Sunday, April 29, 2007

Late Poker Blog

I just remembered tonight that I haven't blogged the poker night yet. It wasn't a big night for me at the table. Again I playing somewhere in the middle of the pack. Out of 25 or so that start I made it to 14th and just 4 from the final table. That makes me feel a little better but anything can happen once you get to that final table. I stayed and watched my friend D play at the final table and he came in 5th. I sat behind him and was able to watch the cards he was playing.

This was the first time that I was seated next to my friend that plays cards with me on Wednesday evening. I didn't like that he was sitting on my left. In fact he was the one that ended up taking me out. I played the rest of my chips on pocket 7's and he played his pocket Q's. Guess who won that one.

I can't fault my play tonight at all. I played the cards I was supposed to and I did win some hands. I keep thinking that if I am going to play a hand pre-flop I should raise. It is either fold or raise. Do not just limp in. It is hard to do that but I know I need to take more chances.

I read a good book this last weekend. "Annie Duke", that was a good book. I am trying to read a few more books on Poker players and try to understand how they play. The read was worth it and I was really into it all weekend. Usually when I start a book like that I tend to get through it pretty fast. I have watched "Rounders" and "The Stu Unger Story" and thought those Videos were good as well. I see there is a new movie coming out this next week called "Lucky You", and that should be interesting story as well. Guy meets girl, breakup, get back together with poker involved as well.

I am not playing golf this weekend since my friends P and J are off travelling for a Birthday. I hope they have fun.

Poker on Wednesday again at Island Casino.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Wednesday Poker

Here it is Friday and I haven't updated the blog yet. I did play poker on Wednesday evening and actually it wasn't the best night for me. Most of the players are down at Wildhorse Casino playing in the Poker tournament that is going on there. We had 15 players tonight.

My night was over in about 45 minutes. I did try to play some hands and see flops before I would muck my cards. I saw very few face cards throughout the hands I had. I had pocket 4's and tried to see a flop but that didn't last long. The last hand I played I had pocket 9's and someone called me and had 810 and he got a 10 on the flop which took me out of the tournament.

Tonight I was somewhat conservative and one of the players I talked to later even said to me that he was watching me play and noticed how tight I was. I told him I wasn't just tight but when you don't have the cards to play you just don't get anywhere. Bluffing just is not going to do it with these players that can call with such good cards.

My friend AB was playing in the satelite down at Wildhorse and got into the big tournament on Saturday by being in the 130 players. Way to go AB.

Well, golf comes around on Sunday. Trying to keep myself active.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Thursday Poker Night

Tonight I am headed over to a poker home game. The game started at 6:30 and the cost for tonight was $5. I am used to playing with this group and I am hoping I will do well with the group with my weekly playing at Island Casino. This group plays aggressive style of poker. You had better bring your A game and be prepared for the bluffs they guys will put on you.

I had a very good night playing and ended up in the top 3 and we all decided to chop the pot so the next game could get started. I will usually not play a second game since the time is late and I want to go to bed at a reasonable time.

I did play some very good hands and was able to build my chip count. I played an Kx and the flop, turn and river came up with 4 clubs. I had a K high flush and the A was on the board. I knew I had the nuts and the other player was pushing all in. I went ahead and called and she had the Qc. That was for 4th place and then it was decided to chop the pot.

One other hand I did well in was I had J10 and the other player was pushing in as well. Board came up with J10 on the flop, turn and river and so I had two pair. The other player showed J7 and went all in. I took him down as well.

All in all it was a good night for me and I would like to carry this over to next Wednesday night. I will not be able to play on Tuesday night this next week.

Golf will be this Sunday at Columbia Pointe Golf Course. I didn't get to play this last week and I will try again to keep my score under 100.

Having fun.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Wednesday Poker

I did make it to Island Casino tonight to play poker. Tonight there were quite a few friends there whom I play home games with. I wanted to play well again tonight and make it further than the 30 to 45 minutes from last night.

Tonight I started out picking my spots a little better to play the hands I was getting. I did get moved off of one hand that I had an AJ and the other player had a K10. He had a pair of 10's and I had a pair of J's. We both had a straight draw and he bet all in and I was unwilling to play for all my chips on a draw. With the flop both of us were close even though we each had a pair. After that hand I waited and played conservative and I started getting hands and I started raising pre-flop. I won 4 hands in a row doing that. After that the cards went dead for me and I went back to conservative.

