Reasons for Raising...

OK, so I've been MIA for a few days, it seems. But now I am back. Between family gatherings for the Easter weekend (I forgot it was Easter), tax time, and having a relapse on "the cold from hell," I've taken some time away from writing. Easter has passed, taxes are done, and the cold still kickin my backside, but I'm back no less.

Today we'll dive into raising. We all know I am not a fan of "calling," generally speaking. Anyone who's been on the tables with me knows I am not a "cheap date." In general, I endorse the "raise or fold" approach. That's not to say that a raise is to always be put in, nor is it saying that we should blindly raise. Let's take a moment for you, my cold medicine, and I to ponder why one raises and by how much, generally speaking.

Why Raise?

There are a few different reasons why one raises a pot. First of all, putting in a raise is the act of putting in a bet that is at least double the size of the big blind. A raise typically says "I have a good hand." But should you raise just because you have a good hand? One would be inclined to say yes, however this is not the case.

We are dealt our hole cards, and we identify what kind of poker hand we have and then we take a look at what position we're sitting in. I also reccommend whether playing live or playing online you make yourself familliar with the chip stack size of everyone at the table prior to doing any of the above. I like to know how many chips everyone else has, as well as how many I have before making any decisions. Once we've checked the stack sizes, identified what hand we have and what position we're in, we reflect on how this hand best plays.

Beer Guy, what do you mean by reflecting on how this hand best plays? Don't all hands play best when you flop the nut? HaHa... no that's not at all what I am talking about. What I mean is, are we holding a playable hand or not? If no, fold... If it is playable, does this hand play out better against more opponents or fewer opponents (recall the conversation regarding speculative hands, top pair hands, and powerhouse hands?) Speculative hands play better multi-way. These are hands such as 8-9s. They do not typically hold up when top pair flops. They do, however, pay dearly when 7-6-10 hits the board. Depending on my position the blind levels and my chip stack, I might be inclined to either raise, call or fold with this hand.

If I am sitting in the early position with 8-9s in the middle of the poker tournament with an average chip stack, I'm throwing this hand away. However, middle of the tournament, sitting on the button with 8-9s and 1 caller, I'd be equally as likely to call or raise preflop with this hand. Let's suppose for arguement's sake I get 1 person to limp preflop from the middle position. He can be making this limp with pretty much anything, a small connector suited or not, ace small, dueces, etc from his middle position. After his limp, action folds to me. I have two choices, neither of which are "incorrect" but I like to mix play up.

I'm playing this hand, the question becomes, do I raise or do I call and what are the benefits of each? If I call, I most likely will get a completion from the SB and a check from the BB and will see the flop four handed. If I put in a standard raise (3-6 times blinds), I have a few different things going on. First, I am showing strength. Second, I might be able to steal the pot right there. Third, I may get a caller or two, which I have the benefit of acting last and have shown strength before the flop. A raise here would be put in for steal potential (preflop or on the flop), to coax more chips into the center which gives me and my hand better odds to draw after the flop providing two or three of them are calling, and protects the value of my raises down the road with monster hands.

I'm going to wrap this post up, as I need to go lay back down (cold medicine is kicking my ass). In closing the reasons I put a raise in:

1. To get more chips in the center of the table, sweetening the pot,
2. To attempt to steal when appropriate,
3. To isolate 1-2 callers with a strong hand that better holds up 1-2 handed,
4. (in the above situation with 8-9s, 1 caller mid position and I'm on the button), to protect the future value of my raises with premium hands.

I appologize that this post is not detailed further. Perhaps I will add to it later today. Otherwise, we'll continue on this topic tommorrow.

Mike



Poker Strategy
Small Stakes Holdem

"I call"... not!

Originally, I was planning to write on betting. However, upon further reflection, I decided I needed to focus more on hand selection, and can maybe start on betting on Monday next week.

As usual, these posts are not meant to replace any book that we discuss, but instead its meant to suppliment these books. I highly suggest running to the store or ordering online "Small Stakes Hold'em" by Ed Miller, et al. from twoplustwo publishing. Additionally, the posts are meant to be read in order, so I suggest first reading the post on basic poker hand groupings, and then on position.

The two biggest mistakes one makes before the flop is playing weak hands and calling raises with mediocre and potentially dominated hands. One needs to identify what kind of hand they hold when looking at your cards. Is it a hand that plays well with many opponents? Is it a hand that can stand on its own, and likes few opponents. Is the hand just straight up crap?

In the early positions, you should avoid playing hands that are not among the best hands out there. Specifically, this means avoid playing Ax (suited or not), kt, kj, q10, small pocket pairs, etc. Additionally, one should avoid "calling" with these hands. A raise typically says, "I have a strong hand." Unless you're in the big blind, you should be playing only hands that a normal skilled player would be comfortable reraising with. Hands such as kj, Ax are easily dominated and often make second best hands (especially when the raiser is holding AK, AJ, KK, JJ, etc. Don't just think about what you're holding next time you face a raise, think also about what your opposition is holding and how badly you could be dominated. You want to speculate (cheaply) with your speculative hands - which means throw them out to a raise and in the early positions. You'll selectively play your "top pair" hands when facing a raise - varying with calls, and reraises. Same will stand true with the powerhouse hands, generally speaking.

Mailbag is tommorrow, as is the CheckRayz Leaderboard Challenge, where we'll be giving away $100 and a free activated copy of pokertracker courtesy of the Beer Man, CheckRayz, and River Belle Poker. See you there!

Mike



Poker Strategy
Small Stakes Holdem

A bit preoccupied today...

I've been a bit preoccupied today (tax preperation for the beer guy) and am unable to prepare a suitable post. Expect a continuation on the strategy posts tommorrow. CheckRayz' heads up challenge at Celeb is tonight at 9pm EST, with a $5+.50 buyin. See you there.

Mike

New CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour Champion Crowned...

Well, the first ever CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour Shootout is now in the history books. And what a memorable event it was. This ten person free poker tournament pitted the top ten on the CheckRayz Leaderboard for the first quarter against one another, with one person walking out with the top prize and the honor of being crowned the first ever Champion of our tour.

Would our points leader, imjusthere4thebeer, the man behind the CheckRayz tour (yours truely) take down the event and become champion of the leaderboard he led nearly coast to coast? Could it be Bob - BC5457 - the man who pushed and challenged Beer on the board all season? Could it be Clayshooter after taking time off to "allow others to catch up?" Texasdan? Norman a.k.a. cardluvr, harley (liverpool supporter) - greenhippy? His majesty, the strong playing Prince Sheba? Would lightning strike? Would Zaskar pull off a win? Would Gary812, who made one hell of a run on every CheckRayz poker table he's ever set foot on pull out another memorable and dominant finish? Anyone's guess is as good as mine, so let's get to the event, which is brought to you by River Belle Poker, our official CheckRayz leaderboard poker tour sponsor, and the best in the internet poker industry.

The free poker game started off very tight, and maybe even a bit passive. With a lot of folding, and very little drawing. TexasDan, as only he does, fires away early, betting the board regardless of the flop. In fact, Dan drew first blood when he put in the minimum raise under the gun with pocket tens. Norman, and two others called cleanly. Flop contained a ten. I check, Dan checks, as I comment "dan is checking, this is not a good thing." Norman bets into the pot and action folds around. Dan raises to allin, with cardluvr (norman) calling. Norman turns over pocket kings to Dan's set of tens. Dan collects an additional ten on the river giving him quads. Cardluvr is the first person sent to the rail.

After trying to see quite a few flops more than I typically do, I end up five handed with KK and in the big blind. I raise to allin and get one caller, gary812. Surely it looked like somewhat of a steal attempt on my part. My kings hold up versus gary's 2's, and I dig out of my hole. Shortly after, dan and the prince went head to head with the classic match of AK vs QQ. The prince's queens hold up. Dan would be on the worse end of AK again, as his tens push allin versus clayshooter's AK. Clay hits two pair and sends dan to the rail, taking the game's second victim.

With blinds at 50/100, BC5457 raises to 200 with pocket jacks. Acting right behind him, I push allin with pocket tens. Bob thinks for a while and lays down the jacks, not quite ready to take the cointoss.

Shortly following the break, lightning moves allin preflop. Greenhippy makes the call behind him. They're two of the shorter stacks looking to combine via a good hand obviously. Lightning strikes when his AQ has hippy's AJ suited dominated. Lightning's hand holds up and greenhippy is sent to the rail as our third casualty. (sidenote: difficult to blog and play at the same time). Shortly after, gary pushes allin, lightning calls with 300 to spare. Gary's nines in the pocket hold up over lightning's big slick. Then, john (lightning) moves allin utg and is called by Gary. Gary finishes what he started and takes the charge out of lightning's bolt, eliminating him with a straight.

If you're reading this, and thinking Gary is gonna stop there, then you've never seen gary812 in action. He's relentless and feeds off momentum. Bob makes a call utg, which gary raises to push bob allin. Bob folds with 375 to spare. Bob then folds to an apparant steal from Prince Sheba. Steal or not, you have to respect his raises, as he's never caught playing garbage. Bob pushes allin on Beer in the SB-BB special with A-8. Beer appologetically makes the correct call with his slightly pathetic 10-3 offsuit and Bob's ace eight holds. Bob makes himself a comeback taking his stack from around 300 to 850 in the matter of a few short hands.

Clay makes a move with pocket nines, which ZaskarLE calls, holding qj suited. Jacks are present on the board and Zaskar doubles up at clay's expense. ZaskarLE then puts Bob allin, with Prince Sheba making the call with change to spare. Zaskar's pocket aces hold up, sending BC5457 to the rail, ending his most impressive run for the first quarter.

Prince puts in a 400 raise with blinds at 100/200. Beer, being the chip slinging loon he is, reraises, putting the royal one allin and beer's pocket eights hold over the prince's jack 10. Prince Sheba is eliminated.

