Poker Games Journal

September 2004

September 29
I am in Atlantic City now and played in the $1000 No Limit Holdem event at The Taj. I played well, but only made it through a little more than half the field. My favorite hand of the day was during the first round. I raised the $15 big blind to $60 with 83 of clubs. I was one off the button and all other players had already folded. The small blind called and the big blind folded. The flop was A85 with two clubs. The SB checked, I bet $120, he raised to $250, and I called. The turn was a queen of clubs. He bet $700, I moved in and he called. He had AQ (two pair) and was disgusted with me when the river didn't improve his hand. He made some comment about my "nice hand". All he had to do was reraise me preflop and I would have been done with it. I went and talked to one of my friends about the hand a little later and he told me already heard about it. The guy was crying to anyone who would listen. I took a couple of bad beats later and I was left with about $2000 (we  started with $2000). I was having difficulty finding hands and/or situations. My final hand, one player raised the $150 big blind to $450 and I moved in for $1900 with AK of clubs. All players folded back to him and after some thought he called with pocket nines.

I went back to The Borgata and played in the live action No Limit game. I won a nice little bit. One of my biggest hands was when I limped with 79 of clubs and called a small bet on the flop to hit my gutshot straight. I hit it on the turn and got my opponent to call off a lot of his chips. I'm staying in AC for another couple of days because I am playing the No Limit event on Friday. I probably won't play the Limit Holdem event tomorrow, so I will play live action.

September 28
I had my biggest win in live action No Limit Holdem today at work. A huge chunk of my profits came from one player. There were six limpers ($3) preflop. I held Q5 of diamonds. The flop was A96 all diamonds. The first player checked, the second player bet $10, the third moved in for about $300, I moved in as well. The player behind me thought for awhile and finally told us he was laying down a set (he had about $130). All of the other players folded behind him including the original bettor. I told the guy I had diamonds because I was positive I had the best hand. The turn card was a blank and the river was a king of diamonds (giving me the nuts). He told me nice hand and he showed the table pocket tens with the ten of diamonds. I was really surprised at how he played the hand, but was thankful for the huge pot.

There was one other hand where I won a nice pot. I turned two pair (AJ), but there were three spades on the board. I told my opponent that he would have to pay to catch another spade and I made a huge bet (to put him all-in for over $100). I told him I had the best hand and he called me anyway. I asked him if he had the flush and he told me know and showed A2 of two pair. It is amazing how players think a person is lying when they say they have the best hand. I have said this a couple of times and I have got called on all of them.

I am heading out to Atlantic City in the morning on the spur of the moment to play a few of the tournaments at the Taj. I will try and update my journal from there, but if I don't, I will do it Saturday.

September 26
I managed to win at work on Thursday even though I made at least one big mistake. I was in a game with one of the livest players I have ever played with (he plays at the Bike once in awhile). I always like when he is in the game especially since I am familiar with his play. On one hand there were 5 limpers and I was in the big blind with pocket tens. I raised to $18 and the live player raised to $100 and then the guy in the small blind moved in for a total of $140 (all other players folded). I was pretty sure the wild guy had a small pocket pair and the other guy had at least one over. The other guy was also a wild player. I knew I had the best hand, but I was concerned with playing after the flop. I would have had $250 left if I called and the wild guy had more chips than I did. If I moved in, I was pretty sure he would call me. I finally decided to fold my hand. I only had $18 invested in the pot, so I thought it was the correct move. I was wrong! The wild guy had pocket deuces and the other guy had A7 of hearts. The end result would have left me with no chips. It is hard to believe they had only 5 outs between them and two of them got there. Wild guy flopped a deuce and turned a deuce. The whole thing worked out for me, but I was still mad at myself for playing the hand wrong. I knew I had the best hand and I did not put all of my chips in the pot.

I played in the online Omaha event tonight and made it down to 22nd place. They only paid 18. I was happy with the way I played and I was happy that I made some kind of showing. Next week, I am looking to take the whole thing down.

