The last time I tried to sit down to play poker with a group larger than 2 was 2 weeks ago. I’ve organized a poker league for the men at church. Yeah, yeah, I know, poker and church? But it works. It’s a game we love, and it gives guys a chance to hang out, play some cards, and watch some Monday Night Football.

So 2 weeks ago we had our practice tournament, in order to get the newer players used to how the game works. I, however, didn’t get to play, as I spent the evening in the E.R. with my son, who performed an impressive faceplant in the backyard which managed to jack up his bottom row of formerly perfect baby teeth. He’s fine now, but that meant by the next time I played live poker, it would have been a month since the last time.

So, Monday night, we kicked off the league in glorious fashion, as the Broncos/Ravens defensive tilt was on the tube and the cards were flying freely. I may or may not have chosen card decks with orange and blue backs as subtle support for the Broncos.

All in all, I ended up taking 5th place, which wasn’t bad. I went out on a ridiculous hand, losing to set over set (me with sevens, opponent with nines). I mean, I lost fair and square, and it wasn’t a bad beat at all… but I played it correctly, and had the other 3 involved also played it correctly, I would have won the hand. It went down like this:

Blinds - 100/200, 5 players remaining
SB: JB (chipleader)
BB: NA (second short stack)
UTG: HERO (short stacked, bubble just burst 2 hands ago)
UTG+1: BH
Button: BK (second in chips)

I’m dealt 77… short stacked, running up against our time limit (we have a time limit rule - long story). I figure now or never, this is likely the best hand I’ll see the rest of the night. I push, BH who has double what I have in chips, only calls, BK folds, JB calls, NA calls. I didn’t want to see a flop with a low-middle pair against 3 other hands, but oh well.

I think I hear angels singing as the flop comes down Q97 (rainbow). Now they’re betting into a sidepot, and BH instantly goes all in. I’m not afraid of a set from him now, because he would have checked it. JB instantly calls, which scares me. NA pushes all in for his remaining 400 or so chips, and JB calls that as well. So three of us are now all in, and BK is sitting back enjoying his instant jump to the top.

BH flips over KK. Not an unreasonable hand to play, but with the overpair, should have pushed right behind me to isolate me. JB had enough chips his calling range at that point was HUGE. So I’m feeling good about my sevens, NA flips over a drawing hand (I dont’ even remember the draw, I just know it was such a longshot that I’m amazed he ever put a single chip in on it), and then JB turns over 99, having hit a set over my set.

JB never would have called my all-in with BH going all in behind me… i don’t think. Maybe he would have due to the time and deep stack he was working from, but I should have been able to come away with a good sized stack after that, but the turn and river were bricks, and all three of us dropped in one single hand. So as you can see, I certainly didn’t suffer a bad beat, because JB got his money in good, and BH gave him the odds to do it. I never think much about how I could theoretically play a hand perfectly and have someone else’s mistake cost me. Now in that hand, there was nothing to play perfectly, it was push or fold in my opinion, and I made one move, all-in preflop, and I think it was the best move. I just got clobbered.

I still feel very good about the way I played over the course of the whole evening. If I could just learn to trust my reads against the more familiar players, I could probably save myself a few chips. NA had a few hands that I had a read on him, pegged him on a hand, just couldn’t act on it. Second-guessing yourself is dangerous.

It was good to sit and play again. If any of my few loyal readers are ever in the Portland/Vancouver area, let me know. We’ll throw together a game.

peace.
–j.

ps: i have an article brewing in my head on the online poker ban stuff, i hope to get it out in the next week or two.

Played for a while with the brothers at a family gathering. We chose to mix the games up a bit, and play some PLO as well as some 2-7 triple draw. Holy cow. I’m really developing a taste for other games. I mean, hold ‘em is great and is largely responsible for poker being pretty much everywhere nowadays, but I’ve grown fond of all the options that come with having four little cards in front of you instead of two. I will say this though, as a brand new Omaha player, I’ve noticed quickly that you have to get really good at divorcing yourself from those purty hands that make you think you have something great when all you have is a hand that is easily squashed by a flush. Or worse yet, when your flopped straight sees a turn that pairs the board… oh the humanity!

