The big tournament sponsored by Jeff was last Saturday. The turnout was not as big as expected as we only had 22 players. The garage that we had the tables set up in was awesome. The owner of the house buys/sells cars and trucks after fixing them up so he had a great garage with refrigerators, bathroom, and heavy duty air conditioning as it was 112 degrees outside.
We started with 1000 in chips and the blinds were 5-10 at the start. They were supposed to go up every 1/2 hour but that was a best case scenario as we would have to depend on Jeff to remember to tell everyone.
My strategy was to play tight for a couple of rounds and get a feel for the players at my table and then try to be aggressive and acquire a big stack. We had unlimited rebuys for the first 2 hours and I was prepared to buy in 2 more times if necessary.
Basically there were a lot of loose players at my table limping in. They also would call down with bad kickers so this was a good table. The problem was that I was getting horrible cards for the first hour and saw a flop maybe twice. Eventually the blinds were getting a little higher and I was down to about 700. I got AQ on the button and raised to 150. Jeff called me. The flop was something like 7-5-2. He checked and I moved all in. My thinking was that the flop probably did not hit him. If I bet 300 he is likely to call anyway since he had the chips. If I bet 300, I have nothing left on the later streets. Plus it was getting about to the time that I needed chips or to bust out and rebuy. Jeff folded reluctantly.
The very next hand I was dealt KK. I raised again and a short stack came over the top all in. I called and took his chips and suddenly I was up to about 2000. I got lucky once when I was dealt K-3 in the big blind. I flopped a King and bet on the flop and the turn. On the turn, I was raised all in. The board was K-5-2-4. So had top pair and the open end straight draw. If I lose, I am pretty short stacked again. Because I had the draw, I decided to call. I expected my opponent to have a King, but he also had a 5 for two pair. Of course I got my 6 on the river and hit the straight to bust him out.
Once we hit the break, I added on and had about 4,000. I think the blinds were up to 100-200. We consolidated to two tables and I confirmed that the top 8 would pay. I basically held steady and people busted out left and right. We made it to the final table and then quickly into the money with 8 people left. The blinds were now 200-400 and I only had about 3200 left. I just was not getting any cards, and the big stack held by a guy named Frank was doing a good job of being aggressive and making people define their hands.
Now because of my rebuy I was only going to make money if I finished in 6th or better. I made it to the final 7 with about the same amount of chips, when my unlucky break occurred. Comically I was not even in the hand. One of the shorter stacks at the table got involved with the chip leader. The chip leader had top pair and strong kicker. When the money went all in after the turn, the short stack turned over an inside straight draw. If he is eliminated, I move up to 6th and make money. Also one of the other players mentions that he folded one of the 4 remaining outs. Sure enough, he hit the straight on the river and doubled up.
A couple more rotations went by and I was still at about 7 x the big blind. I was dealt KJ offsuit on the big blind. The 2nd chip leader raised to 1000. The chip leader called. It was folded to me. They didn't feel that strong so I thought it was time to make a move and I raised all in. Now I did not specifically think to myself that I should make the "squeeze play" I like to think that I made it on instinct instead of impatience. I don't know for sure. Anyways, the initial raiser folded, but the big stack called me with KQ suited. There were no more Jacks in the deck and I flamed out in 7th. I spent $250 and received $180 back.
Overall I played well. There is one hand that I am still questioning. At the final table I was dealt J7 in the big blind. The big stack called and the small blind completed. The flop was J-J-3 with two clubs. It was checked to me. I think there was 300 in the pot. I bet 200 because I wanted to charge any flush draws. In retrospect, the chances of the big stack having a flush draw were pretty slim. The chances were pretty good that he would have bet at the pot if it was checked to him since he had been pretty aggressive. I guess I should have let him catch up or only bet 100 to make it look like I was trying to steal it. I really wanted to make that a big pot because I saw it as the chance to double up, but I got too excited. Not a horrible play, but not the most effective.
As for my online play, I was subjected to some bad beats again in the 50's. I find it fascinating to play when one player goes on a huge lucky roll and gets to 5,000 in chips with 5 or 6 players left. I usually have close to what I started with and there are usually a couple of players with only 500 left. I think the best strategy is to try and play a pot with the big stack with a strong hand and trap him. If I have seen him make bad plays I think that will be the easiest money to win.
