Thursday, February 22, 2007

Yeah, so...

As is usually the case when I have a nice chunk of time dedicated to poker, I got overzealous and basically wasted it. However, as an exception to the norm, at least this time I actually came away with a tiny win.

I started out with the precious $8.70 Tier 1. It was going along decent enough, as with 11 players left I was bouncing from 4th to 6th depending on where the button was. But the blinds were just too big and there were too many players left, so by no means could I just sit and wait. I managed to get myself busted by pushing my A 10 on the button into the big blind's Qs, and found myself on the outside looking in yet again. I think based on the blinds and the way the game was being played, I'd make that move every time. But c'mon, could I have a little bit of decent luck??

I then proceeded to play a couple where I got 17th and 14th. In the 17th one I decided to take a little different approach, trying to play it fast and loose. Very early, to an MP raise, I pushed my KJo, and didn't hate it when I saw his A9d, but I couldn't improve. In the 14th one I pushed my LP or button KQo right into big blind Aces. Are you kidding?? And then I played one more where we were again down to 10-11 players left. Since I'd gotten Q10 in these tourneys a million frickin' times I decided to go with it once. Again, I made a position play and came up against KJ, which I didn't hate again. I flopped two pair, but the turn didn't hesitate to fill up his straight. I had a few chips left and promptly pushed my A9 into A10.

My luck in these Tier 1s has been ATROCIOUS. I've played 6 of 'em and here's a compilation of the luck, which is mostly bust hands, 44 vs. AJ doesn't hold, 10s vs AK doesn't hold (river 10 completes his straight), push A10 on button into QQ don't improve, KJ vs. A9 doesn't improve, position push KQ into BB AA, and Q 10 flops 2 pair vs KJ, which turns a straight, and finally with chicken feed I push A9 into A10.

So the Tier 1s are kind of a sore subject right now. If I could just find a *little* luck, it'd be a whole different story.

So since I didn't win my $26 ticket, like a moron I just went ahead and bought into the $26 tourney anyway. 760-some runners and I busted in 74xth. I had two early hands where I made marginal calls where if I hit I get paid off BIG TIME. In the first one I flopped a straight flush draw holding 86h and didn't hit the straight or flush, and in the 2nd I flopped a flush draw and didn't complete it either. So I was down to 1k very early on. I find JJ in EP and limp with it, and it folds around to the blinds who both limp. The board comes something like 998, and we check it around. The turn is another low card, and it checks around to me. I make a small probe bet, and the SB folds and BB calls. The river is another low card. BB checks, I make a 2/3 pot bet, BB raises me, and with 1/3 of my chips in already and an overpair, I push. He shows A9 and IGHN.

Another interesting story had to do with a .05/.10 table. There came a point where I was looking to play one in tandem with one of the Tier 1s so I could concentrate on the Tier 1 with no real objective on the cash game table other than look for good hands and play them. There was a particularly juicy table with an average pot of over $7 and a PPF rate of 52%. With only a couple on the waiting list, I went ahead and added myself, and eventually took my seat. The table seemed full of guys who knew each other for whatever reason or another, had to have been playing well below their bankroll, and not a hand would go by when someone didn't get all-in, and with ANYTHING. A majority of the time, preflop. They would just keep passing it around the table and rebuying and rebuying. So I was basically folding looking for good hands or an opportunity to get in cheap. Most pots would be raised, but I'd generally bail if I couldn't get in for a buck or less. I managed to double my $10 buyin twice, once when I made a straight and called an all-in of a guy drawing completely dead with top pair, and another time when I had an overpair to the board (9s), and someone w/57o had pushed with just a gutshot. Easy money. So I'm sitting there with $38 on a .05/.10 table. Next hand I took a shot at was a limp in EP w/AJo. I hate to do this, but this is a premium hand at this table. I ended up getting to see a flop for about .30, and it was a decent looking 33J flop. I was pretty sure I was crushing my 4 opponents, but I honestly had to be scared of the 3. The middle of the story doesn't matter because no matter what was held, all the chips were going in. The last two cards came lower than a J, all the money went in on the river, and the SB won the hand with 73o. At that point, I thought to myself "I took my shot and came up blank" and gave up my seat. Say 20-30 mins later I got to thinking about how juicy the table was and how if I just stayed patient it could be a GOLD MINE for me. The beauty of it is that I can get in a hand for as little as 10 to 50 cents, but end up winning $30 pots or more. The cost was at the .05/.10 level, but the payout was at the .25/.50 level or higher! I was a moron to give up my seat! Well, by the time I got back there the average pot was about $30, the PPF rate was 42%, and the waiting list was 24 deep. I went back to the table a couple hours later at 9:00, and while I thought it was pretty remarkable that someone was there with as much as $68 while I had my seat at the table, at 9:00, there was a stack over $300! THREE THOUSAND times the big blind. Incidentally, it was the guy that busted me w/his 73o. The biggest mistake I made all last night was giving up my seat at that table, and I'm gonna be looking for those guys again going forward.

So that's, what? $70 of my $120 bankroll gone with nothing to show for it?

Luckily I had some good showings in the other SNGs I played and ended up cranking out a $10 profit for the night. I won another $11 SNG for a profit of $34, I went 2-for-2 in $6.50 turbos to the tune of $41, and took 3rd in another $11 SNG for a profit of $9.

One of the $6.50 turbos was the best SNG of my life, by far. I took out all 8 of the other players, which is a first for me, and I know a pretty remarkable accomplishment. I couldn't have done it without a little luck, but I also couldn't have done it without a little LUCKO. Thanks for all the great SNG posts as of late, man! It all started on the first hand when I took out 2 players when I flopped TPTK on a 10-high board. I was in the BB, and the small blind bet, I raised all-in (pretty sure I have the best hand here, and want to get it in accordingly, especially in a turbo), UTG called, a MP limper folded, and SB called. SB had a flush draw and didn't get there and UTG had 2nd pair. MP said he folded AA! From then on I just put pressure on every chance I got with my big stack. I had another hand where I took out 2 players when I flopped middle set and beat an overpair and top pair, and the rest of the time it was just me pushing almost any 2 and them picking hands. I had a PP of 4s hold and a PP of 2s hold, and I had a big suckout when I pushed 86 preflop on the button and beat the BBs KQ when the flop came JJ8. Heads up it was 12.5k to 1k and he was a stubborn little guy, but I eventually took care of business fairly routinely, never letting him even get to 2k. What a blast!

So overall it was a positive, but I wasted SO MUCH money in the Tier 1 SNGs and in that $26 MTT. If I would've just played some SNGs and kept my seat at that .05/.10 table, the sky's the limit, but I'm not gonna complain about a profit, especially when my bankroll dipped as low as $76.

Next time I have an opportunity to put in a decent session I need to form a plan going in and not stray from it, because whenever this happens its like I haven't eaten for a week and you drop me into a chinese buffet. I know what my objective is, but I just grab whatever I can think of next, and when the dust settles I'm satisfied, but I'm also a little sick and could've gone about it in a much better way.

Maybe no poker for me until the weekend, so good luck to everyone else, and I'll see you next time.

No comments: