sorry about your bustout eric, you got really unlucky after you built your chips up so well. like so many others (its amazing how many people have asked me about your run) i have really enjoyed reading Enter the Donkey. "The Donkey" is the best written poker blog around and it's a great pleasure to read.
best of luck next year....
sensei
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The Big Dance - Round 12
We're playing 1000 2000 with 300 antes. The disproportionate antes make stealing huge, but we no longer have a stealing stack, so we'll be very cautious on that front. There are 1455 players left with an average stack of 136,041. We have 138,200 chips. So we're still above average!!!
S8 raises to 4500 and the Button calls. We call for 2500 more from the BB with 56. Flop comes TJK and we fold as soon as possible.
S5 raises to 4500 and S7 calls. We call from S8 with A5c and the blinds both call. Flop comes T55. Giddey-up. Everyone checks to us and we bet 7500. Only S5 calls. Turn comes 7. He checks and we bet 18,000. He calls and River comes 5. Not only do we have quads, but this hides our 5 a little. We push all in and he goes into the tank for a few minutes and folds. Still, nice pot.
From S4 we raise to 4500 with 33 and a small stack pushes all in for 20,000. The pot is basically 15000 so we have to put 15000 more in to win 30000. This is a great be unless he has a bigger pair. We call and he shows TK. Unfortunately, this time he makes quads, flopping 2 tens and turning a third. Oh well, you win and lose races.
From S6 we raise to 4500 with QKc and S7 calls us. Flop comes 49T with 2 spades. We check and he bets 6000. We call, looking for any paint card. Turn comes 2c. We check and he checks. River comes Ks. We bet 12500 and he calls. He has JQ and made a straight. He literally had 7 outs. A K or an 8. Any other card we win. Ouch. Our stack just took two bad hits. We're down to about 118,000.
S5 raises to 4500 and we call from the button with A8h. Flop comes 289 with one heart. He bets 7500. That feels wrong. What was he betting on from an early seat that has any of that? Unless he has a big pocket pair, we should be in the lead, but the turn could be a big bad card. We raise to 15000 and he folds.
S7 raises to 4400 and we raise to 12500 from the Button with AK. He re-raises to 25000 representing a big hand. He should have JJ or better, or AK or AQs. Most of these hands represent a race. The most likely hands (as I have one of each of the As and Ks) are JJ and QQ. The pot, if we call, will be 56,000. If the flop is low cards and he bets, we will have to fold. If we do hit the A or K and bet, he will only call if he has a set of As or Ks or an AQ (the only good spot for us). If he has JJ or QQ, he'll fold. Any chips we hope to win have to go in now. We consider the all in push, which would be a roughly 90,000 chip raise and gives us some fold equity. That's what we're "supposed to do" here with a premium hand (AK, AA, KK, or QQ).
We gather our courage and push all in and he goes into the tank and calls with JJ. It's a race. Flop comes 7TQ. We need a JK or A now. We've fallen from about 47% to about 37%. Unfortunately the turn and river do no help for our position and we're on our way out.
Okay, so you win and lose races, but that was a big one to lose. Have to admit, that was frustrating. It was pretty much straight down from our top spot where we stood for a moment tied in second place, only to ultimately get knocked out with 1,000 players left in.
There was some bad play in Day 2, but mostly I'll remember about 4 rounds of bad cards and 3 people hitting straights against me on the river. I will, of course, forget the great cards and luck I had on Day 1. That's just the way it goes.
The Donkey will rise again! But not for a year. Thanks for joining the herd for another tour of destruction!
All the best,
Your Donkey
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
S8 raises to 4500 and the Button calls. We call for 2500 more from the BB with 56. Flop comes TJK and we fold as soon as possible.
S5 raises to 4500 and S7 calls. We call from S8 with A5c and the blinds both call. Flop comes T55. Giddey-up. Everyone checks to us and we bet 7500. Only S5 calls. Turn comes 7. He checks and we bet 18,000. He calls and River comes 5. Not only do we have quads, but this hides our 5 a little. We push all in and he goes into the tank for a few minutes and folds. Still, nice pot.
From S4 we raise to 4500 with 33 and a small stack pushes all in for 20,000. The pot is basically 15000 so we have to put 15000 more in to win 30000. This is a great be unless he has a bigger pair. We call and he shows TK. Unfortunately, this time he makes quads, flopping 2 tens and turning a third. Oh well, you win and lose races.
From S6 we raise to 4500 with QKc and S7 calls us. Flop comes 49T with 2 spades. We check and he bets 6000. We call, looking for any paint card. Turn comes 2c. We check and he checks. River comes Ks. We bet 12500 and he calls. He has JQ and made a straight. He literally had 7 outs. A K or an 8. Any other card we win. Ouch. Our stack just took two bad hits. We're down to about 118,000.
S5 raises to 4500 and we call from the button with A8h. Flop comes 289 with one heart. He bets 7500. That feels wrong. What was he betting on from an early seat that has any of that? Unless he has a big pocket pair, we should be in the lead, but the turn could be a big bad card. We raise to 15000 and he folds.
S7 raises to 4400 and we raise to 12500 from the Button with AK. He re-raises to 25000 representing a big hand. He should have JJ or better, or AK or AQs. Most of these hands represent a race. The most likely hands (as I have one of each of the As and Ks) are JJ and QQ. The pot, if we call, will be 56,000. If the flop is low cards and he bets, we will have to fold. If we do hit the A or K and bet, he will only call if he has a set of As or Ks or an AQ (the only good spot for us). If he has JJ or QQ, he'll fold. Any chips we hope to win have to go in now. We consider the all in push, which would be a roughly 90,000 chip raise and gives us some fold equity. That's what we're "supposed to do" here with a premium hand (AK, AA, KK, or QQ).
We gather our courage and push all in and he goes into the tank and calls with JJ. It's a race. Flop comes 7TQ. We need a JK or A now. We've fallen from about 47% to about 37%. Unfortunately the turn and river do no help for our position and we're on our way out.
Okay, so you win and lose races, but that was a big one to lose. Have to admit, that was frustrating. It was pretty much straight down from our top spot where we stood for a moment tied in second place, only to ultimately get knocked out with 1,000 players left in.
There was some bad play in Day 2, but mostly I'll remember about 4 rounds of bad cards and 3 people hitting straights against me on the river. I will, of course, forget the great cards and luck I had on Day 1. That's just the way it goes.
The Donkey will rise again! But not for a year. Thanks for joining the herd for another tour of destruction!
All the best,
Your Donkey
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
The Big Dance - Round 11
We trot into Round 11 with our 188,900 in chips. 6,598 players started in this tournament and 1,765 are alive as we start the day. Our table has chip stacks ranging from 25,000 to 400,000. There are 2 people with stacks larger than ours and only one short stack (25,000).
