Well after not posting in awhile I feel that I should update everyone on my goings on in the poker world.
OK, so I emptied my Stars account except for $250 which I was going to use for sats, maybe a deepstack tourney or two, and maybe a few others. Well two weekends ago, the fiancee's little brother who is eleven hopped on my computer to play using play money 'just like he does at home'. That night I logged on and saw my balance as $3.50. I had no idea what happened, so I had my hand history emailed to me. Turns out the little brother hopped on a $2-$4 table and went through $240 in eleven hands. At one point he called a $67 bet on the river with A4 on a 678QK board, when the guy had 9T, (otherwise known as the nuts). What could I do or say? Nada. Told the fiancee who gave him a good talking to, and to be fair he is a really nice kid and genuinely thought he was playing for fun. So that wasnt cool.
When I last posted I had opened an account on William Hill. Well being an idiot I signed up using the fiancees name as I was a bit scared rakeback would not be possible due to the fact this would have been my second account. I then deposited money using MY CREDIT CARD. See the problem? They shut down my account after an hour (albeit a very productive hour). I called them and this is what they needed to change the name of the account. Photocopies of: my passport, her passport, front and back of my credit card, a letter showing my credit card belongs to my address, and a handwritten letter signed by us both. ANNOYING! But with that much money in the account, there was no way I wasnt doing it.
I have been playing on Full Tilt recently and the site is not bad. Once you get rid of the avatars and weird background stuff, it is ok. A major breakthrough though occured last week when I found out Full Tilt acquired re-sizeable tables. Great News! So I have decided to do the following. From now on William Hill will be my cash site. Full Tilt will be my SnG site. I enjoy cash and SnG's and I believe that playing each solely at one site, I will get better accustomed to the players there. I am hoping for atleast forty SnG's a week on Full Tilt, but I have not decided on hands on William Hill. I am getting rakeback on both with a small bonus for cash tables on Will Hill so it makes sense.
However I am going to use proper bankroll management on both. I had a bit of a revelation last week whilst thinking about a hand I had played. When playing cash, winning pots is not important, making good decisions is. If I suck out on a player, yes the short term benefits are great, but the long term benefits are not because to have to rely on luck to win...not a good trait for a poker player to have.
I have $315 on Full Tilt and I am playing only the $6.50 turbos. A benefit FT has over Stars though is the next jump in turbos on FT is $11.50, whereas on Stars it was $16. So with 50 buyins needed to make the jump (I am saying 50 now but I will think about it some more and possibly wait till I have more just to get used to the site) meaning I need atleast $575 before I can think about leaving the $6.50 turbos.
As for cash I need more than 50 buyins, possibly more than 100 buyins. (I am going to ask around to some cash players who are smart with their roll to know exactly how many) On William Hill I have $520 or so, meaning I dont have close to 50 buyins for their smallest tables. I will be patrolling those waters for some time. However, with rakeback and some monthly bonuses I am hoping it wont be too long. But to get to the tables I really want to play .50-1, I think that 5K-6K is needed. Yes, I have a lot of work ahead of me. Good thing I love the game.
With my online poker future now set, I promise to update more.
Heres to hoping
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
No Posts for Awhile - Lotsa News!
Where do I begin? Well I suppose from where I left off would make sense.
So last week I started playing a little Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet. They were not bad, and I liked the variety. It refreshed my poker eagerness. Then came Sunday. Let me explain.
This past weekend I had Monday and Tuesday off. Some weird holiday for schools in the UK. That's cool, I'll take it! So Sunday night a bunch of teacher friends of the fiancee and me are at their house getting ready to go to a bar. (I dont like bars or clubs very much, but once in awhile I can stand) So one of the girls has a boyfriend and he has told me on numerous occasions his flatmates are big poker players online. The first time I heard this I really wanted to meet them. As we are sitting there, he says they are all currently next door (he lives directly next to his girlfriend) and would I like to go meet them? Hell yes. We walk over and what I see is beautiful. Picture this. Very small living room with three guys who all have laptops in front of them. One is in pajamas, the other two in jeans and t-shirts. Two are three tabling one is playing only one table. There is a 40' tv as well with a dvd on. There are poker magazines on the floor and they are talking about hands they are playing. I am home. Turns out, one of the guys I have played live with before at the Cincinatti Club, once when we were heads up. Really nice guy, and a very good player. I sit down and watch them play. Turns out one of the guys came like 103rd at the 2006 WSOP main event when his AA all in on the flop lost to Jeff Lisandro's straight flush draw. Sick eh? He even has a picture of Lisandro jumping up and down with the flatmate standing behind him in the crowd looking disappointed. Very cool picture, but a painful one for him I can imagine. So we start talking poker sites, hands, tournies etc. Basically then and there I realised how silly playing online poker without rakeback really is. These guys play high stakes 2/4 and beyond. And they make a lot in rakeback. I wouldnt make close to them, but money is money. I always knew rakeback was good, just not that good. The guy who came 103rd in the WSOP, worked out what my rakeback could be, and it was staggering how much money I was losing playing cash on Stars. He then shopped around for me and told me what site I should play. His answer? William Hill. I get 30% rakeback plus I get £5 per hour I play cash up to £25 per month. Very good deal. I had to go with the fiancee but I hope to go back and play with them as I could learn A LOT from those guys. Very nice guys, and very solid players.
So I went back and played Stars for a little while, with the intention of starting up on a new site. So last night I did. I cashed out $800 on Stars leaving myself $300 to play tournies or sats with. I then put $400 on William Hill and started playing. Oh My God. What was I doing on Stars? I played for one hour last night. ONE HOUR, and made $120 playing cash. I started at a .15 - .15 cent table, the lowest they have, with ten dollars. I ran it up to $30 in fifteen minutes. So I took the $20 profit and put it on a .25 - .50 table. I walked away with $120 forty five minutes later. It wasnt the players being terrible, but I was just used to Stars and very solid players and I just outplayed them. It was a lot of fun. Plus, I am getting rakeback at some point each month. I am really excited about it to say the least!
I hope to play a little more this weekend (the future inlaws are visiting for the weekend, so not too much poker will be played)
So last week I started playing a little Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet. They were not bad, and I liked the variety. It refreshed my poker eagerness. Then came Sunday. Let me explain.
This past weekend I had Monday and Tuesday off. Some weird holiday for schools in the UK. That's cool, I'll take it! So Sunday night a bunch of teacher friends of the fiancee and me are at their house getting ready to go to a bar. (I dont like bars or clubs very much, but once in awhile I can stand) So one of the girls has a boyfriend and he has told me on numerous occasions his flatmates are big poker players online. The first time I heard this I really wanted to meet them. As we are sitting there, he says they are all currently next door (he lives directly next to his girlfriend) and would I like to go meet them? Hell yes. We walk over and what I see is beautiful. Picture this. Very small living room with three guys who all have laptops in front of them. One is in pajamas, the other two in jeans and t-shirts. Two are three tabling one is playing only one table. There is a 40' tv as well with a dvd on. There are poker magazines on the floor and they are talking about hands they are playing. I am home. Turns out, one of the guys I have played live with before at the Cincinatti Club, once when we were heads up. Really nice guy, and a very good player. I sit down and watch them play. Turns out one of the guys came like 103rd at the 2006 WSOP main event when his AA all in on the flop lost to Jeff Lisandro's straight flush draw. Sick eh? He even has a picture of Lisandro jumping up and down with the flatmate standing behind him in the crowd looking disappointed. Very cool picture, but a painful one for him I can imagine. So we start talking poker sites, hands, tournies etc. Basically then and there I realised how silly playing online poker without rakeback really is. These guys play high stakes 2/4 and beyond. And they make a lot in rakeback. I wouldnt make close to them, but money is money. I always knew rakeback was good, just not that good. The guy who came 103rd in the WSOP, worked out what my rakeback could be, and it was staggering how much money I was losing playing cash on Stars. He then shopped around for me and told me what site I should play. His answer? William Hill. I get 30% rakeback plus I get £5 per hour I play cash up to £25 per month. Very good deal. I had to go with the fiancee but I hope to go back and play with them as I could learn A LOT from those guys. Very nice guys, and very solid players.
So I went back and played Stars for a little while, with the intention of starting up on a new site. So last night I did. I cashed out $800 on Stars leaving myself $300 to play tournies or sats with. I then put $400 on William Hill and started playing. Oh My God. What was I doing on Stars? I played for one hour last night. ONE HOUR, and made $120 playing cash. I started at a .15 - .15 cent table, the lowest they have, with ten dollars. I ran it up to $30 in fifteen minutes. So I took the $20 profit and put it on a .25 - .50 table. I walked away with $120 forty five minutes later. It wasnt the players being terrible, but I was just used to Stars and very solid players and I just outplayed them. It was a lot of fun. Plus, I am getting rakeback at some point each month. I am really excited about it to say the least!
