First, I realize that I have not updated this blog since November. I just haven’t taken the time to do so. So, with that being said, I thought I would take some time and give you an update on my trip out west and my life in general.

Overall, my trip out west turned out well. The first day was a little shaky due to my plane getting grounded due to engine problems. However, after arriving to Vegas 8 hours late, I got to my hotel. The rooms at the 4 Queens were much nicer than I expected for the amount I paid. Nice pillow top beds and big plasma TV’s. Room service was also reasonably prices. Other than Subway, I mostly ate room service. (Subway ended up being higher than room service was on some occasions. Go figure.)

The Grand convention area inside of the Golden Nugget was a nice place to hold an event. I enjoyed my time at the Nugget. I wound up finishing 9th in one H.O.R.S.E. event and finished 5th in the Mixed Event. Unfortunately, the 5th place finish did not garner me any money due to only 21 players registering for the event. The event paid 3 spots. The H.O.R.S.E. event paid 9. While it appeared I just squeaked in the money, that was far from the case. Two players were much shorter than I was when we got to the money, but as things turned out, the short stacks kept doubling and I stayed card dead. I could have made the final table if I folded the last hand I played, but thats how it goes.

The same week I cashed at the Nugget, I finished 4th in a H.O.R.S.E. event at Green Valley Ranch. Again, I had enough chips to make the top three but the guy in 4th place went on an amazing run of cards. I can’t complain too much. I played well, made the final table, and cashed.

After Vegas, I went to Los Angeles for a few days. I decided to play in two events at the Bike. The first was an Omaha 8 or Better event. That event I never could get anything going and went out on back to back hands when my kings full ran into aces full and then my flopped set of kings was outdrawn by a Royal Flush. I was all in on the flop in the Royal Flush hand. Hey, if I am going to lose, thats the way to lose. The next day, I played in an Omaha 8 weekly tourney at Hawaain Gardens and finished 12th in that one. Unfortunately it paid 10. That tournament had an insane structure where with 20 players left, the chip leader of the tournament had only 10 big bets. The big stack at my table had 4. I had 2 big bets and I had 4,500 chips.

The Limit Holdem tournament at the Bike was the last event I played in L.A. This event had its ups and downs, but I went on a big of a run about mid way of the event to build a nice stack. I was able to make the money in the event and eventually finish 12th place. If I would have won one more pot late in the event, I would have made the final table as we made the final table about 10 minutes after I busted. It was cool though. I played well in the event and got my 15th pro cash. I don’t know what it is about Vegas and Los Angeles that makes me perform so well, but I seem to step up my game out there.

My goal for the trip poker wise was to cash twice with 1 final table at the Nugget and to cash once in L.A. I wound up making 1 cash and 1 final table in Vegas. Of course, I ended up playing 3 fewer events than I had planned. I played 3 events as opposed to 6 events. The cash at Green Valley I don’t count since it does not count towards lifetime stats. Since I played fewer events in Vegas, I consider myself as hitting my goal. The L.A. trip, I met my goal.

After leaving L.A., I drove out to Reno to check it out. Reno is basically a smaller version of Vegas. It was ok, but I only played in one casino out there. I played at the Peppermill, where I played a couple hours at $3-$6 Omaha 8. It was a decent game, but after a couple of hours, I was bored. The Limit Holdem table had 15 names on it, so I left. The next day, I decided to head out to Virginia City, NV.

