Tulalip, Reno, Phoenix

Once I played a tournament and was down to a single chip.  I came all the way back to go out on the bubble. -- Overheard at the table

It's been quite a while since I posted, but I have been playing quite a bit of poker.

A few weeks ago, some buds and I went up to Tulalip on a Saturday.  I played poker while they shopped, drank, and played slots.  There was an 11am tournament but the structure was really terrible (blinds doubling every level) so I was rather dispirited and didn't play well.  I still made it into the top 1/4 of the field but not the money.  The cash games were pretty juicy though.  Very loose.  One hand stands out in particular:

It was a $2/$5 no-limit table.  I was in the big blind.  Five players limped in (!), and I looked down to see pocket Aces.  I raised to $25 and everybody called (!).  I told you it was a loose game.  I really didn't like seeing so many players still in the hand.

The flop came King, Queen, Six rainbow.  Not a bad flop for pocket Aces when there's been no indication of pre-flop strength.  As first to bet, I put out $100.  The next two players folded; then the next one went all-in, for about $250 more (I had him covered).  Everybody else folded back to me, so it was heads-up.  I thought for a long, long time.  I even apologized to the table for taking so much time, but I couldn't figure out what my opponent had.  I had been watching him for awhile and didn't really think he was that good of a player, but even donkeys can flop monsters.

So what did he have?  A flopped set fit the flop bet, but why would somebody limp with pocket Kings or pocket Queens?  And would somebody call a big pre-flop raise with pocket sixes?  (I wouldn't.)

Finally, I said, "Did you flop two pair?"  The only hand I could think of was King/Queen.  I couldn't see somebody re-raising all-in with Ace/Queen or even Ace/King, although I suppose it's possible.

I finally folded, tossing my Aces face-up onto the table.  (I almost never fold face-up.)  After this, he showed his hand as well -- King/Queen, for a flopped two pair.  I was really behind!  Everybody at the table was blown away with the fact that I could both call his hand and fold two Aces, but when I spent some time thinking about it, it wasn't that hard of a move.  I would have been in a lot worse shape if he had smooth-called, then shoved on either the turn or river.  Maybe he was worried I had a straight draw.  But I probably would have lost a lot more money.

A similar hand happened the following week in Reno, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I decided to spend a few days in Reno, at the World Poker Challenge in the Grand Sierra (the former Reno Hilton).  They have a $5000 event that used to be part of the World Poker Tour.  They still hold the event, but it's no longer televised.  But I decided to play some of the prelim events.

Get this -- $30/night got me a deluxe Suite room!  I guess the hotel industry is truly hurting.

I did play one of the tournaments, and made it to the final three tables, but they only paid the final nine so once again, I got frozen out.  But I did play a really good hand early on.

I had pocket Jacks in late position and raised after two limpers.  They both called.  The flop was Ten/Nine/Eight, so I had an overpair and a sweet eight-card straight draw.  It was checked to me, and I put out a decent bet.  I was happy just to buy the pot there, but if I got called that was okay too.  Well, the next player (a scary-good older lady) check-raised me an amount that would put me all-in.  The third player folded, and it was back to me.  Once again, I thought for quite a while, and once again I made a not-too-hard fold face-up.  Then she showed her hand -- Queen/Jack, for a flopped nut straight.  I was practically drawing dead.  It was, I must admit, an excellent play.

Later at the same table, I got dealt pocket Kings and raised big pre-flop.  I got a call from the same lady.  The flop came Ace/King/Ace, so I flopped a full house, but not the nuts.  I could totally see from her reaction that she was thrilled with her hand, and this bothered me.  I put her on one of three hands; two of which beat me:  (1) Pocket Aces, for flopped quads; (2) Ace/King, for a flopped nut full-house; or (3) Ace/X, for flopped trips.  I slowed down and let her take the lead in the betting.  But of course there was no avoiding it; by the turn all the chips were in the middle.  The turn was a Ten, and I called her all-in.  She showed Ace/Jack, so I had her crushed.  That is, until the river came -- another Ten, so her Aces full beat my Kings full.  Ugh.  What a bad beat.  All I can say is that I still had plenty of chips left ... and later, I actually knocked her out of the tournament.

While I was there at the Grand Sierra, Jennifer Harman held a charity tournament to raise money for the Kidney Foundation (she is a kidney disease survivor).  I thought about playing it, but decided against it because the structure was so awful and the cash games so lucrative.  But a whole lot of pros came to town to play, including Todd Brunson, Andy Bloch, Jeff Madsen, Howard Lederer, and a bunch more that I've forgotten.  Kathy Liebert was the last pro to show up to play, and also the last one to be knocked out.  I thought that was impressive.  Layne Flack was "scheduled to appear", as the saying goes, but was a no-show.  Maybe he couldn't make bail.

While I was in Reno, I went downtown to take a look around, and it was just as dreary as I remember it.  There was of course almost no poker action going on -- everybody was out at the Grand Sierra.  I also stopped by the Atlantis and the Peppermill, two larger resorts south of downtown.  I played some limit at the Atlantis.

I got back from Reno just in time to head to Phoenix for a work function.  In between teaching classes and meeting customers, I attended the "Fourth Annual InterSystems Developers Conference Poker Tournament" (although it was my first year playing).  It was a $20 buy-in; 43 players entered, and your favorite blogger ended up winning.  The cash prize for first was $265, but more importantly the winner received a really awesome bracelet!  I was disappointed when I saw it though; I was hoping for something really tacky but this one is quite elegant.  It has "DEVCON 2009 Poker Champion" engraved on it.  It almost looks like a medic-alert bracelet; I showed it to a friend and he said that either I had won the poker tournament or I have an allergy to penicillin.

I wish I could share with you some defining hand from the tournament, but I really don't have any.  The structure was short levels and rapidly escalating blinds; although I generally don't like such a structure (see the above Tulalip/Kidney Foundation tournaments), of all the players there I think I knew the best way to exploit it.  The key for me was to play just a little bit looser than usual (but still tight); release post-flop immediately if you don't hit paydirt; and whatever you do, don't bluff.  What's the opposite of bluff?  Whenever I got lucky and flopped two pair, I'd just bet the most and somebody would always call with top pair or middle pair.  Frankly, I got hit by the deck.  Anybody could have won with the hands I got dealt.

Anyhow, that's what I've been up to this past month or so.  I still have the Pendleton Poker Round-Up circled on my calendar; and of course you can count on me playing some of the WSOP events (while wearing my DevCon bracelet, I promise!).