Mark's Poker Blog

Tough night

I played in that Tuesday 2/5 game last night. I have posted about this game before. 2/5 pot limit with a $100 max bet. I did great playing holdem (and some omaha), but got slaughtered on side bets. As I have posted before, I like to take side bets. My favorite is to pick 3 cards and if any one shows up on the flop, I win. Its a good bet for me. Last night though, my side bet partner and I each picked cards and we alternated flops. In other words, I would take J62 for a flop and then he would take AKQ (or whatever) on his flops. That way it is even. We were betting $50 a flop.

Well we got a little crazy and decided to make it progressive. In other words, one card on the flop is worth $50, 2 is worth $150, 3 is worth $350 (each card gives you twice the previous amount). Plus, if at least one card shows up on the flop, the turn is live. If the flop and turn each have a card, then the river is live. This means that if all 5 cards match up, someone wins $1550.

Well needless to say, this got a little crazy. There were several times that 3 cards made it and I think we also each had one 4 card win. Overall, I got hammered here. What else is interesting is that the side bets were affecting the holdem/omaha action. For example if one of us had live cards going into the turn or river, we would call any bet, to make sure that the card came up.

I probably won't do this again...

Lots of Poker Yesterday

I played a lot of cards yesterday. I started by going over to a 2/5 game that had run all night. I posted about that game last week. There were 3 players there and all had several 1000 in front of them. I played for a couple of hours. Ended up winning over 1K. One guy made a bad play at me. He had a big flush draw on the flop, but didn't bet it. I had an open ended straight draw. Well, I got my card on the turn. I bet and he went all in with his flush draw (!!!). I called of course and won a big pot. Another fellow dropped by for about 15 minutes and contributed about 1K or so. I got some of it. All in all, it was a good session. It certainly beats playing all night. Hopefully these guys will be at it every Saturday morning.

That night, my wife and I went over to a guys house who is running a satellite for my tournament. We played, but I wasn't really trying to win. I ended up busting pretty early. My wife outlasted me, but did not win. We both played in a small cash game afterwards. 1-3 with a $200 max buy in. My wife won a little, so she was thrilled. She plays super-tight. Finally got KK and got 3 players in preflop. She flops another K and bets it hard, and gets no action - arg. We will have to work on her slow playing. I stayed until the wee hours and sorta busted up the table. Its actually a pretty cool game. Nice folks (except for one ass-wipe) and pretty loose. I may play there in the future, if they ditch the max buy in rule.

Poker Games Raided in Dallas

See the following link:

http://cbs11tv.com/sports/local_story_324171616.html

Lost in a 2/5 game

I played again in that smaller 2/5 afternoon game. I ended up losing some. I had trip 9s against a super loose player who had an under full. Rebought, built up, and made a good all in call from another loose player who had the nut flush draw. About a 1K pot, the biggest of the session. Well he hit his card and busted me. I came back some, but ended up losing at least $500. Neverthless, I will be playing again, given the chance.

Gary Wilk Wins a Seat to WSOP Main Event

Gary Wilk (aka Asian Gary) won the charity tournament held at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) this past weekend. Gary won a seat to next years WSOP main event. Congratulations to Gary. Here is a link to a site with more info:

www.iplayholdem.com

I think the JCC is having additional tournaments, so check out the site above if you are interested.

Played in a tournament this weekend

The Texas poker club, www.txpokerclub.com, ran a $100 buy in tournament this Saturday. They had over 50 players. It was well run and fun to play in. I didn't do any good. Came in something like 30th. I didn't get much in the way of cards and didn't really have good opportunities in position to make moves. I am not sure who won, but I am sure they posted it on their site.

Crazy finish to a game

I didn't play Friday night, but got a call Saturday morning, around 10, to come over to a game that was still running from the night before. They were playing 3 handed and everyone had over 2K in front of them, so I came over. I played maybe an hour or two (I had to go to a $100 tournament at 2:00) and ended up $125.

Because I am a donkey, I asked if anyone wanted to play a dead hand for my winnings. A dead hand just involves two people getting two cards, followed by dealing out the flop, turn, and river. Whoever shows down the best hand, wins the pot.

I won the first one, so I had $250. I of course offered it up again, and got a taker. I won again, and now had $500. I again offered it up and got another taker. He through in his $500. I won again and now had $1000. Well I should have left, but went for it one more time. This super donkey, Gary :), through in $1000. Well, my luck ran out and he won with a pair of tens to my king high. Oh well, easy come easy go.

Played a new game

I played in a new game Friday afternoon. It was a small 2/5 game with a min/max buy in of $300. Thats all the details I will pass on.

It was a really cool group of people to play with. The game was sort of loose and fun, because everyone there was good to play with. I ended up about $600. I hope they run this game again in the future.

Losing session - bah

I have been running good this month, but my run stopped yesterday. Played in a 10/20 NL game. I was really card dead and the game was pretty solid. I slowly lost about 1K. I got it back late when my KK held out against A8 (open ended  draw and and overcard). Unfortunately, I lost several hands after this while playing short-handed. Played AA weakly and made a dumb call with a 4 card straight on the board. FInally, doubled up another guy who had a set, when I called his all-in with a flush draw and open-ended straight draw.

Ended up losing about 1K.

Won a Tournament - Finally

I haven't been playing many tournaments lately. I play in mine and some smaller ones, generally so that my wife can play along. I haven't made the money in my own tournament since the big one we had in June (although I have only held 2). I haven't done well at all in some of the smaller $100 and $150 tournaments. I have been playing goofy - drinking a lot and taking a lot of chances early.

I played in a $100 buyin 52 person tournament on Saturday. For whatever reason, I decided I was going to try to play right. Perhaps it was luck or just trying harder, but I was fortunate enough to win (actually, we got down to 3 players - two of us had a lot of chips, the other guys was short stacked - we gave him a slight bonus over 3rd and chopped the rest). Anyway, I played pretty solid. Made one bad call with pocket tens against pocket queens, but got bailed out. Made one good re-raise against a guy I was sure was bluffing. Got lucky early when a loose player only called me with the 2nd best flush, while I had the 3rd best flush. Had he put me all in, I would have called and been gone.

Anyway, maybe I will start playing some more tournaments. I wish there were more larger ones. Something larger than $100 or $150 that seem pretty common. I could probably fill up a weekly tournament, but they are a ton of work.