Things have started changing with my work, and for now I have alot more time for poker. I am starting part time work next week, which should be stable for a few months, after that it is anyones guess. So I started playing alot more cards this month. So far so good. I have been trying to play mostly spread games, which is really close to no limit since the spread is usually set between 5-500 or in another game I have been playing in 10-500. Unfortuantely for those games I have to travel. 40 - 80 mile round trip depending on where I go to play in which game. I am thinking I have 3-4 months before the possibility of being unemployed so going to do my best to play well, and build as big of a bankroll as possible. This is going to be a true test for me. I have run pretty good in the spread games that I have found the last three weeks. up over 3K for the month, but need to keep my wits about me, and go into each session with a concentration and a plan. So primarily I will be trying to hit up the spread games, but will still head down the street to play in the 4-8K game. Really not my favorite, but it is close, and I have been winning in that game, not alot, but still feel that I can make some money there + they do have good promo's. Their club royal flush Monte Carlo was at over 13K when i was there a few days ago. I played for the first time in awhile and took home a small 80 win, but while i was there, they where doing a Christmas promo. They picked my name out of everyone there to pick a numbered envelope off of the Christmas Tree. I asked for number 17 envelope. Once I got it they told me not to open, and offered me $35 for my envelope. I had no idea what the prizes where so i asked them. They said anything between something small like a coffee cup up to a grand prize of 300. Once I heard that I had my mind set on keeping my envelope. What fun is taken a few dollars compared to opening an envelope and seeing what you won. So they offered me 35 i said no, the crowd was saying no as well. They offered me 45, I heard a few people say take the money. I said no. They offered me 65, and a waitress walked by me and said take the money. I said no, I am taking my envelope. 17 is my birthday, and right smack in the middle of the roulette wheel, not the best logic, but good enough for me. Opened my envelope to win the GRAND PRIZE!!!!! Mint...I won!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
77 and A5 Suited
Yesterday during my comeback, I had two great hands/situations that really helped me get back to even for the day. the first one was A-5 of Hearts. I was in the LB, and was able to call in an un-raised pot. I had first position and the flop pealed of 7-5-5, two spades. I was first action and dedided that I wanted to slow play this hand. I checked and it checked around. The Turn was a red K, again I checked, and it checked around. Here we go to the river and there is really no money the pot. The Ace of Spades comes out on the river. gives me 5's full of A's. I am first action and since there has been no betting at all, I did not want to just check and have a show-down with a huge hand for nothing nothing in the pot, so i decided to make it look like I was stealing and bet 10 bucks. The next action raised me to 40! I was drooling now in my head, how to make the most of this. The only hands he could be holding that would beat me are 77, KK, or AA. I did not put him on slow playing those pockets so, I studied the board a little, like I was trying to make a decision on who had the bigger flush, since I thought he did not have one of the three starting hands that could beat me, I put him on having to have a mid to big flush on the river. I was hoping that it was big so I re-raised, I cant quite remember exactly how much I raised. I think I made it about 50 more. He instantly when all-in. I insta called since I already figured he had the big flush and not the bigger house. I was right and I took down about a 500 pot.
The 77 was great also. This type of situation has happened to me 3x at the Venetian, that is why I like to play there, I think there are a greater number of newer players. My favorite site to see is a guy sit down at the table with 2 or 3 hundred with his girlfriend standing behind him watching. To me this shows that the player is tyring to show off to his girlfriend/wife. He may not realize the patience involved in really playing to win, or else why would his girlfriend want to stand right behind him. Who wants to stand for 5+ hours while someone is trying to grind there way to wins. Some cases they could be there just for a minute or two, but you can kinda tell by looking at their faces, that they are trying to impress, and not grind out a cash. This guy sat down with 200 and his woman behind him. 5 minutes later, I had all his money and they stormed away never to return! I was doing good, this was after my 500 pot, I had 77, I was in early position again, not the best, but it worked out for me. I put in a pre-flop raise to $7 for my 7's. Got a few callers. The flop was kinda nasty, but worked with my hand. It was a 4,5,8 all clubs, I had the 7 of clubs. I checked the flop becuase really with the 3 clubs I did not like it much. The guy lead out and bet 40. I had to think about this a little. If he had the flush already, hitting my straight would not help, and if the 4rth club came I could get myself in trouble with a mid flush where since he called my initial raise I put him on at least two paint, or Ax. So if one of those paint where a club I would be dead. But I did not think he had the flush, I thought if he bet it that big, he was drawing, or hit something like top pair with an ace and did not want me drawing. So I called the 40 to see what the turn brought. Bamm 7 of hearts. This time I did not want him drawing to a better flush on me so I put the pressure on and bet like 70, he then went all in. I had alot of chips, I was reasonable sure I had the best hand with 777, and even if I did not, I was drawing to a full house. And the re-raise over my 70 was not too much compared to my stack so I called. I dont remember the river, he never showed his hand, and him and is girlfriend stormed away.
