Dave Irish

Things that have gone right this summer.

• The Magic, Rockets, and Blazers all did NOT win the NBA Championship (won a bet)
• I took the field against two players in a live tournament for a poker forum (won that bet)
• I destroyed UB and Lief Force in golf (won several bets and hit first birdie of my life)
• This is the 4th bullet point that needs to be filled with something poker related

A summary of how poker has gone this summer.

• 0 = The number of days I’ve had a netted money
• 11 = The number of tourneys that I’ve busted on my first all-in
• 12 = The number of tourneys that I was crippled by a set
• 0 = The number of Head Hunters Tournaments I’ve netted in (a tournament I average 120% ROI)
• 0 = The number of times I’ve won anything from swapping action with other players
• 6 = The number of tournaments I’ve had a top 3 stack with less than 40% of the field left
• 3 = The number of tournaments I’ve been chip leader with less than 25% of the field left
• 6 = The number of days off I’m about to have thanks to a side music project for UNLV that requires my time.
• 0 = The number of times I want to post one more negative result here on this blog

Two days ago I played golf with Ozone and Lief Force.  I owned all.  I shot a career best 58 (par is 36) and got my first ever birdie and second par.  I was pretty stoked.  I even won credit card roulette twice.

I headed to the TI head hunters and poker remains the same.  I took a 5-outer on the river for 80% of my stack and for the third straight HH tourney, I was the first out at the final table (and no bounties.)

Today, I played in the Golden Nugget $240 NL HE tourney.  The fields are just stupid soft with a better structure than any other place in Vegas this summer.  The only drawback… the dealers are AWFUL and the floor isn’t much better.  This is the same as last year.

I never had less than 50 BBs the entire tournament until level 11.  I was a top 5 stack for nearly the whole tourney and once back from dinner, only 53 of 202 remained.  I ran QQ into AA against the table’s 2nd biggest stack which took me down to an average stack.  I muscled back and then took a gutterball on the river for 1.5x the average stack.  I fought back AGAIN back to average before I picked up TT in the SB, got reraised by the BB and shoved.  He was pot committed to call with K,Q and like most tourneys I play, the first time I’ll all-in is the time I bust.  That pot was for 2x the average stack.  Just truly sick.  I busted 40th.

I really just want to quit poker.

Ever since I was a kid, I always was interested in math.  I was the kid that wanted to go further and learn more and find more applications to everything we did.  I loved the math competitions, not because I wanted to prove I was the best, but because I wanted to see how close to a perfect score I could achieve.  I participated in the math club all the way through high school and joined the academic team as the math specialist.  It was just… my thing.  In poker, we see some incredibly sick things.  One hand never amazes me.  I’ve seen perfect-perfect enough times that I’m rather immune to it now.  What amazes me now, are the completely improbably streaks one can go on in poker.  Yesterday was one of the days where I became so infused with the math, that it crushed me.

It all started when I went to the bank and the bank teller was not only incompetent, but couldn’t type either.  It took her 20 minutes to complete my transaction.  I followed it up with a trip to Sunset Station to cash in on some free slot play, only to find that even after I confirmed THREE times that this was the day I was to go in, that I had misread my little calender for the second time in a week and that I was a day early.  On the way back to my car, I realized I had forgotten my Club Grazie card to sign up at the Venetian.  I wondered to myself, was this how the day was going to go for me?

I drove to TI, where I met Ozone and we walked to the Venetian together.  The line for a card was about 20 players long and despite just needing a card reprint, we had to wait for all the foreigners to get their info put into the system and get their first card.  Following that, we had to wait in line to sign up for the tournament.  Ozone mentions to me he wants to eat, which is fine by me.  But Ozone doesn’t want to eat where our $10 comp can be used, he wants to PAY for lunch somewhere else.  I regrettably oblige to the Canal Shopps Food Court where we sit at a counter for some mexican cantina.  What a mistake.  Not only VERY overpriced, but they actually served me a burrito on a styrofoam plate and give me flimsy plastic-ware to try to cut and eat with.  What a disaster.  The signs should have been looming.

