Another Deep Run in the FTP 750K

Date: Mon, Jul 28, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

I had another deep run in the FTP 750K, but this time it was a very bittersweet ending. I was thinking just a few days ago that I haven't seemed to get big stacks early lately, and then boom, I was chipleader when we made the money in the FTP 750K and I was top 15 in chips or so in the 100RB.

I was simply super hot in the 750K. I just couldn't lose a pot. Once I got a big stack, my opponents continued to want to battle me as if they thought I was just pushing around my big stack, when in fact, I had some good hands most of the time. With about 800 players left, I went and made a post at ITH to let people know so they could rail me if they wanted. Of course once I did that I never had a higher chip count, lol. From that point, I had about 80-90K, I just sort of hung around 70-80K for a long time and then dipped to 50-60K. I got as low as 35K and then doubled up. But at that point I was well below average. Finally I was just so short-stacked I had to take some gambles. I don't think I gave away a lot of chips just because I was chip leader, it was just one of those cases where I couldn't get any hands and my opponents weren't shying away from me.

It was an interesting tourney in that I saw some of the worst play I have seen in quite some time during the early-middle stages. However, once there were 120 players or so I thought the play was quite good. It seemed much better than the play of the top 40 back in April when I won that tourney.

Despite the let down near the end, this was my 3rd top 100 this year in that particular tourney.

Over at Stars, I continue to run really bad there. I just always seem to take brutal beats over at Stars where at FTP I often run good. Not sure why that is but I hope it will turn around soon as I would really like to make some deep runs in the Sunday million. This week it was KK < QQ.

Overall, I feel like I have been running bad since May, which includes the WSOP. I am only cashing about once every Sunday in 9-11 tourneys. There ought to be some 2 and 3 cash days in there. I can't remember the last time I cashed 3 times which is quite frustrating. Yesterday, I had great opportunities in the 100RB at Stars as well as the 65K at FTP. At Stars, an opponent trapped me with QQ vs my TT by simply calling my late position raise. The flop was something like 876 and we got our money in on the flop.

On another note, I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about my publishing company and online sites. My first book came out five years ago! My site, ITH, started in the summer of 2003 and we are fast approaching 500,000 posts. With that in mind, I have been thinking about what things I have done really well from a business perspective, and what things haven't gone as well. With that in mind, I will plan on posting some type of Top 10 lists. For example, my 10 favorite accomplishments in terms of publishing. What are some of my favorite chapters that I have written? What are some of the best decisions I have made in terms of publishing (i.e. self-publishing)? What are my favorite things on the online side? It's important to reflect on your strengths to make sure that you don't stray from them and that kind of reflection will help me figure out where I want to go next. So right now just a teaser of some of the things I hope to write about over the next couple of months.

Back to the net

Date: Mon, Jul 14, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

Well, the WSOP is over. I had a disappointing year in terms of results, but I do feel like my game has improved and I feel quite confident in my play right now. So although I was going to take a little break, I couldn't resist some of the big tourneys this Sunday. Stars had over 14,000 entrants in their $200 tourney!

So first up, Stars $200. I get moved to a new table early on with the chip leader to my left. There is a limper and I limp with KJs. 100-200 blinds. Chip leader raises to $1K. The first limper calls. I can't know for sure, but I make the assumption that the chip leader (against 14,000 entrants), is a very loose player ready for action. I make the call figuring to get good action if I hit. Of course, sometimes I'll be against AA or AK, but I'm willing to gamble with a player who has a stack like he did. The flop is Jxx. We check to the chip leader who bets 2200 and I check-raise all-in for another 6-7K. He calls with TT and hits the T on the river. Right play, wrong result :).

In the $50, $50K guarantee, I lost set over set so not a whole lot I could do there. In the $200 Stars second chance, I lost to trips once again on a Q66 board. The middle raiser had 86 so played it a little tricky.

The FTP 750K guarantee tourney had some interesting hands. I've final tabled this tourney twice this year with one win so seem to do well in this one. I've also had a top 100 finish. I played the following hand against Keith Sexton, one of the FTP pros.

