WHORES!!! ALL WHORES!!!

So I continued my weekend tradition of hemoragging money out the ass tonight and lost a bunch of key hands where I was either a huge favorite or getting a very good price in a multiway pot. Lost two different hands in big pots with top set where the eventual winner had two pair and a backdoor draw of some sort I would post some of them but I never want to fucking look at them again. I'm taking some time off from poker and probably won't play again until after Christmas. FUCK Y'ALL ALL Y'ALL.

Ray Zee Wisdom and a Stud H/L 8b Hand

“Great plays come about by pushing marginal hands and making fantastic calls on the end through his ability to read hands. Poker is fun played this way. But no longer is the tight player inside the body. All hands start to look like they have value, and with skillful manipulation winning the pot is easy. He begins to believe that he can play bad hands for profit where in reality he can't. The player has taken a big step backward and a long leap forwards at the same time.” Ray Zee

There is a certain stage in a poker player’s evolution where his hand-reading skills take a huge leap forward. Predictable/average opponent seem to be practically showing you their hand in common situations. This evolutionary phase makes it possible to maneuver the numerous marginal situations arising during each session with deft expertise. The NAP (Newly Advanced Player) start to make razor thin value bets, precise folds and “big” calls. Like Zee observes, poker is fun played this way.

However, there are two phenomena that appear to proceed from this evolutionary step in most players:

1. The Newly Advanced Player Begins to Seek Out Marginal Spots.

You start 3-betting on the button with K9o because of a testicular desire to isolate the fish who raised UTG. You start playing just about anything pre-flop (or on 3^rd street or pre-draw) in position. You start relentlessly value betting middle pair, check/raise semi-bluffing 5^th St and trying to force your opponents to break pat 9s. The memory of that 20bb pot you won with ace-high has become imprinted on your mind and you start justifying marginal river calls or bluff-raises based on the pot-size. You took two steps forward and then three steps back. You’ve forgotten that while you might be able to show a small profit with hands that a new player would be certain to get creamed with, there are many starters that are just intrinsically –EV to play pre-flop, on third street or pre-draw. Instead of just recognizing that marginal spots arise of their own accord, giving you plenty of opportunity to make strong reads, you’ve started to fiend for marginal spots like a junkie—anxiously awaiting the next opportunity to value bet bottom pair on a board showing four to a straight. All the while, you are leaking chips. A few BBs here, a buy-in or two there, and before you know it you are breaking even or losing in games you "should" be crushing.

2. The Newly Advanced Player Runs Good Versus Idiots and Mistakes This For Mastery.

This situation is even more dangerous. The NAP runs dreadfully good. He’s tearing it up. He’s dragging big pots, making precise reads, value betting marginal hands, playing damn near blind on the button and in the cut-off. He starts to imagine himself to be a poker jedi, capable of transcending the range of expected value an average/decent player can expect to squeeze out of common poker situations. It’s not hard to imagine what will come of this when the variance lottery decides to draw a different number for a few sessions. Perceived mastery soon becomes a cold comfort as the bankroll starts to disappear and the ego refuses to permit the NAP to drop down in stakes.

I’ve been in both of these situations over the last year. Luckily, I’m self-conscious enough that I’ve been able to identify some of these behaviors and make some changes. Tight, or solid, aggressive play is my goal and I feel like I’ve been able to re-orient myself away from seeking out marginal spots for the thrill of it, or imagining myself to be some kind of poker god.

A Stud8 Hand

How many bets you think I missed on 3rd and 4th st? In the long-term theoretical sense of course. I think check/calling 7th was OK but there may be a thin value raise on 6th. Anybody care to comment?

