LowStakesOnlinePoker

Royal Flush #12

2009-05-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

...and then there were 12.

Once again it's been a while since I've made a post.

Actually since I posted Royal Flush #11.

Been over a month since this hand happened.

Flopped it and didn't get paid off this time.

Full Tilt Poker Game #11310150116: Table Snow Trail - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:47:08 ET - 2009/03/24
Seat 1: MarkGreb ($4.27)
Seat 2: mrderbas ($9.06)
Seat 3: mike99hu ($1.34)
Seat 4: MegBegbGrrr ($10.49)
Seat 5: jo1313111 ($13.65)
Seat 6: ThatAintGood ($9.81)
Seat 7: Timval ($4.90)
Seat 8: giny84 ($1.12)
Seat 9: D Go 79 ($16.12)
mike99hu posts the small blind of $0.05
MegBegbGrrr posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Th Ah]
jo1313111 folds
ThatAintGood has 15 seconds left to act
ThatAintGood folds
Timval calls $0.10
Timval: mike, are you collour blind?
giny84 has 15 seconds left to act
giny84 folds
D Go 79 folds
MarkGreb calls $0.10
mrderbas has 15 seconds left to act
mike99hu adds $8.71
mrderbas folds
mike99hu folds
MegBegbGrrr checks
*** FLOP *** [Qh Kh Jh]
MegBegbGrrr checks
Timval bets $0.10
MarkGreb calls $0.10
MegBegbGrrr folds
*** TURN *** [Qh Kh Jh] [8h]
Timval checks
MarkGreb checks
*** RIVER *** [Qh Kh Jh 8h] [4c]
Timval checks
MarkGreb bets $4.07, and is all in
Timval folds
Uncalled bet of $4.07 returned to MarkGreb
MarkGreb mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot ($0.52)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $0.55 | Rake $0.03
Board: [Qh Kh Jh 8h 4c]
Seat 1: MarkGreb collected ($0.52), mucked
Seat 2: mrderbas (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: mike99hu (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: MegBegbGrrr (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: jo1313111 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: ThatAintGood didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Timval folded on the River
Seat 8: giny84 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: D Go 79 didn't bet (folded)

The 12 are broken down as follows:
1 Omaha
11 Hold'Em
1 @ bet365 - no bonus
1 @ Superior - no bonus
7 @ FullTilt - no bonus
3 @ PokerChamps - $5 bonus

I'll try to make a post before my next royal.

Royal Flush #11

2009-01-17T05:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, has it really been over 3 months since my last post.

I've got to better than that.

Just hit Royal Flush #11 this morning.

Full Tilt Poker Game #10090012596: Table Summerlin - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 8:08:43 ET - 2009/01/17
Seat 1: Larrier2 ($22.85)
Seat 2: Dimssd ($16)
Seat 3: Lucky Luke Nr1 ($9.15)
Seat 4: MarkGreb ($7.35)
Seat 5: DieselSUCCESS ($6.45)
Seat 6: derFischer ($11.80)
Seat 7: RamilJar ($2.70)
Seat 8: lucky chance ($4.50)
Seat 9: burnPARTYburn ($9.95)
lucky chance posts the small blind of $0.05
burnPARTYburn posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ah Th]
Lucky Luke Nr1: ???
Larrier2 folds
Dimssd folds
Lucky Luke Nr1: what the matter
Lucky Luke Nr1 has 15 seconds left to act
Lucky Luke Nr1: can you only play aa--kk-qq-ak
Lucky Luke Nr1 calls $0.10
MarkGreb calls $0.10
DieselSUCCESS calls $0.10
Lucky Luke Nr1: that why you newer gonna ,make profit
derFischer has 15 seconds left to act
derFischer folds
RamilJar calls $0.10
lucky chance folds
burnPARTYburn checks
*** FLOP *** [4d Jh Qh]
burnPARTYburn has 15 seconds left to act
burnPARTYburn checks
Lucky Luke Nr1 has 15 seconds left to act
Lucky Luke Nr1: and here..bb is per hour 100 hand 1 dollars
Lucky Luke Nr1 checks
MarkGreb checks
DieselSUCCESS checks
Lucky Luke Nr1: its gonna make mee laugh
RamilJar bets $0.20
burnPARTYburn folds
Lucky Luke Nr1 folds
MarkGreb calls $0.20
DieselSUCCESS folds
*** TURN *** [4d Jh Qh] [Kh]
MarkGreb checks
RamilJar bets $0.20
MarkGreb calls $0.20
*** RIVER *** [4d Jh Qh Kh] [2c]
MarkGreb bets $6.85, and is all in
RamilJar folds
Uncalled bet of $6.85 returned to MarkGreb
MarkGreb mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot ($1.25)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1.35 | Rake $0.10
Board: [4d Jh Qh Kh 2c]
Seat 1: Larrier2 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Dimssd didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Lucky Luke Nr1 folded on the Flop
Seat 4: MarkGreb collected ($1.25), mucked
Seat 5: DieselSUCCESS folded on the Flop
Seat 6: derFischer didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: RamilJar (button) folded on the River
Seat 8: lucky chance (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: burnPARTYburn (big blind) folded on the Flop

The 11 are broken down as follows:
1 Omaha
10 Hold'Em
1 @ bet365 - no bonus
1 @ Superior - no bonus
6 @ FullTilt - no bonus
3 @ PokerChamps - $5 bonus

I promise it won't be 3 months before my next post for anyone out there who may read this.

Royal Flush #10

2008-09-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

Here's #10!!!

It took a little over a year.

It counts even if it doesn't get shown right?

Full Tilt Poker Game #7741925305: Table Ultimate - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:04:13 ET - 2008/08/21
Seat 1: MarkGreb ($3.45)
Seat 2: TlrD42 ($1.80)
Seat 3: Forward_72 ($5.75)
Seat 4: Dan3010 ($2)
Seat 5: ChargerBings ($4.75)
Seat 6: Hashmodai ($1.85)
Seat 7: QueenOPoker922 ($1.50)
Seat 8: nedrosed ($2)
Seat 9: pimpre ($4)
MarkGreb posts the small blind of $0.05
TlrD42 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jc Tc]
Forward_72 folds
ChargerBings calls $0.10
Hashmodai folds
QueenOPoker922 calls $0.10
nedrosed folds
pimpre folds
MarkGreb calls $0.05
TlrD42 checks
*** FLOP *** [Ac 6d Kc]
MarkGreb checks
TlrD42 checks
ChargerBings checks
QueenOPoker922 bets $0.10
MarkGreb calls $0.10
TlrD42 folds
ChargerBings folds
*** TURN *** [Ac 6d Kc] [2c]
MarkGreb checks
QueenOPoker922 checks
*** RIVER *** [Ac 6d Kc 2c] [Qc]
MarkGreb checks
QueenOPoker922 bets $0.10
MarkGreb raises to $3.25, and is all in
QueenOPoker922 folds
Uncalled bet of $3.15 returned to MarkGreb
MarkGreb mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot ($0.75)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $0.80 | Rake $0.05
Board: [Ac 6d Kc 2c Qc]
Seat 1: MarkGreb (small blind) collected ($0.75), mucked
Seat 2: TlrD42 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Forward_72 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Dan3010 is sitting out
Seat 5: ChargerBings folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Hashmodai didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: QueenOPoker922 folded on the River
Seat 8: nedrosed didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: pimpre (button) didn't bet (folded)

The 10 are broken down as follows:
1 Omaha
9 Hold'Em
1 @ bet365 - no bonus
1 @ Superior - no bonus
5 @ FullTilt - no bonus
3 @ PokerChamps - $5 bonus

Fult Tilt Gold $20K Freeroll 8/9/08

2008-09-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted.

As usual I qualified to play in the 20K Gold IronMan freeroll on Full Tilt.

Just under 500 players played with the top 180 making the money with first place playing $3000 and qualifying for a $5K sit-n-go.

I limped into the money as a shortstack, believe I was 172 when the money bubble broke then somehow , through some luck and good cards, got all the way up to 4th.

As the final table approached I stayed in the middle of the pack until we actually got down to the bubble where I went card dead and was down to 9th out of 10 remaining when this hand came up.

Full Tilt Poker Game #7581541983: Gold $20,000 Freeroll (53538069), Table 6 - 2500/5000 Ante 600 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:23:41 ET - 2008/08/09
Seat 2: orkooo (109,419)
Seat 4: Comengetme (103,922)
Seat 6: WinnerFish (116,985)
Seat 7: JLMeyer (45,324)
Seat 9: MarkGreb (57,364)
orkooo antes 600
Comengetme antes 600
WinnerFish antes 600
JLMeyer antes 600
MarkGreb antes 600
orkooo posts the small blind of 2,500
Comengetme posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [4c 4d]
WinnerFish folds
JLMeyer folds
MarkGreb raises to 20,500
orkooo folds
Comengetme raises to 67,000
MarkGreb calls 36,264, and is all in
Comengetme shows [Jd Jc]
MarkGreb shows [4c 4d]
Uncalled bet of 10,236 returned to Comengetme
*** FLOP *** [8d 8s 9c]
*** TURN *** [8d 8s 9c] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [8d 8s 9c Ac] [Ts]
Comengetme shows two pair, Jacks and Eights
MarkGreb shows two pair, Eights and Fours
Comengetme wins the pot (119,028) with two pair, Jacks and Eights
MarkGreb stands up
orkooo stands up
Comengetme stands up
WinnerFish stands up
JLMeyer stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 119,028 | Rake 0
Board: [8d 8s 9c Ac Ts]
Seat 2: orkooo (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Comengetme (big blind) showed [Jd Jc] and won (119,028) with two pair, Jacks and Eights
Seat 6: WinnerFish folded before the Flop
Seat 7: JLMeyer folded before the Flop
Seat 9: MarkGreb (button) showed [4c 4d] and lost with two pair, Eights and Fours

I'm not so much disappointed that I busted out 10th as how poorly I played this hand.

I committed too much with my pre-flop raise here so I really could not fold.

I should have been in shove or fold mode with such a small stack.

I'll do better next time.

MSOP Event #39

2008-06-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

Another day , another MSOP event.

Event #39 $15+$1.50 W/$7.5K Guarantee started with 2041 players seated.

My stack has been seesawing up and down around the starting stack, plus or minus 500
chips.

Once again , I'm short stacked and in this hand I figure I'm on the wrong end of a coin flip:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6916489996: MSOP Event #39 (49644964), Table 109 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:42:21 ET - 2008/06/21
Seat 1: Unfortunate 89 (8,485)
Seat 2: TonyCaparra (2,175)
Seat 3: Bardaki (9,440)
Seat 4: kdiddy1122 (15,305)
Seat 5: TC cow (2,460)
Seat 6: cdawg33 (6,580)
Seat 7: Brian Caby (10,125)
Seat 8: DCT29 (385), is sitting out
Seat 9: MarkGreb (1,940)
Unfortunate 89 antes 25
TonyCaparra antes 25
Bardaki antes 25
kdiddy1122 antes 25
TC cow antes 25
cdawg33 antes 25
Brian Caby antes 25
DCT29 antes 25
MarkGreb antes 25
DCT29 posts the small blind of 120
MarkGreb posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jc Kh]
Unfortunate 89 raises to 600
TonyCaparra folds
Bardaki folds
kdiddy1122 folds
TC cow folds
cdawg33 folds
Brian Caby folds
DCT29 folds
MarkGreb raises to 1,915, and is all in
Unfortunate 89 calls 1,315
MarkGreb shows [Jc Kh]
Unfortunate 89 shows [4h 4c]
*** FLOP *** [6c Td 7s]
*** TURN *** [6c Td 7s] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [6c Td 7s 3h] [9h]
MarkGreb shows King Jack high
Unfortunate 89 shows a pair of Fours
Unfortunate 89 wins the pot (4,175) with a pair of Fours
MarkGreb stands up
Unfortunate 89 stands up
TonyCaparra stands up
Bardaki stands up
kdiddy1122 stands up
TC cow stands up
cdawg33 stands up
Brian Caby stands up
DCT29 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,175 | Rake 0
Board: [6c Td 7s 3h 9h]
Seat 1: Unfortunate 89 showed [4h 4c] and won (4,175) with a pair of Fours
Seat 2: TonyCaparra folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Bardaki folded before the Flop
Seat 4: kdiddy1122 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: TC cow folded before the Flop
Seat 6: cdawg33 folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Brian Caby (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: DCT29 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [Jc Kh] and lost with King Jack high

My opponents small pair holds up and I'm out in 694th out of 2041.

Next up is Event #42 $10+$1 NL Hold'Em w/$3K Guarantee.

MSOP Event #36

2008-06-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

Next MSOP event I played in was #36 $15+$1.50 NL Hold'Em w/$7.5K Guarantee along with 1808 other players.

Played decently but hit a cold deck as the blinds started to get large compared to my small stack so I was looking to steal or double up, Ace rag off-suit usually isn't what I was looking for you gotta do what you gotta do...:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6890738677: MSOP Event #36 (49644773), Table 7 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:56:44 ET - 2008/06/19
Seat 1: bilardojoe (9,823)
Seat 2: DREAMLINE2112 (8,389)
Seat 3: starbucksjunkie (18,172)
Seat 4: Mikeh77 (9,478)
Seat 5: MarkGreb (2,856)
Seat 6: PAIGEPUP (4,735)
Seat 7: REDDEVILS007 (7,729)
Seat 8: KCR SCCA (12,009)
Seat 9: kingkong2 (1,100), is sitting out
bilardojoe antes 25
DREAMLINE2112 antes 25
starbucksjunkie antes 25
Mikeh77 antes 25
MarkGreb antes 25
PAIGEPUP antes 25
REDDEVILS007 antes 25
kingkong2 antes 25
kingkong2 posts the small blind of 150
bilardojoe posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [8s Ah]
DREAMLINE2112 folds
starbucksjunkie folds
Mikeh77 folds
MarkGreb raises to 2,831, and is all in
PAIGEPUP has 15 seconds left to act
PAIGEPUP raises to 4,710, and is all in
REDDEVILS007 folds
kingkong2 folds
bilardojoe folds
PAIGEPUP shows [Ad Jc]
MarkGreb shows [8s Ah]
Uncalled bet of 1,879 returned to PAIGEPUP
*** FLOP *** [Ks Qs 7c]
*** TURN *** [Ks Qs 7c] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [Ks Qs 7c 2c] [Tc]
PAIGEPUP shows a straight, Ace high
MarkGreb shows Ace King high
PAIGEPUP wins the pot (6,312) with a straight, Ace high
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,312 | Rake 0
Board: [Ks Qs 7c 2c Tc]
Seat 1: bilardojoe (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: DREAMLINE2112 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: starbucksjunkie folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Mikeh77 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: MarkGreb showed [8s Ah] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 6: PAIGEPUP showed [Ad Jc] and won (6,312) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 7: REDDEVILS007 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: KCR SCCA is sitting out
Seat 9: kingkong2 (small blind) folded before the Flop

Knew I was in trouble when I saw my opponent had me dominated.

Out in 434th of 1808.

Next up is Event #39 $15+$1.50 W/$7.5K Guarantee.

MSOP Event #32

2008-06-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

MSOP Event #32 $15+$1.50 NL Hold Hold 'Em w/$6K Guarantee on Full Tilt Poker started out with 1955 players which is a pretty large field for a weekday afternoon.

This event I had a little more success as I was able to keep close to an average chip stack most of my time in the event.

I played a little more aggressive to try to maintain my chip stack as shown in this hand where I pushed with the flush draw:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6864863389: MSOP Event #32 (49643968), Table 173 - 200/400 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:01:50 ET - 2008/06/17
Seat 1: Vrake (6,080)
Seat 2: bigchips88 (10,070)
Seat 3: pokersie (11,577)
Seat 4: repoman042 (14,081)
Seat 5: MarkGreb (4,400)
Seat 6: Dr Lester (9,169)
Seat 7: wilma (10,725)
Seat 8: Luan Estradioto (14,063)
Seat 9: chump1 (11,012)
Vrake antes 50
bigchips88 antes 50
pokersie antes 50
repoman042 antes 50
MarkGreb antes 50
Dr Lester antes 50
wilma antes 50
Luan Estradioto antes 50
chump1 antes 50
repoman042 posts the small blind of 200
MarkGreb posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [9h Kc]
Dr Lester folds
wilma folds
Luan Estradioto folds
chump1 folds
Vrake folds
bigchips88 raises to 1,050
pokersie folds
repoman042 folds
MarkGreb calls 650
*** FLOP *** [6c Jc 5c]
MarkGreb bets 3,300, and is all in
bigchips88 has 15 seconds left to act
bigchips88 has requested TIME
bigchips88: SICK CALL TIME!!!!!!!!!
bigchips88 calls 3,300
MarkGreb shows [9h Kc]
bigchips88 shows [As 6s]
*** TURN *** [6c Jc 5c] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [6c Jc 5c Kh] [Td]
MarkGreb shows a pair of Kings
bigchips88 shows a pair of Sixes
MarkGreb wins the pot (9,350) with a pair of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9,350 | Rake 0
Board: [6c Jc 5c Kh Td]
Seat 1: Vrake folded before the Flop
Seat 2: bigchips88 showed [As 6s] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 3: pokersie (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: repoman042 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [9h Kc] and won (9,350) with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: Dr Lester folded before the Flop
Seat 7: wilma folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Luan Estradioto folded before the Flop
Seat 9: chump1 folded before the Flop

I have to agree with my opponent that it was a "Sick Call" but while he was ahead on the flop according to PokerStove I'm a slight favorite 52.42-47.58.

I got lucky in the coin flip but don't really understand his call.

With these chips I've been able to steal some pots and keep myself afloat as the bubble approaches (189 players will cash).

My stack is starting to shrink when I get pocket Queens in this hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6865486353: MSOP Event #32 (49643968), Table 173 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:52:36 ET - 2008/06/17
Seat 1: Vrake (5,105)
Seat 2: speen420 (34,204)
Seat 3: pokersie (10,627)
Seat 4: Mjonesey024 (69,085)
Seat 5: MarkGreb (8,425)
Seat 6: BRiha5254 (39,142)
Seat 7: wilma (11,800)
Seat 8: gogzy (7,836)
Seat 9: Ivegot dcashews (35,798)
Vrake antes 100
speen420 antes 100
pokersie antes 100
Mjonesey024 antes 100
MarkGreb antes 100
BRiha5254 antes 100
wilma antes 100
gogzy antes 100
Ivegot dcashews antes 100
gogzy posts the small blind of 400
Ivegot dcashews posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Qh Qs]
Vrake folds
speen420 calls 800
pokersie raises to 4,500
Mjonesey024 folds
MarkGreb raises to 8,325, and is all in
BRiha5254 folds
wilma folds
gogzy has 15 seconds left to act
gogzy folds
Ivegot dcashews folds
speen420 folds
pokersie calls 3,825
MarkGreb shows [Qh Qs]
pokersie shows [Kc Ks]
*** FLOP *** [7h 8s Kd]
*** TURN *** [7h 8s Kd] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [7h 8s Kd 3s] [Ad]
MarkGreb shows a pair of Queens
pokersie shows three of a kind, Kings
pokersie wins the pot (19,550) with three of a kind, Kings
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 19,550 | Rake 0
Board: [7h 8s Kd 3s Ad]
Seat 1: Vrake folded before the Flop
Seat 2: speen420 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: pokersie showed [Kc Ks] and won (19,550) with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 4: Mjonesey024 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: MarkGreb showed [Qh Qs] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 6: BRiha5254 folded before the Flop
Seat 7: wilma (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: gogzy (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Ivegot dcashews (big blind) folded before the Flop

Unfortunately I ran into pocket Kings here but don't think I'd ever fold Queens here as winning this hand would have put me well into the money.

My opponent could have shoved with any pair 10's and about as well as AJ+ suited and unsuited so I really only had to avoid AA,KK, and AK to be a pretty large favorite.

I was out in 239th place.

Next up for me is MSOP Event #36 $15+$1.50 NL Hold 'Em w/$7.5K Guarantee.

MSOP Event #29

2008-06-21T04:57:00.000-07:00

I missed a few events I planned on playing in but did win a satellite to Event #29.

Mini Series of Poker(MSOP) Event #29 NL Hold' Em $30+$3 w/$15K Guarantee started with 2309 players.

Have to say that I don't think I won a hand in this one.

Just not many playable hands and even when trying to play suited connectors in late position I was just completely missing flops.

So here's my bust out hand as I was shortstacked and saw my first Ace or King in several orbits:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6838912601: MSOP Event #29 (49643599), Table 20 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:46:41 ET - 2008/06/15
Seat 1: HuggieHuggins (7,770)
Seat 2: MarkGreb (1,105)
Seat 3: 0815User (2,680)
Seat 4: THE BLUE NEWT (4,150)
Seat 5: GopherRube84 (5,275)
Seat 6: KILLTONY (12,975)
Seat 7: SERINITYNOW (10,970)
Seat 8: Pilkain (9,325)
Seat 9: bmv55 (2,230)
HuggieHuggins antes 25
MarkGreb antes 25
0815User antes 25
THE BLUE NEWT antes 25
GopherRube84 antes 25
KILLTONY antes 25
SERINITYNOW antes 25
Pilkain antes 25
bmv55 antes 25
GopherRube84 posts the small blind of 120
KILLTONY posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [As 7c]
SERINITYNOW folds
Pilkain folds
bmv55 folds
HuggieHuggins folds
MarkGreb raises to 1,080, and is all in
0815User has 15 seconds left to act
0815User has requested TIME
0815User raises to 2,655, and is all in
THE BLUE NEWT folds
GopherRube84 folds
KILLTONY calls 2,415
0815User shows [Ah Ac]
KILLTONY shows [Js Ts]
MarkGreb shows [As 7c]
*** FLOP *** [4s Td 9d]
*** TURN *** [4s Td 9d] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [4s Td 9d 5h] [Tc]
0815User shows two pair, Aces and Tens
KILLTONY shows three of a kind, Tens
KILLTONY wins the side pot (3,150) with three of a kind, Tens
MarkGreb shows a pair of Tens
KILLTONY wins the main pot (3,585) with three of a kind, Tens
HuggieHuggins: ouch
MarkGreb stands up
0815User stands up
The blinds are now 150/300 with an ante of 25
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,735 Main pot 3,585. Side pot 3,150. | Rake 0
Board: [4s Td 9d 5h Tc]
Seat 1: HuggieHuggins folded before the Flop
Seat 2: MarkGreb showed [As 7c] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 3: 0815User showed [Ah Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Tens
Seat 4: THE BLUE NEWT (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: GopherRube84 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: KILLTONY (big blind) showed [Js Ts] and won (6,735) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 7: SERINITYNOW folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Pilkain folded before the Flop
Seat 9: bmv55 folded before the Flop

I knew I was hoping to get lucky.

I did feel bad for 0815User who had his Aces cracked.

I was out 753rd.

Next up is Event #32 $15++$1.5 NL Hold' Em w/$6K Guarantee.

Full TIlt Iron Man Gold $20,000 Freeroll

2008-06-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

Once again I qualified for the Gold Level in Full Tilt Poker's Iron Man Program which means I get entry into the end of the month $20K Freeroll.

Things went well the first couple of hours as poket Aces and Kings held up a few times allowing me to stay pretty far above average in chips.

As the blinds begun to get larger and the prize bubble approached(90 of 432 hit the money with first prize being $3600 and entry in the 4 player SNG for $5K and a chance for more in some heads-up SNG's with a few FTP pros) my cards dried up as I was moved to a much more aggressive table.

Hence my chip stack fell into the dangerzone when this hand came up:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6826386501: Gold $20,000 Freeroll (50743333), Table 20 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:07:47 ET - 2008/06/14
Seat 1: bagelman2 (15,205)
Seat 2: Beech Bum (8,112)
Seat 3: gwood17 (8,560)
Seat 4: acesneverlose (8,360)
Seat 5: thracion (18,737), is sitting out
Seat 6: neXz (3,904)
Seat 7: Dorkforker (16,854)
Seat 8: MarkGreb (1,300)
Seat 9: prinzpet (11,188)
bagelman2 antes 100
Beech Bum antes 100
gwood17 antes 100
acesneverlose antes 100
thracion antes 100
neXz antes 100
Dorkforker antes 100
MarkGreb antes 100
prinzpet antes 100
neXz posts the small blind of 400
Dorkforker posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ad Kd]
MarkGreb raises to 1,200, and is all in
prinzpet folds
bagelman2 folds
thracion has reconnected
Beech Bum has 15 seconds left to act
thracion has returned
Beech Bum folds
gwood17 folds
acesneverlose calls 1,200
thracion folds
neXz folds
Dorkforker calls 400
*** FLOP *** [2c 7d Td]
Dorkforker checks
acesneverlose bets 2,400
Dorkforker folds
acesneverlose shows [7c 6c]
MarkGreb shows [Ad Kd]
Uncalled bet of 2,400 returned to acesneverlose
*** TURN *** [2c 7d Td] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [2c 7d Td 2d] [9s]
acesneverlose shows two pair, Sevens and Twos
MarkGreb shows a flush, Ace high
MarkGreb wins the pot (4,900) with a flush, Ace high
The blinds are now 500/1,000 with an ante of 125
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,900 | Rake 0
Board: [2c 7d Td 2d 9s]
Seat 1: bagelman2 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Beech Bum folded before the Flop
Seat 3: gwood17 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: acesneverlose showed [7c 6c] and lost with two pair, Sevens and Twos
Seat 5: thracion (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: neXz (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Dorkforker (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: MarkGreb showed [Ad Kd] and won (4,900) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 9: prinzpet folded before the Flop

A double up was critical at this point and it happend to work out.

A few hands later pocket Kings fell in my lap with a lot of aciton before my turn to act:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6826413776: Gold $20,000 Freeroll (50743333), Table 20 - 500/1000 Ante 125 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:10:09 ET - 2008/06/14
Seat 1: bagelman2 (14,855)
Seat 2: Beech Bum (7,762)
Seat 3: gwood17 (8,210)
Seat 4: acesneverlose (9,435)
Seat 5: thracion (21,012)
Seat 6: neXz (3,154)
Seat 7: Dorkforker (14,804)
Seat 8: MarkGreb (3,150)
Seat 9: prinzpet (9,838)
bagelman2 antes 125
Beech Bum antes 125
gwood17 antes 125
acesneverlose antes 125
thracion antes 125
neXz antes 125
Dorkforker antes 125
MarkGreb antes 125
prinzpet antes 125
prinzpet posts the small blind of 500
bagelman2 posts the big blind of 1,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Kh Ks]
Beech Bum has 15 seconds left to act
Beech Bum folds
gwood17 folds
acesneverlose folds
thracion folds
neXz raises to 3,029, and is all in
Dorkforker calls 3,029
MarkGreb calls 3,025, and is all in
prinzpet folds
bagelman2 folds
neXz shows [Qs 7h]
Dorkforker shows [Qc As]
MarkGreb shows [Kh Ks]
*** FLOP *** [Kd 4d 9d]
*** TURN *** [Kd 4d 9d] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [Kd 4d 9d 2h] [4s]
neXz shows a pair of Fours
Dorkforker shows a pair of Fours
Dorkforker wins the side pot (8) with a pair of Fours
MarkGreb shows a full house, Kings full of Fours
MarkGreb wins the main pot (11,700) with a full house, Kings full of Fours
neXz stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11,708 Main pot 11,700. Side pot 8. | Rake 0
Board: [Kd 4d 9d 2h 4s]
Seat 1: bagelman2 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Beech Bum folded before the Flop
Seat 3: gwood17 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: acesneverlose folded before the Flop
Seat 5: thracion folded before the Flop
Seat 6: neXz showed [Qs 7h] and lost with a pair of Fours
Seat 7: Dorkforker showed [Qc As] and won (8) with a pair of Fours
Seat 8: MarkGreb (button) showed [Kh Ks] and won (11,700) with a full house, Kings full of Fours
Seat 9: prinzpet (small blind) folded before the Flop

Tripling up to over 11K when I was so short stacked a few hands earlier actually got me thinking about going far.

A few hands later I got my chance to try to much further up the payout chart:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6826460566: Gold $20,000 Freeroll (50743333), Table 20 - 500/1000 Ante 125 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:14:18 ET - 2008/06/14
Seat 1: bagelman2 (12,605)
Seat 2: Beech Bum (5,512)
Seat 3: gwood17 (5,960)
Seat 5: thracion (23,762)
Seat 6: VegasMeow (25,330)
Seat 7: Dorkforker (11,033)
Seat 8: MarkGreb (11,075)
Seat 9: prinzpet (23,773)
bagelman2 antes 125
Beech Bum antes 125
gwood17 antes 125
thracion antes 125
VegasMeow antes 125
Dorkforker antes 125
MarkGreb antes 125
prinzpet antes 125
VegasMeow posts the small blind of 500
Dorkforker posts the big blind of 1,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ad Kh]
MarkGreb raises to 4,000
prinzpet folds
bagelman2 has 15 seconds left to act
bagelman2 folds
Beech Bum has 15 seconds left to act
Beech Bum folds
gwood17 folds
thracion folds
VegasMeow folds
Dorkforker has 15 seconds left to act
Dorkforker raises to 10,908, and is all in
MarkGreb calls 6,908
Dorkforker shows [Jh Jc]
MarkGreb shows [Ad Kh]
*** FLOP *** [2s 3h 5c]
*** TURN *** [2s 3h 5c] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [2s 3h 5c 5s] [7d]
Dorkforker shows two pair, Jacks and Fives
MarkGreb shows a pair of Fives
Dorkforker wins the pot (23,316) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 23,316 | Rake 0
Board: [2s 3h 5c 5s 7d]
Seat 1: bagelman2 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Beech Bum folded before the Flop
Seat 3: gwood17 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: thracion (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: VegasMeow (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Dorkforker (big blind) showed [Jh Jc] and won (23,316) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
Seat 8: MarkGreb showed [Ad Kh] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 9: prinzpet folded before the Flop

While I could have folded and still finish one more level up the pay scale easily for an additional $20 I felt it was worth a shot to win much more money.

Worth at least $20 in my opnion, but it was not to be.

Next hand I was all-in after the ante was put up so it is what it is:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6826472583: Gold $20,000 Freeroll (50743333), Table 20 - 500/1000 Ante 125 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:15:22 ET - 2008/06/14
Seat 1: bagelman2 (12,480)
Seat 2: Beech Bum (5,387)
Seat 3: gwood17 (5,835)
Seat 5: thracion (23,637)
Seat 6: VegasMeow (24,705)
Seat 7: Dorkforker (23,316)
Seat 8: MarkGreb (42)
Seat 9: prinzpet (23,648)
bagelman2 antes 125
Beech Bum antes 125
gwood17 antes 125
thracion antes 125
VegasMeow antes 125
Dorkforker antes 125
MarkGreb antes 42, and is all in
prinzpet antes 125
Dorkforker posts the small blind of 500
MarkGreb checks
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [4h 8d]
prinzpet folds
bagelman2 has 15 seconds left to act
bagelman2 folds
Beech Bum has 15 seconds left to act
Beech Bum folds
gwood17 folds
thracion folds
VegasMeow folds
Dorkforker shows [5c 9d]
MarkGreb shows [4h 8d]
Uncalled bet of 500 returned to Dorkforker
*** FLOP *** [7s Jc 3c]
*** TURN *** [7s Jc 3c] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [7s Jc 3c Kd] [Js]
Dorkforker wins the side pot (581)
Dorkforker shows a pair of Jacks
MarkGreb shows a pair of Jacks
Dorkforker wins the main pot (336) with a pair of Jacks
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 917 Main pot 336. Side pot 581. | Rake 0
Board: [7s Jc 3c Kd Js]
Seat 1: bagelman2 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Beech Bum folded before the Flop
Seat 3: gwood17 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: thracion folded before the Flop
Seat 6: VegasMeow (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Dorkforker (small blind) showed [5c 9d] and won (917) with a pair of Jacks
Seat 8: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [4h 8d] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 9: prinzpet folded before the Flop

I ended up 48th when the next bump in payout started at 45th.

