Week of October 13, 2008

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We had a major incident in our village this week. I will try to explain but if you look at the picture I have posted it is a great example of a picture being worth a 1,000 words. As you might expect in Africa there are wild elephants, over time some of these elephants that live near our village become domesticated. Not like a pet Dog or Cat, obvious they would not live in ones hut, but they do become friendly and very docile.

This week one of these elephants was hanging out near Margarite’s orphanage. Some of the children had left there toys out. We are still not sure why but this particular elephant ate several of the toys. I like most people might assume that if the item (toy) fit in one end of the elephant it should be able to fit out the other end. My thought was to wait and check the stool and eventually the kids would have their toys back.

The fact is elephants have a very sensitive digestive system, and eating items that have plastic in them could kill them. So you must retrieve the items as quickly as possible. In our village there are no doctors or veterinarians, and to get one to come from a near by village would be very expensive. Since I am still trying to score points with Margarite I volunteered for the job of extracting the toys for the kids. I read up on the internet on how to go about retrieving items from an elephant’s digestive track. Rather then describe the procedure please just look at the above picture.

That was the big event for the week, I did get some time to play DISC golf with Nami, as usual Chuata had some excuse as to why he could not play. Also this week I went to see an Agatha Christy play “The Hollow” that our village was putting on. Nami’s wife likes Agatha Christy and she had invited us all out.

I had a very interesting week playing poker. I had huge swings in my winnings from down over $200.00 to up the same amount. I ended up wining $187.00 for the week, but my hourly rate was rather low at $8.83 an hour. I need to really analyze my play to figure out why I had such swings, at least 5 times this week I had swings or over $400.00 in just a few hands.

I played over 21 hours which should have netted me closer to $400.00 or $500.00 for the week and I played over 2,700 hands.

I thought I would show two hands that have to do with bluffing and why bluffing is an important part of the game and why the set up is more important (past play at the table) to the bluff then the actually hand you are playing. I am not a big proponent of bluffing, but I understand it is a tool you must use in your play to mix up your game and to mix up your opponents. As you will see in the first hand I got the player to fold, which is what I needed to happen to win, and in the second hand I got the player to go all in or raise my bet which is what I needed to happen to win more. I hope you enjoy.

The key to this first hand is I have been at the table a while and have not played many hands, so I feel I have a tight image, that is an image of a player that only plays when he has very good hands. I have not bluffed at all and I have bet high on a few hands got called and won because I had the nuts (the best possible hand).

PokerStars Game #21211726234: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/10/15 - 09:20:43 (ET)

Table 'Skat V' 9-max Seat #4 is the button

Seat 1: clivi ($50 in chips)

Seat 2: DUG ($100 in chips)

Seat 3: dlehel ($50 in chips)

Seat 4: kevyk81 ($82.80 in chips)

Seat 5: Mask1n ($100.85 in chips)

Seat 6: kinkin24 ($46.50 in chips)

Seat 8: bottomset ($103.15 in chips)

Seat 9: Pippozzo ($100.25 in chips)

Mask1n: posts small blind $0.50

kinkin24: posts big blind $1

supercohen: sits out

clivi: posts big blind $1

DUG: posts big blind $1 I had sat out a few hands so I had to pay to get back in

dlehel: posts big blind $1

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to DUG [Kd 4d]

bottomset: folds

Pippozzo: folds

clivi: checks

DUG: raises $3 to $4 I hate paying the blind so my plan was to just steal the blinds back.
dlehel: folds

kevyk81: calls $4 Not what I expected.

Mask1n: folds

kinkin24: calls $3 Not what I expected.

clivi: calls $3 Not what I expected.

*** FLOP *** [6c Jh Th]

kinkin24: checks

clivi: checks

DUG: bets $12 If I was new at the table I would just check, but with my tight image I think I can get the others to fold.

kevyk81: folds

kinkin24: calls $12 He must have something like AJ. Or even a flush draw, anything better then that would have raised me.

clivi: folds

*** TURN *** [6c Jh Th] [4s]

kinkin24: checks His check shows weakness.

