Yeeeeah, I know, it's been a while and the posts are starting to become more and more spread out. I think I've only played 7 or 8 SNG's this entire month as well, and just one $24+2 MTT where I went on the worst tear of hole cards when it mattered the most. Right around the bubble I swear I had 30 hands in a row that looked like the following: 72o, 93o, 84s, T2o, 85o, 72s, 32o, 43s, 52s, J2o, etc...
Anyways, the primary reason for my sporadic posts and play has been due to things going on at work. I swear I put a solid 80 hours in last week, and that includes Saturday and Sunday. Of course this past weekend was nice and long with Memorial Day in there, so I had myself a little mini-vacation. Normally on a weekend like this I'd get a fair amount of pokering in, however for the past month or so I've been seeing a wonderful little lady and had quite a bit of romancing to do instead. Now I certainly don't mind the break from poker given the alternative, bit I have missed the occasional Saturday afternoon SNG that's now been replaced by little day dates in a few instances. All-in-all it's just been more difficult to squeeze in the serious amount of bankroll-building that I'd like to.
There is good news though. First of all, I have 2 more weeks of work and then I'll have a much more flexible summer schedule (yes... I'm in education, and summer vacation is friggin awesome!). Secondly, the lass is aware of my mild poker addiction, and has no problem with it. We even played a few heads-up hands once... though that didn't work out too well since it's largely a lose-lose situation for guys... you win and she's going to be pissed, but if you let her win she catches on and will still be pissed. Especially when your lady friend is tight-passive but will call down your King-high attempts to give her chips with Jack-high. Lesson learned - just don't mix poker and the misses. I still blame her though since she's the one that initially brought it up.
Alright well I must get going for now. I do have the evening free to myself and hope to get a few SNG's in. We'll see if anything post-worthy plays out...
Friday, May 30, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Atlantic City Poker Trip Report
Wow... first of all, it's been a while. Almost a month actually. Things have been pretty crazy, and I actually hadn't even had time to play since my last post until this weekend... when I took off for Atlantic City for my good friend's bachelor party. It wasn't a poker-related trip per say, but I did manage to squeeze in some action and dip my virgin feet into live casino poker.
After grabbing dinner with the group and perusing the boardwalk for a bit we ducked into Caesars (stayed at the Trump Plaza - no poker room) to check out the Casino. Most of the guys went for blackjack, but I went to find the poker room, and one particularly drunk college buddy of my friend decided to come along. We only had an hour or so to look around and then we were going to head elsewhere, so I decided it wouldn't be the best spot to play given the timing and the simple fact that I didn't want this poor drunk sap throwing his money away or vomiting all over the table. As tempting as it was, and not knowing what the rest of the night was going to bring, I just decided to hold off for the time being.
Later that night we wandered down to the Tropicana, where it seemed all the Villanova greek kids were having their graduation shenanigans or something. Basically it was a rampage of frat tools and sorostitute clones that were seemingly taking over the joint. I managed to make it to the poker room around midnight, where I got a quick seat at a new $1/2 NL table, picked up $200 from the cashier nearby, and sat down in my first ever casino poker game. I found myself surprisingly comfortable, though I kept quiet and just observed as much as I could while throwing away a bunch of early crap.
The table turned out to be wild as anything, and even the apparent regulars in my corner seemed in shock over how a number of players that came and went at the table were playing. My personal favorite was the guy that had his head down on the table as if sleeping, then when tapped by the dealer, woke up real quick, looked at his hand without observing the action before him, and pushed all-in. An early position player had opened for $10, and he came over the top with about $110 more. THEN... (yes there's more) the original raiser thinks about it a little, and makes a relatively quick call with AJ-suited. The drowsy all-in player had pocket 7's, the AJ LAG hit a Jack on the river and took it down. Myself and the few decent players that seemed to be down near my end of the table just kept getting more and more wide-eyed as the night went on, as we saw other players making big calls on the flop with hands like Queen-high (QTo on a 7-3-4 flop), 3rd pair (49o, on a flop of J-K-4), and all sorts of other crap going to showdown. Of course, as my luck would have it, I could barely catch a playable hand in a position I wanted it in all night to rake in some of these crazy pots that were being played. I think I took down one medium pot over the course of 2-3 hours or so, made one bad call on an obvious rivered flush that caught my flopped top-two, and finished the session down $30. There was one hand I would have likely made a killing on, and it went a little something like this...
Complete donk in early position grabs a random stack of whites and throws them in, not even knowing or seemingly caring how much it was (he'd done this at least 2-3 times before). I think the raise was somewhere in the range of $12-15. Cutoff player to my right reraises to $36. I'm on the button with KQo, and I had checked my cards right before the cutoff reraised and was planning on making a call, as I definitely wanted to play a hand with the original raiser, and in position to boot. Once the reraise is thrown in by the relatively solid cutoff, I decide to just wait for a better spot and muck my mediocre hand. So everyone else folds, the original raiser calls, and wouldn't ya know the flop comes K-K-Q (#&$%@#&@!!!!!!!). And of course wouldn't you know that the action only builds, with the cutoff putting in big bet after big bet only to be called by the donk. Believe it or not the hand goes to showdown, and on a board of K-K-Q-8-x, the cutoff player turns over Q4-suited!!! And the original raiser turns over 87-offsuit!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! If I could've just sat in the middle of those two and put some calls in that would've easily been a $250-300 pot, though I realize it probably would've played out differently.
