I knew it was coming... I have been running bad in the past week or two... I did get third in the Stars $50 on Friday night for $2400 but that win was quickly erased on Saturday and Sunday.
I came close in the $650 super on Stars on Saturday, finishing 22nd when they gave away 13 Atlantis seats. Amazingly, I only doubled up once the whole tournament...I guess I won a lot of small pots.
I've also been losing in 20/40... I feared the games were getting tougher but from what I saw last night the games are still really good. I'm just running on the bad side I guess.
Headed to Indiana this weekend for the WSOP Circuit event. Plan is to play satellites for the $10k Main Event that starts on Sunday. Hopefully I get in and then give it a good run...
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Been awhile...
Sorry its been so long since an update. Not too much exciting has happened.
I went to Turning Stone last Friday and played the Saturday $500+50. Ironically, I was seated to the right of a player that I donked off more than half of my stack to late in Day 1 of the World Series. Anyway, I felt really comfortable and built my starting stack from 2000 to over 4000 in the first two levels. Unfortunately, I threw most of it away on a big hand I played with another big stack when I only had the second nuts to his stone cold nuts. The tournament structure SUCKED. I remember playing there getting more like T3,000 with blinds starting 25/25 but the first level in this tourney was 25/50. Getting 40 big blinds sucks. After I lost the big hand I had T700 with blinds 50/100 and lost quickly when I pushed from the button with Q7 and ran into KJ.
I had planned to stick around for the $1,000 on Sunday but when I returned to the hotel to play the Atlantis Super the internet connection was down. I also couldn't watch or listen to the Michigan football game so I got in the car and drove the 400 miles back home... On Sunday I played all of the big Sunday tourneys and crashed and burned in all of them. I frankly don't remember anything interesting from any of them, it was a frustrating day.
On Monday I played a few tournaments including a double shootout for Atlantis. I made the final table for the second time in 9 tries and unfortunately for the second straight time nothing went well at the final table. I guess I'll get there eventually but seeing a bunch of my friends make it already its frustrating!
On Tuesday I went for a change-up. I played 2/4 NL on Full Tilt and playing two tables for about 2.5 hours I made $1700. What a nice feeling... I also played some $100 SNG's which was fun. I'm looking for new ways to make money - to help fight off tournament variance. I also made a nice run in the Party $100 that starts at 7pm. I love this tournament because its at a perfect time for me but this is the first time in awhile I've run well. Key hand that got me going : Limp behind a limper with AcTc, blinds also come. Flop is 789 two clubs. Checked to me and I bet 55, BB (short stack around 600) min raises and the player to my right calls and I call. The turn is a club, BB jams, player to my right calls, I jam, player to my right calls. JT for the BB and A9 for the other player and I'm up nicely to 2500. I made it to the final 30 when I lost with KK vs AK and went out a few hands later. I thought for sure I was going to make the final table!!
Last night I played some 2/4 NL and then took a look at 20/40 again. It did not go well, I thought I played reasonably well - I just ran bad. I think the game has gotten worse since Party changed but I'm not sure. I might step back to 15/30 for awhile...
Guess that is all. Hope you are all making money out there.
I went to Turning Stone last Friday and played the Saturday $500+50. Ironically, I was seated to the right of a player that I donked off more than half of my stack to late in Day 1 of the World Series. Anyway, I felt really comfortable and built my starting stack from 2000 to over 4000 in the first two levels. Unfortunately, I threw most of it away on a big hand I played with another big stack when I only had the second nuts to his stone cold nuts. The tournament structure SUCKED. I remember playing there getting more like T3,000 with blinds starting 25/25 but the first level in this tourney was 25/50. Getting 40 big blinds sucks. After I lost the big hand I had T700 with blinds 50/100 and lost quickly when I pushed from the button with Q7 and ran into KJ.
I had planned to stick around for the $1,000 on Sunday but when I returned to the hotel to play the Atlantis Super the internet connection was down. I also couldn't watch or listen to the Michigan football game so I got in the car and drove the 400 miles back home... On Sunday I played all of the big Sunday tourneys and crashed and burned in all of them. I frankly don't remember anything interesting from any of them, it was a frustrating day.
On Monday I played a few tournaments including a double shootout for Atlantis. I made the final table for the second time in 9 tries and unfortunately for the second straight time nothing went well at the final table. I guess I'll get there eventually but seeing a bunch of my friends make it already its frustrating!
