The Poker Moth

Here’s a fun little quandary for you.

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http://www.holdemmanager.net
PL Omaha $0.20(BB)

SB ($19.73)
BB ($9.94)
UTG ($42.11)
Dermoth ($15.36)
CO ($11.98)
Button ($28.29)

Let’s get the introductions out of the way first; the BB is quite loose passive, and the cutoff is VERY loose passive; I haven’t seen him raise in 60 hands, and he plays 60% of his hands. (Yes, I am using tracking software again). As for me, I’m a little bit tilty after losing a 90/10 race a few hands ago.

SB posts (SB) $0.10
BB posts (BB) $0.20

Dealt to Dermoth 4h 7c Ad Ac
fold,
Dermoth calls $0.20

I have a bad habit of limping Aces in Omaha.  This is partly because I’ve been playing a lot of full ring PLO, where preflop raising isn’t much better than setting fire to your money. However, I’ve moved to 6max games in the last few days, and I’m a lot busier preflop in the short-handed game, but I still limp a lot of aces for disguise, and the opportunity to reraise shortstacks. No-one’s short enough here to justify that angle, though. I should have raised.

CO raises to $0.90
fold, fold,
BB calls $0.70

So, a raise from the loose-passive player (who I’ve never seen raise preflop before), followed by a call from the other LAP.  The pot’s now big enough for me to 3bet and get all the chips in on the flop. Thing is, I’m almost positive the Cutoff has aces as well, and the chances are they’re better than mine. Nonetheless, I decide to pot it back at them and worry about my side cards on the flop (if nothing else, we can divvy up the BB’s money)…

Dermoth raises to $3.70
CO calls $2.80
BB calls $2.80

FLOP ($11.20) Ah 8c 4s

OK, so the Cutoff doesn’t have aces.  I’m pretty sure about that, now. The problem here is that my 3bet preflop has effectively turned my hand face-up; there’s no way I can earn any more money by betting here. So, let the checking begin!

check, check, check,

TURN ($11.20) Ah 8c 4s 8d
BB bets $0.20

Owoosay… lol? I couldn’t have dealt this any better myself, and, err, what’s with the minbet? It has to be a spectacularly pathetic blocking bet with an 8 in his hand, surely?  No point raising here, I just call and hope that he fills up on the river.

Dermoth calls $0.20
CO calls $0.20

RIVER ($11.80) Ah 8c 4s 8d 8s
BB bets $6.04 (AI)

Oh, fuck off! And the hand history doesn’t reflect the incredible speed with which all the remaining chips went in the middle; with two players still to act, it’s a hell of a bluff. On the other hand, I have the second nuts, I’m getting almost 3/1, and… he’s blatantly got the case eight. Or KK? He could have KK. The minbet on the turn  is deranged, but maybe… ah, fuck it, I call.

Dermoth calls $6.04
CO calls $6.04

Oh, fuck off! But there’s no time to digest this disastrous news before the showdown…

Dermoth shows 4h 7c Ad Ac
(Flop 76.1%, Turn 100.0%)

CO shows Kh 3h Jd Ks
(Flop 5.9%, Turn 0.0%)

So the Cutoff has KK! They can’t both have them, can they?

BB shows 7s Qs 6d As
(Flop 18.1%, Turn 0.0%)

!!!

Dermoth wins $28.92, and is very, very surprised…

———————————————-

The moral of the story; don’t play Omaha if you don’t know the rules. It had never even occurred to me that he could be shoving a Hold’em Boat. Although I would have been sick to my stomach if I had pulled out a hero fold there (and I very nearly did), the pain would have been lessened by the thought of the Big Blind trying to work out why he lost to KK. As it stands, he’s probably bemoaning his terrible luck… that lesson will whave to wait for another day.

Omaha is hard. But endlessly entertaining.

Yep, it’s another fascinating PLO hand history!

Actually, this one isn’t distance-quotes-fascinating in the same way that the last one was distance-quotes-fascinating. I’m mostly posting it up here because I’m either quite proud of the play I made,  or I just made a really rash move and got lucky. Only one way to find out!

