J.A.Sucker
03-03-2004, 06:18 PM
There's not really any poker strategy content in this story, but I had a great couple of days and I just wanted to share it, so read on and enjoy! I know I did. I should be posting this in the News, Views, and Gossip, but, like JV, I'm Old School, and Old School folks post in Mid-High stakes, so that's what I'm going to do.
The World Poker Tour rolled into San Jo this week for the annual Shooting Star tourney, and the place has really been hopping. I don't usually play tournaments, so I played only one tourney event, for the fun of it; the 550 limit HE tourney. I finished 55th out of 150. Not really much to say; I just couldn't hit a hand or steal the blinds when I had to. My real fun was in the side games, and the feast that I've had there.
San Jose has lots of funky rules, and the out-of-towners are often flustered by them. No racks on the tables, cash doesn't play, only 40 tables in the casino are allowed, and the maximum bet is 200 bucks. This final one makes for an interesting game that is probably only spread here; 20-200 spread limit, with blinds of 10-10-20 (10 on the button). It's 20 to go, and you can bet between 20 and 200 anytime. This game goes about twice a week around here, and is perhaps my favorite and best game, though I don't get to play it enough. Better still, this non-standard structure doesn't play like normal limit, but it's not pot or no limit, either. It's somewhere in between, playing more like big bet early in the hand and limit later on. This makes for perhaps the biggest edge an expert player could achieve, since you can pressure people early, but they can't make you have tough decisions late, when the pot is large. However, the out-of-town players don't know this, and this game is a slaughterhouse for the tournamnet players and other high rollers.
On Monday night, I rolled in about 8 pm and was in the game with a few locals, but most left in a few hours, leaving me shorthanded with the tourney players, between 3 and 6 of us for the whole night. One guy, named Hassan, was trying to run over the table and was getting incredibly lucky, but I waited my turn. Some young asian guy who was apparently on a heater and won a few tournaments (WPO, Tunica, IIRC) blinded us with his iced-out platinum Rolex and platinum WPO bracelet, but he only played for a half hour, sucking out on a few hands and he left. Hassan, however stayed. By 4 in the morning, I got him good. As I was playing him, often 3 handed, Amir Vahedi came by to talk his buddy Hassan, and he eyed me up. He didn't play, but after I busted Hassan, he asked me who I was, and I said, "I'm Dave." That's it. And I walked to the cage.
I slept for a few hours and came back at about 1pm the next day. I started another spread limit game, and it was a good game. I didn't get much, and was treading water when they called down a second game. I didn't pay much attention, until I glanced over there and saw a huge crowd forming around the table. Chris Moneymaker was in the game. I decided that I had to join him. The table was full, so I walked over to the floorman, and asked if it was a must-move or another game. It was the latter, so I said "put me up for a seat change" and quietly returned to my seat. Everyone was confused when a seat opened up in 20 minutes, and instead of a name from the 30-name list, I got the seat. It was the best poker decision I have ever made.
I sat down with about 2K in the 2 seat. A guy was on my left with another man sweating him very closely. He was practically sitting at the table, too, but I didn't care because they were obviously having a good time. Two seats to his left was Chris. Kathy Liebert was to his left, and another guy I've seen, perhaps at Commerce, was playing in the nine seat. I couldn't see who was in the 4 seat. The 7 seat was a terrible player that I've played with before, and the 1 seat was a young guy who looked clueless. Yum yum.
The table was yucking it up and having a great time. The crowd was two-deep around the table, which was very strange. After awhile, Kathy said something about more people caring about Moneymaker than the celebrities at the table. I know I'm Just Another Sucker, but besides me, who's famous here?!? /images/graemlins/grin.gif I look around at the table again, straining to peek at the 4 seat, and see a familiar face... James Woods. Diggstown is one of my favorite films - a surprisingly sharp movie. After about a half hour of play, I discovered that the 1 seat was Moneymaker's brother or something, and they were gambling it up. This table was more like a craps table than a poker game - it was the most fun game that I've ever been in. We were all laughing and introducing ourselves, and Woods shakes my hand and says "I'm Jimmy." We spent the next few hours playing some fun poker and I was getting some cards, and they were holding up.
