Poker Journal

July 2004

July 27
I finally broke my losing streak at work. I managed to book a nice win. I have had five losing days in a row and I was beginning to wonder again if I should quit playing No Limit Holdem (live action). A good friend of mine reminded me that No Limit is going to have some huge swings and to just stick with it.

The Legends of Poker starts tomorrow with a casino employees event. This week I'll play in that event and Friday's Omaha HiLo.

I have been extremely busy the past week with my other business, teaching kids ceramics. I am doing my last session for the summer tomorrow, so my journal will be updated more regularly.

July 23
I had a horrible week at work. I have missed many draws, got outdrawn, and made some huge mistakes. The mistake that has been bothering me all week was how I misplayed a hand and it cost me a lot of money. Playing No Limit, I was dealt Q7 of clubs and decided to play it for a limp after one player called. Two other players limped and the guy in the blind raised to $15. This guy had been raising with a lot of hands and his raise didn't mean much to me, so I called after the guy in front of me called. One player called behind me. The flop came KQ7. The small blind checked, the next player bet $20 and I decided to just call and make a move at the pot later. The player behind me raised to $60, the small blind raised to $120 and the player in front of me called. I had to decide what to do at this point and tried to figure out what each player had. I knew the player to my right had a draw and the player to my left had aces, but I had no clue what the small blind had. I decided to move all of my $280 into the pot. The player behind me moved in, the small blind moved in, and the next player thought for a long time and finally folded. The small blind had KK and the only chance I had to win the pot was catching runner runner queen or runner runner 7. After I lost the pot, I thought about it and was upset about how I ignored the possible hands the small blind could have held. Like I said, he raised with a lot of hands, but his check raise (especially reraising two players) should have screamed pocket kings. I am still kicking myself about how I played this hand and there was another one similar to it, but I won't go into all the detail.

Although, I made those two huge mistakes, most of my losses for the week were from missing draws or getting outdrawn. I am really looking forward to going back to work next week to have at it again.

I have not been playing online much this week because of other obligations, but I played in three tournaments tonight. I finished in the money in two out of the three. My best finish was 7th in a $33 plus rebuys NL tournament. I won a little over $700. There were a few hands that I was especially proud of. The one that sticks out in my mind is when I held AK in early position and decided to do a standard raise because I wanted to play for all of my chips. If I had moved in (which would normally be correct because of my chip count), I was afraid I would not get any action. Two players called and one player moved in behind them. He moved in for only a little more than my raise, so I was not permitted to reraise. The flop came K77. I moved in because the pot was worth taking at this point. One player called with pocket fives and the other folded. This hand was key in getting me to the final table. Once I got to the final table, I saw pocket aces four times in the first two rounds and none of them were mine!! I was involved in one of the "pocket aces" hands when I held AK of clubs. Luckily, my opponent didn't have many chips. After that hand, I was the short stack and decided to call my remaining $40,000 with pocket jacks when a player moved in for over $100,000 with AK. He flopped the king and I was done.

July 18
I just got home from Las Vegas after playing the Omaha event at The Orleans where I finished in 18th place. I was happy with my play during most of the tournament and was very focused, but I was extremely disappointed at how I finished the tournament.

