If you can’t make the live stream, Gareth also reports that,

Unrelated to that I am going to appear on SkySports’ SkyPoker show in London on Thursday January 29th. If you’re in the UK you can watch it at Sky 861, but I think the link below will also show it. It’s a 5 hour show, I think from 1900 to 2400 UK Time. Hair, makeup, the whole thing.

http://www.skypoker.com/cms/poker_live_tv.shtm?dcmp=p_tv_865

Best Strategy

Nate and I talk strategy on just about every episode, but of course the show is at its very best strategy-wise when the game’s top players share their wisdom.

Ben Sulsky – It was a great privilege to talk about game theory (and philosophy) with a player who is blazing new frontiers in poker strategy.

Mike McDonald – Our conversation with Mike was great in a lot of ways, but among other things he was generous enough to share some deep thoughts on tournament strategy, including the underappreciated “hero check”.

Fascinating Stories

My favorite guests are not only great players (sometimes they aren’t players at all) but also fascinating people who open up about their struggles, their successes, and unique poker careers.

John the Lawyer – A long career in big live games, including a lot of private games, is bound to produce some great stories, and John tells them well. If you overlooked this episode because you didn’t recognize the name, go back and listen. There’s some solid strategy discussion in here as well.

Dara O’Kearney – Going pro later in life gave Dara a unique perspective on the poker world, and his Irish blood gives him the ability to share his thoughts with both humor and deep insight into many facets of the game, including staking.

Terrence Chan – Terrence not only shares stories from his poker and mixed martial arts careers but also gives some insight into the state of regulated online poker in Nevada. This interview is particularly interesting in light of what happened with Ultimate Poker just a few months later.

Ari Engel – Ari reveals that the life of the circuit grinder isn’t always a glamorous one. Even one of the most successful player on the WSOP circuit has to live a nitcast-approved lifestyle to keep his dream alive.

Alex Fitzgerald – Alex is brutally honest about the highs and lows of his career, including his struggle with drugs and his new life in Costa Rica.

Just Plain Fun

Nate and I rarely have as much fun as when we get to catch up with some of the great friends we’ve made through the podcast, and when we’re having the most fun, that’s usually when the show is the most fun to listen to.

Live From Las Vegas featuring Carlos Welch – One of the perks of our relationship with PokerNews was the opportunity to record together in person (a rare treat in itself) from the halls of the World Series of Poker. Carlos Welch joins us for this entertaining episode that includes a lot of strategy discussion from non-hold ’em games.

Episode 100 – This is one for the fans. In this double-length episode, two of our most popular guests, Carlos Welch and Gareth Chantler, turn the tables and interview Nate and me about our lives and poker careers.

Certainly an above average year in tournaments, with an FTOPS win, a WCOOP final table, a SCOOP final table bubble, and a top 100 finish in the WSOP Main Event. No room to complain about anything here. My true ROI is probably in the neighborhood of 100%, so I ran well above expectation. The high average buy-in and field size indicate that I focused my play on big buy-in events and special huge-field events like the WCOOP, FTOPS, and Sunday tournaments, which was the goal.

ROI: 395.8%

ITM: 17.5%

Average Buy-In: $546

Average Field Size: 2,204

Average Finish: 38.7%

Win Rate: .73 Buy-Ins/Hour

Biggest Win: $2000 FTOPS 2-Day NLHE

Cash Game Statistics

These numbers aren’t as bad as they look. Basically I got creamed in some high stakes heads up games, and those dragged down my overall win rates. Excluding heads up games, I’m up across the board, even in high-stakes games (2.5 BB/100 win rate). Basically I just need to either get better at heads up, stop playing it, or at least practice better game selection.

I’m also a little unhappy with the number of hands played. Because of my nomadic lifestyle, I was on my laptop for most of the year, with just one monitor. Thus I often played just 4 tables at once. It’s been nice getting back on two monitors, and I’m looking forward to getting a lot more hands in for 2011.

Hands Played: 254,356

Win Rates (in BB/100)

Overall: 1.65
6-Max: 2.11
Full Ring: 5.07
Heads Up: -7.7
Mid-Stakes: 3.01
High Stakes: -2.52

Best Game

10/20 Pot Limit Hold ‘Em. Played 3 hands and won $270, for a win rate of 450 BB/100.

If you want a serious answer, it’s $2/4 Rush NLHE Full Ring, where I played 75K hands with a 6.55 BB/100 win rate.

Worst Game

1/2 Rush NLHE 6-Max. Played one hand and lost $2, so -100 BB/100. Somewhat more devestating was my -31.44 BB/100 over 2700 hands of 25/50 Heads Up NLHE.

Biggest Pot Won, in BBs

434.19 BB’s

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($638.50)
Hero (MP) ($2983.35)
CO ($1403.05)
Button ($4023.40)
SB ($2525.35)
BB ($1822.90)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 10, 10
1 fold, Hero bets $24, 1 fold, Button raises to $72, SB raises to $192, 1 fold, Hero raises to $444, 1 fold, SB calls $252

Flop: ($966) 10, 2, 6 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($966) 5 (2 players)
SB bets $625, Hero calls $625

River: ($2216) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $1455.15 (All-In), Hero calls $1455.15

Total pot: $5126.30 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had A, A (one pair, Aces).
Hero had 10, 10 (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: Hero won $5130.50

Biggest Pot Won, $

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $80.00 BB (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($10690)
Hero (SB) ($14549)
BB ($25279)
UTG ($12963.50)
MP ($53395.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
UTG bets $240, 2 folds, Hero raises to $960, 1 fold, UTG raises to $2400, Hero raises to $14549 (All-In), UTG calls $10563.50 (All-In)

Flop: ($26007) K, 4, 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($26007) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($26007) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $26007 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, K (three of a kind, Kings).
UTG had A, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won $26004

Biggest Pot Lost, in BBs

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG ($566.40)
MP ($3683.60)
Button ($1845.30)
Hero (SB) ($2330.80)
BB ($2075.40)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K
2 folds, Button bets $18, Hero raises to $77, 1 fold, Button calls $59

Flop: ($160) A, K, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $122, Button calls $122

Turn: ($404) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $333, Button calls $333

River: ($1070) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $777, Button raises to $1312.10 (All-In), Hero calls $535.10

Total pot: $3694.20 | Rake: $2

Results:
Button had Q, J (royal flush).
Hero had A, K (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Outcome: Button won $3698.20

Biggest Pot Lost, in $

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($17121)
BB ($13686.50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 4
Hero bets $100, BB raises to $350, Hero raises to $950, BB calls $600

Flop: ($1900) A, 8, 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $999, BB raises to $3175, Hero raises to $5351, BB raises to $12736.50 (All-In), Hero calls $7385.50

Turn: ($27373) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($27373) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $27373 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had A, 4 (two pair, Aces and fours).
BB had 4, 4 (full house, fours over twos).
Outcome: BB won $27372.50

How did 2010 treat you?

10. Sharron Angle- Thanks for being so goddamn crazy that you couldn’t even get elected as a Republican in Nevada during the 2010 midterms. If anyone remotely competent had gotten your party’s nomination, poker players would be without our friend Harry Reid in the Senate.

9. The 2+2 Pokercast– Fantastic free entertainment! They have consistently great guests and keep me in the loop about both important developments in the poker world and the best photoshop threads in BBV4L. The Pokercast is a regular companion when I’m grinding the Sunday Majors.

8. Barney Frank- If we see fully legalized and regulated online poker in the US anytime soon, it will be because of Barney Frank. So here’s to you, you beautiful curmudgeonly bastard!

7. Rush Poker– I buy the hype; this is a major development that will change the face of online poker. It’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s bringing in new recreational players. Now let’s see some heads up Rush in 2011!

6. My $25,000 Suckout– It was the single biggest pot of my career, and I needed a miracle to win it.

5. Five of Clubs– A lot of cards would have done it, but this river won me a huge flip against David Baker on Day 6 of the WSOP and kept me alive for several hours’ worth of pay jumps. And I got some solid TV time out of it!

4. FTOPS Jersey- Obviously it took a lot of luck to win this, including QQ > AK on the final table bubble and AA > KK at the final table to win a huge pot from Bakes. People named David Baker did not have a good year vs. me.

3. Chris Moneymaker- For making it all happen in the first place. He was the right guy, with the right name, to win the WSOP at exactly the right time. Seven years later, we’re still profiting from the boom he jump-started.

2. 2+2 Forums– The content of the strategy forums has gone downhill in recent years, but even so they continue to serve an incredibly valuable role as a community forum where the industry is kept at least a little bit in check. Keeping sites, and players, honest is difficult work, and these forums are the single best tool that we as a community have to combat cheating.

1. You- I’m sure I would have given blogging long ago if weren’t for all of you frequent readers and commenters. Thanks for keeping it fun and interesting!

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds 3 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t6043)
UTG+1 (t6006)
MP1 (t6253)
MP2 (t5929)
MP3 (t5889)
CO (t5949)
Button (t5949)
SB (t6133)
Hero (BB) (t5849)

Hero’s M: 102.61

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5, 6
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t50, 6 folds, Hero calls t30

Flop: (t137) 2, 3, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets t80, Hero raises to t299, UTG+1 raises to t660, Hero raises to t1442, UTG+1 calls t782

Turn: (t3021) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets t1444, UTG+1 raises to t4511 (All-In), Hero calls t2910 (All-In)

River: (t11729) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t11729

Results:
Hero had 5, 6 (straight flush, six high).
UTG+1 had A, J (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won t11729

The next few hours were brutal, and I never got much about 13K. I was getting 3- and 4-bet mercilessly, but no action when I had hands. Then finally I got some action when I had QQ, and, well, you can guess how that ended.

It’s actually an interesting hand. Villain is 24/20 and an aggressive tournament regular who probably views me in much the same way. I’d open folded to him once from my SB, then there was this:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 80/160 Blinds 20 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t5553)
BB (t14497)
UTG (t8860)
UTG+1 (t14413)
MP1 (t3645)
MP2 (t31129)
MP3 (t2679)
CO (t5511)
Button (t15529)

Hero’s M: 13.22

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, Q
7 folds, Hero bets t480, BB calls t320

Flop: (t1140) 7, K, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets t777, BB calls t777

Turn: (t2694) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets t4276 (All-In), BB calls t4276

River: (t11246) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t11246

Results:
Hero had Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
BB had J, 9 (straight, Jack high).
Outcome: BB won t11246

Villain’s range for getting to the turn is clearly quite wide, and with the Qd in my hand, I think folding is out of the question. I could check to induce a bluff, but I think that enables him to check behind all the hands against which I have the biggest edge (76, A8, etc.). He’ll sometimes bet-fold, but when he bet-calls, I think I can expect to be behind. I chose instead to rep a big draw myself, giving him the opportunity to hero-call me with 6d7 or A8. Even after he drills the gutterball, I’ve still got 15-20% equity.

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

MP (t3970)
CO (t6725)
Button (t5075)
SB (t2240)
Hero (BB) (t6789)
UTG (t10726)

Hero’s M: 75.43

Preflop: Hero is BB with 2, 2
UTG bets t180, 4 folds, Hero calls t120

Flop: (t390) 7, 6, 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

Turn: (t390) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t246, UTG raises to t645, Hero calls t399

River: (t1680) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

Total pot: t1680

Results:
Hero had 2, 2 (two pair, sevens and twos).
UTG had Q, A (one pair, sevens).
Outcome: Hero won t1680

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

Hero (Button) (t9676)
SB (t1885)
BB (t5429)
UTG (t9245)
MP (t2815)
CO (t8180)

Hero’s M: 107.51

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, 9
UTG bets t150, 2 folds, Hero calls t150, 2 folds

Flop: (t390) 2, 10, 4 (2 players)
UTG bets t210, Hero raises to t526, UTG raises to t1035, Hero calls t509

Turn: (t2460) 9 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t999, 1 fold

Total pot: t2460

Results:
Hero didn’t show J, 9.
Outcome: Hero won t2460

Villain was tight and extremely aggressive when involved in a hand. Nevertheless, I don’t think there’s a single value hand he 3-bets on this flop. I was betting any turn and expecting him to fold, but I don’t think that’s a reason to check a 9, as I don’t feel I can call a bet on most any river.

“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.”

I agree, though I’m sure plenty of people care a lot more about getting backed for these tournaments by any means necessary, not to mention getting to take credit for the win on sites like Pocket 5’s, than they do about stuff like ethics and personal respect. Anyway, I think “Poker Fluffers” is a brilliant names for these clowns, and I encourage you all to do your part to make it stick!

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

Total pot: t3876

Results:
UTG didn’t show
Outcome: UTG won t3876

I flat the 4-bet because I think the hands that call a 5-bet shove are stacking off on most flops anyway, especially since an A isn’t too likely to flop nor is AK likely to be his hand given that I hold two A’s. This was not exactly the flop I was hoping for, though.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t8310)
BB (t7190)
UTG (t5301)
MP (t20101)
CO (t7202)
Hero (Button) (t5988)

Hero’s M: 28.51

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, K
2 folds, CO bets t250, Hero raises to t666, 2 folds, CO raises to t1555, Hero raises to t5978 (All-In), CO calls t4423

Flop: (t12166) 7, 3, 8 (2 players, 1 all-in

Turn: (t12166) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t12166) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t12166

Results:
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and threes).
CO had A, A (two pair, Aces and threes).
Outcome: CO won t12166

Not that I’m getting away from K’s 55 BB’s deep BTN vs CO, but TMay isn’t at the top of my list of guys whose 4-betting range I’m crushing. Oh well, guess he “pwned” me here.

Before you start feeling too sorry for me, I did have a bit of good luck too:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds 10 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t13616)
SB (t1691)
BB (t9993)
UTG (t19006)
MP (t6844)
Hero (CO) (t2942)

Hero’s M: 16.34

Preflop: Hero is CO with 10, K
2 folds, Hero bets t187, Button calls t187, 1 fold, BB calls t107

Flop: (t661) 8, Q, 4 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t444, Button calls t444, 1 fold

Turn: (t1549) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t1111, Button raises to t3440, Hero calls t1190 (All-In)

River: (t6151) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t6151

Results:
Button had J, 10 (straight, Queen high).
Hero had 10, K (straight, King high).
Outcome: Hero won t6151

I know it looks bad, but this guy was calling like 40% of hands pre-flop and 80% of flops, so even with a draw as weak as mine I think I like double-barreling. As you can say he did in fact call me pretty light but happened to get there. Not that that stopped him from berating me when I got there on the river.

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)

Turn: (t397890) J (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: (t397890) 2 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: t397890

Results:
Hero had 8, 9 (straight, nine high).
MP had 8, A (high card, Ace).
CO had 5, 5 (three of a kind, fives).
Outcome: Hero won t195804, CO won t202086

The guy who called with A8 wasn’t a bad player, either- and he snap called it. I’m surprised 55 didn’t raise the flop, but it certainly worked out well for me, since I don’t imagine I get MP’s stack if that happens. This was at the final two tables. I won a coin-flip or two and cold-decked a guy KK vs. AQ when we were down to 4. Oooh here’s a good one though that I played vs. the same guy:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 162 Tournament, 6000/12000 Blinds 1500 Ante (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t281553)
Hero (BB) (t355931)
UTG (t332138)
MP (t1275747)
Button (t586631)

Hero’s M: 13.96

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 4
2 folds, Button bets t24000, 1 fold, Hero calls t12000

Flop: (t61500) 2, A, Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t28799, Hero raises to t67890, Button calls t39091

Turn: (t197280) A (2 players)
Hero bets t77777, 1 fold

Total pot: t197280

Results:
Hero didn’t show 3, 4.
Outcome: Hero won t197280

The turn A is a great card to take him cheaply off of his floats. It greatly reduces the number of A’s in his range, and it makes sense that I could bet small with the hand I’m representing.

I ended up losing a big coin flip 99 < AKs, but not a lot I could do about that.

