Musings of a poker couple..

Hey all,

So, I have neglected this blog for a little but, and my wife, whom I love dearly, as well has neglected this blog… HOWEVER, as I have begun to revamp my Foodie Blog (http://andrewmalowitz.wordpress.com) I decided its time to get back in the game.

Well Sara and I never really left the game, just writing about it. And the time for that has ended. Over the past few months a lot has happened with our family. Our puppy (even at 16 years old, he was still a puppy) passed on and we have a new guy that has not taken the place, but filled the gap of our family. My wife and I are starting our personal mission to get healthy so that our fur child will not be the only one at home, but a child to help complete our family here in the next year or so. But as for the wonderful mistress in our lives, poker, 2011 has been a year definitely thus far.

What started as a mission to create a dedicated bankroll, fell by the wayside with the amount of bills that kept surprising just before we had to say goodbye to Drake and say hello to Cooper, the new puppy. (I’m gonna try and get some pictures up so you can see the cuteness that they are/were). So the dedicated bankroll went away and now we are playing from reserves we have set aside….. FOR BILOXI!!!! Yes, my friends Sara and I are 4 days away from 2 glorious nights at that wonderful Gulf Area Resort town Biloxi MS. We have 2 nights at the Beau Rivage where I am looking forward again to getting at the tables of deepstacked 1/2 NL and real gambling at the craps tables.

So my friends strap your seat belts on and get ready for the new and improved Musings of a Poker (and I guess gambling) Couple. I have some great stories to share, including the 4/8 mix game at the Silks (Tampa Bay Downs) that I was instrumental in helping set up. Looking forward to getting back to writing and I hope you all to reading.

With joy and cheer

Andrew

A statement that is as exhilarating as it is devastating, and with 17 players remaining in Day 1B for the Florida Millions at Derby Lane (where 15 advance to the money round), that is what I picked up, Pocket Kings. However, let’s rewind back about 10 and a half hours.
I qualified to the Florida Millions through a MTT satellite, where I played really well. Made one loose call that even if I lost I would have plenty of chips remaining and sucked out and coasted into a Day 1 seat. Now that I advanced, it was time to play poker.
The blind structure is very favorable for this tournament, 15000 in chips, and 40 minute blinds so there was lots of play available for this tourney and I took advantage of that for the first 2 hours. I went from 15000 to around 20000 by the first break. Played real snug, looked at really tier 1 and 2 hands. Made a few plays, which if I thought there was no way to continue I would abort mission. Then after chipping up to about 25000, pocket Aces happened.
Late position with AA is not an advantageous place to be, especially in a deep stack tournament. Yes, it can yield major benefits, but can also cost you about 30-40% of your stack if not careful and I was not. I raised to 800 (blinds 100/200) and got 3 callers. Board comes 9,9,10 and I bet 2500. Player next to me calls and everyone else folds. Turn is an 8 and I check, she fires 2000, which I call. River is a Jack and I check, she fires another 3000, which I begrudgingly call and see the 9 I thought I would. A9 of hearts, which was well in her range and I walked into it. Now I am below 15000 and looking for something to happen, which I make a call which should have sent me home, but doubled me up.
Blinds have increased to 400/800 and I have AQ UTG. I raise to 3200 since the BB has been shown to defend and I wanted max pressure at the table. I have about 12000 behind and the tournament has been getting very frustrating for the past 2 hours or so. The table does fold to the BB who does put the other 2400 in and we see the flop. It comes 8,9, J. Immediately he shoves all-in and I just die a little inside. I just don’t get it, why shove? I know I only have about 12000 left, but why shove? If he hit the flop, wouldn’t he want me in just passing chips over and continuation betting? I sit there for a minute and stack my chips up and put them in. He turns over 7,6 off suit and now I just need to fade 14 cards, which I do and double up. Now over 30000 and feeling a little more comfortable I start getting cards, hands and chip up to about 75000 before our table gets broken and we are down to 50 runners.
We move tables and I have a strong aggressive table. I make a great call with a 7 high flush to recoup back to 65000 and then go over 100000 when my KK holds versus 99. We break at 30 players and then again at 20 players. I head to my last table with 130000 chips and the downward spiral starts. I have A9 clubs and raise to 11000 (blinds 1500/3000) and player to my left shoves for 30000 more. I think about folding but decide to go for a knockout and watch him roll over QQ and I’m down to 80000. Two more players leave the tournament and I have 76000 left when from the BB I pickup KK. The kid who snapped me off with QQ just 5 hands earlier raises to 20000, and a short stack sits there for about 2 minutes and is in agony. I never usually look before it gets to me, but I get impatient and look down at the two kings. He folds and I of course now shove in. I get snap called and he rolls over AA. Nothing of note comes out and I’m gone in 17th place. I played real well, made hard decisions and couldn’t have asked for a better opportunitiy, however I just could not find my way past a mistake and it cost me a nice payday. But this is definitely the start of great playing and if I can just maintain the same focus and concentration I can and will cash consistently in tournaments.

