Live Action

Took a trip out to Phoenix to check out the some Cactus League action with Brackchips. Before I had a chance to check out some games, my friend Ryan introduced me to a juicy live game in Tempe. I have not played much live poker this year (online poker is exponentially more profitable and I feel as if my edge is bigger) so I was definitely excited for some live action.

Before I get into any hands…I will say this – despite the fact that I enjoy playing live with friends socially, playing live with a bunch of random degenerate strangers makes me want to throw the up. Most of these guys were just complete slobs, and the endless whining about bad beats was nauseating.

One other things…live players SUCK. Weak. Tight. Passive. I am no expert in NLHE by ANY means, but most of the players at this game played their hands face up.

Once the cards were in the air I quickly started establishing my image opening any two playable cards…regardless of position. I like playing fast right out of the gate, it allows me to either tighten up if villains are playing back at me, or get paid off big when I get a big hand.

Not much action for the first 30 minutes, I decided to open up my 3 betting range. I 3b an CO stealer with 34o and took it down without a flop and flashed the 3c. One of the guys at the table remarked how just showing one card didn’t mean anything. Ummm…dude how good could my other card have been? Think about it for a second buddy. Very next hand I get dealt AKdd and 3b a UTG raiser, he flat calls. Flop is AA4 with two hearts. Villain check calls a 2/3 pot bet and the turn is a 9h. He checks and I tank a bit – villain seemed competent enough that he wouldn’t check call with a FD oop on a paired board…so I overbet shove and he calls off (he mucked quickly so I really have no clue what he had, might have been something like TT-JJ? It is very unlikely he had the case A, and he seemed really uncomfortable during the entire hand, not the look of someone who flops trips).

On to of my favorite hands of my entire life…I open in MP with J9cc to $8. SB (solid player) and BB (weakest player at the table) complete from the blinds. On a flop of AT5 rainbow, the BB check calls my $20 cbet and leads into me for $20 when a Q comes on the turn…WTF!?!? This was about 2 hours into the night, and it was the first time he had seen a turn card, so I was a little concerned with him betting into me. Its tough trying to read someone if they do not know wtf they are doing! I had an OESD, so I decided to peel one off and see what he did on the river. River came a blank and he checked and I made a weak bet (BIG MISTAKE) of $60 in hopes of him folding. He tanked FOREVER and finally called because he though I “didn’t have anything.” Good call mate! Now for the kicker…guess what he tabled?

Two black kings.

Notable stat…I played for about 3.5 hours and despite open raising roughly 25% of all pots, I was only 3 bet ONCE. WTF?!?!? I never got 4b either. I guessss everyone was playing their cards, LOL.

Brackchips was sitting at the kiddy table most of the night, but eventually moved over to the 1/2 game. He played exactly two hands in a little over an hour and fropped a set both times, ROR. He got max value out of both hands…all the money went in on the flop with his villain drawing almost dead both times.

Overall had pretty good success at the table, ended up about a buyin...back to the cyberfelt!