The little blue article
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I’m flying high over the Grand Canyon with newbie rock gods Wolfmother, and we’re all about to die . . . OK, not exactly. My flight from Vegas to Denver IS somewhere near the Grand Canyon right now and the air IS a bit choppy. And I AM listening to Wolfmother on my IPod. If we did die, I wouldn’t be able to send this article to Chris. So why would I open this piece that way? I’m a big fan of the movie Almost Famous and I thought it’d be cool to pay homage.
In addition to soaring, I’m also wrapping up one hell of a poker book, Phil Gordon’s Little Blue Book. His wisdom is not for the beginning player as I think it will fall on deaf, inexperienced ears. Noobs just can’t ‘get it’ and some things he says could be taken out of context and put to disastrous application. But if you’re a mid-level player looking to hit another level, in my opinion Gordon has a lot to contribute to your game. My good friend and poker pro AaronC (occasional part time poker author and lounge fly in the PTP forums) said when he’s at the table, he can often hear Gordon’s words when he’s considering a tough decision. That’s strong, especially coming from a player as good as Aaron. Some pros, like PTP’s Chris think this book has little to offer experienced players. I disagree, as sometimes it’s important to be able to verbalize what you already know. And Gordon does that well.
In line with homage and stuff like that, in the Phil Gordon mode here’s some hand analysis from a two spots I was in during my recent trip to Vegas. In case you were wondering, I played mostly 2-5 no limit, bought in for $500 regardless if the cap was larger or unlimited, and maintained my sick Vegas time rate, averaging $133 and hour in that game.
Going home with money 78s vs AT
It’s relatively late on a Sunday night at the Bellagio. First hand of a 2-5NL cash game, I’m in for a max buy of $500 and everyone has me covered. I sit down in seat 6 and post my $5. I know NOTHING of the game, other than a lot of people are laughing, appearing to be having fun. My friend Candyman says that if he can get his table laughing and in a good mood, it’s going to be a very profitable night.
The guy on my left has half his chips in a rack and is looking for another for the other four stacks. Cards are dealt. A couple limpers come in and I look down and see AsTd, a pretty good hand for a post. Nothing worse than posting and seeing J2 off suit. I could raise and hope the limpers fold because they don’t know how I play. I could have a monster for all they know. But that’s a double-edged sword, I don’t know how they play either and AsTh isn’t a great hand. And there are three players behind me to act, so clearly a check seems appropriate. A couple more players enter the pot, including the guy on my left, and we see the flop 7 ways. Flop is 2 of spades, 9 of spades, Ten of spades. Jackpot.
I don’t have the nut flush now, but I’m drawing to it. I may be able to take this pot down, and as everyone in front of me checks, I could check and try to freeroll but I bet $30 into a $35 pot.
Why bet here? There’s a few reasons. My ten may be the best hand and I don’t want non-spade overcards to get there free. I may bet out the players who have position on me so I can act last on all betting rounds. If I’m up against a flush, he’ll likely protect it now with a raise, if not and he just calls, I’m setting my own price to ‘get there.’ I may, just may bet out top two pair who clearly has me killed but won’t feel good at any point in the hand with all these spades on the board. I may get called by a hand I dominate, like Ten Jack, Ten Queen, King Ten with a second best spade draw. Most importantly though, I’m new to the game and I want to develop an aggressive image. So I bet $30.
The guy on my immediate left, the guy who was getting ready to go home, pulls a stack from the rack and says “I raise to $80.” Everyone folds without any hesitation. Here’s what I’m thinking. The pot is $145 and I have to call $50 in to that, so I’m getting almost 3-1 on my call. By that time the pot will be $195. I’m out of position so he’ll determine the price I pay on the turn if I decide to call now and check when I miss.
But he’s racked up, moments from going home. And I know he doesn’t have the nuts.
“I reraise to $300 total.”
I’ve only got $200 more, so I’m definitely pot committing myself, representing a VERY strong hand. With this bet, I can also fire again on the turn, which as is a powerful weapon. An all-in on my part and he only has to make one decision. A big re-reraise followed by an all-in, that’s two tough decisions, two chances to get to fold the best hand.
As he lifts his cards from the table, he shows the guy on his left 78 of spades, a flush with an open ended straight flush draw. Yikes. “I really wanted to draw to that.” And he mucks. Boy, was I in trouble.
“You have the nut flush,” he asks? I expose my red ten and say ‘yep’ and get off to a nice start!