Worth the risk.

Battle of the Blogger 3

2008-06-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

Played in the Battle of the Blogger 3 tournament sponsored by Full Tilt Poker and the Dead Money Blog by Sir AlCantHang.

The Bale o the Blogger 3 is a winner take all NL Hold'Em Freeroll for a $2K WSOP seat.

122 players were registered but there were a lot of no shows, probably about half the field was dead money.

I started slow with the 1500 starting chips and lost about half my stack to the 2 other "live" players at my table before I rebounded to a little bit more than double.

After the no shows were all elimnated it started to resemble a real tourney as it was less about stealing the blinds and actually making hands.

Trying to accumulate some chips buy stealing the blinds as one of the shorter stacks when this hand came up:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6747585901: Battle of the Blogger 3 (48562343), Table 3 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:27:23 ET - 2008/06/08
Seat 1: JD Schellnutt (2,140)
Seat 2: Mike_Maloney (6,160)
Seat 3: OMGitsPokerFool (6,005)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (3,130)
Seat 5: Julius_Goat (8,440)
Seat 6: gsw61515 (11,775)
Seat 7: cemfredmd (7,270)
Seat 9: IlliniFan (5,801)
OMGitsPokerFool posts the small blind of 100
MarkGreb posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [7c Td]
Julius_Goat folds
gsw61515 folds
cemfredmd folds
IlliniFan calls 200
JD Schellnutt folds
Mike_Maloney folds
OMGitsPokerFool folds
MarkGreb checks
*** FLOP *** [Th 8d 3h]
MarkGreb bets 500
IlliniFan calls 500
*** TURN *** [Th 8d 3h] [9h]
MarkGreb bets 2,430, and is all in
IlliniFan calls 2,430
MarkGreb shows [7c Td]
IlliniFan shows [Ad Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Th 8d 3h 9h] [4s]
MarkGreb shows a pair of Tens
IlliniFan shows a pair of Tens
IlliniFan wins the pot (6,360) with a pair of Tens
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,360 | Rake 0
Board: [Th 8d 3h 9h 4s]
Seat 1: JD Schellnutt didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Mike_Maloney (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: OMGitsPokerFool (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [7c Td] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 5: Julius_Goat didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: gsw61515 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: cemfredmd didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: IlliniFan showed [Ad Ts] and won (6,360) with a pair of Tens

The winner take all format made me play this hand much different than I normally would.

In most cases I would have been done with this hand after my opponents flat call on the flop, the turn gave me some outs as I was opened ended so I push with the semi-bluff.

But it wasn't to be and I was out 30th out of the 122.

MSOP Event #15

2008-06-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

Another large field of 5120 showed up for MSOP Event #15 $10+ $1 NL Hold'Em w/$5K Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker.

I wasn't exactly card dead this time out but could hit a flop to save my life but with the Double Stack format I was able to survive past the second break while hoping to hit a run of good cards.

Never happened.

Here's my bustout hand:
Full Tilt Poker Game #6747095627: MSOP Event #15 (49641700), Table 385 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:49:31 ET - 2008/06/08
Seat 1: freedom08751 (15,130)
Seat 2: MarkGreb (1,000)
Seat 3: PhilTheDrill7 (6,520)
Seat 4: AyaNinjaMonkeys (16,531)
Seat 5: Patrick Scott (8,940)
Seat 6: animos (15,695)
Seat 7: JoeDeertayAA (9,550)
Seat 8: nightlight (4,425)
Seat 9: BuckyBT (10,040)
freedom08751 antes 25
MarkGreb antes 25
PhilTheDrill7 antes 25
AyaNinjaMonkeys antes 25
Patrick Scott antes 25
animos antes 25
JoeDeertayAA antes 25
nightlight antes 25
BuckyBT antes 25
animos posts the small blind of 150
JoeDeertayAA posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ac Jd]
nightlight folds
BuckyBT has 15 seconds left to act
BuckyBT folds
freedom08751 folds
MarkGreb raises to 975, and is all in
PhilTheDrill7 folds
AyaNinjaMonkeys folds
Patrick Scott folds
animos folds
JoeDeertayAA calls 675
MarkGreb shows [Ac Jd]
JoeDeertayAA shows [6c As]
*** FLOP *** [Qc Ah 7h]
*** TURN *** [Qc Ah 7h] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [Qc Ah 7h Tc] [6s]
MarkGreb shows a pair of Aces
JoeDeertayAA shows two pair, Aces and Sixes
JoeDeertayAA wins the pot (2,325) with two pair, Aces and Sixes
MarkGreb stands up
freedom08751 stands up
PhilTheDrill7 stands up
AyaNinjaMonkeys stands up
Patrick Scott stands up
animos stands up
JoeDeertayAA stands up
nightlight stands up
BuckyBT stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,325 | Rake 0
Board: [Qc Ah 7h Tc 6s]
Seat 1: freedom08751 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: MarkGreb showed [Ac Jd] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 3: PhilTheDrill7 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: AyaNinjaMonkeys folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Patrick Scott (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: animos (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: JoeDeertayAA (big blind) showed [6c As] and won (2,325) with two pair, Aces and Sixes
Seat 8: nightlight folded before the Flop
Seat 9: BuckyBT folded before the Flop

Rivered!

Out 1765th of 5120.

When it's not your day, it's not your day.

I'm thinking about satelliting into Event #21 $50+$5 NL W/$25K Guarantee but will definitely be playing in Event #23 $20+$2 NL Hold'Em W/$7500 Guarantee.

I really like the deep stack format as it gives more play for your buck and the large fields makes for some really large prize pools considering the small buy-ins.

MSOP Event #13

2008-06-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

I missed MSOP Event #9 due to widespread power outages, sure seems to be a lot of severe weather this spring.

Event #13 in the MSOP on Full Tilt Poker was another card dead experience in a large field
(2170 entrants).

Just not many hands that could call raises.

Here's the busto hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6732851620: MSOP Event #13 (49563052), Table 12 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:31:11 ET - 2008/06/07
Seat 1: NuchoLibre (8,430)
Seat 2: Exurtype (1,850)
Seat 3: joesawyer (2,520), is sitting out
Seat 4: kenoport (1,935)
Seat 5: Bullet2TheChest (8,185)
Seat 6: Alchfora (4,190), is sitting out
Seat 7: MarkGreb (895)
Seat 8: Chippy McStacks (3,110)
Seat 9: Lefty C (7,975)
Bullet2TheChest posts the small blind of 40
Alchfora posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ac Ah]
MarkGreb calls 80
Chippy McStacks folds
Lefty C calls 80
NuchoLibre raises to 240
Exurtype folds
joesawyer folds
kenoport raises to 1,000
Bullet2TheChest folds
Alchfora folds
MarkGreb calls 815, and is all in
Lefty C folds
NuchoLibre folds
kenoport shows [Jd Jc]
MarkGreb shows [Ac Ah]
Uncalled bet of 105 returned to kenoport
*** FLOP *** [3h Qs 2c]
*** TURN *** [3h Qs 2c] [Jh]
Chippy McStacks: gg
*** RIVER *** [3h Qs 2c Jh] [4h]
kenoport shows three of a kind, Jacks
MarkGreb shows a pair of Aces
kenoport wins the pot (2,230) with three of a kind, Jacks
MarkGreb stands up
NuchoLibre stands up
Exurtype stands up
joesawyer stands up
kenoport stands up
Bullet2TheChest stands up
Alchfora stands up
Chippy McStacks stands up
Lefty C stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,230 | Rake 0
Board: [3h Qs 2c Jh 4h]
Seat 1: NuchoLibre folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Exurtype didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: joesawyer didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: kenoport (button) showed [Jd Jc] and won (2,230) with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 5: Bullet2TheChest (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Alchfora (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: MarkGreb showed [Ac Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 8: Chippy McStacks didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Lefty C folded before the Flop

Seemed like a perfect time to limp with Aces as I had a tight image with very few playable hands, If my opponent hadn't of re-raised I would have.

Sometimes it's just not your day.

Next up is tomorrows MSOP Event #15 $10+$1 NL Hold'Em w/$5K Guaranteed.

MSOP Event #7

2008-06-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

Qualified for the Mini Series of Poker Event #7 $2-+$2 NL Hold'Em w/$10,000 Guarantee on Full Tilt Poker through a satellite.

The prize pool exceeded $40,000 with 2056 entries.

I wish I could say I did as well as in Event #2 but I just couldn't seem to get any momentum increasing my chip stack.

Lots of raises and reraises before I'd get to act with no cards to use as ammunition.

Shortly before the second break my busto came:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6693891718: MSOP Event #7 (49561102), Table 183 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:09:29 ET - 2008/06/04
Seat 1: ufgatortke728 (5,002)
Seat 2: Marvyn974 (7,380)
Seat 3: dermade (6,265)
Seat 4: fuzzy1234 (2,096)
Seat 5: bobboufl11 (4,250)
Seat 6: MarkGreb (975)
Seat 7: MsuDU19 (3,245)
Seat 8: Wildfly (3,080)
Seat 9: x_Tackle_x (3,560)
MarkGreb posts the small blind of 80
MsuDU19 posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [6s 6c]
Wildfly has 15 seconds left to act
Wildfly calls 160
x_Tackle_x folds
ufgatortke728 folds
Marvyn974 folds
dermade folds
fuzzy1234 raises to 2,096, and is all in
bobboufl11 folds
MarkGreb calls 895, and is all in
MsuDU19 folds
Wildfly folds
fuzzy1234 shows [7d 7c]
MarkGreb shows [6s 6c]
Uncalled bet of 1,121 returned to fuzzy1234
*** FLOP *** [8h 3c 2h]
*** TURN *** [8h 3c 2h] [Ah]
*** RIVER *** [8h 3c 2h Ah] [2s]
fuzzy1234 shows two pair, Sevens and Twos
MarkGreb shows two pair, Sixes and Twos
fuzzy1234 wins the pot (2,270) with two pair, Sevens and Twos
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,270 | Rake 0
Board: [8h 3c 2h Ah 2s]
Seat 1: ufgatortke728 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Marvyn974 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: dermade didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: fuzzy1234 showed [7d 7c] and won (2,270) with two pair, Sevens and Twos
Seat 5: bobboufl11 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: MarkGreb (small blind) showed [6s 6c] and lost with two pair, Sixes and Twos
Seat 7: MsuDU19 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Wildfly folded before the Flop
Seat 9: x_Tackle_x didn't bet (folded)

Actually the second best starting hand I had the whole time, I folded pocket nines from the button one hand with a raise, re-raise, & re-re-raise before my turn to act one hand.

Sometimes there is nothing you can do.

I was out 921st of 2056.

The next event I might play is Event #9 $15+$1.5 NL Hold'Em 6 Handed w/$7500 Guarantee Prize Pool.

I'm definitely playing Event #13 $25+$2.5 NL Hold'Em w/$10,000 Guarantee Prize Pool - I've already won entry through a satellite.

See you at the tables.

MSOP Event #2

2008-06-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

See, I told you I would not wait long to post.

Full Tilt Poker is running a Mini Series of Poker where each event is identical to the WSOP which is going on right now in Las Vegas.

The difference is the buy-in is 1/100th of the WSOP.

I decided to play MSOP Event #2 $15+$1 NL Hold'em w/$15K guarantee, little did I know that over 5000 other Tilters had the same idea.

5318 players was the final size of the field.

I really like the structure with 3000 starting chips and FTP's, normal blind levels.

It allows for a lot of play so no need to gamble it up too much early.

Everything went along according to plan as I stayed ahead of the average chip stack as we approached and passed the 558 bubble sometime after the 3rd break.

Surprisingly, even after the bubble was burst the knockouts were not coming fast and furious as we gradually moved up the pay scale.

My strategy is to survive and wait for my time to make a move whether it's due to chipstack or cards.

As we neared the final 100 players still alive I knew it was time to start to try to make some moves.

I'd been card dead for sometime when the fateful hand arrived.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6642921966: MSOP Event #2 (49559487), Table 320 - 3000/6000 Ante 750 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:49:44 ET - 2008/05/31
Seat 1: mooolahh (203,025)
Seat 2: MarkGreb (35,256)
Seat 3: greenjeans22 (54,146)
Seat 4: mkomlo1 (206,482)
Seat 5: BangaAklan (184,377)
Seat 6: DavveA (94,900)
Seat 7: A_DBDG (147,065)
Seat 9: v47 (220,122)
mooolahh antes 750
MarkGreb antes 750
greenjeans22 antes 750
mkomlo1 antes 750
BangaAklan antes 750
DavveA antes 750
A_DBDG antes 750
v47 antes 750
BangaAklan posts the small blind of 3,000
DavveA posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ah Ts]
A_DBDG folds
v47 folds
mooolahh folds
MarkGreb raises to 34,506, and is all in
greenjeans22 folds
mkomlo1 folds
BangaAklan calls 31,506
DavveA folds
MarkGreb shows [Ah Ts]
BangaAklan shows [Qh Kh]
*** FLOP *** [3d 5h 9h]
*** TURN *** [3d 5h 9h] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [3d 5h 9h Jc] [Kc]
MarkGreb shows Ace King high
BangaAklan shows a pair of Kings
BangaAklan wins the pot (81,012) with a pair of Kings
MarkGreb stands up
mooolahh stands up
greenjeans22 stands up
mkomlo1 stands up
BangaAklan stands up
DavveA stands up
A_DBDG stands up
v47 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 81,012 | Rake 0
Board: [3d 5h 9h Jc Kc]
Seat 1: mooolahh folded before the Flop
Seat 2: MarkGreb showed [Ah Ts] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 3: greenjeans22 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: mkomlo1 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: BangaAklan (small blind) showed [Qh Kh] and won (81,012) with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: DavveA (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: A_DBDG folded before the Flop
Seat 9: v47 folded before the Flop

I don't blame my opponent for calling here and knew I was in trouble when 2 hearts hit the flop giving him a lot of outs to send me packing.

And I was out 100th of 5318.

Not angry or disappointed at all.

A decent finish considering I never broke 100K in chips.

Of course, 5-1/2 hours of play usually result in a bigger win.

The next event I plan on playing is Event #7 $20+$2 NL Hold'em w/$10K Guarantee.

See you at the tables.

Results Oriented...

2008-05-31T09:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, 3 months since my last post.

I've been hanging in there grinding at the cash tables where it can be hard to not be results oriented.

This past week has been particularly brutal losing most of my gains for the past month in hands I just don't think I could play any differently.

Losing to set over set, set losing to runner runner flush, set losing to gutshot seems to be the norm.

I know pocket AA will get cracked about one in 5 times but why does it seem to only happen when I've got the rockets.

Running into AA with KK is just bad timing, but every time?

Sometimes it's hard to not be results oriented but I know if I keep playing these hands the way I've been in the long run I'll be fine.

I wonder how long the long run is though.

Until next time, I promise it will be sooner than later.

10's Again!

2008-02-12T15:45:00.000-08:00

An Uneventful Double Stack tourney on FullTilt where I just didn't get enough decent playable hands.

Can only bluff so often.

I'm getting short on chips and see what I need to see - a pocket pair - 10's again just like yesterday so it's go time.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5229965923: Double Stack $5 + $0.50 (39644979), Table 48 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:08:20 ET - 2008/02/12
Seat 1: orionnate (4,260)
Seat 2: bukithepro (4,115)
Seat 3: amac1212 (9,140)
Seat 4: ferythhttr (4,620)
Seat 5: kendallboy (5,560)
Seat 6: Rommax (16,320)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (2,040)
Seat 8: OneFishAtATIME (9,290)
Seat 9: smartrader (2,995)
orionnate antes 25
bukithepro antes 25
amac1212 antes 25
ferythhttr antes 25
kendallboy antes 25
Rommax antes 25
MarkGreb antes 25
OneFishAtATIME antes 25
smartrader antes 25
OneFishAtATIME posts the small blind of 120
smartrader posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Td Tc]
orionnate folds
bukithepro folds
amac1212 folds
ferythhttr folds
kendallboy folds
Rommax raises to 480

I would have preferred to go all-in without a previous raise but I'm shortstacked and am hoping it's a coin flip situation because I figure to be called.

MarkGreb raises to 2,015, and is all in
OneFishAtATIME folds
smartrader folds
Rommax calls 1,535
MarkGreb shows [Td Tc]
Rommax shows [Ah Kh]

As I hoped , it's a coin flip with me a slight favorite.

*** FLOP *** [5c 8d 3s]

So far ,so good.

*** TURN *** [5c 8d 3s] [2h]

Uh, oh. Now I have to dodge a Ace, King, or 4

*** RIVER *** [5c 8d 3s 2h] [4d]

Poker can be so cruel.

MarkGreb shows a pair of Tens
Rommax shows a straight, Five high
Rommax wins the pot (4,615) with a straight, Five high
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,615 | Rake 0
Board: [5c 8d 3s 2h 4d]
Seat 1: orionnate folded before the Flop
Seat 2: bukithepro folded before the Flop
Seat 3: amac1212 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: ferythhttr folded before the Flop
Seat 5: kendallboy folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Rommax showed [Ah Kh] and won (4,615) with a straight, Five high
Seat 7: MarkGreb (button) showed [Td Tc] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 8: OneFishAtATIME (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: smartrader (big blind) folded before the Flop

With some better cards earlier in the tournament I might not have been committed here.

Unfortunately that's poker and poker can be cruel.

Bad Call

2008-02-12T10:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday in the Double Stack $5+ $0.50 all was going pretty well as I had about an average size chip stack with less than 90 to go.

45 players finished in the money, at this point I was inside the bubble so when this hand came up....

Full Tilt Poker Game #5217017875: Double Stack $5 + $0.50 (39540751), Table 17 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:47:35 ET - 2008/02/11
Seat 1: kenb017 (16,831)
Seat 2: stiffe13 (10,660)
Seat 3: justme85 (14,337)
Seat 4: kmoxlee (2,545)
Seat 5: Colon A (9,241)
Seat 6: Matador312 (10,230)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (10,575)
Seat 8: El Maestro78 (5,290)
Seat 9: Mikehil (6,690)
kenb017 antes 50
stiffe13 antes 50
justme85 antes 50
kmoxlee antes 50
Colon A antes 50
Matador312 antes 50
MarkGreb antes 50
El Maestro78 antes 50
Mikehil antes 50
justme85 posts the small blind of 250
kmoxlee posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ts Tc]
Colon A folds
Matador312 folds
MarkGreb raises to 2,200

Raised to hopefully take down the pot here and to call any small stack re-raises. If a big stack re-raised I'm probably done here, or so I thought.

El Maestro78 has 15 seconds left to act
El Maestro78 folds
Mikehil folds
kenb017 folds
stiffe13 folds

All is going to plan until the small blind...

justme85 has 15 seconds left to act
justme85 raises to 14,287, and is all in
kmoxlee has 15 seconds left to act
kmoxlee folds

At this point I really shouldn't be risking my tournament life on at what I think is ,at best, a coin flip situation but is probably much worse.

MarkGreb calls 8,325, and is all in
justme85 shows [Js Jc]
MarkGreb shows [Ts Tc]

Why didn't I listen to myself as I'm hoping for close to a 2 outer or a miracle board.

Uncalled bet of 3,762 returned to justme85
*** FLOP *** [Qs Ac 3c]
*** TURN *** [Qs Ac 3c] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [Qs Ac 3c 7d] [Qc]
justme85 shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
MarkGreb shows two pair, Queens and Tens
justme85 wins the pot (22,000) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 22,000 | Rake 0
Board: [Qs Ac 3c 7d Qc]
Seat 1: kenb017 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: stiffe13 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: justme85 (small blind) showed [Js Jc] and won (22,000) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 4: kmoxlee (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Colon A folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Matador312 folded before the Flop
Seat 7: MarkGreb showed [Ts Tc] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 8: El Maestro78 folded before the Flop
Seat 9: Mikehil folded before the Flop

This hand just goes to show that one mistake is all it takes to bust out.

Even with a decent pocket pair such as 10's sometimes you just have to release it when you know you are dominated.

I knew better than to call.

I Pulled a "Matasow"

2008-02-09T07:57:00.000-08:00

Everyone who has watched televised poker has seen a Mike Matasow blow-up where he makes a boneheaded move leaving him either on the rail or crippled.

Well I did it to myself yesterday , although for much lower stakes.

It was in the Double Stack $5 + $0.50 on Full Tilt Poker.

Somehow , through luck and some solid play I had waded my to the final table and survived to make the final 3 - most of the time as one of the short stacks.

I was happy to see the all-in battles between 2 players ahead of me the leaderboard.

Here's the hand where I blew $98 , the difference in the prize pool between 2nd and 3rd.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5177461291: Double Stack $5 + $0.50 (39221112), Table 29 - 10000/20000 Ante 2500 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:39:38 ET - 2008/02/08
Seat 2: biggums jr (268,652)
Seat 6: MarkGreb (236,176)
Seat 7: Streicher76 (977,172)
biggums jr antes 2,500
MarkGreb antes 2,500
Streicher76 antes 2,500
MarkGreb posts the small blind of 10,000
Streicher76 posts the big blind of 20,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [As 2d]

Probably should have just folded a weak hand here since only bad things can happpen if I hit top pair with a terrible kicker or bottom pair with a good kicker but way behind anything else.

biggums jr folds

INSTEAD I decide to try to steal pre-flop

MarkGreb raises to 67,500
Streicher76 calls 47,500
*** FLOP *** [2h 9c 7c]

Unfortunately I hit bottom pair and that made me brave....and very stupid.

MarkGreb bets 166,176, and is all in
Streicher76 calls 166,176
MarkGreb shows [As 2d]
Streicher76 shows [7h 7d]

My thinking was that there was a good chance that the chip leader would call pre-flop with any 2 big cards so the odds were that this flop missed him completely. Boy, was I wrong. At this point I was rooting for running Aces.

*** TURN *** [2h 9c 7c] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [2h 9c 7c Kh] [5d]
MarkGreb shows a pair of Twos
Streicher76 shows three of a kind, Sevens
Streicher76 wins the pot (474,852) with three of a kind, Sevens
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 474,852 | Rake 0
Board: [2h 9c 7c Kh 5d]
Seat 2: biggums jr (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: MarkGreb (small blind) showed [As 2d] and lost with a pair of Twos
Seat 7: Streicher76 (big blind) showed [7h 7d] and won (474,852) with three of a kind, Sevens

Looking back at this hand I see I made a couple of huge mistakes:
1) Not Folding Pre-FLop
2) Not Slowing Down Post-flop.
Didn't really consider an overpair was a possibility since there was just a called pre-flop.

Either way, I did it to myself.

Still a good finish in a MTT but I can always do better.

"I Loose To Worse Hands"

2008-01-25T16:32:00.000-08:00

How can I take rigged theories when the poster can't spell the word LOSE?

I know internet forums are real informal communication but is it just so difficult to use the right word?

Don't say it's a spelling error.

It's not just lose vs loose.

How about there, they're, and their?

Or your and you're?

Here's an exaggerated example of how not to use these words:

Their at there house playing you're PlayStation 3 while your at they're cousins loosing high school football game.

We are losing our basic skills to relay ideas because we just can't use the correct words.

I know this isn't about poker but this seriously irritates me.

Don't get me started on two, to, & too!

Hope I used the write words everywhere.

Re:Open Letter to the Community and Beyond on Integrity

2008-01-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

An interesting post on 2+2:

Open Letter to the Community and Beyond on Integrity

This post is definitely an interesting read.

While I agree in principle to a lot of this post I'm just unsure of some of the measures the author is prescribing such as JJProdigy possibly naming other cheaters following his multi-accounting scandal which lead to PartyPoker seizing a large sum of cash.

What makes the author think one cheater knows others?

Isn't multi-accounting a solitary affair?

Maybe I'm just naive.

I do believe the penalties for cheating need to be enforced throughout the online gaming sites where a "blacklist" should be made to ban a known cheater from all the sites , not just the one who caught him.

Unfortunately the sites are still in competion for our business and not operating as a singular industry in the best interest of all the sites.

As for ESPN airing commercials from Absolute Poker it was found that employees were cheating using the super-user account, it was not company policy so why should the site not be allowed to continue?

An interesting post in that it makes you think what could be.

See you at the tables.

"I'll Never Play At Absolute Poker!"

2008-01-14T09:01:00.001-08:00

I see this all the time at the various poker forums I read.

Yet people still play there and Ultimate Bet (same ownership) too.

I admit I still play there sometimes but I'll let you on my reasoning later on, but first I'll let you in on a couple of conversations I've had with people.

The first is a casual online real-money player who plays low limit sng's 3 or 4 times a week.

He and I have played online about the same length of time and I asked him what he thought of the Absolute Poker Superuser scandal and was met with a blank stare.

He had no idea what I was talking about.

See he doesn't read online poker forums or poker news sites so he'd never hear about this major online poker scandal.

The second is a new guy at work, everyone at work knows I play poker, it's all I talk about.

The new guy comes up to me and asks if I know of any local games or bars where games are played and I tell him "Sorry, but I play mostly online".

Then he asks me what sites I play on and I read of the list of sites where I play and he says "I only play at Party Poker."

I let him know I don't play there because Americans can't play for real money there.

Then he asks....wait for it...."You can play online for real money?"

In this day of the internet how can an adult not know this?

Now to get back to my reasoning for why I still play at Absolute Poker.

"An Uninformed Player is My Best Customer!" to paraphrase the Men's Warehouse motto.

My ideal table would consist of me and 8 players who don't read poker forums and are new to real money play.

There, it took a while but that is why I'm glad whenever I see "I'll Never Play At Absolute Poker" on a poker forum.

If it persuades more good players to avoid the site the better for me.

See you at the tables.

2008 Poker Resolutions

2008-01-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been over 2 months since my last post.

I figure it's time to make some resolutions for the New Year(2008).

1) Post more often!

I think this will be the easiest of my resolutions as it just takes the effort of signing on and writing something...anything.

2) Win more MTT tournaments

This one is a lot more difficult since I just don't play that many MTT tourneys.

Last year I set a goal of playing at least 3 MTT tourneys a week but the second half of the year I probably played at most 1 per week.

I did win 1 MTT way back in may, only a $5 buy-in but a win is a win.

3) Plug holes in my cash game play

Since the UIGEA was passed late in 2006 the cash tables have gotten much tougher for me.

While it's not illegal to play online poker, many of the fish this it is and have abandoned the tables.

Where I was a decent player when there were 4 or 5 fish at the full ring tables I find it much tougher to profit with only 1 or 2.

It just means I must improve my play to continue to profit which in all honesty I have not improved and my game has grown stagnant.

Well those are my Poker resolutions for 2008 and I hope I can improve on my play from 2007.

See you at the tables and I'll post more often.

When You Know You're In A Downswing

2007-11-10T18:15:00.000-08:00

I guess I spoke too soon in my last post.

When things are going bad even making good moves doesn't go unpunished.

Gotta love the runner runner losers such as this one.

Full Tilt Poker Game #4089206888: Table Pacific Breeze - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:53:52 ET - 2007/11/06
Seat 1: madetea ($4)
Seat 2: MarkGreb ($2.70)
Seat 3: Chiic0 ($13.75)
Seat 4: moflappy ($4)
Seat 5: Herd of Turtles ($19.75)
Seat 6: impliedjonny ($5.05)
Seat 7: 1POKER MOMMA ($17.45)
Seat 8: xxdojaxx ($9.95)
Seat 9: ajk1963 ($16.05)
Chiic0 posts the small blind of $0.05
moflappy posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [8h 8c]
Herd of Turtles folds
impliedjonny folds
1POKER MOMMA folds
xxdojaxx folds
ajk1963 calls $0.10
madetea folds
MarkGreb calls $0.10
Chiic0 calls $0.05
moflappy checks
*** FLOP *** [Ts 3h 8d]
Chiic0 checks
moflappy checks
ajk1963 bets $0.40
MarkGreb raises to $0.80
Chiic0 folds
moflappy folds
ajk1963 raises to $1.20
MarkGreb raises to $2.60, and is all in
ajk1963 calls $1.40
MarkGreb shows [8h 8c]
ajk1963 shows [Js Td]
*** TURN *** [Ts 3h 8d] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [Ts 3h 8d 9h] [Qs]
MarkGreb shows three of a kind, Eights
ajk1963 shows a straight, Queen high
ajk1963 wins the pot ($5.05) with a straight, Queen high
MarkGreb is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $5.60 | Rake $0.55
Board: [Ts 3h 8d 9h Qs]
Seat 1: madetea didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: MarkGreb (button) showed [8h 8c] and lost with three of a kind, Eights
Seat 3: Chiic0 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: moflappy (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: Herd of Turtles didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: impliedjonny didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: 1POKER MOMMA didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: xxdojaxx didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: ajk1963 showed [Js Td] and won ($5.05) with a straight, Queen high

Got what I wanted when I hit my set as the only thing I'm really worried about is set over set, and if I'm worried about that maybe I should just quit playing.

In this one I admit I was tilting a little but did make the right read on the turn when I filled up.

Full Tilt Poker Game #4088986275: Table Mount Auburn - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:31:04 ET - 2007/11/06
Seat 1: eelecurbmai ($4.55)
Seat 2: Chiic0 ($11.15)
Seat 3: eskiboy ($11.10)
Seat 4: MarkGreb ($3.75)
Seat 5: kiloali ($10.60)
Seat 6: Marincas ($1.50)
Seat 7: jjarmain ($2.60)
Seat 8: hades1975 ($24.20)
Seat 9: impliedjonny ($2.15)
impliedjonny posts the small blind of $0.05
eelecurbmai posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [9h 9d]
Chiic0 folds
eskiboy calls $0.10
MarkGreb calls $0.10
kiloali raises to $0.55
jjarmain: i bet his dad was good at poker... \
Marincas folds
jjarmain folds
hades1975 folds
impliedjonny folds
eelecurbmai folds
hades1975: probly
jjarmain: i mean... how could he not be..... with a raise like that!
eskiboy has 15 seconds left to act
eskiboy folds
hades1975: lol
MarkGreb calls $0.45
*** FLOP *** [Kh Jh Js]
MarkGreb checks
kiloali bets $0.90
MarkGreb raises to $1.80
kiloali calls $0.90
*** TURN *** [Kh Jh Js] [Jc]
jjarmain: oh wow
MarkGreb has 15 seconds left to act
MarkGreb bets $1.40, and is all in
jjarmain: and to think i folded kj
kiloali calls $1.40
MarkGreb shows [9h 9d]
kiloali shows [Qh Ah]
*** RIVER *** [Kh Jh Js Jc] [Jd]
MarkGreb shows four of a kind, Jacks
kiloali shows four of a kind, Jacks
kiloali wins the pot ($7) with four of a kind, Jacks
MarkGreb is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.75 | Rake $0.75
Board: [Kh Jh Js Jc Jd]
Seat 1: eelecurbmai (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Chiic0 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: eskiboy folded before the Flop
Seat 4: MarkGreb showed [9h 9d] and lost with four of a kind, Jacks
Seat 5: kiloali showed [Qh Ah] and won ($7) with four of a kind, Jacks
Seat 6: Marincas didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: jjarmain didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: hades1975 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: impliedjonny (small blind) folded before the Flop

Ok, I lost but I would have actually not felt as bad if my opponent would have paired his Ace or Queen on the river.

