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Chipping Away (MAF)    View profile

It's been a while...

Date: Wed, Aug 27, 2008

...since my last final table of a large multi-table tournament, but it was worth it. The tournament was a $10 1r1a at Full Tilt. This means in the first hour, you can rebuy more chips, but only once, then a final option to add on at the first break.
What this means is that if you take the rebuy option straight away (which I did) you are very deep stacked early on and have a lot more freedom to play more marginal hands than you would otherwise.
I ended up 4th out of 362 players for a nice prize of $740. Not bad for a $30 entry. All things considered, with the exception of a couple of missed resteal opportunities, I don't regret any of the plays I made, and am very pleased with 4th. I'm not thinking "I could have won if I did this or that". I'm very happy with the result.
To be honest I did get dealt some good cards, and they usually came at convenient times which meant I could profit from them. For example, in one period, I had raised with good cards 2 hands in a row and everyone folded. On the 3rd hand, I get dealt AA. I raise again, and of course someone doesn't believe me and takes a stand by reraising me. Thank you! Timing is everything in poker. You may get good cards, but sometimes you don't get paid with them.
But I was also pleased at the way I played. I tried to play it carefully and thoughtfully. I didn't take any risks, or make any outrageous bluffs. So many times, I've gone out of tournaments because of a bad decision due to the fact I've not thought through enough how to play the hand properly.
There was one key hand which came fairly early on that could have put me on tilt for the rest of the tournament, and sent me crashing out early. I raised with AA and got a call from a player on the button. Flop was a harmless 2Q8. I bet just over half the pot, he calls. Turn was a 6. I bet a bit more, this time just over 3/4 of the pot. Again he just calls. What hand can he have? I suspect something like a pocket pair, AQ, KQ, maybe QJ or he has an overcard, say AJ or AT (although more unlikely). He could even be on a flush draw (there were 2 diamonds on board). River was a scarey Q. Again, I continue my line and bet out 3000 into a 4900 pot. He goes all-in. I have him slightly covered, but will be crippled if I call and lose. I did think for a while before folding. He claimed in the chat box that he had nothing and that he put me on KK. This could be true, and would be a bold move if he did, although I think he would have shown the cards if he was bluffing. This could easily have been a ploy to disrupt me and put me on tilt. I'm pleased that I didn't let this affect me as it did cost me half my stack. However, after a few blind steals over the next few orbits, I soon build it back up again.
There were also a couple of hands that I really liked the way I played. On both occasions I read my opponents for not having anything and was able to take the pot away on the river. In the first hand, I have AQs in the big blind and call a raise from middle position. Flop is 945. This is unlikely to have helped him. I check to the raiser and he makes a standard continuation bet of just under half the pot. I just call. turn is a safe 7. I check and he checks behind me. Now I know he has nothing. River is a 3. I bet 7000 into a 13,500 pot and he folds.
On the 2nd hand, I have K8 clubs in the small blind. A player limps in 1st position, I complete and the big blind checks. Flop is 98A. What could player 1 have? Well, he could be slow-playing a monster, but I'd rather discount that for now. I'll soon find out, but generally a player just calling from 1st position will have a mid to small pocket pair, maybe 2 suited cards. I doubt they have an Ace. I have paired my 8, and that may be ahead. I check, big blind checks, and player 1 bets exactly half the pot. I call with a view to re-evaluate on the turn. Turn is a 4. I check and player 1 checks. River is a 7. I lead out with a half pot bet and player 1 folds.

The whole hand history can be found here:
http://www.pokerxfactor.com/HA151428/5500 guar.txt/9050 (you need to register first).

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The Vic - 30th May 2008

Date: Sat, May 31, 2008

I played at the Grosvenor Victoria (The Vic) yesterday in their Friday £30 freezeout tournament. I had played it once before and finished 6th then, so I knew the standard of play there. The tournament capped at 72 players, although with alternates, we ended up with about 86. Top 9 got paid.

I didn’t play a hand for the first couple of orbits, then I went on a rush.

Victim #1 – I raised UTG with JJ and got called by the button. With the board showing T976, the button pushed on the turn. I was worried he’d called my pre-flop raise with 88 but that thought lasted about 2 milli-seconds. I called and he showed A9 for 2nd pair. I doubled up.

Victim #2 – UTG limped. He had been quite loose. I had AT in late position and raised. UTG pushed, but he was so short I had good odds to call. He showed 89o and I held.

Victim #3 – UTG limped as did a couple of others. I held AJs in the BB and raised. UTG called, the others folded. Flop was A high, I bet out, UTG pushed. I called and he showed AT. I held again.

Victims #4 & 5 – One guy was so short he was all-in pre-flop anyway. A limper in front of me and I call with J9s in the cut-off. Flop JJ9. I check, BB checks, MP bets 500. BB announces raise to 1000 out of turn. His bet is binding but I elect to just call the 500. BB raises as he had to, MP folds, I push. I can’t remember what the others had now.

So, at 1st break I was up from a starting stack of 2000, to 12,500 and had knocked out 5 guys. My table had started to nickname me “The Terminator”.

After the break, I carried on from where I left off knocking another 2 players out. One was a desperately short stack where I had no choice but to call from the BB with 32o. He had something like K9. I spiked a 2. I honestly can’t remember the details of the other one.

I was chip leader for most of the tournament and used my stack well. I stole a lot and was able to push people off hands more easily than usual. People were saying they were afraid to play a hand with me. I’m not used to that.

My stack wittled a little just before the final table as I tried to take out a couple of short stacks, but I eventually made it to the final 9 with 19,500 in chips. I was probably about 4th or 5th in chips by now, but there was no big chip leader. Most stacks were fairly even.

Blinds were now really high and I had to make a move but couldn’t get a hand. With 7 players left and blinds at 2000/4000 ante 500, I was on the button with about 9000. It was folded to me and I knew I had to push almost anything even though the Big Blind was priced in to call with any two cards. I saw K3 and thought ‘good enough’. BB called with K5, but I spiked a 3 to stay alive.

