Fortunately Luis was willing and able to take a train out from the city to come visit for the weekend! Emily found a great French restaurant in Val David where we had an excellent meal. Even Luis was impressed by it, and he used to work at one of the best French restaurants in Montreal! One of the best according to him, that is – when he told the owner of La Table Des Gourmets about his experience, she dismissed it as “merely a bistro”.

Anyway, it was great to see him, but the end of WCOOP was otherwise quite anti-climactic. Emily and I dropped Luis off at the train station and returned in time for me to late register the $1050. I played a total of five hands and promptly busted AQs < ATo.

The $530 was even less remarkable, I chipped up a bit and eventually lost AJ to 99.

And the Main Event, well… I played two bullets and never won a pot larger 6000 chips. This is probably one of the more interesting losses. TBH I almost just folded the flop:

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has 9h Kh
fold, UTG+1 raises to 2.06 BB, fold, MP+1 calls 2.06 BB, MP+2 calls 2.06 BB, fold, Hero calls 2.06 BB, fold, BB calls 1.06 BB

Flop : (11.92 BB, 5 players) Jc Kd 9s
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP+1 bets 5.96 BB, fold, Hero calls 5.96 BB, fold, fold

Turn : (23.85 BB, 2 players) 7h
MP+1 bets 11.93 BB, fold

MP+1 wins 23.85 BB

The only WCOOP event I played was the $500 6-max. Not much to report, but here’s a fun little spot where I bet think most people just never bluff (note that I block 76ss):

PokerStars – 300/600 Ante 75 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BB): 140.41 BB
UTG: 85.44 BB (VPIP: 27.00, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 3.57, Hands: 100)
MP: 71.6 BB (VPIP: 33.22, PFR: 23.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.87, Hands: 286)
CO: 43.07 BB (VPIP: 19.23, PFR: 14.66, 3Bet Preflop: 9.43, Hands: 235)
BTN: 59.06 BB (VPIP: 28.09, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 10.21, Hands: 569)
SB: 74.94 BB (VPIP: 20.46, PFR: 13.99, 3Bet Preflop: 6.71, Hands: 394)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 9s 7s
fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.11 BB, SB calls 1.61 BB, Hero calls 1.11 BB

Flop : (7.09 BB, 3 players) 6c 6h 6d
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN bets 3.07 BB, SB calls 3.07 BB, Hero raises to 7.97 BB, fold, fold

Hero wins 16.32 BB

I ended up busting on a much larger bluff. Not to say this is necessarily good, but I don’t think the results really speak to it being bad, as this is surely near the top of Villain’s range and not a hand I need him to fold in order for the bluff to be profitable:

PokerStars – 800/1600 Ante 200 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BB): 52.33 BB
UTG: 74.37 BB (VPIP: 33.14, PFR: 21.30, 3Bet Preflop: 8.43, Hands: 170)
MP: 77.28 BB (VPIP: 35.69, PFR: 25.22, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 356)
CO: 61.25 BB (VPIP: 35.10, PFR: 19.23, 3Bet Preflop: 5.62, Hands: 209)
BTN: 35.57 BB (VPIP: 27.16, PFR: 18.67, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 82)
SB: 33.4 BB (VPIP: 22.56, PFR: 14.69, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 464)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 3s 2s
fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.2 BB, SB calls 1.7 BB, Hero calls 1.2 BB

Flop : (7.35 BB, 3 players) Kh 5h 5d
SB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (7.35 BB, 3 players) 4s
SB checks, Hero bets 7.35 BB, BTN calls 7.35 BB, fold

River : (22.05 BB, 2 players) 8d
Hero bets 42.65 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 25.89 BB and is all-in

Hero shows 3s 2s (One Pair, Fives)
(Pre 41%, Flop 2%, Turn 9%)

BTN shows 5c 6h (Three of a Kind, Fives)
(Pre 59%, Flop 98%, Turn 91%)

BTN wins 73.83 BB

PokerStars – 300/600 Ante 75 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 40.77 BB (VPIP: 34.18, PFR: 20.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.89, Hands: 79)
BB: 36.24 BB (VPIP: 20.94, PFR: 14.34, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 277)
UTG: 58.62 BB (VPIP: 27.27, PFR: 12.04, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 110)
Hero (MP): 193.9 BB
CO: 126.23 BB (VPIP: 30.28, PFR: 21.22, 3Bet Preflop: 8.85, Hands: 867)
BTN: 53.83 BB (VPIP: 22.76, PFR: 13.82, 3Bet Preflop: 1.69, Hands: 123)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 7d 7c
fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, CO raises to 7 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 4.72 BB

Flop : (16.25 BB, 2 players) Td 5c 4s
Hero checks, CO bets 5.04 BB, Hero calls 5.04 BB

Turn : (26.33 BB, 2 players) 6c
Hero bets 16.5 BB, CO raises to 114.07 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 97.57 BB

River : (254.47 BB, 2 players) 3d

Hero shows 7d 7c (Straight, Seven High)
(Pre 52%, Flop 69%, Turn 68%)

CO shows Ac Qc (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 48%, Flop 31%, Turn 32%)

Hero wins 254.47 BB

I ended up bubbling in a quite interesting spot. The all in Villain had a substantial bounty, large enough that I think it was worth the risk of bubbling to go after it. It’s important that I give myself the option to fold and sneak into the money if the flop doesn’t give me a shot of KO’ing the all in player – if I had to get all in myself before the flop, the decision would have been much tougher and probably I would have to fold.

What happened was the worst case scenario: I flopped well enough to get all in but ended up busting, collecting neither the bounty nor a min cash (though I was still in the black thanks to my earlier bounties).

PokerStars – 3000/6000 Ante 750 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 40.34 BB (VPIP: 31.50, PFR: 15.08, 3Bet Preflop: 5.36, Hands: 129)
BTN: 54.55 BB (VPIP: 24.55, PFR: 16.51, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 110)
SB: 78.86 BB (VPIP: 20.29, PFR: 12.32, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 354)
Hero (BB): 21.49 BB
UTG: 8.56 BB (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
MP: 35.36 BB (VPIP: 27.57, PFR: 20.06, 3Bet Preflop: 8.97, Hands: 347)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has Th 5h
UTG raises to 8.44 BB and is all-in, fold, CO calls 8.44 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 7.44 BB

Flop : (26.57 BB, 3 players) 5d 6h 3c
Hero bets 12.92 BB and is all-in, CO calls 12.92 BB

Turn : (52.41 BB, 3 players) Ac

River : (52.41 BB, 3 players) Kd

Hero shows Th 5h (One Pair, Fives)

CO shows Ah 8h (One Pair, Aces)

UTG shows Qc As (One Pair, Aces)

CO wins 25.85 BB
UTG wins 26.57 BB

I’m struggling to find an interesting hand from the $215. This is the best I came up with. It may look like a straight-forward spot, but in my experience a lot of less experienced players will just call the flop (which, to be fair, is probably what I would have done too a few years ago):

PokerStars – 800/1600 Ante 200 NL (8 max) – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 24.59 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 15.56, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 45)
Hero (BB): 76.47 BB
UTG: 42.8 BB (VPIP: 21.13, PFR: 14.25, 3Bet Preflop: 6.29, Hands: 427)
UTG+1: 19.79 BB (VPIP: 19.32, PFR: 15.97, 3Bet Preflop: 5.83, Hands: 266)
MP: 59.01 BB (VPIP: 29.84, PFR: 17.74, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 124)
MP+1: 90.76 BB (VPIP: 20.97, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 124)
CO: 58.3 BB (VPIP: 31.22, PFR: 20.78, 3Bet Preflop: 10.58, Hands: 238)
BTN: 31 BB (VPIP: 19.48, PFR: 13.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.22, Hands: 578)

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has Js Kc
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2 BB, fold, Hero calls 1 BB

Flop : (5.5 BB, 2 players) 5h Td Jc
Hero checks, BTN bets 2 BB, Hero raises to 6.75 BB, BTN raises to 28.6 BB, Hero raises to 50.45 BB, BTN calls 0.28 BB and is all-in

Turn : (63.25 BB, 2 players) As

River : (63.25 BB, 2 players) Ac

Hero shows Js Kc (Two Pair, Aces and Jacks)
(Pre 25%, Flop 69%, Turn 9%)

BTN shows Ad Kd (Three of a Kind, Aces)
(Pre 75%, Flop 31%, Turn 91%)

BTN wins 63.25 BB

I also max late registered the $530 Courchevel, which is a game I really enjoy, though I’m not sure I’m a favorite in a $530 field. With the late register, though, I got in with about 120 players remaining and 35 getting paid, so that’s how I justified it. For those who don’t know, Courchevel is a five-card PLO8 game where one of the flop cards is revealed before the pre-flop betting.

I didn’t last long at all – had QQ with a Q in the door, got all in pre against someone holding AA with a nut suit of the door card and some wrap potential. There’s no equity calculator for Courchevel so I’m not really sure whether I was favored there, but I doubt it was dramatic one way or the other.

Anyway, the big news is that I won the $44 Bounty Builder, which is a daily Progressive Knock-Out event on PokerStars. In the past, during COOPs, I used to fill screen space with Zoom games, and I still do that sometimes. But early in a session, I’ve started using smaller buy-in tournaments instead. I find it helps not to have to switch back and forth between tournament and cash mentality, and in many cases these tournaments may be better value anyway, the drawback being that sometimes it sucks when your session is extended by a few hours for a tournament you didn’t really want to play anyway. But it’s all good when you win it!

Even better, I recorded the last few hours live for Tournament Poker Edge. I started recording because I was in a bunch of events that were tough to cover in a replayer: some PKOs, the $55 Razz, and eventually the $530 Courchevel. So I thought it would be fun to record live. Then I just kept recording as I made the final table and eventually won the tournament!

I’m not going to post any hands from that just yet because you’ll have a chance to see lots of the important action on TPE soon enough.

PokerStars – 175/350 Ante 45 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BB): 183.45 BB
UTG: 165.5 BB (VPIP: 23.81, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 42)
UTG+1: 129.36 BB (VPIP: 25.42, PFR: 19.64, 3Bet Preflop: 10.71, Hands: 60)
MP: 145.31 BB (VPIP: 18.34, PFR: 14.11, 3Bet Preflop: 8.91, Hands: 574)
MP+1: 158.17 BB (VPIP: 15.91, PFR: 9.09, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 44)
MP+2: 142.54 BB (VPIP: 5.26, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 19)
CO: 115.69 BB (VPIP: 17.36, PFR: 10.95, 3Bet Preflop: 6.61, Hands: 481)
BTN: 131.73 BB (VPIP: 31.82, PFR: 15.91, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 44)
SB: 70.86 BB (VPIP: 31.25, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 48)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.66 BB) Hero has Kh Kc
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, CO raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 12.35 BB, CO calls 9.35 BB

Flop : (26.35 BB, 2 players) Jd Qh 8d
Hero bets 13.17 BB, CO calls 13.17 BB

Turn : (52.7 BB, 2 players) Tc
Hero bets 26.35 BB, CO calls 26.35 BB

River : (105.39 BB, 2 players) Ks
Hero bets 131.45 BB and is all-in, CO calls 63.69 BB and is all-in

Hero shows Kh Kc (Three of a Kind, Kings)
(Pre 67%, Flop 55%, Turn 77%)

CO shows Ad 3d (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 33%, Flop 45%, Turn 23%)

CO wins 232.77 BB

Villain was a world-class player, and I hated this spot from the flop.

My plan after the turn was actually to barrel off as a bluff, as I think I have way more AK in my range than Villain, and although KK could be good, it often won’t be and will be tough to showdown when it is.

Then I had to change course again on the river. In the moment I decided that I didn’t want to check-fold for a good deal less than a pot-sized bet, so I might as well shove for thin value. I remember thinking “just about the only Ace he can have is Ax of diamonds”. But in retrospect there are a good number of those, and Villain has some 9x as well which means he probably doesn’t need to call with hands I beat. So yeah, in retrospect I think I should have check-folded.

As for the $109, I ultimately busted in 54th. Here’s a Day 2 hand I’m pretty happy about:

PokerStars – 50000/100000 Ante 12500 NL (8 max) – Holdem – 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG+1: 33.51 BB (VPIP: 19.06, PFR: 12.85, 3Bet Preflop: 3.79, Hands: 322)
MP: 20.39 BB (VPIP: 9.18, PFR: 7.37, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 98)
CO: 30.9 BB (VPIP: 29.58, PFR: 26.47, 3Bet Preflop: 15.00, Hands: 72)
BTN: 23.72 BB (VPIP: 23.26, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 8.24, Hands: 219)
SB: 36.51 BB (VPIP: 16.39, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 7.41, Hands: 61)
Hero (BB): 14.88 BB
UTG: 14.22 BB (VPIP: 28.83, PFR: 14.81, 3Bet Preflop: 2.17, Hands: 112)

7 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.37 BB) Hero has 7d 4s
UTG raises to 2 BB, fold, MP calls 2 BB, CO calls 2 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 1 BB

Flop : (9.37 BB, 4 players) Tc 9h 6c
Hero checks, UTG checks, MP checks, CO checks

Turn : (9.37 BB, 4 players) Td
Hero bets 2.81 BB, fold, fold, fold

Hero wins 9.37 BB

Pretty nice to increase stack by about 2/3 with no hand and very little risk!

I also ended up running quite deep in the Big $109 again (I came 3rd last week) but ultimately busted in 18th.

I got off to a good start in it but then lost AK to AK.

In the $215 PKO, I got quite ambitious in an early pot. I’m still not sure what to think of it – it’s so hard to decide how to value accumulation vs survival in these events. It doesn’t look great, but I think looking at each decision in a vacuum none seems bad to me.

Initially, I’ve got a pretty good hand and there’s a ton of money in the pot that I’d love to win immediately. I don’t think Villain’s 4-bet is that likely to be light, but it’s not impossible. Plus with all the dead money and the bounty on Villain, getting in AJ vs KK isn’t the end of the world anyway. Losing your chips early in a WCOOP sucks, but running up a big stack in a PKO has a lot more value than in a regular tournament because it enables you to chase bounties.

PokerStars – 150/300 Ante 40 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 139.08 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
MP+1: 115.54 BB (VPIP: 20.83, PFR: 12.63, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 96)
MP+2: 185.11 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)
CO: 151.38 BB (VPIP: 37.50, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
Hero (BTN): 164.16 BB
SB: 137.6 BB (VPIP: 21.01, PFR: 14.03, 3Bet Preflop: 6.37, Hands: 562)
BB: 190.93 BB (VPIP: 21.59, PFR: 16.28, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 88)
UTG: 158.31 BB (VPIP: 26.11, PFR: 15.84, 3Bet Preflop: 15.46, Hands: 204)
UTG+1: 166.27 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.7 BB) Hero has Jd Ac
UTG raises to 2.5 BB, UTG+1 calls 2.5 BB, MP calls 2.5 BB, fold, fold, CO calls 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 12.59 BB, fold, fold, UTG raises to 34 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 164.03 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 124.18 BB and is all-in

Flop : (326.56 BB, 2 players) 2s 6h 4s

Turn : (326.56 BB, 2 players) Qd

River : (326.56 BB, 2 players) 6c

UTG shows Ks Kc (Two Pair, Kings and Sixes)
(Pre 71%, Flop 87%, Turn 93%)

Hero shows Jd Ac (One Pair, Sixes)
(Pre 29%, Flop 13%, Turn 7%)

UTG wins 326.56 BB

The Sunday Million was frustrating. I kept getting into bad spots with big pairs, where it felt like I didn’t have any great options. This was the worst: https://www.boomplayer.com/25291484_011D353AB9

Frankly, I’m surprised the SB was so light here (though he was Brazilian). Given that I’m essentially 3-betting into a dry sidepot, there’s just not that reason for me to be light, and I don’t think he has that much incentive to randomly 4-bet me. And then the 5-bet from UTG – obviously it’s hard to like the fold once i know the results, but in general my rule is to trust my gut when it tells me to hero fold, because that’s not usually what it tells me to do.

It probably didn’t help that I’d already been in a few spots where I at least suspected that I’d been coolered, including this one where I ran KK into AA: https://www.boomplayer.com/25289125_4ADA91F5DB.

All of that said, I did get two double-ups in spots where that required at least a little above the rim play: https://www.boomplayer.com/25287412_36769CB6FC and https://www.boomplayer.com/25291645_CBB5AA13F0.

In happier news, I made Day 2 of the $109 WCOOP-Low!

Saturday started early. Usually I deal with that by late registering, but the 7AM event was a progressive knock-out, and although Stars allows late registration in those, it’s a financial disaster to do so. So I figured I would play that and then see how I felt for the afternoon event.

It got off to a rough start. A guy put in a crazy amount with 22 against my AK, which wasn’t the end of the world since I covered him, but his pair held up so instead of getting his bounty I got short-stacked. I managed to make a recovery though (it’s easy to get your money in good as a short stack in a bounty event, because everyone else has incentive to call you very light) and after this extremely fun hand I had more chips than anyone else in the tournament (also on Boom if you’d rather watch the replay):

PokerStars – 1250/2500 Ante 325 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+2: 69.55 BB (VPIP: 19.40, PFR: 10.61, 3Bet Preflop: 2.86, Hands: 67)
CO: 88.92 BB (VPIP: 13.75, PFR: 7.50, 3Bet Preflop: 2.56, Hands: 81)
BTN: 17.37 BB (VPIP: 17.69, PFR: 4.65, 3Bet Preflop: 3.23, Hands: 131)
SB: 22.61 BB (VPIP: 26.74, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 16.28, Hands: 87)
Hero (BB): 166.42 BB
UTG: 85.05 BB (VPIP: 19.64, PFR: 12.50, 3Bet Preflop: 4.17, Hands: 57)
UTG+1: 54.64 BB (VPIP: 17.95, PFR: 10.26, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 39)
MP: 51.98 BB (VPIP: 31.34, PFR: 19.08, 3Bet Preflop: 9.23, Hands: 136)
MP+1: 129.68 BB (VPIP: 17.61, PFR: 13.81, 3Bet Preflop: 10.48, Hands: 517)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.67 BB) Hero has 7c 9d
fold, fold, MP raises to 2.3 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 1.3 BB

Flop : (6.27 BB, 2 players) Ts 9c Th
Hero checks, MP bets 2.32 BB, Hero raises to 5.59 BB, MP calls 3.27 BB

Turn : (17.46 BB, 2 players) 8h
Hero checks, MP bets 6.36 BB, Hero raises to 15.41 BB, MP calls 9.05 BB

River : (48.28 BB, 2 players) 4s
Hero checks, MP bets 28.55 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 28.55 BB

MP shows Js Kc (One Pair, Tens)
(Pre 65%, Flop 38%, Turn 23%)

Hero shows 7c 9d (Two Pair, Tens and Nines)
(Pre 35%, Flop 62%, Turn 77%)

Hero wins 105.38 BB

I’m not too pleased with the hand I busted on. I do think I should have gone broke given how the board ran out, but it would have been better to call the flop and get all in on this turn.

PokerStars – 6000/12000 Ante 1500 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 6.98 BB (VPIP: 22.16, PFR: 13.23, 3Bet Preflop: 9.18, Hands: 194)
Hero (BTN): 31.1 BB
SB: 75.19 BB (VPIP: 27.27, PFR: 10.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 11)
BB: 135.17 BB (VPIP: 18.84, PFR: 13.43, 3Bet Preflop: 3.85, Hands: 73)
UTG: 165.89 BB (VPIP: 31.67, PFR: 17.65, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 242)
UTG+1: 44.35 BB (VPIP: 19.67, PFR: 14.66, 3Bet Preflop: 10.24, Hands: 606)
MP: 25.96 BB (VPIP: 16.70, PFR: 11.94, 3Bet Preflop: 5.09, Hands: 504)
MP+1: 35.16 BB (VPIP: 21.00, PFR: 16.26, 3Bet Preflop: 10.31, Hands: 501)
MP+2: 37.86 BB (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 9)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has Ac Js
fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to 2.4 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 2.4 BB, fold, BB calls 1.4 BB

Flop : (8.82 BB, 3 players) Tc Jc 9d
BB checks, MP+1 checks, Hero bets 2.65 BB, BB raises to 6.58 BB, fold, Hero raises to 28.58 BB and is all-in, BB calls 21.99 BB

Turn : (65.98 BB, 2 players) 2d

River : (65.98 BB, 2 players) 2c

BB shows 9c Qc (Flush, Queen High)
(Pre 40%, Flop 62%, Turn 43%)

Hero shows Ac Js (Two Pair, Jacks and Twos)
(Pre 60%, Flop 38%, Turn 57%)

BB wins 65.98 BB

I didn’t do anything too interesting in the $215 rebuy, but here’s a hand I screwed up:

PokerStars – 300/600 Ante 75 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 83.23 BB (VPIP: 33.46, PFR: 20.31, 3Bet Preflop: 6.56, Hands: 267)
CO: 51.64 BB (VPIP: 22.86, PFR: 22.86, 3Bet Preflop: 17.65, Hands: 35)
BTN: 49.94 BB (VPIP: 15.11, PFR: 8.73, 3Bet Preflop: 1.79, Hands: 140)
SB: 79.96 BB (VPIP: 20.26, PFR: 14.66, 3Bet Preflop: 6.86, Hands: 545)
Hero (BB): 96.56 BB
UTG: 37.1 BB (VPIP: 20.21, PFR: 12.43, 3Bet Preflop: 5.75, Hands: 189)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 7s 8h
fold, fold, fold, fold, SB calls 0.5 BB, Hero raises to 3.7 BB, SB raises to 13 BB, Hero calls 9.3 BB

Flop : (26.75 BB, 2 players) 9d 4d Td
SB bets 12 BB, Hero calls 12 BB

Turn : (50.75 BB, 2 players) 6d
SB checks, Hero checks

River : (50.75 BB, 2 players) 7c
SB bets 15.73 BB, Hero calls 15.73 BB

SB shows Jc Jd (Flush, Jack High)
(Pre 82%, Flop 85%, Turn 100%)

Hero mucks 7s 8h (Straight, Ten High)
(Pre 18%, Flop 15%, Turn 0%)

SB wins 82.22 BB

I think I played the turn right, and maybe the flop? But pre-flop, I probably screwed up twice, and the river should probably be a fold. #TheyAlwaysHaveIt

PokerStars – 100/200 Ante 25 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 223.49 BB (VPIP: 35.71, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 15)
BTN: 256.49 BB (VPIP: 28.57, PFR: 21.43, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
SB: 250.62 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 6.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
Hero (BB): 251.25 BB
UTG: 247.62 BB (VPIP: 14.15, PFR: 12.00, 3Bet Preflop: 4.76, Hands: 205)

5 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.12 BB) Hero has 4c 4h
UTG raises to 2.5 BB, fold, BTN calls 2.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 1.5 BB

Flop : (8.62 BB, 3 players) Kc 4d 5d
Hero checks, UTG bets 4.14 BB, BTN calls 4.14 BB, Hero raises to 25.18 BB, fold, BTN calls 21.04 BB

Turn : (63.13 BB, 2 players) Kd
Hero bets 18.94 BB, BTN raises to 57 BB, Hero calls 38.06 BB

River : (177.13 BB, 2 players) Qs
Hero checks, BTN bets 171.68 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 166.44 BB and is all-in

BTN shows 5s 5h (Full House, Fives full of Kings)
(Pre 81%, Flop 96%, Turn 98%)

Hero shows 4c 4h (Full House, Fours full of Kings)
(Pre 19%, Flop 4%, Turn 2%)

BTN wins 510.01 BB

Honestly, I’m not at all sure this was a good river call. I do think it’s just a bluff-catcher, and although the 4s are somewhat relevant blockers, this is probably a spot where most people underbluff enough and my remaining chips valuable enough for me to fold.

It all worked out in the end though, because I took a few hours off (I hadn’t registered anything else yet) and then put in an afternoon session instead, which culminated in my taking 3rd out of nearly 1000 runners in the Big $109. That will almost certainly become a video on Tournament Poker Edge so I don’t want to give away too much, but here are two fun hands from the last two tables:

PokerStars – 2500/5000 Ante 625 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 17.34 BB (VPIP: 21.60, PFR: 15.87, 3Bet Preflop: 6.06, Hands: 705)
BB: 69.56 BB (VPIP: 26.88, PFR: 20.24, 3Bet Preflop: 6.90, Hands: 93)
UTG: 49.33 BB (VPIP: 45.45, PFR: 36.36, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 11)
UTG+1: 23.91 BB (VPIP: 15.38, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 33.33, Hands: 13)
Hero (MP): 18.75 BB
MP+1: 33.19 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 15.79, Hands: 56)
MP+2: 8.21 BB (VPIP: 22.35, PFR: 14.32, 3Bet Preflop: 8.12, Hands: 427)
CO: 76.27 BB (VPIP: 15.45, PFR: 9.62, 3Bet Preflop: 5.13, Hands: 110)
BTN: 31 BB (VPIP: 21.48, PFR: 16.00, 3Bet Preflop: 12.28, Hands: 257)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has Qs Kh
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (6.18 BB, 2 players) 7s 2h 5s
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn : (6.18 BB, 2 players) 2c
BB checks, Hero checks

River : (6.18 BB, 2 players) 6h
BB bets 4 BB, Hero calls 4 BB

BB shows 4s Ks (One Pair, Twos)
(Pre 29%, Flop 46%, Turn 32%)

Hero shows Qs Kh (One Pair, Twos)
(Pre 71%, Flop 54%, Turn 68%)

Hero wins 14.18 BB

Villain was active in the chat box, which made it even more fun.

This was with 11 players remaining. Villain timed down to 0 before folding. Was quite the sweat:

PokerStars – 6000/12000 Ante 1500 NL – Holdem – 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 14.71 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 18.75, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 33)
UTG: 36.57 BB (VPIP: 20.49, PFR: 15.05, 3Bet Preflop: 8.39, Hands: 701)
CO: 65.94 BB (VPIP: 18.41, PFR: 15.04, 3Bet Preflop: 9.80, Hands: 357)
BTN: 50.35 BB (VPIP: 22.90, PFR: 16.75, 3Bet Preflop: 5.00, Hands: 434)
Hero (SB): 34.54 BB

5 players post ante of 0.13 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.12 BB) Hero has 8c Kc
fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.1 BB, Hero raises to 6.48 BB, fold, BTN calls 4.38 BB

Flop : (14.59 BB, 2 players) 7s Ts 5d
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (14.59 BB, 2 players) 6c
Hero checks, BTN bets 7 BB, Hero raises to 27.94 BB and is all-in, fold

Hero wins 28.59 BB

PS Nothing to write home about in the $1050 PKO. Collected one bounty.