I know it's bad to be results oriented but in a downswing it feels like the odds are against me.

It seems when you're running bad you lose in the most unlikely ways possible.

I'll keep at it and post more often for my 2 loyal readers.

It's Getting Lighter Out

2007-10-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

Actually had a winning session yesterday!!!

I had nearly forgotten what it felt like to have hands hold up.

I just kept playing my steady game and the cards have seemed to swing back in my favor....at least in the short term.

I know one day won't break the downswing but it's a start.

Hopefully I'll have more good news to report in my next post too.

See you at the tables.

Hello Darkness

2007-10-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've had anything of consequence to write but I'll be making more updates as fantasy baseball season is over.

Ever been in a downswing that seems to just be plain mean?

I suffered through one last November that lasted about 3 weeks.

Currently I'm going through one where I haven't had a winning cash session in about 10 ten days.

No matter what hand I flop I get out drawn.

Trip Aces ...no problem....push all-in with your 8 high flush draw..you'll hit it.

Flopped nut straight...no problem...push all-in with your gutshot draw... you'll hit it.

Pocket Rockets...no problem..push all-in pre-flop...with pockets 5's...you'll not only flop a set but more than likely catch quads by the river.

KQ in the hole flop is QQ2...of course they have AQ...

Flop a set of 3's....they flop a set of 5's...

You all get it, just have to vent to let it go.

I know it'll turn around, I just have to have a little patience and not let it put me on tilt.

Until next time, see you at the tables.

WBCOOP

2007-10-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 5665884

Hope to see you there!!!!

I'm a Set Farmer

2007-08-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

I admit most of my profit comes from hitting a set on the flop but there are times where it can backfire.

Here's a hand where it backfired:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3299504178: Table Mount Auburn - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:07:02 ET - 2007/08/19
Seat 1: deionr ($3.80), is sitting out
Seat 2: vegas661 ($2.05)
Seat 3: jholderb ($6.75)
Seat 4: wolverinex3 ($17.85)
Seat 5: jlgaustin ($4.25)
Seat 6: MarkGreb ($3.85)
Seat 7: iamtehdog ($9.95)
Seat 9: Reppin_SCSU ($3.60)
vegas661 posts the small blind of $0.05
jholderb posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [9d 9c]
jwttw sits down
wolverinex3 folds
jwttw adds $4
jlgaustin raises to $0.35
MarkGreb calls $0.35
iamtehdog folds
jwttw has been disconnected
Reppin_SCSU folds
jwttw has reconnected
vegas661 folds
jholderb has 15 seconds left to act
jholderb folds
*** FLOP *** [8h 9h Ad]
jlgaustin checks
MarkGreb checks
*** TURN *** [8h 9h Ad] [Qc]
jlgaustin bets $0.85
MarkGreb calls $0.85
*** RIVER *** [8h 9h Ad Qc] [3s]
jlgaustin has 15 seconds left to act
jlgaustin bets $1
MarkGreb raises to $2.65, and is all in
jlgaustin calls $1.65
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb shows [9d 9c] three of a kind, Nines
jlgaustin shows [Qh Qs] three of a kind, Queens
jlgaustin wins the pot ($7.10) with three of a kind, Queens
MarkGreb is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.85 | Rake $0.75
Board: [8h 9h Ad Qc 3s]
Seat 1: deionr is sitting out
Seat 2: vegas661 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: jholderb (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: wolverinex3 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: jlgaustin showed [Qh Qs] and won ($7.10) with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 6: MarkGreb showed [9d 9c] and lost with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 7: iamtehdog didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Reppin_SCSU (button) didn't bet (folded)

Once I hit my set of nines on the flop my intention was to get all-in here before the river.

jlgaustin's check on the flop told me he probably didn't have an ace or he was slow playing me so I figured I probably wouldn't get called if I bet out on the flop.

Unluckily for me one of the 2 remaining queens hit the turn and I was stacked.

Same table a little while later:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3299632983: Table Mount Auburn - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:26:09 ET - 2007/08/19
Seat 1: Rugger97 ($3.80)
Seat 2: vegas661 ($2.20)
Seat 3: Varmistaja ($9.85)
Seat 4: Cyden ($3.05)
Seat 5: jlgaustin ($5.55)
Seat 6: MarkGreb ($6)
Seat 7: iamtehdog ($10.95)
Seat 8: jwttw ($3.20)
Seat 9: Reppin_SCSU ($7.95)
jwttw posts the small blind of $0.05
Reppin_SCSU posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [3d 3h]
Rugger97 folds
vegas661 has 15 seconds left to act
vegas661 folds
Varmistaja folds
Cyden folds
jlgaustin folds
MarkGreb calls $0.10
iamtehdog folds
jwttw raises to $0.20
Reppin_SCSU folds
MarkGreb calls $0.10
*** FLOP *** [8c 3s As]
jwttw bets $0.10
MarkGreb raises to $0.80
jwttw raises to $3, and is all in
MarkGreb calls $2.20
jwttw shows [Js Jc]
MarkGreb shows [3d 3h]
*** TURN *** [8c 3s As] [5d]
*** RIVER *** [8c 3s As 5d] [Th]
jwttw shows a pair of Jacks
MarkGreb shows three of a kind, Threes
MarkGreb wins the pot ($5.85) with three of a kind, Threes
jwttw stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.50 | Rake $0.65
Board: [8c 3s As 5d Th]
Seat 1: Rugger97 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: vegas661 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Varmistaja didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Cyden didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: jlgaustin didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: MarkGreb showed [3d 3h] and won ($5.85) with three of a kind, Threes
Seat 7: iamtehdog (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: jwttw (small blind) showed [Js Jc] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 9: Reppin_SCSU (big blind) folded before the Flop

This one I didn't slow play and my opponent didn't outdraw me.

While I don't think I played either hand poorly the results were quite different.

I'm sure some would disagree but with a set I'm looking to play a big pot on an uncoordinated board.

How the money gets into the middle is irrelevant to me once I flop a set.

See you at the tables....

$24,000 Guarantee 7/20

2007-07-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

Played in the $24K Guarantee on Full Tilt Poker.

Of course I qualified through a satellite.

Over 1000 players started and it was rather uneventful as we marched towards the second break.

I'm just hanging in as the blinds rise and need to make a move soon to maintain an average sized chip stack when this hand came up:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3008670794: $24,000 Guarantee (22422819), Table 38 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:33:05 ET - 2007/07/20
Seat 1: Z2461011 (2,308)
Seat 2: NotoriousFish (2,095)
Seat 3: deekay6 (8,675)
Seat 4: psichiranger (11,044)
Seat 5: MarkGreb (2,940)
Seat 6: jakd602 (9,930)
Seat 7: Extreme G (1,075)
Seat 8: dussault969 (3,362)
Seat 9: Kustom Fink (9,244)
dussault969 posts the small blind of 100
Kustom Fink posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [6c 6s]
Z2461011 raises to 400
NotoriousFish folds
deekay6 folds
psichiranger folds
MarkGreb calls 400
jakd602 calls 400
Extreme G folds
dussault969 calls 300
Kustom Fink calls 200
*** FLOP *** [2d As 6h]
dussault969 checks
Kustom Fink checks
Z2461011 checks
MarkGreb bets 2,540, and is all in
jakd602 calls 2,540
dussault969 folds
Kustom Fink folds
Z2461011 folds
MarkGreb shows [6c 6s]
jakd602 shows [Ac Qs]
*** TURN *** [2d As 6h] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [2d As 6h Qh] [Ah]
MarkGreb shows a full house, Sixes full of Aces
jakd602 shows a full house, Aces full of Queens
jakd602 wins the pot (7,080) with a full house, Aces full of Queens
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,080 | Rake 0
Board: [2d As 6h Qh Ah]
Seat 1: Z2461011 folded on the Flop
Seat 2: NotoriousFish didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: deekay6 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: psichiranger didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: MarkGreb showed [6c 6s] and lost with a full house, Sixes full of Aces
Seat 6: jakd602 showed [Ac Qs] and won (7,080) with a full house, Aces full of Queens
Seat 7: Extreme G (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: dussault969 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: Kustom Fink (big blind) folded on the Flop

Definitely a bad beat but that happens.

I admit my chipstack did force my hand on the flop here as I felt I would be pot committed by any normal bet(2/3 pot to pot sized) hence the all-in bet.

Only hand I was really afraid of was pocket rockets so either I was way ahead or way behind.

I was overjoyed when I saw my opponent called my all-in with top pair and was such an underdog.

Everything else was beyond my control.

I know that getting my chips in as such a favorite will put me ahead in the long run.

Just didn't work out this time.

Good Weekend

2007-07-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had a good weekend in that I placed in the money in all 3 large MTT's I played in.

Friday night in the $13,500 Guarantee on Full Tilt Poker I placed 52nd out of 645 for a decent return on my $26 entry chip.

In this tourney I think I played my best poker of the weekend as I didn't really play poorly until we broke the money bubble and my cards went dead.

Then on Saturday in the Gold $20,000 Freeroll on , you guessed it, Full Tilt Poker I placed 83rd out of 233.

In this one I did just enough the get into the money and get my monthly "bonus" for reaching the Gold level in Full Tilt Poker's Iron Man promotion.

I recommend this promotion as it's relatively easy to reach for a micro stakes grinder.

Sunday I played , along with 17,500 other players, in the Sunday $100,000 Guarantee on PokerStars.

Somehow I ended up 135th even though I never got my stack over 150,000 chips.

The best part is that I had a last longer wager with 2 of my pals from the Aces Cracked Message Forum so once they were eliminated I was basically on a Freeroll!

I do have to admit that with such a large field that after we reached the bubble(2625) that this tourney really turned in the donkfest due to the large blinds, the blinds reached 10,000/20,000 w/5,000 ante when I went broke.

I was very fortunate that whenever had I had large pocket pair one of the small stacks would go all-in pre-flop and my overpair held-up.

Even with it being a donkfest I look forward to playing again next Sunday as the rewards($19K+ for 1st place) are just too good to pass up for a $10 entry fee.

If that wasn't enough I finished 2nd out of 9 players in the Aces Cracked Message Forum TLB4 tourney series - I'm in first place after 3 weeks!

Hopefully this weekend coming up finds me even higher up the leader boards of a few MTT's.

Royal Flush #9

2007-07-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here's #9!!!

My guess is my opponent had a small flush otherwise I would have expected a re-raise.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2908067006: Table Beale - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:49:03 ET - 2007/07/10
Seat 1: itzo ($18.55)
Seat 2: Sincereh2001 ($8.70)
Seat 3: Ventania ($3.10)
Seat 4: cashman991 ($20.85)
Seat 5: MarkGreb ($3.40)
Seat 6: tulanejosh ($10)
Seat 7: qtpie0677 ($11.55)
Seat 8: doctorwill1871 ($4)
Seat 9: dmala ($13.80)
MarkGreb has 5 seconds left to act
MarkGreb posts the small blind of $0.05
tulanejosh posts the big blind of $0.10
5 seconds left to act
doctorwill1871 posts $0.10
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Kh Ah]
qtpie0677 folds
doctorwill1871 checks
dmala calls $0.10
itzo has 15 seconds left to act
itzo folds
Sincereh2001 calls $0.10
Ventania folds
cashman991 folds
MarkGreb calls $0.05
tulanejosh checks
*** FLOP *** [Th 7h Qh]
MarkGreb checks
tulanejosh checks
doctorwill1871 checks
dmala checks
Sincereh2001 checks
*** TURN *** [Th 7h Qh] [Td]
MarkGreb bets $0.10
tulanejosh folds
doctorwill1871 folds
dmala calls $0.10
Sincereh2001 folds
*** RIVER *** [Th 7h Qh Td] [Jh]
MarkGreb has 15 seconds left to act
MarkGreb bets $0.30
dmala calls $0.30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb shows [Kh Ah] a Royal Flush
dmala mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot ($1.20) with a Royal Flush
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1.30 | Rake $0.10
Board: [Th 7h Qh Td Jh]
Seat 1: itzo didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Sincereh2001 folded on the Turn
Seat 3: Ventania didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: cashman991 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: MarkGreb (small blind) showed [Kh Ah] and won ($1.20) with a Royal Flush
Seat 6: tulanejosh (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 7: qtpie0677 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: doctorwill1871 folded on the Turn
Seat 9: dmala mucked [Ad 9h] - a flush, Queen high

The 9 are broken down as follows:
1 Omaha
8 Hold'Em
1 @ bet365 - no bonus
1 @ Superior - no bonus
4 @ FullTilt - no bonus
3 @ PokerChamps - $5 bonus - I miss PokerChamps

FullTilt $13,500 Guarantee 7/6

2007-07-07T07:42:00.002-07:00

Played in the $13,500 Gurantee on FullTilt Poker with a buy-in of $24+$2.

After a bad beat where I flopped top 2 pair and my opponent made trips on the river.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2870062636: $13,500 Guarantee (21307313), Table 31 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:57:44 ET - 2007/07/06
Seat 1: cantfoldclothes (11,635)
Seat 2: DAN-D-DOLLAR (3,140)
Seat 3: HEADCHEEZ (6,065)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (342)
Seat 5: _InstinctCM_ (6,951)
Seat 6: Fenris99 (4,482)
Seat 7: AnthoBB (1,245)
Seat 8: ratmandave (1,556)
Seat 9: polyplay (7,282)

A Chip and a Chair is all you need!!!!

Somehow I rebuilt my stack and coasted into the money after going card dead.

Not a big cash , but it's a cash!!

Finished 33rd for a payout of $55.35

With a little better cards could have won a much larger prize.

Actually busted out with a flopped 2 pair when a big stack made a higher 2 pair on the turn.

Not a bad payout considering I got in through an $8 satellite.

$19,000 Guarantee 6/29

2007-06-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've been playing some of the 18 player SNG tourneys for $26 entry chips so I can play in some larger somewhat larger buy-in tournaments on FullTilt.

Problem is most of the larger guarantees are too late at night for me to play.

Last night's $19,000 actually went off at a little over $21,000 due to the over 880 players with the top 126 making the cash I believe.

The payout is prety decent with over $3600 to first.

Well I lasted a total of 11 minutes when this hand came up.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2806327512: $19,000 Guarantee (20898611), Table 35 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:11:36 ET - 2007/06/29
Seat 1: MarkGreb (1,290)
Seat 2: Spirits Bay (1,130)
Seat 3: Ruwan83 (2,420)
Seat 4: zodiac 16 (1,550)
Seat 5: BAR-C1951 (1,480)
Seat 6: walrusbelly (1,180)
Seat 7: Alexlarssa (1,690)
Seat 8: NrvousOne (1,330)
Seat 9: tmone75 (1,430)
Spirits Bay posts the small blind of 15
Ruwan83 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [9d Ah]
zodiac 16 raises to 60
BAR-C1951 calls 60
walrusbelly folds
Alexlarssa folds
NrvousOne folds
tmone75 folds
MarkGreb calls 60
Spirits Bay calls 45
Ruwan83 calls 30
*** FLOP *** [2c 9h 9s]
Spirits Bay bets 300
Ruwan83 calls 300
zodiac 16 folds
BAR-C1951 folds
MarkGreb has 15 seconds left to act
MarkGreb raises to 900
IuvRoIos (Observer): 25K Freeroll and 115% upto $230 Free! www.PokerCashFlow.com
Spirits Bay has 15 seconds left to act
Spirits Bay has requested TIME
Spirits Bay folds
Ruwan83 raises to 2,360, and is all in
MarkGreb calls 330, and is all in
Ruwan83 shows [4c 9c]
MarkGreb shows [9d Ah]
Uncalled bet of 1,130 returned to Ruwan83
*** TURN *** [2c 9h 9s] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [2c 9h 9s Ts] [4s]
Ruwan83 shows a full house, Nines full of Fours
MarkGreb shows three of a kind, Nines
Ruwan83 wins the pot (3,060) with a full house, Nines full of Fours
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,060 | Rake 0
Board: [2c 9h 9s Ts 4s]
Seat 1: MarkGreb (button) showed [9d Ah] and lost with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 2: Spirits Bay (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Ruwan83 (big blind) showed [4c 9c] and won (3,060) with a full house, Nines full of Fours
Seat 4: zodiac 16 folded on the Flop
Seat 5: BAR-C1951 folded on the Flop
Seat 6: walrusbelly didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Alexlarssa didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: NrvousOne didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: tmone75 didn't bet (folded)

This hand was just bad luck as I got everything I wanted trips with top kicker is a hand I was willing to go with.

Only hands that scared me were pocket 2's or 29.

I don't blame my opponent for putting me all-in either.

I know that pre-flop I show have raised here but I tried that twice against this player which was why I was down to less than 1300 chips, he re-raised both times, so I thought I'd change tactics.

Didn't work out so well this time.

I'll be back as I really like the satellite structure of $8+.80 tourneys, 18 players w/top 5 getting entry chips and 6th winning $14.

As a matter of fact I'm trying to decide what tourney to play with another entry chip.

FullTilt Iron Man Gold Freeroll 6/9

2007-06-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

Another month in the FullTilt Poker Iron Man Program, another month I've qualified for Gold Status and have opted to play in the freeroll.

Only 209 players with the usual top 90 making the money with $3600 top prize.

Unless you get unlucky it's relatively easy to cash as long as you have a little patience.

I look at the tournament as just a bonus that takes a couple of hours to clear.

This month I actually made it to the final 2 tables, next bump in the payouts is making the final table of 9.

We're at 18 and I'm in 13th place when this hand comes up.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2623046966: Gold $20,000 Freeroll (18339160), Table 20 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:56:49 ET - 2007/06/09
Seat 1: BadugiOrBust (11,866)
Seat 2: anondor (7,047)
Seat 3: JF1234 (16,938)
Seat 4: byosti (22,214)
Seat 5: 10thSTBALLA (6,701)
Seat 6: MotherOfGod (6,790)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (8,245)
Seat 8: VULVA DOC (16,446)
Seat 9: DDilts (6,310)
BadugiOrBust antes 75
anondor antes 75
JF1234 antes 75
byosti antes 75
10thSTBALLA antes 75
MotherOfGod antes 75
MarkGreb antes 75
VULVA DOC antes 75
DDilts antes 75
BadugiOrBust posts the small blind of 300
anondor posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [As Js]
JF1234 folds
byosti folds
10thSTBALLA folds
MotherOfGod folds
MarkGreb raises to 2,775
VULVA DOC folds
DDilts has 15 seconds left to act
DDilts raises to 6,235, and is all in
BadugiOrBust folds
anondor raises to 6,972, and is all in
BadugiOrBust: gl
MarkGreb calls 4,197
anondor shows [Ah Ac]
MarkGreb shows [As Js]
DDilts shows [Qd Kc]
Spida77 (Observer): wow
*** FLOP *** [Jd Ad 3c]
*** TURN *** [Jd Ad 3c] [4c]
Spida77 (Observer): wow
Spida77 (Observer): wow
*** RIVER *** [Jd Ad 3c 4c] [5h]
anondor shows three of a kind, Aces
MarkGreb shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
anondor wins the side pot (1,474) with three of a kind, Aces
DDilts shows Ace King high
anondor wins the main pot (19,680) with three of a kind, Aces
DDilts stands up
The blinds are now 400/800 with an ante of 100
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21,154 Main pot 19,680. Side pot 1,474. | Rake 0
Board: [Jd Ad 3c 4c 5h]
Seat 1: BadugiOrBust (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: anondor (big blind) showed [Ah Ac] and won (21,154) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 3: JF1234 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: byosti folded before the Flop
Seat 5: 10thSTBALLA folded before the Flop
Seat 6: MotherOfGod folded before the Flop
Seat 7: MarkGreb showed [As Js] and lost with two pair, Aces and Jacks
Seat 8: VULVA DOC folded before the Flop
Seat 9: DDilts (button) showed [Qd Kc] and lost with Ace King high

I felt I needed to win a hand to make the final table with enough chips to have any chance of moving up the pay table.

With the AJ suited I felt that I was very aggressive and had hoped to just steal the blinds but when the button and the big blind both raised all-in I thought about folding.

Unfortunately I thought I was just getting too good of a price to fold - almost 4-1.

I think I made the right move here even though it didn't come out in my favor.

The way the board was I was going to lose a lot of chips even if the big blind didn't re-raise the button since I flopped top 2 pair.

Now severely crippled I busted out a couple of hands later with AJos in the big blind when raised by the small blind's pocket queens.

Can't wait to play in next months freeroll ...only a few more days and I'm in!

I'm The Worst?

2007-06-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

This hand is followed by the following comment:

hieroglyphic: ur the worst

What did I do wrong here other than win the hand?

Full Tilt Poker Game #2683671336: Table Town Center - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:22:50 ET - 2007/06/16
K9copJack adds $4
Seat 2: _deedoo01_ ($8.75)
Seat 3: BOZZISHERE ($1.90)
Seat 4: hals ($10)
Seat 5: DevilDog8675309 ($3)
Seat 6: Markus278 ($3.90)
Seat 7: hieroglyphic ($11.35)
Seat 8: sandoz12 ($10.85)
Seat 9: MarkGreb ($2.75)
BOZZISHERE posts the small blind of $0.05
hals posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Qd Ad]
DevilDog8675309 folds
Markus278 folds
DevilDog8675309 stands up
hieroglyphic calls $0.10
sandoz12 folds
tseay sits down
tseay adds $9.95
MarkGreb calls $0.10
_deedoo01_ calls $0.10
BOZZISHERE calls $0.05
hals checks
*** FLOP *** [6d As 2h]
BOZZISHERE checks
hals has 15 seconds left to act
hals checks
hieroglyphic bets $0.50
MarkGreb calls $0.50
_deedoo01_ calls $0.50
BOZZISHERE folds
hals folds
*** TURN *** [6d As 2h] [Kd]
hieroglyphic bets $0.90
MarkGreb raises to $1.80
_deedoo01_ has 15 seconds left to act
_deedoo01_ folds
hieroglyphic calls $0.90
*** RIVER *** [6d As 2h Kd] [4d]
hieroglyphic checks
MarkGreb has 15 seconds left to act
MarkGreb bets $0.35, and is all in
hieroglyphic calls $0.35
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb shows [Qd Ad] a flush, Ace high
hieroglyphic mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot ($5.70) with a flush, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $6.30 | Rake $0.60
Board: [6d As 2h Kd 4d]
Seat 2: _deedoo01_ (button) folded on the Turn
Seat 3: BOZZISHERE (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: hals (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: DevilDog8675309 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Markus278 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: hieroglyphic mucked [Ah Tc] - a pair of Aces
Seat 8: sandoz12 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: MarkGreb showed [Qd Ad] and won ($5.70) with a flush, Ace high

It turned out I was ahead the whole way but was hoping to take it down with the raise on the turn.

I can't believe if my opponent would call the re-raise that he didn't pop it back for the last thirty-five cents of my stack.

I'm proud to be the worst!

Home Tourney 6/2

2007-06-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

A little late on this report.

Went and played in the home tourney at a co-workers home again.

Same $25 buy-in w/re-buys the first hour.

Total of 12 players this time out.

Nothing much to report here as I busted out 9th out of the the 12 players.

Must say I didn't play outright bad , other than playing too many hands in the limp parade that this tourney is.

It was just one of those nights where draws would hit after I folded and miss when I stayed in the hand.

Sometimes there is just nothing you can do.

Afterwards I stuck around for the cash game that started up with the bust-out players.

Big mistake as they were playing poker games where skill played a backseat to luck - Follow The Queen, The Iron Cross, 7 Card No Peek,......

Games with multiple and/or changing wildcards are the reason people think of poker as a "luck" game.

Every hand is a battle between Quad vs Full House, Quad vs Quad....

I know poker is gambling but skill wins out in the long run in the standard casino poker games.

I'm looking for profitable situations to put my chips in play not flip coins.

Next time I bust out of the tourney early I'll just head home.

As I'm fond of saying I'm not here to gamble, I'm here to play poker.

Home Tourney 5/27

2007-05-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well I headed out yesterday to play in a home tourney where I played a couple of weeks ago and finished 3rd.

This time there were 24 players, top 4 make the money with $400 to 1st!

Good turnout for a holiday weekend with many of the same players returning.

Since I knew how most of the players played I played tighter when some entered pots and looser when others did.

I was up a little over 5K from the starting 10K when I decided to gamble a little late in the first hour with a little over 10 minutes left before there were no re-buys.

I got into a hand with HEAVYDRINKER from last tourney where I had 56 of hearts on the button and limped into the pot.

Lots of limping going on in this tourney so post-flop play is very important.

Flop was 7310 with 2 hearts and HEAVYDRINKER foes all-in after the flop for about 5K in chips.

It's folded around to me where I announce that I'm making a "Donkey Call" to the table and proceed to call off a 1/3 of my chips with a flush draw and a gutshot draw.

HEAVYDRINKER shows a set of 7's.

The turn is a black 2 which doesn't help, but the Ace of hearts completed my flush and sent HEAVYDRINKER off to buy another 10K worth of chips after a well deserved string of expletives in my direction.

About 25 minutes later (re-buys are done) I get involved in another hand with the aforementioned HEAVYDRINKER (who's has been pounding Budweisers one after the other).

I limp into the pot from the button again this time with pocket 3's.

Flop is 9JQ rainbow.

Everyone checks which I'm happy to do with my underpair.

The turn is a beautiful 3 and HEAVYDRINKER min bets and it's folded around to me, I just flat call.

River card pairs the Q which could be a good or bad thing, HEAVYDRINKER bets the pot and I go all-in over the top.

I figured if I'm going to lose with a full house so be it.

I started the hand with over 25K so even if I'm wrong I'll still have a little over 15K in chips and with no one eliminated yet that's still plenty of chips.

HEAVYDRINKER calls with 2 pair 9's and J's and pounds his fist on the table when he realizes he's out.

At this point I'm probably the chip leader and I've taken to joining the limp parade winning hands with Q4s, K%s, J10os and the like when I've paired on the river after drawing towards flushes and straights which didn't hit.

Once we hit the final table of 8 (4 men and 4 women) I was still the chip leader and I could see a couple of the players changing gears and becoming more aggressive.

The women at the table were very passive and easy prey to the more aggressive players at the table.

Somehow 2 of the women survived to make the top 4.

The reason they made it was the over aggressiveness of 2 of the guys.

One was busted by the host when AGGRO1 went all-in on the flop with Ace high and I busted the other with a set of Jacks when he I put him all-in on the turn drawing dead with a pair of Queens with his only hope for a split if a 10 came on the river.

The host made short work of the 2 remaining women and we were heads up with me having a slight lead.

We trade blinds for a while until the blinds hit 6400/12800 then I seem to hit a wall and he slowly begins grinding me down.

I was just cold decked at this point , lot's of low unpaired, unsuited cards which miss the flop and big cards missing suited flops.

Then this hand came up where I knew I was done.

The Host limped and I checked with Q5os.

Flop is JQQ which could be good for me.

He bets 40K and I come over the top all-in and he just folds.

This is where I started to go wrong.

Why didn't I just call here?

I blew it from this point on.

He continues grinding as I continue to miss flops,turns, and rivers.

The final hand I'm in the big blind with J7os and just check.

Flop is 2QJ rainbow.

He checks, I go all-in, he calls with Q9, and I'm done.

The combination of his outplaying me and the unlucky cards cost me 1st place.

I have to say that once we got heads-up I started to lose focus which really cost me.

I was having problems remembering who dealt the previous hand and who had which blinds.

Unfortunately my day job prohibits me from being the night owl I once was.

Can't wait for the next tourney in a couple of weeks though as I have to work on my focus to improve my live play.

I Blew It!

2007-05-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

I blew out on the bubble in this 180 player sit-n-go on PokerStars.

We were down to 25 and I was in 21st place(top 18 cash) but not in any danger yet.

Here's the hand where I busted out.

PokerStars Game #10056240299: Tournament #50963584, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2007/05/22 - 20:30:40 (ET)
Table '50963584 16' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: sergeiknows (7970 in chips)
Seat 2: llyoda (21050 in chips)
Seat 3: crash79 (11703 in chips)
Seat 4: 3sixes (6692 in chips)
Seat 5: modesty1 (17537 in chips)
Seat 6: buck171 (8320 in chips)
Seat 7: wallace1105 (9305 in chips)
Seat 8: MarkGreb (4270 in chips)
Seat 9: aadrm (4330 in chips)
sergeiknows: posts the ante 25
llyoda: posts the ante 25
crash79: posts the ante 25
3sixes: posts the ante 25
modesty1: posts the ante 25
buck171: posts the ante 25
wallace1105: posts the ante 25
MarkGreb: posts the ante 25
aadrm: posts the ante 25
llyoda: posts small blind 200
crash79: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ac Kc]
3sixes: raises 400 to 800
modesty1: folds
buck171: folds
wallace1105: folds
MarkGreb: raises 3445 to 4245 and is all-in
aadrm: folds
sergeiknows: folds
llyoda: folds
crash79: folds
3sixes: calls 3445
*** FLOP *** [8c 4d Qh]
*** TURN *** [8c 4d Qh] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [8c 4d Qh Qs] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
3sixes: shows [Td Tc] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
MarkGreb: shows [Ac Kc] (a pair of Queens)
3sixes collected 9315 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9315 | Rake 0
Board [8c 4d Qh Qs Js]
Seat 1: sergeiknows (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: llyoda (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: crash79 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: 3sixes showed [Td Tc] and won (9315) with two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 5: modesty1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: buck171 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: wallace1105 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: MarkGreb showed [Ac Kc] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 9: aadrm folded before Flop (didn't bet)

The way this hand played out I knew my opponent had a good pocket pair as his bet said call or raise me all-in since he too was relatively shortstacked.

He should strength but I had already decided in my mind to go all-in.

Even with AKs I should have avoided this confrontation where I was a slight underdog.

Even though I was being aggressive I would have been better off folding.

Now if it was checked around to me I believe going all-in would have been a good play.

I should have held off.

Slowplaying Aces

2007-05-22T14:14:00.001-07:00

I know the rule is to never slowplay Aces or Kings pre-flop but there are times when it's good to mix up your play some.

Here's a hand where I slowplayed pocket rockets where I believe my opponent made a mistake.

Included in the hand are my reasons and reads on this hand.

PokerStars Game #10038104214: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2007/05/21 - 19:40:49 (ET)
Table 'Saiph III' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: Brisky5 ($9.20 in chips)
Seat 3: HoopALoop6 ($6.70 in chips)
Seat 4: takingitinyo ($17.15 in chips)
Seat 5: crazybet78 ($8.30 in chips)
Seat 6: snooky122 ($13.65 in chips)
Seat 7: rick2419 ($13.90 in chips)
Seat 8: amartign ($22.70 in chips)
Seat 9: MarkGreb ($14.75 in chips)
rick2419: posts small blind $0.10
amartign: posts big blind $0.25
Ultima77: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ah Ad]
MarkGreb: calls $0.25

Under the gun I'll raise 4X BB or limp between 25-50% of the time with pocket Aces or Kings.

If I limp I'm looking for someone to raise so I can re-raise to isolate against the raiser as AA & KK play better heads-up (but they still are not unbeatablep).

Brisky5: folds
HoopALoop6: folds
takingitinyo: folds
crazybet78: calls $0.25
snooky122: folds
rick2419: calls $0.15
amartign: checks

Unfortuantely no one raises but with 4 players so there is $1 in the pot before the flop.

