Went to the Vic last night... Finally for the first of my visits this year they opened up a £250 Pot Limit Omaha table. I quickly snapped up a seat in that and it was a very interesting table composition including 2004 European player of the Year Willie Tann and EPT producer John Duthie. There were a couple of good Vic Omaha players on the table and a few not so good.
I felt pretty confident at this table especially as two of the strongest Omaha players are in Tunica at the moment. I sat down with £700 and quickly won a £400 pot when i raised the maximum on the flop and river with the nuts straight.
Then the first of many key hands that i was involved with happened.
Vic Player to my left makes it £35 to play and 5 players called. I call on the button with A345. Flop comes AK2 with two clubs and i am holding a wrap on the low straight and a small flush draw. Vic player raises £200 and everyone passes to me. I decide to call after deliberating and the turn brings a lovely 4 of hearts to give me the nut straight. Vic player bets £600 and i go all in for £700. He looks pretty disgusted and calls and no help on the river for him and i'm up to around £1900.
I then was having my usual poser. The last two times i have been at the Vic i have been up £1000 at one point. Both times i considered stopping which would have been wise on both those occasions. However, i decided the table was just too good to pass up on this opportunity.
After no major hands for a while i picked up TJQA double suited and i raised it to £30 to play and three players call. It flops AK7 which gives me a wrap and the Ace flush draw. I bet £100, next player calls and then the player on the button raises another £200. Easy call for me and the other player passes. I even considered raising again as i knew my draw would make me favorite even against a set of Kings. Turn brings a blank and my opponent now bets £500 into a pot of £800. The pot odds are too good so i call and the river comes another blank. This hand puts me back down to about £900 and i am regretting my decision not to stop when £1000 up.
I then won a couple of smallish pots and found myself with £1200 when the following hand occured. I call a small raise preflop with 3456 and it flops A29 rainbow. I decided to bet the pot hoping to pick up the pot of around £100 then. Two players call. The next card is a 4 which gives me the nut straight. Again as i am first to speak i bet £300. One player passes and the other calls. Last card a T and i still have the nuts. Now it was a case of betting and seeing if i could get a call. So i decide to bet the entire pot of about £1000. My opponent goes into the think tank and after about 3 minutes says "I call" YES .... he had slowplayed a set of Aces on the flop and never believed that i held the straight.
I am up to around £3000 now after that big pot and i never leave just after scooping a big pot so decide i will stick around till they next come round for table charges. I look down at 6789 double suited and it is £75 to play and i am on the button with 3 callers before me. I think my hand is good enough in position facing multiple players so call the £75. It flops K57 rainbow so yet again i hold a wrap on the straight draw. The player who raised pre flop bets £300 and the other players pass to me. I am playing very tight now but after thinking for a minute or so call. This is a player i have already won a few big pots against tonight so i know he has been agitated by me. The next card comes a 3. My opponent checks. He clearly doesn't like this card and i have already won two big pots against him when i have made the straight. I confidently say, "I bet the pot." this amounted to £900. My opponent goes it to the tank again and starts talking to himself about how i keep getting lucky. He eventually passes after a long dwell and i show him my bluff. This just makes him more angry.
I am at around £3500 when again on the button (seems to be i kept getting my big hands there) i have AAJ8 double suited in hearts and diamonds. There has already been a raise to make it £50 to play here and whilst i would normally make a raise to try and isolate one opponent i decide to call thinking that if i do hit a big hand it will be better disguised. There are four of us that see a flop of AK7 with two clubs in play. One opponent raises to £200 to play and there is another caller when it gets to me. Both of these players have stacks that have me covered so they may call a pot reraise here. I decide just to call and see the next card and fire at it if its a blank. Next card is a blank and this time it is checked to me and i bet £800. One guy insta calls and the other passes. The last card is a scary looking T meaning there is a potential straight. Phew he checks... i check in case he is trapping me and he shouts, "Trip Kings." I show my aces and pick up a nice pot. He had £5000 in front of him before that hand and said if it had paired up he would have given all his money to me. Even a blank and he would have paid me off. Maybe i should have bet even with the T.
I was now sitting with nearly £5000 in front of me feeling very good about things. I decided i wanted to play on as there were at least 3 players on tilt. I then went card dead for a while and lost a couple of pots and decided the next time i put more than £300 into a pot i would call it a night and with £4200 the following happened. Under the gun i find 9933 and its £25 to play so i call it flops 932 rainbow to give me two sets of 9's and 3's. I think then fire out £150. The Vic player who was clearly after me because i had won a few big pots against him and got him riled with a big bluff raises it to £500. Everyone else passes back round to me. Hmmmm what to do now? I follow my usual tactic of waiting to see the next card and then firing if its a blank. I far rather get my money in the middle on the turn than on the flop. Especially as i am certain he would call me with something like 456 in his hand. I know this player quite well and feel that he will fire again on the turn if its a blank. The turn brings an 8. I check and he bets £1000. Wow... i immediately declare myself all in and he looks very shocked. It will cost him another £2700. To my relief he passes and i show my hand. I'm not sure if i wanted a call here. On one hand there was an excellent chance i would have won another £2700 but going bust on that hand would have made me feel sick. I think i had just enough to make him pass if he was holding a big straight draw.
I stick to my policy and soon lose about £400 when i make a full house but get beaten by a bigger one and go up to the cash desk with £5300. That has definitely improved my stats for 2005. Its actually my biggest ever cash game win live.
One thought. Looking back at my recent cash game results i see a pattern developing. The last 5 times i have played Pot Limit Omaha at the Vic i have won and the last 3 times i have played dealers choice i have lost.
It’s going to be one fun weekend.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Omaha on Stars
In a bizarre twist of fortunes my online results are going far better than my live results so far in 2005. I played in the $5/$10 Pot Limit Omaha on Stars and was generally getting big hands that were standing up. One flop saw me all in for $600 with top set on a KT4 flop against two callers and no flush or straight arrived to allow me to triple my money. Then a very aggressive player arrived on the table and kept raising the maximum before each and every flop. After he had blown $2000 quickly I picked up AATJ double suited. As I knew he would raise I called and he raised the pot to $70 a couple of other players call and I make it $300 to play and he goes all in for $1000. Everyone else passes and I call his raise. The board came a relatively safe looking T4272 with no flush. However, he had whacked his $1000 in with TTKA. I was back down to $2000 so decided to call it a day rather than go on tilt. I’d only been playing for 45 minutes so a profit of $1200 was good.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Table Image
I remember when i could play at the big Omaha and Dealers Choice games at The Vic and hardly be recognised. As people normally guess my age between 18-21 (see link below for photographic proof) i feel that this gave me a significant advantage as i could often just play the nuts and get paid off due to my perceived relative inexperience in these games. I lost count of the number of times that i used to make alot of money everytime i hit a monster hand. Now i am a recognised and reasonably respected player i think i have lost that part of my game that gave me a big edge. Now when i check raise players let go of hands. I have started to make more moves as i can't just wait for the nuts any longer. I have started making strong moves on pots if i sense weakness. I check raised someone £400 on a scary JJ5 flop last week and actually managed to get them to let go of 55 in an 5 card Omaha PL game when i didn't have a J. This is not a move that i would have made in the past but it seems i've resorted to big bluffs to take down serious pots of late.
How do i adjust my game now i am recognised? I need to think about this seriously. Suggestions would help!!
http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=g&n=26577
On top of being recognised i have also noticed something far more significant that could affect my long term expectations in the big games at the Vic. Where have all the fish gone? I know the Vic is regarded as one of the toughest places to play in the country but last year in the big games i could always guarantee there would be 2 or more players just waiting to let go of there money if you kind a suitable situation to relieve them of it. However, in my last three visits last week in the £250 dealers choice i encountered two bad players in total over three sessions. One of these is was of the dangerous/aggressive sort that can prove tricky. My last session was the biggest rock fest i have ever been in at the Vic. Where have they all gone? Answers on a postcard please!!
How do i adjust my game now i am recognised? I need to think about this seriously. Suggestions would help!!
http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=g&n=26577
On top of being recognised i have also noticed something far more significant that could affect my long term expectations in the big games at the Vic. Where have all the fish gone? I know the Vic is regarded as one of the toughest places to play in the country but last year in the big games i could always guarantee there would be 2 or more players just waiting to let go of there money if you kind a suitable situation to relieve them of it. However, in my last three visits last week in the £250 dealers choice i encountered two bad players in total over three sessions. One of these is was of the dangerous/aggressive sort that can prove tricky. My last session was the biggest rock fest i have ever been in at the Vic. Where have they all gone? Answers on a postcard please!!
January Tournament Schedule
Have the following tournaments in my schedule for January after looking through poker in Europe.
Luton
Wed 19 Jan £ 500 + 25 No Limit Hold'em Freezeout
Fri 21 Jan £ 250 + 25 Pot Limit Hold'em Rebuys
Brighton
Sat 29 Jan £ 500 + 25 No Limit Hold'em Freezeout
Hopefully I will make a couple of final tables.
Luton
Wed 19 Jan £ 500 + 25 No Limit Hold'em Freezeout
Fri 21 Jan £ 250 + 25 Pot Limit Hold'em Rebuys
Brighton
Sat 29 Jan £ 500 + 25 No Limit Hold'em Freezeout
Hopefully I will make a couple of final tables.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Online debut in 2005 – The year of the bluff?
Fresh from being annoyed at the mistake I had made the previous night at the Vic I decided it was time to play my first online game of the year. I started of in the Omaha Pot Limit $5/$10 on Pokerstars with $600 and finished about an hour later with $2200 for a nice profit of $1600 which went some way towards compensating for the £700 loss the previous night.
I would say that I am not normally a big bluffer in Omaha. However, the three hands below tell a different story. I enjoyed showing these bluffs to the table. The annoying thing was that I know I would have been paid of very well if I could have stuck around and waited for a monster. I just had to dash of to a party.
I wouldn’t say any of these bluffs were particularly well timed it was more of a case that I had to keep betting if I was going to pick up the pot.