I hope to play a little more this weekend (the future inlaws are visiting for the weekend, so not too much poker will be played)
Friday, February 09, 2007
Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet
Downloaded Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet last night. I already had $41 on UB and a ton of bonus points from freerolls, but I had to deposit onto Full Tilt. I put on $220 which I think is enough to handle swings
, play without fear etc. As for UB I will be playing the $1 SnG's until I get to $100. Last night playing these two sites I got really excited to play again. The fear of going bust on UB is very real and it was fun. Plus, Full Tilt is Mac friendly which is great as the fiancee can use her machine and I can play poker. I played a few different games on FT but I am going to stick with $5 heads up games until I reach $350. I think that is a good number and will take me a little bit of time. I have only played two so far and won both, but the opposition was weak. Really looking forward to these sites! Oh, and one cool tourney I saw on UB is a $1 rebuy. Great idea! Cheap and fun with $1000 guarunteed! That seems like great value.
Heres to hoping
, play without fear etc. As for UB I will be playing the $1 SnG's until I get to $100. Last night playing these two sites I got really excited to play again. The fear of going bust on UB is very real and it was fun. Plus, Full Tilt is Mac friendly which is great as the fiancee can use her machine and I can play poker. I played a few different games on FT but I am going to stick with $5 heads up games until I reach $350. I think that is a good number and will take me a little bit of time. I have only played two so far and won both, but the opposition was weak. Really looking forward to these sites! Oh, and one cool tourney I saw on UB is a $1 rebuy. Great idea! Cheap and fun with $1000 guarunteed! That seems like great value.Heres to hoping
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Up Up and Away
Last night I played:
two $15 turbos
one $11 heads up
one $8.80 MTT
And I won each one! I am so happy right now, I made so much money!
Oh wait, that didnt happen, I lost everyone of them and am back down in poker limbo. Yeah, that sounds more right.
I feel like a yoyo going up and down. I currently have $950 on PokerStars and I feel so....urgggggh. I obviously love the game, but at the end of the day, you have to make money to keep playing. I want to someday make my living from this game, if I continue to play like I have been recently, it will not happen. Therefore I am going to come up with some rules of discipline to follow. Goals I want to achieve, and immediate goals which will fuel my poker desire. I think a big one will be to take atleast one day away from playing. Read, watch, listen, think about, but not play. I need to step back. I may take a day or two to come up with some, but I will.
I think I am going to also start playing at more sites than just Stars. I have like $40 on UltimateBet and I am going to start on Full Tilt as well as Crypto. Maybe a change of scenery will spur me on.
Heres to hoping.
two $15 turbos
one $11 heads up
one $8.80 MTT
And I won each one! I am so happy right now, I made so much money!
Oh wait, that didnt happen, I lost everyone of them and am back down in poker limbo. Yeah, that sounds more right.
I feel like a yoyo going up and down. I currently have $950 on PokerStars and I feel so....urgggggh. I obviously love the game, but at the end of the day, you have to make money to keep playing. I want to someday make my living from this game, if I continue to play like I have been recently, it will not happen. Therefore I am going to come up with some rules of discipline to follow. Goals I want to achieve, and immediate goals which will fuel my poker desire. I think a big one will be to take atleast one day away from playing. Read, watch, listen, think about, but not play. I need to step back. I may take a day or two to come up with some, but I will.
I think I am going to also start playing at more sites than just Stars. I have like $40 on UltimateBet and I am going to start on Full Tilt as well as Crypto. Maybe a change of scenery will spur me on.
Heres to hoping.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Right...WTF?!?!
Right....WTF?!?!
That is what I have been saying a lot recently in the chat box of stars. Let me elaborate.
I have 78 of spades 1 off the button and raise 3x the BB. The BB calls. The flop comes A56. He checks, I bet out 3/4 of the pot, he calls. The turn is a Q. He checks, I bet the pot, he calls. The river is a deuce he checks, I check. He flips over 89...for ace high with a better kicker. He called a pot sized bet (which represented half his stack) on the turn with a gutshot. Right...WTF?!?!
I have AA on the button. I raise, the BB re-raises me, I re-re-raise him, he calls. Flop is a low rainbow 9 high. He bets the pot. I now put him on TT, JJ, or QQ as with KK he would put me allin preflop. I can stack him with a blank turn. Turn is a K. He goes all in for 2x the pot. I call. River is a T, he flips over TT for the set. Right...WTF?!?!
I have AA in mid position and with 2 limpers, raise 5x the BB. The second limper calls me. The flop comes A95 with two hearts. He goes all in for $21 into a $3 pot. I insta call. Turn is a blank, river is a J of hearts, he flips over 23 hearts. Right...WTF?!?!
I have AK diamonds in the cutoff. I raise 3x the BB. The button re-raises me to 8x the BB, the BB then goes all in. I fold, the button insta calls. The board ends up giving me the nuts with 3 diamonds, but the button flips over AA, while the BB flips over 44 for a set and takes the pot. Right...WTF?!?!
Needless to say I have been frustrated. I won a little on Saturday night on the 10-25 tables, but gave it all back and then some on Sunday. Very frustrating.
I also played some SnG's and just couldnt put it together. I was near breaking point, when I thought some heads-up games would give me some clarity. I played 3 $33 matches, 4 $11 matches, and 1 $6 match. I won them all but 1 $33 match and the $6 match in which he outdrew me horrendously. I really enjoyed the games and because I was playing the turbos, they didnt last too long.
I am going to keep playing the $11 games as the standard was quite low thus giving the full table turbos a miss for a few days.
I have learned that my game needs variety, because as soon as my game shows progress in one type of game, I level off. For now I am going to keep playing the heads up games and at the first sign of my performance going down, switch games.
Heres to hoping.
That is what I have been saying a lot recently in the chat box of stars. Let me elaborate.
I have 78 of spades 1 off the button and raise 3x the BB. The BB calls. The flop comes A56. He checks, I bet out 3/4 of the pot, he calls. The turn is a Q. He checks, I bet the pot, he calls. The river is a deuce he checks, I check. He flips over 89...for ace high with a better kicker. He called a pot sized bet (which represented half his stack) on the turn with a gutshot. Right...WTF?!?!
I have AA on the button. I raise, the BB re-raises me, I re-re-raise him, he calls. Flop is a low rainbow 9 high. He bets the pot. I now put him on TT, JJ, or QQ as with KK he would put me allin preflop. I can stack him with a blank turn. Turn is a K. He goes all in for 2x the pot. I call. River is a T, he flips over TT for the set. Right...WTF?!?!
I have AA in mid position and with 2 limpers, raise 5x the BB. The second limper calls me. The flop comes A95 with two hearts. He goes all in for $21 into a $3 pot. I insta call. Turn is a blank, river is a J of hearts, he flips over 23 hearts. Right...WTF?!?!
I have AK diamonds in the cutoff. I raise 3x the BB. The button re-raises me to 8x the BB, the BB then goes all in. I fold, the button insta calls. The board ends up giving me the nuts with 3 diamonds, but the button flips over AA, while the BB flips over 44 for a set and takes the pot. Right...WTF?!?!
Needless to say I have been frustrated. I won a little on Saturday night on the 10-25 tables, but gave it all back and then some on Sunday. Very frustrating.
I also played some SnG's and just couldnt put it together. I was near breaking point, when I thought some heads-up games would give me some clarity. I played 3 $33 matches, 4 $11 matches, and 1 $6 match. I won them all but 1 $33 match and the $6 match in which he outdrew me horrendously. I really enjoyed the games and because I was playing the turbos, they didnt last too long.
I am going to keep playing the $11 games as the standard was quite low thus giving the full table turbos a miss for a few days.
I have learned that my game needs variety, because as soon as my game shows progress in one type of game, I level off. For now I am going to keep playing the heads up games and at the first sign of my performance going down, switch games.
Heres to hoping.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Cash is The Devil
Cash Games are the devil.
There, I said it.
Last night I had my second highest cash ever, $540 and I am only up about $100 for the week. That is sickening and disgusting. I was playing above my head and was suffering many bad beats. I was playing 50-1 and 1-2 and I was holding my own up and little here and there, but a few hands brought me down. Therefore, I have decided that the next 2000 cash hands I play will be at the .10-.25 level.
I played this morning for 63 hands and some of the play is laughable. After playing the 1-2 games for about a month some of these players are downright terrible. Some players were making good moves, but there were a few guys who are keeping the poker industry afloat. Really that bad. Calling down with Q high, calling pot sized bets on the turn with straight draws out of position, and checking if they missed, calling with 4th pair. Unreal.
