Poker Perambulation

I read my posts later to try to view them with fresher eyes. Yesterday was pretty convoluted. The idea and items seem right but it sure was structured poorly. It is 5 A.M. and I just left a stud table on FullTilt. It seems like all the players I tried to describe yesterday showed up. LOL

It the past 24 hours since reporting my donk finances, I haven’t really got the cards and managed losing hands against folks playing the three down cards. That isn’t always wrong on their part but frequently is. The good news is added a bit of loose change to my bankroll. Sure beats dropping a buyin or three.

Todays table was right out of the old west. In one of the first couple of hands, the short stack on my left ended up betting the last of his chips. He had KK up. He was called by a guy that was playing for a bit and then marking away. The guy had JJ when he called that bet and went on to spike the 2 outer.

The guy did a mild rant about being called. I mentioned to him that folks play for a lot of reasons. Sometimes it is to gamble. His putting in that final bet with nothing behind it made for a cheap donk gamble that he lost. It happens. Just make your note and use it down the road.

I know I should keep my mouth shut. I’m not playing to educate the masses. But, sometimes I can’t resist. I’ll say to a really bad player things like: “With the pot offering 12:1 odds, it is a bad time to bluff like you did.” The stud at these tables is really so bad that I could set up a permanent lecture series in the chat and still have 80% fish. LOL Of course it just might be that my lectures suck that maintains the headcount.

The thing about really bad players is that you lose them. Either their ego or their wallet sends them back to Holdem or WoW where they might be more appreciative. There aren’t a lot of folks playing stud. I haven’t installed Stars on this machine yet, but of those installed, Tilt’s about the only place I can be sure of a table running.

Anyway, just to the left of the fellow mention a new player sat with a double buyin. Now the default buyin in that game is only $5; so, it wasn’t like he was Mr. Gotrocks. Actually, one guy was already at the table with show off money — $200 and change. They are kinda funny two and there are a number of them that have to put their whole roll on the table to intimidate the masses.

The guy that set was absolutely horrid. He completed almost every round. He bet and raised. The stack shrunk and then he ran it up close to $20. Too many people were willing to play against him with marginal hands. That is a nasty form of tilting. But, a bit later, he was felted and bought back in for $5 and was playing that as the table got down to 4 of us playing. That isn’t a great table to stick around on so I stood up.

This guy was willing to cap when he made any two pair. And, because others weren’t playing smart those hands often held. That’s how he got to $20 and that is how he gave it all back. I did make some nice money off a couple of hands with him; although, one was just the secondary pot. But, I at least managed a break even on that one, thanks to him.

I thought the original complainer was a decent player early. He was folding as many hands as I was. But, when he got a ‘good hand’ and it didn’t hit, he had to chase. Chasing is hard to get away from. I’ll occasionally let a bit of that creep into my game. Everyone has to chase that 4-flush. At times, it is righteous. But, often its against a guy with good ups in an original pot and that makes little sense. You’ve got something like a 90-cent pot and the guy is now betting 50-cents into it on 5^th street when you bricked there. You just don’t have the pot odds to proceed.

When you had that 4-flush in 4, you were a happy camper. You had a 47.5% chance of a win if there weren’t a lot of your suit showing. But when you bricked on the next street you were down to 35%. Yes, you can take the almost even money pot odds there; but, even money bets tend to lose as often as they hit. And, you’ve only got 15-cents invested at that point. Why gamble where the implied odds against an assumed decent hand that you’re behind is going to take two more big bets to see out. Had the brick paired a decent down card and you hold an overcard to his board, it is a different story.

Stud will often offer attractive numbers of outs. Other times they only offer ones that seem attractive to many players. Chasers abound and they are your bread and butter. While you and I are only going to be around if we have a good starter, the majority of the time we aren’t going to see a 4^th street bet. It is the nature of the beast. We want a made hand, if we are shuckin and groovin on 5^th. Going beyond that point with an unmade hand takes a decent pot and a lot of outs.

The great thing on FullTilt is making a good hand and then getting multiple callers. Of course that’s also the bad thing as being a clear favorite goes away when it has so many calling. But, thats the game you have to play there.

I’ve played a lot of Hold’em and fair amounts of PLO, O8, and even Stud8. StudHi is my most enjoyment. If you like 08, you may like Stud8 better but the high game is my everyday choice. I’ll break it up with a bit of S8 but it isn’t as much bread and butter. The chasing there is even more horrific and often with the pot odds to seemingly justify it. But, like the high tables, there is overoptimism galore.

One of my problems, over the years, has been playing to fast. The online game attracts that action. I really need to slow things down on the stud tables. I may know my action but doing it quickly often leads to very fast rounds. That makes remembering what was played harder than in the B&M world. Often the door betting seems almost instantaneous as players click the fold button when the hand is worthless. I often miss half the cards or worse in such a round. That can really bite at times when you go back and review the hand to see what you missed. And, reviewing hands is a great thing to do more than in other games. It is a good habit to pick up as you wait for the next hand.

I hope today’s blog cleared a bit of yesterday’s clouds. Hope to see you at the stud tables. Regardless… GLA

ADDENDUM:

It is strange but true time

1. Jean Robert Bellande will be in the ‘cast’ of Survivor15 – China. Bobby is an interesting guy. Lots of love-hate surrounds him and his game with many folks. Recent rumors also circulated that he was felted and had some decent markers out. Who knows? But, it looks like we’ll get a chance to see how conniving he really is and if that works to pay off the supposed markers. Be sad if — after winning — all he has is Gunga Rot and paid off markers.
   
2. Two Colorado men have been arrested for plotting to kill the head of the Amateur Poker Tour. They were folks described as having long arrest sheets. Seems they were holding his marker and, if they couldn’t have the money, they at least get revenge. Inventive fellow, they plotted to stick his legs in a box of rattlesnakes. They obviously weren’t the brightest criminals but they were unique thinkers.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 at 7:51 am and is filed under Journal, Other poker. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.