I am working to head up the GPSTS chapter at my school and I came across this video on their website. It is a great video that speaks of how poker can and should be used as a strategic learning tool. Check out the video at www.gpsts.org.
2.26.2008
Weekend MTTs and a great cash session.
I am sticking by my schedule and played some MTTs this weekend. I was able to go deep in a few, but couldn't quite seem to come away with that big score. Here are the tournaments I played in and my results.
2/23
$6+.50 Token Frenzy 158/235
$1 MTT 185/1176
$0+.10 $1k guarantee $.50 RB 800/3463
$2+.25 180-man SNG 12/180 for $5.40
$2+.25 180-man SNG 11/180 for $5.40
$2+.25 180-man SNG 71/180
$2+.25 18-man SNG 16/18
$2+.25 18-man SNG 9/18
$3+.30 turbo MTT 383/501
$2+.25 18-man SNG 4/18 for $3.60
$2+.25 180-man SNG 24/180
2/24
$1 "The Ferguson" 234/1618 for $1.29 {5th in chips, AA cracked by the chip leader who held Q10... killer!}
Freeroll 51/12,000 for a seat into round 2
Freeroll $50k guarantee satellite 1075/10,000
$1+.25 90-man SNG DS 42/90
$2+.25 180-man SNG 20/180
$2+.25 RB 10/169 for $17.61
$1 6-max MTT 224/883
Freeroll round 2 3191/6680
In total I paid $35.40 for entries and came out with $33.30 of winnings along with a seat into round 2 of the freeroll. I can't help but feel that maybe my tournament game needs some work and I have since been reviewing some online videos from Card Player Pro. I highly recommend these videos to anyone who really wants to supplement their game. They have a free 7-day trial and then you can cancel or keep going with your subscription. I also didn't like that when I did go deep, the tournament seemed to always be snatched out of my hands. I either took a beat to knock me out or cripple me, or I just had some bad timing when I picked up a big hand and someone had a slightly bigger hand. The AA hand in "The Ferguson" would have made me chip leader by 3x second place and it just sucked to go down. I got the chips in as a huge favorite though, so I can't complain.
FTP has a promotion this week that you can earn double the Full Tilt Points during certain time slots. It's going on Monday-Friday and is for ring games only, which I think is my best area of poker. I'll definitely be getting on as many of these time slots as possible. I played a late slot last night from 1am-3am and had an amazing session. I finished up around $60.00 for the session and it was a great feeling. The 6-max videos by Dani Stern, also known as "Ansky451" or "supernova9", are just awesome and have definitely helped me a whole ton. I can't wait to watch more videos from him and see what he has to offer. During the session, the tables were just filled with nuts, fish, calling stations, you name it. All the bad players seemed to be out and all of my hands were holding up. With that combination, it meant I was going to have a good session and I did. I hope it can carry over for the rest of the week and a while to come.
I am disappointed that I got caught up doing some work for school and missed one of my days I needed in order to get Gold Iron Man on FTP. I did qualify for Silver though, so I'm not too upset. It was just a goal I was going for. I do put some blame on FTP because the past two weeks have just been terrible for connection on their site. I did increase my status from last month, and next month I will definitely be shooting for Gold.
2/23
$6+.50 Token Frenzy 158/235
$1 MTT 185/1176
$0+.10 $1k guarantee $.50 RB 800/3463
$2+.25 180-man SNG 12/180 for $5.40
$2+.25 180-man SNG 11/180 for $5.40
$2+.25 180-man SNG 71/180
$2+.25 18-man SNG 16/18
$2+.25 18-man SNG 9/18
$3+.30 turbo MTT 383/501
$2+.25 18-man SNG 4/18 for $3.60
$2+.25 180-man SNG 24/180
2/24
$1 "The Ferguson" 234/1618 for $1.29 {5th in chips, AA cracked by the chip leader who held Q10... killer!}
Freeroll 51/12,000 for a seat into round 2
Freeroll $50k guarantee satellite 1075/10,000
$1+.25 90-man SNG DS 42/90
$2+.25 180-man SNG 20/180
$2+.25 RB 10/169 for $17.61
$1 6-max MTT 224/883
Freeroll round 2 3191/6680
In total I paid $35.40 for entries and came out with $33.30 of winnings along with a seat into round 2 of the freeroll. I can't help but feel that maybe my tournament game needs some work and I have since been reviewing some online videos from Card Player Pro. I highly recommend these videos to anyone who really wants to supplement their game. They have a free 7-day trial and then you can cancel or keep going with your subscription. I also didn't like that when I did go deep, the tournament seemed to always be snatched out of my hands. I either took a beat to knock me out or cripple me, or I just had some bad timing when I picked up a big hand and someone had a slightly bigger hand. The AA hand in "The Ferguson" would have made me chip leader by 3x second place and it just sucked to go down. I got the chips in as a huge favorite though, so I can't complain.
FTP has a promotion this week that you can earn double the Full Tilt Points during certain time slots. It's going on Monday-Friday and is for ring games only, which I think is my best area of poker. I'll definitely be getting on as many of these time slots as possible. I played a late slot last night from 1am-3am and had an amazing session. I finished up around $60.00 for the session and it was a great feeling. The 6-max videos by Dani Stern, also known as "Ansky451" or "supernova9", are just awesome and have definitely helped me a whole ton. I can't wait to watch more videos from him and see what he has to offer. During the session, the tables were just filled with nuts, fish, calling stations, you name it. All the bad players seemed to be out and all of my hands were holding up. With that combination, it meant I was going to have a good session and I did. I hope it can carry over for the rest of the week and a while to come.
I am disappointed that I got caught up doing some work for school and missed one of my days I needed in order to get Gold Iron Man on FTP. I did qualify for Silver though, so I'm not too upset. It was just a goal I was going for. I do put some blame on FTP because the past two weeks have just been terrible for connection on their site. I did increase my status from last month, and next month I will definitely be shooting for Gold.
2.23.2008
Weekly analysis.
I played a total of 20 cash sessions since last Sunday. Some sessions are significantly longer than others due to time constraints, but that's a great thing to love about online poker. You can hop in and find a game anytime and play for as little or as long as you want to. I netted over 5,000 hands in a little over 26 hours this week. I was able to show a good profit of 145 BBs overall. I'm also earning around 2.78 BBs/100h. I'd like to get this number up to around 3-4, and I would also like a larger sample size of around 10,000-15,000 hands. I am hoping to be able to reach those goals within the next 2-3 weeks.
Here's my spreadsheet and graph from this past week's sessions.
As you can see by looking at my spreadsheet, I have been having a good amount of swings. I had a few sessions where I took some hard hits due to some bad beats. I know a lot of players tend to blame all their losing sessions on bad beats, but I try not to. I did have one losing session on February 20 where I lost $8.60 that was directly due to me making 3 really bad calls. I was up at the time and in one 15 minute period, made some terrible plays. One was a desperation call on the river, while the other two were just calls when I should have and could have easily folded. After those hands went down, I got up from the tables because I knew I was making some really bad decisions. I wasn't going to sit there and let myself continue to play bad while trying to get unstuck. Poker is a game for the long run and when I'm playing bad I'll take a break. There will always be the next session where I can have a clear state of mind and play much better.
Looking at my graph, my profits seem to be because of a few big winning sessions. I would definitely like to have the graph more linear with somewhat of a constant slope. I'm a physics and math major and might take a look at fitting some curves to the graph and doing some analysis on that, but we'll see how much time I have over the weekend.
I plan on applying to Card Player Magazine for an internship to cover the '08 WSOP. I feel I'd be a great addition to help them out and I love the game. I'll let everyone know whether or not I am able to get the internship, so please keep your fingers crossed!
Here's my spreadsheet and graph from this past week's sessions.
As you can see by looking at my spreadsheet, I have been having a good amount of swings. I had a few sessions where I took some hard hits due to some bad beats. I know a lot of players tend to blame all their losing sessions on bad beats, but I try not to. I did have one losing session on February 20 where I lost $8.60 that was directly due to me making 3 really bad calls. I was up at the time and in one 15 minute period, made some terrible plays. One was a desperation call on the river, while the other two were just calls when I should have and could have easily folded. After those hands went down, I got up from the tables because I knew I was making some really bad decisions. I wasn't going to sit there and let myself continue to play bad while trying to get unstuck. Poker is a game for the long run and when I'm playing bad I'll take a break. There will always be the next session where I can have a clear state of mind and play much better.Looking at my graph, my profits seem to be because of a few big winning sessions. I would definitely like to have the graph more linear with somewhat of a constant slope. I'm a physics and math major and might take a look at fitting some curves to the graph and doing some analysis on that, but we'll see how much time I have over the weekend.
I plan on applying to Card Player Magazine for an internship to cover the '08 WSOP. I feel I'd be a great addition to help them out and I love the game. I'll let everyone know whether or not I am able to get the internship, so please keep your fingers crossed!
2.22.2008
The past few days.
I've been playing a good amount this week. It's still a tough time juggling time for studying and time for playing. I get in my sessions here and there as much as I can. I've started keeping better records lately and it's really helping me to see the overall picture of my play and how I am doing. I can also point out key factors in the stats that help me to determine why I had a good or bad and winning or losing session.
I started playing the $.10/.25 6-max CAP NL tables on FTP this week and let me tell you, they are gold. I've had some really good sessions here and only 2 significant losing sessions. My two biggest losing sessions occurred when I had some really bad luck in 3-4 big hands that changed the outcome of my net gain by a lot. In the end though, I am definitely happen with the decisions I am making and how I am playing on these tables. They are full of some terrible players and it should help for me to build really well in the next few weeks and months. I started really keeping hardcore records on Sunday and I think I'll be doing a weekly post about how I did during the week. Full of some stats, charts, and graphs for everyone to enjoy. This will be cash game play only as during the week I am sticking to cash games. I'll do a weekend post Sunday night when I am done with the weekend of MTTs and SNGs. Stay tuned for those, I'll be getting this past week's stuff up tomorrow.
Here are some hands that I thought were interesting. The first hand was from a 6-max $.10/.25 NL table, with no cap.
Seat 1: birdboot ($48.20)
Seat 2: MidgetB ($25.90)
Seat 3: TheNarts ($24.15)
Seat 4: pkt_diamonds ($26.60)
Seat 5: donpeters ($22.50)
Seat 6: Kstuff681 ($23.55)
MidgetB posts the small blind of $0.10
TheNarts posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Th 9h]
pkt_diamonds folds
donpeters raises to $0.75 {I had a good image at the table and was opening my range when it was folded to me PF.}
Kstuff681 folds
birdboot calls $0.75
MidgetB folds
TheNarts folds
*** FLOP *** [7s 2h 4d]
donpeters bets $1.50 {Standard continuation bet. Board was low and didn't seem like anything that he would have hit.}
birdboot raises to $3 {This bet happened pretty quickly and there were two hands a few rotations back where I had CB the flop and the same guy min-raised me and I folded both times. I really felt he was doing the same again.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $8
birdboot has 15 seconds left to act {No insta call or shove is good!}
birdboot has requested TIME
birdboot folds
Uncalled bet of $5 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($7.50)
This was a key hand in that it showed this player that I will use force back at him. For the remainder of the session, there was not one time where he came over the top of me for a min-raise and I pretty sure he stayed somewhat clear of me except for one or two hands in the next couple hours. This is also a good example of what paying attention to your opponent's tendencies. Twice before the same situation occurred ad I deferred away from it, but this time I was almost positive this play and those previous plays were seen as a bluff because he thought each time I was just on a CB. On this hand, I did put him on air and just a bluff. I thought about just calling and CR'ing the turn to get some more money out of him. But I had no hand myself and would rather take it down right here. Against a more sophisticated opponent, I'd be more apt to make that type of play.
Seat 2: sr voj-tek ($18.05)
Seat 3: empty_syzygy ($25.75)
Seat 4: pkt_diamonds ($35.85)
Seat 5: donpeters ($15.65)
Seat 6: ssuuper6 ($10)
donpeters posts the small blind of $0.10
ssuuper6 posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Js Jd]
sr voj-tek folds
empty_syzygy folds
pkt_diamonds folds
donpeters raises to $0.75
ssuuper6 calls $0.50 {Good, a nut can come along for the ride. He had been sending money all around the table except to me.}
*** FLOP *** [8c Ts Tc]
donpeters bets $1
ssuuper6 calls $1
*** TURN *** [8c Ts Tc] [9h]
donpeters bets $3
ssuuper6 raises to $8.25, and is all in {I wasn't too worried here and I put him on a hand like J9, 89, 78, 79, 2 clubs with a J. I was pretty sure he wouldn't make this play with a 10 or a made straight, he slowplayed all those hands and generally checked them on the river, too.}
donpeters calls $5.25
ssuuper6 shows [Qh 9d]
donpeters shows [Js Jd]
*** RIVER *** [8c Ts Tc 9h] [Qd]
ssuuper6 shows two pair, Queens and Tens
donpeters shows a straight, Queen high
donpeters wins the pot ($19) with a straight, Queen high
ssuuper6 is sitting out
Seat 1: EFritz ($44.90)
Seat 2: ChampagneAces ($36.35)
Seat 3: pgold999 ($34)
Seat 4: Symba 308 ($13.95)
Seat 5: rubbshouse ($48.75)
Seat 6: TremelR ($6.65), is sitting out
EFritz posts the small blind of $0.10
ChampagneAces posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ChampagneAces [Ac 5s]
pgold999 folds
rubbshouse stands up
Symba 308 calls $0.25
rubbshouse folds
EFritz calls $0.15
ChampagneAces checks
*** FLOP *** [Jd 5d Ad]
EFritz checks
ChampagneAces bets $0.75
Symba 308 raises to $3
EFritz folds
ChampagneAces has 15 seconds left to act
ChampagneAces has requested TIME
MadSwan sits down
MadSwan adds $15
ChampagneAces calls $2.25
*** TURN *** [Jd 5d Ad] [6s]
ChampagneAces has 15 seconds left to act
ChampagneAces has requested TIME
ChampagneAces bets $4.25, and is capped
Symba 308 has 15 seconds left to act
Symba 308: trying to play me burt I am in anyway
Symba 308 calls $4.25, and is capped
ChampagneAces shows [Ac 5s]
Symba 308 shows [8d 7d]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 5d Ad 6s] [Jc]
ChampagneAces shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
Symba 308 shows a flush, Ace high
Symba 308 wins the pot ($14.50) with a flush, Ace high
This hand didn't work out. I think I might have played it too aggressively and I definitely should have slowed down. I'm either WA/WB here and I just went into hyper-aggressive mode and bet it all the way. I did almost get him to fold though, which is a good thing, but now that I think about it, he's not going to get away from this hand. Aggression is good and works very well especially in short handed games, but sometimes the
texture of the board will require you to slow down in a hand. I thought about slowing down here, but put him on a hand like an Axd with just top pair and a diamond draw. Even then, I'm not a huge favorite. Although I do have boat redraws, I'd rather be jamming here with a set and chasing a boat rather than 2 pair. This was a mistake that I think was due to the fact that I was playing so aggressively at the table, I just kept it up in this hand. You have to know when to slow it down, and well, I didn't and got a nice whack for doing so.