Happily, I’ve worked out a way of getting at the text of iPoker’s hand histories, allowing me more time to DISSEMINATE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION (*). To wit -

It’s a $10 game, and I’ve been on the table for about ninety minutes. At one point, I was up to about $25, but some recent loose play has seen my stack dwindle down to $18 and change. I am on the button. The table is mostly made up of shortstackers, all of whom are terrible. On my right, I have a solid player with $20, and on my immediate left I have a..a well, he’s hard to pigeonhole. He joined the table with a short buy-in, played like a maniac, rebought a couple of times, eventually spun himself up to about $20, at which point he calmed right down and started playing solid TAG poker. However, he’s just been viciously sucked out on a couple of hands earlier, and is clearly tilting.

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Poker Ocean Burnley (No DP) 0.05/0.10, hand converted by the iPoker Converter at Talking-Poker
Visit Hand HQ to purchase hand histories from a range of sites, game types and levels.

saw flop | saw showdown

Button dermoth ($18.39)
SB ($13.78)
BB ($2.86)
UTG ($5.90)
UTG+1 ($1.45)
MP ($2.60)
CO-1 ($1.80)
CO ($19.90)

Preflop: dermoth is on the Button with 8 T 6 K
UTG calls 0.10, 1 fold, MP calls 0.10, 2 folds, dermoth calls 0.10, SB raises to 0.60, 1 fold, UTG calls 0.50, MP calls 0.50, dermoth calls 0.50.

Pretty standard to limp in with this on the button, and the call is mandatory; I’m getting 4-1 on my money.

Flop (2.50) 4 T K
SB bets 1.25, UTG calls 1.25, 1 fold, dermoth calls 1.25.

So, I flop top two pair on a fairly safe board. The SB bets half the pot, and with a caller coming round, I’m getting 4-1 on the call again. How many times have I lost money playing top two pair against a preflop raiser this way? LOADS. And I’ve only been playing PLO in earnest for a week or so…

Turn (6.25) 3
SB bets 6.25,

And not only does he bet the pot, he bets it like he was playing whack-a-mole. The turn card pops up and before you can blink, BANG, in goes the money. My thought process went pretty much like this – “Srsly? The three of diamonds? I’m supposed to believe that’s helped you in some way? None of this makes sense to me… I’m all-in”.

1 fold, dermoth raises to 16.54, SB moves all-in for 5.68.

And he calls, and for the record, looking back at it with the benefit of hindsight, I HATE my shove. As mentioned before, the old “I have top two pair, so he can’t have a set of kings or tens” just does not apply in Omaha. In Hold’em, when that happens, you take your lumps and complain about running bad. In Omaha… it’s standard.I also can’t rule out something like AA33, QQ33, JJ33… and pretty much everything else in his range has redraws against my rather weak hand. In hindsight, I think I should have folded. However…

River (34.72) Q

dermoth shows 8 T 6 K
SB shows 5 3 A A

dermoth wins 34.72 with Two pair, Kings and Tens with a Queen for a kicker

——————————————————————————————————–

…I’m glad I didn’t.  BUT. If I were to put him on Aces with no redraws – which would be one explanation for his panicky pot bet when the second flush draw arrives on the turn – I’d have been fading an ace, three, or four, and would have been a 62% favourite. OTOH, I could have been up against a big, big draw: AQJx with the spade draw, say. Against a hand like that I’m  exactly 50/50.  Throw in a wheel draw and I’m an underdog. Throw in a second flush draw and I’m… eww.

And that’s assuming I have the best made hand on the turn. I could always have been drawing dead to a set of Kings, or merely  miles and miles and miles behind to a lower set. But fortunately, I was just up against a flush draw + a gutshot wheel draw + superior two pair draws, and I was a WHOPPING 57% favourite to win the hand.

That’s sorted that out, then; it was a  textbook small favourite/ massive underdog ERROR, which ended up netting me quite a nice pot. I AM A FISH.

Omaha is hard.

OK, my least favourite PLO spot is flopping top set versus two undersets and getting one-outed. I don’t like that at all, but it’s hard to do anything about it. This hand history illustrates a far more complicated situation.

