So last night was probably my most fufilling night of losing ever. My instincts were on point, and things just ended up not going my way.
I played in the Poker.com 8:00 freeroll, a 5.50 SNG, a 2.20 SNG, and another SNG.
The 5.50 was very up and down. This, unfortunately, was probably my worst performance of the night. These play at an entirely different level than the 2.20s, and next time I play one I'm going to have to dedicate to it 100% to get a feel for how they play, and how to beat them. Both times I've played one I've been splitting my time and come up just short of where I need to be, so I'm obviously missing something. I trended down at the beginning, but then went on a pretty good run and amassed a decent stack, eeking my way into the 3rd & 4th place range w/6 or so left. I then proceeded to tinkle it away one way or another, and as I recall, it was fairly quickly. I was playing it like a $2.20, and after two very similar performances, its obvious that I can't do that. Its also quite sad that I don't remember how I lost it, and the really sad part is that I was more focused on the freeroll because it was going so well. So no more of that.
The freeroll and the 2.20 SNG was where my instincts were out of this world. I knew right where I was at on every hand but one that I can recall. I just read the situation, felt it, whatever. I spent a lot of time in the top 10-15 in the freeroll, hitting some cards, making some great plays, and even better reads, but in the end, I just missed too many times in a row with good hands and high blinds and faded away in 45th. It was very similar to Robert Williamson III's demise on PPT last night if you were watching. The 2.20 SNG was the same way, I grabbed a bunch of chips with a few cards, plays, and reads, and I ended up taking a rough beat when I outflopped someone, got them all-in as a dog, and they drew out on me. That crippled me, and had me pushing w/A4 a couple hands later, only to miss completely.
Poker.com also runs these SNGs where you buy-in w/100 in play money, and if you win a 6 person, 6 person, and then a 10 person SNG, they give you a buck in real money. I played a few of these on Monday night, and they're pretty good for practice, and the challenge is fun enough. I might just note here that for me to be dorking around in virtual play money SNGs also shows how level-headed I am right now. Usually when I've got money in I'm rabid about playing with it as much as I can, but Monday night I just didn't really feel like playing w/real money, so I horsed around in these all night. And last night it was a combination of being right on the edge of tilt and not having enough time before bed that had me in one of these instead of another real money SNG. Anyway, I ended up just throttling this table. I was that guy at the table that just had everyone else completely puzzled. I'd win and show down with good hands, and I'd win and show down with bad hands, but all anyone knew was that they didn't want to mix it up with me. It was a blast, and I'd love to perfect a game where I can do that on a consistent basis.
Anyway, in the end I am down $7.70 on the night, but just really played lights out, so I can really look back on the night as overall positive. Its annoying to lose when you're playing so well, but you're never gonna take luck out of the game, so you have to take 'em where you can get 'em.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Score
I managed to bring my SNG home, and my bankroll on Poker.com stands at $24.50. A nice little bonus for a lazy Tuesday afternoon!
More Good News?? Nonsense.
I never thought I'd see the day where I was talking/posting a poker story where I hit a run of luck. But I'll be damned if it isn't possible.
Friday night I had gotten an invite from Rich's boss to have a go at his home game. I wasn't terribly interested because I figured the stakes would be a little too high for my liking, and it sounded like the drinks started flowing and the game breaks down to a mess. But Linz was sick and headed to bed early in preparation for us to head out of town the next morning, so I headed over.
They play a dealer's choice cash game, and when I got there they were just starting a game of 3-5-7. I didn't know anybody and had never played the game, so decided to sit out. It was probably about an hour and I "played along" looking at Rich's cards, and the game ended. I got in for my $20, and was 2 in front of the dealer. I folded my quarter antes on a game of 7 Stud and 3 Card Guts, and then it was my choice. Showing my poker prowess right off the bat, I chose Omaha Hi-Lo. Only...nobody knew how to play but Rich. So we explained it, and I told them we totally didn't have to play it, cuz I figured since they play this mixed game they knew it. But they all said "no, lets play." so off we go. I got dealt A2KQ, and raised it up to $2 when it got to me. The flop came K9K, there were some bets, and I raised it up to go and got 3-4 callers. At this point I knew there was no low, but we were playing with 2 decks, so the possibility of being beat right now was still very palpable. The turn was a blank low card and there was more bets and another raise by me and more calls. The river was a K, and there was a bet, some confusion, and a couple folds after I gave out the little tidbit that no low was possible (felt bad about that). I can't remember if I raised or not, but knew I was in pretty good position. I actually expected to see another K and win it with my kicker, but my last caller showed K full of Q, and I took down the more than $40 pot. I felt bad because it was my choice and nobody knew how to play, but I told them I'd pick a different game, and they said no.
After that we went through with more stud, war, and actually a game of blackjack that I won a buck on, and then it gets back around to the guy next to me and he chooses a round of hold 'em (1 deck). Very first hand I get 77 in the hole and the flop comes J67. I ended up going all the way to the river w/a guy holding J6 and won a pretty big pot. Over the course of the next 8 hands I saw 33 & 66 (folded postflop), KQ (lost 1 bet on the river to 2 pair after checking down), AK twice (hit once, missed once), AQ (won), and QQ (won). That may be the best run of hold 'em hands ever seen. I felt a little bit bad because I didn't want to be looked at as a hustler, so I showed down all my hands. It was just a sick run of luck.
To make matters worse, at this point it was 11:00, and they decided to kick up another hour+ long game of 3-5-7, so I had to roll. I ended up cashing out w/a $50 profit, and after giving $10 to the host for the kickass brisket he smoked, I left with a "I'm really sorry I've gotta go like this, but please invite me back and I'll lose it all back to you". I'm not the type of guy to do a drive by like that, so while I legitimately feel bad about it, I think it could be a lucrative game for me, so I hope I get invited back.
Other than that, I played a $2.20 SNG at poker.com yesterday afternoon and cashed in 3rd. I was a bit irritated because this sick suckout artist that I should've taken out midway through and then should've been gone again ended up winning the thing, but that's the way it goes. That bumped me up to $16.70 and back to my comfort zone for the $5.50 SNGs. I sat in this afternoon to try and get in one, but they fill up REALLY slow at poker.com, so I'm sitting in a $2.20 instead. I'm currently killing it with 40% of the chips in play w/5 left, so hopefully I can hang on.
I also switched my poker blog today to Blogger.com because it seems like the cool place to blog about poker and is way easier to customize than LiveJournal. Plus, having 2 logins at LiveJournal was a pain in the ass. So, hopefully I can get in the "network" of poker bloggers and get people linked up and make it easier to keep up with all the well-known poker blogs out there.
Ew, I just lost a sick 2-outer in this tourney. After it folded around, I semi-bluff raised in the SB w/Q7h and the flop brought 2 Queens. Check, check. Turn was a K. Check, min-bet. YAHTZEE. I smooth called to punk him on the river. River K. Check, min-bet again, and I called just because I had to see it. On the one hand, I need to work on my slow-play technique to avoid things like this, but on the other, its questionable as to whether or not I'd have gotten a call on the flop, and there's no way I would've gotten him off his K on the turn, so I may have played that hand in the least damaging way possible, short of folding on the river.
Ok, I'm done. I swear.
Friday night I had gotten an invite from Rich's boss to have a go at his home game. I wasn't terribly interested because I figured the stakes would be a little too high for my liking, and it sounded like the drinks started flowing and the game breaks down to a mess. But Linz was sick and headed to bed early in preparation for us to head out of town the next morning, so I headed over.
They play a dealer's choice cash game, and when I got there they were just starting a game of 3-5-7. I didn't know anybody and had never played the game, so decided to sit out. It was probably about an hour and I "played along" looking at Rich's cards, and the game ended. I got in for my $20, and was 2 in front of the dealer. I folded my quarter antes on a game of 7 Stud and 3 Card Guts, and then it was my choice. Showing my poker prowess right off the bat, I chose Omaha Hi-Lo. Only...nobody knew how to play but Rich. So we explained it, and I told them we totally didn't have to play it, cuz I figured since they play this mixed game they knew it. But they all said "no, lets play." so off we go. I got dealt A2KQ, and raised it up to $2 when it got to me. The flop came K9K, there were some bets, and I raised it up to go and got 3-4 callers. At this point I knew there was no low, but we were playing with 2 decks, so the possibility of being beat right now was still very palpable. The turn was a blank low card and there was more bets and another raise by me and more calls. The river was a K, and there was a bet, some confusion, and a couple folds after I gave out the little tidbit that no low was possible (felt bad about that). I can't remember if I raised or not, but knew I was in pretty good position. I actually expected to see another K and win it with my kicker, but my last caller showed K full of Q, and I took down the more than $40 pot. I felt bad because it was my choice and nobody knew how to play, but I told them I'd pick a different game, and they said no.
After that we went through with more stud, war, and actually a game of blackjack that I won a buck on, and then it gets back around to the guy next to me and he chooses a round of hold 'em (1 deck). Very first hand I get 77 in the hole and the flop comes J67. I ended up going all the way to the river w/a guy holding J6 and won a pretty big pot. Over the course of the next 8 hands I saw 33 & 66 (folded postflop), KQ (lost 1 bet on the river to 2 pair after checking down), AK twice (hit once, missed once), AQ (won), and QQ (won). That may be the best run of hold 'em hands ever seen. I felt a little bit bad because I didn't want to be looked at as a hustler, so I showed down all my hands. It was just a sick run of luck.
To make matters worse, at this point it was 11:00, and they decided to kick up another hour+ long game of 3-5-7, so I had to roll. I ended up cashing out w/a $50 profit, and after giving $10 to the host for the kickass brisket he smoked, I left with a "I'm really sorry I've gotta go like this, but please invite me back and I'll lose it all back to you". I'm not the type of guy to do a drive by like that, so while I legitimately feel bad about it, I think it could be a lucrative game for me, so I hope I get invited back.
Other than that, I played a $2.20 SNG at poker.com yesterday afternoon and cashed in 3rd. I was a bit irritated because this sick suckout artist that I should've taken out midway through and then should've been gone again ended up winning the thing, but that's the way it goes. That bumped me up to $16.70 and back to my comfort zone for the $5.50 SNGs. I sat in this afternoon to try and get in one, but they fill up REALLY slow at poker.com, so I'm sitting in a $2.20 instead. I'm currently killing it with 40% of the chips in play w/5 left, so hopefully I can hang on.
I also switched my poker blog today to Blogger.com because it seems like the cool place to blog about poker and is way easier to customize than LiveJournal. Plus, having 2 logins at LiveJournal was a pain in the ass. So, hopefully I can get in the "network" of poker bloggers and get people linked up and make it easier to keep up with all the well-known poker blogs out there.
Ew, I just lost a sick 2-outer in this tourney. After it folded around, I semi-bluff raised in the SB w/Q7h and the flop brought 2 Queens. Check, check. Turn was a K. Check, min-bet. YAHTZEE. I smooth called to punk him on the river. River K. Check, min-bet again, and I called just because I had to see it. On the one hand, I need to work on my slow-play technique to avoid things like this, but on the other, its questionable as to whether or not I'd have gotten a call on the flop, and there's no way I would've gotten him off his K on the turn, so I may have played that hand in the least damaging way possible, short of folding on the river.
Ok, I'm done. I swear.
The Latest
Well, things have been going pretty decent since Monday. I'm waiting on my big $1.25 last hurrah at FTP until the time feels right. And by "the time feels right", I mean when I'm a whole lot less pissed off at that site than I am currently, and think I can get top 6 out of 45 without being weak/tight out of my mind.
I cashed in another $2.20 SNG at Poker.com on Tuesday evening, which propeled my bankroll to $17. At that point, I decided it was time to venture into the $5.50 arena. So I did that last night, and although I pulled together a few chips early, I found myself in jeopardy toward the middle. But I did some scooping and managed to stick around until one of the leaders took out 2 people. All of the sudden I'm on the bubble. But unfortunately the bubble is where I stayed, as I saw a couple of pretty decent hands, but couldn't hit a board and I busted 4th.
