Hellmuth Gets Number TEN

Hate him or love him, the underdog's on top! I know a lot of people don't like Phil Hellmuth, and he is, after all, the poker brat...but his was the first book I read on poker, so he has a small place in my heart. LOL!! Plus, you have to admit, he's won 9 bracelets (until today) at the WSOP and pretty much more hold 'em tournaments than just about everyone else, so the man can play some tournament poker.

He was heads up earlier this year at the WSOP and just missed out on his 10th bracelet. He has been playing superbly at this year's WSOP and I predicted he would definitely win #10 this year, and possible 11 or 12 as well. Well, last night at the RIO Phil finally got bracelet number 10 in a $1000 rebuy hold em tourney. Congrats Phil!

Patience Brings Vindication

Wow...so I just posted about the horrible first 5 hands of this 50c/$1 limit table I was playing. Fast Forward 25 minutes of good solid patient poker later and I get the following three hands:

KJ in BB makes 2 pair and holds up for a $10 pot.

J9 suited in SB makes flush and takes down a huge $25 pot.

AQ suited on the Button makes 2 pair and a little $5 pot because everyone folds to me this time.

So, I started the table with $20, went down to about $4 in 15 minutes, and now have it built back up to around $35. Phwew....just took a little patience and a total reversal of luck.

10 minutes from Hell....

If I told you that you could sit down at a limit poker table and immediately get dealt 10 10, AA, AQ suited, J10 suited and KK in that order, you'd probably like your odds. Today, you would be sadly mistaken. I haven't lost money this fast since the last time I played a quarter slot machine.

So I sit down at a 50c/$1 limit table with $20.00 My first hand, I raised with 10 10 and hit a set on the flop. Happy Days. I bet, and everyone folds. Small pot, but hey, I'm happy to win the first hand. Next hand...wow, pocket Aces. This is going to be a good table. Raise it up again. Hmmm, 8 9 Q with two diamonds on the flop and a couple calls before it gets to me, I'll raise it up again. Okay, one caller. 2 of clubs on turn. Not scary at all. The dude bets into me again..what is he thinking. 7 of diamonds on river...hmmm, flush possible. He bets...I call, and yes, he has made his diamond flush with his 5 3 of diamonds that he chose to call my pre flop raise with. I just love limit poker SOOOOO much.

Needless to say, my AQ, J 10 and KK went down in flames as well. Although at least the KK hand was interesting. I raised preflop and the BB called. There was an A on flop, but he checked, I bet, he called. Another Ace on turn and another check makes me think it's unlikely he has an A now..so I bet and he calls. A THIRD Ace on river gives me the AAAKK full boat and I find it EXTREMELY unlikely that he could have an Ace now... but he bets, I raise and he re-raises. Are you kidding me? Maybe he has a pocket pair and figures he's good....but I call and sure enough, there's the A7. Why did he call a pre flop raise with A7? Oh yeah, so he could catch three more Aces with the last three cards to come out and crack my KK.

Frustrating Hand

Hands like this are so frustrating. As if the deck wants to reward some idiot for playing poorly.

I am playing limit hold em and raise from mid position with J9 suited. I get 2 callers, and then the button re-raises. I call along with another player.

Flop is EXCELLENT for my hand. 8 7 10 with one card of my suit. I have flopped the straight and could still backdoor a flush. I bet out, the next player raises, the button calls, I re-raise, next player re-raises and the button calls once again. We cap the betting on the flop.

Turn is Q (not my suit) Now my straight is Q high and still the best possible hand. I bet out and both players simply call.

River is K and bad news. Now my straight is K high...but someone with AJ has me beat. Would one of these jokers really have stayed in with all the action of the flop of 7 8 10 with AJ?? Well, it was the only hand that could beat me...so I bet out again...and now the damn button raises me. I call, and yes, they had AJ offsuit.

So how many bad plays do I think the button made? Well, first, they re-raised my early/mid position raise with AJ. This is just stupid. You need a stronger hand to re-raise than you do to raise in the first place. AJ is a horrible re-raise, in my opinion. If I have AA AK AQ they are in bad shape, and even if I raised with KK QQ or JJ they are still not sitting very good. The next mistake was calling 2 bets cold on the flop of 7 8 10... They had no part of this flop, and it was bet and raised before it got to them? What in the world were they hoping to hit?

