PLIV Season 4 HIU
| PLIA 4 Week 11 & 12 “How it Unfolded” |
| With only 5 weeks left the Final 9 is starting to take shape but there is still a lot of action on the bubble that needs to be decided. Since everyone (except Craig) having a low dropped score remaining there should be some wild swings these last few weeks. It’s not unfeasible to have a 20 point swing catapult someone back into contention. |
| It’s also worth noting that I am very likely out for next week as I’ll be on an international red eye and I doubt the plane will have good wi-fi. If that’s the case I will surely drop out of the Final 9 and open up a spot for someone like Ralph or Jesse to sneak in. This should get exciting! |
| Keep Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin.. |
| Congratulations to Craig B for winning the High Roller, his first win of the season (second in PLIA) and cementing his first place standing. It has been quite an amazing (and shocking) run for our season leader as he is simply steam rolling the competition. I got a chance to catch up with Craig and find out what his secret is.. |
| This is My second win in PLIA history. My first win was real nice when I beat Whites head up last season. This win felt extra special since I was at the vet early Thursday morning getting some bad news. Told my wife I didn’t think I would play well since my head was all over the the place. So this win goes out to my boy Clyde. Sometimes I even surprise myself getting to the final table. Once we were down to five players left, it would have been extremely frustrating if I bubbled again as I think I have 3 bubbles this year. This was a nice 4 way battle with Walnuts Jesse and Sitting out at the end, and glad I came out on top. |
| This season I’m not sure what is happening as to why I’m staying fairly consistent. I usually don’t start out with an early lead in chips like others do. Just grinding slow and steady and picking my spots. And of course gotta get lucky and win the coin flips. I love playing poker and playing in this league. I look forward to Thursdays! Really hope to keep the momentum going and finish on top heading into the final nine. Just need to create a little more distance from Mike K, Ross and Tanker as they are playing extremely well. |
| Congratulations to Jessco, Sitting Out, and Walnuts for $1,240, $752, and $376 respectively. I also want to give a shoutout to Walnuts for his excellent job of grinding out a short stack early on in the High Roller and getting a cash out of it. Yours truly took 2/3 of Walnuts starting stack early on leaving him with roughly 5k. He masterfully leveraged his short stack for hours until finally being able to claw back. Well done! |
| It’s Finally Tanker’s Time |
| How about Tanker getting his first win two weeks ago! My man finally got that monkey off his back and pulled away from AJ and Mike K in the winless club. Tanker has been a PLIA force each season, never finishing worse than 6th and currently sitting in 4th. Since he never got a HIU writeup, most don’t know much about this poker-loving, beer-drinking, child-reproducing enigma so I wanted to find out more… |
| Phew! Feels great to finally win one of these after a string of four 3rd place finishes this season (AJ- it really can happen, don’t give up hope). I do have to thank Shades for convincing me to play this season as I was on the fence about it. But this weekly tourney has been a great diversion from the grind of everything being about the kids. I have 2 boys (6 and 8 years old). Like most of us I was an online grinder, starting way back on Party Poker. Then when I could I would play long sessions at the Taj in Atlantic City. One of my first $1/2 sessions ended with me winning $1,400 and I was hooked. Now it’s just life in suburbia here on the south shore where I am lucky to get away to Foxwoods a couple of times a year. Group trip anyone? |
| Count me in on that group trip! |
| Congratulations to Ross, Mike K, and Craig for winning $525, $390, and $195 respectively. |
| PLIA 4 Week 10 “How it Unfolded” |
| Some Thoughts |
| Alright, let’s examine what the hell has happened during this frozen tundra of a month. Thru Week 10, we have a lot of familiar faces in the final 9, especially since Whites and Black have have won the last 2 weeks. What is most surprising to me is the 8 point gap between Craig B and Mike K at the top of the leaderboard. If Craig keeps playing world class tournament poker he may have an unsurmountable lead heading into the final week. Additionally, the 18 point difference between 6th & 7th is creating another bubble that will be hard to catch up to. |
| Every week is now “moving week”. |
| Anyone within 20 pts from the Final 9 is on the bubble (sorry, McCann). |
| AJ and Mike K both had a chance to get their first win last week, but got Black’d out |
| Mazz is in a freefall and his super early exit in The Blizzard didn’t help things. |
