More Nautica fishiness

I forgot to mention the guy on my right at Nautica the other night. I told the story at Riegler's afterward, but everyone needs to hear it. This is a prime example of how bad the play is down there.

The guy on my right JUST CALLED a river bet with the stone cold nuts...twice in about 15 minutes. Ryan Thoms was at my table and saw it as well.

In the first hand, the nuts was broadway, and there was about $75 in the pot. A guy bets into this donkey $45, and he JUST CALLS with broadway!! I say "no raise?", and he said something like "I didn't know if he would call". Wow. My valuable advice to him was that it wasn't going to cost him anything to muster up a raise to find out. Unreal. The bettor had bottom end of it, and most likely wasn't going anywhere.

So a few hands later, he JUST CALLS another river bet with ACES FULL, which was the nuts. Ryan was on his right and I could tell he was astonished. It was Ryan's first time there. Anyway, I certainly didn't offer up any more advice. I sure hope to see him again.

I hit Ryan for a few bucks before I left, hopefully he got it back. I dont remember the hand, but I think I hit 2 pr or a straight with some BS hand. I raised on the flop to get him outta there, but then checked it down.

Great comeback at Adam's

Go Cavs! I'd love to see them come back and win this series, but I am a realist.

So anyway, I started off losing my first buy in with set-over-set (Tom Gross style) against Uncle Bob. We both flopped them, mine were 10's, his Q's. What can you do. The next one went away by missing draws, 2nd best, and a couple of bad calls. I hit up Hip for a loan, and lost almost half of that $200. Woe is me.

I called a raise from Hip with A-2 suited and flopped the flush draw. I pushed and then bricked out, but my A-high held up somehow. (What did you have there Hip?) I later flopped a set of 2's against Hip's flopped pair of Q's, and doubled up again. 2's were all over the board last night. TK flopped quad 2's against Hip's AK and managed to get all his $$ in. NH sir. Roland later got some of TK's money after hitting 2-pr with a 10-4 suited. Roland says "I have to play some crap every now and then". I concur.

We were making fun of his low-key, quiet German whisper. I asked if he carried around a coat hanger a la Raiders of the Lost Ark. Roland is pretty cool and took the ribbing well, but got fairly quiet when Hip mentioned Hitler.

Almost forgot this hand...I get AA and limp UTG. No raises, but 4-5 callers. Shit! Flop is QQx. I bet out, and only TK calls. I am finished with the hand, putting him on a Q, but I hit the beautiful 2-outer on the turn, and I check-call (I think). A 3rd club hits the river. I am praying he has a boat or flush. I think I check-raise, adding something like $40 to his $25 bet. He kinda goes into the tank, and I offer to show a card. I show the non-club A. TK, says "OK, you induced the call" and calls with his Q. I think I did a decent job there. I welcome any comments.

I got Uncle Bob with 2-pr on another hand (6-2...I was playing every 2 since they were so hot), then hit a straight on him just before I left. I managed a spectacular comeback and cashed $886 after going $600 deep. I was able to pay back Hip's loan (Including the hundo I got from him at Dave's a couple weeks ago, which I totally forgot about. That's what taking a week off will do to you when you get old) and pocketed almost $200 in profit. I consider this week a great success when I can repay a loan and get back half the money I donked off at Riegler's this week.

Tomorrow is Dave's final official tourney for the season. I'll be making pasta salad tonight, completely from scratch. I promise it'll be a hit. Homemade dressing, feta cheese, fresh herbs...mmmmmmm!!

I've generally played well in the deeper stack tourneys. let's hope I can keep that up.

I'll be emailing out a couple more "5 questions" soon. This has been fun.

Nautica win! ...and then I gave it all back at Riegler's

Up $217 at Nautica in 2.25 hrs, then stopped by Riegler's to splash around. Quadded up on TK with A7 (flopped the boat, rivered the quads), and then slow-rolled him for laughs. Sorry man, you know I love you.

Was up around $175 at one point, then took a couple beats that tilted me slightly, so I didnt play well the rest of the night. Also, I will call any bet Grayday makes, and it's usually profitable, but he had some hands last night. He'll do stupid shit like raise it to $30 preflop when he straddles and gets a K-10 in his hand. I generally have him read like a book, and made some good reads last night, but couldn't fold.

