MotorCity Mafia

I am all for table talk. But it has to be relevant and appropriate.

The line gets crossed when one player criticizes another’s play or style.

I normally do not get involved with the talk unless someone needs help defending themselves.

In a tournament last week, I am in seat 4 and sitting directly across from seat 1 due to us being eleven handed.

A very young gun was in seat 5. He was nervous as hell. Under the table, both legs were shaking anytime he was in a hand.

Seat 1 was a 40-something man with sunglasses. He was a classic calling station that thought A-K was the nuts no matter what was on the board.

Me and seat 1 were in a hand before things got reckless.

I had Q-Q and raised like I had aces.

He calls.

The flop comes K-9-3 rainbow.

He checks.

I bet half the pot.

He min raises me.

“You have Ace King,” I say to him.

He stares me down and says, “It is a good time to have Ace King, isn’t it?”

I thought he was cocky and arrogant. I would have loved to see a Queen on the flop and bust his sorry ass, but the right play was fold.

A couple hands later, the young gun raises from the big blind. I was not in the hand, but it felt like he was trying to weed out the limpers.

Afterall, 8 players limped in.

Having that many players in the hand by limping is not poker to me. It is bingo.

The flop was A-4-2 rainbow.

The kid checks.

Mr. Player from seat 1 bets hard.

The kid comes over the top.

I put him on a straight.

Mr. Player played back at the kid all the way to the river.

The kid shows 5-3 for a straight.

Mr. Player shows A-K for top pair.

Then, he lost it.

“You are reckless!” the guy in seat 1 says.

“Reckless?” the kid responds.

Seat 1 goes on this speech about raising with 5-3 and so on.

This kid clammed up. Nobody had ever  yelled at him. I really thought he was going to cry.

Well, we were not going to have any of that. There is no crying in poker.

Not at the table anyway. What happens in your car on the way home from a bad session, stays in your car.

I digress.

Compelled to help defend the kid, I explain that he was making a play at the pot to get the weak players out.

Sure, the kid got lucky by flopping a straight. But, a real player would have folded A-K with a straight out there.

Then, I criticize seat 1 for over-playing A-K.

This put him on tilt. He donked off all his chips by the end of the next round.

The hand he went out on? Ace-King.

What would you do?

I am in a $500 max buy-in no limit game a while back.

I sit down in the under the gun position. Sitting down with me is a former golf pro. He is in the big blind.

With my pocket 10s, I make it $50 to go.

The only caller is Mr. Fairway.

The flop comes 10-6-2. All clubs.

Top set for me.

Mr. Fairway moves all-in.

What do you do?

I don’t put him on any flush. Why bet me off the hand with the nuts?

At best, he has a four card flush.

I call.

He shows 8h-4d.

All air.

The turn is 5d.

He went from double gut shot to just a gut shot.

All I have to dodge is a 7 on the river.

Bam! The 7 of hearts comes on fifth street.

Even now, think about the hand. Had I folded top set, I know he would have shown the bluff. I would always wonder.

In the end, I got shanked on that hand. But, still I wonder.

Several hours after the quad 8s fiasco the other night, I walk outside for a smoke.

Standing there alone was the dealer from that hand. She is a short, sweet Asian woman.

Two things were odd about this. First, she was alone. The smoking patio ALWAYS has several people there.

Second, I have never seen casino staff in this area. Plus, she does not smoke.

I say hello to her. She was waiting for me.

“Sammy, pros can’t play with these amateurs,” she begins.

“What makes you think I am a pro?” I ask out of curiosity.

“I know a pro when I see one. I know two things. One, you are the best Hold ‘Em player I have seen. Two, no matter how great you play, no one can beat the luck of these amateurs.”

She is right - at least about the beating luck part.

“That donkey should not have been in the hand with you after the flop. I had to do my job and retrieve his cards. I did not want to, but I saw his hand,” she says.

Fair enough.

Now, many dealers play poker. Most are marginal players. A few pros were dealers at one time. I have not met a pro that became a dealer.

Until now.

As it turns out, this dealer used to play professionally.

She tells me a story about how her bankroll went from $20,000 to $80,000 from January to August one year. Then, from September to December, it went from $80,000 to minus $120,000.

This dealer continues the story by telling me she did not play with these amateurs, but in private clubs - illegal games chock full of pro-level players.

As I am about to ask about these games since I would rather play with skilled players, she gives me a bit of advice.

“Playing for a living is stressful and the bad beats are unavoidable. If I were you, find another way to make money. Professional players have no life. They are always at the table. And when they are not, they are in a bad mood the next day from tough beats.”

