...Don't call off virtually all of your chips to an all-in reraise when all you have is AK soooted and you aren't in the orange or red zone.
Yes, I donked out of the Bodonkey last night committing just such a move, against 23skidoo. One of these days I will learn. I hope.
I have fallen to 12th on the leaderboard. Sure, I'm in better position than a lot of people, but with six more tourneys to play in the series, it wouldn't be hard for several players further down the list to catch up and pass me. I would really like to play in the TOC, not because I feel like I would have a snowball's chance of actually winning it, but just for the feeling of accomplishment for getting to that point. If I could place high enough to win some of the T$ they are awarding to the top finishers, that would be very sweet. But I know that I will need to earn some points over the next few weeks to solidify my spot in the standings.
Another strategy, I suppose, would be to root for everyone who is above me on the leaderboard now to win the points. As long as those lower than me don't move up, I should stay in the running for the final tourney.
In any case, I'd better bone up and work harder on playing better in these things (and in general).
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Cooler victim
Last night in the Bodonkey, I was running pretty hot most of the night. I got AA at least three times but only made any money with them once, when Instant Tragedy pushed his 33 into them and I busted him. But I also got TT three or four times and they mostly held up, including one hand where I rivered a straight with them to bust Bayne_S.
I had built my stack up near the lead, although I wasn't far ahead of the rest of the pack. Then this hand came along:
Blinds were 150/300/25. My stack was 12,660, so I was comfortable compared to the blinds and the others at my table. We were down to three tables, so the bubble was a ways off. In the BB, I woke up with KK. It folded to Sed the Icon in the SB with a total of 7,370 in chips, which he shoved into the pot. At least, I thought he had pushed, but it turned out he had 85 chips behind after his raise. Nevertheless, I instacalled.
Flop: Ad 2c 5h
Sed threw in his last 85 chips and of course I called again. He showed As 6h.
Turn: 8c. River: Ah.
I was knocked down to 5,030.
Now, I suppose I could have folded my KK to his push. But I only truly feared AA, and was expecting something more along the lines of what Sed had, which I was ahead of. With a chance to take out another player and add a nice chunk of chips to my stack, I couldn't see folding the second-best starting hand at that point. If anyone is reading this and has any feedback on this play, please leave a comment for me.
The very next hand, I was put to another decision. I got Ac Kc in the SB. With only 4,780 left after posting my blind, I was ready to shove with this hand if it folded around to me, or with a limper or two in the pot.
But Mondogarage in the hi-jack seat pushed his short stack of 3,975. Sed the Icon also went all-in with his now big stack of 15,360.
I would have called Mondogarage in a heartbeat. But with another player in the pot, I didn't like just AK suited. I decided to wait for another spot and folded. Mondo had AQ, and Sed had.... AK. The board came 5-3-5-K-8 rainbow and Sed took the pot, busting Mondo. Sed and I would have split the pot and I would have added half of Mondo's chips to my pile. Maybe I should have called and taken my chances, but I prefer to play AK heads up. Any thoughts on calling vs. folding here?
Just a few hands later, I got unlucky again.
Blinds 200/400/50. I had 4,630 and had to make a move. In MP I found Ad Qh. I thought about pushing but decided to try just a standard-sized raise to 1,400, to represent a stronger hand than just a push-and-pray, in hopes that the others would think twice about staying in with me. I was ready to deal with a caller. But GoldenHammer reraised me with all 4,095 of his chips. I didn't have him covered by much, and knew that folding would leave me with very little to work with. I hoped that GH had a marginal hand and was looking for me to fold, and I called. I got what I hoped for: GH had Ah Th and I dominated him.
Flop: Kc Ks Kh
That looked good to me. This didn't:
Turn: Tc
River: 6d
Boom - crippled to 285 chips. I busted two hands later.
I should have shoved the AQ instead of trying the 3.5XBB raise. GH might have folded his AT, but then again he might not. But he would have had more motivation to fold to my push than to my smaller raise.
I was really hoping for a higher finish so I could add to my leaderboard point total and maintain my spot in the top 5, giving me a better shot at the TOC. But other than the AK and AQ plays above, which could be argued either way IMO, I think I played pretty well last night. I'm currently in 8th place, so I feel like I still have a decent chance at the TOC. I certainly can't coast there, so I will have to bring my A-game in the coming weeks and do my best to earn more points.
I haven't played much poker otherwise, just a couple of the FullTilt $3.30 DSTKO SNGs, in which I did not cash. Not sure how much play I will get in between now and next Tuesday; we'll see. PokerStars is running a bunch of freeroll satellites for the WSOP, and I played in one of those tonight, busting early. I might jump into some of those if the timing works out, to see if I can luck into a ticket to the next round.
I had built my stack up near the lead, although I wasn't far ahead of the rest of the pack. Then this hand came along:
Blinds were 150/300/25. My stack was 12,660, so I was comfortable compared to the blinds and the others at my table. We were down to three tables, so the bubble was a ways off. In the BB, I woke up with KK. It folded to Sed the Icon in the SB with a total of 7,370 in chips, which he shoved into the pot. At least, I thought he had pushed, but it turned out he had 85 chips behind after his raise. Nevertheless, I instacalled.
Flop: Ad 2c 5h
Sed threw in his last 85 chips and of course I called again. He showed As 6h.
Turn: 8c. River: Ah.
I was knocked down to 5,030.
Now, I suppose I could have folded my KK to his push. But I only truly feared AA, and was expecting something more along the lines of what Sed had, which I was ahead of. With a chance to take out another player and add a nice chunk of chips to my stack, I couldn't see folding the second-best starting hand at that point. If anyone is reading this and has any feedback on this play, please leave a comment for me.
The very next hand, I was put to another decision. I got Ac Kc in the SB. With only 4,780 left after posting my blind, I was ready to shove with this hand if it folded around to me, or with a limper or two in the pot.
But Mondogarage in the hi-jack seat pushed his short stack of 3,975. Sed the Icon also went all-in with his now big stack of 15,360.
I would have called Mondogarage in a heartbeat. But with another player in the pot, I didn't like just AK suited. I decided to wait for another spot and folded. Mondo had AQ, and Sed had.... AK. The board came 5-3-5-K-8 rainbow and Sed took the pot, busting Mondo. Sed and I would have split the pot and I would have added half of Mondo's chips to my pile. Maybe I should have called and taken my chances, but I prefer to play AK heads up. Any thoughts on calling vs. folding here?
Just a few hands later, I got unlucky again.
Blinds 200/400/50. I had 4,630 and had to make a move. In MP I found Ad Qh. I thought about pushing but decided to try just a standard-sized raise to 1,400, to represent a stronger hand than just a push-and-pray, in hopes that the others would think twice about staying in with me. I was ready to deal with a caller. But GoldenHammer reraised me with all 4,095 of his chips. I didn't have him covered by much, and knew that folding would leave me with very little to work with. I hoped that GH had a marginal hand and was looking for me to fold, and I called. I got what I hoped for: GH had Ah Th and I dominated him.
Flop: Kc Ks Kh
That looked good to me. This didn't:
Turn: Tc
River: 6d
Boom - crippled to 285 chips. I busted two hands later.
I should have shoved the AQ instead of trying the 3.5XBB raise. GH might have folded his AT, but then again he might not. But he would have had more motivation to fold to my push than to my smaller raise.
I was really hoping for a higher finish so I could add to my leaderboard point total and maintain my spot in the top 5, giving me a better shot at the TOC. But other than the AK and AQ plays above, which could be argued either way IMO, I think I played pretty well last night. I'm currently in 8th place, so I feel like I still have a decent chance at the TOC. I certainly can't coast there, so I will have to bring my A-game in the coming weeks and do my best to earn more points.
I haven't played much poker otherwise, just a couple of the FullTilt $3.30 DSTKO SNGs, in which I did not cash. Not sure how much play I will get in between now and next Tuesday; we'll see. PokerStars is running a bunch of freeroll satellites for the WSOP, and I played in one of those tonight, busting early. I might jump into some of those if the timing works out, to see if I can luck into a ticket to the next round.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
I'm forever blowing (it on the) bubble(s)
My lack of endgame experience and/or skill showed itself in two recent tournaments. In the Bodog $30 + 3 $4K Guarantee this past Saturday, I made it to the final three tables but as one of the short stacks. With 21 players left, and blinds at 200/400/50, I had 2,821 left, for an M of about 3. The top 18 places paid, so I was close to cashing. I knew I had to push and pray if I were to make any kind of comeback.
However, there were two stacks smaller than mine at my table, and at least one other stack about as small on another table. I was aware of this situation at the time, but didn't give it as much weight as I should have.
In MP I picked up Ah 8c. It was folded to me. Normally this is an easy push for me, with an Ace and a kicker above 7, and a low M, so I shoved all my chips in.
The problem, though, is that four players behind me had plenty of chips and could call me without too much risk. I had to hope that everyone would fold, but my stack wasn't enough to scare everyone away.
The chip leader at my table, with a stack of over 17,000 and sitting on the button, reraised, doubling my bet. The blinds folded, and the button turned over Ad 9d. I did not improve and busted out in 21st place.
Although in most cases I wouldn't give this play a second thought, I realized later that I could have held on for a few more hands, even with my low M, to see if any of the other short stacks would take a stab and bust out, moving me closer to the money. I might also have got lucky and picked up a better hand and some chips, or I could have considered pushing with a hand less likely to be dominated if called. Perhaps if we were right on the bubble, instead of two or three players away, I would have been more conscious of it and more patient. I still might not have made it to the money, but I feel like I didn't give myself the chance that I should have.
I did it again in the Bodonkey last night. At the final table, I had built up a nice stack but saw it get whittled away on a few hands. The crippling hand went like this:
I'm on the button with 18,333 in chips. Six players; top five get paid cash and T$109 each. Blinds are 800/1,600/150; my M is just under 6.
My hole cards come Ad Td. If it folds to me, I'm shoving.
Drizz folds UTG. Donkette pushes her last 16,050 chips in. RecessRampage2, the short stack, folds.
Donkette had gone all-in several times in the last few orbits, so I put her on a fairly wide range of hands, although not any two cards. But if she had an Ace, there were several hands she could have that would dominate me, and of course any pair was ahead. If I had been smart, I would have let her have the blinds and antes, or let someone else challenge her. But I called, everyone else folded, and she showed As Jd. Sure enough, I was dominated. The board brought no help for me, and I was crippled. I busted just a few hands later.
Once again, I could have waited for a better hand or better situation since I was right on the bubble and had chips left. I called with an easily dominated hand and paid for it. The consolation is, I got my T$11 entry fee back for finishing sixth, and I got some leaderboard points to move back up to fourth place (from fifth last week, but down from third the week before).
Hopefully going through this bubble crap in two tourneys within days of each other will make me think harder when I have a similar decision to make in the future.