Seat 2: Keith Sexton (6,739)
Seat 5: ionlyplayAA (6,630)

60-120 Blinds. Sexton limps early. I limp 76 of diamonds in hijack. SB calls and BB checks.

Ad Td 8c. Checked around. With low end flush and low end straight draw, I'm content with taking the free card rather than start building a big pot.

Turn 9s. Sexton bets 480. I raise to 1,400. Secton calls time before eventually calling.

River 8h. Sexton bets 1,680. I fold.

I've never played Sexton before, but he seemed like a straight-forward player. He limps in early position. Many solid players will limp pairs, even AA. Most won't limp suited connectors in early position. Limping ATs is doubtful, but possible.

Sexton checks this flop, bets the turn, and then calls a significant raise. If he had Q-J, he would surely reraise the turn there given the heavy draw board. J7 isn't in his range, and 76 is highly doubtful. The only hand where he can call a raise on the turn is a set, possibly two pair, or a big draw - something like KJs. The board pairs and he bets half pot. He must put me on something big to raise the turn so I doubt he thinks I am going to fold the river. His bet just screamed strength. I folded as I don't see how he could have anything worst than a full house. There is a small bluffing range here, but I think it would be quite sophisticated for him to think he could get me to fold there so I didn't put the percentage very high.

Later, observer said to him well-played. He said thankyou. I said I folded straight. He said good fold. I believe him.

That hand ended up being quite valuable in terms of saving my chips. I had build a nice stack when I lost a 9200 pot with AK vs. AQ. This took me down to 1200 in chips or so. I would have been out of the tournament if I didn't save that river bet. I worked my way back up quickly close to a little below average stack. a late-middle player raised with a big stack. I felt like he was a little on the loose side and raising too frequently and decided to gamble with A-8 in SB. I reraised and he pushed allin- not enough that I could even consider folding. He shows KQ and I lose a 25K pot and go out in 630th position - they paid 585. Boo :).

At UB, I lose KJ allin from middle position vs Q2 where a big stack in big blind was getting 1.4 to 1 pot odds to call. Not terrific pot odds for him but his hand took down the pot. I cashed in 40th place or so.

I also cashed at Cake in 30th spot or so. I was 2nd in chips at one point but lost a couple of disappointing hands. QQ < 44 and AK < KT - both for decent size pots. My last hand was a tricky one. Everyone was playing quite tight. I raised A-8s from early position, next player called and every folded. Flop was JTx giving me the nut flush draw. I bet out and opponent put me all-in with AJ. I got my money in bad and lost the flush draw.

Finally, I got to turn the tables a little. In 100RB, I won a big 68K pot with A-9 vs QQ when I tried a resteal against a late position raiser. I was below average on the bubble - 47 players left, paying 45, when following hand came up. Button limped. I called in SB with 75 and big blind checked. Flop was J55. Button bets and I push allin. He calls with J-9 and board runs J559J. I bubble.

So two cashes and two more close cashes. Unfortunately, no deep runs and I lost $700 in 9 tournaments. Very disappointing results, but overall I was very pleased with my play, especially early on. I'm not quite sure about the A-8s hand where I busted at Cake, but otherwise very pleased with my play.

I won't be playing next week as taking a vacation to Boston with my wife - the one American city that I really want to see that I haven't yet seen.

After Hours - a crazy little comedy

Date: Tue, Jul 1, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

I just watched a film I had never heard of - After Hours, directed by Martin Scorcese. If you think you've had a bad day or think you are running bad at the WSOP :), give this little flick a watch to change your perspective. The movie is basically about this kind of nerdy guy who gets himself into one bad situation after another after he meets this girl he met in a coffee shop. The movie takes place in just one night. I had no idea what to expect while watching but found myself laughing out loud towards the end as the situations just kept getting more and more absurb and ludicrous. Think you've had a bad day - watch this movie.

