Wow. Just wow. First Mookie played, first won. I should just retire now.
I wasn't even going to play last night, but when I donked out of the live riverchasers game after an hour, I decided to register. At the very least, I would say hi to some of the folks I might get to meet this weekend in Vegas. Early on, I tried to play my typically tight game and use that to make some plays. Yeah, that worked real well and I found myself hovering near the bottom 5 for most of the second 1/2 hour with about T1500.
On the last hand before the break, I decided that I was tired of riggstad and HighOnPoker stealing my BB so I shoved over HOP with AQd and chipped up ever so slightly. Then, there were two hands that stand out that got me out of desparation. First, Alceste limps from the SB after everyone folds around and I check my QJo. When the flop comes QJx, he check calls my flop bet and we both check the Q on the turn. After a meaningless river card, he pots and I shove. He calls and tables JJ. Ouch. Boat over boat. Actually, the only way he would have won that pot was if he raised pf. With my chips, I was calling any bet with top 2 on the flop. I think I like the fact that I didn't know how badly I needed that other Q until after it came.
The second hand came around the very next time I was in the BB. It folds to riggstad on the button and he standard raises my blind for the 624th time. I pot reraise with 77, basically commiting myself to the hand, but I figure I am no worse than a coin flip. He puts me all-in with KQc and my pp holds up, effectively crippling him. Whew. From there, I did a lot folding and enough stealing to keep up with the blinds.
Fortunately enough, the first time one of my raises didn't take the pot pf, I was oop against jimdniacc with ATo. Flop came ten high and I checked my missed steal. He potted with 99, I moved in and he called and doubled me again. From there, I took down a bunch of pots pf, but generally did not want to get involved in a large pot without a hand.
I was able to increase my stack to over T20000 this way until I lost a race with PokerPeaker with 99 against his AK. Ouch. #2 stack back down to the money bubble with still around 16 remaining, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. Just a couple of hands later, I felted someone (can't remember who, sorry) with 99 against 77 and then retrieved my chips from PP with my only AA of the night against his 88 and we started the final table.
It wasn't too long until the money bubble burst thanks to moondrops just running over the table, building his stack to over 50K. I was in the high 20's and no one else was over 20K.
Then Waffles popped in.
I have absolutely no idea what happened, but moondrops got completely tilted and said he was going all in every hand until he busted. And he did. Every hand. Finally, even though there were still 6 left, I got fed up and decided to call him with JackAce. He actually had 77 and I was off to the races for my tournament life. Jack on the turn or river sealed the deal and he proceeded to donk the rest off to bayne within another hand or two.
Chips were certainly an effective weapon at this particular final table as I don't remember a single one of my raises getting called. So when we got down to 4, I had over half the chips in play and was able to make a few loose calls when I had the right odds and probable live cards to go with them. I almost busted corron10 when he pushed with AQ and I turned two pair with J9, only to see him straighten out on the river. Ick.
He finally made another stand with 44 and I decided to call with A3h. Flopped bottom pair and the flush draw, and got there on the river. I started heads up with bayne with a 3:1 chip advantage, and we mostly played cautiously for the first 10 or 15 hands, much to the dismay of the liquored up LPR crew. We traded chips back and forth until bayne raised pf and I called on the button with JTo. Flop was QJ4 and when I bet the pot, he insta-shoved. For some reason, I really thought I was good and called. J9s.
All in all, it was quite the unusual tournament for me. I actually won races. And except for the boat over boat hand, I can't really say I was involved in a suckout either way the whole night. Thanks to Mookie for hosting, and to ck for her final table support. I suppose Waffles was sort of routing for me after corron was eliminated, but I wouldn't put money on it.
Hopefully, I'll get to hang with some of you degenerates this weekend. Leave a comment if you'll be in Vegas this weekend. I'm happy to meet any and all.
And there go another 5 minutes of your life you're never getting back.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Riverchasers TOC Recap
What a cluckin fuster!