I've been staking a friend lately online and well, he had a disgusting run yesterday, doubling the money I staked him with. I believe he played 6-7 $2+.25 18-man SNGs and at one point, he took down 3 in a row, followed by a second place finish and a third place finish. He knew he was running hot and playing well so took a shot in a tier one 18-man $6+.50 SNG for a $26 token. He got the token and then signed up for the $28,000 guarantee tournament on FTP. He did very well and won a couple big hands with AA turning a full house and 44 flopping a set to someone's TPTK. He grinded all the way into the money and had to keep his head above water most of the time while in the money. He plays under ChampagneAces and with around 150 players left, he sat around 100th in chips. He was able to grind it all the way into the top 60 when he won a key hand. He was short with less and 10 BBs in his stack and in need of some help. OTB, he had good fold equity against the size of the BB's stack so he shoved when it was folded to him. The BB picked up AA and called to ChampagneAces's K2o. But luck was with my friend as the turn brought a 2 and the river a K for two pair and the best hand. It was still a rough going, but he was able to grind it up until the top 30 spots. The big stack UTG+1 raises it up and ChampagneAces shoved from the BB with A8o. The big stack was getting a good price and had a ton of chips, so he called with 78h. The flop came 10 J K, and the turn a dreaded 9. The river blanked and my friend finished in 28th position out of 1486 entrants. This was good for $125 off of the original $6+.50 investment. Well done ChampagneAces and keep up the good work!
I started playing the $.10/.25 6-max CAP NL tables on FTP this week and let me tell you, they are gold. I've had some really good sessions here and only 2 significant losing sessions. My two biggest losing sessions occurred when I had some really bad luck in 3-4 big hands that changed the outcome of my net gain by a lot. In the end though, I am definitely happen with the decisions I am making and how I am playing on these tables. They are full of some terrible players and it should help for me to build really well in the next few weeks and months. I started really keeping hardcore records on Sunday and I think I'll be doing a weekly post about how I did during the week. Full of some stats, charts, and graphs for everyone to enjoy. This will be cash game play only as during the week I am sticking to cash games. I'll do a weekend post Sunday night when I am done with the weekend of MTTs and SNGs. Stay tuned for those, I'll be getting this past week's stuff up tomorrow.
Here are some hands that I thought were interesting. The first hand was from a 6-max $.10/.25 NL table, with no cap.
Seat 1: birdboot ($48.20)
Seat 2: MidgetB ($25.90)
Seat 3: TheNarts ($24.15)
Seat 4: pkt_diamonds ($26.60)
Seat 5: donpeters ($22.50)
Seat 6: Kstuff681 ($23.55)
MidgetB posts the small blind of $0.10
TheNarts posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Th 9h]
pkt_diamonds folds
donpeters raises to $0.75 {I had a good image at the table and was opening my range when it was folded to me PF.}
Kstuff681 folds
birdboot calls $0.75
MidgetB folds
TheNarts folds
*** FLOP *** [7s 2h 4d]
donpeters bets $1.50 {Standard continuation bet. Board was low and didn't seem like anything that he would have hit.}
birdboot raises to $3 {This bet happened pretty quickly and there were two hands a few rotations back where I had CB the flop and the same guy min-raised me and I folded both times. I really felt he was doing the same again.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $8
birdboot has 15 seconds left to act {No insta call or shove is good!}
birdboot has requested TIME
birdboot folds
Uncalled bet of $5 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($7.50)
This was a key hand in that it showed this player that I will use force back at him. For the remainder of the session, there was not one time where he came over the top of me for a min-raise and I pretty sure he stayed somewhat clear of me except for one or two hands in the next couple hours. This is also a good example of what paying attention to your opponent's tendencies. Twice before the same situation occurred ad I deferred away from it, but this time I was almost positive this play and those previous plays were seen as a bluff because he thought each time I was just on a CB. On this hand, I did put him on air and just a bluff. I thought about just calling and CR'ing the turn to get some more money out of him. But I had no hand myself and would rather take it down right here. Against a more sophisticated opponent, I'd be more apt to make that type of play.
Seat 2: sr voj-tek ($18.05)
Seat 3: empty_syzygy ($25.75)
Seat 4: pkt_diamonds ($35.85)
Seat 5: donpeters ($15.65)
Seat 6: ssuuper6 ($10)
donpeters posts the small blind of $0.10
ssuuper6 posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Js Jd]
sr voj-tek folds
empty_syzygy folds
pkt_diamonds folds
donpeters raises to $0.75
ssuuper6 calls $0.50 {Good, a nut can come along for the ride. He had been sending money all around the table except to me.}
*** FLOP *** [8c Ts Tc]
donpeters bets $1
ssuuper6 calls $1
*** TURN *** [8c Ts Tc] [9h]
donpeters bets $3
ssuuper6 raises to $8.25, and is all in {I wasn't too worried here and I put him on a hand like J9, 89, 78, 79, 2 clubs with a J. I was pretty sure he wouldn't make this play with a 10 or a made straight, he slowplayed all those hands and generally checked them on the river, too.}
donpeters calls $5.25
ssuuper6 shows [Qh 9d]
donpeters shows [Js Jd]
*** RIVER *** [8c Ts Tc 9h] [Qd]
ssuuper6 shows two pair, Queens and Tens
donpeters shows a straight, Queen high
donpeters wins the pot ($19) with a straight, Queen high
ssuuper6 is sitting out
Seat 1: EFritz ($44.90)
Seat 2: ChampagneAces ($36.35)
Seat 3: pgold999 ($34)
Seat 4: Symba 308 ($13.95)
Seat 5: rubbshouse ($48.75)
Seat 6: TremelR ($6.65), is sitting out
EFritz posts the small blind of $0.10
ChampagneAces posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ChampagneAces [Ac 5s]
pgold999 folds
rubbshouse stands up
Symba 308 calls $0.25
rubbshouse folds
EFritz calls $0.15
ChampagneAces checks
*** FLOP *** [Jd 5d Ad]
EFritz checks
ChampagneAces bets $0.75
Symba 308 raises to $3
EFritz folds
ChampagneAces has 15 seconds left to act
ChampagneAces has requested TIME
MadSwan sits down
MadSwan adds $15
ChampagneAces calls $2.25
*** TURN *** [Jd 5d Ad] [6s]
ChampagneAces has 15 seconds left to act
ChampagneAces has requested TIME
ChampagneAces bets $4.25, and is capped
Symba 308 has 15 seconds left to act
Symba 308: trying to play me burt I am in anyway
Symba 308 calls $4.25, and is capped
ChampagneAces shows [Ac 5s]
Symba 308 shows [8d 7d]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 5d Ad 6s] [Jc]
ChampagneAces shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
Symba 308 shows a flush, Ace high
Symba 308 wins the pot ($14.50) with a flush, Ace high
This hand didn't work out. I think I might have played it too aggressively and I definitely should have slowed down. I'm either WA/WB here and I just went into hyper-aggressive mode and bet it all the way. I did almost get him to fold though, which is a good thing, but now that I think about it, he's not going to get away from this hand. Aggression is good and works very well especially in short handed games, but sometimes the
texture of the board will require you to slow down in a hand. I thought about slowing down here, but put him on a hand like an Axd with just top pair and a diamond draw. Even then, I'm not a huge favorite. Although I do have boat redraws, I'd rather be jamming here with a set and chasing a boat rather than 2 pair. This was a mistake that I think was due to the fact that I was playing so aggressively at the table, I just kept it up in this hand. You have to know when to slow it down, and well, I didn't and got a nice whack for doing so.
I've been staking a friend lately online and well, he had a disgusting run yesterday, doubling the money I staked him with. I believe he played 6-7 $2+.25 18-man SNGs and at one point, he took down 3 in a row, followed by a second place finish and a third place finish. He knew he was running hot and playing well so took a shot in a tier one 18-man $6+.50 SNG for a $26 token. He got the token and then signed up for the $28,000 guarantee tournament on FTP. He did very well and won a couple big hands with AA turning a full house and 44 flopping a set to someone's TPTK. He grinded all the way into the money and had to keep his head above water most of the time while in the money. He plays under ChampagneAces and with around 150 players left, he sat around 100th in chips. He was able to grind it all the way into the top 60 when he won a key hand. He was short with less and 10 BBs in his stack and in need of some help. OTB, he had good fold equity against the size of the BB's stack so he shoved when it was folded to him. The BB picked up AA and called to ChampagneAces's K2o. But luck was with my friend as the turn brought a 2 and the river a K for two pair and the best hand. It was still a rough going, but he was able to grind it up until the top 30 spots. The big stack UTG+1 raises it up and ChampagneAces shoved from the BB with A8o. The big stack was getting a good price and had a ton of chips, so he called with 78h. The flop came 10 J K, and the turn a dreaded 9. The river blanked and my friend finished in 28th position out of 1486 entrants. This was good for $125 off of the original $6+.50 investment. Well done ChampagneAces and keep up the good work!
2.20.2008
FTP down and Phil Ivey's priceless reaction.
Well, lately Full Tilt Poker (FTP) has been acting up. The site has been constantly freezing up and disconnecting. This has been annoying many people including myself. I'm trying to reach some Iron Man goals on the site and it's just getting harder and harder with the way this is going. There are some articles out there that I have been reading about why this may be happening and it comes down to DDOS hacking. Some of the articles are linked below.
http://www.shadowserver.org/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Calendar.20080218
http://www.poker-king.com/poker-king-articles.php?article=378
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack
I've since emailed them with my concerns and I'll let everyone know what they say. In browsing the forums, I've seen many people complaining and worrying about this issue. I am positive that despite this minor set back and maintenance that is occurring, play should resume once FTP fixes the issues they are having. I also hope other sites are strengthening their software so that this type of thing does not happening to them.
In brighter news, or not so brighter news as you will see, I was tuned into 2+2's latest podcast when they ran a clip from a hand that went down on FTP's Poker After Dark between Patrik Antonious and Jennifer Tilly. This hand is quite uneventful yet very ridiculous and Phil Ivey's face is one of the best reactions I have ever seen. Check out the clip below.
And on another side note, I was watching Ivey play the other day and saw him destroy some people heads up on FTP's Ivey Deathmatch table. It was absolutely absurd to watch him play with anywhere from 600k-800k on the table. If you ever want to kill some time and happen to see Ivey playing heads up, it's a great thing to watch, minus the chatbox whoring that is done by all the railbirds.
http://www.shadowserver.org/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Calendar.20080218
http://www.poker-king.com/poker-king-articles.php?article=378
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack
I've since emailed them with my concerns and I'll let everyone know what they say. In browsing the forums, I've seen many people complaining and worrying about this issue. I am positive that despite this minor set back and maintenance that is occurring, play should resume once FTP fixes the issues they are having. I also hope other sites are strengthening their software so that this type of thing does not happening to them.
In brighter news, or not so brighter news as you will see, I was tuned into 2+2's latest podcast when they ran a clip from a hand that went down on FTP's Poker After Dark between Patrik Antonious and Jennifer Tilly. This hand is quite uneventful yet very ridiculous and Phil Ivey's face is one of the best reactions I have ever seen. Check out the clip below.
And on another side note, I was watching Ivey play the other day and saw him destroy some people heads up on FTP's Ivey Deathmatch table. It was absolutely absurd to watch him play with anywhere from 600k-800k on the table. If you ever want to kill some time and happen to see Ivey playing heads up, it's a great thing to watch, minus the chatbox whoring that is done by all the railbirds.
2.17.2008
Poker Tournament Series #8
Not sure if I have mentioned it before, but I participate in a poker tournament series at my school. I am co-founder of the series and we have been running it all school year. Every other weekend we hold a tournament that pays cash to the winners, awards points for the tournament leader board, and accumulates money for an end-of-the-year prize pool. You can find out more information about the tournament HERE. The tournament has a great structure that allows for a great amount of play.
I started off late in today's match and was blinded down a little bit. The structure is good enough that I didn't lose a lot of chips and I was in perfect condition when I got to the table. The first two hands dealt to me were KK and KK, not too shabby of a start. I then sat quietly for a few levels while other players made some moves, but there was no real action. When the blinds got into the 300/600 level, I found myself with just over 12,000 chips. I limped in MP with J10h after UTG and UTG+1 limped. The SB completed and the BB checked. The flop came J 8 6, rainbow and it was checked to me. I bet out, but the dealer didn't realize I was still in the hand and turned the next card. It was a 9, but we had to fix the situation and after we did, we ran it again after the SB called. The new turn was the same card and the SB lead into me. I was fearful of two pair or maybe some sort of straight that he just picked up, so I just called. The river blanked and he checked to me and I checked behind. Low and behold, he held 57 for a straight. Guess I lost a minimum on that one.
After a few blinds hit my stack and people stealing from me, I couldn't really get anything going and found myself with right around 6500 in chips. I was in the SB for 400 when UTG limped, MP limped, and the button limped. I didn't bother to look at my hand and sensed a lot of weak limps out there so I just moved in to pick up the money in the pot. Everyone folded and I checked my hole cards for a whopping 23o. Fold equity and timing can be a great thing in poker when you need some chips. I had just added 3200 to my stack fairly easily.
This next hand came up and was just a killer for me:
UTG (weak player, passive) limped for 1000
SB (solid, tight player with respect for my play) completed for 1000
I was in the BB with 13,000, holding A7o.
Once again I sensed weakness and raised to pot to 3500 to pick up the blinds. UTG thought and called, rather weakly, SB folded. Flop came K 6 3 with two clubs. I fired another bet of 4500 and UTG called and left himself with 3000 chips or so. I was irritated right now and couldn't manage to fire on the turn when a blank 9 came out and UTG moved all-in. Stating he had QQ, but who really knows. I really had him on a flush draw but couldn't figure out if it was the Axc and he had me beat. I folded and left myself with a short stack. The very next hand it folded to me in the SB and I shoved to steal the blinds against a tight, passive player who went into a long deliberation and then called with A10o. I had 95o, and at least I was live. I didn't get lucky and was out in 8th place out of 12 players. Not really a big deal. I felt I trusted my reads most of the day, but they just didn't work out in the end. I've also been playing so much online poker lately that I wonder if my live skills have suffered from such. I'll be thinking about my play tonight and some tomorrow and getting ready for the next match in two weeks. As of right now, I stand in 5th or 6th on the leader board and need to move up into the top 4 if I want to play for the money at the end of the year.
I started off late in today's match and was blinded down a little bit. The structure is good enough that I didn't lose a lot of chips and I was in perfect condition when I got to the table. The first two hands dealt to me were KK and KK, not too shabby of a start. I then sat quietly for a few levels while other players made some moves, but there was no real action. When the blinds got into the 300/600 level, I found myself with just over 12,000 chips. I limped in MP with J10h after UTG and UTG+1 limped. The SB completed and the BB checked. The flop came J 8 6, rainbow and it was checked to me. I bet out, but the dealer didn't realize I was still in the hand and turned the next card. It was a 9, but we had to fix the situation and after we did, we ran it again after the SB called. The new turn was the same card and the SB lead into me. I was fearful of two pair or maybe some sort of straight that he just picked up, so I just called. The river blanked and he checked to me and I checked behind. Low and behold, he held 57 for a straight. Guess I lost a minimum on that one.
After a few blinds hit my stack and people stealing from me, I couldn't really get anything going and found myself with right around 6500 in chips. I was in the SB for 400 when UTG limped, MP limped, and the button limped. I didn't bother to look at my hand and sensed a lot of weak limps out there so I just moved in to pick up the money in the pot. Everyone folded and I checked my hole cards for a whopping 23o. Fold equity and timing can be a great thing in poker when you need some chips. I had just added 3200 to my stack fairly easily.
This next hand came up and was just a killer for me:
UTG (weak player, passive) limped for 1000
SB (solid, tight player with respect for my play) completed for 1000
I was in the BB with 13,000, holding A7o.