So, I will be playing only the .10-.25 cash tables, some low level SnG's (definitely some of the 45 player turbos, I like those) and some low level MTT's. I really like the 180 man SnG's as they offer a good prize pool but only take about 3.5-4 hours.
Heres to hoping.
There, I said it.
Last night I had my second highest cash ever, $540 and I am only up about $100 for the week. That is sickening and disgusting. I was playing above my head and was suffering many bad beats. I was playing 50-1 and 1-2 and I was holding my own up and little here and there, but a few hands brought me down. Therefore, I have decided that the next 2000 cash hands I play will be at the .10-.25 level.
I played this morning for 63 hands and some of the play is laughable. After playing the 1-2 games for about a month some of these players are downright terrible. Some players were making good moves, but there were a few guys who are keeping the poker industry afloat. Really that bad. Calling down with Q high, calling pot sized bets on the turn with straight draws out of position, and checking if they missed, calling with 4th pair. Unreal.
So, I will be playing only the .10-.25 cash tables, some low level SnG's (definitely some of the 45 player turbos, I like those) and some low level MTT's. I really like the 180 man SnG's as they offer a good prize pool but only take about 3.5-4 hours.
Heres to hoping.
Damn Skippy
PokerStars Tournament #42057930, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $1800.00
Tournament started - 2007/02/02 - 16:22:57 (ET)
BAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM BABY
Dear Knightsridge,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $540.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 269.77 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
And the final hand? Why I had quads of course!
Heads up I was leading for a long time but tried a semi bluff and got caught. I was down to 24,000 chips with blinds at 4000 and 8000 and he was 230,000 or so, but I fought back.
My first MTT win (I won a FPP tourney once but it wasnt for money, for fpp's so not including that)
Feels great!
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $1800.00
Tournament started - 2007/02/02 - 16:22:57 (ET)
BAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM BABY
Dear Knightsridge,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $540.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 269.77 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
And the final hand? Why I had quads of course!
Heads up I was leading for a long time but tried a semi bluff and got caught. I was down to 24,000 chips with blinds at 4000 and 8000 and he was 230,000 or so, but I fought back.
My first MTT win (I won a FPP tourney once but it wasnt for money, for fpp's so not including that)
Feels great!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Congrats and Update
Before I write anything, just let me say congratulations to a good friend of mine Francis from Birmingham. He called me Saturday night and informed me he was chipleader with ten left in an MTT on Betfair. I downloaded Betfair and hopped on to wacth. Well 146 players, $10 buy-in, Frannie takes first place for $450. And just to prove it was no fluke, he came 2nd in a 2500 player freeroll the following day when his JJ lost to A9 heads up. Just to put this in perspective, he has only been playing for about a year, so he is getting better very quickly.
Now on to me.
Well this weekend the future inlaws came to Glasgow and I didnt get much poker played. I was tiling the bathroom and kitchen as well as going to dinners and concerts. They are really nice people and her dad was teaching me a lot about DIY (do it yourself) so it was ok.
I played a little cash the last few days, breaking about even. Here are some of the more interesting hands, let me know what you think.
Hand 1 - I have J9 diamonds in middle position and I call the $1. The button then makes it $4 and I call. The flop comes 997 with two hearts. I check, he bets $9, I min raise to $18, he calls. The turn is the K of hearts, and I bet the pot and he folds. In hindsight, I should have came out betting the flop I think. Thoughts?
Hand 2 - I have AQ hearts in middle position and I raise to $6. The cutoff calls (one before the button) and the small blind calls. The flop comes out TJK rainbow giving me the nuts. I bet $8 into a $20 pot to fake a continuation bet. The cut off calls, the small blind raises making it another $34 to play. Now I thought I was up against either a set and a set, a set and two pair, two pair and AK. I knew that pairing the board was disaster so I figured that if I was going to go broke, better to go broke in a pot getting 3-1 on my money rather than 2-1. I called the $34. The other guy took ages but folded. The turn was a 5. Now with $111 in the pot, I go all in for $50 or so. He calls. The river was a beautiful 2 and he flips KJ for two pair. The cutoff then said he had AK. That was a nice pot.
(You all may be thinking how could I break even with hands like those?...read on)
Hand 3 - I have 55 in the SB and after a few limpers I complete and see a flop of 573. I check, UTG bets out the pot, folded to me, I min raise he reraises, I call. Turn is a 3. I check, he bets the pot, I go all in, he calls. River is an ace. He flips over....77 for better full house. Nothing I could do, just unlucky, cannot get away from middle set.
I am going to play some 45 player turbos tonight I think. Have had some success with them recently and they ar filled with weak players.
Heres to hoping.
Now on to me.
Well this weekend the future inlaws came to Glasgow and I didnt get much poker played. I was tiling the bathroom and kitchen as well as going to dinners and concerts. They are really nice people and her dad was teaching me a lot about DIY (do it yourself) so it was ok.
I played a little cash the last few days, breaking about even. Here are some of the more interesting hands, let me know what you think.
Hand 1 - I have J9 diamonds in middle position and I call the $1. The button then makes it $4 and I call. The flop comes 997 with two hearts. I check, he bets $9, I min raise to $18, he calls. The turn is the K of hearts, and I bet the pot and he folds. In hindsight, I should have came out betting the flop I think. Thoughts?
Hand 2 - I have AQ hearts in middle position and I raise to $6. The cutoff calls (one before the button) and the small blind calls. The flop comes out TJK rainbow giving me the nuts. I bet $8 into a $20 pot to fake a continuation bet. The cut off calls, the small blind raises making it another $34 to play. Now I thought I was up against either a set and a set, a set and two pair, two pair and AK. I knew that pairing the board was disaster so I figured that if I was going to go broke, better to go broke in a pot getting 3-1 on my money rather than 2-1. I called the $34. The other guy took ages but folded. The turn was a 5. Now with $111 in the pot, I go all in for $50 or so. He calls. The river was a beautiful 2 and he flips KJ for two pair. The cutoff then said he had AK. That was a nice pot.
(You all may be thinking how could I break even with hands like those?...read on)
Hand 3 - I have 55 in the SB and after a few limpers I complete and see a flop of 573. I check, UTG bets out the pot, folded to me, I min raise he reraises, I call. Turn is a 3. I check, he bets the pot, I go all in, he calls. River is an ace. He flips over....77 for better full house. Nothing I could do, just unlucky, cannot get away from middle set.
I am going to play some 45 player turbos tonight I think. Have had some success with them recently and they ar filled with weak players.
Heres to hoping.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Last Night
Last night I played a bunch of multis following up on my performance in the deepstack. They are relatively cheap when you compare the buyin to the prizes and they are a lot of fun.
I signed up for two 180 man tournies, a $20 and a $10, the $3 rebuy, a 45 man $10 SnG and a $6.50 turbo to alleviate boredom in the early levels.
The turbo I got second losing a race with A9 to 88. Not bad, profit, I'll take it.
The three dollar rebuy I got to 6000 chips early but lost them on a coin flip late in the rebuy stage. Rather then buy back in I left the tourney after having spent $6.30.
The $20 180 man I overplayed QQ when a maniac called a massive raise and then checked an A high flop. I bet out and stupidly pot committed myself when he moved in. I called and he had A6. Dumb move by him, even worse move by me. Next time.
The 45 man I played solid and made the final table. I was below average until I got AKs in the BB. A shortstack raised all in and then the chipleader on the button raised all in to isolate. I am not folding AK in that spot in a million years. They showed 55 and 99. The ace on the river was not a bad card and I went from 8 of 9 to 2 of 9. Ended up getting heads up but never got the hand to finish him off. Played well but only got second. Good for an 85 profit. Great result, but again, first place was 135. Next time.