Side note: I cashed in another FullTilt $3.30 DSTKO SNG the other day, and then blew those winnings (all $6) in the special Martini rebuy game hosted by Katitude on Monday night. I suffered a couple of ugly beats early on, which I won't recount here, and decided to save my FT funds for another day. But I will be back for more of those $3.30 games to try my luck again.
However, there were two stacks smaller than mine at my table, and at least one other stack about as small on another table. I was aware of this situation at the time, but didn't give it as much weight as I should have.
In MP I picked up Ah 8c. It was folded to me. Normally this is an easy push for me, with an Ace and a kicker above 7, and a low M, so I shoved all my chips in.
The problem, though, is that four players behind me had plenty of chips and could call me without too much risk. I had to hope that everyone would fold, but my stack wasn't enough to scare everyone away.
The chip leader at my table, with a stack of over 17,000 and sitting on the button, reraised, doubling my bet. The blinds folded, and the button turned over Ad 9d. I did not improve and busted out in 21st place.
Although in most cases I wouldn't give this play a second thought, I realized later that I could have held on for a few more hands, even with my low M, to see if any of the other short stacks would take a stab and bust out, moving me closer to the money. I might also have got lucky and picked up a better hand and some chips, or I could have considered pushing with a hand less likely to be dominated if called. Perhaps if we were right on the bubble, instead of two or three players away, I would have been more conscious of it and more patient. I still might not have made it to the money, but I feel like I didn't give myself the chance that I should have.
I did it again in the Bodonkey last night. At the final table, I had built up a nice stack but saw it get whittled away on a few hands. The crippling hand went like this:
I'm on the button with 18,333 in chips. Six players; top five get paid cash and T$109 each. Blinds are 800/1,600/150; my M is just under 6.
My hole cards come Ad Td. If it folds to me, I'm shoving.
Drizz folds UTG. Donkette pushes her last 16,050 chips in. RecessRampage2, the short stack, folds.
Donkette had gone all-in several times in the last few orbits, so I put her on a fairly wide range of hands, although not any two cards. But if she had an Ace, there were several hands she could have that would dominate me, and of course any pair was ahead. If I had been smart, I would have let her have the blinds and antes, or let someone else challenge her. But I called, everyone else folded, and she showed As Jd. Sure enough, I was dominated. The board brought no help for me, and I was crippled. I busted just a few hands later.
Once again, I could have waited for a better hand or better situation since I was right on the bubble and had chips left. I called with an easily dominated hand and paid for it. The consolation is, I got my T$11 entry fee back for finishing sixth, and I got some leaderboard points to move back up to fourth place (from fifth last week, but down from third the week before).
Hopefully going through this bubble crap in two tourneys within days of each other will make me think harder when I have a similar decision to make in the future.
Side note: I cashed in another FullTilt $3.30 DSTKO SNG the other day, and then blew those winnings (all $6) in the special Martini rebuy game hosted by Katitude on Monday night. I suffered a couple of ugly beats early on, which I won't recount here, and decided to save my FT funds for another day. But I will be back for more of those $3.30 games to try my luck again.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Fumbling the Hammer against Josh Arieh
Last night, poker pro and Team Bodog member Josh Arieh played in the Bodog Blogger Tournament, and I drew his table at the start of the game. This was scary and thrilling at the same time. Bodog had put a $100 bounty up for the person who would bust Arieh, which meant I had a shot at that. It also meant that I would be playing against a known aggressive pro, and I wasn't sure how that would affect my play (not for the better, most likely).
Josh actually played fairly tight to start. Probably sizing us all up. Not too long into the game, I picked up 2c 7s UTG. Blinds were 10/20. Of course, I raised with it, to 80. Josh was in the cutoff, and called me, as did GCox25 on the button and odets in the BB. Pot was $330.
Flop: 3d 4c 2s
odets checked. I bet $160 with my pair of ducks; Josh called. GCox and odets folded. I should have bet bigger to reduce the calling odds.
Turn: 8d
Having missed the turn, I checked. Mistake # 2. I should not have given Josh a free card; I should have continued my bluff and represented the strength I started with. Josh checked also.
River: 5s
Great, a straight card. If Josh has an Ace or a 6, I'm dead. I check, and he checks behind. He shows 7d 5d and his fives beat my deuces. He flopped an OESD and I can certainly understand his call of my half-pot bet.
Right after that, Josh asked in the chat box, "You raised with 27?"
A brief explanation of the blogger tradition of the Hammer followed. Josh's comment: "Whatever it is, I LIKE!"
Not too long after that, GCox got everyone to fold to the Hammer preflop, and later, emptyman beat Josh with the Hammer when his 7 paired the board and Josh bluffed into him with air. He didn't like the Hammer much there.
Josh was friendly in the chat, and seemed to have a good time. He busted out on the early side to Abby17 when his 77 ran into AQ that flopped an A and rivered a Q to rub it in.
I didn't last a lot longer than he did. I had bled away some chips trying to pick up some draws and missing. I did catch quads on an early hand but didn't get much action. Eventually I made a donkey call with TT against emptyman's AA to bust in lowly 46th place. No leaderboard points for me this time, unless I picked up a couple just for playing. I have now slipped to fifth place in the standings, which means I had better step things up in the coming weeks so I don't lose my shot at the TOC.
On the other hand, I did finally cash in one of the FullTilt $3.30 Deep Stack Turbo KO (damn, that's a mouthful) SNGs on Sunday. After falling behind early, I caught some much needed cards and doubled up about midway through, then went on a tear. I had not scored a single knockout in the previous KO tourneys I had played; in this one, I racked up eight of them. At $0.50 each, I made back my buy-in and then some just by busting my opponents. I made it to the final table, and eventually heads up, with a comfortable chip lead for a good part of the time. But HU I made at least one iffy play which cost me my lead, and I ended up finishing second. Still, that one cash, and the $4.00 in bounties, wiped out all my tournament losses on FT so far in 2008. That is a very good feeling. I am sure I will be playing in more of these cheap DSTKO SNGs.
Josh actually played fairly tight to start. Probably sizing us all up. Not too long into the game, I picked up 2c 7s UTG. Blinds were 10/20. Of course, I raised with it, to 80. Josh was in the cutoff, and called me, as did GCox25 on the button and odets in the BB. Pot was $330.
Flop: 3d 4c 2s
odets checked. I bet $160 with my pair of ducks; Josh called. GCox and odets folded. I should have bet bigger to reduce the calling odds.
Turn: 8d
Having missed the turn, I checked. Mistake # 2. I should not have given Josh a free card; I should have continued my bluff and represented the strength I started with. Josh checked also.
River: 5s
Great, a straight card. If Josh has an Ace or a 6, I'm dead. I check, and he checks behind. He shows 7d 5d and his fives beat my deuces. He flopped an OESD and I can certainly understand his call of my half-pot bet.
Right after that, Josh asked in the chat box, "You raised with 27?"
A brief explanation of the blogger tradition of the Hammer followed. Josh's comment: "Whatever it is, I LIKE!"
Not too long after that, GCox got everyone to fold to the Hammer preflop, and later, emptyman beat Josh with the Hammer when his 7 paired the board and Josh bluffed into him with air. He didn't like the Hammer much there.
Josh was friendly in the chat, and seemed to have a good time. He busted out on the early side to Abby17 when his 77 ran into AQ that flopped an A and rivered a Q to rub it in.
I didn't last a lot longer than he did. I had bled away some chips trying to pick up some draws and missing. I did catch quads on an early hand but didn't get much action. Eventually I made a donkey call with TT against emptyman's AA to bust in lowly 46th place. No leaderboard points for me this time, unless I picked up a couple just for playing. I have now slipped to fifth place in the standings, which means I had better step things up in the coming weeks so I don't lose my shot at the TOC.
On the other hand, I did finally cash in one of the FullTilt $3.30 Deep Stack Turbo KO (damn, that's a mouthful) SNGs on Sunday. After falling behind early, I caught some much needed cards and doubled up about midway through, then went on a tear. I had not scored a single knockout in the previous KO tourneys I had played; in this one, I racked up eight of them. At $0.50 each, I made back my buy-in and then some just by busting my opponents. I made it to the final table, and eventually heads up, with a comfortable chip lead for a good part of the time. But HU I made at least one iffy play which cost me my lead, and I ended up finishing second. Still, that one cash, and the $4.00 in bounties, wiped out all my tournament losses on FT so far in 2008. That is a very good feeling. I am sure I will be playing in more of these cheap DSTKO SNGs.
Friday, March 14, 2008
No more BBT3 for me
After my pathetic performance in the Riverchasers tourney last night, I am officially swearing off the BBT3. Sorry to anyone who was looking forward to any dead money I might have contributed. I don't feel like bleeding off what I have left in my FT account in games where I will just embarrass myself in front of other poker bloggers.
I have not cashed in a single tournament or SNG on FullTilt so far in 2008. I don't blame FT for that; I've just run poorly there. My FT bankroll is such that I can play the $3 and under tourneys for a while longer, but if I don't cash soon, I will be busto on that site. Not a goal I am aiming for.
I will continue to play in the Tuesday night Bodonkey, where I have somehow built up a nice roll of both cash and T$, and even leaderboard points. We'll see if I can make that last.
I have not cashed in a single tournament or SNG on FullTilt so far in 2008. I don't blame FT for that; I've just run poorly there. My FT bankroll is such that I can play the $3 and under tourneys for a while longer, but if I don't cash soon, I will be busto on that site. Not a goal I am aiming for.
I will continue to play in the Tuesday night Bodonkey, where I have somehow built up a nice roll of both cash and T$, and even leaderboard points. We'll see if I can make that last.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Double-stack turbo?? Yes, Virginia, they exist
In looking for a way to add to my roll on FullTilt without jeopardizing too much of what little I have left there, I found some 90-player $3 + 0.30 SNGs that I hadn't paid attention to before. These odd little NLHE tourneys are like Frankenstein monsters, with all the extra features added on:
*3,000 chip starting stacks
*Turbo blinds
*Knockout bounties
At first I didn't realize the double-stack and turbo nature of these things. When I registered for my first one, I saw the large stack and thought, "Hell, this is going to take longer than I planned to play." After a while, I noticed that the blinds were going up awfully fast, and figured out that it was a turbo. Normally I don't like turbos, as I prefer to have some time to get a feel for my table and such. But, I realized, a deep stack tourney that was also a turbo might not take as long as I feared. That was a good thing, since my poker playing time is limited.
I was right. Things moved along fast. People were making really baffling plays, like calling off all their chips with middle or bottom pair or crap like K6. It was almost like they thought *they* would get the 50 cent bounty if they got knocked out, instead of the person who busted them. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't in a position to benefit from the donkery I witnessed. I got lousy hands and had to fold and watch the fireworks around me.
