If you truly cant understand...

If you truly cannot understand how one cleanly can make a call of a 7x raise preflop (in a cash game) with a hand such as 5d-4d, and take a flop, especially when that player terminates preflop action AND is in the big blind, I really want you playing at my table.

By "Really," I do in fact mean, please, sit next to me - and "good luck, ole chap!"

---

Poker Pub Sponsors and deals:
Newest, hottest place to play poker - Carbon Poker - Special 200% up to $100 (code initialcheckrayz), a reload bonus of 75% up too $100 (code reloadcheckrayz)!
save up to $200 on inexpensive, denominated, high quality poker chips.
Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
Get better at playing poker online with pokertracker. Analyze your play and the play of your opposition.
Advertise with the Poker Pub

---

I have seen several instances recently, both live and onine; hands I've been in, or observed - and some people just do not get it. Stopping short of trying to educate the masses, playing cash game is so much more than playing premium hands in a "tight, aggressive manner." There's so much more to cash play than actual pot odds.

An example or two...

UTG+1 raises preflop 7x's blinds. Button calls cleanly. I sit in the BB with 5d-4d, terminating action. Both the button and the raiser have a sizable stack. I suspect that I'm way behind preflop, but also know that the raiser seems to overplay his hands, at least some of the time. I also suspect the button "may" be calling with an ace, suited ace, or a small pocket pair and is likely playing position.

Odds are, I'm behind now, no matter how we look at it. However, investing six more BB into a pot containing 14ish BB, terminating action and the potential to win at least one stack "if" I get the right flop. On the other hand, I will lose no more if I do not get the right flop. So, I'm investing six more BB's to win at least 50 BB's, maybe even 100 BB's.

The flop just happens to come 4-4-J. I check, raiser continues, button folds. I was hoping the button would either call or raise, then I'd push. He did not, so I call cleanly, not fearing the jack. Turn is a nine. I bet out about 1/2 my remaining stack. Raiser moves allin. I insta-call, he has QQ. River delivers a redundant five.

Scenario number two, UTG (an ABC player who plays premium and semi-premium hands hard) raises 6x blinds. The button, one of the most disciplined cash game players I've sat with locally calls cleanly, as does the SB. Rubbish flop of 2-6-10 rainbowed arrives. SB bets out 10BB, UTG raises to 30BB. The button reraises minimally. The SB, who is a successful cash player as well, folds - thinking top pr is no good here. UTG reraises "putting the button all in." The button postures for a bit, and "calls his kings or aces."

Sure enough, UTG turns over his KK, thinking he's way ahead. The button turns over his 2h-6h. The turn and river fires blanks and roughly 240 BB's head over to the button. UTG goes absolutely ape shit.

Again, implied odds, and justifying of loose calls.

Again, have a seat!

Mike

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License.


Subscribe to the Poker Pub

hammer clinic

Rare piece of hand history --- just because I can...

Edit: Before we get into hand history, here's the CheckRayz Leaderboard at Bugsy's Club for our CheckRayz League.

---

Poker Pub Sponsors and deals:

Your ad here

save up to $200 on inexpensive, denominated, high quality poker chips. Customized poker chip sets - All Casino supplies, only at 5 star deal.

Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!

Blogger Poker Tour Season 3 Starting soon and only at Poker.com!.