I also did pretty well in the $500 heads up FTOPS, finishing 9th out of 1024, nearly as well as I did last FTOPS, when I took 8th. I’m not thrilled with my bust-out hand:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t1940)
BB (t4060)

Hero’s M: 16.17

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, A
Hero bets t160, BB raises to t405, Hero raises to t1940 (All-In), BB calls t1535

Flop: (t3880) 3, 2, K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t3880) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t3880) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t3880

Results:
Hero had 10, A (one pair, Queens).
BB had J, J (two pair, Queens and Jacks).
Outcome: BB won t3880

Yeah, on the one hand, I’ve got 25 BB’s against a guy with a 20% 3-bet. On the other hand, I was just thinking to myself that he wouldn’t be 3-betting light with these stack sizes. Oh well, it can’t be that bad.

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.

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t4770)
SB (t1885)
BB (t6555)
UTG (t4768)
UTG+1 (t7881)
Hero (MP1) (t8855)
MP2 (t4532)
MP3 (t3394)
CO (t4299)

Hero’s M: 118.07

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 2, 4, 10, A
2 folds, Hero bets t150, MP2 calls t150, 5 folds

Flop: (t375) 2, 10, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t375, Hero calls t375

Turn: (t1125) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks

River: (t1125) A (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t400, Hero calls t400

Total pot: t1925

Results:
Hero had 2, 4, 10, A (full house, twos over Aces).
MP2 had J, A, A, K (full house, Aces over twos).
Outcome: MP2 won t1925

Something Else You Aren’t Supposed to Do in PLO8

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 150/300 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t4265)
SB (t8231)
BB (t13609)
UTG (t12249)
Hero (UTG+1) (t17046)
MP1 (t15543)
MP2 (t9133)
MP3 (t9700)
CO (t14096)

Hero’s M: 37.88

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with K, 3, A, 3
UTG calls t300, Hero calls t300, 2 folds, MP3 calls t300, 2 folds, SB calls t150, BB checks

Flop: (t1500) 4, 7, 5 (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks, MP3 checks

Turn: (t1500) 9 (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets t999, MP3 raises to t3900, 3 folds, Hero calls t2901

River: (t9300) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t5500 (All-In), Hero calls t5500

Total pot: t20300

Results:
Hero had K, 3, A, 3 (one pair, threes).
MP3 had K, A, 4, J (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won t10150, MP3 won t10150

It’s a cardinal rule of split pot games that you aren’t supposed to call down for half the pot, especially not with only the second nuts. I just don’t see the guy ever checking the nut low on the flop. The real danger here is that I get quartered if he has A3 and a high, but even that’s a kind of unlikely flop check, plus I hold two of the 3’s. He was pissed though.

Bluff Catching

Looking at this now, I probably ought to bet the turn. As played, though, I’m happy with the river check-call. It’s extremely rare that he has a high good enough to value bet in its own right, so I think the only way I get scooped is if he rivered like a low and a weak two-pair, and that seems pretty unlikely. I also don’t think he checks too many low draws on the turn that are good enough to value bet the river. Scooooooooooooop.

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 300/600 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t10042)
SB (t27450)
Hero (BB) (t39886)
UTG (t19199)
UTG+1 (t45543)
MP1 (t12244)
MP2 (t31370)
MP3 (t10781)
CO (t34163)

Hero’s M: 44.32

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, J, 10, J
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t1350, 6 folds, Hero calls t750

Flop: (t3000) 6, 9, Q (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks

Turn: (t3000) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks

River: (t3000) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets t2400, Hero calls t2400

Total pot: t7800

Results:
Hero had 9, J, 10, J (one pair, Jacks).
UTG+1 had 10, K, A, 4 (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero won t7800

I finished 32nd out of like 1100 runners. That took barely three hours to play out, despite the fact that there was plenty of play at every level. Rush PLO8 tournament = great success!

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.

I’m not sure if they just neglected to mention those or if I for some reason just don’t qualify for them, but it doesn’t really matter. The package with Poker Stars, from whom I’ve also won a seat, includes $1000 or 8 nights’ accommodations plus a PCA package worth about $16K to anyone who cashes. Their incentive for winning the whole thing is a lot smaller, but that’s obviously a remote consideration and offset by the opportunity to negotiate a lucrative arrangement with a variety of companies. So basically it seems like there’s no reason to go with FTP over Stars if you have the opportunity to do either, unless you realllllllly want to have dinner with Roy Winston and Eunjong Byun.

Here’s the full e-mail from FTP:
Congratulations on winning the FTOPS TOC, you have won a $10,000 prize
package to the 2010 Main Event. To redeem your prize package, please
select one of the following options:

a.) Approximately four (4) weeks prior to the start of the main event, we
will deposit the remaining $10,000 into your player account to be used for
your Main Event buy-in. Please note you are responsible for your own
tournament registration as well as getting to and from the event. Your
package will also include three (3) days accommodation at the Rio
All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. This period of accommodation
begins on or about your first day of play in the 2010 Main Event. Should
you still be involved in Main Event play following the initial
accommodation period, continued accommodation for your Main Event play
will be provided on an individual basis. If you choose to not accept
accommodation at the Rio All-Suite Hotel, you will NOT receive any cash
reimbursement. You are also invited to join several of our Red Pros in a
pre-tournament dinner. We will send you more information regarding the
dinner as we get closer to the main event.

As part of option (a), you will receive an assortment Full Tilt Poker
gear, the gear will be issued at the event. Remember that you must wear
this gear while playing in the Main Event and you cannot wear any
competitor’s logo.

b.) Do not play in the 2010 Main Event. If you choose not to play in the
Main Event, we will credit your Full Tilt Poker account in the amount of
10,000T$ to use at your discretion on our site.

Please reply to this e-mail as soon as possible with your selection, if
you are selecting option (a), please include your shirt size and your
preferred Main Event start date:

Day 1A
Day 1B
Day 1C
Day 1D

Your hotel accommodation will be reserved based on the preferred start
date you provide above.

We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!

Regards,
Full Tilt Poker

Please let me know what you think!

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

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Q, A
3 folds, MP2 bets t179, Hero calls t179, 4 folds

Flop: (t478) 3, K, 5 (2 players)
MP2 bets t199, Hero calls t199

Turn: (t876) 3 (2 players)
MP2 bets t375, Hero calls t375

River: (t1626) A (2 players)
MP2 bets t1199 (All-In), Hero calls t1199

Total pot: t4024

Results:
MP2 had J, K (two pair, Kings and threes).
Hero had Q, A (two pair, Aces and threes).
Outcome: Hero won t4024

Hero Call

Errr, shove.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 500/1000 Blinds 125 Ante (4 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t32791)
BB (t71029)
Hero (UTG) (t27666)
Button (t24514)

Hero’s M: 13.83

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 3, A
Hero bets t2222, 2 folds, BB calls t1222

Flop: (t5444) 2, 10, 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1999, BB raises to t4855, Hero calls t2856

Turn: (t15154) K (2 players)
BB bets t9555, Hero raises to t20464 (All-In), BB calls t10909

River: (t56082) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t56082

Results:
BB had J, Q (high card, King).
Hero had 3, A (one pair, threes).
Outcome: Hero won t56082

K, This One Was Kinda Lucky

My HU opponent was zhivago2, winner of the previous FTOPS main event and a guy I’d actually played a fair bit with in the 2-day event that I won. He came in with a 3:1 chiplead, but I won a few small pots and then equalized it with this one:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 1000/2000 Blinds 250 Ante (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t96443)
Hero (BB) (t59557)

Hero’s M: 17.02

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, J
SB bets t4000, Hero calls t2000

Flop: (t8500) 2, 6, J (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t3555, Hero calls t3555

Turn: (t15610) A (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t5555, Hero calls t5555

River: (t26720) J (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t11555, Hero raises to t46197 (All-In), SB calls t34642

Total pot: t119114

Results:
SB had Q, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
Hero had K, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won t119114

I took a few more small pots off with him, and eventually he realized he was getting killed postflop. He started just monkey-shoving for like 5-10x the size of the pot. He won our first all-in confrontation, but later I snapped him off with 55 and doubled through his K2. There was some more monkey-shoving, and I eventually picked up TT and caught him with 97o for 21BB’s.

I tried for a while but couldn’t find any information about whether I’m required to play the seat (don’t think Harrah’s will let them do that) or if I’d have to wear their gear or anything like that. The way they are structuring their incentives this year, I don’t really want to play for them. They are giving everyone who cashes wearing FTP gear a free seat in the 2011 main event, but that means that an FTP patch is going to be an invitation to get raped on the bubble.

But anyway, it’s official: I’m the champion!

This one’s a little embarrassing. I shoved turn here hoping to get him off a mid-pair, but here’s what happened instead:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 6000/12000 Blinds 1500 Ante (8 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (CO) (t497480)
Button (t227662)
SB (t634145)
BB (t816177)
UTG (t1063367)
UTG+1 (t302032)
MP1 (t1684089)
MP2 (t451048)

Hero’s M: 16.58

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, K
2 folds, MP1 bets t24000, MP2 calls t24000, Hero raises to t88888, 3 folds, MP1 calls t64888, MP2 calls t64888

Flop: (t296664) 10, 10, 2 (3 players)
MP1 bets t43210, 1 fold, Hero calls t43210

Turn: (t383084) 4 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets t363882 (All-In), MP1 calls t363882

River: (t1110848) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t1110848

Results:
MP1 had Q, A (one pair, tens).
Hero had A, K (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero won t1110848

Truthfully, AQ might actually be a better call than like 66 there, though I’m not sure he realizes that.

Cold-Decking Bakes

I know I look like a giant luckbox for this, and of course I am, but I can also point to two occasions where I lost huge pots on the final table bubble of big FTP tournaments with AA vs. KK.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 10000/20000 Blinds 2500 Ante (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG) (t1445058)
MP (t745644)
Button (t891965)
SB (t1483692)
BB (t1109641)

Hero’s M: 34.00

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A
Hero bets t48888, 2 folds, SB raises to t112450, BB calls t92450, Hero raises to t288888, SB raises to t1481192 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls t1153670 (All-In)

Flop: (t3010066) J, J, J (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t3010066) Q (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t3010066) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t3010066

Results:
SB had K, K (full house, Jacks over Kings).
Hero had A, A (full house, Jacks over Aces).
Outcome: Hero won t3010066

Pushing Psycho Around 3-Handed

The third player was clearly far weaker than Psycho and I, so Psycho had to avoid playing big pots with me for fear of busting in 3rd. He kept trying to play small pots with me, but I made very clear that he wasn’t getting anything from me cheaply. Here I don’t think he’s ever slowplaying the flop against me, in part because I hadn’t been folding flops and in part because he just can’t afford to take risks against me. So with a ton of outs and him probably not having anything too good, it’s an easy shove:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 14000/28000 Blinds 3500 Ante (3 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t3402015)
BB (t1313313)
Button (t960672)

Hero’s M: 64.80

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, Q
Button bets t56000, Hero calls t42000, 1 fold

Flop: (t150500) 10, A, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: (t150500) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets t77777, Button raises to t176543, Hero raises to t3342515 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t503586

Results:
Hero didn’t show K, Q.
Outcome: Hero won t503586

Bluffing Him Off a Chop

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 17000/34000 Blinds 4000 Ante (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t3942502)
BB (t1733498)

Hero’s M: 66.82

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5, 3
Hero bets t68000, BB calls t34000

Flop: (t144000) 10, 10, 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t66666, BB raises to t173000, Hero calls t106334

Turn: (t490000) 10 (2 players)
BB bets t90000, Hero calls t90000

River: (t670000) 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t555555, 1 fold

Total pot: t670000

Results:
Hero didn’t show 5, 3 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t670000

I guess he probably had the case 5 or 22-44? He’s never checking river if he beats the board, so betting is a freeroll.

The One That Won It

I’d actually been folding my bottom 10% of hands preflop only because I didn’t want him to realize that he should be raising more than the minimum. At this point he was so short that I figured I’d have no trouble showing down the best hand any time I made it, so I decided to call.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 20000/40000 Blinds 5000 Ante (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t5055614)
SB (t620386)

Hero’s M: 72.22

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, 3
SB bets t80000, Hero calls t40000

Flop: (t170000) 3, 3, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t55000, Hero calls t55000

Turn: (t280000) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

River: (t280000) J (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t480386 (All-In), Hero calls t480386

Total pot: t1240772

Results:
SB had J, A (two pair, Jacks and threes).
Hero had 9, 3 (three of a kind, threes).
Outcome: Hero won t1240772

His flop range is mostly bluffs, and he hadn’t been playing back at my check-raises (though he may have here out of frustration, and I did consider it). I decided to let him either make a hand or bluff later, though. I was planning to check-shove river, I dunno why he tried to overbet AJ. I don’t think I would have called with KJ.

For those who weren’t, here’s the quick version:

With 10 left I was in 8th, which was a tough spot because Bakes was swinging his big stack extremely well. I pretty much couldn’t move. Finally picked up AK and ended up getting all in against QQ, thank god it held.

Got into some confrontations early at the final table but mostly waited for shorties to bust.

Five-handed it was me, Bakes, Psychobenny, moi_rhums, and some random satellite qualifier. I ended up getting AA vs. Bakes’ KK for a massive pot that virtually busted him and gave me a commanding chiplead.

From there I took full advantage of having Psychobenny, the next biggest stack, on my right. I kept the pressure on him and ground him down while he was still hamstrung by the presence of the shortstacks. We got 3-handed with Psycho, me, and the satellite qualifier. I ended up doubling the satty guy twice, then he got TT all in against Psycho’s AK and held to make it HU.

I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. I came into HU with 2:1 lead on a player who was literally clueless about HU. I offered him a ridiculously one-sided chop and was relieved when he declined. Went on to own him HU.

Jersey isn’t available as an avatar yet, but I’ll post a screenshot when I get it. I’ll post some hands as well when I’m not so tired/distracted.

Thanks again to everyone, and good night!

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t55790)
UTG+1 (t36186)
MP1 (t27509)
MP2 (t15323)
MP3 (t15790)
CO (t26220)
Hero (Button) (t42976)
SB (t39918)
BB (t36136)

Hero’s M: 35.81

Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, 10
6 folds, Hero bets t1000, SB calls t750, BB calls t500

Flop: (t3450) 2, 7, 10 (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets t2222, 1 fold, BB calls t2222

Turn: (t7894) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t7894) 8 (2 players)
BB bets t2900, Hero raises to t12000, BB calls t9100

Total pot: t31894

Results:
Hero had 10, 10 (full house, tens over twos).
BB had 10, J (two pair, tens and twos).
Outcome: Hero won t31894

I think his range for calling the flop is pretty weak and usually drawing dead on the turn, so I choose not to bet. I think I just get too many folds from hands that will give me a bet (or in this case two) on the river, and there aren’t a lot of hands that are going to pay off two streets.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 400/800 Blinds 100 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t33108)
UTG+1 (t65275)
MP1 (t110744)
MP2 (t9555)
MP3 (t59062)
Hero (CO) (t57296)
Button (t53412)
SB (t118817)
BB (t41122)

Hero’s M: 27.28

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8, 6
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t1775, 2 folds, MP3 calls t1775, Hero calls t1775, 3 folds

Flop: (t7425) 9, 7, 4 (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, MP3 checks, Hero bets t2421, UTG+1 raises to t7800, 1 fold, Hero calls t5379

Turn: (t23025) 3 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets t12600, Hero raises to t47621 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t48225

Results:
Hero didn’t show 8, 6.
Outcome: Hero won t48225

I don’t know if he ever folds anything he’s betting for value on the turn, but I have a ton of equity even against the nuts, and I think he’s often “bluffing” with the best hand- like AJ or something. I wasn’t shoving any turn, but I was shoving clubs. I probably flat call if I turn a straight.

We start play tomorrow at 2. Ugh.

FTOPS Event #25 (2-Day) (147664209)

Your Full Tilt Poker account has been credited with a bounty prize of $200.00.

