my day started out playing the $6 token frenzy for a $24 token. i managed to win that token without much difficulty. just my normal game and hands holding up. i took three shots at winning a seat in the sunday 750k. all small buy in turbo rebuy events... i didn't play great... got overaggressive with AdKd on a flop of 9d6h5d in a limped pot. an early limper bet the pot and i shoved over the top thinking he didn't have enough to merit a call. little did i know i'd get snap called behind me by a set of 6's and not improve to become a short stack. i played my usual short stack game to no avail.
i also played about 125 hands at the .10/.25 NL table... picked up about $35. my big hand was picking up KK on the button and getting a limp call from the CO. flop came two suits and 8 high. the player had been very loose and overaggressive with single pairs. he bet the flop, i raised the pot and he shoved all in. i called and he flipped over K8 so i picked up a buy-in there.
my big adventure of the night was using the 24$ token for the 28k at 10pm. i was able to build up to 4500 at the 50/100 level after flopping a set and someone shoving into me with no pair no draw. then i picked up AA in the next level and doubled up against someone holding JT... the flop was 892. i cont. bet and got smooth called in position. next card off was a Ten. i accidentally checked and he bet small and i shoved... he called and my 70% chance came through. from there i built a stack using steals and winning a 2-1 shot when i had top and bottom pair against TopPairTopKicker (TpTk). I made it into the money and was shortstacked at the 1.2k/2.4k blinds when i shoved AT and got called by QT from a tight player from the sb. i had about 24k when the blinds when the blinds rose to 1.5k/3.k. i didn't pick up any hands to shove and from the sb i had A6 offsuit. the button was EXTREMELY aggressive on picking on the short stacks and had about 140k in chips. he shoved his button and i thought about calling. typically i like to be the one shoving and will wait for a spot where i might have a chance of stealing without a showdown. my gut told me to call but i took the safe rout and folded. the BB called with K5 and doubled through the buttons T3. i don't know what the right play is given i have only 17.5k in chips. given the knowledge of the player i regret not calling. if i didn't know the player at all i could have made a better argument for folding and waiting. so i have about 17k in chips in the utg+1 spot with A7s so i shove, get called by the CO with AK and out i go in 60th place and took home $74.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
awful day at the tables...
well i don't have much good to say.... i played about 500 hands at the .10/.25 NL game and lost 4 buy-ins. i could have made it about 2 buy-ins less but i learned some lessons. sometimes it's cheaper to find out where you are on the flop then to have a tougher decision on the turn out of position like when i had AcKc in the small blind and the flop came KT5. i made a normal bet and got raised... i really felt that i was ahead but just called... 9 on the turn... he bet pot on the turn and the river and he flipped over QJ.... so obvs. i think i'd found during this process i'd rather go with my read and accept the consequences and learn than play scared and timid. i've NEVER played like that live and i don't trust my reads as much online. that needs to change.
I played a few turbo rebuy satellites, the 4pm $10 buy-in, then the 8:30 $3 rebuy, the two 9 pm daily doubles. I bricked out of all of them. I ran kind of bad AND card dead... not a good combination for my style of play. No regrets about any of my play in the the tournaments though. Time to dust myself off and try again.
I played a few turbo rebuy satellites, the 4pm $10 buy-in, then the 8:30 $3 rebuy, the two 9 pm daily doubles. I bricked out of all of them. I ran kind of bad AND card dead... not a good combination for my style of play. No regrets about any of my play in the the tournaments though. Time to dust myself off and try again.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
the 11 p.m. never steers me wrong....
well... i played about 200 hands or so at the .10/.25 NL 6 handed game and picked up around $20 bucks. i don't know if there are any real hands of merit in there... someone bluffed at me when i had trip jacks. that was the only big pot. i'm about 450 hands deep and am looking towards 5000 hands and evaluating.
now i decided to play two MTT's after getting home. i played a $5 500 person tournament which i finished 170th or so. i was able to build my stack a little over starting value and picked up QQ... there was a limper with a little less than me in chips and i shoved. at these levels people will call an allin after limping with fours or hands similar. he called off his entire stack with AT. unfortunately he spiked an ace and i was crippled. i'm not sure if this is the correct way to play or not with about 15 BB's. but a standard raise brings me down to 12BB's and i don't want to have to fold to any overcard on the flop if i get check pushed. what do you all think?
