Friday, October 3, 2008
September
Despite a pretty rough WCOOP (or maybe because of- it did compel me to put in a lot of hours), September was a solid month. Even after some of those long sessions, though, I barely averaged twenty hours a week. I just don't think I'm going to hit my goal of averaging 25 hours per week. Thanks to the WSOP, though, I've already hit my monetary goal for the year, so I guess that's alright. then again, I crossed that line back in July as well but ended up sliding pretty substantially back under it and only recently dug myself back out. Nothing's guaranteed, of course, but I'm feeling pretty good at the moment.
I played about 28K hands of NLHE ring games online, and despite losing money at the highest stakes I was playing (10/20), I was at 8 BB/100 for the month, so no complaints there.
There are no major tournament series coming up this month, and I'm starting to have less responsbility with the BDL, so hopefully this will be a good opportunity to grind some higher stakes cash games. I've pretty much obtained my goal of becoming a winning regular at 10/20, so with a little work, I think I can definitely be there by the end of the year.
Stumble It!
I played about 28K hands of NLHE ring games online, and despite losing money at the highest stakes I was playing (10/20), I was at 8 BB/100 for the month, so no complaints there.
There are no major tournament series coming up this month, and I'm starting to have less responsbility with the BDL, so hopefully this will be a good opportunity to grind some higher stakes cash games. I've pretty much obtained my goal of becoming a winning regular at 10/20, so with a little work, I think I can definitely be there by the end of the year.
Labels: NLHE, personal, poker, WCOOP, wsop
Stumble It!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
WCOOP Main Event: $5000 NLHE
The structure on this actually wasn't quite as deep as I expected in the early-going, but I imagine it gave a lot of play in the later stages while still keeping things moving along at a good clip. It's a tough balancing act to run a really well-structured tournament for more than 2000 players in a reasonable amount of time, even over two days.
We started super-deep, with 25,000 chips and 25/50 blinds. But blinds doubled to 50/100 and then to 100/200 at the end of the first hour. I still had pretty much my starting 25K when I raised Ad Td in MP and got called by the SB and the BB. The flop came QQ4 with two diamonds, and the SB bet out for like half the pot. He was kind of short, so I pretty sure he had a pocket pair. I kind of doubted he would fold it to a shove, so I called. The turn was the 5d, and he bet out again. This time I moved all in, and he called with 55. In other words, the turn was the doom card that gave me the nut flush and him a boat. I wasn't deep enough to get away from this, so I'm not beating myself up about it- it was just a bad spot.
I only had about 5K left at that point, and blinds were 150/300. A quiet player UTG+1 raised to 900, and I tilt-shoved with 88 UTG+2 into his AA. This isn't awful, but honestly I think folding is better. There's very little in this guy's range that he's raise-folding, and 88 is definitely behind his calling range.
It was a frustrating end to a frustrating series. Even though I'm down pretty substantially on the turnaments, the series was good for me just because it got me to put in some long sessions. Overall I'm up an appreciable amount on the last two weeks, and I feel really on top of my deep-stacked cash play. Thanks for following along!
Oh and congratulations to Shaundeeb, who won the $300 PLO rebuy. He's one of few if any players to have won both a FTOPS and a WCOOP event. Way to go Shaun!
Stumble It!
We started super-deep, with 25,000 chips and 25/50 blinds. But blinds doubled to 50/100 and then to 100/200 at the end of the first hour. I still had pretty much my starting 25K when I raised Ad Td in MP and got called by the SB and the BB. The flop came QQ4 with two diamonds, and the SB bet out for like half the pot. He was kind of short, so I pretty sure he had a pocket pair. I kind of doubted he would fold it to a shove, so I called. The turn was the 5d, and he bet out again. This time I moved all in, and he called with 55. In other words, the turn was the doom card that gave me the nut flush and him a boat. I wasn't deep enough to get away from this, so I'm not beating myself up about it- it was just a bad spot.
I only had about 5K left at that point, and blinds were 150/300. A quiet player UTG+1 raised to 900, and I tilt-shoved with 88 UTG+2 into his AA. This isn't awful, but honestly I think folding is better. There's very little in this guy's range that he's raise-folding, and 88 is definitely behind his calling range.
It was a frustrating end to a frustrating series. Even though I'm down pretty substantially on the turnaments, the series was good for me just because it got me to put in some long sessions. Overall I'm up an appreciable amount on the last two weeks, and I feel really on top of my deep-stacked cash play. Thanks for following along!
Oh and congratulations to Shaundeeb, who won the $300 PLO rebuy. He's one of few if any players to have won both a FTOPS and a WCOOP event. Way to go Shaun!
Labels: NLHE, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, session review, tournament, WCOOP
Stumble It!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
WCOOP Event 29: $500 NLHE Rebuy 6-Max
I'm skipping past some of the other WCOOP events I played because I've fallen behind on them and don't remember much of what happened, which is because there really wasn't much of interest anyway. The $500 rebuy 6-max did produce some neat hands, though. My table wasn't soft, but that's to be expected in a big event like this. There were a few good tournament players, most notably Timex, who weren't making huge mistakes but weren't necessarily going to play great deep stack 6-max poker either.
The X-factor was Poker Stars pro William Thorson, who's been a long-time cash player on that site. I've never seen him sitting in the bigger NLHE games, so I wasn't sure what to make of or expect from him. He was definitely too loose and aggressive at times, but overall he was pretty decent, especially when we were deep. In particular, he was doing a good job of betting big, as is often called for in deep stack poker. He won a huge pot againt the table fish because he overbet the pot all the way with a flopped set.
But he was only and always betting big when he had big hands, which made him a little too easy to read sometimes. For example, he once made a small 3-bet out of the SB against my CO raise. Even though we weren't all that deep, he had priced me in to call with 98o, since I was pretty sure he didn't have a big pair. Then he bet out small on a QJx flop, and I decided to float him. Sure enough, he check-folded to a small turn bet.
My next float didn't work out so well. We were down to the last 25% or so of the field, and I was rolling along in pretty good shape. There was another of those tournament specialists on my right, and he was opening a lot of pots. Effective stacks were good for me to 3-bet him occasionally, which I'd been doing. So at 200/400, he opened to 1100, and I made it 3000 with A9s on the button. He called for something like 8% of the effective stacks. Giving him too much credit, I assumed he would pretty much only do this with a decent pair: maybe a slow-played AA/KK, or maybe something lik 88, but I didn't think he'd call out of positon with a suited connector or Ax.
The flop came QQ5, and we both checked. Remember, I was putting him on a pair, which I didn't think he would fold. The turn was a King and put a diamond draw on the board. He bet out something weird like a third of the pot. I called, putting him squarely on a pair lower than Kings that he would have to check-fold on the river. The river was a third diamond, and he requested time before finally betting one-half the pot, or about 25% of the remaining stacks. Still stuck in this mindset of moving him off a pair, I shoved all in, and he called pretty quickly with Ad 4d for the nut flush.
I'm not a fan of his pre-flop call, but I really hate myself for shoving that river. I didn't do enough to re-evaluate his range when he bet out there. I seriously doubt he's doing that with something like 88, and he's probably calling pretty much always. Thankfully I was having a pretty huge cash session, so I was still well up on the day, despite another failed bluff shove that occurred almost simultaneously at a Stars 5/10 full-ring table:
UTG+1 raised to $40, and I called in early middle position with Ac Kc. The flop came 844 with two clubs, and I called his bet. He bet again on a 5 turn, and I shoved in my stack drawing dead to his 88. I actually like this shove though, because usually he has a pair when he bets again here and even with AA he can't be thrilled when I shove into him, and of course if he does decide to call with a smaller pair I'll have 15 outs. So I don't hate this shove, even though it didn't work out here.
Stumble It!
The X-factor was Poker Stars pro William Thorson, who's been a long-time cash player on that site. I've never seen him sitting in the bigger NLHE games, so I wasn't sure what to make of or expect from him. He was definitely too loose and aggressive at times, but overall he was pretty decent, especially when we were deep. In particular, he was doing a good job of betting big, as is often called for in deep stack poker. He won a huge pot againt the table fish because he overbet the pot all the way with a flopped set.
But he was only and always betting big when he had big hands, which made him a little too easy to read sometimes. For example, he once made a small 3-bet out of the SB against my CO raise. Even though we weren't all that deep, he had priced me in to call with 98o, since I was pretty sure he didn't have a big pair. Then he bet out small on a QJx flop, and I decided to float him. Sure enough, he check-folded to a small turn bet.
My next float didn't work out so well. We were down to the last 25% or so of the field, and I was rolling along in pretty good shape. There was another of those tournament specialists on my right, and he was opening a lot of pots. Effective stacks were good for me to 3-bet him occasionally, which I'd been doing. So at 200/400, he opened to 1100, and I made it 3000 with A9s on the button. He called for something like 8% of the effective stacks. Giving him too much credit, I assumed he would pretty much only do this with a decent pair: maybe a slow-played AA/KK, or maybe something lik 88, but I didn't think he'd call out of positon with a suited connector or Ax.