---

------------------------------------------------------------

Hand Number: 400,018,569
Table Number: 5,597,451
Event Name: $300 CheckRayz League (#3538373)
Event Started: Thursday January 25th 8:00:02 PM CST 2007
Event Type: Real Money Rebuy Tournament
Event Buy-In: $2+$0.20
Total Prize Pool: $26 (10 entries, 3 rebuys)
Game: No Limit Hold 'em
Level I: 25/50 Blinds (25 Minimum Chip)
Starting Chips: 10,000
Starting Players: 10
Seat 1 : knapping starts with 10,000
Seat 2 : cardluvr starts with 20,000
Seat 3 : gary812 starts with 20,000
Seat 4 : _scorpion_ starts with 10,000
Seat 5 : phildaphish starts with 10,000
Seat 6 : CheckRayz starts with 10,000
Seat 7 : albafish starts with 10,000
Seat 8 : TSM12 starts with 10,000
Seat 9 : reelcrazy11 starts with 10,000
Seat 10 : BC5457 starts with 10,000
Seat 1 : knapping has the dealer button
>>>DEALING HOLE CARDS<<<
CheckRayz dealt down 7c 2h
cardluvr posts the small blind 25
gary812 posts the big blind 50
CheckRayz: lol... i'm a final tabling machine... 2 for 2 this year in checkrayz tourneys
_scorpion_ calls 50
phildaphish: me 2
phildaphish calls 50
CheckRayz raises 720 to 770 <=== a hint?
reelcrazy11: not me ina fish
albafish times out
albafish folds
reelcrazy11: ima fish
TSM12 folds
reelcrazy11 folds
BC5457 folds
knapping folds
cardluvr folds
gary812 folds
phildaphish: did u do any good at 3d tonight Chchrayz?
_scorpion_ calls 720
phildaphish folds
>>>DEALING FLOP<<< [ 2c 7s Kh ]
_scorpion_ bets 1,625
CheckRayz: no
CheckRayz raises 7,605 to 9,230 and is all-in
phildaphish: me neither
_scorpion_ calls 7,605 and is all-in
CheckRayz cards were 7c 2h
_scorpion_ cards were Js Kd
phildaphish: out early
>>>DEALING TURN<<< [ Ad ]
>>>DEALING RIVER<<< [ 3c ]
CheckRayz wins 20,125 with two pair, sevens and deuces
BC5457: beware i am goint to win tonigt so i can play tom
(Observer) bornsupreme: mike the hammer valintine
>>>SUMMARY<<<
Hand Ended: Thursday January 25th 8:03:03 PM CST 2007
Total Pot: 20,125
Board: [ 2c 7s Kh Ad 3c ]
Seat 1 : knapping (button) did not bet, folded pre-flop
Seat 2 : cardluvr (small blind) lost 25, folded pre-flop
Seat 3 : gary812 (big blind) lost 50, folded pre-flop
Seat 4 : _scorpion_ lost 10,000, showed hand [ Js Kd ]
Seat 5 : phildaphish lost 50, folded pre-flop
Seat 6 : CheckRayz bet 10,000, won 20,125, net +10,125, showed hand [ 7c 2h ]
Seat 7 : albafish did not bet, folded pre-flop
Seat 8 : TSM12 did not bet, folded pre-flop
Seat 9 : reelcrazy11 did not bet, folded pre-flop
Seat 10 : BC5457 did not bet, folded pre-flop

------------------------------------------------------------

Edit: I was tired as hell when I posted that. I had a good bit more that I was wanting to add, but I couldn't keep the eyes open.

When I went into this game, I was fairly certain I was going to play "differently" than normal; well, differently than I normally play a CheckRayz game, at least. Although, it's not uncommon for me to drop the hammer with the 2-7 not suited.

That aside, it should be noted that I was caught playing hands such as 5d-3d, 8s-7s, and Ah-4d; and often to a raise. I was even inclined to raise with such hands. And truth be told, I'd sometimes call, other times reraise with these hands. If there was one thing I learned about tournament poker play while in the land of Oz, it was that aggression takes down pots. There were antes, they were sizable (last night at Bugsy's). For that reason alone, there was added incentive to raise pre and come out firing.

When the one player (I cannot recall who it was) raised over top of me to all-in, I had no choice, mathamatically speaking, but to call. I knew I'd be calling from behind and even said "shit, not what I wanted," but I had to call anyway.

