They are down to three.   He has a decent chance to win.  I guess we will see what happens.

Have you ever had one of your friends go off in such a rage of anger that you end up touched about how much they really care about you?   That happened to me this week.  I won’t go into the why my friend went off like she did, but by the time she was done I was really touched by what she said, even if she was hopping mad when she said it.

Tomorrow, I am going with my friend Erin to see Mamma Mia.  She couldn’t get together with me today because of her working.  Believe it or not, I picked this movie.  For those of you that look at me cockeyed, realize I am a person who saw Sweeney Todd at the theatre 4 times.  Besides, the only other movie I wanted to see I promised another female friend I would go see Wednesday.

Lately, I have been playing a lot of NL Single Draw 2-7 Lowball sit-n-gos on PokerStars.  With the exception of one, I have at least cashed in every one.  In these Sngs you must make it heads-up to make the money.  Today I played 3.  I won two and finished 2nd in the other one.  I have been have somewhat poor results in triple draw limit lowball.  I found out really quick in this game how wide of an array of hands you can consistently win with.  One thing that I do like to still try and stick with is to try and only do 1 card draws while we are still 4 handed or more.  Obviously that doesn’t always become the case, but I try.

My runs in Stud 8 or Better lately have been pretty bad.  Some of it is frankly bad play on my part.  I have been making a few plays and getting too fancy.  In the last day or so, I have went back to playing with a little more sense and have at least finished ahead in every session.  I think I need to go back and focus on playing some tournaments as opposed to the cash games I have been playing.  I enjoy tournaments a lot more and I seem to focus harder on them.

Speaking of which, I have tried to pick up a couple of books to work on my Stud HI tournament game a little bit.  I am a good stud player.  I know this, but my tournament results live when I have played have been outright horrible.  My feeling is my problem comes from playing a certain style that doesn’t work as well as it should in tournaments.  I’m going to take a look at a couple of books and see if I can get some inspiration.  I may just end up getting a friend of mine to sit me down and teach me some finer points like Bill Boston taught me regarding Stud 8.

I intended to go to Atlantic City sometime this coming week for the United States Poker Championships.  That’s not happening now.  I love the schedule, but I am holding onto my money and also focusing some on my writing.  My gigs have really picked up lately, especially from one dude that has me writing a lot on poker.  I talked to the guy at PokerNews about future gigs with them and it isn’t looking real promising.  I got the “we may have work” line.  I probably won’t hear from them until around WSOP time.   That’s fine too.  Actually, if things keep going the way they are with this one client writing, I may not want to take on any other gigs for a while.  That wouldn’t upset me at all.

Anywho, have a great weekend all.  Maybe Ill come back and tell you what Summer got me for my birthday.

“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. 

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.

I will naturally get some time in at the tables as well, but not to the degree I have in the past.  I will primarily be going out to Vegas to work the WSOP.  I may play a couple of the Binions events or maybe ride out to Los Angeles and play at the Bike if I can get a day off during a mixed event, but I will not be playing at the World Series this year.  It is just too expensive for my bankroll right now.  Plus, to be honest, I just haven’t put in the time for anything other than Stud 8.

One good thing is that I have a couple of friends I can visit while I am out there, so I don’t HAVE to play poker on my off days.  I may finally get around to seeing some of the sights this year not related to casinos or poker, but probably not. 

Right now, I am scheduled to be out there until July 15^th.  After the 15^th, I am not sure what I will be doing.  I may stay out there another week or so and play a couple of Orleans Open events.  Then again, if a certain thing happens in my personal life, I may be going somewhere to spend some time with someone.  Everything is too iffy right now to really know.

For anyone interested, I will probably make some entries letting folks know what’s going on at the series.  Otherwise, if any of you are interested in following my coverage, go over to pokernews.com and go under live reporting.  Any entries with the nickname of compncards will be mine.  I expect that at the series, you will see me covering primarily mixed games, especially stud based games. 

Anywho, hope everyone has a fantastic summer and keeps reading as I will try and keep you abreast of my travels.  Otherwise, I will see you around the end of July.

