Bloch discussed Full Tilt Poker and Black Friday at length with Diamond Flush Poker. We discussed the subject, and The Lederer Files, with Matt Parvis on Episode 7.

Timestamps

0:30 – Hello & Welcome
11:48 – Strategy
34:40 – Andy Bloch

Timestamps

0:30 – hello and welcome
2:52 – hello and welcome again
9:34 – strategy
35:38 – Patrick Leonard

Timestamps

Intro 0:30
Strategy 4:17
Interview 33:27

Strategy

1/1/2 NLHE effective stacks $300

Here raises to $6 in the CO with 7h8h, Button calls, makes it $22 from the big blind. Hero calls and the button folds.

Flop ($49) 10c 8c 6c. Villain bets $20, Hero raises to $85, Villain calls

Turn ($219) 2d. Villain checks, Hero checks.

River 8d. Villain checks, Hero?

My Personal History with Full Tilt Poker

I had more than $60,000 on Full Tilt Poker on Black Friday, and although I eventually (after more than two years) got it all back, for a long time I had no idea what was going to happen to it. And I was one of the lucky ones: there were people with a lot more than that jammed up, and there were people with less who needed it more. Although I would have rather had that money earning interest somewhere, neither my life nor my bankroll were badly affected by not having access to it.

That’s absolutely not to say that it wasn’t a lot of money to me. It was and is a significant chunk of my net worth. As many of you know, though, I try to live well within my means (#nitcast), so it wasn’t money that I needed to pay my rent nor even to be adequately bankrolled for the games I wanted to play.

What upset me most was the gall of the whole thing, how they stonewalled and lied to us after Black Friday, even as it slowly became clear that Full Tilt did not have our money, and that the reason they did not have our money was that they had mismanaged it, making reckless loans and paying out huge disbursements to shareholders. As far as I’m concerned, getting my money back after two years didn’t make any of that go away, and it didn’t make us square. I’m holding my breath for any further compensation, but I’m not eager to welcome Ferguson and Lederer back into the good graces of the poker world, either.

I’ll admit that I don’t know Ferguson’s exact role in what went wrong before and after Black Friday. That’s not willful ignorance: there’s just not a lot of hard information available. According to Mike Sexton, whom I do consider to be a broadly reliable source, Ferguson actually did more than any of the other principals at FTP to help protect and restore player balances.

That’s to his credit, but it doesn’t change my opinion that he played a role in screwing me and took home millions of dollars in the process. As a member of the Board of Directors, he had an obligation to ensure the safety of player deposits, and he didn’t do it, and although he may have lost or given back some of it, I believe that there is to this day there’s money in his bank account that isn’t rightfully his.

I’d more or less put all of this behind me, until Lederer and Ferguson summoned up a new batch of gall and decided to start making noise in the poker world again. Lederer recently claimed “full responsibility” for Full Tilt’s failure, though that doesn’t seem to entail any monetary sacrifice on his part.

Ferguson Arrives

As far as I know, Ferguson has never made any kind of public statement about Full Tilt and certainly hasn’t offered a public apology. I knew that he would be been around the Rio, and I even passed him in the men’s room once, but it never occurred to me that he would land at my table. I assumed he only planned to play a few of the higher buy-in events. What he was doing in an $888 tournament is beyond me.

When he arrived at the table, it was a shock. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I had no idea what to do. No real good could come from confronting him: what did I think, that he was going to cut me a check on the spot? That he was going to break down in tears and confess to everything? I knew that it would only upset me and distract me from the game. Besides, was I just going to attack him out of nowhere? How do you start that conversation?

Still, it irked me that he was able to pony up to the table like it was no big deal, like bygones were bygones, like he was just another poker player. I’d been vocal on the internet about how Full Tilt players were never made whole – was I just going to sit there quietly when I finally had the chance to confront one of the owners directly?

My hands were shaking and my mind was spinning. I could hardly pay attention to what else was going on at the table. Thankfully, my stack was short enough that all of my decisions were binary and didn’t require much thought.

I remembered some wisdom I picked up from Tommy Angelo, though I’m sure it’s not unique to him: forgiveness isn’t something you do for the person you’ve forgiving, it’s something you do for yourself, because anger and bitterness are poison and you shouldn’t keep them inside of you.

What did I really know about Ferguson’s side of the story? I was rushing to a judgment that, though I had a high degree of confidence in it, was not 100%. Maybe he really was some hero operating behind the scenes. It wasn’t likely, but it was possible.

The nice way to put it would be that I decided to take the high road. Maybe I just chickened out. But I decided not to say anything to him and just focus on playing cards.

That peace lasted for a few minutes, until another player at our table was eliminated. After gathering his things, the young man reached out to shake Ferguson’s hand. “It’s an honor”,  he said. “Glad to have you back.”

That was the final straw, but it was also the icebreaker I needed. “I don’t agree with that, for what it’s worth,” I declared to the table at large. “Anyone else here have money on Full Tilt Poker?”

No one responded. I didn’t know whether the answer was no, or whether I was just speaking so agitatedly that they couldn’t understand me. I locked eyes with the guy who looked most like a former online player. “Did you have money on Full Tilt?”

He removed his headphones. I asked him again. “No,” he told me. I could feel my face reddening. Ferguson still hadn’t said anything, but I certainly had his attention.

“I had $60,000 locked up for over two years,” I said.

“And did you get it back?” Ferguson asked me, as though that would make everything OK.

“That was $60,000 I couldn’t access for two years. No interest.”

“Sorry about that. But you got it back?”

Finally, someone else chimed in. “I had over $9000 in bonuses that I never received,” he said.

“But you got the balance back?” Chris asked.

“No,” I interrupted. “You asked whether we got paid back. The answer is, we got some of what we were owed.”

We just stared at each other for a few seconds after that. There was nothing more to say. I sat back down. My hands were still shaking, and my face was burning, but it was a relief to say something to him.

I’m relieved that I didn’t say anything nasty, and I truly don’t wish him harm or misfortune. But for him just to return to the poker world like nothing happened feels like a denial of all of the harm that Full Tilt did to so many individuals and to our community in general. When I saw him literally being welcomed back, I felt compelled to offer a counterweight to that sentiment.

Ferguson Departs

Ferguson had late registered, so he was playing a short stack. The first time he shoved, it was for about 8BBs in middle position. I was holding A4s in the CO and briefly considered calling him, but I realized my emotions were getting the best of me and folded.

A few orbits later, he jammed 6BBs UTG, and I was in middle position with ATo. This, I decided, was a call. Not a spite call, just a good call. I called.

The Ace came right on the flop, and it was still good on the river. I’d busted Chris Ferguson. He tapped the table, looked me in the eye, and nodded at me. “Good luck.”

I nodded in acknowledgment and quietly stacked my chips.

Gareth’s last appearance on the show was Episode 123. For those who don’t know who he is, his first appearance was Episode 6.

Timestamps

0:30 – hello & welcome
46:10 – strategy: folding an overpair

Strategy

Blinds 300/600/75. Hero (12K) opens to 1450 with Kd Kh. Late middle position (15K), SB (10K), and BB (20K) call.

T96cc. Check, check, check, 3000, fold, shove for 15K, Hero folds.

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.

If you’re a member of Tournament Poker Edge, then you’ll also want to check out my new theory series on bluffing. Like my hand reading and value betting series, it’s a combination of slide show and hand examples.

If you aren’t yet a member of Tournament Poker Edge, you can sign up here!

As “The Poker Philosopher”, and in honor of one of my favorite non-poker blogs, I occasionally consider the ethical dimensions of a high-profile controversy or occurrence in the poker community. This is the first in a series of posts about the major players in the recent Poker Stars – Full Tilt Poker – Department of Justice settlement. Older editions of The Poker Ethicist are available in the archives.

Q: As you’ve probably heard by now, the Department of Justice recently approved a settlement in which PokerStars will buy the remaining assets of Full Tilt Poker, pay a fine to the DOJ, restore the FTP balances of non-American players, and ultimately re-open the site. American players (more specifically those of us who were Americans as of June 29, 2011), via a process yet to be determined, will be able to apply to the DOJ for restitution of our money. The online poker community, myself included, is understandably elated about this near-ideal resolution to perhaps the darkest chapter in our short history.

Many direct their gratitude towards PokerStars. The word “savior” has been tossed around liberally. Numerous Stars-sponsored players have expressed pride at representing the company. Short Stacked Shamus, in a characteristically entertaining blog post, paints PokerStars as the hero in a John Wayne-esque narrative of law-breaking and vigilantism. Dominic Kofert, CEO of PokerStrategy.com, sees them as the benevolent dictator of the new world order of online poker:

Once the acquisition is completed and Full Tilt goes back online, PokerStars, which already has a world-wide market share of around 60%, will have substantially grown the margin by which it is the largest operator in the world. With most competitors severely struggling, I will not be surprised if PokerStars/Full Tilt’s market share reaches 75% by the end of 2013.

For many, this market dominance will be something to worry about. However, judging by PokerStars’ conduct over the past years and assuming that the company’s great philosophy does not change now that PokerStars.com co-founder Isai Scheinberg has to step down, I think that PokerStars will act responsibly and with the players in mind going forward – as it has always done in the past.

Do we owe PokerStars our gratitude? Or was this just a savvy maneuver to acquire their largest competitor and establish a near-monopoly on online poker? Should the average player really be celebrating this deal?

A: To quote Grandpa Simpson, “A little from column A and a little from column B.”

Let’s start with the obvious: PokerStars isn’t doing anything out of the goodness of their heart. There’s been rampant speculation about why the company would be interested in Full Tilt. Did they seek its customer database? Good will with the DOJ? Good will with the online poker community? Re-entry to the US market? All of the above?

Your guess is as good as mine. Whatever their reasons, I believe Stars wouldn’t have purchased FTP unless they believed it was in their interest to do so.

I know they’re playing a game and acting strategically in their own best interest, but that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful. What I’ve always respected about Stars – I used to represent them myself – is that they are playing a long game, and that’s good for customers.

Among other things, PokerStars has just purchased a generous helping of legitimacy for online poker. Black Friday and subsequent revelations about the FTP “Ponzi scheme” made mainstream headlines around the world and surely scared away thousands of would-be depositors from other online poker sites. Making the affected players whole may not undo the public relations damage entirely, but it’s a gigantic step in the right direction.

The companies that have done the most harm to online poker – Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker – were playing a short game. Common wisdom once held that no company would risk slaying the goose that laid the golden egg by stealing customer money. That assumption proved wrong. Principals at all of those companies chose a short-term windfall over an uncertain but potentially even more profitable future. In other words, they took the money and ran (or not).

In ways large and small, PokerStars has repeatedly demonstrated that they are in it for the long haul. It’s clear from their recent actions that they expect to be in the online poker business 10 years from now, and they’ve just made an investment that may take that long to mature.

That makes them a good company to work with, because it means that good customer service is in their interest. They want satisfied customers and repeat business. They want legitimacy and a regulated, predictable marketplace. Their business model seems to align with the interests of their players in a way that, at least in retrospect, FTP’s and UB’s did not (though also in retrospect, the signs were there: re-entry tournaments, anyone?).

Arguably, FTP and UB made the wrong choice, not just ethically, but financially. They may well have made more money by running honest businesses. Sometimes greed overtakes good business sense, and sometimes people are just short-sighted.

I’m grateful that PokerStars has so far eluded these pitfalls, but I don’t delude myself into thinking that they are playing sheriff out of an innate sense of justice. Nor have they claimed to be. In fact, I would distrust any company that did claim such.

I expect a large corporation to act in its own self-interest. If one tries to tell me they are not, then they’re lying, and that makes me suspicious. I’m far more comfortable in a relationship where I know what game the other party is playing and I can see how their interests align with mine. Both PokerStars and I have an interest in the long-term viability and legitimacy of the online poker industry, and that makes me glad to be their customer, even if I’m not kissing their feet. I’m grateful that they seem to have the foresight that some of their competitors lacked, and that even as they close this landmark deal they continue to work tirelessly to serve their customers.

That doesn’t mean that I’m sanguine about a single company possessing such a large share of the market. I feel better when a company, no matter how benevolent the owner (who, by the way, is stepping down as a condition of this settlement) or how strong the track record, feels that treating their customers right is good business and not simply “the right thing to do” as a matter of principle. Principles change, especially when there’s a lot of money at stake.

