I played short stack ninja style from about 25 players left down to the Final Table. I finally got some chips at the final table and was starting to chip up a little when the following hand came up - all in preflop. I win the 225k pot and I am 2nd in chips and the other guy is just about felted. Oh well, that'ssssssssss poker. I wound up finishing in 6th instead (in for $93).
I think I am close to finishing my list of non-WSOP tourneys above $150 that are happening while I am out in Las Vegas. Please post a comment if I am missing something. (I have Bellagio, Rio, Wynn Venetian, Mirage, and Caesars Palace.)
You can leave a comment (or email me if you have my email address) if you would like an Excel copy of the list.
In Florida, cash games are non-existent to serious players. They currently have a $2 max bet - even on the Indian Reservations. If you want to play a cash game, the biggest around is $2/$2 fixed limit. All that is about to change this Sunday.
I enjoy playing cash games live. When I head out to Las Vegas next week, I plan on getting in my fair share of 2/5NL and 5/10NL (stakes probably depend on whether or not I'm drinking that night). Up until now (well actually Sunday July 1st), if I wanted to play NL cash games anywhere in Florida I had to either play in a home game or head over to the gambling boat in Port Canaveral. I can't remember the last time that I went out on the Suncruz boat. It is just way too much work for only 3-4 hours of poker. If I want to go on the boat, I have to drive over to Port Canaveral (about 45 minutes to 1 hour), get on the boat, wait 45 minutes for it to get 3 miles off the coast, play for 3-4 hours, wait another 45 minutes for the boat to get back to shore, and then drive back to Orlando. I have to devote 8-10 hours of my time for 3 hours of poker and it just hasn't been worth it.
Fast forward to about 1 month ago. The state passed a poorly worded bill that upped the limits. Governor Crist didn't sign it or veto it, so it basically becomes law on July 1st. (I'm not entirely sure how the entire process worked, but I like the end result.)
The most important part of the bill reads:
However, a cardroom operator may conduct games
16 of Texas Hold-em without a betting limit if the required
17 player buy-in is no more than $100.
Since, I may not be playing in the WSOP Main Event, I am working on putting together an Excel spreadsheet with a schedule of all the tourneys around Las Vegas between July 5th and July 13th.
Does anyone know of any tourneys that might not be listed on the sites below or any that I should especially check out (great structure, etc)? I'll probably include all $200 and up tourneys (maybe $100 and up).
The list should be complete later in the week. Let me know if you want a copy.
Bellagio - I added all the Bellagio Cup and Daily/Nightly tourneys.
WSOP - I have the 7 PM $550s and the Super Sats (anything I'm missing?)
Venentian - Their deep stack series will be over - I'll get their regular tourney schedule.
http://www.allvegaspoker.com/tournaments.php - pretty complete list, but some out dated.
http://www.pokertournamentformula.com/las_vegas_poker_tournaments.htm - good list - not sure how recent it is.
I qualified for the Friday Pokerstars $1,050 WSOP Super Satellite, but we had plans that night so I unregistered from it. I used $650 of the W$ to register for the Sunday super sat and sold the rest. I wound up busting out in the low 200s out of 1,100+ (paying 62 seats).
I shook off the bustout and managed to focus on the FTP $500k guarantee and make it somewhat deep. I busted out when I shoved KQ (short stacked) and was called by the BB's AA. The poker gods had to give me hope with a KQJ106 board. I finished 204th for $450 +/-. Lucko and N82 went pretty deep (109th and 96th, respectively) and they were both at the same table as me for a while late. (I think they both doubled me up too).
Not sure what to do next (about the WSOP), I saw that pokerstars was running a $360 - 6 max double shootout to the WSOP until Midnight. It was about 10:30 PM, so I registered. 1st gets a seat, 2-4th gets $360 back, 5th gets $88. I would up finishing 4th. Close.
I won't be partying Thursday night (7/5) when I get to Las Vegas. Instead, I'll be playing a live sat or 2. I know that I will still have a blast in LV even if I don't qualify for the Main Event. I'm not down right now, just a little numb. I think that I devoted way to much time to trying to win a seat. In hindsight, maybe I should have just kept playing cash games (since that is where the money seems to be - for me at least).
I'm out in 42nd to a guy that was raising every hand. I needed some chips because I was sitting at the bottom of the pack.
