man, i wish i played tournaments that opponents kept showing their hole cards. must be nice.
And even better, a 5%-raked beatable tournament where your opponents are given a mandatory penalty even if they show their hole cards by mistake!
When there was a heads-up all-in on the river, player folded and showed his hand, and the dealer wanted to give yet another penalty! I informed the dealer that is ridiculous along with several other players, but she insisted on calling the floor over. Believe it or not, the floor she called over agreed with her and gave him a penalty. I could not stop shaking my head and I talked to the head supervisor when I saw him later, and they apologized to our often-penalized table for the wrong ruling.
By the way, the photos of the Rama players headed to the ~U$1.5 million HPO Championship are now on Facebook (HPO). Let's get ready to rumble!
Okay, I've already had a few beers (real time), but let's give this a go anyhow. I really hope that I don't come across as a pompous a-hole or something related. I just love poker, spinning a good yarn and sharing my experiences. I have learned more from the poker community than I can ever repay.
As far as wearing a scarf like the young European hotshots do these days....perhaps, but like I said, my face is too fat so good luck....as for Blondefishe's advice, I'm 100% on the model!
Showing cards at this level is IMO, still very common. I used to be guilty of this myself. A lot of poker players have a decent size ego under the hoodie. It's something that rusts away with experience, unless your ego is bigger than your bankroll. That being said, there can be legit reasons, but these should ALWAYS be part of your bigger plan. More often than not though, it is likely -EV to expose your holdings for no reason.
Getting back to the tournament, we are are several hours in and my stack has grown to 17k or so. Players are getting knocked out, chips are starting to consolidate, and stacks are growing in front of some players at my table. This is when I get involved with External Carotid. I'm in the SB and it gets folded all the way around to me and I look down at K 10 off. I bet 2.2 x or so, and EC paused and then made the call after double checking his cards. My first impression was that he was thinking of raising. When he made is double-check, I said out loud " Are you sure?", and he responded, 'Yeah, I was just making sure I had what I had.'. We see the flop...K 8 4...two clubs. I lead out with a pot sized bet and my friend hesitates and then announces "All-in". Wow...his stack is not much less than mine. My first response is to look for the fold....why is any player shoving in this spot? Looks a lot like a draw to me, or is he just protecting his hand? I go into the tank, sit back and give him the Mike McDonald stare. He is looking forward, as still as a scarecrow, but his EC is pulsating like a MoFo. I think back to the hand before when he shoved.....I don't like my kicker.
Okay, I've already had a few beers (real time), but let's give this a go anyhow. I really hope that I don't come across as a pompous a-hole or something related. I just love poker, spinning a good yarn and sharing my experiences. I have learned more from the poker community than I can ever repay.
...well it was 4 o'clock some place in the world when I started drinking today, and it was about the same time when I was playing the hand with EC on Monday at Rama wondering what to do with my top pair - weak kicker vs his tournament life on the flop.
As I was going over his range in my head, and watching his heartbeat on his neck I remembered hearing/reading about the carotid tell, and how reliable it can be in signifying someone is nervous with adrenalin and is likely bluffing. That's why some dudes wear the scarf at the table to hide their chicken necks. When I first saw the scarf wearing pros on EPT years back on tv, I thought they were just cold or wanted to look like Yves Saint Larent. They obviously knew something I didn't back then. I was also thinking about his all-in move earlier when he was on a one card draw for his life, and the hands in between, when he seemed calmer and more relaxed. At least his neck didn't look like it was going to explode on most of those other hands. It was also a point in the tournament when blinds were 300/600 and I'm sitting on a stack of around 30bbs. It's a great time to double-up and try and make a deep run. So after tanking for a bit, I made the call. I flip my K 10 over and he reveals his suited one gapper of 8 6 clubs. Ugh....I gotta fade his flush draw, another 8 or 6 and a back door straight to stay ahead with my top pair. At least I have a club blocker in my 10 kicker. I'm only a slight favourite. The turn and river are of no consequence to me as he missed all of his outs and gets up and heads for the exit. As I'm stacking my new found chips, 'The man with the Black hat' who had just moved to seat 1 at our table a short while ago pipes up and says, "nice call.".