In addition to your bounty prize money, you’ve also earned a T-shirt to commemorate your accomplishment. You’ll receive a second email that will allow you to claim this shirt and confirm your shipping details.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 140/280 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t4681)
MP3 (t8817)
CO (t9984)
Button (t33954)
SB (t18715)
BB (t24529)
Hero (UTG) (t9837)
UTG+1 (t9835)
MP1 (t14031)

Hero’s M: 15.25

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q, A
Hero bets t777, UTG+1 calls t777, 2 folds, MP3 calls t777, CO calls t777, 2 folds, BB calls t497

Flop: (t4250) Q, 8, 6 (5 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, UTG+1 bets t1770, 2 folds, BB calls t1770, Hero raises to t9035 (All-In), UTG+1 calls t7263 (All-In), 1 fold

Turn: (t24086) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t24086) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t24086

Results:
Hero had Q, A (two pair, Queens and fives).
UTG+1 had 8, A (two pair, eights and fives).
Outcome: Hero won t24086

I’m not a big fan of his pre-flop call, but he was playing this whole tournament pretty crazily. Not surprisingly, it didn’t seem to be too important to him, at least not at this nascent stage.

I’m currently sitting 57/261 with about an hour and a half left in the day.

It went down basically the way I expected it to: got some fish to clown off their stacks to me early, then had to play poker with decent players. Two of my tables had at least one high-stakes cash player on my left who is definitively better than I am, which sucks especially in a 6-max format.

This one is vs. Shannon Shorr, it actually got me to post a hand on 2+2 for the first time on months:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 170/340 Blinds 25 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP (t16747)

CO (t21129)

Button (t11791)

Hero (SB) (t28986)

BB (t20843)

UTG (t6894)

Hero’s M: 43.92

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, 10

1 fold, MP bets t810, 2 folds, Hero calls t640, 1 fold

Flop: (t2110) 9, 5, 4 (2 players)

Hero checks, MP checks

Turn: (t2110) 2 (2 players)

Hero bets t1356, MP calls t1356

River: (t4822) 6 (2 players)

Hero bets t3333, MP raises to t14556 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: t11488

Results:

MP didn’t show

Outcome: MP won t11488

This is the hand where I busted, Villain was one of those cash game players I was whining about. I don’t really mind how it went down, I’d been crazy active, and AQ is one of the best hands to shove over a flop raise:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 300/600 Blinds 75 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t39703)
SB (t20693)
BB (t63171)
UTG (t57790)
MP (t36017)
Hero (CO) (t22250)

Hero’s M: 16.48

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, Q
2 folds, Hero bets t1333, Button calls t1333, 2 folds

Flop: (t4016) 3, 6, 3 (2 players)

Hero bets t2222, Button raises to t5760, Hero raises to t20842 (All-In), Button calls t15082

Turn: (t45700) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t45700) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t45700

Results:

Button had 9, 9 (two pair, nines and threes).

Hero had A, Q (one pair, threes).

Outcome: Button won t45700

The guy who shoves had been pretty shove-happy in general. I think he’d even open shoved like 30-some BB’s once. I recognized his name, so I don’t think he was a maniac, just a tourney donk who understood unexploitable shoving and was more comfortable playing that way.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t3372)
Hero (SB) (t4393)
BB (t13870)
UTG (t10287)
MP (t11968)
CO (t11704)

Hero’s M: 14.64

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, Q
2 folds, CO calls t200, Button bets t3372 (All-In), Hero raises to t4393 (All-In), 1 fold, CO calls t4193

Flop: (t12358) 5, Q, A (3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t12358) 2 (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t12358) 8 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t12358

Results:
Button had 2, 2 (three of a kind, twos).
Hero had K, Q (one pair, Queens).
CO had A, J (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Button won t10316, CO won t2042

This isn’t a bad outcome for me, as I have 33.2% equity in a 3-way pot. I imagine there are some worse Kings and probably suited connectors at least in the shover’s range, and quite possibly it’s wider than that. Since the limper was apparently trapping here, he probably has stronger stuff in his range too, though he’s also going to be folding a lot. I’m a little surprised he called with AJ, though I don’t actually think it’s a bad call given the situation.

I’m still not sure about this fold. He certainly ought to have more than AA to do this, but you never know with these clowns. Then again if he does have AA2 (or any A2, really), I’m smoked.

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t5000)
Hero (CO) (t4940)
Button (t4955)
SB (t4970)
BB (t4940)
UTG (t6260)
UTG+1 (t5000)
MP1 (t5000)
MP2 (t3935)

Hero’s M: 109.78

Preflop: Hero is CO with 5, 4, A, 3
2 folds, MP1 calls t30, 2 folds, Hero bets t135, Button raises to t480, 3 folds, Hero calls t345

Flop: (t1035) 3, 7, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t750, Hero folds

Total pot: t1035

Results:
Button didn’t show
Outcome: Button won t1035

Here’s the one that cost me most of my chips. When I saw the flop, I had every intention of folding, but once everyone in between folded, I decided to go with it.

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 20/40 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t5113)
Hero (MP3) (t4350)
CO (t5250)
Button (t5045)
SB (t3476)
BB (t7096)
UTG (t6703)
UTG+1 (t4833)
MP1 (t3134)

Hero’s M: 72.50

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 8, 7, A, 5
UTG calls t40, 1 fold, MP1 calls t40, 1 fold, Hero calls t40, CO calls t40, 1 fold, SB bets t280, BB calls t240, UTG calls t240, MP1 calls t240, Hero calls t240, 1 fold

Flop: (t1440) 4, A, 7 (5 players)
SB bets t1440, 3 folds, Hero raises to t4070 (All-In), SB calls t1756 (All-In)

Turn: (t7832) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t7832) Q (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t7832

Results:
SB had 5, 2, K, 9 (straight, five high).
Hero had 8, 7, A, 5 (two pair, Aces and sevens).
Outcome: SB won t7832

h

Round 1- Guy was awful, I don’t remember much beyond that. He started making some massive pre-flop shoves, probably because he knew he was getting outplayed, so I had to gamble with him a bit. I actually got it in bad pre-flop to a cooler but sucked out to stay alive, and I finished him off eventually.

Round 2– Pretty similar to the first, if I recall correctly.

Round 3– I drew Yuvee04, winner of an unprecedented 4 FTOPS tournaments. Apparently he’s mostly a high-limit Stud/Razz/HORSE player, though I think he won PLO and NLHE tournaments as well. He was probably my toughest opponent and had a quite unique style that was clearly influenced by playing in fixed limit games. He was a little on the passive side but made good reads and did some weird stuff like min-raising turns and rivers. Here’s a good example of him snapping me off with K-high:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t3300)
BB (t2700)

Hero’s M: 73.33

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q, 4
Hero bets t60, BB calls t30

Flop: (t120) 7, 7, 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t77, BB calls t77

Turn: (t274) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t274) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t166, BB calls t166

Total pot: t606

Results:
Hero had Q, 4 (one pair, sevens).
BB had 6, K (one pair, sevens).
Outcome: BB won t606

This was the only match where I felt outmatched. Don’t get me wrong, I put up a good fight, but I did feel he was a little better than I was. If he had as much heads up NLHE experience as I do, I’m sure he would have mopped the floor with me. I sucked out on him, he sucked out on me, etc., we were the last match of this round to finish, but eventually I won a coin flip to bust him.

Round 4- This was another tough one. My opponent was m_reed, a very solid TAG who I’ve played with a fair bit at MSNL and who now makes videos for CardRunners. We were very evenly matched, and once again I was the last one to finish. I was fortunate to get momentum early in the match and just sort of lean on that.

Round 5- Some crazy fish. He was stupidly aggressive, bluffing a lot but sometimes in bad spots and also overplaying hands. That can be a surprisingly difficult style to play against without cards, and he semi-coolered me every time I got a good lead on him, but eventually I busted him.

Round 6- Villain was Keith “da murdera” Ferrerra, which didn’t mean a lot to me until I googled his name. Apparently he’s a pretty well known tournament player and won the Wynn Classic. I read an interview with him where he sounded pretty smart and correctly explained a polarized range, but he didn’t turn out to play as well as I was expecting. He 3-bet like 1/3 of his hands, but I just started calling and owning him post-flop. I won a big pot off of him in a pretty funny way:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t4076)
BB (t1924)

Hero’s M: 67.93

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 4
Hero bets t80, BB calls t40

Flop: (t160) 9, 2, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t88, BB raises to t240, Hero calls t152

Turn: (t640) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t222, BB raises to t600, Hero calls t378

River: (t1840) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: t1840

Results:
Hero had 9, 4 (two pair, nines and twos).
BB had Q, 5 (one pair, twos).
Outcome: Hero won t1840

Round 7- Of the 16 left, I only recognized like two names: Shannon Shorr, and this guy jigga man who I’ve played a lot with at 3/6 and 5/10 NLHE. I would have much preferred to draw one of the other 13, but I got jigga. We actually played a little heads up cash once, he challenged me but quickly quit. Nevertheless, he was a tough opponent. I’m not happy with the hand I busted on:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t2520)
BB (t3480)

Hero’s M: 42.00

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, 2
Hero bets t80, BB calls t40

Flop: (t160) 2, K, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t77, BB raises to t220, Hero calls t143

Turn: (t600) 10 (2 players)
BB bets t480, Hero calls t480

River: (t1560) A (2 players)
BB bets t2120, Hero calls t1740 (All-In)

Total pot: t5040

Results:
Hero had K, 2 (two pair, Kings and twos).
BB had Q, J (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won t5040

I think I ought to shove the turn. There are a few worse hands that can call, and even though air is a lot of his range, I don’t think he’s bluffing the river. My hand just looks very strong when I call turn. The river is very much a crying call, which is why I ought to just stick it in on the turn. I convinced myself this might look like a good card to bluff and maybe he can even value bet bare Aces, but pretty much I let him freeroll me and he got there.

And I just busted the Stars $500 in like 24th, dude in the CO made a questionable but I guess OK call with A9o when I shoved A8o from my BTN. Now I’m tired and pissed at poker tournaments and probably won’t play the PLO8 tomorrow, which is a shame cuz I was looking forward to it. I am playing the 1K tomorrow night though.

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

MP3 (t7733)
CO (t8986)
Button (t7340)
SB (t7032)
Hero (BB) (t8773)
UTG (t4813)
UTG+1 (t14044)
MP1 (t1738)
MP2 (t16268)

Hero’s M: 73.11

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, 5
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t280, 3 folds, CO calls t280, 2 folds, Hero calls t200

Flop: (t880) 4, 7, 6 (3 players)
Hero bets t333, 1 fold, CO calls t333

Turn: (t1546) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t1180, Hero calls t1180

River: (t3906) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t3470, Hero calls t3470

Total pot: t10846

Results:
Hero had 6, 5 (two pair, sevens and sixes).
CO had Q, Q (full house, Queens over sevens).
Outcome: CO won t10846

Villain’s value range is pretty thin, and most of it I’d expect to raise the flop. Then again, you just don’t see randoms bluffing off half their stacks all that often, and sure enough he had one of the few value hands that makes sense given his line. He had a really aggression factor (over a small sample), but I still don’t like this river call.

My starting table was really soft, with not a single name I recognized. Unfortunately, after about an hour I moved to a tougher table with BodogAri, Squirrely1, and URnotINdanger2, who’s a tough regular who’s given me fits at 25/50. I’d been making these tiny raises every time I had the button for the last few orbits, so I didn’t feel like I could fold any pair to URnot:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t11510)
CO (t11750)
Hero (Button) (t4725)
SB (t9476)
BB (t6745)
UTG (t9078)
UTG+1 (t5861)
MP1 (t25829)
MP2 (t16545)

Hero’s M: 15.75

Preflop: Hero is Button with 5, 5
6 folds, Hero bets t444, SB raises to t1100, 1 fold, Hero raises to t4725 (All-In), SB calls t3625

Flop: (t9650) 7, A, 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t9650) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t9650) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t9650

Results:
Hero had 5, 5 (one pair, fives).
SB had K, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: SB won t9650

Sucks that he had KK, but I don’t mind how I played this. Small pairs aren’t my favorite hands to 4-bet shove because most people calling ranges are like AK and better pairs, but here I expect Villain to raise-call AQ and maybe even AJ and to fold a decent portion of the time.

500/1000/100, I open complete 73o in the SB, Lauren checks.

Flop Ks Js Jc, I check planning to call a bet and bluff river. She checks behind.

Turn 7c, I check, she bets 3000, I call.

River 9d, we check, I show my hand, and it’s good. Owen comments on my playing 73o and predicts that I won’t be giving a lot of walks.

I open raise to 2400 with Ad 2d on the Button, Owen calls on the BB.

Flop Kd 9d 5c. He checks, I bet 3300, he calls.

Turn 8d, he bets into me 6400. This is close, but in retrospect I think a big raise to 24K or so is best (I have about 50K behind). He’s never getting away from any flush and may stack off with two-pair or worse putting me on a semi-bluff. However, I called.

River 2d, he check-folds for 9000 and tells me he had two-pair.

Last hand before table breaks, I open raise to 2600 with 33 in MP, prematurely balding Middle Easternish guy calls in BB.

Flop Ad Qd Qh. He bets 4000, I call. I put him on a Q or a bluff, possible with a flush draw. 33 is one of the worst hands to bluff catch with, but I think he’s going to play very predictably on the turn and I may even be able to bluff him off of a turned or rivered pair, so I call.

Turn 3d. He bets 9000, I call.

River blank, he check-calls 10K and looks sick when I show my turned full house. He told me he had a Q, which I’m sure is true.

This one I think I bungled badly. Against a guy who’s capable of hand-reading, bluffing, and thin value betting, I think a call is OK. Against a random live player, I should probably shove turn. He’s rarely bluffing, never folding a flush, and probably not folding trips. Failing that, I should bet bigger on the river, since he’s always either check-folding or check-calling with a Q. Probably 15-17K is best.

My new table was a lot tougher, with Andrew Robl, Paul Wasicka, and a few other solid players whom I didn’t recognize by name. The table also featured wild-haired backgammon legend Paul Magriel. I actually played with Paul on Day 1 of the PCA, and though I don’t think he remembered me, we had a little interaction there. I was wearing my Foucault t-shirt, and the dealer asked who the man on my shirt was.Since most people don’t know who he is anyway, I usually answer that question with “a writer I like”, unless I’m in a book store or coffee shop or something like that.

Paul, however, asked, “Which writer?”

“Michel Foucault.”

“I thought that was Foucault. I don’t much care for him myself.”

Looking Paul up and down, I answered, “Yeah, I figured if anyone at the table would know who Foucault was, it would be you.”

Anyway, at 600/1200/100, Paul opened in MP2 to 3400. He had less than 25K behind, so I made it 8200 to go with QQ on the Button. He hemmed and hawed and called. The flop came 9d 8d 3d, and he open shoved his last 15K or so. I had the Qd, but even without it, this would be an easy call. He showed me 98s for a flopped two pair, but with an overpair and a flush draw, I was still a slight favorite. I didn’t get there, though, and that one hurt me.

A while later, Paul open limped in MP1, and a decent guy who was almost certainly an online tournament pro raised to 3700 with 26K behind. I woke up with JJ and shoved in 38K or so, only to get called by QQ.

Next hand, the UTG player raised, and I was forced to fold whatever garbage I had. Hand after that, I was in MP1 and, without looking at the clock, folded T4o. Then, I saw there were only 2 minutes left in the level, and I realized I should have shoved any 2 before the blinds went up and cut even further into my fold equity. It turns out I would have been called by KQ and lost, but that’s not the point.

I spent 15 minutes on break, came back to 800/1600/200 blinds, and shoved in 7700 with Jc7c UTG+1 on the first hand. The guy on my left called, and it folded to Magriel who put the guy all-in for about 40K. After long deliberation, the first caller folded, and Paul showed Kc 2c. Pretty great spot for me, but the flop gave me nothing to work with, and a K on the turn sealed my fate.

I played some hands well, but failed to get full value from my monsters on more than one occasion. Overall, though, I just don’t think this one was mine to win. I ran good in medium pots but bad in big pots, and that’s just not the way to do it.

On the plus side, I got back to my room in time to late register for the $500 FTOPS main event, which I’m currently playing. Thanks to everyone who followed along and wished me well.

