WOW !
That's what I have been thinking a lot lately after looking at my online play in cash and tournaments.
What this means is "why, oh why !"
Sometimes it is "why does he have to hit his flush" or "why does my Ace-King never hit". But mainly I am kicking myself for various forms of self-destruct. In tournaments, this usually comes from failing to be tight enough in the early and mid stages.
In cash, I often seem to be able to make good starts, but then it seems I throw this away far too regularly and my win turns into a loss. Sometimes, this will just be session variance of course but it has more to do with session discipline, really.
WOW occurs in live play as well, obviously, but I do find it is more of a problem online for me - I suspect it is related to the fast pace of internet poker.
Friday, 9 January 2009
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Omaha Part 3 - the good bit
They say good things come in threes. As you remember from parts 1 and 2, I have now sunk £1,200 into the game (I like to think the chips were on loan ...)
The fact is, being up or down £1,000 is pretty easy in this game. It's Omaha for a start, and the £1/2 blinds don't really tell the size of the game. Most pots are straddled for £5 and quite a few are super-straddled (£18). Those that are not are rarely unraised.
Most of the players are action-type players and some are in need of some momentum.
Where we left off, I have reduced myself to £300 by unwisely bluffing into the 2nd nuts. This cunning strategy leaves me with just the right stack size to get it all-in preflop :)
I manage this in the following manner - I limp with KK63dd. After a few calls, "Mr Bond" raises, and Jude re-raises. Three people call this re-raise and so do I. Siddiq now moves all-in for £116 which is called in 2 spots. As far as I am concerned, this action means no one except Siddiq (short stack) can have Aces so I now move in for £300 and THIS is called by Jude and Chinese Tim.
Now that's what I call a pot !
I quite like the flop - Q66. Of course I am concerned someone started with QQxx but there's nothing I can do about it anyway. There are also two hearts out. An offsuit Jack on the turn is followed by a 3 on the river, making me 6s full. I scoop, although the house-up was undoubtedly unnecessary. The reactions at the table make me think trip 6s or even Kings-up was good.
Now we're off. I have a grand to work with.
Things start to go right ... On a board of 7Tx9 with 2 hearts, I bet out £150 with QQ87hh and get called. The river blanks, but one pair of Queens is good.
Then when I flop a set of 7s on a 7-8-3-2-5 board, I check-call flop, turn and river for a total of about £300, and my set is good.
Then, I particularly enjoyed this one: I see a flop for one re-raise with Ac2cJ8 (3 runners).
The flop is 9high all-clubs ! Tony & I check to the raiser who bets £60. Before I can decide whether I will flat call or push, Tony moves all in for £150 or so. NOW I move all-in as well and Jude calls all-in.
The turn and river blanked - Tony had 3clubs Queen high. Jude had a set. Nice.
The action wasn't all with me. There was a fascinating pot where after some early pre-flop action, Maq moved all-in for £120, which was called once and then with 2 active players behind "Mr Bond" folded Aces instead of re-potting to £700 or so because he didn't think anyone would fold for "only" a few hundred and he didn't want to play a £2,000+pot with just Aces.
Not the right action imo, but as it happens, after the flop was seen 4way with 1 player all-in, a further £800 went in on the 833 board, with KJT3 making 3s full on the turn.
By now, I am sitting on about £1,600 so I'm up overall. It's also a lot of fun (it does tend to be more enjoyable when you're winning obviously !)
Now, remember, we said good things come in threes.
Well, not all things-in-threes are good. In Omaha, one of the worst features of a starting hand is to have three of a kind in your hole cards. Because at showdown you can only use two cards, one of your hole cards is redundant and what's more it is much harder to hit a set now.
So, when I picked up KKK5, my normal course is to fold pre-flop even for £2.
I was on the button, and indeed it was still just £2 when it came to me. Because of some table talk at the time, I decide to make a bit of a joke-raise to £6. My plan is basically to fold to the likely re-raise and otherwise almost certainly fold on the flop. I doubt I am putting any more money in and in fact I see the bet as basically a donation of £6.
What actually happens is that 3 or 4 people call this £6 before it was raised to only £12.
By the time it came back to me I was getting an enormous price to call so I had to call with any 4 cards (even trips).
£86 in pre-flop. And what a flop ! K86 with 2 diamonds. I have hit a miracle top-set.
Well, I'll take that. It is checked all the way to me and I bet the full pot. I expect that to end matters, but Siddiq now check-raises to £344. OK, ideally he has a set of 8s.
I contemplate flat-calling but I don't fancy calling £250 more and not knowing how to deal with a diamond or a straight card on the turn. Nothing for it but to re-raise all-in (it will put Siddiq all-in, not me). He calls without hesitation and it turns out that we have each put in £1,089 on this flop.