So, final score...down $400 for the night. Ouch. That's OK, Nautica will give it back.

Hip to the Hop

OK, Hip is next up...I really don't remember the first time I played with Hip, but we first became friends when we all started going to the Tradesman in Parma on Wed nights a couple years ago for drinks, wings, karaoke, and music trivia. Hip's a solid playa (on and off the felt) and always fun to be around.

1. What was your first CPMG experience? (please include when/where, how you came to join the group, etc.)

I found the group when I stumbled upon Eddie J's website. My first time playing was at a 50 dollar tourney at Tom Rieglers. I put a bounty on my head and the Donkey himself Theo won that bounty when he called my all in pre flop with 68 off suit or some shit.

I was so new to the group and Tom Riegler only wanted people he knew to be there. I sent him an email and he graciously agreed that I wasn't a threat and invited me. here is a link to the thread where I as a newb stated my case http://www.meetup.com/Cleveland-Poker/messages/boards/thread/2763891/10#7333303


2. How do you manage your bankroll?

I really don't. Whatever I have in my pocket is my bankroll. I do keep multiple spread sheets to track my status...but that's mostly so I can brag about it.

3. What pro player do you think you play like?

Phil Hellmuth for sure when I'm not drinking or I actually care about the event. I'm super tight but stick with my reads. I rarely get out of line in a cash game or tourney where the buy in is significant.

4. Would you ever want to move to Vegas to be a pro? Why/why not?

I think I can answer this better in a few weeks after I stay in Vegas for a week. My heart says yes...yes I would like to try that. The fact is, there isn't a game in Vegas as juicy as the one at Nautica. People will probably move from Vegas to Cleveland just for that kind of action! If the money was to dry up down there, then I would consider traveling around playing different casinos and grinding out a living as a pro.

5. What pro player would you most like to play against?

Tom "durrrr" Dwan. The kid is amazing. I watch him play online a lot and always on HSP. He controls the table every time he plays. He's the sickest.

Spotlight on...Julie

Julie had some great answers to my 5 questions. I am not sure I'd want all of her pros at my table at once, but I'd love to play with a couple of them.

I haven't played much cash with Julie but she is certainly an excellent tourney player. We've seen her chalk up win after win in the CPMG, and even a few decent online cashes. She has also begun to host games at her place, and I promise to get to one of them as soon as Dave's game is done for the summer.

She also happens to be a killer baker. Best lemon squares I ever had!

Name: Julie Thomas
Nickname: diverjoules, bootsie, homeslyce, jari.. i have a few..
Occupation: As/400 Programmer Analyst
Age: too old to remember thank God
Hometown: Grew up in Olmsted Falls, have lived in Fairview Park for 25 years
Hobbies other than poker: Scuba Diving, boating, swimming

1. What was your first CPMG experience? (please include when/where, how you came to join the group, etc.)

Well, I played cash at EddieJ's for at least a good 6 months or so before trying my hand the first Tourney I remember. It was Pyxis Labor Day tourney in 2007. What a total thrill it was for me. Meeting all sorts of new people and playing poker. I can remember asking Monsignor if he was a comedian, because he had me laughing so much. I ended up cashing for 3rd place and could not have been more pleased. And of course from then on I was hooked for sure. I had been playing cash games in Vegas/Detroit since 2004. But finding the CPMG was really the best thing that has happened to my game. There are many good players in this group. And many of them have been kind enough to help me improve my game. Okay you can quit laughing while you sit there and think I have not improved. But I know that I have. I really cannot recall though, how I stumbled upon the group in general. I think it must have been thru Eddie, but I cannot recall how I found him either. Side affects of old age.. LOL

2. How do you manage your bankroll?

I would love to say that I have a bankroll strictly for poker but alas I do not. I always have poker money set aside, but I often (way too often) have dipped into those winnings, to pay bills, put gas in our boat, or buy things I clearly don't need like poker tables and chips and chairs. LOL. Since I do have a job (for the time being anyway) I know that I do not have to strictly rely on my Poker Bankroll to play poker. Should it go to zero I would easily use my own money to buy into whatever I was interested in.

