Saturday, January 27, 2007

Poker Stars Stud Hi/Lo Tournament

6,064 people + 20th place = biggest cash of my life
(broke my record from that NLHE tourney, I took 1st out of 902 on Absolute, back in October)

The money wasn't to bad either....;). Mmmm.

Went broke against the monster chip leader. I had Queens up and he was chasing a back door low (I guess? Lol. Unless he thought just deuces were good???...3rd deuce on 7th = end of me.) I'm gonna go dream Stud 8/b dreams. I'm content, the limits were just getting out of control, so there's nothing I could do. I played great, only got lucky once or twice, aside from that I just seemed to get payed off at very convenient times.

The one hand I got semi-lucky (I already had the low, I just got lucky to scoop not to win some of the pot. Oh, and "ME" is not my account name, I had to censor it for certain legal reasons...ie age.):

PokerStars Game #8141708080: Tournament #40967024, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit - Level XVIII (7500/15000) - 2007/01/27 - 02:19:00 (ET)Table '40967024 474' 8-max
Seat 1: ME (65,336 in chips)
Seat 2: bpj4 (77,496 in chips)
Seat 3: tallgrass53 (29,477 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: buffsgal (83,982 in chips)
Seat 5: blastingcaps (27,513 in chips)
Seat 6: BLUEGEMINI (115,117 in chips)
Seat 7: willy8888 (162,622 in chips)
Seat 8: Majikdiz4u (99,244 in chips)
ME: posts the ante 1500
bpj4: posts the ante 1500
tallgrass53: posts the ante 1500
buffsgal: posts the ante 1500
blastingcaps: posts the ante 1500
BLUEGEMINI: posts the ante 1500
willy8888: posts the ante 1500
Majikdiz4u: posts the ante 1500
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to ME [5h 3d As]
Dealt to bpj4 [Ac]
Dealt to tallgrass53 [4s]
Dealt to buffsgal [4d]
Dealt to blastingcaps [Ks]
Dealt to BLUEGEMINI [3c]
Dealt to willy8888 [7d]
Dealt to Majikdiz4u [Kd]
BLUEGEMINI: brings in for 2250
willy8888: calls 2250
Majikdiz4u: folds
ME: calls 2250
bpj4: calls 2250
tallgrass53: folds
buffsgal: raises 5250 to 7500
blastingcaps: folds
BLUEGEMINI: folds
willy8888: calls 5250
ME: calls 5250bpj4: calls 5250
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to ME [5h 3d As] [2c]
Dealt to bpj4 [Ac] [Tc]
Dealt to buffsgal [4d] [Ts]
Dealt to willy8888 [7d] [Qs]
bpj4: checks
buffsgal: bets 7500
willy8888: folds
ME: calls 7500
bpj4: calls 7500
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to ME [5h 3d As 2c] [7s]
Dealt to bpj4 [Ac Tc] [Qc]
Dealt to buffsgal [4d Ts] [7c]
bpj4: checks
buffsgal: bets 15000
ME: raises 15,000 to 30,000
bpj4: calls 30,000
buffsgal: raises 15,000 to 45,000
ME: raises 3836 to 48,836 and is all-in
Betting is capped
bpj4: calls 18,836
buffsgal: calls 3836
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to ME [5h 3d As 2c 7s] [9c]
Dealt to bpj4 [Ac Tc Qc] [6s]
Dealt to buffsgal [4d Ts 7c] [Th]
buffsgal: bets 15,000
bpj4: calls 12,160 and is all-in
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to ME [5h 3d As 2c 7s 9c] [4c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bpj4: shows [Td Jd Ac Tc Qc 6s Qd] (HI: two pair, Queens and Tens)
buffsgal: shows [6c 7h 4d Ts 7c Th Ah] (HI: two pair, Tens and Sevens)bpj4 collected 24,320 from side pot
ME: shows [5h 3d As 2c 7s 9c 4c] (HI: a straight, Ace to Five; LO: 5,4,3,2,A)ME collected 106629 from main potME collected 106629 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 237578
Main pot 213258.
Side pot 24320.
Rake 0
Seat 1: ME showed [5h 3d As 2c 7s 9c 4c] and won (213,258) with HI: a straight, Ace to Five; LO: 5,4,3,2,A
Seat 2: bpj4 showed [Td Jd Ac Tc Qc 6s Qd] and won (24,320) with HI: two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 4: buffsgal showed [6c 7h 4d Ts 7c Th Ah] and lost with HI: two pair, Tens and Sevens



