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Big Tournament = Huge Letdown

I got no cards for about 120 hands. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a run of cards that bad, but I guess it had to happen some time. Here are my statistics from the entire tourney:

120 hands played and saw flop:
– 2 times out of 14 while in small blind (14%)
– 4 times out of 14 while in big blind (28%)
– 7 times out of 92 in other positions (7%)
– a total of 13 times out of 120 (10%)

Pots won at showdown – 2 out of 5 (40%)
Pots won without showdown ï¿½ 1

The two pots won with showdown were AQ vs. AT, KQs vs. KJs. One pot won without showdown was AKs and I just stole the blinds and one limper’s call. The three losses at showdown were a check-down on a flush draw I missed, AQ vs. 22 (both short-stacked and all-in before the flop) and then the following hand with A6 vs. K3.

I was unable to steal blinds because of my table. They were very loose/aggressive and most of the stacks were showing a lot of variance. The up-side was that if I caught a big hand, I could easily double up. Unfortunately, my biggest han was 99 and the flop came TJK with two hearts.

I ended up busting 1180 of 2497. Considering I was handcuffed by the cards, I’ll take that. Hopefully, I’ll be able to win a seat to this tourney again soon and actually do some damage.

That’s poker.

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Bad luck with poker

What a great contrast to last night. I figured I played well last night, so I’d take a shot at today’s PokerStars $10+1. There were 1385 people registered. This is literally the first hand of the tournament:

PokerStars Game #1893303229: Tournament #8870985, Hold’em No Limit – Level I (10/20) – 2005/06/13 – 19:45:00 (ET)
Table ‘8870985 80’ Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: Tanzz (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: Lou_C (1500 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: Josh (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: allLiving (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: harleybum68 (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: Rocawear101 (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: johnnydude (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: jmonnett (1500 in chips)
Lou_C: posts small blind 10
Josh: posts big blind 20
jmonnett is connected
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Josh [Kh Ks]
allLiving: raises 1480 to 1500 and is all-in
harleybum68: folds
Rocawear101: folds
johnnydude: folds
jmonnett: folds
Tanzz: folds
Lou_C: folds
Josh: calls 1480 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Jh 6s 4d]
allLiving said, “no 5”
allLiving said, “gotta go”
*** TURN *** [Jh 6s 4d] [5h]
allLiving said, “****”
*** RIVER *** [Jh 6s 4d 5h] [9h]
allLiving said, “lame.”
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Josh: shows [Kh Ks] (a pair of Kings)
allLiving: shows [3d 2s] (a straight, Deuce to Six)
allLiving collected 3010 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3010 Rake 0
Board [Jh 6s 4d 5h 9h]
Seat 2: Tanzz (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: Lou_C (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Josh (big blind) showed [Kh Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: allLiving showed [3d 2s] and won (3010) with a straight, Deuce to Six
Seat 6: harleybum68 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 7: Rocawear101 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 8: johnnydude folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 9: jmonnett folded before Flop (didn’t bet)

To sum up: I busted out on the first hand with KK vs. 32o. I was an 85% favorite to win this hand (it doesn’t get much better than that). Normally, I wouldn’t put my whole tournament at risk nearly this early, but if I knew I was an 85% favorite, I’d play this hand this way every time. This was the first time I’d ever been the first person to bust out of a tournament. Hopefully, it’ll be the last.

The astute poker players reading this (I doubt there are any) will say, “What if he had AA?” And to that I say, “Odds are, he doesn’t. And if he does, more power to him.” But the real answer is that he moved in the split-second it was his turn to act and he was first to act. I had to figure he was going to move in with any two cards, so I was up against a random hand and a huge favorite.

That’s poker.

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Vegas: Day 2 report

Not too much to tell so far. I lost 28 bucks in a Hold ‘Em tournament and made 55 dollars at the 5-dollar blackjack tables.

The only notable hand in the tournament (again, the structure was almost silly) was when I was dealt KQ in the big blind. 3 or 4 callers and the flop came K45. I bet, three calls. Turn is a rag. I bet, get 2 calls. River is a rag. I bet, get one call. I lost to a set of fours. Now, why the lady never raised when she flopped a set and the turn and river didn’t fill any draws, I’ll never know. Anyway, that hand took most of my stack and I just kinda’ wasted away after that.

Played blackjack at Bellagio and lost 40 bucks in about 15 minutes. Basically, the dealer just kept busting everyone up. I had a blackjack… and it was a push. She got 20’s and 21’s like they were going out of style.

