Built several stacks today, but didn't see it go anywhere at the end of the day.
Felt like the day went really well from a play point of view. It's kind of hard to be that upset with your play when you have stacks in the Sunday Warmup, Sunday Million, Sunday Storm, Bigger 11, 11 Action Hour, Bigger 55, $20 1r and $50r all on the same day, but it's certainly not fun when despite building legitimately nice stacks in all of those tournaments you still book a loss for the day.
Let's get down to it:
Sunday Warm-Up I won a monster pot with about 1500 players left or so(maybe a bit more), to get up to 65k(pot was easy, KK 27bb deep, raise pre from EP, get a small stack jam, and an overjam from someone that had me covered. They had 66 and 1010 and I held).
Table draw was a complete nightmare though. Despite being top 50 of 800, I was 5th in chips at my own table, and the players were just blasting away like lunatics. It's a pretty helpless feeling when you run card dead, and every time you try to keep yourself afloat with 3-betting or 4-betting light they always have it and jam on you(or are just psychotic and jamming in insane spots).
Anyway, I eventually widdled down to 20bb, when it folded around to me literally on the bubble(575 players left, 570 pay) in the SB with KQ. I jammed, BB woke up with a hand(88), then won the race as well and I busted I think 572nd.
Bigger $55, I had about 30bb once we broke into the money, and simply lost a coin flip 1010 vs AQ for the racks preflop. Nothing super special.
The Bigger $11: Had a stack, lost a fair sized flip AQ vs 77 for 20bb each, then d'ed it fairly deep in the tournament, I opened KQs from the cut-off, button 3-bet me, I had about 25bb left and decided I wasn't folding to that, so I jammed and the button had a hand(AK) and won.
(For the record I don't think I d'ed it I was being sarcastic, I'm fine with that shove obviously).
Sunday Storm: What a fun tournament, nearly 40,000 players started, we got down to about 800 left. For the last hour and a half or so I was playing like a lunatic because people were playing so damn tight at my table. It was alot of fun to play, my image was completely insane. I'd steal several pots, then get caught and give some back. It was working to keep myself afloat and keep slowly chipping up, but the tournament moves so fast and the structure is so quick it wasn't enough, at some point I had to win a race, which I didn't do, running 25bb with AQ into KK.
In the $20 1r1a, I built a fair sized stack again(around 50bb with 150ish left), ran AK into AA pf for about 20bb, then a few hands later got completely scammed viciously on this hand:
PokerStars Game #73528855499: Tournament #554010537, $20+$2 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XVII (1500/3000) - 2012/01/08 19:03:07 ET
Table '554010537 127' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: monument777 (113651 in chips)
Seat 2: magval10 (226418 in chips)
Seat 3: ottoman09 (57874 in chips)
Seat 4: rounder3989 (44433 in chips)
Seat 5: Bayleysa (58663 in chips)
Seat 6: skllzdatklls (136707 in chips)
Seat 7: Jackballs2 (68619 in chips)
Seat 8: kevvybrown (86343 in chips)
Seat 9: Roma-Tilt (51920 in chips)
monument777: posts the ante 300
magval10: posts the ante 300
ottoman09: posts the ante 300
rounder3989: posts the ante 300
Bayleysa: posts the ante 300
skllzdatklls: posts the ante 300
Jackballs2: posts the ante 300
kevvybrown: posts the ante 300
Roma-Tilt: posts the ante 300
Roma-Tilt: posts small blind 1500
monument777: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kevvybrown [Tc Ac]
magval10: raises 3250 to 6250
ottoman09: folds
rounder3989: folds
Bayleysa: folds
skllzdatklls: folds
Jackballs2: folds
kevvybrown: calls 6250
Roma-Tilt: folds
monument777: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ts 3c 4d]
magval10: bets 7550
kevvybrown: raises 9440 to 16990
magval10: calls 9440
*** TURN *** [Ts 3c 4d] [4c]
magval10: checks
kevvybrown: bets 24490
magval10: raises 178388 to 202878 and is all-in
kevvybrown: calls 38313 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (140075) returned to magval10
*** RIVER *** [Ts 3c 4d 4c] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
magval10: shows [3s 3d] (a full house, Threes full of Fours)
kevvybrown: shows [Tc Ac] (a flush, Ace high)
magval10 collected 179286 from pot
kevvybrown finished the tournament in 147th place and received $109.77.
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 179286 | Rake 0
Board [Ts 3c 4d 4c Jc]
Seat 1: monument777 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: magval10 showed [3s 3d] and won (179286) with a full house, Threes full of Fours
Seat 3: ottoman09 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: rounder3989 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Bayleysa folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: skllzdatklls folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Jackballs2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: kevvybrown (button) showed [Tc Ac] and lost with a flush, Ace high
Seat 9: Roma-Tilt (small blind) folded before Flop
In the $50r: Wasn't in the money, but just felt deeply burned by this hand for a huge stack of chips so I mention it:
PokerStars Game #73523984227: Tournament #554010597, $50+$5 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2012/01/08 17:32:00 ET
Table '554010597 24' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Salsicha (9000 in chips)
Seat 2: TMoney0209 (20962 in chips)
Seat 3: Sobizzle21 (5835 in chips)
Seat 4: MVPAT (9924 in chips)
Seat 5: kevvybrown (8254 in chips)
Seat 6: very ea$y (5696 in chips)
Seat 7: lokaio (8553 in chips)
Seat 8: bundesmiro (4 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: DeRp0kErGuRu (6772 in chips)
Salsicha: posts the ante 20
TMoney0209: posts the ante 20
Sobizzle21: posts the ante 20
MVPAT: posts the ante 20
kevvybrown: posts the ante 20
very ea$y: posts the ante 20
lokaio: posts the ante 20
bundesmiro: posts the ante 4 and is all-in
DeRp0kErGuRu: posts the ante 20
MVPAT: posts small blind 100
kevvybrown: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kevvybrown [Ah Td]
very ea$y: folds
lokaio: folds
bundesmiro: folds
DeRp0kErGuRu: folds
Salsicha: folds
TMoney0209: folds
Sobizzle21: folds
MVPAT: raises 400 to 600
kevvybrown: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [9c 7h Ts]
MVPAT: bets 800
kevvybrown: calls 800
*** TURN *** [9c 7h Ts] [3h]
MVPAT: checks
kevvybrown: bets 1490
MVPAT: raises 7014 to 8504 and is all-in
kevvybrown: calls 5344 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1670) returned to MVPAT
*** RIVER *** [9c 7h Ts 3h] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MVPAT: shows [Kd Jh] (a straight, Nine to King)
kevvybrown: shows [Ah Td] (a pair of Tens)
MVPAT collected 16596 from side pot
MVPAT collected 36 from main pot
kevvybrown finished the tournament in 575th place
bundesmiro finished the tournament in 576th place
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 16632 Main pot 36. Side pot 16596. | Rake 0
Board [9c 7h Ts 3h Qd]
Seat 1: Salsicha folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: TMoney0209 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Sobizzle21 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: MVPAT (small blind) showed [Kd Jh] and won (16632) with a straight, Nine to King
Seat 5: kevvybrown (big blind) showed [Ah Td] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 6: very ea$y folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: lokaio folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: bundesmiro folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: DeRp0kErGuRu folded before Flop (didn't bet)
In the $11 Action Hour: Played a fairly brilliant pot on my end IMO where I opened 35bb on the buttonwith AQs, got 3-bet from the BB, and min-clicked him back to induce a light jam, which I got from A9o. Unfortunately I didn't hold and busted 40-somethingth rather than being one of the chip leaders.
And lastly that brings me to the Sunday Million, and the one hand I'm still questioning from my session. Built a stack in this as well...and then this happened:
PokerStars Game #73529723186: Tournament #554020010, $200+$15 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XVII (1250/2500) - 2012/01/08 19:21:34 ET
Table '554020010 333' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: F1SHDONKEY (54069 in chips)
Seat 2: helstokk (21346 in chips)
Seat 3: tango-niner (25840 in chips)
Seat 4: Beverly Mars (54160 in chips)
Seat 5: RasA86 (19458 in chips)
Seat 6: Chaaai (46969 in chips)
Seat 7: kevvybrown (73902 in chips)
Seat 8: bgigra4 (39339 in chips)
Seat 9: Pokerfunboy (89620 in chips)
F1SHDONKEY: posts the ante 250
helstokk: posts the ante 250
tango-niner: posts the ante 250
Beverly Mars: posts the ante 250
RasA86: posts the ante 250
Chaaai: posts the ante 250
kevvybrown: posts the ante 250
bgigra4: posts the ante 250
Pokerfunboy: posts the ante 250
F1SHDONKEY: posts small blind 1250
helstokk: posts big blind 2500
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kevvybrown [Jh Jc]
tango-niner: folds
Beverly Mars: folds
RasA86: folds
Chaaai: folds
kevvybrown: raises 2650 to 5150
bgigra4: calls 5150
Pokerfunboy: folds
F1SHDONKEY: calls 3900
helstokk: folds
*** FLOP *** [8d 9d 7d]
F1SHDONKEY: checks
kevvybrown: bets 8080
bgigra4: folds
F1SHDONKEY: raises 40589 to 48669 and is all-in
kevvybrown: calls 40589
*** TURN *** [8d 9d 7d] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [8d 9d 7d Ks] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
F1SHDONKEY: shows [8c 8h] (a full house, Eights full of Sevens)
kevvybrown: shows [Jh Jc] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
F1SHDONKEY collected 117538 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 117538 | Rake 0
Board [8d 9d 7d Ks 7c]
Seat 1: F1SHDONKEY (small blind) showed [8c 8h] and won (117538) with a full house, Eights full of Sevens
Seat 2: helstokk (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: tango-niner folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Beverly Mars folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: RasA86 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Chaaai folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: kevvybrown showed [Jh Jc] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Sevens
Seat 8: bgigra4 folded on the Flop
Seat 9: Pokerfunboy (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
I'll do this in stages, first explaining what I thought at the time, then explaining what I think after reflection.
1 - At the time, when I bet I was intending on calling off a jam, I didn't start the hand all that insanely deep(30ish blinds), and he didn't start the hand deep at all(2oish blinds). So when I bet on a board that co-ordinated, I do expect to get some response from the other players a fairly high % of the time, which means I have to be willing to call since I expect a huge % of that range to be hands that I have beat for now(combo draws, pair+draws etc). I hate the idea of bet folding more than everything else I could do with that hand, and so I call.
2 - Reflection time: check/call then fold is the play, and I think you could make a strong case for flat out check/fold before you could ever make a case for bet-calling.
The theory that ran through my head is I'm not that deep, and this is a spot where I can be ahead alot of the time...but the negative is I'm barely ahead, which I was fine with. I negated the fact that a good % of the time he has me drawing near dead, or completely dead(I do believe all baby flushes are jamming on this flop), which is a bad scenario.
The right play is probably check/call then fold, but I will say my problem with this is JJ is so insanely hard to play on this flop that really, unless a black 10 rolls off the deck I'm still at a loss for where to go when I progress, and because the hand is so hard to progress with, I think you can make a case for just check/folding straight away, and just chocking the hand up as if you raised AsKs and that was the flop and you check folded. Yes it's a huge hand pre-flop, but it's relative strength on that flop is completely decimated, and it might be best to just save all 30bb and fold away.
The other contributing factor for that case is, it's the Sunday Million, and chips are so easy to acquire because the level of play is so abysmal, that there's no reason to ever not think that with 30bb I can't acquire chips fairly easily rather than deal with that nightmare flop.
So there it is: I ran the hand past most local friends, and to a man they absolutely hated bet-call with a passion. I think it's just a mistake of getting kind of stubborn and not taking a minute to really think about the hand in question.
In any event; book a small loss for the Sunday, no big deal. Monday morning I woke up and hit the gym with personal trainer who might as well have been Mike Tyson for the ass-kicking I recieved. Felt very good, but incredibly sore and tired afterwards(was still breathing heavily 20 minutes after the gym lol). All in all it feels good to be going something properly and hopefully getting my life in order.
As for poker, back at it tomorrow for a Tuesday session.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
That Time Of Year...
It seems like I do this fairly frequently, but never show the initiative to follow through.
This year is going to be different, because the reason I'm re-starting the blog is more focussed. I have 2 goals in my mind for this year...
1 - Lose weight and get back into shape.
2 - By the end of 2012 be successful enough online to quit my job and do this full time.
Neither of those goals are all that easy to acheive obviously, especially since the first one is so far away. I've gotten so hideously out of shape over the last 10 years of my life it's incredibly embarassing is the only real word for it. I was always a skinny kid, and then I just completely stopped doing anything that even loosely resembled physical activity of exercise, and started eating like a fucking pig, and now I find myself over 300 lbs, which is deffinitely an enormous wakeup call to change my habits and get back into shape. I've already gotten a gym membership, and hired a personal trainer...so hopefully 2012 goes well.
As for goal #2, it seems so far away based on results, but so close based on actual performance. I very nearly won the last $1k Super Tuesday of 2011, sitting 2nd in chips with 16 left when I got all in for every single chip in play in this pot:
PokerStars Hand #72884336463: Tournament #553010001, $1000+$50 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXV (1400/2800) - 2011/12/27 23:46:49 ET
Table '553010001 13' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: akia86 (108205 in chips)
Seat 2: kevvybrown (154968 in chips)
Seat 4: gilcoe (90194 in chips)
Seat 5: Gorrioncillo (72048 in chips)
Seat 6: jkfrankfurt (139942 in chips)
Seat 8: TIESO.ES (130097 in chips)
akia86: posts the ante 350
kevvybrown: posts the ante 350
gilcoe: posts the ante 350
Gorrioncillo: posts the ante 350
jkfrankfurt: posts the ante 350
TIESO.ES: posts the ante 350
kevvybrown: posts small blind 1400
gilcoe: posts big blind 2800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kevvybrown [Qs Qc]
Gorrioncillo: folds
jkfrankfurt: folds
TIESO.ES: folds
akia86: folds
kevvybrown: raises 3980 to 6780
gilcoe: raises 83064 to 89844 and is all-in
kevvybrown: calls 83064
*** FLOP *** [Ah Kh 2c]
*** TURN *** [Ah Kh 2c] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Ah Kh 2c 3s] [5s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
kevvybrown: shows [Qs Qc] (a pair of Queens)
gilcoe: shows [Ks Td] (a pair of Kings)
gilcoe collected 181788 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 181788 | Rake 0
Board [Ah Kh 2c 3s 5s]
Seat 1: akia86 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: kevvybrown (small blind) showed [Qs Qc] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: gilcoe (big blind) showed [Ks Td] and won (181788) with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: Gorrioncillo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: jkfrankfurt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: TIESO.ES folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Which crippled me down to 20bb, then ran AQ into Sir_Winalot's AK for the rest, or else that could have been the breakout moment so to speak.
In time it'll come, I've come to grips with that, and that it may take a while because I can only play a few days a week around my work schedule...but I have total confidence it'll come.
I've been very fortunate to be surrounded by many amazing players who have taken me under their wing so to speak and helped teach me the ins and outs of modern MTT poker...and for that I'm very grateful.
And, since coming off a ridiculous year in 2011, here's also hoping that 2012 has more big things in store for Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger, who's the central figure in that afformentioned group of friends.
I saw he's listed on Pokerlistings list of "top 5 players to watch in 2012" which is cool as hell...
http://www.pokerlistings.com/top-5-poker-players-to-watch-in-2012-93335
For what it's worth, that's a pretty fucking good list too. Telks, Carson and Gray are all insane sickos online.
And who knows, maybe he'll get a jump start on it, he's down at the PCA right now, just completed Day 1 of the PCA Main Event, ended the day with 57,000 in chips, blinds will start Day 2 at 500/1000 so plenty of chips.
All in all, things are good, and hopefully by the end of this year they'll be significantly more than good.
From here on out this blog will be heavily poker oriented and some other stuff, but it'll also be much more frequent as a way of holding myself accountable for both the exercise aspect, and the poker aspect. That'll be starting right away because I intend on blogging about my session tomorrow...so let's hope it's something good.
This year is going to be different, because the reason I'm re-starting the blog is more focussed. I have 2 goals in my mind for this year...
1 - Lose weight and get back into shape.
2 - By the end of 2012 be successful enough online to quit my job and do this full time.
Neither of those goals are all that easy to acheive obviously, especially since the first one is so far away. I've gotten so hideously out of shape over the last 10 years of my life it's incredibly embarassing is the only real word for it. I was always a skinny kid, and then I just completely stopped doing anything that even loosely resembled physical activity of exercise, and started eating like a fucking pig, and now I find myself over 300 lbs, which is deffinitely an enormous wakeup call to change my habits and get back into shape. I've already gotten a gym membership, and hired a personal trainer...so hopefully 2012 goes well.
As for goal #2, it seems so far away based on results, but so close based on actual performance. I very nearly won the last $1k Super Tuesday of 2011, sitting 2nd in chips with 16 left when I got all in for every single chip in play in this pot:
PokerStars Hand #72884336463: Tournament #553010001, $1000+$50 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXV (1400/2800) - 2011/12/27 23:46:49 ET
Table '553010001 13' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: akia86 (108205 in chips)
Seat 2: kevvybrown (154968 in chips)
Seat 4: gilcoe (90194 in chips)
Seat 5: Gorrioncillo (72048 in chips)
Seat 6: jkfrankfurt (139942 in chips)
Seat 8: TIESO.ES (130097 in chips)
akia86: posts the ante 350
kevvybrown: posts the ante 350
gilcoe: posts the ante 350
Gorrioncillo: posts the ante 350
jkfrankfurt: posts the ante 350
TIESO.ES: posts the ante 350
kevvybrown: posts small blind 1400
gilcoe: posts big blind 2800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kevvybrown [Qs Qc]
Gorrioncillo: folds
jkfrankfurt: folds
TIESO.ES: folds
akia86: folds
kevvybrown: raises 3980 to 6780
gilcoe: raises 83064 to 89844 and is all-in
kevvybrown: calls 83064
*** FLOP *** [Ah Kh 2c]
*** TURN *** [Ah Kh 2c] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Ah Kh 2c 3s] [5s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
kevvybrown: shows [Qs Qc] (a pair of Queens)
gilcoe: shows [Ks Td] (a pair of Kings)
gilcoe collected 181788 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 181788 | Rake 0
Board [Ah Kh 2c 3s 5s]
Seat 1: akia86 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: kevvybrown (small blind) showed [Qs Qc] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: gilcoe (big blind) showed [Ks Td] and won (181788) with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: Gorrioncillo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: jkfrankfurt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: TIESO.ES folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Which crippled me down to 20bb, then ran AQ into Sir_Winalot's AK for the rest, or else that could have been the breakout moment so to speak.
In time it'll come, I've come to grips with that, and that it may take a while because I can only play a few days a week around my work schedule...but I have total confidence it'll come.
I've been very fortunate to be surrounded by many amazing players who have taken me under their wing so to speak and helped teach me the ins and outs of modern MTT poker...and for that I'm very grateful.
And, since coming off a ridiculous year in 2011, here's also hoping that 2012 has more big things in store for Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger, who's the central figure in that afformentioned group of friends.
