I tried to play in the WBPT tournament at Titan Poker last night. What a bore fest!
I was under a little time pressure trying to get my withdrawal from Party Poker to clear so I could move some money over to Titan. The money hit my Neteller account with about 15 minutes to go until tournament time. In the mean time, I was still finishing up 2 $55 sit n go's where I ended up taking first place in both of them.
This also happened to be the time that Carlo came over to look at taking one of our refrigerators, so the 4 dogs went crazy, barking and running around the house. I am amazed I got everything set up.
The tournament started at 6:00 and I had to put it on auto post and fold because Carlo was still there and Michele had just came home. After I got rid of Carlo, I sat down. I did not recognize anyone at my table. I searched the other tables and found Iggy and Pauly and opened up their tables just to see if there was any good chat. This is where we had the big problem.
The chat software at Titan was almost unusable. Everytime you start to type, you are interrupted by action at the table. This interruption bounces the cursor back to the beginning of the box. The only time you could type in peace is when it was your turn. Of course then you have to deal with the alarm clock buzzing sound telling you it's time to bet. After you type your witty remarks, the bubble comes up on the screen and blocks your avatar and chip count so you have no idea how many chips you have.
Titan has a dollar for dollar bonus and it didn't look too hard to reach at first glance, but I may not have the patience for their software. It had a lot of Noble Poker's features which makes me think that they are skin for them.
Back to the tournament. I was a little bored with it, because there was no chat and I had just made $450 from the party sits. I only got to play for 15 minutes, before dinner was ready and I was on auto post again. I quickly scarfed down a couple of pieces of pizza with Michele and then went back to the computer. I was still stuck around my original 1500 in chips.
Honestly after the break I lost all interest in the tournament. I was waiting for a decent hand and pushing all in to double up. Eventually I lost a race and I was out.
As for my other poker....the wins in the Party sits pushed my bankroll over $5500 now. That's starting to turn into real money.
My next trip to Vegas is being planned in December. It will be for my wedding, so I don't know how much time I will have to play poker. I am coming in on a Thursday for my bachelor party, so maybe I'll get in a few hands before Michele comes in on Friday.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Finally a Big Tournament Win!
Yesterday I went a little tournament crazy and entered some small stakes tourneys online. On some of the less trafficked sites you can sometimes find an overlay of money with their guaranteed prize pools. For instance if it's $20 to enter and the prize pool is guaranteed at $2000, all you have to do is find out if they have less than 100 players.
I was splashing around on Full Tilt yesterday and noticed their $24+2 guaranteed $3500. Therefore it needs 146 players to break even. I signed up with about 15 minutes until cards in the air and there was less than 100 players. Unfortunately, there was a late rush and I think they pushed over 150.
At the beginning I did not do much of anything. I really wasn't getting much to play with and I was just hanging around. I was happy that Full Tilt gives you 1500 chips to start and the blinds move up rather slowly so I could afford to be patient. This was the point where I started to pull some unbelievable suckouts from my ass. Here is a sample of some of my hand histories:
FullTiltPoker Game #221483751: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 3 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:43:04 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (4,490)
Seat 2: Scubatoast (1,970)
Seat 3: Captian Eric (1,660)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 (3,580)
Seat 5: taxationfinance (1,480)
Seat 6: aslatman (1,275)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON (1,750)
Seat 8: Buzman (2,660)
Seat 9: rommmi (3,890)
rommmi posts the small blind of 40
JACKSCHIPS46 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [9c 9s]
Scubatoast folds
Captian Eric folds
Poker_Bully1 calls 80 I had been raising a lot and felt I should play this one for set value or a limp reraise.
taxationfinance folds
JACKSCHIPS46: IM NO GOOD JUIST LUCKY
aslatman folds
MELCOCHON folds
Buzman calls 80
UTfan (Observer): i can tell
JACKSCHIPS46: YOU ARE WORSE
rommmi has 15 seconds left to act
rommmi is sitting out
rommmi has timed out
rommmi folds
JACKSCHIPS46 checks
*** FLOP *** [8h 6h 7c]
JACKSCHIPS46 bets 80
rommmi has returned
Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 raises to 360 I feel I have the best hand so I raise to charge any possible flush draws
Buzman folds
JACKSCHIPS46 calls 280
*** TURN *** [8h 6h 7c] [Qh]
JACKSCHIPS46 bets 80
Poker_Bully1 calls 80
*** RIVER *** [8h 6h 7c Qh] [2h]
JACKSCHIPS46 bets 80
Poker_Bully1 calls 80
*** SHOW DOWN ***
JACKSCHIPS46 shows [9h 7d] (a flush, Queen high) I'm lucky he didn't bet more.