We're down to the final four. The hottest player currently on the tour, gary812 has an approximate chip count of 3550, clayshooter having roughly 2165 chips, beer sitting just over 2k, and zaskar holding about 1900 chips. Still anyone's match with the blinds at 100/200.

After some action on a flop, clay nails the flush crippling zaskar. Clay finishes the job nailing a 4 card straight with pocket jacks, eliminating zaskarLE and taking the chip lead.

For the second night in a row, beer makes the same "mistake" with the same hand and nearly exact same set of circumstances. Sitting with an M of roughly 7, he reraises clay's initial bet putting himself allin with pocket nines. Of course, had he listened to his own advice regarding endgame strategy, he just may have laid down his hand instead of reraising. Clay makes the call, flips over kings, and our drunken points leader for the first quarter is ousted from the tournament, finishing in third place.

We're now heads up... Both members of the Minnesota wrecking crew are left, poker's equivilant to Arn and Ole Anderson. Clay is off to a sizable lead, 8300-1500, blinds still 100/200. A few hands into it, clay takes the event down, moving it allin with pocket twos vs. gary's aq. Clay fullfills his prophecy (that someone from MN would win the event), and is crowned the First Quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour Champion.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the event last night. It was a blast, and featured some very well played cards and a table full of monsters. Also, a thank you to everyone who supported our first quarter's tour. Our second tour will blow the roof off the place! Look for more free online poker and money added poker tournaments to come from CheckRayz.

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Position in Poker...

As a quick note, tommorrow I'll be blogging on the championship at River Belle Poker for the CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour first quarter 2006 season. The championship event is scheduled for 11pm EST tonight, and pits everyone who finished in the top ten in points against one another. The event will be a quarterly occurance and is sponsored by River Belle Poker. The championship match is a $200 free poker tournament, and is one of CheckRayz and River Belle Poker's ways of saying thank you to all our members for a great first quarter. It should prove to be an exciting event. The new quarter's poker tour has just begun, so join us and play our free poker tourneys & money added poker tournaments today! Signup for the CheckRayz poker tour is free.

No that that's out of the way, we'll move on to our talk we began yesterday. These posts are not meant to replace any book that we discuss, but instead its meant to suppliment these books. I highly suggest running to the store or ordering online "Small Stakes Hold'em" by Ed Miller, et al. from twoplustwo publishing. Additionally, the posts are meant to be read in order, so I suggest first reading the post on basic poker hand groupings.

Position

When I speak of position, I am referring to where one is sitting, relative to the button or the dealer. This is important to me for a few reasons, when hearing a story about a poker hand. The poker table works in a clockwise manner. The person to the immediate left receives the first cards, and the person to the right of the dealer receives the last cards (before the dealer does, of course). The two individuals to the immediate left of the dealer are known as the "blinds." They're "forced" to place bets, with the small blind typically placing a half bet, and the big blind placing the full bet on the table. Despite their "punishment," they are the last to act in a betting round before the flop comes. This is a reward in a sense, as they get to observe how everyone else views their hand before making more of a decision. However, this reward is moreso in the form of a double edged sword, as they already have money on the table. If someone "acts" like they really like their hand, the blind's money is already out there, in the pot. Additionally, the blinds are the first to act after the flop. They will act before everyone else and will not have the luxery of first seeing everyone elses actions once the flop comes.

Why is it important to know how everyone else acts prior to making a play, you ask? Simply put, if you have 7-6s and I have aces, and you act before I do. Wouldn't you like to know that I am playing as if I have aces? I know I'd want to know this. If I were holding the 7-6 suited and knew that someone who bet after me was playing like they have aces, I'd probably want to lay down the seventy six suit. In fact, if I were acting after aces guy, I'd lay down that hand without second thought. For this reason, one should play their hands according to position. Said another way, one should play based on the amount of information they have now and the amount of information that is still unknown.

The earlier we act in a betting round, the better our hand should be and the higher our standards must be. That being said, hands in the early positions (preflop) should be among our best hands, generally speaking. Hands played from the middle position should be medium to high quality, and hands from the late positions can be medium quality hands, all generally speaking and assuming a raise has not come in yet.

How do I know which hands are high quality, and which are not? I use three simple criteria:

1. Do they fall into the "top pair" catigory? (remember yesterday's blog entry?)
2. Are they suited?
3. Are the cards connected?

Essentually, I am first asking myself if the hand can hold up on its own if my highest card hits the board and ends up being the highest card at the very end. Hands like A-J have "top pair" capability, while hands such as A-4 may not. Hands like KQ may, and K6 may not. The "top pair" question is the most important of the questions I ask myself on a "non paired" preflop hand.

When reflecting on the suited and connectivity, I'm asking if I can make a flush by having three "like suited" cards on the board (are both my cards of hearts, clubs, spades, or diamonds, or are they different suited?). Can I easily make a straight out of these cards? I can with King Jack, but cannot with King eight. I can with 10 nine, but cannot with ten six.

In summary, the more logical ways I have to win, the stronger my hand is and the earlier position I will play it in. So, I'd be inclined to play Ace Jack when I am first to act, but would refrain from playing ace nine when first to act. I'd play king queen suited, but not king seven suited. I want cards that will win if I make top pair, flop a straight, and/or a flush. If I do not have those three ways to win, generally speaking, and I am the first person to act in the preflop betting round, I throw my cards away.

If I am first to act in the preflop betting round, look down and see 3-3... To make things easier on my chipstack and I, I throw them away. But BeerGuy, they're a pair! Yea, I know, but I need a third three to hit the board if I expect to win, so knowing that I pretty much have to I'd rather not. I would play them if I were in the mid to late position (most likely the late position though), and would be willing to play them pretty much only if the pot was not raised preflop (we'll discuss raises and betting on wednesday). Additionally, I'd be prepared to throw them away after the flop if my hand did not improve to three of a kind.

So, when acting early, you must have higher standards, when acting later, you may have lower standards, but you really want to get into the habbit of evaluating your hand for top pair strength, suit, and connectivity each and every time you look at your cards. In fact, start practicing that now, asking yourself how likely you are to win with each hand if you flop top pair, or if you can easily flop a straight, or a flush. Doing that will help begin your evolution as a poker player.

As I said, tommorrow we'll have a report on the CheckRayz championships, and we'll continue this series on wednesday with discussion on betting.

Mike






Poker Strategy
Small Stakes Holdem

Hand Groupings...

As I had mentioned yesterday, my "target audience" is the new to inexperienced poker player who is looking to improve and organize his or her game. That being said, I am going to help that person all week long organize their game through a series of "beginner" posts. Today, we'll go over hand groupings, tommorrow we'll do position, Tuesday and Wednesday betting, and Thursday pot odds.

For starters, for each starting hand, there are characteristics that a hand has. Can... or does this hand win often without improving? Does this hand typically win as top pair? I ask myself what kind of hand I have everytime I look at my cards. Identifying the characteristics your hand has is of paramount importance. David Sklansky broke the starting hands into groups. While I like his hand groupings, it can sometimes be too difficult, especially when you're either new to the game, or new to the "organized game."

Ed Miller, in the book "Small Stakes Hold 'em" (twoplustwo publishing) attempts to simplify this.

Top Pair Hands

Top pair hands consist of two big offsuit cards, such as Ace Jack, ace ten, king jack. These hands play better against fewer opponents, can often win with top pair and sometimes win without improving when heads up. Typically these hands will need to improve to win when facing three or more opponents. Keep in mind, it takes a better hand to "call a raise" with than it does to initiate a raise with these hands.

Speculative Hands

Small to medium coordinated cards, pocket fives, seven six suited are speculative hands. Thse hands MUST IMPROVE in order to win. By their nature they require a cheap flop and several opponents to hold up and be long term profitable. The speculative connectors are not hands that one plays out when only flopping one pair. Let me repeat that. If you're five way going into a flop, holding an eight seven and you flop king eight three, you're wise to fold if bet into. I don't care how many times you see the seven come on the turn or another eight, you're wise to fold - nuff said.

Powerhouse Hands

Large pocket pairs - AA, KK, and large suited cards such as AJs. These hands have several ways to win (flush, straight, set, two pair, etc), and typically play better against few opponents but also stand up well against several.

Its important to know what kind of hand you have, how the hand "works," and what you can or cannot profitablly (long term) do with each type of hand in each type of situation. Tommorrow we'll build upon the hand types with talk on position. Keep in mind, these posts are not meant to replace any book that we discuss, but instead its meant to suppliment these books. I highly suggest running to the store or ordering online "Small Stakes Hold'em" by Ed Miller, et al. from twoplustwo publishing.

Mike



Poker Strategy
Small Stakes Holdem

Pokertracker Stats Revisited, update on Rewards tournament...

To give everyone an update on the CheckRayz Leaderboard Rewards tournament, scheduled for today at 7pm EST, I still have no news. I cannot register as of right now either. CT has been the only one able to join the event, and that's because her name was submitted seperate from the original list. That being said, I am going to continue to try to work with River Belle Poker to try to get this tourney up and running today, as scheduled. My suggestion is to keep trying to enter. In the event the tourney does not properly open for entry, rest assured, we will reschedule it.

PokerTracker Stats, Revisited...

Last we looked at my stats, part I and part II... We weren't running "too bad." I had a tight aggressive and profitable game going. I was happy with my percentage of hands I was playing, my preflop raising, my positional play, and my win rate when seeing flops. I was planning to work on giving up my blinds a bit more. Additionally, my flop aggression is about where I wanted it, my turn and river aggression needed to come up a bit... especially my river betting. I had cited that if I increased my aggression on the river, then it would stand to reason that my turn bets and/or moves would get more respect, as my opposition would fear having to pay on the river as well.

That being said, let's take a look at my last 6000 or so hands.

Voluntarily put money into the pot percentage: 24.12% --- previous number was 22.79%, so I seem to be seeing a bit more hands. This is not a problem in and of itself, but could be... So, we'll note this number and revisit if necessary.

