KEVIN O'LEARY POKER Poker Player Kevin O'Leary
  • Home
  • ABOUT THIS SITE
    • ABOUT ME
    • MY RESULTS & HISTORY
    • LIVE OR ONLINE POKER?
    • MINDSET, GOALS, THE FUTURE
  • GET INVOLVED
    • SHARE PRICES & INFO
    • UNDERSTANDING STAKING
    • TOURNAMENT COACHING
    • THE LEGAL STUFF
  • TOURNAMENT UPDATES
    • UPDATES
    • ARCHIVE UPDATES
    • FAQ's
    • GALLERY
  • CONTACT

$600 DSE Superstack day 1B

30/6/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture
Whilst it would be easy to whine about the unfairness of life, and bemoan the fact that people play terribly and can't fold a hand etc, etc, let's assume that the best approach is to leave that to everyone else and just move on and try to win something. Had a swim and a sweat this morning, and ready to smash the arse out of today's 1B of the Venetian $600 DSE event. As suggested, I unregistered from the upcoming WSOP 1K in favour of a punt or two in this instead. I'm in an oddly good mood. Only 95 players so far but with three day ones I fully expect that to spiral upwards.
Picture
This table after two orbits is already feeling like crash bang wallop. Calling stations abound and people are woefully overplaying one pair. I have decided this is a very good thing!

Level 2 and now at a full table of mutants. My 20K starting stack is looking like 19K, but I'm playing plenty of pots. Thee's certainly the potential to run this up to something meaningful early on here, and that's the plan.

One guy is wearing some kind of poker branded apparel which seems to have become popular with people who have more money than sense. He's pat of the company that produce it, so good luck to him. I tell him I play so bad I can barely afford to buy regular t-shirts, much less poker branded ones. He gives a wry smile. He just made a filthy gutshot against some old rock who couldn't put down his aces on the scariest board imaginable. That's not good, I feel like he's
probably the guy I want to avoid going to war with too early on.

Up to 22K afte playing 222 very cute and letting the guy spack off a few chips. no real danger on this table. The poker apparel guy likes to see lots of flops and can play a bit, but everyone else largely are playing their cards face up at the moment. I think chipping slowly is better than trying to smash the lot in early doors, however based on my recent predictions maybe that's what will end up happening...

Nearing the end of level 3 and cruising on 26K. 151 entrants and rising.

Level 4 and I'm seeing a few flops, just got called down by a raggy ace. It was almost worth the price of admission for the information, but it bumped me back to 19K again. I then lost a small pot with 10 10 and dropped to 15K. Still liking the table.

OK, I was.

I just raised with Ac5c, Long short, I got two callers, made the nut flush on the turn, bet it strong, and 6c6h just called me down all the way. I'm feeling good until the 8c falls on the river, now making the board 10c 9c 4h 7c 8c...and rivering him a straight flush. I'd like a bucket please.

I can return tomorrow and stab again, but I'm here, and it's not late so I re-enter for my first second bullet of the trip (if that makes sense). Grit my teeth and get back to it.
Picture
New table and a few familiar faces here. Tougher line up but I get off to an OK start, and run my new 20K up to 29k fairly quickly. Let's try to avoid a blow up this time...

A couple of players on the table are yakking to one another incessantly. Of course I've no problem with this, chatting is part of the game and particularly mine. However it does somewhat neutralize my normal dynamic, so for now I'm in my shell a bit, letting others run the table. This is probably
no bad thing sometimes.

I dodged a MAJOR bullet when a DSE regular on the table who is normally spectacularly un-flamboyant in her play just repopped a 900 bet to 2900. I folded 33, she had 10 10, and the other woman in the pot had AcKc. The flop came out 3c 10c Qh, and I would have likely smashed the next bullet after they got in all the marbles, and the 10 10 would have tripled up when no further clubs materialized, busting me in the process. Almost at the second break, and I'm back to 22K with 135/200 players remaining.

The guy on my left speaks zero English, and plays very few hands. However the ones he does play it looks like he wants to get every chip in front of him in the middle. He just made it almost 6k preflop at 50/200/400.

​Break time. Ten minutes of sunshine.
Tablet power died so a small lull, but I'm on 20K at 75/300/600. It's been tough. French guy who is a tidy player has been making straight flushes for fun and busting people. DSE reg is gone, and screen shows 112 players from 213 remain. Keeping it tight for now, quite a few big stacks all around.

New playes move to the table and we are again 10 handed. I've dropped a bit, but shoved AQ versus a small raise and a bunch of limpers, and I'm still OK at around 17K. Level 9 now, just before dinner break, and limits are 100/400/800. Not tons of wiggle room, but I have enough chips to make a call something to think about if I had to ship.

​Just lost with JJ in a 3 way pot with an ace on board. They had AQ and AJ respectively. 13K.

I obtained a timely double up when my QQ beat AK and I peak at 26K. The action is fairly thick and fast, and I drop to 23 again without doing anything. More players join the table, and I'll be happy to see the break and start fresh in 30 minutes. Yes...30 minutes is a pretty woeful dinner break, however, being fairly canny, I phoned through a food order 15 minutes ago. It always pays to have the restaurants on speed dial here.

Lost another with 77. 20K at the penultimate hand before break. It's not great but I'll take it. Let's play the last hand.

Great, look down at 22. I make it 2200 hoping to get it through, but the french guy with a huge stack has other ideas. He raises to 5100. I really don't like it but I'm invested so I take a flop and hope for some love.

2 3 10 rainbow.  Maybe someone up there loves me after all. He tries to bully and drops a stack of blue 5K chips over the line. I beat him to the middle and he looks miffed, flipping over AK. Our hero is on 43K, which feels much nicer than 20K. Chicken fried rice awaits.
Picture
Back we are and straight into the thick of it. The first five hands on return have been all-ins. Not from yours truly of course, but it's fun to watch the A9's and KJ's spacking off their money when there's no need to. 90 remain from the final number today of 221.

French guy is getting pummelled. His 88 ran into J5 on a JJ5 flop and he smashed up 30K. I now have more chips than him, which I kin of feel is the way things ought to be.

​Still climbing and I float a dealer who is playing, and rise to 63K. Average is 55K. Cocktails please.

Play hots up as a few new players fill the table. We're at 100/500/1000 and 76 now remain.

It appears to be national dipshit day in the Venetian, as Q6 shoves on my blind and I find 44 and call for 20% of my stack. He hits a six. Great stuff. lose a few more and I find myself on 28K. It rises and falls fast at this stage.

Shit, the way this is going it doesn't take long to bleed down again. Back to 21K without playing any big pots at all.


One guy has suffered a couple of suckouts courtesy of an Irish dealer I know, and is being a bit of a dick about it. It started out good naturedly, but one player shipped with 10 9 (not ideal but he got in first), this guy CALLS 15K+ with...QJ offsuit. The flop is 10 9 9 and the short stack doubles, and this guy stats raging about what a shitty dealer he is. I always try to stick up for dealers in spots like this, so I rib him a little and tell him of course it's personal. Dealers always do that if you act like a jerk to them.

67 Playes left. 18K as we hit 200/800/1600.

Now 55 left, and I've won a few small ones and busted a micro stack. 24,500. Next break in 2 minutes.

