Bubble Trouble

Ah, the dreaded bubble; my arch nemesis.

I had a good relationship with bubbles for the majority of my life - blowing and popping them off pets and younger siblings was always a joy. Then there's bubble-wrap, a great way to fill useless minutes of the day, who could resist? Presently, however - I hate bubbles. This is primarily due to the anxiety and regret they fill me with after a sub-par showing at a tourney. What could be more painful than working hard, making great reads, solid lay downs and pulling a little luck out of your ass just when you need it - only to bust out as the first place loser. Ouch.

Sometimes it's necessary to focus my late tournament play primarily on missing the bubble - and rightfully so! Poker is all about decision-making, and when the bubble is lerking, those decisions must be even more thought out.

I've folded pocked Aces just one time in my life and it was because of bad positioning and a mean bubble threat. Here's how it went down...

Late into a tourney, with 10 people left (only the final table of nine getting paid), I was dealt pocket Aces in early position. I opened with a raise (3 times the blind) that I hoped would isolate one or two players so I could build my stack with their chips just before the final table. Well, I isolated two players alright...most folded, but one player (let's call Player A) re-raised and the button (let's call Player B) pushed all in.

Not good news for me; Player B had me covered and from where I was sitting Player A looked like he did too - by atleast a few chips. Now, normally I would call without too much concern, after all - I am sure I have the best hand currently. But with only my initial raise committed - I had to bet my life on these two tiny aces. Not only could I suffer a bad beat, but I would be the bubble boy if they didn't hold out.

"Pick your battles," I thought to myself.

After much thought and brain cramping consideration - I threw my cards to the muck.

Player A turned over AK suited; Player B (Or should I say Mr. Gretzky) turned over pocket nines. At first I wanted to physically harm myself - every second thought that could go through my mind - did! Obviously, with pocket A's, I would be a huge favorite!

The flop were rags for the most part, except for the fact that a couple of deuces had paired the board immediately...I felt my stomach flip. The turn - oh glorious turn... a nine. I'll never forget that it was the nine of hearts because I felt the love emanating from the felt. Mr. Gretzky hit a full boat! (The river was another rag.) Player B busted out with his AK...on the bubble.

As I said, there wasn't too much of a difference in chips between him and I. The real difference was in our awareness of the dreaded bubble and how willing and confident we were to put everything on the line in the face of it.

Kudos to Mr. Gretzky, with a much higher chip count and great positioning, he could risk the large re-raise to buy the pot, or in this particular case, bust his opponents bubble.

Delik

A Rare Sighting

When I woke up yesterday, I could count how many times I have held a straight flush on just two fingers - today I'll need three.

Much like car accidents and phone calls from long distance relatives, straight flushes occur when they are least expected. Although I have no children, I imagine discovering a straight flush in your hand is much like the miracle of birth. Sheer joy. Not just the knowing that you unequivocally have THE NUTS in the hand, but that you've got the 'odds' right by the balls! No matter who you are or how many hands you've seen, there is truly nothing like it - like a Bigfoot sighting of sorts.
(No worries - I've run out of analogies!)

But the joy is fleeting - I still have a hand to play after all! My goal hasn't changed much: extract as much money from my opponents as possible - this was particularly interesting given the circumstances...

I went into the hand on the Button, unpaired - Js/8c; the flop came 5c/6c/Jd.

I was pleased to hit top pair and honestly hoped to take the pot down right then, because my kicker was terrible and there were two clubs out. This didn't work; I still had two players to the turn, which was 7c. I still might be ahead with top pair, but after they both call another raise - I am sure I'm dead to a flush and can envision folding on the river.

Just before the river was dealt I heard that nutty little voice in my head, "Hey, four of clubs gets you a straight flush - one outer! one outer!" I can hardly believe it myself, but instead of being the bearer of salt for my wounds - this little voice was Nastra-freaking-domis. River: 4c.

I managed to get one of the two players left to donate more chips. It turns out I rolled over a pocket pair of Kings that had evolved into a King high flush.

With a smile still firmly attached to my face, I marked my calendar - next one is due August, 2010.

