Weird to write about yet another home game…after a few months of not playing live at all it was the second time in two weeks that we met to play a home game. This time only five players showed up though…and not in time either…gotta love it when you’re the only one on time…*lol*…insta-tilt…it didn’t get much better after that…bad beat city followed by cooler city. It was the first time that we played a single rebuy format. I dusted of my original stack when my Queens got cracked, then my TP was no good, then my AQ lost to K5, etc etc…gotta love it when ppl call of 33% of their stack (it was a shorty) preflop with K5…but wait…it was s000000000ted….oh well….so I rebuy and chip up quite nicely. Then, just when I was about to get even (original stack + rebuy stack) I run into the noice cooler…too bad I was on the wrong side of it…I’m on the button with Th8h….s00ted one gapper, I like…cutoff bumps it preflop…I call…we see the flop of QT8 rainbow headsup. Cutoff leads out pot…I shove…he thinks for a while then calls…flips over QT….nice…NOT….oh well…

After that the game went on for a few more minutes before the lucksack of the day won it. After that most of the players left and it was still early. What to do with only two players? Yeah, cue the NBC NHUC music….”heeeeeads up”…so we play a little headsup match and after a long match I win it. It was pretty unreal and honestly I should have lost the match straight up. Every time I had second pair, my opponent had top pair. Every time there was an ace on the flop, he had one…etc etc…it was pretty fugly. BUT I was able to suckout in three crucial pots to seal the deal. The scary part was that the hands went down exactly the same way twice and almost the same the third time.

The hands were Kx vs Ax on a AKx flop…turn blank…river K. Ka-ching. The next one was J9 vs KQ on a QJx flop….turn J…river blank. The last one was J9 again vs AQ this time…QJx flop…turn J…river blank. Scary…but I’ll take…I’m off…gl at the tables everyone…

It’s been ages since we had our last home game and it was about time that we got together again to sling some cards. It didn’t feel like the old home game though as some of the long-standing members lost their drive and didn’t show up for tonight’s game (or the last few home games for that matter). We were still able to get 7 players and so we started off our regular tourney format, but only with a single table. Oh well, could be worse. In the beginning a mate of mine ran like the poker god himself. Every other hand he had a monster (either preflop or on the flop) and found someone who had a decent second best hand. So he took the chiplead early while I looked down at abysmal hand after abysmal hand. Oh well, sit tight until the blinds go up and then start some action. So that I did and I slowly chipped away at the others winning small to medium pots in the process.

Before long I was the chipleader having the early chipleader (aka mr. running like the poker god himself) covered by a lot. Then the clinching hand went down. We’re four handed, 3 in the money (don’t ask), and I look down at AhTh. The estimated chip counts are me 45% of the chips in play, early chipleader 25% of the chips in play and the rest divided between the shorter stacks. Early chipleader is in the small blind. UTG folds and I pop it on the button with my AT s00000ted. Early chipleader in the SB calls, BB folds. Flop comes down A89 rainbow. Early chipleader pushes. I instacall…putting him on a pair, def not a set – he would try to milk it – def not a straight draw – he would lowball that as well (good to have reads on your opponents, lol). So we flip up our cards and he shows pocket tens. Nice…he’s drawing to one out or runner runner straight for a chop. I like my chances here. Turn bring a 7. Ooooh the tension. River is the often called for deuce and I’m the monster chipleader with 70% of the chips in play and we’re in the money. From there it doesn’t take long for one of the shorties to bust the other and we’re headsup. As my opponent is a rather inexperienced player I decide to go with a small-pot-strategy. It works out to perfection as I win small pot after small pot. I won some medium pots too as I connected to the flop sometimes, sometimes even really hard: I’ve got 96 s000ted on the button and I raised to 4BB. I get a call and we see a flop of 9d6h9h. Yatzee! She checks, I check. Turn bring another diamond and I’m thinking, please have a flush-draw and let the flush get there one time. River is a total blank and I try to milk it a little, but don’t get a call. Boooo! But oh well….soon enough I’m up 12:1 in chips and the end comes as I push in on a flop of 234. I hold 25o against A8. Turn is a blank and river is another deuce and I take it down. Nice!