That was last night. Today I didn't wake up until 2pm. It's clearly due to the late night caused by PokerStars. I'm still kinda excited about that tournament. It was a lot of fun, especially to get that deep. Didn't go to bed until 4am so I had to get my rest...I'm gonna go to Borders now and get a new poker book, Hunting Fish , I hear it's really good. It's about a guy that travels the US "home game" circuit if you will and tries to build a 50k bankroll playing in these home games. Sounds cool.



Oh, here's another fun hand that helped me early on:
(I liked the way I played this hand...)

PokerStars Game #8141561861: Tournament #40967024, Freeroll 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit - Level XVII (5000/10000) - 2007/01/27 - 02:04:19 (ET)
Table '40967024 474' 8-max
Seat 1: ME (32418 in chips)
Seat 2: bpj4 (162164 in chips)
Seat 3: tallgrass53 (45227 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 4: buffsgal (62982 in chips)
Seat 5: blastingcaps (45513 in chips)
Seat 6: BLUEGEMINI (31117 in chips)
Seat 7: willy8888 (134869 in chips)
Seat 8: BigStoney (39503 in chips)
ME: posts the ante 1000
bpj4: posts the ante 1000
tallgrass53: posts the ante 1000
buffsgal: posts the ante 1000
blastingcaps: posts the ante 1000
BLUEGEMINI: posts the ante 1000
willy8888: posts the ante 1000
BigStoney: posts the ante 1000
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to ME[Jc Tc Kh]
Dealt to bpj4 [Jd]
Dealt to tallgrass53 [Ks]
Dealt to buffsgal [Ts]
Dealt to blastingcaps [7d]
Dealt to BLUEGEMINI [8d]
Dealt to willy8888 [Jh]
Dealt to BigStoney [Kc]
blastingcaps: brings in for 1500
BLUEGEMINI: folds
willy8888: folds
ME: raises 3500 to 5000
bpj4: calls 5000
tallgrass53: folds
buffsgal: folds
blastingcaps: folds
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to ME [Jc Tc Kh] [7h]
Dealt to bpj4 [Jd] [2s]
ME: bets 5000
bpj4: calls 5000
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to ME [Jc Tc Kh 7h] [Qh]
Dealt to bpj4 [Jd 2s] [Qs]
ME: bets 10000
bpj4: calls 10000
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to ME [Jc Tc Kh 7h Qh] [9c]
Dealt to bpj4 [Jd 2s Qs] [4h]
ME: bets 10000
bpj4: calls 10000
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to ME [Jc Tc Kh 7h Qh 9c] [4d]
ME: bets 1418 and is all-in
bpj4: calls 1418
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ME: shows [Jc Tc Kh 7h Qh 9c 4d] (HI: a straight, Nine to King)
bpj4: shows [Js 3c Jd 2s Qs 4h 6d] (HI: a pair of Jacks)
ME collected 72336 from pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 72336 Rake 0
Seat 1: ME showed [Jc Tc Kh 7h Qh 9c 4d] and won (72336) with HI: a straight, Nine to King
Seat 2: bpj4 showed [Js 3c Jd 2s Qs 4h 6d] and lost with HI: a pair of Jacks
Seat 3: tallgrass53 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 4: buffsgal folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 5: blastingcaps folded on the 3rd Street
Seat 6: BLUEGEMINI folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: willy8888 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 8: BigStoney folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

January Tournament

Before I begin diving into the details of this tournament, I want to inform everyone of the structure that was being used as this may help solve any confusion for some of my different plays. It was the WSOP Main Event structure, 10,000 in chips with 25-50 blinds and 20 minute levels.