Played in the $1-$2 NL Hold ‘Em game at Aladdin. I thought games like that only existed in fairytales. Turns out they’re real as can be. Problem was that luck was frowning on me. I bought in for 60 bucks. About the second hand, I got TT, but the lady to my right raised it to $20 (yes, this is a $1-$2 blind game with a max buy-in of $100) and since I hadn’t seen her play yet, I figured I better fold. Couple hands later, I get 55 and she does the same thing. Again, I fold. A few hands later, I get KK UTG. I make my standard raise to $6. I get two or three callers. Flop comes ten-high rainbow. I bet $10, guy goes all-in (for about $35 more), everyone folds to me and I quickly call. Turn is an A, river is a blank. He turns over ATo for Aces-up to beat my KK. I’m down to 15 or 20 bucks.

I fold for a while till I get AJo. Lady to my right makes it $10 and I call. Flop is K-high, she puts me all-in, I fold. I buy another $40 in chips. Several hands later, I get AKo. I make my standard raise, get re-raised to about $20 and then there’s a caller. I move in and both call. Flop is 835 rainbow. The original re-raiser checks, the cold-caller moves in quickly and the other player folds. Turn is a K, river is a blank. Cold-caller turns over 33 for a set of threes to beat my Kings with an Ace kicker. $100 gone.

So, why was I saying this was such a great game? Because it was. I only wish I had about $1000 sitting around for me to play in that game. I think I could turn it into $2000 in about 6 hours, assuming luck didn’t continue to frown on me. Having a guy hit a 5-outter on me on the turn stinks. Having AK, getting called by a 33 that holds is frustrating, but at least I was the dog to begin with. Whether he should’ve been calling 10x the BB with 33 is another story altogether.

I guess I should mention that all of these people were very loose and sometimes aggressive. I rarely saw a premium hand shown down, even when there was a lot of action. Also, I think at least two of the people at the table were off-duty dealers for the casino. I’m not sure how that works.

So, the bright side to everything: These people were so easy to read it was scary. When 33 hit his set, and moved in, I was certain he had a set. Earlier in the evening, when a guy made the nut flush on the river, I knew it immediately. When the guy to my left had a big fat pair, I knew it before he even bet. I did get my money in as about an 80% favorite and if I’d won that hand, I would have doubled-up my buy-in. So, about 80% of the time I turn my $60 into $120 in about 15 minutes. From there, I’m pretty sure I would’ve just run over the table.

I’m actually considering trying again tomorrow, but I need to take time to cool off first and evaluate it. After all, I did lose $100 tonight, regardless of all that odds talk and gibberish.

Trip summary: Lost $58 yesterday, lost $113, down $171 overall.

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Vegas: Day 1 report

As far as gambling goes, there isn’t too much to report. I played a $55 NL Hold ‘Em tournament at the Luxor and busted out 8th of 33. Here are the highlights:

Short stack moves in immediately to my right, I have QQ and move in for about 3 times what he has. Everyone folds, he turns over AJo and catches JJ (flop and river) to double up.
I have AJo in middle position, minimum raise by UTG, I move in, he calls with K7s. Sure enough, he makes a flush on the flop.
I move in with K7o and am called by K2o. 2-pair hits the board and we split.
I move in with ATo and it holds up against Ax and Q6o.
I play the waiting game and finally have to move in with KTo. Next player to act moves in for about triple my stack with KK.

All in all, I feel I played nearly perfectly. I was shocked how obvious some physical tells are when playing live. I’ve been playing online exclusively for several months, so I’ve had to learn more about the mathematics, betting pattern tells and other nuances. I was able to steal with absolutely nothing several times after the flop and that kept me in the game.

The tournament structure was a complete crapshoot. We started with 250 in chips, were allowed a 50-chip add-on immediately for 3 dollars (initial buy-in was 55), so we had 300 chips. Blinds started at 10/15 and moved up every 15 minutes (15/25, 25/50…). Also, we started with 11 people per table, so we didn’t even get around once before the first level of blinds was done.

Anyway, I lost, but I played well so I’m ok with it.

Then I played some 5-dollar blackjack. Ultimately, I broke even. I was up to about double my buy-in of 40 bucks, then dropped to 10 bucks, then doubled-up twice and left even. So I’m down 58 bucks for the day.

