Home Game Preferences?

It's been about a month since I returned to the poker felt and I'm preparing to host games at my house again soon. I would have liked to have hosted a game by now, but my space is limited and my poker supplies are outdated. I'd like to invest in some new decks, a new tournament chip set (I have a bountiful supply of generic Super Diamond chips with no value labels and would like to upgrade) and a new poker table (the felt is in great shape, but the padding along the outside of the table is not).

As I'm thinking about these things, what are the most important things to you when you attend a home poker game?

Temperature - I realize things will get warm when 10+ people get together but my basement is much cooler than my living room upstairs. The basement is not a glamorous setting and the lighting isn't the best.

Setting - Would you rather sit in a crappier looking basement that is cooler (temp-wise) and offers a bit more space, or a nicer looking living room that is warmer and a bit cramped? The bathroom is upstairs near the living room.

Chip set /Table - Would you rather have really nice chips or does this not matter as much?

Chairs - Folding chairs, or ones with some type of cushion?

Structure - Do you prefer a $20-$40 donkament that is faster paced, possibly with rebuys? Or do you prefer a $60+ extended structure with deeper stacks and 30 minute levels? What about a low-limit cash game $0.25/$0.25?

Just a few things to think about. I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

$40 Sit-N-Go at Caryn's

After an extremely busy day at work on Thursday, August 10th, I received a call from Doug Poker wondering if I wanted to play in a $40 tournament later that night. I found out later that it was being held at Caryn's house in Brecksville, a short 15 minute drive from my house. Doug mentioned I should show up by 6:50pm for the 7pm tournament start, as Caryn would award a 5k bonus tournament chip for showing up early. I arrived shortly after 6:40pm and enjoyed catching up with Doug before people starting arriving and the tournament started. With the 5k bonus chip, we started with 20k in tournament chips. 20 minute levels. I drew the Ace and chose a seat in the middle of the table, which makes it much easier when it's my turn to deal. Seated to my left were Caryn, Krazy Joe, David Lee, Molly, Todd, Luckbox Linda, Doug Poker, Nikki, and Lyft Driver Dave.

Level 1 (25/50) - With AQdd, I raise to 200 from UTG+1 and get 4 callers. Flop is 10 high and I bet 350. Nikki is the only caller. Check-check on the turn. River is a Jack and Nikki opens for 500. I only have Ace high but I'm curious and she shows two-pair with J-T. I end the level with 18550.

Level 2 (50/100) - Nothing to report. I end the level with 18325.

Level 3 (75/150) - With two red Queens, I limp UTG and Caryn raises to 500. There are 3 callers behind her and I re-raise to 2800 total. Caryn is the only caller. Flop K96 rainbow. I lead for 2500 and Caryn goes all in, showing KK for a flopped set after I fold.

The next hand I get A8ss in the BB and see a flop with two other limpers. Flop offers two spades. I bet 200 and the Lyft Driver Dave calls in the SB. Turn gives me a gutshot straight draw. Dave checks and my 700 bet is called. I miss all my draws on the river, but bet 1300 and Dave folds.

A few hands later (the first hand of 100/200 blinds), I get JJhs in the hijack. I raise to 525, Krazy Joe calls in the SB and Molly calls in the BB. Flop T42 rainbow. Both blinds check and I bet 1200. Molly is the only caller. Turn is [T 4 2] 3. Molly checks and I bet 2800. She raises to 10k. I put her on A-T, K-T or even a mid-pair like 88 or 99, so I went all in for not much more than the 10k. She instantly calls and turns over 65 for the nut straight. I'm drawing dead and on my way home after a short hour at the poker table.

I suppose I want that call on the flop every time... just feels like a kick to the nuts.

Like Riding a Bicycle

Hard to believe it has been 4.5 years since my last blog post. To be completely honest, I hadn't had any desire to play poker, watch poker on TV pr read about poker (books, articles or social media), for all those years. I hadn't logged into the Cleveland Poker Meetup Group (CPMG) website during that span. I wasn't even sure the group still existed. Nothing about poker even remotely piqued my interest until I caught wind via Facebook that former CPMGer 'Krazy' Mike Krasienko was doing well in the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event.

