O-Poker

The FTOPS #3 Triple Shootout filled up pretty early, but FTP had a sense of humor about it and put up a new tourney for those that missed out (see pic below). I LOLed and registered.



Won my first table. 2nd Table played super duper batman style fast. HU guy was a calling station. Just biding my time, set him up huge, then out for $208..........

(WARNING!!! WARNING!!! BAD BEAT!!! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!! DANGER!!)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7556392744: Not FTOPS Event #3 (57456881), Table 5 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:43:44 ET - 2008/08/07
Seat 2: cmitch (19,875)
Seat 6: sohowdoiplay (28,125)
cmitch antes 25
sohowdoiplay antes 25
cmitch posts the small blind of 120
sohowdoiplay posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [Kh Ac]
cmitch calls 120
sohowdoiplay raises to 720
cmitch raises to 2,210
sohowdoiplay raises to 28,100, and is all in
cmitch calls 17,640, and is all in
sohowdoiplay shows [4c 6d]
cmitch shows [Kh Ac]
Uncalled bet of 8,250 returned to sohowdoiplay
*** FLOP *** [5s 7d 4h]
*** TURN *** [5s 7d 4h] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [5s 7d 4h Ad] [8c]
sohowdoiplay shows a straight, Eight high
cmitch shows a pair of Aces
sohowdoiplay wins the pot (39,750) with a straight, Eight high
cmitch: lol
cmitch stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 39,750 | Rake 0
Board: [5s 7d 4h Ad 8c]
Seat 2: cmitch (small blind) showed [Kh Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: sohowdoiplay (big blind) showed [4c 6d] and won (39,750) with a straight, Eight high


SoHowDoesHePlay???

It looks like FTOPS VII is starting at the beginning of Feb. I might try to satellite into a few of them once the satellites start - depending on what type of sats they offer.

Based on start times and games, the ones that look most interesting to me are below (not sure how many I will play):

FTOPS #1 $200 NL Holdem (Wed night - so not sure if I can play)

FTOPS #10 $1k 6 max NL Holdem (Mon night - if I can satellite in, I'll stay up)

FTOPS #14 $322 Razz (It's on Valentine's Day, so it's out - would love to play it though)

FTOPS #17 $2,620 NL Holdem 2 Day Event (The satellites to this one were so weak last time. If they have some good sats, I will probably try to satellite into it. Would definitely be fun to play.)

FTOPS #20 $525 NL Holdem Main Event (I've done OK in the FTOPS Main Events in the past. Playing in this one will depend on our family schedule that day/weekend.)

FTOPS VII Schedule Link

I finally went and bought a new 24" Widescreen Samsung monitor on Friday and my eyes are loving it. I had been playing 4-6 tables on my Dell 17" WS laptop. What a difference. It also has the added feature of making me play at the desk instead of laying back in the recliner.

I played around with 6 tables on it a little and it is like night and day. I don't have to strain my eyes to see the cards, bet amounts, PAHUD stats, etc.

I didn't use it as much as I would have liked because I played a couple of the FTOPS events this weekend and decided not to play more than two tables and no cash games while playing in the FTOPS and the Gators played South Carolina on Saturday night. While I was playing the FTOPS #4 PL Holdem tourney, I made the table full screen - pretty cool but definitely overkill.

As far as the FTOPS goes, I finished in the 300s with 216 getting paid in FTOPS #4 PL Holdem and in the 1,000s in FTOPS #7 NL Holdem with 516 getting paid. I'm not sure if I will play any more of the FTOPS events. I feel like I wasted time that I could have spent playing cash games, but of course the occasional big score changes that perception quickly.

We have stuff going on almost every night this week, so I'm not sure how much poker I will get in. I'm going to play in the Mondays at the Hoy tonight , but no Mookie or Riverchasers.

Good Luck and see you at the tables.

Overall, I had a decent FTOPS V. I played FTOPS #1, 3, 7 and the Main Event - cashing in Event #1 and the Main Event, coming close to the money in Event #7, and finishing in the middle of the pack in Event #3.

I satellited into all of them except FTOPS #3, as well as winning a couple of sats to Event #1. I probably netted around $3,100 - $3,200 in the four events. I won't dwell on what could have been after getting deep in FTOPS #1 and the Main Event, both of which had over 4k entrants.

