$2-$5 Cash Game at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL.

By: bellaca
Published: Aug 17th, 2010
I recently visited Fort Lauderdale, Florida to spend the weekend with my girlfriend. While I was there, I decided to play in a $2-$5 cash game at the Hard Rock in Hollywood. For whatever reason on this day, I found my self spewing money from my pockets like a guyser. I know I made a few mistakes, but in crunching the numbers I don't think the mistakes that I made where all that bad when compared to the percentages. Anyway, here is a recap of what happened. Please feel free to add any advice you might feel the need to share with me about my hads and play.

First Hand:
I was sitting in Seat #1 and taking my time watching everyone at the table. We had a few guys who were very loose and a few guys who were very tight, so I decided to make sure I played tight until I built up my stack. Unfortunately on this day, this wouldn't happen. I sat down with $400 in chips and started my session. Before long I was dealt pocket JJ's. I raised UTG for $20. Seat #2 re-raised me to $60 and he had about $300 behind it. It got folded around to me and I thought about it for a long while. With the BB being $5 and me raising to 4x's the BB and then this guy re-raising me to 12x's the BB, I got the sick feeling that my JJ's were no good so I laid them down. Now I was down to $380 in chips.

Second Hand:
I was playing really tight, consistantly folding the garbage and mediocre hands. Once again I look down at pocket JJ's. I had already laid these down earlier in my session, so this time around I fealt as though depending on who I was up against, I'd definately make a stand with them. So I raised to $30 UTG again. I get a call of $30 from Seat #5. It gets folded around to the button and he goes all-in for $150. The button was a really aggressive and loose guy so I fealt about 60% sure that I had him beat. I was definately worried about Seat #5, but since he just called my bet of $30, I really fealt as though he had something like 88's thru 10's. If he had better than that, he would've pushed the action when he had the chance to, no?. My only concern was whether or not my read on the loose-aggressive guy with the button had me beat. I thought about it for a while and only called the $150. Now some people may feel as though this was a huge mistake on my part, by not pushing all-in and forcing the other player out, but what if by some chance he had AA's? I would've just given the rest of my stack to this guy. But than again, wouldn't he have pushed when he had the chance? So I put my $150 in there and Seat #5 didn't like it at all. He hemmed and hawed forever trying to decide if he wanted to put an additional $150 in there. Based off of this information, I knew it was either AA's or 88's thru 10's. He thought about it for a long while and he called. I KNEW I had him beat with my JJ's and I had just gotten him to make a $180 mistake. Sure enough the flop comes 4c, 3c, 10s. Now here is definately where I made a mistake. I pushed the rest of my chips in there, not knowing in what type of shape I was in. I didn't know if he had hit a set, or if he really did have AA's. As soon as I pushed my chips in there with the board showing cards lower than JJ's, he insta-called. Right away I felt like "Phuck!" "ACES!" Instead, he turned over his pocket 10's to show me the two-outer he hit, cleaning me out for about $250-$300. The guy on the button had nothing and had to re-buy. I was basically left with about $50-$75 left and now the grind back was on. Everyone at the table talked about how bad I played the hand, not pushing-all in after the bet of $150. For some reason though, in my gut I knew I had Seat #5 beaten with my JJ's! Is it really my fault that he made a $180 mistake, hit a two outer which is 13-1 against and won the hand? What do you think? I feel like you can look at from both angles. Yeah, I probably should've pushed all-in after the $150, but then I just isolate myself and the button, not getting in any additional money from the other player. So do I give him a chance to make a mistake and get some dead money in there looking to hit the two-outer, or push him out and cut my losses. In my opinion, where I definately made my mistake was after the flop, recklessly pushing all-in and not knowing where I stood. But the pre-flop action, to me anyway, is questionable. Please feel free to provide some insight.

Hand Three:
I grinded my way back to about $150 and I look down at the best starting hand in all of poker! American Airlines! It got folded around to me and there was only $7 in the pot, but I raised to $30 anyway. I got 2 callers. The flop comes Ac, 2c, 3c. I have trips. I check it and Seat #4 bets $75, Seat #5 calls, I push all-in for my last $150. Seat #4 calls and so does Seat #5. Seat #4 played KJc for $30 preflop and Seat #5 played 45h for $30 preflop. One guy hits the miracle nut flush and the other hits the straight. I still had a chance to fill up to a boat, but it never happened.

How can I be so unlucky? How is it that I can have the best starting hand, get people to make mistakes, but then they always get rewarded? I don't know what the answer is, and I right now I'm lost in world of poker that doesn't make any sense.

Alot of people claim that poker is a skill game.... Obviously, there is A LOT of LUCK involved as well. No matter how great the percentages are and no matter how probable you are to win a hand, you're NEVER GUARANTEED TO WIN! I payed $400 to learn this lesson at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL.

As much as I hate poker today, she's like a woman that's bad for you. No matter how bad she is for you, you just can't get her out of your system and you always keep coming back for more because of the few times she makes you feel like the greatest man on the face of the earth!

    Comments

    1. kavindaaaoffline

      Melbourne
      Australia

      Posts: 97
      Joined: Feb, 10

      (8/20/2010 2:15pm)

      hey man just wondering how much poker you have played? not trying to be rude but would help explain a few things.

      I play $2/5 cash games live, 40 - 100 BB regularly.

      for hand #1: i would not have folded JJ to that 3bet. Perhaps online you can think about it but these games play really differently live than they do online. You would be good in most spots there, see the flop and re evaluate.

      hand # 2: Bottom line in that is that you should have pushed all in. If he is a loose player then he is most likely always going to call with 10 10 like that with a chance to triple up. If he is a good player then he will only play AA KK and perhaps think of QQ, AK Suited.

      hand #3: The interesting one. I noticed u mention a few words about how can you be this unlucky etc etc and lose like this with the best hand. Live games like this will always play different to online and i can attest to that. When i play a shitload of hands like low connectors etc etc. Because it is not an online game, you do not see premium hands like AA too often. If you sit down at a table for 5 hours you might be lucky to see it once. Where as when you multi table 12 + tables at a time for 5 hours you can see aces 20 times and lay them down no problem.

