Chapter VII Check Down

The concept of the check down Checking down is a basic etiquette that people expect you to follow. A check down is when a person is all-in and two or more players remain in the hand. They are playing for a side pot or just the main pot. The idea is to check all the way to try and take a player out. A check down is important only if you are close to the prizes or points or trying to make a bigger prize or points. People will get upset with you if you don’t check down, but it not always best to check down. If you have paired the board or have a pocket pair that you feel is the best hand after the flop it is a good idea to bet out the other players. They may have over cards that they could hit to beat you. Ultimately, you want to win the hand, but you want to take out the other player too. If you have hit nothing on the flop, turn, or river it makes no sense to bet the other player out as they may be able to knock the other one out. What if the other player makes a bet? In most check down situations a bet means I have the winning hand get out of the way. Unless you are sure that you have the winning hand I would fold. I would also make a point in reminding the other player that you thought we were going to check it down. It may help in a later check down situation, but don’t be mean or sarcastic able it just make sure they know that you expect them to have the best hand if they bet you out. Remember that you can never verbalize a check down, that is considered collusion. Just pat your hand on the table to signify check. Once again a check down is not a rule of poker; it is considered an etiquette part of poker. Whether you check down or not is up to you, not the other players in the hand.

Casino Tournament

Dave's Lake Miltona Pike

Still have been very busy with getting a new job, working old one and going to the lake. Fishing has been very good with my wife and I catching a lot of fish lately. I caught the biggest Northern that I ever have on Lake Miltona. It was between 8-10 Pd's. That's a big fish for that lake. Anyway on to casino trip. My wife and I decided to go to Hinkley last Wednesday. I have all ways liked their Wednesday tournament and they usually have a nice turnout. I have not been there for a while and surprised that they only had 6 tables and they seemed surprised at that many. One change that they have made is that you start with 5000 in chips but can add on an extra 2500 for $10. The problem is the $10 doesn't go into the prize fund it gets you 300 chips to a freeroll, so for every time you play you get 300 chips up to 5000. I don't go to Hinkley very often so it does me no good. But who wants to start 2500 behind the rest of the table so I paid the extra. I was on a table that was very aggressive right from the beginning. There was a Chris Ferguson wannabe. He had the whole look except for a white hat, but was the best look a like I have ever seen. He also thought that he was a great poker player and played a lot of hands and rasied and especially reraised a lot. I had a lot of good cards in the first hour and was able to increase my stack by double by break. I made a great call with second pair on the river to Chris look a like that tried to bluff me out. I could never put him on hand, because when he showed he never had anything. When this table broke up I was moved to table one. I was the chip leader on this table and play was very conservative. I was able to take down a lot of pots with little or nothing. I was feeling pretty confident. Then my downfall started. I raised preflop with K-Q of spades and was reluctantly called by big blind. Flop was K -10- 6 with two clubs. BB pushes all-in, I call. BB turns over J-7 clubs. Turn is a 9 river an 8 to give her thew straight and took about half my stack. It's ok at this point as I just need to tighten up a little as there are a lot of shorter stacks and blinds are getting higher. We are know down to two tables and I am middle stack on my table. I look down at KK. Yes! Short stack in front of me pushes all-in and then I push all-in. Everyone fold to BB. He has 4ooo in pot and 6000 left. He calls and turns over K-J. First all-in turns over JJ. I am in great position. Flop brings A-10 and the turn is a queen and I win a side pot for 2000 and am basically done. I did triple up once, but was soon out in 17th place a ways from the money. How do you make that call for all your chips with to strong all-ins in front of you. I some times wonder what people think. Oh well that how it goes in poker. I was very happy with my play at this tournament and feel that I didn't make any mistakes during play. That's all I can ask for. The WSOP is now down to the Nov. 9. I have been following it online. I have enjoyed their coverage. I still don't agree with the break between now and Nov. but they must have been happy because they are doing it again. It is nice to see a few name pros on the final table this year. I can hardly wait, it should be fun. I would have to put my money on Phil Ivey, but so will everyone else. And how about Dennis Phillips last years 3rd place making a deep run this year. Maybe it wasn't all just luck after all.

Happy 4th of July

Sorry it has been a while since I have posted. I have been busy working and when not working going to my lake place and lots of fishing. Fishing has been very good with my wife and I catching a variety of species. We have been mostly fishing bass and panfish in the daytime and walleyes in the evening. I have never done much trolling with crankbaits but it seems to be the best way to catch walleyes this year. I am getting better at it, but we seem to catch a lot of smaller ones. The bonus is that we have catch 2 muskies doing this. My wife caught her first one on our last outing. It was about 6 pounds. The water temperature is finally moving up to the point where the fish are moving to their summer patterns. I like this time of year as you can fish the deep weed lines and catch just about any species. It fun not knowing what will come to the surface. I spent yesterday staining my deck. Debbie and Kyle worked on it on Thursday so all I had to do was the base. It was a nice day and the deck is in the shade most of the day, so it wasn't too bad. At least I won't have to worry about it again for another several years. I did get to go and play some bar poker last night. I went to my weekly game at McCann's. I had not been there for several weeks. I was card dead all night but played almost every hand until first break and made it to break with half my stack left. LOL! Tighten up a little after break. Pushed in with A-9 suited called by A-Q to end my evening. I don't take the Friday game very serious because the play is so bad that it doesn't resemble any kind of cash tournament play, so I play for fun. There was an interesting incident that happened ands other then me no one else probably even noticed. A very tight player that I have played with many times raised with the blinds at 50-100 all-in under the gun for 4750 almost 50 times the big blind. Everyone folded of course. As the chips were being pulled a discussion started about what the had. Some said AK, I said probably a pocket pair like 10's or jacks. The player is all proud and turns over two junk cards and announces " I bluffed you all ". Nobody says much and play continues and I am laughing on the inside so hard I can hardly hold back. Tight player thinks that they have bluffed us all with a 50 time the BB bet under the gun. The only person that calls that bet has one of 3 or 4 hands. Nice bluff to win 150 in chips! LOL! Another chapter later this week. Have a great 4th of July holiday. Be safe and catch one for me!