Our table, 111, will be the 3rd table broken today, so we probably will only be here for a few hands.
We're playing 800 1600 with a 200 ante. That means 4200 in the pot before cards fly.
In S4 we raise to 3600 with A9d and get called by S5. Flop comes 47Q with 2 diamonds. We would love to check and get a free card, but he'd probably bet and we'd have to pay to see the turn. It's better to bet it ourselves and get the added benefit of him possibly folding. We bet 5500 and he folds.
Next hand we raise to 3600 from S3 with AK and get raised by the BB to 10500. We have position, so we just call. Flop comes 238 and he bets 12,500. We call, hoping to hit an A or K. Turn comes 7 and he checks. Hmmmm. We fire 22,500 into the pot and he folds.
S4 raises to 3200, gets called by the Button and we call from the BB with 35s. Flop comes A46 giving us an open-ended straight draw. We check and S4 bets 10,000. The Button calls, making this a big enough pot to call. We call and the turn comes J, our first spade. Not good. We check and S4 bets 25000. The button folds and the pot doesn't merit another call for this price. We fold.
Our table breaks and we move to a new table.
We limp from S6 with A4h and get raised by the Button to 4600. We call and the flop comes 56T with 2 hearts. We bet 7500 and he calls. Turn comes 5s. We check and he bets 12500. We call. His bet of roughly half the pot is the borderline of where we would call with a flush draw, but an A may be a winner for us too. The river comes 2c. We check, he bets 17500 and we fold. We are down to 153,000 chips.
S4 limps and we limp from S6 with KK looking for the raiser. Three more people limp! What a strange table. Five of us see the 4TA flop. Terrible. Everyone checks through the whole hand - J turns and 5 rivers. The SB takes it down with AQ.
S5 raises to 3600, button calls, and we call from the BB with K5c. Flop is 23T with 1 club and we fold to S5's bet.
S6 raises to 3800 and we call from S8 with TT. Flop comes 359 with 2 spades. Great flop. He bets 7000 and we raise to 19000; we're really only afraid of JJ, QQ, KK or AA. He calls. Turn comes Qc. Terrible. He checks, but if he has a Q he would trap us this way. We check and hope for a small river card or a T. River card - A falls. Worst possible thing. He bets 20,000 and we fold. His play reflects 2 big cards, from the pre-flop bet, to the call, to the raise on the river.
Very frustrated right now with the cards hitting the table. Haven't won a pot since I sat down here, and not because we're playing tightly. Head in the game.
From S3 we raise to 3600 with JJ and get called by both blinds. Flop comes 23K and they check. Hopefully they don't have a K. We bet 5500 and the SB calls. Turn comes 4. He checks and we bet 10500. He calls. River comes T and he checks. No idea what he has, but if it's a K, he's not folding. We check and show the Js. He mucks. We finally won a hand.
We raise to 3600 from the button with A5 and get called by the SB. Flop comes 46K. He checks and we check. Turn comes 5. He checks and we bet 4500. He calls and the river comes 3. He bets 15000. This makes no sense unless he hit a set of 3s or a straight. Most likely he's bluffing, but we can't beat anything but an all out bluff. A good semi-bluff (ie he has a 6) beats us. We fold.
S5 raises to 3800 and we call from S7 with 77. The BB calls and the flop comes 6TA with 2 spades. BB checks, S5 bets 5900 and we fold.
S8 raises to 3500 and S9 re-raises to 8000. We fold AQ in the SB. Would love to play, but too much chance one of them has AK or AA. Even KK could be disastrous for us.
There were a few hands I didn't relay here, but we end the terrible round with 138,200 left in chips! Starting to feel the words "all in" press on my lips, but have to push that down and make sure we do it at the right time. For example, we could have done it with the pre-flop KK, but we'd be headed home now and the AQ would have all our chips.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
Our table, 111, will be the 3rd table broken today, so we probably will only be here for a few hands.
We're playing 800 1600 with a 200 ante. That means 4200 in the pot before cards fly.
In S4 we raise to 3600 with A9d and get called by S5. Flop comes 47Q with 2 diamonds. We would love to check and get a free card, but he'd probably bet and we'd have to pay to see the turn. It's better to bet it ourselves and get the added benefit of him possibly folding. We bet 5500 and he folds.
Next hand we raise to 3600 from S3 with AK and get raised by the BB to 10500. We have position, so we just call. Flop comes 238 and he bets 12,500. We call, hoping to hit an A or K. Turn comes 7 and he checks. Hmmmm. We fire 22,500 into the pot and he folds.
S4 raises to 3200, gets called by the Button and we call from the BB with 35s. Flop comes A46 giving us an open-ended straight draw. We check and S4 bets 10,000. The Button calls, making this a big enough pot to call. We call and the turn comes J, our first spade. Not good. We check and S4 bets 25000. The button folds and the pot doesn't merit another call for this price. We fold.
Our table breaks and we move to a new table.
We limp from S6 with A4h and get raised by the Button to 4600. We call and the flop comes 56T with 2 hearts. We bet 7500 and he calls. Turn comes 5s. We check and he bets 12500. We call. His bet of roughly half the pot is the borderline of where we would call with a flush draw, but an A may be a winner for us too. The river comes 2c. We check, he bets 17500 and we fold. We are down to 153,000 chips.
S4 limps and we limp from S6 with KK looking for the raiser. Three more people limp! What a strange table. Five of us see the 4TA flop. Terrible. Everyone checks through the whole hand - J turns and 5 rivers. The SB takes it down with AQ.
S5 raises to 3600, button calls, and we call from the BB with K5c. Flop is 23T with 1 club and we fold to S5's bet.
S6 raises to 3800 and we call from S8 with TT. Flop comes 359 with 2 spades. Great flop. He bets 7000 and we raise to 19000; we're really only afraid of JJ, QQ, KK or AA. He calls. Turn comes Qc. Terrible. He checks, but if he has a Q he would trap us this way. We check and hope for a small river card or a T. River card - A falls. Worst possible thing. He bets 20,000 and we fold. His play reflects 2 big cards, from the pre-flop bet, to the call, to the raise on the river.
Very frustrated right now with the cards hitting the table. Haven't won a pot since I sat down here, and not because we're playing tightly. Head in the game.
From S3 we raise to 3600 with JJ and get called by both blinds. Flop comes 23K and they check. Hopefully they don't have a K. We bet 5500 and the SB calls. Turn comes 4. He checks and we bet 10500. He calls. River comes T and he checks. No idea what he has, but if it's a K, he's not folding. We check and show the Js. He mucks. We finally won a hand.
