I go to Shorty's Casino tonight since its the last 12 days of Christmas promotion where they were giving out awesome prizes by drawing players names. Things that were given away are TVs, Ipads, Poker Chip Sets, cash prizes and the grand prize was a 4 wheeler. Well I didn't win any of that but did sit down in the 5 5 NL Game that I am still thinking about so I will write this quick blog to get it off my mind.
I buy in for $285 and there are some very LAG players in this game that also call very light. In other words I was loving the easy money at the table. I played a semi loose game but mostly had position on the very LAG players that would straddle every time and only bet when I connected. I worked my initial buyin up to $728 quickly. When this hand came....The biggest pot I was ever involved in. A guy that has DEEP pockets and loves to gamble at the table had been running over the players raising pre flop and just betting players off their hand. So when he raised his straddle from $10 to 30, Me and about 5 others call and there is $240 in the pot before we even see a flop. I am holding Jc7c and know that at best he raised with 2 overs but he has been raising really light the whole time. Flop comes 10s 9d 8s! Jackpot, I flop the straight and the original preflop raiser Bets $75. I raise to $150 thinking it will get us heads up and then suprisingly it goes Call, Call, Call, Fold and Call.....wow There is now almost $1000 in the pot and I have $530 behind. Turn is the 4d giving another flush draw to the board and I know I have to get this pot NOW so I shove all in. One guy contemplates....shakes his head, then throws his cards in the muck. The other guy is in the tank when the original raiser says I CALL out of turn....I think to myself...there is NO WAY he has the higher straight..I'm thinking flush draw at best or maybe 2 pair and just playing like an idiot. Well the guy who is in the tank says you call too?? they tell him he's not committed to it yet since he said it out of turn, The guy in the tank finally calls for $465 and then out of turn original raiser Calls also....wowowowowow wtf? I know I have the best hand. The guy who made the call first says he has a set and shows 88. The other one...the original raiser....the out of turn caller.....he hides his card, and like a donk Calls off most his stack on a draw, as I suspected. (He isn't the type to slow roll if you don't slow roll him.) I beg the Dealer to put a 2c to just end the hand and let me take down the biggest pot I have ever been involved in.....I say one last time...... Deuce of clubs please!!
The river?....
Queen of diamonds and Original Raiser says WOO HOO SEND IT MY WAY BABY!! and turns over Jd 10d and I just watch my biggest profit ever slip through my finger tips to a crappy suck out on the river. I'm not too pissed off only being in the game for $285....I just wish I could have held. At least I know in the long run I will win that pot more often then not.
Odds of each player winning Flop Turn
Me with flopped straight 41% 48%
Guy with set 88 30% 21.5%
Guy with Flush and open ended draw 6% 20.5%
^Approximately, had chances for chopped pot^
So yea....thanks poker gods.Instead of going home with a nice $2,500ish I leave with -285...sigh. Show me some love next time as these moments don't happen often.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Last Day In New Orleans! Unbelievable Game! and stupid long grind before heading home.
This is it. The game I have been waiting for all season, but before I even get to sniff the excitement, The record breaking numbers, the nonstop chatter and yelling, and the feeling of losing my voice for 3 days straight, I had to wait for my crew to arrive in New Orleans and around the Mercedes Benz Superdome. So what better way to kill time then to go grind 1 2 until they get into town.
I bought in for $150 and played with about 3 guys at the table earlier in the week and the rest, well, they were enjoying themselves, I'll just say that. I make some decent pots, double up once and hover around $350-500 when my friend finally starts to text me. I take a hit and get knocked down to about $80 when they were just pulling into the parking lot by the dome and I knew I wasn't going to end this session a loser and also promised some of the guys drinks since I was having a good trip. So I added $200 to my arsenal and continued to grind. I fought my way back to about $500 when I got involved in a good pot to out bluff this woman who was playing extremely timid the whole time we were at the table and she had about $330 in front of her at the time.
I had raised in Mid Pos with KhJh to $12 (My standard raise that would get multiple callers) Timid lady, Old man who called my all in light, and newer guy who played pretty good and great psychological player called. Flop Fell QJ8 and good player and myself check and the Timid lady bets $15 into a $50 pot. Old man calls, Good player calls, then I reraise to $60 thinking this would be the perfect squeeze to represent the flopped straight. Timid lady contemplates and nervous about committing the chips...(So I smell blood) and then calls. The other 2 players fold. The Turn comes a 10 with a rainbow board and I have a feeling she either has AK, AQ, KQ, or even as strong as two pair, but I don't see her being that afraid of me with a set. but then again its a very wet board and I am showing aggression so I can understand if she did. I bet $80 into a pot of about $210 and is a little bit under half her stack, but still pot committing her if she calls. She squirms, winces, peaks at her cards one last time, then throws her hand in the muck. I play for about 3 more revolutions before finally getting up from the table with a nice +200ish profit then go meet my friends at Walkons down Poydras St.
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| It was PACKED in this place, and pretty much everywhere we went. |
As I am walking down Poydras from Harrah's Casino, The closer I get to the SuperDome, the more waves and flashes of people wearing Red are passing me by. I am loving the sight. Just the fact that so many Ragin Cajun fans are invading New Orleans for such an awesome event has me invigorated! There was a $10 charge to just get into Walk Ons but they also gave a $10 voucher for food or drinks so It wasnt that bad, just more to assure that you are going in there to buy something and not just use the bathroom. Well you could barely walk the place was flooded with Cajun fans, ESPN 1420 was doing their radio show inside and Everyone was having MORE than a good time before the game. I sat down with the guys, told everyone to order some beer and was just in time to order food with everyone else. The table had 3 draft taps that we could choose from and it charged by the ounce. So I told my buddies that I will put a $100 limit on 5 of us (The ones that wanted to drink) and we all got a glass, the waitress turned on the tap and we started filling up! It was pretty cool. We even created our own mixed brew that Jacob Viator and Brandon Menard named my creation the Hazel Moon! There was a tap for Blue Moon, a tap for Abita Purple Haze, and a tap for some other weird beer I never heard of and no one drank. Well at first I got just Blue Moon and the other guys and Tommy's Lady got Purple Haze. Then I remembered when my friend from Baton Rouge brought me to this place where they mixed Purple Haze with Andy Gator. It really wasnt that bad and got me feeling good quickly. So I got to thinking, and then the alcoholic light bulb lit and I said. What if I put half Blue Moon and Half Purple Haze. They were reluctant to try it but I went for it and It was amazingly good! just the right amount of Orange and just the right amount of Raspberry! I felt like the freaking Willy Wonka of Beer!! I said this is great, but its nothing without a name so we started brain storming. Blue Haze...nah, Purple Moon...nah, Indigo Harvest....close...getting warmer, Hazel Moon! Perfect. So yes, I recommend you go try that beer and Represent the new mix of deliciousness!!
