Bad Beats Break Bank

Ok, the bank isn't broken, but the poker gods have not been smiling favorably on me recently. A bankroll that was once at $150 is now down to $80. I have played in several different types of tournaments with buy-ins from $3 to $24, and using different strategies to see if I get different results.

In one tournament, I had decided I was going to try and play less than 20% of the hands forcing myself to play only premium hands. Usually, I tend to see a minimum of 40% of the flops, and often this number is over 50% when playing online. I won't call large raises with weak hands, but if I can see a flop with a hand like 7-8 suited for a very small amount, I like to take that chance at hitting a flop no one will ever suspect could be dangerous.

Another tournament I decided that I would not play any pocket pair under 10s. This came after playing in a tournament where I realized I was losing a lot of money with these weak hands as more often than not, I would have to fold to any bet on the flop. Excluding straight or flush draws, you're really only looking for 2 cards in the deck to make your hand by making trips or quads, if that doesn't happen, you'll likely have to fold the hand at some point or try an make an amazing call against a potential bluff. Especially when out of position, folding these hands seems to be cost-effective.

Later, I tried playing a positional game. With obvious exceptions, I played with the concept that position is power. If I were UTG, I would throw away a hand like A-8 preflop, recognizing that someone acting behind me were to raise it up, I would probably have to fold, so why bother trying to play it at all. In poker, you always want to be the aggressor. You want to be the one making a raise or a re-raise, not just calling everything. It's a lot easier to be the aggressor when you have position (meaning you act after they do) on your opponent, because you're able to get more information than they are, as you've had the advantage of watching them act first.

I was recently watching a televised poker event, the World Poker Championships, or something like that. A select 9 countries are asked to send 6 players to this single-table tournament, round robin style where everyone watched each player play against their table. It's a weird format, but rather enjoyable is you have a country in the tournament to cheer for.

Daniel Negreanu was a member of Team Canada, and one of his teammates was the chip leader in the table starting with 9 players, but was now down to just 4. Daniel called for a team "Time-Out" where he and the other teammates could consult with the player in the tournament for 1 minute to discuss strategy. Of course, being the only professional amongst a group of amateurs, they all listened to the advice Daniel gave. 

"Be the aggressor. Don't call any bets, either raise or fold. If you think you hand might not be good, get the hell out, don't give anything away." Ok, that wasn't a direct quote, but it's probably pretty close.

Anyways, back to my point, if I ever had one.

No matter what style of poker I was trying to play, I lost. Usually it was to some horrific bad beat, but sometimes it was just bad play. Even the best strategies have a fatal flaw, the fact that there is no right way or wrong way to play. Long-term, there seems to be a certain style of play that will be more successful than others, but within any one tournament, especially one that only lasts 3 hours, it seems that luck truly is the biggest factor.

The Journey Continues...

Since my last post, where I had managed to bring my extremely modest $10 Freeroll earnings to just over $100, I have played in several $3 or $6 buy-in, 90 player tournaments, similar to the one previously described. In the past, I had always tried to make the big money by entering massive 2700 player tournaments, but had never had any real success. I am finding many benefits to these smaller SNG tournies, from a higher calibre of play to shorter time from start to finish.

A few days ago I was playing in a $6/90 person Turbo, Double-Stack, knock-out tournament, when I got absolutely destroyed closing in to the final table.

With about 15 players remaining (top 9 pay) I am dealt 66, and decide to raise it up 3x the BB, hoping just to steal the blinds. I'm sitting about 8th at this point, and have enough money to last a while longer, so anyone re-raising me here significantly would have me folding instantly. Everyone folds until it gets to the Button, who thinks for a bit, then calls my raise. I'm putting him on a hand such as A-8 or K-J, something like that. He has more chips than I do, and is in position.

The flop brings A-4-3.

Being first to act, I decide to test where I stand. I did raise preflop, so if he doesn't have an Ace when I bet here, he'll likely fold. I make a pot-sized bet, he calls immediately, and I know he must have an Ace.

The turn is a 6.

I've spiked my set! Woohoo! The 6 does bring straight and flush draws however, so I decide to keep betting, now that I've sucked out a miracle on the turn. I almost feel sorry for the poor bastard as I make another pot-sized bet, which has now become more than half of what I have left. He's probably not too worried about the 6, likely giving me credit for an Ace with a pretty good kicker.

He pushes me all-in, and I'm thinking he's made 2 pair with A-6, A-4 or A-3. I don't take too long to call, expecting to see that if he's not drawing dead, he has at most 4 outs on the river.

Then he flips over pocket Aces. I gotta tell you, I really didn't see that coming (twss), and I'm left drawing to the last remaining 6 in the deck to win this hand. It seems to happen more often than it should online, but not this time. I'm eliminated in 15th position.

Luckily for me, the heartache would soon be forgotten. I enter a $12 tournament, same format as the others, and finish 4th to add another $97 to my total. I now have more than $150.

The first hand of this tournament was about as good a start as you can possibly have, really. I'm dealt A-J in the BB, it gets raised by UTG, and the Button calls, as do I.

