Howdy folks!

So, I’ve been on something of a heater the past several weeks, having gotten deep in a bunch of stuff, shipping several tourneys and getting top three in several more. This success has made me thirst more than ever for what I have yet to accomplish—a five-figure score

I’ve been close twice in the past couple of weeks, final tabling the FTP 65K twice, but going out early in both (as I reported in my last blog entry).

The point is that I feel that in the past couple of days I’ve been playing concentrating too much on the goal of the five figure score, and not as much on what has, imo, lead to my success lately: playing a good volume, and playing solid poker.

If you put in good volume, play solid, and put in hours away from the table reviewing hands and such; you should be able to get deep in donkaments. And if you really work on your late game—namely abusing bubble situations, weak spots looking to move up and can spot table conditions that allow for obscene aggression—then you stand a good chance to make a top 3 run and maybe ship le donkament.

The day before yesterday I started my usual grind at 7pm, and quickly ran like garbage, making early exits from everything. I began running pretty well, and by ~1am had decent stacks in everything I was playing: Tilt $10r, Tilt $501r1a, Tilt 11pm $109 6max and the Stars 11pm $109. I busted everything just short of or into the money except the 6max, where I made a questionable CRAI on an AQ7hh flop with QTs after just flatting what was a really active opponent PF from the SB. In retrospect I think I should have just 3bet him PF.

Yesterday was much better. I played well, and felt like my focus was really on, especially late into the night when I started to get deep in the Tilt $501r1a. Around the final two tables stacks started to get really shallow, and I hung around ~23BB by abusing a couple of tight players’ blinds, but was really unable to do anything in the way of resteal, and was completely card dead.

The FT bubble broke, and not too long in I coolered a poor fool with KK to his QQ and found myself in the top 3 with ~6 left. I played really well and was able to get HU, where I began to get absolutely destroyed. Every time I opened the BTN he 3bet. Every time I 3bet his BTN opens, he 4bet AI.

I was able to lucksack a doubleup JT>KJ, and got back to about even. I decided that with how aggressive he was I would just lay back a bit and tarp the fool. One hand I raised the BTN with KQo and he flatted. He checkraised a low dry flop and I shoved. He folded and I took the CL.

At this point he had literally 4bet shoved every single one of my PF 3bets. I finally found a hand to call:

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 4,000/8,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): 360,267
SB: 281,733

Pre-Flop: (14,000) K A dealt to Hero (BB)
SB raises to 20,000, Hero raises to 62,000, SB raises to 280,733 and is All-In, Hero calls 218,733
Flop: (563,466) 8 7 Q (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: (563,466) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (563,466) Q (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 563,466 Pot
[I]Hero showed K A (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-281,733 NET)[/I]
[I]SB showed J 8 (two pair, Queens and Eights) and WON 563,466 (+281,733 NET)[/I]


Sigh. I won the next hand QJ>TJ, but then shortly thereafter lost 44<55. Whatever, ship the ~$3300 for 2nd.

In a semi related brag, I made what was a pretty nasty call in the Stars 1am $109. I time banked down to about 10seconds, knowing I had to fold, but just knowing that Villain couldn’t have a hand with the line he took. I mean really all I could give him was KK/JT or complete air. And I thought that even KK would lead the turn. Anyhow here it is:

Poker Stars, $100 + $9 NL Hold'em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero: 14,792
BTN: 7,460
SB: 20,175
BB: 8,410
UTG: 23,177
UTG+1: 11,125
MP: 12,925

Pre-Flop: (1,050) Dealt to Hero: 9 T

3 folds, [COLOR=red]MP raises to 1,200[/COLOR], Observer folds, Hero calls 1,200, 3 folds

Flop: (3,450) 8 9 K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: (3,450) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
MP checks, Hero bets 1,200, MP raises to 11,675 and is All-In, Hero calls 10,475

River: (26,800) J (2 Players - 2 are All-In)

Results: 26,800 Pot
[I]Hero showed 9 T (a straight, Seven to Jack) and WON 26,800 (+13,875 NET)[/I]
[I]MP showed 6 A (high card Ace) and LOST (-12,925 NET)[/I]



So, looking forward to the MSOP ME, a $109 on Tilt with their superstacked structure and a $250,000 guarantee. This tournament is sure to have tremendous value, and if I ship it I’ll probably take Sunday off and do something other than set money on fire.

Regards,

Hagbard

Been a while since my last post.

I've been putting in some good volume, but am consistently getting disappointed in big tournaments.

Since my last post I've final tabled the FTP 65K ($150+13) twice, but ended up 7th and 8th respectively. My 8th place finish last night did make for a profitable Sunday (Joy!), but was still really disappointing as I ended up busting 44<KQo for a pretty big pot that would have allowed me some room to maneuver to the top 3. Oh well, lol donkaments, etc.