The WSOP is wrapping down now. I have the Limit Shootout today and then play the main event on Friday.

WSOP trials and tribulations

Date: Wed, Jun 18, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

Playing poker tournaments is a tortuous profession. I feel like I am playing the best poker of my life, yet I have nothing to show for it except for eight straight losses. We poker players have to be masochists for enduring the frustrations day after day. The fact is, the average player cashes slightly less than 10% of the time. This means a pro does well to cash once every 7-8 tournaments. The fact that I have yet to cash in 8 tournaments is frustrating, but it is hardly outside the norm of what to expect. We're all obviously very competitive people, yet we lose time after time again.

Why do we do it? It is the pursuit of victory. Once you taste victory once, you want it again and again. When running bad, what drives you is the memory of victory. I've had some great memories at the WSOP and I want more of them, and of course I want that bracelet. I hope some day soon I will achieve what I am striving for and all of the agony will be worth it.

This past week had been especially excruciating. On Saturday, I was involved in a huge pot which would have put me near the chip leaders after 4 hours of play. I was a 4 to 1 favorite and lost. On Sunday, I had a chance to double up early but again lost as a 4 to 1 favorite. On Tuesday, I lost a coin flip to put me significantly above average. Yet I feel very good about my play. I'm making good reads and calls. My timing on steals and resteals seem to be spot on so far. The fact that I am playing well keeps me motivated. In fact, I think I am probably playing the best poker of my life so I really feel like something good is going to happen, and hopefully soon.

Can't wait for this weekend! On another note, I just got word from my printer that the new book has shipped. Shipments to customers should start going out early next week.

Bad decision

Date: Thu, Jun 5, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

I felt like I had been playing quite well in Series so far - right up to the last 30 minutes last night. I started out a little above average after dinner break. I had about 35 big blinds so lots of room to play.

The first key hand the cutoff opened for 1800. The blinds were 300-600 with 75 antes. I had 99 on the button. I felt like this player was capable of 4-betting weak. I felt like he thought I might make a move on him, and I knew he was capable of making a move back at me. Still, I thought hard about 3-betting there, but if I reraise and get called, anything I do on the flop would represent a huge part of my stack. I decide to call with my position, getting odds to hit a set while also still being able to play postflop and take the hand down.

The flop was T62. My opponent checked, I bet 2600, and my opponent raised to 6200. Wow, what to do now? I could push - but would only get called by better hands. I could call, but then what do I do on the turn? Or I could just take the wimpy route and fold. I folded, although I think there is still a good chance I had the best hand here. I think most of the time he bets out an overpair there, so there is a decent change he just put me to the test and it worked. But tough hand as I really don't know the opponent very well as I was new to the table.

The next key hand I raised from early position with 55. The big blind pushed all-in. I was getting 1.9 to 1 pot odds to call. I had seen her push A-Q earlier. 55 against a range of 88+, AK and AQ is about 2 to 1. So a close decision. The problem is that if I lose the hand my stack is crippled and gives me little room to play so I take the conservative route and fold to give myself some wiggle room.

But frustration creeps in...

A couple of hands later, I raise to 1600 with A-Qs UTG. A very loose middle position player calls and the next player reraises to 6200. Whoa! This player didn't seem like someone to try a squeeze play, plus I had raised UTG. Where were my bells and whistles going off! This was the 2nd best hand I had received all day and I was frustrated about the previous 15 minutes. I knew I was behind, but was I getting pot odds. If I call, I have another 5K in chips left. Let's count the pot - 1600 (blinds and antes) + 1600 +1600 +6200 plus another 5K if I push and my opponent calls. That's 16K and I have to 9600 which is 1.7 to 1 pot odds. For some reason, in the heat of the moment I thought it was closer to 2 to 1 - a mistake as I remember thinking my opponent would be adding another 10K to the pot when it was only actually 5K.

A-Q versus JJ+ and AK is 2.3 to 1. If you add 99+ then I'm 2 to 1. Still not good enough. I did actually think my opponent was figuring out whether he had pot odds to call with a pair, so I was thinking there was a better chance he had JJ or TT vs. some other hands - but maybe that was just wishful thinking.