(I say hand history – this happened on iPoker, which, for some inexplicable reason, doesn’t do histories in text format, so I’m going to have to describe the action, rather than copy paste it…)

It’s a $20 full ring game, 10c/20c blinds. I have $29.33, my opponent in the hand has me covered by a couple of dollars. I’m dealt QQ73 rainbow in second position, and limp in. There are two limpers behind me, the SB folds, and the BB checks.  And up pops my nightmare flop – AQJ rainbow.

Middle set against three opponents, on that board… it’s horrible. There’s a strong chance I’m behind to the broadway straight already, and I’m not exactly chuffed if I improve to a full house, as it’s not going to be the nut full, and I know from bitter experience how weak Queens full can be in a multiway pot with an ace on board. If I don’t see the case queen on the turn, I’m going to be uncomfortable.

So I check. So does everybody else.

The turn brings an offsuit nine. T8 just joined AA (which I’m not too worried about) and KT in the list of hands that beat me. All things considered, though, it’s a pretty good card, which does minimal damage to my holding. Time to find out where I am! So I bet the pot, and get one caller.

The caller is on the spewy  side, and not known for slowplaying. I’ve just seen him dust off twenty dollars with bottom set, and find it hard to believe that he’d check the nut straight on the flop and then coldcall with it on the turn. So now, I’m scared of one thing, and one thing only – T8.

The river brings a five. Should I bet out? Probably. Do I? No. I check/call, or at least I would have done, had he bet. Instead, he checks behind with AJ for two pair, and I win a tiny pot.

So, on the face of it, not a momentous hand. I flopped a set, mislaid my balls, and won two dollar. I mention it here for two reasons; firstly,  it’s a nice illustration of the perils of Omaha, and secondly, I’m trying to work out if there’s any way I could have played it better. Maybe I should pot the flop? But I’m first of four players to act and could easily be dead to one card in the deck, and I’m trying to play smallball at this limit, particularly when out of position. So I think I like the check.

The pot bet on the turn is fine. It’s a fairly innocuous card which only improves one specific holding. (This is often enough to kill you in Omaha, of course). If I get reraised and call, I have a whole new set of problems on the river. If I fill up, do I check/call or bet/fold? Check/call, I think; a donkbet on a paired board is unlikely to be called by a straight, and I may end up folding to a weaker full house. And bet/call is horribly spewy, even if the river is another nine.  And what if I get reraised on the turn and miss the river? I have to check/fold to anything but the weediest value bet.

Of course, I don’t get reraised on the turn, and so to the river, which is where I’m really unsure about my line. There’s $3.14 in the pot… should I bet out?. Against a different player, I could well imagine that they’re playing the broadway straight cautiously; a lot of players will check/call nut straights to the river, and then jam it if it’s still the nuts. Against this opponent, that simply isn’t happening; I just saw him throw twenty dollars in the pot with bottom set on a flushy flop. So, should I put him on two pair and try and value bet the end?

On reflection, I find it hard to believe that he’d just call with T8 on the turn either, and feel I should have bet half the pot. If I’m reraised, I can give the hand up without too much difficulty, but nothing about his line suggests that he has me beat.

Ah well. One thing’s for sure. Omaha is hard when you don’t have the nuts…

Hey, it’s a bad beat story.

Fortunately, it’s only a $5 game; a little background poker while I do some work. Had this happened at a higher limit I’d have a mouth full of furniture right now…

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PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.02 BB (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

UTG+1 ($5)

MP1 ($11.39)

MP2 ($2.98)

MP3 ($2.62)

CO ($1)

dermoth (Button) ($4.80)

SB ($5.28)

BB ($3)

UTG ($3.74)

Preflop: dermoth is Button with 6, A, 9, A

UTG calls $0.02, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.02, MP2 bets $0.08, 2 folds, dermoth raises to $0.31, SB calls $0.30, 3 folds, MP2 calls $0.23

Flop: ($0.99) K, A, J (3 players)

SB bets $0.06, MP2 raises to $0.64, dermoth calls $0.64, SB calls $0.58

Turn: ($2.91) K (3 players)

SB checks, MP2 bets $2.03 (All-In), dermoth calls $2.03, SB raises to $4.08, dermoth calls $1.82 (All-In)

River: ($12.64) 7 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $12.64 | Rake: $0.60

Results:

dermoth had 6, A, 9, A (full house, Aces over Kings).