      If im playing online i would not have called your raise with KJ suited or 45 either. But in a live situation i make lots of these sorts of plays because all you have to do is hit one nice flop to completely brankupt a person who gets AA and gets attached.

      Now you did flop what would seem to you to be the nuts and thats fair enough. But then again, with one guy betting $75 and the other flatting his $75 you have to put at least one, if not both of them on a flush draw and or at least the straight draw. Shoving with Set of Aces with the full house re draw isnt bad but its not uncommong to lose like that.

      If this was online, i would be a bit more suspicious becase 4 5 hearts would have to fold preflop and KJclubs would most likely do so as well.

      Just saying, when i play live poker $2/5 NLHE 40-100BB buy in i play like this and i am notorious for busting big hands at my local casino with these hands. If you play live poker and online poker make sure you adjust your game because live plays a lot more crazy at these stakes and people are willing to gamble a bit more.

      Remember, if you play live, and not extremely regularly there is not always great incentive to lay down 4h5h and such hands because there is no point playing conservative poker all the time and making a $20 profit. Quite often players loosen up their ranges and play very differently live because you see so few hands and need to make money in a short period of time. I can sit down at 2/5NLHE 40-100BB at my local casino with $500 starting stack and easily, and i mean easily and quite often, walk away with $2000 - $3,500 on a regular basis in around 5 hours or less.

      If i do this online, it would take me ages, playing the odds properly.

      Aces get cracked when you play live quite often but dont be discouraged if you do not get too attached to AA you will make it profitable in the long run.

      Bottom line, adjust your game for live play and expect anything. I always play marginal hands live to crack big hands, sure i may bleed a few $ in the process but when i hit, i clean up.

      I once played 62 off and busted AA when i flopped top pair and turned top and bottom pair. Aces refused to fold and i won $3,500 pot.

      Keep at it
       
    2. bellacaoffline

      Nassau
      Bahamas

      Posts: 22
      Joined: Jan, 10

      (8/24/2010 7:47am)

      I don't play a regular live game. No players and no casinos where I live. I had a really good read on the guy with the 10's and he's 13-1 against to flop a set. If a guy wants to give me $180 12 out of 13 times, I'm cool with that. I'll take your advice with a grain of salt. I think this is just a down swing for me. If people want to call 5 and 6x's the BB with suited cards looking to hit a miracle, I'll take that too. My day was just one of those days. It happens from time to time. I was just so spun up about it, I didn't know how to handle it at the time. I've plenty of time to reflect on my session since then.

       
      Originally Posted by kavindaaa

      hey man just wondering how much poker you have played? not trying to be rude but would help explain a few things.

      I play $2/5 cash games live, 40 - 100 BB regularly.

      for hand #1: i would not have folded JJ to that 3bet. Perhaps online you can think about it but these games play really differently live than they do online. You would be good in most spots there, see the flop and re evaluate.

      hand # 2: Bottom line in that is that you should have pushed all in. If he is a loose player then he is most likely always going to call with 10 10 like that with a chance to triple up. If he is a good player then he will only play AA KK and perhaps think of QQ, AK Suited.

      hand #3: The interesting one. I noticed u mention a few words about how can you be this unlucky etc etc and lose like this with the best hand. Live games like this will always play different to online and i can attest to that. When i play a shitload of hands like low connectors etc etc. Because it is not an online game, you do not see premium hands like AA too often. If you sit down at a table for 5 hours you might be lucky to see it once. Where as when you multi table 12 + tables at a time for 5 hours you can see aces 20 times and lay them down no problem.

      If im playing online i would not have called your raise with KJ suited or 45 either. But in a live situation i make lots of these sorts of plays because all you have to do is hit one nice flop to completely brankupt a person who gets AA and gets attached.

      Now you did flop what would seem to you to be the nuts and thats fair enough. But then again, with one guy betting $75 and the other flatting his $75 you have to put at least one, if not both of them on a flush draw and or at least the straight draw. Shoving with Set of Aces with the full house re draw isnt bad but its not uncommong to lose like that.

      If this was online, i would be a bit more suspicious becase 4 5 hearts would have to fold preflop and KJclubs would most likely do so as well.

      Just saying, when i play live poker $2/5 NLHE 40-100BB buy in i play like this and i am notorious for busting big hands at my local casino with these hands. If you play live poker and online poker make sure you adjust your game because live plays a lot more crazy at these stakes and people are willing to gamble a bit more.

      Remember, if you play live, and not extremely regularly there is not always great incentive to lay down 4h5h and such hands because there is no point playing conservative poker all the time and making a $20 profit. Quite often players loosen up their ranges and play very differently live because you see so few hands and need to make money in a short period of time. I can sit down at 2/5NLHE 40-100BB at my local casino with $500 starting stack and easily, and i mean easily and quite often, walk away with $2000 - $3,500 on a regular basis in around 5 hours or less.

      If i do this online, it would take me ages, playing the odds properly.

      Aces get cracked when you play live quite often but dont be discouraged if you do not get too attached to AA you will make it profitable in the long run.

      Bottom line, adjust your game for live play and expect anything. I always play marginal hands live to crack big hands, sure i may bleed a few $ in the process but when i hit, i clean up.

      I once played 62 off and busted AA when i flopped top pair and turned top and bottom pair. Aces refused to fold and i won $3,500 pot.

      Keep at it

     

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