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General/p4: Doylestown
Atlantic City Recap Part 1
by Doylestown on 12/17/07
Well I’m back from Atlantic City and I have plenty of poker related issues dancing around in my head. Don’t think they’ll all fit in this writing so I’ll break things up a bit.
My original plans called for leaving early on Monday morning (reservations Monday thru Wednesday nights at Borgata). My friend offered me his room on Sunday night so I made the drive down to AC early Sunday morning. Had breakfast with my friend and settled in to watch the Giants play the Eagles in yet another sloppy football game that saw the Giants come out on top. Met up with my friend after the game and hung with him in the poker room for a couple of hours before heading to dinner. My friend took off after dinner and I was on my own.
Having not played live poker for 6 months this trip was completely about getting back into the groove and preparing me for the Borgata WPT series that begins in mid January.
Sunday night I spend about 4 hours playing in a $2/$5 NL donkfest and I drop $1000. Nice. The plan is to play the WSOP Circuit events at Harrah’s on Mon, Tues and Wed. so I head up to the room for a good nights sleep. Wake up way too early Monday morning and am bored so I head to the Poker Room with coffee in hand. The high limit room is dead so I sit down at $2/$5 NL again. About an hour in I’m ahead a negligible amount when a kid sits down and takes $200 out of his pocket. Dealer hands him 2 stacks of red and he moves them all in blind before receiving his cards. He gets called by K7o loses and repeats. Wash rinse repeat over and over again……….. Triples up on his 4th try and shoves $600+ in blind next hand and busts it. Next hand he’s back to $200 blind shoves………. Meanwhile I’m sitting a few seats behind him and hand after hand I can’t find a broadway card let alone 2. This process continues until half the table winds up all in on any given hand. This was the sickest $2/$5 game I’ve ever been in and as luck would have it I remained beyond card dead. After a while I become so frustrated I decide to pick up and leave.
Harrah’s WSOP Circuit Event 3
After breakfast I head to Harrah’s to register for the Monday event. The process is smooth and quick. Say hello to a couple of friends before the tournament starts and then settle in for what I hope will be a long day. We start with $5000 chips and 1 hour levels. I chip up a tad in the 1st hour. Early in the 2nd hour ($50/$100 blinds) I badly misplay a hand that costs me half my stack. One thing I’ve always been pretty good at is “live tells”. I pick one up from an early position raiser, he’s STRONG, seriously STRONG. After his raise to $275 and a couple of calls I look down to see AQo in the big blind, ugh. I say to myself that I need to throw it away but my right hand won’t listen and calls, huh? I quickly check the AJ4 rainbow flop and the opening raiser leads out for $500. Folds back around to me and the battle between my brain and right hand continues. My right hand wins, I flick in the $500 chip. The turn is a 10. I say to myself there’s absolutely nothing I can beat here except pocket KK’s or QQ’s but I KNOW he won’t bet again with one of those hands. I check with the intention of folding to a bet. Villain bets $700 and my right hand decides that it’s worth chasing a gutter ball for only $700 more. Seriously if you could see what transpired between my head and hand you’d fall over laughing. I had no self control. The river’s a brick and I check again. Villain doesn’t hesitate and tosses a $1000 chip to the center. Fold, Fold, Fold…………….. my right hand calls. Villain flips over AK and I want to punch myself in the nose or at least sever my right hand. I mean really, what’s the matter with me???
Now short stacked I know I need to step on the gas and double up or leave. I have the button a couple of hands later and with a couple of limpers I find A8 and raise it up. The BB must’ve picked up on my “move” because he shoves all in with about the same sized stack as I have. I picked up on a little something too and snap call him. My A8 is ahead of his J10o. The 8 on the flop wasn’t necessary and I double up to the mid $4000’s. On my next button I pick up KJss. With a couple of limps and a sweetener raise to $275 from the cutoff I decide to flat call. The limpers come along for the ride and we see an AsQs9d flop, yummy. It checks around to me, really? Nobody has an A here? I fire $1500 thinking that I’ll take it down here but not minding if I get a customer. The opening limper who is the same villain from hand 1 raises enough to put me all in, everyone folds and it’s back to me, OK I call. He’s got A9 and I have a trillion outs and miss the entire world with my royal flush draw of spades, meh!!!
I head back to Borgata and have quite a talk with myself. Amateurs’ play that AQ hand the way I did, good players pick up tells and trust them while amateurs’ choose to ignore them. Amateurs’ exude no self control at the tables. I’m rusty, yes, but I’m no damn amateur! The trip has started off on the wrong foot and there is more rust in tow than I realized.
I somehow willed myself to sleep, deciding that the cash tables were the wrong place for me at the moment. I woke up feeling a lot better, grabbed some dinner (Fatburger mmm mmm good) and headed for the high limit room, determined to play some good poker. I took a seat at $5/$10 NL and had a nice 7 hour winning session.
