Things have been BUSY

I am finally getting around to updating this thing. I have been stupid Busy with both work and making sure the upcoming League is gonna be set up since we are moving locations. Also I have been working with a good friend of mine Mike Silvas and we have been creating a website for Acadiana Poker Players. We just put the site live to try and get some input from our poker friends to see if we can improve the site in anyway and fix some bugs that may currently exist. To go along with the website and APP League (Season 3 already. Unbelievable) I have created a new Card Protector that will sell for $6 a piece. I think it is a great price since most Card protectors run for about $10-20 bucks that are custom made. This card protector is made of Ceramic and is between 43-45mm in Diameter so it is bigger than a standard poker chip and smaller than a dealer button. I chose the Octagon shape to specifically differ and avoid any chance of Dumb Dealers or Poker Players from getting it confused with one of the two.

How do you like the design?

The company that is making it for me is a great poker chip company based out of Georgia I believe. He has mostly been doing this by word of mouth but hopefully he will agree to advertise on our website www.acadianapokerplayers.com be cause he always does a great job from my experience so far. I bought some ceramic poker chips from him as well as I always wanted a nice set of my own and he sure did not disappoint me. Thank you Steve Petusky as I hope to do future business with you as well as bring you much more future business!

The T-shirt situation has been a bit of a pain in the butt because I am still searching for a company that will provide good pricing and Design for when I create them. The previous company I was going to was charging me different prices almost every time I went there and I had to continue to bring my original receipt to prove the price that I paid before. They also messed up on printing my last batch of shirts, took their time to respond to my emails and phone calls, and always were very disorganized when I went to their business to pick up the shirts. I was tired of the headache so I decided to look for another company/person to do this and still have not found any luck. If you have someone in mind that can help me out please let them or me know so I can get this stuff done!

I Want to thank the following guys for helping in preparation for the website, league, etc. and also want to help bring attention to some of my friends who are looking for players in games they want to have as well. Thanks Linden and Barbara Comeaux, Jimmy "Luckbox Leprechaun" Rogers, and Tommy Hebert for helping in preparing the upcoming year for season 3 of APP League! Can't wait to win the trophy this year as I blew it the two previous years haha. Thanks alot for Mike Silvas in putting up with my continuous questions about the website and patiently putting up with me. I am looking forward to doing business with you and hopefully it goes great (He wants this blog to go to the website btw so if we ever get to that point I hope you continue to follow!) I am currently looking for players that would be interested in blogging on the website as well, so If you would like to give me a shout here or on my Facebook and let me know what you would want to blog about!  And even though I hate to admit it. Thanks Mike Fontenot for sharing thoughts on things others are afraid to input on. You have helped make multiple adjustments that I have overlooked in the league. now we can just work on communication hahaha.

I didn't have much of a New Years Celebration as work wore me out. I went back and forth from Lafayette, LA to Port Fourchon, LA working on a big project for work about 5 times over the past 2 weeks and was on call for the Christmas Holidays. So when it came time for the New Year's "Celebration" I was just exhausted and went to sleep at 10pm haha. I went have supper with the wife at Chili's and also watched a movie on bluray before hitting the bed so it was a little something. New Years Day I hit up New Orleans with my buddy Tommy who suprised me with Last Minute Saints Tickets and even though the wife and mom was pretty pissed at me for not spending the holiday with them (I'm such a horrible guy) I think it was still worth it and fun as it was the first Saints game I have been to since 2008 and watched them destroy Carolina 45-17! My favorite part was when the whole crowd simultaneous chanted WHO DAT WHO DAT WHO DAT SAY THEY GON' BEAT DEM SAINTS" three times before the kickoff to start the game! I wish I would have been prepared cause I would have been yelling my lungs out with them. The amount of charactors that go to Saints games are hilarious from a Saints cow, to a Saints Halo character (Video game), to the Saints boxer and Saints' wise men, to the personalities of the long time season ticket holders that surround you in the 600 levels. I love every minute of it and would eat their $9 Jambalaya til there is no tomorrow but only buying the $8.50 beer if I'm dying of thirst haha.

After getting home and getting chewed out a bit more from the wife, The next day I wanted to treat her to a date. Well that turned into her wanting to go get some new shoes she needed. Then THAT turned into me getting the last minute urge to go bring her car shopping since hers was going to crap and we still owed a good amount on the vehicle. She intentionally wanted the Kia Soul....yes the hamster car (See commercial below) and I did my research and was prepared to go to war with the Salesmen but I knew that Tommy (My best man and long time friend) brought his mom to the dealership across the street of her house and she got them an awesome Brand New Nissan Rogue top notch for a stupid Deal....Like unbelievable. So I called her and asked her if she can help "work her magic" for us and told her the details of what we were looking for etc. Well that completely U-Turned and they brought us two options which were both Brand New that fit our Price Range.

