I played 2-5 no limit at Snoqualmie Casino last night for the first time in a couple of months. After a horrible start and an up and down session, I cashed out up 1/2 a buy-in.
My very first hand, I limp re-raised in a straddled pot with QQ and the raiser shoved all-in. I was pretty sure he had AA or KK and folded. It's possible I made a bad lay down not wanting to lose all of my chips on the first hand but I think it was right. Even so, it cost me half my stack. I had to add on a couple of times to have a healthy stack and was basically back to my starting chips when my big hand of the night came up.
I limped in middle position with pocket eights and 6 or 7 people saw a flop of Q-8-3 with two clubs. I bet $20 and a player check-raised to $70. He was one of my targets at the table, clearly willing to put a lot of money in on a draw or medium strength hand. Given he might be drawing and was unlikely to have QQ (and if he does, I lose all my chips), I re-raised him to about $170. He went all-in and I immediately called. The turn was a club, which I didn't like and the river was a blank. He showed KQ for one pair and I doubled up. Unfortunately I lost of bunch of those chips soon after on a bad bluff. I ground back over the rest of the evening and as noted cashed out well ahead.
I made a couple of poorly timed bluffs, but overall played pretty well though I was a bit rusty. Hope to go back soon.
Showing posts with label snoqualmie casino. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snoqualmie casino. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 31
Thursday, June 17
Home Improvement this week
Our hardwood floors are done. Our contractor just needs to put together some things he took apart to install the floors, like closet doors and the cover to the air return. And then the hardwood stairs go in which is a different project. We decided to just use solid white risers (the vertical part of the stairs), so I painted the MDF boards that he brought over. Thought it might take a couple hours, but with a roller and a long handle it took about 15 minutes for the actual painting.
Our deck is going, going. They delivered the new boards today.
I need to plant some fruit shrubs and trees. Seems like a good time as it's still wet and rainy. Also been working on our auction business a bit.
Played poker Tuesday night at Snoqualmie Casino. It was the first time I'd been there in three months. I came back from Las Vegas in March and was a bit frustrated and took a break. Between being out of town every weekend, finishing up work, and knowing I was going to Vegas, poker didn't fit in April or May, or when it did I met Meier in Seattle. Anyway, a very boring session. I saw two pocket pairs -- raised and flopped top set with jacks, called a raise and folded the flop with sixes -- and AK and AQ (won with both), and a bunch of nothing. Good news is I finished up a bit. A lot of times when card dead I play too many very speculative hands and wind up behind. I tightened up and just made money where I could. Bummer is that it was a very good table -- saw a number of pre-flop all-ins for $200 with marginal hands. Lots of money was being passed around. Couldn't really get much though.
Anyway, back to work on home projects.
Our deck is going, going. They delivered the new boards today.
I need to plant some fruit shrubs and trees. Seems like a good time as it's still wet and rainy. Also been working on our auction business a bit.
Played poker Tuesday night at Snoqualmie Casino. It was the first time I'd been there in three months. I came back from Las Vegas in March and was a bit frustrated and took a break. Between being out of town every weekend, finishing up work, and knowing I was going to Vegas, poker didn't fit in April or May, or when it did I met Meier in Seattle. Anyway, a very boring session. I saw two pocket pairs -- raised and flopped top set with jacks, called a raise and folded the flop with sixes -- and AK and AQ (won with both), and a bunch of nothing. Good news is I finished up a bit. A lot of times when card dead I play too many very speculative hands and wind up behind. I tightened up and just made money where I could. Bummer is that it was a very good table -- saw a number of pre-flop all-ins for $200 with marginal hands. Lots of money was being passed around. Couldn't really get much though.
Anyway, back to work on home projects.
Monday, February 1
Wild poker action last weekend
I played at Snoqualmie last Saturday night. Weekends are usually good games because everyone is out having fun and thus the play is more relaxed. You don't often get "drunk tourist" locally like to do in Las Vegas, but on Saturday night there's a lot more drinking.
It was one of the wildest sessions I've had in a while -- up a bit, down a lot, back to ahead, and finally down a bit. In a short four hours I had a ton of hands. AA, KK, QQ, JJ twice, AK at least three times, KQ, AJ, 88, probably some others I forget.
That said, a lot of medium pots but no huge pots. I don't think I saw the turn with any of the big hands.
I'll never understand why people enjoy getting plastered while playing poker. A social drink sure, but what's the fun in paying $30/drink because you're so out of it you're giving away your money. That said, I'm happy to relieve stupid people of their cash; that's much of why I play poker.