Poker_Bully1 mucks
JACKSCHIPS46 wins the pot (1,320) with a flush, Queen high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,320 Rake 0
Board: [8h 6h 7c Qh 2h]
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (big blind) showed [9h 7d] and won (1,320) with a flush, Queen high
Seat 2: Scubatoast didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Captian Eric didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 mucked [9c 9s] - a pair of Nines
Seat 5: taxationfinance didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: aslatman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Buzman (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: rommmi (small blind) folded before the Flop
FullTiltPoker Game #221487253: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 3 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:47:19 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (5,170)
Seat 2: Scubatoast (2,090)
Seat 3: Captian Eric (1,780)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 (2,900)
Seat 5: taxationfinance (1,600)
Seat 6: aslatman (1,275)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON (1,750)
Seat 8: Buzman (2,500)
Seat 9: rommmi (3,690)
Poker_Bully1 posts the small blind of 40
taxationfinance posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [8c Kc]
aslatman calls 80
MELCOCHON folds
Buzman folds
rommmi calls 80
JACKSCHIPS46 folds
Scubatoast calls 80
Captian Eric calls 80
Poker_Bully1 calls 40
Buzman: can't win on skill alone, we all know that
taxationfinance checks
*** FLOP *** [8s Jc 4c] I limp into pot with suited King and the flop looks good. I briefly consider betting, but maybe I can get better odds if I check, so I do.
Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 checks
taxationfinance checks
aslatman bets 1,195, and is all in The pot was 480 and he overbets it. Usually that's a flush draw. I have the 2nd nut flush draw, plus I already have a pair of 8's
rommmi folds
Scubatoast folds
Captian Eric folds
Poker_Bully1 raises to 2,820, and is all in I decide I am going to play. I raise all in to make sure the last guy in the pot doesn't play with me
taxationfinance folds
Poker_Bully1 shows [8c Kc]
aslatman shows [Jh Qs] Oops he has top pair. C'mon flush!
Uncalled bet of 1,625 returned to Poker_Bully1
*** TURN *** [8s Jc 4c] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [8s Jc 4c Qd] [2d] No flush for me. :-(
Poker_Bully1 shows a pair of Eights
aslatman shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
aslatman wins the pot (2,870) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,870 Rake 0
Board: [8s Jc 4c Qd 2d]
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Scubatoast folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Captian Eric (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 (small blind) showed [8c Kc] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 5: taxationfinance (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: aslatman showed [Jh Qs] and won (2,870) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 7: MELCOCHON didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Buzman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: rommmi folded on the Flop
Here is where my luck turns around.
FullTiltPoker Game #221513688: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 3 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:19:20 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (1,810)
Seat 2: Scubatoast (7,360)
Seat 3: Captian Eric (2,380)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 (1,565)
Seat 5: Btrain83 (945)
Seat 6: aslatman (1,550)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON (3,205)
Seat 8: Buzman (895)
Seat 9: rommmi (4,000)
JACKSCHIPS46 posts the small blind of 80
Scubatoast posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [Ac 3c]
Captian Eric folds
Poker_Bully1 raises to 1,565, and is all in
Btrain83 folds
aslatman folds
MELCOCHON folds
Buzman folds
rommmi folds
JACKSCHIPS46 folds
Scubatoast calls 1,405
Poker_Bully1 shows [Ac 3c]
Scubatoast shows [Kh Kd]
*** FLOP *** [5c 4c 5d]
*** TURN *** [5c 4c 5d] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [5c 4c 5d 2h] [Jd]
Poker_Bully1 shows a straight, Five high Nothing like cracking pocket kings! Now I have a little breathing room.
Scubatoast shows two pair, Kings and Fives
Poker_Bully1 wins the pot (3,210) with a straight, Five high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,210 Rake 0
Board: [5c 4c 5d 2h Jd]
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Scubatoast (big blind) showed [Kh Kd] and lost with two pair, Kings and Fives
Seat 3: Captian Eric didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 showed [Ac 3c] and won (3,210) with a straight, Five high
Seat 5: Btrain83 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: aslatman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Buzman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: rommmi (button) didn't bet (folded)
FullTiltPoker Game #221526683: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 13 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:34:18 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: ksay1122 (12,395)
Seat 2: Dlorican (11,505)
Seat 3: HASITNOW (11,120)
Seat 4: forkmule (4,670)
Seat 5: J111333444 (1,745)
Seat 6: scooter02 (4,460)
Seat 8: SurfinC (11,575)
Seat 9: Poker_Bully1 (4,590)
Dlorican posts the small blind of 100
HASITNOW posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [Qd Ks]
forkmule folds
J111333444 calls 200
scooter02 folds
SurfinC folds
Poker_Bully1 raises to 800
ksay1122 folds
Dlorican folds
HASITNOW folds
J111333444 calls 600
*** FLOP *** [7c Kh As]
J111333444 checks
SurfinC: short stack bullying is what it was right kojack
Poker_Bully1 bets 950 Smaller stack shows weakness on the flop so I put him to a decision for all his chips. It wasn't a very hard decision since he was trapping me.
J111333444 calls 945, and is all in
Poker_Bully1 shows [Qd Ks]
J111333444 shows [Ah Tc]
Uncalled bet of 5 returned to Poker_Bully1
*** TURN *** [7c Kh As] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [7c Kh As 5h] [Kc] YES! One of my 5 outs hits on the river.