The flop came QQ5, and we both checked. Remember, I was putting him on a pair, which I didn't think he would fold. The turn was a King and put a diamond draw on the board. He bet out something weird like a third of the pot. I called, putting him squarely on a pair lower than Kings that he would have to check-fold on the river. The river was a third diamond, and he requested time before finally betting one-half the pot, or about 25% of the remaining stacks. Still stuck in this mindset of moving him off a pair, I shoved all in, and he called pretty quickly with Ad 4d for the nut flush.
I'm not a fan of his pre-flop call, but I really hate myself for shoving that river. I didn't do enough to re-evaluate his range when he bet out there. I seriously doubt he's doing that with something like 88, and he's probably calling pretty much always. Thankfully I was having a pretty huge cash session, so I was still well up on the day, despite another failed bluff shove that occurred almost simultaneously at a Stars 5/10 full-ring table:
UTG+1 raised to $40, and I called in early middle position with Ac Kc. The flop came 844 with two clubs, and I called his bet. He bet again on a 5 turn, and I shoved in my stack drawing dead to his 88. I actually like this shove though, because usually he has a pair when he bets again here and even with AA he can't be thrilled when I shove into him, and of course if he does decide to call with a smaller pair I'll have 15 outs. So I don't hate this shove, even though it didn't work out here.
Labels: 3-bet, 6-max, bluff, float, full ring, NLHE, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, rebuy, semi-bluff, short-handed, tournament, WCOOP
Stumble It!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
WCOOP Event 22: $530 O/8 Mixed 6Max
This was a great idea for a tournament format, with half the hands playing as O/8 and half as PLO8. Many people are going to be good at one game but not the other. Personally, I'm pretty strong in PLO8 but not so good at O/8. Naturally, plenty of people suck at both as well.
I got off to a nice start, playing well in PLO8 and running well at O/8. There was an awful player on my left who was giving me a lot of chips, but eventually he monkeyed his way into winning a huge pot:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournament
Blinds: t25/t50
6 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t6903
UTG+1: t2857
CO: t2540
Button: t3590
Hero: t12500
BB: t6035
Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with :ah :ks :6h :3h
4 folds, Hero raises to t150, BB calls t100 (pot was t200).
Flop: :2d :qh :7h (t300, 2 players)
Hero bets t250, BB raises to t1050, Hero raises to t3450, BB raises to t5850, Hero raises to t8250, BB calls all-in t35.
Uncalled bets: t2365 returned to Hero.
Turn: :tc (t12070, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t12070)
River: :3d (t12070, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t12070)
Results:
Final pot: t12070
I flopped the nut flush draw and the nut low draw with counterfeit protection, and this guy got it all in with me for 120 BB's with the second nut low draw and an underpair to the board: Td As 4s 4c. The board bricks out, and I lose a pot that would have put me in top 1%.
I did get him back eventually though:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournament
Blinds: t40/t80
6 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t7156
UTG+1: t2234
CO: t8584
Button: t8394
Hero: t5035
BB: t11526
Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with :6h :ah :3c :7c
3 folds, Button raises to t240, Hero calls t200 (pot was t360), BB calls t160 (pot was t560).
Flop: :js :3h :as (t720, 3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t80, Button raises to t160, Hero raises to t1280, BB calls t1200 (pot was t2240), Button folds.
Turn: :4s (t3440, 2 players)
Hero bets t2515, BB calls t2515 (pot was t5955).
River: :qc (t8470, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks.
Results:
Final pot: t8470
I couldn't believe it when I scooped this pot. There was only about 1000 left in the effective stacks, but I was so sure I was smoked that I didn't even think I had good equity against his checking range. I was just hoping he would check it back and I could escape with half. Turns out he had 4d Qh 3d 5s, having called the turn with nothing but a bad low draw and two pair.
I lasted for about 6 hours, which only got me through 75% of the field or so, before getting pretty short and busting in some nondescript way.
Stumble It!
I got off to a nice start, playing well in PLO8 and running well at O/8. There was an awful player on my left who was giving me a lot of chips, but eventually he monkeyed his way into winning a huge pot:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournament
Blinds: t25/t50
6 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t6903
UTG+1: t2857
CO: t2540
Button: t3590
Hero: t12500
BB: t6035
Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with :ah :ks :6h :3h
4 folds, Hero raises to t150, BB calls t100 (pot was t200).
Flop: :2d :qh :7h (t300, 2 players)
Hero bets t250, BB raises to t1050, Hero raises to t3450, BB raises to t5850, Hero raises to t8250, BB calls all-in t35.
Uncalled bets: t2365 returned to Hero.
Turn: :tc (t12070, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t12070)
River: :3d (t12070, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t12070)
Results:
Final pot: t12070
I flopped the nut flush draw and the nut low draw with counterfeit protection, and this guy got it all in with me for 120 BB's with the second nut low draw and an underpair to the board: Td As 4s 4c. The board bricks out, and I lose a pot that would have put me in top 1%.
I did get him back eventually though:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournament
Blinds: t40/t80
6 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t7156
UTG+1: t2234
CO: t8584
Button: t8394
Hero: t5035
BB: t11526
Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with :6h :ah :3c :7c
3 folds, Button raises to t240, Hero calls t200 (pot was t360), BB calls t160 (pot was t560).
Flop: :js :3h :as (t720, 3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t80, Button raises to t160, Hero raises to t1280, BB calls t1200 (pot was t2240), Button folds.
Turn: :4s (t3440, 2 players)
Hero bets t2515, BB calls t2515 (pot was t5955).
River: :qc (t8470, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks.
Results:
Final pot: t8470
I couldn't believe it when I scooped this pot. There was only about 1000 left in the effective stacks, but I was so sure I was smoked that I didn't even think I had good equity against his checking range. I was just hoping he would check it back and I could escape with half. Turns out he had 4d Qh 3d 5s, having called the turn with nothing but a bad low draw and two pair.
I lasted for about 6 hours, which only got me through 75% of the field or so, before getting pretty short and busting in some nondescript way.
Labels: 6-max, O8, PLO8, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, short-handed, tournament, WCOOP
Stumble It!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
WCOOP Event 21: $530 Stud/8
Whining about every WCOOP I play is getting old, so I'll just say that this was a pretty standard limit tournament in that I played for hours and didn't come close to winning anything. At least it was fun and interesting though because it was Stud/8, which is one of my favorite games. Here's a cool hand I played against party animal and Mathematics of Poker author Bill Chen:PokerStars Game #20434591501: Tournament #200800021, $500+$30 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit - Level VI (200/400) - 2008/09/15 17:29:56 ET
Table '200800021 20' 8-max
Seat 1: Tulkaz (6061 in chips)
Seat 2: suspender (2222 in chips)
Seat 3: Bill Chen (8508 in chips)
Seat 4: **SHARX** (5134 in chips)
Seat 5: foucault82 (6384 in chips)
Seat 6: Quackers (6171 in chips)
Seat 7: Ulett_23 (13192 in chips)
Seat 8: traction1 (2721 in chips)
Tulkaz: posts the ante 20
suspender: posts the ante 20
Bill Chen: posts the ante 20
**SHARX**: posts the ante 20
foucault82: posts the ante 20
Quackers: posts the ante 20
Ulett_23: posts the ante 20
traction1: posts the ante 20
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to Tulkaz [8h]
Dealt to suspender [2h]
Dealt to Bill Chen [Kh]
Dealt to **SHARX** [9d]
Dealt to foucault82 [Ah Td 2d]
Dealt to Quackers [5h]
Dealt to Ulett_23 [8s]
Dealt to traction1 [Qh]
foucault82: brings in for 60
Quackers: folds
Ulett_23: folds
traction1: folds
Tulkaz: folds
suspender: folds
Bill Chen: raises 140 to 200
**SHARX**: folds
foucault82: calls 140
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to Bill Chen [Kh] [5s]
Dealt to foucault82 [Ah Td 2d] [Ad]
foucault82: checks
Bill Chen: checks
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to Bill Chen [Kh 5s] [7c]
Dealt to foucault82 [Ah Td 2d Ad] [Th]
foucault82: checks
Bill Chen: checks
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to Bill Chen [Kh 5s 7c] [Ks]
Dealt to foucault82 [Ah Td 2d Ad Th] [8c]
Bill Chen: bets 400
foucault82: raises 400 to 800
Bill Chen: calls 400
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to foucault82 [Ah Td 2d Ad Th 8c] [As]
Bill Chen: checks
foucault82: bets 400
Bill Chen: calls 400
*** SHOW DOWN ***
foucault82: shows [Ah Td 2d Ad Th 8c As] (HI: a full house, Aces full of Tens)
Bill Chen mucked [3d 3h Kh 5s 7c Ks Ts]
Bill of course was the rare opponent who actually understands Stud/8 and isn't going to play like a complete monkey, so I have to play this hand quite differently from the way I would against 90% of the field.
