Foucault Just another PokerSavvy weblog

Sorry for the lack of posting this week, I’m currently traveling around Germany with sporadic internet and frankly better things to do. I spent my first few days in Berlin and Potsdam, then two days in Dresden, and am now in Leipzig. Tomorrow it’s onto Weimar, then back for a few last days in Berlin before I return to the States.

On my second day here, we visited Berlin’s Holocaust memorial, which contained a lot of letters and other documentation from genocide victims. I’ve been to several such memorials before, but what particularly struck me about this one were the letters from European Jews discussing the rumors they were hearing. You’d see letters between siblings living in different countries sharing rumors and discussing what action, if any, they should take. For example, one man living in Latvia wrote his brother in Mexico to ask whether his brother thought that he himself ought to move to Mexico as well, whether he’d be able to ply his trade there, etc.

Obviously he didn’t end up moving, or he wouldn’t be in the memorial, and that’s what really got under my skin. As terrible as it would be to see your family end up in a concentration camp, I feel like at least for me the knowledge that I may have been able to prevent it would be even worse. I hope I don’t come across as blaming the victim, because that’s certainly not what I mean, but if I had considered fleeing the country and decided not to and eventually lost my family to the Nazis, I’d be feeling an overwhelming guilt on top of everything else. I guess that’s sort of the way poker teaches us to think, focusing more on things that are potentially under our control than on those that are not. This particular memorial didn’t really emphasize the unimaginable numbers or grotesque images of the Holocaust, so these letters were what affected me more than anything.

We also tried to go the casino in Berlin, but it was the middle of the day and the poker room didn’t open until 7, plus there was an entrance fee to get in. I’m not actually planning on playing, but I am curious to see it, so I’ll have to come back one evening. There are casinos in these other towns as well, but none looks big enough to have a poker room. We did see the hotel where the EPT Berlin robbery took place, it’s actually just around the corner from the library where my friend generally works (he’s a graduate student).

I’ve got just under a week left in Germany, so don’t be surprised if you don’t see much on here until next week.

CO in this hand was unknown to me. He’d only been at the table for a few hands, but he seemed to be involved in every pot, and indeed had played 40% of his hands.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

SB ($1148)
BB ($1000)
UTG ($1810.50)
Hero (MP) ($2899.50)
CO ($1301)
Button ($3595.85)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A, A
1 fold, Hero bets $35, CO calls $35, Button calls $35, SB calls $30, 1 fold

Flop: ($150) 2, 2, 9 (4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $99, CO calls $99, Button calls $99, 1 fold

Turn: ($447) 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $299, Button calls $299, Hero calls $299

River: ($1344) Q (3 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $868 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls $868

Total pot: $3080 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and twos).
CO had 2, 2 (four of a kind, twos).
Outcome: CO won $3077

My original plan was hopefully to check-shove the turn vs. him, which I still think would be good. BTN’s call confounded that plan (notice he and I are 300BB deep). I think his presence in the hand actually enables me to fold this on the river. I convinced myself that CO could be overplaying a worse overpair, but he also seemed to have a high 3-bet (33%, though again over a small sample), making it unlikely he gets to the flop with such a hand. And with the Q rivering, it’s probably only KK he could conceivably play this way anyway, as far as hands that I beat. Doubtful he’s shoving a busted draw into two players on the river.

It freaking sucks to river the second nuts and have to make a crying call with it. I’m pretty surprised the guy wasn’t more aggressive with it when I showed so much weakness on the turn, but I can’t see what else he plays like this on the river, let alone what worse hand would call a raise.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (3 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

SB ($1314)
BB ($1000)
Hero (Button) ($1473)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, 5
Hero bets $20, 1 fold, BB calls $10

Flop: ($45) J, 7, K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($45) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $15, BB calls $15

River: ($75) 8 (2 players)
BB bets $60, Hero calls $60

Total pot: $195 | Rake: $1

Results:
Hero had 6, 5 (straight, eight high).
BB had 10, 9 (straight, Jack high).
Outcome: BB won $194

I know this isn’t the first “river semi-bluff” I’ve posted, but it never ceases to amaze me how few players do this. It’s sooooooooo unlikely anyone is checked a flush on the river, betting is a virtual freeroll.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

MP2 (t2428)
MP3 (t5247)
Hero (CO) (t2460)
Button (t3435)
SB (t3865)
BB (t2840)
UTG (t2445)
UTG+1 (t2400)
MP1 (t1880)

Hero’s M: 27.33

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8, 9
5 folds, Hero bets t120, 1 fold, SB calls t90, BB calls t60

Flop: (t360) 10, J, A (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t360) Q (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t360) K (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets t999, 2 folds

Total pot: t360

Results:
Hero didn’t show 8, 9 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t360

I played both the 250 and the 2500 but not the 25K. Go ahead, call me a nit.