I played in two of these games over the last few days, and didn't cash in either one. I might well try them again, because they don't seem to take much longer than a regular two or five-table SNG, and the prize pool is bigger because of the higher number of entrants. If I can make a decent score in one or more of these, I ought to be able to play in some of the BBT3 events. I might take a stab at a Mookie or Riverchasers anyway, since a cash in one of those would set me up for some future play too. But I have to be careful about my bankroll on FT, or I'll be stuck doing the freerolls just to try win enough to get back into the $1.25 SNGs.
*3,000 chip starting stacks
*Turbo blinds
*Knockout bounties
At first I didn't realize the double-stack and turbo nature of these things. When I registered for my first one, I saw the large stack and thought, "Hell, this is going to take longer than I planned to play." After a while, I noticed that the blinds were going up awfully fast, and figured out that it was a turbo. Normally I don't like turbos, as I prefer to have some time to get a feel for my table and such. But, I realized, a deep stack tourney that was also a turbo might not take as long as I feared. That was a good thing, since my poker playing time is limited.
I was right. Things moved along fast. People were making really baffling plays, like calling off all their chips with middle or bottom pair or crap like K6. It was almost like they thought *they* would get the 50 cent bounty if they got knocked out, instead of the person who busted them. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't in a position to benefit from the donkery I witnessed. I got lousy hands and had to fold and watch the fireworks around me.
I played in two of these games over the last few days, and didn't cash in either one. I might well try them again, because they don't seem to take much longer than a regular two or five-table SNG, and the prize pool is bigger because of the higher number of entrants. If I can make a decent score in one or more of these, I ought to be able to play in some of the BBT3 events. I might take a stab at a Mookie or Riverchasers anyway, since a cash in one of those would set me up for some future play too. But I have to be careful about my bankroll on FT, or I'll be stuck doing the freerolls just to try win enough to get back into the $1.25 SNGs.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Still running strong in the Bodonkey
I finished fifth in the Bodog Blogger Tourney last night, maintaining my record of finishing in decent position more times than not. I even stayed in third place on the leaderboard, which is quite a feat for me. Now, if I can just keep the streak going and earn more leaderboard points in the weeks to come, I might actually have a shot at the TOC in June. And if a donkey like me can do this well, everyone should take a crack at this thing.
I stood a good chance at finishing even higher last night, but I made what I think was a bad play that decimated my stack at the final table. It went like this:
Blinds: 1,000/2,000/200
Five players
I was on the button and picked up Ac Kh. My stack was 33,776.
UTG folded.
23skidoo, with 32,061 in his stack, raised to 8,000.
I knew I was going to play this hand, but how? Our stacks were virtually even. His raise of 4XBB could mean almost anything - A-X, medium to high pair, the Hammer. Rather than push preflop, I thought I would just double his bet, to try to get him to think that I had a very strong hand and wanted a call, thus causing him to fold. I raised to 16,000. The blinds folded, but Brian called.
The flop came 3c Jh 2c.
No pair for me, and only a vague backdoor straight or flush draw. If Brian had AJ, A2 or A3, he just caught two pair. If he had a pair of anything else, he was still ahead of me. Even if he had the Hammer, he just paired his deuce and took the lead.
Brian pushed. I felt like I was behind, although he could have missed the flop like I did and was just hoping to push me off the hand or race me for the pot. But I felt like I could come back with the chips I would have left, so I folded.
Looking back, I feel like I should have just pushed over the top preflop and taken my chances with my AK. He might have folded, and if he called I would have got to see all five board cards.
I welcome any feedback on this hand. I do feel like I am developing a better feel for the game, but still have a long way to go in many areas.
A few hands later, I picked up JJ but ran it into emptyman's AT which ended up Aces full of Tens. Congrats to Drizztdj for winning it all last night.
See you Tuesday at the next Bodonkey!
I stood a good chance at finishing even higher last night, but I made what I think was a bad play that decimated my stack at the final table. It went like this:
Blinds: 1,000/2,000/200
Five players
I was on the button and picked up Ac Kh. My stack was 33,776.
UTG folded.
23skidoo, with 32,061 in his stack, raised to 8,000.
I knew I was going to play this hand, but how? Our stacks were virtually even. His raise of 4XBB could mean almost anything - A-X, medium to high pair, the Hammer. Rather than push preflop, I thought I would just double his bet, to try to get him to think that I had a very strong hand and wanted a call, thus causing him to fold. I raised to 16,000. The blinds folded, but Brian called.
The flop came 3c Jh 2c.
No pair for me, and only a vague backdoor straight or flush draw. If Brian had AJ, A2 or A3, he just caught two pair. If he had a pair of anything else, he was still ahead of me. Even if he had the Hammer, he just paired his deuce and took the lead.
Brian pushed. I felt like I was behind, although he could have missed the flop like I did and was just hoping to push me off the hand or race me for the pot. But I felt like I could come back with the chips I would have left, so I folded.
Looking back, I feel like I should have just pushed over the top preflop and taken my chances with my AK. He might have folded, and if he called I would have got to see all five board cards.
I welcome any feedback on this hand. I do feel like I am developing a better feel for the game, but still have a long way to go in many areas.
A few hands later, I picked up JJ but ran it into emptyman's AT which ended up Aces full of Tens. Congrats to Drizztdj for winning it all last night.
See you Tuesday at the next Bodonkey!
Sunday, March 02, 2008
BBT3 looking less likely for me
I tried to add to my FullTilt bankroll today by playing in a two-table $5.50 SNG. I was doing OK at first, sitting back and watching people knock each other out and swap chips around on loose plays. I was crippled when I made a bad call of a raise on a three-flush flop with only top pair. My FT roll is down below $75, which means I can only play a few Mookie or Riverchasers tourneys before going bust, unless I manage to cash in one of them. That isn't an easy task for me. I expect that I will try again to build up in more micro buy-in tourneys before risking my stake in the BBT games.
On a more entertaining note, I got this lucky hand in a Bodog ring game a couple of weeks ago:
I didn't make a lot of money on this hand, but I had one player in with me to the river who ended up turning a ten-high straight. Too bad it was limit, or I might have profited a bit more.
I should be in the Tuesday Bodog Blogger Tourney this week; I've got a nice roll there now, and they are offering a WSOP ME package to their TOC winner. Maybe I will have a chance at that.
On a more entertaining note, I got this lucky hand in a Bodog ring game a couple of weeks ago:
I didn't make a lot of money on this hand, but I had one player in with me to the river who ended up turning a ten-high straight. Too bad it was limit, or I might have profited a bit more.
I should be in the Tuesday Bodog Blogger Tourney this week; I've got a nice roll there now, and they are offering a WSOP ME package to their TOC winner. Maybe I will have a chance at that.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Battle of the Blogger Tournaments 3
Although I don't know how many BBT3 events I will get to play in, I want to pimp this series as a tip of the hat to Sir Al Can't Hang, who has worked his cheeks off to set these things up. I hope to score some wins soon on FullTilt so I will have the necessary bankroll to play often enough to qualify for the ridiculously fabulous prizes being offered. Check out either of the links above for more info on this fantastic opportunity.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Riding the Bodonkey roller coaster, all the way to the end
I think the wild ride started when I folded AA preflop.
In the Bodonkey last night, things went slowly for me early on. Not many hands worth playing, not many pots won when I had something. I stayed tight and didn't try to make any tricky or fancy plays. "Keep it simple" was my motto, and I stuck to it.
My stack dwindled down but I hung in. When we were down to about three tables, I picked up AA in late position. One player raised to 1,550, it folded to me, I min-raised to 2,500, hoping for a reraise all-in so I could call. On cue, the raiser pushed. I reached for my mouse to click the "Call" button, but my finger clicked the left button as the cursor was crossing the "Fold" button, and my bullets vanished. I nearly jumped out of my chair. I couldn't believe that I had screwed up my chance at what might have been an easy double up. Lucky for me, I still had a barely decent stack of chips left, but I was sure that my doom was sealed. I have been telling myself ever since that the Aces probably would have been cracked.
Then again, maybe not. Not long after that hand, just about everything started going my way. I picked up some strong starting cards. I bet them, and either picked up the blinds or won the hands on later streets. If someone pushed, I had a strong enough hand to call, and it held up. I still played extra tight, folding hands like AJ and 88 when I was out of position or sensed strength in my opponents. It got to the point where, by the final table, I could do no wrong. Mostly, I got my chips in ahead and came out ahead. I remember one suckout where I got all my chips in with 99 against Columbo's A-x. He flopped an A, but I turned a 9 to cripple him. A few hands later, Columbo doubled through me when he came from behind on one hand. But my rush would hold out and I started knocking players out one after another.
The end of the final table went so fast that I was able to pull these from Bodog's hand histories without much trouble:
Columbo pushes with JK; I call with 66. A Jack flops, but the turn is a 6, and I bust him.
Three hands later:
Kurokitty pushes with 44. I call with 88 and bust him.
Next hand:
Newinnov pushes with 99; I call with TT and bust him.
Two hands later, blinds $1K/2K/200:
I raise to 3K from the SB with J4; TFG in the BB calls.
Flop: 3h 4c 5c
I bet $6K; TFG raises to 12K; I call.
Turn: 6c
I check. TFG pushes for 8,856. I have over 116K so I call. TFG shows Ad 2d for the flopped straight, which has become a 6-high straight on the turn.
River: 2s
We play the board and chop the pot. TFG goes on tilt.
Four hands later:
I have Ac Jc on the button and open raise to 9K.
TFG in the SB pushes for 20,356. Pokerpeaker folds. I have over 120K so I call. TFG shows Ah Th. Board comes Q-3-J-6-J rainbow and I bust him.
Very next hand, heads up:
Pokerpeaker in the SB/button pushes for his last 8,684. I have 4d 3c but I have $150K so I have to call. Peaker shows Kc 6d.
Board comes 3s 5s Ad 5c 9s. My pair of 3s busts him.
Come on, say it with me - sick, sick, sick.
Stop the presses - I won my first ever blogger tournament. My previous best finishes in any blogger tourney were one second place, and two third places. But I'm not fooling myself by thinking that I won last night by my mad skillz. The Card Fairy dumped a boatload of good luck dust on me, and I know it. Now I plan to use the bankroll boost and T$ to play a few extra games and practice so I can improve my play. I don't want to depend on the good graces of the poker gods every time I sit down at the felt. But if they choose to smile on me again like they did in this week's Bodonkey, I will take any favors they are willing to bestow on me.
In the Bodonkey last night, things went slowly for me early on. Not many hands worth playing, not many pots won when I had something. I stayed tight and didn't try to make any tricky or fancy plays. "Keep it simple" was my motto, and I stuck to it.
