Inside one of the many conversations spawned by the many messages I received encouraging me to stick with it and not give up there appeared a list of questions about what being a prop actually entails. Since I am in the process of shifting to zombie time and was planning to write a post tonight anyway (either about this batshit insane guy I played with today, or one regarding Pete running AA into QQ on a TT3-Q-A board that I've been meaning to write, or perhaps one going through my results and figuring out what's going on with this whole "30/60" thing) but didn't really feel up to fleshing out any of the topics I just mentioned, I'm going to take this and run with it. In general if you have something you'd like me to write about, just ask. One good way to get me to actually do it is to somehow include a list. I like lists; they are simple, completable, and do not forget things.
From a friendly neighborhood two plus twoer via PM:
Can I make a request (for your blog or on PM, whatever)? Can you explain exactly what it is that a prop does for those of us who don't know exactly what goes on?
- You mention shifts, but what if no games need propping? Do you sit around or are you free to play whatever you want? Do you have set shifts or are you on call?
Most props have set shifts during which they are expected to show up at the casino and be available to play in games. Bay 101 (at least) has some "special" props that don't seem to have a set schedule. I don't know if these props are on call, or if they function more as game hosts, in that they try to gather the troops to get the 80/160 going, or if they really just show up whenever they want. Chuck Thompson once told me his duties as a prop at Bay 101 basically entailed glad handing high rollers during the Shooting Star. The other 50 weeks a year he pretty much has no responsibilities whatsoever. But back to me and my super junior level prop status. If no games need propping props seem to be able to mostly choose what they want to do. If they want to sit out, they sit out. If they want to play 20/40, they generally seem to be able to do that. I have a set schedule to work Friday - Tuesday, 11pm to 6am. As with most jobs that run 24 hours a day, when you first get hired you work grave. If they need somebody on days, they move someone on grave and you take his place. My goal is to be off graveyard within 4 months, if I make it that long.
- Do you get assigned to specific games by the floor, or are you assigned to a specific limit? Can you table change as a prop?
This varies by shift. The day time Garden City props pretty much start games. When they want to fire up a new 20/40 but don't have quite enough customers, they put 3 or 4 props into the game to get it going. Once there are customers waiting, the props may or may not pick up. Some do, some don't, and it seems to vary from day to day. One thing that does get them up is when the floor wants to start the 40/80 game. Then you'll see Frank, Magic, and Eric all pick up out of the 20 and move to a new table, and the 40/80 game will start. Once it's full and there is a list, they are welcome to pick up but also seem to be allowed to stay. As a graveyard prop I'll probably do the opposite. At some point the 40/80 game will get short, and I'll be picked up out of whatever game I'm playing (hopefully 20/40, but perhaps solitaire on my iPhone) and sat in it until it either fills up (at which point I'll be like the day time guys above) or breaks. The bay 20/40 props do table change, some quite frequently (Mila) and others basically never (Steve). Just like some players :)
- What's the lowest limit that they prop? (Aside: does the Oaks prop the 6/12? A non-dealer with an employee card the other day showed up when our game was shorthanded.) Might you end up propping NL/SL? Non-Texas Hold 'Em (stud, Omaha, lowball)?
A friend of mine who props at Garden City shared his November results with me, and he had a non-zero number of hours played at every game spread in the casino except the 10-200 spread limit game. A prop position (and it's rate of pay) is defined by the biggest game the prop is willing to play. At Garden City right now I believe there are 3 levels, 40/80, 20/40, and 8/16, and I think a similar thing happens at Bay 101 (with the obvious change that they have some props who play the 80/160 game). The higher you play, the more you are paid. I will be expected to play every poker game in the casino (with the possible exception of the 10-200 spread....I'm not sure if I have to gamble with those guys...if I do you will see a grotesque display of short-stacked nittery the likes of which have never graced the felts of Garden City). The Oaks I believe also has 3 levels (30/60, 15/30, and "small"), but I think all those guys are expected to play Stud and Omaha (but not the absurd self dealt 60 lowball game where check/raise is not permitted). This is not a problem at Garden City, since there is no Stud and seldom if ever Omaha. And if there is I'll gladly play 4/8 Omaha.
