Stepping it up to 10 handed and "Proffessional" pl

[breathweapon]

For those of you that have read my other thread, thank you for your patience, and I plan to keep this thread short.

First, some background.

IRL, I play 6 handed with policeman, firemen, medics/nurses, teachers and soldiers, people who have what it takes to gamble but not what it takes to lose. I push these people around out of position with hands I shouldn't be playing out of position let alone raising, c-betting and double barreling with by professional standards, but I either end up grinding away their stacks when they fold or stealing them when they call. I developed a reputation from these games and this style, and because of that reputation I've been invited to play 10 handed against lawyers, businessman, doctors, priests, accountants and professors at higher stakes. These stakes are out of my bank roll, but my justification for playing out of my bank roll is that even if I'm losing money (about 25 percent of my bankroll), I'm gaining connections, and if I turned the opportunity down, it may either not come again or work against me.

Even tho' it sounds cliche, if you know what some one does for a living, you can use that information to your advantage. I find that the lawyers and businessman are the aggressive type, they like to push you around and if you push back at them, they will push back at you even harder. Doctors and priests are usually nice, older people looking for a relaxing hobby, and they usually fold when they're being pushed and over bet when they've got the nuts. Accountants are people that rely on math when they are making decisions, and while I think you can out bet/out play people that rely on math, they can easily take you for all of your money if you over play your hand. Professors over think everything, they play tricky, they play coy, they pick their hands and spots carefully and they either get pushed around in the mean time or bust you.

I'm assuming that these people can afford to gamble and afford to lose, so they are going to be looser than the other people I play against, and these people have heard of me by my reputation, so they know how I play. Not only that, but I've never played IRL 10 handed in my life. So, my style on these tables wont work, I have to pick my hands and my spots against different people and hopefully not lose a disproportionate amount of my bankroll for one game (altho' I have consigned myself to losing it if necessary), with out fully understanding position on a 10 handed table. Discipline is everything, the longer I stay, the better the chance I have to either win a lot of cash or create connections (I'm an investor, so I either want these people's money, they're retirement plans or both) and we will be locked in the KC Hall until dawn. As I understand the rules, if you lose, you can either rebuy or leave at any time, but if you are winning, they want a chance to win their money back. So I withdrew two buy-ins from my bank roll, in case my AA-JJ get cracked or a bad beat comes, and I started to draw up a hand chart.

UTG/EP/MP/LP (everything before the button)

Limp with,

TT-22 (I'll start raising with them or limping with other cards if it's a tell)

Raise with,

AA-JJ, AK, Suited A/Q-T, Suited Broadway

Call with,

TT-22, AK, Suited Broadway, Suited Connectors, Suited 1 Gappers

Re-Raise/All in with,

AA-JJ

The Button (To the right of it ;p)

Also raise with,

TT-22, A/Q-T, Broadway, Suited A/9-2, Suited Connectors, Suited 1 Gappers ( potentially ATC depending on who is in the blinds).

Call/Re-raise with is the same as UTG/EP/MP/LP

The Blinds

Defend with,

AK, AA-22

Number of hands I'm raising with out of position is 15 to 23 depending on whether or not I want to hit sets in multi-way or purchase the pot with TT-22.

Number of hands I'm raising with in position is my entire range, 53, and possibly ATC.

Number of hands I'm calling with in position or in multi-way is 33, because I do not want to get involved on an AX vs AK situation and calling with Broadway is just bad.

Number of hands I'm re-raising with is 4, because I do not want to walk back to Houston and if I just cold call with AK I can trap them into an AK vs AX situation.

Remember, these people are in their 40's, I'm in my 20's, they'll be drinking alcohol and I'll be sober(ish), so even if the chart is too tight, I can keep myself amused with table talk, chip tricks and stealing the blinds. I've got until Friday night, so any input on an area of poker I don't usually play would be very helpfull.

