Maybe I *BLOW* at Cash Games

Posted by icemonkey9 on Jan 16, 2008 in General | 0 comments

So you can imagine what this post is going to be about. Had some free time on my hands today so I spent time at the FullTilt cash tables to try to get points to get my bonus and make some money doing it.

Sadly, I had a woeful day. My game was on, but my reads were out of wack for a few DIRE hands. I would raise a limper, get 1 call, have an over pocket pair, bet it, get raised, and find out I was up against a bigger pocket pair at the river (KK vs QQ). Another time I flopped a set of Jacks only to be up against a set of Kings at the flop. BRUTAL.

Consider this so far from my handy-dandy spreadsheet:

Cash Games (14 sessions)
Median Cash Game ROI = +3.90%
Average Cash Game ROI = -2.37%

Sit n Go Games (7 sessions)
Sit n Go ROI = 71.76%
In The Money = 57%

I think we're seeing a trend here eh? I'm seriously thinking I'm wasting my time playing cash games and should just focus on the SnG thing for now.

Check back for the next post - I'll be showing off my new poker table, new poker chip set, and new cards. Yippie!

Palm Springs Tourny Part 2

Posted by icemonkey9 on Jan 11, 2008 in General | 0 comments

I played in the Morongo Friday Morning tournament for $48, you get 6k in chips at 15 minute blinds starting at 25-50. Fun tournament, saw QQ on the BB for the first hand and took it down for about 2k. Played against more super-aggressive people and played my K9 beautifully when I hit trips on the turn (I had top pair at the flop) and doubled through some dolt in seat 10.

Made some plays and worked my way up to 22,000 in chips, then saw the coldest deck of all time. I really REALLY wanted to play some hands, but it quickly got to the point where someone was all-in preflop for 5 to 8k and I don't even have a marginal hand to call at all. So the blinds finally catch up to me, and we're down to the last 15 (top 10 make the money).

So I hit some cards - AK off with 13k and the blinds at 2/4k, and of course, I push all in. I get a call from another woeful shortstack of 10k, and she flips over AA. Damn. I get killed, I just go all in next hand with Q7 clubs, get 1 caller (BB) who turns over J7. OMG - am I going to live? Nope. He hits JJ10 on the flop and I am toast, 5 out of the money.

Oh well, I had fun, played for 2+ hours, and damn near made the money in back to back events.

Palm Springs Poker Tournament

Posted by icemonkey9 on Jan 11, 2008 in General | 0 comments

Finally reporting back because I finally got to play some cards. This morning my wife and I headed to the Spa Resort and played in their $40 NLHE tournament where you start with 5k in chips and start at 100/200 blinds at 15 minute levels. A cool thing about the tournament is that there is a 1,500 guarantee and the top 10 make the money if there are only 20 players (we got 28).

3rd hand - AA, with a raise and a call before me, so I make it 2k to go. I get a called and a good flop of K 7 3 with 2 clubs comes. He checks, I go all in, he calls. He turns over KQ clubs, drawing to the flush. It doesn't hit and I have a nice double up early. Literally 16 minutes later we were down FOUR players! The players were near suicidal aggressive in this tournament, it was CRAZY. Anyways I got some hands, bullied a lot, and came into the final table with the 5th largest stack.

Unfortunately, my wife got nailed on the bubble with a horrible bad beat, her AJc died at the turn when she went all in at the flop to K10 with a flop of J 10 7. The K hit the turn, and she was done.

I fought and got my way to 4th, and with the blinds at 4/8k and my stack at 32k, i push all in from the button with K9h, the BB calls me with A2 off, the board blanks, and I win $90 for 2 hours of tournament play.

All in all, both the players (some seriously old geezers and young guns) played SO ridiculously agressive all I did was sit back and hit the big pots, and then with the stack bullied the bubble people around. Fun tournament.

Now, I finally hit up the cash game here at Morongo (we are staying here). The 1-3 NLHE has a 40-$100 buy in, so we'll see what happens.

Going to Palm Springs

Posted by icemonkey9 on Jan 8, 2008 in General | 0 comments

So the wife and I are headed to Palm Springs. Fueled by her astonishing 5th place finish in the New Year's tournament at Treasure Island, my wife is on a poker rush and I sure as hell don't want to get in her way (I finished 8th in the same tournament).

Anyways, I've never played in Palm Springs and was thinking how I don't think I've ever played against 18-20 year olds in a casino before. Will they own the place? Will they be retarded? I expect most to play totally recklessly. The vacationers will be the fish most likely, so I expect it to be a profitable weekend. I asked a neighbor that goes out there how the play is, and he says he fully expects to pay for his outlet mall shopping with his poker winnings every time he gets out there.

So - I'm going to hit up the 1/2 nlhe, and maybe a tournament or two (found one that looks real fun at the Spa Casino in downtown PS). I'll post my results when I get back.

Wow, a losing session

Posted by icemonkey9 on Jan 8, 2008 in General | 0 comments

For the first time since I started tracking my cash game exploits, I had a losing session. But sometimes it's not a matter of why you didn't win, but minimizing the losses. And really, it felt like it was "just one of those times" - consider that all of this happened within 20 minutes:

JJ twice late in the hand with one limper in mid position. I provided a nice preflop healthy raise called by only one (both times this happened). One hand it was the BB, the other hand it was the limper. Both occasions they both had AA. Yikes.

What happens 10 minutes after both of those hands? I get the AA, raise very healthy preflop, get a caller. Q 8 2 on the flop, rainbow. I check, hoping my opponent hit the flop - she did, and she led out with a nice bet (about 25% of the pot). I re-raised about 5x the amount. She calls. Uh-oh. 10 on the turn. I bet about 1/3 the pot, she calls again. I figure my aces are cracked at this point for sure. I check the river, she bets about 15% of the pot (a sure value bet) and even though I know I'm beat I have to call, and sure enough she's holding Q 10 off. Damn, had her (like i thought i did) at the flop. That's the breaks.

All things consider for those 3 tough hands, I only left down about 17% of my buyin, which I consider to be a minimal loss for the session.