I was supposed to meet millerd33 (get a damn blog already!) at Champs at 11:00AM Saturday morning for the ride up to Reading. 11:15 and he's still not there and was I smart enough to get his number in case something happened? Hell no. Thankfully, I get a hold of riggs who tells me that miller is on his way, and that he has the prizes in the car. But, he's not going and can I bring them up? Evidently, the prior night's birthday celebration put him on the brink of death. So, like a trooper, he rolls in around 11:40 with 2 boxes of stuff. Just in time for a huge thunderstorm to hit. F me.
Thankfully, I got to the tourney site about 10 minutes prior to start, but 20 minutes after registration closed. Ray was good enough not to enforce the no late registrations rule or there would have been a bit of hell to pay.
I liked my first table. Pretty tight, not very aggressive, but looking to trap. Just needed to put on my bullet dodging hat and I'd be ok. Got JJ pretty early on and won a small pot with a pre-flop raise and c-bet on a 10 high flop. Stole another set of blinds with KT sooooooted and then played my first decent sized pot of the day. Blinds were 5/10 and I made it 35 to go from MP with AJ0. One of the blinds decided to call and the flop came Txx rainbow. He checked and I fired out another 40. He smooth called. Now I wasn't quite liking the unimproved jackace anymore. Ace came on the turn and I checked behind him hoping that he would believe that was a scare card for me. I forget what the river was but, when he checked again, I had a feeling I was only getting called by a better hand so I turned over top pair while he sheepishly tabled bottom pair(?).
Anyway, right after the break our table broke. Boo! I was moved to a table that was much more typical Reading. And that, my friends, is not a good thing. No sir. Not one little bit. I blinded down just a tad, trying to reestablish a tight image at the new table at which point I screwed up bad. And it cost me. Blinds were up to 15/30 and I had about T275 left. It folded to me in MP and I raised to 100 with AQo. WTF? How much more of a stupid play could I have made? Guy on the button had gone from shorty to table chip leader with AA twice the prior orbit. He considered my bet for a bit and called. Flop came KJx with 2 diamonds and I shoved, hoping he hadn't hit it hard enough to call. He picked up the nut flush draw with A4d and was obviously priced in at that point. Of course he spiked another diamond right on the turn and I was done.
I literally yelled at myself for half the drive home. Why do I give anyone the option to play that pot pre-flop for 100? I needed to shove pf and be happy with taking the blinds. Would he have called a shove pf? Possibly, but it would have been for 1/5-1/4 of his stack and he actually didn't seem to be the type that would want to risk that much on a speculative hand without a chance of making more if he hit. Actually, I think the pf call was a little loose considering I wasn't all that deep. I just prove to myself over and over again why I suck at this game.
4 DAYS UNTIL VEGAS!!!! Room at the IP is booked and I get into McCarran around 6:00PM Friday night. Hopefully, I'll be able to track some folks down not too long after I land. If you're going to be there, shoot me some contact info at jasper6294 *AT* gmail *DOT* com.
And there go another 5 minutes of your life you're never getting back.
I was supposed to meet millerd33 (get a damn blog already!) at Champs at 11:00AM Saturday morning for the ride up to Reading. 11:15 and he's still not there and was I smart enough to get his number in case something happened? Hell no. Thankfully, I get a hold of riggs who tells me that miller is on his way, and that he has the prizes in the car. But, he's not going and can I bring them up? Evidently, the prior night's birthday celebration put him on the brink of death. So, like a trooper, he rolls in around 11:40 with 2 boxes of stuff. Just in time for a huge thunderstorm to hit. F me.
Thankfully, I got to the tourney site about 10 minutes prior to start, but 20 minutes after registration closed. Ray was good enough not to enforce the no late registrations rule or there would have been a bit of hell to pay.
I liked my first table. Pretty tight, not very aggressive, but looking to trap. Just needed to put on my bullet dodging hat and I'd be ok. Got JJ pretty early on and won a small pot with a pre-flop raise and c-bet on a 10 high flop. Stole another set of blinds with KT sooooooted and then played my first decent sized pot of the day. Blinds were 5/10 and I made it 35 to go from MP with AJ0. One of the blinds decided to call and the flop came Txx rainbow. He checked and I fired out another 40. He smooth called. Now I wasn't quite liking the unimproved jackace anymore. Ace came on the turn and I checked behind him hoping that he would believe that was a scare card for me. I forget what the river was but, when he checked again, I had a feeling I was only getting called by a better hand so I turned over top pair while he sheepishly tabled bottom pair(?).
