Tournament at Hideaway

I played the 2-5 game at Snoqualmie last Wednesday and had some huge swings.  Was down two buy ins at one point.  Quite honestly I wasn't playing well -- too loose and too passive.  I got "fooled" on a big hand where my opponent took a lot of time to make his decision on the flop and looked like he was going to fold and I pegged him for weak.  Instead he had flopped the nuts and I guess was pondering a raise.

I shaped up my play, hit some draws, made a couple of hero calls in big pots and wound up cashing out up a buy-in. That gets me close to even for the year.

This morning I decided to check out Hideaway with Meier.  We'd popped in a couple of time since it re-opened a couple of years ago, but it never seemed inviting.  Was the same four to six regulars and a couple of dealers hoping to get a 3-6 game started.  But recently they've been advertising a pretty good structure for their daily tournaments so I figured I'd give it a try.  I had the day off today for President's Day (yes really) and Meier is always happy to play in Shoreline casinos.  It turns out we know the casino manager there.  Mooske used to be the poker room manager at Treasure Casino and then Rascal's before both places removed their poker room; and while there ran the best low buy-in tournaments in town.

Unfortunately it was a bit of a last minute decision and we were both alternates.  I didn't get in until the middle of the third level which put me at a disadvantage.  After the break, it was push fest time -- my chip stack was so small my only choices were to go all-in or fold.  I stole the blinds with 54s, then raised with KQs and was called by a shorter stack with 44 -- a really terrible play as he's either a slight favorite or a 4.5:1 dog if I have a pair -- flopped a king and knocked him out.  Then I shoved with AK and took the blinds and had my M up to 9 and we broke to two tables.

From this point on I ran over the table, shoving liberally to pick off blinds which is the only way to play.  Sometimes I had hands, but a lot of times I just had position.  I believe of the perhaps 15-20 times I pushed all-in pre-flop the KQ v 44 hand was the only time I got called.  In a key hand, a decent shack shoved, I found KK and re-shoved and didn't get unlucky against 66.  At this point I finally had enough chips that I could raise without having to go all-in.

At the final table, the big stack was on my right and I continued to accumulate chips once he was out of the hand.  I think we started the table with 165K for him and 120K for me.  Key hand of the tournament.  Blinds are 10K-20K and big stack (now #2 stack) is first to act min raises to 40K, I ask what he has left and he counts 150K.  I shove for 230K total with AK, the BB tosses in her last few chips and #2 guy thinks a long time before folding JJ.  BB shows QT (or something silly), I flop an ace and we're 5-handed and I have almost half the chips in play.  It was easy from there especially since no one wanted to tangle with me.

Last hand I limp on the button with A7o, trying to trap.  Flop is K-7-4 and my opponents pushes for about the size of the pot.   I think a bit and can't believe he has a king and call.  He shows 54 and doesn't suck out.

If only they were all this easy.  Turned $50 into $565 in about 2.5 hours.

Hunny Bear climbs into bed

For a blog named for Hunny Bear, there's not actually much about Hunny Bear in the blog.

But yesterday Hunny Bear did something we've been trying to get him to do for years.  And we're very proud of him!  A few years ago we got a Tempur-Pedic bed and found that with the thicker mattress and his advanced age, Hunny Bear could no longer jump on the bed to sleep with us.  So we got some pet steps and put them next to the bed. (They don't quite look like the picture but you get the idea.)  He wouldn't go near them.  Emily immediately ran up them.  Every foster dog or dog we've dog sat ran up them into bed.  Hunny Bear wouldn't touch them.  If you put his front paws on the first step, he stepped off. 

We tried off and on to teach him, but finally we put the steps away.  But in the new house we have them out.  For the first time yesterday, Hunny Bear used the steps to walk into bed without any physical assistance.  I patted the bottom step and once he stepped on, I patted the second step, and he stepped up and figured the rest out from there.  And he just repeated the behavior tonight.

I only wonder what took him so long to try it.

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.

Why College Basketball is Close

Anyone who's watched college basketball over the past few years has noticed that games are generally close.  There are lots of upset every year, even with top 5 teams against unranked opponents.  Cornell, an Ivy league school, played then #1 Kansas close and lost by only five points.

Vanderbilt just beat South Carolina by 10 points on the road.  Any road win in the SEC is an accomplishment, and a double digit road win is doubly impressive.  However I wondered whether South Carolina was just really bad, Vanderbilt was good, or Vanderbilt just played well.  And this is interesting.

I checked the "Vegas lines" and Vanderbilt was a 1 point favorite, so winning easily is a great.  Then I checked Sagrain ratings to get a computerized view of what they've done so far.  Vanderbilt is #21 and South Carolina is #73 so at first  it looks like Vanderbilt should win easily and the line is "off".  However a close look shows Vanderbilt's rating is only 4.5 point more than South Carolina's.  Give South Carolina 4 points for being home, and the "Sagarin line" is Vanderbilt by 1/2 point!  That's right a top 25 team plays a team not in the top 70 -- a team hoping for a NIT berth -- and the game is a toss up.

There are some good teams at the top, but the difference between #10 and #100 is just 12 points.  The difference between #10, what some might call an elite team and #50, a team on the NCAA tournament bubble is 6 points.  And if the #50 team is at home, the difference is 2 points, essentially a toss up.

In the ACC, the difference between the second best team and the worst (12th) team is 8 points.  2nd to 7th are separated by 3 points.  That's going to be a wild conference and a wilder tournament.  In the Big East, the top 12 teams are separated by 10 points.  It's not quite a crapshoot, but most conference games are 60-40 propositions even if there's a big spread in rankings.

It's a good year to bet on middle seeds making a run in the NCAA tournament.

Vegas poker trip

Went to Vegas for a few days right before New Year's.  It's a great place to play because there are more good poker rooms in a two mile stretch than there are in all of Washington and Oregon combined.  Had a couple of huge cashes, mainly at the Venetian and Planet Hollywood and came out enough ahead that the trip was free.  Of course staying three nights for $89 total makes that pretty easy.

I played so much poker in three days that I really can't talk about interesting hands or sessions.  Independent of the cash result, it was a lot of fun to live on the wild side.  Cuz I'm kinda a simple boring guy :)

I'll be heading back in March and it looks like July as well.