Mr_Taterhead says

Sounds like you had a nice time.

Better luck next time.

04/28/08

Podiman says

Hey thats me! :-) Thanks for the great write up!

05/02/08

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Podiman called two weeks to say that he’s coming out to LA for a visit and was to play in the Bicycle Club’s Stars and Stripes tournament this week. I had been planning on playing a few events anyway so we made plans to meet up at the event.

The event was Tuesday night and was a NL event with a $335 buy-in with one optional re-buy during the first 3 levels. The structure is excellent for a one day night-time start. We were given 3,000 chips and blinds started at 25/25 with 30 minute levels. The levels moved for the first few levels to 25/50, 50/100, 100/200 and then 100/200 with a 25 ante so there was quite a bit of play for a while; especially so if you bought in for another 3,000 chips for $300.

I really wasn’t feeling very good so decided to just see how things went before purchasing a rebuy. I realize that if you are going to rebuy you should do it right at the start, but I just felt I would see how things went for a while.


Podiman is at the head of the able in the 7 seat

There were about 130 people seated at the event. I didn’t recognize anyone at my table, but at least 3-4 were clearly regulars who didn’t completely suck. The guy to my direct left was a very friendly and chatty fellow from the mideast. On the very first hand he raised, everyone folded and he proceeded to show his hand to the guy to his direct left who was a quadriplegic on a respirator. He had a friend with him who would show him the cards and make all bets. I asked the mideastern guy to see the cards too and he showed me KK. He mentioned that he had played with the other guy a few days ago and that every time the guy raised him and the hand went to showdown the guy had KK (remember that thought – I didn’t!).

On the second hand of the night I’m dealt A7s in mid-position. I limped and the button raised to 100. The BB called so I decided to call too. The flop came A65 rainbow. I check to the button who raises to 150. The BB folds. I don’t really love my situation here and try to get a read on the buttom. I had recently read an article in Bluff magazine written by former FBI profiler Joe Navarro. I had previously read a great book by Joe titled Read’em and Reap written with Phil Hellmuth. It’s one of the most useful poker books I have read and right after reading it I had a great session in a Vegas NL cash game using some of the reads I picked up in the book. This article discussed how the lips are the best tell a person shows (next to the feet). Most people think it’s the hands or eyes, but Joe believes it’s the lips. Anyway, I look at the guy on the button and I immediately notice that his lips are really tense and he’s holding them together. The other striking thing was that his lips had gotten really small. Joe says that when a player is confident their lips fill with the blood and they are very full. Well this guy’s lips were disappearing. If Joe says this guy is bluffing and nervous who am I to argue. I call.

A blank hits the turn and I check again. The guy now bets 250. Shit, I would normally fold in this situation with my kicker but the guy’s lips are freak’en non-existent now. I got him, so I call! A blank again on the river. No way he can bet without the A, right? He bets 500 now. Oh, geez… enough with the tell, it’s the 2nd hand of the tournament. I can’t call again, if he’s willing to fire at every street. I fold.

One thing that Joe always says in his book is that you need to establish a base behavior. I had only been playing with the guy for two hands and really hadn’t studied him much. One thing I noticed after playing with him a bit was that he is one of those people with very small lips. So my read really had no validity. This guy was lipless! So much for that read.

I mentioned that there were a few players who didn’t suck. Well there were also a few who did. How about this hand. Three people see a limped a flop of QJT with 3 hearts so there’s 75 in the pot. This woman bets 400. What? Can it be more obvious that she either has a made straight or a low flush? So she either wins 50 right there or gets called by a better flush. Of course the second is what happens, actually not really because two people call. The turn is a blank and now she goes all-in which again is rather odd given that she must know that she’s beat… oh, that’s right, she’s not very good. One guy calls, she turns over a low flush and her opponent has a better flush. The river actually paired the board and the guy who folded would have had a full house but he had no business calling the flop.

For the next two hours I am basically card dead. I play a few hands of the raise/continuation bet/fold to reraise variety but nothing much. Most times when I’m on the buttom if I raise or limp after several limpers are in the pot, the BB (who is the quadriplegic guy) will raise or reraise. He has done this at least 3-4 times in the first few levels. Now my assessment of the situation is that he does not have hands all the time and he is just making moves. I partly base this on what I would do, but also the fact that he is clearly going through a ton of effort to come here and play so he can not be a typical tight nit who only raises strong hands. A lot of local LA regulars stop by to say hello, so he most likely knows what he is doing. I make a mental note that if I do have a strong hand on the buttom I will plan on slow playing it and get him to raise me which I’m confident he will do.

The only two hands I pick up for the first few levels are QQ and KK. I do get a bit of action both times and manage to get my stack back to the initial 3k starting amount when we hit the first break after the 50/100 level. This also represents the last time we can rebuy which I decide not to rebuy. First of all, I’m just not feeling it. Second, I realize that I will be only left with 15 BB when we come back, but I don’t think my table is very tough and there are a few very loose players who I believe will double me up if I can pick up a few hands. Also, I still am counting on reraising the BB when I’m on the button if the situation is right which should give me some chips.

On the very first hand back from the break with blinds at 100/200 I get into a blind vs. blind unraised hand and manage to win about 600 chips when my mideastern pal calls my value bet on the river. I had 3rd pair but was pretty sure I was good. On the very next hand 3 people limp to my button and I look down at 97o. Nothing too great, but now I decide that I can put my plan into action. I limp too with the plan to reraise all-in if the BB raises. Sure enough the SB calls and the BB raises to 700 so there is now 1900 in the pot. Everyone folds to me, so everything seems perfect. I quickly do the math. I have about 3300 left so he will have to call 2600 to win 4500. He needs a real hand. He would still be left with 2500 or so if he lost, but he’s not going to call me without a premium hand and I really think his range is practically any two cards. I having done anything out of line so there is no reason why he she put me on a move. Seems like an easy decision. I had a plan, everything seems to have fallen right into place so why not? I push. He immediately calls. Oops. What do you think he has? Have you been paying attention? It’s obvious right… KK. I don’t improve. Oh, well.

In summary, it was a very well run tournament, we had lots of play, there was a good turnout and I followed a plan. My move may have looked like a total blowup to the folks I was playing with and perhaps to you (and maybe it was!), but I really have no regrets. I guess my only regret was not to rebuy right from the start.

I will definitely be making my way back to the Bike for at least one more event during the series. Send me a private message if you have plans to go down to the Bike and want to meet up!

On a positive note, Podiman made it 14th for $900. While I was still in it he suffered two brutal beats where he twice was all-in on the turn and had his opponents dominated and both times they hit runner-runner cards to beat him. When I left he had about 12k in chips which was above average but he would have had 25k if the suckouts didn’t happen. On a second positive note, Podiman mentioned that my quadriplegic opponent who I donated my chips to had a big stack and looked to be a shoo-in to make the final table. The guy goes through so much effort to play this game. I really wish him well! If anyone knows his name please let me know. If you look at the pic below you can see him in the table to the bottom right. In fact, the guy standing up looks to be taking my seat!