So last night I was sitting in an underground room playing the usual 1-2. It was a decent game but with a few new to the table regulars that just sat down I knew things where going to get more to the gambling side of things than a serious game. Sure they bring lots of money to the game but with my now limited bankroll I cant afford the swings that these people can. And trust me they are not playing on any kind of bankroll management scheme they are just gambling.
Anyway I got up a few hundred and decided that I needed to get out of there. I had only been there for a short while and felt that leaving would look weird. Why is is that I feel this way? I shouldn’t its my money. I should be able to leave when I want to. The only thing bad i can think of about leaving after a quick score is that maybe you get a reputation in people’s minds as a quick hit artist, and then on future visits they will play you accordingly. So to avoid it looking like I was leaving on my own accord I texted a friend and asked him to “call me”. He did within minutes and I had my excuse to leave with my quick score.
It seems like there ought to be a service that you text and they call you and you can have a fake conversation with them, and about how you need to leave right then and there. I can see this being useful on many occasions, family events that you really don’t care to be a part of … ring ring… “oh its work I need to go into the office”…. or while on a first date where it just inst going well….ring ring…. “oh my mom was just in a car accident I need to go to the hospital now!”…. or how about at work while in a meeting that you just don’t care about and someone is droning on and on about something….ring ring…”I got to take this call its an important client of ours.” The possibilities are endless.
The other thought that crossed my mind last night was that with my now limited bankroll , I shouldn’t be risking more than $200 on any single hand. Thus when I do win a certain amount I ought to be leaving and going to the next table or place and starting over at $200. Just a thought…
So many have asked what is going on? … what is this 10k thing you are talking about?
Well Back in July I made a promise to myself and more or less to a select group of guys that I would pretty much solely play 1-2nl holdem until I could grow a new bankroll from $1,000 to $10,000. I have automatic payments($400 a month) setup to go into a separate poker bank acct as a means of subsidizing. But most of the money should come from poker profits. Or well that is the goal.
This mission officially started on July 15th, and pretty much i have had some swings up and down but am pretty much just playing break even poker. On Some level this isnt a surprise, As i have not played super serious in a while. I am hoping that I start to trend upwards. One of the fellow pokerplayers mentioned that I am still in the minority with my miniscule profit. And another reiterated that it was once publicized that only 7% of players(online but i would assume it carries over to live) are profitable….. 7%…. that is a nasty truth. that means that when you are sitting at the table maybe one of those players is a winner…. Yet wait everyone talks about how they make money and are a profitable player. I play alot and thus hear it alot. “Oh i make money, I make thousands and blah blah blah….” they drone on about it. But if you ever ask them for proof of this they cant provide any. My favorite is when they say “I know I am a winner long term, I keep track in my head” but If you ask them if they keep detailed records they always say they dont. Why is this ? cause Nobody wants to be a loser. I think alot of it is that they enjoy the game and like to think that they are winners at a game. No one wants to say hey I am a loser at a game of “skill”… it makes them feel bad. And dont get me wrong I am not claiming to be some bigtime winner in this little challenge of mine. its calculated out that I make like less than $1 an hour or something… and that aint going to pay the bills anytime soon. I am not calling these people outright liars etc I just think that people have revisionist history memories… its common and its ok… Poker for alot of people is something they can afford to play with the money they make from their regular jobs, its fun for them and cause they can afford it they dont keep track of the losses.
So next time you see someone bragging about how they are a poker pro ask them what their hourly rate is and if they keep detailed records. I bet they dont or that they come up with a story on the fly. 7%… less than one person sitting at your table is a profitable and this includes you. Are you a profitable player?
Well I went up to Winstar and played in the 1-2nl cash game this Sunday. Ended up losing $200 after being up to $500+ two times… basically two bad beats the last of which was a 1k pot where i flopped a set got it all in and the guy rivered a higher set. Sucks but hey that is poker.
