O-Poker

10 Days until Las Vegas!!!!

Wow. I didn't realize that it has been 1 week since I last posted. The last post didn't even really have any content, just a schedule of the MSOP.

Work has been killing me the last two weeks. I was able to get a little break when my wife and I headed to the beach (minus the kids) for the long weekend, but was right back at work on Monday afternoon.

For some reason, it always seems like I put in a lot more hours before and after I take time off than the hours that I actually take off. All will be better in 10 days,

Right now my LV plans are pretty loose. I get in on Monday June 9th, plan to settle in my room at the Rio, then head down to the Amazon Room for some cash games and sng sats. I'll probably get my live poker feet back under me by playing some 2/5NL until dinner time, grab a bite and come back to try out the sng sats. I am most likely playing the $2k NL event on Thursday, June 12th unless I win a ton a lammers before the $5k NL on Wednesday, June 11th (my B-day). I really want to play the $5k, but I can't see myself shelling out that much for one tourney.

As far as the rest of the week goes, I hope to meet up with a ton of bloggers (those there for the WSOP and those that live in LV) that I feel like I know but have never met. It should be a blast!!! I may hit up a few other mtts around town, but will probably stick mostly to the cash games.

I'm not sure which other tourneys I'll play, but it looks like there are a ton around town:

(Cut and pasted from a 2+2 thread)
(Link to Comparison of their structures)

6/9
12:00 1365+135 NL SHOOTOUT WSOP 3 Day
12:00 500+40 NLHE Venetian 2 Day
12:00 460+40 NLHE Binions 1 Day
12:00 200+25 NLHE Caesars 1 Day
14:00 500+40 NLHE Bellagio 1 Day
17:00 4700+300 2-7 REBUY WSOP 3 Day

6/10
12:00 1365+135 PLO WSOP 3 Day
12:00 500+40 NLHE Venetian 2 Day
12:00 300+30 NLHE Caesars 1 Day
12:00 200+25 NLHE Golden Nugget 1 Day
14:00 180+20 NLHE Binions 1 Day
14:00 500+40 NLHE Bellagio 1 Day
15:00 200+25 O/8 Caesars 1 Day
17:00 1820+180 LHE WSOP 3 Day

6/11
12:00 4700+300 NLHE WSOP 3 Day
12:00 300+30 NLHE Venetian 2 Day
12:00 200+25 NLHE Caesars 1 Day
12:00 300+30 PLO/8 Golden Nugget 1 Day
14:00 135+15 RAZZ Binions 1 Day
14:00 500+40 NLHE Bellagio 1 Day
17:00 2760+240 HORSE WSOP 3 Day

6/12
12:00 1820+180 NLHE WSOP 3 Day
12:00 300+30 NLHE Venetian 2 Day
12:00 200+25 NLHE Caesars 1 Day
12:00 200+25 NLHE Golden Nugget 1 Day
14:00 135+15 NLHE Binions 1 Day
14:00 500+40 NLHE Bellagio 1 Day
17:00 2300+200 PLHE/PLO WSOP 3 Day

6/13
12:00 9400+600 HUNL WSOP 3 Day
12:00 2500+100 NLHE Venetian 2 Day
12:00 300+30 NLHE Caesars 1 Day
12:00 300+30 NLHE Golden Nugget 1 Day
14:00 270+30 NLHE Binions 1 Day
14:00 1000+80 NLHE Bellagio 1 Day
17:00 1365+135 RAZZ WSOP 3 Day

6/14
12:00 1365+135 NLHE WSOP 3 Day
12:00 500+40 HORSE Venetian 2 Day
12:00 300+30 NLHE Caesars 1 Day
12:00 500+50 NLHE Golden Nugget 1 Day
14:00 1000+80 NLHE Bellagio 1 Day
16:00 225+25 NLHE 6MAX Binions 1 Day
17:00 4700+300 PLO REBUY WSOP 3 Day

Some more links for the mtts happening around town from 6/9-6/14

WSOP Schedule

Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III Schedule

Caesar's Palace Mega Stack Series Schedule

Binion's Poker Classic Schedule

Bellagio daily mtts - updated higher buy-ins based on a flier in Bellagio room

Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series

A PDF on an excel spreadsheet showing daily mtts - from the 2+2 thread

Leave a comment on anything that I am missing and I will add it to the list. I plan to reference this while I'm in LV.

