Wednesday, November 26, 2008

You decide

I played in a poker tournament late last week, and have been struggling with one hand in particular that caused my entire table to criticize me for a perceived bad decision. I will explain the entire situation, giving my reasoning for how I played this hand, then I would appreciate it if you could let me know if I played it like a donkey or not.

Vital Stats
Starting Chips: $3000          Blinds: $25/$50
My Stack: $5000      Opponent's Stack: $1100

Still in the first blind level, I have had a lot of success, and find myself in the Big Blind. Everyone folds around to the dealer, who limps in and the small blind calls as well. I look at my cards, and have A-5 of Diamonds, which I figure is the best hand, but decide to check, hoping that if an Ace is flopped, no one would give me credit for having one in my hand.

The flop comes down Ah-Kd-Ks, and I figure to be miles ahead of the other 2 players in the hand. The Small Blind checks, so I decide to try and play the hand as planned. No one expects me to have an Ace, so I bet $250. I hear the SB make a noise as if to say "BULLSHIT!" as I make the bet. It's subtle, but I've known him for a long time, and played many, many hands of poker with him.

The dealer thinks about it for a minute, but folds, and the SB pushes all in with supreme confidence and absolutely no hesitation. Like I said, I've played a lot of poker with this guy, he's renown for making huge bluffs, and is generally not very successful with them. His raise is $800 over top of my $250, and I now have a lot to consider.

If he has a King, he's got me slaughtered, but with no "acting" before pushing all-in, I really don't think he's got a King. He could have a better Ace than I do, in which case there's still a decent chance we could chop, but the fact that he limped in preflop leaves me skeptical that could have an Ace when he was getting so short-stacked.

So I conclude that with no obvious flush draw, my opponent likely has a small pocket pair or a complete bluff, and I'm leaning towards the bluff again based on his lack of preflop action. There's also the possibility that he's makiing a play against me, playing the player, not the cards. In this case, I look like a genious, because he assumes I am bluffing at this pot, because I did't raise preflop, so he doesn't suspect an Ace, and I wouldn't likely bet if I had a King. Therefore, maybe he's just trying to push me off my bluff, regardless of what he has.

The cards get flipped over, and he's got K-3, and I'm in terrible shape. I've only got about a 12% chance of winning at this point, and another player at the table blurts out "let's see runner-runner diamond for the flush!".

Well, as you might have guessed, that's exactly what happened. I still had only a 22% chance when the 2nd diamond hit on the turn, but caught my miracle, and caused the first elimination of the tournament as a result. I actually did feel sort of bad for the guy, it was a terrible "beat" and I've been there many times before.

Then came the onslaught of criticism from every other player at that table for the next 30 minutes. To them, it was painfully obvious what the other player had, and they couldn't understand my call with just an A-5. Shocked by my unusual luck in winning the hand, I was flustered to explain my decision adequately, which only added to their disapproval.

My decision was based on the reputation of my opponent and the amount of chips he had. If I were playing someone else, or if he had more chips in front of him, I probably don't make that call in that situation. Now that I've said my peace, I'd love to hear back from anyone, good or bad.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

The Slumpbuster

In all forms of competition there seems to be a time when even the best competitors appear to be performing at a level less than they are capable. There seems to be no logical reason for it, and no explanation on how to fix it. This is commonly known as a slump.

On an average week, I play in three to five No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker tournaments, and although it’s not for big money like the pros play, the level of play is generally pretty good, and each tournament is taken very seriously. As every poker player should do, I keep track of statistics and make notes about each tournament I play in. 2006 was my best year in four years of playing Hold’em, but I endured a two month period that had me leaving the table shaking my head in disbelief.

I’m sure every poker player has suffered the notorious “Bad Beat’. This is when, for example, you’re holding Ace-Jack, the flop brings AJ- 4, and you push the remainder of your chips into the pot, knowing you almost certainly have the best hand. One player, usually with a lot more chips than you, calls your all-in, and flips over Ace-4. You both have 2 pair and you pair of Jacks beats his pair of fours, but when another 4 shows up on the river, giving your opponent a full-house and the winning hand, all you can do is stand up from the table, shake your head and walk away.

