I've even managed to flop quads...and get paid, twice in less than 24 hours. Not even online too. The run is definitely over!
Cash, raise with KQ, several callers. Flop KKK. I get all the chips from 33...somehow.
And then in the Wednesday tournament. Am involved with 88 and see a T88 two spade board. The beautiful As peels off after the flop is checked, and the money flies in on the river against KsXs. Not something my opponent would normally do, but he was on tilt!
Saturday, 9 August 2008
Wooooooo
See the date of the previous post? Early June...
That's because I have fuck all to report, apart from the coldest streak of my life.
2 months without a final table, with people doing their very best to out-do the current 'worst bad beat I've ever suffered' champion.
New entry, in 2nd place:
Wednesday £50 comp.
With 14k (one of the chipleaders) and blinds 200/400 I raise the button to 1200 with AA. Rik in the BB is well aware of my aggressive rep, and reraises to 3700. Sticking in a reraise gives the game away, so I just smooth call in position, expecting him to fire on the flop.
Flop J 6 2 rainbow
What a flop, and Rik leads out 4000, I move all-in for his last 3k or so. He comments 'I don't want to play this comp with 3000' and calls with T9o.
Turn 9
River T
Bah, argh, soapytitwankcuntbollocks.
Anyway, it's been stuff like that for 2 months, I have no problem getting a stack - just keeping it. Finding hideous spots against the worst players with my tournament life continually on the line. I'm sure I can't do anything any differently, I'm sure I'm making the correct long term decisions - I will take a +EV gamble if it puts me into a dominant position.
Anyway, 2 weeks ago, the tide began to turn. I wasn't experiencing any bad beats! The big problem is that I was either getting fuck all hands to get bad beated with, or getting hideously cold-decked when monster stacked.
£10 rebuy, 1k starting stack, 90 mins in I've built it to a massive 23k. No-one else has more than 1800. I promptly get other stacks all-in or committed against me 7 times. One is a 6 way pot where I'm racing on the side and pretty unavoidable given my chip position. The other 6 times I am significantly ahead (AQ twice and AT v A6, 6 hits twice and flush once. Q4 v AK on QJJ board, 88 v K9 etc etc) and lose 5 of them. I go to the break with 'just' 14k.
It gets built to 18k, before James Bagley raises to 1200 with blinds 200,400. He has 9k or so. A weak-tight old fella calls from the CO, he has 14k. With odds in the BB with 86o it's an easy call for me.
Flop 6c 6d 3c
I've checked dark, and I plan on betting most turns.
Turn Ah
Not that one, I check, Bagley fires 1600, old fella smooths, I repop to 7600. Bagley folds and Villain moves in. He is seriously bad enough to go broke here with AJ type hands. But he has A6 - of course. Gah. I am crippled and soon out.
Anyway, Sunday 2nd I made a final table! I did only manage 9th after isolating the short stacks shove with KQ, I make trip Ks but he hits a flush with his bare Jh. A7 is soon smashed by TT which sets up on the flop. But it's a final, the tide had been ready to turn for a couple of weeks. Was still feeling good about my game and online had kept me afloat.
Wednesday though, I finally got a slice of luck in one of my customary hideous spots (AQ cracking KK) and although I was unlucky not to win heads up, a slight deal meant I took £500 for 2nd, overturning a 10 to 1 chip deficit at one point, gaining the chip lead and getting the money in on the turn as a 2 to 1 favourite against a player who'd won 7 out of his last 9 tournaments. I'd have taken that at the start and after a rocky midgame.
That's because I have fuck all to report, apart from the coldest streak of my life.
2 months without a final table, with people doing their very best to out-do the current 'worst bad beat I've ever suffered' champion.
New entry, in 2nd place:
Wednesday £50 comp.
With 14k (one of the chipleaders) and blinds 200/400 I raise the button to 1200 with AA. Rik in the BB is well aware of my aggressive rep, and reraises to 3700. Sticking in a reraise gives the game away, so I just smooth call in position, expecting him to fire on the flop.
