Harrah's...a wonderful return...

I have not played at Harrah's New Orleans for sometime and it was a nice time, got to see some regulars and talk to some of the floor staff and dealers. I got there around 10 pm and did not leave until 6 am. Yes it was a long session.
My game plan was to come in and play tight aggressive, observe the table for a number of hands to get a good feel and play position poker. I played well for the first two hours and then began to play very loose. It is funny when I do not believe someone though my very first read was, "he has more of that than you do." Here is how one of those hands played out...I'm in middle last position and limp in after two others and the big blind who is new raises to $15, two callers to me I call with A8 unsuited. Flop comes QQ8, rainbow. BB fires, quickly, $15. I instantly think, he's got the queen, but when it gets folded to myself I begin to think for minute, why would he bet three of a kind to a rainbow flop? He's making a continuation bet, is what I concluded, with AK. I call, we are heads up. The turn is a 7, he bets $15, he's very stoic, quiet, leaning towards the board and not looking around, very focused on the board. I call. The river is a 7. He cuts out $20 and bets, I now know I am beat but with odds I gotta call. Yet I say to him, just to get a final read for a future reference, "You tricked me huh? You had the queen the whole time," as he looked up and gave me a quick smile. Yep, I'm beat as I throw out $20. He turns over the AQ off and I muck.
Later I made a move on the button with A2 hearts and got called on the river by the trip jacks, he could have put me to the test but I was suprised he only called instead of raising. He told me later that he felt like he could only call my bet, and could not raise.
Well I got short stacked at about 3 am and three hours later I left up a few hundred. Long session but it was a wonderful return.
I came to play with a game plan, I put about four things down for myself to use in order to play well and within myself.
1-Play tight/aggressive
2-Observe even when not in the hand
3-Do not get emotional
4-Have fun.
Of course during your session, there are plays that you make and many audibles that you must call during game play. I've talked before that when I get loose aggressive and I am the only one, I lose. When I play tighter into loose aggressive, I win. I had to make that adjustment into the last three hours. Well that was fun, looking forward to my next sit down.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Pop Warner football drama

I missed Big Bills wedding Saturday. I had to make a decision, see the one time event in my boy's life or watch my seven year old step son who finally got to start in his first game, which should have started at 3 pm but did not go until 5 pm. I took the later. It sucks and I talked to the Wild One, told him what was up, but it still sucks.
My boy's team won on a last ditch effort, here is what happened. We are in the fourth quarter, no one has scored yet, there were several offensive penalties putting the team back to about third and 20, they tried to sweep the ball to the open side with their star running back, DJ, (I have seen and played with some great backs and I promise you this kid will be a star in the next ten years if he keeps his head on correct), well the defense is set up to stop the outside sweep and they lose another 10 yards. Greenlawn Eagles, my son's team, is on their 10 yard line, it is fourth down with 1:20 left. If they punt the other team gets the ball thirty yards from the line of scrimmage so Green lawn goes for it. The parents are yelling, "PUNT THE BALL!" They don't, the ball is hiked and and there is a hand off, it is tough to throw in the 6-7 age group, and DJ bursts through the middle, the sideline erupts, moms and dads are running down the sideline yelling, "GO, GO, GO!" 90 yards later he scores, they do not get the extra point and eventually the game is over, 6-0. I start laughing and yelling that was not supposed to happen, we should have punted, you should have stopped him, and I truly felt dirty, but we would take the win. It was the first one of the year, 1-4. My boy did okay, he just needs to stop jumping around like a bunny rabbit. Of course I am eager to bestow as much of my football knowledge upon him but he is not really into it, which sucks but maybe when he understands the game a tad bit more, he'll take my advice and crush those who are larger than he.

Been studying poker and talking about poker with Minnesota Mike and a few others, talking about situations and such. Always playing the top five game, best position game versus player types and opening hands game. Ever play these? I do because it is so hard to get away, but I will be out there, be it the Beau, or Harrah's in the next week or two, because my boy AT@T gets back from Africa and he wants to roll. Perfect excuse. Enough of my rambling.



Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Fumble nuts...

Got off the phone with a very good friend of mine up in Pittsburgh, Bi'lal Brookly the Tenth Son, and we were just shooting the shyte and talking about old times and what was going on today. Well he is doing great and is about to enter an amatuer body building contest which I thought was amazing, so kudos to him. We talked about his business and how it at times involves poker players and dealers. Wait a minute, Pittsburgh's got a casino? Nah, they have them in West Virginia and poker rooms are pretty nice up there. I asked him what games they are playing up there and he had not idea because he's a black jack kinda guy and cannot stand how slow poker moves. LOL! I wonder how many pros made a move up there just to pick off all of those luchboxes. I remember talking to a guy a few years ago who moved to Oklahoma when they started getting into larger poker rooms and how he was making a killing up there. Hmmm, ahh well. I mean think about it...all that easy money up there...GOSH!