the 11 p.m. 10$ buyin was about 179 players. it ended around 3 a.m. i took down first for about $500 dollars. and to be honest i don't know how it happened up until about the final table. for the first time in my MTT career i went to the final table with chips... i was 2/9 but very close to the leader and there were 3 shorties at the table. i didn't manage to eliminate anyone until the 6th player. nothing special to note and that i really don't remember sucking out on anyone. i only made one play of significance where i smooth called a Cutoff raise from the button with KhQh. One of the blinds came along. The cutoff had stolen a lot and i figured i'd learn a little from yesterday and not commit too many chips before the flop. Flop came Ah6h4d. he bet 1/2 pot and i shoved. i really didn't think he had an ace and didn't want to commit his chips without it... and if he did, i at least had the nut flush draw as outs... he folded. the other major hand of note is a blind vs. blind cooler that i got the better of. one of the chip leaders was on my left and 3 bet me preflop 2 other times when i had legit hands. so with 16 people left and in the small blind i woke up with aces.... since he had reraised several times i figured i'd give him a chance to sink himself. he shoved all in over the top of my standard raise and i of course called. my hand held and propelled me to the final table. a few steals and such kept my stack at a good level... i had about 20% of the chips in play. when we got to three handed i got short stacked... i had about 40k in chips with 2k/4k blinds. I got widdled down to 25k and woke up with 99 on the button and won a race.... to get to about 60k... then i worked up to 80k. the player i beat was the shortie at 52k.... i had 99 again in the BB... he made it 12k on the button and i shoved... he snapcalled with aq and i won another race. when we got HU i did my usual HU thing... i worked up to 190k and he had about 60k and 2.5k/5k blinds... he limped on the button and i had Js4c. the flop came AsKs6s. i checked and he bet 11.2k. i thought he definitely would have raised any ace in position and that he maybe had a king or a little PP (pocket pair). i thought i could blow him off the hand so i check shoved. thinking he had to fold and if he didn't i had outs. he called with AJ and i hit my flush on the river.... GG me. First suckout of the day at the best time.
now i decided to play two MTT's after getting home. i played a $5 500 person tournament which i finished 170th or so. i was able to build my stack a little over starting value and picked up QQ... there was a limper with a little less than me in chips and i shoved. at these levels people will call an allin after limping with fours or hands similar. he called off his entire stack with AT. unfortunately he spiked an ace and i was crippled. i'm not sure if this is the correct way to play or not with about 15 BB's. but a standard raise brings me down to 12BB's and i don't want to have to fold to any overcard on the flop if i get check pushed. what do you all think?
the 11 p.m. 10$ buyin was about 179 players. it ended around 3 a.m. i took down first for about $500 dollars. and to be honest i don't know how it happened up until about the final table. for the first time in my MTT career i went to the final table with chips... i was 2/9 but very close to the leader and there were 3 shorties at the table. i didn't manage to eliminate anyone until the 6th player. nothing special to note and that i really don't remember sucking out on anyone. i only made one play of significance where i smooth called a Cutoff raise from the button with KhQh. One of the blinds came along. The cutoff had stolen a lot and i figured i'd learn a little from yesterday and not commit too many chips before the flop. Flop came Ah6h4d. he bet 1/2 pot and i shoved. i really didn't think he had an ace and didn't want to commit his chips without it... and if he did, i at least had the nut flush draw as outs... he folded. the other major hand of note is a blind vs. blind cooler that i got the better of. one of the chip leaders was on my left and 3 bet me preflop 2 other times when i had legit hands. so with 16 people left and in the small blind i woke up with aces.... since he had reraised several times i figured i'd give him a chance to sink himself. he shoved all in over the top of my standard raise and i of course called. my hand held and propelled me to the final table. a few steals and such kept my stack at a good level... i had about 20% of the chips in play. when we got to three handed i got short stacked... i had about 40k in chips with 2k/4k blinds. I got widdled down to 25k and woke up with 99 on the button and won a race.... to get to about 60k... then i worked up to 80k. the player i beat was the shortie at 52k.... i had 99 again in the BB... he made it 12k on the button and i shoved... he snapcalled with aq and i won another race. when we got HU i did my usual HU thing... i worked up to 190k and he had about 60k and 2.5k/5k blinds... he limped on the button and i had Js4c. the flop came AsKs6s. i checked and he bet 11.2k. i thought he definitely would have raised any ace in position and that he maybe had a king or a little PP (pocket pair). i thought i could blow him off the hand so i check shoved. thinking he had to fold and if he didn't i had outs. he called with AJ and i hit my flush on the river.... GG me. First suckout of the day at the best time.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
1st cash in a while...