She is right.

Great insights and great advice.

My problem is I have the rare gift of accurate reads and surgically-precise decisions.

My bigger problem is finding a way, if there is one, to overcome the donkey luck factor.

As I have said before, I have recently experienced a high number of losses that were 1000-to-1 longshots.

Her advice came at a good time. I gratefully took it to heart.

Lousy cards.

Lousy players.

Lousy dealers.

I hear players say these phrases all the time at the table. Here is my tale from yesterday’s session:

Lousy cards

I could not hit a flop with a shotgun. Missed every draw when I had a playable hand. And playable hands were quite scarce to begin with. It was a sign of things to come. A bad sign.

Lousy players

The players were unusually bad yesterday. After watching the player to my immediate left play every single pot to the river at any cost for three hours, I decide to play super aggressive when I had a hand.

I get 6-7 clubs and raise to $50. This is high for a $1-2 game. He calls.

I flop the nut straight: 9-8-5 rainbow. I bet $100. He calls.

I tell the player I flopped the nuts. “I can’t fold this hand,” he says.

The turn is an 8. I don’t put him on a full house, but I do think he has an 8.

“I still have the nuts,” I tell him as I pump out another $100.

“I am sure you do but I have to call,” he says.

“No shame in folding, Sir. I don’t want you to draw out on me with a miracle 1000-to-1 longshot.”

He still calls.

The river is yet another 8.

I check.

He bets.

I turn my cards over and put a chip on them. “See? I told you I flopped the nuts. You got lucky with quads, huh?

He is in seat 10 and mucks his hand.

“That is a dead hand,” I say.

Well, there is a loophole in the gaming laws. A mucked hand is not a mucked hand. If the mucked hand is retrievable by the dealer and it turns out to be the winning hand, the player that mucked wins.

The hand was retrievable. My opponent had A-8 offsuit.

Lousy dealers

I am last to act with Q-Q. I raise and get two callers.

I am in seat 9 and the dealer is having a conversation with seat 10, who is also in the hand.

The flop comes Q-Q-9.

Seat 10 bets $100. The next player min raises.

I call.

The turn is a 9.

Seat 10 bets $100. The next player min raises again.

I call.

The river is an Ace.

Seat 10 bets $100. The next player min raises again.

I announce all-in.

My cards are behind the betting line with a chip on them.

I first grab my chip stacks, then I pick up the chip on the cards and push the bet over the betting line.

“What are you doing, Sir?” the dealer asks.

“I said all-in!”

“But you don’t have any cards!” he says.

I look down. No cards.

“Where the fuck are my cards?”

“I scooped them into the muck when you took the chip off.”

“I said all-in! I picked that chip up as I was pushing my stacks over the line. The chips were over the line and the cards were behind the line.”

“Sorry. They are mucked.”

No apology. No remorse. No recourse. No nothing.

Seat 10 shows A-K.

The player in the middle shows quad 9s.

We would have hit the bad beat jackpot for $350,000.

Instead, I went home broke.

And feeling lousy.

I had a good day overall yesterday.

Against my better judgment, I played a tournament. Because of the holiday, the casinos were busy!

The tournament had a field of 110. This was the largest event I have played to date.

I played well. The only hand I lost was the last one.

You guessed it: I flopped Aces but lost to a runner-runner Q-4 to give my opponent two pair.

To win a tournament, you need to catch cards and not get unlucky.

I was card dead for most of the tournament. Solid play and good decisions kept me alive.

The blinds were like piranha. They ate me alive. I finished 10th.

Afterward, I played a cash game at a different casino.

That room had a promotion that paid cash for 8-8, 8s full, and quad 8s. As you can imagine, the room was full.

Full of donkeys and calling stations that were losing $388 to win the $88 pocket 8s bonus.

Holidays and promotions seem to bring out alot of casual and first time players.

The odd thing is, this particular casino has a total bad beat jackpot pool of $1 million (quads over quads or better). That does not seem to keep the poker room full 24/7, but the pocket 8s thing filled the room.

I had two calling stations at my table.

I felted one of them. Twice.

The other caller was in a hand. I was on the sidelines.

I burst out laughing when the caller went all-in. His opponent did not realize the all-in and raised $100.

The caller says “I call”, stands up, pulls his wallet out of his pocket, and throws a $100 bill on the table.

It was the funniest thing I ever saw at the table!

I like to represent big hands by betting like I got it. Unless you are up against a weak player, you can bet someone off K-K if an Ace hits or get them to fold Q-Q if a King hits the flop.

