Keep Calm and Carry On

...everyone goes nutso, so you just wait until you have some sort of hand that you want to play for a cap on every street. I think this is my biggest ever pot in deuce (in terms of bets). 

Not sure why it's not showing all the hands below, but capoch is the co and at showdown he has J8654.  SB you see below had 87432 and the UTG had 85432.  

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.20 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball - 6 players - View hand 2094805
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Pre Draw: (1.5 SB) Hero is BTN with K 7 6 6 2
UTG calls, MP folds, CO raises, Hero calls, SB 3-bets, BB folds, UTG caps!, CO calls, Hero calls, SB calls

First Draw: (17 SB) (4 players)
SB draws 2, UTG draws 1, CO draws 2, Hero draws 2
Hand: Q 7 6 5 2
SB bets, UTG raises, CO 3-bets, Hero caps!, SB calls, UTG calls, CO calls

Second Draw: (16.5 BB) (4 players)
SB draws 1, UTG stands pat, CO draws 1, Hero draws 1
Hand: 7 6 5 3 2
SB bets, UTG raises, CO 3-bets, Hero caps!, SB calls, UTG calls, CO calls

Third Draw: (32.5 BB) (4 players)
SB draws 1, UTG stands pat, CO draws 1, Hero stands pat
Hand: 7 6 5 3 2
SB bets, UTG raises, CO 3-bets, Hero caps!, SB calls all in, UTG calls, CO calls

Final Pot: 47.75 BB
SB mucks 8 7 4 3 2
Hero shows 7 6 5 3 2 (Lo: 7,6,5,3,2)
Hero wins 2.25 BB
Hero wins 45 BB
(Rake: $0.10)

A funny hand.  I hit my absolute gin card and the world goes nutso.  Turns out one guy is stone dead and the other has a one-outer to beat me.

Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2041495
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $8.67
SB: $2.36
BB: $19.60
UTG: $20.29
Hero (MP): $14.33
CO: $10.00

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP with A J
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.35, 1 fold, BTN calls $0.35, 1 fold, BB calls $0.25

Flop: ($1.10) 6 2 4(3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.55, BTN calls $0.55, BB calls $0.55

Turn: ($2.75) 3(3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.90, BTN raises to $7.77 all in, BB calls $7.77, Hero raises to $13.43 all in, BB calls $5.66

River: ($37.38) 8(3 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $37.38
BTN mucks 5 5
BB shows 8 5 (a straight, Deuce to Six)
Hero shows A J (a flush, Ace high)
Hero wins $10.99
Hero wins $24.89
(Rake: $1.50)

He was very spewy and wierd-aggro, but even given that, his turn call makes me scratch my head...

Poker Stars $10.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 2027247
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: $13.48
CO: $11.75
BTN: $10.18 - VPIP: 62, PFR: 15, 3B: 26, AF: 5.4, Hands: 81
SB: $9.50
Hero (BB): $10.00
UTG: $21.63 - VPIP: 27, PFR: 21, 3B: 8, AF: 2.2, Hands: 92

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with A A
UTG raises to $0.30, 2 folds, BTN raises to $0.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.65, 1 fold, BTN calls $1.15

Flop: ($3.65) 8 4 6(2 players)
Hero bets $2.30, BTN calls $2.30

Turn: ($8.25) T(2 players)
Hero bets $6.05, BTN calls $6.05

River: ($20.35) 2(2 players)

Final Pot: $20.35
BTN shows K J
Hero shows A A
Hero wins $19.43
(Rake: $0.92)

In July I got a job with a completely awesome silicon valley software company.  They have a 4-week "indoc" period out in California for all new employees, which they extend to 6 weeks for people who are not going to be in one of their US offices.  Then they asked me to work out of their NYC office for 4 months.  So apart from a two week return to London to refresh my visa I've been away from home since mid July.  Today I fly back to London.  I get to see my wife and daughter again, which is great, and more relevant to DC I'll probably start playing the odd hand of poker again.