On Tuesday I went for a change-up. I played 2/4 NL on Full Tilt and playing two tables for about 2.5 hours I made $1700. What a nice feeling... I also played some $100 SNG's which was fun. I'm looking for new ways to make money - to help fight off tournament variance. I also made a nice run in the Party $100 that starts at 7pm. I love this tournament because its at a perfect time for me but this is the first time in awhile I've run well. Key hand that got me going : Limp behind a limper with AcTc, blinds also come. Flop is 789 two clubs. Checked to me and I bet 55, BB (short stack around 600) min raises and the player to my right calls and I call. The turn is a club, BB jams, player to my right calls, I jam, player to my right calls. JT for the BB and A9 for the other player and I'm up nicely to 2500. I made it to the final 30 when I lost with KK vs AK and went out a few hands later. I thought for sure I was going to make the final table!!
Last night I played some 2/4 NL and then took a look at 20/40 again. It did not go well, I thought I played reasonably well - I just ran bad. I think the game has gotten worse since Party changed but I'm not sure. I might step back to 15/30 for awhile...
Guess that is all. Hope you are all making money out there.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Monday
Last night I ended up final tabling a double shootout for Atlantis. I had ZeeJustin to my right and Michael123 to my left so I played pretty tight at the final table... anwyay things did not go my way. I worked it up to 1850 or so at one point and then went completely cardead. The blinds got to 50/100 and I opened for 300 with AK and got it all in with 99 and lost. Would have had 2500 if I win the pot and at least a chance to get after it a bit...
Other than that I whiffed in a few other tourneys. Got close to the money on Party in the $150, ending up about 106th with 100 spots playing. Frustrating only because I caught a few lucky breaks but couldn't capitalize and really played poorly the last hour or so. I also played the Paradise $150 with a nice overlay... but finished nowhere close to the money. I told Matt about the tournament and he finished 5th and I'm still waiting for my cut.
Somehow in-between I booked a nice enough win in 20/40 to cover all of my other tournaments for the night. I didn't even play really well I just caught a few lucky pots. One big pot I recall :
Playing shorthanded I raise on button+1 with 76o, button three bets, BB cold calls, I call. The flop is Q64, BB checks, I bet, button raises, BB cold calls, I call. Turn is 5 putting two diamonds on board, BB checks, I check, button bets, BB raises, I cold call for $80, button calls. The river is a 6 and the BB checks and I decide the button will bet and go for the check raise, button bets, BB calls, I raise, they both call and I take it against KK and AdQd.
Other than that I whiffed in a few other tourneys. Got close to the money on Party in the $150, ending up about 106th with 100 spots playing. Frustrating only because I caught a few lucky breaks but couldn't capitalize and really played poorly the last hour or so. I also played the Paradise $150 with a nice overlay... but finished nowhere close to the money. I told Matt about the tournament and he finished 5th and I'm still waiting for my cut.
Somehow in-between I booked a nice enough win in 20/40 to cover all of my other tournaments for the night. I didn't even play really well I just caught a few lucky pots. One big pot I recall :
Playing shorthanded I raise on button+1 with 76o, button three bets, BB cold calls, I call. The flop is Q64, BB checks, I bet, button raises, BB cold calls, I call. Turn is 5 putting two diamonds on board, BB checks, I check, button bets, BB raises, I cold call for $80, button calls. The river is a 6 and the BB checks and I decide the button will bet and go for the check raise, button bets, BB calls, I raise, they both call and I take it against KK and AdQd.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Weekend Tourneys
The $650 went poorly for me on Saturday. I never really got above 2500 and went down in flames when I limp re-raised with AQ and ran into AQ and AK.
For the Sunday tourneys I will review the ones with interesting hands.
The $300+20 on Pokerroom. I doubled up in the first hour with a set of kings against a flush draw all in on the flop. From there I chipped up to about 7500, blinds 200/400. I open for 1100 with JJ utg and the button makes it 2300. I have him barely covered. I hate getting mini re-raised but feel like folding is too weak with JJ here and that jamming is too reckless so I call. The flop comes AA4. I decide to bet small into him to see what he does... so I bet very small and he thinks a bit and calls. The turn is a blank and it goes check/check. Now I'm pretty sure he either has quads or KK-QQ. I contemplate my options on the river. Its really hard to sell an ace in this spot but I tried to anyway by moving in (this is I'm quite sure far more reckless than jamming preflop, but oh well). Not really that surprising my opp called instantly, but he called with two tens. Lol. Nothing like bluffing with the best hand and getting called. That gave me a bunch of chips and I won an important showdown with JJ vs A8... I had pretty good chips going to the final two tables. With about 13 people left (obviously only good money is at the FT) a player min raise in LP into my BB. Blinds were 1500/3000. I had about 35000 if I recall correctly. It felt like the right time to re-steal so I pushed with 76. He wasn't getting a good price but finally called with KQ and won. Of course you feel like a moron at the time but I guess that kind of play has made me successful lately. So I was out with about a $500 profit which was not what I was looking for.
