Lodge Results for Sunday 08/27/06 - Week 3

Came to the Lodge hoping that enough people complained last week that the structure would return to how it was when Dan ran it. Well we got a nice surprise, not only did they listen, they added 2 additional blinds that Dan didn't have. Under Dan's structure the blinds went 1/2, 2/4, 4/8, 5/10, 10/20, 20/40, 25/50, 50/100 100/200 etc.. sometimes he would throw in a 75/150. Under the structure they tried yesterday it was 1/2, 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, 5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 25/50, 30/60, 40/80, 50/100 etc... Adding the extra blinds didn't seem to slow down the tourney either, we were down to about 24 at 7pm and many short stacks. They are going to try a different structure next week to see which is better. I saw the other one and it basically takes out the 3/6 and the 15/30 which is still nice since they are back to 30 minute blinds. Also they guy from the first week was back so it was a friendlier atmosphere. Didn't hurt that Budweiser reps were there giving away free beer!!!

As far as my performance, I would get excellent hole cards, but the flop would miss me completely. I would get KQ and the flop would be A73 and since this was an aggressive table, someone would always bet and would end up folding. I ended up folding two full houses but could not bring myself to call a 4X the blind raise out of position with 63o and 74o. I get AK UTG and raise 3x the blind, get 4 callers and the flop is QJ4 and I fold to an all in that ends up getting the boat on the river. Later I get AKs again and just call UTG and luckily someone raises the pot and I call with two other players. Flop is QTx and the raiser bets 20, other two fold and I call becasue there was about 50 in the pot. Turn is a second spade which matches my suit and again he bets 20, I have a straight and a flush draw so I decide to call, river is a spade and I take down my first pot. Later had a tough laydown where I had KQ and the flop was AJx and two people went all in. I knew one of them had an A but it was for my entire stack so I folded, other player had folded KT, ended up would have lost to trip aces. Come across a similar situation later in the game, fold again and would have taken down a big pot on the river. I go card dead again and now the blinds are 20/40 and I have about 240 chips left. I get pocket 10's and raise to 120 get one caller. Flop is KQx and the caller looks at my stack, askes for a count and checks. I go all in stating "I know you have the Q but I call" He turns over QT, a 9 falls on the turn, but get no help on the river and I am out at 24th place.

Overall a much better experience than last week, the guys running it were friendlier and managed the table balancing better. (Still not as good as Dan though) Will be back next week to see if it continues.

Lodge Results for Sunday 08/20/06 - Week 2

It appears my cards have gone pretty much dead this week. Only won 3 hands the entire tourney. I only had 3 pocket pair, JJ, 22 and AA, only the aces held up after I bet on a flop of nothing but low cards. I enjoyed the first table I was at, there was no excessive raising or donkey plays except one. Player to my right raises 4x the blinds with 99 and gets called by 67o. 67o catches a boat by the turn after flopping trip 6's. The only tough decision I had was when the blinds were 10-20 and I had KJ on the button in an unraised pot. The flop is J97 and I bet 30, player on the BB goes all in. I seriously consider calling, but it would have taken my whole stack if I lost so I decided to fold, not sure what he had because he never showed. I was moved to another table that was extremely loose with many raises and calls. I was running low on chips and went card dead. The blinds went up to 40-80 and I had 120 left. I folded a J9 UTG hoping to get something a bit better on the big blind. I wake up to 49o and UTG goes all in, gets called by the button and I decide to go on luck and I went all in for my last 40. UTG turns over KK and button turns over TT. Board is 92247 and I have three pair which is absolutely nothing and I am out with 3 tables left.

The tourney was run by Budweiser again with different directors. They did well on keeping the blinds at 20 minutes, but they did skip the 25-50 blind level and used a 40-80 level instead. One problem though that generated complaints was balancing tables. The table I was at had 9 players while another had 5 and a thrid had 6 players. Finally after enough complaining, players were moved to balance the tables. However, they responded to the complaints very rudely. They told the players to "Just keep playing cards and let us worry about balancing the tables".

On a side note, I did extremely poorly at Silver City this week being the 2nd player to bust out. I was one behind the button with AQ of diamonds. Button raises and me and another player call. Flop is AQJ of spades and it is checked to me and I decide to push all in. Button thinks and folds, other player thinks for about 2 or 3 minutes and reluctantly calls. I hope he is on a flush draw, but he turns over JJ for trips and I don't improve. Not sure if I played that incorrectly, but the main problem was not enough chips to start with and short blind levels. I wanted to gamble early to build a stack.

Lodge Results for Sunday 08/14/06 - Week 1

Arrived at the Lodge to a bit of a shock yesterday, found out that Dan is not running the tourneys anymore and has been replaced by Budweiser reps. We had heard a rumor on Wednesday that Dan may not be returning, but I could not believe it since this is Dan's creation. Many players were saying if Dan is not running it, then they will not return, but I decided to try it out. The first mistake I saw the new guy make is he was trying to raise blinds every 15 minutes instead of 20. We pointed it out to him and he proceeded to raise the next blind in 20 minutes, but went back to 15-18 minutes each level. Also, he was not as good as balancing out tables as Dan was, he would just wait until there were enough people out to break down a table. I will attribute that to him trying to figure out how the tourneys were run since this is his first time there. So we will just have to see how this goes. Also found out that this was the first week of the new season and that there are going to be more prizes this year than in previous years.