Then the turn comes...and voila...they've picked up a gutshot straight draw..so they call yet again and hit the miracle card on the river...the only card that could win the hand for them...and I lose a huge pot to someone who should have been out before the turn. ARGHHHH

Us Against Them

I played a lot of 3/6 at the boats this past week, and realized something I have noticed in the past, but didn't really think about. Anyone else notice the "us vs. them" mentality of the table - depending on which side you are sitting on?

For instance, if I'm sitting on the far end of the table and the player next to me gets beat by someone on the other side, the player will inevitably turn and say something to me about how bad the other guy played, or how lucky he got. When someone on MY side of the table wins, you can see the players on the other side making comments to one another in much the same way.

However, if you happen to beat the person sitting right next to you...they are relatively friendly and don't say the same types of things they would have said, had you been on the other side. I guess they figure the player on the other side won't take the trouble to get up, walk over and smack them..whereas someone sitting next to them might just backhand them. I don't know. Thoughts??

Limit Poker Tip of the Day - BET THE RIVER

Players leave money on the table by failing to bet the river. A common betting pattern you will find in limit hold em is call, bet, bet, check. You've probably done this yourself. You call the blinds before the flop, catch a good hand - something like top pair with a good kicker - so you bet the flop and bet the turn too. But when you fail to improve to three of a kind or two pair, you decide to check the river to save a bet on the odd chance you're beaten.

Most of the time, the river card is not going to promote your opponent's hand to one that's better than yours - as long as you've had the best hand going into the river. If you have the luxury of acting last, and the river card doesn't spell "flush" or "straight" for one of your opponents, go ahead and bet. You're likely to be safe, not sorry, if you do. Even if the last card puts three cards of the same suit on the board, any player fortunate enough to catch his flush card on the river usually comes out betting when it's their turn to act. And if they had a bigger hand than yours BEFORE the river (a flopped set or top 2 pair) then you can be sure they'd do their check raising on the turn, not the river.

(Thanks to Lou Krieger)

The Cards Can Be So Unkind....

I don't know what is up with the limit game tonight. I establish my table image as tight tight tight by folding forever. Then, when I raise pre flop, I still get several callers. A player raised from UTG, I re-raise from button with AK suited. Ace on flop, he bets, I raise, he calls. I make 2 pair when the K hits on the turn. He check calls. The J on the river and he bets out, I call...and yes, he has Q 10 off. So he raised with Q10 off...from first position, then called my re-raise both pre-flop and on the flop...with no hand. Afterwards, when I gave him the old, "Well, I can't outplay stupid..." he says, "I was open ended." When was that? He hit a gut shot after catching 2 running cards...AFTER calling 2 raises... ARGH..

Later, I get K3 suited in BB, unraised. I flop 2 pair and bet out. Get 2 callers... The 3 on turn gives me the FH 3's full of Kings. Player bets, I raise, he calls. 10 on the river and he bets, I raise, he calls and shows 10, 10...so he rivered a FH using the 3s on the board, AFTER calling my re-raise with nothing but a pair of 10s.

THEN...(and yes, we're still at the same table..and I'm only playing premium hands..and playing them aggressively) I get AJ hearts in late position and raise. I get a few callers, and flop is JJ4 with the 4 and one of the Jacks suited in spades. I bet...get called. Turn is a harmless diamond. I bet, get called. River is yet another spade...so I check and of course, there is a bet and a raise by the time it gets to me...so I fold to the two obvious flushes. One was 57 and the other was Q 8 of spades. WHY WHY WHY must the deck reward people who play so poorly?

Without going through the other 5 or 6 hands that went down like this...you get the point. I even had to split a pot when I had KJ and flopped KJ...only to get called and see a Q hit turn AND river...so a guy with K5 who had called got to split the pot with me, as we both had Ks and Qs with the Jack kicker. I'm tortured and cursed....and I don't know why....

Not Another Bad Beat Story...

Okay, as much as I'd like to start off my blog with the tale of last night's tourney...where I raised with 10 10, caught my set on a flop of 10 4 2, and then got all the money in against a player with A 10...only to see him backdoor a straight with 3 and 5 on the turn and river....I won't do that. Heh...

I would like to welcome one and all to the Tripp Kelly poker blog. I need a place to vent my bad beats, of course, because no one is really interested in hearing them anymore. I also need a place to muse a bit now and then, and just ramble on to absolute strangers on the internet about this addiction, this affliction, this disease, this mistress I call Poker.

In addition, I hope to detail the ups and downs of my poker experiences, and keep track of my play, good or bad. Maybe this will help me to grow as a player. I will also offer some tips I've picked up here and there, as well as books and other learning devices I recommend.

Thanks for stopping by, and please feel free to drop me a line. - Tripp