My stack dwindled down but I hung in. When we were down to about three tables, I picked up AA in late position. One player raised to 1,550, it folded to me, I min-raised to 2,500, hoping for a reraise all-in so I could call. On cue, the raiser pushed. I reached for my mouse to click the "Call" button, but my finger clicked the left button as the cursor was crossing the "Fold" button, and my bullets vanished. I nearly jumped out of my chair. I couldn't believe that I had screwed up my chance at what might have been an easy double up. Lucky for me, I still had a barely decent stack of chips left, but I was sure that my doom was sealed. I have been telling myself ever since that the Aces probably would have been cracked.
Then again, maybe not. Not long after that hand, just about everything started going my way. I picked up some strong starting cards. I bet them, and either picked up the blinds or won the hands on later streets. If someone pushed, I had a strong enough hand to call, and it held up. I still played extra tight, folding hands like AJ and 88 when I was out of position or sensed strength in my opponents. It got to the point where, by the final table, I could do no wrong. Mostly, I got my chips in ahead and came out ahead. I remember one suckout where I got all my chips in with 99 against Columbo's A-x. He flopped an A, but I turned a 9 to cripple him. A few hands later, Columbo doubled through me when he came from behind on one hand. But my rush would hold out and I started knocking players out one after another.
The end of the final table went so fast that I was able to pull these from Bodog's hand histories without much trouble:
Columbo pushes with JK; I call with 66. A Jack flops, but the turn is a 6, and I bust him.
Three hands later:
Kurokitty pushes with 44. I call with 88 and bust him.
Next hand:
Newinnov pushes with 99; I call with TT and bust him.
Two hands later, blinds $1K/2K/200:
I raise to 3K from the SB with J4; TFG in the BB calls.
Flop: 3h 4c 5c
I bet $6K; TFG raises to 12K; I call.
Turn: 6c
I check. TFG pushes for 8,856. I have over 116K so I call. TFG shows Ad 2d for the flopped straight, which has become a 6-high straight on the turn.
River: 2s
We play the board and chop the pot. TFG goes on tilt.
Four hands later:
I have Ac Jc on the button and open raise to 9K.
TFG in the SB pushes for 20,356. Pokerpeaker folds. I have over 120K so I call. TFG shows Ah Th. Board comes Q-3-J-6-J rainbow and I bust him.
Very next hand, heads up:
Pokerpeaker in the SB/button pushes for his last 8,684. I have 4d 3c but I have $150K so I have to call. Peaker shows Kc 6d.
Board comes 3s 5s Ad 5c 9s. My pair of 3s busts him.
Come on, say it with me - sick, sick, sick.
Stop the presses - I won my first ever blogger tournament. My previous best finishes in any blogger tourney were one second place, and two third places. But I'm not fooling myself by thinking that I won last night by my mad skillz. The Card Fairy dumped a boatload of good luck dust on me, and I know it. Now I plan to use the bankroll boost and T$ to play a few extra games and practice so I can improve my play. I don't want to depend on the good graces of the poker gods every time I sit down at the felt. But if they choose to smile on me again like they did in this week's Bodonkey, I will take any favors they are willing to bestow on me.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Poker hara-kiri & break time
Last Tuesday in the Bodog Blogger Tournament, I performed the poker equivalent of throwing myself in front of a moving train, even though I saw it bearing down on me, and knew that the chances of it stopping without running me down were slim to none.
You see, I had been dealt KK in MP, raised 3XBB PF, got reraised by a LP player. The flop came with an Ace. I bet big for information and got raised. Gee, do you think he has an Ace in his hand? I called anyway. The turn was not a King, but I pushed. Of course he called, of course he had AQ, and of course I was out. 54th of 56. I would be hard pressed to think of a more foolish move to make.
I did not play poker for the rest of the week; I needed some breathing room after such utter donkery. I spent my spare time reading, watching a little TV, and hanging out with my family. I enjoyed it, and found that I didn't miss playing. But I wasn't giving up poker for Lent; just for a few days.
I broke my poker fast Sunday. I had (and still have now) the vestiges of a cold and wasn't feeling like running errands with my wife and son, so I stayed home and looked for a tournament to get into. I found a 180-player $4.40 SNG on PokerStars. Busted out in 83rd place after a long stretch of getting few hands to play and having to fold the ones worth playing. Then I decided to look at the guaranteed tourneys on Bodog because they so often have big overlays. I found a $4k guarantee with a $30 + 3 buy-in that only had about 40 people signed up. Normally I wouldn't play at that level, but with the $T that I had won in earlier Bodog Blogger games, I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to get into a tourney that could really pad my account if I could cash in it. By the time the tourney started, the guarantee had been exceeded, so there was no overlay. But, what the hell, I thought, might as well see how the mid-level play is. I didn't find it to be much different from what I am used to in the blogger games. I did OK for a while, and lucked out a few times to stay alive. I eventually finished 46th out of 140 runners. I know I could have played better on a few hands and possibly gone deeper, but I wasn't altogether unsatisfied with the decisions I made overall.
Once I busted out of the $4K, I felt like playing one more, so I jumped into a single table $2.20 SNG on Bodog. I very rarely play one-table SNGs because the payouts are negligible, especially at the micro-stakes where I play. But I figured it wouldn't take too long and I could scratch my poker itch one last time for the day. I ended up taking that one down for a $6 win (= a whopping $3.80 profit). I had to suck out a couple of times while on the short stack, but once again I felt like most of my decisions were good, or at least reasonable.
So far in 2008, I am roughly at the break-even point, bankroll-wise. I still have a nice cushion in $T on Bodog, so I can play the Tuesday night blogger tourneys for several more weeks without touching my cash there. I may not be able to make it regularly on Tuesdays, though, if I get cast in the play that I auditioned for Sunday evening. We'll see how that cuts into my poker playing time, if at all. If I am out of the Tuesday night games for a few weeks, I may have to seek out some of those other Bodog tourneys and maybe catch one where the overlay is in effect when the game starts.
You see, I had been dealt KK in MP, raised 3XBB PF, got reraised by a LP player. The flop came with an Ace. I bet big for information and got raised. Gee, do you think he has an Ace in his hand? I called anyway. The turn was not a King, but I pushed. Of course he called, of course he had AQ, and of course I was out. 54th of 56. I would be hard pressed to think of a more foolish move to make.
I did not play poker for the rest of the week; I needed some breathing room after such utter donkery. I spent my spare time reading, watching a little TV, and hanging out with my family. I enjoyed it, and found that I didn't miss playing. But I wasn't giving up poker for Lent; just for a few days.
I broke my poker fast Sunday. I had (and still have now) the vestiges of a cold and wasn't feeling like running errands with my wife and son, so I stayed home and looked for a tournament to get into. I found a 180-player $4.40 SNG on PokerStars. Busted out in 83rd place after a long stretch of getting few hands to play and having to fold the ones worth playing. Then I decided to look at the guaranteed tourneys on Bodog because they so often have big overlays. I found a $4k guarantee with a $30 + 3 buy-in that only had about 40 people signed up. Normally I wouldn't play at that level, but with the $T that I had won in earlier Bodog Blogger games, I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to get into a tourney that could really pad my account if I could cash in it. By the time the tourney started, the guarantee had been exceeded, so there was no overlay. But, what the hell, I thought, might as well see how the mid-level play is. I didn't find it to be much different from what I am used to in the blogger games. I did OK for a while, and lucked out a few times to stay alive. I eventually finished 46th out of 140 runners. I know I could have played better on a few hands and possibly gone deeper, but I wasn't altogether unsatisfied with the decisions I made overall.
Once I busted out of the $4K, I felt like playing one more, so I jumped into a single table $2.20 SNG on Bodog. I very rarely play one-table SNGs because the payouts are negligible, especially at the micro-stakes where I play. But I figured it wouldn't take too long and I could scratch my poker itch one last time for the day. I ended up taking that one down for a $6 win (= a whopping $3.80 profit). I had to suck out a couple of times while on the short stack, but once again I felt like most of my decisions were good, or at least reasonable.
So far in 2008, I am roughly at the break-even point, bankroll-wise. I still have a nice cushion in $T on Bodog, so I can play the Tuesday night blogger tourneys for several more weeks without touching my cash there. I may not be able to make it regularly on Tuesdays, though, if I get cast in the play that I auditioned for Sunday evening. We'll see how that cuts into my poker playing time, if at all. If I am out of the Tuesday night games for a few weeks, I may have to seek out some of those other Bodog tourneys and maybe catch one where the overlay is in effect when the game starts.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series begins February 4
The official announcement is out, and Bodog is pumping up their Tuesday night poker blogger tournament series. Here is the scoop, straight from the Bodog's mouth:
Bodog Introduces Poker Blogger Tournament Series
Bodog is proud to host the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series opened to any Online Poker Blogger. Join up and challenge other Poker Bloggers each week in our Bodog Poker Room and live to tell about it. Earn points and work your way up the Tournament Leader Board for a spot in the final tournament for your chance to win a $12,000 World Series of Poker* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.
How it Works
The Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series is composed of a series of 18 qualifying tournaments that run weekly beginning Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 to Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008. The top 30% of finishers in each qualifying tournament will earn points based on their finish. These points will be used to rank players over 4 months of qualifying. At the end of the qualifying series, the top 18 players on the Tournament Leader Board will play in the Final Tournament on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 with the first place finisher winning a $12,000 WSOP* prize package!
Prizes
Weekly Tournaments
Buy-in: $10 + $1
Prize Pool will be distributed as per Bodog's standard multi-table payout table. In addition, the top 5 players each week will also win T$109 to be used to buy-in to the $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament held every Sunday at 4:00 PM ET. The top 5 bubble players each week will win a free buy-in to next week's Weekly Tournament. (T$11 will be credited to these players' Bodog account within 24 hours after the completion of the tournament)
Final Tournament
Buy-in: $0 + $0 (must finish in the Top 18 on the TLB to be invited)
Grand Prize: $12,000 WSOP* Prize Package with Team Bodog
2nd place: T$540 to be used to buy-in to (2) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
3rd place: T$379 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal and (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
4th: T$270 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
5th: T$109 to be used to buy-in to (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
Bodog Blogger Tournament Leader Board
The Tournament Leader Board will be available at http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/
throughout the course of the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series. It will provide the point totals for every player that has played in the qualifying tournaments. The top 30% of players in each tournament will receive points according to finish which at the end of the qualifying tournaments will ultimately determine who will move on to the Final Event. The top 18 players on the TLB at the end of the qualifiers will earn their way to the Final Event.
How To Register
To register for the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series, poker bloggers must first go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they then must click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.
Bodog Blogger Tournament Host Site
Bodogbloggertournament.com will host this tournament series and will provide poker bloggers with weekly updates on:
* tournament results for winners and losers
* announcements for special promotions or guest players
* the latest in Bodog Poker Room news and gossip
* tips on how to succeed at Bodog Poker
----------------------------
Follow any of the links above to get more info. Props must again go out to $mokkee for hosting the Tuesday night games and working with the Bodog folks to sponsor this weekly tournament and now up the ante to make it even more attractive for bloggers to enter.
See you there!
