So I've decided to take a break from the 20/40 limit game at least until after going to Pendleton in November. Instead, I've been playing the "spread limit" game for the past week and it has been going really well.
For those of you who don't know, Washington gambling law doesn't allow for true no-limit cash games because the maximum you can bet at one time is $500. So to get around this, the tribal casinos run what is called "spread limit." There are two main games, $3/$5 and $5/$10. So in $3/$5, you can bet anywhere from $5 to $500 at any time and in $5/$10 it's $10 to $500. The other twist is that there can only be a bet and three raises just like in a limit game. So if someone raises the $5 big blind to $15 and another person makes it $30, a third person could make it $45 to go and prevent the first raiser from making a big reraise since the betting is now "capped."
I've always had good results at these games, but I have also had a lot of trouble dealing with the swings. In $20/$40 limit, you can build a $1000 buy-in into $2000 over the course of a session and then hit a rough swing over the next couple hours and fall back to $1000 or even lose it all, but in $5/$10 NL, you could spend several hours chipping up from $1000 to $2000 and then lose the entire $2000 in one hand! That rapid swing of emotions takes its toll on my psyche and, in the past, has caused me to do some stupid things like go to the blackjack tables.
I've been taking it slowly over the past week, playing exclusively $3/$5 to start out. The mistakes these players make are so incredible. They just don't balance their ranges at all. They take such straightforward lines with their big hands and never mix in any bluffs. They give away too much information about their hands by how much they raise preflop. They only bluff in certain predictable spots. They don't fastplay big draws on the flop in the same way as they play their big hands. Basically, they just don't think about how their bets betray their hands. All that you have to do to beat these players is decipher what their bets mean and their hand is basically face up to you. The only reason that these people get away with this type of play is that very few other people are paying attention.
At the $5/$10, there are a few more good thinking players and the "fish" at least err on the side of aggression instead of passivity. The mistakes people make in this game are a bit harder to exploit. The $5/$10 players, in general, don't control the pots well with one pair hands. To exploit this, you either have to pick up a big hand like a set against their top pair and trap them for a big pot, or alternatively, you can make a big move on them by check/raising the turn on a bluff since they most likely can't call with just one pair (the correct play with one pair in NL is often to check behind the turn to control the size of the pot). Getting a set against top pair is hard to do, and making a big bluff requires a lot of guts and risks losing a big chunk of chips when they have a stubborn AA or a set themselves.
I had moved to playing $20/$40 because I felt no-limit cash games were too boring. To a large extent, they are. There's a lot of sitting around waiting for the right spot to come along to make a move. If you're not patient enough to wait for the right hand against the right opponent, you're going to spew all your chips away. But when you find that perfect spot, it feels so good to take all of someone's chips in one hand, or to win a big pot with a well executed bluff. Hopefully I can control my emotions and not get worked up too much about losing a big pot and stay focused on my game. If not, I can always head back over to the $20/$40 game :)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
LA Trip Report for Oct. '08 (Cliff's Notes)
- Le almost got us killed by driving into oncoming traffic on an off-ramp.
- The Commerce poker rooms are incredible.
- I played a lot of 20/40 and did well.
- I folded KK preflop in the first Bike tournament.
- I went ballistic at the 25/50 Hustler game.
- I suck at 40/80.
- I finished a little over even after expenses for the whole trip.
Monday, October 13, 2008
LA Trip Report for Oct. '08
Day 1:
Le and I arrived in LA and got our rental car and headed to the hotel using Le's Garmin GPS system. Nothing notable other than Le almost got us both killed by driving through a stop sign on an off ramp into oncoming traffic (luckily there was no one in the right-most lane).
Checked in and dropped off our stuff (the room was pretty decent). Went over to Commerce Casino. I have been to Commerce before but it always amazes me every time I walk in. There is a gigantic WSOP Pavilion-esque room full of poker tables and they are all cash games. And that's just the first room, they have two more of close to the same size! One for low limits (1/2 NL, 4/8, 9/18, etc.), One for high limits (20/40 to 1k/2k and 10/20 NL and 20/40 NL), and one for ultra low limits (1/1 NL, 1/2 Limit). Le and I played the 20/40 for a few hours and I managed to leave up almost a rack.