My first opponent in the 250 was absolutely awful. He played 63/1 over the course of the match (he open limped his button when he didn’t fold it) and played pretty badly post-flop. I dispatched him tidily and drew a more challenging opponent in the second round. He was up nearly 2:1 on me when I 3-bet him with KK, bet a J95 flop, and called a shove. He had JT and caught another J on the turn, and that was that.

Things were tougher in the 2500. I didn’t recognize the name of my first round opponent, but my research revealed that he was a significant winner at 1/2 – 3/6 NLHE heads up cash games. He played well but a little too stubbornly, basically never giving a hand up on the flop. I sucked out on him once, AJ > AK, after getting kind of short. The way the hand went down we pretty much had to get it in pre-flop.

Then I really stuck it to him with this one:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

SB (t7955)
Hero (BB) (t12045)

Hero’s M: 100.38

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5, A
SB bets t160, Hero raises to t555, SB calls t395

Flop: (t1110) K, 6, 10 (2 players)
Hero bets t789, SB raises to t1800, Hero calls t1011

Turn: (t4710) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t2200, Hero raises to t9690 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t9110

Results:
Hero didn’t show 5, A.
Outcome: Hero won t9110

Remember what I said about him not giving up flops. One way I can exploit that is to call a flop raise and check-shove turn with a good draw in a spot where he’s repping mostly air.

He ground a bit of a stack back up then made an inexplicable 4-bet shove with 62s into my AQo, which held to bust him.

In Round 2, I drew teaccuppoker, who is sort of a buddy of mine. We met at the 2006 WSOP and have played with each other online quite a few times since. We have a friendly relationship and always wish each other well. This match was a tight one with a lot of back and forth and lasted nearly two hours.

I blew a chance early in the tournament to stack him:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

BB (t10375)
Hero (SB) (t9625)

Hero’s M: 106.94

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 10
Hero bets t155, BB calls t95

Flop: (t310) A, 8, 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t199, BB raises to t540, Hero raises to t999, BB raises to t2460, Hero raises to t3921, 1 fold

Total pot: t5230

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, 10.
Outcome: Hero won t5230

He told me he folded T8, which I believe. I put him on a worse two pair, and while lesser players won’t fold that, I can see why he would. I think either shoving flop or calling and getting it in on the turn are both much better options than min-5-betting.

I got him in another big one here:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

BB (t10611)
Hero (SB) (t9389)

Hero’s M: 52.16

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, 4
Hero bets t240, BB calls t120

Flop: (t480) 4, J, A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t480) 4 (2 players)
BB bets t240, Hero raises to t999, BB calls t759

River: (t2478) 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1675, BB calls t1675

Total pot: t5828

Results:
Hero had Q, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
BB mucked A, 3 (two pair, Aces and fours).
Outcome: Hero won t5828

Then he coolered me to take a big lead:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

SB (t7821)
Hero (BB) (t12179)

Hero’s M: 67.66

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, Q
SB bets t360, Hero raises to t1000, SB calls t640

Flop: (t2000) 3, Q, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t1234, SB calls t1234

Turn: (t4468) Q (2 players)
Hero bets t9945 (All-In), SB calls t5587 (All-In)

River: (t15642) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t15642

Results:
SB had Q, J (three of a kind, Queens).
Hero had 6, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: SB won t15642

Yeah, on the one hand, you have to expect some domination when you 3-bet Q6. But unless that case Q turns, I don’t lose my ass on this one. That’s legit bad luck in my book.

My bustout hand was also a cooler, though I think I could have played it better:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 2600 Tournament, 80/160 Blinds (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from  PokerSavvyPlus.com

BB (t12437)
Hero (SB) (t7563)

Hero’s M: 31.51

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, 10
Hero bets t320, BB raises to t800, Hero raises to t7563 (All-In), BB calls t6763

Flop: (t15126) Q, 2, 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t15126) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t15126) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t15126

Results:
Hero had 10, 10 (one pair, tens).
BB had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: BB won t15126

The size of the 3-bet just puts me in an awkward spot with this exact hand. I think shoving is better than 4-bet-calling, and I felt like my hand was a little too strong/vulnerable to call, but I also think the size of my shove means I’m not getting called by a lot of worse hands. I think maybe flatting is the best of some imperfect options.