| 4 of the Top 5 in the standings don’t have a win on the season. Consistency matters. |
| We got the high roller next week baby! |
| Hand Analysis |
| Black and I got into an interesting hand as we were on the final table bubble. We’re playing 5-handed I’m in the CO with ATd and raise to 2.5bb, Jessco (dealer) and Black (sb) call. Flop is 5d2h9d, everyone checks. Turn is 3h and Black bets about 1/3 pot. I call, Jessco folds. River is 4h. Black overbets the pot. I tank then fold. |
| Looking back, I lost this hand when I didn’t c-bet the flop. I don’t know why I didn’t bet, but with 2 overs and a draw to the nuts I gotta bet there. The turn was interesting when Black led. My thought at the time was that the heart gave him a nut flush draw (as well as the wheel draw). When the 4h hit and he made that overbet he put me in a really tough spot. I likely have the same straight he has, but I also don’t really beat anything either. All I beat are bluffs and I don’t think he’s bluffing there on the the FT bubble. I also think Black knew i was in a tough spot and his bet sizing was perfect. Plays like that are the reason he’s 18pts ahead of me in the standings. Well played, sir. |
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| PLIA 4 Week 7 & 8 “How it Unfolded” DOUBLE ISSUE |
| Lordsten Hosts a Work Dinner, Wins PLIA! |
| Congratulations to Lordsten for his first victory of the season in Week 8 and taking home $1,261! With that victory, he jumps right into the thick of it in 7th place and a ton of momentum behind him. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Lordsten on the felt, as his friends have much more poker success but he still finds time to play in the league, even if hosting an important work dinner with Rosstradamus… |
| It’s taken a long time (including a year off to focus on mens league hockey) to finally make it to the top in PLIA. Started my poker career playing at junior tennis tournaments with the guys while we waited around for the next match. Really questioned my poker development when the guys I grew up playing with were coming in top 20 at the WSOP and winning million dollar tournaments in Europe (and part time hosting the crackingaces podcast) and I had lifetime poker earning of at most $5 but will now take a PLIA win over any WSOP win (especially against rosstradamus heads up after grinding it out at a work event and ignoring everyone around us). |
| Fun fact for Lordstenn99…I’m not a religious guy and don’t like tens. My college mascot was the lords and I played tennis. Very original! |
| Congratulations to Rosstradamus, Tanker, and Craig B for winning $668, $519, and $222 respectively. |
| 3,5 Suited Gets His Win with a ‘Full House’ |
| Congratulations to 3,5 Suited for getting a much needed win and taking home $1,109! When the power rankings came out I was shocked to see him in Tier 5 and foresaw that he was about to explode. Sure enough he gets an immediate win and sneaks up into the Top 9 through the first half the season. What’s even more surprising is that he got the win with a ton of his plate… |
| I am probably like everyone else right now after the new year. Trying to wrap up and put away all the Christmas things we have all over our house. I have had my own small business for about ten years now, and that takes up most of my time. My pride though are my three little girls. They are 9, 8 and 5 so there is zero stop to my day juggling them together. Even when I get home, it’s utter chaos. Clients and employee calls and emails with a sprinkle of full on MMA on top between the kids. My wife wonders why I drink so much beer. The PLIA came at such a horrible downturn with COVID but this is something I do look forward to every week. It gets me out of my work and dad role for a few hours every Thursday night. |
| May the poker gods shine on me for the rest of the year, and provide me pocket bullets ten times every week. Although they would probably get cracked nine out of the ten times lol. |
| A house full of women screaming at him all day, running a small business, and some MMA mixed in I’m surprised he can even carve out some time for us. I’m glad he does though! |
| 5OAK |
| So he’s one for the group… This past weekend I’m up in Hingham visiting Rosstradamus and playing with my nephews (Uncle Shades!) when all of a sudden Mike K calls and has a question regarding a poker ruling that happened the night before at 4am. Apparently Mike K, 82p, and others are playing 7 card stud with wildcards and Mike K ends up showing 4 of a kind. 82p then shows 5 of a kind using a wildcard (of course he is) and claims he is the winner of the pot. Well I guess this argument boiled over to 11am on Sunday and they called us to mediate. |
| Our ruling was that the 5 of a kind does not win because they never defined the hand prior to play. In order for that hand to be in play its strength needs to be defined. Does it only beat 4oak? Does it beat a straight flush? Because they did not do that prior to starting this stupid version of poker (it was 4am so I can understand how they got there) only traditional poker hands are in play. |
