Getting Information Too Late
Date: Fri, May 9, 2008 Professional
Sometimes you find out about the extent of a situation just a little bit too late. This happened to me last night in a very interesting hand during the League tournament at Loose Cannon. I was up to 5k in chips (from 3.5), after having the fortune of being dealt Aces (no action) and Kings (plenty of action) back to back.
At this point Hugh sits down, having arrived late after work drinks. Hugh professed to being drunk, although there wasn't (at this stage) too much evidence that it was going to affect his play. Hugh wins a pot to get up to 4k and then this interesting hand occurs:
I get KcQh UTG. I hate this hand really, as it's a trap hand, so I just limp for 100 to see how cheap the flop is going to be for me. Hugh raises to 300 and Shazbo calls in the small blind. I call to make the pot 1000 and we go to the flop:
Flop Kh, 10h, 8h
Great flop for me, as I have top pair, decent kicker and the Queen heart draw.
Shazbo and I check and Hugh bets 500. Shazbo calls, and I think about shoving here, but my stack is a little bit big to do it. If I raise and either one shoves on me, it's likely they have at least the Ace of hearts, perhaps a made flush or AK, in which case I have to probably call knowing I'm behind.
I decide to call, and see what develops on the turn (I am praying for the Ace of hearts to give me the nuts, or perhaps the Jack of hearts, to give me made flush and royal redraw if either player has the Ace. Pot is 2500.
Turn is a black 4.
Shazbo checks, as do I because I'm trying to figure out what Hugh is up to, and Hugh responds by betting 2k. Shazbo dwells and passes. I hate this spot. I have zero fold equity as Hugh only has 1k behind, and if we get it all in and I lose I will be crippled and down to about 1.5k.
This hand is one I have given a lot of thought to, both at the time and since. Hugh is normally a very solid tight player, who plays premium starting hands agressive. A classic TAG I guess. The hands I like to play against him are odd hands like 46, 57 etc, because I want to be in a spot where I know I am ahead of a big starting hand and can hopefully get his whole stack if he overplays AA for example. The worst hand to play against Hugh is a trap hand like KQ, KJ or JQ because you will generally be getting yourself in a spot where you have hit, but there is a decent chance you are behind, as was the case here.
Hugh's likely hands:
AK, no hearts - I think Hugh would be more cautious here with the hearts out and 2 calls, but possible as he knows myself or Shazbo may have the bare Ace of hearts, and that's the reason we are hanging around.
AK, with Ace hearts - I think this is most likely - Hugh is afraid of the hearts but has the nut draw to back him up, if he has been unfortunate enough to run up against a made flush. Betting makes sense as Hugh can be agressive with his redraw and TPTK.
AA - possible - makes sense with betting, particularly if one is Ace hearts.
AJ hearts - Hugh has played this hand too agressively to have this, he would try and trap I think
QQ/JJ - unlikely - board is too scary for Hugh to be betting like this.
KK/TT - makes sense - afraid of the flush draw but with a made set may have taken the stance to play agressive to stop someone with a lone heart drawing out, but also with the redraw to a house if someone has a made flush.
From the above, I figure I'm in pretty bad shape despite my apparently strong hand. I put Hugh on AhKx, in which case I am drawing to 2 outs. I pass and Hugh shows...............QQ. Wow - I am really surprised and have clearly made a bad pass, but it was made with my read on Hugh as a tight solid player, who wouldn't put his chips on the line like this without really strong hand.
I then get the extra information I mentioned at the start. Hugh has to move tables - as he goes over there he stumbles into the side table, and catapults two of his new tablemates dinners onto the floor behind the dealer. He is slightly more drunk than I realised! The uber agressive play with the Queens on a flushing board is making sense now! Oh well - would have been good to have that information before the pot. Never mind. The fold was correct the normally sober Hugh, just not in this situation.
That hand was the most interesting thing that occurred during the tournament. My stack mostly stayed average, but with 6 players from 22 remaining I became short stacked and had to shove A9 and was called by Maltese Mike with a big stack holding AJ and I was done for the night.
