Well, that was fun.
Seeing as I was going back to "the Lodge" where I have been quite unlucky and quite outplayed, I thought I would wear the "Felix" shirt from Friday. It couldn't hurt, could it? I drove out there, all of a 3 minute drive (yes, I live conveniently close to all 3 of my regular games), and parked. When I put the car into park, I, surprisingly, did
not get nervous. A good sign I would think. Anyway, seeing as this was the scene of my poker low-point, I decided to give myself a pep talk that went something akin to this:
"Play YOUR game. Do not be intimidated. If you think you have the best of it, do NOT be afraid to get your chips in the middle and lastly, FUCK VARIANCE!"*I have not consciously kept my blog PG, but I think I have to keep it available to all ages...why I don't know. Nonetheless, on occasion, I will speak very frankly. If you know me personally, you know this. If you don't, well, you do now. Deal with it. It's my site :p*
So after feeling "pepped" by my inner monologue, I headed in. To my surprise, Jay came up to me and told me that they had just started a STT and for $30 ($25+5), I could get in as it was still during the first round. Also, Top 2 get paid: 1st - $170, 2nd - $80. As you, my beloved readers know, I tend to shy away from tournaments. Since I had had a long and rough day and came to play to relax and focus all my energy on one thing, poker, I didn't want to sit and watch, so I ponied up the $30 and sat down. Jay tried to position me to his right, which I did NOT want. See, he is a very good NL player, esp. in tournaments, so I wanted him on my right, not vice versa. So when he offers me an open space to his right, I kindly say no thanks, I'll sit on the other side of you in the 10-seat (10s). Subtle, but important to me.
The table consisted of the following people/players:
1s- Casey, who's dad is a full-time poker pro. Casey also is a fantastic tournament player who won an entry into this year's WSOP Main Event. He also played in a couple of the lesser tournaments during the WSOP.
2s- "Round Man", who runs this game. He is a bookie, poker player, and formerly in charge of running "The Day Game" which is the biggest game in town. From what I hear, he used to be a great all-around poker player, but not-so-much anymore. Not sure on that, as I have sat with him very few times. But either way, he's no slouch.
3s- (forget this kids name), he's a regular at the Lodge and a regular donator to the game as well. Tends to overplay his hands and I do not see him as a threat.
4s, 5s, 7s- 2 older ladies and an older gentleman whom I have never met nor seen in any room here in town.
6s - older gentleman who is a "regular" at the lodge whom I have only met once. No previous read on him either.
8s - Freddie, helps Round run the game when he's not around. Nice guy and runs a fair game. Have not played with him too often, but when I have, I have gotten the impression that he is loose and not the best HE player.
9s - Jay, who I feel is, along with Casey, the best tournament player at the table, as long as he takes it seriously. $30 does not interest him, so his focus can be suspect at times.
10s - Yours truly.
First hand, the blinds 25/50, and we start with 2k in chips (t2000 = $$$ in tournament chips). I am in MP and look down to find JTd (Jack, Ten of diamonds). I raise to T200. Folded around to the 4s who reraises me all-in, T500 total. Freddie, 8s, calls and I fold. My thoughts are that If the 4s doesn't have me, Freddie does. If he had not called, I would have. The run out the board and don't you know that I would have made a straight. :/ Oh well, I'll find a better spot to get in with. The 4s won when she spiked a Q on the turn.
Next 3 hands, I get dealt KQo each time. When I was in the BB with my KQo, I bet the flop of KJ7o and get called 6s and Freddie. I bet the turn when it brings a Tc and get raised all-in by the 6s. Freddie calls and I call. River brings a blank and my KQo is good. BOOM! I won that hand as well as one other of my next 2 hands. The hand that I lost was when, in the SB, the flop comes QQJ 2 hearts and I try to slow play. I bet the turn when another heart comes, but got called in two places. River brings a non-pairing heart and it's syanora Felix. I have to lay down as my trip Q's I know are beaten. 4s shows the Ah for the nut and Freddie shows the Kh for the 2nd-nut, 1st loser.
Still I'm doing alright, chip-wise, when in the course of the next 8 hands, 4 people get bumped out. Down to 5-handed and then Jay raises all-in, about 4x the BB, with the blinds at 50/100. The 4s calls. Jay turns over KK and the 4s turns over, wait for it,...........A7o. She spikes an A and Jay is out. Wow. 3 hands later, Casey raises with JJ and the 4s calls. Flop comes rags: 963 2 spades. Casey bets enough to put 4s all-in and she calls with A5c. No flush draw, no straight draw. Nada. Wow. Needless to say, Casey is not the chip leader when he knocks her out. Down to 4 players. A couple of hands later, Round takes out the kid in the 3s and we're down to 3 and Casey has us both covered and Round and I are about even. I had gotten along with some well-timed steals as well as never having to showdown a hand, winning all my hands on the flop or preflop.
With the blinds at 200/400 and me with @T3000, I'm in the BB and look down to find AJh. Casey had called and Round had folded his SB. I think and raise it T1000 more, so I had committed T1200 of my T3000, not quite pot committed, but close. Also, I felt I was ahead, so keeping my pep talk in mind, raised. Casey thought for about 5 seconds and called. Flop came: J84 2 clubs. I count my chips, think it over, and decide to check it, slowplaying it, hoping to represent weakness and possibly an under pair to the J. Casey thinks for a few moments and fires out T1500. I think for about ten seconds and push my remaining T1800 and he insta-calls. I turn over my AJh and he says, "Nice hand" and turns over A6o. BOOM! A 5d on the turn and I am the new chip leader with over T6000 of the T10,000 chips in play.