We head down to the poker room, arriving an hour late.  The tournament gives you $15k in chips and blinds were still just 75/150.  Cool.  I fold the first two orbits and it finally folds to me in the cutoff and I raise to 400 with T,5.  Only the big blind calls.  Flop comes Q,Q,T.  Check, Check.  Turn and river were rags and I value bet turn and river only to see him turn over A,T… While sitting there, the guy next to me is an open-mouth breather and has NASTY breath.  It’s so sick and I can’t get away.  I get some chips back when a guy tries bluffing me off top two pair and our table breaks.  I move over to the table with the undisputed chipleader.  He’s sitting on 65k and in the first hand, 4 bets and calls a 5 bet preflop.  He flops top set with 9,9 and cracks aces for a new stack of 85k.  He tries to bully for the next several orbits.  I take him up once.  Blinds of 100/200, he raises from EP to 700, MP calls, I reraise to 2500 from late position with 9,9.  And just like the past several days, the 4250 stack behind me wakes up with QQ.  I’m down to around 9k after another orbit of watching AK, AQ, and KQ all whiff the flop.  From MP I open raise to 575 with 9,9.  Big stack makes it 1650 to go from the SB.  I shove for my 9k and he snap calls with AK suited.  He flops a flush draw and rivers the flush to send me packing.

I head over to TI to play in their 2 PM donkament.  The very first hand, I pick up 3,3 and limp with four others.  Flop comes T,8,4.  Checks around.  Turn is a THREE!!!!  A guy bets, I raise, he shoves, I call.  He turns over 8,8.  Seriously.  No joking here.  What was a bigger kick in the teeth, was I had 150 left and shoved it all with 4 callers on the next hand with T,8 suited.  Flop came Q,J,T.  I had hope.  That was until one player turns over K,9 when she shoves the flop.  Wow…

I head to the cash game and quickly built a stack bulldozing the table.  I watched the Belmont Stakes, of which I had 7:4 of Mine That Bird to win.  He came in Third.  The new-formed short stacks started check-raising all in and pulling the ole stop-n-go on me.  I was back to $300 when my AK ran into J,9 in a raised pot on a  K,Q,T,K,x board.  So incredibly sick.  At this point, I’m amazed that the day could possibly have gone so sour.  I decide to test fate and go to the Ultimate Texas Hold em pit game.  If you are not familiar with this game, you get your hand vs. the dealer heads up.  All hands play.  The point of the game is to shove preflop with any ace, any king, any pair, and a lot of queens.  Wizard of Odds can assist you if you want more info.  It’s a very high variance game, mostly based around your 2:1 and coin flips holding up when you shove 4 times your bet preflop.  On the garbage hands, just hope you hit a pair and get the money in.  This little game was no better, as the first four times I 4x bet, I was at least a 2:1 favorite and lost ALL FOUR!  I only survived in the game due to the dealer putting trips on the board several times, aiding some bonus money to the players.  My final shove was with Q,9 suited finding a board of K,K,9,8,7 and the dealer turning over K,5.

I go back to the poker room and buy in to the 2/4 limit game, while awaiting my NL seat to open.  I get 2nd best hand in the first three hands and head to the 1/3 NL game with a minimum buy in of $50 and use the stop-n-go with K,J only to find myself with a king high board and losing to a set of 9s.  More sets??? I’m pretty sure the odds are supposed to be around 1 in 8 times to flop it…  I rebuy and move seats.  I raise my TT up for 1/3rd of my stack and get called.  On a Q,6,4 flop I move all in and get called by nothing else than Q,4 suited… LOL…  I rebuy for $150 and about an orbit in, I intend to raise it to $15 with A,9 suited, but only manage to get $10 out there.  Oh well.  I get reraised to $25 and a blind calls, so toss another $15 in there.  Maybe my error will pay off big dividends.  Flop is A,8,4.  Check, check, check.  Turn brings a 3.  Check, I bet $45, call, fold.  River is an offsuit queen.  I check, and the guy puts me all in for my $70.  I checked to allow a bluff, but hoping for a check-down.  I’m 99% sure I’m calling if he bets and only some stupid comment that brings him out of the hole to give away his hand could lead to a fold.  No such luck.  I cry-call and he turns over…. POCKET ACES!!! MORE SETS!!!