We raise to 3600 from the button with A5 and get called by the SB. Flop comes 46K. He checks and we check. Turn comes 5. He checks and we bet 4500. He calls and the river comes 3. He bets 15000. This makes no sense unless he hit a set of 3s or a straight. Most likely he's bluffing, but we can't beat anything but an all out bluff. A good semi-bluff (ie he has a 6) beats us. We fold.
S5 raises to 3800 and we call from S7 with 77. The BB calls and the flop comes 6TA with 2 spades. BB checks, S5 bets 5900 and we fold.
S8 raises to 3500 and S9 re-raises to 8000. We fold AQ in the SB. Would love to play, but too much chance one of them has AK or AA. Even KK could be disastrous for us.
There were a few hands I didn't relay here, but we end the terrible round with 138,200 left in chips! Starting to feel the words "all in" press on my lips, but have to push that down and make sure we do it at the right time. For example, we could have done it with the pre-flop KK, but we'd be headed home now and the AQ would have all our chips.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
The Big Dance - Round 10
We have 297,500 playing 600 1200 with 200 ante. The disproportionately large antes make this another prime blind stealing time. There's 3600 in the pot before cards are dealt.
Donkey is tired and going to try to play tight and conservative so as to minimize mistakes.
Seat 4 raises to 2600. We re-raise from seat 6 with AT to 7600 and everyone folds. That's a win of 6200 because of the size of the antes and blinds!
S7 raises to 2600 and we call from the BB with JT. Flop comes 47J and we check because we expect S7 to bet. He checks and the turn comes A. Not good. We check and he bets 4000. We call. River comes Q and he bets 11,000. We call, hoping he's bluffing. He's not. He shows an ace and takes the pot.
S3 raises to 2500 and gets called by 6 and 7. We call from the SB with 9J and the BB calls. Huge pot brewing. Flop comes with a 9 and 2 clubs and everyone checks to the Button who bets 6100. S3 and 6 call, so we call. Huge pot, but we need a 9 or J. The turn came a small club, the betting got crazy, and we got out. Two people wound up with flushes.
We raise to 2600 with AK in S5 and S7 raises to 6600. We just call to see the flop. Flop comes 26K with 2 clubs. We bet 6000 and he calls. Turn comes 6 and we bet 12500. Again he calls. River comes 5c putting 3 clubs on the board. Has he been calling hoping for a club? We check and he bets 13,000. We call and he shows AA. Wow. This round is starting badly. It's time to get nitty (i.e. Just play the very best hands). We're down to about 225,000 in chips again!
SB raises to 3700 and we call from the BB with JQ. Flop comes 8TA and he bets 5000. We call, hoping he doesn't have an A (or that we'll turn a K or 9). Turn comes 4 and he checks. That means he doesn't have an A and thinks we do (because we called). We bet 9500 and he folds.
S7 raises to 2500 and the Button makes it 7800. We have JJ in the SB and fold. That's playing nitty. We're happy to see S7 re-raise to 15,000, but the SB goes all in for 47,800. We couldn't play JJ for that. When they both show KA, we wish we had called!
We raise to 2600 with AQc from S4 and get called by the BB. Flop comes JKK with 2 clubs. He checks and we bet 4000. He calls and the turn comes 6d. He checks and we bet 8000 and he calls. River comes 5h. He checks and we bet 12500 hoping he'll fold. He goes into the tank for a full two minutes, but then he calls with a 9J to take down the pot.
I played a few hands and folded after the flop, taking small damage on each hand of a few thousand.
We're down to 210,000 and this isn't going anywhere good. The cards have just been gross and the betting increments are too high to survive that grossness. It doesn't help that we lost with both our premium hands, one of which got hit by AA. It's not just that though, we've made some bets we shouldn't make and have thereby failed to minimize losses, which was the game plan. We have 50 minutes left. Focus, focus, focus.
Despite these efforts, the round continued this way. I can't recount the hands because I couldn't take notes and I got too depressed to commit the hands to memory. Pot after pot flopped cards of no use to me. I can only hope to come back with renewed vigor on Thursday, and of course a touch of the luck that I had for the first 8 rounds.
We close Round 10 happy to still be in the tournament, sure we have quite a bit more than the average stack, trying to forget that we had 320,000 in chips, but looking forward to coming back Thursday with 188,900 in chips. I will try to remember that we started the day with 137,000, so all in all a good day; we picked up over 50,000.
Thanks for tuning in. Sorry the last round was so depressing. More on Thursday.
Your Donkey
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
Donkey is tired and going to try to play tight and conservative so as to minimize mistakes.
Seat 4 raises to 2600. We re-raise from seat 6 with AT to 7600 and everyone folds. That's a win of 6200 because of the size of the antes and blinds!
S7 raises to 2600 and we call from the BB with JT. Flop comes 47J and we check because we expect S7 to bet. He checks and the turn comes A. Not good. We check and he bets 4000. We call. River comes Q and he bets 11,000. We call, hoping he's bluffing. He's not. He shows an ace and takes the pot.
S3 raises to 2500 and gets called by 6 and 7. We call from the SB with 9J and the BB calls. Huge pot brewing. Flop comes with a 9 and 2 clubs and everyone checks to the Button who bets 6100. S3 and 6 call, so we call. Huge pot, but we need a 9 or J. The turn came a small club, the betting got crazy, and we got out. Two people wound up with flushes.
We raise to 2600 with AK in S5 and S7 raises to 6600. We just call to see the flop. Flop comes 26K with 2 clubs. We bet 6000 and he calls. Turn comes 6 and we bet 12500. Again he calls. River comes 5c putting 3 clubs on the board. Has he been calling hoping for a club? We check and he bets 13,000. We call and he shows AA. Wow. This round is starting badly. It's time to get nitty (i.e. Just play the very best hands). We're down to about 225,000 in chips again!
SB raises to 3700 and we call from the BB with JQ. Flop comes 8TA and he bets 5000. We call, hoping he doesn't have an A (or that we'll turn a K or 9). Turn comes 4 and he checks. That means he doesn't have an A and thinks we do (because we called). We bet 9500 and he folds.
S7 raises to 2500 and the Button makes it 7800. We have JJ in the SB and fold. That's playing nitty. We're happy to see S7 re-raise to 15,000, but the SB goes all in for 47,800. We couldn't play JJ for that. When they both show KA, we wish we had called!
We raise to 2600 with AQc from S4 and get called by the BB. Flop comes JKK with 2 clubs. He checks and we bet 4000. He calls and the turn comes 6d. He checks and we bet 8000 and he calls. River comes 5h. He checks and we bet 12500 hoping he'll fold. He goes into the tank for a full two minutes, but then he calls with a 9J to take down the pot.
I played a few hands and folded after the flop, taking small damage on each hand of a few thousand.
