Time for Poker

It was a very fun night at our Poker game this week. Add two crazy dogs, a birthday, some beer, some of our regular players, and the Big-O founders and you will have some fun!

Last night Stacey and I hosted: Armando, Clara, Diane, Michael, Henry, Carol, Cristine, Todd, Ian, and Joe.

We fired up our Poker clock, courtesy of Stacey's Dad, Vince. He and I are in the pic below - in front of the greatest spot on earth.



Play was tight and we only had 3 rebuys. Before the rebuy period ended we had one casualty - Joe. His AA was cracked by Mook's J7. Joe min-raised his AA, so Mook called and flopped 2 pair, then caught his boat on the river. Joe wasn't feeling too well (even before the AA's were cracked) and elected not to rebuy. Joe took 12th.

After the rebuy ended we had 8 add-ons. Three spots paid.

We resumed play after a brief Birthday celebration for Cristine.

Play continued and Henry knocked out Diane, 11th. Diane had 55 against Henry's JQ. Henry's QJ was good.

Todd was next out, 10th, when my KK held off his AQo.

The next hand is interesting and our featured hand.

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It went down like this. There were 2 limpers and Michael and I. The flop was

, everyone checked, the turn was a . I checked, Michael (BB) bet 2K. Everyone folded and I called. River was the . I bet 4K and Michael went over the top and pushed all in. I called. Michael turned over the big blind special , he had filled up on the turn. I had the case ace with .

Michael was out in 9th.

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We discussed the odds of this happening and I have now completed some statistical algebra to calculate the odds as follows:

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Here goes:

The odds are calculated as the probability of the event happening, P(e), divided by the probability of the event not happening, P(ne). The probability of an event not happening is the same as 1 - the probability of it happening or 1 - P(e).

So we get:

Odds = P(e)/(1-P(e))

Ok so, how do we calculate the probability of three cards hitting on the flop with one lucky bastard holding one of them in his hand?

Well there are 3 cards left out of 50. And, the number of combinations of a set of n objects taken p at a time is given by _nC_p = (n!)/(p!(n - p)!).

So n=50 and p=3.

P(e) = 1 / ₅₀C₃

= 1 / {50!/(3!(50-3)!)} = 1 / {50!/3!*47!} =

= 1 / {50*49*47/3*2*1} = 1 / 19,600

So the odds are:

1 / 19,600 / ( 1 - 1 / 19,600 ) = 1 / 19599 or 19,599 to 1

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Note: Thanks to Kitty for some coaching on how to perform this calculation, she gave me a little tweak since last time I added some math to the blog. Kitty let me know if this is correct....

Back to the hands:

Cristine was our next victim. Poker (nor Henry for that matter) showed no mercy even to the Birthday girl.

Cristine was out in 8th when her KJ all-in didn't hang tough with 5 players in the hand, it was 4 against 1. Henry took it down with a straight.

Next the wildest thing happened... I had 76 on the button, I raised to steal. Stacey was the little blind and didn't allow it, the BB folded. The flop was 666. Stacey and I checked, and I made a bet on the river and she folded. I hit a 19,599 to 1 shot twice in one night!

The Mookie met has match against Stacey. After a long contemplation he called her all-in and was out in 7th when his AQd didn't pick up the over card or his flush draw after a two heart flop and Stacey's KK held.

Ian was the next one out, Ian played very well all night. Clara was forced to call his K8 all in with 63 suited as it was only a few crumbs more to call. Clara got a 3 on the flop and Ian was out in 6th.

I was the next victim. I was out played by Carol and Henry earlier and my chip stack was very short. I made a move with 44. Carol called with KJ and caught a K on the river. Buh Bye for me - out in 5th.

Clara was knocked out by Henry - he had the nerve to call her all in with a K5. Clara should have taken the pot down uncontested, but Henry's K holds up and K-high took the pot. Clara bubbled in 4th.

Stacey mad a move with 88 and Carol called with A3, the turn brought Carol the Ace and Stacey was OUT in 3rd. She brought home some bacon with the 3rd place $$$.

Henry and Carol were heads-up. We had a husband and wife shooting it out. They would not hear of chopping. It was a fight to the death. I do recall a time at the Luxor no limit table where Henry was check-raised by Carol when they were heads up! I knew this would be interesting.

It didn't take long - Carol took it down when her A6 beat out his JJ. Henry lead with the 8T4 flop but then she caught the A on the turn and another one on the river for good measure.

Congrats to carol, Henry and Stacey for making the money. Thanks to all those that made it out and thanks to those that brought snacks. The fruit was delicious.

We will host again in 2 weeks.

Finally....

I had a good week in poker. It didn't start off that way, but it ended well.

There is a saying in Texas, "If you don't like the weather, don't fret, it will change in 20 minutes."

On Sunday, after spending a lot of time on work stuff, I played in a 180 Person SNG on Stars. Well, when I started playing the weather was cloudy, but during the game a nasty storm cell moved through our area.