The other day, I get 10-10 under the gun and make it $22 to go.

This bet in most low limit games represents A-A or K-K.

The next player calls and the button calls. Everyone else folds.

The flop comes 10c-6c-2d.

I put the first caller on a big pair. I am not so sure about the button. He is an older gentleman. Most older folks don’t put the money in on draws.

I bet $40 hoping to take it down.

The next player goes all-in for another $100.

The button studies me. I want him to think I am folding so he calls. I give him a look of disappointment and pull my card protector chip off my cards.

I bet hard pre-flop to represent strength. Now, I want to represent weakness.

He goes all-in for about $150.

“Let’s see. You have Queens or Jacks. (pointing to first player) And you have a flush draw? (pointing to button) Really? You have a flush draw?” I say.

I call and show top set.

The first player shows Q-Q and the button shows a flush draw.

Neither player improved and I took it down.

Whoever said that poker is the only sport without a handicap was wrong.

Dead wrong.

I crushed a cash game yesterday. With all the easy money gone, I decided to play a small tournament.

My rationale? I was freerolling from the cash game. In hindsight, I pissed away 80 bucks.

I am at a table with several strong players, several weak players, and one big donkey.

What do I look for when hunting donkeys? Ones that play every pot at any cost and win with sheer luck.

These players never raise. They have three tools: call, call, and call.

I was playing perfectly. Right hands, right position, right reads.

Flash forward two hours into the tournament.

I am sitting on an above average chip stack. Exactly where I want to be.

The players at my end of the table are talking about The Donkey and how he has played every hand and wins on the river.

I make a comment about having to go all-in against him to push him off a marginal hand. I think to myself that this play may not be enough.

A few minutes later, I get the chance to put this into action.

I get K-Q in late position and raise.

Normally, I would limp in, but I wanted to build a pot then take it down on the flop if I hit a pair or better.

So, I raise 10X the big blind.

The Donkey is in early position and he is my only customer.

Now, keep in mind that I have been building a table image so far by showing every uncalled winning hand. I have shown A-A, K-K, a set of 10s, and 8-8. I have also  been calling out other player’s hands.

In fact, have not lost a hand yet.

All for naught.

The flop comes K-10-7 rainbow.

My customer checks.

I feel he is weak. If I go slow, he could draw out on me.

I decide to play it fast and hope he folds.

“I am all-in,” I declare.

He pauses.

This call is for half his stack.

If he folds, it will be his first fold of the day.

He counts out the chips.

“You are way behind here. You are a 4-to-1 dog right now and are getting only 1 1/2-to-1 to call,” I tell him.

“I got a hand,” he says.

“You do. You have the losing hand.”

“How the fuck do you know what I got?” he asks.

“The problem here is you don’t know what I got. At best, you have bottom pair. You need to get real lucky to win this hand.”

He throws the chips in.

I show top pair.

He gets pissed and slams his cards down.

Sure enough, he has 9-7 off.

The turn is a 4.

One card away from either a double up or a bust out.

The river? A fucking 9.

The worst feeling in the world is playing it right, putting it in good, and getting beat by pure luck.

Did he get lucky or did I get unlucky?

I am not sure, but I know this: bad players seem to have an abundance of good luck.

In retrospect, I should have just checked it down. If he bets, that would tell me he hit two pair or better.

How someone can call off half their stack on bottom pair is beyond my ability to rationalize.

But then again, these kinds of players play poker like the slot machines: put the money in, pull the lever, and hope for the best.

Most players have tells.

Rounders work hard to remove their tells.

I work hard to have no facial expression during a hand.

Although I have a few “poses”, my head, upper body, arms, and legs remain still during the hand.

Timing is key too. I take the same amount of time to look at my cards and bet. I can always tell when a player has a pocket pair versus two random cards based on how much time it takes them to look at the hand. Pocket pairs take a fraction of a second. Random cards takes a couple seconds. For me, it is always the same.

That said, I am in a hand with a player that impresses me to be an occasional player - a business guy skipping work. One that watches too much poker on television.

He raises from early position. I am guessing he has any Ace or any King. Some bullshit garbage hand he thinks is good simply because he has an Ace or King.

I am next to act and call with 10-9 clubs. Yeah, not great, but I know it is more flexible than his hand. I also know we will likely be heads up or three-way going to the flop.

Why is it more flexible? It is easier for me to hit a straight or flush than him. Bottom line is I like my hand better than his even though mathematically, he has a stronger starting hand.

The flop comes 10s-9s-4h.

