I'm back in Las Vegas for about two weeks of getting into the poker groove again followed by the World Series of Poker through June and hopefully late into July. The tournaments that comprise the WSOP are most likely the best value of all tournaments out there. With improved structures and all sorts of games outside of Hold 'em, I couldn't be happier with what's to come. My mindset towards poker and life has really never been better. I want to give credit to both hard work and support from family and friends. I give a heartfelt thanks to all the people that have supported me over the past 1-2 years through my poker journey. To all the people that call or text for updates, listen to my jumbled poker-related thought processes, get excited when I win, dream with me, follow me on the poker sites, genuinely ask and wish to learn about the game, and those that ease my mind and challenge me about the future, I can't thank you enough. The support of my family and friends is what keeps me going and often what I miss so much living out here.
To all those that continue to follow, look me up on Twitter by clicking that link and hitting follow on my name. Twitter is a great social media tool that continues to explode in popularity, but for me, it's an easy way to update everyone throughout the WSOP.
Showing posts with label iacog4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iacog4. Show all posts
Monday, May 18, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Catching Fire
I had to cool off today after catching a string of fire.
I got to LA to play some of the California State Poker Championship. The online series at Full Tilt is also going on during this time. Nearly every tournament has an overlay meaning extra money is in the prize pool. I have thus been playing in the morning events along with a few other tourneys. If I busted, my plan was to drive to the Commerce for the live tournaments. I went deep in so many tournaments that I only played one tourney at the Commerce. I have since done the following:
1. Deep in the 100 rebuy during the day for 10th.
2. 2nd in the Friday Night Fight on Full Tilt for 20k.
3. I had a 6th in the Pokerstars Nightly for around $5k.
4. 1st in the UB Sniper for 6k
5. 1st in the UB 50 Rebuy for 4k which was on a Sunday to save my day.
All of this has led to a nice swing in the negative variance into the positive for me. It has been so nice going deep in something every day like I'm supposed to. I've been working on playing more creatively and adding different strategies to my game depending on the tournament. I'm feeling very confident and will be playing hard the next couple days before a much needed trip to Chicago.
I've also been twittering lately at Twitter with tournament updates for those who want them. Basically, if you like to watch online, just follow me on this site and then visit the site to see if I've updated my status. You can also follow friends, celebrities, news stuff, etc. The only disclaimer is that you get some really random people following you. Good thing there is a block button.
I got to LA to play some of the California State Poker Championship. The online series at Full Tilt is also going on during this time. Nearly every tournament has an overlay meaning extra money is in the prize pool. I have thus been playing in the morning events along with a few other tourneys. If I busted, my plan was to drive to the Commerce for the live tournaments. I went deep in so many tournaments that I only played one tourney at the Commerce. I have since done the following:
1. Deep in the 100 rebuy during the day for 10th.
2. 2nd in the Friday Night Fight on Full Tilt for 20k.
3. I had a 6th in the Pokerstars Nightly for around $5k.
4. 1st in the UB Sniper for 6k
5. 1st in the UB 50 Rebuy for 4k which was on a Sunday to save my day.
All of this has led to a nice swing in the negative variance into the positive for me. It has been so nice going deep in something every day like I'm supposed to. I've been working on playing more creatively and adding different strategies to my game depending on the tournament. I'm feeling very confident and will be playing hard the next couple days before a much needed trip to Chicago.
I've also been twittering lately at Twitter with tournament updates for those who want them. Basically, if you like to watch online, just follow me on this site and then visit the site to see if I've updated my status. You can also follow friends, celebrities, news stuff, etc. The only disclaimer is that you get some really random people following you. Good thing there is a block button.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Did I forget how to play Hold 'em?
After a considerable slow and dragging downswing, I had several decent results this past week.
3rd in the Full Tilt $75 on Wednesday for about $5k which resulted in a net profit of $3500 on the day because I blanked in all the other majors.
1st in the Pokerstars $215 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for $7k giving me about a $5k profit on the day because Saturdays are also expensive and I bricked in all the Hold 'em events.
4th in the Pokerstars $215 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for $3k giving me about a break even Sunday after I bricked my first 19 tournaments. I bricked 19 straight tournaments. This is leading me to believe something is seriously flawed with my early stage Hold 'em game.
Before I hit the panic button, I have ran considerably bad on Sundays in the past month or so. There were probably 12 tournaments that I really felt I played fine in on Sunday and it just wasn't meant to be. Because I do a great job of managing my bankroll, all it really takes is one win to give me a great month or 2 month period, but it just hasn't happened lately. The shortcomings of my tournament results have really given me a lot of drive to get better. I've watched countless videos and tried to read about poker whenever I'm not playing. Then I have brief spurts of playing really well followed by some calling station atrocities. These are essentially when I decide to lose my mind and become a calling station. I'm not totally discouraged by my hold 'em game because I don't believe it to be bad as a whole. In fact, I played extremely well in the 3rd place finish on Full Tilt using my big stack to my advantage and finding great points of the tournaments to pick up and slow down the aggression. When I don't have a huge stack though, I'm probably just a little too tight in a lot of situations. I'm going to be doing everything I can to figure this out and try to get better.
3rd in the Full Tilt $75 on Wednesday for about $5k which resulted in a net profit of $3500 on the day because I blanked in all the other majors.
1st in the Pokerstars $215 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for $7k giving me about a $5k profit on the day because Saturdays are also expensive and I bricked in all the Hold 'em events.
4th in the Pokerstars $215 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for $3k giving me about a break even Sunday after I bricked my first 19 tournaments. I bricked 19 straight tournaments. This is leading me to believe something is seriously flawed with my early stage Hold 'em game.
Before I hit the panic button, I have ran considerably bad on Sundays in the past month or so. There were probably 12 tournaments that I really felt I played fine in on Sunday and it just wasn't meant to be. Because I do a great job of managing my bankroll, all it really takes is one win to give me a great month or 2 month period, but it just hasn't happened lately. The shortcomings of my tournament results have really given me a lot of drive to get better. I've watched countless videos and tried to read about poker whenever I'm not playing. Then I have brief spurts of playing really well followed by some calling station atrocities. These are essentially when I decide to lose my mind and become a calling station. I'm not totally discouraged by my hold 'em game because I don't believe it to be bad as a whole. In fact, I played extremely well in the 3rd place finish on Full Tilt using my big stack to my advantage and finding great points of the tournaments to pick up and slow down the aggression. When I don't have a huge stack though, I'm probably just a little too tight in a lot of situations. I'm going to be doing everything I can to figure this out and try to get better.
Friday, April 3, 2009
SCOOP Day #1 and #2
So there is good news and bad news.
I played Day 1 and Day 2 of the SCOOP and will be playing likely every day for the rest of the series. On Day 1, I had nice stacks in both the 5 rebuy and 55 rebuy, but cashed in neither. I cashed in both the 11 and 109 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or better and made a grand total of $21 on Day 1. Fortunately, I've been using all W$ that I won initially off of a $44 satellite. Basically, I just keep playing tourneys to win W$, which can buy into any of these major events. In essence, I'm paying no cash out of my bankroll to play, but I get paid in cash.
On Day 2, I cashed in the PL 5 card draw $11 and failed in the 109. I played all 3 NL Hold 'em tourneys or 16.5, 162, 1575 (I won a w$ satellite into this one through a 280 turbo). I got around 420th in the 162 good for $0 as it paid 414. I ran AQ into AK in both big ones in completely standard plays with under 10 bb and with the blinds going up at such a rapid pace. All in all, it was a negative day, but Day 2 is probably the biggest joke games of the series as it's on a Friday when no one plays anyway.
I'm also in a leaderboard contest on Pocketfives with over 40 teams. It is 3 man teams with the top 15 scores of the group counting towards a final point total. It is for all the Low events. There are really two links to this. The most important one is probably here with the final scorings even though it is lagging behind. My name on there is iacog4.
SCOOP contest scoring
SCOOP contest rules and team listings
I played Day 1 and Day 2 of the SCOOP and will be playing likely every day for the rest of the series. On Day 1, I had nice stacks in both the 5 rebuy and 55 rebuy, but cashed in neither. I cashed in both the 11 and 109 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or better and made a grand total of $21 on Day 1. Fortunately, I've been using all W$ that I won initially off of a $44 satellite. Basically, I just keep playing tourneys to win W$, which can buy into any of these major events. In essence, I'm paying no cash out of my bankroll to play, but I get paid in cash.
On Day 2, I cashed in the PL 5 card draw $11 and failed in the 109. I played all 3 NL Hold 'em tourneys or 16.5, 162, 1575 (I won a w$ satellite into this one through a 280 turbo). I got around 420th in the 162 good for $0 as it paid 414. I ran AQ into AK in both big ones in completely standard plays with under 10 bb and with the blinds going up at such a rapid pace. All in all, it was a negative day, but Day 2 is probably the biggest joke games of the series as it's on a Friday when no one plays anyway.
I'm also in a leaderboard contest on Pocketfives with over 40 teams. It is 3 man teams with the top 15 scores of the group counting towards a final point total. It is for all the Low events. There are really two links to this. The most important one is probably here with the final scorings even though it is lagging behind. My name on there is iacog4.
