PokerStars Free Bonus Gifts
POKERSTARS MARKETING CODE   |    POKERSTARS BONUS CODE  |    POKER FORUM
What's a ?

Blogs by Popularity

Footer

Blogs by Type

Footer

Blogs by Wonk

Footer

Recent Blogs

Footer

Articles by Blog

Footer
Write about . Read about Life. , the Blog Community.

Fish out of Water - An Attempt to Become a Winning Poker-Player    Friends

Starting to grind

Date: Tue, May 18, 2010 Internet

After a few setbacks this month, I have managed to play about 40 SNG’s, and have pulled a significant to just a small loss of $11.50 so far. I hope to continue this run.

Read Full Blog Post

Cash in M-FTOPS #22…Just.

Date: Sat, May 15, 2010 Internet

The beauty of MTT’s

As said previously, I was staked into the M-FTOPS #22, 6-Max MTT.

Prior to it, I had watched some training videos on 6-Max, difficult as there is not a lot of material around on the format.

Nevertheless, despite being my first 6-Max MTT, I managed to cash, albeit only for $30 making about 1206th out of around 9000. Still, stayed in the tournament longer than the Pokertuber’s who regularly play these MTT’s, and despite some inexperience at the end of my run, I showed I could play well despite not really being sure of some factors.

However, I did find out that I tilt in online games. Strange, as I usually keep my cool in live MTT’s, where the chat is m0re frequent, perhaps because I am not seen by others, I go off.

The first hand shows AQ against a Calling Station. Nation and leejoon were the donkeys, I wouldn’t say anybody was that good but they were the worst two, the good thing being that they were two with some stacks. Flopping top-pair with this guy just calling was perfect, he had a draw or an A weaker than mine, and the fact he didn’t check-raise on the turn meant he had no set or two-pair, so I was more than happy to shove the river when a K comes, because he doesn’t have that (he raised big hands only)

He calls down with A4 and I double up early on.

I somehow manage to tilt 5000 off however, but get around to around 8500 when my AQ beats 99 (blinds 100/200, the CO limps, the DB raises to 2300! No way this is a monster hand, it’s AJ/AT or a mediocre pair, so I shove, he calls for 5000 total and I hit the nut-flush on the river, to reach 14500, maybe a little risky, but my read was correct and I am not out, and you need to accumulate chips early on to stand a chance. plus I was 55% if it’s JJ-66/AQ-AT, if it’s 99-66/AQ-AT, then I am 58% favourite, so it’s profitable long-term, though high variance.)

Leejoon had been pretty transparent with his bets. He bet small with made hands, he bet pot with semi-bluffs and pure-bluffs. The fact that it was a multi-way pot with a big pot wouldn’t matter, he had done it through0ut the MTT so far, but nobody had anything to pick the pot-bet bluff most of the time, hence why he had a stack.

Subaltern is a relatively tight player, so when he limps I decide to try to isolate in position with 85s, I can represent most high-card flops and he will likely fold, if not from a bet then from a two-barrel, or the flop comes middle cards and I actually hit, most likely getting a bluff from two high cards than a pair, and get some value.

Leejoon limps out-of-position (OOP), as he has always done, being a 46/6/3, he has no idea of positional awareness, the flop comes 5-6-8, two diamonds. Both opponents check. If it was just me an Subal on my right, I would C-bet this flop, probably 1800-2000, so his check-raise means I have to call, but would have odds to do so, though I expect to take this flop down unless he has KQ, at which case, I have at least 8 outs, plus a backdoor-straight draw. But Leejoon changes it, it’s not multi-way, and Lee-Joon had a habit to chasing gutshots against me, plus my action closes the action, so I took the free-card, hoping to hit a flush. The fact that Leejoon checked meant he probably missed and had no draw, except for a gutshot. And Subaltern, if he had a flush draw, was getting paid off by me if the turn gave a flush.

The turn is an Ad. I hit my flush, unless Subal has the Kd, he is most likely not drawing and therefore has missed, and one gutshot has hit, KT, for Leejoon. Then the perfect moment happened, Leejoon bet. Small. He hit, but I was pretty sure from previous history it wasn’t a flush, it was an Ace or K-T. So I raised pot, to get as much as I could out of Leejoon, he shoved, I called. And he turned over AKo for TP/TK, and drawing stone-cold dead. I really think he should have three-bet in this spot. But as I said, he had no positional awareness. This got me up to over 20000 and with 100BB’s at 100/200.