The guy who was being a bit of an ass to the previous dealer has been jamming a lot and steaming. He just won a huge pot with a King high diamond flush versus a smaller flush and a flopped set. Personally I thought when he said on the three way all-in on the flop to the guy who tabled the second nut flush "oh, you have a flush???" and THEN turned over the nut flush himself (and then said "sorry" to the guy when he was leaving the table) it just shows a lack of class or etiquette. Honestly, I think I'm probably the only person with whom it even registered, but it cements the occasional belief that there's not a lot of justice in poker sometimes. Now the guy who insults people and shows terrible form has a huge stack, and the guys who are polite and did everything correctly are out.

Break time, I'm on 23K and we come back at 200/1000/2000. Time for some love.

Sigh. Not an "I'm out" sigh, but a sigh nonetheless. I just missed my golden ticket moment. I have 10 10 on the button, the Frenchman who is on similar to me now jams, and I decide I will be calling if it's folded round. however, now a big stack just flat calls as well. 

I'm sure I'm supposed to play as bad as some of the guys I've mentioned today, but in this spot 10 10 for my tournament versus two players is a fold, plain and simple. I muck. They flip 44 (France) and AK (big stack). A King flops and of course I river a Ten. Cast it aside and move on. 46 players left as we near the end of level 13. I'm still on 24K.

Horrible play is again taking over the room. I'm trying to avoid it but I'm going to need to start swinging any second before the blinds and antes eat me alive.

Found my swing spot, and the fun of the Las Vegas summer continues.

10 hours, $1200, out in 44/221 for...zero dollars.

I jam an Ace (as it transpires A7) for 15K at 300/1200/2400, all fold to the big blind. He has 88 and I'm gone. It's not easy, but as always I'll just shrug it off and move onward.



2 Comments

WSOP #58 $1500 NLH

30/6/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture
A few of my buddies have done rather well of late, one winning a Venetian DSE for $90K, another just finished 13th in a WSOP event for $17K. Yours truly should certainly win this one then according to the law of averages I'd guess.

Nice start table, Chatty bunch, good atmosphere, one guy drinking Bloody Marys, pretty girl on my left, everyone generally playing fun poker. Sorry, the early updates have been a little sparse as I have been working my schtick on the table and playing quite a few pot.

​First break, and I'm on around 8500 from a 7500 starting stack.
Picture
Level 4 and I'm still on around the start stack. I've played quite a few hands and gone around 1K up and down. One guy has left, his AA getting shredded by 444. Little to update right now but I'm tuned in and feeling good. I have a sneaking suspicion I'm probably going to win this event.

​Took a dent when I reraised a young kid who seems overly aggro, and he four-bet me. I had AQ and decided to get out. Down to 6500.1542 entrants so far today, and still chugging.

Second break and I'm on 7400 again.  No heroics this early. No one's doing anything particularly silly so for now I'm trying to back into something decent and get paid.

It's always mildly amusing to me the massive variety of people you encounter in poker, and in particular at the WSOP. Of course, everybody's different, but you have me with occasionally coloured hair, a giraffe, and a constant line of bullshit patter to entertain and confuse, and I am by NO means the strangest person you'll encounter in this building. People of all colours, shapes, sizes and questionable haircuts abound. Guys walking around indoors with huge mirrored sunglasses (always hilarious). Guys are wearing poker T-Shirts, designed to make you play better, drinking and eating food to give them an edge in a pot, buying books, training videos, dissecting hands on the break. All looking for that magical elixir that will allow them to outplay everyone else, and maybe one day lift a bracelet. To me it's an elaborate marketing confidence trick. Most of the information you need to survive and improve as a player is right there in front of you, yet people still somehow think that wearing a Run It Up shirt or special "poker optical" sunglasses will make them a better player somehow. I think it just makes certain individuals richer, but that's just me. 

Back from break, and I just had some standard WSOP pain with two red Kings. I repopped on the button and got two callers. I bet the flop and they both called. The board on the turn is an ugly 4s 6 s 7c 8s, and these guys now want to go to war for 4K each. Sigh fold. The quiet but aggressive Asian kid in the 5 seat wins the pot.

Level 6 just arrived. Pretty Kami on my left just ran 10 10 into an English kid's JJ all-in preflop, she didn't improve and is sadly now on life support. The play on this table has been pretty straightforward. I'm now down to 5K for no reason in particular. Not quite panic stations yet, but nobody at the table is really giving much away, and getting easy chips isn't a regular occurance here so far.

We lost Kami, who is replaced by a considerably bigger bearded guy who says little and texts a lot.

I just hit 9K thanks to flopping a set of fives versus a shortish AA, and shortly after I get up to 11K with a few well times bluffs preflop. 1668 players now in and climbing. I'm comfortable in chips, though there are certainly three or four bigger stacks on the table.

I've tightened up a bit now. There's still scope for the odd stab at a pot, but these middle levels are often where it's easy to dump a ton of chips and suddenly be in trouble. For now I'm taking it slow.
Picture
Back from dinner break (and a charming bit of Thai street food with my buddy Alex), and we're straight back into it. I had 10K before dinner, we return at 75/250/500, and I quickly increase to 13K. We lose a few players quickly to ugly outdraws, but nothing I'm part of.

​Almost 1800 players, and we're pushing onward on a slightly more aggressive table than before.
Annnnnd...

Our hero just got a nice dose of maximum WSOP violation and pain. 

I raise in mid position with 5h4h, the Brazilian guy on my left flat calls the 1250 bet, everyone else folds and we see a flop.

5d 5c 10c.

I lead out strong on this, because of course I want the action. I have around 12K, so I bet a super strong 4600. He thinks, and then finally calls.

The turn is the 2d. A blank as far as i'm concerned, but I don't like clubs or diamonds, so I make the visual commitment and bet 5500, leaving myself with about 3K. He dwells, and again calls.

Now of course there is no folding. I ship the remainder before the river comes out, which ends up being the 3d.

He calls and turns over Ad Jd for a runner-runner flush. I'd like to be sick but I wish everyone good luck and leave.

That's about as ugly as these things can get I think. I've unregged from the WSOP $1K, and will play 1B of the Venetian $600 tomorrow instead.  Off home to reflect on what I just did wrong in the exit hand. Ahh. Nothing whatsoever. Well, that was easy! Another character building exercise from Caesars Entertainment.
2 Comments

Wynn Classic $600 NLH $250K gtd

28/6/2017

6 Comments

 
Picture
First hurdle of the day overcame. It took a good 25 minutes to find a parking spot. Wynn resorts said they have no plans to charge for parking like some of the other casinos anytime soon. I think potentially they may be telling um... a lie. We shall see.


Sigh. My amazing run turns to matchsticks again when I play a hand about as well as I possibly can and get shafted for my trouble.
I raise with 99 and a Scottish kid who just joined the table calls. Flop 9 10 J, not bad at all. He bets out and I raise him, he calls.
Turn is another Jack. Bingo. I have 9's full. Now to get paid.
I bet small, he raises, now I make a massive overshove. There's a bit of good natured dialogue, and I get him to sigh call all-in.

He flips over AJ, shakes his head in defeat, and promptly rivers an Ace to make Jacks full. Ugh, that just chopped me back to 32K.

Sigh. Suck it up and just keep going.