Full Tilt Poker Game #2734038489: $1K Thurs. Main Event Qualifier (19790012), Table 1 - 170/340 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:47:36 ET - 2007/06/21
Seat 1: alisamadonna (9,830)
Seat 2: fccfromnc (9,890)
Seat 3: cmitch (5,206)
Seat 4: browerkid (2,138)
Seat 5: Willibal (8,810)
Seat 6: E_Cartman (3,748)
Seat 8: theone111 (8,141)
Seat 9: Shakey Balls (4,531)
alisamadonna antes 25
fccfromnc antes 25
cmitch antes 25
browerkid antes 25
Willibal antes 25
E_Cartman antes 25
theone111 antes 25
Shakey Balls antes 25
E_Cartman posts the small blind of 170
theone111 posts the big blind of 340
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [Qh Ac]
Shakey Balls folds
alisamadonna raises to 1,390
fccfromnc folds
cmitch raises to 5,181, and is all in
browerkid folds
Willibal folds
E_Cartman folds
theone111 folds
alisamadonna calls 3,791
cmitch shows [Qh Ac]
alisamadonna shows [Tc Ts]
*** FLOP *** [4s 9s 9d]
*** TURN *** [4s 9s 9d] [8h]
*** RIVER *** [4s 9s 9d 8h] [5s]
cmitch shows a pair of Nines
alisamadonna shows two pair, Tens and Nines
alisamadonna wins the pot (11,072) with two pair, Tens and Nines
cmitch stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11,072 | Rake 0
Board: [4s 9s 9d 8h 5s]
Seat 1: alisamadonna showed [Tc Ts] and won (11,072) with two pair, Tens and Nines
Seat 2: fccfromnc folded before the Flop
Seat 3: cmitch showed [Qh Ac] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 4: browerkid folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Willibal (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: E_Cartman (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: theone111 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Shakey Balls folded before the Flop
I just qualified for the $1k WSOP Super Satellite on FTP tonight.
Dear cmitch,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.
You have received an entry into tournament #19790012:
Name: $1K Thurs. Main Event Qualifier
Buyin: $1000.00 + $60.00
Date: June 21 9:00 PM ET
I am running out of chances to win my Main Event seat. I basically have three chances left:
1. FTP $1k Super Sat tonight.
2. Pokerstars $650 Super Sat on Sunday (assuming I qualify for it)
3. Live $1k Super Satellite at the Rio on 7/5.
Hopefully, I can take it down tonight or Sunday. (Fingers crossed.)
I finished 2nd in the Mookie last night. I had a pretty good lead heads up against Bayne, so I felt confident that I would take it down. It wasn't meant to be though. Bayne was a tough heads up opponent and I had to constantly switch up my play. He was shoving all-in just about every time that I limped. I was waiting to set him up with a big hand. Unfortunately when I finally got AK and limped in, he checked behind. My flop bet took it down.
Bayne got about even in chips when I got all in on an Ace high flop with Ax against his set of 7s. I was able to start to regain the chip lead until we got all in with my AQ vs. his 99. (No way either of us were getting away from those hands heads up.) The board was no help for me and I was left with around 12k to his 110k +/-. I felt like I still had a chance if I caught a couple of hands - definitely didn't give up. I chipped up a little to above 20k. A few hands later, we got all in preflop again. This time my short stacked 99 lost to his A3. GG and well played Bayne.
I am guessing that I have probably made a bigger jump this week than anyone in the Battle of the Bloggers Leaderboard. I was sitting in 32nd place on Monday morning and 21st after my win on Monday night (highest ranked with less than 20 tourneys played). I am curious as to where I stand after my 2nd place last night.
I guess I let Waffles down, since he had picked me as one of his horses on BuddyDank Radio. BTW, I listened to BuddyDank radio for the first time on Monday and really enjoyed it. Great show!!!!
----------------------
How Would You Play it? (Results)
The Hand from yesterday's post
I am dealt JJ in mid position and raise to $80 to thin the field. I get 4 more callers including Lucky, Seat 5 (who is steaming), Seat 10 (in the BB) and Seat 1.
Flop comes 8d9d3h. Seat 10 opens for $200. I am 100% certain that I have him beat and pretty certain that he is on a flush draw. Seat 10 has about $200 behind. Seat 1 calls his last $135. I'm guessing Seat 1 has either a flush draw, straight draw, or 1 pair and 1 over. (Really not too concerned about his hand.)
