More Online Poker Hands

By Pauly

I posted Cacophony of Bad Beats one day too early. I got issued a wicked bad beat at JFK airport yesterday. My flight to California was canceled due to the blizzard and rescheduled for Friday at 6:30am. Head over to the Tao of Pauly to read Snowed In.

Here are some hands that I played online at PokerStars or Full Tilt in the past week.

8h-8d: PL Hold'em MTT on PokerStars

I made the final table of the WWdN second chance tournament on Tuesday. I thought it was a PLO event when I signed up and was shocked to see only two cards dealt to me instead of four. I gutted it out and made the final table along with Wil. With four players left, I was second in chips with less than 4K in chips separating first from fourth. Blinds were 300/600 and I found 8h-8d in the small blind. Jeciimd raised on the button to 1800. I re-raised to 6000. Carneggy in the big blind moved all in for 11575 total. Jeciimd folded and I went into the tank. It was only 5575 more to call with 19K in the pot. It was shorthanded but I popped the button for 10x the original big blind and over 3x more the original raise. I really didn't want to play PLH to begin with so said fuck it and called. I knew I was ahead against any baby pair, even against any big cards, and totally fucked if he had a pair of 9s or higher. Carneggy flipped over Ah-Qd and the board bricked out for him as my 8-8 won a race. Carneggy busted out in 4th place as I took over the chiplead with three players left.

Qs-10d: PL Hold'em MTT on PokerStars

Heads up with hacker59 in the WWdN PLH tournament. He's got me outchipped 38K to 14K. Blinds are 400/800 and I found Qs-10d in the big blind. Hacker59 raised the pot to 2400 and I called. The flop was Ad-10h-2d. I flopped second pair and check-called a 3200 bet. The turn was Qh and I had two pair. With two flush draws on the board I wanted to check-raise. That didn't happen because hacker69 checked behind me. The river was a Jd which filled in a flush and gave the board a possible straight. I checked the river, as did hacker59. My two pair lost to a Broadway straight when he turned over Kc-8c. I typed in the chat, "I played that poorly." I should have jammed on the turn instead of trying for a fancy-play check-raise. Hacker59 would have most likely folded if I bet out on the turn and the stacks would have been about 30K to 20K. Instead the bad decision meant I was crippled and down to under 3K. I busted out in second place a couple of hands later.

Ks-Kc: 2/4 NL on Full Tilt

Derek can tell you how juicy the 2/4 NL tables are on Full Tilt. My brother has been crushing them as of late so I sat down at a table. Otis happened to be seated to my left. I posted at the cutoff and Otis was the button. For my first hand I found Ks-Kc. Player in MP with a $195 stack raised 4x the BB to $16. I raised to $40. Everyone folded to the raiser and he called. The flop was Qs-4s-3s. At least I got the Ks. He checked and I bet $86 or roughly the size of the pot. He check-raised me all in. Bastard. I put him on a set of Queens or the Ace of spades. I had him covered and it's only $70 more for me to call. I went into the tank and eventually called. he showed Qh-Qd for the set. The turn was a Jack of spades and the resuck came my way. The board did not pair on the river and I scooped a pot close to $400. I hit and run and left three hands later.

2h-2c: 5/10 Limit on Poker Stars

Player A in MP raised and I called with 2h-2c. The button called and the small blind raised. Player A, the button, and I all called. With $65 in the pot, I flopped a set on a board of 5d-4s-2s. Small blind bet out, Player A called, and I raised. The button folded and the small blind three bet. Player A called and I capped it with a raise. $125 in the pot. The turn was 4d. The small blind bet and Player A called. I raised and both players called. The river was Qs and both players checked to me. I bet and both called. My full house won as the small blind showed Js-Jc and Player A had 3d-3h. I won a $212 pot with 2-2 after outflopping a big pair.

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One year ago today on the Tao of Poker, I wrote Third Place Sucks:

I took third place in the LA Poker Classic Media Tournament. First place paid out a seat to the WPT Invitational which starts right after the LA Poker Classic ends. Third place paid nothing today, except a t-shirt. And they only had a large. I'm an XL kinda guy. I got bad beated by Barbara Enright three times. The three-time bracelet winner also was the only female to ever make the final table of the WSOP main event. The best player in the field sucked out on me three times and crippled me at the final table before I was finally eliminated... More

Two years ago, I wrote Bounties, Hilton Sisters, Commercials, Reader Mail, and Life:

I used to think that young girls who hit you or treat you like shit on the playground really like you deep down and have a tough time expressing those feelings for you. I used to think that. It's all bullshit. You know why? I'm 32 years old and chicks are still kicking me in the junk. Why? Because that's what they do. Hell hath no fury than a woman ready to kick you straight in the junk. They might not exactly aim for my groin area with their brand new Manaolos, but you get the picture. Some of them might get drunk in a cafe in Paris and hook up with a cheesy, dirty Frenchmen named Pierre and of course they feel horrible every second they are doing that to you and they do it anyway. It's like your inability to fold a high pocket pair when their are three flush cards on the flop. Be realistic kid, it's going to get worse. Enjoy getting kicked in the balls today. In fifteen years some chick will snort all your drugs, fuck your next door neighbor, run up all your credit cards, and then sell your dog to a bunch of hippie kids for a used Avril LaVigne CD. "Life's not fair," as our former President Jimmy Carter once said in a speech to unemployed factory workers on the campiagn trail in the South. Listen to his words. The quicker you accept the brutality of life, the quicker you will be on the road towards middle management... More

Original content provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker. All rights reserved.