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.

The first hand you are dealt split 3’s with a 6 in the hole. You have one three as your upcard and are the bring-in. There are 4 limpers and you see 4^th for free and immediately catch trip threes. You bet out and get called in 3 spots. Fifth comes an 8 and you bet out and get called in three spots. Sixth is a 10. You bet and are raised by a player with a 10, A, 7, K board, with a 10, A, K of hearts. You call and one other player calls. You fill up on the river with a 6. You have 3’s full of 6’s. You bet, one player folds, and then you get raised by the player who raised on sixth. You then reraise, only to have another raise put in by your opponent. Heads up, the betting is unlimited. How would you proceed?

The second hand you get to the river with an A, 8,6, 4, 3, Q,10, facing a board of 7, 6, A, Q with 3 spades. You bet on 4^th, and 6^th, and checked the river. Your opponent bet out on the river. What do you think was the result and how would you proceed.For the first scenario with the full house, how many of you put the player on a flush? How many of you would continue to raise with your full house? Remember you have a pair of 3’s showing with an 8, 10 on board. Any astute player seeing that you bet all the way is going to put you on a minimum of trips and when you bet out and reraise, they know you have a full house. When the player put in the 3^rd bet so quickly, the first thing that came into my head was ROYAL FLUSH. I actually just froze for a second when that realization hit me. This time, I went with my gut, stopped raising, and called the 3^rd bet. My opponent flipped over the Royal Flush. Paying close attention to what was going on saved me several bets. I would have probably put in another 2 or 3 bets if I thought I was getting raised by a normal flush, but with the way the hand unfolded, I figured I was beat, and I was. (I realize that there were other potential hands that could have possibly won. I just happened to guess the exact hand that had me beat.)

How many of you would have folded in the 2^nd scenario on the river? How many of you put the player on a flush, a better low, or at least a pair. Your best hope is that you 8 low somehow is good right? To my shock and amazement, I had a scoop hand. You read that correct, I scooped. I had AQ10 for high with an 8, 6 low. My opponent would up showing AQ8 for high with an 8, 7 low.

Poker is a funny game at times. I went from losing with a Full House to a Royal Flush to scooping with AQ10 and a crappy low in the span of three hands. Poker is funny that way. If you play, hopefully you have a sense of humor.

My first event was a $500 buy-in 7 Card Stud event and Chris Grigorian was at my table as well as Al Barbieri. I lasted about 2 and half hours. The experience was great, and I knew I had some things to learn. The next day was a Pot Limit Holdem event in which I played with Mickey “Mouse” Mills. Mickey is an older gentleman with over a million in tournament earnings, numerous wins, and a couple WSOP final tables under his belt. I don’t know if it was Mickey’s good nature or something about my play, but Mickey started sharing a few Holdem tips. I was happy to listen as I really did not know how to play the game. My game improved immediately. I wound up winning about another 1500 in satellite chips based on some knowledge gained from him. Later that weekend, Mickey introduced me to a friend of his. This friend was someone that he considered a mentor and he claimed was personally responsible for giving him knowledge that helped him make a WSOP final table. This gentleman was also a poker author. His name was Bill Boston. At the time, I didn’t think much of this. I thought to myself, “Well that’s cool. I met a poker author.” However, I really wasn’t super impressed or anything as we didn’t get to talk much.

The next day was the $500 buy-in 7 Card Stud 8 or Better event. I arrived early, as I tend to do for most poker events I play, and to my left sat down Mr. Boston. This was kind of nice because this gave me someone at the table I could talk to. Bill and I exchanged some idle chit chat and the event began. I played several hands, and wasn’t doing so well. Personally, I thought I was just getting unlucky and not catching cards. Around the end of the first level, Bill leans over to me and says “Later on let’s get together and talk about Stud High Low Split.” The first thought in my head was “I must suck.” I did. I busted out just after the first break.

