Quest of a Closet Poker Player

OK, so grinding your bankroll back means playing what you can, this time four-tabling $0.25/0.50 NLHE and PLHE as those were the only games in town. What do you find there?

A mixture of horrendous players and solid players. I’ve found you have to respect players at these low stakes until they prove you shouldn’t. It is easy to go down this thought line: “I’m really good, I should be playing at higher stakes, I’m unfortunately having to grind away down here, and therefore I can outplay these guys.” Well, I can probably outplay these guys and beat these games with patience and focus.

Here’s a good example. trebla33 sat down and started chatting me up, so I was courteous and then just played. He chipped up through some horrible play that I can’t remember exactly, then came this hand.

PokerStars Game #9386175823: Hold’em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/04/12 - 16:02:42 (ET)
Table ‘Himalia V’ 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: csquard ($33.25 in chips)
Seat 2: vegasstar44 ($5.75 in chips)
Seat 3: mattthedrums ($66.40 in chips)
Seat 4: MissLillian ($23.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Mantaz ($50.20 in chips)
Seat 8: keval9 ($52.30 in chips)
Seat 9: trebla33 ($30.10 in chips)
MissLillian: posts small blind $0.25
Mantaz: posts big blind $0.50
Digger83: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to csquard [Ks Kc]
keval9: raises $1 to $1.50
trebla33: raises $1.50 to $3
csquard: raises $30.25 to $33.25 and is all-in
vegasstar44: folds
mattthedrums: folds
MissLillian: folds
Mantaz: folds
keval9: folds
trebla33: calls $27.10 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [7s 3h 7c]
*** TURN *** [7s 3h 7c] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [7s 3h 7c Ad] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
trebla33: shows [7h Ah] (a full house, Sevens full of Aces)
csquard: mucks hand
trebla33 collected $59.45 from pot
keval9 said, “wow”
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $62.45 | Rake $3
Board [7s 3h 7c Ad 8h]
Seat 1: csquard mucked [Ks Kc]
Seat 2: vegasstar44 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: mattthedrums (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: MissLillian (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: Mantaz (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: keval9 folded before Flop
Seat 9: trebla33 showed [7h Ah] and won ($59.45) with a full house, Sevens full of Aces

So when you see a play like this, what do you do? I re-buy and focus, at least this time I did (exclude fuel and his J8o hand for the time being). This was a guy who was loose and also wanted to make a tough call, so I looked for the right spot. Voila, out of thin air, the right spot appeared, after I had chipped up and he had gotten some more chippies as well.

PokerStars Game #9386911071: Hold’em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/04/12 - 16:49:39 (ET)
Table ‘Himalia V’ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: csquard ($93.05 in chips)
Seat 2: Vipercheers ($23.05 in chips)
Seat 3: Zeb Ryden ($47.50 in chips)
Seat 4: DMG798 ($29.25 in chips)
Seat 5: steve517 ($27.45 in chips)
Seat 6: bobross88 ($26.70 in chips)
Seat 7: Mirigom ($8.25 in chips)
Seat 8: D3LFY ($25.35 in chips)
Seat 9: trebla33 ($83.75 in chips)
bobross88: posts small blind $0.25
Mirigom: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to csquard [9c 9h]
D3LFY: folds
trebla33: raises $1 to $1.50
csquard: calls $1.50
Vipercheers: folds
Zeb Ryden: folds
DMG798: folds
steve517: folds
bobross88: calls $1.25
Mirigom: folds
*** FLOP *** [8h Qc 2c]
bobross88: checks
trebla33: checks
csquard: bets $3
bobross88: folds
trebla33: calls $3
*** TURN *** [8h Qc 2c] [Ah]
trebla33: checks
csquard: checks
*** RIVER *** [8h Qc 2c Ah] [9d]
trebla33: bets $5
Vipercheers leaves the table
csquard: raises $83.55 to $88.55 and is all-in
trebla33: calls $74.25 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
csquard: shows [9c 9h] (three of a kind, Nines)
trebla33: shows [6d Ad] (a pair of Aces)
csquard collected $166.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $169.50 | Rake $3
Board [8h Qc 2c Ah 9d]
Seat 1: csquard showed [9c 9h] and won ($166.50) with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 2: Vipercheers folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: Zeb Ryden folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: DMG798 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: steve517 (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: bobross88 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Mirigom (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: D3LFY folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 9: trebla33 showed [6d Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
I got to experience virtually everything in poker: flopped set vs turned set, J9o calling my AK pre-flop (KJx on flop he called too to grab a 9 on turn), my Kojak catching the straight on the turn vs aces, aces vs kings, catching kings six times on one table in an hour, all-in pre-flop with AK vs queens (flop ace, turn queen), flopped boat with 10-9 (guy sniffed me out), this bizarro hand in between the two above (maybe a bit of a good indicator of how badly this guy wanted to call down big bets with losing hands):