I have a decision to make. Seat 5 is beaming like he has monster. Seat 5 has around $1,300. Lucky looks like he wants to call. Lucky has about $3,500.
I have around $2,100.
What is your play here?
A. Flat Call (and the draws a chance to catch)
B. Raise (if raise what amount? enough to put Seat 10 all-in or more?)
C. Fold
Results:
I may have steered everyone in the same direction with my "Seat 5 is beaming like he has monster" comment - not sure.
My thinking was that I only had $80 invested in the pot. I really thought I had the best hand, but wasn't sure. I decided to let it go, mainly because of the two big stacks behind me. If they weren't there I was going to put Seat 10 all-in.
I folded. Seat 5 shoved all-in. Lucky folded. Seat 10 folded instead of putting in his last $200. He said that he folded 77. Talk about a horrible fold. He had to call a little less than $200 into a $1,135 pot.
Hands:
Seat 10 - folded 77
Seat 1 - KQ (no diamonds)
Seat 5 - Ad10d
The turn and river came 5,6. Not only did the guy that folded 7s fold the best hand, but he also would have made a straight. Ace high took down the pot.
I don't regret folding. I don't like results oriented thinking. If I flat called, Seat 5 was shoving and I would have to fold. If I raised, Seat 5 was shoving and I might have called or might have folded depending on the bet amounts.
This hand really got me thinking about how you play against live bad players that don't understand the value of certain hands. It isn't a big deal in cash games, but it a tourney/sng, especially in a home game turbo format, bad players can actually gain a little bit of an edge over a better player that isn't catching any cards. If you get a good read on a poor player that doesn't understand the value of his hand, he may be giving off signals of a strong hand when he has a draw since he may see his draw the same as the nuts. I know some players that think even a weak flush draw or a straight draw is just about the nuts. Basically, you might wind up getting in bad or folding a lot of hands to these poor players if they give off the same signals (because they feel like they are all monster hands) with the nuts as they do with 2nd pair or a draw. (I'll expand more on this in a future post.)
Last night, I was finally able to find some time to play some live poker. It was a 5/10 $500 Max Buy-in home game. I haven't been to the game (or any other live game for that matter) in ages. I arrived about 1 hour after the game started and took the final remaining seat at the game. I decided to feel out the table for the first hour.
(How would you play it is the last hand - if you aren't interested in reading the other hands.)
After about 15-20 minutes (and my past history with the players) I was able to get a pretty good feel for all of the players:
Seat 1 - Guy that had just gotten back from Vegas and was telling everyone about the WSOP. He didn't play in it but did "spend a lot of money on satellites. Man, those things can really suck you in." He was fairly tight, but could not get away from hands that he thought were big.
Seat 2 - Long time history with this player - mainly from 1/2 table local tourneys over the past 3-4 years. Solid but tight - can get him to fold a lot of hands.
Seat 3 - Don't remember much about
Seat 4 - Me
Seat 5 - Very loose player; have seen him tilt in games before. He likes to show his cards to other players (it was me tonight) while he is still in a hand. He liked to bluff a lot and would go the the felt with a draw even against the tightest of player.
Seat 6 - Very solid player; I planned to avoid pots with him unless I had a big hand. I am pretty sure he had the same plan against me since we weren't in many pots with each other.
Seat 7 - Luckiest, loosest player at the table that built a huge stack early by being a calling station. He made 2 gutshot straights on the river, 2 pair on the river three times against big pairs, and quad Kings twice (yes, he made quad Kings twice). He would call just about any bet as long as he had at least 3/4 outs.
Seat 8 - Loose player that tries to run over table. He will always make a cont. bet and then slow down if called. He and I get along but for some reason he likes to try to take pots away from me and plays as many pots as he can when I am in the pot. Evidence of this was a hand after I folded preflop and Seat 5 raised, he called and then realized that I wasn't the one that had raised and said, "Oh, I thought Mitch raised. I wouldn't have called except I thought he raised."
Seat 9 - Always led out with big hands and always overbet when he had a hand
Seat 10 - Solid but impatient - tries to get to fancy when he hasn't played a pot in a while.
As you can tell, it is the kind of table any poker player would drool over.
I was up and down at first. I won a decent pot to start with after flopping two pair with A3 (yes it was soooted) against a guy that couldn't fold pocket Jacks. I gave a little back after missing a couple of draws - both times I was getting ridiculous odds to draw.
The game had a ton of limpers and most players wanted to play just about every hand.
