$300 HORSE Run Good Poker Series at Graton

 

I love HORSE tournaments. What I observe is that just about every player will be weak in at least one of the 5 games and I'm at least competent in all of them. I have two WSOP cashes in HORSE (You can read about my 28th place cash in the 2008 WSOP $3,000 HORSE if you are interested) and have won a bunch of smaller HORSE events online. Pokerstars used to have a $109 buy in HORSE tournament every day with a $5,000 guarantee where we'd often have either 48 or sometimes 40 players creating an overlay. I had one run where I won it two days in a row and then finished 3rd the next day.

I mention the above not just to walk down memory lane and not just to FLEX but to contrast it with the guy at my table who announced that this was the first time he had ever played HORSE. 5 of my 7 table mates didn't got as far as to announce this, but it was obvious that they had pretty much never played any of the stud games and were just flying by the seat of their pants.

My starting stack

We started with with 20,000 in chips playing 200/400 stakes. They randomized the first game and we started with the R in HORSE - Razz - which is 7 card stud trying to make the lowest possible hand. On the second hand the guy who had never played before raised showing a 6 and got called by a guy showing a 9. On 4th street the guy with a 6 caught a 7 and bet. The guy with a 9 got another 9 and called the bet! It is hard to put into words how bad this is.

We got 70 entrants and first place was $5,530 which I think is a pretty good turnout for an event of this nature. I did take a bunch of pictures of my chips...

We're winning!

We're losing!

We're winning again!

We're winning even more!

I had about 50K in chips playing 2500/5000 stakes when a big hand came up in the Stud Hi-Lo split (where the best hand and worst hand split the pot). On third street it looked like this (I'm in seat 1):

Seat 1: 23 in the hole, 7 showing

Seat 4: 7

Seat 6: Q

Seat 7: J

Seat 8: T

The Q was forced to bet 1,000 (the bring in), the J made it 2,500 and the rest of us called.

Seat 1: 23 in the hole, 78

Seat 4: 78

Seat 6: Q8

Seat 7: JJ

Seat 8: T5

The JJ bet 2,500 and we all called.

Seat 1: 23 in the hole, 784

Seat 4: 78Q

Seat 6: Q8K

Seat 7: JJ6

Seat 8: T56

In order to win the low half of the pot you need 5 unpaired cards 8 and below (the E in HORSE is Eight or Better referring to this qualifier). I had a shitty low, but with the cards showing I was thre only one who can have a made low. The guy with T56 in theory could be drawing to a better low, but he started with a T up and probably has a pair of Ts or maybe started with 3 suited cards. My chances of getting half the pot here are excellent so when the JJ6 guy bet, I raised from 5,000 to 10,000 and everyone except seat 6 came along.

Seat 1: 23 in the hole, 784K

Seat 4: 78Q3

Seat 7: JJ64

Seat 8: T569

On 6th street it checked to me and I bet again. Everyone called. At this point we have 69,000 in the pot. 

Everyone was dealt their last card (I paired my 4), it checked to me, I checked it and seat 4 squeezed his last card last to act. Finally he bet 5,000, the face up JJ in seat 7 called, the other guy folded and I called. "You've got the low" he said pointing to me. "I have a pair of aces" he continued. A pair of aces? In what world is that going to be the best high hand here?! The guy in seat 7 showed that he has just one pair of jacks with no low. The guy with the aces showed his hand and he had AA2 in the hole meaning he has 8732A for low and I have 87432! Gross! This guy didn't even realize he had a low!

The player in Seat 4 pictured here

At this point the guy is seat 7 said something to the effect of an incredulous "What were you doing betting there?" to me. This made my blood boil! I have a lot to learn when it comes to poker in general and I'm far from a Stud Hi-Lo expert but this guy did not know his ass from a hole in the ground (that's a phrase right? I'm not making that up?) and it's a special pet peeve of mine to get my play criticized right after losing a big pot.

This can't be good

I lost a couple of other pots right away and my stack was down to a very sad 7,000 or so. I ended up finishing in a disappointing 26th. 

On a happier note this robot that works at "The Boathouse" brought me some kung pow chicken after the tournament. 

Despite resembling, a trash can you're not trash robot!

After 2 tournaments firing a total of 3 bullets with one cash my $6,000 tournament bankroll is at $5665. I'll be back at the tournament tables on September 30th playing WSOP Circuit events at Thunder Valley.

