Wednesday, May 07, 2008

On the Comeback Trail

So I sucked it up good in Razz in the Skills game last night. Actually I played the game quite well, got drawn out on a couple of times, made a couple of shitboats thanks to double-pairing on 6th and 7th, you know, the usual razz stuff. I think my favorite part of the entire night was that I played for about 90 minutes in the razz tournament, and somehow I managed to be rolled up not once, not twice but three times over just that hour and a half. As I told some bloggers in the girly last night, I could play Stud Hi on full tilt for six months and not be rolled up three times. Whenever I sit down for some razz I get dealt split Queens, buried Kings, and trips more times than I can count, making for a very frustrating experience. My personal highlight of the night was my elimination hand, when I was showing an Ace on 3rd street, bet and got called by an 8. Then I was dealt a 4 for an A4 showing, and the 8 was dealt a 7 for a 78 showing. So whem my A4 ass bet out, Mr. Dinkhead of course instacalled again. You know, because his 87 low has to be ahead of my A4-showing low. Well by that point I was very close to allin so I just put in the rest when I paired one of my low cards on 5th street, and fast forward 20 seconds later and there I am making a full house and losing to some 9 or 10-low hand.

Amazingly, that guy did not go on to win the razz event last night. I was shocked. But JD Schellnut did go on to nab his BBT3 Tournament of Champions seat, joining the likes of me and others who have won their way in via the Skills Series set of limit non-holdem events. Congratulations to JD for what I'm sure was a fine performance to outlast that field of donkeys in of all things a blogger razz event.

The good news from my end is that once again I played some solid poker last night. I know razz enough to know that I played well and that the big pots I lost were all played correctly by me, save for one dumb chase that I knew was dumb when I did it. Outside of gheyass razz, however, it was another strong night for me, the second in a row where my poker instincts have been right on despite a two-week hiatus due to the mono that still lingers in my system. I cashed nicely in a PLO tournament on pokerstars, only losing a few short of the final table when my AAxx lost allin pre to a fonkey who could not lay down QQJx to my allin reraise. But I had sucked out once or twice to get to that point in the tournament, so I'm not complaining. I played well and that is what's important.

I also cashed in my first attempt at an FTOPS ME satellite, which was the juicy $20 rebuy that ran somewhere around 9pm ish ET, I forget exactly when but I believe it's a nightly thing. These things are flat-out great tournaments, and I like to play the $10 rebuy sat into FTOPS #1 or this $20 rebuy into the Main Event whenever I can. In the end last night I ran AK into 33 and could not hold up to bust in 4th place out of 40-some runners with just the top 2 winning ME seats, but I still nearly tripled my money overall, and I cashed again for the second straight night in a satellite so that is all good. Once again I was able to play my big hands well, and one thing I have been focusing on these past few days is keeping the pots smaller when I am not holding a big made hand. Like I said, over the past few days since my return to the online felt, I have been playing solid poker, succeeding in doing what I am trying to do for the most part, so I am very happy to see that turn of events given my recent poker layoff. Most of all, as I mentioned yesterday my instincts appear to be right on, almost as if I took no time away at all, and that to me is huge with the WSOP coming up just right around the corner now.

Which reminds me, I want to say for the record here how totally fucking psyched up I am that so many of you appear to be on track to be in Vegas during that second weekend of June this year when I will also be in town. I had no idea when I wrote my post yesterday that there would be any sizeable crowd of bloggers in town for that second weekend, but I could not be happier to hear the list. I want to repeat, I definitely look forward to meeting up with each and every one of you guys, sharing a (non-alcoholic for me, sorry) beverage of some kind and shooting the shit. As the time gets closer someone should pick a time and a place for us all to meet up, if nothing else so I can attach some faces to some new names, and re-establish relations with a bunch of people with whom I have hung out before in my previous two summer trips to Vegas with the larger group. While I have to say that I am disappointed that some of the old school regulars have opted not to make the summer gathering any kind of a priority in their own lives anymore, obviously that is their decision to make, and I think it kicks some ass that there are so many of the newer crop of bloggers who are still interested in heading out to the city that never sleeps during World Series time. As a poker player and avid poker fan, I will say that personally there is nothing like being out there, hanging out at the Rio and seeing all the big stars from tv live and in person. For me, there is no better possible time to be in Las Vegas as a poker player than June/July during the World Series, and the thought that I will get to meet and/or hang out with a good bunch of bloggers while I'm there is a super great thing in my book.

Anyways, more on that as the time for my trip draws closer. For now, just know that my game is going well after some time away, and I'm ready to make my mark tonight in the Mookie. Obviously I will win tonight, I can feel it in my bones. No wait, that's actually just the mono, or as my older daughter M calls it when she tells everyone in the entire world that I am sick, "the mono disease". But you should definitely come out for the Mook, always the biggest and baddest of the weekly blogger tournaments. I will be there and in fact am already registered, so see you at 10pm ET on full tilt -- password as always is "vegas1".

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12 Comments:

Blogger Mondogarage said...

"My personal highlight of the night was my elimination hand, when I was showing an Ace on 3rd street, bet and got called by an 8. Then I was dealt a 4 for an A4 showing, and the 8 was dealt a 7 for a 78 showing. So whem my A4 ass bet out, Mr. Dinkhead of course instacalled again. You know, because his 87 low has to be ahead of my A4-showing low. Well by that point I was very close to allin so I just put in the rest when I paired one of my low cards on 5th street"

If my memory serves, as "Mr. Dinkhead", I will only say that when you saw my 87 showing, you didn't get to see the hidden A2 that went with it.

