Bad News

Well, it finally happened. Even after a cash influx I have still officailly hit bottom on my FT acct. It's the 2nd time an acct has ever gone busto on me, and both times it has been on FT. The hand was my AQo from LP that was called by the BB. The flop was A-Q-6 rainbow, the BB leads into me, I raise, he reraises and I stuff my last bit of pocket change into the pot and he eventually calls. Of course, he's got 66 for the bottom set and I'm just SOL. I hate FT and FT hates me, this is probably better for both of us.

Good News

My Bodog acct took a shot in the arm today as I let a friend of mine play the Poker Source Online freeroll that I was entered into via the affiliate program offered there. I had to attend a college graduation for one of my wife's friends, but he came through for me and took 3rd for a $320 payday, (I'll get to keep half of that.) This should get me rolled for $50NL which shouldn't be too much different than the $25NL that I have been profiting on lately. This account was $24 in February after I liquidated most of it, so I am very proud of what has been accomplished on this site.

Also, the $18 that I had on Absolute Poker was given a chance when AP deposited $10 into my account to draw me back to their site. As of tonight, that account is up to $55 and I think I'll be short-stacking on the $50NL tables trying to hit the BBJP that they have started to offer. If it breaks $100 or so, I may move back down to $25NL and start practicing at least some BR management, though there are not enough tables going on AP to allow me to multitable. It's a gamble, but I know where my bread and butter is, good 'ole Bodog and the Horseshoe - Bossier City .

I'll try to mention my other online exploits from time to time, I might enjoy talking about a site that I don't hate...

What can I say? It was an awesome trip, I was reading people really well and the Horseshoe - Bossier City was up to its usual high standards, I couldn’t have scripted a better weekend. As I look through my notes I feel that I was clicking on all cylinders. I made one really sick call and one really big lay-down—lay-downs aren’t that tough for me, but playing sheriff isn’t my forte.

The ‘Shoe recently replaced some of the pads around their tables and, boy, was that a welcome home for my elbows. The staff was ever knowledgeable as a few situations came up that caused some players to get upset. Which, if someone could clarify for me, I know it isn’t against the rules to turn your hand face up to try to get a read, but is it unethical? I see nothing wrong w/ the play, especially if your opponent is already all in and you are considering a call. I never make the play myself, but I see nothing wrong with it in some isolated spots. In my opinion, it’s an example of Fancy Play Syndrome (FPS) and is often overused. This same player would later complain about getting aces or two pair chased down and eventually showed his hand a few times w/ the best of it to keep his opponent from calling w/ his draw. What a –EV play!!!

Out of the blocks strong!

Walking into the ‘Shoe around 2:30pm, I sat down w/ $200 and never looked back. I flopped a set of 4s from the SB on a 345 board to put me slightly ahead, then never started another hand w/ less than $200. The table was loose passive and didn’t like to call many big bets. They wanted to bet in $7 to $20 increments and control the pot and their stacks. (What a honey hole!!!) Within a few orbits, I picked up 65o in the BB and six of us saw the flop. The flop was Q74 rainbow, the SB and I checked, a MP player (who seemed to be there for the fun of gambling) bet $10, a LP player called, the SB folded and I called hoping to hit my open-ender. It got there w/ the 3 and I checked to bait the weakish player who had the betting initiative. He led for $40 and unfortunately the LP player folded, I elected to smooth call so that I wouldn’t run him out at this time. The river wasn’t a great card for me as it put 4 cards to the str8 on the board, but I fired out $100 on the river 5 and got called regardless by Q7o for the flopped 2 pair. I might have missed some money here but this hand boosted me up close to the big stacks at the table w/ $365.

Not long after this, I looked down at Jacks UTG and just limped in. I hate making a raise and getting called when OOP against 3 or 4 other players who could be playing any two cards (ATC). Six more players, including the blinds, elected to see the flop, which was a good one for my Jacks, but also a tricky one due to the number of draws and made hands possible. AJT. With $12 in the pot, I led for $15 to disguise my hand and also give any drawers improper odds to call, between the ace, the hearts and the straight possibilities, I expected lots of action on this hand. Only the player from the hand above called, so I figured him for a draw and trying to get some revenge on me. The T fell off on the turn, what a beautiful card!!! I fired $25 into the pot and was immediately called. The river was a third T and my hand value immediately shrunk up. I’m sure my face went to total disgust and was reinforced by my checking the Jacks full that I had. The happy gambler shook his head behind me too and said that he didn’t have it. He flipped over the K9 for the nut flush—no good, sir!