| Sidenote – While writing this I Googled 5oak and it says it beats a straight flush. That doesn’t sound right. What do you guys think? |
| PLIA 4 Week 6 “How it Unfolded” |
| I’m Dreaming of a Whites Christmas |
| Congratulations to Whites for winning The Kringle and taking home $791! This is the 2nd victory this season for Whites and it seems like there may be no stopping him while he’s on his way for his 4th (!) consecutive title. While it may seem like it’s all sunshine and lollipops all the time with Whites, he did open up and share a gut-wrenching story about his largest beat to date… |
| Back in the day I used to play a lot online. Lot of $2-4, $3-6 and $5-10. One night that‘s seared in my mind was Thanksgiving night 2008 or 2009. My g/f (wife now) worked nights (still does) so I’d regularly play into the wee hours. This particular night was late and games were winding down. I was sitting at some $5-10 tables on Poker Stars when I start to play heads up with this idiot. He was wild and showing big bluffs. Just bad but super aggressive. We escalated it to $10-20 and we’re playing big pots. Then we were at $25-50. I can’t remember how we got there. I don’t recall any chatter with the guy. I think he just moved there during the course of our battle. I don’t believe I had ever played $25-50 but I wasn’t letting this guy get away. I was running bad at the lower stakes and just couldn’t resist playing him there. We play for a bit and there’s a ton of action. I think I had won back most (if not all) of what I had lost as this hand came up. I’ve got $12-13k and he’s covering me. I get AA on the button and raise. He 3bets me like he did often. I start drooling and 4 bet, knowing where this is going. He shoves all in for my $12-13k. I call and he shows 9-4 off suit. Will never forget the joy of seeing those two cards revealed. Flop was bricks with two clubs. Another great sight. I’m ear to ear ready to bury this guy. Club turn… club river. The run out was slow motion but after the turn I realized one of his cards was a club. $25k pot lost. I thought about rebuying but just shut off my laptop (much like I imagine AJ does at the end of most tournaments). Biggest pot I’ve ever lost. Don’t know what the full tally was but it was a bad night. I called my wife and lied about how the night went before going to bed replaying the hand over and over again. Anyway, I do recall walking up the next day like it never happened. That was the silver lining, I guess. |
| Congratulations to Rosstradamus, Tanker1919, and Jessco for winning $395, $296, and $98 respectively. |
| Power Rankings, vol 4.1 |
| Tier 1 |
| Whites – 3 consecutive titles and currently leading season 4 means he’s the GOAT. If my math is correct he’s won 12 times in 55 PLIA events. That’s a 21.2% win rate! For reference, Tiger Woods has a 22.8% win percetange for his career. |
| Black – 7 career wins in 55 appearances (feels like more) and 1 of 3 players to finish in the Top 9 all 3 years. Black has actually dropped in the season rankings each year, but a rock bottom 7th place in PLIA 3 is nothing to shake a stick at. He’s currently in 2nd and should be a lock to make the final 9. |
| Tier 2 |
| Tanker1919- Should be a Tier 1 player but doesn’t have any wins. Top 6 wins each season have him this far up, however, that winless streak is holding him back. |
| Mazz- 2 top 9 finishes in 3 seasons, including 3rd place last year. Has tied the most final tables this year with 4 and is showing no signs of slowing down, despite a new born at home! |
| Rosstradamus- Two top-3’s in seasonal finishes. He could creep in to Tier 1 with a season title but his current frustration with some of the new players is seeing him go on tilt earlier than he’d like. |
| Tier 3 |
| Sampson – Borderline Tier 2 player but last year’s disappointing 13th place finish and currently being in 15th is holding him back |
| McCann – Everyone’s favorite nit actually recovered nicely the last 1/3 of last season after a horrific start. He needs to climb the rankings if he wants to get back into the top 9. Still plenty of time left but will recent new changes in his life hold him back? |
| The Divia – Has improved each season and has never finished worse than 10th. His slow start this year is concerning but he has faced far worse in his life. Guy can overcome anything. 0 final tables this season is concerning, though. |
| Shades- Really needs to get in the Final 9. |
| AJIII- Really needs to get off the recliner and start playing cards again. Should be a Tier 2 player but his current last place finish and lack of wins has him holding on for dear life in Tier 3. |
| Tier 4 |
| Walnuts- 2 Top 9 finishes but is inconsistent with an 18th place in PLIA 2 and currently in 23rd. Needs to start making a move. |