Flop J 6 2 rainbow
What a flop, and Rik leads out 4000, I move all-in for his last 3k or so. He comments 'I don't want to play this comp with 3000' and calls with T9o.
Turn 9
River T
Bah, argh, soapytitwankcuntbollocks.
Anyway, it's been stuff like that for 2 months, I have no problem getting a stack - just keeping it. Finding hideous spots against the worst players with my tournament life continually on the line. I'm sure I can't do anything any differently, I'm sure I'm making the correct long term decisions - I will take a +EV gamble if it puts me into a dominant position.
Anyway, 2 weeks ago, the tide began to turn. I wasn't experiencing any bad beats! The big problem is that I was either getting fuck all hands to get bad beated with, or getting hideously cold-decked when monster stacked.
£10 rebuy, 1k starting stack, 90 mins in I've built it to a massive 23k. No-one else has more than 1800. I promptly get other stacks all-in or committed against me 7 times. One is a 6 way pot where I'm racing on the side and pretty unavoidable given my chip position. The other 6 times I am significantly ahead (AQ twice and AT v A6, 6 hits twice and flush once. Q4 v AK on QJJ board, 88 v K9 etc etc) and lose 5 of them. I go to the break with 'just' 14k.
It gets built to 18k, before James Bagley raises to 1200 with blinds 200,400. He has 9k or so. A weak-tight old fella calls from the CO, he has 14k. With odds in the BB with 86o it's an easy call for me.
Flop 6c 6d 3c
I've checked dark, and I plan on betting most turns.
Turn Ah
Not that one, I check, Bagley fires 1600, old fella smooths, I repop to 7600. Bagley folds and Villain moves in. He is seriously bad enough to go broke here with AJ type hands. But he has A6 - of course. Gah. I am crippled and soon out.
Anyway, Sunday 2nd I made a final table! I did only manage 9th after isolating the short stacks shove with KQ, I make trip Ks but he hits a flush with his bare Jh. A7 is soon smashed by TT which sets up on the flop. But it's a final, the tide had been ready to turn for a couple of weeks. Was still feeling good about my game and online had kept me afloat.
Wednesday though, I finally got a slice of luck in one of my customary hideous spots (AQ cracking KK) and although I was unlucky not to win heads up, a slight deal meant I took £500 for 2nd, overturning a 10 to 1 chip deficit at one point, gaining the chip lead and getting the money in on the turn as a 2 to 1 favourite against a player who'd won 7 out of his last 9 tournaments. I'd have taken that at the start and after a rocky midgame.
Monday, 2 June 2008
Lady Luck's Anal Rapeage
Man, what a weekend.
Saturday - Play atrociously in the tenner rebuy, get one big piece of luck, no difficult decisions, chop heads up for £800.
Sunday - Play well in the £150 freezeout and perfectly in cash. Get all-in bad twice in 10 hours - neither occasion avoidable. Net result - probably £1200 less than deserved.
Tournament :
I raise with AJ, KQ reshoves, I call, flop JT9
8 left, a chop is pretty imminent, BB misses a chance to knock out the short stack on the button after I flat call his shove from the SB. As a result am forced to shove from the button with A6, and BB calls for a large percentage of his chips with K9. I need chips to be a factor in any deal-making, so this pisses me off when they chop 7 way about 5 minutes later. I take £310 for 8th. The rest take £885 minimum.
Then cash (50p/50p):
AK v 66 all-in pre after my limp re-raise, the pair falls to the only person on the table who would be able to get all my chips. £150 coinflip.
Miss nut flush on flop and additional nut gutshot draw from turn. Potential £80 pot.
Raise with 65 to £2, called by blinds, flop 753. SB bets £4. I call, turn 4. SB bets £10, I raise to £25. SB calls, river 6. SB has Q7 and hits his 3 outer to split, or I take a £140 pot.
UTG Mr Willis tilt straddles to £10, Chris reraises to £40 with AK, I shove in £130 with KK. UTG calls dark. Board Q654T, UTG has 73 in a £190 pot.
