Last Saturday I finally got out to California Grand. It had been months since I played poker and I'd been pretty much out of practice. I'd been looking for a job out in the Bay Area since I moved back there at the end of August and I hadn't really had time to play. Also, I was kind of broke.
I was really lucky and found a writing job with Reaction Search International, an executive search company. It's a cool, $10/ hour, full-time position, but it usually leaves me tired at the end of the day. So, I really don't have time to devote to poker until online poker comes back, and hopefully it will. The weekend is my only opportunity to go out and play live poker for a few hours. After I got my first paycheck, that's what I did. Today is Wednesday, so it's been a few days, but this is what I remember from Saturday.
The games at California Grand were pretty good. There were a lot of middle aged dads and low stakes players who were pretty serious but not super good. It was easy to tell who to stay away from and I managed to do that for the most part. The structure there is better than I thought it was going to be. There's a $4 drop every hand, even when the action ends pre flop. The 2-2-3 blind structure works well because it puts more money out there without the opening raise having to be really high. Some people would be first in for $15+ anyway, and they'd always get a few calls. That made it easier to sit and be patient. Also, the structure tempts the other players to do what you should never do, which is act loose pre flop and tight post flop. It was clear that the best strategy at this table would be to play tight and raise in position.
The max buy-in was $200 and it seemed like everyone pretty much got in for $200. It a game like this it really doesn't make sense to get in for any less. I got in for $200 and had another hundred to add on if I needed to. I wasn't going to go any deeper that since I didn't want to blow my first paycheck. Mostly, I just wanted to get a feel for the place.
After about 4 hours I went home up $113. My stack was never in trouble at the first table. When they moved me to the main game my stack got a bit more volatile and I was down about $80 at one point but I got it back. Here are some of the hands as I remember them.
Table 1
Seat 1- me
Seat 2- tight middle-aged white guy
Seat 3- super tight Asian guy
Seat 4- mysterious middle-aged white guy
Seat 5- young guy with douchey tatoos/ backwards hat
Seat 6- middle-aged white guy (talkative, annoying, preflop calling station)
Seat 7- tight old guy
Seat 8- active asian guy (good)
Seat 9- selectively aggressive Asian guy
Seat 10- loose, calling station, old Asian guy
Hand 1: I'm playing tight at the first table and getting a feel for things. I have AJs on the button with about $200. Seat 6 is loose and limps in. Active Asian guy with about $400 in seat 8 opens to $15. Calling station in seat 9 calls, I call, the limper calls. Flop is AK3 with the 3 of spades. They all check to me. I check. Turn is Ks. Seat 6 checks, seat 8 checks, seat 9 bets $25. I call. Seat 6 gives me a look and folds. Seat 8 folds. River is the 8h, so no flush. Seat 9 checks and i just check back. Seat 9 mucks and I win but show anyway.
Analysis- I like the way I played this hand up until the river. My pre flop call in position is fine since I was trying to play small ball and I didn't have much of a read on anyone yet. I don't know if I like my check on the flop in the long run. I was trying to disguise the strength of my hand and keep the pot small, but I think I'd make a probe bet here a lot of the time. I remember thinking nobody really had much and a probe bet would turn my hand face up. So that's why I checked. On the turn I was planning on betting if it checked to me. I'm almost never raising or folding here with the flush draw so I just call, expecting to pay off a sizable river bet if a spade came on the river. It's a good thing nobody else raised behind me, or I'd have had a tough decision. After I'm checked to on the river I'm not usually beat, so I should make a value bet since a weaker ace might think I missed a flush draw and pay me off. It just didn't seem like he had a hand strong enough to call me that I could beat. Also he could have been scared by me and my tight image, and be checking a better hand like AQ or maybe even a weak king with the intent to pay me off or pick off a bluff. Since I was leaning toward the he doesn't have anything option, and I was confident he wasn't going to check raise me, I think I should have made a value bet of $45.
Hand 2: Later on at first table, I'm up about $75. Asian guy in seat 8 opens to $15. Seat 10 calls, I look down at QQ. I tried to keep the pot small and just called, expecting to go to the flop 4 ways. Seat 2 calls. Mysterious guy in seat 4 grabs a stack of reds and puts in $100. Seat 8 folded, seat 10 folded, I thought about it and folded, seat 2 folded.
