Running with Morons!!!

It's just shockingly funny and sickening how many bad players I have run into over the past two days. I've played in 6 sit-n-go's today. It's just amazing how bad I'm running right now. Let me get it straight, I'm not playing bad, I'm just running bad.
Here's the quick breakdown of the tourneys:
Tourney #1: 6 max tourney. I played a few hands early really well, and I grabbed the chip lead early. One hand in particular was AA. Middle position raised, and I just called, as did the big blind. The flop came jack high and the big blind bet out minimum, middle raised 4x's, and I thought one of the two had a big enough piece to go all the way. I raised to 450, but the BB just called, middle folded. BB pushed on the turn with another rag. I called, he showed K5 suited for no pair no draw????? So we get to three handed and it pretty much becomes a shove fest. I shove with K10 suited and get called by the BB with AK....UGH!!!
The first tourney was pretty standard. The blinds get high and you're forced to gamble. I just happened to run into a big hand at the wrong time. This is when it just started getting sick.
Tourney #2: I'm the short stack with 4 players left. I have 88 on the button and push for about 8 big blinds. The small blind reshoves, he has a little more than I do. He shows 33 against my 88. Sweet...I'm a big favorite. The flop comes K-2-4 rainbow. The turn brings an ace, and of course a 5 hits the river. Out of number 2.
Tourney #3: Again, we are 4 handed. This time I'm sitting about average with the other big stacks. The short stack keeps getting lucky to stay alive. I pushed on him with A10, he called off with QJ and got lucky. Later, I called his all in with A10 again as did another player who had Q9. The short stack won again with KJ. Finally, I have A8 and the short stack. I push and the BB calls with Q10. I flop an ace, but he gets a 10 on the turn and a 10 on the river.
Tourney #4: I'm on the button and we're 5 handed. I raise 3.5X's and the small blind calls. I have AQ off. The flop comes K-Q-J. He bets out the pot on the flop, and I raise all in. He calls of most of his chips, leaving himself 650 with the blinds at 50/100 on an insta call with 10's. The turn brings a 4 and of course an ace hits the river.
Tourney #5: We're 4 handed, and the table has been playing completely insanse. Raise, re-raise with very marginal hands. I only have about 6 big blinds. I'm in the BB with QJ suited. Loose player raises and another player calls. I shove for about twice the raise. Both call. The flop comes J-6-4 with two spades. The king of spades hits the turn and the 10 of hearts hits the river. One guy had A10 off and the winner had J10 of diamonds. The funny thing is that the guy with J10 was only about 14% on the flop to win. Whereas the guy with A10 off was about 32% to win. On the turn, the guy with J10 was only about 6% to win, and of course he got there.
Tourney #6: This is the worst one of the day. I haven't played a single hand yet. It's early in the tourney and everyone has been playing really loose and very poorly, so I'm just waiting for a good situaiton. I'm in early position with JJ. The blinds are 30/60 and I raise to 180. The small blind calls and the flop comes 10-9-6. He checks and I bet 300 into 420. He check raises all in. I call, he shows K6 of spades. For a check raise like this, I would have at least expected to see a flush draw or straight draw, something other than third pair with a king. The turn brings the 8 of clubs, giving me a flush draw and straight draw to go with my overpair. Of course, the king of hearts hits the river.
It is getting really frustrating playing with such bad players. They act instantly on their hands and don't think about anything other than trying to either bluff you off your hand, or think that if they bet you'll fold. I've seen so many marginal hands played for raises it almost makes me think this is how you're supposed to play. But I know better. Look up the stats of these players and you will see that they are losing players in the long run. They might get lucky and win every once in a while. But most of them are losing, and a lot I might add.
It's just mentally draining to play well, get your money in good and know that you are going to lose. I can't explain it. Everytime we got the money in, I knew I was either a huge favorite or had the best of it. But as soon as the cards were turned over, I knew I was going to lose. That little voice in the back of my head kept saying, you're going to get sucked out on, be prepared.
So, I just have to keep getting it in good, that's all you can do.