Thankfully PokerStars still has a lot of self-interested reasons to treat its customers well. They may soon face competition from gaming mega-brands like Caesar’s/World Series of Poker in a regulated US marketplace. They know that they can’t afford to rest on their laurels if they want to gain access to that market at all, let alone be competitive in it. It’s no coincidence that PokerStars’ own announcement of the settlement concludes with these words:

Our settlement acknowledges that both PokerStars and Full Tilt are eligible to apply for a license in the U.S. to offer real money poker when states or the federal government offer such an opportunity. We look forward to this opportunity and are confident that we bring tremendous value, regulatory experience, market credibility and financial integrity to the marketplace.

We’re optimistic about the future and we look forward to sharing the next chapters in our history with you.

My sentiments exactly.

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

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

In the last year, Nico’s home country of Spain has adopted legislation restricting its citizens to playing on Spanish-only sites, and Soeren’s home country of Germany threatens to enact similar legislation. Back in the United States, the patchwork of pending legislation at the state and federal levels is too complex for me to keep up with it. Although the holy grail would be legislation welcoming PokerStars back into the US market so that US players could compete against the rest of the world, at this point even the creation of a US-only market would be a vast improvement over the status quo.

For now, though, I remain a poker nomad. I play the EPT Berlin on Monday and hopefully the rest of the week as well. Last night a former student who lives in Berlin picked us up at the train station and took us to dinner. Soon we’ll be on to Amsterdam, where I hope to meet another former student and also spend some time with Richard “tzen1” Veenman, a member of PokerStars Team Online whom I first met in the Bahamas earlier this year.

A long-time blog reader offered us a couch to crash on in his Paris apartment, so that’s where we’ll be after the SCOOP. Then there’s hiking in the Swiss alps, hopefully meeting a student in Switzerland while we’re there, and then on to a small town in Germany for the wedding of one of my closest friends, who asked me to be his best man on this date in 2011.

I still haven’t answered any of those big questions, but I’ve managed to orient myself and muddle my way through a messy situation by focusing on what’s important to me: relationships with family, friends, and my girlfriend; traveling, meeting new people, and having new experiences; and making the best of any situation in which I find myself, doing my best not to look to the past with resentment or longing nor towards the future with fear or anticipation.

How did Black Friday affect you? What has your life been like for the past year? How do you feel on this important anniversary?

For as long as I’ve had this blog, I’ve started every year with a series of posts about my poker-related goals and resolutions, and I’ve ended every year by assessing the progress I made towards them. I set goals for 2011– my most ambitious ever, actually- but now it seems pointless to even look at them, as Black Fridayrendered them more or less irrelevant.  The best laid plans of mice and men, eh?

I’m not really in a place to start setting poker goals for this year, either, since I have no idea what the year will look like for me, poker-wise or otherwise. Not since my final semester of college have I felt this level of anxiety and uncertainty about my future. Those Big Questions are back: Where will I live? What will I do? Who will the people around me be?

I’ve spent the last week and and a half fending off questions, some idle and some concerned, at various gatherings of friends and family. My recent life as a nomadic poker professional was strange enough to them that they’ve learned to accept without alarm the fact that I don’t know where I’m going to be two weeks from now.

Online poker made enough mainstream headlines that random aunts and uncles knew something had happened. Explaining everything that’s happened to online poker and to me in the last eight months is a mouthful that hasn’t gotten much shorter despite the amount of practice I’ve had spelling it all out.

I want to be clear that I’m “anxious” rather than “worried” or “depressed”. There really aren’t bad outcomes, which is very reassuring. Making big decisions is stressful regardless, but it is considerable consolation to feel confident that everything will work out in the end.

The two big advantages that I have over my 21-year-old self are money and experience. I graduated from college with $10,000 in the bank, $50,000 in student loans, no job, and no plan. OK, I had a bit of a plan, but it was a stupid one.

I never would have predicted it, but poker proved to be the missing ingredient that salvaged that plan. It enabled me to live with my girlfriend in Boston, start a non-profit organization, and travel extensively. What began as a way to make ends meet while searched for a job has blossomed into a full-on career, a phenomenon that was highlighted when I joined PokerStars Team Online. Knowing that I was able to muddle my way through a period of anxiety and make a very satisfying life for myself once before gives me a lot more confidence for this go-round.

The funny thing is that after two years, the whole nomad thing was wearing a bit thin, for me anyway. I wanted a little more stability and to feel at home somewhere. This didn’t make its way on to the blog, but one of my goals for the year was to get more settled somewhere.

Fail. The girlfriend and I returned to Boston intending to settle in place there and work out some big decisions about where to go and what to do in the longer term. Those conversations were taking place in late February and March. You know what happened next.

Suddenly I was driving to Montreal on Easter Sunday to open a Canadian bank account in the hopes that it would facilitate withdrawal of the money I had online. Of course that was before PokerStars painlessly returned US players’ funds and before that other site did the things that it did (or before we realized what was going on there, anyway). There was a last-minute trip to Madrid, and although I didn’t cash in the European Poker Tour main event, my third top-100 finish in the WSOP main event certainly took the edge off of Black Friday. Then two months in the Canadian Rockies, a European road trip, two months in Vancouver (featuring another deep run in a live tournament), camping in Death Valley (do you know anyone else who flies to Las Vegas to take a break from gambling?), then my mother’s house in Maryland for the holidays and some undefined period thereafter. You can imagine how quickly family members’ initial concern for my professional well-being melts away when they hear that list of “hardships”.

The only advantage that 21-year-old Andrew possessed over the man I am now was having his twenties ahead of him. Before all the 30-, 40-, and 50-somethings start rolling their eyes, let me clarify that I don’t feel old in the sense that my best years are behind me or that I’ll never have the chance to do all those things I wanted to or anything like that. As usual, David Foster Wallace captures the feeling far better than I could:

I am now 33 years old, and it feels like much time has passed and is passing faster and faster every day. Day to day I have to make all sorts of choices about what is good and important and fun, and then I have to live with the forfeiture of all the other options those choices foreclose. And I’m starting to see how as time gains momentum my choices will narrow and their foreclosures multiply exponentially until I arrive at some point on some branch of all life’s sumptuous branching complexity at which I am finally locked in and stuck on one path and time speeds me through stages of stasis and atrophy and decay until I go down for the third time, all struggle for naught, drowned by time.

OK, it gets a little too dark there at the end. My own feeling is that, “It’s not too late but it soon will be”. I’ve managed to make remarkably few major decisions or long-term commitments in the last eight years, but that’s starting to feel less tenable.

As a poker player, my instinct is always to gather more information, and there’s still so much we don’t know about the Whos, Whats, Whens, Wheres, and Hows of online poker in the US. Whether not I’ll be able to supplement my income by playing online poker has huge implications for what I do and where and how I live.

Poker has also taught me to play the hand I’m dealt and accept that the eventual outcome may not be under my control. At the moment, I’m looking no more than a few weeks into the future. I’ve got a few more days in Maryland, then I’ll be in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, then it’s a little vaguer but possibly visiting friends and family in some combination of Maryland, New York, and Florida, then in Boston for a Boston Debate League tournament, and then… well, that’s still a work in progress.

Skimming a year’s worth of posts actually turned up a quote that should conclude this little rant nicely. It’s from one of Jared Tendler’s post-Black Friday blog posts, and I originally quoted it in my own post-Black Friday post:

Right now you’re looking for answers. The problem is that some of you are so desperate for answers you’ll listen to almost anything or anyone. That desperation is very similar to feeling desperate to win. You’ll do almost anything to shake this feeling because the uncertainty is almost too much to handle.

The reality is that there aren’t many answers out there right now. If you try to force an answer too soon, you’ll be making the same mistake if you were forcing the action because you need to win money right now. You have to stick to a sound and logical strategy.

Happy New Year, everyone. Let’s make it a good one.

Some of you may have heard that Phil Hellmuth overslept yesterday morning and was getting blinded off in the tournament. Apparently Mike Matusow called security at Phil’s hotel and got them to enter his room and wake him up. I didn’t know any of this at the time, but I was still at my starting table with Russel Rosenblum and Sorel Mizzi when Phil came dashing into the Amazon room, with a floorman shouting after him about whether he knew which table he was going to.

Russel: I wonder if the floor is going to scurry to get me to my seat if I show up late.
Me: I don’t understand why Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke aren’t getting the kind of shit that the Full Tilt guys are getting.
Russel: I don’t want to say too much here, but Phil and Annie are just paid spokespeople, whereas the Full Tilt guys may have been somewhat more that that.
Sorel: That’s… putting it very carefully.
Me: Yes, sorry, I know that. I guess I misspoke. I do understand why they don’t get as much shit as Lederer, but people still put money on UB because Phil and Annie were endorsing them, and those people are never going to see that money. I just don’t think Phil and Annie should be getting invited on stage at the WSOP like they’re the best and brightest in the poker world.
Sorel: But they’re just sponsors. They aren’t on the inside. They don’t know anything more about what’s going on behind the scenes than you do.
Me: Based on what I knew, I wouldn’t have worn a UB patch.
Sorel: But come on, if they are just throwing money at you…

I had to change the subject at this point, because the irony and Sorel’s total lack of self-awareness was getting too much for me, and I nearly said something pretty rude to him.

Security is Called

The table broke not too long after, which was very welcome, though my new table was still pretty tough. I went on a nice little tear and chipped up to 170K while acquiring a relatively aggressive table image. Blinds were 400/800/100.

I opened to 2200 with 33 in the CO. A loose French player called me on the BTN, the SB folded, and the BB, who’d been quietly chipping up with very few showdowns and seemed pretty table aware re-raised to 6800 with about 45K behind.

I wasn’t getting the right odds to setmine, and online I’d just fold this even though I suspect the guy is light. I don’t want to get it in pre, and it’s just going to be too hard to figure out where I stand post-flop. In live play, however, the added information available through tells makes it a little more feasible and call and evaluate, and that’s what I did. The BTN quickly folded behind me.

The flop came 742r. BB bet 7500, and I called. The turn was another 4, and he checked. At this point he had barely a pot-sized bet left in his stack, and I think there are a lot of hands he wouldn’t check, including big draws and vulnerable hands like medium pairs. This was either an elaborate trap with like QQ+ or he was giving up.

I had no delusions of getting him to fold a hand better than mine, but I didn’t want to give him a free card or a shot at bluffing a scary river, so I bet 9000. After a bit of thought, he moved all in for 24,500. Now I had to think.

This is another spot I simply wouldn’t get myself in online. Before I bet the flop I’d have a plan for whether I was going to call a check-raise. Live, though, there is more room to figure out exactly which part of his range he has and what he’s up to. I let him sweat for about 3 minutes and then counted out the chips for a call. He looked uncomfortable. I placed them gently in the pot. He tapped the table. I tabled my treys. He whistled. “Very nice call, sir.” He showed AQ. Q on the river.

Where it gets really crazy is that while he’s still stacking his chips, three guys from security walk up to him. Two of them stand back, flanking a third who taps him on the shoulder. “Finish stacking your chips and then we need to ask you a few questions, sir.”

Naturally the whole table is staring at this scene trying to figure out what’s going on. The player in question looks totally nonplussed. He stacks his chips and then leaves the table with them. “That beat was so bad it was criminal!” I quip after he’s gone, earning me a few groans from my tablemates.

The guy returned after just two hands and seemed unperturbed. Curious about what was going on, I said to him, “I wish they’d come a hand earlier.” He laughed. I heard the player next to him asking him what happened, and he said it was something to do with a friend of his and that everything was fine. He remained at the table until late in the day, when he shoved AJ over one of my raises. I called with 99 to eliminate him and win back about a quarter of what I’d lost to him in that earlier hand.

French Fish

As I previously mentioned, the guy on my left was a loose and generally bad French player. Blinds were 500/1000/100. A tightish player in the HJ opened to 2500, and I called with 77 in the SB. The poisson re-raised to 11,000 with 15K behind. I was pretty sure I was going to fold but gave him the old stare down first.