3rd street is kind of close, I actually think raising might be better. Bill's range is fairly wide there given that there's only a 9 and a deuce showing behind him. I'm definitely not giving him credit for a pair of K's, so my A-high may well be best plus I've got two to a flush and two to a good low.
I know that the A is going to slow him down on 4th. If he has K's, he isn't going to be them, and if I lead out, he'll probably fold his air and even fold K's if not immediately than on 5th street. This is one big difference from the majority of the field, who would never consider folding a pair of Kings, even though doing so in such a spot is very basic Stud/8 strategy.
If I hadn't made two pair on 5th, I would have led out, but I thought at this point he could very well be drawing dead. Against a thinking opponent, you need to use some deception, and I wanted to rep a low hand since I figured him for high anything. In retrospect, he could actually have four to a low at this point, so maybe leading out is better.
But 6th came perfectly, allowing me to rep a low and giving him a second best hand to pay me off.
OK one quick whine. On my bustout hand, I started with three to a low straight flush, which is one of the best possible starting hands. On 4th I had four to a straight, on 5th I had four to a flush, four to a straight, and four to a low, and on 7th... I still had four to a flush, four to a straight, and four to a low.
Labels: poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, session review, Stud/8, tournament, WCOOP
Stumble It!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
WCOOP Event 20: $1050 NLHE
Terrible starting tables have been the theme of my WCOOP thus far. Today was no exception, with no fewer than three successful 5/10+ NL players, soon to be joined by a fourth (in addition to yours truly, so I guess it sucked that much more for the other guys at the table). However, I was lucky to make some big hands and cold deck a few people, including with AA vs KK, so I left the table in great shape.
My second table was much softer. I raised a few pots in a row from late position and people just started playing back at me maniacally. It's kind of funny to watch tournament players try to deal with aggressive raising by doing stuff like 3-betting light. The thing is, this dynamic has been a part of mid- and high-stakes NL games for nearly a year now, and those of us who play them regularly are quite familiar with not only how to 3-bet light but how to combat those who do.
For a lot of tournament players, though, especially casual ones, it's more of a revelation. They get that I'm raising a ton of pots and that they should be 3-betting in position, but they're choosing bad raise sizes and bad hands to do it with and bad spots, etc.
Anyway, I picked up chips at this table from people awkwardly trying to play back at me. My third table quickly pegged me as aggressive again, and one guy in particular on my left made clear that he was going to play back at me. Again, people weren't doing a great job of it, but now they were getting lucky.
Things started off well. I raised QQ in early position, and someone in middle position made a really tiny re-raise. Even with a hand as strong as QQ, I had a terrible feeling about this. But I also knew I'd been a little aggressive, so I didnt' want to fold. I elected to call, putting like 8.5K in the pot and leaving around 14K in the effective stacks. I didn't quite have set odds, but I wanted to see what my opponent did on certain flops.
The flop came 994, which was perfect for my purposes. I checked, and he overbet shoved all in. I didn't think he'd do that with AA or KK, so I called, he showed me AK, and I dodged the bullets. That hand rocketed me up among the tournament chipleaders. Nearly four hours into the event, I had over 100 BB's. That was owing in no small part to the amazing structure.
Then I raised A8s in late position and a pretty weak player called in the SB. That would be a strong play from a better player, but against this guy, I was ready to stack off on a 854 flop. He checked and very quickly called my bet. That quick call is rarely a monster, so I was feeling pretty good about my hand. The turn was a deuce. He checked, and with less than twice the pot left in the effective stacks, my only option was to bet-call. So I bet, he shoved, I called, and he showed me A3s that drilled the gutshot on the turn. That took out about 1/3 of my stack.
I rebuilt a bit but mostly was quiet for a while after that. Then I raised 22 from MP and the aforementioned player who was trying to play back at me called. He was actually pretty good, so when the flop came KJ6, I didn't think it would hit his calling range too well. I bet, and he called. Oh well. I checked, and he checked it back. Then an A came on the river, and I just had to bet at it. He called me with AQ.
I was frustrated to see another guy calling with a gutshot and getting there, but truthfully the flop call wasn't that bad. I do think he should be betting the turn though if he is going to float the flop.
Anyway, that took about half of my remaining chips. Finally I picked up AK UTG. The SB re-raised, I shoved, and he called me with exactly what I was hoping he had: AQ. I was hoping, that is, until I saw the Q on the flop. That was the end of Ol' Foucault.
I can't really complain though, because I made a really sweet run at the cash games while I was playing the tournament. I finished with over 700 BB's on both a 5/10 and 3/6 table and up on a few other tables as well. So it was a good day, though the tournament was a bit frustrating.
Stumble It!
My second table was much softer. I raised a few pots in a row from late position and people just started playing back at me maniacally. It's kind of funny to watch tournament players try to deal with aggressive raising by doing stuff like 3-betting light. The thing is, this dynamic has been a part of mid- and high-stakes NL games for nearly a year now, and those of us who play them regularly are quite familiar with not only how to 3-bet light but how to combat those who do.
For a lot of tournament players, though, especially casual ones, it's more of a revelation. They get that I'm raising a ton of pots and that they should be 3-betting in position, but they're choosing bad raise sizes and bad hands to do it with and bad spots, etc.
Anyway, I picked up chips at this table from people awkwardly trying to play back at me. My third table quickly pegged me as aggressive again, and one guy in particular on my left made clear that he was going to play back at me. Again, people weren't doing a great job of it, but now they were getting lucky.
Things started off well. I raised QQ in early position, and someone in middle position made a really tiny re-raise. Even with a hand as strong as QQ, I had a terrible feeling about this. But I also knew I'd been a little aggressive, so I didnt' want to fold. I elected to call, putting like 8.5K in the pot and leaving around 14K in the effective stacks. I didn't quite have set odds, but I wanted to see what my opponent did on certain flops.
The flop came 994, which was perfect for my purposes. I checked, and he overbet shoved all in. I didn't think he'd do that with AA or KK, so I called, he showed me AK, and I dodged the bullets. That hand rocketed me up among the tournament chipleaders. Nearly four hours into the event, I had over 100 BB's. That was owing in no small part to the amazing structure.
Then I raised A8s in late position and a pretty weak player called in the SB. That would be a strong play from a better player, but against this guy, I was ready to stack off on a 854 flop. He checked and very quickly called my bet. That quick call is rarely a monster, so I was feeling pretty good about my hand. The turn was a deuce. He checked, and with less than twice the pot left in the effective stacks, my only option was to bet-call. So I bet, he shoved, I called, and he showed me A3s that drilled the gutshot on the turn. That took out about 1/3 of my stack.
I rebuilt a bit but mostly was quiet for a while after that. Then I raised 22 from MP and the aforementioned player who was trying to play back at me called. He was actually pretty good, so when the flop came KJ6, I didn't think it would hit his calling range too well. I bet, and he called. Oh well. I checked, and he checked it back. Then an A came on the river, and I just had to bet at it. He called me with AQ.
I was frustrated to see another guy calling with a gutshot and getting there, but truthfully the flop call wasn't that bad. I do think he should be betting the turn though if he is going to float the flop.
Anyway, that took about half of my remaining chips. Finally I picked up AK UTG. The SB re-raised, I shoved, and he called me with exactly what I was hoping he had: AQ. I was hoping, that is, until I saw the Q on the flop. That was the end of Ol' Foucault.
I can't really complain though, because I made a really sweet run at the cash games while I was playing the tournament. I finished with over 700 BB's on both a 5/10 and 3/6 table and up on a few other tables as well. So it was a good day, though the tournament was a bit frustrating.
Labels: 3-bet, 4-bet, bad beat, bluff, continuation bet, NLHE, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, session review, tournament, WCOOP
Stumble It!
WCOOP Event 19: $530 HORSE
God what a grind this thing was. There were a little over 2000 runners, and after five and a half hours of playing, I was eliminated in 665th. It took five hours to get through two-thirds of the field. That's what happens when you play a very well-structure limit tournament with split pot games.
