Subject: ESCARGOT: Sucks Outs, Bad Plays and Bad Decisions From: alwaysaware@aol.com (AlwaysAware) Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker Date: Thu, Feb 14, 2002 3:37 PM Message-ID: <20020214183746.05487.00000399@mb-cg.aol.com> When I was playing well, I got sucked out on, when I played bad I got exactly what I deserved..... Welcome to California :-) Here is my favorite: later stages of the LHE (three tables remaining) and the blinds are big relative to my stack. It comes three bet to me in the bb and I look to see A's and cap it. The flop comes something like K xx and I put my last chips in T25 short of a full bet. Oliver calls 3 cold and the others call as well. Oliver Juang, Nolan Hee and Sabyl all call. Sabyl is not able to complete my bet and a second side pot is created. Oliver and Nolan check it down. The turn is a J and the river is a T, my rockets after leading into the home stretch are now in last place, fourth best, go figure :-). Oliver has pocket 10's for trips, Nolan has AQ for Broadway and Sabyl has managed to find 4 spades on the board to go with the spade in her pocket 8's. The bright side is I didn't bust badly, In the headsup tourney when we were down to four (each table plays down to two, to get the qualifiers for the headsup matches) I managed to misplay a hand that probably cost me the opportunity to get to the headsup portion. Nolan who is just coming back from the felt is being aggressive and raises my blind. I call with AT to see a Ten high flop. I bet and he comes over the top. I release the hand. At the time I was rolling the thought around in my head "do not call for all your chips unless you are prepared to exit the tourney." But, what kind of flop was I hoping for by calling with AT to begin with? If a ten high flop isn't on that wish list, well why call the preflop raise? While it may or may not have been correct to fold after Nolan came over the top, the mistake was not moving in on the flop and giving him the chance to outplay me. He later said he had pocket 7's and I tend to believe him. Down to three (Nolan Hee, JP Masser and myself) and JP is using position and image to the max. I have somehow managed to survive and survive and now have six hands from which to choose before I am blinded. JP raises all in on my blind and I find pocket 3's. I KNOW that he is stealing, and suspect he has two pictures. I don't like it, and do a little "I don't like it dance around my chair" causing Bill Chen to wander over to see the dilemma unfold. I finally call. And as suspected JP has over's...... a suited 4 7!!! When a 7 hits the flop and I get no improvement, I am done. Bill says I made the right call... Later during the headsup portion Ploink takes 33 up against REAL overs (pictures) with JP and Ploink triumphs. So Ploink, could ya tell me what dance to the card god's you did to find such favoritism? Nolan went on to win the heads up tourney so he put my chips to good use. It was probably (bad) KARMA catching up to me for not playing presto (and yes it was more than once, but the most notable....). Kathy Leibert raised (my bb) utg and I mucked showing presto. Two hands later she looked at me as said, I can't believe you didn't call a small bet especially on Presto. To which I replied, yeah I know, especially since the bet was 55 more to me, now had I done the math at the time it would have been clear that it was a *sign * -)" Oh well, guess I messed with the Presto gods. At the banquet I find myself at a table full of ABD'ers when Paul Phillips starts to teach the table how to play "tilt poker." A game played two handed, each with a different suit of cards. The object is to capture as many hands as possible played in a "war" like fashion except pushes are dead not doubled up. Drinks all around when someone announces that the tourney winner pays. Ploink the winner of the headsup tourney nominates Paul you won a tourney at the LA Poker Classic a few days before. At evenings end I tried to pay for my part of the tab and Foldem tells me it's taken care of... so, thanks Foldem or Ploink or Paul... John Vorhaus gave a talk and told us such things as when a seat opens up to your left move, so you have position on the new player coming in. He also told us to buy for an amount that pretty much dominates the rest of the table (or some such) He later joins the CHORSEL (or some such as we took the stud out) and I find him on my immediate left. I have bought in for 100 in chips he tries to buy in for a 100 and I say WHAT after that speech on outchipping the table? He immediately takes out 300 but the chip runner comes back saying no chips available. I smile and say that was worth the 10 spot I gave him to tell you that. John eventually gets his chips so I then order 500 in chips :-) and the entire table proceeds to put a whooping on him, especially the garbage player, me, who finds suck out after suck out and I just say, "if I knew how to play this game I would have known I should have laid this hand down." He asked to see my BIKE card, no doubt to discover my name so he can write something about the best/worst suck out artist he has ever encountered... Hey John, just don't play Nolan H. I would hate to lose my title :-) But alas they were merely