We were down to 34 players and I was 8th in chips with about 9K. The blinds were 300/600 with a 50 anty. I had QQ, raised 4x BB, two callers, the board was 7-9-4, I made a Pot sized bet and... blip - the power goes out. By the time I got back in the game, about 15 minutes later, I was down to 4200 chips and I busted out in 21st. 18th pays. Bummer.

Wednesday, I was 2nd out in the Mookie when I pushed on a A88 board with AJ, called by AQ and "buh bye"

Thursday I played in this one:



I took 3rd and moneyed, not bad against a pretty tough field of 15.

Friday night at the Big_O I took 1st with 7 bounties (including mine). I was lucky, lucky, lucky and knocked out some tough players: Rocky, Rico, Lee Anne, Carol, Clara, and Bubba.

I chipped up early when Justin ran into my set of 6's. I was lucky against Rocky with one over card to beat him. With Rico, I had AK against his AQ. I got a full-house over full-house with Bubba. With Clara my TT held against her lower pair (4's?). Can't remember what happened with Carol.

I was heads up with Lee Anne - we played a few hands and I caught a straight. Next hand I had AA and we got it all in. I was the winner.

I guess the saying still holds: "Every Donkey has it's Day."

A Positively Charged Ian

We were 10 handed Friday Night. Joe and Kitty called in sick, we will have to find out about their Vegas experience later. The players this week included: Kevin, Todd, Jersey Girl, Stuart (The Pool Shark), Mike (Xanthius), Henry, Carol, Rico, Ian, and Me. We had the normal rebuy and add-on format.

Henry and Carol brought Sable (their female black lab) over and she and Rocco (our male boxer)had more fun than all of us!

We made the break and had 5 rebuys and 9+1/2 10K add-ons.

We lost our first player a little into the break - Rico (10th) went all-in blind and Mike called with TT. Rico exposed a K9 and the J710 flop was no friend to Rico - his prayers for a lady didn't come through either and he was out. Rico has had a couple tough nights, and is a better player than his last two, equivalent finishes at the Big-O and here. It's all upward from here, Rico!

Stacey was severely short chipped with T100 over the BB and pushed with 92c, Mike was again in for the assassination with QK, but joined the angry mob with AJ. Henry flopped an Ace and Stacey (9th) was gone. Luckily she didn't sound like this ------> Hilarious Video Link

Stuart (8th) was out next - Carol took him out, but I don't have the hand details.

Mike (7th) was ousted with a hand he didn't show. Kevin's AK was good enough for Mike to muck and call it a night.

Todd (6th) was eliminated with QJ against AK, nobody paired the board and Todd was out.

I was short stack for a while and I was down to 6K. I went all in and tripled up with A6, Then I tripled up again with KK. I was sitting at about 32K when this hand came along...

Our featured hand:

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I got , I called. The flop came . Henry bet, I pushed, he called with . I needed runner-runner K's or 9's.

Here's how the odds went down for this one:

Preflop = http://twodimes.net/h/?z=2080164 <---- Start Your Engines
Postflop = http://twodimes.net/h/?z=2080173 <---- Blow'd my engine

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I was out in 5th.

Kevin was out in 4th as the bubble boy. (I have no info)

Carol pushed with T5h and Ian called with K6h, no pairs, straignt, or flush - Carol was out in 3rd.

Henry and Ian played for a looooooooooong time . Ian pushed with 85s and caught 2 pair. Henry mucked and took 2nd.

Congratulations to Ian for winning and Henry and Carol for taking 2nd and 3rd.

Thanks to all those that contributed food and drinks. We'll host another in a couple weeks.

Convergence

I titled this post convergence. Why you might ask?

I was perusing pokerblog.com and I came across an interesting tournament in Deadwood, SC. The town my favorite HBO show is centered on. I was browsing the pictures of the tournament and came across this:



Recognize her?

How about now?



She finished 12th in the last tournament and her name is Robin Weigert. Calamity Jane in HBO's "Deadwood"

How cool would that be to play a tournament in a place as famous for Poker as a place can be AND be playing against a character who played a one of the most notable female personalities of the Wild West? I say that's convergence.

I am putting this tourney on my Poker–to-do-list.

Poker is a godless game, full of random pain

Wednesday night I had the pleasure of playing in the Tanner Benefit Tourney on Full Tilt.

Mookie has a great write-up about the tourney here. He did an awesome job hosting.

I played uncharacteristically tight-weak to begin with. I was a bit gun shy from some terrific beats lately. I had Dr. Pauly to my right. Mookie chimed in from another table and said that I was acting like Pauly's Beaaatch. I knew I was, and he helped me snap out of it. Pauly had to have picked up on it because was raising me out of every pot. I was growing tired of it, but Mookie woke me up. I needed it...

Because when Pauly got knocked out he was replaced by none other than Andy Bloch! Andy is a Full Tilt Pro. He was one of the MIT Crew that was kicking the crap out of Vegas in Blackjack - Bringing Down the House. I googled him during the Tourney and got 895,000 hits. He is responsible for the quote I copied as the title of this Blog.

