This trip to the Horseshoe-Bossier City was filled with perils and pitfalls for me, both on the table and psychologically. If you keep up w/ my blog, you know that I am on a total heater for the month of August. One of the problems with running hot is that you can become over-confident in your own abilities. Over-confidence leads to bad play, bad play leads to resignation to the variance of the game, resignation leads to acceptance of failure, and acceptance of failure leads to playing not to lose. Playing not to lose isn’t winning poker; it’s a slow bleed of your bankroll that demoralizes you. It’s a downward spiral and is very tough to pull out of.

I continue to run WHITE HOT: Parts I & II

Part I

In the first hour at the table, I was playing tight and well. I had basically broken even for a little while, when I got dealt Pocket Rockets in MP. There were 2 limpers ahead of me and I made it $12 to go. Both of the blinds called and the two original limpers folded. Pot = $40. The flop hits TT9 and the SB pushes AI for $28. The BB thinks a second and smooth-calls the $28 and I make it $100 to go, thinking that if the BB is on a flush draw that he will fold to this bet. The BB mulls over his options again, and eventually calls the additional $72. I put him on a JT or a flush draw and decide that I am probably not ahead at this point. The turn is the most perfect card in the deck, the A. The BB checks again and I give him the speech, “You hit your flush didn’t you?” I check behind to lure his last $70 into the pot on the river. The river is an absolute brick and when the BB checks to me again, I grab a full 20 stack of reds and spike them into the pot. He thinks briefly again and announces that he calls. I don’t even wait for them to reveal their hands, I flip my hand over and tell the dealer to ship it over my way. The SB shows his K5 for the nut flush and the BB shows the JT for the flopped trips. How good do I run? This pot gets my confidence swelling and I’m the first big stack to emerge at the table w/ $445 in front of me.

Part II

The next hand is questionable, but I had a gut feeling and the BB was $300 plus deep after the SB made his own very questionable move. I limp into a multi-way pot from MP w/ the 65 and am joined by a few more late position players. The SB completes and the BB makes it $7 to go. This pot-builder raise doesn’t dissuade anyone and we’ve now got a pot. When the action gets back to the SB, he pushes $30 more into the pot and has $1 behind. The BB calls and it folds around to me. I evaluate the situation as follows: there’s around $40 already in the pot prior to the SB’s move, the BB is almost as deep as I am, I’m being offered >3 to 1 preflop with a very deceptive hand, I am unlikely to get reraised out of this pot from the LP players who have just called twice already, the SB isn’t likely to have a very strong hand since he didn’t raise initially and the BB isn’t likely to be super strong since he didn’t make an isolation raise to get the pot heads up. I elect to call and the LP players all fold. The flop comes Ace high, all hearts and they both check to me. I attempt to bet $1 to put the SB AI, but the dealer informs me that the minimum bet is $2. They both call, so we now have a $2 side pot! Woo hoo!!! The turn is a total brick, the BB checks to me again and I figure that I am through with this charade and push a $50 stack out into the middle, which gets the BB to fold. The river is another heart and the SB shows down AT for TP and I flip my flush over FTW. This stirs the table up a little and I am now on uber card rush tilt!!!

Hubris sets in…

Seizing the momentum, I start playing around 60% of the hands dealt to me because I am INVINCIBLE. This goes on for about an hour. I get called down bluffing after I semi-bluffed the flop and turn by an old man who ends up having my number all day. I mean, I flop TPGK against this guy and I bet the flop and turn, the river pairs the bottom card from the flop and we get his entire short stack into the pot, and he flips over his rivered trips. Sometimes there is just nothing that you can do!

At this point, I am back down to only a $90 profit on the day and I have resigned myself to accepting a small win to a loss. I figured that this rush of cards has got to end eventually and that this could be that time. I tightened up and began to play some weak tight poker, trying not to give away the small profit that I had left.

Even nits make money when they are running goot!