We get our food and I asked for no red onions and instead get a Mountain of fried onions, laugh of how that happened, and devoured it since I didn't eat anything before hand since the previous night! I didn't wanna die of a heart attack, I guess cause I knew what the game had in store? so I ate most of it and barely any fries. We wrapped up, filled up one more time, paid for the food and drinks and bought a guy a beer for saving my buddies ass when he dropped his ticket in the bathroom. Cajun Nation watches out for each other. Waitress told the guy to sell it (Obviously from New Orleans) and the guy remembered walking into the bathroom after Jacob and Tommy and was nice enough to ask us what row we were on etc. to make sure we didn't drop our ticket. We were extremely grateful of his kindness, and he asked us to meet him across the street where a little tailgating party was going on so he can change his shirt and we met him after playing frogger from all the vehicles and congratulated him with his beer.
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| Standing on the balcony walkway near the SuperDome! |
We made our way to Championship Square, where all UL fans were having a Tailgating party equipped with 8$ canned beer and a band for your enjoyment. When we arrive, It was unspeakable to how many people were there having a good time and reppin' the Ragin' Cajuns (so I will let the pictures speak for themselves. UL's Cajun Field's Max Capacity is 31,000. We eclipsed that number twice in the history of the program and it was due to the part that smaller state schools brought huge number of fans thinking they can upset us. One accomplished that feat (McNeese in 2007 attend. 33,828) but the other didn't come close (Southern in 2009 attend. 41,357) I would say both crowds had about 60% Cajun fans, But tonight, the ratio of Ragin' Cajun fans vs. SDSU fans had to have been 95:5. One of the records that were broken were the Attendance record thanks to the 40,000 fans (I predicted 35k) sporting that Ragin' Cajun Vermillion and White. The previous record was about 31,000 and this year the total attendance was 42,841 and after 41 years of waiting for this day, you could hear it everywhere, you could see it everywhere, It was such an awesome experience.
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| First arriving at Champion Square |
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| The walk way up to the dome |
If you thought that was Pass interference (Which it was, but who cares right?) then you should have seen the 2 in a row when Gauthier tossed it up for L. Green in the endzone and the SDSU corner basically dry humped him for both plays and got no call from the refs. It was sick how one sided so many calls were going all game, but the Cajuns didn't stop, They wanted it more. UL jumped to a 19-3 lead early. The fans were raging, the players were confident, and strength coach Whitt's head was dripping with blood from headbutting players like a boss. The Cajuns wanted it more. SDSU drove down and fought back and pulled within 2 points to get the score 17-19, but the Cajuns answered when Gauthier threw a quick pass across to allow Lawson to get his second score of the night and go along with his 193 yard performance. If you watch closely after this TD you will see me clapping my ass off when they go to the fans haha, 5 seconds of fame! Then SDSU came fighting back with 2 minutes left. Our secondary dropped about 5 or 6 interceptions all game and had trouble stopping the pass all together, but what they did do was hold the Leading rusher of the nation, Ronnie Hillman who averaged 139yds per game to only 55yds on 23 carries! An amazing job by the defense to shutdown their number one weapon and another huge key to the victory! But that didn't stop the insistent Aztecs to picking apart our secondary and Again, Scoring and making a field goal to take the lead with only :35 seconds left and The Cajuns having No time outs left 30-29. So many people thought the game was over (alot of the Cajun fans, and almost all of the SDSU fans. But for the fans that witnessed The greatest comeback in Cajun history, for the players that held on to the rope until the whistle ended the game, for those that believed until there was 00:00 time left on that clock, They knew the Cajuns had it in them, and that it was gonna be a fight until the finish.
Gauthier composed, leads his troops onto the field after the ball is returned to the Cajuns 35 yd line. I turn my hat inside out and yell, Remember ULM, Never Give Up!!!" Hear a chant of "Lets Go CAJUNS (clap clap, clap clap clap)" and Join in until the band drowns us out with the fight song and all the fans sing along. Gauthier methodically moves the ball down to the Aztec 40 yd line with only 4 seconds to go. It is time for Mr. Clutch, Baer Nation, Mr. Special Teams to take the feild and put all the weight on his shoulders to carry the team across the finish line. The crowd is quiet, (instead of the 2000 Aztec fans that can barely be heard) and then Yellow flags go flying in the air. Referees announce "Illegal Stemming" trying to get our players to jump off sides and then they move the ball up to the 35 yd line. The Crowd quiets once again, I have my rally cap on, everyone is tense with fear and excitement. and then it happens!
THE CROWD GOES WILD!!! Brett Baer hit his career long 50 yd field goal to win one of the biggest games in Ragin' Cajun football History. It Felt like the saints won the Superbowl vs. the Colts in 2009!!! I am hugging everyone in an arms length radius around me and the crowd is filled with a sense of Euphoria that you knew Bourbon was going to be filled with Ragin' Cajuns for the rest of the night! I didn't want this moment to end, and am so glad that I can say I was a part of that moment, I was there, yelling my ass off. I ended up staying up until 7am losing -300 at the poker table after the game with a few poker buddies but I can not put into words how great this night will be and hopefully this will be just the beginning to a new era of excitement and winning in Cajun Country!
Hope you enjoyed the read!
Matt Stroud
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Winter Bayou Poker Classic Day 3 Recap (Another Profitable day)
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| Dude looked bad ass. Had to get a picture with him. More details below! |
The structure was pretty fast. Started with 6k in chips after the DTS and blinds went up every 20 minutes. I also had a pretty tough table with Kenny Milam, Bill Phillips, and Danny Dorcey at my table with a couple other aggressive players mixed in. I couldn't get anything going and kept running into AA or KK when trying to double my stack so I was out pretty quickly and down to only $55 of what I brought for the day to allow myself to play. I can't do crap with $55 in the poker room so my only other resort was to hope to get lucky on a damn table game.