Got a bit of a drive ahead of us today to Death Valley, where we’ll be camping for the next few nights before returning to Vegas for the NAPT Venetian. I’ve got one blog post scheduled to post up tomorrow, and we’ll see how many more I get to, but please excuse me if things are quiet on here for a few days.

Edit: Yeah, I’m an idiot. It was late when I posted this, and I did in fact calculate my pre-flop equity rather than my flop equity. I’m actually a 2:1 dog here, which is more what I expected. Thanks to qanda201 for pointing it out in the comments. I thought it seemed too good to be true.
Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 500/1000 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t32863)
MP1 (t13444)
MP2 (t17933)
MP3 (t4420)
CO (t19270)
Button (t11849)
Hero (SB) (t20290)
BB (t16994)
UTG (t11219)

Hero’s M: 13.53

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K, 2, 3
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t2500, 1 fold, MP2 calls t2500, 3 folds, Hero calls t2000, BB calls t1500

Flop: (t10000) 5, 10, J (4 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t10000, 2 folds, Hero raises to t17790 (All-In), BB calls t4494 (All-In)

Turn: (t38988) 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t38988) 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t38988

Results:
Hero had K, K, 2, 3 (flush, Jack high).
BB had 5, 7, Q, 5 (full house, fives over eights).
Outcome: BB won t38988

Shows what I know about this game. I was embarassed to even post this because I felt like I played this bad and got my money in bad, but turns out I’m a pretty substantial favorite:

My reasoning at the time was that he was either on a draw, in which case I had some of his outs and my Kings were good, or that most of my draws were live if he did have a made hand. Hard to say how I’d perform against his full range here, but I guess I get to write this one off to a bad beat!

Edit: Here’s the actual flop equity

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves responsibly last night (and last year, for that matter), and that you are striding confidently forward into a new year.

Yesterday, I revisited my 2009 poker resolutions. Now, it’s time to make some new resolutions and set some new goals for 2010.

Resolution One: Play NLHE Cash Games

Particularly in the big games, virtually everyone is good and getting better. It’s not enough to be better than they are at the start of the year; if they keep improving and I stagnate, then they’ll be owning me by year’s end. So this year my focus will be on putting in hours at and away from the table.

Goal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games

If I wanted a job, I’d get one. I want to have plenty of time for other things that are important to me: friends, family, travel, volunteer work. Then again, most of those things require (or at least benefit from) money, too.

I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty healthy income, far more than I could make at any real job I could get, without impeding too much on my lifestyle.

I consider my regular games to be anywhere from 2/4 NL to 50/100 NL as well as big tournaments like the Sunday Majors, the FTOPS, and the WCOOP; time spent playing any of these will count towards my goal.

Goal 2: Earn $X in NLHE Cash Games

It’s very tough to predict or control what I will earn playing tournaments. With cash games, though, it’s mostly a question of game selection and putting in hours. It’s not something I’m going to announce publicly, but I am going to set a target, and I am going to put in extra hours towards the end of year if I’m on pace to come up short.

Goal 3: Earn Supernova status on PokerStars

I gave up on this goal last year, largely because Stars doesn’t have deep stack or ante tables. I don’t want to sit in bad games just to get VPPs.Poker Stars is continuing to sweeten the deal, though. In addition to the cash bonuses that can be purchased with FPPs, they’re now offering up to $1000 in bonuses just for earning VPPs.

My plan for this is to table select as usual in the beginning of each month, and then assess my progress towards the end of each month. If I’m on pace to come up short, I’m going to put in extra hours above and beyond my weekly goal just grinding 9 tables of $1/2 NLHE (or smaller) until I hit my VPP target for the month. Hopefully this is something I can do relatively stress-free, just an hour or two at a time, when I’m not in the mood to put in a proper session in higher stakes games. To be honest, my hourly rate should still be quite good multi-tabling SSNL, so hopefully this will incentivize me to make a little money in what would otherwise be downtime.

Resolution Two: Diversify My Income Streams

This has been a long-term goal of mine, and I feel like it’s well underway now. Not only is it nice having some guarantee, variance-free income, but it’s a fun and rewarding break from grinding to coach aspiring MSNL players, write for Two Plus Two Magazine, or make videos for Poker Savvy Plus. It even helps me to cultivate and demonstrate other skills, like writing, teaching, and marketing, that would prove useful should I ever decide to seek proper employment.

Goal 4: Monetize This Blog

I know I keep saying it, but sooner or later I really am going to look into making money a little more directly from this blog. I feel like it’s right on the cusp of being pretty profitable. That doesn’t have to mean ads, though it might. Maybe I’ll…

Goal 5: Write a Book

I’ve talked about this before, but this is the first time it’s ever been an explicit goal. I’ve already got some downtime sketched out in the next few months to work on this and have been kicking around some ideas in my head. Rather than trying to write one big, expensive e-book as a lot of people have done, I’m thinking of doing a series of smaller, modular works that could be purchased separately or as a set. Those of you who read this blog regularly are going to be a big chunk of the target audience, so keep an eye out for posts in the next few weeks soliciting your input about what you’d like to see in a poker book authored by yours truly.

Goal 6: Average One Blog Post Per Day

I know it’s been a little quiet on here of late. Part of that is the holidays, and part of it is just laziness. I want to get back to posting once a day. There will probably be more non-poker content, and not all of the poker stuff will be equally in-depth, but overall you can expect to see more and better content here.

The other part of the problem is that fairly often during the week, I’m staying somewhere where I don’t have a reliable internet connection. I’m pretty sure it’s possible for me to write stuff in advance and schedule it to post on a particular day, though, so that’s really not an excuse.

Goal 7: Average Five Hours of Coaching Per Week

Coaching was extremely fun and rewarding for me last year. So far, except for my group seminars, I haven’t done much to market myself as a coach or actively solicit students. I’ve mostly just worked with students as they’ve come to me, and so so far that’s kept me just about as busy as I’d like to be with coaching. I want to ramp it up a bit this year by setting a monthly goal and actively soliciting students if necessary to ensure that I’ve got a regular stream of students.

By the way, if you’re interested, check out my poker coaching information.

Resolution Three: Improve My NLHE Skills

There are so many good reasons to make an active effort to improve my NLHE. In addition to the obvious benefit of getting better and winning more money, studying can give me new material for blog posts and book reviews, introduce me to new coaching and video producing techniques, help me to monetize what would otherwise be downtime, restore my focus and confidence during a downswing, and help me keep up with what my opponents may be learning and trying at the tables.

Goal 7: Average an Hour a Day of Dedicated Studying and Improvement

I’m going to be very broad about what this can include: reading books, watching videos, reviewing hands in Hold ‘Em Manager, talking poker with a friend, and even blogging (when it’s related to reviewing my play).

I may even hire a coach. It’s funny: many of my students expressed some concern about the cost of coaching when we first discussed working together. After a few hours with me, though, these same students have always told me that coaching was far more valuable than they expected and that in retrospect they considered it a very good investment.

Yet, cheapstake that I am, I still balk at paying hundreds of dollars an hour for a high-stakes coach. I probably ought to just suck it up and purchase a few hours. To be fair, though, I do charge less than most comparable coaches. Plus, I don’t have the option of hiring someone who coaches as well as I do :-).

Goal 8: Use Hold ‘Em Manager

I switched from Poker Tracker to Hold ‘Em Manager last year. PT2 is great, but HEM is just better. For the last part of the year, I was playing without it on my laptop. It does get in my way sometimes, but I’d rather learn how to work with it than insist on playing without it.

Goal 9: Finish the Year with a 4BB/100 Win-Rate at 5/10 NL and/or Higher

Same goal as last year, since I didn’t achieve it but still think it’s very viable. It might be cheating a little, but I’m going to allow myself to count my results from bigger games towards this goal or not depending on whether I do better in them than I do in 5/10 (this was the cast last year). Basically, if I am at 4 BB/100 over a big sample at 5/10, then I don’t care how I’m doing in bigger games. If I’m not doing quite that well at 5/10 but am at 4 BB/100 if I also count bigger games, then that’s certainly a fine result as well.

Goal 10: Play 50,000 Hands of Heads Up NLHE at 5/10 and Higher

Last year, my win rate at heads up was twice what it was at ring games. Plus, it’s a great way to improve poker skills in general, and at stakes above 10/20, it’s often the only way to get action.

The only problem is that I can’t play as many tables at once, so my hourly rate isn’t necessarily better, plus it’s tough to get action from people I actually want to play. Unlike with my other goals, I don’t want to resort to playing smaller stakes just to hit this goal. I will try to be more diligent about starting tables and maybe even playing some people against whom I don’t necessarily have an edge, since part of the point here is to get better.

What About You?

How did 2009 treat you? What are your goals, poker or otherwise, for 2010?

Last night, in the $300 rebuy FTOPS event, I was rolling along nicely and then fell off the wagon:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 170/340 Blinds 25 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t13511)
UTG (t19356)
MP (t20140)
CO (t18855)
Button (t12236)
Hero (SB) (t19919)
Hero’s M: 30.18

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8, K
4 folds, Hero bets t1020, BB calls t680

Flop: (t2190) 9, 2, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t1333, BB raises to t3125, Hero raises to t18874 (All-In), BB calls t9341 (All-In)

Turn: (t27122) 2 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t27122) A (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t27122

Results:
Hero had 8, K (one pair, twos).
BB had A, 9 (two pair, Aces and nines).
Outcome: BB won t27122

This is just such a perfect spot for a bluff raise on the flop (I have a wide range, this is a tough flop for either of us to hit, and the stack sizes don’t give me many options even if I don’t believe him). Although I was new to the table and didn’t recognize his screenname, I did have some reason to think he was capable of making plays: he 3-bet me on his button at the first opportunity.

When dealing with an essentially unknown villain, though, shoving any two is not the best way to proceed. I can minimize exploitability by bluff shoving hands that will have the best equity vs. his calling range: draws, hands that paired the board, and even two overcards. Shoving something as weak as K8 makes me easily exploitable by a strategy this guy may well be employing, which is only raising when he has a hand good enough to call a shove. And naturally in a spot where he ought to be raising a huge range he has managed to flop top pair top kicker. AKDHAKLSFHSKLFHASFKH

Many better players like to make fun of the fish who talk about protecting their hands. Because betting for protection is so popular among weak players, many stronger players think it is an intrinsically bad play.

I’ve been trying to reach a more nuanced understanding of the concept recently. My current thinking is that it has a lot to do with, not whether you will get drawn out on, but whether future streets are likely to be +EV for you. Sometimes you have a hand that will play well on future streets, in which case you aren’t concerned about protecting. Other times, you have a hand that can’t improve and can’t catch bluffs, in which case it’s often best to take it down right away.

Here’s an example, from the $1000 FTOPS 6-max:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 120/240 Blinds 25 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG (t11184)
MP (t3707)
CO (t4892)
Hero (Button) (t11375)
SB (t8732)
BB (t8370)
Hero’s M: 22.30

Preflop: Hero is Button with 5, A
2 folds, CO bets t480, Hero calls t480, 2 folds

Flop: (t1470) 6, 4, 4 (2 players)
CO bets t680, Hero calls t680

Turn: (t2830) 5 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks

River: (t2830) A (2 players)
CO bets t3707 (All-In), Hero calls t3707

Total pot: t10244

Results:
Hero had 5, A (two pair, Aces and fives).
CO had 9, J (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero won t10244

With a hand like 65, I’d be far more inclined to bet the turn. This is because my opponent is pretty much freerolling me on the river. He’s probably not betting it unless it either improves him or is a scare card, in which case I won’t be able to call anyway. Like here, I would have folded 65 on the river (probably).

With the A5, though, there is a fair chance that I dominate my opponent. If he has something like AQ, then good things can actually happen if I let him see the river. Plus, one of the best bluff cards on the river is actually going to improve my hand.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 80/160 Blinds (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t6916)
MP (t3171)
CO (t7325)
Button (t12320)
SB (t12015)
Hero (BB) (t6713)

Hero’s M: 27.97

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, K
2 folds, CO bets t320, 1 fold, SB calls t240, Hero raises to t900, 1 fold, SB calls t580

Flop: (t2120) J, Q, 5 (2 players)
SB bets t900, Hero calls t900

Turn: (t3920) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t999, SB calls t999

River: (t5918) 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t3914 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t5918

Results:
Hero didn’t show J, K (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t5918

Preflop is definitely good. The CO’s range was like 75%, and I doubt he’s capable of 4-betting light. I don’t know much about SB but it almost doesn’t matter.

Flop I think is close between shove and call. My hand is almost always best, and while I’m in bad shape vs. his calling range, there’s also a lot of value in picking the pot up now given the spades out there. I called only because I thought he’d give me the information I needed on later streets, and he did, though not in the way I’d expected.

I doubt he checks a good spade on the turn, but he may well have turned a weak flush or a better pair than mine. So I throw a little bet out there just to see if he check-shoves. When he doesn’t, I’m pretty confident the pot is mine on the river. For a second, I worried about the board pair, but then I realized that there were really no boats possible for him except for maybe a disastrously played A5.

Obviously I’m planning a check-raise here, but given his bet sizing, I actually think I might be better off just calling:

Anyway, there were three key losses in these tournaments (I played the mini-FTOPS $250 as well). Here’s how I busted from the $2500. I don’t know for sure, and it’s not particularly relevant, but I’ve heard that MP2 was Dmitri Nobles. I don’t think this is awful, but it’s not good either:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

MP2: 4,918
CO: 6,392
BTN: 2,862
SB: 6,260
Hero (BB): 4,310
UTG: 11,155
UTG+1: 2,120
UTG+2: 10,217
MP1: 11,918

Pre-Flop: (75) K A dealt to Hero (BB)
4 folds, MP2 raises to 150, CO calls 150, 2 folds, Hero raises to 750, MP2 folds, CO calls 600

Flop: (1,675) Q 2 T (2 Players)
Hero bets 660, CO calls 660

Turn: (2,995) 9 (2 Players)
Hero bets 2,900 and is All-In, CO calls 2,900

River: (8,795) 7 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: 8,795 Pot
CO showed Q Q (three of a kind, Queens) and WON 8,795 (+4,485 NET)
Hero showed K A (Ace King high) and LOST (-4,310 NET)

This one, which cost me a big stack in the $250, may look the worst, but actually I think I would play it the same again:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

UTG+2: 8,807
MP1: 6,110
MP2: 3,765
CO: 3,755
Hero (BTN): 10,244
SB: 3,640
BB: 6,201
UTG: 5,675
UTG+1: 13,823

Pre-Flop: (120) A Q dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, MP1 raises to 240, 2 folds, Hero calls 240, SB folds, BB calls 160

Flop: (760) 7 A K (3 Players)
BB checks, MP1 bets 400, Hero calls 400, BB folds

Turn: (1,560) 7 (2 Players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks

River: (1,560) J (2 Players)
MP1 bets 640, Hero raises to 9,604 and is All-In, MP1 calls 4,830 and is All-In

Results: 12,500 Pot
MP1 showed 8 9 (a flush, King high) and WON 12,500 (+6,390 NET)
Hero showed A Q (two pair, Aces and Sevens) and LOST (-6,110 NET)

It’s very unlikely my hand is good on the river, but there’s good reason to think Villain is on something like AJ/KJ. The river shove is a bit of an overbet, but that may be what it takes to get a bad player off of two pair. They perceive a huge difference, perhaps not wrongly, between a lot of their chips and all of their chips. It sucks that he had a flush, but there’s really very little reason to think he can call a shove here.

This one, on the other hand, is shamefully bad:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

UTG+1: 8,687
MP1: 12,300
MP2: 3,795
CO: 2,115
Hero (BTN): 3,705
SB: 11,181
BB: 11,110
UTG: 9,127

Pre-Flop: (150) T T dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to 300, 3 folds, Hero calls 300, 2 folds

Flop: (750) 8 3 7 (2 Players)
UTG+1 bets 400, Hero calls 400

Turn: (1,550) 7 (2 Players)
UTG+1 bets 1,000, Hero raises to 3,005 and is All-In, UTG+1 calls 2,005

River: (7,560) A (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: 7,560 Pot
UTG+1 showed Q Q (two pair, Queens and Sevens) and WON 7,560 (+3,855 NET)
Hero showed T T (two pair, Tens and Sevens) and LOST (-3,705 NET)

I’ve seen Villain overvalue hands before, but that’s no justification for this.