i started my cash games up at the 25$ NL tables... i watched a CardRunners video or two on low stakes NL 6-handed games and got to it. they're good videos and i think i get more from the thought processes of the player than anything else. so i played about two hundred hands and picked up $50 over two tables... one hand was an absolute cooler for the other player:
Full Tilt Poker Game #4621391093: Table Drexel (6 max) - $0.10/$0.25 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:04:11 ET - 2007/12/25
Seat 1: Crazy-Foxx ($26.60)
Seat 2: Kutusoff ($36.90)
Seat 3: The-Evil-Death ($12.75)
Seat 4: Paradise1 ($35.60)
Seat 5: elzino ($29.15)
Seat 6: emperor tsai ($14.90)
The-Evil-Death posts the small blind of $0.10
Paradise1 posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to elzino [9s 9d]
elzino calls $0.25
emperor tsai calls $0.25
Crazy-Foxx calls $0.25
Kutusoff folds
The-Evil-Death calls $0.15
Paradise1 checks
*** FLOP ***
[Tc 9c 9h]
The-Evil-Death checks
Paradise1 checks
elzino checks
emperor tsai checks
Crazy-Foxx checks
*** TURN ***
[Tc 9c 9h] [7d]
The-Evil-Death checks
Paradise1 bets $1
elzino calls $1
emperor tsai folds
Crazy-Foxx calls $1
The-Evil-Death has 15 seconds left to act
The-Evil-Death calls $1
*** RIVER ***
[Tc 9c 9h 7d] [7s]
The-Evil-Death checks
Paradise1 bets $3.75
elzino has 15 seconds left to act
elzino raises to $13
Crazy-Foxx folds
The-Evil-Death folds
Paradise1 raises to $34.35, and is all in
elzino calls $14.90, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $6.45 returned to Paradise1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Paradise1 shows [Td Th] a full house, Tens full of Nines
elzino shows [9s 9d] four of a kind, Nines
elzino wins the pot ($58.05) with four of a kind, Nines
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $61.05 Rake $3
Board: [Tc 9c 9h 7d 7s]
Seat 1: Crazy-Foxx folded on the River
Seat 2: Kutusoff (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: The-Evil-Death (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 4: Paradise1 (big blind) showed [Td Th] and lost with a full house, Tens full of Nines
Seat 5: elzino showed [9s 9d] and won ($58.05) with four of a kind, Nines
Seat 6: emperor tsai folded on the Turn
If you know anyone who can get away with top Full House let me know...
Any line i take that doesn't get all my chips in the middle against his hand (which I never gave him by the way) is terrible...
the other hand that i won most of my money on was a pot which i limped with 4s, raise to $1 behind me, a flat call and then i called. 3 way flop 4h 3s 2h
i check, original raiser bets 2.50... min raise to 5... then i bet the pot feeling that someone has an overpair or an ace high flush draw... original raiser folds, minraiser pushes and shows 99. can't say i understand a call with that weak of an overpair after a third bet but i'll take it.
i played two MTT's:
a freeroll to poker after dark round 2.... 1/360 gets a seat to next round i finished 2/360 gg me :)
and the 8:30 6k guarantee $3 rebuy... i was in for two buyins plus the addon. i was about 11/120 in chip position at one point and finished 40th. i made a terrible play with about 68 left when i had 40k in chips at the 1k/2k blind level. word to the wise... don't lose 1/2 of a big stack in a hand where you don't even see the flop.
elzino = jackass
now down to 20k i have to play my usual short stack game which i do believe i play exceptionally well. i manage to get my stack back to 32k but the blinds are now 2k/4k. i am in the small blind with 28k in chips to start the hand... the big blind has about 42k. fold to me... i open shove with kj... and drum roll please....
snap call... i'm thinking "oh great, i ran into ak or better... gg me"
he turns over......
Kd2d
i went from dejected to elated... what else can i hope for... that he magically mucked his hand and we don't see a flop. best possible scenario... flop K84....(feeling good).... turn 2 (boo but i still have any J, 8, 4)..... river 6. and i'm out. moral of the story... play a bigger stack better
Full Tilt Poker Game #4621391093: Table Drexel (6 max) - $0.10/$0.25 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:04:11 ET - 2007/12/25
Seat 1: Crazy-Foxx ($26.60)
Seat 2: Kutusoff ($36.90)
Seat 3: The-Evil-Death ($12.75)
Seat 4: Paradise1 ($35.60)
Seat 5: elzino ($29.15)
Seat 6: emperor tsai ($14.90)
The-Evil-Death posts the small blind of $0.10
Paradise1 posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to elzino [9s 9d]
elzino calls $0.25
emperor tsai calls $0.25
Crazy-Foxx calls $0.25
Kutusoff folds
The-Evil-Death calls $0.15
Paradise1 checks
*** FLOP ***
[Tc 9c 9h]
The-Evil-Death checks
Paradise1 checks
elzino checks
emperor tsai checks
Crazy-Foxx checks
*** TURN ***
[Tc 9c 9h] [7d]
The-Evil-Death checks
Paradise1 bets $1
elzino calls $1
emperor tsai folds
Crazy-Foxx calls $1
The-Evil-Death has 15 seconds left to act
The-Evil-Death calls $1
*** RIVER ***
[Tc 9c 9h 7d] [7s]
The-Evil-Death checks
Paradise1 bets $3.75
elzino has 15 seconds left to act
elzino raises to $13
Crazy-Foxx folds
The-Evil-Death folds
Paradise1 raises to $34.35, and is all in
elzino calls $14.90, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $6.45 returned to Paradise1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Paradise1 shows [Td Th] a full house, Tens full of Nines
elzino shows [9s 9d] four of a kind, Nines
elzino wins the pot ($58.05) with four of a kind, Nines
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot $61.05 Rake $3
Board: [Tc 9c 9h 7d 7s]
Seat 1: Crazy-Foxx folded on the River
Seat 2: Kutusoff (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: The-Evil-Death (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 4: Paradise1 (big blind) showed [Td Th] and lost with a full house, Tens full of Nines
Seat 5: elzino showed [9s 9d] and won ($58.05) with four of a kind, Nines
Seat 6: emperor tsai folded on the Turn
If you know anyone who can get away with top Full House let me know...
