Some people think that poker is a way of life; I refuse to buy into that plan.
I will agree that there are some life lessons in poker, like never gamble your life savings or that you are invincible. But sometime you need to go with your inner donkey!
I will be the first to admit that this hand is about as donkey as it gets, but I had one of those feelings.
The blinds are $200 -$400. I am fifth from the dealer and I look down at 9s 7s. The first player to act calls the $400 and now it's time for me to make up my mind. I have too many players in front of me to even make this call, and yet I do. Next player calls and then a fold. The dealer decides to make a pot size raise. Small blind folds and so does the big blind. It's now time for me to call, raise or fold.
I decide to listen to my inner donkey, and by calling, I will be able to see the flop. (The true play should be a fold.)
Every other player at the table does what I truly should have done and folds their cards. It's now time to see the flop. The flop comes out as Kh, 9h, Qh.
I am first to act after the flop and I lead out a bet of $800. I get hit with a re-raise to $1,600.
I really should be folding and saving face. I could fold and tell them nice hand, and if they ask, say I had a pair of Jack's or a very small pair and I was hoping to hit the flop. There would be no shame with that!?
I decide to make the call. (What a bum move on my part.) Here comes the turn. It's a 7h. Wow, I now have two pair! But I am beat! I do not have a heart in my hand, and it will only take one to beat me for a flush.
I check and wait for my fate. Just like I thought here comes a bet. The dealer leads out a bet of $2,000. I know I am beat, and I am sure it's by a flush. But I look at my hand one more time and I am compelled to make the call.
My brain is telling me to give up the ghost; I should lick my wounds and live to fight another day. I will only have $2,500 left if I make this call and blinds are about to go up.
It's time to make up my mind, and I decide not to listen to the right play and make the call. Here comes to river the card that will make me or break me!
The river comes a 7c and my heart skips a beat, but I remain claim. The real question now is how can I get more money out of this player? If I check, then I risk the player to check with me and I get no more chips.
I run every conceivable play in my head and I fall back to the check. If the other player checks then I will be happy with the pot. That is not what happens! I hear the best question in the world to me at this point in the hand. HOW MUCH YOU GOT LEFT?
I reply with my chip count and the next thing I hear is, I will put you all in!
I make the call in a split sec and flip over my boat, and I hear the immortal words from the table, "You are donkey!?"
My opponent shows me the nut flush.
In closing, I played this hand completely wrong and I got lucky! This time my donkey needs no dojo, it just needs more victims
Visit:
http://www.tdpro.com/
http://www.prodealerbuttons.com/
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Enter the Donkey
Bruce Lee was and maybe is the greatest martial artist of all time. As a child, I loved to watch his movies. One movie always stands out: "Enter the Dragon". This movie is a classic; no other movie of its type can compare!You might be asking yourself why I am writing about Bruce Lee and his movies. Well, I must confess that I might not have Bruce Lee mad skills. However, I do possess the power of the "Donkey". Just ask my friends!
I do not claim to be the best poker player in the world, but I like to think that on a good day when I am really focused on what is happening around me, that I can always win the event at hand.
Every Saturday I find myself playing a home game with friends that I have been playing with for years. I feel like I know how they play and why they play the way they do. With this thought in mind, I get lazy with my play and it shows. So, I decide it's time to play better, and I was having great success. I won one of our home tournaments, and then I went to a charity event the next day and took that event with ease.
But this Saturday I had in mind that I would play even better. I did a little practice run on "Full Tilt" on their "Matrix" game with a 10K buy-in (play money) and placed really well. Game 1 (1st), Game 2 (2nd), Game 3 (1st), Game 4 (1st) and over all 1st place. So, going into the night's event, my confidence is high.
It's now time to play poker, and we have a great Saturday night turnout. We have 21 players for this event. Everyone has brought a dish to share, and we can't wait for the first three rounds to be over with so we can start eating dinner.
I found myself doing very well the first couple of blind rounds, and I have a big stack compared to the table. The blinds are 30/60, so I decide to play my 4c, 5c because I was first to act and I had chips to spare. (Wow, what was I thinking?) We had a couple of new guests playing tonight and I had one of them at my table. She was the only unknown at my table. I felt I could out-play her, and if I hit a hard bump in the road, it should not be a big deal to lay down my hand if I needed too. She calls the big blind. The little blind folds and big blind checks
So we only have 3 players in the hand: me, her and the big blind. The flop comes out Ac, 3c, 5h. (What a flop for me, I am thinking.) I decide to make a stab at the pot. So I bet a little over 3x the pot, making the bet $600. The new girl calls and big blind folds.
I look at her, and I am thinking she has just hit her Ace. Do I need to back off a little? I only have a pair of 5s right now, with a Straight draw, a Flush draw and a Straight Flush draw. No, I am really not thinking that! I am thinking to myself I need to show weakness to get more money out of her for I have lots of outs.
The turn comes a 4s. My inner self wants to explode with joy! I got her on a high Ace and an unknown kicker, I have the opportunity to hit a Straight Flush, Flush, Straight and now a Boat. Plus I now have Two Pair! How can I lose?!
I lead out a $1,800 bid! I want this pot! I want it now! She thinks about it for a minute or so and CALLS! What is going on here? What is her kicker? Could it be a 3, 4 or a 5? No it can't be! But wait she's a new player, but how new is she to the game?
The River flop's a Js, I think about what to do for a split second and my inner voice said check! So I listen and check! She leads out a bet of $600, at this point I need the information on her and the only way to obtain that is to pay the $600. I make the call and what to my surprise she shows me Trip Jacks. All I can say is, "Good hand," and think to myself that my inner donkey needs to go back to the dojo!