When down to 24 players, I had average chips and got involved in a few pots that made me lose half of my stack. Then when we were at 20 players I made my mistakes. I raised on one hand with AAJ9 and one player with a lot of chips called. I did not particularly love my hand, but I thought I might be able to pick up the pot with the raise because a lot of players were folding so they could make it into the money. I don't remember the exact flop, but I know it had two low cards and two spades. I bet and he raised. I thought about it for awhile and considered the possibility that my hand was probably the best at the moment, but there were so many draws on the board and I had no chance of making a low or making a flush. I looked around the table and saw that one player had one $500 chip left and figured if I folded, I would make it into the money. I finally folded my hand, but as soon as the cards hit the muck, I was mad at my decision. It didn't make me feel any better when he showed me his pocket queens and told me he had a flush draw to go along with it.  I was left with enough chips to make it through the blinds and I would still have one $500 chip if I didn't play a hand. I managed to get a free look at a flop in my big blind, but totally missed and threw my hand away after there was a bet. We were down to 19 players when I put my chips into the small blind. The player who had one chip was in the big blind. One player raised and I looked at my hand. I knew if I had anything decent, I was going to play because if both of us were eliminated on the hand, I would finish in 18th because I had him outchipped. I didn't like my hand and threw that one away too. The two players split the pot and the short stack had to throw his one chip back into the small blind. He was eliminated on that hand and the rest of us made it into the money. We drew for new seats and I was mad at myself at this point. I sat down at my table and all the players were telling me "good job for making it into the money", and I sat there thinking, "Yeah great job! I just blew any chance I would have had to win this tournament by playing like a pansy". I don't like to look or act like a poor sport and I don't think I did, but my insides were sick. The dealer drew for the button and I got the big blind on my first hand. I did not win the hand and left the tournament with $760 for 18th.

I am a great sport when it comes to getting bad beats or getting outplayed, but when I make a mistake on the table it gets the better of me. I immediately called Steve to tell him how I finished in the tournament and told him how upset I was that I played to finish in the money. I suppose I could have told him how incredible I played during most of the tournament or how I made a great read and he would be so proud, but the only words I could mutter was "you are going to be so mad at me". We talked for a long time and he made me feel a little better about the whole situation. I played in two tournaments in one week and finished in the money in both.

I played at The Palms on Saturday night in their No Limit Holdem game. I was a little nervous about playing there because there blinds are a little higher than what I am used to and the players do not know me. It did not take long for me to find my groove and for them to realize I was not the typical weekend gambler. There were a couple of hands I made great reads on and one I made a mistake on. My favorite hand of the night was when I called with J6 clubs on a board of AQJxx. The way my opponent played the hand, I knew he was on a flush draw and when he bet on the end, it was an easy call. I put my chips into the pot so fast, I think most of the table was shocked when I turned my hand up. I lost a big hand when I flopped top pair against another players set of fours, but on the next hand I won almost all of it back from the same player. This time the tables were reverse, he flopped a pair of queens (top pair) with an ace kicker and I flopped a set of deuces. It was nice to be able to say, "back at you" when I showed him my hand. The night was a successful one. I won a little bit of money and I met Hoyt Corkins for the first time. I did a profile on him awhile back, but all of our conversations were on the phone. I introduced myself and he was extremely nice.

I am glad to be home and I am looking forward to going back to work. I am also looking forward to The Legends of Poker tournament at The Bike starting the end of this month.

July 17
Two hundred and twenty players in today's Omaha tournament at the Orleans. I came in 18th, which was the lowest place to be paid, but I am pretty upset about how I played. I'll write more when I get home on Sunday.

July 15
I am heading out to Vegas tonight to play in the Omaha tournament tomorrow at The Orleans Casino. I will write about the trip when I get back on Sunday night and also fill you all in on my week at work. Thanks for all the e-mails regarding my win at The Hustler tournament. I read them all and will respond when I get home.

July 12
I went to Hustler Casino's $300 No Limit Holdem shootout. It was a long, but rewarding day. I finished in first place.

I started the tournament out with a bang. I got dealt pocket aces twice in the first round of the tournament and managed to win a big pot with one of them. One player had moved in for $100 (the blinds were $25-25) with 63 of diamonds and I just called him on the button. The small blind raised to $350, I made it $850, and he moved in. I won a few hands after that, but a made a mistake that cost me quite a bit of my chips. I raised with AT and the player in the blind called. The flop was KK2 with two diamonds. I thought I had the ace of diamonds, but did not look back at my hand. The blind checked, I bet, and he called. It seemed like he called with hesitation, so I thought I would fire again on the turn to try and take down the pot. The turn was another diamond. He checked, I bet, and he called again. The river was another diamond. He checked, and FINALLY I look back at my hand to see if I have the diamond. I checked my hand knowing I was not going to win. He showed me the king and then told me he would have laid the hand down if I made a big bet on the end because he didn't have a diamond. In my opinion, I made only two key mistakes in the tournament and this was one of them.