Anyways, that was Saturday... err... Sunday morning. Then after I managed to track down all elements of the drunken bachelor party group, we headed back to the Trump Plaza, got to bed around 5, and woke up around 8:30 thanks to the beautiful Atlantic City sunlight coming through our window. I had been awoken a few times during the night by some loud-ass snoring, someone's cell phone going off, and my good friend (the groom actually) going back and forth to the toilet. Still I felt relatively awake for having gotten such shoddy sleep, and decided to shower and head out since no one else was anywhere near looking awake.
This time I hit up Caesars right nextdoor, which was pretty much vacant compared to Saturday. At 9:30 AM on a Sunday morning there were a few, maybe 4-5, tables going in the poker room, and I sat down at the $1/2 NL again. I only sat there for about an hour or so, but managed to take down a few nice pots with a set of 7's, a big AKs re-raised from the BB hand, and I think there might have been another small one or two, but that was about it. I had to get back to the hotel though for checkout, so I cashed out $257 and took my small profit on home.
All-in-all a fun trip for both poker and bachelor party shenanigans, though I'm not sure how much time I could spend in Atlantic City before I start to feel like I'm developing some sort of salty film all over my skin and showing signs of lung cancer just from watching so many people chain smoke all over the place. Still, I would like to go back sometime and try some of the other casinos and get some longer sessions in. The worst part of it all was sitting at that juicy Tropicana table and getting jack squat to work with, but that... after all... is poker, whether it's at a casino or online. For the time being though I'm just looking forward to getting back into the online action once again, and not having to worry about throwing in an extra buck or two for tip every time you win a pot.
More updates coming soon... I promise. Until then, best of luck.
After grabbing dinner with the group and perusing the boardwalk for a bit we ducked into Caesars (stayed at the Trump Plaza - no poker room) to check out the Casino. Most of the guys went for blackjack, but I went to find the poker room, and one particularly drunk college buddy of my friend decided to come along. We only had an hour or so to look around and then we were going to head elsewhere, so I decided it wouldn't be the best spot to play given the timing and the simple fact that I didn't want this poor drunk sap throwing his money away or vomiting all over the table. As tempting as it was, and not knowing what the rest of the night was going to bring, I just decided to hold off for the time being.
Later that night we wandered down to the Tropicana, where it seemed all the Villanova greek kids were having their graduation shenanigans or something. Basically it was a rampage of frat tools and sorostitute clones that were seemingly taking over the joint. I managed to make it to the poker room around midnight, where I got a quick seat at a new $1/2 NL table, picked up $200 from the cashier nearby, and sat down in my first ever casino poker game. I found myself surprisingly comfortable, though I kept quiet and just observed as much as I could while throwing away a bunch of early crap.
The table turned out to be wild as anything, and even the apparent regulars in my corner seemed in shock over how a number of players that came and went at the table were playing. My personal favorite was the guy that had his head down on the table as if sleeping, then when tapped by the dealer, woke up real quick, looked at his hand without observing the action before him, and pushed all-in. An early position player had opened for $10, and he came over the top with about $110 more. THEN... (yes there's more) the original raiser thinks about it a little, and makes a relatively quick call with AJ-suited. The drowsy all-in player had pocket 7's, the AJ LAG hit a Jack on the river and took it down. Myself and the few decent players that seemed to be down near my end of the table just kept getting more and more wide-eyed as the night went on, as we saw other players making big calls on the flop with hands like Queen-high (QTo on a 7-3-4 flop), 3rd pair (49o, on a flop of J-K-4), and all sorts of other crap going to showdown. Of course, as my luck would have it, I could barely catch a playable hand in a position I wanted it in all night to rake in some of these crazy pots that were being played. I think I took down one medium pot over the course of 2-3 hours or so, made one bad call on an obvious rivered flush that caught my flopped top-two, and finished the session down $30. There was one hand I would have likely made a killing on, and it went a little something like this...
Complete donk in early position grabs a random stack of whites and throws them in, not even knowing or seemingly caring how much it was (he'd done this at least 2-3 times before). I think the raise was somewhere in the range of $12-15. Cutoff player to my right reraises to $36. I'm on the button with KQo, and I had checked my cards right before the cutoff reraised and was planning on making a call, as I definitely wanted to play a hand with the original raiser, and in position to boot. Once the reraise is thrown in by the relatively solid cutoff, I decide to just wait for a better spot and muck my mediocre hand. So everyone else folds, the original raiser calls, and wouldn't ya know the flop comes K-K-Q (#&$%@#&@!!!!!!!). And of course wouldn't you know that the action only builds, with the cutoff putting in big bet after big bet only to be called by the donk. Believe it or not the hand goes to showdown, and on a board of K-K-Q-8-x, the cutoff player turns over Q4-suited!!! And the original raiser turns over 87-offsuit!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! If I could've just sat in the middle of those two and put some calls in that would've easily been a $250-300 pot, though I realize it probably would've played out differently.
Anyways, that was Saturday... err... Sunday morning. Then after I managed to track down all elements of the drunken bachelor party group, we headed back to the Trump Plaza, got to bed around 5, and woke up around 8:30 thanks to the beautiful Atlantic City sunlight coming through our window. I had been awoken a few times during the night by some loud-ass snoring, someone's cell phone going off, and my good friend (the groom actually) going back and forth to the toilet. Still I felt relatively awake for having gotten such shoddy sleep, and decided to shower and head out since no one else was anywhere near looking awake.