I leave wondering if I can maybe beat video poker.  $20 in and $0 out.  That was quick.  A slot machine perhaps?  Take out all skill, and maybe I’ll have my shot to win at something.  I mean… really… Any chance??? Nope…  I didn’t go bust though.  7 pm came around and I headed over to the TI HH and quickly get into the zone.  I was focused and determined to win.  The first hand I got AA and it was already 4-bet to me.  Ok… I’ll 5-bet.  One call and an 8 high flop got all my chips in with no caller.  I had QQ on a J high board and got 2 bets out of an opponent.  Things were starting to look up for me.  Then a man (I actually should not give him such a generous title) got COMPLETELY out of line and was yelling at a cocktail waitress for ignoring him, when in reality, she was taking orders from another person.  He was yelling at her from across the table.  Commotion ensued when several players, including myself, would not have him trash-talking her behind her back and this guy proceeded to be as rude as possible to everybody and claimed to “be a big player here” (which apparently gives him the right to be an asshole) and the floor manager was called over to be alerted of and defuse the situation.  The guy then challenges the manager to kick him out… Wow… The very next hand, a guy has the nuts on him and this guy misreads the board or something, because he thought he had a flush on a board with no more than two to any suit.  I take my shots at him with comments like, “In this game, you need five of a suit to make a flush.”  He rebuys and the manager makes a tough decision by breaking the three tables down to 2 with just 20 players left during the re-entry period (thus stopping any new players from joining and must be alternates.)  I understood his decision and agree with it, though I was unhappy since I had a GREAT table draw.  At the new table, I get AK in the BB.  I watch the pot get min-raised, then raised 3x on top, two callers, and I decide to just shove (14x on top of that) and will be fine with a call or fold from anybody.  I get called by QQ and I won my first race of the day!!! BOUNTY!!! I was only in for a single buy in.  This was just amazing.  Then the table played me like a fiddle.  I think every player at the table outplayed me over the next hour and I was down to 6 BBs when my QQ lost to AK suited (same exact cards that my 99 lost to at Venetian) and poof.

I get a text from my friend, requesting a ride to Palms Place, if I bust.  I reply and await his confirmation that he still needs me.  I go and put $20 in a slot machine while waiting.  A couple spins in, I win a bonus game to get me up to $38.75.  Ok, I’ll play it to $40 or $30.  The very next spin, I get the bonus AGAIN.  This time for some big payoffs!  I’m up to $106.25.  I lost the next 5 spins and cash out for $100.

To some, it’s the sunlight after an F5 tornado.  To others, it’s grandpa’s favorite bird that stops by the bird feeder after going to his funeral.  Two years ago, after busting from the main event, I took down my first ever 4-figure cash profit from a 1/3 game.  This highly improbable slot win just might be that sign to me.

I declined to post after my last two tournaments for no specific reason.  I played the $540 mega-stack event at Caesars on Thursday and got to the final 3 tables despite take a 2-outer on the river twice for a guys stack and losing to a 3-outer for another guy’s stack.  I ran 3 bluffs the entire 8 hours I played and got nailed on all three.  In my final orbit, I found myself up against KK twice and JJ once.  This ending was quite frustrating.

The TI HH (which is my bread and butter tourney) eluded me for the 5th straight time.  I took a 1-outer on the river on the very first hand and found myself up against top set THREE times in the first hour.  My final hand pitted me a chance for a double up, back to an even stack if I could just dodge 5 outs on the turn and river (with me having redraws to either if he hit.)  No such luck.  I rebought and just played it calm and call and found myself in the zone for the second time in two days and chipping up bit by bit.  I went to the final table with one bounty and twice the average stack.  In 7 hands I found myself against aces twice and I was gone.

After this, I just emotionally collapsed outside the TI poker room.  So much anticipation for this summer with all the work I’d done to improve my game.  The majority of it has never seen the need to be used, as the opponents are so bad that playing ABC is the way to win.  Unfortunately I cannot put a run together that will get the job done.  I’ve finished in the final 25% in half the tournaments so far and not cashed.  If not putting in a single cashing so far wouldn’t through the mind into some bizarre twists on its own, couple that with several deep runs and washing out.  I just don’t know how to react to failure, as it seems to only hit me in the first week of this summer challenge.  Three straight years it has happened and then I come roaring back in the second and third weeks.  That is what I have to go with.  I have to remember the past and trust that these tournaments are not the norm and that I will not continue to be the only guy playing against the best starting hands in poker when we are coming down to the wire.

This morning, I felt a sense of renewed confidence.  I can’t control some aspects of this game, but I know I’m playing well enough to have gotten into my elusive “zone” twice in two tournaments.  I took up a friend’s offer to have him stake me for 60% of the Venetian Deep Stack today, in order for me to get a shot at playing a bigger tournament.  This change in schedule is unprecedented, since I have never cashed at the V (0-25 all-time) but I feel my time is coming and I want it to be when the prize pool is big.

To the felt I go.