Why do Loose Aggressive Players put themselves into positions where they know they should fold but while they are in the hand...THEY CAN NOT DO IT! I mean if you just pulled yourself away from your body and watched what was going on and the read was to fold, you would fold. Yet, when it comes down to it even when you keep telling yourself that "he has me out kicked, or that f'ing card hit him on the river, and finally he doesn't bluff all his money away because you've never seen it and he has not done it in the last four hours you have seen him play." Yet, what always happens, something, maybe the little devil, that voice inside says very softly, "I hope he doesn't have it." That is followed up by, "We committed too much money to this pot already, if we are right we are getting PAID."

FUMBLE NUTS! You know you're beat, you know you have to lay it down, but you always hear your body as your essence floats away say..."Call!" And you watch your bodies reaction to the nuts that the other guy has, it's eyes open wide, mouth drops open, and an expletive slowly rolls out of the mouth. You get up from the table and talk to yourself...and always ask your self this question..."WHY?"

Well one day I will be able to get away more often than I do now but if there is a way or if someone has a trick...Let it be known!

Just a few words from myself, I was rambling about this the other day and just wanted to put it down, maybe get some advice...who knows! I'm out!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

A BET and a smile...HOOOOWAAAAA!!!

So I just wanted to get on because I am enjoying all the poker talk and my butt is itching to get into a brick and mortar to rip up a nice game of no limit hold'em. So hard with such a large family and all the work I do to get those chips out there for your consumption.
Well I am a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, as far back as I can remember. A friend of the family pulled me next to him as he and my dad watched the game and he said to me we like the cowboys because the cheerleaders have big pom poms, of course he was grabbing his chest and smiling. My dad didn't really appreciate it but I was too young to understand but it stuck and stayed with me through all these years. ANYWAYS...I do understand football and though I am a cowboys fan I can look pass that and see that my team may not be the best going into a game, shoot I'll back 'em and hope, but will understand that they may not have a big chance. So I have been talking to some of my employees and they seem to be fans, those types of fans that think that their team can do nothing but right, that this guy is a better quarterback than that guy etc. Well they are Saints fans and one in particular said that the Saints will be better than the Cowboys...smell a wager coming on. We talked and I bet two different things...first bet, Cowboys will have a better record than the Saints by week 8. I am a favorite but you never know. Second bet, not a favorite here, the Cowboys go to the Superbowl. Sometimes I get a little carried away.

Well, my bud AT@T is heading to Tunica for the tourneys up there and I am somewhat sad because I can't go. But I have an awesome wife and a great family, thus the reason for being "somewhat sad." Another note, just some kudos to my bud Mitchy...he was playing at Harrahs on Tuesday, I believe where they have the aces cracked get a rack promotion going on. I was talking to my bud AT@T and he told me this story, AT was not doing too well and Mitchy came over and got a seat next to him. Well in the big bling Mitchy looks at a couple of aces, there were two or three others in the hand and one of them raised. He really did not want to protect, he wanted to play it small, get cracked and get his rack. Well he calls and they go to the flop of 774, two suited to a flush, checked around. The turn is an Ace, Mitchy again checks, the raiser bets a little, another player calls and Mitchy calls, I believe. The river is a king, Mitchy decides to hell with the rack, there's more for the taking and bets out, the raiser calls and the other guy raises, Mitchy jams, pre-flop raiser folds and the other guy calls and tables pocket kings with a smile, Mitchy turns over the aces... and he could not lose the rest of the night! Nice job Mitchy! The profit you pulled out of that 1-2 No Limit game was outstanding!

Got a lot of people in Houston and I hope they are all well...please shoot out a prayer for those involved with IKE...heck we sure know what they are going through.

Well, that will do for the night. Y'all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

$40 home tourney...

Last friday night I get invited to play at a home tourney on the Westbank by my bud, Mitchell. Most of this group were guys and gals that I played with back before Katrina. I looked forward to seeing some of the guys and prepared myself mentally for a night filled with lunchboxes. AHHHHWOOOOO! "THIS IS WHERE WE FIGHT! THIS IS WHERE THEY DIE!" That quickly went through my head.