We could choose between a Nissan Altima (which my wife owned a previous older model before) or the new Nissan Versa SL with all kinds of cool additions so we test drove it, liked the size, the specs (Bluetooth, Ipod hookup, 30-38 mpg city/hwy, etc) and Decided on this one. So Tommy's mom who the dealers and her know each other on first name basis with all the deals they have worked with each other whether it be with friends, family, or personally have started their wages. First it was the trade in Value for the junky 2005 Ford Taurus. I was expecting between 1200-1500....nope 2000 and that was on the first offer haha my jaw dropped. Next they showed us that they dropped the sticker price of the car from 18750ish to 16995. I was trying to get this lower but all they could offer was a $150 credit which we put towards a window tint we are going get done at the end of the week. The deal was almost done. I was getting second thoughts and Tommy's Mom smacked me back in reality and told me to relax, I'm getting a really great deal and its better than what we had, just enjoy it! I am so glad she was there to help us and we owe her big now cause we couldn't have got it by ourselves. I have a talent of getting screwed by car dealers but Mr. Skyler Vaughn and Mgr Greg Leblanc at JP Thibodaux were top class and very helpful and friendly throughout the process!!

Proud New owner of the 2012 Nissan Versa SL

I will wrap this up with some New Years Resolutions. Since I have finally come to understanding with bankroll management I believe I can try to work on obtaining a profit this year instead of either breaking even or being slightly in the negatives. Here are a few Life and Poker related Resolutions I have in mind.

1. Find a church and start to Attend Regularly. (God is Important in my life)
2. Continue to stick to what I learned from many great players around the Gulf Coast and extremely grateful they shared their advice with me!
3. Obtain a profit of $5,000 or more for the year!

I think number three is extremely doable and I hope to make it more but I want to start small and work my way up! Going to start that off with the $200k GTD at the Beau Rivage this weekend so hopefully I will bring good news!

-Matt Stroud

Poker vs. Ricky Romero! (Congrats on first WSOP Circuit Ring) s/o to Caufman Talley also!

Ricky Romero

As I often do, I check the results of local tournament circuits and events across the gulf coast. (Mostly Biloxi, MS and along Hwy 90 of Louisiana) Recently I was excited to see a long time poker rival and friend got his first WSOP Circuit Ring at the IP Casino in Biloxi, MS. Ricky Romero (New Iberia, LA) was always a solid poker player with good understanding of the game and even though he wasn't the superstars you would see playing on ESPN or read about in Magazines, he was very patient and picked spots wisely to take advantage of his opponents weaknesses. Romero beat out 160 players in a $345 buy in tournament for a Prize of $12,208 and the Circuit Ring (See picture!)Event 5 Results

I first met Ricky when I was 18. I was going to college at UL and was invited to a Home tournament with a bunch of old guys (ages 40-70) with 2 tables for a $30 buy in. These guys have been friends and playing against each other for a long time and the best part about it was they didn't allow women at their game haha. It was a guys night, talking about guy stuff and not having to worry about offending anyone. They were good people and it was good fun so I started playing there consistently as they had a point system. I never really worried about the points and just wanted to make the money when I played (Didn't play there as often as the others) but Ricky was one of the better players of the group. He was good at getting into his opponents heads and throwing them off their game. I allowed him to do this to me at times but now I don't even pay attention to what he says since I know why he is doing it. Well one day it got down to me and him heads up and every now and then we chop to split first and 2nd place money but I wanted to play him heads up. We were even in chips, but when he asked if I wanted to chop I told him I kinda want to play it out so if I win "I could beat a local poker legend". I said this kind of jokingly but he is a good player and I always love the challenge of beating solid poker players. Romero already had a few cashes from Tournaments at Tunica, MS and also the Seven Clans Tournament at Coushatta in Kinder, LA and also had alot more experience then me but I was still wet behind the ears and like a sponge soaking up as much knowledge as possible (still try to today as the game is always evolving) I go on to beat him in the Heads up match and I think it kind of irked him and that is when our Rivalry began.

Since that day We have always tried to outplay each other at the table no matter where we are at. Whether at a friendly house game, or at the local Casino in the weekly tournaments. We definitely respect each others game but we never back down to a challenge either. We have even shared advice with each other and roomed in Biloxi, MS during a tournament Circuit (when I was being a bum). Ricky is a very humble and friendly guy but he is also very competitive to say the least. I am proud to have gotten to know this man over the years and Since some days he has had my number, and other days I have had his, I am confident that one day, I too will be able to get to the final table of a Circuit event, and one day, I will get that Circuit Ring as well. Seeing Ricky share his story with the regulars yesterday at the weekly tournament at Shorty's Casino was fun to listen to and everyone congratulating him on his victory. He has built up a nice resume in tournament success and hopefully this can lead to even more success, but I can also say that once my Bankroll is in order I hope to be right there with him. All it takes is one big score but it is no easy feat.