We'll see if I can get through one post without over the top disparaging of my opponents who I'm sure are actually fine people and are just there to have fun...but don't bet on it!

$200 Run Good Poker Series No Limit Tournament at Graton

 

Straight cash homey

I recently put together a package of about $6,000 in tournaments that I'll be playing over the next few weeks at Graton and Thunder Valley and sold off about 25% of my action to friends and family for their own entertainment value. I've been continuing to win in cash games and happened to have $6,000 in cash so I took a picture of it. Don't get too excited backers! These are not tournament proceeds pictured!

The first event was a $200 NLH event at Graton that is part of the Run Good Poker Series.

Our hero looking optimistic outside the casino

Our hero in the tournament area looking determined

Our hero's receipt

Our hero's phone reflection behind the ring case

Time to run it up!

We started with 10,000 in chips with blinds at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante (I will from now on denote the blinds and big blind ante in the format of 100/100/100 so I don't have to write out "with a big blind ante) playing 20 minute levels. One cool added element was we had 10 players who were "mystery bounties." These were F list celebrities like Tyson from Survivor or some blogger I'd never heard of along with a few of Graton's most noted or regular poker players. Each had an envelope like the one shown below. If you busted the player with the bounty you won a prize ranging from $50 in Run Good gear to $1,000 in cash. The average value seemed to be about $250.

TELL ME YOUR SECRETS ENVELOPE!

After 40 minutes of playing there was an earthquake! Not a big one, but we were almost directly on top of the epicenter and there was shaking for about 25 seconds. We actually stopped play for a few minutes before resuming.

Shake what your mama gave ya!

Unfortunately everyone knows that earthquakes are bad luck. After about 2 hours my stack looked like this.

Gross

Then with a short stack I got a cheap look at a flop in the big blind with JT, the flop came down J high and I lost to KJ. 

Boo!

Luckily we got one reentry and decided to fire one more bullet! 

Hope springs eternal with each additional bullet fired

Two chips and a chair

With the stakes at 500/1000/1000 I was in the big blind with 9,000 and SIX people called for 1000 in front of me. Did I mention the field was trash? None of them looked like they really liked it so I shoved with K9 off. This might be questionable, but I thought if I could get past the under the gun limper I might be able to get rid of everyone. To my surprise I got called by both the under the gun player who was all in for 7,000 and another in the field who had me covered. When the cards got flipped over I was up against 88 and 44 which was pretty great. Even better I flopped a K and won the pot. Hooray!

Behold! An actual stack!

The next big hand came up a few levels later when with the stakes at 2000/4000/4000 I shoved in middle position with AJ off for 31,000 and got cold called by a player in the field who had about 100K in chips. I was hoping to see TT or 99, but to my delight my opponent rolled over AT! And we held! Huzzah!

$9,255 up top!

A little less than the 70K I had after AJ holding

After 5 hours WE MADE THE MONEY with a stack of about 50,000. 32 spots out of 256 paid with a min cash of $280.

Then I got dealt A9 in the small blind and shoved against the big blind who had...TT. Bullshit! I had him covered by 2,500 which is what I had in my stack after that hand.

You disgust me $500 chips!

But then we got it all in for half a big blind and won!

And then raised all in with JT suited and stole the blinds! Could it be a half big blind story?

Back to 30K!

Then...well...we got it all in with A8 vs 99 and did not win. In the end I finished in 24th, captured 2 pay jumps after I was down to 2,500 and got paid out $375. After a $10 tip to the staff it was a -$35 day, but felt like a victory.

Looking back I never got dealt a pair higher than 66 or any ace better than AJ off in 5.5 hours of play. Medium and big pairs and big aces are gold in a tournament with 20 minute levels and to get none and still make the money makes me feel like I played well and got the most I could have out of really weak cards.

My next event is $300 HORSE and I've already played but will recap it soon.

$1,000 Cap $2/$3/$5 No Limit at The California Grand Casino

Black Chips are sadly not $100s in California

I made my way to The California Grand in Pacheco last week for the 3rd time in my life and the first time in 7 or 8 years. Once again I was too lazy to take a picture, but not too lazy to find some on the internet.

The outside

The inside

I have never seen anyone APPLAUD their opponents

Over or under 2.5 of those drinks getting knocked over

While it was not as lively as the promo photos, all ~15 tables were full with six or seven $2/$2/$3 NL games, two $2/$3/$5 NL games and some limit hold'em games as big as $15/$30.