Poker Savvy’s Dani “Ansky” Stern final tabled this one, but he finished a somewhat disappointing sixth. Still, nice finish!

Full Tilt Poker Game #12159019788: FTOPS Event #11 (84242375), Table 41 – 20/40 – Pot Limit Omaha H/L – 14:20:39 ET – 2009/05/11
Seat 1: babbelz (1,028)
Seat 2: Sensor (8,220)
Seat 3: dav713 (4,859)
Seat 4: ayyaahh91 (4,755)
Seat 5: nrock23 (7,886)
Seat 6: thegrizz1111 (3,986)
Seat 7: Greengoz (5,000)
Seat 8: TPackage1 (4,531)
Seat 9: Foucault (4,735)
nrock23 posts the small blind of 20
thegrizz1111 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Foucault [9s Ad 2d Ts]
TPackage1 folds
Foucault raises to 80
babbelz calls 80
Sensor folds
dav713 calls 80
ayyaahh91 folds
nrock23 folds
thegrizz1111 calls 40
*** FLOP *** [6d 6c 8d]
thegrizz1111 checks
Foucault checks
babbelz bets 170
dav713 has 15 seconds left to act
dav713 raises to 400
thegrizz1111 folds
Foucault has 15 seconds left to act
Foucault calls 400
babbelz raises to 948, and is all in
dav713 calls 548
Foucault calls 548
*** TURN *** [6d 6c 8d] [9h]
Foucault checks
dav713 bets 600
Foucault calls 600
*** RIVER *** [6d 6c 8d 9h] [3h]
Foucault checks
dav713 checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dav713 shows [Jc 6h Qc Jh] three of a kind, Sixes, for high
Foucault shows [9s Ad 2d Ts] two pair, Nines and Sixes, for high and 8,6,3,2,A, for low
dav713 wins the high side pot (600) with three of a kind, Sixes
Foucault wins the low side pot (600) with 8,6,3,2,A
babbelz shows [2s 3c 8c Ac] two pair, Eights and Sixes, for high and 8,6,3,2,A, for low
dav713 wins the high main pot (1,592) with three of a kind, Sixes
Foucault ties for the low main pot (796) with 8,6,3,2,A
babbelz ties for the low main pot (796) with 8,6,3,2,A
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,384 Main pot 3,184. Side pot 1,200. | Rake 0
Board: [6d 6c 8d 9h 3h]
Seat 1: babbelz showed [2s 3c 8c Ac] and won (796) with HI: two pair, Eights and Sixes; LO: 8,6,3,2,A
Seat 2: Sensor didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 3: dav713 showed [Jc 6h Qc Jh] and won (2,192) with HI: three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 4: ayyaahh91 (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 5: nrock23 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: thegrizz1111 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Greengoz is sitting out
Seat 8: TPackage1 didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 9: Foucault showed [9s Ad 2d Ts] and won (1,396) with HI: two pair, Nines and Sixes; LO: 8,6,3,2,A

The flop was a really awkward spot for me, and I’m not at all confident that I played it well. Even with my huge draws, I should probably fold with a bet and raise in front me from competent players. Since neither of these guys managed to have trips, though, it worked out OK.

Here I managed to run a bluff, which is pretty rare in PLO8. I just don’t think the guy check-calls anything too strong on the turn:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12160227503: FTOPS Event #11 (84242375), Table 70 – 80/160 – Pot Limit Omaha H/L – 15:31:59 ET – 2009/05/11
Seat 1: NoNotReally (6,997)
Seat 2: Foucault (3,974)
Seat 3: Cardsharps_net (4,982)
Seat 4: pycb (3,764)
Seat 5: Shivalingus (6,164)
Seat 6: ColdBryan (7,386)
Seat 7: clarsonx (5,030)
Seat 8: Magik4678 (3,366)
Seat 9: aabomb09 (2,405)
ColdBryan posts the small blind of 80
clarsonx posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Foucault [As 4d 3c 2h]
Magik4678 calls 160
aabomb09 folds
NoNotReally has 15 seconds left to act
NoNotReally folds
Foucault has 15 seconds left to act
Foucault calls 160
Cardsharps_net folds
pycb folds
Shivalingus folds
ColdBryan folds
clarsonx checks
*** FLOP *** [Qc 5s Jc]
clarsonx checks
Magik4678 checks
Foucault has 15 seconds left to act
Foucault bets 269
clarsonx folds
Magik4678 calls 269
*** TURN *** [Qc 5s Jc] [6s]
Magik4678 checks
Foucault bets 1,098
Magik4678 calls 1,098
*** RIVER *** [Qc 5s Jc 6s] [9s]
Magik4678 checks
Foucault bets 2,447, and is all in
Magik4678 folds
Uncalled bet of 2,447 returned to Foucault
Foucault mucks
Foucault wins the pot (3,294)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,294 | Rake 0
Board: [Qc 5s Jc 6s 9s]
Seat 1: NoNotReally didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 2: Foucault collected (3,294), mucked
Seat 3: Cardsharps_net didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 4: pycb didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 5: Shivalingus (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 6: ColdBryan (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: clarsonx (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Magik4678 folded on the River
Seat 9: aabomb09 didn’t bet (folded)

This one I kinda spazzed out on. I didn’t really want to fold for one pot-sized bet, and for some reason I decided it would be better to check and induce bluffs since he’s not folding anything better. Stupid NLHE thinking to apply to PLO8. If I just pot the flop, I probably win it:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12160602843: FTOPS Event #11 (84242375), Table 70 – 100/200 – Pot Limit Omaha H/L – 15:52:05 ET – 2009/05/11
Seat 1: NoNotReally (6,489)
Seat 2: Foucault (2,673)
Seat 3: Cardsharps_net (5,718)
Seat 4: pycb (4,026)
Seat 5: Shivalingus (5,999)
Seat 6: ColdBryan (6,306)
Seat 7: clarsonx (6,950)
Seat 8: Magik4678 (3,802)
Seat 9: aabomb09 (2,105)
Foucault posts the small blind of 100
Cardsharps_net posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Foucault [Ah 8h 4c Ts]
pycb folds
Shivalingus folds
ColdBryan folds
clarsonx folds
Magik4678 folds
aabomb09 folds
NoNotReally folds
Foucault raises to 600
Cardsharps_net calls 400
*** FLOP *** [Jc Jh 3d]
Foucault checks
Cardsharps_net bets 1,200
Foucault has 15 seconds left to act
Foucault has requested TIME
Foucault raises to 2,073, and is all in
Cardsharps_net calls 873
Foucault shows [Ah 8h 4c Ts]
Cardsharps_net shows [5s Kc 6s Ac]
Cardsharps_net: nh
*** TURN *** [Jc Jh 3d] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Jc Jh 3d 3s] [5d]
Foucault shows a pair of Jacks, for high
Cardsharps_net shows two pair, Jacks and Fives, for high
Cardsharps_net wins the pot (5,346) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,346 | Rake 0
Board: [Jc Jh 3d 3s 5d]
Seat 1: NoNotReally (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 2: Foucault (small blind) showed [Ah 8h 4c Ts] and lost with HI: a pair of Jacks
Seat 3: Cardsharps_net (big blind) showed [5s Kc 6s Ac] and won (5,346) with HI: two pair, Jacks and Fives
Seat 4: pycb didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 5: Shivalingus didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 6: ColdBryan didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 7: clarsonx didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 8: Magik4678 didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 9: aabomb09 didn’t bet (folded)

Actually, at my first table, Ahhh Snap was making life hell from my immediate left. Thankfully, that one broke quickly. I still never got anything going, and eventually lost two coin flips plus chopped JJ to Below’s AJ to bust.

I got off to a solid start in the 1K, and there were a few interesting hands. This first one was against wpr101, who I see a lot at the Stars MSNL full ring tables:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (7 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t11530)
Hero (MP1) (t10850)
MP2 (t12305)
CO (t4930)
Button (t7215)
SB (t11790)
BB (t21380)

Hero’s M: 90.42

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A, J
1 fold, Hero bets t200, 1 fold, CO calls t200, 3 folds

Flop: (t520) 10, 8, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t350, CO raises to t1040, Hero raises to t10650 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t2600

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, J (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t2600

This was probably my favorite one, against this total spaz on my left who was calling every raise I made pre-flop and then monkeying around post-flop. Actually wait lemme show you why he pissed me off first:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds 20 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t12200)
Hero (CO) (t11676)
Button (t3845)
SB (t9220)
BB (t5106)
UTG (t11047)
UTG+1 (t17329)
MP1 (t13090)
MP2 (t22901)

Hero’s M: 28.83

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9, A
5 folds, Hero bets t411, Button calls t411, 2 folds

Flop: (t1227) 4, A, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: (t1227) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t795, Button calls t795

River: (t2817) J (2 players)
Hero bets t10450 (All-In), Button calls t2619 (All-In)

Total pot: t8055

Results:
Button had J, 8 (two pair, Jacks and eights).
Hero had 9, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Button won t8055

Note that he’s calling off more than 10% of his stack pre-flop. It’s not like shoving the river here is superawesome, but given stack sizes and this guy’s general spazziness, I do think it was best. So here was my revenge:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds 20 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t11795)
Hero (CO) (t7485)
Button (t13288)
SB (t3124)
BB (t5505)
UTG (t13686)
UTG+1 (t21760)
MP1 (t10240)
MP2 (t19531)

Hero’s M: 18.48

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, 3
5 folds, Hero bets t411, Button calls t411, 2 folds

Flop: (t1227) 4, 9, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t450, Hero calls t450

Turn: (t2127) K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t995, Hero raises to t3604, 1 fold

Total pot: t4117

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, 3 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t4117

I didn’t hold on to those chips for long though:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds 20 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t12445)
Hero (CO) (t11706)
Button (t9001)
SB (t20490)
BB (t5100)
UTG (t13031)
UTG+1 (t24034)
MP1 (t13180)
MP2 (t18127)

Hero’s M: 28.90

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7, A
3 folds, MP2 bets t399, 1 fold, Hero calls t399, 2 folds, BB calls t249

Flop: (t1452) 9, J, K (3 players)
BB checks, MP2 bets t900, Hero calls t900, BB calls t900

Turn: (t4152) 6 (3 players)
BB checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets t1888, 1 fold, MP2 raises to t3776, Hero calls t1888

River: (t11704) 3 (2 players)
MP2 bets t13032 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: t11704

Results:
MP2 didn’t show
Outcome: MP2 won t11704

BB was wpr101 again, I don’t know who MP2 was. It’s pretty obvious he has something betting into two of us on this flop, and being in position, I thought calling would be more profitable than trying to raise him off it. When wpr just calls, given his stack size, it seems very likely he has just a draw. I can’t see how he wouldn’t shove a made hand he wanted to go with or a strong draw.

I also didn’t expect that MP2 would check a super strong hand (like KJ or better) on the turn with two of us still in the pot and a lot of draws on board. So, I went for the bluff, which admittedly probably is relying on him making something of a big fold. I really didn’t expect a check-raise, but at least he gave me odds to chase. River- what can I do?

It’s quite rare for me to open limp in a tournament, but I’ve been adding that into my full ring cash game, and this seemed like a good spot for it. Depending on who raised, I was probably going to re-raise, but this guy had been really loose passive, so I decided just to call. I was pretty shocked/pissed about what he showed down:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $1000+$50 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t12875)
Hero (UTG) (t6536)
UTG+1 (t8476)
MP1 (t20320)
MP2 (t12603)
MP3 (t13747)
CO (t27939)
Button (t12785)
SB (t24461)

Hero’s M: 12.45

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 9, 9
Hero calls t200, 3 folds, MP3 bets t600, 4 folds, Hero calls t400

Flop: (t1725) 5, J, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t1000, Hero calls t1000

Turn: (t3725) 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks

River: (t3725) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t1800, Hero calls t1800

Total pot: t7325

Results:
Hero mucked 9, 9 (flush, Queen high).
MP3 had J, 7 (flush, Queen high).
Outcome: MP3 won t7325

The same guy busted me a few hands later when I once again got 99, open shoved, and lost a flip to his AQs.

The $100 was full of terrible play, and I ran up a huge stack just playing big hands. People were strangely aggressive, doing stuff like 4-bet shoving QTo over my button re-raise (I had AK). I shouldn’t talk, though, as I kind of monkeyed off my own stack after busting from the big tournies, randomly shoving JTo from the SB over a CO open from a guy who’d just called a big shove the hand before with 55. This time he had AA.

Stupid SCOOP. I am so ready to be done with tournaments for a while. Too bad FTOPS is in less than a month. I may not play that as aggressively as I have in the past.

Nearly three hours after that, we’re on the bubble, I open the pot with a min-raise for like the 10th time in the last two orbits, the BB 3-bets, I shove all in with my AK, and he calls it off with 88. He wins the flip, and I spend 6 hours playing to bubble and walk away with nothing. Standard FTOPS stupidness. Thank goodness it’s over.

Embarassingly for FTP, although this tournament with a $2.5 million guaranteed prizepool was the centerpiece of one of their major tournament series, Poker Stars actually managed to edge them out for biggest tournament of the day with its own special $2.5 million guarantee in the $200 Sunday tournament. The tournament, part of Stars’ 25 billionth hand promotion, drew over 13,000 runners.

Tournament – Razz (40/80), Ante 7, Bring-In 10

Foucault (Seat 1): 3,903
cardsharkk (Seat 2): 3,588
dinho_style (Seat 3): 3,912
AK_47_JAZZ (Seat 4): 4,005
Kristy Gazes (Seat 5): 4,479
OnlyPlayRagz (Seat 6): 5,628
Jawarhalo (Seat 7): 3,613
NastyBeet (Seat 8): 2,872

3rd Street – (1.40 SB)

Foucault: 3 4 A___completes___raises

cardsharkk: xx xx T___folds

dinho_style: xx xx J___folds

AK_47_JAZZ: xx xx A___raises___calls

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 9___folds

OnlyPlayRagz: xx xx 4___calls___calls

Jawarhalo: xx xx 3___folds

NastyBeet: xx xx J___brings-in___folds

4th Street – (10.65 SB)

Foucault: 3 4 A J___calls___calls___calls

AK_47_JAZZ: xx xx A 8___raises___raises

OnlyPlayRagz: xx xx 4 2___bets___raises___calls

5th Street – (11.33 BB)

Foucault: 3 4 A J T___calls

AK_47_JAZZ: xx xx A 8 2___bets

OnlyPlayRagz: xx xx 4 2 K___calls

6th Street – (14.33 BB)

Foucault: 3 4 A J T 2___checks___calls

AK_47_JAZZ: xx xx A 8 2 K___checks___calls

OnlyPlayRagz: xx xx 4 2 K 6___bets

River – (17.33 BB)

Foucault: 3 4 A J T 2 8___checks

AK_47_JAZZ: xx xx A 8 2 K xx___checks

OnlyPlayRagz: xx xx 4 2 K 6 xx___checks

Total pot: (17.33 BB – 1,386)

Results:
Total pot 1,386 | Rake 0
Note: this site shuffles the hole cards.
Foucault mucked [8c 4c Ah Jc Th 2c 3s] – 8,4,3,2,A
AK_47_JAZZ: [8h 7s As 8s 2h Kc 4d] – 8,7,4,2,A
OnlyPlayRagz showed [Qc 7h 4h 2d Kh 6d Ac] and won (1,386) with 7,6,4,2,A

This one is kind of interesting from AK’s perspective, in terms of whether he should jam the pot with four to an 8 on fourth against a deuce-four and my brick. I ran some simulations using Pro Poker Tools. With the generous assumptions that I could have any two non-paired hole cards 7 or worse (since I was re-raising third) and OPR any two non-paired hole cards 8 or worse, AK has 37% equity in the pot, a small edge but enough to push. If we give OPR better than an 8, AK has 32% equity, so he isn’t losing much on the jam. Improving my hand to three to a 6 actually diminishes his equity by less than 1%, so I suppose this is a thin but defensible jam on his part. It sucks that I got jammed in, but I didn’t expect it when I called the first bet, and after that I think I was priced in with a very smooth draw.