This time I hit up Caesars right nextdoor, which was pretty much vacant compared to Saturday. At 9:30 AM on a Sunday morning there were a few, maybe 4-5, tables going in the poker room, and I sat down at the $1/2 NL again. I only sat there for about an hour or so, but managed to take down a few nice pots with a set of 7's, a big AKs re-raised from the BB hand, and I think there might have been another small one or two, but that was about it. I had to get back to the hotel though for checkout, so I cashed out $257 and took my small profit on home.
All-in-all a fun trip for both poker and bachelor party shenanigans, though I'm not sure how much time I could spend in Atlantic City before I start to feel like I'm developing some sort of salty film all over my skin and showing signs of lung cancer just from watching so many people chain smoke all over the place. Still, I would like to go back sometime and try some of the other casinos and get some longer sessions in. The worst part of it all was sitting at that juicy Tropicana table and getting jack squat to work with, but that... after all... is poker, whether it's at a casino or online. For the time being though I'm just looking forward to getting back into the online action once again, and not having to worry about throwing in an extra buck or two for tip every time you win a pot.
More updates coming soon... I promise. Until then, best of luck.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
So Close Yet Again (HA)
Two nights ago I managed a 4th place finish in one of these fun little 90-player $5 SNG's on FTP that I'm trying to just win one of after the previously blogged-about numerous but non-winning top finishes in them. Well I plugged in for another go-round this afternoon and just busted out in 3rd this time (my 4th time finishing 3rd in probably 2-3 dozen of these) after barely staying afloat for the first 2-3 hours of the tournament and somehow managing to not only scrap back, but build a giant lead at the final table. I was running well later on with a combination of good cards and good moves based on good reads, and even picked up pocket Aces 3 times in the first 16 hands, including in two back-to-back hands. Still I only managed to get a little action on one of them, and gobbled up more chips in well-timed raises and in picking up little pots from the blinds. There was one major hand that drastically changed things, and I'm not sure I would've played it differently given the SB's aggressive tendencies here...
Full Tilt Poker, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 1,200/2,400 Blinds, 300 Ante, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BB: 21,052
UTG: 21,062
MP: 24,960
CO: 19,542
Hero (BTN): 138,672
SB: 44,712
Pre-Flop: (5,400) Ks As dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to 7,200, SB raises to 44,412 and is All-In, BB folds, Hero calls 37,212
Flop: (93,024) Th 6s Qh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (93,024) 3h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (93,024) 4d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 93,024 Pot
Hero showed Ks As (Ace King high) and LOST (-44,712 NET)
SB showed 9h 9s (a pair of Nines) and WON 93,024 (+48,312 NET)
This put me in a much tighter spot for playing preflop, as my positional advantage would now be in jeopardy almost every time I put my chips in the pot. Plus the cards started running cold for a little while then, and I lost a lot of good opportunities to knock out some of the microscopic stacks still remaining. Another two players were knocked out, and it was down to four when the final hand finally came around...
Full Tilt Poker, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 1,500/3,000 Blinds, 400 Ante, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BB: 15,404
UTG: 19,516
Hero (BTN): 88,260
SB: 146,820
Pre-Flop: (6,100) Ac Js dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG raises to 19,116 and is All-In, Hero calls 19,116, SB calls 17,616, BB folds
Flop: (61,948) Jh 2h 3d (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
SB checks, Hero bets 68,744 and is All-In, SB calls 68,744
Turn: (199,436) 3h (3 Players - 2 are All-In)
River: (199,436) 8d (3 Players - 2 are All-In)
Results: 199,436 Pot
UTG showed 9h 9d (two pair, Nines and Threes) and LOST (-19,516 NET)
Hero showed Ac Js (two pair, Jacks and Threes) and LOST (-88,260 NET)
SB showed Ah Qh (a flush, Ace high) and WON 199,436 (+111,176 NET)
So I was behind before the flop, but given that the UTG player was pushing just about every other hand, I'm taking my chances and trying to add a little to my stack. I'm not happy about the SB's call, though it could be just about anything with his range, so I don't see myself getting away after the flop. His call wasn't bad really, I'm just wondering why he didn't push. I might have gotten away then and just waited for a better spot. Hey Zeus those flush draws kill me... maybe I should've just tried to play nice and check it down.
Oh well, can't really argue with going 2/2 in making final tables this weekend. Still in the hunt for that #1 finish though. Maybe next weekend.
Best of luck. - B.
Full Tilt Poker, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 1,200/2,400 Blinds, 300 Ante, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BB: 21,052
UTG: 21,062
MP: 24,960
CO: 19,542
Hero (BTN): 138,672
SB: 44,712
Pre-Flop: (5,400) Ks As dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to 7,200, SB raises to 44,412 and is All-In, BB folds, Hero calls 37,212
Flop: (93,024) Th 6s Qh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (93,024) 3h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (93,024) 4d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 93,024 Pot
Hero showed Ks As (Ace King high) and LOST (-44,712 NET)
SB showed 9h 9s (a pair of Nines) and WON 93,024 (+48,312 NET)
This put me in a much tighter spot for playing preflop, as my positional advantage would now be in jeopardy almost every time I put my chips in the pot. Plus the cards started running cold for a little while then, and I lost a lot of good opportunities to knock out some of the microscopic stacks still remaining. Another two players were knocked out, and it was down to four when the final hand finally came around...
