I have not played a hand of poker since the last post, and missed the last five weeks of the WSOP, and the Bellagio tournament as well. Not that I play tournaments, I don’t, but the cash games were very pleasant for the first few weeks, and I had high hopes for the rest.

Next public appearance (meaning appearing in public) will be BARGE, where I will defend my championship in the Tournament of Champions format tournament (yes, I know that contradicts the last paragraph, but I do play BARGE tournaments - too much fun not to). I usually play up to eight events, but this year I am signed up for two: THE TOC and of course the NLHE big event. It is too late to sign up, so I will not put in my annual pitch for how great BARGE is.

I also missed a column during that time, so there will be a Card Player without my column in it. I know you all look for me first :), so I’m sorry in advance for the disappointment.

Speaking of Card Player, congratulations to Jeff Shulman for making the “November 9.” Last year I had no rooting interest in the outcome, and this year I do. I prefer it this way.

The third has not yet aired. It will be on houseofcardsradio.com Monday June 22. The interviewer, Ashley Adams, asked very interesting questions about professional poker. Please take the time to listen.

I had hoped to do the final table of the $10K Limit Hold’em Championship for ESPN360, airing live on June 17. Instead, they got Daniel Negraneau. I expect I will be doing the ESPN360 webcast on June 26, which will be the final table of the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em event. This is the first time the WSOP has alternated rounds of limit and no limit hold’em, and the contrasts should be interesting.

In conjunction with this was yet another charity tournament, this time for pokergives.com, which this year will provide funding for Special Olympics, Paralyzed Veterans, and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. I made the final table for tiny cash, but enjoyed the event.

Let’s see. The oldest news is that played in the Andre Agassi Charity event at the Red Rock resort and casino. He was not there as far as I could see, not, even more disappointing, was Steffi. I went pretty far, but not at the final table.

I had serious problems with this event, as, because of the number of entrants, they decided to play it in two shifts. So we started at 11 AM, and just before 1 PM they announced that this was the last hand until the next shift played and we were to come back at 5 PM.I did not like this, as I have limited stamina, and entered expecting to play until it was finished. I had 4 hours to kill, and finally figured out to go to the lovely spa and get a massage.

The two starts was worse for those players who showed up expecting to see the poker celebrities that were advertised. Since half of them had a 2 PM start time, the early players did not get to see them, and the late players did not get to meet the ones who started early and busted out.

Yes, I understand it was a good cause, but they need to work out a better structure in the future.

I had gone so long after sitting down without playing any hands at all that people were starting to comment.  I got nothing to play, but I joked about it with them.  then I got a hand to play:  Ah Qd under the gun.  Not great, but playable.  I open-raised, and the nice guy on the button called.

Flop was A-K-9 with two diamonds.  I bet and he called.  The turn was a king, which did not thrill me, but as I was getting ready to be, the opponent ostentatiously checked on the button.  This had no effect on me, as i was always planning to bet, so his “check” did not influence me.  I bet, and he raised.

Can I have the best hand?  If he had not shot the checking out of turn angle,  might conjure up some fancy hands for him, but his desperation to have me bet convinced me I was drawing very thin.  i mucked.

Yes, I know I could be the victim of some deep psychological triple cross, but the overwhelming chance was the he hit a king and was afraid I would check and fold, so he did the check thing.

When I started playing hold’em in the Dark Ages, I played In Garden City, a cardroom in San Jose, CA which had a house rule, “Checking out of turn bars aggressive action.”  This means if you check out of turn and everyone checks to you, you must check, and if you check out of turn and someone bets into you, you can fold or call but you cannot raise.  I always liked the rule, but soon found out is not very common in other cardrooms.  Oh, well.

I do not mind losing, but I really despise angle-shooters.  Seeking “revenge” by trying to target a specific player is a foolish game, and I did not do this.  I was delighted however to see that karma took over and this fellow lost and lost after that, becoming increasingly annoyed.  Eventually he lost his last all-in (my K-Q suited beating is A-9), and he stomped away. 

This is not a cautionary tale, unfortunately.  He was just as likely to win as lose.  But there really is no place in out game for angle-shooters.  Just play.  If you are good enough, you will win anyway. 

I lost my chips just before the rebuy/add-on period expired.  I took a rebuy and add-on and had $3K in chips, well below most at my table.  Blinds were $$100-$200, so I was not desperately short stacked. 

I picked up Jh 10h in early position and limped in, which was not an uncommon action at my table.  We ended up with six players at $200 each.  Flop was Kd Qh Js.  Pair and a straight draw, but a scary board.  I checked, as did everyone else.  Turn was 5h, giving me a flush draw to go with my pair and straight draw. 

I bet $1K (one-third of my stack) and the next player went all-in.  All fold to me.  I cannot have the best hand. and I’m getting only 2.5:1.  But I have a lot of outs against most holdings.  I called and see A-10 with no hearts.  No help on the river (I was down to 11 outs), and I was done.

I will be there, as will dozens of actually famous players. 