Andy sat down and we played a few hands, I was the recipient of LUCK!!! Horsehoes, clovers, shamrocks, rabbit's feet, etc. we got Astin all-in before the flop, and checked the turn, then Andy bet big on the river, this was suspicious and I thought he was trying to isolate himself, so I called. In the first big hand between he and I, I got lucky when my 99 beat his 88. Astin was out and this moved me way up on the chipcount.



A few hand later I got real lucky... I got AA in middle position. Andy raised 3x. I raised the pot. Everyone else folded and Andy went all-in. I called and here is how it went down.



Andy was out - I was shocked, but no props to me, anyone would have played my AA exactly as I did. It was pure luck on my part and very unlucky for Andy.

At the break I was 2nd in chips. I was chipleader for a little while before the break.



I played on after the break and had a big hand against Iakaris. My A4 held against his KQ.



Later he got me all in with KT. He had AK. I caught a K on the flop, he had me outkicked until the river was a J to give me a straight. I should have been out at that point, but I got lucky.

This propelled me to the final table.

Later, at the final table, I had KQ on the button, I bet pretty big to steal, but NightRanger called. I repeated my bet, even though I didn't hit the low flop and NightRanger put me all in. I folded and he showed me JTo (he missed the flop too) and bluffed me off a really big pot. This took a big chunk out of me and I was .

I made a short stack move with A9 and was out in 6th. Overall I was pretty happy with my play. I was ecstatic to have taken Andy out (even though it was not with skill, but all luck). I was glad I could change gears and play better after Mookie slapped me around a little to wake me up.

Most of all I was glad to support the Evers family.

Looking forward to the next LIVE GAME benefit.



For my local Austin readers, let me know if you want to play and I'll hook you up with Mookie.

Henry the 8th

Labor Day Weekend Friday Night Poker

I am still in a wicked slump. This kid is my spokesperson.

We had 11 and broke it up into tables of 6 and 5. Mookie was a little early so he was kick’in it on our new recliner. See, when you host as much as I do, and suck as bad as I do, you need to have a posh losers lounge.

In the game were Mookie, Clara, Henry, Scott, Joe, Kitty, Brad, JoAnn, Todd, Stacey and I. Play was fast and furious with 11 re-buys before the break.

In one hand I hit runner, runner on Clara’s flopped straight when I had AKo. Pretty disgusting, but it felt different to give a bad beat rather than receive one.

In one hand I got it all-in with Scott he showed TT and I had QQ. Once we flipped up, I said,” Sorry, Scott”. And the poker Gods did smite me. Scott flopped a 10, and for good measure rivered another one.

After the break we had 9 add-ons.

Since we only had 11, once we lost someone, we were at the final table. That unlucky someone was Joe (11th). He was first out when his 55 were orphaned and Brad’s A2 out-kicked him on a KKQQ8 board.

First to leave the final table was Scott (10th) – his K4 was no match for someone’s QT. The QT straightened out.

Scott took the chair and I hooked him up with some sports, then a little while later I joined him.

Now for the feature hand....

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In a three way all in hand I had , Henry had . Henry had me out-chipped. The flop was , turn , river . I had the K-high flush. Henry went all in, Brad called, and I called.
Brad had the for the straight flush. I had the butt end of the bloody red mess, so I was out (9th).

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Scott and I watched Kill Bill 1. No, we didn’t sit in the chair together!!!

Stacey (8th) was out next when her slick fell to Henry’s JJ. Stacey caught a K on the flop, but Henry caught a third Jack. Henry killed both Lexi’s parents – I hope you feel good Henry. LOL

Henry assassinated another – JoAnn (7th) out when her 65o was crushed by Henry’s A5.

Brad was a few Dos XX’s short of moneying for a third straight time. He was short stack and exited in 6th with 34 to 74 the 74 caught the necessary 4 spades to send Brad (6th) packing.

P.S. – Brad called on his way home to tell us he left 2 Dos XX’s in the Freezer!! Thanks for calling Brad – it would have been a shame to waste that beer.

Todd (5th) was next – Technically the bubble– his TT fell to Mookies A3 which developed in the shipyard into a boat.

Only 4 left Clara, Mookie, Kitty, and Henry - Bubble time – we had 4 left. Someone screamed “SAFE” and the four players pulled out $30 each.

Clara (4th) was next out by Henry. Clara had A4h, Henry AhK – She needed a 4, got one on the river, but along the way picked up 4 hearts. The Queen of Hearts was beaten by her own suit. Henry was rolling.

Next out was Kitty (3rd) when her 76 was met with her signature hand -1 (Q4). Naturally the knockout blow was delivered by Henry – the killer. The cruel and usual punishment of delivering the underdog the card needed, but then crushing the hopes when the overdog needs and gets a Q arrives.

Armando (2nd) and Henry (1st) played heads-up for a little while until Mookie’s A4 met Henry’s AJ. When the flop was JQ7 followed by a Q, then a 4 – another victim for Henry.

Thanks to all that came out. We will have another, as usual after next Wednesday's Pokerstars Tourney and this weekend’s important Tanner Event.



and...




All are invited, just email me and I'll hook ya' up.