He’d been watching a movie on his iPad, and when he saw me looking for a read, he pressed play and turned his attention to his screen. I could see perfectly well that he wasn’t cheating, but I wanted to get a reaction from him, so I told him to put the computer away during the hand.

He removed his headphones and looked up at me. “What?”

“You can’t be on your computer during the hand.”

He sneered. “Whatchu going to do? Time.”

“You’re calling time on me?”

“Yes. Time.”

“OK. Put the computer away.” He made a point of putting his headphones back on and pressing play. I looked over at the dealer, who was doing nothing. She hadn’t even called the floor to clock me. Of course by this point I had all the information I needed to fold, but now I was upset that the dealer wasn’t enforcing the rules.

“Player has called time,” I informed her.

She turned to another dealer who was waiting to push her after this hand. “Am I supposed to call the floor if a player has asked for time?”

The floor finally got called and came over. I informed her that I twice asked this player to stop using his computer during the hand. She ignored me and started telling him that he would have 70 seconds to act.

“Time was called on me,” I told her.

“OK then you have 70 seconds to act.”

“Are you going to do anything about the computer?”

“First you need to act on your hand.” I folded without a second’s thought.

“You can’t be on your computer or phone while you have a live hand,” she informed him and walked away.

I thought there was some chance that his reaction was also an act and that he was trying to make me angry to get a call. He said something to me after the hand, though, which made me think he was legitimately upset.

The very next hand I got black Queens in the CO and opened to 2600. I was 110% sure that the poisson would at least call. He angrily threw 7500 chips into the pot. The blinds folded, and after a cursory glance at his stack (he had about 35K behind), I shoved a stack of orange into the pot. He snap-called and turned over TT like it was the nuts, which it pretty much was in that spot. I think there’s a legitimate chance that his angry chip tossing was an act and that he thought he was baiting me. I got no reaction when I showed the QQ.

The dealer went to deal the flop, and there was the Tc in the door. The other two cards were also clubs, so I had a lot of outs, but none of them got there. I calmly counted out an appropriate number of chips and passed them to him.

He finished the day with over 300K. I’ve got 135K, though, so no complaints here.

While I see tremendous potential here, the current Rush Poker application, playable on Android devices, hasn’t quite got it right yet. It’s close: the graphics are clean and crisp, the interface is uncluttered, and all of the information you need is easy to find and read on a small screen. The major problem is that the bet slider is extremely difficult to control. This combined with the generally short time to act allotted in Rush Poker games and the occasional lag left me intermittently timing out and folding or settling for a bet size that was merely in the neighborhood of what I wanted.

On my Droid X, the application was somewhat slow to load and connect to the server initially, but once it was up and running, the lag that I experienced on the Verizon network, even from rural Texas, wasn’t in itself unmanageable. The only problem is that it ate a second or so off of the time that I had to fiddle awkwardly with the bet slider.

The familiar radio boxes to “Fold to Any Bet” or “Call Any” aren’t available, which isn’t really a problem since you can only play one table at a time anyway, nor is there a chat box. When applicable, an “Auto-Fold” button appears prominently on the screen in case you want to fold and move on immediately to the next hand. Otherwise, buttons to “Fold”, “Call”, or “Raise” appear when it is your turn to act.

Clicking “Raise” brings up more buttons and a slider. Your options are “Minimum”, “Pot”, “All In”, or the amount that you select with the slider. Maybe I’m still new to the whole touch screen thing, having had my smart phone for only a few months, but I found it virtually impossible to pin the slider down on exactly the amount that I wanted. Playing 1/2 NL with play chips, I could reliably get within 1 or 2 chips of the amount I wanted to bet, but even lifting my finger off of the screen after selecting my size sometimes caused the slider to shift slightly higher or lower. In the half-hour that I played, I both timed out and made incorrect bet sizes more often than I actually bet the amount that I wanted using the slider.

To be fair, the application is still in its public beta testing and restricted to play money games. Hopefully they can either improve the bet slider or provide a virtual number pad to enter bets manually. Maybe it isn’t so bad if you’re playing on a tablet. What lag issues there are will presumably improve as cellular networks get faster. I wouldn’t recommend playing Rush Poker Mobile for real money in its current incarnation, but it makes me extremely optimistic for the future of mobile poker applications.

Prospects Are Bleak

The online poker language is not in the tax cuts bill that is going to the floor for a vote. Reid is talking about trying to attach it to something else, but this seriously hurts its prospects for passage. Many on 2+2 are relieved by that, but I am not so sure it is good news. The picture of an unregulated future painted by both the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) and others in the know is rather bleak.

The Status Quo is Bad and Getting Worse

This is the major point that the bill’s detractors largely fail to acknowledge. Things are not just fine as they are now. It may seem that way, especially if you are a small stakes player who hasn’t dealt with moving large sums of money, but the sites that still serve US players face major hurdles in doing so.

The Department of Justice, in shutting down the payment processors that move money back and forth between online poker sites and American players, has greatly increased the cost of doing business for the sites. Not only must they continue to find new and ever more shady (and presumably expensive, given the risks they are running) processors, but they must also eat the costs every time the DOJ seizes funds from a processor. Every time you hear about a processor getting shut down and tens of thousands of dollars seized, that is players’ money that the sites, to date, have always reimbursed in the interest of keeping business flowing. There may come a time when a site decides it is no longer worth it to keep reimbursing these funds and will simply send an e-mail to affected players: “Your withdrawal of $XXX has been seized by the US Department of Justice. If you wish to dispute this seizure, you can file Form DJ-889-7b in triplicate with the DOJ within 30 days of this notice. Thanks for playing at Cereus!”

If you aren’t aware of these payment processor complications, it’s because you have always dealt in small (<$2500) transactions and/or because the sites do their best to insulate you from these difficulties. No matter how bad things get for them and how much money they are putting up on your behalf, their incentive is still to convey the sense that all is well and you can continue to play worry-free. They are shouldering the risk themselves, and while they are certainly being well-compensated for that, there will eventually come a point at which the cost of doing business is simply too high.

So far, it’s only been money at risk, and the sites are making enough of that. Should the DOJ start indicting the individuals believed to own these sites, those individuals may lose their will to fight in a hurry. This is a particular risk for Full Tilt Poker, with its purported owners living high-profile lives in the United States.

My point is that there probably will not be much warning beyond what we’ve already seen. The sites have no incentive to hint at the complications they currently face, as this would only cost them business. Think Netteller. Everything will be fine until one day it isn’t.

Professional Poker Players Have No Bargaining Power

The PPA has done an admirable job of marshalling what influence it has. Some politicians are more honest about this than others, but the unpleasant reality is that nobody gives a shit whether you can make a living playing online poker. We are not in a position to dictate the terms under which online poker is licensed and regulated in the United States.

Those decisions will be made by interests and lobbies far more powerful than we. Whatever happens with online poker in the long-term will be the result of negotiation between social conservatives who generally oppose gaming and major US-based gaming organizations such as Harrah’s. Foreign sites like Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker do not get a seat at the table, and those of us whose who earn a living at the virtual tables don’t either.

The influence of gaming companies, especially in Reid’s state of Nevada, is immense. They literally are the economy of that state, employing a tremendous proportion of the population and generating much of the state’s revenue. We are not in a position to dictate anything to them. The best we can hope to do is capitalize on the ways in which our interests align.

This Bill is the Best We Are Going to Get

Democrats lost a lot of ground in the mid-term elections, including control of the Senate House Finance Committee and the House of Representatives. This bill is far from ideal for the professional player, but there is no reason to think that we are in a position to hold out for something better. Even individual Republicans who themselves have no ideological objection to gaming still have trouble supporting it for fear of alienating socially conservative constituents. If this bill fails, then we will have to hope that Democrats rally in 2012 and bother to revist this issue, and even if all of that happens, they are still going to be beholden to the US-based gaming industry, which is still going to insist on preferential treatment.

Even to talk about our “holding out” for something better is naive, because the truth is that our consent isn’t needed or wanted. We aren’t in a position to block this legislation even if we wanted to. Whether we professionals like it or not is immaterial.

As an academic matter, should we like it? The “blackout period” is unfortunate but not unworkable. I sympathize with the many pros are not able to absorb 15 months’ of vastly diminished income, but in the long run it’s a price worth paying for licensed online poker that can be advertised on US television, funded by US banks, etc.

Is the “blackout period” a deal-breaker? Perhaps not. It seems that Senator Kyl, not the gaming companies, is the source of this provision (though he still opposes even this version of the bill). He is a powerful adversary and not an easy one to move, but there are powerful and monied interests on the other side of this issue as well. The best we can hope for is a last-minute compromise on this point, but even if it can’t be achieved, the impression I get is that a bill containing blackout language will be better than no bill at all.

Other provisions, such as the size of the tax on revenues, are generally considered to be more than reasonable. Considering how hard governments rake their lotteries, we may even be getting off easy on this point. Given the opportunity, would we want to trade the blackout period for far higher taxation? I wouldn’t think so, which is all the more reason to prefer this bill.

The prohibition on non-US players, once a US-based market gets up and running, is the part I find most puzzling. I suppose keeping everything domestic makes matters much simpler, but it also forfeits billions of dollars in potential revenue. From the perspective of the US government, revenue from non-citizens is far more valuable than revenue from citizens, and if anything about the bill changes in the next few years, I would expect it to be this.

What Can We Do About It?

At the legislative level, very little. Pardon my cynicism, but the major decisions will be made by interests far stronger than us. We may have some room at the margins to haggle with details (according to the PPA, they were able to do away with pernalites for players on illegal sites that appeared in an early draft of the bill), but we simply don’t have the influence to fight the US gaming industry on their core interests, which unfortunately do include getting a leg-up on their foreign competition.

There is speculation that, should this legislation pass, it may be possible to play on second-tier sites such as Bodog and Cereus during the blackout period. I would advise you to be very careful if you do so. The long-term prospects of these sites will not be good in a world where they must compete, without access to the US market, against not just Poker Stars and Full Tilt but also gaming giants like Harrah’s.

Their incentive will likely be to make what short-term profits they can before being driven out of business by some combination of the DOJ and their competition. When they decide to close up shop, it will likely be without warning, and they may well take your money down with them. This wouldn’t even have to entail outright theft, though I wouldn’t put that past them, either. An unexpected occurrence such as a major crackdown on their payment processors could render them suddenly illiquid. If you believe that Cereus keeps player deposits in a separate account that is not used for operating expenses, I have some real estate to sell you in Florida….

If you are a professional poker player in the United States, this legislation should be a wake-up call for you whether it passes or not. You need substantial savings. You need a back-up plan. You need to know where your money is and how safe it is there. Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker are huge companies with solid long-term prospects that are not entirely dependent on the US market. Even if they stop serving US players, and even in the absence of legislation this is a realistic possiblity, especially for FTP, they are not likely to abscond with your money. The same cannot be said for smaller sites, especially those with a history of putting short-term profits above honest dealings with their customers.

There are no guarantees. As poker players, we ought to be accustomed to managing risk and making decisions with imperfect information. For my money, this legislation is the best bet we have. The next year or two may well be lean years for us, but if the eventual licensing and regulation of online poker in the US is handled well (this is also not a guarantee), then such a bill will be very good for us in the long-term.

In the absence of legislation, things will continue as usual for a few months, maybe even few years, but they will get very bad in the not-too-distant future. I fear that should that happen, we will all look back wistfully at this window of opportunity and regret that the “Reid Bill” didn’t pass. By then, we may be forced to settle for much worse legislation or even a worst-case scenario where the DOJ aggressively shuts down online poker sites serving US customers, seizes funds, and actively prosecutes players themselves.

Edit: Changed “Senate” to “House” with regard to which Finance Committee the Dems lose in January.

Since my November strategy article was about bet sizing in tournaments, here’s a spot where a small flop c-bet pays off for me:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 170/340 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t7361)
UTG+1 (t12190)
MP1 (t22373)
MP2 (t10640)
Hero (MP3) (t3813)
CO (t7853)
Button (t28840)
SB (t8164)
BB (t11506)

Hero’s M: 5.19

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K, K
4 folds, Hero bets t680, 3 folds, BB calls t340

Flop: (t1755) Q, J, 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t777, BB raises to t3060, Hero raises to t3108 (All-In), BB calls t48

Turn: (t7971) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t7971) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t7971

Results:
BB had K, 7 (one pair, Kings).
Hero had K, K (three of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won t7971

Given how little I have left, Villain is going to shove or fold almost regardless of what I bet. Whether I have an overpair or a bluff, there’s not much of a need to bet big despite the wet flop texture. And as it turns out, underbetting also gives him room to get a little crazy.