Day 2:
We went to the Bike (which was about 3-4 blocks from our hotel) to register for the tournament later that day ($100+20 + 1 rebuy) and get a safety deposit box. We had asked the day before about getting one at Commerce, but they didn't think we were "high roller" enough so they didn't let us have one. Thankfully the Bike either has more boxes or lower standards...
We then went to Commerce (since the Bike has like 1 20/40 game) and played until 6PM. I managed to book another solid win of a little over a rack.
From there we headed back to the Bike for the tournament. I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that I folded KK preflop early in the tournament incorrectly. Blinds were 50/100 and UTG with 3300 limped, old guy with ~10k limped, 1-2 other limpers. I raised to 600 with KK from the SB(I had 10k as well). UTG paused for a while and finally shoved. Old guy behind him overshoved for the full 10k. Folded to me and I sat there in utter disbelief at what just happened. I couldn't think of what possible hand the old guy could have to shove after a SB raise and a UTG shove other than AA. But he limped in after a limper! So I had to balance those to illogicalities. In the end, I decided it was not worth the chance he had AA since it was early and the blinds were so low and folded. UTG showed JJ and old guy showed AKs! Ugh, I was pretty frustrated but I still managed to get to 20k after the first 3 levels.
Went on a bad streak after that and made a questionable river call with TT on a JJ468 board and got shown J3o. Won a short stack all in with K9 > KQ and then lost 77 < 66 to bust.
Day 3:
Today we decided to make a tour of all the other casinos in the LA area. We played a bit of 25/50 at Hawaiian Gardens. It was odd playing a different chip structure than I'm used to (20/40 is a 4 chip/8 chip structure where 25/50 is 5 chip/10 chip). I've gotten in the habit of shuffling together 3 SBs worth of chips so I'm always ready to 3-bet preflop or bet the flop and turn. So I had to start using 15 chips instead of 12. Anyway, the game was pretty good and I left up half a rack.
We then played 25/50 at Hustler. I started out hot up almost two and a half racks and then had two painful hands and lost 620 in 10 minutes. The first hand there is a MP raiser and a couple cold callers. I call with 98o in the BB. Flop is T76 with two hearts. I check, MP bets, LP calls, I raise, MP 3-bets, LP cold calls, I call. Turn Ts. I check, MP bets, LP raises! Now LP was a pretty tight straight-forward player, but I couldn't imagine he wouldn't cap the flop with a set or two pair. I felt he had to have T9 or T8 so I called him down and he showed me 66. I shoulda just gone with the tight guy + raise turn = nuts and folded. So I was pissed a bit about that hand.
Then, a couple hands later, I raise Qs8s on the button and the SB calls and the BB raises and we both call. The flop is QT8. SB checks, BB bets, I raise, SB cold calls, BB 3-bets, I cap and both call. Turn is an ugly Ace. SB checks and BB donks. I really should have folded here, but I didn't. I call and now the SB raises! Well he obviously has a straight at this point. BB calls and I decide to call to draw to a boat as the pot is gigantic at this point. River is a Q and SB bets and BB now raises! I quickly go through the possible hands that BB can have and decide that TT is the only hand I beat but the pot is like ~$1100 and cry-call and SB calls and BB rolls AQ. I was so pissed at myself for playing both those hands too far and basically lighting $500 on fire so I stormed away from the table. On the bright side, I managed to still be up about a rack after all of that.
Day 4:
We slept late until 3pm and then drove to Santa Monica and rested a bit on the beach. We played a bit of 15/30 at Hollywood Park for an hour and then got a call from a friend who now lives in LA. Went to have a drink with him and then we went to the Commerce and played some drunken 1/2 NL.
Day 5:
Slept in and then went to Commerce and played 20/40 all day and ended up almost two racks (this was the perfect day of the entire week).
Day 6:
Started off the day at Hawaiian Gardens and dropped almost 3 racks. We then went to Commerce and I made the questionable decision of sitting at the 40/80 game instead of 20/40. Managed to last a long time but eventually lost the 2 racks (of $10 chips, not $5 chips). This was definitely a sobering experience as the rest of the trip had gone so well.
Day 7:
This was the comeback day after losing so much the day before. I started at the 20/40 and ran super hot right off the bat and was quickly up 2 racks. I then decided to give the 40/80 another shot as I feel like I will play better when winning at the 20/40 as opposed to moving to 40/80 after a losing session. Ended up breaking even at the 40/80 by 6pm when we had to leave for the tournament at the Bike.