Poker_Bully1 shows three of a kind, Kings
J111333444 shows two pair, Aces and Kings
Poker_Bully1 wins the pot (3,790) with three of a kind, Kings
J111333444 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,790 Rake 0
Board: [7c Kh As 5h Kc]
Seat 1: ksay1122 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Dlorican (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: HASITNOW (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: forkmule didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: J111333444 showed [Ah Tc] and lost with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 6: scooter02 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: SurfinC didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Poker_Bully1 showed [Qd Ks] and won (3,790) with three of a kind, Kings
FullTiltPoker Game #221533795: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 13 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:41:28 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: ksay1122 (12,300)
Seat 2: Dlorican (11,790), is sitting out
Seat 3: HASITNOW (9,645)
Seat 4: forkmule (3,715)
Seat 5: Whitey72 (5,885)
Seat 6: scooter02 (5,685)
Seat 8: SurfinC (10,880)
Seat 9: Poker_Bully1 (6,700)
ksay1122 antes 25
Dlorican antes 25
HASITNOW antes 25
forkmule antes 25
Whitey72 antes 25
scooter02 antes 25
SurfinC antes 25
Poker_Bully1 antes 25
forkmule posts the small blind of 120
Whitey72 posts the big blind of 240
Dlorican has returned
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [7c Jc]
scooter02 folds
SurfinC folds
Poker_Bully1 raises to 800 I had been quiet for a while so I decide to try and steal the blinds.
ksay1122 calls 800 Dammit! a caller and now I am out of position.
Dlorican is sitting out
Dlorican folds
HASITNOW folds
forkmule folds
Whitey72 folds
*** FLOP *** [Qc Jh Jd] Bingo, Bango, Bongo I have 3 Jacks! Time to play for all my chips. As Vince Van Patten would say, I set the trap and I am putting branches and leaves over it.
Poker_Bully1 checks
ksay1122 bets 6,240 He falls into the hole!
Poker_Bully1 calls 5,875, and is all in
ksay1122 shows [Js Kc] Sarcasm alert: He's right where I want him now. I only need the 2 remaining 7's or to split I need one of 3 Queens or runner runner Aces.
Poker_Bully1 shows [7c Jc]
Uncalled bet of 365 returned to ksay1122
*** TURN *** [Qc Jh Jd] [7h] Yahtzee!
Dlorican has returned
*** RIVER *** [Qc Jh Jd 7h] [Td]
ksay1122 shows three of a kind, Jacks
Poker_Bully1 shows a full house, Jacks full of Sevens
Poker_Bully1 wins the pot (13,910) with a full house, Jacks full of Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13,910 Rake 0
Board: [Qc Jh Jd 7h Td]
Seat 1: ksay1122 showed [Js Kc] and lost with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 2: Dlorican folded before the Flop
Seat 3: HASITNOW (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: forkmule (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Whitey72 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: scooter02 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: SurfinC folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Poker_Bully1 showed [7c Jc] and won (13,910) with a full house, Jacks full of Sevens
Eventually I made it all the way to the final table and finished 5th for $262. I chuckled to myself that when you get to the final table, the backround changes into a studio similar to the World Poker Tour.
Later in the day, I found a $5 turbo tournament on Noble Poker that was guaranteeing $1250. So that means there has to be 250 players. When I signed up for this one there was just over 100. After I signed up, I realized that it was a rebuy and add on tournament. So once again it looks like Noble Poker will make money. Oh well.
Since it was a turbo and only $5 rebuys, I figured I would see some really crazy plays. To my surprise, most of the players played conservatively. The blinds increased every 5 minutes so there is no time to wait for good hands. You need to push every small edge and hope you get lucky. I was planning to take advantage of my opponents' stupidity.
I doubled up early with a straight. Then lost it all when my Kings with a Queen kicker went down to Kings with an Ace kicker. Rebuy! I bled off some chips and had about 600 left with Ace 5 suited utg. I limped and 4 other guys went all in. I figure what the hell, so I call. No flush so I rebuy. This time I win a couple of small pots but I run out of time as the break hits with 50-100 blinds and $5 add ons for $1,000 chips. I only have $1100 so I need the chips badly.
Back from the break and I think the blinds were 60-120. The other players just had no idea how to play in this format. 90% of the time when I was first in the pot in middle or late position, I raised all in. I was seldom called. When I was called, it was usually by a hopelessly short stacked player. This went on and on all the way to the final table.
Amazingly they stop raising the blinds once it gets to 5000-10000. There were 4 of us left and we played for probably 20 minutes. I was usually fluctuating between 80 and 120k in chips so there still wasn't much room for creativity. I really felt like the best player of the bunch due to my experience with all the bubble play in Sit-n-Go's.
Finally I made it to heads up with a 2-1 chip lead. Again, I tried to remember what Harrington said in his book and call with any 2 from the small blind, and mix up my play once in a while. The great thing was, that once it was down to 2 players we actually had a lot of chips to play with since the blinds had stopped going up. I finally ground him down to about 60k in chips and just started putting him all in, every chance I could.
Then the miracle happened. He called my all in bet and my hand held up. Mother fucking Champion of a 150 player tournament. $478 to the winner.
I was splashing around on Full Tilt yesterday and noticed their $24+2 guaranteed $3500. Therefore it needs 146 players to break even. I signed up with about 15 minutes until cards in the air and there was less than 100 players. Unfortunately, there was a late rush and I think they pushed over 150.