3rd last hand, I straddle to £2, Willis straddles to £10, folded around to my ATs, I announce raise and am met with an all-in before I can announce the amount. I call and am smashed up by Q9 on a K7658 board for a £150 pot.
That's a potential £1500+ swing. Not amused.
Saturday - Play atrociously in the tenner rebuy, get one big piece of luck, no difficult decisions, chop heads up for £800.
Sunday - Play well in the £150 freezeout and perfectly in cash. Get all-in bad twice in 10 hours - neither occasion avoidable. Net result - probably £1200 less than deserved.
Tournament :
I raise with AJ, KQ reshoves, I call, flop JT9
8 left, a chop is pretty imminent, BB misses a chance to knock out the short stack on the button after I flat call his shove from the SB. As a result am forced to shove from the button with A6, and BB calls for a large percentage of his chips with K9. I need chips to be a factor in any deal-making, so this pisses me off when they chop 7 way about 5 minutes later. I take £310 for 8th. The rest take £885 minimum.
Then cash (50p/50p):
AK v 66 all-in pre after my limp re-raise, the pair falls to the only person on the table who would be able to get all my chips. £150 coinflip.
Miss nut flush on flop and additional nut gutshot draw from turn. Potential £80 pot.
Raise with 65 to £2, called by blinds, flop 753. SB bets £4. I call, turn 4. SB bets £10, I raise to £25. SB calls, river 6. SB has Q7 and hits his 3 outer to split, or I take a £140 pot.
UTG Mr Willis tilt straddles to £10, Chris reraises to £40 with AK, I shove in £130 with KK. UTG calls dark. Board Q654T, UTG has 73 in a £190 pot.
3rd last hand, I straddle to £2, Willis straddles to £10, folded around to my ATs, I announce raise and am met with an all-in before I can announce the amount. I call and am smashed up by Q9 on a K7658 board for a £150 pot.
That's a potential £1500+ swing. Not amused.
Friday, 30 May 2008
Chris, you bastard
Just to remind me (should I ever need reminding).
Myself and Chris have a 10% agreement in any tournament we both play in. Let's just say to date he's done a bit better from this deal than I have so far...
Of course, Mr Webber delivers his best ever casino result the day before an exam, when I'm not there.
You bastard.
But congrats!
Myself and Chris have a 10% agreement in any tournament we both play in. Let's just say to date he's done a bit better from this deal than I have so far...
Of course, Mr Webber delivers his best ever casino result the day before an exam, when I'm not there.
You bastard.
But congrats!
Shame, Vegas and Procrastination
Shame: I spelt Optimistic wrong, and the blog was shit. It really was, so am shunting it down with this long overdue effort.
Procrastination: I should be revising, got a freaking exam at 9:30am tomorrow (that's a Saturday) - and I still need to learn the course, but just can't concentrate at the moment.
But Vegas, baby, has been over two months since I've returned. I finished a tidy $2.5k up, but was very disappointed that it wasn't more.
It started so well, after driving down with two friends from San Franciso, I decided to take a walk down the strip to check out the poker rooms and get some info. I stumbled into Planet Hollywood at 6:58pm with their $60 freeze starting in two minutes. I got the second-last ticket, and outlasted the other 98 runners to take down a $1400 payday before the poker was even supposed to start!
It meant I didn't have to make a single withdrawal from my account for the rest of my time there. Helped by winning two of my next three tournaments and FTing the other (won $65 Caesars Palace for $800, 4th in PH $60 - about $140 for that - and then 1st at PH for about $450).
I'm sure the eagle-eyed have noticed that would make my winnings $2.8k already, or about $2.5k profit after buy-ins. It didn't go too well after that. I'm not a cash game player, but I was card dead. The deck hit me in the face in tournaments (in an hour period I hit quads twice and flopped two straights, one with a nut flush redraw, getting paid off each time), and in cash games I could go 8 hours whilst seeing just 4 top 10% hands and having to lay down the best, QQ, to a pre-flop limp re-raise. I tried to play tight, but I just didn't hit a thing. I had a couple of good sessions, but broke-even at best over the trip.