The games were 10 handed which is a material change from the 8 handed Bay 101 games and more materially I had a few players that were somewhere between competent and solid at my table. A huge benefit of Bay 101 (and Matrix also) is the fact that there are always 6 or 7 or sometimes 8 $2/$3/$5 games going and I pretty much always change tables if I'm up against more than 1 decent player. At the Grand one game was a must move and the other was the main game so I was stuck with a tougher than normal lineup. 

With that said, looking back at my notes from 5 hours of play I think there was only one hand worth noting. About 20 minutes before the hand in question I observed a hand where 5 people limped in for $5, the big blind made it $50 and not surprisingly everyone folded. It got me thinking that in that spot you could almost certainly show a profit making it $50 with any two. If you go to $25 you're sure to get called by everyone and if you make it $100 your risk reward might be off, but going to $50 you're risking $45 to pick up $30 neglecting any post flop equity.

Inspired by this hand and this thinking, I made it $40 over two limps with A9 off on the button. Both blinds called and the under the gun limper went all in for $206! So much for everyone folding! If it wasn't for the two bozos behind me I'd be getting a great price only needing to call $166 to win $325 (factoring in the $5 limp folder and the $6 rake). I figured Mr. $206 probably had a big pair, but getting about 2 to 1 if there was any chance he had a hand like 77 or 88 or spazzed out with JT suited I was getting the right odds. I didn't think these particular bozos were trapping with AA or KK so I shoved for about $900 and blew them out. My opponent turned over KK. Gross! But I flopped two aces and won the pot! Hooray!

Looking back after the fact if his range is any pair, I'm 37% which is more than the ~34% equity I need to make this a profitable move (assuming the bozos never call).

Behold! Poker Cruncher!

In the end I lost $110 which is not a bad result for having weak cards in a slightly tougher than average game in a session where I was losing the entire time. I'm $1087 ahead after 50 hours which is kind of OK, but after a slow start I'm feeling good about it.

 

$3/$5/$10 at Lucky Chances

 

The $1 chips are very sad

My tour of the bay area card rooms continued recently at Lucky Chances in Colma which is a little south of San Francisco proper. I was too lazy to take a picture, but not too lazy to find this stock photo on the internet of what it looks like inside.

Stocked with fish!

Before I get to that, for the record I have to breeze through another session. I was at Bay 101 for 5.5 hours. I lost a couple of all ins vs short stacks including AT < QQ and KJ < Q9, spewed off $350 on one hand with AK in a straddled 3 bet pot and generally had nothing good happen to me. I lost $565. Sad face.

The Lucky Chances sessions was much more interesting. My best memories of Lucky Chances are 20+ years old when I was still in college playing $9/$18 limit hold'em in the hours between midnight and 8 am. Poker was always so exciting in those days!

Anyway, I bought in for $1,000 in the $3/$5 game (There is no $2 blind on the button) which is the max. I saw a "kill" button on the table and quickly discovered that the game was playing "winner kill" which is similar to a rock straddle in the sense that the winner of the pot puts out a $10 blind. But I think in general with a rock straddle it's 100% mandatory and the action starts to the left of the straddle. In this game I believe you could object and not straddle (this did not happen a single time) and the straddle acted last preflop. Unlike other games I've played recently where it's straddled some of the time this was a straight up $10 big blind game.

And my opponents were TRASH! For the first 2 hours this was the best game I've been in in 2022. These dudes were so passive and in a totally linear way scaled their bet sizing based on the strength of their hand. When they made something a small bet meant a hand that was just barely good enough to bet, a half pot sized bet meant a solid, but non nut hand and when they had a monster they'd go huge. 

After 6 or 7 pots where I raised preflop, bet the flop, and won with no resistance I got dealt KQ of hearts made it $50 over two $10 limpers and took the flop 3 ways with the button and one of the limpers. The flop came down K63 rainbow and after the limper checked I decided to check for deception. The button quickly fired out $90. I took my time like I was thinking about what to do and called. The turn was an 8, I checked again and he instantly ripped it in for $400! Despite the fact that big bets almost always meant big hands, this was the driest board in the universe with no draws other than 54 and no two pair combos that call a raise to $50 preflop. I thought with a set I'd see a bet of $150 on the turn followed by $250 on the river, not just a ship and also that AK would have 3 bet preflop. I called feeling 90% sure I was up against a worse king. Sure enough after a blank river my opponent showed KT practically reaching for the pot because he was so sure it was good. Sorry bro! My pot!