Staffers for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are circulating a bill to legalize poker playing on the Internet that’s backed by large casino interests.

The Nevada casino companies pushing the measure were among the Democrat’s biggest donors during his fierce re-election fight. They argue the bill would provide consumer protection for poker players and would provide some tax revenue for federal and state governments.

This is a mixed bag, although I believe that in the long run it would be better than nothing, which is what we’re likely to get if there isn’t action in this session. The complication is that

According to the draft of the bill reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Reid’s office is considering language that would allow only existing casinos, horse tracks and slot-machine makers to operate online poker websites for the first two years after the bill passes, which could limit the ability of other companies to enter the market.

The bill would also outsource oversight to state regulators, another move supported by existing casinos that don’t want to see the federal government become overly involved in regulating their industry.

The bill as drafted would send taxes on wagers to both federal and state governments.

That could mean no more Poker Stars or Full Tilt for Americans, at least in the short-term. The best-case scenario would be to have something like, “Poker Stars presented by Harrah’s” or something like that, though I don’t think it’s too likely.

Of course this is also bad news if you don’t pay your taxes, but in that case I don’t have any sympathy for you.

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

Goal 2: Earn $X in NLHE Cash Games

I’m nowhere near my cash games goal, and I’ve given up trying. Basically tournaments were going so well for me that I started putting more time into those and when I did grind cash games it was usually easier stuff that wasn’t quite as lucrative. Thankfully tournaments have gone so well that I don’t really need cash games to contribute to the year’s income.

Goal 3: Earn Supernova status on PokerStars

This is still within my grasp, but I need nearly 9000 points, which is more than I’ve earned in any one month this year. When I do play, it’s going to be with a focus on picking up FPP’s so that I can be sure of making Supernova.

Goal 4: Monetize This Blog

I’ve pretty much gotten over the idea of pulling in ad revenue, but the blog has been helpful in generating coaching business, and hopefully soon it will help me to sell a book as well!

Goal 5: Write a Book

It took most of the year, but I have a draft of an entire book that is currently in the hands of some trusted friends from whom I’m awaiting feedback. I still don’t know what the timeline will be for publication, but this project is well underway.

Goal 6: Average One Blog Post Per Day

I had 311 as of the first of this year. Hitting 365 would require nearly two a day this month. I don’t want to drown you with garbage, but I am going to try to pick up the pace, and we’ll see what happens.

Goal 7: Average Five Hours of Coaching Per Week

I’ll be lucky to get half of that. Even adding time spent on Poker Savvy Plus, which is a bit of cheat, doesn’t get me too close to the goal. I’ve really enjoyed the students I’ve worked this year, but I need to work harder to get my name out there. Just browsing the 2+2 Coaching forum I see so many unqualified people charging absurd rates that I have to figure I’d have more business if people knew that I offered coaching. Look for a revamped coaching page in 2011.

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

Defining this very generously gets me to about half an hour a day. I found it really difficult to make time for this, mostly because there aren’t that many poker videos that I really find helpful at this point. Since I’m pretty well set on hours for the year, I’m going to make a push to practice my PLO game this month. That will give me some impetus to study and also a reason to grind small stakes games for FPP’s.

Goal 8: Use Hold ‘Em Manager

I’m getting much better with this. There’s more I should be doing to review my own play and that of specific opponents whom I play regularly, but this is the first year that I feel I’ve really mastered the basics of playing with a HUD and using those stats at the table.

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

Heads up games really tanked my winrate, but if we just look at games with 3+ players, I’m at 3.98 BB/100 for games up to 25/50 Cap (though I’m down at 25/50 uncapped). That’s also counting 2/4 Rush, which is a bit of a cheat since it’s easier than 5/10, but honestly my hourly rate per table is pretty close because of all the extra hands, so I’m going to count it.

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

I’ve played 27,000 hands, and I’ve got a -5BB/100 win rate. That’s a bit odd, as this was my best game last year. Part of it is variance, I’m sure, and bad game selection. I’ve been trying to play more lately, but it’s just so damn hard to get action.

What About You?

So my big change for December is going to be a focus on Heads Up and PLO games, playing mostly on Stars in order to rack up FPP’s and make Supernova.

How are you progressing towards your goals. Any last-minute adjustments you need to make to finish where you want to be for the year?

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

Washington state Sen. Margarita Prentice, an ex officio member of the Washington State Gambling Commission, was behind the 2006 law that made playing online poker a felony. The state House of Representatives passed the law 93-5. The state senate passed it unanimously.

Four years later, Prentice remains opposed.

“I just think some of these arguments are utter nonsense,” Prentice told ESPN.com. “You mean you’re going to move so you can play poker? Gee, lots of luck in your life. … I have nothing against card playing. That’s fine. If you want to do that, but I’m sure not going to worry about someone … you know. Let them go pump gas.”

The responses from our allies at the federal level, however, are heartening:

“Wow,” said U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and the federal government’s most vocal advocate for online poker legalization and regulation. “The intolerance of that is just appalling, but that’s the attitude that goes with the sense you have the right to dictate other people’s lives to them.”

“She denigrates both poker players and people who pump gas,” said former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a lobbying group that’s now 1 million strong. “She is why people are angry, because of the arrogance of those in government who say they know what’s best for you.”

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.

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

SB ($453.80)
BB ($418)
UTG ($400)
UTG+1 ($402)
MP1 ($402)
MP2 ($427.20)
MP3 ($400)
CO ($240)
Hero (Button) ($962)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 9
6 folds, Hero bets $8, SB calls $6, BB raises to $36, Hero raises to $77, 1 fold, BB calls $41

Flop: ($162) 6, K, 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $66, BB calls $66

Turn: ($294) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $99, BB calls $99

River: ($492) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $492, 1 fold

Total pot: $492 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, 9 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $489

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

BB (t38915)
UTG (t29428)
MP (t12937)
CO (t32263)
Hero (Button) (t19680)
SB (t11504)

Hero’s M: 29.82

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, Q
2 folds, CO bets t680, Hero raises to t1555, 2 folds, CO calls t875

Flop: (t3770) 3, Q, 8 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets t1666, CO raises to t5433, Hero raises to t9200, 1 fold

Total pot: t14636

Results:
Hero didn’t show K, Q.
Outcome: Hero won t14636

Against better players I would flat the check-raise and get it in on the turn, but I think this guy is giving up his bluffs like 95% of the time, so it’s better to get the money in on the flop.

So then he tries to steal my blind with the old raise-bet-and-give-up technique:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP (t40785)
CO (t28738)
Button (t13087)
SB (t26624)
Hero (BB) (t26179)
UTG (t9314)

Hero’s M: 29.09

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, J
4 folds, SB bets t1200, Hero calls t800

Flop: (t2700) 6, 3, Q (2 players)
SB bets t1374, Hero calls t1374

Turn: (t5448) 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t1888, 1 fold

Total pot: t5448

Results:
Hero didn’t show 9, J.
Outcome: Hero won t5448

It wasn’t so easy vs. the guy on my left:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 140/280 Blinds 25 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t19657)
UTG (t6644)
MP (t7615)
CO (t13190)
Hero (Button) (t10593)
SB (t7010)

Hero’s M: 18.58

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, 3
3 folds, Hero bets t560, 1 fold, BB calls t280

Flop: (t1410) 7, A, A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t1410) 2 (2 players)
BB bets t889, Hero calls t889

River: (t3188) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: t3188

Results:
Hero had K, 3 (one pair, Aces).
BB had 2, 5 (two pair, Aces and twos).
Outcome: BB won t3188

Although I have some showdown value, I think I ought to bet the river here (I was thinking that even before I saw his hand). I think something like half-pot wins if for me damn near 100%. I felt stupid after this one.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 140/280 Blinds 25 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t21776)
SB (t6314)
BB (t7565)
UTG (t13140)
Hero (MP) (t9094)
CO (t6820)

Hero’s M: 15.95

Preflop: Hero is MP with J, 10
1 fold, Hero bets t560, 1 fold, Button raises to t999, 2 folds, Hero calls t439

Flop: (t2568) 5, 6, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t1555, Hero folds

Total pot: t2568

Results:
Button didn’t show
Outcome: Button won t2568

Not much I can do about that one.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t46470)
UTG (t25433)
MP (t11207)
CO (t15636)
Hero (Button) (t27953)
SB (t18028)

Hero’s M: 31.06

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, 4
3 folds, Hero bets t800, 1 fold, BB calls t400

Flop: (t2100) 6, 4, J (2 players)
BB bets t1355, Hero raises to t3888, BB raises to t8888, Hero raises to t13888, BB raises to t45620 (All-In), Hero calls t13215 (All-In)

Turn: (t56306) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t56306) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t56306

Results:
Hero had J, 4 (two pair, Jacks and fours).
BB had A, 9 (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won t56306

LOL donkaments. To his credit, he did give me room to 4-bet him rather than just jamming the nut draw, which is good because he actually has a very good bluff-catcher in addition to a big draw. Basically just a cooler, but annoying because we were two of the bigger stacks in the tournament.

MP3 ($126.70)
CO ($508.10)
Button ($470.80)
SB ($443.50)
Hero (BB) ($823)
UTG ($469.40)
UTG+1 ($793.10)
MP1 ($400)
MP2 ($376.90)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, 10
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $12, 4 folds, Button calls $12, 1 fold, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($38) J, 5, 10 (3 players)
Hero bets $28, UTG+1 calls $28, Button calls $28

Turn: ($122) 3 (3 players)
Hero bets $99, 1 fold, Button calls $99

River: ($320) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $210, Hero calls $210

Total pot: $740 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had K, Q (one pair, fives).
Hero had 9, 10 (two pair, tens and fives).
Outcome: Hero won $737

UTG is a predictable TAG regular, and BTN is a loose-ish random. I donk the flop because my hand isn’t good enough to call a c-bet but also doesn’t generally want to see the flop check around. Also I am already thinking about possibly getting UTG off of an overpair by three-barreling.

After the flop action, I am confident that UTG has a better hand than mine and that BTN is on a draw. The turn bet puts a lot of pressure on UTG. Not just anyone will fold top pair/an overpair here, but I think he will, if not now then on the river. Of course having him fold and BTN call is the ideal outcome.

And then a brick on the river makes for an easy check-call. I probably lose to AJ or Kc Qc now and again, but that’s about it.

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

CO ($205.20)
Button ($615)
Hero (SB) ($1643.25)
BB ($439.60)
UTG ($464.10)
UTG+1 ($1420.30)
MP1 ($426.70)
MP2 ($406)
MP3 ($400)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, Q
6 folds, Button bets $8, Hero raises to $32, 1 fold, Button raises to $70, Hero calls $38

Flop: ($144) 6, A, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $20, Hero raises to $123, Button raises to $545 (All-In), Hero calls $422

Turn: ($1234) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($1234) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $1234 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 9, Q (high card, Ace).
Hero had K, Q (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $1231

His flop shove is atrocious because he’s so often drawing slim to dead when called. Check-raising his underbet is very important. Although he probably will fold sometimes, there’s no way he makes a bet like that without expecting me to play back at a fair bit of the time. That means that he’s sometimes trying to induce with some big hand (a set, perhaps) and also that he’ll float and/or rebluff it. Although I have blockers to his rebluffing range, we can see that he’s willing to be quite liberal about it.

The caller was a different story. He was much too loose pre-flop, and I felt like his small bet could represent almost anything: a weak pair, a total bluff…. “This guy could have like anything- easy shove,” I told myself as I dragged the bet slider to “All In.”

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 500/1000 Blinds 125 Ante (7 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t13807)
SB (t15652)
Hero (BB) (t19623)
UTG (t19575)
MP1 (t14171)
MP2 (t57493)
CO (t87283)

Hero’s M: 8.26

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4, 3
2 folds, MP2 bets t2368, CO calls t2368, 2 folds, Hero calls t1368

Flop: (t8479) 9, J, 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks, CO bets t3600, Hero raises to t17130 (All-In), 1 fold, CO calls t13530

Turn: (t42739) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t42739) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t42739

Results:
Hero had 4, 3 (high card, King).
CO had 6, 6 (three of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: CO won t42739

Shame, it was a nice turn, too. I guess someone else went out on the same hand, because I was actually awarded 27th place!