The 180 man $10 was a great tourney. I was tight early and slowly opened up. I went from 1500-3500 without too much trouble and then got KK all in against JJ. My cowboys held up and I was around 7000. Without about 45 players left I found QQ on the button and raised. The BB called. The flop came Q high and in the end we got it all in against his AQ. I was sailing, third or fourth in chips of the remaining players. Little while later I get KK in the and the UTG min raises. I want to know if he has aces, so I raise him another 1400. (which was a lot considering he went from 200 and raised to 400) If he pushed all in I would have folded. I know I would have, and if he has aces he would do that, no way does he slow play there after my big raise. He calls, I then think QQ or maybe JJ. The flop comes 68T and he checks, I put him all in and he instacalls with...AA you say? no....66. WTF. He called a 1400 raise with 66 when he only had 5400 left. Nice hand sir. I went back to playing tight. So tight in fact I didnt look at my cards. Why you ask? Well because my internet sucks of course and I disconnected. I immediately phoned Mike in Toronto, "Mike, you gotta play for me" "Can't bro, just signed up for four multis, shit, wait...." "No it's cool Mike, I'll phone my brother" I call Sydney Nova Scotia (eastern Canada) where my twenty year old little brother lives "Hi Mom, yeah great to hear from you to, listen is Steven there? Dont worry Mom, nothing is wrong" "Is this about poker, because if it is..." "No mom not about poker at all (she hates that we play)" "Hi Steven load up stars, you need to play for me" "ok one sec...aww this sucks, our internet is down for some reason"
I have deduced it was one of those internet problems that affects Glasgow and Sydney at the same time so I let the fiancee talk to my mom and I then paced the room while windows and the connection restarted. Just to reiterate, I am shortstacked, blinds are 600-1200, there are 25 players left, 18 make money, $540 to first. Yeah it sucked big time. When I finally got back on, I went from 12K to 8K but strangely we were in the money with 18 players left and I was 16th. Few hands later I pick up AK of diamonds in the BB. Chip leader raises, 2nd chipleader calls on the button. I go all in, original raiser folds, caller....calls with AJ. Flop gives me the nuts, all diamonds, and I am back in it. The final comes soon after and I am feeling good. That was until I had QJ all in vs a shortstack's QT and he pulls a straight with the ten, and with four left I re raise all in with AK against the shortie who flips over AQ. Q on the turn. Damnit. I push very shortstacked soon after with KJ and BB finds QQ, no K and I am gone in 4th.
Very frustrated as I was the better player I think, and this morning when I had tournament history sent to me, AQ boy won the damn thing. Cant have it all I suppose. But no queen and I am 2nd in chips...aww what could have been. Next time (hopefully tonight)
Who woulda thunk it, me an MTT player and no longer an SnG grinder. lol
I signed up for two 180 man tournies, a $20 and a $10, the $3 rebuy, a 45 man $10 SnG and a $6.50 turbo to alleviate boredom in the early levels.
The turbo I got second losing a race with A9 to 88. Not bad, profit, I'll take it.
The three dollar rebuy I got to 6000 chips early but lost them on a coin flip late in the rebuy stage. Rather then buy back in I left the tourney after having spent $6.30.
The $20 180 man I overplayed QQ when a maniac called a massive raise and then checked an A high flop. I bet out and stupidly pot committed myself when he moved in. I called and he had A6. Dumb move by him, even worse move by me. Next time.
The 45 man I played solid and made the final table. I was below average until I got AKs in the BB. A shortstack raised all in and then the chipleader on the button raised all in to isolate. I am not folding AK in that spot in a million years. They showed 55 and 99. The ace on the river was not a bad card and I went from 8 of 9 to 2 of 9. Ended up getting heads up but never got the hand to finish him off. Played well but only got second. Good for an 85 profit. Great result, but again, first place was 135. Next time.
The 180 man $10 was a great tourney. I was tight early and slowly opened up. I went from 1500-3500 without too much trouble and then got KK all in against JJ. My cowboys held up and I was around 7000. Without about 45 players left I found QQ on the button and raised. The BB called. The flop came Q high and in the end we got it all in against his AQ. I was sailing, third or fourth in chips of the remaining players. Little while later I get KK in the and the UTG min raises. I want to know if he has aces, so I raise him another 1400. (which was a lot considering he went from 200 and raised to 400) If he pushed all in I would have folded. I know I would have, and if he has aces he would do that, no way does he slow play there after my big raise. He calls, I then think QQ or maybe JJ. The flop comes 68T and he checks, I put him all in and he instacalls with...AA you say? no....66. WTF. He called a 1400 raise with 66 when he only had 5400 left. Nice hand sir. I went back to playing tight. So tight in fact I didnt look at my cards. Why you ask? Well because my internet sucks of course and I disconnected. I immediately phoned Mike in Toronto, "Mike, you gotta play for me" "Can't bro, just signed up for four multis, shit, wait...." "No it's cool Mike, I'll phone my brother" I call Sydney Nova Scotia (eastern Canada) where my twenty year old little brother lives "Hi Mom, yeah great to hear from you to, listen is Steven there? Dont worry Mom, nothing is wrong" "Is this about poker, because if it is..." "No mom not about poker at all (she hates that we play)" "Hi Steven load up stars, you need to play for me" "ok one sec...aww this sucks, our internet is down for some reason"
I have deduced it was one of those internet problems that affects Glasgow and Sydney at the same time so I let the fiancee talk to my mom and I then paced the room while windows and the connection restarted. Just to reiterate, I am shortstacked, blinds are 600-1200, there are 25 players left, 18 make money, $540 to first. Yeah it sucked big time. When I finally got back on, I went from 12K to 8K but strangely we were in the money with 18 players left and I was 16th. Few hands later I pick up AK of diamonds in the BB. Chip leader raises, 2nd chipleader calls on the button. I go all in, original raiser folds, caller....calls with AJ. Flop gives me the nuts, all diamonds, and I am back in it. The final comes soon after and I am feeling good. That was until I had QJ all in vs a shortstack's QT and he pulls a straight with the ten, and with four left I re raise all in with AK against the shortie who flips over AQ. Q on the turn. Damnit. I push very shortstacked soon after with KJ and BB finds QQ, no K and I am gone in 4th.
Very frustrated as I was the better player I think, and this morning when I had tournament history sent to me, AQ boy won the damn thing. Cant have it all I suppose. But no queen and I am 2nd in chips...aww what could have been. Next time (hopefully tonight)
Who woulda thunk it, me an MTT player and no longer an SnG grinder. lol
Deepstack Report
Ok, I didnt put up a report from the Saturday night tourney so here it is.
Saturday night I was really looking forward to because it is one of the only nights I can play some MTT's and not worry about getting to bed at a reasonable time. So I signed up for a bunch. A $22 freezeout, a $3 freezeout and the $10 deepstack. I also played a turbo so I wouldnt get bored early. The SnG I got third (hey, profit is profit), the $22 I ran AK into AA in a blind on blind confrontation (not a good idea by the way) and the $3 I went out in the money maing $8 dollars or something. Nothing big. The deepstack however was another story.
Early on I did nothing. A stack of 5000 and half hour levels make for an absolute ton of play and no rush was needed. I played tight and caught a few hands and was around 9000 when the first big hand arrived. I had K9o on the button and I raised. The small blind (6500 stack) called me. The flop came J84 with two spades I have the king of spades. He checked, I bet 1/2 the pot, he called. The turn was a ten of spades, giving me an open ended straight draw and the second nut flush draw. By this time the pot is around 2400, and after he checks I bet the pot. I know I have outs if he calls, and after leading preflop, and on the flop, I dont want to slow down especially with so many outs. He then goes all in for another 2800 or so. Damn. If I call and lose I am down to 2500 in chips. Not terrible as the blinds are only 50-100 but obviously not a good place to be. I couted my outs as all the spades (9) the sevens (3) and the queens (3) giving me 15 outs. I had to call 2800 to win 10,000. Almost 4-1. Out of 46 unseen cards, 15 will win me the pot. 3-1. I called. The river was the 7 of spades, giving me both the straight and the flush. Phew. I was up to 1600 or so.
I then got moved to a CRAZY table where two players in paticular bet every street with nothing or the nuts. They were dangerous players and they called down with third or fourth pair. It was interesting to say the least. I hit a set and a straight and went up to 21000 when the next big hand occured. The blinds were getting a bit high, 200-400 and with the antes, you needed to pick up the odd hand. I was on the button (I used position very well all tourney and was very proud of that fact) with Q3 of hearts. It was folded around and I raised to 1200. Both blinds called including one of the crazy players who had me well covered. The flop came Q34. They both checked, I bet 3/4 of the pot. The crazy called, the BB folded. The turn was a 6. By this time the pot was 12,000 and I had only about 15,000 left. I was content to take the pot down and because he could have anything, I went all in. He thought and thought and thought and then called...with A5. He had an open ended straight draw. The river gave me a full house and I was up to 45000. Damn straight.
I then got moved again. This table I did very well at. I stole like there was no tomorrow and I played a lot of pots with position. Any weakness and I bet. My stack grew to 65,000 without really showing a hand. By this time the blinds were 600-1200 and I was playing well. Then came THE hand of the tourney for me. I was three off the button and it was folded to me. I raised to 3600 with the AQ of diamonds. The button the raised me another 3600. I didnt like it, but I obviously had odds (but not the position) so I called. The flop came 246 with two diamonds. I checked to see what he would do and he instantly went all in for 35,000 into a 16,000 pot. WTF. He had been a bit reckless but nothing totally out of whack in the time I had played with him. He either had a mid pair or a high pair. I obviously had nine outs with the diamonds, and possibly more if he had 99,TT, or JJ, even with QQ KK I still had another three outs. If I won the hand, I would be top ten in chips, if I lost I was down to 24,000 but still alive. I called. He flipped over AA. The river was the 3 of diamonds. I played the hand badly but got rewarded. I should have folded, but I went with my read. It was the wrong move at the right time. That being said, he shouldnt have gone all in. I would have bet the pot in his position and move in on the turn, it is quite possible however, that I put him on that flop so who knows. It was unlucky for him, but thats poker.