First, I stopped at the Fandango Casino in Carson City, NV. I had to pass a couple of hours before I could check into my hotel, so I decided to play in the Noon No Limit tourney. $35 with rebuys to the final table. I get into the room to play and the guy running the event is familiar. I ask him how I might know him and he tells me he used to run the tournaments at the Bike. RUBEN!!!! I then remember him and reminded him about how I was the guy that wanted to play stud satellites all the time. He then remembered me. We both asked each other, “What are you doing out here.” I told Ruben about my reasons, and I found out from him that he was retired and just took the job at the Fandango cause the area was so laid back. He was right. This was a 3 table poker room and we didn’t fill the tables. As far as the tournament, I was one of the chip leaders until a hand with 11 players left where a guy went all in against me with middle pair against my top pair. He got lucky and paired his kicker and I was crippled. I then managed a double up just shy of the final table. I did not rebuy since I didn’t want to waste any more money on a tourney that will pay only three spots. My final hand, I get 9-2 in the big blind and see a free flop. I flop top pair and push. Unfortunately, my opponent held Q-9 and busted me. This is the same guy that got lucky against me earlier. Anywho, while I wasn’t happy with how things turned out, I couldn’t complain too much. Just before the tournament, I hit two four of a kinds on a video poker machine. It paid for my buy-in to the event and then some.

After the game, I go on to Virginia City. If you want to experience how things used to be, go to Virginia City. When they say you are stepping back in time, they mean it. You will not find ANY franchises anywhere in this town. The gas station is probably 50 years old. It was a lot of fun to stay in this town. I played a lot at the local saloons. They had some video poker machines with great odds and some that still paid coins. I only had one losing day in Va City playing video poker and I won overall for the trip there. One day, I literally went around to every Saloon that was open and hit for a minimum of 30 bucks at each one. The Saloon owners were not happy with me that day. I also took some old western style pics while I was there. One of them is above.

After Virginia City, I went back to Vegas and spent a few more days before coming back home. I didn’t play anymore poker on the trip and mostly just played Video Poker. Anywho, the trip was a blast overall and I just mostly hit the highlights.

Now on to the new year. The theme for this year for myself will be health and music. On the 5th, I started working out with a personal trainer to help me lose weight. I have let my way get and stay out of control for much too long and I plan to take back the control. My goal is to get under 300 lbs eventually. I started at an insane weight of 425.6 pounds. My initial goal is to get under 400. So far, I am doing well as I am down to 417 as of today. That’s 8.6 pounds thus far. I am both dieting and exercising with the assistance of my personal trainer Tara. I truly feel that with the plan I am on, I will succeed this time. I will keep updates on this blog and let you know my progress.

The other part of this year’s theme is music. I have officially started taking piano lessons at the Mendez Academy of Music in Lynchburg, Va. Erin gave me some lessons at one point and I will now take them to another level and try to learn the piano properly. I have always wanted to play but thought it would be too difficult. Erin proved me wrong and so now I want to learn how to play.

I will continue with my poker writing. I have to fund my changes of course. As far as my poker playing, I don’t know when I will be playing in another event. I think focusing on my health will be my biggest concern. If I don’t have my health, poker becomes irrelevant. The next trip I will take will probably be the World Series of Poker in June. When I go, I will probably only go a couple of weeks as I will be working 4-H camp this year.

Anyway, I have a lot of busy and interesting times ahead of me. Keep reading as I will keep you updated about my journey.

“I’m the artist formally known as Beck. I have a genius wig. When I put that wig on, then the true genius emerges. I don’t have enough hair to be a genius. I think you have to have hair going everywhere.”

What???  I don’t smoke dope, but whatever this guy is smoking, I want some. 

The United States Poker Championships have released their schedule for this fall.  The event starts on September 14^th, the day after my birthday.  Funny thing is, I was thinking of going to Atlantic City the week after my birthday.  Look at the schedule for the event and you tell me if you can see why I am interested:

Sept. 14, 11:15am, Limit Hold’em, $300 + $40

Sept. 15, 11:15am, Seven Card Stud, $500 + $50

Sept. 16, 11:15am, Seven Card Stud Hi/Low 8 or better, $500 + $50

Sept. 17, 11:15am, Omaha Hi/Low 8 or better, $500 + $50

Sept. 18, 11:15am, 2-Way P/L Hold’em & P/L Omaha, $500 + $50

Sept. 19, 11:15am, H-O-S-E (Hold’em-Omaha H/L-Stud-Stud H/L), $500 + $50

What a fantastic way to open the event.  Also, there is a Stud event on the 22^nd, a PL Omaha 8 event on the 24^th, an Omaha 8 event on Oct 1, a PL Holdem event on Oct 2^nd, ANOTHER Stud event on Oct 6^th and finally another PL Omaha 8 event on October 8^th. 