The first situation occurred when I had about 1000 chips with 5 left. I was dealt 33 in late position. The big stack was under the gun and just doubled the blind. My original thinking was I can push him around and if he does call me, he probably just has over cards and I'll be a slight favorite. Of course he woke up with QQ and I was gone. My strategy was sound, except I probably should have only done that with 99 or better. 33 is just too weak.
The second situation really pissed me off. I had close to 2000 in chips and was in great shape with 4 left. The chip leader had over 5000 and was horrible. He was in the small blind and I was in the big blind with AJ of spades. I think the blinds were 75-150. He just called the blind. I raised to 450. He called. The flop came A-10-7 rainbow. He minimum bet the flop and I went all in. He called quickly with Ace-5. The turn was a blank, but the river hit his 5 and I was out again.
I remember Phil Hellmuth interviewing Greg Raymer after the WSOP main event this year. Phil was lamenting the fact that Greg had totally outplayed his opponent on a hand, but his opponent had hit a runner, runner flush to beat him. "You work so hard the entire tournament to set up a player like that, and just when you have him right where you want him, he sucks out on you. Doesn't that drive you crazy?!" Greg gave some gracious answer that sometimes you just have to get lucky and that all he can control is the decisions he makes, blah, blah, blah. I agree with Phil, it sucks!
Monday, August 29, 2005
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Tune up
First a comedy break brought to you by David Letterman and AOL.
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That is why dogs are the best.
I played in the Casino AZ $130 NL tournament last night to tune up for the tournament at Jeff's this weekend. 170 players, 2000 in starting chips, 20 minute levels. Blinds started at 25-50.
My first table was very passive. Lot's of limping preflop and not a lot of betting after the flop. So blind stealing was out since it was very rare that I would get to open a pot in late position. There were usually at least 2 callers before it got to me. However it was a good strategy to put in a raise preflop and then a continuation bet after the flop. I did this about 3 times and never got called. One time I checked the flop and then bluffed the turn. I was called so I figured I was done with the hand. He checked to me on the river and I just turned over my cards. I won with Ace high as he had a busted straight draw.
It was one of those weird sessions where every time I folded a marginal hand (one you could play under the right circumstances) the flop came up huge. I also seemed to be dealt Ace-little a lot. Well I was slowly chipping up and then was dealt KK in the hole. I raised to 400 after one limper came in for 100. He called and it was heads up. The flop was nine high and he bet 100 into the pot. It was a weak bet, but I wanted to make sure he made a mistake if he had a straight draw. He only had 800 left so I put him all in. He turned over Ace-9. My Kings held up and I busted him out. I looked around the table and noticed that I was the chip leader by a couple thousand now. Tonight might be the night.
A few more hands go by and I am dealt AA. Utg raises the 200 big blind to 500. It's folded to me 2 off the button and I reraise to 1500. Everyone folds to the initial raiser. He does what I am dreaming of and goes all in which is really just calling my bet plus a 200 raise so 1700 total. The pot has 3700 and it will put me in great position if I win. He turns over 33. Way to overplay that worthless hand!
You all know what's coming next....The guy next to me said, "Ha I folded an Ace". I said, "It would be better if you told me you folded a 3." The flop was safe. So was the turn. The river was another ugly 3 and he wins the pot. A hit to my stack but nothing too terrible.
The next hand I am dealt KQ suited. Its folded to me and raise to 600. It's folded to the big blind (pocket 3's guy) and he calls. The flop is A-3-9. This time he bets out 600. I look at him trying to get a read. I ask, "You don't have pocket 3's again do you?" He smiles. I lay it down and he's nice enough to show me his Ace.
Now that I've blown off 2300 in chips I get more bad news in that my table is breaking. I get moved to another table where a guy in an ASU hat has at least 10,000 in chips and another old guy has just about as many on his left. The blinds have gone up to 150-300 which means I have just over 10 BB left.
Of course this is where I go card dead. One funny moment is when I am blinded down to about 8 times the big blind and 3 off the button. The ASU hat limps in, weakly I feel, and it's folded to me. This feels like a time to move all in and steal the blinds. Unfortunately I actually look at my cards first and they are 10-5. So much for that idea and I fold. Well it ends up as the 2 blinds and ASU in the pot and the flop is 10-10-5. I think they all check it down and then I announce, "I'd play this game much better if I didn't look at my cards. I had 10-5. I felt like I should move in because you guys were weak, but I couldn't do it after I looked at my cards." The very next hand I was dealt KK. ASU had limped in again. This time I raised to 1000. It's folded through the blinds. ASU asks me if I looked at my cards this time and I said I did. He folds and tells me he had an Ace. That would have made a great angle if he had called.