So I know we just started this blog and took some time away. Actually we’ve been collecting some really interesting stories to reveal soon, however, part 2 of that magical destructo weekend is ready and is from the point of view of Sara. This is from a real psychological POV, but a great question at the end and the response is forthcoming. ENJOY!

Cruel Mistress

We’ve all heard the old adage, poker can be a cruel mistress. She typically bares her claws right off the bat, second hand in KK vs AA, you walk away from the table in a daze wondering what happened. The only saving grace there is well, just wasn’t your day. You can soothe yourself with the idea that next session will be a good one.

Although nauseating, sessions like the one I had last weekend are all together far more annoying, and take greater emotional discipline to cope with. These sessions begin with loving caresses by the poker gods. Any and every card you play wins monster pots. You are chiding yourself for folding any two. You more than double up within the first hour, and are riding along feeling that all is right in the world and that you are that lucky untouchable person at the 9 man table right now. All is great until you feel the skin numbing touch of the cooler. The set up is brilliant. You are holding a flopped hard to see straight, and the psychotic loose aggressive 5-10 player waiting for a seat to open up in the “big game”, is involved in the hand. You are salivating, can’t wait to make a huge pot with this idiot who likely based on his past play, has two pair on his best day. You sat and diligently saw him gift an old man more than 300 dollars on a paired Ace board holding an underpair. You saw him make him raise the lead bettor on a queen high board when he held Q10 and they held AQ. So here you sit holding a hand which is the second best possible hand, and can’t imagine that him, the poster child for blind aggressive play is holding the best hand. Briefly you consider as you’re re-raised on a 764 flop that he could have 85 and own your 53. But it’s this guy, who’s shown no propensity to ever be holding a huge hand when he raises. You’d expect him to slow play you as most LAGs do when holding the eternal nuts. Every blog, poker book, and hours spent on the table brings you to this moment. He can’t have you, just can’t can he? You say with strong conviction “Allin”, and hear the most horrific sound one can experience at the tables. Without thinking for even a millisecond he answers “call, I have the nuts”. You sit there in stunned silence as your profit and half your initial buy-in is swiped away in the span of 20 seconds. You want to vomit, this was supposed to be your day, this was supposed to be the day you padded your bankroll. You feel robbed, punched in the gut and completely lost.  To make the insult complete, he quickly stacks up his chips and walks away. You are left holding a bag full of revulsion and regret. Where do you go now? How do you cope with sessions that turn that violently. Tune in next week for my answer to that eternally stinging question.

Where do I start? Where do I begin? I’m sure my wife has a starting point in this story, but I’m going to start even before we sat down at the Hard Rock, and talk about lunch at Moon Under Water in downtown St. Petersburg. I love this restaurant, but not today for some reason. The food was ok, but not what I expected. My fault for ordering a burger, it just wasn’t that good. I mean I did eat the whole thing, but it was just the start of a lack luster day.

I’ve been playing bad poker for about a month/2 months. My cash game, has just been pathetic. Chasing, overplaying, everything you do when you push, I’m doing. Today’s different though. I have a renewed energy, a new fantastic feeling inside and I’m ready to play, today. (OK, a little John Fogerty never hurts) But the warm fuzzy feeling inside is about to change, and not for the better.

So we sit down at the table, together, and right next to each other. I know a ton of people have already commented on us playing at the same table, but we actually prefer it so that we can see what the other is doing and how we can hope to improve our games. In actuality it turns in to a bickering session in which, without fail, an older woman or middle age man will chime in with, ‘That’s why I don’t play with my husband/wife. I could never do it. ‘ I like playing at the same table as my wife. It’s fun to play with her and guess what she’s doing and every now and then take a few chips from her (even though heads up she usually owns me).  However on this day, 45 minutes in, the day turned into a nightmare.

Ever feel like you see something one way, when in reality its completely the opposite. Well that’s where there downward spiral begins. Late position I pick up 89 off suit and limp in for 3 (1/3 game at the Hard Rock). Flop comes 6,8,10 rainbow. It checks to me, and I led out for 8 dollars. I get two callers and the turn brings Q of spades. Now I pick up the double gut-shot and have the pair, checks to me again and I check behind. Now, here’s where the horror begins. The 7 comes out (in spades). I hit my straight (not the nut straight). It checks around to me and I bet (into a better straight and flush possibility).  The person who was first to act raises to 60 and the woman next to him calls and I decide that THIS is the time to move all-in. Call, call and the guy turns over the flush. My jaw drops. He had the flush with the 10, he had hit top pair, but went runner-runner flush. The only saving grace is the woman had more money than him, and I got a bit of a discount, because she unbelievably mucked her cards. Then she tried to chop the pot saying she had the straight and showed the guy next to her. I got blessed to get back 35 dollars, but I never saw the flush and honestly should have just mucked my hand only invest 31 dollars instead of 160. I feel I see the game well, and know what I’m doing, but playing like this just is a bone crushing defeat that makes me want to run and get more money and win it back. Fun times so far on my poker adventures through Tampa, but  this is only one week of many left to play.