Bluff Gone Bad (why play fancy)
I got too fancy in one hand and it crippled me early. I was on the button with 34s and after all but one of the players at the table limped, I raised to $50. I thought that I might take the pot down right there but was going to continue big on the flop and give it up after that. The table was fairly weak and I thought I could win a big pot with air. I got 2 callers - Seat 7 (lucky) and Seat 8.
Flop came A2Qr. It checked to me and I decided to continue to represent an Ace by betting $100. Lucky reluctantly called and Seat 8 folded.
Turn was a 10. Lucky checks. I felt like he was very weak, so I bet $180. He thinks and finally calls. He again came off very weak. I had seen him make a ton a draws on the river and I am certain that he doesn't understand odds.
River was a King. Lucky checks again. I bet $300. He flat calls with......drum roll.... K2. He said that he called my bets because he had a straight draw. I am not sure if he thought he had a straight draw on the flop or not.
Oh well, lesson learned. No fancy play required - just solid straight forward poker. I was licking my chops hoping for a big hand after that one.
Lucky can't fold
I finally get a big starting hand. I am in the small blind and all but two players at the table limp. I look down at AA and raise it up to $60. Lucky calls and Seat 1 calls.
Flop 10102 with two clubs. I bet $180. Lucky instantly calls. Seat 1 folds.
Turn is a 6. I made my decision that if Lucky has a 10 so be it. I shoved for about another $300. Lucky thought for a while and then called with 88!!
River was a 7 and I doubled up. I guess the guy really can't get away from a hand.
Dealer can I get a Deuce?
I have known the guy that was dealing (from playing with him in games around town) for 3+ years. He is friendly with everyone. I was asking him for a deuce on almost every flop that I was either SB or BB.
A little while later, I am dealt 22 in the small blind and like most hands 75% of the table limps. I call and the BB raises to $50. Two players call, so I call. I ask the dealer, "What do I want?" and he replies "We need a deuce." As he starts to turn the cards over the card in the window is the 2 and he looks at me and smiles. The other two cards made me smile. Everyone says there is your card.
Flop AA2. I just knew I was going to get paid off here. I checked and unfortunately everyone else at the table checked. I am certain that at least one player at the table was slow playing their A6o (or something similar)
Turn is 7. I bet out $50. Seat 5 folds. Lucky calls. Seat 1 calls.
River is an 8. I bet $150 hoping that they will both call with weak Aces. Lucky calls. Seat 1 min raises another $150. Yuk. I am picturing a hand like A7 or A8. I just called and for some reason Lucky folded. (I guess lucky only liked to call my bets.) Seat 1 confidently turned over AJ. Everyone laughed about the deuces as I raked in the pot.
Limp Parade - so why not
It was getting late and everyone was limping almost every hand - no joke. It was common to see an unraised pot with 8 people to the flop. I limped along with 35s (because that's how I roll).
Flop comes A24 with 2 clubs. I bet out $60 and a jackass says, "What do have 35 or something?" Seat 5 raises me to $120. Everyone else folds (even Lucky). I try to figure out the best play to maximize value here. I decide that Seat 5 has a big Ace and know he can't get away from it. I raise to $350. Seat 5 shoves (he started with about $600 +/-). I call with the nuts and he turns over A2. Turn and river are blanks and I win a nice pot.
How Would you Play it?
I am dealt JJ in mid position and raise to $80 to thin the field. I get 4 more callers including Lucky, Seat 5 (who is steaming), Seat 10 (in the BB) and Seat 1.
Flop comes 8d9d3h. Seat 10 opens for $200. I am 100% certain that I have him beat and pretty certain that he is on a flush draw. Seat 10 has about $200 behind. Seat 1 calls his last $135. I'm guessing Seat 1 has either a flush draw, straight draw, or 1 pair and 1 over. (Really not too concerned about his hand.)
I have a decision to make. Seat 5 is beaming like he has monster. Seat 5 has around $1,300. Lucky looks like he wants to call. Lucky has about $3,500.
I have around $2,100.
What is your play here?
A. Flat Call (and the draws a chance to catch)
B. Raise (if raise what amount? enough to put Seat 10 all-in or more?)
C. Fold
I'll post the results tomorrow.