Another Up and Down Day

I don't understand how some of the players at the new level play, and haven't gone broke yet. Here's a quick breakdown of how I lost the first tourneys.
Tourney #1: BB is all in, he lost a big hand. I have QQ in early position and raise to 300 with 1650 behind. The player to my left re-raises to 900. Now I could have decided to fold, but I know that he doesn't have AA or KK, most likely J's, 10's or AK. I shove and he calls off about 2/3 of his stack. Sure enough, he has AK and flops an ace. Most people would say, it's a race and you lost. But think about the hand for a second. There's a player all in already. I'm telling you I have a hand, and he decides to call off most of his stack with AK. If he doesn't hit, he's crippled with the blinds at 50/100. I think it was a horrible play on his part.
Tourney #2: Pretty standard. I'm in the BB with AK and only have about 10 big blinds. Early position raise, I shove and he calls with QQ. I flop an ace, but he also flopped a queen.
Tourney #3: I'm in late position with KJ off. I haven't really been raising all that much, so I thought my raise would get some respect. I raised to 275 with the blinds at 50/100. The small blind called, and the flop came K-8-6 rainbow. He bets out 200, which I then raise to 775. He goes all in and it's a no brainer. I call and he shows K2???? He rivered a 2....UGH!
Tourney #4: I'm in late again. UTG limps, he's been doing that with a lot of weak hands. I have A9 off and 895 chips with the blinds at 60/120. I shove, he calls with 55 and I lose the race.
Tourney #5: We're 6 handed, and I'm UTG with AK off. The blinds are 30/60 and I have 1310 in chips. I raise to 180. The button calls and the flop comes K-7-4. I check to the button, he had been very aggressive. He bets 360 into 450. I just call. The turn brings the 7 of clubs, now two clubs on board. I check again, pretty much pot committed. He bet the pot, and I call off my stack to find out he had AA. What a cold deck.
Tourney #6: I lost a big hand, where I had the nut flush draw and he had a straight draw and got there. So I was short stacked. I pushed in the small blind, into the big blind with 77. He had AK, lost the race and was out.
Tourney #7: The worst one of all. I was in the BB with AK of hearts. The button limps, and I raise to 175 with the blinds at 25/50. He calls and the flop came K-6-3 with two hearts. YAHTZEE. Top pair, top kicker and the nut flush draw. I bet 250, he calls. The turn brings the queen of hearts...FLUSH. I bet out 550, he raises all in. I call, he shows KQ. I bet you can guess the river....lol. Queen on the river. I'm out of another one.
It gets frustrating to get your money in as a huge favorite or just in a race situation and lose. I try to take them well, and don't really let them bother me. The only reason why I recount these situations, is to try and find a way I could have played the hand better. I feel that I played each hand both the way I should have, and in the best possible way. I know that beats and suckouts are going to happen. I play aggressively and I also change gears a lot. So I know that some players just don't understand that I'm not always bluffing.
It's good to get picked off bluffing from time to time. This will usually make your opponent come after you later on. They will think that you're bluffing again. You have to balance your bluffs and know which players can and cannot be bluffed. I ran into a lot of weak, passive and calling stations. Here's a great example of what I'm talking about.
I had been somewhat active at the table. I raised in position pretty frequently and just got picked off bluffing second pair on the turn. He called the flop and turn with top pair with a weak kicker. So I knew that I had to change gears and tighten up a little. A few hands later, I pick up KK and raise the exact same amount I did in the previous hand. I usually raise the same amount no matter what I have. The only time I vary my raise is by position. I tend to raise 2.5X's in early, 2.7-2.8X's in middle, and 3X's in late. I'll explain why in a later post. So I raise to 400 again with the blinds at 80/160. The big blind calls and the flop comes A-K-7 rainbow. The BB checked and I knew that I had to gamble and give him a card that he could bluff. He was a very aggressive player, so I wanted to hang him, plus I knew he just saw me show a bluff. The turn brings a 6 of spades, now 2 spades on board. He bet the pot. Right now, there's only one hand that beats me, AA. No way he has that. So I just call, again, I'm not worried about getting drawn out on, if it happens it happens. But I want to get maximum value for my hand. The river brings a 2. He shoves all in. He has me covered, and the trap has been triggered. I call and he shows 10-7 off. I'm all for aggression, but this play is just stupidly aggressive. I raised UTG and just called when he bet the turn. It's just amazing that these players can't shut down. They are willing to two and three barrel with second or third pair, or a complete bluff. It's just hilarious.
So I'm down about $60 right now, but hopefully the cards will start breaking my way. I just have to stay aggressive and picking my spots. I'm sure everything will work out in the end.

