 spades above our 8, although difficult to do, would be a split pot). We take it down with a flush and double up! On a side note, this same player about 30 minutes later cracked someone else's aces with TJ and we laughed about it on the way to our cars - our table was a crazy series of bad beats.
Skipping the bad beat story that brought us back down to 5,000 in chips, let's assume that's where we are, at 5,000. From the button playing 300 600 we raise to 1500 hoping to steal the blinds with A2s. The big blind raises to 4000 and we push all in. He shows 55 (heart and club). We are a 33% dog. The flop comes 27Q with two spades! Great flop for us. Now we need one of the remaining 2s, an Ace or a spade. We are now a 52% favorite. The turn comes A, giving us 2 pair! His only hope now is the 5d (because the 5s gives us a flush). The river comes Js, giving us the flush. We went from pair to two-pair to flush to double up.
With 14,000 in chips we limp in for 600 under the gun with 33 and get four other players (including the blinds). Five of us see the flop come 389 with 89 both clubs. The blinds check. We bet 1500 and seat 5 raises to 5500. Everyone folds to us and we push all in. He calls and shows 67c. He has a straight flush draw. he needs a 5 or a T for a straight, or a club for a flush (5 or T of clubs gives him a straight flush). We are in the lead officially, but would love to see the board pair for a boat. The turn comes 4d and the river comes 9d. We take it down and double up. On a side note, the next hand he pushed all in with his remaining 2000 in chips, which we took off of him with KK.
We ended day 1 with 30,800 in chips (average stack is just over 36,000. There are 81 players returning for day 2 (195 started) at 2pm today. I will, again, not be blogging, but hope to give you some good news at some point in the day.
Y'all's
Bad Beatin Donkey
Friday, May 31, 2013
Event 5
Slowly crept to 14000 and then slid all the way to zero on four bloody knees.
All the best,
Minimalist Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
All the best,
Minimalist Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Event 5
First, a moment of reflection. Looking back on the last two years when I have literally tried to play every event that I could, even if that meant taking a hyper aggressive approach from the very first hand, it has been drawn to my attention that this approach has not yielded good results. That may not surprise anyone, and I believe I made similar statements at the end of each of the last two years. I am resigned, however, not to do so this year.
On to the tournament. It is too difficult to give hand by hand recounts of these games. So, you may want to simply delete all the emails that come regarding this event. We have just concluded round two, and we have moved up in chip stack from the 7500 starting point to just over 11,000. As this is a limit game, chip movements will be slow for the first four or five hours. So the increase of 50% puts us in a very good position, but it is so early that that is almost irrelevant. However, around round six the betting increments will be very large and if we do not have a sizable stack we will only have one hand worth of chips. We need to build now and be prepared for that.
No specific hands to report. I am hunting for that Zen space.
All the best,
Zen Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
On to the tournament. It is too difficult to give hand by hand recounts of these games. So, you may want to simply delete all the emails that come regarding this event. We have just concluded round two, and we have moved up in chip stack from the 7500 starting point to just over 11,000. As this is a limit game, chip movements will be slow for the first four or five hours. So the increase of 50% puts us in a very good position, but it is so early that that is almost irrelevant. However, around round six the betting increments will be very large and if we do not have a sizable stack we will only have one hand worth of chips. We need to build now and be prepared for that.
No specific hands to report. I am hunting for that Zen space.
All the best,
Zen Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
Event 5 - Omaha/seven-card stud high-low eight-or-better
First, let me correct something I recall writing about yesterday's tournament. In the big hand I keep telling myself I should have won, where I played JJ all in pre-flop against TT and A2h only to see 2 deuces hit the board, I wrote that I had 17,000 in chips when I should have had 24,000 because the guy with the A2h got lucky and beat me out of 12,000 in chips (plus I didn't get to take his 12,000). I realized, only adding salt to the wound, that the real number is 36,000 because the A2h also took 12,000 of the TT's chips, which I would have taken had I won the pot, as of course I should have. Now, putting the past in the rear view mirror and then tearing that off of the car ceiling and throwing it out the window, on to today . . .
Today's tournament starts at 5pm and it's a mix of two games - Omaha/seven-card stud high-low eight-or-better.