Any line i take that doesn't get all my chips in the middle against his hand (which I never gave him by the way) is terrible...
the other hand that i won most of my money on was a pot which i limped with 4s, raise to $1 behind me, a flat call and then i called. 3 way flop 4h 3s 2h
i check, original raiser bets 2.50... min raise to 5... then i bet the pot feeling that someone has an overpair or an ace high flush draw... original raiser folds, minraiser pushes and shows 99. can't say i understand a call with that weak of an overpair after a third bet but i'll take it.
i played two MTT's:
a freeroll to poker after dark round 2.... 1/360 gets a seat to next round i finished 2/360 gg me :)
and the 8:30 6k guarantee $3 rebuy... i was in for two buyins plus the addon. i was about 11/120 in chip position at one point and finished 40th. i made a terrible play with about 68 left when i had 40k in chips at the 1k/2k blind level. word to the wise... don't lose 1/2 of a big stack in a hand where you don't even see the flop.
elzino = jackass
now down to 20k i have to play my usual short stack game which i do believe i play exceptionally well. i manage to get my stack back to 32k but the blinds are now 2k/4k. i am in the small blind with 28k in chips to start the hand... the big blind has about 42k. fold to me... i open shove with kj... and drum roll please....
snap call... i'm thinking "oh great, i ran into ak or better... gg me"
he turns over......
Kd2d
i went from dejected to elated... what else can i hope for... that he magically mucked his hand and we don't see a flop. best possible scenario... flop K84....(feeling good).... turn 2 (boo but i still have any J, 8, 4)..... river 6. and i'm out. moral of the story... play a bigger stack better
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas
Hello all
it's been a while (almost two months exactly since I've posted a blog)
for all of you who wonder what i've been up to. it hasn't been much poker. i ran bad for a while and had to work more. i went to vegas for a 5 day stretch and had a great time... picked up about 250$ over three days and about 10 hours playing just 1-2 NL at the Venetian. considering i had a free room and paid only 350$ for the flight i'm not disappointed in the least.
lately i've wanted to play more again... i've only played three sng's... 2 turbo 11's (1 win) and a turbo 22 (3rd place). i've wanted to improve my cash game play and implement some solid bankroll guidelines. i enjoy the 6 max NL games and think they can be tremendously profitable. i feel like 30 buy-ins is a reasonable starting amount for any small NL buy-in game up to the 50$ buy-in. i also have seen some friends play some soft stud H/L games and i was profiting when i played over at party up to 15/30. my bankroll right now will not cover the bigger games at all so they'll have to wait.
when it comes to mtt's, i won't play anything over 24$ buy-in unless i satellite my way in and will focus mostly on the 5 and 10$ buy-ins as i've always done well there. i played a satellite into the sunday 750k and won a seat and played in that event for the first time. i ran pretty poorly postflop and made a move when my stack dropped down to 50% of it's original size at the 80/160 blinds. there was a limper, a minraise, a cold call and i had ak in the BB. i didn't have a great read but i couldn't picture a huge hand from the raiser so i shoved as a squeeze figuring if i got called it was a race but would have loved to take down the pot right there. turns out the raiser had KK and i was out. i could have just called and was 50/50 on the play so any opinions you all have would be appreciated. i clearly wasn't playing just to cash but to accumulate chips. hopefully i'll get another shot to play in an event of that nature in the future.
it's been a while (almost two months exactly since I've posted a blog)
for all of you who wonder what i've been up to. it hasn't been much poker. i ran bad for a while and had to work more. i went to vegas for a 5 day stretch and had a great time... picked up about 250$ over three days and about 10 hours playing just 1-2 NL at the Venetian. considering i had a free room and paid only 350$ for the flight i'm not disappointed in the least.
lately i've wanted to play more again... i've only played three sng's... 2 turbo 11's (1 win) and a turbo 22 (3rd place). i've wanted to improve my cash game play and implement some solid bankroll guidelines. i enjoy the 6 max NL games and think they can be tremendously profitable. i feel like 30 buy-ins is a reasonable starting amount for any small NL buy-in game up to the 50$ buy-in. i also have seen some friends play some soft stud H/L games and i was profiting when i played over at party up to 15/30. my bankroll right now will not cover the bigger games at all so they'll have to wait.
when it comes to mtt's, i won't play anything over 24$ buy-in unless i satellite my way in and will focus mostly on the 5 and 10$ buy-ins as i've always done well there. i played a satellite into the sunday 750k and won a seat and played in that event for the first time. i ran pretty poorly postflop and made a move when my stack dropped down to 50% of it's original size at the 80/160 blinds. there was a limper, a minraise, a cold call and i had ak in the BB. i didn't have a great read but i couldn't picture a huge hand from the raiser so i shoved as a squeeze figuring if i got called it was a race but would have loved to take down the pot right there. turns out the raiser had KK and i was out. i could have just called and was 50/50 on the play so any opinions you all have would be appreciated. i clearly wasn't playing just to cash but to accumulate chips. hopefully i'll get another shot to play in an event of that nature in the future.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
taking the day off...
i had all plans of driving down to AC today after going to the gym but the rain dampened my spirits so i decided to have a big MTT day: Here's what's on the schedule:
12:30 $2 rebuy
1:00 $10 MTT
2:00 $24 17.5K guarantee
4:00 $10 MTT
5:30 $10 MTT
6:00 $24 13.5K guarantee
8:00 $24 24K guarantee
10:00 $24 28K guarantee
11:00 $10 MTT ( as long as I'm still feeling it )
I might sprinkle in a satellite or two to a $50 buy-in or bigger depending on how many tables i have up at a time... I'm really excited about really scheduling out a day and following through.