That spot was a lot thinner than I wanted it to be to say the least. I know that most 'tells' are over-rated, and I certainly didn't have the hand history with that fellow to have the least bit of certainty that any tell would be reliable anywho...but, it is always a good thing to be paying attention to everything going on at the tables. It also makes the game a lot more interesting. I consider myself a half gut - half math player. I know the math well enough and am trying to learn more about game theory, and I do tend to listen to my gut. Not in the sense of 'I had a feeling the flush was coming!'....not al all. Lately, I think I have a good idea where I'm at in a hand most of the time these days at the poker table, at least against most of the range of opponents I play at low-mid stakes. Only through years of playing, studying the game, paying attention and osmosis of playing 1000's and 1000's of hands. As I have mentioned in other threads in the forum, I started playing with the OPT group recently, and some of the runners of this site, and that has benefitted my game tremendously.
Not long after my near double up, I was shuffled out of my seat to the table that would eventually become the final table of the night. There I stayed and played with Teddie from Brantford on my immediate right for the remainder of the night, until the seats were redrawn for the final 10 players. I managed to hold on to my chips as the ever increasing antes and blinds chewed through our effective stacks. I've have also become more comfortable playing shorter stacks and in the 'danger-zone' where most stacks at the table eventually get to in the late stage of a tournament. When we started the final table I was the 2nd smallest stack as I had just lost the previous hand to Teddie when I had to fold my top pair to his runner runner flush on the river. He was generous enough to show me his hand after I folded. I hung on, picked spots and actually gained the chip lead at one point. When we eventually got down to 5 players, the stacks were almost dead even we decided to chop up the remaining cash prizes and play on for the two Hollywood Poker Open seats. We played till around midnight with a small crowd gathered around the table, and I came out with one of the seats to Vegas in June.
Thanks to the other players like Blondefish, dirtarse and pkrfce9 that hung out for awhile and supported from the rail and the bappers....
As far as wearing a scarf like the young European hotshots do these days....perhaps, but like I said, my face is too fat so good luck....as for Blondefishe's advice, I'm 100% on the model!
Even though April 4 was the last chance to win the three HPO vouchers + $500 overlays (which PocketsTwos & my horsey won), the next tournament sold out again. Believe it or not, somebody offered $550 for the $300 ticket! My HPO horsey was late as usual but at least had EMT-ed payment for the ticket he had requested me to pay for on April 4 so I handed him the ticket when he finally arrived. He and all the other players I asked later would have given up their ticket for $550. One player in my table gave the best reasoning and he mentioned a word I almost never hear at Rama - where everybody in the final table lights money on fire and donates to the bubble even if one player has only one big blind left - EQUITY.
The last guy to turn down the $550 offer said he would rather play. Soon after he sat down, he made a bad play on the river and said that he should have taken the $550. He made an even worse play preflop a couple of hands later and was out. The "equity" guy won the three-way all-in and became the chipleader.
On April 4, a forum member wanted to buy an HPO voucher and I advised him to stay until the end and make an offer to the top two winners, but decided to leave early. The other winner besides PocketsTwos told me that he did sell his voucher that night for less than half the face value!
The cash game pros from Fallsview and Woodbine suddenly turned up at Rama. I was wondering WTF are these pros (or semi-pros) doing in a $300 donkament when they never even played during the $10K overlays. As they all busted out of the tournament, a 5/10 table opened up with a waiting list.
The next opportunity at Rama is on May 2 (along with 2 GBH $225 & Brantford), with all the shot-takers over at WSOP/WPT Montreal.
A "friend" told me to buy him an extra Rama ticket two weeks ago for Monday's tournament but still has not paid for it. Anybody looking to buy and play today at 1 pm?
Sooooo..... I went to Rama today to battle one of the best players on the forum.
1st hand of the tourney , starting stack is 10,000 chips blinds 25 50....... I have 10h,Jh FLOP comes 7,8,9 with two spades.
There is maybe 300 in the pot. Villian bets out 250 I raise to 700....snap call.
turn is a red King. Villian checks I bet just over the pot 2000.....snap call again.
river is 10 spades. I am kinda screwed.... and the Villian leads out for 3000
being the calling station that I am I call and he flips over JQ off. argh !!!!!
grind my short stack back up to almost 9000 when I get moved to Wetts table. I loose a couple of pots and end up with a decent pocket pair and shove to a raise from the button. Wetts calls my shove and the button calls also.
