It’s an old poker mantra that doesn’t get old
Pocket Aces are after all just one pair.
Ace King on an ace high board is just one pair.
HOWEVER the average winning hand in Hold’em is two pair.
Don’t go broke with one pair, if you can find a fold on the turn and still have a playable stack take it and be happy.
Nottingham saw a very poor poker playing display by me. Today I’ve updated my blog and reviewed the stream from Dusk Till Dawn for several hours. Congratulations to Jonathan “Skalie” Kalmar who won the Grand Prix first prize of £30,000 and an $6,0000 Caribbean Package.
No more poker playing until I have completed my new book, The Myth of Poker Talent by Alexander Fitzgerald. Only then can I get back to the poker tables.
Other areas to work on:
Just as you do when you cross the road look right and left and make sure you are aware of the action. I busted 15 minutes before the end of day one because I’d failed to notice a mid position limp and thought I was blind on blind with a simple 8 BB shove with K8. The big blind folded but the limper called with his pocket eights and I was out. If I’d seen the limper I would have folded and found a better spot to get my chips in.
Look left and right – Before you act make sure it is safe or you could get run over.
Took the National Express for £34 to Nottingham, £200 for a couple of nights at Jury’s, £35 on taxi plus 5 x $109 (£448) entries Total £717
Bullet 1 – Played very badly but got very lucky, this hand shows how lucky…
Milan Harper limps for 300
Vincent Sanchez makes it 1000
Gary O’Farrell calls in the big blind
Harper calls telling us “its my favourite hand”
and they see a flop
O’Farrell leads for 1,000
Harper calls
Sanchez launches his last 10,000 over the line with a flourish
O’Farrell folds
Harper tells us “told you it was my favourite hand” and calls flipping over
I didn’t expect to see Sanchez turn over which he justifies with some chatter
the turn comes the
Sanchez is animated “any diamond. any ten”
the river is….
Sanchez doubles and has the good grace to look a little sheepish
That’s what comes of playing your favourite hand Mr Harper.
I later folded to an all in when I’d raised from MP with 910 and go two callers. I raised the 99Q for 3/4 pot and bet 3/4 pot on the 8 turn, I then lead the river for 10K to get shoved on. I was beating nothing but a bluff and decided to fold. He then showed me the bluff complete air.
“You’re supposed to bluff when people show weakness not when they show stength by betting preflop , flop, turn and river ….” I’d finally made a big lay down in a tournament and I was wrong!
Another awful pot. UTG + 1 opens for 1K the hijack calls 1K I bump it to to 7K with a pair of Kings. Thee of us see a flop of QQA rainbow and we all check . UTG + 1 went all in for his final 11K and for some reason – entitlement tilt – I call leaving myself with 5BB. Just awful…
After this hand I chipped up, only to lose on a hand where I opened for 3x under the gun with AK and got called by button and BB. On a rainbow flop of 65K I continued for 3/4 pot to be called by the button. The turn put a second diamond out and I again continued for 3/4 pot only to be re-raised all in. I finally decided to call, and the villain showed 6d3d for 4th pair and a flush draw. A second 3 arrived on the river to send me to the rail at about 9 pm. I’d played 4 hours of poker only two of them were good.
Bullet 2 – I joined the 8 pm flight 1 hour late but made level 16 and busted 15 minutes before the end. I played well, neat and tidy, found some spots and was happy with my game. The final hand was a bust, with 8BB I thought it had been folded to me in the SB and shoved my K80. I soon realised once the BB had folded, there was a limper to my left who called me with 88. Just pure tiredness, it was 2 am and I’d been up since 5 am and at the poker table for 9 hours. I have now done this twice, the other time being in Vegas also at the end of a long day. I need a new rule for this, make sure you 100% sure of the action before you act, a bit like looking left and right before you cross the road.
Key hand was when a mid-position player limped and I called with Queens hoping to get a raise behind, instead I got another limper and the BB just checked. Never slow play your big hands…there is a rule, my rule, when will I learn? Flop came Queen high 3 spades and I had the queen of spades. Initial limper bet 10K for 95% pot and I insta-shoved for 50K and got two folds and a quick call from the initial raiser who had Kings with the King of spaces. I faded the flush draw and doubled up to 110K.