I should probably just fold pre-flop. I ran my time bank down all the way before finally deciding I’d pretty much never have a hand stronger than this and so needed to call here. When I saw his hand, I felt totally owned:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (4 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

UTG ($4077)
Button ($2000)
SB ($2000)
Hero (BB) ($2000)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5, A
1 fold, Button bets $40, 1 fold, Hero calls $20

Flop: ($90) A, 9, Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $60, Hero calls $60

Turn: ($210) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $160, Hero calls $160

River: ($530) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $720, Hero calls $720

Total pot: $1970 | Rake: $2

Results:
Button had 3, A (two pair, Aces and fours).
Hero had 5, A (two pair, Aces and fours).
Outcome: Button won $984, Hero won $984

This river bet demonstrates how badly he’s got me over a barrel. Unless I’m slowplaying a really high percentage of the time, which would be undesirable for other reasons, he can overbet his entire river betting range and put me in nothing but gross spots. Even with a hand as weak as A3, he can get me to fold a chop or hero call KQ, and he’s got little to lose since he’s almost never beat.

I quit as soon as the BB got back around to me.

I ended up doing quite well in this one, finishing 5th out of more than 1400 runners. On the whole it was a lot of fun to play so short-handed and I felt I played well, but a monumental error in my final hand left a bad taste in my mouth.

The thing about a 4-max tournament is that you have to play a lot of pots with everyone at your table; there’s no avoiding anyone. That’s good news if you’re the best player at the table, but bad news if even one of the others is better than you, especially if he knows it and takes full advantage of it.

Call me cocky, but I feel like I’m a favorite over a huge percent of the field in a $300 SCOOP event, and sure enough I dominated the first few tables I was at. That gameplan ran into a brickwall when I ended up at a table with ZeeJustin and a high-stakes PLO player who also played very well. Suddenly I was the third best player at the table and was getting killed.

Justin was running the table over, playing like 62/36 with a 35% 3-bet on his BTN. Given that, I think my only option here is to 4-bet call. Folding seems out of the question, and I think 4-bet-calling can only be superior to shoving since it might occasionally entice him to 5-bet a worse hand that folds to a shove. Spiking was key not only because it doubled me up but because it took my number one competitor out of the picture:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 60 Ante (4 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

SB (t64518)
Hero (BB) (t44303)
UTG (t65592)
Button (t45679)

Hero’s M: 44.75

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, Q
UTG bets t1378, Button raises to t4200, 1 fold, Hero raises to t11111, 1 fold, Button raises to t45619 (All-In), Hero calls t33132 (All-In)

Flop: (t90354) A, 8, 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t90354) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t90354) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t90354

Results:
Button had K, K (one pair, Kings).
Hero had A, Q (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won t90354

Here’s a play I made against another nemesis at another table. He wasn’t necessarily better than I- in fact he’d just sat out against me at a heads up cash table- but he was good and a thorn in my side. Initially I thought his call was bad, but I guess it is the top of his range and a spot where I can be expected to turn hands into bluffs:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 350/700 Blinds 85 Ante (4 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

UTG (t195024)
Button (t77029)
SB (t71730)
Hero (BB) (t102099)

Hero’s M: 73.45

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4, 4
UTG bets t1699, 2 folds, Hero calls t999

Flop: (t4088) 2, K, 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets t3115, Hero calls t3115

Turn: (t10318) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

River: (t10318) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets t6125, Hero raises to t22222, UTG calls t16097

Total pot: t54762

Results:
Hero had 4, 4 (two pair, sixes and fours).
UTG had A, K (two pair, Kings and sixes).
Outcome: UTG won t54762

On the final table bubble, the player running the table was a woman I’d never heard of named Roxie Boxx who was employing relentless aggression extremely well. She was 3-betting something like 38% of hands, targeting me in particular, and because of the stacks and the tournament situation there was very little I could do about it. It was definitely a beat that with 5 players left, I ended up heads up with her. I did manage to pick off one big bluff from her by basically setting her up to try to run me off of a hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 8000/16000 Blinds 2000 Ante (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

Hero (BB) (t856387)
SB (t3455151)

Hero’s M: 30.59

Preflop: Hero is BB with 2, Q
Hero bets t32000, SB calls t16000

Flop: (t68000) 8, Q, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t16000, Hero calls t16000

Turn: (t100000) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t48000, Hero calls t48000

River: (t196000) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t176000, Hero calls t176000

Total pot: t548000

Results:
SB had 8, 3 (one pair, eights).
Hero had 2, Q (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won t548000