Wetts had pocket 10's the button had pocket Aces and I was the monkey in the middle second best pair but didn't improve to the aces.
SOOOOOOO.....
I have a couple buddies that are playing a 5-10 game .... I get a seat right away and buy in for $ 1500. after 4 hours I leave with this.......
Wetts should make more . Either him or Steve H. From Milton should be deep in the money.
On a side note........ The faces Wetts makes are amazing. He makes the Mike McDonald stare down look like a 12 year old girl. I saw him twice today snarling like an old junk yard dog would snarl at ya just before it bit you in the butt. I have to start practicing that face..... I don't think i can do it justice but i will try.
Comments
The vein thing is quite interesting and does seem to be at least somewhat reliable:
How Maria Ho Used the Mythical Neck-Pulse Tell at 2007 WSOP
When there was a heads-up all-in on the river, player folded and showed his hand, and the dealer wanted to give yet another penalty!
By the way, the photos of the Rama players headed to the ~U$1.5 million HPO Championship are now on Facebook (HPO). Let's get ready to rumble!
P.S. FU ....
Okay, I've already had a few beers (real time), but let's give this a go anyhow. I really hope that I don't come across as a pompous a-hole or something related. I just love poker, spinning a good yarn and sharing my experiences. I have learned more from the poker community than I can ever repay.
As far as wearing a scarf like the young European hotshots do these days....perhaps, but like I said, my face is too fat so good luck....as for Blondefishe's advice, I'm 100% on the model!
Showing cards at this level is IMO, still very common. I used to be guilty of this myself. A lot of poker players have a decent size ego under the hoodie. It's something that rusts away with experience, unless your ego is bigger than your bankroll. That being said, there can be legit reasons, but these should ALWAYS be part of your bigger plan. More often than not though, it is likely -EV to expose your holdings for no reason.
Getting back to the tournament, we are are several hours in and my stack has grown to 17k or so. Players are getting knocked out, chips are starting to consolidate, and stacks are growing in front of some players at my table. This is when I get involved with External Carotid. I'm in the SB and it gets folded all the way around to me and I look down at K 10 off. I bet 2.2 x or so, and EC paused and then made the call after double checking his cards. My first impression was that he was thinking of raising. When he made is double-check, I said out loud " Are you sure?", and he responded, 'Yeah, I was just making sure I had what I had.'. We see the flop...K 8 4...two clubs. I lead out with a pot sized bet and my friend hesitates and then announces "All-in". Wow...his stack is not much less than mine. My first response is to look for the fold....why is any player shoving in this spot? Looks a lot like a draw to me, or is he just protecting his hand? I go into the tank, sit back and give him the Mike McDonald stare. He is looking forward, as still as a scarecrow, but his EC is pulsating like a MoFo. I think back to the hand before when he shoved.....I don't like my kicker.
To be con't....
...well it was 4 o'clock some place in the world when I started drinking today, and it was about the same time when I was playing the hand with EC on Monday at Rama wondering what to do with my top pair - weak kicker vs his tournament life on the flop.
As I was going over his range in my head, and watching his heartbeat on his neck I remembered hearing/reading about the carotid tell, and how reliable it can be in signifying someone is nervous with adrenalin and is likely bluffing. That's why some dudes wear the scarf at the table to hide their chicken necks. When I first saw the scarf wearing pros on EPT years back on tv, I thought they were just cold or wanted to look like Yves Saint Larent. They obviously knew something I didn't back then. I was also thinking about his all-in move earlier when he was on a one card draw for his life, and the hands in between, when he seemed calmer and more relaxed. At least his neck didn't look like it was going to explode on most of those other hands. It was also a point in the tournament when blinds were 300/600 and I'm sitting on a stack of around 30bbs. It's a great time to double-up and try and make a deep run. So after tanking for a bit, I made the call. I flip my K 10 over and he reveals his suited one gapper of 8 6 clubs. Ugh....I gotta fade his flush draw, another 8 or 6 and a back door straight to stay ahead with my top pair. At least I have a club blocker in my 10 kicker. I'm only a slight favourite. The turn and river are of no consequence to me as he missed all of his outs and gets up and heads for the exit. As I'm stacking my new found chips, 'The man with the Black hat' who had just moved to seat 1 at our table a short while ago pipes up and says, "nice call.".
