So far 2010 has been a rather dismal year, but not much different from 2009. I decided to make my way on down to Harrah’s New Orleans for their last nightly event of the Bayou Poker Challenge. The buy-in was $ 235 with 7k in starting chips & 20 minute levels.
After late registration ended, we now have a whopping fifteen (15) players show up for the tournament & we are playing for a total prize pool of $ 2,970 which will pay the top 3 places. We began the tournament playing three 5-handed tables with dead stacks of money posting blinds, until we got down to 12 handed play. The first significant hand that I get involved in is in level 3 where the blinds are 75/150, I am under the gun (utg) & look down at JJ. I raise to 375 & pick up 4 callers. The flop comes out K-4-8 rainbow. I immediately decide to make a continuation bet of about 2/3 the pot which was about 1,000, not only for value, but to see where I am at with one over on the board. Two players fold around to the villain in late position who has been getting hit in the face with the deck & he decides to flat my C-bet. The turn is a harmless 9 & once again I bet about 2/3 of the pot. The villain decides to tank for a few minutes but then eventually folds.
A few orbits later we make it down to the final 9 players & the tournament director has us redraw for seat positions to begin play after the break 9 handed. The first hand back from the break the blinds are at 150/300 & I have about 15k out of a 7k starting stack remaining behind. I look down at JJ & from under the gun I decide to raise to about 1200. I make a slightly larger raise since I have an ulta-aggressive donkey to my immediate left with a healthy stack. The donkey inst-calls & the rest of the action folds to the small blind who also decides to flat my pre-flop raise so we see a flop of K-J-3 three handed. What a gin flop! I flopped middle set & I know by change in my opponents posture & physical mannerisms that he had definitely caught a piece of that flop. So instead of trying to trap, I decide to lead out for about 2/3 the pot which is instantly re-raised by the villain to my left which forces the sb out of the pot. I decide to flat, keep him pot committed on the turn, & shove the river. The turn comes out a blank & I do decide to make another C-bet. My opponent doesn’t blink. At this point I am putting him on top pair with a good kicker. I can’t remember what the river came, but I did shove, the villain snap called, I announced that I had a set, turned over my JJ & the villain angrily threw his cards at the dealer then went on life tilt. It was a great feeling to get the money in with the best hand & not be out drawn.
I was now the chip leader & throughout the rest of the tournament it was not a lead I would ever relinquish. Several orbits later in level 8 the blinds were 300/600/75. From middle position facing at least two limpers I look down at QQ. I take my time before announcing raise, which I did to 2,150. The same guy who I had crushed several orbits later immediately announces “All In”. I ask the dealer for a count. The dealer lets me know that he has approximately 10k left & I have about 35k behind. I announce “I call”. The villain sheepishly turns over 55 & is in complete disgust when I turn over QQ. The board bricks, neither of us improve & he is eliminated in 9th place. Several eliminations later we were down to 4 handed play. This was the first time I had actually gotten my money in bad during the entire tournament. I had about 60k behind & it was going to cost me 12k at blind levels of 600/1200/200. After I had raised from the small blind the gentlemen who had shoved has been falling asleep in between hands. We were AIPF. My opponent tables A6x vs my A4x. The flop comes 4-2-2 with a brick on the turn & the river. I congratulate him & decided to do a $100 save for fourth place.
We are now down to 3 handed play & after so graciously putting the save in we decide to chop. At this point if we play it out I only win 100 more than if we end it right there. So I did, even though I had about 65% of the chips in play. The win was good for $ 1,330 & I did tip the staff $ 130 which was 10% of my winnings. It felt good to win & I am sure this won’t be my last.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Harrah's New Orleans Bayou Poker Challage 5k Main Event
Today marks day 1 of Harrah’s New Orleans Bayou Poker Challenge WSOP Circuit 5k Main Event. The event attracted 156 players, some earning entry via satellite & with the remaining entrants buying in directly for the $ 5,150 entry fee. Today the players will complete 9 levels of play & play will conclude at 2 am CST.
Tournament director Steve Frezer & his staff have done a phenomenal job in providing player friendly structures which allow players to methodically chip up instead of turning into what would resemble an online shove fest in the late stages of the tournament where players have no option but to re-raise all-in or fold pre-flop because the blind to chip ratio is so high. Players will begin with 22k in tournament chips which is approximately 440 big blinds deep with 75 minute levels. The top 18 finishers, which is just over 10% of the field, will be competing for the massive prize pool of $ 750,000. The winner of this event will receive a gold ring & an entry into the WSOP Main Event this summer in Las Vegas Nevada.
