Friday, June 15, 2012

Caesars Deep Stack warm-up

Early levels - before first break

Range-Finder
I raise in position with Q8. Flop is 868. My OOP caller who I haven't seen lose a hand checks, I c-bet (because I would have done that HU on basically any flop) and he raises. This, I like. I call. Turn is a 7 an he leads and I call again. The river is a 9 an it's offsuit but I'm a bit less confident now. It's a big rover bet.

Let's recap. I raise with a sorta junky hand and my opponent check-raises the flop, leads the turn, and leads the river. The hands I'm losing to on the flop are A8, K8, and wired 6s. Would he check-raise any of those? World class players might against other world class players precisely because it's such an odd line to take with such a strong hand. But this is the minor leagues kids - there's no way that is happening here.

Now he leads the turn. My flat looks weak to him and he's probably taking a stab. Now the river completes some draws. However, would he check-raise the flop and lead the turn with the draws that a 9 completes? I highly doubt it. So folding is out of the question. This is a classic spot of a polarized range - he's taken a hyper line with a monster or has air, but the pot is so large any raise from me has to be a shove and obviously he can't call with anything but the unlikely monster.

I say "the only way that river could be worse is if it was a 9 of clubs" (because it would have put a flush on board - also unlikely for his line but still). He immediately looks away which is just one last confirmation that I'm winning and I say call immediately. He shows Q6 for queen high - he had a straight draw if hold'em featured a sixth street. I pull in the chips and am feeling pretty good about myself.

I Don't Vant To I Hav To (Call)
Around level 4 I'm in the BB an the loose Russian to my left limps in. Three more limp in including the SB, my new French friend (more on him later). I look down at two queens and raise, the Russian and one other limper calls. The flop is AKx (6 I think). This is an auto C-bet HU but three-way I decide to check and it checks around. The turn is a black 3 and I lead for about 2/3 pot. Only the Russian calls. The river was another blank and I decide to check. The Russian bets 1k which means I'm getting like 7-to-1. By this point I'm so sure I'm beat but can't bring myself to fold for that amount. I call and he rolls over A9. I change my view of his UTG limping range as well as what he will bet on the flop.

Folding 5s
Someone opens and I flat 900 with pocket 5. A total rock makes it 5k and there's a caller in front of me. When the guy calls the rock winces. I don't mean subtly - I mean super exaggerated so everyone sees how "unhappy" he is at his "bluff" getting called. I don't consider myself good at tells at all - I'm paying more attention but it's not an A-part of my game by any stretch (if I have any).

I fold confident that I'm way behind. The flop is 588. That's unfortunate of course but the rock had 15k behind - there was no way to get paid for hitting out against aces or kings. They check the flop and the faker leads a Q on the turn and wins. In a results-oriented framework this makes you sick but it was without question correct to fold. The faker later got busted when he bet and got raised and said AI with a chip-count less than the guy who raised him put in the pot. Which means it was a call. Oh, he had 5-high for no pair and no draw. Awesome, good game sir.

Monster T8
A different old rock raises and I have T8 suited and think about calling since I doubt he outplays me on the flop. But I don't. Flop is T89 - lol. There are four people in the hand and I'm thinking even if I was good it wouldn't last. The rock gets it in with JJ vs someone holding JT - "I can't believe I'm losing to these guys." Jacks hold.

Acey-Deucy Never Loosey
This was a weird one and I wound up making a tight fold. A limped A2 of spades UTG because the table had been playing passive, I had been raising, and I actually thought limping in UTG would look scarier than raising.

Flop is 345. Now this is interesting. Had I raising pre-flop I can be really confident I have the best hand - I think that anyway of course, but in this limped pot no one has had to define their hand.

I'm led into by the BB - the most dangerous hand against me since 67 or 56 are definite possibilities (though most players won't lead with the former). One other player calls.

The turn pairs 3s. I hate this card. I wanted paint to fall so badly I could taste it. The BB leads for 4800. I have 23k which is an awkward stack in this spot. I have a player behind me and if I raise I'm committed to the hand. I decide to go with the better part of valor in part because I feel like I shouldn't be in this hand anyway and I've played it goofy. I fold.

I can't remember the riv but there's and bet an a call an both guys have trip-3s - I folded the winner. The BB flopped a pair and OE straight draw an lead it - good for him. I'm still in good shape chip-wise.

Based on this it sounds like I didn't do much but I actually had a decent stack going into the break, 30k from 20k starting.

Level 5
After the first break a Brit showed up that was new to the table. Because of Ads I tend to assume Brits are aggro and with only five people back from the break and me in the SB he raised and I flatted. I check-folded to a c-bet. The next hand I opened with 46s and he 4-bets to 4800. I decide to flat. That's pretty loose for me obv but he was new to the table and I didn't want him to think he could run me over. The fact we were playing five-handed would naturally speed him up so I wanted to draw a line in the sand early.

The flop comes 232 and he leads for 7300 and I instantly announced all-in. What's funny is for a split second I thought I flopped trips so my mind was already in shove-mode. I knew by the time he bet that wasn't the case but I still went with it. I actually thought I shoved too fast. If I'm him, I'm thinking would he really insta-shove trip-2s? No way. Would he have flatted pre-flop with aces or kings? Not likely. All in all I didn't like my play in retrospect. Shoving is not terrible but I acted to fast. He labored over it for at least four minutes - I literally almost called clock. He took so long I actually had a hard time holding my pose. I knew if he called I was pretty dead (though I had him covered) and at one point I had to tilt my head to keep from physically shaking. I'm not as good a bluffer as I am a liar.

