ILX Poker Players Unite

I was that lucky person* tonight. Three times I go all in with A or K high; three times the other dude makes a lower pair on the flop; three times I make a pair with my higher card on the turn. He was not impressed.

*but not lucky and stupid. Just lucky.

I was sensible, aggressive when necessary, folded well, bet well and backed off if I needed to. More than that, I identified early on the three other players I thought were actually playing decently (the others were clearly just calling stations). When it came to the last 4, it was me and the three I'd picked. And the steady, unflashy guy who'd I'd marked down as the dark horse got gradually more confident and aggressive, and played a masterful game to take the win.

A profit of $4.50 isn't worth talking about. But the comfort I felt in the room is. If I feel this way in a few games times, it'll be time to move to the dizzy heights of (gasp) $10 + $1 games...

The biggest pot I played tonight I lost heads up to a four of a kind (fours). I had full house (aces full of fours). Bastard.

The idea is to have the best 5 card hand out of those 7 cards. (so if there are two fours in the middle, you can have a four of a kind and full house with 4s.

I was trying Markelby's Guide To Poker Success (i.e. the single-table tourneys), but I think I'll stick to my original plan & enter the multi-tables. I get to play more hands (usually), it's a small investment that could potentially pay big, and it's more epic (which I think I've said before). And, given how I tend to play (one after another), it's MUCH CHEAPER. I had this running dialogue w/ a guy I sat w/ @ my first table - we ended up seeing each other two more times, once when there were 60-50 players left, and once when there were 20 left. We ended up sorta rooting for each other to make it - he got knocked out 3 folks before I did.

I had a RIDICULOUS run of cards early on - 3 or 4 pocket pairs meted out by AK or AJ or KQ suited or low suited connectors that lead to a flopped flush. Busting his balls about semi-bluffs pre-flop & such. Good stuff. Still kinda miffed about the J7 offsuit I folded that would've lead to a flopped full house (Js over 7s, natch), but whatever.

Chatting during tourneys is fun, too - I was at this friendly table for about 30 minutes, then (after a big win) I was switched to a table that was tighter than a machine-sealed pickle jar. Not one damn word at all. Maybe they were upset because I stormed in w/ more chips than anyone else sitting there (excepting, um, the chip leader @ the time).

Total winnings yesterday (after subtracting $$$ spent on one-and-done fuckery) = $12. WOOOOO!

Maybe on the weekend I'll give over an afternoon to it. We'll see. I think I might be playing cricket instead, though.

Also, I do "work" (listening to / taking notes on muzak) while pokering, so it's not entirely counter-productive. I think all my music writing $$$ has gone into my poker addiction, so it's only fitting I try and make money while losing it. (Jury's out on whether my writing has sucked crack pipes since I started the poker.) Anyway, I gotta do something when that inevitable run of crap hands [73 84 T2 96 J3] comes around. You could sneak off for a quick peck then, too.

I'm interested that you say you work (and others have talked about what else they do while they're playing) during games. Does this mean that keeping an eagle eye on your opponents' every move isn't as necessary as I've been suspecting it might be? Certainly, the more attention I pay, the better I seem to do - one time when I got a phone call while playing, I was startled to realise I was playing almost as if drunk, so slapdash were my decisions.

I'm especially intrigued by players / asshats that raise big pre-flop if they're taken to the flop, to see how they handle getting called. Also, I open up the BIG chat window, so I can scroll back & see how hands went down if I missed some action. This is especially handy when nature calls.

Anyone use the right-click player marking thing? I'm not sure what it's for, but I THINK it's for note-taking, which would probably come in handy during a tourney. Of course, I'd probably just mark every better as a "BLUFF SUCKER", & then get burned. (I always think everyone raising pre-flop is bluffing.)

Re: attention - I won the single-table tourney right before I went to sleep. I was dead tired, I hadn't eaten any dinner (aside from a few pretzels), and I just didn't give a shit. Somehow, it worked out. Of course, I go downstairs to tell my roomy I actually won, and I nearly slip and fall and pull a groin muscle. Zzzzzz.

I use the right click stuff, a bit, but really judging someone on one game is risky unless they're obviously hopeless, so notes aren't much use. I used it a bit playing play poker about people who were assholes, though.