Anyway, right after the break our table broke. Boo! I was moved to a table that was much more typical Reading. And that, my friends, is not a good thing. No sir. Not one little bit. I blinded down just a tad, trying to reestablish a tight image at the new table at which point I screwed up bad. And it cost me. Blinds were up to 15/30 and I had about T275 left. It folded to me in MP and I raised to 100 with AQo. WTF? How much more of a stupid play could I have made? Guy on the button had gone from shorty to table chip leader with AA twice the prior orbit. He considered my bet for a bit and called. Flop came KJx with 2 diamonds and I shoved, hoping he hadn't hit it hard enough to call. He picked up the nut flush draw with A4d and was obviously priced in at that point. Of course he spiked another diamond right on the turn and I was done.
I literally yelled at myself for half the drive home. Why do I give anyone the option to play that pot pre-flop for 100? I needed to shove pf and be happy with taking the blinds. Would he have called a shove pf? Possibly, but it would have been for 1/5-1/4 of his stack and he actually didn't seem to be the type that would want to risk that much on a speculative hand without a chance of making more if he hit. Actually, I think the pf call was a little loose considering I wasn't all that deep. I just prove to myself over and over again why I suck at this game.
4 DAYS UNTIL VEGAS!!!! Room at the IP is booked and I get into McCarran around 6:00PM Friday night. Hopefully, I'll be able to track some folks down not too long after I land. If you're going to be there, shoot me some contact info at jasper6294 *AT* gmail *DOT* com.
And there go another 5 minutes of your life you're never getting back.
Friday, May 30, 2008
76.2? But I'm Already 38.1. I've Wasted Half My Life
Ok, so maybe not the point 1 part, but today marks the "closer to 40 than 35" milestone. Don't feel a day over 50 I tell you. So happy f'n birthday to me. I find it hard to believe that 38 won't be better than 37, so that's something. How long until Vegas? Oh, right. A week.
Anyway, for my local friends that enjoy a good whiskey, click here and here.
And there go 5 minutes of your life you're never getting back.
Anyway, for my local friends that enjoy a good whiskey, click here and here.
And there go 5 minutes of your life you're never getting back.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
What The Hell Am I Waiting For?
The only way I'm ever going to get to play a big money tourney is to play my way in via several layers of micro (read:free) stakes qualifiers. So Full Tilt is running their main event races throughout the day and, for me, that's the amount of risk I like. The .com version (225 pers SNG) awards round 2 tickets to the top 2. The .net version (450 pers SNG) only pays the winner. I have 2 tickets from each version but haven't yet played a round 2 tournament. I guess I'm just delaying the inevitable shitkicking I'm going to get when I do play.
10 DAYS UNTIL VEGAS!!!!
Let me know if you're looking to split the cost of a room for the weekend.
And there go 5 minutes of your life you're never getting back.
10 DAYS UNTIL VEGAS!!!!
Let me know if you're looking to split the cost of a room for the weekend.
And there go 5 minutes of your life you're never getting back.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Anatomy of a Calling Station
Live riverchasers freeroll, level 3 (3/6, T200 starting stacks).
UTG raises 15 to 21. <---- first hand played in 1/2 hour
SB calls 18.
BB folds.
Flop [T 8 4] rainbow.
SB bets 20.
UTG calls 20.
Turn [A].
SB checks.
UTG bets 25.
SB calls 25.
River [K].
SB checks.
UTG bets 50.
SB calls 50.
UTG shows [TT] for three of a kind, tens.
SB shows [JJ] for a pair of jacks.
Is there ANY reasonable holding UTG could have that justifies the turn call, and especially the river call?
Sadly, that was, by far, the best hand I saw all night and one of only two pots I won. I tried to use my image to get stealy a couple times on semi-bluffs, but kept getting called down or raised and had to release. Steady diet of 75o and J2o isn't real helpful against these types of players. And still, I outlasted 2/3 of the field.
Vegas - one month from today. Tick tick tick tick....