10 days until LV!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

EDITS:

Thread on 2+2 on what to expect at the WSOP this year - room layouts, dealer instructions, sat info, cash game info - great general info thread all around.

One thing of interest from that thread:

" Due to some prior commitment the Rio has, the Brasilia Cash Game Room will not be open until on or about June 12. In the meantime, cash games are being held in the Amazon Room at available tables (and I guess the main Rio poker room as well). I was over there tonight and they had some games going in the red section. This also means cash games may be shut down for a few hours to accommodate the start of Days 1A and 1B of Event #2 $1500 NLH."

FTP came up with a pretty cool idea. I remember the last few years, several posters on P5s had set up private tourney series to mirror the WSOP. This year FTP took up the idea and have parallel events running to the WSOP, most with buy-ins 1% of the WSOP buy-in.

Below is the schedule

http://w.fulltiltpoker.com/series-2008-mini-series-of-poker

I meant to get this up a lot earlier, but work hasn't cooperated. I haven't really played any poker this week other than playing the BBT3 tourneys while doing some work.

Man, I can't wait until Vegas - less than 3 weeks!!!!

Anyway, here are the results of the hands from my last post. (Thanks for all the comments they was obviously a lot of though but into some of them. If you haven't, go read them first.)

Hand 1 ($75 on FTP - $35k guarantee)

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 120/240 Blinds, 25 Ante, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: 10,960
UTG: 5,005
UTG+1: 18,796
MP1: 3,999
MP2: 20,605
CO: 9,338
BTN: 4,529
Hero (SB): 7,335

Pre-Flop: (560) 7 7 dealt to Hero (SB)

5 folds, BTN raises to 4,504 and is All-In

cmitch (SB) ????

Call or fold? Why? (No read on the guy. I was moved to this table about 8 hands earlier.)

Responses

Pretty much everyone except Loretta and Lucko (not in the comments) said to fold. Loretta was on the fence. Lucko said to call.

I called, but wasn't sure if it was the correct play b/c I had been playing a lot of turbo sng sats at the time and I think that you call all day long in the same situation in a turbo sng sat. I just felt like I had to be ahead of his range. I didn't think he would shove with TT+, so I felt like his range was 22-99 or AJ+ with it most likely being two big cards. I guess I feel like it is always good to get the money in as a favorite even if against two big cards - could be b/c I play more cash games than mtts.

He turned over A6o and my 77 held up.

----------------------------
Hand 2 ($27.50 on Pokerstars)

Poker Stars, $25 + $2.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP2: 3,160
CO: 4,074
Hero (BTN): 3,558
SB: 7,581
BB: 9,350
UTG: 2,730
UTG+1: 2,960
UTG+2: 6,555
MP1: 5,120

Pre-Flop: (150) J J dealt to Hero (BTN)

6 folds, Hero raises to 300, SB raises to 800, BB folds

cmitch ????

Call, fold, raise? The guy has been active but not too crazy.

Responses

Most people said shove or were leaning towards shoving.

I shoved and he called with AK - Ace on the flop - GG me. Not much I could do here.

--------------------
Hand 3 (SNG Satellite to FTOPS Main Event - turbo - pays 3 seats)

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP2: 1,870
CO: 1,800
BTN: 1,265
SB: 1,560
Hero (BB): 1,345
UTG: 1,790
UTG+1: 1,315
MP1: 2,555

Pre-Flop: (180) Q Q dealt to Hero (BB)

4 folds, CO raises to 420 (probably a steal, but I had a note that he was a solid player)

BTN folds
SB raises to 840 (guy had been playing very straight forward -note said usually has it when bets)

cmitch ???

Shove or fold?

Responses

Most were shove, especially since this is a turbo.

I shoved, SB had KK. I caught a Q and went on to win a seat. In hindsight, I'm not even sure why I posted this. It seems pretty standard. Maybe it would have been a more interesting situation if it wasn't a turbo with flat prizes for the top 3.

I decided to play some MTTs this weekend for a change of pace. I can't imagine how frustrating some days must be for the guys that play MTTs full time. The bad beats and coolers that happen deep into the tourneys are enough to make you want to through your laptop out the window. (I'll spare the bad beat hand histories, as much as I might want to post them.) It would have been a brutal weekend if it hadn't been for a bunch of Satellite wins (mostly in SNG sats) to the FTOPS Main Event and FTOPS Event #23.

