And more..
04/29/07 00:13 Filed in: Poker
I played
at the Dead Money Poker Tour today. 22 Entrants.
Top 5 paid. I made was the game’s “Bubble Boy”.
I went into the final table as a short stack. I held my own, slowly winning hands and building up a respectable stack. Don’t get me wrong, I was still a short stack.
I then made a nice play to double up through the chip leader. I picked up trips and he didn’t believe me. And there I was. A force to be reckoned with.
I hadn’t been getting cards. We had just seen a monster hand with 3 players all in. One player mucked his cards at the end. One showed down his QJos. And the other hit with his AK. It played out something like this.
The blinds were up there. 500/1000. The first player to act goes all in. QJ calls. Todd debates it a long time, then calls. The flop comes out with a KQ and some other card. QJ goes all in. Todd calls.
He knocks out two opponents and has almost tripled up.
My stack had just been run up. I wasn’t getting any cards and picked up 88. The man to my left, after I raise, goes all in. I didn’t quite realize how many chips he held. So, I called. He had been playing (and going all in with) any A. Little did I know, he had two Aces. Needless to say, my pocket 8s never found a friend. I lost.
I then went on picking up pots by going all in at opportune times.
Then, finally, it happened. I pick up A9d. The flop shows two low diamonds and another black card. I have nearly 20K chips. I decide I am going to push. I am betting into the big stack, but we keep tangling and I get the best of him. He is chasing a flush, Q high. I have the Ace. I hope for another diamond at this point.
The turn comes, no help to either of us. Then the river. At this point, I am a significant favorite. And a Q drops. I am out. On the bubble.
It seems to happen a lot to me, and I am not sure why. I get under-kicked a lot. I will have AK to someone’s A10. I get the money in the pot and no king comes, but a 10 drops. Or KK vs K7 and the 7 makes a straight.
Perhaps my play is a little off. Not sure. However, I believe my performance today, minus a couple missteps was actually pretty good. I was really close to making the money and didn’t. But, it should give me close to 22-6 = 16 points. Plus. with my final table appearance, another 5. So, 21 points, if my understanding of the formula is correct. This means I should easily make the top 10.
I went into the final table as a short stack. I held my own, slowly winning hands and building up a respectable stack. Don’t get me wrong, I was still a short stack.
I then made a nice play to double up through the chip leader. I picked up trips and he didn’t believe me. And there I was. A force to be reckoned with.
I hadn’t been getting cards. We had just seen a monster hand with 3 players all in. One player mucked his cards at the end. One showed down his QJos. And the other hit with his AK. It played out something like this.
The blinds were up there. 500/1000. The first player to act goes all in. QJ calls. Todd debates it a long time, then calls. The flop comes out with a KQ and some other card. QJ goes all in. Todd calls.
He knocks out two opponents and has almost tripled up.
My stack had just been run up. I wasn’t getting any cards and picked up 88. The man to my left, after I raise, goes all in. I didn’t quite realize how many chips he held. So, I called. He had been playing (and going all in with) any A. Little did I know, he had two Aces. Needless to say, my pocket 8s never found a friend. I lost.
I then went on picking up pots by going all in at opportune times.
Then, finally, it happened. I pick up A9d. The flop shows two low diamonds and another black card. I have nearly 20K chips. I decide I am going to push. I am betting into the big stack, but we keep tangling and I get the best of him. He is chasing a flush, Q high. I have the Ace. I hope for another diamond at this point.
The turn comes, no help to either of us. Then the river. At this point, I am a significant favorite. And a Q drops. I am out. On the bubble.
It seems to happen a lot to me, and I am not sure why. I get under-kicked a lot. I will have AK to someone’s A10. I get the money in the pot and no king comes, but a 10 drops. Or KK vs K7 and the 7 makes a straight.
Perhaps my play is a little off. Not sure. However, I believe my performance today, minus a couple missteps was actually pretty good. I was really close to making the money and didn’t. But, it should give me close to 22-6 = 16 points. Plus. with my final table appearance, another 5. So, 21 points, if my understanding of the formula is correct. This means I should easily make the top 10.
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There it goes
04/21/07 00:03 Filed in: Poker
This
weekend I had the opportunity to play some poker.
Recently, my Sit n Go tournament play has been less
than desired. I usually get sucked out on. It
happens when you play quality hands to very
aggressive players who happen to get lucky. For
example, QQ vs J3. I am ahead after the flop with a
pair of Queens. He goes all in and catches runner
runner 3s. Oops.
So, I decided to slow down my single table sit and goes. Instead, I started playing bigger sit and goes (90 and 180 players). I decided, after some success there, I would try some larger multi-table tournaments again. In the past, I have placed in the money on several of these. For example, I played a $5 tournament with 500 players. I came in first and took down $500.