After the cash game i got up and left as it was obviously not going to be my night. And went to check on where my name was on the list. huh I am 60th… so i go over and try and sneak into a sng. They had a $110 starting pretty much as I walked over there. I acted like I was one of the names called and the guy asked which name was mine. I hadnt heard any of the names so I said Tom. He said it wasnt called. I said oh i must have misheard. Anyway that table took another 30 minutes to even get started. Why cause these morons cant get things together. Its a combination of the floor walking away and leaving the dealer stranded and asking for more players cause the 20 that have been called are not showing up. All the while i was saying hey i will play. The players at the table where like let him play etc. but nope they had to stick to their list … and stuck to it they did .. .waiting several minutes before calling out a new group of players that would never show up. Eventually that table started.
And so I waited. I mitnessed the same bs happen at the $55 dollar SNG’s taking for ever to get them started as well. The young and hot blonde dealer was helpless as she kept yelling out “I need 4 more players!” it all fell on deaf ears. Also I ran into several people from the local dallas scene while waiting around, Lee happen to be at the final table of the $440. I think he ended up in 6th or 7th so congrats to that. Terrance apparently has a new favorite nickname for a hand…. “Car Keys”, cause that is what you are reaching for after losing to it(3-4).
Eventually another $110 was starting. I was still far back on the list like 32nd. But i just grabbed a card turned it over for my seat selection and sat down. It was about 30 minutes later that we were still alcking one player and My name actually gets called… LOL… I tell the guy call the next player Tom F. is me. He says why am I already sitting down if my name wasnt called till just now. I said cause i knew it would get there and was trying to save everyone time. He scowls at me and they call the next person. It took another 10 mintes before we got things underway. The SNG didnt go well and the blinds where up to 200-400 before i could blink an eye. The number of hands was really low cause There where 3 newbies trying to act like pros discussing every hand they had and talking about how big of a lay down they were making etc… only to after the hand say they had A-6 (which was nothing)… all the while the blinds where going up.
I am not saying that the Winstar crew should not use the list. The list is good. But I think that They should use the list for the first 10-15 people. Then once that is done seat the people that are waiting around(there were several of us) and then continue calling people until filled. It will make things alot faster and have alot less frustrated players.
On the Way home I needed to stop and take a piss at the rest stop , I should have stopped and peed at the casino or at the casino truck stop but i just wasnt thinking about it. Anyway I get there and apparently they have free wi-fi(good to know) So i logged on and made a few posts. I also noticed they had a WWII memorial. It was a interesting site to see this statue and 5 granite plaques with the back ground being interstate 35. I took a few pics and will post them up here in the morning.
I started out telling myself “I am playing for keeps”,”I am playing for pride”, “I am no ones friend at the MSPC at the poker table”. I told myself this cause all to often i fold when I should make a marginal call or check when i should bet. I told myself that this was a one time chance to get some respect back as I know most think that my tournament game sucks. Sadly I feel that coming in second gains no respect from the peanut gallery.
Things started out well. I did what i told myself to do play aggressive and play pound your opponents into the ground tournament poker. I grew my stack early and made moves. I bluffed at the right times and had huge hands at the right times. I was playing the game so well that people where getting frustrated that I was in alot of hand and winning alot of pots and this made them want to call me down more and more when i actually had the hands. going into two tables i was the chip leader with 2 tables. And soon i was moved to the other table I think this cost me dearly,and my stack didnt grow. At the new table the players where alot more willing to get it all in with sub par hands and willing to call raises with utter crap.this lead to some suck outs that while didnt hurt me badly it didnt help and i was unable to chip up which you have to do at a tournament.