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

Button ($518.20)
SB ($490.30)
BB ($276.80)
Hero (UTG) ($773.50)
UTG+1 ($1109.10)
MP1 ($154.10)
MP2 ($1936.65)
MP3 ($943.80)
CO ($517)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8, 8
Hero calls $4, 4 folds, CO bets $22, 3 folds, Hero calls $18

Flop: ($50) 8, 4, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $28, Hero calls $28

Turn: ($106) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($106) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $66, CO raises to $467 (All-In), Hero calls $401

Total pot: $1040 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 8, 8 (four of a kind, eights).
CO had Q, Q (full house, fours over Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $1037

There are two important points in particular that I wanted to highlight with this hand:

1. You don’t have to check to induce a bluff or value bet. This is a spot where I will be betting a ton of semi-bluffs (semi- because I’ll often split the pot when called). Villain has plenty of incentive to raise both as a bluff and with any hand that beats the board. More passive opponents just won’t do this- it’s a big leak in their game, and you can exploit it with unbalanced ranges. But in this case I gave Villain credit for being capable of raising a wideish range.

2. Although it’s generally correct to target the top of your opponent’s range when you have the nuts, you do want to think about all of your options. In this case, I can stack the top of his range without overbetting, and this is often the case. When you have someone genuinely coolered, they will often do the value betting for you as long as you don’t tip your hand. A massive overbet or a check-raise would both turn a hand like QQ, that he is otherwise willing to play like the nuts, into a bluff-catcher. He may or may not pay off with QQ if we attempt something like that.

Thanks again for all the interesting comments!

The guy who sold it to me was pretty ridiculous. I came in knowing what I wanted: which phone, which plan, etc. He was immediately trying to sell me on a two-year contract and downright distraught when I declined the insurance. I believe, “I would never have a $500 phone without insurance.” As a debater, I’m always tempted to try to refute stupid arguments like this, but I have to remind myself that this isn’t a situation where I’m going to convince him of anything. He may or may not actually realize why it’s a bad investment, but it’s not like he’s ever going to be like, “Oh hey you’re right that insurance totally is a losing proposition for anyone who can afford to buy a new phone if necessary.”

So anyway he needs my e-mail address and I decide to give him my thinkingpoker one. Big mistake. He asks if I make money playing poker, and I just shrug and say, “It’s paying for the phone.”

“Where do you play?”

“Online.”

“Yeah like which sites?”

“Just Poker Stars and Full Tilt these days.”

“I used to play online. I’m convinced it’s rigged.”

Oh god are we really going to have this conversation? It’s literally ripped straight from the pages of BBV.

“Think about it. How many times have you had the second nuts, and they give someone else the nuts?”

“If it is rigged, it seems to be rigged in my favor, so I guess I’m OK with it.”

“There’s so many people on there who just don’t care. They go all in with anything. Hard to beat that.”

“Hm.”

“I love putting bad beats on people though. Isn’t that the best feeling?”

Please stop.

“Like this one time, I was playing at Commerce- it’s this card room in LA.”

“Yeah, I know the Commerce.”

“So I was playing in a 5/10 game…”

I’d been avoiding eye contact to signal my lack of interest in this conversation, but this got my attention. Does this nimrod really play 5/10?

“There was this guy playing crazy aggressive, just raising everything.”

“That sounds like the Commerce.”

“So you know I’m just sitting back, taking stock of the situation. I only have a couple hundred dollars, so I don’t want to get caught. Then I pick up Rockets.”

Naturally you call them Rockets.

“He raises, and I re-raise, and we end up capping it.”

Ah, of course. You are playing 5/10 limit. That makes more sense.

Whatever, I’ll spare you the rest of a long and boring story. Board comes out Q422A, and they cap it all the way, and his opponent had Q2 and was pissed. I just thought it was ironic that this clown was trying to convince me both that online poker was rigged and that buying $9/month insurance, with a fucking $90 deductible on top of that, was a good idea.

But yeah, I’m finally a smart phone owner. Hopefully I’ll be able to report on the quality of the mobile Rush Poker experience soon.

Andy Bloch on “Visualizing an Opponent’s Range”

This is essentially what I’m visualizing as I play a hand: a little bubble floating over my opponent’s head that contains an ever-narrowing range of hands. In fact, I think may borrow this technique for a video or two of my own.

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

Button ($518.20)
SB ($490.30)
BB ($276.80)
Hero (UTG) ($773.50)
UTG+1 ($1109.10)
MP1 ($154.10)
MP2 ($1936.65)
MP3 ($943.80)
CO ($517)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8, 8
Hero calls $4, 4 folds, CO bets $22, 3 folds, Hero calls $18

Flop: ($50) 8, 4, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $28, Hero calls $28

Turn: ($106) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($106) 8 (2 players)
Hero ??

Villain is a decent regular, a bit on the tight side but smart and capable. What do you do here and why?

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

SB ($434)
BB ($160)
UTG ($400)
UTG+1 ($641.60)
Hero (MP1) ($1081.40)
MP2 ($418.40)
MP3 ($1143)
CO ($131)
Button ($402)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q, Q
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $12, Hero calls $12, 6 folds

Flop: ($30) 4, 9, 10 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $9, UTG+1 calls $9

Turn: ($48) 7 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $15, UTG+1 raises to $64, Hero calls $49

River: ($176) 7 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $140, Hero raises to $996.40 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $416.60 (All-In)

Total pot: $1289.20 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG+1 had A, A (two pair, Aces and sevens).
Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and sevens).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $1286.20

When he check-raises the turn, I realize there’s a substantial risk that I’m not good. I don’t see him playing any full houses this way, so I went for it.

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

MP2 ($398.70)
MP3 ($804.30)
Hero (CO) ($1527.10)
Button ($1017.60)
SB ($1443.40)
BB ($400)
UTG ($432.50)
UTG+1 ($548.60)
MP1 ($563.85)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, 2
5 folds, Hero bets $12, 1 fold, SB raises to $40, 1 fold, Hero calls $28

Flop: ($84) 6, 7, J (2 players)
SB bets $54, Hero calls $54

Turn: ($192) 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $148, SB raises to $296, Hero raises to $1433.10 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $784 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, 2.
Outcome: Hero won $781

Pre-flop and flop are both relatively standard plays when this deep. You can and should call a lot more hands in position when there is so much money behind, especially when, as in this case, it is extremely unlikely that your opponent has better than one pair. These calls bank a bit on the implied odds of making a hand but moreso on the bluffing opportunities you will have on later streets.

How do I know he can’t be too strong here? For one thing, what I’ve seen suggests that his 3-betting range is relatively narrow and probably doesn’t contain 98s, 66, or 77. JJ and TT are possible, and even if he did 3-bet those other hands, I can’t imagine he just min-check-raises the turn this deep. Sets would be afraid of letting me draw, and the straight would want to build the pot. I’d expect either to bet the turn or check-raise big. I don’t know what exactly he is min-check-raising, but I seriously doubt it can call a shove. And of course worst case scenario I’ve got 6-9 clean outs when called.

UTG ($424.85)
UTG+1 ($167)
MP1 ($435)
Hero (MP2) ($1165.50)
MP3 ($638.40)
CO ($753)
Button ($744.75)
SB ($606.60)
BB ($433)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5, 5
3 folds, Hero bets $8, 4 folds, BB raises to $32, Hero calls $24

Flop: ($66) 4, 7, 3 (2 players)
BB bets $48, Hero calls $48

Turn: ($162) 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $66, BB raises to $132, Hero calls $66

River: ($426) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $953.50 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $426 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show 5, 5 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $423

I don’t see him min check-raising anything worse than the Ac for value on the turn, and even then, I think he just bets it 99% of the time. That makes it an easy float and half-pot bluff shove on the river. FWIW I think calling the flop is pretty questionable unless you’re capable of turning your hand into a bluff sometimes. Even with a gutshot, 55 no club probably doesn’t have enough equity to play for showdown value alone.

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

MP2 ($587.50)
MP3 ($867.20)
CO ($182.90)
Button ($316)
SB ($543.20)
Hero (BB) ($459.20)
UTG ($379)
UTG+1 ($322)
MP1 ($562.10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, K
2 folds, MP1 bets $12, MP2 calls $12, 4 folds, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($38) 2, 7, 7 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $38, MP2 calls $38, Hero calls $38

Turn: ($152) J (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks

River: ($152) 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP2 bets $52, Hero raises to $409.20 (All-In), 2 folds

Total pot: $256 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, K (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $253

The important read here is that MP2 is a pretty huge nit. That’s mostly a pre-flop read, but I really don’t see him hero calling the river even with AA. I mean it wouldn’t be a bad call, but it’s not one that I see him making. Pre-flop is some combination of drawing, as the A and K are often good if I hit them, plus banking on being able to run a bluff like this even if I miss.

I really had no idea what to put UTG+1 on here, but I didn’t think he’d play anything better than 99 this way on the flop. Obviously the K is rather unlikely to hit him, and while his turn bet is weird, I also wasn’t sure he’d check Kings on the river. Given the number of draws out there, though, I do think his line is a good one. I still like my value bet, though, even if knowing he can occasionally have a K.

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

CO ($162)
Hero (Button) ($414.60)
SB ($309)
BB ($413)
UTG ($522.60)
UTG+1 ($544)
MP1 ($889.40)
MP2 ($335.80)
MP3 ($634.10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, 9
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $16, 4 folds, Hero calls $16, SB calls $14, 1 fold

Flop: ($52) 3, 7, 6 (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $17, SB calls $17, UTG+1 calls $17

Turn: ($103) K (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $55, Hero calls $55, 1 fold

River: ($213) 6 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $166, UTG+1 calls $166

Total pot: $545 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (two pair, nines and sixes).
UTG+1 had A, K (two pair, Kings and sixes).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $542

Honestly I can probably even fold the flop. Granted I have one of the best bluff-catching hands, but it’s just so unlikely Villain is bluffing here. Calling the flop to see what he does on the turn reduces the chance that I end up folding to trips with a worse kicker, but he’s one of the better Rush players, so I kind of doubt he’s overvaluing such a hand this way in the first place.

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

MP3 ($648.60)
CO ($602.05)
Button ($160.90)
Hero (SB) ($420)
BB ($413.50)
UTG ($452.90)
UTG+1 ($219)
MP1 ($400)
MP2 ($860.90)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 8
5 folds, CO calls $4, Button calls $4, Hero calls $2, BB checks

Flop: ($16) 8, 4, 8 (4 players)
Hero bets $16, BB raises to $48, 2 folds, Hero calls $32

Turn: ($112) J (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $92, Hero folds

Total pot: $112 | Rake: $3

Results:
BB didn’t show
Outcome: BB won $109

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.

I just played a hand in the $1000 NLHE FTOPS event in which I activated my time bank, for what I believe to be the first time in this event, on the river. Within seconds, my hand was folded. Could you help me to understand what happened? I looked back through the chat log and couldn’t find a previous instance of my having used the timebank. Why did i have so little time available. I ended up folding a good hand in a big pot because my time expired, so I’d like t understand what happened. Thank you, Andrew

Hello Andrew,

Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support.

Your time bank offers you that little bit of extra time if you need it while playing at the tables.

Here’s how it works. When you’re almost out of time, the colored bar beneath your avatar will start counting down, and a
blue “Time” button will appear above the betting slider on the lower right side of the table window.

If you click the “Time” button, your time bank feature will begin counting down after the colored bar runs out of time.
You can tell that other players are using their time banks when a black box appears and counts down in the time bank spot.

You have a separate time bank for each open table, and each time bank is only applicable to that table.

The amount of time available in your bank varies depending on how long you’ve been seated at the table and the type of
game you’re playing. Your time increases with each hand played, and after every tournament break. You’ll also accumulate
extra time in your bank when you reach the final table of a tournament.

In addition, you have a separate Disconnect Time Bank, which gives you 90 seconds of total disconnect time per 24 hour
period.