I finished 14th after winning my first 6 heads up matches in a massive online heads up shootout last night.  The 7th was a bit painful as I took a 6-outer on the river to swap a 2:1 chiplead and then caught the sucker end of a straight on the very next hand when my opponent caught the top end.

I have made my first change to the schedule.  While not playing the WSOP $2k tourney, instead of taking off today, I’ve replaced it with the Caesars Megastack $550.  New venue, new hope.

The WSOP 6-max tourneys are just golden.  The play is so stupid-aggressive (SAG) that you really just wait for hands and get paid off by slow playing them.  These guys just can’t stand checking.  My strategy was to simply just slow play everything but sets and flopped two pairs.

The early rounds were frustrating, since the only three times I got walks with my raises were when I had AA, QQ, and JJ.  I was losing more than winning.  I even pulled the dramatic flop of Qx,Tc,7c with J,9 of clubs and lost to a pair of 7s.  Yep… a 21-outer gone whiff…  I was damaged goods and down from 4,500 starting stack to just 2600 or so.  I raised with Q,6 s00ted and was called by the button.  The flop came Q,6,3 and I led out and called his raise.  The turn was another queen putting a double flush draw on board and it was check, check.  I checked my boat a second time on the river when a king made a spade flush possible.  My opponent couldn’t resist and bet.  I moved all in and he cry called and mucked.  sexy.

A few hands later I raised it up 3x and got one caller.  Flop came 4,4,3 and I led with my 9s.  Villain raised and I shoved all in, barely covering him.  He tanked and called with Tens.  Go me… a 9 on the river saved me and I felt vindicated from yesterday’s KK beating my AA.

I went back to 2nd best hand mode down to 7k before taking the final pot going into the first break with nearly 8k in chips.  Coming out of the break, my sheriff methods started to annoy my opponents and they started adjusting to my non-sense way of slow-playing everything.  So… I changed gears into aggro mode.  I stole 3 of the first 4 pots and was up to 10k.

A player then raised and I called with AQ, knowing the BB had ants in his pants and he might shove 7.5x over the top.  JACKPOT.  He shoves and initial raiser folds and I snap call.  BB shows 8,7.  Ace in the door and it’s already lights out.  Two hands later I 4-bet AK and take it down preflop.  I’m up to 15k and the table is intimidated.  Having 100 BBs after level 2 always feels sexy.

The button raises to 425 (blinds 75/150) and SB calls.  I looked at Kx, Qc in the BB and call.  Flop comes K,7,5 with two clubs.  We both check and button bets 600.  SB folds, and I make it 1,600 to go.  He flat calls.  Turn is 7 of clubs.  I lead with my pair and draw for 2,200.  He calls.  Now I’m in shutdown mode, barring a king or queen dropping on the river.  The river is the ace of clubs.  I now have the nut flush.  I check and he instabets 3,400 of his 6k.  Nasty.  I think forever and start putting all the pieces together.  A flopped set would mean he actually bet his set on the flop when checked to him and then flatted when check-raised.  That’s sneaky, but dangerous with  the double draw on board.  On the turn, he fills up (or quads) and just calls.  Why doesn’t he raise here?  If I have a hand like the one I actually do, I certainly would call a raise.  What is he waiting for?  Another 7 to drop on the river and counterfeit him?  On the river, a bet certainly makes sense.  There are a lot of doubts here in this hand in me putting him on a flopped set.  How bout some other hands?  How about a king and the jack or ten of clubs.  On the flop, he bets and likely calls my check raise.  He certainly calls my turn bet with the flush draw and on the river when I check, he could make a value bet with his flush thinking I’ll cry call with AK or a smaller counterfeited flush.  That all makes sense.  The pot is huge.  There’s enough chance that I’m ahead that I must call.  I do.  He shows pocket 5s.  Ouch.  Sick as hell turn and river for me.

Another player comes to our table and 4-bets 8,6 suited and flops a flush and O.E. straigh flush draw against KK and a flush draw.  He wins the pot (rivering a straight flush) and instantly starts trying to run over the table with his 18k stack.  I’ll have none of that and go back into sheriff mode getting him to commit two bets with the worst hand on two different hands.  I chip back up to 7k.

I raise from the cutoff with K,Q offsuit.  Button reraises 2.5x more.  He’s been doing this enough that he doesn’t always have a big hand.  I call.  Flop is J,T,7.  I check.  He bets nearly the pot and I shove all in for 4x his bet.  He snap calls with JJ.  Another set?  And I have KQ again???  ugh… Turn gives me a flush draw and I whiff the river and I’m gone.

