Finally, a break-through!

It only took 6 tries, but I finally booked a win in the Commerce 40/80 game.  I don't play Commerce regularly.  According to my database, which unfortunately only goes back to January of 2011 due to a computer mishap, I played once in 2013 and then this year I got to play 5 sessions at Commerce 40/80.  'Bout time, I booked a win.

I played a fairly long session, about 13 hours, not including breaks.  For most of the session, I was within +- 1 rack of my buy in.  But from about 11:00pm til 1:30am when I left, I went on a huge tear and with one dealer, won like 50% of the hands she dealt out in her down.

Commerce 40/80 is much tougher than Oceans-11 40/80 for sure.  Very little open-limping, lots of 3-betting isolation plays, and lots of post-flop aggression.  One thing I noticed is for most of the players, they almost NEVER have it when they raise the flop.  I saw so many free-card plays and flop raises for cheap showdowns that I couldn't believe it.

I never had a session like yesterdays where I had to fold overpairs or top-pair top-kicker so many times on the turn or river.  I also folded pocket tens 3 times preflop.  One time incorrectly, and both other times correctly.  Wild and crazy game.  I also swear, that statistically speaking, I am running way below expectation at Commerce with respect to draws.  I've had so many straight draws and flush draws come blank blank, that I swear the next time I'm there, I better hit every stinking gutter ball to make up for it, plus hit every nut flush draw that comes my way.

Double Crush

Double Crush

What's Double Crush you ask?  Qualifying for Crush Club in back to back sessions.  Congrats DVD (not a complete idiot).

Best Poker of His Life!

My poker friend DVD (not a complete idiot) had a crazy roller coaster of a poker day yesterday.  I rolled up to the casino in the afternoon and got seated in a 20/40 game.  DVD who normally plays limit for some inexplicable reason was playing the 10/25 no limit game.  About 3 hours later DVD comes over to the 20/40 game having lost a mid-4 figure sum at the no-limit game.  I don't think he expected to be able to get even for the day, let alone, actual winner, but he did.

Soon thereafter we pseudo-kicked the stakes up, by reintroducing the kill back into the game.  For the next 7 hours or so, DVD proceeded to run over the table by playing the Best Poker of His Life!

Some examples of the Best Poker of His Life (I may trademark this, I like the way it sounds):

• AK call down against AQ on a wet board when raised on the turn against a guy who had already announced he wasn't going to try and bluff him anymore.
• KJ river bet, getting me to lay down QQ on a J74, one club, some random club on the turn, and then A club on the river, by donking the river, with me next to act, with the flop-raiser, EGT, (who I 3-bet on the flop), behind me.
• AK call against ?? on a board with a 4 liner straight with top-pair top-kicker after agonizing and showing the hand to the same guy who had already tried to bluff him three times (I thought this was an excruciatingly obvious call, but whatever).
• AA against my 99 and ??.  DVD capped pre-flop and then took a passive line against me and EGT, and successfully got maximum action by allowing me and EGT to hang ourselves, especially EGT, when he raised the turn with God knows what that couldn't win when the T paired the board on the river (I think, either turn or river, but I think it was the river).
• I'm sure there were others, but these are the ones I recall distinctly.

I left before DVD, but at the time I left, combined we were up over 167 bets.  In other words, the two of us were basically the only ones winning.  Now the strange thing is, I don't really recall who was the big loser.

In any case, it was a fun day slinging chips over the poker felt.

And it is glorious indeed!

How long has it been?  Seems like it's been a while, but never fear loyal reader, I have not forsaken you.  Been a fairly good year, life-wise.  Since I am student, the beginning and ending of each year for me is now determined by the beginning of the academic term, not January.  Finished my second year of law school.  My article was accepted for publication in a law review back east.  I finished up my summer position at the local office of a national law firm.  Got an offer to come back full time when I graduate, which I will be accepting once the paperwork shows up.  And now I have just a few more things left on my checklist:

Finish 3L year and graduate.
Complete Moral Character Requirement Application.
Pass the Multi-state Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE).
Pass the Patent Bar Exam.
Pass the California Bar Exam.

The end is actually in sight.  Woo hoo!  I absolutely killed myself 2L year.  I took a full load both semesters, and worked my brains out, in hopes of having an easy 3L year.  Not looking like that is totally going to happen.  I have judicial externships in both the fall and spring lined up, so that's really going to be a squeeze on my bandwidth, but c'est la vie.