Full Tilt Poker, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 1,500/3,000 Blinds, 400 Ante, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BB: 15,404
UTG: 19,516
Hero (BTN): 88,260
SB: 146,820
Pre-Flop: (6,100) Ac Js dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG raises to 19,116 and is All-In, Hero calls 19,116, SB calls 17,616, BB folds
Flop: (61,948) Jh 2h 3d (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
SB checks, Hero bets 68,744 and is All-In, SB calls 68,744
Turn: (199,436) 3h (3 Players - 2 are All-In)
River: (199,436) 8d (3 Players - 2 are All-In)
Results: 199,436 Pot
UTG showed 9h 9d (two pair, Nines and Threes) and LOST (-19,516 NET)
Hero showed Ac Js (two pair, Jacks and Threes) and LOST (-88,260 NET)
SB showed Ah Qh (a flush, Ace high) and WON 199,436 (+111,176 NET)
So I was behind before the flop, but given that the UTG player was pushing just about every other hand, I'm taking my chances and trying to add a little to my stack. I'm not happy about the SB's call, though it could be just about anything with his range, so I don't see myself getting away after the flop. His call wasn't bad really, I'm just wondering why he didn't push. I might have gotten away then and just waited for a better spot. Hey Zeus those flush draws kill me... maybe I should've just tried to play nice and check it down.
Oh well, can't really argue with going 2/2 in making final tables this weekend. Still in the hunt for that #1 finish though. Maybe next weekend.
Best of luck. - B.
Friday, April 11, 2008
90-Seater Cash / Atlantic City
So I think I mentioned how one of my goals for the next month or two is to win one of the 90-player SNG's ($5 ones on FTP). Coming into this I had played maybe 15-20 total so far and managed to have a number of top 3 finishes plus a few other cashes, but no complete victories. Well I gave it a shot tonight for the first time in about half a year and managed to finish 4th... which was decent considering the relatively cold end of the deck that I was being dealt. Things were pretty slow for the majority of the tournament, and not many extraordinary hands really. My bust out was just a simple short-stack move for the blinds running in to a better hand. I might have time for another go-round this weekend, but probably not... just too much other stuff going on.
In other news it looks like I very well may be going to Atlantic City in about a month. The trip is mainly for a bachelor party for a friend of mine that's getting married in June, but I'd expect we'd spend a fair amount of our time playing poker. I'm probably the biggest card player of the bunch, so I don't want to force everyone else to spend the entire weekend at the casinos... but really... what else is there to do? Seriously... I've actually never been there before so I'm not sure what to expect. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
In other news it looks like I very well may be going to Atlantic City in about a month. The trip is mainly for a bachelor party for a friend of mine that's getting married in June, but I'd expect we'd spend a fair amount of our time playing poker. I'm probably the biggest card player of the bunch, so I don't want to force everyone else to spend the entire weekend at the casinos... but really... what else is there to do? Seriously... I've actually never been there before so I'm not sure what to expect. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Bad Move or Good Sandwich Raise? (HA)
So I got lampooned for this one today. It was early on and the table had been very loose-passive preflop and a bit wild post-flop. Here's how it went down:
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
UTG: 2,130
UTG+1: 1,770
MP1: 780
MP2: 1,380
CO: 1,860
Hero (BTN): 1,270
SB: 1,400
BB: 2,910
Pre-Flop: (60) Js Ks dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG calls 40, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls 40, MP2 folds, CO calls 40, Hero calls 40, SB calls 20, BB checks
Flop: (240) 7s Ah Qs (6 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets 200, MP1 folds, CO calls 200, Hero raises to 800, SB folds, BB calls 800, UTG raises to 2,090 and is All-In, CO folds, Hero calls 430 and is All-In, BB calls 1,290
Turn: (5,850) Tc (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (5,850) 6d (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 5,850 Pot
UTG showed 7d 7c (three of a kind, Sevens) and WON 1,720 (-410 NET)
Hero showed Js Ks (a straight, Ace high) and WON 4,130 (+2,860 NET)
BB showed Jc Th (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-2,130 NET)
Pocket 7's was probably the only hand I was really worried about here, and I figured I could get some mediocre Aces to fold, and if I met resistence I would be committed to call, but wouldn't mind doing so, potentially having 12 outs. The funny thing though, was that the UTG guy went off on me afterwards saying "lucky bastard" and "what a stupid call." What a stupid call??? I had to put 430 more in to a pot of over 4,000!!! Even if I was certain that you had a set I would have the correct odds to call. Not only that, but what about the guy in the BB that called a bet and a strong raise with an inside straight draw? If anyone made a stupid call it was that guy.
I didn't think much of his insults, as to me it was a move worth making, and I had no choice but to get the rest of my chips in there. Maybe a little risky to raise, but I'm certainly not folding in that spot and I prefer the aggressive method over just calling since my stack could use a little help if I want to cash in this thing. Sure I got a little lucky to win the hand, but it also set me up great to take the guy out a little bit later when he was still tilting (see hand below), and I went on the win the thing.
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
UTG: 1,820
MP: 2,205
CO: 2,040
BTN: 2,065
Hero (SB): 4,100
BB: 1,270
Pre-Flop: (75) Ac As dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG raises to 100, MP calls 100, 2 folds, Hero raises to 400, BB folds, UTG raises to 1,820 and is All-In, MP folds, Hero calls 1,420
Flop: (3,790) Td 9c 5d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (3,790) 7c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,790) Ks (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 3,790 Pot
UTG showed 8c 8d (a pair of Eights) and LOST (-1,820 NET)
Hero showed Ac As (a pair of Aces) and WON 3,790 (+1,970 NET)
He made a nice little "worst player ever" comment on his way out, which really didn't bother me since I was taking his chips as a 4-1 favorite.
