I was looking forward to the £300 freezeout at the end of November. This event is, I suppose, the Blue Riband offering on the poker schedule at The International.
I rarely play live poker at the weekend. I’ve only played the £100 a couple of times ever, and I have literally never taken part in the £300 (either here or at The Gutshot).
The event would be my last chance to register a tournament win in London for 2009. It didn’t seem terribly likely, but one has to be optimistic !
I started out on a positive note, registering a win in the scrabble beforehand. Perhaps I could overcome similarly tough opposition in the main event ?
Generally speaking, I start out in a deep-stacked tournament by setting fire to part of my stack. I have never adjusted well to the long structures, and I just cannot seem to make the necessary changes to my game. I vowed to try to correct for this today.
As expected, the 63 runners were a Who’s Who of Gutshot/International players. Faces everywhere.
My table was no exception. For example .... on my left, Stuart Prior (serial final tablist in the £100) and Mikey Tse. On my right, Prof Achillea, Martin Spearing and Phil Haddon.
For the first couple of orbits I was very careful about getting involved until I did try a little (and rather obvious) bluff last to act on the river on a Q-8-5-6-6, showing 3 diamonds. Phil Haddon found a call with Q5. Perhaps this was factor in the hand that played out shortly thereafter?
Still at 25/50, we see a 7-way limped pot with Andy having started off the limping. I have KhTh.
The flop give me some hope: J-9-6 with one heart. Andy bet 125 and finds 3 callers including me.
The turn is gin for me: Qh bringing me the nuts with the King-high flush draw. Andy bets 175. I have a range of options, but I must raise for value I think. I make it 625 and am pleased to find Phil Haddon and then Andy calling. There is now about 2,700 in the pot.
The river is a blank. Andy checks. I have the immortal nuts – can I get paid ? Clearly Phil and Andy have hands of some value. Again, there must be a variety of options here. I consider checking over to Phil but I opt to make a small lead bet. I revise down my initial thought of bet size and put in just 1,200. Perhaps it will look weak ?
Good news. Phil puts out a raise (also small) to 3,000. Clearly he is not trying to bluff me here. My first thought is that we may be chopping, but I do find it unlikely that Phil wouldn’t have raised with KT and no hearts on the turn. Surely he would not raise now with a set or 2 pair?
It seems definitely possible that he has T8, even though with this hand he might also flat call the river. Perhaps he doesn’t feel 1,200 is enough reward for his hand and believes I will call with a hand like 2 pair myself?
Andy folds (2 pair he says). It does seem unlikely that Phil will now call if I re-raise the river. I do my best to appear discomfited, and take a look at the stack situation. On the one hand I may need to almost min-raise to get him to call, when he must now believe he is losing. I could make it as little as 4,800 theoretically. I started the hand with about 11k so an all-in raise would be to about 10,000 – about a pot sized raise in fact.
It is well known that I like the river raise or check-raise bluff. The 3-bet-all-in-river-bluff is the most grown up bet in this family of high octane plays. I must get some credit for a possible audacious bluff ?
If I do shove, I am of course expecting either a sigh-fold or a snap call for the chop. I am really not expecting Phil to call almost all-in with less than KT. There again, if he’s calling at all maybe he has to call the shove and maybe it is easier to call the shove?
On the whole I do think I under-bet my monsters, so I go for it.
When he doesn’t snap, I’m praying for him to find the hero inside! He mutters some version of the “this is sick” psalm and I think he uttered the classic “I think you’ve got it but I can’t fold” and with that, he makes the call with T8 and is shown the bad news.
Up to 22k and presumably the chiplead ! Phil still had a couple of thousand left. I think this was a factor in his decision. That is still 40 big blinds in this comp, and in fact Phil doubled up with a T8 straight a short while later. I remember thinking that it was still quite likely he would outlast me !
I made another nice step forward towards the end of the same level. Having made it 150 from late position, I get a call from Mike Tse and one other. Mike leads for 200 from the blinds when the flop comes Ts9h3s. I have As6s and I opt for the raise to 800, which Mike flats.
I ask him “do you have a flush draw?” No answer as per usual. The turn is the Js. The nuts for me. Mike checks. How much to bet ? I decide again on a smallish bet and decide on 1,400. I pick up 2x reds (500 each) and 4x 100 chips. I say “fourteen” and throw in the2 reds and 4 greys.
Now, the greys are 1,000 each so I have actually put in 5,000 chips! There is some confusion and some amusement at the table. Some kind of moody from me ? Some kind of Freudian slip ?
Someone suggested that I may have been made to put in fourteen thousand but I think the decision was pretty commonsense and I colour down the bet. Mike calls.
I’m not too sure what to put him on, honestly. A smaller flush ? KT with the King of spades ? KQ with one or more spades ?
My ideal river is a spade I guess. The Jack of hearts comes down. Hmm. I am not too delighted about this but, really, can he have a house ? Can he have a set on the flop and bet/call like that ?
Unlikely surely. How about TJ, J9 ? Not impossible but would he check the river ? Obviously I don’t want to get check-raise bluffed but once again I am aware that I need to get enough value for my big hand and that my image can help me get paid.
I choose an amount that I hope will dissuade Mikey from a bluff raise. I go for 4,000 into about a 4,900 pot. Mikey obviously had a hand as he found a call after a modest dwell, and I was good.
On about 26,500 chips I was feeling in great shape, obviously. I was very aware of my history of blowing up big stacks and I even took a couple of fairly long breaks from the table to enforce some discipline.