SCOOP contest scoring
SCOOP contest rules and team listings
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sit & Go Grind and some Cleveland talk
With the big tournaments not going quite as planned lately, I've sat back and started multi-tabling the 27-38 dollar sit & gos on Pokerstars. I actually got 5th in the high orbit leaderboard for an extra $200. YAY! In all reality though, I just wanted a new challenge and to free my mind from the pressure associated with always needing to win a tournament. So far, I've done fairly well. I almost got my second Full Tilt HORSE title as well last night coming in 3rd. It made me a $1200 winner on Sunday, which I can't complain about at all. My plan for March is to keep the tournament volume relatively low. I played a ton in January and February, and a change of scenery was definitely needed. With the SCOOP coming up on Pokerstars, I want to be ready to go every day for 2 weeks when April starts. Getting a huge cash in the SCOOP makes the WSOP and some of the April WPT events a lot easier to justify playing.
I just wanted to spit out a few sports observations.
Cleveland Cavs
I don't know how this team is going to beat Boston if Boston gets the one seed and we have to play 4 there. If we get the one seed, I still think it will be an epic series. To me, Boston is the best team in the NBA until someone else proves otherwise. We haven't done that yet. Lebron needs to stop Paul Pierce if we are going to win in June. So far, Lebron has failed to show up against Boston on the road. I still like our chances and think that we are one of the best run organizations in professional sports. Our front office actually gets it. No trades to do anything crazy at the deadline. Lebron is happy even though everyone thinks he is leaving. Let's just break the Cleveland curse and win one and he'll never leave.
Cleveland Indians
When does baseball start? It seems like forever since I rooted for a game, but it's a combination of the idiocy of that league that restrains my excitement I once had as a youth. Steroids, A Roids, no salary cap, corruption, and what else is new.... I still think the tribe has a chance every year.
Cleveland Browns
I already love our front office. I don't love the fact that we are basically in rebuild mode. We have only signed players that will give our team more depth in crucial positions. I loved Kellen Winslow as a player, but since he only played about half of the games, getting rid of him was kind of a wash for me. I don't think he really every fit into the system in Cleveland.
As far as Braylon Edwards is concerned, everyone wants to trade him, but I'm not on that bandwagon. He had an off year last year. I'm expecting him to return to his form next year with the discipline of the new staff and a new QB behind center. Trading him in a fire sale isn't going to get us anywhere. We also have some upside in keeping him because if he sucks, we will get picks for him when someone signs him based on how the NFL rules work. I'm not exactly sure of all the details, but I think the best case scenario is 1st and 3rd rounders in 2010. If he's good, our offense will be explosive again just like it was two years ago. He is that good when he plays at his best. I just hope he keeps his mouth shut and does his playing on the field.
I'm looking forward to the draft. We will take the best player available. It appears Aaron Curry will be gone by number 5. If he's gone, I like Orapko or Andre Smith. Either player builds one of the interior lines.
Shaun Rodgers, please just stay and stop complaining. Every fan in this city loves you.
I just wanted to spit out a few sports observations.
Cleveland Cavs
I don't know how this team is going to beat Boston if Boston gets the one seed and we have to play 4 there. If we get the one seed, I still think it will be an epic series. To me, Boston is the best team in the NBA until someone else proves otherwise. We haven't done that yet. Lebron needs to stop Paul Pierce if we are going to win in June. So far, Lebron has failed to show up against Boston on the road. I still like our chances and think that we are one of the best run organizations in professional sports. Our front office actually gets it. No trades to do anything crazy at the deadline. Lebron is happy even though everyone thinks he is leaving. Let's just break the Cleveland curse and win one and he'll never leave.
Cleveland Indians
When does baseball start? It seems like forever since I rooted for a game, but it's a combination of the idiocy of that league that restrains my excitement I once had as a youth. Steroids, A Roids, no salary cap, corruption, and what else is new.... I still think the tribe has a chance every year.
Cleveland Browns
I already love our front office. I don't love the fact that we are basically in rebuild mode. We have only signed players that will give our team more depth in crucial positions. I loved Kellen Winslow as a player, but since he only played about half of the games, getting rid of him was kind of a wash for me. I don't think he really every fit into the system in Cleveland.
As far as Braylon Edwards is concerned, everyone wants to trade him, but I'm not on that bandwagon. He had an off year last year. I'm expecting him to return to his form next year with the discipline of the new staff and a new QB behind center. Trading him in a fire sale isn't going to get us anywhere. We also have some upside in keeping him because if he sucks, we will get picks for him when someone signs him based on how the NFL rules work. I'm not exactly sure of all the details, but I think the best case scenario is 1st and 3rd rounders in 2010. If he's good, our offense will be explosive again just like it was two years ago. He is that good when he plays at his best. I just hope he keeps his mouth shut and does his playing on the field.
I'm looking forward to the draft. We will take the best player available. It appears Aaron Curry will be gone by number 5. If he's gone, I like Orapko or Andre Smith. Either player builds one of the interior lines.
Shaun Rodgers, please just stay and stop complaining. Every fan in this city loves you.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Random Blurb Blog
Disclaimer--I will be writing about as many topics as I can think of without dedicating more than 2 minutes of my thoughts towards each individual topic. You are certainly allowed to skip topics that don't interest you.
My Poker Career Lately
It's been a lot of close but no cigars lately. I wish I had more exciting things to report about, but it's been a lot of the 7th-25th place column. On another fun note, I looked up my Online Player of the Year Ranking on Cardplayer yesterday and I was at 212th. I'm at kind of a disadvantage in this area because I don't play the 100 rebuy every day, which almost always qualifies for points. Maybe I can make a run and crack the top 100. It might take a big score. I'm basically winding down for the year as all the major online events are over until the Ultimate Bet events in January. I'll be pushing for a PCA seat so I can go to the Bahamas in January.
World Series of Poker Final Table
That was fun to watch, wasn't it? I much prefer as a spectator to watch it without knowing who wins. It's almost impossible to avoid spoilers as I received only one when I clicked through to PokerXFactor and saw who got 4th. I think when you put a final table into 2 hours, it's really tough to do the game any justice, but I understand that not every poker fan wants to watch 25 hours of boring poker footage. It is tough to examine hands though without knowing many of the variables leading up to the hands. That being said, I don't take much stock in some of the plays that we were shown. There were, however, some incredibly bad mistakes made throughout the 2 hour broadcast. It's probably nerves, and I won't bash anyone too much because I can't even begin to imagine what it's like.
Peter Eastgate
I survived an all in against the champ. Peter Eastgate raised on day 3 to about 2.7 big blinds, and I gave him my 19 bb pile with A10. He called and showed the same hand, and we split the pot. I was pulling for this kid the whole time because he impressed me tremendously in the 5 hours I played with him on day 3. He is absolutely fearless. Every player at the table probably was paying extra attention to this guy. That's the kind of player I want to be.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The best team in the NBA is led by King James. 8 games in a row and a team that Lebron calls his best squad since he's been there. Might this be the year that the King finally takes his throne? I think it will be. I've never felt confident in a Cleveland team since James has been here, but this team really has championship potential. We play great defense, have a lot of depth, and good coaching. Give Mike Brown credit for what he has done with this team early on in the year.
Cleveland Browns
In light of the current week, we need less players from Michigan. We need more players from Ohio State. Phil Dawson deserves that game on Monday Night Football. That guy has sure been through a lot in Cleveland and to punch a 56 yarder in for the lead must have felt great. Brady Quinn is hands down the better option for the Cleveland Browns at QB. He came up with the plays that we needed that Anderson has failed to bring all year. He did it last week, and he did it this week. Now if we only had more Buckeyes on defense, we might be something.
OSU vs. MeatChicken
Joke provided courtesy of Mike Z.
"Hey did you hear that Michigan canceled their travel plans to Ohio State this week?"
"No. Why?"
"Because they couldn't get past Toledo"
Zinggggggggggggggggg
Go Bucks! This one won't even be close. My prediction. Ohio State 72-Michigan 3
Books
I applied for a library card a couple of days ago, but haven't gone to the library. I'm finishing up the book Freakonomics. Reading is probably a hobby that I should pick up again. I've been reading real estate books and all, but I want to read some actual good novels. It's been awhile since I've read anything fiction. Leave good suggestions in the comments section please.
Shout out to my Dad
Every time my Dad tells me he has a feel, I seem to knock down a big tournament. Last time he told me and really meant it, I got 2nd in the 50 rebuy, 2nd in the 300 and 3rd in the 163 in a week. While it may be hard to fathom what this feel entails, I have learned to respect and use the momentum of the feel to my advantage. A little superstition never hurt anyone. The over/under for the shout out to my mom is 3.5 years.
Best Movies I've Seen Lately
In no particular order...
1. Michael Clayton
2. The Dark Knight
3. Capote
4. Saving Private Ryan
THE HOUR OF BAUER
Jack "God" Bauer returns to Fox on Sunday. Look out for several airplanes blowing up, people dying, and Jack Bauer generally saving the day. That is to assume he didn't jump off the cliff like a wuss at the end of last season.
That's all I got for now.
My Poker Career Lately
It's been a lot of close but no cigars lately. I wish I had more exciting things to report about, but it's been a lot of the 7th-25th place column. On another fun note, I looked up my Online Player of the Year Ranking on Cardplayer yesterday and I was at 212th. I'm at kind of a disadvantage in this area because I don't play the 100 rebuy every day, which almost always qualifies for points. Maybe I can make a run and crack the top 100. It might take a big score. I'm basically winding down for the year as all the major online events are over until the Ultimate Bet events in January. I'll be pushing for a PCA seat so I can go to the Bahamas in January.
