Pokerstars tournament.
Buy in: $55 Entrants: 1498 Pays: Top 135 Top Prize: $17,227
I've been playing tight all game. There's about 500 players left and I get dealt AK offsuit in the small blind. It gets checked to the button and he raises it 3 x the big blind. I have about 6500 in chips. I decide that he's trying to steal the blind so I go all in. I have him covered with about 600 chips left if I lose. He turns over 33 and I don't hit either one of my cards. I'm left with 600 chips and start going all in. I keep on winning my all ins. I double up several times and am now in good position. I currently have 31K in chips and am in 13th place. There are 366 players left.
There's about 160 players left and I have been beat several times pretty badly. I called an all in with AJ offsuit. The other player had A5 and he hit his 5 on the flop. I'm still in the game, but it's a lot different when you are shortstacked. 25 more players to go until I get in the money.
I end up finishing in 104th place. Make a little money. I put all my chips in with KQ, big mistake.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
When to Fold Pocket Kings
I haven't been playing a lot of poker online lately. I've been coaching basketball and reflecting on how much poker takes up my time. Anyway-here is a recent tournament that I entered.
I am playing in a tournament on Ultimate Bet and here is the situation. It is a $22 buy in tournament. There are 170 players and it pays the top 20. It is down to 26 players and I get dealt KK. From what I remember I was currently in 9th place. So I was certain to make the money. There was a raiser ahead of me so I raised it pretty big. Someone behind me reraises it the minimum. I start to think. I know the probability of him having KK was unlikely. A minimum reraise was very suspicious. I've played online long enough to know if someone has any medium to high pocket pair they will go all in on a reraise. Unless they have AA and want action, they will reraise the minimum. I decide to push it all in. The reraiser has me covered and calls. Well, he had AA. It was what I suspected. No luck for me on the flop, turn, or river. I've read books and heard interviews from some professional poker players that you should muck anything and everything except AA when you are down to the cutoff for the money. I find it really hard to lay down KK in any position preflop, even if I know I am beat. I would rather take my chances and try to double up than fold that hand. Maybe that's why I'm not a professional poker player. Haha!
I am playing in a tournament on Ultimate Bet and here is the situation. It is a $22 buy in tournament. There are 170 players and it pays the top 20. It is down to 26 players and I get dealt KK. From what I remember I was currently in 9th place. So I was certain to make the money. There was a raiser ahead of me so I raised it pretty big. Someone behind me reraises it the minimum. I start to think. I know the probability of him having KK was unlikely. A minimum reraise was very suspicious. I've played online long enough to know if someone has any medium to high pocket pair they will go all in on a reraise. Unless they have AA and want action, they will reraise the minimum. I decide to push it all in. The reraiser has me covered and calls. Well, he had AA. It was what I suspected. No luck for me on the flop, turn, or river. I've read books and heard interviews from some professional poker players that you should muck anything and everything except AA when you are down to the cutoff for the money. I find it really hard to lay down KK in any position preflop, even if I know I am beat. I would rather take my chances and try to double up than fold that hand. Maybe that's why I'm not a professional poker player. Haha!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
$2/4 no limit cash game on Pokerstars
I sometimes get bored with the tournament scene and will take a break from it to play in a cash game or play in a tournament and cash game simultaneously. Well, I was playing in a cash game on pokerstars the other night and came upon this hand.
I was on the button with pocket tens. There were 3 limpers ahead of me and two more players left to act. I decided to just call with 10 10 because that is not that powerful of a hand and I wanted to see if I would hit my set. The action moves to the big blind and he raises it to $20. Everyone folds and it's up to me. I decide to call his raise. The flope comes 5 10 9 with two clubs. The raiser acts first and bets the pot which is about $50. I raise him pretty big. I know I am ahead right now. He reraises me all in. I now know that he has a pocket pair higher than my tens, but I'm ahead. I call his all in and hope that a face card doesn't come on the turn or river. The turn comes a J and the river brings an A. He had pocket Jacks and takes about $360 from me.
After that beat, I think about whether I played the hand wrong or not. I decided that I played it correctly and that he had about an 8% chance of winning the hand after seeing the flop. 9 times out of 10 I would win that hand. He got lucky. Beware of cash games. The swings are very high just like what I wrote about.