A little later I had two hands against a younger guy who seemed like a regular player and was talking non stop. On the first hand Mr. Talky raised to $35 on the button vs one limper, I called in the big blind with 65 of spades and we took the flop 4 ways along with the straddle and the limper. The flop came down 865 with two diamonds giving me bottom 2. We all checked over to Mr. Talky who bet out $75. I grabbed three $100 chips off my stack and slid them into the pot. The others folded and Mr. Talky AGONIZED over what I might have. He had about $1,000 when the hand started and I was ready to stack off hoping he had an over pair. Eventually he folded, but for at least the next 30 minutes he would not shut up about this hand! It was clear that he was suspicious that I might have had a flush draw or a combo draw and regretted folding. I told him nothing!

At that point I got dealt AJ of spades on the button and raised to $40 after Mr. Talky limped. Along with the big blind we went 3 ways to a flop of Q93 with one spade. They checked over to me and I checked it back. The turn was the K of spades and Mr. Talky bet out $35. Picking up a gut shot and a flush draw on a card that should favor me as the preflop raiser is probably a time to raise, but I just called (I'm not sure what I was thinking exactly). The river came out the 6 of spades making me the nuts! Mr Talky checked and a very quick the thought of "over bet" passed through my brain. I grabbed $220 and Mr. Talky called so fast that I literally did not see him put chips in the pot! I was kind of aiming for 1.5X the pot and didn't quite get there as there was $190 in there already. If I'd gone a little slower with my thinking I might have bet $300, but I'm happy I got more than a pot sized bet on the river. I need to work on keeping track of exactly how much is in the pot.

I had a couple of hands go the wrong way, but all in all it was a great session.

The kill button is hiding in the background

In the end after about 4.5 hours I booked a $1,306 win! Hooray! After 46 hours my $10K starting bankroll is at $11,197. We're on a ~$3,000 upswing over the past 5 sessions and I definitely feel like I've shaken off some of the rust of 4 years of not playing very often.

Buying in for $1,000 at Graton

 

They should call this place The Palace!

I made my first trip ever to Graton Casino on a recent Sunday afternoon and I was impressed. It had the scale and feel of an on the strip Vegas casino, but it looked like a Saturday night in there on a Sunday at 1 pm with 2/3 of the 3,000 (!!) slot machines in use. 

The Poker Room (not pictured: a decent view of the poker tables)

I heard from the friends I was with who were Graton regs that you get $25 in free slot play if you sign up for a players card so I did. When I got to the poker room I discovered that you give them your card when you want to be added to the list for a game, your phone number is tied to your card and they text you when your seat is ready. The only options were $4/$8 limit, and $1/3 or $3/5 no limit.

WHY WITH THE $1 CHIP GAMES AGAIN!?

I got called for the $4/$8 first. Looking at these chips triggered a memory from the distant past. My first casino poker experience was at Cache Creek which like Graton is a tribal casino. Seeing these worn out dirty chips brought me back to some of the most exciting sessions of my life, playing like absolute trash against toothless degenerates and filipino grandmothers on weekday afternoons in a smoke filled, poorly lit corner of the casino sweating $100 wins and losses like my life was at stake.

A dirty chip comparison (viking added for scale)

I'm really glad I hung on to one of those Cache Creek chips. Anyway, between the trip down memory lane and the PTSD of them raking $7 (!!!) out of every pot at a $4/$8 limit game I've blocked out what happened. Thankfully I was called for the $3/$5 game fairly quickly.

I bought in for $1,000. The max was $1,500, but I rationalized buying in for less by telling myself that I'd never played with any of these players before and $1,000 was enough to cover everyone but one player who had $1,300. I had about $3,000 on me and it felt more comfortable to have three $1,000 buys ins than two $1,500 buys ins. In reality this is hogwash. HOGWASH! My best approach has always been to buy in for the max, try to build up a towering stack and use it for complete and total psychological domination of my mentally weak opposition. 