Tournament – Razz (100/200), Ante 15, Bring-In 30

Foucault (Seat 1): 3,884
cardsharkk (Seat 2): 1,688
dinho_style (Seat 3): 5,297
east33pro (Seat 4): 3,266
Kristy Gazes (Seat 5): 3,794
OnlyPlayRagz (Seat 6): 10,104
Jawarhalo (Seat 7): 1,838
NastyBeet (Seat 8): 6,205

3rd Street – (1.20 SB)

Foucault: A 6 5___calls

cardsharkk: xx xx T___folds

dinho_style: xx xx J___folds

east33pro: xx xx J___brings-in___folds

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 6___completes

OnlyPlayRagz: xx xx 9___folds

Jawarhalo: xx xx 3___folds

NastyBeet: xx xx 4___folds

4th Street – (3.50 SB)

Foucault: A 6 5 8___bets

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 6 6___calls

5th Street – (2.75 BB)

Foucault: A 6 5 8 T___bets

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 6 6 A___calls

6th Street – (4.75 BB)

Foucault: A 6 5 8 T 7___bets___calls

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 6 6 A 8___raises

River – (8.75 BB)

Foucault: A 6 5 8 T 7 J___checks

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 6 6 A 8 xx___checks

Total pot: (8.75 BB – 1,750)

Results:
Total pot 1,750 | Rake 0
Note: this site shuffles the hole cards.

Foucault mucked [Jc 6h 5c 8h Td 7s Ah] – 8,7,6,5,A
Kristy Gazes showed [7d 7c 6s 6c Ac 8c 4c] and won (1,750) with 8,7,6,4,A

Kristy was the “host” of this tournament, though I’m not sure what that really entailed- she wasn’t talking much in chat or fielding questions from observers or anything. She also wasn’t playing particularly well, though this is a good raise on 6th and a bad bet on my part.

Tournament – Razz (150/300), Ante 25, Bring-In 50
Foucault (Seat 1): 3,714
cardsharkk (Seat 2): 946
dinho_style (Seat 3): 6,407
east33pro (Seat 4): 1,406
Kristy Gazes (Seat 5): 6,619
OnlyPlayRagz (Seat 6): 13,754
icudonk (Seat 7): 2,590
NastyBeet (Seat 8): 4,253

3rd Street – (1.33 SB)

Foucault: 2 3 5___raises___calls

cardsharkk: xx xx 9___brings-in___folds

dinho_style: xx xx 3___folds

east33pro: xx xx 7___folds

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 6___folds

OnlyPlayRagz: xx xx 8___folds

icudonk: xx xx 5___completes___raises

NastyBeet: xx xx A___raises___calls

4th Street – (13.67 SB)

Foucault: 2 3 5 T___calls

icudonk: xx xx 5 8___bets

NastyBeet: xx xx A Q___calls

5th Street – (8.33 BB)

Foucault: 2 3 5 T A___bets

icudonk: xx xx 5 8 Q___calls

NastyBeet: xx xx A Q A___folds

6th Street – (10.33 BB)

Foucault: 2 3 5 T A K___bets

icudonk: xx xx 5 8 Q T___checks___calls

River – (12.33 BB)

Foucault: 2 3 5 T A K 2___calls

icudonk: xx xx 5 8 Q T xx___bets

Total pot: (14.33 BB – 4,300)

Results:
Total pot 4,300 | Rake 0

Foucault mucked [3s 2h 5h Ts Ah Kc 2c] – T,5,3,2,A
icudonk showed [6c 3d 5d 8d Qh Tc As] and won (4,300) with 8,6,5,3,A

I really wanted to fold when he bet into me on seventh. It was so clear he’d gotten there. But by that point, I was getting better than 13:1 on a call.

Tournament – Razz (200/400), Ante 30, Bring-In 50

Foucault (Seat 1): 1,509
cardsharkk (Seat 2): 1,642
dinho_style (Seat 3): 4,471
east33pro (Seat 4): 3,131
Kristy Gazes (Seat 5): 6,074
OnlyPlayRagz (Seat 6): 13,789
icudonk (Seat 7): 5,975
NastyBeet (Seat 8): 3,098

3rd Street – (1.20 SB)

Foucault: 3 6 4___completes___raises

cardsharkk: xx xx 5___folds

dinho_style: xx xx 5___folds

east33pro: xx xx 6___raises___calls

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 5___raises___calls

OnlyPlayRagz: xx xx 9___brings-in___folds

icudonk: xx xx 4___folds

NastyBeet: xx xx 7___folds

4th Street – (13.45 SB)

Foucault: 3 6 4 T___raises___raises to 679 (all-in)

east33pro: xx xx 6 3___bets___raises___calls

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 5 Q___calls___calls___calls

5th Street – (12.82 BB)

Foucault: 3 6 4 T 2___all-in

east33pro: xx xx 6 3 T___bets

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 5 Q 9___calls

6th Street – (14.82 BB)

Foucault: 3 6 4 T 2 K___all-in

east33pro: xx xx 6 3 T 7___bets

Kristy Gazes: xx xx 5 Q 9 J___folds

River – (14.82 BB)

Foucault: 3 6 4 T 2 K J___all-in

east33pro: xx xx 6 3 T 7 xx

Total pot: (14.82 BB – 5,927)

Results:
Total pot 5,527 Main pot 4,727. Side pot 800. | Rake 0
Foucault showed [3c 6d 4d Ts 2d Ks Jd] and lost with T,6,4,3,2
east33pro showed [Ah 7c 6h 3d Tc 7s 8h] and won (5,527) with 8,7,6,3,A

Note: this site shuffles the hole cards.

Anyhow, with that in mind, I think I am fist-pump stacking off here even for like 170BBs. I mean, do we really see this guy playing TT any differently?

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t5050)
SB (t5585)
Hero (BB) (t5115)
UTG (t5430)
MP (t4775)
CO (t4045)

Hero’s M: 113.67

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, K
1 fold, MP raises to t90, 3 folds, Hero raises to t300, MP calls t210

Flop: (t615) 4, 7, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t615, MP calls t615

Turn: (t1845) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t1200, MP raises to t3860 (All-In), Hero calls t2660

River: (t9565) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t9565

Results:
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and sevens).
MP had A, A (two pair, Aces and sevens).
Outcome: MP won t9565

There was a key Stud/8 hand I wanted to talk about, but somehow the HH file seems to have disappeared from my computer. Basically, I was the bring-in with 5(48) a player in middle position open raised with a K in the door, a loose player called with a Q, and I 2-bet. In a cash game this would be a very standard raise since I appear to have the only low hand in a 3-way pot. Arguably in a tournament one ought to be more conservative about pushing small edges early in a hand when stacks are shallow, but I was looking to go balls to the wall. They both called.

On fourth, they both caught non-threatening cards, and I caught a 7. Now I really had a monster, with a gutshot and four to a low against two players going high. The K bet, the Q called, I raised, and they both called.

On fifth, I paired my 4, the K blanked again, and the Q caught a 3. They checked around to me, I bet, the K folded, and the Q called.

Sixth brought a blank for me and an open pair of 3’s for my opponent. He checked, and I bet, which I think is probably a mistake. He almost certainly has Q’s and 3’s, meaning that he isn’t folding while I have only 6 outs for the high and am still drawing at the low as well.

What’s really bad though is that I made two pair on seventh and bet again, without even thinking, into what was clearly two pair. Pretty shitty play on my part that cost me 2 BBs.

Finally I got 22 in the SB and open raised 3x. The player in the BB re-raised, and I shoved because for like 40 BB’s in a rebuy I really ought to be able to get 22 in pre-flop profitably in a blind battle, but of course nitbag showed up with TT. I’m pretty sure mine was the only rebuy our table had- most players didn’t even double buy initially, and at least one didn’t take the add-on.

After the rebuy period was over, I tightened up for half an hour or so until the blinds got appreciable and then started min-raising a lot of hands. I’m increasingly convinced that, especially in 6-max tournaments, that’s the way to go. People are already not adjusting well to the short-handed format, and smaller raises is the best way to exploit their excessive tightness. When people did re-raise me, it was usually some amont like a full 3x my raise which was way larger than it needed to be. Basically no one was calling as light as he should out of the BB, and even when they did call, they sucked enough at post-flop play that it was fine anyway.

I built up a nice stack this way, though there were two guys on my right doing something kind of similar. I was making money picking spots to 3-bet them until someone behind woke up with a hand and cold 4-bet shoved.

After a few of those re-raises, this happened:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 170/340 Blinds 25 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP (t20502)
CO (t18250
Button (t5100)
Hero (SB) (t8221)
BB (t5270)
UTG (t9409)

Hero’s M: 12.46

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, A
1 fold, MP raises to t750, CO calls t750, 1 fold, Hero raises to t2000, 2 folds, CO calls t1250

Flop: (t5240) 8, Q, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: (t5240) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets t6196 (All-In), CO calls t6196

River: (t17632) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t17632

Results:
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
CO had 9, 7 (straight, nine high).
Outcome: CO won t17632

If the BB had been any good, I would have just called pre-flop and counted on him to shove over the three of us. I wasn’t confident he would recognize what a good spot it was for him, though, so I had to re-raise myself.

On the flop, there was only one pot-sized bet left in my stacks. I figured that most hands that would call a flop shove would call a turn shove as well- maybe even more. Plus I give Villain the chance to bluff shove. This is exactly the kind of hand I wanted him to shove, though, and instead he drills the gutter on the turn. Bah.

There was a key Stud/8 hand I wanted to talk about, but somehow the HH file seems to have disappeared from my computer. Basically, I was the bring-in with 5(48) a player in middle position open raised with a K in the door, a loose player called with a Q, and I 2-bet. In a cash game this would be a very standard raise since I appear to have the only low hand in a 3-way pot. Arguably in a tournament one ought to be more conservative about pushing small edges early in a hand when stacks are shallow, but I was looking to go balls to the wall. They both called.

On fourth, they both caught non-threatening cards, and I caught a 7. Now I really had a monster, with a gutshot and four to a low against two players going high. The K bet, the Q called, I raised, and they both called.

On fifth, I paired my 4, the K blanked again, and the Q caught a 3. They checked around to me, I bet, the K folded, and the Q called.

Sixth brought a blank for me and an open pair of 3’s for my opponent. He checked, and I bet, which I think is probably a mistake. He almost certainly has Q’s and 3’s, meaning that he isn’t folding while I have only 6 outs for the high and am still drawing at the low as well.

What’s really bad though is that I made two pair on seventh and bet again, without even thinking, into what was clearly two pair. Pretty shitty play on my part that cost me 2 BBs.

I entered the tournament with the expectation that I would play mostly normally for the first hour but push hard with draws or in spots that I thought were very slightly -EV and not make any big folds. I also reminded myself not to make any big bluffs, since theoretically others should be more willing to call down as a result of the Second Chance.

As the end of the two hours approached, if I was still in the neighborhood of 5000 chips, then I’d start getting crazier, eventually just open shoving in the hopes of either doubling up or using the free rebuy that was about to disappear.

With about half an hour left to go, I had over 8000 chips when I ran into this psychopath:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: 6,390
Hero (BB): 8,690
UTG: 9,080
UTG+1: 14,775
MP1: 5,756
MP2: 11,176
CO: 9,055
BTN: 6,018

Pre-Flop: (180) A 2 dealt to Hero (BB)
6 folds, SB raises to 480, Hero calls 360

Flop: (960) 4 5 9 (2 Players)
SB bets 840, Hero raises to 2,222, SB raises to 5,910 and is All-In, Hero calls 3,688

Turn: (12,780) T (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

River: (12,780) 8 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: 12,780 Pot
SB showed T A (a pair of Tens) and WON 12,780 (+6,390 NET)
Hero showed A 2 (Ace Ten high) and LOST (-6,390 NET)

Maybe I should have just shoved the flop. I thought this would look stronger, but the worst case scenario occurred where he shoved a dominating Ace that almost certainly would not have called all in.

Two hands later, I found a great spot where I would have gambooooooooool shoved any two cards. Shockingly, the two Villains, both of whom were decent tournament regulars, folded.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

CO: 12,780
Hero (BTN): 2,240
SB: 8,960
BB: 13,805
UTG: 5,756
UTG+1: 11,176
UTG+2: 9,055
MP1: 13,186
MP2: 10,287

Pre-Flop: (180) J A dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, MP1 raises to 300, MP2 calls 300, CO folds, Hero raises to 2,240 and is All-In, 4 folds

Results: 1,080 Pot
Hero mucked J A and WON 1,080 (+780 NET)

The next time I shoved over a raise, my K2 ran into AA and I got to rebuy up to 5000, which is where I ended the “rebuy period”. I never got anything going afterwards, though, and within an hour I lost a flip for the rest of my chips.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 60/120 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

CO: 5,090
BTN: 10,960
SB: 3,465
BB: 9,106
Hero (UTG): 4,070
UTG+1: 6,958
UTG+2: 7,021
MP1: 9,145
MP2: 7,050

Pre-Flop: (180) A Q dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to 320, UTG+1 calls 320, 3 folds, CO calls 320, BTN folds, SB raises to 1,890, BB folds, Hero raises to 4,070 and is All-In, 2 folds, SB calls 1,575 and is All-In

Flop: (7,690) 6 3 K (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Turn: (7,690) 6 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

River: (7,690) 8 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: 7,690 Pot
SB showed K A (two pair, Kings and Sixes) and WON 7,690 (+4,225 NET)
Hero showed A Q (a pair of Sixes) and LOST (-3,465 NET)

There’s about 4500 in the pot, and assuming I can get it heads up with SB, it will cost me about 3100 more. I need about41% equity in the pot. Against a range of TT+ AQ+ I have only 37%. However, if we throw AJ into the mix, I’m up to 45%. Basically I felt like the chance that we was doing something spazzy/making a big squeeze warranted a gamble. It’s one of those very close spots where optimally cautious tournament play might dictate folding but I’m willing to push because I’d rather go big or go home than let a $300 tournament tie up screen space for hours on end.

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournament, 20/40 Blinds (8 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP1) (t4925)
MP2 (t5142)
CO (t5938)
Button (t4775)
SB (t8994)
BB (t5025)
UTG (t5146)
UTG+1 (t5070)

Hero’s M: 82.08

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 10, A, 9, 2
2 folds, Hero raises to t120, 3 folds, SB raises to t400, 1 fold, Hero calls t280

Flop: (t840) 9, 10, 7 (2 players)
SB bets t840, Hero raises to t3360, SB raises to t5880, Hero calls t1165 (All-In)

Turn: (t9890) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t9890) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t9890

Results:
SB had J, A, A, 7 (Hi: flush, Ace high).
Hero had 10, A, 9, 2 (Hi: two pair, Aces and tens).
Outcome: SB won t9890

I was pretty sure the guy had AA, just because that’s about all you’ll see most people re-raise with in a spot like this. Truthfully, he ought to have AA2, preferably with a suit, to be re-raising. AA with a poor low draw isn’t that strong a hand in PLO8, especially with stacks as deep as these. That doesn’t mean I put him on AA2, because I’m not about to give a random that kind of credit, but that’s what he ought to have.

