# \*BOOM Goes the Dynamite - SDMB Pokertropolis First Quarter, 2006

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 5, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635 "2006-01-05T21:07:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 15

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/281 "2006-03-31T20:49:09Z")

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**Aholibah** - how the hell can you finish 16th against us knuckleheads yet do so well elsewhere? Obviously, success here is no measure of actual poker skill…

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**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/282 "2006-03-31T20:49:24Z")

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> [@Gangster Octopus](#):
>
> Luckily your poker playing is better than your math skills.

Yeah, 66.3 to 69, 2.7 points. So I rounded up to 3 🙂

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/283 "2006-04-01T00:46:19Z")

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> [@Oslo Ostragoth](#):
>
> **Aholibah** - how the hell can you finish 16th against us knuckleheads yet do so well elsewhere? Obviously, success here is no measure of actual poker skill…

**Lack of** success, dammit.

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**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/284 "2006-04-01T00:49:01Z")

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I don’t know about that. Considering who won the 1st Q, I’d say the first statement was closer 🙂

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/285 "2006-04-01T00:53:39Z")

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> [@Dag Otto](#):
>
> Damn, I missed this. Sure, post the hands.
> 
> BTW, beware tonight. I found out I play better sober.

A short hand history of 19 hands is [here](http://s60.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0FDTE7VN35UR33DIIRQZOAL6CY). Down $2 in about 20 minutes. Flame away. Thanks for the interest.

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**Author:** ![Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook_of_the_North_Shore)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/286 "2006-04-01T16:32:46Z")

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Whats there to flame? You had a whole bunch of unplayable hands, and correctly folded most of them. The only possible quibble is the one hand where you flopped the open ended straight. The betting pattern you set pretty much screamed out busted straight, so the guy probably put you on the hand you had. But thats a minor quibble really, since you have to take risks sometimes.

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/287 "2006-04-01T17:28:59Z")

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Could I have played **maindefer** better? He was obviously using position and chip strength to steal pots.

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**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/288 "2006-04-05T15:38:01Z")

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How’s this for a night of poker playing:

Get in on a 6 player $12 sit-n-go NL game. First hand I am first to act before the flop. Pair of 8’s. I bet $40, which is a raise of 3x the BB and I get two callers. The flop comes A58 rainbow. I bet the pot, get a fold a raise of double my bet . There’s only one hand that currently beats mine, and I have a set, so I raise all-in, figuring that he probably has either a5 or AK/Q, I go all-in and get called. Flip the cards and what is the one hand that beats me at that point? You guessed it and he has it, AA. So I am knocked out in the first hand.

OK, so that was bad luck, I don’t really know how I could have played it different, maybe a bigger bet before the flop?

So I am a bit on tilt, anddecide to go to a cheap-o .05/.10 NL ring game for $10. Out of the gat eI get 33 in early position but decide to fold it after a raise and a re-raise. Next hand I get 66, still in early position. I hope to see a cheap flop. Since I know I am still a bit steaming I check myself and just limp in. Flop comes QQ6, full house for me. I bet about half the pot, get a couple of folds and then a raise. It folds around to me and I re-raise $3, he re-raises to $5. Now there are two hands that beat me at this point, both pretty unlikely, Q6 and QQ. But even if I put him on that, whcih I don’t, I put him AQ, how can I get away from a full house. So I go all-in and he calls. AQ, just as I thought. But, since all bad beat stories are so predictible (and kind of lame), you know what is coming. Not on the river, but on the turn, an A. And I lose all the money I came to the table with.

Three hand, minus $26 and I don’t know what I could have done differently.

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**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/289 "2006-04-05T15:51:52Z")

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Whoops, that’s $23 (the $12 sit-n-go had a $1 buy-in).

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**Author:** ![Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook_of_the_North_Shore)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/290 "2006-04-05T17:33:31Z")

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You couldn’t have done anything differently. When they’ve got the cooler, they’ve got the cooler. You just tip your hat and walk away. Or you pull a Phil Helmuth and throw a hissy fit, but I prefer the first option.

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/291 "2006-04-06T00:30:31Z")

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> [@Gangster Octopus](#):
>
> How’s this for a night of poker playing:
> 
> Get in on a 6 player $12 sit-n-go NL game. First hand I am first to act before the flop. Pair of 8’s. I bet $40, which is a raise of 3x the BB and I get two callers. The flop comes A58 rainbow. I bet the pot, get a fold a raise of double my bet . There’s only one hand that currently beats mine, and I have a set, so I raise all-in, figuring that he probably has either a5 or AK/Q, I go all-in and get called. Flip the cards and what is the one hand that beats me at that point? You guessed it and he has it, AA. So I am knocked out in the first hand.
> 
> OK, so that was bad luck, I don’t really know how I could have played it different, maybe a bigger bet before the flop?

To intimidate AA? Wouldn’t work on anyone, I think. Just rotten luck. I suppose going all-in in the 1st hand of a SnG is a bit aggressive.

(Just to see if I follow this: It was a 5/10 NL? So the pot was 135 pre-flop? Then bets of 135 and 270? And you raise all-in - something like 1200?)

> [@](#):
>
> So I am a bit on tilt, anddecide to go to a cheap-o .05/.10 NL ring game for $10. Out of the gat eI get 33 in early position but decide to fold it after a raise and a re-raise.

Seems reasonable to me.