I thought I might really be running good when I picked up Kings on the button. Unfortunately, my standard raise took down the blinds and one limper.
Likewise, just a couple of hands later I find Aces and raise in early-mid position. Robin on my immediate left seemed to have been playing quite solid values and he appeared to think very carefully before make a near minimum raise from 600 to 1,200.
I thought I may be in luck. Ordinarily I might think his raise indicated Aces. This seemed unlikely here ! We seemed too deep for me to just flat but my 2,500 re-raise unfortunately scared him away. He later told me he only had QJ, so I suppose this wasn’t that tight of a fold !
Andy Achillea had been moved from our table and after a period playing 8 and 7 handed, we received a couple of new players. Briony Stone was moved into Andy’s seat on my right.
In her first hand she was the SB to my BB. I thought I may be getting a walk, until Briony bumps the bet to 700 (100/200). I have the rather appealing-looking JhTh. I think (why ?) that Briony may not have a monster so I decide a raise to clarify the situation is in order.
I don’t want to commit myself so I am about to make a smallish raise but something makes me say “2,000 more”.
This is met with an insta-ship for a further 5,200. I guess I found out. I go to fold when something else says to me “getting 2:1 ...” and I’m taking into account that Briony may well realise that my initial raise can be very light. Can’t she re-shove with 8s and 9s and AK, AQ ?
I hear myself say “call”. Briony has Aces, obviously. Is this the beginning of the downward spiral ?
Still, it wasn’t an easy hold for the Aces – two hearts on the flop and a Jack on the river gave me 14 outs on the river. None came, though, and the very next hand I bluffed 2,000 into the river only to find Briony insta-calling with 99 on the Queen high board. The river did complete a straight, but unfortunately it was the 5-7 straight rather than the 5-6 that I held. Still, it was promising to realise I could have value bet a made straight and been paid.
I still was running OK. The main problem was getting paid rather than getting a hand. I was hitting sets for fun, and straights as well although the next straight I made came with a flush on board – Martin Spearing made the flush on the turn exactly when I made the nut straight. I called his check-raise and when the river paired, I was able to see the bad-news-showdown without facing another bet. Could I have barrelled the river and represented ? Maybe.
I continue to preserve my chips relatively well, in my opinion, whilst at the same time playing pretty aggressively. It is important to play within one’s own style, I think.
However, with about 40 players left we’re in the last hand of level 6 (200/400/50), when this happens ...
JoeJoe “Goldenboy” Whittaker opens for 1,025 in early-mid. Martin Spearing is super-short on the button and is now all-in for 1,050. I am the big blind with 9s4s facing 650 to call into a pot of 1,050x2+200+400+9x50=3,150, so I am receiving nearly 5-1 on the call.
I cannot resist the call. OK ...
Flop – good news, bad news. J-9-4 all diamonds. I flop bottom two pair. This is probably winning right now. Of course, our Golden Boy may have flopped anything up to and including the nuts.
I opt to check to see what happens first. I have about 21k at this point and JoeJoe has me covered by several thousand.
He bets 2,025. Into a dry side pot this obviously announces that he has some values. The logic for my next action is one of those part-baked ideas. I wanted to “explain” to JoeJoe that I have flopped a big hand and that he should fold. I decide that a min raise will achieve this, even though realistically he cannot fold !
I duly make it 4,050 and now the rest falls into place. “How much do you have” etc. And then “alright, I’m all in”.
At this point I am essentially certain that he has one pair and one diamond. I should also explain that pre-flop I verbalised the fact that I was making a pure odds call. This means my opponent knows that his one pair/one diamond hand is either the best hand or the best draw. He has excellent information on the scenario.
The only hand he really fears from me is something like 8d3d and even then he knows he is almost certain to have a high diamond draw. There is essentially zero chance I have a made flush higher than a Queen.
OK ... If I fold I leave 40bb, about to become 25bb or so. Not a disaster. However, if I win I will have > 42k chips – up there with the leaders. I am very sure I am ahead now but I am also pretty sure I am about a 50/50 shot.
I think that to do well in these tournies I probably need to alter my style to incorporate a much higher value on my tournament life. In the moment, I made a deliberate decision that I wanted to play to win. Now I suspect a majority may argue that “playing to win” means fold here.
However, not wishing to give Ostrich more ammo to call me The Laydown King, I go for the call.
JoeJoe, as advertised, has QdJh. Martin in fact has a gutshot and a diamond draw with KcTd. The turn brings a Queen – making Martin the current nuts.
I need one of the remaining 4s or 9s. No joy and I am left to rue my pre-flop call. I don’t think I can ever get away on the flop although others maybe can ?
About the only comfort I can take is that my two chip donatees (JoeJoe and Briony) both final tabled as chipleader and eventual winner respectively !
2010 targets ... win a tournament at The International.
Monday 30 November 2009
Sunday 29 November 2009
Bingo!
During a recent late night PLO game, Miriam threw down the scrabble challenge gauntlet. Perhaps it wasn’t exactly a “challenge”, per se, but wanted to play and was confident she would win.
Based on what we know, this seemed plausible. But, never one to let near-certain defeat put me off, I accepted the challenge. We agreed to play before the £300 at the end of November.
I don’t know whether Miriam really expected the game to go ahead, but after I announced it on the forum it really had to be done!
Knowing that Miriam is a very good player, I was surprised to learn that she had in her possession neither a scrabble set, nor a scrabble dictionary!
