That's it then ! Earlier today it looked like I was going to have a bumper PLO win to finish off the year, but I turned that into a decent size loss after stepping up to $3/6 and generally getting it in bad at $2/4 and $1/2.
A shame since the PLO on gutshot seems genuinely soft. Soft it may be, but basic discipline is still required. Next year ....
I did finish with a satellite win into this Sunday's $50k guarantee - that would be a good one to win to start off 2009 !
Will take a look back at the poker year in the next couple of days. For now, though, off to a quiet NYE party locally and see you next year !
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Monday, 22 December 2008
Another target for next year
The World Blogger poker title will have to go on the "to do" list for next year along with everything else.
I never really got going in the event. After starting with 5k chips and making modest initial progress, I slipped back to just over 2k when missing a couple of times with AK, AQ.
I tend to be more comfortable with less chips and I regained the 5k mark in two hands. Once raising preflop with KQ-suited then moving in on a low flop which was checked to me.
Then, check-raising all-in on a ten-high 3-club board with black Jacks.
I was feeling I may have a chance and possibly should have avoided going broke on what turned out to be my last hand. I picked up QQ on the big blind (it felt like I hadn't seen many good hands, to be honest, so this seemed like the nuts).
I was folded to the button who was short-stacked and made it 480 to play (3BB). The Small Blind min-raised to 960. I had about 5,500 and the SB had me covered.
I didn't know quite what to make of the min-raise but as he had played not far short of every other hand I thought my QQ could well be good, and I opted to shove.
The button passed but the SB had KK which held. All of a sudden, after a decent recovery, I was out !
It was a pretty unsuccessful evening all-round tourney-wise. I played the $200k - very tight as I was concentrating on the blogger game. I think I had played 3 hands all night when the cut-off raised me to 400, and I shoved from the BB with AQ. He called me all-in with A6 (??) which proceeded to make a straight 7-high on the river. I was effectively out with < 2BB left.
As it was my last tourney night of the year, I decided to play the Sunday Million as well.
I nearly blew myself up when overplaying one pair in a SB vs BB confrontation. However, a double up with AK vs JJ and then a decent pot with AK vs KQ put me back at 11k and back in the fight.
However, as the blinds climbed I made an impatient BB vs BB shove with A8 into AK (oops).
Not a great way to finish the year. That's going to be pretty much it for live and online poker for 2008. In due course I will have to set out my plans for 2009.
I never really got going in the event. After starting with 5k chips and making modest initial progress, I slipped back to just over 2k when missing a couple of times with AK, AQ.
I tend to be more comfortable with less chips and I regained the 5k mark in two hands. Once raising preflop with KQ-suited then moving in on a low flop which was checked to me.
Then, check-raising all-in on a ten-high 3-club board with black Jacks.
I was feeling I may have a chance and possibly should have avoided going broke on what turned out to be my last hand. I picked up QQ on the big blind (it felt like I hadn't seen many good hands, to be honest, so this seemed like the nuts).
I was folded to the button who was short-stacked and made it 480 to play (3BB). The Small Blind min-raised to 960. I had about 5,500 and the SB had me covered.
I didn't know quite what to make of the min-raise but as he had played not far short of every other hand I thought my QQ could well be good, and I opted to shove.
The button passed but the SB had KK which held. All of a sudden, after a decent recovery, I was out !
It was a pretty unsuccessful evening all-round tourney-wise. I played the $200k - very tight as I was concentrating on the blogger game. I think I had played 3 hands all night when the cut-off raised me to 400, and I shoved from the BB with AQ. He called me all-in with A6 (??) which proceeded to make a straight 7-high on the river. I was effectively out with < 2BB left.
As it was my last tourney night of the year, I decided to play the Sunday Million as well.
I nearly blew myself up when overplaying one pair in a SB vs BB confrontation. However, a double up with AK vs JJ and then a decent pot with AK vs KQ put me back at 11k and back in the fight.
However, as the blinds climbed I made an impatient BB vs BB shove with A8 into AK (oops).
Not a great way to finish the year. That's going to be pretty much it for live and online poker for 2008. In due course I will have to set out my plans for 2009.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Group Theory
Soon after I joined facebook back in August, I tried an experiment.