UTG raises 15 to 21. <---- first hand played in 1/2 hour
SB calls 18.
BB folds.
Flop [T 8 4] rainbow.
SB bets 20.
UTG calls 20.
Turn [A].
SB checks.
UTG bets 25.
SB calls 25.
River [K].
SB checks.
UTG bets 50.
SB calls 50.
UTG shows [TT] for three of a kind, tens.
SB shows [JJ] for a pair of jacks.
Is there ANY reasonable holding UTG could have that justifies the turn call, and especially the river call?
Sadly, that was, by far, the best hand I saw all night and one of only two pots I won. I tried to use my image to get stealy a couple times on semi-bluffs, but kept getting called down or raised and had to release. Steady diet of 75o and J2o isn't real helpful against these types of players. And still, I outlasted 2/3 of the field.
Vegas - one month from today. Tick tick tick tick....
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Here's The Nuts Mr. Blind Squirrel
After a couple of weak outings, last night I tried my luck at the Riverchasers monkeyfest in Hatboro. It was a long night, so let's get to it.
On the third hand of the night, a player in EP makes a healthy raise and I find KK in MP. Knowing where I'm playing, I choose to just call in position and make sure there's no Ace on the flop. Problem is, the button and both blinds also call. Oops. Flop comes KQx with two clubs. SB bets out, BB calls, and the initial raiser comes over top for 3x the current bet. Now, the pot is already almost 80% of everyone's starting stack so there was no way I was going to smooth call and give one of the draws proper odds to hit their flush. I reraise all-in, chase the blinds away (one of whom would have caught his 3rd club on the river) and find myself heads up against middle set. Set over set at a bar poker game. No way he was getting away from the hand and the 4th queen doesn't come. Live poker is so rigged.
Now having chips, I was able to play the TAG game that I really like and continue to grow my stack. It's always nice to be able to semi-bluff your strong draws and have it not hurt too much if they don't get there. I crippled a guy with a strong value bet on the end when I checked my turned flush and he called with just top pair. Then I got a free look at a flop with Q4o out of the BB. When the flop came Q33 it checked around and another Q on the turn. I check called a healthy bet and then overbet the rivered Ace. Sorry dude. Serves you right for slow playing your flopped trips. Also serves you right for being in the pot in the first place with that garbage in MP.
Then it was like someone flipped a switch. Level 4, level 5, level 6, level 7, level 8. Barely a playable hand. When there was one it was in EP and the desparate were pushing so frequently that +EV plays were just not to be found. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't getting blinded away, but I wasn't continuing to amass chips. We get to 50/100 and I'm still sitting on 4 starting stacks which is now just 8 BB. Ugly. Pay a round of blinds and down to 650.
I get the button and blinds are up again. We get in all of 6 hands at this level and suddenly I'm the first BB at 150/300. There goes half my stack. Until I get to see the flop for free, amazingly, and flop trip 7's with my 73o. SB checks, about 1200 in the pot, in goes my last 350. Fold, fold... call. Jack and the case 7. Fawk. Turn is an A, making the board T77A. I have 3 outs to win but, more importantly, have 14 more outs (any TQKA) to chop the dead mo, ney in the center. River 3. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! So I almost triple up and am sitting on a 5BB stack. At this point, no one really has a comfortable stack so I feel incredibly lucky that I start picking up some pretty decent final table hands. I bust Mr. J7. AQs > QTo. ATo steals the blinds.
We get down to 5 and I'm holding a slight chip lead. Blinds are 200/400 and I'm in the BB. UTG folds, UTG+1 folds. Button shoves for 1400, SB over shoves for 1500. I find TT. The 1100 is about 1/2 my remaining stack, but I have to believe that the 3:1 odds justify the call in that spot. If someone woke up with a monster, so be it. More likely, I would need to dodge a couple overcards and maybe someone's underpair. Half right. 44 and 66 respectively. 6 on the flop but a T on the turn seals the fate of players 5 and 4.
