O-Poker

Not a whole lot to report lately. I have been pretty busy at work, so I haven't play as much poker as usual over the last week.

Cash games - Things are clicking great. I am averaging 15.2 PTBB/100 over the last week. The main change that I made to my play was tightening up (not a ton - just enough). I looked back over my stats when I was running bad and I was playing way too many hands and getting called in way too spots when my opponent shouldn't have been calling. Basically, I was playing too LAG and my opponents were noticing and not giving my bets respect. I have been switching gears at the right times and it's working.

Tourneys - I have played a few MTTs and gotten close to some bigger payouts but overall show a profit of $241 from MTTs over the last week.

WCOOP - I haven't played any of the WCOOP events because of work and family life. I finished 7th (paid 3 spots - 4-13 got their money back) in a WCOOP Main Event Satellite last night. On Saturday night, I am going to play the $280 100 seat Guarantee Sattelite to the $2,600 Main Event. If I win my way into the Main Event I will play. If I don't win my way into the Main Event, I may play a Sunday $200 MTT on another site (FTP or Party).

Interesting Hand from WCOOP Satellite last night
(AA vs. KK vs. QQ) - luckily I wasn't involved in the hand.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?531518

Have a great weekend and good luck to everyone that is playing in the WCOOP Main Event.

300/600NL

I can't believe the pots in the new Heads Up 300/600 NL Games on Full Tilt Poker. In case anyone was wondering the two players involved in the hand that I posted yesterday were John D'Agostino and Brad Booth. What kind of bankroll must they have to be playing 300/600NL and how do they figure it is +EV?

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Titan Million Promo

Wow - It is going to be incredibly difficult to final table three MTTs in a row on Titan. I made one final table and played a 236 player tourney a couple of nights later. I was running pretty good and wound up busting out in 13th after I got short and pushed from late position with A8s and was calling by 22 (for 2/3rds of his stack). Yeah - 3 FTs in a row should be a cake walk. :)

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How would you play it?

$162 MTT on Party
Entries - 465 players
# spots paid - 60 players
Players remaining - 72
Chip Count -14,500 chips
Blinds - 600/1200 w/50 ante.

Table had 7 players.
I was in Seat 7.

Maniac in Seat 6 - He was literally going all in every hand. He won a big pot by going all in with 89s preflop and catching two eights against KK. He went all in preflop the next hand with A5o and took down AK. He had gone all in 6 hands in a row.

Folds to maniac in Seat 6. He goes all in. I have AJs. My question is - do you call all-in here with three players (button and two blinds) left to act behind you? What is your range for calling here - knowing that the maniac has any two? What hands move into your calling range if you are on the button, SB, BB and no one else (other than the maniac) is in the hand?

Hand results
I called with AJs.
Button (with 17k) also called.
SB folds, BB folds.

Maniac - Q6
Me - AJs
Button - QQ
Final Board - 36468

Manic Wins

FullTiltPoker Game #1035684757: Table Halbert (heads up) - $300/$600 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:20:49 ET - 2006/09/24
Seat 1: LFISGD ($101,497)
Seat 2: John DAgostino ($127,651.50)
LFISGD posts the small blind of $300
John DAgostino posts the big blind of $600
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***

LFISGD raises to $1,200
John DAgostino calls $600
brickboy777 (Observer): this is sick

*** FLOP *** [Ad Td 6d]
John DAgostino checks
LFISGD bets $2,400
John DAgostino raises to $9,600
LFISGD calls $7,200

*** TURN *** [Ad Td 6d] [9c]
John DAgostino bets $21,600
LFISGD raises to $90,697, and is all in
John DAgostino calls $69,097
LFISGD shows [9d 8d]
John DAgostino shows [5d 4d]

*** RIVER *** [Ad Td 6d 9c] [4c]
LFISGD shows a flush, Ace high
John DAgostino shows a flush, Ace high

LFISGD wins the pot ($202,993.50) with a flush, Ace high
John DAgostino adds $33,845.50

*** SUMMARY *** Total pot $202,994 Rake $0.50
Board: [Ad Td 6d 9c 4c]
Seat 1: LFISGD (small blind) showed [9d 8d] and won ($202,993.50) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: John DAgostino (big blind) showed [5d 4d] and lost with a flush, Ace high



Ummm.... WOW!!!