- Will you not be on the graveyard shift someday, or are daytime props not generally needed? Did you request the graveyard shift or was it assigned to you?
It was assigned to me, and I'll be on grave 5 days a week. Switching back and forth between shifts is not something I'd really go for if graveyard was involved (mixing and matching day and swing shifts might be ok...in fact my friend does that currently). As I said above, if they need somebody on days, they move somebody from grave and hire a new person on grave.
- Are you allowed to play in GC apart from your prop shift? Will you be playing when off-duty, or are you going to limit your poker to the prop shift?
The only rule is that I have to wear my badge whenever I am on Garden City property. Also the employee handbook talks of the "10 hour rule", basically saying they want all employees to leave the premises 10 hours before the start of their next shift in order for them to show up at work well-rested and the like. I don't think this is strictly enforced by management or the floor, but I could be mistaken. I don't plan to play much at all other than the 35 hours I'm on duty. My hope is to use this set schedule ramp up my reading of 2 plus 2, join deuces cracked, and start playing more hands online. Might I take one for the team and continue playing past 6am once and a while? Perhaps if I'm in a good game, but I don't plan to make a habit of it.
- You are not a shill (playing with casino money), right? You play with your own money and get paid on top of whatever you win or lose?
Yes. I play with my own money and am expected to be bottomless. If I am stuck 6 racks and the game is 6 handed, my choices are to keep playing or punch out. Obviously punching out (and not getting paid) is frowned upon, but it's a big trump card that I assume I could play every few months if need be. I don't think it'll come up very often. When my shift ends, however, I can quit a guy HUHU and there ain't shit he can do about it.
- How many props does a casino employ? By my calculations, the rate of pay for a single prop eats a considerable portion of the rake a table generates, so having 3 props at a table means virtually no profit for the casino.
I don't have an answer to this question, but my general sense at least for Garden City is "too many". I've thought about this a lot and props have both short and long term value for the casino. In the short term they keep games going and allow the casino to generate more rake per hour by having more games running. But as you point out this value is limited, since the props do get paid a non-trivial sum (20/40 props generally get paid a fair bit less, as I mentioned, and the green chip props again take another pay cut...this is simply because there are more people willing to prop the smaller games I think). Long term value is what Garden City is going for by hiring all these new 40/80 props. If you think about it, there is a single unstable point of equilibrium for a given poker game, whereby it just barely avoids breaking everyday and two brave souls soldier on HUHU in the wee hours of the morning until other customers get up the nerve to sit down and play 3, 4, 5 handed and the game eventually fills up. If the game gets any weaker than this, it breaks everyday and you have to go through the hassle of starting it back up, which can be difficult and frustrating. Players will show up and there will be no game. They will be told "we'll start one soon" but they won't know when soon is or what, and when it goes they'll be asked to play potentially 5 handed with a bunch of props. Sometimes it won't go at all. Garden City's goal is to get the 40/80 game strong enough that it never breaks, running 24/7. This makes their customers happy, as they know they can show up any time, day or night, and make big gambooool.
I hope that was informative. Or interesting. Or some other i-word at least.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Aiyah
That word, it does not mean what you think it means....Last night I got bludgeoned, again, in The Oaks 30/60, to the tune of $2600 in 2.75 hours. To make a long story short, I won a single pot, in which I 3-bet preflop and ALL THREE of my opponents folded the flop of AA4 when I held AQ. Basically this means none of them even had a pair of 2s. Other than that I ran nut-flush draws into flopped sets and didn't get there, nut flushes into full houses, aces into a set of queens, KK into the mighty big gamble (53 sooted). I couldn't flop a pair with AK, I got two outtered on the river (twice) with trip aces (both times) and just things were awful.