Preflop Raise: 13.75% --- previous number was 13.62%. I'm not a cheap date, am I?

Attempted to "steal" blinds: 22.59% --- previous number was 20.55%. Looking at this number rise, at the same time my voluntarily entering the pot number is rising suggests that I might be playing more "positional" poker. These two stats alone "could" be a good thing, but we'll dig deeper to confirm this.

Folded Small Blind to Steal Attempts: This was an area I had suggested I wanted to improve upon. 76.96% is where I am at currently. I want to be between 78-88%, and previously I was at 71.26%. So, combined with my VP$ip on the rise, and my steals on the rise. This number going up further suggests I am playing more "in position," which again suggests my stats are looking better, relative to what I want them to be. Moving along...

Folded Big Blind to Steal Attempts: 49.39%. I wanted this number, last time to be between 55-65%. Last we checked, I was at 51.49%. So it seems I am playing out of the big blind more. This "could" be that I am at tables that are moreso consisting of either limpers or call stations. However, I am going to flat out say I want this number to go up. I'll commit to forcing this number up over the next set of hands.

I dig deeper into this statistic and see that unlike in the Small Blind, when I take a stand with my big blind (by either calling, or raising in defense), my win rate is not high enough to justify this percentage being as low as it is. Don't get me wrong, this is not "problematic" for my game, however, when I am defending my small blind, and winning at showdown over 70% of the times that I go to showdown, and an additional 13.6% of the time without showdown from the small blind defense. This is compared to winning 25.6% of the time before showdown, and only 41.6% at showdown, its clear that this stat needs tweaked a bit. I'm committing right now to be "as stubborn" defending my big blind, generally speaking.

Won when saw flop: 40.75% of the time. Last time I cited I should be winning 31-40% of the time, and was winning 39.6% of the time. I'm happy with this stat, but I'm willing to bet this stat will increase even more as I get my big blind play in order.

Flop Aggression: 1.14 --- last time's stat was 1.9 and rising. I was happy with that stat and despite it being a bit low this time around, I'm not "disappointed" with it. This suggests I am not always throwing out a continuation bet. I'll often check and raise and sometimes check and fold. I'm playing the flop very situationally, taking into consideration the board, number of opponents, my hand, and how all of that ties into one another. Stand alone, this stat is neither good nor bad. Ideally I am shooting for an aggression factor between 1.8-3. But if the other stats between the turn and river are "adjusted," I won't look at this as "problematic" but instead as an area that may need some attention. So, once again, let's dig a bit deeper.

Turn Aggression: 1.94 -- last time my turn aggression factor was 2.53. I wanted this stat also to be between 1.8-3.0. My flop and turn aggression have come down. I'm beginning to believe that I'm not happy with my post flop play. My win rate is fine when I see the flop, but either I'm not value playing enough, or I am not making moves, looking to take down enough pots before the showdown. We'll continue looking.

River Aggression: 2.80 --- I was at 1.76 last time, and shooting for 1.8 to 2.5. Apparantly I over shot.

I'd suspect that I am either slowplaying too much, or not taking advantage of "selling" the expensive turn call. On one hand, I'm betting on the back end sufficiently, as I had planned. On the other hand, the purpose of playing more aggressively on the river was to gain some love on the turn. I've not maximized this relationship and need to focus more on betting the turn AND the river going forward.

BB/100 hands: 2.66 --- last time we did the checkup we were looking at a win rate of 2.93. I'm willing to bet that I can drive this number well above 3 if I play my turn and river better and give up my BB's a bit more often.

Overall, I am playing well. My stats look decent to pretty impressive. There are a few holes I need to plug, and a few hands I need to let go of earlier. But overall, the game is a well oiled machine.

Next week I plan to go into detail on strategy for newer players. My article last week on why I play tight and aggressive was generally speaking to new players, and was moreso an overall posture. After further discussion and reflection, I now know that I need to start at the beginning to help my "target audience." So beginning Monday, we'll start with getting one's self organized.

Mike




Pokertracker
Poker Strategy
Poker

The Mailbag, and I'm all wound up...

As I'm sure many of you know that the CheckRayz Rewards Poker Tournament, which is scheduled for tommorrow, is experiencing some bumps in the road regarding the registration process. I believe that the issues will be resolved by this afternoon and the tournament will go off without a hitch as scheduled. In the event that it does not, we will put a backup plan (read: rain date) in place. Today's mailbag deals mostly with CheckRayz' post season activities, plus a bit of feedback on the "why I play tight and aggressive" post.

The infamous Friday Night Mailbag (about ten hours early, as usual)...

First letter comes from Bob:

Mike, know you are busy, but I have only been able to register for one of the three events at River Belle, I know they will get it worked out but they are our main site now and we deserve only there best for all the best poker players around (CheckRayz). You have done an exceptional job the first quarter and the rest of the year looks very good, of course the gloves are off now and I will be the CHAMP, Ha Ha.

Thanks again for the best site on the net.

Bob

Bob, first of all, thanks for the very kind words regarding the CheckRayz site and our first quarter. As you and everyone else knows, there have been serious issues with getting registered at River Belle for the three big events. I do not fault them at all. This is the first time I have taken registration via email and screenname (fyi: its a big pain and ten times more work). Additionally, given that it is my first time, its also the first time they have taken registration from me in this manner.

The issues we're having today and over the past few days will be resolved, and are merely a minor bump in the road... a learning experience for me and for River Belle. Generally speaking, its difficult dealing with someone located half way across the world (my rep, who is in my opinion the best rep in the industry --- named Michael Elhoff) lives in Capetown, South Africa. He and I touch base regularly. If it was just he and I doing business one on one, that is one thing. However, I'm acting on behalf of all of CheckRayz, he's acting on behalf of his company, Referback, and also on behalf of River Belle/Prima. There's many components to us doing business and we have to trust that those indirectly involved will come through for us flawlessly. However, the more parts involved, the greater chance something will happen to temporarily derail us.

That being said, he is on the job and the issues will be resolved soon. They are our top poker room and the sponsor of the entire leaderboard. We, in turn, are a valued customer base to them, in which many huge things are in the works. Together, we will have everything fixed and ready to go. I predict that the tourney will go off on Saturday as planned, though if it needs pushed back, that is also fine with me, as I will not let it be a black mark in my book if it does not.

Next email is from Gary:

Mike - Not sure what's going on, but it looks like Chippies is the only one who has gotten into the Rewards tournament for this Saturday. I was able to get into the other 2 tournaments, but it won't let me in the Rewards tournament for this Saturday.

Sorry to bother you - Thanks for any help you can offer

Gary, see my above response to Bob. Additionally, the reason she got in and no one else can is because the list I submitted last second contained only her name. The original list contained the names of everyone else who properly replied, which included yours and mine, among others. If the event doesn't hold it will be rescheduled. With any luck if this happens, chippy takes down the prize pool uncontested (there is a silver lining to every cloud). We'll try again to register this afternoon.

Moving on...

Thanks Mike for all your efforts.

I am looking forward to this next Leaderboard quarter.

Bonnie

Bonnie, when I said last night in my response that this email made my day, I was dead serious. I mean, I know that what I do is appreciated, and I do not "look" for thanks from anyone, but it is really nice when people such as yourself take time to thank me, especially when things are going wrong. Very much appreciated and for that, I thank YOU!

And moving on to the series of email I received three minutes prior to Bonnie's (note: I'm not going to name this person, however, I will post the entire series along with commentary at the end):

Them: im have problems getting into the 200 freeroll my screenname is ___________

Me: Hi,

We are having problems with the registration, and it should be resolved by tommorrow. However, in going through my records, I do not have any record of you responding by the specified date on the original invitation. I'll add you to the list but cannot guarantee entry.

Thanks,

Mike

Them: thats not true i sent it in 3 days ago as soon as i got the email i also never got credit 4 points how can u not guarantee a seat to something u qualify 4

(note: its probably a safe assumption that my ass is chapped after receiving this response)

Me: To repeat what I said, I will try to get you in. However, I also said I do not have a record of you responding (didn't say you didn't respond, I said I don't have a record of it).

So, the question becomes, would you like me to do what I can to ensure you get in or not? I believe you want me to do what I can, and I am.

You're welcome,
Mike

Them: yes i would love u to do what u can txu

My official mailbag commentary: For starters... are you f'ing kidding me? Second, are you f'ing kidding me? To follow that up, are you f'ing kidding me?

On the record, I didn't have a record of this person "properly" responding to my original invitation. I checked my email log, and found nothing in terms of indicating acceptance of this invitation. In fact, the first piece of correspondance I received from this individual was last night. The possibility does exist that this persons email got overlooked. However, I save everything I receive regarding the site.

I can understand that one may be frustrated with the "technical issues we are experiencing" but if you cannot follow my instructions, do not take it out on me. Nuff said there...

Finally, onto the Friday Night Mailbag email of the week...

Norman writes:

Hi, Mike. I just finished reading your blog for April 6 about tight, aggressive play. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but even if you don't say so in so many words, I get the impression that you frown on calling as a rule, preferring to raise or fold. Obviously, there is a time and place for everything, but I think too many people subscribe to Shark's mantra of "bet, raise, or get out of the way".

I don't know if you have seen it, but Full Tilt has a feature called "Tips From The Pros". On the Full Tilt home page in the lower righthand corner, click on "Tips From The Pros", and read Lesson No.42, "In Defense of the Call", written by Gavin Smith. I think he makes some very good points about calling in certain positions. Like any other play, there are many variables to consider, but how many times have you folded only to see the card that would make your hand hit the board, when a call of a small bet would have kept you in the hand, and yet that call would not result in a large loss of chips if someone made a big raise behind you and you had to fold?

I'm not advocating calling every bet, but I just think there are more times when it is appropriate than people realize. Keep on bringing up ideas on your blog. I'm sure there are many people as interested in them as I am. After all, the more we learn about your style of play, the better chance we will have to knock you out in the future! LOL! Only kidding! See you tonight at Poker4Ever.