I’m convinced that AJo is a very neutral EV hand in cash games, so I play it accordingly. One particular hand, I limped in from MP3 w/ it, along w/ 6 other players. The flop was J52 and a lady in the SB leads out for $10. Typically, a $10 flop bet is called by everyone, but this lady hadn’t played too many hands and no one seemed to want to tangle up w/ her, so the table folded around to me w/ my TPTK and I just smooth called to await further developments. The turn was a brick, and the lady fired off another $15 into the pot. I smooth called again, trying not to fall into any traps because I was playing like a weak-tight nit. The river finally made me feel that I had the best hand by virtue of my kicker as the J fell off. I had put the lady on a jack the whole way, and I was just hoping that she didn’t have some sick two pair that had just filled up on me. She led for $25 on the river and I reluctantly made it $75 to go, and was prepared to call an AI for her remaining $50. She called the raise and mucked to my top trips w/ top kicker.

Admitting that you have a problem is the first step to recovery…

At this point, I took hold of myself mentally and did a little self-assessment. I realized where my mind was and how I was playing the game—not to lose. I missed $50 of profit on that hand, I was just playing my cards and wasn’t playing my tight aggressive A game. My session ended shortly after this mental recap because my friend and ride back home had gone busto. I racked up my chips, still $200 up, and headed out satisfied that my overconfidence didn’t run me aground, and that I had recognized when my game had spun out of control. Note to self: leave the hubris at home next trip!

Landlord79

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!!!!!

Horseshoe, Bossier City, LA
6/23/07

One thing that I am starting to realize in live play is that table selection is vastly more important than it is for online play. Equally important is being able to change gears to the needed style for the table. Walking into the Shoe this Saturday, I was feeling great about my game and well rested. Upon being seated I immediately recognized one young player as a very tough and aggressive opponent that I had played with before. He already had a deep stack and was pushing the pace at the table. To his left was another aggressive player, but I had never played with him before. It seemed that one of them was raising pre-flop on 2 out of 3 hands, and I’m not talking about $6 or $8 raises, it was costing $17 to see a flop whether they were in position or in the blinds. The rest of the players looked decent, and there didn’t seem to be a really soft spot anywhere. I decided to play some locked down poker until a good opportunity presented itself, or a weakness became apparent.

When I say locked down poker, I meant locked down poker. I was playing 5 to 10% of my hands. I was card dead except for one suited big slick, a low pocket pair and a few suited connectors that I was able to see the flop with. I was playing so tight and my cards were so bad that every time I raised pre-flop, everyone folded to me. One time, I raised with Q-4o from the button into 4 limpers just to steal the limps and loosen up my image. The young LAG had folded the hand and walked away from the table and I saw this as a great opportunity. Sure enough, everyone gave me tons of respect and folded their hands to my raise of $15. I’d been sitting at this table for about 3 hours when this happened and not too long after it I was able to see a flop with the Doyle Brunson hand 10-2o from the big blind. The flop just looked ripe for the picking, but it was a multiway pot and I was out of position. When the table checked around I decided to bluff at any safe looking card. The turn didn’t disappoint me, it was an off suit deuce. I made a pot sized bet of $10 and got called by the button player to my right. He appeared to be on a draw, so once again I decided to bet any safe card that might fall off. The river was an absolute blank (for me and any draws), so I fired another $15 out and the button folded. Sometimes it pays to have a mega-tight image!!!

Not long later, the young LAG knocked the player to his left out and within an hour racked his chips and made a table change. I moved into his seat for a better table position, and luckily the table made a change to a new cast over the course of an hour and the dynamics were more to my liking. The mood lightened up, people were limping into every pot and it was everyone’s Saturday night home game. I didn’t take the TAG route pre-flop in this situation. I played more loose-passive pre-flop and TAG post-flop. There was another young LAG to my right, but it was easy to discern that he was a tournament player and lacked the skill and aggression to dominate this loose-passive table. I let this young guy from Dallas do most of the raising and pot building, I just wanted to see a flop and then out maneuver these guys. There was an Asian guy who seemed decent and then a bunch of old country men who wanted to see a flop with whatever. The one guy in hand 2, seemed to chase draws with no regard for pot odds or over-bets or whatever, I mean, he was the 2 -3 guy mentioned in that hand.