The final table was no better than at two tables. I would constantly get pairs and raise a significant amount only to get called by ace rag. I lost significant amounts due to this. The chip leader in the last half of the final table was getting hit over the head with cards to make things worse he was to my right and the SB when I was the BB. He loved to bluff and or just take stabs. I knew he would do this and it was maddening that I call him down only for him to hit on the river I must have given him 75k on his river hits. when the cards are with you they are with you. I dont fault him for his play it was just frustrating. Combine this with the other player so willing to call 1/4 of his stack preflop with nothing and then him catching half the time. I had to go into push or fold mode as I became the short stack. ALL-IN every time I had a pocket pair or any ace. ALL-IN , ALL-IN, ALL-IN… over and over … I could tell that they were getting frustrated, but hey I dont have much choice, I cant continue to bet 20k+ at pots preflop just have them call and catch. Finally one of them calls my ALL-IN. I have 44, and he has A-10. It held up and the guy went out a few hands later.
It was heads up and I have like 120k ..maybe… and Mangabang has everything else. He got KK several times at the final table and other huge hands. Flopped a boat when another flopped 3 of a kind, caught a set when the other player got it in good preflop with an over pair. I dont fault him for his plays or his luck you got to play what comes to ya.But anyway I was still desperate to try and get this back into a poker match and every hand i am playing for everything pretty much. The hand that ended it was : Me in the BB with J-7 and him with KK. the flop was J-9-2. i check he bets and i go all in with top pair he instantly called and yep he had KK. game over.
Over all it was a good time. But I dont really care for playing competitively against friends in these types of torunaments, to many times people get pissed and or feel they were wronged by hands that were played etc, I too feel this way and it doesnt make me feel good. I did what i said i was going to do but short of winning it. I dont feel that anyone outplayed me. Maybe next time.
Well over the last few weeks I have been pleasantly surprised at the still strong Dallas Poker Scene. Sure Its not the booming industry that it once was. And sure the games are 1-2 tables instead of 6. But They are still out there. I am also surprised at some of the rooms that I once thought shut down are still going strong in their old locations or just down the block from their old locations.
You maybe asking yourself hey Tommy why the F#*k didnt you already know this? well the truth i that I have been out of the scene for sometime, and am forced back into it by rising gas prices and my goal of making 10k playing 1-2nl. Gas Prices make it unfeasible for me to drive to Winstar several times a week, not to mention the 2 hours of drive time round trip.
I cant give you more details surrounding the rooms that are still open but I can say they are still out there.
Its a great strategy, why else would i constantly put it into play?
I went and played in another room tonight.1-2nl in a very loose aggressive room. not much to say besides it was another night where a suckout cost me having a big win.
Not that you want to hear the bad beat story but I will tell it anyway in a short version. I get KK on the button. someone straddled. 5 limpers. I make it 20. the straddler called and so did the 5 limpers… great seeing the damn flop 7 way. Flop was 2s-6h-4h. everyone checks to me … I bet 50. straddler check raises all in.everyone folds. I think for a while … it was another $141 for me to call. so 140 in preflop +50(my bet) plus + $50 call +141 more.. .grand total of around $380 pot + my 141….$500+ pot. I decide the idiot and well he was an idiot. I mean really in a game as loose and fast as this game and you are straddling? yep to me its the definition of idiot. and well alot of times I can just look at a fool and tell he is stupid and a gambler. So I made the executive decision to call, and yep he has a flush draw and bottom pair … called that $20 bet preflop and check raised all in with 2-9 of hearts. what a genius. and you guessed it the turn was a K which is exciting except it was the K of hearts. Good job dumbass you out played me. while on the flop its roughly 50-50 …why the fuck are you in the hand to begin with 2-9? I mean really. and why doesnt my full house complete on the river ? Oh cause I dont have luck.
Anyway I ended up winning some chips back and cashed out up $165. which is a win. but its a small win compared to my $400 losses.in my little trek to 10k playing 1-2 I have yet to cash out for more than my big losses. and it eats at me.
I think that tommorrow I will take the day off from playing. The MSPC is happening this weekend, it will be a long grueling tournament. I will likely lose early on to a suckout or just two big hands clashing and will get up got eat a hot dog and chill out for a while, then chopz will forever talk about how i threw a tantrum at the MSPC, when all i did was leave the table after getting knocked out. good times.