SB had K, 3, 9, K (four of a kind, Kings).

MP2 had J, 6, A, J (full house, Jacks over Kings).

Outcome: SB won $12.04

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It’s a fascinating hand. The small blind is a very tight player, and wouldn’t coldcall two bets preflop without a strong holding. We played a hand earlier where we both had aces; I raised preflop, he reraised, I threebet, and he flat called, then shoved on the flop which failed to improve his hand. ( I had flopped two pair with my raggy kickers, so called; he made a runner-runner broadway straight, of course).

The  player in MP2 is new to the table, and I have no reads on him.

The small blind bets super weak on the flop, which means he’s definitely hit something; MP2 makes a weakish reraise, which means he’s probably hit something too; and I’m sitting there with top set. I can only assume my opponents both have QT, or one has QT and the other an underset, or possibly one of them has KKQT/JJQT. There’s probably a flush draw out there, too.  I would never, in a million years, assume they both have undersets.

So, I just call. So does the Small Blind. And then he makes quads on the turn, so obviously he checks to the raiser, who instashoves with the worst possible full house.  The call is mandatory, and I want a call behind, so I’m not raising to isolate. When the SB shoves instead… eww. I knew I was behind; he could have been playing AK or KJ, but given his range and the action, it would have to be something very specific like AKQT, or KJQT. And by this point, I’ve worked out that the guy in MP2 has got a full house or quads as well, which means the number of hands the SB plays in that way that I can beat is pretty damn small. But it’s only $1.82 to call, and there’s $10.22 in the pot. Folding is clearly not an option.

Omaha, there. Sick, sick game. But fun.

So, I’m still playing micro limit Stud/8 on Stars. I’m currently alternating between four tabling the 10c/20c games and single-tabling higher up. And why am I still grinding the micro games? Because of hands like this -

PokerStars Game #20334990267:  7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit ($0.10/$0.20) – 2008/09/11 21:53:52 ET
Table ‘Mustel III’ 8-max
Seat 1: seat1 ($1.65 in chips)
Seat 2: dermoth ($12.74 in chips)
Seat 3: seat3 ($3.84 in chips)
Seat 4: seat4 ($2.29 in chips)
Seat 5: seat5 ($10.95 in chips)
Seat 6: seat6 ($3.83 in chips)
Seat 7: seat7 ($3.77 in chips)
Seat 8: seat8 ($3.61 in chips)
everyone: posts the ante $0.02

*** 3rd STREET ***

Dealt to seat1 [7h]
Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h]

Three to a six-low, with two diamonds. Why not?

Dealt to seat3 [Qs]
Dealt to seat4 [Ah]
Dealt to seat5 [3d]
Dealt to seat6 [5h]
Dealt to seat7 [Kh]
Dealt to seat8 [6h]
seat5: brings in for $0.05
seat6: calls $0.05
seat7: calls $0.05
seat8: calls $0.05
seat1: calls $0.05
dermoth: calls $0.05

I will usually raise in this spot to get more money in the pot, but the call felt right here. I mix my  3rd street raise/calls up a fair bit, which I believe is the correct strategy; I doubt many of my opponents are paying much attention to what I’m doing, but Stud/8 is a game where it pays to be unpredictable. (More so than other forms of poker, I mean).

seat3: folds
seat4: calls $0.05

So, just the seven players on 4th street. Tight!

*** 4th STREET ***

Dealt to seat1 [7h] [7c]
Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h] [Qd]
Dealt to seat4 [Ah] [Ac]
Dealt to seat5 [3d] [Ts]
Dealt to seat6 [5h] [Kd]
Dealt to seat7 [Kh] [6c]
Dealt to seat8 [6h] [8d]
seat4: bets $0.10
seat5: folds
seat6: folds
seat7: folds
seat8: calls $0.10
seat1: calls $0.10
dermoth: calls $0.10

Being a total noob at this game, I’m not sure how horrible this call is. I’ve got a three card draw in both directions, and as three card draws go, it’s not too shabby.