I was reading the cardrunners message boards and stumbled across a link to a great post about how to handle being 3-bet a lot when you are playing aggressive. If you play no limit cash games, it is a must read.

cts687 blog post

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Titan Million Promotion

I have played 3 of the $11 MTTs that fall under the Titan Million Promo and didn't do well in the first two. I final tabled the third one.

One in a row....two more to go. I think anyone that final tables three of these in a row is going to have to be running really, really well/lucky.

Titan Poker has a new promo for a 20 player $1 Million freeroll. Basically, you need to final table 3 selected MTTs in a row. You don't have to final table the MTTs by playing them all in a row, but you do have to final table each of the ones that you play in a row.

Example - You can play one of the selected MTTs on Monday, one Wed., and one Fri. If you final table all three of the selected MTTs that you play (assuming they are the specific MTTs) then you qualify for the 20 player $1 Million freeroll. The freeroll will take place once all 20 spots are taken.

All of the MTTs are low to medium buy-ins.

Click here for all the details from Titan.

Selected MTTs

$3,500 Guaranteed $5 + 0.50 Staged daily at 10:00 EST (rebuy I think)

$2,000 GP Freezeout $5 + 0.50 Staged daily at 13:15 EST

$3,000 GP Freezeout $10 + 1 Staged daily at 14:30 EST

$10,000 Guaranteed $10 + 1 Staged daily at 15:30 EST (rebuy)

$2,500 GP Freezeout $10 + 1 Staged daily at 17:00 EST

$2,000 GP Freezeout $10 + 1 Staged daily at 20:00 EST

Friday $15,000 Guaranteed $30 + 3 Fridays at 17:30 EST

$15,000 GP Freezeout $50 + 5 Saturdays at 16:30 EST

$25,000 Guaranteed $100 + 9 Sundays at 17:00 EST

Play “YOUR” Game

(This post is in reference to cash games – I haven’t been playing many MTTs lately.)

Things have been clicking again. Why? I have been asking myself that question over and over. What am I doing now that I wasn’t doing during my bad run? There are a few things, but one stands out above the rest.

I am playing my game/style and not trying to play how I think others would play.

I am not sure why I was playing differently, but I was. I think that I was trying to play a style that was different from my normal style of play. I was risking too many chips unnecessarily. I was making too many “big calls” when I knew that I was beat. I was trying to push around/bluff calling stations.

You have to play “your” game. There is always room for improvement through poker books and poker schools, like cardrunners.com and pokerxfactor.com, but you shouldn’t make drastic changes. You can test different moves/plays that you learn from these books/sites and keep the ones that work best for you. There is no reason to try to play the exact style that works for others.

I think I got caught up in the Hyper Loose Aggressive Hype. The short handed no limit cash game style that works best for me is a heavily situational style somewhere between LAG and TAG (leaning more towards the TAG side). I pride myself in be able to adjust to the table, recognize betting patterns, induce bluffs, and make the correct size bets that will maximize profits. Instead of thinking through things, I got into the bully mode. There is nothing wrong with the bully mode at the appropriate times, but you have to know when to turn it off. I was having trouble finding the switch. I found myself getting pot committed with my draws and losing the 35%-50% situations a lot more often than winning them.

I will continue grinding at the 2/4 short handed NL level until the end of the month and see if thinks continue to go well. Hopefully, I will continue to play “my” game.

Our youngest is 1 year old today. Time flies!!

This is the post that I made 1 year ago after he was born.

Happy Birthday Charlie!!!

(oh yeah - Go Gators!!!)