Happily I got off to a hot start. I three bet TT to $90 in the big blind over a raise to $15 and two calls. Only the small blind called. The flop came down T96! Huzzah! I looked over at the small blind's stack and he only had about $160 left. Usually when someone has less than a pot sized bet and is short stacked, it's time to just get it in, but my read on this specific dude was that he would be more apt to call a series of smaller bets than one all in. He checked, I bet $75 and he called. The turn was an 8 putting a one liner to a straight out there and my opponent quickly mashed his remaining chips in the pot with the dexterity and finesse of a 6 month old baby slapping at a serving of puréed carrots. I of course snap called, he rolled over J8 and after another 8 on the river I took down a nice pot.

The next one was a favorite of mine, not just because of the result, but because of my thought process. I called a raise to $15 with 54 of clubs in middle position and we took the flop 5 ways. The flop came down AK8 with two clubs, the preflop raiser checked, I checked and it got around to the button who bet $55. What could this guy have and what does he not have? He never has AA or KK or AK just calling after a raise and multiple calls. With a small raise size preflop he absolutely has every Ax in his range and many Kx hands too. After we all check he's going to bet any piece of that flop, but unless he has exactly 88 or A8 it's really tough for him to call a check raise. Also these other goons between us already checked after the preflop raiser checked so they can't have anything. Of course I had a flush draw as backup, but I think I could make this move with nothing in this exact spot. Going through this is not exactly hard sitting here looking back with all the time in the world, but the fact that all of that hit me in an instant in the moment is very encouraging. I made it $150, the goons folded and the button mucked with frustration. I own your soul you button goon! Let it be a lesson to the rest of you goons!

On top of thinking about "configuration" like in the last hand, one thing I've been working on is playing big hands fast. Most players if they flop huge they are inclined to slowplay to in theory disguise the strength of their hand. So when you do the opposite and just blast away it gets misinterpreted and builds a pot.

I got a chance to executed on this with A4 of clubs in the big blind. The 6 month old baby I stuffed with the TT vs J8 hand raised to $15 in the small blind after 2 people limped for $5. I can not begin to tell you how TRASH this raise sizing is. IT MAKES NO SENSE! IT IS THE MOST RECREATIONAL SIZING OF ALL TIME! Anyway, I flopped the nuts on the Q86 all club flop! The trash baby checked, and I went into fast play mode betting $35. Only the player to my left called. The turn was the A of spades which could be an action killer, but checking made no sense. Part of my brain was saying "GO BIG! GO BIG" and the other part was like "What? Quit shouting at me. You're screaming too much about how these players are trash and babies." I bet $100 thinking that was about full pot, but $125 or even $150 might have been better. The river was the 9 of hearts and I got this feeling that my opponent was just never folding. "GO BIG! GO HUGE!" "What? Are you sure? I'm not sure I want to go huge." I settled on $250, got called right away and regretted not going bigger.

Despite my regrets I think my bet sizing was OK. Certainly I've seen my opposition go something like $30, $60, $100 in similar sports and make half what I did. But if I'm against a 2 pair plus hand like it's clear I was I might have been able to go $125 on the turn and $500 on the river. I'm working on this. I keep telling myself to GO HUGE and then betting 80%-90% of pot which is big but not huge.

The exact colors of Heinz ketchup and relish bottles?

They gave us all "all in" buttons to throw in as needed. I was not in fact all in in the picture and did not get to use my button.

After this picture where I was sitting on about $1,650 I had a slow and steady decline for 3 hours eventually booking a win of $2. The smallest live cash game win of all time for me? Probably.

Teaser: I'll be back a Graton for some tournaments in mid September.

After 36 hours my $10K bankroll is at $10,456.

Crushing Skulls on Back to Back Friday's at Bay 101!

An important question I try to answer in this session

I rolled into Bay 101 a couple Friday's ago coming off my stupid $1K loss at the dumb Palace in moronic Hayward happy to be back in familiar territory.

While waiting for no limit I jumped into the $8/$16 limit game and got dealt JJ in the first orbit. It came to me raised with one caller, I three bet it, the guy behind me four bet it and we took the flop 6 ways. I'd played with the 4 bettor before and I was 95% sure this was AA or KK. To my delight the flop came JJ3  and someone else check raised the 4 bettor! Fun! 5 of us went to the turn for 2 bets, I ended up betting the turn and the river and beat AA and KK. Quads son! How does your skull feel bruh!? 