I always like to turn up my cards in these all-in situations, and he does the same: we can see why he likes the flop ... Ad9d7dJh for the nut flush draw and open-ended straight draw.
Both those draws are live although I can still counterfeit them. So, after all my work at getting out of a big deficit, I now have nearly £1,100 invested with one of the worst starting hands going ! It does make me feel a little bit uneasy !
Still, I am in front, and I am a clear favourite (about 60/40). When the turn is a brick (2h) I am 3/1 favourite and just need to dodge the remaining 5s, Ts and diamonds.
The river is a diamond ! Siddiq thinks for a moment he has won, but it is the TWO of diamonds giving me Kings-full.
BOOM! This is the biggest pot I have ever won in poker - about £2,250. I have a new favourite hand !
The game carried on and on until it broke up around 10am and I held onto a big gain (it would have been tough for me to go broke at this stage, easily covering the whole table, but never say never ...)
The fact is, being up or down £1,000 is pretty easy in this game. It's Omaha for a start, and the £1/2 blinds don't really tell the size of the game. Most pots are straddled for £5 and quite a few are super-straddled (£18). Those that are not are rarely unraised.
Most of the players are action-type players and some are in need of some momentum.
Where we left off, I have reduced myself to £300 by unwisely bluffing into the 2nd nuts. This cunning strategy leaves me with just the right stack size to get it all-in preflop :)
I manage this in the following manner - I limp with KK63dd. After a few calls, "Mr Bond" raises, and Jude re-raises. Three people call this re-raise and so do I. Siddiq now moves all-in for £116 which is called in 2 spots. As far as I am concerned, this action means no one except Siddiq (short stack) can have Aces so I now move in for £300 and THIS is called by Jude and Chinese Tim.
Now that's what I call a pot !
I quite like the flop - Q66. Of course I am concerned someone started with QQxx but there's nothing I can do about it anyway. There are also two hearts out. An offsuit Jack on the turn is followed by a 3 on the river, making me 6s full. I scoop, although the house-up was undoubtedly unnecessary. The reactions at the table make me think trip 6s or even Kings-up was good.
Now we're off. I have a grand to work with.
Things start to go right ... On a board of 7Tx9 with 2 hearts, I bet out £150 with QQ87hh and get called. The river blanks, but one pair of Queens is good.
Then when I flop a set of 7s on a 7-8-3-2-5 board, I check-call flop, turn and river for a total of about £300, and my set is good.
Then, I particularly enjoyed this one: I see a flop for one re-raise with Ac2cJ8 (3 runners).
The flop is 9high all-clubs ! Tony & I check to the raiser who bets £60. Before I can decide whether I will flat call or push, Tony moves all in for £150 or so. NOW I move all-in as well and Jude calls all-in.
The turn and river blanked - Tony had 3clubs Queen high. Jude had a set. Nice.
The action wasn't all with me. There was a fascinating pot where after some early pre-flop action, Maq moved all-in for £120, which was called once and then with 2 active players behind "Mr Bond" folded Aces instead of re-potting to £700 or so because he didn't think anyone would fold for "only" a few hundred and he didn't want to play a £2,000+pot with just Aces.
Not the right action imo, but as it happens, after the flop was seen 4way with 1 player all-in, a further £800 went in on the 833 board, with KJT3 making 3s full on the turn.
By now, I am sitting on about £1,600 so I'm up overall. It's also a lot of fun (it does tend to be more enjoyable when you're winning obviously !)
Now, remember, we said good things come in threes.
Well, not all things-in-threes are good. In Omaha, one of the worst features of a starting hand is to have three of a kind in your hole cards. Because at showdown you can only use two cards, one of your hole cards is redundant and what's more it is much harder to hit a set now.
So, when I picked up KKK5, my normal course is to fold pre-flop even for £2.
I was on the button, and indeed it was still just £2 when it came to me. Because of some table talk at the time, I decide to make a bit of a joke-raise to £6. My plan is basically to fold to the likely re-raise and otherwise almost certainly fold on the flop. I doubt I am putting any more money in and in fact I see the bet as basically a donation of £6.
What actually happens is that 3 or 4 people call this £6 before it was raised to only £12.
By the time it came back to me I was getting an enormous price to call so I had to call with any 4 cards (even trips).
£86 in pre-flop. And what a flop ! K86 with 2 diamonds. I have hit a miracle top-set.
Well, I'll take that. It is checked all the way to me and I bet the full pot. I expect that to end matters, but Siddiq now check-raises to £344. OK, ideally he has a set of 8s.
