Is This Good or Am I Entirely Sick?

[CoinLaundry-CptC0ckwell]

This is a $20 buy-in 5-handed .25/.50 NL home game last night, very casual, very fast...

The guy on my left (in the BB for the hand) is an absolute maniac and will raise and re-raise with ANYTHING. This is in no way an exaggeration. He steals a lot of blinds and many small pots from any and everyone at the table, a true jackal to Phil's descriptions, and walks away from the table out $20 or up $60 regularly. We're all friends, but that doesn't change the fact that it's more than a bit aggrivating to all of us to play poker with this man.

My roomate (UTG in this hand) is a professional Magic: The Gathering player and student; a very sharp, tight player, somewhat inexperienced with poker, but reasonably good, and almost always lucrative in home games.

Our friend Chris, a student on the verge of being a professional Magic: The Gathering player is on his left (CO for this hand). He swore earlier in the evening that he was going to be playing extremely tight, but is usually moderately loose and *very* aggressive.

The button is a new face, he's tight, he's not bad at all, he's really quiet, and he doesn't matter when it comes to this hand.

I (in the small blind) am very confident that I can outplay any one of these guys, am not a broke college student, and if I lose $20, it's not the biggest deal. This is the only fun poker I get to play.

SB- Me ~$23.00
BB- Jackal already re-bought, has a fresh stack of $19.50 with the blind in.
UTG- My roomate, broke the Jackal earlier and has about $30
CO- ~$25
button - ~$22

UTG raises to 1.50, just short of a pot-sized raise. He's very tight, but bets high PPs and AKs harder than this, so I suspect he's on KQ, KJ, KT, QJ, QT, maybe even JTs (we are 5-handed).

CO calls, and this could honestly mean ANYTHING (not nothing) even though he swore he was tightening up tonight.

The button insta-folds.

I'm in the SB with Ah4h. UTG (my roomate) is saying I look trapped and that I'm not getting away from a hand I should be getting away from. I'm always checking on the jackal (in the bb) who has his hands on his chips, and I'm expecting a call. I put none of these guys on ace-high, even, possibly some pocket pairs, and I call.

BB (un)expectedly re-raises $1 to $2.50. This means absolutely nothing. This means *absolutely* *nothing*. This just gives me a bigger, scarier pot to get involved in.

UTG re-raises $2 to $4.50... I figure him for 99-JJ now.

CO CALLS 3.

Well... This is fun. I call 3, seeing the jackal's knowing look that he does not have the best hand (with what looks like a little pocket pair) and is not getting away with this pot.

BB calls 2 and the pot is 18.00 on the flop.

Flop Kh Qh 6d

I check
BB bets $1 (yeah, he bets $1)
UTG says he's all in for over $20.
CO immediately folds
I ask UTG to count it up (yes, I knew he had me covered). He's wondering if I flopped a set and was intending to check-raise him. I almost immediately figure him for top two pair. While he's counting, I watch the jackal watching him count. He's deliberating a call... probably has AQ and is trying to figure out if UTG holds AK or KQ. I begin counting the pot while he counts down his stack; $19 with the earlier bet.

I can call $18.50 of his bet and the pot's $19.00. If the jackal calls as it looked like he was going to as I was deciding whether or not to call, I'm calling 18.50 : $56. I call all-in...

Unfortunately, the jackal on the BB folds. I just called 18.5:37.5

UTG turns up KsQs and claimed he knew exactly what was going on (I figured he figured me for JhTh) as I'd done so much counting. I turn up Ah4h and tell him to burn and turn.

Turn - 8h

River - A total blank. Mmmmm... money.

Would you ever make this play? Is this a bad play in a loose 5-handed over-aggresive NL game where I have a firm read on 3/4 opponents? Any replies are appreciated.

by the way:
Holdem Hi: 990 enumerated boards containing 7d Kh Qh
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Ah 4h 352 35.56 638 64.44 0 0.00 0.356
Ks Qs 638 64.44 352 35.56 0 0.00 0.644

[crockpot]

i would never play a suited ace for a raise when the money is this shallow, especially out of position. the implied odds are not there.

by the way, i think you will find poker much more profitable once you have gotten rid of hellmuth's book by any means necessary. also, you might notice that he insults the profitability of playing like a jackal, yet in his no-limit chapter he has a section entitled "phil's strategy: reraise with nothing". if you've seen him playing on UB, you'd know this explains his play (and results) pretty well.

[Jon Matthews]

I think I would have folded preflop to the first raise, I'd find it hard to believe myself that someone didn't have a better ace... I do call a lot more in this sort of game though (quite like our home PL game) so I can't say for sure but as crock says, you're well out of position so you'll need to be getting it all in to have a chance of winning this one...

On the flop, as you played it, I'd call too. Kind of hoping for a 3-way pot since most of your reverse implied odds come from the guy who pushed all in anyway with his top two - but not surprised if the guy behind you folds... imagine what he would be thinking, he can't call without a set, maybe an open-ender JT.


Jon

[Guy McSucker]

Before the flop I think you should find a time to fold. You are out of position with a weak ace. Not a good time to play a multi-way raised pot.

When that flop comes down, I think a small bet is in order: half the pot, say?
Here is why. First of all, since your stack is about the same as the size of the pot, you cannot drop your nut flush draw to any betting here. Secondly, if your read is right, this flop has hit the BB and/or UTG raiser, so if you check, there will be a bet to face. You won't lose the chance for a free card by betting. Finally, if you bet out, you trap the BB between yourself and the preflop raiser. BB is likely to come along for a half pot bet, and thus you build a bigger pot with your nut flush draw.

Alternatively if you think there is any chance that a full pot bet will win it for you, that's the move to make: if you're called you have your odds to draw out anyway, and again betting out traps the BB in the middle. I suggested half the pot because my feeling was that you couldn't pick this pot up immediately, but obviously you would know this better.

Guy.

[CoinLaundry-CptC0ckwell]

This is a great reply, Guy. I fully accepted that my money was getting in the middle once I saw the flop, I just wanted to make sure I was getting odds on it. I should've made a half-reasonable-sized bet (half the pot) to get the BB involved 'cause... Well, he'd get involved. I guess I just assumed his badness would take care of the rest for me instead of taking the initiative and leading him down the path. Thanks, it seriously was enlightening.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

can you be a professional at playing Magic? Do people gamble on this game, or are there sponsored tournaments where you win prize money? And either way, can you actually make any significant money?

Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[PinkyRingo]

[ QUOTE ]
Do people gamble on this game

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes.

[ QUOTE ]
are there sponsored tournaments where you win prize money?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes.

[ QUOTE ]
And either way, can you actually make any significant money?


[/ QUOTE ]

I guess it depends on what you mean by "significant." For more info, check out this link: www.sideboard.com

[CoinLaundry-CptC0ckwell]

www.sideboard.com is the Hazbro/Wizards of the Coast official tournament reporting site.

This is what my roomate was doing last weekend: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x.../events/ptno03 - he took 34th. There's a lot of prize-splitting and "money draft" side games. It makes a lot more sense if you can play. My roomate hasn't made top 8 of a pro tour yet, but consistently places in the money. He's pretty loaded for some 20 year old that plays games all the time and goes to college.

[happyjaypee]

Hey Greg,

Some discusion about PokerStars Player's pic turn to "Magic the Gathering" a week ago in The IG forum.

Ask WillMagic about tourneys, he played some.

-link to the thread.

-link to a transcript of WillMagic's h2h final in a tourney



-Happy [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[J_V]

I guess Paluka is a Magic god. Do you know him? He has his name on a card or something.