September 22
I went into to work today full rested again and I did great. It is amazing what a good night's rest can do for me. I played in three games and won in all of them. The last game was the most interesting. I sat down with a wild bunch and found myself getting sucked into their action. I played a lot of hands I shouldn't have and lost my first buy-in fast. I decided it was time to change it up. I bought in for another $100 and lost about half my stack when I decided to do another buy-in. I didn't want to be short stacked against any of my opponents because I knew I could get a lot of their chips. I got extremely lucky on one hand when one player raised the $3 big blind to $17 and one player called before it was my turn to act. I looked down at pocket jacks. I normally would flat call in this situation, but because the table was crazy (and would probably call a normal raise), I moved in. All players folded around to the original raiser and he called and so did the other player. I knew I was in trouble and I expressed it to the dealer. I was in seat one and I whispered "I need a jack". Both of my opponents turned their cards up before the flop, but I did not. The original raiser had pocket queens and the other player had A6 (he was also all-in for about $65). The flop was 984, but the turn was a jack. I immediately said, "I have a set of jacks" and the other players looked a little disappointed. The river did not help either of them and I won a nice pot. The other interesting hand was when one of the players moved all-in for about $120 without looking at his cards. He told the table he didn't look at them, but more importantly I was paying attention and I knew he wasn't lying. I called with KQ of diamonds. A couple of the players behind me told me they wish I wouldn't have done that because they wanted to do it. No other players called. I won the pot with king high (he had Q4).

I left work early and went to Commerce to play in their No Limit Shootout tournament. It was the first shootout I have played in since my win at the Hustler. I felt good about my chances. I never really picked up a hand in the first few rounds and was left with only $650 at the break. The first hand after the break, the player to my right raised the $100 blind to $250 and I immediately moved in with AQ. It got folded around to him and he thought for a moment and then folded. The next hand, I was dealt AK and I moved in from first position. I like to do this right after I win a hand because a lot of the times they will think I am bluffing and call me with a weak ace. All players folded and I picked up the blinds. On the next hand, one player raised, all players folded to me in the big blind and I looked down at A4 of spades. I am very familiar with the player who raised the pot and I knew I had to lay my hand down. I showed him the ace and told him, "only for you". Three hands in a row and I had an ace in all of them, what are the chances for one more? All players folded around to me in the small blind and I looked down at AQ!! I knew if I moved in this time, the player would bite. He thought for awhile and said, "you sure are getting a lot of hands." I knew I had him beat and I didn't particularly mind the call especially when he showed me A8. He told me he thought I was bluffing and I was happy my plan worked. I was happy until I saw the 8 on the flop. The dealer had to go into "overkill" mode and gave him another one on the river. I was down to $550 and hoped my nice run of starting hands would continue. A couple of hands later, the player to my right raised to $300 and I moved in with A6. I didn't care for my hand much, but I had to make a stand before the blinds ate my stack. The other players folded and he looked tortured when making his decision. He finally called and showed J6. I told him I had him dominated with my A6 and he walked away from the table. He didn't want to watch. He flopped a jack and the other players called him back and told him he got lucky. I never caught the ace and my hopes of back to back Shootout wins were shattered.

September 20
I played the Ladies tournament at Commerce Friday and finished at four tables. It doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment, but believe me it was. I can actually count the number of descent starting hands I was dealt. Almost every chip I had in front of me, I had to earn the hard way. There were four props (including me) from The Bike and all four of us made it to the final four tables. I already had the headline "The ladies from the Bicycle Casino dominated the Ladies event". It didn't quite work out the way I wanted, but at least two made the final table.

I went into work today rested and focused. I was amazed at how I was noticing every small detail. I won a lot of pots by making the correct read. One guy got a little upset at first when I made him fold his hand on the river and I told him I had third pair with a straight draw. I told him I knew he missed his flush draw. About five minutes later, he finally admitted that I made a great read.

I sat on the same game for the eight hours of my shift and the game was pretty good for most of the day. About the last hour of my shift, the game got extremely tight. On my last round of the day, I decided to loosen things up. There were 6 limpers (for $3). The flop was 864. It was checked to me and I bet $25 with Q8 of spades. I knew it was an overbet, but I wanted to create some action. One guy folded and made a comment about me flopping a pair of fours, then all the other players folded. I turned my hand up and told them I just wanted some action on the table. I told them I was leaving after one more hand, but I would try and do it again. I was in first position and looked at my first card (jack) and I said, "ok" and then I looked at the second one dealt to me (king). I said, "raise to $13" and I got four callers. The flop came QT9 giving me the nut straight. The player in the blind bet out $40 and I raised to $140. I knew there was no way that any of the players would actually believe I had the nut straight and if any of them had a piece of that flop, they would probably call. All of the players behind me folded to the big blind and he called another $50 (all-in). I told him I had the nut straight and he looked so bummed. He flopped top pair with a king kicker, so he was still drawing live, but he didn't get there. When I got in my car to go home, I thought next time it would be better if I did something like that when I started the day instead of on the last couple of hands of the day. I will reap a lot more benefits that way.

