Stone Cold Blog

I was (as usual!) in a $10 ten seater last night and a couple of very interesting hands came about. One was the most lucky suck-out I've ever had against me, and the other two were beginners trying to slowplay big hands with short stacks and me taking them both out.
Let me start with the beginners and their Slowplaying tactics. I had a very tasty chip lead (over a third of total chips on the table) so naturally I was playing bully. A guy (we'll call him "Dave" with 287 in chips) flat calls on the small blind and so I check my big blind of 4 6 unsuited (I have 1957 in chips). The flop comes 6-2-5 with two hearts. He's sitting there with 237 in front of him and so I bet 150 to find out where I am and hoping to get him all in. Sure enough he raises all in and so I call the remaining 100 or so. He turns over KQsuited (clubs) and never improved. I took him out with a pair of sixes.
He was short stacking as it was and going up against chip leader, he only has 5 times the big blind and so should have definitely (imho!) gone all in pre-flop. If he had have done so, I would have folded my 9 5u and he would then be up to 350 in chips and now on the button. Silly Dave Silly!
The next guy (we'll call him "Jeff") has 401 in chips and is on the big blind, I'm on the button and currently have 2319 in chips (blinds are 25/50). Everyone folds round to me, so I being bully make it 150 to play with my 9 8u. the small blind folds and Jeff calls my raise. The flop comes 5-5-7, Jeff only has 250 left so I bet into him 100, he raises back all in. I'm getting odds to call my gutshot straight draw so I do. He turns over pocket rockets, I then hit my 6 on the turn giving me a straight sending Jeff packing! Again in my opinion Jeff should have reraised all in pre-flop. At least then he is going in with the best hand, and I prob would have folded, whereas by giving me a look at the flop he then has suddenly handed me odds to call him. What are your views on this?
 
I wonder if MC Neat plays poker.. as his mate DJ Luck clearly does!! This was brilliant, and it was so lucky that I was laughing and just looking at the screen in disbelief. I even told him to buy a lottery ticket! bless. So MC neat is sitting there with 1114 in chips and I have 2973. He is on the small blind and calls, and I look down to pocket fives on the big blind, so I raise it to 300 (blinds are 50/100) .. he calls. The board comes down 4-10-2 rainbow. He goes all in quicker than you could say it. …. So now I'm faced with a decision of about 850! I had noticed that when he bluffed he liked to move all in very quickly, so I figured that my pocket fives where actually good, so I called. He turns over 6 3u !!!! yes folks ! he called my raise with 6 3u !! So currently he has a gutshot straight draw and needs a five. I'm holding two of them !!! There are only two left in the deck and so is 20/1 to make it …….. the turn comes a five !!!! how I laughed! Fair enough he put his chips in there but it did make me giggle. I called his bluff correctly though and I ended up getting all the chips back off him and knocking him out so was all good in the end.
 
Ended up coming 3rd as I made a bluff at the wrong time against a rock. hehe StoneColdBluff baby!
- Duff 

With regards to Duff's piece on luck Vs skill, I could'nt agree more.

When playing online I come across many chumps whining and complaining because some other chump came on top with a crap hand. These so-called "chumps" won the hand fair and square, "Thats Poker". The problem is letting it get to you.

My idea is to let it go and concentrate on the next hand. Dwelling on the previous hand can be disasterous, decreasing your bankroll whilst increasing your blood pressure. A player with a clear and calm head is a thousand times more likely to win with any hand dealt than a peed-off player with a top hand. I have lost 100's of REAL dollars in the past to these chumps who shouldn't have called with their "7-2 off suit", but the key is that I learned a bit and never let it get to me. Forget it, and concentrate on the next hand. If I was prepared to bet, for example $100 on one hand, then I should be prepared to lose it. Even to a chump.