At the beginning I did not do much of anything. I really wasn't getting much to play with and I was just hanging around. I was happy that Full Tilt gives you 1500 chips to start and the blinds move up rather slowly so I could afford to be patient. This was the point where I started to pull some unbelievable suckouts from my ass. Here is a sample of some of my hand histories:
FullTiltPoker Game #221483751: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 3 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:43:04 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (4,490)
Seat 2: Scubatoast (1,970)
Seat 3: Captian Eric (1,660)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 (3,580)
Seat 5: taxationfinance (1,480)
Seat 6: aslatman (1,275)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON (1,750)
Seat 8: Buzman (2,660)
Seat 9: rommmi (3,890)
rommmi posts the small blind of 40
JACKSCHIPS46 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [9c 9s]
Scubatoast folds
Captian Eric folds
Poker_Bully1 calls 80 I had been raising a lot and felt I should play this one for set value or a limp reraise.
taxationfinance folds
JACKSCHIPS46: IM NO GOOD JUIST LUCKY
aslatman folds
MELCOCHON folds
Buzman calls 80
UTfan (Observer): i can tell
JACKSCHIPS46: YOU ARE WORSE
rommmi has 15 seconds left to act
rommmi is sitting out
rommmi has timed out
rommmi folds
JACKSCHIPS46 checks
*** FLOP *** [8h 6h 7c]
JACKSCHIPS46 bets 80
rommmi has returned
Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 raises to 360 I feel I have the best hand so I raise to charge any possible flush draws
Buzman folds
JACKSCHIPS46 calls 280
*** TURN *** [8h 6h 7c] [Qh]
JACKSCHIPS46 bets 80
Poker_Bully1 calls 80
*** RIVER *** [8h 6h 7c Qh] [2h]
JACKSCHIPS46 bets 80
Poker_Bully1 calls 80
*** SHOW DOWN ***
JACKSCHIPS46 shows [9h 7d] (a flush, Queen high) I'm lucky he didn't bet more.
Poker_Bully1 mucks
JACKSCHIPS46 wins the pot (1,320) with a flush, Queen high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,320 Rake 0
Board: [8h 6h 7c Qh 2h]
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (big blind) showed [9h 7d] and won (1,320) with a flush, Queen high
Seat 2: Scubatoast didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Captian Eric didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 mucked [9c 9s] - a pair of Nines
Seat 5: taxationfinance didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: aslatman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Buzman (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: rommmi (small blind) folded before the Flop
FullTiltPoker Game #221487253: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 3 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:47:19 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (5,170)
Seat 2: Scubatoast (2,090)
Seat 3: Captian Eric (1,780)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 (2,900)
Seat 5: taxationfinance (1,600)
Seat 6: aslatman (1,275)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON (1,750)
Seat 8: Buzman (2,500)
Seat 9: rommmi (3,690)
Poker_Bully1 posts the small blind of 40
taxationfinance posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [8c Kc]
aslatman calls 80
MELCOCHON folds
Buzman folds
rommmi calls 80
JACKSCHIPS46 folds
Scubatoast calls 80
Captian Eric calls 80
Poker_Bully1 calls 40
Buzman: can't win on skill alone, we all know that
taxationfinance checks
*** FLOP *** [8s Jc 4c] I limp into pot with suited King and the flop looks good. I briefly consider betting, but maybe I can get better odds if I check, so I do.
Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 checks
taxationfinance checks
aslatman bets 1,195, and is all in The pot was 480 and he overbets it. Usually that's a flush draw. I have the 2nd nut flush draw, plus I already have a pair of 8's
rommmi folds
Scubatoast folds
Captian Eric folds
Poker_Bully1 raises to 2,820, and is all in I decide I am going to play. I raise all in to make sure the last guy in the pot doesn't play with me
taxationfinance folds
Poker_Bully1 shows [8c Kc]
aslatman shows [Jh Qs] Oops he has top pair. C'mon flush!
Uncalled bet of 1,625 returned to Poker_Bully1
*** TURN *** [8s Jc 4c] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [8s Jc 4c Qd] [2d] No flush for me. :-(
Poker_Bully1 shows a pair of Eights
aslatman shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
aslatman wins the pot (2,870) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,870 Rake 0
Board: [8s Jc 4c Qd 2d]
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Scubatoast folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Captian Eric (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 (small blind) showed [8c Kc] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 5: taxationfinance (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: aslatman showed [Jh Qs] and won (2,870) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 7: MELCOCHON didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Buzman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: rommmi folded on the Flop
Here is where my luck turns around.
FullTiltPoker Game #221513688: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 3 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:19:20 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (1,810)
Seat 2: Scubatoast (7,360)
Seat 3: Captian Eric (2,380)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 (1,565)
Seat 5: Btrain83 (945)
Seat 6: aslatman (1,550)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON (3,205)
Seat 8: Buzman (895)
Seat 9: rommmi (4,000)
JACKSCHIPS46 posts the small blind of 80
Scubatoast posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [Ac 3c]
Captian Eric folds
Poker_Bully1 raises to 1,565, and is all in
Btrain83 folds
aslatman folds
MELCOCHON folds
Buzman folds
rommmi folds
JACKSCHIPS46 folds
Scubatoast calls 1,405
Poker_Bully1 shows [Ac 3c]
Scubatoast shows [Kh Kd]
*** FLOP *** [5c 4c 5d]
*** TURN *** [5c 4c 5d] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [5c 4c 5d 2h] [Jd]
Poker_Bully1 shows a straight, Five high Nothing like cracking pocket kings! Now I have a little breathing room.
