Look who's back....



What has been going on with my game? Ever since the whole illegal to transfer money online debacle, I took a break of sorts, and have been playing pretty much for scraps here and there, but I have been studying diligently as much as possible.

I have been playing some low limit cash games and have since ventured into Pot Limit Omaha eight or better. That is a great game. I have done pretty well leaving the table up about two to three buy-ins. This game will probably be the "It Game," taking the place of No Limit Texas Holdem in a few years, but not anytime soon. That's just my opinion. There's so much action in this game its hard to imagine it not being the top game to play in the future.

My stud game has suffered tremendously and I'm not too thrilled about that, but there isn't much money in stud, so its just a light blow to the heart, but it has long since been my favorite game, which has now changed to PL Omaha 8/b. But I am still quite fond of Razz, I have so much fun playing that game. Not a lot of people online understand lo hands.

On to the cash cow that is still NL Texas Holdem. It's amazing how people don't even make an effort to get better at this game, but I don't want to be preachy. I'm about to move up a level finally, it took a while. I find myself regularly losing a buy-in only to make about two or three and sometimes four buy-ins before I end a session. I noticed that Ultimate Bet doesn't do a bad beat jackpot too. That sucks being as I would have had two of them in the last two months.

I find bad beats quite funny these days. If it is an honest bad beat where the money was in and your opponent catches a whiff of a miracle, why be mad? Really? I like to label these players and put them on a buddy list that Ultimate Bet provides. I really like this feature. It makes it easier to find players you like to play with.

As far as live play goes... It has been pretty much not happening I had to live off my bankroll for a while and it got pretty low. I went on a tear at the low limit tables. Basically I just hovered around the tables I wanted to play at until a seat opened up and made sure to occupy it before they could go to the boards. I made quite a bit surprisingly. You have to love a weak table. I am fixing to start hitting the casinos up again here really soon. They started spreading $1/2 finally. It is less volatile to my bank roll than the $5/5 or $5/10. Those Houston players are pretty crazy and have deep pockets. And the $1/2 is extremely soft from what I've seen, so I'm going to give it a try, if it doesn't go too well, I'll just have to play $5/5 again.

HUMBLE PIE, please.

Alright, I haven't posted in a while, I have went through a bratty phase and not handling bad beats too well, so I haven' t blogged in a while...

I'm going to talk a bit about one bad beat in particular and a few hands that have kind of redeemed my Karma.

To the bad stuff. Recently I have had a few bad beats and they kind of gave me a bad attitude towards those player types who wear there sunglasses, Ipods, and WSOP/WPT gear. I still think these players watch too much TV Poker and think they're ideas are horrible. But I really shouldn't redicule them for it. That's what they believe and so be it. I'm usually not much of hater until lately. I got stomped bad by a guy who is an older man who wears a cowboy hat with an actual King of Diamonds card stuck in the front of it. It's bad enough he goes out in public like this but to top it off his name is Barney. Some people find names like this funny, I don't necessarily, but others do. This series of unfortunate events happened about two months ago and I couldn't let it go and ridiculed a lot of players to their face and when they tried to stand up to my verbal attacks I would attack every thing about their play. Definitely not my style, but I lost my normal patience for the game and life in general. Thankfully I'm back to even keel. I have since apologized to the people that I have ridiculed and they accepted and said thanks for the money. Which ironically I find pretty funny.

Pretty Bad Beat served to me by Barney:

Blinds are 100/200.


Me: 6d, 7d

The hand is limped 4 ways including the small blind and I check, Pot is 800.

Flop: 6s, 9s, 6h

After the small blind checks I lead out 600 to make it look like a steal to end the hand right there and get two callers Barney and a 2nd player. Somebody has to have a flush draw, and the pot is now 2600.

Turn: 7s

This is my GIN card. I have a full house with a flush on the board. Atleast one of these players got there on their flush and the way I bet my hand not only built the pot up, but it kept my hand hidden a bit from a weaker player.

This is where the deception comes in sort of. I push from up front to make it look like I'm trying to represent a flush/bluffing. Barney instacalls me and the third player folds.

Showdown: Barney shows(qs, 5s) proudly and I show my full house.

River: 8s


No one sees the hand at first and I'm explaining to Barney his flush is no good. Then the dealer burns me deep and says Barney has a straight flush. I was livid, Barney didn't even know he had a straight flush and smiled big and made a wry comment. I am pretty upset and ridicule his play and "stupid" hat and sunglasses and most importantly his weak game. I am busted out and issued a ticket that I refuse to pay by the Karma Police. HE DID CATCH A TWO OUTER IN MY DEFENSE, and did do what I wanted him to do, which was call my all in. Oh well.