Eventually these "chumps" lose in the end. These fly-by-night players bet big and lose big more often. They crash and burn because of one fundamental reason…..their luck had eventually run out. Luck will only get you so far, thats when skill comes in. This undoubtly proves that with a clear, calm head and lots of skill and experience you can come out on top, even to these chumps who come through only once in a while. That shows that poker is more of a game of skill than luck. Luck will win some pots, but the majority are won by skill, the ability to read other players, timing and knowledge.

Just came off a $100 NL table being chip leader with $325…..not bad for 2 hours punting. The more chumps the better I say!

- BazzyG 

Two days ago there was some bloke, who also happened to be a drummer in a band, who was whinging about Pete Doherty – saying that Pete was a guy in a very ordinary band who was a loser with all his drug taking, but had managed to go out with a super model, get a great record deal and get let off all of his numerous drug offences – whereas our whinging guy had been given a parking ticket for being 3 minutes late back to his car and his band where very good but had no such great record deal and he had been single for a year and half (I'm not surprised if he moans like that !)
 
Some people just get lucky (if it was him he wouldn't be moaning!) Some guys will call a raise with K5u and end up making trip 5's and it's simply not fair but hey; that's life. You play the cards you've been dealt and play them to the best of your ability.
 
Some people can't see why poker is a game of skill. I'll tell you why it's a game of skill. Would the same people say that traders on the stock market are just relying on luck or are they skilled at what they do? Are car dealers who buy at auction, get a bargain and then sell it on for a nice profit just lucky or are they skilled in knowing what cars are under priced? It's the same with poker and life in general, you are faced with decisions, and the good poker and life player will invest when the odds / opportunities are in their favour.

Pete Doherty may have just got lucky, but I expect it was more the fact that he has grabbed opportunities when the investment was looking good. The likes of the guy who moans when his 2 pair gets busted by someone hitting trips on the river will never make good investments nor will the guy who got lucky hitting trips! It's the person who can take that set-back and use it to their advantage. "yes he may have got lucky now, but if he's prepared to be that reckless then if I sit tight I will eventually get paid off again and come out on top" – It's all about the attitude.

- Duff 

A point to watch with people and poker players. You know how if you get one over on someone once? Well normally when you try it again (or at least they think you are trying it again) the person becomes more resilient and says to themselves "you're not going to do that to me this time!"
 
The hand previous to the now legendary 6 8u – I had been dealt AQu and so decided to raise, the guy in question thought about it and folded. Obviously the next hand when I raised him with my pocket 44 – he thought "not this time matey" and so called hoping for a lucky flop (which he certainly got!) – so what I'm trying to say is watch out for people who may well call with anything as they just have the nark with you, and they may also just get very lucky.
 
This is also worth looking out for in general. if you are going to try to get one over on someone, try not to do it all the time (or even make it look like it's all the time) as they will then act irrationally and as we can see; it can get you in all sorts of trouble

- Duff 

Over the last few days I have been blabbering on about monkeys and how they should all be shot, so last night I decided to join their pitiful ranks. I was officially rubbish! – Some nights you are unstoppable and others you wonder how you ever win anything.
 
let me set the scene – it was a warmish April night at around 00.30, not a sound could be heard throughout the house except for the small murmur of Mark's laptop in his room. Mark was a handsome lad, standing 5ft 8 inches tall with delicate curly locks of god knows what kind of mousey colour hair, glasses and a perfectly trimmed beard …(sometimes!). He had had an enjoyable evening with friends, going to the cinema to see american dreamz, finishing it off with a meal in wagamamas consisting of chicken katsu curry; it was Mark's favourite.

Mark logged onto his pacific poker account and started to check for the different tournaments that were on ….. but wait !! .. something was different … he felt different .. he felt a sudden longing and uncontrollable urge for a banana … that's right he'd only gone and become a flaming monkey !!!! what a mug !

