Lots to say

In my last blog (which was 3 weeks ago) I said that I was going to get back into the mtt's online. I took a semi break in April after a brutal run in March. But when May came around I felt like getting back into the mtt grind. I was refreshed as a break usually does for you.

The first week I played I was going deep almost every night in tournaments, but I never had any scores. I wasn't worried though, as it's a good sign when you are continually going deep. Then all of a sudden I starting running really well down the stretch and I felt really confident.

The last two weeks have been the best run in poker I have had in a while. I finished second in the $27 for for around 3k won the $22 rebuy for 11k, finished 3rd in the 162 for roughly 10k, finished 2nd in the 109 for around 3k, and 34th in the $500 Sunday mill for roughly 5k.

Obviously a great deal of this is due to running really well, but the biggest thing that I have tried to change about my game is adjusting to the table. Back in February when I had my last really good run, my strategy late in tournaments was to try and control the table. I raise about a 1/3 or the hands, and not let people raise my bb. This is obviously a great strategy if you can get away with it, because you can build your stack without risk. I'm not sure if people started taking more notes on me, or people have started to use the same strategy, but in the month of March, I found like this was no longer an optimum way to approach mtt's. I was continually getting the money in with weak hands, and was not getting any respect from people. They were not afraid at all to get the money in with hands like A4, and I was not adjusting properly. So this month, I switched my game dramatically. I no longer try to control the table late in every mtt, I only do this if it is clear that everyone is playing very tight.

For example, in the 22 rebuy that I won, I literally did not raise from the cut off or puck once, unless I had a huge hand. People will never let you push them around in this tournament, so why try. Just raise with solid hands, and let them get it in behind. So I was able to build my image as very tight, only ever showing down huge hands, and then I would exploit thins by re raising the regular blind stealer's with marginal hands when I had a chance. This usually worked every time, as my image was very very tight.

The opposite happened in the 109 from the other night. When we were down to two tables, they were playing so tight it was crazy. I would literally raise 75% of the hands, and they would continuously fold. This is by far the most fun type of poker to play, but these days, it hardly ever comes up.

In the $500 Sunday mill yesterday, I had a really good shot at final tabling it, but I made a very suspect call for almost all my stack. I was going to put the hand in without showdown, because I think seeing his hand influences your thought process, but most of you probably all ready saw the hand so I will just leave it in.

PokerStars Game #10141194426: Tournament #50506312, $500+$30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (12500/25000) - 2007/05/28 - 00:39:25 (ET)
Table '50506312 330' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: fishbones11 (783269 in chips)
Seat 2: Dynamite321 (678134 in chips)
Seat 3: Pwnasaurus (622207 in chips)
Seat 4: i aced u2 (1263212 in chips)
Seat 5: mr_natoli (571457 in chips)
Seat 6: Suck My Ace (758335 in chips)
Seat 7: Roothlus (510981 in chips)
Seat 8: horserat (1174027 in chips)
fishbones11 : posts the ante 2500
Dynamite321: posts the ante 2500
Pwnasaurus: posts the ante 2500
i aced u2: posts the ante 2500
mr_natoli: posts the ante 2500
Suck My Ace: posts the ante 2500
Roothlus: posts the ante 2500
horserat: posts the ante 2500
Dynamite321: posts small blind 12500
Pwnasaurus: posts big blind 25000

Holecards(Odds)
Dealt to fishbones11 KsKd
i aced u2: folds
mr_natoli: folds
Suck My Ace: folds
Roothlus: folds
horserat: folds
fishbones11 : raises 50000 to 75000
Dynamite321: folds
Pwnasaurus: calls 50000

Flop(Odds) (Pot : $162,500.00)

AdTh8c
Pwnasaurus: checks
fishbones11 : checks

Turn(Odds) (Pot : $162,500.00)

AdTh8c9d
Pwnasaurus: bets 125000
fishbones11 : calls 125000

River (Pot : $412,500.00)

