"UNCLE"

I was playing in a tournament last night when this question occurred to me. What do you do when you are getting no cards?

I was at the final table but getting no cards to speak off and the blinds increasing. I would try to limp in with KQ0 and occasionally suited connectors, but nothing ever hit on the flop. I was the short stack at the table on the button. I got K3s, so I went all-in. Of course two of the larger stacks called me. I was dead after the flop. I felt it was worth the risk to gamble.

Normally I am extremely patient and wait for good cards, but sometimes that is a slow death.

I would be curious to hear thoughts on how players win when cards dry up. Is there a winning strategy or do you wait for another day? In the situation above I think I could have gone all-in with anything and just take a chance. Reminds me of a tee shirt - "But they were suited."

I would presume this is more difficult on line without tells. So online I take the WTF approach especially if it is getting late. In a live tournament I try to pick up on tells; however, my ability to pick up on tells is dependent on many factors. One factor might be how much Guinness consumed or tequila. There have been tournaments where I predicted everyone's hand accurately but still did not get any cards to save the day.

I would like to improve my game by understanding how to play well with crappy cards. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have also jumped back into the freeroll circuit. I am using freerolls as a place to try new strategies.

If anyone stumbles on this blog please offer your input on "How to play with crappy cards?" Sounds like a good title for a book!

Play on!

“Lady Luck”

First I need to do a quick recap of my experience in the Check N Raise $10,000 qualifier. In summary I went out quick. I played three hands.

Hand 1: I hit the nut flush on the river and moved my stack from 2500 to 3700.

Hand 2: I have pocket aces either UTG or second position. The blinds were at 200/400. I raised 400. I got a couple of callers. Flop came with Q5T. I bet 800. There is only one caller. The turn brings an 8. I am now curious as to what my opponent has so I check. My opponent also checks. I am puzzled. The river brings a 9. I am now thinking he was on the straight draw and he just filled it. I check again. He bets out 400. I call. He had two pair Q5 on the flop.

Hand 3: I hold pocket jacks. Flop comes AKJ, giving me a set. I bet half my stack. My opponent raises me so that I have to go all-in. I am thinking he hit the nut straight. No help comes my way and sure enough he was holding QTo.

The only thing I can think of that I could have done differently was to go all-in with the pocket aces and taken the blinds. It was too early in the tournament and relatively small blinds. I was hoping for a bigger payout. Oh well!

I would like to present two song lyrics that a relative to poker.

Tesla’s “Lady Luck”

“Hard as it seems, but not as hard to believe.What can it be?I guess I'm on a losin' streak.”

I have not been on a huge losing streak, but I heard this song yesterday and found it applicable to poker and many of the blogs I read.

This next song lyric has to do with the No Limit ring games I have been playing lately. Several times I have just said WTF and taken “Shots in the Dark” at dragging large pots with less than powerful hands. I have won a few and lost a few, but sometimes it is fun to just go for it.

Ozzy’s “Shot in the dark”

A SHOT IN THE DARK NOT A THING THAT YOU CAN DOA SHOT IN THE DARK ALWAYS CREEPING UP ON YOUBUT JUST LIKE THE WOUNDED AND WHEN IT'S TOO LATETHEY'LL REMEMBER THEY'LL SURRENDER


There was one hand two nights ago where I decided not to take a shot in the dark. However, it was not really a shot in the dark. I had pocket kings. The flop formed an open ended straight with 2 diamonds. A king hit the turn, so I was poised to take this one down. I bet $2 and got two callers. The river brought a third diamond. I checked and one caller raised $6. I wanted to call so bad, but had to assume he had the straight or the flush. I was ahead for the night, so I did not want to blow my winnings on a high risk call. The dude showed his cards and all he had was an ace high. I was the one who surrendered.

Here is a giant “I told you so!” I have been saying since this blog began that Texas needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Let me throw out some quotes from an article in the Houston Chronicle, “Upping the Ante”.

“L’Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino in Lake Charles, La., is set top open later this month and has a marketing blitz under way that’s focus largely on Houston. I have already seen two full page ads in the Austin American Statesman for this new casino.

“Operators of the $365 million casino complex are advertising heavily to attract Houstonians and other Texas…” Does anyone see a pattern here?

“It views Houston and Lake Charles as similar to New York City and Atlantic City.”

“We have design this market for Houston.”

“…renewed debate over the hundreds of millions of entertainment dollars Texans spend out of state…”

Louisiana casinos already take in $164 million per month.”

“Fifty-three percent of the customers are from out of state, mostly Texas.”

Gee! Shall I go on? One more –

“Gambling is a significant revenue source for the state of Louisiana, which taxes the industry.”

Now I just need a bankroll big enough to qualify as a Texas worthy of a private sea plan to escort me to the L’Auberge du Lac Hotel. I would be happy to wear boots, jeans, and a cowboy hat.