| Mike K- Being only 1 point out of first is surprising for Kegs, esp after finishing 19th last year. Still looking for that elusive first win. |
| BrianHawk – His performances don’t match his potential. Would like to see some more wins out of him. |
| Jessco – Consistent player but is looking for more consistency in final tables. Would love to see him pop his Final 9 cherry this season. |
| Craig B – I went back and forth on this pick. Some will say he’s a Tier 5 player but he’s gotten better each season and even cracked the Final 9 last year. The current 4th place standing and his 3 final tables have me sold. |
| Mike McDermott – Very strong player but is only 5 games into his PLIA career. He does have a win along with a 8th place standing. With a larger body of work I’m sure he’ll jump up the tier ranking by the next set of power rankings. |
| Tier 5 |
| Sitting Out – Same as McDermott. Only reason he’s in Tier 5 and not Tier 4 is because he’s currently outside the Final 9. |
| Trevor Peltak – Same as Sitting Out. |
| 3/5 Suited – I was actually surprised by 3,5’s seasonal finishes. I really thought he was higher but the stats speak for themselves. I would not be surprised if he jumped up a couple tiers and was competing for a Final 9 by the High Roller. |
| Krazy Kooter – Glad to see he’s currently in 12th. Would make for a good story if he made a run. |
| Lordsten – He took a sabbatical season 2 but is still looking to make to make that extra leap in his game. |
| Quinn – 18th last year. 18th this year. |
| Ace – Hasn’t finished better than 21st and only has 1 final table this year. His victory at Wynn is still pretty baller though. |
| 82p – He’s gotten worse every year and this year there seem to be 6 guys playing just like him. It’s always a feel good story when he does something good. |
| Dan OT – Hasn’t really been playing with the newborn at the house. 0 highest dropped score is going to put the nail in the coffin for him. |
| PLIA 4 Week 5 “How it Unfolded” |
| McDermott Rolls Up His Sleeves and Goes to Vegas |
| Congratulations to Mikey McDermott for his first PLIA victory and cashing for $1,215! Mikey adds to a string of PLIA newbies who are playing fearless on the table and taking home some wins. Although he is a rookie in our league, he is far from a rookie playing cards. |
| I started my poker career right around 2004 when the Moneymaker boom hit. Me and some high school buddies started playing $10 and $20 tournies at my parents kitchen table. I was soon completely hooked on the game and was always trying to get players to come play. That later evolved into what we called “Monday night cards.” It was a rotation of about 15 players who would gather in my folks garage every Monday to battle it out in $20 buy in tournaments. This is when I really learned the game. How to read people, how to bluff them off weak holdings when I had 6 high and a dream. My love for the game grew deeper after my first trip to Foxwoods to play $1/$2 No limit Hold em. I would go down with like $120 to my name and let it ride. Sometimes I won, and sometimes I lost. But I always learned! I later started playing on Full Tilt poker pretty regularly. I did ok in sit and go’s and Tournaments, but never really at the cash tables. By the time black friday hit, i was multi tabling $1/$2 PLO 4 tables at a time. True degen style! Black Friday was actually a blessing in disguise. After online died, I resorted back to live play where I always did better than online. Eventually I built a poker room in the attic of my detached garage where i still host $.50c/$1 cash games once every couple months, with the occasional tournament to start mixed in. We share some laughs, some stories and some bones! Always a great time and all are welcome to join anytime! |
| Congratulations to Mike K, Tanker1919, and Mazz for winning $675, $540, and $270 respectively. |
| Notes from the Commish |
| There were 3 no-shows this week, 2 of whom are in the top 9, including league leader 3,5 Suited. It’s a little too early to start reclining boys. There’s a lot of league left! |
| The 3 PLIA newbies; Sitting Out, Trevor Peltak, and Mikey McDermott have all won in the first 5 weeks of season 4. This is an incredible feat for the new blood and they have cemented themselves as worthy to play on our felt. As far as AJIII, Tanker, and Mike K still searching for their first win ever… well… the clock is ticking boys. |
| Kudos to Ace for playing this week while on his honeymoon in St. Lucia. I guess he’s already bored with marriage. |