Feeling a little steamed, I went 2.20 SNG crazy. I ended up playing in 3. I had already started in one when it looked like the $5.50 was not gonna go my way, and I proceeded to steam that one away pretty quickly. Attempting a big bluff, I lost all my chips when I ran up against a straight. With a lot of paint on the board I had a middle 2 pair and figured I was up against a bigger 2 pair. This is something that I really need to keep working on, because I want it to be a part of my game. I try and bluff every now and then, and when I pull it off it feels great, but more often than not I run into a real hand. So I need to figure out how to feel out a strong bluffing situation, and how to know when I'm really up against something. Anyway, I picked up in another one, and when it was getting boring, I started in another. With my bankroll at $4.90 I started feeling that feeling again, but luckily I hit a rush of cards in the first of the pair I was playing and it propelled me to the money with the chip lead. Once I got 3-handed I was scooping like mad and showing as many good hands as I could. I eventually had a 3 to 1 chip advantage on each of my opponents, but by the time I got heads up I was running a little colder and it was 5xxx to 4xxx. About this time, I busted out of the other one I was in. Blinds were starting to make my stack pretty measly, and after a couple of successful scoops, my A9 ran up against rockets with 5 left. But, being heads up in this other one, I wasn't horribly disappointed, and just wanted to win what would be a very satisfying $10. Heads up proceeded to go about like the other 2 heads up have gone in these 2.20 SNGs, as I was making moves at the wrong time and not having what I needed when we'd check it down. I eventually got somewhat stacked, but then a preflop push on a raise got us about even. Shortly after that I picked up 3s and pushed, and felt the nasty sting of deja vu (I have ONLY cashed in 2nd place in these tourneys) when my opponent rolled 7s. But I overcame the odds, doubled up, and won when my opponent was all-in for less on the next hand.
End result of what could've been a disastrous night: a $14.90 bankroll. Only down $2.10 from where I started. Even the $6 2nd place prize would've kept me at $10.90, and up from my freeroll cash, which is where I want to stay.
The $5.50 played a lot better than the $2.20 tournaments but still appeared VERY beatable, so I'm looking forward to trying that level again. With a little luck I could've backed into the money with little to no effort. But, I won't be back at that game until my bankroll is at least $15.50. I went a little crazy w/the $2.20s, and need to control my tilt, but I was confident something would go my way, and it did. The 2.20s are simple to beat. All you need is some winning hands.
So...the overall feeling is pretty good I'm happy to report. The key I came away with last night is that I have to work on that whole tilting thing, play my game, and not try to force things when something doesn't go my way. I also need to work on picking better places to bluff. Sorry if all this talk makes for bad reading, but this blog is also for self-analysis, so get used to it. :-P I won't get to play tonight, but hopefully I will tomorrow. Then Saturday we'll head out of town, so depending on how things go when we get back Sunday I may or may not get to play. But after I could've lost 71% of my bankroll last night and only ended up down 13%, a couple of no play days are just what the doctor ordered.
Originally Posted 8/24/2006
I cashed in another $2.20 SNG at Poker.com on Tuesday evening, which propeled my bankroll to $17. At that point, I decided it was time to venture into the $5.50 arena. So I did that last night, and although I pulled together a few chips early, I found myself in jeopardy toward the middle. But I did some scooping and managed to stick around until one of the leaders took out 2 people. All of the sudden I'm on the bubble. But unfortunately the bubble is where I stayed, as I saw a couple of pretty decent hands, but couldn't hit a board and I busted 4th.
Feeling a little steamed, I went 2.20 SNG crazy. I ended up playing in 3. I had already started in one when it looked like the $5.50 was not gonna go my way, and I proceeded to steam that one away pretty quickly. Attempting a big bluff, I lost all my chips when I ran up against a straight. With a lot of paint on the board I had a middle 2 pair and figured I was up against a bigger 2 pair. This is something that I really need to keep working on, because I want it to be a part of my game. I try and bluff every now and then, and when I pull it off it feels great, but more often than not I run into a real hand. So I need to figure out how to feel out a strong bluffing situation, and how to know when I'm really up against something. Anyway, I picked up in another one, and when it was getting boring, I started in another. With my bankroll at $4.90 I started feeling that feeling again, but luckily I hit a rush of cards in the first of the pair I was playing and it propelled me to the money with the chip lead. Once I got 3-handed I was scooping like mad and showing as many good hands as I could. I eventually had a 3 to 1 chip advantage on each of my opponents, but by the time I got heads up I was running a little colder and it was 5xxx to 4xxx. About this time, I busted out of the other one I was in. Blinds were starting to make my stack pretty measly, and after a couple of successful scoops, my A9 ran up against rockets with 5 left. But, being heads up in this other one, I wasn't horribly disappointed, and just wanted to win what would be a very satisfying $10. Heads up proceeded to go about like the other 2 heads up have gone in these 2.20 SNGs, as I was making moves at the wrong time and not having what I needed when we'd check it down. I eventually got somewhat stacked, but then a preflop push on a raise got us about even. Shortly after that I picked up 3s and pushed, and felt the nasty sting of deja vu (I have ONLY cashed in 2nd place in these tourneys) when my opponent rolled 7s. But I overcame the odds, doubled up, and won when my opponent was all-in for less on the next hand.
End result of what could've been a disastrous night: a $14.90 bankroll. Only down $2.10 from where I started. Even the $6 2nd place prize would've kept me at $10.90, and up from my freeroll cash, which is where I want to stay.
The $5.50 played a lot better than the $2.20 tournaments but still appeared VERY beatable, so I'm looking forward to trying that level again. With a little luck I could've backed into the money with little to no effort. But, I won't be back at that game until my bankroll is at least $15.50. I went a little crazy w/the $2.20s, and need to control my tilt, but I was confident something would go my way, and it did. The 2.20s are simple to beat. All you need is some winning hands.
So...the overall feeling is pretty good I'm happy to report. The key I came away with last night is that I have to work on that whole tilting thing, play my game, and not try to force things when something doesn't go my way. I also need to work on picking better places to bluff. Sorry if all this talk makes for bad reading, but this blog is also for self-analysis, so get used to it. :-P I won't get to play tonight, but hopefully I will tomorrow. Then Saturday we'll head out of town, so depending on how things go when we get back Sunday I may or may not get to play. But after I could've lost 71% of my bankroll last night and only ended up down 13%, a couple of no play days are just what the doctor ordered.
Originally Posted 8/24/2006
...and the beat goes on
Well, it was another fun night on FTP for me. I played 3 of my 4 $1.25 tournaments and did not cash, so my time on that site for now is near an end.
My luck on this site is unreal. I guess I have simply not adjusted well to the playing style of these SNGs, because it seems like every time I get in, I'm dominated. In this first example I decided to limp w/Q 10 because I needed to get to playing some hands as I was well below the average. Well, when the flop comes mostly harmless against the SB, I made a bet, and he quickly pushes all-in. I was willing to take my top pair good kicker to the bank, hoping to be up against a straight draw or similar top pair hand. Instead, I was up against a small blind special. I managed to suck out momentarily on the turn, but I couldn't even get out a sigh of relief before he re-sucks out and hit his 4-outer on the river. Fantastic.
Here's a screen shot.
Here, after I bet about 1/2 the pot and BB calls, I probably made a bad play by calling an all-in by last position on a K A A flop. I didn't figure the BB would call, and thought the last position fellow probably had a very similar hand to mine. So I went ahead and called with the best made king hand. But no...I'm not only up against one, but the case two aces in the deck. This disgusts me. Not only am I never giving anyone credit for a hand, but I'm always facing hands that are extremely close to the nuts. Where is the typical terrible play with average or less than average hands that you're supposed to see in these low limit tourneys??
Screen shot of this debacle.
In my other tourney I got involved in a race and lost very very early on. I am just getting steamrolled in any sort of FTP tourney. Its becoming tough to stomach. I realize I'm not making great plays in some cases, but even when I get lucky I manage to take one in the jewels.
In other news, I very disappointingly tinkled away a SNG cash at Poker.com. I was sitting extremely pretty to cash, and then in attempt to solidify 2nd place or even climb to 1st, I started playing too many hands while the initially VERY short stack was clawing his way back. Before I knew it, I was pushing w/10 10 and getting outflopped by A 8. But I made a strong recovery, losing a couple of tough hands early on in the 2nd one I played, and coming all the way from 300 chips to a 2nd place finish and net profit of a couple bucks. I'm still loving the $2.20 SNGs at Poker.com, and maybe...just maybe...I can build a bankroll over there.
Originally Posted 8/22/2006
My luck on this site is unreal. I guess I have simply not adjusted well to the playing style of these SNGs, because it seems like every time I get in, I'm dominated. In this first example I decided to limp w/Q 10 because I needed to get to playing some hands as I was well below the average. Well, when the flop comes mostly harmless against the SB, I made a bet, and he quickly pushes all-in. I was willing to take my top pair good kicker to the bank, hoping to be up against a straight draw or similar top pair hand. Instead, I was up against a small blind special. I managed to suck out momentarily on the turn, but I couldn't even get out a sigh of relief before he re-sucks out and hit his 4-outer on the river. Fantastic.
Here's a screen shot.
Here, after I bet about 1/2 the pot and BB calls, I probably made a bad play by calling an all-in by last position on a K A A flop. I didn't figure the BB would call, and thought the last position fellow probably had a very similar hand to mine. So I went ahead and called with the best made king hand. But no...I'm not only up against one, but the case two aces in the deck. This disgusts me. Not only am I never giving anyone credit for a hand, but I'm always facing hands that are extremely close to the nuts. Where is the typical terrible play with average or less than average hands that you're supposed to see in these low limit tourneys??
Screen shot of this debacle.
In my other tourney I got involved in a race and lost very very early on. I am just getting steamrolled in any sort of FTP tourney. Its becoming tough to stomach. I realize I'm not making great plays in some cases, but even when I get lucky I manage to take one in the jewels.
In other news, I very disappointingly tinkled away a SNG cash at Poker.com. I was sitting extremely pretty to cash, and then in attempt to solidify 2nd place or even climb to 1st, I started playing too many hands while the initially VERY short stack was clawing his way back. Before I knew it, I was pushing w/10 10 and getting outflopped by A 8. But I made a strong recovery, losing a couple of tough hands early on in the 2nd one I played, and coming all the way from 300 chips to a 2nd place finish and net profit of a couple bucks. I'm still loving the $2.20 SNGs at Poker.com, and maybe...just maybe...I can build a bankroll over there.
Originally Posted 8/22/2006
Unreal!
Why do the $5 SNGs at FTP laugh in my face?? I was cruising along pretty well in one thanks to pocket kings holding up against 77. I went on a dry run, then picked up a few hands and built back up pretty well. At this point I get 6 J off, and call a min-raise in the big blind. The flop comes J-high, and I fire a pot-sized bet. The preflop raiser calls real slow, so I've got a pretty good feeling that he's currently beat, and the other guy calls all-in for less. The turn is a Q and I put it all-in, and the preflop raiser calls and shows KQ. So he had drawn out on me and never should've been in there after my flop bet. The all-in for less had hit trips 9s on the flop, so I wouldn't even have taken the pot, but why doesn't anyone know how to play poker?!
The next hand I pick up AK and w/blinds at 50/100, I make it 500 to go from the small. Fresh off his triple-up, set of 9s dude calls me. The flop misses me, but comes paired, and this guy stuck out as a terrible player from the beginning, so I go all-in because I'm feeling pretty strongly that I have him dominated. He calls, and shows pocket 3s! So I'm racing, which I'm OK with, and as it were, the turn puts 6s and 4s on the board, and puts me in a massive lead. But what's the river?? You know its one of the last two 3s.