As far as cards go, it was a pretty good day. Started out good, my AKs held up against pocket jacks. Decided to limp in UTG with it and the pot was raised, called along with two other players. Flop was A73 and bet T20. Player who initially raised decided to bump it up to 60. Player to my right folded out of turn so I called, however the other player thought for awhile and folded his hand. Eventually won the pot, but the player that folded after my out of turn call told the table he had AQ and would have called had I not bet out of turn. A few hands later I get pocket aces UTG and raise to 20. Player who raised me earlier goes all in for 175 and it folds around to me, I immediately call and he shows pocket 8's. My aces hold and I am sitting at around T450 chips by the break. New player comes to the table and eventually I wake up to ATs. He had been raising alot so this time I decided to call. Flop is A8x and I bet 20 with the blinds at 10-20 and he immediately raises to 75. I decide to call and the turn is a blank and I check as he reaches for his chips before the turn hits. He bets 300 which will put me all in and I decide to call thinking he is bluffing at the pot. He turns over KQ and I take down a nice pot. Eventually the tables begin to break down and the short stacks decide to make a move since the blinds are going up. The blinds are now at 75-150 and I am in the big blind with AT of spades and a short stack goes all in with 750. After three orbits of this from the short stacks, I decide to call and he flips up KK. Amazingly I crack the kings when my flush hits on the turn and now I am sitting on almost T2400 in chips due to another short stack with ATo calling as well. I make the final table, but made a mistake that cost me half my stack. Eventually the blinds were 300-600 and I put my last 800 in UTG with Q9s. Get two callers and the board is AKQxx and big
blind shows JT and I am out in 6th place one out of the money. Next Sunday I was supposed to play in the True Texas Poker tournament at Gilleys, but due to the recent busts around town and pressue from our overly conservative government, it doesn't look so good.

Looking forward till Wednesday when I just have to outlast 29 people for a $1500 seat to next years WSOP.

Silver City 09/09/06

Monday night at Big Johnsons I was told about this poker league they have at Silver City sponsored by 102.1 the Edge radio station. It works like this, they play 5 tables of 10 and the winner of the table moves on to the final tourney. There are 6 weeks to a "season" so the final tourney will consist of 30 players. First prize of the final is a trip for 2 to Vegas, hotel and a $1500 buy in to a WSOP event. This is week 5 so I had two chances to make it to the final. The blind structure is very quick and you only start out with T1000 in chips so I figured due to my style of play, I won't last very long. First hand I get AQo and limp under the gun, eventually someone raises to T400 and I fold preflop. Later on the button I get A9s and call a 2x the blind raise. Flop is K64 two spades and my opponent bets half the pot and I call. Turn and river are blanks which we both check. I figure he paired something, but he had A7o and I take down the pot. My cards are doing well for me, I get AKs UTG and raise, get one caller, the board misses me completely, I bet again and my opponent folds. I end up winning every showdown that I was involved in and make my way to 3 handed. I am in the small blind, button calls, I decide to call with 94s and big blind checks. Flop is 994 and I check, unfortunately everyone checks around. Turn is a 5 and I check again, but this time the button moves all in. I see big blind wanting to call so I mess with my chips and call. BB thinks for a minute and says "If it was any card other than a 5 I would have called". Button turns over A6o??? and I take him to the felt. Heads up lasts for awhile and we are swapping our chips back and forth. It gets difficult because there are T10,000 chips in play and the blinds are 500-1000 soon to go up to 1000-2000 with a 500 ante!!! That would mean HALF the chips in play would be on the table each hand. In the small blind I get AKo and push all in and am immediately called with 33. Get my K on the turn but end up with 4 clubs and his 3 of clubs gives him the flush. Two hands later I raise and he pushes all in, I call with A4 and he turns up 44. I hope for my 3 outer and catch it on the turn and I win my table.

Now only 29 people stand between me and a trip to Vegas and a $1500 buy in to the WSOP.

Lodge Results for Sunday 08/06/06 - Preseason Game 3

Same format as last week, however we had one table of pot limit Omaha Hi Low 8's or better. We played this once before last season and I wanted to give it another try. This time we did the blinds not by a clock, but once every 10 hands. The reason for this is it takes much longer to play a hand of this game than hold'em. It averaged about 5-8 minutes a hand and at 15 minute blinds, you are looking at 2 - 3 hands per level. No steller hands stood out, had pocket queens twice but they did not improve. I basically folded to 4 handed from a table of 10 when I finally won a pot. Had KK25 and ended up all in after two pot bets. My opponent had TTxx and tripped up on the flop, but I ended up with the K high flush by the river. Took a few more pots and ended up heads up. However, he had me out stacked 6-1 so I had some work to do, also he has been playing Omaha Hi Low for many years. Ended up with a hand that had 77xx and was all in, his 99xx held up and I was out.

Next sit and go was regular NLHE. Got decent cards, was able to pick up a few pots here and there, nothing big until the blinds were 150-300 and I had 1450 in chips. I look down at J9s behind the button and call. Button goes all in, small blind is all in over the top of him and big blind calls. Player to my right folds and I decide to throw the rest of my chips in the middle hoping they all have aces. We expose our cards and I am up against AKo, AQo and A6s. Flop comes and pairs the king and one spade so I need runner runner. Next card is a spade and the river is a spade to give me the flush!!! Now my stack is at a decent size relative to the blinds and I end up heads up. We trade blinds for a few hands and our stacks don't change for the first 15 minutes. Finally I get 77 and raise, my opponent goes all in and I call knowing that he goes all in with hands like AK, AQ, KQ, KJ, etc. Unfortunately he turns over KK and they hold. Next week will be the last preseason week before the fun begins!!!