But you had Top Top!!

Small pocket pairs are some of the easiest hands to play, you either hit a set on the flop or you dump them. From time to time you can pick off some CBs w/ missed over-cards, but most of the time they’re simply a fit or fold hand. When I looked down at a pair of ducks on the button, I was happy to call a $7 PFR w/ them. There were 3 players to the flop of A28. The BB checked, the PFR’r made a CB of $7 and I cranked the bet up to $25 on the button, praying that he had AK and would go broke w/ it. The BB folded and the PFR’r called. The turn was a total brick and the weak tight villain leads into this $70 pot w/ $10. I bump it up to $65 and he reluctantly folds claiming that he had AK. Whoa, whoa, whoa!?!?! What kind of weak tight fish lays that down in that spot! I was dejected that he could fold there. I mean, I can fold there, but what fish makes that fold? What a missed opportunity!

Would the real Slim Shady, please stand up

After the first 2 or 3 hours of just getting into unbelievably awesome +EV situations, I dried up for about an hour or two and didn’t even see a flop in this time period. Fortunately for me, we were joined by a couple of young 20-something guys who looked like they were straight off an international concert tour. One guy looked so much like Eminem aka Marshall Mathers that I had to convince myself a few times that it really wasn’t him. I mean, he had the white due-rag on his head and tattoos halfway down his arms and everything. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t play cards very well and they were sitting down at a table w/ me and about 4 other decent players.

The Eminem look alike, we’ll call him Marshall, was in way too many hands and gambling way too much. His roadie wasn’t in as many hands but would stuff his $100 buy-in into the pot on the flop on several questionable occasions. In fact, after an hour or so of folding, I made a move at a pot from LP and fired a CB into a King high flop. The roadie promptly check-raised me all in FTW. I made sure to point out to the table that the roadie had to have a good hand because I had been playing tight and hadn’t even seen a flop in about an hour. The rest of the table nodded in agreement. This provided a good reinforcement that I was now seen as a squeaky tight player and might get to pull off some moves due to my image.

”I won’t be pushed A-ROUND!!!” - KGB

About an orbit later, I opened a pot w/ a $7 raise UTG w/ JT, this isn’t a long-term +EV play, but my image was right and the table was soft. Five players called to see the flop, so even after that much folding—I was getting no respect!! Or else, they thought I would be on a certain range of hands and were willing to play with me because they knew where I would be card wise. = ) Most probably though, they look down and say, “OOOO, I have 2 face cards, I gotta call with these!!!” Anyway, the pot is $35 when the flop comes KQ9.

I obviously flopped the joint, which is goot, but many players get a false sense of security with a flop of this nature. The flush draws will rarely fold on this board despite what you bet, and bad players often call a pfr w/ suited Aces when they overvalue their implied odds w/ the nut flush hands. KQ hands are also very dangerous here as they won’t be folding top two pair and they have 4 outs twice to fill up on you. A set of 9s is a more dangerous possibility than the last hand since this hand has 7 outs going into the turn and 10 outs going to the river to fill up on you.

I knew that I had to proceed cautiously with my vulnerable nut straight, but in this spot, I decided to wield a big stick. Pushing $40 into the pot, I got everyone to fold except the roadie. I ask him how much he has left and he replies that it is $49. The turn is the sickest card in the deck for my hand, the Q, thus pairing the board and completing the spade draw. I check and the roadie pushes his $49 into the pot. My thought process is, “Why can’t he have more chips here to make this an easy fold? Could that turn have been any worse? What other play could the roadie make here with that short stack? Would he stuff the spade flush or the 2nd nut full house? He’s been stuffing it a lot and this isn’t the first time that he has stuffed on me when I showed weakness….” I snatched the $50 off my stack and evaluated where this call would leave me; I’d still be up, but only like $70 if I lost this hand. Reaching down deep, I found a big set of iron balls and decided to make the call based on the fact that this guy just stuffed his stack in too often and given the pot odds offered, I had reasonable odds of snapping off a bluff. “Do you have the flush?” He shook his head dejectedly and tabled KJ leaving him live to 9 outs. The river was red and I raked in a nice pot and felt great about finding a real pair when I needed them. Whew!!!

