Got your outs, now you're out

I'm so competitive. Ask anyone that knows me well. Tonight I was close to the final table, and could easily have seen my way there if I had not played this one hand. I'd definitely play it again, though.

£5 rebuy. 137 entrants. Not sure how many rebuys there were or what the prize money was.

3 tables left, approx. 21 people, blinds at 700/1500. I get moved to another table, and I'm to the right of the dealer. 3 limpers. I have A-10os and raise to 4500. All but the man on my right fold.

Flop: 9-J-4. He checks, I bet 3000, he calls.

Turn: Q. Board now reads 9-J-4-Q, Rainbow. He half-sighs and goes all in for 9000 more. I'm going for the straight. I am drawing to 4 8's, and 4 Kings, so I have 8 outs. I decide to go for it and call, putting me all-in. He turns over K-J, the river is a 6 and I'm out.

Knowing now that he had the K-J, I was drawing to 4 8s, 3 Kings and 3 aces, giving me 10 outs. I think I was unlucky not to hit. I had a 22.7% chance to win. I think that's a fine way to go out, but of course I'm pissed I didn't make the money again!

Lesson Learned

Yesterday's £30 freezeout, 86 runners, I came 5th for £155. Ding!

Premature departure!

The other day, Aaron (bullett007) told me that my biggest weakness is the amount of times I go all in. I more or less brushed it off, but today in the £5 rebuy at the Gutshot I realised he was right.

I crashed out of this tournament 2 hours into it. Blinds were 100-200, I had around 2,200 Chips, and was the BB. 9-man table, approx. 5 people limped in, I looked down to find AJh and decided I'd try and steal the pot, on the premise that if someone called i'd probably have two overcards over them. I thought if someone called they probably have an ace with a low kicker.

2 callers, who flip over K-K and AJd. KK wins and knocks us both out. Now, yes it was unfortunate he had KK, but I did not need to jeopardize all my chips with AJ. A hard lesson learned. Although my all-in shenanigans in such positions usually pay off, I think it wasn't the right thing to do in this position. I'll be thinking about this hand for a while.

When you just know...

Has anyone ever had that feeling of turning upto a table and knowing you have them all beat regardless, knowing you will win the tournament.

Yesterday was that day for me, I came, I played and boy did I conquer, took two people out in the first 5 mins, then my wrath envisioned against two more people, my wrath taking them out alone. Chip leader. and two more go but not of my hand, and we're down to four. More aggressive play, huge raises, dealt pocket dueces preflop, I raise 500, another goes all-in and I instantly fold.

Turning hand, hole cards KJ, boards flops like this, 56Kh, 5c, Jh one man follows me all the way, he types "be careful" I don't put him ahead on anything, his betting had been consistent. I put him all in and he calls, 4,3 off suit, none of them hearts, I dodge the silver bullet and I'm over10k in chips. I leave the other two to battle it amongst themselves, I occasionally raise but they fold to the pressure, not wanting to fight back against the big stack (always a bad move) 5 more mins later I have the game wrapped up.

Winner, don't know how I knew but just did. Boy I was on fire last night.

I'm wanting to put this to the test at the Gutshot, but must find some spare time first to do it.

-Fig-

The Chocolate Rocky Road of Success

So, Easing myself back into the swing of things, 2 to 1 in wins, ok so it was a 1x1 and $1 tourney, special thanks to my brother for giving me some tips when I was the small stack with five people left, made it to third via a miracle folding by the large stack 11,000 in chips (folded instead of checked I was all in at this point, 300 in chips), forced the new short stack off in blinds. Think he had a grudge against him or something.

Was playing a 0.10c yesterday and owning the table, however got caught, ruined me, (BB) I had K, 2 (flop) K, 2, 3 (I raise etc.) turn 3, river 5, now I still figure I'm ahead at this point, one person following me all the way. turn comes down, I know he doesn't have a striaght but he goes all-in. I call, Shows me Aces, Somedays you just can't escape. Worst part, (apart from not folding that hand, I previously had Aces twice.) Now you ask about tells, This guy gave nothing away, he raised me once on the turn, all in at the river, thought fishing for trips, no action before then. Any analysis of the play would be good.

Still broke but planning my next move onto the poker scene, I seem to play better when I have absoultly nothing to worry about, no time restrictions etc.. When I know I can be in for the long grind if i have to.