I'm not sure how I last that long, because I was catching absolute shit and playing about the same. I wasn't getting much in the way of starting hands, and there were always a few monkeys at the table such that stealing wasn't really an option. By the same token, the few times that I did get hands, I was generally winning the pot. Still, for the first few hours I barely got above my starting stack, and the only time I passed the average was on this hand:
PokerStars Game #20386595428: Tournament #200800018, $200+$15 HORSE (7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit) - Level XX (160/320) - 2008/09/13 20:52:57 ET
Table '200800018 52' 8-max
Seat 1: atactor (3172 in chips)
Seat 2: Joeyhaha (3536 in chips)
Seat 3: eriholer (2275 in chips)
Seat 4: foucault82 (3386 in chips)
Seat 5: noize-boy (5099 in chips)
Seat 6: doudouc (8954 in chips)
Seat 7: GSUSLIVS (8204 in chips)
Seat 8: goldhawk (5072 in chips)
noize-boy: posts the ante 32
doudouc: posts the ante 32
GSUSLIVS: posts the ante 32
goldhawk: posts the ante 32
atactor: posts the ante 32
Joeyhaha: posts the ante 32
eriholer: posts the ante 32
foucault82: posts the ante 32
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to atactor [5s]
Dealt to Joeyhaha [Ts]
Dealt to eriholer [Jc]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c]
Dealt to noize-boy [As]
Dealt to doudouc [9d]
Dealt to GSUSLIVS [5d]
Dealt to goldhawk [5c]
foucault82: brings in for 48
noize-boy: folds
doudouc: folds
GSUSLIVS: calls 48
goldhawk: calls 48
atactor: folds
Joeyhaha: folds
eriholer: raises 112 to 160
foucault82: calls 112
GSUSLIVS: calls 112
goldhawk: calls 112
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to eriholer [Jc] [8s]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c] [2d]
Dealt to GSUSLIVS [5d] [3s]
Dealt to goldhawk [5c] [Js]
eriholer: bets 160
foucault82: raises 160 to 320
GSUSLIVS: calls 320
goldhawk: folds
eriholer: raises 160 to 480
foucault82: calls 160
GSUSLIVS: calls 160
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to eriholer [Jc 8s] [2h]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c 2d] [4h]
Dealt to GSUSLIVS [5d 3s] [3d]
GSUSLIVS: checks
eriholer: bets 320
foucault82: raises 320 to 640
GSUSLIVS: folds
eriholer: calls 320
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to eriholer [Jc 8s 2h] [Ah]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c 2d 4h] [8d]
eriholer: checks
foucault82: bets 320
eriholer: calls 320
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c 2d 4h 8d] [4c]
eriholer: checks
foucault82: bets 320
eriholer: calls 320
*** SHOW DOWN ***
foucault82: shows [4s 6h 3c 2d 4h 8d 4c] (HI: three of a kind, Fours; LO: 8,6,4,3,2)
eriholer: mucks hand
foucault82 collected 2448 from pot
foucault82 collected 2448 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4896 | Rake 0
Seat 1: atactor folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Joeyhaha folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 3: eriholer mucked [Jh 8c Jc 8s 2h Ah 3h]
Seat 4: foucault82 showed [4s 6h 3c 2d 4h 8d 4c] and won (4896) with HI: three of a kind, Fours; LO: 8,6,4,3,2
Seat 5: noize-boy folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 6: doudouc folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: GSUSLIVS folded on the 5th Street
Seat 8: goldhawk folded on the 4th Street
I had a monster hand on 3rd street. The only problem was that three of my fives were dead, which drastically reduced the high potential of my hand and hurt my ability to make a low as well. I'm still playing it, but I'm not going to raise it just yet. Once I catch good on 4th, though, I'm raising hoping to drive out the low hand behind me. Even though I surely have the better draw, I want to insure that catching an 8 will be enough to lock up half the pot. As I said, my high potential isn't much, but the fraction of a bet that I lose to the J-8 is compensated if I can get the guy out behind me or at least make him call two bets with a worse low draw.
I couldn't get him out on 4th, but I caught another scary card on 5th. Now my board is scarier, the bets are bigger, and with my pair my equity against the high hand is better, so I am losing less by raising him.
On 6th, I'm freerolling, and that miracle card on 7th was almost too good to be true.
Stumble It!
I'm not sure how I last that long, because I was catching absolute shit and playing about the same. I wasn't getting much in the way of starting hands, and there were always a few monkeys at the table such that stealing wasn't really an option. By the same token, the few times that I did get hands, I was generally winning the pot. Still, for the first few hours I barely got above my starting stack, and the only time I passed the average was on this hand:
PokerStars Game #20386595428: Tournament #200800018, $200+$15 HORSE (7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit) - Level XX (160/320) - 2008/09/13 20:52:57 ET
Table '200800018 52' 8-max
Seat 1: atactor (3172 in chips)
Seat 2: Joeyhaha (3536 in chips)
Seat 3: eriholer (2275 in chips)
Seat 4: foucault82 (3386 in chips)
Seat 5: noize-boy (5099 in chips)
Seat 6: doudouc (8954 in chips)
Seat 7: GSUSLIVS (8204 in chips)
Seat 8: goldhawk (5072 in chips)
noize-boy: posts the ante 32
doudouc: posts the ante 32
GSUSLIVS: posts the ante 32
goldhawk: posts the ante 32
atactor: posts the ante 32
Joeyhaha: posts the ante 32
eriholer: posts the ante 32
foucault82: posts the ante 32
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to atactor [5s]
Dealt to Joeyhaha [Ts]
Dealt to eriholer [Jc]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c]
Dealt to noize-boy [As]
Dealt to doudouc [9d]
Dealt to GSUSLIVS [5d]
Dealt to goldhawk [5c]
foucault82: brings in for 48
noize-boy: folds
doudouc: folds
GSUSLIVS: calls 48
goldhawk: calls 48
atactor: folds
Joeyhaha: folds
eriholer: raises 112 to 160
foucault82: calls 112
GSUSLIVS: calls 112
goldhawk: calls 112
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to eriholer [Jc] [8s]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c] [2d]
Dealt to GSUSLIVS [5d] [3s]
Dealt to goldhawk [5c] [Js]
eriholer: bets 160
foucault82: raises 160 to 320
GSUSLIVS: calls 320
goldhawk: folds
eriholer: raises 160 to 480
foucault82: calls 160
GSUSLIVS: calls 160
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to eriholer [Jc 8s] [2h]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c 2d] [4h]
Dealt to GSUSLIVS [5d 3s] [3d]
GSUSLIVS: checks
eriholer: bets 320
foucault82: raises 320 to 640
GSUSLIVS: folds
eriholer: calls 320
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to eriholer [Jc 8s 2h] [Ah]
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c 2d 4h] [8d]
eriholer: checks
foucault82: bets 320
eriholer: calls 320
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to foucault82 [4s 6h 3c 2d 4h 8d] [4c]
eriholer: checks
foucault82: bets 320
eriholer: calls 320
*** SHOW DOWN ***
foucault82: shows [4s 6h 3c 2d 4h 8d 4c] (HI: three of a kind, Fours; LO: 8,6,4,3,2)
eriholer: mucks hand
foucault82 collected 2448 from pot
foucault82 collected 2448 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4896 | Rake 0
Seat 1: atactor folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Joeyhaha folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 3: eriholer mucked [Jh 8c Jc 8s 2h Ah 3h]
Seat 4: foucault82 showed [4s 6h 3c 2d 4h 8d 4c] and won (4896) with HI: three of a kind, Fours; LO: 8,6,4,3,2
Seat 5: noize-boy folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 6: doudouc folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: GSUSLIVS folded on the 5th Street
Seat 8: goldhawk folded on the 4th Street
I had a monster hand on 3rd street. The only problem was that three of my fives were dead, which drastically reduced the high potential of my hand and hurt my ability to make a low as well. I'm still playing it, but I'm not going to raise it just yet. Once I catch good on 4th, though, I'm raising hoping to drive out the low hand behind me. Even though I surely have the better draw, I want to insure that catching an 8 will be enough to lock up half the pot. As I said, my high potential isn't much, but the fraction of a bet that I lose to the J-8 is compensated if I can get the guy out behind me or at least make him call two bets with a worse low draw.
I couldn't get him out on 4th, but I caught another scary card on 5th. Now my board is scarier, the bets are bigger, and with my pair my equity against the high hand is better, so I am losing less by raising him.
On 6th, I'm freerolling, and that miracle card on 7th was almost too good to be true.
Labels: HORSE, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, session review, Stud/8, tournament, WCOOP
Stumble It!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
WCOOP Event 17: $530 PLHE
I continued my poor luck with table draws and got Steve Paul-Ambrose on my left in a tournament where the field in general was a giant donkfest. Steve didn't get too out of line, but his presence alone deterred me from a few hands I otherwise would have played. You just can't play as many hands from any position with a good player still to act behind you.
Anyway, I don't think anything too interesting happened. Eventually I ran AK into AA for the last of my chips.
I was also playing the weekly FTP $300 6-max, where I fired a second barrel in a spot where I would ordinarily never attempt such a thing.