Fishhooks for fun and profit

Marshall Mathers followed his friend on the bus to Bustoville before too long and they were replaced by a couple of friends who seem fresh off the home game turnip truck. They were 40ish and I would imagine that their home game was a pissing contest of primarily small bluffs and overplayed hands. The 2 thru 6 seats were occupied exclusively by decent players. We’re all watching the loud mouth 8 seat who was playing too many hands and mini-bluffing every time the action got to him w/o a bet.

A hand came up in the loud mouth’s big blind where the 3 seat raised behind some limpers, making it $15 to go. I was in the 5 seat w/ Jacks (which I still feel is the biggest trap hand in the game) and elected to call. The 3 seat was a pretty good player, though he didn’t seem to be overly tricky. He and I had been battling all night for the title of the biggest stack on the table. And he had bluffed me off a hand earlier in the night when I had trips and the river put a 4 str8 on the board. Back to the hand in play: Of course, the big mouth 8 seat called from his BB and the 3 of us saw a J-6-2 rainbow flop. Mr. Loud Mouth lead into the $46 pot w/ his standard $10 donk bet and was promptly raised by the 3 seat to $30. I knew that the LM would call behind if I smooth called and I didn’t want to push him out at this point with a raise. He, of course, called behind and we had a $136 pot going into the turn.

The turn brought a K which I thought would either be really good or really bad depending on what over-pair the 3 seat had. The LM checked, the 3 seat bet out $30 again and I made it $75 to go. This unfortunately got the LM out, but the 3 seat called me which kind of had me worried. When the 2nd King fell off on the river, I felt pretty confident that he didn’t have pocket Kings. He checked to me and I pushed Arr-Inn!!!!!! After counting to 3, I knew that I was goot!! He eventually folded his QQ and I was now sitting on $713 worth of chips, the uncontested Big Stack at the table.

Making the tough laydown

A few hands later, I took another decent pot off the LM w/ pocket Jacks on a 10 high flop. The turn paired the 10, which I still bet and got called on, but the river missed his flush draw and I was sitting north of a $550 profit. I lost a small hand w/ AKo and was dealt AQo on the very next hand. I made the exact same $12 raise behind two limpers and got called by both of them. The 3 seat from earlier has moved into the 1 seat, which was great by me as I then had a better look at him when the flop hits. The 3 seat has been filled by a nice looking woman in her 30s. She hasn’t said much but appears to be playing weak-passive. The flop was a seductively nice A-7-4 rainbow and I fired a small ½ pot bet into them after being checked to. The 1 seat smooth-calls my $20 bet and the new 3 seat folds.

Something about the way that the 1 seat called set my spidey-sense off. Something wasn’t right here and I felt like I was walking into a world of hurt. I decided to just check behind on the turn to try to keep the pot small, induce a bluff and/or avoid a big trap. The turn was another 4 and the 1 seat checked into me again and I followed through with my plan of checking behind. He didn’t seem at all pleased w/ this, and when another 7 fell off on the river he stuffed his remaining $85 into the pot. I have to admit that I hemmed and hawed and tried to get some info out of the villain, but he wasn’t giving up much. I stuck w/ my read that something was wrong here and I laid my AQ down face up and said that I knew he had quads. He obliged and showed pocket 7s for a flopped set, turned full house and rivered quads.

After that masterful lay-down, I felt like a genuine Daniel Negreanu (straight off the T.V.) and my chest was blown out for the next 30 mins. I proceeded to lose w/ aces up shortly thereafter to a flopped boat to this same guy, and eventually decided that my cards had turned. I got up and cashed in a $490 profit on the night.

Red Bull and sleep don’t mix

I went to the hotel room for about 45 min and couldn’t sleep, so I came back down stairs and sweated a buddy who was still playing at 2am. He played a very interesting hand which I’ll relate here. I don’t agree w/ his turn bet, but the subsequent call seemed fine to me given the pot odds being offered.

He had 44 in the SB. It was limped to him and he completed. The BB made a donkey raise to $7 and 5 players called to see the flop. The flop was good and bad news for my friend, 543. He lead for $40 and got called in 3 spots. The pot = ~$195. The turn was the 7. My buddy lead here for $100 and the BB pushed for $294 total. The 8 seat called all in for $40 and the button called all in for $220. My friend had everyone covered and about $300 more besides. He was in for $650, but this shouldn’t effect the current situation. He was actually even for the night before this hand started.