Bullet 3 – Played the Saturday 1 pm flight and just didn’t get going. I played well and we ended up on the feature table which is great as you can review your hands with commentary from poker coach Paul Zimbler. It was a fun passive table with good guys but I was card dead and sat tight. I got lucky on the river when my pocket twos filled up to give me a full house, just as my opponent bluffed into me. The key hand was the one I went out on, I had a raise UTG from a tight player of 3x I flatted with AKs for 3K and got one caller behind. The flop came A56 two diamonds, UTG tanked and checked and I bet 6K into the 10K pot to get re-raised to 16K behind, I thought about it and called as my hand was under represented, UTG folded.
I checked the 10 turn and faced a bet of 22K. Now I was only beating draws and bluffs, I’m not sure of the players level, he check over shoved his set of nines earlier but still managed to get paid. I thought about it and went all in for my last 42K as if he had the diamond draw I wanted to charge him fully. If I am behind I’m committed to the hand, so I feel this is OK to get all in on the turn. He shows A 10 for 2 pair on the turn and I’m out. See 2:59 on video below.
In hindsight I could have let it go 42K was still 42BB. OK so I’d put in a third of my stack in but I could have found better spots. His turn bet meant what it said, in hindsight he’d have taken a free flush card on the turn if he was drawing. His bet most likely said I don’t have a flush draw. I need to print the rules out, as once again I didn’t have the discipline to go through the script. I need to be more calculating in these spots, I played one hand badly and was out. If I’d 3Bet I’d have got it in against UTG’s QQ and would have doubled up, but the reason I limped was because I didn’t want to flip my whole stack versus a big pair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6BtNYjpP50
Bullet 4 – I rebuy immediately on busting and sit down at a table with blinds at 200/400 UTG+1 raises to 1,000 and I call with KQ0 even though I thought in my head “let it go respect the gap concept”. 4 callers behind me and the button who looks like an action player makes it 3500. UTG+1 folds and I call all remaining players fold. Flop comes Queen high with 2 hearts and I check, initial raiser makes it 5,700 and I re-raise to 11K only for him to jam. I tank then call and he shows AQ and wins, how to set light to $109 in 5 minutes and one hand. Just beyond awful.
I need to review Jared Tendler’s The Mental Game of Poker again as I am mentally weak, it is a part of the game that I really need to work on.
Fortunately Emma from PartyPoker was heading into town for a drink and took me with her, so I avoided avoid doing further harm to my bankroll. After three prints of Guinness and some pleasant company, I could feel the tilt leave me and felt ready for my last shot.
Bullet 5 – This was a blast, Antonius Samuel who I had shared a table with in Manchester which was very lively was checking in just before me and we make our way to our seats. In Manchester we’d met late in the day and some sledging was exchanged between us at the table.
“How did you win a £100K when all you do is fold? Any good player would have adjusted by now” I bawled, It is fair to say he gave as good as he got.
I didn’t recognise him at first and then it all came back to me, any hostilities were forgotten and he said it had been a fun table. “Big Daddy had been on his sauce that day” I said by way of apology.
There was a gentle old lady in her 70’s sat the table surrounded by a young aggro crowd ready to get lively. Almost on the first hand we had an open, a call from Antonious and a raise from the older lady who I would put in her 70’s. Two calls and the flop came Q79, Antonius led for nearly pot and the lady called with one fold behind, turn was a Jack and Antionus bet again only to get re-raised and he called. He checked the river and the lady shoved, Antonius called showing Q9 for top two pair and the old lady showed a pair of Jacks for trips.
It seemed only fair to give him a rub down “I’ve still not played a hand with you” he looked dazed, “Apparently he won a $100K once..” I said
Shortly afterwards I raised AQ to 3.5K from the BB after a table of limpers and only the old lady called. I c-bet 5K on a KQ7 board and she called. I checked the blank turn and she bet 5K, the table was laughing as I meekly folded. “Show the bluff” they demanded, she kindly showed a King to put my mind at rest.
Next hand I had an UTG raise to 1K I made it 3K to go with queens and get an all in of 18K, almost all my stack. What does this mean? Well it should mean it is not Aces or Kings therefore it is either AK, Jacks, Queens or Tens, I called and he groaned showing his pair of tens. The flop came 89J27 for a rivered straight which summed up my weekend. Sometimes the deck finds new ways of beating you down.