Got a right B******ing for prefering to see the last Dr Who episode over going to play in a tourney this saturday, before anyone says anything about priorities and video recorders, last time I trusted some one to record it, on a supposed new tape (I still think this tape was from pound land or new as in 5yrs old new) I got a bad recording. Not impressed, no chances this time, and yes I'm in to Star trek as well, but not that crap they call Enterprise. anyway off on a tangent.

Still.. I guess when you play the game for enjoyment you don't really prioritise winning or staying in. Guess thats the first problem. I hear James is doing well and has made himself somewhat of a name down at the Gutshot. Ask for Mr. Banks (LOL) just kidding.

Anyway at work so I am going to get back to some, just thought I should write something up since no one else seems to use this blog often.

-Fig-

Now that's what I call value!

Just got back from tonight's £5 tournament at the gutshot. They opened the cage late, so when I got there and a nice & early 7.10 PM (8pm start) to register, the queue was going all the way from the lower level, up the stairs and out the door. I ended up being the 7th alternate, and had to wait 55 minutes to sit down. 2 hands before the end of the rebuy period. This saw me call the BB, fold to someone else's all-in, then fold the next hand, then buy a top-up to start after the break with 950 chips.

Blinds now 50/100. Didn't double up for a while, and boy was I mighty frustrated. At one point I was dealt AA, limped in, someone raised 400, only I called. Flop: A-J-8. He checked. I feigned weakness, then went all in. I was in two minds; I realise this was the wrong play if I wanted to get maximum value from my trip aces, but at the same time I didn't want to get them cracked by possibly letting him draw to a straight, so I wanted to end it there and then, one way or another.

A few rounds later and I'm the BB. UTG raises to 500, everyone folds to me. I have QJos and think about it for a while. I think to myself: "raising a third of his chips UTG, he must have at least one high card. If he has KQ I'm screwed." After some deliberation I decided that considering the amount of chips I had I should call, which I did. A3d VS QhJc. I hit a Jack on the flop, and ended up with a Queen high flush.

Later I'm moved to another table with new compadre from my table. We are surrounded by big stacks, which makes me happy. There's nothing I love more then pressurising big stacks with a smaller stack. Wanna take my chips? I'm all in.

After some to'ing and fro'ing, I have 1900 chips left at the second break. The guy to my right had the biggest stack at the table. He doesn't return to the table. Basically, he told his wife he'd be home by 9, and at the time it was 11, so he went home!!! Unbelieveable. Where are your priorities man?? Your chips have way more value than your other half. Just lie to her. Tell her you witnessed a car accident, or you fell asleep in the toilet of a pub. Anything.

First hand after the break, I'm UTG and find AQc. I raise all in, and look around the room like I'm following a fly. My compadre next to me decides I've got next to nothing and also raises all-in. Another guy calls our all ins. Then another one does. Then another one calls and is also all in. The two not all in check all the way down.

Now, I don't exactly remember what the cards on the table were but the guy next to me won with 10-9c, He made a full house. The other guys had 10-10, next guy didn't show, and the other guy had A-A (cracked, no less). Was quite an entertaining hand to watch, everyone thought they had one at the end of it, yet the least likely hand to win got the best of it. Good luck to him.

Unless I play the £10 on Friday, I won't be doing another live tournament until next Tuesday, as I'm shooting a wedding all weekend. See you then.

Bad Beats and Downturns

So, There I am Mr. Final 'bloody' table at last, came 7th and my name mis-spelt on the website for the effort pfff.

I should be eliated, Went back on to VCPoker and I should be in the zone. But I just can't seem to get back in the money anymore. I'm reduced to heads up tournaments for $0.20 just to build the account back up. I know, I know, far from the days of $10 wins (at least I cashed out eh). At least I don't spend much each month then there would be problems. I've been trying to work out where my game has gone wrong, and I'm probably getting involved in too many pots (jc 5c what am I thinking?) as well as not giving myself time to play properly, $3 tables are viciously long.

James is right, and I should know this and keep telling myself this, doesn't mater if I held Deuces and the flop is K, Q, A and heavy betting ensues with the final two cards deuces. I am and always will be playing the first five cards in this game, thats where its easy to escape with minimal losses.