One highlight was FTing the $10k guarantee (they took >15k) at Binions on my first ever trip there, until my chip leading dominance was derailed by a complete monkey:
I've already cold-decked someone else in the extreme to give me the chip lead with around 30 players left of the 156 that started. With blinds at 100/200, UTG (~8k) raises to 600, folded to me in the BB with 33 (I have around 11k). I call and check the flop dark. I don't look at the flop and just stare at him, he looks at me and checks behind. I glance back.
The flop's AA3 - with his check I have him!
Turn.....3
So naturally I bet 1600 into the 1300 pot with quads. He flat calls. I am now 1000% certain he has an A.
River J
I bet 3k, he grabs a large stack of his chips and just sticks them over the line. I move all-in for his last k or so. He calls and flips AJ. Hehehe!
Anyway, back to the situation in the last 30. Blinds are 600/1200. BB has been quiet, and is moaning with his last 3400 chips, and says to me he's going in no matter what. I don't think anyone else was paying attention. I'm UTG with AJ and raise to 3600 (my stack is approx 35k). It's folded round to the SB, who calls (he's an absolute donkey, with 25k or so he's jammed off me, with A8s v A8s. I've also had people shove into me, giving me 3:1 odds, with Q7o and A9o, needless to say I didn't win either of those, anyway, the standard is poor).
BB keeps his word and moves all-in. The pot is 10,200 with 400 more on the side.
Flop JJ4 two diamonds. I'm happy to take it down here and bet 4k into the dry side pot. This should be a massive warning sign! SB calls.
Turn 2d. Great, flush draw down, he checks, I check behind.
River Td. 4 diamonds now, he grabs 10k and sticks it in, I insta-pass in disgust and he shows AK with just the Kd. Well done, idiot. He's chip leader now but doesn't even make the money (top 18).
I drift along to the final, no able to pick anything big up, and go out in 7th despite sucking out on AQ with T3. I can't repeat the trick with J7. They chop 5 way as well, so my $400 could've been $2k. Argh.
Got very bored of poker after a week, which didn't help me play my best game. Sitting down at the Mirage with $200, only to lose it all first hand with set over set doesn't help. But on one notable occasion the deck ran my way.
Planet Hollywood $1/$2, 9 handed.
I'm BB, and it has been straddled to $4. UTG +1 calls (he seems tight, relatively weak, but not going to be playing trash). Someone in MP calls, as does the Button (no info) and me with 7h5h.
Flop 6d 8c 8h
There is a tendancy to overbet in Vegas, and I fancy seeing a cheap turn, so chuck out $5. EP player and Button both flat call.
Turn 9h
Woo, I turn the straight, and am immediately putting EP on an 8, and he's also shown no tendancy to play suited connectors, he's a high card guy. Not sure about the button, but I think I'm likely to have the best hand here.
Then chaos. I bet $20. EP min-raises to $40. Button raises to $105. Now I'm flummoxed, but don't believe either player would be raising with a full house on this kind of board, so I flat call hoping to bring EP and his A8-type hand along too, believe the button has a similar hand.
EP reraises to $210. Button moves all in for $170 total and the decision is back on me. EP has about $80 behind. I decide to talk to them, saying neither would raise with the boat, so I think my hand is good. Neither of them look comfortable, and when I push all in, the disappointment on EPs face is apparent as he pushes his final $80 in, feeling he's pot committed. Button turns to me and says 'Have you got a full house?' and tables T7 - ouch, didn't put him on that. My read on EP is spot on as he shows A8.
River 2h
Ship it!
Other than that, I am pottering along nicely both live and online. I've stopped the cash for a while, as I'm not playing well in it. The tournaments are going well, I feel like I'm outplaying people at will and only continued bad beats and cold-deckings are preventing me from more frequent and bigger scores. Despite this, I am slightly up over the last month live.