*** FLOP *** [Ac 3h Th]

This is a flop where I'll try to protect against the flush by making a pot sized bet.

rick2419: checks
amartign: checks
MarkGreb: bets $1
crazybet78: calls $1
rick2419: calls $1
amartign: folds

The bet eliminates one of my 3 opponents in the hand.

I figure at least on of the 2 players is on the flush draw.

*** TURN *** [Ac 3h Th] [Qs]

At least it's not a Heart.

I bet out a little over half the pot hoping to show weakness with my set as I don't believe anyone would chase the gutshot draw on the flop.

rick2419: checks
MarkGreb: bets $2.25
crazybet78: calls $2.25
rick2419: raises $10.40 to $12.65 and is all-in

Wow, that's a big checkraise.

I just can't believe my opponent would call on the flop with KJ and if they did why such a larger raise?

I actually would have been more afraid of a much smaller "please call me" raise.

I'm thinking AQ or QQ which I have beat so I call.

MarkGreb: calls $10.40
crazybet78: folds
*** RIVER *** [Ac 3h Th Qs] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rick2419: shows [Tc Qd] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
MarkGreb: shows [Ah Ad] (three of a kind, Aces)
MarkGreb collected $30 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $31.55 | Rake $1.55
Board [Ac 3h Th Qs 7c]
Seat 2: Brisky5 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: HoopALoop6 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: takingitinyo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: crazybet78 folded on the Turn
Seat 6: snooky122 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: rick2419 (small blind) showed [Tc Qd] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 8: amartign (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: MarkGreb showed [Ah Ad] and won ($30) with three of a kind, Aces

On this hand it turned out that my limp didn't hurt but helped conceal the strength of my hand.

The mistake my oppenent made was that he made a bet that would mostly get called by hands that had him beat.

It's a mighty big raise to call with the possible draws that someone might call.

Where this back fires is if the flop is "Qc 3h Th" as opposed to the one I had.

It would have been difficult to fold with the overpair and would have cost me my stack if i couldn't.

Full Tilt $5 Tournament 5/14

2007-05-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

WARNING: This is a long post!!!!

Yesterday I played and somehow made the final table of the 2:30 PM $5+.$0.50 Nl Hold'Em Tourney on Full Tilt Poker.

I'm not going to go over every hand that busted a player at the final table.

Instead I'm going to just show a few interesting hands that occurred.

Here's the starting chip stacks at the final table:
Seat 1: CSac6000 (41,330)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (72,954)
Seat 3: Barca06 (91,855)
Seat 4: HaggardBagger (24,090)
Seat 5: senditnoww (55,386)
Seat 6: lingy_lou (9,800)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (27,190)
Seat 8: mistaen (4,195)
Seat 9: cascade123 (76,700)

I start the final table in 6th place but am actually kind of short stacked and am looking for opportunities to try to double up so I have a chance to finsh in the top 5.

A few hands in I get pocket Jacks and get it all-in pre-flop against the 2 smallest stacks.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2424998068: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:01:45 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 1: CSac6000 (40,730)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (83,754)
Seat 3: Barca06 (87,655)
Seat 4: HaggardBagger (21,090)
Seat 5: senditnoww (54,786)
Seat 6: lingy_lou (9,200)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (26,590)
Seat 8: mistaen (3,595)
Seat 9: cascade123 (76,100)
CSac6000 antes 300
Doyte_D1 antes 300
Barca06 antes 300
HaggardBagger antes 300
senditnoww antes 300
lingy_lou antes 300
MarkGreb antes 300
mistaen antes 300
cascade123 antes 300
HaggardBagger posts the small blind of 1,200
senditnoww posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jd Jh]
lingy_lou raises to 8,900, and is all in
MarkGreb raises to 26,290, and is all in
mistaen calls 3,295, and is all in
cascade123 folds
CSac6000 folds
Doyte_D1 folds
Barca06 folds
HaggardBagger folds
senditnoww folds
MarkGreb shows [Jd Jh]
mistaen shows [Qd Qs]
lingy_lou shows [Ad Kh]
Uncalled bet of 17,390 returned to MarkGreb
senditnoww: wow
*** FLOP *** [6s 4d Ts]
*** TURN *** [6s 4d Ts] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [6s 4d Ts Ac] [5s]
MarkGreb shows a pair of Jacks
lingy_lou shows a pair of Aces
lingy_lou wins the side pot (11,210) with a pair of Aces
mistaen shows a pair of Queens
lingy_lou wins the main pot (16,185) with a pair of Aces
mistaen stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 27,395 Main pot 16,185. Side pot 11,210. | Rake 0
Board: [6s 4d Ts Ac 5s]
Seat 1: CSac6000 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Barca06 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: HaggardBagger (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: senditnoww (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: lingy_lou showed [Ad Kh] and won (27,395) with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: MarkGreb showed [Jd Jh] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 8: mistaen showed [Qd Qs] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 9: cascade123 folded before the Flop

Basically switched places in the chip count with lingy_lou but guarantteed at least an 8th place finsh with the elimination of mistaen.

With the blinds so high it's basically just blind stealing going all-in because a raise represent so much of most of the players chip stacks with Doyte_D1 and senditnow the 2 most aggressive players at the table.

I'm looking for 2 big cards preferrably a pair or at least A10os or better to get my chips in and hope to get lucky.

AJos definately fit's the bill at this point.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2425043934: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:08:17 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 1: CSac6000 (40,130)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (74,364)
Seat 3: Barca06 (33,469)
Seat 4: HaggardBagger (34,080)
Seat 5: senditnoww (122,172)
Seat 6: lingy_lou (18,695)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (11,090)
Seat 9: cascade123 (69,500)
CSac6000 antes 300
Doyte_D1 antes 300
Barca06 antes 300
HaggardBagger antes 300
senditnoww antes 300
lingy_lou antes 300
MarkGreb antes 300
cascade123 antes 300
lingy_lou posts the small blind of 1,200
MarkGreb posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jc Ad]
cascade123 folds
CSac6000 folds
Doyte_D1 folds
Barca06 folds
HaggardBagger raises to 7,200
senditnoww folds
lingy_lou folds
MarkGreb raises to 10,790, and is all in
HaggardBagger calls 3,590
MarkGreb shows [Jc Ad]
HaggardBagger shows [Ah 9c]
*** FLOP *** [8d 6h 7s]
*** TURN *** [8d 6h 7s] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [8d 6h 7s 2h] [2d]
MarkGreb shows a pair of Twos
HaggardBagger shows a pair of Twos
MarkGreb wins the pot (25,180) with a pair of Twos
The blinds are now 1,500/3,000 with an ante of 400
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 25,180 | Rake 0
Board: [8d 6h 7s 2h 2d]
Seat 1: CSac6000 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Barca06 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: HaggardBagger showed [Ah 9c] and lost with a pair of Twos
Seat 5: senditnoww (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: lingy_lou (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [Jc Ad] and won (25,180) with a pair of Twos
Seat 9: cascade123 folded before the Flop

My J kicker holds up and now I have a little breathing room again.

I'm still short compared to the leaders but I won't push with A10os at this point, I'd need at least AJos or AQos or better to push here as I can survive a little while.

AQ it is!

Full Tilt Poker Game #2425059505: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 1500/3000 Ante 400 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:10:33 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 1: CSac6000 (41,830)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (69,864)
Seat 3: Barca06 (31,969)
Seat 4: HaggardBagger (21,790)
Seat 5: senditnoww (128,372)
Seat 6: lingy_lou (15,995)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (22,480)
Seat 9: cascade123 (71,200)
CSac6000 antes 400
Doyte_D1 antes 400
Barca06 antes 400
HaggardBagger antes 400
senditnoww antes 400
lingy_lou antes 400
MarkGreb antes 400
cascade123 antes 400
Doyte_D1 posts the small blind of 1,500
Barca06 posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Qs Ac]
HaggardBagger folds
senditnoww folds
lingy_lou raises to 15,595, and is all in
MarkGreb raises to 22,080, and is all in
senditnoww: good luck to both
cascade123 folds
CSac6000 folds
Doyte_D1 folds
Barca06 folds
MarkGreb shows [Qs Ac]
lingy_lou shows [Ks 6s]
Uncalled bet of 6,485 returned to MarkGreb
*** FLOP *** [3h 3s Jc]
*** TURN *** [3h 3s Jc] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [3h 3s Jc 8d] [Ad]
MarkGreb shows two pair, Aces and Threes
lingy_lou shows a pair of Threes
MarkGreb wins the pot (38,890) with two pair, Aces and Threes
lingy_lou stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 38,890 | Rake 0
Board: [3h 3s Jc 8d Ad]
Seat 1: CSac6000 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Barca06 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: HaggardBagger folded before the Flop
Seat 5: senditnoww folded before the Flop
Seat 6: lingy_lou showed [Ks 6s] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 7: MarkGreb showed [Qs Ac] and won (38,890) with two pair, Aces and Threes
Seat 9: cascade123 folded before the Flop

My A pairs on the river to knock out lingy-lou and guarantee myself at least 7th place money but now I'm a little better situated chip wise to play tighter while some of the shorter stacks bust out.

This is a hand that just puzzles me.

If you were 4th in chips would you push all-in with J10os?

Full Tilt Poker Game #2425085927: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 1500/3000 Ante 400 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:14:23 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 1: CSac6000 (88,660)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (80,564)
Seat 3: Barca06 (25,069)
Seat 4: HaggardBagger (14,890)
Seat 5: senditnoww (82,342)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (47,675)
Seat 9: cascade123 (64,300)
CSac6000 antes 400
Doyte_D1 antes 400
Barca06 antes 400
HaggardBagger antes 400
senditnoww antes 400
MarkGreb antes 400
cascade123 antes 400
CSac6000 posts the small blind of 1,500
Doyte_D1 posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [9s 2d]
Barca06 folds
HaggardBagger folds
senditnoww folds
MarkGreb folds
cascade123 raises to 63,900, and is all in
CSac6000 folds
Doyte_D1 calls 60,900
cascade123 shows [Jd Tc]
Doyte_D1 shows [Td Th]
*** FLOP *** [9d 4c 8c]
*** TURN *** [9d 4c 8c] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [9d 4c 8c 3c] [Kd]
cascade123 shows King Jack high
Doyte_D1 shows a pair of Tens
Doyte_D1 wins the pot (132,100) with a pair of Tens
CSac6000: wow
cascade123 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 132,100 | Rake 0
Board: [9d 4c 8c 3c Kd]
Seat 1: CSac6000 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (big blind) showed [Td Th] and won (132,100) with a pair of Tens
Seat 3: Barca06 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: HaggardBagger folded before the Flop
Seat 5: senditnoww folded before the Flop
Seat 7: MarkGreb folded before the Flop
Seat 9: cascade123 (button) showed [Jd Tc] and lost with King Jack high

It was definitely a tough and good call by Doyte_D1 with pockets 10's since I would expect cascade123 to have at least 1 or 2 overcards to 10's to push here.

This conversation goes on during the next hand in the chat box:
Doyte_D1: why push all in?
cascade123 (Observer): yeah had soo many outs after turn
cascade123 (Observer): lols
senditnoww: yeah, that was dumb
Doyte_D1: thats true
cascade123 (Observer): nah fav hand is J10
cascade123 (Observer): and i was getting bored that was the best hand i had in a while
cascade123 (Observer): so mite as well

OK.

I for one don't have a favorite hand (other than pocket rockets) for pushing all-in and boredom is no reason to go broke in a tourney.

Can't win it if you're not in it!

At least I'm moving up the money ladder (guaranteed 6th now) and have gotten in on the blind stealing too.

Chip counts with 6 players remaining:
Seat 1: CSac6000 (86,760)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (148,364)
Seat 3: Barca06 (24,669)
Seat 4: HaggardBagger (14,490)
Seat 5: senditnoww (81,942)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (47,275)

So I'm ahead of 2 players and am 1 double up away from 2nd and 3rd place.

HaggardBagger is severely shortstacked and is take out by Doyte_D1(of course) after a few hands of now pushing the huge blinds around.

Barca06 makes his stand with K10os and is busted when senditnow's A5os spikes an Ace on the flop.

I've somehow survived to the final 4 with these chipstacks:
Seat 1: CSac6000 (78,360)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (172,654)
Seat 5: senditnoww (113,611)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (38,875)

I'm severely shortacked so time to push!!!

I actually steal a pot here:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2425147063: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 2000/4000 Ante 500 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:23:15 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 1: CSac6000 (94,360)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (172,654)
Seat 5: senditnoww (97,611)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (38,875)
CSac6000 antes 500
Doyte_D1 antes 500
senditnoww antes 500
MarkGreb antes 500
senditnoww posts the small blind of 2,000
MarkGreb posts the big blind of 4,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [4h Jc]
CSac6000 folds
Doyte_D1 folds
senditnoww calls 2,000
MarkGreb checks
*** FLOP *** [Ks 6d 8d]
senditnoww checks
MarkGreb bets 10,000
senditnoww has 15 seconds left to act
senditnoww folds
Uncalled bet of 10,000 returned to MarkGreb
MarkGreb mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot (10,000)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10,000 | Rake 0
Board: [Ks 6d 8d]
Seat 1: CSac6000 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: senditnoww (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: MarkGreb (big blind) collected (10,000), mucked

Gotta due what I gotta do- I've played really tight at the final table with most of my moves all-in because of the size of the blinds so I felt a smaller bluff might work better, giving the appearance that I wanted a call.

I'm still short and am going to keep pushing AJos or better to try to snag the blinds and if I bust out that's poker.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2425170510: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 2000/4000 Ante 500 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:26:37 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 1: CSac6000 (60,860)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (179,154)
Seat 5: senditnoww (120,111)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (43,375)
CSac6000 antes 500
Doyte_D1 antes 500
senditnoww antes 500
MarkGreb antes 500
Doyte_D1 posts the small blind of 2,000
senditnoww posts the big blind of 4,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Js Ah]
MarkGreb raises to 42,875, and is all in
CSac6000 folds
Doyte_D1 folds
senditnoww calls 38,875
MarkGreb shows [Js Ah]
senditnoww shows [Qh Kc]
CSac6000: gl
*** FLOP *** [Kh 2c 6d]
*** TURN *** [Kh 2c 6d] [As]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 2c 6d As] [Jc]
MarkGreb shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
CSac6000: nh
senditnoww shows a pair of Kings
MarkGreb wins the pot (89,750) with two pair, Aces and Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 89,750 | Rake 0
Board: [Kh 2c 6d As Jc]
Seat 1: CSac6000 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: senditnoww (big blind) showed [Qh Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 7: MarkGreb showed [Js Ah] and won (89,750) with two pair, Aces and Jacks

senditnow hit the flop but the turn and river were king to give me 2 pair to double up.

WHEW!!!!

Updated chip counts:
Seat 1: CSac6000 (60,360)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (176,654)
Seat 5: senditnoww (76,736)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (89,750)

I've managed to sneak my way into 2nd position and now can go back to playing much tighter.

senditnow has moved into 2nd again when this hand occurs:

Full Tilt Poker Game #2425205858: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 2500/5000 Ante 600 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:31:45 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 1: CSac6000 (52,460)
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (184,154)
Seat 5: senditnoww (83,436)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (83,450)
CSac6000 antes 600
Doyte_D1 antes 600
senditnoww antes 600
MarkGreb antes 600
senditnoww posts the small blind of 2,500
MarkGreb posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [6c 7c]
CSac6000 folds
Doyte_D1 folds
senditnoww calls 2,500
MarkGreb checks
*** FLOP *** [Tc Jh 8c]
senditnoww checks
MarkGreb bets 5,000
senditnoww calls 5,000
*** TURN *** [Tc Jh 8c] [Ac]
senditnoww checks
MarkGreb bets 22,400
senditnoww calls 22,400
*** RIVER *** [Tc Jh 8c Ac] [9c]
senditnoww checks
MarkGreb bets 50,450, and is all in
senditnoww has 15 seconds left to act
senditnoww folds
Uncalled bet of 50,450 returned to MarkGreb
MarkGreb mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot (67,200)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 67,200 | Rake 0
Board: [Tc Jh 8c Ac 9c]
Seat 1: CSac6000 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: senditnoww (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 7: MarkGreb (big blind) collected (67,200), mucked

I was hoping senditnow had the King of clubs but the river card actually killed my action regardless of the size of my bet.

I wasn't afraid of the higher straight flush at all, if I'm going to bust out of a tourney with a staight flush at least I'll have a good story to tell!

Now I've got a firm grasp on 2nd with almost double senditnow and CSac6000's chipstacks so I can play tighter still.

Doyte_D1 has a massive chip lead at this point and can make a big call when CSac6000 pushes all-in with KQos with nearly 50K in chips with AJos and it holds up to get us down to 3 with these chip stacks:
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (245,314)
Seat 5: senditnoww (60,336)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (97,850)

With such a disparity in chips Doyte_D1 can make marginal calls such as this on senditnows steal attempt and busts out on the coinflip:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2425242048: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 2500/5000 Ante 600 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:36:52 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (258,314)
Seat 5: senditnoww (62,236)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (82,950)
Doyte_D1 antes 600
senditnoww antes 600
MarkGreb antes 600
Doyte_D1 posts the small blind of 2,500
senditnoww posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [7s Jc]
MarkGreb folds
Doyte_D1 raises to 16,800
senditnoww raises to 61,636, and is all in
Doyte_D1 calls 44,836
senditnoww shows [Ts Js]
Doyte_D1 shows [5c 5d]
*** FLOP *** [3d 3h 7c]
*** TURN *** [3d 3h 7c] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [3d 3h 7c 8d] [2s]
senditnoww shows a pair of Threes
Doyte_D1 shows two pair, Fives and Threes
Doyte_D1 wins the pot (125,072) with two pair, Fives and Threes
senditnoww stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 125,072 | Rake 0
Board: [3d 3h 7c 8d 2s]
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (small blind) showed [5c 5d] and won (125,072) with two pair, Fives and Threes
Seat 5: senditnoww (big blind) showed [Ts Js] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 7: MarkGreb (button) folded before the Flop

Now we're heads up and I'm way behind:
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (321,150)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (82,350)

Time to push since I'm guaranteed 2nd place so basically we're playing for the difference in 1st and 2nd place money.

Gotta take chances such as this and push if I hit the flop - I need chips:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2425250041: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 2500/5000 Ante 600 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:37:59 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (321,150)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (82,350)
Doyte_D1 antes 600
MarkGreb antes 600
Doyte_D1 posts the small blind of 2,500
MarkGreb posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Kc 4s]
Doyte_D1 raises to 10,000
MarkGreb calls 5,000
*** FLOP *** [8h 4d Ks]
MarkGreb checks
Doyte_D1 bets 15,000
MarkGreb raises to 71,750, and is all in
Doyte_D1 folds
Uncalled bet of 56,750 returned to MarkGreb
MarkGreb mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot (51,200)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 51,200 | Rake 0
Board: [8h 4d Ks]
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: MarkGreb (big blind) collected (51,200), mucked

Doyte_D1 still has almost a 3-1 lead so it's business as usual.

We go thru a series of hands where we alternate raising each others blinds followed by a string of hands where we each fold the small blind.

I wonder to myself if Doyte_D1 notices the repetive nature of the hands.

Here's the first crack in Doyte_D1's armor with the call of my all-in with a gutshotdraw and an avercard(Ace):
Full Tilt Poker Game #2425268570: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 3000/6000 Ante 750 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:40:35 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (299,700)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (103,800)
Doyte_D1 antes 750
MarkGreb antes 750
MarkGreb posts the small blind of 3,000
Doyte_D1 posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Tc Jd]
MarkGreb calls 3,000
Doyte_D1 raises to 19,500
MarkGreb calls 13,500
*** FLOP *** [Td 5d 2d]
Doyte_D1 bets 30,000
MarkGreb raises to 83,550, and is all in
Doyte_D1 calls 53,550
MarkGreb shows [Tc Jd]
Doyte_D1 shows [Ah 4s]
*** TURN *** [Td 5d 2d] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Td 5d 2d Jh] [7s]
MarkGreb shows two pair, Jacks and Tens
Doyte_D1 shows Ace Jack high
MarkGreb wins the pot (207,600) with two pair, Jacks and Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 207,600 | Rake 0
Board: [Td 5d 2d Jh 7s]
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (big blind) showed [Ah 4s] and lost with Ace Jack high
Seat 7: MarkGreb (small blind) showed [Tc Jd] and won (207,600) with two pair, Jacks and Tens

I'm now in the lead for the first rime and finally believe I have a chance to win:
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (195,900)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (207,600)

This is the hand where I really opened up a lead:
Full Tilt Poker Game #2425283574: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 3000/6000 Ante 750 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:42:45 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (198,150)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (205,350)
Doyte_D1 antes 750
MarkGreb antes 750
MarkGreb posts the small blind of 3,000
Doyte_D1 posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [7h Ac]
MarkGreb raises to 19,500
Doyte_D1 calls 13,500
*** FLOP *** [7c 7d Jc]
Doyte_D1 checks
MarkGreb checks
*** TURN *** [7c 7d Jc] [7s]
Doyte_D1 bets 12,000
MarkGreb raises to 24,000
Doyte_D1 folds
Uncalled bet of 12,000 returned to MarkGreb
MarkGreb mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot (64,500)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 64,500 | Rake 0
Board: [7c 7d Jc 7s]
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 7: MarkGreb (small blind) collected (64,500), mucked

I raised pre-flop just hoping to take the hand down.

When the 7 hit on the turn I really hoped he had a Jack and would re-re-raise me all-in and we'd end it here.

Maybe I should have raised all-in here instead of the min-raise as it might have made him think I was bluffing instead of looking for a call?

A few hands later....we both see the flop in an un-raised hand which hit's both our hands:

Full Tilt Poker Game #2425292389: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (18293395), Table 30 - 3000/6000 Ante 750 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:44:02 ET - 2007/05/14
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (189,900)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (213,600)
Doyte_D1 antes 750
MarkGreb antes 750
Doyte_D1 posts the small blind of 3,000
MarkGreb posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [7h 6h]
Doyte_D1 calls 3,000
MarkGreb checks
*** FLOP *** [5d 8s 9d]
MarkGreb checks
Doyte_D1 bets 13,500
MarkGreb raises to 206,850, and is all in
Doyte_D1 calls 169,650, and is all in
MarkGreb shows [7h 6h]
Doyte_D1 shows [Ks 9c]
Uncalled bet of 23,700 returned to MarkGreb
*** TURN *** [5d 8s 9d] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [5d 8s 9d Kh] [6d]
MarkGreb shows a straight, Nine high
Doyte_D1 shows two pair, Kings and Nines
MarkGreb wins the pot (379,800) with a straight, Nine high
Doyte_D1: gg
Doyte_D1 stands up
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 379,800 | Rake 0
Board: [5d 8s 9d Kh 6d]
Seat 2: Doyte_D1 (small blind) showed [Ks 9c] and lost with two pair, Kings and Nines
Seat 7: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [7h 6h] and won (379,800) with a straight, Nine high

A great flop for me to be sure but I can't blame Doyte_D1 for calling here.

I was really just trying to push him off the diamond flush draw if that's what he or she had.

Top pair with a big kicker is usually golden heads-up.

269 players started and I was the last one standing.

I think my best play in this tourney was once the final table got shorthanded but I did make some big hands everytime I needed one.

I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on various hands at this final table and hope that there are other final table for me to report!

Full Tilt Iron Man Gold Freeroll 5/12

2007-05-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

Another month, another Gold Freeroll on FullTilt Poker for maintaining my playing level.

I wish I could qualify for Iron Status but at my level of play it would take too long each day.

Only 225 Gold Level Players opted to play in the $20K Freeroll with 90 players making the payout- first prize is $3600 and entry into a 4 player $5000 sit-n-go(winner take all) .

Basically try not to make any glaring mistakes while avoiding bag luck can get you into the money so it's like getting a monthly bonus for playing.

Inevitably , once the 90 player barrier is broken someone will pipe up "I don't know why they still pay 90 in this tourney!"

It's a reward for playing on the site.

Why are people ungrateful?

For what it's worth I finished 43rd out of 225.

I'm almost halfway to qualify for Gold Status again next month and can't wait to play in the Freeroll again!

Royal Flush #8

2007-05-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

This one bailed me out in this tourney and this hand.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2373211299: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (17875330), Table 1 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:07:29 ET - 2007/05/07
Seat 1: 13otto13 (4,580)
Seat 2: DAN15H (5,000)
Seat 3: juerae (6,398)
Seat 4: tightwad55 (1,835)
Seat 5: pokersurfer3 (5,070)
Seat 6: Adiole53 (2,870)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (3,250)
Seat 8: goku75 (1,916)
Seat 9: ams020 (19,089)
13otto13 antes 25
DAN15H antes 25
juerae antes 25
tightwad55 antes 25
pokersurfer3 antes 25
Adiole53 antes 25
MarkGreb antes 25
goku75 antes 25
ams020 antes 25
goku75 posts the small blind of 120
ams020 posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jc Js]
13otto13 folds
DAN15H raises to 1,065
juerae folds
tightwad55 folds
pokersurfer3 folds
Adiole53 folds
MarkGreb raises to 3,225, and is all in
goku75 folds
ams020 folds
DAN15H calls 2,160
MarkGreb shows [Jc Js]
DAN15H shows [Qd Qc]
*** FLOP *** [As Ad Ks]
*** TURN *** [As Ad Ks] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [As Ad Ks Qs] [Ts]
MarkGreb shows a Royal Flush
DAN15H shows a full house, Queens full of Aces
MarkGreb wins the pot (7,035) with a Royal Flush
13otto13 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,035 | Rake 0
Board: [As Ad Ks Qs Ts]
Seat 1: 13otto13 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: DAN15H showed [Qd Qc] and lost with a full house, Queens full of Aces
Seat 3: juerae folded before the Flop
Seat 4: tightwad55 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: pokersurfer3 folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Adiole53 folded before the Flop
Seat 7: MarkGreb (button) showed [Jc Js] and won (7,035) with a Royal Flush
Seat 8: goku75 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: ams020 (big blind) folded before the Flop

The 8 are broken down as follows:
1 Omaha
7 Hold'Em
1 @ bet365 - no bonus
1 @ Superior - no bonus
3 @ FullTilt - no bonus
3 @ PokerChamps - $5 bonus even in tournaments - better than nothing

Home Game

2007-05-06T14:04:00.000-07:00

Played in a home game last night foregoing my usual Saturday night haunt the Aces Cracked on PokerStars.

It was a game hosted by a guy from work who always tells me how good he is.

We started with 12 players on 2 tables.

The game was NL Hold'Em stating with 10,000 in chips.

The structure was kind of odd with blinds going up every hour which seems slow until you realize the blinds always double:

100/200
200/400
400/800
800/1600
1600/3200
3200/6400
6400/12800
etc

You are also allowed unlimited re-buys the first hour (only if you go broke) but no add-ons.

The game was populated by the usual array of players just like at the casino:
KnowItAll - always knows what his opponent has, loves to show bluffs, crys about bad beats
HeavyDrinker - pounding drinks as play slips away from him
Maniac - Pair of Queens with a 3 kicker is good for an all-in.
IHateTournaments - I can't wait for the cash game after the tourney.
BridgeLadies - just happy to be out of the house for the night

I played a little looser early because of the rebuy to get some info since it was my first time playing with this group.

I played fast and loose with AQ suited when I caught top pair when an Ace hit the flop and was called down by HeavyDrinker with A4os when a 4 hit the river.

This hand cost me about half my chips but bought me the info that Heavy Drinker was a calling station.

HeavyDrinker also sucked out on KnowItALL when his K paired on the river to give him a higher 2 pair Kings and Eights to beat KnowItAll's flopped Queens and Jacks.

After about 20 minutes I was down to about 4,000 in chips when I got AKos and raised to 800 pre-flop and was only called by HeavyDrinker.

Flop is all spades K62 and I bet out a pot-sized bet and he popped it back enough to commit me so I pushed all-in even though I was pretty sure he flopped the flush.

He calls and flips over A4spades so he did flop it - and I stored that info away and rebought to get 10,000 chips again.

The game is full of limpers and almost all pre-flop raises are not respected so the game is mostly a post-flop game.

So I've joined the limp parade with everyone else seeing flops with any 2 suited cards, connected cards, and 1 or 2 gappers.

I've not hit any flops and am know down to about 5,500 chips when I get pocker KK on the button.

It's folded around to me so I min-raised(blinds are now at 200/400)hoping to get a little action from HeavyDrinker and IKnowItAll in the blinds.

HeavyDrinker actualy folds as IKnowItAll calls out that I have either Aces or Kings.

He's so smart!

IKnowItAll Calls even though he knows what I have.

Flop is 2-6-10 rainbow which should be a good flop for me.

IKnowItAll checks and my a little more than pot sized bet and he reiterates that he knows I have Aces or Kings and calls.

He's a genius!

A 6 comes out on the turn and I bet out close to pot-sized pot-commiting myself and IKnowItAll goes all-in over the top of me.

I call knowing I'm probably beat but with only the top 3 getting paid out being that short-stacked I'd be out soon anyway.

He flips over 67os showing his trips proudly before the river King doubles me up!

Only Online!!!!!

Oh, wait a second this is live!!!

A little while later we condense down to final 8 players and I'm either 3rd or 4th in chips with me and IKnowItAll close together in chips.

Maniac is the chip leader with more chips than will fit in the built in chip trays on the table.

HeavyDrinker is 2nd but is bleeding chips as he has now gotten intoxicated and is now longer hitting his gutshot straight draws and miracle cards on the river.

The other 4 players are 2 BridgeLadies and 2 IHateTournaments that are all severely shorts-stacked with less than 4,000 chips each.

Maniac takes out 2 shortstacks - one he pushes all-in when his Q pairs on the flop not worrying that his 5 kicker is pretty weak, but the shortstack called with AK so he had 2 overcards but the turn and river were blanks.

I take out another shortstack when my 27hearts (from the small blind) make a flush on the river and BridgeLady pushes all in with Ace high.

HeavyDrinker has continued his calling station ways and most of his chips have been distributed among me, IKnowItAll, & Maniac.

The last IHateTournaments outlives HeavyDrinker to finish in the top 4 but is so shortstacked all 3 of us call his all-in with Maniac taking down the pot when his 2 in hand makes trips on the river.

I'm third in chips once we make the money but the blinds have now reached 1600/3200 and I've been ground down by a cold deck to 5200 and it's now or never so I announce I'm all-in in the dark since I'm going with any 2 cards and I'm in the blig blind.

I'm dealt Q2os and Maniac calls but IKnowItAll in the small blind folds.

Maniac has K5 but my Q pairs the flop and I doubled up to last a round.

Next hand I'm dealt 99 and IKnowItAll just calls the bigblind so I just push all-in again since there are so many chips in the pot.

Both players fold.

The blinds are now at 3200/6400 and my 9,000 in chips is now critical and I push all-in blind again this time from the button.

I deal out the cards and Maniac calls but IKnowItAll folds to the 2600 chip raise.

I look at my cards for the first time and flip em over and just smile inside as I see my first pocket Rockets of the game.

Maniac called with K8 and my Aces hold up but with blinds so hight 9600 every 3 hands I'm still desperate.

I get A7clubs and push all-in from the small blind and Maniac calls and flips over the first real hand I've seen him play - pockect Jacks.

No Aces or clubs and I'm out in 3rd place for a win of $50 but since I rebought I paid $50.