Scubatoast shows two pair, Kings and Fives
Poker_Bully1 wins the pot (3,210) with a straight, Five high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,210 Rake 0
Board: [5c 4c 5d 2h Jd]
Seat 1: JACKSCHIPS46 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Scubatoast (big blind) showed [Kh Kd] and lost with two pair, Kings and Fives
Seat 3: Captian Eric didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Poker_Bully1 showed [Ac 3c] and won (3,210) with a straight, Five high
Seat 5: Btrain83 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: aslatman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: MELCOCHON didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Buzman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: rommmi (button) didn't bet (folded)
FullTiltPoker Game #221526683: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 13 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:34:18 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: ksay1122 (12,395)
Seat 2: Dlorican (11,505)
Seat 3: HASITNOW (11,120)
Seat 4: forkmule (4,670)
Seat 5: J111333444 (1,745)
Seat 6: scooter02 (4,460)
Seat 8: SurfinC (11,575)
Seat 9: Poker_Bully1 (4,590)
Dlorican posts the small blind of 100
HASITNOW posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [Qd Ks]
forkmule folds
J111333444 calls 200
scooter02 folds
SurfinC folds
Poker_Bully1 raises to 800
ksay1122 folds
Dlorican folds
HASITNOW folds
J111333444 calls 600
*** FLOP *** [7c Kh As]
J111333444 checks
SurfinC: short stack bullying is what it was right kojack
Poker_Bully1 bets 950 Smaller stack shows weakness on the flop so I put him to a decision for all his chips. It wasn't a very hard decision since he was trapping me.
J111333444 calls 945, and is all in
Poker_Bully1 shows [Qd Ks]
J111333444 shows [Ah Tc]
Uncalled bet of 5 returned to Poker_Bully1
*** TURN *** [7c Kh As] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [7c Kh As 5h] [Kc] YES! One of my 5 outs hits on the river.
Poker_Bully1 shows three of a kind, Kings
J111333444 shows two pair, Aces and Kings
Poker_Bully1 wins the pot (3,790) with three of a kind, Kings
J111333444 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,790 Rake 0
Board: [7c Kh As 5h Kc]
Seat 1: ksay1122 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Dlorican (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: HASITNOW (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: forkmule didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: J111333444 showed [Ah Tc] and lost with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 6: scooter02 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: SurfinC didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Poker_Bully1 showed [Qd Ks] and won (3,790) with three of a kind, Kings
FullTiltPoker Game #221533795: $3,500 Guarantee (1394091), Table 13 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:41:28 ET - 2005/09/17
Seat 1: ksay1122 (12,300)
Seat 2: Dlorican (11,790), is sitting out
Seat 3: HASITNOW (9,645)
Seat 4: forkmule (3,715)
Seat 5: Whitey72 (5,885)
Seat 6: scooter02 (5,685)
Seat 8: SurfinC (10,880)
Seat 9: Poker_Bully1 (6,700)
ksay1122 antes 25
Dlorican antes 25
HASITNOW antes 25
forkmule antes 25
Whitey72 antes 25
scooter02 antes 25
SurfinC antes 25
Poker_Bully1 antes 25
forkmule posts the small blind of 120
Whitey72 posts the big blind of 240
Dlorican has returned
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [7c Jc]
scooter02 folds
SurfinC folds
Poker_Bully1 raises to 800 I had been quiet for a while so I decide to try and steal the blinds.
ksay1122 calls 800 Dammit! a caller and now I am out of position.
Dlorican is sitting out
Dlorican folds
HASITNOW folds
forkmule folds
Whitey72 folds
*** FLOP *** [Qc Jh Jd] Bingo, Bango, Bongo I have 3 Jacks! Time to play for all my chips. As Vince Van Patten would say, I set the trap and I am putting branches and leaves over it.
Poker_Bully1 checks
ksay1122 bets 6,240 He falls into the hole!
Poker_Bully1 calls 5,875, and is all in
ksay1122 shows [Js Kc] Sarcasm alert: He's right where I want him now. I only need the 2 remaining 7's or to split I need one of 3 Queens or runner runner Aces.
Poker_Bully1 shows [7c Jc]
Uncalled bet of 365 returned to ksay1122
*** TURN *** [Qc Jh Jd] [7h] Yahtzee!
Dlorican has returned
*** RIVER *** [Qc Jh Jd 7h] [Td]
ksay1122 shows three of a kind, Jacks
Poker_Bully1 shows a full house, Jacks full of Sevens
Poker_Bully1 wins the pot (13,910) with a full house, Jacks full of Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13,910 Rake 0
Board: [Qc Jh Jd 7h Td]
Seat 1: ksay1122 showed [Js Kc] and lost with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 2: Dlorican folded before the Flop
Seat 3: HASITNOW (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: forkmule (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Whitey72 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: scooter02 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: SurfinC folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Poker_Bully1 showed [7c Jc] and won (13,910) with a full house, Jacks full of Sevens
Eventually I made it all the way to the final table and finished 5th for $262. I chuckled to myself that when you get to the final table, the backround changes into a studio similar to the World Poker Tour.