Going into the Mondays at the Hoy tourney last night, I decided that I would play it a little differently than I had in other blogger tourneys. I like the deep stack structure and decided to play solid the first hour or so and not get too crazy with pre-flop re-raises - basically flat call a lot preflop and try to outplay/trap my opponents post-flop. A few hours later, thanks to some luck, I took down the MATH tourney. (It was my first MATH win - other than a 3 way chop earlier in the year.)
Key Hands
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187895 - Deep stack allowing me to catch a flush. The lead out of the flop made me think columbo was weak any way, since I had bet preflop.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187896 - Not sure WTF Jordan was thinking - shows the level of respect I get from him. :)
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187897 - I get all in with a pair and a flush draw and hit my flush. I had Papi Justify covered by quite a bit.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187902 - Pretty straight forward - BB Special.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187905 - Luckbox hand. I totally pegged swimmom95 as very weak after she bet 320 into a 1,520 pot. I raised up to 1,500 with two overs and a gutshot. She called. I hit gin on the river and she shoved with 3rd pair. I'm not sure what I would have done if she shoved the turn - probably folded.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187909 - Jacks are OK.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187910 - I liked having pushmonkey on my left. We both had big stacks and I was able to take some if his chips - with better hands most of the time.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187913 - Again against pushmonkey. I felt that there was a good chance that I was beat and checked behind on the river.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187915 - Jacks are more than OK. I tried my best to disguise the flopped set against an aggressive Chad. I bet small on the flop and turn hoping he would come over the top - no such luck. I thought he might actually have a hand, so I bet big on the river - a mistake in highsight. I should have bet smaller to either get a call and induce him to shove.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187918 - Jacks are OK when your opponent shows weakness even with an A and K on board.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187924 - A good sign. I was dealt KK on the first hand of the final table. No action though.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187927 - Jordan chips up.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187931 - I'm getting short and take chances. I was hoping for 2 overs against HeffMike and it worked out.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187934 - LUCKBOX ALERT!! I limped in the SB with A6. Jordan was playing very aggressive and I figured his shoving range was huge. I decided (probably not the best decision) to double up or go to bed. I caught my 6 with A6 vs. AK. Weeeeee. That was great, but the best part of this hand was that I was able to slow Jordan down in later Blind vs. Blind hands.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187939 - Win a race against heffmike (and knock him out) with my 77 vs. his KJ.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187942 - Jordan and I were in a lot of pots with each other all night. I finally knocked him out with my QQ vs. his A6.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1187944 - I chipped away and chipped away at FishyMcDonk heads up. He was playing fairly tight for heads up. I figured we would have to get it in with two big hands or I would have to slowly grind him down. I wound up winning the final race with AKs vs. 1010.
I had a great time. Thanks for running the tourney Hoy.
I think Phil Hellmuth's blog has got to be one of the funniest blogs out there. He isn't trying to be funny, but I can't stop laughing when I read his blog. His latest entry leaves me wondering if they are going to enlarge the entrances to the Amazon Room so that he can fit his swollen head through. I'm not sure how he is able to walk around without tripping over all the names.
Some of the highlights:
"Now I get 7 hours sleep, shoot a rap video"
"I spent $5,000 right away on seven bottles, 5 Doms, and two vodkas. I paid cash, because I didn't want to see a $15,000 credit card bill later that night. I would spend the first $5,000, drink about 6 drinks for the night, and leave by 3:00 am."
"..until I went over to Gavin Smith's place with Morgan. I wanted to show those two guys how much I liked them, so I went over to grill out with them."
"I was having a good time dancing and chatting with many beautiful women (Even though I have never cheated on my wife, I am "Allowed" to chat and dance!)"
Phil's Latest Blog Entry
-----------------------
Congrats to Fuel55 on winning his WSOP ME seat in the PS 150 (220) seat tourney
FTPDoug posted FTP's new guarantee tourney schedule on Pocketfives.com. It looks like they are adding more mid-limit tourneys just in time to warm up for the WSOP.
"Here's the list, hopefully there's a little something for everyone: Time (ET) Buy In Game Guarantee 3:00 $100 NLH turbo $8,500 4:00 $50 NLH $5,500 13:30 $10 PLO rebuy $2,000 14:30 $20 NLH rebuy $7,500 15:30 $50 NLH $15,000 18:30 $5 NLH rebuy 6max $4,500 19:30 $20 NLH rebuy 6max $8,000 20:30 $3 NLH rebuy $6,000 21:00 $100 NLH rebuy 6max $45,000 Wednesdays 21:30 $50 Fifty-Fifty (NLH) $50,000 23:00 $24 NLH DS 6max $14,000 23:30 $50 NLH rebuy $20,000
Also, you might have already noticed that the $400K has become a $500K and the monthly $500+$35 has gone from a $750K to a much nicer sounding $1 Million Guarantee."
