We actually played a poker tournament Monday night at my apartment. I played ridiculously loose, leading to Ian busting me twice and Derek once. I dropped $15 and went to McDonald's.
Full Tilt offered me a $75 bonus that I could redeem over a span of ten days, so late in the evening I sat on the couch between Ian and Derek and played some .25/.50 NLHE. It is important for me to note that I NEVER play at stakes this high in an internet cash game. I have played higher stakes live, but on the internet I feel that competition in these games is above my level. I was wrong- at least tonight. I can't lie though, I caught cards CONSTANTLY, allowing me to make plays and build an image.
I made over $60 in less than an hour. This hand was the highlight of my night. Can you dream of anything working out more awesomely?
Feeling invincible, I moved on to .10/.25 PLO. I took over $30 in a very brief session, a lot of it coming from this wet dream of a hand.
I'm sitting at a .25/.50 Stud table right now. I'm up 4 big bets. Can I lose money tonight?
Who knows.
One thing is for sure; I'm having fun playing poker again.
-The Gerk-
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Monday, September 17, 2007
A Full Tilt Tournament
I played in a 90 person Sit-and-Go today on Full Tilt. I started by doubling up with 99 in the third level. Then I lost a huge pot when I got it all-in with 7h9h on a board of Th-Jh-Ts-6h. He had Ace-Ten and checked the flop. Of course he rivered an ace.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491653
I moved to a new table, this was the second hand. The first hand I jammed the 7-J-7 flop with 44 and took it down.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491662
Three hands after the KKKK hand, this happens. I was ready to give it up on the turn, which I was surprised he checked. I guess I can fold the river to a minraise, but it is possible he would be betting that flop with the lower straight draw. Idk, I'm not folding here.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491694
I was sure I had the MP caller, but I was just praying the blind didn't have it.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491724
Eeeeewwwwwww... I feel bad for him, but I'm not folding Blind v. Blind for 2BBs. Sorry.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491759
The good ol' limp-re-raise. One of the best moves in my poker game. My style makes this look like a steal... but in reality, I'm stealing your chips.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491778
He's not supposed to be button limping with JJ on such a short stack lol. But either way, better to be lucky than good.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491802
Haha luck's way of letting me know I can't always win. Ride that 5% baby! I guess I was lucky it was a short stack.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491921
This was the hand that burst the bubble. He ridiculed me for calling his tiny stack in my BB with A8. Moron.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491948
My last hand. I should've raised preflop, but seeing how he played the hand postflop, he would've just called me and I would've busted anyway. At such high blinds, it's almost impossible to know that he's getting sneaky with AQ.
15th place is okay, but I wanted to win it. Damn.
-The Gerk-
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491653
I moved to a new table, this was the second hand. The first hand I jammed the 7-J-7 flop with 44 and took it down.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491662
Three hands after the KKKK hand, this happens. I was ready to give it up on the turn, which I was surprised he checked. I guess I can fold the river to a minraise, but it is possible he would be betting that flop with the lower straight draw. Idk, I'm not folding here.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491694
I was sure I had the MP caller, but I was just praying the blind didn't have it.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491724
Eeeeewwwwwww... I feel bad for him, but I'm not folding Blind v. Blind for 2BBs. Sorry.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491759
The good ol' limp-re-raise. One of the best moves in my poker game. My style makes this look like a steal... but in reality, I'm stealing your chips.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491778
He's not supposed to be button limping with JJ on such a short stack lol. But either way, better to be lucky than good.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491802
Haha luck's way of letting me know I can't always win. Ride that 5% baby! I guess I was lucky it was a short stack.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491921
This was the hand that burst the bubble. He ridiculed me for calling his tiny stack in my BB with A8. Moron.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491948
My last hand. I should've raised preflop, but seeing how he played the hand postflop, he would've just called me and I would've busted anyway. At such high blinds, it's almost impossible to know that he's getting sneaky with AQ.
15th place is okay, but I wanted to win it. Damn.
-The Gerk-
Friday, August 17, 2007
The End, and a New Beginning
In case any of you are curious, here's the pot that the rest of my bankroll went into: http://www.pokerhand.org/?1380872
Although it's not a total cooler, that is a very, very bad spot to run into, seeing as my two pair is virtually dead (no redraw for a full house, only quads). I still had nine hearts though, but none came.