I was up to 112,000 and feeling good. I ducked and dodged, hit a few hands including top set and getting paid, came over the top of a few raises with JJ and KK and soon found myself with 40 left and sitting on 180K. By this time the blinds were worth stealing and the shorter stacks were just pushing so I stayed away from playing many hands. I then found AQ clubs and I raised to 3600. The BB called me. The flop came down 79A with one club. He checked and I bet the pot. He called. The turn was a low club and after he checked I put him all in. He instacalled with A7 and I didnt hit. I was back down again.
The blinds were 3K-6K with antes. The chipleader was on my table and UTG he limped for 6K. He was limping a lot and one off the button I found TT. It was folded around and I didnt want to see a flop, nor did I want to face a re-raise, so I went all in. In hindsight, this was not a great play, but I did. I blame being tired but whatever. The SB then thought about it and re raised all in. Oh no. The BB and the limper folded. He had KK. Good night Knighstridge. With a king on the flop I was done...but wait. Three diamonds on the flop...I have the ten of diamonds.... and The turn is a beautiful Ace of diamonds! By this time I was screaming "dont pair the board, don't pair the board." A harmless four of spades on the river, and I am up to 315K.
After that hand I was doing well, but still had to avoid the shortstacks pushing. About a half hour after the TT v KK hand, the KK guy moved in on my BB. With 15 players left, I called with AK. He flipped over AJ and I was one step away from being chip leader. But a jack on the river gave him some justice and I had to go towards the back of the pack. Soon after I reraised the chipleader all in with AT when I thought he was stealing. He folded, this would be important later when I found JJ and he needlessly pushed. I called, he showed 77, and I hit a straight on the turn. That took me to the final where I sat 3rd of 9.
That was when I lost connection for the second time and I had to call my college roommate Mike in Toronto to play for me. Three o'clock in the morning in Scotland and I am talking to Toronto Canada telling him to fold call or raise (he is a great player and could have done just as good a job, but the thought of playing for ten hours and then letting someone play for me didnt really sound good). I had lost connection earlier in the tourney and Mike had played for me for a few rounds, but at the final table, it is so much more important. I ended up getting connection back and I didnt lose too many hands in the changeover so it was alright. The final table was a weird table, people pushing and calling with hands that were a 50-50 at best. It seemed that 77 was a hand that was used an awful lot, showing up many many times in coinflips. I went card dead when the final began and with people raising so often I couldnt find a spot. That was until I found KK in the small blind. I raised and a limper called. The flop came Q high, I bet the pot, he called. The turn was a blank, I went all in. He thought and thought and called....with 77. Dunno what he thought I had, but no 7 on the river and I was back. I had AK a few times and raised and took a few pots down. But other then that, not much. The players slowly faded away and pretty soon there were three of us left. I was the shortstack but managed to pull within striking distance of second and was a double up away from being joint chipleader. That was when it happened.
I had AJ in the BB and raised after they both limped. They both called. The flop came nothing and I checked fearing the button would re-raise, Mistake number 1. The turn gave me my Ace and I bet out half the pot, Mistake number 2. The river was a blank (or so I thought) and I went all in, Mistake number 3. The chipleader called immediately with the nuts, the K9 of hearts. The turn and river were runner runner hearts. I should have bet the pot on the flop, and even if I didn't, I should have pushed the ace turn. I am pretty sure the button called with 88 or 99 and could not have called.
I was disappointed with my finish but not my play. I was calm and focused and was really happy for my biggest online cash ever. I wish I could have taken it down, but I know one will arrive soon.
Saturday night I was really looking forward to because it is one of the only nights I can play some MTT's and not worry about getting to bed at a reasonable time. So I signed up for a bunch. A $22 freezeout, a $3 freezeout and the $10 deepstack. I also played a turbo so I wouldnt get bored early. The SnG I got third (hey, profit is profit), the $22 I ran AK into AA in a blind on blind confrontation (not a good idea by the way) and the $3 I went out in the money maing $8 dollars or something. Nothing big. The deepstack however was another story.
Early on I did nothing. A stack of 5000 and half hour levels make for an absolute ton of play and no rush was needed. I played tight and caught a few hands and was around 9000 when the first big hand arrived. I had K9o on the button and I raised. The small blind (6500 stack) called me. The flop came J84 with two spades I have the king of spades. He checked, I bet 1/2 the pot, he called. The turn was a ten of spades, giving me an open ended straight draw and the second nut flush draw. By this time the pot is around 2400, and after he checks I bet the pot. I know I have outs if he calls, and after leading preflop, and on the flop, I dont want to slow down especially with so many outs. He then goes all in for another 2800 or so. Damn. If I call and lose I am down to 2500 in chips. Not terrible as the blinds are only 50-100 but obviously not a good place to be. I couted my outs as all the spades (9) the sevens (3) and the queens (3) giving me 15 outs. I had to call 2800 to win 10,000. Almost 4-1. Out of 46 unseen cards, 15 will win me the pot. 3-1. I called. The river was the 7 of spades, giving me both the straight and the flush. Phew. I was up to 1600 or so.
I then got moved to a CRAZY table where two players in paticular bet every street with nothing or the nuts. They were dangerous players and they called down with third or fourth pair. It was interesting to say the least. I hit a set and a straight and went up to 21000 when the next big hand occured. The blinds were getting a bit high, 200-400 and with the antes, you needed to pick up the odd hand. I was on the button (I used position very well all tourney and was very proud of that fact) with Q3 of hearts. It was folded around and I raised to 1200. Both blinds called including one of the crazy players who had me well covered. The flop came Q34. They both checked, I bet 3/4 of the pot. The crazy called, the BB folded. The turn was a 6. By this time the pot was 12,000 and I had only about 15,000 left. I was content to take the pot down and because he could have anything, I went all in. He thought and thought and thought and then called...with A5. He had an open ended straight draw. The river gave me a full house and I was up to 45000. Damn straight.
I then got moved again. This table I did very well at. I stole like there was no tomorrow and I played a lot of pots with position. Any weakness and I bet. My stack grew to 65,000 without really showing a hand. By this time the blinds were 600-1200 and I was playing well. Then came THE hand of the tourney for me. I was three off the button and it was folded to me. I raised to 3600 with the AQ of diamonds. The button the raised me another 3600. I didnt like it, but I obviously had odds (but not the position) so I called. The flop came 246 with two diamonds. I checked to see what he would do and he instantly went all in for 35,000 into a 16,000 pot. WTF. He had been a bit reckless but nothing totally out of whack in the time I had played with him. He either had a mid pair or a high pair. I obviously had nine outs with the diamonds, and possibly more if he had 99,TT, or JJ, even with QQ KK I still had another three outs. If I won the hand, I would be top ten in chips, if I lost I was down to 24,000 but still alive. I called. He flipped over AA. The river was the 3 of diamonds. I played the hand badly but got rewarded. I should have folded, but I went with my read. It was the wrong move at the right time. That being said, he shouldnt have gone all in. I would have bet the pot in his position and move in on the turn, it is quite possible however, that I put him on that flop so who knows. It was unlucky for him, but thats poker.
I was up to 112,000 and feeling good. I ducked and dodged, hit a few hands including top set and getting paid, came over the top of a few raises with JJ and KK and soon found myself with 40 left and sitting on 180K. By this time the blinds were worth stealing and the shorter stacks were just pushing so I stayed away from playing many hands. I then found AQ clubs and I raised to 3600. The BB called me. The flop came down 79A with one club. He checked and I bet the pot. He called. The turn was a low club and after he checked I put him all in. He instacalled with A7 and I didnt hit. I was back down again.
The blinds were 3K-6K with antes. The chipleader was on my table and UTG he limped for 6K. He was limping a lot and one off the button I found TT. It was folded around and I didnt want to see a flop, nor did I want to face a re-raise, so I went all in. In hindsight, this was not a great play, but I did. I blame being tired but whatever. The SB then thought about it and re raised all in. Oh no. The BB and the limper folded. He had KK. Good night Knighstridge. With a king on the flop I was done...but wait. Three diamonds on the flop...I have the ten of diamonds.... and The turn is a beautiful Ace of diamonds! By this time I was screaming "dont pair the board, don't pair the board." A harmless four of spades on the river, and I am up to 315K.