Once again I sensed weakness and raised to pot to 3500 to pick up the blinds. UTG thought and called, rather weakly, SB folded. Flop came K 6 3 with two clubs. I fired another bet of 4500 and UTG called and left himself with 3000 chips or so. I was irritated right now and couldn't manage to fire on the turn when a blank 9 came out and UTG moved all-in. Stating he had QQ, but who really knows. I really had him on a flush draw but couldn't figure out if it was the Axc and he had me beat. I folded and left myself with a short stack. The very next hand it folded to me in the SB and I shoved to steal the blinds against a tight, passive player who went into a long deliberation and then called with A10o. I had 95o, and at least I was live. I didn't get lucky and was out in 8th place out of 12 players. Not really a big deal. I felt I trusted my reads most of the day, but they just didn't work out in the end. I've also been playing so much online poker lately that I wonder if my live skills have suffered from such. I'll be thinking about my play tonight and some tomorrow and getting ready for the next match in two weeks. As of right now, I stand in 5th or 6th on the leader board and need to move up into the top 4 if I want to play for the money at the end of the year.
2.15.2008
The all important 'D' word!
Dis-ci-pline noun 1. a system of rules governing conduct 2. behavior in accord with rules of conduct; behavior and order maintained by training and control.
I'm not happy. I'm not happy with my play lately or my decision making. I haven't been managing my bankroll as well as I would like to and I've just been all over the place lately when it comes to game selection. I'll jump from SNGs to MTTs to cash tables one after an other and I need to get back to the shear grinding of it all. This has only really been happening in the past week or two and it's really irritating me. I just can't seem to break the bad habit. Not only is it hurting my play, but it's hurting my bankroll. I just need to settle back into a regimen that I can adhere to. I really would like to move up in limits in my cash play, but without having a good system to follow, I don't see myself doing so anytime soon. I'm going to try my best to follow the following regimen or schedule from here on out.
I am also not impressed with the way I have been keeping records lately. I have been recording my stats, don't get me wrong, but there's really no order to them. I understand where I'm at and how I'm doing, but I need to be more systematical with my record keeping. I'll also be trying to pin that down starting now. I hope to post results and graphs of each week of cash game play and each weekend of tournament play so everyone can follow how I'm doing and what exactly it means to stay DISCIPLINED!
We're just over halfway through the month of February and I'm well on my way to getting Full Tilt's Gold Iron Man status this month. I really hope I can hammer out another 10,000 ring game hands in the remaining days this month and show a good profit. I'm also hoping to go deep in a few MTTs. Wish me luck as I do all of you, except when you're in a hand with me.
I'm not happy. I'm not happy with my play lately or my decision making. I haven't been managing my bankroll as well as I would like to and I've just been all over the place lately when it comes to game selection. I'll jump from SNGs to MTTs to cash tables one after an other and I need to get back to the shear grinding of it all. This has only really been happening in the past week or two and it's really irritating me. I just can't seem to break the bad habit. Not only is it hurting my play, but it's hurting my bankroll. I just need to settle back into a regimen that I can adhere to. I really would like to move up in limits in my cash play, but without having a good system to follow, I don't see myself doing so anytime soon. I'm going to try my best to follow the following regimen or schedule from here on out.
- Monday-Friday cash tables only. No tournaments unless they are scheduled ones that I won into for nothing and have to play.
- Saturday-Sunday will be my SNG and MTT days.
I am also not impressed with the way I have been keeping records lately. I have been recording my stats, don't get me wrong, but there's really no order to them. I understand where I'm at and how I'm doing, but I need to be more systematical with my record keeping. I'll also be trying to pin that down starting now. I hope to post results and graphs of each week of cash game play and each weekend of tournament play so everyone can follow how I'm doing and what exactly it means to stay DISCIPLINED!
We're just over halfway through the month of February and I'm well on my way to getting Full Tilt's Gold Iron Man status this month. I really hope I can hammer out another 10,000 ring game hands in the remaining days this month and show a good profit. I'm also hoping to go deep in a few MTTs. Wish me luck as I do all of you, except when you're in a hand with me.
2.14.2008
I make my own satellites.
So I was getting a little bored yesterday from the monotonous grind, so I decided to try and win into the 50-50 tournament on Full Tilt. I wanted to play the $8+.80 and $14+1 turbo satellites to get in. If I win two seats, I get $55 cash, so I definitely wanted to get in on these and give it a shot. I decided to make my own satellite for this occasion, starting with $4.30. I would play 2 $2+.15 heads up SNGs to begin. If I won one of them, I'd play 2 more. I won the first, lost the second, played 2 more and won the third and fourth ones. 4 $2+.15 heads up SNGs played, $8.60 paid in entries, $12.00 in winnings, net profit of $3.40. Adding that to my original $4, I now bought into a $6+.25 turbo heads up SNG and won that for $12.00, $5.75 in profit. I was now up $9.15 from the SNGs and adding my original $4, I sat at a heads up $.25/.50 NL cash table and made $15.50. I now bought into the 2 satellites I wanted to play, and I did all of this within an hour or so, allowing myself only $4.30 to start with. If I lost that, that would be my shot. I was bounced from the $8+.80 satellite, but won a seat in the $14+1 satellite. Onto the 50-50!
Sat down in the 50-50 with Huck Seed across from me. Not that it matters a whole lot, but you do get a bounty for knocking a pro out of a tournament, so I was thinking chance may come into play here and I might get to KO him for $50. I played tight earlier on and then gave away the majority of my chips on this hand. I hate the way I played it looking back and am upset with myself.
Seat 1: HuckleberrySeed (2,460)
Seat 2: GV pAp1 (2,005)
Seat 3: pdiddyshowno (4,560)
Seat 4: KORNFAN1 (4,305)
Seat 5: donpeters (2,060)
Seat 6: asexpected (4,205)
Seat 8: Epic Monolith (2,530)
Seat 9: saladfinger (2,615)
Epic Monolith posts the small blind of 25
saladfinger posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Td Ts]
HuckleberrySeed folds
eb2007 sits down
eb2007 adds 2,785
GV pAp1 has 15 seconds left to act
GV pAp1 folds
pdiddyshowno calls 50
KORNFAN1 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to 200
asexpected folds
Epic Monolith folds
saladfinger folds
pdiddyshowno calls 150
*** FLOP *** [2s 4d Kd]
pdiddyshowno checks {Limp/call, then checks, seems weak to me.}
donpeters bets 300 {I'd say a CB will take this down the majority of the time here.}
pdiddyshowno calls 300
*** TURN *** [2s 4d Kd] [5s]
pdiddyshowno checks
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets 700 {Check/call, check again? I choose to fire another bet and try and take it down right here.}
pdiddyshowno raises to 3,175 {Uhhhh... yeah.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters folds
Well, looking back on the hand, I think I should have done one of two things to fix this hand. I'm fine with my play up until the turn. When he checks to me on the turn, I should decide to fire a bet more like 90-100% of the pot, rather than 70-75%. This bet will look stronger because I will be committing myself to the hand. It will also commit myself where I don't have to think about a call or fold if he reraises me, I've already basically put myself in by committing so many chips. Or I could have checked behind and then reevaluated on the river where I might be able to call a bet depending on size or fold, but I'd save myself the chips that I bet on the turn. I think I should have played the hand on the turn with an all or nothing attitude. I'm either going to go for it here and commit myself, or back off and relinquish the hand if so.
Let me know about this hand, because I'm dying for some good analysis on what to do here. I busted a little while later with top pair, king kicker to middle set.
I am always creeping around the the Cardplayer.com forums and I usually post a lot of my hands on there for further analysis. I posted my hand from the 50-50 and also the hand by Mikerizz33. Here are the links, you should check them out.
Mikerizz33 hand
50-50 hand
Other than that, I started a challenge with myself to play 100 $5+.40 heads up SNG shootouts. These consist of 4 people, 2 rounds, tournament style. You beat the first guy, you play heads up for the money. I'm about a third of the way to completing the 100 and then I'll post the stats on them and evaluate how I'm doing.
Sat down in the 50-50 with Huck Seed across from me. Not that it matters a whole lot, but you do get a bounty for knocking a pro out of a tournament, so I was thinking chance may come into play here and I might get to KO him for $50. I played tight earlier on and then gave away the majority of my chips on this hand. I hate the way I played it looking back and am upset with myself.
Seat 1: HuckleberrySeed (2,460)
Seat 2: GV pAp1 (2,005)
Seat 3: pdiddyshowno (4,560)
Seat 4: KORNFAN1 (4,305)
Seat 5: donpeters (2,060)
Seat 6: asexpected (4,205)
Seat 8: Epic Monolith (2,530)
Seat 9: saladfinger (2,615)
Epic Monolith posts the small blind of 25
saladfinger posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Td Ts]
HuckleberrySeed folds
eb2007 sits down
eb2007 adds 2,785
GV pAp1 has 15 seconds left to act
GV pAp1 folds
pdiddyshowno calls 50
KORNFAN1 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to 200
asexpected folds
Epic Monolith folds
saladfinger folds
pdiddyshowno calls 150
*** FLOP *** [2s 4d Kd]
pdiddyshowno checks {Limp/call, then checks, seems weak to me.}
donpeters bets 300 {I'd say a CB will take this down the majority of the time here.}
pdiddyshowno calls 300
*** TURN *** [2s 4d Kd] [5s]
pdiddyshowno checks
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets 700 {Check/call, check again? I choose to fire another bet and try and take it down right here.}
pdiddyshowno raises to 3,175 {Uhhhh... yeah.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters folds
Well, looking back on the hand, I think I should have done one of two things to fix this hand. I'm fine with my play up until the turn. When he checks to me on the turn, I should decide to fire a bet more like 90-100% of the pot, rather than 70-75%. This bet will look stronger because I will be committing myself to the hand. It will also commit myself where I don't have to think about a call or fold if he reraises me, I've already basically put myself in by committing so many chips. Or I could have checked behind and then reevaluated on the river where I might be able to call a bet depending on size or fold, but I'd save myself the chips that I bet on the turn. I think I should have played the hand on the turn with an all or nothing attitude. I'm either going to go for it here and commit myself, or back off and relinquish the hand if so.
Let me know about this hand, because I'm dying for some good analysis on what to do here. I busted a little while later with top pair, king kicker to middle set.
I am always creeping around the the Cardplayer.com forums and I usually post a lot of my hands on there for further analysis. I posted my hand from the 50-50 and also the hand by Mikerizz33. Here are the links, you should check them out.
Mikerizz33 hand
50-50 hand
Other than that, I started a challenge with myself to play 100 $5+.40 heads up SNG shootouts. These consist of 4 people, 2 rounds, tournament style. You beat the first guy, you play heads up for the money. I'm about a third of the way to completing the 100 and then I'll post the stats on them and evaluate how I'm doing.
2.11.2008
Check out this hand from Mikerizz33.
Two of my friends Mikerizz33 and KakaFC22 have been doing really well in tournaments as of late. They have managed to play in a few FTOPS events by winning their win in via satellites. Mikerizz33 was able to win 4 extra seats to event #1 and 2 extra seats to event #9. Awesome job on that and it definitely helps pad the bankroll. He's played in events 1, 8, and 9 with no cashes. Nothing seems to be working out when he hits the big stage. Here's a hand summary he asked me to put up that I think is worth talking about.
Mikerizz33 raises UTG+1 with AQ to 3x the BB to 360. Two middle position players called and then the BB moved all-in for 1400 total. The action got back to Mikerizz33 and he was faced with a decision. It was 1040 more to call and he had 2700 chips left after his raise. It was decision time:
(a) Call the extra 1040 and commit about 40% his remaining stack to this hand and be left with just under 14 BBs
(b) Fold and leave himself with 22.5 BBs
(c) Reraise all-in for an additional 1660 chips on top of the BB's all-in
What do you guys think the best play would be?
My analysis:
I'm not sure of any of the opponent's tendencies or the table dynamics, but I think I'd be more apt to choose option (b) here. I don't like cold calling and feeling committed to the hand. Also, calling will allow the players behind to also call with increased pot odds if they have they have a hand to do so with. With that said, I don't think I'm calling ever. So that leaves me with the final two options, fold or shove all-in. With folding, there would still be a good amount of play left in my stack with 22.5 BBs. I only have AQ and would be thinking that I'm either dominated by the BB's hand or that I'm racing with him. With the structure of the event and the slowness of it, I think I'd be more than content with folding here. If I didn't fold though, I would choose to shove all-in. This would help to give me isolation against the BB alone if I thought I had him beat and unless one of the callers behind me is just smooth calling my original raise with a monster, I'm thinking I'm ahead of them or that I have enough fold equity on them. Not to mention my reshove would show a lot of strength on my part. I probably break down my plays something like this: call 5%, fold 60%, raise all-in 35%.
It turns out Mikerizz33 choose option (c) and moved in trying to isolate against the BB, a perfectly fine play in my opinion. What he couldn't understand is how one of the middle position players called holding 66 for around 75% of his or her remaining chips. Well, I don't have an answer for that either. Maybe they wanted to race or just get lucky, who knows. All we know is that obviously Mikerizz33's shove didn't work in isolating the BB. I think this is a bad call by the middle position player, unless they choose to gamble if they put the two all-ins on completely bogus hands. Even then, why risk it? I think in the end though, if Mikerizz33 chooses to shove and isolate there, he might invite weak calls like this, even if someone does have a slightly better hand. He's already committing a good amount of his chips and the extra call behind is only adding chips to the pot for him to win. I say because if he chooses to reshove with AQ and is willing to accept a race with the BB, why not accept another person in there to race with also?
Mikerizz33 raises UTG+1 with AQ to 3x the BB to 360. Two middle position players called and then the BB moved all-in for 1400 total. The action got back to Mikerizz33 and he was faced with a decision. It was 1040 more to call and he had 2700 chips left after his raise. It was decision time:
(a) Call the extra 1040 and commit about 40% his remaining stack to this hand and be left with just under 14 BBs
(b) Fold and leave himself with 22.5 BBs
(c) Reraise all-in for an additional 1660 chips on top of the BB's all-in
What do you guys think the best play would be?
My analysis:
I'm not sure of any of the opponent's tendencies or the table dynamics, but I think I'd be more apt to choose option (b) here. I don't like cold calling and feeling committed to the hand. Also, calling will allow the players behind to also call with increased pot odds if they have they have a hand to do so with. With that said, I don't think I'm calling ever. So that leaves me with the final two options, fold or shove all-in. With folding, there would still be a good amount of play left in my stack with 22.5 BBs. I only have AQ and would be thinking that I'm either dominated by the BB's hand or that I'm racing with him. With the structure of the event and the slowness of it, I think I'd be more than content with folding here. If I didn't fold though, I would choose to shove all-in. This would help to give me isolation against the BB alone if I thought I had him beat and unless one of the callers behind me is just smooth calling my original raise with a monster, I'm thinking I'm ahead of them or that I have enough fold equity on them. Not to mention my reshove would show a lot of strength on my part. I probably break down my plays something like this: call 5%, fold 60%, raise all-in 35%.
It turns out Mikerizz33 choose option (c) and moved in trying to isolate against the BB, a perfectly fine play in my opinion. What he couldn't understand is how one of the middle position players called holding 66 for around 75% of his or her remaining chips. Well, I don't have an answer for that either. Maybe they wanted to race or just get lucky, who knows. All we know is that obviously Mikerizz33's shove didn't work in isolating the BB. I think this is a bad call by the middle position player, unless they choose to gamble if they put the two all-ins on completely bogus hands. Even then, why risk it? I think in the end though, if Mikerizz33 chooses to shove and isolate there, he might invite weak calls like this, even if someone does have a slightly better hand. He's already committing a good amount of his chips and the extra call behind is only adding chips to the pot for him to win. I say because if he chooses to reshove with AQ and is willing to accept a race with the BB, why not accept another person in there to race with also?
