Since I did not play golf this last weekend I did not write a blog. I did nothing, absolutely nothing. Ok, I did go to a birthday party.
I look forward to the Wednesday evening poker at Island's. This evening I chose my seat and it was seat 8. It is hard for me to see the cards on the ends of the table. This week I noticed they have new cards and they are smaller numbers and suits. For me they are harder to see. Enough of the complaint. Or is that an excuse?
At the table we have some people that will push and make you make decisions on your cards. One player started pushing and raising and I had AQ. A Q came on the flop and he raised again. Since the Q was the highest card I had top pair. I followed and called him. The turn and the river were lower cards yet and so I felt my Q's were good. What I couldn't see was that there were 3 clubs on the table. I thought the Q was a spade. He ended up with flush and there went a lot of my chips.
Ok, now we have to play conservative and try to get some chips back. From 500 in chips I won an all in and got to 1500. Now with about 16 players left I was looking for another all in move to get more chips. We got down to 14 players and I came up with pocket 4's. Not a great hand but then again I need some chips. I go all in and I get one caller. He had pocket 7's. He ended up winning the pot and I was out of the tournament at 14th place.
The only thing I would have changed tonight was that one hand and if I would have noticed the flush on the table I don't think I would have called so much. That one hand bothers me tonight and I usually don't give away so many chips in one hand. I think what bothers me the most is not seeing the club on the card. I will let it go but at least give me a few hours to stew over the hand and then I'll be alright.
Golf this Saturday in the Hospital employee tournament. Looking forward to it.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Poker Night
After last week playing in the tournament and coming in 13th and then playing in the live game and just not doing well at all I wanted to have a good showing tonight. I have been doing some reading on tournament strategy and I wanted to try some of it on the preflop and see how it will work.
I draw my seat and I am sitting in seat six. I don't usually sit in the middle of the table. I usually get the ends or by the dealer. This was an unusual place for me. I could really watch the table and see all the players well. In my mind I went over the strategy I wanted to play tonight. Fold and when I get to the position I need then start playing. Well, that didn't last very long. I think when you read these books by the pros they are giving you strategy to play with the pros. It doesn't work that way with amateurs. When you have players that play hands that do not make sense then it is hard for you to make a play on them and have it hold up. I know you want them to make a hard decision but then you end up making it hard on yourself trying to make a decision to make them make a decision.
I played a few hands tonight that I did win with. I was actually building my chips throughout the tournament. One hand that did hurt me was the hand where I got AK and I ended up with two callers and one of them was all in. When the cards were turned over one of the players had AQ and the all in had A10. The river gave the all in a 10 high straight. He ended up tripling up and my stack was hurt.
I did start to build my chip count again. I played the right cards at the right time tonight and I actually felt good about my chances at the final table if I could get there. I did make the final table tonight and like I said before anything can happen when you get there.
Well, it did happen. There was someone always moving in on the blinds and raising and making the blinds make decisions whether to play or give up the chips. I was in the BB and I had A10 and again one of the guys was going after my blind. I took a stand and called him. The flop came K6K. The player looked at me and asked me if I could beat what he was showing me. He showed me a 6 which made 2 pair for him. I only had 4 chips left and I didn't get any of the flop. What should I do? Go all-in and play my two over cards? Well, I did the worse thing and folded the hand. I couldn't believe I made that decision. The very next hand I was the SB and there went more of my chips in the pot. I had 86 suited and so I went all-in and when the flop, turn, and river finished I almost had the straight. I was out of the tournament in 9th place out of 24 players.
I have to learn from this and next time I am confronted with this decision I will need to play it differently. Two over cards with alot of outs. I let his aggression get me. Maybe it was the fact he didn't want me to call and he showed me to put pressure on me. Maybe he had the K for the full house. That A10 was a better hand and whether it would have won or not shouldn't have made a difference in how I played the hand.
I have to come away from this knowing that 9th place is not a bad showing. Two weeks in a row now I have come close or now have made the final table. I need to be aggressive when I get there. I have to have the chips to exert some pressure on the other shorter stacks and get the stack to grow. I have done it in the past and I know I can do it again. One thing I did do was played my game and I ended up not following the book. Why am I reading a book?
As in anything you do if you want it bad enough you will go get it. Lessons? Mentor? You have to find what it is and go get the instruction you need. I would do better by playing more often. Seeing more hands. Then you have the time factor. Oh well, it is just a game.
Golf and Poker. What a combination to get involved with.