Today I had my first chance to talk to Dwyte Pilgrim who is quite arguably the hottest player on the live tournament poker circuit. Currently ranked 3rd in the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year standings, Dwyte is always 24 hours from greatness. One opportunity after another arises in his world. It’s a shot in the dark. He has an unbelievable work ethic & is obviously loaded with natural talent. Look for him to make some noise this summer as he continues his run toward poker immortality.
For most of the day I sat on the rail behind a table that included Dan “Thunder” Walsh, TK Miles, & Eric “Lafayette” Cloutier. It didn’t take long before a few big hands developed within the early stages of this tournament. Fresh off the first break within a few hands in the early stages of level 3, the blinds are at 75/150 & Dan Walsh raises to 600. Small blind & big blind fold & the Green Bay donkey in seat 7 flats Walsh’s pre-flop raise. They see a flop of A-K-2 rainbow. The donkey leads out & ships 5k into a pot of only approximately 1,425. Dan snap calls all-in & tables 22 for a set of deuces vs the villains AQ which was top pair with a Q kicker. The board ends up running out A-K-2-J-A. Dan Walsh doubles up. The rest of the table including TK Miles was pretty quiet for the most part with the exception of Eric Cloutier. Eric is quite a colorful character full of energy & brings a lot of action to the table. Look for these three to make it relatively deep into this event.
Mid-way through level four, I decide to go grab a bite to eat & scope out the cash game action in the poker room. During tournament events the cash game action just gets to be completely insane. People are dying to give their money away. It is definitely a grinder’s paradise.
I would also like to thank Mr. Nolan Dalla for all of his advice & insight. He is truly a great man & it was an honor to meet him. I surely hope most of this makes sense as this is my first blog on a tournament in which I was not involved in. This makes me respect guys such as Nolan Dalla & Bryan Heptinstall who tirelessly provide the coverage for these events year around.
Tournament director Steve Frezer & his staff have done a phenomenal job in providing player friendly structures which allow players to methodically chip up instead of turning into what would resemble an online shove fest in the late stages of the tournament where players have no option but to re-raise all-in or fold pre-flop because the blind to chip ratio is so high. Players will begin with 22k in tournament chips which is approximately 440 big blinds deep with 75 minute levels. The top 18 finishers, which is just over 10% of the field, will be competing for the massive prize pool of $ 750,000. The winner of this event will receive a gold ring & an entry into the WSOP Main Event this summer in Las Vegas Nevada.
Today I had my first chance to talk to Dwyte Pilgrim who is quite arguably the hottest player on the live tournament poker circuit. Currently ranked 3rd in the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year standings, Dwyte is always 24 hours from greatness. One opportunity after another arises in his world. It’s a shot in the dark. He has an unbelievable work ethic & is obviously loaded with natural talent. Look for him to make some noise this summer as he continues his run toward poker immortality.
For most of the day I sat on the rail behind a table that included Dan “Thunder” Walsh, TK Miles, & Eric “Lafayette” Cloutier. It didn’t take long before a few big hands developed within the early stages of this tournament. Fresh off the first break within a few hands in the early stages of level 3, the blinds are at 75/150 & Dan Walsh raises to 600. Small blind & big blind fold & the Green Bay donkey in seat 7 flats Walsh’s pre-flop raise. They see a flop of A-K-2 rainbow. The donkey leads out & ships 5k into a pot of only approximately 1,425. Dan snap calls all-in & tables 22 for a set of deuces vs the villains AQ which was top pair with a Q kicker. The board ends up running out A-K-2-J-A. Dan Walsh doubles up. The rest of the table including TK Miles was pretty quiet for the most part with the exception of Eric Cloutier. Eric is quite a colorful character full of energy & brings a lot of action to the table. Look for these three to make it relatively deep into this event.
Mid-way through level four, I decide to go grab a bite to eat & scope out the cash game action in the poker room. During tournament events the cash game action just gets to be completely insane. People are dying to give their money away. It is definitely a grinder’s paradise.