In any event, it was $194 for him to call a $849 pot and he turned his cards face up to try to get a read on the BB. He eventually called, getting 4.4 to 1 odds w/ his 10 outs. The BB turned over 73 for two pair and a flush draw, the UTG+1 player turned over KJ for a flush draw and the button turned over pocket 6s for the made straight. The river was the 2; the button won the main pot and my buddy won the side pot.

At this point, the BB goes raving mad that my friend turned his cards face up and called for the floor. That guy cried at the manager’s desk for 45 min that the 4s should have been folded due to them being turned up, he got no sympathy from anyone. This move was definitely not against the rules, but the question was raised about whether or not it was ethical. IMHO this is a non-issue. Poker is a cut-throat game and just because you walk the line doesn’t mean that you are over it. That idiot shouldn’t have made a pot builder raise from the BB and taken his medicine like a man!

I went back to bed about an hour after this and got about 2 hours sleep before my phone rang. I washed up and went back down stairs to see my same friend sitting at the same table that he had been at since about 1:30pm the previous day. He was about even from where I left him the night before. I bought in for $300 and sat down beside him. I won a small pot w/ 2 pair and then got a phone call to head home due to my wife not having a babysitter for the morning.

I was up $35 for the 45 min session, which brought my total up to $525 for the weekend. My bankroll took a big shot in the arm for a 30% increase and I can’t wait to head back into my favorite card-room to take down some more monies!!! I sure wish BJJIII could have been there, but then again, he would have been the one to flop all those sets and I’d have been sitting on K3o all night…

Landlord79

To start this trip report off, I’d like to say that I love going to Tunica, it’s such an awesome place. The food is awesome and the poker action is hot. If you can find time to visit Tunica, you should go, but be prepared for some tough poker playing.

The Gold Strike

It’s about a 4.5hr drive to Tunica, MS from where we’re at, which isn’t really that bad when you’re going to stay more than two nights. The drive back does suck though, especially since all there is to see are farms and water towers to keep you awake after two long nights of poker playing. We left early and arrived at the Gold Strike casino for check in around 1pm and didn’t waste anytime getting to the card room floor. I was really card dead for about 5 hours and basically just limped a lot and folded on the missed flops. With 5 people seeing the flop I wasn’t about to run a big bluff, though I did try one on the button when a few people had limped in and I fired a $15 raise and got heads up. The flop was AQx w/ 2 clubs and I held the Q4. This old man checks to me, and I CB $20 into the pot and he calls. I immediately put him on a draw because of how he called quickly, but I still fired again when the 4 fell on the turn. He ck-raised me and I dumped my 2 pair!!! B-U-I-C-K!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I bled down w/ small pairs and suited connectors until I’m down about $200 total. I’ve made a seat change so that I am sitting right beside my main man BJJIII; we talk a lot at the table to stir up the old guys. A young LAG sits down at the table and immediately starts to raise every hand and the comfortable loose-passive table becomes a circus sideshow, especially after the old men at the table start 3 betting him pre-flop. I look over to BJJIII and point out that the table conditions have changed and that we probably need to tighten up a little and he agreed. The table becomes a big bluff festival with the old men firing out at any sign of weakness and they are firing on every street when checked to. The young guy is calling them down w/ 2nd pairs and top pair no kicker but they do it right back to him. He actually goes busto soon but leaves his casino card under the rail to hold his seat. While he’s gone one of the old men raises my BB from late MP to $13. I picked up AKo and smooth-called in order to not reveal the strength of my hand. The flop is so beautiful, AK4 rainbow and I feed the old man some rope and the EP player checks as well. The pre-flop raiser bets $20 and I insta-call trying to rep some sort of draw and the EP player folds. The turn brings an off suit J and I decide to let the old man hang himself with the rope that I had fed him last street. He bets out $30 and I push my chips in like I’m tired of getting run over and he calls as if the pot is gonna get away from him if he doesn’t hurry. I flip my hand up triumphantly and he just shrivels in his chair. The King on the river nails the coffin shut and I am back to even for the night. BJJIII and I are quoting some KGB like a couple of mad Russians, “CHECK, CHECK, CHECK!!!! This son of b___, he trapped me!”