Phillyd ended up taking down the tournament. He played very well... I think back to one critical mistake I made. On a raised board, I flop 2 pr K-Q-J. I bet out almost pot sized and he calls. My bet size was mostly random. I thought to myself I'd wanted to just end the hand and not really overcommit to it. I didn't want to see a ten or an ace on this board. Turn brings an ace, and philyd moves all-in. I thought and lay down my 2 pr. In retrospect, I should have put him on an ace (any ace) and made the call, but laid it down to a ten hitting the board.

Oh well, I failed to put him away, and thus I end up second. There's always tonight!

Speaking of tonight, I think I'll write more about Oz tonight, specifically I want to write about my thoughts on the second place finisher in the Aussie Millions - Jimmy Fricke.

Mike

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License.


Subscribe to the Poker Pub

Un-fing-believable...

I am still sitting here, roughly 12 hours removed from that horrible beating... totally in disbelief. 1 word... un-fing-believable! Look, forget in the last post I said one of six cards would help me. I know it was five cards... That's not the point.

The point is, well... the point is... Look, I should not EVER lose with the hammer when I drop it, period. And now that I have... well, I guess now I have to question everything I once believed to be real. Thanks Mitch! Thanks for the wake up call...

---

No advertisments today, in mourning of the BeerGuy's hammer drop gone wrong...

---

The two-fing-seven offsuit is supposed to be the strongest hand in poker. And in the interest of fairness, I've never went to a showdown with the hammer and lost with it. I can really only conclude that live poker is rigged. I mean how else do you explain such a beating? Mitch had to have had access to the algorhythm or something in the human shuffler. Or maybe the dealer was giving him signals. Mitch was the host, after all. Or maybe it was a pocket cam that he had access to?

Even so, I'd think that between my playing the strongest hand in poker AND I've not even mentioned Chuck F'ing Norris was protecting my chips. Sure, Mitch had a ninja... big deal. Everyone knows Norris trumps Ninja, period...

So, what next? Where do I go from here? I mean, next thing you're gonna tell me is that some things do actually occur 90% of the time... or or or... that the US is going to be the only country still not on the metric system, right?

I know, you're gonna say that people are going to sell their poker blogs and turn them into... nah, that's just ridiculous. No one sells their poker blogs.

All I know is that I've not lost with the hammer since the modern sack era of football ever! And now that I have... well, I guess I have to re-learn the game of hold'em, because what I once believed to be true now no longer is. So, I guess I'm a newbie here... I'm going to have to teach myself to play all over again. Start from scratch, if you will...

Unfortunately, I don't have the time to train between now and "the big game" (Blogger Poker Tour Grand Final - Saturday 3pm --- pregame begins at 5pm Moscow Time - happy hour). And, unlike Mitch, I'm a true athlete and won't juice up to enhance my performance on the felt. So, I guess the Grand Final is the place! I'm gonna learn to play all over again, and what a great training ground that will be. 19 quality players and the new guy. I wonder if I'll have beginner's luck?

Until then...

Mike

Related Posts

We're in uncharted waters here... the hammer lost... nothing relates.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 License.


Subscribe to the Poker Pub

My Way of Selecting a Poker Table...

Christmas gifts n poker chips only at 5stardeal.
Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
New Poker Room necessary? List of Poker Rooms who welcome all customers as of 10/19/2006 10am EDT
Blogger? Join the Blogger Poker Tour today! From the Blogosphere to the Aussie Millions... BPT - only at Poker.com!. BPT Event 6 (12/2) hosted by Flopilicious!

Table selection is an important aspect of one's poker game. I'd give you a magic number I look for when selecting an online table on which to play, but I strongly suspect the majority of my readers do not have Pokertracker - free to try, by the way... So, instead of spitting and spraying numbers, I'll talk in plain English.

There are very specific things I look for when selecting a NL Hold'em table to sit down and make money from. The texture of the table, my seat relative to my "targets" all depend on how I will play once I sit down. Today, I plan to fill you in on the thought process that works for me. Perhaps it may help you as well.


