Last night, as I was cashing out my chips at Hollywood, the floor guy mentioned he thought I should be playing NL instead of my usual 3/6 or 4/8 limit games. We had a long chat about the differences at NL and he somewhat convinced me to make the switch.
What advice would you give to someone playing live NL cash games for the first time?
Actually, this will be by 2nd time playing NL. The first time was 3 years ago in Vegas at the Silverton casino. We were passing thru Vegas and my husband talked me into playing NL with him. They opened a new table and we were 5 handed. We all bought in for $100. The very first hand I'm dealt KK and end up all in against a turned straight. I went broke with top pair on the first freaking hand. LOL My female opponent was open-ended, so she made the call. Yay for her. I was stunned and went for a smoke break. Before I could even finish my cigarette, my husband came flying out of the poker room, saying she had busted the whole table! My husband had AA, made a raise, she went all in and the other 2 guys called...my husband had to call as well, he had the best hand!
It was AA vs AK vs 88 (the crazy lucky chic who reraised all in) vs ?...I don't remember the other guy's hand. Tens? AQ? Something like that. Anyway, she flops her set, busts everybody and makes $400 in less than 15 minutes. Way to run hot, chica.
I have not played a single hand of live NL since that day. (I've donked around a little at .5/.10 online, but that's it.)
So, back to my question...any advice for me? By the way, I do know how not to go broke with top pair now. LOL
Friday, July 17, 2009
Filed Under FML
At Hollywood last night, playing 3/6L...
I'm the BB with Q/To.
8 callers, I check my option.
7c 9c Qs
I lead out with a bet. Let's see where I'm at.
5 callers. M'kay..
7c 9c Qs Td
I again lead out with my 2 pair.
Call. Raise. Reraise. Back to me.
Hold the phone, Lucy. What to do? With 2 way straights and a flush draw? It's obvious the reraiser has KJ, 2 pair no good; let it go. I did.
It's capped 3 ways on the turn. Look at all those chips out there...
River: Qh...omg omg omg
It's capped 2 ways on the river. The flush draw folded and the other 2 had KJ for a split pot.
I should've just left the table before the river was dealt. LOL The biggest pot of the night and a missed chance to spin the wheel for the high hand promo. Boooooo!
FML
I'm the BB with Q/To.
8 callers, I check my option.
7c 9c Qs
I lead out with a bet. Let's see where I'm at.
5 callers. M'kay..
7c 9c Qs Td
I again lead out with my 2 pair.
Call. Raise. Reraise. Back to me.
Hold the phone, Lucy. What to do? With 2 way straights and a flush draw? It's obvious the reraiser has KJ, 2 pair no good; let it go. I did.
It's capped 3 ways on the turn. Look at all those chips out there...
River: Qh...omg omg omg
It's capped 2 ways on the river. The flush draw folded and the other 2 had KJ for a split pot.
I should've just left the table before the river was dealt. LOL The biggest pot of the night and a missed chance to spin the wheel for the high hand promo. Boooooo!
FML
Monday, July 13, 2009
Joe Sebok captures the work of a creative dealer at the ME. Sunday, July 12, 2009
Getting Called a Cooler
My live poker sessions seem to be getting longer and longer. Last week, I had a 7 hour session. Friday, I played 11 hours. That's a lot of poker for me, as I like short and sweet 2 hour sessions! I seem to do much better in short sessions, too. Anyhoo...
On Friday, my husband was meeting some friends for a round of golf at Cottonwoods and needed a designated driver, so I went to play poker over at Sam's Town while they knocked down birdies and knocked back beers.
So, I'm at Sam's, a couple of hours have passed and I'm doing well. There's a crazian (crazy asian) on my direct right who is on his 3rd buy-in. He has changed the game from 3/6 to 6/6. He's playing every hand and raising every hand. If the flop hits him at all, he stays til the end, if it doesn't hit him, he folds on the flop. He always straddles and usually rasies his option, so once every orbit this 6/6 game becomes 9/12 when he auto raises the turn when someone bets. Fun, fun.