I can honestly say that I am back to my humble self again after a few rough beats such as this. Granted this was probably the roughest. Now on to some interesting hands. Here's one of the hands that got me even keel again because I realized I can only play to the best of my ability and sometimes you can be a victim of circumstance. Bad beats happen and that is apart fo this game, I had to have my character tested and I learned a life lesson moreoever than a poker lesson. I am grateful for this.

Hand 1

heads up in a pot limped to the small blind and I'm in the Big Blind, we both have around 8000.

Me: 7s 7c

Small blind min raises the 100/200 blinds to 400.

I think about raising but don't want to get stuck in a bad situation, and smooth call so I can get away from the hand in ok shape.

Flop: As, 5d, 7h small blind leads out for 400. I raise to 1200 raising 800 more to fake an Ace think the small blind had an Ace. They call pretty quick. Pot is 3600.

Turn: Ad

Small blind checks, and I bet 1200 again and get called. I'm still liking my hand and the pot is 6000.

River: 5h

Ok look at the board (As, 5d, 7h, Ad, 5h) that was one of two trouble cards the Ace or the five counterfeit my hand and small blind checks to me... I'm forced to check my hardest check because I felt like I played this hand really well. So I check and the showdown is?

Showdown: SB shows (Kd, Ks) and my full house is good.

IF the small blind bet that river good enough I mostlikely throw this hand away. I got lucky they didn't have an ace. My read was a little off too.



This was an interesting hand.

BOOKS, THE MISINTERPRETATION OF POKER and KNOW IT ALLS


I've been in a few conversations about a few "ABC" situations, where some people misplay a pocket pair or two pair and someone chimes in with the old, "I would have just moooved all-in and won it there."

I no longer offer these people advice for two reasons:

1) They are from Texas and know they are right based on where they live.

2) They don't comprehend what they read and don't learn from experience.

THESE ARE BAD PLAYERS.


I tried to break down why I play "Poker" with some of these players instead of cards in their tournaments they like to run. I'm not even going to mention my distaste for their not wanting to ever play a ring game. They are strong advocates of playing "Good Cards," and have a big distaste for an ATC player(Any Two Cards).

I try and tell them that "Good cards are a good idea, but if you let someone outplay you, what's the point?" And you get the nose to the sky act and asked "So you just do the opposite of what all the books tell you to do?"

First, books don't tell you how to play poker, experience does that. Books are just study guides for a test.

In regards to the "opposite of books statement, and their tournament play," I tell them this.



"The shortest distance between two points on the earth is a straight line and if everyone gets in line and plays the way YOU think a book tells you to play, I'm just going to turn around and go the other way and you can sit in traffic waiting on a hand. I'll have a better chance of making the final table hope to see you there." -Trae


I'm glad these people have their heads in their asses. A bunch of ostriches I swear, and I get a rep as a LAMF.


Shake'n haters,
Trae

Your Story Doesn't Add Up


I know you've heard it before, but I'll retell what a lot of professional players have said before. A hand of poker is like a story. A preflop that is the beginning, a flop and turn that act as the body, and the conclusion that is the river. I played a hand recently that I can say that the conclusion was up in the air and fell in my favor. I saw the story and for some reason on the turn it didn't add up. Take a look.

I am in mid position in a live eight player cash/ring game with a pocket pair (8,8) in the hole. There are two limpers, the first had won a few big hands recently in a row, so he was chipped up and good to go. The second was swaying back and forth literally from to much beer. Can you say "LUSH?"

Ok, so I bump it up just to double the blind, a straddle of sorts, because it is a low buy in table, but really call heavy. This is a pot builder bet, so if I hit my set I will have atleast one caller for all their chips later in the betting rounds if need be.

One caller, behind me, a gambler from what I could tell, also the big winner and the Lush call as well. So we go to the flop:

FLOP: Q, 10, 6

Not the best board for my hand, and the first two check, I check as well and so does the player behind me. Now this is by far not my usual style, but I figured I might be done with the hand. Normally I am going to make about a half pot size bet here to see where I'm at, but I took the check figuring I was beat, not to mention the information I needed would be suffice if everyone checks, not the trickiest bunch of people here. Here is the Turn:

TURN: Q

The BW and the Lush check, I put in a half size feeler bet that begs a call. The gambler behind me calls, BW folds, but the Lush after sitting for a few seconds sloppily grabs a stack of chips and raises a little more than the pot.

Porque!?