Bodog Introduces Poker Blogger Tournament Series
Bodog is proud to host the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series opened to any Online Poker Blogger. Join up and challenge other Poker Bloggers each week in our Bodog Poker Room and live to tell about it. Earn points and work your way up the Tournament Leader Board for a spot in the final tournament for your chance to win a $12,000 World Series of Poker* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008.
How it Works
The Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series is composed of a series of 18 qualifying tournaments that run weekly beginning Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 to Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008. The top 30% of finishers in each qualifying tournament will earn points based on their finish. These points will be used to rank players over 4 months of qualifying. At the end of the qualifying series, the top 18 players on the Tournament Leader Board will play in the Final Tournament on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 with the first place finisher winning a $12,000 WSOP* prize package!
Prizes
Weekly Tournaments
Buy-in: $10 + $1
Prize Pool will be distributed as per Bodog's standard multi-table payout table. In addition, the top 5 players each week will also win T$109 to be used to buy-in to the $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament held every Sunday at 4:00 PM ET. The top 5 bubble players each week will win a free buy-in to next week's Weekly Tournament. (T$11 will be credited to these players' Bodog account within 24 hours after the completion of the tournament)
Final Tournament
Buy-in: $0 + $0 (must finish in the Top 18 on the TLB to be invited)
Grand Prize: $12,000 WSOP* Prize Package with Team Bodog
2nd place: T$540 to be used to buy-in to (2) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
3rd place: T$379 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal and (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
4th: T$270 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
5th: T$109 to be used to buy-in to (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
Bodog Blogger Tournament Leader Board
The Tournament Leader Board will be available at http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/
throughout the course of the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series. It will provide the point totals for every player that has played in the qualifying tournaments. The top 30% of players in each tournament will receive points according to finish which at the end of the qualifying tournaments will ultimately determine who will move on to the Final Event. The top 18 players on the TLB at the end of the qualifiers will earn their way to the Final Event.
How To Register
To register for the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series, poker bloggers must first go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they then must click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.
Bodog Blogger Tournament Host Site
Bodogbloggertournament.com will host this tournament series and will provide poker bloggers with weekly updates on:
* tournament results for winners and losers
* announcements for special promotions or guest players
* the latest in Bodog Poker Room news and gossip
* tips on how to succeed at Bodog Poker
----------------------------
Follow any of the links above to get more info. Props must again go out to $mokkee for hosting the Tuesday night games and working with the Bodog folks to sponsor this weekly tournament and now up the ante to make it even more attractive for bloggers to enter.
See you there!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Fifth is the new first
For the second week in a row, I somehow managed to finish in fifth place in the Tuesday night Bodog Blogger Tournament, hosted by $mokkee. It took even more lucksackery for me this week than last; there were at least two hands where I pushed with small pairs, got called by bigger pairs or overcards, and flopped a set to double up. Thanks once again to Bodog's generous overlay, I had $T109 added to my tournament credit balance, to go along with the real cash for my fifth place finish. I think I'll be playing more at Bodog, as I understand that they often have a nice overlay in many of their other tourneys too.
Pokerpeaker was the other luckbox in the game last night. He was down to 65 chips at the final table, made an astounding comeback, and took second place. Go read his blog for the gory details. Lightning36 came out on top at the end, for his fourth (!!!) Bodonkey tourney win.
Starting next Tuesday, the Bodog Blogger Tourney will become a series of 18 weekly tournaments which will include leaderboard points and a Tournament of Champions at the end of the series, with a "sick" prize (sez $mokkee) to be awarded to the champ, plus other prizes for the rest of the top finishers. The announcement of what the prizes will be is scheduled for Friday Feb. 1, so stay tuned to $mokkee's blog for the dirt on that. I'll be playing and hoping to keep my rush going.
Pokerpeaker was the other luckbox in the game last night. He was down to 65 chips at the final table, made an astounding comeback, and took second place. Go read his blog for the gory details. Lightning36 came out on top at the end, for his fourth (!!!) Bodonkey tourney win.
Starting next Tuesday, the Bodog Blogger Tourney will become a series of 18 weekly tournaments which will include leaderboard points and a Tournament of Champions at the end of the series, with a "sick" prize (sez $mokkee) to be awarded to the champ, plus other prizes for the rest of the top finishers. The announcement of what the prizes will be is scheduled for Friday Feb. 1, so stay tuned to $mokkee's blog for the dirt on that. I'll be playing and hoping to keep my rush going.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
What's a donkey to do?
Has it really been three weeks since I posted here? Feels like longer. Occasionally I'll get an idea that seems like it might be worth posting, but that feeling usually passes quickly. But, if for no other reason than to pretend that I am still a poker blogger, I figure I'll throw something up here.
Let's get the trivial things like results out of the way first.
Cash games since last post = in the red
Tourneys since last post = in the black*
*The asterisk is because my "profit" has come from the tournament credits I won in the Bodog Blogger Game last Tuesday. I folded and luckboxed my way to fifth in that tourney, which got me $29.60 in real US money, but also $T109 in my Bodog account thanks to their generous bonus program for these tourneys. If not for that, I would still be well into the red for tournaments so far this calendar year. I plan to use the $T to play in the Tuesday night games as regularly as I can, and possibly to check out some of their other tournaments.
Because I am a consistent loser at tourneys these days, I am trying to play in more ring games to see if I can perform with some semblance of success. I stick to the micro-limits, to make my bankroll last as long as possible. I have no desire to jump through the hoops or pay the fees to fund my accounts at the poker sites, so I'd like to milk my meager stakes in the three sites where I am funded for as long as possible.
A problem with that is, playing for nickels and dimes means that any wins I bank don't amount to much, so my roll doesn't grow with any speed. That isn't to say that I am impatient; I can fold hand after hand with the tightest of them. In fact, I am doing that as I type this, in a $0.02 - 0.04 Limit O8 game on PokerStars. I have had a bunch 0f hands with middle cards, and very few Aces, so my Fold button is getting a real workout. What I need is a run of decent hands so I can win some pots from the any-four-cards playing fish in these games. Maybe I need to switch back to Stud 8, which I did OK at for a while last year.
I'm playing strictly Limit poker in the ring games, mostly because I feel more comfortable playing Limit outside of tournaments. I have not, however, played in any Limit tourneys yet, because they generally take way too long.
I'm in my usual quandary about what to do about poker. Am I enjoying it enough to tolerate the steady diminishing of my bankroll? Will it do me any good to read more poker books, or have I reached a saturation point with those? Should I find something better to do with the time that I spend on poker now?
Here's one I'm wondering about: Should I take a bigger risk, play at slightly higher levels where I can use what little I have learned about how to play correctly against other players who might actually fold their crap hands to my bets and raises? I have resisted this temptation for a long time, partly because I am a wuss and don't like to get in over my head, and partly because I know that variance could easily cripple me with a few losing rounds as well as give me a nice cushion if I were to have a few winning sessions.
I expect that I will just plod along as I have been. I'll play in the Bodog Tuesday night game as long as my credits and bankroll there hold out, and try to slowly build my roll on PokerStars and FullTilt as I get the chance.
And now, a word from one of our sponsors:
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Let's get the trivial things like results out of the way first.
Cash games since last post = in the red
Tourneys since last post = in the black*
*The asterisk is because my "profit" has come from the tournament credits I won in the Bodog Blogger Game last Tuesday. I folded and luckboxed my way to fifth in that tourney, which got me $29.60 in real US money, but also $T109 in my Bodog account thanks to their generous bonus program for these tourneys. If not for that, I would still be well into the red for tournaments so far this calendar year. I plan to use the $T to play in the Tuesday night games as regularly as I can, and possibly to check out some of their other tournaments.
Because I am a consistent loser at tourneys these days, I am trying to play in more ring games to see if I can perform with some semblance of success. I stick to the micro-limits, to make my bankroll last as long as possible. I have no desire to jump through the hoops or pay the fees to fund my accounts at the poker sites, so I'd like to milk my meager stakes in the three sites where I am funded for as long as possible.
A problem with that is, playing for nickels and dimes means that any wins I bank don't amount to much, so my roll doesn't grow with any speed. That isn't to say that I am impatient; I can fold hand after hand with the tightest of them. In fact, I am doing that as I type this, in a $0.02 - 0.04 Limit O8 game on PokerStars. I have had a bunch 0f hands with middle cards, and very few Aces, so my Fold button is getting a real workout. What I need is a run of decent hands so I can win some pots from the any-four-cards playing fish in these games. Maybe I need to switch back to Stud 8, which I did OK at for a while last year.
I'm playing strictly Limit poker in the ring games, mostly because I feel more comfortable playing Limit outside of tournaments. I have not, however, played in any Limit tourneys yet, because they generally take way too long.
I'm in my usual quandary about what to do about poker. Am I enjoying it enough to tolerate the steady diminishing of my bankroll? Will it do me any good to read more poker books, or have I reached a saturation point with those? Should I find something better to do with the time that I spend on poker now?
Here's one I'm wondering about: Should I take a bigger risk, play at slightly higher levels where I can use what little I have learned about how to play correctly against other players who might actually fold their crap hands to my bets and raises? I have resisted this temptation for a long time, partly because I am a wuss and don't like to get in over my head, and partly because I know that variance could easily cripple me with a few losing rounds as well as give me a nice cushion if I were to have a few winning sessions.
I expect that I will just plod along as I have been. I'll play in the Bodog Tuesday night game as long as my credits and bankroll there hold out, and try to slowly build my roll on PokerStars and FullTilt as I get the chance.
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Sunday, January 06, 2008
Okie-Vegas 2008 - be there!
GCox has posted the announcement that everyone (who is anyone) has been waiting for:
Okie-Vegas 3 is go for launch this summer! Go check his site for the lowdown. I'll be there, good Lord willin' and the crick don't rise, so don't miss your chance to take my money, hang out with some wild and crazy poker bloggers, and have a whooping-hollering-yeehaw-good time.
And if you are wondering what Okie-Vegas 2 was like, check my report here, which also has links to other folks' accounts of the festivities.
See you there!
Okie-Vegas 3 is go for launch this summer! Go check his site for the lowdown. I'll be there, good Lord willin' and the crick don't rise, so don't miss your chance to take my money, hang out with some wild and crazy poker bloggers, and have a whooping-hollering-yeehaw-good time.
And if you are wondering what Okie-Vegas 2 was like, check my report here, which also has links to other folks' accounts of the festivities.
See you there!
Looking behind, looking ahead
A new year has begun , so it's probably time to review how I fared in 2007, and what I plan to do in 2008.