We're down to 210,000 and this isn't going anywhere good. The cards have just been gross and the betting increments are too high to survive that grossness. It doesn't help that we lost with both our premium hands, one of which got hit by AA. It's not just that though, we've made some bets we shouldn't make and have thereby failed to minimize losses, which was the game plan. We have 50 minutes left. Focus, focus, focus.
Despite these efforts, the round continued this way. I can't recount the hands because I couldn't take notes and I got too depressed to commit the hands to memory. Pot after pot flopped cards of no use to me. I can only hope to come back with renewed vigor on Thursday, and of course a touch of the luck that I had for the first 8 rounds.
We close Round 10 happy to still be in the tournament, sure we have quite a bit more than the average stack, trying to forget that we had 320,000 in chips, but looking forward to coming back Thursday with 188,900 in chips. I will try to remember that we started the day with 137,000, so all in all a good day; we picked up over 50,000.
Thanks for tuning in. Sorry the last round was so depressing. More on Thursday.
Your Donkey
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
The Big Dance - Round 9
We trot gracefully and cautiously into Round 9, saddle bags bulging with 306,200 chips. It's actually cumbersome as it leaves little room in front of us for our cards. We're playing 500 1000 with 100 antes, so 2400 in the pot before cards fly.
We discard the first few hands and then come to the blinds. Everyone limps to us and we limp in the SB with 79s. BB checks. Flop comes 8JJ. We think about a prod bet, but just check hoping to see a T turn for a straight. He bets 1500 and we call. T comes 9. Not bad. We have 2 pair, so unless he has a J we're good. We check anyway and he bets 3000. We raise to 7000, which should flush out things like Q8. He calls. River comes T giving us a straight. That's great, but if he has a Q, he has a better straight and his smooth call on the turn could mean he has a J, which means he may have a full house. He's playing from the BB so if he has a J, his second card would still be random, which is good for us because so many cards near the J are on the board. We check and he bets 5000. We call and he shows J4. We take it down. That qualifies as a bad beat.
We raise to 2300 in S4 with KK and S6 calls. Flop comes 9TJ with 2 clubs. Scary. I don't recall the whole play, but there was a good amount of betting and the board turned a 6 and rivered a 7. He had 88 and made a straight on the river. We lost a good chunk of money and, again, this one qualified as a bad beat too
The next hand we raise to 2300 from S3 with A6c and get called by the Button. Flop comes A46 with 2 diamonds. We have 2 pair. We bet 2500 and he raises to 7000. Could he have a set? From the Button, he could have a broad range of hands. We just call. The turn is a 5h and we check. He checks. So much for a set. He would have bet again. River comes 8c. There's no flush, but the board has a lot of straight possibility 4568. Would he have a 7? Would he have raised the flop with a 57? We bet 8500 and he raises 33,000. Huge raise, but it's into a pot of 37,000. We call and he shows 79d. I'm pissed. 2 hands lost to straights on the river. We lost about 80,000 chips in 10 minutes. I actually throw the 33,000 down roughly like a petulant child and then sulk. I'm not sure I've ever done that before, in any context. It doesn't do much but give me time to think about how unfair that was. I'll not do that next time.
Luckily our table broke and we moved to table 434 where people were amazed by our stack of 247,000 chips. It's not what we had, but what we had is gone and it's time to refocus and build. The luck finally turned against us for a bit. Head in the game.
S8 raises to 2300 and the SB raises to 5600. We call from the BB with 55 believing that if we flop a 5 we will be able to make at least 36000ish (basic formula for deciding whether to call with a low pair). S8 calls and the flop comes 25K rainbow. Giddey-up. SB bets 12,000 and we flat call. Unless he has a set of Ks or makes a set on the turn, we should be solid. There's no straight or flush draw to push him off of. S8 folds. Turn comes 2 and SB checks. Not good. We check, hoping he gets a little better on the River or tries to bluff. River comes 8 and he checks. We bet 13,000 and he folds. Too bad. We made good money, but only about 25,000, not the 36,000 necessary to justify the risk.
We raise from S7 to 2500 with 9Tc. S9 calls and the BB raises to 7000. Not good. S7 and the BB each have over 150,000 in chips, so this is a good place to hit with suited connectors. We call and S9 calls. Flop comes 4TK rainbow and BB bets 19,000. Our T isn't enough to stay with, so we fold.
In S6 we raise to 2500 with 37d. Not sure why to be honest. Just hadn't taken a stab at the blinds recently. The Button and BB call and the flop comes an amazing 37T with 2 clubs. BB checks and we bet 3500. Button folds and BB raises to 12,000. What does he have? A set? Is he on a club flush draw? We just call. Turn comes 9s putting 2 spades, 2 clubs and a possible straight on the board. He checks, which means he probably doesn't have a set as he wouldn't give us a free card to make a straight or a flush if he did. We bet 21,000, because we don't want to give him that same free card. He calls and the River comes 3h giving us a full house! The only fear now is that he did have a set (very unlikely) and now has a bigger full house. So when he checks, we consider checking it down. Also weighing in on the decision is that if he were drawing to a straight or a flush, he missed it; so he will just fold if we bet. In that case, why risk that he raises us with a full house? However, he could have something like AT or A7 or JJ and call us down? Hard call. After a couple minutes of hurting our brain in the tank, we bet 35,000. He goes into the tank. We're terrified he'll push all in. We're praying for the call, and it comes. We show the baby boat of 3s full of 7s and he mucks. Big win! We're back over 300,000 chips!
In S7 we raise to 2500 with KJ. S8 calls and the SB raises to 7500. We call and S8 folds. The flop comes TQK giving us top pair and an open-ended straight draw. SB bets 9000 and we call. It's too possible that he has a set, 2 pair or even a straight. Turn comes 6 and SB pushes all in for 23,000. He could still have any of the aforementioned hands or he could be bluffing. The pot is about 38,000. It's just too big to walk away from. We call and he shows AK. Not bluffing. Ouch. We have 7 outs (3 aces and 4 9s give us a straight). River comes 3 and we pay him off.
Lots of ups and downs that round and lots of pain, but we end Round 9 with 297,500 in chips, losing less than 10,000 in the round. Two more hours and we're done for the day. Let's see if we can end over 300,000.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
We discard the first few hands and then come to the blinds. Everyone limps to us and we limp in the SB with 79s. BB checks. Flop comes 8JJ. We think about a prod bet, but just check hoping to see a T turn for a straight. He bets 1500 and we call. T comes 9. Not bad. We have 2 pair, so unless he has a J we're good. We check anyway and he bets 3000. We raise to 7000, which should flush out things like Q8. He calls. River comes T giving us a straight. That's great, but if he has a Q, he has a better straight and his smooth call on the turn could mean he has a J, which means he may have a full house. He's playing from the BB so if he has a J, his second card would still be random, which is good for us because so many cards near the J are on the board. We check and he bets 5000. We call and he shows J4. We take it down. That qualifies as a bad beat.