A few hands later, a short stack pushed. I have 89o, but with only 3300 to call in a 9600 pot, it was and easy call. I was dominated by K9, but that was no match for my rivered straight. Oops! With a couple more uncalled pushes (JJ & AT) I was up to about 40,000.

We soon got down to 4 handed when everyone suggested a chop of the prize money. I ended up walking away with £450 for my troubles.

The Vic is a lucky venue for me. In 6 visits there, I’ve made the final table 4 times. I really must play there more often.

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APAT National Championships - Cardiff

Date: Tue, Jan 15, 2008

I entered the APAT National Championships in Cardiff last weekend. I actually qualified for the Manchester leg, but as I couldn't make that one, APAT agreed to transfer my fee over.

This turned out to be one of the most frustrating tournaments I've ever played in. I was so card-dead, it was beyond belief. In the 10 hours or so I was there, I never received aces, kings, queens or jacks once. In fact, I'm not sure how I managed to go as deep as I did.

There were a total of 194 entrants with the top 23 getting paid (although I think places 21st-23rd only got their entry fee back). Somehow I ended up in 36th.

I started off okay. After about 3 levels, I had built my stack up from 10k to about 15k. I had just played solid, saw a few cheap flops, and took a few stabs at pots and taking them down. However, after a while I realised I was bleeding chips. I was trying to see too many cheap flops behind limpers with very marginal hands. I therefore decided to tighten up.

As it turned out, I had no choice but to tighten up. I wasn't getting dealt anything worthwhile. Eventually my stack had wittled down to 5300 (I think blinds were about 200/400). I managed to boost my stack a bit when I pushed from the big blind with AK after a few players had limped in, but I got no callers. One fairly loose player folded and showed AJ. Damn! I was surprised he folded that. I managed to steal the blinds the next 2 hands by pushing A9 and A8 respectively and all of a sudden I was back up to about 12k.

This was pretty much my tactic afterwards. I tried to steal blinds by pushing in late position with anything worth pushing with (mostly ragged aces). I did eventually manage to double up, but in rather fortunate circumstances. A player had raised in early position. I pushed with 55. He called with 88, but I managed to flop a 5. I was now able to open up a bit more. I managed to get my stack up to around 39k, again by seeing cheap flops and taking stabs at them.

I did make a couple of mistakes near the end, which if played correctly, may have seen me make the money. On the first occasion, with blinds at 1000/2000, the table big stack raised from mid-position. He had about 90k. I had probably between 25-30k (IIRC). I was on the button with 55. I had considered calling and seeing a flop in position, but I folded not wanting to invest about 20% of my stack on a weak pair. What I should have done in retrospect is try to resteal by pushing. He had been raising quite a lot lately and so his range was quite wide. I probably would have taken the pot down there and then. I had the perfect stack size for restealing. I actually should have spent more time thinking how to play the hand. Lesson learnt.

The 2nd mistake was when the guy to my immediate right pushed his last 5k. He had just lost most of his stack the hand before when his aces got beat. I had played with this guy (Suraj) most of the day (and also at the last regional tournament in London) and knew he'd be pushing light. I looked down at AT. Now, this was a bit of deja-vu for me. In London, Suraj did exact the same thing when he was short. I had AT then and also pushed as I was short, but the big blind woke up with AQ and knocked us both out. I still had that memory when I saw the hand, so this time I just called hoping that if anyone wanted to play, they would just call and I'd make my decision from there. Unfortunately, the guy on my right raised and I folded. In retrospect I should have also pushed. To rub salt into my wounds, the board came down xxKJQ and I would have made a straight.

I day of misery was ended when I pushed from UTG+1 with QJ. Blinds were 2000/4000 and I only had about 27k left. I was about to get hit by the blinds and figured this hand was decent enough. Besides, no one had been calling my raises until now. I got called by 66 and KK and it was 'gg' to me.

I'm aiming to play more APAT events this year. If I can get 36th with no cards, just think what I can do once I start getting aces ;-)

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I'm going to Cardiff!!

Date: Fri, Dec 21, 2007

Well I managed to get a seat in the APAT National event in Cardiff next month, and I didn't need to go through the "clickfest".

About an hour before the seats became available online, I was emailled by Des at APAT as I had been chasing him for a refund of my entry fee from the Manchester event which I qualified for but couldn't attend. He asked if I wanted to transfer the money for a seat at Cardiff, and he would reserve me a seat straight away. Result!!

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APAT Season 2 - Regional leg 3

Date: Tue, Dec 18, 2007

I was really hoping for a good finish in this event as I wanted to qualify for the National event to be held in Cardiff next month. I played in that one last year and finished 17th, so was keen to play it again. It was quite ironic that I did so well last month and qualified for the Manchester event, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to make it anyway.

This time, we only had 56 starters, so it was only top 6 qualify for Cardiff. I was sat on the same table as my friend John who I met at the last event. (We both reached the final table then, and he stayed to cheer me on after he got knocked out). Unfortunately he misplayed his AJ against me when I was holding KK. I went all-in and he still called despite realising then that he was beat. Early exit for him, good start for me.

With blinds at 200/400, the following hand came up. It was folded to me in middle position. I raised to 1200 with A8. The short stack on my immediate left put in his final 1100, and the Big Blind pushed his stack. I had to call 2700 in a pot of about 6800. This gave me odds of 2½:1 which was nice, but I wasn't sure how far I was behind. I made the "reluctant" call. Shortie showed QT, the big blind showed AJ. I hit my 8 on the turn to knocked both players out. The big blind was not happy! This took my stack up to 13,800 (we started with 3000). I posted this hand on the BlondePoker forum, and got a mixed bag of answers, so I'm still not sure if it was the correct call or not.