3. What pro player do you think you play like?

Hmm man that is a tuff question. Tuff in that I clearly play like NO PRO or I would have a big bankroll to manage. :-) But I will say that I really like Erik Siedel, and Chris Ferguson. Believe it or not, I still watch tv poker and try to learn something new from each viewing. Just as when playing in the CPMG. I am always trying to improve my game. Otherwise it would not be as fun for me. If I get bored, I get antsy and that leads to erratic negative play. So staying focused is really important to me. And Erik and Chris seem to emulate that in their play.

4. Describe the range of hands you like to play

Well that would have to be defined as in the realm of Cash or Tourneys. Cash games, I am much more willing to gamble a bit with, because you can always reload if you so choose. But I would say that I certainly play tighter than many of the action junkies of the CPGM. I understand the value of suited connectors vs pocket pairs and betting patterns of those in the game. I sometimes find it easier to pick up betting patterns in cash games than I do in tourneys. Tourneys to me are a whole nother ball game. Which is why it is fun to do both. In tourneys the hands I play really depend on the position I am. OOP I will fold almost all non 10 starting hands. Unless it is one of the rare times I try to take a stab at a pot. But doing that with minor hands OOP is just not my style. Since we (CPMG) rarely play with antes there is usually not a lot of +EV to be had with doing that very often. Antes of course change the play of a game, in the later stages of tournament. Stealing becomes a necessity for survival. So I can't say I have favorite hands (besides AA of course), but I would always like to have position.


5.What pro player(s) would you most like to have at your table?

Erik Seidel, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Laak, Clonie Gowan, Doyle Brunson.. I would think I died and gone to poker heaven.. LOL

Nautica!!

Up $540 in just over 2 hrs of play yesterday. Meats, RP, Colin, Gross, Lawyer Jen, Laidman, and Andre were there. Meats and RP were up, not sure about the others. I left at 7pm.

I did play about 4 hands of $2-2 limit, and won a $24 pot. My 10 kicker was good on the river when I paired my 6. John Coleman would have been proud. I even had 2 others outkicked, lol. Couldn't wait to get outta there. One of these days though, I wouldn't mind playing some $5-10 limit. One thing for sure, the limit game is exponentially less stressful than NL.

The play at my NL table was just awful again. Too many of them try to bluff the river. Bluffing earlier works a lot better. No quads this session, but I did catch the ass-end of a straight flush. I called $12 preflop with a 6-3 off from the button against a maniac. I hit a pair and went runner-runner SF to the 10. My pair was actually good until the river, lol. He had the Q for a flush, but not the J for top end of the SF.

There were 3-4 at my table that were degenerate gamble junkies. I played just about everything they did, and called all their bets. Most were bluffs.

That place is so awesome.

So, it's off to NC tomorrow morning. See you in about a week. It'll be a nice break from the game for a while. Even though I am on a bit of a heater, I am trying to keep balanced. Makes for a much happier situation. Gone are the days of playing at JC's smoke-filled poker den until 5am and going to work at 8:30. I was doing that 3-4 days a week, hitting the occasional casino, and playing online. I went on a $13k run but I was miserable. This new mindset is SO much better.

Ruger LCP

I finally got to shoot my new LCP .380 a couple weekends ago. Nice little gun. Very accurate, and I am not a great shot. I sold my Beretta Tomcat .32 as a trade for the Ruger, and I am glad I did. It's much more thin. I can put it in my back pocket (in a little Uncle Mike's size 1 pocket holster) and I almost forget it's there. The Beretta was a tad bigger, heavier, much wider, less powerful, and you never knew where the round was going to hit. The Ruger is a lot more consistent. It came with a magazine with the grip extension that adds more room to grip at the bottom.

Overall, I am very impressed with this pocket pistol. It will get a lot of carry time this summer. Priced reasonably around $319 at Fin/Feather/Fur.

TK's turn

Skiing? When has TK ever gone skiing?