I got fairly low in the 2nd and 3rd hours and managed to claw my way back.

On to some key hands from the Main Event. I welcome any comments on how poorly I played some of these hands. I played a few hands pretty weakly, especially early. I am particularly interested in everyone's thought on Hand 14.

Hand 1
Early in the tourney, sitting out (dinner,kids, some reason) probably saved me a few chips.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394547

Hand 2
This guy had been playing a ton of hands, so I decided to flat call in position with a speculative hand. I hit two pair and the turn and he couldn't fold his top pair King Kicker.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394553

Hand 3
I could have easily lost a lot more on this hand - dealt KQ in the BB. Several limpers. I check. Flop comes Q high. SB bets. I figured SB could have any two pair. I flat called the flop to see how the remaining players would react. Everyone folded. At that point I felt like I had the best hand. I wasn't sure if I had the best hand on the turn when the SB fired out a fairly good size bet, so I just flat called. He checked the river and I checked behind because I couldn't see him calling any bet that I made with a worse hand than mine.

It may look like I played this hand pretty weak, but I decided not to commit a ton of my chips on this hand when I might be behind and he might be on a flush draw. It was early enough with deep stacks and small blinds that I felt it was worth the risk of letting him catch a draw vs. playing a huge pot with top pair, King kicker. I'm certain a lot of players would have played this differently.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394573

Hand 4
I made it back just in time, from putting the kids to bed, to lose a ton of chips on this hand. I may have folded the best hand, but most likely got rivered. On the flop, I put the other player on KQ or J10 - most likely KQ. I was trapping by flat calling the turn and planned to get all the money in on the river. If I was up against J10 - oh well. The worst possible river came and he shoved. I figured that I only could beat a bluff. He most likely had KQ with a slight possibility of him having the same hand as me.

The argument could be made for shoving on the turn, but I felt like trapping was more likely to get paid off.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394594

Hand 5
This hand is not too interesting, but it is a good example of how uncomfortable some people are when playing with deep stacks. I couldn't help but to commit, "Overbet much?"
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394612

Hand 6
How not to play Jacks. This guy played this hand horribly. BB special for me. His flat calling really made me think that he had the flush draw. I thought that he hit it on the river and checked behind - probably missed a bet there. I definitely didn't put him on Jacks.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394622

Hand 7
Not a bad flop, but great turn. Too bad he didn't have a hand.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394633

Hand 8
Stand race that I won. I was relatively short and it was time to gamble for chips.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394652

Hand 9
I flat call preflop hoping to catch a set in a multi-way pot. I flop a straight flush draw with only 1 side open though. It checks around on the flop. Turn is another 4. It checks to guy in last position. He bets 1,360 into a 3,745 pot. I'm getting 3.75 to 1 (5,105 to 1,360) on my money plus the implied odds if I hit. This was still probably a marginal call, but since he had flat called preflop, I put him on a medium Ace and figured that he may or may not have a diamond. I might have folded if the orignial early position preflop raiser had bet. I got lucky on the river and got paid off.

I'm curious - standard to call this turn bet?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394657

Hand 10
This guy was getting way too active and seemed to be overbetting with speculative hands/when he missed the flop. He was betting smaller when he made a hand to dry to get others to come along. His bets on this hand screamed steal attempt or AK. I shoved and he folded. I think he go caught up too much in the bet big and get people to fold type of play (especially on the button), so much so that it cost him a lot of chips. In my mind, it was pretty much a given that he was raising or re-raising every time he was on the button.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394786

Hand 11
Perfect timing for AA. I had been pretty active preflop and my raise from late position along with a flat call from the button was too hard for a great player (JOEYTHEB) to pass on. No slowplaying for me. I didn't mind that it was obvious that I had AA. I would rather take down a huge pot preflop than try to slow play myself into losing all my chips.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394799

Hand 12
This guy had been way too active. Easy call against what was either a small to medium pair or a big Ace. I had the chips and was 50/50 at a minimum.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394865

Hand 13
Huge Hand. My opponent was a big time calling station preflop and tried to bully a lot of pots away on the flop and turn. He had a tendancy to shove all-in on flops. I really thought that he might have flopped two pair because his range was ATC. His lead out bet was strange though, since he had to figure that I was going to bet. I called the turn bet not sure if I was ahead or not. I hit my set on the river and it was obvious that he didn't have a 10. I got lucky, but the hand was pretty tough to play IMO against a guy that was in probably more than 50% of the pots preflop and had been shoving a lot with made hands.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394879

Hand 14
Absolutely horrible play by me - but I had reasons.

