Running bad, then running good

Sorry for the long delay between my last post and this one. Immediately after I made the last post I started running pretty poorly. I began this bad run by moving up to 200nl. Right when I moved up, I ran and played pretty well and ended up winning around $1500 pretty quickly. Then in a single day I dropped about 12 buyins at 200nl, which resulted in my biggest losing day to date. I'd be hard pressed to say I played my best game, but I certainly had my share of bad beats and cold decks. This included 4 (!!!) set over sets, a KK < AA, and a lot of missed draws. After this day I moved back down to 100nl, where I dropped another 13 or so buyins. Again, I don't think I was playing my best but I was definitely running ice cold. From here I dropped back to 50nl to try to regain some of my confidence and bankroll.

At 50nl, I continued to run poorly. I finally had enough and decided to take about a week off. All said and done, I ran about $2,000 below expectation in all in situations during this downswing (courtesy of PokerEV software, a very cool program).

So I took a break. The timing on this break was good since a friend of mine was getting married and my brother was in town for the wedding. After all the festivities were done and everyone had left town, I got back into playing 50nl. I ran well and played well and got my bankroll to the point where I could play 100nl again. I also made the decision that I am going to start playing some tournaments and other random non-NLH poker games. Things were just becoming too much of a grind. The money is ok, but life really isn't fun when you 12-table 100nl for any substantial amount of your day every day. Playing tournaments and other games will give me a chance to mix things up and not make poker so monotonous.

Coming back into tournament poker has been somewhat interesting. It's been about a week so far and it's been very good to see that there are still some extremely weak players playing in tournaments these days. I'm talking about the kind of people who put 75bbs in preflop with ATo, and the kind of people who stack of with middle pair regardless of the circumstances. I'm looking forward to playing more of these, and hopefully it will keep my mind fresh and my life interesting.

So far, I have made it deep into 3 tournaments since I have gotten back into them. I got 5th in a 20-table $20-buyin SNG on stars for about $240, losing a race with AJs to 77 in a button/BB battle. Pretty standard. I then got 6th in a $24-buyin $4k-gtd HORSE tourney on full tilt. Things finally fell apart for me here when I played an 80K razz pot (betting was 5k/10k and avg stack was 50k) where I got pot stuck early in the hand and ended up getting in with A35KQ vs 35665 and losing.

Finally, yesterday I got 2nd in the $50-buyin $15K-gtd NLH tourney on full tilt. This tourney was completely standard. I stole blinds like a madman and didn't get caught very often. I won 5 races (55 > AK, TT > KQ, AQ > TT and some others I don't remember) and beat JJ with A9s. At the final table I had good timing with my steals and ended up catching some hands when we were shorthanded to knock out the last few players. When I got heads up, I was behind about 330k to 370k in chips at the 2.5k/5k level. I won a few small pots and I thought my opponent was pretty weak. The deciding hand came when we got about 330k in preflop with my 99 vs. his KJo. I had him covered at this point, but I didn't win this race and busted a few hands later in unspectacular fashion.

I can't really complain, since won 5 races to get to that point. But it would have been nice to win the 6th one. 1st paid about $4400 and 2nd paid $2800. But like I said, I can't really complain in this spot.

I plan on moving back up to 200nl now since I've had such a good week with tourneys and winning at 100nl. I also have played live 4 times in the last week or so, and have done well. But I think I will save that for the next post...

The Return of the Blog

Due to several requests, I am going to return to blogging about my poker life. Honestly, I didn't think anyone cared one way or another. But if the people want it, the people get it!

I guess it has been about 6 months since my last blog entry. Since then, I have played a ton of poker. I finished my MS degree during the spring quarter of this year and basically haven't done any school work since then. I decided that I wanted to play poker during the summer and just bum around for a while instead of being worried about school.

Since I stopped school at around the beginning of May, I have played about 200k hands of 100nl. Without going into too much detail, I'd say things are going pretty well for me as a professional player. I'm still playing tiny limits but I am sort of crushing the games to make myself a good living. I plan on moving up to higher limits eventually, but for now I am just building a bankroll and savings account. As I see it, I need to have 6 months living expenses set aside for my wife and I before I can consider myself bankrolled for any game. Hence I am still playing the lowest limits I can think of to make a decent amount of money.

Once I have the bankroll (hopefully within the next month or 2), I will be moving up to bigger games and hopefully bigger wins. That's about all I want to say for now, so I'll just leave you with a few hands from the last couple of days.



Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 6 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

SB: $53.50
BB: $150.30
Hero (UTG): $150.85
MP: $129.85
CO: $13.50
BTN: $42.10

Preflop: Hero is dealt Qc Ks (6 Players)
Hero raises to $3.50, MP calls $3.50, 4 folds

Flop: ($8.50) 7c 7s 5s (2 Players)
Hero bets $7.00, MP calls $7.00

Turn: ($22.50) 7c 7s 5s Ad (2 Players)
Hero bets $17.00, MP calls $17.00

River: ($56.50) 7c 7s 5s Ad 9c (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $74.00, Hero calls $74.00

Pot Size: $204.50 ($3 Rake)

MP had 6s Ts ([6s Ts] a pair of Sevens) and LOST (-$101.50)
Hero had Qc Ks (a pair of Sevens) and WON (+$100.00)


Yes, I had a read.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 5 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

Hero (SB): $108.95
BB: $166.80
UTG: $61.00
CO: $17.15
BTN: $195.50

Preflop: Hero is dealt 6d 6c (5 Players)
UTG calls $1.00, CO calls $1.00, BTN folds, Hero calls $0.50, BB raises to $5.00, UTG calls $4.00, CO calls $4.00, Hero calls $4.00

Flop: ($20) 6h 6s 5c (4 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, CO checks

Turn: ($20) 6h 6s 5c 5d (4 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets $3.00, CO calls $3.00, Hero raises to $11.00, BB calls $11.00, UTG raises to $19.00, CO folds, Hero calls $8.00, BB calls $8.00

River: ($80) 6h 6s 5c 5d Ad (3 Players)
Hero bets all-in for $84.95, BB raises all-in to $142.80, UTG calls all-in for $37.00
Uncalled bet of $0.00 returned to BB

Pot Size: $286.90 ($3 Rake)

UTG had 5s 5h (four of a kind, Fives) and LOST (-$61.00)
BB had As Ac ([As Ac] a full house, Aces full of Sixes) and LOST (-$108.95)
Hero had 6d 6c (four of a kind, Sixes) and WON (+$174.95)


Quads vs. Quads vs. Aces full... so sick.