7 Card Stud High-Low ($5/$10), Ante $0.50, Bring-In $2 (converter)

3rd Street - (0.70 SB)

Seat 1: xx xx 2___brings-in___folds
Seat 2: xx xx 7___calls___calls
Seat 3: xx xx J___folds
Seat 4: xx xx 5___folds
Hero: 4 4 4___calls___calls
Seat 6: xx xx 3___calls___calls
Seat 7: xx xx 3___completes

4th Street - (5.10 SB)

Seat 2: xx xx 7 8___calls
Hero: 4 4 4 6___calls
Seat 6: xx xx 3 T___folds
Seat 7: xx xx 3 A___bets

5th Street - (4.05 BB)

Seat 2: xx xx 7 8 4___raises___raises
Hero: 4 4 4 6 2___raises___calls
Seat 7: xx xx 3 A 9___bets___calls___calls

6th Street - (16.05 BB)

Seat 2: xx xx 7 8 4 9___bets
Hero: 4 4 4 6 2 T___calls
Seat 7: xx xx 3 A 9 K___checks___folds

River - (18.05 BB)

Seat 2: xx xx 7 8 4 9 xx___bets
Hero: 4 4 4 6 2 T 7___checks___calls

Total pot: (20.05 BB)

A Cranky Old Friend

Decided to revisit my roots the last few days and play limit poker, mostly hold em and Stud H/L 8 or Better. It's been fun. Actually, its been eye opening. It's clear to me why limit games are so much more sustainable in the long term. The 1/2 NL games I was playing last week, while not tough by any means, required a lot of focus, good table selection, etc. A careless player didn't stand much of a chance. Playing the 6max LHE at party and the 5max at the new Eurobet, however, it was painless to find tables with 35-40% avg vpip and atleast 2 to 3 donks literally hemmoraging money. Good thing is that they drag a few pots instead of getting slaughtered by set farmers.

Remind me to keep my LHE game in shape.

The Stud H/L situation on the other hand was not as promising. The 10/20 and 5/10 at Party were very very rockish. Usually just one or two players tops chasing lows and spewing. Due to the low ante it just becomes a tedious waiting game. They really should have a higher ante structure in the red chip games. The rake was the only winner in a majority of the pots.

Anyways, been clearing a bonus and trying to be conservative so I multi-tabled 3/6 and 5/10 LHE today. Since I didn't play any hands that I considered interesting, I'll post my totally unsustainable stats (click on the picture).

Before anyone says anything I am painfully aware that I go to showdown too much at the 5/10. I just have this thing about calling/raising with ace-high on the river. I got addicted after dragging a few 10bb pots. Also, the game marked just "3/6" is the 5max at Poker Room, if the butthole puckering rake didn't tip you off...

Allow me to reintroduce myself...

Murdered the whole month of April just to take May Off (Part II)

Here's a second hand from the same session. I hadn't been playing quite as laggy on this table as on the others, but my opponents mostly suffer from the same passive play as at the other table.

***** Hand History for Game (?) *****
$100 PL Omaha - Saturday, November 19, 23:16:37 EDT 2005
Table Table 66280 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 10: Hero ( $249.95 )
Seat 3: Turnis ( $88.70 )
Seat 5: frdoc22 ( $15.60 )
Seat 6: ragscpd ( $169.17 )
Seat 1: bestlucky ( $117.55 )
Seat 2: phidragon ( $54.05 )
Seat 7: caranza ( $17.20 )
Seat 9: daytrader777 ( $106.31 )
Seat 4: GenCon ( $42.50 )
GenCon posts small blind [ $0.50 ].
frdoc22 posts big blind [ $1 ].

Holecards:
Dealt to Hero [ ]

A total junk pair of ten's. I can hit a few bad straights and a bad flush, but I am again mostly playing this to flop a set or get out. My opponents are fairly passive on flush/straight boards though so I may be able to win the pot with nothing if I feel my they haven't hit.

CALL ragscpd, $1
CALL caranza, $1
CALL daytrader777, $1
CALL Hero , $1
DCP48 has joined the table.
RAISE bestlucky $7.50

I have the worst possible position on this guy but I *know* that he only raises AAxx here and I will a good chance of manipulating him post flop, so I choose to call, especially since the pot will likely be somewhat big.

FOLD phidragon
FOLD Turnis
CALL GenCon $7
FOLD frdoc22
CALL ragscpd $6.50
CALL caranza $6.50
FOLD daytrader777
CALL Hero $6.50

Flop :
[ ]
CHECK GenCon
CHECK ragscpd
CHECK caranza
CHECK Hero
CHECK bestlucky

I could try to steal the pot here. I know my main opponent will fold AA without a diamond or wrap wheel draw, but people tend to play retarded hands on the flop for big bets but fold the same hands on the turn with one card to come. If the PFR bets here, I'll fold, if he lets me see a turn card that's not an ace, king or queen and it's checked to me again I will probably pot it.

