Posts Tagged ‘6-max’

Massive Satellite Fail

3 spots pay

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 109 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (4 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG) (t8288)
Button (t219)
SB (t4401)
BB (t17092)

Hero’s M: 10.36

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8, 8
Hero calls t400, Button calls t169 (All-In), SB calls t200, BB bets t17042 (All-In), 2 folds

Flop: (t1569) Q, 10, K (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t1569) J (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t1569) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t1569

Results:
Button had 8, 10 (one pair, tens).
BB had A, A (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won t1569

Anything other than checking it down all the way here is just preposterously bad and demonstrates a really fundamental lack of understanding of satellite strategy. This was surprising because Villain is a Team PokerStars Online Pro who plays a ton of these things and had otherwise played quite well as we approached the bubble.

Inducing the Check-Raise Bluff

The problem: I’ve usually got the best hand, but I don’t think a bet is getting called by worse.

The solution: Bet small and call the check-raise.

The catch: They always have it. :-(

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) ($5810)
SB ($5107)
BB ($13717)
UTG ($10095)
MP ($5000)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, Q
UTG bets $150, 1 fold, Hero calls $150, 2 folds

Flop: ($375) 9, 8, Q (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($375) K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $123, UTG calls $123

River: ($621) 10 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $222, UTG raises to $1140, Hero calls $918

Total pot: $2901 | Rake: $2

Results:
Hero mucked K, Q (two pair, Kings and Queens).
UTG had J, Q (straight, King high).
Outcome: UTG won $2899

My Title is Up for Grabs

I won’t be a back-to-back champion in the $2000 2-day FTOPS. I actually had quite good luck with my table draws, recognizing no one at my starting table and only two players over the course of the three and a half hours I played: Eric Froehlich and Tmay. The two big pots I lost were with AA and KK:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 30/60 Blinds 7 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t1851)
BB (t2250)
UTG (t8364)
MP (t15220)
CO (t6557)
Hero (Button) (t5577)

Hero’s M: 42.25

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
UTG bets t150, 2 folds, Hero raises to t444, 2 folds, UTG raises to t1095, Hero calls t651

Flop: (t2322) 4, 9, 8 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t777, UTG calls t777

Turn: (t3876) K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: (t3876) A (2 players)
UTG bets t3876, Hero folds

Book Review: The Poker Blueprint by Tri Nguyen and Aaron Davis

My One Minute Recommendation- The Poker Blueprint gets an 8.5/10 for content but a 5/10 for presentation. It contains plenty of great material for players who need help beating smaller stakes online short-handed games, but I fear the often terse, jargon-laden explanations will be too confusing or overwhelming for many players who would otherwise benefit greatly from reading it.

Had Tri Nguyen and Aaron Davis published their e-book The Poker Blueprint several years ago, I would have recommended it in the strongest possible terms. It’s reminiscent of the Cardrunners videos of that era: an opportunity to peer into the mind of a great player but with no real effort at teaching rather than simply reciting information. The information is valuable, no doubt, but processing and making use of it will require a lot of work on the part of the reader. In this day and age, the same material is available in more user-friendly books and videos, so while the content of The Poker Blueprint is easily good enough to warrant the $47 price tag, I can’t offer a whole-hearted endorsement.

The only hand less likely than an Ace…

…is anything else. Lots of aggressive history, plus the BB is sitting out, which always makes things fun.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 162 Tournament, 400/800 Blinds 100 Ante (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t13288)
BB (t16067)
UTG (t47632)
MP (t62024)
CO (t38096)
Hero (Button) (t45630)

Hero’s M: 25.35

Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, 9
1 fold, MP bets t1850, 1 fold, Hero raises to t4444, 2 folds, MP calls t2594

Flop: (t10688) 4, A, 4 (2 players)
MP bets t5250, Hero calls t5250

Turn: (t21188) 9 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks

River: (t21188) 5 (2 players)
MP bets t14550, Hero folds

Total pot: t21188

Results:
MP didn’t show
Outcome: MP won t21188

Another Deep Bluff

This time I’m on the receiving end. Villain is ordinarily a pretty big nit, but he doesn’t like me much and seems to enjoy putting moves on me. I was calling any river, though obviously this one makes it a lot easier.

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

SB ($2559.15)
BB ($2539.50)
UTG ($3669.15)
Hero (MP) ($2545)
CO ($2069)
Button ($3038)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K, 10
1 fold, Hero bets $45, 1 fold, Button calls $45, 2 folds

Flop: ($117) 10, 3, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $88, Button raises to $225, Hero calls $137

Turn: ($567) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $450, Hero calls $450

River: ($1467) 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $2316 (All-In), Hero calls $1823 (All-In)

Total pot: $5113 | Rake: $3

87th

This year’s WSOP journey ended for me about an hour ago. Out of more than 7000 players, I finished 87th and won just shy of $80,000. There was nothing dramatic about it. I lost two very standard pre-flop hands to Eric Baldwin, once with A4s < KJs for a 700K pot and once with A8s < JTs for a 1.6M chip pot. Then I made a standard preflop shove with A7, got called by QQ, and lost.

There is always a modest amount of disappointment when it’s all over, but of course all in all I’m quite pleased with the result. I’m also very happy that for the first time ever I feel like I played through this whole tournament without making any big mistakes and with only a few small ones. That doesn’t mean that everything always went my way, but as they say you play the cards you’re dealt, and I believe that I would play most of them the same way if I had it to do all over again.

Squeeze Min-Check-Raising For Information

This is one of the most complex (some might say FPS-y) plays I’ve ever made. Just to give you the situation, the Button, with whom I’m 200 BB’s deep, is an extremely good player. In my opinion he’s one of the best regulars at 2000NL and 5000NL, and I have no idea why he’s playing 1000NL. The UTG player is not nearly so deep and also is a pretty big fish.

On this flop, I want to put money in the pot with UTG, but not with Button. I’m probably ahead of Button’s flop calling range, but he’s going to outplay me on the turn and river even with hands like 86 and 87 that I’m beating.

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