It was working out really well for me at first, but I had 3 more hours to go until my husband was finished at the golf course. Sigh. Ya know what's coming next..I'll spare you the bad beats, but I left that table up 13 whole dollars. My mountain became a mole hill. LOL
My husband gets there (one of his sober friends dropped him off) and now he's ready for some poker action. I say let's have dinner, he says let's play...ok, fine. I register for the tournament and he sits in a cash game. I haven't been able to get any traction in that tourney lately. I busted before the 2nd break.
After I busted, I found him downstairs in the pit (what happened to poker??) and we went to eat, finally. He said he lost with back to back Aces and then Kings, so he hit the pit. Bummer. We wrapped up dinner and I thought we were about to head home when he says, Let's go to Hollywood. I've already been playing for about 7 hours now...Ok, whatever, let's go.
We get seated at a short-handed, must-move table. I'm hoping I am first to move, because I don't really like playing at the same table as my husband. He's a maniac! He likes to play big pots and he's pretty aggro. He's also a compulsive straddler. A real Action Jackson. LOL
They soon called me to the other table. Yay! As soon as I sat down at the new table, I went on a mini-rush and got up $150. Double yay! My husband came by and told me he could stay at his table, it was no longer a must-move. Triple yay! Then the cards cooled off for me and I just folded for the next hour until the table got short-handed. I really don't like short-handed play. It's a weakness I need to work on, I know, but I don't like it. So, I started to rack up and the other guys were going to high card for the open seat at the other table. I said that I wanted to high card, too. The mean female dealer said I couldn't do that, because I was the one who broke the game. I said, well I'm not playing short-handed. Then out of nowhere, one of my favorite dealers comes over to me, picks up my racks and says, "Here. I got a seat for you in that game. Your husband is playing and you play with him. It's a good game. Come on." I hesitated slightly, as I knew the other guys wanted in that game. I mean, they had just high carded for the seat and one of the other dealers gave it to me. I had to follow him, though, he had my chips!
I didn't feel right about it, I didn't think it was fair and I listened closely behind me for the least bit of protest, but to my surprise, there wasn't any. Nothing. If there had been anything said about it at all, I wouldn't have taken the seat.
But since nothing was said, I un-racked my chips and settled into the 1 seat. My husband was across from me and he was being just as aggro as ever. LOL He was doing well, tho, he was up well over a rack. I hadn't been there long when I called one of his straddles with Kh7h and there were 7 of us to the 6h Qh 6d flop. He bet out. No surprise there! The guy to his left called, I called and one more called. Normally, I don't chase flush draws on a paired board, of course, but this was a straddle hand. No one raised the straddle, so that made QQ much less likely (or any pair, for that matter).
The turn was the 8h. I hit my flush, but was it good? Husband bets and the guy beside him called again. Who knows what my husband is betting with..but I'm not really worried about him. The guy next to him tho, has me concerned, but he didn't raise the turn and I'm positive he would've raised a boat. I raise. The guy behind me folds. Husband snap calls, the next guy sort of reluctantly calls...hmm.
The river brought the 10c. They checked to me and I bet, both called. I was surprised to see my husband actually did have a hand; he showed 5/6o. Ouch. The next guy had 6/9o. My flush took it down.
There were a couple more hands like that and my husband's earlier profits went buh-bye. He was back down to even and got up to go hit the pit again. He was convinced I coolered him and went to drown his sorrows at the craps table. I went to find him about an hour later; it was 2am and time to go. This was our conversation the next morning:
Husband: You are evil. I can't believe you coolered me.
Me: I didn't cooler you! Don't you think your losses might've had something to do with your alcohol consumption? It seemed to me, the more you drank, the more you lost...
Husband: Hell no. I was wasted when we got there and I was winning! Cooler!
LOL He is so funny.