After that another player arrived and we started our “second chance” tourney (with half the buyin of the main game). I didn’t catch any cards and the action was crazy. So I decided to go with my first real hand I would get. That happened in the third blinds level. I look down at JJ on the button. Jacks are okay, right? Nah…but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. So…and MP player limps, LP player limps, I pop it, all but the two limpers fold and we see a flop of T88 with two clubs. Checked to me. Hmm…I bet two thirds of the pot. MP player calls. LP player pushes. Bummer. So I got the nagging feeling that I gotta be beat here. Someone’s gotta have the eight or a bigger overpair. Hmm..I look down at my chipstack, then at the chipstack of the LP pusher, then at the chipstack of the MP caller that is yet to act. Oh brother, I should have checked my stack and the others earlier.

I’ve got the pusher covered by a longshot, but the MP player yet to act has me covered. Caught in the middle. What if the MP player has got a ten here…then I can bust him and lose the smaller pot to the pusher if he’s got an eight. What if it’s the other way around. Honestly, I didn’t even think that hard and long…after all the pot was that big and one way or the other I felt like I had commited myself (mathematically I had done it by my cbet after the flop checked to me) – but honestly, even if you’re commited mathematically, is it right to throw in your last chips with a feeling that you’re almost dead? Not really, but I did it anyway…it’s the home game second chance tourney after all and hey, maybe they’re out of line anyway. So I push and get instacalled by the MP player. So we turn up our hands and they’re: MP – AA….yikes….LP – 82o….lol…nice call preflop :p …me JJ…turn brings a deuce to give mr 82o a boat…still need a J…river is a blank and I’m busto. Oh well….can’t win ’em all 😉

So…I’m outta here…maybe I’ll be back with some online poker stuff next week as I doubt that I’ll get in some hands during the remainder of the weekend…so, until then…gl at the tables everyone…

Especially if the dealer keeps rubbing it in…presto no good…obv…now, I made a bad move on the flop…and I was a 4:1 dog preflop…so all good…but why give me the damn 5 on the river ffs, are you out to get me on tilt? Obv..yeah…

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $22.95 | Rake $1.10
Board [3s 9d Js 9c 5d]
Seat 1: Ingoal showed [5s 5c] and lost with a full house, Fives full of Nines
Seat 2: cafecanuck folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: doccincy (button) showed [Jh Jc] and won ($21.85) with a full house, Jacks full of Nines

Back to bread and butter, I get slaughtered at the SnGs for the most part…so I’m off, down and out for the night. Really need to think about this online poker journey. It’s leading up and down and up and down and up and down down down…pretty sick and discouraging.

Today was one of these days where you can just feel that something isn’t right. It all started out pretty good with two easy HU wins against opponents playing too tight…and once they couldn’t take it anymore I had a monster. Then it all fell apart. It was a mixture of 60/40 shots not going my way, with the occasional cooler and there were some errors on my part, too. I dropped the ball in two consecutive SnGs after being three-outered for a big pot. Oh well, the way it goes sometimes. At least I got my shit together in time to cash in the last one I played. Third…still pretty sick as I got three-outered again…so instead of headsup 5:1 in chips I’m crippled with 3BB…oh well…

So I logged off and went to a little barbecue/party. The crowd was a mix of the usual home game faces and some others. Once the majority of the “others” left, it was inevitable…pokah! It was wild and slow and fun, mostly. I can honestly say that this table was a new experience. Fourteen (!) players. As some teamed up those 14 became 11 (as five players built a three and two player-combo). I joked that I would push all-in on the first hand…and once I looked down at TT in LP…I chuckled…then pushed all-in. *lol* I won the blinds and limps. The rest is mostly a blurr…one player, who was so drunk that he left the table on a few occasions (to puke all over the host’s bathroom, yikes), basically steamrolled the table winning pot after pot and eliminating player after player: “What you got a set? Oh well…I got King high….I call the all-in”…*lol*…sure enough he runner-runners the straight, etc etc.