Eventually I was blinded down and went all in with my last 1200 with 9-5 suited. I was called by Queen Jack and he hit his Queen on the flop. Suprisingly there were still about 70 left.
Overall I think I made the right decision almost every time so I can't really complain about how I played. Just need to be a little more lucky.
http://television.aol.com/franchise/tv_viewer_awards
That is why dogs are the best.
I played in the Casino AZ $130 NL tournament last night to tune up for the tournament at Jeff's this weekend. 170 players, 2000 in starting chips, 20 minute levels. Blinds started at 25-50.
My first table was very passive. Lot's of limping preflop and not a lot of betting after the flop. So blind stealing was out since it was very rare that I would get to open a pot in late position. There were usually at least 2 callers before it got to me. However it was a good strategy to put in a raise preflop and then a continuation bet after the flop. I did this about 3 times and never got called. One time I checked the flop and then bluffed the turn. I was called so I figured I was done with the hand. He checked to me on the river and I just turned over my cards. I won with Ace high as he had a busted straight draw.
It was one of those weird sessions where every time I folded a marginal hand (one you could play under the right circumstances) the flop came up huge. I also seemed to be dealt Ace-little a lot. Well I was slowly chipping up and then was dealt KK in the hole. I raised to 400 after one limper came in for 100. He called and it was heads up. The flop was nine high and he bet 100 into the pot. It was a weak bet, but I wanted to make sure he made a mistake if he had a straight draw. He only had 800 left so I put him all in. He turned over Ace-9. My Kings held up and I busted him out. I looked around the table and noticed that I was the chip leader by a couple thousand now. Tonight might be the night.
A few more hands go by and I am dealt AA. Utg raises the 200 big blind to 500. It's folded to me 2 off the button and I reraise to 1500. Everyone folds to the initial raiser. He does what I am dreaming of and goes all in which is really just calling my bet plus a 200 raise so 1700 total. The pot has 3700 and it will put me in great position if I win. He turns over 33. Way to overplay that worthless hand!
You all know what's coming next....The guy next to me said, "Ha I folded an Ace". I said, "It would be better if you told me you folded a 3." The flop was safe. So was the turn. The river was another ugly 3 and he wins the pot. A hit to my stack but nothing too terrible.
The next hand I am dealt KQ suited. Its folded to me and raise to 600. It's folded to the big blind (pocket 3's guy) and he calls. The flop is A-3-9. This time he bets out 600. I look at him trying to get a read. I ask, "You don't have pocket 3's again do you?" He smiles. I lay it down and he's nice enough to show me his Ace.
Now that I've blown off 2300 in chips I get more bad news in that my table is breaking. I get moved to another table where a guy in an ASU hat has at least 10,000 in chips and another old guy has just about as many on his left. The blinds have gone up to 150-300 which means I have just over 10 BB left.
Of course this is where I go card dead. One funny moment is when I am blinded down to about 8 times the big blind and 3 off the button. The ASU hat limps in, weakly I feel, and it's folded to me. This feels like a time to move all in and steal the blinds. Unfortunately I actually look at my cards first and they are 10-5. So much for that idea and I fold. Well it ends up as the 2 blinds and ASU in the pot and the flop is 10-10-5. I think they all check it down and then I announce, "I'd play this game much better if I didn't look at my cards. I had 10-5. I felt like I should move in because you guys were weak, but I couldn't do it after I looked at my cards." The very next hand I was dealt KK. ASU had limped in again. This time I raised to 1000. It's folded through the blinds. ASU asks me if I looked at my cards this time and I said I did. He folds and tells me he had an Ace. That would have made a great angle if he had called.
Eventually I was blinded down and went all in with my last 1200 with 9-5 suited. I was called by Queen Jack and he hit his Queen on the flop. Suprisingly there were still about 70 left.