Bluff 1
*********** # 4 **************
PokerStars Game #1052786173: Omaha Pot Limit ($5/$10) - 2005/01/08 - 12:19:06
(ET)
Table 'Alcathous' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: Glenmorangie ($1444.50 in chips)
Seat 3: MoonSky ($1663.50 in chips)
Seat 4: hamsa ($585 in chips)
Seat 5: milkybarkid ($957.50 in chips)
Seat 6: soora ($1654.50 in chips)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 ($1279 in chips)
Seat 8: Evelyn ($2896.05 in chips)
Seat 9: **Tycoon** ($990 in chips)
**Tycoon**: posts small blind $5
Glenmorangie: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to milkybarkid [Tc Ts 9h Jh]
MoonSky: calls $10
hamsa has timed out
hamsa: folds
hamsa is sitting out
milkybarkid: raises $35 to $45
soora: folds
MENTOR 2: folds
hamsa has returned
LuckyTC is connected
LuckyTC has returned
Evelyn: folds
**Tycoon**: calls $40
Glenmorangie: folds
MoonSky: calls $35
*** FLOP *** [4c Qc Ks]
**Tycoon**: checks
MoonSky: checks
milkybarkid: bets $142
**Tycoon**: folds
MoonSky: calls $142
*** TURN *** [4c Qc Ks] [7d]
MoonSky: checks
milkybarkid: bets $426
MoonSky: calls $426
*** RIVER *** [4c Qc Ks 7d] [Qh]
MoonSky: checks
milkybarkid: bets $344.50 and is all-in
MoonSky: folds
milkybarkid collected $1278 from pot
milkybarkid: shows [Tc Ts 9h Jh] (two pair, Queens and tens)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1281 Rake $3
Board [4c Qc Ks 7d Qh]
Seat 1: Glenmorangie (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: MoonSky folded on the River
Seat 4: hamsa folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: milkybarkid collected ($1278)
Seat 6: soora folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Evelyn (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: **Tycoon** (small blind) folded on the Flop
Bluff 2
*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #1052798463: Omaha Pot Limit ($5/$10) - 2005/01/08 - 12:23:26
(ET)
Table 'Alcathous' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Glenmorangie ($1499.50 in chips)
Seat 3: MoonSky ($1000.50 in chips)
Seat 4: hamsa ($694 in chips)
Seat 5: milkybarkid ($1482.50 in chips)
Seat 6: soora ($1654.50 in chips)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 ($1239 in chips)
Seat 8: Evelyn ($2856.05 in chips)
Seat 9: **Tycoon** ($1000 in chips)
hamsa: posts small blind $5
milkybarkid: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to milkybarkid [9c 6h Ts 5s]
soora: folds
MENTOR 2: folds
Evelyn: raises $20 to $30
**Tycoon**: folds
LuckyTC is connected
Glenmorangie: calls $30
MoonSky: calls $30
LuckyTC has returned
hamsa: calls $25
milkybarkid: calls $20
*** FLOP *** [Th Jc 8s]
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: bets $20
Evelyn: calls $20
Glenmorangie: folds
MoonSky: folds
hamsa: calls $20
*** TURN *** [Th Jc 8s] [4h]
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: bets $140
LuckyTC said, "sorry guys, if happens again I guess I have to stop"
Evelyn: calls $140
hamsa: folds
*** RIVER *** [Th Jc 8s 4h] [8d]
milkybarkid: bets $250
Evelyn: folds
milkybarkid collected $487 from pot
milkybarkid: shows [9c 6h Ts 5s] (two pair, Tens and Eights)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $490 Rake $3
Board [Th Jc 8s 4h 8d]
Seat 1: Glenmorangie folded on the Flop
Seat 3: MoonSky (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: hamsa (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: milkybarkid (big blind) collected ($487)
Seat 6: soora folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Evelyn folded on the River
Seat 9: **Tycoon** folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Bluff 3
PokerStars Game #1052860704: Omaha Pot Limit ($5/$10) - 2005/01/08 - 12:44:30
(ET)
Table 'Alcathous' Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: Glenmorangie ($1621.50 in chips)
Seat 2: LuckyTC ($2186.50 in chips)
Seat 3: MoonSky ($2005 in chips)
Seat 4: hamsa ($770 in chips)
Seat 5: milkybarkid ($1477.50 in chips)
Seat 6: soora ($1132.50 in chips)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 ($1209 in chips)
Seat 8: Evelyn ($2880.05 in chips)
Seat 9: **Tycoon** ($1916 in chips)
Glenmorangie: posts small blind $5
LuckyTC: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to milkybarkid [8d 5h Jc 6s]
MoonSky: folds
hamsa: calls $10
milkybarkid: calls $10
MoonSky is sitting out
soora: calls $10
MENTOR 2: folds
Evelyn: raises $20 to $30
**Tycoon**: calls $30
Glenmorangie: folds
LuckyTC: calls $20
hamsa: calls $20
milkybarkid: calls $20
soora: calls $20
*** FLOP *** [6h Ks 4d]
LuckyTC: checks
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: checks
soora: checks
Evelyn: bets $60
**Tycoon**: folds
LuckyTC: folds
hamsa: calls $60
milkybarkid: calls $60
soora: folds
*** TURN *** [6h Ks 4d] [2s]
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: bets $100
Evelyn: calls $100
hamsa: calls $100
*** RIVER *** [6h Ks 4d 2s] [Td]
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: bets $280
Evelyn: folds
hamsa: folds
milkybarkid collected $662 from pot
milkybarkid: shows [8d 5h Jc 6s] (a pair of Sixes)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $665 Rake $3
Board [6h Ks 4d 2s Td]
Seat 1: Glenmorangie (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: LuckyTC (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: MoonSky folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: hamsa folded on the River
Seat 5: milkybarkid collected ($662)
Seat 6: soora folded on the Flop
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Evelyn folded on the River
Seat 9: **Tycoon** (button) folded on the Flop
I would say that I am not normally a big bluffer in Omaha. However, the three hands below tell a different story. I enjoyed showing these bluffs to the table. The annoying thing was that I know I would have been paid of very well if I could have stuck around and waited for a monster. I just had to dash of to a party.
I wouldn’t say any of these bluffs were particularly well timed it was more of a case that I had to keep betting if I was going to pick up the pot.
Bluff 1
*********** # 4 **************
PokerStars Game #1052786173: Omaha Pot Limit ($5/$10) - 2005/01/08 - 12:19:06
(ET)
Table 'Alcathous' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: Glenmorangie ($1444.50 in chips)
Seat 3: MoonSky ($1663.50 in chips)
Seat 4: hamsa ($585 in chips)
Seat 5: milkybarkid ($957.50 in chips)
Seat 6: soora ($1654.50 in chips)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 ($1279 in chips)
Seat 8: Evelyn ($2896.05 in chips)
Seat 9: **Tycoon** ($990 in chips)
**Tycoon**: posts small blind $5
Glenmorangie: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to milkybarkid [Tc Ts 9h Jh]
MoonSky: calls $10
hamsa has timed out
hamsa: folds
hamsa is sitting out
milkybarkid: raises $35 to $45
soora: folds
MENTOR 2: folds
hamsa has returned
LuckyTC is connected
LuckyTC has returned
Evelyn: folds
**Tycoon**: calls $40
Glenmorangie: folds
MoonSky: calls $35
*** FLOP *** [4c Qc Ks]
**Tycoon**: checks
MoonSky: checks
milkybarkid: bets $142
**Tycoon**: folds
MoonSky: calls $142
*** TURN *** [4c Qc Ks] [7d]
MoonSky: checks
milkybarkid: bets $426
MoonSky: calls $426
*** RIVER *** [4c Qc Ks 7d] [Qh]
MoonSky: checks
milkybarkid: bets $344.50 and is all-in
MoonSky: folds
milkybarkid collected $1278 from pot
milkybarkid: shows [Tc Ts 9h Jh] (two pair, Queens and tens)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1281 Rake $3
Board [4c Qc Ks 7d Qh]
Seat 1: Glenmorangie (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: MoonSky folded on the River
Seat 4: hamsa folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: milkybarkid collected ($1278)
Seat 6: soora folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Evelyn (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: **Tycoon** (small blind) folded on the Flop
Bluff 2
*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #1052798463: Omaha Pot Limit ($5/$10) - 2005/01/08 - 12:23:26
(ET)
Table 'Alcathous' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Glenmorangie ($1499.50 in chips)
Seat 3: MoonSky ($1000.50 in chips)
Seat 4: hamsa ($694 in chips)
Seat 5: milkybarkid ($1482.50 in chips)
Seat 6: soora ($1654.50 in chips)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 ($1239 in chips)
Seat 8: Evelyn ($2856.05 in chips)
Seat 9: **Tycoon** ($1000 in chips)
hamsa: posts small blind $5
milkybarkid: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to milkybarkid [9c 6h Ts 5s]
soora: folds
MENTOR 2: folds
Evelyn: raises $20 to $30
**Tycoon**: folds
LuckyTC is connected
Glenmorangie: calls $30
MoonSky: calls $30
LuckyTC has returned
hamsa: calls $25
milkybarkid: calls $20
*** FLOP *** [Th Jc 8s]
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: bets $20
Evelyn: calls $20
Glenmorangie: folds
MoonSky: folds
hamsa: calls $20
*** TURN *** [Th Jc 8s] [4h]
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: bets $140
LuckyTC said, "sorry guys, if happens again I guess I have to stop"
Evelyn: calls $140
hamsa: folds
*** RIVER *** [Th Jc 8s 4h] [8d]
milkybarkid: bets $250
Evelyn: folds
milkybarkid collected $487 from pot
milkybarkid: shows [9c 6h Ts 5s] (two pair, Tens and Eights)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $490 Rake $3
Board [Th Jc 8s 4h 8d]
Seat 1: Glenmorangie folded on the Flop
Seat 3: MoonSky (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: hamsa (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: milkybarkid (big blind) collected ($487)
Seat 6: soora folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Evelyn folded on the River
Seat 9: **Tycoon** folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Bluff 3
PokerStars Game #1052860704: Omaha Pot Limit ($5/$10) - 2005/01/08 - 12:44:30
(ET)
Table 'Alcathous' Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: Glenmorangie ($1621.50 in chips)
Seat 2: LuckyTC ($2186.50 in chips)
Seat 3: MoonSky ($2005 in chips)
Seat 4: hamsa ($770 in chips)
Seat 5: milkybarkid ($1477.50 in chips)
Seat 6: soora ($1132.50 in chips)
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 ($1209 in chips)
Seat 8: Evelyn ($2880.05 in chips)
Seat 9: **Tycoon** ($1916 in chips)
Glenmorangie: posts small blind $5
LuckyTC: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to milkybarkid [8d 5h Jc 6s]
MoonSky: folds
hamsa: calls $10
milkybarkid: calls $10
MoonSky is sitting out
soora: calls $10
MENTOR 2: folds
Evelyn: raises $20 to $30
**Tycoon**: calls $30
Glenmorangie: folds
LuckyTC: calls $20
hamsa: calls $20
milkybarkid: calls $20
soora: calls $20
*** FLOP *** [6h Ks 4d]
LuckyTC: checks
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: checks
soora: checks
Evelyn: bets $60
**Tycoon**: folds
LuckyTC: folds
hamsa: calls $60
milkybarkid: calls $60
soora: folds
*** TURN *** [6h Ks 4d] [2s]
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: bets $100
Evelyn: calls $100
hamsa: calls $100
*** RIVER *** [6h Ks 4d 2s] [Td]
hamsa: checks
milkybarkid: bets $280
Evelyn: folds
hamsa: folds
milkybarkid collected $662 from pot
milkybarkid: shows [8d 5h Jc 6s] (a pair of Sixes)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $665 Rake $3
Board [6h Ks 4d 2s Td]
Seat 1: Glenmorangie (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: LuckyTC (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: MoonSky folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: hamsa folded on the River
Seat 5: milkybarkid collected ($662)
Seat 6: soora folded on the Flop
Seat 7: MENTOR 2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Evelyn folded on the River
Seat 9: **Tycoon** (button) folded on the Flop
Its official - I’m an idiot
Was back at the Vic last Friday playing the minimum £250 Dealers Choice. I started off with £700 and quickly won some big pots and was up to £2200 at one point. Maybe I should have stopped which is always easier said than done. I then went up and down till I made a ridiculous mistake. We had been playing Omaha Hi/Lo practically all evening except for the odd game of lowball and Stud. Anyway on a flop of 27K with 2 hearts and me holding the A34K I saw fit to re raise all my chips thinking I’m drawing to the nut low and the nut flush. WRONG .. I hadn’t realized the game had changed to Omaha high so in fact my £1200 had sailed in to the middle with the nut flush draw only. I didn’t even realize until after I declared I had the nut low that I had lost the entire pot. I was angry because the dealer hadn’t declared the game had changed and because the plaque which tells me what game we were playing was difficult for me to see as I was left of the dealer and the button was to the right of the dealer I couldn’t actually see it without leaning forward.