Got a pretty good night’s sleep but woke up feeling sluggish on Tuesday. This live poker stuff is tiring. Breakfast didn’t help so I decided to just relax for a while and skip the WSOP Circuit event #4 at Harrah’s. Several years ago I couldn’t have made that decision. In my mind it’s that ability, being able to be honest with myself that has made me a better all around player. There was flat out no way I was going to be able to play 14 hours of solid tournament poker and I knew it. Despite feeling tired I knew I was completely back in control and ready to do some good things at the tables. Early afternoon I sat down for a winning 12 hour session that included time at both the $5/10 NL and $10/$20 NL tables. I played really well and felt really sharp. I was now completely focused and a different person than the guy who arrived on Sunday morning.
I’ll pick up in part 2 with highlight’s of Harrah’s WSOP event #5.
-Doyle-
My original plans called for leaving early on Monday morning (reservations Monday thru Wednesday nights at Borgata). My friend offered me his room on Sunday night so I made the drive down to AC early Sunday morning. Had breakfast with my friend and settled in to watch the Giants play the Eagles in yet another sloppy football game that saw the Giants come out on top. Met up with my friend after the game and hung with him in the poker room for a couple of hours before heading to dinner. My friend took off after dinner and I was on my own.
Having not played live poker for 6 months this trip was completely about getting back into the groove and preparing me for the Borgata WPT series that begins in mid January.
Sunday night I spend about 4 hours playing in a $2/$5 NL donkfest and I drop $1000. Nice. The plan is to play the WSOP Circuit events at Harrah’s on Mon, Tues and Wed. so I head up to the room for a good nights sleep. Wake up way too early Monday morning and am bored so I head to the Poker Room with coffee in hand. The high limit room is dead so I sit down at $2/$5 NL again. About an hour in I’m ahead a negligible amount when a kid sits down and takes $200 out of his pocket. Dealer hands him 2 stacks of red and he moves them all in blind before receiving his cards. He gets called by K7o loses and repeats. Wash rinse repeat over and over again……….. Triples up on his 4th try and shoves $600+ in blind next hand and busts it. Next hand he’s back to $200 blind shoves………. Meanwhile I’m sitting a few seats behind him and hand after hand I can’t find a broadway card let alone 2. This process continues until half the table winds up all in on any given hand. This was the sickest $2/$5 game I’ve ever been in and as luck would have it I remained beyond card dead. After a while I become so frustrated I decide to pick up and leave.
Harrah’s WSOP Circuit Event 3
After breakfast I head to Harrah’s to register for the Monday event. The process is smooth and quick. Say hello to a couple of friends before the tournament starts and then settle in for what I hope will be a long day. We start with $5000 chips and 1 hour levels. I chip up a tad in the 1st hour. Early in the 2nd hour ($50/$100 blinds) I badly misplay a hand that costs me half my stack. One thing I’ve always been pretty good at is “live tells”. I pick one up from an early position raiser, he’s STRONG, seriously STRONG. After his raise to $275 and a couple of calls I look down to see AQo in the big blind, ugh. I say to myself that I need to throw it away but my right hand won’t listen and calls, huh? I quickly check the AJ4 rainbow flop and the opening raiser leads out for $500. Folds back around to me and the battle between my brain and right hand continues. My right hand wins, I flick in the $500 chip. The turn is a 10. I say to myself there’s absolutely nothing I can beat here except pocket KK’s or QQ’s but I KNOW he won’t bet again with one of those hands. I check with the intention of folding to a bet. Villain bets $700 and my right hand decides that it’s worth chasing a gutter ball for only $700 more. Seriously if you could see what transpired between my head and hand you’d fall over laughing. I had no self control. The river’s a brick and I check again. Villain doesn’t hesitate and tosses a $1000 chip to the center. Fold, Fold, Fold…………….. my right hand calls. Villain flips over AK and I want to punch myself in the nose or at least sever my right hand. I mean really, what’s the matter with me???
Now short stacked I know I need to step on the gas and double up or leave. I have the button a couple of hands later and with a couple of limpers I find A8 and raise it up. The BB must’ve picked up on my “move” because he shoves all in with about the same sized stack as I have. I picked up on a little something too and snap call him. My A8 is ahead of his J10o. The 8 on the flop wasn’t necessary and I double up to the mid $4000’s. On my next button I pick up KJss. With a couple of limps and a sweetener raise to $275 from the cutoff I decide to flat call. The limpers come along for the ride and we see an AsQs9d flop, yummy. It checks around to me, really? Nobody has an A here? I fire $1500 thinking that I’ll take it down here but not minding if I get a customer. The opening limper who is the same villain from hand 1 raises enough to put me all in, everyone folds and it’s back to me, OK I call. He’s got A9 and I have a trillion outs and miss the entire world with my royal flush draw of spades, meh!!!