I saw he's listed on Pokerlistings list of "top 5 players to watch in 2012" which is cool as hell...
http://www.pokerlistings.com/top-5-poker-players-to-watch-in-2012-93335
For what it's worth, that's a pretty fucking good list too. Telks, Carson and Gray are all insane sickos online.
And who knows, maybe he'll get a jump start on it, he's down at the PCA right now, just completed Day 1 of the PCA Main Event, ended the day with 57,000 in chips, blinds will start Day 2 at 500/1000 so plenty of chips.
All in all, things are good, and hopefully by the end of this year they'll be significantly more than good.
From here on out this blog will be heavily poker oriented and some other stuff, but it'll also be much more frequent as a way of holding myself accountable for both the exercise aspect, and the poker aspect. That'll be starting right away because I intend on blogging about my session tomorrow...so let's hope it's something good.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Full Tilt Poker, the story as best I know it...
Since a lot of friends of mine read this blog that maybe don't keep as up to date on this stuff or play online a lot have asked me about this situation, I'll do my best to recap the events over the last few months near as I understand them.
So it started on "Black Friday", when the Department of Justice in the United States seized FTP, Pokerstars, UB/Absolute's accounts and charged many of the people in charge with various acts of fraud for going through third party channels to get American players' money online during this time after they had outlawed online gaming.
All sites were re-instated right away, with the ability to play for anyone who wasn't American. During this time, naturally, an absolute shit-load of players started withdrawing money from these sites(which obviously further hurt an already hurt business) because of fear, or in the case of any American player, because they have no reason to have the money on the sites.
Two weeks after the Department of Justice crackdown, Pokerstars announced they had reached an agreement to start paying players back, and since then has publicly stated they have paid back $120,000,000 of player funds to players from the USA.
Full Tilt Poker has paid back $0.
The reason for this is largely in the way the two companies kept their books. Pokerstars had segregated accounts for player funds, so when the DOJ came along and seized everything it was easy for Pokerstars to point to their books and tell them they needed the player's money back so they could pay them, and thus the situation came to a speedy resolution.
Full Tilt's big mistake through all of this, was not doing that. They had it all in one large pool, which the DOJ seized and has not as of yet(as far as I know), given it back to them. So FTP was stuck with having most of their assets seized, and a gigantic number of withdrawl requests piling in, and were stuck in no man's land. No amount of rake makes up for those two things happening simultaneously. When your player pool takes an enormous hit, the DOJ seizes a huge % of your money, AND there's a mass exodus from your site, there's no amount of rake that can save you.
So Full Tilt did the right thing, they started trying to find a loan from someone to pay out players for a share of the company.
Then Phil Ivey came along. To be clear, I've never met, nor played poker with Ivey. I think he's one of the few red pros I've managed to avoid online for my life in bigger tournies, so I don't know him, but I do know that I had a ton of respect for him, and lost a ton of it with his self-serving antics about boycotting the WSOP and trying to sue FTP. He made a goddamn fortune off the site, that much I do know, and unlike Tom Dwan or other pros who actually handled all this pretty well by pledging all the money he's ever made from FTP back to the players, he never pledged a cent. His $150 million lawsuit and public damning of the site also did them absolutely no favours in their search for a loan.
So FTP existed in limbo. During this time for us outside of the USA, it was business as usual on the site. We could desposit/withdraw, it was a bit slower, but no big deal.
Which brings us to yesterday. The Alderney Gaming Commission which controlled FTP's gaming license pulled the plug, largely because of their breach of gaming regulations because they haven't paid anyone back in so long now. As of now FTP is down. Has been for a day. None of us can get at our money.
There are rumours swirling about what comes next, Jack Binion is sniffing around buying FTP, and there are now reports that the Kahnawake Gaming Comission out of Montreal will license FTP and allow them to resume real money play for anyone outside of the USA, and allow withdrawls/deposits.
Despite the shock of Black Friday, and all the subsequent PR problems FTP went through, yesterday was the first day I ever got concerned about my money on that site.
During all this Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and the other pros with controlling interests of FTP have been completely MIA, which has certainly made them look like scum. To completely vanish, say nothing, and not do anything to comfort American players for months now, and now all of us, really is dispicable.
To any red pros who have actually been present and accounted for, I'd like to thank them. I don't think anyone's handled this whole situation better than Tom "durrr" Dwan, who has pledged to give back every dollar FTP ever gave him to help see players get their money back, and offered to buy FTP money from people for 90 cents on the dollar.
There are others, Marc Karam has been as open as can be about it on his forum(jackseven), I know people that have seen Erik Lindgren and a few others around the WSOP and they've been as open as they can be.
The big ones though, no where to be seen. Phil Ivey? Certainly did no favours to the site.
So, where does that leave me? Well, I have ~$8,000 sitting on the site right now that I have no access at all to. That certainly hurts. I have friends who had more than that on there too. As of now Full Tilt Poker is down, there is no way to get on to the site.
I'd put the chances of me seeing that money again at 30:70(which is very optimistic after this Kahnakawe report, if you'd have asked me yesterday I'd have said 5% maybe...).
It also hurts because as much as I've become disillusioned with the way they've handled all this, FTP still has by far the best software and tournament schedule of any site. MET's will be missed. Hopefully someone like Jack Binion does see a value in acquiring that software which is still the best in the business, and work on clearing up the image around it, because it's still a fantastic business model somewhere deep down there.
Hopefully that's moderately illuminating...rough day yesterday to say the least.
So it started on "Black Friday", when the Department of Justice in the United States seized FTP, Pokerstars, UB/Absolute's accounts and charged many of the people in charge with various acts of fraud for going through third party channels to get American players' money online during this time after they had outlawed online gaming.
All sites were re-instated right away, with the ability to play for anyone who wasn't American. During this time, naturally, an absolute shit-load of players started withdrawing money from these sites(which obviously further hurt an already hurt business) because of fear, or in the case of any American player, because they have no reason to have the money on the sites.
Two weeks after the Department of Justice crackdown, Pokerstars announced they had reached an agreement to start paying players back, and since then has publicly stated they have paid back $120,000,000 of player funds to players from the USA.
Full Tilt Poker has paid back $0.
The reason for this is largely in the way the two companies kept their books. Pokerstars had segregated accounts for player funds, so when the DOJ came along and seized everything it was easy for Pokerstars to point to their books and tell them they needed the player's money back so they could pay them, and thus the situation came to a speedy resolution.
Full Tilt's big mistake through all of this, was not doing that. They had it all in one large pool, which the DOJ seized and has not as of yet(as far as I know), given it back to them. So FTP was stuck with having most of their assets seized, and a gigantic number of withdrawl requests piling in, and were stuck in no man's land. No amount of rake makes up for those two things happening simultaneously. When your player pool takes an enormous hit, the DOJ seizes a huge % of your money, AND there's a mass exodus from your site, there's no amount of rake that can save you.
So Full Tilt did the right thing, they started trying to find a loan from someone to pay out players for a share of the company.
Then Phil Ivey came along. To be clear, I've never met, nor played poker with Ivey. I think he's one of the few red pros I've managed to avoid online for my life in bigger tournies, so I don't know him, but I do know that I had a ton of respect for him, and lost a ton of it with his self-serving antics about boycotting the WSOP and trying to sue FTP. He made a goddamn fortune off the site, that much I do know, and unlike Tom Dwan or other pros who actually handled all this pretty well by pledging all the money he's ever made from FTP back to the players, he never pledged a cent. His $150 million lawsuit and public damning of the site also did them absolutely no favours in their search for a loan.
So FTP existed in limbo. During this time for us outside of the USA, it was business as usual on the site. We could desposit/withdraw, it was a bit slower, but no big deal.
Which brings us to yesterday. The Alderney Gaming Commission which controlled FTP's gaming license pulled the plug, largely because of their breach of gaming regulations because they haven't paid anyone back in so long now. As of now FTP is down. Has been for a day. None of us can get at our money.
There are rumours swirling about what comes next, Jack Binion is sniffing around buying FTP, and there are now reports that the Kahnawake Gaming Comission out of Montreal will license FTP and allow them to resume real money play for anyone outside of the USA, and allow withdrawls/deposits.
Despite the shock of Black Friday, and all the subsequent PR problems FTP went through, yesterday was the first day I ever got concerned about my money on that site.
During all this Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and the other pros with controlling interests of FTP have been completely MIA, which has certainly made them look like scum. To completely vanish, say nothing, and not do anything to comfort American players for months now, and now all of us, really is dispicable.
To any red pros who have actually been present and accounted for, I'd like to thank them. I don't think anyone's handled this whole situation better than Tom "durrr" Dwan, who has pledged to give back every dollar FTP ever gave him to help see players get their money back, and offered to buy FTP money from people for 90 cents on the dollar.
There are others, Marc Karam has been as open as can be about it on his forum(jackseven), I know people that have seen Erik Lindgren and a few others around the WSOP and they've been as open as they can be.
The big ones though, no where to be seen. Phil Ivey? Certainly did no favours to the site.
So, where does that leave me? Well, I have ~$8,000 sitting on the site right now that I have no access at all to. That certainly hurts. I have friends who had more than that on there too. As of now Full Tilt Poker is down, there is no way to get on to the site.
I'd put the chances of me seeing that money again at 30:70(which is very optimistic after this Kahnakawe report, if you'd have asked me yesterday I'd have said 5% maybe...).
It also hurts because as much as I've become disillusioned with the way they've handled all this, FTP still has by far the best software and tournament schedule of any site. MET's will be missed. Hopefully someone like Jack Binion does see a value in acquiring that software which is still the best in the business, and work on clearing up the image around it, because it's still a fantastic business model somewhere deep down there.
Hopefully that's moderately illuminating...rough day yesterday to say the least.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Venetian Deepstack $550 write-up...
So after the WSOP soul crush...I played a Golden Nugget tournament on Monday. $230 buyin, and completely punted the stack. Built up a bit for the first few hours, then 3-bet a guy from the button with 53hh, flop was 4/6/7ccc, and he just straight jammed, so I called and he showed QJcc for a made flush. Whatever.
Tuesday brought day one of the Venetian $550. Started with 15,000 chips, and things went well for me almost instantly. 3rd or 4th hand of the day, I raised to 250 from MP with 33, this girl 3-bet me to 600, there were 2 overcalls of the 600 cold, then it came back to me, so I flatted along. Flop was 3/4/5. I checked, lady bet 1200, fold fold, I raised to 2550, and she jammed. I call obviously and she shows KK. So now I'm at 30k. From there I have a painless time chipping up until first break where I'm at 50k.
After first break things turn sour relatively quickly, I lose two fairly big races. First one I open with KQss, and this guy jams 14 BB. I call, and he shows 64dd and flops a 6. Next one, I open 99, guy jams 20 BB, I call and he has AJ. Runout Q/10/4/9/8. Back down to 24k. Next big hand I play guy limps UTG, I raise with AQ from MP, he flats. Flop K/10/x, he check calls flop, turn 8, he check calls turn, river is a brick and I shut down, he has 22. Back down to under 20k now.
From there I do some chipping back up, and I'm able to bring it back to 25.5k for 2nd break.
After that break I play a huge pot, AIPF KK vs AK, and KK holds, so I'm back up to 60k in time for dinner break.
After dinner break we come back and then the huge pot of the day happens.
Blinds 800/1600, UTG raises to 4k, player jams for 34k total from MP, button flats the 34k, I'm in the BB with QQ, I rejam 66k, UTG folds, button calls again. My QQ vs short stack's 88 vs button's 10/10. Board bricks and I have 160k, average is 64k.
Credit to Venetian by the way, their customer service is outstanding. Around this time my phone was nearly dead, which I use religiously at the table, and they offered to take my phone to their back office and charge it for me. Very cool.
After that I chip up a bit more, and I end day one with 262,000 chips.
Day 2 gets underway, blinds 4k/8k to start, and on the third hand this fairly solid girl raises button to 22k, I 3-bet from the BB with KK to 47k, she flats. Flop is A/Q/4, I c-bet 52k and she folds.
Next big hand, I raise from MP with A7cc, this guy flats the button, everyone folds out. Flop is Q/10/7. I check the flop because I'm not a huge fan of it vs his calling range, but I still do have some showdown value obviously. He checks back. Turn is a 3. I check again, he bets, I flat. River is a 2, I check again fully intending to check call because I know he's not good enough to be going for thin value here with a 10 or with some type of pocket pair, and I think he's unlikely to have checked a Q on the flop in this spot. He bets again and I call and he insta-mucks. Up to 390k.
Chipped up to 430k, then a guy jams 20 blinds in, I call with 77, he shows A10 and wins the race. Back down to 270k. Chipped up a little bit again, then lost yet another race, 33 open jams the button and I flat with AQ, board bricks and I'm down to 190k. Eventually get to break with 22 players left, blinds going to 8k/16k and I have 162k. Not good.
After break, it folds to me in the CO, I jam the 162k in with Ac7c, and the BB(Kevin O'Leary) wakes up with AK. Flop is 10/7/3 and the 7 holds. Suddenly I'm back in it a bit with 390k.
Few hands later, O'Leary raises from the hijack to 53k, I 3-bet button to 122k with 10's, BB overjams for 300k, O'Leary mucks(says he folded JJ), and I call with the 10's, racing against AK. Board bricks the AK, and suddenly I have 860k.
Get to final table, have a couple quick bustouts, played for a while, and then this hand happens. I'm going to go into detail here because this hand is really weird, and I'm still not sure what I should do. Talked to everyone on the trip and everyone is OK with my play, but we're not sure if there's something else that works better.
So, 6 handed, pay jump from 6th to 5th is only $3000(old guy's about to bust he has like 4 BB). There are 3 stacks over 2 million, O'Leary has like 1.2million, I have 830k, old guy is basically dead.
It folds around to me in the SB, I look down at K/10o. The BB is chip leader with ~3 million, and has shown a real willingness to flat super light(like, super light to the point where he's actually a terrible player) and fuck with people. So my options here are open fold which is gross in every way imaginable. Raise/fold which might be the play because he's flatting alot but he's not super liberal with 3-bets. The problem with raise/folding is I don't think I'm getting 3 bet light, but I know I'm getting flatted light, and then suddenly I'm playing an inflated pot OOP with a 20 BB stack holding K10o against the biggest stack at the table, which is basically a nightmare. Normally ICM would be a factor here, but it's kind of not because I don't give a shit about the $3000 payjump, I don't want to fall too far behind the rest of the table and not give myself any chance to win.
Shoving K10 is the route I go with. It seems like it can never be a terrible play, and it's probably the least terrible option for this particular hand, but I don't know. In any event, BB calls because he woke up with AK and the board bricks, so I bust in 6th for $12,000.
I considered pushing my flight back to stay another day and play the $1k Venetian today, but frankly I'm too tired, I haven't taken a day off yet, so today I'd like to just take a day to myself before my flight back home.
Big thanks to Shyam, Griff, Saunders, St.Jean, Cairns and everyone for coming by to rail the FT. It was fun.
After that, we headed to The Palm at Caesars. Grabbed this back, executive room for 9 of us that they closed off, and proceeded to eat basically the best meal of all time. Lightly seared Ahi Tuna, king crab and 3 different salads for apps(the bacon/shrimp salad was beyond incredible), main course was NY Steak, Crab Legs and Lobster with Mashed potatoes, fries, broccoli, hash browns, beans. Dessert was Key Lime Pie, carrot cake and strawberry cheese cake. Top it off with 3 bottles of wine...and it was time for a monster CCR sweat. Because we figured it was going to be >$1500 for the tab, we decided to allow 2 losers for the 9 of us. I fade CCR so the meal is free. It's good to go perfect on it for a trip. Griff and St.Jean are stuck splitting it. The bill is actually way less than we figured though. It's $998(without tip, actual quote when we ask the waiter why they don't put the tip on for parties this size..."You guys came in here ballin', I figure I'm safe"). We tipped $300.
So now I'm just relaxing in my room. Gonna go out for a bit in a little bit, flight leaves here at 11:30pm, so got some time to kill today. Then it's back to the online poker world.
Tuesday brought day one of the Venetian $550. Started with 15,000 chips, and things went well for me almost instantly. 3rd or 4th hand of the day, I raised to 250 from MP with 33, this girl 3-bet me to 600, there were 2 overcalls of the 600 cold, then it came back to me, so I flatted along. Flop was 3/4/5. I checked, lady bet 1200, fold fold, I raised to 2550, and she jammed. I call obviously and she shows KK. So now I'm at 30k. From there I have a painless time chipping up until first break where I'm at 50k.
After first break things turn sour relatively quickly, I lose two fairly big races. First one I open with KQss, and this guy jams 14 BB. I call, and he shows 64dd and flops a 6. Next one, I open 99, guy jams 20 BB, I call and he has AJ. Runout Q/10/4/9/8. Back down to 24k. Next big hand I play guy limps UTG, I raise with AQ from MP, he flats. Flop K/10/x, he check calls flop, turn 8, he check calls turn, river is a brick and I shut down, he has 22. Back down to under 20k now.
From there I do some chipping back up, and I'm able to bring it back to 25.5k for 2nd break.
After that break I play a huge pot, AIPF KK vs AK, and KK holds, so I'm back up to 60k in time for dinner break.
After dinner break we come back and then the huge pot of the day happens.
Blinds 800/1600, UTG raises to 4k, player jams for 34k total from MP, button flats the 34k, I'm in the BB with QQ, I rejam 66k, UTG folds, button calls again. My QQ vs short stack's 88 vs button's 10/10. Board bricks and I have 160k, average is 64k.
Credit to Venetian by the way, their customer service is outstanding. Around this time my phone was nearly dead, which I use religiously at the table, and they offered to take my phone to their back office and charge it for me. Very cool.
After that I chip up a bit more, and I end day one with 262,000 chips.
Day 2 gets underway, blinds 4k/8k to start, and on the third hand this fairly solid girl raises button to 22k, I 3-bet from the BB with KK to 47k, she flats. Flop is A/Q/4, I c-bet 52k and she folds.
Next big hand, I raise from MP with A7cc, this guy flats the button, everyone folds out. Flop is Q/10/7. I check the flop because I'm not a huge fan of it vs his calling range, but I still do have some showdown value obviously. He checks back. Turn is a 3. I check again, he bets, I flat. River is a 2, I check again fully intending to check call because I know he's not good enough to be going for thin value here with a 10 or with some type of pocket pair, and I think he's unlikely to have checked a Q on the flop in this spot. He bets again and I call and he insta-mucks. Up to 390k.
Chipped up to 430k, then a guy jams 20 blinds in, I call with 77, he shows A10 and wins the race. Back down to 270k. Chipped up a little bit again, then lost yet another race, 33 open jams the button and I flat with AQ, board bricks and I'm down to 190k. Eventually get to break with 22 players left, blinds going to 8k/16k and I have 162k. Not good.
After break, it folds to me in the CO, I jam the 162k in with Ac7c, and the BB(Kevin O'Leary) wakes up with AK. Flop is 10/7/3 and the 7 holds. Suddenly I'm back in it a bit with 390k.
Few hands later, O'Leary raises from the hijack to 53k, I 3-bet button to 122k with 10's, BB overjams for 300k, O'Leary mucks(says he folded JJ), and I call with the 10's, racing against AK. Board bricks the AK, and suddenly I have 860k.