[salsa4ever]

poker is not won or lost pre flop.

that said I skimmed your starting hand selection and it looks reasonable enough.

if I have to summarize live game strategy, your ultimate goal is to get all the chips in with TPTK or TP2K+. Do what it takes to form the image that will make people pay you off with less. You calibrate your preflop strategy to achieve this

[euphoricism]

Buy in short.

[martindcx1e]

I plan to keep this thread short.

lol

[breathweapon]

I don't risk stacks on TPTK unless I'm "certain" the opponent is on a weaker kicker or I'm short stacked. If it were my choice, I'd play Suited Broadway and Suited Connectors on the button all day.

I can't buy in for less, and even if I could I wouldn't. The money isn't really an issue tho', I can afford to lose 2k between two buy-ins and still play 100 dollar tables.

[IPlayTight]

Idk, you cant really prepare for this kind of thing. Brush up on tells, and any statistical data you can, but everything depends on how these guys play. If you walk in and find that they dont ever raise, then your playing a completly different game than that if they raise every hand. One thing to be cautious about though, professions may help you get a little info on the player, but they are NOT reliable. Just because someone is an accountant doesnt mean he lacks a superb knowledge of the psychological game. I think you know this already, but hey...if you didnt i helped a bit

[Robb]

I don't play live tho I'd like to. Let us know how this goes when you get a chance. Good luck!

[breathweapon]

Yeah, I agree you can't count on some one's profession as the end all, be all of tells, but surprisingly a lot of people, or even most people, either are that stereotypical or conform to the stereotype. I learned this lesson from a Russian stripper while she was dancing her way thru' Med School, if you ever get the chance to date a Russian girl do it, they're a rare breed of beauty, intelligence and moral ambiguity. She could figure out who her customers were and what they wanted just by their appearance, clothing, "innocent" conversation and lowering their inhabitions. Clearly I don't haver her assets when it comes to lowering men's inhabitions, but alcohol is a fair substitute.

Point being, as soon as some one sits down at a table, be friendly and get to know them, buy them a drink and let them get to know you. Find out where they're from, find out what they do, find out whether or not they have a house, car wife/girlfriend, kids and even who they're favorite sports teams and players are. While you're doing this, take a good look at them; sun glasses, ear rings, necklaces, watches, suits, T-shirts and shoes will all tell you a story about that person. People in the 30+ range tend to be way, way more predictable than people in the 20+ range, largely because they've either figured out who they are or have established themselves. Hustling a home game or even a small city/town casino is really a lost art, and people who work in the service industry, it doesn't have to be an exotic dancer, any bartender or waitress will do, know they're clients like the back of their hand, so learn to see what they see.

If you think you've already mastered this, then here's a simple/not so simple test, if you can go to a rodeo, cattle auction, farmer's market etc. and pick out which of them is rich and which of them is poor at a glance, then you've developed an absolutely sick reading ability.

[Warpe]

Sustainable?:

816 average words per post (WPP)

[Unibomber14]

Sustainable?:

816 average words per post (WPP)

Like peace in Iraq.

[biondino]

I play 6 handed with policeman, firemen, medics/nurses, teachers and soldiers, people who have what it takes to gamble but not what it takes to lose. I push these people around out of position with hands I shouldn't be playing out of position let alone raising, c-betting and double barreling with by professional standards, but I either end up grinding away their stacks when they fold or stealing them when they call. I developed a reputation from these games and this style, and because of that reputation I've been invited to play 10 handed against lawyers, businessman, doctors, priests, accountants and professors at higher stakes.

LOL you terrible snob!

[breathweapon]

I play 6 handed with policeman, firemen, medics/nurses, teachers and soldiers, people who have what it takes to gamble but not what it takes to lose. I push these people around out of position with hands I shouldn't be playing out of position let alone raising, c-betting and double barreling with by professional standards, but I either end up grinding away their stacks when they fold or stealing them when they call. I developed a reputation from these games and this style, and because of that reputation I've been invited to play 10 handed against lawyers, businessman, doctors, priests, accountants and professors at higher stakes.