The 77 was great also. This type of situation has happened to me 3x at the Venetian, that is why I like to play there, I think there are a greater number of newer players. My favorite site to see is a guy sit down at the table with 2 or 3 hundred with his girlfriend standing behind him watching. To me this shows that the player is tyring to show off to his girlfriend/wife. He may not realize the patience involved in really playing to win, or else why would his girlfriend want to stand right behind him. Who wants to stand for 5+ hours while someone is trying to grind there way to wins. Some cases they could be there just for a minute or two, but you can kinda tell by looking at their faces, that they are trying to impress, and not grind out a cash. This guy sat down with 200 and his woman behind him. 5 minutes later, I had all his money and they stormed away never to return! I was doing good, this was after my 500 pot, I had 77, I was in early position again, not the best, but it worked out for me. I put in a pre-flop raise to $7 for my 7's. Got a few callers. The flop was kinda nasty, but worked with my hand. It was a 4,5,8 all clubs, I had the 7 of clubs. I checked the flop becuase really with the 3 clubs I did not like it much. The guy lead out and bet 40. I had to think about this a little. If he had the flush already, hitting my straight would not help, and if the 4rth club came I could get myself in trouble with a mid flush where since he called my initial raise I put him on at least two paint, or Ax. So if one of those paint where a club I would be dead. But I did not think he had the flush, I thought if he bet it that big, he was drawing, or hit something like top pair with an ace and did not want me drawing. So I called the 40 to see what the turn brought. Bamm 7 of hearts. This time I did not want him drawing to a better flush on me so I put the pressure on and bet like 70, he then went all in. I had alot of chips, I was reasonable sure I had the best hand with 777, and even if I did not, I was drawing to a full house. And the re-raise over my 70 was not too much compared to my stack so I called. I dont remember the river, he never showed his hand, and him and is girlfriend stormed away.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Day 2 of Las Vegas trip
Well so far, this trip is has started ok. Over 2 days I have spent/lost abouut 450, but that includes all expenses so not too bad. Yesterday was pretty fun. I got to Las Vegas about 11:30, was at the hotel by about 12:15, then my dad and I went to Aria to play in the 1 pm tournament. Another close one for me. There where 107 players. I felt I played a great tournament, they started paying out at 12th place, I got 17th place. So close again, and I am trying to think of where I messed up. I made one big mistake that I can think of. I am sure I played sevearl other hands bad, but whatever the cost was it was low. But here is where I think I really made a mistake. It was a late middle of the tournament mistake, but it cost my 1800 of my chips, and overall would have added 10K+ more chips to my stack.
I was running good so I decided to make a pre-flop raise to 1800 which was 3x the BB. I had pocket threes. The next few people folded, but then someone went all in for abot 4K. Then a few spots later the next guy went all in for about 5K. When it got to me I really wanted to call, and I felt I should have called considering my stack, I prob had about 30K at the time. But I ended up folding. I convinved myself that 33 could not be good against 2 all-ins, and even though it was only about 3K more to call both all-in's, I played very conservative. Well the two all-ins where A-10 and A-8. There was an A-8-X on the flop and then of course the 3 on the river. I should have called, and seeing as I was 5 spaces out of the money that could have been the mistake that cost me from cashing and/or possibly winning.
That was the fun part of the day, then I stayed at the Aria and played 2-5 NL. I am used to the 2-5 being about a 500 max buy in, so I decided to play 500 in that game. But when I got to the table it turned out to be a 1000 max buy-in, but I stayed anyway. Well I busted out. I deviated from my plan, took a shot at a big game without a big enough Bankroll, and lost. So since my Dad bought me in to the Tournament I was down 500 after day one.