I did have a small win on the cash game (£22) playing a bizarre combination of IronCross, 5 Card Omaha River Blood and 3-2-1 Omaha. I also won 2 last longest bets for £5 so it was almost a flat night. Not sure where these go, so I have added a "sundry" category to my P&L which includes these items, together with any sponsorship received so far this year.
Next stop..............GeordieLand. Next week I'll blog the £200 warm up event followed by the Main Event.
PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,020
Live Holdem Cash (2,211)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (760)
Online Holdem Tournaments 53,932
Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Sundry 814
Rake (1,827)
60,433
The Lab Rats Died Again
Date: Thu, May 8, 2008 Professional
"Day one thousand and one. Blood tests confirm that I remain immune to both airbourne and contact strains. Vaccine trails continue. I'm still unable to transfer immunity to infected hosts. The Krippen Virus is........elegant"
I attempted to re-invent my cash strategy once again last night with the usual results. I feel like Mr Smith, making constant minor or major adjustments to my vaccine, only to wake up in the morning to find my lab rats dead again.
Last night's experiment was to play short stacked at £50, with rebuys in the pocket if needed. This style had been patented over several centuries by wiley cash game veteran Sonny O.
The preceding tournament followed the usual course for me at the moment. I built up a decent stack for the final table, and played pretty well overall, if a little cautiously. I got lucky early on, turning a set of 6s against Sir Mike's two pair and doubling up but, predictably, when the big tournament hand arrived it went against me. This time I really should have been good - AK v AQ against the Professor in the blinds, but unfortunately a Queen took me almost down to the felt. I busted to Fluke soon after with 9T verses A8.
And so to the experiment - it all blew up in two hands.
Hand1
Holdem
I limp in late position with 4h5h
3 callers involved and then Sonny raises to £5. Everyone calls, as do I.
Flop 2h3h3c
Mark P bets £15 and I push for my £45 remaining, with my open ended straight flush. Mark calls with pocket 6s and I miss the lot.
Hand2
Omaha
I call a raise to £2 with 8c8dTc7d along with 4 others
Flop is J, A, 9 rainbow
Sonny bets £8 and I call
Turn Q
Sonny bets £20 and, although I am worried about K10 I decide to push with my straight for £20 more.
Sonny calls and has 4 pairs so lots of outs, and the Jack hits the river to give him the house.
Not much opportunity for me to play cash now for a couple of weeks. It's the league tonight, and then two tournaments next week in Newcastle. Perhaps I'll have time to work on the vaccine while I am away...........
PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,130
Live Holdem Cash (2,211)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (760)
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Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,827)
59,739
Looking for Clues
Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 Professional
It's been a pretty ropey 6 weeks since the Irish Open. I looked back and it seems to be three cashes (albeit one win) in 12 tournaments, which isn't really good enough. I suppose these runs happen, but I thought I'd look back over the tournament knock out hands to see where things were going wrong. I really don't feel like I am playing badly, certainly not like the October/November period last year, when my game went to pot in a hyper LAG experimental stage. Data is displayed below, but from some quick analysis:
Bad points
I am getting into too many race situations (which I am losing)
I am overvaluing medium pocket pairs
Good points
I am generally the aggressor in exit hands
I am rarely in worse shape than a coin flip
Eliminations are occurring generally late in tournaments around bubble area
Of course, all this data is of limited use taken in isolation, because you have to account for stack sizes, player reads, payout structures and blinds. The data is below, most recent tournament first, displaying hand matchup (mine first), whether I was aggressor or caller, and also whether elimination was early or late in the tournament (late being final 9 players).
