February 19, 2010

I love this game, I hate this game

Hey poker fans!  I know it’s been a while since the last blog; I’ve got to get back in the habit of blogging, regardless of how badly I play.  Ah, and speaking of which, I had a horrible night Wednesday night at Johnny Joe’s.  Now mind you this is a free-roll game filled with Donkeys galore, but getting beat is getting beat.

While the blinds were still early – 10 and 20 – a guy they call Kamikaze throws in a bet of 100. “Hmm, ok; 9’s, 10’s, maybe even Jacks.”  I peek to find Ace – King suited.  “Let’s make it 200”, I said.  Kamikaze insta-calls.  “Huh?  You’re not going away?” I thought to myself.  The flop comes out 7, 5, 2 – only one more of my suit.  No help to me, and more than likely he’s still got top pair.  Do I try to chase him away and if he calls pray for an Ace or King, or worse yet hope for runner-runner clubs?  So I did – I threw in another 200, as a “GO AWAY” message.  “Call” he replies.  UGH!  The turn came out, no help at all, still a low card.  So I check, to stop the hemorrhaging of chips being thrown after a thus-far losing hand.  The river comes and still no help, not even anything that I could bluff him off of his moderately-high pocket pair.  Blasted!  He turns over 9’s – so much for big slick!

Now for those that know me, I have a propensity for playing Ace-rag (some people even called me playing A-10 as Ace-rag, but reminder:  they ARE connectors – lol).  Later that game, I get Ace – Jack suited.  This time, the old fellow we all refer to as Pappy throws in 130 pre-flop.  Again, hoping to sift out whether he just wants to buy the pot or not, double the bet and throw in 260.  Pappy has been known to do that from time to time – in fact he won several hands earlier by dumping a bunch into the pot only to turn over seven-deuce when everyone else folded.  So I figured what the heck, I’ll give it a shot.  The flop comes out King, 8, 6, again none of my suit.  He bets another 260.  “Hmmm, do you really have that King?  Ok, I’m all in.” 

Yikes!  What am I thinking???  Pappy turns over King-Ten, and says “ok, show me your aces.”  Nope, I could only show one Ace and HOPE!  Ah, but sweet vindication on the turn when another Ace pops up, and the table erupts in a loud “woah!”  So the chant inside my head turned to “no king, no ten!  No king, no ten!”  As the dealer flipped over the river card, the table again erupts in a “woah”, only this time my eyes were filled with horror as I stared directly at a King on the river.  UGH!  Pappy gives me a fist bump and says “it’s a game of the river” – man, isn’t that the truth.

As I get up to leave the table (after my abbreviated play), the chap sitting directly to my right said “see, the better hand prevailed after all.”  Huh?  “Whatchu talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?”  I’m sorry, but the last time I checked A-J beats K-10.  I didn’t even bother – two bad kicks and on 40 minutes playing, it’s just time to leave – lol!

So my question to you, poker fans: In the first situation (assuming the exact same circumstances), do you chase him away after the river card by betting huge or do you submit and take your beating, only to live to play another hand?  Leave your comments in the comments section…

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October 18, 2009

When the Cowboys almost get busted…

Ah yes, another weekend!  My college and pro teams both won, and my weekly jaunt down to the Field House yeilded a victory in the first game!  Perhaps the highlight of my game was when I was dealt pocket Kings – the Cowboys – late into the round.  I raised pre-flop and got a few callers.  The flop brought a six and 2 clubs, one of which was a King!  After the turn, the gent across from me goes all-in.  I’m feeling pretty good with trip Kings, right?  The last card is a 6 of clubs, which gives this guy a flush.  But check out the flop – a 6 for the boat!  Poor guy proudly throws over his river-flush, only to be boated on the river when I gently turned over my cowboys!  That gave me a pretty nice chip stack, and I went on to win that tourney.

Unfortunately the second game did not provide any gifts, and I finished 11th.  I’ve got a game scheduled for Thursday night, so stay tuned for some more action from Central PA to help you with your poker nights!  Until then: cheers, shuffle-up and deal!

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October 17, 2009

New Holiday Gift Ideas!