Remembering that I profited about $60 on a Roulette machine Yesterday, I decided to put $50 on Roulette and try the same strategy I was using on the machine. I basically bet 2 of the Thirds and 2 of the Rows. they pay 2 to 1 so if I hit both I was getting a nice turnaround for my money and if I only hit one I would only lose a little bit. I was also keeping an eye out for patterns like 6 black in a row or 5 or 6 Even in a row then bet the opposite. I quickly work it up to about $140 and go sit down to make myself comfortable. Well I had to sit right next to some Ghetto woman that took the trolly from the Ghetto to Harrah's who was pretty hilarious to sit next to, but one of those people you didn't want to be on her bad side.
She told me she loved me like 4 times and that I was her good luck charm so I didn't worry about that. It's always refreshing when someone tells you, "Yo wife got her a good man AND A GOOD BABY DADDY!!!" I nearly lost my shit when she said that haha. Her luck would eventually turn, and she would blame it on another ghetto woman that would borrow her phone or beg her for money and would curse her under her breath, Then the person spinning the ball would miss her number like 8 times in a row and she was saying "I'm gonna FIND you making me lose like that, we gonna meet in the parking lot!! Take your foot off that pedal back there, I'm ON TO YOU Mother $*#4#@!!" Everyone else at the table was laughing at her and rolling their eyes. She even went to the bathroom for like 20 minutes and left her purse at the table asking me to watch it.....and of course I did.... She comes back and a guy is standing in her spot and she starts talking the same shit to him as he quietly scoots over hahaha.
Well back to my Roulette degen grind. I am Consistently hitting Both spots and occasionally hitting what I have hunches about! when the 0 came twice, I had felt it was coming and put A $5 chip there. I bet $50 on Red and hit, Bet $50 on Even and hit. After about 4 hours of playing I colored up $510 off of $50 and was almost back even for the day!!
I told my buddy John C what I managed to pull off and he asked, "Time to grind the cash game?" I was reluctant to answer at first but went walk to the Tournament room to see what they had going in there. I didn't really feel like playing a tournament so I replied "Sure why not" And bought into 1 2 with another $200. Of course I went up against a Harrah's Reg who knew all the dealers 3 hands in a row and he happened to have the better hand against me all 3 times, It was annoying but I knew he wasn't the better player than I am so I rebuy for my 300 and this Asian guy Immediately gives me $150 the next hand when he tries to bluff me off my hand on a paired river but I read him for having the flush draw and missing as he bet $100 over betting the pot. I make the call with AJ on 10J5510 board and he shows 88 then mucks.
I later pick up AhKh preflop and raise to 15 sitting with about $550 behind when a guy with $100 re-raises to $35. I figure at best we are racing and I don't mind racing for $100 in this pot so I put him all in and he calls and shows KK.....woops. No worries though, flop falls 543, turn gives me the flush draw as well, River 2 giving me the straight putting me at 650. I shake my head in disbelief and scoop the pot.
From there I pretty much played table captain and got alot of respect when I bet. I moved seats to get position on the reg to my left but after about 30 minutes, he moved seats to get position back on me. I felt like we were mainly competing against each other and the other 7 were just there paying us to watch the show. We got into it and took pots off each other but made most of our money on the others.
I had a good time and cashed out $1025 to get the profit I lost yesterday and had a pretty productive day for getting down so much earlier in the day.
Also I ran into this awesome specimen of a human that I had to get a picture with. He had like this perfect Mohawk Mullet thing going on, and was in a nice suit. I was impressed with his style, and complimented on the dude but had no idea who he was. Well hope you like the picture!
Matt Stroud
Monday, December 19, 2011
Bayou Poker Classic Day 2 Recap
I got to the Casino at about 1030 am and of course, nothing is going on in the Poker Room, Nothing is going on in the Tournament room, and I don't feel like playing table games, so I go in my truck and take a nap until about 1130. I'm no bum but drove from Destrehan so I wasn't about to go back for just a little while. When I walked back into the Casino I noticed there were about 5 people waiting to start a Satellite so I go run to see what's going on in the Poker room with cash games....pretty much nothing still so I go buy into the Satellite and pick the 9 seat (10 to a table) the buy in was $125 and top 2 got $500 in tourney chips and 50 in cash. It still took a while before the satellite got started, so I went goof off on a Roullette machine and won half the buy in back when I put $25 in and cashed out $85 (Small victory already!)
Initially the Table seemed to be very easy to pick spots and take down pots as it was mostly older gentlemen that are casual players with some pretty solid players mixed in as well. A guy that looked Like Jesus Ferguson's skinny twin brother was pretty much shoving in everyone's blind, and pretty much sucking out when they called.I managed to Knock Out a couple people and double through Jesus twin and then watched him knock two out at the end to get me the chips and cash and tipped the dealer $15 to pretty much free roll tournaments for the day!
I registered for the 1PM $350 buyin tournament and hated my seat draw. First I get my ticket and was placed in the 1 seat and a Super Aggressive player had position on me. As the late registration continued and the players came in late, I had Will "Poker Monkey" Souther (who basically hated the table draw as well and practically busted on purpose -so it seemed that way- to get on another table) Bill Phillips and Danny Dorcey were all to my Right.
I got down to 7000 after losing a few pots then made a really good call against the Super Aggressive player who is friends with Wunstel and Barousse but not sure of his name. He was a Super LAG player but reminded me alot of Bertrand Grospellier. I got in a raising war against him early when I had 22 preflop and didn't want to get it in with such a low pair, so I surrendered when I missed the flop. Then later he minraised preflop (as he did every single hand practically) and since he had position on me and it was folded to me, I flatted. Flop fell 383 and since he has such a wide range I really didnt feel that he hit any of the board so I checked with Q10s and he cbet as I expected. I decided to float to see if I either connect on the turn or if I could out play him on the turn. Turn is the Q and I have a feeling I take the lead and know he is going to continue to be aggressive. I put out a small bet and he raises me again. I'm not sure exactly how strong my queen is here and don't want to shove into a monster so I decide to just flat again. River is a blank and I am liking where I am at, but still unsure of my kicker. With the amount of hands he was raising, it was just highly improbable that he also paired the King with a higher kicker so I was willing to call whatever he bet. I believe he knew what I was thinking and truely put me to the test when he committed himself...and myself with a tournament life decision. I call and have a worse hand and be crippled. shove and lose, or flat, win the pot and get a good portion of chips. Well I make the call and he has A high and My queen is good.