Turn:
[ ]
CHECK GenCon
CHECK ragscpd
CHECK caranza
BET Hero , $37.55

This is actually a good card for me. I have two tens so it is less likely that someone has a straight and no one has thrown a bet in. My flush draw is possibly good as well, though i am not likely to call or make a big bet if I do manage to hit it.

CALL bestlucky, $37.55

Whoops. I would guess he has T9 here since I can't imagine smoothcalling with the nuts in a pot this big, especially since I haven't been firing big bets on the river with nothing. I don't think that he's loose enough to call with a bare flush draw. He might have AAJx with diamonds or something similar that would give him a gutshot.

FOLD GenCon
FOLD ragscpd
ALL-IN caranza

Buddy pushes in his last $10 and it's of no consequence.

River:
[ ]
CHECK Hero

I made my hand but I have no idea if it's good. I made a fairly big mistake in not betting at all here since the pot is so big he will probably have to call a $20 bet with a straight, and I have given him free reign to bluff my ass off. Fortunately he is a standard weak partypoker slowplayer.

CHECK bestlucky
Hero shows [ ] a flush queen high .
bestlucky doesn't show [ ] a straight, ten to ace.

Well, thanks for letting me make my hand, I guess. Did he think we were tying? The chance of me having AT with him having AAT in his hand is very small. He gave me infinite odds to hit my flush because he either got greedy or was too afraid to play back at me.

caranza doesn't show [ ] a pair of sixes.

No comment. :)

Hero wins $55.70 from side pot #1 with a flush queen high .
Hero wins $65.60 from the main pot with a flush queen high .

Murdered the whole month of April just to take May Off

So yesterday was a fairly good day, up a bunch of loot playing the $100 games. At some point I'll actually be bankrolled for these games again and won't be playing with short money, but for now I'm willing to gamble it up a little bit.

I was only playing two tables, down from my usual four to six, but was experimenting with playing a little bit more LAG pre and post flop. I have always been aggressive post flop but I typically don't reraise preflop unless I know I have my opponent in a bad spot and can get him to commit a lot of chips. On these two tables I was raising and reraising a fair range of hands in a lot of different positions, trying to upset the rockishness of the other players.

The best thing about playing this way is that reasonable players start making horrible plays against you.

Case in point:

***** Hand History for Game (?) *****
$100 PL Omaha - Saturday, November 19, 23:01:16 EDT 2005
Table Table 65090 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: pesnyary ( $114.20 )
Seat 2: bestlucky ( $108.65 )
Seat 5: gopherajg ( $100 )
Seat 9: Hero ( $363.58 )
Seat 6: Turnis ( $66.30 )
Seat 10: OBEH30 ( $320.60 )
Seat 3: chinpokermon ( $90.80 )
Seat 8: NYCbuddha ( $100 )
Seat 4: a8poker ( $75.30 )
Seat 7: ddeeff ( $81.20 )
chinpokermon posts small blind [ $0.50 ].
a8poker posts big blind [ $1 ].

Holecards:
Dealt to Hero [ ]
RAISE gopherajg, $3.50

His raise under the gun probably means a big pair like KK or AA, even possibly QQ. I am certain he would not raise jacks, a run or any other hand here.

CALL Turnis, $3.50
FOLD ddeeff
FOLD NYCbuddha
RAISE Hero , $15.50

Why raise? A few reasons. I have been reraising a ton of hands in and out of position. If I call here and smash a flop with two hearts and/or a queen, I am going to give away my hand somewhat. It will be much easier for him to put me on a set of queens or a heart draw and fold / call as appropriate. I'm basically taking a shot here at gaining control of the pot knowing he will not likely reraise. If he has AA and choses to go with it, I'll probably fold. My hand isn't strong enough to run up against AA against a small stack.

FOLD OBEH30
FOLD pesnyary
FOLD bestlucky
FOLD chinpokermon
FOLD a8poker
CALL gopherajg, $12
CALL Turnis, $12

It's clear here that he doesn't have AA. I am certain he has KK or possibly another QQ.

Flop:
[ ]
CHECK gopherajg

He thinks for a while and checks. He either has a set or a flush. Either way I want to play for his stack.