Later in the day, I found a $5 turbo tournament on Noble Poker that was guaranteeing $1250. So that means there has to be 250 players. When I signed up for this one there was just over 100. After I signed up, I realized that it was a rebuy and add on tournament. So once again it looks like Noble Poker will make money. Oh well.
Since it was a turbo and only $5 rebuys, I figured I would see some really crazy plays. To my surprise, most of the players played conservatively. The blinds increased every 5 minutes so there is no time to wait for good hands. You need to push every small edge and hope you get lucky. I was planning to take advantage of my opponents' stupidity.
I doubled up early with a straight. Then lost it all when my Kings with a Queen kicker went down to Kings with an Ace kicker. Rebuy! I bled off some chips and had about 600 left with Ace 5 suited utg. I limped and 4 other guys went all in. I figure what the hell, so I call. No flush so I rebuy. This time I win a couple of small pots but I run out of time as the break hits with 50-100 blinds and $5 add ons for $1,000 chips. I only have $1100 so I need the chips badly.
Back from the break and I think the blinds were 60-120. The other players just had no idea how to play in this format. 90% of the time when I was first in the pot in middle or late position, I raised all in. I was seldom called. When I was called, it was usually by a hopelessly short stacked player. This went on and on all the way to the final table.
Amazingly they stop raising the blinds once it gets to 5000-10000. There were 4 of us left and we played for probably 20 minutes. I was usually fluctuating between 80 and 120k in chips so there still wasn't much room for creativity. I really felt like the best player of the bunch due to my experience with all the bubble play in Sit-n-Go's.
Finally I made it to heads up with a 2-1 chip lead. Again, I tried to remember what Harrington said in his book and call with any 2 from the small blind, and mix up my play once in a while. The great thing was, that once it was down to 2 players we actually had a lot of chips to play with since the blinds had stopped going up. I finally ground him down to about 60k in chips and just started putting him all in, every chance I could.
Then the miracle happened. He called my all in bet and my hand held up. Mother fucking Champion of a 150 player tournament. $478 to the winner.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Learning Curve on Omaha 8OB
I played my first session in Omaha at the casino last week. I'd give myself an overall grade of a C. I missed a couple of bets with my good hands, and I chased a couple of hands too far. Overall I lost $40 over 2 hours.
Surprisingly the thing I struggled the most with, was how to look at my cards. I tried two at a time in the hold'em mode or stacking all 4 on top of each other and picking them up. Sometimes I just looked one at a time. I tried to watch how the others did it, but they seemed to all do it differently.
These are just random things I have figured out finally in Omaha that should help:
1. You need both cards of the same suit to make a flush. This also means that once 3 of the same suit hit the board, the other suits do not matter. In other words, you are not charging someone with a flush draw if there are 3 of the same suit on the board. He already has the flush or he can't get there. That is different from Hold'em
2. Be aware that playing for one side of the pot also opens you up to being quartered which very rarely makes you any money.
3. It probably only takes one or two big pots in a session at Omaha to make money. The casino has a kill pot, if the previous pot is over $50. This means that at least 25% of the hands dealt are kill pots.
I have also had the urge to play more big tournaments lately after reading Harrington's second book. My results have been the same, so basically I have been pissing money away. It is mind boggling to consider how tough it would be to be a pro player that only plays tournaments. Not only do you have to be lucky enough to have your big favorite hands hold up, but invariably you will be in pots where you are only slightly ahead or even behind. Guess what? You need to win most of those too.
My last tournament was a $22 with over 2000 players. I managed to build my stack up to 4000 and was the chip leader at my table by at least 1000. I had hit 3 different sets to build this up. Then everything turned.
I bluffed off a good amount of chips with a busted straight draw and flush draw. I chased about 3 other straights (with the correct odds) and didn't hit one. Finally I am short stacked and after one limper, I move all in with A6 off. Everyone folds past the blinds and the original limper calls and turns over Ace Queen. I hate it when someone limps with good cards. It just seems so stupid to me. So I think I finished in 800 something place.
On Monday 9-12 I played 4-8 Holdem at the Casino during their Monday Night Football promotion. My table was the perfect combination of a couple of tight players that could be pushed around and a bunch of loose passive calling stations. Unfortunately I dug myself a hole and couldn't climb out. A few times I won a couple of hands in a row to get back to even and then the chips just slowly bled away again waiting for a good hand. I lost $40 by the end of the night.
My one highlight was a great laydown. I had won the previous two pots so I had the Kill. I posted $8. A middle position player went all in for $16. The player on the big blind to my right reraised to $24. I looked down and found two Queens. The same hand I won the last pot with.
The player on my right was just having horrible luck. In the 2 hours I had played with him he had at least 4 high pocket pairs beaten by straights or flushes. Plus he always called down with top pair and bad kickers. But the big tell, is that he never raised preflop unless he had a good high pocket pair. Knowing this I decided to just call his raise instead of reraising.