I don’t have a board either as I have been playing on facebook with other forum members over the past few months but I haven’t played a “live” game for over 30 years. In any case, first order of the day on Saturday was a stop at “Toys-R-Us” to pick up a brand new scrabble kit. The game was removed from its shrink-wrap live at The International – so no issues over it being a complete set!
Expecting a heavy defeat, I negotiated Miriam down from £1 a point to 50p/point and off we went.
I ran good.
First, I picked “E” vs. Miriam’s “O” to win the right to play first (presumably that is an advantage) and whaddya know. Straight away I can play all 7 letters (playing all 7 letters is known as a “Bingo” in scrabble and is one of the keys to high scoring). It is obviously rare to be able to start the game this way, but unbelievably I found “ALCOVES” and I’m off to an absolute flyer – 82 points to open. That’s like picking up Aces vs. Kings in the first hand!
Miriam started with a modest 10, but then as I struggled to follow my strong start, Miriam fought back impressively using small multi-word combos to great effect. I had played “DIRT” when I should have played “WRIT” at move 2 and this enabled Miriam to play a really elegant SAY/DIRTY/NA for 33 points using only 3 letters.
A couple of moves later, she found the chance to play a Q on a double letter score AND pick up the double word – effectively netting 40 points for a single tile. “QUIET” was the word, but the reaction was anything but. Miriam had pulled back to within 3 points.
She was unlucky to find me with a “U” in hand so I could play “QUAD” to the triple word score in the bottom left, effectively neutralising her quad-Q to a great extent.
Now I had picked up 2 S’s and a blank is my hand – that’s a bit like freerolling to the nuts two ways. I had “FISSION” in my hand but couldn’t see how to play it for another Bingo. Miriam called the clock on me and I settled for playing just the “F” and holding the other letters.
Miriam took the chance to play two letters again for an AH/HA/DA combo – 23 points for two letters – very nice. She wasn’t sure about DA and I didn’t think she was bluffing, so I made the first of three important challenges that proved critical in the game.
DA was good (a Burmese knife) so I miss my turn and Miriam gets the chance to play on the open Triple Word at the top of the board. She breaks the 200 point barrier and gains the lead for the first time.
Meanwhile I decide to hold on to the chance of a bingo and play “IO” and “GO” for just 7 points.
Miriam makes an error here, I believe. She challenges and when IO turns out to be a valid term for a type of moth, I get a free go and can now play my S-S-blank combo for a Bingo (SUIToRS) and gain the momentum back.
Miriam couldn't quite believe that one, but at least she has learned a word to use in anger another time.
Game on! The “sack” was hitting me in the face, really, but Miriam countered with a fantastic 50 points for playing X on a triple letter, scoring twice in one move (XI, EX) – 48 points for 1 letter !
She unbelievably had the lead back despite me playing 2 Bingos and snagging a tripled-Q.
I say the tiles were good to me but at one point here I held the rather unfavourable AAEEEEB. I never like to exchange or pass. I prefer to play out of trouble – dropping in EE in the middle of some other words. Miriam was dubious about “IDES” but let it go (it is valid in fact).
After EX/XI I played CAB/BIO (although risky/doubtful) but Miriam elected not to risk the challenge again (BIO was fine in fact).
She was able to tag “CAB” to play LUNGS and SCAB which may have left the board a bit open and when I managed to dump my Z fairly safely, Miriam failed to close off the top-left triple when she chose to play RINK to keep the scoring lead in the game.
I was able to use the triple (and make it safe) with LIVED.
All the tiles were now out and I held EJLOPT to Miriam’s MNNORTU. Playing “MORN/EM/DO” Miriam moved into a single point lead (actually on checking the scores later Miriam was in fact 2 points behind at this stage. “Live” we saw her as 1 ahead – either way it was extremely close).
Miriam announced she could go out at the next turn. I hold a P and crucially an 8-point J in my hand. If she really can go out then I am crushed if I do not play my J. Not only will I not score with it, but it will effectively count against me 8 points twice.
The letter J is not always easy to play, and I am not sure what score I need to defend either.
I opt to play “JO” which I knew was good and at the same time I make “OI” and “JA”. I score the J twice (instead of losing it twice) but I am not certain about “JA”.
I have to make up my mind quickly and decide to go for it.
JA/JO/OI puts me 19 ahead. I have 6 points left in my hand. If Miriam knows this (theoretically she should but in practice she will be guessing) then she will need to score 8 to win. Scoring 8 puts her 11 behind and the 6 in my hand is deduced from my score AND added to hers. This will leave her the winner by one point!
In a world of perfect information, Miriam would know all this and play “TURN” on the double word score, for exactly 8 and a win by a single point.
I give a bit of speech about now being sure of “JA” and Miriam decides to challenge. If she is right, she is a lock for the game but when “JA” is good (it means Yes, basically) I get another go and dump my P.
That settles it for a win by 17 (Miriam actually plays “RUNT” for 6 points on the end which doesn’t matter now).
In quite a twist, I rechecked the scores in detail later (and with the benefit of time) and it turns out that Miriam was in fact 22 points behind so if she doesn’t challenge and plays “TURN” then her 1 pt win would swing to a 2 point loss on recount. How to rule on this one ? She had incorrect information and could have played differently if she knew. Would the result stand? Tricky one!