I head back to Borgata and have quite a talk with myself. Amateurs’ play that AQ hand the way I did, good players pick up tells and trust them while amateurs’ choose to ignore them. Amateurs’ exude no self control at the tables. I’m rusty, yes, but I’m no damn amateur! The trip has started off on the wrong foot and there is more rust in tow than I realized.
I somehow willed myself to sleep, deciding that the cash tables were the wrong place for me at the moment. I woke up feeling a lot better, grabbed some dinner (Fatburger mmm mmm good) and headed for the high limit room, determined to play some good poker. I took a seat at $5/$10 NL and had a nice 7 hour winning session.
Got a pretty good night’s sleep but woke up feeling sluggish on Tuesday. This live poker stuff is tiring. Breakfast didn’t help so I decided to just relax for a while and skip the WSOP Circuit event #4 at Harrah’s. Several years ago I couldn’t have made that decision. In my mind it’s that ability, being able to be honest with myself that has made me a better all around player. There was flat out no way I was going to be able to play 14 hours of solid tournament poker and I knew it. Despite feeling tired I knew I was completely back in control and ready to do some good things at the tables. Early afternoon I sat down for a winning 12 hour session that included time at both the $5/10 NL and $10/$20 NL tables. I played really well and felt really sharp. I was now completely focused and a different person than the guy who arrived on Sunday morning.
I’ll pick up in part 2 with highlight’s of Harrah’s WSOP event #5.
-Doyle-
Road Trip
by Doylestown on 12/06/07
Live Poker
After some creative juggling I’ve found a way to get some time off and I’ll be using it to head down to Atlantic City next week. The WSOP Circuit is coming to town at Harrah’s. Since beggars can’t be choosers I’ll have to settle for some of the preliminary events as my schedule only allows me to get away the early part of the week and the 1K and Main Events don’t start until the latter part of the week. Maybe it’s for the best as I haven’t played any live poker in 6 months. My plan is to play a couple or three of the $500 events at Harrah’s and some NL cash at The Borgata where I’ll be staying during my trip. The structure for the $500 WSOP Circuit events is decent at best. They don’t hold a candle to what The Borgata offers structure wise when the WPT comes to town a couple of times a year. The Borgata WPT next heads this way in January so I’ll use this trip to shake off the rust and prepare me for some nice events next month. The Borgata has internet access in their rooms so if anything interesting is happening down there and I can drag myself away from the tables (not likely) I may send in an update from dreary AC in wintertime.
Online Tournaments
I’ve gotten 3 days of play in this month already which is pretty good for me. I’m pleased with how I’m playing right now. I’ve had a few really horrible things happen during bubble time but such is life in these things. Despite that, I still managed to Final Table the Stars $109 and the Stars $50 Rebuy this week. Unfortunately the cards weren’t kind at or leading to the Final Tables and I only managed to cash for about $3K which is pretty disappointing. I may try to squeeze in one more session before I leave for Atlantic City.
Online Cash
December has picked up where November left off. I’m definitely running hot right now and I’m doing my best to enjoy it because I know winning streaks eventually come to an end. Through the 5th I’m already up 9 buy ins for the month, sweet.
The Football Giants
OK I nearly broke my big screen last Sunday before they pulled off that miracle 4th quarter comeback. As if the G-men needed any more bad news, Ron Ward who had a career high rushing day broke his leg and is gone indefinitely. A few weeks ago Harlem mentioned that I should keep an eye on the Giants rookie running back, I assume he meant Bradshaw. Looks like we may be down to the rookie and Reuben Droughns unless Jacobs returns from his hamstring injury. Big Blue heads into my neck of the woods this week to take on the Eagles in what should be a tough cold weather NFC East game. Wonder if there is anyplace cool to watch the game at The Borgata? If so I may decide to leave for AC Sunday morning, if not I’ll leave after the game and get in Sunday night. Any AC regulars know? I've been there a million times but am usually too consumed in the poker room to notice.
-Doyle-
After some creative juggling I’ve found a way to get some time off and I’ll be using it to head down to Atlantic City next week. The WSOP Circuit is coming to town at Harrah’s. Since beggars can’t be choosers I’ll have to settle for some of the preliminary events as my schedule only allows me to get away the early part of the week and the 1K and Main Events don’t start until the latter part of the week. Maybe it’s for the best as I haven’t played any live poker in 6 months. My plan is to play a couple or three of the $500 events at Harrah’s and some NL cash at The Borgata where I’ll be staying during my trip. The structure for the $500 WSOP Circuit events is decent at best. They don’t hold a candle to what The Borgata offers structure wise when the WPT comes to town a couple of times a year. The Borgata WPT next heads this way in January so I’ll use this trip to shake off the rust and prepare me for some nice events next month. The Borgata has internet access in their rooms so if anything interesting is happening down there and I can drag myself away from the tables (not likely) I may send in an update from dreary AC in wintertime.