So I came home and was close to a mental collapse. I thought I was out of the woods, I thought I was gonna make it, and instead in the last 4 days I've lost almost $7000. I made a post on 2p2, and have subsequently received an overwhelming show of support from every corner of my social network. In the thread literally half a dozen people gave me thoughtful advice or simply claimed that they were rooting for me. I received a long PM from someone I've never met, encouraging me not to give up. I got emails offering an ear to listen. Texts asking me to lunch. A phone call from a man due to deep fry a turkey in a matter of minutes just checking in, making sure I was alright, and letting me know that damn it he cared and wanted me to succeed.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I'm thankful that I do actually have people who care and places to turn to for support. And nothing is over until I say it is.
So I came home and was close to a mental collapse. I thought I was out of the woods, I thought I was gonna make it, and instead in the last 4 days I've lost almost $7000. I made a post on 2p2, and have subsequently received an overwhelming show of support from every corner of my social network. In the thread literally half a dozen people gave me thoughtful advice or simply claimed that they were rooting for me. I received a long PM from someone I've never met, encouraging me not to give up. I got emails offering an ear to listen. Texts asking me to lunch. A phone call from a man due to deep fry a turkey in a matter of minutes just checking in, making sure I was alright, and letting me know that damn it he cared and wanted me to succeed.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I'm thankful that I do actually have people who care and places to turn to for support. And nothing is over until I say it is.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
8 Hours of Employee Orientation
I got word from Garden City this morning that they have received my badge from the San Jose Police Department. This was astonishing, since my appointment was just last Thursday (at 5pm no less) and I was told it would take 2-3 weeks for my badge to arrive at the HR department. Since the rest of this process has moved at what can only be described as a glacial pace, I was figuring 2-3 weeks would turn into 4, then I'd have to wait for an orientation of some sorts and then it'd be an other week before I could even get scheduled and all of a sudden it'd be the middle of January before I could get about the proppin'.
Not so. I'm to report for orientation tomorrow at 9:30am, dressed casually, and prepared for an EIGHT HOUR ordeal. The guy actually told me it would take until 5:30pm. Now I feel like I'm a pretty smart guy, but I can't really understand what it is they are going to spend 480 minutes telling me tomorrow. It would seem that in eight hours I could probably learn a substantial portion of what it would take to run the entire casino. But it's not like I have a choice....so I'll schlep my way down there in the teeth of traffic and hear all about policies (don't do drugs...on the premises) and sexual harassment (don't fondle the dealers) and the like, then schlep my way back in the teeth of traffic because my dogs' bladders will be about to explode. But the simple fact of the matter is that at some point tomorrow I'm going to meet with a guy who's going to give me a schedule, and all of a sudden I'm going to be an employee, with a boss, co-workers, and all that other stuff that everyone else has to deal with. I'm going to have to show up at set times, and I'm going to have to schedule my life around this job, and to be honest I'm not sure how it's going to go. But time will tell, and I sure could use the cash flow.
Not so. I'm to report for orientation tomorrow at 9:30am, dressed casually, and prepared for an EIGHT HOUR ordeal. The guy actually told me it would take until 5:30pm. Now I feel like I'm a pretty smart guy, but I can't really understand what it is they are going to spend 480 minutes telling me tomorrow. It would seem that in eight hours I could probably learn a substantial portion of what it would take to run the entire casino. But it's not like I have a choice....so I'll schlep my way down there in the teeth of traffic and hear all about policies (don't do drugs...on the premises) and sexual harassment (don't fondle the dealers) and the like, then schlep my way back in the teeth of traffic because my dogs' bladders will be about to explode. But the simple fact of the matter is that at some point tomorrow I'm going to meet with a guy who's going to give me a schedule, and all of a sudden I'm going to be an employee, with a boss, co-workers, and all that other stuff that everyone else has to deal with. I'm going to have to show up at set times, and I'm going to have to schedule my life around this job, and to be honest I'm not sure how it's going to go. But time will tell, and I sure could use the cash flow.
More Misery
You know, despite warnings from everyone (Pete, Babar, Danielle, and others) that I need to maintain a positive attitude and that doing posts like this is bad for my state of mind, I'm going to make this post on the premise that writing it all down helps me release the memories from my mind. They say to be a good poker player you need a very short memory, and writing down the times I get eviscerated helps make mine shorter.