Wednesday did not get off to a great start in the $500. Pretty early on, I lost this gem:

PokerStars – 200/400 Ante 50 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+1: 142.61 BB (VPIP: 24.49, PFR: 10.20, 3Bet Preflop: 8.00, Hands: 49)
MP+2: 130.55 BB (VPIP: 27.19, PFR: 15.18, 3Bet Preflop: 7.41, Hands: 114)
CO: 126.32 BB (VPIP: 23.53, PFR: 19.73, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 154)
BTN: 130.29 BB (VPIP: 19.65, PFR: 13.86, 3Bet Preflop: 4.79, Hands: 343)
SB: 97.6 BB (VPIP: 22.38, PFR: 16.79, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 143)
BB: 116.88 BB (VPIP: 17.28, PFR: 12.45, 3Bet Preflop: 6.87, Hands: 273)
UTG: 127.12 BB (VPIP: 17.39, PFR: 16.19, 3Bet Preflop: 8.20, Hands: 184)
UTG+1: 172.18 BB (VPIP: 30.00, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 20)
Hero (MP): 77.76 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has 9c Tc
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, MP+2 calls 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (8.46 BB, 3 players) 8c Qs Jh
BB checks, Hero checks, MP+2 bets 4.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 4.5 BB

Turn : (17.46 BB, 2 players) 5c
Hero checks, MP+2 bets 8.73 BB, Hero raises to 22.22 BB, MP+2 calls 13.49 BB

River : (61.9 BB, 2 players) 2c
Hero bets 48.63 BB and is all-in, MP+2 calls 48.63 BB

Hero shows 9c Tc (Flush, Ten High)
(Pre 34%, Flop 92%, Turn 84%)

MP+2 shows Kc Jc (Flush, King High)
(Pre 66%, Flop 8%, Turn 16%)

MP+2 wins 159.17 BB

The Zoom 6-Max was going better, for a while. It’s a fun format, over as quickly as a turbo but the Zoom structure means you get more hands per level than you would in a turbo (though it still isn’t as deep as a normal WCOOP). I actually gave some thought to folding this river, as I really couldn’t figure out what he would 3-bet-call from the SB that I could beat. Finally I decided it could be a strangely played AK, and thankfully it was!

PokerStars – 400/800 Ante 100 NL FAST (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 58.23 BB (VPIP: 25.76, PFR: 16.92, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 68)
SB: 70.2 BB (VPIP: 25.33, PFR: 18.31, 3Bet Preflop: 3.57, Hands: 75)
Hero (BB): 105.34 BB
UTG: 47.54 BB (VPIP: 19.46, PFR: 17.19, 3Bet Preflop: 10.11, Hands: 2,416)
MP: 64.6 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 12.90, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 133)
CO: 77.86 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 1)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has Jc Jd
fold, fold, CO raises to 2.2 BB, BTN calls 2.2 BB, SB raises to 7 BB, Hero raises to 20.83 BB, fold, fold, SB calls 13.83 BB

Flop : (46.81 BB, 2 players) Td 2s 4c
SB checks, Hero bets 11.11 BB, SB calls 11.11 BB

Turn : (69.03 BB, 2 players) Tc
SB checks, Hero checks

River : (69.03 BB, 2 players) 8h
SB bets 38.13 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 38.13 BB

SB shows Kh Ac (One Pair, Tens)
(Pre 43%, Flop 26%, Turn 14%)

Hero shows Jc Jd (Two Pair, Jacks and Tens)
(Pre 57%, Flop 74%, Turn 86%)

Hero wins 145.29 BB

Karma caught up to me though, as I eventually got in JJ vs AK pre-flop and lost.

PokerStars – 600/1200 Ante 150 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (SB): 51.71 BB
BB: 54.56 BB (VPIP: 21.21, PFR: 17.28, 3Bet Preflop: 5.41, Hands: 200)
UTG: 41.95 BB (VPIP: 17.68, PFR: 12.53, 3Bet Preflop: 5.50, Hands: 477)
UTG+1: 38.72 BB (VPIP: 11.18, PFR: 8.82, 3Bet Preflop: 2.94, Hands: 170)
MP: 22.59 BB (VPIP: 22.96, PFR: 13.43, 3Bet Preflop: 1.75, Hands: 137)
MP+1: 29.47 BB (VPIP: 13.55, PFR: 9.15, 3Bet Preflop: 3.45, Hands: 156)
MP+2: 9.75 BB (VPIP: 18.32, PFR: 14.32, 3Bet Preflop: 7.83, Hands: 395)
CO: 70.81 BB (VPIP: 18.14, PFR: 13.06, 3Bet Preflop: 5.38, Hands: 659)
BTN: 184.3 BB (VPIP: 27.75, PFR: 15.79, 3Bet Preflop: 10.11, Hands: 192)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has 9d 9c
UTG raises to 2.2 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 1.7 BB, fold

Flop : (6.52 BB, 2 players) 9s Qd Js
Hero checks, UTG checks

Turn : (6.52 BB, 2 players) Jh
Hero checks, UTG bets 2.28 BB, Hero calls 2.28 BB

River : (11.09 BB, 2 players) Th
Hero checks, UTG checks

Hero shows 9d 9c (Full House, Nines full of Jacks)
(Pre 82%, Flop 95%, Turn 100%)

UTG mucks 7c 7s (Two Pair, Jacks and Sevens)
(Pre 18%, Flop 5%, Turn 0%)

Hero wins 11.09 BB

Win the Button is a format I haven’t quite wrapped my head around yet. The most obvious adjustment is that you should try harder to win pots because there’s more of a reward for winning pots, but what’s less obvious is that you also care who win them from. That means the delta on defending your BB against the Button is much larger than defending against UTG, because if you fold to UTG you will be CO next hand, but if you fold to Button you will be BB again. I did some extra battling in late position for this reason, but here’s the hand I’m most proud of:

PokerStars – 175/350 Ante 45 NL – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 145.3 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
BTN: 367.52 BB (VPIP: 62.50, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 8)
SB: 127.53 BB (VPIP: 17.39, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 9.52, Hands: 46)
BB: 155.34 BB (VPIP: 100.00, PFR: 60.00, 3Bet Preflop: 66.67, Hands: 5)
UTG: 7.57 BB (VPIP: 23.76, PFR: 19.52, 3Bet Preflop: 6.27, Hands: 1,005)
UTG+1: 131.33 BB (VPIP: 26.90, PFR: 16.07, 3Bet Preflop: 8.97, Hands: 343)
MP: 169.78 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
Hero (MP+1): 75.54 BB

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.53 BB) Hero has Ad Qh
fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.79 BB, fold, fold, SB calls 2.29 BB, BB calls 1.79 BB

Flop : (9.39 BB, 3 players) 4d As 6d
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 2.82 BB, SB calls 2.82 BB, fold

Turn : (15.03 BB, 2 players) Th
SB checks, Hero bets 15.03 BB, SB calls 15.03 BB

River : (45.09 BB, 2 players) Td
SB checks, Hero bets 54.77 BB and is all-in, SB calls 54.77 BB

Hero shows Ad Qh (Two Pair, Aces and Tens)
(Pre 74%, Flop 86%, Turn 93%)

SB shows Ah 9d (Two Pair, Aces and Tens)
(Pre 26%, Flop 14%, Turn 7%)

Hero wins 154.63 BB

Needless to say, Villain should fold pre, and this is kind of an example of why. His A9o may have reasonable equity against my opening range, but it doesn’t realize that equity well, especially not against a player capable of recognizing spots like this.

There was also this value bet with Ace-Queen high on the river:

PokerStars – 1250/2500 Ante 325 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 29.62 BB (VPIP: 24.42, PFR: 17.80, 3Bet Preflop: 6.59, Hands: 394)
BTN: 88.21 BB (VPIP: 24.02, PFR: 9.04, 3Bet Preflop: 1.35, Hands: 179)
SB: 37.35 BB (VPIP: 24.30, PFR: 15.26, 3Bet Preflop: 3.77, Hands: 252)
BB: 28.47 BB (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 12.73, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 56)
UTG: 73.5 BB (VPIP: 27.12, PFR: 19.01, 3Bet Preflop: 6.62, Hands: 713)
UTG+1: 17.34 BB (VPIP: 14.62, PFR: 7.77, 3Bet Preflop: 1.03, Hands: 212)
MP: 81.56 BB (VPIP: 24.51, PFR: 14.97, 3Bet Preflop: 6.00, Hands: 358)
MP+1: 94.43 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 15.16, 3Bet Preflop: 8.11, Hands: 345)
Hero (MP+2): 42.84 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.67 BB) Hero has Qc Ad
fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, CO calls 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold

Flop : (7.23 BB, 2 players) 3s 8c 7h
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn : (7.23 BB, 2 players) 6d
Hero checks, CO checks

River : (7.23 BB, 2 players) 8h
Hero bets 2.17 BB, CO calls 2.17 BB

Hero shows Qc Ad (One Pair, Eights)
(Pre 69%, Flop 81%, Turn 93%)

CO mucks Ah Jh (One Pair, Eights)
(Pre 31%, Flop 19%, Turn 7%)

Hero wins 11.57 BB

The hand I busted on felt bad, and in fact while CREV likes my flop check (it plays a mix but mostly checks ATdd), it has almost no raising range on the turn. Which makes sense: this isn’t a flop on which I should often check strong hands, so on blank turns I’ll generally be quite capped and should therefore play the role of the bluff-catcher. Of course that would enable me to fold on a river like this one:

PokerStars – 2500/5000 Ante 625 NL – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+1: 33.71 BB (VPIP: 18.78, PFR: 13.74, 3Bet Preflop: 4.70, Hands: 773)
CO: 42.19 BB (VPIP: 19.51, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 41)
Hero (BTN): 21.18 BB
SB: 44.05 BB (VPIP: 23.38, PFR: 17.57, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 77)
BB: 55.1 BB (VPIP: 18.99, PFR: 14.11, 3Bet Preflop: 7.33, Hands: 339)
UTG: 24.1 BB (VPIP: 30.93, PFR: 7.45, 3Bet Preflop: 6.38, Hands: 97)
UTG+1: 24.17 BB (VPIP: 14.58, PFR: 13.04, 3Bet Preflop: 8.70, Hands: 48)
MP: 58.91 BB (VPIP: 20.45, PFR: 16.28, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 44)

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has Ad Td
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (6.06 BB, 2 players) Th 3d Qh
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn : (6.06 BB, 2 players) 4c
BB bets 3.24 BB, Hero raises to 18.77 BB and is all-in, BB calls 15.53 BB

River : (43.61 BB, 2 players) Jh

BB shows 7c Qc (One Pair, Queens)
(Pre 37%, Flop 74%, Turn 89%)

Hero shows Ad Td (One Pair, Tens)
(Pre 63%, Flop 26%, Turn 11%)

BB wins 43.61 BB

Nothing so interesting to report from the $215; I didn’t win it.

The day off (it wasn’t a proper day off, as I did do some studying, but no playing) was nice. Emily and I had brunch at a cafe in the nearby town of Val-David. When we ordered, the server was friendly and patient with my limited French. I commented to Emily that she seemed to understand that my French was poor and be helping me along with simple words and phrasing, which I prefer to the approach more common in Montreal where people just start speaking English. It seems like out in the mountains many people still have learned English but are far less comfortable with it.

Anyway, just to prove me wrong, within minutes of my saying that the server returned to the table and said something long and complicated very quickly. I told her, “Sorry, my French is not great”, by which I meant only that I needed her to rephrase and speak more slowly, but she responded with, “Ah, OK, I am not so good in English but I will try.” And then she apologized that she’d forgotten to put our order in and it would still be a little while. Of course we were understanding, but probably she was nervous which was why she’d started speaking quickly.

Elsewhere, people were somewhat less friendly about it. I went with Emily to help her get a season pass for the regional park, and was prepared to conduct the entire transaction in broken French, translating for Emily when necessary. The woman switched to English when she saw me doing that, but she was kind of grudging about it, and made a comment at some point that, “It’s very hard for me, in English.” Which, again, I didn’t have any expectation that she speak English, only that she be patient with my French.

The grocery store is where I’m at my most comfortable, partly because not much speaking is required but also because I’ve got my routine down. Yes, I need a sac plastique. No, I don’t have a carte Métro. I’m sure it’s obvious that I’m not a fluent speaker, but it’s a perfectly fluid transaction. So after doing all of that in French, the woman looks at me over the rim of her glasses and says, “Thank you” in English like she’s caught me in some dirty secret.

There’s a nice bike path that runs through town called “Le P’tit Train Du Nord”, built on what used to be a railway. It’s very well maintained and quite popular in the summer. We got a few smiles while out on the trail but it was surprising how many people would pointedly avoid eye contact or even just stare without smiling when you gave them a little wave or head nod. So maybe it wasn’t the English, maybe the Quebecois just aren’t a friendly people (that would certainly accord with stereotypes I’ve encountered in the States).

Anyway, poker…

PokerStars has gotten a lot of criticism since Amaya took over (including from Talal Shakerchi). I think much of it is well-deserved and they are mostly full of shit when they try to sell changes that are obviously designed to increase rake as being “good for the game”. That said, their shift towards Progressive Knock-Out Tournaments does seem to be good for the game (if also good for Stars’ bottom line). These events routinely get way bigger fields than comparable Freezeouts at the same buy-in level. And at least for now, people play them badly.

I found myself in a rough spot early on, after cold four-betting Kings and getting a nightmare flop:

PokerStars – 300/600 Ante 75 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG+1: 88.29 BB (VPIP: 25.32, PFR: 17.39, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 237)
MP: 64.14 BB (VPIP: 23.91, PFR: 13.04, 3Bet Preflop: 6.67, Hands: 92)
MP+1: 75.05 BB (VPIP: 20.87, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 207)
MP+2: 74.09 BB (VPIP: 20.65, PFR: 15.22, 3Bet Preflop: 6.82, Hands: 92)
CO: 86.02 BB (VPIP: 21.59, PFR: 14.77, 3Bet Preflop: 9.30, Hands: 88)
BTN: 85.29 BB (VPIP: 21.74, PFR: 13.04, 3Bet Preflop: 4.88, Hands: 92)
SB: 90.07 BB (VPIP: 20.52, PFR: 14.66, 3Bet Preflop: 7.43, Hands: 888)
Hero (BB): 78.3 BB
UTG: 109.01 BB (VPIP: 16.16, PFR: 10.20, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 99)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has Kh Kd
fold, UTG+1 raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 5.94 BB, fold, Hero raises to 18.52 BB, fold, BTN calls 12.57 BB

Flop : (40.66 BB, 2 players) Jc Qh 5s
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (40.66 BB, 2 players) Qd
Hero bets 12.2 BB, BTN calls 12.2 BB

River : (65.06 BB, 2 players) 8d
Hero checks, BTN bets 54.45 BB and is all-in, fold

BTN wins 65.06 BB

I may have overreacted to seeing a Q and a J on the flop, because CREV still thinks I should get the money in (a result that is, admittedly, sensitive to the assumption that Villain has a lot of AK in his range). I do, after all, have only a pot and a half in my stack upon seeing the flop. CREV also thinks flop is a mix but mostly a bet. Again, there’s a lot of equity to be denied to AK. It’s important to keep in mind that even with my blockers, there are 8 ways to have AK and only 6 ways for Villain to flop a set (I’m comfortable assuming he never has 55).

My plan was not to double buy (that is, to rebuy 10K chips for $215 rather than 20K chips for $430), because the add-on buys 20K chips for $215, which means that buying that extra 10K during the rebuy period is quite expensive. Your initial chips are expensive too, of course, but you can’t add on if you don’t have chips!

Eventually, though, I convinced myself that the players on my right had enough chips and were playing badly enough that I wanted to have more to invest against them. I’m not sure that was the right decision, but it paid off:

PokerStars – 125/250 Ante 30 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

CO: 91.93 BB (VPIP: 18.84, PFR: 11.94, 3Bet Preflop: 6.90, Hands: 69)
Hero (BTN): 80.09 BB
SB: 157.66 BB (VPIP: 18.92, PFR: 15.09, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 113)
BB: 177.09 BB (VPIP: 47.00, PFR: 27.00, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 100)
UTG: 40.52 BB (VPIP: 9.09, PFR: 9.09, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 22)
UTG+1: 43.26 BB (VPIP: 22.97, PFR: 10.64, 3Bet Preflop: 5.03, Hands: 359)
MP: 36.4 BB (VPIP: 11.11, PFR: 7.04, 3Bet Preflop: 5.41, Hands: 144)
MP+1: 79.88 BB (VPIP: 19.11, PFR: 12.20, 3Bet Preflop: 6.86, Hands: 246)
MP+2: 104.4 BB (VPIP: 38.16, PFR: 18.42, 3Bet Preflop: 9.38, Hands: 76)

9 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.58 BB) Hero has 3s 3h
fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to 2.5 BB, MP+2 calls 2.5 BB, fold, Hero calls 2.5 BB, fold, fold

Flop : (10.08 BB, 3 players) 5h Qs 3c
MP+1 bets 5 BB, MP+2 calls 5 BB, Hero raises to 21.55 BB, fold, MP+2 raises to 101.78 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 55.92 BB and is all-in

Turn : (170.02 BB, 2 players) Jd

River : (170.02 BB, 2 players) Qh

MP+2 shows Kd Qc (Three of a Kind, Queens)
(Pre 48%, Flop 2%, Turn 0%)

Hero shows 3s 3h (Full House, Threes full of Queens)
(Pre 52%, Flop 98%, Turn 100%)

Hero wins 170.02 BB

I won more big pots with 66 vs 64 on 764dd (frankly that Villain overplayed his hand as well – I flatted his flop check-raise, and he overbet jammed a Qd turn!), and then a really big one getting QQ all in against AK and holding. After winning that huge flip – note this for when I start whining about losing flips – I was in second place overall. Eventually, though, I just blew up:

PokerStars – 1250/2500 Ante 325 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+1: 43.44 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 9.09, Hands: 65)
Hero (MP+2): 119.24 BB
CO: 10.53 BB (VPIP: 15.00, PFR: 11.76, 3Bet Preflop: 5.65, Hands: 301)
BTN: 23.3 BB (VPIP: 20.27, PFR: 13.46, 3Bet Preflop: 8.72, Hands: 376)
SB: 43.79 BB (VPIP: 14.68, PFR: 9.67, 3Bet Preflop: 2.27, Hands: 542)
BB: 25.05 BB (VPIP: 17.35, PFR: 9.28, 3Bet Preflop: 5.26, Hands: 98)
UTG: 81.7 BB (VPIP: 23.81, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 21)
UTG+1: 40.24 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 13.14, 3Bet Preflop: 5.22, Hands: 288)
MP: 31.2 BB (VPIP: 23.56, PFR: 17.00, 3Bet Preflop: 7.89, Hands: 452)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.67 BB) Hero has Ts 9d
fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, fold, SB calls 1.78 BB, fold

Flop : (6.73 BB, 2 players) 9s 5h Ad
SB checks, Hero bets 2.02 BB, SB calls 2.02 BB

Turn : (10.77 BB, 2 players) 3d
SB bets 6.68 BB, Hero calls 6.68 BB

River : (24.12 BB, 2 players) 6h
SB bets 6.03 BB, Hero raises to 108.14 BB and is all-in, SB calls 26.66 BB and is all-in

Hero shows Ts 9d (One Pair, Nines)
(Pre 43%, Flop 18%, Turn 5%)

SB shows 3s As (Two Pair, Aces and Threes)
(Pre 57%, Flop 82%, Turn 95%)

SB wins 89.5 BB

This isn’t even typically a hand I’d open from this seat, but the BB was quite tight. I just got it into my head from the flop that I was going to three barrels, which I think is a fine plan holding the 9 blocker, but I refused to re-evaluate after Villain took the lead on the turn.

Frankly, his bet is bad. All he has to do is check and call and he gets my stack when he’s going to get my stack. Donking on a card that really doesn’t change the board – even though it did improve his hand – throws up a red flat that ought to enable me to change course and fold, though I stubbornly ignored it. So that was frustrating.

After that it was pretty uneventful, with not too many opportunities presenting themselves and me slowly blinding down as we neared the bubble. I open jammed AK, got called by TT, and that was that.

I did manage a cash in the $530, though even that got a bit dicey. I got off to a bad start thanks to more stubbornness:

PokerStars – 200/400 Ante 50 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 160.07 BB (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 26.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 15)
UTG+1: 14.47 BB (VPIP: 25.31, PFR: 14.88, 3Bet Preflop: 4.02, Hands: 748)
MP: 259.15 BB (VPIP: 22.88, PFR: 15.52, 3Bet Preflop: 3.17, Hands: 119)
Hero (MP+1): 129.48 BB
MP+2: 79.47 BB (VPIP: 11.04, PFR: 8.18, 3Bet Preflop: 4.23, Hands: 163)
CO: 121.62 BB (VPIP: 26.23, PFR: 11.67, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 61)
BTN: 143.79 BB (VPIP: 16.67, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 36)
SB: 123.99 BB (VPIP: 20.80, PFR: 17.03, 3Bet Preflop: 8.27, Hands: 330)
BB: 121.79 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 14)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.62 BB) Hero has 8d 8c
fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.79 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.79 BB

Flop : (7.2 BB, 2 players) 5h 2h 3c
BB checks, Hero bets 2.16 BB, BB raises to 6.1 BB, Hero calls 3.94 BB

Turn : (19.4 BB, 2 players) Ah
BB bets 6.94 BB, Hero raises to 23.59 BB, BB calls 16.64 BB

River : (66.58 BB, 2 players) Qs
BB checks, Hero bets 43.94 BB, BB calls 43.94 BB

Hero shows 8d 8c (One Pair, Eights)
(Pre 82%, Flop 9%, Turn 6%)

BB shows 3d 3h (Three of a Kind, Threes)
(Pre 18%, Flop 91%, Turn 94%)

BB wins 154.46 BB

This Villain was fishy enough that I think I can just fold flop. I told myself it could be a protection raise, and then the turn presented an irresistible bluffing spot. I still don’t regret firing away at turn and river, but I do think I should have folded the flop. Recognizing and exploitively folding against obviously strong lines from weak players is something I used to be more diligent about. I need to regain that discipline.

After that, it was standard stuff. I won some all ins, ran up a large stack, then lost a flip as the bubble approached. That left with me about 25bbs which I nursed until we were in the money. I found a spot to open jam about 10bb with Kh 9h from MP and was horrified when a player who’d been quite tight snap called from the HJ. I guess he was ready to gamble now that he’d cashed, though, because he had Qs Ts. The flop was all clubs and missed both of us. The turn was the Qc, but then the river was a fifth club so we ended up chopping. What a roller coaster!

The very next hand an early position player jammed 4bb, I reshoved AJo, someone else shoved, and then the BB, who was extremely short, called off the rest with his AJs. He actually made a flush to win the main pot, but I couldn’t outrun 88 for the much larger sidepot, so I finished with a min cash.

Still, I’ve cashed two of the eight WCOOP events I’ve played so far, and both felt like they could easily have been deeper runs (as did a few of the non-cashes). There’s a lot I’m doing that I’m really happy about – just got to find some discipline and some (more) rungood!

Edit: Taking today off. Was going to play the $1000 6-max shootout, but it’s capped at 216 runners and will probably be a tough field. The $215 8-game always sounds fun, but I think a day off will be more fun than (probably) busting early or (best case scenario) playing Razz until 2AM.

PokerStars – 500/1000 PL Hi (6 max) – Omaha Hi – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 48.94 BB (VPIP: 47.62, PFR: 23.81, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
SB: 122.09 BB (VPIP: 23.81, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 21)
Hero (BB): 45.3 BB
UTG: 178.14 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
MP: 33.32 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)
CO: 215.82 BB (VPIP: 47.62, PFR: 19.05, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 21)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Js As 4d Qs
fold, fold, CO raises to 3.5 BB, fold, SB calls 3 BB, Hero calls 2.5 BB

Flop : (10.5 BB, 3 players) 4h 9d Tc
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

Turn : (10.5 BB, 3 players) 5h
SB checks, Hero bets 10.5 BB, CO calls 10.5 BB, fold

River : (31.5 BB, 2 players) Jd
Hero checks, CO bets 31.5 BB, Hero calls 31.3 BB and is all-in

CO shows Kh 7s Ks 3h (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 57%, Flop 43%, Turn 68%)

Hero shows Js As 4d Qs (Two Pair, Jacks and Fours)
(Pre 43%, Flop 57%, Turn 33%)

Hero wins 94.1 BB

I made the money, surprising no one more than myself, and ultimately busted with dignity, holding a pair and a wrap against top two pair that turned a boat. I had to run the equity afterwards, but I got it in with about 62%, so can’t feel bad about that:

PokerStars – 8000/16000 PL Hi (6 max) – Omaha Hi – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 35.37 BB (VPIP: 31.82, PFR: 4.55, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 22)
Hero (CO): 46.58 BB
BTN: 72.41 BB (VPIP: 29.69, PFR: 14.06, 3Bet Preflop: 4.00, Hands: 128)
SB: 40.05 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 30)
BB: 65.48 BB (VPIP: 30.56, PFR: 17.36, 3Bet Preflop: 1.96, Hands: 147)
UTG: 43.88 BB (VPIP: 42.55, PFR: 21.28, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 47)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 4h 3d 6d 7c
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.79 BB, BTN calls 2.79 BB, SB calls 2.29 BB, fold

Flop : (9.37 BB, 3 players) 6h 5c Qd
SB checks, Hero bets 6.18 BB, BTN raises to 27.92 BB, fold, Hero raises to 43.79 BB and is all-in, BTN calls 15.86 BB

Turn : (96.94 BB, 2 players) 6c

River : (96.94 BB, 2 players) Ah

Hero shows 4h 3d 6d 7c (Three of a Kind, Sixes)
(Pre 44%, Flop 61%, Turn 0%)

BTN shows Kd As Qs 6s (Full House, Sixes full of Aces)
(Pre 56%, Flop 39%, Turn 100%)

BTN wins 96.94 BB

Although in retrospect maybe this just isn’t a good open from the CO? Like I said, undoubtedly lots of small mistakes.