I took out $3500 of the $5000 that I won from the tournament. I have about $1700 in my Pokerstars account and am still doing pretty well. I plan to transfer some money in my Fulltilt and Ultimate Bet account later this week.
Online Poker domination will be in full force starting in the year 2008.
I was on the button with pocket tens. There were 3 limpers ahead of me and two more players left to act. I decided to just call with 10 10 because that is not that powerful of a hand and I wanted to see if I would hit my set. The action moves to the big blind and he raises it to $20. Everyone folds and it's up to me. I decide to call his raise. The flope comes 5 10 9 with two clubs. The raiser acts first and bets the pot which is about $50. I raise him pretty big. I know I am ahead right now. He reraises me all in. I now know that he has a pocket pair higher than my tens, but I'm ahead. I call his all in and hope that a face card doesn't come on the turn or river. The turn comes a J and the river brings an A. He had pocket Jacks and takes about $360 from me.
After that beat, I think about whether I played the hand wrong or not. I decided that I played it correctly and that he had about an 8% chance of winning the hand after seeing the flop. 9 times out of 10 I would win that hand. He got lucky. Beware of cash games. The swings are very high just like what I wrote about.
I took out $3500 of the $5000 that I won from the tournament. I have about $1700 in my Pokerstars account and am still doing pretty well. I plan to transfer some money in my Fulltilt and Ultimate Bet account later this week.
Online Poker domination will be in full force starting in the year 2008.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Cash Games and Sit n' Go
So I haven't played many tournaments since the big win. I have mainly played sit n gos and cash games. I believe that people get bad beat (beaten when you are ahead) more often in cash games than tournaments. A lot of the people that play in cash games sometimes come to the table with the mentality that they can rebuy back in. That is the mentality that you DO NOT want to have when entering a cash game. Play tight and aggressive. Choose players at the table that are willing to play with you when you have the best hand. I also believe that you kind of have to have a disregard for money when playing in a cash game. You can't think about how much the raise was and if it will hurt your chipstack. If you think you have the best hand, reraise them. Be very cautious and go with your reads. Trust your instincts ,but don't put your bankroll at risk. If you do put your bankroll at risk, you will definitely have to deposit more money into your account. I haven't had to deposit money into my account for a couple months. I normally play in cash games and sit n gos to fund my tournament buy ins. I think that tournaments are the way to go because you will get paid off if you win the whole thing. Anyway-peace out. Gotta play in a tournament.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Should I claim this?
So I have a dilemma. Should I claim the winnings? It really isn't that much money. Well, I just started thinking about this since winning almost $5K. Two weeks prior, I won a tourney and $1,600. I'm sure the feds are looking at my blog right now and will audit me when the new year arrives. Anybody have any advice?
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
$38 bounty on Ultimate Bet and $27.50 Tourney on Pokerstars
Ultimate Bet
$38 buy in. This is a bounty tournament, so every person that I knock out, I get $5.
307 players
Top Prize: $2302.63, pays top 40
After the first break, I have about $3700 in chips. We start with $1500 in chips. That's 34th place out of 175 players. I'm pretty solid right now. I have yet to knock anyone out.
Did not make it to the 2nd break. I was standing pretty good when I was dealt K K. There was a raiser ahead of me. I reraised. The original raiser raised all in. I had the chips to cover so I called. He flipped over A A. WOW! I end up finishing in 85th place. That was my only mistake of the night and it cost me the tournament. What do you do with K K in that situation? Call right? It so hard to lay down K K.
I do not cash, except for the $5 bounty that I got for knocking 1 person out.
Overall $33 loss
Pokerstars
$27.50 buy in.
1415 players
Top Prize: $7531.34, pays top 180
After the first break, I have $4535 in chips. We start with $3000 in chips. It has been up and down. I am currently 392nd place out of 868 players.
So I am playing both sites at the same time. I have about $18,000 in chips (40th place). While I was playing on Ultimate Bet, the screen pops back and forth. There was a raise and a reraise for about $9,000. As the screen is going back and forth, I accidentally hit call with my 3 7 suited spades. I obviously lose that hand. and am down to $9,000(152nd place out of 342). The funny thing was that I hit a straight on the river, but lose to the flush. PAY ATTENTION! CRAP!
