Sunday, October 14, 2007
3 Strikes and your OUT!!!
Hand #1
I just left a cash game where I bought in for $150. Not much of course but that's about what I have the bankroll for. So, I am sitting there playing tight as I always do until I get a better feel for the table. About 30 minutes in I am a couple blinds down, no big deal. I look down at QQ. Hmm, put in a 3x BB raise and get 4 callers. This is pretty typical at these low limits and I don't mind much. I like the bigger pot and play my big pairs just like little ones. I look for a set before I get too involved. Flop comes out Qd Ad 4h. What a beautiful flop. So, I bet out the size of the pot, something like $20. Player to my left pushes all in for $50. Action folds back to me and I insta-call. He turns over A A.
Hand #2
I congratulate him on the hand and shake that off. I look down at A J next. Hmm, feeling tilted, better wait. FOLD. Very next hand, I look at A A. Hooray! I stick in 3x BB and get a few callers again. Flop comes J 9 3. It checks around to me and I bet the pot. Everyone folds but the player 2 spots to my right. Turn 9. He checks, I bet the pot. He re-raises me all in. There is about $40 in the pot and its $17 for me to call. I put him on AJ and call. He flips up JJ. Hey, whats another $40. :(
Hand #3
I shit you not, the next hand I get another goodie. I am on the cutoff with A 5 suited. There is one raise to me for 2x BB. I call. 3 of us see a flop of A 4 9. Player 1 bets $2 into the $7 pot. I call. Player 3 folds. Turn pops a 5. Player 1 bets the pot, now at $11. I call. River J. Player 1 moves all in for his remaining $10. I call. Player 1 shows AJ for the better aces up. Hey, alright, I didn't need my buy-in.
Analysis
It doesn't matter how tight you play or who you are. There are some hands your going to go broke on. Am I happy that I hit 3 in such a short period of time. No, of course not, but I am happy that I chose to step away, write my blog, and try it again tomorrow. A year ago I drained all of my winnings in cash games because after a bad beat or a bad run like this I just tilted and doubled my losses. No player likes losing but I think I played all 3 hands to the best of my ability and I don't know if anyone could have gotten away from at least one of em. Perhaps #2 and #3 could have been avoided....perhaps, but no way #1. Hopefully, tomorrow is a better day.
Friday, October 12, 2007
I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!
This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.
Registration code: 6569027
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Biggest Field Win to Date
Well, after tonight's rough run which consisted of me losing four straight mtt's near the money but not quite in it I atleast have something to be happy about. While I was playing in the $55 NL $10k guarantee I also jumped in the freebie $1k guarantee to help keep me occupied. I always find its a good way to loosen up when you can throw chips around just for fun.
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The field was 1200+ deep and honestly, I had never won 1st in a field so large. I won 2nd once in a field of 500 or so and made a few other final tables in similiar size fields but never actually won it all. Yet, somehow, I managed to outlast all the crazy all ins until the last few hundred players. At that point, people started really caring and it was more like a typical tourney. Anyway, long story short, I won it. Payout sucked of course, just $120 but atleast that covers my buy-ins to the other tourneys. They were all cheapies. Played 2 $11 mtts, a $13 mtt, and the $55 mtt so I actually made $30 on the day lol.
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Regardless of the money today, I still feel good to have bested such a large field.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Am I too good for the buy in or am I just lacking skills?
Ok, just gonna start out by saying, I don't want you to look at the following and just think its some bad beat story wanting sympathy. I want someone other than me to look it over, the hand, the bets, the cards, positions, etc and tell me...is this just happening to me because I am playing below my limits? I always thought playing lower limits meant easier opponents which meant more wins...but I don't know if that goes for poker. The worse the player the more the luck factor seems to play. Whats your opinion? I have deleted the other 7 players at the table to make this easier to view. None of them were involved in the hand.
Its very very hard to say exactly what you would do but I'll give you some background info. This player had been at my table for less than 10 hands. Of those 10 hands I hadn't played one yet, and had folded my blinds when raised. 532 people entered the tourney. We were down to 112 with 54 getting paid. Average stack size was 6k. Ante was 50 chips and the Blinds were at 200/400.
