Had a pretty successful trip to Vegas before going skiing in Colorado.
I may have found a new venue for the big game now that regular host Louis has run off to Edinburgh. For the bargain price of $400,000 you can get a condo just off the strip in Panorama Towers which has a play room in the basement with pool table and poker table. Also Jennifer Tilly lives there - so some good stalking possibilities...
I stayed at the Wynn encore - an excellent view up the strip but the room itself did not seem quite as good at the one I stayed in last summer.
I arrived quite late on Monday having faffed about in Denver so on Tuesday it was probably not a good idea to play in the Ceasar's megastack tournament starting at midday. It was a big tournament and cost $1060 to enter. I made it to dinner but to be honest the jet lag really kicked in by 8pm and I bust out quite lamely. I got fed up with the Irishman directly to my right nicking my blinds and took a stand calling his usual button raise with AT. On a flop of QTx I decide I am check raising no matter what (I knew he would C-bet) and sure enough it went according to plan - unfortunately he had QT.
On Wednesday I played the Venetian deepstack at midday. Only $150 buy-in and around 100 runners. Over played QJ on a Qxx board - he had QQ, so ended up relatively short and play QQ all-in against KT - he hit to knock me out. Finished early enough to get over to Caesar's for the $160 at 7pm. I don't really get any cards and weirdly get in a split with AK twice. I play another big hand with AQ vs AQ but unfortunately on a 4 club board he has Ac. Eventually I try one steal too many with T7 on the button and am crushed by the SB with KK.
On Thursday I play the final megastack at Caeasars : $240 gets you 12,500 chips and blinds start 25/50 - crazy.
At level 3 100/200 I get some good cards finishing it off with a monster pot where my slightly hooky call of a min raise with AT spades is rewarded when I make a flush on the river.
After that I coast along but don't really get anywhere - eventually I finish 11th out of 81 - two off the money at 10pm - 10 hours of graft for no pay.
On Friday I play the Wynn second chance tournament at 7pm.
This is a more normal tournament costing $230 - 116 runners 10k chips to start with 30 minute levels.
Hit a set early on and then took out the aggressive Dutch boy to my right when I woke up to QQ when he had JJ. By the time we get to the second break I have 25k and blinds are up to 400/800 100 ante and only 66 remain.
Not much happens and then I get the defining hand of the night. A medium stack pushes all-in over a standard raise. The original raiser had about half my chips as did the medium stack so I decide to isolate the all-in guy with my monster 33 by moving all-in. Unfortunately the chip leader in the BB moves all-in over the top, so the original raiser folds. I think I must be toast but then they both flip AQ - what a result when my hand holds up. This completely tilts the now former chip leader and when I min raise with AK UTG he goes all-in with Q9 and I knock him out. Talk about hero to zero. This puts me up to 90k - nearly 10% of the chips in play with 30 runners left.
I then avoid trouble and when we are down to the money on the final 2 tables I take out 2 players with AK and then 99. So when we get to the final table I have 210k.
When we get to 5 players the tournament director explains the situation with the IRS - apparently any prize greater than $5200 has to be declared so ideally the winner should not get more than that. I am chip leader with about 300k but the blinds are an insane 12k/24k with 2000 ante so I am not that safe. The deal suggested is that we get $3100 each now and the winner gets the remain $1800. Even the short stack has 100k so there seems little point in me arguing - it makes me look like the nice guy.
So we do the deal and it does not take long for me to eliminate one guy with my Aj vs KJ and the other 2 fall to my rival at heads up. I have 650 to his 510 and when he makes a raise on the button I just call with J7. I fold when he bets a KTx flop and we agree a chop at that point - it is after all, nearly 3.30 in the morning and I have to leave the next day.
We decide to determine the winner by a single all-in hand and I romp home when my 8 pairs the board. Unfortunately there is not trophy!
So total buy-ins $1800 - winnings $3900 - net win $2100. Nice
Saturday, 28 February 2009
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Onine - Pokerstars - Sunday Warm Up - Feb 15th
Had a big score in the Sunday warm up. I'll add a bit of a commentary but in the mean time here is my demise with commentary.
Pokerstars TV
Pokerstars TV
Sunday, 8 February 2009
Sydney - Feb 2009 - Monday Tournament
As my flight home nears I get a chance to play in the weekly Monday tournament at the Star City casino. There are 102 runners paying $200 each.
Unfortunately the structure is a bit rubbish. We get only 3000 chips with 25 minute levels. Level 1 is 25/50 then 50/100 ; 75/150.
I do OK on level 1 getting paid some chips with AJ hitting a Jxx board and my AA getting one call and a flop call too. Unfortunately I get couple of big draws which I can pay for so by the time we are nearing the end of Level 2 I have just over what I started with - 3,300 when I pick up KJ suited hearts UTG. We are in a limpers paradise so we have 5 to a flop with the pot 500.