*** 5th STREET ***

Dealt to seat1 [7h 7c] [7s]

Zomg.

Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h Qd] [4d]

Woo! A four flush. Shame about the trips behind me. I’m drawing pretty thin here…

Dealt to seat4 [Ah Ac] [Ad]

ZOMG!!11

Dealt to seat8 [6h 8d] [2s]
seat4: bets $0.20
seat8: calls $0.20
seat1: calls $0.20
dermoth: calls $0.20

Yes, I know. It closed the betting, I was getting loads to one… and I’m almost certainly drawing dead for high and ultrathin for low.  Oh god, it’s so embarrassing… I did mention I was playing four tables, yes? Also, my mouse is unpredictable, and thinking back, I believe this was a misclick. Yes. A misclick.

*** 6th STREET ***

Dealt to seat1 [7h 7c 7s] [2c]
Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h Qd 4d] [9s]
Dealt to seat4 [Ah Ac Ad] [Th]
Dealt to seat8 [6h 8d 2s] [Jd]
seat4: bets $0.20
seat8: calls $0.20
seat3 said, “Call??”
seat3 said, “crazy”

More than you can imagine, my friend.

seat1: calls $0.20
dermoth: calls $0.20

Well, I’m not folding my sweet draw now, am I? Again, I’m closing the betting, and I’m getting 11/2, which would be just enough to call if it weren’t for the fact that five of my outs were already dead. Ah, well, to the punchline…

*** RIVER ***

Dealt to dermoth [2d 6d 4h Qd 4d 9s] [Jc]

Guess what? I lost this pot.

seat5 said, “wow”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE! LOOSE CALLS IN MICRO LIMIT GAME! MORE NEWS AT ELEVEN!

seat4: bets $0.20
seat8: folds
seat1: calls $0.20
dermoth: folds

Are you ready for the punchline? THIS is “wow”. I got your “wow” RIGHT HERE.

*** SHOW DOWN ***

seat4: shows [5d As Ah Ac Ad Th Tc] (HI: four of a kind, Aces)
seat1: shows [7d Qc 7h 7c 7s 2c Jh] (HI: four of a kind, Sevens)
seat4 collected $2.78 from pot
No low hand qualified

dermoth said, “wow”

It takes a lot to shock me. This… this shocked me. Not only was this the first quad over quad I’d seen in any game for several years, but take a look at that betting sequence…  Seat four makes quads and flat calls all the way to a showdown, for what can only be described as a small pot. And sure, they were drawing dead from fifth street onwards, but, but, but… HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? HOW DO YOU NOT VALUE BET QUADS?

The best bit was the subsequent table chat; the Sevens were left with about 80 cents after the hand, and complaining about stuff; I politely remarked that I was amazed they had any chips left at all, and more amazed that I had managed to get to seventh street against two quads. The response…

“Well, I could hardly fold quads, could I?”

No. No, you couldn’t. It’s now half an hour later, and my head is still involuntarily shaking in disbelief. I may end up with whiplash.

I just crashed out of a fascinating Betfair tourney in 9th place, just scraping into the money. I was chip leader or thereabouts for most of the tournament, but when we got down to the final 12, the bubble really kicked in, and a couple of eternities seemed to pass with no-one being knocked out. (This happens a lot on Betfair, with it’s very friendly chips/blinds structure). I was amazed to see I’d made the money, as last time I’d looked, there were still 11 runners left.