It won’t be a mistake I’ll be making again in a hurry.
It won’t be a mistake I’ll be making again in a hurry.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
In and out of trouble
I continued with my poker New Year Resolution and headed to the Vic last night to play a cash game. The only game that interested me was the minimum £250 sit down Dealers Choice. There were two bad players a couple of average ones and a good player so it was too tempting to resist.
It seemed the game of choice all evening was Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit. I sat down with £1000 and immediately went card dead and I mean really dead. On a 7 handed table I didn’t scoop a single pot for 90 minutes and saw A2 only once in a starting hand during that time and was down to £350. I then hit quad Kings on a KK2 flop only for someone to hit a backdoor low when I was all in to split the pot. It seemed whenever I had a high hand it flopped low and vice versa. I eventually lost my last £250 when I had the Ace flush draw and the nut low draw but the board paired on the turn and the river high card meant I lost the whole pot.
Then I had to decide whether to continue as my cards and luck were very bad.
I decided to pull out another £1000 thinking that I was due some cards and my luck would change. I quickly lost £400 of that when I held JJ in Holdem and flopped top set on a TJ7 board and my opponent hit his straight on the river after I put him all in. Another 30 minutes of getting no hands saw me down to £350 which meant I was down £1700.. yikes! I then called a £25 raise preflop with 44 and the flop was 49J with two diamonds. I check from under the gun and the player who made the initial raise bet £150. I went all in and then the guy to my left reraised another £500. The initial raiser passed. Now I feared the player to my left may have a higher set. However, this player could have a number of hands as he is very loose aggressive and he could just be isolating me heads up with a big draw. Turn a 5 and the river a 3. He says, “You got me.” He turns over the Ace flush draw. Phew finally I won a decent pot for £1100.
I then hit a few hands and won a couple of £100+ pots and found myself just £300 down for the evening. On a Hi/Low Pot Limit hand I was then dealt 23389 and it flopped 239. I raise £25 to play and one of my opponents re raised me for £100. I call. River brings a 9 to give me the complete nuts. My opponent bets £100 and I raise another £400 and he thinks for a minute then calls. River card an A so the board is 2399A. This card is evil as it gives the low and he potentially has 9A or AA as which beats my full house. He bets £1000 without thinking. Hmmm I don’t like this at all now. I guess he must have at least the low and perhaps has me completely beat. After a long think I pass and he shows me AA. It was the only card in pack he could scoop with. How lucky.
That hand really set me back as I would have been in profit for the evening of about £300 but instead was back down to £1100. I then played super aggressive and picked up some decent pots from bluffing and when I made a full house on the river and decided to call it a night with £1600 in front of me and a loss of £400 for the evening.
Overall I don’t think I played my best poker and the cards I was getting were mostly garbage. So a lucky escape I think…..
I may make an unprecedented third trip to the Vic in a week on Friday.
*STOP PRESS* I am yet to play online in 2005.
It seemed the game of choice all evening was Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit. I sat down with £1000 and immediately went card dead and I mean really dead. On a 7 handed table I didn’t scoop a single pot for 90 minutes and saw A2 only once in a starting hand during that time and was down to £350. I then hit quad Kings on a KK2 flop only for someone to hit a backdoor low when I was all in to split the pot. It seemed whenever I had a high hand it flopped low and vice versa. I eventually lost my last £250 when I had the Ace flush draw and the nut low draw but the board paired on the turn and the river high card meant I lost the whole pot.
Then I had to decide whether to continue as my cards and luck were very bad.
I decided to pull out another £1000 thinking that I was due some cards and my luck would change. I quickly lost £400 of that when I held JJ in Holdem and flopped top set on a TJ7 board and my opponent hit his straight on the river after I put him all in. Another 30 minutes of getting no hands saw me down to £350 which meant I was down £1700.. yikes! I then called a £25 raise preflop with 44 and the flop was 49J with two diamonds. I check from under the gun and the player who made the initial raise bet £150. I went all in and then the guy to my left reraised another £500. The initial raiser passed. Now I feared the player to my left may have a higher set. However, this player could have a number of hands as he is very loose aggressive and he could just be isolating me heads up with a big draw. Turn a 5 and the river a 3. He says, “You got me.” He turns over the Ace flush draw. Phew finally I won a decent pot for £1100.
I then hit a few hands and won a couple of £100+ pots and found myself just £300 down for the evening. On a Hi/Low Pot Limit hand I was then dealt 23389 and it flopped 239. I raise £25 to play and one of my opponents re raised me for £100. I call. River brings a 9 to give me the complete nuts. My opponent bets £100 and I raise another £400 and he thinks for a minute then calls. River card an A so the board is 2399A. This card is evil as it gives the low and he potentially has 9A or AA as which beats my full house. He bets £1000 without thinking. Hmmm I don’t like this at all now. I guess he must have at least the low and perhaps has me completely beat. After a long think I pass and he shows me AA. It was the only card in pack he could scoop with. How lucky.
That hand really set me back as I would have been in profit for the evening of about £300 but instead was back down to £1100. I then played super aggressive and picked up some decent pots from bluffing and when I made a full house on the river and decided to call it a night with £1600 in front of me and a loss of £400 for the evening.
Overall I don’t think I played my best poker and the cards I was getting were mostly garbage. So a lucky escape I think…..
I may make an unprecedented third trip to the Vic in a week on Friday.
*STOP PRESS* I am yet to play online in 2005.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
A few thoughts
I was thinking about the New No Limit Holdem game they are running at the Vic on Tuesdays with a minimum sit down of £50 and a max of £300. Online players have a bad reputation but some of what i saw was as bad if not worse to what i find online. With ante's of £1/£2 in the 90 minutes i was playing, every preflop raise had at least one caller with more often that not there being 3 callers or more. One raise of £20 pre flop saw a full table call. On a full table players were raising pre flop with small pairs and hands like JK, TK and TQ. Also players were often raising with any A preflop. There is definitely scope for a decent player to make some serious money in this game. One guy was sat at the table with £2000 when i arrived. From watching him for the duration of time i was at the table one thing was very noticeable. He played far less hands pre flop than any other player at the table. A coincidence? I think not.
I also picked up a tell on one of my opponents. I wouldn't say that noticing tells is one of the strongest assets of my poker but i definitely got one on this guy. He is quite a regular at the Vic so i shall be stalking him from now on.
I also picked up a tell on one of my opponents. I wouldn't say that noticing tells is one of the strongest assets of my poker but i definitely got one on this guy. He is quite a regular at the Vic so i shall be stalking him from now on.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
It’s a New Year
The great thing about a New Year is that I have set out some poker New Year Resolutions and am going to stick to them.
The main one of these is that I am going to play a lot more live cash games as looking back on my results in 2004 I was barely in profit both online and in tournaments but cash games I did particularly well on.
So I kicked this resolution of by heading down to the Vic last night. I put myself on a waiting list for the £250 Omaha and Dealers Choice table and the £100 Omaha table. I was well down on both lists so decided to take up a seat at a new game they are running. A NL Holdem cash games with a minimum sit down of £50 and a max of £300. I have a mental block about sitting in games that I don’t really want to play in because I nearly always lose a few quid before I take a seat at a table I want to play at. I started of with £200 and the table was playing pretty crazy with 5 or 6 players quite often calling a decent raise. I lost my initial stake when I raised pre flop with AK and it flopped KJ4 and found myself all in against an opponent that had KJ. My bogey hand struck again….
Then I witnessed some terrible play. With blinds of £1/£2 a new guy who had just doubled up to £600 raised £15 to play before the flop. There were two callers. Flop ATT. The initial raiser raised £100 to play. A bit of an overbet I thought. Then the guy on the button declared himself all in for £600. The initial raiser without hesitation put the rest of his money in which was around £475. What did he have? You would have to think he must have a T or TA or AA to call such a reraise. He turned over A3 and the other guy had TK and won a £1200 pot. The guy who called with A3 then said, “This is my first game live… guess I have to pay for my lessons.”
Obviously after playing that hand so terribly he managed to hit a monster against me when he flopped the nut straight and I had a smaller straight. Luckily he didn’t bet much and I just called so it only cost me £100. I was down £300 and cursing my “stop gap” poker table. Then this hand happened. I had AQ diamonds and raised £30 to play and got 3 callers. Flop was 2TJ with two diamonds. Before the action got to me two people were all in. With three way action this was an easy call all in for my remaining £125 with a Gutshot or a diamond to give me the nuts. Turn brought a 4 and the river a Q. Well I hadn’t figured my Q as an out but it was good as both my opponents showed AJ. That pot of about £500 put me up £50 and I won another pot shortly afterwards when I made a flush on the turn and check raised my opponent who made a massive overbet of £100 and then passed to my reraise. I then went card dead and a seat finally appeared on the £100 Omaha and I left the NL Holdem table £2 in profit. That was hard work for just over an hour.
I decided to sit down with £650 on the Omaha table as I like to be amongst the deepest stacks and noticed there were a couple of maniacs on the table. Had really abysmal cards until I picked up TJQA double suited and raised £15 to play and got 5 callers. It flopped TK4 to give me a complete wrap and the second best flush draw. I raised £70 to play and got one caller on the button. The turn brought a 2 and I decided to try and win it there with a £150 bet and all I held was a pair of tens. The guy on the button called immediately and the river bought a 7. Now I had a decision to make. The pot was nearly £700 and I had put my opponent on a big draw… probably the A flush draw and maybe a similar wrap to mine. I knew the only way I could win this hand was to try and get my opponent to fold so I moved all in for £400. My opponent went into the think tank and asked me if I was bluffing. Normally I wouldn’t respond but decided too on this occasion. I just said, “If you can beat two pairs call me.” 10 seconds later he mucked his cards. I couldn’t resist showing my bluff. I knew next time that I made such a bet that I would definitely have a solid hand. I was up to £1100.