Get to final table, have a couple quick bustouts, played for a while, and then this hand happens. I'm going to go into detail here because this hand is really weird, and I'm still not sure what I should do. Talked to everyone on the trip and everyone is OK with my play, but we're not sure if there's something else that works better.
So, 6 handed, pay jump from 6th to 5th is only $3000(old guy's about to bust he has like 4 BB). There are 3 stacks over 2 million, O'Leary has like 1.2million, I have 830k, old guy is basically dead.
It folds around to me in the SB, I look down at K/10o. The BB is chip leader with ~3 million, and has shown a real willingness to flat super light(like, super light to the point where he's actually a terrible player) and fuck with people. So my options here are open fold which is gross in every way imaginable. Raise/fold which might be the play because he's flatting alot but he's not super liberal with 3-bets. The problem with raise/folding is I don't think I'm getting 3 bet light, but I know I'm getting flatted light, and then suddenly I'm playing an inflated pot OOP with a 20 BB stack holding K10o against the biggest stack at the table, which is basically a nightmare. Normally ICM would be a factor here, but it's kind of not because I don't give a shit about the $3000 payjump, I don't want to fall too far behind the rest of the table and not give myself any chance to win.
Shoving K10 is the route I go with. It seems like it can never be a terrible play, and it's probably the least terrible option for this particular hand, but I don't know. In any event, BB calls because he woke up with AK and the board bricks, so I bust in 6th for $12,000.
I considered pushing my flight back to stay another day and play the $1k Venetian today, but frankly I'm too tired, I haven't taken a day off yet, so today I'd like to just take a day to myself before my flight back home.
Big thanks to Shyam, Griff, Saunders, St.Jean, Cairns and everyone for coming by to rail the FT. It was fun.
After that, we headed to The Palm at Caesars. Grabbed this back, executive room for 9 of us that they closed off, and proceeded to eat basically the best meal of all time. Lightly seared Ahi Tuna, king crab and 3 different salads for apps(the bacon/shrimp salad was beyond incredible), main course was NY Steak, Crab Legs and Lobster with Mashed potatoes, fries, broccoli, hash browns, beans. Dessert was Key Lime Pie, carrot cake and strawberry cheese cake. Top it off with 3 bottles of wine...and it was time for a monster CCR sweat. Because we figured it was going to be >$1500 for the tab, we decided to allow 2 losers for the 9 of us. I fade CCR so the meal is free. It's good to go perfect on it for a trip. Griff and St.Jean are stuck splitting it. The bill is actually way less than we figured though. It's $998(without tip, actual quote when we ask the waiter why they don't put the tip on for parties this size..."You guys came in here ballin', I figure I'm safe"). We tipped $300.
So now I'm just relaxing in my room. Gonna go out for a bit in a little bit, flight leaves here at 11:30pm, so got some time to kill today. Then it's back to the online poker world.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Vegas Trip Days Whatever until now...
So here I sit, in my room after a decent night out, following one of the worst feelings of my life. Pure gut punch. But first, let's go full Quentin Tarantino mode and rewind back to where the last blog left off. Apologize for the potential length of this in advance.
The Venetian $340 on Thursday was a bit of a disaster. I got in late thanks to having to wait to get a Grazie card and the line was approximately 423146t21874612783 people long. Once in, we started a 4 handed table(the minimum they'd let the dealer play with). Right away I played a weird pot. 4 handed, I raise button(blinds 50/100, stack I think was 12k, maybe 15 I can't remember how they're structured), I raise to 300 on the button with Q/10o(black), and get a caller in the BB. Flop is Ac/6h/8h, he checks, I bet 475, he flats. Turn is a 2s. He checks, I decide to barrel through the turn because I feel like it's going to be hard for him to call 3 streets with a bare ace, and his pre and post flop lines rarely include big aces. He either has bare aces, mid pairs, or a flush draw, all of which is going to fold to repeated action. So I bet 775 on the turn and he flats again. River is a Ks. He checks a third time, and I bet, kind of working on the assumption that this might be a bard card to do this with because he can clearly have a King high flush draw and just get stubborn now that he made a pair. I bet 1450 and he called and showed KJhh. I'm not sure how much I like betting the river...against more competent players I like it, but live poker man, the players just don't ever fold.
After that hand I chipped up and down for a while, rocky day overall. I got to 20k when I raised button with 68o, got a caller, and flop was 5/7/9 and we got it in and he had 7/8. Then I lost half of it in a pot where a guy raised from MP, I 3-bet button with A6ss, flop was 8/3/2 rainbow, he check called a c-bet on the flop. Turn was an ace, he check called the turn, and the river was another 8. Luckily live players are awful, and he checked giving away any value(not sure if I call, probably not, but still didn't even give himself a chance, when am I ever betting the river unless I have an 8 as well or a boat?). He had 89 btw.
Bust hand was standard, got it in with ~30 BB with JJ vs AQ and he won the flip. Busted in time to go register for a $130 6-max at Caesers which seemed like a good tournament. Unfortunately it took almost no time for me to lose it. I drew a soft table, and just went full blown psycho mode, raising and 3-betting a maniacal amount of hands and steamrolling the table. Then this guy and I went to war blind on blind where I had a hand(99) in the SB, raised, he 3-bet, I 4-bet, he 5-bet jammed and I called. He showed 6/2o and the flop was 8/2/2. Truly psycho shit.
After that I met up with Shyam, Griff, St.Jean, David and the rest of the crew and we went to some Chinese food place that was pretty terrible. After that I went and spent some time with a few friends, then headed home for the night.
Friday, Caesers $340 buyin.
This tourney was structured beyond terrible. I really can't stress enough, Caesers seems like a decent tourney to play in, but don't do it. Go do anything else. Burn money and laugh about it. But don't play there ever. Why in Gods name do the antes take 27 years to kick in? Good god. 500/1000? That's really where you're starting antes? That's pathetic. Really pathetic. It gives good players who know how to accumulate by grabbing tons of small pots less of a chance, because we have a harder time building a stack before suddenly all hell breaks loose.
Anyway, Caesers went fairly bad for me for a bit, then I lost a big flip and was down to 2 BB. I worked that back into nearly 40 BB and then live poker bit me in the ass again. Guy raises the cut-off, he's fairly aggro and he's got chips. I 3-bet ready to get it in with him pre, but he just flats instead. My 3-bet sizing because I was from the BB was fairly big, him flatting was worst case scenario, even though I feel like I crush his range, I don't like playing this inflated pot OOP now. Flop is A/Q/7 and that certainly makes things better. I lead out small hoping to induce a raise, which he obliges me. Now the thing about his raise sizing that was weird(especially given his hand which I'll get to in a sec) is he over-raises, and basically commits himself. Which again, once you hear his hand, is beyond a terrible play. It's actually the worst play of all time. I obviously ship knowing he can't fold, he snaps it off and shows me AA. What the fuck are you doing on the flop dude? Busto.
So I skip over to the Venetian where Shyam is still in, with a stack in the $2100 event. Drop off a portable cell phone charger(if you've never seen one or don't have one, they're an absolute life saver for live poker, because I spend almost every minute I'm not directly in a hand, on my iPhone), then me, Griff and David go eat at Grand Lux in Venetian, which is a nice, Cheesecake Factory style restaraunt. We order way too many apps, and barely even touch the main courses. Side note here, I am first safe in CCR(Credit Card Roulette) when we play it(important because my run good in CCR so far on this trip is second to none).
After that, we head over to the Rio to register for the $1500 on Saturday, and then go rail Chris Moorman(MoormanI or Moorman1) at the final table of the $2500 6-max. Disgusting end to the event, he gets all the money in with KJ vs K9, flop Q/10/6, turn 8, river J. After that(by the way, crazy cool scene, he had like 300 drunk as hell English supporters singing and cheering like it was a soccer game), we just go chill for a bit then head home for the night.
Saturday, Day 1 $1500 WSOP.
Start out at my table and it's pretty weak. There's a Russian Team Pokerstars pro I don't recognize(younger guy), who I own in this pot with a bluff. Then lose a fair sized pot where I could have gone broke potentially, 10/10 in the BB, the SB limp calls. Flop is A/J/6, he check calls the flop, then it goes check check check turn and river, and he shows me AK? Oooookay then.
After about 30 minutes or so, a table breaks, and Griffin(Flush_Entity) Benger, my backer, draws onto my table. Not only does he show up, but Jordan(Jymaster11) Young, who started on Griff's table, also somehow draws onto my table too. Nice randomization WSOP. So now it's Griff in seat 1, Jordan in seat 2, me in seat 3. Nice. Over this time, I win a few nice pots(QQ > JJ and QQ > AK), and after about 3 hours that table breaks and I leave there with 14k, a nice stack. Right away at my new table, 14k becomes a real stack. New table is soft, Haralabos Voulgaris is at my table to my left, but he's not really getting involved much. So I run the table over a bit, then a player opens from MP, I 3-bet button with AA, BB cold 4-bets, I 5-bet jam, and he calls with JJ, I hold and have 28k at dinner break. A real solid stack. For dinner, we all go to Gaylord Indian restaraunt at the Rio, there's a whole group of us, and again...CCR I'm the 2nd one safe this time. Bill was >$500.
Back to action, I chip up with lots of smallish pots, and have around $40k, then play a weird pot I've talked to a few online pros that were in the tournament at that point, not to mention everyone I would normally discuss the hand with, and I think I misplayed it. Aggro asian kid raises the CO, and I 3-bet out of the BB with KJo. He flats. Flop is A/10/4. I c-bet and he flats again. Turn is gin, a Q. I checked, and upon reflection I don't like it. I really don't think in this spot, he's floating here with much air, so I'm giving up so much value from his hands here. He did bet, and I flatted the turn. River was a disaster, a K which destroyed all my action and I win a small one.
Eventually fairly late in the day, I've run the stack up to about 55k when disaster strikes. Blinds at 100/400/800, folds around to the hijack and he raises it to 2200. I 3-bet to 5700 with AK. He 4-bet jams for 28k, and I call. He has 10/10 and holds. After that I chip up a little touch and end day one with 30,500. Certainly not a disaster, we're under 100 players from money, I have 30 blinds to start day two, it's all good. But that pot was massive, I could have had 85k heading into day 2. After the long day, I'm dead, so I go home and crash.
Sunday, $1500 WSOP Day 2.
Wake up feeling good. Check pokernews and fight out I drew an amazing table where no one has over 42k so my 30.5k will have tons of play and moveability. I should be in great shape. Table also seems weak as hell, only name I regonize is Eric Cloutier. Get to the Rio and I'm feeling good. Get started, and the day is up and down to start. First hand I play is the third hand dealt. This kid who had just won a fair sized pot when he flatted a 3-bet OOP then check-raise shoved the flop of 9/6/4 and made someone fold, opens to 2400. I 3-bet from the cut-off with AK to 5800, and he flats. The flop is 8/7/5hh, and he straight leads 17k. I folded.
Next weird hand was against Eric Cloutier. I raise from MP with AQcc to 2200, and he flats on the button. Flop is A/Q/6. I lead 2800, he puts out 2800, but makes some big fuss about the 500 and how he thought it was a 5k chip and he meant to raise. I have no idea how to take this to be honest, because 5k chips aren't even in play yet, and there's no way he's that stupid. Turn is a brick(3), and I led 3300. Maybe I should check the turn, if he thinks I'm stupid enough to fall for that bullshit little ploy, maybe he puts money in after my check. Anyway, he folds the turn.
A few more smallish pots, then the money bubble bursts. Few hands after that, this fairly solid kid who got crippled with Cloutier 4-bet jammed 44 into his KK and made a straight, shoves for 7700 with blinds at 600/1200. I'm in the BB without a huge stack, still sitting around 30k, but I have A/4o, so I call. He has 8/6cc, and flops an eight and holds. That hurt. Few hands later win another pot off Cloutier where I raise pre, drill a flop and get 2 streets of value from him this time, so I'm back at around 37k when it all goes to shit.
Blinds still 200/600/1200, a tight player raises UTG to 2600. I flat the button with 88. After some discussion with Shyam and company, maybe it's a mistake to flat here, but it feels to nitty to fold that hand. 66 I agree I'm too short to set mine, but 88 feels like I can still take a flop and deal with it post flop in position, despite the fact that his range is pretty snug. Regardless, I flatted, and the flop was a masterpiece. 8/5/2 rainbow. He checks to me, so I bet a nice little inducing 2300, and he straight jams it in my face. I snap call, he shows AA. Turn is a 4(why?), river is an Ace. Fuck. My. Life. 75k pot was right there. A real legitimate stack, deep in that tourney was right there. And they ripped it away from me. Cashed for $2800. Didn't even stick around to collect the money(going to have to do that at some point).
After that I went home, did nothing for a while, then went out and grabbed dinner with Shyam, Griff and Saunders at Samba Steakhouse at Mirage. Once again, 2nd one out of CCR(I'm sure writing this post is terrible karma and I'm about to get fucked hard on the next CCR round, but so far so good). After that, we go do some shopping in Caesers, and then go home to crash.
Not really sure what tomorrow brings. There's nothing really that appeals to me. There's a $1600 at Venetian which is a bit too big I think, especially since there's no hold'em event at the WSOP tomorrow, which means that tourney is going to be shark infested to say the least. There's a $130 at Caesers which I can't bring myself to play because of a) seems like way too much work for a buyin that small, prize pool just can't be worth it, and b) I hate the structures, seriously, why the hell are antes kicking in so late?
I might go do Golden Nugget, they have a $230 or something going, and their tournaments were structured fairly well. Plus, because it's downtown literally 0 good players will be playing it. Literally. 0. So maybe that's where I go. We'll see when I wake up. Anyway, that's it for now. Sleep time.
The Venetian $340 on Thursday was a bit of a disaster. I got in late thanks to having to wait to get a Grazie card and the line was approximately 423146t21874612783 people long. Once in, we started a 4 handed table(the minimum they'd let the dealer play with). Right away I played a weird pot. 4 handed, I raise button(blinds 50/100, stack I think was 12k, maybe 15 I can't remember how they're structured), I raise to 300 on the button with Q/10o(black), and get a caller in the BB. Flop is Ac/6h/8h, he checks, I bet 475, he flats. Turn is a 2s. He checks, I decide to barrel through the turn because I feel like it's going to be hard for him to call 3 streets with a bare ace, and his pre and post flop lines rarely include big aces. He either has bare aces, mid pairs, or a flush draw, all of which is going to fold to repeated action. So I bet 775 on the turn and he flats again. River is a Ks. He checks a third time, and I bet, kind of working on the assumption that this might be a bard card to do this with because he can clearly have a King high flush draw and just get stubborn now that he made a pair. I bet 1450 and he called and showed KJhh. I'm not sure how much I like betting the river...against more competent players I like it, but live poker man, the players just don't ever fold.
After that hand I chipped up and down for a while, rocky day overall. I got to 20k when I raised button with 68o, got a caller, and flop was 5/7/9 and we got it in and he had 7/8. Then I lost half of it in a pot where a guy raised from MP, I 3-bet button with A6ss, flop was 8/3/2 rainbow, he check called a c-bet on the flop. Turn was an ace, he check called the turn, and the river was another 8. Luckily live players are awful, and he checked giving away any value(not sure if I call, probably not, but still didn't even give himself a chance, when am I ever betting the river unless I have an 8 as well or a boat?). He had 89 btw.
Bust hand was standard, got it in with ~30 BB with JJ vs AQ and he won the flip. Busted in time to go register for a $130 6-max at Caesers which seemed like a good tournament. Unfortunately it took almost no time for me to lose it. I drew a soft table, and just went full blown psycho mode, raising and 3-betting a maniacal amount of hands and steamrolling the table. Then this guy and I went to war blind on blind where I had a hand(99) in the SB, raised, he 3-bet, I 4-bet, he 5-bet jammed and I called. He showed 6/2o and the flop was 8/2/2. Truly psycho shit.
After that I met up with Shyam, Griff, St.Jean, David and the rest of the crew and we went to some Chinese food place that was pretty terrible. After that I went and spent some time with a few friends, then headed home for the night.
Friday, Caesers $340 buyin.
This tourney was structured beyond terrible. I really can't stress enough, Caesers seems like a decent tourney to play in, but don't do it. Go do anything else. Burn money and laugh about it. But don't play there ever. Why in Gods name do the antes take 27 years to kick in? Good god. 500/1000? That's really where you're starting antes? That's pathetic. Really pathetic. It gives good players who know how to accumulate by grabbing tons of small pots less of a chance, because we have a harder time building a stack before suddenly all hell breaks loose.
Anyway, Caesers went fairly bad for me for a bit, then I lost a big flip and was down to 2 BB. I worked that back into nearly 40 BB and then live poker bit me in the ass again. Guy raises the cut-off, he's fairly aggro and he's got chips. I 3-bet ready to get it in with him pre, but he just flats instead. My 3-bet sizing because I was from the BB was fairly big, him flatting was worst case scenario, even though I feel like I crush his range, I don't like playing this inflated pot OOP now. Flop is A/Q/7 and that certainly makes things better. I lead out small hoping to induce a raise, which he obliges me. Now the thing about his raise sizing that was weird(especially given his hand which I'll get to in a sec) is he over-raises, and basically commits himself. Which again, once you hear his hand, is beyond a terrible play. It's actually the worst play of all time. I obviously ship knowing he can't fold, he snaps it off and shows me AA. What the fuck are you doing on the flop dude? Busto.
So I skip over to the Venetian where Shyam is still in, with a stack in the $2100 event. Drop off a portable cell phone charger(if you've never seen one or don't have one, they're an absolute life saver for live poker, because I spend almost every minute I'm not directly in a hand, on my iPhone), then me, Griff and David go eat at Grand Lux in Venetian, which is a nice, Cheesecake Factory style restaraunt. We order way too many apps, and barely even touch the main courses. Side note here, I am first safe in CCR(Credit Card Roulette) when we play it(important because my run good in CCR so far on this trip is second to none).
After that, we head over to the Rio to register for the $1500 on Saturday, and then go rail Chris Moorman(MoormanI or Moorman1) at the final table of the $2500 6-max. Disgusting end to the event, he gets all the money in with KJ vs K9, flop Q/10/6, turn 8, river J. After that(by the way, crazy cool scene, he had like 300 drunk as hell English supporters singing and cheering like it was a soccer game), we just go chill for a bit then head home for the night.
Saturday, Day 1 $1500 WSOP.
Start out at my table and it's pretty weak. There's a Russian Team Pokerstars pro I don't recognize(younger guy), who I own in this pot with a bluff. Then lose a fair sized pot where I could have gone broke potentially, 10/10 in the BB, the SB limp calls. Flop is A/J/6, he check calls the flop, then it goes check check check turn and river, and he shows me AK? Oooookay then.
After about 30 minutes or so, a table breaks, and Griffin(Flush_Entity) Benger, my backer, draws onto my table. Not only does he show up, but Jordan(Jymaster11) Young, who started on Griff's table, also somehow draws onto my table too. Nice randomization WSOP. So now it's Griff in seat 1, Jordan in seat 2, me in seat 3. Nice. Over this time, I win a few nice pots(QQ > JJ and QQ > AK), and after about 3 hours that table breaks and I leave there with 14k, a nice stack. Right away at my new table, 14k becomes a real stack. New table is soft, Haralabos Voulgaris is at my table to my left, but he's not really getting involved much. So I run the table over a bit, then a player opens from MP, I 3-bet button with AA, BB cold 4-bets, I 5-bet jam, and he calls with JJ, I hold and have 28k at dinner break. A real solid stack. For dinner, we all go to Gaylord Indian restaraunt at the Rio, there's a whole group of us, and again...CCR I'm the 2nd one safe this time. Bill was >$500.