I got trounced in the $1K in an interesting spot:

PokerStars – 175/350 Ante 45 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 178.74 BB (VPIP: 22.60, PFR: 15.46, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 209)
UTG: 237.43 BB (VPIP: 20.20, PFR: 13.07, 3Bet Preflop: 5.60, Hands: 307)
Hero (UTG+1): 147.77 BB
MP: 121.09 BB (VPIP: 27.81, PFR: 18.67, 3Bet Preflop: 14.07, Hands: 608)
MP+1: 117.71 BB (VPIP: 22.44, PFR: 15.81, 3Bet Preflop: 9.48, Hands: 259)
MP+2: 240.61 BB (VPIP: 9.82, PFR: 5.94, 3Bet Preflop: 1.89, Hands: 226)
CO: 64.04 BB (VPIP: 23.45, PFR: 16.25, 3Bet Preflop: 7.44, Hands: 293)
BTN: 135.27 BB (VPIP: 22.26, PFR: 18.96, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 276)
SB: 141.29 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 13)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.66 BB) Hero has Ah 8h
fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN calls 2.28 BB, SB calls 1.78 BB, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (10.28 BB, 4 players) 8d 2c 7h
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 6.78 BB, fold, SB raises to 21 BB, fold, Hero calls 14.22 BB

Turn : (52.28 BB, 2 players) 7c
SB bets 35 BB, Hero raises to 124.36 BB and is all-in, SB calls 82.88 BB and is all-in

River : (288.03 BB, 2 players) 6h

SB shows 7s As (Three of a Kind, Sevens)
(Pre 36%, Flop 8%, Turn 95%)

Hero shows Ah 8h (Two Pair, Eights and Sevens)
(Pre 64%, Flop 92%, Turn 5%)

SB wins 288.03 BB

Of course it looks bad that Villain hit a two-outer, but I think he played the hand well, and there are other ways for him to win besides binking. I like my flop defend. It’s a nasty spot, but I think given how often I’ll hold overpairs in this same spot, I should continue with this hand (which blocks 88 and 87s) and mostly dump those.

I thought of the turn as a better card than it probably was. Of course it makes sets/two-pair less likely, but I didn’t really consider that 7x would be a likely flop bluffing hand for Villain because he wants to block 77 and 87s. In retrospect, folding or even calling turn might well be better than sticking it in, even with a bounty on the Villain (which really isn’t likely to come into play, come to think of it).

I had a tricky spot in the $500 that I’m still not sure about:

PokerStars – 400/800 Ante 100 NL (8 max) – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 143.26 BB (VPIP: 21.55, PFR: 19.25, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 232)
UTG+1: 49.15 BB (VPIP: 22.62, PFR: 13.41, 3Bet Preflop: 6.06, Hands: 84)
MP: 79.88 BB (VPIP: 19.31, PFR: 15.00, 3Bet Preflop: 6.85, Hands: 668)
Hero (MP+1): 58.58 BB
CO: 62.9 BB (VPIP: 25.84, PFR: 21.32, 3Bet Preflop: 12.16, Hands: 332)
BTN: 86.71 BB (VPIP: 15.91, PFR: 10.13, 3Bet Preflop: 2.21, Hands: 398)
SB: 19.67 BB (VPIP: 21.78, PFR: 16.28, 3Bet Preflop: 9.55, Hands: 487)
BB: 68.82 BB (VPIP: 16.36, PFR: 12.79, 3Bet Preflop: 7.27, Hands: 276)

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has 6d 5d
fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (6.06 BB, 2 players) 4c 7d 9c
BB checks, Hero bets 4 BB, BB raises to 13.61 BB, Hero calls 9.61 BB

Turn : (33.28 BB, 2 players) 9s
BB bets 17 BB, Hero calls 17 BB

River : (67.28 BB, 2 players) Kd
BB bets 35.8 BB and is all-in, fold

BB wins 67.28 BB

It feels bad to call off so much with 6-high, but I still struggle to see a better option. The flop bet and call seem pretty clear-cut. Turn is tricky. Of course I could be in bad shape vs a 9, but I could also be very live against a flush draw, and if Villain doesn’t have the flush draw then I may get the opportunity to rep it if it comes in. I don’t think jamming the turn is any good, but I could certainly be convinced that it’s a fold.

I lost the rest with AK to 99 all in pre, nothing too exciting there.

I considered taking today off, but it’s dreary outside, so I’ll likely play the $215 rebuy.

Upon our arrival, I got probably my best opportunity ever to use all that French I studied some fifteen years ago. My experience in Montreal (and even in France) was that almost everyone spoke better English than I did French, but our host wasn’t comfortable in English, so she showed us around the house and she and I discussed some logistics in French. Fortunately she was patient and accommodating! To be honest, I don’t know how much the French even mattered, because Emily told me she was able to get the gist of almost everything despite speaking hardly a lick.

I max late registered the $200 Warm-Up shortly after our arrival and promptly ran my 20bb up to a top 10% stack. Then I ran AK into AA for most of my chips and lost the rest with 77 < 99 in a spot where we may have been close enough to the bubble for me to pass on my pair. Oh well.

The $500 6-max Progressive Knock-Out got off to a good start as well, with me collecting a bounty from a guy who just randomly open jammed 30bb UTG with A9o into my JJ. Then there was this hand, not a huge one but one of the more interesting I played yesterday:

PokerStars – 500/1000 Ante 125 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 58.95 BB (VPIP: 24.65, PFR: 16.59, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 216)
SB: 156.74 BB (VPIP: 26.87, PFR: 18.22, 3Bet Preflop: 7.62, Hands: 524)
BB: 99.7 BB (VPIP: 30.59, PFR: 17.16, 3Bet Preflop: 12.05, Hands: 170)
UTG: 71.55 BB (VPIP: 39.06, PFR: 21.88, 3Bet Preflop: 10.71, Hands: 65)
MP: 41.68 BB (VPIP: 21.04, PFR: 16.61, 3Bet Preflop: 7.93, Hands: 933)
Hero (CO): 90.44 BB

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has 2h As
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, BTN calls 2.28 BB, fold, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (8.09 BB, 3 players) 4d 2c Jh
BB checks, Hero bets 2.43 BB, BTN calls 2.43 BB, BB raises to 9.27 BB, Hero raises to 17.98 BB, fold, fold

Hero wins 29.05 BB

I got a bit careless later, though, ultimately getting in too much with A9o on the Button vs a BB squeeze (in my defense, he had a decent bounty!) and then stubbornly refusing to fold Aces that I’d slowplayed pre-flop to a BB who’d pretty obviously flopped trips.

I want to save this hand from the $1K for the next time one of my students tells me he checked after flopping a strong hand because he wanted to induce a bluff:

PokerStars – 125/250 Ante 30 NL – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 215.8 BB (VPIP: 53.85, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)
BB: 179.85 BB (VPIP: 16.02, PFR: 11.52, 3Bet Preflop: 2.82, Hands: 207)
UTG: 204.52 BB (VPIP: 14.11, PFR: 8.02, 3Bet Preflop: 2.53, Hands: 165)
UTG+1: 193.04 BB (VPIP: 24.62, PFR: 17.50, 3Bet Preflop: 5.99, Hands: 535)
Hero (MP): 175.49 BB
MP+1: 207.92 BB (VPIP: 15.82, PFR: 11.95, 3Bet Preflop: 7.65, Hands: 496)
CO: 241.58 BB (VPIP: 26.92, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)
BTN: 132.1 BB (VPIP: 38.46, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 26)

8 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.46 BB) Hero has 4d 4c
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2.28 BB, fold, CO calls 2.28 BB, BTN calls 2.28 BB, SB calls 1.78 BB, BB calls 1.28 BB

Flop : (12.36 BB, 5 players) 6c 4h 7d
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 8.16 BB, fold, BTN raises to 20 BB, fold, fold, Hero calls 11.84 BB

Turn : (52.36 BB, 2 players) 6d
Hero checks, BTN bets 25 BB, Hero calls 25 BB

River : (102.36 BB, 2 players) Qd
Hero checks, BTN bets 84.7 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 84.7 BB

BTN shows Ah Jh (One Pair, Sixes)
(Pre 49%, Flop 4%, Turn 0%)

Hero shows 4d 4c (Full House, Fours full of Sixes)
(Pre 51%, Flop 96%, Turn 100%)

Hero wins 271.77 BB

Villain showed Ah Jh.

I chugged along with a top 15% stack for most of the first six hours before losing a big flip with JJ to AKs. I won a few flips after getting short to stay alive, but eventually lost AJ < QQ to finish off my first day in the WCOOP.

A few mistakes aside (which I don’t want to be too dismissive of – making fewer mistakes is a key tournament skill), I was pleasantly surprised with my play. I’d hardly played at all since WSOP, and although I’ve been studying a lot, there’s always the danger of either being rusty or making mistakes trying to implement new concepts that I’ve only studied in theory. I don’t feel like I feel into either of those traps yesterday, and in fact I was quite pleased with some of the adaptations I made after reading Matt Janda’s new No Limit Hold ‘Em for Advanced Players.

I wanted to share a hand with you from the third event that I played, which was a $700 Progressive Knock-Out. I tried looking at my biggest losses, but they were all-in pre-flop with KK and AK, so nothing too exciting there. Then I switched the column so that biggest wins would be at the top and momentarily confused myself because my biggest win was -80, a pot where I anted and folded. It turns out I didn’t win a single pot the entire tournament! In my defense, I did register quite late and walk into the aforementioned coolers.

Anyway, here’s one from the $200 Rebuy. It’s a good illustration of a common misunderstanding about slowplaying, that it’s somehow about “protecting your range” or some other tepid-sounding cliche that makes it sound like you’re sacrificing present value in the interest of some nebulous future gain.

In fact, playing certain strong hands in a way that’s consistent with how you’ll play weaker hands gives your opponent incentive both to bluff and to value bet thinly. If he acts on that incentive at an appropriate frequency, then you should do about as well as if you’d played your hand faster. And if he decides to go overboard, well…

PokerStars – $200+$15|700/1400 Ante 175 NL – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 20.7 BB (VPIP: 15.76, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 5.54, Hands: 761)
UTG: 98.11 BB (VPIP: 29.25, PFR: 20.57, 3Bet Preflop: 7.50, Hands: 215)
UTG+1: 66.5 BB (VPIP: 20.77, PFR: 16.97, 3Bet Preflop: 7.63, Hands: 574)
MP: 11.13 BB (VPIP: 28.53, PFR: 19.05, 3Bet Preflop: 13.86, Hands: 340)
MP+1: 8.74 BB (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 22.89, 3Bet Preflop: 8.82, Hands: 90)
CO: 44.64 BB (VPIP: 23.81, PFR: 17.21, 3Bet Preflop: 9.62, Hands: 126)
BTN: 60.7 BB (VPIP: 19.35, PFR: 14.58, 3Bet Preflop: 8.63, Hands: 622)
Hero (SB): 19.4 BB

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has Ks Kh
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 0.5 BB, BB raises to 3 BB, Hero calls 2 BB

Flop : (7 BB, 2 players) 7d 2h Kd
Hero checks, BB bets 2.89 BB, Hero calls 2.89 BB

Turn : (12.77 BB, 2 players) 6c
Hero checks, BB bets 5 BB, Hero calls 5 BB

River : (22.77 BB, 2 players) Ah
Hero checks, BB bets 9.69 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 8.39 BB and is all-in

BB shows Js 4h (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 12%, Flop 0%, Turn 0%)

Hero shows Ks Kh (Three of a Kind, Kings)
(Pre 88%, Flop 100%, Turn 100%)

Hero wins 39.55 BB

A lot of people worry about slowplaying in a spot like this because of the flush draw on the flop, but when ranges are sufficiently wide, that’s just not that big of a concern. It’s not like you have to fold a set in a low SPR spot just because a flush gets there, and plenty of times your opponent will be drawing stone dead and even a third diamond comes that might just give him more inducement to bluff.

I already posted one from the $200 Warm-Up, so here’s one from the second event that I played, the $1K Sunday Million. It’s an example of a concept that came up in the discussion of the previous hand, which is when to turn a hand that you originally called with for showdown value into a bluff. Here’s an example where, although I had a pair on the flop, the board ran out in a way that made it nearly impossible for me to win without bluffing, and also strengthened the rest of my range such that this is now close enough to the bottom to be a bluffing candidate on the river.

PokerStars – $1000+$50|500/1000 Ante 125 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 32.23 BB (VPIP: 26.26, PFR: 18.18, 3Bet Preflop: 9.52, Hands: 99)
SB: 41.23 BB (VPIP: 25.53, PFR: 21.74, 3Bet Preflop: 19.05, Hands: 48)
Hero (BB): 97.29 BB
UTG: 87.76 BB (VPIP: 13.76, PFR: 11.65, 3Bet Preflop: 4.44, Hands: 109)
UTG+1: 35.24 BB (VPIP: 16.84, PFR: 10.53, 3Bet Preflop: 2.44, Hands: 190)
MP: 122.99 BB (VPIP: 27.78, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 18)
MP+1: 53.42 BB (VPIP: 9.38, PFR: 6.25, 3Bet Preflop: 11.76, Hands: 32)
MP+2: 88.98 BB (VPIP: 15.91, PFR: 11.20, 3Bet Preflop: 3.51, Hands: 264)
CO: 161.21 BB (VPIP: 18.61, PFR: 14.67, 3Bet Preflop: 8.67, Hands: 468)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has 7s 8d
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2 BB, fold, Hero calls 1 BB

Flop : (5.63 BB, 2 players) 9c 8c Th
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn : (5.63 BB, 2 players) Qh
Hero checks, BTN checks

River : (5.63 BB, 2 players) Ad
Hero bets 3.38 BB, fold

Hero wins 5.63 BB

For more on playing a wide range out of the Big Blind, see my Big Blind Defense series on Tournament Poker Edge.

The Main got off to a good start. I felt much more confident playing with the 300 – 400BB stacks than most of my opponents, and I was really leaning on my position to take down pots. That set me up for this spot:

PokerStars – $5000+$200|30/60 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG+1: 404.28 BB (VPIP: 13.33, PFR: 8.89, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 45)
MP: 321.18 BB (VPIP: 12.00, PFR: 6.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 50)
MP+1: 336.22 BB (VPIP: 38.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 50)
Hero (MP+2): 329 BB
CO: 292.92 BB (VPIP: 22.45, PFR: 20.41, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 50)
BTN: 333.02 BB (VPIP: 17.65, PFR: 3.92, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 51)
SB: 300.98 BB (VPIP: 18.37, PFR: 12.24, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 49)
BB: 456.18 BB (VPIP: 18.37, PFR: 12.24, 3Bet Preflop: 12.00, Hands: 49)
UTG: 240.8 BB (VPIP: 20.14, PFR: 17.96, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 292)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Jd Jh
fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to 2.52 BB, Hero raises to 7.55 BB, CO calls 7.55 BB, fold, SB calls 7.05 BB, fold, MP+1 calls 5.03 BB

Flop : (31.2 BB, 4 players) Ts Js 8c
SB checks, MP+1 checks, Hero bets 18.5 BB, fold, SB raises to 48.5 BB, fold, Hero raises to 321.45 fold

Hero wins 128.2 BB

I’m not entirely sure that shoving is the best play here, but I like it. I don’t really see Villain being on a stone bluff, I don’t think he’s cold calling the 3bet with Q9s or 97s, and there’s only one combination of JTs out there, so I think he very likely has either a lower set or a draw. If he has TT, he may not expect me to just shove with a bigger hand, in which case he may call. I don’t want to just call, because so many turns will be tough for me to play, I don’t think a smaller raise will induce him to shove a combo draw, and honestly getting him to fold a hand like Ks Qs or As Qs is not such a bad outcome for me.

He tanked for a really long time before folding. I think if it weren’t so early in such a major tournament he probably would have called.

Not long after that, I played two significant pots against the player on my left. The first was a small one but set up the second a bit:

PokerStars – $5000+$200|50/100 Ante 10 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 230.54 BB (VPIP: 16.90, PFR: 8.45, 3Bet Preflop: 2.94, Hands: 71)
MP+1: 170.58 BB (VPIP: 13.16, PFR: 6.58, 3Bet Preflop: 2.86, Hands: 76)
MP+2: 188.28 BB (VPIP: 30.26, PFR: 17.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 76)
Hero (CO): 243.53 BB
BTN: 180.28 BB (VPIP: 24.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 5.71, Hands: 76)
SB: 222.74 BB (VPIP: 23.38, PFR: 5.19, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 77)
BB: 194.5 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 10.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
UTG: 269.89 BB (VPIP: 21.33, PFR: 12.00, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 75)
UTG+1: 163.1 BB (VPIP: 21.34, PFR: 18.71, 3Bet Preflop: 10.49, Hands: 318)

9 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.4 BB) Hero has Kc Qd
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, BTN calls 2 BB, fold, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (7.4 BB, 3 players) Kd 2d 8c
BB checks, Hero bets 3.7 BB, BTN calls 3.7 BB, fold

Turn : (14.8 BB, 2 players) 4h
Hero bets 9.36 BB, BTN calls 9.36 BB

River : (33.52 BB, 2 players) 8d
Hero checks, BTN bets 24 BB, fold

BTN wins 33.52 BB

Then he got me good with:

PokerStars – $5000+$200|125/250 Ante 30 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 62.36 BB (VPIP: 22.09, PFR: 14.11, 3Bet Preflop: 2.74, Hands: 165)
MP+1: 62.81 BB (VPIP: 18.34, PFR: 9.47, 3Bet Preflop: 2.47, Hands: 170)
MP+2: 84.74 BB (VPIP: 27.98, PFR: 16.07, 3Bet Preflop: 5.06, Hands: 170)
Hero (CO): 93.22 BB
BTN: 139.29 BB (VPIP: 31.36, PFR: 18.93, 3Bet Preflop: 7.23, Hands: 170)
SB: 57.36 BB (VPIP: 23.53, PFR: 7.65, 3Bet Preflop: 1.15, Hands: 171)
BB: 53.99 BB (VPIP: 15.38, PFR: 6.73, 3Bet Preflop: 1.89, Hands: 104)
UTG: 115.56 BB (VPIP: 18.93, PFR: 10.65, 3Bet Preflop: 7.50, Hands: 169)
UTG+1: 76.04 BB (VPIP: 20.10, PFR: 17.08, 3Bet Preflop: 8.84, Hands: 412)

9 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.58 BB) Hero has Kc 9h
fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, BTN calls 2 BB, SB calls 1.5 BB, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (9.08 BB, 4 players) 5c 3s Ks
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets 4.54 BB, BTN calls 4.54 BB, fold, fold

Turn : (18.16 BB, 2 players) 7c
Hero bets 9.11 BB, BTN calls 9.11 BB

River : (36.38 BB, 2 players) Kh
Hero checks, BTN bets 28 BB, Hero calls 28 BB

BTN shows Kd Js (Three of a Kind, Kings) (Pre 73%, Flop 86%, Turn 93%)
Hero mucks Kc 9h (Three of a Kind, Kings) (Pre 27%, Flop 14%, Turn 7%)
BTN wins 92.38 BB

That left me on a short stack, which is where I lingered for the next few hours. I didn’t get a lot of big hands or good shoving opportunities, but I was fortunate to win the first three times that I was all-in and called.

The two times that I did pick up big hands were at inconvenient times, with an awkward stack and a raise from an UTG player in front of me. When I had KK, the raiser called a small 3-bet and check-folded a rag flop. I felt like it was very obvious I had a huge hand, but I didn’t see any value in checking. The second time I had AK and the raiser called a small 3-bet and check-shoved a rag flop.

The hand I ultimately stacked off with warrants some discussion. Villain was not overly aggressive in general, but this wasn’t the first time he’d opened when I was in the BB, and many players will correctly open lighter with a short stack in the blind:

PokerStars – $5000+$200|400/800 Ante 100 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP+2: 49.8 BB (VPIP: 12.86, PFR: 10.00, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 70)
CO: 25.35 BB (VPIP: 24.40, PFR: 21.84, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 211)
BTN: 84.78 BB (VPIP: 12.16, PFR: 10.81, 3Bet Preflop: 5.71, Hands: 74)
SB: 50.58 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 31.67, 3Bet Preflop: 11.54, Hands: 60)
Hero (BB): 14.63 BB
UTG: 25.1 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 10.91, 3Bet Preflop: 4.60, Hands: 165)
UTG+1: 220.18 BB (VPIP: 20.55, PFR: 10.96, 3Bet Preflop: 6.98, Hands: 74)
MP: 28.41 BB (VPIP: 19.35, PFR: 9.31, 3Bet Preflop: 4.03, Hands: 250)
MP+1: 112.6 BB (VPIP: 21.11, PFR: 17.53, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 200)

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has 5h Ah
UTG raises to 2.19 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, SB calls 1.69 BB, Hero calls 1.19 BB

Flop : (7.69 BB, 3 players) 5d 9h 7c
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG bets 3.09 BB, fold, Hero raises to 12.32 BB and is all-in, UTG calls 9.22 BB

Turn : (32.32 BB, 2 players) Kd

River : (32.32 BB, 2 players) 4c

Hero shows 5h Ah (One Pair, Fives) (Pre 34%, Flop 25%, Turn 11%)
UTG shows Qs Qd (One Pair, Queens) (Pre 66%, Flop 75%, Turn 89%)
UTG wins 32.32 BB

Against a calling range of {77+,76s,87s,98s,T9s}, I have 21.5% equity in a 32BB pot. When he folds, I win 11BB. If I did the algebra correctly, I need him to fold about 60% of the time.

That calling range is 3.5% of the deck, so I need him to show up with 9% when he bets flop. In a heads up pot, I’m sure he would. I don’t know how much the SB’s call will deter UTG from continuation betting with air, but it may well be enough to make shoving a bad idea.

PokerStars – $200+$15|15000/30000 Ante 3750 NL – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 32.33 BB (VPIP: 35.14, PFR: 27.78, 3Bet Preflop: 5.88, Hands: 37)
MP+1: 10.99 BB (VPIP: 13.33, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 10.53, Hands: 30)
CO: 7.48 BB (VPIP: 8.11, PFR: 5.71, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 37)
BTN: 63.88 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 10)
SB: 62.6 BB (VPIP: 19.48, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 77)
Hero (BB): 42.1 BB
UTG: 19.66 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 1)
UTG+1: 8.58 BB (VPIP: 21.62, PFR: 10.81, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 37)

8 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has Kh Qh
fold, UTG+1 raises to 8.46 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, fold, fold, SB calls 7.96 BB, Hero raises to 41.97 BB and is all-in, SB calls 33.52 BB

Flop : (93.4 BB, 3 players) 2d 4s Ks

Turn : (93.4 BB, 3 players) Kd

River : (93.4 BB, 3 players) 7c

SB shows Ac Kc (Three of a Kind, Kings)
Main Pot [26.37 BB]: (Pre 35%, Flop 78%, Turn 81%)
Side Pot [67.03 BB]: (Pre 71%, Flop 87%, Turn 86%)

Hero shows Kh Qh (Three of a Kind, Kings)
Main Pot [26.37 BB]: (Pre 24%, Flop 13%, Turn 14%)
Side Pot [67.03 BB]: (Pre 29%, Flop 13%, Turn 14%)

UTG+1 shows 9c 9d (Two Pair, Kings and Nines)
Main Pot [26.37 BB]: (Pre 41%, Flop 9%, Turn 5%)

SB wins 93.4 BB

Basically a short stack shoves in early position for about 8 BBs, the SB calls, and I’m in the BB with KQs. The SB has me covered. My in-game thinking was that there’s a lot of money in the pot, I’m a solid favorite vs the short stack’s jamming range, the SB should have a healthy call-folding range, and I’ll be in OK shape even if the SB called.

After actually quantifying all of those assumptions, it seems like they were all slightly skewed in the wrong direction, and taken together they turn this into a pretty bad shove, especially at this stage of a major tournament.

For one thing, I’m not a favorite vs the short stack. I gave him all broadway hands, all Aces, all pairs, and some of the better suited connectors and I’m almost exactly 50/50. I don’t know that that range is exactly right, but fidgeting with it a bit didn’t change my equity by more than 1%.

I’m also in pretty bad shape when SB does call. Against {TT+,AJs+,AQo+}, I have less than 33% equity (which if I’d really thought about his calling range I would have realized in game, didn’t really need Slice for that one). I’m used to that being “good enough” but in a dry sidepot it’s a lot worse than when there are blinds and antes cushioning your fall.

It turns out that I show a small profit, about half a BB, if SB folds 2/3 of the time. The calling range I gave him was about 5%, and given the cards I’m holding he’ll actually have a hand in that range about 4% of the time (disregarding any blocker effects from the other player’s shoving range, which is admittedly Ace-heavy).

A generous range for his first call is all the pairs plus the better broadways and A9s. That has him folding about 2/3 of the time to my shove. However, this assumes that he never shoves some hands, like medium pairs, that he really shouldn’t be trying to induce or call-fold. Take those out of his calling range and my shove becomes a lot less good.

And all of that, with the generous assumptions, is still only enough to make this slightly +cEV, which for risking the last of my chips at this stage of the tournament is simply not good enough.

Of course a bad beat would have been disappointing, but it’s much more of a bummer to realize I busted on a bad play. At least I learned something, though I’m a little embarrassed that my instincts were so off in the first place.

This was from the $215 10-minute levels NLHE 6-max WCOOP event. Villain is Philipp “philbort” Gruissem. As many of you know I’m pretty stubborn about folding my BB to small pre-flop raises and also folding to smallish barrels once I get any piece of the board. When I see the flop with such a wide range, even a gutshot is in the top 2/3 of range, and then I turn a pair…. I still think it’s possible Villain has air, but I don’t know how likely it is that he’ll fire the river with that, so I chose instead to make what I’m sure was a very confusing shove for him. He tanked all the way down literally to the last second before calling with a hand that I doubt he was going to bet on the river. Although maybe he was, to be honest it is still very likely to be good, and a player as good as Philbort should be able to recognize and act on that.

PokerStars – $200+$15|500/1000 Ante 125 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

UTG: 59.04 BB
MP: 35.77 BB
CO: 27.02 BB
BTN: 29.05 BB
SB: 46.6 BB
Hero (BB): 83.28 BB

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has Ts 9c
fold, MP raises to 2.25 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 1.25 BB

Flop : (5.75 BB, 2 players) Ks 5c Jc
Hero checks, MP bets 3 BB, Hero calls 3 BB

Turn : (11.75 BB, 2 players) 9d
Hero checks, MP bets 6 BB, Hero calls 6 BB

River : (23.75 BB, 2 players) 9h
Hero bets 71.91 BB and is all-in, MP calls 24.4 BB and is all-in

Hero shows Ts 9c (Three of a Kind, Nines) (Pre 34%, Flop 18%, Turn 11%)
MP shows Kh Qh (Two Pair, Kings and Nines) (Pre 66%, Flop 82%, Turn 89%)
Hero wins 72.54 BB

PokerStars – $200+$15|60/120 Ante 15 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 17.19 BB
SB: 25.44 BB
BB: 69.54 BB
UTG: 143.37 BB
UTG+1: 68.83 BB
Hero (MP): 170.98 BB
MP+1: 67.21 BB
MP+2: 81.08 BB
CO: 120.99 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has Kh Ac
fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, MP+2 calls 2 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (7.63 BB, 3 players) Kc 7h 7c
BB checks, Hero bets 3.81 BB, fold, BB raises to 9.58 BB, Hero calls 5.78 BB

Turn : (26.79 BB, 2 players) 6c
BB bets 12 BB, Hero calls 12 BB

River : (50.79 BB, 2 players) Qs
BB bets 15.63 BB, Hero raises to 147.27 BB and is all-in, fold

Hero wins 82.04 BB

I had Villain covered by a lot, so my shove was actually for about 55 BB total, or 40 BB more to him.

