Separating Us from Them

We all know what makes a bad player "bad"- their lack of understanding the fundamentals of the game, the mistakes they make over and over, the fact that they get married to their hands, and the basic level one thinking that engulfs these players. There are also other factors that add to their "badness". These include the bad player's compulsiveness to "gamble" often with no edge, their failure to recognize mistakes and improve their game, and the blame the "luck" factor- meaning how unlucky they are, and how lucky their opponents tend to be. This post is not to complain about bad players. All are encouraged, believe me. I can't turn a profit if my opponents do not repeat their mistakes, gamble, seek to get lucky, etc. This post is about what separates us (the thinking player) from them (the bad player).

Good players lose a pot and say to themselves- what did I do wrong? What can I do to improve my game? How could I play that hand differently? Next time, can I do something to maximize my profit? How did my opponent play their hand and how can I exploit their mistakes in the future?

On the other hand, bad players, ask different questions. Those players ask- Why did my opponent call my flop bet? How does he stay in with a flush draw? Why do I always get unlucky? Why is it that I can't win a hand tonight? The questions that the bad players ask produce one result- further bad play. Guaranteed status quo for the bad player. They will not improve with these questions. All these questions do is lock up the good players' hold on the bad players' money. Keep asking those questions please.

I played at the club this week and saw a gerat example of my good/improved player v. bad/stagnant player- two guys I have played with for years. The first gentleman was Alan**(names changed to protect the innocent) and the second was Mario. Alan, if it is possible, has gotten worse over the years. More likely, his bad play is just that much more obvious to me. I observed him make a mistake pretty much on every street in every hand he played, with the exception of the one time he flopped a set and played it well (against Mario, ironically). But, in most hands, when it was clear he should bet, he would check, when he should've raised, he just called, when he should fold, he called all in., etc etc. Additionally, he blamed luck on every pot he lost, and complained the pots he won were too small. Very negative mindset- the icing on his bad play.

Contrary to this, Mario, has improved tremendously in the last two years that I have known him. He has gone from a super tight player, to a player who exercises pot control, discretion and handles post flop play very well. The amount of his mistakes has diminished, and the quality of his play has dramatically improved. He and Jon have spoken on several occasions on proper play, execution of bets, etc. He is a prime example of how focusing strategic questions designed to evaluate your game, can ACTUALLY improve your game. In a strange way, I feel proud of Mario for his improvements, and I am truly happy for the successes he has experienced in poker. He is a humble player, with a quiet demeanor and good instincts. He has become a player I shy away from in hands, which is a huge compliment to his play.

The bottom line that as good players, we are ALWAYS looking to improve our game. I remember when I first began playing, it was a complete mystery to me how there was such a thing as a "professional poker player". In my mind, I believed that you had to always make the best hand to make money and further, bluffing was virtually impossible, because why would anyone fold a better hand?

This is level 1 thinking.

This is ignorance.

It took a long time- years- for me to talk to other players, learn what I needed to do to improve, and then actually apply what I learned to my game. This is a law school concept for me. Read a strategy or a rule in a book, and then apply it to a case. Just like in poker- you read a strategy- three bet with nothing, check raise on a draw, etc, and then find an ideal scenario to apply this strategy and execute it. It is much more difficult than it sounds. Just like in law school- you think how hard can it be? Then you open up the first page of your final exam, stare at the 8.5 x 14 page single spaced fact pattern and want to run screaming from the room- how are you supposed to apply the law you learned to this miniature novel in less than 2 hours? But somehow you manage, and it gets easier and easier, just like in poker.

And again, the bottom line- good players are always looking to improve. Just like in law school, once I mastered the skill of applying what I learned to ideal fact patterns, likewise, I have been able to do that in poker. And I am always looking for more spots, better ways to exploit the game, more nuances to refine...and all that good stuff.

Other than that, I have been running well in cash lately. I have had several earning sessions in a row, and I am happy about that. I am playing the Borgata 50k guaranteed tomorrow, and I will let you know how it goes. I will try to record some interesting hands for you. That's it for now, good money at the tables!

Good money and peace,

Lucky C, and Ace.

More Hands from this Weekend...

Here are so more hands from this weekend...