I am diliberating, about this, he had made big bets at pots and not shown down a hand in a few... Now I don't know about all drunks but I am thinking that this drunk would have made a huge bet at the Queen if he had it on the flop. That was his way and I can't believe that he is one to change his way in mid sway.

My real concern is the player behind me having a 10. I can't give her credit for a Queen because she would bet it. I know her as a player that bets her pairs because she hates to be outdrawn and counterfeited. Who doesn't?

I KNOW my hand is good against the Lush, no question. I am pretty sure my hand is good against the gambler, I'm worried about the 10 though, but I am playing the hand back in my head thinking that she would have most likely, bet the 10, she is quite aggressive for an older woman.

So I come to my conclusion certain my hand is good and Say "Abracadabra!" and push all in. The Gambler thinks way too long for her to have a Queen, at this point I know my hand is good, but she calls!? And the Lush calls after someone has to tell him its his turn to act, He said he had to call, there was too much money in the pot.

We all reveal our hands:

The Lush: 7,9 needing a 9 to win because of the gambler's hand.

Me: 88

The Gambler: J, 9 counterfeiting The Lush's Straight to an 8


So I have to dodge a J, 9, or 8 to win leaving them with a combined seven outs. Now, granted I came to the conclusion that my hand was best, I didn't know that I was in this good of shape considering that both their draws semi-counterfeited at least one of their hands. I knew I was getting in with the best, but that doesn't garauntee me the pot. I was trying to push them out of the pot. No matter the outcome I feel I played the hand well considering the fearless call heavy table I was at. Here's the river:

River: 6

I won and more than tripled up my stack with three pair Queens, eights, and sixes to their missed draws.





I love the fact that I am learning more and more how to read boards and players better everyday and come to a conclusion that helps me make the most appropriate decision for the given situation. This is the best non fiction reading I have ever done and I love it.


Finally, through the roof,
Trae

You Look Tired...

View Previous Next hand for this table.
Seat 1: Crazy_Serb ($1,430 in chips)
Seat 2: hywnpride ($1,410 in chips)
Seat 3: --master-- ($2,230 in chips)
Seat 4: Trae3ab [10D,7D] ($2,400 in chips)
Seat 5: morepoker99 ($1,615 in chips)
Seat 6: reljelcel ($1,015 in chips)
Seat 7: fishin99dja ($1,655 in chips)
Seat 8: DavidPar ($3,630 in chips)
Seat 9: x.ash.x ($955 in chips)
Seat 10: olym ($1,300 in chips)

ANTES/BLINDSCrazy_Serb posts blind ($15), hywnpride posts blind ($30).

PRE-FLOP
--master-- folds, Trae3ab calls $30, morepoker99 folds, reljelcel calls $30, fishin99dja calls $30, DavidPar folds, x.ash.x calls $30, olym folds, Crazy_Serb calls $15, hywnpride checks.

FLOP [board cards 10S,8H,10C ]

Crazy_Serb checks, hywnpride checks, Trae3ab bets $100, reljelcel folds, fishin99dja folds, x.ash.x folds, Crazy_Serb folds, hywnpride calls $100.

TURN [board cards 10S,8H,10C,JH ]
hywnpride checks, Trae3ab bets $200, hywnpride calls $200.


RIVER [board cards 10S,8H,10C,JH,9D ]hywnpride bets $680, Trae3ab folds.

SHOWDOWN
hywnpride shows [ 10H,8D ]hywnpride wins $1,460.


SUMMARY

Dealer: olym

Pot: $1,460
Crazy_Serb, loses $30
hywnpride, bets $1,010, collects $1,460, net $450
--master--, loses $0
Trae3ab, loses $330
morepoker99, loses $0
reljelcel, loses $30
fishin99dja, loses $30
DavidPar, loses $0
x.ash.x, loses $30
olym, loses $0

To be honest with all those calls and then him making that river bet I put him on a higher straight. The river definately let me off the hook.


Finally, through the roof,
Trae

The Start to actual "Rounding":

Joe, my partner in crime, and I have been playing the bars and casino, since we started playing seriously. The only problem is that we were having trouble getting into the games that we "needed" to get into to make some easy money outside of the boat. The people from the barroom games all play side games and are not very good. We always use these games to figure out what each other are doing wrong or right, tells and so forth. But we could never get into these games where the money is easy and big compared to the stake.

So I finally landed a number to one of these games this weekend and managed to get both myself and Joe invited. Now this game was probably the lightest of the games we were hearing about at the bar, but all we need is to get our foot in the door and we are in the money.