Oh and by the way, Full Tilt seems to be fully functional once again. Not sure what the problem was last night but it's back in action and traffic appears to be normal.
Hope to see you there. - B
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
UTG: 2,130
UTG+1: 1,770
MP1: 780
MP2: 1,380
CO: 1,860
Hero (BTN): 1,270
SB: 1,400
BB: 2,910
Pre-Flop: (60) Js Ks dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG calls 40, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls 40, MP2 folds, CO calls 40, Hero calls 40, SB calls 20, BB checks
Flop: (240) 7s Ah Qs (6 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets 200, MP1 folds, CO calls 200, Hero raises to 800, SB folds, BB calls 800, UTG raises to 2,090 and is All-In, CO folds, Hero calls 430 and is All-In, BB calls 1,290
Turn: (5,850) Tc (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (5,850) 6d (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 5,850 Pot
UTG showed 7d 7c (three of a kind, Sevens) and WON 1,720 (-410 NET)
Hero showed Js Ks (a straight, Ace high) and WON 4,130 (+2,860 NET)
BB showed Jc Th (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-2,130 NET)
Pocket 7's was probably the only hand I was really worried about here, and I figured I could get some mediocre Aces to fold, and if I met resistence I would be committed to call, but wouldn't mind doing so, potentially having 12 outs. The funny thing though, was that the UTG guy went off on me afterwards saying "lucky bastard" and "what a stupid call." What a stupid call??? I had to put 430 more in to a pot of over 4,000!!! Even if I was certain that you had a set I would have the correct odds to call. Not only that, but what about the guy in the BB that called a bet and a strong raise with an inside straight draw? If anyone made a stupid call it was that guy.
I didn't think much of his insults, as to me it was a move worth making, and I had no choice but to get the rest of my chips in there. Maybe a little risky to raise, but I'm certainly not folding in that spot and I prefer the aggressive method over just calling since my stack could use a little help if I want to cash in this thing. Sure I got a little lucky to win the hand, but it also set me up great to take the guy out a little bit later when he was still tilting (see hand below), and I went on the win the thing.
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
UTG: 1,820
MP: 2,205
CO: 2,040
BTN: 2,065
Hero (SB): 4,100
BB: 1,270
Pre-Flop: (75) Ac As dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG raises to 100, MP calls 100, 2 folds, Hero raises to 400, BB folds, UTG raises to 1,820 and is All-In, MP folds, Hero calls 1,420
Flop: (3,790) Td 9c 5d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (3,790) 7c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,790) Ks (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 3,790 Pot
UTG showed 8c 8d (a pair of Eights) and LOST (-1,820 NET)
Hero showed Ac As (a pair of Aces) and WON 3,790 (+1,970 NET)
He made a nice little "worst player ever" comment on his way out, which really didn't bother me since I was taking his chips as a 4-1 favorite.
Oh and by the way, Full Tilt seems to be fully functional once again. Not sure what the problem was last night but it's back in action and traffic appears to be normal.
Hope to see you there. - B
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Full Tilt Server Crash
Go figure that when I finally have a little free time to chill and play a little tournament or two I can't make a connection with my favorite online poker site. At first I had no clue if it was just my connection or what, of course then I check their website and see the "technical difficulties" message, as well as a nice long thread on their forum about things being down for a few hours.
Maybe it was for the best though, as I used the time to finish up my latest hand history project. This one should be familiar from that fun Tier Three bustout I was talking about a week or two ago. Which one you ask? No, not the one where my straight on the turn lost to two pair that rivered the full house (not that bad of a suckout given that it was all-in preflop, just gut-wrenching to bubble in such a manner), I'm talking about the JJ vs. 55 where I lost to a runner-runner straight. Yeah that little diddy. The game still provided what I thought were some interesting hands, so I put the thing up with full synopsis and thought process as usual. Check it...
Complete Hand History - $69+6 Tier Three SNG (8/9)
Other than the usual pokering and site-building, things have been pretty busy. Actually there really hasn't been much pokering and site-building at all lately. Just other work-related things and attempts to catch up on sleep. I'm also kinda looking at real estate in different areas and putting some thought into what my ideal living area is. Maryland is cool and all, but I don't know if I'd like to be here in the long run. The weather just isn't my favorite and the cost of living around here is ridiculous. North Carolina is looking pretty nice, and you can get a ridiculous amount of house for dirt cheap. Everyone I know has only good things to say about the state, and it's not too far from home either. Anyways, something to think about for the near future.
One last thing. I'm trying to put a private freeroll or two together on Full Tilt (if it comes back up one of these days) - probably on a Sunday afternoon or something. I'm going to do one for some friends of mine but will start offering other ones for anyone that's interested. It's all part of the promotion I'm doing at ZipRake, so if a free $25 to play with plus access to these private freerolls sounds like your kind of offer, then go ahead and sign up below. Make sure you do the TeamZR signup too - that's where all the tournament passwords and goodies will be secured.
Free $25 and Private Freerolls at Full Tilt Poker
TeamZR Sign-up
Time to give Full Tilt one more try... hmmm, nope. This is not like them. Oh well. Time to read some more Harrington Vol II then.
