They just can’t throw away a hand, it’s beautiful!

Can you believe she’s engaged to David Benyamine?

Anyway, here’s one of the pictures, you can check out the rest by clicking it. (And yes, she does go nude!)

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We’re playing 1/1 with a max buy-in of 100BB’s. There were 3 big stacks at the table, including myself. I’d been playing a fairly tight game untill this hand came up, only showing down top starting hands. So, with these big stacks out there I decided to switch gears a bit and started to play somewhat looser.

I look down at Q8 under the gun (a marginal hand in that position) and decide to min-raise to 2€, just to do something funky and keep my opponents guessing. The player to the left of me makes it 10€. The player next to him calls and so does the button and the big blind. With so much money already out there I decide to call too, hoping to hit the flop hard.

The flop comes down: Q89.

I flop two pair. Big blinds checks, I check too (to see what happens, and maybe check-raise the original raiser if he doesn’t get called by anyone else). The original pre-flop raiser bets out 15€, and the player next to him makes it 40€. The 2 other players fold and it’s my turn to act now.

Now, with a flop like that there are obviously a lot of hands that have me beat. Someone could have flopped a set or a straight. Although I don’t read my opponents that strong, especially not the pre-flop raiser (I put him on an over-pair or less). With so much money out there and a fairly decent hand I decide to call, but to proceed the hand cautiously. Just as I expected the player left of me (the pre-flop raiser) doesn’t re-raise and decides to call too.

The turn is the most beautiful card in the deck: Q89 Q

That card all of a sudden gives me the second nuts! Yet, it’s only the second nuts, so I’m a bit worried, but at the same time very confident that my hand is best. I check, looking to check-raise. Then something unexpected happens, the pre-flop raiser (the one who I read weak) puts 75€ in the pot. The player next of him min-raises him to 150€. And while I’m thinking about my decision the other player acts before his turn and moves all-in for 60 more. His action is binding btw, so he is obliged to move in, whatever I decide to do.

I must admit I was confused at that point. Looking at how the hand was played, especially the pre-flop action, I surely can’t put anyone of these 2 players on Q9 right? So, figuring I still have the best hand, and the other player is probably pushing with a straight or a smaller full, I decide to just call and let him do the pot-building.

The other player calls and so do I (I can’t re-raise ‘caus the all-in doesn’t count as a raise). The river is the K. Although my hand gets beaten by KK or KQ now, I still see that card as a blank and move in for my last 60€, and the other player calls.

Showdown: the pre-flop raiser had 88, and the other player had 99! I spiked a 2 outer on the turn against 2 sets.They were both stunned and couldn’t believe I raised and called a re-raise pre-flop with Q8. Because of a pretty cold deck and me shifting gears at the perfect time, I rake in a pot worth of 995€. Real cooler for my opponents, really sweet for me.

Hand #1: the importance of raising when the odds are in your favour.

I capped the bets on the flop because my hand is a favourite a high percentage of the time. It’s always a good idea to raise or re-raise when you think you’re a mathematical favourite, although you’re only on a draw. This will result in a long turn profit.

Oh yeah, and don’t ask me what Mr. meltdown19 was doing in that hand, LOL.

Hand #2: the right turn, at the right moment and the perfect river to finish it off.

Although I take a little gamble by checking my set on the flop in such a crowded hand, it played out perfectly. That ace gave my opponents just enough confidence to commit some chips. And the nine on the river sealed the deal: not only did it give me the absolute nuts, my opponents improved to a full-house.

Hand #3: and sometimes you just get a right flop.

I flop a straight, he flops a set. The board doesn’t pair and I win a nice pot. End of story. Sometimes it’s really that simple.

As a result I haven’t played that much poker this month, although I did go on a poker weekend with a friend of mine at the beginning of July. We spend 2 and a half days playing 1/2€, but mainly due to some crazy suck-outs (I had aces cracked twice when a monkey moved all-in with an underpair and made a set) I booked a 570€ loss.

After that weekend I only played in two 1/1€ games, but because of very bad play I lost five 100€ buy-ins. As a result I lost my whole profit of the month June, and 25% of my live bankroll. Time to slow down a bit and think things over.