Back to action, I chip up with lots of smallish pots, and have around $40k, then play a weird pot I've talked to a few online pros that were in the tournament at that point, not to mention everyone I would normally discuss the hand with, and I think I misplayed it. Aggro asian kid raises the CO, and I 3-bet out of the BB with KJo. He flats. Flop is A/10/4. I c-bet and he flats again. Turn is gin, a Q. I checked, and upon reflection I don't like it. I really don't think in this spot, he's floating here with much air, so I'm giving up so much value from his hands here. He did bet, and I flatted the turn. River was a disaster, a K which destroyed all my action and I win a small one.
Eventually fairly late in the day, I've run the stack up to about 55k when disaster strikes. Blinds at 100/400/800, folds around to the hijack and he raises it to 2200. I 3-bet to 5700 with AK. He 4-bet jams for 28k, and I call. He has 10/10 and holds. After that I chip up a little touch and end day one with 30,500. Certainly not a disaster, we're under 100 players from money, I have 30 blinds to start day two, it's all good. But that pot was massive, I could have had 85k heading into day 2. After the long day, I'm dead, so I go home and crash.
Sunday, $1500 WSOP Day 2.
Wake up feeling good. Check pokernews and fight out I drew an amazing table where no one has over 42k so my 30.5k will have tons of play and moveability. I should be in great shape. Table also seems weak as hell, only name I regonize is Eric Cloutier. Get to the Rio and I'm feeling good. Get started, and the day is up and down to start. First hand I play is the third hand dealt. This kid who had just won a fair sized pot when he flatted a 3-bet OOP then check-raise shoved the flop of 9/6/4 and made someone fold, opens to 2400. I 3-bet from the cut-off with AK to 5800, and he flats. The flop is 8/7/5hh, and he straight leads 17k. I folded.
Next weird hand was against Eric Cloutier. I raise from MP with AQcc to 2200, and he flats on the button. Flop is A/Q/6. I lead 2800, he puts out 2800, but makes some big fuss about the 500 and how he thought it was a 5k chip and he meant to raise. I have no idea how to take this to be honest, because 5k chips aren't even in play yet, and there's no way he's that stupid. Turn is a brick(3), and I led 3300. Maybe I should check the turn, if he thinks I'm stupid enough to fall for that bullshit little ploy, maybe he puts money in after my check. Anyway, he folds the turn.
A few more smallish pots, then the money bubble bursts. Few hands after that, this fairly solid kid who got crippled with Cloutier 4-bet jammed 44 into his KK and made a straight, shoves for 7700 with blinds at 600/1200. I'm in the BB without a huge stack, still sitting around 30k, but I have A/4o, so I call. He has 8/6cc, and flops an eight and holds. That hurt. Few hands later win another pot off Cloutier where I raise pre, drill a flop and get 2 streets of value from him this time, so I'm back at around 37k when it all goes to shit.
Blinds still 200/600/1200, a tight player raises UTG to 2600. I flat the button with 88. After some discussion with Shyam and company, maybe it's a mistake to flat here, but it feels to nitty to fold that hand. 66 I agree I'm too short to set mine, but 88 feels like I can still take a flop and deal with it post flop in position, despite the fact that his range is pretty snug. Regardless, I flatted, and the flop was a masterpiece. 8/5/2 rainbow. He checks to me, so I bet a nice little inducing 2300, and he straight jams it in my face. I snap call, he shows AA. Turn is a 4(why?), river is an Ace. Fuck. My. Life. 75k pot was right there. A real legitimate stack, deep in that tourney was right there. And they ripped it away from me. Cashed for $2800. Didn't even stick around to collect the money(going to have to do that at some point).
After that I went home, did nothing for a while, then went out and grabbed dinner with Shyam, Griff and Saunders at Samba Steakhouse at Mirage. Once again, 2nd one out of CCR(I'm sure writing this post is terrible karma and I'm about to get fucked hard on the next CCR round, but so far so good). After that, we go do some shopping in Caesers, and then go home to crash.
Not really sure what tomorrow brings. There's nothing really that appeals to me. There's a $1600 at Venetian which is a bit too big I think, especially since there's no hold'em event at the WSOP tomorrow, which means that tourney is going to be shark infested to say the least. There's a $130 at Caesers which I can't bring myself to play because of a) seems like way too much work for a buyin that small, prize pool just can't be worth it, and b) I hate the structures, seriously, why the hell are antes kicking in so late?
I might go do Golden Nugget, they have a $230 or something going, and their tournaments were structured fairly well. Plus, because it's downtown literally 0 good players will be playing it. Literally. 0. So maybe that's where I go. We'll see when I wake up. Anyway, that's it for now. Sleep time.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Vegas Trip Day 1+2
So my flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00pm on Tuesday. I arrive at the airport at 7:15ish, and 10 minutes later I've cleared customs and I'm ready to board in what was the easiest process I've ever experienced. Plane left on time, landed on time. Props to Westjet for a great flight.
Land in Vegas, go over to the Signature Suites at MGM where I'm staying, and go to check in, rooms are over-booked, so I've been upgraded thanks to said late arrival, to a one bedroom suite. This suite is absolutely absurd. 2 bathrooms with 2 showers, one with a jacuzzi and TV in it. Fully stocked kitchen with stove, dishwasher and full dishes. Full size fridge and freezer. Can't complain. I basically check in, watch some TV and go to sleep.
Day 1 of actual play was relatively light, there wasn't anything super good going on in town, Venetian had a seniors event, Caesers had a $100 buyin, the WSOP was a $2500 6-max where I figured my edge probably wasn't what it needed to be to play that high so I sat it out, went with some friends to play a tournament at the Golden Nugget they were playing.
Structure was outstanding, player field was absolutely absymal. If I saw anything resembling 2 cards, that tournament was mine. As it stood, I just 3-bet and bluffed my way to never dipping below 60 BB at any point, until I raised CO with 9/6hh, flop came J/4/2 with two hearts, the caller from the SB check called my c-bet on the flop. Turn was a 3c to give me a straight draw as well, so when he checked I continued barrelling, and he flatted again. River was a 10h, and he led for full pot. I flatted, he flashed K8hh and won the pot.
From there I worked my way a bit deeper, getting into the 90's of the 250 that started, hovered around 35 BB, when there was a min-raise UTG with blinds at 500/1k to 2k, then someone made it 7k, me with 35 BB squeezed out AKdd so I 3-bet shipped and the initial 3-better of course had AA and held(despite me having the world on the turn....at least as much as would have been possible, board was Q/10/6/3 with two diamonds by the turn). Felt like I played outstanding to survive as long as I did being so insanely card dead(prior to the AK bust hand, the best hand I saw was 88, in 6 hours of poker).
After the tourney, Griff, St.Jean and David had all busted the $2500 6-max(Griff lost AA to QQ for an early monster-monster stack collision when a Q fell on the river). We all had money riding on the Bruins to win, so I went over to Vdara to watch the game with them, then we just chilled for the night. Went to go see a movie(Super 8, which was fantastic), played some PS3, just relaxed for the evening.
Tomorrow the real down and dirty begins. Venetian Deepstack $340, then I think Caesers Palace on Friday for a $340, then I'm undecided on the weekend between $550 Venetians or $1500 WSOP events...we'll see how it all plays out.
Land in Vegas, go over to the Signature Suites at MGM where I'm staying, and go to check in, rooms are over-booked, so I've been upgraded thanks to said late arrival, to a one bedroom suite. This suite is absolutely absurd. 2 bathrooms with 2 showers, one with a jacuzzi and TV in it. Fully stocked kitchen with stove, dishwasher and full dishes. Full size fridge and freezer. Can't complain. I basically check in, watch some TV and go to sleep.
Day 1 of actual play was relatively light, there wasn't anything super good going on in town, Venetian had a seniors event, Caesers had a $100 buyin, the WSOP was a $2500 6-max where I figured my edge probably wasn't what it needed to be to play that high so I sat it out, went with some friends to play a tournament at the Golden Nugget they were playing.
Structure was outstanding, player field was absolutely absymal. If I saw anything resembling 2 cards, that tournament was mine. As it stood, I just 3-bet and bluffed my way to never dipping below 60 BB at any point, until I raised CO with 9/6hh, flop came J/4/2 with two hearts, the caller from the SB check called my c-bet on the flop. Turn was a 3c to give me a straight draw as well, so when he checked I continued barrelling, and he flatted again. River was a 10h, and he led for full pot. I flatted, he flashed K8hh and won the pot.
From there I worked my way a bit deeper, getting into the 90's of the 250 that started, hovered around 35 BB, when there was a min-raise UTG with blinds at 500/1k to 2k, then someone made it 7k, me with 35 BB squeezed out AKdd so I 3-bet shipped and the initial 3-better of course had AA and held(despite me having the world on the turn....at least as much as would have been possible, board was Q/10/6/3 with two diamonds by the turn). Felt like I played outstanding to survive as long as I did being so insanely card dead(prior to the AK bust hand, the best hand I saw was 88, in 6 hours of poker).
After the tourney, Griff, St.Jean and David had all busted the $2500 6-max(Griff lost AA to QQ for an early monster-monster stack collision when a Q fell on the river). We all had money riding on the Bruins to win, so I went over to Vdara to watch the game with them, then we just chilled for the night. Went to go see a movie(Super 8, which was fantastic), played some PS3, just relaxed for the evening.
Tomorrow the real down and dirty begins. Venetian Deepstack $340, then I think Caesers Palace on Friday for a $340, then I'm undecided on the weekend between $550 Venetians or $1500 WSOP events...we'll see how it all plays out.
Friday, June 3, 2011
So I'm bringing this blog back for a few reasons...
#1, now that I'm out of school, I actually have something resembling this glorious "free time" some people have told me about.
Also, I'm heading down to Vegas for the second trip down there of my life in 2 weeks time. I went down years ago with Bruno, Sonny and company, and we had a good time, and I was pretty successful over the course of the trip. Over the years that followed my father's health prevented me from going, and then broadcasting from the Rogers Cup last year prevented me from going. This year, school is over, and the coast is clear so I'm off June 14th to 23rd.
The last reason is I'm getting back into poker much more heavily now. I am fortunate enough to have the luxury of regularily talking to and being friends with some of the top poker players online, and it's really helped take my tournament game from "cash player doing decent in tournies because people suck", to an actual tournament poker player.
For a state of reference, the friends I speak of are Shyam "S_Dot111" Srinivasan, the #10 ranked player in the world on pocketfives, with over $3,750,000 in cashes to his name online.
Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger is my best friend, we've been known each other for over 10 years now. He's currently ranked #7 on pocketfives, just a hair under $1,500,000 in cashes, most of which has come since January 1st sickly enough.
Ontop of that Andrew "Drewfus81" St.Jean, also just under $1,500,000 in cashes is one of the smartest players I've spoken to about poker.
In any event, there are a few others, but I'm not writing this to run a resume of players, I'm just emphasizing my fortune to live in Toronto right now, and have met all of them and have a healthy friendship with all of them(some of whom I met merely through Griffin), and be able to talk poker. If there's one thing that helps more than anything else(besides practice) in becoming a better poker player, it's knowing people that are significantly better than you are at the game. Fortunately for me, I know several.
So on the backs of that, I've started to get back into online tournament poker, pretty heavily now that I'm done school and have the time to dedicate to the game again.
My first day post school playing poker I made the final table of the $100 rebuy on Pokerstars, and finished 4th for $2700. Ran pretty bad at the final table in one key hand where in a limped pot(me in the BB), I check called a bet on a Kc/Qd/7c flop holding 9c/4c, and turned gin with the 3c, but ran into Ac/6c to cripple me. After that I lost AQ to 66 for my last 17 BB.
The same night I also final tabled the $75 buyin 7:00 on Full Tilt, finishing 2nd, also for $2700. This I felt was more fair, I ran the tournament from about 30 players left, never losing chip lead until we got 4 handed and the player I lost to heads up went on an insane run knocking out the other 2 in the span of 3 hands to hold a huge chip lead. I worked my way back to almost even, then had AQ vs A6 for almost all the chips, wound up having the board counterfiet me with 2 pair to chop, lost a big pot with top pair to 2 pair, and could never recover.
Which brings me to tonight, where I made deep runs in a few things again. The $30 1r1a on FTP, which I was 6th in chips in with 15 left, when these two hands happened in the span of 5 minutes(both were for the chip lead in the tourney)...
Full Tilt Poker Game #30852645590: $5,000 Guarantee (1r+1a) (239381202), Table 10 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 05:07:55 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 1: Igi1979 (10,869)
Seat 2: Wilenius (8,973)
Seat 4: DIMJR (18,510)
Seat 5: ShowMeTheMouni (37,072)
Seat 7: tomy gyula (30,134)
Seat 9: crystal_donkey (23,276)
Igi1979 antes 75
Wilenius antes 75
DIMJR antes 75
ShowMeTheMouni antes 75
tomy gyula antes 75
crystal_donkey antes 75
Wilenius posts the small blind of 300
DIMJR posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Kh Ah]
ShowMeTheMouni folds
tomy gyula folds
crystal_donkey raises to 1,350
Igi1979 folds
Wilenius folds
DIMJR raises to 4,800
ShowMeTheMouni is feeling normal
crystal_donkey raises to 23,201, and is all in
DIMJR calls 13,635, and is all in
crystal_donkey shows [Kh Ah]
DIMJR shows [Ac Jh]
Uncalled bet of 4,766 returned to crystal_donkey
*** FLOP *** [6d 4s Qd]
*** TURN *** [6d 4s Qd] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [6d 4s Qd 4h] [6h]
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
DIMJR shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
DIMJR ties for the pot (18,810) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
crystal_donkey ties for the pot (18,810) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 37,620 | Rake 0
Board: [6d 4s Qd 4h 6h]
Seat 1: Igi1979 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Wilenius (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: DIMJR (big blind) showed [Ac Jh] and won (18,810) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
Seat 5: ShowMeTheMouni folded before the Flop
Seat 7: tomy gyula folded before the Flop
Seat 9: crystal_donkey showed [Kh Ah] and won (18,810) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Full Tilt Poker Game #30852688300: $5,000 Guarantee (1r+1a) (239381202), Table 10 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 05:13:04 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 1: Igi1979 (9,444)
Seat 2: Wilenius (13,398)
Seat 4: DIMJR (26,280)
Seat 5: ShowMeTheMouni (30,397)
Seat 7: tomy gyula (26,939)
Seat 9: crystal_donkey (22,376)
Igi1979 antes 75
Wilenius antes 75
DIMJR antes 75
ShowMeTheMouni antes 75
tomy gyula antes 75
crystal_donkey antes 75
DIMJR posts the small blind of 300
ShowMeTheMouni posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Ac Ts]
tomy gyula folds
crystal_donkey raises to 1,350
Igi1979 folds
Wilenius folds
DIMJR calls 1,050
ShowMeTheMouni calls 750
*** FLOP *** [Ah 7d Td]
DIMJR checks
ShowMeTheMouni checks
crystal_donkey bets 1,980
DIMJR folds
ShowMeTheMouni raises to 28,972, and is all in
crystal_donkey calls 18,971, and is all in
ShowMeTheMouni shows [7c As]
crystal_donkey shows [Ac Ts]
Uncalled bet of 8,021 returned to ShowMeTheMouni
*** TURN *** [Ah 7d Td] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 7d Td 7s] [2s]
ShowMeTheMouni shows a full house, Sevens full of Aces
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Aces and Tens
ShowMeTheMouni wins the pot (46,402) with a full house, Sevens full of Aces
Wilenius: wow
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 46,402 | Rake 0
Board: [Ah 7d Td 7s 2s]
Seat 1: Igi1979 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Wilenius (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: DIMJR (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: ShowMeTheMouni (big blind) showed [7c As] and won (46,402) with a full house, Sevens full of Aces
Seat 7: tomy gyula folded before the Flop
Seat 9: crystal_donkey showed [Ac Ts] and lost with two pair, Aces and Tens
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Oh well...
The other tournament I made a deep run in was the $75 Multi Entry on FTP(despite the horrible start time of 2:00am, I cannot stress enough to anyone who doesn't work and can find the ability to play, how easy this tournament is. Especially being able to enter 4x, it is a license to print money.) The player field is abysmal, the prizes are decent($9,500 gtd, it usually goes over, usually somewhere near $3k for first), and again, the field is abysmal beyond words that have been invented in the english language.
This tournament again, I was chip leader, or close to it, for a large chunk of the tournament, made final table 2nd out of the 9 in chips.
First significant hand of final table for me happened 7 handed. I'm thinking upon reflection maybe this can be a fold, I'm not really sure. It looks super standard, but Villain in the hand had been super, super snug so far since I had sat with him, so maybe on reflection it's foldable. Still not sure because it's so small, think I just had to go with it...
Full Tilt Poker Game #30853420082: $9,500 Guarantee (239382577), Table 5 - 800/1600 Ante 200 - No Limit Hold'em - 06:34:43 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 3: FexAA (85,219)
Seat 4: Nanys (87,123)
Seat 5: oOspidiOo (32,976)
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (85,495)
Seat 7: politiano (40,744)
Seat 8: PapaRundle (105,050)
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (19,393)
FexAA antes 200
Nanys antes 200
oOspidiOo antes 200
crystal_donkey antes 200
politiano antes 200
PapaRundle antes 200
Lord Scratch antes 200
FexAA posts the small blind of 800
Nanys posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Td As]
oOspidiOo folds
crystal_donkey raises to 3,350
politiano folds
PapaRundle folds
Lord Scratch raises to 19,193, and is all in
FexAA folds
Nanys folds
crystal_donkey calls 15,843
Lord Scratch shows [Ad Ah]
crystal_donkey shows [Td As]
*** FLOP *** [Tc 8h Kh]
*** TURN *** [Tc 8h Kh] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 8h Kh Ac] [2c]
Lord Scratch shows three of a kind, Aces
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Aces and Tens
Lord Scratch wins the pot (42,186) with three of a kind, Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 42,186 | Rake 0
Board: [Tc 8h Kh Ac 2c]
Seat 3: FexAA (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Nanys (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: oOspidiOo folded before the Flop
Seat 6: crystal_donkey showed [Td As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Tens
Seat 7: politiano folded before the Flop
Seat 8: PapaRundle folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (button) showed [Ad Ah] and won (42,186) with three of a kind, Aces
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The next significant hand I played was a while later, had kind of hovered around for a bit, struggled to find alot of good steal spots with a cannon with a massive stack two to my left, but was finding a way to survive until this hand. I might not flat here against more competent players, but I don't hate flatting here in tournaments where people won't understand that I'm only ever flatting with this stack as a trap. Turns out it wouldn't have mattered either way, just as a point of interest I prefer flatting here. This guy had been relatively agressively opening, so I want to give him a chance to give me it all rather than take 5k from him by 3-betting.