Speaking of the Tournament at Shorty's
I went play because I got 10 out of 13 right on the football pick'em contest so I was thinking I had a chance to win some money....well yea I was completely mistaken but In the tournament it started out really slow.
The first table I was at, the best hand I saw was 77 preflop and got no action (thankfully) but there were multiple spots where I bluffed to steal pots to keep me above my starting stack. Even though at one point I got down to 4k (starting stack is 8k) by the First Break and Add on Period, I worked my stack up to 10.7k so after the add on I had 18.7k which was good to do some work with. At the new table I got involved in a hand where I raised in EP with A7 Suited to 1800 at blinds 300 600 (I hate the Wednesday tournament structure btw....way too fast) and get a caller from the SB who usually just plays big cards and doesn't get out of line. the flop comes A Q J and SB checks to me so I continue to bet 2400 and she doesn't take long to call. Then the turn peels off a 7 giving me 2 pair and there is now about 10k in the pot. I think I have the best hand at this point then bet 6k and SB calls again. River is a 5 and she shoves all in. This was an odd play as I put her on something on the flop but I think she would have reraise me sooner with a Set and checked again if she had the straight to let me hang myself....then I look at her and she is just staring at me aggressively. This gave me the feeling that she didn't want a call with the (Act Strong mindset) she was giving me. I made the call and she shows AK for top pair top kicker. she had me covered by 1900 chips and "Couldn't believe I made that call" but I wasn't about to tell her that I picked up the tell on her.

After that I got huge respect from the table and was getting nice hands and picking good spots to work up the CL at my table. But I was also getting tired (For some reason don't play my best after being at work all day) and kind of lost interest and started bleeding off my stack. First made a bad decision to call a super short stack for about 1/10 my stack to try knock out a pretty good opponent. I had 87 and he showed KK and I hit my 7 but nothing more than that. Then an overly aggressive older gentlemen that was wearing multiple women's rings for some odd reason went all in UTG for 12k. I had 37k and put him on a hand like 33-99. I figured QcJc was good enough to make the call and got the others to fold. He turned over 66 and the flop was Ac 10d 9s giving me open ended draw with 2 overs....well I completely miss and more of my chips disappear. At this point I felt like I was just going through the motions and should have like stepped away from the table or stood up and stretched or something to wake my ass up. I guess my head just wasn't into the grind last night. I get 66 in the bb at blinds 1000 2000 with a 200 ante and I have 23k in my stack. It is folded to the SB who raises to 5k (He has 27k in his stack) If I would have really thought about it, Him as well as most others at the table would bet small when they wanted a call and bet big when they didn't. Only 2 people did not do this other than myself at the moment. Well instead I went over the top of him all in since I had 10-11 bbs and figured if he has 2 overs I like this spot. Well he snap called and I knew I was facing an over pair instead. He turns over QQ and there is no 6 to save my life So I collect my things and walk out. I started out playing very well but kind of lost momentum as I felt myself getting fatigued.

I just found out another Poker friend of mine, Mr. Caufman Talley III (Lafayette, LA) just won a Circuit Ring as well in the 6 handed $345 buy in for $14,555!!! Event 7 Results This is Caufman's 2nd Live tournament win and 3rd Final Table. His Live debut was in New Orleans where he played 2 tournaments and final tabled both of them. Only being 21, this kid as well as his poker mentor Blake Barousse have phenomenal poker skills and feared at the table regardless of where they play! This is making me want to be in Biloxi, MS so bad but I must wait until December when I go play the Winter Bayou Classic at Harrahs Casino from Dec. 8 - 18. I am so happy my Acadiana Poker Player buddies are having success in Biloxi and hope they continue to crush!

