Poker Journal

October 2005

October 26
Tuesday's Live at the Bike show was probably the best episode we have ever had. The table was full of maniacs and it seemed that most of the players were on tilt about an hour into the show. One of the players, "Jesus" is a reckless player and this particular night he was in true form.

The game was $300-500 No Limit Holdem with $5-$5 blinds. There was one hand that will be forever remembered. The flop was queen high rainbow and the first player moved all-in for about 1700 with pocket kings, the second player (Jesus) called with QJ and the last player shoved the rest of his chips (about 400) into the pot with 92 (he had a pair of deuces). The turn was a queen and the river was a nine. Jesus won the biggest pot of the night and the funny part about it is that the third player would have beat the pocket kings too.

A short time later, Kenna James joined the game and one of the players started accusing Jesus and his friend (the player with 92) of cheating. We assured him that there was no cheating going on, but he was not listening to it. I am not sure if it is more stupid to accuse the players of cheating when thousands of people are watching (including four people in the booth who can see EVERYTHING) or the fact that he STAYED in the game when he thought the two players were cheating. Kenna asked the guy if he was winning and when the guy said, "Yes", Kenna told him that there is no crying when you are winning. The guy didn't stop and Kenna told him that he was totally out of line. Finally, the guy got up from the game, but before he left he called the players at the table a bunch of suckers and told them they were going to lose their money. It was priceless!

Before the show, I played Omaha and there was one hand that was unbelievable. I raised with AAA5 suited thinking that no other player would be able to call my raise because I had most of the aces. I can't say I was too surprised that I got three callers, but I was floored when an ace hit the flop. How can three players call a raise and what could their hands possibly be?

Congrats to World Series of Poker 2005 champion Joe Hachem and PokerStars for signing an endorsement deal. Joe joins Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker as spokespersons for the online cardroom. Earlier this week, I heard the deal was taking place and I got confirmation of it today. I think PokerStars struck gold by signing their third World Champ to a deal.

October 24
I decided to take two more shots at the double shootout yesterday and still had no luck. On the first one, I whipped through most of the players and ended up losing when I got heads up. It was one of those situations that couldn't be avoided. I took top two pair (aces and tens) against a set of deuces and unfortunately he had me outchipped by a hair.

I had a shot at winning my first table on the second shootout, but once again, I couldn't prevail. One player had about 9,000, I had about 3,500, and the other player had 1,500. The player who had most of the chips was playing like a maniac and I check-raised him anytime I had a pair (he always bet the flop). I was eliminated when I flopped top pair and he had top pair, better kicker. He should of went on to win the first table, but I knew his reckless style might bring him down. The other player ended up winning the table and eventually won the whole tournament. I can't help wondering if I could have won my seat if I made it past the maniac.

I have mixed feelings about playing in these. Single tables are my strong point and I think my best shot at the seat is through the shootouts, but I have played so many of them and I hate to spend $8,000 (exaggeration) trying to win a $10,000 seat.

After the shootouts, I played on Full Tilt Poker. They are spreading Omaha H/L on a consistent basis, so I played in the game. Erik Seidel was on one $5-10 game and Erick Lindgren was on another. I jumped on two games at once, but got off Lindgren's table as soon as he did. I stuck around on Seidel's table for awhile and then decided to play $3-6 Razz. This is the second time I have played Razz online and I did much better the first time. I think I paid less attention this time and my results showed it. If I continue to play in this game, it should help me with my lack of focus problem.

I am headed off to another exciting night at the Bike. I am not sure what game they will spread for Live at the Bike, but I am sure it will be better than the Wednesday night "Whale Game." For some reason, the big game is my least favorite to commentate on.

October 24
I played in the freeroll blogger tournament on PokerStars yesterday. I was excited about playing because first prize was a free trip to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. I had to get through the field of 1473 players in order to win the seat, but I was focused and ready to play.

I played well, but only made it down to 400 players. Even though I didn't get the seat, I enjoyed myself. A lot of people came by to wish me luck and one of the players on the table told me he started playing poker because of my journal. I responded, "I hope you are winning!" If somebody is going to start playing poker because of my site, I don't want them to lose their ass.

I played in a couple more double shootouts and bombed in them. I am so close to giving up on these things. I think it might be a better idea for me to play the $600 weekly tournament instead.

October 19
I played in the Omaha game again last night and won a little money, but not even close to what I won the night before. The game is great and I am going to continue playing in it whenever I have the time.