450 entrants today and counting, and we're at level 5 which is 50/150/300. Still a good table and I'm feeling great. Let's run it up.

Level 6 and I've lost every hand I've played since my nines full horror. Luckily I haven't played too many. 36K and the average is around 21K so no stress. We're at 50/200/400. A few guys on the table seriously over value their hands preflop so hopefully I can take advantage as time goes on.
Picture
Got back up to around 41K at the next break following the earlier ugly wobble. Plenty of chips on the table to be had, I just have to choose my battles and not get unlucky.

Level up to 75/300/600. The screen shows 360 players remaining in today's flight from 604 players who started. This will be combined with yesterday's (day 1A) numbers to probably make around 1000 players overall.

One of the guys I knew would dust off most of his stack just did so as predicted, sadly to one of the better players at the table. He tried bluffing off his stack with KQ (nothing) on the river, and got snap called by 99 which was good. This guy will be out soon. He's in position behind me so I'm not giving him a chance to reshove on any of my light opens. 

Pretty girl at the table just decided to shove 10K or so under the gun with 77, and found herself getting called by the Frenchman on my right with KK. An immediate 7 in the window chops him down and builds her up, which based on previous play seen here is good news on both counts.

​Colour up break. Am back to 35K after finding a guy who won't fold preflop. He'll fit right in here.
32K at the pre-dinner break level. 100/400/800, and 279 players remain. A lot of these guys are about to enter lemming mode and I'd like to avoid the crossfire if at all possible. Trouble is, my table has about five lemmings sitting on it.

Of course one of them just got 6500 in with AQ vs my 99 and spiked a Queen. Down to 29K. 

​It's been a pretty gruelling level with a fair share of pain, and the occasional steal. I'm off for some soup for 45 minutes. 234 players remain, and I'm on 26K. We return on 100/500/1000, so all to play for.

Back from break and some nice early fireworks for the table. The guy on my right is just shocking. Makes a scabby raise with A6, gets shipped on by AQ for like 20K more, and still calls anyway. Spikes a six, but the opponent gets "lucky" and rivers a Queen to take it down. The very next hand, the same guy again raises and is shipped on yet again, this time by AK versus his scabby A3. This time he pings a 3 and busts the AK who leaves shaking his head. It's like folding isn't in the vocabulary. It's pretty awful but also pretty dangerous.

I've missed about four flops and drifted down to 15K. The very same guy again makes one of his scabby raises, and I ship As9s, knowing I'm likely well ahead of the spanners he's raising with. This proves to be true, however the guy on my left also moves in and shows AQ. Shit

Luckily, on this table, behind is the new ahead, so I flop two nines, to bounce up to 32K. Stupid game.

Stupid indeed. About 15 mins into the return I raise to 3,400 with QQ and get three callers. Two aces flop and I have to fold to action. The winner of the pot shows A9 offsuit.

A while goes by and I now am down to 24K. I look down in the big blind at Jc9c. Not a hand I'd normally go mad with but I have 1k invested. The kid who got lucky early on with the AJ boat raises to around 3K, and the guy on my right who likes seeing flops also calls. I call.

Flop is 8c 5c 5h. Two overs and a flush draw. I don't mind this as there's good potential to represent a lot of hands. I think the check raise looks a lot stronger if there's enough money in the pot. I check, and the kid bets approx 3500, the other guy dwells and calls...back to me. I jam.

I don't like to get all maths. There are plenty of drones out there who love running all the numbers. My reasoning is as follows: The pot has around 18.500 in it, and I have about 23K behind. The jam here screams one of two things, either strength (I have a 5), a draw (I have clubs or 76) and well, that's about it. I think it's a tough call for an overpair, especially for your tournament. I also give neither of them a 5, so I think this is my moment to get back into the tournament with a decent stack, either by illiciting a fold, or by hitting my hand. I've rarely shoved all day here, and I'd hope the more astute players will notice this. 

The kid has a think and asks for a count, then calls virtually all-in. The other guy throws away whatever rubbish he was calling with initially.

I table Jc9c. Two overs and a flush draw. A backdoor straight draw if we're also getting picky.

He shows 10 10. So a Jack also wins for me. Brick on the turn and brick on the river. 8.5 hours down the Swanee. Good luck everyone.

This is one of the few times I can say "OK I had the worst hand when the money went in". Of course I had plenty of win potential which basically didn't materialise. I think my realisation that a lot of the players on the table today simply can't fold if they have a pair for any amount of money probably merits consideration as to if I needed to bother playing the hand at all, or should have simply mucked it preflop. I won't beat myself up too much, but possibly knowing the history of hands on the table and the fact I had a pretty good read on most players (for sure the two in the pot on my exit) means if you know someone can't fold it's probably not sensible to adopt a strategy where them folding is part of your desired outcome. I was aware if I win the hand, I could be on a very healthy 64K or so and ready to boss the table for the final levels of the day. These situations in tournaments I'm happy to take on if I'm the aggressor. Maybe some will disagree.

Thanks to a number of people for emails and texts of support during the trip so far. Luckily most of you fully get how gruelling this stuff is for long hours often for little or no reward, so the nice words are appreciated. Just so you know.

My next WSOP event is in two days. I will sleep on it as to whether to play a one day event tomorrow or stay fresh for the WSOP $1500 NLH instead.


6 Comments

change of plan

27/6/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
Following my early ugly departure from the WSOP, my gameplan was to next play the Wynn $600 tomorrow. However, I have seen the Venetian main event ($3,500 buy-in, $3 million guaranteed) has a satellite tonight for a $400 buy-in with 10 x $3,500 seats guaranteed. This event isn't on my pre-set schedule, but I think a bullet with a shot to get in cheap for this is well worth the punt, so I've bought in and will play it at 7pm this evening. The main tournament is a $3 million guaranteed prize pool, and given the (for me) pretty small sample size of events I'm playing on the trip, I think a stab at something really big if you can get in relatively cheap is better than just playing it safe and passing it up.

Looks like it's crash helmet time as we set off in this thing. It's essentially a survivor tournament, so for the time being nuts and bolts are the order of the day. One hand just came up where K4 and AQ got 10K in the middle each on a flop of K J 3. Of course the AQ called the flop shove, and then proceeded to immediately spike the magic 10 ball. Once the hand ran out the K4 let out a huge cheer and a hand clap, before the dealer politely pointed out that he had in fact, lost the hand, and was now eliminated. You couldn't make it up.

​Level 2 and all sorts of ugly shenanigans abound here. I'm not getting involved! 165 entrants and climbing. We've lost two players on our table already.

Mike Sinclair is on my left, a Las Vegas rounder. He's a friend and a DSE and WSOP regular, and is tricky to play against. The table just got a little tougher.

Mike shoved with AK and got called all-in by a guy who literally just sat down with 33 (!). The threes are good and Mike loses a ton of chips. Play on here is totally nuts. I've dropped to 7K, and gone back to 10K again, now 208 players as we near end of level 3.
Picture
Now playing a full table. The only good news so far in this tournament is one of my favourite pretty waitresses from  Moldova just brought me a Baileys and milk. That's about it.

Play on the table has tightened up a bit now the antes have kicked in. Last level for re-entries (not that I'd be re-entering if I bust) and we're still chugging, below average chips but that's pretty unimportant at this stage. Crazy AQ guy has shown he pretty much has either unlimited funds or no clue whatsoever (or maybe is playing on some higher level I don't yet understand), and calls preflop with all sorts. JQ offsuit for 4K was his latest. Dangerous times indeed.


