Hehe, indeed I’m still around, but as you’ve probably already noticed via the post title or the lack of updates, I’m not really playing poker…or at least not much.

After my pretty sick run at FTP, falling victim to the crack errm rush poker, I took a beating a stars as well. So I did the sensible thing and stepped away for a bit. After a while I had to get back into action though, and as the pitty of a bankroll dictated it, I made my way down to the depths of donkeyland. To make a long story short, they had a field-day squashing the remainder of my roll and I’m officially busto at stars as well.

I will spare you all the details, but let me say this much: play wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t logical and it sure as hell wasn’t correct strategically or mathematically, but it was “right” in the sense that they got the best of me. Who cares if they’re just 5-20% to win in 95% of the cases? Usually that would be me, at least if I would win 95% of those cases or even anywhere close to that, hell I’ll take 50%…but as you already know that wasn’t the case…the curse of the real bad run, when you know you’re fucked even though you push it in leaving your opponent 4 outs or less…

In related news there was a home-game a few weeks back and with my abstinence from online donkin, I was more than happy to play some live poker. The end result was close to the online results, hell, it was the same shit tbh. I could get some hands together, playing my heart out, but once the big pots came around, I couldn’t catch a break. I can honestly say that I didn’t have one hand hold up in a crucial pot.

Let me give you a few examples: I started the evening coming out of the gates firing. Raise, raise, raise, raise. I win a few small pots in a row. My reasoning is simple: I’ve got a crowd of gamblers at the table and they don’t mind making incorrect plays (e.g. calling big raises preflop, chasing with incorrect odds, etc), there’s only one player that plays really sound strategy and I’ve got position on him. My strategy works out beautifully as I look down at QQ after raising and winning the last 5 pots. I raise again big preflop in LP and get one caller. Once the flop comes down ten high, I push all-in as my opponent only has got 1.5x the pot left. I get instacalled by jackAce off. Before I can say shit the Aceball hits the turn and I take a hit. On the next hand I raise big again, holding AQs. I get the same caller again. The flop comes Axx and after it’s checked to me I push all-in again. I get snap-called by KK. Turn blank…river king. Fuck me. I bow out once my next AQs can’t connect against JJ and I’m busto. Fucking A++.

So, to make a long story short, I guess you won’t be hearing any online poker news from me in the upcoming weeks as I’m taking a real break this time…I wish you better luck than me…good luck at the tables and peace out…

Hehe…that pretty much describes my sessions tonight. I rocked the 6max SnGs finishing 1st or 2nd in 5 out of 8. In headsup I got donkeypunched hard…so I finish the night about even. Snap!

What else…yeah…right…there was a homegame a while back and it was really fun(ny). We had a small group this time playing 6max…but in the end the lucksack/donkbag was too much to overcome. Despite playing good, it’s hard to win if you can’t connect once the blinds get big, especially if any two will be enough to go to showdown. Oh well…apart from that I played a little online here and there, but nothing much going on…

I’m off to read the rest of Mike Matusow’s book….enjoy the not so random pic dump….gl at the tables…

Yeah, today was a good day, so don’t let yourself be fooled by the first couple of screenshots below…they’re from the last few weeks…the later ones are from today. After buying the MicroStakes Edition of PokerTracker 3 (see my earlier post) I jumped into a 5 table SnG and owned it, finishing with a W and a smile on my face. After that I broke even in a few headsup matches and took my lazy ass to the couch to relax a little as there was another installment of the home game tonight.

I arrived at the home game and we sat down 9 handed playing our regular tourney (more than 6 players, so the money is split three ways, 50/30/20% of the price pool). I owned that too, coming back from being really short (5BB) to win it. After that we decided to play another one, 6 players including myself saddled up for a winner takes it all SnG. I was among the chipleaders most of the way, but once we got even shorter, 4 and then 3 players, I just couldn’t get a hand to hold up anymore. The really decisive hand was me in LP against the BB (?). Limped pot and we see a flop of 9Tx…I hold J7. Opponent bets out around 3BB. I decide to peel off a card and we see the turn. 8. Yatzee. My opponent goes all-in instantly and I snap-call showing the nuts. He’s really disappointed and his only hope is a J as he’s holding Q9. Dealer burns and turns….a J….three outs = 100%…yikes. Too bad. A few hands later I tangle with the same player again. I open-shove for 12BB and he calls. I show down AcQh, he shows KJ. 60/40…I’ll take it, if my hand holds up I’m back in contention. No such joy though as the dealer flops a King, turns a Jack and doesn’t peel off a ten on the river for me…so I bow out in 3rd place with 0. Oh well, at least he went on to win it, and btw he really deserved to win something…he’s been running like hell in the last few home-games…so ‘s all good. Enjoy the random pic dump and I’m outta here…

Totally forgot to write about the last home game. We met up early to fire up the bbq and yummy did we feast on some good stuff. After that we set up the table and all and off we were, really shorthanded this time, due to vacations and what not only 5 players showed up. So we decided to do a rebuy tourney with a 80/20 split for the headsup players. The rebuy period was rather wild, but as it came to a close, action tightened up a little…although action was heating up soon enough again.