I think we were near the money bubble. We may have been ITM the money already.

Opponent is the same one from hand above. His range is ATC. I complete from the SB with 45, knowing that the BB isn't raising very often here.

ATC player bets pot after it is checked to him. I call with a open ended straight draw and the intention of C/Ring him all in on any turn that isn't a paint card or an ace.

The turn card is another eight. He has to figure that an eight is definitely in my range out of the SB. I continue with my plan of c/ring all in and he insta-calls with 99. I figured that the c/r on the turn would make my hand look so strong that he would have to fold a ton of hands and if he did wind up having a monster I still had 8 outs.

The flaw in my logic was the flop containing two spades along with my flat call preflop. It looked more like I had a flush draw than anything. I think this play would have worked if it had been a rainbow flop.

So was this a horrible play or a failed aggressive shot at taking down a large pot.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394897

Hand 15
Good timing for AA when really short.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394919

Hand 16
A case of being priced in. The blinds are 1,200/2,400 with 300 ante. What is the difference of having 25k chips or 19k chips at this point to me. If I am against a hand like a big Ace then I am 40/60 to win and I am getting the right price - 2.35 to 1(15,114 to 6,414). It really boiled down to a close decision and I felt like I was so low in chips that I would gamble. Really was is 25k vs 19k at this level of blinds?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394925

I won another 13k in chips the last hand before I was moved tables and the HH didn't save.

Hand 17
Pretty standard. SB vs. BB. I raise preflop with a pocket pair and he insta-shoves. I have to call in this spot. This one is for Fuel55.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394953

Hand 18
I discussed this one with Lucko. I played it way too passively on all streets. I felt like I was ahead and never put the pressure on the other guy. He hit his card on the river and checked.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1394971

Hand 19
Looking back on this hand. I probably would have gotten more value by checking on the turn.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1395108

Hand 20
I thought there was a pretty good chance I was still ahead on the flop, but couldn't really justify a shove or a call here. I figured he most likely had a pretty big draw that he was willing to get all his money in with.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1395110

Hand 21
I don't like AQ
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1395113

Hand 22
I'm a luckbox.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1395117


Hand 23
I figure that I am most likely racing. If I call and win then I am sitting on a top 5 stack with about 125 players left.

Case could be made for folding, but I think I have to take the chance calling here to take the risk to get a big stack and keep people from trying to re-steal from me.

Opinions?
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1395119

Hand 24 - Bustout Hand
Standard shove with an M of less than 4? BB was tighten than your average player.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1395126

I am interested in opinions on how I should have played some of these hand differently. Or just call me a luckbox if you like. :)

Mixed emotions. It is nice to have gone so deep (84 out of 4,500+) in the FTOPS Main Event, but stings to get so close to a huge payday.

I have a busy day tomorrow. It is our daughter's first day of kindergarten and I have a project due. I'll go through the hand histories tomorrow night and post a few on Tues - mainly the marginal calls/risky pushes/etc.

Thanks for all the rail support!! That was awesome!!

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...."

I think that describes this week vs. last week pretty well. I got off to a rough start in the 50K Hands Challenge (click here for 50k hands details) thanks to running horribly. Patience pays off. This week, I think I ran normal, got in a ton of hands (for me) and played great (and won 13+ buy-ins). I lost a few pots were I was a big favorite, but probably not many more than would be expected. I ran a set into an overset when both me and my opponent were deep. None of this phased me this week. I was able to shake off the beats and move on without a second thought.

I was in a zone over the weekend. Things were clicking on all levels. I felt like I was making the right decisions most of the time - proper bet sizing, making tough laydowns, making tough calls when things seemed a little fishy, causing players to commit on draws when they have incredibly horrible odds, etc., etc.