My cards then went dead and I lost one big pot when it flopped AA4 and I held AKQ8 and someone put me all in for there £250. They could only win with a 9 as they held AK98 and he hit it on the river. I was around £800 for about an hour rarely getting involved as I waited for a big hand. I then called a £10 pre flop raise with 77KQ double suited and it flopped 772. I had hit four of a kind on the flop and expecting no action. Amazingly under the gun bet £60 and three people called including me. Next card is an 8 and under the gun bet £200. I am loving this now and put on my best I have swallowed a wasp look. I call after a 1 minute think and the other two players fold. Last card a 2. he immediately bets again for £400 and I go all in for £500 knowing that he has to call which he did. I show four sevens and scoop and £1700 pot. He later tells me he had 88KK and filled up to make a 88877 full house on the turn. I then play for another 30 minutes and stay and win a few small pots and lose a few and finish with £1646.
I was just extremely happy to start 2005 of well and made a profit of £998 for my first live appearance of the year.
The main one of these is that I am going to play a lot more live cash games as looking back on my results in 2004 I was barely in profit both online and in tournaments but cash games I did particularly well on.
So I kicked this resolution of by heading down to the Vic last night. I put myself on a waiting list for the £250 Omaha and Dealers Choice table and the £100 Omaha table. I was well down on both lists so decided to take up a seat at a new game they are running. A NL Holdem cash games with a minimum sit down of £50 and a max of £300. I have a mental block about sitting in games that I don’t really want to play in because I nearly always lose a few quid before I take a seat at a table I want to play at. I started of with £200 and the table was playing pretty crazy with 5 or 6 players quite often calling a decent raise. I lost my initial stake when I raised pre flop with AK and it flopped KJ4 and found myself all in against an opponent that had KJ. My bogey hand struck again….
Then I witnessed some terrible play. With blinds of £1/£2 a new guy who had just doubled up to £600 raised £15 to play before the flop. There were two callers. Flop ATT. The initial raiser raised £100 to play. A bit of an overbet I thought. Then the guy on the button declared himself all in for £600. The initial raiser without hesitation put the rest of his money in which was around £475. What did he have? You would have to think he must have a T or TA or AA to call such a reraise. He turned over A3 and the other guy had TK and won a £1200 pot. The guy who called with A3 then said, “This is my first game live… guess I have to pay for my lessons.”
Obviously after playing that hand so terribly he managed to hit a monster against me when he flopped the nut straight and I had a smaller straight. Luckily he didn’t bet much and I just called so it only cost me £100. I was down £300 and cursing my “stop gap” poker table. Then this hand happened. I had AQ diamonds and raised £30 to play and got 3 callers. Flop was 2TJ with two diamonds. Before the action got to me two people were all in. With three way action this was an easy call all in for my remaining £125 with a Gutshot or a diamond to give me the nuts. Turn brought a 4 and the river a Q. Well I hadn’t figured my Q as an out but it was good as both my opponents showed AJ. That pot of about £500 put me up £50 and I won another pot shortly afterwards when I made a flush on the turn and check raised my opponent who made a massive overbet of £100 and then passed to my reraise. I then went card dead and a seat finally appeared on the £100 Omaha and I left the NL Holdem table £2 in profit. That was hard work for just over an hour.
I decided to sit down with £650 on the Omaha table as I like to be amongst the deepest stacks and noticed there were a couple of maniacs on the table. Had really abysmal cards until I picked up TJQA double suited and raised £15 to play and got 5 callers. It flopped TK4 to give me a complete wrap and the second best flush draw. I raised £70 to play and got one caller on the button. The turn brought a 2 and I decided to try and win it there with a £150 bet and all I held was a pair of tens. The guy on the button called immediately and the river bought a 7. Now I had a decision to make. The pot was nearly £700 and I had put my opponent on a big draw… probably the A flush draw and maybe a similar wrap to mine. I knew the only way I could win this hand was to try and get my opponent to fold so I moved all in for £400. My opponent went into the think tank and asked me if I was bluffing. Normally I wouldn’t respond but decided too on this occasion. I just said, “If you can beat two pairs call me.” 10 seconds later he mucked his cards. I couldn’t resist showing my bluff. I knew next time that I made such a bet that I would definitely have a solid hand. I was up to £1100.
My cards then went dead and I lost one big pot when it flopped AA4 and I held AKQ8 and someone put me all in for there £250. They could only win with a 9 as they held AK98 and he hit it on the river. I was around £800 for about an hour rarely getting involved as I waited for a big hand. I then called a £10 pre flop raise with 77KQ double suited and it flopped 772. I had hit four of a kind on the flop and expecting no action. Amazingly under the gun bet £60 and three people called including me. Next card is an 8 and under the gun bet £200. I am loving this now and put on my best I have swallowed a wasp look. I call after a 1 minute think and the other two players fold. Last card a 2. he immediately bets again for £400 and I go all in for £500 knowing that he has to call which he did. I show four sevens and scoop and £1700 pot. He later tells me he had 88KK and filled up to make a 88877 full house on the turn. I then play for another 30 minutes and stay and win a few small pots and lose a few and finish with £1646.
I was just extremely happy to start 2005 of well and made a profit of £998 for my first live appearance of the year.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Qualifier to EPT in Deauville
I was about to go to bed Xmas evening before I went to have a look if there was any interesting promotions on Pokerstars. Well I noticed they were coming up to the billionth hand dealt so decided to play 7 low limit tables just to see if I could be one of the lucky people who would get $5000 for being in that hand with $50000 for the winner. Just missed out on that one. How lucky was the guy who won $50000. He was playing in a $0.10/0.20 NL Holdem cash game. A good night for him is probably a $20 win. Instead he won $55000. He must feel like he won the lottery. I had to feel sorry for the two players on the table who were sitting out the hand as they get a big fat zero $.
I also noticed there was an EPT qualifier to Deauville which was $360 to enter and there were 4 seats up for grabs so thought I’d give that a shot. Played good poker throughout only really in danger once early when I needed QQ to stand up against AK or I was out. After about 3 hours I was on the final table with 15000 chips which at the time was ranked about 3rd out of 8. The two players directly to the left of me had 25000 chips and all the others were between 5000-8000.
I decided I wasn’t going to get involved in any hands against the chip leaders unless I had KK or AA before the flop. I was in a good position to qualify as the blinds were still reasonably low. It was a case of targeting the small stacks. I knocked one of them out when my KK stood up against their QQ and with 6 people left I felt I was pretty much assured of my seat as I had 25000 chips and only two of the remaining three short stacks needed to be knocked out for me to qualify. I noticed the two other big stacks were getting involved in hands against each other which I just thought was ridiculous. Like me there is no point getting involved. It was like they were playing to win a tournament or something. Then an amazing hand happened when the two big stacks got involved against each other and one went for a big bluff of 18000 chips all in and got called with two pair. That one idiot had gone from 27000 chips and being almost assured of a seat at one stage down to 3000 and was shortly knocked out leaving us with 5 players.
I won another hand when with AA in the big blind I just called the other big stack down without raising at all as I wasn’t going to risk the fact he may have made two pairs. I was chip leader on 40000 chips and the last player to go took a while but eventually I won my seat plus expenses to Deauville which is worth $3600.
It’s amazing how bad some people can play. I think if the chip leader had set himself to away and gone and watched a film he would have won a seat. Instead he played like a lunatic and got himself knocked out.
So Deauville here I come. It was a nice way to end my poker year.
I also noticed there was an EPT qualifier to Deauville which was $360 to enter and there were 4 seats up for grabs so thought I’d give that a shot. Played good poker throughout only really in danger once early when I needed QQ to stand up against AK or I was out. After about 3 hours I was on the final table with 15000 chips which at the time was ranked about 3rd out of 8. The two players directly to the left of me had 25000 chips and all the others were between 5000-8000.
I decided I wasn’t going to get involved in any hands against the chip leaders unless I had KK or AA before the flop. I was in a good position to qualify as the blinds were still reasonably low. It was a case of targeting the small stacks. I knocked one of them out when my KK stood up against their QQ and with 6 people left I felt I was pretty much assured of my seat as I had 25000 chips and only two of the remaining three short stacks needed to be knocked out for me to qualify. I noticed the two other big stacks were getting involved in hands against each other which I just thought was ridiculous. Like me there is no point getting involved. It was like they were playing to win a tournament or something. Then an amazing hand happened when the two big stacks got involved against each other and one went for a big bluff of 18000 chips all in and got called with two pair. That one idiot had gone from 27000 chips and being almost assured of a seat at one stage down to 3000 and was shortly knocked out leaving us with 5 players.
I won another hand when with AA in the big blind I just called the other big stack down without raising at all as I wasn’t going to risk the fact he may have made two pairs. I was chip leader on 40000 chips and the last player to go took a while but eventually I won my seat plus expenses to Deauville which is worth $3600.
It’s amazing how bad some people can play. I think if the chip leader had set himself to away and gone and watched a film he would have won a seat. Instead he played like a lunatic and got himself knocked out.
So Deauville here I come. It was a nice way to end my poker year.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
A few end of year gongs
Pro Poker Player Site of the Year – Daniel Negreanu
http://www.fullcontactpoker.com
The best of the pro players sites by a mile in my opinion. It includes a regularly updated blog and a forum that Daniel posts on sometimes. Plus all sorts of articles that he writes for Card Player magazine.
I do like this article from Barry Greenstein.
http://www.barrygreenstein.com/analysis.htm
He rates many of the well known pro’s on aggressiveness, looseness, limit, No-Limit, side games e.t.c.
Fair play to him for sticking his neck on the line and I am sure his ratings will offend a few of them. The best quote is in his analysis of Phil Hellmuth
“Phil has assured me that he is a much better player than I give him credit for.”
Classic Hellmuth.
Blogs of the Year
I have scoured my way through many good blogs in 2004. I have to pick 3 that are regularly updated. There are other very good ones but I like the ones that post more than once a week.
Mike Lacey - http://luckyblind.blogspot.com/
Andy Ward - http://pokersoft.blogspot.com/
Big Dave D - http://internetpokerpro.blogspot.com/
Muppet(s) of the Year
I wish I could name them but I am just too nice. There are just some people in poker that get a few decent tournament results and suddenly think they are the best thing since slice bread.
Worst Play against me of the Year
Someone calling a 55000 chip raise from me when they had no chips committed on the button with KJ which put us both all in and knocked me out into 5th in one of the Poker Classic tournaments at the Vic. The worst part is that thought it was a good call when they only had a 40% chance of winning the hand.
Best place to make money online
Any game on Party Poker and any other site where you make a good decision about game selection.
Worst online site of the year
Has to be Victor Chandler with the endless problems they have had during tournaments and their notoriously poor customer service.
That’s all I can think of for now.
Have a good Xmas.
Ben
http://www.fullcontactpoker.com
The best of the pro players sites by a mile in my opinion. It includes a regularly updated blog and a forum that Daniel posts on sometimes. Plus all sorts of articles that he writes for Card Player magazine.
I do like this article from Barry Greenstein.
http://www.barrygreenstein.com/analysis.htm
He rates many of the well known pro’s on aggressiveness, looseness, limit, No-Limit, side games e.t.c.