2.10.2008
Just another day of the grind.
Had a good time partying last night at my place, so I woke up kind of late this morning. I was up in time for the Bronze $10,000 Iron Man freeroll on Full Tilt that I qualified for last month. It was a good tournament and really easy to make it into the money. I'd have to say about 25% of the field didn't even show up and was blinded off. I know a friend of mine that didn't play one hand, yet made it to the money to collect $15.00. Out of the 1015 entrants, I was able to work my way into the money and come in 152nd place, good for $17.50. I didn't see much of anything in the tournament and just maneuvered my way around things. Next month I am shooting for the Gold $20,000 freeroll. Heck, it's free money, and it'd a huge win if I could final table one of these.
I was kind of all over the place today between tournaments, sit-n-gos, and cash games. Here's how things finished off at the end of the day:
Cash games:
5 hours, 35 minutes total
790 hands
18 % flops
23/42 showdowns {Still need to work on this!}
+9.95
Tournaments:
Bronze $10k freeroll - 152/1015 for $17.50
$3+.30 KO double stack turbo - 23/90 but won $7.50 because I had 10% of my friend who took it down
$2+.25 turbo RB satellite to the fifty-fifty - 65/172
$5+.50 KO MTT - 55/557 with 4 KOs for $4.00 {Bubble boy!!}
$1 "The Ferguson" - 256/1433
$5+.50 6-handed KO MTT - 211/511
$2+.25 turbo RB super satellite to FTOPS event #9 - 1/53 for a $50+5 satellite seat
Total: $29.80 paid in entry fees
Net: +$29.00 and a $50+5 satellite seat
SNGs:
$10+1 - 6/9
$6.50+.40 Heads Up - 2/4
$2+.25 18 man - 13/18
$2+.25 18 man - 10/18
$2+.25 18 man - 6/18
$2+.25 18 man - 4/18 for $3.60
$2+.25 18 man - 5/18
$2+.25 18 man - 12/18
$2+.25 18 man - 6/18
$2+.25 18 man - 5/18
Total: $35.90 paid in entry fees
Net: -$32.30
Overall: +$6.65 and a $50+5 satellite seat
I was able to come out in the positive, but I'm not happy at all with how the day went. I don't know what I have to do to change things around. I feel as though I'm playing good and making the right moves, but nothing seems to be going my way. I am constantly getting it in with the best hand and nothing is working out. I'm not talking about the little things, but when it matters most I just can't see to pull the pot my way, I'm mostly talking about the tournaments and SNGs.
My bankroll began at $170.00 on January 4, 2008. I built it up to around $300.00, but had a big downswing and am now sitting at $214.00. I netted about 15,000 hands in January and am almost at 5,000 for February so far. Since January 4th, I've played 19,965 hands at the $.05/.10 NL cash tables.
For February, I've set a few goals for myself:
Maybe I should just stick to grinding it out in the cash games for now. I referred a friend of mine, so I'll be working to clear that bonus, which should help the bankroll out. Hopefully this FTOPS satellite works out tomorrow and then I can make something happen in the event. I know if the cards hold, I'll be a force to reckon with. I'm confident in my game and as long as I feel I'm making the correct decisions, I just have to wait for the results to come around. Wish me luck in the satellite tomorrow, I'll be trying to do it big for the FTOPS!
I was kind of all over the place today between tournaments, sit-n-gos, and cash games. Here's how things finished off at the end of the day:
Cash games:
5 hours, 35 minutes total
790 hands
18 % flops
23/42 showdowns {Still need to work on this!}
+9.95
Tournaments:
Bronze $10k freeroll - 152/1015 for $17.50
$3+.30 KO double stack turbo - 23/90 but won $7.50 because I had 10% of my friend who took it down
$2+.25 turbo RB satellite to the fifty-fifty - 65/172
$5+.50 KO MTT - 55/557 with 4 KOs for $4.00 {Bubble boy!!}
$1 "The Ferguson" - 256/1433
$5+.50 6-handed KO MTT - 211/511
$2+.25 turbo RB super satellite to FTOPS event #9 - 1/53 for a $50+5 satellite seat
Total: $29.80 paid in entry fees
Net: +$29.00 and a $50+5 satellite seat
SNGs:
$10+1 - 6/9
$6.50+.40 Heads Up - 2/4
$2+.25 18 man - 13/18
$2+.25 18 man - 10/18
$2+.25 18 man - 6/18
$2+.25 18 man - 4/18 for $3.60
$2+.25 18 man - 5/18
$2+.25 18 man - 12/18
$2+.25 18 man - 6/18
$2+.25 18 man - 5/18
Total: $35.90 paid in entry fees
Net: -$32.30
Overall: +$6.65 and a $50+5 satellite seat
I was able to come out in the positive, but I'm not happy at all with how the day went. I don't know what I have to do to change things around. I feel as though I'm playing good and making the right moves, but nothing seems to be going my way. I am constantly getting it in with the best hand and nothing is working out. I'm not talking about the little things, but when it matters most I just can't see to pull the pot my way, I'm mostly talking about the tournaments and SNGs.
My bankroll began at $170.00 on January 4, 2008. I built it up to around $300.00, but had a big downswing and am now sitting at $214.00. I netted about 15,000 hands in January and am almost at 5,000 for February so far. Since January 4th, I've played 19,965 hands at the $.05/.10 NL cash tables.
For February, I've set a few goals for myself:
- Qualify for the one-a-day $2,000 freeroll on Full Tilt
- Qualify for the same Iron Man level or better and play in the freeroll (on pace for Gold right now)
- Take down or final table a couple MTTs for a good profit
Maybe I should just stick to grinding it out in the cash games for now. I referred a friend of mine, so I'll be working to clear that bonus, which should help the bankroll out. Hopefully this FTOPS satellite works out tomorrow and then I can make something happen in the event. I know if the cards hold, I'll be a force to reckon with. I'm confident in my game and as long as I feel I'm making the correct decisions, I just have to wait for the results to come around. Wish me luck in the satellite tomorrow, I'll be trying to do it big for the FTOPS!
2.09.2008
A decent cash session with a bad mistake in between.
After taking a day off, I returned to the tables Friday morning and afternoon and got a good session in. Throughout the day I played 3 different session with some breaks in between for class and food. For each session, I'm just going to post one key hand, good or bad.
Session 1:
100 hands
1 hour, 25 minutes
34% flops
5/7 showdowns
+12.70
I opted to just play one table to begin with an did well on it. I more than doubled my stack with some key hands. I don't normally see such a high percentage of flops, but the table dropped to 3-4 players at one point and I opened things up during that time. I did play a little looser than I normally do preflop. I wanted to try it out and see if it worked for me, but I made this decision after the table seemed full of players I could really hone in on and get some good information.
Seat 1: philtheshowkill ($7.85)
Seat 2: donpeters ($9.85)
Seat 4: njpokerhoney ($20.15)
Seat 5: Zocki Hook ($19.90)
Seat 7: newnewnew ($19.80)
Seat 8: catmann40 ($21.10)
philtheshowkill posts the small blind of $0.05
donpeters posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [8h 9h]
zicke3 sits down
njpokerhoney folds
Zocki Hook folds
newnewnew raises to $0.20 {This guy min-raised a lot}
catmann40 calls $0.20
zicke3 stands up
philtheshowkill calls $0.15
donpeters calls $0.10 {Already in the BB and I have a very playable hand in this situation.}
*** FLOP *** [8c Kd 8d]
philtheshowkill checks
donpeters bets $0.70 {Flops like this with players behind me, I like to come out betting.}
newnewnew calls $0.70
catmann40 folds
philtheshowkill folds
*** TURN *** [8c Kd 8d] [7h]
donpeters bets $2 {Keep betting, no need to get tricky or too worried, play it straight forward.}
newnewnew calls $2
*** RIVER *** [8c Kd 8d 7h] [Qh]
donpeters bets $6.95, and is all in {Still feel I have the best hand so I'm just gonna try and max my value here.}
newnewnew calls $6.95
*** SHOW DOWN ***
donpeters shows [8h 9h] three of a kind, Eights
newnewnew mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($18.10) with three of a kind, Eights
Session 2:
422 hands
3 hours, 16 minutes
22% flops
14/27 showdowns
+12.65
Another decent session money wise, but I'm not impressed at all with the percentage of showdowns I won. There was one or two times when I went to a showdown from one of the blinds and it was checked around, other than that, I want to get this up and win as many showdowns as possible. This following hand was a weird one for me. As you'll see, I made the call but I'm not to sure if it was a good call. While in the hand and faced with a big bet on the turn, I had a pair and was open-ended, but I have notes on my opponent and he is just a loose cannon that will fire a lot when scare cards come. I went with my gut and just didn't feel he had it, and I was able to use my notes on him to back up my reasoning.
Seat 1: Al Stubbino ($19.85)
Seat 2: Legomli ($1.70)
Seat 3: PredatorsBall ($9)
Seat 4: walterburle8 ($0.85)
Seat 6: Priv8te ($7.55)
Seat 7: Jimbo412 ($12.05)
Seat 8: markmccoy ($4.15)
Seat 9: donpeters ($15.80)
Priv8te has 5 seconds left to act
Priv8te posts the small blind of $0.05
Jimbo412 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Qs Qc]
markmccoy folds
donpeters raises to $0.40
Al Stubbino folds
Legomli folds
PredatorsBall calls $0.40
walterburle8 folds
Priv8te folds
Jimbo412 folds
*** FLOP *** [7h Jc Td]
donpeters bets $0.95
PredatorsBall calls $0.95
*** TURN *** [7h Jc Td] [9d]
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets $2
PredatorsBall raises to $7.65, and is all in {Does he really have an 8 in this spot? 2 pair?}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters calls $5.65
PredatorsBall shows [7s As]
donpeters shows [Qs Qc]
*** RIVER *** [7h Jc Td 9d] [5h]
PredatorsBall shows a pair of Sevens
donpeters shows a pair of Queens
donpeters wins the pot ($16.35) with a pair of Queens
PredatorsBall adds $10
The pot at the time was $6.85 and I was forced with calling another $5.65 to win a total of $12.50, so I was getting 2.2:1 on my money here. If he flopped two pair or turned two pair, I'm around a 1.75:1 dog with 1 to come. Knowing this opponent, here's what ran through my mind. On the flop, he likes to jam and raise with draws, so I'd rule out the open-ended straight draws KQ and Q9. He could have any J here, J10, J9, maybe J8 but I know him to push hands that are paired up with draws hard, so I'd rule that one out, too. My best guess was a hand like QJ, KJ, AJ, but leaning more towards QJ because he would have picked up the open-ended draw on the turn and is now firing away on me. He likes to gamble and I'd also say that 20% of the time here he could be running a total bluff. I broke it down somewhat like this, 20% bluff, 60% pair plus a draw, 20% two pair. Worse case scenario with the pair plus a draw is QJd where he is around 12% to split with me and 25% to win. All that said, I decided this was a good spot to call and it turns out he was using the scare card to his advantage (another thing I have in my notes of him).
Session 3:
150 hands
1 hour
30% flops
7/14 showdowns
-7.85
Once again, my showdowns won percentage is terrible, but at one point I was playing heads up and checked it to the end. Still, I need to get this up. Here's the main reason why I finished the session down, the following hand.
Seat 1: ppcflyer ($17.65)
Seat 2: o2befubar ($25.85)
Seat 3: coachgw3201 ($5.70), is sitting out
Seat 4: Fishmeister1 ($18.85)
Seat 5: soarsoar ($19.70) {Very solid player that I know his tendencies well.}
Seat 6: ObliWan ($5.70)
Seat 7: walterburle8 ($8.50)
Seat 8: donpeters ($8.95)
ppcflyer posts the small blind of $0.05
o2befubar has 5 seconds left to act
o2befubar posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Js Jd]
Fishmeister1 folds
soarsoar calls $0.10
ObliWan calls $0.10
walterburle8 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $0.60
ppcflyer has 15 seconds left to act
ppcflyer folds
o2befubar calls $0.50
soarsoar calls $0.50
ObliWan folds
*** FLOP *** [Ts 9c 3d]
o2befubar checks
soarsoar checks
donpeters bets $1.75
o2befubar folds
soarsoar calls $1.75 {He's gotta have something to call here. He's a tight player.}
*** TURN *** [Ts 9c 3d] [5s]
soarsoar checks
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets $3 {I thought about checking behind, I almost did and knew I should, but then for some dumbass reason, I didn't.}
soarsoar raises to $6 {Now I know he has hit a set, I just know it.}
donpeters raises to $6.60, and is all in {I know he has a set, yet I shove in? Yeah, I am an idiot and stacked off here like a complete moron when I shouldn't have.}
soarsoar calls $0.60
donpeters shows [Js Jd]
soarsoar shows [Th Tc] {Yeah, I knew it. This is where I hit myself in the head with my mouse and yell.}
*** RIVER *** [Ts 9c 3d 5s] [Qd]
donpeters shows a pair of Jacks
soarsoar shows three of a kind, Tens
soarsoar wins the pot ($16.80) with three of a kind, Tens
I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, I do. When he limp/called preflop I know I can narrow him down to two big suited cards, but not too big like QJ, KJ, J10 and also medium pairs. I know this player well enough and how solid he is. When he calls my flop bet I know he connected and my feeling is he flopped a set and he'll come at me on the turn. Knowing this, I know I should check behind on the turn, I just know it... yet for some stupid reason I decide right before I hit check to bet. Yeah, I'm an idiot. Right when he check-raises me I know I'm done for, but wait... I still call. I think I might have told myself, "he might have 2 pair and I can draw to a better one, or maybe he has A10s and picked up a flush draw now." I told myself this so I could talk myself into calling when I had already decided folding was the best play here. This is after I talked myself into betting after I decided checking behind on the turn was the best play. This is me being a moron and leaving the session a few hands later because I was tilting at how bad a play I just made.
That does lead me to something though. I know tilt is a big issue with players and you have to do your best to control it at all times, even when nothing seems to be going right you have to try and stay on top of your game or you're just going to bleed money away. When I first started out I would tilt, curse, yell, tell people how bad they are, etc. whenever I was hit with a beat or just got unlucky in a hand. I soon learned I needed to control my emotions and have worked really hard to always keep them in check. If I feel emotionally skewed by a hand due to luck in some way, I take a breath and just move on to the next hand, no worries there. But if it's one thing that gets to me more than anything else, it's when I make a bad play. When I know I should have done something differently, but talked myself into doing the 'wrong' thing, it just puts me over the edge. Afterwards I'm always just left to tell myself, "you just learned the hard way." I've gotten better at not learning the hard way and have become more able to trust my instincts with confidence at the tables. Sometimes though, I make a terribly bad decision and I just don't know what I was thinking when I look back on it. I talk myself into these bad plays when I have already decided the right or better play to make. I tilt myself and I should do a better job next time of knowing that if I do talk myself out of a decision, it's probably not going to be for the good.
Session 1:
100 hands
1 hour, 25 minutes
34% flops
5/7 showdowns
+12.70
I opted to just play one table to begin with an did well on it. I more than doubled my stack with some key hands. I don't normally see such a high percentage of flops, but the table dropped to 3-4 players at one point and I opened things up during that time. I did play a little looser than I normally do preflop. I wanted to try it out and see if it worked for me, but I made this decision after the table seemed full of players I could really hone in on and get some good information.