Caufman Talley III

- Matt Stroud

Business Trip to California and Ragin Cajuns 1st Win of Season

Didn't play much poker other than our last Regular Season Game for the APP League. We played 2-7 NL Single Draw and I can admit that I am not familiar with this game at all. Luckily not many others were either which allowed me to make the FT of 12 (which wasnt too hard to do) and Lock up my $100 for most Final Tables of the season. My Fight for Most Overall Points and Mixed Game Point Leader ($100) were crushed when I lost a good size pot for half my stack when someone out bluffed me (Luckbox Leprechaun...who else lol) Then I tried to bluff as well when I raised and got the blinds calling as well as one other person. First person drew 3, Next person drew 2, I drew 1 and the last person drew 1. The SB and BB both check to me and I also pick up that the player behind me didn't get the card they needed to improve (I had 9 7 4 2 ...discarded a Q and got a 7....shit) I decided to shove for my remaining stack and got 2 quick folds then the BB tanks, then ends up calling and shows 9 7 6 3 2. He said he got the 3 and 2 from the discard....Sick. That knocked me out at 7th and Killed my chances at an extra $100 but my spot in the top 9 is clinched so I wasn't stressing. I Do want to Congratulate Travis Creduer for getting the mixed games point leader bonus and Overall Points bonus for $200 to go along with whatever he wins in the Championship FreeRoll, Enjoyed the competition with you all year boss. Also Congrats to LuckBox Leprechaun aka Jimmy Rogers for earning the Most Cashes Bonus $100. Me and Travis had more cashes but since we already won a category he was the runner up as he cashed 6 times out of 18 games and all 6 cashes he finished either 1st or 2nd which is very impressive!

Going to Torrance, California Early Monday and I have to say I'm really excited as I have never been out that way (suburb of Los Angeles). I'm going on Business to the NavCom Technology headquarters where they manufacture the DGPS systems that I work with. I might beg my supervisor to make a 30 min trip to either the Bicycle Casino or The Commerce Casino (Heard that place is awesome) but idk if he will be down to go. I know our hotel that we're staying in will be Awesome and hopefully we will do SOMETHING entertaining because I'm pretty sure he's never been out that way either. But I am bringing my laptop and if I do happen to be lucky enough to go play at the Commerce I will definitely write about it and share my experience with y'all as I have heard there is alot of cash to be won as well as huge selection of games.

When I get home I have decided to host a Heads Up Tournament with 24 people. If I fill up, First will win $600, 2nd $300, 3rd $200 and 4th $100. I think I'll be able to get a good turnout and Hoping for some good competition but I also plan on playing pretty good as this as many don't have much heads up experience that plan on making it. As long as I can avoid a retarded bad beat or 2 I should be able to at least cash this tournament. But I am shooting for the win and adding the money to my tiny bank account.

Fantasy Football finally got under way and I am getting destroyed in one of my leagues but in the other 2 I am holding my own pretty well. I am a bit disappointed that Arian Foster couldn't start week 1 but Cedric Benson was a nice back up, so I can't complain too much.

Defense + Rain = Winning

UL's best kept defensive Secret
#5 Bill "Dwight" Bentley

I know I live in Louisiana but I am NOT an LSU fan. I am actually a University of Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns fan. I am proud to say that they got their first win of the season yesterday vs. Kent St. Golden Flashes (Whatever the hell a golden flash is.....makes me think of the wrestler Gold Dust having his way with a prostitute.....bad images in my brain, make it stop!) Well for the most part both offenses played horrible last night and the disgusting weather did not help at all but the Cajuns had the lead the whole game and never looked back. At one point there was an hour long rain delay due to lightening and when the game finally got started again the momentum that the Cajuns once had was gone.Well The defense continued to Dominate (Bill Bentley #5 and Derrick Dean #90 had to have hurt 2 players each) and I have to say it was the most impressive Defensive performance I have seen from UL in a long time. Next week Sept. 17th will be their first home game and they are hosting Nicholls St. Colonels which is a FCS school in Thibodaux, LA and I am expecting a Huge crowd. Can't wait to Tailgate as well!! Bringing the Father in law to open his eyes to Cajun Country and hopefully convert him from being a LSWhoo? Tiger fan.

God Bless the American People and our ability to unite through hardship!
Matt Stroud

APP update. Cash game profit

Me don't think me's ahead, but me has a chance!

Last night was the Last regular season NL Holdem game. I thought I played pretty well and won some decent pots. But just got in a frame of the tournament where I went completely card dead. To start the tournament, I worked my stack to 43k, (start with 15k) and after folding ALOT and losing a couple decent sized pots I was back down to 21.5k with 10 players left. The blinds and antes were slowly chipping at my stack and I was getting nothing to play with, nothing to steal with, and with the players at the table I had to pick my spots cause I had too wide range players directly to my Left. I hated this but its something you have to deal with in poker. My last hand of the tourney the player, directly to my left (I will call him "Luckbox Leprechaun" in this blog) had flat called my preflop raised to 4500 with blinds at 1000 2000 and a 500 ante. We were both in Mid late position and I was first to act. There is 12500 in the pot and flop falls 9 6 3 with one heart. I have Jc10c and we both check to the turn. Turn gives a 8h and I put him on a range of just over cards and wasn't really worried about the suits so I shoved with my open ended draw. I was thinking he had anywhere between AK - KQos and A10 - Q10 suited. My bet was17000 into a pot of 12500 which NORMALLY people would fold this if they had an avg stack of 35-45k. But Luckbox Leprechaun here was CL and the call was about 1/6 of his stack. What makes matters worse is I made the right read.....to an extent....as he says, "You see Matt here's my dilemma" and he turns over KhQh as he debates the call (this is fine in my house as I don't kill the hand like in a casino). I see his hand in my peripherals but make no movement with my body. But once I saw how big his draw was I knew this player was never laying it down and I was screwed. Pretty much just waiting for him to call. I was asking myself....wtf couldn't it have been KQos damn it haha. He calls and the Rainbow river to the pot of gold splashed an A of hearts to destroy what dreams I had of sucking out one of my 10 outs I had that were none heart. Oh well dealt to the players up to 3 handed where they made a deal to split the money and we began a cash game.