I only ever play on the internet so wrong scores do not happen. Miriam made no errors at all in calling her scores. I scored wrong 3 times (only by 1 or 2 points) but as we see it can make all the difference!
It’s fair to say that Miriam played the better game but it takes two to tango, and all agreed it was an exciting match. Most said it was more exciting than watching KILLYGLEN fail to trouble the scorers at the Haydock Park which was on simultaneously.
I had wanted to watch the race but the board held my attention, and apparently I didn’t miss much (except for the $100 I had on the stupid nag ...).
International Scrabble Tournament anyone ?
Based on what we know, this seemed plausible. But, never one to let near-certain defeat put me off, I accepted the challenge. We agreed to play before the £300 at the end of November.
I don’t know whether Miriam really expected the game to go ahead, but after I announced it on the forum it really had to be done!
Knowing that Miriam is a very good player, I was surprised to learn that she had in her possession neither a scrabble set, nor a scrabble dictionary!
I don’t have a board either as I have been playing on facebook with other forum members over the past few months but I haven’t played a “live” game for over 30 years. In any case, first order of the day on Saturday was a stop at “Toys-R-Us” to pick up a brand new scrabble kit. The game was removed from its shrink-wrap live at The International – so no issues over it being a complete set!
Expecting a heavy defeat, I negotiated Miriam down from £1 a point to 50p/point and off we went.
I ran good.
First, I picked “E” vs. Miriam’s “O” to win the right to play first (presumably that is an advantage) and whaddya know. Straight away I can play all 7 letters (playing all 7 letters is known as a “Bingo” in scrabble and is one of the keys to high scoring). It is obviously rare to be able to start the game this way, but unbelievably I found “ALCOVES” and I’m off to an absolute flyer – 82 points to open. That’s like picking up Aces vs. Kings in the first hand!
Miriam started with a modest 10, but then as I struggled to follow my strong start, Miriam fought back impressively using small multi-word combos to great effect. I had played “DIRT” when I should have played “WRIT” at move 2 and this enabled Miriam to play a really elegant SAY/DIRTY/NA for 33 points using only 3 letters.
A couple of moves later, she found the chance to play a Q on a double letter score AND pick up the double word – effectively netting 40 points for a single tile. “QUIET” was the word, but the reaction was anything but. Miriam had pulled back to within 3 points.
She was unlucky to find me with a “U” in hand so I could play “QUAD” to the triple word score in the bottom left, effectively neutralising her quad-Q to a great extent.
Now I had picked up 2 S’s and a blank is my hand – that’s a bit like freerolling to the nuts two ways. I had “FISSION” in my hand but couldn’t see how to play it for another Bingo. Miriam called the clock on me and I settled for playing just the “F” and holding the other letters.
Miriam took the chance to play two letters again for an AH/HA/DA combo – 23 points for two letters – very nice. She wasn’t sure about DA and I didn’t think she was bluffing, so I made the first of three important challenges that proved critical in the game.
DA was good (a Burmese knife) so I miss my turn and Miriam gets the chance to play on the open Triple Word at the top of the board. She breaks the 200 point barrier and gains the lead for the first time.
Meanwhile I decide to hold on to the chance of a bingo and play “IO” and “GO” for just 7 points.
Miriam makes an error here, I believe. She challenges and when IO turns out to be a valid term for a type of moth, I get a free go and can now play my S-S-blank combo for a Bingo (SUIToRS) and gain the momentum back.
Miriam couldn't quite believe that one, but at least she has learned a word to use in anger another time.
Game on! The “sack” was hitting me in the face, really, but Miriam countered with a fantastic 50 points for playing X on a triple letter, scoring twice in one move (XI, EX) – 48 points for 1 letter !
She unbelievably had the lead back despite me playing 2 Bingos and snagging a tripled-Q.
I say the tiles were good to me but at one point here I held the rather unfavourable AAEEEEB. I never like to exchange or pass. I prefer to play out of trouble – dropping in EE in the middle of some other words. Miriam was dubious about “IDES” but let it go (it is valid in fact).
After EX/XI I played CAB/BIO (although risky/doubtful) but Miriam elected not to risk the challenge again (BIO was fine in fact).
She was able to tag “CAB” to play LUNGS and SCAB which may have left the board a bit open and when I managed to dump my Z fairly safely, Miriam failed to close off the top-left triple when she chose to play RINK to keep the scoring lead in the game.
I was able to use the triple (and make it safe) with LIVED.
All the tiles were now out and I held EJLOPT to Miriam’s MNNORTU. Playing “MORN/EM/DO” Miriam moved into a single point lead (actually on checking the scores later Miriam was in fact 2 points behind at this stage. “Live” we saw her as 1 ahead – either way it was extremely close).
Miriam announced she could go out at the next turn. I hold a P and crucially an 8-point J in my hand. If she really can go out then I am crushed if I do not play my J. Not only will I not score with it, but it will effectively count against me 8 points twice.
The letter J is not always easy to play, and I am not sure what score I need to defend either.
I opt to play “JO” which I knew was good and at the same time I make “OI” and “JA”. I score the J twice (instead of losing it twice) but I am not certain about “JA”.
I have to make up my mind quickly and decide to go for it.
JA/JO/OI puts me 19 ahead. I have 6 points left in my hand. If Miriam knows this (theoretically she should but in practice she will be guessing) then she will need to score 8 to win. Scoring 8 puts her 11 behind and the 6 in my hand is deduced from my score AND added to hers. This will leave her the winner by one point!