Overall I think I made the right decision almost every time so I can't really complain about how I played. Just need to be a little more lucky.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Big Tournament Coming Up
The bankroll has been replenished and back over $4,400 thanks to some nice scores in the 50 Sits and a first place in a 3 table $33 sit. I still have a long way to go to clear the bonuses on Full Tilt and Noble but I hope that playing 6 handed in 2-4 will improve my limit hold'em play. Short handed is such a totally different game.
The big day on this week's agenda is Saturday. My friend Jeff is organizing a poker tournament at a friends house. The first two that I played in were definitely juicy. The first one, I came in Third and probably should have won except that I got impatient at the end. The second one, I was in great shape until a guy on tilt pushed all his chips in with nothing and I called with 3 of a kind, only to see my chips go away when he hit the runner runner flush. I win that pot and I am the chip leader with about 20 left.
So this tournament has a $150 buy in for $1000 in chips. There are $100 rebuys for the first 2 hours. The evite says there are about 40 players signed up so far. The tricky part about these tournaments is that a majority of the players have no idea about tournament strategy. It's important to identify these players quickly and figure out a way to trap them.
The usual mistake I see in this type of tournament is very passive play preflop and then if they get a good hand, they love to slow play it. This makes it very hard to put a player on a hand. The key to playing these players is to make sure you are in position so you can see what they do first. So if I flop top pair and good kicker on the flop and it's checked to me, I can make a bet and see what they do. If they just call they may be trying to slow play. If the turn doesn't improve my hand, I may just check it through and see what happens on the river. At least this keeps the pots small, early on.
I also think I will be playing lots of small pairs and suited connecters for cheap trying to make a big hand. I swear some of these players may not even realize a flush or straight is possible when they look at certain boards.
The rebuys will help as well since I can afford to be a little more aggressive and try to get chips early. I think my back is healthy enough to attempt a tournament at Casino Arizona on Tuesday or Wednesday just to get some practice in at reading people again.
The win in the 3 table tournament was pretty amusing. I got short stacked with about 20 players left when someone put a bad beat on me. I stayed patient and moved in a couple of times to keep my stack at 5-7 times the blinds. It was amazing I was still in, because i really hadn't had any decent starting cards.
Suddenly I began to get cards and the timing was right because others got cards that were just a little bit worse than mine. Before I know it, I'm in the money at the final 5. There were 30,000 chips in play and I had about 5000 with 250-500 blinds. There were a couple of guys over 10,000 and they swapped chips around. I won a couple of hands and finally everyone was just about even in chips around 6,000. For the most part, the table was still playing kind of tight with just min raises and every once in a while someone would come over the top and they would all fold. Very few flops.
I decide that now is the time to be aggressive because the blinds had just moved up to 400-800. I felt like if I start pushing all in, 75% of the time I am going to win the 1200 in blinds and the other 25% I may just have to get lucky. But the great part is, if I get lucky I am then in prime position to win. So here is the hand history from that point forward:
Opponent chat is in blue. Mine is in purple.
#Game No : 2568758431
***** Hand History for Game 2568758431 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:03:52 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: jcsmitty22 ( $7255 )
Seat 4: naguara ( $4610 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $6853 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $5710 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $5572 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ Ah 3s ]
larryvq is all-In [5710]
Pitbull201 folds.
jcsmitty22 calls [5710].
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8h, Qs, 2d ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6d ]
larryvq shows [ Ah, 3s ] a pair of threes.
jcsmitty22 shows [ Ks, As ] high card ace.
larryvq wins 12620 chips from the main pot with a pair of threes.
yeah dude
good one
fckin retard
yes!!!
Game #2568760468 starts.
#Game No : 2568760468
***** Hand History for Game 2568760468 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:04:17 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: jcsmitty22 ( $1545 )
Seat 4: naguara ( $4210 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $6053 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $12620 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $5572 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ As 2s ]
Pitbull201 folds.
jcsmitty22 folds.
jcsmitty22: way to be a fckin assclown
RTL43: brutal
jcsmitty22: when u steal blinds u raise them 3-4 times so u can lay down to a better hand
jcsmitty22: you dont just go all in under the gun like a fkcing retard
jcsmitty22: jesus christ
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq does not show cards.
larryvq wins 1200 chips
learn how to fckin play poker
Game #2568763472 starts.