PokerStars – $300+$20|600/1200 Ante 150 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BTN: 127.59 BB (VPIP: 26.58, PFR: 20.09, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 228)
SB: 66.01 BB (VPIP: 23.23, PFR: 18.37, 3Bet Preflop: 8.51, Hands: 100)
BB: 107.86 BB (VPIP: 36.81, PFR: 26.38, 3Bet Preflop: 27.40, Hands: 166)
UTG: 58.67 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 14.62, 3Bet Preflop: 11.54, Hands: 133)
Hero (MP): 105.67 BB
CO: 28.34 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)

6 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.25 BB) Hero has Ts As
fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (5.25 BB, 2 players) Jc 8h 5d
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn : (5.25 BB, 2 players) 2c
BB bets 10 BB, Hero calls 10 BB

River : (25.25 BB, 2 players) 5s
BB bets 50 BB, Hero calls 50 BB

BB shows Qc Ac (One Pair, Fives) (Pre 71%, Flop 86%, Turn 95%)
Hero mucks Ts As (One Pair, Fives) (Pre 29%, Flop 14%, Turn 5%)
BB wins 125.25 BB

This was a big pot. The amount that I lost was about the average stack at the time. Honestly, even if this is in his range, I still like my call. I think he just never has a value hand, and there are enough weaker draws that missed for me to come out ahead even if I lose or chop occasionally.

Also, even if I do occasionally call with worse, Villain’s bet is really bad, for basically the same reason that jamming 60BBs with AJo vs a 3BB button open is bad. His equity is very good vs my flop check back range but not good against my range for calling such a big turn bet.

Nevertheless, this was my 10th cash of the WCOOP, out of 25 tournaments played, so I feel good about that.

PokerStars – $200+$15|50/100 Ante 10 NL (4 max) – Holdem – 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 121.31 BB (VPIP: 44.32, PFR: 25.00, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 88)
Hero (CO): 78.18 BB
BTN: 146.22 BB (VPIP: 41.33, PFR: 28.19, 3Bet Preflop: 17.86, Hands: 156)
SB: 22.06 BB (VPIP: 46.36, PFR: 29.80, 3Bet Preflop: 1.75, Hands: 156)

4 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.9 BB) Hero has Qc Jd
Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 1 BB

Flop : (4.9 BB, 2 players) 5s 5h 2s
BB checks, Hero bets 2.45 BB, BB calls 2.45 BB

Turn : (9.8 BB, 2 players) 8d
BB checks, Hero checks

River : (9.8 BB, 2 players) Qs
BB checks, Hero bets 5.88 BB, BB raises to 19.88 BB, Hero calls 14 BB

BB shows Td As (One Pair, Fives) (Pre 58%, Flop 78%, Turn 86%)
Hero shows Qc Jd (Two Pair, Queens and Fives) (Pre 42%, Flop 22%, Turn 14%)
Hero wins 49.56 BB

To be honest I’m not sure whether the results corroborate my call or not. I’d expect him to bet anything without showdown value on the river, so for him to be bluffing, he has to be taking something that had some showdown value vs my turn check-back range and turning it into a bluff. On the other hand, I also think he’s unlikely to check a flush or trips (and certainly to check-raise trips). So I basically just decided that he’d be sufficiently weighted towards the bluffs. As it turns out, though, he had a pretty ideal bluffing hand, so it really doesn’t prove that he’ll be bluffing a lot in this spot.

PokerStars – $665+$35|200/400 Ante 50 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 73.5 BB
Hero (UTG): 107.43 BB
UTG+1: 45.14 BB
MP: 128.49 BB
MP+1: 145.05 BB
MP+2: 87.37 BB
CO: 85.57 BB
BTN: 299.2 BB
SB: 95.52 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has Ks Ah
Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, CO raises to 5 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 13.13 BB, CO raises to 23.5 BB, Hero raises to 107.31 BB and is all-in, CO calls 61.94 BB and is all-in

Flop : (173.51 BB, 2 players) 3s 8c Js

Turn : (173.51 BB, 2 players) 9h

River : (173.51 BB, 2 players) 8h

Hero shows Ks Ah (One Pair, Eights) (Pre 7%, Flop 6%, Turn 0%)
CO shows Ad Ac (Two Pair, Aces and Eights) (Pre 93%, Flop 94%, Turn 100%)
CO wins 173.51 BB

PokerStars – $300+$20|5/5 Ante 300 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 2476.4 BB
UTG: 8686.2 BB
UTG+1: 10924 BB
MP: 4431.4 BB
MP+1: 5299.6 BB
MP+2: 11989.8 BB
CO: 3856.2 BB
Hero (BTN): 8377.2 BB
SB: 6175 BB

9 players post ante of 60 BB, SB posts SB 1 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 542 BB) Hero has Ad Td
fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to 2 BB, MP+2 raises to 548 BB, fold, Hero calls 548 BB, fold, fold, fold

Flop : (1640 BB, 2 players) Qc 2d 4d
MP+2 checks, Hero checks

Turn : (1640 BB, 2 players) 5d
MP+2 checks, Hero bets 1128 BB, MP+2 raises to 2413.6 BB, Hero calls 1285.6 BB

River : (6467.2 BB, 2 players) 5s
MP+2 bets 8968.2 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 5355.6 BB and is all-in

MP+2 shows Jd Ks (One Pair, Fives) (Pre 38%, Flop 17%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows Ad Td (Flush, Ace High) (Pre 62%, Flop 83%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins 17178.4 BB

And here’s the really gross hand that I mentioned on Twitter, the one that caused me to bubble the $215 Heads Up NLHE:

PokerStars – $200+$15|25/50 NL (2 max) – Holdem – 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 129.14 BB (VPIP: 82.61, PFR: 52.17, 3Bet Preflop: 12.50, Hands: 30)
Hero (BB): 70.86 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Ah Kh
SB raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 6 BB, SB calls 4 BB

Flop : (12 BB, 2 players) 2h 5d 4h
Hero checks, SB checks

Turn : (12 BB, 2 players) Ad
Hero bets 7.2 BB, SB raises to 17.26 BB, Hero calls 10.06 BB

River : (46.52 BB, 2 players) 3d
Hero bets 47.6 BB and is all-in, SB calls 47.6 BB

Hero shows Ah Kh (Straight, Five High) (Pre 77%, Flop 83%, Turn 93%)
SB shows 6c Ks (Straight, Six High) (Pre 23%, Flop 17%, Turn 7%)
SB wins 141.72 BB

PokerStars – $200+$15|60/120 Ante 15 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (BTN): 75.23 BB
SB: 93.64 BB
BB: 70.51 BB
UTG: 120.21 BB
UTG+1: 95.52 BB
MP: 49.17 BB
MP+1: 135.2 BB
MP+2: 110.58 BB
CO: 72.73 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has Tc 9c
fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to 2 BB, fold, CO calls 2 BB, Hero calls 2 BB, fold, fold

Flop : (8.63 BB, 3 players) 9h Qd Td
MP+1 bets 4.5 BB, CO calls 4.5 BB, Hero calls 4.5 BB

Turn : (22.13 BB, 3 players) Th
MP+1 checks, CO checks, Hero bets 7.4 BB, MP+1 calls 7.4 BB, fold

River : (36.93 BB, 2 players) Jd
MP+1 checks, Hero bets 15.37 BB, MP+1 raises to 121.18 BB and is all-in, fold

MP+1 wins 67.66 BB

Villain covers me by a good deal, so I’m actually getting about 2:1 on a call, which makes folding a two-card full house pretty questionable. Here are the arguments for folding:

1. Although it’s a full house, it’s far from the nuts, and most if not all better hands are plausibly in Villain’s range.

2. Villain doesn’t seem bad enough to shove worse for value, except MAYBE 99, of which there is one combo.

3. It’s awfully tough for Villain to get to the river with air, so he has to be turning a pair into a bluff, presumably with the intention of folding me off of a straight or flush. Not a lot of randoms in the Sunday Million are capable of that.

4. It’s early in a huge WCOOP tournament, and this is for all of my chips. Folding a small edge is correct here.

Arguments for calling:

1. This is damn close to the top of my range. Not raising pre-flop or on the flop takes a lot of full houses out of my range. My hand probably looks more like a straight or flush that got there than it does a full house.

2. The T in my hand blocks a lot of the hands I’m worried about. This is a much easier fold with 99.

3. Villain probably bets better hands on the turn at least sometimes.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

1.

This is a rare flop where I don’t feel committed to my hand. If he calls a small bet, I’ll hope to check it down but fold if he bets the turn. I have plenty of Aces in my range, so it’s not like he can just float me with abandon planning to bluff turns.

His raise makes no sense. He’s probably jamming his best Aces pre-flop, and there’s just no reason to raise this flop with an Ace, especially a weak one. Stacks are short enough that pot building isn’t going to be a concern no matter how strong his hand is. If I have an Ace, I’m never folding it, and if I don’t, he shouldn’t be trying to scare me out.

This is what I mean when I say that I can afford to give him good odds pre-flop.

PokerStars – $200+$15|800/1600 Ante 200 NL – Holdem – 9 players

Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

MP: 58.84 BB
MP+1: 119.87 BB
CO: 34.29 BB
BTN: 135.91 BB
Hero (SB): 20.96 BB
BB: 20.3 BB
UTG: 26.45 BB
UTG+1: 37.7 BB
UTG+2: 28.02 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.63 BB) Hero has Qc Qh
fold, fold, fold, MP raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 4.86 BB, fold, MP calls 2.86 BB

Flop : (11.85 BB, 2 players) 6c 5h Ad
Hero bets 3.47 BB, MP raises to 7 BB, Hero calls 3.53 BB

Turn : (25.85 BB, 2 players) 8s
Hero checks, MP bets 5 BB, Hero raises to 8.97 BB and is all-in, MP calls 3.97 BB

River : (43.8 BB, 2 players) Th

Hero shows Qc Qh (One Pair, Queens) (Pre 83%, Flop 90%, Turn 95%)
MP shows 2h 2c (One Pair, Twos) (Pre 17%, Flop 10%, Turn 5%)
Hero wins 43.8 BB

PokerStars – $200+$15|250/500 Ante 60 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: 26.62 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
BB: 64.03 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
Hero (UTG): 54.18 BB
MP: 93.82 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
CO: 108.71 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
BTN: 26.62 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)

6 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.22 BB) Hero has Ks As
Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, CO raises to 5.8 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 3.8 BB

Flop : (13.82 BB, 2 players) Qc 8s 3s
Hero checks, CO bets 5 BB, Hero calls 5 BB

Turn : (23.82 BB, 2 players) 8d
Hero checks, CO bets 7 BB, Hero ?

I think there are a lot of close decisions here. Four-betting pre-flop is certainly viable, as is check-raising the flop. His sizing and the general situation (I’m new to the table and opening UTG, his 3-bet is on the large side considering stacks and position) made me think he was strong, though.

Given that hunch, I think there’s a case for folding the turn. I’m getting almost the exact right price to draw to spades, but I don’t think I can count on implied odds, and with a pair on the board reverse implied odds are a real possibility. I’m sure there’s some value in hitting an A or a K, but again I can’t really hope to get money in good on those cards and indeed I think I’d have to fold to a bet even if I hit them. The little bit of equity I get from the times I make top pair and show it down might be enough to mitigate the reverse implied odds, but that still just leaves the call as a break-even proposition.

Of course, that’s all premised on the hunch that he’s strong, but I think on the turn he’d bet either more or not at all with a bluff. A pair like JJ or TT is probably my best case scenario for him there.

Thoughts?

“The more time I spend on the internet, the more disdainful I become of the physical world. I work online, I play online, I shop online, and I meet people online. Owning physical things is mostly a nuisance to me. They have to be stored, carried, cared for, and packed or discarded every time I move, which is often, thanks to the freedom that online poker provides me.”

Not only was my trip to Montreal for the purpose of playing poker online, but it was arranged entirely online. I comparison priced flights online. I found and booked an apartment on AirBnB. Trip Advisor helped me figure out the best way to get from the Montreal airport to my apartment. I used Yelp to find places to eat and things to do during my time off. I used Google Maps to find the best bike routes around the city. And of course I chronicled the whole trip on my blog.

When I was comparing apartments, the reliability of the internet was naturally my primary concern. I ruled out a few otherwise good places because they had a connection shared by an entire building rather than their own modem. The owner of the apartment I ultimately chose assured me that the connection was quick and reliable, and until now it always had been. He did warn me that there was a monthly limit of 50 GBs, but I’d forgotten about that because I didn’t think there was any chance of running into it.

I’m still not sure that that’s what happened, but it’s my best guess. As I mentioned in my Day 1 post, I’d been listening to Spotify near-continuously during the WCOOP. I streamed The Lederer Files and downloaded the 2+2 Pokercast. I unwound after stressful days with Aziz Ansari, YouTube clips, and The Colbert Report (also available in Canada). And I just may have shot myself in the foot during the most important part of the series.

In a way, the timing was fortuitous. At least my disconnection occurred after the end of Day 1 of the Main Event and before the start of Day 2. So while it was harrowing to find a new internet connection while deep in the 1K, it would have been infinitely worse on the bubble of the 5K.

As it happened, I woke up on Monday morning, still without internet in the apartment. Among other things, that meant that I couldn’t actually look up the coffee shop where I was the night before or exactly how to get there. It was a pretty ideal work space, though, so I left myself plenty of time to find it and hopped on a trusty old Bixi.

I impressed myself by beelining straight to it. That gave me nearly an hour to have a coffee and a sandwich and get settled in. The only downside was that the bathroom, which I’m usually eager to use at every break, required a key, so I had to go request that every hour.

I started the tournament with a somewhat short stack, and it got even shorter when I lost a flip to a really short stack with KQs to his JJ. After that, all I could do was nit it up until we were in the money.

That’s not the way I’d prefer to play the bubble, but the payout structure mandated it. A min-cash was worth more than $12,000, and the next few payjumps were roughly $400 each. The implication of that is that sneaking into the money with a very short stack is preferable to risking elimination in order to accumulate chips, because making it into the money with twice as many chips might win you only a few thousand more dollars or less.

I even ended up folding AKo pre-flop when we were 2 or 3 places from the money. I was in the BB with 25 BBs. The chipleader, who’d been bullying the bubble quite successfully, opened for a min-raise from early position. I was ready to shove on him, but then the SB shoved 60 BBs, the second-biggest stack at the table, into the only guy who could bust him. Even if we weren’t on the bubble, this would probably be a fold, so I didn’t have to think too long about it.

The next time I got AK, we were in the money and there was a raise and re-raise in front of me, so it was an easy shove. They both folded and I scooped a good sized pot.

Blinds went up again, though, and I was still too short to make much happen. Finally I reshoved about 13 BBs over a middle position 9.5 BB shove with ATo and lost to AQo. Unfortunate outcome but the right play I think.

Just a few hands later I put my last 4 BBs into the pot with KK and more than doubled through QQ. I thought getting up to 9 BBs would generate some fold equity for me, but when I open shoved A8o from the CO, the button reshoved A6s. The flop came off Q22 with a flush draw for him, then another 2 on the turn to all but lock up at least a chop for him. The river, however, completed his flush and brought my 2012 World Championship of Online Poker to an end.

Thanks for following along! I suppose the last somewhat interesting tidbit was my conversation with the US Customs agent before my return flight. My strategy for dealing with this sort of authority figure is generally to speak only when spoken to and to be extremely literal and limited in my responses. It tends to get on their nerves, but not in a way that they can do very much about. So here’s roughly how our conversation went:

First off, it was early in the morning and there was no one ahead of me in line or at the agent’s window, but I made a point of stopping behind the red line and waiting for her to summon me over, which she did with a subtle nod of her head. I noticed that her name was Canaba, which is funny since she worked in Canada, but I figured I wouldn’t be the first one to point that out so I didn’t mention it.

I greeted Canaba with a cheery, “Good morning!” and handed her my passport and customs declaration, on which I’d declared $3 worth of Canadian-purchased goods crossing the border with me.

She ignored my greeting with a scowl. “You bought $3 worth of something?”

“Yes.”

“What did you buy?’

“Granola bars.” She snorted.

“What were you doing in Canada?”

“Playing poker.”

“How much cash do you have with you?”

“Not very much.”

“What does that mean? Not very much. How much?”

“Like $40.”

“So you didn’t win.”

“I was playing online.”

“What does that mean? Did you win or not?”

“Like, I was playing on the internet. Not at a casino. So I wasn’t playing with cash, and I don’t have cash with me.”

“Ok but did you win or lose?”

“I won.”

“How much did you win?”

“About $15,000.” I probably shouldn’t have answered this. I’m 99% sure I shouldn’t have to, but I guess I’m the sort of guy who’s willing to allow his liberties to be trampled in order to spare himself some discomfort and inconvenience.

“You can’t play online poker from the United States?”

“Correct.”

“Correct you can?”

“No, you cannot play online in the United States.” It might have been more fun to give her an answer like “not on this particular site” or “not without a VPN”, but I decided against trying to confuse her further.

Nonetheless, she suddenly got very defensive. “OK, well I don’t know. I don’t know the rules of poker. Or any kind of gambling.”

“…”

With that she handed my papers back to me. I left her with a breezy, “Have a nice day!” but I didn’t expect an answer, and I didn’t get one.

I’m kind of embarrassed to post this, because it’s pretty hokey, but I do think it helped, so maybe it can help you too:

“This is a long and profitable tournament. You are lucky to be playing it. It deserves your best effort and full attention. There is nothing else you would rather be doing than playing this tournament.

There will be many good opportunities. Wait for them. Conserve your chips. Do not invest in questionable situations, and do not wade into murky waters. Do not bet on guesses when there will be time to form better reads.

Take your time. Think before you act, even, especially, when the decision seems trivial. Pay attention to bet timing and sizing. What does he have? When you bluff, what do want him to fold? When you raise, what do you want him to call? Have you considered all of your options?

This is a long and profitable tournament. You are lucky to be playing it. It deserves your best effort and full attention. There is nothing else you would rather be doing than playing this tournament. Play your best.”

I read this to myself before I started playing and during every break. Later in the evening, when the only tables I still had open were the $5K Main Event and the $1K Second Chance, I had this up on my screen as a constant reminder.

The pre-flop action in this tournament was intense from the very beginning. This is an extreme example, but it gives you an idea of how much people were playing back at each other:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds 15 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t20391)
MP2 (t19448)
MP3 (t37186)
CO (t18108)
Button (t52811)
SB (t10829)
Hero (BB) (t28608)
UTG (t22249)
UTG+1 (t10452)

Hero’s M: 90.82

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 3
UTG bets t240, 5 folds, Button raises to t389, 2 folds, UTG calls t149

Flop: (t1093) 4, 10, 7 (2 players)
UTG checks, Button bets t511, UTG calls t511

Turn: (t2115) 5 (2 players)
UTG checks, Button bets t1189, UTG raises to t2880, Button raises to t5289, UTG calls t2409

River: (t12693) 3 (2 players)
UTG checks, Button checks

Total pot: t12693

Results:
Button mucked 7, 2 (one pair, sevens).
UTG had 4, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
Outcome: UTG won t12693

For most of the first day, I operated under the assumption that there was a good chance any of my raises would get 3-bet and that any of my 3-bets would get 4-bet. Consequently, I played a snug, boring game and I don’t have a lot of interesting hands to share with you from this tournament.

What was interesting was a song that came on while I was playing. I listened to Spotify pretty much non-stop while I playing the series, and after exhausting a few of their other playlists, I was listening to Pitchfork‘s Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s during the Main Event. One song fades, there are a few seconds of silence, and then I hear,

“Yeah, I’m losing my edge.
I’m losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I’m losing my edge.”

This is actually the opening to a song by LCD Soundsystem, but it’s a hell of a thing to hear when you’ve just turned 30 and you don’t play online poker nearly as much as you used to and there are all these guys you’ve never heard of before who all seem to know what they’re doing and it seems like every time you google an opponent’s name the first hit is either High Stakes Database talking about his wins at 50/100 PLO or the PokerStars blog talking about he dominated the final table of a recent Sunday Million or SCOOP tournament.

So I had a good laugh at that but I kept my head down and plugged away. After a few hours of nitting it up and not catching much, I’d blinded down to about 14 BBs. I picked up AKo and ended up chopping with another AKo. Two hands later I open shoved AQs for 15 BBs from the CO. The SB called with KQo to double me up. Two hands after that I doubled again:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 60 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t14879)
SB (t22362)
BB (t23123)
UTG (t22248)
UTG+1 (t96537)
MP1 (t65036)
Hero (MP2) (t15710)
MP3 (t63133)
CO (t18350)

Hero’s M: 12.18

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, A
3 folds, Hero bets t1000, 4 folds, BB calls t500

Flop: (t2790) 3, 3, A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t999, BB calls t999

Turn: (t4788) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t2666, BB calls t2666

River: (t10120) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t10985 (All-In), BB calls t10985

Total pot: t32090

Results:
BB had 5, A (two pair, Aces and threes).
Hero had K, A (two pair, Aces and threes).
Outcome: Hero won t32090

Given the kind of action I was getting despite my nittiness, I felt vindicated in my decision not to get too out of line. Then in the next level:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 300/600 Blinds 70 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t59661)
MP1 (t15965)
MP2 (t30852)
MP3 (t13174)
CO (t98427)
Button (t69983)
Hero (SB) (t43714)
BB (t59207)
UTG (t10126)

Hero’s M: 28.57

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, A
5 folds, CO bets t1200, 1 fold, Hero raises to t3600, BB raises to t7800, 1 fold, Hero raises to t43644 (All-In), BB calls t35844

Flop: (t89118) 8, A, 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t89118) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t89118) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t89118

Results:
Hero had J, A (one pair, Aces).
BB had 10, 10 (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero won t89118

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 350/700 Blinds 85 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t44286)
SB (t18240)
BB (t32885)
UTG (t11119)
UTG+1 (t110948)
MP1 (t81380)
Hero (MP2) (t83778)
MP3 (t21688)
CO (t14290)

Hero’s M: 46.16

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, A
3 folds, Hero bets t1400, MP3 calls t1400, 1 fold, Button calls t1400, 1 fold, BB calls t700

Flop: (t6715) 10, 8, K (4 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t3333, MP3 raises to t20203 (All-In), 2 folds, Hero calls t16870

Turn: (t47121) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t47121) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t47121

Results:
Hero had K, A (two pair, Kings and eights).
MP3 had K, Q (two pair, Kings and eights).
Outcome: Hero won t47121

I won a few more medium pots, then went card dead again towards the end of the night, made a few moves that didn’t work out, and ended the day with 20ish BBs, a healthy but not ideal stack. With the bubble approaching, I knew I was going to have to nit it up again the next day, but I was excited just to be there.

It was nearly midnight, so I would have welcomed the chance to hit the hay and rest up for Day 2 of the Main Event. That wasn’t an option, though, because I was still in the $1K Second Chance, and we were getting down to it. This was the only notable hand from that tournament so far:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1050 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t19580)
Button (t14087)
SB (t23987)
BB (t16749)
UTG (t37817)
UTG+1 (t16725)
MP1 (t10047)
MP2 (t17606)
Hero (MP3) (t21136)

Hero’s M: 40.26

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A, K
2 folds, MP1 bets t400, 1 fold, Hero raises to t999, 4 folds, MP1 calls t599

Flop: (t2523) 6, 2, Q (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets t1212, MP1 calls t1212

Turn: (t4947) 6 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets t1212, MP1 calls t1212

River: (t7371) Q (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets t17688 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t7371

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, K (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t7371

So I’m chugging along nicely in that tournament, trying just to play well and not think about how tired I’m going to be tomorrow. There was still a thing or two I wanted to do in Montreal – most notably the Latin Quarter, a student hot spot near the Université du Québec à Montréal. Oh well. This was more important.

It’s 2:30 in the morning, and an aggressive player opens the CO. I 3-bet ATo from the SB. He min-4-bets. I go into the tank. Clock is ticking down. I drag the bet slider all the way to the right, take another second to think, and then click “Raise.”

Nothing happens. Then that “Connecting…” bar appears on the screen, and the wireless icon in the bottom right hand corner of my screen is “Looking for signal…”. I stare helplessly, willing the connection to come back. I’ve been playing on this connection for nearly three weeks without the slightest trouble, and it picks now to go out?!

I get down on my hands and knees, unplug the router, wait 60 seconds, replug it. Nothing. Try again with the router and modem. Nothing.

Shit. What are my options? I’m too tired to think clearly. I’m picking up other connections, but they’re all Secure. Blinding off would cost me ten to fifteen thousand dollars in equity. It’s not an option.

I don’t know any of the neighbors. Do I bang on doors in the middle of the night, try to explain the situation, beg for a wireless password? If I could get someone to open the door and listen to me, I could make it worth their while. Offer them enough cash that they’d be glad I woke them up at 2:30 in the morning. How much to offer? $200? $500? It would easily be worth it. But I don’t have that kind of cash, and there’s no ATM around. So then there would be the added complication of getting them to accept an IOU.

I only know one person in Montreal, and though I have Luis’ phone number, I don’t have any way of calling me. Skype was my only phone.

The apartment is just a few blocks from Avenue du Mont-Royal. There are a lot of restaurants and such on that street. I don’t remember seeing any 24-hour places, but I could probably find something eventually. But how long would that take?

I resolved to walk in that direction but also see if I passed anyone on the street who looked like they could be helpful. I wasn’t sure what to expect at this hour, but if I was really lucky maybe I would meet a student on the way home from a late-night study session or something. I grabbed my laptop and stepped out in the Montreal night.

There weren’t many people out, and the first few didn’t look like they had homes, let alone wireless routers. I saw a young couple approaching, but they were so drunk they could barely walk. From the way they were giggling and leaning in to each other, it also seemed like they weren’t going to be wanting company.

Then a cab drove past, and finally I had a plan I felt good about. I walked to the busiest street in the vicinity and hailed a cab. I asked if he know of any place that would have internet at this hour. I was ready to ask in French if necessary, but he understood me. “Probably somewhere on St. Denis,” he told me. The Latin Quarter. I couldn’t help smiling as I hopped in.

Ten minutes later we hit Rue St. Denis, and I spotted an all-night coffee shop and internet cafe almost immediately. “Perfect!” I told him, left him a generous tip, and dashed inside. I bought a stale muffin, got the wireless code, and was back in action less than forty minutes after my disconnection. For all I know, I might have been about to jam into Aces, so it could even have saved me money.