BJJIII hits a tough beat after he had just gotten to even and calls it a night. I decide that it was too easy to make a hand against these guys and get paid off, so I stayed. I move directly in front of the dealer and some redneck moron moves into the seat to my right with the young LAG now back in the 4 seat. The game gets worse and every hand at this $1-3 NL game costs $20 to 25 to see the flop. I see a few flops over the course of an hour or two, but eventually decide to get up and get some rest. I dropped $97 on the 10-hour session due to the expensive cost of seeing flops just to miss them completely and fold to the over-sized flop bets. I swear that suited connectors are a complete waste of money, even when you call w/ them in position behind 2 callers.

We get some decent sleep but my body clock wakes me up around 5am and it refuses to let me go back to sleep. I take a shower and slip out of the door around 8am as BJ is waking up. The Strike has 1 table going for $1/2NL, but it’s full and looks pretty rocky, so I walk over to the Horseshoe to see what’s going on over there. There’s a $5/10NL game going as well as a $20/40 Limit HE game, neither of which interest me at all right now except maybe as being a spectator. BJ meets me back at the Strike and we’re on the list. We had planned on playing the $200+30 NLHE $10k guaranteed freeze-out at the Shoe at noon, but some friends of ours who are playing professionally advise us that the Sam’s Town $100+30 freeze-out w/ $3,000 added is much juicer and has a great structure. That tourney started at 11am so we get about 3 hours in at the Strike before it’s time to head out. The only real hand I played was AK on the button; I made it $12 to go preflop and got called in 4 spots. (yuck!!) The flop is Jack high and everyone checks to me and I’m smart enough not to CB into that many people. The turn brings a K, which appears to be good news until an old man donks $20 into me. I make it $50 and he smooth-calls bringing us into a heads-up pot. The river is a blank and he leads for $50. This smelled really fishy, so after about 45 seconds of deliberation I decided to lay it down figuring that he had to be pretty strong to call my turn raise then lead out into me. We get up and head to Sam’s Town and I’m down $72 on the short session. Ray from the Strike goes out of his way to hook us each up w/ a comp for the food court and we swing back into the hotel room to wake up the degenerate internet pros that met up w/ us the night before. Those guys play a tough game of poker and were the ones that told us about the Sam’s Town tourney. Ben went to high school w/ BJ and the other guy is one of his running buddies.

Sam's Town tourney

We fly into Sam's Town casino 5 minutes before the tourney starts. The bar area next to the card room is full but not packed, and we are quickly able to sign up for the tourney. There don’t appear to be many cash tables going currently, so I assume that most everyone standing around is here for the tourney, which is great--tourney donks suck at cash games! 128 people fork up the $130 for the tourney and we’re off. Luckily Ben is assigned to my immediate right and we talk the first level away as we wait for the blinds to go up so that we can take advantage of the locals when they don’t adjust to the changing structure. I don’t even get to play any decent hands at this table before it is broken up and I’m assigned to what would end up being the final table.

I sit down in the 1 seat (which I hate) and notice the player directly in front of the dealer looks like a ramrod got shoved down his spine and he can’t bend his neck. His eyes are as big as saucers and he refuses to bend his neck to look down at the actions of the player on his right. Sure enough, the button player raises and Mr. Ram Rod re-raises him from the SB FTW. I think, wow, this should be easy. I fold around to my blinds and complete the SB w/ K6o. The flop comes King high and a little on the drawy side I so put out a ½ pot feeler bet to see where I’m at. I get called by an old man who is obviously drawing, so I stuff it in on him when a relatively safe off-suit Jack hits the turn. I take it down and have ~6k from my 4k starting stack.

In the last level before the antes start, I decide to make a move to pick up the blinds from the hijack. A new player has sat down behind me in the CO and has a semi-large stack for this point of the tourney. The blinds are 100-200 and I make it 600 to go from the hijack w/ the QJ, the new player calls me as well as Mr. Ramrod in the BB. The flop is okay for me, JT8 w/ 2 spades. I put 1500 into the 1900 pot and get called in both spots. The turn is a total brick and the BB checks to me once again. I think long and hard about what they might have, Mr. Ram Rod is relatively loose and I think I have the best hand here with a gut-shot ta-boot, so I stuff it for 3,300. The new guy folds and the Ramrod eventually calls with pocket 9s after much deliberation. The river is a 7 completing his open-ender and I’m on life support. I actually sextuple my 175 in chips w/ KJo but fade out after the break when I stuff A6 in from EP.