They know us as regular players, but they believe that their poker T-shirts, sunglasses, and van patton/norman chad lingo (I call it a speech impediment) gives them some sort of edge over us, and I am subject to believe that they felt they were hustling us by getting us in their game.

When we got there, we paid our stake, and drew for seats.... I get a horrible seat between two over aggressive players giving me no position over both of them at one time. It sucked. The one thing I had going for me and these people didn't have going for them is that this was a deep stack tournament instead of the regular marginal stack tourney they normally play us in. Now I would much rather prefer a cash game, but these yahoos want to be on ESPN so bad that they have never ventured out of tournament play, which makes no sense to me as Ring games were what I learned to play first. I don't understand the infatuation with tournaments, maybe its the Main Event pipe dreamers. I don't know.

Anyways I got us in this game and I found myself getting these people off of top pair with their weak kickers. Joe got a lady off of a set of 5s by representing a flush, and I got one off of top two pair with a busted flush draw, I don't know. It seems these people always assumed the worst possible situation that would knock them out of the tournament and fold, no matter how unlikely it was that their opposition had the only two cards that could beat them. We used this to our advantage to coast to the final table, picking up loose pots when we could, which was hard because and the last 6 of 9 players where knocked out by me making me chipleadesome of these people were over aggressive with Ace, rag.

Final Table: I went to the final table trailing big time... Yes I was in 3rd at the final table but the rest of the table wasn't that far behind me and the chipleader had about 3 times my stack. Luckily for me the final table was on autopilot for me and I shortly had over 140K. I got some sweet cards that played themselves and the table kind of shut down because they wanted to money so bad. I really got to take advantage of the bubble.

That was pretty awesome, needless to say we chopped the pot so I could get some scratch and get out of there before I was infected by their WPTness.


The thing that bothers me about playing these house games is that we really have to dumb down our play and keep ourselves in check and make sure that we do not outplay ourselves or give up our encognito demeanor and ability. Hopefully we can get into a few more of these games, and get a sweet side bankroll going.



Finally, through the roof,
Trae

Buddy System and Building a Bankroll:

Ok, so a buddy of mine and I have decided to try out a buddy system to help cushion a loss or to better allow us to play in bigger games without the risk of losing a full bankroll. Our goal is to better maintain a bankroll or travel to a bigger casino for bigger games or the occassional big buy in tournament.

As far as game of choice goes, my partner and I prefer a cash game setting. The way our buddy system works is to split winnings and minimize loss in both cash games and tournaments in regards to buy ins. If we are playing a cash game with a buy in of $300, and we are to minimize loss and split winnings we keep each other at 100%. What this means is, lets say that we both play the $300, $5-$5 game at the boat....I'm up $600 and my partner is down $150. Well, to maintain that and allow for the split to be fair or correct for a lack of a better word is this, the split of $600 is obviously $300, and my partner is down $150. So his remaining buy in to this game is completed back to $300 and his net would be $150, and mine would be $300.

Now I know what you are thinking. You are screwing yourself out of $300. I know it seems that way, but what if I have a bad night and only have $100 of my $300 buy in left....But my partner is up $2000. Well half is $1000, I have to complete $200 more to make my buy in back. So he gives me $800 of the $2000 and keeps $1200 for himself. Now in an ideal world of loser/winner situation this is only a trial period for this method. We will probably lean towards just completing the buy in of the loser and that is that.

Tournaments are a completely different situation. I will use this weekends win/loss as an example. Joe, my partner, and I found a house game this past weekend. Pretty sweet, $20 buy-in, about twenty people or so in the game, and top three get paid. I have to cover Joe's buy in because he changed banks and his new debit isn't activated, so I pay the $40 for the both of us. Note that this is house game with a bunch of WSOP/WPT watchers, so they are gay for tournaments. Also not that the tournament setup is Deep Stack poker with over aggressive fish. Sweet right, all you have to do is sit back and wait. Joe is straight cash game player, he doesn't have much patience for tournaments, so he gets knocked out just before the final table which I kind of expected but I figured I was doubling my money for a chance to win some money.

Here's the specifics to our deal:

*I staked us both for $40.

*Myself and the 3rd place guy chopped to maximize the coinflip situation that we got stuck with against the chipleader.

*The chop gives me $70.

*Joe owes me his buy in of $20, and I get to repay my buy in before our split.

*With my buy in back I get that we split $50 of the $70.

*So the split is $25 a piece, for the both of us.

*Joe owes me $20 for his buy in.

*He earns $5 for getting knocked out of a tournament and I earned $25 after my buy-in is paid back to me.