The flop came Ace-7-Jack rainbow. The BB led out. Seeing the Ace I decided to fold. He turned over Ace-10 of diamonds and beat the all in player for the pot.
Now running the play over again in my head, there are other ways to play this hand. I could have reraised preflop. Knowing what he had now, he probably calls and check raises me on the flop. If he caps it preflop I can be pretty sure that I am only playing for set value. If he was really smart he would check the flop and see if I bet. Then he could check raise me. I think if he had AA or KK though he might have just led out.
All in all, my read was not perfect but I did manage to lose the least amount possible.
Another rule I learned the hard way for hold'em. When you flop two pair with Ace little, play it as fast as possible. I slow played my hand into oblivion when the board paired and my kicker sucked. No more check raises, just lead out or raise when it's bet to you. Maybe I can squeeze out the other Ace or someone with the middle or low pair who might hit the set down the road.
Surprisingly the thing I struggled the most with, was how to look at my cards. I tried two at a time in the hold'em mode or stacking all 4 on top of each other and picking them up. Sometimes I just looked one at a time. I tried to watch how the others did it, but they seemed to all do it differently.
These are just random things I have figured out finally in Omaha that should help:
1. You need both cards of the same suit to make a flush. This also means that once 3 of the same suit hit the board, the other suits do not matter. In other words, you are not charging someone with a flush draw if there are 3 of the same suit on the board. He already has the flush or he can't get there. That is different from Hold'em
2. Be aware that playing for one side of the pot also opens you up to being quartered which very rarely makes you any money.
3. It probably only takes one or two big pots in a session at Omaha to make money. The casino has a kill pot, if the previous pot is over $50. This means that at least 25% of the hands dealt are kill pots.
I have also had the urge to play more big tournaments lately after reading Harrington's second book. My results have been the same, so basically I have been pissing money away. It is mind boggling to consider how tough it would be to be a pro player that only plays tournaments. Not only do you have to be lucky enough to have your big favorite hands hold up, but invariably you will be in pots where you are only slightly ahead or even behind. Guess what? You need to win most of those too.
My last tournament was a $22 with over 2000 players. I managed to build my stack up to 4000 and was the chip leader at my table by at least 1000. I had hit 3 different sets to build this up. Then everything turned.
I bluffed off a good amount of chips with a busted straight draw and flush draw. I chased about 3 other straights (with the correct odds) and didn't hit one. Finally I am short stacked and after one limper, I move all in with A6 off. Everyone folds past the blinds and the original limper calls and turns over Ace Queen. I hate it when someone limps with good cards. It just seems so stupid to me. So I think I finished in 800 something place.
On Monday 9-12 I played 4-8 Holdem at the Casino during their Monday Night Football promotion. My table was the perfect combination of a couple of tight players that could be pushed around and a bunch of loose passive calling stations. Unfortunately I dug myself a hole and couldn't climb out. A few times I won a couple of hands in a row to get back to even and then the chips just slowly bled away again waiting for a good hand. I lost $40 by the end of the night.
My one highlight was a great laydown. I had won the previous two pots so I had the Kill. I posted $8. A middle position player went all in for $16. The player on the big blind to my right reraised to $24. I looked down and found two Queens. The same hand I won the last pot with.
The player on my right was just having horrible luck. In the 2 hours I had played with him he had at least 4 high pocket pairs beaten by straights or flushes. Plus he always called down with top pair and bad kickers. But the big tell, is that he never raised preflop unless he had a good high pocket pair. Knowing this I decided to just call his raise instead of reraising.
The flop came Ace-7-Jack rainbow. The BB led out. Seeing the Ace I decided to fold. He turned over Ace-10 of diamonds and beat the all in player for the pot.
Now running the play over again in my head, there are other ways to play this hand. I could have reraised preflop. Knowing what he had now, he probably calls and check raises me on the flop. If he caps it preflop I can be pretty sure that I am only playing for set value. If he was really smart he would check the flop and see if I bet. Then he could check raise me. I think if he had AA or KK though he might have just led out.
All in all, my read was not perfect but I did manage to lose the least amount possible.
Another rule I learned the hard way for hold'em. When you flop two pair with Ace little, play it as fast as possible. I slow played my hand into oblivion when the board paired and my kicker sucked. No more check raises, just lead out or raise when it's bet to you. Maybe I can squeeze out the other Ace or someone with the middle or low pair who might hit the set down the road.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
I Met a Poker Star!
I was in Maui last week for my girlfriend's brother's wedding. It was my second time on the island and it is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world.
One of the events scheduled, was a luau at the Renaissance Hotel in Waliea. While everyone was being seated I noticed that Daniel Negraneau (sic) was also at the luau with his new wife. I went up and introduced myself and told him congratulations on the wedding. He seemed to be enjoying the dinner. I read on his blog that some drunk guy kept inviting him to play golf, but I never saw anyone bothering him. I chickened out on getting a picture with him. I had the perfect opportunity while everyone was waiting for the valet to get our cars. I just hate playing the role of "my life sucks so I live vicariously through yours on TV". I'd rather have a conversation and find out something interesting about him than pester him for a picture.
During the vacation I started reading two books on poker. The first one is Michael Cappeletti's book on Omaha Hi-Lo and the second is volume 2 of Harrington on Hold'em.