I continue to pick some pots up but not much when I get involved in a huge hand and come out on the wrong end. I raised 2.5 with 8h 6h and got 2 callers (Extremely tight old guy and old guy that has a big cash in a circuit event.) Flop came out As 8d 6d and both players checked to me. I bet 675 into 1250 pot and get shoved on by super tight old guy and I know he has pair aces big kicker. Then the other old man goes into the tank, then with about 9.7k he goes allin over the top and I am thinking I have the best hand for sure as he is probably shoving a strong flush draw here or maybe a pair with nut flush draw. I am now wondering if I should just fold out of fear of being drawn out since its so early in the tournament, or make the call and hope I hold up to basically triple up again in this $340 buyin tourney. Well I make the call after some thought and I see AhJh from the first shover and 7d 5d from the other...and I hate how many outs he has and of course right there on the turn is the 4c giving the old man the straight. I dont fill up and my stack goes from 14.3k to 4.5k. A part of me wishes I would have just folded and waited for a better spot in the tournament but I know to win tournaments you have to win those kind of situations. It is still meddling in my head though.
After the 1st break I didnt last much longer as I get into another raising war with the Super Aggro and open with QcJc and super aggro min 3bets AGAIN and guy who turned straight on me just flats. I shove all in for 4.4k and then Super Aggro SHOVES for 6.7k. I am kind of annoyed but kind of happy because he gets the other guy to fold and what does he show.....Kd10d. I knew he didn't have much, but surprised he didn't give me much respect for a hand as well. It was a virtual Coin flip and I got completely out flopped as board ran out 10 10 9 Q J improving his trips to a straight and sending me to the exit. I didn't feel like investing another 350 into the tournament that ended up with 88 players so I decided to go sit down at the 1 2 NL game instead.
I buy into the game for $200 and get some decent small pots but my first big pot I hit a set with QQ and a guy decided to chase the flush and paid me about Half his stack for $150. I had to have seen AcKs or vice versa about 3 times and all 3 times I won the hand. I couldnt believe it. The session turned out really well and I cashed out $822 for a nice $622 profit. So having a nice profitable session in cash and still having $200 in tourney chips, I let a buddy borrow $125 to play a satellite and then bought into the 5pm $230 Omaha Tournament...which was basically a mistake. I literally played 3 hands in 2 orbits before I was out. First pot I check Called Flop and Turn with 2 flush draws and an inside straight draw and made the 2nd nut flush on the river, Checked it and of course the guy had Nut flush. Next hand I lost a small pot and on the Final hand I had Ad 9s 8s 7d and with blinds at 100 200 I raise to 500 and get 2 callers. I only have 4500 left and we started with 8000. flop falls 7 4 3 and I bet 1k into a 1500 pot.this leaves me with 3500. 1 guy calls and the turn is the 6 giving me open ender for the nuts and still top pair. I shove all in and he calls and shows two pair 8 7 6 2......on a Straight Board....I laugh in disbelief and need an A 10 9 8 or 5 to win the pot, but for some reason I have ran like shit so far when playing Omaha tournaments and completely whiffed as the river paired the 4.
So feeling a little tired, I decide to go back to cash game instead of just calling it a night and finishing with a good profit for the 2nd night in a row. I sit at 1 2 one more time. The first hand I played I get trip nines Ace kicker on the river and get check trapped when a guy played his runner runner boat sneaky and lost over half my first buy in right off the bat.
The last hand I played, I flopped top two with AQ on a Ah Qh 3h board and run into Two Flushes and some dude that reminded me of The Soloist with Jamie Foxx cause he kind of looked and dressed like him in that movie and was saying all kind of crazy shit at the table that gave me some good laughs the whole time. Well I dont Fill up agian. figured out that I actually managed a miniscule profit (Like $50 or 60 bucks) for the Day when I decide to get up from that horrid table. It all went down hill after the Omaha Game though. Well after I get some rest, I have one more full day to grind the tables before one of the Greatest Ragin Cajun's Football games I have ever witnessed to cap off such an awesome week.
To be Continued...
Matt Stroud
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| Noticed some Free advertisement on the way into the Casino. |
Initially the Table seemed to be very easy to pick spots and take down pots as it was mostly older gentlemen that are casual players with some pretty solid players mixed in as well. A guy that looked Like Jesus Ferguson's skinny twin brother was pretty much shoving in everyone's blind, and pretty much sucking out when they called.I managed to Knock Out a couple people and double through Jesus twin and then watched him knock two out at the end to get me the chips and cash and tipped the dealer $15 to pretty much free roll tournaments for the day!
I got down to 7000 after losing a few pots then made a really good call against the Super Aggressive player who is friends with Wunstel and Barousse but not sure of his name. He was a Super LAG player but reminded me alot of Bertrand Grospellier. I got in a raising war against him early when I had 22 preflop and didn't want to get it in with such a low pair, so I surrendered when I missed the flop. Then later he minraised preflop (as he did every single hand practically) and since he had position on me and it was folded to me, I flatted. Flop fell 383 and since he has such a wide range I really didnt feel that he hit any of the board so I checked with Q10s and he cbet as I expected. I decided to float to see if I either connect on the turn or if I could out play him on the turn. Turn is the Q and I have a feeling I take the lead and know he is going to continue to be aggressive. I put out a small bet and he raises me again. I'm not sure exactly how strong my queen is here and don't want to shove into a monster so I decide to just flat again. River is a blank and I am liking where I am at, but still unsure of my kicker. With the amount of hands he was raising, it was just highly improbable that he also paired the King with a higher kicker so I was willing to call whatever he bet. I believe he knew what I was thinking and truely put me to the test when he committed himself...and myself with a tournament life decision. I call and have a worse hand and be crippled. shove and lose, or flat, win the pot and get a good portion of chips. Well I make the call and he has A high and My queen is good.