Seat 1: philtheshowkill ($7.85)
Seat 2: donpeters ($9.85)
Seat 4: njpokerhoney ($20.15)
Seat 5: Zocki Hook ($19.90)
Seat 7: newnewnew ($19.80)
Seat 8: catmann40 ($21.10)
philtheshowkill posts the small blind of $0.05
donpeters posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [8h 9h]
zicke3 sits down
njpokerhoney folds
Zocki Hook folds
newnewnew raises to $0.20 {This guy min-raised a lot}
catmann40 calls $0.20
zicke3 stands up
philtheshowkill calls $0.15
donpeters calls $0.10 {Already in the BB and I have a very playable hand in this situation.}
*** FLOP *** [8c Kd 8d]
philtheshowkill checks
donpeters bets $0.70 {Flops like this with players behind me, I like to come out betting.}
newnewnew calls $0.70
catmann40 folds
philtheshowkill folds
*** TURN *** [8c Kd 8d] [7h]
donpeters bets $2 {Keep betting, no need to get tricky or too worried, play it straight forward.}
newnewnew calls $2
*** RIVER *** [8c Kd 8d 7h] [Qh]
donpeters bets $6.95, and is all in {Still feel I have the best hand so I'm just gonna try and max my value here.}
newnewnew calls $6.95
*** SHOW DOWN ***
donpeters shows [8h 9h] three of a kind, Eights
newnewnew mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($18.10) with three of a kind, Eights
Session 2:
422 hands
3 hours, 16 minutes
22% flops
14/27 showdowns
+12.65
Another decent session money wise, but I'm not impressed at all with the percentage of showdowns I won. There was one or two times when I went to a showdown from one of the blinds and it was checked around, other than that, I want to get this up and win as many showdowns as possible. This following hand was a weird one for me. As you'll see, I made the call but I'm not to sure if it was a good call. While in the hand and faced with a big bet on the turn, I had a pair and was open-ended, but I have notes on my opponent and he is just a loose cannon that will fire a lot when scare cards come. I went with my gut and just didn't feel he had it, and I was able to use my notes on him to back up my reasoning.
Seat 1: Al Stubbino ($19.85)
Seat 2: Legomli ($1.70)
Seat 3: PredatorsBall ($9)
Seat 4: walterburle8 ($0.85)
Seat 6: Priv8te ($7.55)
Seat 7: Jimbo412 ($12.05)
Seat 8: markmccoy ($4.15)
Seat 9: donpeters ($15.80)
Priv8te has 5 seconds left to act
Priv8te posts the small blind of $0.05
Jimbo412 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Qs Qc]
markmccoy folds
donpeters raises to $0.40
Al Stubbino folds
Legomli folds
PredatorsBall calls $0.40
walterburle8 folds
Priv8te folds
Jimbo412 folds
*** FLOP *** [7h Jc Td]
donpeters bets $0.95
PredatorsBall calls $0.95
*** TURN *** [7h Jc Td] [9d]
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets $2
PredatorsBall raises to $7.65, and is all in {Does he really have an 8 in this spot? 2 pair?}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters calls $5.65
PredatorsBall shows [7s As]
donpeters shows [Qs Qc]
*** RIVER *** [7h Jc Td 9d] [5h]
PredatorsBall shows a pair of Sevens
donpeters shows a pair of Queens
donpeters wins the pot ($16.35) with a pair of Queens
PredatorsBall adds $10
The pot at the time was $6.85 and I was forced with calling another $5.65 to win a total of $12.50, so I was getting 2.2:1 on my money here. If he flopped two pair or turned two pair, I'm around a 1.75:1 dog with 1 to come. Knowing this opponent, here's what ran through my mind. On the flop, he likes to jam and raise with draws, so I'd rule out the open-ended straight draws KQ and Q9. He could have any J here, J10, J9, maybe J8 but I know him to push hands that are paired up with draws hard, so I'd rule that one out, too. My best guess was a hand like QJ, KJ, AJ, but leaning more towards QJ because he would have picked up the open-ended draw on the turn and is now firing away on me. He likes to gamble and I'd also say that 20% of the time here he could be running a total bluff. I broke it down somewhat like this, 20% bluff, 60% pair plus a draw, 20% two pair. Worse case scenario with the pair plus a draw is QJd where he is around 12% to split with me and 25% to win. All that said, I decided this was a good spot to call and it turns out he was using the scare card to his advantage (another thing I have in my notes of him).
Session 3:
150 hands
1 hour
30% flops
7/14 showdowns
-7.85
Once again, my showdowns won percentage is terrible, but at one point I was playing heads up and checked it to the end. Still, I need to get this up. Here's the main reason why I finished the session down, the following hand.
Seat 1: ppcflyer ($17.65)
Seat 2: o2befubar ($25.85)
Seat 3: coachgw3201 ($5.70), is sitting out
Seat 4: Fishmeister1 ($18.85)
Seat 5: soarsoar ($19.70) {Very solid player that I know his tendencies well.}
Seat 6: ObliWan ($5.70)
Seat 7: walterburle8 ($8.50)
Seat 8: donpeters ($8.95)
ppcflyer posts the small blind of $0.05
o2befubar has 5 seconds left to act
o2befubar posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Js Jd]
Fishmeister1 folds
soarsoar calls $0.10
ObliWan calls $0.10
walterburle8 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $0.60
ppcflyer has 15 seconds left to act
ppcflyer folds
o2befubar calls $0.50
soarsoar calls $0.50
ObliWan folds
*** FLOP *** [Ts 9c 3d]
o2befubar checks
soarsoar checks
donpeters bets $1.75
o2befubar folds
soarsoar calls $1.75 {He's gotta have something to call here. He's a tight player.}
*** TURN *** [Ts 9c 3d] [5s]
soarsoar checks
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets $3 {I thought about checking behind, I almost did and knew I should, but then for some dumbass reason, I didn't.}
soarsoar raises to $6 {Now I know he has hit a set, I just know it.}
donpeters raises to $6.60, and is all in {I know he has a set, yet I shove in? Yeah, I am an idiot and stacked off here like a complete moron when I shouldn't have.}
soarsoar calls $0.60
donpeters shows [Js Jd]
soarsoar shows [Th Tc] {Yeah, I knew it. This is where I hit myself in the head with my mouse and yell.}
*** RIVER *** [Ts 9c 3d 5s] [Qd]
donpeters shows a pair of Jacks
soarsoar shows three of a kind, Tens
soarsoar wins the pot ($16.80) with three of a kind, Tens
I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, I do. When he limp/called preflop I know I can narrow him down to two big suited cards, but not too big like QJ, KJ, J10 and also medium pairs. I know this player well enough and how solid he is. When he calls my flop bet I know he connected and my feeling is he flopped a set and he'll come at me on the turn. Knowing this, I know I should check behind on the turn, I just know it... yet for some stupid reason I decide right before I hit check to bet. Yeah, I'm an idiot. Right when he check-raises me I know I'm done for, but wait... I still call. I think I might have told myself, "he might have 2 pair and I can draw to a better one, or maybe he has A10s and picked up a flush draw now." I told myself this so I could talk myself into calling when I had already decided folding was the best play here. This is after I talked myself into betting after I decided checking behind on the turn was the best play. This is me being a moron and leaving the session a few hands later because I was tilting at how bad a play I just made.
That does lead me to something though. I know tilt is a big issue with players and you have to do your best to control it at all times, even when nothing seems to be going right you have to try and stay on top of your game or you're just going to bleed money away. When I first started out I would tilt, curse, yell, tell people how bad they are, etc. whenever I was hit with a beat or just got unlucky in a hand. I soon learned I needed to control my emotions and have worked really hard to always keep them in check. If I feel emotionally skewed by a hand due to luck in some way, I take a breath and just move on to the next hand, no worries there. But if it's one thing that gets to me more than anything else, it's when I make a bad play. When I know I should have done something differently, but talked myself into doing the 'wrong' thing, it just puts me over the edge. Afterwards I'm always just left to tell myself, "you just learned the hard way." I've gotten better at not learning the hard way and have become more able to trust my instincts with confidence at the tables. Sometimes though, I make a terribly bad decision and I just don't know what I was thinking when I look back on it. I talk myself into these bad plays when I have already decided the right or better play to make. I tilt myself and I should do a better job next time of knowing that if I do talk myself out of a decision, it's probably not going to be for the good.
2.07.2008
A big final table for a friend.
One of my good friends and avid poker player has been on a hot streak lately. He's been cashing left and right in tournaments and doing really well. He's the one that I mentioned I had 10% of in the first FTOPS event. Tonight he played FTP's $25,000 guarantee tournament. With around 35 people left, KakaFC22 grabbed the chip lead and held onto it for a while. He made it down to the final table and was able to play steady and solid poker and grab 4th place for just over $3,500.
I had a side bet going with a railbird of FergonKKron. He put his money on him and I had my money on KakaFC22, we also had bounties thrown on each other if one knocked out the other. FergonKKron did go on to win, but got extremely lucky on a preflop all-in when he had QQ dominating his 44. He pulled out quads and went sailing on to victory and I was out $10.
The next hand is KakaFC22's final hand. The button raised it up to 2.5x the BB and KakaFC22 was on the short stack and shoved in from the SB with AQ and was insta-called by A10. He held up until the river and instead of doubling up to a healthier stack, was bounced out in 4th position. Still an excellent showing and it's just unlucky it didn't work out. Congratulations to KakaFC22 on his big score!
I had a side bet going with a railbird of FergonKKron. He put his money on him and I had my money on KakaFC22, we also had bounties thrown on each other if one knocked out the other. FergonKKron did go on to win, but got extremely lucky on a preflop all-in when he had QQ dominating his 44. He pulled out quads and went sailing on to victory and I was out $10.
The next hand is KakaFC22's final hand. The button raised it up to 2.5x the BB and KakaFC22 was on the short stack and shoved in from the SB with AQ and was insta-called by A10. He held up until the river and instead of doubling up to a healthier stack, was bounced out in 4th position. Still an excellent showing and it's just unlucky it didn't work out. Congratulations to KakaFC22 on his big score!
Paul Darden with a win...
I've played a Foxwoods a ton in the past few years and love it there. I know Paul Darden came up playing there and did very well before hitting it big and getting his name out there. I saw he took down event #12 at the L.A. Poker Classic recently, the $1,000 buy-in Omaha 8ob tournament. I had the opportunity of meeting Paul at Foxwoods a couple years back after I ran a crazy bluff on his friend playing $1/2 NL. I've watched Paul play a bunch of times, especially the $75/150 and $150/300 stud games at the Woods, and I really respect his play and think he is an excellent player. He's had some TV success and it's good to see him score this win. You can check the brief article out over on Cardplayer.com here.
Yesterday's cash session and a day off!
I sessioned last night at the $.05/.10 deep table Xperiment on FTP. There's a group of about 7-8 players that regularly play on this table that I have a lot of respect for as a poker player. They play patient and solid and we all seem to do fairly well there. Then of course there is the good old 7-8 players that just donate to the game all the time. Gotta love those players. I'm cutting out the hand histories for the day, but if you'd like them just ask. Here are some screen shots of the showdowns.
I'll be taking a much needed day off today from playing. I've been going through a bad run the past week and playing a ton of poker. I just need to have my head clear for the day and not stress about what's going on on the felt. I have some work to get done for school that I'll be staying occupied with all day and I'll also been posting on some forums and watching some videos to study up some. I might also rail the normal games I play on FTP to get some information on some common opponents.
I finishes yesterday's session after playing for 3 hours, 40 minutes up $17.65. I played 302 hands and saw 19-20% of flops. I also played a $2+.25 18 man SNG and a $2+.25 180 man SNG. I came in 15/18 and 103/180 respectively after some of my hands didn't hold up. No worries, I'll get 'em next time.
I'll be taking a much needed day off today from playing. I've been going through a bad run the past week and playing a ton of poker. I just need to have my head clear for the day and not stress about what's going on on the felt. I have some work to get done for school that I'll be staying occupied with all day and I'll also been posting on some forums and watching some videos to study up some. I might also rail the normal games I play on FTP to get some information on some common opponents.
I finishes yesterday's session after playing for 3 hours, 40 minutes up $17.65. I played 302 hands and saw 19-20% of flops. I also played a $2+.25 18 man SNG and a $2+.25 180 man SNG. I came in 15/18 and 103/180 respectively after some of my hands didn't hold up. No worries, I'll get 'em next time.
2.06.2008
The dream lives on...