Some Introspection

Sorry the updates have been so sparse. I was working on finishing the the last major hurdle that gets me an MS degree in Computer Science & Engineering. The details aren't that important and have nothing to do with poker, so I'll spare them here. But it was a lot of work and I am both proud of myself and extremely happy to be finished with it. Enough said about that.

I have been trying to play poker as much as I can, but I was simply unable to for about the first 2 weeks of February. But since then I've logged a pretty decent number of hands and have been pulling in some steady wins despite never running very well (I don't think). I have been running very average for a while now, but I never have any of those crazy days where you hit every draw/set and stack everyone in your path. I'd like to have some of those days, but if it means not having the crazy bad days I guess I will settle for steady wins.

I don't want to get into any hands today, so let's just talk results. Since my last post, I've played exclusively at 100nl, still 12-tabling. I've logged a pretty decent number of hands at this level and I want to perform some introspection on things. First, the high level issues. I think I am comfortably playing 12 tabling at this point and I could certainly stand to add a few more. Full tilt does not allow you to play any more than 12 tables, so I might have to switch some of my play over to Stars in order to do this (but there is no rakeback on Stars as far as I know). It is also much more difficult to play this many tables on 2 different sites since it sort of takes you out of the zone. I am certainly going to try to figure something out, since I really think I can add a few more tables without damaging my win rate.

My win rate is also very nice so far. I am running at 4.5 ptbb/100, and I average playing 9.7 tables at a time (636 hands an hour). Without rakeback, this equates to an hourly rate of just over $57. With rakeback, it is more like $70/hr. This is a pretty sick win rate for playing low stakes. If I were to do this full time, this would equate to about $2800 a week or $140k a year! At 100nl! This is a sick amount of money that has me wondering why I am going to school to get jobs that start in the high 5 or low 6 figures. This win rate of 4.5 may or may not be sustainable. I think I've been running a little worse than average, although I could just be remembering the bad times. We'll see. I kind of want to take the summer off of school/research to see how playing poker all day every day feels. I think I would enjoy the freedom and lack of responsibility that this kind of lifestyle would entail.

I've already been gaining about 1/2 of my income with poker for the last 6 months or so. I've always heard that playing for a living takes the joy out of the game, since your ability to win is directly related to your ability to pay the rent or put food on the table or whatever. I have found that this doesn't bother me so much. I have always kept a very large bankroll, which I continue to do. This means that when I get stacked for $100, it doesn't matter a whole lot to me since I know I can still have more than enough money in my account to pay the phone bill or whatever.

Another thing I worry about is that I will have to log a ton of hands if I was only playing poker for a living. Theoretically I am ok with this, but it might really become a grind after a while. So far it hasn't, but then again I haven't been playing full time. I have only been logging 10k hands a week, instead of the 25 or 30k I would want to put in if I was playing for a living. I guess I will just have to try this to see how it feels. If I take the summer off to just play poker, this would give me a good chance to figure out whether I can deal with playing poker 24/7.

I guess those are all the higher-level issues I wanted to tackle. One more issue that I just noticed when I was looking at pokertracker. Of all the possible hands, I have lost the most money with AQo! This is really bad. I think the main problem is that I seem to be playing it too fast when I flop a pair. It's just really hard to get people to stack off with worse hands than AQ on an A or Q high board. I need to take it way slower with this hand I think, treat it more like AJ and less like AK.

Another hand I need to slow down with is bottom two pair. This is a hand that I seem to overplay with some consistency. I need to remember that the golden age of online poker where people are more than willing to stack off with one pair are kind of over. It's just hard to find people who overplay hands this badly anymore. People's mistakes are that they play too tight and don't get enough value for big hands (and let draws in for the right price). Sure there are people who still overplay everything, but these people are somewhat rare. Supertight is just as easy (if not easier) to beat than super loose. You can just steal from them with extreme prejudice and stay out of their way when they show interest in a pot.

Wow I am really rambling now, so I guess I'll stop this post before it gets any worse. I'll try to update more frequently now that I have more time to play, think and write about poker.

Hitting a Wall

So my last post described how well things were going for me up to $100NL and that I was going to play $200NL while multitabling. I decided to only 8-table and see how things went. They did not go well. Actually I am up about $450 after about 10k hands (a very non-impressive win) and the games still aren't that tough, I think i'm just running into some bad luck.

Let's delve into my pokertracker database and look at a bunch of hands where I got stacked.

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
9 players

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is CO with 4d 4h
UTG raises to $4, 4 folds, Hero calls, Button folds, SB calls, BB calls.

Flop: Qc 4s 5s ($16, 4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets $16, Hero raises to $48, 2 folds, UTG calls.

Turn: 3h ($112, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $88, UTG calls.

River: Js ($288, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero is all-in $151.4, UTG calls all-in $119.6.
Uncalled bets: $31.8 returned to Hero.

Results:
Final pot: $527.2
Hero showed 4d 4h
UTG showed As Ks

I still don't hate betting the river here. He put about 40% of his remaining stack in on the turn with just the flush outs, so I still make a ton of money even if I stack off every time he hits the flush. He has AA/KK most of the time here anyway after playing the hand this way, which is what I expected to see when he called the river.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
9 players

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is Button with Qh Qc
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, 2 folds, MP3 calls, CO folds, Hero raises to $11, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls, MP3 folds.

Flop: 3h 3c 4d ($27, 2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $22, UTG+1 calls.

Turn: 6h ($71, 2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks.

River: 3s ($71, 2 players)
UTG+1 bets $40, Hero raises to $140, UTG+1 raises all-in $212.2, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $495.4
UTG+1 showed 4s 4c
Hero mucks Qh Qc

Here I was planning on just calling the river until the 3rd 3 hit the river (which gives me a good chance to get paid off by 77-JJ). Obviously I hated my hand when he 3bet the river, but I couldn't find a fold getting 5:1.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
9 players

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is MP2 with Tc Ts
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $9, 2 folds, Button calls, SB folds, BB calls, UTG+1 folds.