My stack took a hit shortly afterwards when I pushed KQ on a K high board. Unfortunately, my opponent had AA and I was back down to around 9k. After that, I couldn't get anything going. The table tightened up and all I could get was blinds to maintain my stack at a constant level. The blinds were catching up with me and I needed a double-up, but I couldn't get the cards to make a move with.

With blinds at 400/800, I was in the small blind with about 6500 left (after posting the blind). A short stack had raised about 3600 leaving only 800 behind (strange move!). I looked down at AT, the best hand I'd seen for a while. I didn't like it, but figured it was my best chance. I pushed the remainder of my stack. Unfortunately, the big blind also pushed, and I knew I was in trouble. He showed AQ, and the shortie had only QT. I couldn't catch one of the 2 remaining Tens in the pack, and was out around 23rd.

This was definitely a strange tournament in that on each blind level, I kept expecting lots of players to get knocked out, but it never happened. Certainly on my table, everyone had roughly the same stack sizes (~10-15k) and there was no dominating chip leader. It very quickly became a crapshoot without the knockouts.

I had another stab at trying to qualify for Cardiff last night by playing online at BlueSq. Unfortunately I was card dead for most of the tournament. The best hand I had was 99, and even then I had to cold-call a pre-flop reraise hoping to flop a set. My final attempt will be to buy-in directly tonight if I can beat the rush. These tournaments do get oversubscribed very quickly.

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More success at APAT

Date: Sun, Nov 11, 2007

Yesterday was the 2nd Regional leg of the APAT Championships. I went to the heat being held at the Grosvenor Victoria ("The Vic") where last time I made the final table, but out of the money. I was hoping to do better this time.

I almost didn't get in. When I arrived, they told me that there were 2 places left and there were 2 guys ahead of me interested in playing. However I think they may have been known players there who are used to playing at higher stakes as one of the managers came over and told them that it was only a £20 entry with 1st place only about £200. Luckily that put them off and they went to find a cash table instead.

Last month we only had 48 entrants, and I expected about the same number. This time we had 74. There was a limit of 80, but I think a number of players who had pre-registered didn't turn up.

I had a great first session where I increased my stack from a start of 3k to 8k. This was down to me catching some great flops with marginal hands. Therefore they were better disguised. I knocked out a woman directly to my left whilst holding Q8 in the small blind. She went all-in on the river after failing to hit her straight. Fortunately, I had hit my 2 pair.

Getting a good start early on really helped my confidence, and I played well and confidently without getting any great starting hands. My table was fairly tight/passive and I was able to steal alot. If I did get called, I had the confidence to make a lot of continuation bets which were usually enough to win the pot on the flop. It was also a very odd day in that I saw so many times, hands that were being completely dominated win. For example, I tried to knock out a short stack with AK. He had KT, but hit his straight on the river. I tried to knock out another short stack (in the big blind) holding 62 in the small blind. The flop was Q6x. I put him all-in, but he had Q8 for top pair. I caught a 2 on the turn to knock him out (ouch!). This was the story of the day. I seemed to lose some hands I should have won with, or get lucky to win with ones I should have lost with. I wouldn't say I was particularly lucky or unlucky in general as it all seemed to even throughout the day.

My stack continued to grow by each session. By the end of the 2nd session, I had about 14k, then 25k by the end of the 3rd session (it was as high as 32k, but I made a bad call against a short-stack with only A3 suited - he had 99). Again by playing solid poker, stealing blinds, and occasionally knocking players out, I was never once in trouble.

Evenutally when down to the final 2 tables, and 14 players left, the game really slowed. It took ages for a player to get knocked out. I was probably 2nd in chips at the time, and it got real easy to steal blinds as players were holding out for the final table. Myself and the chip leader (also on my table) had a lot of respect for each other and tried to avoid each other when we could. In fact I even folded AQ to his raise at one stage, not just because he had only been playing strong hands, but mainly because he was the only guy that could bust me. As it turned out, it was a bad, yet lucky fold because the mid-stack acting after me won the pot with a flush (the chip leader only had KJ at the time - so much for my reads!).

We made the final table after I busted Linda Iwaniuk who had been on my right. I know Linda from a couple of previous APAT tournaments and know her to be a very good and sometimes aggressive player. She had got short-stacked and pushed her Q9 only to be unlucky to run into me holding QQ.

I started the final table with 39k in chips. I think I was the 2nd highest stack. With the blinds now very high (1k/2k I think), there were a lot of all-ins. After the first player had got knocked out in 9th place, I had tried to take out the short stacks myself but failed on 2 occasions in short succession with 44 and 66 respectively. I then started moaning about how it would be nice to win a coinflip just once when the very next hand I got dealt JJ. I pushed again and got a caller who thought I was on tilt (that's kind of what I was hoping). He had AJ and my Jacks held up to double me up again.

I then eliminated 2 players when there were 2 all-ins with me holding AK. The others had TJ & KJ (if I remember correctly). A jack on the flop had me cursing my luck once again, but an ace on the river saved me.

Eliminations were coming thick and fast, and in no time at all, we were down to 3 players. There was myself, a Russian guy in a Scotland rugby shirt (???) and another guy who only had one move - all-in. In fact, although the blinds were high, it was still possible to play some poker and see flops, but Mr All-in wasn't having any of it. In fact I once tried to just call in the small blind with a marginal hand in order to see a flop. He still pushed. Myself and the Russian let him know what we thought of him. I got my own back on the next orbit when I was back in the small blind. I only had a measly 84, but went all-in. Mr All-in thought long and hard about it. He said "I suppose it served me right". He eventually folded and I took great delight in showing my hand, much to the amusement of the Russian and everyone watching. That moment made my day.

I had a slight lead over the others when the following hand came up. I had 99 and made a raise on the button. The Russian pushed in the big blind. I called instantly, he showed Q9. Great for me, I'm dominating the hand as 67% favourite to win. However he makes a lucky straight on the river to double up and cripple me. That was so cruel. If I had won that hand, I would have been huge chip leader and would've knocked Mr Russian out. Instead I was down to 19.5k.