So as you can see I was in monkey mood from the off. The first tournie I played started off well, bluffing at an early pot and taking it down, gaining a few chips in the process. However that was the best of it! Before the blinds had even gone up one level I made my fateful move. I was on the big blind and the guy under the gun called, there were a good few limpers and I looked down to 9 3 off suit, so I decide to check. The flop comes down 9 3 5 with 2 hearts on it, so I make a pot size bet of about 100 to protect my two pair – the guy under the gun raises it to 200 and so I call. (not a bad move as of yet) – then the next card is a 5!! That means that the board is now 9 3 5 5 – for some bizarre reason I then decide to move all in! what exactly was I hoping that he had raised with?! The moment I had done it I though "oh!" – sure enough he called and he turns over K5u!!! he had trips! Ouch! I was wounded (def not out yet though!)

Now although I didn't put him on K5 (who would? – as that means he raised me with just a pair of 5's!) I should have put him on trips of some sort or an over pair, and when that second 5 hit I thought to myself "he may even have quads" .. so why did I go all in then? There must be some deep psychological reason as to why on some days I think "let's punt" and on others I'm much more sensible and have no further part in the hand. I could have got away very very cheaply but instead I ended up doubling him through and losing loads of chips in the process. I read the situation right that I was beat (which I'm now getting very good at, but failed to act on it before the punting instinct could be stopped!)

Next hand I get dealt JJ (wicked I say, "they will think I'm on tilt!") – I go all in and get one caller – he turns over Q 10s !!!!!! "great" I think … until a Q hits on the flop! – That summed up that tournie …. and so onto the next ….

I had made a silly mistake and said to myself not to do it again … so you can imagine my joy when I did it again 30 mins later ! … There are 6 players left and I think, not long and then I can get in the money. Suddenly I look down to Pocket 44. I'm on the small blind and everyone has folded to me. I raise and make it 150 to go (from 50) – the big blind calls. The flop comes down 2 6 6 (two hearts) so I have a stab of 250 into a 300 pot – he calls then the turn comes an 8 … I bet 250 again and he raises me all in.

Now although I would have been fairly crippled in chips (only 250 left) it would have been the right thing to do and fold … but monkey me prepares for my special move and although thinking "duff he's got you well beat!!" I call! – nice call, seeing that he turns over 6 8u ! !!!! – he's only got a full house! – quite why he called my pre-flop raise with 6 8u I don't know but he did and I should have layed it down on the turn. I swiftly turned off my machine and then proceeded to moan for an hour that I couldn't actually believe what I had just done. Still I think maybe now I've actually got it. I'll let you know if not!

Trust your instinct, and make sure you do what it says – there is a phrase that Mike Sexton says on the WPT a lot which is so true … "If you think long, you think wrong"! – a good one to bare in mind.  The only good thing that has come of this is that hopefully this nugget of information will have finally sunk into my thick skull. (the same as always checking the texture of the flop took the same amount of time!!)

- Duff 

I was playing in a $10, ten seater sit and go last night, and there were five players left, (top 3 in the money). The table was being incredibly cagey, with hardly any flops being seen as someone always raised pre-flop and everyone normally folded.  The blinds were at 75/150 and rising to 100/200 in about 5 hands time. I was sitting there with 1050 in chips (nearing the critical five times the BB level at 750), plus in 5 hands time my present whole stack would be the critical level!) – I look down to see pocket sixes in first position. I decide to as they say in the trade "'ave it!!" and raise all in. I get called by the big stack, I'm hoping to be up against AK or something, unfortunately for me I was up against AA! ouch I thought, and I never improved.

In terms of decisions, I can't see how I could have actually got away from this hand once in play. Let's say that I raise to 450 (three times the BB) I am now basically pot committed. If he goes all in with his AA then there is my 450 in the pot plus his 1050, meaning that on the 600 more to me I am getting over 2.5/1, which isn't bad with a pocket pair five handed – I can't really flat call, as my odds of hitting another 6 are 7.5/1 (10/1 on the flop) and so that would just be a waste of my 150 call, not to mention that I'm giving him a very cheap flop to easily pair up any over cards.