Maybe it was for the best though, as I used the time to finish up my latest hand history project. This one should be familiar from that fun Tier Three bustout I was talking about a week or two ago. Which one you ask? No, not the one where my straight on the turn lost to two pair that rivered the full house (not that bad of a suckout given that it was all-in preflop, just gut-wrenching to bubble in such a manner), I'm talking about the JJ vs. 55 where I lost to a runner-runner straight. Yeah that little diddy. The game still provided what I thought were some interesting hands, so I put the thing up with full synopsis and thought process as usual. Check it...
Complete Hand History - $69+6 Tier Three SNG (8/9)
Other than the usual pokering and site-building, things have been pretty busy. Actually there really hasn't been much pokering and site-building at all lately. Just other work-related things and attempts to catch up on sleep. I'm also kinda looking at real estate in different areas and putting some thought into what my ideal living area is. Maryland is cool and all, but I don't know if I'd like to be here in the long run. The weather just isn't my favorite and the cost of living around here is ridiculous. North Carolina is looking pretty nice, and you can get a ridiculous amount of house for dirt cheap. Everyone I know has only good things to say about the state, and it's not too far from home either. Anyways, something to think about for the near future.
One last thing. I'm trying to put a private freeroll or two together on Full Tilt (if it comes back up one of these days) - probably on a Sunday afternoon or something. I'm going to do one for some friends of mine but will start offering other ones for anyone that's interested. It's all part of the promotion I'm doing at ZipRake, so if a free $25 to play with plus access to these private freerolls sounds like your kind of offer, then go ahead and sign up below. Make sure you do the TeamZR signup too - that's where all the tournament passwords and goodies will be secured.
Free $25 and Private Freerolls at Full Tilt Poker
TeamZR Sign-up
Time to give Full Tilt one more try... hmmm, nope. This is not like them. Oh well. Time to read some more Harrington Vol II then.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Winning is Easy... (HA)
... when you hit quads every time you're a 4-1 underdog. Decided to snap my streak of pokerless fun with a casual $5 STT. Play was very tight and slow, but at least provided me with a few good laughs. It was good to see that lady luck is back on my side for once, but I forgot to ask her where she was during those $75 Tier Three games.
Can't really think of playing either of these any differently given the very tight-passive feel of the table, just glad I managed to suck out and rub it in a little...
Full Tilt Poker, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 80/160 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
UTG: 955
Hero (CO): 2,400
BTN: 1,210
SB: 3,165
BB: 5,770
Pre-Flop: (240) Th Ts dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG calls 160, Hero raises to 580, 3 folds, UTG raises to 955 and is All-In, Hero calls 375
Flop: (2,150) Tc Jd Td (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (2,150) Ks (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (2,150) 3h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 2,150 Pot
UTG showed Ad Ac (two pair, Aces and Tens) and LOST (-955 NET)
Hero showed Th Ts (four of a kind, Tens) and WON 2,150 (+1,195 NET)
And then to end it...
Full Tilt Poker, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 300/600 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (BB): 7,400
SB: 6,100
Pre-Flop: (900) 8d 8s dealt to Hero (BB)
SB raises to 1,200, Hero raises to 7,400 and is All-In, SB calls 4,900 and is All-In
Flop: (12,200) 5d 8h 5h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (12,200) Kc (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (12,200) 8c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 12,200 Pot
Hero showed 8d 8s (four of a kind, Eights) and WON 12,200 (+6,100 NET)
SB showed Ts Td (two pair, Tens and Eights) and LOST (-6,100 NET)
My QQ also managed to hold up against AKo, which took play down to 3-handed with yours truly as the big stack. And earlier on my AJs top-two pair fended off a KQ inside straight draw to knock the first player out. It was nice to have everything go my way for once, and hopefully this will continue into April.
Going to spend the rest of March doing a little work on ZipRake and trying to catch up on sleep before another busy work week.
Buuuuuuuuuh.
Can't really think of playing either of these any differently given the very tight-passive feel of the table, just glad I managed to suck out and rub it in a little...
Full Tilt Poker, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 80/160 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
UTG: 955
Hero (CO): 2,400
BTN: 1,210
SB: 3,165
BB: 5,770
Pre-Flop: (240) Th Ts dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG calls 160, Hero raises to 580, 3 folds, UTG raises to 955 and is All-In, Hero calls 375
Flop: (2,150) Tc Jd Td (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (2,150) Ks (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (2,150) 3h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 2,150 Pot
UTG showed Ad Ac (two pair, Aces and Tens) and LOST (-955 NET)
Hero showed Th Ts (four of a kind, Tens) and WON 2,150 (+1,195 NET)
And then to end it...
Full Tilt Poker, $5 + $0.50 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 300/600 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (BB): 7,400
SB: 6,100
Pre-Flop: (900) 8d 8s dealt to Hero (BB)
SB raises to 1,200, Hero raises to 7,400 and is All-In, SB calls 4,900 and is All-In
Flop: (12,200) 5d 8h 5h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (12,200) Kc (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (12,200) 8c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 12,200 Pot
Hero showed 8d 8s (four of a kind, Eights) and WON 12,200 (+6,100 NET)
SB showed Ts Td (two pair, Tens and Eights) and LOST (-6,100 NET)
My QQ also managed to hold up against AKo, which took play down to 3-handed with yours truly as the big stack. And earlier on my AJs top-two pair fended off a KQ inside straight draw to knock the first player out. It was nice to have everything go my way for once, and hopefully this will continue into April.
Going to spend the rest of March doing a little work on ZipRake and trying to catch up on sleep before another busy work week.