For starters, let's pretend that we know we want to play a NL Texas Hold'em cash game at a given poker site. Additionally, let's assume we are adequately bankrolled to play at said level. Furthermore, we're assuming that we can look at X number of tables ourselves, without pokertracker numbers guiding us, and that the players during this observation period will not get up, switch tables or sign off. Finally, you are actively using a labeling system within the poker software to tag and label players accordingly. My system has a few labels, to keep it simple... we may get into that later.

I know this is not reflecting reality, so to speak, but again, this is meant merely to give you a view on the concepts I use to find my table.

The first thing I do is go down my list to find anyone who I have labeled "that guy." To me, "that guy" is one of those players who are all but begging to give me their money. They're the people who can somehow manage to play AA, KK, AK to negative numbers and don't know why. Their game is extremely transparant. They bluff far too often in the wrong situations. Said another way, these are the extreme donkeys. If I see them logged on and at a table, if I can get a seat with this player, I do so. Thus, my system is thrown out the door.

When I am at the table with "that guy," I try to often isolate this player either preflop or post flop. This indicates I'm pretty much playing against this player and this player alone. Initially, this may prove effective and other players will get out of your way... Until they figure out what you're doing. Most likely by then, "that guy" has handed you most of his money and has run scared.

Anyway, back on track...

I have X number of poker tables open for observation. I am first looking for the absolute softest tables preflop possible. In fact, if no one ever raised, that's the ideal situation for me. I like limpers, and lots of them. This table would be my first choice. Ideally, I also like these tables to not have a high showdown rate - meaning, I prefer that most hands terminate via fold to bets prior to the river.

At this preferred type of table, I am inclined to limp out of position with hands I'd normally play only on the button IF I believe I can both see a cheap flop and outplay post flop. From position, I'm inclined to raise with hands like J-9 suited, or 10-7 not suited, maybe even 5-4 suited, with the intention of stealing, isolating, and/or outplaying post flop. I'm being mindful here of my table image though when I do stuff of this nature and also looking for "where" the call is coming from.

My main goal is to outplay and manipulate pot size here. Big pot, big hand and in position. Small pot, oop, decent hand... I'm playing the mistakes game. I'm willing to make a small mistake in a small pot in order to create and exploit big mistakes in bigger pots. These tables typically feature players who see too many flops. They also tend to go to far with their hands. The best way to exploit is to also see many flops and "allow" them to feel safe in going to far.

The above is the ideal table. Often we do not get our ideal situation. Sure, it would be great for me to get a table of soft players with "that guy" sitting to my immediate right just dying to get on the Christmas Card Mailing List as my single largest donor (money flows from the right to the left, typically), but that's not always going to happen...

What is going to happen though is that you're going to sometimes get one of the "tough guys" who typically multi-table and are not the least bit imaginative, sometimes not because they don't have the mind, but instead because they waste resources concentrating on several tables instead of focusing on one. It should be noted, I'm not knocking multi-tablin... I am suggesting though that many players do it and they have no business even playing on one table, truth be told. They lack understanding of the concept and theories of NL Hold'em, and over time, it shows.

The "tough guy" is going to maintain his 26% preflop raise because he read somewhere he should do that (and thinks this means all the time in all conditions). He will almost religiously make a pot size continuation bet on the flop no matter the cards. When encountering a player of this nature on an ideal poker table (see above), I tend to adjust my buy-in upward. Usually, I start off with about 1/2 the max allowed (NL $100, $50 is normally sufficient for me). I will buy in for the max when the "tough guy" is present.