So I had a late session last night. Most of this was brought on by a player that was relatively new to the game that had acquired alot of chips early on…. who did he acquire them from ? me of course, and I just had to get them back.
I was playing 1-2nl at a local underground room, things were going well I started with 180 and had worked it ups to over $600, I had gotten lucky and played a few draws and caught a few cards. In general the players at the table liked to over play their top pair on the flop. So if you had two overs and a open ended straight draw or flush draw you had to consider your overs very much live.
The first hand that I would like to discuss came when i was back down around 470-500 in chips. I get q-6 diamonds in the cut off. It is limped around to me so I limp, the BB raises to 7, he is a very loose aggressive player that likes to build pots. He has the money to waste as he is a lawyer and in general has a disregard for putting his money in way behind. so everyone that limped calls, I call also. One of the players tells the dealer to “please pick me”, I reply with “no you should pick me instead”. And boy did he pick me. Flop Q-Q-6 two hearts. SAWEEEEET! I can just see a huge pot coming my way. it checks around to me I check also hoping that someone catches a flush on the turn. the turn is a J of clubs. it checks around to an older gentleman on my right, he bets $10. I pretty much didn’t know what to put him on except maybe the Jack. I just call not wanting to scare anyone off, well 2 other guys call as well, the SB and a guy in mid/early position, (actually davidn on the forums). The river gets peeled off and everyone checks to me …. I think and bet 40,the player that was new to the game makes a speech and asks me if i got lucky with ace king etc. I immediately put him on having a hand and likely having k-10 for the straight. He raises me 100, davidn immediately pushes all in for 400… I am excited and baffled by all of this. I am thinking man did someone else have the other Q and hit a higher full house and slow play it like I did? are both of these people playing straights? no one re-raised preflop or raised preflop that was currently in the hand. so I didn’t put david on a-q as he would have raised preflop and thus also didn’t put him on a big pocket pair. The only hand that he could have had was Q-J or K-Q. I think for a while and begrudgingly call cause I have that night seen him make some loose plays I am hoping that he has K-Q. After I call the new guy calls for less, I was expecting the guy to call cause he only had like 100 back but the quickness in which he called concerned me at this point. Davidn turns over K-10 for the nut straight. I turnover my full house and the new guy slow rolls Q-J … a higher full house. After the dust clears I end up with like 270 in chips. I am glad that I have something left but disappointed that I didn’t just fold. After replaying the hand in my head I couldn’t have possibly been ahead, someone else had to of had a boat on the river with all that action, and I just couldn’t let mine go. What I did take away from that hand was that our new bigstack at the table liked to give speeches when he had not just a strong hand but a very strong hand.
After an hour or so people start to get knocked out and or just leave as it got closer to midnight, I had seen the speech etc several times from the new player and had seen him bluff numerous times on the river with no pair. Not only no pair but he called down with no draw just things like Ace high and was waiting for the other player to just check to him so he could bluff at it. So I felt like I had a read on a guy that I could outplay.
