Mostly, I'm waiting on the Cardrunners microphone to get here so I can play around with making some videos. I tried to do some stuff with the regular mike I use for Skype, but the sound quality is bad enough that it's not worth posting. Tournament-wise, I haven't made a deep run in a week or so, so no really interesting hands there, either.

In order to make this entry not worthless, here's a hand Bond posted on 2+2:

Seat 2: ACFIORE (8,355)
Seat 7: muckthenuts (6,360)
muckthenuts posts the small blind of 25
snappingUoff posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to muckthenuts [Qs Td]
(2 folds)
ACFIORE calls 50
(2 folds)
ajgoal calls 50
muckthenuts calls 25
snappingUoff checks
*** FLOP *** [Js Qh Ts]
muckthenuts bets 150
snappingUoff folds
ACFIORE has 15 seconds left to act
ACFIORE raises to 650
ajgoal folds
muckthenuts

Before you say what we should do, let's figure out a)his range and b)what will happen if we call or 3 bet.

A)Villain open limped in EMP and then raised a very ugly flop. We can assume that he doesn't have AK here, and also discount AQ. AA-TT are all possibilities, though AA and JJ-TT are more likely. His overall range, then, is something like {AA, JJ-TT, Asxs, Ksxs, KQ, K9, QJ-QT, JT, 98}, but that does not count the raise size, which suggests a big made hand that wants to protect against draws and somewhat discounts combo draws. [Note that this isn't really a leak on villain's part on a flop like this even though he's giving away info; the flop is so bad and you'll have to slow down on so many turn cards that you may as well just try to win the pot here.]

B)1. If we call, the turn is a brick, and our 'big made hand' read is correct, the villain is probably betting all his hands again when checked to. We also clearly have to check/fold all non-bricks that don't boat us, even if we think villain might bluff a turn 9 (far too deep to bluff catch two streets) - and this probably includes spades, since the Qs just isn't that big of a deal and some of those outs are tainted.

2. If we 3 bet, villain might fold exactly aces. We'll wind up all in with everything else. If you Pokerstove his range and make the adjustments I mentioned, you'll find we're a little under 40/60 against it.

Therefore, what we have here is a pretty easy flop fold, and not folding here is a fairly decent leak (note that this doesn't apply in any buyin tournament where this can easily be Q7o.) Tournament players often don't get this because being this deep is rare and most of the time the action goes bet/shove/call, but with 115 BB, you have to think about what will happen on future streets, and on this board the answer is 'nothing good'.

BTW, (again, taking into account that the board is this bad), it is perfectly acceptable to check/call the flop and then bet a blank turn - a line that is pretty underused but ought to be considered here since we're pretty sure one of the limpers will bet. While it might not get the most chips in, it also greatly reduces the chances of us being semibluffed off the pot.

So, right after mentioning I was gonna go back to cash, I basically didn't play for a week except for a random night of razz somewhere in there. Part of that was game selection (kinda meh games on Cake this week), but most was probably just post-live tournament burnout. Other than Korea in a month, I'm definitely not going to play any live tournaments for a while; they do a number on my willingness to play afterwards, even though my game itself spikes up later. It's too much of a grind to live out of a hotel room for long periods of time.

edit: I just finished my TS review, and have a particular topic in mind for my next entry (unless something cool happens tomorrow and I get to blog about that instead. Here's hoping.)

Wound up going back home last night and playing a full schedule tonight, where I proceeded to lose something like $60 on the day. Given the $1500 or so in entries this isn't even a negative, except in tilt dollars. The highlight was another decent finish in the Sunday Million, where I took 167th after losing two huge pots deep ITM (AQ < A9, then AA < a 3 way KQs/AJ AIPF big pot where I induced a squeeze) and then a 15xBB flip for the deathblow. I also took a huge stack into Hour 3 of the 535 FTOPS ME, then busted out after going *0 for 91* consecutive hands (in a 9 max tournament this is something like a one in ten thousand spot...ugh.)

Anyway, the highlight of the day is this hand, which I also posted on 2+2:

ull Tilt Poker Game #3302830235: FTOPS Main Event (22695133), Table 406 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:17:34 ET - 2025/08/19
Seat 1: Dorothy Parker (5,265)
Seat 2: pcon23 (4,825)
Seat 3: Bbuddy4brkfst (4,805)
Seat 4: silas22 (4,912)
Seat 5: gawyn (4,957)
Seat 6: Adar (5,375)
Seat 7: saladfingers44 (5,086)
Seat 8: Tarantula_Joe (5,035)
Seat 9: zeeland (4,740)
pcon23 posts the small blind of 20
Bbuddy4brkfst posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Adar [Js Jd]
silas22 calls 40
gawyn folds
Adar raises to 160
saladfingers44 folds
Tarantula_Joe has 15 seconds left to act
Tarantula_Joe raises to 525
lots of people fold
Adar calls 365
*** FLOP *** [2s Ac Jh]
Adar checks
Tarantula_Joe checks
*** TURN *** [2s Ac Jh] [Ad]
Adar bets 640
Tarantula_Joe has 15 seconds left to act
Tarantula_Joe calls 640
*** RIVER *** [2s Ac Jh Ad] [Kh]
Adar

I think I post too many of these hands, in part because I've run really cold in these spots (I swear that nobody runs into a bigger boat/quads with a full house as much as I do given my volume), in part because I feel that they're partly avoidable. Earlier on today, in the Bodog 100K, I made a mistake and busted in the first hour on an AA vs. KK hand where I slowplayed PF, bet the 6648 board when he check/called (correctly reading him for an overpair that would stack off), but then shoved anyway when he bet into me on the K river - at that point, I should know his most likely hand got there and just call. That hand was in the back of my mind when I was playing this one, so despite feeling like I "had to" pay off, I wound up just check/folding.

