Rise of the Phoenix

Ninja.

I’ve slowed down my play some. I don’t mean my hand-to-hand play, but I am playing a little less. I am trying to really focus on my A-game stuff. So, if I don’t think I can bring it- I am reading instead. So, that is all to the good I am sure, but today I am bummed because it means I missed a lot of chances to play some large field tourneys.

As for the reading:

I am barely interested in finishing Every Hand Revealed. I am 25% of the way through and so far Gus offers very little to recommend his strategy. “Bet shitty hands and get lucky” doesn’t really qualify as strategy. Truth brought home two books of Harrington on Cash Games (title might not be right?) and I am VERY interested based on the RAW POWER of his Hold’em book. That said, I’m not quite motivated to start. I had wanted to reread the Hold’em books- started to do so- and was sort of bored with it… Its make it harder to be excited to actually crack the cover of the cash books. Actually, also true is that I am not in A-game mode when I read (which is why I am reading not playing) so my focus is already handicapped. Hhhhmm…

Anyway, instead of the books I’ve been reading a lot of online stuff. I finished the Wannabe blog and am now digging through the articles on playwinningpoker.com

5.5 SNG 9seat

Small raise from early mid with QJoff.
BB calls
Flop is Q high w/ 2 hearts
He makes a tiny prob
I made a “pot size” reraise (almost 2x the pot)
He thinks and calls
If figure the flush draw
Turn completes the flush
He checks
I check
River is a blank
He bets 330 into a 1500ish pot- this is a small bet but calling and losing will leave me at 1/3 my chips instead of /2/3
I fold my now second pair

QQ in the BB
Some limpers
Pot size raise from me
One caller
I flop a set
I check
He checks
Turn is a 9 and puts 2 flush cards out there
I bet the pot
He calls
River completes the flush- there is also some straight danger (JT)
But I’m pretty committed now
He bets not quite putting me all in
I go all in (no way I can fold and a call is silly)
He calls
And turns over the 999 set to lose to my QQQ

I hit QQ the next hand but my raise only scoops the blinds and a limper

99 in UTG+1
Pot raise (3.5 blinds as it turns out)
Button calls
BB calls
Flop is 257
Half pot bet- scoop

Min raise from early on my BB
A couple callers
I make the blind-ful-call with J5suited
Flop 528 with one of my suit
I check it, everyone checks it
Turn is a 7 of my suit
I make a half pot bet
One folder, small stack calls
The river is the Q of my suit.
So, suited K and A beat me- nothing else.
I want all his chips
So I bet about half of them- its delicious enough for him to feel the need to call, but enough that his best bet is to push- I could IN THEORY (fantasy?) fold my pure bluff if he does…. He does- I don’t. He turns over second pair top kicker.

ATsuited in the SB
It limps around to me
I raise it pot size
Everyone folds but the button
Flop is AJ5 with the 5 of my suit
I make a not quite half pot size bet
He reraises me for half his stack
I put him all in
He calls
And turns over JToff
I hit another ace on the river and its done

AQ HAND- I lose some chips with AQ, don’t connect, I make a check-call-lead move, but sadly he had hit the turn…

A6off in the BB
SB limps
I limp
Board is 54K rainbow
He checks, I check
Turn is a 7- I am now open ended
He bets small, I call
River is an 8, I’ve got my straight
He bets, I reraise, he reraises- we tiptoe up to all in… he has 69 for a better straight.

I actually went through (clearly an inadequate amount) of potential hand analysis here. There is no flush, there is no boat… I figure him for TPTK, overpair, set, two pair… Something- not a bluff the way the reraises went- he was never trying to get me to fold…

69 is the ONLY hand that beat me and it just seemed too random. Sigh.


5.5 SNG 9seat

A guy gets smashed when his AK, TPTK gets cracked by JJJ. A few hands later he goes all in for less than 1/3 starting stack. I look at KJsuited and want to call- but decide he probably has an ace. I fold. Guy to my left goes all in with ATsuited. I would have beat them both but that is okay.

Truth is reading up on some HPT stuff. I snuck off to play a little joke on him. I made a rudimentary trap with a laundry basket, a spatula, and some rope. I propped the basket up in his bathroom with the spatula, snaked the rope around the spatula, and then lead the rope into his closet. Then I put candy under the basket and made a trail of candy to his bedroom door. I laughed myself silly and now await the results of my comic genius.

Tried to sneak in a limp with A2suited but the SB raised all in.

77 in the BB
Wound up chopping with A7 when we straighted

Top pair smacked by AA

AK takes out smallstack AT- go me!

Truth went to bed and I laughed myself to tears. Thank goodness I only had crap hands. Then, a few minutes later, he came out and pelted me with candy.

I make a move with AT, get called, miss the flop and give it up.

I make a move with A8 and scoop the blinds.

I try to limp into a party pot with 66 but a smallstack goes all in and gets a caller ahead of me. Good thing too because small stack’s A beat callers KK (note: he had tried to limp)

Called a raise from “limps with aces” guy only to have the SB go all in, limps with calls- I fold. They turn over JJ and QQ. Where does this guy get his fucking cards?

I try to limp with A5suited, get reraised, then that guy gets raised all in- I fold, callers turn over AT and QQ. AT takes it- glad I was out.

Limps with aces guy has now played aces twice, kings twice, and queens once.

Scary moment. Big stack limps with aces guy 3x from hijack, and I’ve got AK on the button- I shove… He folds. Whew.

He makes a correct call to call a small stack all in with 77- small stack turns over 89, but then flops a straight. Mr. luckbox runner runners a boat.

Oh! In the money!

Small stack went all in and big stack called. They turned over A9 and AT and I so wanted the knock out but small stack hit his 9. Since big stack is a donkey it would have been AWESOME to go the other way. Sigh.

Whew, AA holds up to A7. He freaking tiptoed me all in preflop too. I take over (slightly) the chip lead. (note: this is against limps with aces)

I actually hit AA two hands later to crack the small stack.

A long while later I put luckbox (who now has half my stack) all-in with AT. He turns over JJ (for the full suit of broadway pairs!) but I get my ace.

Whew.

The part I didn’t write about involved me going hyper aggressive from a slight lead to an almost double lead. I think I literally stole 80% of the hands on the way there. Some were solid raises- but mostly I was just in his face because I could tell he was a junior player.