I contemplate flat-calling but I don't fancy calling £250 more and not knowing how to deal with a diamond or a straight card on the turn. Nothing for it but to re-raise all-in (it will put Siddiq all-in, not me). He calls without hesitation and it turns out that we have each put in £1,089 on this flop.
I always like to turn up my cards in these all-in situations, and he does the same: we can see why he likes the flop ... Ad9d7dJh for the nut flush draw and open-ended straight draw.
Both those draws are live although I can still counterfeit them. So, after all my work at getting out of a big deficit, I now have nearly £1,100 invested with one of the worst starting hands going ! It does make me feel a little bit uneasy !
Still, I am in front, and I am a clear favourite (about 60/40). When the turn is a brick (2h) I am 3/1 favourite and just need to dodge the remaining 5s, Ts and diamonds.
The river is a diamond ! Siddiq thinks for a moment he has won, but it is the TWO of diamonds giving me Kings-full.
BOOM! This is the biggest pot I have ever won in poker - about £2,250. I have a new favourite hand !
The game carried on and on until it broke up around 10am and I held onto a big gain (it would have been tough for me to go broke at this stage, easily covering the whole table, but never say never ...)
Monday, 5 January 2009
Omaha Part 2 of 3
In part one, we saw how a £1,000 pot can appear from nowhere in PLO. It is a truism in "big bet poker" (a term used to describe No Limit and Pot Limit games) that as soon as you put a single chip in a pot, your whole stack is potentially in jeopardy.
Another monster pot came along shortly after I pulled up a second £300. I'd seen a free flop with J875. The flop comes 874rainbow. Not too bad, although someone may have flopped a straight.
Lee bets out £12 from the BB. Lee is an excellent NLH player, but new to PLO. So I don't think he has to have the straight, even leading into 4 players. Jude calls, which might mean many things.
I have top 2 pair, which may be good. I bet "to find out". In this case, I bump it to £45. Betting "to find out where you are" is over-rated, I think, as a poker concept. It is particularly flawed in NLH tournaments I feel. However, in a multi-way cash PLO pot I believe it can work.
Bekkar called £45 so he definitely has something. Mike Khan now check-raises to £200 and after Lee passes in disgust, Jude moves in for £510.
OK. I found out, and then some.
6 months ago I would have put in my whole stack now (I would reason: I have top two, I have outs even if by some miracle one has a straight, they're probably at it anyway ...).
Now, I see that at least one of them has the straight, probably more than one of them, plus redraws, and another one has a set at least. I am probably drawing dead !
So, I let my hand go instantly. Probably I should fold for £12, but I do play quite aggressively and I think it doesn't do to play totally out of character with one's normal style.
Bekkar now also calls all-in for £400 or so, and Mike makes up the £510.
Mike has 88J6 for top set. Jude has 56A3 for the nuts on the flop. Bekkar has TT93 for an open-ended draw to the higher straight. I passed top 2, and Lee passed 74xx.
I don't like Mike's check-raise tbh, and I think he probably could pass the re-raise as he is obviously facing a made straight and it seems likely quite a few of his outs are gone.
Bekkar's call, meanwhile, is "bold". He is drawing to the nuts, though, which is important. Of course, 2 of the fives and 2 of the Jacks are gone. Still, that didn't stop a Jack falling on the turn, making Bekkar the new nuts which holds to the river for another massive pot.
I'm happy because I take some pleasure in knowing I would have lost £400 in that pot last year. It almost felt like making money !
Fast forward via my KKds hitting everything but getting no action, to all-action with every draw and hitting nothing, till we arrive at another pre-flop monster:
AA76 double-suited on the straddle. I make it £30 more to go and get 4 callers.
I only have £130 left, so it's likely to go in on most flops. It's a 988flop so I'm losing to any eight. However, I have an oesd and a backdoor flush draw as well as the overpair, so I can hardly fail to jam it. Jude check-calls all-in. He shows an 8. I need to hit something.
I hit the 5 on the turn giving me the straight and the nut flush draw. Unfortunately, that card gives Jude a full house. I still have some outs to Aces full, but that doesn't come and we're looking for "third time lucky".
3rd bullet: I hold QJ88 on a JJ5 flop (in a re-raised pot). I like it, and check-raise all-in only to be facing AAJx. That was possibly a very bad play. In any case, it was a bad result !
OK. Pull up or push off ? The good news was that the table was pretty deep, and the money was definitely there to be won back. I could give you 10 more valid reasons for staying, not the least of which was the fact that the last train had gone!