The flop is A-J-A. 

I have flopped the boat, and of course I check, hoping for action, and I'm not disappointed. UTG bets pot-sized, Button raises all-in. Obviously, I call, so does UTG.

I show my full-house, UTG has KK and probably should have folded to the all-in raise, but had already invested more than 1/3 of his stack on this hand. The player on the button had JJ for a lower full-house. The both need a miracle to win, and I hit the 4th Ace on the turn, just to rub it in their faces I guess. Not a bad way to start a tournament.

My online luck continues...

As a result of the massive winnings from my recent Freeroll success, I decided to play a little more online poker last night. Using as major portion of the $10 I had won, bringing my account balance up to (you guessed it) $10, I entered a $6, 90 player SNG (Sit N Go) No Limit Hold'em tournament. This one had a few special rules.

On top of all the normal  rules, this was a Turbo - Double Stack - Knockout tournament. Turbo means the blinds raise 2x as fast as normal (a format I normally try to avoid), but the Double Stack part provides some balance to this by starting off with 2x the amount of starting chips.

The clincher for me was the Knockout format. What this means is that for every entrance fee of $6, $5 was put towards the pot for the final table, but $1 would go to a player every time you could eliminate someone. It's basically putting a $1 bounty on the head of everyone in the tournament. I have always loved this format, as for whatever reason, even when I don't do well, I tend to get more than my fair share of eliminations.

After a very, very slow start that saw me surrender 1/3 of my chips to blinds, I'm finally dealt a decent hand of J-9 while in the BB. Amazingly, only one player limps in from an early position, even the SB folds, so I get to check and finally see a flop. The flop is 7-8-10 with no obvious flush draw, and I couldn't be happier. I check, and my opponent, who has lots of chips, throws out a small bet.

I assume he's just trying to steal it here, bully me out of the pot, so I decide to just call and hope he makes another bet on the turn. The turn is an Ace, which I'm hoping my opponent loves. Either he has an Ace, or now he can at least represent one. I check again, and as I suspect, he bets again. This time a more significant bet that will cost me about 1/3 of what I have left.

At this point, with the Ace of clubs bringing a potential flush draw and also a gut-shot straight possibility, I decide it's time to make my move. I push all-in, and my opponent insta-calls. He flips over 6-10, for the lower, often referred to as the ignorant end, of the straight. This is why you shouldn't play garbage cards just because you have a lot of chips, a lesson he pointed out after this hand.

With no flush draw, he's just hoping for a Jack on the river to chop the pot, but another 7 means I double up, and from here the cards start looking much more attractive. A little while later, I'm now sitting in the top 5 with about 25 players remaining, and a miraculous hand occurs.

The previous hand I had been dealt KK and flopped quads, won the pot, obviously, but never showed my hand when I won the pot. This hand, I'm dealt AA on the Button. One player limps in, and I decide to continue to be aggressive and raise it up about 5x the BB. SB folds, but BB calls, as does the Limper. All 3 of us are in the top 10 in chips, and I had been doing a great job of picking off the short-stacks while avoiding the other big stacks, but that would be pretty hard here.

The flop is J-7-2 rainbow, the BB checks, and the limper immediately bets the size of the pot, which is quite substantial. I decide to finish this right now, and push all-in. I have both players covered, but would be a short-stack if I lose.

The BB calls without hesitation, much to my surprise, but the limper thinks using all the standard time available, then calls for more time to think. After another 40 seconds (that's a lot of time online) he calls as well. The BB shows AJ, the limper who spent so much time thinking shows QQ, and I flip over my AA. I'm in a dominant position, but as is often the case in online poker, things can change very quickly.

The turn is a Queen, and I jump out of my chair and yell at the computer. I've been on the receiving end of these beats way too often, and already my temperature has risen.

Luckily, I don't have to wait too long to see the most miraculous Ace on the river I've ever seen. My opponent hits a 2-outer on the turn, and then I catch a 1-outer to take down the massive pot and become the dominant chip leader. Unbelievable, even for online play, that one blew me away. I folded A-10 the very next hand, just because I wanted to take a breather.

At the end of the tournament, I lose the heads-up battle to a very good player, and have no regrets. he slow played A-9 to perfection, caught 2 pair on the flop when I hit middle pair, and just waited for me to make my move, and I was done.

Now, my online account that had $0.05 in it 4 days ago has over $100. I won $88 for finishing 2nd, and collected 9 bounties on my way to finishing 2nd.

Freerollin to the WSOP Update

From Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker to the now hundreds of other stories you've likely heard about, online qualifying for major poker tournaments seems to be the way to go. Even professional poker players are doing it. Why pay $10,000 to enter the Main Event when you can pay $500 and therefore have 20 chances to qualify in a satellite tournament. Your odds might be 25-1 on winning, but if you get lucky and win one of these events, you could save thousands of dollars. Even the pros like to save some cash.

A while back I wrote about my plan to gain access into a World Series of Poker event, while using absolutely no money of my own. This link right HERE will serve as a reminder for all my loyal reader. Since then, I hadn't played much online, making it that much more difficult to achieve my goal, but this past weekend I decided to play a few Freerolls.