First of all we had the joy that was Sunday. I watched the Steelers lose to the Kansas City Chefs in deplorable fashion, then went to The Oaks for my daily beating. At first there wasn't even a 15/30 game (only a chock-full-o-nuts 30/60) and I sat at 6/12. I won half a rack in 10 hands. Then they called down the 15/30 game, and I won half a rack in 20 hands. Then I moved up to the 30/60 game, didn't win a hand for 75 minutes, decided to drop back to 15/30 as the 30 had basically over-fished itself, promptly flopped a set of 3s and turned two pair from the big blind to win another half a rack in like an hour or so, then went back up to the 30/60 game and proceeded to not win a pot for another 75 minutes. So in the small games I won like a rack and a half over the course of barely 2 hours, and in the 30 I went potless (not like just a small pot or just stole the blinds once or whatever...completely potless) for 2 and a half hours. Now since it was in two different sittings I can't really count it, but 2.5 hours without a single pot (in what by this point was mostly 6-7 handed play, mind you) would probably be a record for me. Eventually I get pushed two pots in a row and somehow, some way I am somewhere in the general vicinity of even for the day (I sort of intentionally lost count of how much I was in from all the game-changing, but I had over 2 racks in front of me and that was somewhere near what I'd bought). But it was not to be. I was planning to get home by 9 or 10 and and as the hour approached I missed 3 flush draws in 5 hands and that as they say was that. I only lost 30 bets at 30/60, but as usual it seems that I ran bad in the biggest game I played and good in the others. I've done some thinking the past few days and decided that varying the stakes you play by a largish margin (a factor of 2 or more) is a really good way to introduce another degree of freedom into your results, which is just a fancy way of saying it's a good way to make it possible that you can run bad for longer. But what is one to do; when they 40 is good, you sit, right?
Yesterday the 40 was good. It was so unbelievably good I can't even go into words. I played some 20/40 waiting for a seat (which is rare for me....usually I put my name up for the 40 and decide when I get called if I'll take it or not. Not yesterday. Yesterday I wanted the 40 and that was all there was to it) and got called around 11:15am (early day). I ambled over to the game, waited patiently to post in, and promptly lost a rack and a half in an hour. I've gotten to the point with the 40 that I'm actually scared of it, mainly because I know that playing it all day can cause me to take truly big losses, like 3 or 4 thousand dollar losses. So I picked up and went back to the 20/40 game, stuck like $1700 and planning to play for another 4-6 hours. You can't play scared or frustrated; it's just not a good idea. This hand kind of illustrates it:
The button open-limps. This is not some trick with kings, he really just open-limped the button in a 7 handed 40/80 game because that's how he rolls. I raise with AQo and Ed H calls the big blind. Ed is...let's just say "good for the game" right now. The button calls and we see:
973 with two diamonds
I lead out with a 100% completely standard continuation bet, and Ed H raises. The button calls two cold and I peel at 11:1 closing the action figuring to have 6 clean outs the majority of the time. With implied odds, it's a super easy call. The button still being in the hand is a concern, but he probably doesn't have a flush draw (he'd 3-bet....that's also how he rolls) and he is unlikely to have my Ace outs reverse dominated (with like A3 or A7 or something) since he'd have raised preflop with those hands. Honestly I think he has some sort of gut-shot with overcard(s) draw.
Q
Victory! An ace would have been a tough card to play, since Ed might check back his one pair hands, but a Queen is basically gin in this situation. I check, Ed bets, and the button calls once more. I spring the raise and Ed 3-bets me before I finish cutting off the chips. The button folds meekly and I call the 3-bet and the blank river. Ed shows me Q3s and I lose my cool for a second, slamming some chips on the table. The reason I lost it is pretty obvious and still pretty inexcusable. On the flop there are 45 cards that aren't on board or in Ed or I's hand. Two (2) of them get me to lose more money on this hand, three (3) put me in command of the hand, and the other forty (40) probably result in me folding or perhaps getting a free look at the river (Ed does have a pair of 3s for crying out loud. Something tells me he's not betting the King of diamonds). But what card do I get? The one that costs $320. Did I spike any of my nine outs on the river? Of course not. And can I fold the river? Well, not really at 14:1. Ed really could have AQ or even KQ or QJ of diamonds. Like I said, he's good for the game.
