Hired

Thanks to one of my readers, I've been offered a job. I'm not sure exactly what I'll be doing, but I'm excited. It's a part time job paying $10/hr.
Right up my alley.
The job interview was awesome. We talked poker.
My new boss has played some big games and has been playing poker for years.
Like any true online player, he's also a blogger. Check his out, it's funny and well-written.
http://deadmoneyinc.blogspot.com/
It's possible you know him as WPTfanner, ScottMc.

Anyway, I don't forsee this cutting to much into my poker playing. But it could. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
It could also mean that I'll start playing in some of Austin's home games.
I'd like that, and I'd write them up.

Last night, I decided to play 10 HU matches today.
I stopped at 6.
My record today is 5-1. In the match I lost, my opponent pushed 1300 in PF with T4dd. I called with AK. The K on the flop looked good, but running diaonds crippled me.
After that flop, I had a 93% chance of winning the hand, but it was not to be.
I won my next match in 3 hands.
After calling a riase with KTs, I check-raised the T-hi flop. As soon as I did, I got the feeling that my opponent might jam with a wide range of hands. I prepared myself to call.
He jammed, and my mind made up beforehand, I called. He showed QT and the match was over when a K hit on the river.

The next match lasted 1 hand. I had AK on the button and decided to be a jack ass. I pushed all-in.
The play is bad and laughable. I won't argue with that.
But it has it's redeeming factors.
Call or fold, this guy has me pegged as a jackass goofball. If he holds an A, he knows that it's better than my average starting hand. Wining in one hand would be as desirable for him as it is for me, so he could decide to take the percieved likely edge and go with it.
Afterall, maybe I always push the first hand of HU SnGs.
In this case, my opponent called with ATcc. The T on the flop was disheartening, but the Q on the turn filled my gutshot, and I was the winner.

My next match lasted a bit longer, 16 hands. I realized quickly that my opponent had three big bullets in his bluff gun. I didn't actually see a bluff, but I felt it. Rapid fire, big bets got me to fold a dinky pair.
He had a chip leader when this hand came up:
PokerStars Game #2186225228: Tournament #10501200, Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level I (10/20) - 2005/07/25 - 19:10:59 (ET)
Table '10501200 1' One on One Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: BurntOrnge (1320 in chips)
Seat 2: DonWally (1680 in chips)
BurntOrnge: posts small blind 10
DonWally: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BurntOrnge [8d 4d]
BurntOrnge: raises 40 to 60
DonWally: raises 40 to 100
BurntOrnge: calls 40[b]I put him on hi cards, and there's no way I'm folding to that pathetic re-raise[/b]
*** FLOP *** [4h Tc Td]
DonWally: bets 240 [b]ok, I put him on high cards, and he bet out just like I thought he would. If my 4 is good the only reason to raise would be to protect my hand. But he's got 6 outs and he'll continue to fire. If an AK or Q hits I can reevaluate the situation. If not, I can let him bluff off his chips.[/b]
BurntOrnge: calls 240
*** TURN *** [4h Tc Td] [Jh]
DonWally: bets 220
BurntOrnge: calls 220
*** RIVER *** [4h Tc Td Jh] [3c]
DonWally: bets 480 [b]gut check, third barrel of the bluff? Is my pair really good? I think fold, but what;s a read worth if you can't go with it? Calling and losing leaves me below 400 in chips... [/b]
BurntOrnge: calls 480
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DonWally: shows [Qd Kd] (a pair of Tens)
BurntOrnge: shows [8d 4d] (two pair, Tens and Fours)
BurntOrnge collected 2080 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2080 | Rake 0
Board [4h Tc Td Jh 3c]
Seat 1: BurntOrnge (button) (small blind) showed [8d 4d] and won (2080) with two pair, Tens and Fours
Seat 2: DonWally (big blind) showed [Qd Kd] and lost with a pair of Tens

Game ovuh, I won when I rivered a two-card flush and he rivered a one card straight.


I decided to play one more match.
I was the first to sit, and was joined by Vogman42.
This was hardly desirable. Vogman is an Austin player. He played in the WSOP, and had beaten me HU on our only previous meeting.
When he sat, I typed "boo" in the chat box. Then I typed his real last name. He was a bit surprised by this, because A. he'd forgotten that we'd played and B. he never told me his name.
I learned his name from my new boss, which brings this whole entry full circle.
They'd played in live games before and I mentioned him during the interview. He told me his name, and his WSOP history.
I'd like to say that my win over him was a result of my incredible play, but I can't.
He'd gotten a small lead on me when I raised from the button with TT. He called and the flop came JQ2.
He checked. He likes to check-raise and I walk into them a lot. Not today, I feel the check-raise and I check. A beautiful T peels off on the turn.
Vogman bet 140 into the 120 pot and I make it 355. He pushes, and I grimace and call.
He has a set of ducks.

"A set of deuces is like a mackerel in the moonlight. One minute it's real shiny.
The next it stinks."
-Tilt

So I'd caught a two-outer. Lucky me.
But I'm not happy about the hand I took him out with. I played it like a donk, sorta...
*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #2187890184: Tournament #10509340, Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level I (10/20) - 2005/07/25 - 22:21:44 (ET)
Table '10509340 1' One on One Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: BurntOrnge (2540 in chips)
Seat 2: vogman42 (460 in chips)
vogman42: posts small blind 10
BurntOrnge: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BurntOrnge [6d 5d]
vogman42: calls 10
BurntOrnge: checks
*** FLOP *** [3h 8s 7d]
BurntOrnge: checks
vogman42: bets 40[b]hmmm, I like my draw, but I don't want to just try to hit it, especially when the odds aren't right. I do have fold equity though, and a push isn't overdoing it. With A8 I probably play it the same way.[/b]
BurntOrnge: raises 440 to 480
vogman42: calls 400 and is all-in[b] but with A8 at least I'd be ahead. Instuincts are big in HU, and I felt like he was going to call. So my play was nothing short of bad. If I had 9T it would have been a lot better, but with 56, it's pretty bad.
BurntOrnge said, "oops"
*** TURN *** [3h 8s 7d] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [3h 8s 7d 4c] [7s]
vogman42 said, "i knew it"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BurntOrnge: shows [6d 5d] (a straight, Four to Eight)
vogman42: shows [Ts 8c] (two pair, Eights and Sevens)
vogman42 said, "gg"
BurntOrnge collected 920 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 920 | Rake 0
Board [3h 8s 7d 4c 7s]
Seat 1: BurntOrnge (big blind) showed [6d 5d] and won (920) with a straight, Four to Eight
Seat 2: vogman42 (button) (small blind) showed [Ts 8c] and lost with two pair, Eights and Sevens

Beating him took 25 hands.