Fair play to him for sticking his neck on the line and I am sure his ratings will offend a few of them. The best quote is in his analysis of Phil Hellmuth
“Phil has assured me that he is a much better player than I give him credit for.”
Classic Hellmuth.
Blogs of the Year
I have scoured my way through many good blogs in 2004. I have to pick 3 that are regularly updated. There are other very good ones but I like the ones that post more than once a week.
Mike Lacey - http://luckyblind.blogspot.com/
Andy Ward - http://pokersoft.blogspot.com/
Big Dave D - http://internetpokerpro.blogspot.com/
Muppet(s) of the Year
I wish I could name them but I am just too nice. There are just some people in poker that get a few decent tournament results and suddenly think they are the best thing since slice bread.
Worst Play against me of the Year
Someone calling a 55000 chip raise from me when they had no chips committed on the button with KJ which put us both all in and knocked me out into 5th in one of the Poker Classic tournaments at the Vic. The worst part is that thought it was a good call when they only had a 40% chance of winning the hand.
Best place to make money online
Any game on Party Poker and any other site where you make a good decision about game selection.
Worst online site of the year
Has to be Victor Chandler with the endless problems they have had during tournaments and their notoriously poor customer service.
That’s all I can think of for now.
Have a good Xmas.
Ben
Monitor or watch?
Hmmm now I have just about got over this hand I am able to write it down. Its amusing because if i have a good night i normally write about it the next day but the bad nights take a bit longer for me to write down. ;-)
I sat down in the £5/£10 NL Holdem last Friday night on Betfair with £1000. I flopped the nuts straight early on when I held QK and someone made a set of Jacks and doubled me up. I then lost a few hands which put me down to £1700 and then this hand happened. I am on the button and find AA. This is a 6 handed table. Under the gun raises £40 to play and then an aggressive player who has raised a lot of pots reraises it to £150 to play. I decide to call and the UTG player passes. Flop 334. He bets £400. Now there is no way in my opinion he can have a 3 after the initial reraise and I have got to be very unlucky if he has 44. I don’t want to scare him out of this pot so I go into the think tank and just call. At this point I have put him on either JJ, QQ or KK. The turn brings another 3 so I now have a full house. He immediately goes all in which has me covered for about another £1150. I call straight away and he has TT. The river brought a dreaded T. Something had to be thrown at that point to vent my frustration and it was either my monitor or my watch. Well my watch got the worst of it and went flying across the room. That damn T cost me a £2700 pot.
After that I was on tilt big style. It really is something that I don’t seem to be able to control online. I don’t play terrible poker on tilt I am just super aggressive and will gamble large amounts on coin flips rather than waiting for a bigger edge. I lost another massive pot for £1300 when I had AK. Flop K37. I check raise my opponent all in. He has KJ and rivers a J. I lost about £2900 in the end and went to bed feeling pretty sick. Perhaps I was due a bit of bad luck.
I woke up Saturday morning and decided to focus on winning at least some of the £2900 back so I started up another £5/£10 NL Holdem game and a $5/$10 Pot Limit Omaha game on Pokerstars. I played really solid good poker for a few hours and managed to turn £400 on the NL Holdem table into £1800 after one big hand where I hit the Ace flush on the turn and my opponent had a Queen flush. Also on the Omaha game on Pokerstars I turned $600 into $2200.
So overall I lost about £700 but felt like I had won. Until I can learn to take the inevitable bad beats that happen in the big games online and not go on tilt I really should not play in them. I think I am gambling for bigger stakes than necessary so am going to change my strategy for the New Year. I can cope with £500 swings but these £3000 swings are too risky.
I sat down in the £5/£10 NL Holdem last Friday night on Betfair with £1000. I flopped the nuts straight early on when I held QK and someone made a set of Jacks and doubled me up. I then lost a few hands which put me down to £1700 and then this hand happened. I am on the button and find AA. This is a 6 handed table. Under the gun raises £40 to play and then an aggressive player who has raised a lot of pots reraises it to £150 to play. I decide to call and the UTG player passes. Flop 334. He bets £400. Now there is no way in my opinion he can have a 3 after the initial reraise and I have got to be very unlucky if he has 44. I don’t want to scare him out of this pot so I go into the think tank and just call. At this point I have put him on either JJ, QQ or KK. The turn brings another 3 so I now have a full house. He immediately goes all in which has me covered for about another £1150. I call straight away and he has TT. The river brought a dreaded T. Something had to be thrown at that point to vent my frustration and it was either my monitor or my watch. Well my watch got the worst of it and went flying across the room. That damn T cost me a £2700 pot.
After that I was on tilt big style. It really is something that I don’t seem to be able to control online. I don’t play terrible poker on tilt I am just super aggressive and will gamble large amounts on coin flips rather than waiting for a bigger edge. I lost another massive pot for £1300 when I had AK. Flop K37. I check raise my opponent all in. He has KJ and rivers a J. I lost about £2900 in the end and went to bed feeling pretty sick. Perhaps I was due a bit of bad luck.
I woke up Saturday morning and decided to focus on winning at least some of the £2900 back so I started up another £5/£10 NL Holdem game and a $5/$10 Pot Limit Omaha game on Pokerstars. I played really solid good poker for a few hours and managed to turn £400 on the NL Holdem table into £1800 after one big hand where I hit the Ace flush on the turn and my opponent had a Queen flush. Also on the Omaha game on Pokerstars I turned $600 into $2200.
So overall I lost about £700 but felt like I had won. Until I can learn to take the inevitable bad beats that happen in the big games online and not go on tilt I really should not play in them. I think I am gambling for bigger stakes than necessary so am going to change my strategy for the New Year. I can cope with £500 swings but these £3000 swings are too risky.
Monday, December 20, 2004
Dammit
Poker can be such a bitch sometimes. I was playing in a qualifier on Pokerstars for the EPT main event in Monte Carlo when the following hand happened. This was a $615 buy in event and we were down to two tables. With the blinds still extremely low and a 30 min clock I was really fancying my chances as I had been gradually increasing my chips from the beginning. Why do people on the internet think that it’s worth risking all their chips pre flop in a big buy in event with AK? I just think this is terrible play. Surely freezeouts are all about waiting till you believe you have a significant advantage in a hand before you commit all your chips. I check raised my opponent with KK and he moved all in and got lucky on the river. I actually broke my abuse rule and gave him some in the chat box. My favorite thing about his response was that he said, “I thought you probably had QQ.” That just made me laugh as if that was his read why would he not just call my original raise of 900 instead of going all in. If he thought I had a high pair he would be at best a coin flip and at worst a severe dog which he was. I would have actually passed QQ before the flop to his raise all in. But hey what do I know?
*********** # 5 **************
PokerStars Game #977104727: Tournament #3908413, Hold'em No Limit - Level
III (25/50) - 2004/12/19 - 19:34:18 (ET)
Table '3908413 1' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: vuddu (5630 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: milkybarkid (5235 in chips)
Seat 3: dangler (1675 in chips)
Seat 5: noc1111 (1905 in chips)
Seat 6: thebestwon (4785 in chips)
Seat 8: agcpa (5310 in chips)
Seat 9: Lanken (4555 in chips)
agcpa: posts small blind 25
Lanken: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to milkybarkid [Kd Ks]
vuddu: folds
milkybarkid: calls 50
dangler: folds
noc1111: folds
thebestwon: raises 150 to 200
agcpa: calls 175
Lanken: folds
milkybarkid: raises 1000 to 1200
thebestwon: raises 3585 to 4785 and is all-in
agcpa: folds
milkybarkid: calls 3585
*** FLOP *** [Th Jc 9c]
*** TURN *** [Th Jc 9c] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [Th Jc 9c 3d] [Ac]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
milkybarkid: shows [Kd Ks] (a pair of Kings)
thebestwon: shows [Kh Ad] (a pair of Aces)
thebestwon collected 9820 from pot
minnycards [observer] said, "bad beat"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9820 Rake 0
Board [Th Jc 9c 3d Ac]
Seat 1: vuddu folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: milkybarkid showed [Kd Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 3: dangler folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: noc1111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: thebestwon (button) showed [Kh Ad] and won (9820) with a pair of
Aces
Seat 8: agcpa (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Lanken (big blind) folded before Flop
*********** # 5 **************
PokerStars Game #977104727: Tournament #3908413, Hold'em No Limit - Level
III (25/50) - 2004/12/19 - 19:34:18 (ET)
Table '3908413 1' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: vuddu (5630 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: milkybarkid (5235 in chips)
Seat 3: dangler (1675 in chips)
Seat 5: noc1111 (1905 in chips)
Seat 6: thebestwon (4785 in chips)
Seat 8: agcpa (5310 in chips)
Seat 9: Lanken (4555 in chips)
agcpa: posts small blind 25
Lanken: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to milkybarkid [Kd Ks]
vuddu: folds
milkybarkid: calls 50
dangler: folds
noc1111: folds
thebestwon: raises 150 to 200
agcpa: calls 175
Lanken: folds
milkybarkid: raises 1000 to 1200
thebestwon: raises 3585 to 4785 and is all-in
agcpa: folds
milkybarkid: calls 3585
*** FLOP *** [Th Jc 9c]
*** TURN *** [Th Jc 9c] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [Th Jc 9c 3d] [Ac]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
milkybarkid: shows [Kd Ks] (a pair of Kings)
thebestwon: shows [Kh Ad] (a pair of Aces)
thebestwon collected 9820 from pot
minnycards [observer] said, "bad beat"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9820 Rake 0
Board [Th Jc 9c 3d Ac]
Seat 1: vuddu folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: milkybarkid showed [Kd Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 3: dangler folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: noc1111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: thebestwon (button) showed [Kh Ad] and won (9820) with a pair of
Aces
Seat 8: agcpa (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Lanken (big blind) folded before Flop
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Review of 2004 and aims for 2005
Well it may be quite early to do a proper review of my year but as I doubt that I’ll play a great deal more this year other than a few games online and maybe one visit to the Vic.
I didn’t play a great deal until June when I started keeping records. I didn’t have a computer before then and was busy traveling around the country doing a job I really didn’t like. I actually gave up that job thinking either I would get an amazing new job or I would try and play poker for a living. Well it took just two days for me to land a job I couldn’t refuse so turning professional has at least been put on the backburner until March next year.
Tournament Review
I have played in 9 tournaments in 2004 with entrance fees of £200 or higher.
European Poker Championships 2004 - London
£250 Pot Limit Omaha
£200 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
Gutshot Club - London
£500 No Limit Holdem Freezeout
European Poker Classics - London
£250 Pot Limit Holdem
£750 No Limit Holdem Freezeout
£500 Pot Limit Omaha
£300 No Limit Holdem Freezeout
£3000 European Poker Tour No Limit Freezeout
Xmas Cracker - Brighton
£500 No Limit Holdem Freezeout
In 6 of these 9 tournaments I have made the final three tables finishing 5th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 11th and 20th. Tournaments that have entrance fees really seem to focus my poker and I seem to keep bad decisions down to a minimum. I have definitely improved upon my tournament No Limit Holdem as prior to 2004 I had predominantly played Pot Limit Holdem. My 20th place in the European Poker Tour event in London is perhaps the most frustrating. I know that despite playing well throughout day 1 I left myself to short chipped to be able to make an impact on the 2nd day and it isn’t a mistake I will be making again. My 5th place in the £300 No Limit Holdem Freezeout was highlight as there were 198 runners. Its one I could have done even better in but my opponent hit his second pair on the river to send me out.
