thejimsheet

Ok, so I’m drunk. I can’t really see straight. But, I got 5th of 86th tonight in the lowball tourney, good enough to freeroll for BARGE for the first time ever. YAY! Ok, more later - maybe.

My plan today was to head down to Binion’s after lunch, and either play in some BARGEr mixed game or walk across the street to play NL at the Nugget. I stayed up all night last night, however, and took a nap this afternoon after only sleeping for a couple hours this morning. So, I get to Binion’s, get my badge, and say ‘hi’ to a few people I know. While I still don’t feel like a real member of this group, I’m getting more comfortable. When I get to my table, I see Randy, who I know, is to my left. Also, JP, who I got HU against in one of the warmups last week. I also see a couple other people whose faces and/or names I recognize and introduce myself to a couple others.

On the first hand, I’m in the SB, JP raises to 150 in early position (utg +2, 10 handed). Mark calls, I look down at As7s and decide to call, and Randy calls in the BB. Flop is 8TJ, one spade, and surprisingly enough it checks around. Turn is the 6s, I bet 350 and take it down. Nice start. When you only get 2000 chips and blinds go up every 20 minutes in a live sng, it’s especially nice to give yourself some pad early.

I steal a couple times, but generally play tight (as does the majority of the table) and am sitting at about a little less than 3k when the next interesting hand comes up (I did “resteal” once with TT). I’m in the BB at 100/200, Sharon pushes for 825 utg +2 (after showing up late, she’s been her fun self to this point, all the while playing very well despite now being short chipped). It folds to me and I’ve got to call 625 to win 1125. I look down at Kc4c. I think usually this is a fold, BUT I wanted to show gamble, I had chips, and I “think” Sharon can have a wide range here (not crazy wide, but wider than many). I call. She shows 66. Flop AT6 all clubs. I flop the nuts, and quickly get resucked when the board pairs the A on the turn (and the T on the river for good measure). Ok, back to grinding.
I chip back up a little. I blind out a little. Blinds go up. And up. We’re only down to 8 at 150/300. I’m utg with 1625 and look down to Kc9c. Ok, I push. mjoseph calls in late position with 99 and the blinds fold. Ugh. Flop comes with two clubs. Ok, from dominated to flipping. Turn K. Flipping to him having one out. River bricks. I play good.

A few hands later, I’m on the button. It folds to me and I look down to see A2. I’ve already counted down the BB to having 1275. He’s been pretty tight, but even if he calls, I’m willing to gamble with good chips. As I put out the wrong amount (after verbally committing to 1275), I see Randy reach for his chips. He’s been card dead but patient and I know I’m crushed. BB folds (says he would have gone with Q7), and I’ve got a fairly trivial call even “knowing” I only have three outs. Yep, he’s got AcQc. Nice. I turn a deuce and HGHN. Randy gave me a ride to the sushi outing a couple years ago, and is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet. I genuinely feel bad for putting a beat on him. But, I get a cool bust out chip. So, that’s nice.

The table now knows I’m a total luckbox. So, that’s nice, too.

Unfortunately, at this point, I go generally card dead for the remainder of the sng. I get a couple walks and steal once or twice, but at 300/600 I’m hovering around 5k. When we get HU, I have about 4k. A couple folds and then I’m on the button and look down to Q9. Despite being very lucky when I was behind, this is the only play I want to take back. I push. Online, I think it’s right, and fairly clear being that short. I think, however, that I should have studied for a minute before pushing. Whatever, he calls with A6, board comes 78J6J, and IGHN. nh and gg.

I think I played ok. I probably should have made a couple more moves before getting that short. And, while it sucks to be that close to going on to the HORSE final table, I can’t complain given the luck. I could very well play better in the Lowball tourney tomorrow and the NLHE on Saturday, and finish a lot worse. We’ll see.

It’s been written that, as a poker player, you should know WHY you are putting chips in the pot each time you do. Well, that makes sense. For this post, I’ll just talk about betting and/or raising, not calling, which is a different animal. Players hear Mike Sexton say that poker rewards the aggressor. Yes, it does. But, the guys on the WPT final table are shorthanded and playing a tournament with high blinds. And, yet, they still (usually) have a sound rationale behind their actions. Well, not across Las Vegas. People bet and raise in the weirdest spots. They turn decent hands with showdown value into bluffs. They bet people out of pots when they have the fucking nuts. They “protect” hands???