LOL you terrible snob!

Lol, not really. If you play NL200 IRL where I'm from, those are the people that are going to be at the tables along with the semi-pro college crowd playing their way thru' college/out of college or retirees blowing their savings. If you want to play NL1000+ IRL, you have to be invited to a behind closed doors game where the wealthy/influential like to keep to themselves. You can't really find higher stakes poker games on the river boat gambling scene, and sometimes you can't even find poker games at all, so playing higher stakes tends to be A) illegal and B) played by those responsible for influencing/enforcing the law

I don't discriminate when it comes to taking people's money.

[euphoricism]

I think a persons job definitely *can* influence their play. The B&M casino where I live is very close to an airforce base and we got a couple airmen in pretty regularly and you could definitely see the difference between the older ones and the younger ones.

The younger ones were very much "hotshots" who wanted to be the table bosses, loved the attention, and *hated* to lose.

Then the older ones had lost that hotshotness but were insanely detail-oriented.

[IPlayTight]

I think a persons job definitely *can* influence their play. The B&M casino where I live is very close to an airforce base and we got a couple airmen in pretty regularly and you could definitely see the difference between the older ones and the younger ones.

The younger ones were very much "hotshots" who wanted to be the table bosses, loved the attention, and *hated* to lose.

Then the older ones had lost that hotshotness but were insanely detail-oriented.

but isnt this true for the regular difference between older and younger players? And its possible that some of those people learned from their friends to play tighter/looser because it was opposite of the norm. Ill agree that professions do influence...and you may want to use them when you have nothing else to go by, but they really are unreliable until you know something more about the player.

[breathweapon]

I think a persons job definitely *can* influence their play. The B&M casino where I live is very close to an airforce base and we got a couple airmen in pretty regularly and you could definitely see the difference between the older ones and the younger ones.

The younger ones were very much "hotshots" who wanted to be the table bosses, loved the attention, and *hated* to lose.

Then the older ones had lost that hotshotness but were insanely detail-oriented.

but isnt this true for the regular difference between older and younger players? And its possible that some of those people learned from their friends to play tighter/looser because it was opposite of the norm. Ill agree that professions do influence...and you may want to use them when you have nothing else to go by, but they really are unreliable until you know something more about the player.

No, actually it's not, I've noticed the same thing from people in the Army (which brings up another possible physical tell I forgot about, hair cuts) and there's a significant difference between the aggressiveness of people who have never been in a combat situation or have never been on the bad side of a combat situation. If you ever run up against an Afghanistan/Iraq war veteran with a deck of cards, then you've run up against some one who knows how to remain calm in chaotic situations, knows when and where to pick his fights and always prefers to be the aggressor regardless of his age (also it's very likely he spent a lot of his down time over there playing cards and learning how to take other soldier's money).

Remember, we're not dealing with definites, we're dealing with likely hoods. There are always exceptions, but people by and large aren't as unique as they'd like to give themselves credit for, and whether they realize it or not, they've probably chosen their; job, profession, clothes, jewelry, tattoos, hair cuts etc. because it suits some form of their personality.

People will spend more time studying other people than they do studying themselves, so even tho' it's possible other people are giving off misinformation, it's not probable.

[Chopper]

I play 6 handed with policeman, firemen, medics/nurses, teachers and soldiers, people who have what it takes to gamble but not what it takes to lose. I push these people around out of position with hands I shouldn't be playing out of position let alone raising, c-betting and double barreling with by professional standards, but I either end up grinding away their stacks when they fold or stealing them when they call. I developed a reputation from these games and this style, and because of that reputation I've been invited to play 10 handed against lawyers, businessman, doctors, priests, accountants and professors at higher stakes.