I'm expecting to see some blue lights!!!! I'll update as I go.
at 2:30 i got knocked out of the 271 person $10 MTT... in about 60th place... i had doubled up midway before the first break with ak v. aq... then i lost half my stack with ak when i got repopped by a7 from the BB and they got home to cut me down to original stack... wasn't able to make anything happen. with 1400 chips and a 200 chip BB i picked up a9. two limpers and i shoved. the button limped with TT and i was gone.
i am 8/40 with 15k in chips in the $2 rebuy through the second break. I won two coinflips to stay alive and then with 15 left and 1.2k blinds i shoved about 9k into the BB with kjs and he snap called as a shorter stack with T9 off. he got home.
12:30 $2 rebuy
1:00 $10 MTT
2:00 $24 17.5K guarantee
4:00 $10 MTT
5:30 $10 MTT
6:00 $24 13.5K guarantee
8:00 $24 24K guarantee
10:00 $24 28K guarantee
11:00 $10 MTT ( as long as I'm still feeling it )
I might sprinkle in a satellite or two to a $50 buy-in or bigger depending on how many tables i have up at a time... I'm really excited about really scheduling out a day and following through.
I'm expecting to see some blue lights!!!! I'll update as I go.
at 2:30 i got knocked out of the 271 person $10 MTT... in about 60th place... i had doubled up midway before the first break with ak v. aq... then i lost half my stack with ak when i got repopped by a7 from the BB and they got home to cut me down to original stack... wasn't able to make anything happen. with 1400 chips and a 200 chip BB i picked up a9. two limpers and i shoved. the button limped with TT and i was gone.
i am 8/40 with 15k in chips in the $2 rebuy through the second break. I won two coinflips to stay alive and then with 15 left and 1.2k blinds i shoved about 9k into the BB with kjs and he snap called as a shorter stack with T9 off. he got home.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Climb the ladder...
I started the day on the $11 speed sng's as I won a $6 speed sng the previous night. My fourth resulted in a win after 2 seconds and a sixth. I then took my shot at the $22's and didn't fare so well. Out of 6, I had 1 third and bricked out of the rest. I took it very easy yesterday and stopped after my demeanor changed and felt like I was running bad. No MTT's yesterday and I will get back to the $22's before I move back up to the $33's.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Bubble Boy
I had a terrible day at the turbo SNG's. I played two 60's and bubbled one and lost an all in with kk in the other. I dropped down to the $36's and just played awful towards the end. Shoving marginal hands a little too early. I was just so sick to my stomach with some of the hands that beat me and how poorly I played in the last few. When I'd make the right call with a9 and 36 gets home it can be very frustrating. That lead me to a decision. I am starting from the ground up again. I'd start with the $6 turbo's until I get a win then I'll move up a level until I "earn" my way back to the $33's. It only took two $6's to get a win and I am now on the $11's. I played one $11 and finished 3rd then called it a night. My next session will start with the $11's then get to the $22's. Sometimes you just need to get that feeling of winning again to get the confidence that you're playing well back. It doesn't even matter at what stake, it's just the WIN.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Almost... not quite
Well I decided to play a $10 MTT while playing some sng's. I played two $60's after cashing in all three $36's (a win and 2 thirds). I bubbled one when q10s couldn't hold against q8 and lost a race with a10 vs. 55 to become very short. Won a race with 55 and was still very short and lost with k9 vs. 8 10. Again I felt that I played pretty well and made a correct fold preflop with QQ early in the sng to AA.
On to the MTT. I don't remember having a hand other than an AK vs. Aq early on all in. I somehow managed to accumulate enough chips to make it from 240 people down to around 60. I won huge pot with QQ when an utg raiser shoved his KQ into a board of J 10 7 and my queens held. I managed to stay chip leader until about 22 people left and ran pretty dry. About three steal attempts into a short stack on the button failed but called with great odds and missed all three 2-1 shots. My big mistake was down to 17 people and 500/1000 blinds most stacks were between 5-15 BB's... I had 32 BB's to start the hand and was in the BB and woke up with JJ. A player that I had only witnessed shoving 20+BB's with ak earlier shoved into me with 13K. I didn't think he'd play AA or KK this way and put him on a range of AK-A10, KQs and all other pairs down to 44. My equity against this range is about 67%.. If you add AA and KK my equity drops to 61%. I thought with my stack the play is to call and he woke up with KK. I didn't suck out and dropped to 19K. My stack stayed in this area until the blinds went up to about 1600. I only had KK in this time and got no action. My stack dropped to 10K at the 1000/2000 level and lost a race with a10 vs 55. I finished 11th and was happy with my play for the most part. Still not sure about the JJ call and I am open to opinions on the hand. On the day A10 was my arch nemesis.