Day 2 started off real bad as well. I woke up early and took off down the strip while my dad was still sleeping. I ended up at the Bellagio and decided to play there. I have never played in that room. It was still early so there was only a few tables going. I played in the 1-2 NL and got real unlucky. Dont really remember too many hands at this time I had I just remember that I kept geeting bad beats, or had to call for the outs and missed. Well there is another 300 down. At this point I am down 800, and I did not bring any other cash with me. So my Dad was up by then and met me at the Bellagio. We decided to go up to the Venetian becuase my cousins where staying at the Palazzo and they where supposed to get in that morning.
My Dad staked me 300 to get into the 1-3NL game and I got down to about 80, when he walked by, he had just doubled up and cashed out to play in a tournament, he saw my low chip count and slipped me three more black chips. Well I lost the first three he gave me and then I bought in for the next 300. Well things started slipping and I really was not feeling confident or feeling like things where going to turn around so I cashed out 280 of the 600 he staked me. My cousins and Uncle showed up so I hung out with them for a bit. I decided to walk around a little and ended up playing some table games with the 280 I had and then of course I lost. Again deviated from the plan. I was down to 100. I decided to give the 1-2NL game one more shot buying in short for 100. That was the best decision I made so far. My plan was to play in the 1-2 NL game where I feel I had an edge, and although I had lost some, I lost the most in the bigger game. Well I fought through the varience, and hit some real good hands in good situations and turned that last 100, I was actually down to about 75 at the lowest into 900. That broke me even for the day, payed my Dad back his 600 he staked me, and I still had the 300 cash from the morning that I lost at Bellagio.
I really wanted to stay at the table and continue but it was dinner time and my Uncle and cousins where there. So we went out to dinner and then walked around a bit and did some random group gambling. It was fun, not what I came here to do, but funner than I thought. It was good because since there where other arouund it was easy to sit down and play just 10 minutes and leave with a small win, and then move on. I played that game where there is a big wheel that spins and you bet a number and get odds. I bet 10 on the 3 and it hit my first spin for a 30 dollar win...cash out. Hit up Blackjack with my cousin, played for about 15 minutes and took down another small like 60 win. Played Pai Gow with my Dad and took down a small like 15 dollar win. I played two 10 dollar hands of War, and won them both.
I am still here for another 2 days, but dont know how much time I will really have to gamble. I did not take any vacation time, so I will be working form the hotel on Monday and Tuesday, and my flight is tuesday night. I still have family out here and would like to still meet up with a college roomate who lives here now, so we will see. But I am only down about 450 or so with everything I have spent and lost, so even if I dont play tomorrow or Tuesday, I will still have time to make that up. I am not heading home on Tuesday, but going back with my Dad to his house near San Jose to play more cards and hopfully play in the main event of the Bay 101 Open.
I was running good so I decided to make a pre-flop raise to 1800 which was 3x the BB. I had pocket threes. The next few people folded, but then someone went all in for abot 4K. Then a few spots later the next guy went all in for about 5K. When it got to me I really wanted to call, and I felt I should have called considering my stack, I prob had about 30K at the time. But I ended up folding. I convinved myself that 33 could not be good against 2 all-ins, and even though it was only about 3K more to call both all-in's, I played very conservative. Well the two all-ins where A-10 and A-8. There was an A-8-X on the flop and then of course the 3 on the river. I should have called, and seeing as I was 5 spaces out of the money that could have been the mistake that cost me from cashing and/or possibly winning.
That was the fun part of the day, then I stayed at the Aria and played 2-5 NL. I am used to the 2-5 being about a 500 max buy in, so I decided to play 500 in that game. But when I got to the table it turned out to be a 1000 max buy-in, but I stayed anyway. Well I busted out. I deviated from my plan, took a shot at a big game without a big enough Bankroll, and lost. So since my Dad bought me in to the Tournament I was down 500 after day one.
Day 2 started off real bad as well. I woke up early and took off down the strip while my dad was still sleeping. I ended up at the Bellagio and decided to play there. I have never played in that room. It was still early so there was only a few tables going. I played in the 1-2 NL and got real unlucky. Dont really remember too many hands at this time I had I just remember that I kept geeting bad beats, or had to call for the outs and missed. Well there is another 300 down. At this point I am down 800, and I did not bring any other cash with me. So my Dad was up by then and met me at the Bellagio. We decided to go up to the Venetian becuase my cousins where staying at the Palazzo and they where supposed to get in that morning.