On Friday, my husband was meeting some friends for a round of golf at Cottonwoods and needed a designated driver, so I went to play poker over at Sam's Town while they knocked down birdies and knocked back beers.
So, I'm at Sam's, a couple of hours have passed and I'm doing well. There's a crazian (crazy asian) on my direct right who is on his 3rd buy-in. He has changed the game from 3/6 to 6/6. He's playing every hand and raising every hand. If the flop hits him at all, he stays til the end, if it doesn't hit him, he folds on the flop. He always straddles and usually rasies his option, so once every orbit this 6/6 game becomes 9/12 when he auto raises the turn when someone bets. Fun, fun.
It was working out really well for me at first, but I had 3 more hours to go until my husband was finished at the golf course. Sigh. Ya know what's coming next..I'll spare you the bad beats, but I left that table up 13 whole dollars. My mountain became a mole hill. LOL
My husband gets there (one of his sober friends dropped him off) and now he's ready for some poker action. I say let's have dinner, he says let's play...ok, fine. I register for the tournament and he sits in a cash game. I haven't been able to get any traction in that tourney lately. I busted before the 2nd break.
After I busted, I found him downstairs in the pit (what happened to poker??) and we went to eat, finally. He said he lost with back to back Aces and then Kings, so he hit the pit. Bummer. We wrapped up dinner and I thought we were about to head home when he says, Let's go to Hollywood. I've already been playing for about 7 hours now...Ok, whatever, let's go.
We get seated at a short-handed, must-move table. I'm hoping I am first to move, because I don't really like playing at the same table as my husband. He's a maniac! He likes to play big pots and he's pretty aggro. He's also a compulsive straddler. A real Action Jackson. LOL
They soon called me to the other table. Yay! As soon as I sat down at the new table, I went on a mini-rush and got up $150. Double yay! My husband came by and told me he could stay at his table, it was no longer a must-move. Triple yay! Then the cards cooled off for me and I just folded for the next hour until the table got short-handed. I really don't like short-handed play. It's a weakness I need to work on, I know, but I don't like it. So, I started to rack up and the other guys were going to high card for the open seat at the other table. I said that I wanted to high card, too. The mean female dealer said I couldn't do that, because I was the one who broke the game. I said, well I'm not playing short-handed. Then out of nowhere, one of my favorite dealers comes over to me, picks up my racks and says, "Here. I got a seat for you in that game. Your husband is playing and you play with him. It's a good game. Come on." I hesitated slightly, as I knew the other guys wanted in that game. I mean, they had just high carded for the seat and one of the other dealers gave it to me. I had to follow him, though, he had my chips!
I didn't feel right about it, I didn't think it was fair and I listened closely behind me for the least bit of protest, but to my surprise, there wasn't any. Nothing. If there had been anything said about it at all, I wouldn't have taken the seat.
But since nothing was said, I un-racked my chips and settled into the 1 seat. My husband was across from me and he was being just as aggro as ever. LOL He was doing well, tho, he was up well over a rack. I hadn't been there long when I called one of his straddles with Kh7h and there were 7 of us to the 6h Qh 6d flop. He bet out. No surprise there! The guy to his left called, I called and one more called. Normally, I don't chase flush draws on a paired board, of course, but this was a straddle hand. No one raised the straddle, so that made QQ much less likely (or any pair, for that matter).
The turn was the 8h. I hit my flush, but was it good? Husband bets and the guy beside him called again. Who knows what my husband is betting with..but I'm not really worried about him. The guy next to him tho, has me concerned, but he didn't raise the turn and I'm positive he would've raised a boat. I raise. The guy behind me folds. Husband snap calls, the next guy sort of reluctantly calls...hmm.
The river brought the 10c. They checked to me and I bet, both called. I was surprised to see my husband actually did have a hand; he showed 5/6o. Ouch. The next guy had 6/9o. My flush took it down.