In a world of perfect information, Miriam would know all this and play “TURN” on the double word score, for exactly 8 and a win by a single point.
I give a bit of speech about now being sure of “JA” and Miriam decides to challenge. If she is right, she is a lock for the game but when “JA” is good (it means Yes, basically) I get another go and dump my P.
That settles it for a win by 17 (Miriam actually plays “RUNT” for 6 points on the end which doesn’t matter now).
In quite a twist, I rechecked the scores in detail later (and with the benefit of time) and it turns out that Miriam was in fact 22 points behind so if she doesn’t challenge and plays “TURN” then her 1 pt win would swing to a 2 point loss on recount. How to rule on this one ? She had incorrect information and could have played differently if she knew. Would the result stand? Tricky one!
I only ever play on the internet so wrong scores do not happen. Miriam made no errors at all in calling her scores. I scored wrong 3 times (only by 1 or 2 points) but as we see it can make all the difference!
It’s fair to say that Miriam played the better game but it takes two to tango, and all agreed it was an exciting match. Most said it was more exciting than watching KILLYGLEN fail to trouble the scorers at the Haydock Park which was on simultaneously.
I had wanted to watch the race but the board held my attention, and apparently I didn’t miss much (except for the $100 I had on the stupid nag ...).
International Scrabble Tournament anyone ?
Thursday 12 November 2009
Lost My Car Playing PLO
Not literally, you understand, but it was the kind of game where you could imagine anything happening.
I made a trip down to The International to play in the $100k bounty tournament, and it turned out to be a great fun night of poker.
First phase was a quick spin in the £1-1 NLH game. I say “spin”, but there is another word that goes after “spin” that is not “up”.
I didn’t have long before the bounty tournament itself, so I was playing “speed poker”. It worked OK some of the time, but a few of the players realised they could call me pretty light.
One player called my shove on the river (double-paired board) with Queen high. Admittedly I did announce “Queen high is good”. Maybe that was too much of a clue. People should tell me if they’re going to take my speech play at face value, so I can adjust.
After a reload (or two...) I should have known better, perhaps, than to 4-bet all in against Sam “Light Call” Grafton. Four-high no good vs his monster Ace-Ten.
On to phase two. The club had laid on an incredible $100k bounty tournament in the guise of a £25 freezeout. One of the bounty pros, Andy Achillea, was at my table and he seemed to be playing 0% of hands. I made up for this by playing 100%.
Things might have worked out. Raising in early position with 4-2o and receiving 4 callers, I was allowed to see a free turn after the T-3-6 flop and was pleased to hit a five. The small blind led into me. Perhaps I should just call but, with 2 diamonds out there in a 5way pot, I opted for a raise and took down a moderate pot.
I tried to put the modern “light call” into practice after hitting bottom pair of deuces against one opponent who kept betting. When I called the river and tabled J-2, he nodded “Good call”. He flipped over his hand – 54o – which was all very well, except that he had rivered a low straight that he apparently had not noticed !
A thin value raise with KQ vs AQ on a queen high board saw me slip to about 3,000 chips (starting chips 6,500) but it seemed I had my second chance when I picked up my first genuine hand.
Andy raised (for the first time in the comp) from early position and was called on his left. I simply shoved from the small blind with pocket Queens.
After Andy passed, the other player dwelled but cannot be faulted for believing he was likely ahead with TT. I was good till the river, when a third Ten was enough to knock me out.
I was disappointed, but this did not stop me getting on the PLO list. The game was quickly up and running and a whole host of familiar faces were involved, including the fearless Warya.
Early on, I could not get a start in the game and dropped several buy-ins before deciding to fight fire with fire and pull up £2,000 – by no means the largest stack at the table.
Immediately things take a turn for the better. Picking up Aces with Ace-high clubs, I get involved in a 3-way pot. Unusually it is only £10 to call pre-flop (I limp the £10), but I still manage to get £2,000 in on the turn when I make the nuts. Warya had Kings with King-high clubs, and the other player had a set, missing.
AAQQ next hand stands up in a £1k pot and then I flop the world a couple of times and get paid off by second best hands.
I put together a great run and am soon on over £10k. Warya, naturally pulls up to cover me and there are otehr deep stacks as well.
It is often said that Omaha is a game of making the nuts. Well, this one wasn’t ! Vast pots were won with one pair, and two pair.
I became comfortable with lighter and lighter calls: £300 on the river in a multiway pot with a pair of queens, jack kicker, for example. Or £1,000 with 9s and 4s (two pairs made on turn and river). I was particularly pleased with a winning call with Aces up when I was check-raised to £1,300 on the river with a pair on board.
Having said that, I probably did not value bet/raise sufficiently light for the way the game was.
For example, in one pot I started with Aces and check-called the flop. I check-called the turn, having only improved to a gutshot wheel draw and a draw to an Ace-flush bluff.
On the river I hit my wheel draw and check-called £500 with £800 left, winning against a flopped set. This was a clear error. I was worried that my lowest-possible straight could easily be losing, but in this game it was a clear check-raise or bet-shove.
I really enjoyed the game and I did feel that I made a lot of good decisions throughout the night. However, it is generally the mistakes that stay in the mind.
I remember one pot against a smart aggressive player where I allowed him to bluff me with essentially air after I check-called the flop for £300 and then led for £600 on the turn, to face an £1,800 all-in.
