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A Riot: John Juanda

post from Hella Hold'em on 08 April 2006 06:19:00 PM. © Hella Hold'em

Besides the fact that I love their software, Full Tilt Poker is one of the funnest places to play poker online - or just watch. This afternoon, I watched John Juanda play against a guy with a donkey avatar head-up at a $25/50 blinds NL cash table. No pot went limped. If John was first to act, he'd raise to $150. If his opponent simply completed the small blind, he'd pop back up to $150. No pot went unraised. I didn't see John check a single time in the 15 or so minutes I watched, nor did I see him call a bet. He always bet or raised.

It was quite a display. Sometimes, of course, John's opponent would wake up with a hand and raise back. Sometimes, John would fold. Other times, he would re-raise. All I know is - I would NOT want to be John Juanda's opponent due to the simple fact that you are ALWAYS under fire. He forces his opponent to constantly make decisions about their hands - on EVERY street.

On one hand, JJ raised to $150, as per usual, and his opponent called. The flop came Jack high, uncoordinated. JJ's opponent checked, and Juanda bet the pot, $300. His opponent quickly called. The turn came a 10, and the guy checked. Juanda popped it to $650. The guy thought a while, then smooth called. The river came a blank, and the donkey guy fired out a minimum bet of $50. Juanda pushed all in. His opponent tanked, and finally folded. Juanda showed K4 offsuit. (No pair - king high).

Yowzers! I can't imagine sitting down on a Saturday afternoon and throwing five grand around on a king high bluff. Then again, everything is relative. It sure was amusing to watch - if not a bit frightening!

Good stuff.

Tags: Full Tilt Poker, John Juanda, online poker, HellaHoldem, poker, texas hold'em

Read The Full Article:
http://hellaholdem.blogspot.com/2006/04/riot-john-juanda.html

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That was fast

post from Hella Hold'em on 08 April 2006 05:17:00 PM. © Hella Hold'em

Knocked out when I flopped a straight and pushed. Got called by 2 people drawing to flushes. The flush hit on the river.

Oh well. Maybe next Saturday...

Good luck to Change100, who is also playing (and faring better than I did so far!)

Read The Full Article:
http://hellaholdem.blogspot.com/2006/04/that-was-fast.html

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Ladies Only WSOP Bracelet Race on FTP

post from Hella Hold'em on 08 April 2006 04:51:00 PM. © Hella Hold'em

In about 10 minutes... (5pm eastern, 4pm central) - Full Tilt is running their weekly $24+2 ladies-only tournament. Top prize is a $1500 prize package with a seat to the ladies NL event at the WSOP.

Let's go, girls! :)

Read The Full Article:
http://hellaholdem.blogspot.com/2006/04/ladies-only-wsop-bracelet-race-on-ftp.htm
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Winning is a Lot More Fun Than Losing

post from Sound of a Suckout on 08 April 2006 03:51:00 PM. © Sound of a Suckout

Many thanks to all for the congratulatory comments. Haven't even been tempted today to fire up the poker machine, not wanting to harsh the feel-good buzz.

Not sure if I'll still buy-in to Event #4 like I planned on and use the Bracelet Race seat for a second event, or just play the one event and treat it like a freeroll. I'd like to play as many events as possible but I'd be lying if I said I was totally comfortable with the idea of ponying up $1,500 to play, so there's a certain appeal to just playing one event and letting it all hang out without worrying about justifying the expense.

I'll probably take some more shots at the Full Tilt Bracelet Race satellites, too. If you're even halfway interested in playing one of the WSOP events, you should give these a shot. They guarantee two $2,000 packages and usually only get between 200-250 entries. Half the field is usually gone by the first break and you'll see all sorts of, umm, unusual play.

Most of my chips came from pretty head-scratching, overly aggressive plays from opponents, along with a few fortutitous flops. I doubled up early with KK when 99 decided to go over the top of two different preflop raises, and doubled again shortly thereafter with AA when a guy called off all his chip with an OESD.

I got lucky and flopped a boat with 66 and a 996 board, and tripled up when Villain #1 shoved all-in on the flop with KJo (?) and Villain #2 called with A10o (?). That put me well in the chip lead with 65K or so, with 2nd at 40K.

Not long after that blinds were something like 400/800 and UTG (who had 33K or so) raised to 2000, everyone folded, and I called on the button with J10d, feeling a little jiggy. Blinds folded and the flop comes Ks Jh 10s. The pot was about 5,000 and UTG quickly shoves all-in, making it 30K for me to call.

My gut impulse was to fold my bottom two pair and let him have a relatively wee pot but the more I thought about it, the less sense his overbet meant. Yeah, there are tons of hands that are crushing me, that he'd play from UTG for 2,000, such as AQ, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010 (although those last two are unlikely due to my hand and the flop), and KJs. And yeah, he might also be playing those fast because of the possible flush/straight.

But the massive overbet screamed draw to me, or AK or AJ. The more I thought about it, the more I thought he had AK or was drawing to the flush/straight. I just couldn't seem him shoving there with a hand that was was ahead of me, when he could bet the pot and see what happens. It could very well be a coinflip for me (or slightly worse) if he had both a straight and a flush draw but I still had a hard time seeing that, as far as the immediate shove on the flop.

So I managed to talk myself much closer towards calling, as my time ran down. If I called and lost, I still had 30K to work with. If I called and won, I had a pretty sizable lead on the field.

With a few seconds left to act, I finally said fuck it and called, holding my breath. What does UTG roll over? J9o. No spades. Turn was a 10, followed by another 10 on the river to give me unneccessary quads. Suddenly I'm well in first, with nearly 2.5x chips as second place.