Flop: Th 9s 6h ($30, 3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $26, Button calls, BB raises to $65, Hero raises all-in $233.5, Button folds, BB calls all-in $161.6.
Uncalled bets: $6.9 returned to Hero.

Turn: 7c ($308.6, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $509.2)

River: Jh ($308.6, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $509.2)

Results:
Final pot: $308.6
BB showed 8h 7h
Hero showed Tc Ts

Flopped straight vs. flopped top set. Standard.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
9 players

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is BB with Kc Ks
UTG raises to $4, UTG+1 calls, 3 folds, CO calls, 2 folds, Hero raises to $36, UTG calls, 2 folds.

Flop: 9d 2d 5d ($81, 2 players)
Hero is all-in $483.25, UTG calls all-in $188.3.
Uncalled bets: $294.95 returned to Hero.

Turn: Qd ($457.6, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $457.6)

River: 5h ($457.6, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $457.6)

Results:
Final pot: $457.6
Hero showed Kc Ks
UTG showed Qh Qs

This is just such a gross flop call on his part. He's a 9:1 dog against my actual hand and about a 13:1 dog against my range {KK+} on this flop. Obviously I'm happy he did it and I expected him to do it, it's just the suck when he gets there.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
8 players

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is BB with 6s 7s
UTG+1 raises to $7, 4 folds, SB calls, Hero calls.

Flop: As Js Ks ($21, 4 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $18, UTG+1 raises to $75, SB raises all-in $91, Hero raises all-in $357, UTG+1 calls all-in $131.2.
Uncalled bets: $150.8 returned to Hero.

Turn: Jh ($560, 1 player + 3 all-in - Main pot: $294, Sidepot 1: $230.4, Sidepot 2: $35.6)

River: 7c ($560, 1 player + 3 all-in - Main pot: $294, Sidepot 1: $230.4, Sidepot 2: $35.6)

Results:
Final pot: $560
UTG+1 showed Kh Kc
SB showed Ts Ac
Hero showed 6s 7s

Flush vs. set vs. TP+str8flush draw and flush doesn't hold up. Standard.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
9 players

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is Button with As Ac
2 folds, MP1 raises to $7, MP2 folds, MP3 calls, CO folds, Hero raises to $31, 2 folds, MP1 calls, MP3 folds.

Flop: Jd 8c 7d ($72, 2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $58, MP1 raises to $125, Hero raises to $250, MP1 calls all-in $50.65.
Uncalled bets: $74.35 returned to Hero.

Turn: 4s ($423.3, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $423.3)

River: Kh ($423.3, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $423.3)

Results:
Final pot: $423.3
MP1 showed 9c Tc
Hero showed As Ac

Obviously it is pretty poor play on his part to put 15% of his stack in preflop with 9Ts, but I still need to fold when I get check-raised on this flop. This fold is about as easy as they come, but I was tilting like a motherfucker.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
9 players

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is BB with Ac Ah
3 folds, MP2 raises to $6, 3 folds, Hero raises to $30, MP2 raises to $106, Hero raises all-in $211.5, MP2 calls all-in $105.55.
Uncalled bets: $105.55 returned to MP2.

Flop: Kh 9s 2c ($213.55, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $424)

Turn: Jd ($213.55, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $424)

River: 5d ($213.55, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $424)

Results:
Final pot: $213.55
Hero showed Ac Ah
MP2 showed Kd Kc

Losing AA vs. KK all in preflop. Standard.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
8 players

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is UTG+1 with 2s 2d
UTG folds, Hero raises to $7, MP1 calls, MP2 raises to $16, 4 folds, Hero calls, MP1 calls.

Flop: Th 6c 2h ($51, 3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP2 bets $8, Hero raises to $60, MP1 folds, MP2 calls.

Turn: 5c ($171, 2 players)
Hero is all-in $124, MP2 calls.

River: 8d ($419, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $419)

Results:
Final pot: $419
Hero showed 2s 2d
MP2 showed Tc Td

Set over set. This one sucks because this guy is probably one of the biggest donk regulars in the 1/2 games on full tilt.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
8 players

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is UTG with 3s 3d
Hero raises to $6, 5 folds, SB calls, BB folds.

Flop: 4c 3c Qd ($14, 2 players)
Hero bets $10, SB raises to $35, Hero raises all-in $475.9, SB calls all-in $155.65.
Uncalled bets: $285.25 returned to Hero.

Turn: 6h ($395.3, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $395.3)

River: Th ($395.3, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $395.3)

Results:
Final pot: $395.3
SB showed Qh Qc
Hero showed 3s 3d

Another set over set. I was actually seriously considering folding bottom set here since this guy is a ridiculous tightwad. But I'm still pretty sure he can have like AcQc or KcQc here also.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
9 players

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is MP3 with Kh Kc
2 folds, MP1 raises to $8, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $32, 4 folds, MP1 raises all-in $197, Hero calls.

Flop: Th 6s 7c ($397, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $397)

Turn: Ah ($397, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $397)

River: 3c ($397, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $397)

Results:
Final pot: $397
MP1 showed Kd Ad
Hero showed Kh Kc

In preflop with KK vs. AKs and lose. I guess I can't really complain, since this guy ended up donating me a bunch of money later. I think I stacked him 3 times, once by getting allin preflop with AA vs. 43s.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
9 players

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is UTG with Ad Ac
Hero calls, 5 folds, Button calls, SB calls, BB raises to $9, Hero raises to $33, 2 folds, BB calls.

Flop: 7s 2h Qh ($70, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: 8c ($70, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $40, BB raises all-in $161, Hero calls.

River: 8s ($392, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $392)

Results:
Final pot: $392
BB showed Qs Qc
Hero showed Ad Ac

Here a guy puts in 1/6 of his stack preflop and beats me with a set. Nothing crazy here.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
8 players

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is BB with Th Td
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls, MP2 calls, 2 folds, SB raises to $12, Hero calls, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls, MP2 calls.

Flop: Ts 8c 7c ($50, 4 players)
SB bets $30, Hero raises to $90, MP1 folds, MP2 calls, SB calls.