#Game No : 2568763472
***** Hand History for Game 2568763472 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:04:54 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: jcsmitty22 ( $1545 )
Seat 4: naguara ( $4210 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $5653 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $13020 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $5572 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ 2h 8d ]
jcsmitty22 is all-In [1545]
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq folds.
larryvq: here's 400 back
Pitbull201 calls [745].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4d, 3c, 6s ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2s ]
jcsmitty22 shows [ 8c, Jc ] high card queen.
Pitbull201 shows [ Tc, Kd ] high card king.
Pitbull201 wins 3490 chips from the main pot with high card king.
Player jcsmitty22 finished in 5 place and received $90
no crying JC it is poker
what a joke
jcsmitty22 has left the table.
Game #2568767452 starts.
#Game No : 2568767452
***** Hand History for Game 2568767452 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:05:42 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 4: naguara ( $4210 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $5653 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $12620 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $7517 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ Kh 9c ]
jcsmitty22: larry what a joke you are
RTL43: gg
jcsmitty22: risk 6k to win 1200
RTL43 folds.
jcsmitty22: what a fckin douche
jcsmitty22: not a gg
jcsmitty22: a ridiculously stupid game
naguara: gl JC
jcsmitty22: just keep hittin buttons larry
larryvq: tilt much?
jcsmitty22: keep it up
larryvq raises [2500].
Pitbull201 folds.
naguara folds.
larryvq does not show cards.
larryvq wins 3700 chips
learn how to play poker
then come to the 33 buy-ins
Game #2568771246 starts.
#Game No : 2568771246
***** Hand History for Game 2568771246 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:06:28 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 4: naguara ( $3410 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $5653 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $13820 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $7117 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ Th Ad ]
jcsmitty22: jesus christ moron
larryvq raises [2400].
Pitbull201 folds.
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq does not show cards.
larryvq wins 3600 chips
i only 7xx blind, all in is good bet
Game #2568774099 starts.
#Game No : 2568774099
***** Hand History for Game 2568774099 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:07:02 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 4: naguara ( $3010 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $4853 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $15020 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $7117 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ 2h 3c ]
Pitbull201 folds.
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq does not show cards.
larryvq wins 1200 chips
Game #2568775229 starts.
#Game No : 2568775229
***** Hand History for Game 2568775229 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:07:16 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 4: naguara ( $3010 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $4453 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $15420 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $7117 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ 5c 9c ]
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq: seeing guys go crazy like that is half the fun of online poker
larryvq folds.
Pitbull201 does not show cards.
Pitbull201 wins 1200 chips
Game #2568777616 starts.
Anyways I started to get some great cards and the other players were moving in on me and I busted them fairly quickly after that. What sucks is that first place is only $270. First place on the $55 one tables is $250 and much easier to win. Still it was fun to book a nice win.
The big day on this week's agenda is Saturday. My friend Jeff is organizing a poker tournament at a friends house. The first two that I played in were definitely juicy. The first one, I came in Third and probably should have won except that I got impatient at the end. The second one, I was in great shape until a guy on tilt pushed all his chips in with nothing and I called with 3 of a kind, only to see my chips go away when he hit the runner runner flush. I win that pot and I am the chip leader with about 20 left.
So this tournament has a $150 buy in for $1000 in chips. There are $100 rebuys for the first 2 hours. The evite says there are about 40 players signed up so far. The tricky part about these tournaments is that a majority of the players have no idea about tournament strategy. It's important to identify these players quickly and figure out a way to trap them.
The usual mistake I see in this type of tournament is very passive play preflop and then if they get a good hand, they love to slow play it. This makes it very hard to put a player on a hand. The key to playing these players is to make sure you are in position so you can see what they do first. So if I flop top pair and good kicker on the flop and it's checked to me, I can make a bet and see what they do. If they just call they may be trying to slow play. If the turn doesn't improve my hand, I may just check it through and see what happens on the river. At least this keeps the pots small, early on.
I also think I will be playing lots of small pairs and suited connecters for cheap trying to make a big hand. I swear some of these players may not even realize a flush or straight is possible when they look at certain boards.
The rebuys will help as well since I can afford to be a little more aggressive and try to get chips early. I think my back is healthy enough to attempt a tournament at Casino Arizona on Tuesday or Wednesday just to get some practice in at reading people again.
The win in the 3 table tournament was pretty amusing. I got short stacked with about 20 players left when someone put a bad beat on me. I stayed patient and moved in a couple of times to keep my stack at 5-7 times the blinds. It was amazing I was still in, because i really hadn't had any decent starting cards.