Party - this one was fun, not. First hand that I recall is a LP limper is raised by the button and I have AA in the blinds. I make it 220 after the raiser made it 60. Only the late position player called. The flop was unique, JJJ. I felt like the best play on the flop was to bet about half the pot , so I did and my opp called without too much thought. The turn was a J. Now I decided to check. I'm either chopping with another ace or I have to get paid off somehow by K or Q high... my opp checked behind. The river was a K and I bet out, my opp raised and we got it all in and I chopped with AK. Bleh. So having chopped that pot I was at about 1350. Blinds 15/30 a late position player min raises to 60. He has about 500 behind. I am in the BB with AQ and jam and he insta calls with A8 and wins. Down to about 750 I jam quite a few times and eventually get it in with 77 vs KJ, flop a set and lose to a runner runner straight. Ah, good times.
Stars - The whole tournament came down to one hand. I open limp with AA utg planning to re-raise. Blinds are 25/50 and I have about 2300. The button makes my day by making it 200. I re-raise to 600 and he calls. The flop comes down KQJ. Can anyone think of a worse flop for a limp re-raise when you have AA and get called? Does anyone have a plan for proceeding with this hand? I ended up betting 900 , the button jammed and I put him pretty confidently on a set but thought perhaps AK was still in that range (and maybe even KQ). He flipped up QQ and I got no 6 out love.
Full Tilt - This was a unique one. I won some small pots early, and built my stack up to about 7500 without ever getting all-in. I never had any premium pairs or sets though. I was playing small ball! The first key hand was when I opened on the button with K9 and the SB pushed. I was getting over 2:1, I think 2.2:1 and decided to call even though if I lost I would be far less than 10 bb's. I rivered the 9 and scooped a nice pot that put me in the hunt. With two tables left I was in a decent spot but I finally picked up AK and raised it up to 4600 (blinds 800/1600), Shaniac came over the top to make it about 12000 and I instantly jammed overtop. He had to be getting over 3:1 to call but tanked... that was a nice feeling! He finally called with KJ and I won the hand. I was now in third with about 15 players left. On the final hand one of those really annoying things happened. I picked up JJ on the button (the biggest pair I had seen all tourney) and made it 6000 leaving myself 40000. One of the two players that had me covered re-raised to 17000 and I had a decision. Against good players in this spot, a big stack pressuring another big (but smaller) stack, this could very well be a re-steal. He could have total air down to something like A9 or a middle pair. Knowing this, I decided my best course of action was to jam. And jam I did, right into AA, and that was the end of me. Played really well and made $100. Just-barely-in-the-money sucks.
Dise - Ah, Paradise, where I seem to always bust without even seeing the first break. With about 1500 (blinds 50/100) it goes limp, CKruel raises to 400 and I have 77. I think I am pretty well off against his range so I jam. The SB instantly re-jams and CK folds and I am up against kings and get no suckout love.
I played some other tourneys, including a nice one on Interpoker where I lost concentration at the wrong time and fell for the limp re-raise when I had AQ. I should have folded for sure.
I then won the $25 rebuy on Stars for a $650 seat, broke even in 20/40 and lost a bunch in 30/60 on Full Tilt. Oh, and on Friday I won $1700 in the Stars $50 when I got fourth... Not too bad all things considered.
For the Sunday tourneys I will review the ones with interesting hands.
The $300+20 on Pokerroom. I doubled up in the first hour with a set of kings against a flush draw all in on the flop. From there I chipped up to about 7500, blinds 200/400. I open for 1100 with JJ utg and the button makes it 2300. I have him barely covered. I hate getting mini re-raised but feel like folding is too weak with JJ here and that jamming is too reckless so I call. The flop comes AA4. I decide to bet small into him to see what he does... so I bet very small and he thinks a bit and calls. The turn is a blank and it goes check/check. Now I'm pretty sure he either has quads or KK-QQ. I contemplate my options on the river. Its really hard to sell an ace in this spot but I tried to anyway by moving in (this is I'm quite sure far more reckless than jamming preflop, but oh well). Not really that surprising my opp called instantly, but he called with two tens. Lol. Nothing like bluffing with the best hand and getting called. That gave me a bunch of chips and I won an important showdown with JJ vs A8... I had pretty good chips going to the final two tables. With about 13 people left (obviously only good money is at the FT) a player min raise in LP into my BB. Blinds were 1500/3000. I had about 35000 if I recall correctly. It felt like the right time to re-steal so I pushed with 76. He wasn't getting a good price but finally called with KQ and won. Of course you feel like a moron at the time but I guess that kind of play has made me successful lately. So I was out with about a $500 profit which was not what I was looking for.
