The Boss Hogg of Poker

Today I told a friend ahead of our session that I was going to be the Boss Hogg of Poker.

Boss Hogg isn't just an entertaining character from the Dukes of Hazzard. No, not at all. I am beginning to understand that the most effective filter for decisions at the poker table is the question, "What would Boss Hogg do in this situation?"

Angel's book is damn good but it can't save you when Boss Hogg sits at your table. Ain't no chapter in no book on that.

In four hours at the Aladdin $1-2 NL game I made $250. It might have been more but I misplayed a hand.

I called a straddled pot in late position with Tc7c. The straddle raised to $15 and it was called in three seats before it got to me. I had the button and I called. The flop came T76. The straddle bet $20, an early position player called, and I raised to $100. The straddle called and then the early position player thought a long time and went all-in for $155 more. This was not good and I knew it. I had the straddle beat, but the early position player was solid and I thought his most likely hand was 66.

I was pretty sure the straddle was going to call, which would put $685 into the pot for a $155 call. I was getting 4.4-1. I felt like it was a bad call at the time but it turned out to be a good call.

That doesn't mean I won the hand. Pocket sixes held up. But to me, the mistake I made was the big raise on the flop that pot committed me.

I just don't think Boss Hogg makes that raise.

Dodging Bullets

Played for 10 hours today and ended up winning $10. Using a Texas Instruments "calculator" device, I discover that this works out to an earn rate of one dollar per hour. For those of you with mathematical backgrounds, please correct me if your equations come out differently.

John H from North Carolina showed up today, and the whole seven hours we played at the same table I did not win a pot of decent size. I couldn't even win by stealing and hitting perfect-perfect: I called a $6 raise with Q7 of clubs and checkraised the $10 bet on a 652 flop to $35, got called, hit runner-runner 9-8 for a straight and still only chopped the pot.

The rest of the time I was laying down trips, top pair, and otherwise dodging bullets.

When John left the game I was down $250, but then I went on a little run to get back to even. He now leads in the sidebet race by two. Plenty of days left to retake the lead.

Another Quickie

Another blitz session today, less than two hours of play. Made $330. Then I looked around the table and realized the only ones left were tight-aggressives and short stacked tight-passives so I racked up.

But I can't help being suspicious of my motives. One of my biggest leaks has been that I've been too quick to take small and medium sized wins. Phil Ivey says when you're losing you need to go home, but when you're winning you need to stay forever and beat the game. If I had better discipline about staying in good games when I'm winning, I'd be playing $2-5 nl or higher as my regular game.

Fun with Ace High

Played a really short session at the Aladdin and made $200. Basically I played one pot.

A new player with a $200 stack sat down to my left, in position to take the big blind. The dealer asked if he wanted to wait or play now, and he said emphatically, "Oh, I want to play." It was limped to me in the small blind and I found AsKs. I just called. The new player took his option and raised to $20.

It was folded back to me, and again I just called. The flop came down QsJc7s. I had the nut flush draw, a gutshot straight draw, and two overcards. I checked and he bet $15 dollars. This could have been pocket queens or pocket jacks praying for action, but the way he bet seemed like he didn't really like his hand that much and just didn't know what else to do. I raised to $100. I didn't want calling to be an option for him. I wanted him to either fold or go all-in. Either one was fine with me. He thought for a bit and went all-in. Of course I called.

He said, "I don't have anything yet." We flipped the hands over. He had AcTd. He almost literally could not have been in worse shape. If you like, take a look at a poker odds calculator and find the one hand that's a bigger favorite over AcTd on this board than AsKs.

Bellagio High Hand Jackpot

A while back I was playing some exciting no limit holdem at the Tropicana and called in early position. There was no preflop raise and I said to my friend Steve, who was sitting next to me, "I have the best hand right now." Six players saw the T55 flop and I said, "I probably still have the best hand." It was checked around.

The turn was another ten, and I laughed cause I had quad tens. But it was a bad card for me. I had the Royal Brass Brazilians, but anyone slowplaying a five on the flop now liked his hand a lot less. Someone with a smaller pocket pair than mine probably wouldn't lose his stack by making a boat on the river. I had the deck crippled. And there was no high hand jackpot at the Tropicana.

Some places you get a bonus, usually between $50 and $600, for making four of a kind or a straight flush using both your holecards. But not at the Trop. The only place where it's actually worse to make four of a kind is the Bellagio. At the Bellagio not only is there no high hand jackpot, but if you have the audacity to ask if you get a bonus, the dealer will call a floorman who will come over and regard you with withering disdain and say, "Fuck you."

If you don't like a particular guy or think he's a jerk or whatever, instead of saying it in simple everyday language you can say of him, "Welcome to the Bellagio, Sir. May we tell you about our High Hand Jackpot?"

