Sorry I’ve been slow to report on this, but sadly it’s because I didn’t have much to report. After a relatively uneventful Day 1, I busted on the last before the end of level 8 (with two still to go before finishing for the day).

I busted after 5-bet shoving KTs into what turned out to be AK. As you may know/guess, I’m not generally one to embrace pre-flop raising wars in a tournament. I’ve thought on it for a while, and I still feel OK about this spot despite the outcome, but I’m curious to hear what you think. Here’s the context:

Guy on my left is an aggressive Frenchman, roughly my age (late 20′s/early 30′s) who’s been playing well. In particular, he’s 3-bet quite a bit, both in and out of position, against late position raisers. I’d folded to him a few times, and the one time I did call, he checked and folded (he was SB to my BTN) on a dry flop. The fact that the chose not to bluff the flop there when he missed tells me that he expects me to have a tight calling range. He is table chipleader with 130K.

Guy two seats to my right is a young northern European who is new to the table. He seems confident and has been playing well in the short time he’s been with us. He has about 55K.  Read the complete post...

Edit: Villain 1 has me covered – think he had like 50K. Sorry I forgot to mention that important detail.

It’s Day 1 of the 5000 euro Main Event of EPT Berlin. Hero (me) has recently moved to a new table and been quiet in his first few orbits. Only hand I remember playing was opening to 525 in late position and folding when Villain 1 squoze to 1650. He went on to show KK after winning it pre and then to thank the dealer for giving him good cards (he had AA the hand before). Hero starts this hand with 36K.

Villain 1 is a balding middle-aged guy of indeterminate ethnicity and nationality. My best guess is French with some Arab ancestry, but I don’t have much confidence in that. He has a friendly face, not unlike Dopey from Snow White and Seven Dwarves, and so far has played tight and straight-forward. He’s also wearing a Guns and Roses tour t-shirt from 2011, which seems a little out of character for him.

Villain 2 is a late-twenties white guy who hasn’t said a word since I’ve been at the table but seems like he could be an American. Northern European would be my next guess. He handles himself confidently and, though he hasn’t shown down a hand yet, he’s been raising at the right times. He starts the hand with 13K.  Read the complete post...

One year ago today, the Department of Justice unsealed its indictments against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker. It’s been a tumultuous year for me, but not necessarily a bad one. As I predicted in an article entitled Gray Friday, “This catastrophe is forcing me to confront some big questions that I’ve been putting off for too long. I don’t expect it to be an easy or pleasant process, but I hope to be better for it in the long run.”

The title of this post is in German because that’s where I am right now. My girlfriend and I have just embarked on a three-month Europe trip. My inability to play online poker has become a convenient excuse to travel the world, spending several months first in Canada and now in Europe. As far as occupational hazards go, these aren’t so bad.

In a sequel to my Gray Friday article entitled Three Days in Madrid, I described meeting two new friends after a last-minute decision to play the Grand Final of the European Poker Tour. Appropriately, both Soeren and Nico are also coming to Berlin for the EPT, and I hope to see both of them today. Nico and I traveled to Cannes for the WSOP-Europe a few months ago, but this will be the first time I’ve seen Soeren since Madrid.  Read the complete post...

This week’s question is in response to the recent “What’s Your Play? Street-by-Street at the WSOP Main Event” feature. In the river results post, I compared calling with a low full house on the river versus shoving with it. Because it was the WSOP Main Event, I argued, “I’d want to be ahead something like 60% of the time before I shoved the last of my money in.”

Q: Is raising a non-shove amount worth considering? The ‘busting main event’ factor is probably fairly big here, I could see a few hands calling it off with a straight that might do a fold vs a jam.

A: Very good question. The literal answer to your question is yes, it’s absolutely worth considering. In fact, in the same post, I also said that, “You should consider all of your options at the poker table, even those that seem obviously wrong, because every once in a while the unconventional play is the best one.” So yes, given my point about playing extra cautiously with the rest of my stack, it certainly would have been worth considering a raise of less than all-in.  Read the complete post...

Finally took a break from gallivanting around Prague to try out the new Zoom poker. It’s a lot of fun, pretty much identical to Rush though if anything a touch slower, but still pretty great. Unfortunately I didn’t adapt well to the nittiness of a small-stakes full-ring game and lost a few stacks I shouldn’t have by trying to play it like it was mid-stakes short-handed. It’s a funny dynamic, actually, because you get a mix of really weak players, nitty small-stakes regulars, and good higher-stakes players “slumming it” for what is actually a decent hourly considering how many hands you can get in – I’m averaging about 350/table-hour at full-ring.

Here’s a fun hand I played against one of the better players:

PokerStars Zoom No-Limit Hold’em, $2.00 BB (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($246.88)
SB ($67.46)
BB ($584.54)
UTG ($263.43)
UTG+1 ($202)
MP1 ($158)
MP2 ($200)
MP3 ($316.44)
CO ($200)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9♠, K♣
6 folds, Hero bets $4, 1 fold, BB calls $2

Flop: ($9) J♦, A♠, Q♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5, BB calls $5

Turn: ($19) 7♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $12, BB raises to $36, Hero raises to $75, 1 fold

Total pot: $91 | Rake: $2.80  Read the complete post...

Easter is a beautiful time to be in Prague, except for the weather. On Easter Sunday, temperatures dipped below freezing, but the atmosphere was otherwise festive. In public squares around the city, vendors set up stalls for weeks-long Easter markets where they sell painted and carved eggs, hot wine, various meats on sticks, and delicious pastries called Trdelnik which are like hollow cylinders of baked dough dipped in sugar. You can also get them with nutella or other flavorings, but they’re quite good on their own!

Easter Sunday was our first full day in Prague. We began at one of the smaller squares, which was to host live music and booths for visitors to dye eggs and braid their own Easter whips (more on that tradition in a bit). As we approached the square, we could hear the music from two blocks away. As we drew nearer, however, we found the scene disappointingly empty. A few older people sat listening to the music. You could count the people in the booths on one hand, and all were working very earnestly working on their whips and other handicrafts.  Read the complete post...

…because I am lost! Actually I’m just trying to find a restaurant near the Frankfurt train station. We found it, but it was closed, so we ate cold sandwiches sitting on the floor of the train station. Yummy!

Thanks to all the commenters, and especially to those of you who contributed to all three parts of this special multi-street “What’s Your Play?” With regard to the river action, WPS22 encapsulates the situation well:

I think he could easily be value betting a weaker hand than yours, but what weaker hands is he value betting that he will also call a shove with? Maybe a flush. It’s highly unlikely he has a straight and almost impossible he has trips. Anything less will never get a call.

The odd thing about this hand is that its really hard to put him on something that beats you. Its hard not to raise if you think you can’t be beat, but I think the situation when you shove is that you are beat or he folds the vast majority of the time. If you shove you are basically hoping he has exacly an A high flush.

I guess you also have to consider the value of your last 30bbs. The times when you shove and he beats you and takes your last 30 are technically worse than the times when you shove and he calls and you win an extra 30. I understand you said you have him covered but it sounded like you were both within a few bbs.  Read the complete post...