Overall I paid £7400 in entrance fees to tournaments in 2004. My prize money was £4400. So my tournament loss was £3000. However, half my EPT event entrance fee was paid by backers. My investment in Adam Matusiak for the main event in Brighton in the summer yielded me £6000. So if I include that in my figures I actually made a profit of £4500 in 2004.
Cash Game Review
It seems bizarre that when I look at my figures that despite cash games being my most financially successful area of my poker I have played it the least by far. Obviously with still having a job I can’t manage the late nights and the convenience of playing online can be too tempting. Since June I have played live cash games 18 times. 14 of which were winning sessions. I also have tendency not to play for a while if I have a good win. I think it’s because when I do win it’s normally a £1000+ win due to the level of cash game I play. If I lose I also don’t normally play for a while as my losses are always £1000+ when I lose and I don’t want to start chasing. I know if I do turn professional I will have to play cash 3 or 4 times a week as these are my bread and butter. I don’t think you can be a successful professional player unless you are good at cash games. Tournaments are just a bonus in my opinion and I enjoy playing them.
When I posted a few months back my Live Cash – Overall Win rate (per hour) was + £131.55. I have had two wins and two losses since then and it will finish the year at Live Cash – Overall Win rate (per hour) + £125.27. Overall for 2004 I made a profit in cash games of just over £9000.
Focusing specifically on the games I play live. I am very happy with my Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo game. I need to improve upon my Stud game significantly if I am to truly feel comfortable playing for large amounts of money in Dealers Choice games. I rarely play Holdem cash games as the big games always seem to be Omaha or dealers choice.
Online Poker
I really do have a love hate relationship with online poker. I know that it is probably the easiest area in poker to make consistent money but I often lack focus or choose games that I shouldn’t be playing. I have massive winning runs and then equally as bad losing runs. I gave up keeping proper records of how I was doing because I’d often just play for an hour and not keep results. So I contacted all the sites that I’ve played on in 2004 to gain records of my profit/loss.
I managed to turn what was a £8000 loss just a few months ago into a break even on one site. I have played this year on Betfair, Victor Chandler, Paradise, Party and Pokerstars and after correlating my results together I made a very marginal profit. I could easily say that online poker this year has been a waste of time or has it? I certainly have learnt some harsh lessons about my own personality and a huge tendency to go on tilt when I’ve had a few drinks and have a few bad beats. I have gambled for some serious money as well. On Betfair which I play on the most I have deposited £20000 from my current account. Yikes.
Playing online has definitely improved my NL Holdem game and my Omaha Hi/Lo. I have literally played in every game that online can offer. Big multi table tournaments, Sit N Go’s, Omaha, Hi/Lo, Stud, Pineapple (I won at that somehow), Limit Holdem, NL Limit Holdem and a few satellites to big events.
It shows how ridiculous playing online has made me in the past. I was playing $20/$40 Limit on Party Poker a month back. While I managed to win what the hell was I doing playing Limit Holdem? I have probably only ever played the game for about 20 hours in my life. Yet in my wisdom (on tilt) I decided it was a good choice of game. Probably a good decision as I can’t bet too much playing Limit.
Aims for 2005
Live Tournaments
I will increase the number of tournaments I play in and will definitely travel abroad to play in a few tournaments. I am tempted by the EPT events in both Vienna and Copenhagen but will probably only travel to one of them.
My ranking for Europe for 2004 currently stands at 244th. My aim is too significantly improve upon that. For 2005 I aim to finish in the top 20 in Europe. I know that is a high target but I like to have something to aim for. It keeps me focused.
Hopefully I won’t have as many bubble finishes as this year which is just so frustrating. I’d rather be knocked out after 10 minutes than play for 8 hours and finish on the bubble.
Live Cash
I am going to play more cash live. I will start playing at least once a week. I am going to buy some books to learn to improve my stud game. I don’t know my pot odds well enough to be confident in making big bets in that game yet.
Online
I will continue to play online a fair bit. I have decided I am only going to play the following games Pot Limit Omaha, NL Holdem and Satellites to big poker events.
No more multi table tournaments, Sit n Go’s, Limit poker, Stud or any other crazy game I think I can beat.
Overall I have really enjoyed playing poker this year. I have had an opportunity to play in some very big cash games and tournaments and have had a real buzz from doing so. I have also met many of the well known players. At one point I found myself mixing it on the same table with Peter Costa, Dave Colclough and Marcel Luske. I definitely couldn’t have imagined that at the start of the year. Hopefully I can continue to focus on my game, improve, and have a successful 2005.
I didn’t play a great deal until June when I started keeping records. I didn’t have a computer before then and was busy traveling around the country doing a job I really didn’t like. I actually gave up that job thinking either I would get an amazing new job or I would try and play poker for a living. Well it took just two days for me to land a job I couldn’t refuse so turning professional has at least been put on the backburner until March next year.
Tournament Review
I have played in 9 tournaments in 2004 with entrance fees of £200 or higher.
European Poker Championships 2004 - London
£250 Pot Limit Omaha
£200 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
Gutshot Club - London
£500 No Limit Holdem Freezeout
European Poker Classics - London
£250 Pot Limit Holdem
£750 No Limit Holdem Freezeout
£500 Pot Limit Omaha
£300 No Limit Holdem Freezeout
£3000 European Poker Tour No Limit Freezeout
Xmas Cracker - Brighton
£500 No Limit Holdem Freezeout
In 6 of these 9 tournaments I have made the final three tables finishing 5th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 11th and 20th. Tournaments that have entrance fees really seem to focus my poker and I seem to keep bad decisions down to a minimum. I have definitely improved upon my tournament No Limit Holdem as prior to 2004 I had predominantly played Pot Limit Holdem. My 20th place in the European Poker Tour event in London is perhaps the most frustrating. I know that despite playing well throughout day 1 I left myself to short chipped to be able to make an impact on the 2nd day and it isn’t a mistake I will be making again. My 5th place in the £300 No Limit Holdem Freezeout was highlight as there were 198 runners. Its one I could have done even better in but my opponent hit his second pair on the river to send me out.
Overall I paid £7400 in entrance fees to tournaments in 2004. My prize money was £4400. So my tournament loss was £3000. However, half my EPT event entrance fee was paid by backers. My investment in Adam Matusiak for the main event in Brighton in the summer yielded me £6000. So if I include that in my figures I actually made a profit of £4500 in 2004.
Cash Game Review
It seems bizarre that when I look at my figures that despite cash games being my most financially successful area of my poker I have played it the least by far. Obviously with still having a job I can’t manage the late nights and the convenience of playing online can be too tempting. Since June I have played live cash games 18 times. 14 of which were winning sessions. I also have tendency not to play for a while if I have a good win. I think it’s because when I do win it’s normally a £1000+ win due to the level of cash game I play. If I lose I also don’t normally play for a while as my losses are always £1000+ when I lose and I don’t want to start chasing. I know if I do turn professional I will have to play cash 3 or 4 times a week as these are my bread and butter. I don’t think you can be a successful professional player unless you are good at cash games. Tournaments are just a bonus in my opinion and I enjoy playing them.
When I posted a few months back my Live Cash – Overall Win rate (per hour) was + £131.55. I have had two wins and two losses since then and it will finish the year at Live Cash – Overall Win rate (per hour) + £125.27. Overall for 2004 I made a profit in cash games of just over £9000.
Focusing specifically on the games I play live. I am very happy with my Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo game. I need to improve upon my Stud game significantly if I am to truly feel comfortable playing for large amounts of money in Dealers Choice games. I rarely play Holdem cash games as the big games always seem to be Omaha or dealers choice.
Online Poker
I really do have a love hate relationship with online poker. I know that it is probably the easiest area in poker to make consistent money but I often lack focus or choose games that I shouldn’t be playing. I have massive winning runs and then equally as bad losing runs. I gave up keeping proper records of how I was doing because I’d often just play for an hour and not keep results. So I contacted all the sites that I’ve played on in 2004 to gain records of my profit/loss.
I managed to turn what was a £8000 loss just a few months ago into a break even on one site. I have played this year on Betfair, Victor Chandler, Paradise, Party and Pokerstars and after correlating my results together I made a very marginal profit. I could easily say that online poker this year has been a waste of time or has it? I certainly have learnt some harsh lessons about my own personality and a huge tendency to go on tilt when I’ve had a few drinks and have a few bad beats. I have gambled for some serious money as well. On Betfair which I play on the most I have deposited £20000 from my current account. Yikes.
Playing online has definitely improved my NL Holdem game and my Omaha Hi/Lo. I have literally played in every game that online can offer. Big multi table tournaments, Sit N Go’s, Omaha, Hi/Lo, Stud, Pineapple (I won at that somehow), Limit Holdem, NL Limit Holdem and a few satellites to big events.
It shows how ridiculous playing online has made me in the past. I was playing $20/$40 Limit on Party Poker a month back. While I managed to win what the hell was I doing playing Limit Holdem? I have probably only ever played the game for about 20 hours in my life. Yet in my wisdom (on tilt) I decided it was a good choice of game. Probably a good decision as I can’t bet too much playing Limit.
Aims for 2005
Live Tournaments
I will increase the number of tournaments I play in and will definitely travel abroad to play in a few tournaments. I am tempted by the EPT events in both Vienna and Copenhagen but will probably only travel to one of them.
My ranking for Europe for 2004 currently stands at 244th. My aim is too significantly improve upon that. For 2005 I aim to finish in the top 20 in Europe. I know that is a high target but I like to have something to aim for. It keeps me focused.
Hopefully I won’t have as many bubble finishes as this year which is just so frustrating. I’d rather be knocked out after 10 minutes than play for 8 hours and finish on the bubble.
Live Cash
I am going to play more cash live. I will start playing at least once a week. I am going to buy some books to learn to improve my stud game. I don’t know my pot odds well enough to be confident in making big bets in that game yet.
Online
I will continue to play online a fair bit. I have decided I am only going to play the following games Pot Limit Omaha, NL Holdem and Satellites to big poker events.
No more multi table tournaments, Sit n Go’s, Limit poker, Stud or any other crazy game I think I can beat.
Overall I have really enjoyed playing poker this year. I have had an opportunity to play in some very big cash games and tournaments and have had a real buzz from doing so. I have also met many of the well known players. At one point I found myself mixing it on the same table with Peter Costa, Dave Colclough and Marcel Luske. I definitely couldn’t have imagined that at the start of the year. Hopefully I can continue to focus on my game, improve, and have a successful 2005.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Running hot
Its a great feeling in poker when you are on a good run and always feel you are going to hit cards!
