“They don’t know what I have.”

Dog said this the other day while he was playing and I was watching. He was going to raise a called pot, middle position with some pretty bad cards.

This got me thinking. (oh oh Dave’s trying to think again. See the smoke coming from his head..lol).

One of the many areas where I need to improve my game is in the art of the bluff.

I don’t think bluff is the right word here. There is another word to describe it but I can’t think of it right now. Maybe later in the post I will think of it.

To me, a bluff is a raise or a bet into a pot where you put your opponent on possibly having a piece if it but want to get him out.

What I am thinking about is having the presence of mind to recognize the table dynamic (typically pre-flop) and risking chips to win a hand without the best hand going in.

I think I am getting better at recognizing the table dynamic. It sure does help when you have friends (lol. I just had to correct my spelling on that word. I typed fiends. Thought about leaving it in..haha) like Blagz, Dog, Lippy, Net, Gopher, Ash, etc. coach and offer advice along the way. But, here is where I struggle. I look at my cards.

Sounds silly right. Looking at your cards?

This is where the title of the post comes in. I have seen Dog do this (pre-flop raise knowing the table dynamic) and he would tell me he has a Q 4 or something. I would say ” What are you doing?” Dog’s response would be “They don’t know what I have.”

If I am getting better at reading the table dynamic as I profess to be, then it shouldn’t be my confidence in making the decision as to whether to do it or not.

So, it must be that psycologically, I can’t “pull the trigger” based on the cards I am looking at. If I took a piece of paper, put Q Q on it and taped it to my screen over my 2 7 I would do it.

I think I need to raise my risk level. That meaning, if I trust my judgement, then commit to the process and take the chance no matter what the cards are.

Or, I could just buy a bunch of tape and some pieces of paper..lol

I would be very interested in the thought processes of others when they are in this situation. Do you care about the cards? Do you even do this? Do you only do it with higher cards?

Comments requested.

Just a couple of pics

I was looking around for some graphics and I found the following pics.

Who does that remind you of…Dog..lol

Is this Net thanking Spongebob Squadtedd for a good game..lol

Then of course, Gopher trying anything to change his luck..lol.

Final table and heads up

OMG I am writing a book here. Sorry about all the log winded stuff. The end is near…lol 

Hopefully at this point you have made it to the final table.

You did some good Monkey dodging, played good, stayed somewhat sober, got lucky a little and are now earning points.

If you made it to the final table with a 1st-3rd position chip stack, you need to buckle down and really consider playing hands at this point.

The shorter stacks will push and typically will go all-in with any A or 2 face cards. You may have the hand dominated but you still need to consider the suck out factor when deciding to play or not. The best scenario is letting others fight it out to try to get rid of people at the table. Now, I am not advocating being a wimp and letting yourself get pushed around, I am just saying be careful. You don’t need to be the “small stack buster”. Some people fall into the trap of “accepting the responsibility” for taking out small stacks because they have a big stack. A couple of suck outs doing this can put you in a position of needing to “come back” which is NOT a place you want to be in at a final table. You want to be in the power position. Y0u want people scared of your raises.

If you are the short stack (which has happened to me before), you need to gamble a little bit more. Try to get yourself in a position where if you do need to go all-in with a “marginal” hand you can at least be isolated against one other player. Marginal hands in a mutli called flop hasn’t been that productive for me. Of course, if it is a “big” hand, you want a lot of callers but if you want to take a chance with a K J lets say, you don’t want a lot of callers.

If you get past the other 8 players, you will now be heads up. Heads up, to me, is fun when playing live.

Before I sit down for heads up, I do one major thing.

I pretty much totally shift my game stategy from playing the cards to playing the player. Prior to heads up, I would estimate my percentage as 80% cards, 20% player. Heads up, I am 80% player, 20% cards. A pretty significant shift.

Blagz, Dog and I were talking about this the other day. In a on-line heads up game, it tends to be more of a mathmatical process. Of course, as Net has mentioned in her blog, there can sometimes be some psychological playing, but usually it is odds and luck.

When I get heads up on-line, it normally doesn’t take more than a few minutes. Good cards (to me Q 10 and higer are all-in cards) and all-in. That kind of thing.

Live play on the other hand, to me, is much different.

You will have a indication of the type of player you are against by watching them earlier.

Hopefully, you will be up against a tight player who doesn’t know enough to change their strategy. You can determine this in the first couple of hands heads up by pre-flop raising and somewhat aggressive betting to see if they fold. If they don’t change their strategy you can pretty much coast to a win by being aggressive and playing them, not your cards.

If they do change their style, you need to employ a few more tricks. Slow play a big hand (this is especially effective when your opponent has turned to loose aggressive). Check raising can be a good tool too. I also never show my cards during nomal play. I may do this a couple of times heads up to try to imply I am only playing/raising with good hands. It may work, it may not, but it is worth a try. One non called raise or hesitiation can make the difference between winning and losing.