If our server detects that you’ve been disconnected, the other players at the table will be automatically informed
through the table chat window. When you reach the end of your allotted decision time, your Disconnect Time Bank will be
displayed and begin counting down.

The Disconnect Time Bank continues counting down until you reconnect to the game and take an action. If you don’t
reconnect to the game before the Disconnect Time Bank runs out, your hand will be folded.

For more information about time banks and the Disconnect Time Bank, please visit our website at: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/table.php

Good luck at the tables, and if you have any further questions, please let us know.

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.

Thanks to Todd and Chris for bringing Tiltbuster to my attention. They’ve got a lot of cool mods for a variety of poker sites, and in fact the FTP Phattylivers are available from them for free.

From time to time I like to check in at the 2+2 Software Forum to see what kinds of software, mods, etc. are out there that could potentially enhance my playing experience. These cards have actually been around for a while, but I just saw them for the first time and fell in love:

They are so much easier to read quickly and at a glance, which is important for someone as prone to hand misreading as I am. Unfortunately, I don’t believe they are available for Poker Stars.

They are free to download here. All you have to do is extract the files and replace the “Cards” folder in the FTP Program Files with the one you downloaded. You might want to save the old ones in a new folder just in case you want to switch back at some point. Oh and make sure you have “Four-Color Deck” turned OFF- it took me a few minutes to figure out why the new cards were only showing up for two suits.

UTG is a random who definitely does not play these stakes with any regularity. Googling his name reveals a few $.05/$.10 hands, so I’m sure he’s a satellite qualifier. He’s definitely playing his cards with minimal situational awareness or tournament skill, so while his opening ranges are tighter than those of a good tournament player, he’s a little on the spazzy side.

SB is a mid-stakes MTT grinder. This is definitely on the high end of events he plays, but he’s no stranger to $50-$100 buy-ins. He understands blind stealing, restealing, etc., and probably has roughly the same read on UTG that I have. I’ve been a little aggro, but nothing too out of line. Mostly just opening more than my share of pots, not a lot of 3-betting at all.

After I 3-bet, SB instantly shoved. UTG also could not have called any more quickly than he did. Also there is a lot of value to surviving this late in a soft, big buy-in tournament. The final table is going to involve playing for tens of thousands of dollars with more than a few total droolers.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 1700/3400 Blinds 400 Ante (8 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) (t76784)
SB (t156905)
BB (t75732)
UTG (t75947)
UTG+1 (t44140)
MP1 (t99171)
MP2 (t560635)
CO (t125960)

Hero’s M: 9.25

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, Q
UTG bets t7466, 4 folds, Hero raises to t19999, SB raises to t156505 (All-In), 1 fold, UTG calls t68081 (All-In), Hero?

Basically if both players are on QQ+, AKo, AKs, it’s a call. If we take the AK out of either one of their ranges, it’s a fold. If we add JJ into either one of their ranges, it’s a call. If it weren’t for the timing, I would have called. The fact that neither of them thought for even a second made me think AK was a lot less likely, so I folded. Shows what I know:

Flop: (t177693) A, 4, 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t177693) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t177693) J (2 players, 2 all-in) Total pot: t177693

Results:
SB had A, K (one pair, Aces).
UTG had K, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: SB won t88847, UTG won t88846

Well, I would have been a big favorite, but here it saved me money. Which was irrelevant when several hands later I shoved 77 over a min-raise from a guy who was opening 40% of pots and the nittiest player at the table woke up with KK in the SB.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t9720)
Button (t6369)
SB (t8366)
BB (t4058)
UTG (t16047)
UTG+1 (t13681)
MP1 (t7540)
MP2 (t10121)
Hero (MP3) (t21091)

Hero’s M: 20.09

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with J, A
7 folds, Jon Turner raises to t2596 (All-In), MP2 calls t2596, Hero raises to t3291 (All-In), 1 fold, MP2 calls t695

Flop: (t12917) 7, 2, 5 (6 players, 8 all-in)

Turn: (t13857) 6 (9 players, 13 all-in)

River: (t14737) 9 (8 players, 15 all-in)

Total pot: t14737

Results:

MP2 had 10, J (high card, Jack).

CO shows K, Q

The latest scandal to rock the online poker world is Nick “Stoxtrader” Grudzien’s admission that he has played under multiple screennames on both Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. According to his post in the 2+2 thread on the subject:

In the last few days various allegations have been made that I have played on multiple accounts on FTP and Stars and that by doing so I have violated the terms and conditions of the sites and also cheated in ways including colluding. The relevant facts are:

(1) At no point have I ever colluded. This is a categorical denial without exceptions.
(2) I played on a single account on FTP and a single account on PokerStars for the previous four year period through January 2010. The only exception to this was when I made instructional videos.
(3) In January 2010 I created one new account on FTP and one new account on Stars. I played on these accounts for roughly one month and have not used them since. During that time these were the only accounts on which I played at these sites. I have not played poker since March 7th, and will not play again until I receive communication from a pokersite that I am able to do so.

Since I have admitted to breaking the TOS of stars and ftp I don’t plan on playing any poker until I receive communication from the pokersites that it is ok to do so, and at that time I can share the details of any information I recieve from them. FTP and pokerstars are aware of the allegations and I have encouraged them to do a full and thorough investigation to confirm that what I say is completely accurate. I would like to have the opportunity to continue to be a contributing member of both stoxpoker and 2+2, I ask for your patience while these matters are sorted out over the next few days.

As Grudzien’s post suggests, there are at least three issues here, which I’ll address separately.

I have little to say about the allegations of collusion. Smarter people than I agree that the evidence looks pretty damning, and should they prove true, I don’t think there’s any question that this would be unethical.

Is it ethical to maintain a separate account for the purpose of making instructional videos, either to avoid providing potential opponents with information that can be used against you or to ensure that people do not play differently against you because they know you are recording the session? I would argue no on both counts.

Both Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker forbid players to play on more than one account. Lee Jones, the former poker room manager at Poker Stars, once suggested that online poker would be better off if everyone played under a new screenname every session, insuring anonymity for everyone. Regardless of what you think of the one-account-per-player policy, though, it is currently the rule and must be followed. To do otherwise is to gain an unfair informational advantage over opponents who play by the rules. In the current online poker environment, players have a right to know who they’re playing against.

Loss of anonymity is to some extent the price you pay for the opportunity to earn money as a coach or instructor Grudzien could have simply obscured his screenname in post-production, as I used to do in my videos. While this doesn’t provide total anonymity, it solves the worst of the problem without harm to one’s actual opponents in the video. Moreover, Full Tilt Poker provides special “educational” tables where its affiliated Cardrunners pros are allowed to make videos pseudonymously, and all players there understand in advance that this is a possibility. Given Stoxpoker’s relationship with Cardrunners, this ought to have been an option available to Grudzien as well.

Even obscuring one’s screenname in an instructional video is not entirely beyond reproach, though, which is part of why I stopped doing it. Grudzien’s customers and students deserve full information about the person they are paying. I don’t consider the practice downright unethical, because ultimately students can choose not to hire Grudzien if he refuses to disclose his screenname and results, but even this requires that they at least be aware that plays under another account than the one they know from his videos.

In Grudzien’s case, the problem is particularly acute since it seems his primary account was actually a well-known ratholer (ie, a player who buys in for the minimum, plays almost exclusively pre-flop poker, and quits if he doubles up). Regardless of what you think about ratholing, students paying for poker instruction have a right to know that the person they are hiring engages in the practice, as this potentially limits his experience and authority regarding post-flop play.

Thus far, Grudzien has been cryptic about why he changed screennames in January:

There are online poker players who have used 2nd screenames for the purpose of deceiving others into giving them action, evading taxes, collusion, entering multiple times into the same tournament, ghosting, to obscure previous results and stats, to clear extra bonuses, to circumvent affiliate CPA or rakeback rules, to bypass the pokersites shortstack buy-in time limitation, to teamplay, to share action with others at the same table, to chip dump or otherwise engage in underhanded actions I do not know about. I have never done any of these things. Beyond that I cannot and will not comment on the screename issue, nor can I say why I cannot elaborate further other than to say that my reasons for that are serious and personal.

Contrary to the demands of the bloodthirsty mob, Grudzien does have a right to privacy and does not have to out his “serious and personal” situation to anyone. Even without knowing the situation, however, I feel comfortable stating unequivocally that changing screennames is not an ethical response.

Regardless of Grudzien’s intentions, playing under a new account provides him with an unfair advantage over his opponents. He knows who we are and have data on their play, but we do not know who he is. I say “we” because, if Nick really is 40putts/bulltf0rdtuff on FTP and Knockstiff/gr3atvlewbr0 on Stars, as is widely believed, then I myself had a good deal of experience with all of these accounts. In fact, there’s some unintentional in “Dominating Short Stacks”, the most recent video I’ve published on Poker Savvy Plus, in which I play against a table full of short stackers on Poker Stars. One of the players was gr3atvlewbr0, who at the time was unknown to me.

At one point, I say, “bballjim and greatview, to the best of my knowledge, are not professional short stackers…. [T]hey very well might be recreational players”. I go on to contrast them with Littlezen and hibachi41, who are professional short stackers, and explain what I expect to be the differences between them. I specifically talk about adjusting my open raise sizing to gr3atvlewbr0 in a way that I wouldn’t against a professional short stacker because I don’t expect him to be able to exploit it as well. I talk through a hand where I lead the flop instead of going for a check-raise because I don’t expect a recreational player to continuation bet a missed flop as often as a professional would.

All of this indicates the kind of informational disadvantage I was at against this new account, while Grudzien had access to all the data and experience he had on my foucault82 account, the only screenname I’ve ever used on Poker Stars. No matter how serious the mysterious problem facing Grudzien may have been, he has no right to a solution that comes at the expense of myself and everyone else who played regularly with his old accounts.

I don’t know how much big of a deal this is at the small stakes, but in high stakes games it is really freaking annoying. There are usually 25-40 tables with just one player sitting and waiting for action, with just a handful of games actually running. Most of these nits sit out against any remotely decent player who tries to play them and just wait for fish. That’s all fine and good and totally their choice, but I don’t think they ought to be able to squat the most valuable real estate.

The problem is that right now not only is there no way to kick them off the tables (they can keep sitting in and back out again to reset their “sitting out” timer), but apparently they can complain to FTP support and get me a warning for trying to run them off the table.

I’d heard about all this but never tried it out for myself. Last night, I was frustrated by my inability to get any heads up action, and I decided I was going to go give the guy at the top 10/20 table a hard time. It was some clown sitting with $700, and sure enough he instantly sat out against me and said “no ty”.

I ignored his chat and stayed at the table as he repeatedly asked me to leave. Occasionally he sat in, both to get my attention and to avoid getting booted. I always posted my blind but never acknowledged his chat. Eventually he started telling me he was going to report me, I would get a 3-day ban, etc. Still I ignored him.

Finally he sat in and posted his big blind. I raised my button, he folded, and then he sat out again. Now I’ve seen people play their button and sit out, but there’s not much sense in playing your big blind and then sitting out. The only thing I can think is that he was trying to bribe me to go away. Whether that was his intention or not, I took the $20 as sufficient payment to leave him alone, especially since he clearly wasn’t giving up anyway.

This morning, I did indeed get an e-mail from Full Tilt:

Hello Andrew,

This is a message from Full Tilt Poker Support about our heads up table policy.

Full Tilt Poker understands that game selection is paramount in heads up play. If the player first seated at the table does not wish to play the second player, they have the right to refuse the game, and ask the second player to leave the table and it is our expectation that they will do so. If you ask a player to leave and they do not do so, you may send a report to HU-Tables@fulltiltpoker.com, and we will review the issue.

On a little side note, please be aware that the Full Tilt Poker software is designed without any table volume restrictions. This means that there will always be at least one empty table of every type at every stake. You will always be able to find an empty heads up table at any limit at or above $.25/$.50.