My Dad staked me 300 to get into the 1-3NL game and I got down to about 80, when he walked by, he had just doubled up and cashed out to play in a tournament, he saw my low chip count and slipped me three more black chips. Well I lost the first three he gave me and then I bought in for the next 300. Well things started slipping and I really was not feeling confident or feeling like things where going to turn around so I cashed out 280 of the 600 he staked me. My cousins and Uncle showed up so I hung out with them for a bit. I decided to walk around a little and ended up playing some table games with the 280 I had and then of course I lost. Again deviated from the plan. I was down to 100. I decided to give the 1-2NL game one more shot buying in short for 100. That was the best decision I made so far. My plan was to play in the 1-2 NL game where I feel I had an edge, and although I had lost some, I lost the most in the bigger game. Well I fought through the varience, and hit some real good hands in good situations and turned that last 100, I was actually down to about 75 at the lowest into 900. That broke me even for the day, payed my Dad back his 600 he staked me, and I still had the 300 cash from the morning that I lost at Bellagio.
I really wanted to stay at the table and continue but it was dinner time and my Uncle and cousins where there. So we went out to dinner and then walked around a bit and did some random group gambling. It was fun, not what I came here to do, but funner than I thought. It was good because since there where other arouund it was easy to sit down and play just 10 minutes and leave with a small win, and then move on. I played that game where there is a big wheel that spins and you bet a number and get odds. I bet 10 on the 3 and it hit my first spin for a 30 dollar win...cash out. Hit up Blackjack with my cousin, played for about 15 minutes and took down another small like 60 win. Played Pai Gow with my Dad and took down a small like 15 dollar win. I played two 10 dollar hands of War, and won them both.
I am still here for another 2 days, but dont know how much time I will really have to gamble. I did not take any vacation time, so I will be working form the hotel on Monday and Tuesday, and my flight is tuesday night. I still have family out here and would like to still meet up with a college roomate who lives here now, so we will see. But I am only down about 450 or so with everything I have spent and lost, so even if I dont play tomorrow or Tuesday, I will still have time to make that up. I am not heading home on Tuesday, but going back with my Dad to his house near San Jose to play more cards and hopfully play in the main event of the Bay 101 Open.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Quad 5's!
I decided to play again last night in the tournament down the street. I have some family coming in for a visit and wont be playing at all, and then a week from tomorrow a very early flight to Las Vegas. It was a close one. Would have been a much better win, there where 39 players instead of the other day where there was only 22. This tournament was a lot of fun though, I made some bold moves and they paid off, but got unlucky in the end.
first double up, was with AA. I pre-flopped raise 3x BB, and got one caller. Flop came 10 high, he lead out and bet 250, I raised to 700, and he calls. That call scared me, the turn he bet 500, I just called the river he bet 500, i just called, and he flipped over his top pair he had on the flop and lost. A few hands later I took the same guy out, I limped into and unraised pot with KJ diamonds. The flop came 10, Q, 7, and was checked around. The turn was an A and he went all in for about his last 4 or 5 K so that was an easy call and took it down with Broadway.
When we got down to about 15 people, the blinds where getting up there, and someone went all in, i had him covered but barely. I looked down at 55. I figured this guy had a big A but it was a tough call becuase I did not feel that I stratigically needed to risk that many chips on a flip, and usually I wont risk that many, but the blinds really do get so outrageous that if you dont take some chances you end up blinding yourself out. So I figured in my head I was ahead and called. I was right AQ agaisnt my 5's. Lucky for me there was a 5 on the flop and a 5 on the turn
I was feeling pretty comfortable and then once again about 13 people left, I was in the BB for 3K, I had about 40 total. It folds to the SB and he thinks for a little while then pushes all in. He is in seat 10 and I am in seat 1 so hard to really see what his stack is like, but when you look down to KK against a LB that late in the tournament it is pretty much an insta-call. Most people install with KK in any situation. (I will usually unless it is played out and the board is really really nasty.) So I called with KK and he had me covered by only about 1.5K. If I win this pot I am the chip leader going down to 12 players. Not this time though, the SB was sitting on 22, and there was a wonderful 2 on the flop for him to crack me.