Online, I have discovered the 45 man Full Tilt $26 SNGs. They're juicy! 18 tournaments, 2 wins, 2 seconds, 2 thirds and a fourth. Again, various suckouts are crippling me even in these, KK v TT three times for example! The luck is well in the negative column, but with my ROI at 152% and my online ranking up to 21,000 or so, I can live with it.
It's just a bit frustrating when you know there's so much more on offer. I can't win a race to save my life, but I can't even win one in two when I've built a dominant chip position.
Consecutive hands, short stack shove with AKs, I call with QQ, he flops the nuts, I turn the set, miss the boat. Next hand, he shoves again with QQ, I reshove with AKs, obviously the QQ hold up this time! It costs me half my stack!
FT on Grosvenor Wed tournie. I lose a race with AK v 77 3 handed for 90% of the chips in play, then about 10 mins later, another race with AK v 88 for 70% of the chips.
16 people left in the £150 Freeze in Southampton, after being card dead and winning 5 pots all night, I shove 9k in with QQ, get two callers, the blinds. I win the pot I am up to 3rd and one of the favourites for a £3.5k payday. They both flip AK, so I'm a 3:1 fave. Obviously the A flops.
Moaning over. I'm still winning. And if the luck goes my way too, I'll be disappointing a lot of people at final tables!
Procrastination: I should be revising, got a freaking exam at 9:30am tomorrow (that's a Saturday) - and I still need to learn the course, but just can't concentrate at the moment.
But Vegas, baby, has been over two months since I've returned. I finished a tidy $2.5k up, but was very disappointed that it wasn't more.
It started so well, after driving down with two friends from San Franciso, I decided to take a walk down the strip to check out the poker rooms and get some info. I stumbled into Planet Hollywood at 6:58pm with their $60 freeze starting in two minutes. I got the second-last ticket, and outlasted the other 98 runners to take down a $1400 payday before the poker was even supposed to start!
It meant I didn't have to make a single withdrawal from my account for the rest of my time there. Helped by winning two of my next three tournaments and FTing the other (won $65 Caesars Palace for $800, 4th in PH $60 - about $140 for that - and then 1st at PH for about $450).
I'm sure the eagle-eyed have noticed that would make my winnings $2.8k already, or about $2.5k profit after buy-ins. It didn't go too well after that. I'm not a cash game player, but I was card dead. The deck hit me in the face in tournaments (in an hour period I hit quads twice and flopped two straights, one with a nut flush redraw, getting paid off each time), and in cash games I could go 8 hours whilst seeing just 4 top 10% hands and having to lay down the best, QQ, to a pre-flop limp re-raise. I tried to play tight, but I just didn't hit a thing. I had a couple of good sessions, but broke-even at best over the trip.
One highlight was FTing the $10k guarantee (they took >15k) at Binions on my first ever trip there, until my chip leading dominance was derailed by a complete monkey:
I've already cold-decked someone else in the extreme to give me the chip lead with around 30 players left of the 156 that started. With blinds at 100/200, UTG (~8k) raises to 600, folded to me in the BB with 33 (I have around 11k). I call and check the flop dark. I don't look at the flop and just stare at him, he looks at me and checks behind. I glance back.
The flop's AA3 - with his check I have him!
Turn.....3
So naturally I bet 1600 into the 1300 pot with quads. He flat calls. I am now 1000% certain he has an A.
River J
I bet 3k, he grabs a large stack of his chips and just sticks them over the line. I move all-in for his last k or so. He calls and flips AJ. Hehehe!
Anyway, back to the situation in the last 30. Blinds are 600/1200. BB has been quiet, and is moaning with his last 3400 chips, and says to me he's going in no matter what. I don't think anyone else was paying attention. I'm UTG with AJ and raise to 3600 (my stack is approx 35k). It's folded round to the SB, who calls (he's an absolute donkey, with 25k or so he's jammed off me, with A8s v A8s. I've also had people shove into me, giving me 3:1 odds, with Q7o and A9o, needless to say I didn't win either of those, anyway, the standard is poor).