Analysis- Up until this point, seat 4 had not been getting out of line. Based on the way he played later, I'm pretty sure I was good in this hand. I folded anyway just because I didn't want to gamble. I had invested $15 and to play my hand was going to cost me $275 with zero fold equity. It's very likely he had AK there and I didn't want to flip for all my chips. I'm happy with this fold. I'm not happy that I left the door open. I should have 3 bet. But who knows, I could have lost more.
Hand 3: 1st table. I'm on the button with Qc6c. It limps around so I throw in a dollar and go to the flop with 5 others. Flop is 2s3sQh. It checks to me and there's $14 in the middle so i bet $7 to probe. It folds to seat 10 who calls. Turn is the 8d. Seat 10 checks so I bet $17 to charge the flush draw. He calls. River is the Ad. He checks, I check back. He shows KJo, i win with my Q.
Analysis- I like the way I played this hand. I don't know what the hell he was doing.
Table 2
Seat 1- annoying guy from Seat 6 at table 1
Seat 2- tight, unlucky, middle-aged white guy
Seat 3- middle-aged biker guy
Seat 4- tight middle-aged white guy from table 1, seat 2
Seat 5- mysterious middle-aged white guy from table 1, seat 4
Seat 6- young guy with headphones, tight
Seat 7- me
Seat 8- tight white guy in his 30s with short stack
Seat 9- tight old guy from table 1, seat 7
Seat 10- active Indian guy in 30s with short stack
Hand 4: Seat 2 opens for $10. Tricky guy in seat 5 calls. I re-raise to $30 with QQ. Both call, three to the flop. The flop comes 5s6c7c. Seat 2 checks, seat 5 bets $15 into a pot of over $90. I just call to play it safe against the board texture. Seat 2 folds. Turn is the Ad. Seat 5 checks. I bet $46 and have $180 behind. Seat 5 check-raises to to $120. I think for a while and fold.
Analysis- I like the flat call on the flop since my hand is probably good but it missed the board and I don't want to overplay it. The ace on the turn is a blank to the board unless he has Ax of clubs. I wasn't in love with my hand but I was still thinking I was good. It looked like he had a medium pair like 99 of TT. My bet was designed to get a check on the river if I got called. That way I could just check it back and keep the pot from getting out of control. Also I wanted to charge him to draw. It didn't look like he could be that strong on the turn, so I was really surprised to see him raise. Most people would only make this raise with a bluff, but I decided that he was tricky enough to do this marginally and I folded. He told me later that he had AKo. I like the way I played this hand.
Hand 5: Seat 6 opens for $10 UTG. I re-raise to $30 with 6h3h and I have $200 behind. It folds back to seat 6 who tanks forever. At some point the dealer tells me the action is on me. Apparently he had shoved at some point and nobody announced the All-In. I folded immediately.
Analysis- I was not expecting the shove. He told me after that he had aces and was trying to look weak. I like the 3-bet because it puts him in a tough spot based on stack sizes. Also he was very tight and a good person to 3-bet off hands like AJ, AQ and mid pairs. Up to this point I'd only 3-bet pre flop with AA. He's folding out of position a lot of the time and only 4-betting huge hands.
Hand 6: I open for $10 with KK. Seat 3 re-raises to $30. Seat 5 calls. I 4 bet to $80 with $175 behind. Seat 3 thinks for a little bit and flat calls. Seat 5 folds. The flop comes J23. Seat 3 checks. I bet $85. Seat 3 shows QQ and folds.
Analysis- It was later into the session. My 3 bet didn't have to mean much after I showed I could 3 bet without a hand. Likewise his 4 bet did not have to be aces, although it was most likely a strong hand. I'm pretty much not getting away from Kings here for $250. It was unfortunate that he found a fold on that flop. I can't really check there and if I shove the flop I get even less action because he has no fold equity. Also, betting half my stack allows me to keep some of my money when I am bluffing.
wel