The Omaha book is solid so far. I totally understand that the number one strategy for beating the average loose game is to play tight preflop and only draw to the nuts. In probably ten different tables of play at Party Poker, I have probably come out ahead on 9 of them in the .50-$1 level. I think I am ready to take a stab at the live casino 3-6 game. I watched a little of one game while I was on a break from the hold'em tournament and I watched two people fight over which was the low hand on the board. If they are playing and can't figure out the low within 10 seconds, then they obviously don't know much about how to play the game.
My main weakness right now in Omaha is knowing when it makes sense to raise. My mind is still cluttered with figuring out the nut lows and highs on the board and figuring out how many outs I have to the nuts. There is no time for higher level strategy just yet. Once I can figure out these other details quicker, I will have more time to spend on figuring out what my opponents might have and whether I should raise for value or raise to narrow the field.
The second volume of Harrington on Hold'em is excellent. I have finished about 1/3 of the book by skipping around to the sections that interest me the most. The first section I read was on heads up play. There is an excellent analysis on the heads up match between Phil Ivey and John D'Agostino at the end of the big poker tournament in New Jersey last year. He presents a lot of interesting stats to consider on how often someone hits the flop and what you should be thinking about when you are on the button vs. first to act.
Here are a couple of the helpful tips I gleaned from the book:
1. It is always correct to at least call from the small blind. With 3-1 odds on your call, even 2-7 versus a random hand has better odds than that. Now if your opponent always raises you when you call, then it may be ok to fold occasionally.
2. Most flops miss both players, so the first one to bet, or the one who plays most aggressively usually wins the pot.
3. Calling down with Ace high is ok if you can get there cheaply.
I played a set of 3 sits last night and made it to heads up in one of them. I tried to use his tips and came back from a 3-1 deficit to pull slightly ahead. Unfortunately I got a bit unlucky as I flopped top pair, check raised the flop and he called. On the turn he only had about 1500 left so I decided to check and see if he would put the rest in. He did and I called with only about 200 left over. Unfortunately, the turn filled his inside straight and he won. So I think I played it right and did charge him for the draw. Oh well.
Now that my back is almost 100% I am looking forward to putting in some time in the live casinos again.
One of the events scheduled, was a luau at the Renaissance Hotel in Waliea. While everyone was being seated I noticed that Daniel Negraneau (sic) was also at the luau with his new wife. I went up and introduced myself and told him congratulations on the wedding. He seemed to be enjoying the dinner. I read on his blog that some drunk guy kept inviting him to play golf, but I never saw anyone bothering him. I chickened out on getting a picture with him. I had the perfect opportunity while everyone was waiting for the valet to get our cars. I just hate playing the role of "my life sucks so I live vicariously through yours on TV". I'd rather have a conversation and find out something interesting about him than pester him for a picture.
During the vacation I started reading two books on poker. The first one is Michael Cappeletti's book on Omaha Hi-Lo and the second is volume 2 of Harrington on Hold'em.
The Omaha book is solid so far. I totally understand that the number one strategy for beating the average loose game is to play tight preflop and only draw to the nuts. In probably ten different tables of play at Party Poker, I have probably come out ahead on 9 of them in the .50-$1 level. I think I am ready to take a stab at the live casino 3-6 game. I watched a little of one game while I was on a break from the hold'em tournament and I watched two people fight over which was the low hand on the board. If they are playing and can't figure out the low within 10 seconds, then they obviously don't know much about how to play the game.
My main weakness right now in Omaha is knowing when it makes sense to raise. My mind is still cluttered with figuring out the nut lows and highs on the board and figuring out how many outs I have to the nuts. There is no time for higher level strategy just yet. Once I can figure out these other details quicker, I will have more time to spend on figuring out what my opponents might have and whether I should raise for value or raise to narrow the field.
The second volume of Harrington on Hold'em is excellent. I have finished about 1/3 of the book by skipping around to the sections that interest me the most. The first section I read was on heads up play. There is an excellent analysis on the heads up match between Phil Ivey and John D'Agostino at the end of the big poker tournament in New Jersey last year. He presents a lot of interesting stats to consider on how often someone hits the flop and what you should be thinking about when you are on the button vs. first to act.
Here are a couple of the helpful tips I gleaned from the book:
1. It is always correct to at least call from the small blind. With 3-1 odds on your call, even 2-7 versus a random hand has better odds than that. Now if your opponent always raises you when you call, then it may be ok to fold occasionally.
2. Most flops miss both players, so the first one to bet, or the one who plays most aggressively usually wins the pot.
3. Calling down with Ace high is ok if you can get there cheaply.
I played a set of 3 sits last night and made it to heads up in one of them. I tried to use his tips and came back from a 3-1 deficit to pull slightly ahead. Unfortunately I got a bit unlucky as I flopped top pair, check raised the flop and he called. On the turn he only had about 1500 left so I decided to check and see if he would put the rest in. He did and I called with only about 200 left over. Unfortunately, the turn filled his inside straight and he won. So I think I played it right and did charge him for the draw. Oh well.
Now that my back is almost 100% I am looking forward to putting in some time in the live casinos again.
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