Borgata $1100 Satellite

I was very lucky to chip up early in this tourney. We started with 15k in chips, 25-50 blinds. In first 20 min, I chipped up to 20k, winning a few big pots with full house v. flush and an over pair against top pair, top kicker. My table breaks and I get moved to a new table with some very interesting players- the one good thing is that there was only one pretty tricky player at the table with a big stack. Everyone else was unique in how they played, however transparent. So at 100-200 with no ante, utg raises to 700, 1 seat who is tight calls, I call and two other players call. Pot is pretty big, like 3500 at this point. Flop is K 3 5 with two diam. I have 89 dd. Now let me preempt this by saying I usually dont play flush draws super strong. My plan this weekend was to play differently, and think outside the box, get to a deeper level in each hand, have more reasons for each decision, think more critically of my opponent's reaction to what I will do, etc. So bb and utg (orig raiser) check, and 1 seat fires 1500, I decide to smooth, to make sure no one flopped a big hand behind, and also to see if utg was goin for check raise. I am happy to have position on seat 1 too. So turn is brick, like black 7. Utg checks. Now, normally I would check here, but I feel that if I check, I am advertising that I am on a draw. If I had two pair, a set or a king, i would bet to clear out the draw. Also, i would bet to get action. Knowing the player I am against,if i check behind on turn and i miss on river, I have absolutely no chance to win this pot. Considering all of this, I decided to bet 2850, about 1/2 thepot. My opponent has 12k behind and I had 19k, so it was a substantial bet compared to his stack. He hemmed and hawed for several seconds and finally called. River is a brick. He checks quickly. I know that he is goin to fold but I need to fire HUGE. So I bet 7,000 completely planning to fold to his all in, obviously, for 2k more, but he is def not the type of player to check raise river. So he counts out 7k and goes that's almost my whole stack and folds. And asked if I had a King. ?????. I said which card do you want to see and he chose 9 diam. And he's like good bluff with pkt 99s. lol. he goes, I folded QQ. QQ?????? Good thing I did not try to get him to fold top pair- I really have to stop doing that.

I picked up a few hands, raised and took it down. Blinds were 100-200 with ante, I standard raised to 575 and took it down a bunch. I picked up 10s. I raise to 575. the button makes it 1700. BB calls, utg tight player (seat 1), called, so I decided to call, even though I felt the button had a monster. Flop is A 6 x. Checcks to button, he bets 1500. BB calls, seat 1 and I fold. Turn is rag. BB checks and buttton bets 2k and BB calls. I was sure bb had aq or ak, button not sure. River is 6. Bb chks, button bets 4,000. BB calls, and button had AA, for aces full. I thought he played his hand superbly. He later proved to be a player who tilted very easily, but still played that particular hand well.BB had Ak consequently which was a tough spot, but he couldve folded to the raise and reraise in front of him.

A little while later, at 200-400, I had Ak dd in bb. four players limped. I raise 1400 on top hoping to either take it down, or get HU. Unfortunately, only player that called me was the other big stack, we both had close to 30k. Flop is 9 6 3, one diam. I checked, and he checked. Turn is 4 diam, giving me overs and flush draw. I bet 2300. He calls pretty quickly. I decide I am checking river if i miss. He either has a pair, or a straight draw or a flush draw, so either way my hand might have show down value. River is 2 cl, what a fking brick. I check, he checks and shows 67 sp. I thought that was a very interesting hand. Even though I didn't win the hand, i think it played well.. the only thing is its patently obviously i have AK there. I think the other big stack played his hand well also.

An orbit later, I am utg +2 with 3 6 sp. I raise to 1175, the guy on my left (tighty) calls pretty quick and bb calls. Flop is K Q 5 rainb. Checks around. Turn is 3c. I think, oh maybe I have best hand, but I will check, and see what happens. Checks around again. River is 6 h. weee. bb leads into me for 500 in an attmept to bluff, I believe, I raise to 3k and all of a sudden, heard the tighty say, I call and BB folds. I said I have 2 pair and he mucks. The only hand that made sense for him to have was Aq and he thought I was a on a move. So I asked him and he confirmed he had AQ. In a weird way, i understand the call. I looked like a super hyper aggressive player. By the same token, I would never call a bet and raise on the river by a super hyper player, unless I had a specific read on their hand. And of course, the whole tabel went nuts, ohh she raised with 36 omg, thats terrible, blah blah blah...let's play real poker. its a 1k event, not a $10 stars donkevent. But really, no difference.

Ok, I am goin to play the 10$ r on stars, I will write more hand later.

Good money and peace,

Lucky C and ace.

Bubble Girl Extravaganza

Hey guys. I played the $560 at Harrah's this weekend and the $1100 satellite at Borgata yesterday. I think I played super well, and I experimented with many new moves, and strategies. I really feel that in every live tourney, I am bringing my online game to it. Additionally, my reads are more and more spot on than ever. One area I really need improvement on is the middle stages of my tournaments. I believe that I tighten up too much, as I am less likely to put more chips at risk as the blinds go up, and this is why I find myself short stacked late game. Once I improve this area of my game, I feel that I will be more profitable than ever.

At first, I was extremely distraught over what a disasterous weekend I had because I played 23.5 hours of poker with $0 profit. Then, I reflected on it more. The truth is I am going to bubble a lot of tourneys, and when I cash, I am going to final table, not just cash. My time is coming, it is close. I feel it in my heart and soul. The silver lining is that this was 23.5 hours of experience gained. I did play really well. I gambled a bit in some spots, and I got lucky a few times. It was excellent. Below are some hands from the tourneys this weekend. Please comment on what you think.