I continue to pick some pots up but not much when I get involved in a huge hand and come out on the wrong end. I raised 2.5 with 8h 6h and got 2 callers (Extremely tight old guy and old guy that has a big cash in a circuit event.) Flop came out As 8d 6d and both players checked to me. I bet 675 into 1250 pot and get shoved on by super tight old guy and I know he has pair aces big kicker. Then the other old man goes into the tank, then with about 9.7k he goes allin over the top and I am thinking I have the best hand for sure as he is probably shoving a strong flush draw here or maybe a pair with nut flush draw. I am now wondering if I should just fold out of fear of being drawn out since its so early in the tournament, or make the call and hope I hold up to basically triple up again in this $340 buyin tourney. Well I make the call after some thought and I see AhJh from the first shover and 7d 5d from the other...and I hate how many outs he has and of course right there on the turn is the 4c giving the old man the straight. I dont fill up and my stack goes from 14.3k to 4.5k. A part of me wishes I would have just folded and waited for a better spot in the tournament but I know to win tournaments you have to win those kind of situations. It is still meddling in my head though.
After the 1st break I didnt last much longer as I get into another raising war with the Super Aggro and open with QcJc and super aggro min 3bets AGAIN and guy who turned straight on me just flats. I shove all in for 4.4k and then Super Aggro SHOVES for 6.7k. I am kind of annoyed but kind of happy because he gets the other guy to fold and what does he show.....Kd10d. I knew he didn't have much, but surprised he didn't give me much respect for a hand as well. It was a virtual Coin flip and I got completely out flopped as board ran out 10 10 9 Q J improving his trips to a straight and sending me to the exit. I didn't feel like investing another 350 into the tournament that ended up with 88 players so I decided to go sit down at the 1 2 NL game instead.
So feeling a little tired, I decide to go back to cash game instead of just calling it a night and finishing with a good profit for the 2nd night in a row. I sit at 1 2 one more time. The first hand I played I get trip nines Ace kicker on the river and get check trapped when a guy played his runner runner boat sneaky and lost over half my first buy in right off the bat.
The last hand I played, I flopped top two with AQ on a Ah Qh 3h board and run into Two Flushes and some dude that reminded me of The Soloist with Jamie Foxx cause he kind of looked and dressed like him in that movie and was saying all kind of crazy shit at the table that gave me some good laughs the whole time. Well I dont Fill up agian. figured out that I actually managed a miniscule profit (Like $50 or 60 bucks) for the Day when I decide to get up from that horrid table. It all went down hill after the Omaha Game though. Well after I get some rest, I have one more full day to grind the tables before one of the Greatest Ragin Cajun's Football games I have ever witnessed to cap off such an awesome week.
To be Continued...
Matt Stroud
Bayou Poker Classic Trip Day 1 Recap
It finally came time for my Trip to Harrah's Casino for the Winter Bayou Poker Classic and after seeing a bunch of my fellow Acadiana Poker Player friends make some decent cash in tournaments previously in the week I was feeling confident I would have some success of my own. I am glad to say that I only had one day of this whole trip that I ended up in the Negatives and the only reason why is because I stayed up until 7am pretty much just staying even throughout the whole game after watching my Cajuns win a dramatic game at the very end setting the SuperDome into a frenzy. But I will get to that later.
Day 1, 5 pm $230 Buy-in.
I Arrived in New Orleans just in time for the 5 PM tournament. I looked around in the Tournament area and it seemed sparse. After talking with some of the players, I find out that the casino didn't advertise the events much at all. There was a small amount of players in almost every event and the structures of the tournaments really weren't that bad (other than the satellites and nightly's which is normal since they are meant to be quick.) I had bought into this tournament twice as the initial buy in I played horrible, over valuing top pair, having 2nd best in flush vs. flush, not listening to myself when making reads, and just spewing chips. I lost within an hour but it was a Re Entry tournament, so I got up and registered again and refocused and sat at a Table with an Aggro Reg from Shorty's Casino and Wild Bill of GCP. I also find out that there is an idiotic rule of a 1 round penalty if a player exposes their hand, even by accident. Yes so if it happens to get a gust of wind underneath, felt sticks the corner of the card, hits the dealer's hand when going into the muck, poker gods don't care, poker gods make you sit on the rail for a round.
This made me more confident and relaxed and started to play alot better. I stayed patient and picked a few spots to keep a pretty much even stack with what I started with when we moved tables and the Chip Leader came sit at my table. I was card dead for 5 - 6 blind levels and traded 3 1000 chips with the chipleader for some Good Luck chips and got a good laugh out of that. Well Right before the break happened I had about 7,500 in chips and the blinds were 200 400 with a 100 ante and it was folded to me on the button. I shoved 7500 into the blinds and was instantly called by BOTH of them as I say awesome and laugh.
SB shows 10 10, BB turns over AK os and I turn over K7 like a true donk! Before the dealer turns the flop I say "7 7 flop please" and to my amazement the board runs out 7 7 6 5 K and I triple up to 23,700!!
We get down to two tables and guy who limped with a big hand earlier did it again.I have 88 and raise as it folds to the big limper who shoves all in. The way he played it, I figured him for two overs like Ace Face or KQ KJ etc. and it is for 1/3 my stack to knock him out, so I decide to make the call. He shows AJ os and flop falls 33A....shit, no worries though 8 hits the turn to get me the Boat and I am relieved and then the other 8 falls on the river for good measure to knock the guy out.
The next big pot I won involved this very solid old guy who just ran like absolute dog shit at the end of the tournament. 3 pots in a row he got either 2 or 3 outed to cripple his massive stack that he worked up and I got the last bit of it. Old Solid guy limps button, I limp small blind and BB checks. We see a flop that falls 6 8 4 and I lead out 1/4 pot. BB folds and Old solid raises 4000. I think for a bit to try to figure out what he could possibly have and from how he was playing earlier I was thinking A8 or over pair to give him top pair. I call and Turn is the 6 giving me trips and I have a strong feeling I pull ahead right here and decide to trap him. I check and he shoves all in. I make the call after some deliberation and had him covered by about 3000. He flopped the nut straight which caught me by total surprise and I think I make a huge mistake when yet again! the 8 hits the river to give me a full house knocking him out!! I now move up to 56k in chips with about 16 players left.