I'm out gas money.

Heads up between Maniac and IKnowItAll doesn't last long as Maniac has so many chips that he's making bets IKnowItAll can't call but probably should.

He finally makes a stand after the flop one hand when Maniac raises all-in on a harmless looking flop of 6-7-10 rainbow .

Maniac shows Q5os vs IKnowItAll's A2os.

River card is a Queen and it's over.

IKnowItAll- "I knew I had you on the flop!"

Pure Genius!!!

I'll definitely play in this game again.

The Poker Gods Giveth and the Poker Gods Taketh

2007-04-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

One good flop deserves a bad flop.

This hand I've got pocket King's and am re-raised by what is most likely pocket Aces.

My thinking is who is good enough to fold pocket King's pre-flop.

I'm hoping either to hit my set or fold if an Ace hits.

Worst thing that could happen would be if neither hit the flop.

PokerStars Game #9520936565: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2007/04/20 - 16:20:09 (ET)
Table 'Lyalya' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: MarkGreb ($17.30 in chips)
Seat 2: mnotx79 ($19.75 in chips)
Seat 3: Anguille ($32.80 in chips)
Seat 4: Kjellstroem ($26.35 in chips)
Seat 5: Devlin004 ($33.65 in chips)
Seat 6: Yakshi ($24.75 in chips)
Seat 7: retromonkey ($14.90 in chips)
Seat 8: Hitdark ($31.45 in chips)
Seat 9: bübli ($6.45 in chips)
Hitdark: posts small blind $0.10
bübli: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Kd Ks]
MarkGreb: raises $1 to $1.25
mnotx79: folds
Anguille: folds
Kjellstroem: folds
Devlin004: folds
Yakshi: raises $3.75 to $5
retromonkey: folds
Hitdark: folds
bübli: folds
MarkGreb: calls $3.75
*** FLOP *** [Kc 6s Td]
MarkGreb: checks
Yakshi: checks
*** TURN *** [Kc 6s Td] [Qs]
MarkGreb: bets $5.75
Yakshi: raises $8 to $13.75
MarkGreb: calls $6.55 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Kc 6s Td Qs] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb: shows [Kd Ks] (three of a kind, Kings)
Yakshi: mucks hand
MarkGreb collected $33.25 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $34.95 | Rake $1.70
Board [Kc 6s Td Qs 7h]
Seat 1: MarkGreb showed [Kd Ks] and won ($33.25) with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 2: mnotx79 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Anguille folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Kjellstroem folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Devlin004 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Yakshi mucked [Ac As]
Seat 7: retromonkey (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Hitdark (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: bübli (big blind) folded before Flop

Sure I got lucky but there's no way I can fold pocket Kings preflop.

A couple of days later in the Poker Analysis tourney on Absolute Poker my position is reversed as I have pocket Aces and my opponent has the underpair.

Stage #722636361 Tourney ID 1491972 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $60 - 2007-04-22 18:34:59 (ET)
Table: 1 (Real Money) Seat #8 is the dealer
Seat 1 - XERIP ($2570 in chips)
Seat 3 - CHUMLEY01 ($1095 in chips)
Seat 4 - SHADRAK ($2505 in chips)
Seat 5 - DAVIDYEE ($1570 in chips)
Seat 6 - RAZORBACKER3 ($955 in chips)
Seat 7 - MARKGREB ($2330 in chips)
Seat 8 - CELINE423 ($1575 in chips)
Seat 9 - GLENNDIDIT ($900 in chips)
GLENNDIDIT - Posts small blind $30
XERIP - Posts big blind $60
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [As Ah]
CHUMLEY01 - Folds
SHADRAK - Raises $180 to $180
DAVIDYEE - Folds
RAZORBACKER3 - Folds
MARKGREB - Raises $480 to $480
CELINE423 - Folds
GLENNDIDIT - Folds
XERIP - Folds
SHADRAK - Calls $300
*** FLOP *** [7s 9h 4d]
SHADRAK - Checks
MARKGREB - All-In $1850
SHADRAK - Calls $1850
*** TURN *** [7s 9h 4d] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [7s 9h 4d 6d] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SHADRAK - Shows [9s 9d] (Three of a kind, nines)
MARKGREB - Shows [As Ah] (One pair, aces)
SHADRAK Collects $4750 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($4750)
Board [7s 9h 4d 6d Qs]
Seat 1: XERIP (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: CHUMLEY01 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 4: SHADRAK won Total ($4750) HI:($4750) with Three of a kind, nines [9s 9d - P:9s,B:9h,P:9d,B:Qs,B:7s]
Seat 5: DAVIDYEE Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 6: RAZORBACKER3 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: MARKGREB HI:lost with One pair, aces [As Ah - P:As,P:Ah,B:Qs,B:9h,B:7s]
Seat 8: CELINE423 (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 9: GLENNDIDIT (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS

In retrospect I played this hand badly on the flop, first off SHADRAK's check on the flop should have set off warning bells in my head.

If SHADRAK had KK,QQ,JJ,1010, or even AK I think they'd bet out to take down the pot if I was re-raising with AK.

My bet on the flop was horrible as I could have had the desired result taking down the pot for a 1/2 to 3/4 pot sized bet.

I still would have lost chips on this hand but it wasn't necessary for me to go broke if I had tried to manage the pot better.

The real question is what would I have done if I made the smaller bet and SHADRAK check raised me?

I'd like to say I would have folded but I just don't know.

My opponent in the first hand faced that same decision with the overpair.

When To Push

2007-04-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

This was the most interesting hand I played in last nights Aces Cracked tourney on PokerStars.

It brings up the question of when do you push all-in?

I'm severally underchipped with an M<6.

Here's the hand:

PokerStars Game #9541708948: Tournament #46877139, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2007/04/21 - 20:56:39 (ET)
Table '46877139 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: MarkGreb (770 in chips)
Seat 5: Penfolio (2160 in chips)
Seat 9: Shamanalix (3070 in chips)
MarkGreb: posts small blind 50
Penfolio: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [9s Ks]
Shamanalix: calls 100
MarkGreb: calls 50
Penfolio: raises 200 to 300
Shamanalix: calls 200
MarkGreb: raises 470 to 770 and is all-in
Penfolio: calls 470
Shamanalix: folds
*** FLOP *** [4s 7s As]
*** TURN *** [4s 7s As] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [4s 7s As Kd] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb: shows [9s Ks] (a flush, Ace high)
Penfolio: shows [Qc Kh] (a pair of Kings)
MarkGreb collected 1840 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1840 | Rake 0
Board [4s 7s As Kd 8c]
Seat 1: MarkGreb (small blind) showed [9s Ks] and won (1840) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 5: Penfolio (big blind) showed [Qc Kh] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 9: Shamanalix (button) folded before Flop

My thinking is that at some point I have to make a stand and was looking for a big pot to play with either an Ace or King in my hand.

In this case I was suited so I had a few more outs if spades hit the flop.

I got lucky but I couldn't finish worse than 3rd if I lost this hand, but without this hand my M was dropping rapidly.

BTW I ended up 3rd despite this hand.

FultTilt Iron Man Gold Freeroll 4/14

2007-04-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

Qualified at the Gold level last month at FullTilt Poker and decided to play the freeroll instead of the bonus medals.

The IronMan promo is FullTilt Poker loyalty program.

The four levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, & Iron with various "medals" awarded at each level with more medals awarded if you reach iron man status over consecutive months.

Each level qualifies you for a special freeroll tourney with cash prizes.

You can opt out of the freerolls and take more medals which can be used for various things in the Iron Man Store.

I usually opt out if I only reach Bronze and Silver levels because of the large number of players in those freerolls.

When I qualify at Gold level I play the freeroll I play since there are usually less than 300 players and the top 90 make the money so unless I get real unlucky it's like getting an instant bonus.

This months freeroll was no exception with only 271 players.

I started out well nearly doubling the 1500 starting chip stack early on but after that I just didn't catch any cards or connect on any flops for draws to build my stack.

So it became about survival to make the cash after making it to the first break.

I got lucky when my pocket 10's held up to double me up to get passed the 90 player bubble as I was severely short stacked.

As everyone knows once you get to the cash all the shortstacks start pushing after limping to the cash so the bustouts starting coming fast and furious with the next bump in the money was at 45 players left.

I stayed out of the way for a while until I was in the big blind with K7 suited and it was folded around to the small blind who min-raised so I pushed all-in knowing I had to get lucky to make the top 45.

Unfortunately the small blind had pocket Queens and eliminated me.

I finished 60th.

Can't wait until next months freeroll where I hope to have better results.

Poker Analyis Tourney 4/13

2007-04-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Poker Analysis tourney on PokerStars was another $5 buy-n tournament.

The twist is this was a HORSE tournament which covers 5 different games which are rotated in on each blind level.

H= Limit Hold'Em
O= Limit Omaha High/Low
R= Limit Razz(7 Card Stud Low)
S= Limit 7 Card Stud
E= Limit 7 Card Stud High/Low

Of the 5 games I'm least experienced at the High/Low games.

Here's the chip counts at the start of the final table(16 players started):
Seat 1: 1sittinbull (6583 in chips)
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (3978 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (4086 in chips)
Seat 4: pekabo (1368 in chips)
Seat 5: xerip (3009 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (5693 in chips)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (6498 in chips)
Seat 8: I Came (785 in chips)

Top 5 players finish in the money.

The first casualty is the shortstack I Came:

PokerStars Game #9408739864: Tournament #46325013, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (7 Card Stud Limit) - Level IX (300/600) - 2007/04/13 - 22:17:52 (ET)
Table '46325013 1' 8-max
Seat 1: 1sittinbull (6523 in chips)
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (3918 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (4026 in chips)
Seat 4: pekabo (3096 in chips)
Seat 5: xerip (1641 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (5633 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (6438 in chips)
Seat 8: I Came (725 in chips)
PrinceSheba: posts the ante 60
I Came: posts the ante 60
1sittinbull: posts the ante 60
Kelso2121: posts the ante 60
MarkGreb: posts the ante 60
pekabo: posts the ante 60
xerip: posts the ante 60
Shamanalix: posts the ante 60
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to 1sittinbull [As]
Dealt to Kelso2121 [8c]
Dealt to MarkGreb [5c 3d Qc]
Dealt to pekabo [Kh]
Dealt to xerip [4d]
Dealt to Shamanalix [8d]
Dealt to PrinceSheba [2c]
Dealt to I Came [Ah]
PrinceSheba: brings in for 90
I Came: raises 210 to 300
1sittinbull: folds
Kelso2121: raises 300 to 600
MarkGreb: folds
pekabo: folds
xerip: folds
Shamanalix: folds
PrinceSheba: folds
Shamanalix has returned
I Came: raises 65 to 665 and is all-in
Kelso2121: calls 65
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to Kelso2121 [8c] [Js]
Dealt to I Came [Ah] [2d]
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to Kelso2121 [8c Js] [9d]
Dealt to I Came [Ah 2d] [8s]
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to Kelso2121 [8c Js 9d] [Kd]
Dealt to I Came [Ah 2d 8s] [4c]
*** RIVER ***
*** SHOW DOWN ***
I Came: shows [Ad Td Ah 2d 8s 4c Qd] (a pair of Aces)
Kelso2121: shows [7d 7s 8c Js 9d Kd 7c] (three of a kind, Sevens)
Kelso2121 collected 1900 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1900 | Rake 0
Seat 1: 1sittinbull folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Kelso2121 showed [7d 7s 8c Js 9d Kd 7c] and won (1900) with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 3: MarkGreb folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 4: pekabo folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 5: xerip folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Shamanalix folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba folded on the 3rd Street
Seat 8: I Came showed [Ad Td Ah 2d 8s 4c Qd] and lost with a pair of Aces

The initial final table chip leader(1sittinbull) has taken a few tough beats in the Stud Hi/Lo level when this hand comes up:

PokerStars Game #9409007453: Tournament #46325013, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit) - Level X (400/800) - 2007/04/13 - 22:34:33 (ET)
Table '46325013 1' 8-max
Seat 1: 1sittinbull (88 in chips)
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (10533 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (4586 in chips)
Seat 4: pekabo (4124 in chips)
Seat 5: xerip (962 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (5406 in chips)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (6301 in chips)
PrinceSheba: posts the ante 80
1sittinbull: posts the ante 80
Kelso2121: posts the ante 80
MarkGreb: posts the ante 80
pekabo: posts the ante 80
xerip: posts the ante 80
Shamanalix: posts the ante 80
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to 1sittinbull [Js]
Dealt to Kelso2121 [9s]
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jd 4s 5s]
Dealt to pekabo [Td]
Dealt to xerip [8h]
Dealt to Shamanalix [7s]
Dealt to PrinceSheba [6c]
MarkGreb: brings in for 120
pekabo: folds
xerip: folds
Shamanalix: folds
PrinceSheba: calls 120
1sittinbull: calls 8 and is all-in
Kelso2121: calls 120
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to 1sittinbull [Js] [Ah]
Dealt to Kelso2121 [9s] [3s]
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jd 4s 5s] [4c]
Dealt to PrinceSheba [6c] [Jc]
Kelso2121: checks
MarkGreb: checks
PrinceSheba: checks
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to 1sittinbull [Js Ah] [7c]
Dealt to Kelso2121 [9s 3s] [4d]
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jd 4s 5s 4c] [Th]
Dealt to PrinceSheba [6c Jc] [6d]
PrinceSheba: bets 800
Kelso2121: calls 800
MarkGreb: folds
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to 1sittinbull [Js Ah 7c] [Qh]
Dealt to Kelso2121 [9s 3s 4d] [8s]
Dealt to PrinceSheba [6c Jc 6d] [9h]
PrinceSheba: bets 800
Kelso2121: calls 800
*** RIVER ***
PrinceSheba: bets 800
Kelso2121: calls 800
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PrinceSheba: shows [6h 2d 6c Jc 6d 9h Ts] (HI: three of a kind, Sixes)
Kelso2121: shows [8d 6s 9s 3s 4d 8s 2h] (HI: a pair of Eights; LO: 8,6,4,3,2)
PrinceSheba collected 2568 from side pot
Kelso2121 collected 2568 from side pot
1sittinbull: mucks hand
PrinceSheba collected 296 from main pot
Kelso2121 collected 296 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5728 Main pot 592. Side pot 5136. | Rake 0
Seat 1: 1sittinbull mucked [Kh 2c Js Ah 7c Qh 7d]
Seat 2: Kelso2121 showed [8d 6s 9s 3s 4d 8s 2h] and won (2864) with HI: a pair of Eights; LO: 8,6,4,3,2
Seat 3: MarkGreb folded on the 5th Street
Seat 4: pekabo folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 5: xerip folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Shamanalix folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba showed [6h 2d 6c Jc 6d 9h Ts] and won (2864) with HI: three of a kind, Sixes

A tough opponent xerip goes down in Limit Hold'Em losing to a huge hand:

PokerStars Game #9409145879: Tournament #46325013, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (Hold'em Limit) - Level XI (500/1000) - 2007/04/13 - 22:42:50 (ET)
Table '46325013 1' 8-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (10067 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (4686 in chips)
Seat 4: pekabo (3714 in chips)
Seat 5: xerip (802 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (5246 in chips)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (7485 in chips)
pekabo: posts small blind 250
xerip: posts big blind 500
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [3h 6d]
Shamanalix: calls 500
PrinceSheba: folds
Kelso2121: folds
MarkGreb: folds
pekabo: calls 250
xerip: checks
*** FLOP *** [7h 4s Ac]
pekabo: checks
xerip: bets 302 and is all-in
Shamanalix: calls 302
pekabo: calls 302
*** TURN *** [7h 4s Ac] [Ah]
pekabo: checks
Shamanalix: bets 1000
pekabo: folds
*** RIVER *** [7h 4s Ac Ah] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
xerip: shows [Jc Tc] (three of a kind, Aces)
Shamanalix: shows [Qs As] (four of a kind, Aces)
Shamanalix collected 2406 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2406 | Rake 0
Board [7h 4s Ac Ah Ad]
Seat 2: Kelso2121 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: pekabo (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: xerip (big blind) showed [Jc Tc] and lost with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 6: Shamanalix showed [Qs As] and won (2406) with four of a kind, Aces
Seat 7: PrinceSheba folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Down to the money.

Updated chip counts:
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (10067 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (4686 in chips)
Seat 4: pekabo (2912 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (6850 in chips)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (7485 in chips)

The new shortstack pekabo takes a fall with the blinds now reaching large numbers (500/1000):

PokerStars Game #9409184510: Tournament #46325013, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (Hold'em Limit) - Level XI (500/1000) - 2007/04/13 - 22:45:08 (ET)
Table '46325013 1' 8-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (10067 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (4936 in chips)
Seat 4: pekabo (2412 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (6600 in chips)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (7985 in chips)
MarkGreb: posts small blind 250
pekabo: posts big blind 500
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [9s Ks]
Shamanalix has timed out
Shamanalix: folds
Shamanalix is sitting out
PrinceSheba: raises 500 to 1000
Kelso2121: folds
MarkGreb: folds
pekabo: raises 500 to 1500
PrinceSheba: calls 500
*** FLOP *** [Ts Jc 8h]
pekabo: bets 500
PrinceSheba: calls 500
*** TURN *** [Ts Jc 8h] [Qc]
Shamanalix has returned
pekabo: bets 412 and is all-in
PrinceSheba: calls 412
*** RIVER *** [Ts Jc 8h Qc] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pekabo: shows [Ad 6h] (high card Ace)
PrinceSheba: shows [Ah 9h] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
PrinceSheba collected 5074 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5074 | Rake 0
Board [Ts Jc 8h Qc 2d]
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: pekabo (big blind) showed [Ad 6h] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 6: Shamanalix folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba showed [Ah 9h] and won (5074) with a straight, Eight to Queen

Heading into the next level Omaha Hi/Lo I'm now the shortstack and have to hope to get lucky to survive:

PokerStars Game #9409335726: Tournament #46325013, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (Omaha Hi/Lo Limit) - Level XII (750/1500) - 2007/04/13 - 22:54:14 (ET)
Table '46325013 1' 8-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (8442 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (2311 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (8350 in chips)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (12897 in chips)
Shamanalix: posts small blind 375
PrinceSheba: posts big blind 750
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Tc Ks 4h Kd]
Kelso2121: folds
MarkGreb: raises 750 to 1500
Shamanalix: folds
PrinceSheba: raises 750 to 2250
MarkGreb: raises 61 to 2311 and is all-in
Betting is capped
PrinceSheba: calls 61
*** FLOP *** [Ad Jd 5c]
*** TURN *** [Ad Jd 5c] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [Ad Jd 5c Qh] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PrinceSheba: shows [4d 9s 9h Ah] (HI: two pair, Aces and Jacks)
MarkGreb: shows [Tc Ks 4h Kd] (HI: a straight, Ten to Ace)
MarkGreb collected 4997 from pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4997 | Rake 0
Board [Ad Jd 5c Qh Jh]
Seat 2: Kelso2121 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (button) showed [Tc Ks 4h Kd] and won (4997) with HI: a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 6: Shamanalix (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (big blind) showed [4d 9s 9h Ah] and lost with HI: two pair, Aces and Jacks

I doubled up but am still the shortstack and have to get lucky again:

PokerStars Game #9409401780: Tournament #46325013, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (Omaha Hi/Lo Limit) - Level XII (750/1500) - 2007/04/13 - 22:58:16 (ET)
Table '46325013 1' 8-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (8442 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (3122 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (10600 in chips)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (9836 in chips)
PrinceSheba: posts small blind 375
Kelso2121: posts big blind 750
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ah Kd 3h 5s]
MarkGreb: raises 750 to 1500
Shamanalix: folds
PrinceSheba: raises 750 to 2250
Kelso2121: folds
MarkGreb: raises 750 to 3000
Betting is capped
PrinceSheba: calls 750
*** FLOP *** [Jh 9h Qc]
PrinceSheba: bets 750
MarkGreb: calls 122 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Jh 9h Qc] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 9h Qc 2h] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PrinceSheba: shows [Ks Ac 2d 4s] (HI: two pair, Jacks and Deuces)
MarkGreb: shows [Ah Kd 3h 5s] (HI: a flush, Ace high)
MarkGreb collected 6994 from pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6994 | Rake 0
Board [Jh 9h Qc 2h Jd]
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: MarkGreb showed [Ah Kd 3h 5s] and won (6994) with HI: a flush, Ace high
Seat 6: Shamanalix (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (small blind) showed [Ks Ac 2d 4s] and lost with HI: two pair, Jacks and Deuces

Anohe luky hand and I double again and we're down to 3 players:

PokerStars Game #9409411441: Tournament #46325013, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (Omaha Hi/Lo Limit) - Level XII (750/1500) - 2007/04/13 - 22:58:52 (ET)
Table '46325013 1' 8-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (7692 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (6994 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (10600 in chips)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (6714 in chips)
Kelso2121: posts small blind 375
MarkGreb: posts big blind 750
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Kc 9c Jd Ks]
Shamanalix: folds
PrinceSheba: raises 750 to 1500
Kelso2121: folds
MarkGreb: calls 750
*** FLOP *** [4h Td Qh]
MarkGreb: bets 750
PrinceSheba: raises 750 to 1500
MarkGreb: calls 750
*** TURN *** [4h Td Qh] [3c]
MarkGreb: bets 1500
PrinceSheba: raises 1500 to 3000
MarkGreb: raises 994 to 3994 and is all-in
PrinceSheba: calls 714 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [4h Td Qh 3c] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb: shows [Kc 9c Jd Ks] (HI: a straight, Ten to Ace)
PrinceSheba: shows [3d Qc Jh Ac] (HI: two pair, Aces and Queens)
MarkGreb collected 13803 from pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13803 | Rake 0
Board [4h Td Qh 3c Ah]
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [Kc 9c Jd Ks] and won (13803) with HI: a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 6: Shamanalix folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: PrinceSheba (button) showed [3d Qc Jh Ac] and lost with HI: two pair, Aces and Queens

An ugly hand(mine) , a lot of chips and a good board lead to Kelso2121's elimination:

PokerStars Game #9409463605: Tournament #46325013, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (Omaha Hi/Lo Limit) - Level XII (750/1500) - 2007/04/13 - 23:02:03 (ET)
Table '46325013 1' 8-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (3384 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkGreb (12583 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (16033 in chips)
Kelso2121: posts small blind 375
MarkGreb: posts big blind 750
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [8d 6s Ac 3c]
Shamanalix: folds
Kelso2121: raises 750 to 1500
MarkGreb: calls 750
*** FLOP *** [4s 5c 4h]
Kelso2121: bets 750
MarkGreb: calls 750
*** TURN *** [4s 5c 4h] [2c]
Kelso2121: bets 1134 and is all-in
MarkGreb: calls 1134
*** RIVER *** [4s 5c 4h 2c] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Kelso2121: shows [Td Ts 8s 2h] (HI: two pair, Tens and Fours; LO: 8,6,5,4,2)
MarkGreb: shows [8d 6s Ac 3c] (HI: a straight, Deuce to Six; LO: 5,4,3,2,A)
MarkGreb collected 3384 from pot
MarkGreb collected 3384 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6768 | Rake 0
Board [4s 5c 4h 2c 6h]
Seat 2: Kelso2121 (small blind) showed [Td Ts 8s 2h] and lost with HI: two pair, Tens and Fours; LO: 8,6,5,4,2
Seat 3: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [8d 6s Ac 3c] and won (6768) with HI: a straight, Deuce to Six; LO: 5,4,3,2,A
Seat 6: Shamanalix (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

We head into Razz with Shamanalix having a slight chip lead:
Seat 3: MarkGreb (14467 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (17533 in chips)

Cursed wth lots of big hidden cards Shamanalix has grinded me down to a very small chipstack when he takes me out with a much better 8 high:

PokerStars Game #9409634097: Tournament #46325013, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (Razz Limit) - Level XIII (1000/2000) - 2007/04/13 - 23:12:38 (ET)
Table '46325013 1' 8-max
Seat 3: MarkGreb (7934 in chips)
Seat 6: Shamanalix (24066 in chips)
Shamanalix: posts the ante 200
MarkGreb: posts the ante 200
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [2d Tc 8d]
Dealt to Shamanalix [Jh]
Shamanalix: bets 1000
MarkGreb: raises 1000 to 2000
Shamanalix: calls 1000
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [2d Tc 8d] [7d]
Dealt to Shamanalix [Jh] [Ah]
MarkGreb: bets 1000
Shamanalix: calls 1000
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [2d Tc 8d 7d] [9s]
Dealt to Shamanalix [Jh Ah] [8c]
MarkGreb: bets 2000
Shamanalix: raises 2000 to 4000
MarkGreb: raises 734 to 4734 and is all-in
Shamanalix: calls 734
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [2d Tc 8d 7d 9s] [3d]
Dealt to Shamanalix [Jh Ah 8c] [Ts]
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [2d Tc 8d 7d 9s 3d] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Shamanalix: shows [3h 5s Jh Ah 8c Ts 2s] (Lo: 8,5,3,2,A)
MarkGreb: shows [2d Tc 8d 7d 9s 3d 6c] (Lo: 8,7,6,3,2)
Shamanalix collected 15868 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 15868 | Rake 0
Seat 3: MarkGreb showed [2d Tc 8d 7d 9s 3d 6c] and lost with Lo: 8,7,6,3,2
Seat 6: Shamanalix showed [3h 5s Jh Ah 8c Ts 2s] and won (15868) with Lo: 8,5,3,2,A

I was lucky to survive as long as I did.

Congrats Shamanalix!!

Another successfull Poker Analysis tourney followed up by another last place finish in the Saturday Aces Cracked tourney on PokerStars.

Poker Analysis 4/7 Tournament Part 2

2007-04-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've survived to get heads-up with CHUMLEY01.

Warning this is a pretty long post as we were heads-up for more than 30 minutes with lots of changes in the chip lead.

Here's the chip counts:
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($23770 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($6230 in chips)

The blinds are at 300/600 with a 50 chip ante so things are looking grim.

I tread water for a few hands when this hand occurs:
Stage #704911913 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $600 - 2007-04-07 18:23:59 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($23270 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($6730 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $50
MARKGREB - Ante $50
MARKGREB - Posts small blind $300
CHUMLEY01 - Posts big blind $600
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [Ac 9s]
MARKGREB - Raises $1500 to $1800
CHUMLEY01 - All-In(Raise) $22620 to $23220
MARKGREB - All-In $4880
CHUMLEY01 - returned ($16540) : not called
*** FLOP *** [7h 8c Jh]
*** TURN *** [7h 8c Jh] [Ah]
*** RIVER *** [7h 8c Jh Ah] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Shows [4d Ad] (One pair, aces)
MARKGREB - Shows [Ac 9s] (Two Pair, aces and nines)
MARKGREB Collects $13460 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($13460)
Board [7h 8c Jh Ah 9c]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, aces [4d Ad - B:Ah,P:Ad,B:Jh,B:9c,B:8c]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (dealer) (small blind) won Total ($13460) All-In HI:($13460) with Two Pair, aces and nines [Ac 9s - B:Ah,P:Ac,P:9s,B:9c,B:Jh]

I got what I wanted with A9os getting it all-in preflop on this hand and it held up against the suited A4 of CHUMLEY01.

Through some stealing back and forth I've gotten within striking distance of the lead when this hand comes up:

Stage #704922110 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $800 - 2007-04-07 18:32:08 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($16115 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($13885 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Posts small blind $400
CHUMLEY01 - Posts big blind $800
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [7h 8c]
MARKGREB - Calls $400
CHUMLEY01 - Checks
*** FLOP *** [Jh 10h 8d]
CHUMLEY01 - Checks
MARKGREB - Bets $1600
CHUMLEY01 - Calls $1600
*** TURN *** [Jh 10h 8d] [3h]
CHUMLEY01 - Checks
MARKGREB - Checks
*** RIVER *** [Jh 10h 8d 3h] [9c]
CHUMLEY01 - Bets $1600
MARKGREB - Calls $1600
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Shows [10s 5h] (One pair, tens)
MARKGREB - Shows [7h 8c] (Straight, seven to jack)
MARKGREB Collects $8150 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($8150)
Board [Jh 10h 8d 3h 9c]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, tens [10s 5h - P:10s,B:10h,B:Jh,B:9c,B:8d]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (dealer) (small blind) won Total ($8150) HI:($8150) with Straight, seven to jack [7h 8c - B:Jh,B:10h,B:9c,B:8d,P:7h]

I got lucky on this one and hit the gutshot straight on the river to improve my pair of eights to take the lead.

CHUMLEY01 works his way back to a slight chip lead through aggression stealing the blinds whick have climbed to 400/800 w/ante 75.

This hand puts him back into the 2-1 chip lead:

Stage #704925832 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $800 - 2007-04-07 18:35:11 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($15065 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($14935 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Posts small blind $400
CHUMLEY01 - Posts big blind $800
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [Jc 9h]
MARKGREB - Raises $2000 to $2400
CHUMLEY01 - Calls $1600
*** FLOP *** [10s 6d 7c]
CHUMLEY01 - Checks
MARKGREB - Checks
*** TURN *** [10s 6d 7c] [Kh]
CHUMLEY01 - Bets $1600
MARKGREB - Calls $1600
*** RIVER *** [10s 6d 7c Kh] [3c]
CHUMLEY01 - Bets $1600
MARKGREB - Folds
CHUMLEY01 - returned ($1600) : not called
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Does not show
CHUMLEY01 Collects $8150 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($8150)
Board [10s 6d 7c Kh 3c]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (big blind) collected Total ($8150) HI:($8150) [Does not show]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (dealer) (small blind) Folded on the RIVER

The very next hand I push all-in with a small pair hoping to just steal the blinds:

Stage #704926708 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $800 - 2007-04-07 18:35:53 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($19140 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($10860 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Ante $75
CHUMLEY01 - Posts small blind $400
MARKGREB - Posts big blind $800
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [6s 6d]
CHUMLEY01 - Raises $2000 to $2400
MARKGREB - All-In(Raise) $9985 to $10785
CHUMLEY01 - Calls $8385
*** FLOP *** [9d 4c 8h]
*** TURN *** [9d 4c 8h] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [9d 4c 8h Qc] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Shows [Jd Kd] (One pair, fours)
MARKGREB - Shows [6s 6d] (Two Pair, sixes and fours)
MARKGREB Collects $21720 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($21720)
Board [9d 4c 8h Qc 4h]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (dealer) (small blind) HI:lost with One pair, fours [Jd Kd - B:4h,B:4c,P:Kd,B:Qc,P:Jd]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (big blind) won Total ($21720) All-In HI:($21720) with Two Pair, sixes and fours [6s 6d - P:6s,P:6d,B:4h,B:4c,B:Qc]

I win the coinflip and our postions have switched and I'm more than a 2-1 leader in chips.

The very next hand I make a marginal pre-flop call flop 2 pair and run into a flop flush and CHUMLEY01 retakes the lead.

