Poker Vortices

I spent the better part of last week in Sedona, Arizona, which is a beautiful part of the American Southwest featuring tremendous red rock structures. Unfortunately, someone decided that these red rock formations have somehow created spiritual vortexes (and yes that is the correct pluralization, not vortices, I checked):

"In Sedona vortexes are created, not by wind or water, but from spiraling spiritual energy. The vortexes of Sedona are named because they are believed to be spiritual locations where the energy is right to facilitate prayer, mediation and healing. Vortex sites are believed to be locations having energy flow that exists on multiple dimensions. The energy of the vortexes interacts with a person’s inner self."

Consequently, Sedona is a hotbed of new age spiritualism, home to dozens of fortune tellers, spirit healers, mystical book stores, and all-around crazy people. I'm mad that I lost the exact language, but the visitor's guide provided by the National Parks Service specifically prohibits the rearranging of sticks and stones to create "medicine wheels" in the park and asks guests to "pray, chant, sign, drum, or meditate quietly" so as not to disturb others.

I spent about an hour playing poker and watching the sun rise from the porch of our hotel room while waiting for my girlfriend to wake up one day, though, and I must admit that maybe there is something to those vortexes after all (ugh apparently I don't FTP set to save hand histories on my laptop- sorry for botching the hell out of this post).

I was playing 10/20 heads up with a relatively weak regular. She was ridiculously over-aggressive, and I didn't respond to it quite as well as I should have. Still, I four-bet bluffed her twice pre-flop and flopped huge both times.

The first time, I had 54o, put $440 in pre-flop, and flopped the nuts on a 236 board. Since I knew my opponent could have a wide range pre-flop and it was my first time four-betting, I checked it back. The turn brought a J, she potted, and I shoved. She tanked and called with 95o for a gutshot which did not get there.

The second time, I 4-bet with Q7 and flopped Q77 for the second nuts. This time we were 4K deep, so I bet like 1/3 pot on the flop. In retrospect I probably should have just checked but I feared it would look too strong given how I played last time and the fact that my opponent knew I knew she could have almost anything.

The best one was when I called one of her 3-bets with T9o (again, 4K stacks) and flopped Q83. She bet, and I called. The turn brought another Q, and she bet smallish. I was pretty sure she didn't have a Queen, so decided to execute one of my new favorite moves where I make a raise I know my opponent will call and set myself up to bluff shove a future street when I am almost sure she will fold. I raised like 2.5x, enough to leave slightly less than a pot-sized bet in the effective stacks. Sure enough, she called and check-folded to a shove on a river 8. Sadly, she also quit after that.

Mike Matusow Gets the Best of Me Again

It's been a while since we've played together, but Matusow was at two tables of 25/50 full ring today, so I took a seat as well. The game was pretty good, but once again Matusow "got the best of me" (scare quotes cuz really it was just a coin flip and not much either of us could/should have done differently):

Full Tilt Poker, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP1: $6,863
MP2: $11,052
CO: $4,925
BTN: $3,604
SB: $1,550
BB: $1,330
Hero (UTG): $9,105
UTG+1: $930

Pre-Flop: K A dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $150, 4 folds, BTN calls $150, SB folds, BB calls $100

Flop: ($475) K 3 5 (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets $350, BB folds, Hero raises to $955, BTN calls $605

Turn: ($2,385) 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $8,000 and is All-In, BTN calls $2,499 and is All-In
River: ($7,383) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $7,383 Pot ($3 Rake)
BTN showed 7 6 (a flush, Nine high) and WON $7,380 (+$3,776 NET)
Hero showed K A (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$3,604 NET)


If you're wondering about the flop check-raise, it's because I initially timed out and auto-checked. I was distracted by this river decision:

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: $1,000
SB: $1,670
Hero (BB): $3,614
UTG: $535.80

Pre-Flop: 8 A dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, BTN raises to $30, SB folds, Hero calls $20

Flop: ($65) 2 2 4 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $50, Hero calls $50

Turn: ($165) 9 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $130, Hero calls $130

River: ($425) A (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $790 and is All-In, Hero calls $790

Results: $2,005 Pot ($2 Rake)
BTN showed J 9 (two pair, Nines and Twos) and LOST (-$1,000 NET)
Hero showed 8 A (two pair, Aces and Twos) and LOST (-$1,000 NET)


I'm really surprised he showed up with a 9 here. I don't get why he wouldn't just check that back, and I'm not sure if he was trying to value bet or bluff here (actually it was almost certainly a bluff but it's not inconceivable I could call with worse if I were in the right mood).

