I decided to try out the $50 tables on Party Poker last night, Monday night. I did not do very well. Ended up down $64, which isn't too bad for 3 tabling $50 buyins. I should have been only down $34, I lost $30 on a rather retarded hand.

I was dealt KcQc mid position. I raised to $2, the normal raise. I get three callers. Flop is Tc 3c 6d. I check. Guy bets the pot, other guy calls (he is all in with the call). For some reason I decide now would be a good time to push all in, the other guy that made the initial bet only had like $20 left. I figure one of my overs is live plus the flush draw. Well, turns out they both had sets, and
my club never came. I should have folded to the bets. Stupid me.

Obviously they had me beat, a pot bet, an all in. I might have been drawing to a dead flush. Oh well. I did not really think about what I was doing. It was one of those instinct things. I need to have more control when I play online. In live poker I would not have even contemplated calling.

That's the thing. It seems like I make more wrong decisions when playing online, compared to live. Maybe it's just because I see like 10 times as many hands online than I do live, which is why I think that way. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was upset with my play last night, so I decided tonight would be much better.

Turns out it was. I played 3 $50 buyins and profitted $214. I love poker nights like these. Hooray.

No, this is not a bad beat story... well, not towards me anyway. Take a look at this hand:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (10 handed) converter



BB ($24.05)

UTG ($33)

UTG+1 ($24.75)

UTG+2 ($28.75)

MP1 ($51.08)

MP2 ($16.4)

MP3 ($21.55)

CO ($14.55)

Button ($37.69)

McKim ($63.85)



Preflop: McKim is SB with Tc, 9s.

1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, 1 fold, MP1 raises to $0.5, 3 folds, Button calls $0.50, McKim calls $0.40, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25.



Flop: ($2.25) 9c, Jc, Ts (4 players)

McKim bets $2, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $2, Button folds.



Turn: ($6.25) Td (2 players)

McKim checks, MP1 bets $5, McKim calls $5.



River: ($16.25) 5h (2 players)

McKim bets $15, MP1 calls $15.



Final Pot: $46.25



Results in white below:

McKim has Tc 9s (full house, tens full of nines).

MP1 has Qc Kc (straight, king high).

Outcome: McKim wins $46.25.

If he had reraised a significant amount on the flop, i MIGHT have been able to get away from it. Once I hit my boat my money was going in pretty much no matter what. I really liked my pot bet at the end there. He probably thought I had AT or KT something like that. Woot.

Sometimes I just do not understand the logic of 99% of the players on PartyPoker. Do people really have this much money to just throw around? I'm glad these fish are there to give money away. I'm starting to think that on the Texas Poker Project we should NOT have strategy on our site. We would be helping people improve their game; thus, less profit for us. But that's selfish, and I've always made it a commitment of mine to help others. Granted, I am not getting tired of taking money from the fish. As always, I never talk in chat with these horrible players. Every now and then I will comment, "yeah you had to call, you were pot commited." Stupid remarks like that, that encourage the fish, and second, make me look like a fish, so when good players read that, they assume I am a bad player, thus I can take their money from them. I'll illustrate where this rant came from with the following hand:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) converter



Button ($4.5)

McKim ($95.5)

BB ($51.55)

UTG ($67.46)

UTG+1 ($23.4)

MP1 ($24.4)

MP2 ($17.75)

CO ($24.65)



Preflop: McKim is SB with Tc, Td.

UTG raises to $1, UTG+1 calls $1, 4 folds, McKim calls $0.90, 1 fold.



Flop: ($3.25) 4c, Qh, Ts (3 players)

McKim checks, UTG bets $4, UTG+1 raises to $8, McKim raises to $20, UTG calls $16, UTG+1 folds.



Turn: ($51.25) 7d (2 players)

McKim bets $20, UTG calls $20.



River: ($91.25) 5c (2 players)

McKim bets $27,

UTG: I'm pot commited.

UTG calls $26.46 (All-In).



Final Pot: $144.71



Results in white below:

McKim has Tc Td (three of a kind, tens).