Would have been nice to go 2-0 the last two days, but I will take 1-1, knowing I played well on my loss, and only ran into some bad luck.
first double up, was with AA. I pre-flopped raise 3x BB, and got one caller. Flop came 10 high, he lead out and bet 250, I raised to 700, and he calls. That call scared me, the turn he bet 500, I just called the river he bet 500, i just called, and he flipped over his top pair he had on the flop and lost. A few hands later I took the same guy out, I limped into and unraised pot with KJ diamonds. The flop came 10, Q, 7, and was checked around. The turn was an A and he went all in for about his last 4 or 5 K so that was an easy call and took it down with Broadway.
When we got down to about 15 people, the blinds where getting up there, and someone went all in, i had him covered but barely. I looked down at 55. I figured this guy had a big A but it was a tough call becuase I did not feel that I stratigically needed to risk that many chips on a flip, and usually I wont risk that many, but the blinds really do get so outrageous that if you dont take some chances you end up blinding yourself out. So I figured in my head I was ahead and called. I was right AQ agaisnt my 5's. Lucky for me there was a 5 on the flop and a 5 on the turn
I was feeling pretty comfortable and then once again about 13 people left, I was in the BB for 3K, I had about 40 total. It folds to the SB and he thinks for a little while then pushes all in. He is in seat 10 and I am in seat 1 so hard to really see what his stack is like, but when you look down to KK against a LB that late in the tournament it is pretty much an insta-call. Most people install with KK in any situation. (I will usually unless it is played out and the board is really really nasty.) So I called with KK and he had me covered by only about 1.5K. If I win this pot I am the chip leader going down to 12 players. Not this time though, the SB was sitting on 22, and there was a wonderful 2 on the flop for him to crack me.
Would have been nice to go 2-0 the last two days, but I will take 1-1, knowing I played well on my loss, and only ran into some bad luck.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Warm up for next Sat
So a week from Saterday I leave for Las Vegas. I will be there from the 18th to the 21st, then off to San Jose to play in the Bay 101 open 22nd through the 27th. I will miss the first two tournaments at the Open but, one of them is an Omaha tourney, and I have played Omaha tourneys before, it is not my best game. Depending on work schedule I may play in some of the week day tourneys when I get in that Wednesday, but if work is too busy, then will just play live. but I do plan on playing in the main event, hopefully I will win enough before then, or get in cheep through a satelite. The last day is a partners tournament that I am looking forward to playing with my Dad. Every 30 minutes you switch partners and you are allowed to have a live game going at the same time. So one player can play tourney and the other play live game and you switch every 30 minutes. They also have a cheap tournament near the end that I may play just for fun. It is called All-In or Fold! So I guess you only get two options on your action.....All-in or Fold.
So since I had not played in awhile I thought I would run down the street yesterday and play in one of the local tournements. I have played alot of these types of tournaments over the last 6 or 7 years so am very comfortable with the structure and at what point the tourney turns into just straight luck from the blinds getting so high. they typically range in price from 40 - 60 with a starting chip range of 5000-10000 usually with 15 or 20 minute blinds. the one down the street is a 60 buy-in, 7500 Tchips, 15 minute rounds. usually between 20-40 players. last night it was pretty small only 22 players.
The tourney paid out 3 places, it was good to get back into the swing of things and since I do not play tournaments there alot there are alot of faces I dont recognize. Again all good practice for Vegas and San Jose. One guy in particular was playing alot of hand blind and I did not realize this at first. he bet me off some big hands early and I lost a good amount of chips to him. Then I realized what he was doing, he even made an off hand comment about my folding and wanting to be in pots with me for some reason. That kind of took me a bit off my game, by that I mean, i wanted to bluff him big when he was betting into me, and then show him. Not good to "target" people like that, you should play your cards and situations instead of trying to target people....but it worked out for me and I noticed that he visibly was not so happy and got a lot more quiet.
I limped in with K-5 off. He pre-floped min raised like we was doing. The cool thing here is he annoucned that he "looked at his hand this time". I called. The flop i hit bottom pair, with 2 diamonds on the flop. I checked he let out a big bet of 1700. I called. The turn was another card that did not help my bottom pair, i checked and he made the same bet of 1700, at that point I went all in with my remaining 4100 in chips. He thought about it a little while, laughed a little and then mucked. I showed just the 5, and said, "What you cant beat a 5?" He said, "5 does not scare me at all i had that beat." I then flipped over my K which was nothing to my hand and said, "I guess I made a good bet then." I must say that felt good.