When we make the Final table, the guy I traded chips with said "Those lucky chips worked out for you huh?" I laughed and said, "It appears that way huh haha" I have to battle Blake Barousse, Corrie "bigslim" Wunstel, and Bill Phillips. Some New York Cash game player and a very timid young guy who was previously the chipleader was begging for a 9 way chop for about $1000 each. I knew Blake doesn't like to chop and Wunstel was also saying no chop. Bill Gets knocked out in 10th when his 99 loses a flip vs. AK GG sir. Then New York cash gamer gets his AA cracked buy a guy's KK and sends him steaming and missing out on the cash since top 5 were getting paid. There were only 48 entrants. As I try to grind to the money, I end up having to make some folds in a couple spots knocking my stack to 26k with blinds at 600 1200 and 100 ante and as we get down to 6 players I continue to try to convince big stack Wunstel and blakeb to chop. Wunstel informs the remaining players that Blake has to get a good share too since he is the backer so I figured 2600 would be good for first place and I was willing to take off 140 of mine since I was short stack to Blake giving him more than the others. They wanted $5000 which I thought was a bit much since we were all deep enough to play it out and 1st and second was $5500 when added together. If anything we were willing to offer them 1st and 4th instead. Then I started giving Blake a guilt trip to just cut me a break this one time since we go back and we agree on $4,600 so my share of the chop along with 3 others was $1,178 as I tipped $8 to the dealers including the two $10 dts for a $28 total tip. Blake got $2,200 and Corrie Got $2,400 and I also paid Blake back $100 for a loan from way back when that he wasn't in a hurry to get back but I had it for him if he needed it.
Original Payout
1st, $3,500
2nd, $2,000
3rd, $1,550
4th, $1,230
5th, $990
Chopped 6 ways
1st Corrie "Big Slim" Wunstel $2400 - $2600??
2nd Blake Barousse $2000-$2200?? whatever they decided
3rd-6th Me and some other guys $1178
It was a perfect start to a great week and I appreciate it big for giving me a break (even though I could have probably min cashed, the extra $200 was even better.
Matt Stroud
Day 1, 5 pm $230 Buy-in.
I Arrived in New Orleans just in time for the 5 PM tournament. I looked around in the Tournament area and it seemed sparse. After talking with some of the players, I find out that the casino didn't advertise the events much at all. There was a small amount of players in almost every event and the structures of the tournaments really weren't that bad (other than the satellites and nightly's which is normal since they are meant to be quick.) I had bought into this tournament twice as the initial buy in I played horrible, over valuing top pair, having 2nd best in flush vs. flush, not listening to myself when making reads, and just spewing chips. I lost within an hour but it was a Re Entry tournament, so I got up and registered again and refocused and sat at a Table with an Aggro Reg from Shorty's Casino and Wild Bill of GCP. I also find out that there is an idiotic rule of a 1 round penalty if a player exposes their hand, even by accident. Yes so if it happens to get a gust of wind underneath, felt sticks the corner of the card, hits the dealer's hand when going into the muck, poker gods don't care, poker gods make you sit on the rail for a round.
This made me more confident and relaxed and started to play alot better. I stayed patient and picked a few spots to keep a pretty much even stack with what I started with when we moved tables and the Chip Leader came sit at my table. I was card dead for 5 - 6 blind levels and traded 3 1000 chips with the chipleader for some Good Luck chips and got a good laugh out of that. Well Right before the break happened I had about 7,500 in chips and the blinds were 200 400 with a 100 ante and it was folded to me on the button. I shoved 7500 into the blinds and was instantly called by BOTH of them as I say awesome and laugh.
SB shows 10 10, BB turns over AK os and I turn over K7 like a true donk! Before the dealer turns the flop I say "7 7 flop please" and to my amazement the board runs out 7 7 6 5 K and I triple up to 23,700!!
We get down to two tables and guy who limped with a big hand earlier did it again.I have 88 and raise as it folds to the big limper who shoves all in. The way he played it, I figured him for two overs like Ace Face or KQ KJ etc. and it is for 1/3 my stack to knock him out, so I decide to make the call. He shows AJ os and flop falls 33A....shit, no worries though 8 hits the turn to get me the Boat and I am relieved and then the other 8 falls on the river for good measure to knock the guy out.
The next big pot I won involved this very solid old guy who just ran like absolute dog shit at the end of the tournament. 3 pots in a row he got either 2 or 3 outed to cripple his massive stack that he worked up and I got the last bit of it. Old Solid guy limps button, I limp small blind and BB checks. We see a flop that falls 6 8 4 and I lead out 1/4 pot. BB folds and Old solid raises 4000. I think for a bit to try to figure out what he could possibly have and from how he was playing earlier I was thinking A8 or over pair to give him top pair. I call and Turn is the 6 giving me trips and I have a strong feeling I pull ahead right here and decide to trap him. I check and he shoves all in. I make the call after some deliberation and had him covered by about 3000. He flopped the nut straight which caught me by total surprise and I think I make a huge mistake when yet again! the 8 hits the river to give me a full house knocking him out!! I now move up to 56k in chips with about 16 players left.