However, I managed to make a couple of double ups straight away (I can't remember with what hands), so was back in it. In the meantime, Mr All-in got knocked out by the Russian, so we were heads-up with him holding a big lead. I folded the first 2 hands, but I couldn't afford to fold any more and the blinds of 5k/10k were eating into my stack. Mr Russian went all-in and I had no choice but to call with T4. He showed KK. EEK! No help on the flop, but a ten on the turn, then a 4 on the river doubled me up in a very lucky way. An immediate double up again with 76 brought us to about even in chips, so I asked the Russian if he just wanted to chop the money. The game had simply got to an all-in fest with the blinds being so high. He agreed, however we had to play on for the Gold & Silver medals. A few hands later, he won. All I remember is calling his all-in with A4 to his K5 (I think), but he hit one of his cards to win.

I actually did better in the deal than he did as my prize money went up from £176 to £199 after the chop. I also won a £75 entry to the National Championships next month, which I can't make. I'm hoping I can claim this back.

So, 2 events, 2 finals tables (9th and now 2nd). That puts a lot of pressure on me for the next one. I can't complain. I'm really enjoying these tournaments, and last night was probably some of the best poker I've ever played. I'm very happy!

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My biggest cash to date

Date: Sat, Oct 27, 2007

One of my favourite online tournaments has been the daily $13.k Guaranteed (formerly $11k) at Full Tilt Poker. It's a $24+2 entry fee but you can buy in with $26 tokens won through $6 or $8 two-table Sit n Gos. It's because of this, and the fact I love the structure of the tournaments at Full Tilt, that makes me like this particular tournament. The only downside is that it starts at 11pm UK time, which makes it difficult to play unless you don't have to work the following morning. If Full Tilt did an equivilant tournament starting at, say, 8 or 9pm, then I'd play these every day.

I hadn't actually played one of these for a while, but I had a couple of satellite tokens going to waste, so I thought I'd use one last night. What a good decision it turned out to be. Tonight saw a field of 647 entrants with top 63 getting paid.

I decided to play very tight and not take any chances. This tactic does leave me vulnerable to being bullied and relies on not just decent supply of good hands, but with them holding up.

There are times when you can play 'in the zone' and feel like you are getting good reads and making good decisions. This doesn't happen often with me, but last night I felt I played well and was really happy with a lot of my decisions.

The bubble seemed to approach very quickly, and I was frustrated to be card dead for a long period approaching it. But a nice double up with KJ v KT saw me make the money quite comfortably in the end, and it was then I managed to pick up hands and build up a nice stack. Hands such as AT>KJ, QQ>AK, AJ>QQ and A9>88 (when a guy tried to bluff me on an Ace high board) took me to 95k. This was with about 31 players left and I kept this lead for a very long time from here on.

But the hand of the night happened with blinds at 1500/3000. I held AA. A guy in early position raised to 6000. A short stack went all-in. I reraised all-in because I was confident the first guy also liked his hand and would join in. He duly obliged. They had KK & JJ respectively, and my aces held to take a massive pot of 220k and increase my lead even further.

I sat on my lead until the final table. Before then, there was a good loose aggressive player who was stealing a lot of blinds, and was slowly eating into my lead. He was my main threat, and I didn't want to tangle with him...not yet anyway.

We reached the final table with me still holding the chip lead, and I increased it further when I knocked out a short-stack on the 5th hand. I called his push with KJ. He held A3 and I caught my King on the river. I don't normally like calling with KJ, but I could afford to gamble on this occasion.

When we got down to 6 players, I realised that I was about to make my biggest cash since I started playing. Anything more now was a bonus. However, I had held the chip lead for ages, and I was never going to get a better opportunity to win one of these. My chances got even better when my AK outdrew JJ to take us down to 5 players.

During all this, I was on IRC with a few guys watching me and spurring me on. I had also been playing very tight whilst a couple of the more aggressive players kept raising and stealing blinds. I was worried they would overtake me. It was then that one of the 'railees', JRS, said to me that I had to start playing more aggressively. This was a wake-up call. I didn't thank him properly for this piece of advice, but I'm sure he'll read this, so once again, thanks JRS! I decided I would call more raises and try to play more flops. This worked and I was able to maintain my stack a bit better, and tell the others I wasn't going to rollover quite so easily.

The guy I was most worried about went out in 5th, and the 4th place guy gave his chips to the only other player I was worried about, who also kept making a lot of pre-flop raises and steals. The 3rd guy left had been playing well early on, but lost his nerve and just kept up a tactic of push or fold. This was probably the most difficult passage of play.

However, my hopes of a win were dashed with this cruel hand. Blinds were now at 5k/10k. Mr all-in folded, Mr serial-raiser raised to 27k. I called with J8o. Flop was 8QT, giving me bottom pair and a straight draw. Mr raiser bet 28k and I called. Turn was a beautiful 9 giving me the straight. Mr raiser bet 100k. He could have any 2 cards as he was raising so much, but top pair was most likely in my opinion. I reraised all-in for almost 350k. He called, showing the one and only hand I did not want to see, KJ for the higher straight. Only a King on the river could save me by splitting the pot. Alas it didn't come and I was down to 28k. I went out next hand.

So 3rd place for a cool $1,746. By far my best payout to date. I should be pleased, and I am pleased, but there's still that nagging feeling that it could have been the $3.8k for 1st place.

Recently I've been quite frustrated that I still hadn't improved on my biggest cash of $530 which occurred over 2 years ago, yet I'm a much better player than I was then. It's quite a relief that I've finally got a result that I was sure I was capable of. Let's hope I don't have to wait another 2 years before the next one.

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APAT Season 2 - 1st leg

Date: Mon, Oct 8, 2007

Season 2 of the APAT tournaments got underway this weekend with a new structure. Instead of several large oversubscribed tournaments around the country, APAT decided to have regional events where you can pick up ranking points and the top 10% of each one goes through to regular National tournaments.