On to the cash games

I’m the first one out of the tourney of my three friends, but the cash game was sure looking juicy. Sam’s Town gets an A+ in customer service as the lovely young lady seating players actually walked me to the cashier to purchase my chips then escorted me back to my seat at the $1/2 NLHE game. I’m in the crap hole 10 seat, but I’ll make due until something opens up. I immediately request a seat change. I’m dealt Aces in my first trip through the small blind and pick up a table full of limps.

I’m experimenting w/ a new strategy at this type of game that consists of loose-passive preflop and tight aggressive post flop. I’ll be the first raiser when I’m in position, but when I’m out of position, I’ve been limping just about any hand that I play. I hate playing OOP and any regular raise will leave you in a multi-way pot against any type of hand and too big of a raise could leave you just picking up the antes. So when I was dealt Ladies in the UTG+1 seat, I elected to just limp into the straddled pot. The flop wasn’t good for me (A29 and in retrospect, I don’t know if leading out was a very smart move, but I fired a $10 feeler bet into the 7 handed field regardless. Luckily I only got 2 callers and thought one was on the spade draw and the other (straddler) was possibly calling w/ just about anything, including a 9. The turned rolled off a beautiful red Lady and when the Straddler checked to me, I fired a $25 bet into the pot. A very large man of about 60+ years thought and thought and finally called me while the Straddler dropped out of the hand. In my mind I was begging for the deuce of spades to fall off to complete this guys flush and fill up my set of Queens. I was so intent and focused, and what do you know, there it was, just like in my sweetest poker fantasies, the 2. I counted out $50 at first then reached back for more as I knew I had my hooks in this guy and he had no clue where I was at. I counted off $75 and pounded the stack down onto the green suede tabletop. The old man thinks for a while, then asks me how much I have left. My face gives off a slight grimace as my heart starts dancing a jig. I move my hands so that the dealer can count my stack, but before he can even count it, the old man says he’s all-in and my chips miraculously beat him into the pot! I stacked a pot of $382, which pulls me out of the hole for the weekend and has me sitting pretty in a fairly deep cash game. The old guy had turned over K5 from the BB and looked at me and said, “I thought you were on a straight.” Uh, I wonder if he has a home game that I could join?

Sometimes the rabbit fires back!

The seat to the right of the “Straight” guy opens up after a big pot and I toss my seat change over to it. I’m being dealt AQo constantly and a few times it’s good for a small pot. I’m dealt AQ again in the UTG+1 seat and limp behind the UTG player. The MP1 player makes it $12 to go and gets 4 callers before it gets back to me and I call. The flop is a good looking one for me w/ a Q 6x 5. The UTG player donks $20 into the pot and my spidey sense goes off, but I can’t lay down TPTK for $20 into this pot. I smooth call and the preflop raiser (straight guy) starts talking about this call being against his better judgment. He still calls and the rest of the field folds. The turn is a blank and the UTG player fires out another $30 into the pot and we both just call again. The river completes the diamond draw and everyone checks the hand down. UTG shows QT for TPBK and the pfr’r and I have the same hand for a split. So I’m sitting good w/ >$400 stack now.

Sticking w/ my loose-passive preflop style, I smooth-call an UTG raise of $7 with KK from the UTG+1 seat. The next 2 players call and the MP3 player makes it $20 to go. Yahtzee!!! I’ve got just the situation that I hoped for. The 9 seat calls from the CO and the UTG player also smooth calls the $20 bet. Where would I be if I had done the initial 3 bet? I’d have 3 calls and be out of position. The action comes back around to me and I grab a 20 stack of red chips and pound $100 into this swelling pot. The UTG player who had originally raised comments to the MP3 player, “How does that feel when you get that done to you?” And the MP1 player chimes in, “Sometimes that rabbit fires back!!!”

Pride does strange things to people; sometimes they do stupid things and then have to face the consequences. The MP3 player thought and battled and thought, and he eventually called the $80 reraise. Everyone else had enough sense to fold. With the pot north of $250 I fired $125 into the all low card flop and the guy finally lays down his hand, flashing pocket 10s in the process. I’m now >$500 and sitting DEEEEEEP for $1/2NL.