So I move back down to 20/40 and am seated at simply one of the best tables I have ever seen. Double O is there. Mega-Fish Indian guy is there. Tom B is there. Guy who open raises A3s under the gun is there. It's just a giant party. So Megafish open limps UTG and I raise AJo in about the high jack. This is sorta like a combo iso/value raise. If I get it heads up or 3 way I'm h happy, but my hand is good enough to hold up against more action. The cutoff, button and big blind all call, and megafish calls obviously. So we're off, 5 ways for 2 bets a piece.
J43dd
I even have the ace of diamonds. Looking at this board objectively, there are really not any terrible turn cards for me to even see. Sure a ten, queen or king is bad, but otherwise I'm pretty safe. A 2 or 5 adds a gutshot to my hand, and any diamond gives me the nut flush draw. Sure people can have straight draws around the 43, but in general this is pretty darn good. Two of them check and I bet. The cutoff raises, and they all call. Not some of them. All of them call two bets cold. I 3-bet, he calls, and they all call again. 25 small bets now and I am the lead dog.
J43dd-Js
Jiminy Christmas I've done it! Two of them check and I fire. All 3 of them call....then Megafish raises! I look into his soul and like what I see. Specifically, I see the last jack, not pocket 3s or 4s. This guy is bad, but he's super-over-aggro bad. He doesn't make expert slow play (which is actually good for him, since he raises and over plays so many hands) and him having a full house just doesn't make sense. How could he have top pair then you ask? Yeah, that's troubling also, but he was facing a 5 handed pot that had already been raised. Maybe he didn't want to check/3-bet two players who obviously had monsters. I dunno, but with 3 players left behind me calling isn't much of an option. I 3-bet. They all fold and Megafish calls only. This is it, I'm gonna drag this $1000 monster.
J43dd-Js-Qc
He donks. Just fires right out there. No check/raise, no hollywood, just fires. I call and he rolls QJo.
A few hands later I 3-bet "guy who raises A3s UTG" with AJo from the small blind. This guy had raised Double O's limp in like super early position, so maybe he actually has something this time, but I really doubt it. Double O folds somehow (he's tightened up a bit it seems) and the guy calls. We'll run this one quickly:
J33hh
He calls
7s
He calls
8c
He raises. I call and he shows me T9o.
I have a few more but they really pale in comparison. Megafish calls 3 bets cold from the small blind with 32s (after a laggy guy opened and a nitty guy 3-bet while on the phone) and I defend my BB with 99 (good seat change Jesse). The board of course runs out like 754-5-6 and he actually check/raises me on the river. The other two players had AK....And then I flop bottom two pair (queens and tens) and manage to lose to QJ when the board pairs the Ace on the river. My opponent actually had like close to 10 outs there, so that one wasn't even that interesting.
Today it's off to The Oaks for some 30/60 madness. Maybe I'll be allowed to win :)
First of all we had the joy that was Sunday. I watched the Steelers lose to the Kansas City Chefs in deplorable fashion, then went to The Oaks for my daily beating. At first there wasn't even a 15/30 game (only a chock-full-o-nuts 30/60) and I sat at 6/12. I won half a rack in 10 hands. Then they called down the 15/30 game, and I won half a rack in 20 hands. Then I moved up to the 30/60 game, didn't win a hand for 75 minutes, decided to drop back to 15/30 as the 30 had basically over-fished itself, promptly flopped a set of 3s and turned two pair from the big blind to win another half a rack in like an hour or so, then went back up to the 30/60 game and proceeded to not win a pot for another 75 minutes. So in the small games I won like a rack and a half over the course of barely 2 hours, and in the 30 I went potless (not like just a small pot or just stole the blinds once or whatever...completely potless) for 2 and a half hours. Now since it was in two different sittings I can't really count it, but 2.5 hours without a single pot (in what by this point was mostly 6-7 handed play, mind you) would probably be a record for me. Eventually I get pushed two pots in a row and somehow, some way I am somewhere in the general vicinity of even for the day (I sort of intentionally lost count of how much I was in from all the game-changing, but I had over 2 racks in front of me and that was somewhere near what I'd bought). But it was not to be. I was planning to get home by 9 or 10 and and as the hour approached I missed 3 flush draws in 5 hands and that as they say was that. I only lost 30 bets at 30/60, but as usual it seems that I ran bad in the biggest game I played and good in the others. I've done some thinking the past few days and decided that varying the stakes you play by a largish margin (a factor of 2 or more) is a really good way to introduce another degree of freedom into your results, which is just a fancy way of saying it's a good way to make it possible that you can run bad for longer. But what is one to do; when they 40 is good, you sit, right?