i was close to 1am when another few players left and we were extremely short handed , 4 players, I was expecting he game to break but the dealers kept dealing and actually announced that the game would now change to a 2-5 game. I was a little surprised at this but I felt that I had enough of an advantage that I could capitalize. at this point I had around $400 the new player had $700 another player had $300 and the 4th player had $27. I also feel that my shorthanded game is vastly superior to those that are currently sitting at the table. So to give you the layout of the table. I have decent player fairly tight with $300 in the 1 seat. I am in the 2 seat, $27 gambler in the 3 seat and the new guy in the 4 seat. I pick up AA raise to 15, I look at the new guy and he was getting ready to reraise out of turn when the $27 gambler pushes all in. The new guy thinks then actually folds. I was disappointed and sort of blamed(though not his fault) the gambler for blowing my action. The gambler turns over QQ, I hit a Ace on the flop and turn a boat , and the gambler leaves the table. Hand after hand goes by and i keep flopping two pair only to have the new guy suckout straights on me on the river … each time he questions what i have then bets. Most of this time i checked it to him cause of all the draws that completed and he will bet something rather weak into a large pot where I am basically forced to call. And sure enough he usually hit his gut shot or flush. There are several times where he doesn’t give the speech and I call with enthusiasm, to see if my read is right and it is. One such hand is after a series of him sucking out on me. I had gotten up to $550 in chips and had lost about 300 of it back to this guy and his luck. I get K-10 in the SB folded to me and I raise to $15 the guy calls. The flop comes out K-10-Q. I know I am good hear and know that the guy will call me down. I bet 30 on the flop and he calls. the turn is a 6 I bet 30 again and he calls, the river is an Ace. This is a very bad card to see cause if the guy has a J I can expect the speech and a bet. I check to him, there is no speech he just pushes a $100 stack out there. I think and decide to go with my read, thus I call. He turns over 8-7 off suit. I turn over two pair and take it down.
More hands and time go by and I start thinking man I should have gotten up and left when I got back to around $500 several hours ago. It is past 3 am and the gentleman in the 1 seat has announced for the tenth time that he is leaving soon. I am sitting on just below 400, the new guy has 300-400 and the 1 seat has close to 600. The new guy seeing that the 1 seat is actually getting serious about leaving declares “Lets play 5 more hands”. I know from experience that this usually means that the action is going to get fast and furious as people try to win big before they go home. So I decide to lay low and just take my winnings unless i get a good hand. the second hand in I get QQ. There is a raise in front of me and I reraise, the new guy folds and the 1 seat thinks then folds. I was more than ok with that as I don’t want to lose what I have left to an ace on the flop or river for that matter.
The last hand of the night. I pick up A-K off suit on the button. I raise to 20. The new guy thinks then folds, and the 1 seat calls me. The window card is a K , sweet i think to myself i actually have a chance of winning. The next card is a K, and the last card is a 7. This is awsome I think to myself, then I think well there is no way i am really going to get paid off here. The 1 seat then throws $25 bucks out there. I decide to just smooth call , and see if i cant get him to bet into me much larger on the turn. The Turn is yet another K. I now know that obviously he doesn’t have a K and that I don’t have to worry about a full house. He proceeds to bet out $50. I think well hopefully he bets out 100 on the river and I can raise him there. Its hard to get paid off on Quads and I don’t want to scare the deer by startling him with a raise. The river comes out a 5 and he checks to me. I was disappointed with the check, but now I had to figure out what the guy would call if he had either a 7 or a 5. I assumed that he had a 7 at this point, but was unsure as to why i was calling and he probably figured that we both had KKK-77 for a full house and that we were chopping. Like I said before the guy wasn’t exactly loose and he was a decent player. So what could I bet to ensure a call. The answer to me was another $50. So I bet it and he thought then called with a comment about chopping. He had A-7 and was shocked to see my quads. So it was a nice end to the evening, picking up an extra 140 or so on the final hand. Looking back he might have called more but I will never know.
So that was my late night in the Dallas underground. My second straight win at this particular location for over $300. I could have left hours earlier, and had a higher hourly rate, but felt that there was easy money left on the table and didn’t want to leave that situation. I needed this win as my trek to 10k playing only 1-2 has suffered my last few outings.
So without further waiting I am launching the blogs section of BigStack.com. Its been a long time in the making, but its finally here. I am still working some kinks out and trying to get things to where they are fully functional. At the moment I have two people that are blogging. I am hoping that these numbers increase in the coming months as we build a much larger poker community.
thejim, a professional poker player and sports handicapping hobbyist is running his new blog on the BigStack platform. http://thejimsheet.bigstack.com
This blog will serve as the system updates and informational blog. Along with anything else I desire to talk about.