While this isn't the ideal situation for maximizing income, it does minimize loss. This will allow for us to better grow as players. I do believe we will lean towards just covering eachothers buy ins only, but we want to trial and error the splitting winnings thing. So hopefully we can figure out an ethical way to do this and make it work.


He bought me a soda,
Trae

Music Video for My Band La Snacks

I'll have an Ice Tea b/c This Guy is Steaming....

Sometimes before I go to bed at night, I'll sit down at a low limit No Limit ring game to wind down. Well today I was taking a break from studying so I figured I would do the same. Late these super low levels have been giving me some crazy payouts for their low limits. I have been picking my tables really well. It really is amazing how big some of these low limit pots have been getting. I've been picking some really good spots and and winning a few of them, its a shame all the money goes to bills and the cause that is La Snacks.

The funny thing about a lot of these low limits, is that people steam really easy for some reason. I mean you can only sit down with $25. I don't see the big deal. I really believe that in online low limit poker, the value of a dollar is a lot more than in the real world. I mean some people play like its their last, and it could very well be for some, but they can always play a freeroll or something. These are the people that lose badly and lose more than they should because they get upset about a loss.

I had a guy at my table today while I was on break from studying, he was directly to my right and had a won a few ok sized pots for the time that I was there and was up about $15 dollars. Then he lost a hand: His two pair vs a Gutshot flush draw, with only the river to come. Well the next hand he raised a $.25 blind to $1.75 and had 3 callers and he ended up folding to a big bet on the flop. Well the very next hand he did the same preflop bet after I had been priced in for $.25 with J, 10 offsuit. I figured I'd call and see what happens, so did two others. I hit top pair but it was still a bad flop and he bet $5, I knew he was steaming so I called, if one of the other two called I was done with the hand pretty much but they folded behind my call and he went all in after a possible flush card came which I called and all he had was A,K. I had really good odds and a decent read on the guy that he was steaming.

Here's the hand:


Texas Hold'em $0.25-$0.25 NL (real money), hand #391,628,984
Table Gibraltar, 21 Apr 2006 03:44 PM
View Previous Next hand for this table.
Seat 1: sokrboyz ($15.90 in chips)
Seat 2: Lindstedt24 ($13.10 in chips)
Seat 3: Jordan885 ($20.15 in chips)
Seat 4: Peppernut ($22.60 in chips)
Seat 5: xx eddie ($30.90 in chips)
Seat 6: LocShredder ($33.65 in chips)
Seat 7: Trae3ab [10S,JD] ($21.70 in chips)
Seat 8: MentalBadger ($21 in chips)
Seat 9: DRAIN000 ($34.75 in chips)
Seat 10: 7gmoney7 ($22.50 in chips)

ANTES/BLINDSxx eddie posts blind ($0.15), LocShredder posts blind ($0.25).PRE-FLOPTrae3ab calls $0.25, MentalBadger folds, DRAIN000 calls $0.25, 7gmoney7 calls $0.25, sokrboyz folds, Lindstedt24 folds, Jordan885 calls $0.25, Peppernut folds, xx eddie calls $0.10, LocShredder bets $1.50, Trae3ab calls $1.50, DRAIN000 calls $1.50, 7gmoney7 calls $1.50, Jordan885 calls $1.50, xx eddie folds.

FLOP [board cards 8S,3S,10C ]LocShredder bets $5, Trae3ab calls $5, DRAIN000 folds, 7gmoney7 folds, Jordan885 folds.

TURN [board cards 8S,3S,10C,6S ]

LocShredder bets $26.90 and is all-in, Trae3ab calls $14.95 and is all-in.RIVER [board cards 8S,3S,10C,6S,6D ]

SHOWDOWNLocShredder shows [ KS,AC ]Trae3ab shows [ 10S,JD ]LocShredder wins $11.95, Trae3ab wins $48.40.


SUMMARYDealer: PeppernutPot: $60.85, (including rake: $0.50)sokrboyz, loses $0Lindstedt24, loses $0Jordan885, loses $1.75Peppernut, loses $0xx eddie, loses $0.25LocShredder, bets $33.65, collects $11.95, net -$21.70Trae3ab, bets $21.70, collects $48.40, net $26.70MentalBadger, loses $0DRAIN000, loses $1.757gmoney7, loses $1.75


After the hand I tried to save the guy some overvalued dollars and told him "sorry, the only reason I called is b/c you were steaming. You should take a break and come back in a while."