OMG! You won't believe what just happened! The blinds are at 300/600. Player in early position raises to $1800. I have K K. I reraise to $9,000. The player after me goes all in for $10,000 (he has Q Q). The original raiser had A A and goes all in. I am pot committed so I call. I was devastated and was ready to sleep for the night until I saw the flop. The flop comes K J K. I flop quads. I am now 20th place with a little over 35K in chips.
I make it to the final table. I go into the final table as the chip leader. People are playing so tight. I'm stealing pots, but I also get several good hands. Anyway, we get down to 4 players and I'm the chip leader. They want to chop it 4 ways and play for $1000. We all agree that that is what is going to happen. The 4 way chop comes out to be $3786 each with $1000 on the table. We play for the 1K and I win it all. I am so tired right now.
Outcome: 1st place: $4786
Here I come online poker world!
$38 buy in. This is a bounty tournament, so every person that I knock out, I get $5.
307 players
Top Prize: $2302.63, pays top 40
After the first break, I have about $3700 in chips. We start with $1500 in chips. That's 34th place out of 175 players. I'm pretty solid right now. I have yet to knock anyone out.
Did not make it to the 2nd break. I was standing pretty good when I was dealt K K. There was a raiser ahead of me. I reraised. The original raiser raised all in. I had the chips to cover so I called. He flipped over A A. WOW! I end up finishing in 85th place. That was my only mistake of the night and it cost me the tournament. What do you do with K K in that situation? Call right? It so hard to lay down K K.
I do not cash, except for the $5 bounty that I got for knocking 1 person out.
Overall $33 loss
Pokerstars
$27.50 buy in.
1415 players
Top Prize: $7531.34, pays top 180
After the first break, I have $4535 in chips. We start with $3000 in chips. It has been up and down. I am currently 392nd place out of 868 players.
So I am playing both sites at the same time. I have about $18,000 in chips (40th place). While I was playing on Ultimate Bet, the screen pops back and forth. There was a raise and a reraise for about $9,000. As the screen is going back and forth, I accidentally hit call with my 3 7 suited spades. I obviously lose that hand. and am down to $9,000(152nd place out of 342). The funny thing was that I hit a straight on the river, but lose to the flush. PAY ATTENTION! CRAP!
OMG! You won't believe what just happened! The blinds are at 300/600. Player in early position raises to $1800. I have K K. I reraise to $9,000. The player after me goes all in for $10,000 (he has Q Q). The original raiser had A A and goes all in. I am pot committed so I call. I was devastated and was ready to sleep for the night until I saw the flop. The flop comes K J K. I flop quads. I am now 20th place with a little over 35K in chips.
I make it to the final table. I go into the final table as the chip leader. People are playing so tight. I'm stealing pots, but I also get several good hands. Anyway, we get down to 4 players and I'm the chip leader. They want to chop it 4 ways and play for $1000. We all agree that that is what is going to happen. The 4 way chop comes out to be $3786 each with $1000 on the table. We play for the 1K and I win it all. I am so tired right now.
Outcome: 1st place: $4786
Here I come online poker world!
Monday, October 29, 2007
$11 buy in tourney on Pokerstars
There are 2520 players. It pays the top 360. Top prize is $4924.
A couple notable hands:
#1) So I have Q 10 (suited hearts) in the small blind. The guy under the gun (right after the big blind) raises it to 1500. The blinds are at 300/600. The player right after him automatically calls. It goes around and comes back to me. I'm getting 3 to 1 on my money and decide to call. The flop comes 3 A(diamonds) J(hearts). The raiser bets 3000. One guy folds, I call. The turn brings the K of hearts. I check raise him all in. He automatically calls. He also has Q 10, but diamonds. I'm on a free-roll. The river brings that A of hearts. I make the ROYAL FLUSH and start dancing. AWESOME!
#2) I have 3 3 in the small blind with 20,000 in chips. The blinds are at 600/1200. Some idiot goes all in with A 4 offsuit. He has about 5000 in chips. I don't blame him for going all in, I know I just wouldn't do it. I call and he hits his 4 on the river. Always on the river, I was pretty pissed. That crippled me for awhile until I made a stupid play of my own and went all in with A 5 (suited clubs). I get two callers, they had A K and A J. Suprise , Suprise , I hit my 5 on the river and triple up. Sometimes it pays to play like a donkey.