Finally picking up a decent hand on the button and partially as an image move, I raise several limpers to $15 w/ KQo. The only person to call this raise is on mega–tilt and has been in verbal spats with the redneck to his right for the past 30 minutes. The floor has been called once already and everyone is on pins and needles. The flop is 776r and I can’t imagine anything good in my opponent’s hand after he calls my $25 continuation bet. Another middle card falls on the turn and I give up knowing that he is on tilt and will never fold. The hand checks down and he shows me a straight that he completed on the river. I’m at $465 after this hand and decide the drama is too much to sit with since the floor has been called for a 2nd and 3rd time. And two, BJ is nearing the bubble of the tourney that we had started at 11:00. I cash out for a $265 gain and go rail BJ as he crushes the weak table that he’s on that are all just trying to make the money.

Sweating BJJIII...FTW!

I swear the boy won 60% of the pots and by the time the bubble had burst, he turned his 16k stack into just north of 60k and hadn’t shown down a single hand. He eventually chopped the tourney 5 handed with him and another tough player holding 2/3’s of the chips in play. They took the lion’s share and the other three got consolation prizes because they were just happy to be there. It’s definitely worth a read on his blog Abuse the bubble. Exact sweet revenge. Collect 4Gs., so check it out.

For his celebration dinner, we went back to the Horseshoe to eat at the best restaurant in Tunica, the “Nawleans!” It’s currently in the back, to the left of their world famous buffet. This fall it will be moved to a more up front location that should get it the recognition that it deserves. I had a filet mignon with garlic & crab stuffed mashed potatoes. WOW, what a meal! What a victory!

We were done for, so we dropped off to bed. We awoke the next morning bright and early, but the 8am games were slow and we had a long drive home. So we checked out, loaded up and made the drive home. I can’t wait until we can do it again!

Congratulations, BJJIII on a great cash!!!!!

I run sooo Bad! I wish I had BJJIII's luck!!! AQ hand is a bad push on my part, the SB had just lost a vicious hand and I assumed he may be tilting, but the other 2 are just horrific. I'm glad the broadway hand was against a short stack.

Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed)

MP3 ($9.65)
Landlord79 ($15)
Button ($26.55)
SB ($11.35)
BB ($14.75)
UTG ($24.50)
UTG+1 ($11.90)
MP1 ($26.95)
MP2 ($27.05)

Preflop: Landlord79 is CO with A , Q . Landlord79 posts a blind of $0.25.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, 2 folds, MP3 calls $0.25, Landlord79 (poster) raises to $1.5, 1 fold, SB raises to $4.75, 1 fold, UTG+1 folds, MP3 folds, Landlord79 calls $3.25.

Flop ($10.25) 5, Q, 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Landlord79 bets $10.25 (All-In), SB calls $6.60 (All-In).

Turn: ($27.10) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)


River:($27.10) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $27.10

Results below:
SB has Qd Qc (full house, queens full of fives).
Landlord79 has Ac Qh (two pair, queens and fives).
Outcome: SB wins $23.45.


Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed)

MP3 ($25.25)
Landlord79 ($23.05)
Button ($19.95)
SB ($8.40)
BB ($32.25)
UTG ($35.10)
UTG+1 ($14.05)
MP1 ($51.25)
MP2 ($25)

Preflop: Landlord79 is CO with K , 9.
5 folds, Landlord79 raises to $0.85, 1 fold, SB calls $0.75, 1 fold.

Flop: ($1.95) A , J , 8 (2 players)
SB bets $1, Landlord79 raises to $2.9, SB calls $1.90.

Turn: ($7.75) 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Landlord79 bets $4.65, SB calls $4.65 (All-In).

River: ($17.05) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)
.

Final Pot: $17.05

Results below:
SB has Q J (one pair, jacks).
Landlord79 has K 9 (one pair, nines).
Outcome: SB wins $17.05.



Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (8 handed)

BB ($12.95)
Landlord79 ($8.65)
UTG+1 ($14.25)
MP1 ($0.90)
MP2 ($16.05)
CO ($1.55)
Button ($15.05)
SB ($5.90)

Preflop: Landlord79 is UTG with K , Q.
Landlord79 raises to $0.25, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.25, 5 folds.