Racks on Racks

I made my way over to $2/$3/$5 up $400 on the day and had more hands hit hard. In a weird move the cutoff just called $5 and I made it $25 from the button with K7 of hearts. The big blind and limper both called and the flop came down A54 with 2 hearts. The action checked to me and in a must bet spot I fired out $45. Only the big blind called and the turn came out the 2 of hearts. Flush time! Skull damage incoming! 

The A was a heart and barring 53 of hearts which would be soul crushing (also skull crushing) I had the nuts. I was certain I had K7 of hearts, but took a second to look back at my cards. Many players lose track of their suits and have to check if they have a mix of suits, but tend to remember if they're suited. Normally I don't act at all, but in this one situation I do and a look back here should makes it appear like I don't have a flush. 

After a check, I bet $125 and my opponent called. The river was the K of clubs and in the moment I thought "I don't think this guy is folding, I should go huge." There was about $415 in the pot, but I'd lost track of the exact count. I could see two $100 chips in the pot and then a bunch of $5 chips, but my snap assessment was a little lite. I bet $300, my opponent quickly called and I regretted not going for more like $500. I think a straight, a flush or even a set is finding a reason to call here.

Later in the session I picked up KK and raised to $30 vs two limpers. The small bind and one limper called and the flop came down 863 rainbow. I bet $55 and both called. The turn was a 9, I bet $130 and got one call. Then the river came out a K! Huzzah! Actually that K may have killed my chances of getting called one more time by an 8 or a 9, but it always feels good to improve. Sadly I bet $200 and my opponent folded with only a glancing blow to his skull. 

I won $910 for the session bringing my $10K bankroll to $9128 after 25 hours.

Fast forward a week to the following Friday and more skulls needed to be crushed.

I sat down in a new game and took the big blind. The under the gun player raised to $15 and I called along with the small blind. The flop came down 223 and I thought "No way does this lady have a deuce in her hand and no way is she going to stack off for $500 on the first hand." I didn't even note what I had but I check raised from $15 to $45 and won the pot. Because of this pot I was ahead literally the entire session. 

A couple of hands later I raised T9 of clubs to $20 from the lojack and after one call on the button a solid player 3 bet to $90 out of the big blind. Gross. He had about $800 and while I would prefer to be deeper stacked calling here I knew this guy liked to squeeze and decided to make the call. The button folded and the flop came down 995 with two diamonds. Zing! My opponent bet $80 and in the moment I was thinking "GLORIOUS! He'll never put me on a 9 if I raise. Someone with a 9 would never raise here. This will look like a flush draw! MWAH HA HA!" I went to $220 and he snap mucked. Sad face. Later I realized I could easily play an over pair this way and I guess if my opponent is squeezing wide he usually won't have anything here. But it still felt good to smash the flop.

But this was how the whole session ran for me. I 3 bet AK in a straddled pot from $50 to $150, flopped a K and won. I had AQ of clubs, flopped Q54 with two clubs and made the flush on the turn. I had JJ on a Q93 flop, turned a J and got check raised from $120 to $300! Hot damn! I didn't get paid off huge on any of them, but I just kept connecting.

Later in the big blind, I called $15 with J7 in a 6 way pot. The flop came down J82 with two hearts and it checked around. The turn was the 2 of spades, I bet $45 and got 2 callers. Not only was the river a J it was the J of hearts bringing in the front door flush draw, someone had the flush and I made another $100. Hitting the perfect card I started to think this was getting out of control!

Towards the end of the session I had 77 and raised to $20. I got one caller and then a total goof ball made it $60. We took the flop 3 ways and it came down A97 with two heats. YES! COME ON YOU GOOF BALL! WE CRUSHIN' SKULLS AND YOU NEXT! I just called a bet of $80 and the third guy in the pot shipped it all in for $375! Oh baby! The goofball folded I snap called and the board ran out T, A. With no structure at all left to his skull my opponent couldn't muster the strength to show his cards so after a couple of seconds I showed my hand and took down the pot.

Of course over close to 6 hours I had some hands go against me, but fuck those hands. Today we're only interested in the good stuff.

The white chips are made from the skulls of the vanquished

In the end I won $1,326. HUZZAH! I'm also back in the black for this project with my $10K bankroll at $10,454 after 31 hours. DOUBLE HUZZAH! In celebration I had a happy hour old fashioned and relished the defeat of my enemies.

 

Uncapped Buy In No Limit at the Palace in Hayward

 

Palatial!