After a few hands, I opened UTG with 99 for 70 bucks, my standard open. It was folded to MM's brother in the blind, who raised me 200 more. I called. The flop was J-7-2r. He bet 200. I raised him 200 more. He went into the tank, and called. He checked the ragged turn, and I bet. He pondered again, and made a crying call. The river was a blank, and he checked. I checked behind, thinking that I'm a coinflip to win the hand. He shows J4o. Rebuy!!! I get out another 2K.
As I said, I made some hands. Hard to remember what they were, but a constant mix of stealing some 300 dollar pots on the flop and making the occasional decent showdown hand got me seriously unstuck. I had about 6500 on the table. Kathy Liebert asked me who I was. I said, "I'm Dave. I live here." She left the game after a bit, stuck a grand, and never really adjusted to the structure.
I was running quite well, as I said, and was having a great time, as was everybody. People were passing chips to each other, checking it down, showing hands, and nobody cared. It was terrific. Some railbird took a picture of the table, and the guy next to me (who had the lap-sitting sweater) immediately froze - and his congenial fun-loving manner stopped. I asked him what was wrong. He said he was a diplomat, and that pictures had to be destroyed. The sweater was a big-time laywer from New York, and he'd take care of it. I believed his story whole-heartedly. Apparently, the photographer was contracted from the club, to cover the tourney action, and I think that they lawyer took care of it, because order was restored and we were having fun again. Soon thereafter, a family pot came up, where everyone limped. I was in the SB with K6o and was going to fold, but my diplomat friend said "you've got to play!!!" so I shrugged and threw in the 10 bucks. The flop came down 6c-5c-2s. I checked. James Woods, err Jimmy, bet out 100 from UTG. Three people cold called to me. I check-raised 200 more to see who had a real hand. Jimmy called, as did two others, including Money's brother. The turn was the beautiful Kd. I bet 200. Jimmy called, another straggler called, and MM's brother disgustingly folded. The river was sweet, the 6d. I bet. Jimmy flashed his Ac4c, and folded. The straggler called. MM's brother said "I'll kiss y'all asses if he don't have 3-4!" Moneymaker replied, "I don't think he's got the 3-4." I asked him, "Chris, what's my hand?" I turned to the brother and said "pucker up" and tabled my boat. Everyone laughed and I dragged a huge one. I high-fived Chris, his brother, and even Jimmy , who was having a good time. I play goot! /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
I ended up giving Jimmy a big one soon thereafter. There were 4 limpers to me, where I had KdQd on the button. I made the semi-steal raise to 160 on the button. Much to my surprise, the diplomat folded his SB, Jimmy called from the BB, and everyone else called. Big pot (800).
The flop came Q-J-6. It was kindly checked to me and I bet 200. Jimmy checkraised me to 400, clearing everyone else out. I sensed that I had the best hand, since his checkraise smelled like a play. He only had 550 more, I was going to the river, so why not put it all in? I reraised and he called. Hah! The turn was a 9. He checked. I bet. He checkraised me all-in. I called and asked "did you get there?" He said yes and flashed Q9o. Ugh. No help on the river and his hand was good. The pot was almost 3K and he got back to about even.
Still, all-told it was a good session, to say the least. I had about 9K on the table, after I got called down on an AA3 board when I had AJ by Moneymaker (he folded on the turn) and his brother (he didn't). At about 7:30, Amir Vahedi came by and had a dinner arranged with Jimmy, the diplomat, and a few others. The game was breaking up and Jimmy asked me to dinner! Not bad for a chemistry grad student who lives about the most boring life imaginable. Unfortunately, I got separated while coloring up and cashing out my chips, and dinner didn't happen. Still, it was a delightful conundrum, indeed! Plus, the tournament is going for a few more days... you never know!