On to the MTT. I don't remember having a hand other than an AK vs. Aq early on all in. I somehow managed to accumulate enough chips to make it from 240 people down to around 60. I won huge pot with QQ when an utg raiser shoved his KQ into a board of J 10 7 and my queens held. I managed to stay chip leader until about 22 people left and ran pretty dry. About three steal attempts into a short stack on the button failed but called with great odds and missed all three 2-1 shots. My big mistake was down to 17 people and 500/1000 blinds most stacks were between 5-15 BB's... I had 32 BB's to start the hand and was in the BB and woke up with JJ. A player that I had only witnessed shoving 20+BB's with ak earlier shoved into me with 13K. I didn't think he'd play AA or KK this way and put him on a range of AK-A10, KQs and all other pairs down to 44. My equity against this range is about 67%.. If you add AA and KK my equity drops to 61%. I thought with my stack the play is to call and he woke up with KK. I didn't suck out and dropped to 19K. My stack stayed in this area until the blinds went up to about 1600. I only had KK in this time and got no action. My stack dropped to 10K at the 1000/2000 level and lost a race with a10 vs 55. I finished 11th and was happy with my play for the most part. Still not sure about the JJ call and I am open to opinions on the hand. On the day A10 was my arch nemesis.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Heads Up Glory
I had some awesome family stuff to do yesterday to jar my emotions. So afterwards, I decided to get back on that horse and try again. I played 7 $33's, had 2 thirds and a win. I still ran like garbage but I played pretty well. After the win, I decided to bubble the $55 buy-in in glorious fashion. I ended up punching a container of peanuts several times before throwing it. It was solid. Down to 4 people, there was an all-in and call of A10s vs. 22. Either someone was getting eliminated or be left with 160 chips at the 250/500 level. Well the race was decided on the river and instead of the elim, we had a player in the blind with 160 chips. The brilliant chip leader decided to raise the next hand to get rid of the other players instead of calling and have the best chance of eliminating the player. The short stack won that coin flip and then won the next hand when his 67 out ran KJs. He now had 1440 in chips and was in the BB. I picked up QQ on button and shoved my 1800 into the middle. He called with the ever powerful j3 offsuit. And in case you were scoring at home j3 > QQ. It was pretty sweet, I'm not going to lie. He obviously forgot his helmet.
I was pretty steamed at that point and wanted to try something new. I decided to check out the Heads Up (HU) Sng's. I played a $6 HU match and after losing a race after having a 3-2 chiplead, I was down to 600 in chips. I worked my way back with selective aggression and took that match down. I was enjoying heckling my friend at one his low limit sng's and wanted to have a little fun so I sat in a $11+1 speed sng and took down a 2nd without playing a hand until it was HU. Of course I lost another 2-1 shot to get eliminated but that's besides the point. To end the night I played one more HU match against an overaggressive tool. I took that one down with a completely different style and was able to figure out what his bets and preflop raises really meant. On the day I made a small profit and by the end I had some fun.
I was pretty steamed at that point and wanted to try something new. I decided to check out the Heads Up (HU) Sng's. I played a $6 HU match and after losing a race after having a 3-2 chiplead, I was down to 600 in chips. I worked my way back with selective aggression and took that match down. I was enjoying heckling my friend at one his low limit sng's and wanted to have a little fun so I sat in a $11+1 speed sng and took down a 2nd without playing a hand until it was HU. Of course I lost another 2-1 shot to get eliminated but that's besides the point. To end the night I played one more HU match against an overaggressive tool. I took that one down with a completely different style and was able to figure out what his bets and preflop raises really meant. On the day I made a small profit and by the end I had some fun.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
The crime isn't getting knocked down... it's not getting back up
Deciding to stick to my previous days plan of going with the $33+3's, I started later in the day due to an amazingly good hangover. Went to the best burger place in NJ (Barnacle Bill's) to get some hangover medicine. For some reason a thick, juicy burger is the best cure.
Anyhow... I got 12 sng's in. Had 1 first and 2 seconds. I went 35 sng's without a win before bursting that bubble... it was my longest winless streak since I started keeping track a couple years ago. I ended up losing two buy-ins on the day. I broke 800 on the leaderboard. I feel like my game is still solid and i'm losing 3 out of 4 2-1 all-ins or better. I'm going to stick with the $33+3's until I book another win.
I played a $5 MTT as well. Played pretty well and got a double up early. Got through 1/2 the field, had about 2800 in chips and picked up AA utg (under the gun, i.e. first to act) and made a standard raise. From here I got a reraise all-in, and 2 all-in calls. Keep in mind the blinds at this point were 60/120. The first guy was the only to have me covered and he held AK... the next was the shortest stack at 1300 who held QQ (not a bad play considering his stack size)... the final guy had about 2600 chips and called with 10 10. Now if you have an utg raiser, a shove and a call you can be pretty sure your 10's are no good. With 20+ BB's you don't need to make this call for all of your chips. What can you beat... 99 and 88... come on. Needless to say the board came 8 9 J K 7. Your tens are good sir.... great call. Maybe I'm wrong. Can't fault the way I played... I have a 60% chance with the aces to quadruple up to 10k in chips.