You would think after playing poker in the bay area for 22 years I would have been to every poker room in town. But you'd be wrong! You're so recreational at thinking! I made my first trip to "The Palace" in Hayward last Wednesday. What I new about it going in was they had 4 poker tables, offered $4/$8 limit hold'em and a $1/$2/$2 blind no limit game with an uncapped buy in. Given the state of their website it's surprising I was able to gather this much. 

Such a sad website

I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly, but my first reaction was that it had all the charm of an off track horse race betting establishment in a Fresno strip mall. I put my name up for EVERY GAME IN THE HOUSE (literally every game in the house is pictured above). I got called for the $4/$8 limit game which played with a half kill first and bought in for $200.

2 stacks of the lowest society

It has been a loooong time since I played a game with $1 chips. Surely I must be a massive favorite in the game right? RIGHT? 

The saddest stack of all time

I played for about an hour, lost $140 and began to question what I was doing at the Palace, why I was playing with red $1 chips ($1 chips are never red) and all the decisions in my life that had lead up to this moment. Finally I got called for the no limit game. Actually they called the name right before mine and right after mine and when I inquired I was informed that there was a regular with the same name, they didn't see him in the room and since he's deaf they never actually call him.

The $5 chips are blue and the $100s are orange!

I bought in for $1,060 including my sad stack from $4/$8 which may be the first time I've ever bought in for 500+ big blinds. I played uncapped buy-in $10/$20 at Bellagio once in my hay day, but certainly didn't buy in for $10,000 and can't remember too many other uncapped games. 

This game had some goofy straddle rules I've never seen before. On the first hand I played the cutoff put out a $5 straddle and the lojack two to his right put out $10. I was in the big blind and rather than asking WTF was going on, I decided to wait and see. The action started with the under the gun player, bypassed both straddles over to the small blind who made it $20, then the cutoff called and then the lojack called. Surely someone had acted out of turn here right? Nope! A straddle will act last after all of the other action and I guess a double straddle will act after the regular straddler. Furthermore in a normal hand you can't just call the $2 big blind. It's $5 to open. In a single straddled pot it's $10 to open and in a double straddled pot you have to put in $20 to just call. The effect of all of this is the game plays more like a $5 big blind game than a $2 big blind game. The stacks were all between $400 and $1200 with the exception of one guy who had ~$3,000 and no idea what he was doing.

The actual hands I played were not all that interesting with one exception. With the $5 straddle on I was in the big blind with T6 suited and 5 people came in for $10. This is a folding spot, but thinking I was closing the action I made a loose call for another $8. Then Mr. 3000 in the straddle made it $40 to go. Gross. I reluctantly put in another $30 in a spot where again I should have just mucked. The flop was amazing - J98 with two clubs giving me an open ender and a flush draw. I'd make a flush or a straight a little more than 50% of the time and was ready to stack off on the flop. I checked over to Mr. 3000 who bet $145 into the pot of $240. Then the next player to act went all in for what turned out to be $180 and it was back to me with a little over $1,000 in my stack. 

This was a tricky situation. I didn't think that if I called Mr. 3000 would be able to raise again as usually the all in raise needs to be more than half of the original bet (at least a raise of $73 more in this case) in order to reopen the action for the original bettor. But who knows in this goofy place! I thought about asking, but didn't want to ask as it may have given away information about me and my hand. There was also a guy behind me who only had $25 left (who knows why he didn't just get it in preflop for the extra $25). It's not all that often that you have a 15 out draw against effectively two all ins and another guy who is totally bananas and could have anything with fairly deep stacks behind. Between trying to figure out how much was in the pot, whether I should ask about the re-raising possibilities for Mr. 3000, and just the general internal juices flowing from being in this big pot I was feeling the fog of war and not really thinking clearly. While it was certainly possible for me to up against a better flush draw and another straight draw or made straight and be drawing dead to a chop, I decided to just get it in and shoved in my whole stack! The guy with $25 called and Mr. 3000 proudly folded JT face up. The turn was a red 5 and the river was...a 7! The $25 guy flashed AT meaning I was chopping, and then the other guy rolled over QT for the nuts. Bullshit! What a stupid hand! Why did I even write so many words about this dumb hand!

I also lost $350 with AA vs T9 on a 984 flop, turn T runout, $100 with AJ vs 33 in an all in preflop spot, and $250 on a raise preflop then big double barrel bluff that didn't work out. The rest of the time I generally just had nothing good happen.