The World Poker Tour rolled into San Jo this week for the annual Shooting Star tourney, and the place has really been hopping. I don't usually play tournaments, so I played only one tourney event, for the fun of it; the 550 limit HE tourney. I finished 55th out of 150. Not really much to say; I just couldn't hit a hand or steal the blinds when I had to. My real fun was in the side games, and the feast that I've had there.
San Jose has lots of funky rules, and the out-of-towners are often flustered by them. No racks on the tables, cash doesn't play, only 40 tables in the casino are allowed, and the maximum bet is 200 bucks. This final one makes for an interesting game that is probably only spread here; 20-200 spread limit, with blinds of 10-10-20 (10 on the button). It's 20 to go, and you can bet between 20 and 200 anytime. This game goes about twice a week around here, and is perhaps my favorite and best game, though I don't get to play it enough. Better still, this non-standard structure doesn't play like normal limit, but it's not pot or no limit, either. It's somewhere in between, playing more like big bet early in the hand and limit later on. This makes for perhaps the biggest edge an expert player could achieve, since you can pressure people early, but they can't make you have tough decisions late, when the pot is large. However, the out-of-town players don't know this, and this game is a slaughterhouse for the tournamnet players and other high rollers.
On Monday night, I rolled in about 8 pm and was in the game with a few locals, but most left in a few hours, leaving me shorthanded with the tourney players, between 3 and 6 of us for the whole night. One guy, named Hassan, was trying to run over the table and was getting incredibly lucky, but I waited my turn. Some young asian guy who was apparently on a heater and won a few tournaments (WPO, Tunica, IIRC) blinded us with his iced-out platinum Rolex and platinum WPO bracelet, but he only played for a half hour, sucking out on a few hands and he left. Hassan, however stayed. By 4 in the morning, I got him good. As I was playing him, often 3 handed, Amir Vahedi came by to talk his buddy Hassan, and he eyed me up. He didn't play, but after I busted Hassan, he asked me who I was, and I said, "I'm Dave." That's it. And I walked to the cage.
I slept for a few hours and came back at about 1pm the next day. I started another spread limit game, and it was a good game. I didn't get much, and was treading water when they called down a second game. I didn't pay much attention, until I glanced over there and saw a huge crowd forming around the table. Chris Moneymaker was in the game. I decided that I had to join him. The table was full, so I walked over to the floorman, and asked if it was a must-move or another game. It was the latter, so I said "put me up for a seat change" and quietly returned to my seat. Everyone was confused when a seat opened up in 20 minutes, and instead of a name from the 30-name list, I got the seat. It was the best poker decision I have ever made.
I sat down with about 2K in the 2 seat. A guy was on my left with another man sweating him very closely. He was practically sitting at the table, too, but I didn't care because they were obviously having a good time. Two seats to his left was Chris. Kathy Liebert was to his left, and another guy I've seen, perhaps at Commerce, was playing in the nine seat. I couldn't see who was in the 4 seat. The 7 seat was a terrible player that I've played with before, and the 1 seat was a young guy who looked clueless. Yum yum.
The table was yucking it up and having a great time. The crowd was two-deep around the table, which was very strange. After awhile, Kathy said something about more people caring about Moneymaker than the celebrities at the table. I know I'm Just Another Sucker, but besides me, who's famous here?!? /images/graemlins/grin.gif I look around at the table again, straining to peek at the 4 seat, and see a familiar face... James Woods. Diggstown is one of my favorite films - a surprisingly sharp movie. After about a half hour of play, I discovered that the 1 seat was Moneymaker's brother or something, and they were gambling it up. This table was more like a craps table than a poker game - it was the most fun game that I've ever been in. We were all laughing and introducing ourselves, and Woods shakes my hand and says "I'm Jimmy." We spent the next few hours playing some fun poker and I was getting some cards, and they were holding up.