Our table was the first to get down to three players and we were one of the last to get down to one player. The three of us just grinded away and I came out victorious. I was so happy with the way that I played, but more than that I made one of my opponents go haywire with the way I played against him. I was the shortest stack of the three of us when the following hand came up. The button folded and I limped for $75 more in the small blind with pocket jacks. I did this because every time I limped in the small blind, he would raise me. I told myself that if I pick up a big hand, I would limp and come over the top of him. He raised me, I moved in for a total of $1850 and he called. He showed me pocket tens and made comments about the way I played the hand. He told me it was impossible to put me on that hand because I limped. The flop came 87x, the turn was a jack giving him the straight draw and the river was a ten. He was bent out of shape that he caught his card on the river, but it was still no good. A little while later, he raised on the button and I moved in from the big blind with AK. He went into the tank and almost threw a fit right there on the table. He stood up, thought for a long time and totally tortured himself. It would have been appropriate for me to call a clock on him, but I was getting so much satisfaction watching him. Three hands later, he raised on the button again and I tell him, "you are at it again, huh?". The small blind folded and I moved in again with AJ. He did the same thing again. The dealer whispered about one of us calling a clock on him and I told him "no way". A few hands later, I did it to him again. He raised and I called with pocket fives. I checked the 532 flop, he bet and I moved in. He folded his hand again. I knew he would be the next person to go out on our table. When the play got heads up, it didn't last long. I already figured out that the other player did not like to see flops. I raised with pocket fives and he moved in. I had him outchipped and put him on two over cards. I asked for them to count down the chips and I would have been left with $2000 (of $15,000 in play) if I lost the hand. I decided to make the call. He showed AQ and he did not improve his hand.

There were fourteen tables, so there were fourteen of us who made it into the next round. We started out with two tables of seven players. We played down to five on each table and when we finally moved to the final table, I was the chip leader. One of the interesting things was there were three women at the table. I normally do not like this because I cannot use the "girl" thing against them. However, I can still use it on the men. There were two hands where this worked for me. I raised one off the button with A4 and Chris Karagulleyan moved all-in. He was second in chips and I did not want to mess with him. I folded and he showed me pocket kings. He told me, "only for you, I don't want to slowplay you". One round later, I raised with JT of diamonds and he moved in again. I told him, "I am really getting tired of you!". I folded and he showed me pocket kings again. Before the hands with Chris took place, I played two big pots with AK and won both (how I was chip leader). We got down to five players and a deal was mentioned AGAIN. It had been mentioned since seven players, but I kept telling them "no". Finally when we were down to five, I told them, "I am willing to listen to the numbers". When they gave me the numbers I decided to take the deal because I was getting more than second place money, and the chip count method they used favors the big stacks. I was happy to take my money, my trophy, and my first victory in a major tournament.

July 10
I played two No Limit tournaments tonight and did not do well in either. One of the tournaments was a huge disappointment because it was a $100 tournament with rebuys. I ended up spending $400.

I did my first rebuy when I took my whole stack with pocket kings against an A8 and the ace flopped. I did a rebuy and lost almost my whole stack again when I took my pocket kings against AJ and the ace flopped. I did another rebuy and then an add-on when the break came, but my chips did not last long. I finished the tournament when I took pocket sevens against AJ and my opponent flopped a jack. There is absolutely no way to win a tournament when you can't win ONE race situation. Hopefully I will do better in the Omaha tournament tomorrow.