The next hand, Casey has to put out T400 of his remaining T900 in chips for the blind. Round raises to T1600 and I look down to find 88. Now, I feel confident that about 80% of the time, I'm ahead right now. The question though, is do I want to tangle with Round and a sure call from Casey when I have such a vulnerable hand, esp. when we're on the bubble to the money? Ummm....no. I don't hesitate in folding and Casey calls and shows a surprisingly strong hand of AJh. Round tables his ATo and takes the lead when the flop brings a ten. He eliminates Casey when he hits trip tens on the turn and now we are heads up. Sweet, I made the money and I'm in the chip lead.
One hand into the HU match and the blinds go up to 400/800. When the blinds are so big compared to stack-sizes, aggression is even more important. I raise the first two hands once the blinds went up to 400/800 and took them both preflop. Next hand Round folds his SB to me. Now I have a commanding chip lead. I am looking now to finish him off with any decent holding. He raises the next hand all in, which would cost me an additional T1600. I look down to find 86d. I then count out the T1600 and see that I would still have a sizeable lead, so I say to Round, "Alright, let's gamble". I show my 86d and tell him he is ahead right now and he counters with, not really. Q3s. Flop comes ATTr. He is still leading. Turn brings a gorgeous 6s and I take the lead. Any non-spade or no Queen and I win the tourney. River brings a red Jack and it's all over. My first live-tournament win.
Now, granted it's not a big tournament nor a lot of money, but the psychological win is HUGE! I felt completely in control the whole tournament and only went all-in 2 times. Both times when I had the best of it. Nice to see my hands held up and great to get the win under my belt.
I really feel that I am playing some of the best poker in my life right now. Amazing to think that only 6 days ago when I was leaving Sandia, I was questioning whether I can realistically give this a go with any hopes of succeeding. Now, I feel like I am playing as well as I ever have, but not even close to my potential. What a difference a week can make. Wow. My baby brother told me tonight that all I needed was a good beating to keep my humble and then I would come back from it stronger than ever. Smart kid ;)
Anyhoo, that concluded the poker for the evening, as a couple of the "kids" had class in the morning and that would leave us to play 4-handed. Thanks but no thanks. While we didn't play poker, we talked about it and the state of the game here in town.
See, the poker boom has brought many a home-game to town to compete with the existing 4 or so established card rooms here. There are two problems that have arisen from this. First off, everyone plays NLHE or PLO. While this appeals to many as this is what they see on TV, it does cause the poor players to lose their money much more quickly than a limit hold'em game would. And let's face it...the town I live in is not exactly the richest around, so when the fish lose their money, they don't replenish it quickly. So with so many games around, many of the poorer players have gone broke and aren't play much, if at all. Secondly, some of these newer home games have gone absolutely crazy with their rake. While the majority of the card rooms here rake a max of $5 per hand, only if the pot goes over $100, a couple of the newer places have been taking, from what the word on the street is saying, $10-$15
PER HAND for the rake. That is just plain criminal.
For those that don't understand the rake and its impact on the game and the poker community as a whole, let me explain it. The place that holds the game, the "house", has to make some money for hosting the game, providing food and beverages, etc. To cover their expenses, as well as to make money, the house takes a rake out of every hand dealt. Usually, it's either $1 per $10 up to $3 and $5 total for any pot over $100 or $1 per $20 in the pot with a max of $5. Now, if there is just one game going on, and it goes for, say, 8 hours, averaging 40 hands an hour, that works out to @ $1,000 that the house takes off of the table and into their pocket. Think about that. In a 2/5NL game, the BIG winner of the night can take @ $1500 in profits home. The house takes a GRAND every night. Pretty consistent money maker there. And that is with a $5 max rake. Can you imagine the rake being twice or x3 that??? I don't care how good of a player you are, if the rake is that high, it is impossible to win in that game. Over a short period of time, the house will take all the money there is in the game from the players thanks to the excessive rake. And that is killing the games here in town.
This also shows why it is known that a 2/4 limit game in a casino is virtually unbeatable. For example, at Sandia Casino, the house rakes a MAX of $3 per hand, regardless of the stakes being played. So if you are playing 2/4, max $3 rake. 10/20 = max $3 rake. The difference comes in the amount you can win. When I win a "normal" sized pot in 10/20, I win about 5BB or $100. The casino takes $3. When someone wins the same sized pot in 2/4, they win $20 and the casino takes $3. 3% vs 15%. Ouch eh?
Until I started playing seriously, I never gave the rake much consideration. But the more I read and learn, the more I see how important playing in a low-rake game is. Most of the younger players do not take this into consideration. Or at least this is my assumption as to why they would play in those games. Pisses me off too, because that is money that I could win and use to build my bankroll. Instead, these greedy sonsofbitches are stealing the money from the ignorant. Grrrrrrrrr.
Keeping all of this in mind, I asked the fellas if they knew of any interest at all in playing in a Limit HE game. Casey told me they were going to start one up soon! Fantastic!!! I asked what limits? 10/20? He chuckled and said no, nothing that high, more like 4/8 or 5/10. Lower than I want, but I'll take it. The fundamentals of limit give me a decided edge over most of the players here in town, so I'll play them at that limit if it gives me a large edge, you betcha. And with that, I left for the evening to come home and chill out.
Funny, though, that when I got into town, the 2/5 NL game intimidated me. Now, I can't get a 10/20 limit game to start up. Funny how much my poker game has grown in the one year I've been in Texas. I can't wait to see how well I play come May!
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