After a few hands, I opened UTG with 99 for 70 bucks, my standard open. It was folded to MM's brother in the blind, who raised me 200 more. I called. The flop was J-7-2r. He bet 200. I raised him 200 more. He went into the tank, and called. He checked the ragged turn, and I bet. He pondered again, and made a crying call. The river was a blank, and he checked. I checked behind, thinking that I'm a coinflip to win the hand. He shows J4o. Rebuy!!! I get out another 2K.
As I said, I made some hands. Hard to remember what they were, but a constant mix of stealing some 300 dollar pots on the flop and making the occasional decent showdown hand got me seriously unstuck. I had about 6500 on the table. Kathy Liebert asked me who I was. I said, "I'm Dave. I live here." She left the game after a bit, stuck a grand, and never really adjusted to the structure.
I was running quite well, as I said, and was having a great time, as was everybody. People were passing chips to each other, checking it down, showing hands, and nobody cared. It was terrific. Some railbird took a picture of the table, and the guy next to me (who had the lap-sitting sweater) immediately froze - and his congenial fun-loving manner stopped. I asked him what was wrong. He said he was a diplomat, and that pictures had to be destroyed. The sweater was a big-time laywer from New York, and he'd take care of it. I believed his story whole-heartedly. Apparently, the photographer was contracted from the club, to cover the tourney action, and I think that they lawyer took care of it, because order was restored and we were having fun again. Soon thereafter, a family pot came up, where everyone limped. I was in the SB with K6o and was going to fold, but my diplomat friend said "you've got to play!!!" so I shrugged and threw in the 10 bucks. The flop came down 6c-5c-2s. I checked. James Woods, err Jimmy, bet out 100 from UTG. Three people cold called to me. I check-raised 200 more to see who had a real hand. Jimmy called, as did two others, including Money's brother. The turn was the beautiful Kd. I bet 200. Jimmy called, another straggler called, and MM's brother disgustingly folded. The river was sweet, the 6d. I bet. Jimmy flashed his Ac4c, and folded. The straggler called. MM's brother said "I'll kiss y'all asses if he don't have 3-4!" Moneymaker replied, "I don't think he's got the 3-4." I asked him, "Chris, what's my hand?" I turned to the brother and said "pucker up" and tabled my boat. Everyone laughed and I dragged a huge one. I high-fived Chris, his brother, and even Jimmy , who was having a good time. I play goot! /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
I ended up giving Jimmy a big one soon thereafter. There were 4 limpers to me, where I had KdQd on the button. I made the semi-steal raise to 160 on the button. Much to my surprise, the diplomat folded his SB, Jimmy called from the BB, and everyone else called. Big pot (800).
The flop came Q-J-6. It was kindly checked to me and I bet 200. Jimmy checkraised me to 400, clearing everyone else out. I sensed that I had the best hand, since his checkraise smelled like a play. He only had 550 more, I was going to the river, so why not put it all in? I reraised and he called. Hah! The turn was a 9. He checked. I bet. He checkraised me all-in. I called and asked "did you get there?" He said yes and flashed Q9o. Ugh. No help on the river and his hand was good. The pot was almost 3K and he got back to about even.
Still, all-told it was a good session, to say the least. I had about 9K on the table, after I got called down on an AA3 board when I had AJ by Moneymaker (he folded on the turn) and his brother (he didn't). At about 7:30, Amir Vahedi came by and had a dinner arranged with Jimmy, the diplomat, and a few others. The game was breaking up and Jimmy asked me to dinner! Not bad for a chemistry grad student who lives about the most boring life imaginable. Unfortunately, I got separated while coloring up and cashing out my chips, and dinner didn't happen. Still, it was a delightful conundrum, indeed! Plus, the tournament is going for a few more days... you never know!