I still would have had 10K left but got frustrated and put my chips in bad when I should have known better. It turns out that I was 2.4 to 1 dog with only 1.7 to 1 pot odds. Not a good situation and I was knocked out.

I am not sure I will be playing today. I am expecting the proofs back from the printer for the new Rizen, Pearljammer, Apestyles book and need to get them reviewed as soon as possible.

I will definitely be playing the Limit event on Friday.

$1500 NL Event Sunday June 1st

Date: Sun, Jun 1, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

I was knocked out in the 2nd hour. Two key hands:
50-100 blinds. Folded to SB who limps. I raise to 400 with A-Q and he calls. Flop is Jxx. He hesitates, reaches for chips, then checks. Weak!!! But I check with the intention of taking the pot on the turn. The turn is a 9. He bets 600, I raise to 1500, and he folds. Nice pick-up.

50-100 Early limper. Middle raises to 400. I have 2850 in chips in SB with AK. Awkward stack size for out of position with A-K. I elect to push and my opponent calls with A-Q. The spikes a Q and I'm out for the day.

Tomorrow I play the 1500 PL event.

Be sure to check out my WSOP podcast with updates during every break at www.InternetTexasHoldem.com

WSOP time!

Date: Thu, May 29, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

I leave for Vegas tomorrow. I won't be posting much during the series but I will be doing a Podcast during every break to keep people up-to-date on how I'm doing. You can find my podcast on the home page of my blog or at www.InternetTexasHoldem.com. Also at ITH, you can hear Rizen's and Pearljammer's blog during the series.

Winning Poker Tournaments by Rizen, Pearljammer, and Apestyles

Date: Fri, May 23, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

Winning Poker Tournaments - One Hand at a Time by Eric "Rizen" Lynch, Jon "Pearljammer" Turner, and Jon "Apestyles" Van Fleet will start shipping in late June. This is the 4th book I have put out with Dimat Enterprises, a publishing company I founded. My first two books were solely written by me, the next one, The Poker Mindset, was a collaboration with Ian Taylor. Really though, that was his book and I just helped guide him from start to finish while writing it. This new book is a stepping stone for my publishing company as I am now starting to publish other poker authors. Of course, the plan is to maintain a certain brand and quality with all the books Dimat puts out and I am really proud of this book. There is no doubt in my mind that players are going to really love this book.

The book looks at over 170 hands in depth. It is a huge book. It will be 6 x 9 format with 400+ pages. But it is the quality which I believe everyone will be talking about. If all goes to plan, the book should start shipping June 23rd. You can preorder at Amazon or at ITH (the quickest): Preorder Book at ITH

This will probably be my last post for a while, however, I will be calling in to my podcast during the WSOP for frequent updates. You can find the podcast at my blog or at ITH.

Good Sunday

Date: Mon, May 19, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

Well, not really - but I feel really good about how I played. I actually think it is the best I've played in quite some time (forgetting my Cake Poker blunder where I only saw two suits on the flop, not three). I only played 6 tourneys yesterday compared to my usual 10.

In 4 of them, I played down close to the money. I came quite close to winning a seat to the WSOP, finishing 49th and 36 seats were awarded. i was pretty much short-stack to average stack the entire time in all four tournaments. I had a hard time getting things going, but when I did have cards, it seemed that my decision making and timing were spot on. I made some really nice calls as well as some nice folds - some of them plays I probably wouldn't have made six months ago. I think I am really starting to understand the advanced online player better, and thus, am able to make better reads and outplay them more frequently.

This is probably the last time I will play until the WSOP. Every year I feel more confident and better prepared than the last, but this year I think the difference is quite substantial. Working with Eric, Pearl, and Apestyles, while also playing a lot myself online has done wonders for my game.

Vegas time baby!