Of course I was getting short, but I doubled almost immediately with TT > AKo. Looking at the hand again, I see know that it was versus the same player who would eliminate me from the Main Event the next day.

Unfortunately I was still frazzled from my little crisis and couldn’t get my head back in the game. I was playing really badly. I made a stupid shove with A7 but sucked out on 77. A few orbits later, we were down to four tables. The button opened for a min-raise. I jammed 20 BBs with T9s in the SB. Assassinato, who was already one of the chip leaders and who went on to chop the tournament, woke up with JJ and that was the end of me. He writes an excellent poker blog, by the way; I suggest you check it out.

I took a cab back home. It was after 4AM, and I was eager to get what rest I could before what I hoped would be another big day. The internet was still out at the apartment, but that was a problem I could solve in the morning.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds 5 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t7965)
Button (t7370)
Hero (SB) (t7445)
BB (t7370)
UTG (t14995)
UTG+1 (t7495)
MP1 (t7495)
MP2 (t7370)
MP3 (t14995)

Hero’s M: 62.04

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, A
UTG bets t125, 1 fold, MP1 calls t125, MP2 calls t125, 3 folds, Hero raises to t666, 2 folds, MP1 calls t541, MP2 calls t541

Flop: (t2218) J, 3, 6 (3 players)
Hero bets t1224, MP1 calls t1224, MP2 calls t1224

Turn: (t5890) 9 (3 players)
Hero bets t5550 (All-In), MP1 raises to t5600 (All-In), 1 fold

River: (t16990) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t16990

Results:
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
MP1 had 10, 8 (straight, Jack high).
Outcome: MP1 won t16990

Rebuy! And then a bit later in the tournament:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 125/250 Blinds 30 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (Button) (t21289)
SB (t19553)
BB (t23730)
UTG (t21931)
UTG+1 (t20220)
MP1 (t15720)
MP2 (t26511)
CO (t47258)

Hero’s M: 34.62

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, 6
3 folds, MP2 bets t500, 1 fold, Hero calls t500, 1 fold, BB calls t250

Flop: (t1865) 6, 8, 8 (3 players)
BB checks, MP2 bets t750, Hero calls t750, 1 fold

Turn: (t3365) 5 (2 players)
MP2 bets t1350, Hero calls t1350

River: (t6065) 9 (2 players)
MP2 bets t3500, Hero raises to t13333, MP2 raises to t23881 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: t32731

Results:
MP2 didn’t show
Outcome: MP2 won t32731

It was actually only about 5K more to me to call, but even getting like 7:1 with a full house, this is an easy fold. I actually think raising the river might even be a mistake. I analyze the hand in more depth in my October 2+2 article Telling a Story With Your Value Bets.

My girlfriend didn’t come with me to Montreal, so I was by myself on my birthday proper, though I had plans to take Saturday off before the WCOOP Main Event on Sunday and to hang out with Luis that evening.

In lieu of cake, I did a little research on Yelp and found that one of the most popular dessert places in Montreal was a shop near me that sold macaroons. They’ve never been my favorite, so while these were pretty good, the real excitement for me was that it was by far my most thorough transaction in French. I asked the woman behind the counter which she preferred, but that no I didn’t like raspberries, anything else? Etc. Neither of us ever had to ask the other to repeat anything, though I suspect she was going easy on me in terms of vocabulary and speed. I picked up a few more local brews to try and watched Aziz Ansari’s Dangerously Delicious special.

Saturday was a little more exciting. Luis and I got coffee and then beer and then met up with his lady friend at an all-you-can-eat vegan Chinese restaurant. I chose this place, so I guess I have no one but myself to blame for the fact that it wasn’t very good. Almost all of their offerings had the oily sauciness of a low-end Chinese place, only with fried tofu products in place of meat. Worst of all, they charge you for what you don’t eat, so we even had to choke down the stuff that wasn’t that good.

Luis’ friend, on the other hand, was a pleasure. For one thing, she was beautiful, half-French and half-Cambodian. A little of Luis’ league IMHO, so well-played my friend. She was also very patient with my stilted French, and the three of us spoke mostly in French for about half an hour. We only switched to English when Luis went to the restroom, I guess because although it was better than my French it was a far cry from Luis’ near-perfect English and she was embarrassed speaking in front of him. It was very good practice for me even though (more likely because) I made a ton of mistakes.

The two of them were headed somewhere afterwards, but I turned in early. I wanted to be well-rested for the Main Event on Sunday…

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 125/250 Blinds 30 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t4500)
BB (t12160)
UTG (t5127)
UTG+1 (t7145)
MP1 (t12320)
MP2 (t5159)
Hero (MP3) (t9635)
CO (t8782)
Button (t16240)

Hero’s M: 14.94

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A, J
4 folds, Hero bets t500, 1 fold, Button raises to t1250, 2 folds, Hero calls t750

Flop: (t3145) 2, 5, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t1250, Hero calls t1250

Turn: (t5645) K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t2250, Hero raises to t7105 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t10145

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, J.
Outcome: Hero won t10145

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t4510)
MP3 (t3987)
CO (t7052)
Button (t7380)
SB (t15716)
BB (t6219)
Hero (UTG) (t9610)
UTG+1 (t5147)
MP1 (t12140)

Hero’s M: 18.30

Preflop: Hero is UTG with J, A
Hero bets t400, 4 folds, CO raises to t855, 3 folds, Hero calls t455

Flop: (t2235) 6, 9, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t1005, Hero raises to t8730 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t4245

Results:
Hero didn’t show J, A.
Outcome: Hero won t4245

I won a big pot early in the $500. It was a horrid river card for me, but fortunately he had about the only hand I could still beat:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds 10 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t9325)
Button (t9548)
Hero (SB) (t12758)
BB (t10183)
UTG (t4825)
UTG+1 (t10546)
MP1 (t9270)
MP2 (t12094)
MP3 (t5692)

Hero’s M: 60.75

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6, 9
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t80, MP1 calls t80, 4 folds, Hero calls t40, BB checks

Flop: (t410) 7, 8, Q (4 players)
Hero bets t400, BB calls t400, 2 folds

Turn: (t1210) 10 (2 players)
Hero bets t1111, BB calls t1111

River: (t3432) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, BB checks

Total pot: t3432

Results:
Hero had 6, 9 (straight, ten high).
BB mucked Q, 7 (two pair, Queens and eights).
Outcome: Hero won t3432

FWIW I think he should fold the turn.

In this next one I played back post-flop at a guy I knew was opening too wide of a range from early position. Too bad he had the hand I was representing. Interesting spot on the river when I get there but can’t value bet because I’ve already repped a stronger hand than I actually have:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds 20 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t11139)
MP2 (t14547)
Hero (CO) (t29929)
Button (t24244)
SB (t26627)
BB (t12150)
UTG (t18863)
UTG+1 (t19420)

Hero’s M: 77.74

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, K
UTG bets t300, 3 folds, Hero calls t300, 3 folds

Flop: (t985) 6, A, 10 (2 players)
UTG bets t505, Hero calls t505

Turn: (t1995) 3 (2 players)
UTG bets t1085, Hero raises to t3333, UTG calls t2248

River: (t8661) J (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Total pot: t8661

Results:
UTG had 4, 5 (flush, Ace high).
Hero mucked Q, K (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: UTG won t8661

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t18968)
UTG+1 (t26004)
Hero (MP1) (t12162)
MP2 (t47189)
MP3 (t39281)
CO (t13163)
Button (t45665)
SB (t17625)
BB (t9615)

Hero’s M: 11.58

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q, A
2 folds, Hero bets t800, MP2 raises to t1713, 5 folds, Hero calls t913

Flop: (t4476) 5, 6, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t1519, Hero raises to t10399 (All-In), MP2 calls t8880

Turn: (t25274) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t25274) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t25274

Results:
Hero had Q, A (two pair, Queens and sixes).
MP2 had K, K (two pair, Kings and sixes).
Outcome: MP2 won t25274

Like I said, spazzed out pretty badly on that last one.

First up was the PLO8. I got a stack gifted to me almost immediately:

PokerStars Omaha Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t4606)
MP2 (t4319)
Hero (CO) (t4540)
Button (t4697)
SB (t7821)
BB (t3708)
UTG (t4310)
UTG+1 (t4599)

Hero’s M: 100.89

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9, A, 10, 5
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t30, MP1 calls t30, 1 fold, Hero calls t30, Button calls t30, SB calls t15, BB checks

Flop: (t180) 8, J, 7 (6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets t180, Button calls t180, 4 folds

Turn: (t540) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t540, Button calls t540

River: (t1620) A (2 players)
Hero bets t1620, Button raises to t3947 (All-In), Hero calls t2170 (All-In)

Total pot: t9200

Results:
Button had 3, J, J, 3 (three of a kind, Jacks).
Hero had 9, A, 10, 5 (straight, Jack high).
Outcome: Hero won t9200

Slowplaying isn’t often correct in this game since a single card can dramatically decrease your equity in almost any given situation, but here it’s hard for Villain to have much, so I’d like to underrepresent my hand. Once a low draw appears on the turn it’s time to start betting, even though I have the nut low draw. I like potting the river because it’s possible (though unlikely) for better lows to fold and worse highs to call, and in any even I’m guaranteed at least half the pot:

PokerStars Omaha Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t4319)
BB (t3455)
Hero (UTG) (t9334)
UTG+1 (t5174)
MP1 (t5224)
MP2 (t5142)
MP3 (t6021)
CO (t7828)
Button (t3260)

Hero’s M: 103.71

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 2, 6, A, 3
Hero calls t60, UTG+1 calls t60, 3 folds, CO calls t60, Button calls t60, SB calls t30, BB checks

Flop: (t360) K, 7, J (6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, CO checks, Button bets t300, 2 folds, Hero calls t300, 2 folds

Turn: (t960) A (2 players)
Hero bets t666, Button calls t666

River: (t2292) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t2292, 1 fold

Total pot: t2292

Results:
Hero didn’t show 2, 6, A, 3 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t2292

I got off to a great start, then got blinded down for a while and ended up playing too big of a pot with too marginal of a hand. In my defense, though, this player was extremely aggressive on his button, so it was unlucky for me to run into a hand that had me so smashed:

PokerStars Omaha Tournament, 125/250 Blinds (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t9022)
SB (t8725)
Hero (BB) (t12020)
UTG (t19654)
UTG+1 (t30877)
MP1 (t10834)
MP2 (t10662)
CO (t22702)

Hero’s M: 32.05

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8, 9, 4, A
4 folds, CO bets t500, 2 folds, Hero calls t250

Flop: (t1125) 2, 9, A (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t750, Hero raises to t3375, CO raises to t11250, Hero raises to t11520 (All-In), CO calls t270

Turn: (t24165) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t24165) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t24165

Results:
Hero had 8, 9, 4, A (two pair, Aces and nines).
CO had 9, 4, 3, A (straight, five high).
Outcome: CO won t24165

These hands from the 1R1A highlight some of the changes I talked about making to my game after a poor performance on Sunday. Here’s a big laydown that I’m still pretty happy with:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds 20 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t3877)
MP2 (t21924)
MP3 (t4825)
CO (t7510)
Hero (Button) (t14490)
SB (t26039)
BB (t13930)
UTG (t11442)
UTG+1 (t14810)

Hero’s M: 35.78

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, K
4 folds, MP3 calls t150, 1 fold, Hero bets t450, 2 folds, MP3 calls t300

Flop: (t1305) J, 9, 9 (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t1305) 9 (2 players)
MP3 bets t300, Hero calls t300

River: (t1905) 5 (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets t1350, MP3 raises to t4055 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: t4605

Results:
MP3 didn’t show
Outcome: MP3 won t4605

This one, on the other hand, now looks like a mistake to me. I was planning to make fewer “representational” bluffs where I’m relying on some hand reading from my opponent to get a fold, but this is still probably worth a bet:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 150/300 Blinds 40 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t13149)
MP1 (t33184)
Hero (MP2) (t12122)
MP3 (t28282)
CO (t13986)
Button (t8237)
SB (t26467)
BB (t14761)
UTG (t22179)

Hero’s M: 14.97

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 10, K
UTG calls t300, 2 folds, Hero bets t900, 4 folds, BB calls t600, UTG calls t600

Flop: (t3210) 6, Q, A (3 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets t1467, 1 fold, UTG calls t1467

Turn: (t6144) 2 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: (t6144) 8 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

Total pot: t6144

Results:
UTG had Q, K (one pair, Queens).
Hero mucked 10, K (high card, Ace).
Outcome: UTG won t6144

If I told you any more about this tournament or the Big Ante, I’d just be whining about coolers, so I’ll spare you and stop here

The day started nicely enough. It was overcast again, but not raining, so I repeated my Sunday morning ritual of taking coffee, pastry, and Kindle to the nearby park. Once again, a swarm of squirrels cut short my entertainment.

The first WCOOP tournament started at 11, but I wanted to be fresh for the $2K, so I waited until the last minute to late register. That didn’t give me too many big blinds to work with. I managed to get AKo all-in preflop against T9s for 22 BBs, but it didn’t hold up.

None of the other Sunday tournaments I played was going too well either, due to some combination of bad luck and poor play. I lasted a couple hours in the $2K without doing terribly much. It was a tough table, though probably not beyond the pale for a $2K, and the guy on my left was 3-betting me a lot. Finally I lost my cool and shipped a few too many BBs with TT into his QQ.

I managed a min-cash in the Sunday $500, but otherwise the day was a complete whiff. For the first time all series I was not just disappointed but upset about how the day had gone. I decided I needed to make a few changes to how I’d been playing, in particular the way I dealt with 3- and 4-bets.

It seems to me that light 3- and 4-betting, which has been rampant in even small stakes cash games for years now, has finally become widespread among tournament players. Of course the best players have been doing it for a while, but weaker players tended either not to do it or to do it badly. For the first time I was seeing hundreds of players I didn’t recognize 3-betting a wide variety of hands in decent spots with decent sizing. I’m not saying they were getting it perfectly right, but it was enough to render worse than useless my default assumptions about how to play against unknowns in a large-field MTT.

I also decided that I needed a day off, and I intended to take one on Monday, but the weather was lousy and I was eager to try out some of the adaptations I’d been thinking about the previous night, so I ended up playing after all. As I’ve already reported here, that turned out pretty well.

I wish I had a specific example of this to give – perhaps the hand below will serve – but I got the distinct impression during our match that Liv was capable of playing extremely well but had for some reason decided to treat me as an unsophisticated opponent. That worked out OK for me. One of the more interesting hands we played is serving as this week’s “What’s Your Play?”. Here’s the one that finished the match:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t3148)
Hero (BB) (t11852)

Hero’s M: 131.69

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8, 9
SB bets t138, Hero calls t78

Flop: (t276) 7, 3, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t151, Hero raises to t444, SB calls t293

Turn: (t1164) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

River: (t1164) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets t1164, SB raises to t2566 (All-In), Hero calls t1402

Total pot: t6296

Results:
SB had 10, A (straight, seven high).
Hero had 8, 9 (straight, nine high).
Outcome: Hero won t6296

I guess she thought I wouldn’t have potted it with a hand that could beat the board? I considered just shoving the river, which is something I’d often do as a bluff, but I figured I might as well give her room to do something like this, especially since she’d probably jam it in herself if she had an 8.

Round 2: Ben “NeverScaredB” Wilinofsky 

Ben was a harrowing but entertaining opponent. We’ve never met in person but have spoken online a few times and there’s mutual respect between us. He took some really creative lines that forced me to rise to the occasion and think hard about everything I did, even in seemingly trivial spots. It was tough trying to stay one step ahead of him, and each of us got the best of the other in a few big pots.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t9757)

BB (t5243)

Hero’s M: 108.41

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5, K

Hero bets t120, BB calls t60

Flop: (t240) 3, 2, 7 (2 players)

BB checks, Hero bets t120, BB calls t120

Turn: (t480) 10 (2 players)

BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t480) K (2 players)

BB checks, Hero bets t333, BB raises to t1425, Hero calls t1092

Total pot: t3330

Results:

Hero mucked 5, K (one pair, Kings).

BB had J, K (one pair, Kings).

Outcome: BB won t3330

Bad call by me. I decided I had to call because a pair of Ks is the top of my range after checking the turn, but as we see here that also means that he can make some thin value bets. Think I need a better kicker to call.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t7265)

SB (t7735)

Hero’s M: 60.54

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, J

SB bets t200, Hero calls t120

Flop: (t400) 4, 9, 5 (2 players)

Hero checks, SB bets t240, Hero raises to t666, SB calls t426

Turn: (t1732) 8 (2 players)

Hero bets t888, SB calls t888

River: (t3508) 7 (2 players)

Hero bets t1666, 1 fold

Total pot: t3508

Results:

Hero didn’t show Q, J (nothing).

Outcome: Hero won t3508

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t7405)
SB (t7595)

Hero’s M: 61.71

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4, 4
SB bets t200, Hero calls t120

Flop: (t400) 3, 10, 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

Turn: (t400) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t280, Hero raises to t666, SB raises to t1555, Hero calls t889

River: (t3510) K (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks

Total pot: t3510

Results:
SB mucked 2, 7 (high card, King).
Hero had 4, 4 (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero won t3510

Round 3: Should’ve Been Easier

This guy was by far the weakest of my opponents, and it took me by far the longest to finish him off. That was partly a choice on my part – I felt my edge was large so I played an extremely small-ball game – and partly a function of his style. He was passive and tightish, though he made some good decisions about when not to let go of relatively weak hands. Though he never got up sufficient aggression, he also did a good job of adapting to my adaptations over the course of our three-hour match. Generally I would win a bunch of small pots, lose some medium-sized ones, and we just didn’t play that many big ones. The first one we did play went badly for me:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t8248)
SB (t6752)

Hero’s M: 109.97

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, K
SB bets t100, Hero raises to t350, SB calls t250

Flop: (t700) K, 6, J (2 players)
Hero bets t350, SB calls t350

Turn: (t1400) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets t1000, SB calls t1000

River: (t3400) 3 (2 players)
Hero bets t2222, SB raises to t5052 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: t7844

Results:
SB didn’t show
Outcome: SB won t7844

Yes, it’s an unlikely backdoor draw, and it was early in the match, but after playing with this guy for as long as I did, I remain confident that I was beat here.

After that it was back to the same MO: win a bunch of small pots, lose a bigger one. Eventually I got it in with 99 vs his AKo preflop and won the flip to get back in the game. Then I won another big one with 99:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 125/250 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t5928)
BB (t9072)

Hero’s M: 15.81

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 9
Hero bets t500, BB calls t250

Flop: (t1000) 9, 10, 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t500, BB calls t500

Turn: (t2000) K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1234, BB calls t1234

River: (t4468) K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t3694 (All-In), BB calls t3694

Total pot: t11856

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (full house, nines over Kings).
BB had A, A (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Outcome: Hero won t11856

I ground him down some more, then got it in with A4o to his A8o for his last 8 BBs and doubled him up. Finally he jammed A2o over my min-raise with TT and I held to eliminate him.

Round 4: Eugene Katchalov

Since we were the last to finish, my next round started immediately, and I was not pleased to see Eugene Katchalov seated across from me. My game plan against him was completely different. Now I wanted to swing for the fences and force lots of big pots, since I didn’t have any delusions of outplaying him in the small ones. My range for calling a pre-flop min-raise in Round 3 was dramatically from my range in Round 4, partly because I was 3-betting more often but mostly because I was throwing a lot of hands to Eugene that would have turned from out of position against my previous opponent. It didn’t help that I took a sizeable loss on the very first hand we played:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t7500)
Hero (SB) (t7500)

Hero’s M: 100.00

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, 10
Hero bets t100, BB raises to t300, Hero raises to t750, BB calls t450

Flop: (t1500) J, 3, 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t666, BB calls t666

Turn: (t2832) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t2832) 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: t2832

Results:
Hero mucked 10, 10 (two pair, tens and threes).
BB had J, A (two pair, Jacks and threes).
Outcome: BB won t2832

I held my own and even managed to claw some chips back from him, though they were hard fought. I managed to get it all in good, but it was more or less a cooler really, and I couldn’t hold:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t7976)
Hero (BB) (t7024)

Hero’s M: 58.53

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, J
SB bets t160, Hero raises to t555, SB calls t395

Flop: (t1110) K, 2, J (2 players)
Hero bets t666, SB raises to t1760, Hero raises to t6469 (All-In), SB calls t4709

Turn: (t14048) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t14048) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t14048

Results:
SB had 8, A (flush, Ace high).
Hero had J, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
Outcome: SB won t14048

This was one of my more painful losses of the series, as it came on the bubble and I’d fought long and hard in a lot of tough matches to get there.

The only WCOOP that I played on Friday was the $200 Rebuy NLHE. I was in for the “minimum”, but that was the only bit of good news. Actually it got off to a really good start, with me winning two big pots with big hands in the first couple of orbits:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds 5 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t10840)
Button (t9970)
Hero (SB) (t4945)
BB (t4270)
UTG (t4995)
UTG+1 (t4995)
MP1 (t4995)
MP2 (t4995)
MP3 (t4995)

Hero’s M: 41.21

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, K
3 folds, MP2 bets t100, MP3 raises to t250, 2 folds, Hero calls t225, 1 fold, MP2 calls t150

Flop: (t845) 3, A, K (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks, MP3 bets t300, Hero calls t300, MP2 calls t300

Turn: (t1745) K (3 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks, MP3 checks

River: (t1745) 8 (3 players)
Hero bets t690, MP2 raises to t4440 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls t3700 (All-In)

Total pot: t10525

Results:
Hero had A, K (full house, Kings over Aces).
MP2 had K, Q (three of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won t10525

Note that a flush also came in on the river, so for Villain to jam bare trips into me is an absolute gift.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds 5 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t14758)
BB (t9940)
Hero (UTG) (t15500)
UTG+1 (t4995)
MP1 (t5902)
MP2 (t9900)
MP3 (t4890)
CO (t10025)
Button (t4315)

Hero’s M: 129.17

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, K
Hero calls t50, 1 fold, MP1 bets t350, 6 folds, Hero calls t300

Flop: (t820) 8, 9, K (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks

Turn: (t820) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets t444, MP1 raises to t1300, Hero calls t856

River: (t3420) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets t2255, Hero raises to t4510, 1 fold

Total pot: t7930

Results:
Hero didn’t show K, K (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t7930

I turned around and bluffed off a lot of those chips trying to get a very good player to lay down an overpair:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 30/60 Blinds 5 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t15498)
MP1 (t9170)
Hero (MP2) (t19876)
CO (t7666)
Button (t4700)
SB (t4453)
BB (t9590)
UTG (t4167)

Hero’s M: 152.89

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 8, 8
UTG bets t180, 2 folds, Hero calls t180, 3 folds, BB raises to t475, 1 fold, Hero calls t295

Flop: (t1200) J, Q, 7 (2 players)
BB bets t660, Hero raises to t1666, BB calls t1006

Turn: (t4532) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1280, BB calls t1280

River: (t7092) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t4000, BB calls t4000

Total pot: t15092

Results:
BB had A, A (two pair, Aces and sevens).
Hero had 8, 8 (two pair, eights and sevens).
Outcome: BB won t15092

It’s not a river call I would have made, but he’s a better player than I am, so I won’t say that he was wrong to make it. In any event I recouped a good 80% of what I lost on that hand when the same Villain called me down light in a similar spot:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds 10 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t16855)
MP3 (t9985)
Hero (CO) (t11755)
Button (t3237)
BB (t3795)
UTG (t5518)
UTG+1 (t15162)
MP1 (t8163)

Hero’s M: 58.77

Preflop: Hero is CO with 5, A
UTG+1 bets t200, 2 folds, MP3 calls t200, Hero calls t200, Button calls t200, BB calls t160, 1 fold

Flop: (t1160) 5, 2, 10 (5 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 bets t490, 1 fold, Hero calls t490, 2 folds

Turn: (t2140) 8 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets t1222, UTG+1 calls t1222

River: (t4584) A (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets t3333, UTG+1 calls t3333

Total pot: t11250

Results:
UTG+1 mucked K, A (one pair, Aces).
Hero had 5, A (two pair, Aces and fives).
Outcome: Hero won t11250

I came out of the rebuy period with plenty of chips but ran KK in the SB into AA on the Button for about 65 BBs to make an early departure from the tournament.

The sky threatened rain, so I didn’t plan to do too much with my free afternoon. I grabbed an umbrella and walked a few blocks to a dépanneur that, according to Beeradvocate, offered one of the city’s best selections of local microbrews .

A dépanneur is a convenience store, but most double as liquor stores because until the 1990s they were the only non-government entities permitted to sell alcohol in Quebec. Although you can now buy beer and wine in grocery stores, it seems the best selection is still to be found in the dépanneur, and I had the good luck to live walking distance from one of the very best.

The front room looked like a low-end convenience store, with tightly packed and poorly maintained shelves of overpriced junk food. The back room looked like an upscale wine shop, except that they sold almost exclusively beer. They had literally hundreds of varieties, organized by type, available for individual purchase, and in many cases accompanied by a ranking and/or review clipped from assorted cerevisial publications.  So in one row you’d find all of the stouts, in another all of the wheat beers, etc. This was ideal for my purposes, since I could buy just one of each beer I wanted to try rather than an entire 6-pack.

I’d already done some research, so I beelined for the IPAs. Of the five I wanted to try, I found three. One was sold out, and amazingly there was one they simply didn’t carry. I say “amazingly” because it was hard to imagine them not having a given Quebecois beer, that’s how vast their selection was. I picked out one cold beer for immediate consumption  just based on its packaging and made my way to the cashier in the sensorily dissonant front of the store, where I waited in line between two twitching Charles Manson look-alikes pooling change from their pockets to pay for a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke.

My table was great, one of the softest I had in the series, but unfortunately they were running great as well.

I’m still not sure about this one. I think there’s a fair chance I can win it here and also be in fine shape if I get it in against the original raiser. The guy who ends up raising the flop, however, has taken an extremely strong line.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP (t5020)
Hero (CO) (t4708)
Button (t4707)
SB (t4980)
BB (t5090)
UTG (t5592)

Hero’s M: 156.93

Preflop: Hero is CO with J, Q
1 fold, MP bets t40, Hero calls t40, 1 fold, SB raises to t120, 1 fold, MP calls t80, Hero calls t80

Flop: (t380) 10, 5, J (3 players)
SB bets t180, MP calls t180, Hero raises to t588, SB calls t408, MP raises to t1620, Hero folds, 1 fold

Total pot: t2144

Results:
MP didn’t show
Outcome: MP won t2144

I think his range is mostly sets, and assuming he bets non-club turns, I don’t have the right odds to draw against that. Then again that’s an awfully narrow range to put him on, particularly given that he didn’t 3-bet pre-flop, and if we start adding nut flush draws into his range, my equity improves considerably.