He ignored me and lost the rest of his money. People love to give it all away when they are steaming. I tried to help him but it was futile. Funny I didn't feel like a donkey, but I know I looked like one.


Finally, through the roof,
Trae

The Itch is Back:

"Hold my hand, and trampoline..."

It has been almost a week since the last time I've had the chance to play some poker. I am really wanting to play, especially live. I haven't played live in three weeks now. So I am going to play a live tournament sometime this week. I have a 25K tourney I am wanting to play sometime in May, I am looking forward to that one and hope I can do well. We'll see how things go this week.

I am registered to play in the Online Poker Blogger Freeroll Win your share of $25,000 and a set of Nevada Jacks poker chips. Hosted By: Absolute Poker Sponsored By: Poker Source Online Registration Code: 67968813

My last few tournament finishes have been astounding, I have really stepped up my tournament game online. I have made the strides I needed to make in my live play but for the longest time my online tournament play has been bland and/or mediocre. I have been focusing a lot more and picked up on a few leaks and even found some new outs in my game. I am really pleased and will be posting about them soon.

Finally, through the roof,
Trae

Absolute Poker Tournament Win

Tournaments:

I won my first AbsolutePoker.comTournament last night. This is a pretty soft site, from my experience. One of the great things is that the players there don't realize it. They tell you that their site is tougher than any site you will name drop to them. Their tournaments run pretty smooth as well not to mention table size and play.

I have had a few final tables at this site, I've even left when I was well into the payout structure on one occassion, to go play in a live tournament(Final tabled). Needless to say I got my money back times about 9, in the online tourney, so I was ok with leaving even though that probably would have been my first win at Absolutepoker. I don't know, I would choose live play over online play, but that is a whole other topic I have sermoned in the past, and I don't want to open a can of worms.

As for this site being soft, it is. Everytime I play at AP I am amazed that some of these players dump their money and chips. Their ring player decisions are the same as the site name "ABSOLUTE." Their play is a yes/no strategy of fold or pretty much all in. The majority of the players at the lower ring limits($1 and under) are rediculously easy to read, if someone raises you 5 times your bet, they have the nuts, no bluff, semibluff, or deception, just Nuts... It took me a few bucks and a few tables to learn this. I don't understand it but it is a ripe for the pickings. As for the tournaments, this is where you will find the bluffs, weak, I might add. I don't know, I am perplexed by this bland play at this site, how I have not noticed it until recently I don't know. I just started playing at this site again, because I didn't see what was going on before. I am now taking advantage of it. It's funny, you would think that a player would search out the weak sites and own at said site, but, a few of their players were proud to say that Absolute was the toughest and any other site was "Newbville," which begs the question.

Why would you play at a site where the greatest players are at if you are trying to make money?

Come on, AbsolutePoker.com is a Feather Pillow.

As for Tournament play goes, they run their tournaments smoothly, not to many game freezes like Ultimate Bet. There are only 9 players to a table which I think loosens the players' game there for some reason. Not to mention their final tables tighten up big time when it goes short handed, kind of a reversal if you ask me. This is a soft site, go to it, make money. Take advantage of the 300% deposit bonus, that you will never be able to clear if you deposit a significant amount, Don't deposit more than you can clear, I did that and got myself into trouble.

NOBODY BEATS AIDS(Even at the Poker Table):

Its true. Sadly, not even at the poker table... So I headed out this week for a live tournament. I was feeling pretty good about cashing the prior week, and ready to do the same again. I received my chips, and recognized a few people at my table, so I was feeling pretty good considering I have been successful against a few of them before. And then it starts .....

I am in Seat 2.

The player in Seat 3, one seat to my left, is pushing people out of pots. Someone bets a feeler bet he bumps it up 2.5 times that bet, and takes the pot. It only took once for me to figure this out but Seat 4 was just stubborn and wanted to bump heads. Seat 4 took one decent sized pot and that made him the chipleader at our table. Then the All-in fest started....

The first one involved Seat 4 and Seat 3:

The hand was folded around to Seat 3 on the button, who called the BB. Seat 4, in the SB bumps it up 300 more on top of the 50/100 blinds and the BB folds.