The board showed a possible made straight (which I did not believe he had), and 2 spades (I had none). I was playing an overpair of Kings at this point, with a gutshot, but I was miles ahead of his bottom pair, no draw. I should have gone with my first instinct.
Most memorable of all was a big pot with Warya and Trevor, which might have been truly enormous if I play it differently.
I straddle £5, called by Trevor and the small blind. Warya raises in the BB to £25 total. I call with T-9-7-4r, and now Trevor raises the pot (having limped) to £105 total, leaving less than £200 behind.
SB folds. Warya calls £80 and now I have to call £80, not to crack Trevor;s obvious Aces, but to play the £10k behind that both Warya and I have left.
Flop 9c-8c-3h.
I flop top pair/open-ender with no part of the club draw. I will be happy to put it all in against Trevor here, but the flop is checked around.
Turn: 6d. I make the nuts but my hand cannot improve. Warya checks again and I bet £225 for value. Trevor agonises. He seems to recognise he is losing but eventually he puts in his last £185.
Now, Warya check-raises to £1,080 ....
If I raise now, I can make it £3,500ish and I could face another £7,000 re-raise all-in. Do I want to put in £10k potentially being freerolled ? I’m not sure what to do, and in the end I go for the call as a default option, obviously hoping for a brick on the river.
I don’t think I had really comprehended how few bricks there are on the river ! My hand could be vulnerable to any club (for a flush), any 7, T, J or Q (for a higher straight), or any 3, 6, 8 or 9 (board-pairing cards, of which there may be as many as 11 still in the deck).
The river pairs the 9. Immediately, Warya announces “full pot” which is £2,665.
Now I lost my nerve. It was one of those classic poker moments where you “know” your opponent is bluffing but you still don’t call. In the end, I think it was simply the sheer size of the bet that overwhelmed my better judgement and I found a fold.
Warya showed T-J-5-5 (no club draw) for nines up (effectively playing a pair of fives) and raked the considerable side pot. When I say “showed”, I mean “slammed down and fist-pumped!”.
”Noooooooooo.....”.
Trevor, meanwhile, has had an absolute coup. On the turn he is drawing dead with A-A-7-5. His backhand came in but I had him crushed, and now out of nowhere he picks up the main pot of well over £800 !
A brilliant example of missed opportunity, and a major case of self-tilting.
The game continued for hours and my stack fluctuated between £5k and £9k most of the time, with the whole stack potentially in jeopardy at all times. It was a scary game, but great fun. It was played in a really good spirit by all involved and I felt I was definitely learning something about the nature of “big bet poker”.
It went on so long that my transport plans were thrown into a tailspin. I had driven into London, ostensibly so that I could get home after the last train. When the game extended to breakfast time, that reasoning became moot. It went on so long that I had to move my car to the nearby Hoxton Church car park.
When we eventually finished playing at about 3pm (by mutual exhaustion), I was too tired to risk a long motorway drive so I left my car overnight (sending word to the car park via the ever-helpful Jimi).
I had to make a trip into London the following day to collect it (some 48 hours after I first parked it outside the club). As I was there, I popped in and there was an Omaha game just starting off ....
I made a trip down to The International to play in the $100k bounty tournament, and it turned out to be a great fun night of poker.
First phase was a quick spin in the £1-1 NLH game. I say “spin”, but there is another word that goes after “spin” that is not “up”.
I didn’t have long before the bounty tournament itself, so I was playing “speed poker”. It worked OK some of the time, but a few of the players realised they could call me pretty light.
One player called my shove on the river (double-paired board) with Queen high. Admittedly I did announce “Queen high is good”. Maybe that was too much of a clue. People should tell me if they’re going to take my speech play at face value, so I can adjust.
After a reload (or two...) I should have known better, perhaps, than to 4-bet all in against Sam “Light Call” Grafton. Four-high no good vs his monster Ace-Ten.
On to phase two. The club had laid on an incredible $100k bounty tournament in the guise of a £25 freezeout. One of the bounty pros, Andy Achillea, was at my table and he seemed to be playing 0% of hands. I made up for this by playing 100%.
Things might have worked out. Raising in early position with 4-2o and receiving 4 callers, I was allowed to see a free turn after the T-3-6 flop and was pleased to hit a five. The small blind led into me. Perhaps I should just call but, with 2 diamonds out there in a 5way pot, I opted for a raise and took down a moderate pot.
I tried to put the modern “light call” into practice after hitting bottom pair of deuces against one opponent who kept betting. When I called the river and tabled J-2, he nodded “Good call”. He flipped over his hand – 54o – which was all very well, except that he had rivered a low straight that he apparently had not noticed !
A thin value raise with KQ vs AQ on a queen high board saw me slip to about 3,000 chips (starting chips 6,500) but it seemed I had my second chance when I picked up my first genuine hand.
Andy raised (for the first time in the comp) from early position and was called on his left. I simply shoved from the small blind with pocket Queens.
After Andy passed, the other player dwelled but cannot be faulted for believing he was likely ahead with TT. I was good till the river, when a third Ten was enough to knock me out.
I was disappointed, but this did not stop me getting on the PLO list. The game was quickly up and running and a whole host of familiar faces were involved, including the fearless Warya.
Early on, I could not get a start in the game and dropped several buy-ins before deciding to fight fire with fire and pull up £2,000 – by no means the largest stack at the table.
Immediately things take a turn for the better. Picking up Aces with Ace-high clubs, I get involved in a 3-way pot. Unusually it is only £10 to call pre-flop (I limp the £10), but I still manage to get £2,000 in on the turn when I make the nuts. Warya had Kings with King-high clubs, and the other player had a set, missing.