After that hand I was doing well, but still had to avoid the shortstacks pushing. About a half hour after the TT v KK hand, the KK guy moved in on my BB. With 15 players left, I called with AK. He flipped over AJ and I was one step away from being chip leader. But a jack on the river gave him some justice and I had to go towards the back of the pack. Soon after I reraised the chipleader all in with AT when I thought he was stealing. He folded, this would be important later when I found JJ and he needlessly pushed. I called, he showed 77, and I hit a straight on the turn. That took me to the final where I sat 3rd of 9.
That was when I lost connection for the second time and I had to call my college roommate Mike in Toronto to play for me. Three o'clock in the morning in Scotland and I am talking to Toronto Canada telling him to fold call or raise (he is a great player and could have done just as good a job, but the thought of playing for ten hours and then letting someone play for me didnt really sound good). I had lost connection earlier in the tourney and Mike had played for me for a few rounds, but at the final table, it is so much more important. I ended up getting connection back and I didnt lose too many hands in the changeover so it was alright. The final table was a weird table, people pushing and calling with hands that were a 50-50 at best. It seemed that 77 was a hand that was used an awful lot, showing up many many times in coinflips. I went card dead when the final began and with people raising so often I couldnt find a spot. That was until I found KK in the small blind. I raised and a limper called. The flop came Q high, I bet the pot, he called. The turn was a blank, I went all in. He thought and thought and called....with 77. Dunno what he thought I had, but no 7 on the river and I was back. I had AK a few times and raised and took a few pots down. But other then that, not much. The players slowly faded away and pretty soon there were three of us left. I was the shortstack but managed to pull within striking distance of second and was a double up away from being joint chipleader. That was when it happened.
I had AJ in the BB and raised after they both limped. They both called. The flop came nothing and I checked fearing the button would re-raise, Mistake number 1. The turn gave me my Ace and I bet out half the pot, Mistake number 2. The river was a blank (or so I thought) and I went all in, Mistake number 3. The chipleader called immediately with the nuts, the K9 of hearts. The turn and river were runner runner hearts. I should have bet the pot on the flop, and even if I didn't, I should have pushed the ace turn. I am pretty sure the button called with 88 or 99 and could not have called.
I was disappointed with my finish but not my play. I was calm and focused and was really happy for my biggest online cash ever. I wish I could have taken it down, but I know one will arrive soon.
Two More Good Results....But No Firsts, Damn!
PokerStars Tournament #41194034, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
45 players
Total Prize Pool: $450.00
Tournament started - 2007/01/22 - 13:14:27 (ET)
Dear Knightsridge,
You finished the tournament in 2nd place.
A $96.75 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 95.38 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
Dear Knightsridge,
PokerStars Tournament #41196373, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $1800.00
Tournament started - 2007/01/22 - 13:37:38 (ET)
You finished the tournament in 4th place.
A $144.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 134.88 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
45 players
Total Prize Pool: $450.00
Tournament started - 2007/01/22 - 13:14:27 (ET)
Dear Knightsridge,
You finished the tournament in 2nd place.
A $96.75 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 95.38 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
Dear Knightsridge,
PokerStars Tournament #41196373, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $1800.00
Tournament started - 2007/01/22 - 13:37:38 (ET)
You finished the tournament in 4th place.
A $144.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 134.88 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Exhausted But Happy
PokerStars Tournament #40452150, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
936 players
Total Prize Pool: $9360.00
Tournament started - 2007/01/20 - 12:00:00 (ET)
Dear Knightsridge,
You finished the tournament in 3rd place.
A $842.40 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 355.16 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
Report in the morning, but for now.....sleep. Took 11.5 hours to finish. Insane.
ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
936 players
Total Prize Pool: $9360.00
Tournament started - 2007/01/20 - 12:00:00 (ET)
Dear Knightsridge,
You finished the tournament in 3rd place.
A $842.40 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
You earned 355.16 tournament leader points in this tournament.
For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at
http://www.pokerstars.com/tlb_tournament_rankings.html
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
Report in the morning, but for now.....sleep. Took 11.5 hours to finish. Insane.
ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
High Stakes Poker Season 3!
Yes it is back and Jamie Gold came as well for episode 1.
Episode 1 of Season Three
Listen to the table when Gold raises Doyle to 20K after Doyle opened for 8K. Everyone cracks up at the table.
Episode 1 of Season Three
Listen to the table when Gold raises Doyle to 20K after Doyle opened for 8K. Everyone cracks up at the table.
New Game Plan
Well last night I was at a cross roads in my online poker existence. I sat at the computer and I didnt know what game to play. I really didnt. My first thought I had was to play a few turbos but as I went to register I had some anxiety about the thought of pushing and being called. Not a good frame of mind to be in.
I thought about where I had been having success and I realised that leading up to Christmas I was having quite a bit of success on the cash tables. The levels I was playing were over my head however and because I was only playing one table at a time I trying to make things happen out of nothing, not a good combination. I was also playing some six handed tables, something that takes away from what I believe to be one of my biggest assets, my patience. I therefore hopped on the Blonde Poker Forum (a fourm based type of message board site which is free to join and gives you access to tourney articles and updates, poker hand analysis, live and internet poker forums as well as sports and general discussion forums. My game has improved immensely since I joined the site, check it out blondepoker.com) and I looked up some past cash game threads. I read them and formulated a very basic strategy (something I did not have before). This new strategy of mine was based solely around position and not getting hung up on protecting my big blind. This was something that a few posts remarked was overrated and was silly to play a raised pot out of position.
I took this strategy of mine and plunked down at a $.25-$.50 cent table and bought in for $3o. This went on for a few rounds and I got very bored. Not due to the play of the table, but after playing four turbos, I was missing the other tables. So, I loaded up three more tables to see where it took me. I ended about an hour later up $90. My lowest table balance was $24 with the highest being $76. I was very pleased with this. I didnt know if this was a one off, so I played again today for two more sessions. The first I played for 45 minutes and ended up being up $62. The second session I just finished a few minutes ago and I was up another $71. Very happy.
I like the tables a lot as the players are not aggressive at all and I was just patient. I played tight for awhile and showed any big hands that people folded to my raises. After showing big hands, people labeled me a rock. Then I raised with suited connectors near the button played most of my buttons. Called a few raises in late position and reraised them on the flop. If they called I fired a second bullet on the turn and no one called. The tables I have played thus far have been weak and there is a noticeable difference between them and the next jump up to the $.50-$1 tables.
I am going to keep playing the cash for another few days and I may decide after that to try some more SnGs. Not sure right now. Just going to enjoy the little profit maker I am currently riding.
I thought about where I had been having success and I realised that leading up to Christmas I was having quite a bit of success on the cash tables. The levels I was playing were over my head however and because I was only playing one table at a time I trying to make things happen out of nothing, not a good combination. I was also playing some six handed tables, something that takes away from what I believe to be one of my biggest assets, my patience. I therefore hopped on the Blonde Poker Forum (a fourm based type of message board site which is free to join and gives you access to tourney articles and updates, poker hand analysis, live and internet poker forums as well as sports and general discussion forums. My game has improved immensely since I joined the site, check it out blondepoker.com) and I looked up some past cash game threads. I read them and formulated a very basic strategy (something I did not have before). This new strategy of mine was based solely around position and not getting hung up on protecting my big blind. This was something that a few posts remarked was overrated and was silly to play a raised pot out of position.
I took this strategy of mine and plunked down at a $.25-$.50 cent table and bought in for $3o. This went on for a few rounds and I got very bored. Not due to the play of the table, but after playing four turbos, I was missing the other tables. So, I loaded up three more tables to see where it took me. I ended about an hour later up $90. My lowest table balance was $24 with the highest being $76. I was very pleased with this. I didnt know if this was a one off, so I played again today for two more sessions. The first I played for 45 minutes and ended up being up $62. The second session I just finished a few minutes ago and I was up another $71. Very happy.
I like the tables a lot as the players are not aggressive at all and I was just patient. I played tight for awhile and showed any big hands that people folded to my raises. After showing big hands, people labeled me a rock. Then I raised with suited connectors near the button played most of my buttons. Called a few raises in late position and reraised them on the flop. If they called I fired a second bullet on the turn and no one called. The tables I have played thus far have been weak and there is a noticeable difference between them and the next jump up to the $.50-$1 tables.
I am going to keep playing the cash for another few days and I may decide after that to try some more SnGs. Not sure right now. Just going to enjoy the little profit maker I am currently riding.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Update
OK.
Well I am taking a break from my goal of 500 turbos in a month. I cannot continue to play those games as I fear for my sanity. I truly do. Last night was the turning point.