All that happened in just 3 1/2 hours of play.

Wow.

It just continues…

Binions $200 today was another cakewalk.  I chipped up early again and was above tourney average for the first 6 levels.  190+ runners and with 70 or so to go, I became a madman and started stealing every pot in play.  I was in that special “zone” that we all look for.  Then a guy raised and I looked down at AA and reraised.  He shoved with Kings.  He flopped a king… That pot was nearly 2x the average stack.  I’m back down to a bit above an average stack.  The next hand a guy shoves for 10x and I call with A,T s00ted.  His 8s hold up and I’m down to 9 BBs.  A few hands later, I shove with A,4 s00ted and A,Q wakes up in the blinds to cripple me.  Fancy that.

To make things worse, I had swapped action with Ozone and if the other got to the final table (10-handed) that person pays the other their buy-in back.  Top 3 paid more.

Ozone finished 11th…

This has been the summer of heartbreak.

The 1k stimulus special played out simple as expected.  The players were awful and loved to spew.  These tournaments are so lucrative if you just watch your opponents aggressive tendencies and knowing who will go all the way with one pair.   These are the perfect guys to just flat-call with monster pairs knowing they’ll ship it all in for you.  I attempted this 4 times and my JJ found AA TWICE.  My QQ found an A,K,x flop in a multiway pot.  My AA got a board of 5,9,9,5,Q.  Not cool.  Other than that, the tournament played out pretty normal.  Early on I had AK run into KK and JJ run into AA (the first time) and due to my very small ball style of playing these deep tourneys, I had only lost 1150 of my 3k starting stack.  I just play slow and careful and do not like committing chips in big pots until I’ve got a solid read on the situation.  The first real test came in the following hand, in level 2.

Stacks are ~3500
Blinds are 25/50

I’m the Hijack
Villain in Cutoff

Folds to Yappy who raises to 150 with Q8
Villain (CO) calls

Flop (Pot = 375)
8 6 3

Yappy bets 225
Villain calls

Turn (Pot = 825)
10

Yappy checks
Villain bets 600
Yappy calls

River (Pot = 2025)
J

Yappy checks
Villain bets 1000
Yappy calls

Villain shows AKo

As soon as he called the flop bet, my radar went straight into the air.  His range instantly dropped to just pocket pairs that didn’t connect with the flop or a club flush draw.  If he hit two pair or a set, I really doubt he’d just flat call the flop because of the multidraw on the board.  If he had 9s or better, I really think he’d have raised preflop or on the flop.  That takes me down to a pair under my 8s or a club draw.  When the turn comes, it’s scary looking card, but doesn’t change anything.  I figure I must check to induce a bet from a hand that thinks I’ve got AK and he’s ahead.  It works.  The river, once again looks scary, but really isn’t.  When I check, his 1k bet is just weird.  Why?  How can you possibly bet this card?  Only a back door draw got there on the river.  Some visual tells included a very fast call on the flop and fast bet on the turn.  He thought for about 15 seconds on the river.  Fast calls usually indicate draws and fast bets usually indicate bluffs, as the opponent is not considering how the card changed the landscape of the hand.  (See Patrik Antonius’ call on Phil Laak on HSP Season 5 for an example of this.)  I just simply think he has air here and make the hero call for a good portion of my chips.  This pot took me up to over 5k and I used that hand as intimidation against opponents until our table broke.  I chipped up to around 8k by level 3 by continuing to play small ball.

I got moved to a new table and they seemed much more likely to gamble.  Then a new (big stack) sat down and starting a massive card rush that couldn’t be stopped.  He picked up hand after hand and bulldozed everybody.  I truly felt helpless when my hands were just never good enough.  I caught a case of 2nd best and couldn’t get rid of it.  It went all the way through my stack and finished me off when my 77 ran into 99 all in pre flop for my tournament life (first time, and during level 5.)  I got up from my chair, and started walking away to see him fill up by the river.

I headed to TI for their HH tourney.  It was maniacal with players calling with any two cards preflop.  Normally, I’d just play TAG, but this is a bounty tourney, thus one must get into the pots.  I got one bounty before making some pretty loose decisions and busting out to Ozone in level 3.  I got into a cash game and ran $400 into $800 and left.

Yesterday (Monday) was my day off for the week.

Today (Tuesday) is the Binions $200 NL HE starting at 2 PM and tomorrow is WSOP $1.5k 6-Max.