I am a little frustrated right now. Just busted out of both of the WSOP guarantee tourneys. No bad beat stories.
Good luck everyone that is still in.
I haven't won my Main Event seat yet, but am heading to Vegas on July 5th anyway. Hopefully things will change this weekend. I'm going to play the 100 seat FTP Guarantee and the 150 Pokerstars Guarantee. I liked the FTP 100 seat guarantee last year.
I have been really busy at work since getting back from the beach a couple weeks ago. I haven't played much or posted much. I plan to pick up the pace on both.
I'm getting excited about the WSOP. Especially, after watching several of the events on the 1 hour delayed WSOP coverage package - definitely worth the $50 price tag.
I was reading though my WSOP posts from last year (getting the WSOP fever) and thought I would link a few here - in case anyone is interested in reading through them (and for lack of being able to think of anything to post right now):
Can I get you autograph? Um, What?
Post I made right after busting out/getting crippled by Phil Ivey
WSOP 2006 Main Event Trip Report - Part 1 (Tiffany Williamson)
WSOP 2006 Main Event Trip Report - Part 2 (New Table/Old Guys)
WSOP 2006 Main Event Trip Report - Part 3 (My Demise)
I didn't play any cash games this weekend. I really haven't play cash games too much since I got back from vacation last week and I am trying to concentrate on mtts/winning my seat to the WSOP. I came very close to a big cash in the FTP $400k yesterday and got deep in a few other tourneys.
Friday Night
I didn't have enough W$ to enter the $1k Pokerstars WSOP satellite, so I played the 9 PM $80 sub-satellite to the Sunday $650 and wound up winning another W$650.
I played a few other small tourneys including the daily double on FTP. I don't remember exactly how I busted out of the 1st of the daily doubles, but once I did I found it extremely hard to focus on the other one. The payouts were very small in each tourney unless you make the Final Table (out of about 1,000 +/- players in each) - the real value is in final tabling both tourneys. FTPDoug has a post on pocketfives asking people's opinions on increasing the buy-ins to the daily doubles or adding new bigger buy-in DDs. I am all for them either increasing the DD to $26 (token) or adding a new DD with a buy-in of $75 (token).
Saturday Night
I played a pokerstars $27+rebuys sub-sat to the $650 again and wound up bubbling 4th out of 27. It awarded 2 seats and $475 cash for 3rd.
I also played the $109 6max mtt on pokerstars and wound up cashing 9th place - just short of the final table - cashed for $354.
Sunday
My wife was at the beach for the weekend with a friend of hers. She made it back home around lunch time. I worked it out with her to play some of the Sunday tourneys.
I played the following:
FTP WSOP 2 seat freeroll (140 +/- players; top 2 get $10k WSOP entry). I went out very early in this one when an extremely freaky hand came up. (I am not complaining about a bad beat here - I got that out of my system last week)
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1162969 - AA vs. KK vs. AA - Button, Small Blind, and Big Blind respectively.
Pokerstars Sunday Million - finished around 1,300 out of 6,700 (1,080 paid) when my AA lost to AK all-in preflop. I shook it off and kept playing my "A" game in the other tourneys.
Pokerstars $650 WSOP Super Sat - I used some of my stash of W$ and played this tourney. I finished 118th out of 635 (paid 35 seats and I think next 10 spots got $650 cash). I had built a decent stack but was unlucky enough to get moved to a table with the chip leader (by about double the guy in 2nd) to my immediate left. Any time I raised preflop, he would raise enough where if I called it pretty much committed me to the pot. I wound up getting all-in against a mid stack with AQs vs. his 99 and was crippled.
FTP $400k guarantee - Finished 108th out of 2,765 for $553. I was cruising along and built a decent stack late, but the blinds started to get huge. I had about $28k left and shoved with a re-steal in late position with AJs and the button (with $78k) shoved over me. The early position raiser laid down his hand. The button had QQ. I flopped a Jack but didn't improve from there. GG me.
I felt like I played pretty good this weekend, but came up just a little short. I am probably only going to play mtts this week and try to play the 100 seat and 150 seat guarantees on FTP and PS, respectively.