LOL you terrible snob!

no, just an arrogant 20-something kid who thinks he will never die. you know, the kind countries make sure the send into wars first.

i mean, he has a chart, so how can he fail? doctors, lawyers, THAT PLAY POKER, cant be smarter or more experienced, can they?

ahhhh, the good ole days. i remember them so well.

[IPlayTight]

i c your point breath, agree with ya now too actually.

[breathweapon]

I play 6 handed with policeman, firemen, medics/nurses, teachers and soldiers, people who have what it takes to gamble but not what it takes to lose. I push these people around out of position with hands I shouldn't be playing out of position let alone raising, c-betting and double barreling with by professional standards, but I either end up grinding away their stacks when they fold or stealing them when they call. I developed a reputation from these games and this style, and because of that reputation I've been invited to play 10 handed against lawyers, businessman, doctors, priests, accountants and professors at higher stakes.

LOL you terrible snob!

no, just an arrogant 20-something kid who thinks he will never die. you know, the kind countries make sure the send into wars first.

i mean, he has a chart, so how can he fail? doctors, lawyers, THAT PLAY POKER, cant be smarter or more experienced, can they?

ahhhh, the good ole days. i remember them so well.

I served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and there's nothing more hypocritical than calling me arrogant and then turning around and denigrating the men and women that volunteer to put themselves in harm's way so you don't have to. How can you fault me for making assumptions about people's characters based on their professions (and at least I was trained to do it as an interrogator) and then have the gall to do the same thing to people who should be revered for what they do?

At what point did I de-value these individuals based on their professions? I drew assumptions based on observations, I didn't discount that I am going to be playing against people that play at these stakes on a regular basis nor the need to adjust my play once I arrive. But until I arrive, it's all I have to go on. If I were arrogant, I would just go in there with out asking for help or preparing, but I realize that I need to change the way that I play in order to deal with people that may/may not be better than me and a 10 max table.

So unless you have something constructive to add, get back under the bridge.

[jyms]

oh oh

[Miffed22001]

yey, a thread with flaming!

Sweeeet

[Robb]

Chopper's right, and I don't think he's denigrating/hypocritical. Poker is extremely Darwinian, but random in the length of time it waits to eat its young. Young, hyper-aggressive poker players will learn more than a few painful lessons before they grow old. And a lot of us have been there.

[Chopper]

I play 6 handed with policeman, firemen, medics/nurses, teachers and soldiers, people who have what it takes to gamble but not what it takes to lose. I push these people around out of position with hands I shouldn't be playing out of position let alone raising, c-betting and double barreling with by professional standards, but I either end up grinding away their stacks when they fold or stealing them when they call. I developed a reputation from these games and this style, and because of that reputation I've been invited to play 10 handed against lawyers, businessman, doctors, priests, accountants and professors at higher stakes.

LOL you terrible snob!

no, just an arrogant 20-something kid who thinks he will never die. you know, the kind countries make sure the send into wars first.

i mean, he has a chart, so how can he fail? doctors, lawyers, THAT PLAY POKER, cant be smarter or more experienced, can they?

ahhhh, the good ole days. i remember them so well.

I served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and there's nothing more hypocritical than calling me arrogant and then turning around and denigrating the men and women that volunteer to put themselves in harm's way so you don't have to. How can you fault me for making assumptions about people's characters based on their professions (and at least I was trained to do it as an interrogator) and then have the gall to do the same thing to people who should be revered for what they do?

At what point did I de-value these individuals based on their professions? I drew assumptions based on observations, I didn't discount that I am going to be playing against people that play at these stakes on a regular basis nor the need to adjust my play once I arrive. But until I arrive, it's all I have to go on. If I were arrogant, I would just go in there with out asking for help or preparing, but I realize that I need to change the way that I play in order to deal with people that may/may not be better than me and a 10 max table.