So sick. But anyway…back to my play. It came down to three crucial hands. I pushed in with KJo in the BB after the button and SB limped..button calls with QT…flop comes down KJx…turn? A….wheeeee…NOT…river is a blank and I’m crippled. Next hand I push in blind in the SB…cutoff calls…I river a straight with my J7o…next hand I push in blind on the button…get called in two spots…I river a Jack with my J3o….one opponent shows J4o…split pot as the lowest card on the board, a 5, plays…*lol*…two hands later UTG pushes for 1.5BB (!)…UTG+1 min-raises….folded to me…I look down at 66 and I push over the top…UTG+1 calls…showdown: UTG – KJo…UTG+1 – KQo…looking good…flop is all low…no 6 though…turn J…river blank….and I’m busto…and now I’m typing this…enjoy the following (not so) random pic dump and I’m outta here….

…or the return of the home-game king

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the home game was scheduled for tonight. I started off at the slower and IMHO weaker table, not so good and good for me. I played two major pots (in the first one I raise UTG with AA get called in two spots…flop comes down king high and I fire right out…the LP player folds (he later told me he had nines)…button calls…turn is a blank and I push…the by then small-stacked button calls with AK…nice…dead to two outs…and now…surprise…it didn’t hit…wheeeeeeeeee what a happy, good feeling to have a hand stand up; in the second one I limp on the button with 3d4d…the blinds and me see the flop come down A25 rainbow (one diamond)…wheeeeeee…flopping the joint…SB leads right out….wheeeeeee #2….BB folds…I raise big…SB calls…turn is another 2…the 2d no less…SB checks…I put her all-in…she ponders and ponders…but she’s commited at that point…she calls with AQo…drawing to two outs again…and surprise surprise…it doesn’t hit either…..wheeeeeeeeeee #3). So we’re down to the final three, which move on to the final table.

After a loooooong wait the final table final starts. We see a quick all-in by two short-stacks in the first hand and they both go busto. So we’re down to four with three ITM…bubble time. We finally lose the bubble boy and we’re ITM after a few hands. Then the crapshoot begins…the blinds are ridonkulous…and the big stack is trigger happy…I fold fold fold until I can’t take it anymore. Once the big stack button finally folds a hand preflop I shove from the small blind….bb folds. Then I double up against the big stack when he shoves with Td2d…I look down at AdKd on the button, King on the flop and no backdoor miracle…a few hands later, the former big stack is the shortstack and I double him up losing a 40/60 shot (KJ vs Ax)…I finally bust him when he moves all-in from the SB…I insta-call with KJo and got him crushered, he holds 6s2s and no miracle hits….

Headsup it’s a shovefest…I finally have the best of it (I hold almost a 2:1 chiplead at that point) and when my opponent shoves on the button I instacall again with KJo…he has J9 s00ted…the King hits again and I’m the homegame king again….finally….how long I’ve waited for this one.

One things for sure: in the end, when the blinds were big, it could have gone the other way…the major difference between tonight’s game and the last x games was though that my hands stood up when they needed to…plain and simple…no miracles for my opponents today…ooooh the satisfaction…I’m off with a smile…cya at the tables soonish…

Today was really a session to forget…so I’m trying to do that and I’ll log off after this post. First of, I’d like to say that it wasn’t bad luck all the time today, but it was kind of weird. First I start with some Razz ($1/$2). I get kicked in the junk in 3 major pots. What’s even more interesting is that I was the bring-in in 1/4th of the hands at a full 8 handed table. Maybe that should have told me something to begin with. The bad part is that I tilted off some money in the end though (around 20$). This was totally unnecessary as the ppl had seen me lose big hand after big hand, I was raising like a madman…but don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t playing weak starting hands…yes I losened my starting hand requirements from three to a seven to three to an eight…but is that really enough to chase me down with a rough ten? I guess not…but oh well…I should have known better, but I didn’t…so I’ll have to live with that.

After that Razz disaster I fired up some 6max SnGs and it wasn’t pretty. Got coolered on the bubble with Kings again…monster QT was enough to bust me…QTxTQ board…rofl…so sick. Then I bubbled again when I pushed QJ into QK on a Qxx board…then an unspectacular fourthed and finally a sixth place finish…and I’m off…down and out for tonight….