Yesterday the 40 was good. It was so unbelievably good I can't even go into words. I played some 20/40 waiting for a seat (which is rare for me....usually I put my name up for the 40 and decide when I get called if I'll take it or not. Not yesterday. Yesterday I wanted the 40 and that was all there was to it) and got called around 11:15am (early day). I ambled over to the game, waited patiently to post in, and promptly lost a rack and a half in an hour. I've gotten to the point with the 40 that I'm actually scared of it, mainly because I know that playing it all day can cause me to take truly big losses, like 3 or 4 thousand dollar losses. So I picked up and went back to the 20/40 game, stuck like $1700 and planning to play for another 4-6 hours. You can't play scared or frustrated; it's just not a good idea. This hand kind of illustrates it:
The button open-limps. This is not some trick with kings, he really just open-limped the button in a 7 handed 40/80 game because that's how he rolls. I raise with AQo and Ed H calls the big blind. Ed is...let's just say "good for the game" right now. The button calls and we see:
973 with two diamonds
I lead out with a 100% completely standard continuation bet, and Ed H raises. The button calls two cold and I peel at 11:1 closing the action figuring to have 6 clean outs the majority of the time. With implied odds, it's a super easy call. The button still being in the hand is a concern, but he probably doesn't have a flush draw (he'd 3-bet....that's also how he rolls) and he is unlikely to have my Ace outs reverse dominated (with like A3 or A7 or something) since he'd have raised preflop with those hands. Honestly I think he has some sort of gut-shot with overcard(s) draw.
Q
Victory! An ace would have been a tough card to play, since Ed might check back his one pair hands, but a Queen is basically gin in this situation. I check, Ed bets, and the button calls once more. I spring the raise and Ed 3-bets me before I finish cutting off the chips. The button folds meekly and I call the 3-bet and the blank river. Ed shows me Q3s and I lose my cool for a second, slamming some chips on the table. The reason I lost it is pretty obvious and still pretty inexcusable. On the flop there are 45 cards that aren't on board or in Ed or I's hand. Two (2) of them get me to lose more money on this hand, three (3) put me in command of the hand, and the other forty (40) probably result in me folding or perhaps getting a free look at the river (Ed does have a pair of 3s for crying out loud. Something tells me he's not betting the King of diamonds). But what card do I get? The one that costs $320. Did I spike any of my nine outs on the river? Of course not. And can I fold the river? Well, not really at 14:1. Ed really could have AQ or even KQ or QJ of diamonds. Like I said, he's good for the game.
So I move back down to 20/40 and am seated at simply one of the best tables I have ever seen. Double O is there. Mega-Fish Indian guy is there. Tom B is there. Guy who open raises A3s under the gun is there. It's just a giant party. So Megafish open limps UTG and I raise AJo in about the high jack. This is sorta like a combo iso/value raise. If I get it heads up or 3 way I'm h happy, but my hand is good enough to hold up against more action. The cutoff, button and big blind all call, and megafish calls obviously. So we're off, 5 ways for 2 bets a piece.
J43dd
I even have the ace of diamonds. Looking at this board objectively, there are really not any terrible turn cards for me to even see. Sure a ten, queen or king is bad, but otherwise I'm pretty safe. A 2 or 5 adds a gutshot to my hand, and any diamond gives me the nut flush draw. Sure people can have straight draws around the 43, but in general this is pretty darn good. Two of them check and I bet. The cutoff raises, and they all call. Not some of them. All of them call two bets cold. I 3-bet, he calls, and they all call again. 25 small bets now and I am the lead dog.