Online Tournaments
I’ve gotten 3 days of play in this month already which is pretty good for me. I’m pleased with how I’m playing right now. I’ve had a few really horrible things happen during bubble time but such is life in these things. Despite that, I still managed to Final Table the Stars $109 and the Stars $50 Rebuy this week. Unfortunately the cards weren’t kind at or leading to the Final Tables and I only managed to cash for about $3K which is pretty disappointing. I may try to squeeze in one more session before I leave for Atlantic City.
Online Cash
December has picked up where November left off. I’m definitely running hot right now and I’m doing my best to enjoy it because I know winning streaks eventually come to an end. Through the 5th I’m already up 9 buy ins for the month, sweet.
The Football Giants
OK I nearly broke my big screen last Sunday before they pulled off that miracle 4th quarter comeback. As if the G-men needed any more bad news, Ron Ward who had a career high rushing day broke his leg and is gone indefinitely. A few weeks ago Harlem mentioned that I should keep an eye on the Giants rookie running back, I assume he meant Bradshaw. Looks like we may be down to the rookie and Reuben Droughns unless Jacobs returns from his hamstring injury. Big Blue heads into my neck of the woods this week to take on the Eagles in what should be a tough cold weather NFC East game. Wonder if there is anyplace cool to watch the game at The Borgata? If so I may decide to leave for AC Sunday morning, if not I’ll leave after the game and get in Sunday night. Any AC regulars know? I've been there a million times but am usually too consumed in the poker room to notice.
-Doyle-
November Recap
by Doylestown on 11/30/07
Cash Games:
I just wrapped up my best month at the online cash tables since I began playing 6-max back in August. I wound up winning 17 buy ins for the month. I also crossed the 10,000 hand plateau for the first time in the 4 months I’ve been playing.
I feel good about November’s results primarily because I feel good about my game. I’m confident that my cash game is in a better place today than it was when I started writing this blog back in October. I’ve continued to examine both my game and myself during this time. Doing so has helped me identify a couple of leaks, both in game play and in what I’m bringing to the table. I believe both have made a difference in my bottom line.
One of my early concerns which I voiced in a prior writing of this blog was that the size of my winning days were being dwarfed when compared to the size of my losing days. I wrote that I felt strongly that it was an issue of variance. I had examined my hand histories and really saw no difference in my play when my stack began to grow at a table. When examining November’s results I’m pleased with what I see. I believe that my suspicions about variance being the culprit were correct. My daily’s came in at 19 wins and 7 losses. I booked 6 winning days for better than 2 buy ins vs. only 1 losing day of more than 2 buy ins. I’ll be sure to re-examine this again at the end of December.
Looking forward I can’t forecast what December will allow in terms of available time to devote to poker. My life remains chaotic and I may not be able to put in as much time next month as I did in November. My #1 goal will be to try to play my best whenever I sit down, hopefully good results will follow.
Tournaments:
My results have been overall to the positive since I began dabbling in tournaments back in late October after having taken several months off. Unlike my cash game, I am not happy with where I am regarding the online tournament experience. This isn’t actually a function of my game play but more so a factor of my current real life situation. Of late I’ve begun buying into tournaments when I really shouldn’t be due to time constraints and life responsibilities. My strong desire to play has been winning the battle much to my own detriment. What invariably has been happening is I wind up constantly distracted and I’m probably playing sub optimally and often times I’m not focused on playing at all. With cash games this is no problem whatsoever, you just click sit out or you cash out depending on what pops up in your life. With tournaments this is quite frankly terrible, and something which I must stop doing.
So my tournament goal for December will be to only play when I can give it proper focus and attention. It looks like I might be free and clear to play on Saturday the 1st of the month. Hopefully I can play a bunch of events throughout the day and just enjoy the experience, results be damned.
Live Play:
Last I played live was at the main event at the Borgata Summer Open. It’s been 6 long months since I’ve seen a real deck of cards, way too long. There are WSOP circuit events coming up at Harrah’s AC in December. The World Poker Tour comes to the Borgata in January. I am going to see if I can somehow find time to make it to Atlantic City to play at one or both of these venues. I much prefer Atlantic City in the warm weather but beggars can’t be choosers and I would really like to play live again sometime soon.
And Lastly, the Football Giants:
I’ve mentioned my favorite football team twice in my blog in anticipation of an upcoming game and both times they stunk out the joint. Watching last weeks debacle against the Vikings was painful to say the least. The last few seasons under the Manning/Coughlin regime have begun with such promise and ended with sloppy uninspired football. I hope the Giants show up and play their “A” game at Chicago this week. If they finish out their schedule without another historic collapse they should easily grab the 5 seed in the playoffs which could lead to a winnable 1st round road playoff game which would then likely set up the 3rd meeting of the year against the Cowboys who last night all but locked up the 1 seed with their win against Green Bay.