I had discovered "groups" on facebook, and joined a few myself. These were either poker-related groups like "gutshot" or ones to do with Bear Stearns like "Equity Division alumni."
It got me thinking that it would be interesting to form a group for those who had played in one or more of the 8 BSPT (Bear Stearns Poker Tour) events.
I could see that quite a few of my friends would qualify for the group, and that probably a good proportion of the "qualifiers" were facebook members.
One approach would have been to invite all those people into the group. This would probably have resulted in quite a strong take-up, and then the long tentacles of facebook could get to work.
I opted for a minimalist approach. I didn't announce the group at all and relied on the idea that someone would notice (from my profile, or those facebook alerts) that the group had been created and that once a couple of people had signed up, it could start the ball rolling.
I was pleased to see that one person did do this - within about 48 hours - but the next step never happened.
It was tempting to now kick off the invites, but I decided to be really patient. I think about 3 months must have passed now with the membership stuck at 2 !
So, I think I will now deem that the experiment in mode1 was a relative failure. It is still possible that it might spark off at any time but I will probably go to mode2 where I invite people to the group and see how quickly and how far that takes things.
I had discovered "groups" on facebook, and joined a few myself. These were either poker-related groups like "gutshot" or ones to do with Bear Stearns like "Equity Division alumni."
It got me thinking that it would be interesting to form a group for those who had played in one or more of the 8 BSPT (Bear Stearns Poker Tour) events.
I could see that quite a few of my friends would qualify for the group, and that probably a good proportion of the "qualifiers" were facebook members.
One approach would have been to invite all those people into the group. This would probably have resulted in quite a strong take-up, and then the long tentacles of facebook could get to work.
I opted for a minimalist approach. I didn't announce the group at all and relied on the idea that someone would notice (from my profile, or those facebook alerts) that the group had been created and that once a couple of people had signed up, it could start the ball rolling.
I was pleased to see that one person did do this - within about 48 hours - but the next step never happened.
It was tempting to now kick off the invites, but I decided to be really patient. I think about 3 months must have passed now with the membership stuck at 2 !
So, I think I will now deem that the experiment in mode1 was a relative failure. It is still possible that it might spark off at any time but I will probably go to mode2 where I invite people to the group and see how quickly and how far that takes things.
Saturday, 20 December 2008
Diminishing returns
It's interesting to look at how the qualifiers for the WBCOOP have developed.
There are/were 6 qualifiers - each guaranteeing 72 seats in the final. The final, therefore, is to be made up of 432 qualifiers.
However, if a players qualifies more than once, he wins only one seat (obviously) and the extra seat is not given to the next-highest placee in the qualifiers (contrasting with the method we adopted in the Gutshot forum league where there was a single final table).
It would have been interesting if pokerstars had given extra chips in the final to multi-qualifiers ! What they did instead was to give out prizes in each qualifier which were fairly substantial, so there was ample incentive to play >1 qualifier.
Another viable method would have been simpy to offer no incentive to win more than one seat.
In any case, the system in use means that lots of players have played several heats - I have played 3 and qualified from 2.
I guessed ther might be 400 eventual qualifiers (so I was speculating that there would be 32 overlapping qualifications).
In fact, the maximum possible has already shrunk to 383 and I would imagine it will be nearer to 350/360.
The sequence has been 72-141-203-260-311 so the actual number of unique qualifiers each day has been 72-69-62-57-51-??
With 100 places paying, that's approaching a 1 in 3 chance of cashing just for blogging. Not bad EV.
There are/were 6 qualifiers - each guaranteeing 72 seats in the final. The final, therefore, is to be made up of 432 qualifiers.
However, if a players qualifies more than once, he wins only one seat (obviously) and the extra seat is not given to the next-highest placee in the qualifiers (contrasting with the method we adopted in the Gutshot forum league where there was a single final table).
It would have been interesting if pokerstars had given extra chips in the final to multi-qualifiers ! What they did instead was to give out prizes in each qualifier which were fairly substantial, so there was ample incentive to play >1 qualifier.
Another viable method would have been simpy to offer no incentive to win more than one seat.
In any case, the system in use means that lots of players have played several heats - I have played 3 and qualified from 2.