J43dd-Js
Jiminy Christmas I've done it! Two of them check and I fire. All 3 of them call....then Megafish raises! I look into his soul and like what I see. Specifically, I see the last jack, not pocket 3s or 4s. This guy is bad, but he's super-over-aggro bad. He doesn't make expert slow play (which is actually good for him, since he raises and over plays so many hands) and him having a full house just doesn't make sense. How could he have top pair then you ask? Yeah, that's troubling also, but he was facing a 5 handed pot that had already been raised. Maybe he didn't want to check/3-bet two players who obviously had monsters. I dunno, but with 3 players left behind me calling isn't much of an option. I 3-bet. They all fold and Megafish calls only. This is it, I'm gonna drag this $1000 monster.
J43dd-Js-Qc
He donks. Just fires right out there. No check/raise, no hollywood, just fires. I call and he rolls QJo.
A few hands later I 3-bet "guy who raises A3s UTG" with AJo from the small blind. This guy had raised Double O's limp in like super early position, so maybe he actually has something this time, but I really doubt it. Double O folds somehow (he's tightened up a bit it seems) and the guy calls. We'll run this one quickly:
J33hh
He calls
7s
He calls
8c
He raises. I call and he shows me T9o.
I have a few more but they really pale in comparison. Megafish calls 3 bets cold from the small blind with 32s (after a laggy guy opened and a nitty guy 3-bet while on the phone) and I defend my BB with 99 (good seat change Jesse). The board of course runs out like 754-5-6 and he actually check/raises me on the river. The other two players had AK....And then I flop bottom two pair (queens and tens) and manage to lose to QJ when the board pairs the Ace on the river. My opponent actually had like close to 10 outs there, so that one wasn't even that interesting.
Today it's off to The Oaks for some 30/60 madness. Maybe I'll be allowed to win :)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Bruno
Bruno's a nice guy. He is a floor man (or maybe shift manager) at The Oaks and spends his spare time playing in the 30/60 game. The thing about Bruno, however, is that he is constantly complaining about running bad. You all know the type, the guy who is constantly bemoaning his luck, always complaining that he can't win, etc etc. The thing with Bruno is that 95% of it is true. For every person on a life time heater, there is someone in a perpetual cooler. Well, not really, since most of those people quit because as I've learned poker just isn't very fun if you're getting soul-crushed 4 days out of 5. But Bruno really runs bad.
So I'm playing live 30 today and the guy on my left puts the live straddle on. That's right its 30/60 and he's straddling. At 15/30 he was doing it every single orbit, here at 30 he's only tried it out twice so far with poor results. Bob the prop (former prop, I don't know, he wasn't wearing his badge) calls two cold, as does Hemp Man (my God, Hemp Man.....you probably have the largest gap between your perceived and actual abilities I have ever seen). Bruno just calls in the small blind, and I somehow fold my hand (I wish I had a picture of that hand, cause it had to be truly, truly terrible). Straddle-fish now raises and Hemp Man says "You finally picked up a hand on the straddle eh?" and the response is "Well, we'll see what happens." I decide it is time for some humor. "I already know what's going to happen" I declare boldly. "Oh, really, what's that?" is the response from the group. "You're going to river Bruno! There, I've called my shot." The table is riotous with laughter, and even Bruno concurs "You know, this kid is on to something" They all call and there are 13 bets in the pot when the dealer flings out a beaut:
7c 6d 2d
Now I have to admit, I do not remember how all 4 bets went in, or in which order all 4 people called them, but I am pretty sure every it was something like bet call raise 3-bet call call cap call. I think Bob put in 2 and 4 bets, with Hemp Man doing the 3-bet and Bruno just kind of scratching his head wondering what happened after he donked the flop and straddle-fish doing what he does best, calling all bets. At this point I comment "Well, it's gonna be tough," since the action seems to indicate that Bob and Hemp Man have the real hands. But hope is not lost. Now the turn in the 29 small bet pot:
7c 6d 2d 9h
Bruno fires. This is odd because he basically had just called like twice on the flop after firing the first bet. Stradle-fish calls and Bob raises again. Hemp Man is undeterred by this preposterous flow of action and calls two bets cold with what later proves to be a clean 3-outter. Bruno shake his head and calls and I say "What would be a fun card here? I don't even want to speculate" and Straddle Fish says "How about a diamond?!" and calls the last bet. We've got our selves a 23ish big bet pot (that's about 1500 American Dollars) and the river brings:
7c 6d 2d 9h Jc
And....it....checks....through. Bruno is first to show and tables pocket Tens. How he didn't 3-bet preflop is beyond me, but otherwise his play makes pretty decent sense for The Oaks 30/60 "I will put in 4 bets on the flop with anything that resembles a draw and then check behind on the turn because hahahaha I am smarter than you and got a free card" game.