Then AKs > Q8s and we're heads up with me holding about a 7:1 chip advantage. That would be a more powerful stat if there were more than about 20 BB's total on the table. We traded a few small pots and then I checked J3s from the BB. Flop was QJ7 and I bet out 3/4 of the pot. Opponent was very loose and frequently called only with draws or tried to take pots away on the turn. I forget what the turn was, but it could not have helped him so I doubled the flop bet, now 60% of the pot. At that point, now that he had called away all his fold equitry, he decided to go all-in. I was not pleased, but I was getting 5:1 with 5 outs to improve. He tabled KQs but was punished with a J on the river. GG me.
So what's the ROI on a $70 first prize with a $0.00 entry? All in all, it was the best day I've had in weeks.
On the third hand of the night, a player in EP makes a healthy raise and I find KK in MP. Knowing where I'm playing, I choose to just call in position and make sure there's no Ace on the flop. Problem is, the button and both blinds also call. Oops. Flop comes KQx with two clubs. SB bets out, BB calls, and the initial raiser comes over top for 3x the current bet. Now, the pot is already almost 80% of everyone's starting stack so there was no way I was going to smooth call and give one of the draws proper odds to hit their flush. I reraise all-in, chase the blinds away (one of whom would have caught his 3rd club on the river) and find myself heads up against middle set. Set over set at a bar poker game. No way he was getting away from the hand and the 4th queen doesn't come. Live poker is so rigged.
Now having chips, I was able to play the TAG game that I really like and continue to grow my stack. It's always nice to be able to semi-bluff your strong draws and have it not hurt too much if they don't get there. I crippled a guy with a strong value bet on the end when I checked my turned flush and he called with just top pair. Then I got a free look at a flop with Q4o out of the BB. When the flop came Q33 it checked around and another Q on the turn. I check called a healthy bet and then overbet the rivered Ace. Sorry dude. Serves you right for slow playing your flopped trips. Also serves you right for being in the pot in the first place with that garbage in MP.
Then it was like someone flipped a switch. Level 4, level 5, level 6, level 7, level 8. Barely a playable hand. When there was one it was in EP and the desparate were pushing so frequently that +EV plays were just not to be found. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't getting blinded away, but I wasn't continuing to amass chips. We get to 50/100 and I'm still sitting on 4 starting stacks which is now just 8 BB. Ugly. Pay a round of blinds and down to 650.
I get the button and blinds are up again. We get in all of 6 hands at this level and suddenly I'm the first BB at 150/300. There goes half my stack. Until I get to see the flop for free, amazingly, and flop trip 7's with my 73o. SB checks, about 1200 in the pot, in goes my last 350. Fold, fold... call. Jack and the case 7. Fawk. Turn is an A, making the board T77A. I have 3 outs to win but, more importantly, have 14 more outs (any TQKA) to chop the dead mo, ney in the center. River 3. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! So I almost triple up and am sitting on a 5BB stack. At this point, no one really has a comfortable stack so I feel incredibly lucky that I start picking up some pretty decent final table hands. I bust Mr. J7. AQs > QTo. ATo steals the blinds.
We get down to 5 and I'm holding a slight chip lead. Blinds are 200/400 and I'm in the BB. UTG folds, UTG+1 folds. Button shoves for 1400, SB over shoves for 1500. I find TT. The 1100 is about 1/2 my remaining stack, but I have to believe that the 3:1 odds justify the call in that spot. If someone woke up with a monster, so be it. More likely, I would need to dodge a couple overcards and maybe someone's underpair. Half right. 44 and 66 respectively. 6 on the flop but a T on the turn seals the fate of players 5 and 4.
Then AKs > Q8s and we're heads up with me holding about a 7:1 chip advantage. That would be a more powerful stat if there were more than about 20 BB's total on the table. We traded a few small pots and then I checked J3s from the BB. Flop was QJ7 and I bet out 3/4 of the pot. Opponent was very loose and frequently called only with draws or tried to take pots away on the turn. I forget what the turn was, but it could not have helped him so I doubled the flop bet, now 60% of the pot. At that point, now that he had called away all his fold equitry, he decided to go all-in. I was not pleased, but I was getting 5:1 with 5 outs to improve. He tabled KQs but was punished with a J on the river. GG me.
So what's the ROI on a $70 first prize with a $0.00 entry? All in all, it was the best day I've had in weeks.
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