I had the opportunity to play in FTOPS event #1 a $200+16 NL tournament with a $750,000 guarantee tonight. The tournament brought a huge field of 5,319 entrants, paying 738 places. With a double stack and longer levels, I liked my chances. Here are some of my hands throughout.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (3,000)
Seat 2: pokealong (2,380)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (3,045)
Seat 4: 101011002 (2,215)
Seat 5: Black_BartA8 (2,235)
Seat 6: donpeters (2,970)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,310)
Seat 8: Belladdie (3,925)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (2,920)
101011002 posts the small blind of 15
Black_BartA8 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [As Ad]
donpeters raises to 90
pigarco calls 90
Belladdie calls 90
c1 future pro folds
Kin Corn Karn folds
pokealong folds
O0Brian0O calls 90
101011002 calls 75
Black_BartA8 calls 60
*** FLOP *** [9d 6d Jh]
101011002 checks
Black_BartA8 checks
donpeters bets 375
pigarco folds
Belladdie folds
O0Brian0O folds
101011002 folds
Black_BartA8 folds
Uncalled bet of 375 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (540)
Wasn't really digging the 5 callers I had. I'd rather play my AA against 1-2 opponents. Still was able to scoop a decent pot early.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (3,080)
Seat 2: pokealong (2,700)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (2,340)
Seat 4: 101011002 (1,780)
Seat 5: Black_BartA8 (4,135)
Seat 6: donpeters (3,315)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,725)
Seat 8: Belladdie (2,245)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (2,680)
c1 future pro posts the small blind of 20
Kin Corn Karn posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jc Jh]
pokealong raises to 80 {Min-raise UTG, but he has been playing fairly loose and kind of all over the place with limps and min-raises.}
O0Brian0O has 15 seconds left to act
O0Brian0O folds
101011002 folds
Black_BartA8 has 15 seconds left to act
Black_BartA8 folds
donpeters raises to 240
pigarco folds
Belladdie folds
c1 future pro folds
Kin Corn Karn folds
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong calls 160
*** FLOP *** [Kh Td 8h]
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong checks
donpeters checks {Could have bet here. Wanted to keep the pot small and I had position, so I opted to check behind. Opinions?}
*** TURN *** [Kh Td 8h] [Ah]
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong bets 200
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls 200 {Wasn't a fan of the A, but with the Jh and a straight draw, also a pair that I thought had a decent chance of being good, I could call this. Thought about raising, but this early I decided not to get myself into unwanted trouble.}
*** RIVER *** [Kh Td 8h Ah] [Qc]
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong checks
donpeters bets 400
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong is sitting out
pokealong has timed out
pokealong folds
Uncalled bet of 400 returned to donpeters
pokealong has returned
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (940)
Another decent pot to add to my stack. Early on in tournaments, I'm looking for sure ways to increase my stack. I'm not here to donk it up and go balls to the wall when the blinds are low. I'll pick and choose my spots to slowly work my way up the ranks. When the blinds and antes get bigger, I'll be more willing to make some moves.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (5,400)
Seat 2: Pwnataur (2,720)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (2,180)
Seat 4: 101011002 (2,850)
Seat 5: Black_BartA8 (3,230)
Seat 6: donpeters (3,550)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,685)
Seat 8: Belladdie (3,352)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (1,913)
Pwnataur posts the small blind of 30
O0Brian0O posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Qd Qh]
101011002 folds
Black_BartA8 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to 180
pigarco folds
Belladdie folds
c1 future pro calls 180
Kin Corn Karn has 15 seconds left to act
Kin Corn Karn calls 180
Pwnataur has 15 seconds left to act
Pwnataur is sitting out
Pwnataur has timed out
Pwnataur folds
O0Brian0O calls 120
*** FLOP *** [4c Ts Tc]
O0Brian0O checks
donpeters checks {This is where I went wrong. I didn't want to commit to a hand I wasn't sure on although in hindsight I should have bet the flop here I think.}
c1 future pro checks
Kin Corn Karn bets 350
O0Brian0O folds
Pwnataur has been disconnected
donpeters calls 350
c1 future pro folds
*** TURN *** [4c Ts Tc] [Kc]
donpeters checks
Kin Corn Karn bets 700
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters folds
Uncalled bet of 700 returned to Kin Corn Karn
Kin Corn Karn mucks
Kin Corn Karn wins the pot (1,450)
The QQ hand is my biggest concern looking back on things. Kin Corn Karn showed me soon after that maybe I should have played this hand against him instead of conceding. He was shoving, raising, and calling with some crazy hands soon after which leads me to believe I was good.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (4,652)
Seat 2: taylortreble (6,623)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (1,300)
Seat 4: 101011002 (4,320)
Seat 5: kops123 (4,650)
Seat 6: donpeters (2,980)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,225)
Seat 8: Belladdie (5,312)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (7,391)
kops123 posts the small blind of 60
donpeters posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ad 6h]
pigarco folds
Belladdie folds
c1 future pro folds
Kin Corn Karn calls 120
taylortreble folds
O0Brian0O folds
101011002 folds
kops123 calls 60
donpeters checks
*** FLOP *** [4c 7h Ah]
kops123 has 15 seconds left to act
kops123 bets 240
donpeters calls 240
Kin Corn Karn folds
*** TURN *** [4c 7h Ah] [4d]
kops123 bets 560
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls 560
*** RIVER *** [4c 7h Ah 4d] [4h]
kops123 checks
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets 1,000
kops123 calls 1,000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
donpeters shows [Ad 6h] a full house, Fours full of Aces
kops123 mucks
donpeters wins the pot (3,960) with a full house, Fours full of Aces
Another good pot, this one really helped to boost me up there. When he checked the river, I was pretty positive I was good and decided on a value bet to get some extra chips out of him.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (4,532)
Seat 2: taylortreble (6,623)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (1,300)
Seat 4: 101011002 (4,320)
Seat 5: kops123 (2,730)
Seat 6: donpeters (5,020)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,225)
Seat 8: Belladdie (5,312)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (7,391)
donpeters posts the small blind of 60
pigarco posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jh Jc]
Belladdie folds
c1 future pro has 15 seconds left to act
c1 future pro raises to 350
Kin Corn Karn folds
taylortreble folds
O0Brian0O folds
101011002 folds
kops123 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to 850
pigarco folds
c1 future pro has 15 seconds left to act
c1 future pro calls 500
*** FLOP *** [8s 4s Kh]
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters checks
c1 future pro has 15 seconds left to act
c1 future pro checks
*** TURN *** [8s 4s Kh] [8c]
donpeters bets 900
c1 future pro has 15 seconds left to act
c1 future pro has requested TIME
c1 future pro folds
Uncalled bet of 900 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (1,820)
I made it through the second break and was doing all right. Looking back on things, maybe I could have gotten a little bit more aggressive. I was very card dead going into the second break and coming out of it. The blinds got up to 250/500 with an ante a 50. After going through the blinds, I had just over 3100 in chips left and shoved on the button when it folded around to me with A7. The SB went into the tank and called, so did the BB. The flop blanked me, I picked up a spade draw on the turn, but blanked the river, too. I did beat out the SB's hand of QJ with my ace-high, but was outkicked by the BB's AJ. I was out in 1170th place, just over 400 out of the money. Solid run I suppose, just couldn't get my bigger hands to give me a ton of action. I held AA a few times, QQ a few times, JJ and AK a few times as well but couldn't get the table to give me the bigger action I wanted. The table I was at for most of these hands was pretty loose and aggressive with a lot of raising and reraising going on preflop. Too bad none of this happened when I picked up my top hands.
I was able to profit off the tournament though. I was able to originally invest $3 to win into this tournament and a friend of mine and myself swapped 10% of each other. KakaFC22 is his name and he has been doing very, very well online lately in the tournaments he plays. He came in 522nd for just under $330 and shipped me my 10%. He also won in via satellite for $24+2, so it was a good showing for him. Congrats Kaka and keep it up!
Until my next big chance... the dream lives on.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (3,000)
Seat 2: pokealong (2,380)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (3,045)
Seat 4: 101011002 (2,215)
Seat 5: Black_BartA8 (2,235)
Seat 6: donpeters (2,970)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,310)
Seat 8: Belladdie (3,925)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (2,920)
101011002 posts the small blind of 15
Black_BartA8 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [As Ad]
donpeters raises to 90
pigarco calls 90
Belladdie calls 90
c1 future pro folds
Kin Corn Karn folds
pokealong folds
O0Brian0O calls 90
101011002 calls 75
Black_BartA8 calls 60
*** FLOP *** [9d 6d Jh]
101011002 checks
Black_BartA8 checks
donpeters bets 375
pigarco folds
Belladdie folds
O0Brian0O folds
101011002 folds
Black_BartA8 folds
Uncalled bet of 375 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (540)
Wasn't really digging the 5 callers I had. I'd rather play my AA against 1-2 opponents. Still was able to scoop a decent pot early.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (3,080)
Seat 2: pokealong (2,700)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (2,340)
Seat 4: 101011002 (1,780)
Seat 5: Black_BartA8 (4,135)
Seat 6: donpeters (3,315)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,725)
Seat 8: Belladdie (2,245)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (2,680)
c1 future pro posts the small blind of 20
Kin Corn Karn posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jc Jh]
pokealong raises to 80 {Min-raise UTG, but he has been playing fairly loose and kind of all over the place with limps and min-raises.}
O0Brian0O has 15 seconds left to act
O0Brian0O folds
101011002 folds
Black_BartA8 has 15 seconds left to act
Black_BartA8 folds
donpeters raises to 240
pigarco folds
Belladdie folds
c1 future pro folds
Kin Corn Karn folds
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong calls 160
*** FLOP *** [Kh Td 8h]
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong checks
donpeters checks {Could have bet here. Wanted to keep the pot small and I had position, so I opted to check behind. Opinions?}
*** TURN *** [Kh Td 8h] [Ah]
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong bets 200
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls 200 {Wasn't a fan of the A, but with the Jh and a straight draw, also a pair that I thought had a decent chance of being good, I could call this. Thought about raising, but this early I decided not to get myself into unwanted trouble.}
*** RIVER *** [Kh Td 8h Ah] [Qc]
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong checks
donpeters bets 400
pokealong has 15 seconds left to act
pokealong is sitting out
pokealong has timed out
pokealong folds
Uncalled bet of 400 returned to donpeters
pokealong has returned
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (940)
Another decent pot to add to my stack. Early on in tournaments, I'm looking for sure ways to increase my stack. I'm not here to donk it up and go balls to the wall when the blinds are low. I'll pick and choose my spots to slowly work my way up the ranks. When the blinds and antes get bigger, I'll be more willing to make some moves.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (5,400)
Seat 2: Pwnataur (2,720)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (2,180)
Seat 4: 101011002 (2,850)
Seat 5: Black_BartA8 (3,230)
Seat 6: donpeters (3,550)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,685)
Seat 8: Belladdie (3,352)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (1,913)
Pwnataur posts the small blind of 30
O0Brian0O posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Qd Qh]
101011002 folds
Black_BartA8 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to 180
pigarco folds
Belladdie folds
c1 future pro calls 180
Kin Corn Karn has 15 seconds left to act
Kin Corn Karn calls 180
Pwnataur has 15 seconds left to act
Pwnataur is sitting out
Pwnataur has timed out
Pwnataur folds
O0Brian0O calls 120
*** FLOP *** [4c Ts Tc]
O0Brian0O checks
donpeters checks {This is where I went wrong. I didn't want to commit to a hand I wasn't sure on although in hindsight I should have bet the flop here I think.}
c1 future pro checks
Kin Corn Karn bets 350
O0Brian0O folds
Pwnataur has been disconnected
donpeters calls 350
c1 future pro folds
*** TURN *** [4c Ts Tc] [Kc]
donpeters checks
Kin Corn Karn bets 700
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters folds
Uncalled bet of 700 returned to Kin Corn Karn
Kin Corn Karn mucks
Kin Corn Karn wins the pot (1,450)
The QQ hand is my biggest concern looking back on things. Kin Corn Karn showed me soon after that maybe I should have played this hand against him instead of conceding. He was shoving, raising, and calling with some crazy hands soon after which leads me to believe I was good.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (4,652)
Seat 2: taylortreble (6,623)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (1,300)
Seat 4: 101011002 (4,320)
Seat 5: kops123 (4,650)
Seat 6: donpeters (2,980)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,225)
Seat 8: Belladdie (5,312)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (7,391)
kops123 posts the small blind of 60
donpeters posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ad 6h]
pigarco folds
Belladdie folds
c1 future pro folds
Kin Corn Karn calls 120
taylortreble folds
O0Brian0O folds
101011002 folds
kops123 calls 60
donpeters checks
*** FLOP *** [4c 7h Ah]
kops123 has 15 seconds left to act
kops123 bets 240
donpeters calls 240
Kin Corn Karn folds
*** TURN *** [4c 7h Ah] [4d]
kops123 bets 560
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls 560
*** RIVER *** [4c 7h Ah 4d] [4h]
kops123 checks
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets 1,000
kops123 calls 1,000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
donpeters shows [Ad 6h] a full house, Fours full of Aces
kops123 mucks
donpeters wins the pot (3,960) with a full house, Fours full of Aces
Another good pot, this one really helped to boost me up there. When he checked the river, I was pretty positive I was good and decided on a value bet to get some extra chips out of him.
Seat 1: Kin Corn Karn (4,532)
Seat 2: taylortreble (6,623)
Seat 3: O0Brian0O (1,300)
Seat 4: 101011002 (4,320)
Seat 5: kops123 (2,730)
Seat 6: donpeters (5,020)
Seat 7: pigarco (4,225)
Seat 8: Belladdie (5,312)
Seat 9: c1 future pro (7,391)
donpeters posts the small blind of 60
pigarco posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jh Jc]
Belladdie folds
c1 future pro has 15 seconds left to act
c1 future pro raises to 350
Kin Corn Karn folds
taylortreble folds
O0Brian0O folds
101011002 folds
kops123 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to 850
pigarco folds
c1 future pro has 15 seconds left to act
c1 future pro calls 500
*** FLOP *** [8s 4s Kh]
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters checks
c1 future pro has 15 seconds left to act
c1 future pro checks
*** TURN *** [8s 4s Kh] [8c]
donpeters bets 900
c1 future pro has 15 seconds left to act
c1 future pro has requested TIME
c1 future pro folds
Uncalled bet of 900 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (1,820)
I made it through the second break and was doing all right. Looking back on things, maybe I could have gotten a little bit more aggressive. I was very card dead going into the second break and coming out of it. The blinds got up to 250/500 with an ante a 50. After going through the blinds, I had just over 3100 in chips left and shoved on the button when it folded around to me with A7. The SB went into the tank and called, so did the BB. The flop blanked me, I picked up a spade draw on the turn, but blanked the river, too. I did beat out the SB's hand of QJ with my ace-high, but was outkicked by the BB's AJ. I was out in 1170th place, just over 400 out of the money. Solid run I suppose, just couldn't get my bigger hands to give me a ton of action. I held AA a few times, QQ a few times, JJ and AK a few times as well but couldn't get the table to give me the bigger action I wanted. The table I was at for most of these hands was pretty loose and aggressive with a lot of raising and reraising going on preflop. Too bad none of this happened when I picked up my top hands.
I was able to profit off the tournament though. I was able to originally invest $3 to win into this tournament and a friend of mine and myself swapped 10% of each other. KakaFC22 is his name and he has been doing very, very well online lately in the tournaments he plays. He came in 522nd for just under $330 and shipped me my 10%. He also won in via satellite for $24+2, so it was a good showing for him. Congrats Kaka and keep it up!
Until my next big chance... the dream lives on.
Session analysis and the FTOPS!
After dropping some more of my bankroll in the past two days, I hopped back on the tables last night for another session. I played the $.05/.10 deep table (min. $10, max. $20) on FTP and came away with a very solid session. I was happy with both my play and my results. Here's a few hands from the session.
Seat 1: ponzied ($20.35)
Seat 2: marrco2006 ($15.80)
Seat 3: donpeters ($9.65)
Seat 4: deep444 ($10.85)
Seat 5: urnieburn77 ($20.60)
Seat 6: Tarr6 ($4.70)
Seat 7: cryp88 ($18.65)
Seat 8: 4ever_leebug ($19.90)
urnieburn77 posts the small blind of $0.05
Tarr6 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ac Qh]
cryp88 folds
4ever_leebug folds
ponzied folds
marrco2006 raises to $0.20 {Been playing loose, somewhat of a maniac.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $0.75 {His range is too wide for me to just call and let him see a cheap flop.}
deep444 folds
urnieburn77 folds
Tarr6 folds
marrco2006 raises to $1.30 {I hate when people do this.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls $0.55
*** FLOP *** [Kc 8c Ad]
marrco2006 bets $2.75
donpeters raises to $8.35, and is all in
marrco2006 calls $5.60
donpeters shows [Ac Qh]
marrco2006 shows [Jd Qc] {Umm... no 10 por favor.}
*** TURN *** [Kc 8c Ad] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 8c Ad 6h] [2c]
donpeters shows a pair of Aces
marrco2006 shows Ace King high
donpeters wins the pot ($17.55) with a pair of Aces
After the flop, I was pretty sure he held 1010, JJ, QQ, A10, AJ. He's the type of loose player that slow played his big hands and played his weaker ones aggressively. When he came out firing the pot, I smiled, threw up a fist pump, and moved all-in.