"No good, I have a jack!" declares Straddle Fish as he tables KJdd. He rivered him! Bob....mucks! Hemp Man...mucks! Bruno asks to see the hands and is show 87o (not a diamond in site) from Bob and 74dd from Hemp Man. Bruno is beside himself and asks "Could you do me a favor? Please keep your predictions about my hand to yourself from now on."
I'm just that good.
So I'm playing live 30 today and the guy on my left puts the live straddle on. That's right its 30/60 and he's straddling. At 15/30 he was doing it every single orbit, here at 30 he's only tried it out twice so far with poor results. Bob the prop (former prop, I don't know, he wasn't wearing his badge) calls two cold, as does Hemp Man (my God, Hemp Man.....you probably have the largest gap between your perceived and actual abilities I have ever seen). Bruno just calls in the small blind, and I somehow fold my hand (I wish I had a picture of that hand, cause it had to be truly, truly terrible). Straddle-fish now raises and Hemp Man says "You finally picked up a hand on the straddle eh?" and the response is "Well, we'll see what happens." I decide it is time for some humor. "I already know what's going to happen" I declare boldly. "Oh, really, what's that?" is the response from the group. "You're going to river Bruno! There, I've called my shot." The table is riotous with laughter, and even Bruno concurs "You know, this kid is on to something" They all call and there are 13 bets in the pot when the dealer flings out a beaut:
7c 6d 2d
Now I have to admit, I do not remember how all 4 bets went in, or in which order all 4 people called them, but I am pretty sure every it was something like bet call raise 3-bet call call cap call. I think Bob put in 2 and 4 bets, with Hemp Man doing the 3-bet and Bruno just kind of scratching his head wondering what happened after he donked the flop and straddle-fish doing what he does best, calling all bets. At this point I comment "Well, it's gonna be tough," since the action seems to indicate that Bob and Hemp Man have the real hands. But hope is not lost. Now the turn in the 29 small bet pot:
7c 6d 2d 9h
Bruno fires. This is odd because he basically had just called like twice on the flop after firing the first bet. Stradle-fish calls and Bob raises again. Hemp Man is undeterred by this preposterous flow of action and calls two bets cold with what later proves to be a clean 3-outter. Bruno shake his head and calls and I say "What would be a fun card here? I don't even want to speculate" and Straddle Fish says "How about a diamond?!" and calls the last bet. We've got our selves a 23ish big bet pot (that's about 1500 American Dollars) and the river brings:
7c 6d 2d 9h Jc
And....it....checks....through. Bruno is first to show and tables pocket Tens. How he didn't 3-bet preflop is beyond me, but otherwise his play makes pretty decent sense for The Oaks 30/60 "I will put in 4 bets on the flop with anything that resembles a draw and then check behind on the turn because hahahaha I am smarter than you and got a free card" game.
"No good, I have a jack!" declares Straddle Fish as he tables KJdd. He rivered him! Bob....mucks! Hemp Man...mucks! Bruno asks to see the hands and is show 87o (not a diamond in site) from Bob and 74dd from Hemp Man. Bruno is beside himself and asks "Could you do me a favor? Please keep your predictions about my hand to yourself from now on."
I'm just that good.
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