I even decided to try to 6 table on my 17" laptop when I had no distractions. I probably played 2-3 hours while 6 tabling and was able to focus and play well. I have always had problems with more than 4 tables in the past.

Another thing that I did was make some adjustments for 1/2nl. A lot of the adjustments would be -EV at 2/4 or 5/10, but were clearly +EV at certain 1/2nl tables. I often found myself sitting at a table with a ton of calling stations. Raising and three betting didn't work well, so I found myself floating a ton and then shutting down if I missed. These guys would call you all the way down with 3rd pair, so when I hit I would keep betting hard. I, also, flat called a lot more in position instead of three betting and then tried to outplay opponents on the flop with position on them. I'll try to get into a few examples of the difference in play between 1/2 and 2/4 in the next few days.

50K Hands Challenge
1/2nl
Hands Goal - 25,000 hands in 1 month; 5 ptbb/100
Hands Current - 10,017 hands; 4.64 ptb/100
Total current profit/loss = +$1,857.20

I am on track with the number of hands and the ptbb/100 should increase from here. I was just shy of 10ptbb/100 for the hands since last week.

A few hands - I'll try to post more later in the week. There were several that I wanted input on but they kind of got lost in the mix while I was 6 tabling.

This hand is a good example of slowing down to keep the pot smaller and letting a player that likes to bluff keep betting into the pot. The preflop betting is standard. On the flop, I made a smaller bet to try to induce a big raise with a hand like AK or KQ (both well within his range). I didn't think that he had a flush draw because he had a raised the flop in the past with draw. I decided to check-call with the intention of getting a lot in on the river. If I re-raised him on the turn or lead out big, I was probably losing any action. The river was a scare card for me. A10 was definitely a possibility based on how he played the hand. I check called figuring that I was ahead. There was no reason to bet the river. If I bet, he was folding most hands that I beat and raising me with most hands that beat me. If I checked, he might bluff at the pot. I checked and he made an odd bet for him. He usually bet pot on the river with a hand that he thought would get paid off. He was bluffing with his gutshot. I think that slowing down and allowing him to control the pot paid off well here. (A case of knowing your opponent - against some other players this might have been an easy lay down.)
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1364910

Another example of letting an aggressive opponent bet your hand for you.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1364940

These two hands at the same table in the same session were the start of digging out of the hole from last week.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1364948 - Standard - KK holds up against JJ.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1364943 - I was priced in, never disguised my hand and still got paid off - cooler for the other guy.

Dem Quads Bitches!!!! Over re-raising for value. There is no way that I would make this size raise against a lot of opponents when this deep. It would be -EV. I had played the hand so weak on all streets that I didn't think he could put me on the a full house and his min raise on the river screamed incredible strength to me. I over shoved thinking that this guy would call the shove with a full house or an Ace or King high flush. I was shocked at the call, but didn't mind it. :)
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1364952

A Shot of me trying to 6 table - It is still a little mind numbing for me right now.


Graph - 50k Hands Challenge to date (since 8/1) The thing that I like best about the graph is that it looks like the graph of a good stock - higher highs and higher lows.


FTOPS

I wound up directly buying into FTOPS Event #3 - $216 PL Holdem. Nothing exciting happened and I busted out a couple of hours in with top two vs. a set.

I am looking forward to the FTOPS Event $7 -$1k 6 max. I satellited in a couple of weeks ago. This is the FTOPS event that I am the most excited about, especially now that I am getting back into the rhythm of 6 max games. It should be a tough field and the winner will have to get lucky/not unlucky, but it should be fun!!

Good Luck to everyone playing tonight.

I was surprised how many players turned out for the $216 FTOPS V Event #1. They blew past the $500k guarantee (2,500 players) by over $300k and 1,600+ players for a total of 4,165 players and a prize pool of $833,000. First place was a hefty (for a $200 tourney) $147k. I have mixed feelings about my 112th place finish ($790). It always stings a little too get so deep and fall short, but it also feels good to go so deep in such a large field.

I appreciate all the rail support last night. I am not going to list everyone because I'm sure that I would forget a few since I wasn't reading the chat box the whole time. It was cool to listen to BuddyDank Radio as they were following Hoy, Julius_Goat, and myself late into the tourney. Alan (RecessRampage) was giving the FTOPS updates - nice work.