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First Money

I know I generally don’t post on consecutive days, but this is a special occasion. I played in a $5.50 Re-buy tournament (unlimited re-buys for the first hour and an add-on at the first break) and turned $20.50 into $72.50. I placed 27th of 680 entrants. Once I made the money (which was just barely), I got lucky and caught some cards to stay in (the top 63 got paid) till 27. This was a big win for me because I actually went on tilt very early on when my KK was cracked by Q3. That took half my chips and I blew the other half on an inside-straight draw (I rarely go on tilt, so I was pretty concerned). Anyway, I re-bought a couple times and took the add-on at the first break and, after another 3.5 hours, I ended up in the money.

I busted out with 77 vs. TT, which is fine since I was actually a big underdog before the flop. Also, if I had to go bust that close to the finish, 27th was the spot. I would’ve had to beat 9 more people to make the next tier of money at 18th. I learned a lot from the experience and I’m hoping I can get another money soon. Of course, my goal is to win a big tourney, but that’ll come in time. For now, I’ll settle for steady progress. It has also occurred to me that I should consider other games besides No Limit Hold ‘Em. Maybe Limit HE, Omaha, or Omaha/8. I figure maybe this weekend I’ll play a smaller tournament in addition to my NLHE tournaments.

I need sleep.

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Good night for poker

Well, the tourney was tonight. There were 17 people, each of whom bought in for $50. The top 4 spots paid out: 1. $425 (50%), 2. $255 (30%), 3. $130 (~15%), 4. $40 (~5%). I finished 2nd, which was fine by me.

Here are some of the highlights (at least from my perspective):

First person I knocked out (pretty early on): I had pocket Aces and put in a large raise. Guy to my left declares he’s all-in. Obviously, I call. He has pocket Q’s. My A’s hold up and I move up to about second largest stack
First big hand: I flop bottom 2-pair and put my opponent in for about 75% of his chips. He goes all-in and I call. He has top pair with a K kicker. He catches a K on the turn and a 9 on the river for a boat to beat my 2-pair. Tough beat, but it left me with about 2/3 of chips.
I’d been hovering around the starting amount for a while and needed to make something happen because my stack was getting smaller and smaller. Person to my right makes a raise about half the size of my stack; I go all-in with AK. He calls with 99 and I catch a lucky K to win it.
Later, I’m against the guy who busted my 2-pair. I flop bottom 2-pair, he makes a reasonable bet and I push all-in. He thinks and calls. He missed his straight draw and I knocked him out.
We’re down to 3 guys and I’m in a situation where I could basically triple up my money. I matched a K on the flop for a K with a weak kicker. The guy to my left immediately goes all-in. The guy to my right is clearly debating a flush draw and a call. I decide I’m not calling and muck out of turn. This was a good play because I think it saved me $130. I have a feeling I would’ve been way behind to a K with a better kicker if I’d called. The flush draw ended up folding to the bettor.
We’re down to heads-up. I briefly held the chip lead, but am now down about $3500 to $5000. I’ve been playing ultra-aggressively calling all-in about every other hand (the blinds are $150/$300 and raising to 200/$400 in 5 minutes). I’m staying in the game by stealing blinds and otherwise playing pretty tightly. I sense weakness on my opponent (he’s Big Blind), so I move all-in with K5. He thinks for about five minutes and calls with A5. He catches A5 and beats my 5’s with a K kicker with Aces up. Game over, I’m in 2nd.

So, I guess the question is this: Would I have done anything differently, especially at the end? I think probably not. He was playing moderately aggressively and I simply wasn’t catching cards. I was moving in when I detected weakness, just waiting to detect strength when I had a superior hand, so I could move in and maybe get a call. I actually thought I had him with K5, but he just made a great call with A5. I had probably moved in on him 15 times by now and we were both ready to see some fireworks. I haven’t figured out if he outplayed me, or if I just lost. Maybe there isn’t a difference.

All that being said, I can attribute most of my success tonight to one book–Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky. I picked it up a week ago, finished it about an hour before the tournament and was constantly surprised by how much useful information I gained from reading it. I won’t go into details, but I can confidently say that $255 is a fantastic ROI for a $30 book purchase.

So, I’ve played three tournaments now and finished 3/8, 2/8, 2/17. I feel that’s a pretty good record, but I still haven’t got a win. Hopefully, these guys will continue playing tournaments and I’ll find some other tourneys around to play in. After tonight, I feel that poker is something I can actually be pretty good at. I also realize I have a lot to learn. I think I’m going to re-read all my poker books. I think there’s a lot of information I missed the first time through and I can now see that book-learning is a powerful weapon at the poker table.

End rambling about poker.