It's strange, but I think that I do a lot better in MTTs when I concentrating on only mtts and not playing any cash games.
Good luck at the tables and good luck to everyone in Vegas.
Doggone it, People Like Me.
Last night made me feel like calling Stuart Smalley for a pep talk. I mean it worked for Michael Jordan.
I was feeling pretty good heading into the night. I had a great attitude and was going to play solid poker - avoid fancy play syndrome in the early levels.
I played the following:
$1k FTP WSOP Super Sat - won in through SNG sat
$225 Pokerstars sat to the $1k - using my W$ and trying to add to the W$ stack
$225 Pokerstars SNG sat to $1k sat - again using the W$
I took some beats in all three and didn't come close to the money in any of them. I was happy that I didn't let getting sucked out on (with KK to 99 all-in preflop when deep stacked) effect my play in the other tourneys. I was playing well, but things just didn't go my way - that happens sometimes in poker. I had gotten short in the FTP $1k and was crippled after I had AK lose to a short stacks A9 All-in Pre. The same player finished me off when my 55 couldn't out race his AQ.
In the $225 SNG Sat on Pokerstars, I lost with AA early against a gutshot and probably lost the minimum after he caught. I shut down my computer after I raised enough to obviously commit myself with AJ and K8o shoved - who happened to make a straight flush.
I feel great that I was able to maintain a positive attitude in the face of all those beats - Thanks STUART!! I got my money in ahead every time last night and that is all I can ask for.
(Hopefully, my next post won't have anything to do with bad beats. If it does, I'll try to just keep it to myself and not post it here.)
Yes. I'm alive.........
AND, satellited (is that a word?) my way into the June 17th 100 seat guarantee Main Event sat. through a $26 MTT on FTP last night. Wow are those fields weak! When it got down to the final 18 there were 2 players at my table telling everyone: "only play really strong hands so we all have a good chance". You know, cuz we were all buddies by that point. Needless to say I was able to quadruple up from under 10k to right around 40k by the time the final table was set :)
So, the question is...
WHAT THE HELL SHOULD I DO >>> IF... scratch that, WHEN I SOMEHOW LUCKBOX MY WAY THROUGH THE FIELD of thousands TO WIN A SEAT?? Playing in the main event is dreamy, but 12k would be a nice summer bonus. Bonus/Main Event/Bonus/Main Event... argh. Guess I'll cross that bridge in 9 days, 22 hours and 17 minutes, not that I'm counting down the seconds with anticipation to play or anything.
The WSOP Main Event is right around the corner and I haven't won my seat yet. I'm not getting discouraged yet. After all, I won my seat to the Pokerstars PCA this year in their last chance satellite. I, also, won my 2nd seat to the WSOP last year in FTP's 100 seat guarantee tourney. I think that I will probably focus on the WSOP sats over the next week and a half.
"Dear sportingimag,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.
You qualified to play in Tournament #51775993 and are automatically registered for it.
See Tournament #51775993 Lobby for further details.
If you choose to unregister from this tournament your account will be credited
with 1,050.00 W$."
I won entry into the Pokerstars Friday $1k WSOP Super Satellite last night, but am not sure if I am going to play that satellite or spread the W$ around to a few other tourneys. I might use W$225 to play the $225 satellite tonight to the $1k Friday Super Sat and try to pad the W$. If I don't qualify for the $1k super sat again, I will still have W$825 to use for the $650 super sat on Sunday and some additional satellites.
Below is my current (as of today) plan for satellites:
Pokerstars
6/7/07 - $225 Satellite to the $1k Friday Super Sat
6/8/07 - $1k WSOP Super Sat - if I win another entry to it tonight
6/8/07-6/9/07 - Sats to the $650 Super Sat
6/10/07 - $650 WSOP Super Sat - if I have W$ left over after the $1k Super
6/17/07 - $370 WSOP 150 Seat Super Sat
FTP
6/7/07 - Might play a $281 SNG satellite to the $1k WSOP Super Sat tonight - ?? If I have time??
6/7/07 - $1k WSOP Super Sat - if I win another entry to it in a SNG ***EDIT: It looks like I will be playing in the $1k Sat tonight - won 1st SNG sat I tried.
6/8/07-6/17/07 - Satellites to the $1k and $535 100 seat guarantee Super Sats
6/17/07 - $535 100 Seat Guarantee Tourney
Hopefully, I can luck my into a WSOP ME seat sometime over the next week and a half.