I draw my seat and I am sitting in seat six. I don't usually sit in the middle of the table. I usually get the ends or by the dealer. This was an unusual place for me. I could really watch the table and see all the players well. In my mind I went over the strategy I wanted to play tonight. Fold and when I get to the position I need then start playing. Well, that didn't last very long. I think when you read these books by the pros they are giving you strategy to play with the pros. It doesn't work that way with amateurs. When you have players that play hands that do not make sense then it is hard for you to make a play on them and have it hold up. I know you want them to make a hard decision but then you end up making it hard on yourself trying to make a decision to make them make a decision.
I played a few hands tonight that I did win with. I was actually building my chips throughout the tournament. One hand that did hurt me was the hand where I got AK and I ended up with two callers and one of them was all in. When the cards were turned over one of the players had AQ and the all in had A10. The river gave the all in a 10 high straight. He ended up tripling up and my stack was hurt.
I did start to build my chip count again. I played the right cards at the right time tonight and I actually felt good about my chances at the final table if I could get there. I did make the final table tonight and like I said before anything can happen when you get there.
Well, it did happen. There was someone always moving in on the blinds and raising and making the blinds make decisions whether to play or give up the chips. I was in the BB and I had A10 and again one of the guys was going after my blind. I took a stand and called him. The flop came K6K. The player looked at me and asked me if I could beat what he was showing me. He showed me a 6 which made 2 pair for him. I only had 4 chips left and I didn't get any of the flop. What should I do? Go all-in and play my two over cards? Well, I did the worse thing and folded the hand. I couldn't believe I made that decision. The very next hand I was the SB and there went more of my chips in the pot. I had 86 suited and so I went all-in and when the flop, turn, and river finished I almost had the straight. I was out of the tournament in 9th place out of 24 players.
I have to learn from this and next time I am confronted with this decision I will need to play it differently. Two over cards with alot of outs. I let his aggression get me. Maybe it was the fact he didn't want me to call and he showed me to put pressure on me. Maybe he had the K for the full house. That A10 was a better hand and whether it would have won or not shouldn't have made a difference in how I played the hand.
I have to come away from this knowing that 9th place is not a bad showing. Two weeks in a row now I have come close or now have made the final table. I need to be aggressive when I get there. I have to have the chips to exert some pressure on the other shorter stacks and get the stack to grow. I have done it in the past and I know I can do it again. One thing I did do was played my game and I ended up not following the book. Why am I reading a book?
As in anything you do if you want it bad enough you will go get it. Lessons? Mentor? You have to find what it is and go get the instruction you need. I would do better by playing more often. Seeing more hands. Then you have the time factor. Oh well, it is just a game.
Golf and Poker. What a combination to get involved with.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Poker 6-13
How about playing some poker. Tonight was an adventure that I probably won't do again for a long time. No amount of reading ever prepares you enough for what you will see and experience. Tonight I started out my adventure at the tournament table.
As always it is hard for me to remember hands that I have played unless something really sticks out about the hand. I played very conservative tonight and the table was doing about the same. I was trying to play position and of course playing the best hands I could. If I didn't get anything on the flop then I was out of there. I didn't go fishing for cards and throw my chips out when I had raisers in front of me. I wanted to do well. At some point you have to start playing and building the chip count. That is the area that needs to be worked on.
Tonight I came in 13th out of 27 players. As always I do well in the middle of the pack and I know if I can get to the final table anything can happen. Tonight I was 3 players away from making that table. Actually when I look back at my play tonight I don't think I would have changed anything. I didn't get the cards on the flop that I needed. Any Ace or Face card I got was with a weak kicker anyway. I never got two pairs even if I threw my good ones away. Oh well, I will keep playing and try to improve on my play.
Now for the adventure. I stayed around and played in a cash game $4-$8. That was interesting in itself. I have been doing some reading on this type of play and I wanted to try it. Before it started tonight I went over to one of the dealers and asked them about playing the table. He explained the betting portion of it and so I bought my chips and sat down. I put myself in seat 10 so I would be near the dealer just in case he needed to help me with the betting action.
This is such a different type of game. I saw people call and raise just to see cards. It didn't matter what you had. You wanted to see the flop and see if you could help yourself by the cards that would come up. Now I must say I did win some pots. But I must also say that I was the biggest fish there. I just tried to not look like I didn't know what I was doing. I wanted to at least give a good showing. Which I think I did. Now, of course, I did go out and left all of my chips on the table in someone elses area. I probably will not do this again. After I left the Casino tonight I was more determined to get better at tournament play. I enjoy that type of poker more than the cash game.
I am having some back problems right now and I don't know how that is going to affect my golf game. I haven't taken any clubs out to swing them and see if I will be favoring my left side. That won't help the golf swing any. We have a tournament coming up the last of June and I definitely want to be able to play.
Having fun.