When we make the Final table, the guy I traded chips with said "Those lucky chips worked out for you huh?" I laughed and said, "It appears that way huh haha" I have to battle Blake Barousse, Corrie "bigslim" Wunstel, and Bill Phillips. Some New York Cash game player and a very timid young guy who was previously the chipleader was begging for a 9 way chop for about $1000 each. I knew Blake doesn't like to chop and Wunstel was also saying no chop. Bill Gets knocked out in 10th when his 99 loses a flip vs. AK GG sir. Then New York cash gamer gets his AA cracked buy a guy's KK and sends him steaming and missing out on the cash since top 5 were getting paid. There were only 48 entrants. As I try to grind to the money, I end up having to make some folds in a couple spots knocking my stack to 26k with blinds at 600 1200 and 100 ante and as we get down to 6 players I continue to try to convince big stack Wunstel and blakeb to chop. Wunstel informs the remaining players that Blake has to get a good share too since he is the backer so I figured 2600 would be good for first place and I was willing to take off 140 of mine since I was short stack to Blake giving him more than the others. They wanted $5000 which I thought was a bit much since we were all deep enough to play it out and 1st and second was $5500 when added together. If anything we were willing to offer them 1st and 4th instead. Then I started giving Blake a guilt trip to just cut me a break this one time since we go back and we agree on $4,600 so my share of the chop along with 3 others was $1,178 as I tipped $8 to the dealers including the two $10 dts for a $28 total tip. Blake got $2,200 and Corrie Got $2,400 and I also paid Blake back $100 for a loan from way back when that he wasn't in a hurry to get back but I had it for him if he needed it.
Original Payout
1st, $3,500
2nd, $2,000
3rd, $1,550
4th, $1,230
5th, $990
Chopped 6 ways
1st Corrie "Big Slim" Wunstel $2400 - $2600??
2nd Blake Barousse $2000-$2200?? whatever they decided
3rd-6th Me and some other guys $1178
It was a perfect start to a great week and I appreciate it big for giving me a break (even though I could have probably min cashed, the extra $200 was even better.
Matt Stroud
Monday, December 5, 2011
Cajuns to New Orleans Bowl, Hudspeth update
It's been a while since I wrote anything and unfortunately haven't been able to play much poker other than a .25 .50 cash game I hosted and had a bad session when I made 1 wrong decision that took away a profitable night in Omaha. Misread an aggressive opponent and had less outs than I though I would for a huge pot.
If you haven't noticed The UL Ragin' Cajuns accepted an invite to the R&L Carrier's New Orleans Bowl for their first bowl game in 41 years and First official bowl game since the creation of FBS and FCS rather than Div. I and Div II football! This is so awesome as the Cajuns finished the season with an 8-4 record (should have been 9-3 but the refs who officiated the Arizona game was truly giving the wildcats home field advantage by either blowing call after call on the Cajuns or making up bogus calls in key situations of the game to hand them the loss 45-37. If atleast two of those calls were taken back, then The Cajuns would have ended up with the win. But screw it. I can not describe how excited I am for this bowl game and cannot wait to be screaming in the stands. This will practically be a home game for UL as we are expecting atleast 25-30k to go watch the Cajuns take on the recently announced San Diego St. Aztecs who also finished 8-4 in the Mountain West Conference! It will be a really good match-up as they have a beast of a running back who has 1900ish total yards and almost 24 total TD's roughly. So this also means that they must have one hell of an offensive line as well. If you are wondering who the hell San Diego St. is, they recently started gaining more success in football again and some big name football alumni are Marshall Faulk and Kyle Turley, both of which have New Orleans ties.
For everyone who plans to attend, or at-least visit New Orleans, expect to see a sea of RED down Bourbon St. as the weekend approaches for Dec. 17th game! It will be some wild and crazy Cajun fans yelling and screaming for the Ragin' Cajuns on their way to a rapid growth in the UL Athletic community and Their first Cajun Bowl victory!! I expect there to be an awesome New Orleans Saints atmosphere in the Super Dome and if I would make a prediction on the game, I would say UL Ragin' Cajuns 35 San Diego St. Aztecs 32!
Other Sun Belt and Louisiana Match-ups
TCU vs. Louisiana Tech in the Poinsetta Bowl
...La Tech has done great this year but I Don't see them beating TCU
Arkansas St. vs. Northern Illinois in the Godaddy.com Bowl
This is the MAC champ vs. the Sun Belt champ and I think Ryan Aplin is a beast so I'm going with Ark St.
Florida International vs. Marshall in the Beef O' Brady's Bowl
This game is played in Florida so upside to FIU, who was the favorite to win the Sun Belt and Marshall has a good offense but I think FIU is the better team and will have no problem with the Thundering Herd.
LSU vs. Alabama in the BCS Championship
So this is what everyone is waiting for and honestly I think Alabama is extremely hungry for revenge but it wont be easy as LSU has one of the best defenses I have ever seen in college football (But I'm only 26). I am confident to say that Alabama, though it will be another nail biter, Will be Triumphant and piss off alot of Ok St. fans saying, "That should have been us" as the Crimson Tide will be the New #1 and get their revenge!! I can't wait to watch the rematch (The one the LSU Tiger fans didn't want cause honestly they're scared). Alabama FTW! Roll Tide...
So yes, Sunbelt....the conference everyone thinks they can walk allover will be 3-0 in Bowl games and Alabama will be the BCS Champs
More about College football, There have been alot of coaching changes and Rumors around Mississippi. Ole Miss HC Houston Nutt was fired, Southern Miss HC was a huge candidate, with all the controversy wrapped around Penn St., It was rumored Miss St. HC Mullen was a huge candidate for that job with the Nittany Lions but Mullen claimed to never get a call, happy where he is in the Sun Belt (Who would want to leave the best Conference in the Nation for that mess anyway?? Well With so many Job openings around Mississippi, or even the drama starters that wanna mention the job opening at Poo Lane University, There began to have talk with Mark Hudspeth as a huge candidate with all the sudden success he has been having at UL on the FBS level. He has had previous Head Coaching Experience at North Alabama and Delta St. but that is on lower college football levels and not the "Big Stage". Well If you are a Ragin' Cajun Die Hard this is a disaster, soap opera, and heart-breaker all wrapped up in one because We finally have an opportunity to turn the corner, possibly move up to a better conference with all the craziness going on with conference realignments, and be a huge competitor in Louisiana with the other Div I universities (ULM, La Tech, Tulane, LSU) Right now LSU is on top of a Mountain and looking down and laughing at UL with their big hopes, but They will start shitting bricks when we start competing with them athletically soon. By soon I say within 3 or 4 years soon.