I don't usually share bad beats, but this happened on the last hand of a NON-TURBO SNG. I would have finished 1st if they held up, but wound up finishing 3rd. :)

Level VI (100/200) - 2006/09/14 - 15:12:34 (ET)
Table '31871487 1' 9-max
Seat #6 is the button

Seat 5: sportingimag (ME)(5325 in chips)
Seat 6: Ruesink (5800 in chips)
Seat 8: teddo (2375 in chips)

teddo: posts small blind 100
sportingimag: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to sportingimag [Ah Ac]
Ruesink: raises 5200 to 5400
teddo: calls 2275 and is all-in
sportingimag: calls 5125 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [3s Kd 5d]
*** TURN *** [3s Kd 5d] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [3s Kd 5d 8s] [Td]

*** SHOW DOWN ***sportingimag: shows [Ah Ac] (a pair of Aces)
Ruesink: shows [6d 7d] (a flush, King high)
Ruesink collected 5900 from side pot
teddo: shows [Jd Qd] (a flush, King high - Queen higher)teddo collected 7125 from main pot

*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 13025 Main pot 7125. Side pot 5900. Rake 0
Board [3s Kd 5d 8s Td]
Seat 5: sportingimag (big blind) showed [Ah Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: Ruesink (button) showed [6d 7d] and won (5900) with a flush, King high
Seat 8: teddo (small blind) showed [Jd Qd] and won (7125) with a flush, King high

POKER IS FUN!!!

Satellite Update

Mon. = +$43
Tues. = Didn't play any Satellites
Wed. = -$114
Total (since 9/11)= -$71

Yesterday I played two satellites:

Pokerstars $36+$3 HORSE Satellite for W$215 (-$39)
I finished 17th out of 76.
I was top 10 in chips and was dealt AA in the limit HE round. UTG raised. I 3 bet it with AA. The flop came JQK. UTG bets. I call. Turn is a blank. Check. Check. River is a blank. He bets, I call. He had KQ and just like that I was bottom 2 in chip count. A couple of hands later the Omha H/L round rolls around and I get most of my chips in preflop against a guy that has been raising every hand with Ks4sKh5h. Flop comes Ace high and his AK59 rainbow takes down the pot with top pair.

FTP $69+$6 Satellite to $535
I finished somewhere around 27 out of 33 after I horribly overplayed AK on a AQ2 flop. A river 2 and I was done against a guy with Q2.

Good news is that the cash games have been pretty profitable lately. I am not sure why I am playing the sats. right now, but will probably play a few more this week.

I'm not sure why I am playing the satellites, but here are my results from last night:

Pokerstars $36+$3 NLHE to Event #6 - Finished 1 out of 54 = +$215
FTP $69+$6 NLHE to $500k Guarantee - Finished 22 out of 38 = -$75
Pokerstars $53+$5 NLHE to Event #2 - Finished 66 out of 104 = -$58

Net profit from Satellites (Since 9/11/06) = +$43

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Phone March on Washington Today

The PPA and Pocketfives.com have set up today as a Call Your Senator Phone March on Washington Day to help squash the pending legislation to make online poker illegal. They have set up a phone number to call that will patch you through to your senator's office.

From Pocketfives.com:

How You Can Stop This Legislation

Talk about the Phone March when you play this weekend. Inform fellow poker players who do not understand how real this threat is. Have them visit the official site, www.pocketfives.com/phonemarch for the phone number and talking points.

On Tuesday from 9:30 ET to 5:30pm ET, we encourage everyone to call 800-289-1136. This is a FREE phone call and will connect you directly to your Senators' offices. You will be connected to one of your two Senators' offices. Here are some talking points for you to use:

1. I am voter in your state.

2. I strongly oppose any legislation that would prohibit online poker, and urge the Senator to vote against such legislation.

3. Poker is a skill game enjoyed by 70 million Americans.

4. The Senator should seek to regulate online poker much like the government regulates other forms of gaming, like lotteries.