Big holes call for big shovels, so I put £500 to work and advanced that to £700 before unwisely 3-barrelling £300+ into Jude on an A99XX board. If I review my mental notes, I think I'm going to find that Jude never folds and especially so when he's holding A9 in this coup .... it is a potentially interesting comment on my image that he didn't raise any street when he is only losing to specifically the case Aces.
So, I started with £300. I still have £300. £1,200 down doesn't sound so bad put like that ....
Another monster pot came along shortly after I pulled up a second £300. I'd seen a free flop with J875. The flop comes 874rainbow. Not too bad, although someone may have flopped a straight.
Lee bets out £12 from the BB. Lee is an excellent NLH player, but new to PLO. So I don't think he has to have the straight, even leading into 4 players. Jude calls, which might mean many things.
I have top 2 pair, which may be good. I bet "to find out". In this case, I bump it to £45. Betting "to find out where you are" is over-rated, I think, as a poker concept. It is particularly flawed in NLH tournaments I feel. However, in a multi-way cash PLO pot I believe it can work.
Bekkar called £45 so he definitely has something. Mike Khan now check-raises to £200 and after Lee passes in disgust, Jude moves in for £510.
OK. I found out, and then some.
6 months ago I would have put in my whole stack now (I would reason: I have top two, I have outs even if by some miracle one has a straight, they're probably at it anyway ...).
Now, I see that at least one of them has the straight, probably more than one of them, plus redraws, and another one has a set at least. I am probably drawing dead !
So, I let my hand go instantly. Probably I should fold for £12, but I do play quite aggressively and I think it doesn't do to play totally out of character with one's normal style.
Bekkar now also calls all-in for £400 or so, and Mike makes up the £510.
Mike has 88J6 for top set. Jude has 56A3 for the nuts on the flop. Bekkar has TT93 for an open-ended draw to the higher straight. I passed top 2, and Lee passed 74xx.
I don't like Mike's check-raise tbh, and I think he probably could pass the re-raise as he is obviously facing a made straight and it seems likely quite a few of his outs are gone.
Bekkar's call, meanwhile, is "bold". He is drawing to the nuts, though, which is important. Of course, 2 of the fives and 2 of the Jacks are gone. Still, that didn't stop a Jack falling on the turn, making Bekkar the new nuts which holds to the river for another massive pot.
I'm happy because I take some pleasure in knowing I would have lost £400 in that pot last year. It almost felt like making money !
Fast forward via my KKds hitting everything but getting no action, to all-action with every draw and hitting nothing, till we arrive at another pre-flop monster:
AA76 double-suited on the straddle. I make it £30 more to go and get 4 callers.
I only have £130 left, so it's likely to go in on most flops. It's a 988flop so I'm losing to any eight. However, I have an oesd and a backdoor flush draw as well as the overpair, so I can hardly fail to jam it. Jude check-calls all-in. He shows an 8. I need to hit something.
I hit the 5 on the turn giving me the straight and the nut flush draw. Unfortunately, that card gives Jude a full house. I still have some outs to Aces full, but that doesn't come and we're looking for "third time lucky".
3rd bullet: I hold QJ88 on a JJ5 flop (in a re-raised pot). I like it, and check-raise all-in only to be facing AAJx. That was possibly a very bad play. In any case, it was a bad result !
OK. Pull up or push off ? The good news was that the table was pretty deep, and the money was definitely there to be won back. I could give you 10 more valid reasons for staying, not the least of which was the fact that the last train had gone!
Big holes call for big shovels, so I put £500 to work and advanced that to £700 before unwisely 3-barrelling £300+ into Jude on an A99XX board. If I review my mental notes, I think I'm going to find that Jude never folds and especially so when he's holding A9 in this coup .... it is a potentially interesting comment on my image that he didn't raise any street when he is only losing to specifically the case Aces.
So, I started with £300. I still have £300. £1,200 down doesn't sound so bad put like that ....
Sunday, 4 January 2009
H-bomb exPLOdes - part1
I was out so early from the tournament on Saturday night that I actually could have travelled back to Bedford on the same night. An unusual predicament.
I did what I had to do, and ordered the excellent sausage and mash whilst I waited for a seat to open up at the PLO £1-2 game. Allegedly it had been in continuous action for 4 days. This was plainly impossible since the club was not open on 1st January, but I didn't like to point out this obvious falsehood because those who had been playing it probably earnestly believed it HAD been 4 days. Poker and time operate in a very strange way at the best of times.
It's funny to think that this time last year, or even 6 months ago, it would have taken some arm-twisting to get me in a PLO game. I was always open to a bit of cajoling, but PLO was solidly my second choice.
Now, my conversion to the 4-card madness is pretty much total. I scarcely play Hold'em online or live (except in tournaments of course - I doubt PLO will make much inroads there).