Ok, two examples, just from tonight:

1. I’m at Excalibur and they open a new table for us. To my left is one of the better players I’ve played with out here. He’s making laydowns, bluffs, thin value bets, and while we’re not talking much, we’re talking enough that it’s clear he knows what he’s doing. Then, a hand comes up where a bunch of us limp to the flop. Honestly, I don’t know how many. I have Kxs. No, I don’t know what x was. Anyways, me and this dude are basically in middle position. The flop comes 995. It checks around. The turn comes a 9. It checks around. The river comes an A. I think about betting my King for value, and just don’t see enough there. If it checks around, then cool. Goodplayerman bets 10. It quickly folds. He tells me he’s glad nobody raised, and shows me 5x. No, I don’t remember what x was. He mentions that if someone had raised, he would have had to muck. He didn’t think anyone had an A, because they would have bet it on the turn, but someone could have had quad nines. Ummmm, ok. I ask him what hands he wanted to be called by, and he says he didn’t want to be called. Well, this just makes no fucking sense, and this is from a thinking player.

2. A little later, I’m at MGM. There’s a loudmouth pretty boy (probably 40, but you know the type - permanent 5o’clock shadow, button down shirt untucked, with the sleeves rolled, probably expensive jeans, whatever). He is the table talker. Where you from? That’s cool. Hey, Frankfurt. Don’t raise me, LA. SHUT UP! Anyways, he gets into a hand when he raises to 12 preflop and gets three callers. Flop comes 357, all clubs. He’s last to act. Girl bets 10, young pro folds, dumby in middle position goes all in for like 38 (yes, somebody smoothcalled 12 preflop with a stack of 50). Prettyman thinks for about 4 seconds and then announces a raise. Girl doesn’t want to fold (the raise put her all-in for the ~70 she had left). She folds. He flips fucking AcKc. Chinaman to his right asks him why he raised. He hems and haws and then mentions he doesn’t want her to call and then get a straight flush. He proceeds to try to explain to the chinaman. Chinaman, he know better, and just tell prettyman that he a smart whitey. I mean, this guy obviously made a ridiculous isolation play (she later said she had 87 with the 8 of clubs, so yes, in fact, she did have a runner-runner straight flush draw). And, he’s incredulous that anyone could question him.

LOL. I get mad just writing about the stupidity. I’m now reminded of when he (prettyman) earlier told the dude to my right that folding a OESD with an over on the flop getting 4-1 on his shortstack was a really good fold, because well, he (prettyman) had turned top pair into a boat on the turn and river. Ok.

Anyways, the fucking point is this: bluff with hands that you think can’t win (and probably the least amount you don’t think will be called), bet for value with hands you think are the best (and probably the most amount you think will be called).

In about two weeks, I will be posting my college and pro football previews. They will not be overly lengthy, but they WILL be full of the kind of bad picks that make thejimsheet.com what it is.

Ok, so I was only out of the house for 8 hours. I’ve been playing mostly in 2 and 3 hour spurts. I actually did the same today, just back-to-back Excalibur/MGM/Excalibur. I logged about 6 hours on the tables. I made money, but not as much as I think I should have. It was truly a grind today.

When I first formulated my plan, I was thinking about 200-250 hours a month. I just don’t see how that’s possible right now.

I have been profitable online, and I’m not tracking or logging those hours. Maybe (ok, definitely) I should be.

Tangentially, and I know many of you know this; there are a fucking bunch of stupid fucks at the poker table. And, most of them like to talk about how stupid they are. I really enjoy good discussion, banter, et cetera, but generally those aren’t the real profitable tables. Every once in a while, I find someone to converse with while taking retards’ money, but mostly, it’s just the retards that feel the need to talk.

Rambling, babbling, I’ll stop now.

This is BARGE week. If you don’t know what BARGE is, it stands for Big August Rec Gambling Excursion. Basically, back in the early 90s, a bunch of usenet geeks starting getting together in Vegas to talk about gambling, gamble, and drink. My kind of crowd. Anyways, you can find more out at barge.org. I’m only playing in three tourneys this year, plus going to the banquet to hear Tom Schneider on Saturday. Should be fun. I plan to play a long session today, since I may not be playing much the rest of the week. We’ll see.

Ok, so I have about 18 different things I want to write about. But, I need to sort them out in my head. I don’t know; maybe I won’t get to them at all.

I do want to post a hand before I forget about it.

