The best hand in the Bloggers Tourney

Never mess with the Hammer. Al should know better...

PokerStars Game #2126029411: Tournament #9680072, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/07/17 - 19:23:00 (ET)
Table '9680072 5' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: BiffPokeroba (5585 in chips)
Seat 2: sloshr (7185 in chips)
Seat 3: IlliniFan (5465 in chips)
Seat 4: chrisdhal (1745 in chips)
Seat 5: Random101 (4295 in chips)
Seat 6: dowdawg1 (945 in chips)
Seat 7: OtterChaos (3155 in chips)
Seat 8: Maudie (4005 in chips)
Seat 9: AlCantHang (5880 in chips)
AlCantHang: posts small blind 100
BiffPokeroba: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to IlliniFan [5d 9d]
sloshr: raises 1300 to 1500
IlliniFan: folds
chrisdhal: folds
OtterChaos said, "just saw the strangest thing..."
Random101: folds
dowdawg1: folds
OtterChaos said, "the Hammer lost to AA"
OtterChaos: folds
Maudie: folds
AlCantHang: calls 1400
BiffPokeroba: folds
*** FLOP *** [3d 7s 2h]
AlCantHang: bets 4380 and is all-in
sloshr: calls 4380
sloshr said, "**** YA"
AlCantHang said, "oh no"
*** TURN *** [3d 7s 2h] [7c]
BiffPokeroba said, "lol"
Maudie said, "oh crap!"
*** RIVER *** [3d 7s 2h 7c] [3c]
OtterChaos said, "that's more like it"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
AlCantHang: shows [Qh Qc] (two pair, Queens and Sevens)
sloshr: shows [2s 7h] (a full house, Sevens full of Threes)
sloshr said, "YA BABY!"
sloshr collected 11960 from pot
IlliniFan said, "lol"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11960 | Rake 0
Board [3d 7s 2h 7c 3c]
Seat 1: BiffPokeroba (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: sloshr showed [2s 7h] and won (11960) with a full house, Sevens full of Threes
Seat 3: IlliniFan folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: chrisdhal folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Random101 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: dowdawg1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: OtterChaos folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Maudie (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: AlCantHang (small blind) showed [Qh Qc] and lost with two pair, Queens and Sevens

Play in Charlie's Tourney

If you don't know who Charlie is, click here. This is a great story about how the poker community has come together. If you haven't heard about it, take a look at some of the blogs on my roll. There are people out there who knew a lot more about him than I do.

I just want to help (in case anyone is actually reading this that doesn't already know about it) and tell people to sign up for the tourney on Pokerstars. Sunday, July 17th at 6pm Eastern. It is a private tourney, but has no password. All the proceeds will go to a charity that will be chosen by Charlie's family.

Go dontate to a good cause.

Multi-Way Pot Odds?

Posted a question to 2 + 2 here. Anyone out there have any additional thoughts about Multi-Way pots? Here's the full text if you don't want to follow the link:


I did a search, but couldn't find previous posts on determination of probability if you are in a multi-way pot (I either got a huge list or nothing depending on how I tried to search). Anyone have a link to an old discussion or a book recommendation?

I’m curious as there are so many players that are new to the game and understanding odds that there seem to be very few heads-up pots at the micro limits where I play. I understand odds in heads-up situations, but what happens in multi-way action? Do I subtract the odds for the players with fewer outs from the player with the more outs? I have been trying to reduce this by choosing tables with a low number of players seeing the flop, but at micro-limits the turnover is pretty high so it is difficult to find tables with a low percentage seeing the flop.

Here’s an example, I hold AsKd and raise 3XBB pre-flop into a 10-player table. I have 3 callers (pretty typical in a lot of micro-limit games where players “just want to see a flop”). The flop is Ad 5h 8h. I have top pair, top kicker. However, there are other hands out there, with the heart flush draw being the hand with the most outs. So I (I’m going to use very rough numbers) have a 60% win rate vs. the flush. Say there is one player with Ax offsuit, they have a (roughly) 10% to hit two pair with one of the three remaining undercards. Say there is a player with a 67(suited or unsuited, I’ve seen both call), they have a (roughly) 20% chance to hit their open-ended straight. Say the last pair has a small pocket pair that they didn’t hit their set, they have (roughly) 8% to hit their set. Do I just take my 60% probability vs. the flush and subtract 10% from the Ax draw, 20% from the straight draw and 8% for the set draw, leaving me with odds to win of 22%?

If this is the case, too many fish can actually be a huge hit to your probability of winning at these low limits. Is too many fish a bad thing?

Obviously, I should have paid more attention in my Probability Class…thanks for the help.

Emotion

This week's discussion topic is emotion. You hear so many pros talk about this topic. The problem is the inability of many players (me included) from becoming emotionally invested in the game.

I remember when I first started playing, I would marry those pocket Aces. Until death of my bankroll or the river, whichever came first (in those days, my bankroll). Why? I was emotionally invested in the hand. Aces never lose, right? Be aggressive, push with them, right? I can't lay down the best starting hand in poker....but that's what it is, the best STARTING HAND. Not the best hand after the flop, turn, or river. Just the best pre-flop.

Sometimes you get the feeling that a player or players are targeting you, reraising you on purpose. Pushing you around. A lot of times, you are right. They have tagged you as an emotional player and have decided to get under your skin and put you on tilt. And it works.

The hardest part of the game for me lately is dealing with normal variance. I no longer am married to the Aces. I may raise pre-flop, but if warning bells start going off I can lay them down. I have learned to play smarter, and have started to study my game and see that I am no longer emotionally invested in any individual hand.

But, looking at my play, I am still emotionally invested in the game. When I have a bad day or week and my bankroll is seeing some "variance" I get grouchy. I get a short fuse and bark at the wife, Mrs. Fan. I neglect the list of stuff I need to do around the house and mope. If I have a good day or week, I have more energy and get a lot more done. I have learned to let go of emotion during single hands, but am still working on the emotion around my entire game.

I understand why a lot of internet pros talk about depression. It is hard, hard work. I don't think I will ever even try to be a pro, I don't think I could handle the swings and the emotions that go with them unless I can learn to not be so invested in the game.

But the bankroll is what a player uses to determine how well they are playing. It is your "score" as to how good a player you are. It is a vicious circle. You have to learn to not hold on to your score in order to be truly competitive.

So, here I am. Trying to learn from my mistakes of being too invested. I'm going to make a real effort for the next several weeks to not care about my bankroll, and not be obsessive about it. Hopefully, I can let it go and become a better player. If anyone has advice on how you have managed these situations, please start some comments or drop me a line. See you at the tables.

Close, sooo very close

Well, my try for the 2005 WSOP, like many others out there, is officially over. Time of death, Sunday, July 3rd, about 8:35pm Eastern.



I should have known better. It was a disappointing loss. After about 3 hours of solid play, I was in 14th position in chips. I had just under T13000 when I sat in the SB and saw AJ diamonds. Folded around to a guy with T2000ish more than I had. Blinds were 500/1000. Ante of 125. Guy raises to 2500. So a smallish bet, and I put him on a small pocket pair. So I make my mistake. I push all-in, thinking he won't call. He can't call. A loss would cripple him.

Alas, he turns over PRESTO!. Flop has a 5, turn pairs the board for him to rake in with a full house. And he gets a seat to the WSOP. Me, there is always next year.