As a reminder to those who don't play these varietals, Omaha is played just like Texas Hold'em except each player has four cards instead of two and must use two from his/her hand and three from the board to make the best hand possible AND the worst hand possible, called the "low" hand (players may use different cards for each hand). There is also a "qualification" requirement for the low hand; in order to even have a low hand, you must have five cards (no pairs) eight or lower (aces count low here). So, for example, if the Omaha board is 267TQ, then the person with the A3 has the best low hand playing the A3 along with the 267 from the board. However, if the board is a little different, 227TQ, then no one can even have a low hand; there is no way to use three cards from the board in constructing a hand of five cards 8 or lower! In that case, the high hand wins the entire pot.
Seven Card stud is a much more familiar game. Players get two face down and one face up card and bet. They then get three more face up cards, one at a time, with betting after each card. They then get a final face down card, resulting in four face up and three face down cards. From these seven cards, players construct their best hand and again a low hand, but again they must qualify to have a low hand. There is unfortunately no way for me to really write about these hands with any clarity because there are as many as two dozen cards showing face up on the table by the end of the hand.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Event 2 Rounds 11-12
Hyper-aggressive donkey in the house playing 500-1000 with antes of 100. Button raises to 3000 and SB folds. We are in BB with 34h. Not a food hand but we have been playing with thi guy for 2 hours and know he is stealing. We push all in for about 12500. He goes into the tank and calls with K4c. We were right that he was stealing and the call is surprising. Plus he has us dominated. We need a 3! Flop comes 267 with two hearts. Now we need a 5 for a straight or a heart for a flush. Turn comes 3!!! River comes another 7 and we double up making a dinkey push and getting out donkeyed by a guy calling with K4! This one went for us though. We are back to our small stack of 25000. Small but so much more comfy. Now we need to go back to that find (and this time win) a race strategy.
The overdonkey was furious, muttering to himself and anyone who would listen. The next hand dealt to him he hurled face up on the table - it was the 34d. He got a. Warning; the reat of us got comedy. He busted out a few hands later.
We lead out from button with JQ for 2200 and SB calls. Flop comes 5JK with 2 hearts. He checks and we bet 3300. He raises to 8000. He is either bluffing or has a K (possibly a semi bliff w 2 hearts). We can't risk all our chips to find out so we fold. That hurt.
In seat 6 we lead with 2200 with QK and sb calls. Flop comes 256 and he checks. We would like to see the free card and our table image is too loose to bluff well. We check an the tilurn comes T. He bets 3300 and we can either fold or push but we are likely behind. If he has a pair or paired the board or even a naked ace he has us beat. We fold.
Seat 3 leads out for 2300 and seat 6 calls. We are in the bb with 9Ts. We put 1300 in to call and the flop comes 88A. We check and fold at the earliest opportunity.
Our stack is widdling away quickly. We are back down to 15100.
Seat 7 leads with 2100 and we consider pushing from the button with TJd but instead call after some time in the tank. The blinds fol and the flop comes 249 rainbow. That didn't hit him. He bets 1500 and we push representing a small pair or something that would have had us thinking pre flop. He folds and we are back at 20800.
In seat 5 we leAd with 2200 with QQ. BB calls and flop comes AT7. Terrible. He checks and we bet 2200. He calls. Turn comes 4. He checks and we check. River comes 9 and he bets 5400. Does he have an A? Not sure but we are getting about 15000 if he doesn't and losing 5400 if he does so we call. He shows AJ and now we are short stacked again!
In seat 3 we push with A2d abd everyone folds. Great.
Next hand theres an earlier leader putting in 2200 and we push from the bb with 99. He folds. Great.
Next hand we are now playing 600-1200 with 200 antes and a mid field leader bets 2500. We push all in from the sb with 77 and he folds. Great!
If only it were always this easy. We are over 21,000 again.
Seat 4 pushes all in for 12000 and seat 5 calls. We are in seat 7 with JJ. As we have before we feel like this is "our hand". We push all in for 21000 and seat 5 calls. Seat 4 has A2h and seat 5 has TT. We are a good favorite. Flop comes 882. Good for us. Ow just no AT or duece and we are tripled almost. Turn comes K and river comes 2, giving the A2 a set of deuces to win. We pay him 12000 and collect 8400 from the TT, so it was bad but could have been worse. So frustrating to lose on the river. We should have 41000 right now instead of 17000!!!
Seat 4 we lead with 22 to 2800 and everyone folds. As there is 3400 in every starting pot this is a great result.
Seat 4 leads out with a min raise to 2400 and gets called by seat 7. We call in seat 8 with 9Jd. Its a good hand to play multi player in button position. Blinds fold and flop comes 468 with one diamond. Seat 4 bets 4400 and we fold.
Seat 5 bets 2800 and we push all in from seat 7 with TT. He counts our chips several times and then folds. Thats a good pick up of 6000 in chips! We are back at 20000 in chips.