Well after about a month of sweating rumors on Message Boards from Arizona, to South Louisiana, to Tennessee (Memphis), to Mississippi, Coach Mark Hudspeth Reassured his Fans and Ragin Cajun Community that he will DEFINITELY be a Ragin Cajun Next year and Scott Farmer, University Athletic Director, stated the goal is to make Hud the Highest paid Coach in Sun Belt Conference! I was so delighted to hear this news and hope Hud continues to Hold on to that Rope that he encouraged all his players, staff, and Fans to hold on to because he is one of the major contributors to the rapid growth of success and support in this community and an abrupt change in coaching position would mean a Train Wreck to the university and the momentum it has going for them. So thank you Coach for choosing Lafayette, LA to start a historical Career and I hope you fulfill every goal and dream you have with the University of Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. Thank you for seeing the same potential in this Community and Fan base that many of the die hard's shared. Can't wait to see you and the rest of the Team in the SuperDome December 17th!!!
Well that's all I got for now but I'll have another update soon with details on my trip to New Orleans for the Tournaments at Harrah's and of course the New Orleans Bowl!!
Thanks for Reading,
Matt Stroud
If you haven't noticed The UL Ragin' Cajuns accepted an invite to the R&L Carrier's New Orleans Bowl for their first bowl game in 41 years and First official bowl game since the creation of FBS and FCS rather than Div. I and Div II football! This is so awesome as the Cajuns finished the season with an 8-4 record (should have been 9-3 but the refs who officiated the Arizona game was truly giving the wildcats home field advantage by either blowing call after call on the Cajuns or making up bogus calls in key situations of the game to hand them the loss 45-37. If atleast two of those calls were taken back, then The Cajuns would have ended up with the win. But screw it. I can not describe how excited I am for this bowl game and cannot wait to be screaming in the stands. This will practically be a home game for UL as we are expecting atleast 25-30k to go watch the Cajuns take on the recently announced San Diego St. Aztecs who also finished 8-4 in the Mountain West Conference! It will be a really good match-up as they have a beast of a running back who has 1900ish total yards and almost 24 total TD's roughly. So this also means that they must have one hell of an offensive line as well. If you are wondering who the hell San Diego St. is, they recently started gaining more success in football again and some big name football alumni are Marshall Faulk and Kyle Turley, both of which have New Orleans ties.
For everyone who plans to attend, or at-least visit New Orleans, expect to see a sea of RED down Bourbon St. as the weekend approaches for Dec. 17th game! It will be some wild and crazy Cajun fans yelling and screaming for the Ragin' Cajuns on their way to a rapid growth in the UL Athletic community and Their first Cajun Bowl victory!! I expect there to be an awesome New Orleans Saints atmosphere in the Super Dome and if I would make a prediction on the game, I would say UL Ragin' Cajuns 35 San Diego St. Aztecs 32!
Other Sun Belt and Louisiana Match-ups
TCU vs. Louisiana Tech in the Poinsetta Bowl
...La Tech has done great this year but I Don't see them beating TCU
Arkansas St. vs. Northern Illinois in the Godaddy.com Bowl
This is the MAC champ vs. the Sun Belt champ and I think Ryan Aplin is a beast so I'm going with Ark St.
Florida International vs. Marshall in the Beef O' Brady's Bowl
This game is played in Florida so upside to FIU, who was the favorite to win the Sun Belt and Marshall has a good offense but I think FIU is the better team and will have no problem with the Thundering Herd.
LSU vs. Alabama in the BCS Championship
So this is what everyone is waiting for and honestly I think Alabama is extremely hungry for revenge but it wont be easy as LSU has one of the best defenses I have ever seen in college football (But I'm only 26). I am confident to say that Alabama, though it will be another nail biter, Will be Triumphant and piss off alot of Ok St. fans saying, "That should have been us" as the Crimson Tide will be the New #1 and get their revenge!! I can't wait to watch the rematch (The one the LSU Tiger fans didn't want cause honestly they're scared). Alabama FTW! Roll Tide...
So yes, Sunbelt....the conference everyone thinks they can walk allover will be 3-0 in Bowl games and Alabama will be the BCS Champs
More about College football, There have been alot of coaching changes and Rumors around Mississippi. Ole Miss HC Houston Nutt was fired, Southern Miss HC was a huge candidate, with all the controversy wrapped around Penn St., It was rumored Miss St. HC Mullen was a huge candidate for that job with the Nittany Lions but Mullen claimed to never get a call, happy where he is in the Sun Belt (Who would want to leave the best Conference in the Nation for that mess anyway?? Well With so many Job openings around Mississippi, or even the drama starters that wanna mention the job opening at Poo Lane University, There began to have talk with Mark Hudspeth as a huge candidate with all the sudden success he has been having at UL on the FBS level. He has had previous Head Coaching Experience at North Alabama and Delta St. but that is on lower college football levels and not the "Big Stage". Well If you are a Ragin' Cajun Die Hard this is a disaster, soap opera, and heart-breaker all wrapped up in one because We finally have an opportunity to turn the corner, possibly move up to a better conference with all the craziness going on with conference realignments, and be a huge competitor in Louisiana with the other Div I universities (ULM, La Tech, Tulane, LSU) Right now LSU is on top of a Mountain and looking down and laughing at UL with their big hopes, but They will start shitting bricks when we start competing with them athletically soon. By soon I say within 3 or 4 years soon.
Well after about a month of sweating rumors on Message Boards from Arizona, to South Louisiana, to Tennessee (Memphis), to Mississippi, Coach Mark Hudspeth Reassured his Fans and Ragin Cajun Community that he will DEFINITELY be a Ragin Cajun Next year and Scott Farmer, University Athletic Director, stated the goal is to make Hud the Highest paid Coach in Sun Belt Conference! I was so delighted to hear this news and hope Hud continues to Hold on to that Rope that he encouraged all his players, staff, and Fans to hold on to because he is one of the major contributors to the rapid growth of success and support in this community and an abrupt change in coaching position would mean a Train Wreck to the university and the momentum it has going for them. So thank you Coach for choosing Lafayette, LA to start a historical Career and I hope you fulfill every goal and dream you have with the University of Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. Thank you for seeing the same potential in this Community and Fan base that many of the die hard's shared. Can't wait to see you and the rest of the Team in the SuperDome December 17th!!!
Well that's all I got for now but I'll have another update soon with details on my trip to New Orleans for the Tournaments at Harrah's and of course the New Orleans Bowl!!
Thanks for Reading,
Matt Stroud
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