We raise to 2300 in S4 with KK and S6 calls. Flop comes 9TJ with 2 clubs. Scary. I don't recall the whole play, but there was a good amount of betting and the board turned a 6 and rivered a 7. He had 88 and made a straight on the river. We lost a good chunk of money and, again, this one qualified as a bad beat too
The next hand we raise to 2300 from S3 with A6c and get called by the Button. Flop comes A46 with 2 diamonds. We have 2 pair. We bet 2500 and he raises to 7000. Could he have a set? From the Button, he could have a broad range of hands. We just call. The turn is a 5h and we check. He checks. So much for a set. He would have bet again. River comes 8c. There's no flush, but the board has a lot of straight possibility 4568. Would he have a 7? Would he have raised the flop with a 57? We bet 8500 and he raises 33,000. Huge raise, but it's into a pot of 37,000. We call and he shows 79d. I'm pissed. 2 hands lost to straights on the river. We lost about 80,000 chips in 10 minutes. I actually throw the 33,000 down roughly like a petulant child and then sulk. I'm not sure I've ever done that before, in any context. It doesn't do much but give me time to think about how unfair that was. I'll not do that next time.
Luckily our table broke and we moved to table 434 where people were amazed by our stack of 247,000 chips. It's not what we had, but what we had is gone and it's time to refocus and build. The luck finally turned against us for a bit. Head in the game.
S8 raises to 2300 and the SB raises to 5600. We call from the BB with 55 believing that if we flop a 5 we will be able to make at least 36000ish (basic formula for deciding whether to call with a low pair). S8 calls and the flop comes 25K rainbow. Giddey-up. SB bets 12,000 and we flat call. Unless he has a set of Ks or makes a set on the turn, we should be solid. There's no straight or flush draw to push him off of. S8 folds. Turn comes 2 and SB checks. Not good. We check, hoping he gets a little better on the River or tries to bluff. River comes 8 and he checks. We bet 13,000 and he folds. Too bad. We made good money, but only about 25,000, not the 36,000 necessary to justify the risk.
We raise from S7 to 2500 with 9Tc. S9 calls and the BB raises to 7000. Not good. S7 and the BB each have over 150,000 in chips, so this is a good place to hit with suited connectors. We call and S9 calls. Flop comes 4TK rainbow and BB bets 19,000. Our T isn't enough to stay with, so we fold.
In S6 we raise to 2500 with 37d. Not sure why to be honest. Just hadn't taken a stab at the blinds recently. The Button and BB call and the flop comes an amazing 37T with 2 clubs. BB checks and we bet 3500. Button folds and BB raises to 12,000. What does he have? A set? Is he on a club flush draw? We just call. Turn comes 9s putting 2 spades, 2 clubs and a possible straight on the board. He checks, which means he probably doesn't have a set as he wouldn't give us a free card to make a straight or a flush if he did. We bet 21,000, because we don't want to give him that same free card. He calls and the River comes 3h giving us a full house! The only fear now is that he did have a set (very unlikely) and now has a bigger full house. So when he checks, we consider checking it down. Also weighing in on the decision is that if he were drawing to a straight or a flush, he missed it; so he will just fold if we bet. In that case, why risk that he raises us with a full house? However, he could have something like AT or A7 or JJ and call us down? Hard call. After a couple minutes of hurting our brain in the tank, we bet 35,000. He goes into the tank. We're terrified he'll push all in. We're praying for the call, and it comes. We show the baby boat of 3s full of 7s and he mucks. Big win! We're back over 300,000 chips!
In S7 we raise to 2500 with KJ. S8 calls and the SB raises to 7500. We call and S8 folds. The flop comes TQK giving us top pair and an open-ended straight draw. SB bets 9000 and we call. It's too possible that he has a set, 2 pair or even a straight. Turn comes 6 and SB pushes all in for 23,000. He could still have any of the aforementioned hands or he could be bluffing. The pot is about 38,000. It's just too big to walk away from. We call and he shows AK. Not bluffing. Ouch. We have 7 outs (3 aces and 4 9s give us a straight). River comes 3 and we pay him off.
Lots of ups and downs that round and lots of pain, but we end Round 9 with 297,500 in chips, losing less than 10,000 in the round. Two more hours and we're done for the day. Let's see if we can end over 300,000.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
The Big Dance - Round 8
We start round 8 with 206,800 in chips playing 400 800 with 100 antes. That means 2100 in the pot before cards are dealt. Donkey going in!
In S3 we raise to 2100 with 22 and get called by S8. Flop comes TJK and we bet 2200. He calls. Turn comes 8h. We check and he bets 4000. That's a weak bet into an 11,000 pot. We raise to 14,000 hoping he'll fold. He doesn't. River comes 9h putting a four card straight and 3 hearts on the board. Our 22 is not good. We ask how many chips he has. He says 22,000 and we push a stack of orange 5000 chips into the pot. He goes into the tank and then asks if we'll show if he folds. We say we'll tell him what we have when he leaves the room. He responds that that might be right now. Ultimately he folds and we tell him we'll disclose our cards at the end of the night. Big bluff, big win. He just doesn't want to go home right now.
Next hand S3 raises to 2000 and we're on the Button with red AA. Giddey-up. We raise to 5500 and he calls. Flop comes 28T (or 24T, I can't recall) with 2 hearts. He checks and we bet 6500. He thinks for a minute and then pushes all in for about 25000. Unless he has TT, we should be good. His pre-flop action doesn't yield small pairs or 2 pair on this board. We call. He shows JJ and our AA holds up to take him out.
I don't follow poker, but that was Allen Cunningham, who evidently everyone else knew and was watching. Lots of on line magazines subsequently came by to ask my name.
I don't recall the early part of this next hand, but I believe we raised pre-flop and got called by the BB (the guy we massively bluffed with 22). We have KQ and flop comes AK3, all hearts. We have the Qh. We bet 2000 and he calls. Turn comes As and we bet 2000. He pushes all in for about 10,000 and we call. He shows A8. We have 8 outs that are hearts that don't give him a full house. That makes us a 19% dog going into the river. Th falls giving us a flush and he goes home, but not before we tell him we had 22 when he folded last time. He appreciates the honesty - very nice guy with great composure in light of the fact that I just bad beat him and then disclosed bluffing him out of a pot.
New player with about 140,000 in chips sits in the BB and we raise to 2200 from S4 with AK. BB raises to 5600 and we flat call. We could raise, but we're in position and if he made a big re-raise we might never see the flop. Flop comes 233 with 2 spades and he bets 5500. He shouldn't have a 2 or a 3, but he may have something like JJ or 2 spades. We call. Turn comes Ts. He checks and we look at our cards. We know we don't have a spade, but we want to draw the possibility more to his mind. We check and the river comes 9s - 4 spades on the board. He checks - he clearly doesn't have a spade he's proud of. We bet 12,500 and he folds.
