Poker: Bad Beats, Scores, Stories, Hand Questions, Etc

The Sandbox Games
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Looking at tourneys in Vegas when I’m there in a month or so. But I really prefer being able to play ring tables so I can get up and leave whenever I want as opposed to sticking around for hours hoping to at least double-up, or several hours more hoping to take multiples home. One at The Venetian $400. I’d play Friday, busy Sat and Sun (Day 1B and Day 1C), but second (final) day is Monday. Not much important info (blinds, structure) about it yet. I’ll keep thinking about it, as it is open to enter for a few hours. Not enough donkeys anymore. And it bugs the shit out of me when someone thinks for too long about their three options. I mean, weren’t you thinking about any of this before it got to you? The others before you took their time. That was your time to think, too.

While heads-up post-flop makes for easier math, has anyone thought of “I have three opponents; what is the P(at least one of them has a better hand that I)? What is P(someone hit the flop given I didn’t)?” I mean the answer is “A lot higher than heads-up,” I’m wondering, just how much higher?

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Made it through a field of 980 to cash in the AZ state poker championship. 204K stack, average is 500K. I’ll be back Monday to see where I land. 4 day 1s, this was the third.

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Great work!
What will the blinds be at?

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Lowest of the 4 day 1s, and a full hour level. Days 1-3 all finished in the 8K/16K with 16K in ante, so unless today finishes at the 6K/12K/12K level. we will be at that.

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Also, a little poker story…

Me (back in April): “I might enter a poker tournament”
Woman I am dating: “my friend Jackie, her brother plays poker”
Me: “Oh, what’s his name ?”
Woman I am dating: “I know it’s Dan, not sure of the last name”
about a month later…topic comes up again
Me: “Did you ask her what his last name is ?”
Woman I am dating: “No, I need to do that”
This tournament comes up a topic…
Me: “Did you ask her what his last name is ?”
Woman I am dating sends her a text
Woman I am dating: “His last name is Smith”

I check Hendon Mob…

Me: “Yeah, I am nowhere near that good.”

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277

Went to Vegas for the first time in way too long. For a fantasy football draft, so poker was a side project.

A few of us played one tournament together. Typical cheap “turbo” at a smaller casino. Planet Hollywood. I’m not upset at all, it is what it is, but I had my cards on the table 5 times. I was ahead every time we put them on the table. I only won once. Rebought twice. Eventually lost to my buddy, who went on to take second. The rake was insane. 33% out of everything, including rebuys. Not published anywhere (e.g., not listed as $50+$25). $50+$25 would be insane already. And if rebuys were fully into the prize pool, maybe that could be okay. But as it was, if our friend would have taken first place, we would have lost money as a group! He ended up making out okay because he never rebought and 2nd was like $200 or $250 or something.

The five hands:
AJ vs QT post flop all low, rivered a T → rebuy
KK vs J7 preflop, runner runner straight → rebuy
AA vs KQ vs 77 held up and gave me big stack at the table
AT vs Q9 with T85 flop, rivered Q → lost 30% of stack
QTs vs 75h vs JcTh on flop of Jh9h8c, turn heart → out

Bellagio poker room was as empty as I’ve ever seen it. But they were running a game they called PLO Big Board. Ante $5. Everyone gets 5 cards, they then deal out a double flop, before the first round of betting. Ultimately there will be two full boards and the top hand from each board will split the pot.

The game played fairly tight, because people would pot the flop for $35-$40 and most if not all would fold. I liked it because you really needed to be playing for a two way hand that hit or had draws on both pots. Had a lot of fun with it, came out a little head.

Got crushed in blackjack and craps. But fun weekend. I’m back again in a few weeks for a work meeting.

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Turbo is tough if no one is scared of losing. Becomes a luckfest, and that is a lot of shit luck for you in a single tournament.
Going the week of first games for a draft, get drunk, get up, watch games and get drunk, leave Monday.

I generally look at the rake and the structure before buying in. Vegas cash games have an excellent rake relative to LA poker rooms (% with a cap vs a fixed amount post-flop), so looking forward to that. Probably go to Venetian for the free parking after 3 hours, assuming I make it that far. Nice room (though it is now in a new location from last time I went), plenty of mediocre players.
UCLA is in town that weekend and one of the team owners wanted to push the draft back to 9PM. Uh, no, draft takes 3 or 4 hours, though that tOSU-Texas game would be nice to watch.
Need to check CP’s odds of winning the UECL.

I’ll be there 5th- 9th.

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Yeah, I knew exactly what I was getting into and told my friends as much, but they really wanted to play in a tournament. These small ones at random casinos are all the same. Essentially a turbo. Very high rake. You get to play poker for a few rounds and then the blinds are so high it’s a shovefest.