I guessed ther might be 400 eventual qualifiers (so I was speculating that there would be 32 overlapping qualifications).
In fact, the maximum possible has already shrunk to 383 and I would imagine it will be nearer to 350/360.
The sequence has been 72-141-203-260-311 so the actual number of unique qualifiers each day has been 72-69-62-57-51-??
With 100 places paying, that's approaching a 1 in 3 chance of cashing just for blogging. Not bad EV.
Qualified Success
I qualified for the WBCOOP final at the first attempt (in the PLO qualifier on Monday).
However, someone pointed out to me that it is worth playing the other qualifiers because of the juicy cash-equivalent prizes on offer for the top 45 places (top 72 reach the final, which is the prime objective).
The prize for 45th is "only" a Step2 ticket (worth $27) but on the final table the prizes are worth $100s and well over a grand for first.
And since the qualifiers are freerolls, it is worth a shot. Especially since the standard of play doesn't seem great !
Last night I played the "8 game" qualifier. I only recently discovered what "8 game" even is. It is 8 different poker variants played in sequence. So for some period of time we play Hold'em, then we play some Omaha and so on.
The 8 games are ...
2x Limit High Games: Hold'em and 7card Stud
2x Limit Hi/Lo Split games : Omaha Hi/Lo and 7card Stud Hi/Lo
2x Limit Low games: Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw
2x Big-bet games: NLH and PLO
They are played in rotation (I forget the order) and the blinds, antes and so on are engineered (I suppose) to make sense in relation to the average chip stacks.
The intriguing thing about this qualifier was that many of the players would have scant knowledge of the games. I barely know the rules myself, but it seemed that even this level of awareness was an edge.
It's quite easy to forget which game you're playing - especially when you switch from one to the next. This must be the explanation for some of the plays. For example, one player called me on the river in 7card Stud Hi (you get 2 cards down, 4 cards up, then 1 card down and make your best 5 card hand). He can see that I have at least a pair of 9s showing. He had no pair !
Once I realised that most of the other players had really no idea, I tried to play tight hand selection pre-flop, play draws passively and value bet strongly with a made hand. tbh I think I could have gone even further down that road.
In any event, I advanced up the rankings to be 5th at one point. Actually, I was 5th at two points and in between that I moved down to last-but-one !
However, although I qualified again (the good thing about that is it means one less person in the final !) I failed to make the top45. The real damage was done in the PLO round.
I held 789J and flopped the nuts on the 456-rainbow board. I got it all in vs 78XX and unfortunately it came runner-runner clubs to give him a flush.
I then lost, and busted, in the 2-7 Triple Draw round when my 9-7 low was pipped by an 8-7 low.
The standard of play did noticeably improve as the field thinned, and with the higher blinds as well it did get a lot harder for me.
I dodged a few bullets earlier, so I can't really complain, but I am disappointed.
Still, there is one more qualifier I could play tonight (NLH) but the main thing is the final on Sunday - big prizes on offer. The top100 all get something, and the final table is big "money" and kudos of course !
However, someone pointed out to me that it is worth playing the other qualifiers because of the juicy cash-equivalent prizes on offer for the top 45 places (top 72 reach the final, which is the prime objective).
The prize for 45th is "only" a Step2 ticket (worth $27) but on the final table the prizes are worth $100s and well over a grand for first.
And since the qualifiers are freerolls, it is worth a shot. Especially since the standard of play doesn't seem great !
Last night I played the "8 game" qualifier. I only recently discovered what "8 game" even is. It is 8 different poker variants played in sequence. So for some period of time we play Hold'em, then we play some Omaha and so on.
The 8 games are ...
2x Limit High Games: Hold'em and 7card Stud
2x Limit Hi/Lo Split games : Omaha Hi/Lo and 7card Stud Hi/Lo
2x Limit Low games: Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw
2x Big-bet games: NLH and PLO
They are played in rotation (I forget the order) and the blinds, antes and so on are engineered (I suppose) to make sense in relation to the average chip stacks.
The intriguing thing about this qualifier was that many of the players would have scant knowledge of the games. I barely know the rules myself, but it seemed that even this level of awareness was an edge.