CHECK Turnis

Now this is interesting. The second player also thinks for a bit and checks. It is possible either one of them flopped a set, a flush, or even the nut straight. The pot is approximately $50 on the flop and this guy only has $50 behind. If he has ANY of these hands he should be open pushing here. 3-handed he is likely to have the best hand here.

BET Hero , $45.60

Again, I represent strength with a strong bet when I am very very strong. Too many people slowplay strong hands and win small pots or lose big ones. In this case I have a feeling I can get both of them to push in their entire stacks. I happen to know that no straight flush is possible since I have the six of hearts.

CALL gopherajg, $45.60

What an odd call. The guy has about $85 left in front of him and he smooth calls the flop in a $100 pot. What hands could he be doing with this?

Knowing this is party poker, it could be a set, the straight, or a flush. It's possible that he might smooth call here with air and push the turn but the pot is too big already and I don't think he is sophisticated enough to make that bet, even if the conditions were right (we'd both have to have large stacks).

Turnis: damn
FOLD Turnis

Well, I guess he folded the straight. If he wouldn't call here with a set then he needs to re-up his retard medication.

Turn:
[ ]
ALL-IN gopherajg

What could he be pushing here that he wouldn't push the flop with? If I have air on the flop I am certainly not going to call an all in, but I am also not *that* likely to bluff at that flop, even three handed (there is the remote possibility of the naked ace bluff). I also cannot fold for his last $40 in a $190 pot if the board pairs, so he is not going to win in that situation either. If I have a worse flush than him, I am probably forced to call the flop but I may fold the turn. In any case, it's a terrible bet and it happens over and over.

CALL Hero , $38.90

River:
[ ]
gopherajg shows [ ] a flush king high .
Hero shows [ ] a flush ace high .
Hero wins $214 from the main pot with a flush ace high with ace kicker .

He got a little bit cold decked here, but he played it terribly. If he wanted to maximize his wins and minimize his losses, he should have either bet or checkraised the flop. His check-call turn push is the worst possible play.

I don't fuck wit muts

There has been a lot of talk on 2+2 lately about starting hands in pot limit omaha as beset mentioned below.

The simple truth is starting hand values mean almost nothing in this game. The only difference between KKJQ double suited and KK38 rainbow in a multiway pot preflop is that KKJQ has about 5% more equity against four random hands. 5% equity is certainly nothing to shrug at, but if you can make money with the hand regardless of whether it is coordinated or not, there is no argument.

Several posters have stated that raggy big pairs are marginal hands that should not be played in early or middle position unless you play very well post flop and are capable of making big laydowns. They are definitely marginal hands... most PLO hands are. Excluding AAxx, you should expect to make about 1BB/Hand on average with your winning starting hands.

The best line used was "if you are playing these hands against players playing with better sidecards, you are effectively playing handicapped". Uhhh... wrong. Big pairs and possibly hands containing a suited ace are probably the only one way hands I would ever suggest playing preflop, and only because you are either going to hit the flop and get as much money in as possible, or fold. Position is certainly critical, but weak players in PLO get eaten up like kibble. If you are afraid of having to make decisions it is likely that this game is not for you.

Here's are some hands I played tonight out of position against a weak player.

$100 PL Omaha - Saturday, November 19, 21:09:48 EDT 2005
Table Table 66280 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: frdoc22 ( $147.60 )
Seat 3: tpipal ( $135.50 )
Seat 4: drifwood ( $166.35 )
Seat 6: DrZizmor ( $89.95 ) The Mark
Seat 8: bobmckewl ( $51.50 )
Seat 9: sikerimsizi ( $88.17 )
Seat 10: Hero ( $59.90 )

Note my shortstack, I like to buy into these games short when I first sit down, especially when there are a few players I haven't played with before, it allows me to gamble more on the flop and to set up a loose image.

Seat 5: RAM_ITS ( $99.35 )
Seat 7: pesnyary ( $98 )
Seat 2: soonkala ( $100 )
bobmckewl posts small blind [ $0.50 ].
sikerimsizi posts big blind [ $1 ].
soonkala posts big blind [ $1 ].

Holecards:
Dealt to Hero [ ]
RAISE Hero , $2

I actually have a very coordinated hand in this case and choose to start building a pot. Other than the obvious broadway draw (which generally is not a great thing, it's a pot splitter) I have two flush draws and a nice little wheel draw.