Delik

(Snap shot of this hand available below, in my "Grease the Rail" section. )

Ace-Queen Disdain

I recently had a lively discussion with a player, post-bust, who blew his stack literally and figuratively after his AQ faltered big time. Why is it that anyone would think AQ would qualify as an automatic call to an all-in hand pre-flop?
Now I know that there is a time and place where it might be, (short stack on the button for example), but generally, I find this hand can get you into a lot of trouble.

The basics: Against any pocket pair JJ or less you are only getting 50:50 OR if your opponent is tilting and holds two random cards (say 5-6) they are still 'live' and can be caught to suck out on you (same odds of hitting anything as you have.) Worse still, are the kinds of hands that would reasonably raise to all-in pre-flop that could end nearly all hope for your AQ...
Your unsuited AQ against AA gets you to only 18% to win, KK 22%, QQ 30% and even AK 25%. This doesn't get much better even if you are suited; these numbers are dismal.

I notice a lot of players have wised up to the fact that AK is a tricky starting hand and will bite you in the ass more often than not - so why have they moved onto playing similarly with AQ, which even the bottom of the barrel rookies can tell is not as valuable as the AK from the starting gate?

Well, I think the AQ needs some nicknames like its cousin the AK that drives the point home. My favorite for AK is Anna Kournikova - looks good but loses every time. This gets the point across as directly as possible that AK sucks more often than not. Over time - with sayings much like this one, players began to get embarrassed when they got felted and had to turn over a losing AK. Others would roll their eyes and think - 'there goes another one.'

I played three sit-and-goes yesterday and I must have seen more ridiculous AQ moves than I could have ever expected. I think the trouble is that some players will not face the ugly truth that no matter how good your hole cards may look pre-flop, they can quickly turn to dust after the flop and must be thrown to the muck if it comes down to an all-in. Don’t fall for the lure of invincibility that comes with a hand like AQ; it has all the disadvantages of the AK that you’re too 'embarrassed to lose with' - plus some.

As for Ace-Jack...don't get me started.

Delik

Drink Up

To this day I am continually amazed when I am at a poker tournament and see people chug back beer after beer during the course a game. Let us not forget why alcohol is free at casinos in the first place - a drunk player is a losing player...especially at a skill and thinking game like poker!

I remember a time back in CT when I had a regular weekly game at a club of guys twice to three times my age that had many drinkers around the felt. You'd figure they would use their additional years of wisdom for their benefit, but alas, they usually would not. Don't get me wrong...I do love these types of players - it means less work for me! You can pick them out pretty quickly and then avoid conflict with them for a few levels, all the while they get plowed and you watch their every move. Tells and betting patterns don't change when a person becomes inebriated, they are amplified...less work for me!

One time, on a particularly crowded night at this club's tournament (about 60-70 players), I was delighted to see one of my favorite drunkards moved to my table after we lost a few short stacks at once to a big Set a player caught on the turn. More interestingly - he came with a pile of chips and his signature Bud-Light ('when you want to feel the buzz, but not be weighed down with all those calories'). It took only another hour or so for him to lose track of things and develop the need to see every hand down to the river and bluff in a lot of really bad spots. Somehow though, he made some lucky comebacks and started running really good again, managing to hang in there right down to the last 9 players; final table.

It was then that I decided I really needed to take him out. Since the tourney paid only to the top five - I wanted make sure I didn't finish the night unpaid or worse...on the bubble because of a lucky drunk. I knew that luck runs out, and when it does, all he's left with is a cloudy head. Additionally, I had a moderate stack, but mine plus his would be sweet! The moment we came off of break to start the final table I wanted to ensure he was ready, so I bought him a beer. Oh yeah - that's right, a $3 investment in my future.

Long story short - I finished 3rd that night and Bud Light finished 7th or 8th.
Friends shouldn't let friends play drunk, but top players should buy the round.

Delik

The Magic Combination

I recently ran into a pretty brutal table in the way of vicious exchanges just recently...

I find there is no better exercise of patience quite like a low stake internet game. You tend to see some pretty unpredictable plays from weak players that will toss curveball after curveball, most of which make no sense whatever and can provide the sort of stings that you won't get at a table full of moderate to good players. The reason: I'm playing with a sense for pot odds, position and betting patterns - none of which can be counted on in the slightest from anyone else sitting across the virtual felt in these games.