When I first met Terry, I thought he was cocky and abrasive. He also brought this guy named BDA (big dumb animal) who was a total donk and laughed like an idiot. We loved to see BDA walk in, but TK was a player. (What happened to his game, no one knows) He was aggressive and loose, much like me, and I couldnt stand it. After a while, I came to realize that he never had a hand, and we became fast friends. Terry's one of the funniest members of the group, and he's a blast to party with...

Name: Terry Kavouras
Nickname: VegasTerry, TK, Bluffy McLiarpants
Age: 47
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Hobbies other than poker: Golf, Skiing, Fishing, Drinking, Couch Surfing

1. What was your first CPMG experience? (please include when/where, how you came to join the group, etc.)

I found the CPMG in the Spring of 2004 but the site was full of spam and there were very few messages on the board. I think I posted something about being interested in a game somewhere. I checked back every so often, but there were never any new messages. One day that fall I finally got a response from John Coleman. He posted that he had a regular tournament every Wednesday night and posted his phone number. I eventually called him and he kinda freaked me out. John answered the phone is his basso profundo cartoon sing-song voice and I remember thinking, "who is this guy, is he some kind of fag?". When he said he lives in an apartment downtown I was even more weirded out, I mean who lives downtown? Yuppies, Guppies, and the bag ladies. I thought that this might be some sort of homo game, perhaps a homo trap! I remember asking him jokingly whether I can bring a gun. He said, "you won't be the only one". Fuck! I mean what sort of gay mafia game was he running? But despite all my misgivings I decided to go one Wednesday night. I remember that I called a good friend of mine and told him about the game and my thoughts. I said to him, "Listen, I don't know about this game or this guy. I'm going down there tonight, but if I don't come back, if I go missing, tell the cops I went to this address". He sorta laughed, I sorta laughed, but I was truthfully a little nervous. Nevertheless, the siren song of poker gripped me and I drove down to his apartment. I wasn't sure where to park, how to get in, etc. So after I parked and as I was walking up to the building I see this black guy coming right toward me. He was tall and skinny and he wasn't throwing off any crazy, gang-y, ex-conn-y vibes so I looked at him and he said "Hey. You going to the game?" I said, "Yeah, are you?" He said, "Yeah, I'll show you the way in, my name's Gibran". So Gibran and I went up to Coleman's place and I was surprised and relieved to find a bunch of regular (for poker players) guys sitting around two tables in what was the living room of this one bedroom apartment. I mean the whole place was consumed by poker stuff. Very cool. I met John, Mark Tomon, Dohar, Karl, Wellington, Diablo and a bunch more of the founders. We played two $10 tourneys. I think I cashed in the first one. It turned out to be a great time and a great group. I thought I was going to find a bunch of violent, tatooed, crusty, creepy, low lifes and it turns out they weren't all that tatooed.

2. Which do you prefer...AK or JJ

I think you can do more with AK, especially if it's suited. With JJ you're never sure where you stand unless you flop a set. I think it's harder to play JJ post flop. As they say, there are three ways to play JJ...all three of them wrong.

3. What pro player do you think you play like?

This is really hard to peg. I suppose I should ask someone who plays against me what they think. I think I can play a bit like Farha, but I don't have the bluff in me to play like Hanson. I like how Eli Elezra plays but I'm not sure if my style (if you can call it that) would compare well with his. I have the emotional range of a Matusow or a Helmuth, but I think I control it better than either of them. I think, when I'm playing my best, most focused game I can play like Fergusen and read like Negreanu.

4. What are your three favorite hands?

The hands I'm most excited to see are AA, KK, QQ. So I guess those are my favorite hands. I have a nasty habit of playing J9 suited and I like pocket 8s for some reason.

