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One of the bi-products of my poker playing has been my wife taking up poker.  About a year ago, I talked her into playing in a free “bar league”.  She did well and built a reputation of being a very solid-tight player.  During one of the bar-league final tournaments, she took third place for $150 (or something like that).  Not bad for free.

Over the last year, she has played in a few casino tournaments.  She had the same problem that I had - always making a deep run, but coming up short.  Either she was card cold and was blinded out, or she lost to some pretty bad beats.  She was frustrated, and threatened to give the game up on several occasions.

Last December, we went to Atlantic City where she played in a WSOP Circuit Ladies-Only event.  There were 350 or so players in this particular tournament.  Donna made a decent run and finished in the 70s somewhere - about 30 short of the money. After this ladies tournament, she said that she much preferred to play against women.

She played in a few other tournaments here and there.  During our visit to Vegas for the WSOP, she made the final table on 2 occasions, but came up short of cashing.  I started to look for women’s poker tournaments when I came across the High Heels Poker Tour. They were hosting a tournament at Turning Stone Casino in August 2008.  I told her about it, and she was interested. So, we made our plans and off we went.

The tournament started on Saturday August 23rd at High Noon.  There were 58 players.  Each player started with T10,000 and the levels were 30 min long.  I expected the tournament to last about 6-7 hours.  Was I ever wrong!

At the mid-point of the tournament, Donna was the chip leader.  She came out for dinner break all nervous.  She told me that she had never been in this position before (being chip leader).  I just laughed in good spirit and tried to calm her down.

After dinner she had a string of cold cards, and even a bad beat or two - but she hung in there.  She wanted to make the money so bad.  I told her that she had an intermediate goal first - and that was to make the final table.  She surely would not cash if she did not make the final table.  So they continued to play, and around 10:30pm the final table was set.  Unfortunately for Donna, she was now the short stack.

At one break, I told her that her skill got her this far, and now her fate was up to the card gods.  In any tournament, skill will get anybody deep, but then you need a run of cards to win.

Rather quickly, 3 people busted out, leaving 7 - the top 6 paid.  Donna picked up A8s, went all in, and was called by AJo.  She got lucky when she spiked an 8 on the flop and doubled up - leaving the lady with AJ severly crippled.  Before too long, the bubble burst and she was in the money.  Play remained tight as each spot enjoyed a sizable increase in pay.

While the table was 6 handed, Donna picked up 44 UTG and shoved all-in.  In a 6-handed table, 44 figures to be the best hand because only larger pocket pairs beat it preflop.  Since pocket pairs are 17:1, statistically, it should be the best hand.  The card gods were not with her.  She got a call from the chip leader, and from the short stack.  Donna was all-in with a T2000 side pot.  The chip leader turned over 99 and the short stack turned over KK.  What an unlucky time for that to happen!  Nobody tripped up and after 11 hours of straight play, Donna was out in 6th place for a $675 cash - her first ever.

Because she cashed, she now has HER own Cardplayer.com page:

http://www.cardplayer.com/players/results/Donna-Larocque/88245

Donna is very excited now and CANNOT WAIT to play in more ladies events!  Good job honey!

I like it when people are predictable. What good poker player doesn’t? The easiest players to read are the ones with betting pattern tells. I ran into such a player at Foxwoods one day. I dubbed him “Mr. Math”.

Most people feared “Mr. Math”. They thought that he was an extremely good player.  I analyzed his play as soon as I heard people talking about how good of a player he was.  I quickly learned that you could read his hand by the amount that he bet. Mr. Math knew pots odds very well.  He would bet the numbers 100% of the time.  He would never, never, ever bet an amount that gave you correct pot odds to chase whatever draw was out there.  I observed this several times with a high degree of accuracy.

Location: Foxwoods

Game: 2/5 NL

My Stack: $600

The table is a normal mix of weak, loose, tight, and solid.  Mr. Math was in seat #10.

Hand:
The button is in seat #5.  I am in seat #3 (The Hijack position)

Seat 8: Fold
Seat 9: Fold
Mr. Math: Raise to $25
Seat 1-2: Fold

I know that this guy is feared at the table. People will most likely fold. I peek down and see

I am not fearful of a raise behind me. People get out of his way, so I am confident we will be heads up.  I decide to call for deception. As expected, everybody else folds. We are heads-up, and I am in position.

Pot: $57

Flop:

This appears to be a decent flop for my Aces.  Mr Math makes a pot-sized bet of $60.  He has SOMETHING, and whatever it is, he is definitely afraid of the flush draw.  My analysis went like this:

With his preflop raise, he could have trips, AJs, or even an overpair at this point. If a diamond comes, I might be able to make a play at the pot.  I put his range of hands as JJ, 77, AJ, or possibility, QQ, or KK.  I could be beat, but I could also have the best hand.  When in this situation, the best thing to do is raise, as it gives you the most information.  The problem with raising is, what do I do if he comes back over the top?  He would certainly make that play with JJ or 77.  Would he reraise with AJ (Top Pair Top Kicker) or an overpair?  I really do not know the answer to that question.  I have picked apart his betting tells, but I have not figured out what kinds of hands he would make this kind of a bet/raise with.  If he does come back over the top, then I have a very difficult decision to make.  One pair is not a particularly good hand to go to showdown with.  Since I know he is capable of laying down a hand on a dangerous board, I elect to make a smooth call the $60.  If a straight card or diamond falls on the turn, my plan is to make a play at the pot. The best card to help my cause would be a 8, 9, or 10 of diamonds - making the board dangerous.