The background is I had lost with Aces six straight times in live play. I’m at the Mirage and get dealt the pretty, pretty AA utg (utg after a 4 straddle). I limp. About 1/2 the pots on this table were raised, and I had made a funky limp/reraise play earlier (I had limp/reraised, semi-bluffed the A high flop with 33 (wheel draw), gotten called by JJ somehow and spiked a 3 on the river). And, if it limps around, I’m ok with that, too. So, it limps around, and five people are actually in the hand (Pot = 20). Flop comes Q85 rainbow. Nice. Check, check, I bet 15. I want to build a pot and figure out where I’m at. Only one caller (Pot = 50). Turn is a 9. I bet 40. He instantly raises to 100. Now, this guy was sitting on like 500, and in the time I had been there (a couple hours), he hadn’t gotten out of line. And, he also hadn’t won much, just treading water.

Ok, so I have one pair and a pretty big pot is being played. That’s not a situation I recommend. There’s “always” a better spot. But, what could he have that beats me? I knew this guy didn’t have a set or two pair. It didn’t fit his M.O., and it didn’t feel right. He doesn’t have JT, calling a bet with a gutshot, either. So, the only hand he has that beats me is 67. I’m drawing dead against 67, and I’m oop. On the other hand, because of the way I played that hand earlier, I know he can put me on a wide range (if he thinks like that, “junk” if he doesn’t) and be pushing just about any Q he would have limped with (AQ a little unlikely, KQ most likely, and QJ and QT that just picked up gutshot outs to go with top pair in the mix, but not heavily). I fold. I think it was a bad fold if I can really narrow his range that much. I think losing with AA had started to make me paranoid, and I should have at least called, and probably shoved (I was sitting on about 350 when the hand started).

Anyways, I went to the Venetian when I left the Mirage and won a pot with AA, so the streak is over.

I am winning, so I must be running really good right now. It’s hard to attribute winning to luck, but I also know that I’ve been running on the upper edge. I am not sucking out on people after getting money in bad. And, I’m still not hitting sets. But, I am flopping two pair more than my share, and hitting more flushes than I can reasonably expect. I got it all in with AKss against nines last night on a flop of 456, two spades. I could have been drawing to the naked flush, but instead I was a favorite, AND I hit. We’ll see how long this continues.

I have always tended towards weird sleep patterns. I now am just about on a regular schedule, which is weird for me. Except, it’s that I sleep from 7am-2pm, which is weird for everyone else.

I’m not saying this will be a standard, but it seemed like a good title.

I played at three places tonight (Mirage, Monte Carlo, and Excalibur). Shortly after I sat down at Excalibur (in the four seat), the player in the six seat won a pot with Q6 after getting it all in on the turn against KQ with a QQxx board when a 6 spiked on the river. The losing player was none too happy. About six hands later, loser decides to get his money back. He raises pre , and winner is the only caller. Flop 236. Loser bets pretty big (35). Winner calls. Turn 2. Loser bets bigger (65). Winner calls. River 8 (no flush possible). Loser bets even bigger (100). Winner calls. Winner disgusted because he can’t win and flips AT. Loser turns over 78. WOW.

Winner doesn’t speak English. Winner proceeds to continue to play absolutely bonkers. I was at the same table as someone who was messed up on drugs (O8 at the Orleans a few years ago). He was giving money away raising and reraising every street. I have played with the worst of the worst at Winstar and Choctaw. But, this was unlike anything I’d ever seen. He’d call whatever someone put out there. And, people (especially loser above like three more times) kept trying to bluff him. He’d occasionally bet if checked to, and every once in awhile he’d check. Maybe once in ten times, he’d fold to a bet or raise. But, almost every hand he was calling. Pair. No pair, no draw. But, he was also making money. He got up to about 800. I asked what the cap was, and was told 300. I immediately reloaded (had like 180 from my 200 buyin). I get little to no cards. But, the table dynamic also changes.

Anyways, that’s some background. Here’s the hand.

I’m in SB, it’s limped in like 4 places (including Winner utg). I look down to see 72. I call the $1, BB checks. Flop JT7. I check, BB checks, Winner bets 20. Local “pro” with a big stack calls in seat 1 (late position) and I call. Turn three ways and it’s a 2. I check. Winner bets 20. Pro calls, and I checkraise to 100. I’m trying to figure out where pro is and isolate. Sure enough, Winner calls my checkraise, and pro gets out of the way. Nice. River 5. I bet $40, Winner calls, and I show my 72 hammer two pair. He proudly pounds his QT one pair on the table, and I drag a pretty nice pot. Maybe the weirdest hand I’ve played since I don’t know when. And, yes, I should have bet more on the river, I guess.

About 1/2 an hour later, he’s given all but about 80 around the table, and I leave. Weird little session.