Update on happenings.

Well, it's been around 2 months since I wrote in this blog, and not for lack of things to write about I suppose, but more laziness/uni work. Here's a few things I'll be writing about now, as much for the benefit of you guys so that you know what you're going to be reading, as it is for my benefit so I don't forget to include something...

• Satellite Poker and the Wollongong trip.
• Casino Canberra
• Online Action (or lack thereof)
• The Hats nearly getting into a biff at Orange Ex-Services

As much as I'm sure you guys are keen to read that last bit, I'll start at the beginning. However, if you want to skip through, I'll mainly be outlining various plays and hands in the first 3 bits.
Ok, here we go.

Satellite Poker

As you guys may or may not know, I'm a poster/lurker on an Aussie poker forum called www.pokertalk.com.au. I used to post more (when I was bragging about pokerstars wins - -where have they gone?) but now I just log in and read occasionally. Anyway, I saw a league called Satellite Poker advertised on there that was going to have a Wollongong game with a 2-day structure and a fairly cool prize pool. So I asked any of the guys if they wanted to come, most of them were busy, but Nick and Teddy were keen to come so we drove down and got our $10-a-night rooms in the pub (which weren't bad). I met a couple of "usernames" as it were and most people were really friendly to us (albeit amazed that we drove from Bathurst to play).

Anyway, we have a 15k stack so I'm fairly certain I'll have a pretty decent edge against an average pub-poker field. However a lot of people at the event appeared to be fairly serious about the game (which is good for me because I usually hear whining at pub poker events from people who are just there to drink and have a good time) so I recalculated a little bit, even though I saw more than a few "gimps" (Benny's word for donks who think they're balla poker players because they had a better player explain pot odds to them and now they have to lecture the table with why they're so good at poker) sitting at the various tables.

I win a few hands early on (including the first hand with AJos on an A high flop - winning the first hand should surely have been a sign of impending doom). Anyway my stack was at around 14.2k when this doozy of a hand comes up.

The blinds are at 75/150 and I'm UTG+1 with AhAs. The UTG folds, I consider and simply limp into the pot. (TARP am I right?) The guy next to me, Franky, a former Satellite Poker winner, nice guy and clearly a skilled poker player, makes a sizeable raise to 600. It folds around to a guy in sunnies on the button who I was still wondering was a good player or not, who repops to 1200. Fairly sizeable action at this blind levels and I'm sitting here with the Bullets and a 14k stack. Great situation, right?

Well, anyway. Here's where I define there hands. I think for about 2 minutes and decide a shove is so spewy with these stacks and re-repop to 4200, leaving myself with a neat 10k behind.

Franky thinks for a good 3 minutes and eventually makes a crying fold. I put him on maybe TT or AK. Sunglasses guy, who I heard someone call the Baron, looks at me incredulously and shows his mate his hand, and does one thing I really didn't expect him to do: flat-calls.

So at this point I'm just hoping no K or Q flops. I throw up in my mouth a little bit as the flop comes KJ4. I look at him and he looks at the flop and then stares directly at me. Ugh. I can't check because I do not want QQ making a big play at me and I can't shove because that's just asking for KK to make a snap call. So I'm resigned to the fact that I might lose half my stack, so I bet 4000 and he pretty much instantly moves all in. I throw AA away face up and he shows me KK, and I'm left with 6000 around 25 minutes into the game. Sick.

Anyway. Two hands later I'm in the small blind with JJ. There's 4 limpers and its around to me, and I raise to 725. The big blind (Franky) calls pretty quickly and one other limper calls. The rest fold and I take a flop of A84. Demoralised, I check. Franky bets 1400 and the other limper folds and I fold JJ face up again and he shows me AK.

So now I've got around 5k and I'm starting to get annoyed. I'm on the cutoff 2 hands later and I get JJ AGAIN. There's a min-raise to 300 (ugh) and it gets around to a player on the hijack who makes it 1000. I think about re-repopping here then I realise that is a stupid play and a cold call here is probably best. One limper calls and we see a 3 way pot which is around 3300 in size.

The flop is a good one (finally), 232. First to act checks and the preflop re-raiser bets 1000. I tank for a good 5 minutes before I realised I have to shove here, if he has QQ good luck to him. So I move my 4125 into the middle, the preflop minraiser folds quickly and this guy begins to cut out 4000 and says, "well I guess I have to." I get annoyed and say, "well if you got Queens you got me bro." At this point, his hand freezes and I give myself a mental punch in the face as I realise he didn't specify a call. As soon as he freezes up I realise he doesn't have me beat.

The ridiculous thing is, at this point, he thinks for 4 or so minutes before eventually calling and flipping up -- of all things -- pocket 4s. (Yes, he repopped pre...) I look at my 11k pot and just ask for a Jack. Not much... just a jack. The turn of course is a scare card, dropping an Ace giving him 4 more outs. Sickeningly the third 4 drops on the riv and I am first out of this tourney that I drove 3 hours to play in.