I so want to go, but I really don’t know if I want to put up the money that all those events would require.  Maybe I will go play the cash games.  That sounds like a plan.  I already know I can get a room for $33 a night in Absecon.  It’s tempting folks. 

I must say that I really respect the USPC for putting out a schedule like this.  I was a little worried that they would get away from mixed games up there, but I guess my apprehension was misplaced. 

In regards to my personal life, most of my time lately has been spent either blogging or job hunting.  (Mostly for writing or blogging jobs)  I hope that somewhere down the line I can pick up a few more contracts and continue working for myself.  Also, I did apply for a Mainframe support job.  It looked like entry level and from the looks of it, not all that difficult.  There aren’t too many mainframe folks in the area.  Actually, I’m not a mainframe person either, but I do have several years IT support experience.  Hopefully that will get me a look. 

Otherwise, not much is going on at the moment.  I think it’s time to go submit myself for a couple more jobs.  Take care all. 

Today, I am covering the $3,000 NL event.  Some big names, but a lot of the top tier names are over in the $10,000 Limit Event.  I would much rather be there, but I guess I have to do time in the NL jail.  Actually, it’s not too bad to cover.  Its actually simple.  I think thats the point.  Its so simple a game that after a while, everything is routine.

After this event, in three days I cover the $10,000 Omaha 8 or Better World Championship.  That should be a lot of fun.  The only down side to all this is that I am beginning to miss some of my friends, which was to be expected.

Unless I make a last minute change, I probably wont play in a WSOP event this year.  I am planning on playing the Stud 8 or Better event down at Binion’s on the 24th, but right now anything else will depend on my schedule and how I feel.  I may hang around and play over at the Orleans open next month, but I haven’t decided.

Anyway, I will try and write again before the end of the 3k event, but this event isn’t all that exciting.

I will say that I was EXTREMELY fortunate to finish in 4th. During a Razz round, I improved from an 8 to a 7 on 6th street. My opponent went all in against me. I was short too, but had him covered by 100 chips. He flips over a 6 and I don’t improve. I am down to literally the ante. 100 chips and the betting levels are 300 and 600 with a 100 ante. I was dealt 4-5-6 and improved to a 7 low in 6 cards. 5 people were in the pot trying to bust me. They all caught high cards mostly and I took the ante pot, which got me to 900 chips. For those that just looked at me like the RCA dog, we were playing 9 handed. Yes, 9 handed in a H.O.R.S.E. tourney.

Anywho, a couple of hands later, I wind up nearly doubling again when I am showing a strong board on 5th and everyone folds. I am able to take another pot a little later in Razz with some strong betting on a draw that forced more people out. At this point I am sitting around 3000 in chips. A nice comeback. Soon after, I end up doubling up in a stud hand where I pushed pocket Kings and end up catching Kings up. My opponent missed about 15 outs for a straight and flush. At this point, I have about 6000 chips and am in good shape.

One thing leads to another and I am at the final table. The event only pays 5 spots, so I still have work to do to make the money. Then, with about 7 players left, what I consider a minor disaster occurs. I am being dealt a Omaha 8 hand. I get and A of hearts, 2 of hearts, a Queen of club, and then the dealer screws up the pitch of the last card and an Ace of diamonds is exposed. I pick it up and try to keep it. The floor is right there and the first thing he says is, “He put it in his hand let him keep it.” Then, someone says what the card was and the guy was like “Are you fine with me knowing you hand?” I say sure. I have AA2Q with one suit. I’m ready to go to war with this hand pre flop. When he asks this, I show the card so that everyone has the same info. The floor then reverses his ruling and tells the dealer to replace my card. I don’t like this. I got a 7 of diamonds as the replacement card. Instead of raising with this hand, I just call the blind. The flop comes Queen of spades, Jack of spades and the 2 of hearts. I end up folding the hand. At this point, I am glaring at the dealer and mumbling about how that the floor made two calls about the hand. The turn card comes the 9 of spades and the river is the 4 of hearts. One of my opponents flips over the K-10 of spades for the STRAIGHT FLUSH. Instantly, I go from “this sucks” to “maybe that wasn’t so bad”. A couple of hands later, I tell the table what I held in that hand and everyone agreed that it was a good thing that the dealer misdealt, or I might have busted out in 7th.