I pronounced that it was going to be .25 .50 half no limit holdem half pot limit omaha so I could get some practice for the Tournament in Biloxi.Only one player was kind of annoyed about this so we said she can sit out when Omaha came around but she decided to just go ahead and play (way to be a trooper!) She really
did not play that bad from what I thought and got mixed up in a couple tough hands, Especially for someone who just learned the game but still a good effort on her part (Luckbox Leprechaun's sister, Leprechaunette)

If Leprechaunette looked this good, I'm sure my wife wouldn't have allowed her into our house...sigh

Anyway, I had a decent stance on my Table. Solid TAG player directly to my left, Super LAG after him, Luckbox Leprechaun and Leprechaunette then Semi LAG directly to my right. We started out 7 handed and eventually at the wee hours of the morning (I'm at work on only 2 hours of sleep sheesh) ended the game at 4 handed. I had some very interesting pots and probably one of the biggest pots of the night in Omaha, but felt I played very well in both NL Holdem and PL Omaha tonight. If you recall last time I played a mediocre game in Holdem but I found I just had a perfect strategy against the Super LAG that I was letting him take control of the pot when I had monsters and just really only Reraising when the pot was substantial. There was one No Limit hand that I called a raise with 10h 7h against Super Lag and another opponent and flop fell 10c 7d 4h. I was OOP and checked, LAG Player bets other player calls and I call. turn is the Qh and I check again and Lag player bets about 1/4 the pot. Other player folds and I try to think of how much I could get out of him without scaring him away so I raise to $24 into a $36 pot and he has about $53 left I have him covered. He shoves all in and I instantly call with the flush draw and 2 pair. He asks if I'd like to run it once or twice (which kind of confused me, but I said twice just in case something stupid happened even though I was pretty confident I was ahead) I made the flush on the First series and the Full House on the second series to scoop the whole pot.

There were 3 big Omaha hands that I got involved in. One where I flopped an open ended straight draw and 2nd nut flush draw and turned the 2nd nut flush. The pot on the flop was already about 75-80 bucks (In .25 - .50!!!) and before I could even act, LuckBox Leprechaun shoves all in for just under $40 bucks. I knew he had the Nut flush...I hated that I knew he had the Nut Flush....and hated that I was still enticed to call (I had about 180 in my stack at the time) Calling wouldn't necessarily hurt me but This was a hand where I knew in my gut and my mind I was right but just hated the fact that it was a cooler and donated 38.75 to see it. ....damn rainbows and pots of gold. ;)

The other big hand that I lost, Super LAG caught a 1 outer on the turn where the flop was 9 9 6, I was holding 9 J Q K single suited, Leprechaunette had flopped the full house with 66 and Super Lag had a flush draw JJ A 8 (yea idk). Turn of course is the J giving Super Lag the biggest full house of the 3 of us and I feel like we were chopping when he bet, I just couldn't put him on that....probably for the fact that it was the ONLY card in the deck he could have hit to win the pot and BINGO he got it. He lost a decent sized pot a little bit earlier (See the 10 7 suited hand above) so I didn't give him too much shit for sucking out haha.
I also Later get revenge on the 2nd to last hand of the night in NL Holdem where I flop top 2 with K 9 and turn the 9 for the full house and he says he had AA. I managed to squeeze about 50 in that hand but I think he was trying to Catch up as fast as he could. I'm sure if he would have been thinking clearly and not about the past money lost, he could have gotten away from the hand but hey...to the winner goes the spoils?