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Put in a Christmas Day session at Aladdin, a not very noteworthy session. I played basic A-B-C Tight and won $190.

Yeah, Real Solid

Sat down at Aladdin for some exciting $1-2 NL action, and as is my usual custom I got stuck $100 in the game. But at least this time I found a creative way to do it.

Frustrated with my cards which were dead-on-arrival, half-blind because of painful contact lens problems, and developing some kind of rash, I knew I needed to do something to take control of the situation. So I chose to make a move on a tight aggressive player (TAG), the only one at the table. He was a local player I had seen before and he recognized me. I thought he'd give me credit for a hand when I moved against him. He'd raised preflop twice in a row, and on the third time I repopped him from $12 to $35 in position. He called, saying, "I know you're solid, dude," as he did so. Oh, I happened to have QT.

Flop came AQJ rainbow and he checked to me. I fired out $60. I had started the hand with $165, so after the $60 bet I was left with $70. He thought for a second and then pushed all-in. He showed me after the hand was over that he had top pair (Ace!) with top kicker (King!). Problem was, after my bet I was faced with a situation where it was about equally correct to call or fold. My EV was 21% and I was getting close to the 4-to-1 I needed ($270 was in the pot for a $70 call). I chose to let it go.

I don't really mind my preflop action, but the dumb part was betting the flop here. I had actually hit something, middle pair with a gutshot, so I didn't need to bet. If he had a pocket pair, I had him beat anyway unless it was one of the sets or KK. If he'd called with a big ace he had two-pair or top pair with a gutshot. So there wasn't much value in betting, except maybe getting him to lay down KQ or KK. But most likely I had him drawing thin or he had a better hand that wasn't going anywhere considering the pot size. So I could have taken the free card he was giving me to beat him.

After that fiasco I reloaded and fought my way back to a $120 winning session, which involved revenge against the TAG.

A lot of Persians are in town for a series of concerts this weekend, and the table was about half Persian. I would like to say that I felt like Leonidas at Thermopylae, but saying that would be kinda weak.

The Infamous AJ

At last year's WSOP main event, Phil Ivey's KK lost an all-in pot to an opponent's AQ. Afterwards he said, "It's amazing. I can never win with that hand, and I can never beat that hand."

For Ivey it's AQ. With me it's AJ. A lot of my bad beats in the past year have come when I either hold AJ or am up against AJ.

I played two sessions today. First session was an uneventful four hours at the Trop. $200 cap 1-2 nl. Made $100.

Went to Paris and sat down there. Was card dead for two hours and stuck $100. I got up to take a break and met a friend at Nosh at Ballys. Really good sandwiches. I came back to the big blind and flopped top two pair on a QJ8 board with two hearts. I led out for $15 and got two callers. $50 on the turn and one caller. River was the heart. I checked and the villain pushed for $110. He was sitting to my left and I asked him, "Did you really call me down with a heart draw?" "Come on, I'm a better player than that," he said. I don't think I was ever really gonna call after he said that, but eventually the dealer called time on me, which was weird cause no player had complained or called for time and it hadn't been very long. The villain said, "No, it's okay. Let him take whatever time he needs." I figured the only thing I could really beat that might sensibly act this way was KT, and everything he'd said told me he had the goods so I laid it down and he showed me 10-7 hearts so I'd know he'd flopped a gutshot straight-flush draw, too.

After that I flopped a baby flush in a raised pot, pushed all-in for $120, and got called by the infamous AJ. The board was AJ2 of diamonds. Needless to say the dude filled up. Busto. Time to rebuy.

I did get back to even and eventually up $45 to finish the 5-hour Paris session, so I was plus $145 for the day.

I don't like playing from behind but it's been happening a lot lately. I want to sit on a big stack and crush the game. You gotta be in touch with your inner Conan to be the most dangerous kind of no limit player. What was it Conan the Barbarian said when asked what is best in life?

"To crush enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women."

The line comes down from a Ghengis Khan quote. Ghengis' version is more ruthless.

Cistercian Poker

Found myself at Aladdin and sat down in the $200 cap $1-2 NL game. The table seemed tight and predictable and I started raising with anything decent. I was promptly, duly and thoroughly run down and stuck $100.

Around this time three members of a family showed up to play, and the cute daughter sat next to me. Mike Caro wrote something about how you should play at tables with hot girls cause the guys will be distracted. Gee, Mike, you don't say. It's good advice for a Cistercian monk but not for me.

I reloaded to the $200 cap and a hand came up where a guy unexpectedly straddled, and with a few limpers I woke up in the small blind with pocket kings. I raised to $18, and then something even more unexpected happened. The big blind was a quiet middle-aged British dude who had been reading Card Player magazine the whole time and folding everything. It seemed the poker game going on around him had little to do with him personally and he frankly found it a little distateful. When my $18 hit the felt he immediately announced "All-in" for $160. I called and my hand held up against his JJ. He told me he thought I was making a move, so I guess he had noticed all my raising.