I played the first of these regional events at the Grosvenor Victoria casino ("The Vic") in Edgware Road. I went along with Farzad from work and also met 2 of his cousins.

I was a bit disappointed that only 48 players entered. This meant that whilst the top 9 got ranking points, only the top 5 got paid prize money, including an automatic entry to the next national event. The change of structure also meant that we only had 3000 starting chips (instead of 10,000) and half hour blind levels. This meant a much faster structure.

I got off to a bad start losing about a third of my stack early on. A loose young guy limped in early position and I called with 65 both spades. I think we got another caller and the big blind checked. The flop was a nice 9d 8h 5d, and the turn was even better with 7d giving me a straight. Unfortunately there was a possible flush out there with 3 diamonds. I bet 500 (which was about the size of the pot). The young guy had check/called (the others folded on the flop). A jack on the river was even scarier as it also gave a higher straight if the guy had a ten. This time he bet 1200 which was about half my remaining stack. I folded. There was just too much beating me out there.

I managed to get my chips back later when I doubled up with QQ against JJ. A couple more small pots left me at 4100 at the first break.

After the break, another table broke up and 2 guys of contrasting styles moved to my right and made my life difficult. The first guy was a young Indian guy who was fairly aggressive raising first in whenever he could. The guy next to him, and to my immediate right was a poor player who was annoying to play against. Basically if playing first, he'd limp in, but call a lot of raises before him. He particularly liked doing this with weak aces. He would also call a lot of all-ins with bottom or middle pair. The trouble is most of the players who did this against him were either doing bluffs or on draws, so he'd win these pots. The reason it was difficult to play them is because if I wanted to make a move, I only wanted to do it against one of them, not both. The first guy would almost certainly fold to a reraise, the other definitely wouldn't, but I didn't get any strong hands to capitalise on this.

Fortunately our table eventually broke, but I was getting short. I managed to double up with AQ against TT, get a load of limpers to fold when I pushed AK in the big blind, stole a couple of pots and got blinds with pushes with AJ & KQ. Then the poor player got moved to my right again. I lost some chips when I played a hand badly against him considering my knowledge of him. I was on the button with 77. It was folded to him, and he limped as usual. I raised to 2400 (3 times the blinds at the time) and he obviously called. Flop was AJx and he pushed. I turned to him and said "playing your ace-crap again?", and folded. I was kicking myself, I should have just called.

I then got moved again as we were down to final 2 tables. I was struggling again and getting blinded away as I couldn't get a hand. Then down to about 3500 with blinds at 600/1200, I was in the big blind. All folded to small blind who pushed. I look down to see a delightful looking pair of kings. I call and hold against here A5.

I hold onto the final table and seats are redrawn. I am still the short-stack. A few hands into the final table, everyone has folded to me and I see KT both clubs. This is a good enough hand for me, so I push. Guy to my left also pushes but I'm pleased to see he has 99. I'll settle for a coinflip. Unfortunately, the board is all low cards with no clubs and I'm out in 9th.

It was a strange tournament as I never seem to have a workable stack to play with. I always seem to battling against the blinds all the time. I'm therefore pleased to get to the final table, although I got nothing from it...apart from 1 ranking point.

I am definitely preferring live play to online. For some reason I play much better. I think it's because I have more time to think. I'm not very good at reading players yet, but that will come over time. I'm going to play more of these this season as I do enjoy them.

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My 1st Stars 180 win

Date: Sun, Sep 30, 2007

I have played quite a number of the Stars $4 180 man SNGs previously. Although having made several final tables, I had best places of 2nd & 3rd, not quite managing to take one down. On Friday, I finally went one better.

I have pretty much avoided them lately as the last few times I’ve played them, I’ve just lost to horrendous beats by bad players who will call with anything and flop their 2 pair to crack your aces, or whatever. Whilst most will argue that I should be seeking out these players, not avoiding them, I just found the beats too depressing, especially when you’ve had a few in a row.

Anyway for some reason I decided to play one, despite trying to avoid them lately, and I’m glad I did. Here’s a summary of some key moments in the tournament:

I had been pretty card dead for the 1st few levels, although I was able to maintain a stack of around 10 big blinds with standard short stack play (i.e push or fold), but was mostly only winning the blinds. My first double up came when my 66 held up against AJ at the 100/200 level, then a few hands later I knocked someone out with QQ>88. I now had nearly 6k in chips and had a bit more breathing space.

At 150/300 I had AK. Raised to 900 and the Big Blind called. Flop was 757 rainbow. BB checked and I made a continuation bet of 1000. He called. Turn was a Q. It went check/check. River was a lovely King. BB went all-in. I was confident I was ahead. If he had KQ, he’d have bet the Turn. He certainly wouldn’t have called with K7 or K5. The only other hands that were possible, were that he was slow-playing 55 or 77. If that was the case, then so-be-it. I called and he showed 43s for the bluff. He was obviously chasing his gutshot. I’m now up to $11k.

At 200/400, we were approaching the bubble, and I took a big hit. I was in the Big Blind with Q2. UTG player limped as did a player in Mid Position. I duly checked. Flop was a glorious 23Q. I checked to induce a bet, and UTG duly obliged with a 1200 bet. I was hoping that he’d hit his Queen and so pushed. He called showing KQ. Unfortunately a 3 on the turn gave us both 2 pair Queens & Threes, but he had a better kicker. I hate it when that happens, but I do get on the right side of one of those later. I’m back down to $3.2k and in trouble.

However, very next hand I get some those chips back against the same player. I have 97s in the Small Blind. All fold to me, easy push. Big blind wakes up with AQ. Oops! Fortunately the board comes down J796K and my 2 pair wins. A few more pushes with KQ, AJ & 22 in a short space of time wins me the blinds to take my stack back up over $10k. I am also fortunate to have a very passive guy on my right who keeps giving up his small blind to me without trying to steal. He did this quite a lot as the blinds got higher, and it really saved me a lot of chips overall.