Hand 1

I'd bled down to $130 and had just decided to reload another $100. (Boy am I glad that I did this, as you’ll soon see.) I'm in for $400 at this point. I've been card dead for the 5 hours that I had been here.

Most of table limps around to me and I limp Q 9 on the button.
Pot=$12
Flop= J , 8 , 7 Table checks around and I am happy to check behind them in this spot to take off a free card.
Turn= 10
SB bets $22, BB calls $22, UTG+1 folds, MP2 calls $22, CO folds, Hero raises to $70, SB calls $48, BB calls $48, MP3 folds.
Pot=$244
River= 3
2 checks, Hero bets $100, SB calls $100, BB folds

Hero shows the nutz!!!!!!
SB show 10 , 9
Hero wins $438.00
NICE SLOWPLAY, BOSS!!!!!

Hand 2

About 10 minutes later

The Asian man at the table is on monkey tilt after his K-K gets run down by 2 3 on a 3-3-4 flop.

Hero is dealt 6 6 in the CO

UTG+1 calls $2, MP1 calls $2, MP3 (Asian guy) raises to $12, Hero calls $12, button folds, SB calls $11, 2 folds, MP1 calls $10.
Pot=$49
Flop= 9 , 6 ,3,
2 checks, Asian guy bets $25, Hero calls $25, SB calls $25, MP1 folds.
Pot=$124
Turn= K
2 checks, Hero bets $50, SB calls $50, Asian guy raises to $133 and is All in, Hero calls $83, SB calls $83.
Pot=$523
River=4
SB checks, Hero checks

Asian guy shows K , J for a pair of Kings
Hero shows 6 6 for a set of 6s
SB mucks

Hero wins $517.00

I didn't move all in on the river because I felt that the SB was on a draw and wouldn't call me anyway. He didn't have much behind regardless.

Hand 3

Villain (an intelligent looking black man) just sat down in the Asian guys vacant seat, so I don't know him and he doesn't know me. Everyone else knows that I am LP/A at this weak cash table (because LAG or TAG is just spinning your wheels.) I'm now the deepest stack at the table after winning those 2 huge pots, villain has ~$200.

Hero is dealt K 10 on the button.

4 players limp, Hero calls $2, SB calls $1, BB checks
Pot= $14
Flop = A, K , 2
Everyone checks to me, Hero bets $10, 5 folds, CO (black man) calls $10
Pot= $34
Turn= 10
CO checks, Hero bets $25, CO raises to $75, Hero???

I feel like my flop and turn bets were good, I definitely know where my hand stands at this point. I don't see checking behind w/ 2 pair on the turn. Villain likely has the str8, but I have 9 flush outs + 4 Full house outs, I can't see laying this down here, ever. Villain could also check behind on the river for an easy showdown.

Hero calls $50
Pot=$184
River= A
CO moves AI for $120, Hero folds.

The principle of keeping your stack full came in very good use during this session. Without that $100 rebuy in there just before those 2 big hands hit, my win would have been significantly shorter. Just to clarify for the readers who are trying to learn something from my blog, if you feel that you are a good player in the game that you are in, you should always try to keep your stack full. If you are at a skill disadvantage to the rest of the table, then keeping a shorter stack is better as it will limit your losses and limit many of the tougher decisions post-flop as all of your chips will be in the middle well before the river gets there... usually.

Just to point out how bad my hands were for this session, I had AKs 3x, AA, KK, QQ, JJ and 10-10 0x, AQ 0x, AJo 1x. Overall for the day, the cards were really dry and I only solidly hit the flop about 5 times, 2 of these made the difference in the whole trip though, along with the change in the table dynamics.

Total trip profit/(loss) = +$350 in 5.5 hours. IT WAS A GOOT DAY!!!!!

I went to play cards at my favorite location this weekend, the Horseshoe- Bossier City. I actually rented a room this time and was able to play some shorter sessions. I really like staying at the place where you are playing because it is so convenient to take a break. The hotel room was awesome, though I did get a smoking room instead of a non-smoking room.

