Soxtalk Poker thread

[gdz89]

somehow my account got delete so i jus made this one

 

But anyway have any of you guys played In between the sheets or Drop Guts?? They are cash games me and my friends played. Jus wondering if anyone else has heard of them

[qwerty]

Anyone up for a game tonight?

[DBAHO]

Anyone up for a game tonight?

I got 45 mins to spare bf I hav to go to the dentist. I'll set up a room if any1 wants to play in Poker Room, DBAH0's HE.

[EvilMonkey]

I've only been playing this for a few days, and I can't tell you how many damn times I get a pair of 2's! I get a pair under, or a pair after the flop, and that's it. And forget about aces under, never match it up with anything else.

[The Bones]

anyone up for a game?

[SAVVY18]

Hammerhead,

 

I would recommend reading "Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em" by T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy. They are both former WSOP main event champs, so they know what they are talking about.

 

I also have "Play Poker Like the Pro's" by Phil Hellmuth jr. Another former champ. Phil is a little too aggressive for me, but it is still a good read into his style of play.

 

And like the books say, don't try to implement everything you read at your next game. It will ruin you. Take one thing and try it out. If it works for you, great. If not, try one of the other things.

 

One of the most important points that sticks out from TJ's book is that you need to always think about how you can maximize your winnings from each hand. An example is to not just go "All-in" when you have the nuts and your opponents are playing passively. That will just scare them away. Sometimes a minimum bet will even scare them away. Play it slowly and hopefully, they will bet into you. And when they do, again, don't go all in. You still have a card or two to get more $$ out of them. Let them think they have the best and let them bet into you. Then, if you have position, you can make a small re-raise and finally on the river they will most likely be pretty commited to the pot and then you can make a final raise that will hopefully not scare them away. If it does, you still win the pot and some of their chips.

 

There are so many times where someone gets a big pair before the flop, goes all in and everyone folds. If they weren't one of the blinds, they do win a small amount, but just think if you would have kept 2 or 3 more players in the hand with a small raise. You would double or triple your take. Yes you are opening yourself up for someone flopping something and beating you, but if they do and bet balls out, you can always get away from the hand. But when you are out of position, you need to be careful.

 

The slow play out of position did cost me about 1/2 of my chips in a home game on Saturday. I had pocket queens, flopped a queen for a set(there were also 2 diamonds). The turn was a blank, but the guy was still hanging in their. With the cards on the board, he could have had a pair of aces, 3 aces, 2 pair, or he was on a flush draw. He didn't raise before or after the flop, so from his style of play, I know he didnt' have the set of aces. I made a large enough bet to make him think about calling, but he did call. I figured flush draw. The river was a 2 of diamonds. I was out of position, so I bet a decent amount. He called and showed the flush. In this case the slow play beat me. If I was in position, he would have had to bet first and I could have gotten away with less damage.

[hammerhead johnson]

And like the books say, don't try to implement everything you read at your next game.  It will ruin you.  Take one thing and try it out.  If it works for you, great.  If not, try one of the other things.

"Take what is useful to you and leave what is useless"

 

That is what Bruce Lee reiterates time and time again in his 2 hour training video. His style of fighting includes elements of western boxing, fencing, all asian styles of fighting (korean, vietnamese, malaysian, chinese, japanese, phillipean, etc). That is why he was the best ever....he didn't stick with one particular style as so many are prone to do. He implemented aspects from every style out there.

 

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm gonna pick those up for certain. Doyle Brunson says that the only poker books worth reading are those written by experienced poker players, preferably world champions. That is all that I'm looking to purchase.

[Gene Honda Civic]

Just wanted to post this -- I was in a NL tourney (fake money) tonight -- I busted 4 people on 4 straight hands, and at one point had a chip lead of over 8,000, with only 4 others in the game. I had almost 11K and nobody else even had 3K --

 

I lost.

I didn't even come in second.

 

I got beat on a couple of bad beats. The others were actually apologizing.