Some housekeeping notes, congrats to M.S. (not a complete idiot) for joining Crush Club.  Apparently, he's played many years and never won more than 100 bets in a single session of 24 hours or less before, and recently he's done it at least 2 or 3 times, depending on exactly how a session is defined.  But since it's my club, I get to make the admission rules.  Admission criteria is must win 100 big bets in 24 hours or less, from buy-in to cash-out, and can't be prick or someone I don't like.  Doesn't count if you double or triple dip, or if the game breaks and then restarts later and your combined win exceeds 100 bets.  Them's the rules.  You don't like it, make your own damn club.

I must also inaugurate another friend of mine; he absolutely crushed it on Saturday, and is my new limit holdem hero.  He won 212.5 bets in a 20/40 limit game in under 12 hours.

Nice stack (taken a few hours prior to cashing out)

Today, I played the following awesome, glorious hand in the 8/16 game.

9- handed game.  UTG limps, UTG + 2 2-bets, UTG +3 3-bets, cold-call, cold-call, I 4-bet SB with 8h8d, all calls.  6-way action, 24 bets.  Flop comes Q62, two diamonds.  I bet, UTG raises, UTG +2 cold calls, pre-flop 3-bettor folds, rest call, 5-way for 34 bets to the turn, which is 7d.  I check, UTG bets, we lose one and I call getting 21:1.  River is an offsuit 8.  I check, UTG bets, UTG +2 calls, cutoff calls, fold, I check/raise, UTG calls, rest fold, and I drag a massive pot.

Didn't actually see the hands, but UTG claims 66, UTG+2 claims AA, UTG+3 claims JJ, UTG+4 claims KQ.  Whee, that was a fun hand.

I played one 40/80 session so far this summer, and will play my next this Friday hopefully.  At least this Friday, I can be there early to start the game.  I have a few weeks of freedom, before the 3L grind starts up again.

Same Same Almost.

Here are two hand that I played against the same player in my most recent 40/80 session.

Hand 1:
I open black nines in the cutoff.  Button 3-bets.  SB folds and BB calls.  I call.  Flop comes ThTd4c and gets checked around.

Turn is the 9d.  Checked to me, I bet, button calls, and BB folds.

River is Ax.  I bet, button raises.  I tank for quite a bit here.  What the hell can the button have here?  What is his 3-bet preflop and flop check range look like?  I imagine it would be good aces mainly, and maybe a small pocket pair?  But really a small pocket pair should be betting the flop along with good aces to protect, especially given that the flop is still 3-way.  I eventually decide that he's overplaying either a slowplayed T, like KT or QT, or AK or AQ and 3-bet.  In retrospect, I'm not sure this is the greatest idea as this player is not a complete idiot, and might not pay off a 3-bet when he's beat and will definitely 4-bet everything that has me beat and will not 4-bet any value hand worse than mine.  In any case, he dutifully 4-bets and I cry call, only to be shown quad tens.  Guess the slow play worked out one time.  I lose a total of 6.5 big bets on that hand, with total pot size being 14.75 big bets minus the drop.  I could have easily have gone on tilt after a cooler hand like this, but I took it in stride.

Hand 2, maybe an hour or so later:
I open KK in the SB, BB 3-bets, and I call.  Flop comes K74 two clubs.  I check/raise and BB calls.  Turn is blank and I bet, BB calls.  River is 4 clubs.  I check/raise and BB calls only to see the bad news.  I win almost 5.5 big bets that hand, taking into account the drop.  BB claims to have had AK, and I see no reason to disbelieve him.

So two hands, both of which were bit of a cooler.  I don't need to turn a 9.  He doesn't need to flop a king.  Just goes to show, sometimes it really is the littlest of things that make a big difference in your results for the night.  Have that draw come in on the biggest pot of the night, you go home a big winner.  Miss nut draw after nut draw all night long, go home a loser.

Get coolered and go on tilt equals going home a loser.  Some things you can control, others you cannot.  Learn to detach your emotions from the results you cannot control.  You can control the cards you play, the position you play them from, and how you react to the other player's actions.  You cannot control the flop, turn, and river cards.  And therefore you should not feel entitled nor get angry if your draw for the twentieth time still doesn't come in.  The cards have no memory, nor think any player is entitled to win.

I think the entitlement mentality in poker is so destructive and enabling of poor play.  Just because you started with a better hand preflop, doesn't mean you are entitled to win the pot.  And just because you haven't played or won a hand in what seems forever, does not entitle you to play a junk hand.  You just think it does.

Three with one Bet

I successfully bluffed 3 other players out of a pot in the world of bonus limit 40/80 texas holdem for one bet on the river in a ginormous pot.

Wayne limps in early position with J9, I raise button-2 with KhJd, Helen 3-bets the button with what I think is AQ, SB folds, Chris in the BB eats 2 with AK, Wayne eats 2, I call.

