Live poker is so awesome. So much fun and so profitable when the 10NL internet fish are playing 1/2 (lol...oops =P). Unfortunately, the 1/2 300max is the biggest game around campus, and all the non-regs and cheap donks buy in for 50BB or less, so all the real money is split between the regs. So I do what I can to try and recruit some new fish when I can...and lucky for me, I found a group of some real softies about a month ago who think they have a clue at a weekly tourney a play in (but apparently none of them even know what fold equity is). And they have some deep pockets.

One of these ATMs was at the game this week, and of course he got to a great start by stacking AKhh with QTo OOP with the flopped nuts vs TPTK+NFD after calling a RR for 1/5 of AKs stack. So he had a pretty nice $600 stack from the get-go, and after I had doubled up with the nut flush one hand I could smell blood.

Then he raises to 8 in EP and I look down at AA when it gets to me. 25 to go, effective stacks about 580, I cover. He flats and we see a flop of 894 rainbow, and he checks it to me. I put 45 into the 53 pot, and after about 10 seconds he says, "100 more." Now, he loves the check/raise-check-bet bluff line, and I know he will CR me here with a lot of hands, but I'm trying to think of the best way to get value out of him here and if there is any value in 3betting. So I do a little thinking as I look at him, and then he starts shuffling his cards and then rubbing his neck, 2 big signs of his that tell me I can be 100% sure I have the best hand and that he probably has a hand from TT-JJ, and because he likes to try being a hero, he WILL call me if I push. So then I announce "all in" and go back into my tank. I'm just waiting for the call, and he is sitting there agonizing about how "this would be the worst call I've ever made" and etc, and then finally he says those 2 beautiful words, "I call." I immediately flip over my AA and even think about tipping the dealer before he stands up and reluctantly flips over T9o (LOL). Now I am extremely baffled...I knew he'd be a hero, but not with that kind of hand, and now he is drawing almost 3x better than he would if he had just an OP. I know that some of you may think that this is nothing, but this was by far the biggest pot of my life up to this point at 1164 or whatever it was, and for a 6BI pot I didn't think I'd be sweating so much as a 3-1 favorite.

Then the cards come out. Turn 7. I know it's coming now. River 6. "Are you serious...are you fucking serious" is what everyone else is telling this kid as he puts his hands over his face in embarrasment and sits back down...I just ask him how much more it is, I give him the other 400+, and ask to be dealt out while I go to McDs. Then I go to get some food and cool off.

On the way back up to the apartment from McDs, I'm feeling a little happier now because I can't wait to eat my double cheeseburgers. Then when I get into the elevator up to the room, I notice a sticker above the door as the car begins to stop. It's a sticker for the student book store. And across the bottom, in big bold Penn State blue letters, are the words "Crack The Nuts." Obv I go on immediate lifetilt as I leave the elevator and go back to the room. Bad beat #2.

The best part about this whole situation (and probably the funniest) is that at about 6am that night I got a text message from the kid. Here is the transcript:

From: Scott Poker
"Im really sorry that the worst call in history got there. considering the situation, you took it extremely well. I don't know if this txt was a good idea but/If and it does not look likely but if i build a bankroll then i will give you 500 back. I really am sorry."

So this just managed to tilt me even more, because I know he isn't going to build a bankroll (after seeing that 1200 stack just go down to 500 or so before I left) so I won't ever see that $500, and it just felt like he was putting salt on the wound, but I give him credit for the offer and his intentions were obv good. All I know is that I hope he runs like god some more so I can get my money back XD. Sick life.





Comments (3)

So I haven't been playing very much poker lately because of school, since I need t get As in everything to continue going to school and I've really focused on studying a lot more. Every once in a while though if I had a free hour or something I'd play on this nice little facebook poker application and win, and I got myself up to a #167 world rank and 13million chips by friday from like 4.7million chips on wednesday. Then the fun part...

I had been selling my chips off in small amounts, like 100k-500k, for the past month or so and had made like $100 doing it, and I put another ad in the application forum last night to see if there would be any more buyers. When I got home from work today at 2, I checked my messages and saw that one person was asking how much I could sell 10million chips for, and I told him $600. He told me it was a deal, sent me the money, and I gave him his chips. I also sold 1million to someone else for $80. After PayPal fees, I was up $654 from selling fake chips to people on a fake poker application where no one ever plays seriously, or at least well, lol.

I have about 2million chips left, and considering how easy it was to get to 13mill I might just try again and sell my chips until I am rolled for like 50NL or have a deep 25NL roll or something, or maybe even more. It is much faster and easier than 10/25NL and there is no risk, so we'll see how that goes. lol ship teh moniez!!!

Sick life! GL all XD
-Joe


Comments (10)

Even though I've been running relatively bad/breakeven lately (running only 1.13ptbb/100 this week over ~13k hands 24-tabling 10NL) I think I am getting much better at poker by playing so many hands. I feel like my hand reading has improved dramatically and I've also started realizing how to properly manage my image and metagame, etc. (although it might not matter so much at 10NL, it obv will matter down the line as I move up). I know I'm playing great right now and I'm just hitting a few roadbumb breakeven sessions, but when I am running good again I think I'm going to be winning a lot of money.

Here are some examples of how confident I am in my game...I was really happy that I was able to pull both of these hands off and be right about them while 24-tabling FR. That tells me that reads/plays like this are becoming more second nature to me:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/351633 - Here I had made a standard raise preflop and a standard cbet in position of a HU pot. The PSB on the turn didn't make much sense to me...I didn't think he would play 55-77 this way, and an overpair probably would have raised/bet by now. Also, a boat made absolutely no sense, because why would be try scaring away a FD that is drawing dead but might not know it yet? I thought the only thing that might beat me here is a 3, which also didn't make much sense in a raised pot, so I shoved for value.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/351670 - This one is against a fellow LPer, so I already had some kind of idea going into the hand of how he might play/think, and who that for that reason he probably isn't an idiot. I noticed that he was sitting on a few of my tables as well, so he knew I was multitabling. We have a little bit of history as too, and he had been playing very tight and aggro, so I thought that if an A came I might be able to win a lot more than just 3betting preflop. I call on the flop to float and try repping the FD if it hit because I was sure he'd fold to it and because I might also have showdown value against his range. Turn wasn't a good card to bluff with. On the river he had checked again, so I thought AK might actually be good here and if not it would fold out some of the hands that beat me. I had my mind made up that if he raised then I would 3bet all-in, because I thought that he might put me on a missed draw that he thought I would bet, and since I already thought he was probably weak, a CR bluff would be his play often enough on the river to make a 3bet bluff profitable. Even if he had some kind of hand he might fold thinking I now have a boat or the nuts after showing such aggression on the last card. I was right that he was weak throughout the hand, but he managed to straight up on the river, yet I was able to make him believe that I boated up because he didn't think I would make such a bluff on the river while 24-tabling.

I was 100% sure that both of these plays would work, and I'm actually proud of myself for making them accurately. I think the AK hand might be one of the best hands I've ever played, and I hope I can keep it up. As for the rest of my play, I've been constantly getting my money in good and I've been really good at avoiding nit-coolers, but lately people have been hitting when getting with with bottom pair when I have an OP or something. This obv won't last forever though, and I can't wait to run good again...I think I am completely outplaying my level and playing the best poker I've ever played. I can't wait to just win enough to move back up to 25NL (if it weren't fo an $80 cashout I'd pretty much be there now).

Peace all and GL!
-Joe



Comments (8)