This Is Getting Gross!!!

I have played in 22 sit-n-go's over the past two days. I'm playing at the new level, but the ups and downs I'm experiencing right now is just getting disgusting. At the lower level, I was cashing on a regular basis. I've cashed and won quite a few at the new level, but the variance I'm experiencing right now is getting mentally taxing.
Just to give you an example. Of the 22 sit-n-go's I've played, I've won 4, took second 1 time, third 2 times, and on the bubble 6 times. That's 7 cashes out of 22. A little over 33%. I would cash in about 45% of the tourneys at the lower level. So my bankroll has been on a roller coaster ride over the past few days. If I didn't have enough to play at the upper level, I wouldn't. So as long as I have the proper bankroll, I'll continue playing at the upper level. I know I do need to make some adjustments though.
One thing I have noticed about the players at the next level, is that they are both fearless, and mostly have no clue....lol. I'll give you an example, I'll even drop his name. Pokerwarlock76 had been pushing all game long. He got lucky quite a few times to not only stay in the tourney, but to get the chip lead. I have been totally card dead for the past two days, well mostly card dead. I've had a few good hands, but nothing spectacular. So anyway, he kept pushing a raising and was playing like a typical maniac. He raised, then called a massive all in with J9 suited against AK. So I was just waiting patiently to pick him off. Just sitting in wait and hoping to finally pick up a hand I could go to war with him. I don't need aces or kings to pick off a maniac. But when all you are getting is 64 and J5, there's not much you can do. Not only that, but I had a tight aggressive, solid player on my left. So I couldn't really get out of hand.
So we get to four handed and I'm getting short on chips. He constantly pushed all in when he was in the small blind and I was in the big blind. I had about 10 big blinds, so I had a little bit of time to wait. Finally, I'm down to about 7 big blinds and he pushes in again. I called with Q8 off, which was the best hand I had seen in a long time. He showed down 96 off, so I'm a slight favorite. The flop came A-9-6....UGH!!! I catch a queen on the turn and an ace on the river. Thank god they didn't pay off a bad play. So now I'm sitting third. A couple of orbits later, he pushed again from the small blind. I had him covered by about 300. I called with A7 off, he had K8. I caught an ace, but on the turn he had a straight and flush draw. The river bricked and he was gone. When we were three handed, I pushed on the short stack with A10 suited and he called with KK. I caught an ace, but he caught a king. The river brought a jack for a running straight. Finally, I trapped the big blind with K10. I called and he checked it down. The flop came 10-7-6. He bet out, and I used my clock, then just called. I know that at this point, I'm probably a huge favorite. There are straight and flush draws, but he was playing pretty straight forward. Bets when he has a pair, checks when he bricked the flop. So I thought he had a weak 10. The turn brought another 7. He put about half his money in the pot. At this point, I know he's committed and went ahead and put him in. He had 10-3, the river bricked and I won another one.
Over the past two days, I have played 2070 hands, and have had a premium hand 2% of the time. I was dealt AA 4 times out of 2070 hands. That's just disgusting. Like I've said, I don't need premium hands all the time, but it helps when the table is playing very tight and aggressive to have a hand to go to war with from time to time. There's only so many times you can raise a blind with a less than premium hand that you won't get looked up. Not only that, but it's only fair that the poker gods deal me some good hands from time to time. When you only get marginal hands, it's like playing with your hands tied. Your actions are limited, it destroys your image, and if you are at a tight aggressive table that is playing well, when you do get a hand, nobody will call. So you have to get hands.
Normally in a sit-n-go, I'll play pretty tight at the beginning. I try to build my image and get a few chips. I'm not going to get crazy with a hand, and will usually fold only one pair. Remember, never go broke with one pair, especially early in a tourney. However, when you just don't get anything to play, there's not much you can do. Just play patiently and wait for the right opportunities to present themselves. There were so many tourneys that I was playing patiently and just waiting for the right spots. They never came and when I finally did make a move with a decent hand, guess what I always ran into. YUP...AA and KK. Sucks when the deck kills you like that.