I choose not to play the online Sunday events so I can watch the NFL. I hope the Giants will reward that decision by playing some good inspired football as the season winds down. Last thought on this weeks game in the Windy City, please don’t kick the ball to Hester, he’s a total game breaking freak.
-Doyle-
I just wrapped up my best month at the online cash tables since I began playing 6-max back in August. I wound up winning 17 buy ins for the month. I also crossed the 10,000 hand plateau for the first time in the 4 months I’ve been playing.
I feel good about November’s results primarily because I feel good about my game. I’m confident that my cash game is in a better place today than it was when I started writing this blog back in October. I’ve continued to examine both my game and myself during this time. Doing so has helped me identify a couple of leaks, both in game play and in what I’m bringing to the table. I believe both have made a difference in my bottom line.
One of my early concerns which I voiced in a prior writing of this blog was that the size of my winning days were being dwarfed when compared to the size of my losing days. I wrote that I felt strongly that it was an issue of variance. I had examined my hand histories and really saw no difference in my play when my stack began to grow at a table. When examining November’s results I’m pleased with what I see. I believe that my suspicions about variance being the culprit were correct. My daily’s came in at 19 wins and 7 losses. I booked 6 winning days for better than 2 buy ins vs. only 1 losing day of more than 2 buy ins. I’ll be sure to re-examine this again at the end of December.
Looking forward I can’t forecast what December will allow in terms of available time to devote to poker. My life remains chaotic and I may not be able to put in as much time next month as I did in November. My #1 goal will be to try to play my best whenever I sit down, hopefully good results will follow.
Tournaments:
My results have been overall to the positive since I began dabbling in tournaments back in late October after having taken several months off. Unlike my cash game, I am not happy with where I am regarding the online tournament experience. This isn’t actually a function of my game play but more so a factor of my current real life situation. Of late I’ve begun buying into tournaments when I really shouldn’t be due to time constraints and life responsibilities. My strong desire to play has been winning the battle much to my own detriment. What invariably has been happening is I wind up constantly distracted and I’m probably playing sub optimally and often times I’m not focused on playing at all. With cash games this is no problem whatsoever, you just click sit out or you cash out depending on what pops up in your life. With tournaments this is quite frankly terrible, and something which I must stop doing.
So my tournament goal for December will be to only play when I can give it proper focus and attention. It looks like I might be free and clear to play on Saturday the 1st of the month. Hopefully I can play a bunch of events throughout the day and just enjoy the experience, results be damned.
Live Play:
Last I played live was at the main event at the Borgata Summer Open. It’s been 6 long months since I’ve seen a real deck of cards, way too long. There are WSOP circuit events coming up at Harrah’s AC in December. The World Poker Tour comes to the Borgata in January. I am going to see if I can somehow find time to make it to Atlantic City to play at one or both of these venues. I much prefer Atlantic City in the warm weather but beggars can’t be choosers and I would really like to play live again sometime soon.
And Lastly, the Football Giants:
I’ve mentioned my favorite football team twice in my blog in anticipation of an upcoming game and both times they stunk out the joint. Watching last weeks debacle against the Vikings was painful to say the least. The last few seasons under the Manning/Coughlin regime have begun with such promise and ended with sloppy uninspired football. I hope the Giants show up and play their “A” game at Chicago this week. If they finish out their schedule without another historic collapse they should easily grab the 5 seed in the playoffs which could lead to a winnable 1st round road playoff game which would then likely set up the 3rd meeting of the year against the Cowboys who last night all but locked up the 1 seed with their win against Green Bay.
I choose not to play the online Sunday events so I can watch the NFL. I hope the Giants will reward that decision by playing some good inspired football as the season winds down. Last thought on this weeks game in the Windy City, please don’t kick the ball to Hester, he’s a total game breaking freak.
-Doyle-
Happy Thanksgiving
by Doylestown on 11/20/07
Happy Thanksgiving
It’s been a week since my last update. As I mentioned last time I was facing an extremely busy week at work so poker had to take a back seat. In keeping with the theme of remaining consistent with this blog here we go:
Last we left off one of my friends was fighting for the chip lead at the Borgata 5K. Unfortunately he busted just before the money bubble. I really thought he was going to do some serious damage in this one but it wasn’t to be as day 3 was very unkind to him.