I was the chipleader with four players left. With blinds at 300-600 I raise all in with A7. The shortest stack is in the BB and I wanetd to isolate him, and knew the others would fold to get in the money. But I was wrong. The 2nd in chips calls, no...instacalls, from the BUTTON! He didnt even have any chips in the pot. He flips over QJ suited. He called for all his chips on the bubble with QJ. He hit a jack and I was in the BB next hand with 500 behind. I did my best but the 2nd shortie woke up with aces and beat my A8s. I then asked why he called, and his response? 'I thought I was ahead'. He is behind any ace, any king, and any pair. He is not in the blinds and was in no way committed to the pot. I know that most times I will win that pot and coast through to first. But that isnt the point. My game is advancing but I am stuck playing the same players. I was not on tilt, but I was looking to prove to myself I could play at a higher level....Do you feel a bad bankroll management moment coming up? Me to.
I looked at the turbos page on stars (their new SnG filter which came last week is great) and I saw that a 55+5 turbo had eight players and was waiting for another player. Why, I'm another player! I quickly signed up before I could stop myself. One game to see how I stack up against players that normally play this level, and perhaps some that play it for their sole income. Well to make a long story short, I got second. The first hand of heads up I got it all in with A9 against his....A9. The board apparently got confused with this though, and wasn't sure how to do a split pot so it brought four hearts to make his Ace of hearts very important. Damnit. First place was $250 but my second place money of $150 was not too shabby at all.
Now does this mean I am going to start playing these tables? Hell no. I just wanted to have a one off where I took a stab at higher limits. Can I play with them, absolutely, would I go broke with my current roll, hell yes.
I was thinking about what levels to play and I may try some normals again. The turbos are good, but if I play anything higher than 6.50 I would feel uncomfortable playing more than one table. And if I am only playing one table, why play a turbo? I was looking at the two table SnG's and they look tempting. Big prize pool and you only have to double up once before the final table where it becomes a SnG. I like my chances. I may try one or two tonight and see how I get on. The fiancee may want some 'us' time tonight though and with CSI on tonight, who can blame her? Thus I may just play a few cash tables and see how I get on.
Until next time, good luck on the virtual felt.
Well I am taking a break from my goal of 500 turbos in a month. I cannot continue to play those games as I fear for my sanity. I truly do. Last night was the turning point.
I was the chipleader with four players left. With blinds at 300-600 I raise all in with A7. The shortest stack is in the BB and I wanetd to isolate him, and knew the others would fold to get in the money. But I was wrong. The 2nd in chips calls, no...instacalls, from the BUTTON! He didnt even have any chips in the pot. He flips over QJ suited. He called for all his chips on the bubble with QJ. He hit a jack and I was in the BB next hand with 500 behind. I did my best but the 2nd shortie woke up with aces and beat my A8s. I then asked why he called, and his response? 'I thought I was ahead'. He is behind any ace, any king, and any pair. He is not in the blinds and was in no way committed to the pot. I know that most times I will win that pot and coast through to first. But that isnt the point. My game is advancing but I am stuck playing the same players. I was not on tilt, but I was looking to prove to myself I could play at a higher level....Do you feel a bad bankroll management moment coming up? Me to.
I looked at the turbos page on stars (their new SnG filter which came last week is great) and I saw that a 55+5 turbo had eight players and was waiting for another player. Why, I'm another player! I quickly signed up before I could stop myself. One game to see how I stack up against players that normally play this level, and perhaps some that play it for their sole income. Well to make a long story short, I got second. The first hand of heads up I got it all in with A9 against his....A9. The board apparently got confused with this though, and wasn't sure how to do a split pot so it brought four hearts to make his Ace of hearts very important. Damnit. First place was $250 but my second place money of $150 was not too shabby at all.
Now does this mean I am going to start playing these tables? Hell no. I just wanted to have a one off where I took a stab at higher limits. Can I play with them, absolutely, would I go broke with my current roll, hell yes.
I was thinking about what levels to play and I may try some normals again. The turbos are good, but if I play anything higher than 6.50 I would feel uncomfortable playing more than one table. And if I am only playing one table, why play a turbo? I was looking at the two table SnG's and they look tempting. Big prize pool and you only have to double up once before the final table where it becomes a SnG. I like my chances. I may try one or two tonight and see how I get on. The fiancee may want some 'us' time tonight though and with CSI on tonight, who can blame her? Thus I may just play a few cash tables and see how I get on.
Until next time, good luck on the virtual felt.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Recent Play and Responses
Well I have stepped back from my game and gone over hand histories to see where I can change things for the better. One thing I noticed was that I was gambling too early towards too many players. Let me explain. For example I have AQs one off the button and there has been a min raise from early poistion. The blinds are 75-150. I was raising all in looking for a double up to early. I was risking my stack of say 2000, to win 575. A good idea yes, but risky. The button, SB BB or the early raiser could have a big hand or any pocket pair to which I am behind. I think it would be +ev to push A9+ 66+ KT+ QJ on the button when blinds are 200-400 four handed rather than early. I think I am a better player than atleast 90% of the players I play and I was giving them a 50-50 chance to beat me.
I have also tried to improve the way I play AQ and pocket pairs like 88, 99, TT. Instead of going all in preflop with AQ, I am trying to raise enough preflop that players are almost pot committed but not quite. Then if the flop looks harmless ie no K or J, push all in. I want to give him a reason to fold. This way I can win three ways. 1) he folds 2) he calls but I hit an ace or queen on the turn or river 3) he calls with AJ or AT. It is true that I am giving him a reason to fold, but he may well have hit his card on the turn or river if we were all in preflop. It is also true I am giving him a chance to draw out on me but I still have outs if he calls, and he may also put me on an overpair and fold.
As for pairs, I have done a lot of thinking and came up with something interesting. A pair is ahead of two overcards atleast 52-48% of the time. That is if the money goes all in preflop. However, take away the turn and river and the odds are much better. Lets say I have 99 and I raise enough not to make him pot committed but enough to make a push on the flop make sense. If the flop is a good one ie no AKQ, I push all in. I give him a reason to fold. I take away his turn and river outs. I know this is not perfect and I am still toying with it, but last night I played a set of four and had one wion and two thirds. Nothing outrageous but better than past results.
I dont have the numbers for yesterday in front of me, (I am at work during an off period) but I will post those tonight. I am hoping to play some tonight, so I may just add them together and post just before I go to bed.
Now for some overdue responses. Sorry for taking so long.
Thanks to cell1919 for reading my blog and dropping a comment. It is nice to know my poker ramblings are read by others.
Yorkshire Pudding, the reslolution is 1280 x 800 resolution and can easily, very easily, hold 4 tables of stars. However, I do not believe a Mac supports Poker Tracker or Poker Ace Hud as of yet, although with all the articles I have read recently about Macs and poker, I can see them being Mac-friendly in the future.
Dale, thanks for the links about ICM and flopturnriver.com. I know my swing will change. just cant wait till it does.
I have also tried to improve the way I play AQ and pocket pairs like 88, 99, TT. Instead of going all in preflop with AQ, I am trying to raise enough preflop that players are almost pot committed but not quite. Then if the flop looks harmless ie no K or J, push all in. I want to give him a reason to fold. This way I can win three ways. 1) he folds 2) he calls but I hit an ace or queen on the turn or river 3) he calls with AJ or AT. It is true that I am giving him a reason to fold, but he may well have hit his card on the turn or river if we were all in preflop. It is also true I am giving him a chance to draw out on me but I still have outs if he calls, and he may also put me on an overpair and fold.
As for pairs, I have done a lot of thinking and came up with something interesting. A pair is ahead of two overcards atleast 52-48% of the time. That is if the money goes all in preflop. However, take away the turn and river and the odds are much better. Lets say I have 99 and I raise enough not to make him pot committed but enough to make a push on the flop make sense. If the flop is a good one ie no AKQ, I push all in. I give him a reason to fold. I take away his turn and river outs. I know this is not perfect and I am still toying with it, but last night I played a set of four and had one wion and two thirds. Nothing outrageous but better than past results.
I dont have the numbers for yesterday in front of me, (I am at work during an off period) but I will post those tonight. I am hoping to play some tonight, so I may just add them together and post just before I go to bed.
Now for some overdue responses. Sorry for taking so long.
Thanks to cell1919 for reading my blog and dropping a comment. It is nice to know my poker ramblings are read by others.
Yorkshire Pudding, the reslolution is 1280 x 800 resolution and can easily, very easily, hold 4 tables of stars. However, I do not believe a Mac supports Poker Tracker or Poker Ace Hud as of yet, although with all the articles I have read recently about Macs and poker, I can see them being Mac-friendly in the future.
Dale, thanks for the links about ICM and flopturnriver.com. I know my swing will change. just cant wait till it does.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
What is Going on?
Last night I played a bunch of SnG's; 19 to be precise. I basically broke even.
Today I have played some more; 25 to be precise. I basically broke even.