The host was on fire. Soon enough he started to fire away and call big bets preflop with basically any two. First he cracked aces…it was really well played on his part though…a player in LP fire it up and he smooth-called in the BB…now…it was a rather big bet, but with all the rebuys the stacks were deep…so a call was really a good play in this spot. The flop came on 55x and the host checked to the original raiser. Sure enough he bet big…the host thought for a while, not really all that long, before announcing all-in…he was greeted with an insta-call by the original raiser who revealed AA…hehe…the smile on his face disappeared quickly as the host turn over 5x for the flop trips. They held up and the original raiser was busto. As I had already busted out earlier, they were down to three-handed. Soon enough the host pushed in again after a reraise preflop. He got insta-called again. Host shows TdTs, pusher shows KhKc. Ooops. Flop three small spades. Uh oh. Turn another spade….pusher drawing dead and busto. Sure enough the dealer peels of the Ks just to rub it in. Headsup was done in one hand afterwards. Ax vs Kx for the host…Kx won…and it was done.

Hehe, after that most of the players needed to cool off a little. After a little cool off we decided to play another small game with half the buyin, and as one player bailed out, we decided to make it winner takes it all…after all there’s not much point playing in a 80/20 or similar split if you’re only four handed. Most hands escape me, but I busted two players and we headed into headsup me being ahead 2:1. The big hand that clinched it for me didn’t take long to develop. After maybe 10 hands of headsup the following hand went down. I’m on the button and look down at 24. My opponent in the bb decides to raise big, something along the line of 5-6BB. Side note: he’s the player that got his aces cracked in the prior game. So I’m thinking: hmm, this is suspicious, can he have aces again? I guess so…oh well, I’m in position…let’s see a flop. I call and the dealer spreads 245 on the table. My opponents bets out big again, almost commiting himself anyway and even if not, I’m confident he does indeed have the aces. I insta-call and sure enough he proudly rolls over AA again. I reveal the good ole 2-4o and he’s pissed. Turn and river blank out and I’m the champ pocketing the whole pot. Wheeeee…

So that’s the wrap-up of our latest installment of the home game, looking forward to the next one…let’s see when that will happen…I guess after holiday season is over…we’ll see…

Nope, still no return to online pohka…but there was a home game tonight. Wheeee. First the first bbq of the new year…yummy…then some good ole poker action. Eleven new and old donks saddled up and over 3 hours we were in the money (top three). I was sitting second in chips after coming to the final table with roughly 4BB. But still, the chipleader was a mile away. I put away player number three when he limped in the SB…I looked down at snowmen in the BB and it was an easy shove for me. He thought about it for a bit, but there was no real possibility there for him to fold, he was already commited with the limp and the huge blinds. So he called with K2o promptly flopping a king…the turn brought one of the remaining eights to leave him drawing dead – just to rub it in the dealer peeled off a King on the river giving me the boat to his three kings.

Headsup was a quick afair. Three hands in we got it all in the middle – the blinds were huge and I was at a 1:5 chip-deficit, so when my opponent shoved on the button I only had to look at one card…it was a King and I snap-called. My K9o wasn’t in that bad a shape, he showed A6o…and Ace on the flop was enough to hold me off so I took second place. Not bad the way I’ve been running recently (on- and offline)…so I’ll take it, a good evening with friends, nice bbq and some pohka…I like…alrighty…that’s all for now…I’m outta here, time to catch some sleep. Good luck at the tables…and cya next time…

The place where funny things happen – let me tell you. Yesterday’s home game could be titled “home game out of the freezer”, a fitting title considering that it was like -5°C outside and the deck was frozen, too. I can honestly say that I’ve never, ever, seen such a string of coolers in a single home game evening. The only positive thing about it was that I wasn’t the only one on the bad end of the coolers.

In total we had the usual set over set, boat over boat and overpair vs overpair stuff (obv the 4:1 dog won), but the “funniest” hands were boat vs quads, boat vs bigger boat, trips vs trips outkicked by one notch, etc, etc…it was pretty brutal to say the least. In the first tourney we played, I was gigli+1. I think I played a total of 7 hands and lost 6 of them. Ouch. Things looked better in the second tourney which I ultimately took down (I went into headsup roughly 2:1 in chips and took it down on a suckout when my Ace deucy hit the deuce on the turn, after we say an ace high flop (opponent AK)). In the third tourney I was the bubble boy after losing a flip AK vs QQ. Oh well…in the end it was a fun evening with pizza, chat and lots of talk…I finished down less than ten bucks…so all good 🙂

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…

Do you know the feeling when you’ve played a lot of poker and then you suddenly take a break and you don’t have the urge to come back? I feel like that these days and while recent results both online (WCOOP satellite) and live (home game tourney win) have been good, I still find myself not playing. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve played a little a headsup match here and there, won the last x ones without a single loss btw, but I still don’t feel like playing more….I guess I need a new goal in poker as the same old “boring” grind isn’t cutting it anymore, at least not these days. Maybe I should check back to see what my goals were at the start of the year, it seems that it’s been ages since then and I didn’t have a second look. Or maybe I should just set a new goal without going back…hmmm….meditate on this I will…until then gl at the tables everyone…

…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…

…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…