The improvement in my PLO game in the last 3 months far exceeds my total improvement in NLH since I started playing in 2004. I would not say I was a good player, but I am dramatically less horrendous than I was !
I now expect to win when I sit down. This doesn't mean I will, of course, and I am certainly still a net loser since I started (albeit my recent live record is not bad). But whereas when I used to play I knew it was a matter of time before I lost the lot, now I see a big loss as an interim position to an ultimate positive score. Again, I don't claim this perception is matched by reality !
I had a quick look at the table whilst I was waiting. Some of the stacks very pretty deep - £1,000+ in chips. Scottish Rob's stack was deep AND wide - he had it laid out in a very long line from his extreme left to his extreme right. Obviously this meant something.
As is often the case, no one professed to be winning (but all hoped to be on the way back). There does seem to be some inverse correlation between the amount won and the amount of time spent in the game.
I pulled up £300 - I started the night with an even £1k so after the FO, I had about £900 in mind as my ammo. I am never sure what the best approach is - £50 is the minimum buy in (theoretically) but that is plainly too little. To bring the full £900 into play would not have been crazy given some of the other stacks, but the possibility of disappearing the whole lot in one monster pot did not appeal.
£300 seemed about right. I agreed with myself to play pretty tight to be begin with, and so it began as I got a feel for the game. I was laying down for only £20 pre-flop for goodness sake !
So, I laid down 552K preflop to only a £23 re-pot of the straddle, only to see the flop come 522 and action kick off. Then I laid down 9963ss to the same pre-flop action. The flop was 977 and JJ Hazan came out firing. Two double-ups passed me by right there...
So, when I picked up a pretty pocket Queens hand (KQQ8 with diamonds), I had a plan. There were like 4 limpers to me. I made it £6. This was called everywhere until it came back to Jude on my immediate right. He now made it £54.
Well, limp-repot almost announces Aces you may say. I agree, but (i) I have a nice hand (ii) I don't have an Ace in my hand and (iii) it was Jude fgs. Only one move imo. Upstairs. £200 to go. This should shake'em out and get my KQQ8 headsup against his obvious 7653.
Nope. Siddiq moved all in behind me (for £268 total). JJ and Anton (both £500 deep behind) called and so did Jude (all in). I put in the extra chips (it's an under-raise by Siddiq so I have £38 left).
So - £6 becomes like £1,300+
I put in my last £38 blind, and on the KT7 board, JJ raises Anton out.
I have top pair with a backdoor straight and flush. However, I am in bad shape as JJ has the other two Kings for top set. Siddiq also has a set (of Tens). Jude had Aces (after all). So, just a small matter of Aces vs kings vs Queens and the rest ...
JJ scoops (I made a four flush, but no further). Then, he picked up his stack and called it a night ! I would never do that, but guess who is actually a profitable player !?
Hmm .... well, you never expect the first buy-in to do the trick do you ?
I did what I had to do, and ordered the excellent sausage and mash whilst I waited for a seat to open up at the PLO £1-2 game. Allegedly it had been in continuous action for 4 days. This was plainly impossible since the club was not open on 1st January, but I didn't like to point out this obvious falsehood because those who had been playing it probably earnestly believed it HAD been 4 days. Poker and time operate in a very strange way at the best of times.
It's funny to think that this time last year, or even 6 months ago, it would have taken some arm-twisting to get me in a PLO game. I was always open to a bit of cajoling, but PLO was solidly my second choice.
Now, my conversion to the 4-card madness is pretty much total. I scarcely play Hold'em online or live (except in tournaments of course - I doubt PLO will make much inroads there).
The improvement in my PLO game in the last 3 months far exceeds my total improvement in NLH since I started playing in 2004. I would not say I was a good player, but I am dramatically less horrendous than I was !
I now expect to win when I sit down. This doesn't mean I will, of course, and I am certainly still a net loser since I started (albeit my recent live record is not bad). But whereas when I used to play I knew it was a matter of time before I lost the lot, now I see a big loss as an interim position to an ultimate positive score. Again, I don't claim this perception is matched by reality !
I had a quick look at the table whilst I was waiting. Some of the stacks very pretty deep - £1,000+ in chips. Scottish Rob's stack was deep AND wide - he had it laid out in a very long line from his extreme left to his extreme right. Obviously this meant something.
As is often the case, no one professed to be winning (but all hoped to be on the way back). There does seem to be some inverse correlation between the amount won and the amount of time spent in the game.