Suddenly I began to get cards and the timing was right because others got cards that were just a little bit worse than mine. Before I know it, I'm in the money at the final 5. There were 30,000 chips in play and I had about 5000 with 250-500 blinds. There were a couple of guys over 10,000 and they swapped chips around. I won a couple of hands and finally everyone was just about even in chips around 6,000. For the most part, the table was still playing kind of tight with just min raises and every once in a while someone would come over the top and they would all fold. Very few flops.
I decide that now is the time to be aggressive because the blinds had just moved up to 400-800. I felt like if I start pushing all in, 75% of the time I am going to win the 1200 in blinds and the other 25% I may just have to get lucky. But the great part is, if I get lucky I am then in prime position to win. So here is the hand history from that point forward:
Opponent chat is in blue. Mine is in purple.
#Game No : 2568758431
***** Hand History for Game 2568758431 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:03:52 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: jcsmitty22 ( $7255 )
Seat 4: naguara ( $4610 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $6853 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $5710 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $5572 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ Ah 3s ]
larryvq is all-In [5710]
Pitbull201 folds.
jcsmitty22 calls [5710].
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8h, Qs, 2d ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6d ]
larryvq shows [ Ah, 3s ] a pair of threes.
jcsmitty22 shows [ Ks, As ] high card ace.
larryvq wins 12620 chips from the main pot with a pair of threes.
yeah dude
good one
fckin retard
yes!!!
Game #2568760468 starts.
#Game No : 2568760468
***** Hand History for Game 2568760468 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:04:17 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: jcsmitty22 ( $1545 )
Seat 4: naguara ( $4210 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $6053 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $12620 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $5572 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ As 2s ]
Pitbull201 folds.
jcsmitty22 folds.
jcsmitty22: way to be a fckin assclown
RTL43: brutal
jcsmitty22: when u steal blinds u raise them 3-4 times so u can lay down to a better hand
jcsmitty22: you dont just go all in under the gun like a fkcing retard
jcsmitty22: jesus christ
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq does not show cards.
larryvq wins 1200 chips
learn how to fckin play poker
Game #2568763472 starts.
#Game No : 2568763472
***** Hand History for Game 2568763472 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:04:54 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: jcsmitty22 ( $1545 )
Seat 4: naguara ( $4210 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $5653 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $13020 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $5572 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ 2h 8d ]
jcsmitty22 is all-In [1545]
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq folds.
larryvq: here's 400 back
Pitbull201 calls [745].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4d, 3c, 6s ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2s ]
jcsmitty22 shows [ 8c, Jc ] high card queen.
Pitbull201 shows [ Tc, Kd ] high card king.
Pitbull201 wins 3490 chips from the main pot with high card king.
Player jcsmitty22 finished in 5 place and received $90
no crying JC it is poker
what a joke
jcsmitty22 has left the table.
Game #2568767452 starts.
#Game No : 2568767452
***** Hand History for Game 2568767452 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:05:42 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 4: naguara ( $4210 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $5653 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $12620 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $7517 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ Kh 9c ]
jcsmitty22: larry what a joke you are
RTL43: gg
jcsmitty22: risk 6k to win 1200
RTL43 folds.
jcsmitty22: what a fckin douche
jcsmitty22: not a gg
jcsmitty22: a ridiculously stupid game
naguara: gl JC
jcsmitty22: just keep hittin buttons larry
larryvq: tilt much?
jcsmitty22: keep it up
larryvq raises [2500].
Pitbull201 folds.
naguara folds.
larryvq does not show cards.
larryvq wins 3700 chips
learn how to play poker
then come to the 33 buy-ins
Game #2568771246 starts.
#Game No : 2568771246
***** Hand History for Game 2568771246 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:06:28 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 4: naguara ( $3410 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $5653 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $13820 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $7117 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ Th Ad ]
jcsmitty22: jesus christ moron
larryvq raises [2400].
Pitbull201 folds.
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq does not show cards.
larryvq wins 3600 chips
i only 7xx blind, all in is good bet
Game #2568774099 starts.
#Game No : 2568774099
***** Hand History for Game 2568774099 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:07:02 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 4: naguara ( $3010 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $4853 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $15020 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $7117 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ 2h 3c ]
Pitbull201 folds.