Maybe I'll mix in another MTT or two today but I really want to spend the majority of my focus on the SNG's. Time to make a run at several wins.
Anyhow... I got 12 sng's in. Had 1 first and 2 seconds. I went 35 sng's without a win before bursting that bubble... it was my longest winless streak since I started keeping track a couple years ago. I ended up losing two buy-ins on the day. I broke 800 on the leaderboard. I feel like my game is still solid and i'm losing 3 out of 4 2-1 all-ins or better. I'm going to stick with the $33+3's until I book another win.
I played a $5 MTT as well. Played pretty well and got a double up early. Got through 1/2 the field, had about 2800 in chips and picked up AA utg (under the gun, i.e. first to act) and made a standard raise. From here I got a reraise all-in, and 2 all-in calls. Keep in mind the blinds at this point were 60/120. The first guy was the only to have me covered and he held AK... the next was the shortest stack at 1300 who held QQ (not a bad play considering his stack size)... the final guy had about 2600 chips and called with 10 10. Now if you have an utg raiser, a shove and a call you can be pretty sure your 10's are no good. With 20+ BB's you don't need to make this call for all of your chips. What can you beat... 99 and 88... come on. Needless to say the board came 8 9 J K 7. Your tens are good sir.... great call. Maybe I'm wrong. Can't fault the way I played... I have a 60% chance with the aces to quadruple up to 10k in chips.
Maybe I'll mix in another MTT or two today but I really want to spend the majority of my focus on the SNG's. Time to make a run at several wins.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Full Tilt was down...
Well FullTilt was down for several hours and I wasn't able to play until later. I was only able to play 9 $60 Sng's. I had 2 3rds and a 2nd on the day and my winless streak has reached 29 straight Sng's without a win. My rank has increased to 861 however. Good for me. I'm going to start my day tomorrow at the $33+3 level and try and figure out where I'm missing.
Friday, September 21, 2007
navigating the minefield's of donkville...
Well, day one since my declaration didn't go so great... I have another rule that I tend to follow... if I don't cash in around 5 straight SNG's I drop down in limits and reevaluate my game. My streak of cashless SNG's reached 6 at the $60 level so I dropped down to the $36 level. I played 6 at that level and bricked out of 4, had a 2nd and a 3rd. I felt I was playing well still and just getting a little unlucky. I lost about 80-90% of my coin flips where I was all-in.
On top of that, if you play tournaments or SNG's you realize how important it is for others to get eliminated in order to reach the winner's circle. Without going directly to the Hand History (HH) I estimate that every all-in had about a 80% survival rate yesterday. I just couldn't climb the ladder by waiting out the donks. Overall on the day I played 16 Sng's (10 $60's and 6 $36's). I had 3 2nds and 4 3rds. I have not had a win in the last 18 Sng's which had hurt my ROI.
On the brightside, I have reached 960 on the monthly SNG leaderboard and I'm hoping to break 750 by tomorrow. And score a couple of wins.
On top of that, if you play tournaments or SNG's you realize how important it is for others to get eliminated in order to reach the winner's circle. Without going directly to the Hand History (HH) I estimate that every all-in had about a 80% survival rate yesterday. I just couldn't climb the ladder by waiting out the donks. Overall on the day I played 16 Sng's (10 $60's and 6 $36's). I had 3 2nds and 4 3rds. I have not had a win in the last 18 Sng's which had hurt my ROI.
On the brightside, I have reached 960 on the monthly SNG leaderboard and I'm hoping to break 750 by tomorrow. And score a couple of wins.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Beginning... Well almost
About 6 months ago I had about $80 in my Full Tilt acct. Here's some history on me. I was playing live NL poker for a living for over a year until I accepted an actual job after some family issues had subsided. I needed the flexibility of the poker lifestyle to take care of some things for that time but everything was ok again so I felt the need to "go back to work." My live playing days would be significantly limited.
After entering $100 into a Party Poker account a few years ago to try out the site I built up that account to around $3000. I started with the $10 Sit-N-Go's (SNG's) and set a goal and a bankroll strategy. My inital goal was to get to the $20 SNG's but I needed $400 before I would take my shots at them... If my bankroll dipped below $300 (or 15 buy-ins) I was back to the 10's until I built back up to $400. I played 99 $10 SNG's and won $271 and had an ROI (Return on Investment) of 24.8%. To make a long story short I continued to move up in stakes until I reached the $50 buy-ins. Once I had over $2000 I was able to play in some $5-10 Stud H/L as well as the SNG's until the government's ruling that forced Party Poker to shut down. I cashed out my $3000 and was wondering what to do next.