So unless you have something constructive to add, get back under the bridge.

dude, chill. i did not insult you or your "bravery." i could go into a big pissing match with you about your stereotypes, and that you may as well called them black, women, and gay people that you were playing with, but that would be exaggerating a bit.

i will tell you to save your Jack Nicholson-"people who sleep under the very blanket of freedom i provide and question the manner in which i provide it...i would rather you say 'thank you' and go about your way...either way i dont give DAMN about what you think you are entitled to" speech for someone else. (from the movie, A Few Good Men, btw)

i was merely being sarcastic. you know, humor?

and if you, as an interrogator, paid attention to the post/response, you would have seen that i, too, admitted to being arrogant.

geez, dude, get a grip. but, fwiw, and i should have mentioned this in the first response...i think all of us here hope/expect you to go in there and KICK THE SHIT out of those other guys. after all, you are an FTR'r now. this can be a highly sarcastic forum, full of humor, not jackasses. dont let us down.

[euphoricism]

Nice backpedal there chopper, but I think he gotcha red handed on this one

[Chopper]

Nice backpedal there chopper, but I think he gotcha red handed on this one

whatever, man. i had nothing to backpedal off of other than pissing him off when i was trying to be sarcastic. there is no "red-handed," just over-sensitivity or a misinterpreted joke.

[breathweapon]

@Chopper

I apologize if I over reacted, I don't mind being flamed personally, but flaming the military is where I draw the line.

All Jack Nicholson needed to do in that movie was say "Remember 9/11" and he would have be acquitted of all charges ;p

Onto something constructive, even tho' it's a school of literary analysis, you can't accurately psycho-analyze text because authorial intent is suppose to be held as irrelevant. You can psycho-analyze people by age, sex, race and origin, and I have done so before, but the problem is that those factors aren't factors that people choose in their lives like their education, career or clothing etc. so the variance tends to be too high to rely upon unless the individual suffers from some form of group think.

People will even go so far as to stereo type themselves when it suits them, "Black fighters are tougher than European fighters because we're hungy, we're from the streets and we grew up hard" -Lamen Brewster when being interviewed before his fight with Vladimir Klitchko. The ironic thing here is that Vladimir Klitchko had experienced poverty in a nation that would put poverty in the US to shame, and Lamen Brewster got his ass handed to him "for it." The point is that it's a 2 way street that people only want to drive down one way, you can't attribute positive stereo types to yourself or other people with out recognizing the possibility that other relevant or negative stereotypes apply, or you just become a "soft core" bigot. Not every Golden Glove Black boxer wants to be thought of as a brawler when he steps into the ring.

There's a fine line between judging some one who sits down at the table because he is black and judging some one who sits down at the table because he is wearing a Rolex. One person was born that way, the other person chose to wear a luxury item to establish himself as wealthy. Whether you recognize it or not, the choices you make, even in regards to the simplest things, can tell volumes about you to some one with a trained eye.

@Robb

Believe me I've been there and done that, but the ironic thing is that I flat lined as a TAG and couldn't move on until I learned to be hyper aggressive. You win and lose incredible sums of cash in short periods of time, and it's a style that takes a low risk adversity and the ability to shake off Tilt. Honestly, I think it behooves you to be a LAG when you're playing with chips as opposed to money, because chips alleviate a significant mental block when it comes to playing that way. Once you're buy-in is a sunk cost, it's all gravy.

[Robb]

@Robb

Believe me I've been there and done that, but the ironic thing is that I flat lined as a TAG and couldn't move on until I learned to be hyper aggressive. You win and lose incredible sums of cash in short periods of time, and it's a style that takes a low risk adversity and the ability to shake off Tilt. Honestly, I think it behooves you to be a LAG when you're playing with chips as opposed to money, because chips alleviate a significant mental block when it comes to playing that way. Once you're buy-in is a sunk cost, it's all gravy.

There's a difference between hyper-aggressive and loose. Aggressive is usually better than passive. TAG's can be hyper-aggressive, precisely BECAUSE they tend to play premium hands and stand a good chance to be ahead.