Pretty much straight forward tourney till the end. i was doing pretty good. When we got down to 6 players we agreed to give 4rth through 6th their money back. We took 90/60/30 out of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd to pay the 180 back. I had one more great moment. It was a loose call, but I was already guaranteed my money back. The chip leader was pushing alot pre-flop to try to grab the extreamly high blinds at this point. Under the gun he pushed again, and I looked down at AJ, with the A of diamonds. We where the two chip leaders at this point and there where two players that where pretty short stacked. I had about 45K in chips, was not exactly sure, but he had me covered. I thought about it for a little bit, and then decided that since he was being over agressive my A J may be good, and since i was guaranteed my money back I would take a shot. I called (I meant to push, but verbalized call so could not push) i was left with 8K chips with blinds at 2K/4K. Well the flop comes K, Q, 10 all diamonds!!! You could not ask for a better flop. I pushed my last 8K into the pot, and he called me with pocket 4's. I guess he figured that he was so far in, that seeing all those diamonds and three overcards he may still have a chance??
i was able to make it heads up, with, wouldn't you know it, the guy I showed my bluff to early on in the tournament. The blinds at this point where 8K 16K, so neither of us really had enough to make proper raises etc. he had me out chipped as well, and it just became who go lucky pushing all in. He got lucky i did not. But after my buy-in, returning 60 to pay out my share of 4rth through 6th place, and a tip for the dealers, i went home 300 richer.
So since I had not played in awhile I thought I would run down the street yesterday and play in one of the local tournements. I have played alot of these types of tournaments over the last 6 or 7 years so am very comfortable with the structure and at what point the tourney turns into just straight luck from the blinds getting so high. they typically range in price from 40 - 60 with a starting chip range of 5000-10000 usually with 15 or 20 minute blinds. the one down the street is a 60 buy-in, 7500 Tchips, 15 minute rounds. usually between 20-40 players. last night it was pretty small only 22 players.
The tourney paid out 3 places, it was good to get back into the swing of things and since I do not play tournaments there alot there are alot of faces I dont recognize. Again all good practice for Vegas and San Jose. One guy in particular was playing alot of hand blind and I did not realize this at first. he bet me off some big hands early and I lost a good amount of chips to him. Then I realized what he was doing, he even made an off hand comment about my folding and wanting to be in pots with me for some reason. That kind of took me a bit off my game, by that I mean, i wanted to bluff him big when he was betting into me, and then show him. Not good to "target" people like that, you should play your cards and situations instead of trying to target people....but it worked out for me and I noticed that he visibly was not so happy and got a lot more quiet.
I limped in with K-5 off. He pre-floped min raised like we was doing. The cool thing here is he annoucned that he "looked at his hand this time". I called. The flop i hit bottom pair, with 2 diamonds on the flop. I checked he let out a big bet of 1700. I called. The turn was another card that did not help my bottom pair, i checked and he made the same bet of 1700, at that point I went all in with my remaining 4100 in chips. He thought about it a little while, laughed a little and then mucked. I showed just the 5, and said, "What you cant beat a 5?" He said, "5 does not scare me at all i had that beat." I then flipped over my K which was nothing to my hand and said, "I guess I made a good bet then." I must say that felt good.
Pretty much straight forward tourney till the end. i was doing pretty good. When we got down to 6 players we agreed to give 4rth through 6th their money back. We took 90/60/30 out of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd to pay the 180 back. I had one more great moment. It was a loose call, but I was already guaranteed my money back. The chip leader was pushing alot pre-flop to try to grab the extreamly high blinds at this point. Under the gun he pushed again, and I looked down at AJ, with the A of diamonds. We where the two chip leaders at this point and there where two players that where pretty short stacked. I had about 45K in chips, was not exactly sure, but he had me covered. I thought about it for a little bit, and then decided that since he was being over agressive my A J may be good, and since i was guaranteed my money back I would take a shot. I called (I meant to push, but verbalized call so could not push) i was left with 8K chips with blinds at 2K/4K. Well the flop comes K, Q, 10 all diamonds!!! You could not ask for a better flop. I pushed my last 8K into the pot, and he called me with pocket 4's. I guess he figured that he was so far in, that seeing all those diamonds and three overcards he may still have a chance??