I would also like to thank Mr. Nolan Dalla for all of his advice & insight. He is truly a great man & it was an honor to meet him. I surely hope most of this makes sense as this is my first blog on a tournament in which I was not involved in. This makes me respect guys such as Nolan Dalla & Bryan Heptinstall who tirelessly provide the coverage for these events year around.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Mini-FTOPS Event 22
I played in a 6 max no-limit hold-em tournament today which yielded 8,858 runners when late registration ended. These online tournaments are just insane with the number of players they produce as well as the prize pools. The super stack tournaments have great structures starting with 250 bb’s & longer than usual levels, which eventually allows you to be quite patient to chip up methodically instead of creating a shove-fest after the first several hours. Today’s tournament was a mini-ftops event with a $22 dollar buy-in. The prize pool was guaranteed at $ 300,000, which even with the slightly top heavy pay outs, a deep run would yield a nice return on investment. A final table appearance is guaranteed at least $ 4,200 for 6th place & 1st is paying slightly above $ 32,000. The biggest task ahead is attempting to fade a donkey infested field & invest somewhere in the range of 4 hours to at least to make the money. This is usually quite a daunting task, but with the structure being so deep it is quite attainable.
Obviously playing 6 max will dramatically change the initial table dynamics in a tournament as compared to full ring. Starting with fewer players initially will leave more unknown cards in the deck thus making drawing hands less difficult to play as compared to pocket pairs. In the early stages of these types of tournaments, I attempt to set my table image as well as try to gather as much information on the players as I can. I generally play very tight aggressive which ultimately allows me to make moves in critical positions that help me methodically chip up, kind of a small ball approach.
First significant hand comes in level 12. The blinds are 140/280/25 & I look down at KK in the big blind. Sitting at an aggressive table I guess you can’t ask for a better spot to pick to increase your stack. With an aggressive Russian behind me, I am almost certain to be facing a pre-flop raise here & I intend on flatting it unless we are in a multi-way pot. I have 7,460 behind & I get my wish when the ultra aggressive Russian donkey on the button (OTB) raises the pot to 840 with 9,360 behind. The small blind folds, I flat his pre-flop raise & we see a flop of 8-7-3 rainbow. This is a great flop for me & out of position with the over-pair I decide to check with the intention of re-raising if the villain took a stab at the pot, he decides to check behind. At this point I am putting my opponent on something like AK-AJ or maybe a medium pair. The turn comes a 6 of spades, which puts two spades on the board. I can’t check any longer & decide to lead out for 750 into a pot of 1995, which is just under a third of the pot. The villain decides to flat the bet on the turn seemingly looking for what could be at best a 3 outer for the ace or maybe only a 2 outer to hit his under-pair. The river produces a J of diamonds, another blank in my mind & at this point we have a pretty sizable pot of 3495 in which I decide to make a value bet on the river of 1400. If my read is somewhat close, I think that this bet will pay me off & take this donkey to value town. The villain thinks for a moment then folds & I take down a pretty nice pot of just under 3500 which at this stage is just over 14 big blinds. I now have just over 9,600 which is equivalent to just over 34 big blinds.
I continue along with a healthy stack & continue to pick up the blinds & antes a little bit over once an orbit as well as take in a few small pots. Then a few levels later I reach a pivotal point in the tournament for me in level 14. The blinds are 200/400/50 with levels lasting 12 minutes. I have 10,700 behind & on the button look down at QJxx. This is not particularly a monster but versus this tables range it looks like pocket aces. The action folds around to me on the button I make it 950 to go. This is a play that I believe works more than 50% of the time that will take down blinds & antes provided that the big blind does not wake up with a hand. Very rarely will you face a 3 bet in this situation at this level of play. The small blind folds & the big blind quickly flats my raise. We see a flop of K-J-7 rainbow. The villain pre-flop had about 7,000 after posting his bb. Out of position he checks the flop to me & I decide to check behind to maintain control of the pot. The turn comes out a 6 of diamonds, putting two diamonds out there. I decide to lead out for 1,300 & the villain insta-ships his remaining stack of almost 7,000. Now I know this guy could just be spewing his stack away with something very marginal like K8 or could have had me crushed with something like two pair or QQ/AK. I think for a second,& then fold because I am not at the stage to risk that many chips on such a marginal hand.
I still have a healthy stack of 8,450 & will live to fight another day. So the blind levels are increasing & I feel comfortable with my style of play so far. Then I go absolutely card dead & several huge aggressive euro donkeys’ get moved to the table, with the largest stack to my immediate left. Every time I raised I got 4x over the top 3 betted & would eventually lead to my ultimate demise. My stack wasn’t large enough to 4 bet him, so I would continue to get blinded down until I was AIPF on my big blind in level 17. The blinds were 400/800/100. I am in the big blind, AIPF with AJxx. The table folds around to the small blind & he calls with 87xx. The great news is I have the best hand with ace high & we both have spades. The board runs out Q-5-2-8-K, & I am out in 1614th place. I know I made a few mistakes, but this is just getting to the point of being so sick that I cannot even explain. I know I will live to fight another day, but I have to get back to playing live poker. This internet shit is going to cause me to die from either a stroke or heart-attack. I will keep my head up though & keep grinding.