World Series of Poker Final Table
That was fun to watch, wasn't it? I much prefer as a spectator to watch it without knowing who wins. It's almost impossible to avoid spoilers as I received only one when I clicked through to PokerXFactor and saw who got 4th. I think when you put a final table into 2 hours, it's really tough to do the game any justice, but I understand that not every poker fan wants to watch 25 hours of boring poker footage. It is tough to examine hands though without knowing many of the variables leading up to the hands. That being said, I don't take much stock in some of the plays that we were shown. There were, however, some incredibly bad mistakes made throughout the 2 hour broadcast. It's probably nerves, and I won't bash anyone too much because I can't even begin to imagine what it's like.
Peter Eastgate
I survived an all in against the champ. Peter Eastgate raised on day 3 to about 2.7 big blinds, and I gave him my 19 bb pile with A10. He called and showed the same hand, and we split the pot. I was pulling for this kid the whole time because he impressed me tremendously in the 5 hours I played with him on day 3. He is absolutely fearless. Every player at the table probably was paying extra attention to this guy. That's the kind of player I want to be.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The best team in the NBA is led by King James. 8 games in a row and a team that Lebron calls his best squad since he's been there. Might this be the year that the King finally takes his throne? I think it will be. I've never felt confident in a Cleveland team since James has been here, but this team really has championship potential. We play great defense, have a lot of depth, and good coaching. Give Mike Brown credit for what he has done with this team early on in the year.
Cleveland Browns
In light of the current week, we need less players from Michigan. We need more players from Ohio State. Phil Dawson deserves that game on Monday Night Football. That guy has sure been through a lot in Cleveland and to punch a 56 yarder in for the lead must have felt great. Brady Quinn is hands down the better option for the Cleveland Browns at QB. He came up with the plays that we needed that Anderson has failed to bring all year. He did it last week, and he did it this week. Now if we only had more Buckeyes on defense, we might be something.
OSU vs. MeatChicken
Joke provided courtesy of Mike Z.
"Hey did you hear that Michigan canceled their travel plans to Ohio State this week?"
"No. Why?"
"Because they couldn't get past Toledo"
Zinggggggggggggggggg
Go Bucks! This one won't even be close. My prediction. Ohio State 72-Michigan 3
Books
I applied for a library card a couple of days ago, but haven't gone to the library. I'm finishing up the book Freakonomics. Reading is probably a hobby that I should pick up again. I've been reading real estate books and all, but I want to read some actual good novels. It's been awhile since I've read anything fiction. Leave good suggestions in the comments section please.
Shout out to my Dad
Every time my Dad tells me he has a feel, I seem to knock down a big tournament. Last time he told me and really meant it, I got 2nd in the 50 rebuy, 2nd in the 300 and 3rd in the 163 in a week. While it may be hard to fathom what this feel entails, I have learned to respect and use the momentum of the feel to my advantage. A little superstition never hurt anyone. The over/under for the shout out to my mom is 3.5 years.
Best Movies I've Seen Lately
In no particular order...
1. Michael Clayton
2. The Dark Knight
3. Capote
4. Saving Private Ryan
THE HOUR OF BAUER
Jack "God" Bauer returns to Fox on Sunday. Look out for several airplanes blowing up, people dying, and Jack Bauer generally saving the day. That is to assume he didn't jump off the cliff like a wuss at the end of last season.
That's all I got for now.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Slumpbusters
If you somehow clicked through a love or dating site after seeing this title, you should probably stop reading now because this is a poker blog.
To my loyal readers,
I can happily say that I have slammed through my recent downswing in the past week. To start, last Monday, I placed 2nd in the 55 rebuy tournament on Stars for something like 8k. Then on Wednesday, I placed 2nd in the Stars Quarter Million for around 33k. This is probably one of the biggest tournament on the entire internet that isn't on a Sunday. I would have loved a win, but I felt that I was up against a formidable opponent in shaundeeb with a 500k to 1.8 mill chip disadvantage heads up. I have some hands below that I need to discuss of course because they were tough decisions and left me thinking. Then to top it off, I got third in the Full Tilt nightly tournament for around 9k again. After struggling and complaining about how bad I've ran and everything that was against me, I finally stopped complaining and put together some nice results. I'm not exactly sure what to attribute my success to, but I have a few possible explanations.
In a lot of ways, I was able to let the game slow down for me. After playing the 1k at Caesar's Palace, I sat around for 12 hours watching situations and just really thinking about things. I'm a great rational thinker with great analytical skills. I always have been. When playing 8 tables online, the thinking can sometimes elude the massively robotic nature of online plays. I was able to seriously analyze my opponents and pay attention to the hands that were actually going on. Poker is a game about your opponents. It's about assigning the right ranges of hands to a player based on how tight or aggressive the player is playing. Then, it's about coming up with the best strategic response to that player to answer the math problem that is the hand. Some players are exceptionally good at confusing your assessment of them, so this is a skill that is developed over thousands and thousands of hands. The live tournament just gave me a chance to get back to my understanding. Being in a slump was shoving my negative emotions to the forefront of my mind, and not giving me a chance to think clearly and just enjoy what was going on.
I did play fewer tables and focused immensely on the final few tables of these three specific events. Pressing the registration button for every tournament possible is probably not profitable for me or any player.
Luck played the final factor in all of this. You can't do well in tournaments without luck and I think the absence of bad luck was a major factor in my success. There was a run in that last Full Tilt tournament where I went from being crippled after losing a K6 vs Q2 hand to winning with 55 vs an overpair. 9 4 off suit against KJ and QQ vs AA and 88.
I'm going to talk through one hand that occurred at the final table of the 300 because it really is complex and has been bothering me for a while.
PokerStars Game #21422845493: Tournament #113896173, $300+$20 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (6000/12000) - 2008/10/23 5:14:01 ET
Table '113896173 58' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: rivermanl (424219 in chips)
Seat 3: GotURead (305510 in chips)
Seat 8: shaundeeb (688335 in chips)
Seat 9: iacog4 (1002936 in chips)
rivermanl: posts the ante 1200
GotURead: posts the ante 1200
shaundeeb: posts the ante 1200
iacog4: posts the ante 1200
GotURead: posts small blind 6000
shaundeeb: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iacog4 [Th Ad]
iacog4: raises 16550 to 28550
rivermanl: folds
GotURead: calls 22550
shaundeeb: calls 16550
*** FLOP *** [4c Ac 3h]
GotURead: checks
shaundeeb: checks
OK. So 3 way action in this hand. I get called by both players. Both players are not tight and I'm probably the second tightest at the table behind these two. I flop an ace with a ten. This is weak kicker, but there are both flush and straight draws on board here. I can easily check here for pot control, but I don't love doing this on draw heavy boards because then something falls on the turn and I have no clue where I'm at against either player, so I decided on betting.
iacog4: bets 48550
GotURead: folds
shaundeeb: calls 48550
*** TURN *** [4c Ac 3h] [Qh]
shaundeeb: bets 130000
I get called by shaundeeb. Then he fires out an extremely large bet in this situation. At this point, I'm not exactly sure what to do. I'm low on the time bank and trying to consider what hands he can do this with. I'm not afraid of AK or AQ because I would expect a raise preflop. I'm not afraid of A4 or A3 because I would expect a raise on the flop with that draw heavy board and him knowing the possibility of me having AK could get him all my chips. The combo draw hands (both straight and flush) like 56 67 57 clubs or hearts seem possible. There is also the possibility here of 33 or 44 that are now worried about giving a free card to two flush draws. I decided to call here because I considered the likelihood of a combo draw to be just as possible as a set.
iacog4: calls 130000
*** RIVER *** [4c Ac 3h Qh] [8s]
shaundeeb: bets 322500
He fires a huge bet here. So what do I read into this bet. It's either a huge value bet with a monster hand that now can't be slowed down by a flush draw or a missed combo draw bluff that believes my hand to be too weak to call the river bet. I decided to call.
iacog4: calls 322500
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shaundeeb: shows [4h 4d] (three of a kind, Fours)
iacog4: mucks hand
shaundeeb collected 1092550 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1092550 | Rake 0
Board [4c Ac 3h Qh 8s]
Seat 2: rivermanl (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: GotURead (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: shaundeeb (big blind) showed [4h 4d] and won (1092550) with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 9: iacog4 mucked [Th Ad]
In retrospect, I've thought about this hand a lot. I still don't think I know the correct answer, but I'm not afraid to stick my neck out there and go with my gut. I thought he could easily be making this play with those missed draw hands and decided to go for it. It probably also ended up costing me because he had a huge chip lead going heads up. If I fold the river and make the correct decision, I probably have a more formidable stack to play against him with. You aren't always correct in poker. I wasn't here, but I would love to hear other opinions on the hand because it is pretty complex.
I know that I'm far from being the best hand reader in the game. As good as I can try to become at this skill, it sometimes doesn't matter. Some decisions are so tough that it really just comes down to your gut. This time, my gut was wrong.
I've broken the slump. The Cavs are 0-1, but I'm excited they are back. The Browns are 3-4 with a huge game Sunday against Baltimore, and I get to go to Chicago for Halloween Weekend.
For those people that are PocketFivers, I have this blog at http://kevinice.blogspot.com and I will continue posting on both sites. I think the PocketFives new blog feature will be a huge positive for the site in the future, and I'm excited to contribute.
To my loyal readers,
I can happily say that I have slammed through my recent downswing in the past week. To start, last Monday, I placed 2nd in the 55 rebuy tournament on Stars for something like 8k. Then on Wednesday, I placed 2nd in the Stars Quarter Million for around 33k. This is probably one of the biggest tournament on the entire internet that isn't on a Sunday. I would have loved a win, but I felt that I was up against a formidable opponent in shaundeeb with a 500k to 1.8 mill chip disadvantage heads up. I have some hands below that I need to discuss of course because they were tough decisions and left me thinking. Then to top it off, I got third in the Full Tilt nightly tournament for around 9k again. After struggling and complaining about how bad I've ran and everything that was against me, I finally stopped complaining and put together some nice results. I'm not exactly sure what to attribute my success to, but I have a few possible explanations.