It has been a popular topic in the poker world about how to play the early levels of a deep stacked tournament. Many hyper-aggressive players believe that one should play a lot of pots, often rather big ones, early on to try and build a stack for when the blinds get larger in the latter stages. This has it's pros and cons, but clearly the risks outway the rewards. I'm not saying that one should play like a total rock, but you don't need to be playing big pots until the blinds force you to. If I have the ability to play my style, small ball, then I will. There is a difference between playing a lot of BIG pots early on and seeing a lot of flops so you can earn (some may say steal...I say earn...lol) a bunch of little pots and build a big stack without risking everything. So...

Early on I was able to play EXACTLY how I wanted to, see a lot of flops and chop away at a bunch of small pots. So as the blinds strated going up I decided to change gears and slow down to a really semi-tight style. I still stole the blinds about twice a round and saw a few flops when I could, but certain players began playing REALLY fast. For example, with the blinds at 150-300 with a 25 ante, it folded to a fast player in middle position who made a massive 2,100 to go. I know...crazy! I'm next to act and look down at QsQc. As soon as I see this hand I'm not over come with joy, rather I'm a little confused as to what play I should make. I have about 11,000 and he has that covered since he just doubled through and busted his buddy a couple hands earlier with trip kings. I come up with 3 possible plays:

1) I can do what many anxious players would do and just shove all in. Honestly, this is the stupidest thing to do here. He isn't very experienced and is rather eratic, but the one thing I do know is that he ALWAYS slowplays his monsters. So I know he doesn't have AA or KK, but he would might have AK and don't want to flip a coin if I don't have to.

2) I can just flat call, see the flop ad then make a choice as to where to go in the hand. This would be a weak play that could lose me a lot of equity. If he does have AK and I just call and the flop doesn't bring an Ace or a King then I'll have to bet and he'll muck. But if I...

3) Re-raise 3,000 before the flop, then I will be getting an extra 3,000 from him. I know he won't push if I re-raise, because he just isn't like that. So I went with what I believe was the best play...re-raise to 5,000 total.

He just called as expected. The flop came a terrible A K 6. He checked (Slowplaying? Probably.) I checked. The turn came a J. (Great, now I lose to another possibilty...JJ.) He checked and I checked. River came a 2. He checked and I thought maybe he has a hand like KQ, but he was so weird that I thought he would call a bet on the river with KQ so I just checked preparing to muck my hand. He showed 55! (I had to double look to make sure it wasn't 66.) So I scooped a 10,000 pot that I should've lost. If he would of known anything about poker then he would of bet eventually and I would of probably folded. So now I have about 17,000.

So I sat around card dead as the action happened. Left and right people went broke. All of the sudden we're three handed, with blinds at 400-800 with a 100 ante. The chip leader had about 30-35k, I had about 15k and the other guy was the SS with about 8k. He won a couple big pots and got his way up to 15k. I just chopped away, playing really careful because I didn't want to gamble with anybody for everything. A fun hand came when I picked up Js9s in the small blind and limped in behind the chip leader who was on the button. The flop came okay...T 8 7! I checked and he bet 2,500, I called, BB folded. Turn was a 3. I checked an he bet 6,000, I called. River came a K. I bet 3,500 to make sure I got a call and I did. That pot got me up to about even with the chip leader.

The blinds went up to 500-1,000 with a 100 ante. I had about 25k, so there was not a ton of room to play poker. The chip leader raised every button which was fine with me because I knew I'd get him eventually if he kept up. He made an unusal 5 x BB raise to 5,000 total on the button. I looked down at QQ in the SB, I could re-raise to 10,000, but then I'd have to play the hand out of position post flop which I didn't want to do with this hand. I thought thast if I shoved in he would call me with AJ or AT, so I did. He quickly called and showed AA. Heh. I'm done. If you would of told me before the flop that I'd flop a Queen I would of said, "Bout time I suck out on them. Since they always draw out on me." Only problem...there was also an Ace on the flop. Okay, now I'm done...I've only hit one 1-outer in my life. I went broke and he went on to win.

Six of us played a H.O.S.E tournament afterwards, winner take all payout. I'm a great mixed game player so I felt pretty confident that I could win it. I got payed of here and there, won a few big pots and took it down with ease...does that sound conceded? I hope not. Honestly, it just seemed kind of easy to win they way some of them played.

I should have a new one up later this week, after we have a cash game.