I keep records of my play, so I have a pretty good idea of my results for online play for the past year. (I have left live play out of this review because I played so little live poker.) Here are some figures that I have to chew on:
Tournaments played (SNG and scheduled): 107
Tournaments cashed: 21
Tournaments won (finished first): 3
Cash game sessions: 88
Cash game sessions where I quit with a profit: 42
I don't even know what constitutes a "good" record for cashes per tourneys played or anything like that, but I definitely lost a chunk of change, compared to the stakes I play, in tournaments in 2007. I came out just a few dollars behind for the year in cash games, but I didn't spend nearly as much time at ring games as in tourneys, so I don't think I have a good sample to know if I am better suited for ring game play than tourneys.
Here are some more telling stats:
Tournaments played with buy-in of $11.00: 22 (of the 107 total above)
Tournaments cashed with buy-in of $11.00: 4
These $11.00 games were all blogger tourneys, and my performance in them was pretty poor. Other than one charity tourney where I put in $40.00, these blogger tourneys were the highest buy-in games that I played, and therefore put the biggest dents in my bankroll. Although my cashing percentage in lower buy-in tourneys isn't much higher than for the blogger tourneys, they also don't drain my roll as much when I finish out of the money.
What does this tell me about how I am doing as a poker player, and about what I should do in the coming year?
First, I have to look at my roll. I have funds on three sites at the moment: FullTilt, PokerStars, and Bodog. I only have money on Bodog because they offered to stake me in exchange for the link on this blog; the other two sites have been funded for a while, although I needed some help to get more money onto FullTilt when that account got low. As of now, PokerStars has the most and FullTilt has the least. One significant equation that I have looked at is this:
FT is where almost all the blogger tourneys are.
Blogger tourneys cost $11.00 or more to enter.
I have less than $100 on FT now.
I don't do well in blogger tourneys.
All of these factors add up to:
I won't be playing in any blogger games on FT until I build my roll there.
I don't want to deposit any more funds on any sites right now; I would rather add to my accounts the old fashioned way: by EARNING (read: winning) it.
I have less than $100 on Bodog too, so I will have to see if I can build that up through smaller-stakes tourneys and such so I can play in their Tuesday night blogger game more often.
I have a somewhat bigger roll on PokerStars, although it is still under $200, so I might be able to play in a few mid-level games there if I do so intelligently. Unfortunately, the blogger group that I know best doesn't seem to play much over there, or at least doesn't have regularly scheduled tourneys or games, so it isn't quite as much fun.
So, I know I won't be playing in the blogger games any time real soon. But what is on my list of things to *do* rather than *not do*?
1. Read and study more to improve my game. I know that I need to refresh my mind and memory on the proper techniques so I can make better decisions, which should help my bottom line results in the long run.
2. Work on playing my opponents more and my cards less. I really need to develop these skills a lot further if I hope to succeed at all.
3. Play more ring games and see how I do there. I want to be a well-rounded player and not narrow my focus too much onto tournaments.
4. Learn more about, and play more often in, several varieties of poker. I don't want to spread myself too thin and try to become an expert in everything, but I do want to have a decent working knowledge of multiple games and of poker in general.
5. Be more focused and in the game, and not allow myself to be distracted while playing. If I can improve at this, I'm sure it will help me perform better and, again, make better decisions.
6. Take more notes on my opponents, and use them to my advantage. I've done very little of this, although I know that it could be a huge help to me, so I need to be more disciplined about it.
How are those for New Year's resolutions? I'll bet they match those of some of the rest of the poker players in the world, and maybe some of you who read this. I wish us all luck in keeping up with them, and in becoming better poker players in 2008.
I keep records of my play, so I have a pretty good idea of my results for online play for the past year. (I have left live play out of this review because I played so little live poker.) Here are some figures that I have to chew on:
Tournaments played (SNG and scheduled): 107
Tournaments cashed: 21
Tournaments won (finished first): 3
Cash game sessions: 88
Cash game sessions where I quit with a profit: 42
I don't even know what constitutes a "good" record for cashes per tourneys played or anything like that, but I definitely lost a chunk of change, compared to the stakes I play, in tournaments in 2007. I came out just a few dollars behind for the year in cash games, but I didn't spend nearly as much time at ring games as in tourneys, so I don't think I have a good sample to know if I am better suited for ring game play than tourneys.
Here are some more telling stats:
Tournaments played with buy-in of $11.00: 22 (of the 107 total above)
Tournaments cashed with buy-in of $11.00: 4
These $11.00 games were all blogger tourneys, and my performance in them was pretty poor. Other than one charity tourney where I put in $40.00, these blogger tourneys were the highest buy-in games that I played, and therefore put the biggest dents in my bankroll. Although my cashing percentage in lower buy-in tourneys isn't much higher than for the blogger tourneys, they also don't drain my roll as much when I finish out of the money.
What does this tell me about how I am doing as a poker player, and about what I should do in the coming year?
First, I have to look at my roll. I have funds on three sites at the moment: FullTilt, PokerStars, and Bodog. I only have money on Bodog because they offered to stake me in exchange for the link on this blog; the other two sites have been funded for a while, although I needed some help to get more money onto FullTilt when that account got low. As of now, PokerStars has the most and FullTilt has the least. One significant equation that I have looked at is this:
FT is where almost all the blogger tourneys are.
Blogger tourneys cost $11.00 or more to enter.
I have less than $100 on FT now.
I don't do well in blogger tourneys.
All of these factors add up to:
I won't be playing in any blogger games on FT until I build my roll there.
I don't want to deposit any more funds on any sites right now; I would rather add to my accounts the old fashioned way: by EARNING (read: winning) it.
I have less than $100 on Bodog too, so I will have to see if I can build that up through smaller-stakes tourneys and such so I can play in their Tuesday night blogger game more often.
I have a somewhat bigger roll on PokerStars, although it is still under $200, so I might be able to play in a few mid-level games there if I do so intelligently. Unfortunately, the blogger group that I know best doesn't seem to play much over there, or at least doesn't have regularly scheduled tourneys or games, so it isn't quite as much fun.
So, I know I won't be playing in the blogger games any time real soon. But what is on my list of things to *do* rather than *not do*?
1. Read and study more to improve my game. I know that I need to refresh my mind and memory on the proper techniques so I can make better decisions, which should help my bottom line results in the long run.
2. Work on playing my opponents more and my cards less. I really need to develop these skills a lot further if I hope to succeed at all.
3. Play more ring games and see how I do there. I want to be a well-rounded player and not narrow my focus too much onto tournaments.
4. Learn more about, and play more often in, several varieties of poker. I don't want to spread myself too thin and try to become an expert in everything, but I do want to have a decent working knowledge of multiple games and of poker in general.
5. Be more focused and in the game, and not allow myself to be distracted while playing. If I can improve at this, I'm sure it will help me perform better and, again, make better decisions.
6. Take more notes on my opponents, and use them to my advantage. I've done very little of this, although I know that it could be a huge help to me, so I need to be more disciplined about it.
How are those for New Year's resolutions? I'll bet they match those of some of the rest of the poker players in the world, and maybe some of you who read this. I wish us all luck in keeping up with them, and in becoming better poker players in 2008.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
WPBT Winter Classic 2007 trip report
I've been home from the WPBT Winter Classic for five days now and, like the procrastinator that I am, I'm just now writing my recollections from the trip. Some of the memories are starting to fade from my aging brain already, so I'd better commit them to my blog before they vanish completely.
Overall, I had a great time and I'm very glad I went. The best part was meeting lots of people that I had only chatted with or heard of on line. Although I am probably going to leave some out, the roll call of new faces that I got to put with names includes Dr. Pauly, Iggy, Change100, Columbo and the Mrs., Instant Tragedy, Pokerpeaker, Falstaff, Derek, Otis, AlCan'tHang, Mean Gene, Weak Player, Penner, Blinders, Zeem, The Rooster, Mr. Subliminal, CarmenSinCity, Joe Speaker, Irish Jim, BadBlood, Bacon Bikini Mary, Mattazuma, ScottMc, Maigrey, Garthmeister, Texas April, StB, Biggestron, TraumaPoker, Waffles, Linda Geenen, CC, Johnny Hughes, CK aka B.w.o.P, and undoubtedly more whom I can't remember at the moment. Please leave me a comment if I left you out (or got your link wrong) and I will update this post. I also renewed my acquaintance with the Okie-Vegas crew that I met this summer: GCox and Carrie, Maudie, Gracie, Jordan, TripJax (and ChickJax for the first time), Katitude, and F-Train. Some of the people above, I got to spend a bit of time with; others, I managed an introduction and a handshake and that was it. But it was a pleasure meeting everyone, and I'm sorry that I didn't get to meet even more people who were there but I just plain missed.
As for the reason for the whole thing in the first place: Poker. My performance was, in a word, variable. I played the mixed games at MGM Friday night; went up for a bit, then donked off enough chips to finish my night down about half my buy-in. It was fun playing a variety of games, with a variety of players. At my table during the course of the evening I had Falstaff, Trauma, Mary, the Rooster, Linda, Jordan, and a few others. Everyone was there to have a good time and the play was fairly loose, even by a tighty like me which may well account for me finishing down as much as I did. We played Crazy Pineapple, Omaha 8, Razz, maybe Stud 8, and strangely enough, one orbit of good old fashioned Hold 'Em. All $3 - $6 Limit, thank goodness, or I think I would have had to bail out early or skip it altogether.
The Main Event tourney on Saturday at the Venetian. I decided going in that I was going to stay tight and not take any foolish chances. The structure arranged by Falstaff and the Venetian poker room allowed for being conservative and sticking around for a while. Too bad I couldn't follow my own game plan. The hand that essentially finished me went down something like this (like I said, my memory is getting worse by the hour).
The table had been playing fairly tight. Blinds were 50/100, I still had maybe 5000 of my starting stack of 6000. I was in EP and got AJ (may have both been diamonds). I raised to 400 in hopes of representing a strong hand and getting heads-up or taking the blinds. Carol (whose screen name I don't recall), two seats to my left and almost even with me in chips, called; everyone else folded. Flop had A 9 5, all hearts. I felt like I had to bet my top pair to see where I stood, so I put in around 500. I think Carol raised to about 2000. At this point, I didn't put her on the flush, as I would expect her just to call. I thought she might have another A with possibly a lower kicker than mine and she was trying to get me to fold. I called, leaving me with roughly 3000 or a little less. The turn was a J, not a heart. I caught my second pair, so I bet out. Carol went all in. I thought about it, thinking she was still trying to push me off the hand, and made the call. She turned over 99 for the flopped set. I didn't see that coming, but I should have, as her bets made sense for that holding. I just didn't run through the entire range of hands she might have had. Also, even worse, it was still early enough in the tournament that I could have folded on the turn and had plenty of chips to keep playing. That mistake is what bothers me the most about this hand. Anyhow, I didn't catch an A or J on the river. I had Carol covered by 75 chips, but I lost those a few hands later when my Kd Jd ran into Linda's AK which flopped two more Aces. So, I busted out before the second level was done. I felt really stupid after that and swore, for about the 77th time in my life, that I was done with poker, forever. That lasted about 20 minutes, until I decided to play some low-stakes Limit. I got into a $4 - 8 game which turned out to be pretty soft. I caught a few hands and won a few pots, and then Maudie joined my table after she busted out of the tourney. She did better than I did, catching some monster hands and raking some very nice pots. I only wish I could have made back my tourney buy-in, but that would have taken more time than I had. I wanted to see Second City at the Flamingo that night, so I headed down there and got a ticket to the 10:00 PM show. To kill time before that started, I played some $2-4 Limit for about an hour and a half and finished about $20 ahead. Oh yeah, Second City was great.