For this hand, I was a little surprised by Subaltern’s play. But one thing I had noticed at the early stages of this tournament, was that nobody had paid attention to others, and they were mostly Level 1 thinkers, looking at their hand and that’s it. I was surprised Subal called a 3-bet OOP with KTs, I had raised with some funky hands (though 85s has potential when IP.) but my 3-bets were with hands and I wasn’t going to 3-bet a tight player with junk, even with position when he bets in EP. His call means he has one pot-bet, so when J83 2-diamonds come, when he checks, it’s enough to shove. I have two over’s, a backdoor flush and backdoor straight. Maybe not enough to call with, though it’s possible I could, but by him checking, my shove gives me a little fold equity.

2 OC’s + BD-SD + BD-FD = 34% approx = around 2/1.

So any little fold-equity in this spot makes the move +EV, if he checked the J, it’s most likely going to be AJ/KJ/QJ. Against two of them, I have 21% equity, not great but possible, the QJ, I have the odds.

Unfortunately, he has KJs, again, I am surprised he did this and I wrote a note on him about it. I think my play was correct.

This hand I hold A3s, and there have been two limpers, I hold a hand that can flop huge or hit a draw to the nuts, or a wheel that is most likely the nuts (6-4 is very unlikely, so I can’t really be afraid of that.) The odds are good, so I limp in. The BB checks.

I flop two pair, on a drawy board. Flush draws are possible, JT/KT/KJ have gutshots and might call to see a turn card. So I need to bet out and protect my hand, plus, if someone has an Ace, I could really build up this pot. I bet 840 into 1110, perhaps a larger bet would have been more suffice but I still think it’s enough. Korneko then raises to 2795, pot-committing himself. It suggests a big hand, but thats unlikely. AQ would have probably bet pre-flop after limpers to take the dead money, AA/QQ also, so they are certainly not considered. The only hand beating me is 33 from the looks of this, out of the range of flush and staight draws he could be bluffing with. I shove, he calls, showing 96s for a flush draw. I am assuming that because I donk-lead out, my hand isn’t that strong, which I can understand. The only problem here I see, is that it is tough to think of a hand I might donk-lead out with, which I wouldn’t call his raise with, unless I have a really weak Ace, A8+ I would say beats his range for the reasons above. Additionally, I am betting into three opponents, not just one, so my hand has to have some strength in order to do it, a weak Ace would probably check/call for pot control and to prevent building a pot up against the bigger stacks. So this time, I don’t see fold equity there.

I like this hand, because mine was irrelevant, I would have done this with any two cards based on what I had seen. Gatsu had been raising my BB for quite a few times, and Stackjohns had been calling it wide, one hand showing Gatsu holding J9s and Stackjohns holding J7s for a split pot. The same thing happened here, and I decided that this is a pot worth stealing, and it was possible to do so with a small 3-bet, as I had been giving respect to their bets on my BB for quite some time, 3750 profit with no risk.

Here, Gatsu min-bets from the small blind, and Kiki calls, I hold a pocket pair with great implied odds to set-mine and I can easily let go to a re-raise or a dodgy flop. The flop is 833 and we all check round. The turn comes a seven and Kiki checks again, I decide I have to take a stab now as they have all shown weakness, so I bet around half-pot. Gatsu snap-calls and Kiki folds.

At this point the Ace comes down, which is a terrible card for me. I don’t put him on a pair, most likely two overcards, so it’s most likely AK or AQ in my view, so while it is the perfect bluffing card, it’s also the most likely card in his range. I decided to let it go, I think that was right, although I wonder what I would have done if a K, Q, or J hit, probably call the J and have to really think about the other two.

Four hands later, I get my money back and then some from Gatsu. Raising my BB again, I decide to defend with QJo. The flop gives me a straight, the nuts at this time. I decide to check to the raiser, who checks back. From this, I can deduce he doesn’t have a monster hand or hit this flop well, he would probably bet an Ace and a K would have some straight possibilities, I would also expect him to bet a flush, to represent the Ace. The turn is a six, I can’t give any more free cards, despite the blank, so I bet 2100. He calls. The flop is a 7d, again most likely a blank. He doesn’t have much, but he has something to make that call, a K or a T, maybe a weak A. I decide to bet 4800, because it gives my opponent 2.66/1, but also doesn’t look like a small value-bet, I am hoping he looks at the board and sees a plethora of busted draws and think I am bluffing, he calls with K-8 and I scoop a nice pot.