There were a couple more hands like that and my husband's earlier profits went buh-bye. He was back down to even and got up to go hit the pit again. He was convinced I coolered him and went to drown his sorrows at the craps table. I went to find him about an hour later; it was 2am and time to go. This was our conversation the next morning:
Husband: You are evil. I can't believe you coolered me.
Me: I didn't cooler you! Don't you think your losses might've had something to do with your alcohol consumption? It seemed to me, the more you drank, the more you lost...
Husband: Hell no. I was wasted when we got there and I was winning! Cooler!
LOL He is so funny.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
A Public Service Announcement
I've been without a phone this week. My AT&T Quickfire that I mentioned in a previous post has died and gone to cell phone heaven. Or maybe, cell phone hell, since it was such a rotten bum. AT&T is trying to keep this on the down low, but let me alert the public here: This phone has been recalled. They are wording it differently, of course; calling it a simple 'discontinue'.
Before heading to the store, I did some research online and found out what my options were with this recalled phone. It is a good thing I did, because I would've been screwed otherwise. When I got to the store, I spent over 2 hours on the phone with different customer service reps, who were all basically trying to wear me down until I just said, Ok! Forget it! I'll just buy another phone!
However, they don't know me. They don't know I will argue til the death when I know I'm right. My husband knows; they should've asked him when he first called them about the situation. (He gave up quickly, btw)
They tried to tell me I could use an upgrade for another phone. They tried to tell me I could use our insurance and for $50 I could get another phone. I replied, This is not an upgrade issue, nor is this an insurance issue. This is a WARRANTY issue.
Then she says she will send me another Quickfire. Which is an ironic name for this phone, as one of the major problems with it is the charger catching the phone on fire. Talk about an omen! I told her she was not about to send me another phone that had been recalled. So then, she says she'll just send me another charger. I asked how she was going to do that, since they don't make them anymore.
At this point, she realized she was getting nowhere with me. Earlier in the conversation, about an hour and a half earlier, I told her that I knew my options were a choice of 3 phones as a replacement for this crapped out Quackfire and I listed the 3 choices. She acted like she didn't have a clue what I was talking about at the time. But once she found out that she was not winning this arguement, she said, Oh, ok. It looks like you have a choice of 3 phones as a replacement. She then listed the 3 exact phones I had listed earlier....Imagine that!
If you happen to own an AT&T Quickfire and come across this post in search of info regarding the recall, I want you to know that you do have options. Don't let them tell you otherwise. The options are: LG VU, Samsung Propel and the Matrix.
Go get 'em.
Before heading to the store, I did some research online and found out what my options were with this recalled phone. It is a good thing I did, because I would've been screwed otherwise. When I got to the store, I spent over 2 hours on the phone with different customer service reps, who were all basically trying to wear me down until I just said, Ok! Forget it! I'll just buy another phone!
However, they don't know me. They don't know I will argue til the death when I know I'm right. My husband knows; they should've asked him when he first called them about the situation. (He gave up quickly, btw)
They tried to tell me I could use an upgrade for another phone. They tried to tell me I could use our insurance and for $50 I could get another phone. I replied, This is not an upgrade issue, nor is this an insurance issue. This is a WARRANTY issue.
Then she says she will send me another Quickfire. Which is an ironic name for this phone, as one of the major problems with it is the charger catching the phone on fire. Talk about an omen! I told her she was not about to send me another phone that had been recalled. So then, she says she'll just send me another charger. I asked how she was going to do that, since they don't make them anymore.
At this point, she realized she was getting nowhere with me. Earlier in the conversation, about an hour and a half earlier, I told her that I knew my options were a choice of 3 phones as a replacement for this crapped out Quackfire and I listed the 3 choices. She acted like she didn't have a clue what I was talking about at the time. But once she found out that she was not winning this arguement, she said, Oh, ok. It looks like you have a choice of 3 phones as a replacement. She then listed the 3 exact phones I had listed earlier....Imagine that!
If you happen to own an AT&T Quickfire and come across this post in search of info regarding the recall, I want you to know that you do have options. Don't let them tell you otherwise. The options are: LG VU, Samsung Propel and the Matrix.