| Accusations are swirling that PLIA newbie Sitting Out cheated this week by rebuying a full minute (according to Black) AFTER the rebuy period has closed. Look, before we start hurling accusations against a dues paying member of PLIA, let’s all just remember how sketchy this app is and just accept it for what it is. After looking into this it appears the app doesn’t close out the rebuy period until after all the tables have completed their respective hands. It appears Sitting Out was able to rebuy before that time ended. Going forward, the fix seems to be to have to confirm everyone’s entry and rebuy throughout the game, but that just seems like a pain in the ass. I have no idea why McCann did that for 3 seasons but I certainly will not be bothered by that. For now, let’s just let it slide and if it continues to be a problem I’ll re-examine. |
| Circling back to this sketchy app.. check out the pic below from last year. The app dealt the flop without turning over the cards! And the best part is that someone BET the flop! Really wish I knew who that was. What a goat. I also wish I could see Tanker’s face looking at that bet and no idea what to do. Classic. |
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| PLIA 4 Week 4 “How it Unfolded” |
| All, as we head into the holiday season please just remember what’s truly important in life. Sunday night I found out my close friend has died after battling stage 4 esophageal cancer for the last 8 months. A day before, the members at Upper Montclair CC, where we worked together for 5 years, dedicated their annual Kris Kringle tournament to him and we raised over $120,000 to help him and his family through this time. Unfortunately he’ll never know how everyone stepped up in support of him. I’m sure you all have similar stories but this is the first time I lost a close friend. He was far too young.. only 35 years old and had an infectious personality and spirit. These series of events really made me value life and understand how precious it is. So the next time 82p or Sitting Out knocks you out with some stupid hand, just remember you have your health and your family loves you. Don’t ever take it for granted. |
| Another Win for a PLIA Newbie |
| Congratulations to Trevor Peltak for his first PLIA victory and winning $1,095! This is Trevor’s first year playing in PLIA but this Ace game regular is hardly a rookie on the felt. When I reached out to Trevor to try and find a little more about him he managed to leave his persona up to the imagination… |
| Known for being vicious, fearless and aggressive. They are powerfully built and will attack anyone who threatens it. Their ability to locate and capture a wide range of prey, gives them confidence in their hunting abilities. This self-assurance contributes to their fearlessness when confronting others. |
| I just described this… |
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| This is me… |
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| Hoping I can get a few more wins under my belt this season and dethrone Whitey boy! Thanks for having me in this league. I look forward to PLIA every Thursday. Nothing like some TNF and some poker. Merry Christmas fellas! |
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I mean I don’t really know where to begin with that but from what I can tell Trevor is just a dude who has an incredible chin strap and puts my cowbow hat to shame. I’m a fan and have him on my players to watch.
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| Congratulations to 3,5 Suited, Sitting Out, and Tanker for winning $617, $479, and $202 respectively. |
| Hand Analysis |
| Trevor Peltak vs. Mikey McDermott, Hand #109 |
| 7-handed table, blinds are 125/250 both players have 40bb. Action folds to McDermott in the cutoff who raises 3x, Trevor in the sb calls. Flop is JcTh5c, Trevor checks, MM bets 1/3 pot, Trevor calls. Turn is 4h, Trevor leads with 2/3 pot, MM calls. River is 7h, Trevor bets 2/3 pot, MM calls and shows K7c and wins the pot for 17k. Immediately after winning the pot MM says “bet didn’t make sense.” |
| There’s a lot to digest with this hand. First it should be noted that it is 7-handed and a raise from the cutoff should be wider than normal. I think Trevor’s first mistake here is just calling the raise in the sb holding AQ. This should have been 3-bet and he likely would have taken then pot down right there. After the flop, Trevor checks and MM bets 1/3 with 2nd nut draw and an overcard. I can understand the call from Trevor but I don’t understand the lead on the 4h turn. If Trevor had a good J, that’s a great opportunity to check/raise after the flop. The 4h doesn’t help anyone so it’s a fishy bet. Once the 7h falls on the river Trevor’s lead still doesn’t make sense. If he had a flush draw it’s very likely he would still check the draw on the turn and call MM’s bet. MM faced a large bet on the river and made a great call. In fact I put his call as the call of the year through 4 weeks. This is a clear example of understanding the “story” of the hand. None of Trevor’s bets made sense and MM was able to sniff it out. Great job. |
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| 82p vs Sitting Out, Hand #479 |