Five hours later, I ran across Bill in the poker room. He had just busted out of the event. He started out with rolled up Aces and caught Aces Full by Fifth Street. Unfortunately, someone else started out rolled up with Kings and caught Quads on 7^th and Bill was knocked out on a horrific bad beat. Bill looks at me and says “James, do you have anywhere you need to be? If not, let talk a little about Stud 8 or better.”

Actually, I did have somewhere to be. I had a dinner date planned with this gorgeous brunette I had met down there. At the same time, I had an opportunity to gain a lot of knowledge from someone who had been around the block a few times. I look at Bill and say “Let’s go over to table 14.” For the next two hours, Bill sat there and gave me a crash course on how to play Stud 8 or Better. He answered any questions I had and basically gave me a strategy that he recommended I work on. He then did something I didn’t expect. He took out a card and pen and gave me his email address to contact him at. “James, I want you to go home and use the strategy I just gave you and then tell me in 2 weeks to a month about how it’s working for you.” I didn’t quite know what to say other than thank you.

I went home and did what Bill told me. I played exactly the way he taught me, even if I didn’t agree with the strategy, and to be honest, I didn’t like some of it as it seemed even tighter than I even normally play. It took 3 games to see a difference in my play and that difference was dramatic. I went from being a player that would be lucky to cash in a sit n go once every 6 tries to someone that would be lucky NOT to cash in a sit n go 1 in 6 tries. Granted, I was playing at the free money levels. My live money games were about 50% cashes, which was about where Bill expected me to be.

The very next thing I did was buy Bill’s book on Omaha 8 or better and start working on my game. He also offered me a lot of instruction as well. I decided to take my turn at some event out in LA and see if I could do any better than my trip to Tunica. My trip to LA did not turn out much better than Tunica money wise, however, I made it deep in several events and barely missed cashing in both the Omaha 8 and Stud 8 events I played in. The difference in my play was night and day.

I continued to work on my game, and the next tournament set I went to, I ended up cashing in 3 events, including a Stud 8 event. Of course, the first person I told was Bill, who was ecstatic to hear about my accomplishments. Since then, Bill has been a good friend and mentor to me in Poker and in life in general. He has seen me go through ups and downs and has always given me very sound advice. I have not always taken his advice, but I listen, and he makes me think.

If you know someone that is particularly good at poker and they are willing to teach you or help you with your game, then take advantage of the resource. It does not have to be a pro or former professional player. I was lucky in that regards. No matter how much you learn, you can always learn more in Poker. In addition, mentors can help you through the rough times with solid advice or at least a shoulder to lean on. If you do not have a poker mentor, I personally recommend you get one. I can tell you from experience, I would not be the player I am currently without a mentor.

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 sit down to my table. Seat 1 was a kid that looked like he could be Chris Moneymakers younger brother. Seat 2 and 3 looked to be either to be locals or maybe tourists holding a low profile. Seat 4 was a woman in her late 50’s, maybe early 60’s. She was a known Stud High player according to what I heard later on. I was in seat 5. Seat 6 was a guy around my age that had the “I’m smarter than you and I know it” look on his face. He was very well mannered and actually a pretty good guy. Seat 7 was a NL Holdem player who was playing this event because his backer made him, or at least that was his claim. Seat 8 was a guy that had Stud High player written all over him. He had the gruff demeanor, the 25 year old suit, glasses, and the large cup of coffee to help keep him awake. He was in his 60’s at least.

For the first 2 rounds I don’t think I a single hand. I split one 3 way hand when my 7 low held up against someone’s 8 low. In the 3^rd round, there was a 4 way hand. I looked down to a 2, 4, and 6 of diamonds. My 2 was up, so I was the bring in. Seat 8 raised, as he tended to do with any big pair or ANY 3 low. Two other players called and I called. Seat 4, the woman who was a Stud High player, was one of the people in the hand. She had a Q up. Fourth Street gave me the Ace of diamonds. I checked my monster draw, hoping to get bets. My wish was granted as it was bet by seat 8 and raised by seat 4. I smooth called. Fifth street gave me an 8 of clubs for an 8 low. Seat 8 had a J and a 10 showing and the woman beside me had a KQ, so I knew I had low virtually sewed up, so I bet. I was then raised and reraised. I looked again at the board quickly before capping the bet. Seat 8 had a J, 10, 3 as his up cards and the woman beside me had Q, 9, K. Neither hand was suited. With this action I figure I’m facing 2 pair and either a straight or an open ended straight draw.