Unfortunately, I ruined it all with what will probably go down as one of the great mistakes of my poker career. I’m so angry about and embarrassed by this one. Not only is it unlikely spot for her to bluff given the action and the recent history (see above), but I was so tired that I failed to even consider 7’s full as a possibility for her, even though in retrospect it’s the single most likely hand for her to have:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 10000/20000 Blinds 2500 Ante (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

Hero (SB) (t1219222)
BB (t3092316)

Hero’s M: 34.83

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, 10
BB bets t60000, Hero raises to t150000, BB calls t90000

Flop: (t305000) 7, 9, 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t111111, BB calls t111111

Turn: (t527222) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t255555, BB calls t255555

River: (t1038332) 7 (2 players)
BB bets t1820000, Hero calls t700056 (All-In)

Total pot: t2438444

Results:
Hero had 10, 10 (two pair, tens and nines).
BB had K, 7 (full house, sevens over nines).
Outcome: BB won t2438444

That busted me in 5th, just shy of the final table. I had a big edge against two of the remaining players, and while the other two were pretty solid, I believe I was probably the best one remaining. I sure didn’t play like it, though.

Last night, as I was sleep-deprived and caffeine-jittery and getting deep in the $300 SCOOP 4-Max, I was also on the phone with Mike Johnson and Adam Schwartz, hosts of the 2+2 Pokercast on which I am this week’s feature guest! You can search for it on iTunes or listen here to hear me talk strategy, offer some life advice to all those young poker pros out there, and even play a hand with the nuts live on the air! I haven’t actually listened to the episode yet myself, but apparently the guys also talk about the latest debacle at UB/AP.

Please let me know what you think!

I played the SCOOP Large Ante $150 and $1500 events yesterday, not even realizing what they were until the tournament started. What a lot of fun! I think formats like this are awesome because they separate the people who understand poker from those who have a robotic, if successful, strategy. No one really knows what the proper strategy looks like and is trying to figure it out as they go along.

For those who don’t know, in this structure, the blinds always stay the same: $5 and $5. However, the antes get bigger every round. This means that as early as Level 2, you are getting better than 20:1 odds to limp into any unraised pot. By late in the tournament, it can be well over 1000:1. Sure, a lot of pots get raised (though again, people have to invent “standard” bet sizes from scratch), but it’s never correct to fold any two cards in an unraised pot. You could tell immediately who was trying to think about the format, because they were the ones at least limping into every pot, and sometimes limp-re-raising. Personally, I was playing something like 60/15.

I definitely managed to pick up a few pots with junk post-flop. The other thing that not a lot of people seemed to realize was that, even in spots where 6 people saw the flop, it was unlikely anyone had much since many of those people were playing any two cards. I was showing a profit betting like half pot with gut shots into 5 players.

Here’s one where I limp 62o UTG and win it post-flop with a gutshot:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1575 Tournament, 5/5 Blinds 60 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

MP3 (t5504)
CO (t5775)
Button (t7416)
SB (t8460)
BB (t6085)
UTG (t7791)
Hero (UTG+1) (t8953)
MP1 (t2833)
MP2 (t6305)

Hero’s M: 16.28

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 2, 6
UTG calls t5, Hero calls t5, 2 folds, MP3 calls t5, 1 fold, Button calls t5, 1 fold, BB checks

Flop: (t570) 5, 3, 3 (5 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks, MP3 bets t311, 3 folds, Hero calls t311

Turn: (t1192) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks

River: (t1192) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t777, 1 fold

Total pot: t1192

Results:
Hero didn’t show 2, 6 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t1192

And here’s another fun one:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1575 Tournament, 5/5 Blinds 175 Ante (8 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from PokerSavvyPlus.com

UTG+1 (t42336)
MP1 (t18025)
MP2 (t23708)
CO (t16533)
Button (t52258)
SB (t6187)
BB (t40219)
Hero (UTG) (t33088)

Hero’s M: 23.47

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, J
Hero calls t5, UTG+1 calls t5, 1 fold, MP2 calls t5, CO calls t5, 1 fold, SB checks, BB bets t1050, Hero calls t1045, 4 folds

Flop: (t3520) A, 6, 10 (2 players)
BB bets t1855, Hero calls t1855

Turn: (t7230) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t2222, BB calls t2222

River: (t11674) 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t7777, 1 fold

Total pot: t11674

Results:
Hero didn’t show Q, J (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t11674

Sadly, I only min-cashed in both tournaments, but I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun playing a poker tournament.