Fun sidenote: after the hand, I looked this guy up on pokerdb and found that this was almost definitely someone's backup account (total of 3 tournaments in the last 2 years, none over $24.) This actually made me want to pay off a little more, but given that he'd played only one hand in 30 minutes, it was probably fine anyway.

After today, I'm probably partly going back to cash for a little while - still playing plenty of tournaments, but also jumping into the Cake 10/20 and 25/50 NL games when they're soft. That plus razz should keep me happy for the rest of the month; I feel like I need the practice with bigger stacks.

I'll be honest - I tried to figure out how to recap that tournament from a couple of days ago and couldn't really do it, because it winds up being one big "I raise with a decent hand, flop/turn/river the nuts somehow and get paid off" fest. I think I have good instincts in all limit games, especially when making thin value bets and calldowns, but if I had to rank my HORSE game, this would be #4 (I probably play gin rummy better than stud high.)

So, in lieu of a recap that's probably wildly wrong, I'll just post some fun hands that I'm pretty sure of. This one in particular is just ridiculous:

Seat 1: Carmen35 (3,255)
Seat 2: strohsix (2,680)
Seat 3: MrKrabbs (3,150)
Seat 4: quincyg (2,685)
Seat 5: Adar (3,565)
Seat 6: AK_47_JAZZ (4,033)
Seat 7: tommyturks (2,650)
Seat 8: jtsnakes (2,850)
Seat 9: bodark77 (2,132)
Adar posts the small blind of 15
AK_47_JAZZ posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Adar [Kh 9s 4s Ks]
tommyturks folds
jtsnakes folds
bodark77 calls 30
Carmen35 calls 30
strohsix folds
MrKrabbs folds
quincyg calls 30
Adar calls 15
AK_47_JAZZ checks
*** FLOP *** [Kc 5s 2h]
Adar bets 30
AK_47_JAZZ folds
bodark77 calls 30
Carmen35 calls 30
quincyg raises to 60
Adar raises to 90
bodark77 folds
Carmen35 calls 60
quincyg raises to 120
Adar calls 30
Carmen35 calls 30
*** TURN *** [Kc 5s 2h] [Jc]
Adar bets 60
Carmen35 calls 60
quincyg calls 60
*** RIVER *** [Kc 5s 2h Jc] [7s]
Adar bets 60
Carmen35 calls 60
quincyg raises to 120
Adar has 15 seconds left to act
Adar raises to 180
Carmen35 folds
quincyg calls 60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Adar shows [Kh 9s 4s Ks] three of a kind, Kings, for high
quincyg mucks
Adar wins the pot (1,140) with three of a kind, Kings
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,140 | Rake 0
Board: [Kc 5s 2h Jc 7s]
Seat 1: Carmen35 folded on the River
Seat 2: strohsix didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: MrKrabbs didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: quincyg (button) mucked [5d Ad 5h Th] - HI: three of a kind, Fives
Seat 5: Adar (small blind) showed [Kh 9s 4s Ks] and won (1,140) with HI: three of a kind, Kings

PF, my hand is terrible, and later in the tournament it's a fold, but here I have the odds just to flop top set (and hope it holds.) I do, so I bet/3 bet the flop, not because it's a very good hand right now (I'm pretty screwed if some low cards hit) but because there's lots of people in the pot and I probably have enough equity to pop it. The turn alters nothing, but the river brings a low, so now I'm only getting half the pot; the reason I bet is because there's 2 others in with me and I may as well get an extra 1/2 bet in now, before they decide to check behind with A4 on the end or something. Except, for no apparent reason, the guy with a smaller set decides to go berserk, raise one more time and let me 3 bet (after I double check that I do have the high lock, lol) to knock out the very likely low hand in the middle, winning the whole pot. Wow.