I make a standard raise with KQo on the CO and flop top-pair. I make a standard C-bet on the flop around 3/4 of the pot, and docaustin calls. The turn is likely a blank and while I could worry about AK/88 and 44, because of his high hand range/looseness. KQ will most likely be ahead in this spot and I shove to prevent free cards to draws.

Then the wheel falls off. I make this bad play with KQ for no reason whatsoever other than I dropped my focus. The min-bets were strange as well and I decided to call at the river for information. But yeah the turn call was dumb.

This hand has annoyed me since I played it. Again, it’s my over-aggression that causes this mistake. I am going to raise a lot now on the DB now that the blinds/antes are worth stealing, but folding is certainly an option. The flop gives me mid pair. And he donks out half-pot. I am unsure of what he would check/bet out, but I figure he can’t take a raise, and shove over him. Wrong. He holds a set of 2’s (2-2, my fav hand, it fucked me over lol.) and on second thoughts, I could call the flop, and re-evaluate on the turn, but thats where my inexperience comes in. But as a railer said to me on Skype, props to him for donking out, it disguises his hand well.

The next hand sees me out. I raise to isolate a limper, he had been doing it a lot and he calls my raise. The flop comes Q-4-3 and my opponent pot-bets out. He either min-bet or pot-bet, a very strange game but it was working. Because of the previous hand it makes it difficult to evaluate this. He knows I may be tilting, was I?, I am not sure because of his play meaning Q-J would be good in this spot (he had pot-bet-bluffed.), but if he had a set, this is the time to do it. This is where inexperience comes in. I haven’t been in this spot before and I was unable to get my head around it.

That was that, all of a sudden out. But, for my first proper MTT for a very long time, and my first 6-max MTT, I am happy how most of it went. MTT poker is like that, a lot of good play, one/two (ok three in a row.) bad moves and then you’re out. But I’ve learnt from it and will be more prepared next time.

  • If you feel off your normal way, while maybe not on tilt, you’re not fully-focused, so play tight and back off a little bit.
  • If you are on tilt, do the same.

Goof luck at the tables!

Perrygarl.

Read Full Blog Post

Rocky – The speech for life and poker.

Date: Sat, May 15, 2010 Internet

You got to love Rocky films.

You can’t judge it like a regular film, it’s just too inspirational. So imagine when Rocky Balboa, the last film, was good as well.

Here’s the best inspirational speech from the film, about when things go against your way.

<\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt="">

Read Full Blog Post

Mini-FTOPS #22 – Perry entered, so it’s a lock….?

Date: Fri, May 14, 2010 Internet

I have recently been staked by my good friend Connectorz from Pokertube (www.pokertube.com) into the M-FTOPS#22, a 6-Max NLHE MTT.

6-Max is not my speciality, if you remember my previous attempts at cash games, but like the APAT, this is an opportunity I can’t really pass. The APAT event and perhaps this will interfere with my own challenge, but the opportunity to win a good sum of money can’t be passed.

Connectorz offered a deal, that he receives:

  • 50% – Up to $200
  • 40% – Up to $1000
  • 30% - $1000+

I hit him back with a counter-offer:

  • 50% – Up to $1000
  • 40% - $1000+

He scratched his head, said it’s a deal, I folded my arms in triumph, then heard something drop. Turned out to be a penny.

Seriously though, I gave him a better offer this time around, because unlike other players he might stake, I’m a unproven player. I am not exactly sure why he’s doing this, perhaps it’s a combination of blind faith, the fact I have shown to do well in slow tournaments, and that as he said, if he has three players going for the 1st prize instead of just himself, then he has a better chance to make money.

Because I am unproven, I didn’t want to short-change him. I would have been happy with 50/50, but I think his idea makes sense, because the player does more than the staker, but I think 50/50 is for those who are truly unproven, because he needs a decent pay-out to balance the large possibility that the player won’t cash.

