So immediately after my tilt-inducing fucked up hand last night, this curious exchange occurred with the guy on my immediate left.
I had just pulled another $500 buy-in from my pocket and put it on the table, and was dealt 22 in the SB. There was a Mississippi straddle to $10 on the button, so I was the first to act PF in the SB. I call the $10 straddle, and then guy on my right in the BB raises to $45. Its folded around to me and I call. Yeah, a bit tilty.
The flop is K-J-9. Another air ball, and I check. BB quickly checks. I just want him to bet so I can fold and regroup.
Turn is J, check-check. River is a small card, and we check-check again.
As I am turning over my deuces, I say, "I think I missed a bet." An honest statement, because his three checks would seem to indicate extreme weakness.
This guy turns over two queens, and says, "No, I wasn't going anywhere." Then, he launches into an odd speech.
"I wasn't going anywhere. I would have called if you bet. I'm a gambler. I don't want to take anyone's chips. You don't want me to take your chips, do you? Because I would have called. There's no way I would fold to a bet. That flop didn't scare me, and I would have called."
This goes on for a bit as he keeps pestering me with different variations of this question. "Do you want me to take your chips? Cause I'm a gambler, and I will if you want me to." He was yapping earlier, before this speech, so I don't think he's trying to encourage my tilt. He's not that clever. He's just one of these guys that boasts and yammers a lot. He's maybe 55, and sort of socially inept. However, I am in no mood for his bullshit.
Its like I am playing an odd logic game, and my options are:
A. Tell him to shut the fuck up (not really my character)
B. Ignore him (impossible, since he won't shut up on his own)
C. Reply with an honest response
D. Escalate the dispute, to induce his tilt
I selected "C. Honest response" and went this route: "Gee, and here I thought we were playing poker to take each others' chips."
Apparently, this is the wrong approach, and I have suddenly hit a nerve. The rant is just getting started
"I didn't want to take your chips," he continues. "I'm really a nice guy, but I'm a gambler. I just like friendly poker. If I don't like someone, I will go after them and take all their chips. You don't want to get on my bad side, cause I will take all your chips. I can't stand assholes at the table. That's what gets me going. And I can gamble. I've placed five-figure bets on the craps table. I gamble big, so you don't want to mess with me."
What the hell did I do to deserve this? This goes on as the hands continue. I have shifted into 'ignore mode' and now I am silent, to no avail. He continues. "Do you know how to play craps?" Yes, but I remain silent.
"See those craps tables over there?" He's now kneeling on his seat, twisting around and pointing. "I placed a ten thousand dollar odds bet when I was rolling for a six. Ten thousand dollars! I'm not afraid to gamble. I can gamble big, if that's what you want to do."
As a general rule, I stay quiet at the tables. I don't talk during hands. I will engage in friendly conversation between hands, mostly to gather information. But I am not at the poker table to make friends or for the social interaction. I am there to win and take everyone's chips, plain and simple.
So, I have absolutely no idea why The Gambler launched into me. As he is rambling, I replay the last few orbits to see if there is something I did to set him off. The only thing I can think about, however, is the horrible hand where I just donked off my $750 stack to Mega-Rock who flopped a set of kings.
I remain silent, and while The Gambler is still babbling I run QQ into AA and proceed to donate another buy-in to the Mega-Rock. I think I was on tilt, but I'm not really sure. My poker judgment was far too cloudy at that point to properly assess what was happening. I guess clouded judgment is my form of tilt.
I finally got to escape The Gambler. What a sad poker night.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Distractions
We are closing on our new house on Tuesday. At that point, for the first time in my life, I will own two houses. Odd thought. We move in one week, and close on the sale of our current house at the end of August.
Things have been crazy busy in my non-poker life. House showings, offers, negotiations, packing, loan arrangements, moving companies, new house insurance, new carpet in the new house, basement improvements. And then there is work, which has been extremely busy. The economy and the legal work is in a slump -- except for me. Every project for nearly every client that I have is active. Meetings, contract negotiations, speeches, e-mail, phone conference calls, court documents, conferences.