> [@](#):
>
> Next hand I get 66, still in early position. I hope to see a cheap flop. Since I know I am still a bit steaming I check myself and just limp in. Flop comes QQ6, full house for me. I bet about half the pot, get a couple of folds and then a raise. It folds around to me and I re-raise $3, he re-raises to $5. Now there are two hands that beat me at this point, both pretty unlikely, Q6 and QQ. But even if I put him on that, whcih I don’t, I put him AQ, how can I get away from a full house. So I go all-in and he calls. AQ, just as I thought. But, since all bad beat stories are so predictible (and kind of lame), you know what is coming. Not on the river, but on the turn, an A. And I lose all the money I came to the table with.
> 
> Three hand, minus $26 and I don’t know what I could have done differently.

3rd hand: I had a similarly painful experience. AK, flop comes AKK, I shovel money as fast as I can. Other guy had AA. So don’t ask me how to play good cards any differently. If there is a lesson to be learned, I need to learn it too.

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/292 "2006-04-06T00:34:31Z")

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Actually, **GO** , I thought of something constructive. What was the quote from Sherlock Holmes? Something about eliminate the impossible, and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. You didn’t have the absolute nuts, and your opponent could have, no matter how unlikely. I guess it’s up to the individual player how to proceed in those circumstances.

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/293 "2006-04-06T00:41:34Z")

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Actually, **GO** , I thought of something constructive. What was the quote from Sherlock Holmes? Something about eliminate the impossible, and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. You didn’t have the absolute nuts, and your opponent could have, no matter how unlikely. I guess it’s up to the individual player how to proceed in those circumstances.

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**Author:** ![Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook_of_the_North_Shore)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/294 "2006-04-06T03:10:55Z")

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You can’t play like that though. Poker is first and foremost a game of percentages. The odds of your opponent having the better hand than you right there is what, 1%? 3%? You’d have to be right 100 times for everytime you’re wrong for that to be the correct play, and there’s no way you’re going to have those kind of percentages.

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/295 "2006-04-06T04:07:16Z")

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> [@Nanook of the North Shore](#):
>
> You can’t play like that though. Poker is first and foremost a game of percentages. The odds of your opponent having the better hand than you right there is what, 1%? 3%? You’d have to be right 100 times for everytime you’re wrong for that to be the correct play, and there’s no way you’re going to have those kind of percentages.

You make a good point. I guess my point was, always know what is the nuts and whether you or your opponent have it. (Has it? Any English majors?) Still, in a SnG or big tourney, you are risking a 1 to 3% chance of death.

And my rate of death in those situations is disturbingly high. 😃

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/296 "2006-04-06T04:24:38Z")

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OK, let me try again:

> [@Gangster Octopus](#):
>
> How’s this for a night of poker playing:
> 
> Get in on a 6 player $12 sit-n-go NL game. First hand I am first to act before the flop. Pair of 8’s. I bet $40, which is a raise of 3x the BB and I get two callers. The flop comes A58 rainbow. I bet the pot, get a fold a raise of double my bet . There’s only one hand that currently beats mine, and I have a set, so I raise all-in, figuring that he probably has either a5 or AK/Q, I go all-in and get called. Flip the cards and what is the one hand that beats me at that point? You guessed it and he has it, AA. So I am knocked out in the first hand.
> 
> OK, so that was bad luck, I don’t really know how I could have played it different, maybe a bigger bet before the flop?

How familiar are you with these games? Is a 4X opener a monster? Is a pot-sized bet a monster? Is a raise off of that bet extremely unusual?

> [@](#):
>
> So I am a bit on tilt, anddecide to go to a cheap-o .05/.10 NL ring game for $10. Out of the gat eI get 33 in early position but decide to fold it after a raise and a re-raise. Next hand I get 66, still in early position. I hope to see a cheap flop. Since I know I am still a bit steaming I check myself and just limp in. Flop comes QQ6, full house for me. I bet about half the pot, get a couple of folds and then a raise. It folds around to me and I re-raise $3, he re-raises to $5. Now there are two hands that beat me at this point, both pretty unlikely, Q6 and QQ. But even if I put him on that, whcih I don’t, I put him AQ, how can I get away from a full house. So I go all-in and he calls. AQ, just as I thought. But, since all bad beat stories are so predictible (and kind of lame), you know what is coming. Not on the river, but on the turn, an A. And I lose all the money I came to the table with.
> 
> Three hand, minus $26 and I don’t know what I could have done differently.

Same questions, different details.

I still think you played OK (FW Little That’s Worth), but these are also considerations. I have played games where the play has varied from ultra-tight to all-in with any two cards. It helps if you know your competition.

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/297 "2006-04-06T04:31:05Z")

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Oh, and my suckage in ring games continues. Played my Hollywood deposit all the way up to $.70. So I entered a play money 1-table SnG. If you’ve never played one, it’s a real money SnG on acid AND steroids. Of course, I won it.

Stupid ring games.

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**Author:** ![Kyyrewyyoae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Kyyrewyyoae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyyrewyyoae)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/298 "2006-04-06T16:28:27Z")

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Well, Qtr 2 starts tonight, and I suppose we need a new thread. Any title ideas? If I can think of anything I’ll start it.

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**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boom-goes-the-dynamite-sdmb-pokertropolis-first-quarter-2006/338635/299 "2006-04-06T17:02:55Z")

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Second Quarter thread is [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7271646#post7271646).

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