Started with just $140 on the $2/$5 No Limit Hold em table on Betfair. On the very first hand I called a $10 raise on the button with 24 suited and it flopped A35 and i doubled up against the raiser who held AK. Shortly afterwards i called a $30 pre flop raise with A9 hearts and it flopped 996. Before i could do anything the player under the gun had gone all in for $230. Easy call and i'm up to $500. Shortly afterwards i had A3 of hearts and called a small raise pre flop and it flops 345 with two hearts. Opponent raised $30 i reraised to make it $70 and he goes all in for $300. I figure he has an overpair which means i have any A32 or heart to scoop. I called and the next card was a 3 :-) .... finished up with $850. Isn't poker great when you get lucky?
Started with just $140 on the $2/$5 No Limit Hold em table on Betfair. On the very first hand I called a $10 raise on the button with 24 suited and it flopped A35 and i doubled up against the raiser who held AK. Shortly afterwards i called a $30 pre flop raise with A9 hearts and it flopped 996. Before i could do anything the player under the gun had gone all in for $230. Easy call and i'm up to $500. Shortly afterwards i had A3 of hearts and called a small raise pre flop and it flops 345 with two hearts. Opponent raised $30 i reraised to make it $70 and he goes all in for $300. I figure he has an overpair which means i have any A32 or heart to scoop. I called and the next card was a 3 :-) .... finished up with $850. Isn't poker great when you get lucky?
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Betfair :-D
Had another excellent night playing on the Omaha tables on Betfair. Some of the plays I saw just left me in disbelief. One guy went all in pre flop with K732 off suit for $400 and hit a K which was good enough against two callers. That’s the equivalent of raising $400 in Hold em pre flop with 37. I just played tight aggressive only playing very strong hands pre flop due to the amount of crazy pre flop raising that was going on. I doubled up my $500 early on when the flop came 5c7c2h and I held 6c6d4hAc which gave me the Ace flush draw and up and down for the straight. I raised and was reraised all in and called. Turn brought a 2d and the river a Qh. No help for me I thought but my pair of 6s was good. My opponent obviously thought a Gutshot straight draw and a T flush was good enough to raise me all in. Long may that kind of play continue.
Then this hand happened.
------HAND 44------
Game #21536943: Omaha High Pot Limit ($2.50/$5) - 2004/12/07 - 20:24:05
(GMT)
Seat 7 is the button.
Seat 1: Player1 ($507.75 in chips)
Seat 2: Player2 ($680.75 in chips)
Seat 3: Player3 ($490 in chips)
Seat 5: Milkybarkid ($1023.25 in chips)
Seat 7: Player4 ($559.75 in chips)
Seat 8: Player5 ($543.75 in chips)
Seat 10: Player6 ($438 in chips)
Player5: posts small blind $2.50
Player6: posts big blind $5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Milkybarkid [10s As Jh Qh]
Player1: raises to $22.50
Player2: raises to $50
Player3: calls $50
Milkybarkid: calls $50
I like my hand here. With the kind of players on this table it’s almost tempting to reraise here but I just call.
Player4: folds
Player5: folds
Player6: folds
Player1: calls $27.50
----- FLOP ----- [8s 7s 9d]
Player1: bets $50
Player2: calls $50
Player3: calls $50
Milkybarkid: raises to $175
This is a dream flop for me. I have the top straight which I can improve on and the Ace flush draw. I could have reraised as much as $400 here. However, my hand is so strong that I don’t want to drive anyone with small flush draws and small straights out of this pot.
Player1: calls $125
Player2: folds
Player3: calls $125
----- TURN ----- [8s 7s 9d][Jh]
Player1: bets $405.75 and is all-in
Player3: calls $315 and is all-in
Milkybarkid: calls $405.75
Wow. Both of them move all in before me. I have improved on my straight and still have the nuts. I call thinking I may be splitting this pot now.
----- RIVER ----- [8s 7s 9d Jh][Ah]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Player1: shows [3d 9s 10h Ad] (A Straight, Jack high)
Player3: shows [4h 5c 6h 10d] (A straight, Ten high)
Milkybarkid: shows [10s As Jh Qh] (A Straight, Queen high)
Milkybarkid collected $1909 from Main pot
My straight is good. Player 1 decided his J high straight was good enough to commit all his money. He had a 9 flush draw that was drawing dead to my A flush when all his money went in. Player 3 is just a muppet. He calls an all in bet with a 10 high straight. I’ll be adding him to my list of favourite players to play with. The amazing thing about my opponent’s hands is that they were both practically drawing dead on the flop.
I eventually stopped playing with $2500. Although I was very tempted to carry on as there were 4 players out of 7 that are amongst the worst Omaha players I have ever encountered they were all playing crazy and I knew I would go on tilt if one of them outdrew me with a miracle.
My stats below are quite interesting as well. I was the biggest winner on the table and yet probably saw the least flops by a mile. Some of the players must have been up around 60-80% of flops seen. My 12% flops seen statistic is very low but on such a loose aggressive table, pre-flop hand selection is crucial. Most of them were living by the saying, “Any four cards are good.”
games played 153
flops seen 12%
games won 13%
showdowns won 72%
Then this hand happened.
------HAND 44------
Game #21536943: Omaha High Pot Limit ($2.50/$5) - 2004/12/07 - 20:24:05
(GMT)
Seat 7 is the button.
Seat 1: Player1 ($507.75 in chips)
Seat 2: Player2 ($680.75 in chips)
Seat 3: Player3 ($490 in chips)
Seat 5: Milkybarkid ($1023.25 in chips)
Seat 7: Player4 ($559.75 in chips)
Seat 8: Player5 ($543.75 in chips)
Seat 10: Player6 ($438 in chips)
Player5: posts small blind $2.50
Player6: posts big blind $5
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Milkybarkid [10s As Jh Qh]
Player1: raises to $22.50
Player2: raises to $50
Player3: calls $50
Milkybarkid: calls $50
I like my hand here. With the kind of players on this table it’s almost tempting to reraise here but I just call.
Player4: folds
Player5: folds
Player6: folds
Player1: calls $27.50
----- FLOP ----- [8s 7s 9d]
Player1: bets $50
Player2: calls $50
Player3: calls $50
Milkybarkid: raises to $175
This is a dream flop for me. I have the top straight which I can improve on and the Ace flush draw. I could have reraised as much as $400 here. However, my hand is so strong that I don’t want to drive anyone with small flush draws and small straights out of this pot.
Player1: calls $125
Player2: folds
Player3: calls $125
----- TURN ----- [8s 7s 9d][Jh]
Player1: bets $405.75 and is all-in
Player3: calls $315 and is all-in
Milkybarkid: calls $405.75
Wow. Both of them move all in before me. I have improved on my straight and still have the nuts. I call thinking I may be splitting this pot now.
----- RIVER ----- [8s 7s 9d Jh][Ah]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Player1: shows [3d 9s 10h Ad] (A Straight, Jack high)
Player3: shows [4h 5c 6h 10d] (A straight, Ten high)
Milkybarkid: shows [10s As Jh Qh] (A Straight, Queen high)
Milkybarkid collected $1909 from Main pot
My straight is good. Player 1 decided his J high straight was good enough to commit all his money. He had a 9 flush draw that was drawing dead to my A flush when all his money went in. Player 3 is just a muppet. He calls an all in bet with a 10 high straight. I’ll be adding him to my list of favourite players to play with. The amazing thing about my opponent’s hands is that they were both practically drawing dead on the flop.
I eventually stopped playing with $2500. Although I was very tempted to carry on as there were 4 players out of 7 that are amongst the worst Omaha players I have ever encountered they were all playing crazy and I knew I would go on tilt if one of them outdrew me with a miracle.
My stats below are quite interesting as well. I was the biggest winner on the table and yet probably saw the least flops by a mile. Some of the players must have been up around 60-80% of flops seen. My 12% flops seen statistic is very low but on such a loose aggressive table, pre-flop hand selection is crucial. Most of them were living by the saying, “Any four cards are good.”
games played 153
flops seen 12%
games won 13%
showdowns won 72%
Monday, December 06, 2004
Brighton Xmas Festival Main Event – 104 runners
Day 1
Starting chips of 7500.
I drove down to Brighton feeling pretty confident after my amazing night online the night before. I decided on a change of tactics. Normally I play like a Rock for the first couple of hours and try and hit monsters but for this event I thought I for the first two levels I would get involved in alot of flops whilst the blinds were low. I managed to bluff a lot of hands and was never called down during the first level. Everyone on my table was playing tight and there was no-one on my table except locals I think. It was very quiet as we were upstairs and the only background noise was Paul Parker chatting on the other table. I purposely showed the table AK twice and QQ when raising pre flop to try and maintain a tight image for the hand that I bluffed. A check raise when I had TT on a J34 flop got someone to lay down JQ. I was moved halfway through the second level and decided to sit back for a bit as I had progressed my stack to a healthy 13000 chips. At the start of level three with the blinds at 100/200 I have 73 on the big blind and there are two callers plus the small blind. The flop comes 732 and the small blind bets 800 and I just call. The button raises it to 2500 and the small blind passes. I reraise another 4000 chips and the button thinks for a few minutes then shows 99 and passes. That was a nice pot to pick up. Level 4 and 5 I wasn’t really involved in many big hands and managed to get my stack up to 23000 chips and am above the chips average. My table is broken up again and I’m moved to the main table that is used for the final. Hopefully I won’t be moved again now. My cards went cold for ages but I managed to maintain my chip count with a couple of moves. By the time the blinds had reached 500/1000 we were down to three tables and my chip count was about 25000.
I find 66 on the big blind and all pass round to the small blind that went all in for 6000. I call and he flops over 6A. Perfect I think till the evil A is first card down on the flop. That hand really harmed my stack as 31000 would have kept me around the chip average but instead I am down 19000. Stole a few blinds to stop me being blinded away and was on 20000 chips by the time we were down to two tables and blinds were 1000/2000. I liked one hand I played just because of the reaction it caused at the table. I am on the button and under the gun calls the 2000 blind. I think for a minute and raise all in for 20000 chips. Small blind and big blind pass. UTG caller M Latiffe who is the chip leader goes into the think tank and eventually passes and shows AT and says you got me! I turn over 25. He goes mad and I just smile away happily. Other notable hands saw me lay down 77 when I raise to 4000 and someone goes over the top for another 10000. Soon it was 3.15am and I have 20000 chips with blinds of 1500/3000. I decide that I am not coming all the way back from London with such short chips for the second day so I raise all in on 3 of the last 4 hands and manage to steal the blinds with 2K, 27 and 33. So I ended the day with just over 30000 chips. Not great but we were down last 15 runners.
Day 2
Brighton management decided to give us a full 45 minute clock with blinds of 1500/3000 so at least I had a few rounds that I could watch the action pass by if I got no cards.