I think the only thing that would have saved me was if I flat called and he then raised me all in. At this point I would not have been pot committed and would still have above the critical level. However I feel that this is almost the worst play of the above options seeing that it was the best hand I had had in ages, and to not try to obtain chips (even just the blinds) would be wrong.  I think I did the correct play (for this hand) and was just very unlucky to walk into AA.

Possibly, I should have waited for something slightly better as in terms of odds there are more against me than for me: if he has any over pair i'm 5/1 against. If he has any two over cards (KJu for example) it's a coin flip. If he has one over card like A3u then it's just over 3/1 in my favour (he's less likely to call all in with this!).

Any views?

Have a good weekend all – plus the StoneColdBluff team will be in full force tonight at our home game and Big Andy will be joining us to attempt to film a new intro film for the website, so look sharp people! shall I wear my suit? hehe.  See you

- Duff

Never buy a monkey a drink as all they actually want is a banana plus they don't know what money is and so you wont get one back – but that's obvious as they are animals.

But in terms of poker monkeys you should tighten up your pre-flop play if you are going to get involved but also call more when in actual play – so basically become very tight / aggressive. You will get ruined on a few occassions but you will make it back plus more when they make a stupid move. Case in point was last night – i had entered a $10, ten seat tournie and no sooner had it started than some guy was raising like it was going out of style. Upon turning his "winning" hand over he had been raising with 10 3 offsuit ! (not something i'd call a great hand but he managed to turn this into 2 pair and won a nice pot – he then took some poor guy out who had rockets with again a seriosuly poor holding but made trips. He was getting very lucky and within a few hands had gone from 800 in chips to 3200! – He was positioned to my left which can be good and bad – i was raising with good hands (AKs etc) and he was calling with junk, however i then changed my strategy. Normally i like to have a stab at a pot whether i am holding anything or not (and vice versa with checking) .. however once i saw that he was going to call whatever, i was letting anything that i didn't connect with go and checking then folding when he bet (which he always did). I was safe in the knowledge that he was so reckless, that he would eventually give up his chips .. and hopefully to me. I had been looking at a few and was now down to 450 (from 800) i looked down to see 8h 9h and had a crank .. he called and the flop comes 8c-9s-3c … here i think lets protect my two pair and go all in; so i do, he calls and turns over 52 of spades… so he currently only has 3 to a flush ! ……. so the turn comes a spade (i'm thinking please no ! no more spades!) river comes …. a spade!!! (ouch i think as he makes his flush) … but the last spade to hit was the 8 of spades !! giving me a full house – hehe – nice. – i doubled through – he also called my two AQs preflop allins with 8 10s and 5 7s and i won both eventually knocking him out and going on to get 2nd myself.

So – never let them wind you up and change your strategy accordingly .. it will pay off in the end and you'll get all his chips.

- Duff

Now you may have thought that you didn't get a tip of the day yesterday ! well you did … you got nothing! .. and that's exactly what you should say if someone in the hand starts chatting to you if you are also in it. They are trying to extract info and it most probably will just be the simplest movement or by how casual your answer is that gives it away – Whilst playing the hardcore no-limit tables in the MGM Grand there was a guy one player to my left who was clearly a very good player – i was using two £1 coins as a card guard (the quickest thing to hand!) and just after i raised he asked if they were british pounds and if he could take a look. I let him and he then called – the flop came out and i hit top pair with top kicker. I bet the pot and he then said that he was going to keep this pound – i said ok and he then folded (a good fold)  I wasn't too concerned about him as he was playing odds and was a person you could bluff, plus i knew that he was trying to get info and I felt that people would respect his decision to fold and do the same (how wrong i was! hehe) but i was very impressed with his talk at the table – he had managed to get a guy on tilt and make him laydown the best hand and lose $150 just by winding him up. ….. but that's a long story !
 
so tip of yesterday is don't say anything, then you can't give anything away.

- Duff