5. Describe the biggest pot you ever won.

I can easily tell you the biggest pot I ever lost. It's hard to remember the biggest pot I won, however. I remember my fastest quadruple-up pretty well though. I was in Vegas for the first time with the CPMGers (John, Mark, Gibran, Dohar and I all went) in August of 2005. It was about dinner time and after a full day of playing various room we headed back to the hotel for some of the guys to change for dinner. I had taken a shower and changed later than the rest of them I think, so I didn't need to go back to the room. So I sat down at a $2-5 table to kill some time while they got ready. The second hand I got was KK. A guy three spots to my right has about $2,000 in front of him and he opens for like $25. I re-raise him to $70, there was a caller, then the original raiser gives me a pissy look, then calls. The flop was something like K99. The guy checks to me and I push $100 in. Other caller folds, guy who orignally raised goes all in, and I insta-call showing my boat. He glares at me and I double up to $600. Two hands later I get AK suited. The same guy opens the pot for $25 again. I raise to $50, folds around to him and he calls and grunts something unintelligilble. I flop the nut flush. The guy comes out with a $100 bet, I go all in - $550 and he insta calls with two pair. He misses his boat and I double again through the guy. I hit a couple more pretty good hands and when the guys come down from the room, about 15 minutes later, I have almost $1,700 in front of me. They are stunned, laughed, slapped me on the back. We were going to dinner, so I picked up my money and left the table. They weren't too happy about it, especially the guy that doubled me up twice, but that's poker!

5 Questions for: MEATS

Meats has been a CPMG poker icon for a number of years now. Always outspoken and opinionated, he has a take on every hand, and has never once been wrong. He does however have great taste in chili.

He's never seen a tournament structure that he really liked, and in fine Meatsian fashion, he has turned my "5 Questions" into 6 questions, by adding one at the end. NH sir.

Nickname: Meat

Age: 28

Hometown: Cortland, Ohio

Hobbies: Golf, Fantasy Football

1. What was your first CPMG experience? I played in a Meetup game at Coleman's stuffed into his tiny apt with 30+ other people, half of which were new. It was alot of fun and I came back week after week. That was in the Spring of 05.

2. Prefer tourney or cash? This is a tough question. At times I much prefer the one over the other. But all-in-all, I think it is close to an even split. A few years ago I played in 40+ POY events and played every single 1-2 game Coleman had. I was one of the only people who would play 1-2 and the tournaments. But since I have to make a stand, I will say that I prefer cash games 55-45 over tournaments.

3. What pro player do you think you play like? This is a tough question. I tend to be very analytical, especially when I play a cash game, and when I play a tournament I am really looking to allow any skill advantage I have to come through. So I would say that in a tournament I do play alot like Phil Hellmuth, and I do occasionally blow at someone who does something really stupid. In a cash game, I think I play more like a Howard Lederer, I really look at the math portion of the game. This isnt to say that I never play by feel, as I certainly do. But I do let math dictate alot in a cash game, as I try to get the money in as good as I can.

4. 3 favorite hands? It was be easy to say AA and big hands like that, but that is the easy way out. Some of my favorite hands include 8-T and 7-9. I won my first big online tournament with 8-T, so it will always be one of the ones I look to play. Another hand I really like to play is QJ. I think that it can be really deceptive at a poker game. I try not to go nuts with it, but it can be a very good multi-way hand.

5. It’s the first hand of the WSOP main event, and you have bought in with every penny of your bankroll. One person goes all-in, and another calls. It folds to you, and there is no one else to call behind you. You look down at AA. What do you do? No doubt I call here with AA. Despite my immense skill as a poker player, I will not be close to the the best player in the room. So I will need to try and get as many chips as I can, and it is very unlikely no matter how long I sit around that I will find a better spot than this o get my money in.

6. (Briefly recall a great hand you've played) - ADDED BY MEATS...So it's my 2nd day in Vegas and I go to the Venetian and accidentally get seated at the 2-5 with Dohar and Diablo. There is this guy who is just running over everyone. A couple rounds in I am up about 100 when I pick up AQ suited and I raise from late position to 20$. I get 2 callers one of which is the crazy player. The flop is 9 8 3 with 2 spades, I put out a stand continuation bet of 35$, getting 1 player to fold but the crazy player calls me. He had over 800 in chips when the hand started. The turn was a red 4 and it went check-check. The river is a 2 clubs and I check to him. He fires 100$ into a pot of 130$. I was almost certain he had a draw, based on the fact he checked the turn. 6-7, T-J, 7-T, or 2 spades and all of those draws missed. I thought about it for about 30 seconds and slide in a full red stack of 100$. He turns over T-7 off suit for a busted straight and I say A high and flip over my AQ. The guy goes apeshit and he leaves with the UB pro on his left to do some coke.