#3) This is the hand that sent me downhill. A guy in late position raises. I am thinking that he is stealing the blind. I have K 10 (suited spades). I am in the big blind, so I call. The flop comes K 9 7 rainbow. I check, player bets. I just call. The turn brings a J. I check, he bets big, I push him all in, thinking that he was weak. He thinks for awhile and that is when I know I am dead. He thinks that I either have two pair or a straight. I am hoping that he folds. I'm seriously praying to God that he folds and I'm not even religious. He ends up calling me with K 7. He raised pre-flop with that crap and flopped two pair. I had about 180,000 in chips and he had 130,000 in chips. I was probably in 10th place out of 60 at the time.
I end up busting out in 53rd place. Not bad but I am very disappointed. I make a $50 profit. So damn close to 4K that this is crappy. Anyway-another poker tournament awaits.
Lesson for the day: If you sense weakness, push back with a big raise, which is what I should have done. I also could have folded my K 10 spades because I was out of position. I think that when deciding to call a raise, look at your oppenent's chip stack. If it is a large chip stack, be cautious when calling.
Favorite Commercial
Has anyone ever seen that commercial where a husband calls his wife from Vegas and tells her how fun it is there, that there's a casino in every hotel, and that they comped his room for being down 5800. His wife's response was "what 5800 dollars?" He responds by saying "5800 chips." Anyway-that is one of my favorite commercials right now.
Check it out on youtube. type in at&t las vegas
A couple notable hands:
#1) So I have Q 10 (suited hearts) in the small blind. The guy under the gun (right after the big blind) raises it to 1500. The blinds are at 300/600. The player right after him automatically calls. It goes around and comes back to me. I'm getting 3 to 1 on my money and decide to call. The flop comes 3 A(diamonds) J(hearts). The raiser bets 3000. One guy folds, I call. The turn brings the K of hearts. I check raise him all in. He automatically calls. He also has Q 10, but diamonds. I'm on a free-roll. The river brings that A of hearts. I make the ROYAL FLUSH and start dancing. AWESOME!
#2) I have 3 3 in the small blind with 20,000 in chips. The blinds are at 600/1200. Some idiot goes all in with A 4 offsuit. He has about 5000 in chips. I don't blame him for going all in, I know I just wouldn't do it. I call and he hits his 4 on the river. Always on the river, I was pretty pissed. That crippled me for awhile until I made a stupid play of my own and went all in with A 5 (suited clubs). I get two callers, they had A K and A J. Suprise , Suprise , I hit my 5 on the river and triple up. Sometimes it pays to play like a donkey.
#3) This is the hand that sent me downhill. A guy in late position raises. I am thinking that he is stealing the blind. I have K 10 (suited spades). I am in the big blind, so I call. The flop comes K 9 7 rainbow. I check, player bets. I just call. The turn brings a J. I check, he bets big, I push him all in, thinking that he was weak. He thinks for awhile and that is when I know I am dead. He thinks that I either have two pair or a straight. I am hoping that he folds. I'm seriously praying to God that he folds and I'm not even religious. He ends up calling me with K 7. He raised pre-flop with that crap and flopped two pair. I had about 180,000 in chips and he had 130,000 in chips. I was probably in 10th place out of 60 at the time.
I end up busting out in 53rd place. Not bad but I am very disappointed. I make a $50 profit. So damn close to 4K that this is crappy. Anyway-another poker tournament awaits.
Lesson for the day: If you sense weakness, push back with a big raise, which is what I should have done. I also could have folded my K 10 spades because I was out of position. I think that when deciding to call a raise, look at your oppenent's chip stack. If it is a large chip stack, be cautious when calling.
Favorite Commercial
Has anyone ever seen that commercial where a husband calls his wife from Vegas and tells her how fun it is there, that there's a casino in every hotel, and that they comped his room for being down 5800. His wife's response was "what 5800 dollars?" He responds by saying "5800 chips." Anyway-that is one of my favorite commercials right now.
Check it out on youtube. type in at&t las vegas
Welcome!
Welcome to my world. This blog will help you keep up with my life. I'm not sure if my life is that busy, but you can still read and see what I'm up to. It is mainly playing poker (texas hold 'em) whenever I can. I will also blog about other stuff in my life if it is interesting or funny. Enjoy!
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