FTOPS Jersey

Isn’t it pretty? Plus, now that my avatar is no longer the black guy with the Afro, I expect to see 17% less racist vitriol directed at me in the chatbox!

… Read full post

FTOPS 25 Final Table Hands

Don’t Try to Bluff a Guy Named Psycho

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 … Read full post

Winner!

Wow. Thanks to everyone who was watching and following along.

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 … Read full post

FTOPS Event 25 $2000 NLHE 2-Day

Woke up at 6AM this morning, drove from Boston to Baltimore, got in just in time to fire this bitch up, and 10 hours later I am through Day 1 ranked 22/106, with 946 runners starting. I actually burst the bubble myself, busting the lovely Lauren Kling when she shoved … Read full post

durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Congratulations on busting durrrr in the following tournament:

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 … Read full post

April

A third of the year is officially behind us. Am I 1/3 of the way to achieving my Yearly Resolutions?

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

I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty healthy income, far more than I could make at
… Read full post

FTOPS Event 18: $300 Rebuy NLHE 6-Max

Like the $100 rebuy, this one ran with an overlay. I was only in for $900, so I had like $240 in overlay.

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 … Read full post

FTOPS Event 12: $1000 6-Max

I’ve had some deep runs lately in the Saturday $300 6-max, so I was looking forward to this event. Unfortunately, it didn’t really go my way. I lost a big pot (though not my stack) with AJ vs. AQ on a AJ7Q9 board in a 3-bet pot. My bust-out hand … Read full post

FTOPS Event 10: $200 PLO8

OK I did play it ;-). It didn’t end up taking up much time at all.

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 … Read full post

FTOPS Event #8: $500 NLHE Heads Up

I finished 12th in this, out of 1024, meaning I made it to the Sweet 16. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about hands here because I’ll probably make a video of this for Poker Savvy Plus. But here’s the quick rundown:

Round 1- Guy was … Read full post

TiltBuster

Well this is embarrassing. A few days ago I made a post about the new card mod I was using for FTP. I suggested downloading the image files from RapidShare, which as several commenters pointed out is needlessly risky. I did use that link myself and I don’t have any … Read full post

phattylivers

Edit: Changed to a better link for downloading.

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 … Read full post

Gross Spot With QQ Deep in the FTP $500

We’re just inside of 100 people left in the monthly FTP $500, down from a little over 2000 who started.

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 … Read full post

Runner Runner Quads

For 250BB’s, no less. My flop call isn’t great, but only because people’s ranges are nowhere near what they should be in these spots.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($1023)
UTG ($936.40)
MP ($1422)
CO ($1631.85)
Hero (Button) ($1462.85)
SB ($2367.20)… Read full post

If You’re Looking for a Good Story

Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet of late, I’ve been doing plenty of writing but it’s mostly towards the book. It’s taken away from my playing time a bit as well, so not as many interesting hands of late. If you’re looking for something interesting to read, check out this … Read full post

Book Ideas

OK, so I am comfortably settled into this huge house on the Maine coast  and will be here for the rest of the month.Off-season extended rentals FTW- it’s too cold to get in the water and most of downtown is closed, but that just makes it a better writer’s … Read full post

Gambooool

I made it down to 300 or so in the Sunday Million today, thanks in no small part to a gamble relatively early on:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 500/1000 Blinds 75 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Hand Converter from HandHistoryConverter.com

MP1 (t11074)
MP2 (t21590)
MP3 (t47491)
CO (t62986)
Button … Read full post

Tournament 3-Betting Dynamic

I ran deep in the $300 6-max on Full Tilt today. For much of the end-game, I had a player on my right who I recognized from the 2+2 forums but whom I’d never played for. To the best of my knowledge, he is a successful tournament pro and also … Read full post

Cold Calling 3-Bets Out of Position

This isn’t something I do often, just because you’re basically announcing strength without charging your opponents anything, plus by spotting them position you put them in control of the betting as well. Against good players I almost always 4-bet or fold, usually fold in this spot. Against a monkey with … Read full post

Improving Your Relative Position

“Relative position” refers to when you must act in comparison to the player who is most likely to bet on a given street. For example, if there are several limpers, you complete the SB, the BB raises, and everyone calls, it may seem like you have the worst position. After … Read full post

March

Another month, another monthly review of progress towards my Yearly Resolutions.

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

I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty healthy income, far more than I could make at any real job I could get, without impeding too
… Read full post

Thanks Everyone!

Sorry it’s been quiet for the last few days, Emily and I have been camping in the White Mountains with very limited internet access and no poker playing. I’m about to start a session now though so hopefully I’ll have some good fodder for some more posts.

Just wanted to … Read full post

Tournament Overcall

I don’t necessarily call here vs. randoms, but these two were both red pros and knowledgeable tournament players (Jon Turner and Mandy B). Against the, it’s a mandatory snap-call. Jon isn’t the wildest player in the world, but he has to be on at least 60% of his hands here, … Read full post

Didn’t Know Google Knew Roads Like This

The girlfriend and I were driving yesterday from White River Junction, Vermont to Burlington, and is par for the course for us, we consulted the GoogleMaps application on her Blackberry for directions. To our pleasant surprise, Google actually suggested a route consisting of small highways and county roads rather than … Read full post

This is Why We Shove Our Draws

A lot of players make too much of the idea that when you have a draw that you’re willing to get all in with, you’d prefer to make the final bet yourself. This is true when better hands will fold, but often people make huge shoves that make it pretty … Read full post