Again, when he pots the flop, he ought to have something other than AA, but that’s not a guarantee. With my top two pair and back door low draw, I was pretty sure it’d be thin but OK to get it in. I wasn’t happy to see that he had the nut flush draw, but when I ran the equity, I was actually still a coin flip:

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=6010637
pokenum  -o8 td as 9s 2c  - jc ad ac 7h  -- 9c tc 7s
Omaha Hi/Low 8-or-better: 820 enumerated boards containing 7s Tc 9c
cards          scoop  HIwin  HIlos  HItie  LOwin  LOlos  LOtie     EV
As 9s  2c  Td    349    349    463      8    160      0      0  0.493
Ac Jc  Ad  7h    361    463    349      8      0      0      0  0.507

Even if we let him keep the nut flush draw and give him the A2 that he ought to have to go along with it, my equity is still pretty good:

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=6010643
pokenum  -o8 td as 9s 2c  - jc ad ac 2h  -- 9c tc 7s
Omaha Hi/Low 8-or-better: 820 enumerated boards containing 7s Tc 9c
cards          scoop  HIwin  HIlos  HItie  LOwin  LOlos  LOtie     EV
As 9s  2c  Td    348    438    382      0      0      0    160  0.528
Ac Jc  Ad  2h    312    382    438      0      0      0    160  0.472


And even if he keeps the low draw, I'm a big favorite if he doesn't have the flush:

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=6010647
pokenum  -o8 td as 9s 2c  - jd ad ac 2h  -- 9c tc 7s
Omaha Hi/Low 8-or-better: 820 enumerated boards containing 7s Tc 9c
cards          scoop  HIwin  HIlos  HItie  LOwin  LOlos  LOtie     EV
As 9s  2c  Td    453    613    207      0      0      0    160  0.699
Ac Ad  Jd  2h    207    207    613      0      0      0    160  0.301

Thought I’m not playing the FTOPS events as compulsively as I have in the past, I am playing my favorites. So far, though, it hasn’t been too interesting and I decided to spare you the litany of bad beats. Last night I had my first cash, taking 40th in the $300 Razz. The only potentially interesting hand was the one where I lost my stack:

Tournament – *Razz* (2,500/5,000), Ante 400, Bring-In 800

Rosiepod (Seat 1): 31,063
Foucault (Seat 2): 26,248
bearw8 (Seat 3): 51,310
OnTheRail15 (Seat 4): 40,129
Crisp86 (Seat 5): 31,676
RSonkee (Seat 6): 124,685
Carmen35 (Seat 7): 38,570
DAT MOOSE (Seat 8): 67,590

*3rd Street* – (1.28 SB)

Rosiepod: xx xx 3c___folds
Foucault: 4c 6d 7h___calls
bearw8: xx xx 8d___folds
OnTheRail15: xx xx Th___*brings-in*___folds
Crisp86: xx xx 4d___folds
RSonkee: xx xx Ad___completes
Carmen35: xx xx 9h___folds
DAT MOOSE: xx xx 2c___calls

*4th Street* – (4.60 SB)

Foucault: 4c 6d 7h 2h___calls
RSonkee: xx xx Ad Qs___folds
DAT MOOSE: xx xx 2c 5c___*bets*

*5th Street* – (3.30 BB)

Foucault: 4c 6d 7h 2h 5d___*bets*___calls
DAT MOOSE: xx xx 2c 5c 7d___raises

*6th Street* – (7.30 BB)

Foucault: 4c 6d 7h 2h 5d 6s___*checks*___calls
DAT MOOSE: xx xx 2c 5c 7d Jd___bets

*River* – (9.30 BB)

Foucault: 4c 6d 7h 2h 5d 6s Td___*checks*___calls
DAT MOOSE: xx xx 2c 5c 7d Jd xx___bets

*Total pot:* (11.30 BB – 56,500)

Results:

Total pot 56,500 | Rake 0
DAT MOOSE showed [Kh 3h 2c 5c 7d Jd Ah] and won (56,500) with 7,5,3,2,A

Note: this site shuffles the hole cards.

Looking at it now this doesn’t look so bad, but at the time I had an awful feeling about it. Possibly a better Razz player can escape at some point. It’s hard to say, though- by the time he’s raising fifth, the pot is quite big. I do have draws at a 6 occasionally people will overplay bad Razz hands, though I don’t think that was happening here.

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.

Then I lost a good sized pot by raising up a bunch of limpers with AQ on my Button. Only the last limper called, and the pot was like twice her stack at that point. She shoved in on a QhJhTc flop and showed me KhQh, which got there.

Other than that I was running pretty well on all ins, won from the wrong end of a few 40/60’s against short stacks, and my AK held against Phwap’s AJ (pretty bad shove by him but also pretty standard for him) to pick up a nice pot.

We’d cut the field by about 85%, and I was rocking a well-above average stack. I’d been raising a lot from late position, and the table knew that. I’d shown down stuff like K2. But only one guy had been 3-betting me a lot. So I made a play at him:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 500/1,000 Blinds, 125 Ante, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

UTG+2: 9,674
MP1: 19,105
MP2: 21,027
Hero (CO): 40,285
BTN: 45,691
SB: 35,075
BB: 56,239
UTG: 34,537
UTG+1: 20,960

Pre-Flop: (2,625) 7 A dealt to Hero (CO)
5 folds, Hero raises to 2,666, BTN folds, SB raises to 7,985, BB folds, Hero raises to 40,160 and is All-In, SB calls 26,965 and is All-In

Flop: (72,025) 3 2 8 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Turn: (72,025) K (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

River: (72,025) T (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: 72,025 Pot
Hero showed 7 A (Ace King high) and LOST (-35,075 NET)
SB showed Q A (Ace King high) and WON 72,025 (+36,950 NET)

Not sure what to make of this. He tanked for a long time, which suggests a few things: he wasn’t 3-betting a polarized range, ie only hands that would snap-call or snap-fold; and he probably would have folded a lot of those hands. That suggests it was a good shove, but then again, I feel like I’ve been saying that as consolation a lot lately.

Trojans is famous for being a nit, so I made a kind of big fold to him early in the tournament. Turns out I was good, but I still think it was a good fold, because I imagine he plays KK and AA the same way:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

CO: 4,990
BTN: 4,960
SB: 4,980
BB: 5,060
UTG: 5,000
UTG+1: 4,980
Hero (MP): 5,030

Pre-Flop: (30) Q Q dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to 60, Hero calls 60, CO folds, BTN raises to 260, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls 200, Hero calls 200

Flop: (810) 8 7 6 (3 Players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks, BTN bets 500, UTG+1 calls 500, Hero folds

Turn: (1,810) A (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, BTN checks

River: (1,810) 2 (2 Players)
UTG+1 bets 320, BTN calls 320

Results: 2,450 Pot
BTN mucked J J (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-1,080 NET)
UTG+1 showed Q Q (a pair of Queens) and WON 2,450 (+1,370 NET)

There was another interesting spot early on where I turned middle pair, check-called for value, and then decided to turn my hand into a bluff on the river:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

MP2: 6,051
CO: 7,820
BTN: 4,970
SB: 4,890
BB: 1,641
UTG: 4,555
UTG+1: 5,444
Hero (MP1): 4,629

Pre-Flop: (30) T A dealt to Hero (MP1)
2 folds, Hero raises to 70, MP2 calls 70, 4 folds

Flop: (170) K 2 4 (2 Players)
Hero bets 134, MP2 calls 134

Turn: (438) T (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets 300, Hero calls 300

River: (1,038) Q (2 Players)
Hero bets 625, MP2 folds

Results: 1,038 Pot
Hero mucked T A and WON 1,038 (+534 NET)

My thinking here was that I could fold out better pairs and random low flushes, since it looks quite a bit like I have Ac and a pair. Then I enticed this guy to shove on me drawing to a gutshot and a running flush:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 25/50 Blinds, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

MP1: 4,864
MP2: 7,515
CO: 6,621
BTN: 5,746
SB: 2,519
BB: 6,099
UTG: 6,412
Hero (UTG+1): 4,719

Pre-Flop: (75) A A dealt to Hero (UTG+1)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 134, 4 folds, SB calls 109, BB folds

Flop: (318) J J T (2 Players)
SB bets 212, Hero raises to 555, SB raises to 2,385 and is All-In, Hero calls 1,830

Turn: (5,088) 9 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

River: (5,088) 5 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: 5,088 Pot
SB showed Q A (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-2,519 NET)
Hero showed A A (two pair, Aces and Jacks) and WON 5,088 (+2,569 NET)

I actually put on a smaller pair and was trying to induce the same play, but this works, too. Probably my favorite hand of the tournament was this triple barrel:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

UTG+2: 4,104
MP1: 12,670
MP2: 7,820
CO: 7,226
BTN: 6,465
SB: 20,698
BB: 10,625
UTG: 10,166
Hero (UTG+1): 7,758

Pre-Flop: (120) 5 5 dealt to Hero (UTG+1)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 218, 2 folds, MP2 calls 218, CO calls 218, 3 folds

Flop: (774) T A 8 (3 Players)
Hero bets 540, MP2 calls 540, CO folds

Turn: (1,854) 3 (2 Players)
Hero bets 1,250, MP2 calls 1,250

River: (4,354) K (2 Players)
Hero bets 3,250, MP2 folds

Results: 4,354 Pot
Hero mucked 5 5 and WON 4,354 (+2,346 NET)

There’s actually not a lot to say about this one. It was some combination of the board texture and his timing that convinced me to pull the trigger on the river- he called the turn super-quickly, which I don’t think he’d ever do with a monster given how many draws were out there. So I’m putting him on either a bare A or a pair and a flush draw. When the draws missed on the river, I figured he was folding nearly 100% of his range.

Plattsburgh was really the perfect guy for this next play. He’s pretty aggressive pre-flop, and since I had position on him and stacks were deep, I’d already 3-bet him several times. I know that he’s capable of 4-betting light, and I doubt he knows anything about me to think that I could 5-bet light. Plus, since he plays tournaments exclusively, he’s rarely going to be playing with stack depths and opponents where light 5-betting is a consideration. So I think his 4-betting range here is going to be way too wide, since he probably doesn’t expect me to move on him without Ace-King.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 80/160 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: 2,088
BB: 6,720
UTG: 21,908
UTG+1: 16,737
UTG+2: 16,462
MP1: 13,120
MP2: 7,129
CO: 15,744
Hero (BTN): 11,316

Pre-Flop: (240) Q A dealt to Hero (BTN)
5 folds, CO raises to 420, Hero raises to 1,111, 2 folds, CO raises to 3,124, Hero raises to 11,316 and is All-In, CO folds

Results: 6,488 Pot
Hero mucked Q A and WON 6,488 (+3,364 NET)

For what it’s worth, it doesn’t matter that I have AQs here, because I think his calling range is QQ+ and AK. The Ace is important, though, because it gives me equity against KK and more importantly because of card removal effects; with an A in my hand, he is that much less likely to hold AA or AK in the first place.

I didn’t have much time to enjoy the nice stack, though, because two orbits later I had to make an excruciating fold:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 80/160 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

CO: 2,488
BTN: 5,840
SB: 22,248
BB: 15,317
UTG: 16,222
UTG+1: 16,680
UTG+2: 5,609
MP1: 12,460
Hero (MP2): 14,360

Pre-Flop: (240) J A dealt to Hero (MP2)
2 folds, UTG+2 calls 160, MP1 folds, Hero raises to 666, 2 folds, SB calls 586, BB folds, UTG+2 calls 506

Flop: (2,158) 8 4 J (3 Players)
SB checks, UTG+2 checks, Hero bets 1,194, SB raises to 2,500, UTG+2 folds, Hero calls 1,306

Turn: (7,158) 6 (2 Players)
SB bets 3,000, Hero calls 3,000

River: (13,158) T (2 Players)
SB bets 5,000, Hero folds

Results: 13,158 Pot
SB mucked and WON 13,158 (+6,992 NET)

I very nearly folded the turn. For as little as 500 chips more, I would have. It took discipline, but between the T falling on the river to put me behind JT and the fact that the guy kept betting, I just couldn’t justify a river call. With every bet, it becomes that much less likely that he’s overvaluing QJ or KJ, which is all I can beat at this point. Without a read, it’s a fold, though an annoying one.

I won a few more medium-sized pots, mostly by open shoving, but the blinds and later the antes were eating into me. Eventually I shoved over an early positio raise with AKs and lost a flip to 99 to bust out. That’s the bad thing about well-structure tournaments: I played for seven hours and didn’t even come close to winning anything.

An example of what I mean but loose and passive but not necessarily bad (since I am just a random in his eyes):

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

CO: 2,340
BTN: 2,625
Lindgren: 7,415
BB: 6,030
Hero (UTG): 2,025
UTG+1: 1,505
MP: 2,060

Pre-Flop: (120) Q Q dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to 225, 4 folds, Lindgren calls 185, BB calls 145

Flop: (675) A 4 8 (3 Players)
Lindgren checks, BB bets 320, Hero calls 320, Lindgren calls 320

Turn: (1,635) 2 (3 Players)
Lindgren checks, BB checks, Hero checks

River: (1,635) 2 (3 Players)
Lindgren checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Results: 1,635 Pot
Lindgren showed A J (two pair, Aces and Twos) and WON 1,635 (+1,090 NET)
BB showed 6 8 (two pair, Eights and Twos) and LOST (-545 NET)
Hero showed Q Q (two pair, Queens and Twos) and LOST (-545 NET)

By the way, BB was a terrible LAGtard and QQ is way ahead of his range when he leads flop. I was definitely not expecting Lindgren to show up with an Ace behind me.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: 1,500
BB: 3,000
Hero (UTG): 3,000
CO: 3,000
BTN: 3,000

Pre-Flop: (45) 9 9 dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to 90, CO folds, BTN raises to 315, 2 folds, Hero calls 225

Flop: (675) 8 T Q (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (675) 4 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 450, Hero calls 450

River: (1,575) Q (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 1,250, Hero calls 1,250

Results: 4,075 Pot
Hero mucked 9 9 (two pair, Queens and Nines) and LOST (-2,015 NET)
BTN showed A T (two pair, Queens and Tens) and WON 4,075 (+2,060 NET)

I got him back a bit by stealing this pot from him:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

BTN: 2,835
SB: 3,150
Hero (BB): 3,065
UTG: 2,845
CO: 4,605

Pre-Flop: (45) 7 5 dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls 30, CO raises to 135, BTN folds, SB calls 120, Hero calls 105, UTG calls 105

Flop: (540) 9 T 8 (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks, CO checks

Turn: (540) K (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks, CO bets 360, SB folds, Hero raises to 980, 2 folds

Results: 1,260 Pot
Hero mucked 7 5 and WON 1,260 (+765 NET)

He virtually never has more than one pair here, and I think he has nothing at all a fair amount of the time. Most importantly, I don’t think he ever expects me to be bluffing here. Plus I do have some outs if called.

I briefly got up a decent stack, but then another 25/50 NL player got seated on my immediate right. He raised from the SB, I re-raised 88 from the BB, and called his shove. He had AK and got there.

Apparently the same person won both Event 14 and Event 15. Some guy called yuvee04 who won an FTOPS event in a previous series as well. As far as I know, he’s not a tournament regular or anything. And I haven’t heard of any allegations of cheating. Sounds like he’s just on the heater of a lifetime.

But I also made a pretty big error in a Stud/8 game, so I guess I’ll be talking about how I suck at Stud/8 (though this is really just a Stud high error). On the river, my opponent was showing 6655, and I had Aces up with both Aces and two high cards showing. My opponent bet, and I raised for value. Like I was saying, no matter how clear I make it that I have Aces up, people will call down with any two pair.

I forgot, however, to think about what my opponent would be value betting. Since his two pair was open, there was no way he could be betting on the strength of that alone. He had to have either a boat or a low, and in either case there was no value in a raise. Sure enough, he had 6’s full.

Despite playing for four and a half hours, I only made it to the top 25% of the field. The hand that really hurt me came in LHE. A guy in MP raised, and I 3-bet with AKo. He called. The flop came Ad 5c 3c. He checked, I bet, he check-raised, and I called. the turn was an off-suit 8, he bet, and I raised. The river was a T, and he check-called with Ac Tc. Unlucky river for me, but there were quite a few of those that could have come.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 80/160 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

BTN: 4,508
SB: 3,985
BB: 7,345
UTG: 4,061
Hero (UTG+1): 4,680
UTG+2: 1,799
MP1: 4,380
MP2: 6,069
CO: 5,942

Pre-Flop: (240) A A dealt to Hero (UTG+1)
UTG folds, Hero raises to 444, 2 folds, MP2 calls 444, 4 folds

Flop: (1,128) 6 7 T (2 Players)
Hero bets 736, MP2 calls 736

Turn: (2,600) 9 (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets 4,889 and is All-In, Hero folds

Results: 2,600 Pot
MP2 mucked and WON 2,600 (+1,420 NET)

I contemplated check-raising the flop. Maybe this is results oriented, but I definitely wish I had. Then again, I probably would have gotten it in good and lost on a suckout.