In a lot of ways, I was able to let the game slow down for me. After playing the 1k at Caesar's Palace, I sat around for 12 hours watching situations and just really thinking about things. I'm a great rational thinker with great analytical skills. I always have been. When playing 8 tables online, the thinking can sometimes elude the massively robotic nature of online plays. I was able to seriously analyze my opponents and pay attention to the hands that were actually going on. Poker is a game about your opponents. It's about assigning the right ranges of hands to a player based on how tight or aggressive the player is playing. Then, it's about coming up with the best strategic response to that player to answer the math problem that is the hand. Some players are exceptionally good at confusing your assessment of them, so this is a skill that is developed over thousands and thousands of hands. The live tournament just gave me a chance to get back to my understanding. Being in a slump was shoving my negative emotions to the forefront of my mind, and not giving me a chance to think clearly and just enjoy what was going on.
I did play fewer tables and focused immensely on the final few tables of these three specific events. Pressing the registration button for every tournament possible is probably not profitable for me or any player.
Luck played the final factor in all of this. You can't do well in tournaments without luck and I think the absence of bad luck was a major factor in my success. There was a run in that last Full Tilt tournament where I went from being crippled after losing a K6 vs Q2 hand to winning with 55 vs an overpair. 9 4 off suit against KJ and QQ vs AA and 88.
I'm going to talk through one hand that occurred at the final table of the 300 because it really is complex and has been bothering me for a while.
PokerStars Game #21422845493: Tournament #113896173, $300+$20 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (6000/12000) - 2008/10/23 5:14:01 ET
Table '113896173 58' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: rivermanl (424219 in chips)
Seat 3: GotURead (305510 in chips)
Seat 8: shaundeeb (688335 in chips)
Seat 9: iacog4 (1002936 in chips)
rivermanl: posts the ante 1200
GotURead: posts the ante 1200
shaundeeb: posts the ante 1200
iacog4: posts the ante 1200
GotURead: posts small blind 6000
shaundeeb: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iacog4 [Th Ad]
iacog4: raises 16550 to 28550
rivermanl: folds
GotURead: calls 22550
shaundeeb: calls 16550
*** FLOP *** [4c Ac 3h]
GotURead: checks
shaundeeb: checks
OK. So 3 way action in this hand. I get called by both players. Both players are not tight and I'm probably the second tightest at the table behind these two. I flop an ace with a ten. This is weak kicker, but there are both flush and straight draws on board here. I can easily check here for pot control, but I don't love doing this on draw heavy boards because then something falls on the turn and I have no clue where I'm at against either player, so I decided on betting.
iacog4: bets 48550
GotURead: folds
shaundeeb: calls 48550
*** TURN *** [4c Ac 3h] [Qh]
shaundeeb: bets 130000
I get called by shaundeeb. Then he fires out an extremely large bet in this situation. At this point, I'm not exactly sure what to do. I'm low on the time bank and trying to consider what hands he can do this with. I'm not afraid of AK or AQ because I would expect a raise preflop. I'm not afraid of A4 or A3 because I would expect a raise on the flop with that draw heavy board and him knowing the possibility of me having AK could get him all my chips. The combo draw hands (both straight and flush) like 56 67 57 clubs or hearts seem possible. There is also the possibility here of 33 or 44 that are now worried about giving a free card to two flush draws. I decided to call here because I considered the likelihood of a combo draw to be just as possible as a set.
iacog4: calls 130000
*** RIVER *** [4c Ac 3h Qh] [8s]
shaundeeb: bets 322500
He fires a huge bet here. So what do I read into this bet. It's either a huge value bet with a monster hand that now can't be slowed down by a flush draw or a missed combo draw bluff that believes my hand to be too weak to call the river bet. I decided to call.
iacog4: calls 322500
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shaundeeb: shows [4h 4d] (three of a kind, Fours)
iacog4: mucks hand
shaundeeb collected 1092550 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1092550 | Rake 0
Board [4c Ac 3h Qh 8s]
Seat 2: rivermanl (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: GotURead (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: shaundeeb (big blind) showed [4h 4d] and won (1092550) with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 9: iacog4 mucked [Th Ad]
In retrospect, I've thought about this hand a lot. I still don't think I know the correct answer, but I'm not afraid to stick my neck out there and go with my gut. I thought he could easily be making this play with those missed draw hands and decided to go for it. It probably also ended up costing me because he had a huge chip lead going heads up. If I fold the river and make the correct decision, I probably have a more formidable stack to play against him with. You aren't always correct in poker. I wasn't here, but I would love to hear other opinions on the hand because it is pretty complex.
I know that I'm far from being the best hand reader in the game. As good as I can try to become at this skill, it sometimes doesn't matter. Some decisions are so tough that it really just comes down to your gut. This time, my gut was wrong.
I've broken the slump. The Cavs are 0-1, but I'm excited they are back. The Browns are 3-4 with a huge game Sunday against Baltimore, and I get to go to Chicago for Halloween Weekend.
For those people that are PocketFivers, I have this blog at http://kevinice.blogspot.com and I will continue posting on both sites. I think the PocketFives new blog feature will be a huge positive for the site in the future, and I'm excited to contribute.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Two 2nds
In the last two days, I took a second place in the 50 rebuy on Stars and then last night for 33k, 2nd in the 300 on Stars. This really helps me come out of a rather painful downswing. Attitude is really everything in this game. Staying positive and trying to just keep improving through all of a downswing is really a tough thing to do, but it's all you really can do. I'm really happy right now and about to go play the HORSE tournament at Caesar's. Hopefully, I'll have good news when I update next.
Friday, July 4, 2008
My great Day 1 fold
I totally forgot to put probably the most crucial hand of the day into my summary.
At the 200/400 level with 50 ante, I had around 46k. I raised under the gun with AK off to 1100. I received 5 calls. With the pot now at around 5600, the flop was Ac 6c 2s. I led out with 3600. I received a call from the player behind me. The next player to act made to 10,500. The other two players folded. At this point, I had a decision. This player had around the same stack as me with about 40k. I figured in my head that the odds he raised with a flush draw here are between 5-1%. He seemed to be one of the more intelligent players at the table. I basically just had to put him on a hand and then make a big decision. Just calling here was not an option because any flush draw can't get a free card here, especially considering the guy behind me was the most likely guy on a flush draw. Furthermore, the guy behind could also be slowplaying a set even though I ruled this out after some thought. Not many players are willing to let 3 players behind them in the pot with a set when an obvious flush draw is on board. I relayed this logic right over to the player who I believed was a good player and thought about how I would play the hand. Would I be raising here with a worse ace? Pretty much never. Would I be raising here with AK, probably not often. Would AK be a possibility for this guy? Judging by the amount of 3 betting he had done, I don't see a flat call with AK as being a big possibility. He has to have a set. He knows I've played pretty good so far. He knows I raised under the gun meaning I have a strong hand. For him to make that raise in this situation, I just have to be beat. I folded my hand. The other player called. The turn was a K of spades. The first player checked, the on the flop raiser moved all in for like 30k. The other guy called. The raiser showed 66 for a set and the other player had K 10 of clubs for the nut flush draw. I got up from the table and pumped my fist as I know that this type of hand could have easily knocked me out of the tournament.
At the 200/400 level with 50 ante, I had around 46k. I raised under the gun with AK off to 1100. I received 5 calls. With the pot now at around 5600, the flop was Ac 6c 2s. I led out with 3600. I received a call from the player behind me. The next player to act made to 10,500. The other two players folded. At this point, I had a decision. This player had around the same stack as me with about 40k. I figured in my head that the odds he raised with a flush draw here are between 5-1%. He seemed to be one of the more intelligent players at the table. I basically just had to put him on a hand and then make a big decision. Just calling here was not an option because any flush draw can't get a free card here, especially considering the guy behind me was the most likely guy on a flush draw. Furthermore, the guy behind could also be slowplaying a set even though I ruled this out after some thought. Not many players are willing to let 3 players behind them in the pot with a set when an obvious flush draw is on board. I relayed this logic right over to the player who I believed was a good player and thought about how I would play the hand. Would I be raising here with a worse ace? Pretty much never. Would I be raising here with AK, probably not often. Would AK be a possibility for this guy? Judging by the amount of 3 betting he had done, I don't see a flat call with AK as being a big possibility. He has to have a set. He knows I've played pretty good so far. He knows I raised under the gun meaning I have a strong hand. For him to make that raise in this situation, I just have to be beat. I folded my hand. The other player called. The turn was a K of spades. The first player checked, the on the flop raiser moved all in for like 30k. The other guy called. The raiser showed 66 for a set and the other player had K 10 of clubs for the nut flush draw. I got up from the table and pumped my fist as I know that this type of hand could have easily knocked me out of the tournament.