a loan, I eventually give them to Mary in a brutal low bah hand. I play in the $210 NLHE at the LA Classic.. (OK the $540, but since I won a $330 buy in from Card Player's broadcast at the WPC it is only $210 to me :-) Play maybe a strong word, but I did show up. The tables had mostly notables. With Paul Phillips on my immediately left, if nothing else it should be entertaining. Well, surprise surprise Paul doesn't play tourney's like he does ring games and two hours into it, even Paul is complaining about what a grind tournament poker is :-) I am more rattled then I realize. I am tired of my blind being attacked and the guy on my right that can always find a hand to play when he is in position over me, so I decide to defend my blind with Q8 suited. Two hearts hit the flop and I check behind him. Turn gives me a gut shot straight as well as the flush draw, he bets I call. The river gives me the ignorant end of a straight and I hesitate and call. To which Paul Phillips says "If you can''t raise with that hand, what can you raise with." Don't bother telling me the mistakes in that hand, I already know, and I am not thrilled about Q8 being the first hand I show. Even Paul who isn't one to give advice at the table gives me a quick lesson. (That's how pained he is by my *stellar* play :-) And even worse is that what he is telling me sounds foreign, that's how rattled I am. I haven't played much for several months, but I have gone from fearless to confused. I think I flat called a raise and had to release (I never call, I raise or exit ..but I did) and Paul suggests that I could limp three times and possibly get lucky for the price on one flat call. Who is this person sitting in seat two?( I certainly don't recognize her) I get AK utg and fire it in for a raise, Paul reraises (anyone surprised :-) Cliff to Paul's immediately left moves in and it is folded around to me. AK is a preflop hand, but do I want to play it for all my chips with Paul still to act behind me? *BUT* if I don't play this hand I will be run over the rest of my tenure here at this table due to all my previous "stellar" bad plays so I have no choice but to call. My hesitation has Paul declaring AK for my hand but afraid of a real hand from Cliff he folds. Cliff has AK suited with none of his suit on the flop and we chop up Paul's money :-) I have K5 in the bb and the sb (now a spunky woman) doesn't raise me (for once) and the flop comes 55K and I check behind her. She bets the turn, I flat call, She bets the river and I move in. She thinks and fold, I show my boat and Paul says "That wasn't the nuts, KK is the nuts how could YOU raise with THAT! :-) I probably should of hesitated and just reraised and she might have decided to outplay me, but oh well. I foolishly flat call TJ on my blind of 77. Yeah I already know, and forget putting it all in on the flop as it contains a K. I checked he moves in, I fold he shows one card a K. I have survived 2/3 of the field and a lot of notables, amazing where limited tight play, even when bad will get you. I am about to be blinded out and must find a hand. (I was unable to play the previous round). Folded to me on the button and I have Q3 suited, not great but I could get a flush, and I have isolation (and yes I know you want a better hand with multi action, but I only need get through the blinds and what could they possibly have?). Paul is now desperate as well and he can't even call from the small blind. The big blind asks if he can just muck. He turns over AJ and the board is all blanks. Cliff seems genuinely sorry to see me exit, but hey - all poker players can act right? I don't really know why, though pleasant I am not my usual entertaining self. Perhaps it is because he has never seen such an enigma at the table before playing a true brand of mystifying poker :-) In retrospect if no one else has a hand, quite possible the blind will. Weekend full of bad decisions and making good decision used to be my specialty. I start by not showing up for the ESCARGOT satellite. I was waiting and waiting for information on if it was gonna happen and then right before I fly out it's a go. I check in to my hotel, can't get the wayport (high speed Internet access) to properly work and they send someone to tackle it. An hour later I am up and running but haven't unpacked and the clock is ticking. I decide instead to play a zillion hands at PartyPoker. I never play there or even tried to qualify for the cruise thing (except for the one freeroll) and now I feel like I have missed the boat, so to speak. Wow, I have flown all the way to California to play online poker in my room WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???? Well, it is really the one day I can play to get my hands in to get extra chips. Now I find I have a work conflict and can't be there until at least 1/2 hour into it *sigh*. BTW, I don't play as AlwaysAware there, so good luck trying to steal my blinds tomorrow night :-) I never get around to extending my hotel and by the time I do it is sold out for Monday and Tuesday. AGAIN, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!! I managed to grease the correct palm, but don't get the Internet rate I have until that point enjoyed. I think about leaving