Heads up, it is rare for me to not call the hand or call a small raise pre-flop. At this point, any 2 cards could win. If I do get a small raise and call and the flop is small cards, a bet will usually take the pot (usually, not always). How many times have you watched on-line, a heads up match where each small blind keeps folding? I see that and I think to myself, what a wasted opportunity for one of them to take control.

Stealing blinds, chipping away at a stack, and being aggressive has been succesful for me. Of course, you can run into a big hand but by reading and knowing your opponent, hopefully you will see it and be able to fold.

What do I do when I end up heads up against a huge chip stack? (10 to 1 or higher).

Well, you are not a threat to the stack so, 10 7 and higher, and all-in. Maybe you can double up a couple of times to be more of a threat. Why just sit there and call bets and/or small raises when the stack will probably call you down anyway? All you are doing is letting them see if they have built a hand or not.

To me, the tricky part comes in when you are the big chip leader and you have your opponent on the ropes. There are one or two pivitol hands that you may be forced to call or fold that will either put your opponent in a non-recoverable position or strengthen him back up to be dangerous again. This is the key moment in the tourny and it is helpful to realize it. I can’t offer any advice on what to do. This is purly a situational/feel play. If you choose the correct path, you will win.

So, finally, thats it.

All of this has been a description of my experience. It is not necessarily right or wrong it is just what has happened to me. I have won a few times and I have also been out 15 minutes into the tourny. I didn’t put any detailed hand descriptions because most of you reading this are players anyway and probably have seen it all before. Bad beats, Monkey calls, etc. are all things we have covered before.

Maybe, if you are going to go play a live MTT tourny for the first time, this will give you some kind of indication as to what to expect and what to be careful of.

I would like to know what everyone thinks and I promise my next few posts will be shorter…..

For those who actually read all of this, thanks!

We interrupt this program…..

We interrupt this program for an important update…

You may notice the time of this post. It is Monday night at about 9:22p.m.

Monday night is the night I play at my live tourny.

Don’t worry, the never ending saga of playing live should be posted sometime tomorrow.

Being home at 9:22p.m. is not a good sign. I had hopes of doing good with all of my poker friends looking over my shoulder (in my mind anyway) and keeping me “grounded”.

It just wasn’t my night. In 1.5 hours I won a total of 2 hands. 1 hand I just won the blinds on and the other was just with one caller. So, not a lot of stack building.

Blinds ate me up and I got to the point where I went all-in with a K 10 suited. I called a small raise and went over the top. Figured the other person was on some sort of A so I figured I had live cards anyway.

Had my strategy all in place but if you don’t get cards, there is nothing to do about it.

The “book” should end tomorrow.

See ya all later

    

The 4th hour

I got tired of the “The following takes place” stuff so I am calling this one the 4th hour.

This is the 4th hour total but only the 3rd hour playing.

By this time, half the field is usually out and you are down to about 4 or 5 tables. Of course, this could change but on the average it is about that.

I like to think of this hour as a “where the rubber meets the road” hour.

People are starting to see that the number of players are getting lower. In our league you only get points for placing in the top 20. 20 points for first, 19 for second and so on.

People who are wanting to really get into the points will tend to tighten up at this point. If you can identify them, you can usually push them around a little.

But, there are always the short stacks and the people that want to build a bigger stack for the final two tables that you have to watch closely.

Pretty much, any hand I play at this point needs to be a hand I am prepared to go all-in with. You may get lucky once in a while and make it around the table without someone going all-in, but it happens more frequently now. So, not too much goofing around for me.

Luck does kick in a little at this point because you end up in more all-in showdowns than usuall. I have gone home a few times at this point with a all-in call and a suck out. But, you won’t win unless you take chances once in a while so you may just have to do it.

Middle of the road chip stack is ok at this point. Blinds are still going up and this makes some people anxious so they may make some mistakes you can capitalize on but remember to be patient. Play tight but play aggressive. None of this pre-flop raise and checking after the flop. Don’t let anyone build a hand.

This hour – Play tight aggressive, watch the stacks, be prepared to gamble a little and be patient. 

The following takes place between 8.00 and 9.00 p.m

Made it through the first hour.

We have been ”colored up”. No more $100.00 chips because blinds are now 500 – 1000.

Now I have a little more room to play poker. The Donkey drinkers are starting to feel their “chips”. Making stupid calls and not paying attention means their chips will move my way.

There is also a little psychological change at the table. Since there are no more $100.00 chips, some people will tighten up a little. A 3X the bb raise will now be $3000.00 in chips. This can help reduce the number of limpers. It also ”looks and feels” different throwing in 500 and 1K chips in instead of the $100.00 chips. It doesn’t effect me, but I have seen it effect others which is just a little bit more information that you can use.