FOLD frdoc22
CALL soonkala, $1
FOLD tpipal
FOLD drifwood
FOLD RAM_ITS
RAISE DrZizmor, $9.50
CALL pesnyary, $9.50
FOLD bobmckewl
FOLD sikerimsiz
CALL Hero , $7.50
CALL soonkala, $7.50

Flop:
[ ]

An okay flop for me. I've flopped top pair (doesn't generally mean much), the nut flush draw and a backdoor straight draw. I know the preflop raiser is fairly passive post flop, however, and will likely not call a big bet without QQ, 99, or some kind of wrap/flush draw. If he has AA or KK and decides to go with me, we are pretty much flipping a coin.
BET Hero , $37.55
FOLD soonkala
ALL-IN DrZizmor

Oops, he has a big hand, most likely QQ. I had about $12 left behind so of course I have to call. Whether I win or lose here, I will gain in the metagame sense since I will be able to make similar bets in the future with much stronger hands on the flop and he and others will have a much wider range to put me on than I am actually playing.

pesnyary could not respond in time.(disconnected)
A disconnect cheater, always nice.

ALL-IN Hero

Turn:
[ ]

River:
[ ]
Hero shows [ ] two pairs queens and nines .
DrZizmor shows [ ] a full house Queens full of nines .
pesnyary doesn't show [ ] three of a kind, nines.
DrZizmor wins $30.05 from side pot #2 with a full house Queens full of nines .
DrZizmor wins $99.75 from side pot #1 with a full house Queens full of nines .
DrZizmor wins $37.55 from the main pot with a full house Queens full of nines .

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=1356299
pokenum  -o ac jc qd 3d  - qs 7s ah qh  -- qc 9d 2d  / 8h 9c ts js
Omaha Hi: 666 enumerated boards containing Qc 9d 2d
cards          win   %win  lose  %lose  tie  %tie     EV
Ac Jc  Qd  3d  267  40.09   398  59.76    1  0.15  0.402
Qs 7s  Ah  Qh  398  59.76   267  40.09    1  0.15  0.598

If you look at the numbers here, I wasn't even that much of a dog and I am winning that pot on the flop the majority of the time. He has to wake up with a big hand to call/raise there so I have fold equity most of the time, and against someone that is generally uncomfortable playing for big bets post flop without a very strong hand I have a lot of fold equity here. He ended up winning in this spot, but a few hundred hands later my play paid off.

***** Hand History for Game (?) *****
$100 PL Omaha - Saturday, November 19, 21:48:45 EDT 2005
Table Table 66280 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 8
Seat 1: pam_jam ( $42.90 )
Seat 2: soonkala ( $83.20 )
Seat 4: drifwood ( $178.85 )
Seat 6: DrZizmor ( $177.55 )
Seat 7: pesnyary ( $82.25 )
Seat 9: sikerimsizi ( $78.22 )
Seat 10: Hero ( $123.05 )
Seat 3: Turnis ( $99.75 )
pesnyary posts small blind [ $0.50 ].
sikerimsizi posts big blind [ $1 ].
drifwood posts big blind [ $1 ].

Holecards:
Dealt to Hero [ ]

A totally uncoordinated junky pair of jacks. I am going to see a flop with this hand to see if I can flop a set, that's it. OOP I am not terribly happy if I flop the nut straight since I will win or split a small pot most of the time. I know my opponents are somewhat weak and will go too far with bad draws and made hands though, so I will invest a little bit preflop in this dog hand.

CALL Hero , $1
FOLD pam_jam
CALL soonkala, $1
CALL Turnis, $1
CHECK drifwood
RAM_ITS has joined the table.
RAISE DrZizmor $7.50

I can win against this guy in more ways than just flopping the best hand and I may get some callers behind if I call, so I decide to go with it. We both have deepish stacks.

FOLD pesnyary
FOLD sikerimsizi
CALL Hero $6.50
FOLD soonkala
FOLD Turnis
FOLD drifwood

Oh well, no callers behind.
Flop :
[ ]


Great flop! Now I have to decide how to approach the betting. I basically have three options.