Full Tilt Poker Game #30853593909: $9,500 Guarantee (239382577), Table 5 - 1000/2000 Ante 250 - No Limit Hold'em - 06:51:22 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 3: FexAA (128,395)
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (46,002)
Seat 7: politiano (91,094)
Seat 8: PapaRundle (156,673)
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (33,836)
FexAA antes 250
crystal_donkey antes 250
politiano antes 250
PapaRundle antes 250
Lord Scratch antes 250
PapaRundle posts the small blind of 1,000
Lord Scratch posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Ks Kd]
FexAA raises to 5,000
crystal_donkey calls 5,000
politiano folds
PapaRundle folds
Lord Scratch has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Scratch folds
*** FLOP *** [7s Ts 3h]
FexAA checks
crystal_donkey bets 6,800
FexAA raises to 44,000
crystal_donkey calls 33,952, and is all in
FexAA shows [Qh Qc]
crystal_donkey shows [Ks Kd]
Uncalled bet of 3,248 returned to FexAA
*** TURN *** [7s Ts 3h] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [7s Ts 3h 8d] [Jh]
FexAA shows a pair of Queens
crystal_donkey shows a pair of Kings
crystal_donkey wins the pot (95,754) with a pair of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 95,754 | Rake 0
Board: [7s Ts 3h 8d Jh]
Seat 3: FexAA showed [Qh Qc] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 6: crystal_donkey showed [Ks Kd] and won (95,754) with a pair of Kings
Seat 7: politiano (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: PapaRundle (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (big blind) folded before the Flop
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
After that, things kind of took some time and evened out among everyone chip wise, the next significant pot I played was this one. In this hand the starting hand was irrelevant, I had been really quiet for a bit while some pretty insane action had been going, so I felt it was a good time to open, so I did basically ignoring my cards. On the flop I make a standard c-bet, he flats again and the turn isn't great completing a flush draw, but it does add outs to my hand as well, when he checks again I'm basically done with the hand, but still hoping to get involved again if the river completes my draw which it did. At that point it was just about finding value. Felt like the size of the bet was really good.
Full Tilt Poker Game #30853757946: $9,500 Guarantee (239382577), Table 5 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 07:07:32 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 3: FexAA (84,043)
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (77,954)
Seat 7: politiano (90,744)
Seat 8: PapaRundle (105,587)
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (97,672)
FexAA antes 300
crystal_donkey antes 300
politiano antes 300
PapaRundle antes 300
Lord Scratch antes 300
PapaRundle posts the small blind of 1,200
Lord Scratch posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [3s 8s]
FexAA folds
crystal_donkey raises to 4,950
politiano folds
PapaRundle folds
Lord Scratch calls 2,550
*** FLOP *** [6c 9c Ad]
Lord Scratch checks
crystal_donkey bets 5,890
Lord Scratch calls 5,890
*** TURN *** [6c 9c Ad] [7c]
Lord Scratch checks
apocaliptul (Observer): fex da dove sei?
apocaliptul (Observer): fratelo
crystal_donkey checks
*** RIVER *** [6c 9c Ad 7c] [5h]
Lord Scratch checks
PapaRundle: come on guys...
crystal_donkey bets 14,890
Lord Scratch has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Scratch has requested TIME
apocaliptul (Observer): e tu politiano?
PapaRundle: lets not get fu.cking rediculous here
Lord Scratch calls 14,890
*** SHOW DOWN ***
crystal_donkey shows [3s 8s] a straight, Nine high
Lord Scratch mucks
crystal_donkey wins the pot (54,160) with a straight, Nine high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 54,160 | Rake 0
Board: [6c 9c Ad 7c 5h]
Seat 3: FexAA folded before the Flop
Seat 6: crystal_donkey showed [3s 8s] and won (54,160) with a straight, Nine high
Seat 7: politiano (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: PapaRundle (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (big blind) mucked [As Js] - a pair of Aces
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A short while later a standard scam hand for the unfortunate BB happens and I'm in good shape.
Full Tilt Poker Game #30853817429: $9,500 Guarantee (239382577), Table 5 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 07:12:49 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 3: FexAA (72,733)
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (97,984)
Seat 7: politiano (72,744)
Seat 8: PapaRundle (123,287)
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (89,252)
FexAA antes 300
crystal_donkey antes 300
politiano antes 300
PapaRundle antes 300
Lord Scratch antes 300
crystal_donkey posts the small blind of 1,200
politiano posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Qs Qh]
nic-lorrrr (Observer): puntando col progetto..
PapaRundle folds
Lord Scratch folds
apocaliptul (Observer): dai fex
FexAA raises to 5,400
apocaliptul (Observer): non fa niente
crystal_donkey raises to 13,600
politiano raises to 72,444, and is all in
FexAA folds
crystal_donkey calls 58,844
politiano shows [9s 9d]
crystal_donkey shows [Qs Qh]
*** FLOP *** [Jh Ts 3d]
*** TURN *** [Jh Ts 3d] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [Jh Ts 3d 4h] [4d]
politiano shows two pair, Nines and Fours
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Queens and Fours
crystal_donkey wins the pot (151,788) with two pair, Queens and Fours
apocaliptul (Observer): NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 151,788 | Rake 0
Board: [Jh Ts 3d 4h 4d]
Seat 3: FexAA (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (small blind) showed [Qs Qh] and won (151,788) with two pair, Queens and Fours
Seat 7: politiano (big blind) showed [9s 9d] and lost with two pair, Nines and Fours
Seat 8: PapaRundle folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Lord Scratch folded before the Flop
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Eventually we ended up heads up from there, the last hand of heads up, I closed the window before I copy and pasted the hand history, I cracked QQ with 3c/4c on a 2/5/9 flop to win the tournament and the $3,000 first prize.
So check back with some regularity, the blog will be getting updated more regularily from here on out.
Also, I'm heading down to Vegas for the second trip down there of my life in 2 weeks time. I went down years ago with Bruno, Sonny and company, and we had a good time, and I was pretty successful over the course of the trip. Over the years that followed my father's health prevented me from going, and then broadcasting from the Rogers Cup last year prevented me from going. This year, school is over, and the coast is clear so I'm off June 14th to 23rd.
The last reason is I'm getting back into poker much more heavily now. I am fortunate enough to have the luxury of regularily talking to and being friends with some of the top poker players online, and it's really helped take my tournament game from "cash player doing decent in tournies because people suck", to an actual tournament poker player.
For a state of reference, the friends I speak of are Shyam "S_Dot111" Srinivasan, the #10 ranked player in the world on pocketfives, with over $3,750,000 in cashes to his name online.
Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger is my best friend, we've been known each other for over 10 years now. He's currently ranked #7 on pocketfives, just a hair under $1,500,000 in cashes, most of which has come since January 1st sickly enough.
Ontop of that Andrew "Drewfus81" St.Jean, also just under $1,500,000 in cashes is one of the smartest players I've spoken to about poker.
In any event, there are a few others, but I'm not writing this to run a resume of players, I'm just emphasizing my fortune to live in Toronto right now, and have met all of them and have a healthy friendship with all of them(some of whom I met merely through Griffin), and be able to talk poker. If there's one thing that helps more than anything else(besides practice) in becoming a better poker player, it's knowing people that are significantly better than you are at the game. Fortunately for me, I know several.
So on the backs of that, I've started to get back into online tournament poker, pretty heavily now that I'm done school and have the time to dedicate to the game again.
My first day post school playing poker I made the final table of the $100 rebuy on Pokerstars, and finished 4th for $2700. Ran pretty bad at the final table in one key hand where in a limped pot(me in the BB), I check called a bet on a Kc/Qd/7c flop holding 9c/4c, and turned gin with the 3c, but ran into Ac/6c to cripple me. After that I lost AQ to 66 for my last 17 BB.
The same night I also final tabled the $75 buyin 7:00 on Full Tilt, finishing 2nd, also for $2700. This I felt was more fair, I ran the tournament from about 30 players left, never losing chip lead until we got 4 handed and the player I lost to heads up went on an insane run knocking out the other 2 in the span of 3 hands to hold a huge chip lead. I worked my way back to almost even, then had AQ vs A6 for almost all the chips, wound up having the board counterfiet me with 2 pair to chop, lost a big pot with top pair to 2 pair, and could never recover.
Which brings me to tonight, where I made deep runs in a few things again. The $30 1r1a on FTP, which I was 6th in chips in with 15 left, when these two hands happened in the span of 5 minutes(both were for the chip lead in the tourney)...
Full Tilt Poker Game #30852645590: $5,000 Guarantee (1r+1a) (239381202), Table 10 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 05:07:55 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 1: Igi1979 (10,869)
Seat 2: Wilenius (8,973)
Seat 4: DIMJR (18,510)
Seat 5: ShowMeTheMouni (37,072)
Seat 7: tomy gyula (30,134)
Seat 9: crystal_donkey (23,276)
Igi1979 antes 75
Wilenius antes 75
DIMJR antes 75
ShowMeTheMouni antes 75
tomy gyula antes 75
crystal_donkey antes 75
Wilenius posts the small blind of 300
DIMJR posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Kh Ah]
ShowMeTheMouni folds
tomy gyula folds
crystal_donkey raises to 1,350
Igi1979 folds
Wilenius folds
DIMJR raises to 4,800
ShowMeTheMouni is feeling normal
crystal_donkey raises to 23,201, and is all in
DIMJR calls 13,635, and is all in
crystal_donkey shows [Kh Ah]
DIMJR shows [Ac Jh]
Uncalled bet of 4,766 returned to crystal_donkey
*** FLOP *** [6d 4s Qd]
*** TURN *** [6d 4s Qd] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [6d 4s Qd 4h] [6h]
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
DIMJR shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
DIMJR ties for the pot (18,810) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
crystal_donkey ties for the pot (18,810) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 37,620 | Rake 0
Board: [6d 4s Qd 4h 6h]
Seat 1: Igi1979 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Wilenius (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: DIMJR (big blind) showed [Ac Jh] and won (18,810) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
Seat 5: ShowMeTheMouni folded before the Flop
Seat 7: tomy gyula folded before the Flop
Seat 9: crystal_donkey showed [Kh Ah] and won (18,810) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Full Tilt Poker Game #30852688300: $5,000 Guarantee (1r+1a) (239381202), Table 10 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 05:13:04 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 1: Igi1979 (9,444)
Seat 2: Wilenius (13,398)
Seat 4: DIMJR (26,280)
Seat 5: ShowMeTheMouni (30,397)
Seat 7: tomy gyula (26,939)
Seat 9: crystal_donkey (22,376)
Igi1979 antes 75
Wilenius antes 75
DIMJR antes 75
ShowMeTheMouni antes 75
tomy gyula antes 75
crystal_donkey antes 75
DIMJR posts the small blind of 300
ShowMeTheMouni posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Ac Ts]
tomy gyula folds
crystal_donkey raises to 1,350
Igi1979 folds
Wilenius folds
DIMJR calls 1,050
ShowMeTheMouni calls 750
*** FLOP *** [Ah 7d Td]
DIMJR checks
ShowMeTheMouni checks
crystal_donkey bets 1,980
DIMJR folds
ShowMeTheMouni raises to 28,972, and is all in
crystal_donkey calls 18,971, and is all in
ShowMeTheMouni shows [7c As]
crystal_donkey shows [Ac Ts]
Uncalled bet of 8,021 returned to ShowMeTheMouni
*** TURN *** [Ah 7d Td] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 7d Td 7s] [2s]
ShowMeTheMouni shows a full house, Sevens full of Aces
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Aces and Tens
ShowMeTheMouni wins the pot (46,402) with a full house, Sevens full of Aces
Wilenius: wow
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 46,402 | Rake 0
Board: [Ah 7d Td 7s 2s]
Seat 1: Igi1979 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Wilenius (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: DIMJR (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: ShowMeTheMouni (big blind) showed [7c As] and won (46,402) with a full house, Sevens full of Aces
Seat 7: tomy gyula folded before the Flop
Seat 9: crystal_donkey showed [Ac Ts] and lost with two pair, Aces and Tens
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Oh well...
The other tournament I made a deep run in was the $75 Multi Entry on FTP(despite the horrible start time of 2:00am, I cannot stress enough to anyone who doesn't work and can find the ability to play, how easy this tournament is. Especially being able to enter 4x, it is a license to print money.) The player field is abysmal, the prizes are decent($9,500 gtd, it usually goes over, usually somewhere near $3k for first), and again, the field is abysmal beyond words that have been invented in the english language.
This tournament again, I was chip leader, or close to it, for a large chunk of the tournament, made final table 2nd out of the 9 in chips.
First significant hand of final table for me happened 7 handed. I'm thinking upon reflection maybe this can be a fold, I'm not really sure. It looks super standard, but Villain in the hand had been super, super snug so far since I had sat with him, so maybe on reflection it's foldable. Still not sure because it's so small, think I just had to go with it...
Full Tilt Poker Game #30853420082: $9,500 Guarantee (239382577), Table 5 - 800/1600 Ante 200 - No Limit Hold'em - 06:34:43 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 3: FexAA (85,219)
Seat 4: Nanys (87,123)
Seat 5: oOspidiOo (32,976)
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (85,495)
Seat 7: politiano (40,744)
Seat 8: PapaRundle (105,050)
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (19,393)
FexAA antes 200
Nanys antes 200
oOspidiOo antes 200
crystal_donkey antes 200
politiano antes 200
PapaRundle antes 200
Lord Scratch antes 200
FexAA posts the small blind of 800
Nanys posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Td As]
oOspidiOo folds
crystal_donkey raises to 3,350
politiano folds
PapaRundle folds
Lord Scratch raises to 19,193, and is all in
FexAA folds
Nanys folds
crystal_donkey calls 15,843
Lord Scratch shows [Ad Ah]
crystal_donkey shows [Td As]
*** FLOP *** [Tc 8h Kh]
*** TURN *** [Tc 8h Kh] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 8h Kh Ac] [2c]
Lord Scratch shows three of a kind, Aces
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Aces and Tens
Lord Scratch wins the pot (42,186) with three of a kind, Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 42,186 | Rake 0
Board: [Tc 8h Kh Ac 2c]
Seat 3: FexAA (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Nanys (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: oOspidiOo folded before the Flop
Seat 6: crystal_donkey showed [Td As] and lost with two pair, Aces and Tens
Seat 7: politiano folded before the Flop
Seat 8: PapaRundle folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (button) showed [Ad Ah] and won (42,186) with three of a kind, Aces
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The next significant hand I played was a while later, had kind of hovered around for a bit, struggled to find alot of good steal spots with a cannon with a massive stack two to my left, but was finding a way to survive until this hand. I might not flat here against more competent players, but I don't hate flatting here in tournaments where people won't understand that I'm only ever flatting with this stack as a trap. Turns out it wouldn't have mattered either way, just as a point of interest I prefer flatting here. This guy had been relatively agressively opening, so I want to give him a chance to give me it all rather than take 5k from him by 3-betting.
Full Tilt Poker Game #30853593909: $9,500 Guarantee (239382577), Table 5 - 1000/2000 Ante 250 - No Limit Hold'em - 06:51:22 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 3: FexAA (128,395)
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (46,002)
Seat 7: politiano (91,094)
Seat 8: PapaRundle (156,673)
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (33,836)
FexAA antes 250
crystal_donkey antes 250
politiano antes 250
PapaRundle antes 250
Lord Scratch antes 250
PapaRundle posts the small blind of 1,000
Lord Scratch posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Ks Kd]
FexAA raises to 5,000
crystal_donkey calls 5,000
politiano folds
PapaRundle folds
Lord Scratch has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Scratch folds
*** FLOP *** [7s Ts 3h]
FexAA checks
crystal_donkey bets 6,800
FexAA raises to 44,000
crystal_donkey calls 33,952, and is all in
FexAA shows [Qh Qc]
crystal_donkey shows [Ks Kd]
Uncalled bet of 3,248 returned to FexAA
*** TURN *** [7s Ts 3h] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [7s Ts 3h 8d] [Jh]
FexAA shows a pair of Queens
crystal_donkey shows a pair of Kings
crystal_donkey wins the pot (95,754) with a pair of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 95,754 | Rake 0
Board: [7s Ts 3h 8d Jh]
Seat 3: FexAA showed [Qh Qc] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 6: crystal_donkey showed [Ks Kd] and won (95,754) with a pair of Kings
Seat 7: politiano (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: PapaRundle (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (big blind) folded before the Flop
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
After that, things kind of took some time and evened out among everyone chip wise, the next significant pot I played was this one. In this hand the starting hand was irrelevant, I had been really quiet for a bit while some pretty insane action had been going, so I felt it was a good time to open, so I did basically ignoring my cards. On the flop I make a standard c-bet, he flats again and the turn isn't great completing a flush draw, but it does add outs to my hand as well, when he checks again I'm basically done with the hand, but still hoping to get involved again if the river completes my draw which it did. At that point it was just about finding value. Felt like the size of the bet was really good.
Full Tilt Poker Game #30853757946: $9,500 Guarantee (239382577), Table 5 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 07:07:32 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 3: FexAA (84,043)
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (77,954)
Seat 7: politiano (90,744)
Seat 8: PapaRundle (105,587)
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (97,672)
FexAA antes 300
crystal_donkey antes 300
politiano antes 300
PapaRundle antes 300
Lord Scratch antes 300
PapaRundle posts the small blind of 1,200
Lord Scratch posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [3s 8s]
FexAA folds
crystal_donkey raises to 4,950
politiano folds
PapaRundle folds
Lord Scratch calls 2,550
*** FLOP *** [6c 9c Ad]
Lord Scratch checks
crystal_donkey bets 5,890
Lord Scratch calls 5,890
*** TURN *** [6c 9c Ad] [7c]
Lord Scratch checks
apocaliptul (Observer): fex da dove sei?
apocaliptul (Observer): fratelo
crystal_donkey checks
*** RIVER *** [6c 9c Ad 7c] [5h]
Lord Scratch checks
PapaRundle: come on guys...
crystal_donkey bets 14,890
Lord Scratch has 15 seconds left to act
Lord Scratch has requested TIME
apocaliptul (Observer): e tu politiano?
PapaRundle: lets not get fu.cking rediculous here
Lord Scratch calls 14,890
*** SHOW DOWN ***
crystal_donkey shows [3s 8s] a straight, Nine high
Lord Scratch mucks
crystal_donkey wins the pot (54,160) with a straight, Nine high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 54,160 | Rake 0
Board: [6c 9c Ad 7c 5h]
Seat 3: FexAA folded before the Flop
Seat 6: crystal_donkey showed [3s 8s] and won (54,160) with a straight, Nine high
Seat 7: politiano (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: PapaRundle (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (big blind) mucked [As Js] - a pair of Aces
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A short while later a standard scam hand for the unfortunate BB happens and I'm in good shape.
Full Tilt Poker Game #30853817429: $9,500 Guarantee (239382577), Table 5 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 07:12:49 ET - 2011/06/03
Seat 3: FexAA (72,733)
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (97,984)
Seat 7: politiano (72,744)
Seat 8: PapaRundle (123,287)
Seat 9: Lord Scratch (89,252)
FexAA antes 300
crystal_donkey antes 300
politiano antes 300
PapaRundle antes 300
Lord Scratch antes 300
crystal_donkey posts the small blind of 1,200
politiano posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to crystal_donkey [Qs Qh]
nic-lorrrr (Observer): puntando col progetto..