This guy was the guy w/7s that I beat with my kings. I over-raised them to like 5x the BB because I was scared, and he calls there. Luckily I held up. Then he calls a raise w/99 and hits trips. Then he calls another 5x BB raise w/33 and beats my AK w/a miracle card on the river. Aside from the fact that we were racing the whole way, why does a dickwad like that that is madly in love with pocket pairs get to live on, and I'm now on the rail??
So I hopped in another one, and I'm already way down after calling a min-raise in the big and hitting top pair on the flop and running into aces. Looks like I'll be down to $10.50 here in just a matter of time, with 6 consecutive non-cashes.
I wish I could just jump in at like $5/$10 and the parallel tournament level, where people know how to play poker and I can know where I'm at more than half the time. How can this kind of ridiculous terrible play repeatedly beat me and destroy my tiny bankroll over and over?? I should be cashing like crazy on these re-res, but instead, they put on a suckout clinic whenever they're in a hand with WindBreak247. Its really depressing.
Update: After busting out of the SNG I was in when I pushed w/A6h and lost to AJd, I naturally hopped in another one because I'm a glutton for punishment. With blinds at 25/50, I get K9 in the BB. There's 3 of us to the flop, and it comes AK9. I go ahead and bet 100, and get called, and raised to 200, and I call and so does the other player. The turn is a blank, and I check this time. I'm losing here to AA, KK, AK, A9, or 99, and the preflop raise by the player tells me he's at least got an ace. I'm very very afraid of A9 because of the lack of a preflop raise, but I was mentally pot committed and there was no turning back at this point. The two pair curse is half physical and half mental. I think the other player has an A as well, but not a very good kicker. Anyway, after I check the turn and the weak player next to me checks, the third guy bets 560 into an $800 pot. I call quickly, and the weak player calls very slowly. The river is another blank, I check again, weak checks, and strong player puts all but $5 in. I re-raise all-in, and weak player drops. Sure enough, the strong guy's got A9. So, my reading ability is there because I knew right where he was at, but I guess I need to be able to get away from that hand. He obviously played it exactly like you need to play A9, but for all I know I'm up against some idiot w/A10, A8, or something like that who is in love with a pair of aces and an average kicker. I dunno...I guess I need to get away from it, but I'm so freakin screwed up up on these tables I'd have hated to have him dominated there and not cash in. I guess still alive is better than blogging about your sob story beat.
Anyway, I just proceeded to bust out of that tournament when my AQ off ran into AA and a flopped flush. So here I am again, staring down the barrel of a $5 bankroll at FTP and relegated to the $1.25, 45 person tournaments. I guess the good news is that I get to play 4 of 'em, and hopefully with them playing as a mini-MTT as opposed to a SNG (which I obviously suck at), maybe I've got a shot.
Until tomorrow...
Originally Posted 8/20/2006
The next hand I pick up AK and w/blinds at 50/100, I make it 500 to go from the small. Fresh off his triple-up, set of 9s dude calls me. The flop misses me, but comes paired, and this guy stuck out as a terrible player from the beginning, so I go all-in because I'm feeling pretty strongly that I have him dominated. He calls, and shows pocket 3s! So I'm racing, which I'm OK with, and as it were, the turn puts 6s and 4s on the board, and puts me in a massive lead. But what's the river?? You know its one of the last two 3s.
This guy was the guy w/7s that I beat with my kings. I over-raised them to like 5x the BB because I was scared, and he calls there. Luckily I held up. Then he calls a raise w/99 and hits trips. Then he calls another 5x BB raise w/33 and beats my AK w/a miracle card on the river. Aside from the fact that we were racing the whole way, why does a dickwad like that that is madly in love with pocket pairs get to live on, and I'm now on the rail??
So I hopped in another one, and I'm already way down after calling a min-raise in the big and hitting top pair on the flop and running into aces. Looks like I'll be down to $10.50 here in just a matter of time, with 6 consecutive non-cashes.
I wish I could just jump in at like $5/$10 and the parallel tournament level, where people know how to play poker and I can know where I'm at more than half the time. How can this kind of ridiculous terrible play repeatedly beat me and destroy my tiny bankroll over and over?? I should be cashing like crazy on these re-res, but instead, they put on a suckout clinic whenever they're in a hand with WindBreak247. Its really depressing.
Update: After busting out of the SNG I was in when I pushed w/A6h and lost to AJd, I naturally hopped in another one because I'm a glutton for punishment. With blinds at 25/50, I get K9 in the BB. There's 3 of us to the flop, and it comes AK9. I go ahead and bet 100, and get called, and raised to 200, and I call and so does the other player. The turn is a blank, and I check this time. I'm losing here to AA, KK, AK, A9, or 99, and the preflop raise by the player tells me he's at least got an ace. I'm very very afraid of A9 because of the lack of a preflop raise, but I was mentally pot committed and there was no turning back at this point. The two pair curse is half physical and half mental. I think the other player has an A as well, but not a very good kicker. Anyway, after I check the turn and the weak player next to me checks, the third guy bets 560 into an $800 pot. I call quickly, and the weak player calls very slowly. The river is another blank, I check again, weak checks, and strong player puts all but $5 in. I re-raise all-in, and weak player drops. Sure enough, the strong guy's got A9. So, my reading ability is there because I knew right where he was at, but I guess I need to be able to get away from that hand. He obviously played it exactly like you need to play A9, but for all I know I'm up against some idiot w/A10, A8, or something like that who is in love with a pair of aces and an average kicker. I dunno...I guess I need to get away from it, but I'm so freakin screwed up up on these tables I'd have hated to have him dominated there and not cash in. I guess still alive is better than blogging about your sob story beat.
Anyway, I just proceeded to bust out of that tournament when my AQ off ran into AA and a flopped flush. So here I am again, staring down the barrel of a $5 bankroll at FTP and relegated to the $1.25, 45 person tournaments. I guess the good news is that I get to play 4 of 'em, and hopefully with them playing as a mini-MTT as opposed to a SNG (which I obviously suck at), maybe I've got a shot.
Until tomorrow...
Originally Posted 8/20/2006
Stupid Internet
Well, so much for the charade of trying to not find out the winner of the WSOP Main Event. I just got an email from one of the poker sites and the first sentence was "You can be the next ^insert winner here^".
I really thought I could pull it off. I accidentally found out a tidbit of information thanks to another email from another poker site last week, but have been doing everything I can to avoid anything poker news related since the 11th.
Oh well...guess I can dive back into the poker world online again.
Originally Posted 8/18/2006
I really thought I could pull it off. I accidentally found out a tidbit of information thanks to another email from another poker site last week, but have been doing everything I can to avoid anything poker news related since the 11th.
Oh well...guess I can dive back into the poker world online again.
Originally Posted 8/18/2006
Milestone!
Well, I finally made a performance worth mentioning in a freeroll/MTT last night. I took 3rd place out of 1k in the Poker.com 5:00.
Woo Hoo!!!
It took a combination of a little luck, a lot of races won, and some solid poker. Here's how the FT started: FT Screen Shot
Obviously I didn't need the chips that I had to get there, but I couldn't freaking miss, and I wasn't gonna complain. I don't much remember the early stages of the tournament because I was also busy getting my ass handed to me at Full Tilt (more on that later), but before I knew it I had 36k (a personal high for this tourney) and was going somewhere. I won every race I was in, with pocket pairs holding up or spiking aces on the river to beat PPs, and I remember hitting a couple of 3 and 4 outers on the river to take people out as well. When you're hitting cards and building the stack as opposed to taking 20-30% stack hits now and then, it really makes a difference.
So the question is, looking at the final table, how the hell did I get 3rd?? And actually, I won the very first hand at the FT, taking out that Clydeuk dude, which put me in 1st. After that the 30-70k stacks started dropping like flies and it was left with the three of us with the biggest stacks coming into the FT, and I had managed to hold on to my lead. That's when I had a leg chopped. I can't exactly remember the preflop action, but the only way it makes sense is if I'm in the big. The JPNY dude was stacked and got it all-in, NEsportsfan thought about it a while and pushed over the top, and then I called w/o a thought w/AJ. And I was in THIRD. The board didn't change anything, and JP's QQ won and he tripled up to over 300k, and NE's AK took the remaining 600k. That left me w/100k, with blinds at 10k/20k at this point. I only stuck around for another few hands. If I was being extremely vigilant, I would have gotten away from that hand, because I really wanted to win the $20 and get the little red ribbon by my name, but I don't know how anyone could've thought they wouldn't get at least part of that pot w/AJ 3-handed. But theres certainly also reasons *not* to call, and I'll be able to come back to this hand in the future should I face a similar situation.
Anyway, I got my $10 (a bankroll! WOO!), and after a 2nd place finish in a $2.20 SNG, my bankroll stands at $13.80 at poker.com. That was the softest SNG I've EVER played in, BTW. I should've won because my heads-up opponent was TERRIBLE and was lucky to be leading in the first place (although the hand that got her to leader burst the cashing bubble, so I was OK with it), but just when I was about to pull even we both got a decent piece of a flop, and mine wasn't big enough. But I will be playing a lot of those $2.20 SNGs until I build a decent roll over there and can explore other options. The only sucky part is that the blinds increase by every 10 hands, and the first few levels of the tourney drag like crazy. But the level of play is worth it.
As for FTP, I played in 4 of the tightest $5.50 SNGS I've ever seen and had a top finish of 6th, and dropped 11.50 in a .25/.50 limit game, in which the only pots I won were scooping the blinds 4 times. The coup de grace, which epitomizes it all was the last hand I was in for the night. I had gotten into an 18 person $5.50 SNG in order to try and get more value out of it, playing time wise and cashing wise, and after already getting mixed up and losing in a couple of sick pots, I pick up A5o in middle position, and decide to get rowdy. With 4-5 players in, the flop comes KAx. There's a bet, call, raise, and then I re-raise all-in w/my last 800-some. Fold, fold, fold, and the guy to my right (raiser) makes the call and shows A4o. I'm thinking "FINALLY a little good fortune", and no sooner can my brain process that thought, when a 4 falls on the turn to give him aces up, and make me the first person out. Disgusting.
So I've got three $5.50 buy-ins left in my bankroll at FTP, and will unlock another $5 of my bonus w/my next buy-in. If I manage to go 0-7 in SNGs, it'll be unreal. So I'm confident that the nail is not yet in the coffin, but last night was most certainly a night for FTP to spit in my face. Luckily, my old buddy Poker.com was there to pick me up, and I'm sitting on $13.80 of free money over there.
Originally Posted 8/17/2006
Woo Hoo!!!
It took a combination of a little luck, a lot of races won, and some solid poker. Here's how the FT started: FT Screen Shot
Obviously I didn't need the chips that I had to get there, but I couldn't freaking miss, and I wasn't gonna complain. I don't much remember the early stages of the tournament because I was also busy getting my ass handed to me at Full Tilt (more on that later), but before I knew it I had 36k (a personal high for this tourney) and was going somewhere. I won every race I was in, with pocket pairs holding up or spiking aces on the river to beat PPs, and I remember hitting a couple of 3 and 4 outers on the river to take people out as well. When you're hitting cards and building the stack as opposed to taking 20-30% stack hits now and then, it really makes a difference.
So the question is, looking at the final table, how the hell did I get 3rd?? And actually, I won the very first hand at the FT, taking out that Clydeuk dude, which put me in 1st. After that the 30-70k stacks started dropping like flies and it was left with the three of us with the biggest stacks coming into the FT, and I had managed to hold on to my lead. That's when I had a leg chopped. I can't exactly remember the preflop action, but the only way it makes sense is if I'm in the big. The JPNY dude was stacked and got it all-in, NEsportsfan thought about it a while and pushed over the top, and then I called w/o a thought w/AJ. And I was in THIRD. The board didn't change anything, and JP's QQ won and he tripled up to over 300k, and NE's AK took the remaining 600k. That left me w/100k, with blinds at 10k/20k at this point. I only stuck around for another few hands. If I was being extremely vigilant, I would have gotten away from that hand, because I really wanted to win the $20 and get the little red ribbon by my name, but I don't know how anyone could've thought they wouldn't get at least part of that pot w/AJ 3-handed. But theres certainly also reasons *not* to call, and I'll be able to come back to this hand in the future should I face a similar situation.