Anyway, the way things turned out, we ended up doing a save and gave the 6th place finisher their money back. I suggested the deal. My reasoning was two-fold. First, if the short stack is still going to get money, then chances are they may take a chance and get busted out. Then, the rest of us get to the money easier. Second, I was about 3rd short stack at the time, and with the blinds the way they were, I could have just as easily finished 6th as 4th, and I wanted something for my 4 hours of play in the event.

The two remaining women in the field busted at the same time in 5th and 6th place and the rest of us were guaranteed at least 4th place money. I was the short stack at that point and was all-in shortly after. My hand didn’t improve and I was done. The funny thing about this H.O.R.S.E. tourney was that I did not rely on Stud 8 or better to carry me through the event. Actually, I only played one Stud 8 hand past third, and I had to fold it on 4th. I just couldn’t get hands. Most of my chips actually were accumulated in Razz of all games. A combination of good hands and bad players added up to chips.

Overall, I was very happy with my play. I definately got luck in some spots, but at the same time, I managed to play a tight-agressive style that allowed me to get to the money. While I didn’t win, it was good to see that I can still do well in a live tourney. The fact that its a limit tourney and H.O.R.S.E. makes it all the sweeter.

Well, tomorrow I have a meeting for the WSOP and then either Friday or Saturday I start covering the events. You can keep an eye over on Pokernews, and also Ill post here which events I am covering. Talk to you soon.

No Limit Holdem satellite that pays a seat to 10 players. There are 11 players left. Average stack is 35,000.  You are in 5th chip position with 41,000 with blind of 1000 – 2000 with a 100 ante.  The chip leaders have over 100k each, and 2 short stacks are below 15k.   One of the chip leaders raises from middle position and your on the button with A, A.   What do you do?

Stud 8 or Better.  You have rolled up 9’s in a loose game that has 6 players see 4^th street.  Besides yourself, the other callers are a 9, A, K, 2, and 4.   The Ace pairs up on fourth and bets.  The King calls.  You raise and all other players but the other 9 folds.  On 5^th, the King now pairs up.   Your hand has not improved.  Aces bet, and the kings raise.  What is your play?  This is only the 2^nd hand you have played in this game.

Razz.   You have rolled up Aces and last to act.   A king brings in, and every other card on the table is 9 and above.  A Jack and a 9 call the bring in.  What should be your play here?

Omaha 8 or better.  This is a $2 – $4 game and every player at the table saw the flop with no raise.   You hold A, 3, J, 10 with no suits.  The flop comes 4c, 5c, 8h.  There was a bet and 5 players including you called.  Turn comes the 9c.  It is 3 bet by the time it arrives to you.  What is your play here?

Limit Holdem   You are dealt a Jh, 10h in the big blind.  3 people see the flop with you.  The flop comes Ah, 4h, Kd.   What is the best play here?

Stud.  You are dealt Kc, Qc, Jc.   You and three other people call the bring in bet from the 9s, which is the lowest card showing.  The other up cards are the As, Ks, Qh.  Fourth street unravels as follows.  You catch Ac.  The other three are showing As Kc,  Ks Qc,  Qh, Ah.  What is your play here?

Pot Limit Omaha.  50 – 100 blinds.  You have 25,000 in chips.  You are dealt As, Ad, 5c, 9h.   The bet is potted and repotted to you.  What is your play here? 

1. What is a low?

   A low is a 5 card hand that contains 5 unique low cards, typically 8 or below.  An example would be 2, 4, 5, 6, 7

2. Are wraps a good thing or a bad thing?

   Wraps are good.  Wrap starting hands are 4 cards that are closely coordinated for straight possibilities, such as J, 10, 7, 8.  A wrap straight draw is  a draw where at least 3 cards can come to give you a straight, such as a  8, 9, 6 flop with the previously mentioned hand. Any Queen, Seven, or Five will give you a straight in this example.

3. How is the size of a bring-in bet usually determined?

   In Stud games, the bring-in bet is usually twice the size of the ante.

4. Do you even know what a bring-in is?

   A bring-in is a forced bet made by the lowest showing up card in Stud and Stud 8 or better.  It is made by the highest up card in Razz.

5. John has a number 1. What does John have?

   John has a 2, 3, 4, 5, 7.

6. What game is John playing in question 5.

   John is playing 2-7 Lowball.

7. A flush beats a full house in what poker game? (This is a casino game, not some odd home game.)

   Mexican Poker.  This is a popular poker variant in California.  In Mexican poker the 7’s, 8’s, and 9’s are stripped out the deck.   As a result, it is much harder to make a flush in Mexican Poker than a Full House.

8. California and Kansas City are forms of what game?

   Lowball.  California lowball is 2-7 lowball and Kansas City Lowball is A-5 lowball.

9. You can make a double bet on an open pair on fourth street in 7 Card Stud 8 or better.

   False.  Only in Stud Hi.

10. Your starting hand in Omaha is a set of 10’s with a 7 kicker with no suits. What is your play?

    Fold.  You have to play 2 cards in your hand and 3 on the board.  Starting with a set in your hand is very bad as you only have one out to improve your PAIR.

11. At what point do antes come into play in most Limit tournaments?

    Unless you are playing Stud based games, there aren’t any ante’s in Limit tournaments.  

12. You are holding Aces full of Kings with a 67 in Razz. Your opponent has a King high straight with an 87. Who wins and why?

    Your opponent wins.  You opponent actually has Jack high where you hold a pair of Aces with a K, 6, 7.

13. You hear 10 people talk about HOE in a casino but there are no prostitutes anywhere. What are they talking about?

    A rotation game consisting of Holdem, Omaha 8 or Better, and Stud 8 or better.  Otherwise, they are likely farmers or construction people.  J

14. In what game is the first raise not truly a raise?

    Any stud based game.  In Stud based games, the first raise is actually a completion of the first bet.  It is even referred to as a completion.

15. You have a wheel, but only get 25% of the pot. What crazy game are you playing and why are you only getting 25% of the pot??

    Omaha 8 or Better.  You have the best low, but someone else has a wheel. 

16. Badugi. Tell me what it is.

    Badugi is a triple draw game where the object is to get 1 card of each suit in your hand.  The lowest 4 card badugi hand wins.  A four card hand consisting of one of each suit is a badugi.

17. What is the best hand in badugi?

    An A, 2, 3, 4 badugi is the best hand. 

18. What is HORSE?

    H.O.R.S.E is a rotation game consisting of 5 variants of poker.  Limit Holdem, Limit Omaha 8 or Better, Limit Razz, Limit Stud, and Limit Stud 8 or Better.

19. You have QJ108, with the Q10 of hearts. You flop Ace of hearts, Jack of hearts and an 8 of clubs. Someone potted and repotted. What do you do?

    You call or even reraise.  This is a Pot Limit Omaha hand with a boatload of outs.  The King of hearts gives you a Royal.  Any heart gives you a flush.  Any non heart King gives you the nut straight.  Any Queen or 10 gives you a full house.  Any 9 gives you a  Queen high straight. 

20. In the game California referred to in question 8, you have a wheel. How good is your hand and why?

    Your hand sucks.  California Lowball is 2 to 7 lowball.  Straights and flushes hurt your hand and Aces are always high.  You have Ace high.  (You do not have a straight because Aces are always high.)  If this was Kansas City Lowball, you have the nuts…literally the nuts.

Scoring Chart

1-5 Correct : You’re a Holdem player only aren’t you

6-10 Correct:  You’re a mixed games novice or maybe a Stud Player

11-15 Correct: Well rounded player but not in obscure games most likely.