Sunday, I played in the noon $60 tourney at the Imperial Palace, after visiting with the blogger gang in the sports bar for a while in the morning. I didn't last long in that one either, but I feel like I just got unlucky this time. I picked up AK in MP, pushed for about 2000, and got called by the BB who showed AA. No help for me and I was out. After going back to the sports bar to watch the Cowboys come from behind to beat Detroit, I went back to the IP poker room and played some $2-4 Limit. This game was softer than the Venetian $4-8, and thanks to a few sets and other good hands that held up, I finished that long session having more than doubled my $60 buy-in. My results for the trip were in the minus column, but I found that I still know how to play poker, at least some of the time.
When I wasn't at the poker tables, I didn't spend a lot of time with the other bloggers. I hung out with the group Thursday night at the Pai Gow tables and even played a little, finishing $20 ahead for the night. Friday, I spent at the Las Vegas Hilton treating myself to an afternoon at the Star Trek Experience, going on both rides and the Backstage Tour. That really was fun for a long-time Trek fan like me. But the rest of the time, I still felt mostly like the new kid at school, not really knowing everyone else who had already been through last semester together and had their friends to hang out with. That isn't to say that anyone was aloof or unfriendly to me; the opposite is true. But I think it is not uncommon for someone who is just meeting a group of people for the first time not to integrate into that group right away. I figure that if I go to another WPBT gathering, I won't be the rookie any more and I'll fit in a little better. Still, my style doesn't match that of a lot of this group, so the hard-drinking and party-till-dawn crowd probably won't be counting me among their number, at least not for the whole weekend.
Since I got home, I have played in the Riverchasers on Thursday and the Donkament on Friday. I didn't do very well in either of them, so my FT bankroll is getting punier all the time. It looks like I will be taking a break from the regular blogger tourneys and playing smaller games to build my roll back up. (I still have some $$$ on Bodog so I will probably play in their Tuesday night blogger tourney at least some of the time.) Meanwhile, I'll be reading my favorite poker blogs to keep up with what's going on in our little corner of the world.
To anyone reading this who was in Vegas last weekend: Thanks for the great time! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did, or more. See you at another one soon!
Overall, I had a great time and I'm very glad I went. The best part was meeting lots of people that I had only chatted with or heard of on line. Although I am probably going to leave some out, the roll call of new faces that I got to put with names includes Dr. Pauly, Iggy, Change100, Columbo and the Mrs., Instant Tragedy, Pokerpeaker, Falstaff, Derek, Otis, AlCan'tHang, Mean Gene, Weak Player, Penner, Blinders, Zeem, The Rooster, Mr. Subliminal, CarmenSinCity, Joe Speaker, Irish Jim, BadBlood, Bacon Bikini Mary, Mattazuma, ScottMc, Maigrey, Garthmeister, Texas April, StB, Biggestron, TraumaPoker, Waffles, Linda Geenen, CC, Johnny Hughes, CK aka B.w.o.P, and undoubtedly more whom I can't remember at the moment. Please leave me a comment if I left you out (or got your link wrong) and I will update this post. I also renewed my acquaintance with the Okie-Vegas crew that I met this summer: GCox and Carrie, Maudie, Gracie, Jordan, TripJax (and ChickJax for the first time), Katitude, and F-Train. Some of the people above, I got to spend a bit of time with; others, I managed an introduction and a handshake and that was it. But it was a pleasure meeting everyone, and I'm sorry that I didn't get to meet even more people who were there but I just plain missed.
As for the reason for the whole thing in the first place: Poker. My performance was, in a word, variable. I played the mixed games at MGM Friday night; went up for a bit, then donked off enough chips to finish my night down about half my buy-in. It was fun playing a variety of games, with a variety of players. At my table during the course of the evening I had Falstaff, Trauma, Mary, the Rooster, Linda, Jordan, and a few others. Everyone was there to have a good time and the play was fairly loose, even by a tighty like me which may well account for me finishing down as much as I did. We played Crazy Pineapple, Omaha 8, Razz, maybe Stud 8, and strangely enough, one orbit of good old fashioned Hold 'Em. All $3 - $6 Limit, thank goodness, or I think I would have had to bail out early or skip it altogether.
The Main Event tourney on Saturday at the Venetian. I decided going in that I was going to stay tight and not take any foolish chances. The structure arranged by Falstaff and the Venetian poker room allowed for being conservative and sticking around for a while. Too bad I couldn't follow my own game plan. The hand that essentially finished me went down something like this (like I said, my memory is getting worse by the hour).
The table had been playing fairly tight. Blinds were 50/100, I still had maybe 5000 of my starting stack of 6000. I was in EP and got AJ (may have both been diamonds). I raised to 400 in hopes of representing a strong hand and getting heads-up or taking the blinds. Carol (whose screen name I don't recall), two seats to my left and almost even with me in chips, called; everyone else folded. Flop had A 9 5, all hearts. I felt like I had to bet my top pair to see where I stood, so I put in around 500. I think Carol raised to about 2000. At this point, I didn't put her on the flush, as I would expect her just to call. I thought she might have another A with possibly a lower kicker than mine and she was trying to get me to fold. I called, leaving me with roughly 3000 or a little less. The turn was a J, not a heart. I caught my second pair, so I bet out. Carol went all in. I thought about it, thinking she was still trying to push me off the hand, and made the call. She turned over 99 for the flopped set. I didn't see that coming, but I should have, as her bets made sense for that holding. I just didn't run through the entire range of hands she might have had. Also, even worse, it was still early enough in the tournament that I could have folded on the turn and had plenty of chips to keep playing. That mistake is what bothers me the most about this hand. Anyhow, I didn't catch an A or J on the river. I had Carol covered by 75 chips, but I lost those a few hands later when my Kd Jd ran into Linda's AK which flopped two more Aces. So, I busted out before the second level was done. I felt really stupid after that and swore, for about the 77th time in my life, that I was done with poker, forever. That lasted about 20 minutes, until I decided to play some low-stakes Limit. I got into a $4 - 8 game which turned out to be pretty soft. I caught a few hands and won a few pots, and then Maudie joined my table after she busted out of the tourney. She did better than I did, catching some monster hands and raking some very nice pots. I only wish I could have made back my tourney buy-in, but that would have taken more time than I had. I wanted to see Second City at the Flamingo that night, so I headed down there and got a ticket to the 10:00 PM show. To kill time before that started, I played some $2-4 Limit for about an hour and a half and finished about $20 ahead. Oh yeah, Second City was great.
Sunday, I played in the noon $60 tourney at the Imperial Palace, after visiting with the blogger gang in the sports bar for a while in the morning. I didn't last long in that one either, but I feel like I just got unlucky this time. I picked up AK in MP, pushed for about 2000, and got called by the BB who showed AA. No help for me and I was out. After going back to the sports bar to watch the Cowboys come from behind to beat Detroit, I went back to the IP poker room and played some $2-4 Limit. This game was softer than the Venetian $4-8, and thanks to a few sets and other good hands that held up, I finished that long session having more than doubled my $60 buy-in. My results for the trip were in the minus column, but I found that I still know how to play poker, at least some of the time.
When I wasn't at the poker tables, I didn't spend a lot of time with the other bloggers. I hung out with the group Thursday night at the Pai Gow tables and even played a little, finishing $20 ahead for the night. Friday, I spent at the Las Vegas Hilton treating myself to an afternoon at the Star Trek Experience, going on both rides and the Backstage Tour. That really was fun for a long-time Trek fan like me. But the rest of the time, I still felt mostly like the new kid at school, not really knowing everyone else who had already been through last semester together and had their friends to hang out with. That isn't to say that anyone was aloof or unfriendly to me; the opposite is true. But I think it is not uncommon for someone who is just meeting a group of people for the first time not to integrate into that group right away. I figure that if I go to another WPBT gathering, I won't be the rookie any more and I'll fit in a little better. Still, my style doesn't match that of a lot of this group, so the hard-drinking and party-till-dawn crowd probably won't be counting me among their number, at least not for the whole weekend.
Since I got home, I have played in the Riverchasers on Thursday and the Donkament on Friday. I didn't do very well in either of them, so my FT bankroll is getting punier all the time. It looks like I will be taking a break from the regular blogger tourneys and playing smaller games to build my roll back up. (I still have some $$$ on Bodog so I will probably play in their Tuesday night blogger tourney at least some of the time.) Meanwhile, I'll be reading my favorite poker blogs to keep up with what's going on in our little corner of the world.
To anyone reading this who was in Vegas last weekend: Thanks for the great time! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did, or more. See you at another one soon!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Tuesday night blogger tourney at Bodog
I will have a report about my trip to Las Vegas for the WPBT Winter Classic soon. In the meanwhile, check this out:
I have heard about a blogger tournament on Bodog which is held every Tuesday night, and I may be joining in soon. Here are some details....
Play Bodog’s Online Poker Blogger Tournament Tuesday Nights!
If you are 1 of the 5 money bubblers, you’ll have your $11 buy-in refunded and if you finish in the top 5 you will win an entry for Bodog’s Sunday $100K Guaranteed tournament.
This tournament runs weekly on Tuesday evenings and requires a password for entry.
Tournament Details
If you haven’t played at the Bodog Poker Room before, please download and install the FREE software client at: http://poker.bodoglife.com/how-to-play/download-poker.html. It only takes minutes!
If you’re not yet a Bodog member, sign up for your FREE account by clicking the “Join Now” button in the Poker Room client.
Getting Started At The Bodog Online Poker Room
http://poker.bodoglife.com/how-to-play/getting-started.html
If you need assistance with signing up for the tournament or with starting a Bodog Account please call or email:
Bodog Poker Customer Service Number: 1-866-909-2237
Bodog Poker Customer Service Email: poker@bodoglife.com
Bodog Poker - New Design, New Look!
http://www.calvinayrelife.com/bodog-poker-new-software-new-look.html
Bodog Poker – A Name You Can Trust!
http://poker.bodoglife.com/how-to-play/shuffle-certification.html
BoDonkey Poker Blogger Tournament Banner
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2036/1801232650_1ecf43fb1f.jpg
Featuring the Bodacious Bodog Girl Izabella.
Read daily tournament updates at tournament host site http://www.smokkee.com/
Latest update: “Bodog has record turn out for online poker blogger tournament!”
