Live Action

i played a TON of live poker this weekend (Fri, Sat & Sun) at Ocean's 11. i donated in their Sat and Sun morning tournaments. ran KK into AA all-in preflop to get knocked out of Saturday's tournament in the first 15 min. then i went on to play cash games and finished the day ahead $200 playing 300 NL (2/3 blinds). i won a $700 pot with 4-6 off suit.

i limped from the button after a bunch of limpers with 4-6o. i like to do this a lot in late position hoping to hit a big flop or to attempt a steal on a scary board or a ragged flop. the flop comes:

4-6-10 rainbow

everyone checks to me, i bet out $40 and two guys call. the turn brings a 9. they both check so i check. i'm a little worried about someone sitting on 9-10. remember, this is a limped pot. the river brings a 6 and all hell breaks loose. a guy in the SB bets out $100 and the other player moves all his chips in. i'm not about to fold a full house. unless someones got pocket tens or pocket nines, i'm good. there was no raise before the flop so i'm pretty sure i'm gold. before i go all in, i say "well, i caught two pair on the river" and contemplate for some time before i push all in. hoping the SB will think his hand is good and call. he thinks for a looooong time and finally folds. i flip over my boat and the other guy mucks after seeing my full house. i think he had Ace-Ten.

in sunday morning's tournament, i get into a bad spot early and lose about half my chips with Ace-Ten vs. Ace-9 sooted. An Ace hit the flop and a nine came on the turn. i raised preflop and bet the flop. he called both times. then, pushed on the turn. so, i had to fold. i make it to the first break after taking down a couple of pots. one with a push preflop with JJ after a bunch of limpers. the other pot i took down from the button after i whiffed the flop with Qd-Td.

we come back after the first break and i have T1900 with the blinds at 100/200 w/25 ante. i start off in the BB and have to fold to a preflop raiser. then, i pick up AJo in the SB and push when the button raises after everyone folds to him. he calls and flips 9d-Td. the flop brinds K-J-X. so i'm way ahead there and just need to dodge a Queen. a Q hits the river and i'm out.

i head to the cash games and win a nice pot early on with 8-9 sooted after i turn a straight and push. some donk calls my all-in with a pair and an OESD. i dodge an Ace that woulda given him a broadway straight and take down a $500 pot. from there, i just bleed chips back down to my original $300 buy-in. then i get involved in a HUGE pot.

there was a lot of LP raising when there were limpers ahead. especially from some lucksac when he was on the button. i pick up QQ UTG+1 and limp. some guy raises to $20, three guys call including lucksac on the button and i push all-in preflop. I KNOW i've got the best hand. everyone folds to lucksac who say's "this pots to big i gotta call". so i know i'm ahead. he tells another player he has pocket Jacks and another guy says he folded a Jack. i'm feelin' pretty good about my play at this point. the flop brings rags. i said, "i'll flip mine if you show yours". he agrees and sure enuf he has pocket Jacks. just then, the dealer pulls a Jack on the turn and i lose my whole stack to a one-outer.

i reload and stick around a few more hrs. but, i'm not able to recover and end the day down a buy-in plus my tournament fee.

Ocean's 11 has a promo this year where they pay out $5000 if you play 1000 hrs. $2500 for 800 hrs and so on. so, i'm trying to log as many live hrs i can there. 1000 hrs is a lot tho. last week i got in about 30 hrs of live cash game play. at that rate, it'll take over 30 wks to get in 1000 hrs. we'll see how many hrs i can get. 1000 is a lot.

even tho i've been unlucky a few times, i'm really enjoying the live games.