I'm slowly ground back down to less than 8000 chips with the blinds now at 500/1000 w/ante and I make a bad call pre-flop in this hand but at least I was "sooted":

Stage #704933374 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $1000 - 2007-04-07 18:41:53 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($22060 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($7940 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Ante $75
CHUMLEY01 - Posts small blind $500
MARKGREB - Posts big blind $1000
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [4d 2d]
CHUMLEY01 - Raises $1500 to $2000
MARKGREB - Calls $1000
*** FLOP *** [2s 5h 2c]
MARKGREB - Checks
CHUMLEY01 - Bets $6000
MARKGREB - All-In $5865
CHUMLEY01 - returned ($135) : not called
*** TURN *** [2s 5h 2c] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [2s 5h 2c 6h] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Shows [Kc 5s] (Two Pair, fives and twos)
MARKGREB - Shows [4d 2d] (Three of a kind, twos)
MARKGREB Collects $15880 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($15880)
Board [2s 5h 2c 6h 7h]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (dealer) (small blind) HI:lost with Two Pair, fives and twos [Kc 5s - P:5s,B:5h,B:2s,B:2c,P:Kc]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (big blind) won Total ($15880) All-In HI:($15880) with Three of a kind, twos [4d 2d - B:2s,P:2d,B:2c,B:7h,B:6h]

3 hands later I';m short again and raise all-in preflop just hoping to steal the blinds:

Stage #704935336 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $1000 - 2007-04-07 18:43:41 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($21270 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($8730 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Posts small blind $500
CHUMLEY01 - Posts big blind $1000
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [5h 2s]
MARKGREB - All-In(Raise) $8155 to $8655
CHUMLEY01 - Calls $7655
*** FLOP *** [5s 6d 7h]
*** TURN *** [5s 6d 7h] [10s]
*** RIVER *** [5s 6d 7h 10s] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Shows [Qh Ah] (ace high)
MARKGREB - Shows [5h 2s] (One pair, fives)
MARKGREB Collects $17460 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($17460)
Board [5s 6d 7h 10s 8c]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (big blind) HI:lost with ace high [Qh Ah - P:Ah,P:Qh,B:10s,B:8c,B:7h]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (dealer) (small blind) won Total ($17460) All-In HI:($17460) with One pair, fives [5h 2s - B:5s,P:5h,B:10s,B:8c,B:7h]

I got very lucky here but as I said I was just attempting to steal.

The tables have turned at this point and now I have a big chip lead:

Stage #704940061 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $1000 - 2007-04-07 18:47:56 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($6615 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($23385 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Posts small blind $500
CHUMLEY01 - Posts big blind $1000
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [3d 5d]
MARKGREB - Calls $500
CHUMLEY01 - All-In(Raise) $5540 to $6540
MARKGREB - Calls $5540
*** FLOP *** [8c Js 5c]
*** TURN *** [8c Js 5c] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [8c Js 5c Ac] [3h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Shows [3s Ad] (Two Pair, aces and threes)
MARKGREB - Shows [3d 5d] (Two Pair, fives and threes)
CHUMLEY01 Collects $13230 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($13230)
Board [8c Js 5c Ac 3h]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (big blind) won Total ($13230) All-In HI:($13230) with Two Pair, aces and threes [3s Ad - P:Ad,B:Ac,P:3s,B:3h,B:Js]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (dealer) (small blind) HI:lost with Two Pair, fives and threes [3d 5d - P:5d,B:5c,B:3h,P:3d,B:Ac]

It's a probably a bad call on my part here as this gave him a chance to get back in the game, but I knew he could be pushing with anything much as I did when short.

I've grinded my way back to a 2-1 chip lead when this hand came up:

Stage #704944258 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $1000 - 2007-04-07 18:51:29 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($9580 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($20420 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $75
MARKGREB - Ante $75
CHUMLEY01 - Posts small blind $500
MARKGREB - Posts big blind $1000
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [3s Jd]
CHUMLEY01 - Raises $1500 to $2000
MARKGREB - Calls $1000
*** FLOP *** [Js 5d Ad]
MARKGREB - Checks
CHUMLEY01 - Bets $2000
MARKGREB - Raises $7000 to $7000
CHUMLEY01 - Folds
MARKGREB - returned ($5000) : not called
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MARKGREB - Does not show
MARKGREB Collects $8150 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($8150)
Board [Js 5d Ad]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (dealer) (small blind) Folded on the FLOP
Seat 4: MARKGREB (big blind) collected Total ($8150) HI:($8150) [Does not show]

I took a shot here figuring CHUMLEY01 didn't have an ace with the small bet into such a large pot(2000 into 4150) when his stack was so small.

A few hands later with CHUMLEY01 on life support:

Stage #704945408 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $1200 - 2007-04-07 18:52:32 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($4205 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($25795 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $100
MARKGREB - Ante $100
CHUMLEY01 - Posts small blind $600
MARKGREB - Posts big blind $1200
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [9c 5c]
CHUMLEY01 - All-In(Raise) $3505 to $4105
MARKGREB - Calls $2905
*** FLOP *** [Kc 4s 6s]
*** TURN *** [Kc 4s 6s] [8h]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 4s 6s 8h] [5s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Shows [As 3s] (Flush, ace high)
MARKGREB - Shows [9c 5c] (One pair, fives)
CHUMLEY01 Collects $8410 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($8410)
Board [Kc 4s 6s 8h 5s]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (dealer) (small blind) won Total ($8410) All-In HI:($8410) with Flush, ace high [As 3s - P:As,B:6s,B:5s,B:4s,P:3s]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, fives [9c 5c - B:5s,P:5c,B:Kc,P:9c,B:8h]

Another marginal call doubles CHUMLEY01 up again as my pair on the river gives him the flush.

A few hands later I finally have a hand that I should call with:

Stage #704947061 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $1200 - 2007-04-07 18:53:56 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($7110 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($22890 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $100
MARKGREB - Ante $100
CHUMLEY01 - Posts small blind $600
MARKGREB - Posts big blind $1200
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [Js Jd]
CHUMLEY01 - All-In(Raise) $6410 to $7010
MARKGREB - Calls $5810
*** FLOP *** [Ks 9h Qc]
*** TURN *** [Ks 9h Qc] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [Ks 9h Qc 3h] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Shows [2c Ah] (ace high)
MARKGREB - Shows [Js Jd] (One pair, jacks)
MARKGREB Collects $14220 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($14220)
Board [Ks 9h Qc 3h 6d]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (dealer) (small blind) HI:lost with ace high [2c Ah - P:Ah,B:Ks,B:Qc,B:9h,B:6d]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (big blind) won Total ($14220) HI:($14220) with One pair, jacks [Js Jd - P:Js,P:Jd,B:Ks,B:Qc,B:9h]

It was finally over.

I can't remember playing heads-up at the end of a tourney with so many swings.

I have to give CHUMLEY01 his due.

He probably deserved to win as I got lucky a few times just to survive elimination.

I must have used all my luck up in this tourney as I finished last in the Aces Cracked Toruney later that night.

Poker Analysis 4/7 Tournament Part 1

2007-04-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Had a chance to play in the Poker Analysis league game last night on Absolute Poker.

It's a good test as they have many tough experienced players that play in their league.

This particular tourney was interesting because it was a Short-Handed(6 player table) NL Hold'Em Tournament.

20 players started the $5 Buy-in tournament on 4 5 players tables so it was even more short-handed to start.

It took a little over an hour and a half to get down to the final 6.

I was lucky enough to survive to be one of the final 6.

The final 6 with chip counts:
Seat 1 - RGRADU ($5085 in chips)
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($8225 in chips)
Seat 3 - XERIP ($5675 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($5860 in chips)
Seat 5 - HOOSIER785 ($1265 in chips)
Seat 6 - SHADRAK ($3890 in chips)

The only player I'm familiar with is Xerip from Poker Analysis and Aces Cracked tournaments.

Xerip is very aggressive making bets that are tough to call.

Small pots are passed around for almost 15 minutes when we have our first casualty:

Stage #704865499 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $200 - 2007-04-07 17:44:58 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #6 is the dealer
Seat 1 - RGRADU ($8185 in chips)
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($8175 in chips)
Seat 3 - XERIP ($4975 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($4495 in chips)
Seat 5 - HOOSIER785 ($2780 in chips)
Seat 6 - SHADRAK ($1390 in chips)
RGRADU - Ante $25
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $25
XERIP - Ante $25
MARKGREB - Ante $25
HOOSIER785 - Ante $25
SHADRAK - Ante $25
RGRADU - Posts small blind $100
CHUMLEY01 - Posts big blind $200
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [9c Js]
XERIP - Calls $200
MARKGREB - Folds
HOOSIER785 - Raises $800 to $800
SHADRAK - Folds
RGRADU - Folds
CHUMLEY01 - Folds
XERIP - Raises $1400 to $1600
HOOSIER785 - All-In(Raise) $1955 to $2755
XERIP - Calls $1155
*** FLOP *** [4c Kc 9s]
*** TURN *** [4c Kc 9s] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [4c Kc 9s 3h] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
XERIP - Shows [Kh Kd] (Three of a kind, kings)
HOOSIER785 - Shows [10d 10h] (One pair, tens)
XERIP Collects $5960 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($5960)
Board [4c Kc 9s 3h Ah]
Seat 1: RGRADU (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: XERIP won Total ($5960) HI:($5960) with Three of a kind, kings [Kh Kd - P:Kh,P:Kd,B:Kc,B:Ah,B:9s]
Seat 4: MARKGREB Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 5: HOOSIER785 HI:lost with One pair, tens [10d 10h - P:10h,P:10d,B:Ah,B:Kc,B:9s]
Seat 6: SHADRAK (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Now we're five handed.

SHADRAK has allowed himself to blinded and anted down hoping to just move up the money chart if someone else busts out when this hand occurs:

Stage #704875197 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $300 - 2007-04-07 17:52:52 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #3 is the dealer
Seat 1 - RGRADU ($7285 in chips)
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($8200 in chips)
Seat 3 - XERIP ($9555 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($4795 in chips)
Seat 6 - SHADRAK ($165 in chips)
RGRADU - Ante $25
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $25
XERIP - Ante $25
MARKGREB - Ante $25
SHADRAK - Ante $25
MARKGREB - Posts small blind $150
SHADRAK - All-In $140
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [7s 4s]
RGRADU - Calls $300
CHUMLEY01 - Folds
XERIP - Calls $300
MARKGREB - Calls $150
*** FLOP *** [Jh 2s 3d]
MARKGREB - Checks
RGRADU - Bets $300
XERIP - Folds
MARKGREB - Folds
RGRADU - returned ($300) : not called
*** TURN *** [Jh 2s 3d] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 2s 3d Kc] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RGRADU - Shows [2h 2c] (Three of a kind, twos)
SHADRAK - Shows [8d Kd] (One pair, kings)
RGRADU Collects $480 from side pot-1
RGRADU Collects $685 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($1165:$685,$480)
Board [Jh 2s 3d Kc 7c]
Seat 1: RGRADU won Total ($1165) HI:($1165) with Three of a kind, twos [2h 2c - B:2s,P:2h,P:2c,B:Kc,B:Jh]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: XERIP (dealer) Folded on the FLOP
Seat 4: MARKGREB (small blind) Folded on the FLOP
Seat 6: SHADRAK (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, kings [8d Kd - P:Kd,B:Kc,B:Jh,P:8d,B:7c]

And then there were 4 and I'm the short stack with the blinds at 150/300 and 25 ante
so I'm getting desperate since my M is less than 10.

I survive stealing the blinds a few hands when these 2 hands occur:

Stage #704897924 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $500 - 2007-04-07 18:12:32 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 1 - RGRADU ($6075 in chips)
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($15525 in chips)
Seat 3 - XERIP ($5280 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($3120 in chips)
RGRADU - Ante $50
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $50
XERIP - Ante $50
MARKGREB - Ante $50
XERIP - Posts small blind $250
MARKGREB - Posts big blind $500
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [Kh 3s]
RGRADU - Raises $2000 to $2000
CHUMLEY01 - Folds
XERIP - All-In(Raise) $4980 to $5230
MARKGREB - Folds
RGRADU - Calls $3230
*** FLOP *** [4c 6h 3d]
*** TURN *** [4c 6h 3d] [10s]
*** RIVER *** [4c 6h 3d 10s] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RGRADU - Shows [Qh Ks] (king high)
XERIP - Shows [As Qs] (ace high)
XERIP Collects $11160 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($11160)
Board [4c 6h 3d 10s 9c]
Seat 1: RGRADU HI:lost with king high [Qh Ks - P:Ks,P:Qh,B:10s,B:9c,B:6h]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: XERIP (small blind) won Total ($11160) All-In HI:($11160) with ace high [As Qs - P:As,P:Qs,B:10s,B:9c,B:6h]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Stage #704898983 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $500 - 2007-04-07 18:13:29 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #3 is the dealer
Seat 1 - RGRADU ($795 in chips)
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($15475 in chips)
Seat 3 - XERIP ($11160 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($2570 in chips)
RGRADU - Ante $50
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $50
XERIP - Ante $50
MARKGREB - Ante $50
MARKGREB - Posts small blind $250
RGRADU - Posts big blind $500
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [6h 2h]
CHUMLEY01 - Folds
XERIP - All-In(Raise) $11110 to $11110
MARKGREB - Folds
RGRADU - All-In $245
XERIP - returned ($10365) : not called
*** FLOP *** [5c Qd 5s]
*** TURN *** [5c Qd 5s] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [5c Qd 5s Ad] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RGRADU - Shows [Ks 9d] (One pair, fives)
XERIP - Shows [As 9s] (Two Pair, aces and fives)
XERIP Collects $1940 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($1940)
Board [5c Qd 5s Ad 3d]
Seat 1: RGRADU (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, fives [Ks 9d - B:5s,B:5c,B:Ad,P:Ks,B:Qd]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: XERIP (dealer) won Total ($1940) All-In HI:($1940) with Two Pair, aces and fives [As 9s - P:As,B:Ad,B:5s,B:5c,B:Qd]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Tough 2 hands for RGRADU.

I probably should have been all-in the first hand too but was hoping for an elimantion figuring at least one of the 2 all-ins had me beat.

Luckily my passivity moved me up to 3rd on the money list.

The very next hand I make my move!

Stage #704899512 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $500 - 2007-04-07 18:13:57 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($15425 in chips)
Seat 3 - XERIP ($12305 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($2270 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $50
XERIP - Ante $50
MARKGREB - Ante $50
CHUMLEY01 - Posts small blind $250
XERIP - Posts big blind $500
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [Jc Qd]
MARKGREB - All-In(Raise) $2220 to $2220
CHUMLEY01 - Folds
XERIP - Calls $1720
*** FLOP *** [7d Kc 8d]
*** TURN *** [7d Kc 8d] [5d]
*** RIVER *** [7d Kc 8d 5d] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
XERIP - Shows [7s 5s] (Two Pair, sevens and fives)
MARKGREB - Shows [Jc Qd] (Flush, queen high)
MARKGREB Collects $4840 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($4840)
Board [7d Kc 8d 5d 2d]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: XERIP (big blind) HI:lost with Two Pair, sevens and fives [7s 5s - P:7s,B:7d,P:5s,B:5d,B:Kc]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (dealer) won Total ($4840) All-In HI:($4840) with Flush, queen high [Jc Qd - P:Qd,B:8d,B:7d,B:5d,B:2d]

Thank god for the river!

I don't blame XERIP for making this call preflop as I'm short and could be pushing with any 2 cards.

I doubled thru XERIP again and then a few hands later :

Stage #704908698 Tourney ID 1491962 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $500 - 2007-04-07 18:21:26 (ET)
Table: 3 (Real Money) Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($19175 in chips)
Seat 3 - XERIP ($4045 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($6780 in chips)
CHUMLEY01 - Ante $50
XERIP - Ante $50
MARKGREB - Ante $50
XERIP - Posts small blind $250
MARKGREB - Posts big blind $500
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to MARKGREB [10d Qc]
CHUMLEY01 - Raises $1000 to $1000
XERIP - All-In(Raise) $3745 to $3995
MARKGREB - Folds
CHUMLEY01 - Calls $2995
*** FLOP *** [4c 9s 4s]
*** TURN *** [4c 9s 4s] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [4c 9s 4s 5c] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CHUMLEY01 - Shows [2h Ah] (Three of a kind, fours)
XERIP - Shows [Jc Kc] (Three of a kind, fours)
CHUMLEY01 Collects $8640 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($8640)
Board [4c 9s 4s 5c 4h]
Seat 2: CHUMLEY01 (dealer) won Total ($8640) HI:($8640) with Three of a kind, fours(ace kicker) [2h Ah - B:4s,B:4h,B:4c,P:Ah,B:9s]
Seat 3: XERIP (small blind) HI:lost with Three of a kind, fours [Jc Kc - B:4s,B:4h,B:4c,P:Kc,P:Jc]
Seat 4: MARKGREB (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Somehow I've survived to be heads-up with CHUMLEY01 severely underchipped:

Seat 2 - CHUMLEY01 ($23770 in chips)
Seat 4 - MARKGREB ($6230 in chips)

My next post will cover the heads-up between me and CHUMLEY01 as there were more than a few key hands in the 30 minute heads-up battle.

Took 3 Days Off From Poker

2007-04-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, no poker for 3 days!

Omce a year I have to take a break to prep for my fantasy baseball draft.

Running the league makes it take so long with prepping the draft board for all 15 teams and scouting for my own team really takes a lot of time.

It was actually a much needed break with my up and down play lately.

Today I felt mentally refreshed at the tables.

I also started work on a second blog about fantasy sports this morning - Fantasy Sports Fiend - since I play a lot of fantasy sports along with my poker play.

Royal Flush #7

2007-03-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

I've made quite a few royal flushes online but it has been 9 months since Royal Flush #6.

Today makes #7!!!

Wish my opponent made a better hand!!

Full Tilt Poker Game #2082390022: Table Windmill - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:23:23 ET - 2007/03/27
Seat 1: jffrywad ($3.85)
Seat 2: MarkGreb ($6.70)
Seat 3: lancelot22 ($9.40)
Seat 4: mdolanep ($5.05)
Seat 5: seamonkeyz ($10.30)
Seat 6: gavy ($2.90)
Seat 7: Kemppaanen ($9.55)
Seat 8: 2tall2 ($3)
Seat 9: BenColder ($13.60)
mdolanep posts the small blind of $0.05
seamonkeyz posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Tc Qc]
gavy calls $0.10
Kemppaanen folds
2tall2 folds
BenColder folds
jffrywad folds
MarkGreb calls $0.10
lancelot22 folds
mdolanep has 15 seconds left to act
mdolanep folds
seamonkeyz checks
*** FLOP *** [Jc Kh 5h]
seamonkeyz checks
gavy bets $0.25
MarkGreb calls $0.25
seamonkeyz folds
*** TURN *** [Jc Kh 5h] [Ac]
gavy bets $0.45
MarkGreb calls $0.45
*** RIVER *** [Jc Kh 5h Ac] [Kc]
gavy checks
MarkGreb bets $0.60
gavy calls $0.60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb shows [Tc Qc] (a Royal Flush)
gavy mucks
MarkGreb wins the pot ($2.70) with a Royal Flush
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2.95 | Rake $0.25
Board: [Jc Kh 5h Ac Kc]
Seat 1: jffrywad didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: MarkGreb showed [Tc Qc] and won ($2.70) with a Royal Flush
Seat 3: lancelot22 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: mdolanep (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: seamonkeyz (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: gavy mucked [Ah Qs] - two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 7: Kemppaanen didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: 2tall2 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: BenColder didn't bet (folded)

The 7 are broken down as follows:
1 Omaha
6 Hold'Em
1 @ bet365 - no bonus
1 @ Superior - no bonus
2 @ FullTilt - no bonus
3 @ PokerChamps - $5 bonus even in tournaments - better than nothing

An Opponent I Can't Read

2007-03-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

w16227 is a player who plays in te occasional Saturday night Aces Cracked tournament on PokerStars.

I have absolutely no read on him.

His hyper-aggressive style gives me fits.

Unfortunately I tend to play big hands against him.

Last night's tournament was no exception as the 3 key hands for me were all against him.

The first hand , I'm second in chips and have 2 thoughts.

1. "w is sand-bagging with a better hand"

2. "w is setting up a steal on the river"

My gut told me 2. was the most likely so I pushed all-in just hoping to take it down right here.

PokerStars Game #9071428598: Tournament #40372383, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2007/03/24 - 20:16:54 (ET)
Table '40372383 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: MarkGreb (1685 in chips)
Seat 2: w16227 (2440 in chips)
Seat 4: Penfolio (1290 in chips)
Seat 7: plj1 (1150 in chips)
Seat 8: cns1 (935 in chips)
Penfolio: posts small blind 15
plj1: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Kc Qs]
cns1: raises 30 to 60
MarkGreb: raises 30 to 90
w16227: calls 90
Penfolio: folds
plj1: folds
cns1: calls 30
*** FLOP *** [Td 4s Qh]
cns1: checks
MarkGreb: bets 210
w16227: calls 210
cns1: calls 210
*** TURN *** [Td 4s Qh] [5d]
cns1: checks
MarkGreb: bets 1385 and is all-in
w16227: calls 1385
cns1: folds
*** RIVER *** [Td 4s Qh 5d] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb: shows [Kc Qs] (a pair of Queens)
w16227: shows [Jd Qd] (a pair of Queens - lower kicker)
MarkGreb collected 3715 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3715 | Rake 0
Board [Td 4s Qh 5d 6h]
Seat 1: MarkGreb showed [Kc Qs] and won (3715) with a pair of Queens
Seat 2: w16227 (button) showed [Jd Qd] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: Penfolio (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: plj1 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: cns1 folded on the Turn

Whew. A scary hand with w needing a diamond or a jack on the river to suck out.

After this I stay out of trouble as I don't try to bust all the other players.

w works his way back until we are heads-up with 1st place on the line.

We trade jabs and body blows for over 50 hands heads-up when this atrocity occurs.

I commit almost 45% of my chips with 2nd pair top kicker when w pushes all-in.

I feel pot committed and call to see my fate.

PokerStars Game #9072501216: Tournament #40372383, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2007/03/24 - 21:25:29 (ET)
Table '40372383 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: MarkGreb (3165 in chips)
Seat 2: w16227 (4335 in chips)
w16227: posts small blind 100
MarkGreb: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [As 5h]
w16227: raises 400 to 600
MarkGreb: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [2c Th 5d]
MarkGreb: bets 800
w16227: raises 2600 to 3400
MarkGreb: calls 1765 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [2c Th 5d] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [2c Th 5d Kh] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb: shows [As 5h] (a pair of Fives)
w16227: shows [5s Qh] (a pair of Fives - lower kicker)
MarkGreb collected 6330 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6330 | Rake 0
Board [2c Th 5d Kh 9s]
Seat 1: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [As 5h] and won (6330) with a pair of Fives
Seat 2: w16227 (button) (small blind) showed [5s Qh] and lost with a pair of Fives

w read my less than pot-sized bet as weak , which it was, but didn't realize I would feel pot committed as he tried to push me out and leave me crippled.

Sometimes it's better to die in a tournament than stuggle on.

w must feel the same way as just 2 hands later....

PokerStars Game #9072511574: Tournament #40372383, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2007/03/24 - 21:26:09 (ET)
Table '40372383 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: MarkGreb (6230 in chips)
Seat 2: w16227 (1270 in chips)
w16227: posts small blind 100
MarkGreb: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Qs Ac]
w16227: raises 1070 to 1270 and is all-in
MarkGreb: calls 1070
*** FLOP *** [2s 5s Ts]
*** TURN *** [2s 5s Ts] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [2s 5s Ts 9h] [9d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb: shows [Qs Ac] (a pair of Nines)
w16227: shows [8h Qh] (a pair of Nines - lower kicker)
MarkGreb collected 2540 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2540 | Rake 0
Board [2s 5s Ts 9h 9d]
Seat 1: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [Qs Ac] and won (2540) with a pair of Nines
Seat 2: w16227 (button) (small blind) showed [8h Qh] and lost with a pair of Nines

Just unfortunate timing for w in this hand.

No way I couldn't call with AQ heads-up for so few chips.

I survived this encounter with w16227 but still don't have a read on his play.

Chips stacks and cards played a larger factor this time around.

See you at the tables.

Tough Week

2007-03-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

Man , has it been a tough week grinding at the micro tables and tournaments.

Overall down about $100 from Saturday through Tuesday mostly at the $10NL.

I admit I've made a couple of bad plays along the way but there are just times when poker seems to hate you.

Lost several hands set over set, guys bluff raising(and hitting) with 9 and 7 high flush draws cracking a set of Aces and a set of Kings, guys who just won't fold gutshot draws and hitting.......

While I'm down I know I can't focus on results.

All I can do is continue to make good reads and get my money in as a favorite whenever possible.

Also important is to not make as many mistakes due to my stupidity or on tilt.

Money not lost is just as important as money won.

I feel the cards are starting to my way the last 2 days as I grind my way back.

Tough runs happen to everyone, sometimes surviving is all that you can do.

PokerStars Deep Stacks Tourney

2007-03-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I played in one of my favorite online tournaments on PokerStars.

It's not because I've ever cashed in it either.

It's the $10 DeepStack tourney that starts at Noon.

It's not a tourney for the faint of heart as it's long one.

I really like the structure since it starts with 5000 chips and has 30 minute blinds.

The structure leads to a lot more small pots and much more play for the money.

It more closely resembles play in B&M tournaments but with many many more hands per level - probably as many as 90 minute levels live.

On Sunday I was never able to get my chip stack over 7000 as I was card dead most of the time.

Got AA & KK only once each , both in the BB.

Of course those were times where I got a walk!!

Finished at around 260th out of 1200+ registered(135 cashed) after nearly 4 1/2 hours of play.

Definitely a tourney I'll play again when I can fit it into my schedule.

An Underage Players Question

2007-03-04T06:57:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows that there are underage poker players due to the explosion of poker on television and online poker but there are questions that still lead to sadness.

Does anyone know any pro players that didnt graduate HS?

CardPlayer Magazine just did a profile on Chad Batista who dropped out in 7th grade.

He also has served time in jail.

My advice to anyone who is underage is to at least finish high school.

Graduating high school is one of the easiest things you can do in life.

And if you have the opportunity go to college.

The experiences you have in school help shape your life.

Life is a marathon , not a sprint.

There is no need to be in such a hurry.

This is also good poker advice for the poker player who posed this question.

He's a player who rants and raves whenever he loses but it's because he can't play within his bankroll because he feels he's wasting his time.

What he fails to realize is he has nothing but time on his side.

On a personal note, my greatest regret in life is not completing my college education.

While my life is great, how much different or better would it be with my degree?

Buying in Short in Ring Games

2007-03-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

I read several poker forums and post on a couple.

I always see some poker snob saying don't buy-in short in a cash game.

While I do agree with their reasoning that it minimizes your potential profit if you get paid off when you hold the nuts, I have to disagree with the idea that it's wrong to buy-in short.

Buying in short has it's advantages too.

The main advantage is it minimizes your losses which is a big one if you are on a limted budget.

If you have a small bankroll buying in for a full buy-in may be too large a percentage of your roll for you to risk.

Everyone goes through downswings , it's called variance, and you have decide if you're cool with the risk.

Another advantage is it lowers the implied odds if your opponents should hit their drawing hands against you , making it incorrect for them to call some bets where they would be correct if you had a larger stack.

It's also good practice for when you are shortstacked in a tourney, this is the one area where playing in ring games and tounament play are very similar.

There is also a reason more experienced players say always buy-in for max.

It's because they want more money at the table where they have an advantage so they can win more money.

I admit I usually buy-in short but don't leave if I just double up .

This is where I deviate from the Shoeclerk Strategy to build a bankroll.

Basically, all I'm trying to say is poker is a game where different styles can be successful.

There is no absolute perfect way to play - buy-ins, starting hands, bet sizing, etc. should be left to the individual players to decide.

Do what makes you most comfortable at the table.

It'll help you be a success.

Having a Blog Has It's Perks

2007-02-25T05:55:00.000-08:00

From time to time having a poker blog has it's perks.

Among those are freerolls with decent prizes.

Speaking of which I'm registered in Blogger Pods 2!

I’m registered in the free BloggerPods poker tournament on Full Tilt Poker

Why Not Arrest The Pros?? Part 2

2007-02-20T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here's the response to my post from yesterday by rk92259 by Aces Cracked's resident angry man.

Can, and probably will. You can't smuggle online poker in your ass, or across porous borders, and deal in all cash. Its online, out were everyone can see

First..no law goes through that fast because some religious retards think its not moral, or even if Harrahs paid off people. They wanted it to go through without providing alot of details on Money laundering so the launderers wouldn't have time to disappear. And all this happened before it is an actual law (that doesn't happen til June)

The bulk of the whole thing was terrorist laundering money online, not meaning every poker site...but think of all the online rip joint casinos out there. Who owns them??

I think some of the pressure on Poker sites is coming from Vegas. And its working. Clean out the trash, open your brand spankin new site with Binions cred...and Build a huge bank to hold all your money.

And if these guys are untouchable because who they are?? Then they should be the first to stand up to Harrahs , the Travel channel, Espn, fox etc...and say you know what,..get the button turned back on or we won't play in any of your tourneys....No Daniel, no Brunson, no Chan, No Matasow, no jesus, Duke, Helmuth, ...etc... Ain't gonna happen. So if they aren't gonna do anything...fuck it..I am not going out of my way to play on any of their sites. What are they gonna do for me?? I can stay at Harrahs for free, get tons of food comped all for just playin a few slots and Poker. They won't get off their ass to do anything, like tell Harrahs to thow a couple million in and get this sorted out. All you ever hear is WAA WAA WAA...look at what the Govt. is doing!!! Its Horrible!!!...Now...Go try to clear your bonus on Full Tilt with our mugs plastered all over it.

Why Not Arrest The Pros?

2007-02-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

This is from a discussion that started on the Aces Cracked Poker Forum.

Why doesn't the U.S. Government arrest the pros that have sponsorship deals with the online poker sites?

Problem would be that would be the thing to get the average joe who doesn't play online to get upset at the politicians about this law.

Imagine the DOJ hauling in gimpy Doyle Brunson in handcuffs in front of the news cameras.

ESPN, Fox, & the Travel Channel have made TV stars out of these guys and the bad publicity would be huge.

I have to give the politicians their due in that they've been very effective thus far in "enforcing" the law.

Let's look at what they've done so far:

1) Eliminated the publically traded online gaming companies just by enacting the law.

2) Arresting some of the private companies Officers when they entered the U.S. caused some of the private companies to give up.

3) Arrest the founders of Neteller which cuts off the biggest source of funding for players.
This caused a ripple effect and caused a few of the other payment processors to bail out too.

4) ??? Just a guess now that few companies will allow U.S. Players is to go after the ISP's to block access to the remaining sites.
This could be the toughest to do as the access to URL's is considered part of freedom of speech which may get the ACLU involved.

I think there will always be some form of online gambling, it just may be different from today.

If the U.S. government can't win the war on drugs do you really believe they can completely shutdown online gambling?

Just my opinion.

Atlantic City Trip Report 2/11-2/12

2007-02-16T09:12:00.000-08:00

The wife and I made a comibination birthday(mine!)/Valentine trip to Atlantic City this past weekend.

The ShowBoat was kind enough to comp us for 2 free nights.

I spent most of Sunday hanging with the Mrs.

First thing we did when we got to A.C. was lunch in the French Quarter Buffet, still the best buffet I've ever eaten.

Then we had time to kill until check in time so we played some slots - mostly penny and nickel slots with a little quarters thrown in.

Dropped close to a hundred after being down close to 2 hundred at one point.

Gotta earn our free rooms for our next visit.

Checked in and had about 2 hours before the 7 PM NL Hold'Em tourney in the poker room so back to wandering the casino and dropping another $50 in the slots.

My wife believes the machines were all played out as the casino is packed on this day.

At about 6:30 we head up to the room so I can grab a drink before the tournament - bring sodas to keep in the mini-fridge as they're $1.50 each from the vending machine.