AAQQ next hand stands up in a £1k pot and then I flop the world a couple of times and get paid off by second best hands.
I put together a great run and am soon on over £10k. Warya, naturally pulls up to cover me and there are otehr deep stacks as well.
It is often said that Omaha is a game of making the nuts. Well, this one wasn’t ! Vast pots were won with one pair, and two pair.
I became comfortable with lighter and lighter calls: £300 on the river in a multiway pot with a pair of queens, jack kicker, for example. Or £1,000 with 9s and 4s (two pairs made on turn and river). I was particularly pleased with a winning call with Aces up when I was check-raised to £1,300 on the river with a pair on board.
Having said that, I probably did not value bet/raise sufficiently light for the way the game was.
For example, in one pot I started with Aces and check-called the flop. I check-called the turn, having only improved to a gutshot wheel draw and a draw to an Ace-flush bluff.
On the river I hit my wheel draw and check-called £500 with £800 left, winning against a flopped set. This was a clear error. I was worried that my lowest-possible straight could easily be losing, but in this game it was a clear check-raise or bet-shove.
I really enjoyed the game and I did feel that I made a lot of good decisions throughout the night. However, it is generally the mistakes that stay in the mind.
I remember one pot against a smart aggressive player where I allowed him to bluff me with essentially air after I check-called the flop for £300 and then led for £600 on the turn, to face an £1,800 all-in.
The board showed a possible made straight (which I did not believe he had), and 2 spades (I had none). I was playing an overpair of Kings at this point, with a gutshot, but I was miles ahead of his bottom pair, no draw. I should have gone with my first instinct.
Most memorable of all was a big pot with Warya and Trevor, which might have been truly enormous if I play it differently.
I straddle £5, called by Trevor and the small blind. Warya raises in the BB to £25 total. I call with T-9-7-4r, and now Trevor raises the pot (having limped) to £105 total, leaving less than £200 behind.
SB folds. Warya calls £80 and now I have to call £80, not to crack Trevor;s obvious Aces, but to play the £10k behind that both Warya and I have left.
Flop 9c-8c-3h.
I flop top pair/open-ender with no part of the club draw. I will be happy to put it all in against Trevor here, but the flop is checked around.
Turn: 6d. I make the nuts but my hand cannot improve. Warya checks again and I bet £225 for value. Trevor agonises. He seems to recognise he is losing but eventually he puts in his last £185.
Now, Warya check-raises to £1,080 ....
If I raise now, I can make it £3,500ish and I could face another £7,000 re-raise all-in. Do I want to put in £10k potentially being freerolled ? I’m not sure what to do, and in the end I go for the call as a default option, obviously hoping for a brick on the river.
I don’t think I had really comprehended how few bricks there are on the river ! My hand could be vulnerable to any club (for a flush), any 7, T, J or Q (for a higher straight), or any 3, 6, 8 or 9 (board-pairing cards, of which there may be as many as 11 still in the deck).
The river pairs the 9. Immediately, Warya announces “full pot” which is £2,665.
Now I lost my nerve. It was one of those classic poker moments where you “know” your opponent is bluffing but you still don’t call. In the end, I think it was simply the sheer size of the bet that overwhelmed my better judgement and I found a fold.
Warya showed T-J-5-5 (no club draw) for nines up (effectively playing a pair of fives) and raked the considerable side pot. When I say “showed”, I mean “slammed down and fist-pumped!”.
”Noooooooooo.....”.
Trevor, meanwhile, has had an absolute coup. On the turn he is drawing dead with A-A-7-5. His backhand came in but I had him crushed, and now out of nowhere he picks up the main pot of well over £800 !
A brilliant example of missed opportunity, and a major case of self-tilting.
The game continued for hours and my stack fluctuated between £5k and £9k most of the time, with the whole stack potentially in jeopardy at all times. It was a scary game, but great fun. It was played in a really good spirit by all involved and I felt I was definitely learning something about the nature of “big bet poker”.
It went on so long that my transport plans were thrown into a tailspin. I had driven into London, ostensibly so that I could get home after the last train. When the game extended to breakfast time, that reasoning became moot. It went on so long that I had to move my car to the nearby Hoxton Church car park.
When we eventually finished playing at about 3pm (by mutual exhaustion), I was too tired to risk a long motorway drive so I left my car overnight (sending word to the car park via the ever-helpful Jimi).
I had to make a trip into London the following day to collect it (some 48 hours after I first parked it outside the club). As I was there, I popped in and there was an Omaha game just starting off ....
Tuesday 3 November 2009
Bounty Hunter
Tonight I shall make another attempt at winning my first tournament at The International Club. I only had to wait one event to score a win at the old Gutshot Club, but at this venue I have final tabled seven times without taking the last, vital step.
It was (and is) one of my poker targets to score a win this year and - in reality - I have less than a handful of attempts left (not counting thumbs or little fingers, either).
I plan to play the £300 at the end of the month, and tonight’s tournament, but that’s probably about it.
We’re going away early for Christmas so I will miss GOSCARs night, and I have never dared to leave the family behind to play the boxing day event !
Sometimes, such pressure has translated into me playing my A-game. With my A-game and a few H-bombs, I always stand a chance.
On the other hand, tonight is a £25 freezeout with a fast structure so although that sort of structure suits me, it is of course a bit of a luckament.