Here, when he has entered the pot AND I have position on him, I will tend to mix it up, sometimes calling cleanly, intending to raise the flop bet, other times re-raising preflop and either checking or betting the flop... depending. When out of position, I will tend to go into re-raise or fold mode. If I am going to play a bigger pot against this "tough guy," I'm needing to take control of the hand. This requires me to show strength by reraising. He has a wide hand range he'd likely be raising with... remember, he believes it's correct to raise 25% of the time. On a table of this nature, when he's called, he's often an underdog AND KNOWS IT. So, if he knows this, my mere calling has somewhat tipped my hand. Why not make him pay for that knowledge? Reraise it, my friends... take charge. Be sure to make his decision difficult, while keeping your options open (i.e. - do not re-raise for half your stack, which makes folding to a re-reraise impossible... if you go that far, why not push it all-in preflop and eliminate position, simplifying your decision)?

Against the "tough guy" my goal is to isolate and control. Re-raise, position, and simplification of decisions for myself are my primary goals. Against this guy, I'm either going to educate him or he's going to run away to another table, because some idiot (me) re-raised him with AQs when he had 44 and position. He's not going to understand how I could play against him out of position, because he's seen me show down hands such as jack ten under the gun as a winner, so he just "knows" I have no starting hand selection and no concept of position... I must have got lucky. I had to have "known" that he either had a pocket pair or AKs, and either way I was "dominated" but yet I played back at him anyway... (someone get the cat litter out, as he's spit all over the felt and it's soaked).

I avoid completely the players I label as "tricky." This is not a large percentage of the players. These are the players who are really able to mix it up. They always keep you guessing and shift gears based on table conditions, opposition, and texture of the board. These players are surely the top players in the given limit, and while I want to get better and play against good players, I don't wish to do it on the nine-to-five. Save that for the CheckRayz tourneys... When I am trying to grow the bankroll, I don't need "good play" I need donkeys. These tricky players are rarely going to give it up. They understand pot size manipulation and often come out on the winning end with the big pots.

As for the "call stations," I make sure I note their bet button is broke. I tend to do a lot of checking against these guys with medium strength hands, post flop. I tend to value bet more, and I rarely, if ever bluff (don't bluff if you believe it will most often be called).

I am sure I lost track of where I am. Ah yes, my point is/was... have some sort of method of table selection that works for you. Borrow mine in whole, tweak it slightly... do whatever. But, if you're serious about your game, you won't just simply accept a seat at a table just because it's there. Do your homework, know "who" is at the table, know "where" your money is coming from, and "how" you're going to get it. Exchange small mistakes for big mistakes, exploit your oppositions weaknesses to maximize your return.

Mike

Related Posts

Getting what you want from the poker tables

Pfft, you called me with what?

Poker and Investing

Preflop in the Microlimits

"but i was 75% preflop, how could you call?"

High quality, cheap home poker tourney supplies only at 5 Star Deal.
Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
New Poker Room necessary? List of Poker Rooms who welcome all customers as of 10/19/2006 10am EDT
Blogger? Join the Blogger Poker Tour today! From the Blogosphere to the Aussie Millions... BPT - only at Poker.com!. BPT Event 6 (12/2) hosted by Flopilicious!

As poker players, we hear that a lot, don't we? Especially online, where we have plenty of time and resources to crunch the numbers.

Usually these words are uttered in the context of complaining and whining. I am here to tell you... and the whiners, what you already really know... deep down. Just like having a static, one style approach to poker, this line of thinking is flawed.


My buddy Gerg (Greg backwards, pronounced as it sits) and I were talking poker last night. Of which, the whining part came up. It occured to me that I hear entirely too much "didn't he know that I had (insert hand such as pocket 4's, 7s, Kings, AKs here)? And then they follow up with "how could he call, I was 70%?"

For starters, maybe the "caller" thinks you're a donkey... and hopefully if he thinks that, it's wrongfully so. But maybe, just maybe he thinks you have a weak hand or are bluffing. As poker players, we do sometimes like people to think we're bluffing when we are not, right? Don't we also sometimes want players to call with weak hands - or at least hands weaker than ours?


Also, what's this 70% stuff you're talking about preflop? If you're playing against a good player, he's probably got you on a hand range preflop... If you're not playing against a good player, he has no clue you even have a hand. He's not thinking past his own foxhole.