POKERSTARS GAME #9386396800: HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/04/12 - 16:16:44 (ET)
Table ‘Himalia V’ 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: csquard ($40.75 in chips)
Seat 2: vegasstar44 ($5.80 in chips)
Seat 3: mattthedrums ($80.35 in chips)
Seat 4: MissLillian ($19 in chips)
Seat 5: Mantaz ($48 in chips)
Seat 6: Digger83 ($10 in chips)
Seat 7: ogeeez ($58.10 in chips)
Seat 8: keval9 ($42.70 in chips)
Seat 9: trebla33 ($59.80 in chips)
vegasstar44: posts small blind $0.25
mattthedrums: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to csquard [Jh Td]
MissLillian: calls $0.50
Mantaz: folds
Digger83: folds
ogeeez: raises $0.50 to $1
keval9: folds
trebla33: raises $1.50 to $2.50
csquard: calls $2.50
vegasstar44: folds
mattthedrums: folds
MissLillian: calls $2
ogeeez: calls $1.50
*** FLOP *** [Jd Js 6d]
MissLillian: checks
ogeeez: checks
trebla33: bets $2
csquard: calls $2
MissLillian: calls $2
ogeeez: folds
*** TURN *** [Jd Js 6d] [6h]
MissLillian: checks
trebla33: bets $2
keval9 leaves the table
csquard: raises $3.50 to $5.50
MissLillian: folds
trebla33: calls $3.50
*** RIVER *** [Jd Js 6d 6h] [Qs]
trebla33: checks
csquard: bets $30.75 and is all-in
trebla33: calls $30.75
*** SHOW DOWN ***
csquard: shows [Jh Td] (a full house, Jacks full of Sixes)
trebla33: shows [9h 9c] (two pair, Jacks and Nines)
csquard collected $86.25 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $89.25 | Rake $3
Board [Jd Js 6d 6h Qs]
Seat 1: csquard (button) showed [Jh Td] and won ($86.25) with a full house, Jacks full of Sixes
Seat 2: vegasstar44 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: mattthedrums (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: MissLillian folded on the Turn
Seat 5: Mantaz folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: Digger83 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 7: ogeeez folded on the Flop
Seat 8: keval9 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 9: trebla33 showed [9h 9c] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Nines
The games just get tighter and tighter it seems. $5/10 LHE now in the 17-20% range for a full ring game. Patience, patience, patience.

I’ve dropped the buy-in back to $10 for CC’s Thursday Bash, so I hope you can take a break and drop by. I snuck into the Mook last night, with Waffles knocking me out after I’d made a good early run. AJo shove from the bb after Waffles had raised in the cutoff. He had queens, and I didn’t improve. He was playing well and catching cards, and I probably shouldn’t have done that although I’d dropped from top five to 22nd through not getting any more chips while others did. GG, Waffles. I hadn’t played in the Mook in quite awhile, and not winning it is one of my disappointments. My tourney game isn’t nearly as sharp as the guys and gals playing alot, and I don’t think tourneys is where my cash needs to go currently.

That’s it for now. Hope to see folks tonight if you can sneak out. Take care.