Anyway, I spent most of the bubble involved in a gargantuan tussle with a regular on the site, who shall not be named. I’ve played with him many times before, but never really crossed swords with him, but in this game he was sat on my immediate left, and with the game as tight as it was, there was lots of blind v blind encounters between us. I doubled him up after throwing an out of position gutshot semi-bluff push at him in a pot he’d raised, on a raggy board, but he was holding pocket Jacks, and I missed my four outs, which was unfortunate. Not as unfortunate as this, though -
————————————————————–
***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 380288308 *****
Table 2 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of active players : 5
Seat 1: bystander 1 ( 1,168.52 )
Seat 2: bystander 2 ( 11,184.96 )
Seat 4: dermoth ( 14,146 )
Seat 7: villain ( 23,313.52 )
Seat 8: bystander 3 ( 19,916 )
Tourney Level:9 Blinds(300/600-50 ante)
*everyone* posts ante [50]
dermoth posts small blind [300]
villain posts big blind [600]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to dermoth [ Js, Jd ]
bystanders – fold
dermoth calls [300]
————————————————————–
Yeah, damn right I’m trying to trap him here. We’d been at war for ages, bluffing at each other with gay abandon, and I was positive I could see his tiny, birdlike soul by this point.
————————————————————–
villain checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8c, 7c, As ]
dermoth bets [1,087.50]
villain raises to [2,175]
————————————————————–
So, my first big decision. I couldn’t give him credit for an ace. I doubted he gave me credit for one either. What to do? I dwelled up for ages, and decided I’d just call. A little weak, perhaps, but I was fairly sure I was well ahead and wanted to milk it.
————————————————————–
dermoth calls [1,087.50]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8s ]
dermoth checks
villain bets [5,800]
————————————————————–
And this is where my read goes sour. First up, I made a horrible error in not leading out. If he reraises, I’m done with the hand, but in spots like this where my opponent has taken the lead on the flop, I rarely lead out on the turn. But when he bets the pot at me… ah, credit where credit’s due, it was a great play on his part, and I totally fell for it. The sick thing is I was so obsessed with the issue of whether he had an ace that I never even considered that he might have been playing an eight. Hey, I’m hungover.
————————————————————–
dermoth goes all-in
dermoth raises to [11,321]
villain calls [5,521]
** Showdown **
dermoth shows [ Js, Jd ]
villain shows [ 8h, 3d ]
————————————————————–
It burns! It burns!
————————————————————–
** Dealing River ** [ 5s ]
** Hand Conclusion **
villain wins 28,442 from main pot with three of a kind, Eights
************ Game 380288308 ends ************
————————————————————–

Still, I got paid. It’s hard to know how to feel about my line here, really – on the one hand, I think I played pretty damn beautifully up until the turn, but to stack off like that was unnecessary. I’d seen him blow up in similar spots twice before; he was definitely capable of making that play with pure air, but by this point it had become personal, and I may have been motivated by a foolish desire to outplay him. That’s never smart.

Well, I guess I wanted to win the enormous pot, of course…

…fool, fool, defined by Websters:

n.

POKERSTARS GAME #15338713295: TOURNAMENT #77010173, $10+$1 HOLD’EM NO LIMIT – LEVEL XVII (2500/5000) – 2008/02/16 – 23:35:15 (ET)
Table ‘77010173 306′ 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: SMOKE225225 (38795 in chips)
Seat 2: SackAttack23 (151632 in chips)
Seat 3: VON COOLIO (100702 in chips)
Seat 4: wildogg2k5 (285979 in chips)
Seat 5: dermoth (102725 in chips)
Seat 6: dabomb1637 (88063 in chips)
Seat 7: hell®aiser (214127 in chips)
Seat 8: soupw (117966 in chips)
Seat 9: happenin33 (338922 in chips)
everyone: posts the ante 500
wildogg2k5: posts small blind 2500
dermoth: posts big blind 5000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dermoth [Td Qd]
dabomb1637: folds
hell®aiser: folds
soupw: raises 10000 to 15000
happenin33: calls 15000
SMOKE225225: folds
SackAttack23: folds
VON COOLIO: folds
wildogg2k5: calls 12500
dermoth: calls 10000
*** FLOP *** [3d 6s Tc]
wildogg2k5: checks
dermoth: checks

WHY? WHY ARE YOU CHECKING?