Its a wonder that I manage to keep on top of everything. At least I think I am.
So I went to play some poker tonight. Poker remains my get-away from my non-poker life. Unfortunately, life distractions cause lack of focus at the table.
Early on, at the $2-5 NL feeder table, I ran my starting $500 stack up to about $1200. Good start, things going smoothly. By the time I got moved to the main game, I was around $800. Then I play this train-wreck of a hand:
I have about $750 at the start of this hand. I raise UTG with A8-hearts. Mega-rock re-raises to $60. Everyone else folds but me, and I just call.
Flop is Kh-Qs-8d. I check, and Mega-Rock checks. I think he missed.
Turn is (Kh-Qs-8d)-4h. Now I have a pair and a flush draw. I lead for $80. Mega-Rock raises to $300. He has about $300 more behind, very close to the rest of my stack. He just has me covered. I go into the tank and then emerge with this conclusion:
He has AK and is overplaying a one-pair hand, and he will lay down to pressure for the remainder of his stack. He re-raises PF, checked the flop because he had only one pair, and is scared I might have a set. At the feeder table, he gave the appearance of an extremely scared player in several occasions, and I pegged him as someone that could be bet off a hand.
So I push. He quickly calls, and I have that "Oh shit moment." I immediately know I made a bad read. I know what he has even before he shows -- a set of KKK or QQQ. I need a heart to win.
The river bricks out, no heart, and he shows a set of Kings. I have managed to cough up my entire stack on a third -pair, flush draw hand with one card to go when he was already pot-committed and had top set.
What the fuck was I doing? I should have lost only $60 in that hand, and not $750. Clearly I was unfocused and upon reflection I can't imagine ever playing this hand this poorly under normal circumstances.
Yuck.
Strangely, I think the aggravation of not being able to make it to Vegas this year is also causing me some sort of odd poker frustration that I have not experienced before. I am ready to take the next step in poker, but continue to dink around in the local $2-5 NL game, which is the best my little slice of the poker world has to offer. I see some of the players still in the WSOP Main Event, and I so want to take my shot.
Some day.
Things have been crazy busy in my non-poker life. House showings, offers, negotiations, packing, loan arrangements, moving companies, new house insurance, new carpet in the new house, basement improvements. And then there is work, which has been extremely busy. The economy and the legal work is in a slump -- except for me. Every project for nearly every client that I have is active. Meetings, contract negotiations, speeches, e-mail, phone conference calls, court documents, conferences.
Its a wonder that I manage to keep on top of everything. At least I think I am.
So I went to play some poker tonight. Poker remains my get-away from my non-poker life. Unfortunately, life distractions cause lack of focus at the table.
Early on, at the $2-5 NL feeder table, I ran my starting $500 stack up to about $1200. Good start, things going smoothly. By the time I got moved to the main game, I was around $800. Then I play this train-wreck of a hand:
I have about $750 at the start of this hand. I raise UTG with A8-hearts. Mega-rock re-raises to $60. Everyone else folds but me, and I just call.
Flop is Kh-Qs-8d. I check, and Mega-Rock checks. I think he missed.
Turn is (Kh-Qs-8d)-4h. Now I have a pair and a flush draw. I lead for $80. Mega-Rock raises to $300. He has about $300 more behind, very close to the rest of my stack. He just has me covered. I go into the tank and then emerge with this conclusion:
He has AK and is overplaying a one-pair hand, and he will lay down to pressure for the remainder of his stack. He re-raises PF, checked the flop because he had only one pair, and is scared I might have a set. At the feeder table, he gave the appearance of an extremely scared player in several occasions, and I pegged him as someone that could be bet off a hand.
So I push. He quickly calls, and I have that "Oh shit moment." I immediately know I made a bad read. I know what he has even before he shows -- a set of KKK or QQQ. I need a heart to win.