So now that your Pokerstars Cashier says that you have exactly $0.00, what are you going to do now? Well, I'm going to deposit two checks into my account today and then take some of that and deposit it on at least two, maybe three sites. Pokerstars for certain, UltimateBet is probable, and so is FullTilt. If you have any suggestions or bonus codes, now would be a good time to leave them in the comments. I'll see you at the tables again this weekend. :)
-The Gerk-
Although it's not a total cooler, that is a very, very bad spot to run into, seeing as my two pair is virtually dead (no redraw for a full house, only quads). I still had nine hearts though, but none came.
So now that your Pokerstars Cashier says that you have exactly $0.00, what are you going to do now? Well, I'm going to deposit two checks into my account today and then take some of that and deposit it on at least two, maybe three sites. Pokerstars for certain, UltimateBet is probable, and so is FullTilt. If you have any suggestions or bonus codes, now would be a good time to leave them in the comments. I'll see you at the tables again this weekend. :)
-The Gerk-
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Run Badly, Break Even
Survival.
Not one word is more important in the grand cosmic ideology of poker.
One must always keep his head above water, if nothing else. That should be his primary concern; not to win big, not to play a certain style, or to play his cards. Surviving is always paramount, and not just in tournaments, but in cash games too. If your bankroll is in trouble, then you need to do whatever you have to do guarantee its immediate survival- lower your stakes, change your playing style, or switch games.
I have become a master of survival in the last few weeks. I have been consistently (probably 75% of the time) beating the .10/.25 NL game on Pokerstars since my bankroll train-wrecked. Winning in a game filled with so many loose players is quite a task, and to do so I've had to tighten up many loose ends strewn throughout my game. I am only taking about .75-1 buy-in every hour and a half or so on average- but I am surviving. I am being forced to take huge chances by accepting 5:1 edges before the flop in order to make money- but I am surviving. I am playing boring, tedious poker- but I'm surviving.
UPDATE: I just dropped 2 buy-ins. In the first, I made an all-in call after a flurry of betting on an 8 high, all-spade flop, with 9d9s. He had me drawing close to dead with AcAs. Then I rebought, won a couple of pots, and then gave it all back in one dramatic hand. I called a min-raise from the cut-off with 8cTc, and in a three-way pot the flop fell 9c-Jc-3h. EP bet .25, and the min-raiser made it 1.25 to go. I called with my monster draw, and EP folded. The turn was the As, and he checked it to me. I fired 3.00, and he called. The river was a blank, the 6d. He checked again, and I put him on exactly QJ. I pushed my last 12.60 into a pot of 8.00+ and he took only a second before calling with...QJ. I'm not sure how he can make that call and think he had the best hand, but to each his own I suppose.
That's the synopsis of my online play- just .10/.25NL Hold'em, and it's enough to make a man go mad. Until I work my way up quite a ways again, I will be staying away from other games, as well as tournaments that aren't 4.40 180's. Although playing in those donkament 180's has very low equity, I consider myself to be pretty damn good at them, and a win would bolster my bankroll tremendously.
I am thinking about putting some money on UltimateBet and Full Tilt once I get my bearings back on Pokerstars- any thoughts?
Me and the guys have had some good live games lately. My hot streak in those shorthanded Hold'em tourneys has ended, but I've been doing well overall. We played a razz tournament the other day that got totally sick- Drokk busted out early, and Ian and I both told him he couldn't rebuy. But after some coaxing we allowed him back in, and he went on his usual sick rush of cards. We got it heads-up between us, and he had a lead until I made an 8-6 and nearly doubled up. He verbally conceded the match, but went on to steam roll me until I was nearly felted. I made another comeback, and the heads-up dragged on for what felt like years. I think it finally ended when Drokk caught an eight-outer on 6th street when we were all-in at 400/800 (50).
We played some more Hold'em on Friday night, as well as a PL Omaha tournament. I finished third, third, and second in Hold'em, busting in very frustrating situations each time. In the first game, in the 1.00/2.00 round, I pushed in the BB with 88 and got called by Drokk's AKs that he had limped in with. He flopped top pair, a straight draw, and a flush draw. That crippled me to around 12.00, and I pushed with Q8 the next hand. I was called by AT, and I bricked out. So, yeah, it's frustrating to lose a 60/40 on both sides in back-to-back hands, especially for your tournament life. On the plus side, Ian played absolutely amazing en route to a victory. I've never seen him more aggressive. The key pot he took against Roy was when he fired out 15.00 with 33 on a J-9-J-9 board. It was definitely good to see him take one down.
