Home Game Update

2008 has been my year so far. We have played two home games so far, and I have won both of them. In the first tournament, I never saw a premium hand while we were at a full table. We started with 9 players, most of which were good players. In our regular home game, we have some pretty good players. We are by no means, world class players. However, we have had players from the area come and play with us that have told us we have one of the toughest games in town. Not to drop any names, but Chris Hinchcliffe has come and played with us, and let's just say that he has never cashed at any of our tournaments. If you don't know who Chris Hinchcliffe is, he took 3rd at the Party Poker Millions WPT event. He was at the same table with the likes of Scotty Nguyen, Erik Lindgren, Steve Zolotow, Berry Greenstein, and none other than Daniel Negreanu. He also went heads up with Daniel Negreanu at the WSOP for the Limit Hold'em bracelet that same year. So he's no slouch, he is definetely a player.

So the first tournament was pretty uneventful. As players started to get eliminated, I would exploit small edges and reads to slowly acquire chips. By the time we got to three handed, I was sitting second and in healthy shape to keep pressure on while getting away from marginal situations. Long story short, I took out Rut with a couple of good hands and some good bets and reads. It was one of the shortest tournaments we have played in a long time.

The last tournament was a different animal all together. Nothing eventful happened until the first break. Right before the break, Brenda opened the pot for 4.5 x's the big blind. She got two callers. The flop came Q-10-6. She was one of the short stacks and was out of position. She went all-in and got snap called by a loose player, which was really confounding. She turned over a set of Queens, and Dustin turned over J8. A snap call with an inside straight draw. He got lucky and caught a 9 on the turn. The board didn't pair, and she was gone. After she left, he turned to me and said, "I thought she was bluffing, she had been pushing with weaker hands in the past." I just laughed and told him that even if she was bluffing, what could he beat? Conceivably, he could have had 10 outs, but that's a best case scenario. If she had a hand like KJ he's in horrible shape. Worst yet, if she had what she did have, he's an even bigger dog. Horrible play either way you look at it. He didn't have the right odds or the right read to make the play.

There was one other hand that comes to mind from early in the tournament. I was sitting a little above average with about 28,000. The blinds were 400/800 with 100 ante. So there was 2100 in the pot. I'm in late position and limp with 45 suited. I knew Joy was steaming, she had just lost a big pot which made her the short stack. She only had 3400 left. All of sudden, she pushes all-in from the button. Everyone folded to me. So I had to go to the math. There was 6300 in the pot and it was costing me 2600 to call. Automatic call right? WRONG. I see a lot of players say, well, I have to call I'm getting the right odds. The first thing you have to do is find out what your pot odds are. Here I was getting about 2.5:1. Next, and most importantly, you have to assign a range of hands to your opponent. I knew she was steaming a little bit, and I was pretty sure she didn't have a premium pair. So that left me with a basic range of any reasonable ace or any two big cards (like KQ, KJ, Q10, etc...) against this range, I was a 2:1 underdog. Next, I had to look at what kind of chunk it would take out of my stack. 2600 would be less than 10%. So I called. She flipped over AJ, I had 45. The only down side is that she had AJ hearts, and I had 45 of hearts. I hit a 4 on the turn and she didn't improve. I then had to hear all about how it was a horrible call and probably the worst call she has ever seen. However, like I just illustrated. I don't just make a call on a whim. I tend to mull over the data present and try to make the best possible play. It sucks losing to 5 high, but that's poker.

She rebought (we allow rebuys for the first hour), and ended up going a major heater. She had about 160,000 at one point of the tournament. She was on cruise control and should have easily dominated the tournament. I couldn't break the 40,000 barrier. When we got down to 5 handed, she still sat on most of the chips in the tournament and it seemed like we were fighting for second place. Rut went out in fifth place, and Dustin's friend went out in fourth place. Joy took Dustin out in a pretty uneventful hand, and next thing I know I'm heads up with the massive chip leader. She had me outchipped by more than 4:1. I couldn't catch a hand or a draw, and it seemed like she couldn't miss up to this point.

I was sitting on about 60,000, and she had about 240,000. It was pretty ridiculous. It was getting kind of late, so I offered he a chop of 100 each, then play out for the rest. That way, we would each guarantee a decent night, and still have something to fight over. She said NO. I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking, "I have a major chip lead and I can beat him." I could be wrong, but I have a feeling the greed got to her. :)

So I just went back to grindstone and started to play my normal aggressive game. There were a couple of key moments that came up. I slowly grinded my way back to about 100,000. She raised me AGAIN, on the button. She had been raising about 70% of the time from the button. I had 96 suited, and called. I know I can outplay her on the flop and turn. The flop came A-9-4. I don't watch the board, I watch the player. I knew she did not like the ACE. So I wanted her to think that I was slowplaying the ace. I checked it to her and she made the standard continuation bet. At which point, I check-raised her. She bet 10,000, I raised her to 28,000. She mucked and grumbled about how much she hates jacks. What really sold her on the fact that I had an ace was not only the bet, but I remembered what I did the last time I check-raised with a good hand, and did almost the same thing. She still had a monster chip lead, and I was still trying to grind her down, and not get into a race or push with marginal hands.

A couple of hours go by, and now we are almost even. The blinds were getting ridiculously high in comparison to the stack size. At this point, I know that she will not CALL without a good hand. I push all-in a couple of times, and I can just see the steam and frustration building. I know she's going to push back shortly, so I change gears and decide to lock it down. Sure enough, she pushes in, and I get lucky and catch Jacks in the big blind. She shows KJ off and the Jacks hold up. She's now down to about 20,000 with the blinds at 4000/8000 with 1000 ante. So that was pretty much the end of the night for her.

Over the last 6 home games, the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008, I have cashed in 5 and have won 4. Pretty good run. Let's try and keep the streak going and see how well the rest of the year goes. Good luck at the tables.