It was one of the wildest sessions I've had in a while -- up a bit, down a lot, back to ahead, and finally down a bit. In a short four hours I had a ton of hands. AA, KK, QQ, JJ twice, AK at least three times, KQ, AJ, 88, probably some others I forget.
That said, a lot of medium pots but no huge pots. I don't think I saw the turn with any of the big hands.
I'll never understand why people enjoy getting plastered while playing poker. A social drink sure, but what's the fun in paying $30/drink because you're so out of it you're giving away your money. That said, I'm happy to relieve stupid people of their cash; that's much of why I play poker.
Sunday, December 20
Poker update
It's not that I haven't been blogging, I actually haven't played much poker since my last post. With the holidays, evenings have been spent shopping, wrapping, packaging, lighting candles, etc. And then I had a major "non-playing" disappointment.
I played at Snoqualmie a couple of weeks ago and nearly tripled up by buy in. One of my best results of late. Basically had two big hands where I hit sets and got paid. One I erred by calling too much pre flop -- but I just didn't believe the guy -- but the other I played well calling down what was essentially a three barrel bluff on an all-club flop. Also had a simple hand where four people limp called my raise to 25 and a flopped top pair and took down the pot. I wish I could have more hands that were so easy.
We spent the weekend at Tulalip for my birthday so I could get a lot of poker in. Unfortunately it didn't work out well. Monica wanted to go shopping after dinner so I accompanied her and didn't get into a game until after 9 PM. It had been a long day and I just wasn't feeling it. Though it was a great table with really bad players. I also liked that their 3-5 game allows a $500 buy in which means more money on the table. Wound up winning a little bit almost all of it on one hand where a guy "donated" $300 with trips, no-kicker against my tips-ace kicker when his hand HAD to be no good on the turn.
Hope to get in a session this week, likely Friday if not before, before I head to Las Vegas next Monday.
I played at Snoqualmie a couple of weeks ago and nearly tripled up by buy in. One of my best results of late. Basically had two big hands where I hit sets and got paid. One I erred by calling too much pre flop -- but I just didn't believe the guy -- but the other I played well calling down what was essentially a three barrel bluff on an all-club flop. Also had a simple hand where four people limp called my raise to 25 and a flopped top pair and took down the pot. I wish I could have more hands that were so easy.
We spent the weekend at Tulalip for my birthday so I could get a lot of poker in. Unfortunately it didn't work out well. Monica wanted to go shopping after dinner so I accompanied her and didn't get into a game until after 9 PM. It had been a long day and I just wasn't feeling it. Though it was a great table with really bad players. I also liked that their 3-5 game allows a $500 buy in which means more money on the table. Wound up winning a little bit almost all of it on one hand where a guy "donated" $300 with trips, no-kicker against my tips-ace kicker when his hand HAD to be no good on the turn.
Hope to get in a session this week, likely Friday if not before, before I head to Las Vegas next Monday.
Saturday, November 28
Poker this week
I'm trying blogging from my phone. Good week of poker. Came out ahead on cash game Tuesday. Won a home game tournament Friday and cashed in the Snoqualmie tournament today.
Hmm, apparently blogging via phone doesn't create a title. Scratch that and stick to Twitter and Facebook via phone/text.
Session on Tuesday was good. I nearly doubled up early with KK vs AK with all money in pre-flop. He really thought he was racing when I four-bet!?! Played a couple more hours and gave some back. Some friends held a home game Friday night. Well, I wish it was Friday night. We were supposed to start at 9:30 but actually started at 11 (!). Without much structure and organization we kept the starting blinds for at least 90 minutes. Good news was that I chopped the prize pool with another player at 2AM though I had a small chip lead.
Today I probably played the best tournament poker I've played in a long time. I had one bad read, but basically made hands, put pressure on other people, and kept winning pots. By the time we got to the final table everyone was micro-stacking (about 2-5 BB) and the determining factors were draw for seats, getting lucky with cards, then chips, and last a touch of skill. I did poorly on the first one and wound up 8th. So I cashed twice in one day. Not sure I've ever done that.
Hmm, apparently blogging via phone doesn't create a title. Scratch that and stick to Twitter and Facebook via phone/text.
Session on Tuesday was good. I nearly doubled up early with KK vs AK with all money in pre-flop. He really thought he was racing when I four-bet!?! Played a couple more hours and gave some back. Some friends held a home game Friday night. Well, I wish it was Friday night. We were supposed to start at 9:30 but actually started at 11 (!). Without much structure and organization we kept the starting blinds for at least 90 minutes. Good news was that I chopped the prize pool with another player at 2AM though I had a small chip lead.