Flop: 4d, 5d, Jx

Seat 4: bets 300

Seat 3: bets 800 more

Seat 4: calls

Turn: 9x

Seat 4: checks

Seat 3: bets 500

Seat 4: raises ALL-IN

Seat 3:Doesn't hesitate and Calls

Seat 4: Shows A, J o

Seat 3: Shows 2, 3 o

"WTF!" [I know]

River: A

The table reaction is Guffaws around Seat 4 is now smoldering, he is so red-assed right now, he is pretty much grunting like a babboon, it is unreal. The whole table in one way or another is onto Seat 3's game. The very next hand flops a flush draw with 3 spades on the board, including Ks. Seat 6 moves all after Seat 3 bumps seat 4s feeler bet 800 more and and seat 4 folds. Seat 3 calls and both show a pair of Kings with seat 3 having a 6 kicker and seat 6 having a 7 neither having a spade. Needless to say its now rediculous due to a split pot. Seat 3 just 2 hands later gets another all-in win, but not for much as the player only had about 400 left in chips. Seat 3 is now feeling pretty confident.

Confrontation 1
I'm in the BB with KK.

Seat 3 and 4 call.

Me: Raises 400 on top of the 50/100 blinds. I make a light comment "This one's for you buddy."

Seat 3: bumps it up 1000 more.

Seat 4: Is metaphorically throwing feces in his cage and calls.

Me: Call

Flop: 2c, 5c, qs

Me: Bet 400

Seat 3: Raises to 1000

Seat 4: Now beyond steaming and is now starting to melt, he folds.

Me: I raise ALL-IN.

Seat 3: Makes a quick call

Me: Show K,K and have him covered by 500

Seat 3: Show 10s, 5s

Turn: 6h

River: 5h


Seat 3 is now Dubbed "AIDS"


Next hand I move all in with A Q and AIDS decides to fold(!?!) with the rest of the table.


We are now one hand before the next blind level and the table folds around to me. Seat 4 is in the SB and AIDS is on the button. After my BB call was raised to 200 by the babboon in seat 4,and AIDS calling the BB along with me, I move all in with Qs, 10s.

AIDS calls

Seat 4 moves all in on top of that.

AIDS calls again and the show begins.

Me: shows Qs, 10s

AIDS: shows 6c, 8c (suited this time)

Seat 4: shows A, 4 o...He is now a puddle.

Flop: 6s, 8s( two spades...F You AIDS), 6h

Turn: call a preacher

River: Trae is dead


A buddy of mine that was seated at the table with me later said that AIDS busted the entire table including my buddy. Hopefully the AIDS epidemic was quarantined. If you run into AIDS at the poker table I would consider asking for blood transfusion from him/her. The moral of this outting is: Bad Beats happen, but F that, you can't win against luck in its purist form. AIDS sucks.




testing negative,
Trae

Halt! Who Goes There?

Ok, so, the last month has been a big ole' dry desert for me this month in online tournaments. I haven't been playing up to par for about 3 weeks now. I've been getting knocked out extremely early. I have been making bad calls throughout this month post flop. Basically, I haven't been fearing the limper, and literally as I type this right now, I've realized this. I've been pushing in "Doh dee Doh dee Doh," trying to steal pots, but in the wrong fashion. Just a little out of position and a little out of mind. I wouldn't even be upset if I got knocked out, I didn't know what my deal was. Bored with my poor online tournament play I guess. I needed to find an oasis and fast.

Well last night I took my song and dance out from in front of the computer...

"Salvation!" "I have seen the light!" "I have exorcised the demons!"

I headed out to catch a live tournament. I was discouraged about tournament poker in the confines of the apartment and in front of my computer. So with a little optimism, I made my way to a live tournament where I could attempt to play some solid poker. With about a month of discouragement, mind you, I took my seat and played. The first tournament I final tabled, but went out in eighth place. An ok placing by my standards (I have extremely high live play standards.).

Tournament Highlight:

Blinds are 400 & 800 with two tables left.

I am in the big blind with As,7s

Table folds around to small blind. Small blind calls.

I bet 800 more, trying to pick up her blind. Definitely not big enough a bet.

NOTE: This player has been taking down pots ever since I was moved to this table and she isn't showing her cards. The rest of the table is fully aware of this too.

The flop: 7c, Qh, 4s

She bets 800 and I reraise her 1200 more.

She calls after thinking about it for a few seconds.

I'm thinking she has over cards but missed the flop.

Meanwhile I'm chewing on some peanuts(protein: good for thinking), I snuck in from home, and sipping on my water.

The turn: 7c, Qh, 4s, Kh

She bets 800, I think about it, as I am humming along to some Elastica playing in my head.

NOTE: I don't use headphones.

I call suspiciously, but I am playing my seven and want an Ace on that river or I might be through with the hand.

The river: 7c, Qh, 4s, Kh, Kd

She moves ALL IN... Hard.

She counts out 3000. I have her covered by about 1500.

Everyone has me on a Queen for some reason(you can't see me rolling my eyes right now.).