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
UTG: 17,658
MP: 6,912
CO: 5,030
Hero (BTN): 8,630
SB: 14,724
BB: 1,078
Pre-Flop: (300) 2
A
dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to 530, SB calls 430, BB folds
Flop: (1,260) T 9
7 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets 750, SB calls 750
Turn: (2,760) K (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets 1,850, SB calls 1,850
River: (6,460) 3 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks
Results: 6,460 Pot
Hero showed 2 A (Ace King high) and LOST (-3,130 NET)
SB showed K
J (a pair of Kings) and WON 6,460 (+3,330 NET)
Ordinarily, I would put SB on like a small-mid pair or a suited connector. However, because the BB was short and fairly likely to shove, re-opening the betting, I didn't think SB would call here with such an "implied odds" hand. Instead, I put him on big cards that could take a little more heat. There was some chance he was trapping with a big pair- it was a good spot for it- but I thought his range would be much wider than that.
When he didn't check-raise the flop, I eliminated the big pairs from his range as well as two pair, sets, and big draws. That didn't leave much except for one pair hands and weak draws. In addition, the K is a good scare card for me to bet again.
Although the bluff didn't work, the results really don't contradict my read at all. He did have a broadway hand as I suspected. It just happened to be one that could call the flop. And I was right that he had only a weak draw on the flop- it just happened to be the only one that could be improved by a K on the turn. So in conclusion, I am never wrong. I am not always right, I admit it, but I am never wrong.
Stumble It!
Anyway, I don't think anything too interesting happened. Eventually I ran AK into AA for the last of my chips.
I was also playing the weekly FTP $300 6-max, where I fired a second barrel in a spot where I would ordinarily never attempt such a thing.
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
UTG: 17,658
MP: 6,912
CO: 5,030
Hero (BTN): 8,630
SB: 14,724
BB: 1,078
Pre-Flop: (300) 2
A dealt to Hero (BTN)3 folds, Hero raises to 530, SB calls 430, BB folds
Flop: (1,260) T
9 7 (2 Players)SB checks, Hero bets 750, SB calls 750
Turn: (2,760) K
(2 Players)SB checks, Hero bets 1,850, SB calls 1,850
River: (6,460) 3
(2 Players)SB checks, Hero checks
Results: 6,460 Pot
Hero showed 2
A (Ace King high) and LOST (-3,130 NET)SB showed K
J (a pair of Kings) and WON 6,460 (+3,330 NET)Ordinarily, I would put SB on like a small-mid pair or a suited connector. However, because the BB was short and fairly likely to shove, re-opening the betting, I didn't think SB would call here with such an "implied odds" hand. Instead, I put him on big cards that could take a little more heat. There was some chance he was trapping with a big pair- it was a good spot for it- but I thought his range would be much wider than that.
When he didn't check-raise the flop, I eliminated the big pairs from his range as well as two pair, sets, and big draws. That didn't leave much except for one pair hands and weak draws. In addition, the K is a good scare card for me to bet again.
Although the bluff didn't work, the results really don't contradict my read at all. He did have a broadway hand as I suspected. It just happened to be one that could call the flop. And I was right that he had only a weak draw on the flop- it just happened to be the only one that could be improved by a K on the turn. So in conclusion, I am never wrong. I am not always right, I admit it, but I am never wrong.
Labels: 6-max, double barrel, PLHE, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, short-handed, tournament, WCOOP
Stumble It!
WCOOP Event 16: $215 PLO 1 Rebuy/1 Add-On
I was actually only in for $400 because I didn't rebuy immediately. Only one person at my table did this, and I decided that Omaha being a high variance game, my one rebuy would be more useful to me as an insurance policy than as an immediate add-on. However, I doubled up almost immediately and never ended up using it. I ended up running pretty deep anyway. Throughout the rebuy period and the first hour or so afterwards, I played very tight. I won a few nice pots early in the rebuy period, so after adding on, I could afford to fold for quite some time, which is what I did.
Eventually I picked up Aces in a great spot and won a huge pot with a coin flip:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t50/t100
8 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t4940
UTG+1: t10930
MP1: t11523
Hero: t7430
CO: t840
Button: t8674
SB: t29202
BB: t32230
Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is MP2 with :ks :6s :ah :ac
2 folds, MP1 raises to t350, Hero calls t350 (pot was t500), 2 folds, SB calls t300 (pot was t850), BB raises to t1750, MP1 calls t1400 (pot was t2800), Hero raises to t7350, SB folds, BB raises to t12950, MP1 folds, Hero calls all-in t80.
Uncalled bets: t5520 returned to BB.
Flop: :5s :js :tc (t16960, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t16960)
Turn: :2c (t16960, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t16960)
River: :as (t16960, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t16960)
Results:
Final pot: t16960
Aces in PLO aren't nearly the monster they are in NLHE, so with not much else to the hand, I elected just to call with them initially. I ended up getting it in with QJT9 and holding.
I'm no PLO expert, but from what I could tell, a lot of people were playing really badly. I may even have made some questionable folds because I gave people too much credit when they potted it:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t150/t300
9 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t32987
Hero: t22900
MP1: t33260
MP2: t4865
MP3: t23062
CO: t31400
Button: t43209
SB: t31598
BB: t1730
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is UTG+1 with :as :ad :9s :8d
UTG calls t300 (pot was t450), Hero raises to t1350, 2 folds, MP3 calls t1350 (pot was t2100), CO calls t1350 (pot was t3450), 3 folds, UTG calls t1050 (pot was t4800).
Flop: :5h :9d :5d (t5850, 4 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, MP3 bets t5850, 2 folds, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: t5850 returned to MP3.
Results:
Final pot: t5850
Here I check-folded Aces and the nut flush draw because I just couldn't see this guy having less than trips, and I didn't want to invest 4x the pot in such a spot.
Eventually I caught one of these guys overvaluing his hand:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t150/t300
9 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t30862
UTG+1: t30050
MP1: t43209
MP2: t30998
MP3: t1280
CO: t31037
Hero: t20050
SB: t32660
BB: t4865
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is Button with :kd :js :6s :th
UTG calls t300 (pot was t450), UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t300 (pot was t750), 2 folds, CO calls t300 (pot was t1050), Hero calls t300 (pot was t1350), SB folds, BB checks.
Flop: :jh :4c :ks (t1650, 5 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, MP1 checks, CO bets t1250, Hero calls t1250 (pot was t2900), 3 folds.
Turn: :5s (t4150, 2 players)
CO bets t3600, Hero calls t3600 (pot was t7750).
River: :kc (t11350, 2 players)
CO bets t4200, Hero raises all-in t14900, CO calls t10700 (pot was t30450).
Results:
Final pot: t41150
He had AKT4, for K's full of 4's. The turn should probably a check-fold for him. Potting it again is really bad with top and bottom pair, and if I hadn't seen so many people making mistakes like this, I might have been tempted to fold top two. But I decided to call again and river the nuts instead.
This was a fun one where I turned an overpair into a bluff since I held two blockers to the nuts:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t150/t300
9 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t4415
UTG+1: t30962
MP1: t32240
MP2: t38329
MP3: t27768
CO: t10130
Button: t18737
Hero: t37200
BB: t35360
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is SB with :kh :jc :jh :ac
3 folds, MP2 raises to t900, MP3 folds, CO calls t900 (pot was t1350), Button folds, Hero calls t750 (pot was t2250), BB folds.
Flop: :9h :4h :5c (t3000, 3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t1500, CO folds, Hero calls t1500 (pot was t4500).
Turn: :8h (t6000, 2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks.
River: :qs (t6000, 2 players)
Hero bets t4300, MP2 folds.
Uncalled bets: t4300 returned to Hero.
Results:
Final pot: t6000
For the majority of the tournament, Andy McLeod, the eventual winner, was on my immediate left. From what I could tell, he wasn't a great PLO player, but he is a great tournament player in general and very loose and aggressive, which was rough to have on my left. I actually ran really well against him and probably didn't win as much as a better player could have nor as much as I could have from a less good player. I ended up doubling through Andy at a really crucial moment when we both held KKxx and flopped an overpair. I had a flush draw with mine, he had an open-ended straight draw with his, and my draw hit.
The last laugh was his, though, as he recovered by twice doubling through the Aces of LoneHixx (who was on his immediate left) with random garbage and ended up winning nearly $100,000 for first place.
With 117 left out of more than 1200 who started, I was in 25th place and feeling fine. Then it happened:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t600/t1200
8 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t58291
UTG+1: t68740
MP1: t58836
MP2: t141471
CO: t49815
Hero: t84555
SB: t71922
BB: t100490
Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is Button with :8c :9d :jc :js
3 folds, MP2 raises to t4200, CO calls t4200 (pot was t6000), Hero calls t4200 (pot was t10200), 2 folds.
Flop: :ks :jd :5h (t14400, 3 players)
MP2 bets t14400, CO folds, Hero raises to t57600, MP2 raises to t100800, Hero calls all-in t22755.
Uncalled bets: t20445 returned to MP2.
Turn: :5s (t175110, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t175110)
River: :6h (t175110, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t175110)
Results:
Final pot: t175110
I was up against KKxx, so I busted with middle set versus top set. In NLHE, that's an absolute cooler. But I wonder whether a better PLO player would have lost his ass here. Truthfully, when the guy bet out into two people, I was already pretty worried about top set. But I just couldn't see anything but getting it in and then getting it pissed.