Today I probably played the best tournament poker I've played in a long time. I had one bad read, but basically made hands, put pressure on other people, and kept winning pots. By the time we got to the final table everyone was micro-stacking (about 2-5 BB) and the determining factors were draw for seats, getting lucky with cards, then chips, and last a touch of skill. I did poorly on the first one and wound up 8th. So I cashed twice in one day. Not sure I've ever done that.
Sunday, November 22
The wild variance of tournaments
Tournaments are great fun because you can turn a 60 buy in into a few hundred of few thousand dollars in three or four hours. I enjoy them because the competition is generally week because people don't adjust their play to tournament constraints. Adequate cash players become bad tournament players and bad players become terrible in tournaments.
The flip side is the variance is high. While 30-50% of cash players at a table come out ahead only 10-15% of players in any tournament make the money. As well, with short stacks, you can't be patient and one mistake or one unlucky hand can do you in. Today was a day like that.
Played the Snoqualmie $60 bounty tournament. In addition to paying the top 10 players, you get $10 for every player you bust out. It's a reasonable tournament -- the players aren't very tough but it plays pretty fast. You have to take some chances. Today I had three key hands in huge pots, which coincidentally all involved the same hole cards.
Experts say that when you get under 8-12 big blinds, you should either go all-in or fold preflop. In part that's because you shouldn't raise for 1/3 of your stack and then ever fold. I generally agree but I've found that in these fast tournaments, bad players react almost the same to any raise size. If you have 10 BB whether you raise to 3 BB or 10 BB, people will look you up with TT,AQ+ and fold everything else. A small raise puts a few more hands in play. Thus a small raise has almost the same benefit is a big raise without risking your tournament life with 5-high. That said this play can sometimes get you in trouble. Because of my cards, stack size, and position, I wound up with a few hands where I raised, got called and was all-in on the flop.
First time I had king-rag, flopped a king and both players folded. Then the last hand before the break, the first key hand came up which hurt me. I read an article where the author declared the worst thing that happens in poker is when a third party makes a stupid play which affects the outcome of the hand. And I ran into this here. A MP limps, late position player with a short stack limps in, I complete the SB with JT, BB checks. The flop is 5-2-2 rainbow. This seems like a good spot to bluff -- except for BB, there's no reason anyone should have a 5, 2, or 43 -- so I make a small bet, BB calls (oops), LP calls (double oops). Even if I hit a J or T on the turn, I'm going to be careful. Turn is a T, I check BB bets 1200, LP goes all-in for 1800, I think a long time and fold -- one of them must have me beat, BB says "I have to call". BB has 95, LP has Kh7h, there are not two hearts on the board. LP simply decided he wanted to go home. He made obvious mistakes on all three streets including a naked bluff with no fold equity; it's his money he can do what he wants BUT his stupid play cost me the pot and truly donated chips to BB. I could call one player here, but not two.
Next key hand. UTG limps and it folds to me in the hijack with 7h5h. I decide to steal here, though to be honest I missed that UTG was in until I declared raise. The BB and UTG both call. Flop is Th-8h-5s, pretty good for my hand. Both players check, I shove all in for 2/3 of the pot, BB folds but UTG tanks and finally calls with JdTd. His call is easy if he knows what I have, even though I'm a slight favorite, but this is the exact peril of limp calling (see a couple posts below) with a marginal hand. Even if you hit, you have no idea if your hand is good. Turn ace, River 7. I survive.
Last hand. One mid position limper. I have AJ in SB and raise to 1200, BB is only caller. Flop is J-T-x. I bet 2000, BB raises to 4000, I got all in for about 5500, he calls (uh oh). He has JT. The turn is a ace, but he resucks with a river ten and I'm done. This worked great for him, but I think he'll get in trouble calling here with JT. If he doesn't hit the ten, he's going to lose a lot of chips here.
Poker is a game of skill, but in the short term, luck plays a pretty huge factor. And my luck wasn't so good today.
The flip side is the variance is high. While 30-50% of cash players at a table come out ahead only 10-15% of players in any tournament make the money. As well, with short stacks, you can't be patient and one mistake or one unlucky hand can do you in. Today was a day like that.
Played the Snoqualmie $60 bounty tournament. In addition to paying the top 10 players, you get $10 for every player you bust out. It's a reasonable tournament -- the players aren't very tough but it plays pretty fast. You have to take some chances. Today I had three key hands in huge pots, which coincidentally all involved the same hole cards.