PapaRundle folds
Lord Scratch folds
apocaliptul (Observer): dai fex
FexAA raises to 5,400
apocaliptul (Observer): non fa niente
crystal_donkey raises to 13,600
politiano raises to 72,444, and is all in
FexAA folds
crystal_donkey calls 58,844
politiano shows [9s 9d]
crystal_donkey shows [Qs Qh]
*** FLOP *** [Jh Ts 3d]
*** TURN *** [Jh Ts 3d] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [Jh Ts 3d 4h] [4d]
politiano shows two pair, Nines and Fours
crystal_donkey shows two pair, Queens and Fours
crystal_donkey wins the pot (151,788) with two pair, Queens and Fours
apocaliptul (Observer): NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 151,788 | Rake 0
Board: [Jh Ts 3d 4h 4d]
Seat 3: FexAA (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: crystal_donkey (small blind) showed [Qs Qh] and won (151,788) with two pair, Queens and Fours
Seat 7: politiano (big blind) showed [9s 9d] and lost with two pair, Nines and Fours
Seat 8: PapaRundle folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Lord Scratch folded before the Flop
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Eventually we ended up heads up from there, the last hand of heads up, I closed the window before I copy and pasted the hand history, I cracked QQ with 3c/4c on a 2/5/9 flop to win the tournament and the $3,000 first prize.
So check back with some regularity, the blog will be getting updated more regularily from here on out.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
What's this....a poker blog you say?
I actually was reminded of this fairly recently by a friend of mine who brought it up and spoke pretty glowingly of it, so I figured I'd update it. Once again this doesn't necessarily contain specific poker stuff(although I do promise I'm going to try and start updating this with specific poker hands and results soon). It will be an overview of where I'm at now, and what's been going on in my life, and my poker "career".
Let's start with the obvious. I finished Year 1 at my school, and just had my year end review interview where I spoke at length with my teachers about where I think I see myself going, and what they see me doing, as well as getting back my "marks"(although marks aren't really super important at this particular school, it's more about impressing the teachers so they think of you when opportunities present themselves) back. That said, brag time, my marks were basically across the board fantastic, and the meeting went as well as I could hope(it's always nice when the people who hold the key to your future and all the contacts you need and opportunities you'll be presented in their hands tell you they think you're doing great and you're a pleasure to be around). Ironically one of my highest marks came in writing, so let me be the first to tell you all how incredibly blessed you are to be reading my genious poured out before you ;)
Right now I have a summer job, paid surprisingly, in the industry editing together a ton of stock footage for a new website that's being launched, which occupies a fair bit of time but ultimately nothing too serious(~30 hours a week, a nice, fairly light work week with decent pay). I also have a couple internships on the go, and a couple more potentially starting.
So so far, the future looks so bright I gotta wear shades. If only I owned a pair....
As for poker, I'm trying to make the transition from SNG grinder to MTT player, and it's naturally been a bit of a process, but with the aid of some friends who are way more comfortable than I at tournament poker, it's coming along fairly quickly.
I'd like to give a shout out to one of those friends here, my old roommate Griffin, who has had a brilliant month of June :
1st in the FTP $100k guarantee for $24,000
1st in the FTP $25k guarantee for $8,200
1st in the Pokerstars $33k guarantee for $6,500
Won a FTP $12k WSOP seat package
3rd in the FTP $25k guarantee for $3,300
Obviously an enviable month, hopefully soon I'll have some results like that to share. I've learned alot lately, and I'm starting to get real comfortable playing tournament poker, so I feel like that time is coming relatively soon.
Since I'm on a roll, one more thing I feel like talking about, and that's the G20 summit in Toronto. Although I'm not in the designated "red zone" where all the fences are up, I'm about 3 blocks from it...and this morning I woke up to the sounds of sirens, which basically haven't stopped all day...the sounds of army helicopters flying over head, the visual of black smoke clouds from cop cars on fire, and reports that the city is being smashed apart by protestors.
I will never understand how smashing the hell out of a store is helping prove a point. I will never understand why people can't behave in a civil manner when protesting(or when they win, if you haven't seen the video of the cab being smashed in LA after the Lakers win, see if you can find it, it's deeply disturbing that people call that celebrating), but more to the point, I will never understand why this city did such a terrible job organizing this, or why it's even here.
First of all, if you're holding something like this, there is a perfectly great area to hold it just outside of the city, it's photo friendly, and it's much easier to shut down and contain(I'm talking about the area around Molson Ampitheatre and The Ex.
Secondly, are you telling me there was no way to alert people inside the red zone exactly what protocol was going to be heading into the event? The event started and suddenly they started arresting anyone who was within 5 meters of the fences that didn't have ID. Nice work. A word of warning would have been nice next time.
This whole thing has been so rediculous, and such a drain on this city in so many ways. I don't even understand why the thing needs to be in a major city, take it somewhere where this chaos may not happen and shut down major sections of the city. Honestly, this shit happens every year with the protestors, why don't you stop plopping it in the center of major cities?
Oh, and not to mention I had my fun when on Friday I was stopped by 8 cops on bikes who circled me while they made me empty my schoolbag(nowhere near the red zone walking through a park).
So ya, good for the G20.
That's about it, hope you enjoyed the read, maybe next time I'll come bearing stories of glorious triumphs....
But probably not. I run really bad.
Let's start with the obvious. I finished Year 1 at my school, and just had my year end review interview where I spoke at length with my teachers about where I think I see myself going, and what they see me doing, as well as getting back my "marks"(although marks aren't really super important at this particular school, it's more about impressing the teachers so they think of you when opportunities present themselves) back. That said, brag time, my marks were basically across the board fantastic, and the meeting went as well as I could hope(it's always nice when the people who hold the key to your future and all the contacts you need and opportunities you'll be presented in their hands tell you they think you're doing great and you're a pleasure to be around). Ironically one of my highest marks came in writing, so let me be the first to tell you all how incredibly blessed you are to be reading my genious poured out before you ;)
Right now I have a summer job, paid surprisingly, in the industry editing together a ton of stock footage for a new website that's being launched, which occupies a fair bit of time but ultimately nothing too serious(~30 hours a week, a nice, fairly light work week with decent pay). I also have a couple internships on the go, and a couple more potentially starting.
So so far, the future looks so bright I gotta wear shades. If only I owned a pair....
As for poker, I'm trying to make the transition from SNG grinder to MTT player, and it's naturally been a bit of a process, but with the aid of some friends who are way more comfortable than I at tournament poker, it's coming along fairly quickly.
I'd like to give a shout out to one of those friends here, my old roommate Griffin, who has had a brilliant month of June :
1st in the FTP $100k guarantee for $24,000
1st in the FTP $25k guarantee for $8,200
1st in the Pokerstars $33k guarantee for $6,500
Won a FTP $12k WSOP seat package
3rd in the FTP $25k guarantee for $3,300
Obviously an enviable month, hopefully soon I'll have some results like that to share. I've learned alot lately, and I'm starting to get real comfortable playing tournament poker, so I feel like that time is coming relatively soon.
Since I'm on a roll, one more thing I feel like talking about, and that's the G20 summit in Toronto. Although I'm not in the designated "red zone" where all the fences are up, I'm about 3 blocks from it...and this morning I woke up to the sounds of sirens, which basically haven't stopped all day...the sounds of army helicopters flying over head, the visual of black smoke clouds from cop cars on fire, and reports that the city is being smashed apart by protestors.
I will never understand how smashing the hell out of a store is helping prove a point. I will never understand why people can't behave in a civil manner when protesting(or when they win, if you haven't seen the video of the cab being smashed in LA after the Lakers win, see if you can find it, it's deeply disturbing that people call that celebrating), but more to the point, I will never understand why this city did such a terrible job organizing this, or why it's even here.
First of all, if you're holding something like this, there is a perfectly great area to hold it just outside of the city, it's photo friendly, and it's much easier to shut down and contain(I'm talking about the area around Molson Ampitheatre and The Ex.
Secondly, are you telling me there was no way to alert people inside the red zone exactly what protocol was going to be heading into the event? The event started and suddenly they started arresting anyone who was within 5 meters of the fences that didn't have ID. Nice work. A word of warning would have been nice next time.
This whole thing has been so rediculous, and such a drain on this city in so many ways. I don't even understand why the thing needs to be in a major city, take it somewhere where this chaos may not happen and shut down major sections of the city. Honestly, this shit happens every year with the protestors, why don't you stop plopping it in the center of major cities?
Oh, and not to mention I had my fun when on Friday I was stopped by 8 cops on bikes who circled me while they made me empty my schoolbag(nowhere near the red zone walking through a park).
So ya, good for the G20.
That's about it, hope you enjoyed the read, maybe next time I'll come bearing stories of glorious triumphs....
But probably not. I run really bad.
Monday, October 12, 2009
What's this feeling of happiness?
Well, this summer was rough to say the least, I wrote a couple blogs that expressed what was happening in my life this summer so I won't rehash it now. Suffice it to say, summer was long and not as much fun as most people try and have during a summer.
With that said, there's this odd sensation sweeping over me. I think I remember it as "happiness", from well before the summer began.
Life is good for me right now, I got into the school I wanted to go to, a private school for Sports Broadcasting. The resumes of the teachers that I have in this semester alone is astonishing...
TV Writing - Jim Van Horne(worked at TSN forever)
TV Presentation - Jim Van Horne
Radio Writing - Elliotte Friedman(worked at Fan 590 and The Score before his current job on Hockey Night in Canada)
Radio Presentation - David Amber(worked at TSN for a number of years, then got hired onto ESPN)
Camera Operation - Dawn Landis(director of Off The Record and CFL on TSN)
Radio Editing - Ray Williams(has worked on the radio for almost 40 years)
New Media - Roger Lajoie(Fan 590 as well as about 14 other jobs)
TV Editing - Graham Holmes(lead editor at The Score)
School's been a blast, and after one month(ironically as I write this), I've been told I have a knack for writing, and I've already gotten an internship from the school working for www.rotoworld.com
So that's been going great, it's alot of fun, learning alot, getting cool contacts and opportunities presented like crazy.
As for the focus on the blog, which is poker, well, that's been going pretty damn well lately also actually.
I've been steadily dominating the mid-teirs of SNG's on FTP for a little while. My ROI in $50+5 9 man SNG's is a steady 10%, and my ROI at the $69+6 45 man SNG's is a pretty zany 123%. So money is good too right now.
Have money to spend, awesome school life, and happiness with what I'm doing right now in poker because I feel like I'm one of the very best SNG players in the mid levels on the site right now, have absolute confidence sitting down at any table now, and am getting results to go in line with my feelings.
My SNG style is adapting slowly. I've gone almost completely away from the math based "SNG Wizard" approach to the games, and I'm actually playing a tighter style, I hate to draw this comparison because it's a real sore spot for alot of players, but I guess you could kind of compare it to the "Phil Hellmuth" approach. I just feel like I'm better than making marginal shoves with weak hands that SNG Wizard thinks turns a small profit. While the play may be profitable, it may not be the best path to winning...and I think a ton of players look at plays in a bubble now("is this unexploitably profitable?") and forget that there's a finish line we're working towards, and that the particular hand isn't the end of the SNG. As I play more, I find myself getting more comfortable around SNG play, and developing a style I feel is somewhat unique for the SNG's which have become oh-so robotic lately.
I know it's early to give out a New Years Resolution because it's not New Years, but I already know what mine is for poker.
This year a close friend of mine made a run at, and still sits somewhere(not sure where exactly) on the Sharkscope leaderboard for the $30-100 level.
It is my goal next year to finish top 5 on that leadboard.
Also since I have next summer off, I fully plan to make a return to Las Vegas next summer, and get back into tourney life down there. I've missed it the last 2 years.
With that said, there's this odd sensation sweeping over me. I think I remember it as "happiness", from well before the summer began.
Life is good for me right now, I got into the school I wanted to go to, a private school for Sports Broadcasting. The resumes of the teachers that I have in this semester alone is astonishing...
TV Writing - Jim Van Horne(worked at TSN forever)
TV Presentation - Jim Van Horne
Radio Writing - Elliotte Friedman(worked at Fan 590 and The Score before his current job on Hockey Night in Canada)
Radio Presentation - David Amber(worked at TSN for a number of years, then got hired onto ESPN)
Camera Operation - Dawn Landis(director of Off The Record and CFL on TSN)
Radio Editing - Ray Williams(has worked on the radio for almost 40 years)
New Media - Roger Lajoie(Fan 590 as well as about 14 other jobs)
TV Editing - Graham Holmes(lead editor at The Score)
School's been a blast, and after one month(ironically as I write this), I've been told I have a knack for writing, and I've already gotten an internship from the school working for www.rotoworld.com
So that's been going great, it's alot of fun, learning alot, getting cool contacts and opportunities presented like crazy.
As for the focus on the blog, which is poker, well, that's been going pretty damn well lately also actually.
I've been steadily dominating the mid-teirs of SNG's on FTP for a little while. My ROI in $50+5 9 man SNG's is a steady 10%, and my ROI at the $69+6 45 man SNG's is a pretty zany 123%. So money is good too right now.
Have money to spend, awesome school life, and happiness with what I'm doing right now in poker because I feel like I'm one of the very best SNG players in the mid levels on the site right now, have absolute confidence sitting down at any table now, and am getting results to go in line with my feelings.
My SNG style is adapting slowly. I've gone almost completely away from the math based "SNG Wizard" approach to the games, and I'm actually playing a tighter style, I hate to draw this comparison because it's a real sore spot for alot of players, but I guess you could kind of compare it to the "Phil Hellmuth" approach. I just feel like I'm better than making marginal shoves with weak hands that SNG Wizard thinks turns a small profit. While the play may be profitable, it may not be the best path to winning...and I think a ton of players look at plays in a bubble now("is this unexploitably profitable?") and forget that there's a finish line we're working towards, and that the particular hand isn't the end of the SNG. As I play more, I find myself getting more comfortable around SNG play, and developing a style I feel is somewhat unique for the SNG's which have become oh-so robotic lately.
I know it's early to give out a New Years Resolution because it's not New Years, but I already know what mine is for poker.
This year a close friend of mine made a run at, and still sits somewhere(not sure where exactly) on the Sharkscope leaderboard for the $30-100 level.
It is my goal next year to finish top 5 on that leadboard.
Also since I have next summer off, I fully plan to make a return to Las Vegas next summer, and get back into tourney life down there. I've missed it the last 2 years.
Monday, July 27, 2009
A little thing called perspective...
No one's ever said poker players as a group are the most rationally thinking people in the world. Anyone who plays a card game for a living has to have just a little bit of weird in them, of that I am convinced.
With that said, most players are kind, normal people who are fun to be around. Except at one key time. The dreaded bad beat.
I recently starting playing MTT's online, en masse. I've been playing them alot, and one thing I noticed, outside of the complete lack of any level of skill or comprehension of poker in the slightest by about 99.99% of players, is "how bad I run" in them.
In fairness(and this is where perspective comes in), I've only been at it for a week, and I've gotten deep in 3 MTT's so far, making final two tables 3 times and final table twice.
In the latest one, I lost with 77 vs JJ on a 5/5/6/J/7 board early in the MTT(1200 players), and was down to 180 chips with blinds at 50/100. Fast forward a pretty amazing 4 hours, and we're final 13 and I'm 2nd in chips. That's when I get all in with the CL preflop, AA vs QQ, and he spikes a Q on the turn. Shit happens.
It's funny to me looking back now, at the perspective I've gained. At the time that happened, I was pretty pissed, complaining at how bad I run at key moments in MTT's like that.
So with that said, let me present the real definition of running bad :
In my last update, I talked about my dad going into the hospital for what would be the last time. That ended last Sunday, when he passed away. It sucked, clearly. It tore a hole through me, but with that said, I "dealt" with it, it was somewhat of a relief to see him put out of the agony he was in the last week or so of his life...so in that I found something I could take solace in, and things were okay.
Monday, the day after he passed away, we received a phone call from Orillia where my grandmother(mom's side) lives, she had suffered a severe stroke and was in the hospital. Well...isn't that fucking fun. So, naturally, we went up there to visit and we tended to that, mom, while dealing with losing dad, was now dealing with that.
Tuesday, the day after that, we got a call back from the hospital, from my grandmother, who was speaking, so that was amazing since on Monday when we went up she couldn't speak. Things were looking up.
Wednesday, on the dad of the visitation for my dad, we got a call back from the hospital again, saying they were transporting grandma to the hospital in Barrie because she needed emergency surgery. Oh, that sucks alot.
Thursday, we had the funeral for dad. We heard back from the hospital that things were okay with grandma, but the operation hadn't fully taken, they were going to have to do another one in a few days once she built up the strength again.
Skip ahead a few days...and we come to the latest in a string of "Fuck You"'s directed right at me and my family.
Today(Sunday), I am writing this in a notepad file on my computer...instead of in the blogger site like I normally do? Why? Because I can't log on the internet.
Why? Well, today we had a really bad storm and my house was hit by lightning. So far the losses are 3 TV's, 2 cable boxes and my modem/home phone(although those'll be replaced by the cable company), a portable air conditioner, a microwave, our dryer, a freezer and the garage door(electronically opened and closed).
So ya, looking back now at AA vs QQ, for what was a collosal chip lead with 12 left in a tourney with $6k for first place...seems so petty.
It's all a matter of perspective. Next time a bad beat twists you up, keep in mind : It could be alot worse.
Trust me.
With that said, most players are kind, normal people who are fun to be around. Except at one key time. The dreaded bad beat.
I recently starting playing MTT's online, en masse. I've been playing them alot, and one thing I noticed, outside of the complete lack of any level of skill or comprehension of poker in the slightest by about 99.99% of players, is "how bad I run" in them.
In fairness(and this is where perspective comes in), I've only been at it for a week, and I've gotten deep in 3 MTT's so far, making final two tables 3 times and final table twice.
In the latest one, I lost with 77 vs JJ on a 5/5/6/J/7 board early in the MTT(1200 players), and was down to 180 chips with blinds at 50/100. Fast forward a pretty amazing 4 hours, and we're final 13 and I'm 2nd in chips. That's when I get all in with the CL preflop, AA vs QQ, and he spikes a Q on the turn. Shit happens.
It's funny to me looking back now, at the perspective I've gained. At the time that happened, I was pretty pissed, complaining at how bad I run at key moments in MTT's like that.
So with that said, let me present the real definition of running bad :
In my last update, I talked about my dad going into the hospital for what would be the last time. That ended last Sunday, when he passed away. It sucked, clearly. It tore a hole through me, but with that said, I "dealt" with it, it was somewhat of a relief to see him put out of the agony he was in the last week or so of his life...so in that I found something I could take solace in, and things were okay.
Monday, the day after he passed away, we received a phone call from Orillia where my grandmother(mom's side) lives, she had suffered a severe stroke and was in the hospital. Well...isn't that fucking fun. So, naturally, we went up there to visit and we tended to that, mom, while dealing with losing dad, was now dealing with that.
Tuesday, the day after that, we got a call back from the hospital, from my grandmother, who was speaking, so that was amazing since on Monday when we went up she couldn't speak. Things were looking up.