Day 1 Complete
I just got back from Day 1 of the WSOP. I'm at 37,725 chips from the starting stack of 20,000. I was as low as 9,700 and as high as about 49,000. It was really a strange day as I felt aggression and pressure against me almost all day. I can't count on two hands even how many times I was three bet preflop. The caliber of play is different to say the least. While I sit with some players that are incredibly tough to play against at times, there are others that shouldn't be in a ten dollar rebuy tournament. All in all, I think I played pretty well today, and I had a strategy going in that I was going to play careful and solid. I doubled up when I was at 17,500 when I called a late position raiser from my UTG limp with 44. Flop came 4 10 K. I checked dark and he bet 2600. I just sensed a lot of strength so I went ahead and raised hoping to get it in. He put me in and showed AK and the turn card 3 sealed the deal. I was up to 35,000. Then, I just played a bunch of small pots until the last level. I raised to 1100 with 200/400 blinds 25 ante with AA in late position to be called by an old man out of the big blind. Flop was a scary Q 9s 10s. He checked and I checked behind. Turn was a 6. He bet 2,000 and I called. River was a 9. He bet 6,000 and I called. He showed A7 and I won. That was the only other real big pot I played in. I had a couple of smaller all ins when I had 20k. One I lost to AQ with 55 and the other I won with AK vs J7. I can't complain though as surviving day 1 is the first step towards winning the tournament. I'm happy with how I played and can't wait to start again on Monday Day 2A.
Monday, June 30, 2008
It's Main Event time baby
The WSOP is basically over. One more event remains. Of course, it's the main event, 10,000 buy in NL Texas Hold 'em. My guess for the number of players is 6865. I've had millions of questions from people about whether I'm buying in or not. I've alloted a certain percentage of my bankroll for the WSOP and early on, it wasn't looking so good. After that 11k cash though, I'm basically parlaying that into the main event. Aside from that, I really believe that I can play with anyone in the field. I really believe that I am fully capable of winning the event should luck fall my way. I also believe that to be as talented as I am and not be in the biggest poker tournament in the entire world is just not acting as if. I've just closed out an online month that is probably my 2nd best month ever (my best month is of course when I won the 100k tournament on Full Tilt). I'm playing with tons of confidence. I've had big wins on every site, and it's only proper if I go play a deep stacked no limit tournament for all the marbles. I probably wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't play in this event. It would be a complete waste. While 10,000 for one tournament is absolutely a ton of money, I can just as easily say I won 22k on Full Tilt and a WSOP seat in that main event. I can say I won a main event seat and 1700 in the 2k. I can say I won a main event seat in the Stars tourney. The only thing I haven't done is been on a list that says I won a seat. I'm planning on playing the Day 1A because I want to just relax for 3 days if I am going on, and I want to get over it quickly if I'm not moving on. All in all, I tried to always keep telling myself that the WSOP this year would define my career. When it was going bad, I was basically considering myself a failure. At the same time though, I was just winning big tournaments online where I started as a poker player. I've basically just learned to define my success by what shows up on the spreadsheet at the end of the day/month/year. I expected to have good shot at a bracelet and maybe that will have to wait, or maybe it's just a couple weeks away.......
Saturday, June 28, 2008
First WSOP cash, First 100 Rebuy win
Dear Readers,
I am running awfully good and extremely confident. I won the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt the other night. This is a 6 max (6 players maximum at a table) tournament that is one of the biggest tournaments on the net during the week. A little over 32k was rewarded for my efforts. I didn't report on this because I was still in shock.
I just finished up day 1 of the 2k No Limit event at the WSOP. We finished the day with 198 players meaning that I record my first WSOP cash ever. Tomorrow is day 2 beginning at 2PM Vegas time and I have 63700 chips with around 48k being the average. The winner gets a tiny 771,000. I get to play a game for 771,000 although it will take a full day of work to get to the final table which would be Sunday. I'm feeling good though and have tons of hands I could go into, but I'm going to bed.
I am running awfully good and extremely confident. I won the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt the other night. This is a 6 max (6 players maximum at a table) tournament that is one of the biggest tournaments on the net during the week. A little over 32k was rewarded for my efforts. I didn't report on this because I was still in shock.
I just finished up day 1 of the 2k No Limit event at the WSOP. We finished the day with 198 players meaning that I record my first WSOP cash ever. Tomorrow is day 2 beginning at 2PM Vegas time and I have 63700 chips with around 48k being the average. The winner gets a tiny 771,000. I get to play a game for 771,000 although it will take a full day of work to get to the final table which would be Sunday. I'm feeling good though and have tons of hands I could go into, but I'm going to bed.
Monday, June 23, 2008
No WSOP Success, Little Break
I've continued to have no WSOP success, and it's becoming more frustrating by the hour. Every time I check an update on one of the WSOP reporting sites and don't see my name I'm angry. I've had a few poor days online to top that all off. I've had a lot of bubbles and have made some mistakes that may be telling me it's time to refocus and get back on track. The next few days are probably a good time to take a break, play less or maybe something other than tournaments. I have had problems controlling my emotions late in these tournaments online lately. This is really something that comes and goes for me in the game of poker. When you are playing online, there really isn't anyone to hold anyone accountable for their actions or emotions. When playing a live event, I easily keep to myself because I don't want to be perceived as a loose cannon asshole that is inconsiderate of everyone around him. At home, only the dog really can see how I act aside from my roommate. My emotions can get to me at times. Emotions cloud judgment and lead to poor decisions.
One thing I think happens to me is after being successful online for consistent periods of time, I begin to lose focus. I forget everything that went into my success in previous weeks and months. To be successful in this game, you have to be a hard worker. It' s just like any other job. You have to study the game, study the players, study your mistakes, study your successes, study your crucial hands, study, study, study, and learn. You can't just rest on your laurels at any point because the game is always changing. There is always a new strategy to learn. Because the game is based on other human counterparts, there are infinite different strategies that must be employed at different times. Those that adapt and succeed will win. Adaptation must come both before and after success.
R.I.P. Tim Russert
One thing I think happens to me is after being successful online for consistent periods of time, I begin to lose focus. I forget everything that went into my success in previous weeks and months. To be successful in this game, you have to be a hard worker. It' s just like any other job. You have to study the game, study the players, study your mistakes, study your successes, study your crucial hands, study, study, study, and learn. You can't just rest on your laurels at any point because the game is always changing. There is always a new strategy to learn. Because the game is based on other human counterparts, there are infinite different strategies that must be employed at different times. Those that adapt and succeed will win. Adaptation must come both before and after success.
R.I.P. Tim Russert
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Let's Talk about Not Poker, US Open, My Envy/Hate of Boston, NBA Draft, and more
Since all I've given this blog lately seems to be poker, I have to start contributing my thoughts on some of the great sports things happening lately. After that, maybe I'll even have some thoughts about other things going on in the world.
Since my blog readership is down to approximately 3 friends of mine, my dad who probably feels obligated to read the blog since he felt bad that I only had three readers, and Bubby, it's probably time to talk about sports or something that other people can relate to. It's not that people can't relate to poker that well, but when it's just bad news and not me slaying hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Rio, no one cares.
US OPEN
We all know we witnessed something special in sports this weekend. The best in the world on the world's biggest stage grinding out a 91 hole victory on the longest course in US Open history without an ACL. Now that Tiger is out for the rest of the season, golf becomes essentially meaningless ruining the two majors and Ryder Cup for most American fans. Since the USA hasn't won a Ryder Cup in it's last 3 tries with Tiger, it's probably not going to happen without him. What about the last two majors of the year? No, I will not cheer for Phil "Manboobs" Mickelson. No, Rocco Mediate will probably not accomplish what he did there, and we all can't chant Rocky, Rocky. Actually, I was really cheering for both of the guys as dumb as that sounds to any sports fan. I always cheer for Tiger because I just want him to win 50 majors and blow every record out of the water, so they will never be broken. This time, though, it was different. A 45 year old hardly ever competes at a high level in these majors. Everyone knows this. The window of success for most golfers closes quickly. That's why when Nicklaus won in '86 at the Masters, we still hear about it every single time. Someone that old winning shocks the world into remembering. The PGA Championship doesn't even matter without Tiger. I doubt I will even watch more than the final 9 holes.
Tiger's future, however, is good. From the sounds of it, his knee will come back repaired, his stress fractures will heal, and after rehabbing he'll be fine. Anyone doubting this return is foolish. This guy is the most clutch athlete in the history of sports. When he can't win with his distance, he'll get better and win somewhere else. That's why it's not unrealistic to think that Tiger will win another 10 majors. Athletes get old and age and body parts begin to break down. Last time I checked though, it doesn't put much on the knee to have a great short game and make great putts. I think we all look forward to a safe and healthy return.
I have a couple of predictions though.
Tiger Woods will come out of this surgery with another child. He can't be wound up that much and not intentionally or unintentionally knock up his wife. Unless they get in a fight, expect a boy no later than September 2009.
Tiger Woods wins two majors next year.
NBA Finals
I really didn't want either team to win and was thinking about likely scenarios that would let that happen. By likely, I mean scenarios that would likely cancel the finals for a while.
1. World War III
2. Redcoats invade Boston
3. Some sort of terrorist act.
Since I really don't want any of those 3 to happen besides maybe the redcoats invading Boston, I had to settle on watching a great team win the championship. I despise Boston because they complain about not having their 17th championship because of a 20 year drought. Can your whole city please shut up already? We are sick of hearing you cry and brag and cry and brag. I was thrilled to watch the Patriots lose so we didn't have to listen to you brag and then cry about your 3 championships in a row. Try being from Cleveland! May God have his wrath come down on Boston and curse them without a championship for 100 years! Maybe I'm going over the top a little bit, but I can't stand it. This city complains more than any city about sports. They are bombarded by great teams, fun athletes, and exciting playoffs year in and year out. I hope you are all appreciating it because it makes me want to puke.