My Cash Game:
I ended last week ahead 3+ buy ins. This week I’m stuck a bit more than a buy in. There are so many hands that I want to post but I’ll limit it to a couple. I also want to be conscious not to post only bad beat hands so here goes. Here’s a loss first, I swear its hands like these that keep me from being a “successful” cash game player. If I could just learn to be successful against the donks I'd be dangerous. In this hand my top pair and true straight flush draw were no good. Have a good laugh and look at the results in white below.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (5 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)
SB ($118.40)
BB ($200)
UTG ($279.55)
Hero ($229.45)
Button ($97.40)
Preflop: Hero is MP with 7
, 6.
1 fold, Hero raises to $6, Button calls $6, SB calls $5, BB calls $4.
Flop: ($24) 5, 4, 6
(4 players)
SB bets $112.4 (All-In), BB folds, Hero calls $112.40, Button folds.
Turn: ($0) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: ($0) 5
(2 players, 1 all-in)
Final Pot: $248.80
Results in white below:
SB has 5s Td (full house, fives full of fours).
Hero has 7c 6c (two pair, sixes and fives).
Outcome: SB wins $248.80.
Now for a winner. I had a good read based on very limited info on my opponent. He had a pattern that I thought I saw developing pre flop. With big pairs he was flat calling and with 2 big broadway he was 3-betting. Ordinarily this would be spewy without a read.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)
BB ($64.75)
UTG ($218.80)
Hero ($175.55)
CO ($216)
Button ($135.30)
SB ($195.30)
Preflop: Hero is MP with 7
, 8.
1 fold, Hero raises to $6, 2 folds, SB raises to $18, 1 fold, Hero calls $12.
Flop: ($38) 3, 6, 7 (2 players)
SB bets $20, Hero calls $20.
Turn: ($78) 3 (2 players)
SB bets $66, Hero raises to $137.55, SB calls $71.55.
River: ($353.10) J (2 players)
Final Pot: $353.10
Results in white below:
SB has Kh Ac (one pair, threes).
Hero has 7s 8s (two pair, sevens and threes).
Outcome: Hero wins $353.10.
Monday Tournaments:
It had been exactly a week since I was able to play a tournament. Monday was a little tight for time but I decided to throw caution to the wind by juggling everything else going on in my life and load up an afternoon set. Afterall I was jonesing to play after a week off. I was definitely a bit distracted while playing as a bunch of business issues popped up during my session. It just wasn’t one of those days that I could turn off the phone and inbox.
I played 6 events and was really only competitive in 2 of them. The 15K guaranteed on Full Tilt was going really well with 2/3rds of the field gone until a lagtard who was the only player at the table that had me covered decided that 77 was good enough to get it in with for all the chips pre flop against my pocket 10’s. The 7 high flop sent me to the rail. Ho hum.
My only cash of the day came in the Stars $20 Rebuy. To be honest it began pretty sloppily and I was battling a short stack for what seemed like forever. I am really trying my best to not become discouraged when it looks like everything is going against me in a session. I remember checking my info tab with @ 100 players to go (paying 45) and I was dead last in the tournament. I just buckled down and continued to play super tough with the short stack. A few hours later I was at the final table with a nice stack, I came in 4 of 9. Here was the defining hand of the tournament. We’re down to 6 and I’m in 3rd place. If I win this hand I’ve got the chip lead.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t8000 (6 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)
Button (t52704)
SB (t173467)
Hero (t269994)
UTG (t182752)
MP (t330561)
CO (t444022)
Preflop: Hero is BB with T, T.
4 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to t28000, SB raises to t173467, Hero calls t144667.
Flop: (t349334) J, 8, 5 (2 players)
Turn: (t349334) 2 (2 players)
River: (t349334) 9 (2 players)
Final Pot: t349334
Results in white below:
SB has 9d 9s (three of a kind, nines).
Hero has Ts Td (one pair, tens).
Outcome: SB wins t349334.
After losing this hand I hung tough with the short stack again and battled back. I finished 3rd despite the big chip disadvantage that hand left me facing. The cash was good for $1800+. I walked away a bit disappointed as I felt that if my 10's held vs. the 9's I had a great shot at taking this one down. Oh well.
This day was a far cry from my prior few tournament sessions where I had been successful building a big stack in many of my events. To be a successful tournament player you need to be able to play well regardless of the circumstances. Short stack play is critical in tournaments and I’m happy that I didn’t throw in the towel on this one when I easily could have given up.
It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to play any more tournaments the rest of this week as I’ll be enjoying time with my family for the holiday. I want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving, eat your hearts out guys, you only live once!
Oh and of course a Giants win on Sunday would move them to 8-3 so lets go Big Blue!
-Doyle-
It’s been a week since my last update. As I mentioned last time I was facing an extremely busy week at work so poker had to take a back seat. In keeping with the theme of remaining consistent with this blog here we go:
Last we left off one of my friends was fighting for the chip lead at the Borgata 5K. Unfortunately he busted just before the money bubble. I really thought he was going to do some serious damage in this one but it wasn’t to be as day 3 was very unkind to him.