September 15
I have been playing a lot of Sit N Go tournaments at Pacific Poker this week. The software is a little slower than I am used to but the players that play on the site are worse!! I have never played on a site with such weak competition. A few nights ago, I played seven heads-up matches and I won all seven. Last night I won 4 out of 5. All of my sessions this week have been similar. At this rate, the software will never be an issue with me.

A lot of my family members came into town this week and many were surprised to find out my new profession (I haven't seen a lot of them in over five years). It is amazing what television has done for the sport of poker. My whole family was more than supportive, they were intrigued. One of them actually played the last ladies event at The Bike and we didn't even see each other. To all my family members that are checking out the site for the first time: "Hi".

September 13
I played in the weekly Omaha tournament last night, but I didn't do very well. I have been playing so much No Limit that my Omaha game has been off. I have noticed that I try to bluff pots and that I have been calling with hands that I shouldn't. I decided to brush up on my Omaha skills by playing in online ring games this week. I played my "A" game yesterday, but never really got things rolling.

There was one hand I made myself proud. I raised preflop with A28J and got called in two places. The flop was Q94 and all of us checked. The turn was an eight and we all checked again. The river was a king and two of us checked and the last player bet. I thought about it for awhile and it his bet didn't make sense to me. If he had a king in last position, it was good enough to check down. I put him on a low draw and figured he was trying to bluff the pot. I called him with my pair of eights and they were good. His hand ended up being 7543 giving him a pair of fours. I am going to focus this week on my Omaha game and hopefully next week I can take this down.

I went into work today with a new outlook on my live No Limit game. I have a lot of success in the tournaments, but the numbers for my live action has been dismal. I know I am better than most players that sit at the table, but I find myself getting involved in too many hands. I tightened up my game a little (it is still a hell of a lot looser than my limit) and it seemed to work. I booked a nice win today.

There were a couple of situations today that bothered me. The first one was when I raised with A5 (there was a reason for doing this with this horrible hand) and got called by the guy in the big blind. The flop was 458 and the player checked to me. I made a large bet and he called after he mumbled that he had jack high. He said something about one of his overs getting there. The turn was a 7. I bet again and he called me all-in (he was short stacked). I told him I had a pair and he turned his hand face up only exposing one card (the jack). After the river card was dealt, and after thinking I had the best hand, he showed me his six. He turned the straight and then had put on a little act. One of the players told him, "you just put a bull's-eye on your chest" and I told him, "And I am sure it is not just from me. That lack of table etiquette is not appreciated here." I will never understand why players do stuff like this. I have been told to never try and understand an idiot, but it makes me crazy. I don't necessarily believe that players should show their hands when they are all-in, but if you have a hand that is almost guaranteed to win, announce it. No need for the table dramatics.

The most difficult hand for me today was when I held pocket aces. I made a small raise and only got called by the small blind. The flop came all rag cards and I made a pot size bet ($15). My opponent raised me another $25 and I figured I would put in another raise to see where I was at. I made it $45 more to him. I was surprised when he put the rest of his chips (about $150) into the pot. I went into the tank for about two minutes which is a long time for me. I thought of the possibilities and came to the conclusion that he either had a set or a pocket pair higher than the board. I did not put him on the flush draw (there were two clubs on the board and I had the ace of clubs) because he would not have kept reraising with that hand. I finally called with my pocket aces and I asked him if he had a set. He told me "no" and I told him I had aces. He showed his pocket jacks. I couldn't believe it took me so long to make my decision, but I had to think of all possibilities. I will lay down aces if I think it is correct to do so. I was pleased with my thought process and the final outcome of the hand.

September 12
I played in Queen of Clubs tournament at the Bicycle Casino today. The buy-in was only $15 so there were a lot of women who showed up to play (about 600). My mom and cousin joined me. They wanted to see what playing live tournaments was about and figured this was a good opportunity to get their feet wet. I gave them a lot of advice before the tournament, but they still figured they would be waiting around for me to finish. Surprise to them, I was the first of our group to be eliminated. I picked up a few chips in the first two rounds of the tournament, but not many. I lost most of my chips when I flopped top pair (4 players in the pot preflop). I made a pot size bet and only one player called. I thought she might have two overcards or a diamond draw (there were two diamonds on the board). The turn gave me my second pair, but it also put another flush draw on the board. I thought it was a pretty safe card because nobody in their right mind would call for a backdoor flush draw. The river brought a low club. I bet again and the woman called. I announced "two pair" and she showed her Queen high flush. She called the bet on the flop with a backdoor flush draw with only one overcard. Worse than that, was she did not put me all-in when she hit her miracle card. I thanked her and was eliminated a few hands later. It was probably payback for the smartass comment I made...