Texas is missing out on a huge revenue stream. Not only are we missing a revenue stream from gambling but the elegance of fine hotels along the Gulf Coast. I do not support gambling bills that only permit one arm bandits, but I will support the legalization of GAMBLING in Texas. Adding our own casinos would put us closer to Succeeding from the Union. Just kidding! ;o)

Here are two quick suggestions for the Texas Congress.

First you should work hard to legalize gambling, because the revenue would solve many of your squabbles.

The second is quit wasting legislative time honoring athletes, honoring the dead, and deliberating over frivolous special interest bills and move on the tougher decisions that truly impact your citizens. All of these concerns can certainly be addressed and communicated outside of the legislative session.

Imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics: 29 have been accused of spousal abuse; 7 have been arrested for fraud; 19 have been accused of writing bad checks; 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses; 3 have done time for assault; 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit; 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges; 8 have been arrested for shoplifting; 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits; 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year. Can you guess which organization this is? Give up yet? It's the 535 members of the United States Congress.

This is definitely an uber blog for me. I will attempt to write more often. I am excited in that I already received my check from Check N Raise poker. I am ready to check out the casino’s in Arizona. That is correct Texans! There are even casinos in the Arizona desert. One interesting tidbit about the check I received. There is no affiliation what so ever with the online site. It is a check drafted from a bank. Imagine that!

Play on!

"Bubble boy again!"

I feel like a rant on Texas politics, but I will hold off on that. Here are a couple of poker nuggets.

Friday night I played in the 12:30 AM free roll on Check N Raise poker. There were 181 players. I believe I played solid poker the entire time. There were 11 players left and I had a middle stack, which probably had me in 7th or 8th place. I was dealt 62o in the big blind. Everyone limped in, so of course I checked. Typically this hand would be in the muck faster than you can say "muck". The flop comes 227. Alright! I bet about a fourth of my stack. I get a caller. Damn! There were two diamonds on the board. Turn is a J. I again bet a fourth of my stack. I get called! What does this guy have? I put him on the flush draw, so I again I bet a fourth of my stack. He calls! The river is a King of diamonds. Crap! If I am correct he caught is flush. I decide to check. Sure enough he puts me all-in. If I fold I might limp into tenth place which was worth $1. Wahoooooo! I called! He did have the flush and once again I am out on the bubble. Was finishing on the bubble hard to take? Sure, but it was 3:00 AM and a 10:15 AM soccer game on Saturday. I believe I played this hand correctly until calling on the river. My intuition was correct and I had him beat until the river. I should have folded, but live and learn.

One of the perks to being an early member of Check N Raise poker was the lure of a $10,000 tournament. That was supposedly August or September of last year. Well they are finally getting around to hosting it this weekend. The really sad part was the scheduled me for the Sunday afternoon qualifier. Top 50 advance to a shot at the grand prize. Of course I have a fully booked Sunday afternoon with the school carnival and now two soccer games. I put in a request to have them switch me to the Saturday night round. I am so glad they obliged! I am confident that if I play my normal game that I can finish in the top 50, but the final event is also Sunday afternoon. First things first! I hope to get permission from my better half to play Saturday night. I am simply planning on drinking some wine or whiskey or beer and have some fun.

I did withdrawal a major chunck of my bank roll at CNR. I am planning on parlaying this money into big winnings at the Casino's in Scottsdale Arizona in late June. Hopefully I will get my check before then. (hee Hee)

Play on!

“Twilight Zone”

I arrived in Cincinnati. I finally found my way to a taxi. It was really strange in that I had to get off the plane, get on a bus, and walk on 4 moving sidewalks prior to finding a taxi. The taxi driver drove like a bat out of hell! I observed him going 92 mph at one point on the freeway. Needless to say he got me to my hotel in a timely fashion. I checked in and then headed for the training class. Fortunately I was not too late. On my first break I decided to view the city from the 23rd floor. As I glanced around I noticed one of the large buildings had a huge URS sign. That is the company that bought Radian. It was a little bit like being in the twilight zone. Other things made me feel like I was a little like being in the twilight zone. The fact that the corporate office was on Vine Street, because I lived on Vine Street in Geneva Ohio growing up. The fact that one of our products is called Geneva is a little strange. One of the instructors was from Ohio State, which I idolized as a kid. Now I am for the Longhorns all the way, but I do cheer for the “Worthless Nuts”.

The course did provide value, but I am not going to bore you with that. I will quickly summarize the highlights and provide a little bit of poker content.

We met that evening at a restaurant called Nicholson’s. We started off at the bar and we were there for about an hour. The Guinness tasted great. I was having a conversation with Mr. R and this gal walks by carrying a camera. He says “Hey will you take my picture?” Of course he was just flirting, but little did he know that she was a photographer for a local paper. She willingly snapped off some photos and we just might be in the paper for next week’s review of the restaurant. We finally made our way to our tables. There were about 20 -25 of us. It was a fantastic time.

Waitress could not get the cork out of two bottles of wine. We had a ton of appetizers. The muscles were fabulous. I had a filet for dinner and shared several terrific desserts.