Take care. Norman

Norman, excellent commentary! And I suspect my posting yesterday requires some clarification. I do agree that calling is appropriate in many situations. I am "in the know" on the "in defense of a call" as well, and agree with it. Generally speaking, my article was written regarding my overall posture, which is in fact tight and aggressive... having "standards" for starting hands, and playing them hard.

That being said, will I limp with 10-9 offsuit from the late position with three callers in front of me and 1 person who plays aggressively behind me? Sure would! Would I call a small bet to draw to a straight with that hand after the flop? Yep, most of the time I would. Would I call a huge bet that would mow my stack in half to draw to that same straight? Nope. Would I continue to play with middle pair on the board to a heavy bet from a strong player? Hell no!

I guess my point of writing that was as follows:

1. Have standards,
2. Play hard, and play well
3. More often than not, be the one laying the odds, not accepting them,
4. Know what the purpose of each and every move you make is, and when to get out

(i.e. - 10-9 offsuit late position is a limping hand for me when the pot has been opened, 2 to three peeps limping in on a full table). If I flop top pair, I'm probably not staying in if it is costly, as the possibility of someone limping before me with 10-j, 10-q is too great. This hand, by my strategerie, is moreso a hand in which I'd like to see a straight come from. Given that it is offsuit, I'm not compelled to draw for the flush either. It "might" be a hand I would attempt to steal in an unopened pot with late position and weak blinds, and would be something I'd be comfortable pushing allin with when my M is in the Red zone and the pot is still unopened, as its profitable against random board holdings, given the steal potential of this move via the first in viggorish and corresponding gap concept.

I will no sooner call call call with 10-9 offsuit early in a tournament on a board with jack king ace in a transaction that would potentially cost me 75% of my chips than I would calling down with K2offsuit and a board of AK9 rainbowed. So, in conclusion, that is what I am saying regarding my posture. I'm moreso reflecting on peeps making calls with hands that are not profitable to call long term, either given the selection of starting hand, their position, or the board in general (needing runner runner and facing heavy betting). I should have moreso qualified that in my post yesterday.

Well, back to work... Lots of poker to play today, and needing to touch base with River Belle to get this tourney goin'.

Mike





CheckRayz Mailbag

Why play tight-aggressive...?

OK, we're gonna give this a shot... By "this," I mean writing a meaningful, helpful, poker strategy related post. That being said, I came across a few people at the local pub (horrible play is present all around, thank god I had my surgical mask on, as I fear this "disease" known as piss poor poker play could be contagious)...

Anyways, these people were questioning me as to why I play the way I do. Specifically, they were questioning why I don't see more flops (like everyone else who plays there), and one person in particular questioned first whether or not I "could" lay down A-10s like I claimed I had, and second why I would lay down a hand such as A10s preflop. So, basically, these people were questioning why play tight aggressive poker. I'll attempt to explain why I choose to play tight aggressive poker and answer if and why I would lay down a hand such as A10s preflop.

Working definitions

For the purposes of this article, some of the terms and concepts we will discuss will specifically mean what you see below, unless stated otherwise:


aggressive: (n) Pertaining to a style of play characterized by much betting, raising, and reraising. This is not the same as loose play. Some of the best players are very selective about the cards they play, but when they do get into a pot, play those cards aggressively.

donk/donkey: (n) A very loose player, usually implying one who loses regularly, makes poor decisions (i.e. - I think I am behind, but I will call your allin - flips over pocket twos into a board that is AKQ all suited while playing under the gun and calling a large raise from a tight aggressive player who is known for playing top ten hands and rarely bluffs).


loose: (adj, adv) Playing liberally; not tight. In hold 'em, playing almost any two-card starting combination, and playing through to the river on almost anything that has a prayer of winning. Lacking standards (see also donk).


position: (n) 1. Where a player sits in relation to the others at the table. 2. Where a player sits in relation to the dealer, or, sometimes, in relation to the blinds. Position 1 is generally the position to the left of the big blind, that is, position 1 is three positions to the left of the dealer. 3. Where a player sits in relation to a particular player. Sitting to someone's left is generally termed good position, and to his right bad position. 4. Good position with respect to the other players at the table. "You can open with a worse hand when you've got position." 5. Sitting in good position with respect to a particular player, usually sitting one or two seats to the player's left. "I had position on the live one all night, but I never held any hands."

SuperDonk: (proper noun) The Beer Guy's friend Kyle.

tight: (adj, adv) having stringent playing requirements.

tight player: (n phrase) One who plays tight, that is, bets only when holding a strong hand.

Terms mostly "borrowed" from Mike Caro's poker dictionary, either in whole or in part.

My style of play

As we all know, I play quite a tight aggressive style. I play tight because I have standards. I have standards in life, standards in friends, who I date, who I surround myself with, where I go, what I do... and I damn sure have standards when I play cards. You'll never hear me say (and truely mean) "I'm down for pretty much anything..." Usually I have a pretty good idea of the universe of things I'd be "down" for doing, and they don't include ridiculous off the wall things such as jumping off a cliff, robbing a bank, "hogging"etc. I have standards. Despite having served long ago in the Navy, I'm not an "any port in a storm" type of guy. I respect my position on the table, can't imagine just playing any two cards, and will rarely if ever show down a garbage hand. When I am in a pot, unless in the unraised BB, you can pretty much expect that if you're given insight to what my holding is, you'll see a hand that makes sense, has positive expected value (read: a winner long term, one that I will win with more than I will lose with), and one that is played in "position" (very high standards the earlier I act).

When I play a hand, I generally do so in a very aggressive manner. Why, you ask? Well, here's the thing. Anyone I sit at the table with sees that I have standards, as that part becomes very obvious. If it doesn't hit you between the eyes, I am sure to let ya know, given the opportunity. "But BeerGuy, that doesn't tell me why you prefer to play aggressive, does it?" No, not really. However, here's the deal... My starting hand selection is usually better than 94% of my opposition preflop over the long term and generally speaking. Additionally, I find that putting the decision making on my opposition, who once again knows that my hand selection is generally better than his/her hand selection, makes it much more difficult for them. Said another way, its easier to make a big bet than to call a big bet.

Why is it easier to make a big bet than to call one for me? Simply put, I have generally raised preflop to enter the pot. You and a donk have called. I essentually tell you by my raise that I have a hand, probably the best hand. Your call and said donk's call has told me that you believe me but wish to play anyways. The flop comes, I bet out. What is this bet telling you now? Its meant to continue telling my story "I STILL have the best hand, what's up now?" Knowing that I've told you once that I have the best hand, and now I am telling you a second time that I have the best hand... it makes it kind of difficult to call, doesn't it? Especially so, if you are familliar with pot odds and some basic poker math, because I very rarely make it profitable for one to draw on the board (if there's a possible flush draw, count on the continuation bet being statistically less than 2:1 in pot odds as an example... I'm not only betting my hand, but also betting against your hand!). It will not be a cheap date if we're in the pot together, and once again, I will make that known to my table early and often. I want someone to make a mistake by calling me preflop, and I want to continue causing mistakes after the flop.

Knowing all of this, it makes the decision for someone to call a bit more difficult, just like it would be difficult for me to make the "big decision" if someone were on the aggression and betting into me. In order to be the aggressor, I need to first know my opposition, second know my hand, and third be aware of the board. I don't necessarily need to know whether or not the flop helped me, only whether or not the flop was likely to have helped you in addition to having a good idea what you think the flop did for me. If I am on the other side of that equation, I am forced to think about how that flop helped you, and totally reflect on whether or not the board has helped me. Did I need to improve, am I still ahead, was I ever really ahead, am I drawing dead, how bad could it be? See, entirely too much thinking involved. I like to cause others to think, as opposed to thinking myself. So, put me on offenses coach, please!

This is not to say that I ALWAYS play this way. Sometimes, I may wish to extract chips from others, and might play weak and try to trap. Other times, I just may be weak. Ya never know. I do vary the game and the look I give, just to keep my opposition on their toes. Playing a call call call call call limp call call game is not varying your play at all. Actually, that's not really playing, in my opinion, but oh well.

So, onto the ace ten suited portion of this discussion. On Monday at the pub, there was a girl who had showed down a hand (jack seven suited) from under the gun when she flopped low pair (a seven). It was a costly pot in which she (surprisingly enough) did not take down. Then again, is jack seven suited an appropriate starting hand in the utg position (read: donk). This is fine for a beginner, but really... she claims to be "a knowledgable tight player who knows the ins and outs of the game probably better than everyone at the table." And yes, fellow poker pubbers, I was at her table as was a former poker dealer. We looked at each other and laughed, with yours truely laughing much harder, and far more animated than was appropriate. Anyways, a few hands later, Kathy (the former poker dealer) looks at her cards. She sees that I am watching her look at her cards, so she may or may not have been playing to me on this. But, she says "I need to look again to see if I saw what I thought I saw." She looks again, and limps. She was second to act.

This action implies that either she does not wish me to be in the hand, or I need to raise my standards. By the way, I am sitting mid position for this hand. I look down and see A-10s. I didn't "need" to play this hand, and had the feeling that even if I improve, short of flopping a straight or the nut flush, I'd most likely be playing catchup (had her on a medium to high pocket pair, AK, AQ, AJ, possible A10, KQ). Either way, with the threat of a short stacked allin behind me or in the blinds, if I couldn't bring myself to comfortablly raise, I surely could not limp. I feared that I would be raised by later position, and then reraised by Kathy, all before I could act on this limp. So taking all of this into consideration, I chose to fold.

Four handed the flop is rags, and of course Kathy bets into it and gets herself heads up. Turn rags again. Bet-call. River comes a ten. Kathy shows down king queen and takes the pot down unimproved versus king nine. Miss "i know more about poker as I show down j7utg" comments "I KNEW I shouldn't have thrown away my jack ten. I would have taken that pot. Of course, I have to correct her, telling her I folded ace ten suited. She tells me "you crazy and lie. No one throws out ace ten suited preflop, you'd have pushed allin." Oh? So let me get this straight. You cannot lay down "a hand" preflop regardless of action before you, or thoughts on who has entered the pot, and who is likely to do what after you enter. So that means I can't too... I understand completely... NOT.

I do not do the donk thing. I think about the universe of hands that make sense for a given player or players, I look at my hand, reflect on my position, check out chip stacks, and then I choose whether to play or not, and think a few steps ahead - as damage control or a chess game, to get a rough idea of how I wish to play this hand out and what I will do if A, B, C, or D happen. If I believe that I have the best hand or stand reasonable chance of having the best hand/the winning hand, I will play and play hard. If I do not think that I'm best or have reasonable chance of winning, I will not play the hand. Its that simple. I don't play catchup, I don't throw dead money into the pot when I feel behind, and I think things through, unlike Ms. Donk who cannot see past her own average at best hands despite action of others.

That being said, I have standards and am not afraid to demonstrate this. Additionally, when in a hand, one better think hard when they're up against me, as I am no cheap date. In my ever so humble opinion, this style of play works best for me, as I am only playing what has proven to work and be profitable over the long term, and I'm forcing those around me to play catchup, which is much better than mindlessly calling either "just to see" or "hoping to catch."

Mike






Poker Strategy

State of the CheckRayz site address...

Now that I've kept everyone waiting long enough, we can get down to business. I promised a "State of the CheckRayz site Address," so I shall deliver. That being said, here we go...

The state of the Rayz site is strong. We went "live" three short months ago, worrying about whether or not our database was going to be in place before our first tournament (that had me both scared and irritated). Now, the "Death Star" is fully operational. Since our January start, we've held 31 tournaments (scheduled 35 - four cancellations/postponed) and placed over 120 people on the leaderboard. We gave away over $3100 in freeroll and money added dollars for the first quarter alone. For the second quarter, I plan to double the amount of poker tournaments we offer and double the free money we offer. Expect to see anywhere from sixty to seventy five freeroll and/or money added poker tournaments during the second quarter.

When the quarter began, we really weren't sure who our "go to" poker rooms were going to be. Clearly, River Belle Poker have stepped forth and rose to the occasion. River Belle became our Leaderboard Sponsor, and continues to offer us top notch support and great tournaments. Their affiliate reps are among the best in the industry, and CheckRayz will continue to do bigger and better things in the future with River Belle Poker. They are definitely part of the "master plan."

Hollywood Poker is a once a month stop for our tour. It has proven to be among the favorite "spots" for several of the members. We'll continue holding our once a month buyins there, with the intentions of driving numbers to justify having two monthly tour stops there.

Poker rooms such as Kiwi and Titan poker have also helped contribute to our growth. I look forward to continuing to work with them as well.

Despite or previous challenges, WE WILL hold monthly heads up MTTs at Celeb Poker, with the first one scheduled to go off without a hitch on Wednesday April 12th. Once we get this kicked off properly, it will prove to be a fun event, in addition to a learning experience for all. Did I mention that we have a special first time deposit bonus at Celeb, which is exclusive to CheckRayz members?

In the month of March, we welcomed Poker4ever as our newest member to the CheckRayz site. Poker4ever are a brand new poker room, both to us and to the online poker world. They have a good understanding of the business end of things, and I believe them to be a long term successful poker room. In addition to the normal menu of tournaments they've offered us, they also have agreed to a monthly $500 freeroll poker tournament for all who rake 1000 hands in a given month (we need 20 peeps to hold the tournament). They will continue to get the support of CheckRayz. As we grow together, there will be growing pains along the way. But, I expect them to be a key player in our long term growth.

This month, CheckRayz will be holding three member appreciation tournaments for the first quarter. River Belle plays host to these tournaments. The first of three is designed to "reward" the members who have accumulated leaderboard points during the first quarter tour. By design, this tournament rewards our members for their hard work, and for playing tough from start to finish in our tournaments. The second, our leaderboard shootout, shall crown the first quarter champion by taking our top ten for the tour, and putting them in a steel cage. Last man/woman standing shall emerge victorious, the first ever CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour Champion. This comes as no small task, as each and every member of the top ten are straight up monsters on the virtual felt. Finally, the "challenge" tournament will allow me to reward those who have stepped up and took my challenge by either referring three people to the rayz tour, or showing thanks to our leaderboard sponsor (river belle) and raking 250 hands. Winner of this will take down $100 and receive a purchased and activated copy of poker tracker.

Looking to the second quarter and beyond

Going forward, we will continue to proudly represent the Shark Powered Network in our endeavers. My personal goal is to help drive the membership through the roof to make the network the biggest on the net. In order to do such a thing, however, Sharky and I need your continued support through tournament participation, forum activity, play-through, and building and maintaining the electricity surrounding our Network. I'm certainly able to speak for the both of us when I state we're committed to continuing to offer top notch events at the best poker rooms on the net.

In the second quarter and beyond, I remain committed to going further, one step at a time, with helping our new and experienced members alike in improving their game. I'll continue to talk strategy regularly here in the Poker Pub, and additionally, I will commit to at least one game per month where we can, as a group, discuss hands as they play out (thank you Sandi for this idea). I have been... and continue to be very proud of the strong, tight, aggressive, and solid level of play in the CheckRayz tournaments. I embrace the idea of being known as the site who holds events with smaller, tighter fields and will work hard to maintain that image. Working with our newer members will assist greatly in accomplishing exactly that.

Finally, I plan on providing further incentives to our membership to support our poker rooms. Details are in the works, but expect something big. I am happy to say CheckRayz is now "on the map".. and bigger, better things are yet to come.

Mike




CheckRayz Announcements
Poker News

*Splat*

With little time to do a "real" post today due to some personal things goin on today, I leave you with this thought...

Many people fall in a "pile" and come out smellin like a rose. "SuperDonk" however, starts off smellin like a rose, and then falls into a pile. Stated another way... SuperDonk wins the $500 first prize in the Freeroll at the local pub. Approximately 24 hours later, SuperDonk and I are en route to the same pub, to qualify for the monthly $1000 freeroll for April, when his timing belt soils itself. Approximate cost of repairs: $500.



Poker Stories
SuperDonk, Poker Idiot Saga
Horrible Poker Play

"Super Donk" takes down huge freeroll at local pub...

I was originally scheduling the "State of CheckRayz" address for today's column, however something happened this weekend that I really feel the need to write about my friend Kyle, who by day is mild mannered "that guy." However, put a clay chip in front of him and a deck of cards, and "that guy" can be seen running to the outhouse to change into his alter-ego "Super Donk," the supreme hero of the horrible play and subsiquent suckout. Anyways, Kyle found himself in the monthly freeroll at this local pub we've been playing and I wanted to write a bit about this tournament.

Kyle had placed fourth in one of the weekly events. Those who place 1-4 at any weekly events play in the "last sunday of the month" (note: the last sunday in the month fell in april by this pub's calendar). To spell out exactly how this works, those who placed 2-4 start at 2pm. The top 8 gain entry to the 4pm event, which combines these players with everyone who had finished first place. $1000 dollars would pay over 4 places, and the potential to win a sweet car was on the line (one of those lucky hands type of things where the final hand had to match exactly the cards in the envelope --- never gonna happen).

While we were waiting for the event to begin, I was taking side bets... not for money, just for comedy value. The over/under was 5 on how many people would show up 1 hour late, because they did not set their clocks ahead and hand no clue that this was to occur. It should be noted that several regulars who play in this event are the type that are not inclined to watch the news or read the papers, so this is quite possible. I felt I was being generous by setting the over/under at five and had a gut feeling it should have been closer to ten.

Anyways, the doors opened for the 2pm start time. Kyle quickly ran to the outhouse and emerged as Super Donk, sporting his cape, ready to suck out. I was perched in such a manner that I could see the entire room, as my chair was on the riser that held the dj booth. Play was a bit tighter than normally experienced in this event. Kyle and I had discussed strategy before the event. The blinds format is one that I'm not real comfortable with, having a starting stack of 50 and blinds elevating from 1/2, 2/4, 4/8, 5/10, 10/20, 20/40, etc. every fifteen minutes. Its such a format that one almost has to make a move in the first two rounds, else lose betting power. I told him the standard... respect position, avoid playing junk, have the wisdom to know when your raise is not going to accomplish what its intention is, etc. Ideally, a semi-tight passive style is probably most appropriate preflop, switching to a tight aggressive style post flop. Picking one's spot, however, and respecting position is of paramount importance.

Kyle folded around and pretty much observed early on, seeing how the table reacted. His table appeared to be more passive than previous tables, which of course throws the above off. Peeps
were actually taking down steals preflop and continuation bets causing folds... This was something never seen before at previous events. Could it be the table or was it the five ten peeps missing cuz they had no clue on the time change?

Blinds increased a few times over and SuperDonk is still alive and kicking. 3 tables of eight remain and as a courtesy to the table, I began calculating avg. stack and sharing it with those at SD's table. This statistic is more important than M, in a sense, as top 8 is the goal. Just as I say this, one of the players (Dave) has his Aces cracked by two pair. This move seems to cripple him, as he has about ten chips remaining. Fast forwarding, Dave later wins his BB via default and folds his SB. Other notable folds by Dave during this critical, crippling situation were JJ and AK. Yes, you read correctly, he folded AK from an early position and JJ on the button, because in his mind, survival was most important. People do actually fold hands of this nature preflop near the bubble. I personally could never do it, as my goal is never to "barely cash," but in this case, his strategy paid off.

I was preoccupied and did not see what hand took kyle out, but he placed 12th, and thus was 4th alternate in the 4pm event. Kyle's table had five peeps of the eight who qualified for the 4pm event, which came as no surprise.