During the second hour, I try to play more “poker” than the first hour. I really don’t consider Pre-flop raising with pocket kings and calling a all-in re-raise real poker. This is the kind of thing I do in the first hour and it is just basic odds and luck. The first hour to me is more like playing CARDS. Waiting for the best hand, raising and going all-in if needed. You are playing odds at this point.

The second hour and after, I get to play more POKER. I will try to play a couple of hands by playing the players, not so much the cards. (of course, still playing pretty tight at this point). I may raise a pot where I am proably not winning but I know the my opponent has nothing also. So, it starts opening up a little.

During this hour, you have to really pay attention to the chip stacks of other players. When playing on-line it is easy because one look at the screen and you can see everyones stack sizes. When playing live, you have to remind yourself to scan the stacks before you decide whether or not to play in a hand. People tend to put their arms on the table or other players may be blocking your view but you need to check this. The short stacks will start to try to make moves in this hour so pay attention to this.

I haven’t mentioned this before because it usually doesn’t happen too much in the first hour but during the second hour and beyond, you will probably be moved to a different table. As people go out of the tourny, tables are condensed and you will have to move.

Our league does it a little wierd. The guy who runs the tourny will come over to your table and say “I am moving you”. (usually meaning everyone at the table). So, if you aren’t in a hand you can move. If you are in a hand, after it is over you will move.

Since we don’t have any assigned seating, when you are moved you just go to one of the other tables and take a open seat.

There is a little trick to this you can use if you run into a tourny like this.

When you are told to move, immediatley (if you aren’t in the hand) grab your chips and look for a table. What’s the first thing you look for at the other tables? Where is the dealer button? Once you find the button, pick a seat just to the right of it. That way, you can get a few “free” hands at the new table to evaluate the players, table style, etc. Those that don’t move fast enough may end up sitting to the left of the button and get into a blind right away.

Now, some places let you come in on the button. Our league doesn’t. So if the seat is open just to the left of the button and the table is in that hand, you can sit there because when the hand is over, the button will pass you before the next hand is started. This gives you one more “free” hand which can make a difference.

So, during the second hour. Still play good hands. Be patient (I didn’t mention this before and I should have because it is very easy to start calling with marginal hands because of boredom and missing on the excitment of winning). If you get moved, take as much advantage of the move as possible and watch the chip stacks closely.

The following takes place between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m.

“Blinds are 200 400, shuffle up and deal”. 

 Whoo hoo it’s started.

The first hour of the tourny is the most critical hour of the whole thing.

It can either be the most profitable or the most dangerous hour.

Remember what I said about the drinking and getting extra chips? How would you handle a half drunk Donkey with twice your chip stack at the START sitting at your table?

At the start, I am usually tighter than bark on a tree. Top 10 hands? ppffft. Top 5 or better. And even then, they have to be followed with a favorable flop. I don’t necessarily have to pair but the flop should be rainbowed with little or no connectors to a str8 if possible.

One of the reasons I try to force myself to play this way is it gives me the opportunity to watch the other players and see what I can pick up. It normally doesn’t take long to pick out the Donkeys. It also doesn’t take long to find the chasers, the tight players, and the loose players. Once I feel a little more comfortable with the “table” I may loosen up a little depending on who is in the hand.

Blinds start out at 200 and 400 and go up every 20 min. There are two decks at each table. The dealer deals one deck and the small blind shuffles the other deck. When the hand is over, the deal starts right away with the pre-shuffled deck. So, everyone gets the chance to deal as the puck moves around.

Once I pick the type of player, I then try to look for tells. They are sometimes quite numerous if you really watch. I never look at my cards until it is my turn. I watch everyone look at theirs. The quick look to the stack after looking at their cards, the posture, the additon or lack of talk after looking, the “I am going to fold” way they hold their cards, who the player is, are they talking with other players and not paying attention, are things I look for.

Live play is a little different in the betting than on-line. A 3X big blind raise is huge in a live game. Normally, if you get higher than this, the all-in isn’t too far behind.

My goal in the first hour is to possibly win one or two hands. I realize that doesn’t sound like a lot but if you can win a couple hands like that, your stack should be ok to not be behind in the second hour.

I try to wait for the “monster” hand. You really need to do this because if you remember, the half drunk Donkeys started with big stacks so it can be very difficult to get them off a hand. Forget bluffing in the first hour, you will get called down with some of the stupidest calls in poker and if you loose, you’re out. If they loose, they just loose some “drinkin” chips.

As a side note, the drinking chips go on through the night. So, they can keep drinking and get more chips during the game.

I don’t know how many nights I have played and witnessed a Donkey with a monster chip stack only to see him stand up a hour later because they were all gone.

Survival is the key to the first hour. Building your stack, if possible, is the secondary goal.