15-20 Correct:  General Poker Expert.  Go find your own table.  These are MY fish.

Last night I decided that I would log onto Full Tilt Poker and try and play a mixed Sit N Go tournament. As soon as I logged on I saw a HORSE Sit N Go for $1.25 buy-in. Yes, this is micro stakes, but HORSE doesn’t go off easily in SnG’s, so I figured I would play. I love mixed games as most anyone that knows me can attest.

We started with Limit Holdem and I was on the button. The first hand I was dealt a pocket pair and I raised. Everyone folded. What? Micro Limits and a fold? A few hands later I get AK and raise. One person called, and we saw a Flop of K, 3, 4. I bet and the caller folded. This doesn’t sound very interesting; except for the fact this was micro limits. Usually at this limit, you get a lot of calling, raising, and reraising with any type of hand. I thought to myself, “Wow, this is a tight table.” Then the level switched to Omaha 8 or better.

The first hand 7 out of 8 players were in the hand to 1 raise. You can guess who didn’t play the hand. Next hand the hand was raised and called by 6 players. Ok, tight image of this table just got thrown out the window. At this point I am just barely above my initial stack, when I am deal KQ24 with the Q4 of hearts. Not that great of a hand. It has possibilities if you can see the flop cheap, or in the case of this game, if almost every player is in the hand. I flop the nut flush draw and turn a 2^nd nut low. Suffice it to say the betting went bonkers 5 handed the whole way and by the end of it, I took high for the flush and amazingly enough the 2^nd nut low held up. I’m over 3400 in chips.

Welcome to Razz. 3 people called a bring in with a card higher than 9. I’m sitting here with a smile on my face, basically waiting to get a solid hand that I can dominate with. 2, 4, 6 is dealt to me about the 3^rd hand of Razz. I proceed to catch a 5 and a 7 with 3 people calling my bets all the way. In the end I take another big pot and am over 4700 in chips. The Stud 8 round only saw me win one pot and the subsequent Limit Holdem round I didn’t do much in. Then we are back to Omaha 8. 7 players remain.

At this point, I have about 4300 in chips and have a comfortable chip lead. I am mostly taking advantage of a lot of bad play with solid starting hand which is a pretty basic strategy. The hand that gave me a dominating lead came during this round. A248 with one suit. 6 players saw the flop. 2, 5, 6 was the flop. Two pair with a 2^nd nut low. I bet and it is 3 bet. I call the 3 bet. Turn card is gin when a 3 hit the board. Now I’m pushing the betting like mad because even if I get quartered, I still win money. 4 players stayed in to the river, which came a King. Again, I pushed the betting, expecting at best case scenario to split the pot. I was the only person that had a 4. SCOOP! One player was all in and was eliminated, leaving 6 players and I am sitting with 7400 in chips. 2 players are around 2000 and the other players are super short stacked.

During the subsequent Razz round, I continued to catch cards. One player was eliminated when my 753 beat their 764. Another player was eliminated when I drew to an 8 and they started and finished with a Jack. This left 4 players, all of which decided to tighten up. I am not typically an overly aggressive player, but this situation was too good to pass up. I started raising with every low card that was ahead on razz and doing the same during the Stud rounds with every high card, with VERY little resistance. Finally during the Stud round a player went all in with Jack high verses another players 2 pair. We are now in the money. I have around 9000 and the next closes player 1800.

Raise and take it was pretty much the name of the game at that point and I took a lot of pots that way. During the Stud 8 round, I’m sitting on 5^th street with an 8 low, another player has Trip Queens and the 3^rd player has a pair with a low draw. My 8 improves to a 7 and the low stack that had the low draw did not improve and we were now heads up. My opponent had around 2000. I’m sitting almost at 10.

