Online poker is probably a very good exercise for me. The game of course requires much patience, both live and online, but sitting in your bathrobe on a Sunday staring at the screen for hours and hours is sometimes much more challenging. Yesterday, while slogging through the Sunday Million, i did 4 loads of laundry, watched two great NCAA games, made some business related phone calls, and tried to fix my oven.
One would imagine it might be more profitable to just play poker?
And of course the whole "psych up" thing about live poker is there. I got really "up" for Reno because its only once a year. I have a chance at over $200K every Sunday, and usually at least twice on Sundays.
So yesterday I started out in a FTP $40,000 guarantee tourney, around 700 entries, with about $25K to first. I'm doing very well, go deep, and make a reraise all in with pocket tens on the final table bubble. The monkey who tanks and eventually calls has 97 of clubs. Wow. I should just stove that real quick..... hold on.....yeah, that is what I thought. I got my money in as an 81% favorite. I was still 77% on the flop, but running clubs ended my tourney in 10th and I got about $1000 for my time.
Then I play the Million. This week its a $1000 buy in, which reduces the field quite a bit. There are only 1900 entries or so, compared with the usual 7000 when its a $200 buy in. Last week I had a lot of chips, around 90,000 when I tried a silly bluff against Isabelle Merceir and got broke. This week I run pretty well and go deep. Still can't make it to the really big payday though- (18th and higher got 5 digits, first prize was over $366,000!!) But I end up 59th for $4200 or so. There is always next week.....
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
I'm so out!
LOL.
They got 260 entries, way down from previous years. We start with 15K in chips with 75 min levels. I sit in the 6 seat to see TJ Cloutier in the 7. John Juanda sits in the 9. Men the Master is in the 1, and Kathy Liebert is in the 2. The other 4 I don't know, but the guy in the 5 seat is a Canadian kid who acknowledges he is the sucker at the table. OK, I thought that was me, but if he thinks its him, then OK.
25 min in and I'm dealt pocket Kings in the SB. The UTG player opens for 250. Its the first pot he's played. I may have taken a small pot down prior to this. Its folded to me and I make it 750. TJ folds. UTG puts in a pink 1K chip, and at first I thought he was reraising but it was only a call. The flop comes three little cards with 2 clubs. Nice. No ace. Before I can consider my action, the UTG player puts two pinks in (2K). Hmmmm. WTF? That sucks. OK, well he can still easily have something between 99 and QQ. I decide I'll check-raise. I check, he puts in the 2K and I make it 6K and he instacalls. Uh oh. The turn is a Q. I have a pot sized bet left. So my choices here are check-fold, check-call or push. UTG sure doesn't look like he's going anywhere. There is no way he has AK or AQ here. And there is no way he played JJ like this either. No frickin way. So I'm not beating anything now. I check, he pushes, I muck face-up and Juanda says "Damn- give me those Kings!" lol. If the guy didn't have AA he did a helluva job convincing me that he did. The guy basically didn't play anything after that, so he was either planning an elaborate move early to get chips (doubtful) or he was a big-ball player who coolered me (more likely)
Oh yeah. Juanda goes out like this: He raises in late position, like he has most pots. Canuck calls him from BB. Flop comes 5-6-7 with two spades. Now the fireworks-- Kid bets, Juanda raises, Kid repops, Juanda pushes. Kid calls him with 54o! Wow. He's got bottom pair and a str8 draw. Juanda turns over 9Tss for the flush draw, gutshot str8 draw and two overcards. I didn't expect to see either of these hands. Sick. Juanda catches a 9 on the turn, but Canuck makes two pair with a 4 on the river and busts Juanda. Send him a Full Tilt T-shirt!
Now it sucks, cause I have half of what I started with. Meh. I play some pots, limping when possibly, playing small pairs trying to flop a set. None come. I'll call a small raise in a multi-way pot with suited connectors but they don't hit either. So I chip down. Bleh. In fact, I chip down to near 5K in chips, which is enough to repop nicely when someone raises to 750 or after a couple limpers. Before the break I raise the button to 300 with AKs, TJ makes it 850 and I push. He folds.