Turn: Kd ($320, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero is all-in $147.4, MP2 folds, SB calls all-in $33.9.
Uncalled bets: $113.5 returned to Hero.

River: 9s ($387.8, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $387.8)

Results:
Final pot: $387.8
SB showed Kc Jc
Hero showed Th Td

Top set gets beat by flush draw + gutshot.


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
7 players

Pre-flop: (7 players) Hero is CO with Ah Ad
2 folds, MP1 raises to $4, Hero raises to $15, 2 folds, BB calls, MP1 folds.

Flop: Qs 4d Ac ($35, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $26, BB raises to $52, Hero calls.

Turn: 3h ($139, 2 players)
BB is all-in $49, Hero calls.

River: Qc ($237, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $237)

Results:
Final pot: $237
Hero showed Ah Ad
BB showed Qh Qd

This hand hurt. This is the hand that sent me spiraling into the tilt that cause me to get in with AA vs. 9T on a 78J flop (shown above).



So this is how things have been going. My "bankroll" in full tilt is currently at about $4400, and I will probably shrink it pretty soon since I have to use it to pay some bills and stuff.

Oh yea, did I mention that I've been supporting myself+wife with poker for like the last 5 months or so? Well I have, and its working out well. I don't want my wife to have to work (although she does play some poker also, like a couple thousand hands of $25NL every week), and poker is the only way to make this happen while I'm still in school.

With the full tilt bankroll shrinking, I'll probably go back to playing $100NL for a little while until I have $4k in my full tilt account again. But I won't be playing much or at all in the next week since I have a big exam coming up in school. I'll post again in a couple of weeks.

Multitabling

It's been a long time since my last post, but I guess I just haven't felt writing. Plus I've been busy with school stuff, which is priority #1 at this point. Then my free time goes towards actually playing poker, then to blogging about poker.

After my tourney win about a month ago I didn't play for a couple of weeks. After that I decided to attack cash games from an entirely new angle -- multitabling like a muthafucker. I've heard for a long time about people being able to play 6, 8, 10, 12 or even more tables at a time and I wanted to see how proficient I could become at this sort of thing. Obviously I was going to move down from my regular games while trying this, so I went ahead and put $1000 into my full tilt account. The plan was to play as many tables as I reasonable could starting at $50NL full ring, then move up when I had 20 buyins for the next level. For the first time I am also using PAHUD for no limit. I had always used it for limit and I didn't think it would be very useful for no limit. I decided to use it for multitabling since it's quite difficult to get a strong sense of how loose/tight people are when you have so many tables going and can't really give much attention to any individual player.

I played 8 tables the entire 10,000 hands (24 hours at the tables) it took me to get my "bankroll" to $2K. I then moved up to $100NL and decided to get full tilt to increase my table limit to 12 because I was getting a little bored only playing 8. I have tried to play 12 tables, but it really starts to get too hectic having more than 11 going at once. Yes, 11 is the magic number of the number of tables I can play at once. Not 10, not 12, 11.

I have played about 15,000 hands at $100NL and I am less than 1 stack short of moving up to $200NL. I am playing well in these games and making pretty sick hourly wage with them (you can do the math yourself if you want to know the rate). Let me just put it this way -- at $100NL I am making about $8.50 an hour in rakeback alone (none of which, by the way, has hit my account yet). I am pretty pumped about this new way of playing. Playing this many tables keeps me playing "patient", tight, and aggressive. I've always been pretty good about discipline in poker, but never like this. I can't really get out of line because I have too much else going on.

Also it is nice because I can play for about 2 hours a night (pretty much all I have time for) and log about 1000 hands. This lets me continue to feel like I am getting a lot of experience while not really playing that much. I plan to play a lot more in February and beyond, but not much this month due to a major hurdle coming up for school.

One more thing: I've heard of scripts that do various menial tasks like table organization/opening and betting the pot with a simple button click. These could help me add a couple more tables, but probably not too much more. At a certain point it just becomes too difficult to remember the action, study anything about your opponents, and not have like 4 hands at once going. I may look into these in the coming weeks/months, but for now playing 10-11 tables is suiting me fine.

If anything drastically changes in my results I will post it, but other than that don't expect another update for a couple more weeks.

Tourney Story (heads up)

So I had a very wild and bad opponent heads up with a 2:1 chip disadvantage (the actual count was 1213940:651060, or 1.86:1). I also had a plan. My opponent had been pushing in preflop for huge overbets rather frequently throughout the tourney and was very aggressive preflop besides this. She had also shown a propensity for making extremely loose calls when she was re-raised preflop (as evidenced by her calling my all in earlier with 9To, as well as some other calls in hands I wasn't in).

All this meant that I was going to just have to set a trap in order to let her put the money in bad. I had actually won about 100K by playing small ball so far in the match, and on the 32nd hand of heads up play my plan went into full effect. Part of this scheme was to limp from the SB a few times and fold to a raise in order to promote such behavior.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t16000 (2 handed)
Hero (t752060)
BB (BluffingDonk) (t1112940)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Qc, Qs.
Hero calls t8000, BB (BluffingDonk) raises to t50000, Hero raises to t752060, BB (BluffingDonk) calls t701260.

Flop: (t1503320) 8c, Ah, Td (2 players)

Turn: (t1503320) 9h (2 players)

River: (t1503320) 4d (2 players)

Final Pot: t1503320
Main Pot: t1503320 (t1503320), between Hero and BluffingDonk. > Pot won by Hero (t1503320).

Results below:
Hero has Qc Qs (one pair, queens).
BluffingDonk has 4h Kh (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero wins t1503320.


I actually said "wtf" into the chat box because it is such an indescribably bad call. I really just don't get it. Of course my opponent had been doing this kind of stuff successfully all tournament so maybe she thought it was a good idea. It is so bad though -- Even the weakest ranges I can think of for this type of move are like a 2:1 favorite against K4s.