Here, I gave him a better deal because of my poker credit score, essentially. But if I do well, and I cash for a significant amount, I hope to use his deal more often, when I have a proven track-record.

However, after this MTT, I am going straight back to studying SNG’s this month, because I need to catch-up with the challenge, the last two months have been pretty poor in terms of volume so I need to get back on track.

Good luck at the M-FTOPS #22 if you’re playing.

Perrygarl.

Read Full Blog Post

April – Poor

Date: Sat, May 1, 2010 Internet

April Graph

I could only manage to play 73 SNG’s last month, with a loss of $27.40.

Quite a few things went wrong in April for me, so this wasn’t much of a problem. Hopefully May will be an improvement.

Quite talk right now. Have other things to sort out.

Good luck at the tables!

Perrygarl.

Read Full Blog Post

Dropping Down

Date: Wed, Apr 28, 2010 Internet

I have decided that for next month, I am going to truly grind, by playing the $2.25 SNG’s, so that I have a better bankroll.

I still have around $450, from the top of my head. But, my ROI for the $5.50 is still uncertain. So rather than risk a massive downswing, I am going to drop to $2.25, be super-rolled, and that will prevent me from taking a daily downswing hard.

I am also doing this to really use this next month to grasp SNG’s once and for all. Get the volume going and start to make regular profitable months, preferably in the three-figure margin like February (ah…..February, it seems so long ago now.)

Matt has taken quite a knock in the bankroll, so this may be gifting him an opportunity to break-even, but at the same time, this prop-bet wasn’t just to win, it was to get the other to succeed at his challenge as well. I sincerely hope he does.

Played a Pokertube MTT for a chance to play at the Spanish Poker Tour. Around 50 players paid to play, I was knocked out relatively early. After my flopped straight got all the money in against a set, he turned a boat, leaving me crippled. Managed to get back with 86 against KJ, then 3-bet shoved to win some pots with confrontation.

However, one had sees Chizza of Pokertube bet out on the button, I shove with TT and he calls with AK. The flop is safe, but the turn is an Ace to knock me out.

Those hands go my way, I get a massive stack and feel confident about my chances, the same as the APAT. But like APAT, I did get with 86. That’s tournament poker, you do need that little bit of luck, I haven’t got mine, yet. But it will come.

Looking forward to the SNG’s now, get back in the routine, uni and other games have got in the way, ah well, back to the grind.

Good luck at the tables.

Perrygarl.

Read Full Blog Post

A Life low.

Date: Sun, Apr 25, 2010 Internet

Recently, I had to make a tough decision. I decided I had to drop out of university.

Because of a number of problems at the start of the year with finance and accommodation, it left me only being able to stay at the student campus for about two-and-a-half months from the end of the year, and the commuting made it very difficult to study, visit tutors and handle the workload.

It annoys me, I wanted that degree. But I am content with it. There are things I need to sort out about myself first. My confidence lacks, and at times affects my attitude and my performance with whatever I do. Not good for university, or for a future career.

The last five years have been manic last-minute decisions, placing me in courses I did not consider at the time, not being able to do the course I wish to have done and not enjoying a university experience which should be some of the best years of a young person’s life.

So I decided I needed to get out now and just do some regular full-time work, then in that time decide my best course of action. What do I want to do for my work? career? life?

So despite this being a low, I expect this to make my life a high in the long-run.

This leaves me to do things I want to do while I work. Like get into shape, learn Korean, learn a new sport, really delve into this challenge. While I do that, I am going to get a tonne prospectuses to look at an NCTJ Pre-Entry Certificate, and see if that's right for me (it’s what a lot of media organisations are looking for in potential employees.)

As for poker, seeing as Matt has had an unfortunate run, I am going to take it easy this month, and also learn about SNG’s more. I certainly have a boost of confidence in my game after APAT, so I am looking to make a good score for May.

I have got Moshman’s and Shaw’s SNG books off the shelf, plus “Poker Tournament Formula” for fast multi-table MTT’s and “Kill Everyone” to read it’s SNG section.

Good luck at the tables.

Perrygarl.

Read Full Blog Post

"The Revelation" – Doubt that will become my nickname.