A couple other hands, the first of which I really misplayed. I raised with KK and it came KT7 with two clubs. I was heads-up against a calling station. She led out at me for 15 dollars. I smooth called with the intention of pushing the turn no matter what came. She was only 100 behind. The turn was a terrible card for me, the Queen of Clubs. Not terrible because I was beat. I knew I had the best hand, as she wasn't the type to lead with any draw. But terrible because she thought I may have drawn out on her. She bet the same amount as her flop bet and folded to my push.

I definitely should have raised the flop. When a calling station has a made hand and she likes her hand and your hand is better, it's dumb to just call and let the next card scare her. She'll call your flop raise and then she'll be pot committed no matter what comes next.

Another hand came up where I called with 7-5 in position and the flop came 752. The big blind led out for twice the amount of the pot. I guessed he'd picked up a big-blind-not-so-special, either 7-2 or 5-2. I raised, sorta expecting him to push, but he just called. The turn was a putrid looking deuce, and he pushed for about $100, more than the size of the pot. I was now losing to any overpair like 99 and of course to the hands I had put him on. But I was suspicious cause if he'd been slowplaying two pair, why would he now push when he'd filled up? Eventually I asked him, "Do you have a deuce?" He started to say something but the words stopped in his throat. "Do you have anything? You have 3-4?" He stayed quiet and I said, "I call." "You caught me, dude," he said and flipped over 3-4. River changed nothing.

Played five hours and the game broke. Cashed out $750. Plus $450 for the session.

Levels of Emotion

Something I have been thinking about recently.

One thing that separates good poker players from bad poker players is the degree to which their play is dictated by emotion. Good players are less dependent on emotion in making their decisions. At least this is the conventional wisdom.

Ernest Hemingway defined morality by saying that what's immoral will make you feel bad afterwards, while something that's moral won't make you feel bad afterwards.

This is easily understandable even if you don't agree with it, and it points to the existence of different levels of emotion. There are surface emotions, which spring up from your immediate hopes, frustrations, desires, your flight-or-fight instinct, and your behavioral patterns of the past. And on another level there are your identity beliefs, your vision of how you want your world to look and how you want to be.

Good players act more according to these second-level emotions, instead of their surface emotions.

A lot of new players or bad players just don't know what the right play is. They don't know what to do. But I'm not talking about that. Experienced players often know what they are supposed to do, at least in the back of their minds, yet take some other action. If they are timid they check when they know they should bet, or they fail to take advantage of some great bluffing opportunity. If they are on tilt they will overplay their hands. If they don't like a guy, they will get involved in a pot and make a bad call against that jackass just to snap him off.

Even when I play well, I usually look back on a session and find one or two spots where I made this kind of mistake, where I allowed surface emotions to dictate my play. When I play bad or go on tilt, it's a disaster zone.

This applies to more than poker, of course. But for anyone who wants to get good at poker, this stuff is critical.

Courtesy of the State of Arizona

Just got a call from John from NC. He threatens me and he makes no excuses about making these threats, which he scatters throughout our conversation.

He's coming to town the 29th of December, and he says he will take my title. Every time we play no limit at the Aladdin we make sidebets on busting players. I got off to an early lead during his first trip here, but last time he was in town he tied the score.

He's very loose and passive preflop, and when he smooth calls a raise you don't know if he has KK or 75. He plays really well after the flop and seems to hit more hands and get paid off more than normal humans, so much so that during the times he's in town no one has won more than him in Aladdin games.

I'll definitely be posting about my results while he's in town and most importantly on the sidebet title.

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Played a 5-hour session at Paris LV. 1-2 NL 300 cap. I bought in for 300. When I got there at 3 am the game was 5-handed and a Tunisian dude had a grand in front of him. I sat down to his left. Turns out he is in town for the WPT tourney at Bellagio, where he finished 144th out of 580-something.

I took it easy for the most part, as I kind of feel like I have been forcing things too much lately. I missed a lot of draws the first couple hours and lost chips calling raises with pocket pairs that missed. Was down a hundred, then I saw a cheap flop with 5-3 in position and flopped bottom two and got paid off by top pair. Flopped a set on a suited board heads-up against a loose-aggressive player (did prison time in Arizona, informs us that you call pocket queens "two bitches face down"). Just called on the flop and raised big on the turn. In these spots, and especially against guys who like to gamble, I am starting to want to see at least a turn card before committing a lot of chips, as a raise on the flop will often provoke an all-in from a top pair and flush draw type hand, which is what he had. Overall won $125 for the session.