The very last hand of Stud 8, I had my opponent all in. I had 4 cards to a 7 straight and my opponent had two sixes and a 3 low. I made my 7 low, but my opponent hit runner runner for a 6 low and scooped. During the Holdem round, my opponent flopped a set of 9’s and then slow played them to get a couple of extra bets. He worked his way back up to around 4000 in chips. Then, my opponent decided that he was going to wait for good hands. Ok, raise and take it with reasonable hands and see flops with crap. I got about 1200 of his 4000 that way.

Then we switched to Omaha. This game was his weak game and it showed. The flop came giving me a straight draw and he bet out. I called. Turn card came and paired the board. He checked to me. At this point I knew he was scared of the board pairing and if my straight came, I was good. The straight came on the river and I got an extra bet out of him. At this point he is now down to about 1200. The final hand of the game saw me turn a set of 5 vs. his two pair and he was eliminated.

This was a remarkable simple win for me. Yes, I do prefer mixed games and most play them, but this one was beyond simple to win. I did catch some cards, but at the same time I was able to exploit other player’s weaknesses. Early on, I waited for solid hands to get involved with and then as the tournament went on, I took advantage of tight play and played proper late game strategy. All in all, I am pleased with my performance. What was my win you ask? Four dollars. For me, poker isn’t about making the most money; it’s about making good decisions and winning. If I can do that, then I am happy. The money is just an added bonus.

I normally don’t look at my cards until it is my turn to act in Texas Holdem. It gives away less information, and it allows me to look at the other players. After a while, people learn your tendencies and many players will just assume you always do the same thing. Well, one thing people should learn is there is never an always in poker. The first example of how I play a hand blind usually occurs when I am getting short on chips. I take a very quick peak as each card is dealt to me. I try to make sure that people are not looking at me when this is happening. If I use this tactic, there is only one move, “Blind All In.”

Everyone will usually give me the “What the hell” look. I was in one game one time where it was three handed and I was short stack at the table, but it was still big enough to put a big hurt on the other 2 players. I had looked down to AJ and called “all in” before the last player got their cards. One thing I also will do is leave the card in the same position as pitched to me to give the illusion that I did not even look. I had done so in this case. The first player to act after me folded and then the other guy went into the tank. I REALLY wanted a call, and the guy that folded was trying to convince the other guy to call me. This is a rules violation and poor etiquette, but I was acting like I didn’t care. Finally the player actually folds pocket 10’s face up!! After that, every raise I made was called or reraised. Of course, I was playing strong hands and ended up coming back to take the chip lead in short order.

Another option in playing a hand bland is just that, playing it blind. However, I would recommend doing a few things when playing a hand blind. First, you don’t want to be calling raises blind typically. If you’re playing Limit holdem, and you’re in the big blind, you can call 1 raise. Second, what is the mindset or demeanor of the table? Will this move actually affect your table image? If you’re in a 2-4 game where you have 6 callers on average, nobody will really care, other than for entertainment value. However, if you in a NL tournament and you haven’t played that many hands that day, this may really screw with their heads. Last, pay attention to your position. You do not want to truly play a hand blind in early positions. There are too many people left to act and a better hand will of course raise. If I am going to play a hand blind, I typically will do it from the blind, the button or maybe one from the button.

If you play the hand blind, you have to decide how much you want to commit. If I play a hand blind and my opponent checks to me on the flop in Limit Holdem, I will bet. Since I am playing blind, most opponents will bet out at me if they hit the flop. They want to see if I am really going to play. At this point, it is up to you to decide which way you’re going to play the hand. Are you really going to play the hand blind, or are you going to look and stay in if you have a hand. That choice is up to you and what you want to accomplish from playing the hand.

It is a great feeling to play a hand blind and the hand hold up. Of course, it is pure luck, but it still feels good. Of course, few things are worse than some idiot playing a hand blind and beating your hand, especially if you started with a good hand. THAT feeling is what you’re trying to get from your players. You want your players grumbling about your play so that next time you’re in a hand; they will chase you down with inferior garbage. Do I recommend playing hands blind a lot? No. It is a tactic just like many others that have their time and place. If used properly, it will give you a reckless looking image that will either increase your stack, or get your opponents talking for a while. Keep them guessing. In the long run it will pay off.