That spot was a lot thinner than I wanted it to be to say the least. I know that most 'tells' are over-rated, and I certainly didn't have the hand history with that fellow to have the least bit of certainty that any tell would be reliable anywho...but, it is always a good thing to be paying attention to everything going on at the tables. It also makes the game a lot more interesting. I consider myself a half gut - half math player. I know the math well enough and am trying to learn more about game theory, and I do tend to listen to my gut. Not in the sense of 'I had a feeling the flush was coming!'....not al all. Lately, I think I have a good idea where I'm at in a hand most of the time these days at the poker table, at least against most of the range of opponents I play at low-mid stakes. Only through years of playing, studying the game, paying attention and osmosis of playing 1000's and 1000's of hands. As I have mentioned in other threads in the forum, I started playing with the OPT group recently, and some of the runners of this site, and that has benefitted my game tremendously.
Not long after my near double up, I was shuffled out of my seat to the table that would eventually become the final table of the night. There I stayed and played with Teddie from Brantford on my immediate right for the remainder of the night, until the seats were redrawn for the final 10 players. I managed to hold on to my chips as the ever increasing antes and blinds chewed through our effective stacks. I've have also become more comfortable playing shorter stacks and in the 'danger-zone' where most stacks at the table eventually get to in the late stage of a tournament. When we started the final table I was the 2nd smallest stack as I had just lost the previous hand to Teddie when I had to fold my top pair to his runner runner flush on the river. He was generous enough to show me his hand after I folded. I hung on, picked spots and actually gained the chip lead at one point. When we eventually got down to 5 players, the stacks were almost dead even we decided to chop up the remaining cash prizes and play on for the two Hollywood Poker Open seats. We played till around midnight with a small crowd gathered around the table, and I came out with one of the seats to Vegas in June.
Thanks to the other players like Blondefish, dirtarse and pkrfce9 that hung out for awhile and supported from the rail and the bappers....
Montreal should be fun!
https://twitter.com/xxl23/status/701644720523579392
FU Trigs
The last guy to turn down the $550 offer said he would rather play. Soon after he sat down, he made a bad play on the river and said that he should have taken the $550. He made an even worse play preflop a couple of hands later and was out. The "equity" guy won the three-way all-in and became the chipleader.
On April 4, a forum member wanted to buy an HPO voucher and I advised him to stay until the end and make an offer to the top two winners, but decided to leave early. The other winner besides PocketsTwos told me that he did sell his voucher that night for less than half the face value!
The cash game pros from Fallsview and Woodbine suddenly turned up at Rama. I was wondering WTF are these pros (or semi-pros) doing in a $300 donkament when they never even played during the $10K overlays. As they all busted out of the tournament, a 5/10 table opened up with a waiting list.
The next opportunity at Rama is on May 2 (along with 2 GBH $225 & Brantford), with all the shot-takers over at WSOP/WPT Montreal.
The 225 @ GBH didn't sell out.
36 holes set for Settlers Ghost Sunday...11 hours of
Poker on Monday sounds great!!!
Chopped for 1st on the 11th
1st hand of the tourney , starting stack is 10,000 chips blinds 25 50....... I have 10h,Jh FLOP comes 7,8,9 with two spades.
There is maybe 300 in the pot. Villian bets out 250 I raise to 700....snap call.
turn is a red King. Villian checks I bet just over the pot 2000.....snap call again.
river is 10 spades. I am kinda screwed.... and the Villian leads out for 3000
being the calling station that I am I call and he flips over JQ off. argh !!!!!
grind my short stack back up to almost 9000 when I get moved to Wetts table. I loose a couple of pots and end up with a decent pocket pair and shove to a raise from the button. Wetts calls my shove and the button calls also.
Wetts had pocket 10's the button had pocket Aces and I was the monkey in the middle second best pair but didn't improve to the aces.
SOOOOOOO.....
I have a couple buddies that are playing a 5-10 game .... I get a seat right away and buy in for $ 1500. after 4 hours I leave with this.......
20160822_210424_resized.jpg
Wetts should make more . Either him or Steve H. From Milton should be deep in the money.
On a side note........ The faces Wetts makes are amazing. He makes the Mike McDonald stare down look like a 12 year old girl. I saw him twice today snarling like an old junk yard dog would snarl at ya just before it bit you in the butt. I have to start practicing that face..... I don't think i can do it justice but i will try.
Hope you took it down Wetts.