That being said, I really like Garnett and have for a long time, so I am glad to see he won. I think it also shows that the Cavs aren't as far as we think. The Celtics had no shot to win in Cleveland the entire series. Cleveland had game 1 in their clutches and game 7 would have been won without the stellar team performance of Boston. The fact of the matter is that their team is full of smart players that know their roles. Cleveland doesn't have that yet. We have a disheveled bench with players like Sasha Pavlovic that probably can't spell Boston. We were struck for 3 years with the bad luck lightning of Larry Hughes that would never understand how to be part of a team like Boston. I have high hopes for the Cavs.
Cleveland Indians
I'm not going to say much, but it's not looking good. The injury bug has hit another Cleveland team, and all I can say is that I hope it takes away all the bad luck from the Brown's squad. Let's get rid of Sabathia for prospects and rebuild again. We aren't going to be able to sign this guy unless he takes below his market value. On top of that, I'm not super convinced about him being the guy in October. I still think there are lots of games to be played and sometimes a young player working to prove himself is stronger than a veteran with a 6 year $40 million contract.
Random Laughs of the Week
Yuri Zhirkov has some bad luck when he last name is announced in English. He's a Russian soccer player. Zhirkov scores!!! If you don't know how to pronounce it, see the pronunciation below.If you aren't a big soccer watcher, but are a sports fan, keep tuning in to the Euro 2008 on ESPN. It's the best soccer in the world aside from a few South American countries. They aren't snoozefests like most soccer matches in the USA.
"Jerrrrrr Koooofffff"
I can't help but drive through Chinatown here in Vegas and get in a car wreck every single time. Do you think if the car was invented in China, we'd be the horrendous drivers?
That is all for now. I'm looking forward to bringing some good news back from the Rio tomorrow when I go play my first 1500 NL full table event.
Since my blog readership is down to approximately 3 friends of mine, my dad who probably feels obligated to read the blog since he felt bad that I only had three readers, and Bubby, it's probably time to talk about sports or something that other people can relate to. It's not that people can't relate to poker that well, but when it's just bad news and not me slaying hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Rio, no one cares.
US OPEN
We all know we witnessed something special in sports this weekend. The best in the world on the world's biggest stage grinding out a 91 hole victory on the longest course in US Open history without an ACL. Now that Tiger is out for the rest of the season, golf becomes essentially meaningless ruining the two majors and Ryder Cup for most American fans. Since the USA hasn't won a Ryder Cup in it's last 3 tries with Tiger, it's probably not going to happen without him. What about the last two majors of the year? No, I will not cheer for Phil "Manboobs" Mickelson. No, Rocco Mediate will probably not accomplish what he did there, and we all can't chant Rocky, Rocky. Actually, I was really cheering for both of the guys as dumb as that sounds to any sports fan. I always cheer for Tiger because I just want him to win 50 majors and blow every record out of the water, so they will never be broken. This time, though, it was different. A 45 year old hardly ever competes at a high level in these majors. Everyone knows this. The window of success for most golfers closes quickly. That's why when Nicklaus won in '86 at the Masters, we still hear about it every single time. Someone that old winning shocks the world into remembering. The PGA Championship doesn't even matter without Tiger. I doubt I will even watch more than the final 9 holes.
Tiger's future, however, is good. From the sounds of it, his knee will come back repaired, his stress fractures will heal, and after rehabbing he'll be fine. Anyone doubting this return is foolish. This guy is the most clutch athlete in the history of sports. When he can't win with his distance, he'll get better and win somewhere else. That's why it's not unrealistic to think that Tiger will win another 10 majors. Athletes get old and age and body parts begin to break down. Last time I checked though, it doesn't put much on the knee to have a great short game and make great putts. I think we all look forward to a safe and healthy return.
I have a couple of predictions though.
Tiger Woods will come out of this surgery with another child. He can't be wound up that much and not intentionally or unintentionally knock up his wife. Unless they get in a fight, expect a boy no later than September 2009.
Tiger Woods wins two majors next year.
NBA Finals
I really didn't want either team to win and was thinking about likely scenarios that would let that happen. By likely, I mean scenarios that would likely cancel the finals for a while.
1. World War III
2. Redcoats invade Boston
3. Some sort of terrorist act.
Since I really don't want any of those 3 to happen besides maybe the redcoats invading Boston, I had to settle on watching a great team win the championship. I despise Boston because they complain about not having their 17th championship because of a 20 year drought. Can your whole city please shut up already? We are sick of hearing you cry and brag and cry and brag. I was thrilled to watch the Patriots lose so we didn't have to listen to you brag and then cry about your 3 championships in a row. Try being from Cleveland! May God have his wrath come down on Boston and curse them without a championship for 100 years! Maybe I'm going over the top a little bit, but I can't stand it. This city complains more than any city about sports. They are bombarded by great teams, fun athletes, and exciting playoffs year in and year out. I hope you are all appreciating it because it makes me want to puke.
That being said, I really like Garnett and have for a long time, so I am glad to see he won. I think it also shows that the Cavs aren't as far as we think. The Celtics had no shot to win in Cleveland the entire series. Cleveland had game 1 in their clutches and game 7 would have been won without the stellar team performance of Boston. The fact of the matter is that their team is full of smart players that know their roles. Cleveland doesn't have that yet. We have a disheveled bench with players like Sasha Pavlovic that probably can't spell Boston. We were struck for 3 years with the bad luck lightning of Larry Hughes that would never understand how to be part of a team like Boston. I have high hopes for the Cavs.
Cleveland Indians
I'm not going to say much, but it's not looking good. The injury bug has hit another Cleveland team, and all I can say is that I hope it takes away all the bad luck from the Brown's squad. Let's get rid of Sabathia for prospects and rebuild again. We aren't going to be able to sign this guy unless he takes below his market value. On top of that, I'm not super convinced about him being the guy in October. I still think there are lots of games to be played and sometimes a young player working to prove himself is stronger than a veteran with a 6 year $40 million contract.
Random Laughs of the Week
Yuri Zhirkov has some bad luck when he last name is announced in English. He's a Russian soccer player. Zhirkov scores!!! If you don't know how to pronounce it, see the pronunciation below.If you aren't a big soccer watcher, but are a sports fan, keep tuning in to the Euro 2008 on ESPN. It's the best soccer in the world aside from a few South American countries. They aren't snoozefests like most soccer matches in the USA.
"Jerrrrrr Koooofffff"
I can't help but drive through Chinatown here in Vegas and get in a car wreck every single time. Do you think if the car was invented in China, we'd be the horrendous drivers?
That is all for now. I'm looking forward to bringing some good news back from the Rio tomorrow when I go play my first 1500 NL full table event.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Back in Action
Last week was another tough week at the WSOP, but I did get 2nd the Pokerstars Heads Up Matches Tournament. This tournament is one that I would have loved to win and I lost an AK vs K9 all in pre flop on the 3rd hand to cripple me after a J 10 x x 9 board. Yeah, it was an easy $11k river card to handle as that was the difference between first and second. Either way, I have just been crushing online and can keep playing some of these events at the WSOP. I think I'm playing the 1500 tomorrow or today, whenever you read this. I'll also be checking out the Venetian for the first time this week. Sorry I haven't been updating the blog, but I really want to report some good WSOP news rather than the WSOP blues.
Friday, June 6, 2008
0/4
1500 shorthanded no limit went terrible. I went in with the mentality that I needed to win every pot and that was a bad idea.
I played the 2500 Stud Hi/Lo/Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better mixed event and busted in the middle of level 6. I took a 10500 chip stack from the starting chip stack of 5000 into Level 5. My talbe draw kept getting worse all day long. Early on, I didn't recognize anyone but Bryan Devonshire and Shannon Elizabeth. By the time I left, seat 1 was an aggressive player, seat 2 Hoyt Corkins, seat 3 another pretty good player, seat 4 Bryan Devonshire, seat 5 David Sklansky, seat 6 tighter can't take a chip away from him guy seat 8 Nick Schulman. Easy to say that there aren't many slouches in our group. Then I have never been so cold in my entire life. It was scary. I don't think I played a hand of Stud Hi/Lo past 4th street and rarely up to that point. I had three low cards A63 together one time over the course of an hour and 40 minutes. In Omaha, I had AAK3 with spades against Hoyt Corkins AAQ3 after the 4 5 10s Qs and missed my big freeroll of the day. I really think I made one 800 mistake the whole tournament. Other than that, seeing flops for 800 with AAQ2 double suited and having the flop come 5 8 9 all spades (not my suit) 5 8 gets expensive. The WSOP has just gone terribly so far. The structures are all pretty much a joke for the buy in because so many people are playing events. I'm in a disappointed mood right now because nothing has gone right in 4 events. I don't know my next event. It might be No Limit 2500 on Saturday. If not, I probably won't be playing until Tuesday or Wednesday because there are no events I want to play Sunday or Monday.