i was able to make it heads up, with, wouldn't you know it, the guy I showed my bluff to early on in the tournament. The blinds at this point where 8K 16K, so neither of us really had enough to make proper raises etc. he had me out chipped as well, and it just became who go lucky pushing all in. He got lucky i did not. But after my buy-in, returning 60 to pay out my share of 4rth through 6th place, and a tip for the dealers, i went home 300 richer.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Shooting Stars
I cant believe it has been 10 months since I have posted on this blog. Life happened and my money I had set aside for this challenge I set myself has been used up. I have been playing some poker in the last 10 months, but not sure at this point what the focus will be for the blog. I really did enjoy starting with a bankroll and trying to play to win, I think at the time the blog helped me track how I was doing and remind me of what I was doing wrong. Re-reading these posts helped remind me of my personal pitfalls that I need to watch out for when playing. So I think as the return to blogging I am going to recount my experience this March when I went to the WPT Shooting Stars Tournement at Bay 101 in San Jose.
I was still working but I had made an arrangement with my work that if I got into the big game that I would take time off during the week for as long as I stayed in the tournement. I have the luxary right now of working completly remote half to 3 quarters of the time, so all I need is a phone and internet connection. I flew in the weekend before it started and I had one chance to get into the big game cheaply. They had a $1000 satellite that weekend for the 10,000 buy in. I played a sit-n-go early that morning before the satellite to try to get in cheap. The sit-n-go was 250 and the top 2 got a 1000 voucher for the satellite. It was a rough sit-n-go, but I managed to get to the top 2 and get my voucher. Even though my Dad was already in the big game, he also played in a different sit and go and also got to the top two so we where both in the satellite.
There where 171 players in the satellite so they where giving away 17 $10,000 dollar seats. And boy did I come close. I played really well. Had the pleasure of having Dwight Pilgrim at my table for the majority of the tournement. It was funny actually he got knocked down a little early and then got moved from our table. Then a couple hours later he got moved back to our table with a pretty big chip stack. i would have loved to see those hands that he won to get all those chips. I played well and got down to the point where I had to win a race. I choose to call an all in with 99. I was up against AK off. A in the window ended my chance to get in the big game. I cant remember exactly what place I went out it was either 34th, 35th, or 36th. So close.
It was still a really fun and profitable week. I still worked most of the week from my Dad's house in Los Altos, he was in the big game. I hope this link works there is a great shot of him on the Day 2 action. He was sitting next to Scott Siever when he got knocked out. he also got knocked out in Day 2. he is the gentleman sitting next to Scott in the long sleeve white T-shirt
http://www.worldpokertour.com/Live_Updates/Post.aspx?c=all&d=c1c89483-eb04-466c-8c53-a5a5f315ce22&q={B7CE5A05-C067-4540-9F58-0325D0A5A37C}
I squeezed three live game sessions in, two winners and one loser. The first winning session was awesome. I think it was Sunday, and my dad and I got there around 8pmish and got in the game around 9. My Dad left about midnight, and I played all through the night and was there when he got back to the casino before the 2000 buy in event that he also played in. My game had just broken and I knew he was getting there soon so i waited for him and then got to join him for the players WPT breakfast before I went home to get some sleep. This was my biggest winning session roughtly 12 hours and I won ~1600. I started the night with 200 in the 1-1-2 no limit game. Bay 101 does a three blind structure. The first blind is on the button. After a few hours I had accumulated my stack to about 500 and then I got a game change to the next level up which is the 2-3-5 no limit.
The next session was shorter, It was Monday night and I was still pretty beat up from playing all night Sunday. I started again in the 1-1-2 game and ended up losing my 200, but the entertainment and experience was worth the 200. After a few hours of play a visibly "tipsy" Gavin Smith came to the table with fill in WPT host Marianella Pereyra and Noah Schwartz. Man did they let Gavin get away with whatever he wanted it was pretty funny. I actually busted Gavin on an insane hand. he was playing loose in the beginning then he tightened up then got real loose again. Anyway, I was in first or second position, and as the had was being dealt Gavin stated he was going all in this hand no matter what. I looked down and saw 88. I figured he wold actually do what he said with any two cards, so I decided just to call to not scare him away from his pre-deal declared all in. And I was right when the action got to him he went all in. Neither of us had too much, I had under 100 and I barely covered him, he may have around 75-80. So I was the only caller, and Gavin announces he already had a flush before the flop was dealt, he showed J something of clubs I think then asked if I had a pair. I said yes. Well wouldn't you know three clubs come on the flop. Boy did his crowd start cheering, can you believe it he called flopping the flush. Well unfortunatly for him there was an 8 on the flop and then it came runner runner 55 to give me the suck out full house!
