Wednesday Poker Tournament at the Big H
What to say, been a busy week but finally got some live poker in. Went to Harrahs on wednesday and got dowwn to about two tables left (pay final table and they did an even chop hooking up the short stack). I shoved an unopened pot from the cut-off with J9 suited with five bbs. Older nit reg shoved a large stack over the top from the button. Uh-oh.
Fortunately I was up against AK. Unfortunately, I got no help nor any sweat from added draws on the flop.
My day started off like it was going to be a great one. On the first hand, I got there on time so it was the first hand in the tournament for once, I considered raising from EP with Q10 which is normally an auto-fold for me. Something told me to fire, I didn't. Flop brought two 10s and was bet twice and called for a nice pot.
Next hand I had pocket 6s. I limp. Flop came 667. Two spades. Oh really. Check, check, check, check, check. Turn is the 8 spades (please, hit one of these guys). Checked to lag who bets it. Couple of callers (sweet). River is 9d. Okay, every draw basically hit here. Wouldn't it be nice if somebody had pocket 9s, pocket 7s, pocket 8s or whatever.
I check, guy bets a weak bet, another dude calls, I pump it up three times his bet which is a third of both their stacks. First guy stews forever and just calls. Second guy folds.
I turn over my quads. He shows J10 for the best possible straight. I guess I got maximum value out of that hand. Still, watching every draw hit, and short of the straight flushes crushing me, I thought I was going to stack somebody.
I took me a little bit to adjust my poker strategy because of the difference of play from the Donkley to online that I have been playing mostly. I don't think I made the necessary changes in retrospect. Way too underaggressive and too much just playing the cards.
Later, I watched a guy in late position check the nuts twice on the river (last to act). Yeah... twice. That's a penalty in some places. I thought about asking the floor if it was a penalty at the Donkley but hey if this guy was going to check the nuts twice so be it.
I remarked, I wouldn't know what to do if that guy bet the river.
Later I get AK in the big blind. It's limped to me. I up it and it's folded to that gentleman on the button. He calls, now with a massive stack. Flop is A high. I put out the same size bet I folded to a reraises with in a couple of hands in a row just before.
He shoves for my stack.
I stew for a long time. This guy had only shown the nuts. Plus, if he was silly enough to check the nuts last to act, he was probably silly enough to shove top set on a flop and extract no value on the hand. Oh well, I call and he has Arag o/s. Oh. That makes sense.
Those for the most part were my notable hands. I won a race with A10 vs. 77 later in the tournament and I thought for sure I wasn’t going to hit. Sure, I’ve been Secratariat online but I’ve felt like anybody lining up next to Usain Bolt in live play of late.
Did get to see Alex Todd in the house. Back from his time in Africa. We talked about the World Cup there and the fact that flights were already booked up a year in advance. He works with South Africans and told me about the culture, the crime and some of the hurdles the World Cup will be facing. He will not be taking a jaunt down the continent to watch a game.
Fortunately I was up against AK. Unfortunately, I got no help nor any sweat from added draws on the flop.
My day started off like it was going to be a great one. On the first hand, I got there on time so it was the first hand in the tournament for once, I considered raising from EP with Q10 which is normally an auto-fold for me. Something told me to fire, I didn't. Flop brought two 10s and was bet twice and called for a nice pot.
Next hand I had pocket 6s. I limp. Flop came 667. Two spades. Oh really. Check, check, check, check, check. Turn is the 8 spades (please, hit one of these guys). Checked to lag who bets it. Couple of callers (sweet). River is 9d. Okay, every draw basically hit here. Wouldn't it be nice if somebody had pocket 9s, pocket 7s, pocket 8s or whatever.
I check, guy bets a weak bet, another dude calls, I pump it up three times his bet which is a third of both their stacks. First guy stews forever and just calls. Second guy folds.
I turn over my quads. He shows J10 for the best possible straight. I guess I got maximum value out of that hand. Still, watching every draw hit, and short of the straight flushes crushing me, I thought I was going to stack somebody.
I took me a little bit to adjust my poker strategy because of the difference of play from the Donkley to online that I have been playing mostly. I don't think I made the necessary changes in retrospect. Way too underaggressive and too much just playing the cards.
Later, I watched a guy in late position check the nuts twice on the river (last to act). Yeah... twice. That's a penalty in some places. I thought about asking the floor if it was a penalty at the Donkley but hey if this guy was going to check the nuts twice so be it.
I remarked, I wouldn't know what to do if that guy bet the river.
Later I get AK in the big blind. It's limped to me. I up it and it's folded to that gentleman on the button. He calls, now with a massive stack. Flop is A high. I put out the same size bet I folded to a reraises with in a couple of hands in a row just before.
He shoves for my stack.
I stew for a long time. This guy had only shown the nuts. Plus, if he was silly enough to check the nuts last to act, he was probably silly enough to shove top set on a flop and extract no value on the hand. Oh well, I call and he has Arag o/s. Oh. That makes sense.
Those for the most part were my notable hands. I won a race with A10 vs. 77 later in the tournament and I thought for sure I wasn’t going to hit. Sure, I’ve been Secratariat online but I’ve felt like anybody lining up next to Usain Bolt in live play of late.
Did get to see Alex Todd in the house. Back from his time in Africa. We talked about the World Cup there and the fact that flights were already booked up a year in advance. He works with South Africans and told me about the culture, the crime and some of the hurdles the World Cup will be facing. He will not be taking a jaunt down the continent to watch a game.
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