September 9
I was at work when I got a phone call from 2003 World Series of Poker champ Chris Moneymaker. He is in town to film a commercial with 2004 World Series of Poker champ Greg Raymer for PokerStars. He told me that they were having a private game and asked me if I wanted to come over. I mentioned that my bankroll was not going to compare to his and Greg's, but he said they were not going to play for huge stakes. I accepted the invitation because I haven't seen Chris since the World Series. I thought it would be fun plus it would give me a chance to catch up with him.

I got to Chris' agents house and was surprised Melissa Hayden and Allen Cunningham were also there. It was not going to be an easy group to play with (or at least win with)! We agreed to play No Limit with a $2-5 blind. Chris and Greg pulled out at least $5,000 and put it on the table and Allen and Melissa pulled out a couple thousand each. I reached into my purse and pulled out a few hundred dollars. If I started to get low on chips, I figured I could pull out more.

I lost most of my money on one hand when Greg raised and I called in the blind with pocket jacks. I don't like to raise with pocket jacks when I am in the blind because I am out of position for the rest of the hand. The flop came baby cards (832), all of them were clubs. I had the jack of clubs, so I checked to Greg. He made a $50 bet, then I raised all-in to $125. He told me he was probably donating because he didn't have a club in his hand. I told him I had a pair and he told me he had one too. He showed me Q2 giving him a pair of deuces. I thought I was in pretty good shape because one of his outs was a club to give me the flush. The turn was an offsuit queen and the river paired the three, so I had to dig into my purse and pull out a couple hundred more. I did not do well with that either. I decided not to pull any more money out since fun is fun but I reminded myself of the importance of table selection and this was definitely not a great one to be sitting at! Even though I did not do well in the game, I am glad I went. We talked a lot of poker and it was interesting to hear some of the things they had to say. I found all of the players interesting in their own way and I was especially glad to be able to catch up with Chris.

September 7
It was definitely not one of my best days at work, but it wasn't too painful either. I got involved in at least one hand that I should have folded. On one hand a player doubled the blind and there were two callers behind him. I had AQ so I made a big reraise. There were two callers behind me and then one of the original callers moved all-in for three times my raise. This player is a pretty abc player, but I knew at least one player behind me was going to call if I did. I thought the all-in player might have pocket kings, but I still had money in front of me and I figured I could win a nice side pot. I also figured that if I flopped the ace, it was very unlikely that one of the other players had AK (if the tight player did have KK), so I would have the best hand. It was a pretty bad call. I was correct with most of my assumptions, but I did not win a side pot. One player had AJ, the other had KK, and I don't know what the other player had. The board was KKxxx and the all-in player won a huge pot.

I decided to come home and play online. I played in 2 No Limit games and won in both, I played in 5 one table sit n go's and placed in 4 of them and I played one multi-table $100 tournament (I went out fast in that). Overall, it was a great day. There was one hand in the cash game that ended up working out great for me. I had pocket 4s and somebody raised the $4 blind to $12 and I just called after one other caller. The player in the big blind got disconnected and was treated as all-in. The flop was 543. Player 1 bet $16, Player 2 called $16 and I raised to $56. The original raiser called. The turn was a six making a possible straight, but I knew this card was not going to help my opponent. He checked, I made a large bet and he folded. I won a $149 side pot. I was now only facing the all-in player for the $17 main pot. The river was a king. He had pocket kings and won the hand. I was so lucky that he got disconnected when he did. He made a funny comment about his DSL costing him a lot of money this month. I laughed, but he was probably not laughing with me.

September 2
Last night, I went to the taping of the final table of the WPT. I was excited about going because I wanted to see Doyle Brunson in action. The whole tournament was incredible. Joe Awada was eliminated by Lee Watkinson when both of them made a full house. Joe had a huge stack going into the hand, but Lee had more. Lee played the hand brilliantly. When the heads up match began, Lee had about 5 million and Doyle had 1.5 million. Watching Doyle was like watching a master at work. He made brilliant moves, perfect bets and ended up winning the whole event.