Anyway, I got my $10 (a bankroll! WOO!), and after a 2nd place finish in a $2.20 SNG, my bankroll stands at $13.80 at poker.com. That was the softest SNG I've EVER played in, BTW. I should've won because my heads-up opponent was TERRIBLE and was lucky to be leading in the first place (although the hand that got her to leader burst the cashing bubble, so I was OK with it), but just when I was about to pull even we both got a decent piece of a flop, and mine wasn't big enough. But I will be playing a lot of those $2.20 SNGs until I build a decent roll over there and can explore other options. The only sucky part is that the blinds increase by every 10 hands, and the first few levels of the tourney drag like crazy. But the level of play is worth it.
As for FTP, I played in 4 of the tightest $5.50 SNGS I've ever seen and had a top finish of 6th, and dropped 11.50 in a .25/.50 limit game, in which the only pots I won were scooping the blinds 4 times. The coup de grace, which epitomizes it all was the last hand I was in for the night. I had gotten into an 18 person $5.50 SNG in order to try and get more value out of it, playing time wise and cashing wise, and after already getting mixed up and losing in a couple of sick pots, I pick up A5o in middle position, and decide to get rowdy. With 4-5 players in, the flop comes KAx. There's a bet, call, raise, and then I re-raise all-in w/my last 800-some. Fold, fold, fold, and the guy to my right (raiser) makes the call and shows A4o. I'm thinking "FINALLY a little good fortune", and no sooner can my brain process that thought, when a 4 falls on the turn to give him aces up, and make me the first person out. Disgusting.
So I've got three $5.50 buy-ins left in my bankroll at FTP, and will unlock another $5 of my bonus w/my next buy-in. If I manage to go 0-7 in SNGs, it'll be unreal. So I'm confident that the nail is not yet in the coffin, but last night was most certainly a night for FTP to spit in my face. Luckily, my old buddy Poker.com was there to pick me up, and I'm sitting on $13.80 of free money over there.
Originally Posted 8/17/2006
Another Round of Freerolls
While I anxiously await my rakeback, I hopped into Bodog, PokerRoom, and Poker.com last night. Mind you, I'd slept like crap for about 6 days, so was all for an early exit should it come. Therefore I took a few more risks than usual.
Bodog just isn't interested in giving me cards. I can't remember the last time I've won a pot in that tournament. I got in in decent shape last night, but ended up losing fairly easily if I recall. I don't remember specifics.
PokerRoom went pretty well. I got like 204th out of 2000 with very little effort. Hit some decent cards, and even made some very solid plays throughout, and got myself in pretty good position. Then I loose called a small raise in the small blind w/KJ and ran up against aces when I had a K on a 44K board. For some reason when a flop comes paired, I have a hard time thinking about pocket pairs. In this case, it cost me all my chips. The guy played it really well, a lot like he had a K also, and then dropped the hammer on me on the river. Not the smartest play by me, but again, I was tired.
Poker.com was fun again. I just love this tournament for some reason. Its a madhouse for the first 45 minutes or so, and then the dust kinda settles and you see where you're left standing. I was hitting some pretty good cards, and an hour in had a chip stack around 6k, which was quite adequate at that point. After trickling it down to 4k or so with some blinds and seen flops, with blinds at 500/1000 a guy in 2nd position pushes his 2k all-in. I felt pretty good about it, and w/my 99, I pushed over the top. I accomplished the task of no other callers with that move, but got throttled by the player's JJ. A couple hands later in the BB, I push again w/99, get two callers, and got spanked on an AQx flop.
But like I said, I was OK with it. That got me in bed shortly after 9:30 and sawing logs by 10:15.
BTW, there's a good chance my rakeback won't be $30 like I originally thought. I have 226 player points (which at 27% would actually give me $60), which means that at least $226 has been raked from pots where I was dealt a hand. You get 1 point per dollar raked, up to 3 points per hand, so 226 doesn't even cover it for hands with a rake higher than $3 (which I may or may not have been involved in at .25/.50...I dunno). However, in hands that I didn't actually put a blind in, I didn't technically lose anything in rake, but I was still given player points at FTP. I can't find detailed enough verbiage at the rakeback site to tell me whether I only get back 27% of what I contributed, or if I get back 27% of the rake for hands I was dealt into, or if I get 27% of the rake from hands where I was simply dealt cards, but I think anyone would agree that I'm only going to get 27% of rake I contributed. And I have *no* idea what that is, but I'm hoping its at least $5, because that's the minimum they can transfer to me. That would mean I need to have personally contributed a little less than $25 in rake. And that seems pretty high for the limits I was playing at, where they're taking .05 for every .50 in the pot. Over the course of $60, could I really have paid almost half that in rake??
Maybe I'll do a little googling on rakeback and see if I can get more detail.
Specific to Full Tilt Poker:
How is cash rake calculated?
Whenever a pot is raked, the amount raked is divided by the number of players dealt into the hand, and that amount is attributed to each player. For example, in a 6 handed game where the rake is $3, 50 cents is attributed to you, of that 27% or 13.5 cents goes back to you just for that single hand – you can see how it will quickly add up.
This is good news for me. Some sites do it this way (credit you for the rake you "generate"), and some sites only credit you for the rake you "contribute". This means that I would take my 226 points, divide it by the average number of people at the tables I played at, and then take 27% of that. But the bad news is that I have to subtract the $10 of bonus money that I earned from it. But if I say that 6 is the average number of people (I spent a few hours Sunday at a .25/.50 9-handed table, but most of my time at .05/.10 6-handed table, which was at or below 6...so 6 is reasonable) at my table, then 226/6 = 37.67x.27 = 10.17-10 = .17
Unless that 6 is closer to 4, it looks like I'm SOL. Damn it. Stupid bonus.
Originally Posted 8/15/2006
Bodog just isn't interested in giving me cards. I can't remember the last time I've won a pot in that tournament. I got in in decent shape last night, but ended up losing fairly easily if I recall. I don't remember specifics.
PokerRoom went pretty well. I got like 204th out of 2000 with very little effort. Hit some decent cards, and even made some very solid plays throughout, and got myself in pretty good position. Then I loose called a small raise in the small blind w/KJ and ran up against aces when I had a K on a 44K board. For some reason when a flop comes paired, I have a hard time thinking about pocket pairs. In this case, it cost me all my chips. The guy played it really well, a lot like he had a K also, and then dropped the hammer on me on the river. Not the smartest play by me, but again, I was tired.
Poker.com was fun again. I just love this tournament for some reason. Its a madhouse for the first 45 minutes or so, and then the dust kinda settles and you see where you're left standing. I was hitting some pretty good cards, and an hour in had a chip stack around 6k, which was quite adequate at that point. After trickling it down to 4k or so with some blinds and seen flops, with blinds at 500/1000 a guy in 2nd position pushes his 2k all-in. I felt pretty good about it, and w/my 99, I pushed over the top. I accomplished the task of no other callers with that move, but got throttled by the player's JJ. A couple hands later in the BB, I push again w/99, get two callers, and got spanked on an AQx flop.
But like I said, I was OK with it. That got me in bed shortly after 9:30 and sawing logs by 10:15.
BTW, there's a good chance my rakeback won't be $30 like I originally thought. I have 226 player points (which at 27% would actually give me $60), which means that at least $226 has been raked from pots where I was dealt a hand. You get 1 point per dollar raked, up to 3 points per hand, so 226 doesn't even cover it for hands with a rake higher than $3 (which I may or may not have been involved in at .25/.50...I dunno). However, in hands that I didn't actually put a blind in, I didn't technically lose anything in rake, but I was still given player points at FTP. I can't find detailed enough verbiage at the rakeback site to tell me whether I only get back 27% of what I contributed, or if I get back 27% of the rake for hands I was dealt into, or if I get 27% of the rake from hands where I was simply dealt cards, but I think anyone would agree that I'm only going to get 27% of rake I contributed. And I have *no* idea what that is, but I'm hoping its at least $5, because that's the minimum they can transfer to me. That would mean I need to have personally contributed a little less than $25 in rake. And that seems pretty high for the limits I was playing at, where they're taking .05 for every .50 in the pot. Over the course of $60, could I really have paid almost half that in rake??
Maybe I'll do a little googling on rakeback and see if I can get more detail.
Specific to Full Tilt Poker:
How is cash rake calculated?
Whenever a pot is raked, the amount raked is divided by the number of players dealt into the hand, and that amount is attributed to each player. For example, in a 6 handed game where the rake is $3, 50 cents is attributed to you, of that 27% or 13.5 cents goes back to you just for that single hand – you can see how it will quickly add up.
This is good news for me. Some sites do it this way (credit you for the rake you "generate"), and some sites only credit you for the rake you "contribute". This means that I would take my 226 points, divide it by the average number of people at the tables I played at, and then take 27% of that. But the bad news is that I have to subtract the $10 of bonus money that I earned from it. But if I say that 6 is the average number of people (I spent a few hours Sunday at a .25/.50 9-handed table, but most of my time at .05/.10 6-handed table, which was at or below 6...so 6 is reasonable) at my table, then 226/6 = 37.67x.27 = 10.17-10 = .17
Unless that 6 is closer to 4, it looks like I'm SOL. Damn it. Stupid bonus.
Originally Posted 8/15/2006
How to Lose a Bankroll in 6 Days
Well, last Sunday when Linz and I got back from Kansas City, she was feeling sick, so I thought I'd leave her to her couch and TV and give real money another run. I put in a minimum buy-in ($50) at Full Tilt Poker and started out at .25/.50 NL 9-handed. Before I knew it, I was down to $12.05 and calling it a night before I steamed off the rest of it. I ran BAD that first night. I'll be the first to admit if I play like an idiot, but things couldn't have gone worse for me, card-wise, than that Sunday evening. On Monday, I moved down to .10/.25, and that lasted for about another 10 minutes and $7. So, .05/.10 6-handed, here I come. I did manage to play for another 5 days at that level, but then lost the rest of it (including $10 of my deposit bonus I'd unlocked) on Saturday.
First of all, I'm an idiot. I have some complaints to wager about my typical bad luck (I did a lot of losing as a 70%+ favorite in make-or-break hands), but also, I'm an idiot. I managed to blow through $60 in 6 days without playing one SNG or MTT. I kept thinking to myself "the *real* money is made in cash games", and that all I needed was one good run, get back to even, and then I can take a deep breath, punch myself in the nuts, and "do it right this time". Fat chance. I ran decent for 2 days, but other than that I was poker's b*tch. And when I say I ran decent, that means that I actually won 1 out of every 3 big hands I got in as a favorite on. On the one hand, I feel like an idiot for not at least trying a SNG, but at the same time I kept thinking "why get sucked out on once and lose $5.50 when I can get sucked out on a few different times for the same amount in a cash game?"
I'm gonna rant here a little. Every poker player thinks they're unlucky, but I think I can safely say that I have never run well for more than a day or a tournament at a time. I pride myself heavily on getting my money in the middle as a favorite. I've failed plenty of times, but more often than not, someone needs to draw to beat me. And more often than not, they do. Ask anyone who knows me, I'm a solid player, but I run unlucky. If I ran half as good as Rich, I'd be profitable at this game. Maybe I've got too many chips on the line too often, or maybe I'm just as jaded as the next poker player, but I swear, if you're 20% or less against me, then nh...you win. You're probably thinking that I'm just whining and I need to suck it up and take my bad beats just like everyone else does, but I'm a smart guy, I'm humble, and I know when something ain't right, and the losing that I do ain't right.
