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Old 02-28-2005, 08:15 PM
Zetack Zetack is offline
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Default My Second Live Poker Experience--long

So a few weeks ago I wrote about my first live poker experience in a free bar tourney and how it turned me into a complete poker noob. See this thread.

So two weeks later--this past friday--I go back.

Man am I Jonesing for some poker at that point. I started a new job on Monday, planned to play some on Tuesday night but ended up at the Emergency Room till after midnight and worked till nine on Wed and Thurs. So Friday rolls around and I handn't played any poker since Sunday and man am I missing it.

The fiance and I were supposed to have a kid free weekend and she was going to go to the bar with me, but then the little one got sick so we ended up taking care of her. But my fiance graciously said go play the tourney, despite feeling neglected and being worn out from sick child care duties. She's really cool, my fiance.

So I knock off work at 6:45 reach into my gym bag and realize I hadn't brought a long sleeve shirt or sweat shirt so decide to wear my white button down shirt with my jeans to the bar...ya know, just to emphasize how uncool I am.

I wander into the bar and this time the sign up sheet is in a big binder and much more obvious. I sign up 31st and go order food. The tables come out again while I'm waiting for my food and most of the good spots are taken but I don't sweat it cause I notice the table that goes on top of the pool table isn't out and only a couple of people are waiting around there.

Finally my food comes and this time the burger isn't nearly as sucky as last time. I grab a bar stool and sit next to the pool table and sure enough in a couple of minutes they cover up the pool table and spread out the poker table and I have a primo spot right in the middle of the table.

The pool table is cool cause its got the pool light right over it and with the plywood board under it there's no fold in the middle to deal with. Its a bit low, with me perched on my bar stool but still fine.

I find I'm much more comfortable this time, just knowing how things work. I don't lose track of the denominations of the chips even once and my hands still shake, but less. Gee, I'm only minor noobie now!

The nice thing is that not feeling so lost I can actually follow the poker much better.

Its a really vicious kind of game though because we were only seeing maybe 5-6 hands per level. Its probably equivalent to a turbo tourney on line with blinds going up every 5 minutes. The upshot of that is that you almost have to win every hand you play unless you manage to get a few double ups. Even then even the big stacks end up being very underchipped in a hurry.

So its a real card catching contest. Last time I essentially caught nothing-sat there until I had to push, won two desperation pushes and maybe one other small hand and just sat my way to the final table with a micro stack to go out eighth.

This time I caught a ton of cards. My memory is fuzzy but I'll try to give some of the more memorable hands, with details all just kind of approximate. (Man do I envy guys who can replay hands weeks later just from memory).

Blinds are 20/40 and I'm in the big Blind with A-2 off. 3 or 4 limpers and I check. Flop comes A high with another face card and two spades. I have the ace of spades. Sb checks, I bet out 150 which is somewhere in the general vicinity of the size of the pot. I get one caller. Turn is another face card. I'm not happy. I bet 150 and get called. On the river the board is A, K, Q, J, 9 and now we've got three spades. I check, hoping that if he has the flush or a ten he'll make a massaging bet that I can call and figuring I have to fold to a big bet. I don't have a good read but he didn't look happy calling my bets on the flop and turn. He checks behind me and turns over K-8 and MHIG. The guy to my right scares me by saying: "Dude, you had the flush!!!" I look down again at my A spades 2 clubs and am relieved that he's wrong and I didn't screw up.

Soon I get K-Qo. I make it about 3.5 times the BB and get maybe three callers. Flop comes Q high but all clubs. I have no clubs. I bet out 800 which is somewhere around the size of the pot and a big bet for the table. One guy agonizes about calling and finally folds giving me the pot. They rabit hunt and and a forth club comes. He'd folded the Ace of clubs. The table consensus was that I had a made flush on the flop. I don't enlighten them.

I pickup A-K and make an appropriate raise in EP. Two callers. Flop is King high, two of one suit. There's a small bet out, I make it 400 to go. Blinds were either 20/40 or 40/80. Guy to my left raises 800 and small bet guy folds. Calling will leave me maybe a quarter of my stack. I push. He flips over K-J doesn't improve and is out. Now I have chips.

A-Q. I raise. Two callers. Flop is A high. I bet somewhere around the size of the pot. They both fold. One of them rabbit hunts and his A-2 woulda paired his kicker. he's really pissed about it.

Very next hand. I get A-K. Raise. Flop a king. Catching cards and hitting flops, its pretty darn sweet. Don't remember the action but it ends up with a shorter stack pushing on me and getting knocked out. I'm the big stack at the table. Life is fun.

My only trouble hand, I have A-6 in the BB with a few limpers , I raise. I hear folds, the guy to my right with the small stack calls me all in. Out of turn apparently. Somebody says flip em up. I do. Somebody hasn't acted yet. He looks at my cards and raises big. Tourney director says he can, not that guys fault we acted out of turn. I fold. He turns over A-K.

As an example of how vicious the blinds were, I was the big stack at my table, probably top two or three in the tourney when we hit about 18-20 people and I only had about 23 big blinds.

Blinds are at 200/400 . I pick up A-K. In the BB I think. Some limpers. I make it about 1600 to go. One of the limpers pushes to 5050. I think about it for a while. I hope he has a big ace and if not that I think there's a good chance he's making a play with a Mid/large pair. That's a decent combination. I think for a while and guess it's a good eighty percent that I'm either ahead or in a coin flip situation. I call. He's got KK and the Ace Magnets fail me. I'm down to about 650 in chips.

I pick up A-J suited, A-6 off, and 99 the next three hands, I push em all. win the 1st and third (tripling up on the first), lose 150 chips to a micro stack on the second. Still am terribly short stacked.

I wait for a while, Finally pick up A-9 off on the hand before the blinds go up to 500/1000. I'm utg with about 2100 chips and push. I get called by the same guy who hurt me with the Kings. He has King-10 and pairs his King on the flop and out I go in 11th.

It's a lot of fun. If I were single I might go play three or four of these a week. They're such card catching contests that you have to be pretty lucky to do well. So playing in a bunch of them is the way to go.

I'd love to see what a really great tourney player could do at these. There was a lot of really passive play puncutated by occaisional loose calling and chasing with marginal hands.


It turns out there is something to win as there are gift certificates...I assume for bar credit, for the first three spots.

So, 2nd time out...I'm still the noob, but at least I can riffle chips!

--Zetack
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Old 02-28-2005, 10:14 PM
jtr jtr is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2004
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Posts: 310
Default Re: My Second Live Poker Experience--long

Kudos, Zetack: you write well, and I enjoyed reading your tale of the beginner making good. Just don't raise A6o in the BB after limpers and you'll be fine.
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