The Final Big hand of Omaha was a 3 way pot and I have Ad 8d 9s 5h and there was a raise pre-flop to 2.00 with me and 2 other callers. 8.75 in the pot. The flop comes 7d 3d 2c and I have the Nut flush draw with an inside straight draw. It is checked to Solid TAG to my Left who bets 7.50 and Leprechaunette calls As well as myself. Turn is the 10c and there is about 31.50 in the pot. Leprechaunette checks to me and I just got an open ended straight draw to add to my plethora of outs. I am loving this but don't really want to check here and him just shout "Pot" at me again and have to draw making a call for about 1/3 of my stack (have 75ish in my stack he has 58ish) I decide to bet $23.00 and Solid TAG goes in the tank, then finally announces Allin for 36.25 over my bet for 59.25 total. Leprechaunette grumbles and mumbles then finally muck and I am just trying to figure out how the hell I can get away from this or if he could cancel out any of my outs. I put him on a set of 7s for sure and wanted to get the flush draws away but I am pretty sure there is no way he puts me on the straight draws with it. Especially the added draws on the turn. I say Call and he asks Once or twice and I say its pretty much up to you and he says he's cool with twice so we roll the river twice. He shows 4c 3c 3s 6s with a set of 3s and an inside straight draw with the 5. All of my possible outs except the 2d and 10d are good giving me 20 good outs to win this hand! The first river dealt gives me the flush. The next river dealt is a 6 giving me the straight and it propels me to $240 (Unfortunately the cooler hand with King high flush vs. Ace high flush was about 4 revolutions after this but still managed a nice profit)

How I felt when I won that big Omaha pot

I ended up being in the game for $95 and cashing out $220. I tipped the dealer $20 for dealing for us the whole time. I actually did run well for the cash game having a bit of a horseshoe up my ass as well but there were some great plays that I made to maximize my profits and only pulled off a couple bluffs for minimal sized pots. Overall I was happy with my play for the night and the added funds will go nicely for my Biloxi Trip. Hope you enjoyed the read.

Good Luck at the tables.
Matt Stroud

Weekend Poker rundown

The Usual suspects of APP

Friday night was our APP league game. 2nd to last NL holdem and 3rd to last game of the season for points. The Championship Freeroll for the top 9 players is towards the end of September and there is a very close race from the players that are in the 6-13 spots. It will be a very exciting last 2 games and I also bought the Trophy which isnt huge but I really like it and is a great conversation piece. Last year I got a plaque but decided to go with the trophy for this year because I think they just look better overall and was about the same price for what I thought was a better product. As far as my play friday night I was not focused at all and pretty much going through the motions. I was tired from work, was still in rush mode for setting up the game, and The Saints first preseason game was on so I was kinda peeping my eyes on that as well. I made a horrible read on an opponent (well I put him on mid PP and was right about that, just not about the strength from the flop) I was holding Q 9 suited in late position and flop came 9 6 2. The bb who is a pretty LAG player bets into the pot and middle pos opponent reraised. I put the mid opp on PP 88 77 etc. and the bb player on straight draw. So thinking Im ahead I shove all in and bb folds. Middle Pos opponent goes in the tank, says something about 36% for a flush draw then flips over top set and calls. I was like wow, didnt put you on that at all and was wondering why he didnt insta-call lol.


Well we set up a cash game 0.25 0.50 NL holdem, I wanted to do half n half but 2 players declined. Everyone bought in for 30-40 and the grind began. I Won a decent pot, then picked a spot where I had middle pair and open ended straight draw. I bet it hard when the straight card came and almost took down the pot but someone just called a 6x bet pre-flop with 6 5 off and turned the low end of the straight. He was about to fold thinking I had the High end but ended up calling and took a hefty chunk of my chips. That's how most of the night went for me. Either picked bad spots and lost pots, won some pots with decent hands, then busted when people caught on me etc.

One hand a player considered was a "Bad play by both players" which was my last hand of the night I was just exhausted, annoyed and overall done after this. I straddled for $1 with $20 behind and the LAG player was in the bb for .50 and he was in the hole for the game but had about $65-70. there were 3 or 4 limpers and LAG bb raises to 5.25. There is 9.25-10.00 in the pot and I have 98 off. I know he is raising with a speculative hand here and figured I can get him off of it by coming over the top. but I didn't have enough to raise a portion of my stack so it was either all in or fold. I opted to go all in for 21.00 total and everyone folded and LAG player goes in the tank. Then a player out of the hand says "OK 2 of you HAVE to put each other on a hand first" I should have just stayed quiet not saying anything but like a dumb ass I chose to play along and put him on KQ or something to that range (A10, KJ, A9s) Since I said that he put me on 88 and gave some goofy logic saying "well I'm behind, I'm down some money and playing catch up, its virtually a coin-flip so I call"...lol
Flop comes out 9s 6d 5h and I have the lead but he still has 2 overs as he shows As 10s and I say give me the 7 just to cushion my lead more.
Turn is the 6s giving him more outs with the flush draw. And I ask again, Give me the damn 7....
River 8s giving me 2 pair but him the flush...and that's how I roll (Rolls eyes)

I just kinda laughed got up, LAG goes into justifying his play and saying it wasn't a bad call, I say yes it was, then Superstar says Y'all both made bad plays and the discussion ensued how I disagreed. You can base an argument on strategy, but when you incorporate results with strategy your logic is flawed. The thing I messed up on was playing into the game by putting him on a range when I should have just sat quietly and waited for him to act. But it wasn't a bad play at all in my opinion.