1. Make a weak bet like I am trying to bluff him out cheaply. This generally doesn't work and I don't want to give him even close to the right price if he has a flush or straight draw.
2. Check-raise. This can work. He may check behind though, since it's HU and I have a pretty huge range preflop. If he didn't hit this flop I don't want to give him a free card on the turn to hit an overpair and break me. It is also fairly obvious and will give away the strength of my hand. If I check-raise, he smooth calls the raise and a diamond or straight card comes off he will be able to bet into me with impunity and may cause me to make a wrong decision (doubtful, but there's always a possibility).
3. Bet out. In the previous hand I bet out with a relatively weak hand. In this case I am very strong and betting strong will actually mask the strength of my hand.

BET Hero , $18.55
RAISE DrZizmor, $74.20
ALL-IN Hero
CALL DrZizmor, $41.35

Turn:
[ ]

River:
[ ]
DrZizmor shows [ ] high card ace .
Hero shows [ ] three of a kind jacks .
Hero wins $247.60 from the main pot with three of a kind jacks .

So what happened? I got him to over commit a lot of money, especially relative to the pot size, with a seven out flush draw. In this case I was a 75/25 favorite and he had no reason to believe I would bet out and fold. Players that are as easily manipulated as this play every limit and are the reason I will continue to play crappy big pairs in EP until the day I die.

This and That

Interesting 2+2 Thread on dry big pairs (TTxx-AAxx) In PLO High.

Granted, my experience with high-stakes online Pot Limit Omaha (which I define as 5/10 blinds and up) is fairly limited, I think the toughness of these games is greatly exaggerated. Maybe I'm just a lousy loose-aggressive player who runs well. But, it's still poker; the best five card at the end wins. A caveat: a lot of my play in the "big" games has been on a short buy, flopping sets and check/raising all-in on the flop. So, ignore me at your will, but I'll be playing QQ24 UTG even if a rabid monkey on crystal methamphetamine who has memorized everything written by Stewart Rueben is on the button.

A Funny Omaha8 Hand from another blog. The 30/60 and 75/150 games on Poker Stars have appeared to be especially live lately. I've always been a little nervous about collusion in higher stakes Omaha8 but the wierd play I've seen in these games is clearly donkery and nothing more.

Lastly, there's Ribbo Making a Fool of Himself. I've been putting up with reading this guy since I used to lurk on RGP. It's painful how the internet allows individuals like Ribbo the opportunity to indulge in their fantasy worlds. I've seen dozens of hands where this guy gets stacked playing like a complete moron yet people appear to respect him because he is good at one of the most mechanical poker games (biased: not much of a PLO8b player) ever invented. Well, I feel like as a moderator I shouldn't really enter into the fray too much with these flame fests as long as nobody is violating the T&Cs of the web site. But I've enjoyed reading it.

Running Good and Gambling Hard

Been gambling especially hard lately. Taking shots at bigger games, making outrageous sports bets, playing some pit games… The problem is that I've been rewarded for it. I think I've pulled myself together but I check in regularly with a few of my poker buddies and give them honest updates on my behavior. I'm back, thanks to a successful shot at a particularly juice 10/20 PLO High game, to playing at limits I feel comfortable with.

I had a hard time dropping down after my downswing in early October. I'm just not the "grind it out playing small stakes" type of guy. Personally, I don't even think there is much value in the experience of working your way up fron nano-limits to small then medium stakes games. The micros will teach you discipline but its boring as hell and there are much better ways to make a few bucks an hour.

Anyways, I'm in the thick of writing a 50 page research paper for the law review. Thanks to interview season I find myself way behind the writing process. But, I've got that nice warm and fuzzy 2k a week job lined up for the summer to keep my warm at night as I pull my 3rd all nighter in a row (DaVinci Sleep Cycle right now) trying to get at least a semblance of a rough draft together.

I also, just want to add, that I can't wait to quit playing poker for a living. Thanks to online poker I can make a fantastic hourly wage. But, I've come to believe that I am simply not cut out to be a poker pro. I get tired, frustrated, I tilt to easy, I have a proclivity to partake in -EV gambling, and I simply enjoy being more active--out in the world doing shit with people that matters to them. I'm grateful for poker, as it has allowed me to provide for my family while working a schedule of my choosing during law school; but, I can't wait for this phase of my life to come to a close.