soupw: checks
happenin33: checks
*** TURN *** [3d 6s Tc] [Qh]
wildogg2k5: checks
dermoth: checks
soupw: bets 5000
happenin33: raises 10000 to 15000
wildogg2k5: raises 25000 to 40000
dermoth:

dwells up for about half an hour, mumbles “I know I’m beat” about forty times, then

raises 47225 to 87225 and is all-in
soupw: folds
happenin33: calls 72225
wildogg2k5: raises 183254 to 270479 and is all-in
happenin33: calls 183254
*** RIVER *** [3d 6s Tc Qh] [3h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
wildogg2k5: shows [Ts Th] (a full house, Tens full of Threes)
happenin33: shows [Ks Qs] (two pair, Queens and Threes)
wildogg2k5 collected 366508 from side pot
dermoth: shows [Td Qd] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
dermoth said, “nh”

Translation – I hate myself

wildogg2k5 collected 331175 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 697683 Main pot 331175. Side pot 366508. | Rake 0
Board [3d 6s Tc Qh 3h]
Seat 4: wildogg2k5 (small blind) showed [Ts Th] and won (697683) with a full house, Tens full of Threes
Seat 5: dermoth (big blind) showed [Td Qd] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 9: happenin33 showed [Ks Qs] and lost with two pair, Queens and Threes
—————————————————————————

This wretched display of idiocy took place in the midnight $20k. Out in 68th. And the worst bit is, if I had bet the flop, he surely would have put me all-in and I could have got away from it. The queen was my richly deserved reward for being such a donk.

Four and a half hours pissed up the wall, but I can swallow it, just;  I had played extremely well (with no cards to speak of) up until that point, and am fresh from winning a $4.40/180 yesterday. My brief spat of whiny emo tilt is over, thank god.

Seat 2: westwood ( 4,685 )
Seat 6: dermoth ( 5,490 )
Seat 8: mhwu ( 3,325 )
Tourney Level:6 Blinds(100/200-(no ante))
westwood posts small blind [100]
dermoth posts big blind [200]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to dermoth [ 9d, 8s ]
mhwu calls [200]
westwood calls [100]
dermoth checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, Jh, Tc ]
westwood bets [600]
dermoth calls [600]
mhwu goes all-in
mhwu raises to [3,125]
westwood goes all-in
westwood raises to [4,485]
dermoth calls [3,885]
** Showdown **
westwood shows [ 8c, 9s ]
dermoth shows [ 9d, 8s ]
mhwu shows [ 9c, 8h ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2c ]
** Hand Conclusion **
westwood wins 2,720 from side pot #1 with a Flush
mhwu wins 9,975 from main pot with a Flush
************ Game 311471417 ends ************

No better than I deserved. One of my opponent’s ranges in that spot included stuff like J2 and T9, but the other guy wasn’t putting his chips in with anything I could beat.

I finished third.

Alright, not rigged, no, but I did just take one right between the eyes from the poker gods, and for a few seconds I felt a tiny bit tin-foil hattish. It was only a two-outer, but it was more about the timing; heads-up for the money in a $5.50 MTT, stacks almost even, and me with a great read on my opponent. I’d just got myself level with her, and was feeling pretty smug about myself and my chances, when this happened -

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 307843262 *****
NL Texas Hold’em $5 Buy-in + $0.50 Entry Fee, Level:14 Blinds(1,500/3,000-150 ante) – Friday, February 01, 00:54:31 GMT 2008
$500 GTD Regular $5+$0.50 NLH #124874
Table 1 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of active players : 2
Seat 2: manos33 ( 91,106.50 )
Seat 7: dermoth ( 86,893.50 )
Tourney Level:14 Blinds(1,500/3,000-150 ante)
manos33 posts ante [150]
dermoth posts ante [150]
manos33 posts small blind [1,500]
dermoth posts big blind [3,000]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to dermoth [ 2c, 2d ]
manos33 raises to [6,000]
dermoth calls [3,000]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, 2s, 5s ]
dermoth checks
manos33 bets [8,000]
dermoth calls [8,000]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ]
dermoth checks
manos33 goes all-in
manos33 bets [76,956.50]
dermoth calls [72,743.50]
dermoth goes all-in
Returning uncalled bet [4,213] to manos33
** Showdown **
manos33 shows [ 3h, 3c ]
dermoth shows [ 2c, 2d ]
** Dealing River ** [ Th ]
** Hand Conclusion **
manos33 wins 173,787 from main pot with three of a kind, Threes
************ Game 307843262 ends ************
I was so incensed, I opened Betfair Poker Buddy to get the hand history. As if the beat wasn’t painful enough.