A couple of days ago I shipped the FTP $20r--the one in the afternoon. It feels nice to ship tournaments, and it seems that shipping these soft, small-field tournaments that run in the afternoon or late at night are key to good, solid profitability in MTTs. However, I'm just so thirsty for a 5-figure score. I'm getting close, but I just need to close one of these muthas out.

Anyhow, I'm going to grind this afternoon in an attempt to make FTP's top 200 monthly TLB. I have about 80 places to go, so hopefully I'll run good in one of their super soft afternoon donkaments.

Regards,

Hagbard

The past couple of days have been bittersweet.

We'll start with yesterday.

The sea was angry that day, my friends, and I'm surprised I made it through. I've always considered myself relatively free from tilt, and able to handle crisis/tough situations with a zen-like level-headedness. Yesterday, The Being Which Moves Through All Things decided to test me.

I played at my girlfriend's place, as she has an iMac with a huge monitor and I wanted to really grind. Starting at seven, I fired up the FTP 35K and the 7pm 109 on Stars along with a 20/180 and the 7:30 FTP $20r 6max. I also registered for the two $26s and the FTP 65K that start at 8.

At about 7:50pm, the wireless signal went out. This has happened before, and it is a pain in the ass. But you just go into the next room, unplug the modem and router, plug the modem back in, and plug the router back in. Viola.

It didn't work. I tried it again (about a 2min process). No dice. I am becoming frustrated. But I just breathe and try it unsuccessfully one more time.

Plan B is to shut down the computer and then the router/modem and then boot them all back up together. This also fails.

By now I am sitting out of 7 tables. All of humanity is fortunate that I am alone in my girlfriend's apartment.

I make the decision that to try the unplugging/replugging one more time without success would be too much to bear, so the computer must be moved into the room with the modem to be plugged-in directly.

The iMac is a cinch to unplug, and I'm lugging it into the other room when I realize that there is nothing really to play on. No surface. There are a number of tiny tables that would drive me and my six foot frame mad to have to grind at for six or seven hours.

I quickly abort the mission and go back to the desk and as I'm putting the computer down I knock over my full cup of coffee which spills and begins covering the desk and all the wires and cables and such.

I am still sitting out of 7 tables. No, I am not high.

The coffee--fortunately--doesn't permanently damage anything, and is cleaned up quickly. When the computer is turned back on, the signal is back and working fine. I think it was spilling the coffee that did the trick.

I played pretty well, but lost all my crucial flips. I did manage to run really well on the bubble of the FTP $501r1a and make the FT. However, I lasted only until I 3bet shoved AKo and ~17BBs over a CO open who called with 22 and held (7th place).

Today I played a more relaxed grind as I didn't get much sleep last night. I started at 8 with the FTP 65K and the two $26s and then played the Stars 100K and the FTP $501r1a.

I got there and coolered fools to go deep in the 65K, and ended up making the FT, but made what I think might be a suspect reship to go out 7th.

With 16BBs I shipped over a UTG open. The table was a few of giant stacks and then a few baby stacks. I felt that although he did open UTG that we were relatively shorthanded and with his stack he didn't have to be opening really tight UTG. I also thought that with 16BBs I might still have some FE that is going to be gone once the blinds pass.

However, I think that with the shorties at the table, UTG might only really be opening hands that he's capable of calling one of our reships with. Anyhow here's the hand:


Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 2,500/5,000 Blinds, 600 Ante, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP: 157,128
CO: 91,728
Hero (BTN): 74,602
SB: 300,454
BB: 275,691
UTG: 207,409
UTG+1: 74,988

Pre-Flop: (11,700) 6 6 dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG raises to 12,500, 3 folds, Hero



So, I busted 7th in this, too.

Still, I'm feeling really good about my play. I reviewed my 2nd place finish in the FTP 30K (109 6max) from last week and am really pleased at the changes I'm making on the bubble and into the money. That being said I really want to start closing every FT make.

If anyone would be interested in swapping HHs sometime post a comment or ship me a PM.

Off for couple of days but back to the grind soon enough.

Regards,

Hagbard

I took last night off playing in order to spend some time with my girlfriend.

And by taking time off that means that I played the 12pm 109 on tilt, the 1pm 109 on stars, the 1pm 75 6max on tilt and the 1:30 501r1a on tilt. I built stacks in nearly all of them by allowing horrendous eurodonks to give me their stacks. I then proceeded to bust short of the money in all of them trying to outplay horrendous eurodonks that don't fold. I have this problem sometimes, where I know my edge is coming from my ability to play solid poker and not really leak, but instead get tilted at how bad my table is and just try to run it over and outplay everybody. It usually ends up with me busting in some outrageous fashion.