I wanted to get some opinions on a few MTT hands that I played this weekend. I think most of these were borderline decisions and you could probably make a good case for each side of the fence. I'm interested to see what everyone else would have done though.

Hand 1 ($75 on FTP - $35k guarantee)

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 120/240 Blinds, 25 Ante, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: 10,960
UTG: 5,005
UTG+1: 18,796
MP1: 3,999
MP2: 20,605
CO: 9,338
BTN: 4,529
Hero (SB): 7,335

Pre-Flop: (560) 7 7 dealt to Hero (SB)

5 folds, BTN raises to 4,504 and is All-In

cmitch (SB) ????

Call or fold? Why? (No read on the guy. I was moved to this table about 8 hands earlier.)

Hand 2 ($27.50 on Pokerstars)

Poker Stars, $25 + $2.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP2: 3,160
CO: 4,074
Hero (BTN): 3,558
SB: 7,581
BB: 9,350
UTG: 2,730
UTG+1: 2,960
UTG+2: 6,555
MP1: 5,120

Pre-Flop: (150) J J dealt to Hero (BTN)

6 folds, Hero raises to 300, SB raises to 800, BB folds

cmitch ????

Call, fold, raise? The guy has been active but not too crazy.


Hand 3 (SNG Satellite to FTOPS Main Event - turbo - pays 3 seats)

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP2: 1,870
CO: 1,800
BTN: 1,265
SB: 1,560
Hero (BB): 1,345
UTG: 1,790
UTG+1: 1,315
MP1: 2,555

Pre-Flop: (180) Q Q dealt to Hero (BB)

4 folds, CO raises to 420 (probably a steal, but I had a note that he was a solid player)

BTN folds
SB raises to 840 (guy had been playing very straight forward -note said usually has it when bets)

cmitch ???

Shove or fold?

----------------
I'm going to try to play as many of the BBT3 events as I can between now and the end of the BBT3 series (I think June 1st) to stay in the running for my sidebet.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

The Sunday Heads Up Tourney is tomorrow night. It is capped at 64 players, so go sign up now.

Check out Loretta8's blog for all the details.

--------------

NYRambler has a poker series starting up Tuesday night that is going to run adjacent to the Skillz series and the Bodog Blogger Series. It should be fun to play 3 different mtts at the same time, with 3 different formats. (The bodog series ends in a few weeks.)

Go check out his blog for all the details.

This guy would never bet out with an Ace here. He was calling everything preflop and usually folding to raises.

6 High for the win!!!


Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


SB: $322.10
BB: $218
Hero (UTG): $425.80
CO: $400
BTN: $391

Pre-Flop: 4 6 dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $7, 3 folds, BB calls $5

Flop: ($15) A Q A (2 Players)
BB bets $15, Hero calls $15

Turn: ($45) 3 (2 Players)
BB bets $45, Hero raises to $90, BB calls $45

River: ($225) Q (2 Players)

BB checks, Hero checks

Results: $225 Pot ($3 Rake)
BB mucked 2 3 (two pair, Aces and Queens) and LOST (-$112 NET)
Hero showed 4 6 (two pair, Aces and Queens) and WON $222 (+$110 NET)


Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

I've had a busy few weeks and have been slacking when it comes to updating the blog. I'm also getting sick, not Hoy sick, but still sick with a very sore throat. I sound a little like an 80 yr old lady that has been smoking for 70 years, only with a deeper voice.

I'm really liking the FTOPS this time around even though I've only played one FTOPS event (the $216 turbo last night - no luck). This is the first FTOPS series since the Full Tilt started using Tourney Dollars (T$) which allow you to win a satellite and unregister for T$. I have played a ton of these and have stockpiled quite a few T$. It is funny, but I have to stop myself from spending the T$ recklessly. I almost jumped into the $1k FTOPS tourney on Monday night because I had more than enough T$ in my account. I had to force myself not to register. The T$ are basically the same thing as cash, but FTP charges a 5% premium to convert them back to cash. If I had converted all my T$ to cash then I probably wouldn't have been considering jumping into a $1k tourney that wouldn't end until I was supposed to be at work. I can see how this is a good thing for the high stakes mtts and sng guys. They will get more people jumping into their games thanks to T$. Think about a random guy that won a sat to the FTOPS Main Event, but has plans that day. He might unregister from the FTOPS ME and decide, "I'll just play a $535 sng instead. Heck the $535 is free money since I won it in a sat. I mean I was going to play the FTOPS ME for $500. What's the difference in playing a $500 sng?" Maybe they will convert it to real cash and bring it to the 6 max NL tables. (Fingers crossed.)