Before I do that, a little story.  So I'd been out in NYC for a few months, it was a weekend, I was pretty bored and jonesing for some poker.  I do a bit of research and find out about a "home game" that runs regularly in Manhattan.  There is a vetting process during which they figure out how/whether I can join the game (ie am I going to bust them) and eventually on the Thursday, I get a message to say I can join that night. 

So at that point I had been working my ass off on a customer site out in New England all week.  I get back into Manhattan, absolutely shattered, and go down to Chinatown to play some poker.  There is a bit of a Teddy KGB-style double door video camera bit to get in.  The blinds are $1/$3 and there is an uncapped buyin.  I show up with 2 bullets thinking I'm pretty inexperienced (ie this is precisely the first ever live cash game I've played in - I've never even played a homegame). 

Anyhow the game is completely and utterly off the chains.  There are 3 people sitting with more than $1000, one of whom dropped $3000 at least while I was there, and I suspect fuelled the enormous stacks of the other two before I arrived.  Lots of straddling, dark checks, 5 to a flop in 3-bet pots etc.  They had a fun rule where they had this little stuffed toy pig.  If you were UTG and had the pig it was mandatory to put it in the pot, and it counted as a $10 straddle.  So to play everyone else had to at least call $10.  Then whoever dragged that pot won the pig along with the money and it went in the next time they were UTG.  To give you an idea how crazy the action was, the following hand:

There is a bored-looking Asian woman in her 30s.  She is by far and away the best player in the game, and is sitting on a bit over $1k at this point.  She raises, gets called in about 3 spots, including by the enormous LAG to my right, who has her covered (just).  Flop comes T8x (I forget the last card).  She bets, gets raised by mister lag who is literally playing 100% of hands preflop.  Doesn't matter if the pot is raised, limped, 3-bet whatever.  Everyone else folds.  She sighs and looks glum.  Calls.  Turn is a blank.  She checks and he shoves about 2x pot or more.  She sighs and looks glum again.  Calls.  She has a set of eights for middle set and he has T5o for top pair no draw no kicker (in about an 800bb pot!).   "Well what am I gonna do?" says mister Lag.  "I have Top Pair".  Rebuys for $2000 more.

Anyhow, I had an OK night.  I wasn't playing my absolute best but I was very tired and very very card dead.  I ended up down about $350, partly because of a horrible hand where I had top pair, a backdoor flush draw and and a backdoor straight draw.  I check-raised Mr LAG on the flop and ended up folding to a turn shove when my draws blanked.   He showed and it was something ridiculous like 95o for bottom two pair.  I left the game after all the big stacks had gone and he quit about $3500 or so down on the time I was there.

There was another funny hand which I wasn't involved in.  Guy #1 (a conservative banker guy) raises UTG, then a young hoodie on a shortstack 3-bets in position, crazy LAG from the hands above cold-calls the threebet, woman who runs the game cold-4bet jams about 150bbs.  UTG guy tanks and folds, then the other two snapcall.  The woman turns over QQ and the two guys both flip up AKo.  "Well we have four outs" says crazy LAG, to which conservative financial guy says.  "Nope, 2. I folded AK".  Live poker, eh?  Clearly the RNG is rigged.

Funny hand in which I get to the river with the second nuts and decide to overbet to make it look like a bluff....

Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - View hand 1884776
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $4.39
SB: $12.52
BB: $7.13
UTG: $7.02
Hero (UTG+1): $8.39
UTG+2: $7.22
MP1: $8.27
MP2: $2.42
CO: $3.92

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG+1 with K K
UTG raises to $0.15, Hero calls $0.15, 7 folds

Flop: ($0.37) K 4 5(2 players)
UTG bets $0.20, Hero calls $0.20

Turn: ($0.77) 4(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.55, UTG calls $0.55

River: ($1.87) 2(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $2.50, UTG raises to $6.12 all in, Hero calls $3.62

Final Pot: $14.11
UTG shows 2 2 (a full house, Deuces full of Fours)
Hero shows K K (a full house, Kings full of Fours)
Hero wins $13.52
(Rake: $0.59)

Gruesome cooler for villain obviously, although perhaps he shouldn't open deuces UTG and if he does, perhaps he should x/f the turn.