Of course it sucks to raise-fold this hand, but that wasn’t my plan when I raised. I just ended up going that way because MP gave me the willies.

My next big loss was with AK in a four-bet pot:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t4618)
Hero (UTG) (t3020)
MP (t4603)
CO (t5883)
Button (t4810)
SB (t5827)

Hero’s M: 40.27

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, A
Hero bets t100, 1 fold, CO raises to t150, 1 fold, SB calls t125, 1 fold, Hero raises to t555, CO calls t405, 1 fold

Flop: (t1310) 6, 10, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: (t1310) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: (t1310) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t450, Hero calls t450

Total pot: t2210

Results:
Hero mucked K, A (high card, Ace).
CO had K, 10 (one pair, tens).
Outcome: CO won t2210

River should probably be a fold, but it’s a good value bet by him.

I recovered from that hand, then ran into QQ into KK, recovered a bit from that, and then went broke with JTs. The 3-better in this hand is the same guy who min-3-bet with KTs (he also showed something really junky like 86o in an even worse spot than this), so I wasn’t giving a lot of credit to his 3-bet:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t3133)
Hero (MP) (t2501)
CO (t2257)
Button (t11039)
SB (t5044)
BB (t7534)

Hero’s M: 11.91

Preflop: Hero is MP with 10, J
1 fold, Hero bets t200, 1 fold, Button raises to t300, 1 fold, BB calls t200, Hero raises to t2491 (All-In), Button raises to t4682, 1 fold

Flop: (t5392) 2, 2, Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t5392) 2 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t5392) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t5392

Results:
Button had A, K (three of a kind, twos).
Hero had 10, J (three of a kind, twos).
Outcome: Button won t5392

On the bright side, I wrapped up this tournament in time to make a special, 90-minute tour of the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montreal offered only twice a week and only during September. The guide was a charming Quebecois about my age who clearly had a deep love for the basilica, which made him a great tour guide for myself and the ten or so old ladies on the tour with me. He spoke a highly understandable but also very unique version of the English language, best exemplified by his promise to, “Say you more of my explainings later.”

The basilica itself is a huge and beautiful building. Its interior makes heavy use of the color blue, which caused it to feel quite different from other churches and cathedrals I’ve visited. This special tour included access to the balconies, ordinarily closed to visitors, giving us the opportunity to look down on the space from above, which was pretty cool.

That evening, I had dinner with someone that regular blog readers and especially commenters ought to recognize: Luisinho! Based on his name, I’d always assumed he lived in either Portugal or Brazil, but apparently he’s French-Portuguese and moved from France to Montreal a few years ago. The city actually has a vibrant Portuguese quarter with which he was a familiar, and we shared a fine meal there, complete with vinho verde, a Portuguese specialty that is not literally green wine but rather “young” wine that has not aged and has a light and refreshing flavor. I’m not much of a wine drinker, but when I do, I prefer whites, and vinho verde was basically a distillation of everything I like about white wine.

I came out of the gate fast, stealing the blinds by raising A6o UTG on the very first hand (we were 7-handed). My next move was 3-bet-calling AJs against an UTG raiser who had a little over 20 BBs. That wouldn’t always be a wise play but I knew this guy to be a very aggressive opener. Speaking of unwise moves, he showed 44 and won the flip.

My next big loss came on a failed bluff:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 6000/12000 Blinds 1500 Ante (7 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t410485)
UTG (t342780)
MP1 (t794249)
Hero (MP2) (t834706)
CO (t1318796)
Button (t403370)
SB (t576610)

Hero’s M: 29.29

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K, Q
2 folds, Hero bets t24000, CO raises to t53328, 3 folds, Hero calls t29328

Flop: (t135156) 5, 9, 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t55722, Hero raises to t123456, CO calls t67734

Turn: (t382068) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: (t382068) J (2 players)
Hero bets t234567, CO calls t234567

Total pot: t851202

Results:
Hero had K, Q (high card, King).
CO had A, 9 (one pair, nines).
Outcome: CO won t851202

Of course this is no good if he won’t fold A9, but based on the info that I had at the time, I don’t regret making the play. It’s possible that he puts me on a straight or air here, which is very incorrect. This would be an easy value bet for me with any two pair or better, though sets and straights are also very much in range.Obviously it’s not a very large bet, but my hope was that so deep in the tournament it would still feel very threatening to him. Probably would have worked better if he’d had a shorter and more vulnerable stack.

I stole the blinds a few more times, won a modest pot picking off a river bluff, and then raised KQo and called a 14BB shove to outflip 44. The guy was none too happy with my call, but with the image that I had, I expected people to shove light on me. I’m pretty confident KJ and KT are in his range, not to mention hands like pairs and AJ/AT against which I’m practically flipping and occasional “pretty” hands like T9s.

Small ball was going well for me, and I was getting a lot of chips just by min-raising pre and either taking pots pre-flop or going to showdown cheaply with a marginal hand.

The next big confrontation was against an extremely good player on my right. I don’t believe I’d ever played with him prior to Day 1 of this tournament, and probably a lot of his play is on Euro sites, but he had some high stakes cash experience on Stars, including 4-tabling 25/50 NLHE against Isildur. I wasn’t thrilled to get into a confrontation with him, but my cards were simply too good to play any other way:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 7000/14000 Blinds 1750 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t373735)
MP1 (t251530)
MP2 (t868039)
MP3 (t1190468)
Hero (CO) (t1068045)
Button (t1489718)
UTG (t629929)

Hero’s M: 32.12

Preflop: Hero is CO with J, A
2 folds, MP3 bets t28000, Hero raises to t66666, 3 folds, MP3 raises to t135232, Hero calls t68566

Flop: (t303714) 5, 3, 9 (2 players)
MP3 bets t123455, Hero calls t123455

Turn: (t550624) 6 (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets t166666, 1 fold

Total pot: t550624

Results:
Hero didn’t show J, A.
Outcome: Hero won t550624

This hand started to build a dynamic between us that led to my making a mistake down the road. This hand, about an orbit later, furthered that dynamic:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 7000/14000 Blinds 1750 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t374610)
MP2 (t252405)
MP3 (t836539)
CO (t900281)
Hero (Button) (t1349272)
SB (t1501968)
BB (t924652)
UTG (t462450)
UTG+1 (t730689)

Hero’s M: 36.71

Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, 3
5 folds, CO bets t28000, Hero raises to t66666, 2 folds, CO calls t38666

Flop: (t170082) 2, 6, Q (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets t66666, CO calls t66666

Turn: (t303414) Q (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks

River: (t303414) 3 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets t225000, 1 fold

Total pot: t303414

Results:
Hero didn’t show 3, 3 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t303414

So here’s that mistake. At this point I’m second in chips with I think 16 people remaining:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 8000/16000 Blinds 2000 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t296860)
Button (t1075760)
SB (t690310)
Hero (BB) (t1489604)
UTG (t1591991)
UTG+1 (t1054702)
MP1 (t456700)
MP2 (t676939)

Hero’s M: 37.24

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, 9
6 folds, SB bets t34566, Hero raises to t77777, SB raises to t156789, Hero raises to t1487604 (All-In), SB calls t531521 (All-In)

Flop: (t1392620) 3, 2, 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t1392620) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t1392620) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t1392620

Results:
SB had J, A (high card, Ace).
Hero had A, 9 (high card, Ace).
Outcome: SB won t1392620

It’s not easy to be dealt a hand better than A9. This wasn’t an “open fold my SB” sorta guy, so his opening range is quite wide. Still, given how much I’d been playing back at him, it might have been a little tighter than usual. More importantly, at this stage of the tournament, he’s probably not going to 4-bet in a spot like this (which is quite different from the AJ spot) into an aggressive chipleader all that often. I can easily jam, I can easily take a flop in position, and he just shouldn’t invite that kind of confrontation right now. He’s getting good odds himself, and he surely has a lot of confidence in his postflop play, so a lot of hands that he could consider 4-betting he’ll more likely just call.

It’s hard to say what I should do differently – maybe fold to the 4-bet despite the good odds. Just calling the original raise is OK, but A9 isn’t a hand that plays all that well postflop against a good player with a wide range. It’s just too risky to get so many chips into the pot pre-flop with A9 even in a blind battle. If he has something like 550K chips, I’d feel better writing this off as a cooler.

This wasn’t the end of the tournament for me by any means. I believe I shook it off and plugged away quite valiantly, continuing to fight for pots and pick up chips with controlled aggression. I made some big hands that I was hoping would win a little more than they did given my image, but I was doing well for myself.

This was a tough laydown that I’m still not sure was correct. My timebank was quite low and I didn’t want to burn the last of it, especially since I’ve recently used that extra time to talk myself into some bad calls.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 10000/20000 Blinds 2500 Ante (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t918238)
UTG (t1786690)
Hero (MP) (t1097032)
CO (t1673357)
Button (t1049957)
SB (t1728330)

Hero’s M: 24.38

Preflop: Hero is MP with 8, 8
1 fold, Hero bets t40000, 3 folds, BB calls t20000

Flop: (t105000) Q, 6, 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t33333, BB calls t33333

Turn: (t171666) Q (2 players)
BB bets t57850, Hero calls t57850

River: (t287366) 2 (2 players)
BB bets t219150, Hero folds

Total pot: t287366

Results:
BB didn’t show
Outcome: BB won t287366

I lost a smallish pot to the AJ guy when I flopped middle pair and he turned a flush. I probably wasn’t putting more money in anyway, but it was nice of him to check it to me twice. The next hand I won a better pot from him anyway:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 12500/25000 Blinds 3125 Ante (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t2008887)
SB (t1745975)
Hero (BB) (t839044)
UTG (t1602357)
MP (t1225707)
CO (t831634)

Hero’s M: 14.92

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, J
4 folds, SB bets t57777, Hero calls t32777

Flop: (t134304) 9, 6, K (2 players)
SB bets t58125, Hero calls t58125

Turn: (t250554) 5 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (t250554) J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t88888, SB calls t88888

Total pot: t428330

Results:
SB mucked A, 9 (one pair, nines).
Hero had 10, J (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won t428330

Arguably I should even bet a little more on the river. Real happy with turn check, though. It’s not the way I would ordinarily play the hand, but my spidey sense was tingling.

Fittingly the same player eliminated me in 10th place. At least I won’t lose sleep over that one:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 15000/30000 Blinds 3750 Ante (5 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t1577751)
SB (t1546199)
Hero (BB) (t885900)
UTG (t1080366)
MP (t616984)

Hero’s M: 13.90

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, J
3 folds, SB bets t65000, Hero calls t35000

Flop: (t148750) J, A, 9 (2 players)
SB bets t68500, Hero raises to t166666, SB raises to t1477449 (All-In), Hero calls t650484 (All-In)

Turn: (t1783050) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t1783050) 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t1783050

Results:
SB had 9, 7 (flush, Ace high).
Hero had 9, J (two pair, Jacks and nines).
Outcome: SB won t1783050

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 5/5 Blinds 30 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t4110)
MP2 (t3122)
CO (t5294)
Button (t7168)
SB (t1982)
BB (t4949)
UTG (t6636)
Hero (UTG+1) (t8508)

Hero’s M: 34.03

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 10, 10
UTG bets t111, Hero raises to t333, 5 folds, BB calls t328, UTG calls t222

Flop: (t1244) 10, J, K (3 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets t666, BB raises to t1400, 1 fold, Hero calls t734

Turn: (t4044) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t4044) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: t4044

Results:
BB had J, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
Hero mucked 10, 10 (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: BB won t4044

I was sorely tempted to turn my hand into a bluff on the turn, which just goes to show that I ought to have folded the flop. His range for cold-calling a 3-bet can’t be that wide, and I seriously doubt he check-raises AK/AA/QQ on this board even if he has them pre-flop.

This next one I think counts as getting rivered even though I was a huge equity dog all the way. I was sure the guy was on a flush draw, so I’m just betting that he either folds it before the river (unlikely) or misses it (likely). The problem, as we see here, is that he can also make a pair. I tried to size my river bet large enough that he might fold a hand like the one he has, but that may have  been a mistake. Possibly a very small bet is best just to get him to fold complete whiffs for very little risk:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 5/5 Blinds 30 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t4235)
BB (t3002)
UTG (t5879)
UTG+1 (t4940)
MP1 (t7048)
MP2 (t1857)
MP3 (t7135)
CO (t6033)
Hero (Button) (t6640)

Hero’s M: 23.71

Preflop: Hero is Button with 6, 2
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t5, 2 folds, MP3 calls t5, 1 fold, Hero calls t5, SB checks, BB checks

Flop: (t295) 3, 5, K (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP3 bets t50, Hero raises to t333, 3 folds, MP3 calls t283

Turn: (t961) 8 (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets t666, MP3 calls t666

River: (t2293) 10 (2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets t888, MP3 calls t888

Total pot: t4069

Results:
Hero had 6, 2 (high card, King).
MP3 had 10, A (one pair, tens).
Outcome: MP3 won t4069

I managed to get the last of my chips in with top pair, top kicker against a bare flush draw, but he got there and ended the tournament for me.

I also played the $500 NLHE Shoot-Out. I was the shortest of the final four players, and the best of my opponents had more chips than the other three of us put together. I managed to hang in there though and eventually the chipleader was out in third and I went to heads up with the lead against one of the other guys.

I came out of the gate aggressive, lost a few small pots and then a somewhat larger one:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 150/300 Blinds 35 Ante (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t26200)
Hero (SB) (t26300)

Hero’s M: 50.58

Preflop: Hero is SB with 3, 4
Hero bets t600, BB calls t300

Flop: (t1270) 10, J, J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t1270) 3 (2 players)
BB bets t615, Hero raises to t1800, BB raises to t3875, Hero calls t2075

River: (t9020) K (2 players)
BB bets t6000, Hero folds

Total pot: t9020

Results:
BB didn’t show
Outcome: BB won t9020

Despite that, I felt like I had a pretty big edge in the match, and we were so deep that there was plenty of time for that to manifest itself. Which means it was probably a bit of a mistake for me to 4-bet call it off with TT pre-flop for 80 BBs. I was generally trying to avoid big pre-flop pots, which meant that I hadn’t done any 4-betting yet and he probably wouldn’t be 5-bet jamming all that light (though he was certainly 3-betting light). It still can’t be that bad to get it in with TT pre-flop, but I think calling the 3-bet to play a little more smallball would have been better. He had QQ and that was that.

After scoring a delicious St-Viateur bagel, I headed over to a coffee shop called Le Lapin Pressé. This means “The Hurried Rabit”, which I thought was probably an Alice in Wonderland reference, though there was no evidence of this inside. What they did have inside were some of the highest-quality coffee beans I’ve tasted.

A good cup of coffee (or two) is one of the few luxuries I permit myself on a daily basis. I buy high-quality beans, grind them myself when I’m in a place where I can do that,  and make my coffee in a french press. I have one that’s built into the lid of a travel mug, so that goes with me pretty much anywhere I go. I probably pay about 100x more per cup than I would if I drank the cheapest coffee I could find, but since we’re only talking coffee, that’s still cost of perhaps a couple hundred dollars per year which I consider money very well spent.

Partially because I already had good beans that I didn’t want to go to waste and partially because I wasn’t sure what I’d be able to find in Montreal, I brought about half a pound with me, but that wasn’t going to last much more than a week. When I started doing my research, though, I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of well-regarded microroasters and coffee shops in Montreal. I’ll probably have cause to try another before I leave, but I was quite pleased with what I got from Lapin. It comes from a microroaster called Saint Henri, and it looks like they actually sell their stuff online, if you’re so inclined….

I was also pleased to be a bit more comfortable getting around the city by bike. It’s actually quite easy if you know the cardinal directions you want to go and the nearest bike path. If you need to go north and east, you just start following the path east, and eventually it will intersect with a north-south path. Until you get very near your destination, there’s no need to ride in traffic or guess about which roads are best for riding.

A few hours later I was home with my new victuals and ready to start grinding. There was nothing too remarkable from the 1K really. Here are the two most notable hands:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1050 Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t7425)
Hero (UTG+1) (t5969)
MP1 (t7400)
MP2 (t7470)
MP3 (t7927)
CO (t7728)
Button (t7285)
SB (t6780)
BB (t8261)

Hero’s M: 132.64

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with J, K
1 fold, Hero bets t90, 3 folds, CO calls t90, 2 folds, BB calls t60

Flop: (t285) K, A, 4 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: (t285) Q (3 players)
BB bets t120, Hero raises to t420, 2 folds

Total pot: t525

Results:
Hero didn’t show J, K.
Outcome: Hero won t525

Villain may be drawing, in which case I want to draw him, but I also think that bombing blank rivers will get him off of many Aces.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1050 Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 60 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t16023)
BB (t30871)
UTG (t49675)
UTG+1 (t27647)
MP1 (t32325)
MP2 (t14812)
Hero (CO) (t17634)
Button (t14461)

Hero’s M: 14.34

Preflop: Hero is CO with 2, A
4 folds, Hero bets t1000, 2 folds, BB calls t500

Flop: (t2730) 9, 2, A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1234, BB calls t1234

Turn: (t5198) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t3333, BB raises to t6666, Hero raises to t15340 (All-In), BB calls t8674

River: (t35878) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t35878

Results:
BB had A, 7 (two pair, Aces and sevens).
Hero had 2, A (two pair, Aces and twos).
Outcome: BB won t35878

I really like to avoid chalking stuff like this up to a cooler. Villain was a pretty big calling station, so it was alarming when he min-check-raised the turn. My hope was that he could play 97 or 72 this way, but if at all (I did expect a quite range for calling from his BB) he probably only plays those suited. A7 and even 77, on the other hand…. I don’t know, I think this is probably foldable.

Though it was nearly 8:00, the city was still and fresh, just waking up. The only other people walking the streets of my neighborhood were solitary men well over twice my age.

And the cats. I had seen a few on the streets around here, including one scrawny, patchy-furred beast that was a perfect caricature of an alley cat, but I had no idea there were so many. I must have seen twenty in ten minutes, poking their heads out from under cars or scurrying into gardens.

There’s a bakery around the corner I’ve been meaning to try, and this seems the perfect opportunity. Finally I see someone other than old men on the street. A couple with a young daughter enter the bakery just ahead of me. I buy a croissant and follow them to the park.

Saturday’s storm must have intensified after I went to bed, because branches and tree limbs scatter the ground. My intention is to find a bench where I can read and enjoy my breakfast, and I do, but soon the squirrels find me.

A child of the mid-Atlantic, I’m no stranger to squirrels. It was clear that these rodents were used to being fed, but I figured that if I didn’t offer them anything, they’d keep their distance. Wrong. They hopped up on the bench and inched closer, barely flinching when I stomped the ground in an attempt to scare them off. I’m convinced that they would have climbed right into my lap if I didn’t move.

So now I’m wandering through the park like the Pied Piper, with a dozen squirrels creeping a few feet behind me. They didn’t leave me alone until I finished eating and threw away my garbage. Finally I got to sit in peace and read.

Friday and Saturday were supposed to be light poker days, but with Friday’s deep run and Saturday’s WCOOP special (ie playing for 8 hours to win a pittance), they were anything but. Not wanting my Sunday to drag on longer than necessary, I waited until the last minute to late register the first NLHE event of the day. Three orbits later I’d lost AKo < to AJs and 66 < 88 and that was that.

The $700 was a little more interesting. The guy on my left was a bit of a lunatic, and I found what I think was a pretty good spot against him, though it ended badly for me:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t14833)
UTG+1 (t15543)
MP1 (t5280)
MP2 (t4798)
MP3 (t11924)
CO (t5565)
Button (t9500)
Hero (SB) (t9665)
BB (t4416)

Hero’s M: 80.54

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 4
7 folds, Hero bets t320, BB calls t240

Flop: (t640) 10, 10, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets t369, BB raises to t1058, Hero calls t689

Turn: (t2756) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t2756, Hero raises to t5512, BB calls t282 (All-In)

River: (t8832) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t8832

Results:
Hero had A, 4 (three of a kind, tens).
BB had 9, K (full house, tens over Kings).
Outcome: BB won t8832

I treaded water for like two hours after that, finally got KK, flatted a 4-bet, and check-folded frustratedly to a big bet on a dry A-high flop. A few hands later I convinced myself that the same guy could be a lot weaker than he clearly was:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 700 Tournament, 150/300 Blinds 40 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t27812)
UTG+1 (t15042)
MP1 (t22581)
MP2 (t23368)
MP3 (t11516)
CO (t83612)
Button (t21029)
SB (t56371)
Hero (BB) (t10755)

Hero’s M: 13.28

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, 10
2 folds, MP1 bets t750, 5 folds, Hero calls t450

Flop: (t2010) 4, J, A (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks

Turn: (t2010) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets t1555, MP1 raises to t3900, Hero calls t2345

River: (t9810) 4 (2 players)
Hero bets t6065 (All-In), MP1 calls t6065

Total pot: t21940

Results:
Hero had Q, 10 (one pair, fours).
MP1 had J, J (full house, Jacks over fours).
Outcome: MP1 won t21940

I got off to a good start in the $500 2nd Chance but then lost a good-sized pot on a resteal gone wrong. Villain was a really aggressive 3-better, but I still think this is bad:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t6800)
Button (t33153)
SB (t12535)
BB (t16855)
Hero (UTG) (t15808)
UTG+1 (t10215)
MP1 (t8177)
MP2 (t9682)
MP3 (t3214)

Hero’s M: 30.11

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, 10
Hero bets t400, 1 fold, MP1 raises to t825, 6 folds, Hero calls t425

Flop: (t2175) 8, 9, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets t1239, Hero raises to t14958 (All-In), MP1 calls t6088 (All-In)

Turn: (t16829) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t16829) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t16829

Results:
Hero had A, 10 (one pair, nines).
MP1 had 10, 10 (two pair, tens and nines).
Outcome: MP1 won t16829

That left me down but not out, and I rallied. I wrote at length in my recent WSOP report about how my own mistakes can be my biggest source of tilt, but I think I did a good job of collecting myself and choosing some good spots to accumulate without showdown like a true short stack ninja:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t6675)
UTG+1 (t33028)
MP1 (t12310)
MP2 (t16430)
Hero (MP3) (t6651)
CO (t11073)
Button (t16429)
SB (t10754)
BB (t3089)

Hero’s M: 12.67

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with J, 8
4 folds, Hero bets t400, 1 fold, Button raises to t815, 2 folds, Hero raises to t6626 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t2155

Results:
Hero didn’t show J, 8.
Outcome: Hero won t2155

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 125/250 Blinds 30 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t9019)
CO (t31643)
Button (t12715)
SB (t18560)
Hero (BB) (t6951)
UTG (t7440)
UTG+1 (t19967)
MP1 (t10759)
MP2 (t19561)

Hero’s M: 10.78

Preflop: Hero is BB with 2, Q
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t530, 3 folds, CO calls t530, 2 folds, Hero calls t280

Flop: (t1985) 9, 7, 7 (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, CO bets t950, Hero raises to t6391 (All-In), 2 folds

Total pot: t3885

Results:
Hero didn’t show 2, Q.
Outcome: Hero won t3885

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 125/250 Blinds 30 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t8959)
MP2 (t30748)
MP3 (t12655)
CO (t18375)
Hero (Button) (t9171)
SB (t7130)
BB (t19377)
UTG (t18699)
UTG+1 (t19501)

Hero’s M: 14.22

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 7
UTG bets t500, 5 folds, Hero calls t500, 2 folds

Flop: (t1645) J, Q, 8 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t666, UTG calls t666

Turn: (t2977) 3 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t1666, UTG calls t1666

River: (t6309) A (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t6309 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t6309

Results:
Hero didn’t show 7, 7 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t6309

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 125/250 Blinds 30 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t7925)
CO (t30808)
Button (t12070)
SB (t19009)
Hero (BB) (t13728)
UTG (t6795)
UTG+1 (t19437)
MP1 (t7282)
MP2 (t19561)

Hero’s M: 21.28

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 6
2 folds, MP1 bets t500, 4 folds, SB calls t375, Hero calls t250

Flop: (t1770) 5, 2, 10 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP1 checks

Turn: (t1770) 3 (3 players)
SB bets t750, Hero raises to t2666, 2 folds

Total pot: t3270

Results:
Hero didn’t show 3, 6.
Outcome: Hero won t3270

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 150/300 Blinds 40 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t7730)
MP1 (t49352)
MP2 (t12645)
MP3 (t29761)
Hero (CO) (t14623)
Button (t16702)
SB (t25432)
BB (t1777)
UTG (t23656)

Hero’s M: 18.05

Preflop: Hero is CO with K, 8
5 folds, Hero bets t600, 1 fold, SB raises to t1475, 1 fold, Hero raises to t2888, 1 fold

Total pot: t3610

Results:
Hero didn’t show K, 8.
Outcome: Hero won t3610

These next three are all against the same player in the span of less than two orbits:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t8890)
UTG (t75936)
UTG+1 (t13768)
MP1 (t38577)
Hero (MP2) (t12444)
MP3 (t16972)
CO (t16631)
Button (t5555)
SB (t17806)

Hero’s M: 11.85

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, J
2 folds, MP1 bets t800, Hero raises to t1888, 6 folds

Total pot: t2650

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, J.
Outcome: Hero won t2650

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t9090)
MP3 (t75086)
CO (t12918)
Button (t36927)
Hero (SB) (t13644)
BB (t17772)
UTG (t17431)
UTG+1 (t5305)
MP1 (t18406)

Hero’s M: 12.99

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, A
6 folds, Button bets t800, Hero raises to t1888, 2 folds

Total pot: t2450

Results:
Hero didn’t show 7, A.
Outcome: Hero won t2450

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t8990)
MP1 (t74986)
MP2 (t12818)
MP3 (t36027)
Hero (CO) (t14394)
Button (t19322)
SB (t16531)
BB (t5205)
UTG (t18306)

Hero’s M: 13.71

Preflop: Hero is CO with 3, A
4 folds, MP3 bets t800, Hero raises to t1888, 4 folds

Total pot: t2650

Results:
Hero didn’t show 3, A.
Outcome: Hero won t2650

Lest you think I’m being results oriented, I got it in bad here and lost but with my image I still think it was a good call:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t8940)
UTG+1 (t74936)
MP1 (t12768)
MP2 (t35177)
Hero (MP3) (t16194)
CO (t19272)
Button (t16281)
SB (t4755)
BB (t18256)

Hero’s M: 15.42

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 4, A
4 folds, Hero bets t800, 2 folds, SB raises to t4705 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls t3905

Flop: (t10260) 8, Q, 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t10260) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t10260) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t10260

Results:
SB had 5, 5 (two pair, Queens and fives).
Hero had 4, A (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: SB won t10260

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t86126)
Button (t11918)
SB (t34527)
Hero (BB) (t10439)
UTG (t20872)
UTG+1 (t16031)
MP1 (t9260)
MP2 (t17406)

Hero’s M: 10.44

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10, Q
6 folds, SB bets t880, Hero calls t480

Flop: (t2160) 5, J, 9 (2 players)
SB bets t1036, Hero calls t1036

Turn: (t4232) 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (t4232) K (2 players)
SB bets t2962, Hero raises to t8473 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t10156

Results:
Hero didn’t show 10, Q (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t10156

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 60 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t20814)
UTG+1 (t73664)
MP1 (t11558)
MP2 (t31579)
Hero (CO) (t17797)
Button (t21342)
SB (t11921)
BB (t26786)

Hero’s M: 14.47

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, Q
4 folds, Hero bets t1000, Button calls t1000, 2 folds

Flop: (t3230) 3, 2, J (2 players)
Hero bets t1600, Button calls t1600

Turn: (t6430) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t3500, Hero raises to t15137 (All-In), Button calls t11637

River: (t36704) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t36704

Results:
Button had J, 10 (flush, Queen high).
Hero had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: Button won t36704

D’oh.