The next game I got it all-in when we were three handed with Kx and was called by Qx. The turn paired my opponents hand (I don't remember if it was Mike or Ian) and I was out.
I decided to play the third tournament a little differently. I decided that if I had to rebuy multiple times, it was not an issue- my only concern was winning. I was going to push in all the spots I thought my opponents were weak, and I was going to play super, super aggressive. It worked out very well, and I had a mountain of chips going into heads-up against Mike. I doubled him up when he got relatively short stacked, and then he took a big pot off of me to take the chip lead. That is when I put my foot back on the gas. With blinds at 2.50/5.00 and with a stack of around 35.00, I pushed almost every hand preflop. After taking a few blinds uncontested, I caught TT and earned a call from an Ace-rag. I doubled through and retook the chiplead. Only this time, I didn't slow down. Three hands later I pushed with A7 from the button, and he called with QJo. That is well below the starting requirement for him to ever have a +EV outcome in this type of hand. It should be an instant fold, unless he is willing to commit his entire stack to a situation where he may be completely dominated. Even if he knows I am pushing with every single hand (which I wasn't), K2 is a favorite to QJ, as well as almost any other hand I would be moving with. I don't know why I am griping- I am more than happy to get it all-in right there, and I should be willing to exploit my percentage advantage over the long run. But when the board ran out 9-T-3-8-Q, I was more disappointed than anything.
The PL Omaha tournament was a blast. We played 15 minute levels with unlimited rebuys for the first three, so it created a game with lots of play and lots of ridiculous chip swings. I built a monster stack in the first level, then doubled Drokk and Ian up in consecutive hands. We were three handed when rebuys ended, and then Ian went out in third. The heads-up match between Derek and I was insane. With a 3:1 chiplead, I flopped the nut straight with J-8 on a T-7-9 board and we got it all in. His TT wasn't behind for long, as the turn came a 7 to leave me drawing dead. I rebuilt my lead and got it all in again, this time with my JJ way ahead on a 3-7-J-T board. The river came a Q to spike him a straight. Eventually I had the lead once again, going into the final hand. I held Js-7s-10d-5d, and bet a flop of Jd-Ts-3h. He called, and the turn came the As. I checked, and he potted. I called, and the river came the Qs. I pushed it all in, and he called with KQ for the turned straight. I took it down with the second nut flush. I would love to sit here and analyze this hand completely, but frankly I haven't the time or the patience, so do it in the Arabianmonkey forums, or in the comment section, and I will chime in with my own thoughts.
-The Gerk-
Not one word is more important in the grand cosmic ideology of poker.
One must always keep his head above water, if nothing else. That should be his primary concern; not to win big, not to play a certain style, or to play his cards. Surviving is always paramount, and not just in tournaments, but in cash games too. If your bankroll is in trouble, then you need to do whatever you have to do guarantee its immediate survival- lower your stakes, change your playing style, or switch games.
I have become a master of survival in the last few weeks. I have been consistently (probably 75% of the time) beating the .10/.25 NL game on Pokerstars since my bankroll train-wrecked. Winning in a game filled with so many loose players is quite a task, and to do so I've had to tighten up many loose ends strewn throughout my game. I am only taking about .75-1 buy-in every hour and a half or so on average- but I am surviving. I am being forced to take huge chances by accepting 5:1 edges before the flop in order to make money- but I am surviving. I am playing boring, tedious poker- but I'm surviving.
UPDATE: I just dropped 2 buy-ins. In the first, I made an all-in call after a flurry of betting on an 8 high, all-spade flop, with 9d9s. He had me drawing close to dead with AcAs. Then I rebought, won a couple of pots, and then gave it all back in one dramatic hand. I called a min-raise from the cut-off with 8cTc, and in a three-way pot the flop fell 9c-Jc-3h. EP bet .25, and the min-raiser made it 1.25 to go. I called with my monster draw, and EP folded. The turn was the As, and he checked it to me. I fired 3.00, and he called. The river was a blank, the 6d. He checked again, and I put him on exactly QJ. I pushed my last 12.60 into a pot of 8.00+ and he took only a second before calling with...QJ. I'm not sure how he can make that call and think he had the best hand, but to each his own I suppose.