[qwerty]

Just wanted to post this -- I was in a NL tourney (fake money) tonight -- I busted 4 people on 4 straight hands, and at one point had a chip lead of over 8,000, with only 4 others in the game.  I had almost 11K and nobody else even had 3K --

 

I lost. 

I didn't even come in second.

 

I got beat on a couple of bad beats. The others were actually apologizing.

We should start playing again but start playing with more money. Fake money of course. I have 15 thousand now.

[BlackBetsy]

Just got back from Vegas where the cards kicked my ass.

 

Was playing super tight all night, up $400 at a 8-16 table (don't ever play 4-8 if you want to play real poker) at the Bellagio. I was the table captain, playing perfect position poker, bluffs working, best hands holding up, etc.

 

Then things like this happen:

 

Holding Q-Q in the hole, I raise from a middle position. Someone else re-raises before the flop, and I make it three raises, which people should understand is QQ, KK or AA. Flop comes J-x-x rainbow, only a runner-runner straight/flush possibility. I lead the betting again. Called by two players! Turn comes K, I bet out again, get one call. River is a blank. Guy turns over A-K hearts. He stayed in on a freaking 6-outer and I got beat. Ugh.

 

Holding Q-9 in the hole from the button and I limp in before the flop. Flop is 9-7-2. I lead the betting again. Two callers. Turn is a 4, River is a 9 to give me three of a kind. Asshole to my right stayed in with a 4-4 and made a full house, 4's over 9's. A TWO-OUTER.

 

Holding K-Q from late position. Flop hits Q-9-x. Sick of being drawn out, I announce to a potential caller that the flop hit me hard. He calls anyway. J on the turn, blank on the river. He turns over JJ. Beaten by another TWO OUTER.

 

Never actually had a hand hold up for any real money in this stretch - my AA didn't get any callers before the flop - and walked away from the table down $500. Did I ever hit a two outer? No. Did I ever hit a six-outer? Once. Did I ever hit a flush on the river? No. I got drawn out almost every time and never caught cards myself.

 

Ugly.

[danman31]

That's cards though. I can actually understand a couple of the calls. The guys don't know they are down to less than 10 outs. If you bet heavy and they get lucky that's more annoying. When you only had top pair (which I'd bet on the flop every time except for when the flop is suited) that can easily be beat.

[BlackBetsy]

Top pair being beat in any of those situations is no better than a 6-outer with two overcards. If they call bets on the flop hoping to catch a 6-outer all night, they'll go broke. Although I grant you pot odds may be close on that one with 3 people in the pot on the A-K beat.

 

But you can't hold pocket 4's with two overcards on the board. And you've got to throw those jacks away. You'll go broke holding onto QQ and JJ with overcards on the board. You will absolutely go broke and probably go crazy. Heck, I don't even like seeing JJ in my hand.

[hammerhead johnson]

Damn. Not that it compares to a $500 loss, but I flopped a full house Kings over Aces and I ended up losing about $50 to Aces over Kings recently. That's always a bummer.

[danman31]

I'm gonna agree with ya, but I have to say I've played with enough crappy players that I'm used to it. It's worse when you put a guy all-in or you are all-in and the guy is plain beat. The douche gets lucky. One of my "favorite" hands of all-time...

 

I was playing a 10 or 12 person tourney (don't remember). At this point it was down to I believe 6 people at this point, I don't remember exactly. I was in a solid chip position, not chip leader, but no need to go all-in or anything. I was getting a run of unbelievable pocket cards and was raising pre flop every time. Others were laughing, swearing I was bluffing at least once or twice. Anyway I get dealt A J and again raise pre flop. I got a few callers. Flop comes K Q 10 with 2 hearts. I have the nuts at the time. I'm basically crapping my pants and raise $1. The chip average was $10 because half the people were out and we started with $5 in chips each. I was above average in chips so that was a solid bet, but nothing outrageous to this point in time. Anyway, the next guy raises to $2 and the guy behind him calls quickly. Everyone else who was in (don't remember how many were in at the time) folded. I continue to basically crap my pants. I figure I have the nuts, I know I'm at least a 80% favorite in this hand so I go all-in. Everyone is going crazy at this point. The guy who raised me called and the next folded with a nut flush draw. My caller had 2 pair Kings and Queens. Next card: a motherf***ing K. Full house, it's over. I lose. I had more chips than him, so I was still alive but didn't have enough to do any damage. Just thinking about that hand kills me. Oddly enough the guy who folded the nut flush draw would have made it, and still lost.