I woke to grey skies on Saturday morning. With the $109 NLHE WCOOP starting at 11, I had time for a quick to the grocery store before I started playing. Here’s one interesting hand from that event:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 109 Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t4682)
UTG+1 (t7710)
MP1 (t4550)
MP2 (t3757)
MP3 (t3160)
CO (t4377)
Hero (Button) (t4535)
SB (t6080)
BB (t6064)

Hero’s M: 37.79

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, A
3 folds, MP2 bets t184, 2 folds, Hero calls t184, 2 folds

Flop: (t488) 6, 6, 5 (2 players)
MP2 bets t280, Hero calls t280

Turn: (t1048) 7 (2 players)
MP2 bets t640, Hero calls t640

River: (t2328) 9 (2 players)
MP2 checks, Hero bets t3431 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t2328

Results:
Hero didn’t show Q, A (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t2328

Villain was a fairly straightforward regular I’d played with before. I was sure I was beat when he bet the turn, but he tanked for a while before betting. I was pretty sure I knew his dilemma: he didn’t want to go the felt with his pocket pair, and he was trying to decide whether to bet turn and check river or check the turn and bet the river. The river was nice in that it completed a possible draw, but mostly I was trying to represent a full house.

The tournament didn’t last too much longer for me, though, as i lost AA to 88 all-in pre-flop and then got coolered in a spot where I mayyyybe could’ve gotten away and certainly should not have jammed the river:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 109 Tournament, 150/300 Blinds 40 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t9996)
Button (t5455)
SB (t15414)
BB (t4496)
UTG (t24340)
UTG+1 (t30701)
Hero (MP1) (t14644)
MP2 (t9182)
MP3 (t8111)

Hero’s M: 18.08

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 5, A
2 folds, Hero bets t600, 4 folds, SB calls t450, 1 fold

Flop: (t1860) Q, 10, 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t888, SB calls t888

Turn: (t3636) 8 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t2222, SB raises to t5700, Hero calls t3478

River: (t15036) A (2 players)
SB bets t5700, Hero raises to t7416 (All-In), SB calls t1716

Total pot: t29868

Results:
SB had 10, Q (full house, tens over Queens).
Hero had 5, A (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: SB won t29868

In the early afternoon, the rain began to fall, and it came down on and off throughout the day.

Despite a mediocre outcome, my day stretched into a long one because the $300 NLHE started just before I busted out of the $100, and I managed a shallow cash in that one. Things had rolled along nicely for about seven and a half hours when a good player on the button open jammed for just over 6 BBs. Expecting him to be on any two cards, I re-jammed with Q5o from the SB and lost to his ATo.

That by itself wasn’t so remarkable, but at least one player at the table called me an idiot, so I was glad to pick up KK a few hands later. I min-raised, someone made a big reshove on me, and I lost to his 88.

Although I played for a long time, I’d started early, so it wasn’t terribly late when I finished up. It was still raining, though, so I wasn’t inclined to do anything outside. Instead I decided to see what was on Canadian television.

Not much, as it turns out. I settled on a PBS special featuring classic comedians performing on the Ed Sullivan show. Although I didn’t find them that funny, I do really enjoy stand-up comedy, so it was interesting to see performers whose names I recognized but whom I’d never actually seen, at least not in their heyday: Rodney Dangerfield, Carol Burnett, Red Skelton, Joan Rivers, Jackie Mason, Phyllis Diller, etc. I was hoping to see George Carlin and Richard Pryor, but the constant begging for donations got to be too much for me.

Villain is 17/15 with 10% 3-bet and 29% Attempt to Steal. Strictly speaking he’s not in one of the positions that PokerTracker defines as a steal position for this hand, but I still think that stat is relevant to provide an idea of a player’s positional awareness. He hasn’t done anything noteworthy at the table, and he and Hero don’t have any particular history.

Hero has been active and has won a fair number of medium-sized pots recently both pre- and post-flop without showdown. So far the table has had more of an “I don’t want to mess with that guy” than a “That guy never has it, let’s go to war” reaction to Hero’s aggression.

Hero just 3-bet to the same size (against a different Villain) in the last hand and folded to a shove. This wouldn’t otherwise be the ideal 3-bet size here, but I chose to keep it the same rather than risk revealing something about my hand. You’re welcome to comment on that if you like, but I’m going to skip past it and focus first on the flop decision:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 150/300 Blinds 40 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t8460)
UTG+1 (t74958)
MP1 (t13938)
MP2 (t34929)
Hero (CO) (t14615)
Button (t15892)
SB (t17919)
BB (t967)

Hero’s M: 18.98

Preflop: Hero is CO with J, J
3 folds, MP2 bets t600, Hero raises to t1333, 2 folds, BB calls t627 (All-In), MP2 calls t733

Flop: (t4063) 10, 4, A (3 players, 1 all-in)
MP2 checks, Hero?

At the moment the sidepot is a little under 800. What’s your play and why?

Post your thoughts and comments here, and I’ll be back on Thursday with my own thoughts as well as the next decision point.

After a leisurely morning writing up the events of the previous day, I embarked for two of my favorite places in Montreal: St-Viateur Bagels and the Jean-Talon Market. The Bixi bicycle situation was even worse than on Thursday. I walked past six stations, all the way to the bagel shop, before finally finding a usable bike.

I’m no bagel connoisseur. In fact I rarely eat them. I probably haven’t had the best bagels in New York, but I have had fresh New York bagels, and in my opinion St-Viateur is better.

Their specialty is a sesame seed bagel that they make fresh throughout the day, so if you’re lucky you can get a warm one even in the afternoon. They’re good at any time, light and moist enough that you don’t have to put butter or cream cheese on them, but the warm ones simply melt in your mouth.

There was no fooling the woman behind the counter into thinking I was a local. She greeted me with  “Bonjour!” but followed that up with “For here or to go?” before I’d said a word.

I ate my bagel while searching for a bike, which I finally found at the seventh Bixi station I passed. Once I had that, it was a breeze to ride a few miles, almost exclusively on quiet one-way tree-lined side streets, to the market.

The Jean-Talon Market is huge, and unfortunately I didn’t have much need for produce since I’d just gone to the grocery store a few days before. I was afraid peaches might be past their prime, but several stalls offered samples, and after trying one, I did end up buying a couple.

Mostly though I bought nuts and pasta. They sell these almonds there encrusted with lemon juice and slightly hot pepper flakes. The first time I tasted one, it was way too intense for me, but within a minute I was craving more. They’re a good snack because the flavor is so strong that you can eat just one or two at a time rather than whole handfuls.

There’s also an amazing pasta shop there with fresh pastas and homemade sauces. I almost never like alfredo sauces, but there’s to die for. The first time I came to Jean-Talon, this shop seemed a little anachronistic, but now I know that the market is in Montreal’s Little Italy, so that explains it.

The older ladies who work at the pasta shop have never volunteered any English, but they keep their French simple, which is perfect for me. I understood every word they said and successfully asked if they had a smaller container of the alfredo sauce, confirmed that yes that was everything, that no I didn’t need a bag, and then a minute later apologized and said that actually I would like a plastic bag (when I realized how easily the sauce could spill out of its plastic container and into my backpack on the bike ride home).

The ride home was even nicer than the ride to the market because I was able to follow a bike path along a set of railroad tracks and the backsides of some small factories. It was nice not to be on the street, and I was so engrossed in the scenery that I missed my turn. Partially not wanting to ride back up hill but mostly welcoming the challenge, I navigated my way back to my apartment on my own.

Nothing too remarkable happened in the $320. I actually got less than a min-cash, because I lost a flip to end up as one of several bubble boys who had to chop four prizes five ways.

Most of the $150 was unremarkable as well. There were no big bluffs or calls or suckouts or anything, I just got good cards at good times and they held up. Tournaments feel so easy when they go well.

Things started to get interesting at the final three tables. I wasn’t bullying the final table bubble too hard because everyone else was trying to do that:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 162 Tournament, 2000/4000 Blinds 500 Ante (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG) (t180028)
MP (t199696)
CO (t290390)
Button (t203357)
SB (t114839)
BB (t225001)

Hero’s M: 20.00

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A
Hero bets t8000, 1 fold, CO raises to t16475, 3 folds, Hero calls t8475

Flop: (t41950) J, 9, J (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t16475, Hero calls t16475

Turn: (t74900) J (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t26475, Hero calls t26475

River: (t127850) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

Total pot: t127850

Results:
Hero had A, A (full house, Jacks over Aces).
CO mucked 8, 5 (three of a kind, Jacks).
Outcome: Hero won t127850

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 162 Tournament, 2400/4800 Blinds 600 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t171760)
BB (t185152)
UTG (t226776)
Hero (UTG+1) (t306953)
MP1 (t471719)
MP2 (t265749)
CO (t144749)
Button (t85402)

Hero’s M: 25.58

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 7, Q
1 fold, Hero bets t9600, 2 folds, CO raises to t17789, 3 folds, Hero calls t8189

Flop: (t47578) 7, J, 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

Turn: (t47578) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t16652, Hero calls t16652

River: (t80882) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t28308, Hero calls t28308

Total pot: t137498

Results:
Hero had 7, Q (one pair, sevens).
CO had 8, Q (high card, Queen).
Outcome: Hero won t137498

Villain in this second hand a 3B of 29%, which is arguably a reason not to open Q7s, but I’d actually been quite well-behaved and this was otherwise a good spot. As you can see, he gave me great odds at every point in the hand.

I came into the final table as chip leader, so then it was time for bullying, though most of the other big stacks were on my left so I still had to show some caution. My chip lead lasted until…

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 162 Tournament, 6000/12000 Blinds 1500 Ante (7 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t187026)
Hero (BB) (t1078003)
UTG (t270925)
MP1 (t399082)
MP2 (t318207)
CO (t692563)
Button (t246194)

Hero’s M: 37.82

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, K
1 fold, MP1 bets t24000, 4 folds, Hero calls t12000

Flop: (t64500) K, 8, 10 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets t23333, Hero raises to t66666, MP1 raises to t123999, Hero raises to t1052503 (All-In), MP1 calls t249583 (All-In)

Turn: (t811664) 7 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t811664) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t811664

Results:
Hero had Q, K (one pair, Kings).
MP1 had 8, 8 (three of a kind, eights).
Outcome: MP1 won t811664

By the time we were five-handed I was in fourth place, but then I won a flip to bust the short stack and that brought me back to first where I stayed until the last few hands of heads up play.

We looked at chop numbers when three-handed, and I had $22.5K in equity. I demanded 25K in a chop (first paid $28K, second $20K). They offered 23, and I would have taken 24, but we couldn’t reach an agreement so we played on.

I came into the heads up with a 60-40 chip lead and felt I had a significant skill edge as well. I had him at about 2.5:1 when he got it all in pre with A8s to my ATo and turned his flush. I got back nearly to even before he dealt the coup de grâce:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 162 Tournament, 20000/40000 Blinds 5000 Ante (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t1474167)
SB (t1717833)

Hero’s M: 21.06

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7, Q
SB bets t80000, Hero raises to t188888, SB calls t108888

Flop: (t387776) J, 5, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t188888, SB calls t188888

Turn: (t765552) Q (2 players)
Hero bets t444444, SB raises to t1335057 (All-In), Hero calls t646947 (All-In)

River: (t2948334) A (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t2948334

Results:
SB had J, Q (two pair, Queens and Jacks).
Hero had 7, Q (two pair, Queens and sevens).
Outcome: SB won t2948334

In addition to being a nice score, this was a great confidence booster early in the WCOOP, since I hadn’t had any significant scores since the 2011 WSOP (not that I’ve played that much). I was also proud both at how uninvested I was in winning and how slight my disappointment was at the pots that I lost. After a quick grunt of displeasure, I was over both of them.

Time to gear up for my first WCOOP Sunday!

Probably the most interesting hand I played was this one:

Poker Stars $200+$15 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournament – t60/t120 Blinds – 6 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: t20794 173.28 BBs
MP: t27589 229.91 BBs
CO: t10025 83.54 BBs
BTN: t22487 187.39 BBs
SB: t7280 60.67 BBs
Hero (BB): t11130 92.75 BBs

Pre Flop: (t180) Hero is BB with 2 A 9 7
UTG raises to t300, 4 folds, Hero calls t180

Flop: (t660) K Q 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets t396, Hero raises to t1555, UTG folds

Final Pot: t1452

Hero mucks 2 A 9 7

Hero wins t1452

It’s rare that you can run a pure bluff in PLO8, since it’s so easy for your opponent to have something good enough for at least half the pot. In this case, though, there was no low possible, and this is actually quite a difficult board for an UTG raiser to hit. I could even see him folding top two here, not that he’ll have a hand that good so often. A player almost always has at least two low cards in his hand to open from early position, so the odds of him hitting any particular high card board are not good. This is an especially good candidate because he can’t have much in the way of draws either.

My table draw in the $500 NLHE 6-Max KO WCOOP was brutal. Most of the time, four of my five opponents were either really successful MTTers or people I recognized from 1000NL cash games. In a field with 1500 runners, that’s a nasty, nasty draw. No one was giving any chips away, and I never really got above starting stack. The only real play I made was this one:

Poker Stars $404+$101+$25 No Limit Hold’em Tournament – t15/t30 Blinds – 6 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: t8862 295.40 BBs
BB: t6625 220.83 BBs
UTG: t7500 250 BBs
MP: t8476 282.53 BBs
CO: t7500 250 BBs
Hero (BTN): t6990 233 BBs

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN with 2 A
3 folds, Hero raises to t60, SB calls t45, BB calls t30

Flop: (t180) K 6 Q (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets t90, SB calls t90, BB calls t90

Turn: (t450) T (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets t350, SB folds, BB calls t350

River: (t1150) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t990, BB folds

Final Pot: t1150
Hero mucks 2 A
Hero wins t1150

I didn’t last too long in this one:

Poker Stars $404+$101+$25 No Limit Hold’em Tournament – t75/t150 Blinds + t20 – 6 players

DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

MP: t14970 M = 43.39
CO: t12940 M = 37.51
BTN: t11049 M = 32.03
SB: t3436 M = 9.96
BB: t10868 M = 31.50
Hero (UTG): t5209 M = 15.10

Pre-Flop: (t345) Hero is UTG with K K
Hero raises to t300, MP calls t300, 4 folds

Flop: (t945) 8 J 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP checks

Turn: (t945) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets t511, Hero raises to t4889 all in, MP calls t4378

River: (t10723) T (2 players – 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t10723
MP shows 9 8 (two pair, Nines and Eights)
Hero shows K K (a pair of Kings)
MP wins t10723

I was hoping to check-raise all-in on the flop. though looking at this hand now, I don’t think that line is quite as good as I did at the time. I remembered the flop being slightly more coordinated than this. When that doesn’t work, though, I do think check-shoving turn is the way to go.

That was my last tournament, and with quite a bit of light left in the day, I decided to head over to one of my favorite places in Montreal, the Jean-Talon Market. It’s a huge market that offers a combination of fresh produce and gourmet foods seven days a week. Having just been to the store, there weren’t any groceries I particularly needed, but you can always find something at Jean-Talon.

I jotted down biking directions, which were actually kind of complicated, and then realized that I needed to get cash. My Canadian bank charges particularly high fees for using non-member ATMs, so I had to add the nearest CIBC ATM, which was about a mile away, to my route as well.

Montreal has the largest bike-sharing program in North America. My first few experiences with it were largely positive. There are stations all over the city and a great network of designated lanes that make commuting by bike very practical even if you don’t own a bike.

Not yesterday. The nearest Bixi station to my apartment had just one bike, which was suspicious. When you pay for your rental, you get a code to unlock a bike of your choosing. The codes are quite simple and I’m certain I entered it correctly, but the station would not release the bike. No big deal, your rental is good for 24 hours, and I knew there was another station on my way.

I walked three blocks in the direction I needed to go anyway, only to find that that station had no bikes at all. Three more blocks and the same story: every bike there was already taken. I had no choice but to continue on my route and keep an eye out for another station. I spotted a huge one with three bikes still remaining. I got a new code, the station released my bike… and my butt and my heart both sank when I hopped onto the seat. The back tire was completely flat. A glance over at the other two bikes revealed that the seat was broken on both.

I finally found a usable bike at the fifth station I passed, by which time I was more than halfway to the ATM.

From there the ride to the ATM was effortless, but then there was the new problem of finding a station at which to leave the bike. To be fair, this was something I could have looked up before leaving, but as it was, I had to ride around for five minutes or so to find a station that was about four blocks from the ATM.

After all that, I no longer felt like trekking out to the market, which was still a few miles away. I had no such difficulties getting home, and other than being hot and sick of walking, I wasn’t bitter. My real goal, after spending the first half of the day in front of the computer, was just to get outside and do something active, which I did.

Besides, I’m not playing until tonight’s 5PM NLHE tournament with 10-minute levels, so I’m off to the market for real this time!

I stepped outside for a brief stroll, ready with a cheery “Bon matin!” for any of the dog-walkers or other pedestrians I passed, but none met my glance as they sped by. Finally I got a big smile from a yellow-vested crossing guard. I purchased a few staples at a small grocery store just around the corner from me and then headed home to make lunch and otherwise prepare for what I hoped would be a long session.

The first kink in my plans came while sandwich-making. With peanut butter already spread on one slice of bread, I opened my newly purchased jelly to find it coated with a thick layer of mold. My first inclination was to throw it away and go buy a new one, thinking a few dollars not worth the hassle and potential awkwardness of trying to return the item in a foreign place and language. But it was $5 (Canadian dollars, true, but those are worth something these days), and I was going to have to go to the store anyway, so I decided to stop being such a wimp. It wouldn’t really be such a complicated transaction once the employee saw the inside of this jelly jar. There was no time for that now, though, so I ate a plain peanut butter sandwich and sat down eagerly for the Ante Up tournament.

I had my usual fun in the tournament, overlimp-reraising and such:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 5/5 Blinds 60 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t2392)
Button (t4555)
SB (t4117)
BB (t12572)
UTG (t13597)
UTG+1 (t5501)
Hero (MP1) (t10769)
MP2 (t7873)
MP3 (t9750)

Hero’s M: 19.58

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 5, 6

UTG calls t5, UTG+1 calls t5, Hero calls t5, 1 fold, MP3 calls t5, CO calls t5, Button calls t5, SB bets t195, 1 fold, UTG calls t190, 1 fold, Hero raises to t777, 3 folds, SB calls t582, 1 fold

Flop: (t2314) Q, 8, 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t888, 1 fold

Total pot: t2314

Results:
Hero didn’t show 5, 6.
Outcome: Hero won t2314

It’s hard to tell from the hand history, but there was an ante of 60 here, so SB’s raise was pretty small and consequently weak. Because the BB is just 5, I can and do limp all sorts of hands even with other limpers in front of me, so it’s not at all implausible that I could show up with, if not a monster, at least something a lot better than what SB has. In other words, he can’t just dismiss this as “No one overlimps good hands” as he could in a regular tournament.

The big problem for me was that I had an MTT superhero with a reputation for playing extremely LAGgy sitting two seats to my left. In a game like Ante Up, a good player can really play a ton of hands, and this guy was taking full advantage. I needed to combat that with a re-bluff timed to maximize the amount of weak money he’d put into the pot. Turning the flush draw was just the icing on the cake – the money was going in on the almost any turn:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 5/5 Blinds 60 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t5585)
UTG+1 (t4760)
MP1 (t3575)
MP2 (t6302)
MP3 (t14755)
CO (t5999)
Hero (Button) (t7379)
SB (t3172)
BB (t11507)

Hero’s M: 13.42

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, J
UTG calls t5, 5 folds, Hero bets t222, 1 fold, BB raises to t666, 1 fold, Hero calls t444

Flop: (t1882) K, 10, 3 (2 players)
BB bets t941, Hero calls t941

Turn: (t3764) K (2 players)
BB bets t1700, Hero raises to t5712 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t7164

Results:
Hero didn’t show 9, J.
Outcome: Hero won t7164

Things took a turn for the worse when I restole ATs into AKo, lost top pair all in on the flop to a bare flush draw, and then lost a flip for the rest of my chips. Quel dommage.

I drew a bye in the first round of the $215 heads up, and about an hour into the tournament, only about 10% of the Round 1 matches were finished. A notification on my screen informed me in no uncertain terms that this was a shootout tournament and the next round would start when all current matches were completed. I stepped into the other room to read.

Twenty minutes later I walked past my computer and was started to see a heads up match underway. Apparently my Round 2 started as soon as my opponent was determined, NOT after all other matches were finished as the pop-up claimed, and my opponent had merrily stolen 40% of my starting chips. I hung in there for a bit but went bust flopping trips vs trips with a better kicker. C’est la vie.

My consolation prize was the remainder of a beautiful afternoon. I took the Kindle down to a nearby park for a bit, then took that jelly back to the grocery store.

On previous occasions in Montreal, the French Canadians have always insulted my French by switching to English after hearing me say no more than, “Bonjour.” My French certainly hasn’t gotten any better since then, but after my time in Europe, I’m a lot more comfortable muddling my way through a transaction in a foreign language I speak poorly. Perhaps that led me to speak more confidently, or maybe the clerk wasn’t comfortable in English (doubtful, given her age), but she continued to speak to me in French after I explained that <I bought this here this morning, and when I opened it, it looked like this>, here opening the lid for her to see. I’d actually looked up the French word for “mold”, but one of the words Google Translate gave me looked hard to pronounce, and the other was also the word for “mussels”, which they are very serious about their mussels in Montreal so better not to go there I thought.

I didn’t understand much of what she said back to me, but I’d made myself understood, that was plain from the look of disgust on her face. I headed home with a fresh jar of jelly and a skip in my step.

This was my first time flying into Canada, having previously driven across the border. No exaggeration, there were easily 2000 people in line at passport control. This was a good opportunity to practice my patience, which will surely be tested in the coming weeks. I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and surveyed my surroundings.

We were quite a diverse bunch. They probably just jumped out at me more, but it seemed like I saw a lot more Europeans, Africans, and people from the Caribbean than I did Americans. I suppose that isn’t so surprising, given how much French is spoken in those regions. There were very few Asians in line, which is quite different from what you’d see on the west coast of Canada.

When I finally got to the front of the line, I told the officer that I was here to play poker. He was unfazed, asking only if that was all I would do for three weeks. I smiled, because it probably was, but I told him, “Well I hope to see a bit of the city as well.”

He nodded and handed my passport back to me. “Enjoy your stay.”

Eight dollars bought me a ticket on an express bus from the airport to the UQAM (University of Quebec At Montreal – of course the official name is in French, but the acronym works out the same) Metro station plus a 24-hour public transportation pass. I was going to need that, because a train and another bus still stood between my apartment and me. But first: lunch.

The plaze where the bus dropped me off was crowded with students, businesspeople, and homeless who all seemed quite at ease with each other. An employee of a nearby company emerged from a backdoor to scold another man for urinating on the wall of the building. There were six of those life-sized chess sets, each being studied intently by two players and several more onlookers.

I found a quick-looking Thai place near the Metro station. A man in his mid-twenties stood idly behind the counter, but he adopted a deer-in-headlights look as I approached. A girl no older than 16 rushed over. “Bonjour, hello!” she chirped. She spoke English naturally and comfortably as she took my order, and I imagine she could have done much the same in French. She relayed the order in what I guess was Thai to her co-worker. Such comfort in so many different languages, which is of course common among the children of immigrants, never ceases to amaze me.

Sitting by myself at a table for four, I was hardly alone. Several older Québécois men sat near each other but at separate tables reading La Presse, one of the city’s largest French-language newspapers. Occasionally one would wander over to another’s table to exchange a thought with him, but mostly they read in silence. If I had to describe them in one word, it would be grizzled.

The Metro was crowded, but I was only going one stop. Announcing, “Excusez moi! Désolé!” I shoved my way onto and then back off the car. After a short bus ride, I was through the door a few minutes after four, with enough time to make coffee, set up my computer and external monitor, register for the $1050 NLHE WCOOP, and late register the $215 Triple Stud and the $109 Triple Stud Second Chance.

The one thing I didn’t have time for was grocery shopping, so I had to look up a place to get delivery. The woman who answered the phone spoke English, but the delivery guy didn’t (or wouldn’t, but he was Asian, so not likely to be a militant Québécois), so I had to deal with him in broken French while dashing back and forth between the door and my beeping computer.

Four hours in the $1K produced no hands of note, so here are a few from the Second Chance. I realize that many of you probably don’t play Razz, but it’s quite a simple game and these hands draw on hand reading concepts that are quite applicable in hold ’em, so I encourage you to try to follow along anyway.

Poker Stars $100+$9 Limit Razz Tournament – t120/t240 Limit + t24 – 7 players
Hand History Converter

Seat 2: t4726 M = 13.58
Seat 3: t5418 M = 15.57
Seat 4: t5028 M = 14.45
Seat 5: t4280 M = 12.30
Hero (): t4026 M = 11.57
Seat 7: t7956 M = 22.86
Seat 8: t4186 M = 12.03

3rd Street: (1.4 SB)
Seat 2: xx xx 6____Seat 2 folds
Seat 3: xx xx J____Seat 3 folds
Seat 4: xx xx 9____Seat 4 folds
Seat 5: xx xx 2____Seat 5 folds
Hero: K 3 T___Hero completes___Hero calls
Seat 7: xx xx Q____Seat 7 raises
Seat 8: xx xx K____Seat 8 brings in for $36____Seat 8 folds

4th Street: (5.7 SB) (2 players)
Hero: K 3 T 7___Hero checks___Hero calls
Seat 7: xx xx Q 7____Seat 7 bets

5th Street: (3.85 BB) (2 players)
Hero: K 3 T 7 A___Hero bets
Seat 7: xx xx Q 7 A____Seat 7 calls

6th Street: (5.85 BB) (2 players)
Hero: K 3 T 7 A 2___Hero bets
Seat 7: xx xx Q 7 A T____Seat 7 calls

7th Street: (7.85 BB) (2 players)
Hero: K 3 T 7 A 2 2___Hero checks___Hero calls
Seat 7: xx xx Q 7 A T xx____Seat 7 bets

Final Pot: 9.85 BB
Hero shows K 3 T 7 A 2 2 (Lo: T,7,3,2,A)
Seat 7 shows 7 Q Q 7 A T 5 (Lo: Q,T,7,5,A)
Hero wins 9.85 BB

In retrospect, it seems like Villain probably just got confused about which game we were playing. But I think, not knowing that, the hand is interesting from my perspective.