| Blinds were 1,750/3,500 action folds to 82p on the button who smooth calls, Sitting Out in the bb raises 5x (!! who is this Mazz??) and 82p of course calls leaving both players with about 2:1 SPR. Flop comes 8J7 rainbrow. Sitting Out bets 14k and 82p rejams, Sitting Out calls.. Sitting Out shows 44 and 82p shows 33. Board bricks out and Sitting Out wins the massive pot. |
| I just laughed when I watched this live sandwiched between these two knuckleheads. I don’t even know where to begin with this breakdown but I’m glad I witnessed it. I’ve always defended 82p’s erratic play and now Sitting Out is getting a reputation as being just as wild. I’ve heard some moaning about his play but to quote the great Daniel Negrenau “whenever you have your opponents confused scratching their heads, you’re doing something right.” And through 4 weeks Sitting Out has 2 cashes including a win. It’s a long season and I fear that others will figure his play out but I’m still very intrigued. Keep up the good fight. |
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| PLIA 4 Week 3 “How it Unfolded” |
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| PLIA 4 Week 2 “How it Unfolded” |
| From Last to First |
| Congratulations to new player Sitting Out for his first PLIA win in only his second career start and pocketing $1,064! It’s been a roller coaster start for Sitting Out after he got obliterated in Week 1 and many were questioning if he even had the chops to compete against our hardened regs. Sure enough, he was able to defy the odds and take home gold in Week 2. There was a lot of chatter about his play on Thursday night (more on that below), but this section is about celebrating wins so let’s focus on the positive here. |
| I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Sitting Out and find out more about how he got his poker chops. Unsurprisingly, his early experiences sound a lot like many of our own.. |
| When I got invited to my first home game, I told the parents that I was sleeping over at buddies and he proceeded to do the same. We show up at a pretty run down apartment complex in Columbia, MD (about 30 miles outside of Baltimore) with $500 each for the $1/2. We buzz into the building and walk to the bottom floor. There were two tables with dealers including TVs, all you can eat food varying every night, and about 15 or 20 regulars. It was heaven. That first night I got quads in the $50 winner take all hyper turbo before the game. I was up $400 before it even started. |
| At that time, I worked at a “cafe” in Target making $8.75 an hour. My specialties included making popcorn and cinnamon sugar pretzels so the $400 I won was around 3 weeks of work. I played 2-5 times a week with my buddy for the rest of the summer. We both ended up a few thousand dollars. A few months later our parents, who are close family friends, found some of these 100s hidden away in a poor hiding spot. There was an intervention soon after as our mothers quickly concluded that we must have been selling drugs. Once we explained that it was only gambling at an underground game with random adults we met online and that this was “more like a side job” and not actually luck or gambling, our dads came in quick support of our actions and gave us fist bumps behind the scenes. |
| Since then, and post college, I really haven’t played that much in the last 5 years. I graduated to sports and tried to write an algorithm that can beat Vegas lines with this same guy. Spoiler: You can’t. |
| Congratulations to 3,5 Suited, Quinn, and Shades for winning $590, $472, and $236 respectively. |
| Also, honorable mention to Trevor Peltak who was knocked out after 2 rebuys at 9:15pm. Yikes. |
| Look Who’s Playing |
| Special shoutout to Lordsten99 who welcomed a new baby into the world about 3 hours before cards were dealt… and he still played! That’s 3 PLIA babies in the past week and all 3 showed up to play. Look, I commend the commitment to the league and love that you all played, but dear god guys I’d understand if you wanted to take a week off to be with your precious offspring. I can just picture Lordsten in the delivery room and the doctor asking if he wants to cut the umbilical cord.. “not now Doc, I got pocket kings!” |
| Hand Analysis |
| Alright, back to basics here. Week 2 saw some very unconventional plays that I just can’t ignore. |
| Hand #130 – Tanker vs. 82p |
| This hand made me puke. Tanker attempted a triple barrel bluff against the loosest player in the league and of course, it backfired. Tanker was UTG +1 and opened with a 3x raise.. folds to 82p in the cutoff and he smooth calls. Everyone else folds. Flop comes 5h5c9h. Tanker bets 2/3 pot, 82p calls. Turn is Kd.. Tanker bets 2/3 pot, 82p calls. River is 8h.. Tanker goes all in, 82p calls with AKh and the nut flush. Tanker is left sitting there with 36s. Everyone is in disbelief. |