Hand Details
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Please note: You can only view your own down cards. Other players will only see your cards if they were played through to showdown.
« Prev Hand Next Hand »
Fenderkid
2 Seat
K A
$2,455.00/$0.00
$2,455.00
$-2,455.00
hamptonjpig
3 Seat
K 4
$3,552.00/$6,707.00
$2,455.00
$3,155.00
Fenderkid
Set dealer/Bring in spot
2
hamptonjpig
Ante/Small blind
$ 200.00
sirrich
Big blind/Bring in
$ 400.00
Fenderkid
Card dealt to a spot
K A
hamptonjpig
Card dealt to a spot
K 4
Fenderkid
All-in
$ 2,405.00
hamptonjpig
All-in
$ 3,302.00
sirrich
Fold
$ 450.00
hamptonjpig
Return uncalled portion of bet
$ 1,097.00
Betting round completed
Last active pot = $0.00 Side pot 2 = $5,610.00
hamptonjpig
Show card: Two PairK K 4 4 8
Fenderkid
Show card: Two PairK K 2 2 A
hamptonjpig
Hand result
$ 5,610.00
Return to Search
Please note: You can only view your own down cards. Other players will only see your cards if they were played through to showdown.
« Prev Hand Next Hand »
Fenderkid
2 Seat
K A
$2,455.00/$0.00
$2,455.00
$-2,455.00
hamptonjpig
3 Seat
K 4
$3,552.00/$6,707.00
$2,455.00
$3,155.00
Fenderkid
Set dealer/Bring in spot
2
hamptonjpig
Ante/Small blind
$ 200.00
sirrich
Big blind/Bring in
$ 400.00
Fenderkid
Card dealt to a spot
K A
hamptonjpig
Card dealt to a spot
K 4
Fenderkid
All-in
$ 2,405.00
hamptonjpig
All-in
$ 3,302.00
sirrich
Fold
$ 450.00
hamptonjpig
Return uncalled portion of bet
$ 1,097.00
Betting round completed
Last active pot = $0.00 Side pot 2 = $5,610.00
hamptonjpig
Show card: Two PairK K 4 4 8
Fenderkid
Show card: Two PairK K 2 2 A
hamptonjpig
Hand result
$ 5,610.00
Ok, so there you have it. He defended his blind for 3/4 of his chips with K 4 off. What cards could he possible have thought I was holding. I mean...K 4 off doesnt beat much... So, what do you think? Is this a mistake common to low buy ins or will I run into this same sort of play even at $50 and up mtt's?
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Off to a Rough Start
Hmm, I must say that I have gotten off to a very rough start since returning. Alot of the tournaments are different than what was on bodog last year. I have been entering 2 to 3 Mtt's a day but I keep catching these 400+ player tournaments. I know the payouts are higher but I just don't care much for em. I won't go as far as to say I don't ever want to play them because I do, but I'd prefer to play a few of these and a few of the smaller 100-150 player fields. Those smaller tournaments were my bread and butter last year. They allowed me to bankroll myself for the higher buy in events. Mostly, I'd post between $250 - $450 wins in the smaller tournaments but they were usually $10-$30 events so it was a good ROI. The best I can remember finishing in a 400+ player field was 2nd and I only made $1600.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
ZOMG, Is that Fenderkid!?!
Aye, it is indeed. After some real life troubles last August I stepped away from Poker and rejoined the nasty car business. With a new baby and the 65+ hours a week required from my job I just didn't have the time to play.
However, as of last week I am back. Haven't done too much since coming back. I jumped in 4 Mtt's so far, 2 of which I made final tables in but no wins yet. Anyway, good to be back...hopefully I can get my site back out where someone other than friends can stop by lol.
Also, the site has undergone an overhaul in the form of NO MORE BAD BEAT stories. I read over past posts and deleted any bad beat stories that weren't pertinent in some way. Everyone has a bad beat story...I'm not special. Dwelling on such garbage will never do any poker player any good; if you can't handle it don't play.