We hope that this clarifies our heads up table policies. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Regards,

Chris
Poker Specialist
Full Tilt Poker Support

It’s pretty ridiculous that they’ve got a little unit or something dedicated to protecting table-squatting nits when their customer support is so notoriously slow and bad. If they would just either randomize the order in which tables appear in the lobby or, more fun in my opinion, allow “king of the hill” style competition for the most desirable tables, it would be a lot more fair and quite possibly encourage more action as well, which means more rake for them.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $2.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($221.05)
UTG ($200)
MP ($359.95)
CO ($212.55)
Hero (Button) ($200)
SB ($263.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, J
3 folds, Hero bets $5, 1 fold, BB raises to $20, Hero calls $15

Flop: ($41) A, K, 10 (2 players)
BB bets $25, Hero calls $25

Turn: ($91) J (2 players)
BB bets $52, Hero calls $52

River: ($195) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $103 (All-In), BB calls $103

Total pot: $401 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, J (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
BB had Q, A (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won $398

When he checked the river, I decided to turn my hand into a bluff to get him off a better two-pair, figuring he’s never checking a straight here. Whoops!

It’s a very good check, I think. It’s pretty rare that I’m going to call this river with anything but a Q, meaning that if he bets, he’s only ever going to chop with me. His check gives me room to turn a hand into a bluff or even go for a thin value bet. It’s a rare spot where my value betting range is probably wider than my calling range, and his check is a very nice way of taking advantage of that, never mind the bluff that he induced here.

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.

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

Available exclusively at Full Tilt Poker, Rush Poker* is the ultimate high-speed poker experience.

This new poker format is designed to minimize your wait time between hands and keep you in the action. You’ll join a large player pool and face a different table of opponents every hand you play. When you fold your hand, you’ll be rushed to another table for a new hand right away.

To play even faster, use the Quick Fold button to move to a new table for the next hand immediately.

The basic idea is that you always have a hand to play. The second you decide you want to fold, you are instantly assigned to a random new table, with new opponents, and have a new hand to play.

In my opinion, this is a fantastic idea and a great example of allowing online poker to be its own game rather than just a derivative of live poker. No one enjoys sitting and waiting for others to finish playing a hand so that the next one can be dealt, and now you don’t have to. Just because this is a necessity in a live setting doesn’t mean sites like FTP can’t take advantage of the magic of the interwebs to provide a better (or at least different) experience.

Rush Poker has a couple of implications, the most obvious of which are that you can play dramatically more hands per table-hour (though presumably fewer tables simultaneously) and that you have little opportunity to get reads on your opponents or build up a table dynamic with them.

I underestimated how significant this second factor was going to be. There’s a world of difference between a relative unknown and a complete unknown, and even in a few dozen hands I can get at least a bit of a baseline on how someone will play. Even at $.50/$1, the highest stakes at which Rush Poker is currently offered and where I am presumably far better than the general population, I found myself in surprisingly many spots where I wished I had at least a vague idea of whether someone was loose or tight, passive or aggressive.

That said, you will run into the same player more than once, especially since multi-tabling is possible. Over 444 hands at 6-max tables, the most I ever saw any single player was 8 times. At the time that I quit, there were 200 different players playing, and 355 “entries”, which I assume means that the average player was playing fewer than 2 tables at once.

As for getting more hands, I managed 444 on two tables in about an hour and a half. That comes out to 150 hands/table-hour, which is 2-3 times what I get at a normal 6-max table. That seems about right.

I lost three buy-ins in that 444 hands, but I also lost a pre-flop coin flip, flopped a set vs. a straight, flopped top pair and a flush draw vs. a set, rivered two pair vs. a set, and had someone river a straight flush on my full house, so overall I feel like I was in OK shape despite my experience in dealing with the fishies.

If you want some more thoughts on how to adapt to Rush Poker, Michael Craig made some interesting posts on the subject recently on the Full Tilt blog.

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.

What is it with me losing three-way pre-flop all ins with Aces on the bubble of the final table of big Full Tilt tournaments? This is with 20 people left in the $300 6-max Saturday tournament.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 1000/2000 Blinds 250 Ante (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP (t85806)
Button (t128054)
SB (t45228)
BB (t72671)
Hero (UTG) (t120318)

Hero’s M: 28.31

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A
Hero bets t4888, MP calls t4888, 1 fold, SB raises to t44978 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero raises to t85068, MP raises to t85556 (All-In), Hero calls t488

Flop: (t219340) Q, 6, K (3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t219340) 4 (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t219340) 8 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t219340
Results:
SB had J, Q (flush, King high).
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
MP had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: SB won t138184, MP won t81156

But with some skillful play…

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 2000/4000 Blinds 500 Ante (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t120360)
SB (t212041)
BB (t130758)
UTG (t221896)
Hero (MP) (t149764)

Hero’s M: 17.62

Preflop: Hero is MP with Q, K
UTG bets t9440, Hero calls t9440, 3 folds

Flop: (t27380) 6, Q, 4 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t27380) 3 (2 players)
UTG bets t16660, Hero raises to t33333, UTG calls t16673

River: (t94046) 9 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t106491 (All-In), UTG calls t106491

Total pot: t307028

Results:
UTG had 9, A (one pair, nines).
Hero had Q, K (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won t307028

…and a little luck:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 2000/4000 Blinds 500 Ante (5 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t160688)
MP (t209041)
Button (t116524)
SB (t62398)
Hero (BB) (t286168)

Hero’s M: 33.67

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 2
1 fold, MP bets t8875, 2 folds, Hero calls t4875

Flop: (t22250) J, 8, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets t7777, MP raises to t23575, Hero raises to t39373, MP raises to t199666 (All-In), Hero calls t160293

Turn: (t421582) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t421582) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t421582

Results:
Hero had J, 2 (two pair, Jacks and eights).
MP had 4, A (one pair, eights).
Outcome: Hero won t421582

I can still win one of these things!

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 8000/16000 Blinds 2000 Ante (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t1554346)
SB (t215654)

Hero’s M: 55.51

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, A
SB bets t213654 (All-In), Hero calls t197654

Flop: (t431308) 7, A, 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t431308) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t431308) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t431308

Results:
SB had 9, Q (one pair, sevens).
Hero had 6, A (two pair, Aces and sevens).
Outcome: Hero won t431308

Video of final table forthcoming on Poker Savvy Plus.

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.

The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition
Edited by Michael Craig

This Full Tilt guide is a 19-Chapter anthology, so I’ve broken down my review chapter-by-chapter.

Chapters Reviews:

Chapter 6 – Play Before the Flop by Andy Bloch

Chapter 10-Online Tournament Strategy by Richard Brodie

Chapter 11-Pot Limit Hold ‘Em by Andy Bloch and Rafe Furst

Chapter 12-Limit Hold ‘Em by Howard Lederer

Chapter 13-Omaha Eight-or-Better by Mike Matusow

Chapter 14-Pot Limit Omaha by Chris Ferguson

Chapter 16-Seven Card Stud: Tournament Strategy by David Gray

Chapter 17-Stud Eight-or-Better by Ted Forrest

Chapter 18-Razz by Michael Craig, Huck Seed, and Ted Forrest

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!

A good tournament player, especially a P5’er, especially a guy who may not recognize me as a knowledgeable player, especially when the table’s been active and there haven’t been many steal opportunities, is going to have any two cards here. I called, and indeed he had J9.

I covered my face with my hands, then peaked through them at the screen. I was pretty sure I was going to see a J-high flop. Instead, just to ruin any suspense, it was T87. There was no running full house for me.

At least I won’t have cause to play any more tournaments on FTP any time soon….

This was maybe the most interesting hand I played, fairly standard but important example of structuring the betting so that you induce bluffs/bad value bets and get in the last bet:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t12150)
UTG+1 (t13040)
Hero (MP1) (t12835)
MP2 (t7320)
MP3 (t4812)
CO (t13968)
Button (t12210)
SB (t24562)
BB (t9137)

Hero’s M: 12.22

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, J
2 folds, Hero bets t800, MP2 calls t800, 5 folds

Flop: (t2650) Q, 3, 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t800, Hero raises to t2985, 1 fold

Total pot: t4250

Results:
Hero didn’t show K, J (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t4250

I picked up some hands, ran up a stack, and managed to get this nit off of what he claimed (and I’m inclined to believe) was AJ:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 600/1200 Blinds 150 Ante (8 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t65491)
UTG (t26612)
UTG+1 (t13580)
MP1 (t14358)
Hero (MP2) (t42063)
CO (t25154)
Button (t69958)
SB (t41386)

Hero’s M: 14.02

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, 6
3 folds, Hero bets t2400, 3 folds, BB calls t1200

Flop: (t6600) 10, J, 3 (2 players)
BB bets t4800, Hero raises to t21000, 1 fold

Total pot: t16200

Results:
Hero didn’t show K, 6 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t16200

With my big stack, I stole blinds for a while then got about 1/3 of my chips in with 99 vs 44 and lost that to get kinda short. Sitting on less than 10BB’s, I got 99 in the BB and joked to my girlfriend, who was watching at the time, than I wouldn’t be folding this “unless that guy goes all in then that guy goes all in, then that guy goes all in…” which of course is pretty much happened:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 1200/2400 Blinds 300 Ante (8 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t44934)
SB (t69419)
Hero (BB) (t20218)
UTG (t108206)
UTG+1 (t76830)
MP1 (t95893)
MP2 (t23256)
CO (t68860)

Hero’s M: 3.37

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, 9
2 folds, MP1 bets t6000, MP2 raises to t22956 (All-In), 2 folds, SB raises to t69119 (All-In), 2 folds

Flop: (t56712) 2, 8, 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t56712) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t56712) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t56712

Results:
SB had A, J (one pair, sevens).
MP2 had K, A (one pair, sevens).
Outcome: MP2 won t56712

Sadly, SB’s atrocious call chased me off of the winning hand.

Another simple but important thing I was doing when short was raising less than all in even when I had a hand that I wanted to shove pre-flop. By raising 25-33% of my stack, I was occasionally able to get people to make some awful post-flop folds:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 1200/2400 Blinds 300 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t77968)
CO (t4029)
Hero (Button) (t26818)
SB (t105506)
BB (t76230)
UTG (t83293)
UTG+1 (t56640)
MP1 (t66412)
MP2 (t74410)

Hero’s M: 4.26

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, A
6 folds, Hero bets t7200, SB calls t6000, 1 fold

Flop: (t19500) 4, 10, 6 (2 players)
SB bets t7200, Hero raises to t19318 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t33900

Results:
Hero didn’t show J, A (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t33900

This outcome is so much better than getting either a call or a fold pre-flop. People are very willing to suck if you just give them the chance.

My short stack ninja’ing accumulated a good deal of chips for me, despite getting a walk with QQ in the BB, and eventually I got JJ in against A8s to double. Sadly, it wasn’t too last. A few orbits later, I lost a coin flip with AQs to 99, bustin in 118th place. This marks the third time this year that I’ve run well into the top 1% of one of these huge field Sunday tournaments, but I still don’t have anything to show for it.

Fourth time’s the charm?

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

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($1945)
UTG ($1015)
UTG+1 ($4483)
MP1 ($991.45)
MP2 ($3100)
MP3 ($1609.25)
Hero (CO) ($3782.50)
Button ($1000)
SB ($2473)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 3, 3
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $35, 1 fold, MP2 calls $35, 1 fold, Hero calls $35, 3 folds

Flop: ($120) 3, 10, 10 (3 players)
UTG+1 bets $90, 1 fold, Hero raises to $277, UTG+1 calls $187

Turn: ($674) Q (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $470, UTG+1 calls $470

River: ($1614) A (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $1111, UTG+1 raises to $3701 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: $3836 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG+1 didn’t show
Outcome: UTG+1 won $3833

By the river, I’ve simply shown too much strength, on a scary board, to think that Eric is going to pay me off with a worse hand. Not to mention the fact that TT/QQ/AA are all very possible for him. Checking the turn and either calling or value betting the river might be a better line than this, given that the flush came in. On a non-club turn, I think betting is best, along with maybe bet-folding a non-club river. But with the flush getting there, it’s hard to put me on anything worse than what I have by the river.