| There’s just so much I hate about this hand. First, what the hell is Tanker doing opening with 36s in early position? You’re trying to make a play? Ok.. but once 82p is in the hand and you miss the flop you gotta stop. Not even Phil Ivey can bluff 82p.. he’s going to call no matter what! You want to represent the K on the turn? Ok, but again once 82p calls you GOTTA STAWP! After Tanker lost his stack to that horrific play I texted him and asked WTF was that? “I was trying to bluff him.” Great. I wish I could copy/paste this entire video to show how absurd it was but for some reason I still can’t do that in 2023. I shared the hand for those who want to see it. It’s quite a spectacle. |
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| Hand #515 – Black vs. Sitting Out |
| So a quick preface to this specific hand…I had the pleasure of being to Sitting Out’s left for most of the night and I noted several loose all in calls he made from the SB. Most of the calls seemed egregious at the time but after further review I could make a case for them. This one baffled me a little bit. Action folds to Black on the button and he goes all in for about 3.5bb (blinds were 1.5k/3k) and Sitting Out calls in the SB with 910o. If he was in the BB I wouldn’t make a huge case about it, but I was in the BB at the time holding about 14bb and could have come over the top if I had wanted to (I had a better hand). Granted, Sitting Out had enough chips to gamble a bit, but why spew chips? Also, we had Black on the ropes and this just gave him an opportunity to get back into the game. This was just one of several maddening SB plays Sitting Out made but in the end all worked out for him so what the hell do I know? |
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| Hand #590 – 3,5 Suited vs Sitting Out |
| This one did it for me. It’s an all-timer. It’s one of the last hands of the night and it’s heads up between these two. Sitting Out has about 22bb and 3,5 has 35bb. 3,5 is on the button and opens 3bb and Sitting Out re-raises to 7bb and gets called. Flop comes 3h4hKc. Sitting Out bets half his stack and 3,5 goes all in, Sitting Out calls. 3,5 shows middle pair and Sitting Out shows 27o! And he hits a 7 on the river! What are you DOOOOOING! Even 82p wouldn’t do this. I’m still dumbfounded by this play. I don’t have any more words for this. The picture below says it all. This makes me not even want to play anymore. |
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| PLIA 4 Week 1 “How it Unfolded” |
| Whites and Black Up to Their Usual Tricks |
| Congratulations to Whites for winning PLIV Week 1 and taking home $1,296! Due to a healthy field of 25 and 18 rebuys this is tied with Black’s victory in S3W1 as the largest payout for a non-high roller in league history! It’s also worth noting that every Week 1 has been won by either Whites of Black (2 wins apiece). Despite some fears that poker has been waning amongst this crew, you all came out hot and willing to gamble. That’s a great sign and I’m excited for more large pots going forward. |
| Congratulations to Black, Dan OT, and Mike McDermott for winning $780, $576, and $288 respectively. |
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| Notes from the Commish |
| Congratulations to Mazz and Dan OT for welcoming their new offspring to the world! These babies barely have had the placenta wiped off them and their dads are already on the felt! I don’t know if we should be impressed or very concerned. |
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We’ll also be keeping an eye on Lordsten as he’s on the baby bubble. All these winter babies were conceived in March, right when PLIA3 ended. First time these guys have given their wives attention in 17 weeks!
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| KrazerKooter labeled himself “One to Watch”. I appreciate a Dark Horse (especially a self-proclaimed one) and will certainly be keeping season-long tabs on Kooter and his prediction. Week 1 resulted in a 5th place finish for him so he’s certainly on the right track. |
| Every time I open LinkedIn I’m reminded that McCann is a “Rising Star” in his field. Maybe he can team up with Kooter and they can take over the world |
| New player Sitting Out was the first person sitting out. Better luck Week 2. |
| The Divia came in 24th with 2 rebuys. He did not have it Week 1. |
| New player Mike McDermott cashed in his inaugural PLIA appearance. Very impressive showing against this strong field. I will be adding him on the One to Watch list (or Rising Star) |
| When I woke up Friday morning my wife asked me if Whites won again. I just stared at her and nodded. She rolled her eyes and asked when we’re all going to say “that’s enough” and move on with our lives. I said ‘never’. |
| New player Trevor Peltak came in hot Week 1. Paid his dues and registered a minute before late reg closed. He saw 3 hands and accidently folded his last hand and still finished placing above 5 other players! Trevor is one to watch.. but for different reasons. |