Seat 4 leads out with 2400 and gets called by seat 6 we are in the bb with 69c and put 1200 more into the 8200 pot to see the flop. The flop comes 789 giving us top pair and an open ended straight draw. We want to push but seat 4 typically continuation bets so we check. True to form seat 4 bets 4400. Seat 6 folds and we push all in. After counting our bet and some tank time he calls and shows A9h. Not good. We need a 5,6 or T, of which there are only 9, making us a 35% dog. The turb is an 8 and the river a K. With just under 100 players left we are heading to the coral.
Thanks for coming. Tomorrow is another day. We start at 5 pm with omaha and stud.
All the best,
Raging Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
The overdonkey was furious, muttering to himself and anyone who would listen. The next hand dealt to him he hurled face up on the table - it was the 34d. He got a. Warning; the reat of us got comedy. He busted out a few hands later.
We lead out from button with JQ for 2200 and SB calls. Flop comes 5JK with 2 hearts. He checks and we bet 3300. He raises to 8000. He is either bluffing or has a K (possibly a semi bliff w 2 hearts). We can't risk all our chips to find out so we fold. That hurt.
In seat 6 we lead with 2200 with QK and sb calls. Flop comes 256 and he checks. We would like to see the free card and our table image is too loose to bluff well. We check an the tilurn comes T. He bets 3300 and we can either fold or push but we are likely behind. If he has a pair or paired the board or even a naked ace he has us beat. We fold.
Seat 3 leads out for 2300 and seat 6 calls. We are in the bb with 9Ts. We put 1300 in to call and the flop comes 88A. We check and fold at the earliest opportunity.
Our stack is widdling away quickly. We are back down to 15100.
Seat 7 leads with 2100 and we consider pushing from the button with TJd but instead call after some time in the tank. The blinds fol and the flop comes 249 rainbow. That didn't hit him. He bets 1500 and we push representing a small pair or something that would have had us thinking pre flop. He folds and we are back at 20800.
In seat 5 we leAd with 2200 with QQ. BB calls and flop comes AT7. Terrible. He checks and we bet 2200. He calls. Turn comes 4. He checks and we check. River comes 9 and he bets 5400. Does he have an A? Not sure but we are getting about 15000 if he doesn't and losing 5400 if he does so we call. He shows AJ and now we are short stacked again!
In seat 3 we push with A2d abd everyone folds. Great.
Next hand theres an earlier leader putting in 2200 and we push from the bb with 99. He folds. Great.
Next hand we are now playing 600-1200 with 200 antes and a mid field leader bets 2500. We push all in from the sb with 77 and he folds. Great!
If only it were always this easy. We are over 21,000 again.
Seat 4 pushes all in for 12000 and seat 5 calls. We are in seat 7 with JJ. As we have before we feel like this is "our hand". We push all in for 21000 and seat 5 calls. Seat 4 has A2h and seat 5 has TT. We are a good favorite. Flop comes 882. Good for us. Ow just no AT or duece and we are tripled almost. Turn comes K and river comes 2, giving the A2 a set of deuces to win. We pay him 12000 and collect 8400 from the TT, so it was bad but could have been worse. So frustrating to lose on the river. We should have 41000 right now instead of 17000!!!
Seat 4 we lead with 22 to 2800 and everyone folds. As there is 3400 in every starting pot this is a great result.
Seat 4 leads out with a min raise to 2400 and gets called by seat 7. We call in seat 8 with 9Jd. Its a good hand to play multi player in button position. Blinds fold and flop comes 468 with one diamond. Seat 4 bets 4400 and we fold.
Seat 5 bets 2800 and we push all in from seat 7 with TT. He counts our chips several times and then folds. Thats a good pick up of 6000 in chips! We are back at 20000 in chips.
Seat 4 leads out with 2400 and gets called by seat 6 we are in the bb with 69c and put 1200 more into the 8200 pot to see the flop. The flop comes 789 giving us top pair and an open ended straight draw. We want to push but seat 4 typically continuation bets so we check. True to form seat 4 bets 4400. Seat 6 folds and we push all in. After counting our bet and some tank time he calls and shows A9h. Not good. We need a 5,6 or T, of which there are only 9, making us a 35% dog. The turb is an 8 and the river a K. With just under 100 players left we are heading to the coral.
Thanks for coming. Tomorrow is another day. We start at 5 pm with omaha and stud.
All the best,
Raging Donkey
Sent from my iPhone
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