The Sunday tease

Date: Mon, May 5, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

After my big win last Sunday in the FTP750K, I was ready and excited to play again on Sunday. The day started with a bang. At one point, I was 2nd in chips in the FTP WSOP satellite with about 12K in chips, I would have been top 40 in the Sunday Millions with 3 times the avg stack of 28K except my aces lost against J3s, and I built a stack up to 12K in the FTP750K. In fact, I actually built nice stacks in practically every tournament I was in. I'm pretty sure that I at least doubled up in about 7 of the 10 tourneys I was in.

With such a great start in so many tournaments, it is baffling that I didn't cash in one. In fact, I didn't get close to cashing. To fall so hard I had to suffer some pretty bad beats. The J3s hand was probably the worse but there were plenty of other bad ones. If anyone wants a good site to play at, try Cake poker. My opponent called a big checkraise on the flop with a gut shot and 2 undercards on the board and the stacks were relatively short - just a horrendous call and unfortunately he was rewarded for his mistake by hitting a 3-outer.

My buddy Rizen knocked me out at Poker Stars. It was a race with my AQs vs his 99, but the gods wanted to punish me and let me flop a pair only to see Rizen hit his 9 on the river.

I did misplay some hands, particularly in the 100RB event where I misplayed aces. A horrific turn card came and I couldn't drop my hand when my gut told me I should. There were a couple of other tourneys where I got my money in bad.

It was all one big tease. Build up some really nice stacks only to see them all fall.

I won't be playing next Sunday as it is Mother's day so I hope to be back in the saddle in a couple of weeks.

I won the FTP 750K!

Date: Mon, Apr 28, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

Last Fall I made a conscientious effort to start playing more online - specifically on Sundays. I've probably been playing 2-3 times a month since last August. That may not sound like a lot to the regular online pros, but that is a lot more than I have played since 2003. For the regular readers of my blog, I've had lots of good deep runs, but would frequently finish just short of the "real" paydays. Now all that effort has finally resulted in a big win.

I won the FTP 750K good for $132K. There were a little over 3500 players in the event. I have done particularly well in this specific tournament. I've probably played in it 9-10 times this year and now have 3 top 100 finishes, 2 final tables, and one win. The other final table I finished 6th good for $26K. It is fun to finally have broken through and won one of these really big tournaments.

It is my biggest poker win to date. My 2nd was for 80K in the 2004 WSOP when I finished 33rd. My biggest online win before this was for 29K last year when I won one of the Poker Stars nightly tourneys.

I checked my online ROI a couple of months ago and it was about 75%. This win should make it skyrocket! I don't play nearly as often as the online pros do, but I am pretty happy with the success I have had in the limited number of tournaments I am playing.

I think there is no question that working with Rizen, Pearljammer, and Apestyles has been a tremendous help to my game. I feel like I have improved my game every year, but every year I never have played as much as I would like and I've always felt a little "rusty". But this last year has been different. I am playing at least once every couple of weeks, while at the same time I have been in constant dialogue with the 3 guys on the Hands book. The discussions I have had with them have definitely helped my game out,as well as perusing in detail what they have written for the book. It just takes a few little tricks here and there to have a dramatic impact on your results.

I'll post later this week a little more details about my win and some of the hands.

I'm ready for it to be Sunday again!

Cover Design Contest for Pearljammer, Rizen, and Apestyles book

Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

We are getting very close to completing the first volume of the hands book. If any of you are interested in trying to design a cover for the book, go to this link to the ITH poker forum to get details. I am awarding $300 or a $300 stake into his WSOP winnings to the winning design.

My daughter Isabel!

Date: Wed, Apr 23, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

My new Podcast

Date: Tue, Apr 22, 2008 Professional Tournament Internet Live

My buddy Rizen has enlightened me to the ease and magic of gcast, which allows anyone to easily publish a podcast by making simple phone calls. I'll be using this podcast primarily to give updates this summer during the World Series of Poker, but may also call in from time to time on other things. You can find my podcast at my blog, or I will have it up at ITH right before the WSOP.