I also played in a $100 multi-table No Limit tournament which is something I haven't done in awhile. I finished in 8th place and won $592. I don't think I have been playing my best No Limit game for awhile. I am not sure how many successful poker players can play a variety of games successfully at one time, but I have a hard time with it. I know I play a great game of Omaha and my No Limit game is good, but I usually find that when I am playing extremely well in one, the other falls by the wayside. I was pleased that I still managed to pull off a final table finish in No Limit considering the circumstances.

October 17
I played in a few double shootouts on PokerStars and had no luck. On one of them, I got heads up on the first table, but couldn't pull off the win. I was more disappointed in this loss than I have been with any other because I can't remember losing a heads up match in the shootouts. I have been knocked out first in a tournament or I have made it to the last three players, but when I manage to get heads up (on the shootouts), I usually pull off the win. I might try and win my seat later this week, but I am not sure. I played some $30-60 Omaha Hi Low and it made me think that I am wasting my time in the double shootouts because I could probably win my buy-in for the Caribbean Adventure by playing live action.

I played Omaha for about two hours and I made a killing. I can't go into every hand that I played, but I want to share one (the biggest one). I limped in first position with KK23. I am not a big fan of 23, but I love KK. Four other players saw the flop. The flop was AK5 rainbow. The two blinds checked, I bet and it ended up being three bet with four of us seeing the turn. The turn was a six. The small blind checked, the big blind bet, I raised, the next player got disconnected and the betting eventually was capped. I was praying that a low card did not come. There were a lot of possibilities out there (the board was AK56) and I just "knew" that a low card would give somebody a wheel. The river was the dreaded 2. The first player checked, I called, the disconnected player was treated as "all-in" and the small blind called. I ended up scooping the pot with my set of kings and a "live" three low. I collected $1407 from that hand. I will probably be playing a lot more Omaha in the coming weeks.

October 12
I went to the studio for voice-over work and I am happy that I am finally getting the hang of things. Bart and I were "one take wonders" for the most part which meant that we were in and out of the studio in a flash.

Mark came into town today and he decided to make an appearance on Live at the Bike. The game was a restricted $5,000 No Limit Holdem game with $25-50 blinds. It was an absolute pleasure to sit and watch him play. The great part about it was I got to ask him about every hand he played. He arrived at the show late and only played the last 45 minutes. He played approximately 8 hands and won 7 of them. Since, my day on the table was boring, I figured it would be great for me to share his thought process on a few of the hands. The first hand he played was 53 of hearts and he picked up the limpers money when he put in a sizeable raise. I knew that the viewers were going to be in for a treat. Many people have seen Mark on ESPN or the WPT, but they don't have the pleasure of seeing all the hands in a session. Bart asked me if Mark played No Limit ring games on a regular basis. He wondered if was just a No Limit tournament player. I told him that Mark plays No Limit Holdem ring games, but I wasn't sure if he played them often. After we talked about Mark and the live action games he plays, the following hand took place. Mark raised with AK, another player (I think he was the button) reraised with pocket tens. Mark put in a huge raise. Bart said that the raise was a tournament move. I thought differently. I figured Mark put in the big raise because his opponent looked like he was a fairly new player and the money was going to mean something to him. Mark knew that it was very unlikely he was going to get called in that spot and if he did, he wouldn't be in a bad position unless he was up against aces. The player eventually folded his tens face up and it confirmed to me that he wasn't an experienced player. I got the impression that he wanted to show Mark that he was capable of making big laydowns. Mark confirmed that my analysis was correct. He said the guy looked very nervous about playing a huge pot and if he (Mark) senses any weakness at all, he is going to sniff it out and take advantage of it.

On another hand, Mark took QT against JT. The flop was QJT. It was checked to Mark and he put out a pot size bet and his opponent called. The turn was a deuce. After the player checked, Mark checked behind him. Bart and I were surprised at the check because of the coordinated board. First, Mark's hand was vulnerable and second, the river could come a card that would kill his action. I don't remember what the river card was, but it was a blank. The player bet $800 and Mark put in a $1200 raise. The player thought about it for awhile and then called. I really think Mark won the maximum amount possible on that hand. I asked Mark about the check and he said that he did it because he knew he had the best hand. He was inducing a bet on the river from his opponent and if a K or a 9 fell, he would have been prepared to lay his hand down. He said that he knew his opponent didn't have AK because he only limped and then called a raise before the flop. He ruled out K9 and T9 based on what he knew about the player. He thought it was likely that the player had one pair with a straight draw or two pair. The only hand he couldn't beat was QJ. When Mark raised in position on the river, he was fully prepared to call an all-in bet from his opponent based on the situation. He said that most good players would only call on the river because of the risk of being raised, but he wasn't going to leave any money that was there for the taking. He figured his raise was the perfect raise because it left his opponent with $2,000 and he thought the player would feel comfortable enough with that amount. He thought if he raised a little more and only left his opponent with $1,000 after the call, his opponent might fold.