Flop is AJJ with 2 clubs so I bet 400 and only the button calls. Turn is 3c and I bet 900 into the 1300 pot. He min raises and I suppose at this point I should have realised he had taken the incorrect pot odds on the flop, but given what I had seen so far he could easily have Ax or Jx. I am pretty sure he would have raised with AJ on the button, the only hand that crushes me. I move all-in and he calls showing K4 of clubs for the flush. I don't hit my full house so I am out.
I think to go deep in this tournament requires rather too much luck so an early gamble seemed justfied.
Here ends my Aussie adventure....
Unfortunately the structure is a bit rubbish. We get only 3000 chips with 25 minute levels. Level 1 is 25/50 then 50/100 ; 75/150.
I do OK on level 1 getting paid some chips with AJ hitting a Jxx board and my AA getting one call and a flop call too. Unfortunately I get couple of big draws which I can pay for so by the time we are nearing the end of Level 2 I have just over what I started with - 3,300 when I pick up KJ suited hearts UTG. We are in a limpers paradise so we have 5 to a flop with the pot 500.
Flop is AJJ with 2 clubs so I bet 400 and only the button calls. Turn is 3c and I bet 900 into the 1300 pot. He min raises and I suppose at this point I should have realised he had taken the incorrect pot odds on the flop, but given what I had seen so far he could easily have Ax or Jx. I am pretty sure he would have raised with AJ on the button, the only hand that crushes me. I move all-in and he calls showing K4 of clubs for the flush. I don't hit my full house so I am out.
I think to go deep in this tournament requires rather too much luck so an early gamble seemed justfied.
Here ends my Aussie adventure....
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Adelaide - Feb 2009 - Main Event - Day 2
In the end a bit of a damp squib exit.
At the start of Level 10 with blinds 600/1200/200 I am struggling in 65th place out of 77 remaining players with 23,600 chips.
I don't see any cards until about 5o mins in when I shove from the small blind with 77 after a standard raise and a limp. I am called by the raiser with AK. Luckily the limper folded A8, since that flopped, but I survived to move up to 33k.
Level 11 800/1600/200.
Called a min raise with one other caller in the BB with A8 suited clubs. Flop is T84c. I am tempted to bet but decide to see what happens. Raiser bets 5k and the caller folds. I think on reflection I might have been ahead and perhaps should have pushed. However I decided to call and push all-in if a club came on the turn. It didn't and when he bet again I folded.
A few hands later the player to my right called so when I see TT I push all-in. He makes the call with AT - a result that puts me up to 44k when no A comes.
I get no more hands and just before the break I try to steal from late position with KT but have to fold to a reraise.
Level 12 1000/2000/300
I am still seeing nothing so try another late position raise with Q9 - the BB reraises me all-in and I have to fold again.
Now I am down to 20k when I get A4 of hearts on the button. I shove all-in but I am called by 77. The dealer flops T35 with 2 hearts but no joy on the turn or river and I am out.
To be honest, I don't think I made any huge mistakes, perhaps the only one was not to bet out with second pair in Level 11. I am quite happy with coming 45th out of 211 runners - and finishing top european...!
At the start of Level 10 with blinds 600/1200/200 I am struggling in 65th place out of 77 remaining players with 23,600 chips.
I don't see any cards until about 5o mins in when I shove from the small blind with 77 after a standard raise and a limp. I am called by the raiser with AK. Luckily the limper folded A8, since that flopped, but I survived to move up to 33k.
Level 11 800/1600/200.
Called a min raise with one other caller in the BB with A8 suited clubs. Flop is T84c. I am tempted to bet but decide to see what happens. Raiser bets 5k and the caller folds. I think on reflection I might have been ahead and perhaps should have pushed. However I decided to call and push all-in if a club came on the turn. It didn't and when he bet again I folded.
A few hands later the player to my right called so when I see TT I push all-in. He makes the call with AT - a result that puts me up to 44k when no A comes.
I get no more hands and just before the break I try to steal from late position with KT but have to fold to a reraise.
Level 12 1000/2000/300
I am still seeing nothing so try another late position raise with Q9 - the BB reraises me all-in and I have to fold again.
Now I am down to 20k when I get A4 of hearts on the button. I shove all-in but I am called by 77. The dealer flops T35 with 2 hearts but no joy on the turn or river and I am out.
To be honest, I don't think I made any huge mistakes, perhaps the only one was not to bet out with second pair in Level 11. I am quite happy with coming 45th out of 211 runners - and finishing top european...!