Buuuuuuuuuh.
Monday, March 24, 2008
More Venting (BB)
Well, I'm officially out of tokens. And I think I'm done with all this Tier crap as well. It's not the format or anything, and it's not really that I've been playing bad, but my luck of recent has just been the worst that I can ever remember it being, and it especially sucks when stuff like this happens on Tier Two and Tier Three. Played one of each today, and busted out on two craptacular hands...
First a $24+2 Tier Two 18-player SNG. Down to the final 8...
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
MP1: 1,300
MP2: 4,985
Hero (CO): 1,665
BTN: 1,350
SB: 1,070
BB: 9,320
UTG: 5,210
UTG+1: 2,100
Pre-Flop: (180) Ks Kd dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG raises to 600, 3 folds, Hero raises to 1,665 and is All-In, 3 folds, UTG calls 1,065
Flop: (3,510) 3d Jh 5h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (3,510) As (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,510) Tc (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 3,510 Pot
Hero showed Ks Kd (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-1,665 NET)
UTG showed Ts Th (three of a kind, Tens) and WON 3,510 (+1,845 NET)
Then, just now in a $69+6 Tier Three 9-player SNG. Would've played an 18 probably but none were available. I had just lost about 1/3rd of my stack here a few hands earlier trying to take a short-stack out w/ my AKo vs. his 55.
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
MP2: 620
CO: 1,748
Hero (BTN): 995
SB: 1,860
BB: 1,685
UTG: 1,775
UTG+1: 2,393
MP1: 2,424
Pre-Flop: (180) Jh Jd dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to 360, 3 folds, Hero raises to 995 and is All-In, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls 635
Flop: (2,170) 4s 7h Kd (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (2,170) 8s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (2,170) 6c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 2,170 Pot
Hero showed Jh Jd (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-995 NET)
UTG+1 showed 5c 5d (a straight, Eight high) and WON 2,170 (+1,175 NET)
Sick, just freaking sick. And it's been happening way too often, as well as all of my coinflip situations being shot down in flames. I'm done for now. Probably going to take the rest of the month off, and then just go back to playing straight up $5 STT's for a while. Another goal of mine is to win one of the $5 90-player SNG's. I've finished in the top 4 about 5-6 times but never managed to win the darn thing, so I'll shoot for that for next month.
In hopes of keeping myself sane though, I'm going to take some time off. Good thing work starts back up tomorrow so I can preoccupy myself with that.
And on that note, I'm out.
First a $24+2 Tier Two 18-player SNG. Down to the final 8...
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
MP1: 1,300
MP2: 4,985
Hero (CO): 1,665
BTN: 1,350
SB: 1,070
BB: 9,320
UTG: 5,210
UTG+1: 2,100
Pre-Flop: (180) Ks Kd dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG raises to 600, 3 folds, Hero raises to 1,665 and is All-In, 3 folds, UTG calls 1,065
Flop: (3,510) 3d Jh 5h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (3,510) As (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,510) Tc (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 3,510 Pot
Hero showed Ks Kd (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-1,665 NET)
UTG showed Ts Th (three of a kind, Tens) and WON 3,510 (+1,845 NET)
Then, just now in a $69+6 Tier Three 9-player SNG. Would've played an 18 probably but none were available. I had just lost about 1/3rd of my stack here a few hands earlier trying to take a short-stack out w/ my AKo vs. his 55.
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
MP2: 620
CO: 1,748
Hero (BTN): 995
SB: 1,860
BB: 1,685
UTG: 1,775
UTG+1: 2,393
MP1: 2,424
Pre-Flop: (180) Jh Jd dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to 360, 3 folds, Hero raises to 995 and is All-In, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls 635
Flop: (2,170) 4s 7h Kd (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (2,170) 8s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (2,170) 6c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 2,170 Pot
Hero showed Jh Jd (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-995 NET)
UTG+1 showed 5c 5d (a straight, Eight high) and WON 2,170 (+1,175 NET)
Sick, just freaking sick. And it's been happening way too often, as well as all of my coinflip situations being shot down in flames. I'm done for now. Probably going to take the rest of the month off, and then just go back to playing straight up $5 STT's for a while. Another goal of mine is to win one of the $5 90-player SNG's. I've finished in the top 4 about 5-6 times but never managed to win the darn thing, so I'll shoot for that for next month.
In hopes of keeping myself sane though, I'm going to take some time off. Good thing work starts back up tomorrow so I can preoccupy myself with that.
And on that note, I'm out.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Donkfest Hand of the Night (HA)
Been playing some little $5 STT's and $6 Tier One turbo's again... basically just bored and wanted to try applying some of the things I'm reading up on in Harrington's Volume II. Not running too great today, but this one was fun. Ended up winning it fairly easily after knocking out three donks (okay two, and one reasonably sane player). Think I'll end here for the night and go back to reading...