And the other hand, my online LHE experiment is going quite well. It’s been on a hold a few weeks, but I started playing again two days ago. I know, I know, a few session don’t tell everything, but I’m pretty confident that this experiment will allow me to build a decent online bankroll. Especially when the hands keep coming and the other players keep playing like morons.

I’ll keep you all posted.

Well, I thought the same think would happen in my last online LHE session, when I was holding the nuts and my opponent kept reraising me. But only, he didn’t have the nuts!

LOL Donkaments!

Like I said in the previous post: it’s a goldmine out there.

True, the amount you can win in one single hand is smaller than in No-Limit (duh!), but Limit Hold’em might be one of the most action packed poker games out there these days. Players stay in hands way too long with a marginal hand, chase draws even when they are drawing dead, fill up and as a result donk a lot of cash away in short periods of time. And the best part: because the pots stay relatively small, they don’t get the feeling they are loosing big, so they KEEP donking chips away.

A good example:

And the best part: ‘lebruske’ was one of the better players at the table! It’s a goldmine out there, go check it out.

In part one Daniel talks about his teenage years, his first bracelet, his rise as a professional poker player and tells a very funny story about McDonalds and Evelyne Ng.

In part two he talks about his miracle year 2004, his religious beliefs (yep) and the difference between live and online poker (AND a funny impression of an internet kid -lol).

Great interview indeed.

Although struggeling with a short-stack for most of the tournament I managed to make it to the final table. But at that final-table I doubled up twice fairly quickly, and with only 5 players remaining I knocked out 2 of them at once with pocket kings, giving me 60% of all the chips in play. I even got heads up with a 8 to 1 chip advantage, so the match was quickly over.

(Too bad hand history was disabled, otherwise I could have shown you some of the key hands.)

It feels good to finally book a win again!

Few days ago I was playing in a very friendly small-stakes cash game (actually the game is just an excuse to drink and get stoned amongst friends. ) Anyway, during that session a very fun hand came up.

I was playing a VERY agressive game, almost playing any 2 cards, raising and re-raising every pot. We were playing 0,10/0,20c blinds and I was losing about 20$. I picked up KK under the gun and made my standard raise to 1$ (or 5BB’s). I got two callers behind me. Then the miracle flop hit: KK9. I checked and the player next to me made it 2$ into the 3,40$ pot. The other player folds and I casually throw the chips in (just like I’m floating to hit a pair or am drawing to a flush). The pot is now almost 8$ and we both have about 20$ behind. The turn is a perfect blank: 2. I’m thinking how to get his whole stack in by the river and decide to check, hoping he has 9 or bigger pair and he’ll bet out again. And he does, betting 5$ and again I flat call, hoping that the river is a total blank again. The perfect card completes the board: 3.

Now, my opponent’s actions so far suggests he has a 9 or better. I don’t think he would bet out his flushdraw on the flop and he certainly wouldn’t bet out his draw again on the turn. The question is: if I check will he bet with his hand behind me. I was convinced he would, for several reasons: I was playing a very loose game, so the chance his 9 was good was fairly big. He was stuck, so he probably wanted to extract as much value as possible out of this hand. He could easily have an even stronger hand then just 2 pair, he could have for example flopped a full house with 9’s, and a hand that strong he would certainly bet. And in the rare chance he had nothing, I still give him some room to hang himself. So, I checked.

He didn’t even think long to decide his bet amount: 9$ into a 18$ pot, leaving 6$ of his stack behind. I instantly went all-in and that’s when things got funny.

He looked at me and asked: “Do you have a king?” I chuckled, looked at him and said: “Well, maybe I have two?” The others players at the table instantly knew I had flopped quads, but my opponent was still oblivious to what was going on. Still I felt like I needed to say something to push him over the edge. I said: “I would never check trips kings on the river with that board. Would I now?” He agreed with me and called.

When I turned over my hand he said: “Well, I have to admit that I’m not suprised. Nice speech dude.” The table laughed out loud.