I was behind to start, of course, and maybe I should have raised it preflop, but in that spot, with my perceived skill edge, I’m keeping the pot small until I can see the flop and hopefully work out where I stand. I still like the smooth call on the flop, and I’m happy to pay off A4 or a flopped set on the turn. I am not happy to pay off a turned set, obv.

Still, it’s not all doom; I picked up $100 for second, which nudged January’s results from “fairly poor” towards “almost acceptable”. Bills paid, and the Betfair results from the end of the month have given my asthmatic bankroll a little more breathing room. And the signs indicate February will be better; I’m crushing these Betfair tourneys at the minute,  and now have enough in my BF account to allow some $11 excursions.

(Aside – I’m a bit weird with my bankroll; I treat money in separate accounts as separate bankrolls, which is really, really stupid, but I can’t seem to kick the habit. This is exacerbated with Betfair, which I view as a betting site, not a poker site, so it’s even harder for me to manage that part of my bankroll sensibly. Still, I’ve quadrupled my Betfair account in the space of four days,, so I’m not complaining too much. But as usual, 95% of my bankroll is lying dormant at other sites (well, Stars is still being used occasionally) while I struggle along with the pittance I have in the site du jour. It’s so incredibly stupid, but will I change? Probably not).

So, February is going to be all about Betfair, it seems. If the $11 games are half as fishy as the $5s, it should be fun…

Sadly, only on a $25 table, and he just doubled someone else up on the previous hand, so he only started with $1.20. But I felted Elky!

PokerStars Game #14692867465: Hold’em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) – 2008/01/20 – 10:50:12 (ET)
Table ‘Pompeja V’ 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Andy.l.12 ($43.75 in chips)
Seat 2: Gin777 ($25 in chips)
Seat 3: Guihierba ($20.40 in chips)
Seat 4: ceddu57 ($66 in chips)
Seat 5: ElkY ($1.20 in chips)
Seat 6: dermoth ($25.65 in chips)
Andy.l.12: posts small blind $0.10
Gin777: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dermoth [As Jd]
Guihierba: folds
ceddu57: folds
ElkY: raises $0.95 to $1.20 and is all-in
dermoth : raises $2.30 to $3.50
Andy.l.12: calls $3.40
ceddu57 said, “8 8″
ceddu57 said, “oui”
Gin777: calls $3.25
*** FLOP *** [5d 6c 5c]
Andy.l.12: checks
Gin777: checks
dermoth : checks
*** TURN *** [5d 6c 5c] [Td]
Andy.l.12: checks
Gin777: checks
dermoth : checks
*** RIVER *** [5d 6c 5c Td] [Jc]
Andy.l.12: checks
Gin777: bets $5.25
dermoth : calls $5.25
Andy.l.12: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Gin777: shows [9s Qd] (a pair of Fives)
Dermoth : shows [As Jd] (two pair, Jacks and Fives)
Dermoth collected $16.55 from side pot
ElkY: mucks hand
ceddu57 said, “près du watrin rue st mihiel”
dermoth collected $4.60 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $22.20 Main pot $4.60. Side pot $16.55. | Rake $1.05
Board [5d 6c 5c Td Jc]
Seat 1: Andy.l.12 (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 2: Gin777 (big blind) showed [9s Qd] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 3: Guihierba folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: ceddu57 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: ElkY mucked [Ac Ts]
Seat 6: dermoth (button) showed [As Jd] and won ($21.15) with two pair, Jacks and Fives

Some rather fortunate events on the river there, and I’m not proud of that call, but I was hoping my kicker would play. I hadn’t read it for a sidepot-sized bluff with Q high, I’ll admit.

Anyway. I felted Elky.