I had my table and Hoy's table open. He got ridiculously unlucky late. I think his AA lost to Bracelet Holder MrSmokey1's KQ - all in preflop for a huge pot. Ugggh!!! I'm sure that he will have an awesome tourney recap later today.

There were a few interesting hands early in the tourney (I'll try to look them up later.) I doubled up a little bit after making it into the money. It folded to cutoff and he made a standard 2.5-3x BB raise. I was dealt 66 on the button. The cutoff's bet looked like a steal from where I was sitting, so I shoved. He insta-called with AKs, but my 6s somehow held up. Weeeee. I was sitting on 50k (top 25 stack) with 300 +/- players left. I could be patient and pick my spots.

A little while later the dream hand came up. I was dealt KK in the BB. A middle position player with a stack a little bigger than mine raised 3x the BB. No way was I going to slow play here. I made a pretty good size raise and he shoved. I insta-called and my Kings took down his QQ. Up to 100k in chips.

I used the stack to steal a few pots here and there and built up to 130k, but it wouldn't be long lived.

I want some opinions on how I played the next two hands, especially the bustout hand. The first hand helped setup the dynamics of the bustout hand.

DeuceBuster has a big stack and has been very active with a lot of steals and re-steals. I am dealt 1010 on the button. He makes a standard 2.5x BB raise from the cutoff. Obvious steal right? I raise it up to 22k. It folds back to him and he makes it 72k. I struggled with the fold because I know that he is an aggressive player that is smart enough to possibly put me on a re-steal. He also bet enough where I am going to have to shove or fold and he is committed to calling anything. In the end, I decided that I was either way behind or a coin flip. I didn't want to risk my entire stack on a flip, so I folded.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349670

The next orbit, I am dealt QQ on the button. Blinds 2k/4k. I have 93k. A player in mid-position makes it 12k (3xBB), Duecebuster raises to 39k. I am pretty sure that mid-position is on a steal. I almost folded, but ultimately decided to shove because Deucebuster had been so active with steals and re-steals. I knew that AA and KK were possible, but felt like is range was pretty wide. I shoved and he insta-called with AA. Anyone fold this against this player this late in the tourney? I don't think a case could be made for flat calling preflop because there is 61k in the pot by the time it gets to me. If I flat call, the pot becomes 100k and I only have 54k behind. I am really interested on other thoughts on the hand. I think that I would have folded this hand in this spot against a lot of other players.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349669

The FTOPS starts tonight with Event #1 $216 buy-in $500k Guarantee. I took a break from the cash games last night and signed up for the $55 Super Sat to FTOPS #1 (guaranteeing 100 seats). It took the place of the regular nightly $50/$50k on FTP. I had read on Hoy's blog about how the FTOPS #1 $11 turbo rebuy at 9:50 was a great value because a lot of the players don't rebuy and bust out before the end of the rebuy period, so I signed up for that satellite also.

I won my entry in Event #1 in both of the satellites. The 2nd entry paid $216 cash.

I jumped out to a big stack early in the $11 rebuy and bounced up and down as we got near the bubble, until the following hand came up. Blinds huge. One limper to my right. I shove with JJ (barley having him covered) he instantly calls with K9s. I'm not sure WTF he was thinking. The blinds were high, but that was a horrible play in so many ways - the limp, the overcall, etc. I felt good when I flopped a set. That feeling quickly went away when the turn brought him a flush draw. The river was a beautiful Jack - DEM QUADS BITCHES!!!!!!!

DQB


I took a chance late in the $55 super sat. I had a below average stack with about 280 players remaining (150 seats). A player in middle position (he had been raising almost every hand, but still had a little less than average stack) made it 3 times the BB. I shoved with 99 on the button. He had to call a little more than double his bet, but making the call would leave him around 5 Big Blinds. He instantly called with KQs. My nines held up. I coasted from there without any danger of not winning a 2nd seat.



Good Luck to everyone that is playing in the FTOPS tonight!!!

I am planning on playing a few of the FTOPS V tourneys. I can't usually play during the days on the weekend, so a few of the events are out.