I went back to the room and played poker on CNR for about 30 minutes. I managed to win about $.60.

The next day’s training went fine. They do cater in lunch, but we decided to visit a local institution called Skyline Café. They were on the Food network for their unique chili. We just had to have it. I ordered what was called a 4-Way, which is spaghetti, chili, onions, and cheese. And I do mean cheese, a three inch mound of cheddar cheese. The chili is unique in that it had a hint of cinnamon and supposedly chocolate. My conclusion was that it was better than a basic turkey sandwich. After class, one of the attendees decided we needed another team building exercise, so he organized a poker tournament for after dinner. Half the folks went to get sushi and we went to get ribs at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. The rib experience was OK and the Ted’s Pale Ale was very good. Some ladies from some environmental firm (US Environmental maybe!) came up to our table asking where to party in Cincinnati. Of course we did not have a clue. Many images were conjured up, but we will pass on sharing those. Let’s just say that one lady was a little heavier than the Washington Redskin Hogs.

Now I will move on to the poker content. We called Mr. R and he stated that he reserved a room at the Westin and drinks would be served. Sounds cool! Well after searching all of the conference rooms we find out that the room was actually the front room to a restaurant. I was a little concerned with the huge windows and being at the front of the restaurant. Mr. R had bought some plastic chips. We proceeded with the facade that it was a team building exercise. The bar tender pointed out that during a team building exercise no $$$ could be visible on the table. There were 10 players total and Mr. T had bought enough chips for 8. We figured it out so each player starts with $500 for a $20 buy-in. Top three places would get a piece of the prize pool. One person had never played holdem before and she was the only female at the table. My money was on her to win it all! The two other players from the Austin office I felt were the strongest players, but time would tell. Very first hand I get dealt pocket 7s. I decided I needed to portray myself as an aggressive player to test the waters. Blinds were $5 and $10, so I raised it to $40. I thought people would fold, but I got 6 callers. What did I get myself into? The flop came JJx. I checked and everyone checked around. The turn was X and the river was X. The pot was a good size, but I decided to check. Everyone checked around and I actually picked up a good pot with jacks and sevens. Surprise! In other situations I would have kept on firing at the pot, but I had no clue what these players would do.

I did not get any cards so I slipped into my conservative shell. My co-worker Mr. C lost a large pot on the river to Mr. T when a 9 hit giving Mr. T a set to Mr. C’s top two pair. Mr. C was down to about $250. Few hands later Mr. C made a $50 raise. He was re-raised. He went all-in with AKs. He was called and the raiser had pocket aces. Mr. C was the first eliminated about 30 minutes into the event.

I tried limping in a couple of times with tiny pocket pairs – 33 and 22. I ended up moving down to my original stack, but I was still in good shape to attack if I got the cards. Then the craziest hand I have seen in a long time. Basically 4 players were all-in pre-flop. The highest hand was A6o. I was like WOW they are going in with that. I should be in good shape. One person was eliminated and another crippled. Mr. R was an interesting player. I believe he got down to $30 at one point, but kept fighting his way back. The one thing I can say about Mr. R was that he was entertaining. He made sure everyone at the table was having a good time. The organizer of the tournament went out 5th or 6th and soon we were down to the final four. I had a set of two’s and lost to a set of 6’s on the river. I was down to about $150. It was a bad time to get short stacked. Two hands later I got the hand I was waiting for, AA. I went all-in and doubled up! I went all-in a couple of hands later and doubled up.

I forgot to mention the run Mr. S went on. Man this dude was on fire. AA, KK, QQ, QQ, JJ, and AA again. The last time he pocket aces I was in the big blind. He made a large raise, so I just let him have the blinds. Soon Mr. S and Mr. T were battling for the chip lead. Mr. T went all-in and Mr. R called. If Mr. T wins I am in the money. Mr. R turns over AJ and Mr. T turns over 75o. I almost fell out of my chair. It was a good play by Mr. T because he had Mr. R. out chipped 5:1. No help for either one on the flop. No help on the turn. I start chanting, Five! Five! Five! Five! Yes indeed a five hit on the river eliminating Mr. R. I was in the money. I was getting blinded away quickly at this point. I was in the BB with QJo and I went all-in. Mr. T of course calls me with A7. An ace came on the turn and I was drawing dead. Oh well! I did have a couple of great beers, but I do not remember the name.

Mr. S and Mr. T were getting tired so they basically went to war. Mr. S ended up taking first place. We settled up the bar tab and tossed all the plastic chips in a bag to hand back to Mr. R. When I got back to my room I decided to play a little more online at CNR. No more than sitting down I was dealt pocket Kings. Someone raised, putting me all-in. I quickly called. A king came on the flop and my $4 stack quickly grew to $11. I decided a few hands later that I had better get some sleep, because I had homework for the last day of class and a late flight to catch.

We had a great day at class and concluded the trip with a wonderful Mediterranean meal.

Since the trip I have not played much poker. Hopefully this weekend I will find time to enter a tournament and I am looking for another site to join.

Play on!