July 9
I played two online tournaments tonight and did not place in either one. The first tournament was a $50 Omaha High Low where I was not a contender. The second was a $50 NL Holdem event with 288 players and I finished 36th. I had average chips during most of the tournament, but ran into a situation where I lost a lot of them. I held K8 of clubs and there was one limper in front of me. I limped, the small blind limped and the big blind checked. I got exactly the kind of flop I was looking for (K75 with two clubs). The small blind bet $800, the other players folded, and I raised to $2,000. The small blind moved in for an additional $3420. I knew she probably had me outkicked, but I was willing to go with this hand because I had her outchipped and I wanted to accumulate chips. The turn was an ace of hearts giving me a few more outs, but the river was a 2 of hearts. I picked up a few uncontested pots and felt like I was on my way to win some money until I made a great read and got unlucky.

I had $4661 in chips and the blinds were $300-$600 with $50 antes. A player in middle position moved all-in and I sensed weakness. He had less chips than I did and I thought he was making a move for the pot. I decided to call with AJ and all of the other players folded. I was happy to see I made the correct read when he showed T7 of diamonds. The flop was 542, but the turn was a ten and the river was a 6. I was left with only $20 and lost it on the next hand when I was all-in for the antes and was dealt 83.

July 8
I didn't get much play in at work today. I played in a couple games for a short time, but most of my day was spent doing paperwork for the props. After I finished with the paperwork, I jumped in a $6-12 holdem game and played about an hour. My big hand of the day was when I held KQ of clubs. One player limped in early position, I raised with four people calling behind me. The limper also called the raise. There were six players in the hand before the flop. The flop came 874 with one club. The players checked to me and I also checked. The player immediately behind me bet and all players called except one. I decided to call one off to see if my hand improved (I did not put anybody on a straight). The turn was a 6 of clubs making a four card straight on the board. Again the players checked to me, I checked and the guy to my left bet and the next player raised. There was one caller before it was my turn to act and I had to decide whether I was getting the right price on the call. It was obvious, the raiser had a straight, but I figured I would win the pot if I caught a club. I did the math and knew I was getting the right price. I called and was pleased to see a club on the river (although it paired the board). It was checked all the way around. I won a nice pot and even got a look of disgust from the guy with the straight. He showed me his "5" and I said, "I know". I left work a small winner.

I played in a $100 NL tournament on PokerStars tonight and finished in 7th place. I worked really hard to get myself to the final table. There was a time in the tournament when I had only $600 in chips and was able to double up a few hands in a row. When we got to the final table, all four big stacks were sitting to my right. I was not getting many hands and any opportunity for me to steal the blinds was ruined because one of the big stacks would raise in front of me. I did not get dealt many premium hands and my stack dwindled to $14,000 when it was time for me to take my $4000 blind. All players folded around to the player one off the button and he raised. I had to decide whether to call all-in with Q6 suited. I had $10,700 left, but the pot was already $22,000. I was getting a little more than 2-1 on my money, so I decided to call. The raiser actually had a decent hand (AT of spades) and I was drawing dead when he made the flush on the turn. I realized (at the moment I am writing this) that I called with the exact same hand the player did in the tournament at the Bike. I might be crazy, but my call was SOOO much better!

July 7
I played in the No Limit game at work today. I only played for a few hours and took a few bad beats, but managed to only lose a little bit. The Hustler Casino is running their Grand Slam of Poker tournament and I decided to leave work early and play in the $300 NL with one optional rebuy event.

I managed to pick up very few hands, but stayed alive through half of the tournament. I played my final hand and didn't play it optimally. All players folded around to the small blind and he raised my $200 big blind to $450 and I called with KT. The flop came QT6. The small blind checked, I bet $800 and he called with a little hesitation. The turn was a jack giving me an open end straight draw, but there were two overcards to my pair. The small blind checked again and I thought for awhile. "Should I take the free card?", "Do I have the best hand?", "If I check here and I don't make my straight, am I going to call if he makes a move for the pot?". I decided to move the last of my $1250 into the pot to leave him with the decision. He called and turned over K9. He called my $800 bet for a gutshot straight draw and got there. I was disgusted with my decision and the fact I was drawing to get HALF the pot made it even worse. The river brought a deuce and I left the tournament. In hindsight, I should have checked and gave up if I missed the straight because he called my bet on the flop. I learned a few things from this tournament, but it wasn't a cheap lesson.