Little tidbits that I found humourous this weekend. A guy from LI, a hispanic guy with a strong accent- super nice and when he speaks, its so cute, I always want to laugh. He is hilarious. He also does not like to fold. So late in the Borgata tourney, he and I are at the same table and utg shoves for 10k (blinds 1k-2k). Cheeky (our friend from LI), has about 35k and is utg +1. He calls all in. Everyone else folds. UTG turns up pkt 10s. Cheekie looks at his opponent's hand and goes, "Oh my god man, you have two of my outs" and proceeds to turn up A10. I almost fell off my chair laughing, it was hilarious. Cheekie is also the ultimate luckbox and hit an ace on the turn after flopping a flush draw w the 10 of sp in his hand. A little while later, Cheekie raises in middle pos to 4.5 x the bb, and the bb, who only has 7 bbs, shoves. Cheekie looks at him and goes, "come on man, i was just trying to stole the blinds." LMAO. He is so cute and funny. I <3 him.

At Harrah's, early in tourney, my dealer said something, and I did not hear. I asked what he said, and he replied "Honey, I was talking to myself out loud." I found that statement intriguiging. If he was talking to himself and it was NOT out loud, wouldn't it just be thinking to himself? And hence, isn't that just plain thinking? Food for thought.

I also watched a thing on CNN about the bail out and the proposed amount. That got me thinking- what is me and jon's bailout? between my student loans, the mortgage, the jeep, a few credit cards...gives me shivers. I better win some f%$king tournies. LOL.

Ok, enuf of all that. Hands from Harrahs:

QQ 15 minutes into tourney. I get dealt QQ on the button. Table has played relatively tight so far, but no indication of how players really are, it is too soon to tell. A player that Jon final tabled Mohegan Sun tourney with is in seat 4, across from me. He is obviously a terrificly bad player. Unbelievably so. In any case, he had limped utg. MP player raises to 150 (blindes 25 50). Because I am in position and I am very comfortable playing post flop. bb calls and utg limper calls. Flop is 7 4 2 rainbow. I am 90% sure I have the best hand. Utg fires 200,means nothing. PFR raises to 600, I cold call bc I don't want to reraise right here. I can control the actionb etter on the turn. I felt that pfr raised flop, to take down pot. UTg call the raise as well. Now pot is big. Turn is 7 sp, which I am not concerned about. UTG and PFR check to me. I bet 1200, utg calls, as it turns out later, "to trap me" and prf folds. River is 10 which is a bad card for me. I put utg bad player on 10 jj within his range. He bets 1500. I swear, if any card but 10 or j or ace comes, i shove. i call, bc pot is big, and he has pkt 10s and is shocked to see my hand, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Sigh. Down to 4500 in first 15 min.

An hour later, blinds 50 100, I have ak dd in mp. I raise to 275, with 2800 behind. BB makes it 800. I was really unsure of what to do. I thought he had AQ, AK, 10-kk, but i didnt think he would raise so big if he had aa. I reluctantly shipped it in, hoping for race and he had KK. I was getting up to leave, and AUTO ace on river. Weeee. Up to 6400.

At the same table, a few hands after my double up, the kid in the 10 seat, who was decent player, a bit tricky- leadign out on draws, making plays, etc, raised to 800. We had a bit of history at this point. I had about 6100 at start of hand. I look down on button and find AA. I reraise to 2k hopin it looks like a move. BB is our terrible moh sun player. He looks down at his hand and says, how much u got left? I show him a bit nervously trying to hollywood a little. As soon as he asked how much i had left, I knew he was shippin it in. So he ships it, predictably. Kid folds, but I know wants to call. BB has Aq diam and my AA hold, up to 13k. Moh sun guy out. There is a good chance he will never cash in a tourney again, he is in top 20 worst tourney players i ever saw in my life. Soon thereafter, our table broke.

I hover at 13-15k for about 1 hr. I get moved to my third table, with blinds 200 400, and 50 ante. I get involved in a few pots and my stack goes up and down. I decide I do not want to get too involved with a tricky internet player in the 1 seat who is running over the table, but I am not going to back down to him either. The following hand arises- first hand I decide to gamble. UTg limps, another players limps, I find A7 dd. I limp, internet guy limps on button and sb and bb check. We take flop 6 way. Flop is 10 9 3 with two diam. I m like, here we go in my head. sb and bb chk, utg bets 2200. I raise to 7k with about 8k behind. The reason I decided to raise so much is bc I have an awkward stack. Second, I put utg on q10, j10, possibly k10. he would raise pre with k 10 and a10 i thought. button folds, and sb thinks forever and folded what turned out to be two pair. I was trying to rep a set iwth my bet and that i was tryin to push fl draw out and that's what he put me on. SB was solid too. Utg thinks for less than 10 seconds and says I am all in. Im like, here we go. So I call. He has K 10 os. Turn is 10 and I hit on river. he was visibly upset but I really dont think that he should shove there. Then again, how dare I try to bet people off top pair?

I have way more interesting hands, but I am going to focus on tournies. Good night and good money!

Lucky C and Ace.