Sixth street gave me a pair of 8’s showing. I have a pair of 8’s with an 8 low. Seat 8 caught a 6, and seat 4 caught a K to pair her board. She bet, I raised, Seat 8 looked at me, and then looked at seat 4, and said that his pair of 10’s were no good he guessed and folded. Seat 4 looks at me, snarls, and then calls. She says “You probably have Aces up.” She really did snarl at me. Seventh street came the three of diamonds. Gin! I now have a flush and a 6 low. Unless she has 2 pair and hits a full house, I am NOT losing. Finally seat 4 decides that she should slow down and check to me. I bet, and she calls. I show my monster hand and she starts grumbling and shows everyone 2 pair, Kings and Queens. She started with Queens.

As the next hand is being dealt, seat 4 looks at me and says, “You have an interesting strategy. You ONLY play good hands.” I do not educate players at the table like some poker players have a tendency to, so I gave the typical “I really haven’t gotten much in the way of cards etc.” The truth is, she was right. I was ONLY playing good hands. Stud High Low Split is a game that is about scooping pots, not finishing with the highest hand only. This lady, as many other players tend to do, was playing Stud High and only paying attention to low when it was convenient. What happens in those situations is that players like myself who play proper strategy will more times than not clean house. It doesn’t always happen because poker does involve luck, but over the long haul, people like that woman will lose money to me. Stud High Low Split rewards proper play more so than most other poker games due to the way the game is setup.

Seat 4 continued to jaw on an off at me about my play. She asked me things like, “Do you actually make any money at this game?” She also liked to point out that she had been playing Stud longer than I have alive. Over the course of the game, it became apparent that only seat 6 and 8 had any clue what to do. Seat 8 played very loose and at times looked like he didn’t know what he was doing, but if he got in trouble or short stacked, all of a sudden he played textbook Stud 8. Seat 6 was a very calculating player but he was relatively inexperienced and it cost him later in the event. Seat 1, Kid Moneymaker, was NOT a Stud 8 player by any stretch of the imagination, but he seemed to be a decent Stud High player. He wound up getting a lot of chips when he was moved to a table with several Stud High players. I played my normal tight aggressive style and got some chips. I was about an average stack when the following hand occurred.

In round 7 I look down to 5, 6, 7 offsuit. Seat 1, Kid Moneymaker, was the bring in. Seat 4 calls and then I call. Immediately she says “Oh hell, you’re in. You must have a hand.” I just did my cockeyed “We will see” nod and moved on. By 5^th street I had a 7 low made with a 7,6,5,4, A. Seat 4 bet on both 4^th and 5^th streets and Kid Moneymaker called. On 6^th street Kid Moneymaker caught an open pair and bet out and seat 4 put her last chips in. The last card came and gave me an 8 for an 8 high straight and a 7 low. Kid Moneymaker checked and I bet. Seat 4 started throwing a fit. Kid Moneymaker actually folded at this point and I showed my straight. Seat 4 started spewing off how that she had Aces up but she KNEW she was screwed because I was in the hand. She gave me another snarl and gave me a sarcastic “Good luck to you” and went on her way.

Only 2 people from that starting table cashed, Kid Moneymaker and myself. Seat 8 got deep but his loose play bit him one too many times. Seat 6 got into a few situations where he made some bad reads and cost himself a pot or 2. Personally, I got moved to a table with about 40 players left with a bunch of good Stud 8 players. I took advantage of a few situations against other tight players late and got some chips and caught a couple of decent hands and then made the money. I finished 19^th in the event. Not a huge payday, but it was a payday, and a ton of fun. Of course, I never saw seat 4 again, so I didn’t get to gloat. In the end, I didn’t care. My “interesting strategy” paid off. That’s what the game is all about.