[witesoxfan]

This is fun...talking about poker stories. I may as well share a few of mine.

 

I was playing one night, and was doing very well. I had a sizeable chip lead over everyone at the table, and was pushing people around. On one hand, I limped in with J-3 offsuit, and everyone else did as well. Flop came J-4-x. I bet $1500(we're playing with large amounts...average person had about $7000 or so at this point, I probably had near $25-30 thousand, and this guy I was going up against had about $9000), and the guy with $9000 called. Next card was a blank. I bet $2500 and the other guy pushed it all in. I called...obviously. We turn the cards over, and I have him killed...he has 4-6 off, I have high pair with a bad kicker. River comes...6. He made his f***ing second pair on the river. I was pretty pissed.

 

Later that night, I was looking at rockets in the hole. I had about $15000 at the time, and raised it to about $1000. Guy next to me moves it all in for about $3000 more. Table folds to me...and I obviously call. It's AA to AK suited. Guess what happens.

Flop comes: K-x-x

Turn: x

River: K

 

I just f***ing stared at that river and couldn't believe I was actually looking at that card.

 

Of course, I was then shortstacked later on, moved all in with 10's in the hole, and was called by the guy who beat me on the river with his second pair. He had 4's in the hole, and my night was over after a 4 hit on the flop.

 

 

However, this past Sunday, I had my proudest and best moment ever playing poker.

 

We were playing with around $50 to start with($20 buy-in, FWIW...not actually $50 real dollar, just $50 in chips), and I was at about $30. I look down and see QQ in the hole, and raise it $6. Guy next to me calls, and the person 2 guys over raises $15 on top, to make it a total of $22 or so. I'm sitting here with b****es in the hole, and I don't know what to do...either push it all in, or fold. I muck it. Guy next to me throws it away too. Guy with the huge raise flips his cards over...KK in the whole.

 

Crazy thing is...I still think I made the wrong call. I figured I should have just pushed it all in, trying to make a set, even knowing I was behind.

[BlackBetsy]

$9000), and the guy with $9000 called.  Next card was a blank. I bet $2500 and the other guy pushed it all in.  I called...obviously.  We turn the cards over, and I have him killed...he has 4-6 off, I have high pair with a bad kicker.  River comes...6.  He made his f***ing second pair on the river.  I was pretty pissed.

 

However, this past Sunday, I had my proudest and best moment ever playing poker.

 

We were playing with around $50 to start with($20 buy-in, FWIW...not actually $50 real dollar, just $50 in chips), and I was at about $30.  I look down and see QQ in the hole, and raise it $6.  Guy next to me calls, and the person 2 guys over raises $15 on top, to make it a total of $22 or so.  I'm sitting here with b****es in the hole, and I don't know what to do...either push it all in, or fold.  I muck it.  Guy next to me throws it away too.  Guy with the huge raise flips his cards over...KK in the whole.

 

Crazy thing is...I still think I made the wrong call.  I figured I should have just pushed it all in, trying to make a set, even knowing I was behind.

The pair of 4's in the hole against the pair of jacks is not a terrible semi-bluff if he thinks you're on a bluff yourself or maybe have second pair. He actually does have a hand. I hope he acknowledged that it was a semi-bluff.

 

Throwing away QQ takes a monumental amount of discipline. That's awesome.

 

My proudest moment I think was calling a hand Q-high because I just knew the raiser was bluffing. Just had a stone cold read off of his bet on the turn. He had J-high. Beautiful.

