to be honest, most the people you see playing poker on tv are terrible. jamie gold, victor ramdin, david williams, they are all just publicity blimps. let me explain why, i woke up this morning and turned on "poker after dark". at the table was doyle brunson (who i do think is one of the exceptions) tj cloutier, and possibly the biggest joke phil hellmuth. phill hellmuth did nothing right, he is an absolutely terrible tournament player, and i cant say much better about his overbetting spewtatstic cashgame. heres the rule, and every really great player follows this, when you have less than 10 big blinds, its stack time, there is no more limping and playing postflop poker. this is called push-fold. 3 handed the blinds were 1500-3000. tj had about 25,000 and picked up AA on the button, he raised to 7k (although i said its push fold, this isnt an awful play with this strong of a hand, exspecially if your opponent is a weak player like phil hellmuth) doyle folded in the small blind, and phil had A6s. phil barely had tj covered, but effectively he only has 25000 in chips now that doyles out of the hand. right now, its push-fold. first off a6 plays terrible oop postflop, exspecially if your gonna check dark (like he did...) what phill hellmuth should have been doing, was determing a range for tj cloutier and decided if his hand played well against that range. to my eye, its obvious he has a huge hand, because ill give tj a little credit to realize that it is push-fold time and he should be commited after any raise. this is why this is an easy laydown, yes of course phil is getting good odds to call, but he has no implied odds and you just cant take a flop with less than 10 bb.
phil ends up playing the hand just awful after that and rivers tj
later,
heads up between doyle and phil. 2000-4000 blinds, phil with about 38000, he limps A6.... its stack time, this is push fold, theres 6000 in the middle you need to be picking up. then doyle raises, now look what hes done to himself
few hands later, J4 hes got 24000, HE LIMPS AGAIN. its push-fucking-fold. you cant limp here, all in or muck (all in is my preference) and of course doyle puts him in and he has to fold.
few hands later phil with 16000, he gets Q3, he limps.... this is ridiculous, the blinds are 2000-4000 and he has 12k after the limp, barely a pot sized bet. heres the worst part, doyle puts him in, then he calls. IF YOUR GOING TO LIMP CALL, WHY NOT JUST PUSH IN YOURSELF?
and of course phil bitches because he doesnt know how badly outplayed he was. its a real joke hes in the poker hall of fame, and its a real joke that 85% of these people we see on tv, are awful players.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Floating
floating is when you whiff the flop, but call anyway. at first glance it seems like a really amateur play. but when you break it down there is a lot of reading and math involved.
this is a good example of when a good time to float is.
this player has been very aggressive before the flop recently, but he did one thing very suspicious this hand
FullTiltPoker Game #4244731035: Table Hand (heads up) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:25:48 ET - 2007/11/20
Seat 1: Kadabra ($1,222.90)
Seat 2: Playing2Learn ($669.50)
Playing2Learn posts the small blind of $2
Kadabra posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kadabra [9h 8h]
Playing2Learn raises to $12
Kadabra raises to $36
Playing2Learn has 15 seconds left to act
Playing2Learn raises to $108
Kadabra has 15 seconds left to act
Kadabra has requested TIME
Kadabra calls $72
*** FLOP *** [3s 3d 6h]
Kadabra checks
Playing2Learn has 15 seconds left to act
Playing2Learn bets $140
Kadabra has 15 seconds left to act
Kadabra has requested TIME
Kadabra calls $140
*** TURN *** [3s 3d 6h] [Jc]
Kadabra has 15 seconds left to act
Kadabra bets $135
Playing2Learn: boo
Playing2Learn has 15 seconds left to act
Playing2Learn: why did i make a play with A4o
Playing2Learn: =D
Playing2Learn folds
Uncalled bet of $135 returned to Kadabra
Kadabra mucks
Kadabra wins the pot ($495.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $496 | Rake $0.50
Board: [3s 3d 6h Jc]
Seat 1: Kadabra (big blind) collected ($495.50), mucked
Seat 2: Playing2Learn (small blind) folded on the Turn
pre flop, when he 4 bet me, he did something out of the norm for him, he 3xed, generally when he has been 3 and 4 betting me, he has been making it a little bit more than 3x. for example id make it 12, hed make it 42. and surely if he had a huge hand AA KK, he wouldnt go out of that rythym, that enticed me to call.
