good reads don't always mean you get paid

well - the trip to harrah's today was pretty straightforward normal poker, it was the normal side of poker where you get your money into pots when you are ahead and get out of them when someone catches what they need to get ahead of you. I didn't play long, but I took some valuable lessons away. Here are the few big hands that impacted my stack.

2 hands after I sat down, I had AQ offsuit in middle position. The man on the big blind had tried to go all in blind before the cards were dealt because he was upset(called tilting) from the previous pot. Normally I would raise with this hand, but I didn't want to scare him away if he was willing to put his money in that easily. So 5 (each in for $4) of us saw the flop come out Qh 8h 2c. Everyone checks to me and I bet $15. Everyone folds their cards but Mr. Tilt. I'm actually happy about this, I assume no matter what card comes on the turn he is going to push all in and that he is floating. (floating means to call a bet on the flop with the intention of bluffing at the pot later). Sure enough the turn comes a 6h and he goes all in for his remaining $30. Now there is a possible flush out there, but I just don't think he has the flush. He could have gotten lucky and hit two pair or have hit trips. but I definitely don't think he has trips and if he has two pair, he must really be in with bad cards. Since I have only $30 more to call, and I can clean him out, I go ahead and make the crying call to see him turnover his 62 for two pair and a 6 comes on the river to give him a boat.

- So what did I learn from this hand. Just because someone is on tilt and is trying to give you their money - doesn't mean that at some point in the hand, they won't catch up and try to win your money. I'm probably lucky he had as little as he did, because I thought I was trapping him (and I was until the turn) and he ended up trapping me. However, if he wasn't on tilt, he wouldn't have been in the hand in the first place and it would have played differently. I will remember not to discount the cards a tilting player is playing next time this situation comes up.

Consequently, we talked about this hand about a half hour later and he said -wow did i get lucky there. i really was just trying to give my chips away so I could leave. it happens i said - you can try and give them to me next time and we laughed.

The very next hand, I had A10 clubs.I limped in for $2 and it was raised to $10 preflop. I call the additional $8.
Flop comes out As 9c 5h. I check to see what the bettor will do. He bets $15 and I call. Turn is a Qh. Because of his preflop raise I've got him on a bigger A then me, he could have a pocket pair, so I check to him to see what he does. He bets out $20. I fold and am a little irritated with myself. I should have reraised him on the flop to see what he did and defined my hand a little more. I don't know whether I was behind, I felt that I was, so I folded. I also might have been a little gunshy because of the previous hand, so it may have cost me the pot, I'll never know.

A few hands later I had A9 hearts in the small blind. It had been raised to $7 preflop by someone ahead of me, so I smooth called hoping for hearts to come out with 3 of us in the pot. Instead the flop came out 9d 8h 5d. Well top pair good kicker seems good to me, I bet out $10. The original raiser raises to $25. This could mean he has a bigger pair or even the nut flush draw. At this point I'm think I will probably call his raise, but I have to see what the other person in the pot is going to do. Surprise and out of nowhere he is all in for $146. That changes everything. What does that bet mean, I ask myself. Is he protecting two pair or trips from the straight or the flush draws? Does he already have the straight - does he just have top pair. I actually think that is an overly risky move for someone who just has top pair, and I've played with him before, so I think at the very minimum he has trips and is trying to get the draws out. Either way, I feel I'm beat and lay down top pair with top kicker. Original raiser lays down his hand too and he rakes the pot. As he is throwing his hand away, he turns it up and he had 67 off suit. he had flopped the straight and was scared of the flush and that is why he bet so big.

After that I went for a lot of hands without playing one. then I got pocket KK. I raised to $10 and everyone folded. I think I won a $5 pot.

i then played a while and got pocket 10/10. since everyone folded for $10, I thought I would try raising to $7. I got 3 callers. Flop comes out 8c 5c 3s. Checks to me and i bet out $15. Mr tilt from earlier calls me and one other person calls as well. Mr tilt says he will see one more and the other guy says he is going to see more than that. I think one of them has hit a piece of it and one of them is probably on a draw. Right now I have Mr tilt on the draw. The turn card comes 8d. Mr tilt says uh-oh and bets out $15. Other guy calls and i think my top pair just got beat by three of a kind so I fold. River is a 5. Mr tilt bets and other guy folds. Mr tilt shows the 8. Good lay down.