Flop comes QhTd5h.  Checked to Helen who bets, both call, I c/r, Helen 3-bets, both call, I cap, everyone calls.  Turn is a blank like 2c.  Checked to Helen who bets, all call.

River is 3h.  Checked to me, I bet, everyone insta-folds, I show the bluff and put Helen on tilt for the rest of the night.

Returning from our commerical break ...

Wow.  It's been a while since I have made an update.  I have a reasonable excuse.  I am after all in law school.  But a little Friday morning insomnia, gives me a little quiet time around the house.

I am officially half way through law school, with 3 semesters in the books, and 3 semesters to go.  But there's a few more gates you need to get through before one can be a practicing attorney here in California.  Here's my checklist:

1) Take the LSAT.  Check.
2) Graduate Law School.  In Progress
3) Pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE).  Plan on taking in November of 2015
4) Submit everything for California's Moral Character application (due in November of 2015 as well).
5) Pass the California Bar.  Scheduled to take in July 2016.
6) Pass the U.S. P.T.O Patent Bar examination.  Unclear when exactly I'll be taking this.  I might try and squeeze it in this summer, while I am working at the firm that I will be a summer associate at.  But I need to talk with them and see what they want me do.

As far as law school is going, I am in a pretty good groove.  Last semester was my best semester ever in law school grades-wise.  I received A+, A+, A, A, while working for law review cite-checking articles and spending an inordinate amount of time on my law review comment, which I turned in on Wednesday to my adviser for final approval and to the law review's student publication board.

This semester I have a huge hodge-podge of classes.  And a ton of additional writing to do.  I need to write another paper (much smaller in length at least) for my patent law policy class.  I am planning on doing moot court which means an appellate brief I will have to draft and practice oral arguments for, and a legal memo for the clinic I am interning for.  But, the lifeblood of lawyers is writing, so the more writing I do, the better.  And then I have 3 substantive classes on top of that, another Constitutional Law class, Tax, and Patent Prosecution.  It's going to be a busy semester.

Life wise, things are going well.  My kids are growing up too fast.  I think all parents say that.  But really, I think it is a reflection of parents who understand the ephemeralness of childhood, and their own nostalgia.  While having children is not for everyone, I can say without a doubt, that being a father is the most rewarding thing I have done with my life.

I officially turn 40 this year.  Big number, I suppose.  I don't really see the significance, however.  It's just a way of marking the time of how long you have been on this planet.  More importantly, I think, is to ask yourself, in the time that I have been here, have I made the world a better place in whatever way I am capable?  As citizens of the planet earth, I do believe that we all have a responsibility to try and leave the world in a little better state than what we inherited.

On the birthday note, I have a trip to Las Vegas with my wife, her sister, and my brother-in-law planned to coincide with spring break.  Super excited for that.  It's been a while since the wife and I have had a weekend away from the kids.  Lots of things planned for that trip already.

Poker wise, meh.  My schedule last semester allowed me to play most Fridays, and I have pretty much been playing the 40/80 just then.  I did get up to Commerce one time, when my brother-in-law from Minnesota and his family visited Southern California.  Nothing new, and I booked a loss there.  I did not have a winning year in 2014.  First time in a long time.  One of the things I stopped doing in 2014 for whatever reason, was tracking all of my session results.  I plan on reviving that habit in 2015, even though it is unclear how much I will get to play this year.

Since the President gave the State of the Union Address a few days ago, I figure it would be okay if I gave a State of Poker Address from my perspective.  Poker, at least mid to high-stakes live limit poker is a dying game.  Outside a few areas of the country that are limit poker meccas, everyone has jumped on the no-limit bandwagon.  In my neck of the woods, the no-limit landscape has evolved to where the aspiring no-limit player has a ladder structure in which to grow a bankroll and move up in limits.  At Oceans they spread 1/2, 2/2, 2/3, 5/5, 5/10, 10/20 and 20/40 no limit regularly.  The bigger no-limit games outside of 20/40 tend to go on scheduled days, I think Tuesday or Wednesday, and Friday.  While in the limit world, outside of the Friday 40/80 game, you might find two 8/16 games running and possibly a 4/8 game as well.  That's it.  There's no longer a reasonable structure for one to move up.  And given the recent rake increase, and the overall general improvement of the players (but most of them are still horribly bad, there's just not the prevalence of the 90/5 loose-passive fish, like there used to be) makes turning a regular profit that much harder.  Eventually, there will come a time, where the game will simply be unbeatable due to the rake, and those of us who like to play, will need to consider the actual cost and opportunity cost of playing, and make a decision if we view playing poker as entertainment or an investment.