The poker room was up to its usual high standards. They created a new $1/2 NL table for us when we got there around 7pm and soon enough the entire poker room was schooling with fish. The table this trip was much softer than the previous trip and a lot more talkative which makes playing that much more fun.

The only two big pairs that I had all weekend came semi-early. I had 9-9 and K-K, both of which won uncontested with my continuation bets. I know 9-9 isn’t a big pair, but when it is the 2nd biggest pair that you have all weekend is 9-9, you can call it a big pair.

I put in an image play early to try to break up the image that my card deadness was building. I raised 10s-9s UTG to $6, which didn’t deter anyone from calling. I think the hand was checked down and I flipped over a 9 at the showdown for a pair of nines for a losing hand.

Playing AK, especially from the blinds, is a very slippery slope. I see people taking it to the river unimproved all the time and losing their whole stacks with Ace high at the showdown. I play AK from the blinds in a very simple way, if it is limped around to me, I make a big enough raise that no one wants to play with me unless they have a very premium hand which they have slow-played. If they reraise my bet, I can get away from my hand pretty easily, since AK doesn’t play well into a 3-bet pot in cash games. In tournaments, it plays very differently, but in cash games, AK is usually behind to a 3-bet pf. I played one hand in just this manner and sure enough won the limps uncontested.

Up until this point I have just broken-even as all of the pots that I have won have been small ones. Then comes the tricky stuff that either makes you or breaks you. A LAG raised it up to $7 pf from UTG and I elected to call in MP with 6s-5s. A few more players called the smallish pfr and we saw a flop of Ks-Qs-5h. The raiser led out for the standard $10 flop bet and I of course call with my flush draw plus bottom pair. I might could have raised here, but I had a lot of people left to act behind me and I wanted good odds on my draw as well as information on what everyone else was going to do. Only the player to my immediate left called and the pot was good. The turn was a beautiful Js to complete my flush draw and once again the raiser bet out again, this time for $20. Something about his bet seemed strong and I still had another player to act behind me who has acted like he was on a draw so far. I elected just to call and see what the player behind me was going to do. Something smelled fishy about this hand and I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I’m not laying down a flush with this action and a non-paired board. The guy to my left, Jerry was his name, also called which really started to make me nervous. The river was actually a bad card for my hand as it made my flush much weaker. One of the two remaining 5’s fell off on the river and I now had to worry about full houses out there besides bigger flushes. Once again the pfr’r led out again, this time for $40. With the paired board and the gnawing feeling in my gut, I just called the $40 and held my breath as Jerry contemplated his action. I was very relieved when he just called. The UTG raiser turned over A-10o for a broadway straight, (I knew he had a little something) and Jerry turned over AK for two pair, Kings and Fives. I took down my first big pot of the night and was now playing with the houses money!

Not too much later I caught an auto-play hand, which worked out great from the SB. I love to check blind on the flop from the SB with all kinds of hands and situations as it conceals the strength of a slow-play when you flop a monster hand. It was once again a limped pot and I had 8s-4s in the SB, I completed for $1 and Jerry checked. I checked blind as the dealer was preparing the flop, and oh what a flop it was. K-8-8 and Jerry immediately pushed all in for $37. The other 3 players in the hand folded out to me and I insta-called Jerry’s push. He turned over Kx and I had him drawing to 2 outs. This wasn’t a big pot, but it does illustrate the value and uses of checking blind into the flop.

As my game has improved, I’m starting to play more hands from good position. In the past I have always folded A-9o and other similar hands because it is just so hard to figure out where you are at after the flop when an ace hits. It’s a little easier when 2 aces hit the flop because there is only 1 other ace out and high cards may fall on the turn and river to counterfeit any kicker trouble that you may be in. Also, if the board pairs then you are likely splitting the pot with the other Ace or you are taking the whole thing down yourself uncontested. If you are fortunate enough to hit your kicker, you are usually good.