Visit:
http://www.tdpro.com/
http://www.prodealerbuttons.com/
I do not claim to be the best poker player in the world, but I like to think that on a good day when I am really focused on what is happening around me, that I can always win the event at hand.
Every Saturday I find myself playing a home game with friends that I have been playing with for years. I feel like I know how they play and why they play the way they do. With this thought in mind, I get lazy with my play and it shows. So, I decide it's time to play better, and I was having great success. I won one of our home tournaments, and then I went to a charity event the next day and took that event with ease.
But this Saturday I had in mind that I would play even better. I did a little practice run on "Full Tilt" on their "Matrix" game with a 10K buy-in (play money) and placed really well. Game 1 (1st), Game 2 (2nd), Game 3 (1st), Game 4 (1st) and over all 1st place. So, going into the night's event, my confidence is high.
It's now time to play poker, and we have a great Saturday night turnout. We have 21 players for this event. Everyone has brought a dish to share, and we can't wait for the first three rounds to be over with so we can start eating dinner.
I found myself doing very well the first couple of blind rounds, and I have a big stack compared to the table. The blinds are 30/60, so I decide to play my 4c, 5c because I was first to act and I had chips to spare. (Wow, what was I thinking?) We had a couple of new guests playing tonight and I had one of them at my table. She was the only unknown at my table. I felt I could out-play her, and if I hit a hard bump in the road, it should not be a big deal to lay down my hand if I needed too. She calls the big blind. The little blind folds and big blind checks
So we only have 3 players in the hand: me, her and the big blind. The flop comes out Ac, 3c, 5h. (What a flop for me, I am thinking.) I decide to make a stab at the pot. So I bet a little over 3x the pot, making the bet $600. The new girl calls and big blind folds.
I look at her, and I am thinking she has just hit her Ace. Do I need to back off a little? I only have a pair of 5s right now, with a Straight draw, a Flush draw and a Straight Flush draw. No, I am really not thinking that! I am thinking to myself I need to show weakness to get more money out of her for I have lots of outs.
The turn comes a 4s. My inner self wants to explode with joy! I got her on a high Ace and an unknown kicker, I have the opportunity to hit a Straight Flush, Flush, Straight and now a Boat. Plus I now have Two Pair! How can I lose?!
I lead out a $1,800 bid! I want this pot! I want it now! She thinks about it for a minute or so and CALLS! What is going on here? What is her kicker? Could it be a 3, 4 or a 5? No it can't be! But wait she's a new player, but how new is she to the game?
The River flop's a Js, I think about what to do for a split second and my inner voice said check! So I listen and check! She leads out a bet of $600, at this point I need the information on her and the only way to obtain that is to pay the $600. I make the call and what to my surprise she shows me Trip Jacks. All I can say is, "Good hand," and think to myself that my inner donkey needs to go back to the dojo!
Visit:
http://www.tdpro.com/
http://www.prodealerbuttons.com/
The ProDealer Buttons™ Advantage
Advantage
The ProDealer Buttons™Advantage
The marvel of the ProDealer Buttons™ System is that it takes all of the mundane game management tasks and performs each to perfection, automatically. No more running from table-to-table or shouting out to update times, blinds and antes. Each table is self-managed and everyone knows precisely where the game is at all times.
It’s a fantastic tool for everyone who plays Texas Hold ‘Em, but the button really shines when you invite more friends over than one table can handle (a problem that happens all too often with the explosive popularity of poker.) Because you and your friends’ buttons can sync with each other, every player at every table is always on the same page.
Anyone who has managed a friendly or professional game of poker will tell you: providing blinds, antes, and remaining time-of-play to multiple players across multiple tables is a formidable job. But with the ProDealer Buttons™ System, players can let the buttons take care of those critical-yet-mundane tasks and, instead, focus on executing a winning strategy.
By connecting the Dealer Button to an Internet-capable computer through the USB port, users can also use the System to download pre-configured game templates from the TDPro Web Site or create their own custom game templates and save them to their online user account.
If you choose to play with only the Dealer Button or the entire ProDealer Buttons™ Set, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to prepare for game events and manage them from start to finish without issues.
http://www.prodealerbuttons.com/
The ProDealer Buttons™Advantage
The marvel of the ProDealer Buttons™ System is that it takes all of the mundane game management tasks and performs each to perfection, automatically. No more running from table-to-table or shouting out to update times, blinds and antes. Each table is self-managed and everyone knows precisely where the game is at all times.
It’s a fantastic tool for everyone who plays Texas Hold ‘Em, but the button really shines when you invite more friends over than one table can handle (a problem that happens all too often with the explosive popularity of poker.) Because you and your friends’ buttons can sync with each other, every player at every table is always on the same page.
Anyone who has managed a friendly or professional game of poker will tell you: providing blinds, antes, and remaining time-of-play to multiple players across multiple tables is a formidable job. But with the ProDealer Buttons™ System, players can let the buttons take care of those critical-yet-mundane tasks and, instead, focus on executing a winning strategy.
By connecting the Dealer Button to an Internet-capable computer through the USB port, users can also use the System to download pre-configured game templates from the TDPro Web Site or create their own custom game templates and save them to their online user account.
If you choose to play with only the Dealer Button or the entire ProDealer Buttons™ Set, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to prepare for game events and manage them from start to finish without issues.
http://www.prodealerbuttons.com/
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