The only problem with hyper-aggressive play is when you combine it with overly loose opening requirements. You run into premium hands that won't fold, and you trap yourself. You win a lot of small and medium pots, and lose big ones. When the competition gets better, they will exploit your aggressiveness, if you're too loose.

My suggestion is to back off either on aggression or looseness, at the beginning of sessions (like this weekend - gl btw!), until you see how the game is going. I would play TAG and shift gears after I got a read on some folks. I don't think there's anything wrong with aggressiveness, or even looseness, but I worry your opening range is a little large for how aggressive you play, especially against completely unknown opponents. It's hard to lose a lot with TAG while you're learning the game and the players.

[breathweapon]

@Robb

Believe me I've been there and done that, but the ironic thing is that I flat lined as a TAG and couldn't move on until I learned to be hyper aggressive. You win and lose incredible sums of cash in short periods of time, and it's a style that takes a low risk adversity and the ability to shake off Tilt. Honestly, I think it behooves you to be a LAG when you're playing with chips as opposed to money, because chips alleviate a significant mental block when it comes to playing that way. Once you're buy-in is a sunk cost, it's all gravy.

There's a difference between hyper-aggressive and loose. Aggressive is usually better than passive. TAG's can be hyper-aggressive, precisely BECAUSE they tend to play premium hands and stand a good chance to be ahead.

The only problem with hyper-aggressive play is when you combine it with overly loose opening requirements. You run into premium hands that won't fold, and you trap yourself. You win a lot of small and medium pots, and lose big ones. When the competition gets better, they will exploit your aggressiveness, if you're too loose.

My suggestion is to back off either on aggression or looseness, at the beginning of sessions (like this weekend - gl btw!), until you see how the game is going. I would play TAG and shift gears after I got a read on some folks. I don't think there's anything wrong with aggressiveness, or even looseness, but I worry your opening range is a little large for how aggressive you play, especially against completely unknown opponents. It's hard to lose a lot with TAG while you're learning the game and the players.

I'm going to do just that, come in, sit down, get acquainted, raise premium hands and camp the button. Once I feel comfortable, or being a TAG is working, in which case I'll stick with it, I'll open up.

What about the above range is loose? Other than devaluing Mid/Small PP and unsuited Broadway for raising, it seems sufficient for biding my time. Are you talking about the UTG Raise with Suited Connectors stuff?

I'll let you guys know how it goes, hopefully it'll be a learning experience on the cheap.

[Chopper]

What about the above range is loose? Other than devaluing Mid/Small PP and unsuited Broadway for raising, it seems sufficient for biding my time. Are you talking about the UTG Raise with Suited Connectors stuff?

yes. dont raise sc's UTG even in the loosest games. you are begging for trouble from any half-witted player that is strong enough to call.

limping them in loose games, though, is very +EV so long as you dont get married to them when they pair the flop.

any pp, i AM bringing in for a raise, though, for set value and to disguise my "tightness." i dont play "trap hands" from EP, but will raise them if the game is extremely loose, and only the fish call my raises.

other than that, i sit and wait for ANY limping opportunity with any crap that works well multi-way, and hide behind the chumps that open-limp oop.

but, primarily, i am waiting for the LP spots (HJ+) and am HAMMERING anyone with any part of my range. if i hit the flop, i bring it in big...or raise the donk bets (barring reads). in really loose games, though, cbetting is all but gone from my arsenal. so is bluffing. i will only semi-bluff 8+ out draws to the 2nd nuts or better. the rest just gets you in trouble.

at least that's TAG-light, to me. runs about 20/10 if you know pokertracker numbers. but, in loose games, i run as low as 13/9 when cold-decked.

[IPlayTight]

meh...i dont pay attention to ranges. As evident from Potkiller on absolute (regardless of the fact he could see their cards) you don't necessarily have to have a hand of any kind to win a pot. Dont play the first 3-4 hands, unless you get something amazing. Use that time to get information on the game...tight/loose/maniacs/bluffs/traps/chases/tells, whatever you can about the players. Use this to decide what and how to play.