I hadn't seen a tourney that you couldn't unregister from for T$ until this morning. They put up the $25k HU Championship tourney and it says in the lobby and the lobby of every satellite to the tourney, "You can not unregister from this or the $25k final." and "NO UNREGISTERING." It doesn't look like it would be very +EV to play, especially with the list of players that are already signed up:

Chris Ferguson
Phil Ivey
Andy Bloch
Erik Seidel
Gus Hansen
Howard Lederer
John Juanda
Brandon Adams
Brian Hastings (Stinger)
Cole South (cts)
David Benyamine
David Oppenheim
Huck Seed
Nick Schulman
Peter W Jepsen (not sure who this red pro is - too lazy to look it up)
Taylor Caby (green plastic)
durr
SteveSung
the guru 11 (westmenloAA/mr menlo)
OMGClayAiken
trex313 (dang's brother ?)
pr1nnyraid (krantz)
whitelime
Genius28
ActionJeff (future American Idol winner?)
garet777 (don't recognize the name, but probably should?)
AndyMcloed (not the 12 yr old)

Sounds like a soft field. I'm going to sign up today. Seriously, why even play a sat to this?

Who would you want in your 1st round?

Who do you think has the best shot of winning in this field?

Go vote over at Parade. They had an article this weekend about legalizing online poker with a poll on their website about whether or not it should be legalized.

It is could to see a positive article about online poker bringing the US revenue even if the facts are a little muddy.

Go Vote!!!

WOW. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. Full Tilt is running a $25k Heads Up online tourney Memorial Day Weekend. They have a couple of $535 super sats to it. I guess that would be the way to go - try to qualify and cash out $25,000 T$.

Link to article on pokernews.

I was playing (still am playing) a turbo sat to the FTOPS #1 (prob just for T$) and busted a guy after I sucked out with my 88 vs. his 99. The following chat ensued:

cmitch: ul gg

Guy I sucked out on (Observer): mitch
Guy I sucked out on (Observer): win with grace brother
Guy I sucked out on (Observer): learn it
Guy I sucked out on (Observer): especially when u suck out

SacCityRndr: he didnt say anything

Guy I sucked out on (Observer): he was being a smart as.s
Guy I sucked out on (Observer): ul gg

SacCityRndr: hmm

Did I miss something? Or was this ass-jack just steaming and I was the target of his frustration?

I booked my room at the Rio yesterday from 6/9-6/15. It think that I got a pretty good deal - $200. Nope, not $200/night. It is costing me $200 total for 6 nights thanks to a 3 free night promo, a comped 4th night, and $100/night for Friday and Saturday. I couldn't believe it when I logged into my Total Rewards account online. I thought something was wrong, because when I looked at Rio rooms (without signing into my Total Rewards account) a few weeks ago they were running $159/night for weeknights and $209/night for weekends. I almost called the reservations number, but decided to not screw anything up and just booked it online. I guess playing roulette and blackjack for a few hours last summer paid off.

I'm looking forward to meeting some bloggers while I'm out there. I couldn't make it during the official blogger gathering (the weekend before I get there), but based on Hoy's post yesterday and the comments it looks like a lot of bloggers will be out there the same time as me. Hopefully someone will put together a list. If you are going to be out there during that time and want to meet up for a few beers send me an email or leave a comment.

I haven't decided which events I will play, but have probably narrowed it down between 2 events (see below). I do plan to play a ton of cash games though. Live games are so soft.

WSOP events that I might play

June 11, noon - Event 21, No-Limit Hold'em $5,000 - Not sure if I can pull the trigger on playing this one unless I win a STT satellite or someone wants to back me for 50%.

June 12, noon - Event 23, No-Limit Hold'em $2,000 - Leaning towards this one.

I guess I'll figure out which one I'm going to play once I get out there. Having LV right around the corner should motivate me to put in a lot of cash game hands this month. I'm really liking the new FTP deep stack tables (more on that in a future posts).

Let the countdown begin - 1 month and 2 day!!! Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!