10 minute break.

We're back and I catch a lucky break to make a flush against AA with a crappy hand, and I'm up to 17K. I wouldn't advise spewing chips about too much, but occasionally it's nice to be fortunate. 164 players remain from 245 starters, and the screen shows 24 x $3,500 seats are up for grabs.
Picture
19K after shipping the flop to a reraise when I flopped a pair and a flush draw. Not my preferred M.O but there was enough in the middle to justify trying to kill it quick. He grumbled and then folded.

​130 players left at level 6, and I'm around 21K a little over average chips. A LONG way still to go.

I drop down to 16K after losing a pot to an unsmiling unspeaking misery who refuses to react or say a thing to anyone. I know of course that people are fully entitled to act how they want, but I'm truly puzzled how people who seem to love an online environment where you can play in sensory deprivation, would ever actually want to bother playing live. Aside from making the experience miserable for the rest of us, it must be as dull as dishwater for them to sit there trying to look stoic and menacing for hours on end. Also, truth be told, this slightly stupid approach only works against either anyone without a brain, or maybe the absolute weakest of players.

​I left the updates for a bit as the table was pretty chatty and active. I'm on 25K on level 8. Blinds are 200/600/1200 and 72 players  remain. I got lucky earlier with AdKd vs AK offsuit when I made a diamond flush and busted him. Still chugging.

20K now as 66 players remain. I'll need a slice of luck in this but at least I'm still there. People starting to shove and reshove with lots of highly spurious hands. The Spaniard on my right, though I'm sure is a wonderful guy, is an idiot. Everything must be babbled loudly in non English, he runs across the room almost knocking over a cocktail waitress lest he misses one precious hand. Now he's sitting next to me guzzling a burger and drinking beer whilst handling chips. I want to throw up. Some people really have no concept of the fact that maybe their lack of manners and boorish behaviour might impact on the other human beings who have to share space with them. They're either too dumb, or maybe just don't care about anyone but themselves. A sadly common trait amongst a huge percentage of people who play poker.

Now he's blowing his nose on the napkins and leaving them all over the side table. I don't tilt (really, I just don't), but if I ever did it'd be against people like this, who are the individuals in poker I intensely dislike. They simply have no awareness of how offensive and inconsiderate they are.

Irony is a wonderful thing. 

He has spazzed off most of his stack, then shoved multiple times to build it back up again. Won a few but mostly donked off with dogshit hands. I go down to 15K as we hit 56 players and 300/1000/2000 antes. He again raises so I shove with 99 happy to be heads up.

He tables KQ and hits a Queen. No $3,500 seat for me. At least he makes a loud ungainly grunting celebration through the fog of beer, burger crumbs and snot as he outdraws me. Classy. Good luck everyone.

Fun night. Wynn $600 tomorrow.
1 Comment

wsop #52 $1500 NLH

27/6/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Off we blast, and my first table has more than it's fair share of early drama. One guy loses most of his stack with AA when the kid in the one seat makes quads with his 77 and ruined his opponent's morning. A little later the very same player then loses the rest of his chips...again with AA and is gone. Gotta love the Rio.

​My table isn't getting out of line much. The woman in the 7 seat can play a bit, and has so far called every single one of my raises. I just flopped a straight and bet it through the streets..she still called me down, and I'm up to an early 10k from the 7500 starting stack as we near level two.
Picture
Sigh.

The weakest player on the table just lost a chunk of his stack to the girl when he couldn't fold his flush to an obvious boat. A few hands later one player makes it 250 to go, and everyone calls including me with JJ. The aforementioned weak player now ships in 4K more and all fold round to me. I call as he's clearly all over the place and am glad to see him flip over the no limit powerhouse that is...98.

The flop of 10 9 9 however is then not quite so good for me, and he doubles back up again, whilst simultaneously trying to explain and justify why he shoved. I tell him it's all good and just put it out of my mind. Back down to 6K again.

​Level two and we're at 50/100. So far around 1000 players are in today. 

I'm certainly getting the shaft this morning. I just preflop reraised an unsmiling guy in shades who made it 250 to play. I made it 800, he calls, and his 64 offsuit then hits a gutshot to make a straight against my AQ on a Q 7 3 5 10 board. Vomit. Down to 3,100. 

It's certainly an OK table, but thus far I'm getting hands smashed because people just aren't folding anything. That of course is OK, but from 10K down to 3K is pretty brutal in a quick succession of hands. Keeping it together but will probably have to play a big hand fast if this keeps up.

Folded for an orbit or so, and keeping it snug, nipping away at small pots just isn't going to do it at this stage of things with this line up. I was off to a superb start on what I consider to be a great table. I just need to play ABC for now and let the decent structure get me back up to a decent stack again.


Or not.

I look down and find AcKc on the button. One early player makes it 300, 4 players call and it's to me so I ship the 3100 over the line and all fold to the woman, who again is unsurprisingly in the pot, who as said thus far has called everything. That's not to say she can't play, she clearly can, but she seems to like peeling flops if she has any chips at all invested. This time however the number looks a bit too big for her to continue, and she looks pained.

"I don't really know if I can fold" she says. I tell her that's fine, and that I already know she has difficulty with this particular action. There were a few laughs, it was said in good nature. I'm now feeling more confident and hope she might call with a weaker ace.

"There are only three hands beating me". Oh great. She has JJ then. Now I still don't mind the call to take a flip, but also know her chances of finding a fold are much slimmer.

She sighs and calls, and turns over JJ.

The board runs out with five baby cards and that's that.

OK, I'm gone. That was not the way this was expected to play out this morning. I'm not going to analyze it to shit. I know I had about four big hands ruined in quick succession, but that's sometimes the way it goes. If I had the chance, I'd want the opponents to to the same thing every time that they did today. No point in bitching when people get lucky, they're allowed to get lucky, and it's why poker can still be profitable.
0 Comments

wsop $1500 monster stack day 2

26/6/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture
1,944 players left from 6,716 starters. Practically over then!

Restart at 11am today with a fair way to go before there's any loot in sight. My table assignment has me listed as Kevin O'Leary from India. WSOP admin at it's very finest.

My first table isn't a bad one, I'm third highest chips. We have an older Asian guy with whom I've played in the past at the Venetian. He's fun, but he just lost a huge pot all-in preflop with AA vs KK. I had raised in the hand with JJ and with typical Kevin timing I found these two others in the pot and immediately got out of the way. The KK turned a King and got lucky, so my buddy is now down to fumes. Not very poker, but I never like seeing nice guys get the shaft. He showed his class by taking it well even though it crippled him. A very pretty Brazilian girl is chip leader, and is smiley and pleasant enough. The mood is generally upbeat on our table, and currently as we approach level 2 the screen says 1800 players remain.

Pretty girl just had her stack totally decimated by aggressive older guy of indeterminate ethnicity (one just for the haters out there) when her big combo draw bricked out against his  shitty two pair. I've largely avoided too much turmoil so far, but I have drifted down to 48K trying to bust one short stack and seeing several flops.

