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09.19.06

Donut

posted by Absinthe | 1:54 AM

Just got back from Commerce. I ran the $540 NLHE tourney today, my fourth attempt to wring something out of this godforsaken CA State Poker Championships. 27 spots paid and I went out 30th, so that was fun.

For those of you wondering whether or not it’s possible to grind along for six hours despite crappy cards and an inability to not get three-outered on the river, yes, it is. I wouldn’t think that this would be a lot of fun, but the truth is I’ve really enjoyed myself every time I’ve gone out there. Except for the time I went out on the first hand. But three of four is pretty good.

And for those of you who might be wondering whether or not there’s anything more important than fold equity in tournament poker, I think not. Play tonight started at 6pm and I busted out at a quarter after midnight; in those six hours I won exactly four pots at showdown, all in the first four hours. I hit set-over-set early on to double up, won a race with KQ vs. 88 when I was very short, called a river bet with QQ on a board of AJJJ8, and busted a shortstack with AJ when he’d moved in for the umpteenth time, this time showing Q8.

Those are about the only playable hands I got all night, apart from the baby pairs I kept having to dump when the action ahead of me had gone raise-reraise (good folds every time!). But somehow I managed to keep schtum and maintain an M between 3 and 7 for … well, the usual agonizingly long period that begins when the antes kick in and ends when I find AQs on the button, the best thing I’ve seen literally two hours, and open-push into the big blind’s KK, three off the money (auigh). I think I seriously might play so much better with a short stack that it’s worth taking some ugly beats to get one, though, as it makes me pay much closer attention to table conditions and other metagame aspects. I pushed a couple of times without looking at my cards when stacks and temperament dictated and never got called.

On the way home I was wondering aloud why I even bother, but my head’s a bit clearer now. There’s a fantastic amount of dead money in these tourneys and even the best players are pretty easy to figure out. And though it may seem like a huge investment of time (30 hours!) for a pretty ugly return (minus a months’ rent!), it gets easier when I realize that I’m still up for the month overall and hence am not in much of a position to complain. Still, does the blind have to wake up with kings there?

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Topics: Poker | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Donut”

1. Ramblings of a Mad Man (A.K.A Online Poker Thoughts) Says:
   September 22, 2006 at 6:10 AM

   *[This would not be safe for work except I couldnt find any good looking naked Indian women] one day and pay her to talk dirty to me. The entertainment value alone would be worth it. Speaking of entertainment I had to LAUGH at Absinthe. The guy is amazing. Has years of experience and yet he still says I realize that I’m still up for the month overall and hence am not in much of a position to complain. Still, does the blind have to wake up with kings there? – Absinthe

2. Up For Poker Blog Says:
   September 19, 2006 at 9:25 AM

   He always raised his beer bottle slowly in front of his face when he talked that way. The awe. That was my job. “You are the Awe Inspirer,” Billy always said, as if I surely understood it came out of his mouth with capital letters. *** Next: Absinthetics«– Hide More Permalink | Something To Say? (0) | Reading Material

3. Otis Says:
   September 19, 2006 at 2:21 AM

   It’s funny that Billy needed me at all. He could talk and tell stories all day long. And if you got a few beers in him, he could start a story at midnight and finish it up just as the bartender shouted last call. His timing was as good in story-telling as it was with playing cards. The first time he told me the story of the hooker and the poker game, it lasted two hours and hit the punch line just as the waitress dumped the ashtray into an empty pint glass and told us it was time for us to slur our words somewhere else.

   So, it’s not that I want to start the story like that, but if I’m going to tell a story about Billy Banks, it’s only appropriate that I start it with, “Jeeeesus.” After all, that’s how all the stories started.

   ***

   Next: Poker Perspectives
   http://www.pokerperspectives.com/

4. Shelly (phlyersphan) Says:
   September 19, 2006 at 7:28 AM

   It’s amusing how technology can lead us to miss stuff – I was reading your post through my RSS feed reader, so I didn’t see Otis’ comment, until of course I ran across Otis’ post, which led me back here, and I thought, “Hey! I already read this!”

   I hadn’t commented, but I was thinking, “Damn, KK in the blinds. That sucks ass.”

   

5. sirfwalgman Says:
   September 19, 2006 at 11:00 AM

   I would not be poker if he did not..

6. Francis Says:
   September 19, 2006 at 9:17 PM

   I’m not playing at nearly the levels you’re at, but I definitely find that being short-stacked in a tournament forces a certain clarity on my play. Perhaps the sort of clarity I might experience if, say, I were standing at the gallows …

7. smokkee Says:
   September 20, 2006 at 12:18 AM

   how the hell did that guys KK hold up? joke.

8. Absinthe Says:
   September 20, 2006 at 3:31 AM

   Gallows humor being close to tops in my book, messr. Francis has a point. The feeling that one has when one has very little left to lose (metaphorically, it’s your life, but it’s just not worth much at that point to anyone but you) … it’s quite liberating.

   And now I feel the urge to deconstruct the notions of the compulsory and the inevitable in poker. Which I think would be quite a long post. Which is why I’m going to go to bed and, in the morning, think better of it.

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