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Adelaide - Feb 2009 - Main Event - Day 1
Today was probably the most interesting day I have played in a major event. Whilst the buy in is not that high - $3000 (about £1500) it is the first event on a new Australia New Zealand Poker tour - sponsored by pokerstars. Things have come a long way in the poker world - this event is being covered live online by two sites - check it out here
http://crown.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2009-anzpt-adelaide/main-event/blog/day1a/
and
http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2009/02/anzpt-adelaide-at-bell-catre-are-still.html
Whilst picking up my seat card I came across Danny MacDonaugh who is now director of this new pokerstars tour. He used to be in charge at Melbourne and remembered me from a few years ago when there were sufficiently few of us for even a fish like me to be memorable - I guess this makes me a bit of an old timer.
This tournament is going to have around 200 runners and because the poker zone in Adelaide is not that big it has been split into 2 first days. So on day 1A we start off with 103 players on 12 tables and after things settle down we will play with 9 players on each table. We have $20,000 in chips and the structure is pretty slow. There are 1 hour levels. We get a 10 minute break every 2 levels and an hour off for dinner after 6 levels.
In a tournament like this, you get to know the players at your table by the end of the day, assuming you are not on a "break" table where everyone is moved to keep the numbers balanced. On my table we have a pretty stable set of people and it is particularly interesting because of the little battles that develop during the day. In what follows I will try to give you a bit of a flavour of how things panned out. I am on Table 2 and as you can see from the extract from the pokernews blog final page (picture at the start of this post), it is a pretty tough table. The seating is as follows (not all the players were here all day, but close enough). I've put a link to their entry on the Hendon mob results website.
Seat 1 - Michael Guzzardi - an internet young gun who I came across in Melbourne. He came 4th in the HORSE tournament there and final tabled one of the Hold em events. He arrived late afternoon with a lot of chips and ends the day with a lot more when he (inevitably) busts Ben. He and David indulge in the game of betting on the colour of the flop in the last level to keep everyone amused.
Seat 2 - David Gorr - I've met David before in Melbourne - he is one of the "old timers" mentioned above and is one of the original Adelaide winners. We had a bit of a chat at the Aussie poker Hall Of Fame party - he was on the short list of inductees.
Seat 3 - me - UK fish
Seat 4 - George Vassilopoulos - a rather vociferous local. Has a lot of banter with locals at other tables and has an eye for a nice looking blonde who is spectating - lucky she can't hear some of his suggestions
Seat 5 - Player X - arrived a bit late - a local too but does not seems quite as in the crowd as the others. Replaced Player Y who suicidally called Ben's all-in with 99 on a board of 567 - Ben had pushed with JJ.
Seat 6 - Gary Benson - one of the most famous Australian poker players - WSOP bracelet winner
Seat 7 - Lee Nelson - Aussie millions winner 2006
Seat 8 - Ben - a youngish local inexperienced player- has a good run of cards early in the afternoon but we KNOW he will be giving all his chips back eventually.
Seat 9 - David Ewing - another internet young gun - moniker u_dirty_dog on his pokerstars t-shirt.
So to business on Level 1 with blinds 50/100.
Sometimes it is a good idea to establish a reputation that you can exploit later in the day. Unfortunately I manage to only make my fish status clear by managing to flip over and expose my folded hand of AJ off suit which I was dealt in the very first hand in mid position. Everyone has a good laugh at that and I get several sarcastic comments about rocks. I explain that I never play the first hand in a tournament - but no one believes me. However I am pretty sure my raises will be respected.
Ironically enough after about half an hour I raise with KJ suited on the button and when I bet out on an AJ7 board everyone thinks I have AJ again and I take it down. I also get KK UTG but after 2 callers to my standard raise and a bet out on a raggedy flop I get no further action. I end the level with 20,500 chips.
On this level we see the consequences of being a "professional" player. With Mr Benson and Mr Nelson next to each other Mr B will raise on the button and Mr N will call. Us lesser players will just give up on these lower levels because we don't want to be outclassed on the flop, whereas of course the pros want to play flops. However all that seems to happen is that Mr N bets out and is perhaps called. There are then more cagey bets and perhaps min raises, and we do see a river but rarely see their cards - because one folds. After a bit of tooing and froing Mr B has about 5000 of Mr N's chips.
Level 2 75/1500
I get no hands, apart from playing KJ from late position and having a dart at an AK6 flop and getting reraised. I am down to 18500.
Our young gun friend DE establishes an early reputation by calling a raise from Gary with 72 and somehow managing to call on a board of AKK82...and take the pot down.
Level 3 100/200
Get AQ once but have to fold to a reraise so finish the level on 16500.
In this level the inexperienced player Ben wins a big pot against GB, when he hits a flush on the river.
Level 4 100/200 ante 25
The antes have started quite early. So pots are worth stealing now. DE has acquired a lot of chips and is raising a lot of pots and stealing a lot of flops with big bets - occasionally showing raggedy cards. He is playing a dangerous game, but it seems to be working.