Stumble It!
Eventually I picked up Aces in a great spot and won a huge pot with a coin flip:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t50/t100
8 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t4940
UTG+1: t10930
MP1: t11523
Hero: t7430
CO: t840
Button: t8674
SB: t29202
BB: t32230
Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is MP2 with :ks :6s :ah :ac
2 folds, MP1 raises to t350, Hero calls t350 (pot was t500), 2 folds, SB calls t300 (pot was t850), BB raises to t1750, MP1 calls t1400 (pot was t2800), Hero raises to t7350, SB folds, BB raises to t12950, MP1 folds, Hero calls all-in t80.
Uncalled bets: t5520 returned to BB.
Flop: :5s :js :tc (t16960, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t16960)
Turn: :2c (t16960, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t16960)
River: :as (t16960, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t16960)
Results:
Final pot: t16960
Aces in PLO aren't nearly the monster they are in NLHE, so with not much else to the hand, I elected just to call with them initially. I ended up getting it in with QJT9 and holding.
I'm no PLO expert, but from what I could tell, a lot of people were playing really badly. I may even have made some questionable folds because I gave people too much credit when they potted it:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t150/t300
9 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t32987
Hero: t22900
MP1: t33260
MP2: t4865
MP3: t23062
CO: t31400
Button: t43209
SB: t31598
BB: t1730
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is UTG+1 with :as :ad :9s :8d
UTG calls t300 (pot was t450), Hero raises to t1350, 2 folds, MP3 calls t1350 (pot was t2100), CO calls t1350 (pot was t3450), 3 folds, UTG calls t1050 (pot was t4800).
Flop: :5h :9d :5d (t5850, 4 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, MP3 bets t5850, 2 folds, Hero folds.
Uncalled bets: t5850 returned to MP3.
Results:
Final pot: t5850
Here I check-folded Aces and the nut flush draw because I just couldn't see this guy having less than trips, and I didn't want to invest 4x the pot in such a spot.
Eventually I caught one of these guys overvaluing his hand:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t150/t300
9 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t30862
UTG+1: t30050
MP1: t43209
MP2: t30998
MP3: t1280
CO: t31037
Hero: t20050
SB: t32660
BB: t4865
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is Button with :kd :js :6s :th
UTG calls t300 (pot was t450), UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t300 (pot was t750), 2 folds, CO calls t300 (pot was t1050), Hero calls t300 (pot was t1350), SB folds, BB checks.
Flop: :jh :4c :ks (t1650, 5 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, MP1 checks, CO bets t1250, Hero calls t1250 (pot was t2900), 3 folds.
Turn: :5s (t4150, 2 players)
CO bets t3600, Hero calls t3600 (pot was t7750).
River: :kc (t11350, 2 players)
CO bets t4200, Hero raises all-in t14900, CO calls t10700 (pot was t30450).
Results:
Final pot: t41150
He had AKT4, for K's full of 4's. The turn should probably a check-fold for him. Potting it again is really bad with top and bottom pair, and if I hadn't seen so many people making mistakes like this, I might have been tempted to fold top two. But I decided to call again and river the nuts instead.
This was a fun one where I turned an overpair into a bluff since I held two blockers to the nuts:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t150/t300
9 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t4415
UTG+1: t30962
MP1: t32240
MP2: t38329
MP3: t27768
CO: t10130
Button: t18737
Hero: t37200
BB: t35360
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is SB with :kh :jc :jh :ac
3 folds, MP2 raises to t900, MP3 folds, CO calls t900 (pot was t1350), Button folds, Hero calls t750 (pot was t2250), BB folds.
Flop: :9h :4h :5c (t3000, 3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t1500, CO folds, Hero calls t1500 (pot was t4500).
Turn: :8h (t6000, 2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks.
River: :qs (t6000, 2 players)
Hero bets t4300, MP2 folds.
Uncalled bets: t4300 returned to Hero.
Results:
Final pot: t6000
For the majority of the tournament, Andy McLeod, the eventual winner, was on my immediate left. From what I could tell, he wasn't a great PLO player, but he is a great tournament player in general and very loose and aggressive, which was rough to have on my left. I actually ran really well against him and probably didn't win as much as a better player could have nor as much as I could have from a less good player. I ended up doubling through Andy at a really crucial moment when we both held KKxx and flopped an overpair. I had a flush draw with mine, he had an open-ended straight draw with his, and my draw hit.
The last laugh was his, though, as he recovered by twice doubling through the Aces of LoneHixx (who was on his immediate left) with random garbage and ended up winning nearly $100,000 for first place.
With 117 left out of more than 1200 who started, I was in 25th place and feeling fine. Then it happened:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t600/t1200
8 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t58291
UTG+1: t68740
MP1: t58836
MP2: t141471
CO: t49815
Hero: t84555
SB: t71922
BB: t100490
Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is Button with :8c :9d :jc :js
3 folds, MP2 raises to t4200, CO calls t4200 (pot was t6000), Hero calls t4200 (pot was t10200), 2 folds.
Flop: :ks :jd :5h (t14400, 3 players)
MP2 bets t14400, CO folds, Hero raises to t57600, MP2 raises to t100800, Hero calls all-in t22755.
Uncalled bets: t20445 returned to MP2.
Turn: :5s (t175110, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t175110)
River: :6h (t175110, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: t175110)
Results:
Final pot: t175110
I was up against KKxx, so I busted with middle set versus top set. In NLHE, that's an absolute cooler. But I wonder whether a better PLO player would have lost his ass here. Truthfully, when the guy bet out into two people, I was already pretty worried about top set. But I just couldn't see anything but getting it in and then getting it pissed.
Labels: bluff, PLO, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, rebuy, tournament, WCOOP
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Friday, September 12, 2008
WCOOP Event 15: $320 Heads Up NLHE
I've been working on my heads up game lately and was looking forward to this event. My first round opponent was just terrible. We started 200 BBs deep and I was thinking that with this structure it would be pretty much impossible for me to lose. But I was playing three games of 5/10 HU on the side and not paying a lot of attention to the tournament, and suddenly blinds were huge and I still hadn't won. In fact, I was barely in the lead. My opponent had been really overvaluing any pair, so I got it in with middle pair good kicker for like 20 BB and lost to his top pair top kicker. God I suck. Thankfully I was way up on my side action, so well in the black for the session. The PLO 1R/1A starts in an hour, so I'm going to take a little break then play some PLO.
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Labels: deep stacks, NLHE, poker, Poker Stars, session review, WCOOP
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Thursday, September 11, 2008
FTOPS Event 13: $200 Rebuy NLHE
I was in for the minimum, but that's about all that went right with this tournament. For the next hour and a half, I was catching absolutely nothing. AK, JJ, and TT were the best hands I saw. I won the AK with a re-raise, my JJ ran into QQ, and my TT ran into AA when I had 20 BBs. I also had a tough starting table with a couple of good tourney regulars and Spirit Rock/Mohatma, who as many of you know used to crush the biggest NL games a few years ago. It's a shame, because this was a deep tournament (the minimum after the rebuy period was good for 150 BBs) with a great structure.
I skipped Event 14, which was Stud, because that's one of my worst games, I don't particularly like it, and limit tournaments last freaking forever.
Boring stories, so I'll give you a good one from my cash play on the side. I de-polarize my range and totally valuetown this guy:
Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
CO: $8,688.50
BTN: $3,530
SB: $4,580
Hero (BB): $6,062
UTG: $10,311
Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG raises to $70, 3 folds, Hero raises to $262, UTG calls $192
Flop: ($534) 8 8 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets $350, UTG calls $350
Turn: ($1,234) Q (2 Players)
Hero bets $950, UTG calls $950
River: ($3,134) T (2 Players)
Hero bets $2,000, UTG calls $2,000
Results: $7,134 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed A A (two pair, Aces and Eights) and WON $7,131 (+$3,569 NET)
UTG mucked 3 3 (two pair, Eights and Threes) and LOST (-$3,562 NET)
Basically I think he expects my triple barrel to be either a bluff or a huge hand. So I just keep firing, planning to fold if he raises turn or river but expecting to be ahead of his call-down range. After the hand he types, "Wow"which I take as a compliment. Then he goes on,
"Guess that's why I play deep." I ask if he's serious.
"You can't wait to go broke with AA this deep." Bitch you can't wait to go broke with 33! Totally confirmed my read of what level he was on. The best thing is that he's saying he plays deep because of the implied odds when he hits a set, but he's got bad reverse implied odds if I can get him to call me down like this, so really it's not nearly the spot he thinks it is.
He went on for a while like this.
Stumble It!
I skipped Event 14, which was Stud, because that's one of my worst games, I don't particularly like it, and limit tournaments last freaking forever.