Additionally, pondering how they could have called THERE is flawed. Put yourself in their head. Understanding who they are and what motivates them will help you to better understand how to defeat them. You can't think that you'd never call there with ace king, because to them, Ace king is a made hand! Know this, understand this, embrace and accept this, because it is EXACTLY how it is... People play their style, not yours. Be flexable, think like they do... figure out what mistakes they make, and why they make them. Commit to making adjustments to your game to best exploit their errors, which can also include PURPOSELY MAKING MISTAKES TO GET THEM TO SCREW UP.

The point is... and I know I've made this same point before... First off, know how other players view you RIGHT NOW. Second, have an idea what level thinker you're up against. Do they even know you have a hand or do they think you think that they think they have exactly AK?

Third, don't fall into the "but i was 70% preflop" trap. If it's me, I'm AT LEAST a cointoss on your range, and probably a favorite. If it's a bad player, they don't even know what you mean by incorrectly stating you're 70%.

And finally, don't assume that your opposition thinks just like you... Get into their heads, don't place your head into their situation. Exploit their mistakes...


Related Posts

preflop strategy in No Limit Hold'em

Poker Play and Investing

All day long, catchin cards

Absolute Poker

high quality inexpensive poker chips only at 5 Star Deal.
Get a free iPod of your choice.
Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
Need a new Poker Room? List of Poker Rooms who welcome all customers as of 10/19/2006 10am EDT
Blogger? Join the Blogger Poker Tour today! From the Blogosphere to the Aussie Millions... BPT - only at Poker.com!

For anyone following along, or in case you didn't know, my official take on how bad Absolute Poker sucks can be found here.


And trust me when I say they really suck...

Seemingly Related Posts

I cashed, despite being locked out by 32 Red

The career freeroller mindset

my god, can this guy quit catchin cards...?

high quality inexpensive poker chips only at 5 Star Deal.
Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
Need a new Poker Room? List of Poker Rooms who welcome all customers as of 10/19/2006 10am EDT
Blogger? Join the Blogger Poker Tour today! From the Blogosphere to the Aussie Millions... BPT - only at Poker.com! This week's BPT Event -Irongirl's Omaha A Go-Go.

Nothing really "pretty" to anyone else about these hands, so I won't bother to run them through the hand prettifier... This is how my day's goin... And by the way, I'm catching so much right now at the table, that if (insert communicable disease of choice here) was goin around, I'd surely catch it too...


Donkey Posted Small Blind
Aggressive Guy Posted Big Blind
Dealing Cards
You Were Dealt (9s, 8s)
imjusthere4thebeer Calls
Donkey Calls
Aggressive Guy Checks
-------------------------------------------------
Dealing Flop (6s,Ts,3c)
Donkey Checks
Aggressive Guy Bets
imjusthere4thebeer Calls
Donkey Folds
-------------------------------------------------
Dealing Turn (3h)
Aggressive Guy Bets
imjusthere4thebeer Calls
-------------------------------------------------
Dealing River (7s)
Aggressive Guy Bets
imjusthere4thebeer All In
Aggressive Guy Calls $4.62
-------------------------------------------------
imjusthere4thebeer has (9s, 8s)
Aggressive Guy has (7h, 3s)
-------------------------------------------------
imjusthere4thebeer Wins with : Ten High Straight Flush


Hand 2:

imjusthere4thebeer Posted Small Blind
Donkey Posted Big Blind
Dealing Cards
You Were Dealt (5h, Qc)
Aggressive Guy Calls
Folds
imjusthere4thebeer Calls
Donkey Min-Raised
Aggressive Guy Calls
imjusthere4thebeer Calls
-------------------------------------------------
Dealing Flop (Td,5s,5c)
imjusthere4thebeer Checks
Donkey Bets
Aggressive Guy Folds
imjusthere4thebeer 2x Min-Raised
Donkey Calls
-------------------------------------------------
Dealing Turn (4d)
imjusthere4thebeer All In
Donkey All In
-------------------------------------------------
imjusthere4thebeer has (5h, Qc)
Donkey has (Kc, Th)
-------------------------------------------------
Dealing River (Ac)
-------------------------------------------------
imjusthere4thebeer Wins with : Three of a Kind, Fives
Donkey Sits Out

It's not rigged, it just sucks...

Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
Need a new Poker Room? List of Poker Rooms who welcome all customers as of 10/19/2006 10am EDT
Blogger? Join the Blogger Poker Tour today! From the Blogosphere to the Aussie Millions... BPT - only at Poker.com!
high quality inexpensive poker chips only at 5 Star Deal.

Could you guess my post was going to be about Absolute Poker? I think Absolute Poker is by far the worst poker room left available to the US Marketplace. The software seems to lack security, and the tournament play there is unlike anything I've ever seen...

Now as my disclaimer, I'm not saying anything "is" how I am framing it. I'm saying to me, "it seems" to be this way. I'm not an expert on software, and far from an expert on the mind of donks... so, I'm just saying this is how it seems.

So, for the second tournament in the last three times I've played AP, I've known of someone who has played in the same tournament from the same network. There is seemingly no security measures that prevent this... There's something very wrong with two players sitting at the same table in the same MTT finishing the other's sentences - the wrong person often responding to commentary to the other. Using mommy's laptop while playing on your PC at the same time doesn't sit well with me. Nor does someone and their entire family from each registering for the same tourney, thus resulting in knocking the same player off ten times just to win the tourney. This to me, is a huge security risk.

Additionally, not that I'm saying it's rigged, but I've never seen so many times a board helps a subpar hand improve over a made hand.

Example 1:

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t75/t150
9 players
Converter


Stack sizes:
UTG: t1265
UTG+1: t4030
MP1: t5635
MP2: t6465
MP3: t3345
CO: t510
Button: t2115
SB: t2800
IMHERE4BEER: t1125


Pre-flop: (9 players) IMHERE4BEER is BB with
4 folds, MP3 raises to t450, 3 folds, IMHERE4BEER raises all-in t1125, MP3 calls t675 (pot was t1650).


Flop: (t2325, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t2325)



Turn: :10c (t2325, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t2325)



River: (t2325, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t2325)



Results:
Final pot: t2325
IMHERE4BEER Shows Qs Qh
MP3 Shows 6s Jh

Disclaimer: I know he was on a bluff and had the correct odds to call. The board just seems to work against me constantly here.

This comes after an earlier in the night stinger, that while not necessarily "as bad" still hurt...

Example 2:

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t10/t20
9 players

Stack sizes:
UTG: t1500
UTG+1: t1500
MP1: t1500
IMHERE4BEER: t1500
MP3: t1500
CO: t1680
Button: t1480
SB: t1340
BB: t1500

Pre-flop: (9 players) IMHERE4BEER is MP2 with 9s 9h
3 folds, IMHERE4BEER raises to t80, MP3 folds, CO calls t80 (pot was t110), Button folds, SB calls t70 (pot was t190), BB folds.

Flop: kh 9c 2h (t260, 3 players)
SB checks, IMHERE4BEER bets t80, CO folds, SB raises to t160, IMHERE4BEER raises to t520, SB raises all-in t1260, IMHERE4BEER calls t740 (pot was t1960).

Turn: ks (t2780, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t2780)


River: 2c (t2780, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t2780)


Results:
Final pot: t2780
IMHERE4BEER Shows 9s 9h
SB Shows Kd Qh

I can go on... four to the flush on top of my set, four overcards touching random donk's non-connecting, non-paired undercards, etc.

Between the board working against me (again, not saying it's rigged, fixed, or anything, just saying that more often than not on THAT poker room, I FEEL as if it's against me...). And between not being comfortable as stated above, and knowing that players are using multiple accounts while at the same table, it's just not a poker room for me. I'll not play there, nor will I reccommend anyone else do so.