flop was not great 336. but it was perfect for a float, i have a backdoor heart draw, backdoor strait draw, and 2 overcards to the board.
he bets the flop. i float here for 2 reasons, 1 i believe hes weak from my preflop read. and 2 because im trying to peel a winner if he decides to double barrel. basically, if i turn a 5 7 8 9 10 or any heart thats not a 3, and he double barrels, assuming he has fold equity, im going to put him all in.
the turn was a jack and to my delight, he did not fire another shell, id pretty much have to give up here if he did.
i bet $135, its a small bet, but enough to push out 2 weak cards, and most low pocket pairs, as it looks like im betting for value, the only way he can play back at me is if he peeled a jack or was check raising a huge hand, either way, my 135 bet was much safer than a 240 dollar bet, because when he is check raising i save a hundred bucks.
this is a good example of when a good time to float is.
this player has been very aggressive before the flop recently, but he did one thing very suspicious this hand
FullTiltPoker Game #4244731035: Table Hand (heads up) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:25:48 ET - 2007/11/20
Seat 1: Kadabra ($1,222.90)
Seat 2: Playing2Learn ($669.50)
Playing2Learn posts the small blind of $2
Kadabra posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kadabra [9h 8h]
Playing2Learn raises to $12
Kadabra raises to $36
Playing2Learn has 15 seconds left to act
Playing2Learn raises to $108
Kadabra has 15 seconds left to act
Kadabra has requested TIME
Kadabra calls $72
*** FLOP *** [3s 3d 6h]
Kadabra checks
Playing2Learn has 15 seconds left to act
Playing2Learn bets $140
Kadabra has 15 seconds left to act
Kadabra has requested TIME
Kadabra calls $140
*** TURN *** [3s 3d 6h] [Jc]
Kadabra has 15 seconds left to act
Kadabra bets $135
Playing2Learn: boo
Playing2Learn has 15 seconds left to act
Playing2Learn: why did i make a play with A4o
Playing2Learn: =D
Playing2Learn folds
Uncalled bet of $135 returned to Kadabra
Kadabra mucks
Kadabra wins the pot ($495.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $496 | Rake $0.50
Board: [3s 3d 6h Jc]
Seat 1: Kadabra (big blind) collected ($495.50), mucked
Seat 2: Playing2Learn (small blind) folded on the Turn
pre flop, when he 4 bet me, he did something out of the norm for him, he 3xed, generally when he has been 3 and 4 betting me, he has been making it a little bit more than 3x. for example id make it 12, hed make it 42. and surely if he had a huge hand AA KK, he wouldnt go out of that rythym, that enticed me to call.
flop was not great 336. but it was perfect for a float, i have a backdoor heart draw, backdoor strait draw, and 2 overcards to the board.
he bets the flop. i float here for 2 reasons, 1 i believe hes weak from my preflop read. and 2 because im trying to peel a winner if he decides to double barrel. basically, if i turn a 5 7 8 9 10 or any heart thats not a 3, and he double barrels, assuming he has fold equity, im going to put him all in.
the turn was a jack and to my delight, he did not fire another shell, id pretty much have to give up here if he did.
i bet $135, its a small bet, but enough to push out 2 weak cards, and most low pocket pairs, as it looks like im betting for value, the only way he can play back at me is if he peeled a jack or was check raising a huge hand, either way, my 135 bet was much safer than a 240 dollar bet, because when he is check raising i save a hundred bucks.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
hand review
yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
FullTiltPoker Game #4185559473: Table Ballad (heads up) - $10/$20 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:02:16 ET - 2007/11/15
Seat 1: Kadabra ($8,798.25)
Seat 2: Fluffdog ($1,940)
Fluffdog posts the small blind of $10
Kadabra posts the big blind of $20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kadabra [9c 8s]
Fluffdog raises to $60
Kadabra raises to $180
Fluffdog calls $120
*** FLOP *** [Ts 6d 4c]
Kadabra bets $200
Fluffdog calls $200
*** TURN *** [Ts 6d 4c] [Qh]
Kadabra checks
Fluffdog has 15 seconds left to act
Fluffdog bets $440
Kadabra raises to $8,418.25, and is all in
Fluffdog has 15 seconds left to act
Fluffdog has requested TIME
Fluffdog: u show?