My Cash Game:
I ended last week ahead 3+ buy ins. This week I’m stuck a bit more than a buy in. There are so many hands that I want to post but I’ll limit it to a couple. I also want to be conscious not to post only bad beat hands so here goes. Here’s a loss first, I swear its hands like these that keep me from being a “successful” cash game player. If I could just learn to be successful against the donks I'd be dangerous. In this hand my top pair and true straight flush draw were no good. Have a good laugh and look at the results in white below.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (5 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)
SB ($118.40)
BB ($200)
UTG ($279.55)
Hero ($229.45)
Button ($97.40)
Preflop: Hero is MP with 7
, 6. 1 fold, Hero raises to $6, Button calls $6, SB calls $5, BB calls $4.
Flop: ($24) 5
, 4, 6 (4 players)SB bets $112.4 (All-In), BB folds, Hero calls $112.40, Button folds.
Turn: ($0) 4
(2 players, 1 all-in)River: ($0) 5
(2 players, 1 all-in)Final Pot: $248.80
Results in white below:
SB has 5s Td (full house, fives full of fours).
Hero has 7c 6c (two pair, sixes and fives).
Outcome: SB wins $248.80.
Now for a winner. I had a good read based on very limited info on my opponent. He had a pattern that I thought I saw developing pre flop. With big pairs he was flat calling and with 2 big broadway he was 3-betting. Ordinarily this would be spewy without a read.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (6 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)
BB ($64.75)
UTG ($218.80)
Hero ($175.55)
CO ($216)
Button ($135.30)
SB ($195.30)
Preflop: Hero is MP with 7
, 8. 1 fold, Hero raises to $6, 2 folds, SB raises to $18, 1 fold, Hero calls $12.
Flop: ($38) 3
, 6, 7 (2 players)SB bets $20, Hero calls $20.
Turn: ($78) 3
(2 players)SB bets $66, Hero raises to $137.55, SB calls $71.55.
River: ($353.10) J
(2 players)Final Pot: $353.10
Results in white below:
SB has Kh Ac (one pair, threes).
Hero has 7s 8s (two pair, sevens and threes).
Outcome: Hero wins $353.10.
Monday Tournaments:
It had been exactly a week since I was able to play a tournament. Monday was a little tight for time but I decided to throw caution to the wind by juggling everything else going on in my life and load up an afternoon set. Afterall I was jonesing to play after a week off. I was definitely a bit distracted while playing as a bunch of business issues popped up during my session. It just wasn’t one of those days that I could turn off the phone and inbox.
I played 6 events and was really only competitive in 2 of them. The 15K guaranteed on Full Tilt was going really well with 2/3rds of the field gone until a lagtard who was the only player at the table that had me covered decided that 77 was good enough to get it in with for all the chips pre flop against my pocket 10’s. The 7 high flop sent me to the rail. Ho hum.
My only cash of the day came in the Stars $20 Rebuy. To be honest it began pretty sloppily and I was battling a short stack for what seemed like forever. I am really trying my best to not become discouraged when it looks like everything is going against me in a session. I remember checking my info tab with @ 100 players to go (paying 45) and I was dead last in the tournament. I just buckled down and continued to play super tough with the short stack. A few hours later I was at the final table with a nice stack, I came in 4 of 9. Here was the defining hand of the tournament. We’re down to 6 and I’m in 3rd place. If I win this hand I’ve got the chip lead.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t8000 (6 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)
Button (t52704)
SB (t173467)
Hero (t269994)
UTG (t182752)
MP (t330561)
CO (t444022)
Preflop: Hero is BB with T
, T. 4 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to t28000, SB raises to t173467, Hero calls t144667.
Flop: (t349334) J
, 8, 5 (2 players)Turn: (t349334) 2
(2 players)River: (t349334) 9
(2 players)Final Pot: t349334
Results in white below:
SB has 9d 9s (three of a kind, nines).
Hero has Ts Td (one pair, tens).
Outcome: SB wins t349334.
After losing this hand I hung tough with the short stack again and battled back. I finished 3rd despite the big chip disadvantage that hand left me facing. The cash was good for $1800+. I walked away a bit disappointed as I felt that if my 10's held vs. the 9's I had a great shot at taking this one down. Oh well.
This day was a far cry from my prior few tournament sessions where I had been successful building a big stack in many of my events. To be a successful tournament player you need to be able to play well regardless of the circumstances. Short stack play is critical in tournaments and I’m happy that I didn’t throw in the towel on this one when I easily could have given up.
It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to play any more tournaments the rest of this week as I’ll be enjoying time with my family for the holiday. I want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving, eat your hearts out guys, you only live once!