Still on the bubble, with blinds at 300/600, I once again get QQ. A short-stack guy pushes and I’m relieved to see he has TT. I’m now up to $17k and we’re now down to the last 18 and have made the money. I think I’m lying around 3rd or 4th at this stage.

At 400/800, I’m down to $13k after my AQ misses the flop and my continuation bet fails to shrug off my opponent.

I kick myself later when I fold 66 to a limp and a raise before me. I’d have made a set and knocked a player out if I played it. I had also folded AJ earlier to an obvious blind steal. I’m kicking myself for playing too passively.

Shortly after this, I knock out another player when my AK holds up against A6. Back up to $25k.

At 600/1200, we are approaching the final table with about 11 players left. Then I had another turning point hand. I have AQs (both clubs) in early position and raise to 3000. The small blind reraises me to 6000. The SB was the chip leader and seems a decent player. He had not made this move before. I decide to call and re-asses on the flop. In retrospect, I believe this is a bad call by me as there’s not a lot I’m beating at this stage. However flop is T87 with 2 clubs. SB makes a small bet of 4800 which is under half the pot. I call and am pleased to see the 6 of clubs on the turn for the nut flush. Once again SB bets 4800. I simply call. River is 8 of hearts. He bets, I push and he calls showing AK hearts. I double up and am big chip leader now with almost $65k. Whilst I certainly made a suspect call at the start, SB really overplayed that hand.

At this stage, I log onto IRC and am pleased to have the support of a few ITHers railing me.

We are now down to final 5 players. It’s very difficult to win a tournament without getting a bit lucky from time to time. Throughout this match, I get 2 such moments to stay in. I’m not including the 97 v AQ or AQ v AK here as in the first, I wasn’t that much of an underdog, and the 2nd, my opponent misplayed the hand (more than I did). However here is the first break – a short stack pushes his last $13k. I have 77 but he shows QQ. eek! Luckily a 7 on the flop keeps me alive and knocks my unfortunate opponent out. Whilst I wouldn’t have got knocked out if I lost, it still would have been a dent in my stack and made me one of the short stacks.

Two hands later I knock another short stack out when my 88 holds up against my opponent’s KJ. I now have $96k and we’re down to 3. 8s are good for me as I get them a few hands later to knock out against my opponent’s 66. We are now heads up. I’m against the AK guy from earlier.

After a couple of exchanges, my opponent has a slender chip lead against me. I am delighted to see KK. I slow play them by simply calling the small blind and my opponent checks. Flop is a harmless 258. We both check. Turn is a 6. I bet 4000, my opponent raises to 8000. Now I’ve seen this guy overplay middle pair several times, and I think he’s doing it again. A couple of reraises and we’re both all-in.
He shows 65 for 2 pair. Uh-oh. I’ve blown it! Now comes the 2nd bit of luck that I was talking about. The river is another 2 which gives me a better 2 pair.

I now have a massive lead of $241k to just $28k. At this stage, I’m reminded the last time I got heads up in one of these and threw away a 2:1 chip lead. I’m determined not to be so reckless this time. However things aren’t going to plan as I get completely card dead and fail to hit any flops. My opponent is slowing creeping back up to me until we finally end it on this hand:

I have QT in the Big Blind. SB raises and I call. Flop is 3T3. I bet, opponent raises and I push. He shows A6 and my hand holds up to great relief, and a lot of cheering on the rail. At last I’ve finally won one of these! I’m over the moon.

So a nice $216 win from just a $4 entry. After over 4 hours of play, I was shattered. It was also 2.10am and I had to get up at 7.30am. But I’d worry about that later as it was definitely worth it.

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September Quest - Day #3

Date: Sat, Sep 8, 2007

At last! A couple of decent scores in my quest. I only played 2 games after coming back from the pub, but managed 2nd in both for $29.70 each. At least it halted my bad run of 8 in a row without a cash. A win in either would have been nice, but I'll settle for 2nd in view of recent results.

Game #9: Nothing really of note. I played very solid and held the chip lead for a bit, until my A5 ran into AA. Oops!

Game #10: Doing steady until a great stroke of luck. I had AK which I'd been playing very aggressively today by coming over the top of early raisers. However this time I got called by KK & JJ. However I was lucky to spike my Ace on the flop and triple up. It's nice when luck evens out from time to time. I held the chip lead for a while until I was heads up. We were about even in chips, but I made a bad call of my opponent's push with QT. I'm not sure what I was thinking as I wasn't beating much. He had A5 and I was down to a meagre 130 chips v 13000. With a bit of jammy luck, I managed to double up several times in a row to get almost level on chips again, but alas I couldn't hold on. I'm just kicking myself for not being patient enough early on and waiting for a better opportunity.

Never mind, I can sleep better tonight anyway.

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September Quest - Day #2

Date: Fri, Sep 7, 2007

Okay, day 1 went very badly. Maybe I can salvage some pride. A win and another top 3 place should put me back on track.

Game #6: This is one of the tightest turbo tables I have ever seen. I am raising almost every other hand and getting no callers. I am quickly building my stack with the blinds. My image as a loose player is great as I knock out someone who's timing is real bad. He pushes as I'm holding AA. However, after being a big chip leader, I take a couple of hits. First I call a short-stack's push with AQ. He shows TJ, but makes a straight on the turn. Next I go up against the 2nd big stack on my left. I raise pre-flop with KQ and he calls. Flop is all low cards. I decide on a continuation bet, but immediately get reraised. I fold having lost a load of chips. Down to 4, I push with K8 and get called by A8. Frustratingly, I go out 1 place off the money after playing really well for the most-part.

Game #7: A much looser game and I struggle to find a hand. I get lucky for pretty much the first time this week when I push with A3 and get called by QQ. I double up with an ace on the river. This could be my tournament at last! Wrong! Down to 4 again and I hold JJ in the big blind. At the moment everyone is just in push fold mode. The Mr QQ pushes and I have an easy call. He has AA and gets his revenge. Arghhh! 4th again!