5. Prohibitions don’t work. Any legislation that tries to ban online poker will only drive those players underground.

6. Again, I urge the Senator to oppose any attempts to prohibit me from playing the great American game of poker on the Internet.

Together, we need to help keep the current bill in Congress, H.R. 4411, controversial. Doing this will prevent it from being passed. This means YOU can continue to enjoy online poker in the United States.


Call the number or click here for more information.

I had a good weekend playing the cash games - things seem to be clicking again, but playing just cash games can get boring at times. I have hardly played any MTTs in the last few weeks. I think I am going to play a few satellites this week to some of the Pokerstars WCOOP Events and the Full Tilt Poker $500 MTT on Sunday.

This should get me back into the swing of MTTs - out of the short handed cash game mentality.

I'll keep a running total here to see if I would have been better off just buying into the events - hopefully not. :) I think this will be interesting to see how things work out since I usually play the SNG Sats or tell myself if I make $x playing cash games on a given night then I will buy into a particular MTT. The satellites seem to be working pretty well for Smokkee.

Satellites I might be playing tonight

8:48 PM - Pokerstars $36+$3 NLHE to Event #6 (pays W$215)
9:00 PM - FTP $69+$6 NLHE to $500k Guarantee (pays $535 MTT entry)
9:45 PM - Pokerstars $53+$5 NLHE to Event #2 (pays W$530) - depends on how tired am I and how many players enter.

I think I have been in a "funk" for a while. Looking back, I don't think I was playing that well and I was letting the bad beats affect me way too much. I think I have finally turned the corner after refocusing. I was up 4 1/2 buy-ins last night and only played 2 tables at the same time for a couple of hours. I lost a huge pot with AA vs KQs after we got all in on the flop and he caught his flush on the turn, but I bounced right back. I didn't change how I was playing and I won that money back in no time.

A couple of days ago, I decided I needed a new attitude - to get back into my old way of thinking. I think I was trying too hard to win every hand and outplay everyone else at the table without taking into consideration all of the information (my reads) that I had.

One example of my poor play - I was pretty sure that a guy had 2nd pair and made a few big bets to get him to lay the hand down. He called my bets all the way and won the hand with 2nd pair. If I took the time to think about it, I should have just folded. The guy was a calling station that never folded anything. I tried to outplay him because I thought that he should lay down that hand instead of taking advantage of his play in a more ideal situation.

So over the last couple of days, I started playing only 1 table and paying attention to all of the player's styles. I challenged myself to put every player on a hand range before I made any bets and to make the most optimal plays based on what I thought the other players had. I started asking myself what I should do on every street to maximize my profits, keep the pot small if I thought there was only a slight possibility of being ahead, and make the big laydowns when I knew I was beat.

Things seem to be clicking again.

I think playing good is like playing bad. Depending on your attitude, at times they both seem to exponentially feed upon themselves. Sometimes when you are playing bad and lose in a couple of spots, you start doing things you might not have done in the past. When you are playing good, you start to have more confidence in your reads which feeds into you playing even better.

I am going to stick with playing two tables of 2/4 NL (over bankrolled) for a little while and keep challenging myself to play my best game every minute that I am playing. I think I will keep playing below my bankroll for a little while so that the swings won't bother me. I am pretty sure that I have turned the corner and am back on track.

The Mansion Promo has ended early. Procrastination sucks.

"Pittsburgh Steelers 2006 Superbowl Champs Promotion

MANSION is proud to announce the success of our season-opening NFL Cash-Back promotion, which has given five thousand of our Members a unique opportunity to place bets on Pittsburgh Steelers of USD 1,100 to win USD 1,000 (or currency equivalent) in their season opener at home against an in form Miami Dolphins.

Betting on the promotion has now ended after reaching full subscription with 5,000 MANSION Members having taken part, wagering USD 5.5 Million in the cash-back offer on the Superbowl Champions, Pittsburgh Steelers to defeat Miami Dolphins this Thursday September 7th.

