Archive for February, 2009

This afternoon I got an e-mail from Ultimate Bet reminding me that I still have a $.26 in my account and suggesting some things I could do with it, like a $.02 tournament. They only let you cash out whole dollar amounts, so when I cleared my account, I had to leave the change.

Don’t worry, I’m not about to give them another chance. However, their e-mail also reminded me that I had 67,000 unused UltimatePoints, which are their frequent player reward. Turns out that was enough to get a Nintendo Wii and a Nunchuk controller, so that should be on its way.

That was a fun little surprise, since I pretty much never buy any kind of consumer goods except for the occasional CD or book. After taking so much (actually, to my knowledge UB didn’t actually steal anything from me), it’s nice to see UB giving back!

From yesterday’s Sunday Million:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $200+$15 Tournament, 600/1200 Blinds 100 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t30683)
UTG (t23180)
UTG+1 (t69583)
MP1 (t45234)
MP2 (t42249)
MP3 (t22891)
CO (t38571)
Button (t32005)
SB (t14539)

Hero’s M: 11.36

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 5
5 folds, CO calls t1200, 2 folds, Hero checks

Flop: (t3900) 5, 9, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t2400, Hero calls t2400

Turn: (t8700) K (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: (t8700) J (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t4800, Hero raises to t26983 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t18300

Results:
Hero didn’t show 3, 5 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t18300

Hell, maybe I just had the best hand anyway.

There was also this:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $200+$15 Tournament, 1000/2000 Blinds 200 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t37483)
UTG (t57104)
UTG+1 (t76633)
MP1 (t92084)
MP2 (t57631)
MP3 (t36141)
CO (t25460)
Button (t28135)
SB (t20528)

Hero’s M: 7.81

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 3
5 folds, CO bets t6000, 2 folds, Hero calls t4000

Flop: (t14800) Q, 9, 6 (2 players)
Hero bets t31283 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t14800

Results:

Hero didn’t show 3, 3 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t14800  Read the complete post...

From yesterday’s Sunday Million:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $200+$15 Tournament, 600/1200 Blinds 100 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t30683)
UTG (t23180)
UTG+1 (t69583)
MP1 (t45234)
MP2 (t42249)
MP3 (t22891)
CO (t38571)
Button (t32005)
SB (t14539)

Hero’s M: 11.36

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 5
5 folds, CO calls t1200, 2 folds, Hero checks

Flop: (t3900) 5, 9, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t2400, Hero calls t2400

Turn: (t8700) K (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: (t8700) J (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t4800, Hero raises to t26983 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t18300

Results:
Hero didn’t show 3, 5 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t18300

Hell, maybe I just had the best hand anyway.

There was also this:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $200+$15 Tournament, 1000/2000 Blinds 200 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t37483)
UTG (t57104)
UTG+1 (t76633)
MP1 (t92084)
MP2 (t57631)
MP3 (t36141)
CO (t25460)
Button (t28135)
SB (t20528)

Hero’s M: 7.81

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 3
5 folds, CO bets t6000, 2 folds, Hero calls t4000

Flop: (t14800) Q, 9, 6 (2 players)
Hero bets t31283 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t14800

Results:  Read the complete post...

Also, don’t raise 52s in middle position.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($1033)
UTG ($1233.55)
MP ($3131.75)
CO ($1000)
Hero (Button) ($1150)
SB ($2026)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, A
1 fold, MP bets $30, 1 fold, Hero calls $30, SB calls $25, 1 fold

Flop: ($100) K, 6, 9 (3 players)
SB checks, MP checks, Hero bets $44, 1 fold, MP raises to $3060, Hero calls $1076 (All-In)

Turn: ($2340) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($2340) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $2340 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had Q, A (one pair, Aces).
MP had 5, 2 (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $2337

On my recent post, “Defining His Range Into Oblivion“, tce left a comment that I felt warranted a new post:

This is a tantalizing post with some really interesting ideas that need more meat. Can you say more? In my experience, trying to blow someone off an Ax hand is just too disruptive to my bankroll. Many players are just too stubborn and will chk-call all three streets. I finally learned that my best counter-strategy is to simply bet the hell out of my hand when I can beat Ax. Turning 2nd pair into a bluff in the hopes of blowing someone off Ax? I dunno, I need to hear more.

It’s a good question. This concept isn’t just a neat way to bluff. The point is that when you have position and a good sense of your opponent’s range, you have a generous edge because of your ability to make better decisions on the river. You want to have a big pot and also enough money behind for a big river bet, ideally with nothing left over in the effective stacks, to maximize that edge. Then, it’s just a matter of actually making that river decision.

Against this opponent, I’m confident that in a 4-bet pot, a bluff in that spot would be very profitable. Against a looser opponent who will not fold Ax, then you will value shove more hands and bluff less.  Read the complete post...

What a donkey. I’m never 3-betting worse for value here, and it’s not a spot where I’m prone to bluff, either.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($2030)
Hero (SB) ($4011.75)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, Q
Button raises to $60, Hero calls $40

Flop: ($120) 10, 2, J (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($120) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

River: ($120) K (2 players)
Hero bets $90, Button raises to $242, Hero raises to $666, Button calls $424

Total pot: $1452 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Button had 4, K (two pair, Kings and fours).
Hero had 10, Q (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Button won $1451.50

Thing is, I mis-read my hand and thought I had a straight. I honestly wasn’t sure I could 3-bet it, because AQ is definitely in Villain’s range, and I was afraid if I did 3-bet it would be obvious I had a straight such that I’d only get action from better. But really the only way K4 is good here is if I mis-read my hand.

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $2,434.50
BB: $3,954.50

Pre-Flop: T K dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $30, BB raises to $100, Hero raises to $255, BB calls $155

Flop: ($510) 3 A 2 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $199, BB calls $199

Turn: ($908) K (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $480, BB folds

Results: $908 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero mucked T K and WON $907.50 (+$453.50 NET)

If he called the turn, I was shoving the river. Position, deep stacks, and judiciously employed small bets are a lethal combination. It’s exceedingly difficult for him to show up with enough big hands to prevent me from exploiting him with river shoves.

If both players employ game theoretically optimal strategy, the advantage will obviously go to the player in position. His EV in the game will be a function of the pot size and the number of betting rounds, meaning that it behooves him to structure the betting so that there is roughly a pot-sized bet remaining on the river. He can then maximize his edge by making better decisions than his opponent about when he wants that last bet to go into the pot.  Read the complete post...

I think this has been out for a few days, but I just noticed that Poker Stars has posted a tentative schedule for a yet-to-be-named tournament series in April. I love the format of offering a low-, medium-, and high-stakes option for every tournament and am frankly staggered that they think they will get sufficient interest in some of these events, especially the $2000 Triple Draw.

The 2+2 MTT community is mostly salivating over this, though some are a little concerned that the smaller events will actually discourage people from trying satellite into the bigger events. I don’t think they’re wrong, but I still expect the big events to be plenty soft thanks to tourney donks playing with relatively deep stacks for fairly big money.

The only issue for me is how to get enough money on Stars by April to enable me to play the ones I want without busting the bankroll. I may suck it up and make a wire transfer, which I’ve so far refused to do on principle since Stars makes the depositor pay the wire fees. It’s really preposterous- I pay enough rake in 10 minutes to cover the fees, and it’s clearly in their interest for me to have money on their site.

Anyway, the schedule:  Read the complete post...