I made my way to the westbank as I headed EAST, and made it past the pot hole infested, mini roller coaster ridden roads of Gen. Dugole(I spelled this incorrectly, just spelled it the way it sounds to me...my apologies). Made it to the house and walked in, two large dogs immediately stepped up to me sniffed and continued their journey to another room. In the living room they had one of the two tables set up with my bud and six others. He directs me to a back room where they have six others and my empty seat. I missed the first level of 25-50, 20 minute levels with a starting stack of 5000. I play my first hand in middle position, with a limp. Three others come in and the big blind raises big. I fold. I finally look around the table and recognize two other players, we will call them A and B. The rest...lunchboxes. Well three levels later I am down to about $3500 and this hand occurs that I am not involved in. Early middle opens for a raise and A calls. The flop is AQ7 rainbow. The lunchbox who raised checks, A bets half the pot. LB, calls. The turn is an 8. LB, checks, A fires in a pot sized bet. LB calls. The river is a J, rainbow board, and LB goes...all in. A thinks for a minute and eventually fires his cards towards the muck. One turns up, an Ace and the player asks for the other...A looks at the LB and turns the other over for him, a Queen for top two. The LB goes, "Gosh, you laid that down!" I think A had the odds to make the call but it was pretty obvious that the Jack on the river made the guys hand...so what did the LB have? Shoot, let me spoil it...K 10 hearts. YEP. This is the part that I did not like but said nothing...it's a home game. The guy shows us his hand and A smiles and says, "That's one of the hands you could have had, you're not good enough to bluff there." I shake my head and some of the other guys laugh a little and A finishes with "...what, buddy, it's true isn't it?"

The very next hand I am under the gun and peek at a couple of street walkers(QhQd). I pop it 3x and get called by a lunchbox, A says raise and takes his eyes off of the tv and makes it what I raised, we tell him that I already raised and he min raises my raise. Right here I think maybe I should re-pop but I put him on AK through A10 maybe mid-pair but not Aces or Kings. I don't pop and just call as does LB. The flop is Jh9h2c. I fire out half the pot, LB folds, A goes all in for another 2500. I have him covered and I instantly think drawing at the hearts. Yet for some reason, it does not FEEL that way. I start thinking and I am really trying to put all these things through my head, pot odds, enemies possible hands, and should I call. But why do I feel like I am beat here. Now he starts to talk, "I guess Ray is on a draw and figuring out his outs." Stuff like that...eventually I figure he has AJ and does not want me drawing for the hearts, I can be that kind of player sometimes, and I call. He turns up his pocket nines. I turn a heart draw and miss on the river. I am out 10 minutes later. So who was actually the luchbox, lol! ME!

During my time playing when a player starts to talk to others or starts to monologue, HE IS STRONG! I forgot that up until I said call. As soon as I said call, that ran through my head and it hurt a little. He sat back and crossed his arms, all signs of strength and I just missed them all. My timing was a little off.

I played two heads up matches and went 1 for 2, the last match is when I did push on the flush draw with bottom pair. Ahhh, who cares! It was fun. Honestly, I should have cut that game up but I truly did not play correct...may have been because I was watching the Olympics Opening event ceremony. Nah, just another excuse but there is something said about poker and TV, if you want to win, watch the players not the TV.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

MISSISSIPPI STRADDLE...oh so nice...

What is up? So yep I wanted to throw something up before July was out. I was looking through some of my journals and I saw something that I wanted to share with the community.

I took my first trip to Tunica, Ms back in '03 and all I wanted to do was visit the different casinos with poker rooms. My first visit was to the Goldstrike, decent size and not much action going on. I walked across the crosswalk to the Horseshoe and did not leave for a day.

I observed a no limit game where the mississippi straddle was in play, but did not understand what was going on. I kept seeing the small blind act first, I kept away from that game because I thought is was not normal, which it is not. I spent most of my day playing 4-8 limit and finally got into my game of 10-20 limit and stayed until the table broke. So it was not until the year of Katrina, when I lived in Memphis for a few weeks, that I got properly introduced to the mississippi straddle.

I entered the Horshoe, (customer service here was the best and the games were always juicy) and got into the 5-5 no limit game. I sat down next to Steve a high stakes player out of New Orleans who was also here due to Katrina. Well the button comes to him and I post my five bucks and he puts out $10. I look at him with confusion and he said to me,"Strap on your seatbelt, going to be a long ride. Don't take it personally as soon as I learned that I could do this, I've been doing it ever since."

I smile and am first to act, as I look down at 7-2 off, of course, and muck. Three limpers to him and he puts in a nice sized raise and takes it down. I sit there for six orbits, $30 dollars later, seat opens up to Steve's right and I move quickly. Needless to say we sliced the game up for the next two weeks.

So what the heck is this mississippi straddle thing? It is a double the big blind, blind bet from any position other than the blinds. Normally a straddle is in the Under The Gun position right after the big blind but the Ms. straddle can be placed in middle position or late position but the only straddle that is allowed is the one closest to or on the button. So if three people straddle for position mind you, the straddle is last to act pre-flop, if the button is the fourth the other three must pick their money up. I have seen it used in the mid limit games 15-30 and of course the higher limit games 25-50. They will not allow it in the low limit, 4-8 nor have I seen it in the 10-20. This is usually allowed in No Limit games. Of course you do have games that there is a mandatory UTG rock (straddle), but the table has to totally agree.