If the Steelers lose or fail to cover the point spread, MANSION will refund qualified Member individual bets of USD 1,100 (or currency equivalent) - presenting one of the most compelling season launching promotions by a betting company, with no strings attached and no rollover requirement. Naturally, should the reigning Super Bowl Champions beat Miami and cover the spread, MANSION will pay our Members over 5 Million in total winnings.

On paper, everything is there for the Steelers to become the ninth repeat champion in league history (and third in team history), but speculation on their 2006 regular season debut has been heightened, having struggled through a troubling off-season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers Promotion is further proof that MANSION is the home of choice and reward for our Members, and it "pays to belong” to take full advantage of the many best-in-value promotions and offers in sports wagering and first class member services.

MANSION wishes the best of luck to our Members who are participating in this promotion."

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WSOP Thoughts

Daniel Negreanu is good, but he needs a big stack (relative to blinds) to work his magic - too many preflop speculative calls really add if you aren't hitting left and right.

Dimtri Nobles, Tiffany Williamson, and Aaron Kantor should start an online poker training site. The games would get a lot a new great loose players that like to call off all their chips with middle pair or top pair, weak kicker.

Jamie Gold likes to tell you what you should do when you are in a hand against him and his is telling you the actual truth. The only problem is most people don't seem to believe him.

Annie Duke seemed way too excited to make the money and mr. 104 off took big time advantage of that right after she commented how close they were to the money.

I'm wearing a jacket with fake gold coins on it next time I play a live event. It seems to annoy the crap out of the other players at the table.

Vos is pronounced Fos - Why not spell it Fos then?

Humberto Brenes is kind of annoying. Did anyone else want to shove that shark down his throat?

Joe Hachem doesn't like it when people play back at him or make good calls against him. He seemed a little angry. I would recommend a Valium.

What was with Hachem saying something about getting lucky one time? Did he forget his Q7 (i think) hand against Kantor's 99 last year?

Phil Ivey may have gotten most of my chips on Day 2, but he and I both made the same amount at the Main Event. ($0 plus a seat cushion and All In chip)

If I am ever at an ESPN TV table and want to call someone on my cell phone, I am going to take my microphone off first.

I would love to have seen the look on Annie Duke's face when Kathy Leibert told the story about someone mistaking her for Annie.

I wanted to run out and get a poker tattoo just to piss Norman Chad off.

All in all, ESPN coverage is very entertaining.

I'm running bad, but no where near as bad as Lee (Bill Ivey). He is a great player that completed a challenge of $100k in 100 days. He decided to start another challenge of $200k in 100 days. He is 15 days into the challenge and is down over $40k. Yikes - talk about running bad. It really puts a 3 buy-in downswing week into perspective.

This week didn't go as planned. I had some huge swings both up and down and wound up finishing the week down almost 3 buy-ins at 2/4NL. I took some huge beats this week including set over set when we were both $1,200 deep, one huge pot to a 1 outer where I had a set vs a lower set and he hit quads on the river, and a couple of two outer pots when I flopped a set and the other guy caught up and hit his set on the turn or river. I was playing four tables and I think the swings were amplified. I had one night were I was up 3 buy-ins on the night and finished down 1 buy-in.

I think the running bad lead to me playing poorly at times. This is definitely something that I need to work on.

I don't think I am going to continue the 2/4NL $8,000 in September goal. I am going to take the next few days and just play poker without feeling the need to acheive a weekly/monthly goal. I may even take a couple of days off.

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FOOTBALL!!!

Go Gators!!! Woohoo - College Football season has started.

There were some good games this weekend and football is HD is amazing. I found myself watching some games that I normally wouldn't because they were in HD. I can't wait to see the big NFL games in HD.

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Comments

I have been getting more spam comments than usual lately. I think the comment spammers have discovered the poker blogs because I have seen a lot of the same spam on some of the blogs that I regularly read. I am going to manually delete the spam comments and leave the comment posting as-is. Hopefully I won't screw the blog up like I did last time I messed around with deleting comments.