Flop: ($0.65) A , T , J (2 players)
Landlord79 checks, MP1 bets $0.65 (All-In), Landlord79 calls $0.65.

Turn: ($1.95) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)
.

River: ($1.95) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $1.95

Results below:
Landlord79 has K Q (flush, ace high).
MP1 has A 3 (full house, threes full of aces).
Outcome: MP1 wins $1.95.

I just put that one in there for effect, I realize it was a tiny pot, but that was how my day went.

Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (9 handed)

CO ($9.30)
Landlord79 ($11.90)
SB ($9.30)
BB ($3.90)
UTG ($8)
UTG+1 ($4.65)
MP1 ($9.90)
MP2 ($4.60)
MP3 ($5.90)

Preflop: Landlord79 is Button with 4 , 4 .
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.10, 3 folds, Landlord79 calls $0.10, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($0.40) 8 , 5 , 4(4 players)
SB bets $0.20, BB folds, MP1 calls $0.20, Landlord79 raises to $0.60, SB calls $0.40, MP1 calls $0.40.

Turn: ($2.20) 5 (3 players)
SB checks, MP1 checks, Landlord79 bets $0.75, SB calls $0.75, MP1 calls $0.75.

River: ($4.45) 5 (3 players)
SB bets $0.5, MP1 folds, Landlord79 folds.

Final Pot: $4.95

Results below:
SB doesn't show.
Outcome: SB wins $4.95.


I finished this morning's session at $11. My stats were 19/10/3, so I was right in line w/ where I like to be stats wise. Things just didn't go my way. Back to Bodog, I run goot there.

Poker is a game of ups and downs that we commonly refer to as variance. For periods of time, whether they be days, weeks or months, players can run really hot or really cold. I’ve seen absolute morons walk into a home game and destroy the room because the cards just hit them square in the face. The average players complain about how bad the new guy is playing, but the truth is, you want him to come back and keep playing like he is playing, it will all average out in the end once variance has corrected itself. And when that happens, the good players will be the ones holding the fat wallet.

Are we completely subject to variance? Do we have any control over poker’s natural swings? Most would say yes, we have no control and lady luck is holding all of the cards, all that we can do is get our money in good and hope that the cards hold up. Eli Elezra has a great saying that I love to quote, “In poker you can only make the best decisions you can and let the cards take care of themselves, while understanding that the cards do not always take care of you.”

Truthfully, until recently, that is exactly what I thought until some friends of mine were talking about sharing their wins and losses. I don’t mean to say that they were cheating, heck, they don’t even sit at the same table most of the time. This isn’t a totally new concept, tournament players do these kinds of staking deals all of the time to help smooth out their swings.

My 2 friends had a very loose method of splitting their profits & losses, not based on math, but based on fairness between friends with some other loose guidelines worked in. Basically, if both players profited they would split the profits down the middle. If one is a big winner and the other a loser then the winner simply covers the loser’s loss. If the winner’s profit is small and the loser has lost a buy-in, then the winner simply buys gas and dinner. Like I said, some very loose guidelines.

Sounds good to me, but I like more concrete guidelines for insuring and I also want to put out some guidelines for choosing who you should or shouldn’t be insuring.

Insurance Agreement:
1. In a win/win situation – Both players agree to share 30% of their wins.
Example: Player 1 wins $500 and Player 2 wins $100.
($500 x 30%)-($100 x 30%)= $120 going to Player 2 from Player 1 to help share the profits and smooth out some variances.
2. In a win/loss situation - the winner agrees to insure the loser with the lesser of 30% of the winner’s profit or 50% of the loser’s loss.
Example: Player 1 wins $500 and Player 2 loses $200.
$500 x 30%= $150 and $200 x 50%= $100 Since the lesser of the two is $100, player 1 only covers half of player 2’s loss.
3. In a loss/loss situation – Everybody loses!!!!!
4. In a loss/break-even situation – The loser can’t drag the break-even player down into the negative.

Who to Insure:
1. Someone of comparable skill and ability playing at the same limits.
2. A verifiably winning player.
3. Someone with a comparable bankroll. (#3 may not be as important when you are just making short-term agreements, but is very important with long-term agreements.)

I’ve just started fleshing this concept out, so any further thoughts would be welcome. I don’t use this insurance online, I just use it at casinos when I’m playing live and can utilize more hand reading skills.