About 5 hands later New Guy raises to 1800 from S5 and we call from S7 with 79h. Flop comes 233 with one heart, which I comment is almost identical to our last flop. He bets 2300 and we call. Turn comes 6h giving us a heart draw. He checks and we check. River comes Tc. He bets 3500. Kind of a weak bet as the pot has 10,000. We raise to 12,500 and he goes into the tank. He likely has something like KQ. He folds. We probably are done bluffing into him for a while.
From S3 we raise to 2200, again with AK. S5 calls and we see the flop 8JQ. Not good. We check, he checks and the turn comes 6. We bet 2500. He folds.
In the midst of all this there were a few hands I've lost track of. I know I folded 2 hands after calling pre-flop action and seeing the flop. None of the missing hands are huge though. I'm in a very fortunate place where I have enough chips to "play poker". I can steal blinds, bluff and see flops without hurting my stack, and I doubt I've been victim to much bluffing.
From S6 we raise to 2200 with JQ and S7 re-raises to 5200. We call and the flop comes A8rag with two diamonds. Hoping the A scared him, we bet 3500. He calls. Turn comes rag diamond. I'm a little traumatized by this hand so I apologize that I don't recall more. We bet 9500, which is about 40% of his stack, an amount that is supposed to push people psychologically to push or fold. I don't recall where I read that and of course don't know how well supported the research was, but, that's what we're using for our education. He goes into the tank for a while, perhaps acting, and then pushes. We fold. Ouch! That was 15000 in chips!
We still have over 300,000 in chips, so no Donkey tears. Play tight! Head in the game.
On the button we raise to 2200 with A3 and both blinds call. Flop comes 59T and they check to us. We check and the turn comes Q. That's a good scare card. They check and we bet 3200. They fold. Good result.
In S4 we raise to 2200 with Q9d and get called by S5, the guy who punched us for 15,000 and is now betting what used to be our chips against us. Flop comes 47Q with one diamond and we bet 3600. He folds. Good result.
Same guy opens for 1800 in S3 and we call from the BB with TT. Flop comes 79K and we prod with a 2000 bet. He raises to 5500 and we fold.
S6 raises to 1800 and we call with TJh on the Button. The SB calls. Flop comes 5JQ. SB checks and S6 bets 3100. We call just to do that "floating" thing. SB calls and turn comes 7, putting 2 clubs on the board. S6 bets 11,000. That's a huge bet and doesn't make much sense, but we have the SB behind us and we're playing conservatively so we fold. SB folds too.
We took a couple punches, but we also sent a couple guys home this round. We close Round 8, 60% through Day 2, with 306,200 chips. The internal goal for the day was 270,000, so things are looking great as we head to dinner, cool the jets, and try to focus on nice, tight play in terms of loss minimization.
Hopefully the next update is 3.5 hours away.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
In S3 we raise to 2100 with 22 and get called by S8. Flop comes TJK and we bet 2200. He calls. Turn comes 8h. We check and he bets 4000. That's a weak bet into an 11,000 pot. We raise to 14,000 hoping he'll fold. He doesn't. River comes 9h putting a four card straight and 3 hearts on the board. Our 22 is not good. We ask how many chips he has. He says 22,000 and we push a stack of orange 5000 chips into the pot. He goes into the tank and then asks if we'll show if he folds. We say we'll tell him what we have when he leaves the room. He responds that that might be right now. Ultimately he folds and we tell him we'll disclose our cards at the end of the night. Big bluff, big win. He just doesn't want to go home right now.
Next hand S3 raises to 2000 and we're on the Button with red AA. Giddey-up. We raise to 5500 and he calls. Flop comes 28T (or 24T, I can't recall) with 2 hearts. He checks and we bet 6500. He thinks for a minute and then pushes all in for about 25000. Unless he has TT, we should be good. His pre-flop action doesn't yield small pairs or 2 pair on this board. We call. He shows JJ and our AA holds up to take him out.
I don't follow poker, but that was Allen Cunningham, who evidently everyone else knew and was watching. Lots of on line magazines subsequently came by to ask my name.
I don't recall the early part of this next hand, but I believe we raised pre-flop and got called by the BB (the guy we massively bluffed with 22). We have KQ and flop comes AK3, all hearts. We have the Qh. We bet 2000 and he calls. Turn comes As and we bet 2000. He pushes all in for about 10,000 and we call. He shows A8. We have 8 outs that are hearts that don't give him a full house. That makes us a 19% dog going into the river. Th falls giving us a flush and he goes home, but not before we tell him we had 22 when he folded last time. He appreciates the honesty - very nice guy with great composure in light of the fact that I just bad beat him and then disclosed bluffing him out of a pot.
New player with about 140,000 in chips sits in the BB and we raise to 2200 from S4 with AK. BB raises to 5600 and we flat call. We could raise, but we're in position and if he made a big re-raise we might never see the flop. Flop comes 233 with 2 spades and he bets 5500. He shouldn't have a 2 or a 3, but he may have something like JJ or 2 spades. We call. Turn comes Ts. He checks and we look at our cards. We know we don't have a spade, but we want to draw the possibility more to his mind. We check and the river comes 9s - 4 spades on the board. He checks - he clearly doesn't have a spade he's proud of. We bet 12,500 and he folds.
About 5 hands later New Guy raises to 1800 from S5 and we call from S7 with 79h. Flop comes 233 with one heart, which I comment is almost identical to our last flop. He bets 2300 and we call. Turn comes 6h giving us a heart draw. He checks and we check. River comes Tc. He bets 3500. Kind of a weak bet as the pot has 10,000. We raise to 12,500 and he goes into the tank. He likely has something like KQ. He folds. We probably are done bluffing into him for a while.
From S3 we raise to 2200, again with AK. S5 calls and we see the flop 8JQ. Not good. We check, he checks and the turn comes 6. We bet 2500. He folds.
In the midst of all this there were a few hands I've lost track of. I know I folded 2 hands after calling pre-flop action and seeing the flop. None of the missing hands are huge though. I'm in a very fortunate place where I have enough chips to "play poker". I can steal blinds, bluff and see flops without hurting my stack, and I doubt I've been victim to much bluffing.
From S6 we raise to 2200 with JQ and S7 re-raises to 5200. We call and the flop comes A8rag with two diamonds. Hoping the A scared him, we bet 3500. He calls. Turn comes rag diamond. I'm a little traumatized by this hand so I apologize that I don't recall more. We bet 9500, which is about 40% of his stack, an amount that is supposed to push people psychologically to push or fold. I don't recall where I read that and of course don't know how well supported the research was, but, that's what we're using for our education. He goes into the tank for a while, perhaps acting, and then pushes. We fold. Ouch! That was 15000 in chips!
