Posts Tagged ‘WCOOP’

I’m really upset at myself for spewing off my stack in the 4-max. It’s such a fun tournament, especially in the early stages when everyone is really deep and trying to play loose aggressive. Many otherwise good tournament players are just clueless about playing wide ranges super-deep and seem to think that being deep is a justification for never folding anything preflop and that being shorthanded is a justification for never folding anything ever. So of course what do I decide to do but run some huge bluff. I accidentally left $6 behind, which in this case didn’t affect anything since Villain snap-shoved over my river bet and presumably had the nuts (I probably should have called just to see his hand, though I did run the $6 up to the $72 before getting bad beat!). I think in theory this is a fine line, but the way people were playing in this tournament he might not even fold like two-pair.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (4 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) (t4313)
SB (t7167)
BB (t4705)
UTG (t3795)

Hero’s M: 95.84

Preflop: Hero is Button with K♠, 8♠
1 fold, Hero bets t60, SB raises to t160, 1 fold, Hero calls t100

Flop: (t350) Q♣, 8♣, J♥ (2 players)
SB bets t250, Hero raises to t666, SB calls t416  Read the complete post...

I was really kicking ass in this thing, had twice-average stack of 150 BBs approaching the bubble, and then it all went to shit in about 25 hands. This was the first one that took a big chunk out of me:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 500/1000 Blinds 125 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t37143)
MP1 (t146405)
MP2 (t41652)
MP3 (t36296)
CO (t42449)
Button (t45988)
SB (t23216)
BB (t16685)
Hero (UTG) (t108755)

Hero’s M: 41.43

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A♥, J♦
Hero bets t2000, 2 folds, MP2 calls t2000, 4 folds, BB calls t1000

Flop: (t7625) 4♥, 3♦, J♥ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t4444, MP2 calls t4444, 1 fold

Turn: (t16513) 10♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t8800, Hero raises to t102186 (All-In), MP2 calls t26283 (All-In)

River: (t86679) 5♣ (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t86679

Results:
Hero had A♥, J♦ (one pair, Jacks).
MP2 had 10♣, 10♠ (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: MP2 won t86679

The guy actually tanked before calling, and I was convinced I was good. I don’t think it was a deliberate slowroll. He probably gets my stack if either T turns, but this was obviously the gin card for him.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 500/1000 Blinds 125 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com  Read the complete post...

I didn’t last too long in this one but ran one kind of interesting bluff that I ended up bailing on (which I think is the most interesting part):

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 109 Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP3) (t9760)
CO (t9500)
Button (t9131)
SB (t9941)
BB (t9695)
UTG (t12298)
UTG+1 (t10400)
MP1 (t10252)
MP2 (t19023)

Hero’s M: 108.44

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A♣, 5♣
4 folds, Hero bets t180, 1 fold, Button raises to t405, 2 folds, Hero calls t225

Flop: (t900) 7♦, 4♠, 6♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t529, Hero calls t529

Turn: (t1958) 10♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t699, Hero raises to t1998, Button calls t1299

River: (t5954) 5♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Total pot: t5954

Results:
Button had Q♦, Q♣ (one pair, Queens).
Hero had A♣, 5♣ (one pair, fives).
Outcome: Button won t5954

   Read the complete post...

I played so badly in the $265 that there weren’t even hands worth posting. Here are some interesting ones from the Second Chance, though.

The Villains in Hand 1 both have nitty pre-flop stats, so I think 7′s are extremely unlikely for either of them (not to mention that I’m not at all convinced either would play trips this way). Having the Ad in my hand is helpful because it makes it less likely anyone will have a flush draw he wants to get crazy with and also gives me a little equity against a stubborn pair or even the unlikely 7.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 134 Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (MP) (t5676)
CO (t4624)
Button (t4255)
SB (t4780)
BB (t5603)
UTG (t4738)

Hero’s M: 126.13

Preflop: Hero is MP with J♣, A♦
UTG bets t75, Hero calls t75, CO calls t75, 1 fold, SB calls t60, BB calls t45

Flop: (t375) 7♥, 10♦, 7♦ (5 players)
SB bets t120, 1 fold, UTG raises to t270, Hero raises to t711, 3 folds

Total pot: t1035

Results:
Hero didn’t show J♣, A♦.
Outcome: Hero won t1035  Read the complete post...

I’m not a great Razz player, but you really don’t need to be to do well in a large-field Razz tournament. I like to break the players down into two categories: those who understand the basic strategy of the game (how to evaluate starting hands, when to continue past 4th, obvious bluffing and bluff-catching spots) and those who do not. There are things that truly great Razz players can do to get an edge on those of us who are merely competent, but it’s a simple enough game that I don’t believe that the ability to save an extra bet here or there gives them a big edge. There is, however, a huge gap between those who do and don’t understand the basics. To wit, here’s a guy capping 6th and 7th streets with the 7th nuts when I’m showing three wheel cards:  Read the complete post...