I continued to play live and did well. I started my actual job around March and hadn't played any online poker. A close friend of mine who I played live with many times and was one of the best live NL players I had ever been around had told me that they were tearing up the MTT's on Full Tilt. I had opened a Full Tilt account around the same time that I started my Party account but never really liked the software or the games for that matter. They were slow and not enough to choose from. Back to my opening of "About 6 months ago I had about $80 in my Full Tilt acct." Since so many online sites shut down to American players, it seems that everyone migrated to either Full Tilt or PokerStars. I knew with my job I wouldn't be able to make the 1 1/4 hour trip back and forth to AC on a regular basis so I figured online was the way to go. To make any significant money I knew I'd have to rebuild my online bankroll. I decided to go about it the same way I did on Party with a little twist. I decided to really work on my Multi-Table Tournament (MTT's) game. Along with my SNG bankroll standards, I added a MTT standard. I'd play any MTT that I had at least 50 buy-ins for. SLOWLY i built from $100 to $300... started playing $5 MTT's. I made three final tables with no wins... got to $500... added the $10 MTT's. Then I started to see some real success. I made 3 final tables with two wins out of 36 entered. My profit there was over $1700. I've made some small cash outs and transfers so my account is a little over 2k.
Lately I've found that the speed SNG's are a little better for me as they force the action and many players don't know how to play them properly. I've moved up to the $55+5 level. I've played 36 and made a little over $300 and have an ROI of 14.5%. There are a few more quality players at this level and need a bigger sample size to judge success. Also I have enough in my bankroll to play the big $24 guarantees on a daily basis with some 1st prizes in excess of 5k.
That being said I have 3 new goals:
1) Make the Full Tilt High Limit SNG leaderboard
2) Build up to the $110+9 SNG's (I'll start here when i have 25 buy-ins for this level which is around $3000)
3) Finish the year with a bankroll of $20,000
Now I know there are only 3 months left in the year so to win $18k is going to be difficult. I believe it's entirely possible with the $24 MTT's and building up to the $110 SNG's. I've always felt if you aim small, you get small. Throughout this blog I'll update you all on stats and different hands. Feedback will always be appreciated. Most importantly, I'd like to thank Rex55 and RivRunsDeep for all of their help and support. TT!
After entering $100 into a Party Poker account a few years ago to try out the site I built up that account to around $3000. I started with the $10 Sit-N-Go's (SNG's) and set a goal and a bankroll strategy. My inital goal was to get to the $20 SNG's but I needed $400 before I would take my shots at them... If my bankroll dipped below $300 (or 15 buy-ins) I was back to the 10's until I built back up to $400. I played 99 $10 SNG's and won $271 and had an ROI (Return on Investment) of 24.8%. To make a long story short I continued to move up in stakes until I reached the $50 buy-ins. Once I had over $2000 I was able to play in some $5-10 Stud H/L as well as the SNG's until the government's ruling that forced Party Poker to shut down. I cashed out my $3000 and was wondering what to do next.
I continued to play live and did well. I started my actual job around March and hadn't played any online poker. A close friend of mine who I played live with many times and was one of the best live NL players I had ever been around had told me that they were tearing up the MTT's on Full Tilt. I had opened a Full Tilt account around the same time that I started my Party account but never really liked the software or the games for that matter. They were slow and not enough to choose from. Back to my opening of "About 6 months ago I had about $80 in my Full Tilt acct." Since so many online sites shut down to American players, it seems that everyone migrated to either Full Tilt or PokerStars. I knew with my job I wouldn't be able to make the 1 1/4 hour trip back and forth to AC on a regular basis so I figured online was the way to go. To make any significant money I knew I'd have to rebuild my online bankroll. I decided to go about it the same way I did on Party with a little twist. I decided to really work on my Multi-Table Tournament (MTT's) game. Along with my SNG bankroll standards, I added a MTT standard. I'd play any MTT that I had at least 50 buy-ins for. SLOWLY i built from $100 to $300... started playing $5 MTT's. I made three final tables with no wins... got to $500... added the $10 MTT's. Then I started to see some real success. I made 3 final tables with two wins out of 36 entered. My profit there was over $1700. I've made some small cash outs and transfers so my account is a little over 2k.
Lately I've found that the speed SNG's are a little better for me as they force the action and many players don't know how to play them properly. I've moved up to the $55+5 level. I've played 36 and made a little over $300 and have an ROI of 14.5%. There are a few more quality players at this level and need a bigger sample size to judge success. Also I have enough in my bankroll to play the big $24 guarantees on a daily basis with some 1st prizes in excess of 5k.
That being said I have 3 new goals:
1) Make the Full Tilt High Limit SNG leaderboard
2) Build up to the $110+9 SNG's (I'll start here when i have 25 buy-ins for this level which is around $3000)
3) Finish the year with a bankroll of $20,000
Now I know there are only 3 months left in the year so to win $18k is going to be difficult. I believe it's entirely possible with the $24 MTT's and building up to the $110 SNG's. I've always felt if you aim small, you get small. Throughout this blog I'll update you all on stats and different hands. Feedback will always be appreciated. Most importantly, I'd like to thank Rex55 and RivRunsDeep for all of their help and support. TT!
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