Anyhow, I ended my day of playing at about 4pm, reviewed my 10r win from last week, and then went for a bike ride to the park where I worked on my jump shot and crossover.

I then showered and took a nap while I waited for the Mrs. to get out of work. The call came in about 9 that she was nearly finished. I swooped over to the restaurant where she works and had a beer while she finished.

We had decided to go see The Happening, M. Night Shyamalan's newest film. I liked The Sixth Sense. I have not liked one of his films since. It is my opinion that he is garbage. However, the previews for this film were good and the film seemed promising.

We walked to the theater, bought our tickets and some popcorn and soda and entered the theater relatively excited for the film.

Oh my god what a completely and utterly horrible film. Apparently the vegetation of Earth has decided that human beings are a threat, and are releasing an airborne toxin that makes humans kill themselves. The plants--yes, those harmless trees bushes and blades of grass--have decided just to target the East Coast of the US as a warning to us to stop our destructive and consumptive ways.

This in and of itself is not a horrible premise for a film. But what horrible execution. The acting was abysmal. The aesthetic was totally unremarkable and at times downright cheesy.

The best part of the film, personally, was an exchange I had with the theaters management:

I had been laughing throughout the film, most likely ruining it for anyone dim enough to be enjoying it. I've only walked out of one other film in my whole life: The Mexican. But about 45 minutes into The Happening I was ready for my second.

"I can't take this anymore," I said to Shannon.

"It's so bad," Shannon laughs.

"I'm going to go see if we can get some free vouchers," I said. "If I get some free passes, would you leave?"

"Sure, I don't care."

All I needed to hear. Bouncing out of my seat, I headed off to the lobby in search of the theater's decider. The lobby was empty, however as i contemplated helping myself to some candy from behind the counter as a gesture for my poor experience, a manager came down the steps.

"May I help you with something?" he asked. The manager was a younger guy, probably in his early 20's, wearing his shirt and tie as you might imagine a 20-year-old would.

"What's your policy on free passes?" I asked. "This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen."

A wide, shit-eating grin stretched across his face. "You wouldn't happen to be in The Happening, would you?"

I burst into laughter, and he reciprocates.

"I saw it the other day and just sat there wishing I had gone to see The Hulk. And I don't want to see the Hulk," he said.

"I've only walked out of one other film in my life, The Mexican," I said. "I mean this is terrible, any way we can get a couple of passes?"

"Well, you've already watched like over half of it," he said as he checked his watch.

"How about you give us one pass; there's two of us," I propose.

"Alright, I can give you one pass."

I thank him and introduce myself. His name is Chris. As he prints out my voucher, we discuss the film, and that the concept itself wasn't bad, but that the execution is just about as bad as you can imagine. Chris ends up printing me one voucher for two passes, so that we can both come back and see a free movie. I thank him and shake his hand. One thing that makes me happy is when a manager of an establishment--be it a theater, restaurant, whatever--does the right thing. He wishes me the best as I head in catch the end of that piece of shit.

"The ending is by far the worst part," he said as he laughed his way back up the steps.

Anyway, the ending was very bad, and Shannon and I left very unsatisfied, but pleased that we had been treated well by the theater. We grabbed some pizza, and then went home.

----------------

Today I am going to GRIND, baby, GRIND! Here's to shipping that 20K+ score!

Sooooooooo...

I've been a member here for a long time, but have really only used the site to lurk, reading other member's blogs, etc.

However, in a recent attempt to take poker more seriously, improve my game, and just generally make a name for myself; I've decided to keep a blog. My hope is that keeping a regular blog will keep me honest about my game. Sure I could just not update when I play bad, but I'll just be avoiding myself, which never turns out well if you've ever tried it.

By way of an introduction: I grew up in Michigan, and now live in Burlington, VT. I went to school for way to long to never graduate, and currently sit about 24 credits away from a writing degree from Champlain College.

I've been playing poker for a couple of years, but have really only taken it seriously for about 10 months. I was playing online tournaments and live cash when I met my current backer through a friend in an online forum. Since then--February--I've been playing online tournaments up to $216 in a quest for a big score.

I've had pretty decent results--especially this past week when I shipped the Stars $50 1r+1a, the Tilt $10r, a Stars 20/180 and took 2nd in the Tilt 30K Guarantee ($109 6 max), my second 2nd in that tournament. I've been playing really well lately, especially late and in bubble situations where I've been finding myself accumulating more easily than I ever have.

Anyhow, I look forward to regularly updating this blog, and hopefully meeting some new poker friends.

Regards,

Hagbard