Anyway this gave me a massive chip lead of about 4:1, so of course BluffingDonk did what any good short-stack player does -- move in preflop a bunch of times. Of the 11 remaining hands, she moved in for between 25 and 30BBs in an unraised pot 4 times. The obvious play here is to just wait for her to move in preflop and catch her with red-handed.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t16000 (2 handed)
Hero (t1410520)
BB (BluffingDonk) (t454480)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 3s, Ad.
Hero calls t8000, BB (BluffingDonk) raises to t453680, Hero calls t437680.

Flop: (t900160) 7h, 7c, 4d (2 players)

Turn: (t900160) As (2 players)

River: (t900160) 2h (2 players)

Final Pot: t900160
Main Pot: t900160 (t900160), between Hero and BluffingDonk. > Pot won by Hero (t900160).

Results below:
Hero has 3s Ad (two pair, aces and sevens).
BluffingDonk has 2s Kd (two pair, sevens and twos).
Outcome: Hero wins t900160.


And that was that. Thanks to Rik, Andy and my wife Laura for sweating me from the rail during the end of the tourney.

I'll probably keep about 1/2 of this money in my bankroll and take the other 1/2 out to save or something like that. I probably won't be moving up in my cash game play or anything crazy like that (not that I'll have much time to play anyway). I'll probably try to ply $50 SNGs for a while, as they seem very soft and I sort of miss playing them. I probably won't be playing many more tournaments, at least for a couple of weeks, due to being busy with school crap.

Tourney Story (all except heads up)

Ok, so I'm not cursed at tournaments.

Let's look at some of the details of the $100+9 from last night. These deep stack tournies have excellent structures which allow for an absolute ton of play. The blind levels are the standard ones, but you start with 5000 chips (instead of 1500) and the levels are 1/2 hour long (instead of 15 minutes). This tourney started with 373 people.


I didn't play any important pots during the first level. I raised preflop with some pockets pairs, suited connectors and big aces to win/lose small pots.

The first medium-sized pot i played was during the second level. I couldn't think of any hands that I could beat on the river so I folded.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (9 handed)
MP3 (t5085)
CO (t7045)
Button (t14120)
SB (t4970)
BB (t8390)
UTG (t5300)
UTG+1 (t3300)
MP1 (t4880)
Hero (t5230)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Ks, Kh.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t30, 1 fold, Hero raises to t150, 4 folds, BB calls t120, UTG+1 calls t120.

Flop: (t465) As, Ad, Qc (3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets t240, BB folds, UTG+1 calls t240.

Turn: (t945) 3h (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets t450, UTG+1 calls t450.

River: (t1845) Qh (2 players)
UTG+1 bets t2460 (All-In), Hero folds.

Final Pot: t4305
Main Pot: t1845 (t1845), won by UTG+1.
Pot 2: t2460 (t2460), returned to UTG+1.

Results below:
UTG+1 doesn't show.
Outcome: UTG+1 wins t4305.


I then picked up KK 4 hands later and won a medium size pot that didn't get to showdown. For the next few levels I didn't really pick up any hands and my stack had dwindled to about 3000 at the 50/100 level.

At this point, during the 50/100, 75/150 and 100/200 levels, I was playing pretty tight but I was picking up fairly good hands like AQ/JJ/QQ fairly often and was restealing and winning small pots with all of them. The bigger pots I played and won during these levels were with AQ vs. AJ (the other guy actually called all in on the 456 flop), and with JJ vs. TT on a 9 high flop.

This got my chips to about 18000 at the 200/400/a25 level.

I then played a pot poorly that cost me about 1/2 my stack. This guy was a tightwad and I was pretty sure I could get him to fold anything worse than about 99 or so. Of course he had KK and I doubled him up.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (9 handed)
MP1 (t15360)
MP2 (t7033)
Hero (t17558)
CO (t13139)
Button (t9875)
SB (t23885)
BB (t17823)
UTG (t21580)
UTG+1 (t9941)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Js, Ah.
4 folds, Hero raises to t1200, 1 fold, Button calls t1200, 2 folds.

Flop: (t2600) 4s, 7h, 2c (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t1200, Hero raises to t9200, Button calls t7450 (All-In).

Turn: (t20450) Jh (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t20450) 9h (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t20450
Main Pot: t19900 (t19900), between Hero and Button. > Pot won by Button (t19900).
Pot 2: t550 (t550), returned to Hero.

Results below:
Hero has Js Ah (one pair, jacks).
Button has Ks Kh (one pair, kings).
Outcome: Button wins t19900. Hero wins t550.


3 or 4 hands later I played a strange pot to double up. I probably played this one badly also, but I had sort of given up on the tournament and I was already making plans to go to the casino to play some live poker.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (8 handed)
BB (t15285)
UTG (t6958)
Hero (t7633)
MP1 (t11864)
MP2 (t38448)
CO (t23610)
Button (t22930)
SB (t9466)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 6c, 6d.
1 fold, Hero calls t400, MP1 raises to t1650, 5 folds, Hero calls t1250.

Flop: (t3475) 4c, 3s, Kh (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks.

Turn: (t3475) 2s (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets t1800, Hero raises to t5958, MP1 calls t4158.

River: (t15391) 9d (2 players)

Final Pot: t15391
Main Pot: t15391 (t15391), between Hero and MP1. > Pot won by Hero (t15391).

Results below:
Hero has 6c 6d (one pair, sixes).
MP1 has 4s 6s (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero wins t15391.


During the rest of this level I picked up AA, KK and AK and won preflop pots with all of them by raising or reraising. Then during the 300/600 level I managed to double up by getting in preflop with JJ vs. 99.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (8 handed)
CO (t48027)
Hero (t16784)
SB (t47173)
BB (t41448)
UTG (t26510)
UTG+1 (t29114)
MP1 (t32444)
MP2 (t19582)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Js, Jc.
4 folds, CO raises to t1800, Hero raises to t16734, 2 folds, CO calls t14934.

Flop: (t33768) 2d, 3h, Td (2 players)

Turn: (t33768) Tc (2 players)

River: (t33768) 4c (2 players)

Final Pot: t33768
Main Pot: t33768 (t33768), between CO and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t33768).

Results below:
CO has 9c 9d (two pair, tens and nines).
Hero has Js Jc (two pair, jacks and tens).
Outcome: Hero wins t33768.