Obviously playing 6 max will dramatically change the initial table dynamics in a tournament as compared to full ring. Starting with fewer players initially will leave more unknown cards in the deck thus making drawing hands less difficult to play as compared to pocket pairs. In the early stages of these types of tournaments, I attempt to set my table image as well as try to gather as much information on the players as I can. I generally play very tight aggressive which ultimately allows me to make moves in critical positions that help me methodically chip up, kind of a small ball approach.
First significant hand comes in level 12. The blinds are 140/280/25 & I look down at KK in the big blind. Sitting at an aggressive table I guess you can’t ask for a better spot to pick to increase your stack. With an aggressive Russian behind me, I am almost certain to be facing a pre-flop raise here & I intend on flatting it unless we are in a multi-way pot. I have 7,460 behind & I get my wish when the ultra aggressive Russian donkey on the button (OTB) raises the pot to 840 with 9,360 behind. The small blind folds, I flat his pre-flop raise & we see a flop of 8-7-3 rainbow. This is a great flop for me & out of position with the over-pair I decide to check with the intention of re-raising if the villain took a stab at the pot, he decides to check behind. At this point I am putting my opponent on something like AK-AJ or maybe a medium pair. The turn comes a 6 of spades, which puts two spades on the board. I can’t check any longer & decide to lead out for 750 into a pot of 1995, which is just under a third of the pot. The villain decides to flat the bet on the turn seemingly looking for what could be at best a 3 outer for the ace or maybe only a 2 outer to hit his under-pair. The river produces a J of diamonds, another blank in my mind & at this point we have a pretty sizable pot of 3495 in which I decide to make a value bet on the river of 1400. If my read is somewhat close, I think that this bet will pay me off & take this donkey to value town. The villain thinks for a moment then folds & I take down a pretty nice pot of just under 3500 which at this stage is just over 14 big blinds. I now have just over 9,600 which is equivalent to just over 34 big blinds.
I continue along with a healthy stack & continue to pick up the blinds & antes a little bit over once an orbit as well as take in a few small pots. Then a few levels later I reach a pivotal point in the tournament for me in level 14. The blinds are 200/400/50 with levels lasting 12 minutes. I have 10,700 behind & on the button look down at QJxx. This is not particularly a monster but versus this tables range it looks like pocket aces. The action folds around to me on the button I make it 950 to go. This is a play that I believe works more than 50% of the time that will take down blinds & antes provided that the big blind does not wake up with a hand. Very rarely will you face a 3 bet in this situation at this level of play. The small blind folds & the big blind quickly flats my raise. We see a flop of K-J-7 rainbow. The villain pre-flop had about 7,000 after posting his bb. Out of position he checks the flop to me & I decide to check behind to maintain control of the pot. The turn comes out a 6 of diamonds, putting two diamonds out there. I decide to lead out for 1,300 & the villain insta-ships his remaining stack of almost 7,000. Now I know this guy could just be spewing his stack away with something very marginal like K8 or could have had me crushed with something like two pair or QQ/AK. I think for a second,& then fold because I am not at the stage to risk that many chips on such a marginal hand.
I still have a healthy stack of 8,450 & will live to fight another day. So the blind levels are increasing & I feel comfortable with my style of play so far. Then I go absolutely card dead & several huge aggressive euro donkeys’ get moved to the table, with the largest stack to my immediate left. Every time I raised I got 4x over the top 3 betted & would eventually lead to my ultimate demise. My stack wasn’t large enough to 4 bet him, so I would continue to get blinded down until I was AIPF on my big blind in level 17. The blinds were 400/800/100. I am in the big blind, AIPF with AJxx. The table folds around to the small blind & he calls with 87xx. The great news is I have the best hand with ace high & we both have spades. The board runs out Q-5-2-8-K, & I am out in 1614th place. I know I made a few mistakes, but this is just getting to the point of being so sick that I cannot even explain. I know I will live to fight another day, but I have to get back to playing live poker. This internet shit is going to cause me to die from either a stroke or heart-attack. I will keep my head up though & keep grinding.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
FTOPS # 28
It all started as a dream. I played in my first FTOPS event today on Full Tilt Poker. For some reason there is a psychological difference in respect toward money when you play online compared to live. But this all started off of a 150 FTP point 24 man sit-n-go that lead to the 3500 FTP point with 43 seats guaranteed. It was a turbo format with starting chip stacks @ 1500. This satellite started with 643 runners & I managed to finish in the top 43 earning me a seat in the 240+16 FTOPS Event # 28. 6-max no-limit hold-em, $1,000,000 guaranteed, final table guaranteed $ 12,500 with $ 191,000 to ship it. 4997 runners & pays top 492 with a $ 40 KO bounty.