So, I started playing bigger games, between the $5 and $24. In the first $24 I played, I made the money, but I didn’t make much. After 4 hours of play, I won an astounding $40.
So, Saturday night, I decided to try another. Only this time, the results were different. It started off by me picking up Aces a couple times. Against multiple callers, they held up.
With about 20K in chips, I was the chip leader for nearly an hour. I then picked up Q10. I hit a 10 on the flop and put the other player on high cards or some sort of draw. Turns out, I was wrong. He hit trips on the flop and I doubled him up.
The very next hand, I have Q10 and I decide to bully the table. This player has just a few more chips than I do when he calls with 99 again. On the turn, he hits trips. On the river, I get the straight.
I battle my way up the ranks. I make incredibly good calls, picking off bluffs and knocking players out. I don’t want to look at my standings, but I know I am in the top 10 for most of the tournament.
As the game gets to the money, I am able to pick off pots easier as the action slows down. Then, right after the bubble, the action become frantic. I simply wait for good hands, having the stack to do it. I watch as the 153 paid players dwindles to 100, then 80, then 50. Then we hit 3 tables. Then 2. And finally the Final Table. I am there, in 3rd place.
And I get bluffed. I am on a straight draw and the big stack is to my left. He makes a move at the pot, basically committing 3/4 of my stack on a draw. I fold. He shows 2 4, a 4 high. Ugh. I make another bad call and I am now a short stack. I quickly return to the 3rd place.
I then pick up QJ. I raise 4x the big blind. I get a caller for all in. I put him on a pocket pair. I call anyway, as the odds are good. He turns over KK. Oops. I am in trouble. I never catch up.
I have 100K chips left. The button raises 3x the big blind. I have AJ, so I go all in. He calls with for another 40k chips. It’s the right call.
He turns over 10 J. He has three outs and catches one on the turn. Without an Ace on the River, I am done. And it never comes. I go out 6th. Five hours of play, and I am gone. Out 6th. I do make a nice cash finish.
In the end, I had to get lucky a couple times to win, but I was aggressive and worked my way through a field of 955 players to take 6th. I am just disappointed I didn’t take the top 3.
So, I decided to slow down my single table sit and goes. Instead, I started playing bigger sit and goes (90 and 180 players). I decided, after some success there, I would try some larger multi-table tournaments again. In the past, I have placed in the money on several of these. For example, I played a $5 tournament with 500 players. I came in first and took down $500.
So, I started playing bigger games, between the $5 and $24. In the first $24 I played, I made the money, but I didn’t make much. After 4 hours of play, I won an astounding $40.
So, Saturday night, I decided to try another. Only this time, the results were different. It started off by me picking up Aces a couple times. Against multiple callers, they held up.
With about 20K in chips, I was the chip leader for nearly an hour. I then picked up Q10. I hit a 10 on the flop and put the other player on high cards or some sort of draw. Turns out, I was wrong. He hit trips on the flop and I doubled him up.
The very next hand, I have Q10 and I decide to bully the table. This player has just a few more chips than I do when he calls with 99 again. On the turn, he hits trips. On the river, I get the straight.
I battle my way up the ranks. I make incredibly good calls, picking off bluffs and knocking players out. I don’t want to look at my standings, but I know I am in the top 10 for most of the tournament.
As the game gets to the money, I am able to pick off pots easier as the action slows down. Then, right after the bubble, the action become frantic. I simply wait for good hands, having the stack to do it. I watch as the 153 paid players dwindles to 100, then 80, then 50. Then we hit 3 tables. Then 2. And finally the Final Table. I am there, in 3rd place.
And I get bluffed. I am on a straight draw and the big stack is to my left. He makes a move at the pot, basically committing 3/4 of my stack on a draw. I fold. He shows 2 4, a 4 high. Ugh. I make another bad call and I am now a short stack. I quickly return to the 3rd place.
I then pick up QJ. I raise 4x the big blind. I get a caller for all in. I put him on a pocket pair. I call anyway, as the odds are good. He turns over KK. Oops. I am in trouble. I never catch up.
I have 100K chips left. The button raises 3x the big blind. I have AJ, so I go all in. He calls with for another 40k chips. It’s the right call.
He turns over 10 J. He has three outs and catches one on the turn. Without an Ace on the River, I am done. And it never comes. I go out 6th. Five hours of play, and I am gone. Out 6th. I do make a nice cash finish.
In the end, I had to get lucky a couple times to win, but I was aggressive and worked my way through a field of 955 players to take 6th. I am just disappointed I didn’t take the top 3.