During his successful run in the tournament, I'd wake up every morning for work, check Facebook on the bus ride to downtown Cleveland and read the latest status update from Mike. I even got to watch him "live" (via 30 minute delay) on ESPN2 when he was seated at the tournament's feature table. He was among the tournament chip leaders from start to finish and wound up finishing 17th out of 7,221 participants for a cool $340k.

I credit Mike for sparking my interest in poker again, but it wasn't until I logged onto the CPMG website and made a last-minute decision to register for Pyxis' $80 tournament on 7/29/17 that I truly realized how much I missed being seated at the felt. The tournament used extended 30-minute levels with a $15,000 chip starting stack.

I was happy to see some familiar faces at my opening table, including Colin, Caryn and Tom Gross. Terry K, Monsignor, Prowest and Pyxis were seated at the other table. I didn't recognize anyone else, but David Lee and Jason Lawless were two players at my table that I got to know quickly.

I ran pretty hot for the first 5 levels, turning my 15k starting stack to 19,825 at the first break. Almost immediately, I got a "Big Blind Special," flopping two-pair while holding J2cc. I also flopped a set of eights (holding 88) and a set of threes (holding A3). I was pretty lucky, but I was playing extremely well, like I had never went on a 4.5 year hiatus. Colin mentioned to me that it was like riding a bike. Colin also went out of his way to praise me with some really nice comments about my play and about me as a person, which I really appreciated.

After the break, things turned sour. At the 150/300 level, there was a limper ahead of me and I limped on the button with Q9cc. The flop was Kc Jc Xc. David Lee (seated to my left) led out with a small bet from under the gun and I was the only caller from the button. The turn paired the board with another King [Kc Xc Xc Ks], which was a little concerning. David shocked me by leading out with a 5k bet into a roughly 2k pot. Suddenly my second-nut flush and draw to a straight flush didn't look as good as it did on the flop. After about two minutes of deliberation, I reluctantly folded and David proceeded to show K8 off-suit. It was a punch to the gut knowing I was ahead the whole time, but at least it was valuable information.

A bit later, Jason Lawless raised to 800 from middle position. Caryn called and I called from the button with K3ss. The flop was Kx Xs Xs, giving me top pair with a flush draw. Jason led out for 2400, Caryn and I both called. The turn was [Kx Xs Xs] Ad. JLaw bet 5k into the 10k pot. Caryn thought for a while and folded and I folded too with 16k left in my stack. Jason said he had a pair of Kings, which meant I was probably out-kicked.

A short time later, I raised to 800 from the cut-off with 10c7c and got 2 callers. The flop brought 2 clubs and I decided to see a free card when it was checked to me. The turn was an 8, giving me flush and open-ended straight draws. I don't recall the betting that occurred on the turn, but it was a sizable amount that I ended up calling. Unfortunately, I missed the river and fell below the 15k starting stack to the 12k range.

I was card dead for the next 1.5 hours and blinded down to around 8100 until I was moved to the other table with Pyxis, Megan Thomas, Monsignor, Terry K and Larry. After an orbit at my new table, Terry raised to 1600 on the button and I shoved for 6500 more with A6. He folded. I saw Ace-rag quite a bit at my new table, but couldn't find a spot to make any more moves. Finally, I picked up AJhh and moved all-in for 6500 total after Megan raised to 1600 from UTG. Monsignor thought for a moment but folded what turned out to be AJ off-suit. Megan showed AK, and while the flop gave me a straight draw, I bricked the turn and river to bust out in 11th or 12th place out of 20 runners.

The tournament results were as follows:

1st - JLaw $460
2nd - TK $420
3rd - Megan Thomas $240
4th - David Lee $240
5th - Colin $240

Many thanks to Pyxis for hosting.

I'll be checking the CPMG boards regularly again, not only attend some games, but host some as well. Dana and I don't have a lot of room in our house, so we're limited to hosting 1-table tournaments or cash games. I plan on hosting some games similar to Data's Poker After Dark tournaments in the near future. Probably in the $40-$60 buy-in range to start with a few higher buy-in tournaments later on if all runs smoothly.

Hope to see you all soon at the tables!