Tournament1: AK v AQ v JJ, Aggressor, Early
Tournament2: AJ v A10, Aggressor, Late
Tournament3: T2 v A5, Aggressor, Late (cashed)
Tournament4: TT v A5, Caller, Late
Tournament5: 99 v QQ, Caller, Late
Tournament6: Mid pair with Ace v Set, Aggressor, Late
Tournament7: Winner
Tournament8: Top pair with Ace v Flush draw, Caller, Early
Tournament9: 22 v AK, Aggressor, Late
Tournament10: 88 v KQ, Aggressor, Late (cashed)
Tournament11: 99 v AK, Aggressor, Late
Tournament12: J10 v 77, Aggressor, Late
Good Idea - Terminal Outcome
Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 Professional
Thomas Cromwell was a genius. Methodical, detached, calculating - he was the thought tank behind much of Henry VIII's reign, and revolutionised government in England. Already popular with his ruthless King, he sought to cement his position following the death of Jane Seymor, by securing a 4th wife for 'ol Henry.
This is where his ingenuity came into play. English wives were out of the question - Cromwell had already hacked off the English noblemen with his streamlined new government (clearly he did not want to strengthen an enemy's position). Catholics where not an option either, as his boss had already stuck his fingers up at the Pope during the Katherine of Aragon debacle. Eureka! "If I marry him into the Protestant German nobility" mused Cromwell "it will forge a diplomatic alliance against the European Catholic powers. The boss will be most pleased".
Undoubtedly a fine plan, but Cromwell hadn't factored in the painting style of the artist he sent over to "capture the beauty" of Anne of Cleves. It seems he adopted a bit of creativeness in his work, and happy Henry finalised his marriage on the basis of the painting. Upon meeting her face to face, it seems Henry experienced the medieval version of "who the hell is that lying next to me?". It was the beginning of the end for Mr Cromwell and he was executed within a year. Cromwell had come up with an idea that could have benefited England on a global scale, but it ended up costing his life.
And so on to the Better Poker tournament last night - £50 freezeout, and 3k guaranteed so not to be sniffed at. 55 runners, so Better only just fell short of their guarantee, but the field contained several beginners and the action was fast and loose.
I had already suffered a bad beat with QQ v K9 all in preflop in a 1800 pot, when my "Cromwell Hand" occurred:
I am back up to 2800 (from a 3500 start) after winning a few small pots after the QQ nonsense. I am UTG and get dealt AcKc.
I decide to limp for 200, and the person next to act raises to 800. Now, normally I'd flat call him here when it is folded round to me, because if an Ace comes on the flop, if he has a weaker Ace, it is virtually impossible for him to put me on AK, and I will likely win all his chips.
However, I am forced to change the plan when THREE other people call the raise to 800. Since there is now 3700 in the pot before I have decided what to do, a unique opportunity has presented itself. I actually have to chance to execute a squeeze play with a premium hand. Make no mistake, when I push for 2000 more I don't want any callers, because of the size of the pot. However, my actions certainly look like AA or KK rather than AK, and it is pretty hard for people to call without really strong hands, even given the size of the pot.
I give it a little thought and decide to push (I really think there is no other option here given the way the hand has played out), but unfortunately I am called in two spots by JJ and AQ. In fairness, they both give it a bit of thought before doing so, and incredibly it's the AQ with scoops the 10k plus pot as two Queens rain down on the flop to bust me and the JJ holder.
Good idea, terminal outcome.
PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
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Live Omaha 110
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Home Games (760)
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Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,817)
60,199
Home Game IV
Date: Mon, May 5, 2008 Professional
The latest installment of the home game provided the usual mix of alcohol, a deep stacked tournament and a hyper agressive short handed holdem/omaha/irish cash game. In attendance were myself, Shazbo, Fluke, Maltese Mike, Sir Mike, Honest Dave, Tom, Briony, Jody, Jason, Uncle Paulie and Professor Geoff.
The tournament started with 10k in chips and 30 minute blinds, so plenty of room for manouver. However, this didn't stop the other table going potty during the first two levels, the action likely caused by Tom. Professor Geoff and Briony were early casualties in the tournament.
I placed 3rd to sneak into the cash and a £200 payout, so doubling my money. A few key hands:
Hand1
I raise with A9 to 300 on the button and it's called by Fluke in the BB.
Flop 10, J, 4
Check, Check
Turn Q to give me a ton of outs
Check Check
River is a 5
I bet 400 hoping to steal the pot, but Fluke makes a hero call with Ace high. However, my 9 kicker luckily secures the pot.