In the example used here, you pushed all-in and were a huge favorite to win the pot, but poker is a game of statistics, which means if there’s an 80% chance for you to win the hand, then there’s also a 20% you will lose. When the improbable 20% chance actually comes through, we curse the Poker Gods for their cruelty. The two month slump I most recently went through featured a string of 15 consecutive tournaments where I never finished in the top 50%. I’m sure this is something every poker player feels he has dealt with. Almost every hand I was eliminated with, I was a statistical favorite.

There are a lot of reasons why this happens. I was playing too many hands early in the tournament, and taking too many chance, resulting in being shortstacked after a few blind raises, forcing me to play hands more aggressively than I would otherwise like to do. But what about the other times?

To answer this, I look to the slump. I feel I was playing well, but for no logical reason, the Poker Gods seemed to be conspiring against me. Now, I don’t honestly believe that there is some supernatural force watching me play poker and making bad things happen to me, but this form of superstition can be found in all forms of competition, especially during a slump.


So how do you break out of a slump? In professional sports, I have heard many stories of players doing a variety of things to stop a slump. Anything from altering a superstitious pre-game ritual to altering their style of play or even shaving their heads. Then you have the Slump-Buster.

"Slump-Buster" is a term I first heard about from an interview on the Jim Rome Show with baseball star Mark Grace (pictured here while playing for the Cubs). Now retired. Mark Grace describes the type of woman who he believes helped him overcome on-field struggles.

When Grace (who’s name now appears to bring new meaning to the term “irony”) would find himself in a hitting slump he would seek out "the gnarliest, ugliest chick" he could find and attempt to "lay the wood to her". If he was successful, the next day he was sure to break out of his slump, hence the phrase.

Now, I’m not recommending that you do anything of this sort, but instead I’m offering a fresh idea. An offering so great, that the Poker Gods will most assuredly look down upon you, and grant you favour and good fortune at the poker table. The next time you find yourself in this type of a slump, and you peek at your hole cards to find pockets Aces, fold them. If possible, show everyone at the table what you’re doing. You’ve just made poker’s ultimate sacrifice.

Does it sounds crazy and superstitious? Of course it does, there’s no such thing as Poker Gods, and it’s idiotic to lay down the best hand possible. On the other hand, it’s worked for me...twice, and I won’t hesitate to do it again if I feel I need to.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Poker Hottie - Clonie Gowen

As suggested by the banner above, every week I will be featuring a female poker player or hostess to present a softer side of the poker world. Women rarely get the credit or attention that they deserve in the world of poker, here's my tribute to them.

This Weeks HOTTIE - Clonie Gowen


As a former Miss Teen Oklahoma, Clonie is recognized as one of the best female poker players in the world. She is a mother of 2, and enjoys scuba diving when she's not playing poker.

Clonie started playing poker while living in Dallas where she had to drive to Shreveport, Louisiana on weekends to find a game. She soon earned national recognition when she followed up her Top 10 finish at the World Poker Tour Costa Rica Classic with a win at the WPT Ladies' Night event in 2003, then the highest rated WPT show ever broadcast.

She made two more television appearances in 2005, placing seventh in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold 'em Ultimate Poker Challenge tournament and third in the FullTiltPoker Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. Since then, Clonie placed third in the FullTiltPoker Pro Showdown at the Red Rock Casino and is a two-time winner on Poker After Dark, collecting $120,000 for each individual performance.

In 2008, Clonie cashed in four separate events at the WSOP and took down the single largest win of her career, banking nearly $438K for her victory at the Bellagio Cup’s $5K No-Limit Hold ‘em event. Her career earnings exceed $700,000.

Away from the tournament table, Clonie has served as a guest commentator for the Ultimate Poker Challenge and the European World Poker Championship in Dublin and is a regular columnist for All In Magazine. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Poker Association and frequently hosts tournaments and charity events as part of her mission to help beginning players learn the basics of tournament play so that they too can become successful tournament players.