Good luck to all those in Las Vegas and all those still trying to win their seats to the Main Event.
EDIT (just won entry into the FTP $1k tonight
I am starting to get the WSOP fever. It seems like everyone is enjoying and is excited about the WSOP despite Harrah's blunders - cards, lines, table numbering, shuffling procedures, etc., etc. I am restless.
I could just be feeling this way because it is my first day back at work after a week at the beach doing as much relaxing as you can with a 5 yr old and 1 1/2 yr old in tow. It might be seeing MrSmokey1 take down the first WSOP event and become the youngest winner of a WSOP bracelet. (A record that isn't likely to ever be broken since he is just a couple weeks past his 21st birthday.) I am wishing that I could make the blogger gathering this weekend in LV, but it just didn't work out.
I am all booked for my WSOP experience. My wife, her friend and I fly into Las Vegas on July 5th (seems like 1 year away instead of 1 month). They return home on July 9th and I return home July 13th (longer if things work out for me in the Main Event). We are staying at the Rio so that we can be in the heart of the action plus I really like the idea of being able to head up to my room and take a shower during the dinner break. I can't wait.
I am not sure of my poker plans from now until I leave for LV. I will probably try to play more MTTs than usual if work and home life permit. I find that my tourney game suffers when I am playing a ton of 6 max cash games because I get into the cash game thinking when playing a tourney. I start to continuation bet way too much, wind up playing too many large pots, and not giving other players as much credit for hands as I should (especially in the early levels). I will probably try to play a few WSOP ME sats over the next few weeks.
Razz - I was messing around the weekend (for a change of pace) with a little bit of Razz and was surprised by the poor play by some opponents - even at 20/40. There are definitely some solid regulars in the games, but also quite a few people that jump in without much idea of what they are doing. It is very easy to milk quite a bit out of some of the guys that don't know when to slow down, especially if you have shown willingness to lay down some hands to them. What started as a diversion has wound up being quite profitable. I think I will continue playing some Razz here and there when I am needing a break from holdem.
I'm worn out from the trip and being back at work, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to make the Mondays at the Hoy tonight or not.
Good luck at the tables, particularly those in Las Vegas!!!
Down to 25 players in a WPT/WSOPC Winner Choice $216 Satellite. I was top 4 in chips - not quite sure what the guy was thinking. I'm speechless.
Full Tilt Poker Game #2570580373: Saturday Winner's Choice (19162021), Table 7 - 200/400 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:41:57 ET - 2007/06/02
Seat 1: cmitch (17,090)
Seat 2: z_sheva (18,472)
Seat 3: csimmsux (11,615)
Seat 4: p5erssuck (20,578)
Seat 5: deucheman2 (10,239)
Seat 6: AceWPT (10,465)
Seat 7: Gettin Daize (6,051)
Seat 8: ooohra1 (4,170), is sitting out
cmitch antes 50
z_sheva antes 50
csimmsux antes 50
p5erssuck antes 50
deucheman2 antes 50
AceWPT antes 50
Gettin Daize antes 50
ooohra1 antes 50
cmitch posts the small blind of 200
z_sheva posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [Ac As]
csimmsux calls 400
p5erssuck has 15 seconds left to act
p5erssuck folds
deucheman2 raises to 10,189, and is all in
AceWPT folds
Gettin Daize folds
ooohra1 folds
cmitch raises to 17,040, and is all in
z_sheva folds
csimmsux folds
cmitch shows [Ac As]
deucheman2 shows [9s 7s]
Uncalled bet of 6,851 returned to cmitch
*** FLOP *** [9d Qs 2h]
*** TURN *** [9d Qs 2h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [9d Qs 2h 6s] [3s]
cmitch shows a pair of Aces
deucheman2 shows a flush, Queen high
deucheman2 wins the pot (21,578) with a flush, Queen high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21,578 | Rake 0
Board: [9d Qs 2h 6s 3s]
Seat 1: cmitch (small blind) showed [Ac As] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: z_sheva (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: csimmsux folded before the Flop
Seat 4: p5erssuck folded before the Flop
Seat 5: deucheman2 showed [9s 7s] and won (21,578) with a flush, Queen high
Seat 6: AceWPT folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Gettin Daize folded before the Flop
Seat 8: ooohra1 (button) folded before the Flop
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