We still have over 300,000 in chips, so no Donkey tears. Play tight! Head in the game.
On the button we raise to 2200 with A3 and both blinds call. Flop comes 59T and they check to us. We check and the turn comes Q. That's a good scare card. They check and we bet 3200. They fold. Good result.
In S4 we raise to 2200 with Q9d and get called by S5, the guy who punched us for 15,000 and is now betting what used to be our chips against us. Flop comes 47Q with one diamond and we bet 3600. He folds. Good result.
Same guy opens for 1800 in S3 and we call from the BB with TT. Flop comes 79K and we prod with a 2000 bet. He raises to 5500 and we fold.
S6 raises to 1800 and we call with TJh on the Button. The SB calls. Flop comes 5JQ. SB checks and S6 bets 3100. We call just to do that "floating" thing. SB calls and turn comes 7, putting 2 clubs on the board. S6 bets 11,000. That's a huge bet and doesn't make much sense, but we have the SB behind us and we're playing conservatively so we fold. SB folds too.
We took a couple punches, but we also sent a couple guys home this round. We close Round 8, 60% through Day 2, with 306,200 chips. The internal goal for the day was 270,000, so things are looking great as we head to dinner, cool the jets, and try to focus on nice, tight play in terms of loss minimization.
Hopefully the next update is 3.5 hours away.
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
The Big Dance - Round 7
We're 20% through the day starting Round 7 with 176,550 in chips. I miscounted as I exited for the bathroom at the end of Round 6 (those of you paying attention will recall I wrote 165,525 in chips). On the walk to the bathroom I thought about the big wins of about 35,000 and knew that with the small wins, even considering all the times I folded and lost blinds and antes, my count was off.
Here we go playing 300 600 with 75 antes. That means 1575 in the pot before we get cards.
S8 raises weakly to 1200 and we call from the BB with K6h. Flop comes 36Q with 1 heart. We check and he weak bets again 1200. We call and another Q turns. We check and he checks. River comes T. We bet 2800 and he calls with 7To. He was bluffing all the way to the River where he hit a winning card. Oh well, sustainable losses are okay.
We play a few small hands and win them all. Then we raise to 1550 from S7 with QK and get called by the button. Flop comes 9TQ and we bet 1500. He calls. Turn comes Q. Fantastico. We bet 2800 and he calls. River comes 8. If he has a J we're dead. We check and he bets 3000. Kind of weak if he has a J. Plus, if he does, he has to worry that we have JK or a full house, so raising is relatively safe. We raise to 9000 and he calls, which is what we were hoping for. He shows AJ to take the pot. Not what we were hoping for. Our first big loss today. Still, losing 15000 with 3 queens against a straight is not the worst possible result.
We limp from S7 with 68c and S8 raises to 2300. Everyone folds, but the pot odds and the 45000 S7 has push us to call. Flop comes Q77 with one club. We check, he bets 2500 and we fold.
We limp from S3 with 66 and S5 raises to 1900. The SB calls and we call. The flop comes 47Q. We bet 3500 and S5 calls. Turn comes J. Not good. We check, he bets, we fold.
This happens again in very similar fashion and rather than get disgruntled, we tighten up. Losing 5-10,000 is not terrible, but doing it repeatedly is. Pretty simple logic right? That's what makes me confident that even a Donkey can do this.
S6 weak bets to 1200 and we raise to 3600 from S7 with AQ. S8 comes over for 9600 and everyone folds to us. It's 6000 to call a pot of 16,000. Tempting, we like the AQ, but what happens after the flop? If we hit a Q, we have to worry he has AA or KK. If we hit an A, we have to worry he has AK. He's acting behind us and has 60,000 in chips. This is never going to be comfortable. We fold.
In seat 5 we raise to 1350 with AJ. The BB is absent from the table, so it's prime stealing time. We get called by S6 and the flop comes 6JQ. We bet 2250 hoping he doesn't have a Q and he folds. Good result. Let's pick up some more nickels and dimes; we have some catching up to do.
S6, 8 and 9 limp and we limp from the SB with K9. Even suited we don't like this hand, but for 300 we'll see the flop. Candidly, thought about raising all the limpers out pre-flop, but had some fear of hitting a slow playing big pair. Anyway, BB checks and we see the flop 3TK with 2 hearts. We bet 1400 and everyone folds. Guess no one had a K, 2 hearts, a JQ or a set. All good.
We raise to 1350 with QQ in S8. The button and the SB call and we see the 389 rainbow flop. Should be good for us. SB checks and we bet 3400. Button calls and SB raises to 11,000. Wow! He either thinks I'm bluffing and he thinks the Button thinks I'm bluffing or he has a hand. Doubtful he has a set as he wouldn't bet so much; he would slow play a little. He likely has 2 pair. In light of the pre-flop betting, probably 89 as opposed to 83 or 93. Alternatively, he could have an open ended straight draw and be semi-bluffing and hoping we fold (e.g. TJ hoping to hit a 7 or Q). We call, creating a massive pot, about 30,000. The Button folds. Turn comes 3 and SB checks. That's a good sign he has 89 or a straight draw. Now he's checking because he's afraid I have a pocket pair of Ts or better to make a better 2 pair than he has. If he is so worried, he's right. If he has a straight draw, we should bet to not give him a free shot at the straight, but more likely he has 2 pair. We check to see the river hoping a Q will come resolve this for us. River comes 2 - total rag, but that's fine. He checks, which is a great sign we have him beat. Otherwise, he's missed 2 opportunities to bet. We bet 12,500 and he goes into the tank. This is the same guy who beat our set of Qs with a straight just a bit ago and we start to worry that he could push and leave us in quite a quandary. We start to regret betting 12,500 and giving him that opportunity. Then we come to our senses and realize the delay now doesn't impact his decisions thus far which pretty much dictate that he has 89 (the delay does nix the idea that he has a straight draw as he would have mucked already). Eventually he calls and shows 89. This is, by the way, one of the only times I've actually read someone's hand this clearly. We pick it up with Qs and 3s. Giddey-up!
We've just eclipsed (by 125 in chips) the 200,000 mark!
S5 limps and we call from S8 with A8. S9 and the blinds limp and 5 of us see the flop with a pot just over 4000. Flop comes 28T with 2 clubs and S5 bets 1850. We call as he could have anything and be trying to buy the pot; everyone else folds. Turn comes Q. He checks and we check. Unlikely that hit him, but he will think the same of us, so no point betting to push him out (just in case he does have a T). River comes A. Fantastic except now there's 3 clubs on the board. He bets 3200. He could have a flush, or he could have been hoping to trap me on the turn and have a set. We just call. Tight and conservative. He shows TQ for 2 pair and we take it down with Aces and Eights, which I believe is referred to as the "Dead Man's Hand". He was slow playing when the Q hit, but I misread his hand as much as I honed in on the 89. I'd rather be lucky than good!