I am card dead again and am being whittled away to 15k,
Level 5 150/300/25
No more cards. Call a couple of raises in position with desperate stuff such as KT and 78s but get nothing from the flop. By the end of this level we have been playing for 5 hours and I can't remember being dealt a pair! I am down to 11,000.
We lose Lee Nelson at this level. He has being doing a lot of stealing from late position but has been caught a couple of times. Finally he reraises what he thinks is a blind steal by GB and then calls with A8 vs A9. Oops.
Level 6 200/400/50
Suddenly I get some action when I get 3 big hands in a row - probably the most interesting sequence of cards I've had in a major tournament.
Hand 1 AK in the SB. I have dipped below 10,000 in chips so when GB raises to 1200 from mid position I am tempted to just move all-in when all fold to me. However I am pretty sure that George to my left won't call with anything but a very good hand so it seems better to just call. The flop comes J76 rainbow. I am not overly scared of this flop and there seems little point doing anything but move all-in or check fold. To be honest, I am bored with being dealt nothing so I decide to push all-in. He thinks for a very long time and asks me if I would like a call or not. I say it is nearly dinner time so I am not bothered and this does not help him decide. Eventually he grudgingly calls and flips over the same as me - AK. To be honest I am rather surprised he has called with such a poor hand. We split the BB and the Antes.
Hand 2 - now I am the button and this time I pick up 66. GB raises to 1200 again and after a mid position call, I call to as does the BB. Flop is T64 with 2 clubs. BB checks and GB bets 3000. The caller folds and I move all-in. The BB folds and so does GB after a bit of thought.
Hand 3 - now I am the cut-off and I see AK again. I raise to 1200 after all fold and GB is the only caller from the BB. The flop comes Q87 with 2 spades. I have Ks but when he checks to me I smell something fishy and decline to bet. The turn is Jc and when he bets 1500 I insta muck and show my AK. He does not show his hand but says good fold. I was inclined to believe I was well behind. So I am back up to 13000 after a few minutes of heart attack play...
This is turning out to be a real action level for me : the small stack who replaced Lee Nelson in the number 7 seat goes all-in, the dirty dog DE calls and when it comes round to me I decide to call with AQ. I am hoping for a favourable flop to perhaps trap DE if he tries anything tricky on the flop. The flop comes T63 and when I check to DE he bets 2k so I have to fold. The all-in player had 77 and DE shows 66. Annoyingly Q came on the turn so I think I made a mistake not moving all-in before the flop. (Mind you perhaps DE would not have folded and then I would be out).
The 2 Daves have a couple of battles on this level. The old dog bet out on a board of A85 board but folded after young dog made a big bet to put him all-in. On the last hand before the break a similarly ragged board but this time the old dog raised the young dogs continuation bet and DE folded. Honours even I thought...
Level 7 300/600/75
This is the first level after dinner and not much happens apart from having to fold 55 to a reraise after limping, to put me down to 11000.
So whilst I am not yet on life support, I am probably only able to realistically fold one more meaningful raise before lurching into all-in territory. So bearing this in mind when I pick up Q9 both clubs on the button and it is folded around to me I make it 2000 to go. George in the SB just calls, as does the BB. Now having observed George all day I know he is a good player, so when the flop is KK2 with 2 clubs, I think it is unlikely he has a K in his hand. If he had, then I am pretty sure he would have put me all-in before the flop - after all he has a lot more chips than me. So when he leads out for 2000 and the BB folds I think that perhaps I might be in better shape than I think. Might he have Ax of clubs to put me in a real bind. Unlikely - I think he would either reraise or fold such hands. So it seems most likely he has a small pair. He would have reraised pre flop with TT or better and if he had 99 I think he either would have trapped or bet bigger. So I am quite happy to shove all-in and when he calls and tables 77 I am not surprised. I am now favourite with 2 overcards and a flush draw and I hit my flush on the turn. George is not a happy bunny and when he berates himself for not moving all-in preflop I help him tilt some more by assuring him I definitely would have folded if he had done so.
Level 8 400/800/100
I start this level with 17000 thanks to calling a few limps but not hitting in the previous level - chiefly down to our friend Ben who sets the limp ball rolling quite often. However I benefit from his inexperience when his min raise to 1600 is called by Michael. I call with 66 in the SB as does the BB, so the pot is 7300. The flop is K32 with 2 hearts so I decide to take a stab at it by betting 3000 and only Ben calls. The turn is 7c but given Ben has so many chips and is unlikely to be able to make a big laydown I decide to check fold. He checks. River is Jd and I am now convinced he must win but when we check check and I show my 66 they beat his A9 both hearts. Result. I know that any other player on the table with that hand would have put me all-in on the flop - so that was a result and it puts me up to 25000 chips - yippee.
Level 9 500/1000/100
The final level.