He folded and I dragged a nice pot. Oh, and I showed the bluff. I know some people say never do that and I never would against pros. But the whole point of playing this hand was to send a message so he needed to see my cards to do that. What's funny is later he was was pretty nitty. I don't know if that's because he was short-stacked or I just took my poker stereotypes a little too far and got away with it.


Level 6 Shove
UTG with ATs I make it 1600 at 300/600 blinds. A new loose guy and a passive guy call me. I wouldn't know until later that our new loose guy was bullet proof. I didn't write down every time he won an unlikely pot but it was a dozen or so. Anyway, I C-bet a JTx flop and the new loose player called. I check an offsuit 7 turn for pot control but then he bets 4200. I thought I had the best hand but his bet was too much to flat. If I call I'm committed so I just shoved and hoped he doesn't show up with a jack. He insta-folds. I later see him make the lightest calls for huge chips and realize I was lucky - whatever "x" was on the flop if he had it he would have called and it probably hit the river for trips. Bullet proof, I says.

AK Fastplay
At 400/800 three people limp and my French friend to my right makes it 2500. I squeeze AKc and make it 7500. He calls after some thought. The flop is AK with the 6 of clubs. He checks and I bet 8,000 because I C-bet there HU anyway. I also think if I can get him to call one street I have him, whereas a check looks suspicious. Since he folded I wish I had checked but since I C-bet almost every time HU I'm in the habit of doing the same with big hands. Against weaker competition I should probably be more inclined to slowplay.

First Beat
After the second break at 800/1600 our table finally broke. Within a few hands at the new table I got jacks and opened and the guy right after me shoved. I insta-called and he turned over A6 of diamonds. On the flop a jack came right in the door but followed by KT. Everyone was looking at the jack and thinking the hand was over. I said "queen" and it peeled off the turn. To be fair, I said "good luck all-in" before the flop so I kinda asked for it. I didn't boat up on the river and lost about 20k. I actually think I may have lost more because I wasn't watching the dealer closely - I think my 4k initial raise got scooped up into the pot (the dealers on balance were horrid - you can tell there's a shortage this time of year).

After this hand I had about 40k which wasn't great but plenty to play with. In tournaments you'll always take some beats and the key is to have chips after that. When you hear someone bitch about how they got bounced from a tournament with aces, chances are they're a nit who folded every hand and then had so little chips they got called light and lost. Not to mention they probably min-raised and let someone flop the world on them. Accumulating chips is what keeps you from getting bounced after a bad beat (and it's not even that big a beat in this case - he's not quite a 3-to-1 dog when the money goes in).

Second Beat
The 1k/2k 300 ante level was uneventful for me. I chopped around for some small pots and basically paid for my blinds and antes (mostly). During 1550/3000 the table to our right broke which meant we were next. I had a decent idea of how this table played and since I had no more than 12 or 13 big blinds the last thing I wanted to do was go to a new table and play for my life. So, I was looking for a re-shove spot with 35k or so. After some antes I had 33,800 and looked down at jacks. There was no raiser but thankfully two limpers. I shove obv and the button contemplates before folding. The BB rechecks his cards and folds. The first limper is my French friend from the first table (I know, but he was alright despite being French). He folds and the other limper calls right away.

I flip my hand over and say "jacks are my hand at this table" and the guy to my left who hit out with A6 laughs along with me. The caller has tens and the nice but nerdy guy to my right tells me "nice hand."

Brief aside. This guy had the worst halitosis I've run into at a table in years. What's worse he wanted to tell me about how he had a deuce like four hands in a row (I care not at all, but feign interest). His friend comes up and complains about not having a hand in three hours; nerdy guy understands. File this user "how I know you suck." tourneys require playing without hands. Correct play involve plenty of raising with position, C-betting when you miss, semi-bluffs when you still have nothing, etc. The guys who show up repeatedly in the winners circle are not there because they get aces and kings all day (though that will help). Yes, I've had strings of face-rag that are frustrating but even that is a raising hand in the right situation; deal with it.

Where was I? Oh yeah, nerdy guy jinxing me. My response was "we'll see." the flop comes out 565 and there's no flush possibility. The old guy who called me is getting up from the table. I like this about as much as "nice hand." The turn is a 6 and nerdy guy says "you chop with a 5 or a 6." Um, nice try, no. I'm too nice to call him an idiot. But without question he is.

What comes next I saw before it hit the felt. I won't lie - it hurt. I took it like a man but inside I was thinking about the hours I spent at the table. Tourneys have long since lost their pure entertainment value for me. I care not at all about seeing how long I last or counting success in hours played or drinks consumed (I actually drank nothing but water today. OK, save for one IPA with lunch before the tourney started. Vegas requires a Hemingway lunch almost no matter what I'm doing).

The inevitable ten hit the river and my table all let out "whoa"s. I think after my good-natured response to my welcoming to the table with the jacks cracked by A6 meant everyone but the old guy with tens was rooting for me. I also think they were much more surprised than i was. I smiled, stood, shared a knowing nod with my new French friend (yes, he was cute - Margot's sister should have been around) and told him good luck and quietly made my exit. If I had to make a living at this I might be more Phil Hellmuth after beats than a Shawn Deeb - but I'd like to think not. That's poker.

Tomorrow is my first WSOP of the year, and my first live Deuce-to-Seven NL tournament (other than GPT, obv).

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