Table talk picks up speculating what I have.

I am leaning towards folding because I still have about 4500 left in chips.

I noticed one guy, a very aggressive player, adjacent to me with a look of disgust on his face when that second king came out. I had a instant premonition, that disappeared as quickly as it came to me, that his mucked cards were K, rag.

I am counting out the 3000, like there is a larger possibility of me calling, but largely considering folding, doing the tell tale signs, holding up my cards and being heart broken, and beginning to imagine not being able to climb out of the hole I've dug for myself.

BUT then, she made this smirk when I did my, unintentional and honest heartbroken/woe is me, sing song dance in my chair.

I made up my mind and with less reluctance, I declare, "I'm either paying you off, or knocking you out. Call."

She sighs, in disgust, and shows Ac, 10c. [She had me on a Queen as well.]

I show As, 7s

The remaining players at the table and gallery of railbirds, as a choir, bellowed with a mix of disgust and appraisal.

I was just glad I won, and would be moving to the final table.

I didn't realize the reason I made that call until much later. It wasn't so much, the smirk, but the look of disgust from the adjacent player, revealing his mucked King. Not even while we were on break at the final table did I come to this as a solid conclusion, I had hinted at it to myself. It was while on the drive home I realized that this was the main deciding factor for making the call.

Aftermath: There was no more bluffing(by anyone), & no aggressive play towards me for the rest of the tournament because everyone left at my table witnessed this call and didn't know how to play me, which was really good for me because I have much respect(from previous experience) for three of the players that remained at my table. This allowed me to steal some pots, which was good. The downside was when I had AA and later Kk at this table I couldn't get anyone to play with me. That was the negative(?) aspect of gaining some power. But, I keep an optimistic approach and go with the saying "Winning a small bet is better than losing any bet."

Final table: I was cold decked with good cards missing the board and bad cards hitting after I fold and eventually having to go all in with Kc, 10c against a guy who raised. I thought, the very second he raised he had AK, which he did. I moved in on him hoping to catch some clubs or a 10, before he showed his AK, because I was done once the blinds caught me. He got me with a Jack shy of a straight.

After getting busted at the final table, I signed up for the next tournament and went and got something to eat.

The Second Tournament:

* Uneventful.

* I Placed Second in this one.

Dodged some bullets at the final table. I was short stacked against the chip leader heads up. He had about four to six times my stack. He ran the table pretty hard. Knocked the entire table out. There was nothing anyone could do. He was either ahead or he sucked out.

All-in-all, it was a long, great night. I'm just grateful that my live play hasn't suffered because of my poor online tournament play. I am really happy I could prove that to myself. Oddly enough, my online cash game play hasn't suffered. I've made a few bucks here and there. I have come to the conclusion that I can't muster the patience for online tournaments consistently and will have to work on this. Funny because patience is a virtue I possess.

Pay'n Rent with Poker:

You know, working at Budweiser has its perks, free beer and laid back atmosphere. There is a down side in doing what I do for the king of beers, contemporary marketing rep. I don't get enough hours, I've went almost an entire month without working, so I have to find other ways to pay the rent.

I scrounge, sale stuff on ebay, and work odd jobs, but lately, poker has been my bread winner. I am no pro by no means, and I don't make much playing poker on a regular basis, but when I just paid rent after not working for almost a month, with straight poker winnings, mind you. The bank account was looking very dismal. I was considering moving back home until I find a better job or graduate. But... I quote Phil Collins when I say "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight! Oh Oh!" I played a holdem tournament at a local bar, its legit because it is a freeroll. I went there with a mission and took that mutha down. The prize was sweet, sweet, nectar in the form of a roll of $20 bills. These two tourneys, hosted every Tuesday, have been my savior along with online cash games on more than one account. Even though its not a glamourous poker players life, maybe, just maybe it will be one day. Atleast I'm not sleeping in the park.

Graciously,
Trae

Poker:

I have been playing a lot of poker to support my living the past 2 months. I am by no means a high roller, but I have been fortunate enough to make some money and live comfortably as a college student that hasn't been able to work my normal job because of this hurricane business that's happened this fall. In the past three weeks, I have played in four live tournaments and won 2 of them, and not at a better time. I have had some bad luck in online tournaments lately, but the cash games have been good to me. I have realized that I am a part of the "Poker BOOM bandwagon." Everybody wants to make a buck, especially in these tight times for me and everyone else. For the most part, I enjoy the game because it is a game, much like chess, so when I lose its not a big deal. Always the Optimist, Trae.