One of the best things about poker is that a person never knows everything. We learn on a daily basis. The great thing about tonight is that I didn't make some stupid mistake in a game to learn a lesson. I just sat back and took it all in.

October 11
I went into work today and was asked to play a mixed game. Some customers wanted to play $10-20 H.O.R.S.E. Before I knew it, the game changed to Omaha, 2-7, 8 or Better, Badugi, and Razz. I had a great time, but lost $300 in the process. I really have to give credit to the big guys for playing games like these on a regular basis (and playing them well).

Overall, I think I played well, but I know there is a lot for me to learn in a few of these games. Eight or better was probably the most difficult for me, but Deuce to Seven was where I lost most of my money. I had 86542 dealt to me and stood pat on all three betting rounds. I played it aggressive, but it didn't stop the player from drawing to beat me. The televised Razz event in the 2004 WSOP was the best. A lot of the players talked about Razz being a stupid game. I never played it before I watched the event and I laughed at how tortured the players looked while playing it. I found the game to be enjoyable and I might try it more often.

Live at the Bike was pretty entertaining. Bart and I got into our usual "arguments" and one viewer actually said I was clueless. A person can say I am old, ugly, etc, but when they say I don't know what I am talking (when I do), I get worked up. Tonight it didn't bother me. One guy actually told the guy off and said "I will lay 10 to 1 that she would kick your ass at the table and that she makes more money playing cards than you'll ever see." He is now my favorite viewer. :)

October 10
I don't know what the deal is, but I can not seem to win one of the double shootouts. I usually breeze through the first table and then I can't get the ball rolling on the second table. Today, I played in one and I finished in fourth place. I won $65, so I took a loss of $110 for the tournament. I hope things turn around soon.

October 8
I played in another PokerStars double shootout, but I didn't make it past my first table. It seemed that one particular player would come over the top of me every time I made a raise, so after the third time, I decided to make a stand. I raised with AQ, he reraised me (about three times the size of my bet), and I moved all-in. He called with his pocket kings and I was toast. Hopefully things will go better tomorrow and maybe I will get that seat.

October 7
I played in the Bicycle Casino Big Poker Oktober Omaha event today and it was my worst showing ever. I was the first person eliminated when I couldn't make a hand to save my life. As I was leaving the tournament area, at least four people said, "wow, you are out?" "You must have had some serious bad beats." Those comments made me feel a little better for some reason. In all honesty, I really didn't have many beats. I just couldn't make anything work. One example was when I raised in first position with AA23 double suited in clubs and got four callers. The flop was T87 with two clubs. I bet, and was called in a few spots. The turn was an eight and we all checked. The river was a ten of clubs. One player in late position bet and I called because of the double paired board. I thought my flush might be good (not to mention the fact that the pot was huge), but the bettor showed T8 for a full house.

Steve was still in the tournament (actually everybody was still in the tournament) when I was eliminated, so I decided to play in a No Limit Satellite. I picked up the first pot I played, but on the hand following, I got killed. One player called the $15 blind, I raised to $50 in second position, and four players called, including the original limper. The flop was 8 high with two hearts. I looked at my kings and saw that I did not have the king of hearts. After it was checked to me, I bet my stack and was called by one player. He held the T8 of hearts and he caught an eight on the turn. I waited about a round before I threw in the last of my chips with pocket queens. I was called in four spots again and was relieved when the flop was queen high. One player bet, another moved in and the rest of the players folded including the bettor. I turned up my set and he said, "it's no good." He showed his jack high flush draw and ended up making a runner runner straight. A player on another table asked me if I wanted to play in another satellite and I joked, "Hell no! I can't take anymore of this." I went home and decided to get some work done.

I started working on rewriting a few profiles and I couldn't help myself. I just had to check on PokerStars and see if they had a double shootout going. Registration just started on one, so I decided to sign up. I made it through the first table easy enough, but I couldn't catch a break on my second one. I finished in 7th place and received nothing for my efforts. I will probably play in another one tomorrow night.