Even with all that, I felt like I got to play some good poker and had my chances to use my advantage to put myself in position to win the tournament. I’m glad my buddy cashed. Just did find it a little funny / rough that I was the favorite every time I tabled my cards.

Oh, one other funny / interesting hand. I had something like AKo and made a standard preflop raise. One caller. Younger guy, acts like he knows what he’s doing. You know the type. Flop comes all low, like 8 6 3 all hearts. I don’t have a heart. I continuation bet a standard amount, let’s say it was 400. He throws a 1000 chip on the table. The dealer informs him that he just called. He gets super pissed. His friend at the table explains to him that the dealer actually explained that rule before the tourney started (and before he sat down). And of course, we all know that is always the rule. So he’s pissed. They deal the turn, blank, I check, he emphatically says all-in. Huge overbet. Like 20000 or something.

Summary

I fold. Seems pretty clear to me that he is strong, at least stronger than me. And at that bet size, it’s an easy fold for me.

Summary

He tables Q9o, no heart. Okay. I’m not sure exactly what to make of all this, but inside I’m just chuckling to myself. I don’t know. Congrats bud, you bluffed me. But at that bet size, the risk reward is not priced right. You can win almost every pot that way (in a vacuum) if you got all in for 20k when the pot is 1k. If this whole thing was an angle the whole time, I’m kind of impressed. He had everyone convinced. But I also just don’t think he’s that smart. But maybe he is. Whether it was or it wasn’t, I’m just not sure what he gains by then showing the bluff? Maybe he’s so smart that he knows he can use that later? I just didn’t see anything else in his play that would corroborate that level of strategy. He was a standard youngish guy who “knows how to play poker”. Btw, he was one of the people that beat me in one of the hands above. And… he went on to win the tournament. :expressionless:

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I’m there 9/16-9/19.

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Just another (albeit small) example that proves to me karma is certainly not a thing in this world.

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282

At Horseshoe, nee Original. MGM, then Bally’s.

Up $70 at a 1/3 table.

Now even.

No more table talk

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Ended up $105.
Rollercoaster night.
Got KK four times, lost the first one to AA, of course.
Down $500 at one point.
Got paid off set over set.
Cracked AA with 88 and an 877 flop. Guy keeps betting his AA and i let him. Eventually goes all in and i call, and i win $200.
I had QQ, raise to $10, raiser says let’s make this interesting and makes it 40. TTx on the board and the raiser keeps betting out so I fold, was called by someone else. Dude had AA. Guy across from me wonders how I could fold QQ with that board. I thought it was a pretty obvious tell. The wondering guy said he’s played in some WSOP smaller buy-ins, had a WSOP shirt on.

When i first sit down, old guy in a cult shirt (Chiefs) is watching the game, folding 90% cuz Fuh-baw. So he’s only playing top 10. Easy decision to get out when he raises. Has a spread bet for the second half that he and the player next to him made. They won their bet.

On the other end of the table, some guy keeps greeting family and friends while he’s in a hand.

Later, this other guy loses a good $300 or so when he called a turned nut flush (should have raised all-in) only to get rivered by a boat. So steamed that the next hand he crumples up the cards. And he’s gone, courtesy of the floor. Another guy gets up and leaves, says that guy is his brother.

So, lots of characters. I don’t let them bother me.

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Ended up +$100+ for each of three sessions. Sunday session I’m about even, the guy on my left had won the high hand with a straight-flush early in the half-hour (unlikely to get beat), had to wait that half-hour PLUS however long it took for them to get around to him. His buddy is on my right, they want to go and check in to the hotel. Left guy has about $100 left. I’ve got Kc2c and I call a raise as does he. 7c2sQc. I check, and he goes all in. I think for a second or so, I have 14 outs with nine clubs, two 2s, three kings, so I call. He shows K7, so I’m down to 11 outs, but I stick a club on the river. Yay me.

On Saturday, old chinese lady playing old chinese lady style (which I made up on the spot). She’s got 500 or so, I’ve got less, but I’m a little behind in the session. I see AJ suited, so I raise. She is three to my left and she calls. Flop is KQX, I check she bets $20. I call. X on the turn. She bets $20 and I call. 10 on the river, no flush possible so nut for me. She bets $50. So I Hollywood it as best as I can, finally raise another $100 (not sure what she would call). She calls with has KJ. She leaves soon afterward.