We finally lose Ben after his enourmous stack has slowly been chipped away by too many limps then weak bets and folds. The hand that does for him is against Michael. Ben raises Michaels big blind and Michael reraises which Ben calls. The flop is QJ9. Michael checks - so does Ben. Turn is A and Michael bets about half the pot. Ben moves all-in and Michael calls, showing QQ vs Ben's AJ. I don't really like Ben's move here - I know those internet boys have been acting crazy but it seemed pretty likely he was behind - the only plausible hand he was beating was AK and in fact there were now 2 spades and Ben did not have the draw.
A few minutes later in this level another small stack in seat 7 moves all-in for 11000. I am on the BB and have AK so when it is all folded to me I naturally call - bizarrely he has AK too - so 2 ties with AK during the day. If I had won that hand I would have been somewhere up near the average, but instead end up with 23,600 after the level finishes a little bit earlier than expected.
On reflection, I think it was a satisfactory day - I didn't really make any major mistakes and was only all-in twice - not bad considering I had pretty average cards at best.
Roll on Day 2.....
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Adelaide - Feb 2009 - Omaha result
Played in the pot limit Omaha tournament today and came 4th out of 61 runners for a win of $2440. Here is the tale....
We started with 4,000 in chips and blinds of 25/25 with 30 min levels. Early on there was a lot of limping so I got to play AQ97 with 2 hearts on the button. Flop comes Q96 - it is checked to me so I try to nick the pot but get called in 2 spots. The turn is 3 of hearts to go with a heart on the flop. The SB bets pot and there is one caller, so I think I have to call. The river is a blank so I am down to 1500 chips by the end of level 1.
Level 2 is 25/50 and I get no cards until have to make a tricky decision. I raise with KK88 2 spades from late position and the button and BB call. Flop is 567 two spades and the BB bets pot of 550. If I call I will have 1000 left but if I move all in he will be getting good odds if he's got a better flush draw and it is quite possible he has a set - I decide to fold - but in fact I discover later he did not have the A of spades - so perhaps I was being a bit wimpy. However I am vindicated a few hands later when I pick up AAJ7 in late position and after 3 limps I can raise pretty much all-in - I double up against a call of A995 to get to 3000.
Level 3 is 50/100 Shortly before the break I have QQ76 on the button and I call some limps. We see a flop of QT7 with two hearts so when it is checked to me I bet pot and get 2 callers. Turn is a black A and they both check to me. I don't think I can bet here because there could easily be a straight and I don't want to face a bet for all my chips, so I check. The river is a beautiful T so when there is a 1000 bet I go all-in and get called by the straight. Sweet - I now have 8000.
Level 4 is 100/200. Don't get many cards but after several limps I check my BB of A776 with 2 hearts. Flop is Q83 with 2 hearts and I pull off a big check raise with my dodgy draw. Up to 11k
Level 5 is 150/300. Raised with KK87 2 spades and got called by the SB. He bets 1500 into 2100 pot with a rainbow board of J97. I think I smell weakness and he only has about 4000 left so I put him all-in. Unfortunately I was completely wrong - he had 99. Oops - down to 8k.
Level 6 150/300. Card dead until the final hand before the break. I have a A765 on the button and call some limps. The flop comes 3 diamonds. I have the A so when it is checked to me I bet the pot and all fold. This is a textbook play that actually worked! Now I have 11k
Level 7 200/400. No hands - down to 10k
Level 8 300/600. Have one monster hand at this level. Call 2 limps from the SB with AsJ44s two spades. Flop is A9s8s. I decide to take a stab but get called. Turn is Js. I check raise all-in and luckily he is not full so I am doubled up to 20k.
Level 9 400/800. No cards but we are getting close to the money. 18 left and 10 get paid. I am ok at 20k
Level 10 600/1200. Down to 18k when there are 11 left and a deal is done so the the winner gives bubble boy his money back. Then I get A993 with a raggedy flop of Q94 and I get to do a massive reraise that puts me up to 32k for the final table of 10.
There are 240k chips in play and there are 2 big stacks with about 80k each. A couple of shorties and the rest are about the same as me.
Then we get the key hand. I have JsTc7c4s in the BB and there are 2 limps. The flop is Qc9c8s so I have the nut straight and a draw to a rubbish flush. I bet the pot of 4800 to try to protect my hand but the big stack makes a pot reraise. All fold to me and I have a big decision to make. I am influenced by this guys play from earlier. He has been very aggressive and has been hitting a lot of cards. My biggest worry is the we both have a straight but he has a better redraw, but I think that this is my chance to double up - since there are some good players. I reraise all-in and he calls. All he has is a set of nines, so when the board does not pair I double through to 64k. He immediately goes on tilt and is eliminated about 15 minutes later.
I now go completely card dead so just keep folding and soon we are down to 5. At the end of 800/1600 I have 60k and the end of 1000/2000 I have 55k. Still I get nothing and at the end of 1500/3000 I have 40k, but at least Tony Hachem was eliminated so we are 4.