Date: Wed, Apr 21, 2010 Internet

Had to post this up. The winner of the tournament wrote a lengthy post and it included me (hooray for notification), almost as good as the time Doyle Brunson told me to not bother him (actually true, WSOPE at the Empire, waited so long for a photo too.)

http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=5841.msg99487#msg99487

Also, here’s a couple of photos of me in the tournament:

Perry APAT

Day 1 – Something went well.

Perry APAT 2

Day 2 – Obviously, something had not gone well.

Read Full Blog Post

APAT Review – After time to think.

Date: Wed, Apr 21, 2010 Internet

Sorry for the late reply, it’s taken a while to think it through.

6th place in the end, out of 153 players. £600, in your first 2-day structured event. You would think I would be happy with that.

Not entirely.

I have always been a competitive guy, so I am still a little gutted that I couldn’t win the tournament. At the same time, being my first 2-day MTT, there was most likely going to be some huge holes in my MTT game. If I could, I would have played some MTT’s online, but never had the time to. It turned out there were a couple of regular winners on the APAT MTT still in the final two tables, and one player who had cashed in a WSOP event, so to have got that close, I can live with that for now.

A guy came up to me after tournament, he knew my name somehow, and he apologised for what happened. The only problem was, I couldn’t figure out who he was. He wasn’t the drunk guy who mocked me most of the time (I think he was drunk), that guy was taller and younger. It was the guy who went mental and stormed off, that guy was heavy-set. Then it hit me

“QJ” I sort of shouted shockingly….yeah I know, smooth right.

Yeah, he was apologising because he thought I thought he blew him off afterwards. I understood, he felt like a bus hit him, I knew that because, a few hands after, where I had lost a 96/4 favourite on the flop, I felt the same way when half my stack was pushed to my opponent. It turned out he thought I had JJ as well, then wondered why the chips were pushed to me when the Q hit the river, and then moved closer to see my hand. He understood why I made the move, he had been 3-betting me quite a bit, and I decided to stand my ground. Unfortunately, it’s hard to stand your ground when your opponent is on a mountain of a hand. I told him I should be the one apologising but thanked him for coming up. It was a little bit of closure to know he understood my hand, chances are, with how I saw him play, he would have gone deep. I had tried to shake his hand and apologize, but there were too many people in the way to get to him. I decided it would be best to keep quiet and stay where I was.

Day Two didn’t get off in the best of starts, after shoving in a short-stack raise from the CO on the BB with JJ. The same short-stack shoved in which turned out to be 33 the next hand. Standard. I look down on the small blind with 99. I shove over the top. Standard. The BB wakes up with AA and shoves his short-stack. Standard for him, sick bastard cooler for me. I gained a tiny amount in that hand, so I didn’t lose anything, but I worried that it might be an omen.

I raised 77 UTG in a full table when I had about 220,000. The loose-aggressive big stack, raised me to 22000. He had still been playing the LAG game, but I had to be wary that he was raising my UTG bet, when I had showed some strong hands. Seeing that he was LAG, and that he might have a hand that pays off a set, I took a shot with set-mining. I missed the set, and decided to play safe.

Then, the table got worse for me, between me and the LAG-Big stack came a guy called John Murray, a regular at the APAT, multiple cashes, similar stack to mine and had caused me trouble on the first table. In position, out of position, against a LAG or TAG, he knew what he was doing. I was forced to tighten up and wait for hands. I found AK, bet, mucked the hand to collect the chips, then realised that who I thought was the BB, wasn’t, I gifted a player 14000 chips….bugger.

Then a strange hand. I bet on the DB with K7, the LAG-big stack on the BB raises, and I shove. He dwells, then calls, with K7! A surprise for the rest of the table, they cannot believe how we just got our chips in. He even has the chance to draw out with a flush on the river, though misses. Should he have called, no. Should I have shoved, probably not, the hand is too weak, I would probably say A2+ KTs+ KJ+ 55+ QJs+, due to his style meaning I have a great chance to double up.

Got into a Blind vs blind race for all my chips. My AT against my opponent’s 55, with my hand hitting a boat.

On the final table, the first hand was make-or-break for John Murray, and myself. With A-K suited I raised UTG, John shoved for all but 80000 of my chips, about 10BB I believe.