First break @ 30/60 85 hands the first hour. First key mistake came in hand number 51 where I pick up KQss in the hijack position 6 max. UTG leads out for a 3x raise blinds @ 20/40 for 120. I re-raise in position to limit the completion and I get flatted by the original raiser. Flop comes 8-7-K with 2 hearts. He checks & I decide to bet 375 which is a little more than half of the pot of 620. Once again I think either he is flatting with at-least one heart in his hand looking to make some fireworks on the turn. I’m pretty comfortable that he has at-least a big Ace (A) like AQ or AJ, or a small pair that missed. Turn comes 6 hearts, which obviously slows down the action & he decides to check. To continue to maintain pot control in position I decide to check behind with the intention of making a value bet on the river if checked to me. Instead my opponent fails to check & leads out for 1000 which was approximately a pot size bet which should have set off the warning signs. The cash game mentality cost me some valuable chips early. I tank & eventually call . My opponent tables AK for top pair top kicker with the Ace of hearts.
This hand will not leave my memory for a while. In the cut-off I pick up 66, 166 hands deep into the tournament blinds @ 140/280/50. I bet the pot roughly 730. Button folds, SB & BB immediately shove. I have no choice but to fold. I watch the small blind table A9x vs AKx in the BB. I observe as the board of Q-6-4-9-9 is laid out. I feel so sick to my stomach, even-though I made the correct long-term play.
I have about 4400 behind, blinds at 170/340/25 in the BB I pick up A10x. It folds around to the CO that decides to raise me all-in. I snap call & he tables A3x. Looks like a good spot for a double up? Worse case a chop? Not even close when the board ran out 4-K-9-J-3. You have got to be fucking kidding me, out in 1634/4997. I played roughly for 2 hours & 45 minutes; booked 1 KO for $ 40; saw about 9% of my flops, took down about 85% of my pots won either pre or post flop. I played about as well as I could, just a little unfortunate for the deck to bail out my opponent with the ungodly 3 outer to unceremoniously end my run at greatness.
First break @ 30/60 85 hands the first hour. First key mistake came in hand number 51 where I pick up KQss in the hijack position 6 max. UTG leads out for a 3x raise blinds @ 20/40 for 120. I re-raise in position to limit the completion and I get flatted by the original raiser. Flop comes 8-7-K with 2 hearts. He checks & I decide to bet 375 which is a little more than half of the pot of 620. Once again I think either he is flatting with at-least one heart in his hand looking to make some fireworks on the turn. I’m pretty comfortable that he has at-least a big Ace (A) like AQ or AJ, or a small pair that missed. Turn comes 6 hearts, which obviously slows down the action & he decides to check. To continue to maintain pot control in position I decide to check behind with the intention of making a value bet on the river if checked to me. Instead my opponent fails to check & leads out for 1000 which was approximately a pot size bet which should have set off the warning signs. The cash game mentality cost me some valuable chips early. I tank & eventually call . My opponent tables AK for top pair top kicker with the Ace of hearts.
This hand will not leave my memory for a while. In the cut-off I pick up 66, 166 hands deep into the tournament blinds @ 140/280/50. I bet the pot roughly 730. Button folds, SB & BB immediately shove. I have no choice but to fold. I watch the small blind table A9x vs AKx in the BB. I observe as the board of Q-6-4-9-9 is laid out. I feel so sick to my stomach, even-though I made the correct long-term play.
I have about 4400 behind, blinds at 170/340/25 in the BB I pick up A10x. It folds around to the CO that decides to raise me all-in. I snap call & he tables A3x. Looks like a good spot for a double up? Worse case a chop? Not even close when the board ran out 4-K-9-J-3. You have got to be fucking kidding me, out in 1634/4997. I played roughly for 2 hours & 45 minutes; booked 1 KO for $ 40; saw about 9% of my flops, took down about 85% of my pots won either pre or post flop. I played about as well as I could, just a little unfortunate for the deck to bail out my opponent with the ungodly 3 outer to unceremoniously end my run at greatness.
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