One of the things I noticed during this tournament is how many players risk their stacks on draws. Minh Nguyen was sitting at my table and I tried to pay a lot of attention to his style of play. He is a very successful tournament player and I figured I could learn something from him. I did notice he played his fair share of hands and played small pots, but he was willing to risk his whole stack many times. I saw him move or call all of his chips on flush draws and he managed to get there every time. I suppose some players always think like Amir Vahedi's said during the 2003 World Series of Poker: "You must be willing to die to stay alive in a tournament".

July 4
I played in the No Limit event at The Bike last night and finished in 24th out of 509 players. I was extremely disappointed because I hated the way I went out. In the early stages of the tournament I had a little more than average chips and I finally decided to take a stand with my stack with AK. The blinds were $100-200 and a player in early position made it $600. It got folded around to me and I moved in for $1800 with AK of diamonds. One of the players in the blind called my all-in bet and the original raiser thought about for awhile and called too. The flop was AQx and both players checked, they checked on the turn and then checked again on the river. I said, "If both of you checked the whole way down, my hand must be good. Both players showed their hands. The guy in the blind had pocket kings and the original raiser had pocket tens. That pot gave me the ammunition to win the tournament. I won another big pot with a suited ace when I flopped the ace and two of my suit.

After that hand, I went on a huge dry spell and could not catch a hand. I saw so many sixes including 64, J6,63. Hands that were so bad, I didn't feel comfortable making steals with. I ended up only having 4000 in chips when the blinds were $400-$800. I looked down and saw A9 and moved in and got no callers. The next hand, I picked up pocket queens and picked up the blinds again and then won the blinds again on the next hand when the players folded to the small blind and he just called. I had king high and probably should have moved my chips in right there, but it ended up working out for me because he checked the flop and I made a $1500 bet and he folded. After the three consecutive hands, there were only 38 players left and they paid 36. I figured it was likely that I was going to make it into the money, but I couldn't guarantee it. I am always looking for the win and I would be willing to risk my stack (and going out on the bubble) if the right situation came along.

I finally finished the tournament when I decided to make a move for all of my chips. The blinds were $1000-2000 with $300 antes and I was one away from taking the blinds. I looked down and saw QT and figured this would most likely be the best time to risk my chips. I moved in for $8700. All players folded around to the big blind and after a very short thought, he called all-in for $8,400 with Q6 of clubs. I was happy that I had him dominated, but when he rivered the flush, I was devastated. I only had $300 left and all of my money went in for the antes. I did not win the hand and left with a little more than double my money. The tournament staff asked me to spell my last name for the results and I didn't even think to give them my first name. I checked the results this morning and they listed me as "Sheila" Rosario. I guess that was my cherry on top!!

July 3
I just got home from a $100 tournament at the Bike. There were a little over 500 players and they paid 36. I finished in 24th place, so I made a little money, but I went out ugly. I will discuss the hand, the tournament, and the week at work in tomorrow's journal entry. It has been a long day.

July 1
Last night's tournament was exciting because of the amount of players who entered. First prize paid $59,120 and after my second rebuy, I decided there was so much value in this tournament that I should do a double add on. I invested a total of $500, but for a shot at that much money, I thought it was well worth it.

The first hand I got dealt 42 suited and I wanted to play this hand to set the tone for the table. I thought if I made a huge hand with it, the other players might think I was crazy. I limped in for $10 and there were a few limpers behind me. The big blind decided to make it $60 and I was forced to fold my hand. The flop came 442. I was so bummed the big blind raised.

My first rebuy happened when I committed all of my chips preflop with AQ. I limped in early position (remember I play a lot of hands in the early rounds and am looking to trap). A player raised to $125 because there were a lot of limpers in the pot. He had made this move earlier and showed AJ, so I thought this would be a good situation to play for all of my chips. Hopefully, he didn't have AK or AA, but if he did, I could always rebuy. He did have AK and I lost the pot, so did my first rebuy.