DUG: bets $15 This gives him not exactly the right odds if he has a flush draw at this point I want him in. I am ok with getting one more bet from him, knowing my plan is to go all in on the river unless a heart hits, or a card that might fill a straight draw, like a Q if he had AK or an Ace or nine if he had Q

Kkinkin24: calls $15

*** RIVER *** [6c Jh Th 4s] [Tc] This is a good card for me. He would not have been calling my bets with middle pair. If he had JT he would have raised with the flush draw on the board. He should fold now, which is the only way I will win unless my pair of 4’s is good enough.

kinkin24: checks

DUG: bets $69 and is all-in

kinkin24: folds So I won $68.50 with a nothing hand.

Uncalled bet ($69) returned to DUGDUG collected $68.50 from pot

DUG: doesn't show hand

*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $71.50 Rake $3 Board [6c Jh Th 4s Tc]

Seat 1: clivi folded on the Flop

Seat 2: DUG collected ($68.50)

Seat 3: dlehel folded before Flop

Seat 4: kevyk81 (button) folded on the Flop

Seat 5: Mask1n (small blind) folded before Flop

Seat 6: kinkin24 (big blind) folded on the River

Seat 8: bottomset folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 9: Pippozzo folded before Flop (didn't bet)

With the following hand I have been a little looser then normal at this table, also about 5 hands before I lost a big hand where I had KK and the other guy had AQ we were all in before the flop so I was the favorite to win, but lost. I felt people would think I was on tilt.

POKERSTARS GAME #21242501760: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/10/16 - 13:18:37 (ET)

Table 'Haffner III' 9-max Seat #6 is the button

Seat 2: siIver11 ($55.90 in chips)

Seat 3: zecke79 ($96 in chips)

Seat 4: AcesFull113 ($98 in chips)

Seat 5: DragonSpy23 ($85.90 in chips)

Seat 6: DUG ($128.55 in chips)

Seat 7: imoo88 ($99 in chips)

Seat 8: Russchampion ($181.70 in chips)

Seat 9: Bluesman ($118.60 in chips) imoo88: posts small blind $0.50

Russchampion: posts big blind $1

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to DUG [8c 9h]

moatzart has returned

Bluesman: calls $1

siIver11: folds

zecke79: folds

AcesFull113: calls $1

DragonSpy23: folds

DUG: calls $1 Worth playing if I hit I could win a lot.

imoo88: calls $0.50

Russchampion: raises $3 to $4

Bluesman: calls $3

AcesFull113: calls $3

DUG: calls $3 Worth 3 more dollars with the odds, but more importantly the implied odds.

imoo88: calls $3

*** FLOP *** [Qd 6s 7h] I have a straight draw and no flush draw on the board. So if a T or a 5 show up I have the nuts (best hand).

imoo88: checks

Russchampion: checks

Bluesman: checks

AcesFull113: checks

DUG: checks Cool a free card

*** TURN *** [Qd 6s 7h] [Ts] I hit the nuts and I have a loose reputation.

imoo88: checks

Russchampion: checks

Bluesman: checks

AcesFull113: checks

DUG: bets $30 What I am hoping is someone will feel this is a bluff and they will bluff me. No one in there right mind would bet 3 times the pot with the best hand.

imoo88: folds

Russchampion: folds

Bluesman: folds

AcesFull113: raises $64 to $94 and is all-in Perfect.

DUG: calls $64 Have to call since I have the best hand.

*** RIVER *** [Qd 6s 7h Ts] [Qc] Hope he did not have a QT.

*** SHOW DOWN ***

AcesFull113: shows [5s 4s] (a pair of Queens) This is interesting, He had a straight draw which would have lost to me, since I had a higher straight, and he had a flush draw which would have beat me. If I had AQ, his play might have been good. But instead by me making it look like I was bluffing I won all his money. In this case if I was really bluffing I would have lost all my money. That is why it is so important to think about what the other players think of you before you bluff.

DUG: shows [8c 9h] (a straight, Six to Ten)

DUG collected $205 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $208 Rake $3 Board [Qd 6s 7h Ts Qc]

Seat 2: siIver11 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 3: zecke79 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 4: AcesFull113 showed [5s 4s] and lost with a pair of Queens

Seat 5: DragonSpy23 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Seat 6: DUG (button) showed [8c 9h] and won ($205) with a straight, Six to Ten

Seat 7: imoo88 (small blind) folded on the Turn

Seat 8: Russchampion (big blind) folded on the Turn

Seat 9: Bluesman folded on the Turn
So the point I am trying to make is when you bluff you really need to understand how the other players at the table think of you and your play, and you need to try to narrow down the hands the other players might have to make sure they do not have a hand that they can not fold.