It looks like the NL Holdem (without rebuys) tourneys bookend the schedule. The middle of the schedule seems like it needs a NL tourney. A few of the rebuy events could get extremely pricey and are definitely out of the limits that I would be willing to play. I think I would need to go into a $300 6 max rebuy with at least 8-10 buyins ($2,400 to $3,000). It will be interesting to see how weak some of the rebuy fields are though. FTP is running satellites to the rebuy events and satellites that get you into all the events. The only problem is, a lot of the players don't have the bankrolls for the rebuys. They are going to be dead money and the good rebuy players will tear them apart.

I will probably try to play the following events:

Event #1 - $216 NL - $500k guarantee
Event #3 - $216 PL - $200k guarantee
Event #7 - $1,060 NL 6 Max - $1M guarantee
Event #12 - $2,620 NL 2 day event - $600k guarantee
Main Event - $535 NL - $2M guarantee

I played a couple of satellites last night. I bubbled the $26 Event #1 satellite for around $80. I did manage to win my way into the 2nd biggest buy-in FTOPS event (Event #7 - $1,060 6 Max) by winning a $26 turbo to a $163 turbo. The $163 turbo gave away 3 seats and I managed to get one of those seats. I may try to win another seat to Event #7 since they give you cash for additional wins.



On big complaint that I have about the FTOPS is that they aren't running very many satellites to their biggest buy-in tourney (Event #12 - $2,620 NL 2 day event - $600k guarantee). The only satellite currently on the schedule is a $216 satellite the night before. The really need to add a few more.

I felt like I was in a zone when I played the FTOPS #8 PL Holdem tourney. You know that feeling - when you are making the correct reads, are focused, and things are working for you. I played better in that tourney than any other that I have played in a while. I was disappointed with bubbling, but wouldn't have done anything different - sometimes things just work out that way. You can play great poker and not cash. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be happy with your play, especially if it builds your confidence and helps improve your play in later tourneys. The FTOPS #8 got me out of a MTT funk that I have been in lately.

Below are some of the key hands

Chipping Up

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110308 - The guy in Seat 4 had chipped up from a few fortunate spots. He flopped sets twice and had people betting into him each time. In the last two orbits he was raising way way way too much for his own good. Basically, if someone checked to him he would bet and usually fold to a re-raise. He had always raised ANY pair preflop. I felt like his preflop call was an attempt to steal the pot on a later street, because he was raising with probably the top 50% of hands preflop. The flop was pretty good for 66 (only 1 over). His flat call fit his pattern. He would have raised me on the flop if he had a Queen. He had been flat calling and then leading out big on the turn to win several uncontested pots. I called the turn figuring I was probably good. Another Queen came on the river and he insta-shoved. IMO, there was no way that he had a Queen. He was going to try and get some value for a Queen. My guess was that he had an Ace for a missed straight draw. I thought and thought and finally I couldn't put him on anything that beat me. I made the crying call feeling like I was good. Weeeeee!!! Talk about a confidence builder.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110312 - The very next hand (perfect timing), I was dealt QQ and raised UTG. The same guy was steaming and re-raised me. I shoved hoping he would call with something like a weak Jack.

Imperium's Table

I was moved to a table with Imper1um . I hadn't played much with him, but knew that he had been on fire this year - ranked #4 on P5s and probably playing better than anyone out there right now. I decided to try to avoid pots with him since we were the two big stacks at the table. All the while, I was watching him play - trying to pick up any patterns and learn anything that I could from his play.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110359 - This hand came up after a few orbits. I was dealt JJ and raised to 450 UTG+1. With the way that he had been playing, I figured that his flat call with position on me didn't necessarily mean a strong hand. I think he was probably re-raising me preflop with a wide range. The flop came Ks10s6h. I decided not to lead out. My hand couldn't handle a big re-raise on that flop and he was liable to re-raise with air. I wanted to see how strong he was here. I felt like he would bet big if he had a King, a set or a big flush draw. He bet 780 into a 1,140 pot. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but decided to flat call and see how he reacts on the turn. My thinking was that a flat call would tell him that I had at least a decent hand and would probably slow him down. The turn paired the board and brought a three flush. I checked again and he bet 1,920 into a 2,700 pot. I called since I had the Js and really felt like I was good here. I could re-evaluate things again on the river. The river was a blank. In his eyes my hand had to look really strong to him, so I checked to him. He checked behind with 22 and I won a nice pot. I would have played this differently against most players, but I felt like I could give him control of the hand to keep the pot smaller while still gaining enough information to decide how to proceed in the hand.

