Woo-hoo!

We actually played a poker tournament Monday night at my apartment. I played ridiculously loose, leading to Ian busting me twice and Derek once. I dropped $15 and went to McDonald's.

Full Tilt offered me a $75 bonus that I could redeem over a span of ten days, so late in the evening I sat on the couch between Ian and Derek and played some .25/.50 NLHE. It is important for me to note that I NEVER play at stakes this high in an internet cash game. I have played higher stakes live, but on the internet I feel that competition in these games is above my level. I was wrong- at least tonight. I can't lie though, I caught cards CONSTANTLY, allowing me to make plays and build an image.

I made over $60 in less than an hour. This hand was the highlight of my night. Can you dream of anything working out more awesomely?

Feeling invincible, I moved on to .10/.25 PLO. I took over $30 in a very brief session, a lot of it coming from this wet dream of a hand.

I'm sitting at a .25/.50 Stud table right now. I'm up 4 big bets. Can I lose money tonight?


Who knows.


One thing is for sure; I'm having fun playing poker again.

-The Gerk-

A Sit-and-Go Just for the Purpose of an Update

I haven't updated this blog in a month.

Let me rank the reasons why:

1. Guitar Hero (I, II, and III)
2. Other work on the site Arabianmonkey.com
3. Work
4. Stuff around the apartment
5. School

Yet I digress- it's not like I just chose not to update. I have seriously played less that 12 hours of poker in 2008. Crazy, isn't it? I theorize that I will eventually get sick of Guitar Hero and my playing ability will plateau, leading me back to the poker table.

But since that hasn't happened yet, I purposely sat my ass down with my hand generator and this blog window specifically to write about a Sit-and-Go. So here it is, nothing fancy, just some simply hand analysis of a meat-and-potatoes $5+.50 NL Hold'em 9-player Sit-and-Go. I had to use the old hand generator because I forgot my password to the new-fangled one.


I folded through the first level. I took a flop with 66, whiffed and let it go. The table seemed pretty standard- nothing crazy happening. Then I picked up AsQs in my BB. UTG limped, so did the cutoff. SB makes it 200 to go, 5x the BB. UTG then shoves. What the fuck? Cutoff folds, SB thinks a while and calls. Easy fold for me, right? UTG must be looking for that classic limp and trap play with AA or KK. SB must have at least AK, right? It's been a while since I've played, so I guess I'm impatient. I call. SB has QQ, UTG has 88. Board bricks. I'm out. Did I say I was only going to play one tournamet? Hahahaha... LET'S TRY AGAIN!

ROUND 2

Things started out much the same, playing Texas Fold'em. I took a small pot in my SB with J9. Then in the second level a confrontation arose that nearly made this blog unworthy of posting. Check out the action...

I figured we might be racing. Shit, it was almost 2:30am- sleep isn't such a bad consolation prize.

Two hands later I woke up in the BB with AQ. The short-stacked button minraised, the SB called and I jammed it. It folded to the button, who promptly called, and I was racing again. Here's how it turned out.

With almost 4,500 chips under my belt, I was pretty set. We very quickly became 5-handed and things tightened up. I called a raise on the button with QsTs, hoping to hit a good flop against a pretty TAG player. It came down with the As and the Ks. I had a royal flush draw and a gut shot. He continuation bet, and I called, with the intention of jamming the turn no matter what fell and how he acted. The turn was an 8, giving me an extra 4 outs. He timidly checked, and I decided to push and take it down.

A little while later, this hand came up. I nearly folded the turn; I swear to God my poker senses kicked in and almost saved me some money. He made it so affordable that I had to pay him off though. The short stack played the hand perfectly.

I made it back later though. I wasn't too scared of AK here, so when I pushed I felt pretty safe. He seemed to pretend to think about a call before letting it go.

Ugh. This always seems to happen. I wish he had just folded.

You might say I had a pretty good read on the guy on my right. Check out the river action on this baby.

The blinds got higher and my opponents' stacks got smaller. Out of necessity I called the all in of the 4th place finsher, and the next hand I took out the 3rd place guy for the same reason- he was just too short stacked for me not to call.

After some back and forth heads-up action. I noticed my opponent was getting frustrated. I raised three straight hands and then picked up AA. He raised from the button, trying to steal his thunder back. I, of course, declared that this was my table and re-raised. He cold called and I checked him the flop to see if he would hang himself. Not yet. I even gave him a free river card when he opted out of suicide again. But I jammed the un-important river card and he called VERY quickly with King-high. What a bitch. Check out the hand- there's nothing better than ending a tourney with AA.

-The Gerk-

Through the Muck

I would like to post some hands, but it's not worth your time or my own.

I've won a couple of 5.50 9-players the last few days.

I finished 22nd in a 180 person when I couldn't get my KJ to hold up against JT all-in preflop for 7 BBs.

