Posts Tagged ‘FTOPS’

I was telling my girlfriend about the latest online poker gossip/scandal involving an alleged chatlog in which Thorladen and Imperium discuss multi-accounting with the help of services like GoToMyPC that allow you to access other computers remotely from a different computer anywhere in the world. The basic idea, and something that has surely happened dozens of times whether these two actually did it or not, is for a very good tournament player to stake several decent but less-good tournament players in super-profitable online events like the WCOOP or the FTOPS. Should one of the horses start to get deep in the tournament, the better player can take over for the decisions that will have the biggest impact on the team’s EV.

“They’re like poker fluffers,” she quipped without missing a beat. “They get it started, and then the pro comes in to finish it off. You’d have to be a pretty big tool to agree to something like that, not just ethically but like… as a matter of personal respect.”  Read the complete post...

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...

I had a solid Sunday today, no wins but made two deep runs. I took 2nd out of nearly 1000 runners in the Stars $150 6-max. The competition was surprisingly tough for a $150 tournament: I recognized three good players at my starting table, and the last few tables were downright tough. The competition was if anything over-aggressive, but there are worse mistakes to make. Speaking of over-aggressive:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 162 Tournament, 1500/3000 Blinds 375 Ante (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t64393)
UTG (t286807)
MP (t283047)
CO (t165436)
Button (t59865)
SB (t164471)

Hero’s M: 9.54

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8, 9
1 fold, MP bets t6600, CO calls t6600, 2 folds, Hero calls t3600

Flop: (t23550) 7, 5, 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP bets t10990, CO calls t10990, Hero raises to t57418 (All-In), MP raises to t276072 (All-In), CO calls t147471 (All-In)  Read the complete post...

This was the second rush tournament I’ve played, and while I miss having reads and establishing dynamics at the table, I will say that rush otherwise allows for great tournament structures. You get in a ton of hands at each blind level and the tournament still goes by pretty quickly. Especially for non-NLHE games, where reads aren’t worth nearly as much to me, I think I’m a big fan. Anyhow, here are a few random hands:

Slowplay Costs Me the Pot

It’s really rare that slowplaying is correct in PLO8, and despite the results of this hand, I’m pretty happy with my decision. On the flop, it’s just really hard for him to have anything at all and so easy for me to have trips. When I’m ahead, I’m usually way ahead, sweating two or in this case just one out. Turn is great for me since it means there will be no low; I probably would have bet a rag. I don’t think I can expect too many calls if I bet the river, and most of the hands will value bet if I check anyway, so I’d rather try to induce. Or, in this case, save myself some money.  Read the complete post...

The first in a series of four videos reviewing my play at the final table of the FTOPS $2K event that I won has just been posted on Poker Savvy Plus. The video contains a lot of insight into managing final table dynamics. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that I spend some time as a short stack, some time as a medium stack, and some time as a dominatingly large stack. The series explores my thoughts on how best to handle each of these situations at a final table.

If you aren’t yet a member, now’s a great time to sign up for a 7-day free trial!

Please be sure to let me know what you think of the videos.

Over two weeks ago, I won the FTOPS Tournament of Champions, the prize for which was a seat in the WSOP Main Event. I never received the money or any further information, so eventually I wrote them to ask about it. It sounds like the only incentive they are offering me to play is three nights’ hotel accommodations and dinner with an unspecified several of their red pros. My understanding was that the FTP incentives package also included a seat in the 2011 WSOP for any of their people who cash this year and also $10M if you win the whole thing.  Read the complete post...

Last night, as I was sleep-deprived and caffeine-jittery and getting deep in the $300 SCOOP 4-Max, I was also on the phone with Mike Johnson and Adam Schwartz, hosts of the 2+2 Pokercast on which I am this week’s feature guest! You can search for it on iTunes or listen here to hear me talk strategy, offer some life advice to all those young poker pros out there, and even play a hand with the nuts live on the air! I haven’t actually listened to the episode yet myself, but apparently the guys also talk about the latest debacle at UB/AP.

Please let me know what you think!

Full Tilt Poker hosted a Tournament of Champions today for everyone who won an FTOPS event in any of the last four series. The only prize was a $10,000 WSOP seat (no details whatsoever on how/whether it can be cashed out) to the winner, and guess who that was?

To be fair, there were only 104 runners, and about 30 of them didn’t even show. Here are a few hands from the road to victory:

This is Why AQ is a Good Bluffcatcher

It’s got equity when he’s not bluffing. FWIW he’d been a total LAGtard up to this point.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP3) (t3122)
CO (t885)
Button (t880)
SB (t1552)
BB (t1070)
UTG (t2029)
UTG+1 (t840)
MP1 (t960)
MP2 (t1952)

Hero’s M: 26.02  Read the complete post...