Anyway, back to my original point of idiocy. Up to this point this journal has been about my MTT play, right? And I've been running pretty well. Consistently in the top 10%, with little or no effort. In fact, yesterday I played in a freeroll and got 35th out of 444, and it was easy as pie. So you'd think when I get real money in, I'd *at least* play a SNG or a MTT that would likely pay 10% or better, but no. I tinkle it all away in NL cash games. Not even limit cash games where I have a safety net for my less-than-fabulous post-flop play. NL...where I can just skip around the table and toss nickels and dimes around.
Anyway, my thoughts are really disjointed at the moment so I'm winding this part of the story up. I signed up for 27% rakeback at FTP before I put money in, so that will be deposited to my account tomorrow or Wednesday. According to FTPs website, they give you 1 player point for every dollar raked, and I've got 120-some player points I think, so did I really give up over $120 in rake, and could I really be getting over $30 back? I think it sounds too good to be true, but I guess we'll see. All I want is $2 so I can buy back in to the lowest level cash game and hopefully not donk it off. I've also got $40 of my deposit bonus left to unlock, so hopefully I can play enough on my rakeback to keep that coming. But you can bet that I'm gonna steer clear of cash games for a while if at all possible, or at least get my ass on Chris Ferguson's bankroll management plan. I am *terrible* at bankroll management, but I just might get a rare 2nd chance this time, and I am *not* gonna funk it up.
Bad beat story of the day comes from Friday night's poker night, where I *finally* won for the first time in probably 5 or 6 months. We're at the final table of the third and final tournament, and I pick up KQ in a blind. The one guy at the table who has me covered raises it up on the button, and although I put him on a pretty decent hand, but I went ahead and called because I had some wiggle room and wanted to see if the flop would hit me. The flop comes Q-high, and it checked around to the raiser, who bets. I raise all-in, and with a "well, I've gotta see it", he calls and shows AK. I'm 85%...to lose apparently, as an A hits the turn and crushes me. Sure, I sucked out on the flop, but I knew it was gonna have to hit me perfectly to win, and it did.
I also put a doozie on my brother. 3-handed, he calls the big, and I raise a couple times the big with my KQ. Cory calls. Flop comes KQJ, and he reaches for all his chips. I beat him into the pot and show my top 2 pair, as he rolls his KJ. Ouch. Sorry bro.
And apparently I called w/8 4 on the button at some point, flopped 8s full of 4s, and slow-played it to a pretty profit and a knockout of my co-worker buddy, who apparently, quite steamed, left after that without saying goodbye. I don't remember that hand, and it doesn't sound like me at all...but I'd had a couple of drinks, so I guess its possible.
Until next time.
Originally Posted on 8/14/2006
First of all, I'm an idiot. I have some complaints to wager about my typical bad luck (I did a lot of losing as a 70%+ favorite in make-or-break hands), but also, I'm an idiot. I managed to blow through $60 in 6 days without playing one SNG or MTT. I kept thinking to myself "the *real* money is made in cash games", and that all I needed was one good run, get back to even, and then I can take a deep breath, punch myself in the nuts, and "do it right this time". Fat chance. I ran decent for 2 days, but other than that I was poker's b*tch. And when I say I ran decent, that means that I actually won 1 out of every 3 big hands I got in as a favorite on. On the one hand, I feel like an idiot for not at least trying a SNG, but at the same time I kept thinking "why get sucked out on once and lose $5.50 when I can get sucked out on a few different times for the same amount in a cash game?"
I'm gonna rant here a little. Every poker player thinks they're unlucky, but I think I can safely say that I have never run well for more than a day or a tournament at a time. I pride myself heavily on getting my money in the middle as a favorite. I've failed plenty of times, but more often than not, someone needs to draw to beat me. And more often than not, they do. Ask anyone who knows me, I'm a solid player, but I run unlucky. If I ran half as good as Rich, I'd be profitable at this game. Maybe I've got too many chips on the line too often, or maybe I'm just as jaded as the next poker player, but I swear, if you're 20% or less against me, then nh...you win. You're probably thinking that I'm just whining and I need to suck it up and take my bad beats just like everyone else does, but I'm a smart guy, I'm humble, and I know when something ain't right, and the losing that I do ain't right.
Anyway, back to my original point of idiocy. Up to this point this journal has been about my MTT play, right? And I've been running pretty well. Consistently in the top 10%, with little or no effort. In fact, yesterday I played in a freeroll and got 35th out of 444, and it was easy as pie. So you'd think when I get real money in, I'd *at least* play a SNG or a MTT that would likely pay 10% or better, but no. I tinkle it all away in NL cash games. Not even limit cash games where I have a safety net for my less-than-fabulous post-flop play. NL...where I can just skip around the table and toss nickels and dimes around.
Anyway, my thoughts are really disjointed at the moment so I'm winding this part of the story up. I signed up for 27% rakeback at FTP before I put money in, so that will be deposited to my account tomorrow or Wednesday. According to FTPs website, they give you 1 player point for every dollar raked, and I've got 120-some player points I think, so did I really give up over $120 in rake, and could I really be getting over $30 back? I think it sounds too good to be true, but I guess we'll see. All I want is $2 so I can buy back in to the lowest level cash game and hopefully not donk it off. I've also got $40 of my deposit bonus left to unlock, so hopefully I can play enough on my rakeback to keep that coming. But you can bet that I'm gonna steer clear of cash games for a while if at all possible, or at least get my ass on Chris Ferguson's bankroll management plan. I am *terrible* at bankroll management, but I just might get a rare 2nd chance this time, and I am *not* gonna funk it up.
Bad beat story of the day comes from Friday night's poker night, where I *finally* won for the first time in probably 5 or 6 months. We're at the final table of the third and final tournament, and I pick up KQ in a blind. The one guy at the table who has me covered raises it up on the button, and although I put him on a pretty decent hand, but I went ahead and called because I had some wiggle room and wanted to see if the flop would hit me. The flop comes Q-high, and it checked around to the raiser, who bets. I raise all-in, and with a "well, I've gotta see it", he calls and shows AK. I'm 85%...to lose apparently, as an A hits the turn and crushes me. Sure, I sucked out on the flop, but I knew it was gonna have to hit me perfectly to win, and it did.
I also put a doozie on my brother. 3-handed, he calls the big, and I raise a couple times the big with my KQ. Cory calls. Flop comes KQJ, and he reaches for all his chips. I beat him into the pot and show my top 2 pair, as he rolls his KJ. Ouch. Sorry bro.
And apparently I called w/8 4 on the button at some point, flopped 8s full of 4s, and slow-played it to a pretty profit and a knockout of my co-worker buddy, who apparently, quite steamed, left after that without saying goodbye. I don't remember that hand, and it doesn't sound like me at all...but I'd had a couple of drinks, so I guess its possible.
Until next time.
Originally Posted on 8/14/2006
Final Thoughts on Last Night
I just wanted to come back here and do a little more updating on last night's play.
Overall, I'm rating it as probably one of my best nights of play to date. As far as I can remember I only made 2 bad reads (documented in the previous post), I actually made one exact read, made a lot of good plays and a lot of good lay-downs, and of course you always need a little help from the cards, which I got as well.
7:45 Bodog tourney - If you were to graph my play in this tourney, it would pretty much read as a straight line. After amassing some chips at PokerRoom I focused on that tournament and *trying* to get chips at Poker.com, and I pretty much played this tournament very "robotically". However, early on in the tourney I pick up AK and raise it up 5xBB. I get 1 caller. The flop comes 10 J A, I bet, and this Jimmy re-raises all-in. I instantly put him on A 10 (ask Josh, we were IMing), and since I didn't much care, I went ahead and called. A 10 it was. But I doubled up on him when a J hit the river. After that I'm not sure that I ever hit a flop. I got chipped away steadily, doubled up with about $750, then got chipped away back down, went in on what I'm pretty sure was a decent hand but I don't remember what it was, and that was that. 400-something out of 2k. I really need to be focusing on this tournament, though, instead of Poker.com or PokerRoom.com. It payed out 99, which is about 5%, compared to the 1.5% that the other two pay. My skills would be put to best use here.
8:00 Poker.com tourney - Lets see...crap, crap, crap...double up on a suckout...crap, crap...win a big pot on a suckout...crap...lose with a broadway straight to a royal. That about takes care of that.
8:00 PokerRoom.com tourney - Since I started out playing all 3 of these tourneys at the same time, I can't really tell you how I got my chips. I don't really remember any hands, but before I knew it I had 7k at the first break when the average was about 4, and I was spending a lot of time between 30th-150th. But about 9:20 when Linz got home, I decided I didn't want to wait around until 11 for PR to 1-outer me on the bubble, so it was time to get reckless. I pick up AQc and raise it up 5xBB or so. I get re-raised, and even though I *know* this dude's got me beat, I re-raise all-in and lose to his AA. I then doubled up once with a ridiculous 4-on-the-board straight on the river, and managed to lose away the rest of it w/A9s by 9:30.
Playing 3 tourneys at once was too much. I could handle it if I played all of them pretty much robotically, but its not a good way to actually *play*, and obviously I don't remember much, so its not good for what this blog is for...analysis. That said, its still not a bad idea to start with 3 and see which one(s) I can rustle up some chips in and go from there. But at the same time, I need to focus on the bodog tourney because it pays 5%. So I guess I'll just see how things continue to work out and play it by ear.
Either way, things are looking up. I played some killer poker last night and my chip stacks are trending in the upward position early in tournaments instead of downward like they always used to do. I'm not exactly sure what I changed, but I do know what I'm doing to make that happen, and that's all that matters.
Originally Posted 8/3/2006
Overall, I'm rating it as probably one of my best nights of play to date. As far as I can remember I only made 2 bad reads (documented in the previous post), I actually made one exact read, made a lot of good plays and a lot of good lay-downs, and of course you always need a little help from the cards, which I got as well.
7:45 Bodog tourney - If you were to graph my play in this tourney, it would pretty much read as a straight line. After amassing some chips at PokerRoom I focused on that tournament and *trying* to get chips at Poker.com, and I pretty much played this tournament very "robotically". However, early on in the tourney I pick up AK and raise it up 5xBB. I get 1 caller. The flop comes 10 J A, I bet, and this Jimmy re-raises all-in. I instantly put him on A 10 (ask Josh, we were IMing), and since I didn't much care, I went ahead and called. A 10 it was. But I doubled up on him when a J hit the river. After that I'm not sure that I ever hit a flop. I got chipped away steadily, doubled up with about $750, then got chipped away back down, went in on what I'm pretty sure was a decent hand but I don't remember what it was, and that was that. 400-something out of 2k. I really need to be focusing on this tournament, though, instead of Poker.com or PokerRoom.com. It payed out 99, which is about 5%, compared to the 1.5% that the other two pay. My skills would be put to best use here.
8:00 Poker.com tourney - Lets see...crap, crap, crap...double up on a suckout...crap, crap...win a big pot on a suckout...crap...lose with a broadway straight to a royal. That about takes care of that.
8:00 PokerRoom.com tourney - Since I started out playing all 3 of these tourneys at the same time, I can't really tell you how I got my chips. I don't really remember any hands, but before I knew it I had 7k at the first break when the average was about 4, and I was spending a lot of time between 30th-150th. But about 9:20 when Linz got home, I decided I didn't want to wait around until 11 for PR to 1-outer me on the bubble, so it was time to get reckless. I pick up AQc and raise it up 5xBB or so. I get re-raised, and even though I *know* this dude's got me beat, I re-raise all-in and lose to his AA. I then doubled up once with a ridiculous 4-on-the-board straight on the river, and managed to lose away the rest of it w/A9s by 9:30.