Final event starts, and kyle gets the last seat (4 no shows). I wasn't happy with where he was seated. He had a few players from his previous table, combined with the drawing know it all, Peanut who was probably among the best players in the event, and "Mr. I'll See your two and raise you seven... come on let's gamble." Fortunately, this guy is seated to Kyle's right. Unfortunately this guy's voice is obnoxious annoying irritating enough to drive a man insane. Kyle cranks his mp3 playa up to 11, it should also be noted that the "loudest band in the world," Spinal Tap's amps also go to 11... just like Super Donk's MP3 player. In a seemingly shady move, this guy was the dealer, trying to see and raise, and spills his chips on the floor. He bends down to grab his chips, taking the entire deck of cards with him... well, what was left of them. One of the players, Peanut, heard me mumble that this should be declared a misdeal. The cards should never leave plain sight of the table, and never drop below the table.

Fortunately, moronic man wouldn't stay on for long, thus Kyle didn't need the 11th setting on his dial, as the idiot saw two, and raised his ass right out the door, being the first to be launched from the tourney. His ever so famous last words were, "Its about time! I was trying to leave from the first hand" (read: I'm seeing double cuz I drank too much and raising my ass back to the corner bar a block over). While blaring his music, Kyle had not played a hand. His volume came down as everyone at the table commented as to what a relief this it was to have this idiot gone from the table.

Kyle made up for lost time and raised to a steal a pot or two. (fast forwarding a bit) Tables merged from three to two, with 18 players remaining and Kyle on the short end of average. Players began moving with urgency as the blinds rose and Kyle found himself on the final table
as the second shortest stack. To my surprise, with only one exception, Kyle played a perfect final table. This did not cause me to sit unworried though. While I'd occasionally offer him advice on play between hands, I did not talk to him during his hand (after the deal), nor did he "pocket cam" me.

Acting under the gun, kyle limps. I cringe and silently vow to beat his ass if he doesn't have one of three hands. 1 more limps after him, when "allin" comes from across the table. Late position calls, kyle reraises to allin and the limper behind kyle folds. Kyle has two people allin, and flips over pocket aces, looking at me and saying, "See, I can learn." His aces hold up, and I am thrilled to death with him using this move. Suddenly, shorty is second in chip count and six remain. Very next hand, Kyle's heated up, and gains a steal, only to donate chips a hand later returning him to the middle of the pack. He didn't have the hand to continue and smartly laid her down.

(Fast forwarding a bit more)Its bubble time. Five players remained, SuperDonk who was playing as if his super powers had been immobilized by an influx of poker iq. To his left sat a player who had been on his table for both events. This guy was tough, but not a "smart" poker player, which I'm sure we'll hear more about later. To smarty's left, sat the callstation. I'm not sure, but I suspect he is the middle aged son of Ma Bell. Ma Bell's baby boy sat with the chip lead, and was known for his call, call, call, call, call type of play. I told kyle he'd not stand much of a chance stealing from the button. To Kyle's right sat a semi-tight aggressive player who was second in chips. He spoke with an accent of sorts, which is really totally irrelivant. He had not been a cheap date, from what I observed, as people were often made to pay heavily for the privledge to chase when he was in the hand. Two peeps to Kyle's right sat a wirey, aggressive player who seemed to be playing the players and position moreso than the board and his hand.

So to the bubble we go. I tell kyle that the button is not going to give him a steal, the short stack is the most likely to move with shit, and if he moves against the short stack, he's likely going to get a call if shorty has a hand. Surprisingly, I was wrong on one account, as the heir apparant to the telephone empire went into a shell and folded to a 20 chip, allin raise while he was in the big blind putting out 100 chips and last to act. Wow... 20 chips to call 270 would not have broke the bank here and was an appropriate call with 2-7o (read: worst laydown of the day, bar none).

BB moves to Kyle, who is the second largest stack. SB is the short stack with about 250 chips. Action folds to the SB, who raises 100, leaving 50 left in his stack. Kyle looks at his hole cards and calls cleanly. Flop comes, SB pushes allin and kyle folds. This was his one bad play, where he was surely asking for a mulligan. He should have either reraised to allin, as the guy was pot committed or he should have folded. Either would have been correct, but folding was incorrect. Kyle at this time had about 400 chips prior to the play. Next hand Kyle moves allin on the small blind, his queens hold up against Baby Bell and Kyle's back to second in count.

I move in and tell kyle between hands the short stack is to his left now. I let him know that first to act, he can profitablly make a move with 10-8 and above profitablly, providing he moves allin. Action moves around, and Kyle's back in the SB as the second shortest stack. He looks into the hole and discovers 9-7s. He's first to act, so he pushes allin, hoping for a call from the short stack big blind. The big blind calls with KQo. Kyle hits a seven on the flop, turn comes blank, and the river blanks as well. The bubble has burst and kyle's 9-7 takes the pot down!

Dude is irate. The table pauses for a bit, and I tell kyle that he had made a good play. He knew he'd be a dog if called, but the odds were worth it, as this guy had about sixty chips beyond his BB. I tell him once again the play was perfect and to keep it up. Dude overhears me and says "Are you f'ing kidding me? That was not a perfect play." I tell the guy that it was a profitable move as he's only a slight underdog... and by slight I mean less than 1% preflop from the average hand. The guy obviously didn't get it, as he says "no one moves allin with a 2-7."

I concede, as I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed individual, so I politely correct myself and tell the guy, "you're right. Even though it was a 9-7s and a bluff, no one 'calls' allin with that hand and no one bluffs, especially not against the short stack and on the bubble. My bad, what was I thinking?" I tune the guy out, as he's mumbling something that can only drop my poker iq, whereas I stand no chance of raising his. While the commotion is going on, out goes the tough guy from kyle's right, via 99 v 88. Then out goes Ma Bell's baby boy by virtue of a duece (kyle called an inexpensive allin with k2s v a9) after wirey dude had softened the offspring of Ma Bell up quite a bit.

Heads up and Kyle had a sizable lead. Chips went back and forth back and forth and were about dead even. Fortunately, there was a dealer on the final table who was both knowledgable in the game and also a former dealer at a casino, as the final hand was somewhat controversial. Wirey guy pushed allin preflop. Kyle knocked. Kathy, the dealer, asked is that a call? Kyle responds yes. Flop is turned over, kyle tries to push allin, apparantly not realizing he was already allin. He flops two pair NH GG, cubs win Austin wins Super Donk wins!

Coming at no surprise, the magic hand misses the board, no car... However, I have to say that I was proud of "SuperDonk." Generally speaking, I cheer against him, due to his horrible play. I could not have been more proud though, as he finally decided to play smart poker. Because of his play, I honestly could not have been happier if I had personally played and won the event. To me, its very rewarding when my advice is used and a player trusts enough to improve his or her game, especially when they get positive results. He and I will be going back again tonight, and then to another bar tommorrow to play, which will probably be the last monday-tuesday we can qualify for anything, considering soccer starts up again next week.

More tommorrow,

Mike





Poker Stories
SuperDonk, Poker Idiot Saga

"Last Call" and the Mailbag...

Last Call for Leaderboard Points…!!!

One tourney remains, to crown the points Champion of CheckRayz. Who will finish first in the “two horse race” for bragging rights to the points championship? Will it be yer drunken hero, the beer guy? Or will Bob, BC4547 close the gap. Stop by River Belle tonight. Deposit, register, and play in the $100 added, $5+.50 buy in tourney. This is your final opportunity to score Leaderboard points, which can potentially make you eligible for two of the three end of the quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard events. Don’t miss the 11pm EST “Last Call” for Leaderboard points tonight at River Belle Poker.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention this. In an effort to help out Bob, there will be a twenty dollar bounty on my head tonight. Oust me from the tourney, collect a twenty spot… its that simple.
As for the end of the quarter festivities, marking the end of our inaugural and very successful first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour (sponsored by River Belle Poker), we are having three huge tourneys. There is still time to qualify. The tournaments, all held at River Belle Poker, are as follows:

CheckRayz Leaderboard Shootout - CheckRayz Top Ten Shootout to crown the first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard Champion.
Wednesday April 5, 2006 11pm EST
$200 Freeroll with an additional $50 to be transferred to the winner, courtesy of imhere4beer.
Prize Pool: $200 (courtesy of River Belle Poker)

Note 1: I will send invitations from my personal email account, which I need responses to NO LATER THAN Monday April 3 at 10am EST.

Note 2: The “rainout date” for this tourney is Thursday April 13 at 10pm EST in the event logistics do not work out between River Belle and myself.

Note 3: The “top ten” is not yet set in stone. 150 Leaderboard points go to the winner of tonight’s event. The tenth spot is currently occupied by “Belz,” who has 215 points. Those of you who have 65 or more Leaderboard points can still potentially make the top ten with a win tonight at River Belle for the buy in. Take a shot!!! (“hard sell” noted).


CheckRayz Leaderboard Rewards - Freeroll for all who have accumulated CheckRayz Leaderboard points in the first quarter of 2006 to reward members for their finishes.
Saturday April 8, 2006 6pm EST
$200 freeroll - invitation only.
Prize Pool: $200 (courtesy of River Belle)

Note 1: Mike will send invitations today. Response is necessary NO LATER THAN 10am EST April 5th, no exceptions!

Note 2: If you do not receive an invitation, but believe you earned Leaderboard points, you must let me know NO LATER THAN Monday April 3rd at 5pm EST. Additionally, you MUST provide the tourney date, poker room name, your screen name at that poker room, your checkrayz screen name, and where you finished in the tournament. I have all the tournaments on record and will verify this information, letting you know my findings.


CheckRayz Leaderboard Challenge - Private Freeroll tourney for all who successfully "answered" the challenge. Winner takes all.
Friday April 14, 2006 10pm EST
Prize Pool: $100 (courtesy of IMHERE4BEER), pokertracker program with activation key (courtesy of IMHERE4BEER)

Qualify via one of the three ways:

1. Win either the Shootout, or the Rewards event.

2. Rake 250 hands (any blind level) at River Belle Poker (only applies if you’ve downloaded and registered via a CheckRayz link). If you did not download through me at River Belle, you may register and rake 250 hands (any blind level) at another CheckRayz endorsed poker room. To qualify via another poker room, you must first email me to have the request “approved” and must be “one of mine” at that given poker room. This rake requirement is good for raked hands played between March 1 and April 6.