It's quite easy to forget which game you're playing - especially when you switch from one to the next. This must be the explanation for some of the plays. For example, one player called me on the river in 7card Stud Hi (you get 2 cards down, 4 cards up, then 1 card down and make your best 5 card hand). He can see that I have at least a pair of 9s showing. He had no pair !
Once I realised that most of the other players had really no idea, I tried to play tight hand selection pre-flop, play draws passively and value bet strongly with a made hand. tbh I think I could have gone even further down that road.
In any event, I advanced up the rankings to be 5th at one point. Actually, I was 5th at two points and in between that I moved down to last-but-one !
However, although I qualified again (the good thing about that is it means one less person in the final !) I failed to make the top45. The real damage was done in the PLO round.
I held 789J and flopped the nuts on the 456-rainbow board. I got it all in vs 78XX and unfortunately it came runner-runner clubs to give him a flush.
I then lost, and busted, in the 2-7 Triple Draw round when my 9-7 low was pipped by an 8-7 low.
The standard of play did noticeably improve as the field thinned, and with the higher blinds as well it did get a lot harder for me.
I dodged a few bullets earlier, so I can't really complain, but I am disappointed.
Still, there is one more qualifier I could play tonight (NLH) but the main thing is the final on Sunday - big prizes on offer. The top100 all get something, and the final table is big "money" and kudos of course !
Friday, 19 December 2008
If you play enough poker
You see the most amazing things.
In a 10hour game at The International on Wednesday (which started out as a tag-cash game - not something you often see) I think there were more "omg" hands than can be expected in that timeframe. Definitely many hands where if it happened online there would be a chorus of derision ("it's soooooo rigged" etc.)
However, these hands really happened, I assure you. I will post up some more of the session later. But here is one hand that I will always remember I think.
It's about 3am, and I've come back from my low point to be sitting on about £600 in a £1-2 PLO game. There are some well-known players there from the club.
The key player in this hand is Chen - a PhD. student from Cambridge, known to be a very good player (who often plays much higher stakes) and is a proven winner. I haven't played that much with him, in fact, but I know how good he is and I think he's also willing to gamble. An excellent combination for him (in the long run).
I have picked up KdQdXX and posted the £5 straddle. 5 players call the straddle, and I check. Six players see a flop, and the pot is £30. My hand needs help !
Help comes in the form of a Td9d3d flop. I flopped the 2nd nuts, but in PLO we have to be afraid that if a lot of money goes in, someone has the Ace-high flush.
In fact, no one bets the flop.
The turn is the Ace of clubs. Chen, in the small blind, now bets £22. I'm not folding yet, even though he might very well have the Ace-flush to lead into 5 players. I call, and it's just us to the river. How much will I call if he bets again? Would I bet if he checks ?
The river is the Jack of diamonds ! I have a King-high straight flush, the second best possible hand in any form of poker - only a Royal Flush is better. In this hand, of course, it is the absolute nuts. What's more, Chen may have the Ace-high flush.
How to proceed ?
Before I can think about that very much, Chen bets the whole pot (£74). How much to raise ? I opt for a raise to £250 - a little less than the maximum possible.
It's now an agony for Chen, who is having the worst run of luck I have ever seen. The clock is called on him (not by me !) and eventually he finds a crying call rather than a hero fold.
What a tough spot for him, especially as his actual holding was Ad8dXX so he knows I can't have the straight flush from 7-J or 8-Q. He is only to losing to one possible hand !
There's a really funny post about it by Chen here on the forum.
In a 10hour game at The International on Wednesday (which started out as a tag-cash game - not something you often see) I think there were more "omg" hands than can be expected in that timeframe. Definitely many hands where if it happened online there would be a chorus of derision ("it's soooooo rigged" etc.)
However, these hands really happened, I assure you. I will post up some more of the session later. But here is one hand that I will always remember I think.
It's about 3am, and I've come back from my low point to be sitting on about £600 in a £1-2 PLO game. There are some well-known players there from the club.
The key player in this hand is Chen - a PhD. student from Cambridge, known to be a very good player (who often plays much higher stakes) and is a proven winner. I haven't played that much with him, in fact, but I know how good he is and I think he's also willing to gamble. An excellent combination for him (in the long run).