I head down to the WSOP Poker Room and register for the tourney with a couple of minutes to spare - late registrations are allowed tthru the 3rd level.

The fee had increased fron $40+$10 with no re-buys to $53+$12 with no re-buys.

Along with the fee increase the structure is slightly different as you now start with 10,000 chips as opposed to 5,000 before.

Blinds still start at 50/100 with 20 minute levels so the structure is even better than before.

I'm card dead the up to first break(after level 4) with my best hand being AK on the button. I raised to 5 times the big blind as there are 2 limpers before I act and everyone folds.

The only hand I won before the break.

Wildest hand before the break was a hand where I had AQos on the button. Everyone folded to the older lady to my right who raised 3 times the BB. I flat called, the small blinds raised all-in, the big blind (who the small blind had covered) called and the older lady called (she was covered slightly by the small blind).

I thought about it for a while and folded my AQ as even with the pot odds I didn't want to blow my tournament by overplaying AQ.

Imagine my shock when the cards are flipped over:
SB 22
BB 55
Old Lady A3os

Old Lady spikes one of the remaining 2 Aces on the flop and her pair hold up to win the pot.

She looks over at me in disbelief so I whisper to her "Who goes all-in with 22 and 55?" and she nodded in agreement like going all-in with A3os was a great play.

These hand never happen live... only online.

Afer the firs break I know I've got to open up mre as even though I'm at around 10,000 chips still the blinds are climbing(400/800).

I get JJ one off the button with 2 limpers so I raised to 5000, SB goes all-in for 7000. Everyone folds. Easy call.

SB flips over QQ and now I'm a really short stack.

Gotta find a hand to push as the blinds have now increased to 600/1200.

I get 10-6os in the big blind, it's folded around to the button who limps in, small blind folds. Flop is 3QQ, I push all-in just hoping the button will let it go to the nearly pot-sized bet.

He hesitates then calls while saying "Do you have a queen?", I grin and say "Nope" figuring I'm a goner when he flips over K-8.

Turn 10, River 10 and I laugh as I avoid defeat with the runner runner full house.

I look at him and say "I just wanted you to fold".

I last another round still shortstacked.

In the BB this time I get QQ and it's folded around to the old lady in the small blind who raises just hoping to steal my blind so I push all-in. She does what I epect and calls and flips over K9 clubs.

Turn is a K and my tourney is over.

Little did I know that was it for poker for the trip.

I head up to the room after a long day of driving(4 1/2 hours) and gambling.

Unfortunately when I get to the room my wife is watching the local weather report.

The forecast was for freezing rain, sleet, & snow so we'll be cutting our trip short.

We leave the next morning.

Too bad I wanted to play the tourney 2-3 more times that day.

Can't wait to go back.

I'm Even Steven

2007-01-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

I'm stuck in a rut where I basically finish even all the time.

For intance, I finished 4th(on the bubble) in the Saturday Night Aces Cracked tournament but won $12.95 playing Razz at the same time so I'm up $1.95.

Basically even.

Most of the time I'm multi-table grinding at the micro NL tables and if I'm up on one table I'm down on another.

I'm finishing up my sessions either up or down a dollar and change.

Feels like being stuck in neutral.

Guess it's better than losing multiple buy-ins.

The Land of the Free?

2007-01-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

The Land of the Free?

Isn't that what the song says?

As a poker player I have a general apathy to my surroundings if they don't affect me.

Drug use?

Have a good time. I don't care what you do.

I drink alcohol what's the difference?

The Land of the Free?

Gay Marriage?

Sure, why not ? It doesn't affect my life.

I'm married to a fine woman .

Why shouldn't gay people have that right?

The Land of the Free?

Online Poker? What ! Now I'm affected.

The Land of the Free?

Why does the government feel the need to get involved in the day to day lives of it's constituents?

For our protection?

I really don't think so.

If that was the case wouldn't universal healthcare be a priority?

Instead healthcare is unaffordable to a lot of people.

The Land of the Free?

Tax dollars going overseas?

Yeah right and everyone pays taxes on EVERYTHING that is sold on EBay too.

Funding terrorism?

We all know the government is fighting terrorism.

Did they find those weapons of mass distruction in Iraq yet?

Did they find the 6 foot 6 tall dialysis needing Bin Laden yet?

The Land of the Free?

These prohibitions are all due to a highly motivated group who don't like these acts.

If you don't like something don't do it.

Is it necessary to stop others from doing things you don't approve?

If it doesn't affect you let it go.

The Land of the Free?

Why do the minority get to tell everyone else what to do?

The Land of the Free?

I'm thinking ...not so much.

What's In A Name?

2007-01-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

Saw this on IronGirl's blog.

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Sir MarkGreb the Omnipresent of St Winifred by Winchelsea
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Not sure if I like this as much as my pimp name :

Mr. White Chocolate MarkGreb Love
from PlayerAppreciate.com.

$20K Gold Iron Man Freeroll

2007-01-14T07:09:00.000-08:00

I play on FullTilt ,a lot , and qualified for the $20,000 Gold Iron Man Freeroll where the chances of cashing are pretty good.

1050 players with 360 in the money.

My stay wasn't very long....2nd hand in....

Full Tilt Poker Game #1593027770: Gold $20,000 Freeroll (11015180), Table 71 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:47:49 ET - 2007/01/13
Seat 1: TNN4731 (1,410)
Seat 2: MarkGreb (1,410)
Seat 3: blindsqirrel (1,860)
Seat 4: RASTA DAWG (1,500), is sitting out
Seat 5: cracknaces (1,410)
Seat 6: jr6453 (1,410)
Seat 7: mcfrog (1,500)
Seat 8: judge10 (1,500), is sitting out
Seat 9: 300ce24 (1,500)
MarkGreb posts the small blind of 15
blindsqirrel posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Kd Kh]
RASTA DAWG folds
cracknaces raises to 105
jr6453 folds
mcfrog calls 105
judge10 folds
300ce24 folds
TNN4731 folds
MarkGreb raises to 450
blindsqirrel folds
cracknaces raises to 1,410, and is all in

No way I can fold here...

mcfrog folds
MarkGreb calls 960, and is all in
cracknaces shows [Qc Qd]
MarkGreb shows [Kd Kh]

I'm ecstatic!!!!

*** FLOP *** [Qh Jd 5c]
*** TURN *** [Qh Jd 5c] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [Qh Jd 5c 6c] [4d]
cracknaces shows three of a kind, Queens
MarkGreb shows a pair of Kings
cracknaces wins the pot (2,955) with three of a kind, Queens
MarkGreb stands up

Ouch!!!

Cashed in the last 3 Iron Man tournament so I guess it was my time to miss out....better luck next month.

Good news is I finished 1st in the Aces Cracked Saturday Night TLB III tournament.

The Aces Cracked tournies are a lot of fun with lots of chatter going on.

See you at the tables....

Is It Real Money?

2007-01-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

If I had a dollar for every time someone asks me "Is It Really Money?" when they find out I play online poker .... I'd have a lot of dollars.

I find it hard to believe that it seems so complicated to people who shop, pay bills, bid on things,...etc. online .

Are there people who can't figure out how to shop at Amazon or EBay?

It's just not that hard.

Next question is "How Do You Get Your Money?".

You then explain to them about having to setup an account with a company similar to PayPal to allow transfers to and from your accounts.

Then once you convince them it's real money the next question is "Didn't they make it illegal?"

Now you tell them about the 270 days the banks have to figure out how to regulate transfer (if they can or if it's not too expensive).

This may mean the law won't even be enforced.

Then the person looks at you with a baffled look on their face and asks .............."But Is It Real Money?" ...............and then you realize some people just won't ever get it.

See you at the tables....

Happy New Year!!!!

2007-01-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve!!!

I spent my night in a $5 buy-In MTT on FullTilt.

382 played with 36 getting paid.

Actually played quite steady only sucking out on 1 hand to survive when short stacked(can't find it in the hand history).

I went on a good run and was in the top 5 when we made the money.

After that I held on to make the final table in 3rd place.

Here's the chip counts entering the final table:
Seat 1: Clover23 (46,702)
Seat 2: roostermachine (19,886)
Seat 3: fjswrites (140,486)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (82,671)
Seat 5: Dustdog111 (15,650)
Seat 6: Pinballdude (77,389)
Seat 7: BeenHadStax (47,106)
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 (122,118)
Seat 9: Fiskbaek (20,992)

Then there were 8:
Full Tilt Poker Game #1511007423: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (10830774), Table 31 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:37:47 ET - 2006/12/31
Seat 1: Clover23 (42,502)
Seat 2: roostermachine (16,886)
Seat 3: fjswrites (139,886)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (82,071)
Seat 5: Dustdog111 (15,050)
Seat 6: Pinballdude (83,089)
Seat 7: BeenHadStax (52,506)
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 (121,818)
Seat 9: Fiskbaek (19,192)
Clover23 antes 300
roostermachine antes 300
fjswrites antes 300
MarkGreb antes 300
Dustdog111 antes 300
Pinballdude antes 300
BeenHadStax antes 300
MysticRiver88 antes 300
Fiskbaek antes 300
roostermachine posts the small blind of 1,200
fjswrites posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [5d 2s]
Dustdog111 calls 2,400
MysticRiver88 calls 2,400
Fiskbaek calls 2,400
roostermachine raises to 16,586, and is all in
MysticRiver88 calls 14,186
roostermachine shows [Kc Ad]
MysticRiver88 shows [Qs Ah]
*** FLOP *** [9d Ac Qc]
*** TURN *** [9d Ac Qc] [9s]
*** RIVER *** [9d Ac Qc 9s] [6s]
roostermachine shows two pair, Aces and Nines
MysticRiver88 shows two pair, Aces and Queens
MysticRiver88 wins the pot (43,072) with two pair, Aces and Queens
roostermachine stands up
The blinds are now 1,500/3,000 with an ante of 400
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 43,072 | Rake 0
Board: [9d Ac Qc 9s 6s]
Seat 2: roostermachine (small blind) showed [Kc Ad] and lost with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 showed [Qs Ah] and won (43,072) with two pair, Aces and Queens

Then there were 7:

Full Tilt Poker Game #1511029821: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (10830774), Table 31 - 1500/3000 Ante 400 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:42:44 ET - 2006/12/31
Seat 1: Clover23 (47,502)
Seat 3: fjswrites (133,286)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (90,271)
Seat 5: Dustdog111 (29,000)
Seat 6: Pinballdude (116,589)
Seat 7: BeenHadStax (37,156)
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 (108,104)
Seat 9: Fiskbaek (11,092)
Clover23 antes 400
fjswrites antes 400
MarkGreb antes 400
Dustdog111 antes 400
Pinballdude antes 400
BeenHadStax antes 400
MysticRiver88 antes 400
Fiskbaek antes 400
Fiskbaek posts the small blind of 1,500
Clover23 posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [4d Ad]
BeenHadStax has 15 seconds left to act
BeenHadStax raises to 13,700
MysticRiver88 raises to 24,400
BeenHadStax raises to 36,756, and is all in
MysticRiver88 calls 12,356
BeenHadStax shows [8c 8s]
MysticRiver88 shows [Ks Kd]
*** FLOP *** [6h 7d 2s]
*** TURN *** [6h 7d 2s] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [6h 7d 2s Qh] [4s]
BeenHadStax shows a pair of Eights
MysticRiver88 shows a pair of Kings
MysticRiver88 wins the pot (81,212) with a pair of Kings
BeenHadStax stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 81,212 | Rake 0
Board: [6h 7d 2s Qh 4s]
Seat 7: BeenHadStax showed [8c 8s] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 (button) showed [Ks Kd] and won (81,212) with a pair of Kings

Then there were 6(6th Place $96):

Full Tilt Poker Game #1511047947: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (10830774), Table 31 - 1500/3000 Ante 400 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:46:44 ET - 2006/12/31
Seat 1: Clover23 (29,002)
Seat 3: fjswrites (126,786)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (110,371)
Seat 5: Dustdog111 (41,600)
Seat 6: Pinballdude (123,389)
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 (134,260)
Seat 9: Fiskbaek (7,592)
Clover23 antes 400
fjswrites antes 400
MarkGreb antes 400
Dustdog111 antes 400
Pinballdude antes 400
MysticRiver88 antes 400
Fiskbaek antes 400
Pinballdude posts the small blind of 1,500
MysticRiver88 posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [9c Kd]
Fiskbaek raises to 7,192, and is all in
Pinballdude calls 5,692
MysticRiver88 calls 4,192
*** FLOP *** [Js 5h 3c]
Pinballdude checks
MysticRiver88 checks
*** TURN *** [Js 5h 3c] [3d]
Pinballdude checks
MysticRiver88 checks
*** RIVER *** [Js 5h 3c 3d] [7h]
Pinballdude checks
MysticRiver88 checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fiskbaek shows [Ad 4h] (a pair of Threes)
Pinballdude shows [Ac 6d] (a pair of Threes)
MysticRiver88 shows [Qh Qc] (two pair, Queens and Threes)
MysticRiver88 wins the pot (24,376) with two pair, Queens and Threes
Fiskbaek stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 24,376 | Rake 0
Board: [Js 5h 3c 3d 7h]
Seat 6: Pinballdude (small blind) showed [Ac 6d] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 (big blind) showed [Qh Qc] and won (24,376) with two pair, Queens and Threes
Seat 9: Fiskbaek showed [Ad 4h] and lost with a pair of Threes

Then there were 5( 5th Place prize $133):

Full Tilt Poker Game #1511148208: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (10830774), Table 31 - 3000/6000 Ante 750 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:10:25 ET - 2007/01/01
Seat 1: Clover23 (65,508)
Seat 3: fjswrites (222,686)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (92,871)
Seat 5: Dustdog111 (26,600)
Seat 6: Pinballdude (136,345)
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 (28,990)
Clover23 antes 750
fjswrites antes 750
MarkGreb antes 750
Dustdog111 antes 750
Pinballdude antes 750
MysticRiver88 antes 750
Pinballdude posts the small blind of 3,000
MysticRiver88 posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [3s 2s]
fjswrites raises to 18,000
Dustdog111 calls 18,000
*** FLOP *** [4c Ks 8c]
fjswrites bets 12,000
Dustdog111 calls 7,850, and is all in
fjswrites shows [As Ah]
Dustdog111 shows [Jc Qc]
Uncalled bet of 4,150 returned to fjswrites
*** TURN *** [4c Ks 8c] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [4c Ks 8c 9h] [Kh]
fjswrites shows two pair, Aces and Kings
Dustdog111 shows a pair of Kings
fjswrites wins the pot (65,200) with two pair, Aces and Kings
Dustdog111 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 65,200 | Rake 0
Board: [4c Ks 8c 9h Kh]
Seat 3: fjswrites showed [As Ah] and won (65,200) with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 5: Dustdog111 (button) showed [Jc Qc] and lost with a pair of Kings

Then there were 4(4th place $176):

Full Tilt Poker Game #1511229469: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (10830774), Table 31 - 4000/8000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:30:09 ET - 2007/01/01
Seat 1: Clover23 (43,758)
Seat 3: fjswrites (259,546)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (102,621)
Seat 6: Pinballdude (99,595)
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 (67,480)
Clover23 antes 1,000
fjswrites antes 1,000
MarkGreb antes 1,000
Pinballdude antes 1,000
MysticRiver88 antes 1,000
Pinballdude posts the small blind of 4,000
MysticRiver88 posts the big blind of 8,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [7d 9d]
fjswrites raises to 33,000
MysticRiver88 raises to 66,480, and is all in
fjswrites calls 33,480
MysticRiver88 shows [8s 9s]
fjswrites shows [Tc Ts]
*** FLOP *** [Jh 2h Kh]
*** TURN *** [Jh 2h Kh] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 2h Kh 5h] [3s]
MysticRiver88 shows King Jack high
fjswrites shows a pair of Tens
fjswrites wins the pot (141,960) with a pair of Tens
MysticRiver88 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 141,960 | Rake 0
Board: [Jh 2h Kh 5h 3s]
Seat 3: fjswrites showed [Tc Ts] and won (141,960) with a pair of Tens
Seat 8: MysticRiver88 (big blind) showed [8s 9s] and lost with King Jack high

Then there were 3 (3rd Prize $203):
Full Tilt Poker Game #1511262518: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (10830774), Table 31 - 5000/10000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:38:05 ET - 2007/01/01
Seat 1: Clover23 (43,758)
Seat 3: fjswrites (327,026)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (156,621)
Seat 6: Pinballdude (45,595)
Clover23 antes 1,000
fjswrites antes 1,000
MarkGreb antes 1,000
Pinballdude antes 1,000
MarkGreb posts the small blind of 5,000
Pinballdude posts the big blind of 10,000
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [9d 7s]
fjswrites raises to 39,000
Pinballdude raises to 44,595, and is all in
fjswrites calls 5,595
Pinballdude shows [Th Qc]
fjswrites shows [Ts Ad]
*** FLOP *** [4d 2s Ac]
*** TURN *** [4d 2s Ac] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [4d 2s Ac 2h] [7c]
Pinballdude shows a pair of Twos
fjswrites shows two pair, Aces and Twos
fjswrites wins the pot (98,190) with two pair, Aces and Twos
Pinballdude stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 98,190 | Rake 0
Board: [4d 2s Ac 2h 7c]
Seat 3: fjswrites (button) showed [Ts Ad] and won (98,190) with two pair, Aces and Twos
Seat 6: Pinballdude (big blind) showed [Th Qc] and lost with a pair of Twos

Then there were 2(2nd Prize $305)
Full Tilt Poker Game #1511270664: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (10830774), Table 31 - 5000/10000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:40:02 ET - 2007/01/01
Seat 1: Clover23 (26,758)
Seat 3: fjswrites (406,621)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (139,621)
Clover23 antes 1,000
fjswrites antes 1,000
MarkGreb antes 1,000
Clover23 posts the small blind of 5,000
fjswrites posts the big blind of 10,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Kh 4s]
Clover23 raises to 25,758, and is all in
fjswrites calls 15,758
Clover23 shows [Kc 3s]
fjswrites shows [5d 2d]
*** FLOP *** [6c 5h Ts]
*** TURN *** [6c 5h Ts] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [6c 5h Ts Tc] [8d]
Clover23 shows a pair of Tens
fjswrites shows two pair, Tens and Fives
fjswrites wins the pot (54,516) with two pair, Tens and Fives
Clover23 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 54,516 | Rake 0
Board: [6c 5h Ts Tc 8d]
Seat 1: Clover23 (small blind) showed [Kc 3s] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 3: fjswrites (big blind) showed [5d 2d] and won (54,516) with two pair, Tens and Fives

Survived to heads up!!

Here's the chip counts(1st Prize is $477):
Seat 3: fjswrites (434,379)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (138,621)

So we're playing for $172 the difference between first and second.

Strangely fjswrites goes conservative after stealing blinds almost every hand once we got down to 4 handed and I've turned the tables.

The moment of truth!!

Full Tilt Poker Game #1511309942: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (10830774), Table 31 - 6000/12000 Ante 1500 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:49:26 ET - 2007/01/01
Seat 3: fjswrites (100,258)
Seat 4: MarkGreb (472,742)
fjswrites antes 1,500
MarkGreb antes 1,500
MarkGreb posts the small blind of 6,000
fjswrites posts the big blind of 12,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [2h Qh]
MarkGreb calls 6,000
fjswrites checks
*** FLOP *** [4d Jd Qd]
fjswrites bets 86,758, and is all in
MarkGreb calls 86,758
fjswrites shows [3s 4c]
MarkGreb shows [2h Qh]
*** TURN *** [4d Jd Qd] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [4d Jd Qd Ts] [8h]
fjswrites shows a pair of Fours
MarkGreb shows a pair of Queens
MarkGreb wins the pot (200,516) with a pair of Queens
fjswrites stands up
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 200,516 | Rake 0
Board: [4d Jd Qd Ts 8h]
Seat 3: fjswrites (big blind) showed [3s 4c] and lost with a pair of Fours
Seat 4: MarkGreb (small blind) showed [2h Qh] and won (200,516) with a pair of Queens

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!!

My New Year's Celebration started at about 12:15AM !!

Why Do People Hate Me?

2006-12-29T15:46:00.000-08:00

I tend to frustrate people when I take chances late in tournies but I don't understand why they get angry.

Here's one that just happened.

We'd been trading blinds for a while after getting heads-up when this hand happened.

Full Tilt Poker Game #1496806624: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (10768488), Table 1 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:34:34 ET - 2006/12/29
Seat 5: MarkGreb (5,525)
Seat 7: supermario6105 (7,975)
MarkGreb posts the small blind of 100
supermario6105 posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [2c 2s]
MarkGreb raises to 400
supermario6105 raises to 7,975, and is all in
MarkGreb calls 5,125, and is all in
supermario6105 shows [As Kc]
MarkGreb shows [2c 2s]
Uncalled bet of 2,450 returned to supermario6105
*** FLOP *** [2h 3h Ad]
*** TURN *** [2h 3h Ad] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [2h 3h Ad 8c] [6c]
supermario6105 shows a pair of Aces
MarkGreb shows three of a kind, Twos
MarkGreb wins the pot (11,050) with three of a kind, Twos
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11,050 | Rake 0
Board: [2h 3h Ad 8c 6c]
Seat 5: MarkGreb (small blind) showed [2c 2s] and won (11,050) with three of a kind, Twos
Seat 7: supermario6105 (big blind) showed [As Kc] and lost with a pair of Aces

I won a coinflip where I was a slight favorite going into the flop 52-48.

Several hands later this comment shows up in the chat box.

supermario6105: pocket 2 how do you put your tournament life on the line with 2's...what a joke

I just start smiling........

He's been going all-in 2 out of every 3 hands when this hand happens.....

Full Tilt Poker Game #1496820290: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (10768488), Table 1 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:36:56 ET - 2006/12/29
Seat 5: MarkGreb (10,450)
Seat 7: supermario6105 (3,050)
supermario6105 posts the small blind of 100
MarkGreb posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ks 8d]
supermario6105 raises to 3,050, and is all in
MarkGreb calls 2,850
supermario6105 shows [Kh Qc]
MarkGreb shows [Ks 8d]
*** FLOP *** [Th 5h Jh]
*** TURN *** [Th 5h Jh] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [Th 5h Jh 6s] [8c]
supermario6105 shows King Queen high
MarkGreb shows a pair of Eights
MarkGreb wins the pot (6,100) with a pair of Eights
supermario6105 stands up
MarkGreb stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,100 | Rake 0
Board: [Th 5h Jh 6s 8c]
Seat 5: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [Ks 8d] and won (6,100) with a pair of Eights
Seat 7: supermario6105 (small blind) showed [Kh Qc] and lost with King Queen high

I was getting tired of him pushing all-in. Figured he couldn't have a hand every time and K8 off-suit was about the weakest hand I would of called with.

I still would have held a slight chip lead if I didn't get lucky, but sometimes lucky is good.

Here is the beginning of his tirade....

supermario6105: u are a joke

Why do people hate me?

What do they get out of crying in the chat?

Never tap the aquarium.

FYI early in the tourney he did make a great laydown when I flopped a straight flush.

See you at the tables....

Aces Cracked Tourney 12/16

2006-12-17T07:24:00.000-08:00

Aces Cracked Saturday Night TLB is in the off-season but we still get together every Saturday night on PokerStars and play a tournament.

I figured I'd post some key hands to me and the elimination hands.

This will be a LONG post.

These tournies usually have between 7-10 players with lots of chatter , which I've removed.

We all know each others games pretty well.

We'd love to have more players join in.

This tourney had 7 players, top 3 get paid with 1st being $35.

I admit I splash chips around in this tourney since most of the players are tight hence this hand where I've played myself into the short stack.

PokerStars Game #7473842966: Tournament #36729288, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2006/12/16 - 20:21:00 (ET)
Table '36729288 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Penfolio (1810 in chips)
Seat 2: Shamanalix (1535 in chips)
Seat 3: taxidermist (1795 in chips)
Seat 4: plj1 (1405 in chips)
Seat 6: irongirl01 (1600 in chips)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (815 in chips)
Seat 8: cns1 (1540 in chips)
MarkGreb: posts small blind 15
cns1: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Ac Jh]
Penfolio: calls 30
Shamanalix: folds
taxidermist: folds
plj1: folds
irongirl01: folds
MarkGreb: calls 15
cns1: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jd As 2d]
MarkGreb: checks
cns1: checks
Penfolio: bets 60
MarkGreb: raises 60 to 120
cns1: folds
Penfolio: calls 60
*** TURN *** [Jd As 2d] [Td]
MarkGreb: bets 180
Penfolio: raises 210 to 390
MarkGreb: calls 210
*** RIVER *** [Jd As 2d Td] [Ah]
MarkGreb: bets 275 and is all-in
Penfolio: calls 275
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb: shows [Ac Jh] (a full house, Aces full of Jacks)
Penfolio: shows [Ad 7d] (a flush, Ace high)
MarkGreb collected 1660 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1660 | Rake 0
Board [Jd As 2d Td Ah]
Seat 1: Penfolio showed [Ad 7d] and lost with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: Shamanalix folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: taxidermist folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plj1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: irongirl01 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (small blind) showed [Ac Jh] and won (1660) with a full house, Aces full of Jacks
Seat 8: cns1 (big blind) folded on the Flop

Now I'm back in the game!!!

cns1 is a big bet player who has fallen to one of the short stacks when this hand occurs.

PokerStars Game #7474046170: Tournament #36729288, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2006/12/16 - 20:36:10 (ET)
Table '36729288 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Penfolio (1530 in chips)
Seat 2: Shamanalix (1760 in chips)
Seat 3: taxidermist (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: plj1 (660 in chips)
Seat 6: irongirl01 (2540 in chips)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (1625 in chips)
Seat 8: cns1 (885 in chips)
taxidermist: posts small blind 25
plj1: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jh Jd]
irongirl01: folds
MarkGreb: raises 50 to 100
cns1: calls 100
Penfolio: calls 100
Shamanalix: folds
taxidermist: folds
plj1: folds
*** FLOP *** [Kh 7d Ad]
MarkGreb: checks
cns1: bets 785 and is all-in
Penfolio: raises 645 to 1430 and is all-in
MarkGreb: folds
*** TURN *** [Kh 7d Ad] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 7d Ad 9c] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
cns1: shows [8h Ah] (a pair of Aces)
Penfolio: shows [Kd Ac] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
Penfolio collected 1945 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1945 | Rake 0
Board [Kh 7d Ad 9c Qs]
Seat 1: Penfolio showed [Kd Ac] and won (1945) with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 2: Shamanalix (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: taxidermist (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: plj1 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: irongirl01 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MarkGreb folded on the Flop
Seat 8: cns1 showed [8h Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces

I admit my min-raises make Jesus cry but it's all it usually takes in this tourney and it allowed meto get away from my pocket Jacks.

This hand plj1 gets tangled up with the talkative Shamanalix.

PokerStars Game #7474106061: Tournament #36729288, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2006/12/16 - 20:40:29 (ET)
Table '36729288 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Penfolio (2615 in chips)
Seat 2: Shamanalix (1685 in chips)
Seat 3: taxidermist (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: plj1 (610 in chips)
Seat 6: irongirl01 (2515 in chips)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (1575 in chips)
taxidermist: posts small blind 25
plj1: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [8c Qc]
irongirl01: folds
MarkGreb: folds
Penfolio: calls 50
Shamanalix: raises 150 to 200
taxidermist: folds
plj1: calls 150
Penfolio: folds
*** FLOP *** [Td Qh Jd]
plj1: checks
Shamanalix: bets 200
plj1: raises 210 to 410 and is all-in
Shamanalix: calls 210
*** TURN *** [Td Qh Jd] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Td Qh Jd 5s] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plj1: shows [Jc Qd] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
Shamanalix: shows [Kc Ah] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Shamanalix collected 1295 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1295 | Rake 0
Board [Td Qh Jd 5s 8h]
Seat 1: Penfolio folded before Flop
Seat 2: Shamanalix (button) showed [Kc Ah] and won (1295) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 3: taxidermist (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: plj1 (big blind) showed [Jc Qd] and lost with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 6: irongirl01 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MarkGreb folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Tough hand to get away from with the short stack. GG plj1.

Next hand is the one where I made a loose call following a hand where taxidermist took a bad beat and says he is getting ready for a date.

PokerStars Game #7474378895: Tournament #36729288, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/12/16 - 21:00:29 (ET)
Table '36729288 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Penfolio (3165 in chips)
Seat 2: Shamanalix (1445 in chips)
Seat 3: taxidermist (1225 in chips)
Seat 6: irongirl01 (3290 in chips)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (1375 in chips)
irongirl01: posts small blind 50
MarkGreb: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [Jc Ah]
Penfolio: folds
Shamanalix: folds
taxidermist: raises 1125 to 1225 and is all-in
irongirl01: folds
MarkGreb: calls 1125
*** FLOP *** [5h Kc 2d]
*** TURN *** [5h Kc 2d] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [5h Kc 2d Kd] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MarkGreb: shows [Jc Ah] (a pair of Kings)
taxidermist: shows [As 6d] (a pair of Kings - lower kicker)
MarkGreb collected 2500 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2500 | Rake 0
Board [5h Kc 2d Kd 4h]
Seat 1: Penfolio folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Shamanalix folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: taxidermist (button) showed [As 6d] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: irongirl01 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: MarkGreb (big blind) showed [Jc Ah] and won (2500) with a pair of Kings

Turns out I was right that taxi was pushing for whatever reason and my hand held.

Shamanalix is now the shortstack and Penfolio has been hitting.

PokerStars Game #7474529379: Tournament #36729288, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2006/12/16 - 21:11:36 (ET)
Table '36729288 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Penfolio (3515 in chips)
Seat 2: Shamanalix (1070 in chips)
Seat 6: irongirl01 (3140 in chips)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (2775 in chips)
Penfolio: posts small blind 75
Shamanalix: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [6d 7h]
irongirl01: folds
MarkGreb: folds
Penfolio: calls 75
Shamanalix: checks
*** FLOP *** [5s 4s 3h]
Penfolio: bets 300
Shamanalix: raises 620 to 920 and is all-in
Penfolio: calls 620
*** TURN *** [5s 4s 3h] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [5s 4s 3h Qc] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Penfolio: shows [Ts Qs] (a pair of Queens)
Shamanalix: shows [Kd 2c] (high card King)
Penfolio collected 2140 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2140 | Rake 0
Board [5s 4s 3h Qc Jd]
Seat 1: Penfolio (small blind) showed [Ts Qs] and won (2140) with a pair of Queens
Seat 2: Shamanalix (big blind) showed [Kd 2c] and lost with high card King
Seat 6: irongirl01 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Penfolio sucks out and we're down to 3. We're in the money!!!

A tough hand is next.

PokerStars Game #7474733598: Tournament #36729288, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2006/12/16 - 21:26:30 (ET)
Table '36729288 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Penfolio (6485 in chips)
Seat 6: irongirl01 (2415 in chips)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (1600 in chips)
Penfolio: posts small blind 100
irongirl01: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [5c Jd]
MarkGreb: folds
Penfolio: raises 400 to 600
irongirl01: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [8s Js 7c]
Penfolio: bets 1000
irongirl01: raises 815 to 1815 and is all-in
Penfolio: calls 815
*** TURN *** [8s Js 7c] [9s]
*** RIVER *** [8s Js 7c 9s] [Ks]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Penfolio: shows [7h Kd] (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
irongirl01: shows [Ac 7d] (a pair of Sevens)
Penfolio collected 4830 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4830 | Rake 0
Board [8s Js 7c 9s Ks]
Seat 1: Penfolio (small blind) showed [7h Kd] and won (4830) with two pair, Kings and Sevens
Seat 6: irongirl01 (big blind) showed [Ac 7d] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 7: MarkGreb (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

It's a bad beat but can you really complain when you get stacked when you push with 3rd pair?

