Shipboard poker - aka How to play with bad players

Just had a vacation - and on the cruise ship there was one night of no limit hold 'em poker tournaments.

$60 buy in - 1500 in chips - single table 4:00 pm tourney.

This tourney had 7 players in it, I think - top 3 positions pay out. I played very conservatively.

But the blinds started high (25/50) and were raised quickly - every 15 minutes (50/100 - 100/200)

So, yes, my conservative play meant that I wasn't out of the running, but I had a smaller chipstack (1050) when I decided to make a stand.

The player on my left was a weak, very, very aggressive player, who got lucky several times.

I limped into the pot with the blinds at 50/100 - and J/10 unsuited - he raised me 100, and the table folded around to me. Knowing his weakness and the weak raise, I tried to knock him out by going all in (850 raise) over him.

He called and showed 5/6 suited.

Flop comes 5/?/? and I said oh fuck - but the ?/? turned out to be 7/J

So, not so bad. Nothing hit on the turn. But the river was another 5. And that was $60 down the drain.

We restarted at 5 pm, every one of us worried about the 6 pm seating for dinner. Formal night - no big deal, right? Righht. 9 folks sat on this game, making the payouts $210/$150/$90

This time around I actually got some cards. Won a hand with A/K - Won a hand with pocket K's, even with an A on the flop. Rolled over top of a limper (small blind) with garbage from the big blind.

I was still seated next to the weaker player, but this time around I took some significant money from him - possibly with that A/K holding up vs. his 7/8 suited or Q/3 or whatever he was playing.

Significant hand in that one was from the button or near it. One of the decent players across the way went all in with a smaller stack. I had pocket 9's, and was the big stack at the table.

I went all in - the weak player on my left went all in as well, and the blinds folded.

He showed crap, the stronger player showed A/? - but the 9's held up and I was now the monster stack, with only 3 folks left at the table.

I stayed out of the action a bit, and the other two players duked it out, until one of them outdrew the other on an all in.

With our stacks almost equal (pretty sure I had the edge) and it now 6pm - we chopped the pot at $180 each.

Moral of the story. I'm still happy to play with weaker players, but I just need time to take their money.

If they get lucky, they get lucky - even the best hand vs. the worst hand still loses about 1/6 times.

So, as long as I continue to make the right play, I'm happy

Edit - I meant to post a link to this, as well - classic example of the type of player I'm happy to sit with -

FLYNT: "The biggest advantage that I have to my play is… you can teach anyone the basic strategy of poker. Where I take the advantage is… money. It don't hurt me if I lose, I can afford to lose, it's not going to change my lifestyle in the least. So, you get some of those guys — even though they may be well known poker players who are very good — that are still coming into the game with a short bankroll. It's tough to play your best game when you're short on money. "

http://www.pokerpages.com/articles/interviews/interviews-flynt.htm

Oh yeah, forgot one hand

This was a 'small' hand that kept me from dropping down too low.

I was sitting with AK - flop comes 2/3/5 - I stay with the guy two positions to my right - and we pump the pot up a little bit.

A on the turn and I checked it to him - he checked as well. Ah well.

River comes 4 - with a straight on the board, he strongly moves all in.

I thought about it for a minute - figured there was no way he played that hand with a 6

And we split the pot - He had a different low pair - 8's or 7's

-W

Vegas Again

I went to Vegas on business again this year.

I didn't have much time to sit, and so I decided not to waste time travelling to another casino for a tourney. Or waste time hanging around waiting for a tourney.

So, this trip marked my first ever cash game.

I watched a little bit Thursday night (Friday morning really) and the game was $1/$2 no limit. With $60 minimum buy in and $300 max buy in.

That gives folks at least some chance to stay competitive.

I went back Friday night, planning to sit, with about a $100 to $120 budget.

But, the game Friday was $2/$5 - $100/$500 . . . so, a little bit out of my budget.

I dithered about a little bit and a guy snaked in front of me in line.

I finally decided to sit with $200 - which was well past my budget.

I was easily the shortest new stack on the table - almost everyone else sat down with $500 - only one other person sat down with less than that ($300). Added to my low stack were the many folks who were sitting with $500 plus - both stacks on my immediate right were big stacks - $800 and about $1500, respectively.

Given the large stacks, and the fact that I wanted to play for a while with my 'entertainment budget' - I was pretty conservative.

I started out with a pretty long massive stretch of crappy cards - I got 2/6 diamonds 3 hands in a row, for example. I saw a J/7/5 flop with A/7 - and mucked it to one of the big stacks going all in.

I think I took down one little pot, but I mostly mucked or checked.

I finally got A/Q unsuited - bet $20 - and the short stack, two positions behind me - with $40 went all in over me. Which I called. He showed A's, which held up.

So, at that stage, I'm sitting with a bit over $140.

I got A/K - raised it up to $20 - and only one guy stayed with me - across the table with about $600.

Flop comes Q/9/5 and I checked to him - he bet $20 and I raised him all in. He got pissed, threw his 8's on the table and I raked the pot.

I was pleased to note that, about this time, the guy who snaked in front of me got busted out. He was much more loose than I was, splashing around in a ton more pots than I did.

The other big hand that I won - started with A/2 diamonds - I called a $15 bet - and flop came 2/7/J - I was first to act and went all in to rake the pot before anyone else had a chance to hit.

I tipped the dealer $2 - kept a $1 chip as a souvenir - and ended up with about $175 at the end of the night.

All things considered, not bad. I'd have been happier with a larger bankroll, or more time to earn one.