Game #8: Bad start in the first 3 hands as both JJ and QQ go against K high flops. First guy luckily plays his AK passively so I get off cheaply. 2nd guy bets big on the turn and I have to fold. Down to 825 chips, I get AA. I raise, everyone folds. Sigh!
I take down another small pot in a blind v blind battle, then I crash out again. I have AT and raise. I get one caller (Mr AK from earlier). He check/calls flop, we both check the turn and he puts me all in on the river. As it's all low cards, I'm trying to work out what he could have called with as he's been very tight. He's also showed a lot of weakness beforehand. Despite only having Ace high, I think there's a good chance I'm ahead. Also I'm down to 650 so I'm almost committed. I call and once again he shows AK. Out in 7th. I call it another night.

Okay, I probably played that last hand badly, but overall I feel I'm not getting my fair share of luck so far. My strong hands are running into stronger hands, or they're getting sucked out on when I'm a big favourite. Luck like this can make you change your game. I'm trying not to, and I'm hoping results will start coming my way soon. I still have 3 more weeks to go!

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September Quest

Date: Fri, Sep 7, 2007

To avoid the monotony, it's sometimes good to set yourself a target, or a challenge. I don't usually do this, but I've seen a couple of people on ITH start them recently, so I thought I'd have a go.

So, the challenge? Well I thought of what was a realistic challenge and one that I would enjoy. I almost went for a challenge to play as many $4 180 player SNG (sit n go) tournaments as I could and see how much of a profit (if any) I could make out of them. I then decided that due to the nature of them (i.e. lots of bad players getting lucky), it was more likely to be a depressing challenge, rather than one I'd enjoy.

So instead, I decided to go for the $11+1 (9 player) single table SNGs. I usually do well at them, and was on a good run on them during August.

The plan was do play them solely on Full Tilt Poker and maybe do about 5 or 6 a night whenever I played. If I'm feeling comfortable, I'll play 2 at once. I'm hoping to play a minimum of 50 of them. I may even do as many as 100 depending on how much I play.

Well, I wish I'd started this in August as my good run seems to have come to an end. I had a very bad start. Here's how my first evening went. (Remember, only top 3 get paid prize money):

Game #1: Out in 6th. Had to play carefully as there was a very bad player on the table who would call with anything. The trouble is he just kept getting very lucky and doubling up each time. As a result, I could only push with a decent hand as no one could get him to fold.
I got short-stacked as pushed with AK. Guy on my immediate left (who had slightly less chips than me) decided than KJs was a good enough hand to risk his tournament with (what???). He of course flopped a straight. I went out shortly afterwards.

Game #2: Got KK early on and so I pushed against an early raiser. He showed QQ which I was delighted with...until a Q came on the flop. Sigh! Out in 8th.

Game #3: Tough game. Lost a load of chips early after getting reraised on the flop as I tried a couple of bluffs. Ended up pushing AQ against 99. OK, now the odds have been cut for me from massive odds-on favourite in the previous 2 games to a coin-flip. No help for me and I was out in 8th again.

Game #4: Not got any playable hands. Decided to push on a flush draw on a K high board. Got called by guy who had been slow-playing AK and I didn't hit my flush. Out in 7th. This is not good so far.

Game #5: Pick up QQ. Get 1 caller against my pre-flop raise. I push a low flop. He has KK and I don't hit the dream card that everyone seems to be catching against me. Out in 9th.

Depressed, I give up for the night.

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Good result at the Gutshot

Date: Sat, Sep 1, 2007

Since I started the blog-feed to Facebook, a few people have mentioned that they read this blog and didn't understand a word of what I was saying. It was only expected that other poker players would read it, so it had a lot of jargon in it. However, as a result of the comments, I'll try to write it in more plainer English.

There will be times I can't get away from certain terms or situations. I am going to rely on people having a basic understanding of poker rules and hands or else this will take me forever. The only terms I will explain are the following:

Cards will be mentioned in the form of AKQJT (ace, king, queen, etc). Suits will be SHDC.
Suited (s) means both cards were the same suit.
Pushing means betting all of your chips in one go.
A stack is the size of your chips.

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Anyway, back to my trip to the Gutshot last night. I had planned to meet my friend Paul from ITH there. Unfortunately he failed to turn up, but luckily I had invited Farzad from work along, so I wasn't Norman No-mates. I was keen to play as they had re-introduced the £10 rebuy tournament which I quite like. Rebuy tournaments mean that in the first 40 mins of the tournament, you can re-buy back in for another £10 if you lose your chips.

You only get 500 chips to start with so the plan was to try and double-up as quick as possible by risking all my chips at a time with decent hands. I had a torrid time during the rebuy period and could not double-up. My JJ ran into AA, I also pushed A9 into a board of 962. Of course, some guy had to have 62 didn't he. I was almost about to give up at that stage, but I had set myself a budget of a maximum of £50 in buy-ins for this tournament. I had already paid out £30 and still had the option of an add-on of another £10 for 1000 chips at the end of the rebuy period. I announced, to any that was listening, that this was my last buyin.

At this stage, my table probably thinks I'm a complete donkey. I have been playing quite recklessly and rebuying lots. Add to this the fact that I haven't always been paying attention and forgetting who's dealing, cutting cards incorrectly, etc. However, this can sometimes be a good image if you can take advantage of it ;-).

I ended up on the break with the absolute minimum of 1500 in chips, and therefore needed some luck and cards if I was to last much longer in the tournament. There was a small turnout in this event which in the past usually attracts 100-120 players. Tonight there were only 45 with top 9 positions getting prize money. I had calculated that I needed to finish in 7th to break even...gulp!

After the break, my luck changed. I quickly doubled-up when I check-raised all-in someone with a flush draw. I hit my flush on the turn. Big relief! Shortly after that I doubled again when my QQ held up against TT.