In total I lost $1,020 on the session over 4 hours. My $10,000 starting bankroll is at $8,218 after 19 hours.

Despite the loss, this was a great game and I'll probably be back. I'm also been feeling inspired to visit EVERY POKER ROOM IN CALIFORNIA over the next couple of years. I probably won't make it to all of the tiny ones, but expect to see more posts about different places....stupid T6 suited.

The Devil on My Shoulder at Bay 101

 

Poker is booming in the bay area and going in on Friday often means having to wait as all of the poker tables are full. While waiting for my normal $2/$3/$5 last Friday I managed to get a seat at the limit $8/$16 with a half kill (the stakes go up to $12/$24 for one hand if someone wins two pots in a row). Every player in this game was absolute trash...I'm sorry...every player in this game was HIGHLY recreational trash.

I couldn't help but think back to my early days when $1/$2 limit hold'em was the smallest game in the house at The Oaks Club, the $3/$6 limit game had a couple of regulars who had read some poker books and played fairly well and the $6/$12 had 2-3 regular players in every game who were solid if not quite good. In my early 20's I would have stayed in this $8/$16 game until my clothes slowly decayed and my beard grew down to the top of my stack. I may have needed to be hospitalized after not sleeping and eating only Mongolian Beef for weeks. It was truly incredible how not a single player had any idea what they were doing at all. After 2 hours of waiting I had 3 stacks of low society (as pictured above) and finally got called for the no limit game.

Lately I'm needing to remind myself : "BEING PASSIVE DOESN'T WORK IN POKER! BE AGGRESSIVE YOU RECREATIONAL DOOFUS!" There is always the devil on your shoulder telling you to just call or give up and wait for the nuts, but that doesn't work in the long run. 

On my first hand at the $2/$3/$5 game after buying in for $800 I got put to the test. I posted in the cutoff, got dealt KJ off and called after the player to my right raised one limper to $30. The button and limper called and the flop came down QT2 giving me an open ended straight draw. The action checked to me and I bet $75. I could make the argument that betting into 3 opponents as a semibluff is not always smart, but see my all caps reminder above. The button folded, the preflop limper called and the preflop raiser folded as well. Going to the turn heads up we had about $270 in the pot. The turn paired the 2 and my opponent bet out $25! I felt the devil's presence as he whispered "Hey bro. That's a real nice price for a river card. Why don't you just call and see what happens. Feels real safe to me." But I went with the angel's recommendation of "CRUSH SKULLS!" and put this dude all in for $400. He folded and I felt good about being aggressive. It works!

A little later I had changed tables and was back down to a stack of $720 when I got dealt KK under the gun.  I made it $20 to go, the small blind called and the big blind made it $120. This is a big raise and felt like a squeeze play to me, but no matter what it was a clear 4 bet spot and I went to $320. The small blind quickly folded, the villain called and the flop came down A55. Gross! With $400 behind and $660 in the pot I would have said I was pot committed as we went to the flop, but then the flop was what it was and my opponent shoved all in. GAH! SO FRUSTRATING! I folded, but later realized this was a big mistake. If my opponent had an ace I don't think he'd play it this way. He seemed like a decent player and I really look like a passive middle aged white guy who is only 4 betting QQ, KK or AA. If he thinks I'm not 4 betting AK (I am) or AQ (I would in this spot) then with an A on the board 80% of my range is under pairs. This is one I wish I had back. 

On the next notable hand I raised Q9 of diamonds to $20 and got one caller. The flop came down QJ2 with one diamond, I bet $20 and got called. The turn was the 8 of diamonds giving me top pair, a gut shot, and a flush draw. I decided to check and my opponent bet out $50. At which point the devil appeared again whispering... "Bro. Just call. See if you make it. Dude over there looks like he's got KQ to me or even T9. Don't want to mess with T9 do you? Slide in that $50." Surprisingly the angel made a similar read "LOOKS LIKE KQ AND I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! CRUUUUUUUUSH SKULLLLLLLLLS!" I moved all in for $400 and after thinking for about 10 seconds he mucked. 

I ended up winning $597 on the night over 7 hours. My $10,000 starting bankroll sits at $9,238 after 15 hours.

My next session which is already in the books was at the very inappropriately named "Palace" in Hayward. It was super weird. More on that soon.