As always it is hard for me to remember hands that I have played unless something really sticks out about the hand. I played very conservative tonight and the table was doing about the same. I was trying to play position and of course playing the best hands I could. If I didn't get anything on the flop then I was out of there. I didn't go fishing for cards and throw my chips out when I had raisers in front of me. I wanted to do well. At some point you have to start playing and building the chip count. That is the area that needs to be worked on.
Tonight I came in 13th out of 27 players. As always I do well in the middle of the pack and I know if I can get to the final table anything can happen. Tonight I was 3 players away from making that table. Actually when I look back at my play tonight I don't think I would have changed anything. I didn't get the cards on the flop that I needed. Any Ace or Face card I got was with a weak kicker anyway. I never got two pairs even if I threw my good ones away. Oh well, I will keep playing and try to improve on my play.
Now for the adventure. I stayed around and played in a cash game $4-$8. That was interesting in itself. I have been doing some reading on this type of play and I wanted to try it. Before it started tonight I went over to one of the dealers and asked them about playing the table. He explained the betting portion of it and so I bought my chips and sat down. I put myself in seat 10 so I would be near the dealer just in case he needed to help me with the betting action.
This is such a different type of game. I saw people call and raise just to see cards. It didn't matter what you had. You wanted to see the flop and see if you could help yourself by the cards that would come up. Now I must say I did win some pots. But I must also say that I was the biggest fish there. I just tried to not look like I didn't know what I was doing. I wanted to at least give a good showing. Which I think I did. Now, of course, I did go out and left all of my chips on the table in someone elses area. I probably will not do this again. After I left the Casino tonight I was more determined to get better at tournament play. I enjoy that type of poker more than the cash game.
I am having some back problems right now and I don't know how that is going to affect my golf game. I haven't taken any clubs out to swing them and see if I will be favoring my left side. That won't help the golf swing any. We have a tournament coming up the last of June and I definitely want to be able to play.
Having fun.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Poker Night 6-6
I keep forgetting to write my blog on my poker adventure. An adventure it is right now. Maybe I am doing too much reading and trying to do too much. I like the saying " Amateurs work at it till they get it right and professionals work at it till they can't get it wrong". I need to just keep working at it and getting it right.
Poker night started out alright and I played conservative. Not too many hands came my way. This time I really did get blinded down to one 500 chip. That is when you go all in and not surprise anyone and you get taken out. Ok, 18th out of 25. At least I was not the first one out.
I am not ready to go home so I immediately go over to the blackjack table and sit down. I played for a while on the chips I had and then finally ran out of that too. Ok, this night is not a good night for me. I then go over to the poker room and watch the final 5 players play out the tournament.
After that was over with I went over and watched the live cash game. I talked with one of the people that plays live games and we discussed the differences in the games and how to play it. I watched one person start out with $80 and work it up to over $300. It is an interesting way to play and if you catch the cards you can do well. Maybe even earn your money back. I had purchased a couple of books on live cash games and started reading the book. I must have 5 books going now at the same time. 3 on Tournament play and 2 on cash game play. I hope I can learn something. Or at least be more confused.
Tomorrow night is another poker night. I am looking at playing in the tournament and then seeing if I can play some of the cash game. At least give it a try.
This last Sunday I did not play golf. I was on call and I just wasn't going to chance it being on the golf course since I was at the job for 7 hours on Saturday for a system upgrade. Thank goodness I wasn't out there since I did get about 5 calls from 0751 to 1100. That would have been my time out on the course.
Poker night started out alright and I played conservative. Not too many hands came my way. This time I really did get blinded down to one 500 chip. That is when you go all in and not surprise anyone and you get taken out. Ok, 18th out of 25. At least I was not the first one out.
I am not ready to go home so I immediately go over to the blackjack table and sit down. I played for a while on the chips I had and then finally ran out of that too. Ok, this night is not a good night for me. I then go over to the poker room and watch the final 5 players play out the tournament.
After that was over with I went over and watched the live cash game. I talked with one of the people that plays live games and we discussed the differences in the games and how to play it. I watched one person start out with $80 and work it up to over $300. It is an interesting way to play and if you catch the cards you can do well. Maybe even earn your money back. I had purchased a couple of books on live cash games and started reading the book. I must have 5 books going now at the same time. 3 on Tournament play and 2 on cash game play. I hope I can learn something. Or at least be more confused.
Tomorrow night is another poker night. I am looking at playing in the tournament and then seeing if I can play some of the cash game. At least give it a try.
This last Sunday I did not play golf. I was on call and I just wasn't going to chance it being on the golf course since I was at the job for 7 hours on Saturday for a system upgrade. Thank goodness I wasn't out there since I did get about 5 calls from 0751 to 1100. That would have been my time out on the course.
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