BB keeps his word and moves all-in. The pot is 10,200 with 400 more on the side.
Flop JJ4 two diamonds. I'm happy to take it down here and bet 4k into the dry side pot. This should be a massive warning sign! SB calls.
Turn 2d. Great, flush draw down, he checks, I check behind.
River Td. 4 diamonds now, he grabs 10k and sticks it in, I insta-pass in disgust and he shows AK with just the Kd. Well done, idiot. He's chip leader now but doesn't even make the money (top 18).
I drift along to the final, no able to pick anything big up, and go out in 7th despite sucking out on AQ with T3. I can't repeat the trick with J7. They chop 5 way as well, so my $400 could've been $2k. Argh.
Got very bored of poker after a week, which didn't help me play my best game. Sitting down at the Mirage with $200, only to lose it all first hand with set over set doesn't help. But on one notable occasion the deck ran my way.
Planet Hollywood $1/$2, 9 handed.
I'm BB, and it has been straddled to $4. UTG +1 calls (he seems tight, relatively weak, but not going to be playing trash). Someone in MP calls, as does the Button (no info) and me with 7h5h.
Flop 6d 8c 8h
There is a tendancy to overbet in Vegas, and I fancy seeing a cheap turn, so chuck out $5. EP player and Button both flat call.
Turn 9h
Woo, I turn the straight, and am immediately putting EP on an 8, and he's also shown no tendancy to play suited connectors, he's a high card guy. Not sure about the button, but I think I'm likely to have the best hand here.
Then chaos. I bet $20. EP min-raises to $40. Button raises to $105. Now I'm flummoxed, but don't believe either player would be raising with a full house on this kind of board, so I flat call hoping to bring EP and his A8-type hand along too, believe the button has a similar hand.
EP reraises to $210. Button moves all in for $170 total and the decision is back on me. EP has about $80 behind. I decide to talk to them, saying neither would raise with the boat, so I think my hand is good. Neither of them look comfortable, and when I push all in, the disappointment on EPs face is apparent as he pushes his final $80 in, feeling he's pot committed. Button turns to me and says 'Have you got a full house?' and tables T7 - ouch, didn't put him on that. My read on EP is spot on as he shows A8.
River 2h
Ship it!
Other than that, I am pottering along nicely both live and online. I've stopped the cash for a while, as I'm not playing well in it. The tournaments are going well, I feel like I'm outplaying people at will and only continued bad beats and cold-deckings are preventing me from more frequent and bigger scores. Despite this, I am slightly up over the last month live.
Online, I have discovered the 45 man Full Tilt $26 SNGs. They're juicy! 18 tournaments, 2 wins, 2 seconds, 2 thirds and a fourth. Again, various suckouts are crippling me even in these, KK v TT three times for example! The luck is well in the negative column, but with my ROI at 152% and my online ranking up to 21,000 or so, I can live with it.
It's just a bit frustrating when you know there's so much more on offer. I can't win a race to save my life, but I can't even win one in two when I've built a dominant chip position.
Consecutive hands, short stack shove with AKs, I call with QQ, he flops the nuts, I turn the set, miss the boat. Next hand, he shoves again with QQ, I reshove with AKs, obviously the QQ hold up this time! It costs me half my stack!
FT on Grosvenor Wed tournie. I lose a race with AK v 77 3 handed for 90% of the chips in play, then about 10 mins later, another race with AK v 88 for 70% of the chips.
16 people left in the £150 Freeze in Southampton, after being card dead and winning 5 pots all night, I shove 9k in with QQ, get two callers, the blinds. I win the pot I am up to 3rd and one of the favourites for a £3.5k payday. They both flip AK, so I'm a 3:1 fave. Obviously the A flops.
Moaning over. I'm still winning. And if the luck goes my way too, I'll be disappointing a lot of people at final tables!
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