Go get 'em.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Phil, Phil, Phil
Phil Hellmuth is known for making a grand entrance in the WSOP Main Event, but this is a little over the top kooky even for him.....
Dodge those bullets, baby!
Source: Poker News
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Was I Really Cheating?
Some days poker seems so easy, you think you can never lose. Other days it seems you are trying to walk up an ice covered hill, slipping, sliding, eventually falling.
I've had a mixture of both this week. But just like with any dysfuntional relationship, you overlook the bad times and only remember the good times. Denial is key here. LOL
So, tonight I will hop back on that roller coaster, strap in, throw my hands up in the air and scream, Weeeeeeeee!
Recently, I noticed that there has been a change at the website,Official Poker Rankings. Full Tilt has demanded they remove the player stats from FT on their site. They say it gives players an unfair advantage. What?
Back when I played a lot of tournaments online, I used this site for tracking my results, since I didn't have Poker Tracker. Sure, I looked up the stats of my competition also...but is that really cheating? Full Tilt thinks it is. Here's the link to that article.
I've had a mixture of both this week. But just like with any dysfuntional relationship, you overlook the bad times and only remember the good times. Denial is key here. LOL
So, tonight I will hop back on that roller coaster, strap in, throw my hands up in the air and scream, Weeeeeeeee!
Recently, I noticed that there has been a change at the website,Official Poker Rankings. Full Tilt has demanded they remove the player stats from FT on their site. They say it gives players an unfair advantage. What?
Back when I played a lot of tournaments online, I used this site for tracking my results, since I didn't have Poker Tracker. Sure, I looked up the stats of my competition also...but is that really cheating? Full Tilt thinks it is. Here's the link to that article.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Hazelnuts
Earlier in the week, I drove over to Sam's Town for a bit. I played the 2pm NL trny, but couldn't get anything going in that one and finished 16th. Afterwards, I sat down in a 3/6 game that looked pretty good. Also, I am trying to get in some hours for a freeroll they're having next month that has a $7,500 prize pool. Only 30 hrs gets you in, but here's the thing, those hrs only get you 2500T. If you can rack up 60-99 hrs, you'll get 5k in tournament chips and if you are a stone cold rock with no life whatsoever and can get 100 hrs in, you'll be way out in front with 10k in chips.
I asked if you could qualify with the 30 hrs and then perhaps buy the remainder of the 10k starting chips, but no, you can't. If you don't earn it, you can't get it. She did tell me the hrs double after midnight thru 8am, so I guess that helps some. Since I only have about 6 hrs in, I have a little ways to go on that 100 hrs thing.
So, the 3/6 was going well. I was up $100 in the first hour, which is pretty good for 3/6. They had their Splash the Pot promo going, where every hour they come around and add $25 to the pot on all tables. If the pot gets to at least $25, they throw in the extra $25. Well, you gotta play it, right? No matter what you're dealt. Extra money! So, I played my 9/2 offsuit and the flop came 2 6 9 rainbow. Ding! Ding! Ding! But then another 6 came on the turn. Boo! I bet it anyway and we got to the Splash amount. The river was a non-flush 8. I'm thinking, No 10/7! In the end, my nines and sixes were good lol.
But then? Doom Switch activate. We had a new player sit down on my right, Hazel. Remember how I said I couldn't beat drunk people? Well, let's broaden that to say I can't beat drunk people nor old, Mississippi hippies looped out on mistakenly prescribed pharmies, either.
Yay, me.
She was probably, no most definetly, the most tilt inducing person I have ever sat next to at a poker table. She slowed the game to a crawl by refusing to look at her cards until prompted at least 4 times...she just kept talking to me and her other neighbor, totally ignoring the action and the dealer. Just like the drunk lady at Harrah's that I wrote about, she, too, would mis-read/mis-call her hand in large pots to everyone but me. :( During one hand, the river betting was complete and it was time to show. Hazel threw 3 more chips out there anyway. (Why 3, I don't know.)