I can only hope I take this time till my next deposit to reflect on my mistakes, the irony being I can tell my mate where he's going wrong and when to be more aggresive to win. He's doing pretty well. (Bit like when I taught my brother to play chess, can I beat him now, nope) I still see glimmers of my former self online, people fold when I raise aggressivly, fearing I hold the nuts, rags is all I have.

Anyway I hope to post a more upbeat posting soon, just thought this blog needed some of the bad beat stories as well. At least mercury is out of retrograde.

-Fig-

Chip and a chair

So, high off last Sunday's in-the-money placing, I decided to have a crack at tonight's £50 freezeout. Started with 2500 chips.

First hand I play in, I get dealt AQos. I raise 200 pre-flop, one call.

Flop: J 4 3

I bet 500, he raises 1000, I fold. I don't usually do such bets, and I felt out of my depth as soon as he reached for his chips with that one. Oops. Next hand I play, I am dealt 4-5 suited. 5 players limp-in.

Flop: K-6-7. Someone bets 200, everyone folds, I call.

Turn: 4. I bet 500. He calls.

River: A. I go all-in. He thinks about it for a long time, then calls. I have a pair of 4s, he has a pair of Kings.


25 minutes into the tournament, and I have 25 chips left. That's one yellow chip.

Just as the cards are about to be dealt for the next hand, I get moved to another table. "Watch out, here comes the chip leader!" the gutshot member of staff cries, to our amusement. I sit at the table, tell them to prepare for domination, then slam my one yellow chip on the table.

I get dealt 10-9 offsuit. I should have called with my 25 (blinds currently 50-100). But I folded because they were offsuit. As if I had the chance to be picky.

I would have made the straight on the flop. Anyway, next hand I'm dealt K-7h and go all-in with my 25. Two calls.

Flop: K-Q-7

HOORAY! I can win a total of 75 chips, and next round I'm BB. The current SB bets 200, and the BB folds. Showdown! I show my shiny K-7, and he shows his shinier K-Q. "Oh now that's a bad beat, unlucky mate" the other players cry.

The dream is over!

I think for the moment, I'll stay with the £30 tables as a max. I'm totally not ready for the £50 tournament level. I had no idea if I was making the right moves or plays, or anything. I shall have to ask the TPF'ers about the 4-5suited hand.


.....Actually, I've read over what I have written in the preview feature, and I realise why I did what I did, and why I had no idea what was going on around me. It's because these actions are what I would have done if I were playing a $5 or $10 tournie on VCPoker. It seems I have to make some kind of mental boundary separating online play behaviorour(s) and live ones, because the two are very different.

Another lesson learned, even if a costly one! I shall cash out £50 from my online poker acount to recouperate my losses.

I hate losing.

Just when things were looking bleak...

...I've finally broken out of my bad streak. I went about 2 months without a 1st place win, but in the recent week, I've taken home 4 1st place wins. I tried everything from MTTs, to Specials, to STTs and my luck was just not changing at all. I could finish in the money almost everytime (2nd-5th depending on table totals), but I just couldn't win no matter what I did. I looked at my heads-up hand history to look for loop holes and while there were a couple bad plays here and there, my heads-up game was/is relatively solid. Anyways, I took a few days off to read a bit and look into some more advanced tournament strategy and decided to try them out. I guess it worked.


Game Type : Texas Holdem
Buy-In : $10
Fee : $1
You finished in position 1
1st place - BrazenSix - $50
2nd place - DETHROWE - $30
3rd place - mike020466 - $20

On Table : Table 17602
Game Type : Texas Holdem
Buy-In : $10
Fee : $1
You finished in position 1
1st place - BrazenSix - $50
2nd place - JBonus1 - $30
3rd place - bstelly - $20

On Table : Table 35326
Game Type : Texas Holdem
Buy-In : $10
Fee : $1
You finished in position 1
1st place - BrazenSix - $50
2nd place - cincbus - $30
3rd place - Mel3173 - $20

On Table : Table 35331
Game Type : Texas Holdem
Buy-In : $10
Fee : $1
You finished in position 1
1st place - BrazenSix - $50
2nd place - capone9876 - $30
3rd place - sdgolferace3 - $20


Oh, and the damn casino near me decided to reduce the NL tournaments to a STT, 11 players and you can only register in person for them the week of. It's about 1.5 hour drive from me, so I can't even get into them anymore. Damn them.

On a happier note, the Canadian Poker Tour is coming to the casino on July 13th, in roughly a month. Wish me luck.