Playing 3 tourneys at once was too much. I could handle it if I played all of them pretty much robotically, but its not a good way to actually *play*, and obviously I don't remember much, so its not good for what this blog is for...analysis. That said, its still not a bad idea to start with 3 and see which one(s) I can rustle up some chips in and go from there. But at the same time, I need to focus on the bodog tourney because it pays 5%. So I guess I'll just see how things continue to work out and play it by ear.
Either way, things are looking up. I played some killer poker last night and my chip stacks are trending in the upward position early in tournaments instead of downward like they always used to do. I'm not exactly sure what I changed, but I do know what I'm doing to make that happen, and that's all that matters.
Originally Posted 8/3/2006
Woah
5:15: I'm sitting 1st out of 671, fifteen minutes into a Poker.com tournament. I started w/1k, and I currently have 8305 in chips. I can't miss. So I will either go completely card dead for the next hour and a quarter until my stack is the average, or this is finally the one.
5:22: 10,600 when my KJ off hit 2 pair on the flop. Better than the K9 two pair my caller to the river had. Blinds are still 25/50!
5:39: Bullets in the hole nets me another 2300. 3xBB preflop raise, Q-high flop, 2 diamonds, min-bet of 150, I raise to 1800, call. Turn's another 7, min-bet, I push all-in, fold. At this point my 12,325 chip stack is only good enough for 6th now. Make that 9th after I got done typing this.
5:44: After folding JJ preflop in the big blind because of lack of pot odds, I'm rewarded w/QQ in the small. Good enough to take out a short stack. 13,750
5:46: Two hands later I pick up AQs, make it 1250 to go, and pick up 2 BBs and a small. 14,250...good enough for 6th out of 261
5:54: Pick up 6 2 off in the big blind, and when the flop comes 7 2 9, all hearts, I bet the flop for 450...and my 3 opponents folded. 15k, now on the button, and in 11th out of 199.
5:58: Pair of Jacks called for the blind, and the flop comes 9-high. 1k bet, called. Board pairs 6s, 1600 bet, fold. 17,785
6:02: Finally lost a pot for about 5k. Guy to my right goes all-in, and I come over the top all-in w/my 10 10. He's got KK, and I get no help.
6:04: ...and again. I get 66, and the board comes 344. I bet, slow call. Turn 10. I put player all-in, he calls and rolls JJ. 7476 and back to 49th out of 117. Will I even make it to the break here in 24 minutes??
6:11: A little luck in the big blind, and I'm back to 9476. JKs, and I can check. Flop comes w/2 spades, and we check it down. Turn brings a 4-straight on the board, and the SB decides he wants to min-bet. I made probably a marginal call, but wanted to see the river. River rag, and its checked, and my K-high takes it.
6:16: A pair of queens serves me well again and holds up against A5h to take someone out. Then my 88 hits trips on the flop, we check to the river, where I min-bet and get 2 calls. 19,468, and back to 19th.
6:25: Thank you, open-ended draw and bets on every street for hitting on the river, to bump me up to 28,936. I need to improve on 17th a little, but that's plenty of chips to get busy with. I feel pretty comfortable with my abilities right now. Break in 5 minutes, and I'm headed through the blinds next hand here.
6:30: And thank YOU, checks all around and runner-runner hearts for kicking me an extra 7500 w/a four-on-the-board, jack in my hand flush. 32,686, in 13th out of 44, and its break time.
6:40: Two pair curse strikes again. I hit Ks and 3s w/my small blind on a board of 3 4 K, and bet 3/4 the pot. One caller. Turn is a 5, and I bet almost 8k. Opponent raises all-in, and I thought "Could he really have A 2 here?" And the answer is yes...yes he could. ~7k. But I just got done making back about 11 when my KJ looks pretty nice on a QQJ flop. 18,372 and 27th out of 34. Got work to do.
6:44: Decided to raise w/KQ off, got a caller, missed the flop, and folded to a 3k bet. 10k. More work to do.
6:48: Picked up K9c and decided to go with it. Board missed me completely, and I was drawing dead when an A hit the turn and paired up the same dude that had A 2 before. What'd he have this time? A2, but suited. After all that, 29th out of 1k matches my best finish at Poker.com. Pretty disappointing.
Next Day Update: Obviously this is thoroughly disappointing considering how it played out, but overall I'm VERY happy with the way I played. The blind structure in this tourney is insane (1k starting stack, bump every 7 minutes), and when it gets down to the top 50 it becomes half crapshoot, 45% testicular fortitude and 5% play. I spent a little time wondering where I went wrong, and you could say either 6:40 or 6:44, but at 6:40 that guy was drawing to 3 outs, never should've called my bet, and hit it, and at 6:44 I think my raise was a good play and I just got unlucky. So it really doesn't matter how well I played up until 6:40, with blinds at 1500/3000 and the average stack probably somewhere in the high-20s, the stack to blind ratio is ridiculous. I wondered if I should've locked it down when I hit 32k, but I don't think it probably would've changed a thing. Lets put it this way...I didn't lose any sleep over this loss like I did on Monday night.
Originally Posted 8/2/2006
5:22: 10,600 when my KJ off hit 2 pair on the flop. Better than the K9 two pair my caller to the river had. Blinds are still 25/50!
5:39: Bullets in the hole nets me another 2300. 3xBB preflop raise, Q-high flop, 2 diamonds, min-bet of 150, I raise to 1800, call. Turn's another 7, min-bet, I push all-in, fold. At this point my 12,325 chip stack is only good enough for 6th now. Make that 9th after I got done typing this.
5:44: After folding JJ preflop in the big blind because of lack of pot odds, I'm rewarded w/QQ in the small. Good enough to take out a short stack. 13,750
5:46: Two hands later I pick up AQs, make it 1250 to go, and pick up 2 BBs and a small. 14,250...good enough for 6th out of 261
5:54: Pick up 6 2 off in the big blind, and when the flop comes 7 2 9, all hearts, I bet the flop for 450...and my 3 opponents folded. 15k, now on the button, and in 11th out of 199.
5:58: Pair of Jacks called for the blind, and the flop comes 9-high. 1k bet, called. Board pairs 6s, 1600 bet, fold. 17,785
6:02: Finally lost a pot for about 5k. Guy to my right goes all-in, and I come over the top all-in w/my 10 10. He's got KK, and I get no help.
6:04: ...and again. I get 66, and the board comes 344. I bet, slow call. Turn 10. I put player all-in, he calls and rolls JJ. 7476 and back to 49th out of 117. Will I even make it to the break here in 24 minutes??
6:11: A little luck in the big blind, and I'm back to 9476. JKs, and I can check. Flop comes w/2 spades, and we check it down. Turn brings a 4-straight on the board, and the SB decides he wants to min-bet. I made probably a marginal call, but wanted to see the river. River rag, and its checked, and my K-high takes it.
6:16: A pair of queens serves me well again and holds up against A5h to take someone out. Then my 88 hits trips on the flop, we check to the river, where I min-bet and get 2 calls. 19,468, and back to 19th.
6:25: Thank you, open-ended draw and bets on every street for hitting on the river, to bump me up to 28,936. I need to improve on 17th a little, but that's plenty of chips to get busy with. I feel pretty comfortable with my abilities right now. Break in 5 minutes, and I'm headed through the blinds next hand here.
6:30: And thank YOU, checks all around and runner-runner hearts for kicking me an extra 7500 w/a four-on-the-board, jack in my hand flush. 32,686, in 13th out of 44, and its break time.
6:40: Two pair curse strikes again. I hit Ks and 3s w/my small blind on a board of 3 4 K, and bet 3/4 the pot. One caller. Turn is a 5, and I bet almost 8k. Opponent raises all-in, and I thought "Could he really have A 2 here?" And the answer is yes...yes he could. ~7k. But I just got done making back about 11 when my KJ looks pretty nice on a QQJ flop. 18,372 and 27th out of 34. Got work to do.
6:44: Decided to raise w/KQ off, got a caller, missed the flop, and folded to a 3k bet. 10k. More work to do.
6:48: Picked up K9c and decided to go with it. Board missed me completely, and I was drawing dead when an A hit the turn and paired up the same dude that had A 2 before. What'd he have this time? A2, but suited. After all that, 29th out of 1k matches my best finish at Poker.com. Pretty disappointing.
Next Day Update: Obviously this is thoroughly disappointing considering how it played out, but overall I'm VERY happy with the way I played. The blind structure in this tourney is insane (1k starting stack, bump every 7 minutes), and when it gets down to the top 50 it becomes half crapshoot, 45% testicular fortitude and 5% play. I spent a little time wondering where I went wrong, and you could say either 6:40 or 6:44, but at 6:40 that guy was drawing to 3 outs, never should've called my bet, and hit it, and at 6:44 I think my raise was a good play and I just got unlucky. So it really doesn't matter how well I played up until 6:40, with blinds at 1500/3000 and the average stack probably somewhere in the high-20s, the stack to blind ratio is ridiculous. I wondered if I should've locked it down when I hit 32k, but I don't think it probably would've changed a thing. Lets put it this way...I didn't lose any sleep over this loss like I did on Monday night.
Originally Posted 8/2/2006
Giant Gaping Hole in my game #185684
So last night I played in my first tourney at Bodog. They have a $1k guaranteed freeroll every night at 7:45, which is the richest regular freeroll I've ever seen. Only problems are the aggressive blind structure, and the fact that those with real money can rebuy, so you have to fight through that crowd. But if you make it past the first hour, you're good to go. I didn't. I was headed in a positive directon from the very beginning, but just short of the first hour, in the big blind, I get Q x, and get it all-in pretty confidently on a 9 Q 9 board. I was willing to draw for a better kicker. But drawing against KK proved to be a little tougher. This tourney was the tightest freeroll I've ever played in. It played like a tourney w/a decent buy-in. I'm going to have to keep trying at it.
What I want to talk about is the PokerRoom tournament I was in. I was fortunate enough to get up around 4k in the first couple levels of this tournament thanks to what I thought were some pretty clutch moves. I promply put it into cruise control through the garbage until the first break, where I had somewhere in the mid-to-upper 3k range. Throughout the 2nd hour I managed my stack well and kept it between 2800-4000. Then I fell to 1300 when I chased an inside straight-flush draw. But I'll chase a straight-flush draw in a freeroll anytime. I was willing to be done. I needed the 10h on the river and the Jh fell. Usually its not even *that* close. Needless to say, my flush didn't even hold up against my opponent. After that, got it all-in with a pair of 3s, and a 3 on the turn tripled me up to over 10k. Shortly after that I doubled up again to 22k when I had a guy's K 9 dominated w/my K 10. So here I am, about 1 3/4 hours into this thing, and after grinding it out for over an hour I'm sitting in 46th (30 pays), and just above the average stack size. I maintained my stack for over an hour while everyone else's kept growing to 5 digits, I stick it out until my cards came, got into position to cash, got to the average stack, and then what do I do? About 10 hands later, I piss it down my leg. I get A 10 suited in the big blind, and re-raise a middle position raise from 1600 to over 3k. He calls, and we see a 9 J Q flop, no help on my suit. I bet 5k, leaving me with 15k, and he fairly quickly re-raises me all-in. With 5-7 seconds of "thought", basically consisting of "I'm willing to draw to my open-ended straight, and if I pair my A that may be good enough, too", I call. He shows K 10 off, and a made straight. Overlooking the fact that him calling my preflop raise was debatable, WTF is wrong with me?? I am SEVERELY up against it if he's got K 10, A K, A Q, A J, J Q, A 9, 9 9, J J, Q Q, K K, A A, or at this point any other pocket pair. I can draw a 10 or an A to beat a low pocket pair, I need runner-runner A to beat a high pocket pair other than A A, and I need one of the remaining kings or 8s to win in almost any other scenario. As it turns out, I was in the worst case scenario and was dead to a K to win. But as I've illustrated, I was pretty well hopeless for any other preflop calling hand.