​1,620 players remain and we're at 200/800/1600. Pretty girl is sadly gone... replaced by a considerably less attractive 300lb guy who looks like no stranger to McDonalds.
Picture
Sigh. Just took a hit with JJ on an AK6 flop when the fairly tight guy on my left bet 15k on the flop. I'm on around 45K. Probably 1400 or so left, and I now know that 1008 get paid. Approaching the first break and the end of level 12. I've danced my way back up to 55K and am very much liking the table, so long as I can avoid a car-crash moment here.

Bad news. My table just broke (about the worst thing that could have happened), and I get moved to a new table with HUGE stacks all around. The guy on my right must have 300K, and the guy two to his right equally as much. I guess we'll just have to see what happens. 1,260 left.

Weird table, some BIG overbets! I limped for 2k with 10 10 to see a cheap flop. By the time it got back to me there was 100k in the middle, and AA and AK went to war. I'm happy to sacrifice the 2K. Around 1170 remain as we near level 14.

From what I've seen so far, the pots are pretty bloated mainly due to stack sizes, The guy on my left just called 12k preflop with QJ offsuit (which won with an ace on board). My stack is in that weird middle zone, where I'm not desperate yet, but I can't splash about and spray chips everywhere seeing flops. Along we chug.

Level up to a biting 400/1200/2400, and around 100 players to lose before we make the money in this damn thing. I really try to ignore this as much as possible and simply play. I see a ton of people get blinded by the hope of a few dollars, and as a result end up badly misplaying hands. Whilst cashing is always good, nobody is looking to get $200 back as an investment return, and I believe that advancing in the tournament is better.

I'm certainly playing a different tournament to some of these guys. Indian kid with mirrored shades just demolished most of his 75K stack with KQ on a King high flop versus an older guy who wasn't putting AK down. As I always say, pay your money, do whatever you like in these things, but from where I'm sitting he could have lost maybe 15K in the hand, not murdered almost the entire stack. I guess these days that's how tournaments are won? 

I'm on 50K, and 1,071 remain.

Unbelievable...I NEED to be the beneficiary of some of this madness! An old beard with around 200K just gave ALL OF IT to the big stack on my right. He had 63 on the button and limped (?!?!), and the guy on my left checked the blind with 52. Once the dust cleared, the board read 3486J. The 52 bet and the beard RAISED all-in for 150K more. He's now left thinking he's unlucky, and the guy on my right has a 550K stack, largely due to a massive Christmas present. Ugh.

Well...as MC Hammer used to say:
Picture
I find the bubble circus highly amusing. Players squawk and cluck. they run around and look at tables with all-in hands. They basically ignore the rules to stay in their seats, and are mostly clinging on to the idea of a WSOP cash, without actually bothering to focus on the actual tournament any more. I know I'm different in my viewpoint. I just find it quite funny the way some of these guys act at the sniff of a few dollars.

Ding. We're in the money, after about 30 minutes of hand for hand play. I now reckon we'll lost a good 50 players in the next ten minutes or so. 1008 remain, we're 500/1500/3000 and I have 44K.

Due to some kind of admin snafu at the Rio, although we are already in the money, we still seem to be playing hand for hand, and the first hand has taken at this point about 10 minutes. The old geezer next to me is moaning incessantly. 'Why aren't we playing?/This is bullshit/Why is this taking so long?/I want to play/etc/etc". I calmly said instead of getting worked up that they aren't organising the 120 remaining tables around him, maybe he should just embrace it instead, he might feel a bit better. 

Nope. He prefers to keep moaning instead. I dig out my earphones, and put on Spotify.
Picture
Nicked a small one. Back up to 54K. 

Old geezer next to me just got pushed off a pot when facing a 30K bet from some young spud with a backwards baseball cap. He gets shown a bluff, his head goes and he's out less than three hands later. Aforementioned kid then gives another old boy 65K by getting 88 in preflop versus the Senior's KK. Head scratching stuff. I'm on 40K or so which is well below average, but the way this table is playing there's potential for that to be 400K in 30 minutes time.

I just shoved blind on blind with A3. Got it through. He's got a ton of chips and could call me light. With 40K I guess I'm OK with that too.

Just over 800 players remain.

All sorts of scabby plays going on all around me. I've seen nothing and am now down to 20K. Time to ship and hope. 680 players left.

And... our hero finishes in 656th place for a whopping payout of $2,873. All I could do was get it in good.

I jam with A5, and get called by a big stack who has plenty of chips and 7s6s, which is worth a call to take a shot at me. Off we go.

Flop As 10s 8s. sigh. That's basically that then, unless he fancies gutshotting a straight flush just for good measure.

Last few hours were flat, and I lost the shot I needed to take. That aside, no complaints. On to the next one tomorrow back at the Rio...the $1500 NLH. 
Picture
2 Comments

wsop $1500 monster stack day 1b

25/6/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Admittedly, the stack doesn't look terribly monstrous, however you do get 15k starting chips, and a one hour clock, so for a WSOP event, this means a decent amount of play, and hopefully a weaker field as this event always attracts a good amount of recreational players who are enticed by the bigger than normal starting stack and the lucrative money up top. Let's hope we get off to a flyer after our days rest yesterday.
A table of largely unknowns, and level one passes uneventfully. The young kid in the one seat is pretty laggy, and has already been caught once bluffing a girl with Queen high. She called him with third pair and was right.

Level two has kicked off. Currently almost 6000 players are in this from combined day 1A and 1B flights. Am at around 14,200 after a little set mining that didn't bear fruit.

We reach the first break and I'm still hovering at about 14,500. We return at 25/75/150 and now have a full table, half of which are speaking and having fun. The other half appear to be mute.

A bit of drama as the nice guy on my left (an L.A cop), can't get away from KK preflop against the unsmiling unspeaking Asian girl, who very clearly (to me at least) has AA. They get all the marbles in and he busts. Shame, he was fun to have at the table.

I've danced around a little, and have dribbled down to 13k, but am now back over starting stack and sitting on 15,800. No real danger at the table, except me if I decided to spazz out, which after all these years I'd hope is now at least moderately unlikely.


Approaching level 4 now, and nothing of note to say regarding hands or stacks. I can make some stuff up if you'd like some drama, but for now let's just focus on waiting for someone to pop me up to 40k by level 5 please.

​​
Picture
Ask and ye shall receive...kind of!

At 25/100/200 I limp with AA, (of course. The guy to my right who has just only sat down and replaces the cop who busted, makes it 600 to play his very first hand. Three more people flat the 600 and it comes around to me.


Now, as most of you know, I like to talk. I will get inside people's heads, and I will exploit player's greed, errors, weaknesses, and emotions if at all possible. That's actually a huge part of poker, unless you're an internet dweeb with a HUD and pages of hand histories. People can say that some of this could be shooting an angle, but as anyone who has ever played with me knows, I will never actually break any rules. If a player makes a hand or betting judgement based on the information given, and that info proves to be flawed and that leads to their downfall, then they're fair game, but I do like to push people's buttons whenever possible. This is a lead up to what happen's next at the table, because I was EXTREMELY careful about the way in which it played out to make sure I didn't do anything that could be classed as underhand. Read on...

The action is back to me (some of you already know what's coming), and I take back my 200 chips, and now toss out a 100 chip...and a 5k chip together. This clearly makes my action a raise to 5,100 at 25/100/200, however, people like to invent a scenario that might work to their advantage...namely that I must have made a mistake.
 