And knowing you're completing or raising any xxA in that spot, I had every reason to think that if I wasn't already ahead, my draw was certainly worth sticking around a hand you were already committed to.

If my not folding to naked short stack aggression with a decent-to-good draw earns me some unintentioned Hoy hater points, then so be it.

As for being unsurprised I didn't take it down, what can I say? The eventual winner caught 8762A to run down my 6th street 8763A (or 7652A ran down 7653A, I forget which) to cripple my stack. Whoever won that pot would have the dominant stack for the remainder.

I know you're a pretty damn arrogant dude. And that's cool, I like the blog in part because of your arrogance. But your easy dismissal of a number of us just because we don't have your record of NLHE cashes online is symptomatic, don'tcha think?

11:50 PM  
Blogger Hammer Player a.k.a Hoyazo said...

Mondo,

Did not realize that was you. And I don't think you're a hater just because you disagree with my view on that hand.

I dismiss no one, and I put no stock whatsoever in another person's "tournament record", regardless of how good or bad it is. Tournament history has no bearing whatsoever on someone's ability to make a good poker point or to contribute meaningfully to a poker discussion.

That was the worst razz play I saw on the night though. I didn't even know it was you let alone do I have any idea what your tournament record was or is. But drawing to an 87-low through four cards against an A4 betting on 3rd and 4th is atrocious.

That is a shitty hand for you to get eliminated on, I feel for you on that one. I lost a hand as well last night on the 4th-lowest card I was holding. Those losses always hurt worst in razz.

Thanks for the comment.

12:00 AM  
Blogger Mondogarage said...

For what it's worth, I'm not actually a "Hoy-hater", but I like earning points any way I can. Especially since I'm obviously likely not going to be playing in the TOC, playing only one BBT3 event per week.

Seriously, if I don't know your previous record of aggressiveness and if you have a real stack heading into that hand, there's a reasonable chance I fold on 4th. There's no way I fold 8(2A) on 3rd street in that spot, and not many of the other low cards were shown on the early board.

As much as anything else, you were victimized by your starting stack vs. mine in that hand, and your weak-looking shove on 5th street, when I knew you had no made hand. I could tell you didn't want me in that pot.

Your best play there would have been to check 5th and shove 6th, when your board actually looked made (I believe 6th paired one of your down cards, and I bricked 6th, though any non-pair was actually good enough).

12:12 AM  
Blogger CJ said...

mondo:

You will fail in any attempt to convince Hoy that his busting out had more to do with his play (getting short-stacked) than with you being a complete and total donkey with no working knowledge of Razz or poker in general.

He sleeps better at night that way.

2:28 AM  
Blogger Hammer Player a.k.a Hoyazo said...

Mondo,

You have succeeded in your attempt to convince me that my busting out had more to do with my play (getting short-stacked) than with you being a complete and total donkey with no working knowledge of Razz or poker in general.

Thank you for taking the time and making a cogent argument.




Dam I am good.

2:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well said everyone. I thought I busted Hoy and earned the title of Mr. Dinkhead (which I love BTW) but I'm glad Mondo stepped up and took the heat. I would like to be offically added to this Hoy-hater points list thingy Mondo keeps brining up though.

2:51 AM  
Blogger Mondogarage said...

I dunno who came up with Hoy-hater points, but someone talked about it in a blog once, and I got a kick out of it.

Truth is, this is one of a smallish number of blogs I read daily...

3:10 AM  
Blogger BamBam said...

It was a tough night as expected in a Blonkament where not everyone is familiar with RAZZ or for that matter, any of the STUD variations. But I look at it this way, you all put up with me learning NLHE for a year or so now so, why can't I take a beat now and again in a STUD format?

It was the point of the Skills games in the first place right? To get some variation, keep it fresh and enrich our poker blonkey experience.

It may be a but rough here and there, but I think Waffles had an excellent point. First break and not a single bust out.

I managed 9th as the money bubble donkey, when I couldn't lay down the A-2-3-4-6 made by fifth street and the 5 came to replace the 8 for my opponent on 7th. meh!

As for the central meeting point. I'm trying very hard to start a campaign for The Geisha Bar at the IP on Thursday the 12th.

Would you be interested in putting that out there to the crowd too?

3:36 AM  
Blogger Iak said...

Am very glad to see you on the mend. As your personal physician I think it's only appropriate you sue my ass for deriliction of duty.

Oh yeah, see you at the Mookie tonight when I will do my best to either donate my stack or snap yours off.

3:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How many Hoy-hater points do I have? Where can I find this list, so I know how many I need to move up a spot?

9:26 PM  
Blogger Avi said...

Not to nitpick but one cannot make a full house in Razz. For example, 3-3-3-2-2-A-K would be a Razz hand of 2-2-K-3-A. Also, based on both yours and mondogarage's recreation of the hand he is absolutely correct to call you on third and pretty much has no choice on fourth given your stack size. The fact the you went bust on a hand that started off better does not negate the way mondogarage played the hand. Besides, getting drawn out on in Razz is literally the entire point of the game. It is a drawing game and therefore, people will draw out on you. Hey, I just stunk it up the whole tournament and have nobody but myself to blame. But as far as your bustout and getting called by an 8-7 up against your 4-A is not that big a deal. And I am certainly not a "Hoy Hater" as yours is one of my favorite blogs to read. I only speak the truth.
~TMS

11:41 AM  
Blogger Avi said...

By the way, can we buy cool stuff or get free entries in tournaments with Hoy Hater points? Is their a store at which I can spend them? I don't think I have any but you never know when you might get some. LOL.
~TMS

11:44 AM  

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