The next night we played Half NL holdem Half PL Omaha and my friends house in Carencro.
It was 4 of us from last night and 3 new faces I haven't played before. I was spot on with my reads in Omaha but early on picked a couple bad spots in Holdem, made some adjustments and played solid poker after that. I ended up profiting $35 for the night as I let someone borrow $20 of my stack and also cashed out $100. I was in the game for $85 and thought I played pretty well for the most part. I had an interesting Omaha hand Where the friend that was hosting was to my direct right all night and raised preflop to 1.50 I called along with 2 others making it 6 in the pot. flop came 989 and I told him I am only calling cause I like half my hand. Q9 suited 7 2 off, I was in the bb for .50 and needed to call 1.00 more into a pot that was already 3.00 so i figured why not. When I saw the flop i liked what I saw and they did have a possible flush draw as well so he bet 3.00 into a 6.00 pot and I raised pot immediately to get everyone else off their hand. He went into the tank for about 2 minutes then said Pot to me. I start to think about it and the Trip 9s is all I have, it was very possible for him to have A high flush draw with his trips or even flopped a boat with 88 and just didn't like it as I would have to call about 25-30 so i made the lay down and he showed 98 for the boat.

There was another hand where I had A4A8 double suited and hit the flop pretty hard with an inside straight draw and flush draw and guy who went all in asked to go once or twice, so I initially put him on flush draw and said once. He shows TOP SET 99 with no redraw so I need to hit my flush or one of the last 2 aces in the deck. I missed the turn. Then BOINK the Ace on the river!! I also made an interesting play against a player who had AA and not much of a redraw on a 10 4 7 board I was holding a back door flush draw and inside straight draw with top pair. We opted to run it twice as he was ahead statistically but slightly. First I hit the 10 on the turn for trips to take the pot. The next one I hit my runner runner flush! It was gross.

I have to say the best hand of the night goes to Mr.LAG though Beau Brewer. He made a spectacular play on my friend who was hosting in Texas Holdem with a J 8 6 board. There was a raise preflop by Beau and host called. Beau checked on the flop and host bet 2.75 into $4 pot Beau raised to $6. The host went in the tank then 3bet to $20 (when he does this I expect him to win the pot almost 80% of the time if not more because he plays a very solid game). Beau must have had either picked up a tell or had a dead on read on his opponent because without even thinking he announce all in and had the host well covered. I believe the host had about $40-50 behind and Beau had $80-100 after the $20 was in the pot. I was thinking to myself this guy has a monster to snap shove like this and I guess the host was thinking the same thing as he folded but didn't show (I put him on top pair, maybe KJ or AJ but not strong enough to feel confident calling all in). Then Beau turns over 9 8 off for 2nd pair on the biggest bluff of the night!

Pretty much my face after seeing the 9 8 off with a 4bet shove all in

I was literally left speechless after this as it was just a top of the line play and we were playing .25 .50 haha. We kept on giving him shit like where the hell did that come from etc., but some nights He is dead on and playing spectacular poker maximizing his profits consistently while other nights he is completely off his game and struggling to keep a composed head. Once this guy becomes more consistent though, he will definitely be a force to be reckoned with. He finished the game up $240 and I profited a small amount but was down the previous night so it felt like I broke even. the host also broke even for the night as most of the other players all ended up in the negatives.  I plan on playing half n half at least once or twice before I go to Biloxi, MS for the GCPC but so far I am really confident in my Omaha game. I just have to make sure I play solid poker and not get involved in pots I don't need to be involved in for holdem.

That was my weekend in a nutshell, hope you enjoyed the read.

Good Luck,
Matt Stroud

Adding cushion to the Lead!

Last night we played 7 card Stud and had 17 players. It was a small buyin, but most of the players are just trying to accumulate points to make it into the Final 9. I'm playing for the bonus money as I am pretty much set for the Final 9 but can get $200 extra if I stay on top the leaderboards. The structure was pretty tough because it wasn't really fast paced, but you started with 50 big bets and if you played too many hands and didn't win many, chances are you were going to get eliminated quickly. So being selective is very important. I was happy with my play pretty much the whole night picking spots to be aggressive and though its not my best game I was familiar with it and was confident. That Confidence turned into a second place finish as we did a chip count chop at the end and the CL had a 3:1 chip lead advantage on me knocking out 3rd and 4th place simultaneously.