As previously stated- this table, on top of all these poor players and even worse plays, there was some serious trash talking. The first five hands was an all out war of words in the classic "I'm better than you are" style. It's in this situation that you just want to shut up the antagonists and bust them quick and painlessly...well, quick anyway. Unfortunately, in the game of poker it can take a while before you exact your revenge, though not on this night.

In the sixth hand I was pleased to see two black Kings promptly dealt at just the right time. Just as would be expected, the three primary name-callers were not cautious at all to my pre-flop raise and we went together to the flop where I hit trips (X-K-8); more betting. The turn was a blank (X-K-8-X), but this time the damage to two of my foul-mouth friends was too much for them to continue - however the last one was all too happy to keep going and called another bet. The river was a wink from the poker Gods, eight to pair the board (X-K-8-X-8) giving me a full house, which solidified the end of Big Mouth #1. Two to go.

The very next hand I got pocket AA's, but other than a low raise pre-flop, I squeezed no more chips from the table and took it down on the flop.

Hand number eight: Pocket Jacks. Now since I didn't show the Aces when I won the last hand I decided to make it look like I was getting over-confident and running a string of bluffs by putting out a small, but solid raise before the flop. Very quickly Big Mouth #2 and #3 bit the hook and when a third Jack soon followed, I reeled them in and busted them both with the help of their own egos.

It turns out I got my 'quick', but they were unlucky with the 'painless' part.

Delik

Jekyll/Hyde Factor

Funny thing about these labels we attach to ourselves with such impermeable closeness that they become a permanent part of our identity. I’ve found in my travels that it is very important to know the distinct differences between them, (as well as their hybrids i.e. tight/aggressive, loose/passive), but moreso, it is important to not tattoo just one individual player-type or even some choice combination of player-type on your poker physique.

When I sit in at a table, be it cash game or tourney - I have no idea what kind of player I going to be.

I liken sitting at a poker table, especially in a tournament, to being on death row. A bunch of people - all shifty-eyed and twitchy. Some will smile to your face, while thinking of felting you before you can blink an eye. Some will just flat out growl at you. So here we have this interesting bunch stuck in the same small space together, nose to nose, just working to keep their time from running out. Doing all they can, every appeal if you will, to just double-up and go on. These ever changing, unexpected situations and personalities will all need to be treated differently.

Example:
I hate the jackasses that always seem to take a 50/100 blind to an All-In Bet by the flop every hand for half an hour. In this situation I just happen to be the tightest, most solid player you have ever seen. I’m going to be folding 99% of my starting hands.

Eventually though, one of two things will happen:
The aforementioned jackass just will bust out because of the law of averages and drift into the poker afterworld.. OR - I’ll run into AA, KK, or AKs and it will be me personally selling the ticket to the aforementioned jackass, to go off to the aforementioned poker afterworld! Still, knowing that my decisions have been limited to such a small scope - I have a lot of free time on my hands. Perhaps now would be a perfect time to work on my Tells.

Although this is one of my largest pet peeves, it also provides one of my greatest joys in life…watching these players go down.
And they do - every…single… time.

In Comparison, I played a tournament a week ago in which I was anything but tight. At a nice little live sit and go, forty players or so with a starting stack of 2k for a $100 buy-in. It was a Thursday night and I noticed immediately that a large majority of the players had come right from work. With drinks in hand the gabbed about politics and weather patterns. And you know what? They were really having fun.
Me too after all - they wouldn’t even defend a blind with the worry of getting kicked out of the little gabfest. I found that a ¾ to pot size bet would move them off everything. Additionally, when I was beat I knew it - quick and with low chip casualties. Throughout the first few levels of play I slowly ate up a large percentage of the each of my opponents stacks. Eliminating only 3 of 8 while leaving 5 others in all-in / fold situations. Now, as I sit back and change back over to tighter play - I’ll wait for the short stacks to knock out and move me into a money position very shortly. I’ll grab a few blinds with my newly formed tight image and take down some big pots with premium hands when the times are right.
Next stop final table… with a whole new scenario and more characters to meet.
Who do you think was a better poker player - Jekyll or Hyde?