on Tuesday but the airline wants a fortune to change my ticket and instead of going to the beach or some non poker venue I blow 6 times the amount to change my ticket on live games and satellites. OK I won't ask the obvious, but WHAT IS ... oh never mind. I will spare you the remainder of my bad decisions. In the best low limit game I have ever seen. This one guy is stacking and stacking and stacking. Another guy commented on how lucky the guy is, but not even realizing that this guy can get away from a hand. He may play most of them but if he doesn't already have the best of it or a descent draw he is done with the hand on the flop or turn. He does draw to gutshots and the like but he has the odds to do it, these pots are huge!!! This game loses three players and in come the colluders. It is called around to me and I look down to put my chips in, three guys to my right says "it was raised" hmm no it wasn't he put his chips in when I looked away. OK. A few hands later he plays out of turn and I say that is the second time you have done some interesting move, and we then discussed "his previous raise." He asks me if I saw what happens and explains the guy to his left acted out of turn (which also happens to be his friend). hmm, well the guy in-between already called and if they had real dealers it would have been disallowed, but I say nothing except fine, I am watching you though. He then takes his raise back and says since I upset I lady I take it back,,, what actually happened is that the three seats up to him called (his raise out of turn scared them not). Then when action is to him, he takes about 1 second per chip to put them in the pot staring a hole in my head the entire time. I look at him and say, this isn't a time game, take all week if you want it doesn't bother me. He then tells the guy on his left (his buddy) to raise, the guy is in the process of placing his call and doesn't have enough chips to raise and goes back to get them, the guy to his left calls sting bet. Another hand the guy on my left folds raising his hand up to the 12 o'clock position in viewing sight of the head colluder and then mucks it. I left and told the floor they should either teach their dealers how to control a table or perhaps he himself would like to monitor table 19. Too many people to mention so I will stick with the new ones I just met. The occupant, Marc Guiltin what a sweetie. Gary "CreepShow" Furness really nice to meet after reading all his great posts and he really is tighter than Russ Fox :-p), but hey that didn't scare me I CALL, I RAISE.. I suck out now :-) Well OK not all the time, nice playing with you. Fern who I used to play with on PokerPages, nice to put a face to cyberspace and a really cool woman. Mickdog funny guy and pleasant to play with. Chuck Humprey who politely corrected my raising ways (how much is a raise, I put it in without saying anything.. hard to play a game you don't know and do everything right, thanks for the patience :-) But then again, it was dead money... so best not to scare the fish :-) John Hartzell, nice guy and nice to meet. AllKinight Adam Bachrach, who left a game shortly after I entered and I had no idea what I had stepped in. About five hands into it I inquire what the yellow chips are. The response was tournament chips, huh? It's called "live action" or some such. Whoever wins the pot gets a chip, whoever collects the most chips at that table wins money in the "tournament" six tables in play. Ah action x 100 that's what I stepped in. D'Jack one cool cat. Barbara Gallamore another cool lady that has seen it all. Nolan "suck out" Hee and his lovely wife, Faith. Stu Resnick, John Vorhaus, Ron Galicia, Harry Baldwin, Kyle, Scott, Eric Kirk, and anybody else I forgot :-) I didnt get the chance to met WCPP, i,e, Kenneth - but with his tongue and check post, perhaps that was just as well, lol. Then there were the LA Poker Classic ARG'er. I am talking to a friend from the East when I spot a leather flag jacket, hmm could this be the Minneapolis/Vegas Nit? I saw his name on the board as a super winner entry for this event and decide to take a shot. I walk over and inquire if he is Jim Meehan, affirmative, now, had I been sure I would have said something more clever. But anyway nice to meet you Jim, and now I know what a Nit looks like :-) The next day I spotted what appeared to be the winner of the WPC, Jack Fox, ascending the stairs as I was descending, so I congratulated him and got a delayed thank you, must have been thinking about what the congratulations could have been for, after all this is California and you're only as good as your last tourney. Perhaps I should have paused and asked for an autograph, nah... lawyers never sign anything :-) Chris "Jesus" Ferguson is behind me in the snack bar line, actually he kind of melodically sashshay's over behind me, so I say something corny like "Sorry, though this be a ballroom, no dancing allowed" He smiles and hands me a buffet ticket and tells me it's good for the snack bar as well. Guess he appreciates bad humor, or at least not being fawned over, or perhaps I looked hungry or poor or both. I also met Barry Shulman and see Jeff Shulman whom I had met a couple of years ago at Foxwoods. IGHN Joan