My opponent seems to like the flop and bets the pot.

I now put him on a hand like A-10, A-9, K-10, or K-9.

I am not fond of the flush draw. But I am more concerned about him drawing to an Ace or King.

“I raise. Hundo mo,” I say as I push out a stack of red chips.

Now, I am in seat 8 with my head pointed toward seat 1. My opponent is in seat 7. My head never moves, but I can see him out of my peripherial vision.

He is staring me down. This goes on for a good minute or two.

I get tired of waiting.

I slowly turn my head so we are now face to face.

“Sir, the action is on you,” I say.

He stares at me. He is trying to get a tell and intimidate me with his stare down. This player, like most, will come up short here. I have played poker with mafia guys, drug dealers, pimps, and other hardcore badass types. When you sit down with that crowd and survive, nothing intimidates you at the table.

“Are you looking for a tell?” I ask.

“I think I have the best hand right now, but I am not sure,” he says.

“Here are two tells for you,” I begin. “Let me tell you what you are holding. I think you have K-10 or maybe A-10.”

His stare turns to a look of confusion.

“I can tell you how many chips I have behind. I have another $455.”

At this point, I stare him down. We are as close to nose-to-nose as you can get.

Inside, I am giggling to myself because my sunglasses have mirror lenses. He is really staring at himself. You know, like the young guns do in the mirror as they are practicing their “I am all-in” speech.

Another minute passes.

I finally tell him I flopped top two pair and I don’t want him drawing out on me.

As always, I offer to show either way.

He folds and and shows K-10 off.

“Nice laydown, Sir,” I say as I show my hand as promised.

I am pleased to announce my retirement / hiatus is over. While my two tournaments yesterday were complete disasters (13 consecutive tournaments where I was eliminated by runner-runner longshots), my two cash game sessions were classic Sammy Wynn.

My reads in the first cash game session were 100% accurate. I felt like a circus act.

A young gun in the first session says, “Hey mister. Your reads seem to be right on. What did he  (points to another player) have on that last hand?”

I was back in the game.

After 12 hours of poker, my reads in the second session were 80% on at best. During the second cash session, my good friend Steven was at the table. He asked me about how I read and such.

I do not know where it comes from … instinct I guess. But I do try to narrow down the player to a range of hands based on their face and hand tells, along with their betting patterns.

Every session comes down to a couple / few key hands … here is how I read these key hands last night:

Hand #1:

I am in late position with K-8 clubs. Yeah, the hand sucks - I rarely play trash hands like this. But, I had position on someone I was determined to felt.

The person I wanted to felt raised from early position and I called. Action folded around to the button. The button was a new player and he called.

I put the raiser on a small / medium pair pre-flop.

The flop comes K-9-8 rainbow.

The original raiser bets small. It feels like he either missed the flop or was underplaying a set. So, I play it safe and call with two pair.

The button also calls. I put the button on some kind of King.

The turn is another King.

The original raiser checks. I bet my Kings full. The button calls.

The raiser four bets me. I am now concerned about K-9 or 9-9. I rule out K-9 since I put the button on a King. Pocket 9s are possible, but not likely since he probably would have bet the flop harder. It is tough to put him on 8-8 since one is on the board and I have one in the pocket.

I re-raise him all-in. My opponent took a good minute to think it through before he calls.

The button folded.

“I have a boat,” he says. “You have Kings full don’t you.”

I knew right then he had 8-8.

“You are drawing dead,” I tell him.

He shows 8-8.

The read here was a narrowing process. Again, this was a tough read because of the case cards.

As for the betting, it is a coin toss for me to just call the raise or re-raise. If my read was accurate for the button player, I don’t want him to catch an Ace or Queen - whatever he had to go with his King to draw out to a better full house on the river. As for the raiser, my thinking is if the player is in a betting mood, get all their chips on that street. If a scare card comes on the next street, it could kill the action.

Hand #2

I have 6-6 on the button.

A player in the big blind bets hard. The action folds to me and I call. Why call a big bet with a small pair? I knew I could outplay my opponent after the flop.

I put him on K-K, Q-Q, or J-J. He was nervous as hell pre-flop. I knew he had a big hand that he was afraid was going to get cracked. There was no way he was trying to buy a small pot pre-flop. That play was not in his arsenal.

The flop is 6-5-4. Top set!

My opponent bets the pot.

I call.

The turn is a 7.

I was not thrilled with the 7. No doubt, my opponent had a pocket pair, but he bet too hard pre-flop to have 8-8 for a straight.

My opponent checks.

I bet half the pot.

