Posts Tagged ‘float’

The second installment of my trip report from the main event of the 2010 World Series of Poker, covering Days 3 and 4, has just been published in the September issue of 2+2 Magazine. Here’s an excerpt:

I came into Day 4 with a monster stack relative to the field. I had over 500,000 chips, when the average was about 180,000, ranking me 27th among the more than 1,200 players who remained. Day 4 was a particularly good day for this, as it was also the day that would separate the players who would win nothing from those who would take home at least $19,000. With 747 players to be paid, no one wanted to be eliminated in 748th place (or 762nd, for that matter), which meant that most people were playing more conservatively than usual.  Read the complete post...

Last week’s double float cost me about half my chips on the first hand of the $700 NAPT-Los Angeles satellite and was not so popular with the commenters. Here’s a similar bluff somewhat deeper in the same tournament this week. Our Villain is a slightly better target: I couldn’t tell you much about his playstyle, but overall I believe he’s a better player than last week’s Villain. I described the previous opponent as a 3rd tier Pocket Fiver, and this guy would be closer to top tier, maybe tier 1.5

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 25 Ante (8 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t38150)
CO (t19145)
Button (t46070)
Hero (SB) (t15484)
BB (t40291)
UTG (t10654)
UTG+1 (t16138)
MP1 (t29062)

Hero’s M: 16.30

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t1250, 4 folds, Hero calls t1000, 1 fold  Read the complete post...

This first hand is an interesting juxtaposition to the failed bluff that I posted yesterday. On the one hand, this player was more of a known quantity than was yesterday’s Villain. On the other hand, my range is way wider in this situation, and I think calling with something like 99 is far more justifiable:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($400)

Hero (UTG+1) ($456)

MP1 ($1143.80)

MP2 ($650.90)

MP3 ($451.50)

CO ($58.30)

Button ($197.10)

SB ($446.20)

BB ($960.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A, K

1 fold, Hero bets $16, 5 folds, SB calls $14, 1 fold

Flop: ($36) Q, Q, 6 (2 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $30, SB calls $30

Turn: ($96) 3 (2 players)

SB checks, Hero bets $77, SB calls $77

River: ($250) 8 (2 players)  Read the complete post...

Well, I was right about everything except this player’s ability to read hands/make a remotely disciplined fold. Zeebo Theorem FTW:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (8 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t3000)
SB (t3000)
BB (t3000)
UTG (t3000)
UTG+1 (t3000)
Hero (MP1) (t3000)
MP2 (t3000)
CO (t3000)

Hero’s M: 100.00

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, A
2 folds, Hero bets t60, 3 folds, SB calls t50, BB calls t40

Flop: (t180) 2, 4, 4 (3 players)
SB bets t120, 1 fold, Hero calls t120

Turn: (t420) 3 (2 players)
SB bets t300, Hero calls t300

River: (t1020) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t1020, SB calls t1020

Total pot: t3060

Results:
SB had 8, 8 (full house, fours over eights).
Hero had K, A (three of a kind, fours).
Outcome: SB won t3060

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  Read the complete post...

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.  Read the complete post...

What a run. In the last two days I’ve 20x’ed my chips without ever seeing TT, QQ, KK, or AA. I did have AK quite a few times today, though, and I connected with a few flops when it counted.

I stole more than my share of pots for a few hands, then made a questionable 4-bet shove with AKo. UTG+1 had raised to 2500, and I called with AKo next to his act. Then Brian Jensen re-raised to 8500, the raiser folded, and I shoved like 55K. He snap-called with KK, and then though I turned a flush draw, I couldn’t get there on the river. I probably should have just 3-bet the original raiser, and that would have had the added advantage of being able to get away if Brian cold 4-bet. Anyway, that didn’t help.  Read the complete post...

It freaking sucks to river the second nuts and have to make a crying call with it. I’m pretty surprised the guy wasn’t more aggressive with it when I showed so much weakness on the turn, but I can’t see what else he plays like this on the river, let alone what worse hand would call a raise.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (3 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($1314)
BB ($1000)
Hero (Button) ($1473)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, 5
Hero bets $20, 1 fold, BB calls $10

Flop: ($45) J, 7, K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($45) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $15, BB calls $15

River: ($75) 8 (2 players)
BB bets $60, Hero calls $60

Total pot: $195 | Rake: $1

Results:
Hero had 6, 5 (straight, eight high).
BB had 10, 9 (straight, Jack high).
Outcome: BB won $194