Here are two more not very interesting 25/50 hands:

Full Tilt Poker, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG+1: $4,175
MP: $5,000
CO: $6,394
BTN: $6,474
SB: $5,532.10
BB: $5,000
Hero (UTG): $7,851.50

Pre-Flop: T T dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $175, UTG+1 calls $175, 4 folds, BB calls $125

Flop: ($550) T T 9 (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $376, UTG+1 folds, BB raises to $1,125, Hero calls $749

Turn: ($2,800) 3 (2 Players)
BB bets $1,700, Hero calls $1,700

River: ($6,200) Q (2 Players)
BB bets $2,000 and is All-In, Hero calls $2,000

Results: $10,200 Pot ($3 Rake)
BB showed Q K (two pair, Queens and Tens) and LOST (-$5,000 NET)
Hero showed T T (four of a kind, Tens) and WON $10,197 (+$5,197 NET)


Even when he "gets there" on the river, I still think check-folding is BB's best option here. It's so likely that KQ is no good and so unlikely that I will call with worse even if he is best.

And the last one:

Full Tilt Poker, $25/$50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP1: $5,322
MP2: $9,947
CO: $5,444
BTN: $8,147
SB: $5,622
BB: $6,851.10
UTG: $5,000
UTG+1: $5,694
Hero (UTG+2): $15,381.50

Pre-Flop: 7 7 dealt to Hero (UTG+2)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $150, Hero calls $150, 6 folds

Flop: ($375) K 4 7 (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $234, UTG+1 calls $234

Turn: ($843) K (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $666, UTG+1 calls $666

River: ($2,175) K (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks

Results: $2,175 Pot ($3 Rake)
UTG+1 showed A A (a full house, Kings full of Aces) and WON $2,172 (+$1,122 NET)
Hero showed 7 7 (a full house, Kings full of Sevens) and LOST (-$1,050 NET)


I'm pretty sure a puppy died when the river came a third K.

Slowplaying in PLO8

Here are two pretty interesting hands from a small PLO8 tournament that I final tabled on Saturday ($100 buy-in, like 135 players, I finished 8th, not a big deal). It's pretty rare that you would slowplay in PLO8 because a single card can easily make even huge hands an underdog. Moreover, when one induces bluffs, it's usually from hands with a lot of equity, such that you don't pick up value from snapping them off. Just in general even with big hands you gain a lot from folding people out and picking them up right away. But these I played differently:

Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t200/t400
8 players
Converter


Stack sizes:
UTG: t18739
UTG+1: t19416
Hero: t7646
MP2: t31489
CO: t9845
Button: t5398
SB: t11072
BB: t1246


Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is MP1 with :kc :7d :9c :ad
2 folds, Hero raises to t1111, MP2 calls t1111 (pot was t1711), 4 folds.


Flop: :kd :td :ah (t2822, 2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks.


Turn: :jc (t2822, 2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t1600, Hero calls t1600 (pot was t4422).


River: :8d (t6022, 2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks.


Results:
Final pot: t6022
Villain shows [As 2c 3s 5h]



Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t400/t800
8 players
Converter


Stack sizes:
UTG: t15439
Hero: t27260
MP1: t21723
MP2: t7032
CO: t7895
Button: t7827
SB: t7222
BB: t9610


Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is UTG+1 with :ah :2h :tc :kc
UTG folds, Hero raises to t2222, 5 folds, BB calls t1422 (pot was t3422).


Flop: :jc :td :ks (t4844, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.


Turn: :9s (t4844, 2 players)
BB bets t2400, Hero calls t2400 (pot was t7244).


River: :4d (t9644, 2 players)
BB is all-in t4988, Hero calls t4988 (pot was t14632).


Results:
Final pot: t19620
Villain shows [8d 5s Kh Ad]

Sorry I know it sucks to look at these without suit pictures, but this is the only converter than can handle PLO8. In the first one I made top two and the nut flush draw on a broadway flop. In PLO high, it's very dangerous to give a free card here since a T, J, or Q are all disastrous cards. It's actually a bit less of a concern in PLO8 because hand ranges are weighted towards lower cards. In other words, four broadway cards on the board is a bit less worrisome because straights will be a smaller part of your opponents' ranges; they'll often be playing smaller cards looking to flop low. There are thus also fewer ways for them to pay you off.

In the first hand, the nut flush draw also makes it safer to induce bluffs. When I river the nuts, I stick with the plan of inducing a bluff, especially since my opponent will probably bet most of his flushes for value anyway. Even though I didn't get the bluff, you can see that the guy didn't have a hand that was calling a bet.

In the second hand, it's scarier since I don't have redraws, but my hand was less strong and I couldn't stand a check-raise. Having played it as I did, I feel compelled to call down. I though his range would be polarized to straights or bluffs. Mostly it was a bad pre-flop call on his part, even for a discount.