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Monday, June 29, 2009 

Out of town for a few days

I ended up 28th in the PLO tournament for a $5300 cash. I'm headed out of town for some r&r as I've been feeling a bit under the weather - hence the lack of posts.

3:17 PM | Permalink |

Thursday, June 25, 2009 

Dialysis Dave - how not to play poker.

THIS IS THE LAST POST - IF I HAD MY TRUMPET I'D BE PLAYING IT. THE LOW-ROLLER HAS HAD HIS DAY. ALL FUTURE POSTS CAN BE FOUND BY ASKING THE SIMPLE QUESTION,
"WHO IS MISS MORIARTY?" - follow the link and all will become clear....

http://missmoriarty.blogspot.com/

I am still kicking myself about the hand I didn't play. Dialysis Dave raises the minimum which is $1200, and I have A-8 offsuit in the small blind having paid $300, with over $10,000 behind. Ace-eight is known as the deadman's hand as Wild Bill Hickock was shot holding aces and eights. There were so many reasons to play and yet I folded - first off Dialysis Dave was barely alive, by his own admission, and it would be only courteous to send him to an early bed. His game was transparent too - he was in the cut-off (second last before the dealer button) and his raise was clearly a marginal hand. The big blind recognised the value and called an extra $600 chips. The flop arrives A-A-7 and DD chucks in $3000 like a man who ain't going away. The big blind folds and Dave shows his hand (again) - A-3 of spades. In short Dave and I would have gone to war, and the Dialysis kid would have needed some major surgery to survive - a split pot possible but as my 8 was bigger than the 7, I am confident I would have won and been in a very strong position with most players playing weak-tight, alas including me - the folder. As the crystal-merchant says in 'The Alchemist' - "every blessing ignored becomes a curse" - the old-timer later limped in with King-nine (K-9 or electronic dog to those in the know - ha-bloody-ha). I have 9-5 in the big blind and on a flop of K-9-5 I was destined to lose all my chips.

A few hands back I'd gifted Dave a swing of $10,000 with this hand. I'd limped under the gun (first to bet) with 5-2 of diamonds. I'd won the last three hands with J-6 of diamonds, A-8 of diamonds and 6-2 of diamonds, so I couldn't throw the magic 52 away. You may well ask what I was doing playing these hands from early position, but the vibe was there and no-one else was having it, so in stepped me. J-6 and 6-2 both reached show-down, so the table was raising eyebrows or they should have been, but if you meet no resistance....

So I call 5-2 for $600, the small stack raises all-in for $3000 (with Ace-Jack "Ajax") Dialysis says something about a gamble and time for bed and decides to call, so I am obliged to call as I stand to win $9900 at a cost of $2400. Odds of 4-1. The flop comes Q-7-5 and I bet $2500, called by DD with 7-8 offsuit. Next a ten, checked by us both and then a King, which means I can no longer win the main pot as the English short stack has "the nuts" - best possible hand. However there's a side-pot of $5,000 which will make me break-even on the hand. Dialysis is looking for an excuse to fold and like a muppet I check, thus giving up $5,000 to a man who doesn't know what to do with. One bet and he folds and I've pulled off a major coup. Those $5,000 chips would have meant I'd still have had $10,000 more than Dialysis when the elcectronic dog came-a-snooping.....

I'm putting it down to experience, jetlag, lack of proper food, sleep etc. No in reality I'm seeing a crucial poker lesson that I already know, but in poker as in life we keep making the same mistakes. I will win provided I take enough time to ponder the decision and await for the answer to arrive from that place where intuition resides, between the gut and the head lies the answer. It's called the heart. Enough poker therapy but it does help to get it writ. It was a $65 tourney and there will be a million more.

2:25 AM | Permalink |