This wasn’t the best situation. John had been relatively to me and I was pretty sure he had a good hand. I asked for a chip count and he said 96000. I had 2/1, I have to call. He turns over QQ, that’s cool, 50/50, glad it wasn’t KK or AA, If I win, Murray is out and I am close to the chip leader, with a great shot to win. If John wins, I am crippled and he has a great shot to win. His hand holds up.

I get fortunate in another blind vs blind moment, his K5s ahead of my QJo, with a KJx flop making my bust likely, when a Q hits the river for a second time for me. QJ has been faithful to me.

Then I get KK, raise, fortunate for the player to my left holding AQs and knowing I’ve been pretty loose. I win that pot. Then a strange moment occurred. Another blind vs blind moment, I look down at A7 after being raised. I decided I was going to raise back, I took two stacks of chips and pushed forwards, was about to say the amount, then the dealer told me I had made a string bet and could only put one of the stacks in. I had min-raised. I was a little sceptical of this, as I thought I had grabbed two stacks and moved forward, though one was slightly delayed than the other, but not one at a time, the stacks were also close so I had to move one forward to get the other. The flop came something like 9-8-3 or something, and my opponent shoved. I thought for a bit, then decided to fold, generally, they aren’t going to be bluffing after this, as they expect you to call, and I had enough to keep going, but I questioned the dealer of his decision, and was told by an APAT player that I could have made an enquiry. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware of enquiries, but I probably would have done so if I knew. I understand why he thought it was, but it wasn’t one of a time, and you have to consider the fact a stack gets moved forward to get to others, if he had given time, I was going to voice my total amount. But again that happens. It turned out the guy might have had 99 for top-set, so cool I didn’t, saved some chips, but that’s not the point.

The final hand was raising AQ in early position, get raised by the LAG big-stack and I shoved, he insta-called and showed AK. No lucky Queen this time, and I am out in 6th.

9th to 4th was the same flat payout of £600. In the end, John Murray won. Amazingly the big stack didn’t make it heads-up, he came 3rd. I don’t know what the hands were, but that is surprising, there were some moves I thought he shouldn’t have done, but it’s easy after hindsight, we’ve all made mistakes in the tournament, I know I did, and sometimes you get lucky, that’s poker.

I thought in the end, John deserved to win, he seemed the best player on the table in my view. He had many close finishes but hadn’t closed it up. Now, I hold that mantle with all the close runs in these small tournaments lol.

What have I learnt:

  1. Go as far as the table will let you. At the beginning, the table was weak with only one player to worry about. I raised and took initiaive against the weaker players as much as possible to increase my stack.
  2. Go with your instincts and intuition – I made a call with K-J for half my stack on A-K-5 board, when he overshoved all-in, and was correct. I did the same when I called a 4-bet all-in with TT on the BB against the DB, he had 83o, and I knew when I 3-bet, I was putting myself in 4-bet-bluff territory (it turned out he had been a maniac on that table when I moved there, feature table as well, and he hits two-pair, how come 83 and 72 were the hands that almost crushed me.
  3. You need a general game (what you’re used to), your table game (how you play the table) and your game against individual players (are they better than most? previous history? spotted leaks/tells?)
  4. Aggression is key. One player got his chips in all the time with the best hand, but he was only waiting for those hands to come, in the end, he was short-stacked the whole time and didn’t give himself the opportunity to win.
  5. Try to play as many cheap flops as the table will allow, those deceptive sets, two pairs and straights are going to get you more than the AA and KK’s you get that early on, but you have to read the situation well for when you hit marginal hands.
  6. Some players want an excuse to fold, give them a reason to. Some players want an excuse to outplay them, give them the opportunity, give them some rope.

I am glad I got to the final table. I am glad that I used some of the winnings to get a 22’ monitor for work and poker. I am glad I was not dubbed “Harry Potter of Poker”, though one said it on the APAT forum.

For all who can, play in the APAT, or something similar to it in your country, I promise you, it will improve your game.

Now, I am going to save up for another tournament in the APAT, if not this year, then the next. I will certainly try to become a regular when the full-time work happens and I can afford to do so.

Hope you have as much luck at the tables as I did.

Perrygarl.

Edit – Just found out they have an APAT all-time money list on Hendon Mob.com, not on the top 100 but I now have my own Hendon Mob thread, saying I am England’s 5000+ all-time money winner, meaning there is 65 million or more people in the UK, who haven’t played an APAT event.