We at itsPokerNight.com are very pleased to announce itsPokerNight.com’s latest poker items: personalized bar and glassware!  These beautiful glass pieces are actually deep-etched with a very classy design, and personalized to your name!

http://itspokernight.com/pokerbarandglassware.aspx

The glass items are very high quality glass and look absolutely great!  With your name on them and the design, it will be quite evident to your guests that you love poker!  The glasses are sold in sets of 4, and there are also pitchers and snack bowls that are sold individually.

This is a must have gift for the poker folks on your list – check them out!

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October 2, 2009

Another weekend is upon us!

Ah, Friday!  TGIF, right?  Well hopefully your weekend is filled with fun things to do.  I know Saturday I’m having a tourney followed by a cash game, so look forward to some posts from the game on Sunday or Monday.

In the meantime, if you host public games, be sure to go to http://locator.itspokernight.com and add your games and locations.  Once we get a good amount of listings, we’ll start encouraging the public to check out the listings for games in their area.

So once again, TGIF and have a great weekend!

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September 28, 2009

Happy Monday (because the weekend wasn’t that great)

Happy Monday, because the weekend was just horrible!  My college and pro football teams both lost (Penn State and Steelers), and aside from wining $10 in a hold-em turbo tourney, poker was a big mess!

Saturday night’s games included a turbo tournament, a regular tourney, and then a cash game to round out the night.  We decided to play the turbo tourney while we were waiting for other people to show – it’s actually a good way to warm up for the night and pass a little time.  It’s 5 minute blinds and $5 buy-in, and the requirement is you have 15 seconds to make up your mind whether you’re going to play the hand or not.  With 4 people it lasted a little over 20 minutes when Tony and decided to split evenly.

For the main poker tourney we had 8 people (we do 15 minute blinds starting at 10/20 with 1,000 in chips).  I got a couple of small wins throughout the game, but the highlight was taking Nick out.  I was dealt pocket 7′s and just called the blind.  The flop came out 7-9-7 – “nice!”  I checked my quads and called when necessary to stick around.  Nick went all in (can’t recall when, since I was pre-occupied watching my Nittany Lions getting pummeled by Iowa – again) but he had a fit when I showed my 7′s – lol.  Shortly thereafter I was removed from the game by a lower hand that beat my K-10.

And then we played a cash game – I hate cash games.  For some reason, I just don’t do well in them.  For my $20 buy-in, I should have cashed out when I got down to $13, but by that time I was already annoyed by the loss of Penn State, so figured “ah, why not stay in?!”  So I stayed in long enough to be the final 3 at the table.  At least I had fun, right?

I skipped the first poker game on Sunday and showed up for the 2nd game.  The donkeys at the table were literally playing any two cards they got, and they were hitting on just about everything.  Each time I’d play, my K-10, A-9, etc was getting beat by 8-2, 10-2 and other junk.  I was tempted to start playing crap hands too, but I really can’t do that.  About a half hour into the game, I was just so frustrated that I was looking for two cards just to go all in on.  Finally it came: K-Q of spades.  I went all in for 355.  Wouldn’t you know it, the donkey after me calls with 9-8 off suit, and I get another caller with A-7.  Turns out that two Aces came out on the board, and I left happily thinking “ah, now I can go home and watch some football”, only to have my Steelers lose in the last minute to Cincinnati, of all teams to lose to!

So today I’m just chillin’, getting ready for tonight’s poker game at the Field House.  This is the end of the season tournament tonight where the winner gets a trip to Atlantic City, so I need to get in the zone prior to the game.  I’ll post tomorrow about tonight’s final poker tournament, and hopefully have some good news and some highlights.  And happy Monday – there’s always next weekend, sports fans!

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September 25, 2009

New products planned…

itsPoerNight.com is gearing up for a whole new line of products to round out the ultimate poker player’s game – personalized bar and glass ware.  From pilsner glasses and beer mugs, to pitchers and snack bowls, outfit your House of Poker with impressive, personalized poker glass ware.  We’ve included a little teaser as to what it to come in the post.  Let us know what you think, and if you have any fantastic ideas as to slogans and images.  You’ll be able to personalize most of the items with your name, and a few other with more options.  So stay tuned in the next week or two for these bad boys to be unleashed on to the itsPokerNight.com website; ready for your home poker tourneys or other fun stuff you’ve got going on!