PS. I realize I don’t really know how to play PLO8, but if someone could explain this, I would appreciate it.

PokerStars Game #9387994577: Omaha Hi/Lo No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2007/04/12 - 17:57:28 (ET)
Table ‘Thuban V’ 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Doctor D00M ($18.25 in chips)
Seat 3: FLA$H*t*KiNg ($12.40 in chips)
Seat 4: lawss ($15.85 in chips)
Seat 5: csquard ($21.85 in chips)
Seat 6: DAYTOP ($24.25 in chips)
Seat 7: Veron7777 ($24.15 in chips)
Seat 8: brian6876 ($23.75 in chips)
csquard: posts small blind $0.10
DAYTOP: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to csquard [As 6h 5c 5d]
Veron7777: folds
brian6876: folds
Doctor D00M: folds
FLA$H*t*KiNg: calls $0.25
lawss: calls $0.25
csquard: calls $0.15
DAYTOP: checks
*** FLOP *** [6s 6c 2s]
csquard: bets $0.75
DAYTOP: folds
FLA$H*t*KiNg: folds
lawss: calls $0.75
*** TURN *** [6s 6c 2s] [9s]
csquard: checks
lawss: bets $1.50
csquard: calls $1.50
*** RIVER *** [6s 6c 2s 9s] [6d]
csquard: bets $13.35
lawss: calls $13.35 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
csquard: shows [As 6h 5c 5d] (HI: four of a kind, Sixes)
lawss: mucks hand
csquard collected $30.65 from pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $32.20 | Rake $1.55
Board [6s 6c 2s 9s 6d]
Seat 1: Doctor D00M folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: FLA$H*t*KiNg folded on the Flop
Seat 4: lawss (button) mucked [9h 7d 3h 4c]
Seat 5: csquard (small blind) showed [As 6h 5c 5d] and won ($30.65) with HI: four of a kind, Sixes
Seat 6: DAYTOP (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Veron7777 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 8: brian6876 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)

Or this.

PokerStars Game #9388039987:  Omaha Hi/Lo No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2007/04/12 - 18:00:15 (ET)
Table ‘Thuban V’ 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Doctor D00M ($18 in chips)
Seat 3: FLA$H*t*KiNg ($11.90 in chips)
Seat 4: lawss ($10.60 in chips)
Seat 5: csquard ($37.25 in chips)
Seat 6: DAYTOP ($23.90 in chips)
Seat 7: Veron7777 ($23.80 in chips)
Seat 8: brian6876 ($23.50 in chips)
brian6876: posts small blind $0.10
Doctor D00M: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to csquard [2d As Ks Ah]
FLA$H*t*KiNg: calls $0.25
lawss: calls $0.25
csquard: raises $1.75 to $2
DAYTOP: folds
Veron7777 has timed out
Veron7777: folds
Veron7777 is sitting out
brian6876: folds
Veron7777 has returned
Doctor D00M: folds
FLA$H*t*KiNg: calls $1.75
lawss: raises $8.60 to $10.60 and is all-in
csquard: raises $26.65 to $37.25 and is all-in
FLA$H*t*KiNg: calls $9.90 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Qd 2s 6d]
*** TURN *** [Qd 2s 6d] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 2s 6d Jh] [6s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FLA$H*t*KiNg: shows [3d Ad 9h 6c] (HI: three of a kind, Sixes)
csquard: mucks hand
FLA$H*t*KiNg collected $2.50 from side pot
lawss: mucks hand
FLA$H*t*KiNg collected $30.55 from main pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $34.75 Main pot $30.55. Side pot $2.50. | Rake $1.70
Board [Qd 2s 6d Jh 6s]
Seat 1: Doctor D00M (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: FLA$H*t*KiNg showed [3d Ad 9h 6c] and won ($33.05) with HI: three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 4: lawss mucked [Ts 7s 8h Jc]
Seat 5: csquard mucked [2d As Ks Ah]
Seat 6: DAYTOP folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 7: Veron7777 (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 8: brian6876 (small blind) folded before Flop

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2007 at 4:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.