« Kevin Ngo

Poker Session #10 - Asian Guy from 'The Internship'

18 Feb 2014

Alright, shake it off. After a long day of bug squashing at work, I came in ready to go for a Tuesday night at the Encore. In the hunt for fish, I’m served only shrimp as Encore’s competition could swim twice as fast as that of Final Table’s. Stiffer players that night but all men are only human, and any human could be leveled. In response, I leveled up my game, paying extra attention, and was able to obtain accurate reads. Vegeta, what does the scouter say?

As for the title, I oddly got remarks from several players (including a very drunk birthday girl) that I looked like the Asian guy from ‘The Internship’. The one with Owen Wilson as a Google intern. I haven’t seen it as it’s yet another shitty comedy. The actor in question is Tobit Raphael. I admit, there’s a hint of resemblance, especially considering I was a Mountain View intern.

Encore Club 8pm $1500 Guaranteed - Busted on the Bubble

Everyone was playing pretty tight preflop which put me on alert. This game was a bit tougher than Final Table’s pool where there are frequent limp-calls with trashy hands. But you can’t play poker without thinking you’re the best at the table. So I stepped it up and started classifying players into three player types.

I watched what players did and tipped them towards a certain player type until proven wrong. There was a player on my right in a hoodie who looked like someone one of my college CS Operating Systems class. I thought was loose-passive since he was limp-calling a lot preflop, but I was able to steal his blinds and cbet him off the flop with extreme ease, changing my perception of him towards weak-tight.

There was a player on my left with a backwards gray cap and earbuds. I watched him be aggressive postflop, betting with marginal hands or air. So I adjusted. I checked with top pair for deception (risking the draw) in hopes the aggressive small blind would bet. Unfortunately on the turn, the T puts too many draws out there so I raise. When villain calls, I don’t see in getting any more value on the river with TPNK.

Hero (BTN): Healthy stack
Villain (BB): Healthy stack

Pre Flop: Hero is BTN with K4o
Hero raises to 3xBB, Villain calls.

Flop: KQ2r
Villain checks, Hero checks.

Turn: T
Villain bets 3/4 pot, Hero raises 3x bet, Villain calls.

River: 7
Villain checks. Hero checks.

Hero shows K4o
SB shows ATo

I played pretty perfectly the whole night, making it to the final table in the 40-runner tournament. But I only won 1 flip out of 3 (88 vs QK, AK vs AK vs 33, A2 vs QK). And when you can’t win flips, you lose.

Session Conclusion