Poker Update – August 10th – Embarrassed at the poker table.

I played twice yesterday. I played to breakeven in the one hour morning session, but I played embarrassingly bad at night. I’m right back where I started a few weeks ago. I’d been able to hold onto some recent gains for a while even through a tough stretch of cards, but I lost it all back thanks to my stupidity. Idiot plays are described below.

I also decided to make a withdrawal. I’ll spend some, and I’ll probably move the rest over to PokerStars. They have a larger amount of players, so I’m hoping I can find more players I can beat. Plus, there are some issues with the places that I’ve been playing that I don’t like. I’ve only been playing there due to free money, and I can take my winnings to a better site.

I’d quit playing when the Poker “Ban” took effect, but I got a free $10 from Sportsbook.com. I worked it up to $100, but I kept getting the runaround on withdrawals because I needed to "Earn" the bonus. First, I just needed to play more to earn more points. Then, they completely flipped the script and said I needed to gamble 20 times the amount of the bonus in the sportsbook and wager at least 10 times ( 10 $20 bets). I had already accrued rake to pay the money back 5 times over, and I even offered to do 5 more times over to earn it in the poker room. Needless to say, they said no.

I’m not a sports gambler, so I just said screw sportsbook.com. Why own a poker site if you aren’t going to treat players with respect? There are too many other options. In my opinion, you need to cater to your poker clientèle's needs if you want to grow. I guess they don’t care about that though as they primarily want to be a sportsbook. It's no skin off my back. I'll just leave the money there. It's not like I deposited. I do miss the fish though...

I ended up moving over to Ultimatebet. I had some dead money (less than the withdrawal limit) plus some unearned bonus from a few years ago. I remember that you used to earn your bonus after every session of play, so I thought that might also help my returns. Now, however, they’ve implemented the RAISE program. Now you have to obtain 100 Ultimate points before your $5 is released at member status. Sickeningly, you don’t earn partial RAISE or Ultimate Points, so unless you want to wait to quit until your next RAISE point increment, you end up earning at least 110-115 Ultimate Points in order to get the bonus. Add in the $8 withdrawal fee, lack of tables at the .1-.25 level, and, of course, the Ultimatebet cheating scandal, and I think it’s time to move on.

After the surprise $8 fee for a check (there’s a fee as sportsbook.com too but none at Pokerstars), I left $42 in my Ultimatebet account, and I’ll play with it next weekend (after I’m over my embarrassment and before my check arrives). I’m going to move up from .05-.10 to $.10-$.25 since I’ve wanted to play that level. Just over 1 and ½ buy-ins in pretty much in the range of variance, so I won’t be surprised if I lose it all. Yes, I've been struggling, so I'm moving up...lol.

Idiot Hand 1: I’m in the big blind and I get a free look against one caller with connectors. The flop comes with two spades, but I end up with an open ended flush draw. I check, he makes a minimum bet, and I call.

The turn brings the 3 of spades. It makes my hand, but the danger of the flush is evident. I check my hand to see what happens. He bets the minimum again. I raise the minimum thinking that I’ll just string the hand along. I figure he has a small pair, so there is no need to get in a hurry. He reraises me. ALARM BELLS should be ringing, but I think my hand is good. He’s a loose aggressive player, and I think I can take him down here. What are the odds he has a flush here, anyway? In perhaps the dumbest move on Earth, I reraise him. There is NO WAY he calls me without a flush, so what am I betting for? Of course he rushes to get his hand in and he flips over a spade flush. There’s no need to comment. I know I’m stupid, and it's embarrassing to give money away like that. Sadly, I didn't quit then...

Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Seat 0: Villain 1 ($8.98)
Seat 1: Villain 2 ($4.04)
Seat 2: Villain 3 ($9.84)
Seat 3: Villain 4 ($4.19)
Seat 4: Villain 5 ($5.18)
Seat 5: Villain 6 ($2.35) -
Seat 6: Villain 7 ($9.75) -
Seat 7: Hero ($9.55) -
Seat 8: Villain 8 ($2)
Seat 9: Villain 9 ($4.56)


PRE-FLOP:

Villain 7 posts small blind $.05
Hero posts BIG blind $.10
Dealt To: Hero


FOLD Villain 8
FOLD Villain 9
FOLD Villain 1
FOLD Villain 2
FOLD Villain 3
CALL Villain 4 ($.10)
FOLD Villain 5
FOLD Villain 6
FOLD Villain 7
CHECK Hero


FLOP:

Pot: $0.25


CHECK Hero
BET Villain 4 ($.10)
CALL Hero ($.10)


TURN:

Pot: $0.45


CHECK Hero
BET Villain 4 ($.10)
RAISE Hero ($.20)
RAISE Villain 4 ($1.05)
RAISE Hero ($3.60)
RAISE Villain 4 ($3.99)
CALL Hero ($3.99)


RIVER:

Pot: $12.03




SHOWDOWN:
Villain 4:

MUCK Hero

Villain 4 collected $8.01 from main pot with flush, king high

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $8.43 Rake: $.42

Final Board:


Seat 3: 9s Ks Ts 4s 3s: flush, king high. - Net Gain/Loss: ($2.77)



Free hand converter brought to you by CardRunners

Idiot Hand 2: I don't even have the hand history as I quit before the hand could update. Here's a description of what transpired. I'm get JJ in early position, and I raise. I get called by one late position player. The flop comes Q, 8, 7. I decide to fire at the pot, and he calls. A five comes on the turn. There are now four suits on the table, so the flush is gone. I check the turn, and he checks behind me. The river is a 2. He raises the size of the pot. I think it's a curious bet size. If he really had a hand, why would he bet that much?

This is a defensible call if I make it. There is one overcard, he's shown no aggression at all, and all of a sudden he river bets. It could be that he wants to get paid off, but I once again ask myself, why bet so much? I checked the turn. Won't I just fold?

In my stupidity, I decide that this is a river bluff. I'm not only going to call him, I'm going to get aggressive and raise him all in. He doesn't think for a second and calls with QT. Yes, it is a marginal call on his part, but I NEVER, EVER, EVER, should have been raising here. I guess he'd seen my bad play earlier and targeted me as a fish. For this session, he was right...

Anyway, I guess I got until next weekend to cool and reevaluate. I'm sure I've made everyone feel better about their game by sharing my embarrassment.