[danman31]

New douchebag got lucky hand:

 

I'm playing online. It was a pokerroom.com tourney. I was in the final 3 of 10. I got ace queen offsuit. I double the blind. The guy after me (short stack of the table) bets over half his chips. The 3rd guy (80% of the chips at the table) raises him all in, which was about 1/4 of my chips. I call, the short stack calls. Flop comes q 10 7. So I raise all in and get called by the chip leader. Turns out the other all in guy also had ace queen off suit. The chip leader called with 10 3 suited. So let's rewind a bit. He saw a raise and re-raise in front of him and re-raised with 10 3 suited....then he calls an all in with a pair of 10s, 2nd pair. Gets a 3 on the river...ballgame. That's embarrasing for the game of poker.

[witesoxfan]

The pair of 4's in the hole against the pair of jacks is not a terrible semi-bluff if he thinks you're on a bluff yourself or maybe have second pair.  He actually does have a hand.  I hope he acknowledged that it was a semi-bluff.

 

Throwing away QQ takes a monumental amount of discipline.  That's awesome.

 

My proudest moment I think was calling a hand Q-high because I just knew the raiser was bluffing.  Just had a stone cold read off of his bet on the turn.  He had J-high.  Beautiful.

The pair of 4's with the second pair on the river wouldn't have bugged me nearly as much had the player I was playing with actually been a good player. To put it into perspective...later in that same game, he called an all in, which was about a quarter of his stack, with 5-2 suited just because no one else called. Of course he made his flush and knocked the other person out, but it is still a dumb move.

 

The fact that he had the reputation of playing lucky is what bugged me, but I should have expected it. There were times when that guy would call a sizable all-in bet with K-4 offsuit, and would win.

 

What's nice about playing those types of players is that you do not always get lucky, no matter who you are. There will be times when you get screwed, and when you just don't get the cards, and they'll call with a s*** hand some of the time.

 

 

Oh yeah...thanks for the compliment on the queens. I do pride myself in playing a very disciplined game at the table.

 

Calling with queen high and having the best of it is pretty damn cool too. That would be insane.

[Gene Honda Civic]

/quickly becoming best thread on soxtalk.

[witesoxfan]

/quickly becoming best thread on soxtalk.

Already is the best thread here.

 

I mean, check out who it was started by

 

 

BTW...if we're telling poker stories...I may as well tell one I heard at a tournament.

 

This guy was talking about him being in a game with a few other guys(duh), and he had some rag hand...like 6H-3C...but was in the big blind, and got a free look. Flop came 5H-7H-8H...so he's like jizzing his pants here with an open ended straight flush draw. A guy bets into him, and he calls. Turn comes 9H. A guy bets into him, pretty big, and he calls...no need to raise. River is blank. The guy makes a reasonable size bet, and the one who told the story went all in. The other guy called and said he had the nut straight flush, and the story teller was like "WTF are you talking about?

 

The guy flipped over JH-10H.

 

Anyways, just thought I'd like to share that. That would be crazy as hell to see.

[witesoxfan]

Anyone online...we're playing.

 

bsimon76's HE, 25-50 NL

[3E8]

For those of you who've played for real money on pokerroom.com, which payment method did you use and how did everything work out?

[witesoxfan]

For those of you who've played for real money on pokerroom.com, which payment method did you use and how did everything work out?

I haven't played with it, but I know of people who have, and they've told me that they used their checking account to transfer the money.

[ihatethecubs]

anyone want to play???

[BlackBetsy]

I worry about playing online for money b/c of the potential for cheating (playing against teams of people on the phone w/ each other), addiction, and getting paid.

 

But playing online w/o money is just lame.

 

The thing that really bothers me about poker either online or in person is that you have to play the same game regardless of the money that's at stake - 0 or $300-$600. Most people don't. People will limp in for $2 at the $4-$8 at the Mandalay b/c it's only $2. But if you do that 100 times, it's $200 your wasting hoping to catch top two pair or something on the flop.

 

I played a little $15-$30 at the Bellagio last weekend and it was a little better game...but I still lost when some idjut held K-7 offsuit to the river to catch a runner-runner straight after I bet into that mother trucker with top pair, top kicker (I think it was AQ, but it may have been AJ). At $15-$30, somebody catching a straight on the river costs you $150 easy. Yuck.