I started off very well winning a small pot in a small blind v big blind when I milk 6000 chips when I hit a flush on the flop. Also a few of my pre flop raises are not contested so I get up to a reasonable stack of 45000 and a few players have hit the rails. Then this hand did me some damage. With blinds of 2000/4000 I find 88 one seat of the button. I raise to 12000 and the small blind goes all in for 40000. I eventually pass after figuring that this player must either have me in a very bad position with an overpair or AK. He had been playing quite tight as well. A few round go by and I am down to about 15000 chips and find KK and a someone raises pre flop and calls my all in. I double up v AT. We were down to 12 players now and I have about 30000 chips when my tournament effectively ended. I pick up 99 and under the gun raises to 10000. I think and move all in and everyone passes. UTG says “You may have me in bad shape but I’m calling.” He shows AT. Two people say they passed Aces so I figure I’m in very good shape. Flop 25T. No help on the turn or the river and I am down to a measly 2500. However I hit two miracle flushes on the river and get back to 20000. Maybe this could be my day. I pick up JQ suited in position and go all in again. Big blind calls and shows 44. I am out in 12th.
Overall I know I played well throughout the tournament. I rarely had good hands and most of pots I picked up through bluffing. Before the last few hands I only called twice all in and both times I had my opponents dominated. However, my frustration at these big events is growing. I have been in the money in 3 of the last four big events I have entered. Each time I have gambled on a really major hand for all my chips I have lost. My AQ v AJ affectively ended my chances in the EPT in London costing me over half my chips making my position impossible for the second day. I lost with AT v KJ to go out in 5th in the £300 freezeout during the Vic festival. This time I lost two coin flips 99 v AT and the losing to 44 when I had JQ. Its just so frustrating playing for so long and in the end feeling like it was a waste of time and effort.
Starting chips of 7500.
I drove down to Brighton feeling pretty confident after my amazing night online the night before. I decided on a change of tactics. Normally I play like a Rock for the first couple of hours and try and hit monsters but for this event I thought I for the first two levels I would get involved in alot of flops whilst the blinds were low. I managed to bluff a lot of hands and was never called down during the first level. Everyone on my table was playing tight and there was no-one on my table except locals I think. It was very quiet as we were upstairs and the only background noise was Paul Parker chatting on the other table. I purposely showed the table AK twice and QQ when raising pre flop to try and maintain a tight image for the hand that I bluffed. A check raise when I had TT on a J34 flop got someone to lay down JQ. I was moved halfway through the second level and decided to sit back for a bit as I had progressed my stack to a healthy 13000 chips. At the start of level three with the blinds at 100/200 I have 73 on the big blind and there are two callers plus the small blind. The flop comes 732 and the small blind bets 800 and I just call. The button raises it to 2500 and the small blind passes. I reraise another 4000 chips and the button thinks for a few minutes then shows 99 and passes. That was a nice pot to pick up. Level 4 and 5 I wasn’t really involved in many big hands and managed to get my stack up to 23000 chips and am above the chips average. My table is broken up again and I’m moved to the main table that is used for the final. Hopefully I won’t be moved again now. My cards went cold for ages but I managed to maintain my chip count with a couple of moves. By the time the blinds had reached 500/1000 we were down to three tables and my chip count was about 25000.
I find 66 on the big blind and all pass round to the small blind that went all in for 6000. I call and he flops over 6A. Perfect I think till the evil A is first card down on the flop. That hand really harmed my stack as 31000 would have kept me around the chip average but instead I am down 19000. Stole a few blinds to stop me being blinded away and was on 20000 chips by the time we were down to two tables and blinds were 1000/2000. I liked one hand I played just because of the reaction it caused at the table. I am on the button and under the gun calls the 2000 blind. I think for a minute and raise all in for 20000 chips. Small blind and big blind pass. UTG caller M Latiffe who is the chip leader goes into the think tank and eventually passes and shows AT and says you got me! I turn over 25. He goes mad and I just smile away happily. Other notable hands saw me lay down 77 when I raise to 4000 and someone goes over the top for another 10000. Soon it was 3.15am and I have 20000 chips with blinds of 1500/3000. I decide that I am not coming all the way back from London with such short chips for the second day so I raise all in on 3 of the last 4 hands and manage to steal the blinds with 2K, 27 and 33. So I ended the day with just over 30000 chips. Not great but we were down last 15 runners.
Day 2
Brighton management decided to give us a full 45 minute clock with blinds of 1500/3000 so at least I had a few rounds that I could watch the action pass by if I got no cards.
I started off very well winning a small pot in a small blind v big blind when I milk 6000 chips when I hit a flush on the flop. Also a few of my pre flop raises are not contested so I get up to a reasonable stack of 45000 and a few players have hit the rails. Then this hand did me some damage. With blinds of 2000/4000 I find 88 one seat of the button. I raise to 12000 and the small blind goes all in for 40000. I eventually pass after figuring that this player must either have me in a very bad position with an overpair or AK. He had been playing quite tight as well. A few round go by and I am down to about 15000 chips and find KK and a someone raises pre flop and calls my all in. I double up v AT. We were down to 12 players now and I have about 30000 chips when my tournament effectively ended. I pick up 99 and under the gun raises to 10000. I think and move all in and everyone passes. UTG says “You may have me in bad shape but I’m calling.” He shows AT. Two people say they passed Aces so I figure I’m in very good shape. Flop 25T. No help on the turn or the river and I am down to a measly 2500. However I hit two miracle flushes on the river and get back to 20000. Maybe this could be my day. I pick up JQ suited in position and go all in again. Big blind calls and shows 44. I am out in 12th.
Overall I know I played well throughout the tournament. I rarely had good hands and most of pots I picked up through bluffing. Before the last few hands I only called twice all in and both times I had my opponents dominated. However, my frustration at these big events is growing. I have been in the money in 3 of the last four big events I have entered. Each time I have gambled on a really major hand for all my chips I have lost. My AQ v AJ affectively ended my chances in the EPT in London costing me over half my chips making my position impossible for the second day. I lost with AT v KJ to go out in 5th in the £300 freezeout during the Vic festival. This time I lost two coin flips 99 v AT and the losing to 44 when I had JQ. Its just so frustrating playing for so long and in the end feeling like it was a waste of time and effort.
Fantastic Friday on Betfair
Well I pretty much played poker all weekend. On Friday night I played on Betfair and managed to have my most successful online night to date. Started on the £2.50/5 Omaha table and was in for £1000 when my hands started to stand up and my draws were coming in. One remarkable hand saw me call a £300 bet on the turn with 4 other players calling and I had a Gutshot and an Ace Flush draw. The flush comes and I bet £600 and get 4 callers! Wow I couldn’t have dreamt of that. That put a few on tilt and I finished up on the Omaha table with £4500.
About midnight I decided to also start playing a $5/$10 NL Hold em game as well. Started with $700 and had a few interesting hands. Second hand in I manage to double up when I flop a set with my 77 on a 7Q2 flop when my opponent had QK. That put me up to $1500. Won a few more smallish pots and soon found myself with $2000. Then this hand happened. Two limpers and I have got 9hTh on the button. I decide to try and steal the blinds and pop in a raise to $100. Three callers yikes. Flop come 2s3c8h … not good but it checks round to me and I think a reasonable bet here could win the pot representing an overpair. I bet $300 and get two callers… hmmm I don’t like this hand now. Turn brings a 7h… just about the dream card for me. I am up and down for the straight flush and there is $1400 in the pot. Assuming my flush is good I now have a monster draw with 17 cards that I think will give me the winning hand. It’s checked round to me! I think that one of my opponents is either slow playing a very high pair or has flopped a set and so a raise from me and they could set me in for my remaining $1500. I also figure that if one of them does have a high pair or a set they are going to call me down if I make it. So I check. Last card is a 6d to give me the absolute nuts. Both check again and I now have to decide how much to bet. I’m sure now with this board that a high pair may call and a set thinks they have me trapped. I bet the $1500 and get instantly called by the under the gun player. The other player also gives it the think tank. I have to be happy with one caller here though and scoop a monster $4500 pot. The guy who called had 33 and gave me a tirade of expletives in the chat box. I don’t think I played the hand wrong and it shows why slowplaying is so dangerous. If he had bet the $1500 on the turn when the dangerous flush draw appeared I may have passed. The other guy typed into the chat box that he had QQ. The guy who lost the massive pot started playing like a lunatic and I found AK and called his pre flop raise of $100. Flop comes down K56 rainbow. I check and he bets out $300 and I raise him $450 which would put him all in. He starts swearing at me again in the chat box and finally calls and shows 79. He called $450 with a Gutshot. He misses and I pick up another pot of $1750 and finish on the table with $6500.
About midnight I decided to also start playing a $5/$10 NL Hold em game as well. Started with $700 and had a few interesting hands. Second hand in I manage to double up when I flop a set with my 77 on a 7Q2 flop when my opponent had QK. That put me up to $1500. Won a few more smallish pots and soon found myself with $2000. Then this hand happened. Two limpers and I have got 9hTh on the button. I decide to try and steal the blinds and pop in a raise to $100. Three callers yikes. Flop come 2s3c8h … not good but it checks round to me and I think a reasonable bet here could win the pot representing an overpair. I bet $300 and get two callers… hmmm I don’t like this hand now. Turn brings a 7h… just about the dream card for me. I am up and down for the straight flush and there is $1400 in the pot. Assuming my flush is good I now have a monster draw with 17 cards that I think will give me the winning hand. It’s checked round to me! I think that one of my opponents is either slow playing a very high pair or has flopped a set and so a raise from me and they could set me in for my remaining $1500. I also figure that if one of them does have a high pair or a set they are going to call me down if I make it. So I check. Last card is a 6d to give me the absolute nuts. Both check again and I now have to decide how much to bet. I’m sure now with this board that a high pair may call and a set thinks they have me trapped. I bet the $1500 and get instantly called by the under the gun player. The other player also gives it the think tank. I have to be happy with one caller here though and scoop a monster $4500 pot. The guy who called had 33 and gave me a tirade of expletives in the chat box. I don’t think I played the hand wrong and it shows why slowplaying is so dangerous. If he had bet the $1500 on the turn when the dangerous flush draw appeared I may have passed. The other guy typed into the chat box that he had QQ. The guy who lost the massive pot started playing like a lunatic and I found AK and called his pre flop raise of $100. Flop comes down K56 rainbow. I check and he bets out $300 and I raise him $450 which would put him all in. He starts swearing at me again in the chat box and finally calls and shows 79. He called $450 with a Gutshot. He misses and I pick up another pot of $1750 and finish on the table with $6500.
Friday, December 03, 2004
Betfair Promotions
I see Betfair have some very good promotions for December. Click on the banner above to have a look. If i had the time i would have a go at the leaderboard as you get points for winning £1 SitnGos and the winner gets a package to the WSOP 2005.
Lack of poker action
Not much to report this week. Been to busy celebrating the beginning of the Xmas month to play any poker. I am going to play in the £500 freezeout in Brighton on Saturday. My first live tournament poker since I was knocked out of the EPT event in London. Talking of EPT events I see they are holding one in Denmark. Hmmm well that tempts me as I’ve always wanted to go to Copenhagen.
I have a new strategy for the Brighton freezeout this weekend. Will report back on how it goes.
I have a new strategy for the Brighton freezeout this weekend. Will report back on how it goes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)