Boring stories, so I'll give you a good one from my cash play on the side. I de-polarize my range and totally valuetown this guy:
Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
CO: $8,688.50
BTN: $3,530
SB: $4,580
Hero (BB): $6,062
UTG: $10,311
Pre-Flop: A
A dealt to Hero (BB)UTG raises to $70, 3 folds, Hero raises to $262, UTG calls $192
Flop: ($534) 8
8 6 (2 Players)Hero bets $350, UTG calls $350
Turn: ($1,234) Q
(2 Players)Hero bets $950, UTG calls $950
River: ($3,134) T
(2 Players)Hero bets $2,000, UTG calls $2,000
Results: $7,134 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed A
A (two pair, Aces and Eights) and WON $7,131 (+$3,569 NET)UTG mucked 3
3 (two pair, Eights and Threes) and LOST (-$3,562 NET)Basically I think he expects my triple barrel to be either a bluff or a huge hand. So I just keep firing, planning to fold if he raises turn or river but expecting to be ahead of his call-down range. After the hand he types, "Wow"which I take as a compliment. Then he goes on,
"Guess that's why I play deep." I ask if he's serious.
"You can't wait to go broke with AA this deep." Bitch you can't wait to go broke with 33! Totally confirmed my read of what level he was on. The best thing is that he's saying he plays deep because of the implied odds when he hits a set, but he's got bad reverse implied odds if I can get him to call me down like this, so really it's not nearly the spot he thinks it is.
He went on for a while like this.
Labels: 3-bet, deep stacks, NLHE, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, tournament, WCOOP
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WCOOP Event 12 $320 Mixed Hold 'Em 6-Max
I am just not very good at FLHE. The generic advice I've gotten about this game is to make tons of thin value bets and calls, which I try to do, but I think I'm choosing bad spots. My opponents yesterday did not even seem particularly good, but they were owning me left and right. A few examples:
I raise AK on the button, BB calls. Flop 776 with two hearts, I bet, he check-raises, I call. Turn 9 he bets I call. River 2 he bets I think his range is busted heart draw or trips+ so I call and he takes me on a tour of Valuetown with his 55.
Another one, guy raises UTG, I 3-bet JJ, and he calls. Flop 664, he checks, I bet, he calls. Turn blank, he checks, I bet, he raises, I call. River blank, he checks, I bet, he raises, I puke and call, he shows me 65o. Pretty questionable UTG raise even in 6max, but I must admit that he owned me pretty hard with the double check-raise. It's humiliating to get served like this by fish.
I wasn't catching much in the NLHE portion, certainly not enough to compensate for my fishiness in FLHE, so I was out pretty quickly. I did like the structure of this event. Instead of alternating between games at the level change, as happens in most mixed game tournaments, they alternated every fifteen minutes. Since there were half hour levels, that meant playing both game at every level instead of going back and forth between them. It was a good idea, though it probably wouldn't work as well in tournaments with shorter blind levels.
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I raise AK on the button, BB calls. Flop 776 with two hearts, I bet, he check-raises, I call. Turn 9 he bets I call. River 2 he bets I think his range is busted heart draw or trips+ so I call and he takes me on a tour of Valuetown with his 55.
Another one, guy raises UTG, I 3-bet JJ, and he calls. Flop 664, he checks, I bet, he calls. Turn blank, he checks, I bet, he raises, I call. River blank, he checks, I bet, he raises, I puke and call, he shows me 65o. Pretty questionable UTG raise even in 6max, but I must admit that he owned me pretty hard with the double check-raise. It's humiliating to get served like this by fish.
I wasn't catching much in the NLHE portion, certainly not enough to compensate for my fishiness in FLHE, so I was out pretty quickly. I did like the structure of this event. Instead of alternating between games at the level change, as happens in most mixed game tournaments, they alternated every fifteen minutes. Since there were half hour levels, that meant playing both game at every level instead of going back and forth between them. It was a good idea, though it probably wouldn't work as well in tournaments with shorter blind levels.
Labels: 3-bet, 6-max, FLHE, NLHE, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, river check-raise, short-handed, WCOOP
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
WCOOP Event 11: $320 PLO8
PLO8 is one of my favorite poker games, and it's also one of the toughest to find played for meaningful stakes, so I was pretty stoked for this event. I did in fact have a good time, even though it ended in disappointment. Early on I was pretty tight passive, limping into pots when I got involved at all. PLO8 is a tough game to play out of position, so i didn't want to bloat pots, and I also felt people were going to make their biggest mistakes post-flop. I chipped up a bit like this, then went up and down for a while in the second and third hours.
One key hand gave me some chips to work with:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t75/t150
8 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t5250
UTG+1: t3825
MP1: t8670
MP2: t14616
CO: t2525
Button: t9246
SB: t4035
Hero: t4745
Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is BB with :2c :9c :kh :ah
UTG raises to t450, 2 folds, MP2 calls t450 (pot was t675), 3 folds, Hero calls t300 (pot was t1125).
Flop: :5h :5d :4h (t1425, 3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets t1100, MP2 calls t1100 (pot was t2525), Hero raises all-in t4295, 2 folds.
Uncalled bets: t3195 returned to Hero.
Results:
Final pot: t4725
I was pretty sure UTG had AA, because that's about all most people will raise UTG. I didn't know if he would fold to a shove or not, but it didn't really matter. As long as he didn't have AA2x, I would be in OK shape. Scooping with no showdown was pretty sweet.
About four and a half hours into the tournament, I'd gone card dead and blinds were getting big. I picked up Aces in a great spot, but it didn't end well:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t250/t500
9 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t8137
UTG+1: t14289
MP1: t8950
MP2: t11764
MP3: t22400
Hero: t9381
Button: t12625
SB: t8978
BB: t9928
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is CO with :6s :jh :ah :as
2 folds, MP1 raises to t1750, MP2 calls t1750 (pot was t2500), MP3 folds, Hero raises to t7750, 4 folds, MP2 raises all-in t11764, Hero calls all-in t1631.
Uncalled bets: t2383 returned to MP2.
Flop: :4c :kc :2c (t-4381, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t21262)
Turn: :9h (t-4381, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t21262)
River: :2d (t-4381, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t21262)
Results:
Final pot: t-4381
The guy who called me with Ax 8h 5h 2x and rivered the scoop was none other than WSOP champion Joe Hachem! I was thinking it was kind of a questionable call, but when I ran his equity against any Aces, which is probably what my range is, he's only a 60/40 dog. Even if you give me one low card, it only improves to 63/37. In related news, Pro Poker Tools is an amazing free resource that enables you to run simulations like this.
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One key hand gave me some chips to work with:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t75/t150
8 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t5250
UTG+1: t3825
MP1: t8670
MP2: t14616
CO: t2525
Button: t9246
SB: t4035
Hero: t4745
Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is BB with :2c :9c :kh :ah
UTG raises to t450, 2 folds, MP2 calls t450 (pot was t675), 3 folds, Hero calls t300 (pot was t1125).
Flop: :5h :5d :4h (t1425, 3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets t1100, MP2 calls t1100 (pot was t2525), Hero raises all-in t4295, 2 folds.
Uncalled bets: t3195 returned to Hero.
Results:
Final pot: t4725
I was pretty sure UTG had AA, because that's about all most people will raise UTG. I didn't know if he would fold to a shove or not, but it didn't really matter. As long as he didn't have AA2x, I would be in OK shape. Scooping with no showdown was pretty sweet.
About four and a half hours into the tournament, I'd gone card dead and blinds were getting big. I picked up Aces in a great spot, but it didn't end well:
Poker Stars
Pot Limit Omaha Tournament
Blinds: t250/t500
9 players
Converter
Stack sizes:
UTG: t8137
UTG+1: t14289
MP1: t8950
MP2: t11764
MP3: t22400
Hero: t9381
Button: t12625
SB: t8978
BB: t9928
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is CO with :6s :jh :ah :as
2 folds, MP1 raises to t1750, MP2 calls t1750 (pot was t2500), MP3 folds, Hero raises to t7750, 4 folds, MP2 raises all-in t11764, Hero calls all-in t1631.
Uncalled bets: t2383 returned to MP2.
Flop: :4c :kc :2c (t-4381, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t21262)
Turn: :9h (t-4381, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t21262)
River: :2d (t-4381, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t21262)
Results:
Final pot: t-4381
The guy who called me with Ax 8h 5h 2x and rivered the scoop was none other than WSOP champion Joe Hachem! I was thinking it was kind of a questionable call, but when I ran his equity against any Aces, which is probably what my range is, he's only a 60/40 dog. Even if you give me one low card, it only improves to 63/37. In related news, Pro Poker Tools is an amazing free resource that enables you to run simulations like this.