At 75-150 there are 2 limpers to me. Again I have AKs and I make it 700. I have another 5200 or so behind. Its folded to the first limper and he reraises another 2K. Folded to me. Ugh. I don't really think about it enough I guess, because all I'm thinking is that if I get in a race to double up I'm stoked at this point. I don't want to sit here for 14 hours milking a short stack. That just blows. So I push. Right into his fuckin Aces.
This leaves me a nice 1100 stack. Kathy opens to 5, gets a caller and I push with red tens. They both call. Why she can't repop him for me I dunno. Flop comes K-high and he bets her off it with his AK which is good and I'm done.
Worst table draw ever for sure, and I got badly coolered on the KK hand. Still, it feels like I won $7K since I didn't lay the cash down to buy in....
They got 260 entries, way down from previous years. We start with 15K in chips with 75 min levels. I sit in the 6 seat to see TJ Cloutier in the 7. John Juanda sits in the 9. Men the Master is in the 1, and Kathy Liebert is in the 2. The other 4 I don't know, but the guy in the 5 seat is a Canadian kid who acknowledges he is the sucker at the table. OK, I thought that was me, but if he thinks its him, then OK.
25 min in and I'm dealt pocket Kings in the SB. The UTG player opens for 250. Its the first pot he's played. I may have taken a small pot down prior to this. Its folded to me and I make it 750. TJ folds. UTG puts in a pink 1K chip, and at first I thought he was reraising but it was only a call. The flop comes three little cards with 2 clubs. Nice. No ace. Before I can consider my action, the UTG player puts two pinks in (2K). Hmmmm. WTF? That sucks. OK, well he can still easily have something between 99 and QQ. I decide I'll check-raise. I check, he puts in the 2K and I make it 6K and he instacalls. Uh oh. The turn is a Q. I have a pot sized bet left. So my choices here are check-fold, check-call or push. UTG sure doesn't look like he's going anywhere. There is no way he has AK or AQ here. And there is no way he played JJ like this either. No frickin way. So I'm not beating anything now. I check, he pushes, I muck face-up and Juanda says "Damn- give me those Kings!" lol. If the guy didn't have AA he did a helluva job convincing me that he did. The guy basically didn't play anything after that, so he was either planning an elaborate move early to get chips (doubtful) or he was a big-ball player who coolered me (more likely)
Oh yeah. Juanda goes out like this: He raises in late position, like he has most pots. Canuck calls him from BB. Flop comes 5-6-7 with two spades. Now the fireworks-- Kid bets, Juanda raises, Kid repops, Juanda pushes. Kid calls him with 54o! Wow. He's got bottom pair and a str8 draw. Juanda turns over 9Tss for the flush draw, gutshot str8 draw and two overcards. I didn't expect to see either of these hands. Sick. Juanda catches a 9 on the turn, but Canuck makes two pair with a 4 on the river and busts Juanda. Send him a Full Tilt T-shirt!
Now it sucks, cause I have half of what I started with. Meh. I play some pots, limping when possibly, playing small pairs trying to flop a set. None come. I'll call a small raise in a multi-way pot with suited connectors but they don't hit either. So I chip down. Bleh. In fact, I chip down to near 5K in chips, which is enough to repop nicely when someone raises to 750 or after a couple limpers. Before the break I raise the button to 300 with AKs, TJ makes it 850 and I push. He folds.
At 75-150 there are 2 limpers to me. Again I have AKs and I make it 700. I have another 5200 or so behind. Its folded to the first limper and he reraises another 2K. Folded to me. Ugh. I don't really think about it enough I guess, because all I'm thinking is that if I get in a race to double up I'm stoked at this point. I don't want to sit here for 14 hours milking a short stack. That just blows. So I push. Right into his fuckin Aces.
This leaves me a nice 1100 stack. Kathy opens to 5, gets a caller and I push with red tens. They both call. Why she can't repop him for me I dunno. Flop comes K-high and he bets her off it with his AK which is good and I'm done.
Worst table draw ever for sure, and I got badly coolered on the KK hand. Still, it feels like I won $7K since I didn't lay the cash down to buy in....
I'm IN!
whoo hoo and double fist pump! took down a 148 entry satellite with 13 seats. gets hairy at then end of these things, but some short stacks obliged the rest of us by playing their hands.
sweat me on card player.com- I'm feeling good about how I'm playing and lets see how far it goes!
sweat me on card player.com- I'm feeling good about how I'm playing and lets see how far it goes!