Pot: $177

Turn

Mr. Math bets $50.

He just offered me pot odds of 4.5:1 with a flush draw on the board.  He does not fear the flush anymore.  I am beat, as he just filled up.  His most likely holding is 77. If he had JJ, he would have checked.

Tossing the rockets is pretty easy here.  I want him to show his hand so I can test my read.  I meekly say, “I think you have 77.  You would have checked Jacks, and you would not have raised preflop with threes.”

As I fold, I show ONE of my aces.  Mr. Math grins and proudly shows 77 for his full house – I was right on the money.

Staying focused in a tournament can sometimes be a difficult chore. I usually have very good concentration and stay attentive to the task at hand. However, sometimes I falter and towards the end of the day. During a recent trip to Atlantic City, I found myself in a $120 tournament at The Tropicana with 88 other hopefuls.

Mid way through the tournament, I had Top Pair-Top Kicker on a Q86 rainbow flop. The guy to my immediate right bets. I would like to find out where I am, so I raise.

He pauses, and says, “One of us is going home”, then he pushes all-in.

I ask the dealer for a count because I want to see his reaction to my possible call. The guy flips over his cards and shows 66 (trips). I say “Good hand”, and muck my cards. He thought that I had called. I think to myself, “Thank you for not being focused.”

As fate would have it, later in that exact same tournament, I was in the BB. The blinds were T1000/T2000 with a T200 ante. I had T19,000 chips with 3 limpers. I peek down at:

I check my option.

Pot: T10,000

flop:

I see a flush draw and check without thinking. My plan is to check-raise all-in. The next guy bets T15,000. Seat 2 seat thinks and thinks. I show my hand to Donna. At that time I realize that I am open-ended on top of the flush draw. Shoot - I wish I had taken my time before I checked. If I had realized that I was open-ended as well as having a flush draw, I would have pushed all-in to begin with. Seat 2 finally goes all-in. The SB folds, and I have to push all my chips in. Seat 8 calls. We have a 3-way all-in.

seat 8 shows:

for the flopped straight.

Seat 2 shows

for 2 pair

I show my open-end straight + flush draw.

Turn:

River:

I lose to a full house. Had I had pushed all-in on the flop, Seat 8 surely would have either called, or even more likely, would have come over the top. Seat 2 might have got away from his 2-pair. I cost my self the pot and my tourney life by not being focused. What goes around, comes around.

If that were not enough, later that night, I was playing in a 2/5 nl cash game at Ballys with a $1000 buy-in. There were 4 players at the table who were very loose and pretty bad. Around 3am, I get involved in this hand:

There are 6 callers to me in the bb. I have:

This is the kind of hand that I like to play in the BB.

Pot: $70

The flop brings:

Wow! I flop the nuts with a backup flush draw and a gutshot straight-flush draw! I check to let somebody else lead out. Seat 8 (bad player) checks. Seat 10 (a good player) then goes all-in for $250. Everybody folds to me and I call. The dealer says, “Flip them up.”

I oblige and seat 10 shows

At that point, I realize that seat 8 (who was a real bad and loose player) was still in the hand. He meekly folds his cards while I realize that he was going to call. If I had paid attention, I would have won another $1000.

Bottom line: You MUST pay attention at all times. If you are tired and are having trouble staying focused, perhaps it is time to walk away from the table for awhile.

I just have to share this one.

I played in the PokerStars $18.50 + $1.50 turbo satellite to the nightly $50+$5 - $50,000 guaranteed tournament. I held on and won a seat in the main tournament.

On the first hand, I am in the BB. I get:

Everybody folds to the small blind, who raises to T80 - which is 4x the BB. I figure he is a donk who is trying to steal the blinds. Since I have an excellent hand, I raise it up to set the tone early on. I DO NOT want him to make a habit of stealing my blinds. So I pop it up to T240. He calls.

Pot: T480

The flop comes:

SB checks. I bet T380. SB raises to T1100.

What the heck? Does he have 99, TT, KK, or AA?

I do not ponder too long. I figure he would have reraised preflop with AA or KK. The only thing I need to worry about is 99 or TT. I push all-in (I know - dumb move. Why put my tournament life on the line with one pair?)

He calls and shows:

How sick is that? First hand of the tournament and the blinds get two huge pocket pairs.

The turn is:

The river is a brick and I suck out (for once) to double up.

dobbbber - if you read this - I am so sorry.  That was sick in a lot of ways.