I'm still not sure I should call there, despite it working out, but I do know that it's gotta be +EV to play with folks who will open-raise with J9o from UTG and shove all of their chips in on that flop. Not to mention the guy who ultimately went out in 4th who simply shoved all-in every third hand when it got down to four handed. He had a more than healthy stack and a M of about 40 but if he bet, he shoved. Every third hand or so. With any two cards. Until he inevitably runs into someone with a medium/big pair and that's all she wrote.

But I digress. Play them Bracelet Race satellites as they're really, really soft.

Read The Full Article:
http://suckout.blogspot.com/2006/04/winning-is-lot-more-fun-than-losing.html

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Poker Photos from the Bellagio Five Star

post from Poker Profs Las Vegas Poker Blog on 08 April 2006 07:34:00 AM. © Poker Profs Las Vegas Poker Blog

The Fontana Room is filled with the action of the Five Star Poker Tournament. A few photos from the opening day of the Bellagio's Five Star poker classic. Amid the plush surroundings of the Fontana Room is the tournament...

Read The Full Article:
http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/archives/002618.php

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When Donkeys Chat

post from The Obituarium on 08 April 2006 04:44:00 AM. © The Obituarium

I had to play a $50 SnG at Paradise at better than one in the ayem to find this one but, gosh darn it people, I am HERE for you.

Late in Level One (yes, that's Level One, with blinds at 5/10 and starting stacks of 1K), on a flop of K52 rainbow, the Donkey in question pushed over the top of the pre-flop raiser's flop bet. The push was happily called with top set and El Donko showed A3o for nothing but the gutshot. He did not catch, and when chastened by no less than 3 players, responded,

"At least I'm in a hand!"

I peed myself a little. Then I peed myself a little more.

Read The Full Article:
http://obituarium.blogspot.com/2006/04/when-donkeys-chat.html

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Jewelry is Gay

...but winning a seat in a Full Tilt bracelet race is decidedly ungay.

Man, that was stressful. I had the chip lead for forever towards the end, and was about 30-40K in the lead when it got four handed. I went completely and utterly card dead, though, and the guy to my left kept re-raising my steals, so I ended up turtling a bit too much and not playing as aggressively as I should have. Plus another guy was shoving all in for 70K or so every third hand and no one would look him up.

I finally got AQs and Mr. All-In went all-in again, I called, and of course he has AK and I don't improve and get bounced down to 40K or so. Then I started playing poker again and scratched and clawed my way back to 80K or so, and all four of us were roughly even.

Finally caught Mr. All-In with 1010 when he pushed with 10 4, and suddenly I was back up to 120K again and in first, with three of us left. Smooth called with AQ when the short stack (he had 60K or so) raised me. Flop came something like A 10 7, rainbow. He bets a decent amount, I smooth call again, not too worried about giving him free cards. He'd also drop hands pretty quickly when I showed strength so I was willing to gamble a little and just smooth call.

Turn is Q, giving me top two pair. Boo ya. He checks, I bet about half the pot, and he insta-shoves. I sit on my hands and stare at it for awhile but see no way to get away from the hand, as it's 35K or so to call and even if I lose I'll have 60K or so left. If he slowplayed a set or hit his straight, so be it. I call, he flips over KJo for the straight, and before I can even start chanting "Q or A, Q or A", a beautiful black ace comes on the river, sealing the deal.

Pretty ugly way to clinch the seat but I'll take it.

Whee...

(Um, yeah, poker, sorry about my post earlier today. We're cool.)

Read The Full Article:
http://suckout.blogspot.com/2006/04/jewelry-is-gay.html

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Is it Ever Good to Show

I played at Toni's Towne House homegame tonight. I ended up placing 3rd out of 15 people for a $90 profit. I also had the pleasure to play with Karol and Dawn of I Had Outs. I plan on having a better recap in the future, but for now, let me pose a question:

Is it Ever Good to Show?

I'm a showboat. I can't help it. And I showed my cards tonight, at least three times! I showed that I bluffed with 32o after a guy folded, saying, "You have nothing." I showed that I had a Jack (but hid my Ace) when I bet big and won a pot after a Jack-high flop. Hell, I think I may've shown another bluff again.

It's compulsive, man! I just can't help it. Someone says something, and I can't help but think, "What if he saw my cards?" Let him think that his read was right, but he folded anyway. Make him tilt when he sees that you have crap. OR Show that dominating hand so he knows that folding was good. Let him think that when I bet I have good cards. Let him fear me.

It's not just showboating. It's controlling the game's tempo by controlling players' emotions. It's about getting them angry at you OR themselves, at the cards or at luck. Or getting the others to feel smug and unbeatable.

I'm painting an ugly picture here, and I don't mean to say that I am trying to tilt someone. Sometimes, I'm just giddy. LOOK! I HAD IT! or I WAS BLUFFING AND GOT AWAY WITH IT! It's just the excitement of it. And if I subconsciously know that they are going to react to my cards; if I subconsciously can predict (almost by feel) how they are going to react, well, that's a bonus. It's not tangible. Hell, it's barely intangible. It's subconscious.

My fear though, my fear is this: what about the quiet guy? Am I going to outplay my target while giving the quiet guy in the corner a chance to really watch me? Watch me as I talk and react and then show my cards? Am I setting this guy up for the win? The two winners tonight were quiet-types. I'm not saying they fit the profile, but that is something to consider.

It's a tough game and I love every minute of it. As Karol said to me tonight (mockingly, no less), in response to my obvious giddiness, "Poker gets you high?" Har dee har har. And Yes.

You tell me, though. Is it ever good to show?

Read The Full Article:
http://highonpoker.blogspot.com/2006/04/is-it-ever-good-to-show.html