I pulled up £300 - I started the night with an even £1k so after the FO, I had about £900 in mind as my ammo. I am never sure what the best approach is - £50 is the minimum buy in (theoretically) but that is plainly too little. To bring the full £900 into play would not have been crazy given some of the other stacks, but the possibility of disappearing the whole lot in one monster pot did not appeal.
£300 seemed about right. I agreed with myself to play pretty tight to be begin with, and so it began as I got a feel for the game. I was laying down for only £20 pre-flop for goodness sake !
So, I laid down 552K preflop to only a £23 re-pot of the straddle, only to see the flop come 522 and action kick off. Then I laid down 9963ss to the same pre-flop action. The flop was 977 and JJ Hazan came out firing. Two double-ups passed me by right there...
So, when I picked up a pretty pocket Queens hand (KQQ8 with diamonds), I had a plan. There were like 4 limpers to me. I made it £6. This was called everywhere until it came back to Jude on my immediate right. He now made it £54.
Well, limp-repot almost announces Aces you may say. I agree, but (i) I have a nice hand (ii) I don't have an Ace in my hand and (iii) it was Jude fgs. Only one move imo. Upstairs. £200 to go. This should shake'em out and get my KQQ8 headsup against his obvious 7653.
Nope. Siddiq moved all in behind me (for £268 total). JJ and Anton (both £500 deep behind) called and so did Jude (all in). I put in the extra chips (it's an under-raise by Siddiq so I have £38 left).
So - £6 becomes like £1,300+
I put in my last £38 blind, and on the KT7 board, JJ raises Anton out.
I have top pair with a backdoor straight and flush. However, I am in bad shape as JJ has the other two Kings for top set. Siddiq also has a set (of Tens). Jude had Aces (after all). So, just a small matter of Aces vs kings vs Queens and the rest ...
JJ scoops (I made a four flush, but no further). Then, he picked up his stack and called it a night ! I would never do that, but guess who is actually a profitable player !?
Hmm .... well, you never expect the first buy-in to do the trick do you ?
Saturday, 3 January 2009
H-bomb Misfires - Collateral Damage
Despite not being tied into the working week for most of last year, I still avoided regular live poker at weekends. I did play weekend poker in the case of special events like the GSOP, WSOPE and GUKPT, but I did not make a single trip into London just to play cash or tournaments at the Gutshot/International.
However, I had heard that the action was good; understandable if you consider many people are unable or unwilling to pull all-nighters during the week.
Especially, the "best " tournaments were apparently the weekly £100 Freezeout (and the occasional £300 version thereof).
So, I thought what better way to kick off the New Year of live poker, than by breaking my duck? The prospect of some weekend PLO cash afterwards was also appealing.
The field of 59 runners was choc-a-bloc with successful tournament players. The structure - 8,000 chips with a 25minute clock and antes from level 4 - was suited to a disciplined approach. Not really my strong suit, but I played really tight for the first level - hardly putting a chip in the pot.
So it was that I finished level 1 on 8,025 chips - just a single yellow away from where I started.
In level 2, my usual higher-volatility style started to emerge. I decided to see a flop with K9-suited and was rewarded with top 2pair on the flop. I housed up on the river but wasn't paid much.
I lost a bunch of chips with an overpair running into a 7high straight that I certainly didn't see coming. I totally misread the situation. Against the same player, though, I made back half what I donked off previously - my Q9 vs AJ made Tens fulls of 9s by the river where I successfully checked to induce a bluff - something I only recently included in my armoury.
Things started to go wrong though. I had 77 vs JJ, losing the minimum (but still losing). I laid down QQ to AA pre-flop after re-raising in the SB and getting an emphatic re-raise in reply. Dave Lightning showed the obvious AA. AQ cost me chips as well eithout getting to showdown.
So, all in all I sat on a little less than 5k at the end of Level 3 - obviously still highly playable, but half the average.
Next level 100/200 with a 25 ante. Obviously I have to look at raising more unopened pots. I don't mind this phase of the tourney but I didn't get much chance to enjoy it.
First hand back (literally) I am in the cutoff with 74o when it is folded to me. The SB is away, so with only 2 players to get through I obviously raise it - to 575. Both the button ( a liberal preflop caller) and the Big Blind (very tight) call. OK.
Flop - 844 !
Well, bingo. The BB checks and I decide it is pointless checking, so I fire out 1,050 (this was only half the pot - I often underestimate the pot and bet "too little"). Anyway, the button folds, but the BB moves all in for just a handful of chips more than me (about 4,100 more to call - only a pot sized raise).
I instacall. What else can I do ? He flips over A9-clubs. I hadn't even noticed the 2-suitedness of the flop. Oh well. I only needed to dodge the flush. I didn't . Instant service on the turn, and no pairup on the river.