Rock Band Update

I've been playing Rock Band off and on for the past few weeks. I love that game. I have become quite a good drummer, if I do say so myself. I'm alright at guitar, but the drums are so much fun. I just downloaded a bunch of new songs over the past couple of weeks. Here's a brief list:

1. Roam - B52's
2. Hard to Handle - Black Crowes
3. ...And Just For All - Metallica
4. Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis
5. Wonderwall - Oasis
6. Live Forever - Oasis
7. Buddy Holly - Weezer
8. Peace of Mind - Boston
9. More Than a Feeling - Boston
10. Something About You - Boston
11. Smokin' - Boston
12. Rock and Roll Band - Boston
13. Still Alive - Glados
14. Crushcrush - Paramore
15. Why Do You Love Me? - Garbage
16. Sex Type Thing - Stone Temple Pilots
17. Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
18. Ten Speed - Coheed and Cambria
19. Limelight - Rush
20. Move Along - All American Rejects
21. Dirty Little Secret - All American Rejects
22. Brass in Pocket - The Pretenders
23. 3's and 7's - Queens of the Stone Age
24. Sick, Sick, Sick - Queens of the Stone Age
25. Jukebox Hero - Foreigner
26. My Sharona - The Knack
27. Bang a Gong - T-Rex

I have been playing on the expert level and can pretty much play most of the songs on expert. There are still a few songs that I can't play. Like Run to the Hills, Don't Fear the Reaper, and Won't Get Fooled Again. I'm getting there, I'm progressing pretty quickly. They just annouced the new songs for this coming week. They include the following.

1. Saints of Los Angeles - Motley Crue
2. Call Me - Blondie
3. Message in a Bottle - The Police
4. Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd

I'll have to make sure to get those songs as well. If you play Rock Band on the XBOX 360, my gamertag is jay311md. Drop me a line, let's play sometime.

Variance Kicked Me In The Nuts!!!

I moved up to the next level. I won the first one, right out the gate. Then I proceeded to get cold decked and took some pretty nasty beats to lose about 10 or so. I lost with AA versus K5 off, that one was fun. I was in early position and a loose player raised 3.5 times the blind. The player on his left called, and I re-raised the size of the pot. Both called and the flop came J-10-5. Good flop for aces, for the most part. The original raiser bet right out the size of the pot. I re-raised to put him in and he called with bottom pair. The turn brought a king and I was gone. It went that way pretty much the rest of the night. I lost with a pair of aces on the flop to a set on the river. I lost with AK versus AJ, QQ versus K8 off, and AA versus K4 off.
One thing I can't understand, is that everyone always tells you that players get better as you move up in stakes. However, I have noticed that the players at the next level are more idiotic and to me it seems like they have no clue what they are doing. The moves I saw some of the players make would make your jaw hit the floor. Raise with 85 off under the gun, not a horrible play, but then call an all in from an above average stack? The all in player had AK suited and the UTG fish caught an 8 on the turn. Again, raising with more than just premium hands is not a bad play. But you have to realize and understand that you should not be putting your tournament on the line with a weak hand like 85 off. I might be able to understand the play in a cash game, but even then you are just setting yourself up for failure.
There was one player, Hoangchau, he would push and re-raise with some very funky hands. I raised from the button twice with a strong ace the first time (AQ), and a weak ace the second time (A5 suited). Both times he came over the top of me and pushed all in. I didn't know what he was making these moves with, until I caught him in the blind. I had AA in the small blind and remembered that when I raised about 2.75 times the blind he would push in on me. So I raised the same amount and sure enough, he pushed in again. I called and he had 66. Again, why would you risk your entire tournament with the blinds small, you have an average stack and not much money invested in the pot. At best with 66 you could hope for is a coin flip. You should not put your tournament on the line with small blinds on a coin flip. But maybe that's just me. So, I'm down about $180 right now. So when I get back to the grind, hopefully I can make a comeback. I'm just gonna take a little time to let the cards settle, let myself cool down a little bit and give myself some time to get my head back in the game.