I played the 2500 Stud Hi/Lo/Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better mixed event and busted in the middle of level 6. I took a 10500 chip stack from the starting chip stack of 5000 into Level 5. My talbe draw kept getting worse all day long. Early on, I didn't recognize anyone but Bryan Devonshire and Shannon Elizabeth. By the time I left, seat 1 was an aggressive player, seat 2 Hoyt Corkins, seat 3 another pretty good player, seat 4 Bryan Devonshire, seat 5 David Sklansky, seat 6 tighter can't take a chip away from him guy seat 8 Nick Schulman. Easy to say that there aren't many slouches in our group. Then I have never been so cold in my entire life. It was scary. I don't think I played a hand of Stud Hi/Lo past 4th street and rarely up to that point. I had three low cards A63 together one time over the course of an hour and 40 minutes. In Omaha, I had AAK3 with spades against Hoyt Corkins AAQ3 after the 4 5 10s Qs and missed my big freeroll of the day. I really think I made one 800 mistake the whole tournament. Other than that, seeing flops for 800 with AAQ2 double suited and having the flop come 5 8 9 all spades (not my suit) 5 8 gets expensive. The WSOP has just gone terribly so far. The structures are all pretty much a joke for the buy in because so many people are playing events. I'm in a disappointed mood right now because nothing has gone right in 4 events. I don't know my next event. It might be No Limit 2500 on Saturday. If not, I probably won't be playing until Tuesday or Wednesday because there are no events I want to play Sunday or Monday.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Winning
I pulled off a Sunday tournament win today and no it wasn't for hundreds of thousands of dollars but for a little over 15k, so I have to be happy with that. I have really stepped up and with some good fortune, concentration, understanding of the game, and skill have put together 3 good months in a row with a seemingly good win in each month. I actually managed a 4 way deal in this one where I ended up getting more money than 1st place after it was all said and done (ok $5 more, but still that's impressive).
Other than that, I had a new article out on Pocket Fives about satellite tournament strategy. Quite frankly, I know it wasn't my best work as it was not my idea to write it. I was requested by one of the staff to write it and obliged. Frankly, they wanted something basic about satellite tournament strategy, so that's what I gave them. I got a lot of negative feedback though probably because it was so basic. It's tough to keep coming up with solid articles every month, but some articles are better for certain people than others.
Thanks to all our veterans and military serving our country. Despite disagreeing with the war on several reasons and frankly being 100% right about it, I'm humbled by people that serve our country and risk their lives day in and day out. Now, my next goal is to get a President that uses you all correctly.
Other than that, I had a new article out on Pocket Fives about satellite tournament strategy. Quite frankly, I know it wasn't my best work as it was not my idea to write it. I was requested by one of the staff to write it and obliged. Frankly, they wanted something basic about satellite tournament strategy, so that's what I gave them. I got a lot of negative feedback though probably because it was so basic. It's tough to keep coming up with solid articles every month, but some articles are better for certain people than others.
Thanks to all our veterans and military serving our country. Despite disagreeing with the war on several reasons and frankly being 100% right about it, I'm humbled by people that serve our country and risk their lives day in and day out. Now, my next goal is to get a President that uses you all correctly.
Monday, May 19, 2008
HORSE, Back in Vegas, PLO
I've been playing a lot more PLO since I've been in Ohio (Pot Limit Omaha) for those of you that don't know. I've actually noticed a huge disparity as well between my success at 3/6 PLO vs 2/4 PLO. I think this is simply a game of knowing when to put all your money in the middle and knowing when to shut it down. On top of that very simple statement, there are much more complicated bluffing scenarios because for the most part at these limits the play is straightforward. I've had some success and plan on playing a lot more in the cash games. If I do well over the next few weeks, I'm planning on playing at least one PLO event at the WSOP. I said I would never play an event like this again because the game is just too crazy and wild, but after considering my record in PLO events which includes a deep finish despite a nasty 5 outer in the WCOOP on Stars and a deep finish in the FTOPS shorthanded despite a nasty 2 outer, I can't imagine I'm that far behind the average player. On top of that, if you watch WSOP episodes of PLO, you see some outrageously bad plays that I know I would never ever make in a million years.
One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to win the HORSE tournament on Full Tilt. I ended up 5th last night, my second best finish of the year behind a 3rd place finish. I played as a short stack from 30 players to the final table and am quite proud I hung in there as long as I did. I always seem to lose in Hold Em. I need to rethink my strategy in this game because I think my experience playing in 6 max limit hold em ring games is ruining my tournament strategy. Also, I know I don't have a big edge in limit hold em, but still want to battle it out. Furthermore, sometimes it's better to be crazier in the split pot games because there is no definite one winner huge pot that will always happen like in Stud Hi and Hold em. Blind stealing is much less defended in other games. Hold 'em is almost always like that. Last night, I reraised with A5 off against the button raiser. Flop comes Kc3c3 and with my chip stack, it's 4 small bets and some change and we are in. So I have no way to get a lot of information about my opponent's hand. I think he's raising the button with the top 80% of hands from my previous encounters with him and I'm going to bet 100% of the time here. If he raises, he either has a K or club draw or maybe even a pocket pair, but I highly doubt that as I think 4 bets are in order for everything besides maybe 66 and down. He has K 7 off and I fail to improve. Do I bet and fold to a raise? I don't know maybe.
I'm back in Vegas for the next two months for sure aside from a Chicago trip right at the beginning of the WSOP because my girlfriend is more important than any tournament crapshoot. My first event will be the 2,000 event on the Thursday or Friday maybe June 4 or 5th. After that, I'm just going to base my play on how I feel and my overall success. I'll be trying hard to win a main event seat online and plan on doing that for sure.
One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to win the HORSE tournament on Full Tilt. I ended up 5th last night, my second best finish of the year behind a 3rd place finish. I played as a short stack from 30 players to the final table and am quite proud I hung in there as long as I did. I always seem to lose in Hold Em. I need to rethink my strategy in this game because I think my experience playing in 6 max limit hold em ring games is ruining my tournament strategy. Also, I know I don't have a big edge in limit hold em, but still want to battle it out. Furthermore, sometimes it's better to be crazier in the split pot games because there is no definite one winner huge pot that will always happen like in Stud Hi and Hold em. Blind stealing is much less defended in other games. Hold 'em is almost always like that. Last night, I reraised with A5 off against the button raiser. Flop comes Kc3c3 and with my chip stack, it's 4 small bets and some change and we are in. So I have no way to get a lot of information about my opponent's hand. I think he's raising the button with the top 80% of hands from my previous encounters with him and I'm going to bet 100% of the time here. If he raises, he either has a K or club draw or maybe even a pocket pair, but I highly doubt that as I think 4 bets are in order for everything besides maybe 66 and down. He has K 7 off and I fail to improve. Do I bet and fold to a raise? I don't know maybe.
I'm back in Vegas for the next two months for sure aside from a Chicago trip right at the beginning of the WSOP because my girlfriend is more important than any tournament crapshoot. My first event will be the 2,000 event on the Thursday or Friday maybe June 4 or 5th. After that, I'm just going to base my play on how I feel and my overall success. I'll be trying hard to win a main event seat online and plan on doing that for sure.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Main Event at Caesar's tomorrow
I decided to play a $340 satellite to the main event of the World Series Circuit at Caesar's. To make a long story short, I ended up winning a seat when the top 6 chip stacks gave the 7th place stack $300 each. I brought up the idea of a deal and it worked, so I'm in for $640 + $340 in another satellite. Great value for a tournament of this caliber. The structure is deep and great, so I hope to draw a weaker table and do what I do. If I don't draw a weaker table, it doesn't matter because I'm going to just act as if. (see previous blog if you don't know what this means)
I actually ran awesome in the satellite, but also played great and took advantage of some bubble situations with aggression. I was quickly down to 1300 by the 4th level and shoved with 5 9 of hearts against the BB who called with A10. 5A5 flop 10 on the turn, 8 on river and I doubled up. After that I rushed up to about 10,000 and back down to 4,000 and back up and back down. Finally with 3 tables of 8 left, I pushed for 5200 UTG with 300/600 blinds 75 ante. The button made a tough satellite call with AJ for 60-70% of his stack. I had A10 and spiked a 10 on the turn. After that, it was really no turning back. I made one bad play that I can think of and it was at the final table. With 9 players left, a guy limped for 3000. Now he had limped probably 5 times before this and just folded to any raise. The next guy goes all in for about 21k. I have around 46k and look at 10 10 in the hijack. I think I should have folded, but I decided to call. The other guy who limped now calls. Flop comes J 7 7. Limp caller pushes the rest of his 12-14k in the middle and I call as he shows AK. The other guy shows KK. I win the side pot and a few chips on the hand, but it could have been a disaster. Either way, it probably should have never happened if AK would just raise and KK would reraise. Then it would be an easy fold, but I felt like the guy to my right was starting to pick up on this guy's limp/folds and thus the second shortest guy at the table, he knew he could pick up some chips here. In reality he had KK and I was crushed. It all worked out though and I'll be playing tomorrow.
I actually ran awesome in the satellite, but also played great and took advantage of some bubble situations with aggression. I was quickly down to 1300 by the 4th level and shoved with 5 9 of hearts against the BB who called with A10. 5A5 flop 10 on the turn, 8 on river and I doubled up. After that I rushed up to about 10,000 and back down to 4,000 and back up and back down. Finally with 3 tables of 8 left, I pushed for 5200 UTG with 300/600 blinds 75 ante. The button made a tough satellite call with AJ for 60-70% of his stack. I had A10 and spiked a 10 on the turn. After that, it was really no turning back. I made one bad play that I can think of and it was at the final table. With 9 players left, a guy limped for 3000. Now he had limped probably 5 times before this and just folded to any raise. The next guy goes all in for about 21k. I have around 46k and look at 10 10 in the hijack. I think I should have folded, but I decided to call. The other guy who limped now calls. Flop comes J 7 7. Limp caller pushes the rest of his 12-14k in the middle and I call as he shows AK. The other guy shows KK. I win the side pot and a few chips on the hand, but it could have been a disaster. Either way, it probably should have never happened if AK would just raise and KK would reraise. Then it would be an easy fold, but I felt like the guy to my right was starting to pick up on this guy's limp/folds and thus the second shortest guy at the table, he knew he could pick up some chips here. In reality he had KK and I was crushed. It all worked out though and I'll be playing tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
1K at Caesars WSOPC and Cleveland (or is it Zevelanddddd)
Your Cleveland.....Cavaliers!!!!! Is everyone as excited as I am for the playoffs in Cleveland? Cleveland has risen from the late season dead to show that they are still a team to beat in the East. I guarantee you ladies and gentlemen that Boston does not want to face us in the second round. In fact, they are probably legitimately scared. Why? The Cavaliers are running on all cylinders. They are in the playoff intensity mode and they have the best player in the league playing for them. The chemistry problems that we keep worrying about came together last night in game 2 when the Cavs made a statement game by mauling the Wizards at home. For those of you that have ratted on Mike Brown, you have to give him credit for making moves to put this team in position to win. Finally, we saw why Ben Wallace and Wally were brought into the mix. Ben Wallace fought right back with huge defensive plays early in game 2 to set the tone. When the Wizards started fouling hard, Ben was right there to lay someone out in his paint. Wally finally started nailing shots. When we have shooters out there, Gibson, Wally, and strong inside defense of Wallace and Varajao, we are very tough to beat. We are simply deeper than the Wizards and should beat this team in a max of 5 games.