Played itself, although if I bet the pot on the flop perhaps the BB finds a reluctant pass knowing he has no fold equity ?
Overall, I actually wasn't unhappy with my tournament. I hope I can play it again this year and I'm targeting a final table although that will be no mean achievement - it will be a 7 hour slog to get that far and another 2/3 hours if I wanted to make the heads-up stage. We'll see.
Silver linings ? An early opportunity to get into the PLO game - apparently running continuously for several days so far and looking deep and potentially "good" (but with "good" comes "bad-assed and dangerous"). Tired, tilting players in a deep hole can land some nasty blows (of the financial kind ...)
It was to be an exPLOsive session ....
However, I had heard that the action was good; understandable if you consider many people are unable or unwilling to pull all-nighters during the week.
Especially, the "best " tournaments were apparently the weekly £100 Freezeout (and the occasional £300 version thereof).
So, I thought what better way to kick off the New Year of live poker, than by breaking my duck? The prospect of some weekend PLO cash afterwards was also appealing.
The field of 59 runners was choc-a-bloc with successful tournament players. The structure - 8,000 chips with a 25minute clock and antes from level 4 - was suited to a disciplined approach. Not really my strong suit, but I played really tight for the first level - hardly putting a chip in the pot.
So it was that I finished level 1 on 8,025 chips - just a single yellow away from where I started.
In level 2, my usual higher-volatility style started to emerge. I decided to see a flop with K9-suited and was rewarded with top 2pair on the flop. I housed up on the river but wasn't paid much.
I lost a bunch of chips with an overpair running into a 7high straight that I certainly didn't see coming. I totally misread the situation. Against the same player, though, I made back half what I donked off previously - my Q9 vs AJ made Tens fulls of 9s by the river where I successfully checked to induce a bluff - something I only recently included in my armoury.
Things started to go wrong though. I had 77 vs JJ, losing the minimum (but still losing). I laid down QQ to AA pre-flop after re-raising in the SB and getting an emphatic re-raise in reply. Dave Lightning showed the obvious AA. AQ cost me chips as well eithout getting to showdown.
So, all in all I sat on a little less than 5k at the end of Level 3 - obviously still highly playable, but half the average.
Next level 100/200 with a 25 ante. Obviously I have to look at raising more unopened pots. I don't mind this phase of the tourney but I didn't get much chance to enjoy it.
First hand back (literally) I am in the cutoff with 74o when it is folded to me. The SB is away, so with only 2 players to get through I obviously raise it - to 575. Both the button ( a liberal preflop caller) and the Big Blind (very tight) call. OK.
Flop - 844 !
Well, bingo. The BB checks and I decide it is pointless checking, so I fire out 1,050 (this was only half the pot - I often underestimate the pot and bet "too little"). Anyway, the button folds, but the BB moves all in for just a handful of chips more than me (about 4,100 more to call - only a pot sized raise).
I instacall. What else can I do ? He flips over A9-clubs. I hadn't even noticed the 2-suitedness of the flop. Oh well. I only needed to dodge the flush. I didn't . Instant service on the turn, and no pairup on the river.
Played itself, although if I bet the pot on the flop perhaps the BB finds a reluctant pass knowing he has no fold equity ?
Overall, I actually wasn't unhappy with my tournament. I hope I can play it again this year and I'm targeting a final table although that will be no mean achievement - it will be a 7 hour slog to get that far and another 2/3 hours if I wanted to make the heads-up stage. We'll see.
Silver linings ? An early opportunity to get into the PLO game - apparently running continuously for several days so far and looking deep and potentially "good" (but with "good" comes "bad-assed and dangerous"). Tired, tilting players in a deep hole can land some nasty blows (of the financial kind ...)
It was to be an exPLOsive session ....
Friday, 2 January 2009
The Day After The Day Before
I didn't think it was too much to ask to have 2 winning days in a row. It might have been so, if I had played just a short session on 2nd Jan.
I had registered a small gain after just a few minutes of play, then I put in another short burst where I trebled my small win. However, those were just snatches of play. When I played a "proper" session in the late evening, I quickly knocked a big hole in my bankroll. I need to look at the hands to see if there was any pattern, but the result was I lost several all-in pots.
According to the rule of "not chasing losses" I perhaps should have called an end to proceedings then, but I persevered and held my ground for a long period without making any upwards progress.
The big winning pots never really came, and I reached the "time stop" where I didn't want to play on any further. I won a pot with what I thought might be my last hand. Then I was dealt Aces. I had been flat-calling with most hands (including Aces), but in this case I re-raised the pot hoping to finish on a highlight.