I have to leave to get to my live Draft, but someone wanted to know if there was a Sports Book where we could watch all the games. Horseshoe doesn’t have one. I walk the 15-20 minutes over to the Caesar’s Book, which is huge and packed at that moment. I ask about Sunday, they said it’s all booked up but we (12 of us) can stand around and wait for people to leave. F*** that.
In case we went there, I wanted to check the Caesar’s Poker Room, which I recalled was around the corner (shares a wall) from the Sports Book, but it was gone. It was a huge room with a separate 30 or so tables for Tournaments and another 30 for cash. I asked someone where it weas, and it turns out to be in a tiny room in the shopping area Maybe 15 tables at most. I tell the host, “This is pretty small.” He says they’re building out a new room somewhere.
So I walk back to Tuscany (nice place, big suites). We ended up watching games on Sunday at the “365 Pub” at Tuscany, which was suitable for the group (not me). Nice stouts, but I waited 40 minutes for the server to ask me what I wanted. I don’t ask for much at a restaurant, except some service. So I went up to the bar and bought a stout instead. After I finished it, I left to play poker.
I paid for the trip with my poker winnings. Oh, I put $5 into a “Deuces Wild” VP machine and it was gone in 5 minutes, and it was not all that fun.

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285

Bump. At HP Casino before the Yes concert.
Made a lot of my money on C-bets.

3/5 table
In the BB with 83. Was a raise to 20, four callers and I close the action.
389 board.
I check. Initial raiser bets 25. Everyone else folds so i bump it to 75. He thinks very long and folds. I show it, so they know what I’m like (ATC to close the action, why not.)

Near the final hand. I see Ad5d. A raise of 15 to me so i call. Three of us see Board is 367 one diamond. I check, initial bettor bets 25. I stay in for implied odds.
Jd on the turn, so i check again. Villain bets 75. I call pretty quickly with 12 outs. River is a 4 for the straight. I should have led out, but i expected him to bet big so i could reraise all in. But he checks. I show him my 5. He shows AA.

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Heading to Seattle area soon. Was looking at internet info: saw that one place takes $8 for a rake ($5 for house, $3 for best hands and bad beats and such).
My aunt wants me to take her to Muckleshoot. Last time I was there (9 years ago), I played a tournament but busted out. Now, just like the Injun casinos 'round here, they have closed their poker room. Was once pretty big, at 30+ tables. Accountants, I’m guessing, looking at silos and not holistically, decided that the poker room, ignoring the other gamblers that come with them, see that the return is too low. So, now I have to break it to her that I’d rather not go. I could lose my money at other table games, I guess. Her 90th birthday and all. I could play slots really, really slow, so I lose $50 over two hours instead of 20 minutes.

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Yeah, there is no more poker at Tribal Casinos. Only in the small, non-tribals. Maverick gaming owns most of the poker rooms in the area. I’ve only played tournaments, so I can’t really speak to the cash game.

Muckleshoot is a pretty nice casino, though, to be fair.

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It’s nice enough. Large non-smoking area.
Played some blackjack. Won most by playing the Stiff Beat bet:

  1. place a bet.
  2. If you don’t get a hard 12-16, you lose.
  3. Else, if you have 12-16 AND win the hand, you get 5-1 on that bet
  4. Also, if you have 66, 77 or 88, automatic payout of 10-1 on that bet.

Was up 100, but ended up +50
Put 20 in a vid poker machine. Lost every single hand. 5 minutes.

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decided to go play at the local casino on Friday night, 1/2 NLHE

bought in for $275

through two rounds, I had called the $5 open with 44 in BB once, folded everything else. (Twice in 3 hands I folded a 7, when 3-4-5-6 ended up on the board.)

Have AA on button, after a couple of limpers, I raise to $15, get 5 callers.

Flop is 4-4-T, checks to me, bet $25, one call from middle position.

Turn is a K, checks to me, bet $50, he raises to $100. What’s he got, a king he played trappy? No way he has a 4, what 4 would he have limp-called pre-flop after a bet and several other callers? No idea of how he plays, I haven’t ever seen him before and I’ve been away from the live tables for months. Most likely he has either a T or JQ for a straight draw or maybe he does have AK and he wants to keep my (in his opinion) QQ/JJ/JT/T9 in for another street. I figure I’ve got the best hand, so I go all in.

He thinks for about 30 seconds, the longer he waits the more I’m convinced he has a K, eventually says, “Ah, darn, I gotta see it,” puts in the call and turns over 2h4h for a set. River no good.

Ugh. I just stared, shocked. Couldn’t say anything. Just stood up and walked right out of the casino.

At least I wasn’t having a good time before that.

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290

It was sooted! :roll_eyes:

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I look at this, preflop postbet, as anyone could have anything.
AA at this moment is a plurality best hand with that many callers.
That is ten cards. Odds that someone has one of those two other fours when the flop hits? Exercise is left to the reader.
Odds go up (in my head) when someone check-raises or even just calls.

Was he the first caller or the last?
Last would explain his hand, due to pot odds and implied odds and closing the action.. For $15 into $75?

First would be risky, of getting squeezed or not enough callers.