Now, in the old days, players would try this trick often. They would ham it up by looking shocked,trying to take back their bet, even outwardly announcing they have made a mistake by throwing in the 5k. Now, I know all this of course, and  I fully meant to make the raise, but the greed of others can of course cloud their judgement, and it's on this fact I rely. I say nothing, I don't look shocked, worried or even slightly upset. I just sit there. The dealer looks at me and says "raise", implying indirectly that I did in fact make an error by throwing in the chip. He even raises an eyebrow! From a theatrical standpoint, this actually couldn't have come at a better time.
​
The raiser senses a spot to pick up some easy chips, and immediately pushes his whole 15k stack in. All others fold and I call of course.


"Oh",  he said "you meant to do that...".

"Of course" I reply. I think he's more upset with himself for falling for it, than with me for making the raise. As I say. I know the hustle, but was very careful to stay within the full boundaries of the rules. If someone's greed gets the better of them it's all good. I actually played a tournament at Caesars years ago, where a guy threw out a 5k chip in error, and it clearly was 100% an error. so I made it 35k knowing he couldn't possibly call. He then sighed and said "well, I've put in 5k so i have to call now" (NO!!!!!) and he called for 30K more and flipped over Q2 offsuit, and then proceeded to make quad deuces with it. How we laughed on the walk back to the hotel that day $1000 poorer.

Anyway, he has AK, I have AA. He flops a King and nothing else so he's out after one hand, and the good guys bump up to 35K as we near the second break. perfect.


Onto level 5 and I return to look down at AK offsuit. As we just saw, it's pretty easy to fall in love with this, and stack off light if you're of a certain disposition. We're at 50/150/300, and there's a raise to 750, and then a reraise to 2100. AK costs me 50 chips and goes into the bin, with which I'm just fine when we still have 6500 entrants.

​I just splashed back a few more against a stubborn blind who refused to let his KQ go to a bet on each street. Not catastrophic, and certainly well worth the price of admission just to see what he was calling me down with.


I just raised with AK, and heads up the other player bet the King high flop fairly hard. I flatted, and on the turn he now bets 3500, with another 6500 behind. It's not a great spot from where I'm sitting. A ton of players just punt off 10k here and if they're wrong then they're wrong. I can live with the small losses in spots like this, and to a lot of guys a fold here is absolutely out of the question. A lot of these guys however aren't actually making any money playing poker tournaments.

28k at level 6. as we hit 50/200/400.


My stack is going back down again, and some peculiar play is going on at the table. A couple of very weird hands have played out, and I've missed a lot of flops. One Englishman at the table is clearly very inexperienced playing live, but is a nice guy and is doing his best. The Asian girl who won with the AA earlier has basically sat impassive ever since, and hardly played a single hand. The English guy just busted by shoving AQ on a 934 flop, and getting called by A9. A guy from Belize who is part of some online poker team by the looks of it, is pretty active, and I have him earmarked as a spot for chips later once the limits get bigger as he's too aggressive too early on in the tournament.

Dinner break in around 20 minutes and I'll be happy to see it. I've seen no cards and lost every pot in the last level or so. It's not all bad, none of them have been terminal, but I have dropped back to 24k or so after my heady start this morning.


New table, dinner break...20K.
Back from break and we're on level 7 at 75/250/500. We play ten levels today, and whilst making day two is of course the goal, doing it with now chips isn't. Too early to see on this new table, but we'll see how it plays out.

I raised an aggressive kid with a draw and got myself back to 29k. A few hands later he jams for about 4k and I prepare to call with 88. The Japanese kid behind now makes it 25k all-in, and I of course fold my 88. They flip over A5 and AQ respectively, and I of course immediately flop the 8. Sigh. patience. Back to 26k.
Picture
Patience seems to be paying off and I'm up to a giddy 39k after a bit of fancy footwork versus an aggressive hot shot who seemed to brick everything after calling me down on three streets and then mucking. 
Japanese kid and French kid at the table just play a huge (ish) pot all-in preflop for around 50k. One has AK offsuit, the other has 10 10. Japan wins with 10 10, and I'm mentally scratching my head as to what the hell just happened...

Momentum time. Up to 48k after getting more aggressive on the flop even when missing. Roughly halfway through level 8 now, and approaching the final break of day 1B. Blinds are currently 75/300/600, and screen shows a total of nearly 6,700 entrants.

Final break of the day, and I'm still on around the 40K mark. I have a couple of kids from the UK on the table. Not too much dancing around but they can obviously play a bit, nice enough guys. For now the table is OK without trying to force things too much as my stack at the moment is just fine, and there's good potential to get paid if you connect on the right flop here.

After coming back I've been selectively pilfering a few chips here and there, I've got myself up to a very healthy 60K at last. Table is still pretty volatile with people spazzing out all over the place, so I'm picking my moments as I'd rather not let someone else's shocking play chop me back down to a short stack needlessly.
Picture
Level 10-last level of day 1B. I've stolen a couple and got paid once with KJ on a KJ3 flop, and my stack is hovering at around 55K, with blinds at 100/500/1000. They have started to announce payouts already, after combining the two day totals of players, but as per usual, I'm not even bothering to look at that stuff yet. At this stage people are almost spending the money already, which I never get. It really doesn't matter right now with the field still huge, so why give yourself extra stuff to think about?

One of the young English kids just shipped 24K preflop with KJ offsuit preflop. He gets called almost all-in by A7 suited, and looks like going home, but rivers a King, to now be on 50K+ when he was virtually out the door. Not judging, people can do whatever they like. It's just not my style, rightly or wrongly.



​
Picture
Made day 2 with almost 60K. I went into my shell a bit on the last level, and was slightly irked about a few things at the table. I decided to just get through the level and come back with a redraw was the smart play.
0 Comments

pacing yourself

24/6/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Today is a rest day. I was going to play the Wynn $1,100 event but have decided against it. I've been here for a week so far, and am 0/5 in events played. I'm not worried, and it's not uncommon to go four or five times that many tournaments without even a sniff of some money. Equally you can suddenly hit form and ping three cashes in a row. It's the wonderful nature of tournaments, especially those with big fields where all sorts can happen. You just need to be patient and try to consistently play well. I've gone deep into day one of most of the events, and lost heads-up in the WSOP shootout table I played, so I'm clearly still doing things OK, even if I'm not squeaking over the line just yet.

My scheduled trip is around three weeks of poker, so with the calendar I've set out, whilst I can simply hammer away day after day and play everything in sight until the budget is exhausted, there isn't actually any need to try to force things. What I don't want to do is play every consecutive day, and find I burn through $15k and still have a week left. This would then mean I then play anything else totally on my own dime, and whilst this is OK, I don't think it sits well when you play a package with investors, so I try to avoid doing it when possible and would rather space things out nicely instead so we're all funking together. No one likes to hear "yeah, I just cashed for $50k, oh, but that event wasn't part of the package..."

Also, being at least slightly organised, I factored a total of $19,500 of events in during the trip, with the schedule itself being $15k altogether. So whilst some are definites (mainly the WSOP ones), this means I can pick and choose a few of the others on the schedule and still have plenty to play.