Next hand I shoved my AQ to get 5 callers. One player lead on the K47 board and got a caller followed by the old lady re-raising, more laughs and then a shove from the initial raiser, an0ther all in and the old lady joined the party. K4 was ahead for two pair, the second player was open ended with 56 and the old lady had AK. A seven on the turn counterfeited the initial all in’s second pair and the old lady busted three players in one hand. In 30 minutes she had destroyed the table and everyone was laughing, I wished her well as she stacked up a mountain of chips.
It was time to call it a day I went back to the hotel and watched the football.
Finishing one book and catching up on some poker history before my trip to Nottingham for the Grand Prix at Dusk Till Dawn tomorrow.
In 1990 we have the only British winner Masour Matloubi who cashed for £4K in Hong Kong in September this year according to the Hendon Mob
Watch Jamie Gold re-check his hole cards and convince Wasicka he’s on a draw as per Rule 34
Some interesting stories of the disappearing winners here.
https://youtu.be/n_SHHo7awo4
https://youtu.be/OLXC4oTJdD0
Poker movies are bad…as a rule…Rounders has the classic quote…
[Narrating first lines]
Mike McDermott: Listen, here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.
Rounders is considered the best movie, Steve McQueen in The Cincinnati Kid captured my imagination, A Big Hand for a Little Lady with Joanna Woodward and Henry Fonda and Casino Royal show how badly the game is represented on screen
Below is Doug Polk analysis of a key poker hand in Rounders with Matt Damon, where Teddy KGB’s play is somewhat questionable on the river…perhaps one day I’ll write a screenplay that will take the number one spot on IMDB…
Doug Polk uses 5 bet sizes when playing online based on percentage of the pot
29% 42% 56% 74% and All in
I open for 2-2.5 x for all hands pretty much from all positions adding 1BB for each limper.
Phil Gordon suggested that you opened 3.5 x under the gun, 3x from mid-position and 2-2.5 x from late position. The idea was that from early position you had a better hand and wanted to avoid multiple callers. On the button you want to be able to steal with a large range of hands. The game has moved on and 3.5 X opens are considered unnecessarily expensive, the modern game is 2-2.5x which means that playing from the blinds effectively is now a key part of the game.
There does also seem to be a move to 1/3rd pot bets even on wet boards, something I’m not so sure about, I stick with 75-80%
You want to:
If you always bet small when bluffing and big when you have it, you will soon become exploitable. This is where game theory optimal play needs to be considered, mix it up so that no one knows what your bets mean as they are balanced.
I played a 20 x $109 seat guaranteed tournament for $22 and for some reason bluffed off my stack on a paired board…he min raised the river and I shoved thinking he was looking for a cheap showdown….Aghhh…why?
When I take a stab at a paired board it seems that whenever I follow through with my second barrel, they always have it. My advice is take a stab and then slow down…call a raise if you have an ace and re-evaluate on the turn.
I re-bought and then came 21st for $20, poker is a tough game so close yet so far…unless you get first prize poker leaves you disappointed…still I played well but need to cut out these “Mike Matusow ” blow ups. It seems in every tournament I have one hand where I dump chips without a good reason or a valid plan for the hand. There is still an emotional element to my game that needs to be cauterised, I need to be objective in all my decisions. I’m going to create a business card and put the script on it so that I go through it in each hand.
Are you being emotional? Will be one of the questions.
Watched the WSOP episode 9 and in minute 29 saw Chris Klodnicki dust off his chips with A7o v 99. Chris 3-Bet Moss’ open in position and when Moss checked his flopped set, c-bet a on an 8K9 board. He then bet the 8 on the turn when checked to and got called. The flopped set of Moss led out on a 4 river for 3/4 pot (1.9 Million) and Klodnicki called with ace high for 60% of his remaining stack. Chris Klodnicki had 2.9 Million and called the 1.9 Million bet on the river with Ace high, losing 74% of his starting stack. Chris was gone shortly later shoving 8BB with QJs to be called by QQ to go out in 45th place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg-Mn6-njZo
If you have more than one opponent or the board is wet do not slow play.
ABC when ABC gets the job done.
You never hate yourself for winning the pot but letting the guy get there on the river because you slow played will ruin your day.
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