We close a big Round 7, 40% through the day, with 206,850 in chips! They're "racing off" the 25s now, so we will win or lose 50 during the break. Players change all their 25s in for 100s, but if you have orphaned 25s, as I do, you compete with all the other orphan holders by a high card process to see who gets the 100 chips. I got 22 for my 2 25s when they came to me, so others at my table took the 100s - oh well, we lost the 50.
Hopefully more good stuff in 2 hours!
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
******************************************************************************
Please visit the following website to read the KCC legal notice:
http://www.kccllc.com/Email-Disclaimer/
******************************************************************************
Here we go playing 300 600 with 75 antes. That means 1575 in the pot before we get cards.
S8 raises weakly to 1200 and we call from the BB with K6h. Flop comes 36Q with 1 heart. We check and he weak bets again 1200. We call and another Q turns. We check and he checks. River comes T. We bet 2800 and he calls with 7To. He was bluffing all the way to the River where he hit a winning card. Oh well, sustainable losses are okay.
We play a few small hands and win them all. Then we raise to 1550 from S7 with QK and get called by the button. Flop comes 9TQ and we bet 1500. He calls. Turn comes Q. Fantastico. We bet 2800 and he calls. River comes 8. If he has a J we're dead. We check and he bets 3000. Kind of weak if he has a J. Plus, if he does, he has to worry that we have JK or a full house, so raising is relatively safe. We raise to 9000 and he calls, which is what we were hoping for. He shows AJ to take the pot. Not what we were hoping for. Our first big loss today. Still, losing 15000 with 3 queens against a straight is not the worst possible result.
We limp from S7 with 68c and S8 raises to 2300. Everyone folds, but the pot odds and the 45000 S7 has push us to call. Flop comes Q77 with one club. We check, he bets 2500 and we fold.
We limp from S3 with 66 and S5 raises to 1900. The SB calls and we call. The flop comes 47Q. We bet 3500 and S5 calls. Turn comes J. Not good. We check, he bets, we fold.
This happens again in very similar fashion and rather than get disgruntled, we tighten up. Losing 5-10,000 is not terrible, but doing it repeatedly is. Pretty simple logic right? That's what makes me confident that even a Donkey can do this.
S6 weak bets to 1200 and we raise to 3600 from S7 with AQ. S8 comes over for 9600 and everyone folds to us. It's 6000 to call a pot of 16,000. Tempting, we like the AQ, but what happens after the flop? If we hit a Q, we have to worry he has AA or KK. If we hit an A, we have to worry he has AK. He's acting behind us and has 60,000 in chips. This is never going to be comfortable. We fold.
In seat 5 we raise to 1350 with AJ. The BB is absent from the table, so it's prime stealing time. We get called by S6 and the flop comes 6JQ. We bet 2250 hoping he doesn't have a Q and he folds. Good result. Let's pick up some more nickels and dimes; we have some catching up to do.
S6, 8 and 9 limp and we limp from the SB with K9. Even suited we don't like this hand, but for 300 we'll see the flop. Candidly, thought about raising all the limpers out pre-flop, but had some fear of hitting a slow playing big pair. Anyway, BB checks and we see the flop 3TK with 2 hearts. We bet 1400 and everyone folds. Guess no one had a K, 2 hearts, a JQ or a set. All good.
We raise to 1350 with QQ in S8. The button and the SB call and we see the 389 rainbow flop. Should be good for us. SB checks and we bet 3400. Button calls and SB raises to 11,000. Wow! He either thinks I'm bluffing and he thinks the Button thinks I'm bluffing or he has a hand. Doubtful he has a set as he wouldn't bet so much; he would slow play a little. He likely has 2 pair. In light of the pre-flop betting, probably 89 as opposed to 83 or 93. Alternatively, he could have an open ended straight draw and be semi-bluffing and hoping we fold (e.g. TJ hoping to hit a 7 or Q). We call, creating a massive pot, about 30,000. The Button folds. Turn comes 3 and SB checks. That's a good sign he has 89 or a straight draw. Now he's checking because he's afraid I have a pocket pair of Ts or better to make a better 2 pair than he has. If he is so worried, he's right. If he has a straight draw, we should bet to not give him a free shot at the straight, but more likely he has 2 pair. We check to see the river hoping a Q will come resolve this for us. River comes 2 - total rag, but that's fine. He checks, which is a great sign we have him beat. Otherwise, he's missed 2 opportunities to bet. We bet 12,500 and he goes into the tank. This is the same guy who beat our set of Qs with a straight just a bit ago and we start to worry that he could push and leave us in quite a quandary. We start to regret betting 12,500 and giving him that opportunity. Then we come to our senses and realize the delay now doesn't impact his decisions thus far which pretty much dictate that he has 89 (the delay does nix the idea that he has a straight draw as he would have mucked already). Eventually he calls and shows 89. This is, by the way, one of the only times I've actually read someone's hand this clearly. We pick it up with Qs and 3s. Giddey-up!
We've just eclipsed (by 125 in chips) the 200,000 mark!
S5 limps and we call from S8 with A8. S9 and the blinds limp and 5 of us see the flop with a pot just over 4000. Flop comes 28T with 2 clubs and S5 bets 1850. We call as he could have anything and be trying to buy the pot; everyone else folds. Turn comes Q. He checks and we check. Unlikely that hit him, but he will think the same of us, so no point betting to push him out (just in case he does have a T). River comes A. Fantastic except now there's 3 clubs on the board. He bets 3200. He could have a flush, or he could have been hoping to trap me on the turn and have a set. We just call. Tight and conservative. He shows TQ for 2 pair and we take it down with Aces and Eights, which I believe is referred to as the "Dead Man's Hand". He was slow playing when the Q hit, but I misread his hand as much as I honed in on the 89. I'd rather be lucky than good!
We close a big Round 7, 40% through the day, with 206,850 in chips! They're "racing off" the 25s now, so we will win or lose 50 during the break. Players change all their 25s in for 100s, but if you have orphaned 25s, as I do, you compete with all the other orphan holders by a high card process to see who gets the 100 chips. I got 22 for my 2 25s when they came to me, so others at my table took the 100s - oh well, we lost the 50.
Hopefully more good stuff in 2 hours!
All the best,
Eric Kurtzman
Kurtzman Carson Consultants
2335 Alaska Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245
voice (310) 751-1500
fax (310) 751-1550
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