AdTh8c9d4c
Pwnasaurus: bets 419707 and is all-in
RikkiTikki is connected
fishbones11 : calls 419707

Showdown
Pwnasaurus: shows AcAs (three of a kind, Aces)
fishbones11 : shows KsKd (a pair of Kings)
Pwnasaurus collected 1271914 from pot

Summary
Total pot 1271914 | Rake 0
Board AdTh8c9d4c
Seat 1: fishbones11 (button) showed KsKd and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: Dynamite321 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Pwnasaurus (big blind) showed AcAs and won (1271914) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 4: i aced u2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: mr_natoli folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Suck My Ace folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Roothlus folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: horserat folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I'm sure most people would think this is a clear fold, but to me it wasn't. Firstly, the most important thing I considered when making this call was my image at the table. I had been playing extreamly tight, hardly ever raising. I think I raised twice I the the 30mins I was at this table, and I folded to a re raise both times. So I believed that people are viewing me as a tight player, who doesn't want to play a huge pot with a weak hand.

So the hand is pretty standard pree, a blind raise and a call. The flop goes check check. On the turn he best out, which I think he would do with a lot of hands, and try to take it down, so the call is pretty standard. At his point, I think my hand becomes very obvious. I called pretty quickly, so it shows that I clearly have a pair, most likely JJ-KK. Now the river comes, and he shoves all in. This bet did not make sense to me at all. To him I should look like a tight player, who doesn't want to play huge pots with weak hands, and I really look like I have JJ-KK. If he had a big hand, why the hell would he just push all in if he wanted me to call. How can he possibly expect a very tight player to call here with JJ-KK. If he does think that I have this hand, then it is a perfect time to push me off. It is very very hard to call in that spot with my hand. Another thing that is important to note, is he is a very good player, and it's not like he doesn't know how to play a hand, or hasn't been observing how I have been playing. Based on all this, I thought I had to have the best hand about half the time, and obviously I'm calling when I think that. An interesting thing that someone told me that made sense was he would probably make a 2/3 of the pot bet on a bluff there, because it virtually does the same thing as a push, except if I call he will still be in the tourney. I am not upset with the way I played the hand at all, I went with my read, and I was wrong, and that is going to happens at times. It's just one of those hands, if your right you look like a genius, if your wrong you look like a moron.

It has been a great couple of weeks, and I really hope it will continue.

Thanks again for all the support from the J7 community, it always means a lot.

I'll be back........

Turning Stone

We arrived on Sunday afternoon to play the $200 tourney today, $300 Tuesday, and $300 Wednesday. If one of us does really well in any of these then we will probably stay for the 1k on Saturday.

I played an interesting session last night at $300 max, where I felt like I was playing really well. Here are a few of the hands:

I after one limper I raised with AQ to $30 from middle position and got called by the button, bb and the limper. The flop came A 10 2. Checked to me and I bet 55. Folded to the bb who seemed like a bit of a donk. He raised 100 more. He seemed really confident, and after thinking for a while I mucked. He showed me A10.

A young player at the table who played really recklessly just lost a 300 after he limp raised Krissy from middle position. Krissy has KK and moved in. The guy was committed and called but said he had two under cards and obv lost.

After this I could tell he was clearly ready to gamble and I was hoping to pick him off. After 2 limpers he made it 30 on the puck. I was pretty sure he was doing this with any two in this spot, and when I looked down at A6, I figured I would take a look at a flop and see if I could hit something and let him bluff off to me. I called and so did 1 other player. The flop was 10 3 2. It checked to him and he quickly bet 60. I was pretty sure he didn’t have much, he bet it so quickly, just like he had done on the limp raise against Krissy. I thought for a while, and I had about 250 behind. If I had the best hand, and I raised he would clearly fold and I would never make any more money on the hand. If he had me beat he would most likely call as he was on tilt. I figured their was no value in raising, so I decided to let him bluff off to me on the turn if I did have the best hand. I called and checked the Q turn. He instantly said all in for 200. When he did it right away I really felt like he didn’t have anything. I looked at him and I could tell he was weak. The problem was that if he did have something like AJ or AK or 44 he had the best hand. I said to him I’m pretty sure your bluffing, but the sad thing is you could still have the best hand. After thinking for like 5 minutes, I closed my eyes and pushed in the 200. He said nice call, which still didn’t mean much. He goes I have K high, and I show the A6. The puzzled looks on peoples faces around the table was priceless, trying to figure out wtf I had. The river was the 9 and he mucked his hand. I think that was one of the best calls I have ever made, and it felt good.