October 6
PokerStars is now running double shootouts for their WPT Caribbean tournament. I played in a couple of them today, but no luck as of yet. I bombed in the first tournament and the second one, I managed to get heads up on the first table, but couldn't seal the deal. I thought I had a good read on my opponent, but he threw me a curve ball on the final hand. The flop was 753 with two hearts and I had 65. I bet, he moved in and I thought he had a draw because of the large overbet. I thought my pair was good and I made the call. He showed Q7 and I didn't improve. I will be playing in a few of these tournaments over the next couple weeks and I'll make sure to write about my adventures. Tomorrow night is the Omaha event at The Bike.

October 4
I played some Omaha today and made a little money. I played in smaller limit games than I have been lately, but the games were good and it was a nice change of pace. I can't believe that I am surprised by what anybody does anymore. Just when I think I have seen it all, somebody hits me with a doozy. Twice, I caught myself thinking, "What in the hell are they doing?" and then I remind myself to sit back and let them try and give me their chips.

The same thing happened on the $100 No Limit tournament on PokerStars tonight. I doubled up early on in the tournament when one player bluffed off all of his chips. I raised the $30 blind to $90 with pocket sixes and was called in two spots. The flop was 432. The first player bet out, I raised to $270, the next player called and the original bettor folded. The turn was a ten and I was confident that I still had the best hand. My opponent bet $450 and I instantly called. The river was a king. I called his $415 all-in bet and he showed 95. That hand started me on a run like no other. The next big hand I won was only two hands later. I called a small raise with KT on the button and flopped top pair (T72). My opponent bet out, I raised a little more than double his bet and he reraised me. His raise was small relative to the pot, so I decided to make the call and see what the turn brought. The turn was a king giving me two pair. I moved in for $2140 more and he called with pocket aces. My hand held up and my stack was up to $6905 (and we were only in the second level). I won another nice pot later when I flopped a set of nines and got pair off on every street with my opponent holding a pair of kings with a seven kicker. By the time we took our break, I had over $11,000 in chips and was the chip leader.

As soon as I came back from break, things went bad. As quickly as I won the chips in the first hour, I lost them in the second. The first hand, I took pocket queens against AK and lost, the second I took KQ against pocket sixes and lost, the third I took AQ against KQ and lost and the fourth hand I raised with pocket aces and everybody folded. Needless to say, things weren't going my way. A short time later, I called an all-in bet by a player who kept moving in on my blind. I showed AK and he showed 74 of diamonds. The flop was KK5 with two diamonds and the turn brought another diamond giving him a flush. I didn't improve and my stack took another hit. I struggled along for awhile, but finished in 43rd place. It was probably one of the strangest tournaments I have played in awhile.

I am doing some voice over work tomorrow for the Live at the Bike/L.A. Poker Scene show. The game we had tonight was great and will probably be one of the episodes picked up by the L.A. Poker Scene. James Woods played the duration of the show which in itself makes good television. If you add the fact that there were some great hands, it was one of the more memorable telecasts.

October 2
The Omaha tournament at the Bike on Friday went well, but not well enough. I finished in 27th place which paid "zero". There were 157 players and 18 spots were paid.

There were two big hands that got me some chips in the middle of the tournament, but I couldn't catch a break toward the end. The first big hand, I held AQQT in a five way raised pot. The flop was Q65. I knew I had the best hand at that moment, but there were so many draws that I wasn't in "love" with my hand. The pot eventually ended up being three bet with all five players staying in. The turn was a nine of hearts and I had a queen high flush draw. Only one player dropped out on the turn and I sat there whispering to the dealer "pair the board". She put up the last queen giving me quads!! I bet out and all three players folded. I told the table, "I wanted one caller so I could show my hand." Another player said, "You made quads?" and I flipped up my cards. It is so hard to resist showing four of a kind because it is such a rare occurrence.

The other hand that gave me some chips was AAQ4. I was in the small blind and there were two limpers. I raised, the big blind called, and the two limpers called. The flop was KK5. The blinds checked, the next player bet and I was the only caller. I planned on calling him all the way down because there was a good chance my aces were good. The turn was a blank and the river was an ace. I wondered how four people could see a flop and an ace still managed to fall on the board.

The whole tournament was a great experience and I had a lot of fun because I saw a few players I haven't seen in awhile. I was not bummed out about getting knocked out so close to the money because I was really happy with my play and I was a LONG way from winning the event. I didn't go to the tournament to finish in the money. It was all or nothing on this particular night.

I played two big tournaments today on PokerStars. I finally had a chance to play the $215 No Limit event and I barely made it into the money. I finished 294th place and won $325 because there were 3259 entries. I didn't do so hot in the Omaha tourney later on, but I did manage to outlast Bart.