Wednesday, on the dad of the visitation for my dad, we got a call back from the hospital again, saying they were transporting grandma to the hospital in Barrie because she needed emergency surgery. Oh, that sucks alot.
Thursday, we had the funeral for dad. We heard back from the hospital that things were okay with grandma, but the operation hadn't fully taken, they were going to have to do another one in a few days once she built up the strength again.
Skip ahead a few days...and we come to the latest in a string of "Fuck You"'s directed right at me and my family.
Today(Sunday), I am writing this in a notepad file on my computer...instead of in the blogger site like I normally do? Why? Because I can't log on the internet.
Why? Well, today we had a really bad storm and my house was hit by lightning. So far the losses are 3 TV's, 2 cable boxes and my modem/home phone(although those'll be replaced by the cable company), a portable air conditioner, a microwave, our dryer, a freezer and the garage door(electronically opened and closed).
So ya, looking back now at AA vs QQ, for what was a collosal chip lead with 12 left in a tourney with $6k for first place...seems so petty.
It's all a matter of perspective. Next time a bad beat twists you up, keep in mind : It could be alot worse.
Trust me.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Life : What really matters?
I've been asked alot lately, but alot of friends that went down, be it co-workers at the casino I work at or one of the many, many friends I have that play poker if I'm going to Vegas, and why I'm not.
The answer is simple, and granted somewhat tragic. My father's health is very, very bad. Infact, he's in the hospital right now, and it doesn't look likely that he'll ever be checking out.
I say somewhat tragic because it's something I've had ample time to prepare for. My father was diagnosed with cancer 13 years ago now, and the day he was diagnosed, he was given 6 months to live. I still remember that day, more than any other day of my entire life on this earth. I was in Grade 10, and suddenly was dealing with this bombshell.
However, thankfully, my dad endured. Can't say I'm entirely surprised, he was always(this is somewhat cliched because everyone says this it seems) a tough man, and always stubborn, so it seemed natural that he'd piss on the 6 month diagnosis.
In truth, the doctors here in Hamilton have done absolute miracles with him, Dr.Davis specifically who was assigned his cancer doctor way back when, has since written several papers on the treatments he's given dad to keep him alive since that diagnosis...because it "shouldn't" be possible. So, I guess there's what the kids call a "shout-out" to him.
Now, why am I mentioning this/pissing on your day by letting you read this?
Well, as I said, his health is terrible now, his liver has completely failed, he's hooked up to a pump that's supplementing his liver and keeping him alive right now.
Seeing him in that state, kind of put life into perspective.
And this is where we take a plot twist...
Normally when someone in poker writes something like this, they make a long speech about how family is important, etc etc, and talk about how they're quitting the game to focus on what's important.
Fuck that.
Here's what the perspective I got was. Not just do what makes you happy...that's simplistic.
Instead, find what you were meant to do, and never leave it.
If that's waiting bars, working at McDonalds, or being spun out on crystal meth, don't shy away. Do what you love to do, do what you were meant to do.
I read back through this blog's history and old posts and I wonder how I managed to fuck this up so thoroughly. I read back to 2007, when I was playing poker full time, and I read the blog from that year and it's me having the time of my life, travelling like crazy, playing poker, making great money at it. I read about my Vegas trip, where I went down to Vegas for the first(and sadly only time so far) that year, and cashed in a WSOP event(my first one...obviously), and ended up coming back up nearly $10k for the 2 week trip.
And what happened next? What happened in 2008 and 2009? I took a job at a casino, and granted I still play poker, I kind of paused my "career" for the most part, to make safe money, and to take care of my father. It's not something I regret necessarily, but I do wish I had been more active in poker over the last year and a half now. I may even have had enough spare money to have taken him on a few more trips he wanted. I did get him out for one or two, but there were more I wish I had the opportunity to take him on.
Anyway, the basic gist of the post I wanted to get across is. If poker's important to you, if it's something you love to do, and you're good at...fuck "real life", poker is real life, and if it makes you happy, do it.
I regret not doing it, but mine eyes are clear now. It's time to get back into the saddle, as they say. I've already been starting, putting in huge volumes of sit-n-goes for a little bit now on FTP, and that will be continuing...and obviously not right now because of his health, but soon I'll be starting to travel and playing live again, because I loved it, and I miss it. It's kind of pathetic that it took this to wake me up to that fact, but such is life.
I leave you with something going back to the reasoning behind the article...and something inspiring/moving I read(or heard as the case may be) recently.
One of, if not flat out my favourite band in the world, Dream Theater, has a new album coming out next month, which I've already listened to for a little while now. Track 5 of the album is entitled "The Best Of Times", written by the drummer Mike Portnoy about his father dying of cancer while the album was being written. It's a beautiful song, and can be found here for anyone that wants to listen to it(the song cuts off at the final 2 minutes or so, which is a guitar solo out-tro) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYc6kJqX99M
And since Mike Portnoy is a much better poet than I shall ever be, I'll leave you with his words instead of my own :
The answer is simple, and granted somewhat tragic. My father's health is very, very bad. Infact, he's in the hospital right now, and it doesn't look likely that he'll ever be checking out.
I say somewhat tragic because it's something I've had ample time to prepare for. My father was diagnosed with cancer 13 years ago now, and the day he was diagnosed, he was given 6 months to live. I still remember that day, more than any other day of my entire life on this earth. I was in Grade 10, and suddenly was dealing with this bombshell.
However, thankfully, my dad endured. Can't say I'm entirely surprised, he was always(this is somewhat cliched because everyone says this it seems) a tough man, and always stubborn, so it seemed natural that he'd piss on the 6 month diagnosis.
In truth, the doctors here in Hamilton have done absolute miracles with him, Dr.Davis specifically who was assigned his cancer doctor way back when, has since written several papers on the treatments he's given dad to keep him alive since that diagnosis...because it "shouldn't" be possible. So, I guess there's what the kids call a "shout-out" to him.
Now, why am I mentioning this/pissing on your day by letting you read this?
Well, as I said, his health is terrible now, his liver has completely failed, he's hooked up to a pump that's supplementing his liver and keeping him alive right now.
Seeing him in that state, kind of put life into perspective.
And this is where we take a plot twist...
Normally when someone in poker writes something like this, they make a long speech about how family is important, etc etc, and talk about how they're quitting the game to focus on what's important.
Fuck that.
Here's what the perspective I got was. Not just do what makes you happy...that's simplistic.
Instead, find what you were meant to do, and never leave it.
If that's waiting bars, working at McDonalds, or being spun out on crystal meth, don't shy away. Do what you love to do, do what you were meant to do.
I read back through this blog's history and old posts and I wonder how I managed to fuck this up so thoroughly. I read back to 2007, when I was playing poker full time, and I read the blog from that year and it's me having the time of my life, travelling like crazy, playing poker, making great money at it. I read about my Vegas trip, where I went down to Vegas for the first(and sadly only time so far) that year, and cashed in a WSOP event(my first one...obviously), and ended up coming back up nearly $10k for the 2 week trip.
And what happened next? What happened in 2008 and 2009? I took a job at a casino, and granted I still play poker, I kind of paused my "career" for the most part, to make safe money, and to take care of my father. It's not something I regret necessarily, but I do wish I had been more active in poker over the last year and a half now. I may even have had enough spare money to have taken him on a few more trips he wanted. I did get him out for one or two, but there were more I wish I had the opportunity to take him on.
Anyway, the basic gist of the post I wanted to get across is. If poker's important to you, if it's something you love to do, and you're good at...fuck "real life", poker is real life, and if it makes you happy, do it.
I regret not doing it, but mine eyes are clear now. It's time to get back into the saddle, as they say. I've already been starting, putting in huge volumes of sit-n-goes for a little bit now on FTP, and that will be continuing...and obviously not right now because of his health, but soon I'll be starting to travel and playing live again, because I loved it, and I miss it. It's kind of pathetic that it took this to wake me up to that fact, but such is life.
I leave you with something going back to the reasoning behind the article...and something inspiring/moving I read(or heard as the case may be) recently.
One of, if not flat out my favourite band in the world, Dream Theater, has a new album coming out next month, which I've already listened to for a little while now. Track 5 of the album is entitled "The Best Of Times", written by the drummer Mike Portnoy about his father dying of cancer while the album was being written. It's a beautiful song, and can be found here for anyone that wants to listen to it(the song cuts off at the final 2 minutes or so, which is a guitar solo out-tro) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYc6kJqX99M
And since Mike Portnoy is a much better poet than I shall ever be, I'll leave you with his words instead of my own :
Dream Theater's "The Best of Times"
Remember days of yesterday
And how it flew so fast
The two score and a year we had,
I thought would always last
The summer days and west coast dreams,
I wished would never end
A young boy and his father,
Idol and best friend
I'll always remember
Those were the best of times
A lifetime together
I'll never forget
Morning shows on the radio
The case of the missing dog
Lying on the fields at the only twelve
Watching Harold and Maude
Record shops, the stick-ball fields
My home away from home
When we weren't together
The hours on the phone
I'll always remember
Those were the best of times
I'll cherish them forever
The best of times
But then came the call
Our lives changed forever more
You can pray for a change
But prepare for the end
The fleeting winds of time
Flying through each day
All the things I should have done
But time just slipped away
Remember "seize the day"
Life goes by in the blink of an eye
There's so much left to say
These were the best of times
I'll miss these days
Your spirit led my life each day
Thank you for the inspiration
Thank you for the smiles
All the unconditional love
That carried me for miles
It carried me for miles
But most of all thank you for my life
These were the best of times
I'll miss these days
Your spirit led my life each day
My heart is bleeding bad
But I'll be okay
Your spirit guides my life each day
Remember days of yesterday
And how it flew so fast
The two score and a year we had,
I thought would always last
The summer days and west coast dreams,
I wished would never end
A young boy and his father,
Idol and best friend
I'll always remember
Those were the best of times
A lifetime together
I'll never forget
Morning shows on the radio
The case of the missing dog
Lying on the fields at the only twelve
Watching Harold and Maude
Record shops, the stick-ball fields
My home away from home
When we weren't together
The hours on the phone
I'll always remember
Those were the best of times
I'll cherish them forever
The best of times
But then came the call
Our lives changed forever more
You can pray for a change
But prepare for the end
The fleeting winds of time
Flying through each day
All the things I should have done
But time just slipped away
Remember "seize the day"
Life goes by in the blink of an eye
There's so much left to say
These were the best of times
I'll miss these days
Your spirit led my life each day
Thank you for the inspiration
Thank you for the smiles
All the unconditional love
That carried me for miles
It carried me for miles
But most of all thank you for my life
These were the best of times
I'll miss these days
Your spirit led my life each day
My heart is bleeding bad
But I'll be okay
Your spirit guides my life each day
Thursday, April 16, 2009
I present Fallsview Casino's new slogan : "Where bullshit happens!"
Okay, so, I've been going to Fallsview every once in a while now, still waiting to liquidize my full bankroll and start going several days a week. But after today, I'm honestly not sure. Buckle your seatbelt kiddies, this ride's about to get bumpy :
So, I call up to Fallsview Casino and ask to be put on 2/5 and 5/5 NL lists. I made that call around 2:30pm, I arrive at 3:30pm and find my name isn't on the list. So, after having to argue with the pit boss for a minute that I called(actually resorting to pulling out the trusty iPhone and showing him the exact call log of me calling them at 2:34pm, I'm put back on the list..."somewhere in the middle".
So, about 5:15, I finally get onto a table. So no real inconvenience, only nearly 2 hours of waiting. I'm put on table 8, and right away we have a problem. First hand I sit down some guy spills a glass of beer across the table. So now we have play halted at our table because of beer being all over it, and the dealer starts calling the pit boss over(by the way, I'd never forget this after today, he's got long blonde hair, his name is Michael), who ignores that situation that is holding up a mother fucking live game that has just paid session and now can't play a hand so he can open new tables. He's chillin' over at the opening tables, checking cards and stuff, rather than tending to slightly more pressing issues at hand. Good for him, prioritizing like a champ.
After we get up and running, a full session of 0 hands(not refunded) later, I ask the pit if he can put me on a seat change list to go to table 6 since I have a friend there and I wanna sit with him(he's a Bruins fan, I'm a Habs fan, there needed to be trash talking). As they do that, whenever I ask for that, I make sure to check for my name on the list, ensure they have the seat change put down correctly. I also, always, take stock of where my name is on that list, and in this case, I'm the 2nd table change on the list(there is one player on table 6 that wants to move to table 14). So, I sit back down.
About a half hour later, a seat opens on table 6, and I wait for a minute or two, and suddenly, some girl is picking up her chips and moving over to that table. So I go ask the pit boss what's going on, and I'll breifly summarize our conversation :
Me : "Why is that girl moving to table 6? I was top of the seat change chart..."
Pit : "She was on the seat change chart too."
Me : "She may very well have been, but I was higher on it, hence, priority. Dibs."
Pit : "Relax, you'll get the next one."
Me : "What?!?"
Pit : "Just don't worry about it, you're next!"
Me : "No. She is next."
Pit : "Dude you'll be next after her, don't worry about it."
Me : "Stop telling me to 'not worry about it', she's taking my seat, that's the long and short of it."
Pit : "Just relax and go play dude."
So, frustrated...I go to sit back down. Luckily, the girl doesn't feel like taking all the chips she had on her previous table to the new table, so she can't sit down and I'm now called over. Yay for me. Which the pit boss promptly shoves in my face with a "told you it wouldn't take long", as if that was somehow the issue...
And so time passes. I win almost a buyin with Kd/Jd vs I don't know what on a J/10/6 flop when I raised preflop and got 2 callers, then bet the flop and got raised all in and called the super-fish, board ran 9, Ace and I somehow stayed good. Not sure what he had.
After this, me and my buddy are die hard fans of baseball, and there's an interesting game in St.Louis in the 8th inning(that they get because they have the MLB Extra Innings preview for free), so my buddy goes up and asks the pit if he can change some of the stations we're watching PrimeTime Sports with Bob McCowan on(fine show, just not on mute), to that baseball game, and is promptly told that poor Michael is busy, and then ignored. Great.
So, a while later, we decide to go on meal break, and this is where all hell really breaks loose. I decide to simplify things, I'll take a table change now, play a session, then we'll grab meal buttons at the same time and go eat. And so that plan goes into effect. Surprisingly, the table change goes off without a hitch.
I get to the new table and play a session. Towards the end of the session, this young black kid whose a regular in the game(I've seen him a few times before and other regulars I recognized new him), has left the table a while ago. He's missed a big blind, and is quickly coming up to a 2nd BB missed. At that time, when he misses his 2nd Big Blind...for anyone not familiar with poker room rules, his chips are to be racked up and moved off the table, and replaced with an active player on the 36 person waiting list.
Instead, nothing happens. So a few hands later I call the pit(good old Michael) over, and alert him to the double blind since the dealer had not. Michael asks if anyone knows who the player is(commonplace since I work in a poker room I know how this works), one of his buddies says it's so and so, and immediately, the hunt is on. Rather than picking up his chips, Michael starts walking around the poker room asking if anyone has the kid's phone number. Eventually he finds someone who has it, and tells him to call the kid. By now I'm a little steamed, but fuck it I'll play along. During this time, I lose a buyin with KQ on a K/6/4 flop when someone leads, I raise, he calls, turn is a 2, he checks, I bet a ton, committing us both, and he calls, and the river is a 5, and he checks, I ship and he calls with K/3 off for a straight. So, I ask for a meal break(since it's my BB next), and the dealer starts to set the meal button up.
One problem, good old Michael has an idea. He decides, we're going to give the kid that's not here the meal button I just asked for and was having set for me. Naturally, I flip the hell out. The kid's not even supposed to be on the table anymore, he ISN'T THERE, NO ONE CAN CONTACT HIM, and yet he's now getting the meal button I FUCKING WANT, because I'm starving(hadn't eaten yet that day, woke up at 11:00am, it was now after 8:00pm). So...Michael sets the clock to a half hour(instead of the full hour, this is in his eyes, compromising with me, customer service and what not), and then thinks that's that.
Naturally that's not that, after all the previous indescretions, this one isn't going to slide. I stand up and run right over to Michael and we really go to war. He starts telling me I need to relax again, in the most condescending manner I could ever imagine(which is really what's driving my anger, because normally I'm very civil about disagreements, but just the manner he was talking to me was driving me insane and made me want to punch him in, or about the face). At this point I've lost my mind, I'm yelling at him, there are other players at the table yelling at him, and he just again in a smug voice "Jeez, you guys need to relax!", "If you worry about stuff like this now, when you're 50, you'll be 80!"
So ya, suffice it to say we have, many, many, many, many more words, and eventually I go on a meal break...come back and decide I'm just to pissed to actually play any more poker, and leave the room(while complaining to the CSM on site at the time before I go about my dear friend Michael).
So ya, good times.
Fallsview, nice action, but I don't recommend it. That place is beyond hopeless, the staff doesn't have a clue, or worse, are just down right belligerent, rude and don't care about proper rulings.
So, I call up to Fallsview Casino and ask to be put on 2/5 and 5/5 NL lists. I made that call around 2:30pm, I arrive at 3:30pm and find my name isn't on the list. So, after having to argue with the pit boss for a minute that I called(actually resorting to pulling out the trusty iPhone and showing him the exact call log of me calling them at 2:34pm, I'm put back on the list..."somewhere in the middle".
So, about 5:15, I finally get onto a table. So no real inconvenience, only nearly 2 hours of waiting. I'm put on table 8, and right away we have a problem. First hand I sit down some guy spills a glass of beer across the table. So now we have play halted at our table because of beer being all over it, and the dealer starts calling the pit boss over(by the way, I'd never forget this after today, he's got long blonde hair, his name is Michael), who ignores that situation that is holding up a mother fucking live game that has just paid session and now can't play a hand so he can open new tables. He's chillin' over at the opening tables, checking cards and stuff, rather than tending to slightly more pressing issues at hand. Good for him, prioritizing like a champ.
After we get up and running, a full session of 0 hands(not refunded) later, I ask the pit if he can put me on a seat change list to go to table 6 since I have a friend there and I wanna sit with him(he's a Bruins fan, I'm a Habs fan, there needed to be trash talking). As they do that, whenever I ask for that, I make sure to check for my name on the list, ensure they have the seat change put down correctly. I also, always, take stock of where my name is on that list, and in this case, I'm the 2nd table change on the list(there is one player on table 6 that wants to move to table 14). So, I sit back down.
About a half hour later, a seat opens on table 6, and I wait for a minute or two, and suddenly, some girl is picking up her chips and moving over to that table. So I go ask the pit boss what's going on, and I'll breifly summarize our conversation :
Me : "Why is that girl moving to table 6? I was top of the seat change chart..."
Pit : "She was on the seat change chart too."
Me : "She may very well have been, but I was higher on it, hence, priority. Dibs."
Pit : "Relax, you'll get the next one."
Me : "What?!?"
Pit : "Just don't worry about it, you're next!"
Me : "No. She is next."
Pit : "Dude you'll be next after her, don't worry about it."
Me : "Stop telling me to 'not worry about it', she's taking my seat, that's the long and short of it."
Pit : "Just relax and go play dude."