That's the synopsis of my online play- just .10/.25NL Hold'em, and it's enough to make a man go mad. Until I work my way up quite a ways again, I will be staying away from other games, as well as tournaments that aren't 4.40 180's. Although playing in those donkament 180's has very low equity, I consider myself to be pretty damn good at them, and a win would bolster my bankroll tremendously.
I am thinking about putting some money on UltimateBet and Full Tilt once I get my bearings back on Pokerstars- any thoughts?
Me and the guys have had some good live games lately. My hot streak in those shorthanded Hold'em tourneys has ended, but I've been doing well overall. We played a razz tournament the other day that got totally sick- Drokk busted out early, and Ian and I both told him he couldn't rebuy. But after some coaxing we allowed him back in, and he went on his usual sick rush of cards. We got it heads-up between us, and he had a lead until I made an 8-6 and nearly doubled up. He verbally conceded the match, but went on to steam roll me until I was nearly felted. I made another comeback, and the heads-up dragged on for what felt like years. I think it finally ended when Drokk caught an eight-outer on 6th street when we were all-in at 400/800 (50).
We played some more Hold'em on Friday night, as well as a PL Omaha tournament. I finished third, third, and second in Hold'em, busting in very frustrating situations each time. In the first game, in the 1.00/2.00 round, I pushed in the BB with 88 and got called by Drokk's AKs that he had limped in with. He flopped top pair, a straight draw, and a flush draw. That crippled me to around 12.00, and I pushed with Q8 the next hand. I was called by AT, and I bricked out. So, yeah, it's frustrating to lose a 60/40 on both sides in back-to-back hands, especially for your tournament life. On the plus side, Ian played absolutely amazing en route to a victory. I've never seen him more aggressive. The key pot he took against Roy was when he fired out 15.00 with 33 on a J-9-J-9 board. It was definitely good to see him take one down.
The next game I got it all-in when we were three handed with Kx and was called by Qx. The turn paired my opponents hand (I don't remember if it was Mike or Ian) and I was out.
I decided to play the third tournament a little differently. I decided that if I had to rebuy multiple times, it was not an issue- my only concern was winning. I was going to push in all the spots I thought my opponents were weak, and I was going to play super, super aggressive. It worked out very well, and I had a mountain of chips going into heads-up against Mike. I doubled him up when he got relatively short stacked, and then he took a big pot off of me to take the chip lead. That is when I put my foot back on the gas. With blinds at 2.50/5.00 and with a stack of around 35.00, I pushed almost every hand preflop. After taking a few blinds uncontested, I caught TT and earned a call from an Ace-rag. I doubled through and retook the chiplead. Only this time, I didn't slow down. Three hands later I pushed with A7 from the button, and he called with QJo. That is well below the starting requirement for him to ever have a +EV outcome in this type of hand. It should be an instant fold, unless he is willing to commit his entire stack to a situation where he may be completely dominated. Even if he knows I am pushing with every single hand (which I wasn't), K2 is a favorite to QJ, as well as almost any other hand I would be moving with. I don't know why I am griping- I am more than happy to get it all-in right there, and I should be willing to exploit my percentage advantage over the long run. But when the board ran out 9-T-3-8-Q, I was more disappointed than anything.
The PL Omaha tournament was a blast. We played 15 minute levels with unlimited rebuys for the first three, so it created a game with lots of play and lots of ridiculous chip swings. I built a monster stack in the first level, then doubled Drokk and Ian up in consecutive hands. We were three handed when rebuys ended, and then Ian went out in third. The heads-up match between Derek and I was insane. With a 3:1 chiplead, I flopped the nut straight with J-8 on a T-7-9 board and we got it all in. His TT wasn't behind for long, as the turn came a 7 to leave me drawing dead. I rebuilt my lead and got it all in again, this time with my JJ way ahead on a 3-7-J-T board. The river came a Q to spike him a straight. Eventually I had the lead once again, going into the final hand. I held Js-7s-10d-5d, and bet a flop of Jd-Ts-3h. He called, and the turn came the As. I checked, and he potted. I called, and the river came the Qs. I pushed it all in, and he called with KQ for the turned straight. I took it down with the second nut flush. I would love to sit here and analyze this hand completely, but frankly I haven't the time or the patience, so do it in the Arabianmonkey forums, or in the comment section, and I will chime in with my own thoughts.
-The Gerk-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