I have picked up KdQdXX and posted the £5 straddle. 5 players call the straddle, and I check. Six players see a flop, and the pot is £30. My hand needs help !
Help comes in the form of a Td9d3d flop. I flopped the 2nd nuts, but in PLO we have to be afraid that if a lot of money goes in, someone has the Ace-high flush.
In fact, no one bets the flop.
The turn is the Ace of clubs. Chen, in the small blind, now bets £22. I'm not folding yet, even though he might very well have the Ace-flush to lead into 5 players. I call, and it's just us to the river. How much will I call if he bets again? Would I bet if he checks ?
The river is the Jack of diamonds ! I have a King-high straight flush, the second best possible hand in any form of poker - only a Royal Flush is better. In this hand, of course, it is the absolute nuts. What's more, Chen may have the Ace-high flush.
How to proceed ?
Before I can think about that very much, Chen bets the whole pot (£74). How much to raise ? I opt for a raise to £250 - a little less than the maximum possible.
It's now an agony for Chen, who is having the worst run of luck I have ever seen. The clock is called on him (not by me !) and eventually he finds a crying call rather than a hero fold.
What a tough spot for him, especially as his actual holding was Ad8dXX so he knows I can't have the straight flush from 7-J or 8-Q. He is only to losing to one possible hand !
There's a really funny post about it by Chen here on the forum.
Playing TAG
TAG as a poker term generally refers to the "Tight and AGgressive" style of play that is supposed to be the solid foundation on which to build a winning game.
On GOSCARS night at The International, it also referred to the style of tournament that we were about to take part in. Around 75 teams of 2 people playing a standard 6,000 chip freezeout, but with two players to one chipstack, "tagging" in and out every 15 minutes.
A fun tourney, but with some pretty serious cash on offer also - more than £1,000 for first place.
I was playing with Mat, a friend from Oxford. A solid player who got me interested in poker originally back in 2004.
I took the first stint, and I did play pretty tight, although the first significant hand I was involved in was with the rather less than premium QTs. I had raised to 175 (blinds 25/50) and received a caller in the SB.
I played the QT8 board (all red, two hearts) straightforwardly - betting 80% of the pot, and betting again when the 8 on the turn.
The river was an Ace - meaning I am now losing to quite a few hands. I checked behind, and announced "3 pair", turning over my hand.
A rather curious thing now happened. The other player threw his hand in face down and the cards were mixed inot the muck. As the chips were sent my way, the losing player suddenly realised that any Ace made a higher two pair.
He made a half-hearted attempt to try to retrieve his hand and claim the pot, but I think he realised that this wouldn't be allowed. Pretty sick way to lose a pot. I would never try to claim that pot when it wasn't "rightfully" mine but I realised, too, that even if I wanted to give him the pot then I couldn't. It's a very clearcut ruling. His hand is dead. The pot is mine with any cards.
Things were relatively uneventful. Our chips were at at 7,500 when Mat was involved with making a river bluff that "ought" to have worked, but didn't. I got most of our chips in preflop with JJ to a button push, and held against AK - back to 9,000+
I then lost a good chunk myself with AK - played out of position and badly.
Our stack became a push-or-fold stack. I had pushed in a couple of times already (AJs, 88, A8 in a SB vs BB contest) and the net result was that we had 5,100 left with blinds at 400/800.
I find pocket Tens in middle position. Easy shove. I am happy to be called, or not. The button makes the call with only 2,800 behind. Now the small blind wakes up and calls as well (somewhat reluctantly it seems). He has a lot more behind though.
So, a big pot if my hand can hold up! Nearly 16,000 chips.
The flop comes 743. Good news ! The button puts in his last 2,800 (not so good) and then small blind finds a check-call (hmm).
OK - now I get to see what I am up against !
66 (button) and 55 (small blind) !! We're all liking the flop. I have a good overpair. Both the other guys have seen only one overcard fall, and they each have the gutshot straight draw !
I was a good favourite pre-flop and NOW I am an 80% favourite to more than triple up, and move us into contention.
Facing just me, each of the smaller pairs needs to hit their set. Facing each other as well, however, making a set only make the other guy a straight ! They have each others' outs in a very special way.
Still, the main thing for me is that they only have 4 outs between them !