While waiting for the tournament to start, I played a bit of 20/40 and got AA on my second hand and it held up in a 6 way pot for a nice $300 profit. The tournament was a big field and the structure was pretty good. I started off slow and steady and built up chips but couldn't get any real big hands. Around the 4th-5th level I had ~19,000 made a raise to 1700 with blinds 300/600 with a 100 ante with 64o in MP and the button and BB called. Flop was 432, with two diamonds. BB checked, I bet 3600 and the Button insta-shoved. BB folded and I thought about if for awhile and decided he almost always has a diamond draw in this spot and called. I was right and he had AdJd and it was a flip (I'm slightly ahead). The turn was a Qs and the river was a crushing Ace and I was out. I'm happy with how I played though.
Afterwards, I played the 20/40 game and continued to run well and ended up over 1 and a half racks. It felt good to make a nice comeback after such a bad day the day before.
Day 8:
Today was the wind down day as we were leaving the next morning. We played a bit at the commerce and ended up almost a rack each. After that, I met up with an old roommate from college who was living in LA and we ate at this Mexican Seafood place which was pretty good. Then Le wimped out and stayed in the hotel while my friend and I roamed a couple bars in West Hollywood and then ended up at the Bike playing some more 1/2 NL. I finally got back to the hotel just in time to wake Le up to head to the airport.
All in all this was a good trip and I really like the poker scene in LA. I just need to stay away from the 40/80 game until I can be comfortable with the stakes and play my best at it.
Le and I arrived in LA and got our rental car and headed to the hotel using Le's Garmin GPS system. Nothing notable other than Le almost got us both killed by driving through a stop sign on an off ramp into oncoming traffic (luckily there was no one in the right-most lane).
Checked in and dropped off our stuff (the room was pretty decent). Went over to Commerce Casino. I have been to Commerce before but it always amazes me every time I walk in. There is a gigantic WSOP Pavilion-esque room full of poker tables and they are all cash games. And that's just the first room, they have two more of close to the same size! One for low limits (1/2 NL, 4/8, 9/18, etc.), One for high limits (20/40 to 1k/2k and 10/20 NL and 20/40 NL), and one for ultra low limits (1/1 NL, 1/2 Limit). Le and I played the 20/40 for a few hours and I managed to leave up almost a rack.
Day 2:
We went to the Bike (which was about 3-4 blocks from our hotel) to register for the tournament later that day ($100+20 + 1 rebuy) and get a safety deposit box. We had asked the day before about getting one at Commerce, but they didn't think we were "high roller" enough so they didn't let us have one. Thankfully the Bike either has more boxes or lower standards...
We then went to Commerce (since the Bike has like 1 20/40 game) and played until 6PM. I managed to book another solid win of a little over a rack.
From there we headed back to the Bike for the tournament. I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that I folded KK preflop early in the tournament incorrectly. Blinds were 50/100 and UTG with 3300 limped, old guy with ~10k limped, 1-2 other limpers. I raised to 600 with KK from the SB(I had 10k as well). UTG paused for a while and finally shoved. Old guy behind him overshoved for the full 10k. Folded to me and I sat there in utter disbelief at what just happened. I couldn't think of what possible hand the old guy could have to shove after a SB raise and a UTG shove other than AA. But he limped in after a limper! So I had to balance those to illogicalities. In the end, I decided it was not worth the chance he had AA since it was early and the blinds were so low and folded. UTG showed JJ and old guy showed AKs! Ugh, I was pretty frustrated but I still managed to get to 20k after the first 3 levels.
Went on a bad streak after that and made a questionable river call with TT on a JJ468 board and got shown J3o. Won a short stack all in with K9 > KQ and then lost 77 < 66 to bust.
Day 3:
Today we decided to make a tour of all the other casinos in the LA area. We played a bit of 25/50 at Hawaiian Gardens. It was odd playing a different chip structure than I'm used to (20/40 is a 4 chip/8 chip structure where 25/50 is 5 chip/10 chip). I've gotten in the habit of shuffling together 3 SBs worth of chips so I'm always ready to 3-bet preflop or bet the flop and turn. So I had to start using 15 chips instead of 12. Anyway, the game was pretty good and I left up half a rack.