Fluffdog adds $880
Fluffdog folds
Uncalled bet of $7,978.25 returned to Kadabra
Kadabra mucks
Kadabra wins the pot ($1,639.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1,640 | Rake $0.50
Board: [Ts 6d 4c Qh]
Seat 1: Kadabra (big blind) collected ($1,639.50), mucked
Seat 2: Fluffdog (small blind) folded on the Turn
pre flop is pretty standard, his opening range is huge, so i keep him in check by raising a wider range. he callls
flop a gut shot, i make a light continuation bet, hoping he folds. he calls
i turn a great card, a Q. this now gives me a double gut shot, i have 8 outs
making me about 16% to win the hand.
i check he bets, he bet a little bit less than half the pot, this indicates to me he either, called with air, and is taking his steal attempt, or has a scared pair. he probably wouldnt do this with a medium strength hand like K10 or Q9 because he can be pushed off of it to easy. keeping in mind how big his calling range is preflop, i lean twords thinking he has a weaker hand, on top of this, most his good hands would of play more agressively on the flop, surely any 10 would of raised me.the Q probably didnt help him, so this is a good time to put him in, and even if he does call, we always have outs.
he can really only call here with a set, and a floated hand with a Q in it.
thats a very small % of his range.
lets see what the math looks like on this play
lets say 15% of his range can call here.
1200(.85) - 1310.4(.15) = 823.44
i get 1200, because thats what in the pot when i make the play, 1310.4 is what i lose 15% of the time (this factors out the 16% of the time i am called and hit my strait, otherwise it would be 1560, his whole stack+ his turn bet)
FullTiltPoker Game #4185559473: Table Ballad (heads up) - $10/$20 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:02:16 ET - 2007/11/15
Seat 1: Kadabra ($8,798.25)
Seat 2: Fluffdog ($1,940)
Fluffdog posts the small blind of $10
Kadabra posts the big blind of $20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kadabra [9c 8s]
Fluffdog raises to $60
Kadabra raises to $180
Fluffdog calls $120
*** FLOP *** [Ts 6d 4c]
Kadabra bets $200
Fluffdog calls $200
*** TURN *** [Ts 6d 4c] [Qh]
Kadabra checks
Fluffdog has 15 seconds left to act
Fluffdog bets $440
Kadabra raises to $8,418.25, and is all in
Fluffdog has 15 seconds left to act
Fluffdog has requested TIME
Fluffdog: u show?
Fluffdog adds $880
Fluffdog folds
Uncalled bet of $7,978.25 returned to Kadabra
Kadabra mucks
Kadabra wins the pot ($1,639.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1,640 | Rake $0.50
Board: [Ts 6d 4c Qh]
Seat 1: Kadabra (big blind) collected ($1,639.50), mucked
Seat 2: Fluffdog (small blind) folded on the Turn
pre flop is pretty standard, his opening range is huge, so i keep him in check by raising a wider range. he callls
flop a gut shot, i make a light continuation bet, hoping he folds. he calls
i turn a great card, a Q. this now gives me a double gut shot, i have 8 outs
making me about 16% to win the hand.
i check he bets, he bet a little bit less than half the pot, this indicates to me he either, called with air, and is taking his steal attempt, or has a scared pair. he probably wouldnt do this with a medium strength hand like K10 or Q9 because he can be pushed off of it to easy. keeping in mind how big his calling range is preflop, i lean twords thinking he has a weaker hand, on top of this, most his good hands would of play more agressively on the flop, surely any 10 would of raised me.the Q probably didnt help him, so this is a good time to put him in, and even if he does call, we always have outs.
he can really only call here with a set, and a floated hand with a Q in it.
thats a very small % of his range.
lets see what the math looks like on this play
lets say 15% of his range can call here.
1200(.85) - 1310.4(.15) = 823.44
i get 1200, because thats what in the pot when i make the play, 1310.4 is what i lose 15% of the time (this factors out the 16% of the time i am called and hit my strait, otherwise it would be 1560, his whole stack+ his turn bet)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Bluff
probably the most intricate bluff ive ever pulled.