Blinds are now 2000/4000, so when I pick up QQ87 on the button I make a pot raise. The BB calls and the flop comes JJ7. He checks so I bet the rest of my chips hoping he does not have a J - but unfortunately he does.
...but I am happy with 4th - at the end they were clearly better than me...
We started with 4,000 in chips and blinds of 25/25 with 30 min levels. Early on there was a lot of limping so I got to play AQ97 with 2 hearts on the button. Flop comes Q96 - it is checked to me so I try to nick the pot but get called in 2 spots. The turn is 3 of hearts to go with a heart on the flop. The SB bets pot and there is one caller, so I think I have to call. The river is a blank so I am down to 1500 chips by the end of level 1.
Level 2 is 25/50 and I get no cards until have to make a tricky decision. I raise with KK88 2 spades from late position and the button and BB call. Flop is 567 two spades and the BB bets pot of 550. If I call I will have 1000 left but if I move all in he will be getting good odds if he's got a better flush draw and it is quite possible he has a set - I decide to fold - but in fact I discover later he did not have the A of spades - so perhaps I was being a bit wimpy. However I am vindicated a few hands later when I pick up AAJ7 in late position and after 3 limps I can raise pretty much all-in - I double up against a call of A995 to get to 3000.
Level 3 is 50/100 Shortly before the break I have QQ76 on the button and I call some limps. We see a flop of QT7 with two hearts so when it is checked to me I bet pot and get 2 callers. Turn is a black A and they both check to me. I don't think I can bet here because there could easily be a straight and I don't want to face a bet for all my chips, so I check. The river is a beautiful T so when there is a 1000 bet I go all-in and get called by the straight. Sweet - I now have 8000.
Level 4 is 100/200. Don't get many cards but after several limps I check my BB of A776 with 2 hearts. Flop is Q83 with 2 hearts and I pull off a big check raise with my dodgy draw. Up to 11k
Level 5 is 150/300. Raised with KK87 2 spades and got called by the SB. He bets 1500 into 2100 pot with a rainbow board of J97. I think I smell weakness and he only has about 4000 left so I put him all-in. Unfortunately I was completely wrong - he had 99. Oops - down to 8k.
Level 6 150/300. Card dead until the final hand before the break. I have a A765 on the button and call some limps. The flop comes 3 diamonds. I have the A so when it is checked to me I bet the pot and all fold. This is a textbook play that actually worked! Now I have 11k
Level 7 200/400. No hands - down to 10k
Level 8 300/600. Have one monster hand at this level. Call 2 limps from the SB with AsJ44s two spades. Flop is A9s8s. I decide to take a stab but get called. Turn is Js. I check raise all-in and luckily he is not full so I am doubled up to 20k.
Level 9 400/800. No cards but we are getting close to the money. 18 left and 10 get paid. I am ok at 20k
Level 10 600/1200. Down to 18k when there are 11 left and a deal is done so the the winner gives bubble boy his money back. Then I get A993 with a raggedy flop of Q94 and I get to do a massive reraise that puts me up to 32k for the final table of 10.
There are 240k chips in play and there are 2 big stacks with about 80k each. A couple of shorties and the rest are about the same as me.
Then we get the key hand. I have JsTc7c4s in the BB and there are 2 limps. The flop is Qc9c8s so I have the nut straight and a draw to a rubbish flush. I bet the pot of 4800 to try to protect my hand but the big stack makes a pot reraise. All fold to me and I have a big decision to make. I am influenced by this guys play from earlier. He has been very aggressive and has been hitting a lot of cards. My biggest worry is the we both have a straight but he has a better redraw, but I think that this is my chance to double up - since there are some good players. I reraise all-in and he calls. All he has is a set of nines, so when the board does not pair I double through to 64k. He immediately goes on tilt and is eliminated about 15 minutes later.
I now go completely card dead so just keep folding and soon we are down to 5. At the end of 800/1600 I have 60k and the end of 1000/2000 I have 55k. Still I get nothing and at the end of 1500/3000 I have 40k, but at least Tony Hachem was eliminated so we are 4.
Blinds are now 2000/4000, so when I pick up QQ87 on the button I make a pot raise. The BB calls and the flop comes JJ7. He checks so I bet the rest of my chips hoping he does not have a J - but unfortunately he does.
...but I am happy with 4th - at the end they were clearly better than me...
Monday, 2 February 2009
Adelaide - Feb 2009 - Two Coolers?
Over the many games I have played usually I make one or two mistakes (some of you would say more) but I think this evening's tournament was one where I was pretty much snookered - or as they say in poker - I had a couple of coolers. See what you think....
