Tuesday, June 20, 2006

More Blogging

Well i have time for it at the moment as i'm not playing too much. Firstly, the hand from the previous blog "Less is More."

Well i think there are just two options here. Raise or fold. Calling $2000 with the AA is just a non move. If the BB has me beat he will push. Apart from the Ace, no cards on the turn will help me either. I just don't think i had enough information to commit my entire stack with AA in this spot so i folded. I could be beating one of my opponents, but i think its unlikely given the action that i have them both beat. I could have been stubborn and hoped one had QA, and the other something like KK, but i think the pass is the correct move.

My mistake was not reraising preflop. The UTG preflop raiser made a 7 times the BB raise, so he probably has a big hand, and would call a reraise.

I never got to see my opponents hands either. The BB called the raise to $2000. The turn was a 7 and he moved all in. The other player passed. I'm sure i was beat seeing how the hand played out.

I have also finished writing a weekly column for the Daily Telegraph. After a year (how time flies) and around 55 columns, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep thinking of something interesting to write about NL Hold'em. They wanted me to aim it at the majority of readers, which is why it was just NL hold'em, i'm sure that i could have carried on longer if i was able to talk about all the other games. It was a great privilege to have been asked to write for a national newspaper for a year, and i'll probably do some one off pieces for them on major tournaments in the future.

I will write something for Cardplayer Europe in the next couple of months now i have more time on my hands. If there is anything interesting anyone thinks i should write about, feel free to post a comment.

I've also added a few new links to the right hand side of the blog... check them out!

6 comments:

Ed Hollis said...

hi Ben

v.good blog mate, i'm interested in really your whole rise to fame and fortune :). i've read your blog for the last few months so i don't know much about how you got to the top/higher end of the game (when i started reading your blog you were already a top table player on crypto). also things like how you got your first sponsorship deal and if possible details, any wins or high places in big tournies (like 9th monte carlo recently), pretty much an overview of your poker career to date.

also- where is the best place in your opinion to see wsop updates online

gl in vegas,

Ed (BlueScouse)

p.s. any chance of getting my blog set up as a link on ur page?

!!! i've just realised i've misinterpreted this bit in your post- 'If there is anything interesting anyone thinks i should write about, feel free to post a comment', i thought it was for you to write on your blog but now realised it's for you to write in cardplayer europe. i'm going to leave the comment on anyway in the hope you will answer :)

Anonymous said...

I like the blog.

Good luck at the World Series!! bring a couple of bracelets back to the UK to coincide with a World Cup victory ;)

Highstack said...

Hi Ben

I disagree with your thinking here that it is raise or fold and calling not an option - sorry!

I have been away on holiday so I didn't respond to your original question although I have just read all the replies.

My view is that I would never reraise with AA on the button and only one person in the pot ahead of me. You said this was your mistake, but I am not so sure. The unfortunate thing of course was that the BB called.

On the flop, you now have a bet and a raise in front of you and it is a clear pass for me as I have no idea where I am in the hand and it will cost me my entire stack to find out.

However, I wouldn't always reraise here. Why not call? If you are behind they will call your raise anyway. If you are in front, you surely want them to donk off the rest of their stack on the turn? You want all their cash here and I believe a call will maximise your chances.

Best of luck in Vegas. That looks a gruelling schedule but better than sitting here in my stinking office!

Milkybarkid said...

Hi Ed

Lol rise to fame and fortune! My break came when I landed a high paid job in London which meant that I could afford to take a shot at bigger cash games and tournaments. Before that, if I lost £1000 I would be skint till I next got paid, so I never really played big stakes.

The first really big tournament I played was EPT London Series 1. I had a bankroll of around £10000 and put £3000 in to play that tournament… yikes (poor bankroll management)

I bubbled in that event but felt comfortable playing such a big tournament. I then qualified for Deauville EPT event, and despite having massive chips blew the lot. Then I qualified for EPT Monte Carlo where I played a shortstack all the way to finishing 7th.
I had only just given up my job to play poker and that was a huge boost to my bankroll, and allowed me to play bigger games online.

Since then things have generally been on an upward curve. I’ve blown a high percentage of my bankroll a couple of times online in the last 14 months playing for a living, but have been lucky enough to recover and be able to carry on.

My biggest disappointments so far have been my finishes in the Caribbean Poker Classic last November, and EPT final this year. Both times I had big chips, and I expected to finish top 3, but a mixture of bad luck and poor play led to me finishing 9th in both. Hopefully next time I won’t make the same mistakes.

Betfair offered me sponsorship for a few reasons. I was already a regular player on their site and had written articles for them. Also, I did well as a qualifier in Monte Carlo and had just become the Daily Telegraph poker columnist.

For WSOP updates online I generally look at Cardplayer and Pokerpages, both of which I have a link of on the right of my blog. I’m sure both sites realise the kind of traffic they will get of their updates are good… so I think they are the best two.

I’ve added a link to your blog on the right hand side of mine!

Any more questions feel free to ask…..

Ben

Milkybarkid said...

Highstack

How dare you disagree with me! Lol… the whole point in my blog is to get discussions going. So criticism is good.

Your first point is indeed correct. I would not reraise on the button facing a single opponent who has bet 7 times the big blind very often. Ideally I just wanted to isolate one opponen... so it was bad luck that the BB called.

I see your point about just calling. If I decide to die with the hand, I may as well let them continue to bet, as I don’t want to scare away hands that I am beating.

The downside to just calling is that there is enough in the middle for me to be happy to pick it up right there. If I move in I can make hands fold that I don’t really want to give a free card to… like KT, KQ, K9, JT, QT etc

Ok calling is an option but I think in this hand I raise 30%, call 10%, and fold 60%. If on tilt I raise 100%... :-)

MrDigital said...

Hello Ben, I am off to Vegas for the WSOP on the 26th and as a result I am trying to prepare for the event physically (LOL) & emotionally.. There isn't much about reading wise on preperation for big tourney's like this and maybe you could include a bit of info on how you prepare for these events..

Reading an article by Buzzer in this months Deal gives some real insight into how a player that is familiar with these tourneys thinks, even down to the correct clothing if your a sweaty twat like me its a good point as i would tilt if i was hot n bothered and go all in with shite.. Well i do that anyway but you get my drift...

GL

Toshiwonka/MrDigital etc..