In other news, I’ve been kicking around a few things in my head, one of which is the implications of the Washington state online gambling law. Since ‘unenforceable’ and ‘impossible to prosecute’ are not valid reasons for breaking the law, I need to think hard before depositing anymore money online. I think the state is being absolutely ridiculous, and as in most cases should just leave us the heck alone… but disobeying the law is still not justifiable. I’ll post more on this later.

The other thing I’m kicking around is putting together some sort of poker league, that tracks results over a period of time. We’ll start in the fall, and I think in conjunction with Monday Night Football (of the ESPN variety) is probably the way to go. I’ll keep you posted of all the details.

In the meantime, wish me luck in the Pokerstars blogger-championship-tournament-wsop thingy. There are over 2000 players, and the prize structure is pretty weak. Unless, you know, you win FIRST and all. Then the prize structure rocks the hizouse. Since I’m rather inexperienced at navigating such a large field, I’m hoping to crack the top 50%… top 1,000 players, and I’m happy. If I get there, and have a better than average chipstack, then I’ll just shoot for top 500. If stars align and the cards hit just right and I don’t do anything too stupid and end up top 500 with a better than average stack… well, I guess then I’m shooting for the top. But chances are, this will all be moot by 3pm on Sunday. Either way, it will be a fun experiment.

Congratulations to Robbie, who took down the first place prize money in our second tournament tonight.

Stay tuned for info about next months game.

It’s time for more poker! For those of you that didn’t make it last month (which was most of you…), our last game saw some great hands, including me grabbing a miracle 6 on the river to grab quads and triumph over trip queens… things just got ridiculous after that. Sorry, Mr. Wiggins. I still kinda feel bad about that. Well, actually, I don’t… but you still won some cash!

We’re going to try something a little different this time, a sort of modified shootout format. This should allow for plenty of poker for fairly cheap, while still allowing the winner to walk away with a few bucks. It’s a 12 player max, so please e-mail me and confirm you are coming… and if you need to cancel, please let me know ASAP so we can fill your seat. This format really works best with all 12 players. And, as always there will be a bunch o’snacks, and eliminated players are free to start up a cash game for nickels.

–

Reverends of Poker Invitational II

Sunday March 12th - 4pm

at Ackerman’s house

co-hosted by J-Money and Killdawg

12 players: 2 satellite tables of 6.

$10 buy-in - T800

Top 3 finishers at each table all receive a seat at the final table, in addition the top 2 from each table get $15 and $10, respectively.

The final table will be comprised of the top 3 finishers at each table, plus two available seats for a $10 buy-in for the remaining players. Preference goes to the highest finishing player.

Final table, all chip counts are erased, and we play a T1500 freezeout. No rebuys, no addons, just NL hold em until one player is left!

The February 12th RoP NFL Hangover Tournament is officially on! Come drown out your Seahawk/referee-induced sorrows by playing a bit of poker. Start time is 5:00pm, which is when we’ll draw for seats for all present players. Any players who arrive late and are not present for the draw will have seats drawn for them, and their blinds will be posted and hands folded until they arrive. Cards will probably begin to hit the tables around 5:15. Based on limited seating, we’re holding the registration down to 8 players max. If we get more than 12, we might see if we can’t go ahead and open a second table.. info will be posted here as we go along. Also, expect to have your photo taken and prepare to have the game fully reported on here next week. I’m a jerk like that.

Here are the details:

REVERENDS OF POKER “NFL HANGOVER” TOURNAMENT
February 12th - 5:00pm
at the Ackerman House (contact us for directions)

No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em
$10 buy-in/ 1 - $10 rebuy or add-on
800 tournament chips

15 minute levels

8 players max! This tournament is restricted to the first 8 to confirm. Due to space, we cannot seat more than 8 players.

Snacks and beverages will be provided.

Table for side games (dealer’s choice) will be available for eliminated players.

Bring your best poker face. I’d come up with a cool slogan, but I don’t have one.

Hope to see you there! Please RSVP by email (BluffaloSoldier@gmail.com) ASAP to ensure there is an available seat.