Tonight there were 25 players. It took a while to get to the alternates but once we started getting them in the game they came in fast. We didn't stay at 100/200 blinds very long and started the climb up the blind ladder. I started playing more hands and seeing flops. I wasn't hitting anything and would go out. By this time I was getting low in chips and knew I would have to make a stand real soon. When I did end up going all in I had AQ to the other player AK. I got beat with a pair of K's.

I went out in 16th place. Middle of the pack. Not good but not bad either. I knew I was playing alright. I was picking my spots and just was not getting the cards.

I found out that tomorrow night there will be a home game going and I will try to play on Thursday as well. That will make 3 nights in a row playing poker. That would be fun. I haven't played in a home game for awhile with friends. I would like to put on a home game at my place soon as well. I have the tables and chips just need to pick a day and put out the word.

Keep the cards flying.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Poker Tuesday

Coming into tonight I was confident in playing conservative right off the bat. I wanted to win some hands early to set up the semi aggressive part later in the tournament. The first hand gave me KJ. The hand got beat and I was down $400 right off the bat. I then turned tighter and I did limp in to a number of pots but never came up with a hand to play.

The only hand that I won during the tournament was when I had Q6. I got a 6Q6 on the flop. I now was looking at a way to extract a lot of chips from the people still in the pot. The one player that stayed with me had Q10. The turn came a Q. The turn was another 6. Could you believe it. We both made a full house. Split pot and I had the same amount as when I started. Now I go back to the Conservative play. I was getting blinded off. I am looking for a hand to go all in with and try it again.

The last hand of the evening for me I held a KQ and I went all-in. I was called by a person that had A10. A K came up on the flop. Then the A came on the turn. I was out of the tournament at 14th place tonight. The tournament started with 18 players.

Tonight the table was tight except for one player that seemed to have hands and he was pushing action and winning pots. Right before I went out he lost a lot of his chips to the player next to me.

I am going to try and play tomorrow night as well. Spending 45 minutes playing poker just is not enough time to feel like I am out doing something. AB was still playing when I left. He didn't have a big stack but he was holding his own on the other table.

Having fun.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Poker night

After last week and playing more aggressive at the table I was anxious to get back at it and see if I could do the same thing. Right off the bat I started playing KJ and I was beat by a person on the other end of the table and she took quite a bit of my chips. I was down to about $2000 in chips and so I reverted to conservative play to try and build my chips back up. I was able to do that during the course of this table play. There were 31 players in this tournament tonight.

I like Islands Casino here in Kennewick. They do have just 2 tables and it would be nice if they had 3 tables. I am also getting used to the people that are playing here on a regular basis. Back to the tournament. The whole table was playing conservative tonight. Even G was playing conservative and rarely would he come out and play his usual junk hands to show he could take you off of your hand. I was able to pick my spots and brought in quite a few chips to build my stack. I was wanting to get to the final table again and give myself a chance to win this tournament. Our table got down to 6 and the other table was at 5. We did end up getting ours down to the 5 we needed and I had made the final table for the second week in a row.

We had a couple of hands go and came down to 9 players. I gave up my BB and was now in the SB. I had AA and when seat 3 went all in I went in as well. This would have been my best chance of doubling up and knocking out another player. I had the best hand. He showed Q10. A 10 came on the flop and then a 10 came on the river. I ended up with $1000 in chips. That was a big blow to me. Know I am on the button and basically I will wait for the best hand and go all in. The next hand was an AJ and I got 4 callers. One of the callers had pocket 7's and I got a J on the flop. He was able to get the 3rd 7 on the river and I was out of the tournament in 9th place.

I could not believe the two hands and loosing everything in those 2 hands. I wouldn't have played them any differently. I just got beat tonight with those cards. G was sitting next to me and told me that I played well tonight. Coming from him that was a real compliment. R the manager even talked with me tonight and called me by name. They are getting used to me being there and seeing me play.

Tonight was the hardest on me yet. Especially having the hands and getting beat two hands in a row. G told me to take it easy driving home. He knew I was not happy about the turn of events. I usually take the approach that this is just a game and not to let anything get to me when the cards go bad for me. It has happened the other way for me at times.

I ended up playing more conservative than aggressive tonight. I guess it fits me better. I couldn't have been more aggressive tonight or I would have gone home early. People were playing with me when I had the cards so they weren't afraid to play when I put my raise in. I will get this out of my mind and move on. I am excited to play next week though. If I could play two nights per week that would be fun.

Keep the cards flying.