We then played 25/50 at Hustler. I started out hot up almost two and a half racks and then had two painful hands and lost 620 in 10 minutes. The first hand there is a MP raiser and a couple cold callers. I call with 98o in the BB. Flop is T76 with two hearts. I check, MP bets, LP calls, I raise, MP 3-bets, LP cold calls, I call. Turn Ts. I check, MP bets, LP raises! Now LP was a pretty tight straight-forward player, but I couldn't imagine he wouldn't cap the flop with a set or two pair. I felt he had to have T9 or T8 so I called him down and he showed me 66. I shoulda just gone with the tight guy + raise turn = nuts and folded. So I was pissed a bit about that hand.
Then, a couple hands later, I raise Qs8s on the button and the SB calls and the BB raises and we both call. The flop is QT8. SB checks, BB bets, I raise, SB cold calls, BB 3-bets, I cap and both call. Turn is an ugly Ace. SB checks and BB donks. I really should have folded here, but I didn't. I call and now the SB raises! Well he obviously has a straight at this point. BB calls and I decide to call to draw to a boat as the pot is gigantic at this point. River is a Q and SB bets and BB now raises! I quickly go through the possible hands that BB can have and decide that TT is the only hand I beat but the pot is like ~$1100 and cry-call and SB calls and BB rolls AQ. I was so pissed at myself for playing both those hands too far and basically lighting $500 on fire so I stormed away from the table. On the bright side, I managed to still be up about a rack after all of that.
Day 4:
We slept late until 3pm and then drove to Santa Monica and rested a bit on the beach. We played a bit of 15/30 at Hollywood Park for an hour and then got a call from a friend who now lives in LA. Went to have a drink with him and then we went to the Commerce and played some drunken 1/2 NL.
Day 5:
Slept in and then went to Commerce and played 20/40 all day and ended up almost two racks (this was the perfect day of the entire week).
Day 6:
Started off the day at Hawaiian Gardens and dropped almost 3 racks. We then went to Commerce and I made the questionable decision of sitting at the 40/80 game instead of 20/40. Managed to last a long time but eventually lost the 2 racks (of $10 chips, not $5 chips). This was definitely a sobering experience as the rest of the trip had gone so well.
Day 7:
This was the comeback day after losing so much the day before. I started at the 20/40 and ran super hot right off the bat and was quickly up 2 racks. I then decided to give the 40/80 another shot as I feel like I will play better when winning at the 20/40 as opposed to moving to 40/80 after a losing session. Ended up breaking even at the 40/80 by 6pm when we had to leave for the tournament at the Bike.
While waiting for the tournament to start, I played a bit of 20/40 and got AA on my second hand and it held up in a 6 way pot for a nice $300 profit. The tournament was a big field and the structure was pretty good. I started off slow and steady and built up chips but couldn't get any real big hands. Around the 4th-5th level I had ~19,000 made a raise to 1700 with blinds 300/600 with a 100 ante with 64o in MP and the button and BB called. Flop was 432, with two diamonds. BB checked, I bet 3600 and the Button insta-shoved. BB folded and I thought about if for awhile and decided he almost always has a diamond draw in this spot and called. I was right and he had AdJd and it was a flip (I'm slightly ahead). The turn was a Qs and the river was a crushing Ace and I was out. I'm happy with how I played though.
Afterwards, I played the 20/40 game and continued to run well and ended up over 1 and a half racks. It felt good to make a nice comeback after such a bad day the day before.
Day 8:
Today was the wind down day as we were leaving the next morning. We played a bit at the commerce and ended up almost a rack each. After that, I met up with an old roommate from college who was living in LA and we ate at this Mexican Seafood place which was pretty good. Then Le wimped out and stayed in the hotel while my friend and I roamed a couple bars in West Hollywood and then ended up at the Bike playing some more 1/2 NL. I finally got back to the hotel just in time to wake Le up to head to the airport.
All in all this was a good trip and I really like the poker scene in LA. I just need to stay away from the 40/80 game until I can be comfortable with the stakes and play my best at it.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Brief Update
So I haven't posted a blog in awhile. This has partly been because I've been playing almost every day for the past couple weeks and also because nothing spectacular has occurred recently. My sessions have been going well, though.
I'm heading to LA for a week and will give a full trip report when I get back.
I'm heading to LA for a week and will give a full trip report when I get back.
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