Things continue at their tepid pace in Ugarte’s poker world. I continue to consistently cash in the A.M. games (made easier since asphnxma is claiming that he needs to sleep on Sunday nights), I have been cashing in my occassional forays into the cheapie SNGs online (when I play at Zinester’s apartment) and I had a profitable night at the Blue Parrot despite getting (to use Pauly’s new “alas") kicked in the junk by razz.
I’ve been frustrated by my own poker writing because it feels like too much recap, not enough ... um ... writing. I hope to slowly edge the scales toward the writing side and away from hand histories, but the crutch is too easy. So there may still be too much hand history in the recap of my last few sessions: two AM tournaments straddling a razz night (if you haven’t already, check out the razz night recaps from Pauly and Blossom).
Before I get to the recapping, I have to throw out a challenge to the New York pokerati. If you think you can read people, if you think you are a master strategist, then you have to test your skills at the Atlantic Yards Smackdown at Freddy’s Backroom on May 26th. It is a Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament, as made famous by Phil Gordon and the Tiltboys.
A.M. tournament, 4/17/05
I waited too long to write this recap. This was the tournament when I started playing a more aggressive brand of poker to good results. I pushed around a couple of tight weakies and maximized the value of some made hands. When we got down to three players, the chips were spread around the table fairly evenly. Charlie Todd was the chip leader, but Moug and I were close behind and within a small blind of each other. Three-way play didn’t last very long. We passed the blinds back and forth for a little while, and then it all ended in the space of three hands.
Poker Glossary interlude
Moug: (v) müj To toss one’s hand into the muck before the dealer has finished distributing the cards, named for A.M. regular Nick Mougis. It is traditional to say “moug” (rhymes, tragically, with ‘stooge’) as you muck your hand.
Hand 1: Moug made a modest raise. I came over the top of Mougis with a small pair. He called with a hand I don’t recall, but he had overcards and paired one of them. I had him chipped by T100. Moug was now the big stack by a fair amount and I was still alive.
Hand 2: The blinds were at 400/800/50, and I was on the button. I had only 50 behind my ante, so I called without looking. Moug raised 1600. Charlie thought about it for a long time - incorrectly thinking that Moug had made a minimum raise to 1600. He asked what would happen if Moug scooped (Charlie in 2d) or if I won the hand and Moug had the second best hand (I survive of course, so Charlie goes out in 3d.) He went into the tank for a long time. When he came out, he pushed. Moug called immediately. Charlie turned over KTo; Moug A♦9♦. I said that I wanted to wait to look at my cards. Charlie was having none of that bullshit, since he was all-in also, so I flipped over ... Q♦5♦.
Ugarte: You have my diamonds.
Moug Fuck that! You have my diamonds!
The flop was Q-x-x, putting me in the lead. The turn was a 5 and the river an A. Shit. Burned on the river and bumped to third pl… wait a second. The dealer noticed what I did not: the 5 on the turn gave me two pair and the hand. Charlie started beating himself up for fighting Moug before I busted. Probably the correct time for self-examination. Anyway, after the hand, I had 300 and Moug had 19,700. Not surprisingly, it ended one hand later.
The only lesson I learned came in the post-tournament ring game. And I learned it from one of the tight-weakies. I limped in with A7s in UTG+1 and see the flop with three other players, including both bliinds. The flop comes down A-Q-4. Corey, the aforementioned tight-weakie in the big blind bets $1.50. I bump him to $5. He thinks about it and calls. The turn is a 9. He checked and I pushed in my last $7.25 (figuring that my hand was (a) good and (b) Corey ALWAYS folds when you push back at him during a tournament. He thinks for a while and calls with A4o. The river is a blank and so is my stack. I thought that there was a good chance that he had two pair. It took him an awful long time to decide that the two pair was good. He said You are such a tight player, I was afraid that you had AQ. I took some solace in that, because it proved that at least one player doesn’t understand my game at all. Seriously: what are the odds that I would have limped AQ?
I finished the night +$20 from the tournament and -$20 from the ring. Thank god there are no time charges at A.M.
Razz night at the Blue Parrot, 4/25/05
What can I say that hasn’t already been said? I can tell you that I have never seen Pauly as pissed off as he was after he lost this hand (all dialog is reconstructed paraphrases):
Flop 8-x-x rainbow
Pauly: Bet [This may have been a raise of Ferrari’s bet. I’m sure he’ll let me know in the comments. -ed]
Ferrari: What do you have?
Pauly: I have a hand. Top pair, top kicker.