Labels: Joe Hachem, PLO8, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, session review, tournament, WCOOP
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Tuesday, September 9, 2008
WCOOP Event 10: $215 Razz
I encountered a few straight-up terrible opponents who were doing stuff like limp-calling with a T in the door, but honestly there was less of this than I expected. At least at my table, most people were playing reasonably well. I didn't make any spectacular bluffs or call downs or anything, so while I could post a few hands, I doubt anyone wants to see my call a raise, brick fourth and fifth, and fold to a bet, or bet bet bet with a 6-5 and lose to a rivered 6-4. It's freaking Razz, just take my word for it- some annoying stuff happened, then I lost.
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Labels: poker, Poker Stars, Razz, session review, tournament, WCOOP
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WCOOP Event 9: $215 NLHE 4-Max
This was an interesting tournament format, with only four players per table. My starting table actually had only three, and the other two were of course terrible. I doubled up fairly early on when a guy called my raise with 73s, flopped trip 7's, then shoved the river after I turned a boat with 99 and made two big bets. Of course a bit of a cooler for him but he made two terrible decisions as well.
So I was actually playing heads up for a bit against this giant calling station. It took some adaptation, since Stars didn't made the SB the Button as is customary for a HU match. Against this particular opponent, I found it best to call most raises when I was in the BB/BTN, raise most of his limps, and limp most of my range from the SB.
As usual, I didn't adapt as well as I should have to playing with really loose opponents. I'm accustomed to playing a very aggressive short-handed game, as that's the winning strategy in mid- and high-stakes cash games. But it doesn't work as well against tournament monkeys, and I was back down to my starting chips after a few failed double barrels. For a while I kept my head above water short stacking, shoving when appropriate, etc.
This brings up one point I want to address. When blinds were 100/200, I was in the BB with about 2500. There were no antes. The SB, who was a decent player I've seen around Stars tournaments for several years, open raised to 800 with QJo and called my shove. This may seem minor, but there's just no reason to raise to 800 here. I do sometimes vary my pre-flop raise sizes, but this is an awful spot for it. When we are this shallow, you are only revealing information about your hand. My opponent is telling me that he has a hand he's willing to take all in but that isn't so strong that he wants me to shove. He raises to 800 to tell me that he's committed to the pot. Well, if you're going to do that, just shove yourself. Or limp-jam, or raise a smaller amount where you can fold to a shove, or do something that allows you to keep your range a little wider.
Believe it or not, this information helps me to make marginal decisions. I'm more likely to shove stuff like Kx, since I know my opponent doesn't have too strong a hand, and less likely to shove hands worse than QJ since I know I have no fold equity.
This isn't sour grapes- I shoved with A7 and doubled up. But it's a point I consider worth making.
I eventually limped 87s in the SB, flopped overs, a gutshot, and a flush draw, and lost to middle pair with a better flush draw. It was a shame, because the 4-max was a good format for the WCOOP and I felt that at my best I would have a pretty big edge.
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So I was actually playing heads up for a bit against this giant calling station. It took some adaptation, since Stars didn't made the SB the Button as is customary for a HU match. Against this particular opponent, I found it best to call most raises when I was in the BB/BTN, raise most of his limps, and limp most of my range from the SB.
As usual, I didn't adapt as well as I should have to playing with really loose opponents. I'm accustomed to playing a very aggressive short-handed game, as that's the winning strategy in mid- and high-stakes cash games. But it doesn't work as well against tournament monkeys, and I was back down to my starting chips after a few failed double barrels. For a while I kept my head above water short stacking, shoving when appropriate, etc.
This brings up one point I want to address. When blinds were 100/200, I was in the BB with about 2500. There were no antes. The SB, who was a decent player I've seen around Stars tournaments for several years, open raised to 800 with QJo and called my shove. This may seem minor, but there's just no reason to raise to 800 here. I do sometimes vary my pre-flop raise sizes, but this is an awful spot for it. When we are this shallow, you are only revealing information about your hand. My opponent is telling me that he has a hand he's willing to take all in but that isn't so strong that he wants me to shove. He raises to 800 to tell me that he's committed to the pot. Well, if you're going to do that, just shove yourself. Or limp-jam, or raise a smaller amount where you can fold to a shove, or do something that allows you to keep your range a little wider.
Believe it or not, this information helps me to make marginal decisions. I'm more likely to shove stuff like Kx, since I know my opponent doesn't have too strong a hand, and less likely to shove hands worse than QJ since I know I have no fold equity.
This isn't sour grapes- I shoved with A7 and doubled up. But it's a point I consider worth making.
I eventually limped 87s in the SB, flopped overs, a gutshot, and a flush draw, and lost to middle pair with a better flush draw. It was a shame, because the 4-max was a good format for the WCOOP and I felt that at my best I would have a pretty big edge.
Labels: NLHE, poker, Poker Stars, poker strategy, session review, short-handed, tournament, WCOOP
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Thursday, September 4, 2008
August
Didn't get many NLHE cash games in this month. The month started with FTOPS, so I was playing more tournaments than usual. It wasn't a good series for me, but I was doing alright on the side. Then I spent the second half of the month running a summer camp for the BDL (hence the slow pace of posting- that will pick up next week). When I was directing the League, so much of my job was like administration, management, politicking, advocacy, and I rarely spent time actually working with students. Generally, working with them was like the amphetamine that got me excited and kept me going through the more tedious work.I must admit, though, that spending five hours a day, five days a week in charge of a bunch of teenagers is more than a little exhausting. Even though we had a great group that was for the most part eager to learn about debate and easy to get along with, it was still a lot of work and pretty draining. I was in no mood to play poker at the end of a day, that's for sure.
Here's me taking notes on the board during a short debate two of our students had about the morality of eating meat.
Poker-wise, I ended the month almost exactly dead even after rakeback. I guess that's not too bad given that my several forays into 25-50 resulted in several bad beats to the tune of five figures. I did make more of an effort to learn PLO, watching the PLO Leakfinder series on Cardrunners and the PLO guest series that Tom Chambers did for Poker Savvy Plus. I put in several sessions at 2/4, and even though I was a net loser, I feel like I am getting much better at reading hands and board textures.
The World Championship of Online Poker starts today, but I probably won't begin playing in earnest until next week, so that's when you can expect to see more regular posts. Sorry for the extended silence.
Labels: bad beat, boston debate league, FTOPS, personal, PLO, poker, Poker Savvy, Poker Stars, tournament, urban debate league, WCOOP
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Saturday, June 21, 2008
WCOOP Schedule Nearly Finalized
BryanS, the awesome guy who represents Poker Stars on the 2+2 Forums, just posted a nearly final draft of the schedule for their annual World Championship of Online Poker. As usual, it looks like it's going to be a ground-breaking event for internet poker, featuring some huge buy-ins, some multi-day events, and some new tournament formats like NL 2-7 single draw that to my knowledge are not offered anywhere on the internet.I don't envision myself playing any of the 10K+ buyin events, as I'd need to get a backer and the fields will probably be pretty tough anyway. But I'm excited about pretty much everything else. I like that a lot of the lesser played games have small enough buy-ins that I can afford to take a chance on them and that that chance will be subsidized by players even worse than myself doing the same.
Hopefully my non-poker schedule for this year will work out so that I'm able to play most of the events. It's nice that, since this is the internet, one can play events that run simultaneously. This is a big complaint from some at the WSOP. Now I just need to build up a bankroll on Stars. Thankfully Poker Savvy pays me in Stars money...
Some notes...
1. The event types "Mixed Hold'em", "Variety", and "NL 2-7 Single Draw" are planned and in development. If for some unforseen reason the development is not able to be completed in time for the 2008 WCOOP, these events will be replaced by other games.
2. The event name "Variety" is perhaps a bit ambiguous. We plan to hold an event which is a combination of the following games: Triple Draw 2-7, all five segments of HORSE, NL Single Draw 2-7, PL Omaha, and NL Hold'em. After much deliberation without coming up with a satisfactory name for it, we're asking our players... what do YOU think we should call such a tournament?
3. We have two "Mixed Hold'em" events on the schedule, though we debated replacing one of them with a second Omaha Hi/Lo tournament. What do you think of this? In terms of what we'll actually spread, this is pretty much the last one up for debate... we want to know what you think! Please discuss.
4. Regarding tournament times: while we would love to come up with the one time on the schedule that is perfect for everyone all over the world, this is of course impossible... no such "one perfect time" exists. We have done our best to schedule the events to reach as many of our players as possible, including our European friends who will no doubt enjoy the 14:30 (19:30 UK, 20:30 CET) tournaments which now appear every day on the schedule. We do regret that some players may miss events they'd play if they could, due to off-PokerStars obligations (work, etc), but we feel that this is unavoidable and that the schedule is rich with many chances to play.
5. Regarding 2-day events: in the end the decision was made that it's best to begin the biggest events on the biggest day. Some players, particularly our European players, will likely have to plan to take Monday off of work if they play in one of the big 2-day NLHE events. It would hardly be fair to say that we're not catering to our European players, though, as a majority of the weekday events are at times which will require our North American players to shuffle their schedules to play at all.
Labels: poker, Poker Stars, tournament, WCOOP
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