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($22.15)
Seat 2: marrco2006 ($4.70)
Seat 3: donpeters ($17.15) {In for $10, so I'm doing all right so far.}
Seat 4: deep444 ($11.90)
Seat 5: urnieburn77 ($18.75)
Seat 6: Tarr6 ($4.20)
Seat 7: Doctor Ray ($22.90)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($20.05)
donpeters posts the small blind of $0.05
deep444 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ks Kc]
urnieburn77 raises to $0.30 {UTG, been playing fairly tight, this should get interesting.}
Tarr6 folds
Doctor Ray has 15 seconds left to act
Doctor Ray calls $0.30
AAndroid folds
One Red Ace calls $0.30
marrco2006 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $2 {Debated between making my raise between $1.50 and $2.00. Settled on the latter because I still had a loose player behind me in the BB and I was out of position on each subsequent street.}
deep444 has 15 seconds left to act
deep444 folds
urnieburn77 folds
Doctor Ray has 15 seconds left to act
Doctor Ray folds
One Red Ace folds
Uncalled bet of $1.70 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($1.30) {Uneventful, but I'll take it.}
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($20)
Seat 2: soarsoar ($19.65)
Seat 3: donpeters ($18.25)
Seat 4: deep444 ($9.50)
Seat 5: CaptJab ($39.55)
Seat 6: Tarr6 ($10.20)
Seat 7: Doctor Ray ($13.45)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($32.50)
CaptJab posts the small blind of $0.05
Tarr6 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jh Jd]
Doctor Ray calls $0.10
AAndroid has 15 seconds left to act
AAndroid calls $0.10
One Red Ace folds
soarsoar folds
donpeters raises to $0.60
deep444 calls $0.60
CaptJab calls $0.55 {Super maniac and I'm happy he called.}
Tarr6 folds
Doctor Ray calls $0.50
AAndroid calls $0.50
*** FLOP *** [3c Ad Js] {Bingo!}
CaptJab checks
Doctor Ray bets $1.60 {Bango!}
AAndroid folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls $1.60
deep444 folds
CaptJab folds
*** TURN *** [3c Ad Js] [8d]
Doctor Ray bets $11.25, and is all in {Bongo!}
donpeters calls $11.25
Doctor Ray shows [Ac 2c]
donpeters shows [Jh Jd]
*** RIVER *** [3c Ad Js 8d] [8c]
Doctor Ray shows two pair, Aces and Eights
donpeters shows a full house, Jacks full of Eights
donpeters wins the pot ($26.80) with a full house, Jacks full of Eights
Doctor Ray is sitting out
I opted to just call the flop bet, hoping to trap CaptJab in for a loose call on a fairly dry board. Didn't work out the way I had planned, but still got the original flop bettor to stack off to me on the turn.
The following hand I had a plan, but it didn't work out. Looking back on it, I could have and maybe should have taken a different route, but opted not to because my opponent had been playing the last few hands like a complete nut.
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($27.50)
Seat 2: soarsoar ($19.45)
Seat 3: donpeters ($30.25)
Seat 4: deep444 ($1.55), is sitting out
Seat 5: CaptJab ($47.45)
Seat 6: Jiboy1337 ($19.90)
Seat 7: centja1 ($23.10)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($24.80)
Jiboy1337 has 5 seconds left to act
Jiboy1337 posts the small blind of $0.05
centja1 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jh Th]
AAndroid has 15 seconds left to act
AAndroid is sitting out
AAndroid has timed out
AAndroid folds
One Red Ace calls $0.10
soarsoar calls $0.10
AAndroid has returned
donpeters calls $0.10
CaptJab has 15 seconds left to act
CaptJab raises to $0.65 {Has been raising and playing each of the last 10-12 hands.}
Jiboy1337 folds
centja1 folds
One Red Ace has 15 seconds left to act
One Red Ace folds
soarsoar folds
donpeters calls $0.55
*** FLOP *** [6h Qh 2h] {Beautiful flop.}
donpeters checks
CaptJab bets $0.90
donpeters raises to $2.70 {Questionable, but if he hit any of this flop he's coming back over the top.}
CaptJab has 15 seconds left to act
CaptJab folds
Uncalled bet of $1.80 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($3.15)
So looking back on the hand, I should have just called the flop and then threw my check-raise in on the turn. I check-raised, hoping my opponent would come back over the top of me based on how he had been playing the past few hands. As soon as he folded, I knew I probably should have just called and trapped him for more. They always say that not losing money in poker is a win, but is not winning money a loss?
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($30.70)
Seat 2: MoMoney2305 ($18.60)
Seat 3: donpeters ($30.65)
Seat 4: Poonet ($17)
Seat 5: Mutton Stew ($20.75), is sitting out
Seat 6: Jiboy1337 ($19.70)
Seat 7: centja1 ($25.90)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($32.25), is sitting out
donpeters posts the small blind of $0.05
Poonet posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [2h 2s]
Jiboy1337 folds
centja1 folds
One Red Ace calls $0.10
MoMoney2305 folds
donpeters calls $0.05
Poonet checks
*** FLOP *** [5d 4h 2c] {Whoohoo!}
donpeters bets $0.30 {No slow-playing here.}
Poonet raises to $0.90 {Perfect. Not that strong of a player here}
One Red Ace folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $3 {Like I said, no slow-playing here.}
Poonet has 15 seconds left to act
Poonet adds $4
Poonet folds
Uncalled bet of $2.10 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($1.90)
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($30.75)
Seat 2: MoMoney2305 ($17.10)
Seat 3: donpeters ($30.40)
Seat 4: Poonet ($21.20)
Seat 5: Mutton Stew ($20.75), is sitting out
Seat 6: Jiboy1337 ($20)
Seat 7: centja1 ($28.15)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($32.25), is sitting out
Poonet posts the small blind of $0.05
Jiboy1337 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Qh Kh]
centja1 raises to $0.40
One Red Ace folds
MoMoney2305 calls $0.40
donpeters calls $0.40
Poonet calls $0.35
Jiboy1337 folds
*** FLOP *** [Th 9c Qc]
Poonet checks
centja1 checks
MoMoney2305 checks
donpeters bets $1.40 {If no one wants the pot, I'll take a stab here in position.}
Mutton Stew has returned
Poonet calls $1.40 {Pretty big check, call.}
centja1 folds
MoMoney2305 folds
*** TURN *** [Th 9c Qc] [2c]
Poonet checks
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets $3 {The flush draw hit, but I opted to fire and see where I'm at. He could have a Jx, a weaker Q, etc. and I want to keep control of the action.}
Poonet has 15 seconds left to act
Poonet raises to $8 {Not how I wanted to keep control of the action. Now I'm thinking 2 pair, flush, flopped straight.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters folds
Uncalled bet of $5 returned to Poonet
Poonet mucks
Poonet wins the pot ($9.45)
I opted to not play a big pot with just my top pair and gutshot with KQ on a fairly connected board. I can pick much better spots than this to get my money in.
At the end of the 3 hour, 26 minute session, I saw 223 hands and netted a win for $15.60. I also cleared a $7.50 chunk of bonus money, so that puts me at +$23.10 for this session. Not bad for playing $.05/.10 NL. I have been running bad as of late, so I played even tighter than I normally do for this session and it seems to have worked. Out of the 223 hands I saw, I only saw the flop a mere 11% and took down 2 hands preflop. At these limits I feel patience is such a key factor. There are so many weak and loose players out there in the micros that just sitting tight and playing straight forward poker works the best for me.
While playing the cash table, I was also playing my $50+5 FTOPS satellite. I won in for $3 a few weeks back and tonight was the night I was up to win my seat. They have us a deeper stack than normal and just under 25% won seats... I liked my chances. I had a key hand early on that gave me a nice, comfy double up.
Seat 1: Dahladino (1,980)
Seat 2: marinersjj (2,030)
Seat 3: Aron F Jenks (1,970)
Seat 4: OlyDaJew (1,960)
Seat 5: kyriasialiolios (2,000)
Seat 6: robert99999ft (3,005)
Seat 7: spike800 (1,780)
Seat 8: donpeters (1,980)
Seat 9: timjim_1 (1,295)
donpeters posts the small blind of 10
timjim_1 posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [8d Td]
Dahladino folds
marinersjj folds
Aron F Jenks calls 20
OlyDaJew calls 20
kyriasialiolios calls 20
robert99999ft calls 20
spike800 folds
donpeters calls 10
timjim_1 checks
*** FLOP *** [8h Ad Ts]
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets 100 {Don't like to get too tricky in a satellite, just come out betting. And this is really early.}
timjim_1 folds
Aron F Jenks folds
OlyDaJew folds
kyriasialiolios raises to 300
robert99999ft folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters raises to 700
kyriasialiolios calls 400 {Snap call! I put him on Ax and was leaning towards an AJ.}
*** TURN *** [8h Ad Ts] [Kc]
donpeters bets 1,260, and is all in
kyriasialiolios has 15 seconds left to act
kyriasialiolios has requested TIME {Now I'm praying for a call, I know I have him.}
kyriasialiolios calls 1,260
donpeters shows [8d Td]
kyriasialiolios shows [Ah 7c] {Awesome, sweet, thanks.}
*** RIVER *** [8h Ad Ts Kc] [6h]
donpeters shows two pair, Tens and Eights
kyriasialiolios shows a pair of Aces
donpeters wins the pot (4,040) with two pair, Tens and Eights
Seat 1: BocceBob (5,395)
Seat 2: donpeters (3,610)
Seat 3: JoeytheLips (825), is sitting out
Seat 4: RedDogg101 (660)
Seat 5: ronzki (1,005), is sitting out
Seat 6: druster (7,235)
Seat 7: 2DogsHumpin (3,340)
Seat 8: dodger368 (5,985)
Seat 9: urdadio (855), is sitting out
RedDogg101 posts the small blind of 60
ronzki posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jc Js]
druster folds
2DogsHumpin folds
dodger368 folds
urdadio folds
BocceBob raises to 240 {I still don't really get the min-raise from MP.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to 650
JoeytheLips folds
RedDogg101 folds
ronzki folds
BocceBob has 15 seconds left to act
BocceBob folds
Uncalled bet of 410 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (660) {Decent pot, I'll take it.}
Seat 1: BocceBob (6,415)
Seat 2: donpeters (4,170)
Seat 3: JoeytheLips (585), is sitting out
Seat 4: DeepBlueSea (1,125)
Seat 5: ronzki (585), is sitting out
Seat 6: druster (7,515)
Seat 7: 2DogsHumpin (3,700)
Seat 8: dodger368 (5,505)
Seat 9: urdadio (435), is sitting out
donpeters posts the small blind of 80
JoeytheLips posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [9h 9s]
DeepBlueSea folds
ronzki folds
druster folds
2DogsHumpin folds
dodger368 raises to 480
urdadio folds
BocceBob calls 480
donpeters calls 400
JoeytheLips folds
*** FLOP *** [4d Js 4s]
donpeters checks
dodger368 checks
BocceBob checks
*** TURN *** [4d Js 4s] [As]
donpeters checks
dodger368 checks
BocceBob bets 160
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls 160 {Cheap enough for a chance to win a big pot if the river bet stays small.}
dodger368 calls 160 {Something smells here, I just had that feeling.}
*** RIVER *** [4d Js 4s As] [7h]
donpeters checks
dodger368 bets 800
BocceBob raises to 1,600
donpeters folds
dodger368 raises to 4,865, and is all in {That feeling was reassured big time!}
BocceBob calls 3,265
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dodger368 shows [Jh Jd] a full house, Jacks full of Fours
BocceBob mucks
dodger368 wins the pot (11,810) with a full house, Jacks full of Fours
This hand actually gave me a ton of confidence. I had a feeling the way it played out that dodger held JJ the entire time. When my suspicions were confirmed and I was right, I was very happy with myself and my read and felt I had a lot of confidence from here on out. You don't always have to be a big player in a hand to get a huge emotional and mental lift!
Seat 1: FLoWerGirl19 (4,410)
Seat 2: KBBPOKER (9,860)
Seat 3: Flowkid1 (4,084)
Seat 4: timjim_1 (2,070)
Seat 5: jwood71 (7,140)
Seat 6: arigold13 (9,551)
Seat 7: donpeters (3,555)
Seat 8: cosjoel (7,620)
Seat 9: acesindixie (5,065)
FLoWerGirl19 antes 25
KBBPOKER antes 25
Flowkid1 antes 25
timjim_1 antes 25
jwood71 antes 25
arigold13 antes 25
donpeters antes 25
cosjoel antes 25
acesindixie antes 25
Flowkid1 posts the small blind of 120
timjim_1 posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Js Ah]
jwood71 folds
arigold13 folds
donpeters raises to 600
cosjoel folds
acesindixie folds
FLoWerGirl19 folds
KBBPOKER folds
Flowkid1 folds
timjim_1 has 15 seconds left to act
timjim_1 calls 360
*** FLOP *** [Th 3h 4c]
timjim_1 checks
donpeters bets 950 {A nice continuation bet always did the trick.}
timjim_1 folds
Uncalled bet of 950 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (1,545)
Seat 1: KurMur (5,748)
Seat 2: rvdh51 (4,513)
Seat 3: Jorge Q (6,036)
Seat 4: donpeters (3,090)
Seat 6: DONKYcDONKYdu (7,064)
Seat 7: clarktheshrk (5,618)
Seat 8: bud85 (10,710)
Seat 9: dolfan89 (3,164)
KurMur antes 50
rvdh51 antes 50
Jorge Q antes 50
donpeters antes 50
DONKYcDONKYdu antes 50
clarktheshrk antes 50
bud85 antes 50
dolfan89 antes 50
Jorge Q posts the small blind of 200
donpeters posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Th Qd]
AmbulanceChaser sits down
AmbulanceChaser adds 8,828
DONKYcDONKYdu folds
clarktheshrk folds
bud85 folds
dolfan89 has 15 seconds left to act
dolfan89 is sitting out
dolfan89 has timed out
dolfan89 folds
KurMur folds
dolfan89 has returned
rvdh51 has 15 seconds left to act
rvdh51 folds
Jorge Q has 15 seconds left to act
Jorge Q raises to 800 {Folds to the SB and he min-raises, hmm.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters folds
Uncalled bet of 400 returned to Jorge Q
Jorge Q mucks
Jorge Q wins the pot (1,200)
I debated for a good time on what to do here. In the end I folded, but I'm still questioning my play here. It folded around to the SB who proceeded to min-raise my BB. I think in a normal tournament I'd shove here, putting him on a weak attempt to steal the blinds and antes, but because this is a satellite and my main goal is lasting and conserving chips, I opted for folding. A friend of mine was rail-birding and said he would have just called. I felt with my stack size, I couldn't just call another 400 chips here.
After this, things got a little worrisome. I had to shove with A7, KQ, and A9 in some good spots to pick up the blinds and antes to keep myself out of harms way. In the end, I was able to grind it out and making it into the top 156 out of 687 and qualify for FTOPS Event #1. The event is a $750,000 guarantee taking place tonight. Blind levels are increased an extra 2 minutes and we start with a double stack of 3000, so I'm happy. Wish me luck.
Seat 1: ponzied ($20.35)
Seat 2: marrco2006 ($15.80)
Seat 3: donpeters ($9.65)
Seat 4: deep444 ($10.85)
Seat 5: urnieburn77 ($20.60)
Seat 6: Tarr6 ($4.70)
Seat 7: cryp88 ($18.65)
Seat 8: 4ever_leebug ($19.90)
urnieburn77 posts the small blind of $0.05
Tarr6 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ac Qh]
cryp88 folds
4ever_leebug folds
ponzied folds
marrco2006 raises to $0.20 {Been playing loose, somewhat of a maniac.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $0.75 {His range is too wide for me to just call and let him see a cheap flop.}
deep444 folds
urnieburn77 folds
Tarr6 folds
marrco2006 raises to $1.30 {I hate when people do this.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls $0.55
*** FLOP *** [Kc 8c Ad]
marrco2006 bets $2.75
donpeters raises to $8.35, and is all in
marrco2006 calls $5.60
donpeters shows [Ac Qh]
marrco2006 shows [Jd Qc] {Umm... no 10 por favor.}
*** TURN *** [Kc 8c Ad] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 8c Ad 6h] [2c]
donpeters shows a pair of Aces
marrco2006 shows Ace King high
donpeters wins the pot ($17.55) with a pair of Aces
After the flop, I was pretty sure he held 1010, JJ, QQ, A10, AJ. He's the type of loose player that slow played his big hands and played his weaker ones aggressively. When he came out firing the pot, I smiled, threw up a fist pump, and moved all-in.