ok last hand. I'm on the button and look down a while later and see pocket AA. SWEET! Everyone has limped so far, and I had already learned that $10 was too big a raise if I want to keep some players in, so I make it $7. all limpers call and the pot is $35 preflop. The flop comes out Jh 6c 8d. This is great. I'm absolutely positive I have the best hand right now unless someone got really sneaky with a pocket pair and has just hit three of a kind. The guy in 1st position bets out $15. Everyone folds to me. I'm thinking he probably has something like KJ, QJ, J10, J9. there is no flush draw, but there is a straight draw. I think since he has top pair and probably a good kicker, I can probably get him to double me up, so i raise him the rest of my stack for a total of $46. I see him hesitating, he thinks about folding - and then he calls. I turn up my AA and he says nice hand. he has his cards in his hand ready to muck after the last card. The turn comes an inconsequential 4. At this point I still don't know what he called me with. then the dealer shows a 10 on the river. The player shows his cards, j10 for two pair, and says sorry. that's ok I say. good hand, nice catch, and I get up from the table. I would play this last hand exactly the same way. I knew exactly where I was and I got all my money in good - he had to catch up to win the pot. In the long run that should win me money.

so in most of these hands I knew when I was ahead and I knew when I was behind - but that didn't mean I won any money today, but at least I did gain a little bit of confidence and some more experience for tomorrow.

I told my boss one day when we were talking about poker that usually at this level people have what they are representing. there are definitely some who are good enough to tell the story and take the bluff, but most have what they say they have with the bets if we are just able to understand what they are trying to tell us. My goald is to just keep listening to the story. One other thing is that I need to start playing a little more aggressively. Check raise instead of check call - this should help me define my position and maybe take a few more pots than I should.

till next time.

peace and love and happiness to all

a positive start

Time to get to work.

Over memorial weekend, I had the opportunity to play a small tournament game with a few friends. I won the tournament and the payout was $100. In addition, I doubled my buy in money in the cash game after and won a very small 1 table tourney last night online. I played one other small tourney online and took 5th place, but overall I feel good about the start of my career as a poker player. My friends have informed me that they will not be able to donate to me like that every week - so I have to get out in the big bad poker world and get to work.

Its a good thing I feel positive about that, because it was hard to say goodbye to folks for the last time today at my company. It felt a little surreal driving away from the company for the last time and I was definitely emotional. I left a lot of very good people and sincerely hope that I keep in touch with most.

peace and love and happiness to all
kk

The adventure begins...

I've been playing recreational poker for several years with a small group of fairly competitive and very talented people. We play home games, bar games and we even spend a little time in the casinos. We talk strategy and hand play, and spend a lot of time giving each other an all-around hard time for donkey plays. We each psychically rub our hands together in glee when a poor player (known as a fish) comes into the game, because we can start to chip away at their stacks. We all talk about how great it would be to get the chance to play big tournaments with big prize pools and even a few of us have dreamed of playing poker for a living. Thanks to a recent downsize by my company, of which I was a part, I think my opportunity to do that has unexpectantly arrived.

We had heard rumors for several months that something was going to happen, we just weren't sure how big it would be. On Tuesday, 5/20/2008 - we were told it would be around 20% of our department. On Wednesday at 12:02, I got the call to meet my manager in a conference room and heard the news.

Honestly, I wasn't surprised my position was eliminated. The company had a history of providing very generous separation packages, so by the time Wednesday came around, I was kinda hoping they would offer me one and truthfully I was also scared they would. I had decided by Tuesday night that if I got a package, I would sit down and seriously decide whether I could give playing poker to pay my bills a go.

The answer is yes.

Amazingly enough - most people are totally excited about me doing this. (we'll talk about the exceptions in a minute) I think the supporters are living a little vicaruously through me. Not that they want to play poker, but they are happy that I am chasing something I've always wanted to do and they looka little wistful for a few moments after they tell me that's awesome.

There are a handful who don't think I should - and there are people who I think will tell me it isn't a good idea. (my parents for example). I don't hold it against them. They love me and want me to be successful in a conventional way - in the way that won't mean I might struggle or go broke. I understand that, but I am by nature, a risk taker. I like new adventures and I'm excited about this one.

I'm planning on approaching it like a business. I plan on playing at least 40 hours a week with a schedule that puts me in a casino 2-3 days a week and at online tables the remaining ones. In addition, I'm planning to split my winnings up in this way. 70% to household expenses and 30% to an account for taxes until bills are paid for the month, then 70% to bankroll and 30% for taxes.

I am being paid through 5/30 - then its off on the big adventure.

My hope is to use this blog as a way to keep the people who know me and are interested updated on my life as well as use it as a way to journal my progress. I anticipate many mistakes and misteps especially in the begining and if my blogging then keeps someone else from making the same ones, than great. Also, From a selfish perspective, journaling my play will help keep me focused and allow me a way to go back and review my decisions as well as those of a few competitors. But this blog won't just be about poker hands and pot odds, it will be about mental state and what a new player goes through getting started, it will be about my life since the lay off and how it has changed.

More on the adventures soon.
peace and love and happiness to all.