Monday, March 24, 2008
The last Reno WPT
starts tomorrow. I'm still not sure if I'm playing. I have a nice phat wad of 77 benjamins ready to throw down, but the way I have been running/playing/thinking/donking it seems like a pretty thin EV situation. That and the fact that the fields this past week have been very tough.
I've been thinking about how an amateur player has any chance to compete with these fields anymore. The challenges of online poker have caused a contraction of the universe of players so that when I sit at an online tourney table I recognize several names every time. These are people who grind for a living, playing >10 hours daily and who have amassed hundreds of thousands of hands of experience-- how can i realistically expect to compete with that? The thing is that even with all that experience, the edges remain small. Winning a race once in a while would also be helpful.
I've played this tourney 4 times. Previously its been a $5100 entry. In 2004 I went out very early. I was a superfish, highly intimidated by the field, and I called off all my chips with top pair with QJ to a guy who had flopped a set of nines. I almost rivered a flush, but ended up making an exit after only about 2 1/2 hours of play.
In 2005 I made a big run, headed into day 2 as one of the chip leaders, and getting into the money and into day 3. Played with Phil Ivey on that third day and got all my chips in with TT to be called by AQ. Flop came with two Queens, so it was not to be my day. Barry Greenstein eventually busted my A5s with QT.
2006 brough Hassan Habib to my first table and he just bulldozed the rest of us. After half a day's play I found myself with AQ on a Q high flop and lost all my chips to a well-disguised KK.
2007 started off fairly well. Phil Laak and Mike Simon were at my first table. Made it to the dinner break, but was fairly short. Kirk Morrison rivered an ace with his AT against my all in 77 and that was that.
The opportunities to satellite into this tourney this year have decreased. There is a mega-sat tourney today that I might give a whirl. Failing that, I'll have a talk with Mr. Franklin from the bank and see where he is best placed.
I've been thinking about how an amateur player has any chance to compete with these fields anymore. The challenges of online poker have caused a contraction of the universe of players so that when I sit at an online tourney table I recognize several names every time. These are people who grind for a living, playing >10 hours daily and who have amassed hundreds of thousands of hands of experience-- how can i realistically expect to compete with that? The thing is that even with all that experience, the edges remain small. Winning a race once in a while would also be helpful.
I've played this tourney 4 times. Previously its been a $5100 entry. In 2004 I went out very early. I was a superfish, highly intimidated by the field, and I called off all my chips with top pair with QJ to a guy who had flopped a set of nines. I almost rivered a flush, but ended up making an exit after only about 2 1/2 hours of play.
In 2005 I made a big run, headed into day 2 as one of the chip leaders, and getting into the money and into day 3. Played with Phil Ivey on that third day and got all my chips in with TT to be called by AQ. Flop came with two Queens, so it was not to be my day. Barry Greenstein eventually busted my A5s with QT.
2006 brough Hassan Habib to my first table and he just bulldozed the rest of us. After half a day's play I found myself with AQ on a Q high flop and lost all my chips to a well-disguised KK.
2007 started off fairly well. Phil Laak and Mike Simon were at my first table. Made it to the dinner break, but was fairly short. Kirk Morrison rivered an ace with his AT against my all in 77 and that was that.
The opportunities to satellite into this tourney this year have decreased. There is a mega-sat tourney today that I might give a whirl. Failing that, I'll have a talk with Mr. Franklin from the bank and see where he is best placed.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Grand Sierra $1000 NL
Long time no post. Didn't think anyone was reading!
This is the first of the >$1000 tourneys at the Grand Sierra (formerly Reno Hilton) as part of the WPT World Poker Challenge. I've played the main event the past four years, and this year is reportedly the last they will play in Reno. I'd like to play the big tourney, but they also increased the buy in to $7700 (from $5150) making it more difficult to satellite in.
129 players, 6000 starting chips, 40 min levels
The blind structure kinda sucks- it goes up way too fast early on, forcing the players to accumulate or get short stacked. I have decided to play tight today, avoiding speculative hands most of the time, and definitely not making any plays until necessary.