Oh dear. The flop wasn't great -- KT4 (all hearts) -- but we were heads-up .... I bet the pot and was called.
The turn was a complete blank and I decided his flop call was a sign of weakness and moved all-in. He called and I was rather surprised to see he had raised and called a pre-flop re-raise with KT54 and then called two large bets with 2 pair on a mono-suit flop. I guess he's not as tight as I had him labelled.
I had outs if the board paired. The board paired. Unfortunately it paired the King and gave him a house.
It was definitely time to call an end to hostilities. That was a VERY bad session.
Silver linings ? Not many. Perhaps it is good to get a reminder of how treacherous the swings can be, especially when combined with a bit of tilt .... Well, I knew that already so I didn't really need to pay to find out.
Still, 363 days left to fix it.
I had registered a small gain after just a few minutes of play, then I put in another short burst where I trebled my small win. However, those were just snatches of play. When I played a "proper" session in the late evening, I quickly knocked a big hole in my bankroll. I need to look at the hands to see if there was any pattern, but the result was I lost several all-in pots.
According to the rule of "not chasing losses" I perhaps should have called an end to proceedings then, but I persevered and held my ground for a long period without making any upwards progress.
The big winning pots never really came, and I reached the "time stop" where I didn't want to play on any further. I won a pot with what I thought might be my last hand. Then I was dealt Aces. I had been flat-calling with most hands (including Aces), but in this case I re-raised the pot hoping to finish on a highlight.
Oh dear. The flop wasn't great -- KT4 (all hearts) -- but we were heads-up .... I bet the pot and was called.
The turn was a complete blank and I decided his flop call was a sign of weakness and moved all-in. He called and I was rather surprised to see he had raised and called a pre-flop re-raise with KT54 and then called two large bets with 2 pair on a mono-suit flop. I guess he's not as tight as I had him labelled.
I had outs if the board paired. The board paired. Unfortunately it paired the King and gave him a house.
It was definitely time to call an end to hostilities. That was a VERY bad session.
Silver linings ? Not many. Perhaps it is good to get a reminder of how treacherous the swings can be, especially when combined with a bit of tilt .... Well, I knew that already so I didn't really need to pay to find out.
Still, 363 days left to fix it.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
Day 1 of 365
I wasn't sure I would play on the 1st of January. I haven't yet finalised my poker resolutions for 2009, but these are sure to feature good discipline. I would think that being selective about when and where to play is an important part of that.
So, playing a random session of PLO was probably not recommended. On the other hand, it seemed wrong not to take a little dip in the fishpond. I thought it quite likely that the game would be even looser and madder than usual (because of the time of year).
It seems that being too loose pre flop is my single biggest leak, so I played (for me) very tight, and really tried to stay out of any marginal situations at all. I made some good progress. Often times, you can be paid off in huge pots with the "obvious" nuts.
Then, I lost a big pot from miles in front. And another one. And another one. This was disappointing/frustrating/infuriating but some of the players were just begging to give their money away so I felt it was right to stay. And I wanted my money back !
Normally (I say this only partly in jest) my style is to keep playing till I'm bust. I can be up plenty in the meantime, but I want to go for the big score, so I carry on until I eventually find a way to lose it all. On the other hand, I actually don't normally chase losses to any great extent.
However, I was really determined not to start out 2009 with a losing session. And it was so obvious that the money was there to be won. It did get worse before it got better, but in fact the standard of play was so bad that I genuinely felt it was a matter of time.
Eventually, after about 3 hours, I was able to notch up a 100% winning session record for 2009!
So, playing a random session of PLO was probably not recommended. On the other hand, it seemed wrong not to take a little dip in the fishpond. I thought it quite likely that the game would be even looser and madder than usual (because of the time of year).
It seems that being too loose pre flop is my single biggest leak, so I played (for me) very tight, and really tried to stay out of any marginal situations at all. I made some good progress. Often times, you can be paid off in huge pots with the "obvious" nuts.
Then, I lost a big pot from miles in front. And another one. And another one. This was disappointing/frustrating/infuriating but some of the players were just begging to give their money away so I felt it was right to stay. And I wanted my money back !
Normally (I say this only partly in jest) my style is to keep playing till I'm bust. I can be up plenty in the meantime, but I want to go for the big score, so I carry on until I eventually find a way to lose it all. On the other hand, I actually don't normally chase losses to any great extent.
However, I was really determined not to start out 2009 with a losing session. And it was so obvious that the money was there to be won. It did get worse before it got better, but in fact the standard of play was so bad that I genuinely felt it was a matter of time.
Eventually, after about 3 hours, I was able to notch up a 100% winning session record for 2009!
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