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq does not show cards.
larryvq wins 1200 chips
Game #2568775229 starts.
#Game No : 2568775229
***** Hand History for Game 2568775229 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:15011432 Level:11 Blinds (400/800) - Saturday, August 20, 19:07:16 EDT 2005
Table 3 - Table(433627) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 4: naguara ( $3010 )
Seat 6: RTL43 ( $4453 )
Seat 8: larryvq ( $15420 )
Seat 9: Pitbull201 ( $7117 )
Trny:15011432 Level:11
Blinds (400/800)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larryvq [ 5c 9c ]
naguara folds.
RTL43 folds.
larryvq: seeing guys go crazy like that is half the fun of online poker
larryvq folds.
Pitbull201 does not show cards.
Pitbull201 wins 1200 chips
Game #2568777616 starts.
Anyways I started to get some great cards and the other players were moving in on me and I busted them fairly quickly after that. What sucks is that first place is only $270. First place on the $55 one tables is $250 and much easier to win. Still it was fun to book a nice win.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Regrouping
I decided to move down to the 33 Sits at Party to rebuild the bankroll and my confidence. I really hate not having the extra 200 in starting chips but the level of skill in the 33's is so much lower that it makes up for it. Starting Friday I played 19 tournaments and cashed in 11 of them. 2 Firsts, 2 Seconds, and 7 Thirds. I made $273. Not a ton of money, but over the last week I have built up the party poker bankroll back to $1800 from a low of approximately $1200.
I still have no clue what I am doing heads up. I am basically just trying to mix things up with my bet amounts and my bluffs. Usually it's so late in the game that there is really no move except to go all in.
Here are the differences between the 33 and 55 sits:
1. There are at least 2 players in the 33's who will go broke within 10 hands. It is a great advantage if you can be one of the lucky recipients of their stupidity.
2. They play super tight when it gets to 5 handed and like to min raise when the proper bet is all in.
I think I am playing a little better, but it's probably also that my luck has been a little better as well.
Here are the problem's I am still having:
1. I still feel I should have more firsts and less seconds and thirds. Part of this is that I play tight so its unusual for me to be the chip leader when it gets to 3 players. The other part is that I am probably making some mistakes in timing my pushes to steal blinds.
2. Overpairs. I have been chastised plenty on message boards for thinking of folding KK with a board of 10-7-3 when someone goes all in or raises me all in. I have been calling more and I would say that 2/3 to 3/4 of the time I am in the lead. Yes I run into the set on occasion but I guess that's why they call it gambling.
3. When does it make sense to semibluff a flush draw? I always seem to make this play at the wrong time. I hardly ever hit my flush. When I lead out, I get raised and then I am forced to call because of the pot odds. When I check, my opponent seems to price me out of the pot. Maybe I need to semibluff when my opponents seem to be weaker? Like maybe after an unraised pot preflop? A check through on the flop?
I also signed up on a rakeback site that got me on Full Tilt. The last time I played there it was impossible to hit the bonus. I logged on, and it looks like more of the same. I thought with all their advertising during the WSOP they would have more players. Apparently not. As soon as I get my money from Poker Stars I will give it another shot. My back is almost healthy enough to play at my desk, so maybe I will just set up Full Tilt on one screen and Noble on the other and do some bonus whoring.
I still have no clue what I am doing heads up. I am basically just trying to mix things up with my bet amounts and my bluffs. Usually it's so late in the game that there is really no move except to go all in.
Here are the differences between the 33 and 55 sits:
1. There are at least 2 players in the 33's who will go broke within 10 hands. It is a great advantage if you can be one of the lucky recipients of their stupidity.
2. They play super tight when it gets to 5 handed and like to min raise when the proper bet is all in.
I think I am playing a little better, but it's probably also that my luck has been a little better as well.
Here are the problem's I am still having:
1. I still feel I should have more firsts and less seconds and thirds. Part of this is that I play tight so its unusual for me to be the chip leader when it gets to 3 players. The other part is that I am probably making some mistakes in timing my pushes to steal blinds.
2. Overpairs. I have been chastised plenty on message boards for thinking of folding KK with a board of 10-7-3 when someone goes all in or raises me all in. I have been calling more and I would say that 2/3 to 3/4 of the time I am in the lead. Yes I run into the set on occasion but I guess that's why they call it gambling.