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (CO): 1,590
BTN: 1,055
SB: 1,365
BB: 3,540
UTG: 1,450
Pre-Flop: (60) Kd Ah dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG calls 40, Hero raises to 160, BTN calls 160, SB raises to 350, BB folds, UTG calls 310, Hero raises to 1,590 and is All-In, BTN calls 895 and is All-In, SB calls 1,015 and is All-In, UTG calls 1,100 and is All-In
Flop: (5,360) 9d As 6h (4 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (5,360) Ac (4 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (5,360) Td (4 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 5,360 Pot
Hero showed Kd Ah (three of a kind, Aces) and WON 5,360 (+3,910 NET)
BTN showed Kc Jh (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-1,055 NET)
SB showed Qd Qh (two pair, Aces and Queens) and LOST (-1,365 NET)
UTG showed Qc 7c (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-1,450 NET)
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (CO): 1,590
BTN: 1,055
SB: 1,365
BB: 3,540
UTG: 1,450
Pre-Flop: (60) Kd Ah dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG calls 40, Hero raises to 160, BTN calls 160, SB raises to 350, BB folds, UTG calls 310, Hero raises to 1,590 and is All-In, BTN calls 895 and is All-In, SB calls 1,015 and is All-In, UTG calls 1,100 and is All-In
Flop: (5,360) 9d As 6h (4 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (5,360) Ac (4 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (5,360) Td (4 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 5,360 Pot
Hero showed Kd Ah (three of a kind, Aces) and WON 5,360 (+3,910 NET)
BTN showed Kc Jh (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-1,055 NET)
SB showed Qd Qh (two pair, Aces and Queens) and LOST (-1,365 NET)
UTG showed Qc 7c (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-1,450 NET)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tier Three Bubble Bust'n (HA)
If I could sum up this day in a sound effect it would be that little "wuaahh wuaaaaahh" trombone noise that you hear in your head whenever something sad/shameful happens. It all started this afternoon when I had some time to go ahead and use $75 Token 1 of 2 for an 18-seater Tier Three SNG. Long story short, it got down to the final 7 (6 get paid, 1-5 get the $216 Tournament Dollars, 6th is $162), I was picking up total crap, stole a few blinds but not as many that were getting stolen from me, almost doubled up when my AK four-flushed against another AK, and ultimately found myself severely short-stacked. Without many options remaining, I got to this sour grape of a hand:
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 150/300 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
CO: 3,960
Hero (BTN): 870
SB: 6,735
BB: 2,925
UTG: 2,515
UTG+1: 4,085
MP: 5,910
Pre-Flop: (450) Th Kd dealt to Hero (BTN)
4 folds, Hero raises to 870 and is All-In, SB folds, BB calls 570
Flop: (1,890) 8c Ah Jc (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (1,890) Qs (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (1,890) Ad (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 1,890 Pot
Hero showed Th Kd (a straight, Ace high) and LOST (-870 NET)
BB showed 8d As (a full house, Aces full of Eights) and WON 1,890 (+1,020 NET)
I've never gone from screaming "YES!" to "NOOOOOOOOOO!" so quickly, even though I still would've been the short-stack under pressure if I had won the hand... and knowing my luck, would have busted out soon thereafter.
To make matters even more fun I just spent my last $26 Token busting out in 8th in one of the Tier Two 18-seaters... again, getting kinda short-stacked and trying to make a move. And I also spent another $5.50 in a good old fashioned standard 9-seater, where my QQ ran into AA during the middle-stages.
I still managed to have at least one moment of the day that seems relatively +EV though - going out to Barnes and Nobles and picking up Harrington's Volume II book with a gift card I got around the holidays. Hey zeus I'm still sour though. Think I might take a little break from all this Tier madness and try to come back a little fresh to plunk my final $75 Token down. Just one nice little cashing and I'll be back in the black for this whole mess. Either way I think I'll be going back to standard $5 and $10 SNG's for a while after this, plus the occasional $24+2 MTT to treat myself. We'll see though. I do like the Tier system it's just volatile as hell and like taking a shot in the balls when you bust out like I did today.
Anyways. Time for some poker reading before bed. Waking up early to go to the MVA tomorrow to get my new car titled = -EV :-/
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 150/300 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
CO: 3,960
Hero (BTN): 870
SB: 6,735
BB: 2,925
UTG: 2,515
UTG+1: 4,085
MP: 5,910
Pre-Flop: (450) Th Kd dealt to Hero (BTN)
4 folds, Hero raises to 870 and is All-In, SB folds, BB calls 570
Flop: (1,890) 8c Ah Jc (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (1,890) Qs (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (1,890) Ad (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 1,890 Pot
Hero showed Th Kd (a straight, Ace high) and LOST (-870 NET)
BB showed 8d As (a full house, Aces full of Eights) and WON 1,890 (+1,020 NET)
I've never gone from screaming "YES!" to "NOOOOOOOOOO!" so quickly, even though I still would've been the short-stack under pressure if I had won the hand... and knowing my luck, would have busted out soon thereafter.
To make matters even more fun I just spent my last $26 Token busting out in 8th in one of the Tier Two 18-seaters... again, getting kinda short-stacked and trying to make a move. And I also spent another $5.50 in a good old fashioned standard 9-seater, where my QQ ran into AA during the middle-stages.
I still managed to have at least one moment of the day that seems relatively +EV though - going out to Barnes and Nobles and picking up Harrington's Volume II book with a gift card I got around the holidays. Hey zeus I'm still sour though. Think I might take a little break from all this Tier madness and try to come back a little fresh to plunk my final $75 Token down. Just one nice little cashing and I'll be back in the black for this whole mess. Either way I think I'll be going back to standard $5 and $10 SNG's for a while after this, plus the occasional $24+2 MTT to treat myself. We'll see though. I do like the Tier system it's just volatile as hell and like taking a shot in the balls when you bust out like I did today.
Anyways. Time for some poker reading before bed. Waking up early to go to the MVA tomorrow to get my new car titled = -EV :-/
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