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September 21, 2009

Courting the Ladies

Sunday’s outing at the Field House – my local poker free roll game – yielded nice results: won the first game, placed third in the second game. The first game I was heads up with a notorious chaser who was monster stacked, and I came back to dominate her chip stack 2 to 1 before we negotiated the end of the game. However, the next game wasn’t so fortunate.

So in the second game I make it to the final table, then to the top 5, and on to the top 3. Once I got to the top 3, i had only about 2500 in chips, while the other two had at least 6000 each. Play goes on, and I get to the point where it’s a prime time for an all-in move. I’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 chips, and the other two players are pretty evenly stacked. The deal comes, I move my Steelers card protector off of my cards and peek at the hand: pocket Queens – “the ladies”. A good hand to have with just 3 players, so knew that this would be the time to push. The player to my right raises pretty good, and I come over the top to re-raise all-in. My all-in gets met with an insta-call. Of course he flips over ace – seven of diamonds against my ladies – “great!” You KNOW what’s going to happen right now, don’t you?

The flop comes, all nice low cards. The turn comes, yet another low or insignificant card shows. “Ah, I’m home free!” I’m thinking. “One more card that isn’t an Ace and I get new life in this game and can hang around a little longer and try to whittle these guys down and win for the second time today.” As fate would have it, I was dealing my own destiny. I slowly burned the last card, and peeled the next card from the deck. I raised that last card high into the air, and in a sudden motion slapped it onto the board in its final resting place. Then the feeling of shock came over me as a quick look revealed to me that it… it was… it was an Ace! “NOOOO!!!!” I was so close, but to no avail. The ladies get busted again.

But that’s really how you have to play ladies and hooks – bet it big or even all-in. Give that holder of a single bloody Ace pause to ponder his continued play on speculation. Particularly short stacked and in desperate need of a move, the all-in moment was a necessity. Next time, just hope harder that there was no Ace – haha!

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September 18, 2009

If you’re going to chase, should you be aggressive?

Ok, so last week I had a real bad beat; here’s the story.  It was early in our free-roll game, and as usual I was playing a little tight.  I was at a table of about 9 or 10, and was about 3rd to act after the blinds.  I get dealt an Ace and 8 of diamonds (they’re suited, right?! – haha).  With the blinds only 10/20, I threw in 40.  That chased away a few people, but one of my fellow players, known for his questionable hands, calls.  The flop comes and yields 2 diamonds, but no significant cards – a 3, 5 and 6.  I’m thinking my Ace still looks good, not to mention being 4 to the flush!  So it comes around to me, and I bet again, only to be called.  The turn comes and it’s a black 3.  Thinking I didn’t want to be a river rat, I checked.  The other player bets, however, so being 4 to the flush, I call.

He’s sitting on a set right now, and I’m hoping now that the river yields my highly sought last diamond.  The Poker gods smiled on me, and gave me a diamond – FLUSH!  So I checked – that’s right, I checked!  The other player threw in 160.  I’m thinking “unless you played 3 – 5, I’ve got you!  I’m all in!” I declared.  After pushing all my chips to the center of the table, I received an insta-call.  “Huh?!”  My donkey friend flips over a full house, sixes over threes.  “You’ve GOT to be kidding me!”, right?  I was quite upset.  Well, looking back on the hand now, if I’m going to chase, I should have bet bigger or been more aggressive in chasing the other player away.  But with him having a set on the turn, he wasn’t going anywhere, and I would have been throwing pennies into the wishing well betting heavy on the flop with just 4 to the flush.  So all in all, I should have stuck with my gut thinking that he may have had the boat on the river.  But the history of this player is that he’d be happy going heads up with just two pair, so what do you do?  Chances are I couldn’t have chased him away even if I tried.

So what do I learn from this?  What should I have done differently?  The only thing I would have done differently is not go over the top on the river.  I should have just been content losing about 250 chips as opposed to 600 chips.  At least that way I would have still hung around and perhaps got my chips back (most assuredly!).  Bad beat or just bad judgement?  A little of both, perhaps.  Next time I’ll be glad with just trying to win a pot, not take him out.

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September 17, 2009

Inagural Post

Welcome to the itsPokerNight.com blog on WordPress!  The itsPokerNight.com crew will journal their poker playing lives and share with you our experiences and hopefully share some tips that we learned along the way.  Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for many years, we want to impart to you the best experiences around.  Be sure to check back often, or even subscribe to our blog.

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