I bumble along to the final table, winning a number of small pots and, at that point, a number of key hands occur
Hand2
Folded round to Jason in the SB who limps (blinds 300/600). I am relatively short stacked on about 6k so I push to pick up the 1200 in the pot with A9. Pretty questionable play, and I am instacalled by Jason with A10, who limped anticipating this move. However, a 9 arrives on the flop and all is well - Jason now shortstacked.
Hand3
Fluke raises UTG to 1800. Folded round to me in the BB and I flat call with QQ.
Flop 10, 7, 2
I check, Fluke pushes for about 5k and I instacall. Fluke is drawing pretty thin with AJ and the Queens hold to elimate him. The check on the flop did the trick there - Fluke was relatively short stacked after suffering a bad beat to Shazbo a few hands earlier.
Hand4
Infuriating hand. Shazbo raises to 1800 on the button (we are down to 5 players). I flat call in the BB for 1200 more with 8h9h. At this stage I have worked up to about 22k in chips after the Fluke elimination.
Flop 8s, 4d, Jh
I bet 3k and it's called
Turn 9s
Check Check
River As
I have two pair and am feeling pretty good about the hand. I check to give Shazbo the chance to bluff, but what I wasn't expecting was for her to bet 150% of the pot by going all in for 14k. Horrible situation - if I call and lose I am crippled and down to about 3k. Not much makes sense but perhaps I've let her river a flush. Set? Doubtful as she would have bet the turn with the straight and flush draws. Q10 perhaps? I pass and am shown pocket 3s. Gutted. This hand costs me the chance of winning the tournament, as Maltese Mike and Jody are very deep stacked.
While I dribble down to about 8k, Shazbo is elimated, so at least I make the money. The blinds catch up with me so fast tough, because I am the short stack and we are only 3 handed. I end up pushing from the SB with 10s2d but get called by Jody in the BB with Ace rag.
The second tournament I am eliminated in 4th place (I think). It was a blind v blind battle my AJ verses Tom's A10. The ten on the river was particularly galling, because not only had I missed out on the chance to cash in the tournie, but also had a £50 last longest bet with Tom, so the river card was a £100 card!
That brought me back to level for the night, but the cash game would cost me £150, so my dodgy run in April continues. I started nicely, but then suffered a disasterous Omaha hand described below, against Honest Dave. This hand also had implied tilt odds built into it, as after that hand I spent an hour happily tilting off anoth £70 or so to Dave, in a heads up game which finished at about 7am. It was a heavy night, and such was the severity of my hangover that I had to abandon plans to play the Sunday night online tournaments, which was a shame. Anyway:
Omaha Disaster Hand:
We are playing 4 handed, I think, and I have about £250 after a decent start. Dave is playing about £100 after losing a few recent pots. Memory is a lttle hazy at this stage in the morning, as myself and Dave have been drinking some weird lemon spirit for the last few hours, so Dave is invited to fill in any details of the hand in the comments if there are any inaccuracies ;)
Dave raises in the SB to £8. I call with 6c, 8d, 9d, 5c, and there is one other caller
Flop is 6s, 7s, Kd giving me bottom pair and a wrap straight draw
Dave bets the pot for £24 which I call and other player drop out - pot is £72
Turn is 10h giving me the nuts.
Dave bets £50 and I push, but Dave only has about £8 behind so makes the call.
He has (I think) Qs, 4s, 3d, Ad which gives him middle pin nut straight draw, togetger with Queen flush draw
River is a spade, and the £190 pot heads off to Honest Dave. Win that pot and it would have been a profitable night. Ah well. It's predominantly a tournament week this week, with 3 Loose Cannon tournies on consecutive nights. Hopefully I will achieve at least one cash to try and get some momentum going ahead of Newcastle, otherwise I'll be playing the UKPT as one of the most out of form players in the field!
PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,430
Live Holdem Cash (1,901)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (760)
Online Holdem Tournaments 53,932
Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,817)
60,359
Losing Key Pots
Date: Fri, May 2, 2008 Professional
A disappointing couple of the nights down at the Loose Cannon. I played in two tournaments, and felt like I was playing well in both, building a decent chip stack. However, when the crucial pots came I missed out - one was a bad decision, the other was a bad beat. I'm not too disappointed, as at least I am getting into decent positions in tournaments, so hopefully a run of cashes will be just around the corner.
On the Wednesday, I had built myself up to about 7k from a starting stack of 2.5k. I then lost a medium size pot with 5 players left to go back down to 4k when the following hand came up. Blinds were 200-400 and I was in the Big Blind. It was folded round to the small blind, who put me all in! I looked down to see pocket 9s. I couldn't imagine he would do this with a big pair, so I figured he had AK/AQ in which case it would be a race, but I also thought there was a decent chance he would do this with 77 or 88 (him being the big stack and just looking to bully). I called, and he turned over QQ. Wow. A clever bet on his part I suppose, as he disguised the strength of his hand with the overbet, and was lucky enough that I woke up with a hand.
On Thursday I again began strongly, and was just getting some momentum up, with my stack sitting at 7k. Blinds were 200-400 and Hugh pushed all in for about 3.5k from early position. I pushed over the top of him with pocket tens but unfortunately was beaten out by A5. The final table started pretty much straight afterwards, and I drew seat 3 so was straight into the big blind at 300-600 and I never recovered. Busted out soon afterwards pushing with 77 and being called by 99.
A busy poker week coming up now. I am hosting a home game on Saturday, which features some pretty wild and agressive players, so the cash game post tournament should be fun. Sunday I am taking the opportunity to play the big online Sunday tournaments, because it is the bank holiday on the Monday. I am particularly looking forward to this, because I just haven't had enough time to play online recently, and these Sunday tournaments, while featuring huge fields, offer the chance of a big payday if you get a decent run going. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be spent at the Loose Cannon, as I play the Better Poker event, City 100 and the League on the three respective nights. The week after that I leave for Newcastle to play in the UKPT, which will be a decent warm up for WSOP.
PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,430
Live Holdem Cash (1,901)
Live Omaha 110
Live "Professional" Tournaments (10,291)
Home Games (460)
Online Holdem Tournaments 53,932
Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,817)
60,659
Provisional Vegas Schedule
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008 Professional
Vegas looks like it's going to be brilliant this year. I'd love to be able to stay for the full 6 weeks of WSOP, but will have to make do with 10 days. All the other casinos seem to have cottoned on to the fact that the WSOP simply doesn't offer great structures at the lower buy-ins, and there are numerous tournaments all over town which offer deep starting stacks, and reasonable buy ins. What the blind levels will be like in these tournaments remains to be seen, but I have heard the Venetian has a particularly slow one.
I've put together a schedule for the trip below - I've opted for all no limit holdem, because I haven't had enough time to practise Omaha this year, so entering big buy-in Omaha tournaments is likely to be negative expected value for me at the present time. My schedule may change, of course, depending on how many second days I make, and also, if I win early on, I may give the 10k heads-up championship event a bash. Failing that, this is what we are looking at:
8 June $540 Caesars
9 June $500 Binnions
10 June $540 Venetian
11 June $5,000 WSOP Event Rio
12 June $2,000 WSOP Event Rio
13 June $2,500 Venetian
14 June $250 Binnions
15 June $3,000 WSOP Event Rio
16 June $225 Caesars
Add to this 500 dollars for a few smaller "fun" tournaments, plus a 1,500 USD cash poker budget and I think we are looking a great few days. Stamina will be one of the biggest challenges to be faced - with 12pm starts every day, it will be vital not to be out on the pop too late into the Vegas mornings. Easier said than done..........
I am back on the live tournament trail for the next 2 nights, probably both times at Loose Cannon - I'll blog them later in the week.
PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008
Live Holdem Tournaments 3,590
Live Holdem Cash (1,661)
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Home Games (460)
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Online Holdem Cash 17,026
Online Omaha 630
Rake (1,801)
61,075