Oceans

I've been taking it really easy on poker recently due to job hunting but things are kind of at a stall right now. I'm lucky because I can afford to wait it out and just keep sending in resumes and seeing what comes back. However, my deadline is mid-May and it's coming up real quick. If I don't find a job by then, I won't be searching for a job until August at the earliest because I'll be at the series for most of that time.

With that being said, I still enjoy dipping my toes in games from time to time as shown from my random trips to Vegas. Most of the time there isn't really a game worth playing around here. I'm not saying that the stakes are too low for me or that I'm above everyone else. My definition of "not worth playing" basically means capped buy-in games. The stakes don't matter to me as much because I believe poker in it's truest form must exist in an uncapped game. I'd play in a 2/5 game or even a 1/3 game if it were uncapped; you can still win a good amount of money in those games. The problem is uncapped games almost exist exclusively in Vegas or Commerce.

There is the uncapped game at Palomar but I have some minor problems with how the game is played. It seems like a good portion of people there are soft playing each other. The only two people I respect and don't have a problem with playing against are Kevin and Arturo. They're friendly off the table but on the table I feel like they bring it against anybody and that deserves respect.

So outside of Vegas I really haven't been playing any games. That is until I discovered the 10/10 uncapped game at Ocean's a couple days ago. I decided to call them and see what they had running and was already out the door before the lady hung up the phone. When I got there, I was elated and disappointed at the same time. Elated because the average stack was well over 3k, disappointed because the average pot was about $150. It seemed like no hand ever reached the river and there was a ton of limping preflop.

As usual, everything changed after I sat. The average pot size quickly bloated to over $1200 after one round and I was involved in eight of them. I was very impressed at how quickly some of the players adapted. Usually bad players just let you run them over by flatting your raises but a couple of players started 3-betting within 3-4 hands. It was probably one of the most fun games I've played in a while. Fortunately for me I was able to pick up two kings in the first orbit and was able to foster my image by immediately 4-betting my first 3-bettor. I'm pretty sure he wasn't doing it very light, which is obviously good because that's easier to play against. He tanked forever and flatted then tanked forever when I bet on an ace high flop and mucked. He mentioned something about shoving preflop instead so he probably had two jacks or queens. Unfortunate flop.

Anyway here are some hand histories. Keep in mind I played 100% of my hands the first two orbits.

Hand #3
I open button with 76 to 40 and both blinds call. Flop Qs63s, sb c/c 70 and bb folds. Turn Kd, sb c/c 130. River 2s, sb leads 260 and I actually tank for about 30 seconds before mucking. Something just did not seem right, sure enough sb rolls over A4 with As.

Hand #7
I pick up two kings and open to 40, guy from hand #3 3b to 120, folded around to me and I make it 340 to go. He tank calls, flop A9x, I bet 450, he tank mucks. Boring hand, but good for image.

Hand #10
I limp AKo utg and a couple limpers follow, girl raises to 60, I call and another person calls, three way to the flop. Before I continue I have to admit I was very impressed with this girl's game. She's probably the best female player I've ever played against. She was 3-betting and 4-betting a decent frequency. She was raising limpers, double barreling, triple barreling, and betting pot on very coordinated boards. With that in mind, I flatted because I'm oop and wanted to see a flop. Flop T x x, I check she bets 120, guy folds, I call. At this point, I have the best hand a good percentage of the time and I actually have no problem just c/c her all three streets. Turn was another blank, I c/c 280. River I was planning to c/c anything that wasn't a jack or queen. However, river was a king and I decided to lead 580 and she folded.

In retrospect, c/c might have been better because if she's triple barreling I'll get more money that way. But on the other hand, I didn't want to seem like I was a weak lag fish who just shuts down against pressure. There is nothing more humiliating than checking that river and having her check behind then turning over AK. I know I personally laugh inside when I see other players do it.

Hand #24
Old guy I've been playing with who plays very conservatively postflop opens to 40. I 3b to 130 with 73c in CO and he calls. Flop KsQ5s, he c/c 210. Turn another spade. He checks and I decide to fire 440 to make him fold something like AQ or KJ. Unfortunately that backfired and he shipped for around 1200. I mucked and he apologized and showed QTs. I usually get really annoyed at players who apologize, but I was playing with him earlier in the 40/80 limit game and he was a very genuine guy so I took it lightly and continued chatting with him.

That's all I'm posting for now. Gotta get ready to go kayaking in a bit!