In case you've been wondering where I've been, I got a new job and went over to the States to get acculturated.  I'm back in London for two weeks before heading back to NYC for most of the rest of the year.

I wouldn't normally float the flop, but both villains very honest on the turn so I was pretty sure I could stack them if I hit my card and I would pick up equity on any club.  As it was, I was unprepared for what ensued...

Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - View hand 1808617
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $5.25
SB: $5.02
BB: $8.13
UTG: $3.11
UTG+1: $3.56 - VPIP: 18, PFR: 6, 3B: 0, AF: 1.0, Hands: 34
UTG+2: $6.30
MP1: $5.13 - VPIP: 15, PFR: 10, 3B: 0, AF: 1.3, Hands: 40
MP2: $3.28
CO: $6.33

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with J Q
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $0.15, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.15, MP2 calls $0.15, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.15, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.67) 4 K A(4 players)
UTG+1 bets $0.32, MP1 calls $0.32, MP2 folds, Hero calls $0.32

Turn: ($1.63) T(3 players)
UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $1.28, UTG+1 folds, MP1 raises to $2.85, Hero raises to $4.78, MP1 calls $1.81 all in

River: ($10.95) 6(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $10.95
Hero shows J Q
MP1 shows A A
Hero wins $10.38
(Rake: $0.45)

WTF?  Answers on a postcard please.....

Poker Stars $0.02/$0.04 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - 9 players - View hand 1766888
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is SB with 9 5 A 3
1 fold, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 raises, 2 folds, BTN calls, Hero calls, BB calls, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 calls

Flop: (12 SB) 7 4 3(6 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, UTG+2 checks, MP1 bets, BTN calls, Hero calls, BB folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls

Turn: (8 BB) 2(4 players)
Hero bets, UTG+2 calls, MP1 raises, BTN calls, Hero 3-bets, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, BTN calls

River: (20 BB) 9(4 players)
Hero bets, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, BTN calls

Final Pot: 24 BB
UTG+2 mucks A 8 T 2
MP1 mucks A 6 4 A
BTN mucks 5 T J 2
Hero shows 9 5 A 3 (HI: a straight, Ace to Five; LO: 5,4,3,2,A)
Hero wins 12 BB
Hero wins 11.75 BB
(Rake: $0.01)

(Shame it's only play money)

My hand is junk obviously, but I had been given a lecture by one of the players in question that "we do not do preflop at this table" when I 3-bet in another hand so I couldn't really see folding A2xxss preflop.  I flop about the best I could possibly hope for, although it turns out at showdown that noone really had much of anything at any point.  If only cash O8 worked like this.

Poker Stars $10/$20 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - 5 players - View hand 1743936
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Pre Flop: (1.5 SB) Hero is with 8 2 A 6
str8man498 raises, NEAGOE calls, Seber444 calls, AAAces1267 3-bets, Hero calls, str8man498 caps!, NEAGOE calls, Seber444 calls, AAAces1267 calls, Hero calls
Flop: (20 SB) 4 3 J(5 players)
AAAces1267 bets, Hero raises, str8man498 3-bets, NEAGOE calls, Seber444 calls, AAAces1267 caps!, Hero calls, str8man498 calls, NEAGOE calls, Seber444 calls

Turn: (20 BB) Q(5 players)
AAAces1267 checks, Hero bets, str8man498 raises, NEAGOE calls, Seber444 folds, AAAces1267 calls, Hero 3-bets, str8man498 caps!, NEAGOE calls, AAAces1267 calls, Hero calls

River: (36 BB) 9(4 players)
AAAces1267 bets, Hero raises, str8man498 3-bets, NEAGOE calls, AAAces1267 calls all in, Hero caps!, str8man498 calls, NEAGOE calls