Tonight they filmed the Ladies event and I was still disappointed that I was not at the table. I did not make it clear at how the tournament worked in my previous journal entry. The WPT invited five players and the sixth player came from the tournament I played in yesterday. I did go watch for a short period of time and it was a good show. Clonie's hopes for a repeat were shot when she was eliminated first. The winner from yesterday's Bike event I played in finished in second place. Isabelle Mercier, formerly of the Aviation Club in Paris, won.

Work was great today. I had the best day I have ever had. It started out when a player made a huge mistake in a hand with me. The flop was 55x. I had 85 of clubs. I led out with a small bet on the flop. Sometimes I like to do that because the players don't usually put me on the 5. They are used to players checking their three of a kind. The other players folded around to the small blind and she made a decent size raise. I knew she did not have pocket aces, so I moved in over the top of her. She called and told me she had a five. I told her I had one too. She said she had a king kicker and then turned her hand up and revealed K3. She did not have a five at all. That pot got my day started and I never looked back. I am not exactly sure how I won so much. I never won any huge pots, but I was consistently winning a lot of small pots. I did win a nice one when I flopped the flush and got paid off by another player with a king of diamonds. He needed one more diamond, but never got it. Sometimes the games are like a rollercoaster ride for me. Today was slow and steady and it was a nice change of pace.

September 1
I stated in my last journal entry that I was going for broke at the Ladies tournament... and broke I went. I did not get the first place finish that I wanted, I didn't even make the final table.

We started the tournament at noon and I won a nice pot on the second hand. I was in the big blind for $1000 and Jan Fisher moved in from middle position. All of the players folded around to me and I looked at my cards (AQ). I called the additional $3500. The flop brought no help, but there were two clubs and I had the ace of clubs. The turn was another low club. I needed any ace, queen or club on the river and I would win the hand. The river was an ace and I was probably close to being the chip leader at that time.

A few hands later, I got dealt pocket jacks. I raised and one player moved in behind me. I could tell she didn't love her hand. I ruled out that she had pocket aces, kings, queens, or AK. I figured she had two overs. I was not happy about having to go into a race situation, but I knew I had to so I could win the tournament. Sure enough, she had AQ. The flop was KJx. I flopped the set, so her outs were reduced. A ten showed up on the turn, so she made her straight. The board did not pair and she took a huge chunk out of my stack. I managed to win a few blinds and I thought I could still win the event if I didn't take another hit like the previous one. I did take another hit and it was even worse than the first. One player doubled the blind from middle position and I was to her immediate left. I held KQ and thought about what I should do. I thought about raising, but most of the women that played didn't understand No Limit. She would have raised the same amount with any two cards. She could have easily had me dominated with AQ or she could have held a small pocket pair. I decided to just flat call because I wanted to see a flop and I wanted to see what the players behind me did. All players folded to the big blind and she called. The flop was Kxx. The big blind checked, the second lady moved in, I moved in behind her and the big blind folded. The way she moved her chips in made me believe that I had her beat. She showed KT. The turn was an ace, so if the board paired, we were going to chop the pot. The river was a ten giving her two pair. She had a lot of chips and when the hand was over, I was left with hardly anything.

I got a free look in my big blind when all of the players folded and the small blind just called. I had 72. I don't remember the flop, but the small blind checked, and I checked behind her. The turn was an ace. The small blind checked and I thought I should make a move for the pot, but I didn't. I didn't make a move on the river either and she won the hand with T2. I think this hand was my only mistake of the tournament. I should have went with my first instinct and moved in on the turn. I was in the small blind ($800) and I had $2,200 left. All players folded to me and I moved in with AT suited. The lady on my left thought about it for one minute and called. She made the correct call because of the pot size, but there was not one other woman at the table who would have made that call if they were in the situation. It was unfortunate that she was on my left. She showed her 84 and I had a feeling I was done. The four flopped, I did not improve and I finished in 16th. I was very upset about the way I went out because of the bad beats, but then I put it all in perspective. I normally don't get upset about stuff like that. I only get upset when I played bad. I realized I played great, I got unlucky, and there will be another chance to get on the Ladies WPT Event. I talked to Steve Lipscomb after I got knocked out and I told him that I wanted win so I could be on his show. Maybe next year...