[Chopper]

meh...i dont pay attention to ranges. As evident from Potkiller on absolute (regardless of the fact he could see their cards) you don't necessarily have to have a hand of any kind to win a pot. Dont play the first 3-4 hands, unless you get something amazing. Use that time to get information on the game...tight/loose/maniacs/bluffs/traps/chases/tells, whatever you can about the players. Use this to decide what and how to play.

it sounds like you will get all the info you need in 4 hands. lol.

[Jack Sawyer]

yey, a thread with flaming!

Sweeeet

OMG I missed it!


Flame away boys & girls, I wanna see some internet drama!

[badgers]

meh...i dont pay attention to ranges. As evident from Potkiller on absolute (regardless of the fact he could see their cards) you don't necessarily have to have a hand of any kind to win a pot. Dont play the first 3-4 hands, unless you get something amazing. Use that time to get information on the game...tight/loose/maniacs/bluffs/traps/chases/tells, whatever you can about the players. Use this to decide what and how to play.

1) He was called POTRIPPER.
2) It's a little different when you know their cards, and know they can't call.
3) The reason he was caught was because with his style he should have been losing very very quickly.
4) Lol at 3-4 hands being a decent sample size to get reads.
5) You should still be putting your opponents on a range but you can use your apparent super-reads to narrow that range.

One day (hopefully soon) you will look back at this post and lol...

[Chopper]

i was being sarcastic again when taking the 3-4 HANDS literally. i can only assume he meant 3-4 ORBITS. (oops, there i go again backpedalling, eh euph?)

i, personally, cant pile up the reads when all i see is folding in those first 3 hands. but,then again, i am not superhuman. lol.

[breathweapon]

Got back this morning, results follow.

I arrived at the hall at about 8pm, was introduced to the rest of the field and offered a drink. The hall was impressive, it had a back room with a full handed felt table and bar, and it looked like it was intended for wedding receptions, church functions or Sunday school. I took a seat at the table and struck up some small talk to get acquainted with the other fellows, and all in all they were a group of nice, intelligent and interesting people who seemed to have a good understanding of the game and a general knowledge of the WPT back to Money Maker.

The cards were dealt, and I proceeded to fold for 20 orbits until I could gather enough information and find a hand worth raising. I did my best to steal the blinds, but the guy to my left, "Businessman" was re-raising my efforts almost every time I went for it. UTG Raises, I look down at a pair of African Queens on the button, I Re-Raise and "Businessman" goes all in. UTG folds, and I'm left with a decision to either fold it or shove it. The worst case scenario is I'm dominated, the most likely scenario is he's protecting AKs and the best scenario is it's an under pair. I think to myself, "If Dan Harrington isn't good enough to fold Kings, then I'm not good enough to fold Queens", and I call. He smiles and asks me "99s?" and I then let out a sigh of relief, because in my experience whenever some one asks you if you have 99s they have Jacks, so I decide to show him the bad news and he turns over the Johnnies. There I am about to shut the table boss down, playing the most expensive hand of my life as a 4 to 1 favorite when the board decides to throw up 89T of Spades. My Queen of Spades is higher than his Jack of Spades, but he picked up the straight draw at the cost of spiking a Jack. The turn throws up a brick, and then The River reveals a Spade. I let out another sigh of relief, the table goes wild and I congratulate the man on a hand well played, and that's when the man started to rake my chips! I take a second look at the board and feel a sudden urge to vomit ...

I put 1k in 20's on the table and ask them to deal me in when the blinds are posted. I then proceeded to the balcony with beer and cigar in hand to shake off Tilt. A perfect play and a perfect read, but even then it's not always enough. I figured I had this coming, I've never seen 1k disappear in a single hand before, and the sight was sickening, but I reassured myself that I had planned for the inevitable.