One man had already left the table once due to a case of the busts and had just sat back down to try it again. It was another limped pot and the flop was A-A-Qr with me holding an A-9o in the CO. Mr. Busto led the flop for $10, which I was happy to smooth call behind 1 other player. I’m not sure if anyone else called, because I knew where the other ace was based on the way that Mr. Busto had bet his hand and reacted to the flop. The turn was a beautiful 9, which put me at ease about my hand being goot. Sure enough, Mr. Busto leads the turn for $20 and I value raise him to $50 even. He, of course, calls with his Ace and we’re heads up. The river was an 8 and Mr. Busto pushed all in on me, I called with out even counting the chips out and flipped my hand over to send him to the Busto stop for the 2nd time that night. I think that I netted about $150 on that hand and was now toting a >$500 stack.

I talked my buddy, BJJIII, into getting some money off the table because his stack was bigger than mine and he had quite a big swing to get there. You definitely need to read his session review if you want to hear about playing big pairs and flopping dozens of sets. We also wanted to look the El Dorado room over that was just across the bridge and this looked like a good stopping point to do it. I’m going to do a card room review of it, but I’ll say one thing about it right now, “It ain’t the Horseshoe-Bossier!”

I counted out a $315 profit for our 4 hours at the Shoe and we headed over to the El Dorado.
The tables seemed pretty soft at the El Dorado, but you definitely had to make a hand to win any money. I ended up flopping TPTK one time to split a pot with a short-stack, but other than that, there were no hands to talk about from the El Dorado. We only played for about an hour on the west bank of the Red River, and I dropped $40 in the process.

We headed back to the home turf of the Shoe and the table that we had left bare was now teaming with fish and had 2 new huge stacks harvesting a profit off its felt. The poker room manager tried to seat us at a different table, but with one look at the line up on that table, I didn’t even sit down to join the grind. I walked back over to our original table and fortunately a seat opened up just as I did. So, lickety split, I grab my chips and hopped back over into the softest seat in the room. I quickly opened with 3-3 from MP1 and took it down with a continuation bet, then tried it again w/ 5-5 and didn’t get any respect. The duo netted me $15, so I was happy with the results.

I had a very interesting fellow on my right, who I found out had been playing poker professionally for 3 years. He was disabled and in a powered wheelchair, which was a great cover for him, because his mind was as sharp as a razor blade. He was abusing these fish left and right and had built his stack up to $800 or so. He’d only been there 2 hours; in fact, he had just sat down when we were getting up to leave for the El Dorado. I don’t know if I should be upset at myself for taking my profit and running before these fish started spewing their monies or if I should be glad that I missed that guys onslaught. It could go either way I guess, but we made the safe play by cashing in a good profit, I’m never mad about that.

There was nothing very eventful that happened at that table, and when the other big stack at the table left along with a few others, we decided that it was time to shut it down for the night. I really hated to see that lady leave too; she was a big over-bettor and didn’t seem to have much game. I ended up losing $70 in that two-hour span, but was still hanging onto a $200 profit for the trip.

We took a six-hour sleep break and woke up to go at it again.

I started off on the wrong foot early, but was reading players well and playing well, I just made 1 big wrong decision and one case of bad variance. Early on I had picked out whom I wanted to play hands against. I knew the action players and was ready to do battle. I picked up Ac-7c in the BB and checked my option in a limped pot. The flop was a lovely Jc-6s-3c and I led into the field with the standard flop bet of $10. I made this bet because I knew it would get called by a lot of the loose players who wouldn’t have much of anything and I wanted to get some money into the pot before my flush hit and my action dried up. Sure enough, I get called in 2 places and by one of the players that I really want to play a hand against. The river was the As and I doubled my bet with my newly improved hand. The loose player calls and luckily the table big stack folded. The river was the 8s and I am all out of cards on my nut flush draw. Common wisdom says to check-call the river here trying to induce a bluff and also trying to keep the pot small with a one pair hand. I felt like I was good here since my Ace hit on the turn and my hand would be concealed, so I bet out $25 into the $80 pot as a blocking/value bet. The villain surprised me and raised the bet to $100. This screamed bluff to me but it was a very big bet to call as a bluff buster. I was getting ready to lay my hand down but I started paying attention to the demeanor of the villain. He had his hand covering his mouth and was from time to time rubbing his nose with his pointer finger. Joe Navarro calls this a pacifying gesture and this confirmed in my head that the villain was bluffing, so I reluctantly called. To my chagrined, the villain turned over the 9s-4s for the runner-runner flush. BBUUUIICCCKKK!!!

