Archive for September, 2008

Pokerstars just got a bit better

Actually, Stars has been improving steadily for a while; nice new coloursceme, (much) better lobby functionality, some new mixed games (more on that in a later post), a hand history replayer which will be indispensable once they’ve tweaked it a bit… but it’s the blind structure tweak which has brought the biggest smile to my curmudgeonly face.

Their tournament structure used to be completely broken, jumping from 100/200 on round 6 to 150/300/25 on round 7, a whopping 125% increase. It’s always got my back up, and now Stars have acknowledged the wonkiness by slipping a whole new blind level in – round 6 is now 125/250/25, and the blind race just got a bit less hectic. I’d have thought 125/250/15 would have beena better choice, but I shan’t turn my nose up. Well done, Jokerstars! I forgive you for being rigged and run by lizards.

2008
09/20
CATEGORY
Site Reviews
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An entirely typical Jokerstars cold-deck blah blah etc

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.

2008
09/12
CATEGORY
Hand Histories
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The Stud/8 revolution

So, first of all; it’s been quiet around here. August went pretty sour after my last post, and I finished the month on a small loss. This had the usual detrimental effect on my workrate (and blograte) and now I’m hardly playing my bread and butter stuff at all.

I’m playing Stud/8 instead. This is a game that I’ve been trying to get my head around for years, with very little success; I’ve read Ray Zee, I’ve messed around in micro low limit cashgames, and I’ve encountered the game in HORSE, and I’ve never been able to understand it… until the other day, when I decided to enter a Stars Stud/8 freeroll. Four hours later, I had qualified for a proper tournament (scant reward for four hours of limit tournament play, but better than nothing), and more importantly, I finally understood Stud/8.

Or at least, I think I did; the usual caveats apply with regard to the deceptive nature of poker success. Four hours of superswingy hi-lo madness does not an expert make. However, it gave me some confidence to try some slightly higher limit ring games, and even better, it gave me the confidence to play HORSE sit n gos.

My pre-epiphany HORSE strategy would be pretty straightforward; punish the fish on the games I’m good at (O8 and Razz, and to a lesser extent, Hold’em – I hate LHE in tournaments, and it’s the one game where the average HORSE fish knows what to do), and then sit the hell back during the Stud and Stud/8 rounds. This is a pretty sucky strategy, obviously, so I pretty much stopped playing HORSE.

However, with my new found confidence and maybe-skills, Stud/8 is the HORSE round I most look forward to, and my straight Stud play has also improved of late, meaning LHE is now my least favourite game in HORSE. I genuinely didn’t see *that* coming, but now that it has, I’m delighted; since my Stud/8 epiphany, I have a 100% ITM record in HORSE sngs (admittedly over a very small sample, but still), and it’s rapidly becoming a candidate for bread and butter game status. And given my somewhat bruising experiences last month, it’s main competition for that place is not from NLHE tournaments, but Stud/8 ringgames.

STUD/8! It’s the future. Maybe.

2008
09/04
CATEGORY
Navel Gazing
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