Dealer: The betting is closed, ma'am. Table your cards.
Hazel: Oh? You mean I can't bet anymore?
Dealer: No, ma'am. Show your hand.
Pause.
Pause.
Still pausing.
Hazel: Well! I've got a straight! Slams down the cards.
Dealer: No, ma'am. You have 9 high.
Nice. While this should've been my cue to leave the table and jump in the 4/8 game, I chose to stay like the dummy I am. Of course when I was involved in a pot with Hazel, she found the nuts every single time, usually on the river, once on the turn. When she cracked my Aces, for the 2nd time, this time with 9d2d and rivered the flush, I admitted defeat, racked up and bee-lined it to the cashier's cage. Surprisingly, I still had my exact buyin. Not a dollar over, not a dollar short. So, it wasn't a total loss, but wow I was pretty steamed. I definetly should've changed tables when she first started getting on my nerves so bad, but I was hoping she would go broke and leave. She did go broke early, but her husband who was also at the table gave her his chips and he left. Ugh.
Lesson learned by me (hopefully!): request a table change when needed! :)
I asked if you could qualify with the 30 hrs and then perhaps buy the remainder of the 10k starting chips, but no, you can't. If you don't earn it, you can't get it. She did tell me the hrs double after midnight thru 8am, so I guess that helps some. Since I only have about 6 hrs in, I have a little ways to go on that 100 hrs thing.
So, the 3/6 was going well. I was up $100 in the first hour, which is pretty good for 3/6. They had their Splash the Pot promo going, where every hour they come around and add $25 to the pot on all tables. If the pot gets to at least $25, they throw in the extra $25. Well, you gotta play it, right? No matter what you're dealt. Extra money! So, I played my 9/2 offsuit and the flop came 2 6 9 rainbow. Ding! Ding! Ding! But then another 6 came on the turn. Boo! I bet it anyway and we got to the Splash amount. The river was a non-flush 8. I'm thinking, No 10/7! In the end, my nines and sixes were good lol.
But then? Doom Switch activate. We had a new player sit down on my right, Hazel. Remember how I said I couldn't beat drunk people? Well, let's broaden that to say I can't beat drunk people nor old, Mississippi hippies looped out on mistakenly prescribed pharmies, either.
Yay, me.
She was probably, no most definetly, the most tilt inducing person I have ever sat next to at a poker table. She slowed the game to a crawl by refusing to look at her cards until prompted at least 4 times...she just kept talking to me and her other neighbor, totally ignoring the action and the dealer. Just like the drunk lady at Harrah's that I wrote about, she, too, would mis-read/mis-call her hand in large pots to everyone but me. :( During one hand, the river betting was complete and it was time to show. Hazel threw 3 more chips out there anyway. (Why 3, I don't know.)
Dealer: The betting is closed, ma'am. Table your cards.
Hazel: Oh? You mean I can't bet anymore?
Dealer: No, ma'am. Show your hand.
Pause.
Pause.
Still pausing.
Hazel: Well! I've got a straight! Slams down the cards.
Dealer: No, ma'am. You have 9 high.
Nice. While this should've been my cue to leave the table and jump in the 4/8 game, I chose to stay like the dummy I am. Of course when I was involved in a pot with Hazel, she found the nuts every single time, usually on the river, once on the turn. When she cracked my Aces, for the 2nd time, this time with 9d2d and rivered the flush, I admitted defeat, racked up and bee-lined it to the cashier's cage. Surprisingly, I still had my exact buyin. Not a dollar over, not a dollar short. So, it wasn't a total loss, but wow I was pretty steamed. I definetly should've changed tables when she first started getting on my nerves so bad, but I was hoping she would go broke and leave. She did go broke early, but her husband who was also at the table gave her his chips and he left. Ugh.
Lesson learned by me (hopefully!): request a table change when needed! :)
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