He stalls. My opponent never looked at me. He stared at the board for a good minute or so.

I instantly rule out 8-8.

“You have Queens? Maybe Kings,” I say.

He stares at the board.

“You are the strong silent type, huh?” I say laughing.

At this point, I don’t want a nervous player drawing out to a set on the river. Even though it is a 5%er, I don’t want a bad beat with a big pot.

“Sir, I flopped top set and will show either way. I think you have K-K or Q-Q.”

He folds and I show. Sure enough, shows Kings before mucking the hand.

“I called because I had position and got lucky,” I tell him.

He replies with, “You saved me alot of money. I believed you when you said you had a set. You have not lost a hand yet.”

“Yeah, well, you should have been here last week.”

Hand #3

I am in the big blind with K-Q hearts. A player in late position raises. I put him on some kind of big Ace.

The action folds to me and I call. We are heads up.

As always, I study my opponent as the cards are coming out.

His facial expression told me he liked the flop.

I then glance down and see Jh-9h-7s.

I have an open-ended straight draw, flush draw, and a straight flush draw.

Before I act, I crunch the odds in my head.

Worst case scenario is my opponent flopped a set of Jacks. With the draws I have, there are 8 hearts (the 7h is no good because it pairs the board to give my opponent a full house), 3 Aces, and 3 tens I can catch to make my hand.

I am a slight favorite to win the hand with 14 outs x 4 = 56% going to the turn.

Best case scenario is my opponent has a hand like A-J. This takes away one of my Aces, but gives me 3 Kings and 3 Queens to beat him. That is 19 outs x 4 = 76% to win the hand.

My opponent bets half the pot. I am getting 3-to-1 on my money to call. Easy decision.

I call and study my opponent again.

He does this grimacing eye-roll frown thing when the turn card hit the board.

It was a King. The King of Spades.

I now put my opponent on either A-J or J-10.

I rule out K-J because of how he reacted to the turn. Keep in mind, that if I was watching fifth street hit, I would have missed this critical tell that lasted a fraction of a second.

I also rule out Q-J because I was holding a Queen. It is possible, but not likely.

My opponent is beat. He is done betting, so I bet for him.

He calls. It felt like he was now chasing trips or two pair going to the river.

I know if I can dodge a Jack or an Ace, my Kings are good.

The river is 6s, putting a flush out there.

I knew he was not on a flush draw from his reaction to the river card. I also knew he was done with the hand. So, I checked.

Why not bet? I wanted to force a showdown to see if my read was accurate or not.

Some players pay for information. In this case, the information was free.

He checked behind and shows A-J.

I show K-Q and take the pot down.

That player racked up and moved to the Omaha game.

Two more players left, so Steven and I racked up as well.

For the first time in two weeks, the game broke instead of me getting broke from bad beats and miracle suckouts.

It is nice to come out the other side of running bad.

As we were leaving, Steven says to me, “That was so cool. They were afraid of you. And did you notice they would not play if we were both in the hand?”

Yeah, I noticed. It was a great feeling. The profit. The respect. That is what I play for.

So, you want to play poker like a pro?

In my mind, one can play profitably but not play like a pro.

What does it take to play like a pro?

Two key ingredients that you have to be born with are the ability to accurately read other players’ hands and heart.

Reading hands blind is 80% of my game. You either have it or you don’t. Most don’t.

Having the heart … the killer instinct to push all the chips in the middle is crucial to playing like a pro.

I remember a recent game where the board had Broadway on it. No flush or anything like that. One player in early position bet the river hard. Everyone folded to me. I insta-called because the board played and we chopped.

The other six players who folded did not have the heart to call even though they knew it was a chop. The board had the stone cold nuts, yet no one had the balls.

The biggest mistake I see players make is they are focused on the cards and not the players.

Cards in this game are secondary. Poker is an information game.

How can you get information if you are looking at your hole cards as soon as they come out?

You need to look at the players looking at their cards. Check your hole cards ONLY when it is YOUR turn to act.

Same goes for when the flop comes out.

DO NOT look at the flop first.

Watch the other players reacting to the flop.

Then, when it is YOUR turn to act, look at the flop and make your decision to bet / call, raise, or fold.

Waiting to look at the cards should come as naturally as breathing. Make it an instinct. It should become second nature.

Speaking of breathing, you also need to train your body to maintain a constant breathing pattern and heartbeat.

Whether I have A-A or 9-2, my heart rate stays at 60 beats per minute. And my breathing never changes.

This makes it hard for others to read you.

This will give you a good start to becoming a pro player.