3. Refer-a-friend. Refer three friends to CheckRayz. Have them sign up via the CheckRayz site, being certain they list you either by name (first and last name), or by your CheckRayz screen name. Additional requirement is that they download one new poker site from the CheckRayz site to “verify” their existence.

Note: Invitations will be sent as people qualify. If you qualify… or believe you qualify via the refer a friend path or at a poker room other than River Belle (approval required first), send me an email alerting me of such facts. Deadline for qualification is April 6th at 11.59pm EST. RSVP no later than April 11th for this event. I reserve the right of final say on qualifications.

Mailbag

With the announcement seemingly out of the way, we move to the mailbag. With our first letter coming from Clay in Minnesota:

Beer,

JEEZ!! Now you've called me out on the carpet!! I haven't played a leaderboard event in like a month...but I can still whoop you and Bob if I house it and you donks don't get points. Looks like I'll have to sign up and defend my honor tonight. lol.

P.S. - Someone from Minnesota wins the leaderboard shootout event and then houses the winner take all Challenge. 4 of the top ten currently on the Checkrayz Leaderboard are from Minnesota!! So I got good odds here, hehe

I respond: Clay, I "eyeballed" the leaderboard numbers and failed to carry the one. My bad. The above announcement and email that it was "copied" from should read "three horse race for bragging rights of first quarter champion between Bob, Clay, and Beer." No disrespect intended in the oversight, just a non-math major semi-bluffin his way through math class. Good call, teach! That being said... Gary is the hottest player on the tour right now and I see him housing any event he gets his arms around until he chooses not to. If he's from MN, then my money is with you. Though I will give my formal predictions as the field unfolds.

From no fewer than 16 people:

Where do I find the password for (insert CheckRayz tourney of choice here)?

Log onto the CheckRayz site, once logged in, go to the tourney schedule page. "Click here to play!" Look up, top center of screen... get a visual lock on the password. Go to corresponding poker room, find tourney, click register, type password exactly as it appears.

From no fewer than seven people:

Can you please email me the password to (insert CheckRayz tourney of choice here)?

Its my policy to not send passwords via email or messenger, except under rare, extreme circumstances. I'll gladly educate on how to obtain password, sending instructions that I really should pre-script via a FAQ, but send a password I will not.

Hand delivered to me on the poker tables:

Beer, I don't mind the later starts, but the late finishes are killin me. Can you help yo brothaz and sistaz out?

I got your back. We'll begin starting, for the most part, our freerolls and larger tourneys at 10pm EST, while I like the buyins starting at 11 more often than not. This gives somewhat of a time lapse between the shark events and the checkrayz events so that the start times do not conflict. I'll be making adjustments as appropriate, so keep me posted as to who is wanting what, and when.

Finally, I'm going to end the mailbag with a link to what the author describes simply as "Bad play of the day" --- nuff said there.

No blogging tommorrow and probably not Sunday either, as the Beer Guy has a wedding to attend this weekend. We'll be back Monday with the State of the CheckRayz address and some freeroll & money added poker tourneys to announce.

Mike


CheckRayz Announcements
CheckRayz Mailbag

Offtopic: Live freeroll poker play at a Local Pub...

Before I get the "hate mail" stating that live poker play at a bad is not "offtopic," I'm going to preemptively disagree. Only once have I ever witnessed such a grossly horrible absence of poker skill from my collective opposition as I witnessed over the previous two Monday night sessions at my friend's bar. By the way, unless anyone is keeping score, the only other time I've seen worse... or as bad, I should say is when I was playing "SuperDonk" heads up.

So Monday night I roll in from my live session "down the street" and the "Bat phone" rings, as SuperDonk is calling, wanting to know if I'm going to play tonight at the bar. I tell him that I'm going to go and get hands dealt, but I highly doubt that I'll actually be "playing" there. SuperDonk is a bright guy, but he didn't get that one, so I sell him a clue and inform him that in case he's forgotten, its rare that with the ridiculous "play" (very loosely used term in this context) that anyone with half a poker brain will ever make the final table there. This totally goes over SuperDonk's head as he retorts, "Well, I made the final table last week!" Point proven... Actually, I did as well, and I was quickly put out of my misery (thank god). So, I tell him I'll meet him there in twenty.

A word about the tourney structure...

To preface my commentary here, I know that these tourneys are just for fun. Additionally, one should not expect to run into "professional" or top notch play here. That being said, first place pays out, top four make it to the "monthly final," which is this weekend... I'll be going to amuze torture myself on Sunday to watch the "monthly final."

The blind structure leave a lot to be desired. Starting chip stack is 50 chips, each worth 1. Blinds are 1/2, which starts ya out a bit short stacked, and very shortstacked if you've not made a move by round three. As a sidenote, it is rare that people will "recognize" a move when they see it. For example, round two of the second tourney blinds 2/4 (they run two tourneys a night on mon and sat), a good poker player (there are a few that play there... but only a few), raises preflop with ace ten, and gets one caller of said raise (the big blind). Flop comes 10-5-2. BB min. bets. The good player pushes allin. She had just doubled up on a set of aces a few hands prior. So, she pushes out 100 plus chips, giving the min. better horrible odds to call. There's 26 chips in the pot from preflop, he bets 4, making it thirty... So, with her allin bet, he is putting his tourney life on the line to win a minimum amount of chips. He of course calls, though he wouldn't "have to." He flips over queen five offsuit, pulls a queen on the turn and takes down the pot. Didn't quite have the odds for him to call, but I don't think he had a clue... oh well.

So, my partner in crime was ousted from the tourney. We had fun though, as we purposely sat down at the same table to surround this one moron in particular and just torture him. We indeed did torture him. Though, the price to pay by sitting at his table, was to sit at the same table with every other "poker lawyer" in the place. They all seem to sit at the same table and litigate, arguing every single little thing. I think they just like to argue and hear themselves explain how right they are.

(note: if this post seems somewhat unorganized, that's because the game as a whole was unorganized. Which, apparantly thinking about that game has thrown my story-telling pace off as well).

I managed to outlast most of the "table lawyers" at this table. Blinds went up and I was again "shortstacked" and slid allin with J-10s. I got not one, not three, but five callers. Flop comes Q-10-10. Turn is a two, and river is a nine. I'm ousted by a boat, twos over tens. NH gg... Other hands of note in this donk-fest: K-7o, KQo, 7-5s, 6-6.

Tommorrow is the mailbag and some more info on the leaderboard tourneys. Two more tourneys remain before the end of the first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour. Tonight, a freeroll at River Belle Poker, and tommorrow the "Last Call" $5+.50, $100 added tourney, also at River Belle poker. These two events are the final chance to obtain leaderboard points for our big end of the quarter events.

Mike




Poker Stories

More live poker ring talk, with a bit more "strategery," and dates set for CheckRayz Leaderboard events...

We've set some dates for the three big CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour first quarter events. The CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour will be holding three private freeroll poker tournaments at River Belle Poker, the official host of the CheckRayz Leaderboard.

On Wednesday, April 5th 11pm EST we’re set to crown our first quarter champion in the CheckRayz Leaderboard Shootout. This is a $200 freeroll, with $50 additional goes to the winner via the Beer Guy. To qualify, you must be in the top ten on the CheckRayz Leaderboard as of March 31, 2006. I’ll be emailing the invitations on March 31st at the conclusion of the “Last Call” tournament and will need a response from them no later than Monday morning at 10am EST.

On Saturday April 8th at 6pm EST, we’re rewarding everyone who supported the first quarter CheckRayz tour via the CheckRayz Leaderboard Rewards tournament. This event is a $200 freeroll and all who have CheckRayz Leaderboard points will qualify. I will be sending out invitations to this event on March 31st at the conclusion of the “Last Call” tournament and will need a response no later than Tuesday April 5th at 10am EST.

Friday April 14th will be the CheckRayz Leaderboard Challenge with $100 and a pokertracker program with key added on the line to the winner to the winner, bought and paid for by the Beer Guy - not redeemable for cash). Qualify by either winning events 1 and/or two, raking 250 hands at River Belle poker, or via the CheckRayz Leaderboard refer a friend campaign. I’m extending the deadline to qualify to April 6th for the refer a friend (refer three or more friends, using the "forward to a friend" button... be sure to tell your friend to name you in the "referred by" column at the checkrayz registration page, and they must download at least one of our pokerrooms from the checkrayz site to verify), and for the raked hands paths (rake 250 hands at river belle poker between march 1st and april 6th at any level). I will send invitations to this event on April 7th and will need a response by Monday April 10th at 10am EST.

Live play continued...

I had such a blast on Sunday, that I decided to make a run of it on Monday, so back "down the street" I went. I get there to see a nearly empty poker room, seeing three tables with action on them. Two of the tables are 1/2 NL (yuck) and the other is 2/4 limit. I put my name on the 2/4 list (2 in front of me), and also ask to be placed on the 3/6, 4/8, and 5/10 limit "waiting list." This request was granted with the promise that "we'll call you... most likely on Friday to ask if you wish for your name to carry over to the weekend." Apparantly, short of a holiday, the game selection I see in front of me is "as good as it gets" during the week.

I walk around with my friend, watching the 3 card poker game. I'm thinking I'd like to read more to... as he says "take the fun out of it" (he refers to my passion for the stats of the game as taking the fun out of the game). My buzzer goes off, and I take my seat at the 2/4 table. Once again, I start out strong, with the cards matching my hand pretty much no matter what, and I'm off to an early double up of buyin. I make conversation at the table, and realize my friend from last month (I believe I wrote about him, in reference to the Larry Bird look-a-like). This time, Larry is to my immediate left, as opposed to three to my left. The table didn't have "too bad" of a makeup, but was nothing like the one that was present yesterday.