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($22.15)
Seat 2: marrco2006 ($4.70)
Seat 3: donpeters ($17.15) {In for $10, so I'm doing all right so far.}
Seat 4: deep444 ($11.90)
Seat 5: urnieburn77 ($18.75)
Seat 6: Tarr6 ($4.20)
Seat 7: Doctor Ray ($22.90)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($20.05)
donpeters posts the small blind of $0.05
deep444 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Ks Kc]
urnieburn77 raises to $0.30 {UTG, been playing fairly tight, this should get interesting.}
Tarr6 folds
Doctor Ray has 15 seconds left to act
Doctor Ray calls $0.30
AAndroid folds
One Red Ace calls $0.30
marrco2006 folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $2 {Debated between making my raise between $1.50 and $2.00. Settled on the latter because I still had a loose player behind me in the BB and I was out of position on each subsequent street.}
deep444 has 15 seconds left to act
deep444 folds
urnieburn77 folds
Doctor Ray has 15 seconds left to act
Doctor Ray folds
One Red Ace folds
Uncalled bet of $1.70 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($1.30) {Uneventful, but I'll take it.}
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($20)
Seat 2: soarsoar ($19.65)
Seat 3: donpeters ($18.25)
Seat 4: deep444 ($9.50)
Seat 5: CaptJab ($39.55)
Seat 6: Tarr6 ($10.20)
Seat 7: Doctor Ray ($13.45)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($32.50)
CaptJab posts the small blind of $0.05
Tarr6 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jh Jd]
Doctor Ray calls $0.10
AAndroid has 15 seconds left to act
AAndroid calls $0.10
One Red Ace folds
soarsoar folds
donpeters raises to $0.60
deep444 calls $0.60
CaptJab calls $0.55 {Super maniac and I'm happy he called.}
Tarr6 folds
Doctor Ray calls $0.50
AAndroid calls $0.50
*** FLOP *** [3c Ad Js] {Bingo!}
CaptJab checks
Doctor Ray bets $1.60 {Bango!}
AAndroid folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls $1.60
deep444 folds
CaptJab folds
*** TURN *** [3c Ad Js] [8d]
Doctor Ray bets $11.25, and is all in {Bongo!}
donpeters calls $11.25
Doctor Ray shows [Ac 2c]
donpeters shows [Jh Jd]
*** RIVER *** [3c Ad Js 8d] [8c]
Doctor Ray shows two pair, Aces and Eights
donpeters shows a full house, Jacks full of Eights
donpeters wins the pot ($26.80) with a full house, Jacks full of Eights
Doctor Ray is sitting out
I opted to just call the flop bet, hoping to trap CaptJab in for a loose call on a fairly dry board. Didn't work out the way I had planned, but still got the original flop bettor to stack off to me on the turn.
The following hand I had a plan, but it didn't work out. Looking back on it, I could have and maybe should have taken a different route, but opted not to because my opponent had been playing the last few hands like a complete nut.
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($27.50)
Seat 2: soarsoar ($19.45)
Seat 3: donpeters ($30.25)
Seat 4: deep444 ($1.55), is sitting out
Seat 5: CaptJab ($47.45)
Seat 6: Jiboy1337 ($19.90)
Seat 7: centja1 ($23.10)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($24.80)
Jiboy1337 has 5 seconds left to act
Jiboy1337 posts the small blind of $0.05
centja1 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jh Th]
AAndroid has 15 seconds left to act
AAndroid is sitting out
AAndroid has timed out
AAndroid folds
One Red Ace calls $0.10
soarsoar calls $0.10
AAndroid has returned
donpeters calls $0.10
CaptJab has 15 seconds left to act
CaptJab raises to $0.65 {Has been raising and playing each of the last 10-12 hands.}
Jiboy1337 folds
centja1 folds
One Red Ace has 15 seconds left to act
One Red Ace folds
soarsoar folds
donpeters calls $0.55
*** FLOP *** [6h Qh 2h] {Beautiful flop.}
donpeters checks
CaptJab bets $0.90
donpeters raises to $2.70 {Questionable, but if he hit any of this flop he's coming back over the top.}
CaptJab has 15 seconds left to act
CaptJab folds
Uncalled bet of $1.80 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($3.15)
So looking back on the hand, I should have just called the flop and then threw my check-raise in on the turn. I check-raised, hoping my opponent would come back over the top of me based on how he had been playing the past few hands. As soon as he folded, I knew I probably should have just called and trapped him for more. They always say that not losing money in poker is a win, but is not winning money a loss?
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($30.70)
Seat 2: MoMoney2305 ($18.60)
Seat 3: donpeters ($30.65)
Seat 4: Poonet ($17)
Seat 5: Mutton Stew ($20.75), is sitting out
Seat 6: Jiboy1337 ($19.70)
Seat 7: centja1 ($25.90)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($32.25), is sitting out
donpeters posts the small blind of $0.05
Poonet posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [2h 2s]
Jiboy1337 folds
centja1 folds
One Red Ace calls $0.10
MoMoney2305 folds
donpeters calls $0.05
Poonet checks
*** FLOP *** [5d 4h 2c] {Whoohoo!}
donpeters bets $0.30 {No slow-playing here.}
Poonet raises to $0.90 {Perfect. Not that strong of a player here}
One Red Ace folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to $3 {Like I said, no slow-playing here.}
Poonet has 15 seconds left to act
Poonet adds $4
Poonet folds
Uncalled bet of $2.10 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot ($1.90)
Seat 1: One Red Ace ($30.75)
Seat 2: MoMoney2305 ($17.10)
Seat 3: donpeters ($30.40)
Seat 4: Poonet ($21.20)
Seat 5: Mutton Stew ($20.75), is sitting out
Seat 6: Jiboy1337 ($20)
Seat 7: centja1 ($28.15)
Seat 8: AAndroid ($32.25), is sitting out
Poonet posts the small blind of $0.05
Jiboy1337 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Qh Kh]
centja1 raises to $0.40
One Red Ace folds
MoMoney2305 calls $0.40
donpeters calls $0.40
Poonet calls $0.35
Jiboy1337 folds
*** FLOP *** [Th 9c Qc]
Poonet checks
centja1 checks
MoMoney2305 checks
donpeters bets $1.40 {If no one wants the pot, I'll take a stab here in position.}
Mutton Stew has returned
Poonet calls $1.40 {Pretty big check, call.}
centja1 folds
MoMoney2305 folds
*** TURN *** [Th 9c Qc] [2c]
Poonet checks
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets $3 {The flush draw hit, but I opted to fire and see where I'm at. He could have a Jx, a weaker Q, etc. and I want to keep control of the action.}
Poonet has 15 seconds left to act
Poonet raises to $8 {Not how I wanted to keep control of the action. Now I'm thinking 2 pair, flush, flopped straight.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters folds
Uncalled bet of $5 returned to Poonet
Poonet mucks
Poonet wins the pot ($9.45)
I opted to not play a big pot with just my top pair and gutshot with KQ on a fairly connected board. I can pick much better spots than this to get my money in.
At the end of the 3 hour, 26 minute session, I saw 223 hands and netted a win for $15.60. I also cleared a $7.50 chunk of bonus money, so that puts me at +$23.10 for this session. Not bad for playing $.05/.10 NL. I have been running bad as of late, so I played even tighter than I normally do for this session and it seems to have worked. Out of the 223 hands I saw, I only saw the flop a mere 11% and took down 2 hands preflop. At these limits I feel patience is such a key factor. There are so many weak and loose players out there in the micros that just sitting tight and playing straight forward poker works the best for me.
While playing the cash table, I was also playing my $50+5 FTOPS satellite. I won in for $3 a few weeks back and tonight was the night I was up to win my seat. They have us a deeper stack than normal and just under 25% won seats... I liked my chances. I had a key hand early on that gave me a nice, comfy double up.
Seat 1: Dahladino (1,980)
Seat 2: marinersjj (2,030)
Seat 3: Aron F Jenks (1,970)
Seat 4: OlyDaJew (1,960)
Seat 5: kyriasialiolios (2,000)
Seat 6: robert99999ft (3,005)
Seat 7: spike800 (1,780)
Seat 8: donpeters (1,980)
Seat 9: timjim_1 (1,295)
donpeters posts the small blind of 10
timjim_1 posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [8d Td]
Dahladino folds
marinersjj folds
Aron F Jenks calls 20
OlyDaJew calls 20
kyriasialiolios calls 20
robert99999ft calls 20
spike800 folds
donpeters calls 10
timjim_1 checks
*** FLOP *** [8h Ad Ts]
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters bets 100 {Don't like to get too tricky in a satellite, just come out betting. And this is really early.}
timjim_1 folds
Aron F Jenks folds
OlyDaJew folds
kyriasialiolios raises to 300
robert99999ft folds
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters raises to 700
kyriasialiolios calls 400 {Snap call! I put him on Ax and was leaning towards an AJ.}
*** TURN *** [8h Ad Ts] [Kc]
donpeters bets 1,260, and is all in
kyriasialiolios has 15 seconds left to act
kyriasialiolios has requested TIME {Now I'm praying for a call, I know I have him.}
kyriasialiolios calls 1,260
donpeters shows [8d Td]
kyriasialiolios shows [Ah 7c] {Awesome, sweet, thanks.}
*** RIVER *** [8h Ad Ts Kc] [6h]
donpeters shows two pair, Tens and Eights
kyriasialiolios shows a pair of Aces
donpeters wins the pot (4,040) with two pair, Tens and Eights
Seat 1: BocceBob (5,395)
Seat 2: donpeters (3,610)
Seat 3: JoeytheLips (825), is sitting out
Seat 4: RedDogg101 (660)
Seat 5: ronzki (1,005), is sitting out
Seat 6: druster (7,235)
Seat 7: 2DogsHumpin (3,340)
Seat 8: dodger368 (5,985)
Seat 9: urdadio (855), is sitting out
RedDogg101 posts the small blind of 60
ronzki posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Jc Js]
druster folds
2DogsHumpin folds
dodger368 folds
urdadio folds
BocceBob raises to 240 {I still don't really get the min-raise from MP.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters raises to 650
JoeytheLips folds
RedDogg101 folds
ronzki folds
BocceBob has 15 seconds left to act
BocceBob folds
Uncalled bet of 410 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (660) {Decent pot, I'll take it.}
Seat 1: BocceBob (6,415)
Seat 2: donpeters (4,170)
Seat 3: JoeytheLips (585), is sitting out
Seat 4: DeepBlueSea (1,125)
Seat 5: ronzki (585), is sitting out
Seat 6: druster (7,515)
Seat 7: 2DogsHumpin (3,700)
Seat 8: dodger368 (5,505)
Seat 9: urdadio (435), is sitting out
donpeters posts the small blind of 80
JoeytheLips posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [9h 9s]
DeepBlueSea folds
ronzki folds
druster folds
2DogsHumpin folds
dodger368 raises to 480
urdadio folds
BocceBob calls 480
donpeters calls 400
JoeytheLips folds
*** FLOP *** [4d Js 4s]
donpeters checks
dodger368 checks
BocceBob checks
*** TURN *** [4d Js 4s] [As]
donpeters checks
dodger368 checks
BocceBob bets 160
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters calls 160 {Cheap enough for a chance to win a big pot if the river bet stays small.}
dodger368 calls 160 {Something smells here, I just had that feeling.}
*** RIVER *** [4d Js 4s As] [7h]
donpeters checks
dodger368 bets 800
BocceBob raises to 1,600
donpeters folds
dodger368 raises to 4,865, and is all in {That feeling was reassured big time!}
BocceBob calls 3,265
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dodger368 shows [Jh Jd] a full house, Jacks full of Fours
BocceBob mucks
dodger368 wins the pot (11,810) with a full house, Jacks full of Fours
This hand actually gave me a ton of confidence. I had a feeling the way it played out that dodger held JJ the entire time. When my suspicions were confirmed and I was right, I was very happy with myself and my read and felt I had a lot of confidence from here on out. You don't always have to be a big player in a hand to get a huge emotional and mental lift!
Seat 1: FLoWerGirl19 (4,410)
Seat 2: KBBPOKER (9,860)
Seat 3: Flowkid1 (4,084)
Seat 4: timjim_1 (2,070)
Seat 5: jwood71 (7,140)
Seat 6: arigold13 (9,551)
Seat 7: donpeters (3,555)
Seat 8: cosjoel (7,620)
Seat 9: acesindixie (5,065)
FLoWerGirl19 antes 25
KBBPOKER antes 25
Flowkid1 antes 25
timjim_1 antes 25
jwood71 antes 25
arigold13 antes 25
donpeters antes 25
cosjoel antes 25
acesindixie antes 25
Flowkid1 posts the small blind of 120
timjim_1 posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Js Ah]
jwood71 folds
arigold13 folds
donpeters raises to 600
cosjoel folds
acesindixie folds
FLoWerGirl19 folds
KBBPOKER folds
Flowkid1 folds
timjim_1 has 15 seconds left to act
timjim_1 calls 360
*** FLOP *** [Th 3h 4c]
timjim_1 checks
donpeters bets 950 {A nice continuation bet always did the trick.}
timjim_1 folds
Uncalled bet of 950 returned to donpeters
donpeters mucks
donpeters wins the pot (1,545)
Seat 1: KurMur (5,748)
Seat 2: rvdh51 (4,513)
Seat 3: Jorge Q (6,036)
Seat 4: donpeters (3,090)
Seat 6: DONKYcDONKYdu (7,064)
Seat 7: clarktheshrk (5,618)
Seat 8: bud85 (10,710)
Seat 9: dolfan89 (3,164)
KurMur antes 50
rvdh51 antes 50
Jorge Q antes 50
donpeters antes 50
DONKYcDONKYdu antes 50
clarktheshrk antes 50
bud85 antes 50
dolfan89 antes 50
Jorge Q posts the small blind of 200
donpeters posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to donpeters [Th Qd]
AmbulanceChaser sits down
AmbulanceChaser adds 8,828
DONKYcDONKYdu folds
clarktheshrk folds
bud85 folds
dolfan89 has 15 seconds left to act
dolfan89 is sitting out
dolfan89 has timed out
dolfan89 folds
KurMur folds
dolfan89 has returned
rvdh51 has 15 seconds left to act
rvdh51 folds
Jorge Q has 15 seconds left to act
Jorge Q raises to 800 {Folds to the SB and he min-raises, hmm.}
donpeters has 15 seconds left to act
donpeters has requested TIME
donpeters folds
Uncalled bet of 400 returned to Jorge Q
Jorge Q mucks
Jorge Q wins the pot (1,200)
I debated for a good time on what to do here. In the end I folded, but I'm still questioning my play here. It folded around to the SB who proceeded to min-raise my BB. I think in a normal tournament I'd shove here, putting him on a weak attempt to steal the blinds and antes, but because this is a satellite and my main goal is lasting and conserving chips, I opted for folding. A friend of mine was rail-birding and said he would have just called. I felt with my stack size, I couldn't just call another 400 chips here.
After this, things got a little worrisome. I had to shove with A7, KQ, and A9 in some good spots to pick up the blinds and antes to keep myself out of harms way. In the end, I was able to grind it out and making it into the top 156 out of 687 and qualify for FTOPS Event #1. The event is a $750,000 guarantee taking place tonight. Blind levels are increased an extra 2 minutes and we start with a double stack of 3000, so I'm happy. Wish me luck.
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