Key Analysis: When a player is about to leave with a profit for the night, consider increasing your fold equity percentages against him. Often enough, the guy who’s racked up is jacked up on logging a winning session even before it’s over.
Really going home with money KK vs 22
I can’t make this shit up and I SWEAR this actually occurred. A few hands later in the same game as I said before, 2-5 NL at the Bell in Las Vegas.
I’m under the gun with about $700 in front of me. I’ve actually had a few good hands since sitting down and have gotten the opportunity to play pretty aggressive from the get-go with good hands, taking down a few pots. That guy who mucked his flush is still talking about why he didn’t want to call the bet and he keeps insisting I had the Ace of spades in my hand (which I did). He’s simply waiting two more hands to leave, right before his big blind.
So, under the gun, I look down and see ducks 2 of hearts, 2 of spades. Because I believe I play significantly better on the flop and turn than my opponents, I’ll often play hands out of position. I limp with 22 because I’ll limp here with any medium pocket pair, JJ and QQ, AK off, and some suited one gapers if the game is good. My limp really says nothing about my hand.
The guy on my left pulls out a stack of red from his rack and raises to $25. Two people call and now it’s on me. I could try to reraise and take the pot down but 22 isn’t a hand I want to come over the top with. Also consider that I have to call $20 and the pot is $87. I’ll flop a set 11.8% of the time, or about 7.5:1. I’m getting almost 4.5:1 on my call, so I won’t have to make much after I flop a set (3:1, or about $60 more) to make this call mathematically right. However, this hand gives me the potential to make a lot more than the minimum.
I call.
Flop 9 hearts, 2 of clubs, 2 of diamonds.
Shit. I hate flopping quads like this because it’s so much harder to get paid when you play a lot of hands like I typically do in weak games. I get to represent a lot but when I flop a monster, people usually give me credit for having SOMETHING.
Normally, I lead out in to a multiway pot with quads hoping I can hook someone, because as I’ve heard so many times before “I didn’t think you had it because you bet right into me.” But here comes Gordon’s voice in my head “Poker isn’t about winning pots: It’s about winning as much money as you possibly can on the hands you decide to play” (Little Blue Book, page 15).
With the raiser on my immediate left, I think there’s a good chance he’ll continuation bet if I check. The guys between us may be able to call his bet with an over pair or a 9. Hell, they may try to represent a 2 or call with the intent of seeing what he does on the turn (but that’s a bit more sophisticated level of play than I give them credit for). I may be able to trap some of their dead money. I know if I bet out and he raises or calls, there’s no way in hell they’ll call unless they have 9s full, and if one does I’ll get his money barring a statistical anomaly.
Well, I know I have to get lucky and HOPE someone takes a shot at this pot or catches up on the turn. So I check.
“$125,” the original raiser says. Both of the other players fold. Shit. At least I’m getting a proper return on my $20 preflop investment.
Ok. Here’s where my skill kicks in. I have the stone cold, order me a shot of bourbon nuts. Now I have to figure out how much I can make off him and extract the maximum. I think for a second.
Enter inner monologue
So I ask “I thought you were going home WITH money.”
“Oh, I am,” he says.
Boom. That’s what I needed to hear. “I’m all in.”
“I call!” He shouts. He shows me KK and gives me the ‘I gotcha’ look.
When I show my quads the whole table gives out a “whoa!’ He has me covered and I double up. He simply passes me one of his racks of red and breaks down a stack from another rack to pay off the change.
“That’s it, I’m out,” he said.
I stepped up from the table after stacking my chips to see the floor about getting a breakfast comp. The guy in the ten seat gets up as well and walks beside me. “Why did you raise all in with quads? I’m new to the game but I’d have thought you’d want to barely raise him and keep him on the hook.”
Phil Gordon again enters my head. Trying hard to regurgitate his sage advice I say: “all my value was on the flop.” I know that guy didn’t get it; I know he didn’t understand what I was saying to him but that didn’t matter to me. I made the right read and my ridiculous, somewhat risky reraise got insta-called and I was on cloud nine, hours from enjoying Salmon lox and cream cheese on the Bellagio Breakfast Buffet.
Key Analysis: Players hate to make more than one big lay down a night to anyone, especially to the same guy. If you find yourself in the unique position of having ANOTHER monster hand against the same opponent, consider playing it EXTREMELY unconventional. Their confusion and eagerness to ‘get you’ often fogs their judgement.
So, I hope you’re motivated to read Phil Gordon’s books, maybe check out Wolfmother if you’re unfamiliar, and perhaps, just perhaps you’ll hit another level.