Turn - straight away come a 5.
Nooooooo! I'm drawing to 2-outs to split, and the river is no help.
Bad beat imo.
That's my live tourney career over for this year.
It's not the end of my live poker though. There is the PLO Cash to consider. Usually, one has to wait to be out of the tourney to get into the cash action.
Tonight though, in a victory for pure degeneracy, we already have a full table of 1-2 PLO going. It's a Tag-PLO table! Nearly all the players in it are playing the Tag tournament and sitting in the cash game as their turn ends in the MTT ! Like Mat and I, it is one stack/seat = 2 players.
The cardroom had quickly seen the sense in allowing this interpretation of the "one player to a hand" rule.
Great fun it was, and more on that in the next post !
On GOSCARS night at The International, it also referred to the style of tournament that we were about to take part in. Around 75 teams of 2 people playing a standard 6,000 chip freezeout, but with two players to one chipstack, "tagging" in and out every 15 minutes.
A fun tourney, but with some pretty serious cash on offer also - more than £1,000 for first place.
I was playing with Mat, a friend from Oxford. A solid player who got me interested in poker originally back in 2004.
I took the first stint, and I did play pretty tight, although the first significant hand I was involved in was with the rather less than premium QTs. I had raised to 175 (blinds 25/50) and received a caller in the SB.
I played the QT8 board (all red, two hearts) straightforwardly - betting 80% of the pot, and betting again when the 8 on the turn.
The river was an Ace - meaning I am now losing to quite a few hands. I checked behind, and announced "3 pair", turning over my hand.
A rather curious thing now happened. The other player threw his hand in face down and the cards were mixed inot the muck. As the chips were sent my way, the losing player suddenly realised that any Ace made a higher two pair.
He made a half-hearted attempt to try to retrieve his hand and claim the pot, but I think he realised that this wouldn't be allowed. Pretty sick way to lose a pot. I would never try to claim that pot when it wasn't "rightfully" mine but I realised, too, that even if I wanted to give him the pot then I couldn't. It's a very clearcut ruling. His hand is dead. The pot is mine with any cards.
Things were relatively uneventful. Our chips were at at 7,500 when Mat was involved with making a river bluff that "ought" to have worked, but didn't. I got most of our chips in preflop with JJ to a button push, and held against AK - back to 9,000+
I then lost a good chunk myself with AK - played out of position and badly.
Our stack became a push-or-fold stack. I had pushed in a couple of times already (AJs, 88, A8 in a SB vs BB contest) and the net result was that we had 5,100 left with blinds at 400/800.
I find pocket Tens in middle position. Easy shove. I am happy to be called, or not. The button makes the call with only 2,800 behind. Now the small blind wakes up and calls as well (somewhat reluctantly it seems). He has a lot more behind though.
So, a big pot if my hand can hold up! Nearly 16,000 chips.
The flop comes 743. Good news ! The button puts in his last 2,800 (not so good) and then small blind finds a check-call (hmm).
OK - now I get to see what I am up against !
66 (button) and 55 (small blind) !! We're all liking the flop. I have a good overpair. Both the other guys have seen only one overcard fall, and they each have the gutshot straight draw !
I was a good favourite pre-flop and NOW I am an 80% favourite to more than triple up, and move us into contention.
Facing just me, each of the smaller pairs needs to hit their set. Facing each other as well, however, making a set only make the other guy a straight ! They have each others' outs in a very special way.
Still, the main thing for me is that they only have 4 outs between them !
Turn - straight away come a 5.
Nooooooo! I'm drawing to 2-outs to split, and the river is no help.
Bad beat imo.
That's my live tourney career over for this year.
It's not the end of my live poker though. There is the PLO Cash to consider. Usually, one has to wait to be out of the tourney to get into the cash action.
Tonight though, in a victory for pure degeneracy, we already have a full table of 1-2 PLO going. It's a Tag-PLO table! Nearly all the players in it are playing the Tag tournament and sitting in the cash game as their turn ends in the MTT ! Like Mat and I, it is one stack/seat = 2 players.
The cardroom had quickly seen the sense in allowing this interpretation of the "one player to a hand" rule.
Great fun it was, and more on that in the next post !
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