Ferrari: Call
Turn: 4 (much betting and raising)
River: x (more betting and raising)
Showdown
Pauly: I told you, TPTK.
Ferrari: Pocket fours. Set on the turn.
I don’t want to play armchair psychologist, but Pauly probably wouldn’t have been as pissed if (a) he hadn’t been bleeding money like a dotcom playing Razz and/or (b) Ferrari didn’t take such malicious delight in fucking him on what was a poor decision, poker-wise. I’m just saying.
As for me, I was just as bricky in Razz as everyone but newcomer Arthur, but I made my money back and a little more when the game switched to hold ‘em (+EV for me at the Parrot) and Omaha/8 (usually ++EV).
A.M. tournament, 5/2/05
I have been very successful of late at A.M., but usually because of my reasonably strong middle game. I am not very good at accumulating chips early and tend to sit back. I decided to play more aggressively up front, so that I could play with a real stack when the tables combined. The strategy would certainly be aided by catching some cards early, and that is just what happened.
PRESTO on the first hand. I limped from the button with four players (including the blinds). The flop was 7-7-5, giving me the bottom end of the full house. I raised to $5 on the flop and got called by the small blind. I bet another $10 on the turn after the small blind checked. I think the bet was a mistake for two reasons. First, the bet left me with only another $4.50 behind - it was effectively an all-in bet. Second, unless he hit a better boat on the flop or was slowplaying pocket 7s, I had the best hand. I should have been making a value bet and just calling any raise. As it turned out, my large bet convinced him to fold queens. That is exactly the kind of hand where I should get his stack. On the other hand, if I played it correctly, I know that he would have hit a queen on the river.
Another pocket pair on the second hand. I limped with 66 from the cutoff. The flop was 10-10-3. The table checked to me again, and I bet the pot. Everyone folded, and Michael said that he didn’t like “the new, aggressive Charles.” Damn straight.
I was building a pretty impressive stack, but it all went away in one hand. Right after pushing Pat Baer out of a hand that he played weakly (he checked middle pair, I bet the bottom pair strong), I called a small raise with A7 in the small blind. He checked a flop of 6-3-2 and I bet it. He pushed in response, and I badly misanalyzed the odds on the hand. I figured that I was getting 4:1 on my money, so I could call with two overcards. I know Pat’s game well enough that I should have been thinking “overpair.” But it was even worse: his overpair was 77. I could have saved myself $7.50. I have decided to pretend that it was worth calling, because a loose call might make Pat cautious about bluffing me. Shut up.
Anyway, this happened right before the tables combined. I counted my chips (fuck Kenny Rogers; it is terrible advice): T2000. Exactly what I started with. Figures.
Poker Glossary interlude
Smoug: (v) smüj To toss one’s hand into the muck before the chips from your opponent’s bet hit the table, named by Sporto, who apparently wasn’t connecting on many flops.
I reraised Pat Baer all-in with Ace-ten and got called by ... ace ten. I can’t complain too much, but c’mon Pat. Ace-ten isn’t really a calling hand for all of your chips. Pat got away with another one after reraising me all-in (I had him comfortably chipped) with AJ when I had AQ. The board paired twice, so our kickers didn’t play. Booo!
I hurt myself pretty badly when, with A7 I called Moug’s push from the short stack. He flipped over kings. Moug has been known to push with K or Q high when he has enough chips to make a move, but few enough that he really needs to steal blinds. Still, I probably should have gotten away from the hand. We were down to four people at this point, and I had to play off the short stack.
I certainly had my share of luck on the short stack. Carter was on my left with a mountain of chips. After posting the big blind, I didn’t have enough to call Carter’s raise from the big blind, so I went all in with 65o. I paired my 6. On the next hand I went all in again from the small blind. Carter basically had to call - particularly with two face cards. He wasn’t happy to see that this time I had pocket aces. So I doubled up again. Actually, with the antes and blinds, over the course of those two hands I probably increased my stack sixfold. Pat Baer - now the new short stack - was not happy. He busted out on the bubble pretty soon after.
I yo-yo’d for a while, went on a couple of double-up rushes, but eventually busted when I pushed with 44 and Moug’s KQo caught a queen on the flop. Who says Kournikova never wins? I still think it was very suspect for Moug to call with KQ. He said that because my AK had beaten his Presto earlier in the tournament, I shouldn’t complain. I disagree; I was showing down far more aces at the short table than pairs, and KQ is farther behind any ace than he is to an underpair. C’est la vie.
Even after busting me, Moug was behind Carter. A showdown a few hands later tilted Carter’s way and he walked away with the win. Well done, Carter.
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