Party - this one was fun, not. First hand that I recall is a LP limper is raised by the button and I have AA in the blinds. I make it 220 after the raiser made it 60. Only the late position player called. The flop was unique, JJJ. I felt like the best play on the flop was to bet about half the pot , so I did and my opp called without too much thought. The turn was a J. Now I decided to check. I'm either chopping with another ace or I have to get paid off somehow by K or Q high... my opp checked behind. The river was a K and I bet out, my opp raised and we got it all in and I chopped with AK. Bleh. So having chopped that pot I was at about 1350. Blinds 15/30 a late position player min raises to 60. He has about 500 behind. I am in the BB with AQ and jam and he insta calls with A8 and wins. Down to about 750 I jam quite a few times and eventually get it in with 77 vs KJ, flop a set and lose to a runner runner straight. Ah, good times.
Stars - The whole tournament came down to one hand. I open limp with AA utg planning to re-raise. Blinds are 25/50 and I have about 2300. The button makes my day by making it 200. I re-raise to 600 and he calls. The flop comes down KQJ. Can anyone think of a worse flop for a limp re-raise when you have AA and get called? Does anyone have a plan for proceeding with this hand? I ended up betting 900 , the button jammed and I put him pretty confidently on a set but thought perhaps AK was still in that range (and maybe even KQ). He flipped up QQ and I got no 6 out love.
Full Tilt - This was a unique one. I won some small pots early, and built my stack up to about 7500 without ever getting all-in. I never had any premium pairs or sets though. I was playing small ball! The first key hand was when I opened on the button with K9 and the SB pushed. I was getting over 2:1, I think 2.2:1 and decided to call even though if I lost I would be far less than 10 bb's. I rivered the 9 and scooped a nice pot that put me in the hunt. With two tables left I was in a decent spot but I finally picked up AK and raised it up to 4600 (blinds 800/1600), Shaniac came over the top to make it about 12000 and I instantly jammed overtop. He had to be getting over 3:1 to call but tanked... that was a nice feeling! He finally called with KJ and I won the hand. I was now in third with about 15 players left. On the final hand one of those really annoying things happened. I picked up JJ on the button (the biggest pair I had seen all tourney) and made it 6000 leaving myself 40000. One of the two players that had me covered re-raised to 17000 and I had a decision. Against good players in this spot, a big stack pressuring another big (but smaller) stack, this could very well be a re-steal. He could have total air down to something like A9 or a middle pair. Knowing this, I decided my best course of action was to jam. And jam I did, right into AA, and that was the end of me. Played really well and made $100. Just-barely-in-the-money sucks.
Dise - Ah, Paradise, where I seem to always bust without even seeing the first break. With about 1500 (blinds 50/100) it goes limp, CKruel raises to 400 and I have 77. I think I am pretty well off against his range so I jam. The SB instantly re-jams and CK folds and I am up against kings and get no suckout love.
I played some other tourneys, including a nice one on Interpoker where I lost concentration at the wrong time and fell for the limp re-raise when I had AQ. I should have folded for sure.
I then won the $25 rebuy on Stars for a $650 seat, broke even in 20/40 and lost a bunch in 30/60 on Full Tilt. Oh, and on Friday I won $1700 in the Stars $50 when I got fourth... Not too bad all things considered.
Friday, October 7, 2005
Atlantis
Well, Atlantis sats have started! How exciting. I have qualified for the WPT event on Stars the last two years and I plan to do it a third time. Wish me luck in the $650 super tomorrow... I think I'm due. In the meantime all of the blogs have pointed me in the direction of the blogger tournament on Stars. So I registered.
I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!
This event is powered by PokerStars.
Registration code: 3842880
Online Poker Blogger Championship!
This event is powered by PokerStars.
Registration code: 3842880
Sunday, October 2, 2005
Goin' Pro
Just thought I'd drop a note and tell everyone that I'm goin' pro. I will be a professional poker player sometime next Spring. Right now it looks like I will be quitting my job on April 1 to play full time. I'm looking forward to it!
My plans for the next few months are this... I am headed to Turning Stone in two weeks to play the $500 and the $1000 tournaments they have there. Two weeks later I'm headed to Caesar's in Indiana to try to qualify for the circuit event. That'll be it until December when I go to the Bellagio for the $15k (I won my seat already on Pokerroom). Hopefully I will also win a seat to the Stars WPT Event in January.
Good luck to everyone in the Sunday tourneys.
My plans for the next few months are this... I am headed to Turning Stone in two weeks to play the $500 and the $1000 tournaments they have there. Two weeks later I'm headed to Caesar's in Indiana to try to qualify for the circuit event. That'll be it until December when I go to the Bellagio for the $15k (I won my seat already on Pokerroom). Hopefully I will also win a seat to the Stars WPT Event in January.
Good luck to everyone in the Sunday tourneys.
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