This is a GIANT hole in my game. I am too quick to act, and I don't stop to think what my opponent might have. I'm extremly happy with my preflop play. I needed to re-raise to see where he was at, and if he didn't call then I take it down. But when there isn't *at least* an A on the flop, I need to get away from it. I maintain a stack that is getting tinier and tinier respectively for over an hour, then I finally work my way to not only an average stack, but a position on the cashing bubble, and I give it all away on a draw that was WAY smaller than I could've even hoped. 121st out of 2k.
So I think I need to implement some sort of Jesus Ferguson strategy, where I think about my move before I act every single time, because when I barely even recognize the strength of my own hand, let alone spend a split second thinking about what I can beat, I'll never be successful.
The story of last night was trips on the turn. No less than 4 times I hit trips on the turn w/a pocket pair. The first 3, I had folded my PP to action on the flop, and then the last time was my triple-up hand when after my 3 3 had held through the flop, a 3 on the turn made me breathe a sigh of relief.
So...that's that. If I'm going to be successful at this game, I HAVE TO consciously stop and think before I act, not only about my hand, but about my opponent's hand. Every single time.
Originally Posted 8/1/2006
What I want to talk about is the PokerRoom tournament I was in. I was fortunate enough to get up around 4k in the first couple levels of this tournament thanks to what I thought were some pretty clutch moves. I promply put it into cruise control through the garbage until the first break, where I had somewhere in the mid-to-upper 3k range. Throughout the 2nd hour I managed my stack well and kept it between 2800-4000. Then I fell to 1300 when I chased an inside straight-flush draw. But I'll chase a straight-flush draw in a freeroll anytime. I was willing to be done. I needed the 10h on the river and the Jh fell. Usually its not even *that* close. Needless to say, my flush didn't even hold up against my opponent. After that, got it all-in with a pair of 3s, and a 3 on the turn tripled me up to over 10k. Shortly after that I doubled up again to 22k when I had a guy's K 9 dominated w/my K 10. So here I am, about 1 3/4 hours into this thing, and after grinding it out for over an hour I'm sitting in 46th (30 pays), and just above the average stack size. I maintained my stack for over an hour while everyone else's kept growing to 5 digits, I stick it out until my cards came, got into position to cash, got to the average stack, and then what do I do? About 10 hands later, I piss it down my leg. I get A 10 suited in the big blind, and re-raise a middle position raise from 1600 to over 3k. He calls, and we see a 9 J Q flop, no help on my suit. I bet 5k, leaving me with 15k, and he fairly quickly re-raises me all-in. With 5-7 seconds of "thought", basically consisting of "I'm willing to draw to my open-ended straight, and if I pair my A that may be good enough, too", I call. He shows K 10 off, and a made straight. Overlooking the fact that him calling my preflop raise was debatable, WTF is wrong with me?? I am SEVERELY up against it if he's got K 10, A K, A Q, A J, J Q, A 9, 9 9, J J, Q Q, K K, A A, or at this point any other pocket pair. I can draw a 10 or an A to beat a low pocket pair, I need runner-runner A to beat a high pocket pair other than A A, and I need one of the remaining kings or 8s to win in almost any other scenario. As it turns out, I was in the worst case scenario and was dead to a K to win. But as I've illustrated, I was pretty well hopeless for any other preflop calling hand.
This is a GIANT hole in my game. I am too quick to act, and I don't stop to think what my opponent might have. I'm extremly happy with my preflop play. I needed to re-raise to see where he was at, and if he didn't call then I take it down. But when there isn't *at least* an A on the flop, I need to get away from it. I maintain a stack that is getting tinier and tinier respectively for over an hour, then I finally work my way to not only an average stack, but a position on the cashing bubble, and I give it all away on a draw that was WAY smaller than I could've even hoped. 121st out of 2k.
So I think I need to implement some sort of Jesus Ferguson strategy, where I think about my move before I act every single time, because when I barely even recognize the strength of my own hand, let alone spend a split second thinking about what I can beat, I'll never be successful.
The story of last night was trips on the turn. No less than 4 times I hit trips on the turn w/a pocket pair. The first 3, I had folded my PP to action on the flop, and then the last time was my triple-up hand when after my 3 3 had held through the flop, a 3 on the turn made me breathe a sigh of relief.
So...that's that. If I'm going to be successful at this game, I HAVE TO consciously stop and think before I act, not only about my hand, but about my opponent's hand. Every single time.
Originally Posted 8/1/2006
Geez
I just got KK and ran up against AA AGAIN on poker.com.
'Cept this time a K on the flop made things work out a little better for me. ;-)
Originally Posted 7/29/2006
'Cept this time a K on the flop made things work out a little better for me. ;-)
Originally Posted 7/29/2006
A Little To Report
So I have to bitch about my KK vs AA loss last night. These things happen, but the interesting part is that this is the 2nd time in like 3 weeks this has happened to me on poker.com. I'm finally starting to take things like this in stride, so maybe that means I'm growing as a poker player. Or maybe it just means I'm numb to the pain.
I had another solid "out of my comfort zone" finish just a few minutes ago. 148th out of 2000 in a Limit Omaha Hi/Lo tourney on AbsolutePoker. I can always hang for a while, but when the blinds start to creep up, my not-so-great plays are multiplied exponentially by how much I had to pay for them.
I also updated my freeroll list for every site I can think of, and there is no less than 77 freerolls on any given day. This doesn't even include PokerStars, which runs at least 10-12, and PartyPoker, which runs 5 or so a night. The dumb part is not all of them pay you straight up. Some are for convoluted points systems, some of 'em are for merch, and some are for cash, but you have to earn it by playing with real money. I figure I'll just make a list of all of 'em, and when I cash, I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
Ok, gotta run.
Originally Posted 7/25/2006
I had another solid "out of my comfort zone" finish just a few minutes ago. 148th out of 2000 in a Limit Omaha Hi/Lo tourney on AbsolutePoker. I can always hang for a while, but when the blinds start to creep up, my not-so-great plays are multiplied exponentially by how much I had to pay for them.
I also updated my freeroll list for every site I can think of, and there is no less than 77 freerolls on any given day. This doesn't even include PokerStars, which runs at least 10-12, and PartyPoker, which runs 5 or so a night. The dumb part is not all of them pay you straight up. Some are for convoluted points systems, some of 'em are for merch, and some are for cash, but you have to earn it by playing with real money. I figure I'll just make a list of all of 'em, and when I cash, I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
Ok, gotta run.
Originally Posted 7/25/2006
Paradise Poker Million Dollar Freeroll
1:16: Here goes nothing! Obviously starting a bit late as Paradise's software had to work hard to seat. 5773 players, starting stack of $2500, blinds at 10/20, going up every 30 mins, but not pro-rated for the late start.
1:29: Won my first pot in the big blind by scooping the small blind’s call when I raised w/my KK. This doesn’t even put me back to even from the first few blinds I’ve called. LOL
1:45: Man, I can’t catch a break here. My kings scooped, I had to fold an AQ to an all-in, and now I raise to $150 w/QQ, get a caller in the big blind, and have to fold to a $500 bet on a K high flop. Stack at 2065, blinds still at 15/30.
2:03: First break. Still no luck. 1945, blinds about to be at 25/50.
2:15: Tried to bluff under the gun w/pocket 7s and pissed away an extra $150 in chips. Come on!
2:17: Geez. I get KQ suited, and there’s 2 raises before me. I can’t call that! UTG raiser had J K off, and early position re-raiser had J 10 suited. This is the type of situation I struggle in. I had the best hand, but can't make that loose call. To me, that’s not one, but two ridiculous plays. Three, really, if you count J K calling the re-raise. Of course, J 10 takes the pot w/Js and 10s, so I made a great fold, but still…
2:22: Finally won a pot w/Q2 in the big blind. UTG min-raises preflop, I call. Flop comes Q high and I bet the pot, he calls. Turn brings a 2, I bet the pot again, and he calls. River blank, I bet the pot, he mucks. Next hand I split a pot 2 ways, and then next hand after that I pick up J 10 spades, bet a K 10 x flop, and take it down. 2220…avg stack 2966.
2:44: I think I just made a huge mistake. I get A Q suited, and the same dude that raised UTG w/J K raised it up. I just called, and the flop came Q-high. He pushes all-in, and I folded after a lot of thought. Thinking about it after the hand, there’s a very good chance he had KQ, QJ, or even a low PP. Of course, he could’ve also hit trips, or had AA or KK. I’d rather be in the tournament, but this hand is gonna bug me.
2:48: Just got back up to 1845 in chips after taking down a little pot when I hit a 2 in my hand flush on the turn. I min-bet my draw on the flop and got a caller, so I min-bet the turn, but the dude mucked.
2:57: That’s a little better. Hit another 2 in my hand flush on the turn, pushed all-in, and scooped an already decent pot. I feel like I’m wasting these flushes a little bit, but I also just really need chips right now. 2785…avg 3598.
3:07: Last hand of 2nd hour, 3 guys all-in. AK off, JJ, and A8 off. A8 takes it down with the nut flush and has the other two covered. Sick. I’m at 2635, blinds will go to 75/150.
3:19: JK off in the small blind, folds around to me. I min-raise and catch a J on an A-high flop. I bet it 300+, call. Turn blank. I check, to see if he has an ace. He checks. River blank, I fire $200, he calls. He’s got 4 6 of clubs, and had caught his flush on the river. I know I played the hand about as badly as one could, but it still irritates the hell out of me. 1500.
3:59: Man, the last 40 minutes have been a grind. But I feel like I played it REALLY well. After the blinds going up to 100/200, scooping once, then being as low as 925, I scooped twice with hands I was willing to stake my tournament life on, then pushed again w/A 10, and finally got a K Q caller, and I held up! Then I took a trip through the blinds, but then scooped in last position, and I’m at 3050. Next blind level is 100/200 again, but w/a 25 chip ante. Man…I was smelling the ropes there for a while.
4:03: Ok, lost a little bit when my JQ clubs hit a flush draw and I called a min bet, but then didn’t have odds to call a raise. 2650.
4:11: After a trip through the blinds, I’m at 2350 at the third break. 2390 players left, and I’m in 1672nd. Time to start picking up some cards. Gonna cost me 550 each time around the table now. Of course, there’s also an extra 250 in each pot.
4:20: 2nd hand after the break I pick up Q 7 diamonds in the big blind. Flop comes Q-high, small blind bets, I raise all-in, other 2 fall out, and small blind folds. Queens in the BB have been good to me. 3500.
4:33: Won a big pot w/99 on a 6 7 8 flop. Pot bet, call. J on the turn, I’m all-in, fold. 4600. Average is at 8313, though, so I’ve got some more work to do.
4:38: In one of those “Obvious fold, but damn it” hands. I had 9 5 in the small blind. UTG raises, and I check the auto-fold box. Flop comes 2 9 5. AK ends up all-in against KK, and my flopped 2 pair would’ve been good enough to triple up.
4:55: I get that blasted pocket jacks hand. In hopes to scoop, I push my 4200 in. I get one caller for less, and he’s got KQ. Flop comes 6 10 6, turn’s a J, but in my infinite lack of wisdom, I’m freaking out now because a K, Q, A, or 9 will beat me. And when I see a Q on the river, my heart breaks. Except that I won with a full house. Durrrrrrr… 7329 after immediately going through the blinds.
5:13: Well, you knew if anyone was gonna get sucked out on to lose, its this guy. Luck is not my strong suit. I get KK in the big blind. Someone in mid position min-raises (to 800), and I re-raise to 2000 total and get a call. Flop comes 10-high. I push all-in with my remaining 3500, and he insta-calls. I'm scared to death of 10 10, but am thrilled to see A 10. But as soon as he said "nh", I knew..and there was the 10 on the turn. I get no help on the river, and 1135th it is. Although I *really* felt I had what it took to cash and my momentum was steadily building (this pot would've put me over 11k and finally right in the thick of the average stack), I actually am pretty at peace with it. The hand played out perfectly though the flop, and I got my money in as almost an 80% favorite. That’s all any poker player can ask for.