I don’t know if I’ll play online tomorrow since the home game is set for 8pm…let’s see if my unlucky streak continues there too…I’ll try to go in relaxed and take my chances…

…because nothing else can explain why I still bother to play in my home game. Well, maybe that’s a little harsh, I keep going back because of the social aspect as well, but there’s no doubt about one thing: I like money, too – who doesn’t? – and it’s really disappointing to get coolered or extremely unlucky all the time. All the time? Maybe you think that that’s an exaggeration, but it really isn’t.

Everytime I play in the homegame, it’s like I’ve got the plague or something. Either I run into a cooler or I get a junk-kick – one of the two is usually my exit or cripples me. Sure enough it was no different tonight. What adds to the “unlucky-ness” is the fact that we’re playing tournament/sng-style in the homegame, so no cash-game – instead everyone buys in with a set amount and we play a freeze-out, usually paying the top 3 spots (or the top 2 if less than 7-8 players are playing). With all the chatter and stuff it’s a slow game, so if you’re card-dead you’re pretty much at the mercy of the cards and let me tell you, they’ve got NO MERCY at all for me. This has been going on for months now and I’m really puzzled. Is there anything I can do different? I doubt it as I’ve tried to change up, switch gears, play tight, play loose, always looking out for the current status of the table and the involved players….to no avail. Usually I set it up beautifully by making some bluffs, sometimes getting caught, sometimes not, sometimes showing it…all to generate action later on when I’ve got a monster. At least that’s the plan. The problem is that the plan does work out for the first part, getting the money in extremely good that is, but the second part, the holding up and raking in the pot part, isn’t working out at all.

We played shorthanded (6) tonight and the first hand that pretty much crippled me came up pretty early. There’s two limps, I’m on the button with Kd4d…I call…SB and BB stick around and we see a flop with two diamonds. Checked around. I check behind. Turn brings the third diamond. Yatzee! Cutoff check, I bet…SB calls…BB folds…cutoff calls. River is a blank. SB checks. Cutoff bets big. I’m puzzled…sure there’s a straight out there and the flush, but I’ve got the second nut flush here. So I call…the SB thinks for ages and then calls, too. Showdown: SB – straight…cutoff AdJd for the nut-flush, me Kd4d for the second nut-flush. Nice. Yuck. So I’m crippled and pretty soon I’m busto.

So I stick around for the second game, which we play turbo-style (6min blinds)…after all it’s the beginning of the week and ppl have to get their lazy behinds out of bed in the morning. Nothing much to report from this one…I push in with the worst hand twice and suckout the first time when a seven spikes on the turn (A7 vs AJ)…the second time I’m busto, all good there.

So the other players battle it out and they’re still anxious to play another turbo. I’m in and things are looking good. I pick up a few pots early on. Then the following hand comes down. I’m in the BB with QQ. Nice. Action folds around to the button. He calls. SB moves all-in (I’ve got him covered by a longshot). I hesitate for 3 seconds before pushing in myself. The button thinks and thinks, and yes, I’ve got him covered by 1/3 too. So he pushes in. Now I’m thinking to myself: uh-oh, you’re probably dead…I put the button on AK and the SB on AT-AK…to my surprise the flip over K7 (button) and KT (SB). What the heck? I’m happy though…one overcard…two outs for them. Flop? K7x…turn bring the T for the SB resuck…river is a blank and I’m down to 1/3 of my original stack. So sick. Even borderline crazy I would say.

So I moan a little…but after all everybody in the homegame knows how bad I’m running…and that’s why they’re after me. They know that they’re usually a MASSIVE underdog, but they don’t care. The old saying goes “After all it’s Ingoal, I’ll suckout on him. I call.”…and call they do and tbh I LOVE IT. What else could you ask for? One or more player(s) willing to throw their money out the windows virtually drawing dead almost every single time? So the setup is perfect, the only problem, as already mentioned, is the fugly sickness that comes after those calls.