FullTiltPoker Game #4166803074: Table Ballad (heads up) - $10/$20 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:13:54 ET - 2007/11/13
Seat 1: ImTheFranchise ($4,597.50)
Seat 2: Kadabra ($2,855)
Kadabra posts the small blind of $10
ImTheFranchise posts the big blind of $20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kadabra [Ks 9c]
Kadabra raises to $60
ImTheFranchise calls $40
*** FLOP *** [Th 9d 5c]
ImTheFranchise checks
Kadabra bets $100
ImTheFranchise raises to $340
Kadabra calls $240
*** TURN *** [Th 9d 5c] [7s]
ImTheFranchise checks
Kadabra checks
*** RIVER *** [Th 9d 5c 7s] [Qc]
ImTheFranchise has 15 seconds left to act
ImTheFranchise bets $600
Kadabra has 15 seconds left to act
Kadabra has requested TIME
Kadabra raises to $1,950
ImTheFranchise has 15 seconds left to act
ImTheFranchise has requested TIME
ImTheFranchise folds
Uncalled bet of $1,350 returned to Kadabra
Kadabra shows [Ks 9c] a pair of Nines
Kadabra wins the pot ($1,999.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2,000 | Rake $0.50
Board: [Th 9d 5c 7s Qc]
Seat 1: ImTheFranchise (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 2: Kadabra (small blind) collected ($1,999.50)
pre flop is standard
on the flop i bet 100 for value, he raises to 340 and i of course call
turn is a pretty good card
he checks. and i check behind. i check behind here because he can put me all in with JQ and over pair, 88. i get pushed off my hand too often if i bet here.
river is a terrible card, a queen. seems to fill up a lot.
he bet 600 into 900, a perfect value bet. im putting him on JQ, he paired the river and is betting for value, hes hoping i flat call with a lower pair. my 9 is no good, so im not turning my hand into a bluff, the river did that.
now lets look at his range of hands
my instict on the flop said JQ
what other hands can he bet 600 with on the river
Q10, yeah, but he wouldnt repop the flop then check the turn
J8, yeah, but hed continue firing on the turn for value.
KJ, possible, but i think hed make his raise on the flop smaller and his value bet on the river bigger.
Q9 doesnt checkraise the flop
AA KK QQ, highly unlikely (not to mention i think this bluff pushes off AA and KK)
were stuck with JQ, so i raise, he tanks, and folds. i rarely show a bluff but i know im not gonna run another play like this so ill let him think i steal on the river. he commented later on having exactly JQ.
FullTiltPoker Game #4166803074: Table Ballad (heads up) - $10/$20 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:13:54 ET - 2007/11/13
Seat 1: ImTheFranchise ($4,597.50)
Seat 2: Kadabra ($2,855)
Kadabra posts the small blind of $10
ImTheFranchise posts the big blind of $20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kadabra [Ks 9c]
Kadabra raises to $60
ImTheFranchise calls $40
*** FLOP *** [Th 9d 5c]
ImTheFranchise checks
Kadabra bets $100
ImTheFranchise raises to $340
Kadabra calls $240
*** TURN *** [Th 9d 5c] [7s]
ImTheFranchise checks
Kadabra checks
*** RIVER *** [Th 9d 5c 7s] [Qc]
ImTheFranchise has 15 seconds left to act
ImTheFranchise bets $600
Kadabra has 15 seconds left to act
Kadabra has requested TIME
Kadabra raises to $1,950
ImTheFranchise has 15 seconds left to act
ImTheFranchise has requested TIME
ImTheFranchise folds
Uncalled bet of $1,350 returned to Kadabra
Kadabra shows [Ks 9c] a pair of Nines
Kadabra wins the pot ($1,999.50)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2,000 | Rake $0.50
Board: [Th 9d 5c 7s Qc]
Seat 1: ImTheFranchise (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 2: Kadabra (small blind) collected ($1,999.50)
pre flop is standard
on the flop i bet 100 for value, he raises to 340 and i of course call
turn is a pretty good card
he checks. and i check behind. i check behind here because he can put me all in with JQ and over pair, 88. i get pushed off my hand too often if i bet here.
river is a terrible card, a queen. seems to fill up a lot.
he bet 600 into 900, a perfect value bet. im putting him on JQ, he paired the river and is betting for value, hes hoping i flat call with a lower pair. my 9 is no good, so im not turning my hand into a bluff, the river did that.
now lets look at his range of hands
my instict on the flop said JQ
what other hands can he bet 600 with on the river
Q10, yeah, but he wouldnt repop the flop then check the turn
J8, yeah, but hed continue firing on the turn for value.
KJ, possible, but i think hed make his raise on the flop smaller and his value bet on the river bigger.
