Gambling Results With Jeff

Every single poker player waits for that magical moment… His or her first ever ROYAL FLUSH. It took me quite a few years to make one in real life (I’ve had one online, but that’s something different, right?) — but now I have!

I was playing the $5/$10 game at the local casino and was sitting on the button with AJ of diamonds. The flop was a well-deserved T-Q-K of diamonds. I was in for a treat as the other guy had KQ and was stupid enough to take my bet as a defensive one. He shoved in hoping I was on the diamond draw — too bad I flopped THE STONE COLD ULTIMATE NUTS BABY!

I’m still smiling.

I had a long discussion with a friend of mine today about whether or not to always valuebet with specific hands on the river, against specific boards. I’m not even going to get in to the most vital hands we disagreed upon, but we did agree on certain factors you have to look in to before considering a valuebet on the river…

For the record, we’re talking No Limit Hold’em.

1. Whether or not the player you’re up against is winner or loser, and how he reacts in these situations.
2. The stack-sizes. Don’t risk your whole stack by valuebetting a mediocre hand against a dangerous board. If you’ve got $300 invested and you both have $2500 –you don’t want to have to face an all-in decision on a weak hand.
3. The board. What dangers are out there? If a 3-card flush or straight is out there, be cautious. If you read your opponent as strong, check it down.
4. Your table image. Don’t valuebet a mediocre hand if you know you’re only getting called when you’re surely beat. Being aware of your own table image is vital in poker, so keep your eyes on yourself as much as your opponents.
5. Bankroll management. Fold to a big re-raise if you’re not strong enough. Your money is worth a good laydown every once in a while.

More factors to come, but feel free to join in and give opinions here…

Found this hand on cardschat, and feel bad for the guy with the AQ. What is the nines guy thinking on the flop? What was he thinking on the turn? Backing into a straight like that is awesome, but not for the guy with the AQ.

I’ve been reading hand histories way too much. I should tune it down, I’m getting a feeling like “waw poker is brutal, i should quit”.

#Game No : 5021409804
***** Hand History for Game 5021409804 *****
$10/$20 Texas Hold’em - Thursday, August 24, 22:21:31 ET 2006
Table Monster #1278453 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 3: whitehot32 ( $1090.50 )
Seat 4: DRock420111 ( $303.75 )
Seat 5: dilipkothari ( $490 )
Seat 6: ramz3209 ( $350 )
dilipkothari posts small blind [$5].
ramz3209 posts big blind [$10].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to DRock420111 [ As Qc ]
whitehot32 folds.
DRock420111 raises [$20].
dilipkothari raises [$25].
ramz3209 folds.
DRock420111 calls [$10].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, 8h, 5h ]
dilipkothari bets [$10].
DRock420111 calls [$10].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7s ]
dilipkothari bets [$20].
DRock420111 raises [$40].
dilipkothari calls [$20].
** Dealing River ** [ 6h ]
dilipkothari bets [$20].
DRock420111 calls [$20].
dilipkothari shows [ 9c, 9h ] a straight, five to nine.
DRock420111 doesn’t show [ As, Qc ] a pair of queens.
The time at which hand ended:Aug 24 2006 22:22 ET
dilipkothari wins $207.50 from the main pot with a straight, five to nine.
Game #5021415834 starts.

I’m so going to try this out. Vincent wrote about 3 card omaha and I heard somebody on some High Stakes Poker episode mention it too. Apparently (and according to Vincent, so don’t take it out on me if it’s not the case) it’s a little less of a madmans game than the regular PLO, but still extremely high-action, not comparable to a sane game of hold’em.

I’m sure 3-card omaha is great for pot limit play. I’ll report back after I’ve had a chance to actually try it out.