The tournament was pretty standard - 88 initial runners on 8 tables - so we started 11 handed and I had the worst seat in the house - number 11. There were 14 alternates so it was a bit shambolic. The management in Adelaide are pretty clueless. They even managed to mess up the chips. After Level 3 they took off the 25 chips and then rather sheepishly had to reissue them when they realised there was a 150/300 level. Doh!
Level 1 : 25/50. We started with 4000 chips - 25 minute levels. I got no hands but lost a few when trying to nick a pot from the BB in a limped pot when my K7 hit a K98 board - I folded to a reraise.
Level 2 : 50/100 - no hands - down to 3300.
Level 3 : 75/150 I play a big hand against the very definition of an old rock. He raises from mid position and I call with 44 on the button. The flop is 984 and I just call his 500 bet (there is no way this flop helped him). The turn is a beautiful 4. He checks and so do I. The river is a 7. He bets 500 and I raise 1000 which he reluctantly calls. I end this level with 6000 chips.
Level 4 : 100/200. Make a big lay down having raised with TT and leading out on a board of 245 with 2 hearts. I was raised all-in and had to fold. The raiser told me later he had a big overpair. So finished this level with about 5000.
Level 5 : 150/300. Get moved to a new table and after a couple of hands I pick up AK in the BB. The guy to my right was clearly the table captain and he raises my blind by 1000. Obviously I move all-in and he calls with QQ. The table seemed surprised he had a hand. I hit my A to double up. The very next hand I get AA and just call his button raise. The flop is an innocuous 752 so I bet 1500 which he calls. The turn is a J and I check - he bets 3000 and I decide to move all-in hoping he has something. After a lot of chat - he eventually folds. So now I have 15000 chips. There are about 60 players left so I am doing pretty well then...
Cooler 1. I have TT in mid position so I make a standard raise to 900. The SB calls. The flop is 457 with 2 spades and when he checks to me I bet out 1500 into the 2100 pot. He then moves all-in for 2500 more. I don't think I can fold here - I can't really put him on an over pair and if he has a set then so be it. He shows KK and so by then end of the level I am down to 9000 chips
Level 6 : 200/400. I get no real hands but manage to tread water with a couple of late position steal raises - so I finish the level with still around 9000.
Level 7 : 300/600. I scrape along and we are just about to move to Level 8 when
Cooler 2. I have KK in late position and I min raise a limper from early position, so when it gets back to him he has to call 600 into a 2500 pot. I min raised to see what he did - if he flat calls and an A flops then I would be able to fold. However he moves all-in. I guess I could have folded, but I would have only had 6000 chips for the 400/800 level - and given my raise looked quite weak he could have done this with AK or perhaps QQ. Unfortunately it was AA and I was knocked out.
So do you think I could have avoided these hands?
The tournament was pretty standard - 88 initial runners on 8 tables - so we started 11 handed and I had the worst seat in the house - number 11. There were 14 alternates so it was a bit shambolic. The management in Adelaide are pretty clueless. They even managed to mess up the chips. After Level 3 they took off the 25 chips and then rather sheepishly had to reissue them when they realised there was a 150/300 level. Doh!
Level 1 : 25/50. We started with 4000 chips - 25 minute levels. I got no hands but lost a few when trying to nick a pot from the BB in a limped pot when my K7 hit a K98 board - I folded to a reraise.
Level 2 : 50/100 - no hands - down to 3300.
Level 3 : 75/150 I play a big hand against the very definition of an old rock. He raises from mid position and I call with 44 on the button. The flop is 984 and I just call his 500 bet (there is no way this flop helped him). The turn is a beautiful 4. He checks and so do I. The river is a 7. He bets 500 and I raise 1000 which he reluctantly calls. I end this level with 6000 chips.
Level 4 : 100/200. Make a big lay down having raised with TT and leading out on a board of 245 with 2 hearts. I was raised all-in and had to fold. The raiser told me later he had a big overpair. So finished this level with about 5000.
Level 5 : 150/300. Get moved to a new table and after a couple of hands I pick up AK in the BB. The guy to my right was clearly the table captain and he raises my blind by 1000. Obviously I move all-in and he calls with QQ. The table seemed surprised he had a hand. I hit my A to double up. The very next hand I get AA and just call his button raise. The flop is an innocuous 752 so I bet 1500 which he calls. The turn is a J and I check - he bets 3000 and I decide to move all-in hoping he has something. After a lot of chat - he eventually folds. So now I have 15000 chips. There are about 60 players left so I am doing pretty well then...
Cooler 1. I have TT in mid position so I make a standard raise to 900. The SB calls. The flop is 457 with 2 spades and when he checks to me I bet out 1500 into the 2100 pot. He then moves all-in for 2500 more. I don't think I can fold here - I can't really put him on an over pair and if he has a set then so be it. He shows KK and so by then end of the level I am down to 9000 chips
Level 6 : 200/400. I get no real hands but manage to tread water with a couple of late position steal raises - so I finish the level with still around 9000.