Eventually, of course, that did happen. My Queens lost to A4, then I got Queens again and shoved 11BB UTG and mig.com on my immediate left (yeah I wasn’t running good at table draws either) cold called. He had AKs, but I lost the flip.

Full Tilt Poker Game #7600724839: FTOPS Event #9 (53834230), Table 1 – 15/30 – No Limit Hold’em – 2:39:00 ET – 2008/08/11
tedsfishfry posts the small blind of 15
RandomDonk posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
tedsfishfry raises to 90
RandomDonk raises to 300
tedsfishfry has 15 seconds left to act
tedsfishfry raises to 855
RandomDonk has 15 seconds left to act
RandomDonk has requested TIME
RandomDonk raises to 3,000, and is all in
tedsfishfry calls 2,145, and is all in
RandomDonk shows [Ah 8d]
tedsfishfry shows [9c 9d]
*** FLOP *** [2d Js Ad]
*** TURN *** [2d Js Ad] [6d]
RandomDonk: wow
*** RIVER *** [2d Js Ad 6d] [Jd]
RandomDonk shows a flush, Ace high
tedsfishfry shows a flush, Ace high
tedsfishfry wins the pot (6,000) with a flush, Ace high
RandomDonk stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,000 | Rake 0
Board: [2d Js Ad 6d Jd]
Seat 1: RandomDonk (big blind) showed [Ah 8d] and lost with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: tedsfishfry (small blind) showed [9c 9d] and won (6,000) with a flush, Ace high

Then in the final round, he won yet another “flip”:

Full Tilt Poker Game #7600887368: FTOPS Event #9 (53834230), Table 1 – 15/30 – No Limit Hold’em – 3:02:56 ET – 2008/08/11
Seat 1: Antonio18 (3,085)
Seat 2: tedsfishfry (2,915)
Antonio18 posts the small blind of 15
tedsfishfry posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Antonio18 raises to 90
tedsfishfry calls 60
*** FLOP *** [6d 3d 5h]
tedsfishfry bets 125
Antonio18 raises to 360
tedsfishfry has 15 seconds left to act
tedsfishfry raises to 955
Antonio18 raises to 2,995, and is all in
tedsfishfry calls 1,870, and is all in
Antonio18 shows [5s 4h]
tedsfishfry shows [8d 7c]
Uncalled bet of 170 returned to Antonio18
*** TURN *** [6d 3d 5h] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [6d 3d 5h 8s] [3s]
Antonio18 shows two pair, Fives and Threes
tedsfishfry shows two pair, Eights and Threes
tedsfishfry wins the pot (5,830) with two pair, Eights and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,830 | Rake 0
Board: [6d 3d 5h 8s 3s]
Seat 1: Antonio18 (small blind) showed [5s 4h] and lost with two pair, Fives and Threes
Seat 2: tedsfishfry (big blind) showed [8d 7c] and won (5,830) with two pair, Eights and Threes

I guess when you play 200 tournaments/day you are bound to win one eventually! Way to go, Shaun!

Round 1

My first two opponents were ridiculously soft. I polished the first off in minutes, then waited over an hour for round two.

Round 2

I was so busy playing other tables that I didn’t even notice we had started up again. My opponent was happily stealing my blinds. But I got there before too long, and he was so terrible it didn’t matter. He never bluffed and always revealed exactly what he had with the size of his bets. Somehow, the match still lasted forever. It had a lot with his 87s beating my ATo all-in pre-flop, then his QJ beat my KK, then he flopped a higher flush than I did. I still came back and eventually pulled off a little suckout to win with K5 > A8s.

Round 3

This was the toughest match of the day. My opponent was very aggressive, and I found myself on the defensive, which is not a good place to be heads up. It was tough to play back at him without cards, but I managed my image well and pulled off some well-timed check-raise and 3-bet bluffs. Eventually we got it all in pre-flop on a flip and my 99 held vs his AJ.

Round 4

Initially, this guy was solid but overly tight. I grinded him down and got in some good value bets. My favorite one was when I raised 43s on the button, and he called in the BB. The flop came K32, and he checked and called a bet. The turn was a K, and we both checked. The river came a Q, he checked, and I bet like 65% of the pot. He called with A5. Ship it!

I think that tilted him a bit, which actually led him to play better in some sense because he got more aggressive. I called a raise with KJ on my BB and checked and called a K64 flop. I was planning to check-call down, but then a 5 came on the turn. Not wanting to see the board check through and turn ugly, I led out for half the pot. My opponent shoved, and I called him instantly. His T8 was much weaker than I expected to see, and I knocked him out on that one.

Round 5

This guy was not good. I googled his name and one of the hits was literally for a ranking of “Most Passive Online Players”. I swear I am not making that up.

Unfortunately, he was calling everything pre-flop and hitting every flop. He also wasn’t that passive. He raised his button a lot and tended to bet or raise whenever he got a piece of the flop. Eventually I raised JTo on the button and he called. The flop was 983 with two diamonds (I had Jd). He checked, I bet, and he min-check-raised. He’d been doing that a fair bit, and while it meant he had something, it didn’t necessarily signify a monster. I shoved, but he tanked and eventually called with K9, which held up.

The fact that he had to think with K9 was a good sign. I’m sure he would have played T9 or K8 the same way, so K9 was very much the top of his range. If he was thinking of folding that, it means my shove was definitely good. Sucks to keep getting so close, but the FTOPS has always been like that for me.

The tournament itself was pretty uneventful, too, even though it down to the top 5% or so. Pretty much every key hand was decided pre-flop. There was one early on where I raised KJs UTG for nearly 10% of my stack. The CO called and so did the BB.

The flop was like Ac 9d 7c or something. I bet, and the CO min-raised. Given how much of stack went in pre-flop, I thought he would have re-raised with a good Ace. Plus I had a flush draw, so I shoved on him. He called me with A9s for top two pair, but I drilled the flush on the river to double up.

After that I got away with a lot of blind stealing, especially around the bubble. Even after we were in the money, there were some guys playing ridiculously tight.

Eventually my luck couldn’t hold. Everyone was pretty shallow, and my AKs lost to AQ. After 5 hours, I got twice my money back. Thankfully I was doing pretty well in cash games at the same time, so I was still up pretty substantially on the day. Here’s a nice little series of hands from that match:

Poker Stars, $10/$20 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: $2,156
Hero (BB): $4,281
UTG: $4,287
MP: $4,625.50
CO: $2,186
BTN: $1,436

Pre-Flop: 7 6 dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls $20, 4 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($50) 8 5 9 (2 Players)
Hero bets $60, UTG calls $60

Turn: ($170) 4 (2 Players)
Hero bets $200, UTG calls $200

River: ($570) 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets $750, UTG calls $750

Results: $2,070 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 7 6 (a straight, Five to Nine) and WON $2,067 (+$1,037 NET)
UTG mucked 6 A and LOST (-$1,030 NET)

Note that I overbet every street with the flopped nuts. And he called down with a gutshot that rivered a weak pair. Naturally I was salivating to flop a set against him:

Poker Stars, $10/$20 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: $2,173
Hero (BB): $5,385
UTG: $3,591
MP: $4,365.50
CO: $2,116
BTN: $1,990

Pre-Flop: 2 2 dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls $20, MP calls $20, 2 folds, SB calls $10, Hero checks

Flop: ($80) 4 K 2 (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $80, UTG calls $80, MP folds, SB calls $80

Turn: ($320) A (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $285, UTG raises to $800, SB folds, Hero raises to $5,285 and is All-In, UTG calls $2,691 and is All-In

River: ($7,302) Q (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: $7,302 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 2 2 (three of a kind, Deuces) and WON $7,299 (+$3,708 NET)
UTG mucked 4 A and LOST (-$3,591 NET)

I was afraid overbetting again might be a give-away, since he was probably feeling dumb from before. At this point I was praying he would reload, which he did. Sadly, that proved to be bad for me:

Poker Stars, $10/$20 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

UTG: $2,013
Hero (MP): $9,083
CO: $2,000
BTN: $3,763.50
SB: $2,056
BB: $2,708

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $88, CO calls $68, 3 folds

Flop: ($166) T Q 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $180, CO raises to $360, Hero raises to $8,995, CO calls $1,542

Turn: ($3,970) 6 (2 Players)

River: ($3,970) 9 (2 Players)

Results: $3,970 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed A A (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$1,970 NET)
CO showed J A (a straight, Eight to Queen) and WON $4,017 (+$2,047 NET)

I wasn’t thrilled to see him min-raise this flop, but obviously I am not folding AA to this clown. Oh well, can’t win them all. It was still a sweet day, despite this, a few other beats/coolers, and the close-but-so-far finish in the 100r.

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $20/$40
6 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $4660
UTG+1: $7183
CO: $4980
Hero: $4790
SB: $4870
BB: $3517

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is Button with :ts :tc :kc :as
3 folds, Hero raises to $140, SB folds, BB calls.

Flop: :5s :7s :th ($300, 2 players)
BB bets $300, Hero raises to $900, BB calls.

Turn: :8h ($2100, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1250, BB calls.

River: :4d ($4600, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Results:
Final pot: $4600
Hero showed Ts Tc Kc As
BB showed 6s 8s Kd Qs

Sorry it’s tough to follow. I flopped top set and the nut flush draw and lost to an open-ender with a worse flush draw. Money only went in when I was ahead, though.

Eventually I busted raising JJAx from the button and calling a shove from AAKx.

There are two seminal books that address the value of tournament chips: David Sklansky’s Tournament Poker for Advanced Players and Mason Malmuth’s Gambling Theory and Other Topics. I haven’t read Malmuth’s book, but my understanding is that both make a similar argument that this value is non-linear. Another words, your last chip is worth more than your second to last chip is worth more than your third to last chip etc. Each chip you add to your stack increases the value of your stack, but by less than the preceeding chip did. So if you have on chip worth x, and you double up, your stack is worth marginally less than 2x. And if you double again, your stack will not be worth 4x. This is because survival has value in a tournament where all of the prize pool is not paid to the winner.

The countervailing principle is that chips are worth more in the hands of a skilled player than an unskilled player. This is because better players will have the opportunity to use those chips to win more chips. They contain within them the player’s expected value for the tournament. In FTOPS Event 4, the first 2000 chips, which cost $300, were probably worth $750 or so to the best player in the field. Conversely, they were probably worth about $50 to the worst player.

You can see that at this rate, it is clearly correct for the best players to rebuy immediately in a tournament that allows unlimited rebuys. Even though his second $300 buys him less than his first expenditure, it still buys him more than $300 worth of value. Conversely, it is incorrect for the worst players to rebuy. In fact, it is incorrect for them to play at all.

When only a single rebuy is permitted, this could at least theoretically change. If a skilled player uses his rebuy immediately to double his starting stack, he risks losing all 4000 of his chips at once. Although his rebuy was a good investment, he missed out on the opportunity to make an even better investment in a second tournament life. Remember, going from 0 to 2000 is worth more than going from 2000 to 4000. By opting for the latter, the player cost himself the chance to do the former a second time.

However, this must be balanced against the risk of immediately getting over 2000 chips, remaining there for the entire rebuy period, and thus losing the opportunity, to invest that second $300 at all.

The one other thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that it matters how many chips the other players at your table have and how good they are. A player cannot realize the extra value that his skill imparts to his 4000 chip stack if no one else at the table has more than 2000. If several bad players to his right all rebought immediately, then the good player should do so as well, so that he will have the opportunity to invest his additional 2000 chips well against those weak players. If several very good players to his immediate left rebought to 4000, the same player might be better off saving his rebuy as an insurance policy against elimination. Otherwise, he risks playing larger pots out of position against very good players- a scenario where those additional chips would not be invested well. If the first hour is drawing to a close and his stack is below 2000, he can always take his second rebuy then.

Unlike an unlimited rebuy tournament, where it generally makes sense to push any edge during the rebuy period since survival is never at risk, this structure makes survival during the first hour particularly important. This is because the player will have the opportunity at the end of the first hour to buy chips at a discount. $300 will buy him, not 2000 chips, as with the rebuys, but 2500 chips for an add-on. It is pretty much always profitable for a good player to add-on, and if he is eliminated in the first hour, he won’t have a chance to take this good investment.

I include this exegesis on rebuy tournament theory because I have nothing interesting to say about the tournament itself. No one at my table rebought immediately, so I didn’t either. I lost my first 2000 chips with two pair in a limped pot at the 10/20 level. My opponent seemed like a fish, so I thought he would call me down with worse, but he ended up having a better two pair. Then I rebought, added on, lasted for about an hour more despite missing tons of flops, shoved over a very weak limper with K7s, and got called by one of the blinds who had AK.

I’m not all that good at PLO, but I do want to learn, and I’m sure it will be a weak field, so I’ll probably play today’s 2:00 $500 PLO 6-Max. I’ll be playing the Stars $300 anyway. Then at 4:30 there’s a $100 rebuy FTOPS that I’ll play if I’m not sick of poker by then.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

MP2: 4,730
CO: 2,095
BTN: 8,050
SB: 7,455
Hero (BB): 4,250
UTG: 2,160
UTG+1: 3,360
UTG+2: 3,610
MP1: 2,150

Pre-Flop: (300) K Q dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls 200, 4 folds, BTN calls 200, SB calls 100, Hero checks

Flop: (800) 2 7 Q (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, BTN checks

Turn: (800) 6 (4 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets 550, UTG+1 raises to 1,600, 3 folds

Results: 1,900 Pot
UTG+1 mucked and WON 1,900 (+1,150 NET)

I think this is pretty close, and I’m not sure I made the right decision. I probably would have called a shove, but Villain left himself about 1600 behind, which I think he’s way less likely to do with a hand that he doesn’t think is best. I was also pretty sure he would have bet top pair on the flop, and I thought it showed strength that he waited until the turn to show aggression.

I also made two tight folds in the Stars weekly $320, but I don’t think either of these is all that close:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (8 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

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

Preflop: Hero is SB with Qh, Qs.
5 folds, Button raises to t60, SB raises to t200, BB calls t180, Button folds.

Flop: (t460) 2d, 7s, 2h (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t240, Hero calls t240.

Turn: (t940) 6s (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks.

River: (t940) 3s (2 players)
SB bets t660, BB raises to t2560, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t2260

Results in white below:

BB doesn’t show.

Outcome: BB wins t2260.

This isn’t really a tough fold, but I’m not sure I played the hand well earlier. Villain was pretty good, and I pretty much turned my hand face up. But knowing that, I can comfortably fold here, because I don’t think he would try to bluff me off an overpair. I’m not sure what else I can do, maybe bet the flop? I think he just had a bigger overpair and I was destined to lose some money.

Poker Stars, $300 + $20 NL Hold’em Tournament, 15/30 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

CO: 1,945
Hero (BTN): 1,800
SB: 3,440
BB: 9,735
UTG: 1,450
UTG+1: 2,775
UTG+2: 2,970
MP1: 5,650
MP2: 3,095

Pre-Flop: (45) K Q dealt to Hero (BTN)
5 folds, CO raises to 90, Hero calls 90, SB calls 75, BB folds

Flop: (300) J 5 Q (3 Players)
SB checks, CO bets 240, Hero calls 240, SB folds

Turn: (780) J (2 Players)
CO checks, Hero checks

River: (780) J (2 Players)
CO bets 1,615 and is All-In, Hero folds

Results: 780 Pot
CO mucked and WON 780 (+450 NET)

I nearly folded the flop here. When he bets big into two players on this flop, I think he usually has AQ+. It’s an easy fold to an overbet shove on the river.

Needless to say, I didn’t end up doing well in either of these tournaments. I’m playing FTOPS Event 4, which is a $300 1 rebuy/1 add-on, as I write this. Can’t say I’m of to a good start, though: forty minutes in, and I’m down to 1300 chips (at 25/50) from the starting 4000 (because I rebought).