I returned to the table, "businessman" gave me a pat on the back and I proceeded to fold the blinds. The table folded to me in the button, I looked down at T9 of Spades, "Evil Spades," and limped. "Businessman" gave me a long hard look and then raised the pot, the BB called and I decided to enter the multi-way pot in position. The flop throws up QsJsXh and that vomiting feeling started to come back. "Businessman" bets, BB calls and I came along for the ride. The turn throws up an Ace of hearts, "Businessman" bets, BB Re-raises and I'm left with 17 outs. I knew that if I called this that "Businessman" would go over the top of me, so I decided to semi-bluff and put my stack in the middle. "Please, fold. Please, please fold." The "Businessman" took a long, long time looking at his hand, and I could feel the felting coming. He mucked, "One down, one to ..." Call.

[Insert Expletive Here] the BB turns over QJ of Hearts for two pair and the Nut Flush Draw. "Businessman" shakes his head, the table rises to its feet and I cling to the table for dear life. "God, what did I do to deserve this?" God: Pick up a deck of cards dumb ass. "One time baby, one ..." Spade! "Heavenly Spade." The table goes into an uproar and I collect my chips like I was opening presents on Christmas Day. "Businessman" turns over AQ and I now know for certain I'm not the best player at this table. The BB took it well, "Have a good evening," and we're left with 9 people for the rest of the night.

I raise, people fold. I limp, I hit nothing. The stacks remain even until I'm dealt TT in the small blind. The button raised, I called and "Businessman" re-raised. The button called, and I'm left in between two 2k stacks in bad position. "These TTs are going to be worth dirt after the flop. Push!" I figured the button was on a drawing hand, so the only person I had to worry about was "Businessman." He went into the tank for about 2 minutes, and believe me in Poker 2 minutes in the tank is an eternity. Call, Fold and "Businessman" turns over 99s! One good play that went bad, one bad play that went good and now math decided to have a go with lady luck. 5 cards came off and congratulations were extended, the "Businessman" delved into his wallet for 1k.

My stack went up and down for the rest of the evening, I bleeded chips by limping and took down the blinds by raising UTG. I won big by camping the button and lost big by getting my Aces cracked, but at the end of the day, or rather the beginning of the morning, I was up 2k.

[Robb]

Nice job getting un-tilty - great result. Congrats!!

[Warpe]

Good writing. Voluminous, but good.

[euphoricism]

gj man!

[breathweapon]

Yeah, getting those Queens cracked to a Straight Flush was sick, but to be honest pushing the 17 outer on the Turn may/may not have been Tilt. I couldn't afford to just call there, even tho' both of them were on insane hands, the draw was so obvious. I figured if I went home there, there was no shame in it, and if both of them called and I hit, I was going to be rolling in the cash.

Regardless, I don't think I'll be at those stakes again for some time, having to put your stack at risk with TT and a 17 outer is rough, and I wasn't allowed to steal the blinds at all. Not being able to steal worked out in the end, because I could just limp with an IV hand, let "Businessman" build a pot for me and then draw on them with position in multi-way, but free money is always better than earned money.

It was a good learning experience, but I wouldn't recommend it for the feint of heart.

[lolzzz_321]

nigga u tiltin me

[Robb]

It was a good learning experience, but I wouldn't recommend it for the feint of heart.

Hell, I wouldn't recommend it for the suicidal!! Awesome job, dude. I think you made great adjustments to your style, to your position, to your opponents and to the sick beat. You kept firing, stayed aggressive. If the suckout you managed had the gone the other way, you might have a different story. But you got some poker luck right on time and put yourself in a positive position.

Again, congrats and well done.

[givememyleg]

IRL, I play 6 handed with policeman, firemen, medics/nurses, teachers and soldiers

village people play good poker?

[breathweapon]

IRL, I play 6 handed with policeman, firemen, medics/nurses, teachers and soldiers

village people play good poker?

The Indian even has his own casino