I didn't play any more big pots until the following one that occurred later in this level. I don't even know what to say about this hand. His river jam is pretty much inexplicable.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (9 handed)
MP3 (t34593)
CO (t24755)
Hero (t33468)
SB (t52523)
BB (t41448)
UTG (t23360)
UTG+1 (t27414)
MP1 (t35294)
MP2 (t18232)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Qc, Kd.
5 folds, CO raises to t1800, Hero calls t1800, 2 folds.

Flop: (t4000) Kh, Jh, As (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks.

Turn: (t4000) Th (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets t2400, CO raises to t7800, Hero calls t5400.

River: (t19600) Js (2 players)
CO bets t15105 (All-In), Hero calls t15105.

Final Pot: t49810
Main Pot: t49810 (t49810), between CO and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t49810).

Results below:
CO has Jc 9c (three of a kind, jacks).
Hero has Qc Kd (straight, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins t49810.


This put me close to the chip lead, and I hung onto this same amount of chips for a long time (a few levels) by playing small pots. This next pot I played was against a very loose player who was also a habitual bluffer. Furthermore, she seemed to give up pretty easily if you bet and she didn't have a hand. This means that the correct strategy is pretty much to check/call everything she does. Remember what I'm saying about this person (from here forward known as BluffingDonk), she is a major factor in the rest of the tournament.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (8 handed)
MP1 (t37574)
MP2 (t45869)
CO (t250711)
Button (t83617)
SB (t18914)
Hero (t57048)
UTG (BluffingDonk) (t272639)
UTG+1 (t59889)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8s, 5s.
UTG (BluffingDonk) raises to t4000, 3 folds, CO calls t4000, 2 folds, Hero calls t2000.

Flop: (t10700) 6d, 8c, 3d (3 players)
Hero checks, BluffingDonk bets t7000, CO folds, Hero calls t7000.

Turn: (t24700) Kd (2 players)
Hero checks, BluffingDonk checks.

River: (t24700) 7h (2 players)
Hero checks, BluffingDonk bets t9900, Hero calls t9900.

Final Pot: t44500
Main Pot: t44500 (t44500), between Hero and BluffingDonk. > Pot won by Hero (t44500).

Results below:
Hero has 8s 5s (one pair, eights).
BluffingDonk has Jc Qc (high card, king).
Outcome: Hero wins t44500.


So I pretty much played tight and bleed away a few chips till we got into the money. The next big pot I play is when I guy "resteals" my button raise with 8Ts and runs into my AKo for all his chips. By the way, notice how large BluffingDonk's stack has gotten. She was open-raising tons of pots and reraise jamming a lot and nobody really seemed to want to do anything about it.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (8 handed)
MP2 (t54217)
CO (t54861)
Hero (t57634)
SB (t49680)
BB (t122400)
UTG (BluffingDonk) (t342465)
UTG+1 (t30864)
MP1 (t101772)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Ks, Ad.
5 folds, Hero raises to t8000, SB raises to t49580, 1 fold, Hero calls t41580.

Flop: (t99760) 3h, Kc, 3s (2 players)

Turn: (t99760) 9d (2 players)

River: (t99760) 6h (2 players)

Final Pot: t99760
Main Pot: t99760 (t99760), between Hero and SB. > Pot won by Hero (t99760).

Results below:
Hero has Ks Ad (two pair, kings and threes).
SB has 8h Th (one pair, threes).
Outcome: Hero wins t99760.


After this we get down to 2 tables and things tighten up as we get closer to the final table. Normally this is where I like to take advantage and steal a lot, but BluffingDonk was 2 seats to my left and the 2nd place guy was immediately to my left and both were playing incredibly loose and aggressive. I therefore decided that the right course of action would be to play tight unless I could get a positional change (ie, the OTHER table of the 2 remaining tables was the final table and I would get repositioned for the final table).

I did just this, playing very few pots and only with very strong hands. The next major pot I played was when we were hand-4-hand with 10 people left.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (5 handed)
Button (t36017)
SB (t207844)
Hero (t82664)
UTG (t346950)
MP (BluffingDonk) (t140418)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ts, Td.
2 folds, Button raises to t35867, SB calls t34367, Hero raises to t82514, SB calls t46647.

Flop: (t199845) 9d, 2h, 7d (3 players)

Turn: (t199845) 6s (3 players)

River: (t199845) 9c (3 players)

Final Pot: t199845
Main Pot: t199845 (t199845), between Button, SB and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t199845).

Results below:
Hero has Ts Td (two pair, tens and nines).
Button has 3h 3s (two pair, nines and threes).
SB has 8c 8h (two pair, nines and eights).
Outcome: Hero wins t199845.


This was especially painful when we were shorthanded at the 2nd to last table because I was pretty much letting these 2 steal my blinds with impunity. I didn't like it, but I really felt like I could be patient. Besides that BluffingDonk was the main culprit and I had seen her call massive (like 60BBs) preflop allins with hands like KQ. So I didn't think bluff-reraising was appropriate against her. Also the guy to my immediate left was very good and I pretty much tried to avoid him at all costs.

The next major pot I played at the final table was this hand. I really don't understand how this guy doesn't move in preflop, but I guess it doesn't matter because the result would have been the same.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t4000 (5 handed)
Button (t122180)
Hero (t206895)
BB (t72606)
UTG (t406550)
MP (BluffingDonk) (t56440)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ad, Ah.
3 folds, Hero raises to t12000, BB calls t8000.

Flop: (t20800) 9d, 4h, 3c (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks.

Turn: (t20800) 7c (2 players)
Hero bets t16000, BB raises to t60406, Hero calls t44406.

River: (t141612) Ts (2 players)

Final Pot: t141612
Main Pot: t141612 (t141612), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by BB (t141612).

Results below:
Hero has Ad Ah (one pair, aces).
BB has 9h 9s (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: BB wins t141612.