I think that hand also helped to keep him out of later pots with me. I knew that if he got involved in another large pot with me, I was probably going to be behind (unless I had a huge hand) since I had shown I was willing to call him down with an underpair on a scary board. I also figured I would be able to make some re-steals from him after that hand because of how I had played the Jacks and he would have to respect my stack.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110401 - I wasn't involved in this hand, but I think it shows that Imper1um gets a lot of action because of people getting frustrated with his LAG style. He had been raising so much that when he raised from the button and the SB re-raised, he felt like he was probably ahead with 77. I was amazed that he was willing to put so many chips at risk with the blinds so low with a mediocre hand. I thought about this hand for a while. It shows why he WINS so many tourneys. He isn't afraid to go with his reads and get all the chips in even if he thinks he is only a slight favorite.

DQB

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110439 - No real explanation needed here. I was the big stack at the table and was raising a lot of hands preflop. Perfect flop and let the other guy hang himself.

Too Many outs if I'm even behind

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110491 - Hand pretty much played itself against a small stack.

My Demise

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110540 - Unlucky for a 10k swing approaching the bubble.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110558 - Timely re-steal on the bubble against a button steal. I obviously have to shut down if I get called or re-raised.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110563 - I posted about this hand previously. The case could be made for laying down 1010 and leaving myself with 17k. I went with the shove because it looked like a complete re-steal from the big stack on the bubble in the big blind. He had been raising almost every hand on the bubble. He called and if my hand had held up I would have been top 10 in chips as we entered the money.

Looking back on the tourney I can't complain about a thing. Sometimes it takes a tourney like this to help kick start things again.

I worked it out with my wife to play a few Sunday tourneys since I had qualified for the WSOP 2 seat freeroll that started at 4:30. I managed to do OK in all three tourneys that I played but was a little frustrated with the results, especially in the 2 seat freeroll. (I also played the Blogger Big Game and went out with AKs vs. 22.)

My results for the 3 Sunday tourneys that I played are as follows:
(I actually played 4 - didn't do too well in the Blogger Big Game.)

FTOPS Main Event - 215th out of 3,798 for $1,234 (Hoyazo finished around 100th - nice work Hoy!!! I know you are feeling that frustration as well, but great showing.)


Pokerstars Sunday Million with $250k added - 632nd out of 10,894 for $725. (I was so punchy last night after watching the kids all morning and playing all day that I actually thought I had won more in the Sunday Million.)



and the one that really hurt....

FTP - WSOP 2 seat Freeroll - 6th out of 193 (2 seats paid). This really hurt because I was pretty much a dominating chip leader from about 100 players until about 12 players. I went out with KJ vs. AJ on a Jack high flop with 2 spades on board.




I'll try to go through the hand histories of these and FTOPS #8 (the one I bubbled) and post some of the one more interesting hands. I had Imperium (the eventual winner of FTOPS #8) at my table for a little while in that event. It was educational watching him play.

I felt like I played great Friday night (FTOPS #8) and yesterday. I am happy with my results, but wish a few things here and there had fallen differently.

FTOPS #8 PL Holdem - 153 places paid

Nothing like going from this (8 out of 261)....

To this (154th- paying 153)......

Thanks to losing to a two outer and then losing the better side of a race to what looked like the big stack pushing around the table on the bubble.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110540 - 99 loses to 88 all in preflop.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1110563 - Looked like a re-steal by the big stack on the bubble. I was happy when he flipped up his hand.....at least until the turn. If I knew what he had, I would take my chances there to get a big stack. I really thought he could have any 2 there and I was ahead because it was the literal bubble and he had a monster stack. I'm sure a lot of people out there will make the case for folding, but I wasn't trying to eek into the money and I think I am ahead way more often than I am behind there.

I'll post the good hands that I saved some time in the next few days. Tournament poker is fun.