So as I’m short on chips I’m contemplating making a move, but I don’t until I’m UTG. I look down at QTo and I push. The BB ponders a call after everyone folded, after all it’s me, so why not? But he lays it down and shows 96o…I ask the dealer to rabbit-hunt the board and he does. I would have lost to a 6 on the turn. *lol*…the usual. So I’m in the BB and I’ve gotta fold the next hand. Then I’m in the SB and I look down at KK. After the button calls I move in over the top and the BB ponders a call. As I’m short it’s not all that much to call and after all he’s s00ted with 6s8s. He makes the calls. Right in the windows is a 6. The other two flop cards are two low spades, giving him not only a flush draw, but a gutterball as well. The turn is the third spade and I’m drawing dead. Just for good measure the river completes the gutterball straight as well, just to make sure that my kings get cracked for sure…*lol*…so I get up and out of there in a hurry…

Now I’m back home and still a little steamed up about this whole thing. Could it be that I’m unluckier than Mike Matusow? Looking at the results of the last months of the home game I would say: abso-fucking-lutely…and that’s scary…I’m outta here to get some de-tilt sleep…

…*lol*…

Haven’t played online in a while, too little time and too tired and mentally distracted to risk any serious dough. That didn’t keep me from playing some live poker last night though. In our little home game we play for peanuts and while playing poker is the central part of the evening, it’s not the only factor to consider. It’s basically about slinging chips and cards with new and old friends while chatting it up, drinking and eating the assorted random junk food. An evening in our home game is the total package so to speak.

Last night was no different. Eight donks sat down and started to play. I played my usual game, well, that’s not totally true, I mixed it up quite a little despite the fact that I was pretty card dead (my best hand was 44). I managed to win some pots by pure aggression, showing the occasional bluff (67o raise from UTG, etc), hoping to setup a big pot later on when it was my time to hold “a monster” (*wink* *wink* I’m starting to talk like Hellmuth *lol*…I guess watching all the poker shows isn’t that good for you after all). The time came once I finally picked up a real hand. Once again I was UTG and I look down at AKo…wheeeeeeee….10BB left…so what am I going to do? Open-push. UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 thinks, thinks, thinks and finally calls…fold, fold and another call by a player who didn’t even have 2BB left so no worries there.

The cards are flipped over and I show my AKo…UTG+2 groans as he shows the AQ s00ted…LP caller shows K4o…oh well…I like my chances here. Flop JQx…I don’t like my chances that much anymore…turn x….river Q…wheeeee…..I’m outta here….always nice to see 2 of your opponent’s 3 outs hit against you…*lol*…I congratulated him on his “nice call” preflop and left the table to get some steam out of my system (translation: I berated him for his donk call and moaned about my consistent bad luck in recent live events). Sure enough my opponent in that hand managed to push into a made hand drawing dead a few hands later…so sick.

As I waited for the game to finish, I cooled down again. So once the next game started I was fresh and ready to go and go I did. You gotta know that the second game (we only play tournaments and the second one after the main tourney) is only half the buyin for the same amount of chips and play. So I came out of the blocks raising almost every pot. Sure enough it didn’t take long for one of my esteemed calling station opponents to chase me down. It was the sixth or seventh hand of the tourney and I had raised 4 out 5 in the hands before this one. I look down at A4o on the button….two limpers…what am I going to do? Raise it up…one caller…and I know he’s got two face cards, fa-shizzle! Flop comes down Jx4…hmm…he leads out….I call…turn is another x…he fires again, this time BIG. I know that he’s got the jack and I’m frustrated. I put him on KJ and asked him if he would show me the hand if I layed it down. He was all too happy to show, so I was sure my read was correct. I layed it down, he shows the JTo…nice play…I’m the dealer and can’t resist to rabbit-hunt the last card…guess what…Ah….yuck.

Oh well…I guess hands like that come with the territory – it’s been a tradition that people just like to chase me down in our game. The old saying before the flop, on the flop or after the turn goes “oh well, I don’t have anything/much…but it’s against Ingo(al) after all…I call” and boom the headshot usually follows on the river. Pretty sick, but that’s what you get if you’ve got a reputation of being unlucky…(Side note: It’s obvious why I’ve got the reputation of being extremely unlucky in our home game…when a big pot goes down it’s usually me pushing or calling being a 60-98% favourite…so obv I’m going to take more beats than someone pushing in with a significant edge in 2 out of 10 big pots 😉 )….

