Poker Night

I really enjoy the Wednesday night poker game at Jokers Casino. Tonight we had about 32 to 34 people in the tournament. There were 3 tables going with some alternates. My play is tight and when I have a hand I will start raising and try to take the pot. Early in the tournament I was not getting any hands and I felt I was going to be going home early. I was down to 1300 in chips and I needed to start moving. I got KK and felt like this was the moment to move. On the flop came xKx. I was all in at this moment. The turn was x and the river was a K. I just wished I had more to put in the pot. I had 5 callers when I went all in. This was going to be big. When we turned them over everyone saw the Quad K's. Wow, what a hand and I really needed it. I did get to the final table. I finally got down to 1500 in chips and with the blinds at 2000/4000 it was time to go all in. I had pocket Q's. Would they hold up. Nope, I ended up going out in 7th place tonight. I think that makes the 2nd week in a row for 7th place.

My play is tight and I play the best hands. The people at the Casino are getting used to me know and know that I will only play if I have a hand. They are even calling my cards when I raise according to what is on the table. I may change my style of play and try to loosen up a bit to see if I can start taking people off of their hands and maybe start stealing blinds. I have been showing my hands as well. They can see that I only play the best hands. Maybe I will try it on one hand next week. I will also need to start not showing my hands to hide what I am doing.

I would really enjoy playing more than once per week. I really feel I could learn more by playing more. I know that since I started playing at the Casino my play has gotten better. I am getting used to the people around me and the dealers call me by my name now. For me this is a good way to just get away from the every day things that go on with my personal life. I do have a lot of fun for the 2 hours that I am playing in this tournament.

Until the next time I play....... Have fun.

At the Muckleshoot

While I was in Auburn my sister and I went to the muckleshoot casino. My sister played the slots and I headed over to the Blackjack tables. We were there for two and a half hours and we both had fun. I walked away with money in my pocket. Now it wasn't big time but at least I didn't walk out with less in my pocket. When I play blackjack I play the standard rules and then watch the cards coming out and go with gut feeling on some of it. I don't like to hit with 15 or 16 and have the dealer showing 12,13,14,15,16. I want to give myself a chance and have the dealer bust. It is discouraging if you take a hit and bust and then the dealer busts as well. I like to sit in the #7 seat and watch the cards come out. I had a guy sitting in the #6 seat and he was doing very well in reading the dealer and saying what was going to happen. He wasn't counting cards or at least I couldn't figure it out. He did play either $10, 20, and 50 dollars at a time. I just kept watching him and playing like he was playing. There wasn't much difference though in our style of play. He was very sure of himself and was not afraid to show it at the table. Overall it was a fun evening and I even got Players Card so when I go back I may even get some comps. WhooHoo.

I did walk over and watched the 3 card poker table and the ultimate poker table game. I couldn't sit down since there were no seats to be had. I would like to play and learn the game. It seems simple enough. At Jokers Casino they have a 4 card poker table.

I have been reading the book Phil Gordon's little green book. I find it interesting and will probably reread it when I get done and see if I can pick up some pointers for the next poker night at Jokers on Wednesday.

Play to win.

Poker Night

This was not a bad showing after last week. I really enjoy the time playing poker, getting away from the other things going on in my life. This is 2 hours of concentrating on the players and the cards I have in front of me. I played tight again tonight and waited for the best cards. I did win a few hands that kept me in the game. Yes, I did make it to the final table again with my play and I was not a short stack. Now all I had to do was try to last till the end. One thing I also have to remember is you have to play to be able to win. I threw away K9 and the flop came out 99x. Wow, that would have helped my chip count a little bit. I tend to raise after I make a hand on the flop and not raise before the flop. I don't like to put money out there and know that I my hand is not made yet.

There were 20 players that started and I ended up being 7th. I figure I am doing well just need to get into the money. I went all in with pocket 8's and the other player ended up with 2 pair. I needed chips at this point and I was looking for something to help me. It didn't happen.

I will be in Auburn on Friday and I plan to play either 4 card poker or will play some blackjack. My sister will be with me. We will have some fun.