As you might imagine, (K3)T is a pretty junky Razz hand. But a K and Q showing behind me, it’s an auto-raise because I have the lowest card showing. In other words, I fold (T3)K.

Villain and I had tangled a bit before and he’d showed some awareness of steal dynamics and a willingness to re-raise lighter against late position opens. When he raised I assumed he had two good cards in the hole, something like (23)Q, and knew how wide my range is. Even so, I think a call is better than a raise for him.

If he has that kind of hand, I’m a dog, but I call anyway because, with a Q in the door, his hand is going to be really difficult to play. This is like a float: I’m calling to represent better hole cards than I have, expecting many good opportunities to steal on a later street.

I start betting into him as we both catch well, hoping that he paired – the A in particular is likely to pair him given the hole cards he’d need to raise me legitimately. By 6th street I’m ahead unless he has exactly 23 in the hole, in which case we’re chopping.

That makes the river an easy check-call, since he won’t call with much worse but could bluff a busted draw. Or, he could have misread the game this entire time! Oh well, I’ll take it.

Poker Stars $100+$9 Limit Razz Tournament – t120/t240 Limit + t24 – 7 players
Hand History Converter

Seat 2: t4642 M = 13.34
Seat 3: t5370 M = 15.43
Seat 4: t4980 M = 14.31
Seat 5: t4232 M = 12.16
Hero (): t5466 M = 15.71
Seat 7: t6828 M = 19.62
Seat 8: t4102 M = 11.79

3rd Street: (1.4 SB)
Seat 2: xx xx A____Seat 2 calls
Seat 3: xx xx 6____Seat 3 folds
Seat 4: xx xx 6____Seat 4 folds
Seat 5: xx xx 2____Seat 5 folds
Hero: 5 A 7___Hero brings in for $36
Seat 7: xx xx 3____Seat 7 folds
Seat 8: xx xx 4____Seat 8 folds

4th Street: (2 SB) (2 players)
Seat 2: xx xx A T____Seat 2 bets
Hero: 5 A 7 J___Hero calls

5th Street: (2 BB) (2 players)
Seat 2: xx xx A T 9____Seat 2 bets____Seat 2 calls
Hero: 5 A 7 J 8___Hero raises

6th Street: (6 BB) (2 players)
Seat 2: xx xx A T 9 3____Seat 2 checks
Hero: 5 A 7 J 8 9___Hero checks

7th Street: (6 BB) (2 players)
Seat 2: xx xx A T 9 3 xx____Seat 2 bets
Hero: 5 A 7 J 8 9 5___Hero calls

Final Pot: 8 BB
Seat 2 shows 7 A A T 9 3 K (Lo: T,9,7,3,A)
Hero shows 5 A 7 J 8 9 5 (Lo: 9,8,7,5,A)
Hero wins 8 BB

The fact that Villain open limps third street rather than completing the bet suggests that he has a brick (or at least a semi-brick like a T or 9) in the hole. So even though I catch worse than he does on fourth, I could easily be ahead and if not I still have a decent draw.

Sticking with that read, I raise him on fifth even though his board is stronger than mine. He actually typed something like, “LOL what are you doing” before calling, which suggests that he thought I wasn’t “supposed” to raise showing a J. Note, however, that even he is “supposed” to be ahead, he doesn’t 3-bet me. Even if he does have a made T9, I’m drawing live.

When he catches good on sixth, I’m happy to check behind.

I was probably calling seventh anyway, but he bet so quickly that it was an easy decision. My check on sixth suggests that I’m still trying to improve my hand, so there’s not a lot of reason for him to value bet me thinly. Most likely I’ll either miss and fold or hit and be ahead, so it’s probably better for him to check and call with a smooth 9, which is the best hand he can have if I’m right about his limp. At the very least, he’d have to think about whether to bet it. The quick bet was a dead giveaway that he was bluffing. He made sure to tell me how badly I played it.

Here are the hands that constituted my early rush:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t29121)
SB (t24371)
BB (t19125)
UTG (t17250)
UTG+1 (t16605)
MP1 (t22915)
MP2 (t11682)
Hero (CO) (t19575)

Hero’s M: 217.50

Preflop: Hero is CO with K, A
UTG bets t180, 3 folds, Hero raises to t540, 3 folds, UTG calls t360

Flop: (t1170) 4, 10, 3 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t777, UTG calls t777

Turn: (t2724) 2 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t1888, UTG calls t1888

River: (t6500) 5 (2 players)
UTG bets t5200, Hero calls t5200

Total pot: t16900

Results:
UTG had J, J (one pair, Jacks).
Hero had K, A (straight, five high).
Outcome: Hero won t16900

His turn/river line makes no sense to me. The only better hands he can expect me to fold on the river are QQ, KK, and TT. If he thinks those constitute a large enough part of my range that a bluff is profitable, then he ought to fold the turn.

This guy was playing $.10 MTTs earlier this week. He played a bunch of WCOOP satellites and seems to have binked one, which was good news for me:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t30465)
CO (t19236)
Button (t18938)
SB (t20094)
BB (t15748)
UTG (t9692)
UTG+1 (t21636)
MP1 (t18939)
Hero (MP2) (t25896)

Hero’s M: 107.90

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, 6
3 folds, Hero bets t300, 2 folds, Button raises to t700, 2 folds, Hero calls t400

Flop: (t1640) J, 3, 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t800, Hero calls t800

Turn: (t3240) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t1500, Hero raises to t4500, Button calls t3000

River: (t12240) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t9886, Button calls t9886

Total pot: t32012

Results:
Button had 10, 10 (two pair, tens and sixes).
Hero had A, 6 (three of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: Hero won t32012

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG (t30190)
UTG+1 (t19196)
MP1 (t19990)
MP2 (t20469)
MP3 (t15558)
CO (t12774)
Button (t21686)
SB (t18799)
Hero (BB) (t41982)

Hero’s M: 174.93

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8, 8
2 folds, MP1 bets t300, 1 fold, MP3 calls t300, 3 folds, Hero calls t200

Flop: (t1040) A, 10, 8 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets t500, MP3 calls t500, Hero calls t500

Turn: (t2540) A (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP3 checks

River: (t2540) 7 (3 players)
Hero bets t1777, 1 fold, MP3 calls t1777

Total pot: t6094

Results:
Hero had 8, 8 (full house, eights over Aces).
MP3 mucked J, 9 (straight, Jack high).
Outcome: Hero won t6094

Given how deep we were here, I felt I needed to be cautious. 8’s full is a monster hand, especially given that there isn’t a real likely card to pair someone’s kicker if he has an Ace, but it’s not worth my stack. Looking at it now I think maybe I should have gone for a river check-raise, though that looks awfully strong, and I think my bet is bigger than the bet that someone would make with bare trips.

The joy of playing deep-stacked with tourney donks:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds 15 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t31530)
MP1 (t19201)
MP2 (t18955)
MP3 (t18105)
CO (t15185)
Button (t11809)
SB (t21301)
BB (t18664)
Hero (UTG) (t45894)

Hero’s M: 145.70

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 7, 7
Hero bets t360, 7 folds, BB raises to t899, Hero calls t539

Flop: (t1993) 7, 5, 2 (2 players)
BB bets t1249, Hero raises to t3333, BB raises to t6840, Hero raises to t44980 (All-In), BB calls t10910 (All-In)

Turn: (t37493) 9 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t37493) J (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t37493

Results:
BB had A, A (one pair, Aces).
Hero had 7, 7 (three of a kind, sevens).
Outcome: Hero won t37493

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 150/300 Blinds 40 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t60366)
BB (t33086)
UTG (t18708)
UTG+1 (t26939)
MP1 (t83256)
MP2 (t15660)
CO (t52200)
Hero (Button) (t39901)

Hero’s M: 51.82

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, 9
UTG bets t600, 4 folds, Hero calls t600, 2 folds

Flop: (t1970) 9, Q, 6 (2 players)
UTG bets t1200, Hero raises to t3200, UTG calls t2000

Turn: (t8370) Q (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t2777, UTG raises to t5999, Hero raises to t36061 (All-In), UTG calls t8869 (All-In)

River: (t38106) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t38106

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (full house, nines over Queens).
UTG had 7, A (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won t38106

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 300/600 Blinds 70 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t54815)
CO (t45651)
Button (t38389)
SB (t27878)
BB (t46928)
UTG (t14997)
UTG+1 (t68768)
MP1 (t27154)
Hero (MP2) (t79212)

Hero’s M: 51.77

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 10, K
3 folds, Hero bets t1200, MP3 raises to t2745, 4 folds, Hero calls t1545

Flop: (t7020) Q, K, J (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks

Turn: (t7020) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets t4444, MP3 calls t4444

River: (t15908) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets t9999, MP3 calls t9999

Total pot: t35906

Results:
Hero had 10, K (one pair, Kings).
MP3 had A, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: MP3 won t35906

Villain was actually pretty close to folding river. On the one hand, I think AK is about the best hand he checks back on the flop, but I’m also not sure how many other hands are in his calling range. AQ? AJ? I’m not confident he’s 3-betting QT or JT, though clearly I believed he was 3-betting light sometimes to make this call pre-flop (which still may not be good against a good player).

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 350/700 Blinds 85 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t78905)
MP1 (t37593)
MP2 (t42924)
MP3 (t194184)
CO (t51956)
Button (t27059)
SB (t85187)
BB (t20301)
Hero (UTG) (t57727)

Hero’s M: 31.81

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, Q
Hero bets t1400, 3 folds, MP3 calls t1400, CO raises to t4350, 3 folds, Hero calls t2950, MP3 calls t2950

Flop: (t14865) Q, J, 3 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks, CO bets t7350, Hero calls t7350, 1 fold

Turn: (t29565) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t18550, Hero folds

Total pot: t29565

Results:
CO didn’t show
Outcome: CO won t29565

This is one of the hands I’m least sure about. Part of that is the benefit of hindsight, after playing more with Villain and seeing how aggressive he was. At the time, it sure felt like I was beat. This really isn’t an ideal board for him to barrel into two people, but there were a few draws he could have. Obviously I wouldn’t be folding a diamond turn.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 5200 Tournament, 300/600 Blinds 70 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t71975)
BB (t45231)
UTG (t39499)
UTG+1 (t19464)
MP1 (t50136)
MP2 (t12147)
MP3 (t67448)
CO (t30694)
Hero (Button) (t67198)

Hero’s M: 43.92

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
6 folds, Hero bets t1200, 1 fold, BB calls t600

Flop: (t3330) 6, 10, 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1666, BB calls t1666

Turn: (t6662) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t6662) 7 (2 players)
BB bets t4255, Hero folds

Total pot: t6662

Results:
BB didn’t show
Outcome: BB won t6662

This one might look crazy, but I’m still happy with it the morning after. It’s not inconceivable that Villain is floating out of position, but I think if he had Ace-high he wouldn’t feel the need to turn it into a bluff. 98 and 54 got there, and 87 picked up enough value that I don’t think he’d bluff that either (and he would be, with this bet). The only thing I can beat is a value bet from a T or an out of position float with air, and I had a bit of a read on Villian that he would have bet smaller with those hands.

As I said, I ended up getting all in with AK and losing to AA. While in one sense that sucks, it’s also oddly reassuring, because it means that any mistakes I made earlier in the tournament were essentially null and void. Even if, say, I should have folded that AQ, I still would have lost my ass with the AK (the table was playing so aggressively that folding AK pre-flop was out of the question pretty much ever).

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 1000/2000 Blinds 250 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t183638)
BB (t37589)
UTG (t51714)
Hero (UTG+1) (t100357)
MP1 (t185740)
MP2 (t104500)
MP3 (t22619)
CO (t171688)
Button (t73031)

Hero’s M: 19.12

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A, K
1 fold, Hero bets t4000, 5 folds, SB raises to t10475, 1 fold, Hero calls t6475

Flop: (t25200) 5, J, 7 (2 players)
SB bets t10480, Hero calls t10480

Turn: (t46160) K (2 players)
SB bets t19925, Hero calls t19925

River: (t86010) 9 (2 players)
SB bets t142508 (All-In), Hero calls t59227 (All-In)

Total pot: t204464

Results:
SB had K, J (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
Hero had A, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: SB won t204464

Villain is a very good player who ended up final tabling this tournament. He plays in high stakes tournaments and cash games as big as 50/100. He’d been very quiet up to this point, but I’m sure he’s capable of making moves, so if anything that probably makes him more likely to try something.

Notice the stack of the player in the BB. That makes it look a lot like I’m stealing, so I don’t give Villian much credit when he 3-bets. 4-betting to get it in would certainly be fine, but I think I’m just flipping against his get-it-in range, and I’d rather keep dominated hands in and maintain the advantage of my position.

Stacks are a little awkward to raise-get-it-in on the flop, and I don’t think he has many dominated flush draws in his range, so I call planning to shove over a bet on most turns. On this particular turn I think calling down is better. Against a lesser player I can consider folding the river, but I think this Villain is too good and I need to bluff-catch with the top of my range. This isn’t the very top, but it’s pretty close considering that I didn’t shove turn. I’m chalking this one up to cooler/bad beat.

Also I haven’t done anything of great interest in any of the recent WCOOPs. In fact, this is going to be a bit of a whine post. I’ve lost a lot of big pots with set under set and similar “cooler” situations. In most cases, though, I think there’s at least a case to be made that I could have played the hand differently and lost less, so hopefully it will be a little interesting to look at these. I’m actually less likely to make hero folds when I know I’ve been getting coolered a lot recently, because I start to trust my judgment less. I question whether I’m really beat or just seeing monsters under the bed.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t6562)
MP3 (t18842)
CO (t9399)
Button (t1569)
SB (t4358)
BB (t5425)
UTG (t8312)
UTG+1 (t1171)
Hero (MP1) (t14061)

Hero’s M: 34.72

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A, Q
2 folds, Hero bets t300, 1 fold, MP3 calls t300, 2 folds, SB calls t240, 1 fold

Flop: (t1245) 6, Q, 8 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t666, MP3 raises to t1741, 1 fold, Hero calls t1075

Turn: (t4727) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t2347, Hero calls t2347

River: (t9421) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t14429 (All-In), Hero calls t9648 (All-In)

Total pot: t28717

Results:
Hero had A, Q (two pair, Queens and fours).
MP3 had 6, 6 (full house, sixes over fours).
Outcome: MP3 won t28717

I think the river is very foldable. Yeah, a lot of draws missed, but I have blockers to some of them, plus it’s only the best players who can take a draw and play it exactly like it’s a set, including shoving the river. Less good players, which this guy seemed to be, are more likely to bet bigger on the flop and/or turn with their big draws and smaller on the river. Plus there’s the whole survival/tournament life thing where I ought to fold if I think it’s close. What led me to call was the fact that I think this is literally the very top of my range for playing this way. Sets I probably raise on the flop or turn. I guess I could have AA/KK as well, but I don’t think there’s much difference between those and this hand. Villain is repping a very narrow value range, but I think his bluffing range is also very narrow and maybe even non-existent.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t5000)
Button (t5774)
SB (t4960)
BB (t4648)
UTG (t4325)
UTG+1 (t4902)
Hero (MP1) (t4295)
MP2 (t4629)
MP3 (t4925)

Hero’s M: 23.86

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 6, 6
2 folds, Hero bets t120, MP2 calls t120, MP3 calls t120, 3 folds, BB calls t80

Flop: (t500) 4, 3, 9 (4 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t288, MP2 calls t288, MP3 calls t288, 1 fold

Turn: (t1364) 6 (3 players)
Hero bets t888, MP2 calls t888, MP3 raises to t3640, Hero raises to t3887 (All-In), MP2 raises to t4221 (All-In), MP3 calls t581

River: (t13693) K (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t13693

Results:
Hero had 6, 6 (three of a kind, sixes).
MP2 had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
MP3 had 5, 2 (straight, six high).
Outcome: MP3 won t13693

Ignore the header here- I had to mess with it to make the converter work. This is from the $300 PL Mix event. I think it’s awfully close at several points. Even betting the flop is questionable, but both of these players were on the loose side, so I think there’s a good chance I win it on the flop or get called by worse.

The turn is trickier. I would fold a set of 4’s, and if I were in MP2’s shoes, I think I could even fold a set of 6’s. I feel like the possibility of lower sets and mayyyyybe even two-pair in their ranges makes it tough to fold 66, but I don’t know. I had a bad feeling about it.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 320 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds 10 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t3840)
MP2 (t6803)
MP3 (t3784)
Hero (CO) (t15963)
Button (t9430)
SB (t9190)
BB (t1175)
UTG (t10032)
UTG+1 (t6703)

Hero’s M: 66.51

Preflop: Hero is CO with 5, 5
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t100, 3 folds, Hero calls t100, 1 fold, SB calls t50, BB checks

Flop: (t490) J, 5, 9 (4 players)
SB bets t280, 2 folds, Hero raises to t888, SB raises to t2488, Hero raises to t15853 (All-In), SB calls t6592 (All-In)

Turn: (t18650) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t18650) A (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t18650

Results:
SB had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
Hero had 5, 5 (three of a kind, fives).
Outcome: SB won t18650

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1050 Tournament, 30/60 Blinds (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t9826)
SB (t14470)
BB (t15742)
UTG (t14405)
Hero (UTG+1) (t16360)
MP1 (t15000)
MP2 (t17169)
MP3 (t14530)
CO (t17935)

Hero’s M: 181.78

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with K, K
UTG bets t150, Hero calls t150, MP1 calls t150, 3 folds, Button calls t150, 2 folds

Flop: (t690) K, A, Q (4 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, MP1 bets t400, 2 folds, Hero calls t400

Turn: (t1490) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets t1000, Hero calls t1000

River: (t3490) A (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets t2250, Hero calls t2250

Total pot: t7990

Results:
Hero mucked K, K (full house, Kings over Aces).
MP1 had A, Q (full house, Aces over Queens).
Outcome: MP1 won t7990

This one might look weird, but I actually think it’s played the best of any of these. Betting the flop here would just look absurdly strong and probably get me at best one street of value from AJ. I expected to win a big pot regardless if anyone had AQ/QQ (barring this river of course), so it was really a matter of how best to extract from lesser hands. If the flop checks through, there’s a lot of value to be had bombing the turn and river, so that’s what I was hoping to do.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1050 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t22574)
UTG (t14036)
UTG+1 (t20320)
MP1 (t4447)
Hero (MP2) (t20818)
MP3 (t23958)
CO (t25198)
Button (t24622)
SB (t27061)

Hero’s M: 39.65

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A, K
3 folds, Hero bets t500, 1 fold, CO calls t500, 1 fold, SB calls t400, 1 fold

Flop: (t1925) 2, 9, 5 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t1234, CO calls t1234, 1 fold

Turn: (t4393) K (2 players)
Hero bets t2666, CO calls t2666

River: (t9725) Q (2 players)
Hero bets t6666, CO calls t6666

Total pot: t23057

Results:
Hero had A, K (one pair, Kings).
CO had 9, 9 (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: CO won t23057

I often forget that it’s harder to get thin value in tournaments than in cash games. In this and the next few hands, that’s arguably my mistake. Here, Villain was a good 2+2 poster who I knew had some hand-reading skill. I had him on a pocket pair, and I thought the board rolled off in a way that he’d expect me to triple barrel. I’m not sure what to do differently, but I don’t love this line.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 215 Tournament, 75/150 Blinds 20 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t13987)
UTG (t23235)
UTG+1 (t9298)
Hero (MP1) (t11357)
MP2 (t6755)
MP3 (t8270)
CO (t11080)
Button (t18110)
SB (t10622)

Hero’s M: 28.04

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with K, K
UTG calls t150, UTG+1 calls t150, Hero bets t750, 3 folds, Button calls t750, 2 folds, UTG calls t600, UTG+1 calls t600

Flop: (t3405) K, 7, 8 (4 players)
UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets t1444, 1 fold, UTG calls t1444, 1 fold

Turn: (t6293) J (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: (t6293) 9 (2 players)
UTG bets t1500, Hero raises to t5555, UTG calls t4055

Total pot: t17403

Results:
UTG had 10, 10 (straight, Jack high).
Hero had K, K (three of a kind, Kings).
Outcome: UTG won t17403

Given Villain’s likely UTG limp-calling range, I think it’s tough for him to have a second best hand that can pay off three streets. With the most likely draw getting there on the turn, I elected to check and bet or call river. His bet was so small that I thought he couldn’t have a straight (though looking at it now 65 would make some sense), so I went for value expecting him to have two-pair or a worse set. I don’t know whether this was optimistic or just unlucky.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 109 Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 80 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t15528)
MP2 (t18737)
MP3 (t14614)
CO (t8419)
Button (t48075)
SB (t39956)
BB (t21445)
Hero (UTG) (t13379)
UTG+1 (t11620)

Hero’s M: 10.14

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8, 8
Hero bets t800, 3 folds, MP3 calls t800, 4 folds

Flop: (t2920) 2, Q, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets t1499, MP3 raises to t2998, Hero calls t1499

Turn: (t8916) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks

River: (t8916) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t2400, Hero raises to t9501 (All-In), MP3 calls t7101

Total pot: t27918

Results:
Hero had 8, 8 (three of a kind, eights).
MP3 had Q, Q (three of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: MP3 won t27918

This is a very similar spot where the underbet + turn check tricked me into thinking I must be good. I think the biggest mistake might be flop. I told myself he could have a smaller pocket pair, but really his pre-flop call already set off a bit of an alarm for me, and I think check-calling, bet-folding, or even check-folding might all be better than bet-calling.

As I write his, I’m off to a nice start in the $500 1 rebuy, 1 add-on, which is the event in which I took 3rd last year. And in fact the biggest pot I’ve won was from a thin value shove on the river, though in this case I was dealing with a tilty and not very good Villain with whom I had a bit of history:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 60/120 Blinds 15 Ante (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t14978)
MP3 (t16324)
CO (t7013)
Hero (Button) (t14806)
SB (t4014)
BB (t15810)
UTG (t8061)
UTG+1 (t12722)
MP1 (t6916)

Hero’s M: 47.00

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 5
6 folds, Hero bets t240, SB raises to t735, 1 fold, Hero calls t495

Flop: (t1725) 5, A, Q (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t1725) 8 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (t1725) 7 (2 players)
SB bets t941, Hero raises to t14056 (All-In), SB calls t2323 (All-In)

Total pot: t8253

Results:
Hero had 7, 5 (two pair, sevens and fives).
SB had 9, A (one pair, Aces).
Outcome: Hero won t8253

My first opponent was a guy I didn’t recognize from China. Before cards were even dealt, he typed “lololol pro so cool”. Based on that alone, I predicted that he was going to give me no credit and try to outplay me.

Picking up JJ on the first hand was a dream come true. Blinds were 25/50, and he opened to 150. I made it 550, and he shoved for 7500.

This wasn’t precisely the result I wanted. I generally prefer not to play big pre-flop pots in these tournaments when I’m up against someone I expect to have an edge against, because in deep-stacked HU NLHE, edges can be very big. Based on his pre-flop chatter, I expected that he would be spazzing here a lot and dominating me rarely to never. It’s unfortunate that some of his spazzes are near-coinflips against me, but I’m on the right side of the coinflip, and even a 5% edge in a 300BB pot is pretty significant. He could also have some pairs that I dominate. So I called and won a flip against KQo to win the match on the first hand.

FWIW I probably would have folded AQ, not because I expected to be behind, but because I’d expect to find better spots.

Round 2

In the second round, I faced off with a Greek who was pretty easy to play against. I took him off a lot of small to medium pots. The first big one I won by catching him a 3-barrel in a 3-bet pot:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t7781)
BB (t7219)

Hero’s M: 103.75

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 10
Hero bets t100, BB raises to t275, Hero calls t175

Flop: (t550) J, 2, 10 (2 players)
BB bets t315, Hero calls t315

Turn: (t1180) 6 (2 players)
BB bets t630, Hero calls t630

River: (t2440) 4 (2 players)
BB bets t1615, Hero calls t1615

Total pot: t5670

Results:
Hero had 9, 10 (one pair, tens).
BB had A, 7 (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won t5670

This wouldn’t be a bad spot for him to go for three streets with a hand as weak as KJ, but I’d already seen him play some pot control with one-pair hands, so I discounted the more thin of those value bets. I also thought his sizing was weird, as he bet a larger percentage of the pot on the river, when all the draws missed, than he did on the flop and turn, when draws could still be in either of our ranges. Again, that didn’t seem like the way he’d play a one-pair hand. So with so many draws missing and my perceived value range for him very thin, I picked him off.

I won the next big pot with a bluff of my own:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t8530)
BB (t6470)

Hero’s M: 113.73

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, A
Hero bets t100, BB raises to t275, Hero calls t175

Flop: (t550) 6, 8, 6 (2 players)
BB bets t305, Hero calls t305

Turn: (t1160) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t555, BB calls t555

River: (t2270) 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1555, 1 fold

Total pot: t2270

Results:
Hero didn’t show 9, A (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won t2270

My hand is about as weak as it could be on the river, and while I might value bet as wide as JJ or QQ on the river, I think even his perceived value range for me probably includes all trips as well as flushes, straights, and full houses. I also think it’s extremely unlikely he has better than AA, so it just seemed like a good spot.

I ground him down to the point where I was leading 5:1, then got the rest in with 88 and beat his ATo.

Round 3

This is where things got tough. I drew Shawn “buck21” Buchanan, who has several big live wins as well as a WCOOP bracelet and some high-stakes cash game experience under his belt. It was a hard-fought match, though he got off to an early lead from which I never really recovered:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (BB) (t8149)
SB (t6851)

Hero’s M: 108.65

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, 3
SB bets t121, Hero calls t71

Flop: (t242) 2, 6, 10 (2 players)
Hero bets t188, SB raises to t476, Hero calls t288

Turn: (t1194) J (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t665, Hero calls t665

River: (t2524) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets t2199, Hero calls t2199

Total pot: t6922

Results:
SB had 4, 5 (straight, six high).
Hero mucked 6, 3 (two pair, sixes and threes).
Outcome: SB won t6922