A little later I called 20 on the puck with QJ, and 3 other saw the flop. It was 10 10 K one heart and it checked around. Turn was the Ah, and this donk bet out 15. Everyone called and I made it 75. Just the one donkey called. The river was the 2h, and he looked at me, looked at his cards, looked back at me, and checked. I checked right away and he showed 6h4h.

I lost some other pots that I can’t clearly remember. I ended the session up 160 and I was really happy with the way I played. Every time that I was in a big hand, I seemed to make the right decision, and my reads were really on. It was a great way to start of the poker trip.

Today I played the 200 and lets say I didn’t run too well. On the 5th hand it was limped 5 ways for 50. I looked down at Q10 in the sb and limped and the donkey in the bb who has played every hand to the river, with terrible decisions on every street checked. The flop was QQ5 two clubs. It checked around to the puck who bet 300. I was a little worried about a big hand here, and I didn’t want to make the pot huge just yet. I just called, and at no surprise, so did the donk. The turn was the Ah. I checked the donk bet 400 and the flop better folded. Now I was 95% sure I had the best hand against the moron, so I raised to 1300. He called right away, and the river was the 4c. I had put him on the flush draw, but the donk could easily have 56 he was so stupid. I checked anyway and he thought for a while and bet 1k. I was getting about 4/1 and there was no way I was folding to this guy when I’m getting 4/1 and I have trips. I call and he shows the Q4. That was pretty gross, and I was then down to 500. I stole some blinds and then had 68ss in the sb. Three of us saw the flop at 50. The flop was Q63 two spades. I was ready to get it all in but I wanted a bet from someone first. I check and so did everyone else. The turn was the 9s. I bet 100, and the donk called. The limper raised to 300 and I shoved for my last 400. The donkey called and the limper raised 400 more. Obv he had the As7s, and I was out in the first level.

It turned out not to be a bad thing because I played in the $300 max and I ended up winning more then 9th place would have won in the tourney. There wasn’t really many interesting hands in that session. I basically just ran good, and got paid off.

Tomorrow is the 300 deep stack turbo. Wtf is that. Anyway, I’ll be back if anything else interesting happens.

Ps. Krissy won the $3 rebuy on stars the other night for 5k. She completely destroyed the ft, and she played really well. I’m trying to get her to write about it but she is too lazy. Anyway, congrats to her.

I hate you Sunday Million

So I decided to play the $500 Sunday million, and I once again went deep, but the cards wouldn't cooperate, which is definitely necessary down the stretch in this thing.

I played 3 all in pots in the later stages of the tourney- my 99 to 88 I lost, my A8 to K8 I lost, and then utg shoves for 80k, I shove over the top for 200+k with 1010, and someone wakes up with QQ behind me. To make it even worse utg had 10J and I busted in 100th. It was good for just over 2k, which is nice, but I am getting frustrated with going deep in this thing and never cracking the ft. Hopefully it will come soon enough.

More importantly though.... I am starting to get my tourney itch back. I am probably going to start playing a lot now, as I don't have school for a while, and the dog is getting a little better.

The heads up on euro is still going really well. I love playing these donks, and I love the rake back, should be over 2k for this month.

Krissy and I went to the hockey game yesterday which was obv sick. Thanks to Pops on J7, who got us the 4th row tickets at cost.

Anyway, off to go golfing, I'll be back......