Later, I watched the villain once again rub his nose while covering his mouth and sure enough he turned over flopped trips, too bad the big stack on my right had flopped a boat. He used the pacifying gesture as a tell of strength instead of a tell of weakness, this was good information as I was able to take him for a ride on the value bus a few rounds later.

The table had degenerated into a pissing contest between the (Doctor), the villain in the previous hand, and the big stack on my right. Both men were of Arabic decent and appeared very well educated, but the Dr’s raises and reraises meant nothing. The big stack was simply bullying him around and he didn’t like it at all. The game was now $1-2-5-10 and lots of money was changing hands. I took the good doctor for a ride on the value bus w/ A-Jo, but unfortunately I tripped up on the river with another Ace that caused him to fold without paying me off. I needled him a bit because he had a big mouth and was talking much smack and I told him that I had just bluffed him off his hand. “You should have seen your face when that Ace hit!” and boy was he steaming!

I won a $40 pot off the doctor w/ J-10o on the flop on another $1-2-5-10 hand. It came a safe J-4-4 flop and I bet $25 to take it down uncontested.

I was sitting on a stack that left me even for the trip when this hand came up. I had A-Ko and had been card dead all morning, so my pre-flop raises were nearly extinct. The good doctor had been gone an hour or so and a group of locals who played in home games together had filled in the empty seats. I could tell that they were generally tight and straightforward, so mostly I would avoid them except with a big hand. There were 2 limpers ahead of me and I bumped it to $15. One of the locals called me from the SB and the two limpers folded. The flop was Ax-5h-4h and the old man led into me for $15. I really didn’t put him on a set, but thought that a flush draw or a smaller Ace was possible. As far as physical tells go, I got nothing from him when the flop hit. The Arabic man on my right said to me, “You better be glad that you didn’t let me see that flop, I’d have kicked your @$$ with it.” This sounded like 2 pair to me or a flush draw because he played his draws very aggressively. So that seemed to strengthen my read by discounting some of the flush outs and set possibilities. I raised $25 more on top of the donk bet, feeling like I was milking the old man a little. He thought for a minute and I hoped he would just fold, but he came over the top of me for $100 more. I have learned that all tricky-old men are capable of this play with virtually anything, it is just a good spot to raise because the person in my position can’t make the call with a top pair only hand. The player in my spot has to be a good player and very capable of laying down a hand for this play to work. I am very capable of laying down a hand and they of course pull this play on me all of the time.

Back to the action, I still didn’t put him on much though I didn’t have much information on him since he hadn’t played very many hands. I really thought he had AK like me or he had AQ and was drawing slim. And as much as I hate to call people when they’re on flush draws, I knew this was a spot that I would have to do it here. I rechecked my cards for a heart, and there was none. Mustering up my courage, I pushed $140 into the pot and declared that I was all in. He had to call the last $40 as a matter of principle. We both held our cards tight as the dealer turned over a 4 on the turn and a Jack on the river. That jack stabbed me as soon as it hit, I knew it was a kill card. The old man flipped over his A-Jo and I threw my AK face up into the muck to let everyone see how good of a play I had made and how unlucky I had been. Two people at the table announced that they had folded a Jack, what a crappy draw to lose to a one outer. It was still the right play that left me as a 96% favorite, he did have 3 tying outs, but I’ll take 80%-4%-16% every day of the week and put it all into the middle.

So, final tally of this weekends trip: Loser ($196.00) BOOOOO!!

I feel like I played well and was reading well, but sometimes you can’t help how the cards fall. Eli Elezra has said it best; “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.”

I’d also like to throw a shout out to Jerry who I played with on Friday night. He’s a member of the USAF and was in town for a brief period of time. I’d like to say that I really appreciate what you and all of the members of our armed forces are doing, you guys are really loved and appreciated as you protect our rights on whatever battlefield you are on.