Oh and of course a Giants win on Sunday would move them to 8-3 so lets go Big Blue!
-Doyle-
End Of Week Update
by Doylestown on 11/10/07
Just wrapped up an early morning cash session in what was likely an end to the week for me. The last 3 days totaled to a loss of ¾ of a buy in. My week ending cash total was + 5 ½ buy ins which is just fine considering the small volume I put in.
On the tournament front just as I had done on Wednesday, I took Friday afternoon off and began loading up tournaments on both Stars and Tilt. I played 7 events in all and somehow managed to whiff despite having a chip lead or top 2-3 stack in 3 of the 7 tournaments, including the Stars 50K and the Stars $50 Rebuy. Everything felt great while I was playing. I’ve been experimenting with some new tournament ideas and I’m pleased with the early results.
Over time I’ve become much better, albeit not perfect at ignoring the day to day results in MTT’s. I’m of the belief that if I play well and make good decisions the good results I’m looking for will eventually follow. However there’s just no getting around the fact that I am much more emotionally in tuned to my MTT’s than to my cash games. When I wrap up a session of cash I normally record my results and if necessary look over some of my hand histories. When I close the books on a cash session I don’t think about it ever again, literally. The next time I think about cash is when I begin my next session the following day.
MTT’s are a completely different story. The tournaments I last played don’t seem to leave my brain until I begin another tournament session. There’s a lot of good that comes from this as I’m constantly evaluating my game but past experience has taught me that the negative impact it has is that it often wears me down mentally over time. As I wrote early on, a major reason for writing this blog is to hold myself accountable when I identify problems where it concerns poker. This is one that I know I have to improve upon. I’m going to try to work on limiting the amount of space I allow MTT’s to rent in my head while I’m away from the tables. Wish me luck, this has always proved difficult for me.
Continuing on the tournament theme, I'm enjoying playing in the afternoons/early evenings. The mix of games are nice. The Rebuys I'm playing range from $20 to $50 & the freezeouts range from $50 to $120 acrosss both Stars and Full Tilt. There's a constant flow of them so I'm never withouut a full screen of events. I'm going to try to adjust my work schedule to allow me a couple or three afternoons a week off when possible. I already know that next week is an extremely busy one at work so I may not be able to play at all.
Lastly, the Borgata Deep Stack 5K event is getting underway tomorrow and as I thought I'm definitely going to miss it. A couple of my friends are playing it so I'll be rooting hard for them to do well.
One final thought, Go Big Blue! The Giants host the Cowboys tomorrow for 1st place in the NFC East. I'm a lifelong Giants fan so you know I'll be glued to my set.
On the tournament front just as I had done on Wednesday, I took Friday afternoon off and began loading up tournaments on both Stars and Tilt. I played 7 events in all and somehow managed to whiff despite having a chip lead or top 2-3 stack in 3 of the 7 tournaments, including the Stars 50K and the Stars $50 Rebuy. Everything felt great while I was playing. I’ve been experimenting with some new tournament ideas and I’m pleased with the early results.
Over time I’ve become much better, albeit not perfect at ignoring the day to day results in MTT’s. I’m of the belief that if I play well and make good decisions the good results I’m looking for will eventually follow. However there’s just no getting around the fact that I am much more emotionally in tuned to my MTT’s than to my cash games. When I wrap up a session of cash I normally record my results and if necessary look over some of my hand histories. When I close the books on a cash session I don’t think about it ever again, literally. The next time I think about cash is when I begin my next session the following day.
MTT’s are a completely different story. The tournaments I last played don’t seem to leave my brain until I begin another tournament session. There’s a lot of good that comes from this as I’m constantly evaluating my game but past experience has taught me that the negative impact it has is that it often wears me down mentally over time. As I wrote early on, a major reason for writing this blog is to hold myself accountable when I identify problems where it concerns poker. This is one that I know I have to improve upon. I’m going to try to work on limiting the amount of space I allow MTT’s to rent in my head while I’m away from the tables. Wish me luck, this has always proved difficult for me.
Continuing on the tournament theme, I'm enjoying playing in the afternoons/early evenings. The mix of games are nice. The Rebuys I'm playing range from $20 to $50 & the freezeouts range from $50 to $120 acrosss both Stars and Full Tilt. There's a constant flow of them so I'm never withouut a full screen of events. I'm going to try to adjust my work schedule to allow me a couple or three afternoons a week off when possible. I already know that next week is an extremely busy one at work so I may not be able to play at all.
Lastly, the Borgata Deep Stack 5K event is getting underway tomorrow and as I thought I'm definitely going to miss it. A couple of my friends are playing it so I'll be rooting hard for them to do well.
One final thought, Go Big Blue! The Giants host the Cowboys tomorrow for 1st place in the NFC East. I'm a lifelong Giants fan so you know I'll be glued to my set.