Our cat, Princess Yulee, came from that shelter, which is a no kill shelter, and thus always has lots of animals, some of which are unadoptable and thus will live their lives there. 

If you in Las Vegas and available, come and play.  I will do a report next week.  Last time I got to the semi-final table, where I foolishly took pocket tens up against 10-9 suited. 

Oh, final table gets prizes.  Winner gets a WSOP main event $10K entry and a lovely Curtis and Co. watch.    

More or less recovered, I have started playing again.   I had one weak session in which I got both emotional and instinctive, neither of which is very good for my long term prospects.  I rededicated myself to focus, patience, and aggression, which are my primary edges against many of the other players at my table.  Since then, things have gone quite well.  Sometimes, you have to go back to basics.

When I get tired, which I do fairly easily, I get more patient, but lose a bit of focus and a great deal of aggression.  I get passive, which costs me bets and pots.  Here is an example of my weak play late (for me) in a session:

On the button, I open-raise with 9d 8d.  The small blind, an experience regular who plays well but thinks he plays a lot better than that three-bets.  This is a standard raise for an experienced player in reacting to a steal raise .   Almost any hand he decides to play he will three-bet.

 The big blind folds and I call, which I do most of the time, though I occasionally reraise for variation.  We see a flop of 7-6-2, which gives me an open end straight draw and two overcards to the board. 

Opponent naturally bets.  I call.  Turn is a king.  he bets, I call.  River is a king.  He checks, I check.  He shows down A-8, which of course wins.  I rack up and head for home.

Why? I try to play at some level of efficiency, and when I sense it slipping in an area that I cannot readily fix, I leave.

There is a lesson here.  Monitor your game constantly.  Understand if you are making mistakes what category they fall in.  Some “errors” are pretty much unavoidable.  Others can be fixed during the session by paying more attention, or reminding yourslef about specific things (this guy is dangerous.  I will not play any sort of marginal hand against him.)  Some, like my passive play when tired, cannot be fixed.  I cannot will myself to be less tired, and trying to be more aggressive without recognizing specific situations would be equally dangerous.  There is always another game tomorrow…at least for me.

Betty the wife had her own wonderful news recently.  About 15 months ago, she had open heart surgery, during which her phrenic nerve was damaged.  This resulted in a paralyzed left diaphragm, and her left lung stopped functioning.

Yes, I know that did not sound like good news.  The good part was that after 15 months, it suddenly resumed functioning, and she can now breath again.  I don’t usually dwell on our hospitalizations and problems, but this should give hope if anyone who reads this has or ever experiences the same problem (about 2% of open heart patients do).

We are now embarking on another Card Player poker cruise.  This one goes from Shanghai to Singapore.  Very exotic, and we are excitedly looking forward to it.  I may post something from time to time here.

Limit games at Bellagio are still going OK, but recently I have known the names and styles of every player.   Granted this is a slow period in the midst of a general slowdown for Las Vegas and America, so things should turn around for all.  In the meantime, I have had to call on skills I needed eight to 12 years ago, when many pots were raise-it-and-take it.

Auto-betting the turn has been happening for some time, and so far I seen few players adjusting to it.  Like all things poker, when they start doing something, you need to react.

Herewith some suggestions for adjustments:

• Stop check-raising the flop.
• Check-raise the turn a lot more, even light.
• Donk bet the river.

Stop check-raising the flop.  The primary reason to check-raise the flop (heads up) is to get your bets in with the best hand and avoid giving free cards.  The fear is that if you call the flop, the opponent will check the turn behind you.  Well, he won’t.  Not anymore.  He will bet.  He always does (some specific tough players excepted).  So why check-raise the flop?  Just wait, he will bet even if he is on a draw and needs a free card.  You may as well collect the extra big bet or two.

Check-raise the turn a lot more, even light.  We have seen that if you get a good flop, you should wait for the turn to check-raise more often.  But how about a mediocre flop?  Generally this was check and call territory, because the bettor normally had a good hand for his continued betting.  Even with a good hand, opponents will have to respect your check-raise.  This appears to cost money when you are beat, but not if you plan to check the river with your medium hands (and occasional powerful ones).  If you have check-raised and been called and you check the river,  most opponents will only bet with very good hands, fearing the strength you have shown.  Thus, if they bet and you only have a marginal hand, you can generally safely fold.  Of course, this is also opponent dependent, but it is fairly reliable.  To keep from being exploited, you must also be ready to check some excellent holdings and check-raise again on the river.

Donk bet the river.   Many opponents figure if they bet the turn and you call, they can always check the river behind you.  If you do call the turn, consider betting the river from out of position (donk bet).  Perhaps you do not like doing this for fear you will raised, and of course sometimes you will be,  but often you will pick up a crying call you could not get any other way.  And sometimes, he will fold, allowing you to not expose your hand.

OK, that’s it for now.  An upcoming column will explore this concept a bit more thoroughly, but I wanted to give you loyal website viewers a sneak preview.