Soon after this I moved tables, and didn't play a hand for a while. Then I had a great hand. A guy pushed all-in from early position. I was in the Small Blind, and looked at QQ again. Easy call! However, the lady sitting next to me in the Big Blind also called....eek! The 1st guy had 99, the lady AK. The flop came down Q9x. Myself and the guy had both made a set, but mine was higher, and it held to triple me up. I now had a decent workable stack. At this stage there were about 20 or so players left. I felt getting onto the final table and making the prize money was a realistic option now.

However, it's never a smooth ride getting to the final table as I found later. We were down to about 13 players. A short-stack (who hadn't played a hand for what seemed like 2 days) pushed his stack in. He had about 4k, I had about 10k. I was in the big blind to find the beautiful AA. The other guy had 89, and had to catch more than 1 card to win. The flop was 7xx (can't remember the others but they were unimportant). Turn was a T. The other guy was standing up and leaving, but I told him to wait. I just knew the 6 was coming for his straight....River: 6...yep, knew it! I was down to 6k and back to desperate mode.

It didn't take long to get to the final table of 9. I had made some money, but as I said, I needed 7th to break even. Curiously, I entered the final table 7th in chips. I decided to wait for the guys who had less than me to bust before I started taking risks. They really were on life support. One of them didn't take long to go, but the other was a young guy sitting on my immediate left. He managed to steal some blinds and also double up, so I was now the short stack.

Shortly after, I look down to see 77 in early position. I need to double up fast and this was as good a hand as any to do it with. I push. My nemesis on my left also pushes, uh-oh! He has TT and I'm about to exit in 8th place. No help for either of us on the first 4 cards, but the last card is the miracle 7. I've doubled up and survived. The other guy looked liked he'd been punched in the stomach. He (and I) couldn't believe it. To be fair, it was my only suckout of the day, and certainly made up for earlier.

A couple of other guys went out after this. I managed to knock out the kid on my left when he pushed his tiny stack. I was in the Big Blind with KQ, but it didn't cost me much to call. Once again he had TT, but I hit my Q on the turn.

Down to 5, the guy on my right was also short stack. An orbit later, I was in the big blind again. It was all folded to him in the Small Blind and he did the obvious push. I knew he'd be doing this with any 2 cards, and thought that I'm calling with any ace. I look down to see A5, good enough! He had something like Q4, but I make a straight on the turn, and he's out.

Down to 4. I can't believe I've got this far. To my left was the early chip leader. He had taken a couple of small risks and got lucky, but overall had been fairly sensible. Next to him, was an Asian guy who was quite loud and chatted a lot. He had entered the final table 2nd in chips, but had been playing recklessly since and for some reason wanted to keep taking on the chip leader. The last player was a young guy who was very solid, and in my opinion, the best player on the table. He had hardly made any mistakes, made timely steals and only showed down good hands where needed.

The Asian guy soon lost most of his chips to the young guy on my right, again through reckless play. I knocked him out shortly afterwards with KQ by checking down a K high board with the big stack to my left.

Down to 3. Blimey!! Now the hand that ended my run. I was in the Big Blind. Button folded, small blind only called. I checked with Q2. Flop 952. Guy checks, I only have about 11k, but bet 5k (I should have pushed, but that wouldn't have made a difference in this case). He reraised me all-in. I'm probably beaten, but I have bottom pair. I am pot-committed and am pretty much forced to call. He shows 52 for 2 pair. I can only win by catching a Q. It doesn't come and I'm out in 3rd for £205 :-).

Easily my best result there, and my first cash at the Gutshot. I didn't think I played well, but I did catch cards at the right moments, which is always important. Maybe I proved that I wasn't the donkey that some people had thought earlier...or maybe not. ee-aw!

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Abuse at the table

Date: Tue, Aug 21, 2007

So I was playing in one of the William Hill Headhunter tournaments last night, quietly minding my own business, when a hand came up against the tournament chip leader at the time.

I had doubled up with trip kings a few hands earlier, then got moved tables. Blinds were 75/150, and I had a stack of around $7000. I got dealt A8o in mid position. All folded to me, I made my standard 3x raise of $450. All folded to chip leader (with about $8500) who simply called in the small blind.
Flop was x67. He checked. Now I would usually put out a continuation bet here, but I had this feeling that I would be check-raised. My thinking was that you don't get to 8500 in chips early without being aggressive. Aggro players don't check. I therefore checked behind for the free card.
Turn was a 9 giving me an open-ended straight draw. SB put in a bet of 600 which was about half the pot. I was getting about 3:1 on my money, and if I hit, I could get paid by the aggro player, so I called.
River was a 5, giving me the straight. He bet, and I pushed. He called showing QQ.

I had doubled to a big chip lead with $14,000.

The guy then started berating me big time calling me all sorts of names under the sun. I kept quiet. The funny thing is that he misplayed his hand, and started accusing me of being a calling station. He then turned to a verbal tirade in German. My German certainly isn't good enough to work out what he was saying, but it was fairly obvious it was not pleasant. Anyway, I decided to copy the chat just in case it was nasty. The guy moved tables a few hands later.

In the meantime, I posted the chat on a couple of forums to see if I could get a translation from native German speakers.

We both ended up going deep in the tournament and the guy got moved to my table a further 2 times. On each occasion he would continue to call me names. This I could put up with as I could ignore it, but the worse thing was that he would comment to everyone else when I was in a hand. For example, I made a pre-flop raise first-in from cut off (with JJ), and he wrote "he's bluffing".

After the tournament, I checked the forums and found indeed that what he said wasn't pleasant (I won't repeat it). Everyone said I should report him, so I did.

We all get comments from time to time, but this went too far. I did not suck out on him, he misplayed the hand (I didn't tell him that). But to continue over an hour later, and make comments when I'm in a hand is simply inexcusable. I admit, it did put me off my game a bit, and I didn't play that many hands whilst he was around (although I was card dead for most of the time anyway).

I hope William Hill take some action, even if it's a temporary chat ban for him.

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