One time, when the career has begun and the money rolls in, I will try and become a regular.

Read Full Blog Post

APAT UK Amateur Championship – In Day 2 –Crunch Time.

Date: Sun, Apr 18, 2010 Internet

2000/4000/200

20 Players left.

Perry Garland – 2nd in chips – 146100

I am amazed how well it has gone so far. Since this is my first 2-day event, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I got took to school quickly, yet, I’ve more than held my own.

If you read the APAT Live Updates, you will see a hand where I got super-lucky with QJ vs JJ, spiking a queen on the river (the Obrestad special, maybe that’s a sign.)

Yes, I have played a LAG-style game. raising with a lot of strange holdings to the others. At the same time, only two players that I have seen has been able to keep it in control, the others have just let me go on a tear.

The first table I was on was easy, bar an Irish fella directly on my left (who, it turns out, is part of Team APAT, if I knew that, I wouldn’t have talked to him about other hands lol, seriously though he’s been a genuinely nice guy to me )

The rest were ABC players, so after the bout of nerves had gone when I had started, I began to loosen up and trust my reads. I forgot the hands I had, some of them were funky, but at the beginning where the board read K-T-x, two clubs, having called my bet on the flop, and min-raised my turn bet, I couldn’t put him on a massive hand, as he probably would have re-raised the flop with most KQ/KJ/KT and raised pre-flop with AK. My assumption was he either had a weak King, or a draw, so I raised over his min-raise to around 3500, and he folds.

After attacking some blinds vigoously on my table, the same players shoved his stack on a AKJ two heart board. I am holding Seeing as again, the pre-flop action was calling my bet, I couldn’t put him on AK/AQ, I thought he was too tight to be playing QT, so the only hand I was worrying about was AJ against a multitude of draws, I call and he turns over Tc-9c, for a gutshot which would only split the pot. This leads to my stack to being around 19000 by first break, and by about 40000 in the second.

Then I pick a great spot, where my BB call with TT, is great against the DB 4-bet shove alo-in pre-flop with 83o (the guy had a good chip stack too, it turned out he was super-loose when I moved to the table), until a J-8-2-3 board shows, fortunately a J saves me on the river and the chips go where they should go.

Then the lucky QJ hand, then karma, as a super-maniac over-shoves around 60000 on an A-K-5 board. I have K-J, but he had been insanely LAG-gy, and after about 4 seconds thinking I called. He turned over 72o. The turn came a 3, the river a 4. I was down to about 50000.

10000 of that was lost when I moved to another table when I c-betted TT on a JJ8 two spade board, and got shoved on. But the LAG play worked well here with nobody, plus a nice win after flopping 2-pair with A6 on A-8-6, saw a frustrated player shove over the top of my bet with Q-T.

By the end of the day, I was back to my original stack, and more, with 146100, 2nd overall.

Today, I know the players I need to consider, and who will buckle to pressure, the key now is to keep my focus.

I am looking for a Top 3 finish minimum.

Good luck……for me!

Perry.

Read Full Blog Post

The Time is Now – APAT UK Amateur Championship 2010.

Date: Sat, Apr 17, 2010 Internet

The nerves have started to shake a little now.

Compared to the high-roller, big-money MTT’s you see your pros in, this is very little. However, for the “up-and-comer” (I stress the quotation marks, and probably you are too.) who wants to be able to play a tournament with a professional structure, and an affordable buy-in, the APAT series is the best amateur series for it.

For those of you who don’t know, the APAT is the Amateur Poker Association Tour, and started when a national outcry from pub poker players for better tournaments could be heard throughout the land.

I am totally unprepared for this, some MTT books I bought were delivered yesterday, so there was no time to read them and learn some MTT concepts. But I have been doing well in the casino tournaments, and I have a good shot if I do make it to the final table, with all the SNG play.

If you want to find out what’s happening:

APAT Live Updates - UK Amateur Championship

APAT TV - Final Table - 18th April - 2:00pm

Twitter - http://twitter.com/Perrygarl

Despite this being the first, I want to start off flying, and going to give it 1000% to try to win this.

Wish me luck all,

Perrygarl.

Read Full Blog Post