Comic Strip Poker Is Rigged

liquid's YTD: $1450.40

Rex Morgan recently explored the seamy underbelly of illegal poker, tracing the downfall and eventual salvation of one-eyed pill-popping booze-guzzling Iraqi vet gambling addict suckout artist extraordinaire Jack. I've archived the final month and a half of the series for your perusal. Enjoy!

A quick recap:

- Jack needs a game. Bad.

- Casino guy (whose own poker room is closed for repairs -- guess they're installing auto-shufflers) sends Jack to the sharks down at Lou's Sports Bar. Pigeons welcome!

- Down at Lou's, fellow vet Coop objects to fleecing Jack, but eventually agrees to let him play under an enigmatic condition.

- Cut to the key hand. Weak-tight Charlie and apparent mechanic Lou get out of the way as Jack and Coop give action on an AKQr flop.

- BOOM! The cooler! Note that either these dudes are really bad at reading the board, or else the flopped Q got changed to a 9 somewhere along the way.

The series should have ended with this awesome river action, but unfortunately the sap starts flowing immediately thereafter (and flowing, and flowing). I'm not sure what message this is supposed to send.

At least Rex knows enough to call it like it is: RIGGED!

My Moody Roomie

liquid's YTD: $1185.50

Folks say you have to love variance to play pot-limit Omaha. Somehow I managed to avoid all those crazy swings during my first year of play. That's all changed in 2006. Variance has moved in, raided the refrigerator, and is camped out on my couch.

Last week, for the first time all year, I put together a modest string of steady wins. I managed to erase that last night with a personal record $377 loss. Somehow I didn't feel all that bad about my play, although I did identify $60-odd worth of donkey river calls. I also could have pushed harder earlier in a couple hands to take down modest pots instead of trying to build bigger ones. And there was one FE-less check-raise in a raised pot with a wrap that would have been smarter to bet out with, especially in hindsight: foe had a weaker draw, we both whiffed, and he took it down with a pair of jacks. Ok, so it wasn't my best night.

This evening variance wasn't so grumpy. I managed to book $388 in winnings, highlighted by a nice $292 pot. I realize I haven't posted any interesting hands in a long while, and this one won't change matters. But it is one of the few big pots to ship my way this year, and I need to bask in its warming glow.

$100 Pot-Limit Omaha (9-handed)

Seat 2: Hero (UTG+1, $97) [Ah Qs 6s 6h]
Seat 3: LAG (UTG+2, $248.95)
Seat 5: TAG (MP1, $96.70)

PRE-FLOP
B1 posts blind ($1), B2 posts blind ($1), UTG folds, Hero calls $1, LAG calls $1, TAG calls $1, MP2 folds, CO calls $1, Button calls $1, B1 checks, B2 checks.

($7) FLOP [4h 3h 5d]
B1 checks, B2 checks, Hero checks, LAG checks, TAG checks, CO checks, Button checks.

($7) TURN [4h 3h 5d 6c]

Top set and nut flush draw on a straightened board! Here we go....

B1 checks, B2 checks, Hero bets $7, LAG bets $28

S'all right, I can call that.

TAG bets $95.70 and is all-in

3-way action! Time to stack off -- LAG'll call for sure.

CO/Button/B1/B2 fold, Hero bets $89 and is all-in, LAG calls $68.

($292) RIVER [4h 3h 5d 6c 2h]

SHOWDOWN
Hero shows [Ah Qs 6s 6h]
LAG shows [7s 5c Qh Ks]
TAG shows [5h 7h Jh 8h]
Hero wins $292.70.

My situation wasn't as rosy as I hoped -- five (!!) hearts and a board card were dead, reducing my outs from 18 to 12 -- but I still had exactly the 33.33% equity I needed, thanks to LAG pushing with his non-nut straight. I'm always amazed at how many things typically have to work out just right to win a big pot.

This is a humbling game.

Sensei Wanted

liquid's YTD: $374.00

January was the proverbial rollercoaster, but relatively light on the exhilaration and heavy on the vomiting. It seems like my few big wins have been off of morons, which is never terribly satisfying. Coin flips and other marginal situations have ended in disaster. I've alternated between weak-tight nut-peddling and loosey goosey leaking, seldom finding myself in my comfort zone.

So I had an epiphany. I have a basic psychological shortcoming when it comes to poker. There are times when I feel like I'm playing well, being selectively aggressive, building pots when I have a chance, enjoying bigger wins when the cards go my way, and not getting too upset when I miss. The problem is that after a period of good play, I start doing mental accounting of how much I'm up or down for the session, and how that figures into how much I'm up or down for the day.

If I'm up a healthy chunk, I feel myself shut it down, protecting the win. Usually I just quit if this happens, which is why I'm never the guy sitting with 500BB.

If I'm down, I tighten up and resort to fancy play syndrome to avoid committing myself to a pot until I'm sure I've got a huge edge. Needless to say, such situations are faaaaaar in between in pot-limit Omaha. Worse is when I finally stumble on that perfect situation after three hours of waiting... only to get smacked down by a gruesome beat. COMMENCE WILD MONKEY TILT!

Too much is driven by where I'm at for a session or for a day, instead of just playing each hand on its own. Easy to say, easy to identify, difficult to change.

Part of it is I just like playing with numbers. I keep meticulous records of each session. I enjoy pouring over PokerTracker stats. I check my rakeback numbers daily. I like staring at my YTD graph, especially when it's going up. Even if I'm not looking at the numbers themselves I'm sorting them out in my head. It's hard for me to avoid doing these things.

I need a poker sensei to smack my head into shape.