So, frustrated...I go to sit back down. Luckily, the girl doesn't feel like taking all the chips she had on her previous table to the new table, so she can't sit down and I'm now called over. Yay for me. Which the pit boss promptly shoves in my face with a "told you it wouldn't take long", as if that was somehow the issue...
And so time passes. I win almost a buyin with Kd/Jd vs I don't know what on a J/10/6 flop when I raised preflop and got 2 callers, then bet the flop and got raised all in and called the super-fish, board ran 9, Ace and I somehow stayed good. Not sure what he had.
After this, me and my buddy are die hard fans of baseball, and there's an interesting game in St.Louis in the 8th inning(that they get because they have the MLB Extra Innings preview for free), so my buddy goes up and asks the pit if he can change some of the stations we're watching PrimeTime Sports with Bob McCowan on(fine show, just not on mute), to that baseball game, and is promptly told that poor Michael is busy, and then ignored. Great.
So, a while later, we decide to go on meal break, and this is where all hell really breaks loose. I decide to simplify things, I'll take a table change now, play a session, then we'll grab meal buttons at the same time and go eat. And so that plan goes into effect. Surprisingly, the table change goes off without a hitch.
I get to the new table and play a session. Towards the end of the session, this young black kid whose a regular in the game(I've seen him a few times before and other regulars I recognized new him), has left the table a while ago. He's missed a big blind, and is quickly coming up to a 2nd BB missed. At that time, when he misses his 2nd Big Blind...for anyone not familiar with poker room rules, his chips are to be racked up and moved off the table, and replaced with an active player on the 36 person waiting list.
Instead, nothing happens. So a few hands later I call the pit(good old Michael) over, and alert him to the double blind since the dealer had not. Michael asks if anyone knows who the player is(commonplace since I work in a poker room I know how this works), one of his buddies says it's so and so, and immediately, the hunt is on. Rather than picking up his chips, Michael starts walking around the poker room asking if anyone has the kid's phone number. Eventually he finds someone who has it, and tells him to call the kid. By now I'm a little steamed, but fuck it I'll play along. During this time, I lose a buyin with KQ on a K/6/4 flop when someone leads, I raise, he calls, turn is a 2, he checks, I bet a ton, committing us both, and he calls, and the river is a 5, and he checks, I ship and he calls with K/3 off for a straight. So, I ask for a meal break(since it's my BB next), and the dealer starts to set the meal button up.
One problem, good old Michael has an idea. He decides, we're going to give the kid that's not here the meal button I just asked for and was having set for me. Naturally, I flip the hell out. The kid's not even supposed to be on the table anymore, he ISN'T THERE, NO ONE CAN CONTACT HIM, and yet he's now getting the meal button I FUCKING WANT, because I'm starving(hadn't eaten yet that day, woke up at 11:00am, it was now after 8:00pm). So...Michael sets the clock to a half hour(instead of the full hour, this is in his eyes, compromising with me, customer service and what not), and then thinks that's that.
Naturally that's not that, after all the previous indescretions, this one isn't going to slide. I stand up and run right over to Michael and we really go to war. He starts telling me I need to relax again, in the most condescending manner I could ever imagine(which is really what's driving my anger, because normally I'm very civil about disagreements, but just the manner he was talking to me was driving me insane and made me want to punch him in, or about the face). At this point I've lost my mind, I'm yelling at him, there are other players at the table yelling at him, and he just again in a smug voice "Jeez, you guys need to relax!", "If you worry about stuff like this now, when you're 50, you'll be 80!"
So ya, suffice it to say we have, many, many, many, many more words, and eventually I go on a meal break...come back and decide I'm just to pissed to actually play any more poker, and leave the room(while complaining to the CSM on site at the time before I go about my dear friend Michael).
So ya, good times.
Fallsview, nice action, but I don't recommend it. That place is beyond hopeless, the staff doesn't have a clue, or worse, are just down right belligerent, rude and don't care about proper rulings.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Finally back in the saddle again...
Wowie, this thing hasn't been updated in a while. Truth is for those who know me closely you know why for the most part.
Since this is a poker blog I won't go into incredible detail about everything, but suffice it to say, I've had a hard start to 2009, and frankly 2009 sucks. I've had some real bad family news regarding my dad's ongoing battle with cancer which has become a real drain on the house. Without getting too in detail, suffice it to say, he went up North for a few weeks to visit family, because he is concerned he may never be able to see them again. That's how bad that's gotten.
On a slight up note for me, I did get accepted to the College Of Sports Media in down-town Toronto, a private school run by Jim Van Horne, Elliote Friedman, David Lanys and other people from in the industry. However I'm not sure I'll even be enrolling this fall, or asking Dave for a year extension on coming because of how bad dad's health has gotten.
With all that going on, the family issues and saving for the school(which is not cheap, $35,000 in tuition for a 2 year course, plus living expenses in Toronto) I haven't been able to dedicate much time to poker.
I am glad to say that is ready to change however, I'm eagerly finally at a place personally where I'm ready to get back at poker and make it work. I remember the last time I updated I listed a bunch of personal goals for myself, things like "be making a living playing by the end of this year" and "play at least one major buyin tournament" this year, unfortunately that looks like it won't be happening, but that's fine, when life hands you lemons you make lemonade...and since lemonade is delicious that phrase always appealed to me.
So, I started my grind back up by heading on down to Fallsview Casino(which I will be frequenting now no less than 3 times a week so you can expect semi-frequent updates starting in a few weeks when this all goes into action) to play some 2/5 NL. I used to play 5/5 and even 5/10 there, but again with having to set aside like $50,000 for school, the old bankroll ain't what she used to be, so we're back to the 2/5 grind.
So finally, onto some hands on my poker blog! Yay! Oh wait, they didn't go good...bummer.
First big pot I play is shortly after sitting at the table, so I'm still $300 deep. It's a limped pot around to me in the BB and I have 88, so with 7 limps infront I give breif thought to raising, but considering how easy it is to take money off the average 2/5 player, I decide to just check instead and play fairly fit or fold against them for the session, especially with no reads. That works nicely when the flop peels A/8/2 rainbow. SB checks, I check, and it eventually checks right around to the button who bets $25 at the $40 pot. SB flats, and I decide to make a small raise to get everyone comitted relatively early, so I make it $60 to go. I know the min-raise(or basically min-raise) isn't the best play ever, but it's only exploitable against players that aren't garbage, here I can do all sorts of transparant bet sizing because the average player won't notice or think about why. Both players call. $220 in the pot. Turn is a 9. SB checks and I bet out $80. Button shoves, SB calls and I obviously call. Pot is ~$900. The SB has AQ, the button has A8. The river is an ace to fill up the A8. Presto, one buyin down.
So, after a quick rebuy there's only a few more smaller hands of note, there was alot of general bad fortune during the session. Alot of spots where I would raise with a hand like AK, AQ, and not only wiff flops but find myself OOP in multiway pots holding those cards and the flop would be too terrible to even c-bet or try and run a bluff on(K/10/8 with 2 diamonds or something).
I did win one coin flip with AK vs QQ to restore some of the loss, then wound up bluffing off alot of that restored loss in what was a great spot for me, just more bad fortune.
The hand was, I had 3s/4s on the button, there was a big fish(bad player but not necessarily a calling station, just a generally bad player) in the BB. I raised to $20, he called. Flop was Jd/7h/5d. He checked, I bet $35, he called. Turn was a great card to barrel, Ac. He checked, I bet $80, he called. The river wasn't the best card, an 8d completing a flush and a few goofy straight draws. However, he checked once again, which I knew meant he didn't have any of those hands, he was deffinitely not the type of player that would be checking back a made hand he drew to. At this point I figured my read of him being weak(a 7 or a 5) or drawing was alot more complete, because I could rule out any draw that got there on the river, and I was left with just a 7 or a 5 as his potential holdings. My only concern as I decided to bluff the river was there was an outside chance he had a hand like 8/7 which would now have to call after spiking a 2nd pair on the river(or at least probably would call given his general fishiness). So I barrelled $150 at him, and he called with 8/5. Like I said, I think my read was strong and I think it's a great spot to be barelling as the board kept running worse and worse, unfortunately he improved his hand on the river without hitting a draw to lead at me, but hit the river enough to be in check call mode instead of check fold.
All told I dumped $500, but I actually got a real motivation to get going at the live play again and get back into the swing of poker. I've been neglecting it for quite a while now, I can't wait to get back into it more fully in a few weeks. Look forward to regularily updating this blog when I start.
Since this is a poker blog I won't go into incredible detail about everything, but suffice it to say, I've had a hard start to 2009, and frankly 2009 sucks. I've had some real bad family news regarding my dad's ongoing battle with cancer which has become a real drain on the house. Without getting too in detail, suffice it to say, he went up North for a few weeks to visit family, because he is concerned he may never be able to see them again. That's how bad that's gotten.
On a slight up note for me, I did get accepted to the College Of Sports Media in down-town Toronto, a private school run by Jim Van Horne, Elliote Friedman, David Lanys and other people from in the industry. However I'm not sure I'll even be enrolling this fall, or asking Dave for a year extension on coming because of how bad dad's health has gotten.
With all that going on, the family issues and saving for the school(which is not cheap, $35,000 in tuition for a 2 year course, plus living expenses in Toronto) I haven't been able to dedicate much time to poker.
I am glad to say that is ready to change however, I'm eagerly finally at a place personally where I'm ready to get back at poker and make it work. I remember the last time I updated I listed a bunch of personal goals for myself, things like "be making a living playing by the end of this year" and "play at least one major buyin tournament" this year, unfortunately that looks like it won't be happening, but that's fine, when life hands you lemons you make lemonade...and since lemonade is delicious that phrase always appealed to me.
So, I started my grind back up by heading on down to Fallsview Casino(which I will be frequenting now no less than 3 times a week so you can expect semi-frequent updates starting in a few weeks when this all goes into action) to play some 2/5 NL. I used to play 5/5 and even 5/10 there, but again with having to set aside like $50,000 for school, the old bankroll ain't what she used to be, so we're back to the 2/5 grind.
So finally, onto some hands on my poker blog! Yay! Oh wait, they didn't go good...bummer.
First big pot I play is shortly after sitting at the table, so I'm still $300 deep. It's a limped pot around to me in the BB and I have 88, so with 7 limps infront I give breif thought to raising, but considering how easy it is to take money off the average 2/5 player, I decide to just check instead and play fairly fit or fold against them for the session, especially with no reads. That works nicely when the flop peels A/8/2 rainbow. SB checks, I check, and it eventually checks right around to the button who bets $25 at the $40 pot. SB flats, and I decide to make a small raise to get everyone comitted relatively early, so I make it $60 to go. I know the min-raise(or basically min-raise) isn't the best play ever, but it's only exploitable against players that aren't garbage, here I can do all sorts of transparant bet sizing because the average player won't notice or think about why. Both players call. $220 in the pot. Turn is a 9. SB checks and I bet out $80. Button shoves, SB calls and I obviously call. Pot is ~$900. The SB has AQ, the button has A8. The river is an ace to fill up the A8. Presto, one buyin down.
So, after a quick rebuy there's only a few more smaller hands of note, there was alot of general bad fortune during the session. Alot of spots where I would raise with a hand like AK, AQ, and not only wiff flops but find myself OOP in multiway pots holding those cards and the flop would be too terrible to even c-bet or try and run a bluff on(K/10/8 with 2 diamonds or something).
I did win one coin flip with AK vs QQ to restore some of the loss, then wound up bluffing off alot of that restored loss in what was a great spot for me, just more bad fortune.
The hand was, I had 3s/4s on the button, there was a big fish(bad player but not necessarily a calling station, just a generally bad player) in the BB. I raised to $20, he called. Flop was Jd/7h/5d. He checked, I bet $35, he called. Turn was a great card to barrel, Ac. He checked, I bet $80, he called. The river wasn't the best card, an 8d completing a flush and a few goofy straight draws. However, he checked once again, which I knew meant he didn't have any of those hands, he was deffinitely not the type of player that would be checking back a made hand he drew to. At this point I figured my read of him being weak(a 7 or a 5) or drawing was alot more complete, because I could rule out any draw that got there on the river, and I was left with just a 7 or a 5 as his potential holdings. My only concern as I decided to bluff the river was there was an outside chance he had a hand like 8/7 which would now have to call after spiking a 2nd pair on the river(or at least probably would call given his general fishiness). So I barrelled $150 at him, and he called with 8/5. Like I said, I think my read was strong and I think it's a great spot to be barelling as the board kept running worse and worse, unfortunately he improved his hand on the river without hitting a draw to lead at me, but hit the river enough to be in check call mode instead of check fold.
All told I dumped $500, but I actually got a real motivation to get going at the live play again and get back into the swing of poker. I've been neglecting it for quite a while now, I can't wait to get back into it more fully in a few weeks. Look forward to regularily updating this blog when I start.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
So what am I up to?
It's been a while since I caught up with people, and it's not necessarily that nothing interesting has happened in my life, it's just little of it has to do with poker.
Being that my "part-time" job is at a casino, this is the busiest time of the year for us, and thus our part-time job ends up as full-time for the month of December sadly.
And being that that's the case, I haven't had much time for online poker while working 5 days a week, I just can't get up to put in deep sessions online on one of my odd days off. Also, most of my days off I've been busy doing different things, that have been a ton of fun or very informitive to a potential future for me(I know I know, hard to beleive I actually have a future).
First off : Took a day off work to go catch my favourite standup comedian live in Toronto. Louis CK. If you've never seen Louis CK before, do it. There are videos a plenty online, or download or buy his specials. Whatever means you take to do it, see him. He's the funniest person on earth.
So me and a few buddies from Toronto went down to go see the show, and I've seen every standup special he's done, but this was on a whole other level. It was painful it was so funny. The venue wasn't overly huge, so afterwards he hung out outside it and did a meet and greet with people. Just a cool night overall, and I laughed more than I ever have in my life.
Since I know some of you are going to go in search of videos online, here's a couple to help you out :) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95fNgx8aCS8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GKOqdr0-e8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbIGbZ6gq_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u2ZsoYWwJA
Anyway, moving past Louis CK's amazing-ness, although it's deffinitely worth discussing because of his brilliance:
I was supposed to go on different fun poker trips the last month or two, and wound up hostage to different things. Wanted to go with Marco and Marc out to the BCPC, but wound up not because of family emergencies arising here. Wanted to go to Turning Stone with Marco and Marc and others, but again, work this time prevented it.
Next day I finally got off work I went back into Toronto again. This time to try and make an investment in my future. A close friend of mine and myself attended an open house at The College Of Sports Media in Toronto. A fantastic new school that just opened in the heart of Toronto, it's run by people who either once had, or currently have major jobs at all the major Sports media studios in Toronto. The founder is David Lanys, other teachers are Elliot Freidman, Jim Van Horne and countless other different people. It's a private school with a 2 year course that costs $17,000 a year to take, but guarantees a work placement at the end of your time at the school at any one of their affiliates(TSN, Sportsnet, The Score, Fan 590, Satalite Radio and others). They just started up recently, have no graduates yet(the first crop of students is now in year 2) and they already have a group of those students hosting a Tennis show on TV, and a bunch of them have jobs writing for different fantasy sites most notably rotoworld.com.
The opportunity is fantastic, I have a friend going there now who swears by it, and now regularily attends parties for UFC's with the guys from The Score. The contacts he has now are fantastic. And it's the kind of job that pays way more than it ever should, and would be just a blast to do, be it on air, or even just a behind the scenes writer or researcher or statistician or cameraman or producer or editor, all of which they teach you how to do there. And all of which make CRAZY money. So hopefully I'll be using poker winnings accumulated over time to pay my way to that school, and be attending it next fall.
Other than that, again, no real poker stories to tell you about honestly...for those of you on jackseven you may be pleased/proud/whatever to hear that the last time I was at work on a Tuesday, which is the day we host our big limit game, 50/100 limit, the guys at the table were all talking about Marc, after one mentioned having met him out at the BCPC, they all had nothing but glowing things to say about him, saying he's a great guy, real friendly, approachable and humble, and that he's a great player. So good on you Marc for not only ripping up the scene, but being a genuinely likable guy while doing it.
***End rant***
Being that my "part-time" job is at a casino, this is the busiest time of the year for us, and thus our part-time job ends up as full-time for the month of December sadly.
And being that that's the case, I haven't had much time for online poker while working 5 days a week, I just can't get up to put in deep sessions online on one of my odd days off. Also, most of my days off I've been busy doing different things, that have been a ton of fun or very informitive to a potential future for me(I know I know, hard to beleive I actually have a future).
First off : Took a day off work to go catch my favourite standup comedian live in Toronto. Louis CK. If you've never seen Louis CK before, do it. There are videos a plenty online, or download or buy his specials. Whatever means you take to do it, see him. He's the funniest person on earth.
So me and a few buddies from Toronto went down to go see the show, and I've seen every standup special he's done, but this was on a whole other level. It was painful it was so funny. The venue wasn't overly huge, so afterwards he hung out outside it and did a meet and greet with people. Just a cool night overall, and I laughed more than I ever have in my life.
Since I know some of you are going to go in search of videos online, here's a couple to help you out :) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95fNgx8aCS8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GKOqdr0-e8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbIGbZ6gq_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u2ZsoYWwJA
Anyway, moving past Louis CK's amazing-ness, although it's deffinitely worth discussing because of his brilliance:
I was supposed to go on different fun poker trips the last month or two, and wound up hostage to different things. Wanted to go with Marco and Marc out to the BCPC, but wound up not because of family emergencies arising here. Wanted to go to Turning Stone with Marco and Marc and others, but again, work this time prevented it.
Next day I finally got off work I went back into Toronto again. This time to try and make an investment in my future. A close friend of mine and myself attended an open house at The College Of Sports Media in Toronto. A fantastic new school that just opened in the heart of Toronto, it's run by people who either once had, or currently have major jobs at all the major Sports media studios in Toronto. The founder is David Lanys, other teachers are Elliot Freidman, Jim Van Horne and countless other different people. It's a private school with a 2 year course that costs $17,000 a year to take, but guarantees a work placement at the end of your time at the school at any one of their affiliates(TSN, Sportsnet, The Score, Fan 590, Satalite Radio and others). They just started up recently, have no graduates yet(the first crop of students is now in year 2) and they already have a group of those students hosting a Tennis show on TV, and a bunch of them have jobs writing for different fantasy sites most notably rotoworld.com.
The opportunity is fantastic, I have a friend going there now who swears by it, and now regularily attends parties for UFC's with the guys from The Score. The contacts he has now are fantastic. And it's the kind of job that pays way more than it ever should, and would be just a blast to do, be it on air, or even just a behind the scenes writer or researcher or statistician or cameraman or producer or editor, all of which they teach you how to do there. And all of which make CRAZY money. So hopefully I'll be using poker winnings accumulated over time to pay my way to that school, and be attending it next fall.
Other than that, again, no real poker stories to tell you about honestly...for those of you on jackseven you may be pleased/proud/whatever to hear that the last time I was at work on a Tuesday, which is the day we host our big limit game, 50/100 limit, the guys at the table were all talking about Marc, after one mentioned having met him out at the BCPC, they all had nothing but glowing things to say about him, saying he's a great guy, real friendly, approachable and humble, and that he's a great player. So good on you Marc for not only ripping up the scene, but being a genuinely likable guy while doing it.
***End rant***
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