The added sparkle tonight is the bounty element being thrown in by Gutshot.com. $100 each for knocking out any of the 4 named Gutshot pros is a nice freebie, but they’ve also decided to throw in some serious cash in case anyone manages a multiple knockout.
$1,000 for getting two of the blighters. $10k for a hattrick and $100k for the holy grail of a grand slam of knockouts !
Like finding the holy grail, it is widely assumed that this feat is impossible. To be sure, it is so unlikely that it might as well be impossible, but it makes for a great headline !
I was wondering how impossible it is. Difficult to model realistically, but here’s my first and only attempt at it:
So ....... someone has to win the tournament and I will take it as a given that this person will have knocked out four or more players on the way.
This is not certain to be the case of course; theoretically the winner may knock out only the runner-up, but I have to start somewhere. I will further simplify by assuming they knock out exactly four players.
So, assuming a nice amount of randomness and independence and all that good stuff (definitely not true; there are some clear dependencies, but bear with me) then what is the chance that those four are in fact exactly the fantastic four?
This is a bit like playing the tournament with four bounties but only revealing the names upon the opening of a sealed envelope after the event.
Seems to me that this will be of the right order of magnitude.
There will be at least 100 runners tonight, so I will take 100 as a nice round number.
How many combinations of 4 from 100 are there ?
It’s 100!/(4!x96!) I believe, which is about four million to 1 against. It’s got that “million to one shot” about it, so I think it’s a very suitable answer.
The chances of me winning the tournament are definitely better than a million-to-one, so that’s something to feel good about.
Something else that is better than a million-to-1 is the chance of me picking out the winner of the WSOP main event in a sweepstake that is running on the Gutshot forum.
I don’t know who my "pick" is yet, but I think it’s a fair bet that most people reading this would love to see James Akenhead take the big one down. Good luck James !
If best wishes were Aces, then I think he’s due a sick run of cards.
I have a clear hierarchy of favourites (in the sense of who I’d like to see win, not who I think is most likely to win). If it isn’t to be James then I’ll be supporting Steve Begleiter, as we worked together for many years at Bear, Stearns.
I don’t feel any link to any of the other players, so failing these two, I am on the Phil Ivey bandwagon. I support the view that Ivey for WSOP champion is good for poker.
However it finishes, it promises to be a fascinating final table. A whole bunch of people from the club are in Vegas to see it, I know. If James is out first hand, I'm sure they will find something to do !
It was (and is) one of my poker targets to score a win this year and - in reality - I have less than a handful of attempts left (not counting thumbs or little fingers, either).
I plan to play the £300 at the end of the month, and tonight’s tournament, but that’s probably about it.
We’re going away early for Christmas so I will miss GOSCARs night, and I have never dared to leave the family behind to play the boxing day event !
Sometimes, such pressure has translated into me playing my A-game. With my A-game and a few H-bombs, I always stand a chance.
On the other hand, tonight is a £25 freezeout with a fast structure so although that sort of structure suits me, it is of course a bit of a luckament.
The added sparkle tonight is the bounty element being thrown in by Gutshot.com. $100 each for knocking out any of the 4 named Gutshot pros is a nice freebie, but they’ve also decided to throw in some serious cash in case anyone manages a multiple knockout.
$1,000 for getting two of the blighters. $10k for a hattrick and $100k for the holy grail of a grand slam of knockouts !
Like finding the holy grail, it is widely assumed that this feat is impossible. To be sure, it is so unlikely that it might as well be impossible, but it makes for a great headline !
I was wondering how impossible it is. Difficult to model realistically, but here’s my first and only attempt at it:
So ....... someone has to win the tournament and I will take it as a given that this person will have knocked out four or more players on the way.
This is not certain to be the case of course; theoretically the winner may knock out only the runner-up, but I have to start somewhere. I will further simplify by assuming they knock out exactly four players.
So, assuming a nice amount of randomness and independence and all that good stuff (definitely not true; there are some clear dependencies, but bear with me) then what is the chance that those four are in fact exactly the fantastic four?
This is a bit like playing the tournament with four bounties but only revealing the names upon the opening of a sealed envelope after the event.
Seems to me that this will be of the right order of magnitude.
There will be at least 100 runners tonight, so I will take 100 as a nice round number.
How many combinations of 4 from 100 are there ?
It’s 100!/(4!x96!) I believe, which is about four million to 1 against. It’s got that “million to one shot” about it, so I think it’s a very suitable answer.
The chances of me winning the tournament are definitely better than a million-to-one, so that’s something to feel good about.
Something else that is better than a million-to-1 is the chance of me picking out the winner of the WSOP main event in a sweepstake that is running on the Gutshot forum.
I don’t know who my "pick" is yet, but I think it’s a fair bet that most people reading this would love to see James Akenhead take the big one down. Good luck James !
If best wishes were Aces, then I think he’s due a sick run of cards.
I have a clear hierarchy of favourites (in the sense of who I’d like to see win, not who I think is most likely to win). If it isn’t to be James then I’ll be supporting Steve Begleiter, as we worked together for many years at Bear, Stearns.
I don’t feel any link to any of the other players, so failing these two, I am on the Phil Ivey bandwagon. I support the view that Ivey for WSOP champion is good for poker.
However it finishes, it promises to be a fascinating final table. A whole bunch of people from the club are in Vegas to see it, I know. If James is out first hand, I'm sure they will find something to do !
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