Then after a little while somebody at the other table gets knocked out. Here's what the chip counts looked like at the beginning of the final table:
Seat 1: pepe11 (162308 in chips)
Seat 2: Solidall (274434 in chips)
Seat 3: Perrio (107580 in chips)
Seat 4: CntScoopula (145889 in chips)
Seat 5: Jako (29972 in chips)
Seat 6: Deu_Zebra (406950 in chips)
Seat 7: Jane Smith (174280 in chips)
Seat 8: HeadwoundHal (195076 in chips)
Seat 9: DenverSports (368511 in chips)

From what I had seen by watching my own table and the other table, Jane Smith (BluffingDonk) and Solidall were really loose. Perrio, pepe11, DenverSports and HeadwoundHal were all pretty solid. Jako wasn't really a factor. And Deu_Zebra was just plain good. If I had to pick somebody to win it at the beginning of the final table it probably would have been him.

My strategy for this table was to play very tight. I did so, which took almost 1/2 my blinds before I actually found a hand to take a stand. Here BluffingDonk calls a substantial reraise holding 9To when I've barely played a hand at the entire final table. Well played.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t6000 (6 handed)
SB (t194634)
Hero (t84789)
UTG (t380471)
MP (BluffingDonk) (t557886)
CO (t136809)
Button (t510411)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Qd, Qh.
1 fold, MP (BluffingDonk) raises to t18000, 3 folds, Hero raises to t84489, MP (BluffingDonk) calls t66489.

Flop: (t170178) Kd, 4h, 4s (2 players)

Turn: (t170178) 2s (2 players)

River: (t170178) Th (2 players)

Final Pot: t170178
Main Pot: t170178 (t170178), between Hero and BluffingDonk. > Pot won by Hero (t170178).

Results below:
Hero has Qd Qh (two pair, queens and fours).
BluffingDonk has 9h Td (two pair, tens and fours).
Outcome: Hero wins t170178.


After this I get very lucky against the only player at the table I consciously wanted to avoid. This really is a weird spot to be in. I don't think folding preflop is right (after all, it's a min-raise), check-folding the flop sucks and check-calling the flop sucks. This is why I chose to check-raise, but check-raising sucks too. To be honest I have no idea how to play in these kinds of spots. Am I just destined to get my money in bad here after the given action and flop? I don't really see any way around it...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t6000 (6 handed)
MP (t190734)
Hero (t170178)
Button (t381371)
SB (BluffingDonk) (t477297)
BB (t135909)
UTG (t509511)

Preflop: Hero is CO with As, Jc.
2 folds, Hero raises to t24000, Button raises to t42000, 2 folds, Hero calls t18000.

Flop: (t85200) 9h, 5d, Js (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t42000, Hero raises to t127878, Button calls t85878.

Turn: (t340956) 6d (2 players)

River: (t340956) Jh (2 players)

Final Pot: t340956
Main Pot: t340956 (t340956), between Hero and Button. > Pot won by Hero (t340956).

Results below:
Hero has As Jc (three of a kind, jacks).
Button has Ks Kd (two pair, kings and jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins t340956.


We were 6-handed at the final table for a long time, maybe 45 minutes or an hour. I was still playing really tight and had managed to blind off about 40% of my previously 340K stack. Then I win a race against a short stack to take us to 5 people.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t8000 (6 handed)
MP (t89736)
Hero (t203856)
Button (t302225)
SB (BluffingDonk) (t765297)
BB (t64209)
UTG (t439677)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Ad, Tc.
2 folds, Hero raises to t24000, 2 folds, BB raises to t63809, Hero calls t39809.

Flop: (t129218) 6d, Td, As (2 players)

Turn: (t129218) 7h (2 players)

River: (t129218) Ah (2 players)

Final Pot: t129218
Main Pot: t129218 (t129218), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero (t129218).

Results below:
Hero has Ad Tc (full house, aces full of tens).
BB has 4d 4c (two pair, aces and fours).
Outcome: Hero wins t129218.


Once again I blind down big time to about 150K, finally getting my money in good with AK vs. AQ and winning (actually I end up with the nuts again).


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t12000 (5 handed)
SB (t110336)
Hero (t150665)
UTG (t303225)
MP (BluffingDonk) (t795997)
Button (t504777)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ad, Kd.
UTG raises to t48000, 3 folds, Hero raises to t150065, UTG calls t102065.

Flop: (t301930) Ac, Ah, 8h (2 players)

Turn: (t301930) Ks (2 players)

River: (t301930) Jc (2 players)

Final Pot: t301930
Main Pot: t301930 (t301930), between Hero and UTG. > Pot won by Hero (t301930).

Results below:
Hero has Ad Kd (full house, aces full of kings).
UTG has Qc As (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins t301930.


The really good player (Deu_Zebra) is the next to go, losing on the following hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t12000 (5 handed)
SB (t253672)
Hero (t300730)
UTG (t104160)
MP (BluffingDonk) (t740661)
Button (t465777)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9s, 2h.
UTG raises to t36000, MP (BluffingDonk) raises to t100000, 3 folds, UTG raises to t103560, MP (BluffingDonk) calls t3560.

Flop: (t208920) 6d, 2c, Qs (2 players)

Turn: (t208920) 9d (2 players)

River: (t208920) 4d (2 players)

Final Pot: t208920
Main Pot: t208920 (t208920), between UTG and BluffingDonk. > Pot won by BluffingDonk (t208920).

Results below:
UTG has Ts Th (one pair, tens).
BluffingDonk has Kc Ks (one pair, kings).
Outcome: BluffingDonk wins t208920.


Shortly after this we get down to 3 when the shortstack (guy on my right) flops an openender against top pair in blind v. blind and misses his draw.

Now we were 3 handed and I had a major chip deficit to overcome. I thought that it would now be a good time to get more aggressive to try to pick up some chips. Ideally everyone would be off gaurd and I should be able to steal with impunity, at least for a short while. Right? Wrong.

This one is actually funny because BluffingDonk had raised my BB in an unopened pot literally every time but once since we had gotten 6-handed. When I finally take a stand she has AK... sweet. But after being unlucky and actually running into a hand, I get lucky and suck out.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t12000 (3 handed)
Hero (t273130)
Button (BluffingDonk) (t746421)
SB (t845449)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9c, Ac.
Button (BluffingDonk) raises to t30000, 1 fold, Hero raises to t272530, Button (BluffingDonk) calls t242530.

Flop: (t545660) Jh, 9d, 4s (2 players)

Turn: (t545660) 5s (2 players)

River: (t545660) 8c (2 players)

Final Pot: t545660
Main Pot: t545660 (t545660), between Hero and BluffingDonk. > Pot won by Hero (t545660).