UTG has Js Kc (high card, king).

Outcome: McKim wins $144.70.

He said he was "pot commited." This, ladies and gents, is why PartyPoker is the best place to play poker in the world. This reminded me of Ellix Powers (the guy at the WSOP that said, "he called me with Jack high, I've never called anyone with Jack high." Well my friends, McKim says, "he called me with King high, king high!"

I never know how to play sets with the board all the same suit. Maybe I tend to overplay them. I don't know. Take a look at the following situation:

***** Hand History for Game 2223308537 *****
0/0 TexasHTGameTable (NL) - Fri Jun 17 23:03:59 EDT 2005
Table Table 37507 (Real Money) -- Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: kipkenyo ( $23.12)
Seat 2: IUGrampy ( $52.85)
Seat 3: Iovejoy ( $27.15)
Seat 4: juliepolly ( $24.65)
Seat 5: Xtraskillzz ( $11.76)
Seat 6: McKim ( $29.15)
Seat 7: huntersprey ( $12.39)
Seat 8: OnTi1tAgain ( $15.55)
Seat 9: cracker574 ( $23.78)
Seat 10: TaxGuy363 ( $13.95)
kipkenyo posts small blind (0.1)
Iovejoy posts big blind (0.25)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to McKim [ 8c, 8d ]
juliepolly folds.
Xtraskillzz calls (0.25)
McKim calls (0.25)
OnTi1tAgain calls (0.25)
cracker574 folds.
TaxGuy363 folds.
kipkenyo calls (0.15)
Iovejoy raises (0.75) to 1
Xtraskillzz calls (0.75)
McKim calls (0.75)
OnTi1tAgain calls (0.75)
kipkenyo folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 8s, 9s, 2s ]
Iovejoy bets (4)
Xtraskillzz calls (4)
McKim raises (28.15) to 28.15
McKim is all-In.
OnTi1tAgain calls (14.55)
OnTi1tAgain is all-In.
Iovejoy calls (22.15)
Iovejoy is all-In.
McKim: stupid spades
Xtraskillzz folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6s ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Kh ]
Creating Main Pot with $49.35 with OnTi1tAgain
Creating Side Pot 1 with $22.75 with Iovejoy
Creating Side Pot 2 with $2 with McKim
** Summary **
Main Pot: $49.35 | Side Pot 1: $22.75 | Side Pot 2: $2 | Rake: $3
Board: [ 8s 9s 2s 6s Kh ]
kipkenyo balance $22.87, lost $0.25 (folded)
IUGrampy balance $52.85, sits out
Iovejoy balance $72.1, bet $27.15, collected $72.1, net +$44.95 [ Kd As ] [ a flush, ace high with ace kicker -- As,9s,8s,6s,2s ]
McKim balance $2, bet $29.15, collected $2, lost -$27.15 [ 8c 8d ] [ three of a kind, eights -- Kh,9s,8c,8d,8s ]
OnTi1tAgain balance $0, lost $15.55 [ Qs 4s ] [ a flush, queen high -- Qs,9s,8s,6s,4s ]

Turns out that the guy that called the bet on the flop had the flush to begin with. I actually figured that guy to be on a flush draw, even though he called the pot size bet, it is Friday night on PartyPoker.com (fish heaven). If that guy had reraised the pot bet, I would have thought much longer about my all in. Oh well.

**UPDATE** I just had the exact same situation. Middle set, all spades on the board. I did the exact same thing. He bet half the pot and I pushed all in. I raised preflop with 99, and he called with T7 of spades. Luckily the board paird and I took the pot down :)

I've been playing so many cash games lately, I missed the Sit N Gos that I started my poker career playing. Granted, they are the biggest crapshoot in the world (on partypoker anyway), but I was bored and thought I would give it a go. I ended up getting third, profitting $9, but the hand I went out on I wonder if I could have avoided it. Here is the hand history:

***** Hand History for Game 2213607445 *****
NL Hold'em $10 Buy-in + $1 Entry Fee Trny:13131632 Level:7 Blinds(200/400) - Wednesday, June 15, 23:33:51 EDT 2005
Table Table 11882 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 3
Seat 3: McKim ( $2045 )
Seat 2: hin10 ( $2960 )
Seat 7: pocketJ0hns ( $2995 )
Trny:13131632 Level:7
Blinds(200/400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to McKim [ 3s 3h ]
hin10 raises [800].
McKim is all-In [1845]
pocketJ0hns folds.
hin10 calls [1245].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5s, Ks, Ad ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ah ]
** Dealing River ** [ Jh ]
hin10 shows [ 4s, 4c ] two pairs, aces and fours.
McKim shows [ 3s, 3h ] two pairs, aces and threes.
hin10 wins 4490 chips from the main pot with two pairs, aces and fours.

Now, obviously I am playing for 1st place here. If I win this pot I have a good shot at coming out 1st place and proffiting $39. If I lose, obviously I am stuck at third place because this guy has more chips than me. Maybe his raise should have clued me in to a possible higher pocket pair, but honestly I thought it was going to be a coin flip, which is why I pushed all in. Needless to say, I was a 4:1 underdog and boy do I wish it was a coin flop. Oh well. Tonight was just not my night.

I usually do not talk much when I am playing online. In fact, very rarely do I talk. But one of the players UTG made a comment that I thought was hysterical. I do believe I had a mighty funny come back too.

I'm on the button with ATo. UTG calls, one other caller. I have been playing very tight, so I decide to mix it up and raise to 1.25 (blinds .1 .25 cents, $25 buyin). UTG calls and the next guy folds. Heads up. Flop is A 5 2 rainbow. He checks, I bet $2 into the $2.5 or so pot. He calls. Turn is a Q. I am unsure of his hand so I am going to progress lightly. He checks the turn. I bet the pot, he just calls again. Well well, I'm beat. The river is a 5. For a board of A 5 2 Q 5. He checks. WTF? I check behind him. He shows A7 and I have AT for a split pot. He then says this in chat:

"u raise with a 10 lol...."

I then respond with:

"you call with a 7 lol....."

He or she leaves the table the next hand. Classic.

I am speechless. This is why I love Party Poker.

***** Hand History for Game 2147328878 *****
0/0 TexasHTGameTable (NL) - Fri Jun 03 04:29:52 EDT 2005
Table Table 37559 (Real Money) -- Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: blindeagel ( $15)
Seat 2: peloq ( $55.85)
Seat 3: SickMaxima99 ( $19.85)
Seat 4: MrFawlty ( $24)
Seat 5: Eastwind ( $43.54)
Seat 6: McKim ( $24.75)
Seat 7: lynus__ ( $39.4)
Seat 8: adie888 ( $47.7)
Seat 9: vindaloo13 ( $8)
Seat 10: mammadonna ( $25.1)
McKim posts small blind (0.1)
lynus__ posts big blind (0.25)
blindeagel posts big blind (0.25)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to McKim [ Ah, As ]
adie888 raises (5) to 5
mammadonna calls (5)
blindeagel folds.
peloq calls (5)
SickMaxima99 folds.
MrFawlty folds.
Eastwind folds.
McKim raises (24.65) to 24.75
McKim is all-In.
lynus__ folds.
adie888 folds.
McKim: ill show
mammadonna folds.
adie888: please do
peloq calls (19.75)
Creating Main Pot with $57 with McKim
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Tc, Jd, Qs ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Kh ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Jh ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: $57 | | Rake: $3
Board: [ Tc Jd Qs Kh Jh ]
peloq balance $31.1, lost $24.75 [ 6d Td ] [ two pairs, jacks and tens -- Kh,Jd,Jh,Td,Tc ]
McKim balance $57, bet $24.75, collected $57, net +$32.25 [ Ah As ] [ a straight, ten to ace -- Ah,Kh,Qs,Jd,Tc ]
adie888 balance $42.7, lost $5 (folded)
mammadonna balance $20.1, lost $5 (folded)