Dude, That’s My Bet

Hopefully these new suit characters will solve the problem of people not being able to see suits at work (pun):

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($1799.75)
Hero (SB) ($2339)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 2♦, 4♦
Hero bets $30… Read full post

Thanks and Keep It Up

Big thank you to everyone who’s contributed to the Boston Debate League so far to help us get more unique donors for our “March Goodness” competition (details here). If you enjoy reading this blog, and especially if you feel like it has helped to make you money, please … Read full post

A Mandatory Bluff

After betting big on the turn, my range is polarized (ie I’m not doing it with KQ, 77, or 54) and weighted towards the strong side (43, KJ, 33, 44). I think Villain’s range is exactly hands that beat my bluffs but lose to my value range, with the possible … Read full post

A Bet I’m Not Supposed to Make

A good player is never check-calling this river. Weaker players will, though, and they rarely check better. This guy was new to me but seemed decent and had an aggression factor of 7 over a small sample. Good reason, in other words, to think he’s not a check-caller.

PokerStars No-Limit … Read full post

This is Why You Don’t See More Ads

The vast majority of people who contact me about “advertising” are actually looking for some shady shit like this, though some of them express it more subtly:

“I work for XXX and we are looking for you to publish some content of ours on your website.  In exchange, I can

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Owned By a Nit

It’s not really fair to call the Villain in this hand a nit, but he’s one of the tightest winning 5/10 regulars anyway. That’s part of the reason I bet the turn against him, rather than just check-calling the turn as I might against a more aggressive player.

PokerStars No-Limit … Read full post

A Great Way For YOU To Get Value

A lot of commenters tell me that while the weird bluffs and thin value bets I post here are fun to read, they don’t feel they can apply them in the games they play. Well, today I’ve got a great investment that’s available to everyone! As little as $10 has … Read full post

Shakedown

Some of you are probably aware of this controversy already, but in the Full Tilt Poker lobby, heads up tables are currently displayed in alphabetical order. What this means is that whoever is lucky enough to get Table Acre or other names that occur early in the alphabet have by … Read full post

Close Call

Villain on my right is kind of a fish, his turn lead is definitely strong. The guy on my left is a pretty decent reg, a bit on the TAGgish side in general but has a propensity to play back at me. I think he dislikes me, I probably said … Read full post

Hand Reading With the Stars

We’re starting a new series on Poker Savvy Plus called Ask the Pros where members submit hands they’ve played for review by myself or one of the other PSP instructors. If you’re a member and have any hands that you found interesting or tricky, please send the hand history to … Read full post

After You

Verlyn Klinkenborg, who regularly contributes interesting and well-written little essays  to the New York Times Op-Ed page, writes today about four-way stops and what a surprisingly successful tidbit of human cooperation they are:

What a four-way stop expresses is the equality of the drivers who meet there. It doesn’t

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The Re-Squeeze

A commenter on yesterday’s re-squeeze hand remarked that even at high stakes he felt like Villain would pretty much always have AK when he overcalled the first pre-flop raise and then shoved over a re-raise and a call. Having just played this hand, I couldn’t resist posting it:

PokerStars No-Limit … Read full post

Of Course I Snap-Call

Villain, a decent reg, ridiculed my call here, but I think he was just tilted. I need less than 40% equity, and while he can maybe have QQ here, I’d say he has KK+ and AK pretty much never (note that he’s the second caller of the initial raise).

PokerStars … Read full post

Gogo Wireless on AirTran

I’ll tell you up front that I hate flying AirTran. The flights are late, the seats are cramped, and the snacks suck. However, they offer wicked cheap flights even at the last minute, so I find myself flying with them from time to time. Since hearing that they now have … Read full post

PLO-Style

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) ($400)
UTG ($400)
MP ($300)
Button ($414)
SB ($425)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, A
2 folds, Button bets $12, 1 fold, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($26) 6… Read full post

Disciplined Check

My range for 3-betting an UTG raiser from UTG+1 isn’t going to be all that wide, and by the river, AK is probably closer to the bottom of it than the top:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $50.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($4925)
Button ($6246)
SB … Read full post

February

With another month behind us, it’s time to review my progress towards my Yearly Resolutions.

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

I’ve found that 15 hours/week enables me to earn a pretty healthy income, far more than I could make at any real job I could
… Read full post

Interesting Value Check

I was playing some rush poker the other day when this hand came up against allinstevie. I recognized him from MTT’s and sit-and-go’s and quickly wrote him off as just another tourney donk. He went on to show me that he had a little tricky in him:

Full Tilt No-Limit … Read full post

FTOPS $500 NLHE Main Event

The FTOPS main event started at 3PM PST. I busted the NAPT around 3:20 and booked it back up to my room to late register. Obviously immediately after experience some bad luck in a big live tournament, I wasn’t in a mindset to play the best poker of my life, … Read full post

NAPT Day 2 (Busto)

My starting table had not a lot of chips but a couple of notable players, including Owen “ocrowe” Crowe, Andrew Chen, Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo, and Lauren Kling. We broke after less than an hour, but I still managed to play a few interesting pots. Also, a very friendly reader … Read full post

More NAPT Day 1 Hands

75/150 I limp UTG with Ac Qc. Folds to the SB, who completes, and BB checks.

Flop Js Td 9s. Checks to me, I bet 300, SB calls. I think he can have any pair and even a few draws that I’m beating.

Turn 2d. He checks, I bet 900 … Read full post