But back to the game. I was down half my stack with that last hand, so I just waited for the next chance to push it in. That chance came once there were a few folds before me and I look down at TT…tempting…best hand all night…I got 8.xBB left…so what am I going to do with four people after me…push. Fold, fold, fold, call…KK….cya….*lol*…that one didn’t hurt at all…I was a 4:1 dog and I didn’t catch, surprise surprise…still sucks, but oh well…better luck next time.

Madly busy with my diploma thesis, so not much time for poker…well, basically no time at all for anything else. Still managed to squeeze in some live action last wednesday. This time it was my regular homegame hosted by a mate of mine. Not much luck in the main tourney as two calling stations at my table kept calling…and hitting in the end. The worst and final hand was my AT vs QT…I raise preflop to 4x…call…flop comes down KTx….I fire…call….now I’m worried but not really going to stop here…turn J…hmm…all-in…call…oh well…I guess I’m f*ed…cards get shown…oh I’m no f*cked after all…river 9…okay…I’m f*cked…*lol*….

After that I wanted to leave and catch some sleep, but as the main tourney was still running a few minutes later (and I needed to wait for some mates to finish because I was the driver), I decided to join the side tourney. Two hours later and I’m totally knackered but victorious…how sweet it is. I played like a maniac, basically raising every pot in MP to LP…fold fold fold of my opponents. I continue to play that way and naturally they play back when they got a monster…fold me….also natural: once I pickup a few hand KT flop QJ9, I hold KK vs QJ, etc…and I got their money…in the headsup match I was up more than 2:1 to start with, but pushing three times with a worse hand and hitting gave my opponent the lead (I won some smaller pots in between)…in the end I finally took it down with the best of it…fourthed try is the charm I guess….

Now to the BIG SHOUTOUT…it goes to Waffles! Props to him for helping me with getting my iPhone. I don’t have it in my hands yet, but the order is already place and it’s only a matter of time until it get’s here…wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The joy. Thanks again Waffles for your help with it, you’re the bomb and you’ll get something for your effort and help, trust me 🙂

…what’s better than a live poker game when you need to get outside to clear your head? Exactly, nothing! Got a call from a friend about a poker game tonight, so instead of loungin on the couch I made my way to the bar where the tourney was held. Had little luck early on, but once the main tourney started I made my run. I was one of the shortstacks right from the beginning – I started with 1.5k…others started with up to 7.5k (they got extra chips for winning pre main-tourney shootout tables). Nothing much going on at the first table…one nut-flush for me…double-up. Then I get moved to the next table and I sit down UTG. I look down at the first card…A…at the second card…A…I like! I raise it up 5BB and someone UTG+2 decides to push…I love it and insta-call…he shows the tourist (A7o), my rockets hold up and I’m good to go. A flush and some small pots later and I’m sitting pretty…then a tough one comes up. The blinds just gone up and it’s more or less a crapshoot now (0.8k/1.6k blinds), I’m in the BB and take a free look. The flop comes 9-5-4 rainbow…the SB checks…I check…turn comes the Jh…SB pushes…I hold 96o. I try to remember what the SB did on earlier hands with straight draws on board…I decide to go with my gut-feeling as I think he’s on a straight-draw again (he played them overly aggressive earlier)…I put him on 78 and call…he isn’t too pleased with my call and show 67o for the gutterball…river is blank and I cripple him. Tough call, but sticking with my initial feeling was the right move. Even tougher luck for him as he’s auto-all-in a few hands later in the BB…I look down at QQ UTG and that’s all she wrote for him…
After that some small pots won and lost and we’re finally down to the final table. I try to sit back and relax as I don’t get any hands and the other players are more than willing to gamble – no surprise with blinds approaching 1.5/3k…I can’t catch anything and once I’m in the BB the button decides to pop it….I’ve got 3k invested…only 5k behind so I can’t fold…69o against his A3o…alright…at least I’m live…an ace on the turn seals my exit in 6th…the meaningless 6 on the river comes to rub it in…*lol*…so…in the end no prize for me (top 3 get payed), but still a good one…I had fun, didn’t think about my diploma thesis for once and got some time at the felt…good stuff…off to catch some sleep now…
I’m UTG again and the BB is auto-allin with less than the blind…I look down at QQ and push…no callers except the BB…my queens hold up.