I have been getting in my car to go home at 7:30 quite a few times because I went in with a dominating best hand and got sucked out by a one or two outer. (sound familiar?) Donkey luck.

My next favorite statement is “after this hand, take a 5 minute break”. This means I made it past the 1st hour.

The following takes place between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.

 (continuation of Playing Live post) I am not sure how long to wait in between posts. Let me know if I should go faster or slower.

 As I mentioned in my previous post, the tourny doesn’t start till 7:00 p.m.

I usually show up about 1 hour early. There are a couple of reasons I do this.

One of course is for the social value. Since I have been playing in the league for over 1 year, I have made some friends. The time before the tourny is spent going over bad beats, good plays, crappy calls, and some stategy employed. I usually pay special attention the the people who I know are good players to try to get some insight on their playing style and strategy.

Before I go any farther, I should explain the drinking policy. Everyone who joins the tourny starts with $10,000.00 in chips. HOWEVER, if you spend more than $5 on drinks, you get a extra 2K in chips. Thats right, the drinking Donkeys can START the tourny with a advantage over you. Anyway, the reason I mentioned that now is because I go a little early to have a couple of beers and get some extra chips. If I am hungry, I can get something to eat and as long as it costs more than $5, I can get chips for that too.

So, I sit around and shoot the bull with some of the other players and have a couple of beers.

At about 6:30 p.m. the guy who runs the tourny starts letting people sign in.

Usually, I sign up on line (at the site mention in my previous post) so he has my name already. When you sign in, you grab you bag of $10,000.00 in chips and look for a table.

There is no assigned seating (unless it is a “final” tourny) so you can sit anywhere.

You may think that you should just go sit anywhere but there is some strategy even here.

Since I know a lot of the players, the current mood I am in will determine where I will sit.

If I feel like a challenge, I may sit at a table with some known Donkeys to get some “training”.

Usually, one of the tables is monopolized by the “good” players. I am welcome at that table and if I feel like I really want to “play poker” I will sit there. The only problem with a table like that is since they are all pretty good, the chips just shuffle around the table without a lot of people going out. This is not a good strategy for further rounds because you don’t have too much of a chance to build up your chip stack.

Normally, I will sit at a table where I know a couple of good players and take my chances with the open seats. I think this gives me a better all around experience in the game.

At about 6:50 p.m. I go sit down (you can put your bag of chips on the table to reserve your seat) and listen to the table talk to see if I can pick up any info.

It may not seem like it but this is a pretty important aspect to the start of the game. You let the others at the table talk about what hands they called with, what position they were in, how they bet, what their thinking was when they folded, etc. Little bits of information like that can help you later in the game. (Poker players just can’t help it, they talk about poker)

I have had my couple of beers, talked to my friends, listened to the table talk, went to the bathroom (breaks are only taken every hour, if you leave the table, you are mucked until you return) so now I am ready.

By the way, if you really don’t like smoking, you won’t last long there. These poker players are a bunch of smokers, throw in the drinks and look out.

Playing live – my experience

I play live tourny’s usually once a week. I play in the Badger Poker League (link to site).

Since I live in the USA, gambling is illegal in my state unless the government is involved or you happen to be an Indian Tribe.

So, in order to run a league like the one I am involved in, it has to be a “free roll” or no charge to play league. You can be awarded prizes for winning, etc. but you can’t charge people to play.

If you go to the site, you will see that they play at different bars all during the week. I only play on Mondays because the bar is close to my house (about 2 miles) and the time involved (explained later) is a factor.

Attendance has dropped a little lately but on Monday’s there are usually 80 – 100 people entered in the tourny. The tourny’s are NLHE freeze out tourny’s. (the most people at a tourny I ever attended was about 150 people).

The place I play at (Sharky’s) is a bar/pool hall. On Mondays, they move a bunch of pool tables out of the way and set up the poker tables.

I have been playing in the league for over 1 year now. I have won a few tourny’s but never won one of the finals (again, explained later).

The following is a description of a “typical” Monday night at Sharky’s.

I don’t want this post to go on forever so I am going to break it up a little.

The time span I am talking about is from about 6:00p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

So, (for the 24 fans) I am going to break it up into hours.

The next post will be “The following takes place between 6:00 and 7:00p.m.”

Just a quick one

Last night, I ran into the Dog and Blagz at Absolute.

Played in a Omaha H/L Pot limit (Dogs favorite game) $5 sng. I got second place. Pretty good for me since my Omaha H/L game is pretty weak.

Then, Dog and I (Blagz was tired. It was real late for him) went over to a $5 sng NLHE table. I got second there also.

Pretty profitable night for me.

Based on the responses from the previous post, I will start a post on my live play experiences. It will be a pretty long post so I will break it up a little.

I will post the first part in the next day or so.

See ya at the tables…….