Yancey, you sound hardcore. I am scared of you.

"Mr. Son Of A Bitch, let's play some cards"

In other news, if I have pocket Qs, it's a safe bet SOMEONE has Big Slick, and they will get a K or A on the flop.

Not that impressive to some of you advanced hustlers on here, I know, but that makes the credit card debts a little lighter to look at.

This puts me, for the first time, MORE THAN $100 UP on my inital deposit. Go me!

Tonight, I am teaching two friends, separately, how to play Texas hold'em. I am childishly excited.

Updates y'all?

(p.s. you owe me an email - I want to buy Rock Cats tix! GO ROCK CATS!)

(pps - I will e-mail you tonight or tomorrow! sorry! THESE CATS ROCK!)

Get dealt pocket 5s, & a 5 pops up on the flop (w/ a J & K). I'm slow playing, because what the hell? Then a K on the turn, & I figure, a full house of 5s over Ks beats all suckers. Still slow playing. J flops on the river. 3 guys are in at this point - I've just been calling their bets. One guy bets $200, & I reraise 3x (to $600). 3rd guy folds, & the $200 bettor reraises all-in. I'm thinking, "even if he has KJ, I'm paying to see his shit," so I call.

HE HAD POCKET KINGS. I LOST TO FOUR OF A KIND W/ A FULL HOUSE. WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?!?

AT suited. Two As flop. Woo hoo, 3 As, not much that can beat me. Other cards showing are a 4, 5, and J. Dude bets big after the river. I go all in (w/ more chips, so I'm not out if he beats me). Dude has Big Slick. I become perturbed, & am left with $295 in chips.

Next hand, I'm big blind, & about all in before betting, but, hey, pocket Ks lookin' good. Dude before me (table chip leader, 3rd or 4th in the tourney) calls, I raise all in, he calls, shows a 9T off suit, AND GETS A QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT ON THE FLOP. I misspell WHATEVER & F*CK as I leave the table.

I once again played 10 mins of a ring game and, once again, came out up ($19 this time). Which has left me wondering - does playing tourneys give you soem kind of discipline, or help you spot good hands, that playing in ring games doesn't? Or have I just got lucky? Cos at the current rate, I could use $0.25 ring games to pay my mortgage ($32 earned in less than half an hour's play in total).

I guess two samples isn't really enough to use for statistical purposes. But it's looking good.

I feel my technique is improving, despite my constant run of bad luck. This improvement is most evident in my post-bad-beat demeanor - after only a few mintues of ranting and raving, I'm ready to re-enter the fray.

I do have to watch my in-game chatting, tho - when I'm astrugglin', my tendency is to get really flustered when some asshat raises big pre-flop more than a couple of times during one go-around, & I get all "yeah yeah keep on trying it, big boy. One guy did this pre-flop AND post-flop (after an AK flopped - I had 2 Ks), & I folded incredulously after the flop raise. & then he flashed his pocket AK before the next hand. Yep.

FWIW - I did use the Note operability to mark someone as a "bluff sucker" last night.

QJ offsuit. Flop & turn reveal an open ended straight draw for yrs truly - need a 9 or an A on the river. (The other 2 cards, BTW = 2 6s.) Turn = A. I am good. Other guy betting goes all in. I call. Eat my fuc? NO! Dude has A6, & wins w/ a full house!

According to Dom, I got what I deserved. :(

(I was teaching a mate how to play - he mnaged to hold his own for a while, play sensibly, win a few hand,s then threw away $20 in one go with one of the most foolish hands I've ever seen! Made me feel better in a way. My bad?)

I think I am becoming genuinely resentful (TILT TILT TILT) at my bad luck. I keep thinking over and over the mistakes I made, what I should have done to rectify them, and it all makes sense - until I sit down at a virtual table. My opponents seem to have vast reservoirs of luck - in the entire time I've been playing, I have had 2 lucky breaks, including my first four of a kind, and that's it. Pocket rockets, I bet aggressively against a guy with a FUCKING 2 AND 7 SUITED. Of course, he makes a flush on the river.

So anyway, I'm now folding anything that doesn't look fantastic, and I think I've lost it.

Help?