The river bricks out, no heart, and he shows a set of Kings. I have managed to cough up my entire stack on a third -pair, flush draw hand with one card to go when he was already pot-committed and had top set.
What the fuck was I doing? I should have lost only $60 in that hand, and not $750. Clearly I was unfocused and upon reflection I can't imagine ever playing this hand this poorly under normal circumstances.
Yuck.
Strangely, I think the aggravation of not being able to make it to Vegas this year is also causing me some sort of odd poker frustration that I have not experienced before. I am ready to take the next step in poker, but continue to dink around in the local $2-5 NL game, which is the best my little slice of the poker world has to offer. I see some of the players still in the WSOP Main Event, and I so want to take my shot.
Some day.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Missing Vegas
I really don't understand how some of the pros can keep buying into so many WSOP events and not cashing. At all. I saw that Gavin Smith busted from Day 1-A of the Main Event. He said on the most recent episode of PokerRoad Radio that he has not cashed in a single event, and he's played in many of the 51 events. Financially and psychologically, how does someone accomplish this?
*******
I got away to Harrahs last night. I called in and got on the $2-5 NLHE list at 8:15pm, and I was #8. By 10:30pm I had moved up to #2 on the list, so I said "fuck it" and went home.
I was prepared to declare that poker was in a serious decline in the KC area, but the game lists were close to 20-deep last night.
*******
I've been sticking to a very strict on-line bankroll management plan. No more than than 5% of my total account for any single site on any table. I'm playing a very steady pace and things are starting to build back up. I'm keeping the bluffs and loose calls to a minimum, and it helps ease the variance. ABC poker can be somewhat boring, but its more profitable for me. Usually, I'm just happy to be playing, consideraing how busy life and work have been for me.
*******
I am currently reading Every Hand Revealed by Gus Hansen and Bigger Deal by Anthony Holden. I like Gus's post-flop thinking process. I like Holden's writing style, and I think this book is better than Big Deal. The problem that I had with Big Deal is that it was seriously dated by the modern poker boom. Reading about the world travels of a tournament player in the late 80's was just not exciting compared to the cash in play during the modern tournament era.
*******
I am seriously disappointed about not being able to take a Vegas trip during the WSOP this year. I have been following the WSOP news on a daily basis, and it makes me miss live play that much more. Even if I could not play in a tournament, I would love to teleport to the Rio and play in the cash games for two days. My goal is to make it to Vegas in June/July 2009, and possibly a trip early Winter this year if life will allow.
*******
I got away to Harrahs last night. I called in and got on the $2-5 NLHE list at 8:15pm, and I was #8. By 10:30pm I had moved up to #2 on the list, so I said "fuck it" and went home.
I was prepared to declare that poker was in a serious decline in the KC area, but the game lists were close to 20-deep last night.
*******
I've been sticking to a very strict on-line bankroll management plan. No more than than 5% of my total account for any single site on any table. I'm playing a very steady pace and things are starting to build back up. I'm keeping the bluffs and loose calls to a minimum, and it helps ease the variance. ABC poker can be somewhat boring, but its more profitable for me. Usually, I'm just happy to be playing, consideraing how busy life and work have been for me.
*******
I am currently reading Every Hand Revealed by Gus Hansen and Bigger Deal by Anthony Holden. I like Gus's post-flop thinking process. I like Holden's writing style, and I think this book is better than Big Deal. The problem that I had with Big Deal is that it was seriously dated by the modern poker boom. Reading about the world travels of a tournament player in the late 80's was just not exciting compared to the cash in play during the modern tournament era.
*******
I am seriously disappointed about not being able to take a Vegas trip during the WSOP this year. I have been following the WSOP news on a daily basis, and it makes me miss live play that much more. Even if I could not play in a tournament, I would love to teleport to the Rio and play in the cash games for two days. My goal is to make it to Vegas in June/July 2009, and possibly a trip early Winter this year if life will allow.
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