Experts say that when you get under 8-12 big blinds, you should either go all-in or fold preflop. In part that's because you shouldn't raise for 1/3 of your stack and then ever fold. I generally agree but I've found that in these fast tournaments, bad players react almost the same to any raise size. If you have 10 BB whether you raise to 3 BB or 10 BB, people will look you up with TT,AQ+ and fold everything else. A small raise puts a few more hands in play. Thus a small raise has almost the same benefit is a big raise without risking your tournament life with 5-high. That said this play can sometimes get you in trouble. Because of my cards, stack size, and position, I wound up with a few hands where I raised, got called and was all-in on the flop.
First time I had king-rag, flopped a king and both players folded. Then the last hand before the break, the first key hand came up which hurt me. I read an article where the author declared the worst thing that happens in poker is when a third party makes a stupid play which affects the outcome of the hand. And I ran into this here. A MP limps, late position player with a short stack limps in, I complete the SB with JT, BB checks. The flop is 5-2-2 rainbow. This seems like a good spot to bluff -- except for BB, there's no reason anyone should have a 5, 2, or 43 -- so I make a small bet, BB calls (oops), LP calls (double oops). Even if I hit a J or T on the turn, I'm going to be careful. Turn is a T, I check BB bets 1200, LP goes all-in for 1800, I think a long time and fold -- one of them must have me beat, BB says "I have to call". BB has 95, LP has Kh7h, there are not two hearts on the board. LP simply decided he wanted to go home. He made obvious mistakes on all three streets including a naked bluff with no fold equity; it's his money he can do what he wants BUT his stupid play cost me the pot and truly donated chips to BB. I could call one player here, but not two.
Next key hand. UTG limps and it folds to me in the hijack with 7h5h. I decide to steal here, though to be honest I missed that UTG was in until I declared raise. The BB and UTG both call. Flop is Th-8h-5s, pretty good for my hand. Both players check, I shove all in for 2/3 of the pot, BB folds but UTG tanks and finally calls with JdTd. His call is easy if he knows what I have, even though I'm a slight favorite, but this is the exact peril of limp calling (see a couple posts below) with a marginal hand. Even if you hit, you have no idea if your hand is good. Turn ace, River 7. I survive.
Last hand. One mid position limper. I have AJ in SB and raise to 1200, BB is only caller. Flop is J-T-x. I bet 2000, BB raises to 4000, I got all in for about 5500, he calls (uh oh). He has JT. The turn is a ace, but he resucks with a river ten and I'm done. This worked great for him, but I think he'll get in trouble calling here with JT. If he doesn't hit the ten, he's going to lose a lot of chips here.
Poker is a game of skill, but in the short term, luck plays a pretty huge factor. And my luck wasn't so good today.
Friday, November 20
Snoqualmie 11/18
Had one of the most frustrating nights of poker in a while. First see my previous post on bad players.
Was at a good table at Snoqualmie against a number of bad players and wound up down a buy-in. Played three or four hands the first hour and was up $4 -- I had K8 in the blinds flopped top pair a rivered a straight and won a small pot. I could never get anything going. Had at most one big pair, no big aces that I recall, and a couple of small pairs. Saw a lot of KQ, KJ, 75 hands.
A made a few bad plays, but meanwhile I watched people throw money around. The guy on my left seemed like he had never played live before -- needed an explanation on every bit of terminology. He was pretty tight, but would limp call for 20% of his stack. I made a bunch of second best hands, but I think my real problem was inconsistent aggression. I'd make a loose raise pre-flop then give up when someone check-called. I think I could have pushed people off better hands a few times with a turn or river bet. And I probably played a bit too lose.
But ultimately when people are calling too often, you have to make a hand to win, and I couldn't make a hand.
Overall I'd grade my play a B-, but I need to be on my A game.
Was at a good table at Snoqualmie against a number of bad players and wound up down a buy-in. Played three or four hands the first hour and was up $4 -- I had K8 in the blinds flopped top pair a rivered a straight and won a small pot. I could never get anything going. Had at most one big pair, no big aces that I recall, and a couple of small pairs. Saw a lot of KQ, KJ, 75 hands.
A made a few bad plays, but meanwhile I watched people throw money around. The guy on my left seemed like he had never played live before -- needed an explanation on every bit of terminology. He was pretty tight, but would limp call for 20% of his stack. I made a bunch of second best hands, but I think my real problem was inconsistent aggression. I'd make a loose raise pre-flop then give up when someone check-called. I think I could have pushed people off better hands a few times with a turn or river bet. And I probably played a bit too lose.
But ultimately when people are calling too often, you have to make a hand to win, and I couldn't make a hand.
Overall I'd grade my play a B-, but I need to be on my A game.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