About two hours into the game, I'm dealt pocket fours in the SB. New guy in the mid position raises. I call cleanly, sensing a family sized pot. I was a bit off, as 8 of us saw the flop. I figure this to be a decent sized pot thus far. Flop comes rainbowed J-9-4. A set! I know that I need to begin "telling my story" immediately though, as the next card could very well hurt me, and a slowplay is not appropriate here. So, I lead out with the small bet. BB (larry bird) raises it to two bets. This is something he'd do, as he often tests on the flop and turn by either check raising or raising a bet. The cutoff reraises, and I cap. Bird calls, as does one other and the cutoff, with those who called the first bet getting out of dodge.

Turn brings an 8. I'm not necessarily "happy" with this turn card, but I'm not feeling "totally beat" quite yet. Definitely needing to protect my hand no-less. I bet out, and am once again greeted with a two bet by Bird. Mid position folds, Cutoff reraises. I look at him and at Bird and comment that for some strange reason I feel like I'm a bit behind, as I cap. Both of them call. I make note that the pot is too big at this point to lay down, and am hoping for a paired board come the river (1 out on my four, possible three outs each on the 9, 8, and jack... no chance of a flush here, so that's somewhat of a relief... so, I'm looking at ten possible outs). River card is insignificant, a three. I bet out, Bird raises, cutoff reraises, I'm certain I'm beat but cap regardless, hoping to either steal here or that I'm incorrect, but both are relatively unlikely and I do need to play this one out, given the pot size and the slight possibility I'm up against either jack nine, or ko-jack and hoping against the queen ten. Showdown plays out, and indeed I see both those hands, ko-jack and queen ten, with the q-t belonging to the cutoff. Nice hand and beautiful pot!

A few hands later, I'm dealt sixes utg. I raise taking on two callers. The small bind (winner of the big pot) looks at me and says "we might have the same cards, so I'll reraise"), BB calls cleanly, as do the two others and myself. I'm hesitant on building the pot too big at this point, wanting to cut down his odds if I hit my set and he misses what I am very certain are aces. I'm eying up the small blind as the flop comes. By his reaction, I didn't even need to see what exactly the flop was, as his body jerked something fierce when the cards were exposed. He shakes as he grabs for his chips. The BB calls. I look at the flop and decide that despite the board reading A-6-8, two spades on the board and no spades in my hand, I'm folding my set before things get too ugly. He drags everyone else to the river, calling all the way and flips over AA, just as I had thought. Nice hand and great read.

Overall, I booked a loss for the session, due mostly from that pot building set of fours, but still fun no less. Tommorrow, I'll be giving thoughts to the freeroll live pub game I played this past Monday night.

Mike



Poker Stories

Stories from playing live, with a little "strategery"

For starters, the first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard chase comes to an end this week, with Friday being the "last call" to obtain leaderboard points and qualify for the three huge leaderboard events held in the poker room of our leaderboard sponsor, River Belle Poker. Details can be found here on the huge first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard poker tournaments.

Playing Live this past weekend...

I decided to both change things up... and to "get away" on Sunday and Monday, so what better place to go than to the poker room "down the street", which is really about an hour away. Sunday, I ventured up there, and found my table of the day ($3/6 limit). I had previously vowed to not go up there on the weekend, due to the table being what I called "too fishy"... but, I had "a good feeling" about this, not to mention a plan in the event we were seeing the pond overstocked with guppies. Surprisingly enough, the table was "perfect" for me... not too fishy, not too tight. I'd get action when I wanted it, but not so much that I was doomed. Plus, I can lay down a hand too, can I not?

I'm saying my hellos to the people sitting within a few seats of me, and while in the cutoff, when the BB says to me "here we go..." in reference to the UTG raise. I fold, never even looking at my cards, but instead wanting to watch what is going on. Five deep and raised once, the flop comes Kh, 7c, 3d... SB checks, BB bets 3 into the $30 pot. UTG calls, I notice the BB rolling his eyes like he knows what is coming. The field narrows down to three, as two late positions fold, the SB calls. Turn brings the ace of hearts... SB bets out, BB bumps it to two, UTG makes it three, SB calls, BB caps, UTG and SB each call. River card is the five of hearts. Bet from SB, BB raises, utg three bets, SB caps, three to the showdown. UTG proudly displays his 2-9 suited to hearts, this compared to the two pair each from BB and UTG (BB had AK, sb had ace three). I'm informed that UTG has been "playing shit and sucking it all the way" and of course, I make a few mental notes.

Later in the day, after taking down some quite monsterous pots (I was up a "shitload" of big bets by the end of the first hour, and by "shitload" I mean that my initial buyin had been doubled a few times over without having to throw more $$$'s onto the table --- said another way, I was winning). "92 red" contunued to also "suck out" regularly, having no consideration for cards and position, so I decided to have some fun with him. He UTG raises, which gets several moans from his "fanclub"... having the table image, I decide to re-raise him. He reraises me, I cap and we're seven deep going into the flop. The flop comes KK2, with one of the kings and the two being suited to spades. Anyone who has ever met me in person knows that I can often become very "animated" when I'm "telling a story"... And this was a "story" I was telling at the table. I grab my back and act like the hand... and his bet broke me, as he bets out. People on the table become slightly suspicious of my reaction and they fold to a single bet around to me.

I "look" at my hole cards, to "see" if I can handle his bet. I raise, saying "gosh, i don't know," as I'm throwing out my bet and calling for the raise. The guy to my left quietly begins to ask me if I even looked at my cards, as he now notices that while I went through the motions, I did not see the cards. I tell him to "shhhhh" and wink at him, which brings him to fold. UTG and I are heads up, he three bets, I four bet. He tries to "cap" but is informed that there's no cap heads up, to which he says "i'll cap" anyways (note: if there was a cap, it was my four bet, not his, but who's getting technical here, right?) Turn brings a third spade. I raise the eyebrows at him, again "peeking" at my hole cards as he bets, I raise, he makes it three. I make faces in his direction again, watching him all the way and smiling... I raise, he "caps" which now means "call his four bet" apparantly. River comes a fourth spade. He checks. I throw my chips, smiling all the way and say "1", signaling 1 bet. The dealer and the guy two to my left begin discussing what hands they have me on. I'm sure the dealer is somewhat on to what I am doing here. I begin whistling a song from the Muppet Show "Mah Na Mah Na" for some reason as "92 red" is audibling at the line of scrimmage shuffling his cards in his hand. Someone asks if that is from the muppet show. I tell them yes, and that my kids and I were watching the muppets yesterday afternoon. (that song first appeared on some italian soft-porn back in the 60's, but who is really keeping score).

As my song is playing out, "92 red" asks if his "set of kings is any good now." I rhetorically ask if he thinks I'd bet like this if they were, citing it was obvious he had AT LEAST kings. The dealer and the guy two to my left are convinced I boated on the turn and have made this known. "92 red," in a shocking move, throws his king face up into the muck pile, while telling me "nice hand, you beat me" and never called my bet. The dealer begins shifting chips my way and asks what I had... I inform him that I don't know and wonder if he... and everyone else would like to find out (P.S. - I know this was a "dick move"... but I felt like the table was behind me on this one and just had to see it through). I flip over a 5-3 of hearts to my surprise, as well as to the surprise of everyone at the table. 92 red is absolutely positively irate at this point, and I guess rightfully so, which then begins a dialogue that goes something like the following:

92 red: how could you play that shit?

me: I wasn't aware that my hand wasn't the best hand on the flop.

92 red: you couldn't tell by the way that I was betting that I had you beat?

me: I really had no way of knowing.

92 red: I had a set on the flop!

me: I didn't know what you had on the flop... and honestly, I didn't know what I had on the flop! I could have been better than you.

92 red: yea right, how could you not know what you had on the flop?

me: I think I've only known what I had on the flop twice today.

92 red (now in the dealt bb): Don't you look at your cards?

me: Not really, who does that? Besides, I'm too busy watching you (as action folds to me).

(at this point, my spidey sense is tingling, sensing the presence of security close by)

dealer (to me as he's half-ass chuckling): sir, its your turn, three to play.

me: raise!

(note: I'm stacking my chips, no clue what my cards are, not even having pretended to look at them, as they sit at the north end of my chips, which i am still stacking... action folds around to me and I take down the pot preflop).

92 red: That's horrible, you can't play like that.

me: Like what?

92 red: without looking at your cards.

me (to the dealer): People actually look at their cards preflop? Do I "have to?"

At this point, 92 red tells the dealer he'll be back and folds his sb out of turn. I feel bad, looking back... but it was just one of those things I "had to do." I spent the next hour or so giving everyone else action and entertaining myself in a more friendly way, which did drop my stack a bit, but on the other hand, it was a whole lot of fun... and you cannot possibly put a price on fun of that nature.

To put a bit of strategy into this post... I do not... repeat: DO NOT try this. I did so, only because :

A. I could have afforded to book the loss.

B. The guy was one of those "know it alls" (see: the people who really "chap my ass") and in dire need of "education" on the table.

C. He is familliar with sucking out on a good hand, and may... just may realize that someone sucked out on him.

D. The board was progressively more and more scary.

E. I felt I had the "table image" at this point to pull it off, as I had taken down some nice pots, showing down strong winners.

F. I felt the urge to do this.

G. I had made the pot so big that it would not have made mathamatical sense to "let it go"... even if I believed I was drawing dead, if there was a chance... a slight chance, that he'd lay her down. His desire to constantly "cap" suggested to me he did not have the nuts, and thus was eventually needing to worry about if I in turn did.

H. I am known to do some outragious, "over the top" things from time to time, often being the last man standing in the "Beat the Dead Horse" campaign.

I. Insert justification of choice here.

Well, more live stories that involve substantially less "dick moves" and more actual play.

Mike



Poker Stories