Level 7 : 300/600. I scrape along and we are just about to move to Level 8 when
Cooler 2. I have KK in late position and I min raise a limper from early position, so when it gets back to him he has to call 600 into a 2500 pot. I min raised to see what he did - if he flat calls and an A flops then I would be able to fold. However he moves all-in. I guess I could have folded, but I would have only had 6000 chips for the 400/800 level - and given my raise looked quite weak he could have done this with AK or perhaps QQ. Unfortunately it was AA and I was knocked out.
So do you think I could have avoided these hands?
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Adelaide - Jan 2009 - Weird supersatellite
I played in the super satellite today and it had a very weird structure.
It cost $450 to enter and this got you 3000 chips. Then as soon as you had less than 3000 you could buy another 3000 for only $100. At the break you could add-on 3000 chips for $100 but $150 got you 6000.
Level 1 is 25/50 so I rather thought the correct strategy was to rebuy immediately. However only 3 of us did this - so perhaps not. It did not do me much good since I got no hands at all.
Level 2 was 50/100 and I had to reload after my 99 reraise all-in of a family limped pot got called by the SB with TT.
On level 3 (100/200) I got my revenge on the SB when I had 88 vs 55. Shortly before the break I got very lucky when going all in with 55 vs KK and AJ and the dealer spiked me a 5 on the flop.
Then on the hand just before the break I make a ropey call UTG with A9 suited. There is a min raise and my nemesis calls so I call too. The flop comes K97 with 2 diamonds and I decided to see what the preflop raiser does - we check to her and she bets 600 and the BB calls. I am now pretty sure neither of them has a K so I bet the pot which will put the BB all-in. The original raiser folds and the BB calls with 9T. My hand holds up and after the add-ons I have 20000 chips.
We are told there will be 16 tickets to the main event (worth $3000) and there are 960000 chips in play - so looks like you will need to aim for a stack of 60,000.
The levels move quite quickly and I win a few lose a few and at the 3rd break (after Level 9) I have 22k and there are 30 players left.
Level 10 is 1500/3000 and after a raise with AJ that I have to fold when there is big action on a flop of AKT I have around 22k. I have been making a few all-ins and not getting called so when I have Q7 in late position and push again the big stack on the button thinks for ages and folds. Unfortunately the BB has AA and when I show I get some stick for having such a poor hand - I decline to argue and lose 10k in chips. Now I am struggling, and when I move all-in from the button with KQ after a min raise, I thought that he could may be lay down his A9, since it was costing him 6k into a 12k pot. However it held up and I was out.
On reflection perhaps I should have folded my Q7 but I don't think I had time to wait. We were down to 24 players but I don't think you can rely on 7 eliminations with an M of 8 and 25 minute levels....
It cost $450 to enter and this got you 3000 chips. Then as soon as you had less than 3000 you could buy another 3000 for only $100. At the break you could add-on 3000 chips for $100 but $150 got you 6000.
Level 1 is 25/50 so I rather thought the correct strategy was to rebuy immediately. However only 3 of us did this - so perhaps not. It did not do me much good since I got no hands at all.
Level 2 was 50/100 and I had to reload after my 99 reraise all-in of a family limped pot got called by the SB with TT.
On level 3 (100/200) I got my revenge on the SB when I had 88 vs 55. Shortly before the break I got very lucky when going all in with 55 vs KK and AJ and the dealer spiked me a 5 on the flop.
Then on the hand just before the break I make a ropey call UTG with A9 suited. There is a min raise and my nemesis calls so I call too. The flop comes K97 with 2 diamonds and I decided to see what the preflop raiser does - we check to her and she bets 600 and the BB calls. I am now pretty sure neither of them has a K so I bet the pot which will put the BB all-in. The original raiser folds and the BB calls with 9T. My hand holds up and after the add-ons I have 20000 chips.
We are told there will be 16 tickets to the main event (worth $3000) and there are 960000 chips in play - so looks like you will need to aim for a stack of 60,000.
The levels move quite quickly and I win a few lose a few and at the 3rd break (after Level 9) I have 22k and there are 30 players left.
Level 10 is 1500/3000 and after a raise with AJ that I have to fold when there is big action on a flop of AKT I have around 22k. I have been making a few all-ins and not getting called so when I have Q7 in late position and push again the big stack on the button thinks for ages and folds. Unfortunately the BB has AA and when I show I get some stick for having such a poor hand - I decline to argue and lose 10k in chips. Now I am struggling, and when I move all-in from the button with KQ after a min raise, I thought that he could may be lay down his A9, since it was costing him 6k into a 12k pot. However it held up and I was out.
On reflection perhaps I should have folded my Q7 but I don't think I had time to wait. We were down to 24 players but I don't think you can rely on 7 eliminations with an M of 8 and 25 minute levels....
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