I love this game. For those who don’t, the blinds are always 5 and 5, but the antes get progressively larger every level. So what you end up with is a large pre-flop pot but no one player any more committed to it than any other. The rules are otherwise the same as NLHE, but it’s really a very different game. You can’t just autopilot it the way you can other NLHE tournaments, and that gives a big advantage to people who actually understand poker and how to adapt to new situations.

The single most common mistake people make is folding pre-flop. In an unraised pot, you can be getting 100:1 or better to limp in. Even if it’s very likely that someone will raise, folding 72o UTG is still a mistake. Yet people fold constantly because they are used to folding junk hands.

I limp everything in early position. It’s an easy way to improve your relative position. You still have any two cards, you’ve put virtually no money in the pot, but now you get to see what happens behind you before you decide whether and how to play your hand. If I’m UTG+1 or UTG+2, I’ll even limp big pairs behind other limpers.  Read the complete post...

Edit: Oh snap! I just saw that Villain in this hand went on to win the tournament! And it was his second WCOOP bracelet. Congratulations 2FLY2TILT!

I skipped the PL Draw event because I don’t know how to play that game, and I registered three hours into the Triple Stud because I wanted to be fresh for the $1000 NLHE rather than frustrated from three hours of Stud. I won a nice pot almost immediately in Razz, but it was all downhill from there. I think this is pretty standard for people who know something about Razz, but it illustrated the problem with trying to bluff in this game:
PokerStars Game #67119394260: Tournament #2011090008, $200+$15 USD Triple Stud (Razz Limit) – Level VIII (200/400) – 2011/09/06 14:48:20 MT [2011/09/06 16:48:20 ET]
Table ’2011090008 11′ 8-max
Seat 1: capoch (2998 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: 2FLY2TILT (5744 in chips)
Seat 3: kasparov007 (7808 in chips)
Seat 4: kimsen (5902 in chips)
Seat 5: johnny5rings (3754 in chips)
Seat 6: Ghoyteep (8772 in chips)
Seat 7: Terry_Toria (3799 in chips)
Seat 8: foucault82 (4960 in chips)
capoch: posts the ante 40
2FLY2TILT: posts the ante 40
kasparov007: posts the ante 40
kimsen: posts the ante 40
johnny5rings: posts the ante 40
Ghoyteep: posts the ante 40
Terry_Toria: posts the ante 40
foucault82: posts the ante 40
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to capoch [3s]
Dealt to 2FLY2TILT [Jd]
Dealt to kasparov007 [7s]
Dealt to kimsen [8s]
Dealt to johnny5rings [Tc]
Dealt to Ghoyteep [4d]
Dealt to Terry_Toria [Th]
Dealt to foucault82 [7c 3h 4s]
2FLY2TILT: brings in for 60
kasparov007: folds
kimsen: folds
johnny5rings: folds
Ghoyteep: folds
Terry_Toria: folds
foucault82: raises 140 to 200
capoch: folds
2FLY2TILT: calls 140
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to 2FLY2TILT [Jd] [5h]
Dealt to foucault82 [7c 3h 4s] [Qd]
2FLY2TILT: bets 200
foucault82: calls 200
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to 2FLY2TILT [Jd 5h] [Jh]
Dealt to foucault82 [7c 3h 4s Qd] [Qc]
2FLY2TILT: bets 400
foucault82: calls 400
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to 2FLY2TILT [Jd 5h Jh] [5s]
Dealt to foucault82 [7c 3h 4s Qd Qc] [8h]
foucault82: bets 400
2FLY2TILT: calls 400
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to foucault82 [7c 3h 4s Qd Qc 8h] [Ks]
foucault82: checks
2FLY2TILT: bets 400
foucault82: calls 400
*** SHOW DOWN ***
2FLY2TILT: shows [3d Ac Jd 5h Jh 5s Ad] (Lo: A,A,J,5,3)
foucault82: shows [7c 3h 4s Qd Qc 8h Ks] (Lo: Q,8,7,4,3)
foucault82 collected 3520 from pot  Read the complete post...

I played all of today’s WCOOPs but only did anything notable in the $320 6-handed shootout. My starting table feature PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis, thankfully on my right, and four players I didn’t recognize. I’d been playing aggressively against Lex, generally with the best hand, and finally he’d had enough. I picked up QQ in the BB and got him to 4-bet all-in with A7o in the BB. With his chips in my stack it wasn’t too much trouble to get down to the heads up.

My opponent was pretty much an ideal heads up opponent. I felt totally in control of the match the entire time, since by the time two bets had gone into the pot I knew everything I needed to know about what he had and where I stood. I played extreme smallball with him because I was sure my edge was huge. At first he was only continuing past the flop if he had a pair, so I was c-betting everything and calling all of his pre-flop raises. Eventually he started continuation betting, but again I caught on so quickly to what he was doing that I started check-raising him and was back in control in no time. I polished him off and waited a solid hour and a half for the next match to start.  Read the complete post...