In case you're not familiar with a Freeroll, it is a free tournament to enter. There are usually many entrants, the play is typically quite poor, and often the blinds will raise very quickly. Most online sites (Party Poker, Pokerstars, Full Tilt, etc.) have them, but only some of them have actual cash payouts, while others offer merchandise or tickets into another tournament.

I play at Full Tilt for a variety of reasons, but the Freerolls are one of them. A standard Freeroll at Full Tilt will have 2700 players, and will pay out to the top 27 players, with a top prize of a whopping $15. No, it's not much money, and the odds are severely stacked against you, but you're risking absolutely nothing to play, so all you need is a little free time.

So like I said, I played a few Freerolls on the weekend. Saturday night, I registered for a No Limit Hold'em Freeroll that filled up within 5 seconds. No exaggeration here, I'd never seen it fill up so fast. Sadly, I lasted only marginally longer than 5 seconds, eliminated on the 2nd hand when I had AK, lost to a maniac holding 10-3 with 4 people all-in preflop. This is the type of craziness you can expect from a Freeroll.

One rule I always stick to in one of these insane tournaments is that i never, EVER player the first hand I'm dealt. I don't care if it's pockets Aces, they go into the muck. Within the first 20 minutes of a Freeroll on a normal day, the field will already be narrowed down from 2700 to under 1500. The play is so loose early on, you have to either get lucky, or just wait for the fish to choke on the hook before you begin.

Sunday evening, I decide to register for the Limit Razz Freeroll. As play begins, I truly began to understand the benefits of playing Limit poker in a Freeroll. The play was more predictable, and although I'm not very familiar with Razz as the only time I ever play it is online, I got off to a pretty good start.

A little while later, I remember that the registration for the NL Hold'em Freeroll is about to begin, and a short while later I'm playing 2 Freerolls at the same time. Not only that, but playing 2 very different forms of poker, at different stages of the tournament. As time progressed, I realized that we were getting pretty close to the money in the Razz game. A player at my table had been chirping at my for at least the past hour about what a terrible poker player I was, so you can imagine how happy I was to eliminate him from the tournament, on the bubble. What a great feeling, and even better feeling to know we had made it into the money... all $1 to those finishing 10th-27th. The final table is where the BIG money is at, lol.

Meanwhile, over at the Hold'em tournament, I'm doing quite well also. With just 75 players remaining, I'm sitting comfortably in the top 20, despite never once seeing any of the big 3 hands (AA, KK, AK). To be honest, this is probably a good thing, helps keep me out of trouble, playing small hands, picking off the short stacks when I can.

It's at this point that I realize I recognize the name of a player at my table. A quick glance back at my Razz table, and sure enough, same guy sitting with me at both tables. No, it's not a miracle, but worthy of at least mentioning. Anyways, some more time passes, I make a few nice hands in both games, and now I'm at the final table of the Razz game, and we've just broken the bubble for the Hold'em game.

It's hard enough to get into the money in one game, and I rarely even try to play more than one at a time, but this was quite an achievement for me. I think playing in more than one tournament at a time helped me play better, because I was never bored, and as a result, never played anything stupidly as I'm often prone to doing when I get a string of bad cards. On the other hand, there were also a few times when it became overwhelming, making big hands in both games, and the time running down for each.

I folded JJ preflop with no raise accidentally once, as I was so focused on an all-in situation in the Razz game. A few hands later, i was eliminated from the Hold'em game in 18th position, as a result of confusion. I had raised about 4x the big blind from an early position with A-J suited, the guy  on the button pushed all-in. I had failed to realize how big his re-raise was, and didn't even hesitate to call him. Turns out he had almost as much money as I did, and I was 4th at this time.

He flipped over QQ, and I knew I had made a major error, one I never would have made if I'd realized his re-raise was about 20x the size of my raise, AA would be the only hand worth calling into those pot-odds. So, I finished in 18th, and time to focus on the final 5 in the Razz game.

At this point the blinds were so high, it was as close to no limit as you could possibly get. One player had over 50% of the chips, while the other 4 tired to survive. Antes alone were getting pretty big, and I got lucky to make a "wheel" (A2345, the best possible hand in Razz) to double, up, which allowed me to finish in 3rd spot.

Here's some interesting stats:

Razz - $9 profit - 6.5 hours played

Hold'em - $1 profit - 4.5 hours played

The time is now 3:15am, and I have to be at work by 8:00am. My daughter decides she can't sleep anymore, and I'm up with her until 7:00am. Sleep for an hour, and I'm off to work.

1 hour of sleep, 11 hours of table time and only $10 to show for it. I've had worse.

Random Funny Poker Pics

Ok, this is even more lame than the Poker Hottie feature I ran months ago, but after suffering through consecutive bad nights at the poker table (read the 2 most recent blogs to have a good chuckle at my bad luck and bad play) I have decided to take some time away from playing poker. So here it is, some random funny poker related pics.

I'll have a real update soon, but I want to make sure it's more positive than the bitching and whining I've been doing recently.