Sorry Hanley

so I saw this video on youtube and I couldn't help myself. I particularly like the "BC has better Christians" comment.... Enjoy.

The Only Game Played at the World Series

Quick hat-tip to the blogging by my college buddy John on his poker blog. John finished 18th in last year's WSOP Main Event. He has over a half million in tournament winnings. He's starting Day 2B of the M.E. in just a few minutes.

"Key Hand #5: Level 3, 150-300
I think if I had to pick, this would go down as "hand of the day" yesterday (although there are some other candidates coming). So for this hand, we need to reflect on Barbara Enright and what we'll just call "solid poker player". She's plenty smart enough to put someone else on a huge hand and lay down a big hand if bets are laid out in a PERFECT manner. Trust me, one miss step and any seasoned player will see right through your bluff and crush you (I know, I feel like I make huge calls with marginal hands when playing at the Commerce in L.A. because bad players make bluffs that just don't make sense...and if it doesn't make sense, it actually becomes an easy call despite how big the bet might be). Anyway, I'm in the BB and she's on the button. I'm dealt JJ, which I'm excited about, but there is a limper from EP, then Barbara makes her biggest preflop raise of the day up to 1,800. At this point, it is screaming KK or AA, so my J's look no good, right? Well, I follow my 10x rule, see that she has plenty of chips to make my call worth the potential, so I smooth call. The EP raiser folds. So my logic is at this point, I know she has AA or KK, so let's see if I can either spike a J on the flop or represent something and take the hand away from her. The flop comes out a BEAUTIFUL 7, 6, 5. You might be thinking at home, "why is that a good thing for you John??" Well, think about it from her perspective. What types of hands would I be playing? If she pegs me as a solid player, I'd actually lay down AQ or AJ quite easily to her preflop bet. The only hands I'm going to call with would be pocket pairs... so I just might have 7's , 6's or 5's...or even 8's or 4's would be a decent hand given this board. So there are 5 hands I might have that might have her either crushed or worried. Another key component of this hand is "how would I play a set if I had a set..." Rookies will often slow play sets waiting for their opponents to bet. I believe it is better to actually lead out with them hoping to score a major pot. Anyway, I'm first to act and I do indeed bet $2,000 into the $4,000 chip pot. She min-raises to $4,000. I smooth call to set her up for a bigger score. The turn comes a 4...even more perfect! Now I could conceivably any pocket pair from 8's to 4's would have her A's or K's crushed! I mock some frustration/fear and check...she fires 4k into the 10k pot (she has about 14k behind). Without hesitation, I reraise her 14k! Doyle Brunson once said, the key to NL Hold 'em is to putting a player into a difficult choice for all their chips. Barbara can either call my bet and risk going home, or she can assume what is somewhat reasonable that I have one of those pocket pairs, make the "big laydown" and live to play some more. There was very, very, very little doubt that she'd fold. Anyway, she thought for a few minutes and finally muttered under her breath "making such big laydowns...geez!"... I later heard her whisper to a friend that she did, indeed fold AA here. Anyway, when all added up, I stole 10k of her stack for free! Woohoo! Teachable conclusion: Sometimes it is easier to bluff a good player because they are "smart enough" to put you on that huge hand. Just be careful, because if any part of the bet does not make sense, they'll see right through it."

For anyone interested in NL Tournament Hold 'Em strategy, I hold this blog in as high regard as Doyle's Super System II.

Ambidextrawesomeness

What happens when a switch handed pitcher meets a switch hitter? Hilarity ensues. Seriously, there needs to be a rule about who has the 'last say' over from which side of the plate or mound the action will ensue. A rule that is uniform and transparent. Like this.