The last session was not too long either 5-7 hours or so. Since I was still up about 1400 and since I lost in the 1-2-2 game I decided to go straigt into the 2-3-5 no limit buying in for the max of 500. I ended up making another 500 at the end of that session. So grand total over three sessions I won 1900.
I was still working but I had made an arrangement with my work that if I got into the big game that I would take time off during the week for as long as I stayed in the tournement. I have the luxary right now of working completly remote half to 3 quarters of the time, so all I need is a phone and internet connection. I flew in the weekend before it started and I had one chance to get into the big game cheaply. They had a $1000 satellite that weekend for the 10,000 buy in. I played a sit-n-go early that morning before the satellite to try to get in cheap. The sit-n-go was 250 and the top 2 got a 1000 voucher for the satellite. It was a rough sit-n-go, but I managed to get to the top 2 and get my voucher. Even though my Dad was already in the big game, he also played in a different sit and go and also got to the top two so we where both in the satellite.
There where 171 players in the satellite so they where giving away 17 $10,000 dollar seats. And boy did I come close. I played really well. Had the pleasure of having Dwight Pilgrim at my table for the majority of the tournement. It was funny actually he got knocked down a little early and then got moved from our table. Then a couple hours later he got moved back to our table with a pretty big chip stack. i would have loved to see those hands that he won to get all those chips. I played well and got down to the point where I had to win a race. I choose to call an all in with 99. I was up against AK off. A in the window ended my chance to get in the big game. I cant remember exactly what place I went out it was either 34th, 35th, or 36th. So close.
It was still a really fun and profitable week. I still worked most of the week from my Dad's house in Los Altos, he was in the big game. I hope this link works there is a great shot of him on the Day 2 action. He was sitting next to Scott Siever when he got knocked out. he also got knocked out in Day 2. he is the gentleman sitting next to Scott in the long sleeve white T-shirt
http://www.worldpokertour.com/Live_Updates/Post.aspx?c=all&d=c1c89483-eb04-466c-8c53-a5a5f315ce22&q={B7CE5A05-C067-4540-9F58-0325D0A5A37C}
I squeezed three live game sessions in, two winners and one loser. The first winning session was awesome. I think it was Sunday, and my dad and I got there around 8pmish and got in the game around 9. My Dad left about midnight, and I played all through the night and was there when he got back to the casino before the 2000 buy in event that he also played in. My game had just broken and I knew he was getting there soon so i waited for him and then got to join him for the players WPT breakfast before I went home to get some sleep. This was my biggest winning session roughtly 12 hours and I won ~1600. I started the night with 200 in the 1-1-2 no limit game. Bay 101 does a three blind structure. The first blind is on the button. After a few hours I had accumulated my stack to about 500 and then I got a game change to the next level up which is the 2-3-5 no limit.
The next session was shorter, It was Monday night and I was still pretty beat up from playing all night Sunday. I started again in the 1-1-2 game and ended up losing my 200, but the entertainment and experience was worth the 200. After a few hours of play a visibly "tipsy" Gavin Smith came to the table with fill in WPT host Marianella Pereyra and Noah Schwartz. Man did they let Gavin get away with whatever he wanted it was pretty funny. I actually busted Gavin on an insane hand. he was playing loose in the beginning then he tightened up then got real loose again. Anyway, I was in first or second position, and as the had was being dealt Gavin stated he was going all in this hand no matter what. I looked down and saw 88. I figured he wold actually do what he said with any two cards, so I decided just to call to not scare him away from his pre-deal declared all in. And I was right when the action got to him he went all in. Neither of us had too much, I had under 100 and I barely covered him, he may have around 75-80. So I was the only caller, and Gavin announces he already had a flush before the flop was dealt, he showed J something of clubs I think then asked if I had a pair. I said yes. Well wouldn't you know three clubs come on the flop. Boy did his crowd start cheering, can you believe it he called flopping the flush. Well unfortunatly for him there was an 8 on the flop and then it came runner runner 55 to give me the suck out full house!
The last session was not too long either 5-7 hours or so. Since I was still up about 1400 and since I lost in the 1-2-2 game I decided to go straigt into the 2-3-5 no limit buying in for the max of 500. I ended up making another 500 at the end of that session. So grand total over three sessions I won 1900.
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