Guess my Saturday night is free now.
Originally Posted 7/22/2006
1:29: Won my first pot in the big blind by scooping the small blind’s call when I raised w/my KK. This doesn’t even put me back to even from the first few blinds I’ve called. LOL
1:45: Man, I can’t catch a break here. My kings scooped, I had to fold an AQ to an all-in, and now I raise to $150 w/QQ, get a caller in the big blind, and have to fold to a $500 bet on a K high flop. Stack at 2065, blinds still at 15/30.
2:03: First break. Still no luck. 1945, blinds about to be at 25/50.
2:15: Tried to bluff under the gun w/pocket 7s and pissed away an extra $150 in chips. Come on!
2:17: Geez. I get KQ suited, and there’s 2 raises before me. I can’t call that! UTG raiser had J K off, and early position re-raiser had J 10 suited. This is the type of situation I struggle in. I had the best hand, but can't make that loose call. To me, that’s not one, but two ridiculous plays. Three, really, if you count J K calling the re-raise. Of course, J 10 takes the pot w/Js and 10s, so I made a great fold, but still…
2:22: Finally won a pot w/Q2 in the big blind. UTG min-raises preflop, I call. Flop comes Q high and I bet the pot, he calls. Turn brings a 2, I bet the pot again, and he calls. River blank, I bet the pot, he mucks. Next hand I split a pot 2 ways, and then next hand after that I pick up J 10 spades, bet a K 10 x flop, and take it down. 2220…avg stack 2966.
2:44: I think I just made a huge mistake. I get A Q suited, and the same dude that raised UTG w/J K raised it up. I just called, and the flop came Q-high. He pushes all-in, and I folded after a lot of thought. Thinking about it after the hand, there’s a very good chance he had KQ, QJ, or even a low PP. Of course, he could’ve also hit trips, or had AA or KK. I’d rather be in the tournament, but this hand is gonna bug me.
2:48: Just got back up to 1845 in chips after taking down a little pot when I hit a 2 in my hand flush on the turn. I min-bet my draw on the flop and got a caller, so I min-bet the turn, but the dude mucked.
2:57: That’s a little better. Hit another 2 in my hand flush on the turn, pushed all-in, and scooped an already decent pot. I feel like I’m wasting these flushes a little bit, but I also just really need chips right now. 2785…avg 3598.
3:07: Last hand of 2nd hour, 3 guys all-in. AK off, JJ, and A8 off. A8 takes it down with the nut flush and has the other two covered. Sick. I’m at 2635, blinds will go to 75/150.
3:19: JK off in the small blind, folds around to me. I min-raise and catch a J on an A-high flop. I bet it 300+, call. Turn blank. I check, to see if he has an ace. He checks. River blank, I fire $200, he calls. He’s got 4 6 of clubs, and had caught his flush on the river. I know I played the hand about as badly as one could, but it still irritates the hell out of me. 1500.
3:59: Man, the last 40 minutes have been a grind. But I feel like I played it REALLY well. After the blinds going up to 100/200, scooping once, then being as low as 925, I scooped twice with hands I was willing to stake my tournament life on, then pushed again w/A 10, and finally got a K Q caller, and I held up! Then I took a trip through the blinds, but then scooped in last position, and I’m at 3050. Next blind level is 100/200 again, but w/a 25 chip ante. Man…I was smelling the ropes there for a while.
4:03: Ok, lost a little bit when my JQ clubs hit a flush draw and I called a min bet, but then didn’t have odds to call a raise. 2650.
4:11: After a trip through the blinds, I’m at 2350 at the third break. 2390 players left, and I’m in 1672nd. Time to start picking up some cards. Gonna cost me 550 each time around the table now. Of course, there’s also an extra 250 in each pot.
4:20: 2nd hand after the break I pick up Q 7 diamonds in the big blind. Flop comes Q-high, small blind bets, I raise all-in, other 2 fall out, and small blind folds. Queens in the BB have been good to me. 3500.
4:33: Won a big pot w/99 on a 6 7 8 flop. Pot bet, call. J on the turn, I’m all-in, fold. 4600. Average is at 8313, though, so I’ve got some more work to do.
4:38: In one of those “Obvious fold, but damn it” hands. I had 9 5 in the small blind. UTG raises, and I check the auto-fold box. Flop comes 2 9 5. AK ends up all-in against KK, and my flopped 2 pair would’ve been good enough to triple up.
4:55: I get that blasted pocket jacks hand. In hopes to scoop, I push my 4200 in. I get one caller for less, and he’s got KQ. Flop comes 6 10 6, turn’s a J, but in my infinite lack of wisdom, I’m freaking out now because a K, Q, A, or 9 will beat me. And when I see a Q on the river, my heart breaks. Except that I won with a full house. Durrrrrrr… 7329 after immediately going through the blinds.
5:13: Well, you knew if anyone was gonna get sucked out on to lose, its this guy. Luck is not my strong suit. I get KK in the big blind. Someone in mid position min-raises (to 800), and I re-raise to 2000 total and get a call. Flop comes 10-high. I push all-in with my remaining 3500, and he insta-calls. I'm scared to death of 10 10, but am thrilled to see A 10. But as soon as he said "nh", I knew..and there was the 10 on the turn. I get no help on the river, and 1135th it is. Although I *really* felt I had what it took to cash and my momentum was steadily building (this pot would've put me over 11k and finally right in the thick of the average stack), I actually am pretty at peace with it. The hand played out perfectly though the flop, and I got my money in as almost an 80% favorite. That’s all any poker player can ask for.
Guess my Saturday night is free now.
Originally Posted 7/22/2006
A little luck, a little out of my comfort zone.
So I played a few tournaments over the past few days. They're all kinda running together, so I need to get posting to this thing more often. I'm just so lazy.
My greatest triumph was making it to a new personal high of 29th in a Poker.com freeroll. Of course it didn't happen without an early double-up from bullets in the hole, not to mention about 3 sets of KK, and 2 big slick. Raising hands always help you scoop if nothing else, and I was able to maintain a solid stack, and set a new high stack mark I think somewhere around the 16k mark. It looked like I was actually going to be blinded away before my previous record of 33rd, but then I did manage to double up when my A 8 hit an A and held up. My last hand was a 9 2 in the big blind alone. It folded around to the guy in last position who called. The flop came like 2 10 J and he bet. I put him on a weaker hand making a call just so I couldn't scoop my short stack blind, or a stronger hand with a K or an A and an average kicker, maybe suited, so when he bet, I called with my pair of deuces, but he did have K 10 in the hole (I was half right) and that was it for me. Initially I was happy with going with a made pair and my "read", but then I started 2nd guessing myself. I had another trip around the table to pick up a better hand, and that close to the money, I probably should've tried to hang around as long as I could. So who knows.
A monkey could make it to the top 500 of these Poker.com tourneys, but I really think they're helping my game a lot. With the aggressive structure of the tournaments it makes me get out of my comfort zone and play a few more hands, trying to scoop some chips. I have been getting a lot of top 10% finishes in a lot of MTT freerolls lately, and the cool thing, but also sucky thing because I don't have any money in, is that if these are real money tourneys, top 10% usually pays. So I'm confident that when I finally win some money, I'll be able to make something of it.
In other news, PokerRoom still continues to beat the hell out of me. PokerRoom is the bully to my scrawny nerd. Its thanks to that site screwing me over that my real money priveledges have been revoked.
After signing up for the 5:00 Poker.com tourney on Tuesday, I was bored and didn't want to wait, so I signed up for a Limit 7 Stud tournament on PokerStars. Three hours later and a decent 129th place finish in the Poker.com tourney way gone, I was going out 208th out of 4096 in the 7 Stud tournament. I like throwing in an Omaha and a 7S game here and there. I've even been playing some hi/lo. Limit helps because I can't piss my stack away on a stupid all-in, but all these games really take is an understanding of the basic principles of poker and odds, and you can be pretty successful. I won't be playing 7 stud or Omaha for money anytime soon, but its fun to throw them in every now and then.
That's about it for today. Looks like the next time I'll be playing poker is 2:00 on Saturday in the ParadisePoker Million Dollar Freeroll. And before I forget forever and ever, in the qualifier for that tourney, I was sitting in 5th place when the 10th place person was knocked out, and the starting field was 1959. Probably my biggest poker accomplishment yet, and its got me in the Million Dollar Freeroll, playing a decent structured tournament for the first time in my life.
Originally Posted 7/20/2006
My greatest triumph was making it to a new personal high of 29th in a Poker.com freeroll. Of course it didn't happen without an early double-up from bullets in the hole, not to mention about 3 sets of KK, and 2 big slick. Raising hands always help you scoop if nothing else, and I was able to maintain a solid stack, and set a new high stack mark I think somewhere around the 16k mark. It looked like I was actually going to be blinded away before my previous record of 33rd, but then I did manage to double up when my A 8 hit an A and held up. My last hand was a 9 2 in the big blind alone. It folded around to the guy in last position who called. The flop came like 2 10 J and he bet. I put him on a weaker hand making a call just so I couldn't scoop my short stack blind, or a stronger hand with a K or an A and an average kicker, maybe suited, so when he bet, I called with my pair of deuces, but he did have K 10 in the hole (I was half right) and that was it for me. Initially I was happy with going with a made pair and my "read", but then I started 2nd guessing myself. I had another trip around the table to pick up a better hand, and that close to the money, I probably should've tried to hang around as long as I could. So who knows.
A monkey could make it to the top 500 of these Poker.com tourneys, but I really think they're helping my game a lot. With the aggressive structure of the tournaments it makes me get out of my comfort zone and play a few more hands, trying to scoop some chips. I have been getting a lot of top 10% finishes in a lot of MTT freerolls lately, and the cool thing, but also sucky thing because I don't have any money in, is that if these are real money tourneys, top 10% usually pays. So I'm confident that when I finally win some money, I'll be able to make something of it.
In other news, PokerRoom still continues to beat the hell out of me. PokerRoom is the bully to my scrawny nerd. Its thanks to that site screwing me over that my real money priveledges have been revoked.
After signing up for the 5:00 Poker.com tourney on Tuesday, I was bored and didn't want to wait, so I signed up for a Limit 7 Stud tournament on PokerStars. Three hours later and a decent 129th place finish in the Poker.com tourney way gone, I was going out 208th out of 4096 in the 7 Stud tournament. I like throwing in an Omaha and a 7S game here and there. I've even been playing some hi/lo. Limit helps because I can't piss my stack away on a stupid all-in, but all these games really take is an understanding of the basic principles of poker and odds, and you can be pretty successful. I won't be playing 7 stud or Omaha for money anytime soon, but its fun to throw them in every now and then.
That's about it for today. Looks like the next time I'll be playing poker is 2:00 on Saturday in the ParadisePoker Million Dollar Freeroll. And before I forget forever and ever, in the qualifier for that tourney, I was sitting in 5th place when the 10th place person was knocked out, and the starting field was 1959. Probably my biggest poker accomplishment yet, and its got me in the Million Dollar Freeroll, playing a decent structured tournament for the first time in my life.
Originally Posted 7/20/2006
The Life and Times of ol' Windbreaker
So this is a journal I'm starting to chronicle some of my poker stories. I have aspirations to be a good poker player, but after improving steadily for a year and plateauing, I realize that its going to take some dedication. One step in the right direction will be to put some of my thoughts and stories on paper, so I can go back and reference them as needed.
Welcome to the bad beats and broken heart of WindBreak247.
Originally Posted 7/15/2006
Welcome to the bad beats and broken heart of WindBreak247.
Originally Posted 7/15/2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