Early on, I get AKdd in the BB and the pot is raised to 225 by MP and the button calls. I call. I flop just about as good as I can do with the 2-3-4 all diamonds showing up. I check. The raiser bets 300, the caller raises to 650, and I think it must be Christmas. Wow. Well, both players are interested, I have the nuts, and my hand can really only get worse (unless the 5d comes) I decide to raise to 1400, and the first player folds, but the button calls. Turn is a complete blank. Now what? Since I have both the Ace and King of diamonds, it would make a good story to this guy that I'm drawing at a flush. I convince myself that he flopped a set, and he really doesn't want another diamond to come off. Given this line, I figure that either a paired board or another diamond will kill my action, so I should bet again. I bet 2500. He tanks for about 5 minutes, and then folds the 5d 7d face up. Wow. How on earth did he get away from that?
Later I have 33 in the blind and flop a set, turn a boat and take a nice pot. By the first break I have 12000 chips. Nice.
I find an older guy to pick on. He's playing pretty weak-tight and I'm able to take him off a couple hands with reraises.
I get moved. I'm now in the 9 seat with Bryan Devonshire in the 7, Tom Franklin in the 8, and Tuna in the 1. Yuck. The table is way more aggro and its hard to find spots. Devo raises all the time. I chip up and down and eventually find myself in MP with 88. With blinds at 200-400/50 I make it 1100. The BB, who has a big stack, reraises to 3500 and I instapush for another 5200 or so. He tanks, and eventually calls with AK and I skate and double up.
I raise with A9o and have to dump to a reraise.
Blinds go up to 500-1000/100 and I have only 12000 chips. There are 38 players left, paying 18, and I must make a move. Fold all my junk, and when Devo pushes from the button and I see AK I call. He has A8, and I find that he barely covers me when he flops an 8 and my day is done. Tomorrow is a $1500....
This is the first of the >$1000 tourneys at the Grand Sierra (formerly Reno Hilton) as part of the WPT World Poker Challenge. I've played the main event the past four years, and this year is reportedly the last they will play in Reno. I'd like to play the big tourney, but they also increased the buy in to $7700 (from $5150) making it more difficult to satellite in.
129 players, 6000 starting chips, 40 min levels
The blind structure kinda sucks- it goes up way too fast early on, forcing the players to accumulate or get short stacked. I have decided to play tight today, avoiding speculative hands most of the time, and definitely not making any plays until necessary.
Early on, I get AKdd in the BB and the pot is raised to 225 by MP and the button calls. I call. I flop just about as good as I can do with the 2-3-4 all diamonds showing up. I check. The raiser bets 300, the caller raises to 650, and I think it must be Christmas. Wow. Well, both players are interested, I have the nuts, and my hand can really only get worse (unless the 5d comes) I decide to raise to 1400, and the first player folds, but the button calls. Turn is a complete blank. Now what? Since I have both the Ace and King of diamonds, it would make a good story to this guy that I'm drawing at a flush. I convince myself that he flopped a set, and he really doesn't want another diamond to come off. Given this line, I figure that either a paired board or another diamond will kill my action, so I should bet again. I bet 2500. He tanks for about 5 minutes, and then folds the 5d 7d face up. Wow. How on earth did he get away from that?
Later I have 33 in the blind and flop a set, turn a boat and take a nice pot. By the first break I have 12000 chips. Nice.
I find an older guy to pick on. He's playing pretty weak-tight and I'm able to take him off a couple hands with reraises.
I get moved. I'm now in the 9 seat with Bryan Devonshire in the 7, Tom Franklin in the 8, and Tuna in the 1. Yuck. The table is way more aggro and its hard to find spots. Devo raises all the time. I chip up and down and eventually find myself in MP with 88. With blinds at 200-400/50 I make it 1100. The BB, who has a big stack, reraises to 3500 and I instapush for another 5200 or so. He tanks, and eventually calls with AK and I skate and double up.
I raise with A9o and have to dump to a reraise.
Blinds go up to 500-1000/100 and I have only 12000 chips. There are 38 players left, paying 18, and I must make a move. Fold all my junk, and when Devo pushes from the button and I see AK I call. He has A8, and I find that he barely covers me when he flops an 8 and my day is done. Tomorrow is a $1500....
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