Q9 doesnt checkraise the flop
AA KK QQ, highly unlikely (not to mention i think this bluff pushes off AA and KK)
were stuck with JQ, so i raise, he tanks, and folds. i rarely show a bluff but i know im not gonna run another play like this so ill let him think i steal on the river. he commented later on having exactly JQ.
Monday, November 5, 2007
School
Im done. Out. Can not stand it here anymore. I will finish up this semester and at minumum take a semester off. Jovial Gent and i talked about possibly moving down to southern california and renting a baller house and seeing how things work out. and after sitting through class today, im almost sure im out of here in the next 2 months.
Back from Niagra Falls
I am back in town. Niagra Falls was amazing, it was a lot of fun and for me, very educational. i lost about 15 or 16 thousand dollars, but i learned soo much from talking to other players and playing on the world poker tour. ive also learned, that i can beat the cash games, fairly easily, i know i ran pretty well, but its still pretty soft.
in 9 handed games, ive learned i need to give up on some pots sometimes. for some reason i always feel like i have to protect my investment with a bluff, or i have to protect my hand with a large portion of my stack. Ive learned its ok to get moved off my hand once in a while, and i don't need to outplay everyone everyhand. Phil Hellmuth always talks about how he has the heart to fire another barrell, its good to have heart, but you can't just bluff wrecklessly because you want to protect your investment.
Heres how i lost my stack (a little embarassed in hindsight)
someone playing a lotofhands on my right raised to 4000 with a stack of 60,000
blinds were 500/1000 with a 200 ante. i have 60,000 in chips also.
i had pocket 10's and i called
everyone folded
flop
2s9sJs
i had the 10s
he bet 8000
heres my thinking
the only way im in bad shape, is if he has a higher spade and a higher pair.
heres what i didnt think about, if i raise, hes only playing back atme if he has that higher spade and higher pair. so im turning my hand into a bluff, and thats a huge mistake in poker.
i raised enough to commit myself and we eventually got all in and he had AdAs
i was super short stacked and allen cunningham finished me off a few hands later with aces as well.
looking back there are 2 better plays
i could of peeled one, and see how he reacted on the turn
or i can just fold.
folding seems terrible to me at first, but really i am only beating 33-88 and bluffs
AsKd is a good drawing hand against me, and thats close to the bottom ofhis range.
One last thing i learned about live play.
the guy on my right smelled terrible, he snorted a lot and was really obnoxious to play with. I can't let this affect my game. I need to devise up a plan for when im sitting with someone who bothers me.
in 9 handed games, ive learned i need to give up on some pots sometimes. for some reason i always feel like i have to protect my investment with a bluff, or i have to protect my hand with a large portion of my stack. Ive learned its ok to get moved off my hand once in a while, and i don't need to outplay everyone everyhand. Phil Hellmuth always talks about how he has the heart to fire another barrell, its good to have heart, but you can't just bluff wrecklessly because you want to protect your investment.
Heres how i lost my stack (a little embarassed in hindsight)
someone playing a lotofhands on my right raised to 4000 with a stack of 60,000
blinds were 500/1000 with a 200 ante. i have 60,000 in chips also.
i had pocket 10's and i called
everyone folded
flop
2s9sJs
i had the 10s
he bet 8000
heres my thinking
the only way im in bad shape, is if he has a higher spade and a higher pair.
heres what i didnt think about, if i raise, hes only playing back atme if he has that higher spade and higher pair. so im turning my hand into a bluff, and thats a huge mistake in poker.
i raised enough to commit myself and we eventually got all in and he had AdAs
i was super short stacked and allen cunningham finished me off a few hands later with aces as well.
looking back there are 2 better plays
i could of peeled one, and see how he reacted on the turn
or i can just fold.
folding seems terrible to me at first, but really i am only beating 33-88 and bluffs
AsKd is a good drawing hand against me, and thats close to the bottom ofhis range.
One last thing i learned about live play.
the guy on my right smelled terrible, he snorted a lot and was really obnoxious to play with. I can't let this affect my game. I need to devise up a plan for when im sitting with someone who bothers me.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Kadabra's first video
Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of posts lately. I will be going to niagra falls next week for the world poker tour! Also, i put up my first cash game video, 3-6 NL HU. it will be up at www.pokerzion.com. please check out the website and sign up with the promo code BC07 for a free month
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