Results below:
Hero has 9c Ac (one pair, nines).
BluffingDonk has As Kh (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins t545660.


The next biggish pot I play is another where I river bottom pair bottom kicker and catch BluffingDonk doing her thing.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t12000 (3 handed)
Hero (t544460)
Button (BluffingDonk) (t756091)
SB (t564449)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 2c, 4s.
Button (BluffingDonk) raises to t24000, 1 fold, Hero calls t12000.

Flop: (t37200) 3d, 5d, 5s (2 players)
Hero checks, BluffingDonk bets t25000, Hero calls t25000.

Turn: (t87200) Tc (2 players)
Hero checks, BluffingDonk checks.

River: (t87200) 2d (2 players)
Hero checks, BluffingDonk bets t39000, Hero calls t39000.

Final Pot: t165200
Main Pot: t165200 (t165200), between Hero and BluffingDonk. > Pot won by Hero (t165200).

Results below:
Hero has 2c 4s (two pair, fives and twos).
BluffingDonk has 9c 8h (one pair, fives).
Outcome: Hero wins t165200.


The other guy at the table (besides me and BluffingDonk) is playing a lot of pots with BluffingDonk but is not faring too well and insists on playing large postflop pots and being the aggressor against her. He ends up getting his chips is good against her but loses.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t16000 (3 handed)
Hero (t651860)
SB (BluffingDonk) (t916691)
BB (t296449)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6s, Qc.
1 fold, SB (BluffingDonk) raises to t50000, BB raises to t295649, SB (BluffingDonk) calls t245649.

Flop: (t592098) Kd, 8s, 2s (2 players)

Turn: (t592098) 6d (2 players)

River: (t592098) 9h (2 players)

Final Pot: t592098
Main Pot: t592098 (t592098), between BluffingDonk and BB. > Pot won by BluffingDonk (t592098).

Results below:
BluffingDonk has 9d As (one pair, nines).
BB has Ts Ac (high card, ace).
Outcome: BluffingDonk wins t592098.


This gets us heads up with me having a 2:1 chip disadvantage. Since I never seem to lose when I get heads up with these things, and my opponent is absolutely terrible, I like my chances.

My next post (later tonight) will contain the details of heads up play. It is a fun one, and contains one of the worst calls I have ever seen. Stay tuned!

A Big Win!

I played a bunch of poker today. I started by playing a bunch of $50 SNGs. I won a couple of those, then got 5th in a $50 90-man SNG for $360.

Then I played the $100+9 Deep-stack No Limit Hold'em tournament on Stars and took it all home for about $9300. I'm too tired to get into the details now, but I played well and got a little lucky to get myself the win.

I'll post more details about this tomorrow, for now all you get is this picture. Good night to all!

I Am Cursed at Tournaments

I am starting to think I am cursed when it comes to large-field tournaments. Last night I played the $10+R on Stars and made it deep, only to have the wheels fall off toward the end of the tournament.

I lost 2 huge pots, both all in preflop, and both as a substantial favorite. The first was with AA vs. KK when we were down to about 35 players. I was the chip leader at the time against a medium stack so it made me a medium stack. I built my stack up again almost purely by stealing, only to get it in again and lose with AQ vs. KQ preflop against a medium stack when we were down to 15 or so. This crippled me and I didn't play any important pots until we were 5-handed and I pushed my 9BBs in with KQs and ran into KK, knocking me out in 10th.

I'm not sure what I should do here. On one hand I seem to have a tremendous amount of success, since I don't play that many tournaments yet I go pretty deep in one every couple of weeks or so. But on the other hand it feels like a kick in the balls every time I get close to (and miss) "the big score". And this is the way it has always gone for me. I've never finished higher than 4th in a tournament with more than about 500 people.

I don't know if there's something wrong with my play or it's just some weird manifestation of luck that makes this happen. It feels like I'm just one or two breaks (like winning one more race or something) away from winning each and every time I go far, yet it never seems to happen. I've always just told myself that I was running bad and that I would get there eventually, but I just don't know any more.

Wow. I'm complaining about getting 10th in a tournament that had over 1700 people in it. But seriously, one win would be way better than all these stupid marginal finishes.

Ok let's move on.

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I haven't played a whole lot during the past couple of weeks, save for the home game and a little bit of online play. Let's first talk about the home game.

Last week we played No Limit Holdem and I took 2nd out of 6. Imagine something if you will. I was down to exactly 1400 chips when we were still 6-handed at the 100/200 level. For the remainder of the tournament I never had more than 11BBs but I ended up taking 2nd.

This week we played limit 5 card draw with 2 bugs (jokers). The loose/bad player in the game was exceptionally bad at this form of poker. Example: he limps UTG, CO limps, button folds, SB limps, I raise from the BB with 2d3d5d+Joker (20 outs to at least a straight). The bad player calls, CO raises, SB calls 2 more (also a terrible play by the way), I 4-bet, bad player calls 2 more, everyone calls. SB draws 3, I draw 1, bad player draws 2, CO draws 1. SB checks, I check since I missed, bad player bets, CO calls, SB folds, I fold. Bad players shows AKKQ+Joker for Aces up, CO has a smaller 2 pair and loses. Not that bad you say? He drew 2 in a 4-bet pot to the AKQ rainbow.

I ended up doubling my stack in this game, at which point somebody suggested (and everyone else agreed) to play NLH. I played a pretty big pot on one of the first few hands that went like this. With blinds of 300/600, I raise UTG tp 1800 with 55, all fold to the BB (the 2+2er friend of mine) who calls. The flop is 22K rainbow and he check-calls 3500. Turn is an 8, check check. River is a 9, he bets 6500 leaving himself with about 7000. I ponder for a while and make a sick call to beat his 44.

During the next round I lose about 1/2 my stack by getting in with ATo vs. 44 against my wife. I then get whittled down, finally moving in from the button 3-handed with AT and running into bad player's JJ. Bad played ended up winning the whole thing, which is either the first or second time he's won in about 8 months of playing almost every week.


I haven't been playing any of the cash games online this week and I don't think I will in the upcoming week either.