3. When does it make sense to semibluff a flush draw? I always seem to make this play at the wrong time. I hardly ever hit my flush. When I lead out, I get raised and then I am forced to call because of the pot odds. When I check, my opponent seems to price me out of the pot. Maybe I need to semibluff when my opponents seem to be weaker? Like maybe after an unraised pot preflop? A check through on the flop?
I also signed up on a rakeback site that got me on Full Tilt. The last time I played there it was impossible to hit the bonus. I logged on, and it looks like more of the same. I thought with all their advertising during the WSOP they would have more players. Apparently not. As soon as I get my money from Poker Stars I will give it another shot. My back is almost healthy enough to play at my desk, so maybe I will just set up Full Tilt on one screen and Noble on the other and do some bonus whoring.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Ouch!!!!
The latest news in my life is I have a herniated disc in my L4 vertabrae. I have been having some problems on and off for the last couple of months and 2 weeks ago it got so bad that I would almost shed tears of pain when getting out of bed. I think I am finally on the road to recovery with Physical Therapy but it has not been easy to play poker. Worse it may be months before I can pick up a golf club again.
During the last few days of staying home and laying around I have managed to play some online poker. The $50 sits at Party Poker have really been pissing me off. I tried to be a good player and go back and analyze my play. Basically I have figured out that I am losing most of my money at the 25-50 level. When I go back and look at the hand histories of my worst losing hands, I feel like I played 95% of them correctly. Maybe I need to look at the profitable hands and see if I could have won more money? I've even downloaded the entire summary and replayed it on the party poker replayer http://www.tightpoker.com/replayer.html
I hate it when players say they are just running bad, because I always think that is the losers "theme song" but I am starting to wonder. I have something like 125 sits at the $50's now and I think I am break even. Granted it could be worse, but it sure seems like it should be a lot better.
I've also decided to try and tackle the big bonus at Noble Poker. I saw somewhere that they are now owned by Empire Poker, so that makes me feel a little more comfortable about having my money there. I still have no idea how many hands I am going to have to play to work it off, but they are nice enough to pay it off $10 at a time. In order to get more hands in, I have been playing in the 6 handed games at 2-4. This is definitely a much different strategy than a full ring game. Middle pair is often good and there is a lot more bluffing at this game. I am still trying to find the right balance. I am also going to give their SNG promotion a shot. If you win 7 in a row, you can win $1,000,000. Of course this is probably impossible, but they have some other prizes at less than 7 and something if you make the top 2 for 7. So far I am 1 for 1. 6 more to go.
For the next couple of weeks I think I will concentrate on building up my bankroll again by playing the ring games and staying away from the Party Sits. I think I just need a break from NL for a while.
During the last few days of staying home and laying around I have managed to play some online poker. The $50 sits at Party Poker have really been pissing me off. I tried to be a good player and go back and analyze my play. Basically I have figured out that I am losing most of my money at the 25-50 level. When I go back and look at the hand histories of my worst losing hands, I feel like I played 95% of them correctly. Maybe I need to look at the profitable hands and see if I could have won more money? I've even downloaded the entire summary and replayed it on the party poker replayer http://www.tightpoker.com/replayer.html
I hate it when players say they are just running bad, because I always think that is the losers "theme song" but I am starting to wonder. I have something like 125 sits at the $50's now and I think I am break even. Granted it could be worse, but it sure seems like it should be a lot better.
I've also decided to try and tackle the big bonus at Noble Poker. I saw somewhere that they are now owned by Empire Poker, so that makes me feel a little more comfortable about having my money there. I still have no idea how many hands I am going to have to play to work it off, but they are nice enough to pay it off $10 at a time. In order to get more hands in, I have been playing in the 6 handed games at 2-4. This is definitely a much different strategy than a full ring game. Middle pair is often good and there is a lot more bluffing at this game. I am still trying to find the right balance. I am also going to give their SNG promotion a shot. If you win 7 in a row, you can win $1,000,000. Of course this is probably impossible, but they have some other prizes at less than 7 and something if you make the top 2 for 7. So far I am 1 for 1. 6 more to go.
For the next couple of weeks I think I will concentrate on building up my bankroll again by playing the ring games and staying away from the Party Sits. I think I just need a break from NL for a while.
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