Mike

suckouts continue...

Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!

Need a new Poker Room? List of Poker Rooms who welcome all customers as of 10/19/2006 10am EDT

Blogger? Join the Blogger Poker Tour today! From the Blogosphere to the Aussie Millions... BPT - only at Poker.com!

high quality inexpensive poker chips only at 5 Star Deal.

And yet again... As if QQ v AA was bad enough. Shortstacked, and in the cutoff I do first in with very short stack, push all in preflop with the hammer... 2 people call, and the guy with Ace 8 sucks out on me...

When will the madness end?

The way my poker game is going...

Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
Need a new Poker Room? List of Poker Rooms who welcome all customers as of 10/19/2006 10am EDT
Blogger? Join the Blogger Poker Tour today! From the Blogosphere to the Aussie Millions... BPT - only at Poker.com!
high quality inexpensive poker chips only at 5 Star Deal.

The way my poker game is going reminds me of the first winter after getting out of the service. I came home, bitching and complaining about the weather in the Northwest. I swore I'd not complain about weather... ever. No sooner do I say that than Mother Nature decides to inflict upon me the worst winter I've ever experienced, knowing full well I hate snow.

With that, I have kings inflicted upon my tens. Boats over my flushes. Sets over sets. Straights over sets. Two pair outset... You get the point... The streak continues.

As advertised though, with the exception of select tourneys I have already committed to, I am taking at least the weekend off. Hopefully the death ray locks onto someone else... Or I re-learn to play...

Mike

The Poker Room Death Switch...

Play free poker at CheckRayz - free entry, cash prizes and money-added buyin poker tournaments. Sign up now!
Need a new Poker Room? List of Poker Rooms who welcome all customers as of 10/19/2006 10am EDT
Blogger? Join the Blogger Poker Tour today! From the Blogosphere to the Aussie Millions... BPT - only at Poker.com!
high quality inexpensive poker chips only at 5 Star Deal.

If there’s a death switch it’s been thrown. If there’s such a thing as the Poker Pub cover jinx, it’s in full effect.

Specifically, a -360 BB freefall over a two day span is what I am referring to. This comes after building up nearly 300 BB’s.

Type your summary here


Why is this, do you ask? A bit of it is due to poor plays, bad reads, etc. Some more due to things such as set over set, flushed over sets, drawn straights over full boats, four to a flush, four to a straight, counterfeited boards… There’s many reasons. And they’re all happening Thankfully, Poker.com’s hand history has been disabled, so as to be protected from reliving this pain.

Earlier today, the entire poker room crashed. I suspect that was divine intervention, a clue from the “poker gods” telling me that it was time to take a break… Or perhaps not…

Perhaps it is because I am slow playing hands to death, allowing myself to get outdrawn. After all, I “know” everyone is over betting their hands. Or maybe it’s because my “I have two pair because I played shit cards and I’m way out of position… he he he” is starting to look entirely too familiar to my slightly more aware than I‘d give them credit for opposition.

Or, maybe it’s because I am trying to look like a donkey at times, using purposely “incorrect” strategy to try to keep the opposition guessing.

Who knows, it could even be the issue of going from Level 3 thinking back to level zero… slipping down the ladder without realizing it.

What I do know is that there’s a big old kink in my game right this very moment. When my back is kinked, I often apply pressure to the kinked muscle, until I get a pulse, the muscle relaxes, resets and is good as new. Maybe I need the same thing to occur within my game. Pressure, relax, reset…

Here’s to taking the day off tommorrow --- I will be at the P4E tourney, but otherwise, it's Affiliate tourney tonight at Poker.com, BPT on Saturday (full coverage right here on the Poker Pub, by the way), and Sunday, back to Poker.com for the monthly $50K. Other than that, I'm not resuming ring game play until at least Monday...

Mike