The one upside to this is that, since I folded the river very quickly (he tanked for a while before shoving, so I had time to decide that I couldn’t call), he may have concluded that I had nothing and was just running a psychotic bluff. That in turn may have helped me stack him on this hand:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($1810)
MP1 ($1439)
MP2 ($6505)
MP3 ($1090.20)
CO ($3129)
Button ($2052)
Hero (SB) ($2000)
BB ($1821)
UTG ($2062)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 4, 4
3 folds, MP2 raises to $35, MP3 calls $35, 2 folds, Hero calls $30, 1 fold

Flop: ($115) 3, 4, J (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $90, 1 fold, Hero raises to $290, MP2 calls $200

Turn: ($695) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $475, MP2 calls $475

River: ($1645) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets $1200 (All-In), MP2 calls $1200

Total pot: $4045 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 4, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
MP2 had A, J (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won $4042

Resolution 1: Focus on Short-Handed NLHE Cash Games

I pretty well kicked the tournament habit, but my focus wasn’t exclusively on short-handed play. I played a fair bit of full ring NLHE as well when the games were good, and I don’t regret it. Over about 170K hands played at 6-max tables at Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker (Poker Tracker 3 doesn’t collect UB stats), I ran at about 2 BB/100. This covers stakes from $.5/$1 (for a Poker Savvy video I was recording) to $50/$100, which is the biggest I’ve played.

Over 27K hands of heads up NLHE, I ran at nearly 4 BB/100. Sadly, a few ill-fated forays into 25/50 heads up nevertheless left me down about $35,000.

I say that I don’t regret expanding into full ring because over 60K hands I ran at about 4 BB/100.

As most of you know, tournaments did still prove profitable for me thanks to a very deep run in the main event of the WSOP. For the year, I had an ROI of just over 100%, which is in line with what I hear the best tournament players tend to expect. Of course, with a sample size of 261 mostly huge-field tournaments, that’s not a very meaningful number. It’s scary to think how much a single card could have changed the course of my year. Change a few rivered Aces to deuces and I leave Las Vegas penniless. Then again, gimme an Ace on the river against Scott Montgomery and maybe I leave Las Vegas a millionaire. That’s tournament poker.

The real issue with tournaments is that they are mostly a lot less interesting than cash and it’s much harder to put an equivalent amount of money in play. Basically I could either chase the circuit around the gruddiest parts of the US (Reno! Atlantic City! Tunica!) or spend less time playing more money 8-tabling 5/10 NL Deep in the comfort of my own apartment (and underwear, if I damn well please).

Goal 1: Play no more than 400 tournaments (Achieved)

This one wasn’t even close. I played just 261 tournaments, almost exclusively big buy-in, large-field events. In fact, the average prize pool in the tournaments I played was over $900,000. I still enjoy playing the biggest events like the Sunday majors, the FTOPS, and the WCOOP. However, I no longer feel any urge to play something like the 100K Guarantee on a random Thursday night.

The one good thing about tournaments is that they force me to put in hours. If I’m playing one or two tournaments, I’ll generally have 6-8 cash games going on the side for 4-5 hours whereas playing exclusively cash I’d probably play 8-10 tables for just 2-3 hours before getting bored.

Goal 2: The average buy-in of the tournaments I play will be at least $500. (Failed)

I missed this one, coming in at an average buy-in of $427. If you disregard four freerolls that I played, I can get this number up to about $460, but I still played too many small buy-in events. I was also thinking I would play at least one other big B&M event besides the WSOP, which I didn’t end up doing.

Goal 3: Play at least 250,000 hands of NLHE cash. (Achieved)

This was a very modest goal, and I would have been pretty ashamed if I couldn’t hit it. There are people who play this much in a month. In fact, a guy from 2+2 recently won a prop bet that required him to play 600,000 hands in November! Granted I have no desire to 24-table 50NL for 13 hours a day every day, but still I really ought to play more.

Not even counting UB or the occasional live game, I played 256, 587 hands. Over that sample, I came out at 2.54 BB/100, which is good but far from spectacular. Even in the biggest games the best players are making twice that.

Of the limits where I spent most of my time, here’s how it shook out:

30K hands at 10/20 NL 6-max at 3.9 BB/100

50K hands at 5/10 NL FR at 3.9 BB/100

66K hands at 5/10 6-max 0.4 BB/100

31K hands at 3/6 6-max, 1.1 BB/100

13K hands 2/4 6-max 4.9 BB/100

And for those who are curious about my play style, here are a few of my numbers with exactly 6 players at the table:

VP$IP 21 PFR 16 W$WSF 45% WTSD 24% W$SD 53%

For those who don’t speak Poker Trackerese, I played 21% of my hands, open raising or 3-betting a raiser 16% of the time. This is just slightly on the tight passive side. I think a style like 22/18 would be a little better, and in general I probably call too many raises.

When I saw the flop, I won 45% of the time, which is on the low end of acceptable. Again, this could be a result of calling raises with too many speculative hands, of giving up too easily, or of not playing aggressively enough.

I went to showdown in 24% of the hands that I played and had the best hand at showdown 53% of the time. The latter figure is good, but the former is a little high and suggests that I am not bluffing or value betting quite as much as I should.

My ten most profitable hands, in order: AA, KK, AKs, TT, AKo, 33, QQ, JJ, AJs, 99. This is pretty much what I’d expect, though obviously TT belongs behind JJ and I’ve probably just been running good with it. And of course AQs probably belongs up there ahead of 33, again just a result of variance I suspect. Actually I do tend to use AQ as a pre-flop semi-bluff quite a bit to 4- or 5-bet all in, and when called I’m usually dominated, so that could also be what’s holding AQ down.

I think the more interesting thing to see is my ten least profitable hands: 86s, A3s, 98s, AQs, 42s, 97s, 43s, 65s, JTs, 54s. I was surprised to see that they are all suited. Probably this is because I generally don’t play the off-suit versions, but apparently I am not playing my suited connectors so well either. Again, this corroborates the theory that I may be calling too many raises. I’ll have to work on that.

The other confounding factor here is that, as with AQ above, I tend to use suited connectors as range-balancing hands. This can be tough to conceptualize, but the fact that I am 5-betting all-in with AQ may make my entire 5-betting range more profitable because it generates additional action for my AA and KK even though it costs me money in isolation. The same could be said for the suited connectors. This is what makes it so difficult to analyze poker hands discretely.

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss my progress towards my second resolution for 2008: Keep Getting Better at Other Games.

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.

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: $1,643
BB: $1,399
UTG: $2,084.75
Hero (MP): $2,363
CO: $2,040
BTN: $1,000

Pre-Flop: 7 A dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG raises to $20, Hero raises to $75, CO folds, BTN calls $75, SB folds, BB calls $65, UTG raises to $255, Hero raises to $2,363 and is All-In, 3 folds

Results: $665 Pot
Hero mucked 7 A and WON $665 (+$410 NET)

He was minraising a ton pre-flop and making a lot of small flop bets. I’d been playing back at him quite a bit, and he’d been playing back at my play backs, etc. So there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on here:

1. His UTG range is way wider than your average UTG raising range.

2. This means I can profitably 3-bet a wider range for value and make more bluff 3-bets.

3. But, I’ve been 3-betting him a lot and I know he knows that and he knows I know he knows so there is the whole leveling thing going on.

4. BTN is kind of a LAGtard and is probaby calling more hands than he should here but also is probably not cold calling with KK or AA.

5. BB is getting a decent price and also probably not playing KK or AA like this.

6. There’s a lot of money in the pot now, and UTG can be pretty sure that two of his three opponents are going to fold to a 4-bet. I’m the only x-factor, but given the price he’s getting and the fact that there is at least some reason to think I am going to go away, it’s a great spot for him to squeeze.

7. Naturally he is playing JJ+ and AK like this for value. Nothing I can do about that. But recognizing (7), and that there’s a lot of money in the pot and that I have 30% equity against his calling range, I’m sticking it in.

I also tend towards a maxim of “when in doubt, pull the trigger”. Not only does this encourage you to experiment and grow as a player, but it also gives you a good image. When my opponents are contemplating a 4-bet, they have to fear not only that I will actually have a hand but also that I will re-bluff them. Even if a play turns out to be -EV in a vaccuum, it can make future hands easier to play by forcing opponents to play more straight-forwardly against you. And that’s worth a lot.

He raised to $30 on the button, and I called with 22 on my BB. The flop came K85r, he bet $60 (he pretty much always potted the flop as the pre-flop raiser), I raised to $166, and he called. I was going to be done with the hand, but when an A came on the turn, I decided to fire again. I bet $285, and he called. There was now a little under $1000 in the pot and a little over $1000 left in our effective stacks. The river was something innocuous, and I shoved.

I didn’t think he would call the river with less than Aces up, and he was loose enough to call any pair on the flop and maybe even on the turn. Based on that description, it should be clear that bluffing the turn and giving up on the river is not going to be good. He very rarely folds the turn after calling the flop. But if I am planning to shove most rivers, then the second barrel becomes part of a profitable strategy. My read was that there would be a big gap between his turn and river and calling ranges which a triple barrel would exploit profitably.

The second hand was against a better opponent. He opened the button to $30, and I made it $111 with A5s in the BB. He called. The flop came QJTr. I bet$175, and he called. The turn was a four and put a second diamond on the board. I bet $400, and he called. The river was an offsuit 3, and I shoved for about $850 into a $1300 pot. He folded.

Again, this player can have a fairly wide turn calling range. He may be calling with a pair thinking that I will give up on the river, or he may have a pair and a draw hoping I will either give up or that he will get there. But I think he is almost always shoving if he has two pair or better. That means that unless he slowplayed something (and only AK could really be comfortable slowplaying on the turn), he can pretty much never have a strong hand on the river.

Note how difficult it is for him to combat this. If he wants to prevent me from triple barreling, he must either slowplay some sets in a pretty yucky spot or occasionally call the river with stuff like J8. Shoving his pair and draw combos on the turn is a partial solution. It doesn’t actually make his range much stronger when he gets to the river, but it does cause him to find himself in this bad river spot less often.

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

BTN: $1,976
SB: $289.95
Hero (BB): $1,074.75
UTG: $208.75
MP: $1,000
CO: $1,000

Pre-Flop: A 6 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, CO raises to $20, SB calls $15, Hero calls $10

Flop: ($60) K 4 7 (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets $30, SB folds, Hero calls $30

Turn: ($120) 8 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($120) 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $74, CO raises to $148, Hero raises to $450, CO folds

Results: $416 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero mucked A 6 and WON $413 (+$215 NET)

I’m not sure what to make of the min-raise pre-flop or the half-pot flop bet. I was planning to check-raise the flop, but I decided that with such appealing odds, I would just call. Then I was going to check-raise the turn, figuring I’d get him off something like KQ-AA. When he checked back the turn, I was thinking his range would consist mostly of air, pairs less than a K, and sometimes a pot-controlled top pair or boat. By leading the river, I can rep top pair+ and get him off all but his top pair+ hands.

His river min-raise is never a bluff, but I did think it was a kind of thin value play with like AK or AA planning on folding to a 3-bet. So that’s what I did. I would have done it for value with any 7. I don’t really believe him, but here’s what he told me he had:

Nit: 44
Foucaut: what? no way you had 44
Nit: u had quads?
Foucault: sure did
Nit: nh
Foucault: good fold
Nit: ez fold

Obviously an awful fold if he really had 44, which I must admit is not inconsistent with his line up to the river. But since, as I said, I was 3-betting trips for value, folding a boat there is terrible. Granted it is pretty rare for me to bluff here. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve 3-bet bluffed the river. But it would have been really sweet if I didn’t have auto-muck turned on and I could have showed him my cards. Oh well. And look what happened the very next hand:

Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

MP: $2,083
CO: $174.95
Hero (BTN): $1,284.75
SB: $198.75
BB: $1,000
UTG: $1,000

Pre-Flop: 7 7 dealt to Hero (BTN)
2 folds, CO raises to $20, Hero raises to $75, 2 folds, CO calls $55

Flop: ($165) A 7 7 (2 Players)
CO bets $99.95 and is All-In, Hero calls $99.95

Turn: ($364.90) 5 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

River: ($364.90) K (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: $364.90 Pot ($3 Rake)
CO showed 3 3 (two pair, Sevens and Threes) and LOST (-$174.95 NET)
Hero showed 7 7 (four of a kind, Sevens) and WON $361.90 (+$186.95 NET)

Legit quads!

Full Tilt Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $2/$4
6 players
Converter