I've moved up as far as I can without winning it all so it's time to take some chances to double up so here we go in the 2nd hand of heads-up.

PokerStars Game #7474746677: Tournament #36729288, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2006/12/16 - 21:27:28 (ET)
Table '36729288 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Penfolio (8800 in chips)
Seat 7: MarkGreb (1700 in chips)
MarkGreb: posts small blind 100
Penfolio: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [6c 3h]
MarkGreb: raises 1500 to 1700 and is all-in
Penfolio: calls 1500
*** FLOP *** [Ah 5s Td]
*** TURN *** [Ah 5s Td] [As]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 5s Td As] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Penfolio: shows [5h 5c] (a full house, Fives full of Aces)
MarkGreb: shows [6c 3h] (a pair of Aces)
Penfolio collected 3400 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3400 | Rake 0
Board [Ah 5s Td As 7c]
Seat 1: Penfolio (big blind) showed [5h 5c] and won (3400) with a full house, Fives full of Aces
Seat 7: MarkGreb (button) (small blind) showed [6c 3h] and lost with a pair of Aces

Was hoping aggression would be enough but Penfolio made a good call.

Maybe I'll make this a weekly post or more.

Aces Cracked also has a Thursday tourney on Full Tilt.

Until next time see you at the tables.

Red November

2006-12-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last post.

Last month was by far my worst month playing poker.

I finished down $196 in cash games for the month.

Worst day was down $83 . So it could have been much worse.

The Poker Gods seemed to be conspiring against me as I lost on the river repeatedly throughout the month.

I know it's just variance.

Well enough complaing!!

I did cash in the Full Tilt IronMan Gold $20K FreeRoll (finished 43rd) so all was not bad.

I also finished 4th in the Aces Cracked Saturday TLB a far cry from my first season championship.

The 3rd season will begin in January so join now for the fun.

Well onward to a better outcome this month.

Bad Beats Happen to Good People

2006-11-20T12:58:00.000-08:00

Bad beats happen.

Sometimes it's your own fault if you slowplay a big pocket pair or trips with a flush or straight draw on the board.

Other times it's just up to the poker gods.

I like to analyze my beats on occasion to see if I allowed it to happen.

Here's such a hand from yesterday:

Full Tilt Poker Game #1273192643: Table Civic Center - $0.05/$0.10 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:55:16 ET - 2006/11/19
Seat 1: JayF150 ($10.90)
Seat 3: Murph82 ($4.70)
Seat 4: Doormat10 ($2.95)
Seat 6: gimmedaloot79 ($6.90), is sitting out
Seat 7: MarkGreb ($5.80)
Seat 8: Bart_7 ($16.40)
Seat 9: shramrock ($6.85)
shramrock posts the small blind of $0.05
JayF150 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MarkGreb [6h 6s]
Murph82 raises to $0.50
Doormat10 folds
MarkGreb calls $0.50
Bart_7 folds
shramrock calls $0.45
JayF150 folds

I've been calling more often with middle and low pairs for standard raises.

My fellow Aces Cracked Forum poster Ashmc2 talks about it in his blog post "Addendum to My Game".

I'll admit to being a "set farmer".

*** FLOP *** [5c 7d 6c]

Pretty much a dream flop for me.

According to PokerStove ( a highly recommend tool for analyzing situations in hands)
with 6h 6s I'm a 70.12% favorite to win against 2 random hands but the percentage is probably slightly higher with a early position raiser showing strength so I'm going to push if I get action or bet the pot if not.

shramrock checks
Murph82 bets $1.80
MarkGreb raises to $5.30, and is all in
shramrock folds
Murph82 calls $2.40, and is all in
MarkGreb shows [6h 6s]
Murph82 shows [9d 9s]
Uncalled bet of $1.10 returned to MarkGreb

I've got to admit at this point I'm midly shocked by Murph82's call here but am still happy.

I actually go to another table where an action is needed since it's now out of my hands whether I win or lose.

Didn't find out the results until the next hand on the table started.

Murph82 needs an 8 for a straight or a 9 for a higher set to win.

Using PokerStove again my Win percentage is up to 76.57%.

*** TURN *** [5c 7d 6c] [4h]

The 4h actually increases the percentage for a split as now a 3 can stop me from winning but my winning percentage actually rises with 1 card to come to 77.27%.

*** RIVER *** [5c 7d 6c 4h] [9h]

1 of the 6 cards hits for Murph82 to win.

MarkGreb shows three of a kind, Sixes
Murph82 shows three of a kind, Nines
Murph82 wins the pot ($9) with three of a kind, Nines
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10 | Rake $1
Board: [5c 7d 6c 4h 9h]
Seat 1: JayF150 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: Murph82 showed [9d 9s] and won ($9) with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 4: Doormat10 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: gimmedaloot79 is sitting out
Seat 7: MarkGreb showed [6h 6s] and lost with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 8: Bart_7 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: shramrock (small blind) folded on the Flop

Have to say in this case there is nothing I would have done differently.

Would have been all-in on the turn if it didn't happen on the flop.

It's good to analyze your losing hands from time to time to see your mistakes to stop you from repeating them.

"Red Bull Keeps Me Awake"

2006-11-18T07:19:00.000-08:00

My daytime job is working for a large retail chain so I see some strange things people say and do.

Such as the time this lady returns a case of Red Bull Energy Drink missing two cans.

I watch as the clerk ask what is wrong with it and these words come out of the lady's mouth "Red Bull Keeps Me Awake".

My head snaps around around as I think "DUH, that's the reason to drink it."

Bear with me here.... I'm going somewhere with this.

Another time I'm just chatting with a co-worker while doing some mindless tasks about what we watched on TV the night before when he says he can't remember the name of the show he watched.

So I asked him to describe it and with the most intent look on his face he asks this question "What's the name of the show with Bart Simpson on it?"

After I was done laughing at and ridiculing him it got me thinking about how while people aren't stupid per se they do experience what I like to call brain farts where
their brain comes up with a totally strange thought.

This applies to poker too.

Everyone wonders what their opponents could possibly be thinking calling all the way to the river when their gutshot straight draw comes in or they make the set of 2's to win.

Just thinking about "Red Bull Keeps Me Awake" helps me not go on tilt.

Atlantic City Trip 10/21-10/22 Report Part 2

2006-11-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

The 2nd day of my stay in Atlantic City I planned to play in at least 3 of the 4 tourneys offered at the Showboat.

Tourney #1 11:00 AM About 45 players started the event. No obvious drunks this morning and a much better behaved crowd.

I recognized 1 of the players at my table from a previous trip to AC.

About 4 hands in I'm in the big blind(BB is $50) with 7-10 off suit 4 limpers so I just checked pre-flop.

Flop is 744. I check and it's checked around to the button who bets $200 into the $275 pot (small blind folded) . I call - which in retrospect was a huge mistake.

Turn is another 7 so things are looking up. I check hoping for the check raise. He overbets the pot with a $2000 raise .

I raise all-in hoping he's making the move with
either an overpair or a 4. Figured at worst a split pot.

Boy was I wrong!! He immediately called and flipped over pocket 4's.

River card was a 10 so the fates were against me here.

Bad timing for a big hand.

Felt like an online action hand to me. Still don't see a difference between B&M's or online.

I had him covered with 300 chips left over.

I busted out a few hands later with AJsuited all-in 2 hands off the button.

First time I didn't make it past the first break.

Tourney #2 2:00 PM I think the head count was 48 when they announced the prizes (top 5 paid).

Have to say that other than a hand where I had pocket QQ where the 5 limpers folded to my $500 raise when it was $50/$100 I was card dead.

I had 38 off-suit what felt like almost every other hand. I actually just outright stole a couple of small pots from the limp parade but missed every flop.

Made it past the first break with about 75% of my starting stack still intact but as the blinds increased my situation got desperate as I looked for anything remotely good to push.

On the button after everyone folded around to me and I push all-in with pocket 7's and the big blind big stack calls with pocket 8's.

Just badluck or rigged? Just kidding.

Tourney #3 7:00 PM Another run of being card dead.

This time I'm down to 50% of my starting stack heading into the first break as I'm dealt AQ off suit in the big blind. Pot was minraised with only the button and me calling. Flop is 9Q2 rainbow I bet the pot just hoping to take it down. The button goes all-in, I've got him covered with about $500 to spare so I call and he flips over pocket 22.

After the break I managed to steal the blinds a few times from late position to get to about $1200 chips. I basically just pushing all-in from late position just hoping I've got 2 live cards.

I busted out when I pushed all-in with A4 spades one off the button. The button raises it to $3000 to isolate me and I knew he had a big pair so it was no surprise to see AA laying in front of him.

Even though I had no cashes in the 4 tournies I still took away some things from the games at the Showboat.

1. Online & Brick & Mortar are the same.
2. Limping happens live.
3. I need to be more aggressive.

Can't wait until next spring to go back.

Atlantic City Trip 10/21-10/22 Report Part 1

2006-10-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

Went to Atlantic City earlier this week. We stayed at the Showboat because my wife and I like the buffet and discounted room rate.

The Showboat offers 4 daily MTT Tourneys starting at 11 AM, 2 PM, 7PM, & 11 PM with a buy-in of $50+$10(5000 Chips w/ No Rebuys or Add-Ons) Sunday thru Thursday.

Friday and Saturday's buy-in's are slightly higher.

I played in the MTT 4 times between Sunday and Monday and thought I'd give a report on each tourney.

First off was the 7 PM Sunday night MTT.

Approximately 140 entries with a group of probably 8 very drunk guys who claimed to work at the Borgata.

This group had a last longer wager going and were shouting back and forth between the tables - this seemed to be pretty poor ettiquite from guys from a "High End" Casino.

2 of them were at my table.

1st hand there was drama when one of these drunks lost his big blind because he was out of his seat collecting that last longer wagers.

On to the game. Lots of limping and multi-way pots going on.

One hand this older lady limped as she had done every single hand and the other drunk guy goes all-in from 1 off the button.

She calls and flips over pocket Kings and this guy just goes nuts when he flips over AQos "How the HELL can you limp with pocket KINGS!?!?! That is so sick!!!"

Needless to say her hand held up and he just kept berating her for 10 minutes until he busted out.

The hand he busted out the floor was called over when the dealer said his buddy "Offered Protection" when he bet post-flop.

The dealers actions did not affect the hand but the floor admonished the dealer thatit was innappropriate.

On a side note I believe that the older ladies and gentlemen were chasing more than I've seen in online games.

On to my play.... I played too conservative (I know it's hard for the AcesCracked Forum Members to believe) in my opinion.

With so few good hands I should have joined the limping party more.

The 4 key hands for me:

1) Folded 78 hearts from 2 off the button. Flop was all hearts 256. 9 of hearts would have gave me the straight flush on the turn. Would have doubled up against the old lady at the table since she had the A of hearts with an off-suit 3. What a chaser. She busted out a little while later going all-in with a Q high flush draw.

2) Folded 99 in the Big Blind. A player with a slightly smaller stack than mine went all-in in middle position and 2 large stacks just flat called. High card on the flop was a J , first big stack raised and second folded. All-in player showed A10 and Big Stack pocket 8's. 8's held up. I'm still kicking myself about this one - I probably was getting the odds to call but figured it was a coin flip at best for all of my chips. Just overthought it. About 2 orbits later...

3) Pocket 5's from the button with a very small stack. I go all-in and big blind calls with AQos. Don't blame him as he's got the most chips at the table. He's complaining about getting change because all he has is $500+ chips and my all-in is $3200? Of course an A is on the flop, but I get lucky and river one of the remaining 5's to double up.

4) Once again 99 . This time in mid-position with about 3/4 as many chips. I go all-in and am called by the big stack from hand 2. She has pocket Q's. The Q on the flop seals my fate.

I was out at approximately 55th.

I absolutely played too conservative with all the limping going on every hand.

Other than my own play I have no complaints other than the floor letting the Borgata guys shouting their hand results from table to table.

Part 2 will examine the other 3 tourneys as they were far less eventful due to fewer drunks and other factors.

No-Limit Hold'em: A Complete Course

2006-10-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

I'm always trying to learn how to play better poker so I thought I'd share my thoughts on my latest read.

Just read No-Limit Texas Hold'Em: A Complete Course by Angel Largay and have to say it helped a lot.

Angel Largay is an instructor at the Las Vegas Poker Boot Camp and low stakes cash game player.

It's geared to lower stakes NL Hold'em as opposed to just about every other poker book on the market.

Most of the hands discussed are $1/$2 & $2/$5 NL which translate much better to micro limit hold'em played online by myself.

The math used to describe various odds and expectation is explained in a much simpler manner than in the 2+2 books.

There is also a chapter devoted to psycholgically manipulating various types of players(LAP, TAP, LPP, TPP) in a B&M which actually made me feel, well a little uneasy.

Almost like a tutorial in becoming a con man!

It's far from a complete course though at only 235 pages, once again I wish it was longer with more examples.

Overall I'd recommend adding it to your reading list.

Am I An Addict, Part 4?

2006-10-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

Question #16: Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?

NO, nope. This falls under can't afford to play , you shouldn't be playing.

Question #17: Did gambling cause you to have difficulty sleeping?

NO, I sleep like a baby. Kind of annoys my wife that as soon as my head hits the pillow I'm out like a light.

Question #18: Do arguments, dissapointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?

NO, I play poker everyday with very few exceptions. Nothing changes or influences my desire to play.

Question #19: Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling?

NO, same as #18. Highs and lows have no effect.

Question #20: Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?

NO, it's just a game. Money is just a way of keeping score. If winning or losing affects you in such a way you should not be playing.

I didn't answer YES to any of the 20 questions (7 YES answers means you may be a compulsive gambler) so I guess I'm okay.

Biggest things to remember are to stay within your bankroll and it's just a game.

If you think you may have a gambling problem click on the picture below to get yourself some help.

Am I An Addict, Part 3?

2006-10-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

Question #11: Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling?

NO, absolutely not. As before I never risk my entire bankroll so I never "need" to add money for playing poker.

Question #12: Were you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures?

NO, in an absolute emergency I could cash out. I haven't had to make that choice since my bankroll is seperate from my household funds and my wife and I live within our means.

Question #13: Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?

NO, my personal, family, & household responsibilities are under control.

Question #14: Did you ever gamble longer than you planned?

NO, I'll usually play until I don't want to play for the day. Let me explain, I work early hours in my job so I have lots of free time in the afternoons to play. I normally stop when my wife comes home from work or if it doesn't seem like the poker gods are cooperating.

Question #15: Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble?

NO, my wife and I have no major worries or trouble in our lives so this doesn't apply.

Still no YES answers so according to the test I'm not a compulsive gambler, 7 YES answers means you may have a problem.

Next post I'll finish up with #16-#20.

Am I An Addict , Part 2?

2006-09-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

Continuing Gamblers Anonymous 20 Questions.

Question #6: Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?

NO, I was never accused of being the most ambitious person on Earth. Actually, poker playing has taken the place of sleeping my afternoons away following work.

Question #7: After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?

NO, I consider my poker playing to be one long session so short term fluctuations don't really bother me all that much.

Question #8: After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?

NO, basically the same answer as #7 , except winning is better than losing.

Question #9: Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone?

NO, I've never gone broke. I have had losing sessions, everyone has but the key for me is to not let one session affect another.

Question #10: Did you ever borrow to finance gambling?

NO, absolutely not. If you can't afford to lose then you should not be playing.

Next up are #11-15.

Am I An Addict , Part 1?

2006-09-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

I'm obsessed with playing poker and it hasn't been a problem in my work or personal life but I was curious if maybe I was addicted so I went to Gamblers Anonymous to see if there are any warning signs I might be demonstrating.

GA has a 20 Question quiz to see if you're a problem gambler - if you answer Yes to at least 7 of the questions you may be a compulsive gambler.

Over my next couple of posts I'll be answering all 20 questions as truthfully as possible.

Here we go:

Question #1 : Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling?

NO, actually since I started playing poker I've missed less work which doesn't make to much sense.

Question #2 : Has gambling ever made home life unhappy?

NO, my wife doesn't have any problems with my poker playing. My parents do ask me if I've lost my house yet whenever we talk. I have to convince them that the news media only publicizes the sensational cases where people turn to crime due to huge losses.

Question #3 : Did gambling affect your reputation?

NO. What reputation? I'm not a public official or a teacher so what reputation could I ruin?

Question #4 : Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?

NO, I've never lost more than I can afford or missed any appointments or family obligations.

Question #5 : Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?

NO, although I have used the proceeds from my playing to pay debts but I did not set out to do so. I just believe in taking out some profits from my poker accounts and that money is just added to the households funds which are used for debts and expenses.

So far, so good.

I'll answer questions 6-10 in my next post.

If you have any questions about your own gambling go to:

Online Poker Is Rigged!!!!!

2006-09-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

Online Poker is Rigged!!!!

Why, oh why, do I keep having this argument on the Aces Cracked Forum?

I just don't see it. Looks like poker. Feels like poker. So it must be poker.

I can't understand why the people who say it is rigged offer no proof other than he beat my pocket Aces with Q5.

With all the hackers out there someone would have come up with the proof by now.

What incentive do sites have rig the game?

If it came out the sites did rig it ,the player base would dry up and also the big profits.

But the best part is the people who believe it's rigged or manipulted don't stop playing.

If I thought I was being cheated I wouldn't play.

I've heard they play for "entertainment" .

Last time I checked I don't find being cheated entertaining.....

Of course I might be wrong and if so I apologize.

Aces Cracked Forum Has a New Home

2006-08-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

The Aces Cracked Poker Forum has upgraded to a more reliable server for discussion between all types of poker players.

There is also a Tournament Leaderboard which was won by yours truly in Season 1 - Season 2 starts in a couple of weeks.

Come join us for the competition and conversation.

Party Poker Summer Sizzler Promo

2006-08-19T05:26:00.000-07:00

Seemed like a decent promo for bonus whores .....on the surface.

PartyPoker's new Summer Sizzler Promo

Winning Table:
Play any 10 days, earn 100 points each day, and win $30.
Play any 20 days, earn 100 points each day, and win $75.
Play any 25 days, earn 100 points each day, and win $150.
Play 31 days, earn 100 points each day, and win $300.

At 4 points for 20 raked hands it took 500 raked hands for 100.

4 tabling at 25 NL it took about 4.70 hours a day.

Actually grinded through 10 of the first 11 days(missed 1 day by 8 points) before giving up.

Then a funny thing happens, PartyPoker changes the way you get PartyPoints.... in the middle of the promo.

NOW you get 2 points for 20 raked hands.

Are (WERE) too many people on their way to $300?

PartyPoker really does not respect their players.

Unfortunately, the player base is too large to leave.

BloggerPods Tourney

2006-07-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Just signed up for a new tourney for bloggers.

I’m registered in the BloggerPods poker tournament by pokeronamac.com

Sometimes Being Right Can Cost You Money

2006-07-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ever have the right read and blow a buy-in?

Bad beats happen but still sting sometimes.

Playing a $25NL ring game on Superior Poker. Lot's of loose players there with several rocks thrown in.

I've got pocket 99 on the button with the UTG just doubling the BB to .50. 2 callers before it gets to me so I just flat call. SB folds and BB calls.

So pot is $2.60 .

Flop is 9QK rainbow.

Everyone checks to me so I bet the pot.

BB re-raises all-in .

All fold to me .

I've played with this guy before and know he would probably just call with flopped straight so he probably has 2 pair KQ(KK & QQ he would have re-raised pre-flop) at best so I call.

Hope I'm not wrong.

Even better than I expected when he turns over QJ so I'm really just worried about a 10.

I'm happy.

Turn is a Q .

No longer worry about a 10 since I have a full house.

I'm ecstatic.

River card.... K . He makes a higher full house and takes my stack.

I'm depressed.

A roller coaster ride of emotions in about 30 seconds.

Another example where the poker gods giveth and then taketh away.

Got it all back an orbit later when some guy wouldn't fold top pair K with a 3 kicker to a set of 6's.

Bad Run On Saturday

2006-07-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Thought I post on some more personal play stuff.

I've been on a good run the last few weeks clearing a bonus on Superior and working off some bonuses on Paradise and FullTilt until yesterday.

I was trying to work off part of the latest PokerStars 20% Reload at the .25/.50 NL tables and went on a terrible run.

Dropped a little over 4 Buy-ins ($83 ) in about 2 hours.

Lost with flopped sets 3 times to higher flopped sets, lost with a flopped full house to a higher full house on the turn, KK ran into AA twice , JJ ran into QQ when I was really short stacked, etc.......

Worst part is I don't think any of the hands could have gone down differently.

Just wasn't my day.

I left the tables when I felt myself getting looser to stop the bleeding.

Turned it around some when I ended the day on a high note with a win in the weekly Aces Cracked Forum tournament.

The Aces Cracked tournaments are a good time with some internet poker friends.

Until next time see you at the tables.

Bonus Whoring 101

2006-06-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

Been a long time since my last post.

Taking advantage of various bonuses from all the poker sites is a great way to increase your online bankroll.

Things to look at when choosing a bonus are when you get the bonus , the ease at which it clears into your account, the level you have to play at to clear it & does the bonus expire?

Some sites , such as Pacific Poker and Bodog, put the bonus directly into your account upon deposit, but with restrictions upon how much you must play to be allowed to withdraw the bonus.

Others, such as FullTilt, Ultimate Bet and Paradise Poker, release it in portions as you accumulate player points.

Then others like Party Poker and PokerStars release it in a lump sum after completing the requirements.

Bonuses clear at various rates at each site.

The easiest bonuses to clear at micro limits is Party Poker while the most difficult is Absolute Poker & PokerStars.

The ease of Part Poker's clearance rate is offset by the time limit to clear it - usually 7 days.

Even though PokerStars bonuses are difficult to clear at micro-limits they never expire and tournament rake counts towards clearance - both of these things are not true at most sites .

That's the basics of being a bonus whore.

Until next time , see you at the tables.

How Much to Buy-in?

2005-12-03T12:56:00.000-08:00

When playing in a ring game how much should you buy-in to the game?

Conventional wisdom is to buy-in for the maximum amount allowed.

This allows you to earn the maximum amount if you should hit the nuts in any particular hand.

I agree with this bankroll strategy once you've become a good player with an appropriate bankroll for the level that you are playing .

But I would not recommend buying in the max amount when you are starting out.

When you are starting out you need to protect your bankroll so I recommend buying in for half the amount.

This way you are minimizing your losses while still having enough at the table to put pressure on some of the players at the table.

Once again , when you have built a big enough of a bankroll I'd definitely increase my buy-in to the full amount possible .

It's a strategy that worked for me to build my bankroll on several sites and it'll work for you!

See you at the tables!!

Rough Periods In Poker

2005-11-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

Everyone has rough streaks in poker where no matter how good a hand you have you seem to be second best.

Can't tell you how many times this week I've flopped top set on an uncoordinated board only to be outdrawn on the turn and the river.

A couple of examples :

1) Pocket Jacks
Flop 27J rainbow.
I check and player bets 1.5X size of the pot.
I raise them all-in for the last $1.50 of their stack and they call.
Opponent has Pocket Queens so I'm a happy camper with only 2 Queens to help him.
Turn is Queen so I'm drawing dead.

2) Pocket Kings
Flop is 67K rainbow.
I bet pot hoping to make him fold open end straight draw, he calls.
Turn in 2.
I bet pot again hoping to take it down or give very bad odds, he goes all-in and I call.
He shows 8-10.
River is 9 and he hit his gutshot straight.

Sometimes there is nothing you can do.

I played both hands correctly and still lost.

That's poker.

Also in poker these hands can come in bunches so I've probably lost between 10-15 hands this week like this.

But somehow when I check my results using Poker Journal I'm up $36 for the week.

Not a great week but up is always better than down.

Can't wait for next week when I might win a higher percentage of these hands.

I highly recommend Poker Journal for tracking your results.

It's free, it's only for tracking cash games though.

Until next time, see you at the tables!!!

Just say "Thank You"

2005-11-12T11:38:00.000-08:00

I've been noticing lately a growing lack of good sportsmanship at the tables .

This goes along with "No Crying In Poker" when losing - see earlier post.

Why would a player winning hand taunt his opponent?

There are many new players due to the popularity of televised poker who may not be as skilled as you are.

Is there any reason to say "U R Terrible" after you take down a pot?

Absolutely not!

The only thing that can accomplish is ill will at the table.

Recreational players want to have fun.

How fun is it to lose your money and be humiliated too?

Chasing away a player you deem to be weaker than yourself is a mistake and bad business.

You don't want to chase away customers.

So when they say "NH", you say "TY" , "Sorry", "Got Lucky", etc.

Don't say "U Suck", "What were you thinking?, "I played it perfect", or some other such nonsense.

Playing sports as a child I was always told to act like you've been there before when you make a good play.

There is no reason to make your opponents feel worse than they already do.

PokerChamps $2 Sit-N-Go Experiment

2005-11-05T04:21:00.000-08:00

This week I decided to test my Sit-N-Go Tourney skills on PokerChamps at the lowest level at $2+$.20 per game.

For those that don't know a Sit-N-Go Tourney is a single table tournament that starts as soon as the table is full. Usually 9 or 10 seats depending on the site with Top 3 finishing in the money.

Here is the results:
Game #1 1st Place +$7.80
Game #2 2nd Place +$3.80
Game #3 6th Place -$2.20
Game #4 8th Place -$2.20
Game #5 3rd Place +$1.80
Game #6 7th Place -$2.20
Game #7 2nd Place +$3.80
Game #8 5th Place -$2.20
Game #9 4th Place -$2.20
Game #10 3rd Place +$1.80

Average Finish: 4.1
Profit/Loss: +$8.00
Average Profit/Loss: +$0.80/game

With a little luck my results would have been better , actually was the favorite at the time the chips went in the hands I busted out of 3 of 5 times I finished out of the money.

My basic strategy is to play tightly until the blinds make that impractical or until I've made the money.

Once I've made the money, the way I play is determined by chip stack and position.

If I'm in the lead I'll play conservatively, but if I'm behind I'll get Hyper-Aggressive.

For example, in Game #10 the other players commented in the chat window that I was "Costing" myself $2 in profit by pushing to steal blinds.

Once we got down to the Top 3 I was in 3rd with both of the other players having me by at least 2-1 in chips so I was stealing blinds and raising big with marginal hands.

Got almost even before busting out.

I believe the other players were wrong when they said I was "Costing" myself money.

It was money that I was trying to "Take" from them.

It's not like I could finish lower than 3rd.

In the future I'll be trying other Sit-N-Go Experiments at PokerChamps at some slightly higher money levels, also at other sites.

In a small adverting note if you sign up at PokerChamps through my link I'll transfer $5 cash into your account to try it out.

PokerChamps was purchased this week by BetFair so I expect huge growth in the future there.

Until my next post, see you at the tables !!!!

There's No Crying In...Poker!!!

2005-10-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

How many times have you seen "WTF", "OMG" , "How can you call with that!" ,etc. in the chatbox after someone loses a hand?

My personal favorite was someone telling me that I am the "Worst Player on Earth" after I drew to the nut flush.

Is it seeing Phil Hellmuth flip out on TV?

The latest of which had Phil saying "You can't even spell poker!!" when his AK was outdrawn by a player going all-in with KJ on Day 1 of the WSOP.

If you play enough hands you'll see incredible bad beats.

You'll have them put on you and you'll put some on the other players.

All you can control is your decision making processes and emotions.

Make the right decisions and you'll come out ahead in the long run.

In the short run you may lose a few hands but do not allow it to put you on tilt affecting your game.

Controlling your emotions will also keep the game friendly.

Keeping the game friendly may help keep your money at the table so you have a chance to win it back.

Nothing like chasing a guy off who has your money.

Either say nothing or "NH" when you lose.

So to paraphrase Tom Hanks in "A League of Their Own" there is No Crying In Poker!!!

Played with a FullTilt Pro

2005-10-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

An interesting week of low limit poker as I got to play with a pro - Steve Brecher.

When Steve Brecher sat down next to me at FullTilt at a .05/.10 NL I didn't notice right away, I was playing 3 tables . :)

Saw that the player next to me had an avatar I hadn't seen then recognized the name.

2nd hand he played he limped with a couple other limpers to follow , I raised the 7X the big blind with pocket 9's.

Mr. Brecher re-raised all-in and I made a very loose call thinking he was just trying to buy the pot.

I railed a couple of the other pros - Ivey, Matasow, & D'Agostino and have seen rather loose play.

I was wrong when he turned over pocket Aces.

Lucky for me a 9 fell on the turn so I doubled up through the pro.

Overall it was a pleasant experience as the table played really loose while Mr. Brecher was there with many players busting out after only a couple of hands.

Mr. Brecher played really tight which came as quite a relief as a person who just finished 3rd in the US Poker Championship the week before could have easily made a mockery of the .05/.10 NL game.

My only frustration was the dizzying speed of the chat window scrolling as all the railbirds fired away with questions.

Really wish observer chat was blocked.

Can't wait to play at a table with another of the FullTilt Poker pros.

Becoming A Shoeclerk

2005-10-15T04:41:00.000-07:00

When I started playing poker online I had a very limited bankroll from freeroll winnings so I had to build my bankroll while protecting it.

So I started playing a style I've come to know is called "Shoeclerking" - first time I saw this term used was by thrash1294 .

It's called "Shoeclerking" because it's kind of like getting your first job as a teenager. A beginer job if you'd like - unless your name is Al Bundy , "Frycooking" doesn't have the same ring.

It's a style that works well at the very lowest limits .01/.02 , .02/.04, & marginally at .05/.10 .

"Shoeclerking" is a very tight aggressive preflop strategy.

When you are dealt AA, KK , sometimes QQ & AK , push hard , really hard , all-in .

At such low levels you will almost always get at least 1 caller , sometimes several callers.

It seems really simple - okay, it actually is - but you won't see too many players doing it.

You can limp with AQ, AJ, A10 , and small pocket pairs to see if the flop hits you .

If the flop hits your pockets push hard again - unless the flop is all suited . You'll see lots of micro-limit players play anytwo suited cards so occasionally you'll be behind.

The next key in "Shoeclerking" is bankroll protection so you'll need to set limits on winnings.

Something that is generally frowned upon is leaving a table where you are dominating but you want to build your bankroll with limited risk.

So if you double or triple up , stand-up and move to another table.

Most sites will not allow you to return to the same table with less than you won. This is against the rules of no-limt, called ratholeing.

This strategy works at the micro-limits do the poor play so as you move up in levels you'll have to adapt your play to better players, so you'll move away from "Shoeclerking".

Until then become a "Shoeclerk" and build your banroll.

Welcome

2005-10-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog about low stakes online poker.

A little bit about me.

I started playing online poker late October 2004 after watching the WSOP on ESPN. Probably the same story as many other new online players.

Started out playing on Yahoo but wanted to play No Limit Hold'em which Yahoo did not offer.

Then I downloaded Party Poker and played some play money games. After getting tired of play money games , downloaded some sites with free cash offers and smaller freerolls.

After a couple of months (and with a small bankroll), I made several small deposits to a few sites.

Slowly I've built up a bankroll through a style of micro-limit play called "shoe-clerking".

That brings us to the present.

My next post will be describing the style of "shoe-clerking".

Until next time, see you at the tables.