I played decent in a 90-person HORSE SNG but got coolered twice immediately after the first break, and I couldn't make my money back despite getting it all-in good in hold'em.

Last night I finished 2nd in a SNG where I thought I played about as close to perfect as ever, then got my money in facing three outs with two pulls against A4. Turn 4, river A. Heartbreak.

In the last week I'm up a small amount online, but I think I'm playing tremendously. When I'm in the zone, the decisions make themselves- abstract concepts become crystal clear and it feels like play slows down to the point that I become attached to no hand. I think a lot of this has been because of some extra aggression I've instituted in my play since my last bad run of cards. If you asked Paul the poker player a year ago whether he would bet out with two pair in the SB on a ragged flop, he would give a resounding "no." Today... ABSOLUTELY.

But despite what I consider solid play, I've been taking some rough beats lately. Not unexpected beats, but tough ones that cost me my tournament life in many cases. I can't race or win a 60/40 to save my life, and it seems like every time I get my money in facing three outs the dude turns or rivers his miracle. Since I started playing five years ago, I've never cared all that much if I was beaten as the result of being outplayed. In fact, that's the way I want to bust, knowing I can improve and fix something in my game. But over the last year it feels like most of my beats and bankroll drainers have not been the fault of getting outplayed, but rather getting outdrawn. Like I said, usually those outdraws fall under the category of "expected variance," but it still sucks when you're making a solid push with your bankroll and you hit a series of speed bumps when AK can't hold against AQ and JJ can't best AJ.

Either way, I'm happy with my play. In hold'em, anyway. I took too long of a break in Omaha and my game has suffered noticeably. It sounds funny, but I am really fond of my razz game. Stud... er, not as much.

I'm gonna end the blog here because I'm in a big Omaha pot that I should actually win!

-The Gerk-

P.S. I did win that pot, but didn't get the action I anticipated. I apparently don't have the reads I thought I did.

The Gerk Wins Full Tilt $5.50 Deep Stack 90-Person SNG

So, here's a long awaited update...

We played three tournaments at my apartment Monday night. I took the first two, and in last one I dropped two buy-ins from erratic play induced by slight drunkenness. Oh well, it had been a while since I had tasted the sweet nectar that is Blue Moon. The highlight of the evening occurred in the first tournament when Max called my all-in with a four card straight, 6 to 9. This would normally be really embarrassing, but it was doubly so because moments before it happened he was talking about when he first played the game years ago, and how he used to call his brothers with four card straights and flushes. WOW. It was one of the most entertaining moments our game has ever had.

I haven't been playing much internet poker lately. I partook in a 1200 person Knock-Out tournament (where each player has a bounty on his head) a few days ago, when I busted in the 400's and only took out two players, both on the same hand.

This morning I woke up early to do some science labs, and entered a 90 person deep-stack tournament to bide the time. The damn thing lasted almost four hours, but it was well worth it. I won the tournament and it's $112.50 first prize.

Here's the last hand: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1698047

I don't have any other hands to post, but there were other highlights. I doubled up to over 6000 very early, and played Texas Fold 'em while keeping a tight image through the first hour and a half. I was playing patiently, and it worked out. I got sucked out on in a big pot only once, in a 7k pot where we got it all in on a Q-9-7 flop. I had QJ and he had JT. The turn was an 8 and I was hammered down to about 3k. I rebuilt my stack, and got it up to around 12k before I two-outered a short stack. I raised from the cutoff with QK, he minraised on the button with KK. I just called, and the flop was Q-high. He only had about 1000 left, so we got it in and the turn fell a queen.

We played ten handed for almost an hour, and at one point I was down to only 3200 with the blinds at 200/400. I pushed with AJ, was called by K-x, and it held. The very next hand I pushed my 7.5k with 44, and it held against AT. I was back in business.

At the final table I played pretty well, but I made one crucial mistake that ended up working out in my favor. With around 45k, I raised to 3200 UTG with 88 (we were 7-handed). Everyone folded to the BB, who called. The flop was 6-4-4. He bet out 9000, and I just called instead of pushing, despite thinking he was kind of LAGgy, and had a wide range. The turn was a Q, and he bet the pot. I moved in over the top, and he called... with AQ. I had given him a turn he didn't need to see. It was a huge mistake that would have left me with only hundreds of chips, but the fates aligned and the turn fell an 8. I was catapulted into the chiplead with 93,000 chips.

I laid low for a while, and eventually ended up busting 5 of 7 players to get myself heads-up. I had a 2:1 lead, but he played a stellar LAG style two-handed. He had me on the ropes, but I made the nut straight with 79 and took half of his stack. We exchanged blows until the final hand, which I posted earlier.

112.50 is cool with me, I'm pumped about another tournament win. I should seriously stop playing ring games, I am a much better MTT player.

-Peace out, and good luck at the tables!-