New Week

Here it is Monday and I missed the call finding out where the Poker game was at tonight. My plan for the week is to play on Wednesday night at Jokers and then I am headed over to Auburn on Friday. I will probably try to play some blackjack friday night at the muckleshoot casino. I will head back over the mountain on Saturday. Lets hope I have a good showing on Wednesday here at Jokers. My plan is to play just like I did this last week when I split 1st and 2nd place money.

I have been reading Phil Gordon's little green book. I like the way he gives his thoughts on how to play the different cards and what he would do. Makes you think about the way you play the cards and what to look for.

Lets hope for a good week.

What a week

My frame of mind this week has been really good in playing poker. I have played the right hands at the right time. I have been a little bit more selective on the hands and the position that I play those hands. When I get down to a short handed game I then try to open up the play and be mindful of how the other players are doing. How much in chips and where the button is at. What is the blinds at and what are the players doing.

Tonight the group playing at Jokers are very good players. I wanted to have a good showing. I know I can play with these guys. I don't do very much talking at the table. I might say something to the person next to me but very little to the whole table. I don't show my cards very often unless I have a really good hand and I feel I need to show the other players that I do get hands and that I don't play junk cards. I received pocket Aces tonight and won with them, and also got pocket 8's, pocket 6's and then pocket Q's. I even had a AK tonight and played them well. I kept building my chip count and was playing tight. When the table got down to the final 10 I felt good that I was not the short stack. Could I hang on and make it to the money. I still wanted to build the chip count up and show I belonged. This tournament was a $30 buyin and we had 19 players tonight.

I ended up splitting the pot with the person I was headsup with tonight. Yes, 1st and 2nd split the pot. He took the seat for the end of the month tournament. This was the first time I was able to get into the money and it felt good. This has been some week. Monday night I split the pot 3 ways and tonight split the pot 2 ways. I know this game is like golf. You think you are doing well and the next time out you are knocked down a notch. I have to keep this mindframe and hopefully build on this feeling and the way I played tonight.

Home Game

I was invited to play tonight in a $5 home game. I did very well tonight. I was able to play the people as well as the cards tonight. I even bluffed on one hand tonight and pulled it off. I had an A8 and the other player had A10. I put $2000 into the pot and she couldn't pull the trigger. If she would have called me I would have lost the hand. She knew she was bluffed when I showed the cards. That in itself was a perfect setup against her. The next time I went all in she decided to call me and I had 2 pair to her pair. I doubled up. I played very good hands throughout the evening. I had to change my playable cards when it got down to 3 of us left. At that point we decided to give 3rd place money. I just kept pushing and was building chips. Finally the offer was made to split the pot 3 ways. We all decided to do that. That was a nice split. Lets hope this will carry over to Wednesday night. This felt good.

Wednesday Poker

I sure didn't last long in the wednesday night tournament at Jokers. I did get some cards though. I was very impressed with the hostess, as when I walked into the table area she called me by name. Remembering me from playing only wednesday evening is really something. The group that was playing last night also knew each other very well and played to take your blinds and any chips put out on the table. The player next to me was going all-in almost everytime he played and I was getting tired of it. I finally got a pair of 6's and decided to call his all in. I got another 6 on the flop and the set held up. He was out of the tournament. I did win another hand with two pair and the guy next to me couldn't understand why I stayed in the pot. It was one of those where I just felt like I had the cards to beat. I was a little distracted last night as well as they only started 2 tables with 9 players on the alternate list. They must not have had an extra dealer. After I sat down to start playing I looked on the board and I thought I saw my name on the list as an alternate and I had taken someone elses chair. No one ever said anything but I was real conscious about it and I was not paying attention to the game as much. I also need to control the emotions a little bit better. I notice when I get a hand and I start to put chips in the pot I tend to start shaking a little and I hope no one notices that. I will have to work on that one next time I play. Calm, relax, and be the same when I play.

The hand that took me out was when I got 77. It ended up being 3 of us playing this hand. The flop came 8710c. The turn and the river where no help. I ended up going all-in calling and one of the guys had a draw for a straight and the other ended up with clubs for a flush. I was done for the night. I knew the flush was out there and I played it anyway. I knew better. I should have thrown my set away. This night I was 1-1 for sets.

Jokers has changed the area of the casino to be with the lounge and I think it looks better. The poker area has 4 tables. They do need better lighting in the poker area. Lets hope next week will be better. Have fun at the tables.