Bodog will continue to run this tournament on Tuesday nights into the New Year and increase prizes as well as turn this into a poker league with an ongoing leader board.
Live The Life in Las Vegas Contest at Bodog
Enter to win an exclusive trip to Las Vegas and experience the life.
Entrants are automatically entered to win an iPhone in Bodog's weekly giveaway.
What are YOU waiting for? Enter now at http://www.livethelifecontest.com/
I have heard about a blogger tournament on Bodog which is held every Tuesday night, and I may be joining in soon. Here are some details....
Play Bodog’s Online Poker Blogger Tournament Tuesday Nights!
Bodog invites Poker Bloggers to play in its Online Poker Blogger Tournament with a total of $600 in bonus money.
If you are 1 of the 5 money bubblers, you’ll have your $11 buy-in refunded and if you finish in the top 5 you will win an entry for Bodog’s Sunday $100K Guaranteed tournament.
This tournament runs weekly on Tuesday evenings and requires a password for entry.
Tournament Details
- Day of week: Tuesday Nights
- Start time: 8:35pm ET
- Tournament Name: “Online Poker Blogger Tournament” at Bodog
- Entry Password: bodogblogger
- Buy-in + fee: $10 + $1
- Starting Chips: 3000 (Double Stack)
- Payout: Standard Bodog payout structure
- Bonuses:
- T$109 bonus paid to the top 5 finishers.
- T$11 bonus paid to the 5 players that are eliminated prior to payouts.
- These bonuses will be awarded within 24hrs of the tournament completion.
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Countdown to the Winter Classic
First up, what's been happening in my poker world lately?
Not much. Since my last entry, I played in the Mookie twice (75th out of 112, and 45th out of 90, ugh) and a few 2-table SNGs where I had some success: 3 tourneys, 2 cashes (1 second place, 1 third place). I also played some micro NLHE cash games. I came out behind in both sessions, but that didn't surprise me because my NL cash game sucks. I thought I should try to shake the rust off because I expect that a lot of the bloggers will want to play some NLHE next weekend, and I'd like to join in and not donate all my chips in the first orbit. But if there is any low stakes Limit playing going on, I'll be taking some of that action. Oh, last night I played in the APL weekly tourney at my nearby venue. 11th out of about 24, good for a handful of points in their system. I wanted to get some live action in before the trip, even if it wasn't for real money.
I've been saving up some dough and should be able to bring enough to allow me to play a few rounds of poker, buy a nice meal or two, see a few attractions and generally have a good time without worrying about whether I will be able to fill up my gas tank when I get home. I'm still open to anyone who wants to join me for some non-gambling diversions, so let me know in comments or e-mail if you want to do some of that stuff.
I've been thinking about what I want to project in the way of an "image" when I go to the Winter Classic. I have only met a few of the people that will be there, when I went to Okie-Vegas in July, so most of the folks I will be meeting only know me from playing with me on line, if they have even heard of me at all. I will probably just be myself and play my usual game. But I am toying with the idea of putting on a front for the games with the (other) tourists, just to see how I like it and if it makes any difference in how things go. I might take on the role of the good-ol'-boy from Texas, being everybody's friend and acting like poker is just a lark, while in reality playing the best I know how. That ought to be fun, for me and maybe for the others at the table. Besides that, I know that, as long as I don't forget it, I plan to bring something that I hope will get a chuckle or two from my blogger friends. Especially the geekier ones.
See you all in eight days!
Not much. Since my last entry, I played in the Mookie twice (75th out of 112, and 45th out of 90, ugh) and a few 2-table SNGs where I had some success: 3 tourneys, 2 cashes (1 second place, 1 third place). I also played some micro NLHE cash games. I came out behind in both sessions, but that didn't surprise me because my NL cash game sucks. I thought I should try to shake the rust off because I expect that a lot of the bloggers will want to play some NLHE next weekend, and I'd like to join in and not donate all my chips in the first orbit. But if there is any low stakes Limit playing going on, I'll be taking some of that action. Oh, last night I played in the APL weekly tourney at my nearby venue. 11th out of about 24, good for a handful of points in their system. I wanted to get some live action in before the trip, even if it wasn't for real money.
I've been saving up some dough and should be able to bring enough to allow me to play a few rounds of poker, buy a nice meal or two, see a few attractions and generally have a good time without worrying about whether I will be able to fill up my gas tank when I get home. I'm still open to anyone who wants to join me for some non-gambling diversions, so let me know in comments or e-mail if you want to do some of that stuff.
I've been thinking about what I want to project in the way of an "image" when I go to the Winter Classic. I have only met a few of the people that will be there, when I went to Okie-Vegas in July, so most of the folks I will be meeting only know me from playing with me on line, if they have even heard of me at all. I will probably just be myself and play my usual game. But I am toying with the idea of putting on a front for the games with the (other) tourists, just to see how I like it and if it makes any difference in how things go. I might take on the role of the good-ol'-boy from Texas, being everybody's friend and acting like poker is just a lark, while in reality playing the best I know how. That ought to be fun, for me and maybe for the others at the table. Besides that, I know that, as long as I don't forget it, I plan to bring something that I hope will get a chuckle or two from my blogger friends. Especially the geekier ones.
See you all in eight days!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
No Exit, and Las Vegas side trips
Here is another example of one of those hands where you are doomed from the start.
Final table of a 2-table, $2 +0.25 SNG at FullTilt. Blinds are 300/600, no ante.
Seat 4: bro72997 (14,995)
Seat 6: yestbay1 (8,470)
Seat 8: Skimmer133 (3,535)
Skimmer133 posts the small blind of 300
bro72997 posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to yestbay1 [Ks Kc]
Naturally, I want to get as many chips in the middle as I can without scaring anyone away, so I min-raise to 1,200.
Skimmer133 thinks about it, then raises to 1,800. Then, faster than you can say, "I've got a hand":
bro72997 raises to 14,995, and is all in
yestbay1 calls 7,270, and is all in
Skimmer133 calls 1,735, and is all in
Skimmer133 shows Qs Qh
bro72997 shows As Kd
My cowboys are ahead, but.....
*** FLOP *** [Ad 8c Ah]
*** TURN *** [Ad 8c Ah] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 8c Ah 5s] [Jh]
So I finish second for a $10.80 payoff. Damn, but I hate getting my KK cracked with only three players left. But what are you going to do? About the only thing I would have expected to see different is for the QQ to push right away instead of min-re-raising me. No doubt he was trying to suck his opponents in the way I was. Such is poker.
On a different note, while I am in Las Vegas for the WPBT Winter Classic next month, I plan to get away from the poker tables for at least a little while (heresy, I know) and do some touristy, geeky stuff while I am there. I would be glad for some fellow travelers to join me on some of my non-gambling adventures. Here is a list of some of the diversions I am considering spending my money on before I donk it all away:
Star Trek: The Experience, at the Las Vegas Hilton (yeah, I'm a Trek geek, so?)
Stratosphere Tower (I'm staying at the hotel so this is almost a sure thing)
Eiffel Tower, Paris (haven't been up in it yet, will this be the trip that I do it?)
Manhattan Express roller coaster, New York New York (done this before, ready to go again)
Second City show, Flamingo (I've wanted to see them for a while, maybe Sat. night?)
T.I. pirate battle, Fremont St. Experience, whatever else strikes my fancy if there is time
I think Falstaff is planning a drive out to the Valley of Fire on Sunday, and there is a good chance I will join in on that. I will have a rental car and should be able to take a few passengers, for those interested.
If you will be in Vegas for the Classic and have any interest in doing any of this stuff, or have ideas of your own to share, leave me a comment or e-mail me at david DOT westbay AT verizon DOT net. We'll work out the details either before the big weekend, or when we get there. I am registered on Falstaff's sign-up sheet, so you can find my cell phone number there if you are on it too. If you aren't, go here to get the skinny.
Oh, I played in the Riverchasers tourney again last week. Finished 57th out of 96. I was very card dead the entire game and couldn't gain any traction. But I had a good time and will be playing again in the weeks to come as my schedule and bankroll allow. See you there or maybe in the Mookie!
Final table of a 2-table, $2 +0.25 SNG at FullTilt. Blinds are 300/600, no ante.
Seat 4: bro72997 (14,995)
Seat 6: yestbay1 (8,470)
Seat 8: Skimmer133 (3,535)
Skimmer133 posts the small blind of 300
bro72997 posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to yestbay1 [Ks Kc]
Naturally, I want to get as many chips in the middle as I can without scaring anyone away, so I min-raise to 1,200.
Skimmer133 thinks about it, then raises to 1,800. Then, faster than you can say, "I've got a hand":
bro72997 raises to 14,995, and is all in
yestbay1 calls 7,270, and is all in
Skimmer133 calls 1,735, and is all in
Skimmer133 shows Qs Qh
bro72997 shows As Kd
My cowboys are ahead, but.....
*** FLOP *** [Ad 8c Ah]
*** TURN *** [Ad 8c Ah] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 8c Ah 5s] [Jh]
So I finish second for a $10.80 payoff. Damn, but I hate getting my KK cracked with only three players left. But what are you going to do? About the only thing I would have expected to see different is for the QQ to push right away instead of min-re-raising me. No doubt he was trying to suck his opponents in the way I was. Such is poker.
On a different note, while I am in Las Vegas for the WPBT Winter Classic next month, I plan to get away from the poker tables for at least a little while (heresy, I know) and do some touristy, geeky stuff while I am there. I would be glad for some fellow travelers to join me on some of my non-gambling adventures. Here is a list of some of the diversions I am considering spending my money on before I donk it all away:
Star Trek: The Experience, at the Las Vegas Hilton (yeah, I'm a Trek geek, so?)
Stratosphere Tower (I'm staying at the hotel so this is almost a sure thing)
Eiffel Tower, Paris (haven't been up in it yet, will this be the trip that I do it?)
Manhattan Express roller coaster, New York New York (done this before, ready to go again)
Second City show, Flamingo (I've wanted to see them for a while, maybe Sat. night?)
T.I. pirate battle, Fremont St. Experience, whatever else strikes my fancy if there is time
I think Falstaff is planning a drive out to the Valley of Fire on Sunday, and there is a good chance I will join in on that. I will have a rental car and should be able to take a few passengers, for those interested.
If you will be in Vegas for the Classic and have any interest in doing any of this stuff, or have ideas of your own to share, leave me a comment or e-mail me at david DOT westbay AT verizon DOT net. We'll work out the details either before the big weekend, or when we get there. I am registered on Falstaff's sign-up sheet, so you can find my cell phone number there if you are on it too. If you aren't, go here to get the skinny.
Oh, I played in the Riverchasers tourney again last week. Finished 57th out of 96. I was very card dead the entire game and couldn't gain any traction. But I had a good time and will be playing again in the weeks to come as my schedule and bankroll allow. See you there or maybe in the Mookie!
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