If you haven't realized how easy it is to overplay a hand in O/8 yet:

Seat 1: Carmen35 (2,096)
Seat 2: strohsix (6,388), is sitting out
Seat 3: MrKrabbs (3,575)
Seat 4: quincyg (1,780)
Seat 5: Adar (4,395)
Seat 6: AK_47_JAZZ (7,006)
Seat 7: mjorgenson13 (4,080)
Seat 8: LUVEMnLEAVUM (4,375)
Seat 9: bodark77 (1,960)
AK_47_JAZZ posts the small blind of 50
mjorgenson13 posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Adar [3d Ks Ac Kd]
LUVEMnLEAVUM folds
bodark77 calls 100
Carmen35 has 15 seconds left to act
Carmen35 folds
strohsix folds
MrKrabbs folds
quincyg folds
Adar raises to 200
AK_47_JAZZ calls 150
mjorgenson13 calls 100
bodark77 calls 100
*** FLOP *** [Qd 2d 7d]
AK_47_JAZZ checks
mjorgenson13 bets 100
bodark77 calls 100
Adar raises to 200
AK_47_JAZZ folds
mjorgenson13 calls 100
bodark77 raises to 300
Adar calls 100
mjorgenson13 calls 100
*** TURN *** [Qd 2d 7d] [Js]
mjorgenson13 checks
bodark77 bets 200
Adar calls 200
mjorgenson13 calls 200
*** RIVER *** [Qd 2d 7d Js] [4c]
mjorgenson13 checks
bodark77 bets 200
Adar raises to 400
mjorgenson13 folds
bodark77 raises to 600
Adar raises to 800
bodark77 calls 200
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Adar shows [3d Ks Ac Kd] a flush, King high, for high and 7,4,3,2,A, for low
bodark77 shows [Ad 3s 5d 3c] a flush, Ace high, for high and 7,4,3,2,A, for low
bodark77 wins the high pot (1,950) with a flush, Ace high
bodark77 ties for the low pot (975) with 7,4,3,2,A
Adar ties for the low pot (975) with 7,4,3,2,A

I flop the second nuts for high, river the nut low, and...get quartered after putting in at least one bet and possibly 3 bets too many on the river. Given the way the hand went down, the other guy almost always has an ace high flush when he does that call/3 bet move on the flop, so on the river, I'm just not winning over half the pot. Even if I do raise the river on principle, though (I think going for the overcall may be better), I should just call the 3 bet.

Somebody was wondering about my (all but) bustout hand, so here it is:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3258606818: FTOPS Event #8 (22618608), Table 95 - 40000/80000 - Limit Omaha H/L - 5:54:55 ET - 2025/08/15
Seat 2: Adar (381,430)
Seat 3: muckmehard (1,554,222)
Seat 6: Kiajessie (971,724)
Seat 8: AD-Stars22 (311,624)
muckmehard posts the small blind of 20,000
Kiajessie posts the big blind of 40,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Adar [2c 2h 3s 7c]
AD-Stars22 folds
Adar raises to 80,000
muckmehard folds
Kiajessie raises to 120,000
Adar calls 40,000
*** FLOP *** [3c Ks Jc]
Kiajessie bets 40,000
moetman (Observer): u should be folding here adar
Adar calls 40,000
*** TURN *** [3c Ks Jc] [5h]
Kiajessie bets 80,000
Adar calls 80,000
*** RIVER *** [3c Ks Jc 5h] [6d]
Kiajessie bets 80,000
Adar calls 80,000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Kiajessie shows [Ad Ah 2d Qc] a pair of Aces, for high and 6,5,3,2,A, for low
Adar mucks
Kiajessie wins the high pot (330,000) with a pair of Aces
Kiajessie wins the low pot (330,000) with 6,5,3,2,A

Nothing I can really do about this one - it's obvious he has aces PF, but when I flop a flush draw shorthanded in a big pot, I'm locked into the hand until the river. The river call is mandatory because I know two of his cards, and the only thing that scoops me out of the entire pot is exactly AA2x, AA4x or AA7x. Oh well.

---

Obviously, I skipped the 500 dollar tourney the following day (I busted at 6 AM, it started at 10 - not good) and also skipped the 1K event today in the mistaken belief that there was a 1K satellite this afternoon. Turns out that's tomorrow, so I've got an extra day to rest up, celebrate Nath's birthday (that's today - wish him well, everybody!) and win myself a 5K ME seat.

Oh yeah - Turning Stone hates cameras or something, so so far I have exactly 2 pictures on this trip. Dammit.

I'll be back to posting daily (or close enough to daily) for a while starting the day after tomorrow, as I'm taking a ten day trip to Turning Stone for the HPT series. Pretty much everyone I know in poker has been to one or more of these at some point, and a good chunk of them have made FT's (or better) there, so it's time for me to give that series a shot, too. The blind structure and event lineup do look incredible.

I played a lot for the first time in a while yesterday and today. While I got nowhere thanks to some bad beats (and, I have to admit, some bad play in tonight's HORSE FTOPS event - I'm just not as good in stud high and, to a lesser extent, stud 8 as I am in razz), but enjoyed myself and am looking forward to the live tournament scene/FTOPS combination again. (Though, to be honest, the WCOOP events on Stars are much, much better for me - between paying less for them thanks to W$ and all of the odd events I can dominate most of the field in, it's no contest.) I don't think I'll ever play the live tournament scene as much as I would have said I would before the WSOP - it's just too draining an experience overall - but it's a nice change of pace.

Time to go see how wearing the "Stars Million Winner" jacket alters my image, heh.

edit: Added some pics - back from my 'pre-haircut' and 'pre-shave' phase, obv.