The other aspect is that I preach (OK maybe advise) to people who ask me, that you don't have to play every event in every casino every hour of every day whilst you're here. A lot of players feel if they are not playing something every second then they are effectively losing money. I don't hold with this, and occasionally refer to the cautionary tale of a player I knew, who torched $12k in three days flat on his first trip here, because he played everything in sight, and as a result played tired and badly, and basically wasted his money. Hey, we're all different. If you have unlimited funds and don't give a shit maybe this is right for you.

I also am playing 1B of the WSOP Monster Stack tomorrow (this is a definite), so want to be fresh for that. I have some errands to sort and the rest of the day will be chilling and prep for tomorrow.
0 Comments

dse $600 NLh superstack (one day event)

23/6/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
20k starting chips, 30 minute levels, $200k gtd. Started bang on time as per usual. Too early to report much, no one appears to be saying much other than me. Quelle surprise...
This is a one dayer, with a semi fast structure. I can fire an extra shell if needed. but we'll see the lie of the land. Hopefully we can keep yesterday's momentum going.

18k at the end of level one. seen a few flops and dodged around a bit. Early days.

We now have a full table. Good player from the PH event a few days back sits directly on my left. He likes to float and 3-bet a lot. On right is an older guy from Hawaii who isn't a bad player and who has a good attitude. We're already messing around. Also joined by Dan, a UK player I know pretty well, and who is a regular in these events. 

Not too much going on. Drifted down a little by flopping yet another big combo draw that missed everything. Now on 15k or so at 100/200. For me staying at this table (not busting) is a big plus. A few good players for sure, but also some horrific ones. Sure if the right spot comes up I'm going to certainly take a punt today, but for now I won't be splashing around too much. Plenty of time for all that. 400 players so far, and they are dropping fast.

I lose with JJ vs a flush, and 66 on a 345 flop, down to 11k. Not ideal but still in the hunt.

A couple of guys are ridiculously overplaying hands. You can call it aggression, personally, I call it playing like a bull in a china shop, but to each their own. In one hand on an A 2 4 flop, AQ and A5 get around 20k each in the middle. it runs out a straight and they chop...the aggressive guy with apparently not much good humour who had the AQ looks disgusted, and the other player (who called allin on the flop was trying to justify his play, and then said "well, I didn't really like my hand". I said "Well don't worry, I didn't really like HIS hand (the other player) either once he turned it over". Dan laughed and the AQ looked decidedly unimpressed. Ho hum. He'll get over it.

​I decide it's time to ramp it up a bit, and flop an up and down straight draw, and I push it when the opponent bets. He calls flipping over one pair, which turns out to be a pair of aces. Oops. I get there immediately and am back up to 23k. Lovely. Just in time for the first break as we end level 4.
Picture
Back from the break, and I win a small pot with KK. The board runs out 3 8 9 10 J which isn't ideal, but the main thing is the good guys won the money.  Over 500 players now and we are on the 25/150/300 level and cruising along. Still plenty of overplaying going on. For now I've screwed back down a little and am just waiting for one of the Kamikaze pilots to crash into the felt when they see Q9 on a 9 high flop or something.

​Level 6 and I'm improving steadily, up to 33k.

Nearing end of level 7. A bluff went wrong, and I also got outkicked in a 2 pair showdown, back to 22k again. The decent player on my left got chopped to pieces, when he bluff-shoved into trips. He lost a huge proportion o his stack and now I feel he's basically shoving against any open, so I'm taking it gently.

Now reaching the end of level 8, and I've gone totally card dead....not seeing anything playable and mostly folding as preflop raises however big are just not getting through. I had a flurry of good hands early on, but now the reverse is the case. Just need to screw down a bit and wait it out. A couple of the maniac one pair overplayers have donated most of their stacks to the stronger ones at the table. Squaeaked along to the next break, losing the final hand when I found 88 in the big blind and had to fold on a KJQ flop. Ugh.
There have been some ugly hands on the table. Thankfully I'm avoiding 90% of them, but a few of the shall we say, less sophisticated players, are treating one pair with a crap kicker like a set. This makes outplaying people tough, as you can only outplay good players, and good players are astute enough to see if you are short stacked and turn the pressure right back on you, so you need to pick your battles.

Dan doubled up, he was in a good spot with AQ when one of the table numpties put another 10k or so in with A4 and got crucified. I'm around the 10k mark, and with blinds now at 200/600/1200 it's becoming a struggle. Ironically I look on the table behind us, and two guys must have about 200k each! this dwarfs anything on our table, but of course, it's not how you start but how you finish.

Dear. God. Jesus.

I raise to 2900 out of a stack of 11,500 or so with AQ. Awful player makes it 6k, and a good player behind shoves for about 14k total. I give the original reraiser a spin all day long, as he could easily flip over A10 and I take my chances, but effectively, I have nothing, and one of them has to have a hand. I fold, going down to below 10k again, they both get the money in. 

Good player: AK
Muppet: AA

Marvellous. I can dodge bullets. However I still have sod all chips.

My initial gameplan coming out here was to be considerably more aggro at the table and try to amass a bigger stack earlier. I am by no means a tight player, as those who know me can cheerfully testify, however, in amongst my many faults, stupidity isn't one of them. I also don't simply spanner off my or the investor's money because I'm having a bad day. Of course if I get it in bad, so be it, but from a situational viewpoint, I'm normally shoving or raising as opposed to meekly calling. Some will understand why this is a far superior approach to playing poker, even if the hands that flip over sometimes look slightly odd.

It just ended abruptly. fine it was a 6/4 shot, maybe a questionable call from the opponent, but if I'm  honest he probably did nothing wrong by giving me a spin. He raised in late position with A5, and I shove with KJ offsuit. I don't imagine I'm winning, but I give him a fold option and I don't feel there's too much in it. Also, the blinds are about to go up...yet again.

He thinks it over and calls. It's approx 1/3 of his stack and he flops an ace. pretty much game over. At least he was one of the better players and also a nice guy.  Home we go.

I could say it was a frustrating day, but I really don't get frustrated. It was just a bit of a damp squib where I needed to get well above start stack to make progress and it didn't happen. 0/5 on the trip. A small sample size so far but I'm not about to throw in the towel any time soon.
1 Comment

wsop #43 $1500 nlh shootout

22/6/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
Any excuse to post a snap of Yul Bryner as possibly the greatest gunslinger of all time in Michael Crighton's 1973 original "Westworld". A tenuous link to today's event being a shootout of course, but sod it, it's my website. Starting off at 11am today.

I'm looking forward to this very much. For those unfamiliar with the format, basically in a shootout tournament, you need to "win" your individual table in order to advance. No new players are brought in, so the field slowly reduces as you lose players on your table, you can target individual players as there is nowhere to run, the table is not going to break, and basically (in my opinion) the "feel" element of poker comes a lot more into play, as players know they are not going to advance simply by waiting for good cards. You have to get in there and play poker or you eventually get blinded to death. In the past I have had a very good record in this format. I'm a tad disappointed that so far I've played three events on the trip and haven't won one yet, so maybe this is the turning point (cough).
Picture
Tiptoeing along gently as we kick off on my first table. 7500 starting stack and 40 minute levels. The first of these is just shuffling around and already we are on level 2 and still on starting chips, Currently we're 7 handed.