Final Pot: 50.35 BB
NEAGOE shows 9 6 T Q (HI: two pair, Queens and Nines)
AAAces1267 mucks 3 4 2 9
Hero shows 8 2 A 6 (HI: a flush, Ace high)
str8man498 mucks A 5 K T
Hero wins 4.95 BB
Hero wins 45.4 BB

Hand #1
Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1741020
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): $16.52
MP: $5.00 - VPIP: 11, PFR: 8, 3B: 8, AF: 0.0, Hands: 61
CO: $8.22 - VPIP: 31, PFR: 21, 3B: 5, AF: 1.2, Hands: 89
BTN: $13.09 - VPIP: 56, PFR: 16, 3B: 6, AF: 1.5, Hands: 171
SB: $5.02 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 11, 3B: 5, AF: 0.7, Hands: 127
BB: $14.56 - VPIP: 89, PFR: 70, 3B: 35, AF: 3.9, Hands: 84

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG with Q 6
3 folds, BTN calls $0.05, 1 fold, BB checks

Flop: ($0.12) Q A 9(2 players)
BB bets $0.05, BTN calls $0.05

Turn: ($0.22) J(2 players)
BB bets $0.05, BTN calls $0.05

River: ($0.32) J(2 players)
BB bets $0.05, BTN calls $0.05

Final Pot: $0.42
BTN mucks 8 6
BB shows K 8
BB wins $0.40
(Rake: $0.02)

Hand #2
Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1741021
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): $16.59
MP: $5.78 - VPIP: 11, PFR: 8, 3B: 8, AF: 0.0, Hands: 61
CO: $6.27 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 13, 3B: 0, AF: 1.7, Hands: 23
BTN: $18.38 - VPIP: 56, PFR: 16, 3B: 6, AF: 1.5, Hands: 171
SB: $5.03 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 11, 3B: 5, AF: 0.7, Hands: 127
BB: $6.84 - VPIP: 89, PFR: 70, 3B: 35, AF: 3.9, Hands: 84

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG with 6 4
3 folds, BTN raises to $0.10, 1 fold, BB raises to $0.15, BTN calls $0.05

Flop: ($0.32) J 4 K(2 players)
BB bets $0.05, BTN raises to $0.25, BB calls $0.20

Turn: ($0.82) Q(2 players)
BB bets $0.05, BTN raises to $0.70, BB calls $0.65

River: ($2.22) 2(2 players)
BB bets $0.05, BTN raises to $1.30, BB calls $1.25

Final Pot: $4.82
BTN shows J Q
BB mucks 9 A
BTN wins $4.62
(Rake: $0.20)

Hand #3
Poker Stars $5.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1741022
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $16.54
BB: $5.78 - VPIP: 11, PFR: 8, 3B: 8, AF: 0.0, Hands: 61
UTG: $6.27 - VPIP: 22, PFR: 13, 3B: 0, AF: 1.7, Hands: 23
MP: $21.79 - VPIP: 56, PFR: 16, 3B: 6, AF: 1.5, Hands: 171
CO: $5.01 - VPIP: 17, PFR: 11, 3B: 5, AF: 0.7, Hands: 127
BTN: $3.19 - VPIP: 89, PFR: 70, 3B: 35, AF: 3.9, Hands: 84

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is SB with 8 4
1 fold, MP calls $0.05, 1 fold, BTN raises to $0.10, 1 fold, BB raises to $0.40, 1 fold, BTN calls $0.30

Flop: ($0.87) 6 Q 3(2 players)
BB bets $0.60, BTN calls $0.60

Turn: ($2.07) 4(2 players)
BB checks, BTN bets $0.80, BB raises to $2.30, BTN calls $1.39 all in

River: ($6.45) 5(2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $6.45
BB shows K K
BTN shows 3 8
BB wins $6.18
(Rake: $0.27)

View all 3 hands

It's going to be great when it comes to 2-7TD.