I have to give props to my boy Mike Silvas for pretty much Folding his way to the money as he was dealt shit cards all night but stayed patient enough to get 4th as the top 5 got paid. This poor guy seemed to have had to bring in almost every hand, it was sick. There was a streak where he posted the bring-in atleast 6 or 7 times in a row. As bad as I felt for him, it was pretty freaking funny. Towards the end of the tourney I was waking up with monsters in my bring-in, with Buried pairs, 3 card flushes and 3 card straights. Like I said before, I was feeling confident but then the words cash games was fluttering in the air and I wanted to jump in the action rather than fight for an Extra $20 for first. So I took $100 and the winner won $120 in a Chip Count Chop and we started a 7 handed .25 .50 cash game.

There were three guys already playing around and one guy just crushed the other two and as the new cash game started he was sitting with about $60-70 while everyone else bought in for $20-35. I had the 3 crazies to my right and the 3 solid Tight players to my left so I liked my spot at the table. It was also a bunch of my league players so we all pretty much have ideas of how we play so it makes it an even better game. The guy with $60-70 was up to his normal shit, 3betting, shoving on dry boards, He is a pretty good cash game player but has a wide open range so its really hard to place him on a hand, its either monster or air. well tonight it was air apparently as the Tilt monster got a hold of him after a couple of beats and he just couldn't catch up for the rest of the night. I made a hero call against the guy that I chopped heads up with and of course get rewarded by him catching one of his 6 outs on the turn.

I was in mid late position with 6c 5c and player in early position raised to 1.50 got a caller then a re-raise to $4 I am next to act and call knowing there will be atleast 2 more callers and I have $21 left behind. If I hit my hand it is well disguised and I can win a huge pot. Well the Button calls and the original Raiser and caller also call the $4 and there is $20 in the pot. Flop comes 6s 3d 3h and I am pretty sure I'm the only person to connect on that flop and the action is checked to the 3bettor who goes all in and has almost everyone covered. He has been playing pretty crazy loose and saying how he wanted to go and showing loose hands after scooping pots so I don't put him on much, but also give the possibility for 77-1010. But then he starts talking. Almost too much...Like he didn't want anyone to call. So then I started feeling more confident in my hand again. I figured he has 2 overs at best and just trying to take the pot down so if I hold I can win this knowing no one else will call as they were showing no interest and getting ready to fold their hands or not paying much attention to his actions. (I use alot of psychology in my reads and it usually helps. There is so much information a person's body gives off it's ridiculous) I call and show my hand and the villain flips over Ah Js. Before I can even Congratulate myself on making a good call, I burn then Turn, and the Jh appears to laugh at my face and stack me.

When I go back to watch them play I see The original villain has already lost the chips that I gave to him and working on losing the rest. I'm thinking to myself, "Man why did I have to lose that pot lol." It also made me want to jump back into the game because the money was flying and the action was good. I scrapped up another $20 and said OK last one. I started out pretty good winning a couple small pots then bluff off a portion of my stack when I just knew I messed up against an opponent that also makes good reads. I was chewing gum and while I was playing, I was chewing kind of fast and talking being relaxed, but in this hand I felt my jaw chewing a little bit slower and I think he picked up on this since I barreled 3 times for him to just smooth call with top pair weak kicker. It was my mistake and I don't normally chew gum but it was delicious and my breath was reeking so I had to freshen it up a bit heh. Well a few hands later I get locked up in a pot against the same player who made a good read on me. With the standard raise at about 3-4x preflop, he bets out 7x, for some reason this just yelled small pocket pair to me and he didn't want to play it. I look down at 10 8 suited and wanted to represent a bigger hand. I have $14 left and opt to shove all in. Everyone folds to him and he is the type of player to know he is behind but call to suck out and it is amazing how often this happens. Well he calls and shows 4 4 so my 10 8 suited is in good shape to draw out. Another player utters, "I had 10 9" and the flop falls J 10 9....Thank GOD! I hate when people say they have some of my outs but oh well BOOOOOM thanks for folding haha. the 4s don't catch up and it bumps me back up. I go on to make a small $25 profit in this game as the 5 players that stayed in the early AM all cashed out a profit which doesn't happen too often.

It was a good night of poker, KK AA and other big hands all held up leaving very little room for complaint. Hopefully I can keep this up and keep my confidence strong going into Biloxi, MS because I am due for a huge score!

Matt Stroud