Nick did fairly well, making day 2, and congrats to Teddy who made the final table (but didn't cash unfortunately).

Casino Canberra

WARNING: Contains Luckbox hands.

In the 2nd last week of the holidays I went to Canberra to mooch at my mate Phil's place who had gotten a cadetship at Centrelink head office and was being put up in a balla apartment in the middle of the CBD of a suburb called Tuggeranong. I went down there just to mooch pretty much but I did go to Canberra casino to play poker a few times and I thought I'd share a few interesting hands.

The game was a $200-$500 buyin with $5/$5 blinds.

On my first table, there was one fish, I'll call him Mr. Crazy, who every hand, regardless of position, raised it to $25. He would never fold preflop, rarely fold on the flop (or river -- I saw him do a [perhaps good?] call on a board of 67672 with K5os and win against some old dude who bluffed a busted straight). I was pretty much waiting to stack him. He raised it to $30 in his blinds, he just put 5 red chips in whenever it was his turn to act, and on every flop, did the same C-bet of $25 (no matter the size of the pot). Amazingly, he won the first 7 or so hands. One lady bet $25 into like $175 on the river and he called and she just mucked. I was ready to make some money.

Anyway, on my first BB, 2 people limp and Mr. Crazy raises to, you guessed it, $25. Two people call and I call with 7d9c on the big blind (priced in, right? :p) and 1 limper calls. The flop is okay, I guess: 5d6h8d. So I flop the nutstraight and check first to act. The original limper checks and this guy (who I'm expecting will bet his usual $25) actually bets a frisky $110. It folds to me and I think for about a minute and decide that theres no play better than a shove of my remaining $365 so I just go on ahead and put it all in there. It folds to this guy who SNAP CALLS and I'm pretty much expecting he has the same hand. However he shows 88 for top set and I fade the board pair to win a fairly healthy 975 dollar pot early on.

Two hands later I'm on the button with AcKc. The UTG player makes it $20 and it folds to Mr. Crazy who makes it $40. It folds around to me and I consider flatting here but I really want to take the pot heads up with Mr. Crazy so I pop it to $140.
Then it gets ugly. UTG raiser flat calls my $140 (uh-oh) and Mr. Crazy moves in for an additional $170 (uh-oh). I obviously cant fold AKs in a 900 dollar pot so I make the call. UTG folds with an annoyed look on his face (later said he had AJ... um yeah). Mr. Crazy shows KK and I'm more relieved that he doesnt have the bullets. I call for an Ace and luckbox one on the flop, A58. I'm already counting the pot as the turn drops a Jack ball but of course (the other players always get justice, WHERES MY JUSTICE), the case King balls on the river and I'm back down to around $580.

I decide to loosen up about 2 hours into the game, and when an old rock limps in UTG+2 I decide to raise to $25 with QsTs. I get 4 callers (lol cashaments am I right?) including the limper (Mr. Rock) and the flop comes Jc8s4d. I've got a fairly trifling holding with a backdoor flushdraw and a gutshot, but I fire the mandatory CBet of $50 when checked to me. It folds to Mr. Rock who min-repops me to $100. A check-raise from an old casino rock is something to strike fear into the blood of most but I figure I might be able to take the pot away from him with a nice semi-bluff card on the turn (like a spade). Anyway I flat call and spike my luckbox 9 on the turn. He checks and I bet $225. He moves in for $275 and of course I call. He shows JJ (oops), and again I fade my board pair and take in another nice pot. I cash off the table about an hour after (with some other decent hands) for around $1250 after buying in for $400.

The next day I go back and I only play for around 45 minutes. I buy in for $300 after playing some Casino War and I'm really in a gambly mood. I call a donk's raise with Jh5h early on when I'm in the BB and flop nice with J85. I bet $65, donk calls, turn is an ugly 9 and I shove like $135 and he folds.

The nice hand that came up was where I looked down at Qc7c and decided to raise in honour of Matty P (its his favourite hand). I make it $25 and get 5 callers.

So I flop huge (again -- btw I don't always get flops like this, I swear. I just ran good in Canberra :D) with Jc8c9c. They check to me and I lead $85. I get 2 callers. I ask for no club on the turn.

The turn is a club... the Tc for my delicious 6-card straight flush. They check to me again and I bet $105. One guy folds and one guy calls, this old guy who I was fairly certain was a tough, smart opponent.

The river drops the 7d which puts the 789TJ straight on the board. He checks to me and I faux-tank for a few minutes before shoving my $195 in. He thinks for a while, at one point asking the dealer to count the pot. I'm praying he calls and I put him on the Kc. After a while he calls and shows me the AcJd (wow) and I show him the straight flush and take down the $725.

I cash out from the table soon after since I don't feel I'm playing very well and realised if I keep gambling I'll go bust. So total profit from poker for the trip was around $1300. Begone, busto bug!

I KNOW I have two more sections to update (including the nearly getting in a fight at Orange APL) but I do have to go to uni so I'll have to let this blog entry finish here, and I'll try update the rest during the week!

Peace
Styles