I dont know what is going on. The games I was destroying are suddenly very difficult for me to win. I dont understand it. I know that I am getting more bad beats then usual, but it is more than that. I cannot count the number of bubbles the last two days.
Unreal.
Whatever, enough talking, on to the numbers. Oh, and I am combining the two days as I tallied them together rather than separate.
SnG's played 44 (134 to date)
1sts - 7 (31 total)
2nd - 3 (9 total)
3rd - 5 (14 total)
Out of Money - 29 (80 total)
Profit Today - $5.60 ($264.60 to date)
Yes...all that playing for $5.60. Unbelievable.
Today I have played some more; 25 to be precise. I basically broke even.
I dont know what is going on. The games I was destroying are suddenly very difficult for me to win. I dont understand it. I know that I am getting more bad beats then usual, but it is more than that. I cannot count the number of bubbles the last two days.
Unreal.
Whatever, enough talking, on to the numbers. Oh, and I am combining the two days as I tallied them together rather than separate.
SnG's played 44 (134 to date)
1sts - 7 (31 total)
2nd - 3 (9 total)
3rd - 5 (14 total)
Out of Money - 29 (80 total)
Profit Today - $5.60 ($264.60 to date)
Yes...all that playing for $5.60. Unbelievable.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
I Had to Open My Big Mouth
Yes, it is official. I am an ass. I opended my big mouth and talked of how well I was playing and that I expected to win each time I sit down blah blah blah.....ass.
Yesterday I sat down and played a set of four which went well. One first place and after blowing a 12,000-1,500 chip lead heads up a second place. I should have stopped there. The heads up match that I lost was the last of the set and it was an omen. The guy outdrew me six times to win. Six times! The last one being my A7 v his QT on a A52 board. He went all in and runner runner T T he wins. I should have got up and walked away. But no, of course I didn't. I played another thirteen 6.50 turbos and had a whopping one second place to show for it. Yes, thirteen games played, one cash. At one point during my third set I was all in with AA v 88, KK v AK and AK v K8 within twenty seconds of each other. I lost each one. 88 hit quads, the AK hit a straight, and K8 hit four to a flush. Unreal.
I have decided that tonight will be pokerless. I am going to go for a run after work, something I have not done in awhile, and something that when I did was great for clearing my head. After that, I am going to sit down with the fiancee and watch a dvd, oblivious to anything in the poker world. No poker sites, no poker forums, and no poker books. Pokerless.
PS That being said, I am going to make up for a pokerless evening tomorrow night when the fiancee is going to dinner with friends. I am aiming for 20-24 SnG's so I could use the break tonight.
Ok fine...urggggh
Here are the (disgusting) stats
SnG's played today - 17 (90 to date)
1sts - 1 (24 total)
2nd - 2 (6 total)
3rd - 0 (9 total)
Out of Money - 14 (51 total)
Profit Today - -$49.90 ($259 to date)
Yesterday I sat down and played a set of four which went well. One first place and after blowing a 12,000-1,500 chip lead heads up a second place. I should have stopped there. The heads up match that I lost was the last of the set and it was an omen. The guy outdrew me six times to win. Six times! The last one being my A7 v his QT on a A52 board. He went all in and runner runner T T he wins. I should have got up and walked away. But no, of course I didn't. I played another thirteen 6.50 turbos and had a whopping one second place to show for it. Yes, thirteen games played, one cash. At one point during my third set I was all in with AA v 88, KK v AK and AK v K8 within twenty seconds of each other. I lost each one. 88 hit quads, the AK hit a straight, and K8 hit four to a flush. Unreal.
I have decided that tonight will be pokerless. I am going to go for a run after work, something I have not done in awhile, and something that when I did was great for clearing my head. After that, I am going to sit down with the fiancee and watch a dvd, oblivious to anything in the poker world. No poker sites, no poker forums, and no poker books. Pokerless.
PS That being said, I am going to make up for a pokerless evening tomorrow night when the fiancee is going to dinner with friends. I am aiming for 20-24 SnG's so I could use the break tonight.
Ok fine...urggggh
Here are the (disgusting) stats
SnG's played today - 17 (90 to date)
1sts - 1 (24 total)
2nd - 2 (6 total)
3rd - 0 (9 total)
Out of Money - 14 (51 total)
Profit Today - -$49.90 ($259 to date)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Big News From Pokerstars!
I emailed stars last night with a question I expected to be rebuffed with. It went something like this.
Hi,
I recently bought a Mac due to being sick of viruses spyware etc with windows. I was hoping that pokerstars would release a mac user friendly stars program so I dont have to load windows on the machine. I currently play on my fiancee's laptop, but my Mac has better resolution so I would much rather play there.
Thanks
Knighstridge
Well under twenty minutes later I received an email saying that pokerstars is currently testing new software which can be run on a Mac and if I was interested, would I like to help with the testing by playing play money tables on my Mac and report my findings, problems, etc.
How good is that? I replied of course saying I was very interested and the guy forwarded my email to the software department. I didnt get a reply last night, but I am hoping for one today.
If stars came out with Mac friendly software it would be incredible. No need to install Windows on my machine and with my resolution being better than my fiancee's I could have the tables larger than I do currently. Fantastic!
Hi,
I recently bought a Mac due to being sick of viruses spyware etc with windows. I was hoping that pokerstars would release a mac user friendly stars program so I dont have to load windows on the machine. I currently play on my fiancee's laptop, but my Mac has better resolution so I would much rather play there.
Thanks
Knighstridge
Well under twenty minutes later I received an email saying that pokerstars is currently testing new software which can be run on a Mac and if I was interested, would I like to help with the testing by playing play money tables on my Mac and report my findings, problems, etc.
How good is that? I replied of course saying I was very interested and the guy forwarded my email to the software department. I didnt get a reply last night, but I am hoping for one today.
If stars came out with Mac friendly software it would be incredible. No need to install Windows on my machine and with my resolution being better than my fiancee's I could have the tables larger than I do currently. Fantastic!
I'll Take It
Played last night and I thought I did pretty well. My idea of playing five tables though did not come to be. As I was on my way home from work I realised something very important. When I four table, one first place of those four games makes me a very small profit. That fact is very important, and one I forgot yesterday when I posted. If I lose three games of a set, I buckle down for the fourth and concentrate fully on 'not going into the red'. If I five table, I need a win and then some. I dont want to ruin what I have going for the sake of one extra game.
I played two sets of four, and that took over an hour and a half. If I am to play 500 SnG's in one month I need to do better than that. Either I play much more, or my goal will be stretched to one and a half months. That being said, I do not want to play foolishly (when I am tired, on a bad streak, more than four tables in one set) to achieve my goal of 500 in one month, but lose money in the process. Money is the main goal and I am not going to lose sight of that.
SnG's played today - 8 (73 to date)
1sts - 3 (23 total)
2nd - 0 (4 total)
3rd - 2 (9 total)
Out of Money - 3 (37 total)
Profit Today - $51.00 ($308.90 to date)
I am currently running very well with an ROI (return on investment) of just over 65%. ( ROI can be figured out by my profit divided by my buy in amount or 308.90(profit) divided by 474.50 (my buyins, which is 6.50 x 73))
I asked a few players who track their stats religiously and they have all assured me that this ROI will be impossible to sustain over a larger number of games and that at some point variance will rear its ugly head. (They say that an ROI around 15-20% is very good) I realise that at some point a losing day is going to happen, but I feel extremely confident when I sit down at the computer and I really do expect to win. I am curious to see how long I can go for at my current pace. Hopefully, a long time.
I played two sets of four, and that took over an hour and a half. If I am to play 500 SnG's in one month I need to do better than that. Either I play much more, or my goal will be stretched to one and a half months. That being said, I do not want to play foolishly (when I am tired, on a bad streak, more than four tables in one set) to achieve my goal of 500 in one month, but lose money in the process. Money is the main goal and I am not going to lose sight of that.
SnG's played today - 8 (73 to date)
1sts - 3 (23 total)
2nd - 0 (4 total)
3rd - 2 (9 total)
Out of Money - 3 (37 total)
Profit Today - $51.00 ($308.90 to date)
I am currently running very well with an ROI (return on investment) of just over 65%. ( ROI can be figured out by my profit divided by my buy in amount or 308.90(profit) divided by 474.50 (my buyins, which is 6.50 x 73))
I asked a few players who track their stats religiously and they have all assured me that this ROI will be impossible to sustain over a larger number of games and that at some point variance will rear its ugly head. (They say that an ROI around 15-20% is very good) I realise that at some point a losing day is going to happen, but I feel extremely confident when I sit down at the computer and I really do expect to win. I am curious to see how long I can go for at my current pace. Hopefully, a long time.
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