For the Lebron fans out there, I read a great article about him yesterday that you should all check out. Lebron is hands down my favorite athlete in any sport, so my opinion might be biased.
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/ussports/story/0,,2275032,00.html
Poker
Played the 1K WSOP circuit event at Caesar's yesterday. It had an excellent structure with 4k in starting chips, 25/25 starting blinds and hour levels. I was quickly up to 11k after the first two levels giving myself an excellent position early on. I won a big pot with JJ early and made a couple of moves to get my stack. The JJ hand was interesting. An UTG raiser to 150, another loose caller, another caller and I have the button with JJ. I could raise here, but I was convinced I could find a great spot by staying patient and keeping pots small preflop. I flat called. The flop came 10 9 6 two diamonds. All 4 players checked to me and I bet about 600 into the 750 pot. I received two callers. Turn was 3 of clubs. It checked to me again and I fired 1500 into the pot. The other loose caller who I just saw blow up with Q9 off suit preflop calls. River is 3 of spades. He quickly checks and I really thought I could get it all about 2500 of it. So I put it in and he quickly called and tapped the table. That was the extent of the big hands that occurred for the next 2-3 levels. I basically tried to stay active, but was never dealt a big pair or anything. I eventually called a shortstack's 2k all in when I had about 9500 in chips 200/400 blinds with 50 ante. It was an easy call even though I had the blinds, button and cutoff to get through. I won the 88 vs AJ with a flopped set. After that, there weren't many big confrontations, but with blinds rising quickly right before the 300/600 level change with about 10 minutes to go in the level I picked up 88 again UTG and raised to 1200. It folds to the BB who goes all in. At this point, there is 500 (antes)+200(bb)+1200(my raise)+ 5500 of his total. I have to call 4300 more into this 7400 pot. Another tough situation here even though I know lots of people at my table would quickly call here. I have about 11000 before the hand, so this represents about half my stack. I decided to call and looking at pokerstove giving him a range of 66+, AJ+ KQ, I have 45% equity, so having roughly 1.75 to 1 in pot odds, I don't think it's a bad call. What factors in here though is do I lose fold equity in the later rounds. Online you probably do, but in live tournaments fold equity is actually achieved with a lower M or BB count. I ended up losing the race when he showed AK KK7 flop 6 9.
I was kind of crushed because being so patient for so long you just have to hope to win the big race. I was down to a shoving stack and eventually settled on J8 off suit when it folded to me in the cutoff at 300/600 blinds and I had 4500 chips. I pushed was called by 10 10 Bink Jack and I'm still alive. Then I raised with 9 10 of clubs and was called by a looser older guy. Flop came Ac 8c 3h. In playing against this guy, he floated with hands and wasn't afraid to put people to the test. So I just decided to take the play away from him and pushed about 7500 into a 4800 ish pot. He folded and I was healthy again. Same guy called again when I raised in the cutoff with A5 off. Flop came AQ10 rainbow. I fired 3k into the pot and he shoved 13k in the middle. I had about 7k left and was put to the test here. If I have a dominated ace, I'm crushed and out. I still have 7k if I fold which is a little over 10 BB's. I decided to call after really thinking for about 3 minutes. My reasoning here was that QJ, 10J, KQ, Ax are in his range enough here. I know this guy would raise with AK or AQ b/c I saw it several times and any of those pairs over 10's. When really breaking this down, I looked at A10 being the killer hand and only one he had. AJ also and KJ was weird because I would have expected him to slowplay. I called and he showed A6, so we were basically even to chop. I protected some chips here, but made a decent call in my opinion. Then I was moved to another table shortly after losing a small pot to a shortstack with KJ of spades vs 77. At the new table UTG raises to 1800, the button reraises to 7k. I pinch an A, and I pinch another A. AA!!!! FINALLY THEY HAD ARRIVED!!! I'm all in for about 8500 I think. Other guy folds and the other guy has KK. SUPERCOOLER!!!! K54 flop. Good game Kevin. Out in about 46th of 237 players with 27 getting paid in a terrible way to go out. I played well today, but I need a little break to get refocused for the next round. I'm on a bad downswing online since my big tournament win and think I'm just not focused enough. In live tournaments though, I feel like I've been playing very well. Playing well doesn't always mean winning though in this game.
For the Lebron fans out there, I read a great article about him yesterday that you should all check out. Lebron is hands down my favorite athlete in any sport, so my opinion might be biased.
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/ussports/story/0,,2275032,00.html
Poker
Played the 1K WSOP circuit event at Caesar's yesterday. It had an excellent structure with 4k in starting chips, 25/25 starting blinds and hour levels. I was quickly up to 11k after the first two levels giving myself an excellent position early on. I won a big pot with JJ early and made a couple of moves to get my stack. The JJ hand was interesting. An UTG raiser to 150, another loose caller, another caller and I have the button with JJ. I could raise here, but I was convinced I could find a great spot by staying patient and keeping pots small preflop. I flat called. The flop came 10 9 6 two diamonds. All 4 players checked to me and I bet about 600 into the 750 pot. I received two callers. Turn was 3 of clubs. It checked to me again and I fired 1500 into the pot. The other loose caller who I just saw blow up with Q9 off suit preflop calls. River is 3 of spades. He quickly checks and I really thought I could get it all about 2500 of it. So I put it in and he quickly called and tapped the table. That was the extent of the big hands that occurred for the next 2-3 levels. I basically tried to stay active, but was never dealt a big pair or anything. I eventually called a shortstack's 2k all in when I had about 9500 in chips 200/400 blinds with 50 ante. It was an easy call even though I had the blinds, button and cutoff to get through. I won the 88 vs AJ with a flopped set. After that, there weren't many big confrontations, but with blinds rising quickly right before the 300/600 level change with about 10 minutes to go in the level I picked up 88 again UTG and raised to 1200. It folds to the BB who goes all in. At this point, there is 500 (antes)+200(bb)+1200(my raise)+ 5500 of his total. I have to call 4300 more into this 7400 pot. Another tough situation here even though I know lots of people at my table would quickly call here. I have about 11000 before the hand, so this represents about half my stack. I decided to call and looking at pokerstove giving him a range of 66+, AJ+ KQ, I have 45% equity, so having roughly 1.75 to 1 in pot odds, I don't think it's a bad call. What factors in here though is do I lose fold equity in the later rounds. Online you probably do, but in live tournaments fold equity is actually achieved with a lower M or BB count. I ended up losing the race when he showed AK KK7 flop 6 9.
I was kind of crushed because being so patient for so long you just have to hope to win the big race. I was down to a shoving stack and eventually settled on J8 off suit when it folded to me in the cutoff at 300/600 blinds and I had 4500 chips. I pushed was called by 10 10 Bink Jack and I'm still alive. Then I raised with 9 10 of clubs and was called by a looser older guy. Flop came Ac 8c 3h. In playing against this guy, he floated with hands and wasn't afraid to put people to the test. So I just decided to take the play away from him and pushed about 7500 into a 4800 ish pot. He folded and I was healthy again. Same guy called again when I raised in the cutoff with A5 off. Flop came AQ10 rainbow. I fired 3k into the pot and he shoved 13k in the middle. I had about 7k left and was put to the test here. If I have a dominated ace, I'm crushed and out. I still have 7k if I fold which is a little over 10 BB's. I decided to call after really thinking for about 3 minutes. My reasoning here was that QJ, 10J, KQ, Ax are in his range enough here. I know this guy would raise with AK or AQ b/c I saw it several times and any of those pairs over 10's. When really breaking this down, I looked at A10 being the killer hand and only one he had. AJ also and KJ was weird because I would have expected him to slowplay. I called and he showed A6, so we were basically even to chop. I protected some chips here, but made a decent call in my opinion. Then I was moved to another table shortly after losing a small pot to a shortstack with KJ of spades vs 77. At the new table UTG raises to 1800, the button reraises to 7k. I pinch an A, and I pinch another A. AA!!!! FINALLY THEY HAD ARRIVED!!! I'm all in for about 8500 I think. Other guy folds and the other guy has KK. SUPERCOOLER!!!! K54 flop. Good game Kevin. Out in about 46th of 237 players with 27 getting paid in a terrible way to go out. I played well today, but I need a little break to get refocused for the next round. I'm on a bad downswing online since my big tournament win and think I'm just not focused enough. In live tournaments though, I feel like I've been playing very well. Playing well doesn't always mean winning though in this game.
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