I won a nice pot with pocket jacks (now my hand of the week) when I played for all of my chips knowing that I had the original all-in raiser beat. I was not sure about the second player, but I was pretty confident that at the worst, it would have been a race. One player held 77 and the other held TT.

I made my second rebuy when I took AQ against Q7. This particular player was the worst one at the table and I wanted to play against him for all of my chips. He raised and I called looking to hit a queen. The flop came QJx. He bet $150 and I raised to $400 and he called. The turn was a seven. He slammed all of his chips in the pot and I called becaue I read the slamming of his chips as a weakness. I was disappointed to see that the seven gave him his second pair. "Rebuy!".

I lost a little of my chips with AQ against the same player who had AK earlier. I raised to $125 and he reraised to $275. I felt a call was appropriate because I was getting a little more than 3-1 on my money. I asked him, "Do you have AK again" and he replied, "yes". I flopped the queen, but he made a straight on the turn. It was time for the break and I put my $200 bucks on the table for the double add on. I thought I had a good feel for how the table was playing and I figured I had a legitimate shot at accumulating some chips and winning this event.

I did not get many hands, but managed to double up when I got all of my chips in the pot. I put all of my chips (and there weren't many) with A9 and doubled up when a player called me with QJ. On the next hand, I was in the big blind and it got folded around to the button. He was the player who played Q7 and was making a lot of raises with bad hands. The small blind moved in over the top of him for all of his chips with A9 and I looked down at my cards and saw KK. I moved all of my chips in and the original raiser folded his hand. I won a nice pot on that hand. I made some steals, but always had less than average chips. I consistently had to risk all of my chips to stay alive.

I finished the tournament when I moved in first position with AK. The guy to my immediate left moved in over the top of me and I knew he had a powerful hand, but was glad he gave me some protection. All of the players folded and the guy showed pocket queens. I did not catch either of my cards and I left the tournament feeling great about the experience and the way I played.

I played in the No Limit game today and had an incredible day. I took all of my chips against a player who needed runner runner spade to beat my set and he managed to get there. I bought in again. I took my AQ against A7 for all of my chips and my opponent caught runner runner straight. I was feeling a little frustrated about what the river was bringing me and I had bought in FIVE times. Almost all of the situations were similar. I won a huge pot when I made a move with pocket sevens and got extremely lucky against two opponents. The flop was Q8x and both players checked to me, so I moved in. Both of them called me and I rivered the seven. One of the players had pocket aces and the other player mucked his hand when I showed the set. I consider the river lucky, but it was also my just reward. It was my time to suck out on them.

I built that $300 up to $900 and then lost the largest pot I ever have in this game. A guy in first position raised the $3 blind to $20 and there was one caller before it got to me. I thought the original raiser probably had two overcards and the second player was almost irrelevant because he played any two cards for any amount of money. The flop was A6x. I checked, the original raiser checked, and the last person bet $25 and we both called. The turn was a king. I checked, the second player bet $75, the second guy called and I raised to $200. I was happy when the guy moved all of his $500 in the pot. The other player folded and I called. I put him on two overcards and thought he had AK when I called. I was so bummed when he showed me AA. There was almost no way for me to avoid this situation because I didn't put him on pocket aces because of his large raise preflop in first position. The only thing I could have done differently was muck my sixes, but it is a chance I am usually willing to take (usually to Steve's disgust). He has told me that those cards bring trouble, but I love them in No Limit. That hand cost me $500 of my stack and I was now in the negative again. I should have been devastated, but I took it pretty well. I got up a few hands later and walked around. I went and called Steve (of course I got an earful) and went back in determined to take this game on. The player who took my chips was a pretty solid player and I figured that the chips in front of him would be difficult to take, so I had to target some of the other players. I won some nice pots and finished the day a big winner. The day was like a rollercoaster ride, but I have always been a rollercoaster freak... what a rush!!

Although I got a rush out of the day's events, this is not the way I like my poker game to go. I would much rather consistently win small pots and leave with a profit of $200 then have the huge swings I had today. I was happy that the ride didn't end at the bottom of the track.