Strategically, if you like to act last at all times from the button, this would be something to utilize. So is the straddle profitable? I had one view of the straddle for the longest time...waste of money. I have now opened my thought process and allowed others to show me something different. I have seen the straddle, a normal straddle, open up a tight game. I learned last year that a straddle is also good in a loose game, so instead of limping at the cost of the big blind the stakes get higher and the straddler can put even more pressure on the table. So, again, my opinions but I wanted to share the Ms. straddle with you. Very general description but I hope you enjoyed!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Minnesota Mike and me...

I took a trip down the road to meet up with a good friend of mine, Minnesota Mike. A business owner from Minnesota who travels to Florida often. Well on this trip he decides to hook up with me and asked if he should come to New Orleans. I told him to stay in Biloxi and the Beau would probably be the best spot, he did and it worked out for him. I have worked with Mike on his game for the last few years and he is coming around. He is currently on an eight session win streak and yes he is more about results than play but he is starting to understand that though you may lose, it is how you played.

When I met up with Minnesota I talked about what we would be learning this day and it would be observing tells and making reads based on betting and body language and though we may be talking in between hands that we would watch the others and learn bits and pieces and discuss. Well we got into a 1-2 NL game after 9:30 pm and had to wait until the button passed us. So I get my first hand in the cut-off seat, multiple limpers to me and I look down at pocket 3's. The big blind raises the under the gun calls, so does another out of position. Hmm, guess I'll call the extra $10. The flop, 5 10 3...YAHTZEE! Big blind bets out...SCREAMS continuation bet, under the gun calls the other folds and I call also. The turn is a 5, BB bets again, UTG min raises, i'm confused but I give UTG a five at least...maybe A5, well I call and BB folds. The river is an A...ARGH! UTG fires at me, now I am going to call no matter what but I go into the tank and am just wondering if I can raise here? The kid has me covered and there is quite a bit of money in the pot already but if I raise will it be for not, this is my first hand and maybe he did limp call with A5 off. I decide that since it was my first hand and I do not have a solid feel for the table, because I did not scout first, that I would just call. UTG tables 45 off suit. I win and did not look back all night, I was never at risk for my initial buy in. Minnesota was up and down and finally got to a point where he was making a lot of money by making great reads and folding when he was supposed to.
Well after about eight hours of play I have doubled my buy in and have been folding like a tight wad. Believe it or not when I would raise they would lay down to me. There were a few times my top two got snapped off or my set got snapped off by the worst hand only because I slowplayed it and they sprinted to the river to get there. So eventually our table breaks and we move to the table right below the upper level right by the stairs, a couple of guys had big stacks and it felt like it was going to be a long one and that we should leave but I had a goal and wanted to get there. So Mike starts to snap off a couple of the guys and he is up big. I go to the bathroom and return to a very short game of six people and get back in time for the big blind. We now have a local dealer who is dating a female friend of mine, Gretchen, and a young guy with a decent stack but I have him covered another lunchbox weasel in the 10 seat and Minnesota in the three seat next to me. Mike folds, Gretchen's boy limps and so does young kid. The sixth person in the small blind calls, I look down at 10-3 off and knuckle the table. The flop comes 10 k 10...eeewwww so NICE! SB checks, I check it is checked around. The turn is a rainbow 6, check, I check, GB bets out, young kid calls, sb folds, I min raise. GB folds and young kid min raises me! WhAT! Crap...do you have K10, nah, but you have a 10. Geez! Maybe you think that I have a king and your king has a better kicker, nah! Ugh...I call, the river.....off suit 3!!!! I look at the kids stack he has a little over $200 left. I quickly push in $160, wanna make it look like I'm strong, yet weak, and I'll get a call, if he shoves all in quickly I may be dead but I'll have to call. The kid thinks about it, he doesn't have K-10 or a full house...YES!!!! After about 20 seconds the kid shrugs his shoulders and pushes all in...I make it look like I need to think about it, respect, and call the additional $60 or more. He tables the 10-8 off and I show my hand. The kid looks like I slapped him across the face and just sits there as the money is shoved towards me. MIRACLE RIVER, that goes my way...that is why I do not freak when it happens to me anymore.

The freaky thing is that I had several pocket aces, pocket kings, queens, jacks and 10's...once. I had AK several times and AJ several times but only made a bit at a time. 10-3 was my biggest gain and only because I got lucky. An hour later I scooped up my earnings along with Mike and we left and talked about our very long session.

Yes, we both won and yes it felt GOOD!!!!

Well thanks for sharing with me and hopefully there will be many more winning sessions and I'll break down more hands in the future from this session or the next.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!