A nice eclectic mix of players are seated (just for anyone who wishes to get their knickers in a twist about racial profiling). We have a pretty girl, an old geezer, a sports fan complete with all the regalia. a silent German dressed totally in black with black shades, a hyper aggressive Asian kid, a Brazilian, and of course...yours truly. Sounds like a recipe for fun and games.

Brazilian guy just lost a sizeable chunk of his stack with QQ vs Germany's flopped set of 8's. I think the dynamic in these things is very different to normal multi table events. It was hard to get away from on an 8 high flop, but not impossible by any means.

Level 3 and the antes kick in already. Still early enough that the pressure isn't being applied yet, we have another player joined us, who has been waffling on his phone to his mum for most of the first ten minutes. At least he cares about her.
Picture
Well, it had to happen. My hand reading skills were put to the test when I look down and find KK (third time on this trip, but who's counting?) and repop it preflop, getting two callers. After a little action, the board runs out a fairly ugly J47AA and the Cardinals fan now wants to bet the river. It screams either value bet or attempt to buy it. I opt for the latter and call, and he shakes his noggin and turns over 55. Woo-hoo!

Finally above starting stack in a tournament here. Blind squirrel/acorns/etc. Now up to 10k as we approach the first break.

​Back from break and we now have a full table as a young hot-shot with shaggy hair joins us. He seems to be pretty aggressive and has already been all in once in ten minutes. He'll be alright.

Pace of the table has picked up a bit now. Shaggy and the guy who is constantly on the phone seem to know each other, and have upped the preflop raising between them. We have approx 1030 entrants now, and the blinds are 25/100/200.

I just snapped off a river bluff from smiling Asian kid, and am up to 12k as a result.

My reading skills appear to be nicely tuned in today. I just picked off yet another bluff, this time from the telephone guy. As a bonus, I also got to display one of my favourite party tricks at a poker table. I bet the flop with Kh4h with a king on board. We both checked the turn, and I check to him on the river. He bets 1500, and I instantly open my right hand and drop 1500 in chips onto the felt, his exact bet amount, almost before he completes his action. He looked slightly wobbly and then flipped over a busted draw. The girl at the table actually laughed out loud when I then asked him "don't you think it's kind of weird that I knew how much you were going to bet before you did?" Fun, fun, fun.

I'm up to just over 14k, and am comfortably chip leader on the table. No need to start swinging the big stick just yet. We're still 9 handed, and as we go to level 5 and 50/150/300, a few of the shorter guys are feeling the pinch and will be gambling pretty soon.

​
Picture
Telephone guy is gone. He and Shaggy got the lot in, with...A7 vs A2. I have a feeling if things go to plan it`ll be me and Shaggy heads-up for the win.

Smiling Asian also just exited the game, giving all his chips to Shaggy, which isn`t an ideal result.

Very shortly following this, I break a long standing rule not to bust the pretty girl at the table, when I find KK (yes!) against her QQ and we get the lot in. We actually both make a set, small consolation though it isn`t. We`re now 5 handed as we near level 6.

At the risk of blowing my own trumpet (bad idea, I'm pretty sure I'm tone deaf), I'm certainly in the zone. I just raised with J10, and the German on my left flatted. We're heads up the flop comes J25. I check and he bets out. I show him the Jack and fold. He obligingly shows me KK and looks incredulous that he didn't make more money on the hand. I'm on around 19k, and am still top dog chip-wise, though Shaggy is gaining.

Cardinals guy and Herman ze German just got it in together. Cardinals had 88, vs Herman's (sorry, I don't know your name!) AQ which couldn't catch, chopping him right down to fumes. It's a good thing. Cardinals guy is the weakest of the remaining players, and I'd rather he had the chips.

Herman busts immediately after, unfortunately giving the chips to Shaggy, who gambles with 55.

​We're now 4 handed and Shaggy and I are about even in chips while the other two are short. I hate it when I'm right.

​We're basically swapping chips around. I don' want to step on a land-mine 4 handed, and am trying to back into something or wait until 3 handed to jack things up a bit and start rowing for home.
Picture
Cardinals has hit a run of cards and found a bit of aggression, and has run his stack up courtesy of the other two players. I don't consider this a bad thing. He then promptly makes a pretty bad call versus an all in with Q9 versus J9 on a J94 flop, and gives a big chunk of it away. This isn't good news for me as the others are both pretty useful. Out for a 15 minute break as we hit the end of the level. Everyone is roughly even in chips now,

Hallelujah... the dream scenario just opened up. I look down and find Aces (weeee...) upon return from the break, and I find Cardinals raising with AQ. He seems stubborn and doesn't like to fold, so I make it super expensive and raise his 1500 bet to 4600. He decides not to call but to shove all-in  instead! Off we go, and although he hits a Queen, nothing goes awfully wrong, and I bust him to get my chips up to a very healthy 32k or so three-handed. Now to try and win the thing.
​
Picture
I just busted Shaggy to get heads-up with the Brazilian guy. He wasn't impressed, even though his Q 10 couldn't beat my 88 and I got him to get all his money in from behind before snap-calling. He looked almost angry when he bricked out and exclaimed something along the lines of "how the fuck do you win with that?", before storming off. Funny the way people react to stuff. It's just poker, honestly.

The guy from Brazil is a good player. We're roughly even in chips, and are both raising and reraising preflop a lot.  We ebb and flow, likely for around 90 minutes or so, swapping chips. I take the lead, he does, back and forth etc. We have had a break and have hit the 100/500/1000 level, so each pot is now pretty big. I lose a decent chunk when I flop top two, and he rivers a straight, meaning he now has a roughly 2-1 chip lead on me. This isn't ideal, but with our stacks I'm basically two all-in winning hands from winning the table.

We are both playing a lot of speculative hands. Now we are heads up you kind of have to. The nuts and bolts dynamic of a full ring game won't work now, so you have to grab situations and get in there and gamble a bit.

A situation just came up. 

I raise the button with 2d3d. I am perfectly happy playing hands like this, I can normally evaluate the situation fairly well post-flop, and folding in the small blind heads up with this isn't really an option.

I make it quite pricey. Neither of us are folding often preflop, so if I connect, it needs to be a pot worth winning. I raise to around 3300, leaving around 21k behind. He calls.

flop 2h 3s 6c. Perfect.

He checks to me, and I weigh it up, and bet around 7500. Effectively committing myself, and making it expensive for him to continue if he has two big cards or even an overpair. He dwells for a minute, and reraises me. Argh.

At this point, if I'm behind I probably still have outs. Past form shows he can do this with one pair, and there's now too much money in the pot. If I fold I'm likely cannon fodder, as he's good enough to keep the pressure up. I ship it, and hold my breath.

He calls, turning over 5c4d for a flopped straight. Balls.

I have four outs twice for the win, none of which materialise, and I'm out bubbling my shootout table after being chip leader the whole way.

Little to say but just congratulate him and wish him luck in the rest of the tournament. He played well and it was probably always going to come down to something like this. It was kind of one of those hands, and I'm OK with my play, even if I walked into the nuts. Venetian $600 one day Superstack tomorrow.

The freeze frame of the video update makes me look like I'm visually impaired. I'm not doing another one!

​
1 Comment
<<Previous

    Archives

    August 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    March 2014

    RSS Feed

    DSE FALL 2016

    Trials and Tribulations

Proudly powered by Weebly