I completely morphed into a newbie-donk last night. All of my poker wisdom went down the drain when I committed my chips with my no-pair-no-draw-hand. To make it worse, 338 of us had started the $33 MTT Freezeout and when I committed the aforementioned sin, we were down to 19. Idiotic.


Everything up until that point had been going my way. I started the tournament in a splashing mood, probably just a little too excited to be playing, but settled down quickly after losing a couple of mini-pots and then found my groove. Well, sort of. I put myself in a horrible spot in the beginning, when I didn’t raise AhJs from the blinds. Went like this:


I’m the BB with AJ (stack: 2300). Villain is UTG+1 (stack 2820). Blinds 10/20.

Villain, UTG+2, dealer and SB all limp. I check my option.

(Pot 100) FLOP: 2 A 5
Check to me, I bet 65. Villain and SB smooth call.

(Pot 295) TURN: A
Check to me, I bet 190. Villain and SB smooth call again. (DING-DING-DING! Alarm bells should be going off right about now – like BIGTIME!!)

(Pot 865) RIVER: Q
Check to me and I put out a defensive bet of 390. Almost immediately villain raises to 1140 and the SB gets out of the way. Any hands do that, which I have beat? A10 raise on the river in that spot? OF COURSE NOT! Like the donk I am, I pay him off and he shows 2,2. I even muttered “fives?” to myself, when I called so why I actually did is beyond me. A lot of players nowadays can fold aces when the board comes down 7,8,9 with a flushdraw, but trusting your read and folding STRONG trips in the above spot is still a move reserved for the really good players out there. I want to count myself amongst them, but obviously can’t yet.


This hand left me with a stack of 885 and put me on the defensive right from the beginning of the tournament. Everyone was toying around with 150BBs, whereas I had to be careful about what I did with my pitiful 40BB stack. For the next 20 or so hands I stayed quiet. Picked up 88 and won a decent raised pot, where the flop came down 6,2,9 and no one seemed to be interested. Even raised a few limpers out of LP with 9,10 offsuit and took down the pot with a c-bet on a 2,J,6 board. Then I caught lightning in a bottle.


I’m UTG+1 with 33 (stack 1455). Everyone covers me at the table. Blinds 30/60.

UTG limps, I limp, as does UTG+2. Folds to the CO who minraises (?). EVERYONE calls (obviously). 7 players:

(Pot 420) FLOP: 3 2 J
SB checks, BB bets 150 and it folds to me. Because I’ve got so many players after me (including the original raiser) I elect to just call here and hope to get it in, when somebody raises. To my dismay, 3 of them just call and the original raiser folds!

(Pot 1170) TURN: 4

SB bets 345, BB calls and I’m getting a little worried what might be out there. Clearly, I’m not folding here and I raise all-in, total of 1245. It folds to the dealer who re-raises all-in for a total of 2145. At this point I’m thinking… “No way… it can’t be”. Everyone folds and what am I looking at? A straight. Of course. He called the flop with 56 and hit. I start to mouth the word MO-THER-FU… but never managed to complete my thought, before a 2nd 4 lands on the river.


Still in it. Got real lucky there, but who cares – STILL IN IT! I now have a stack of 4005 and am above average. My next big spot comes up a couple of orbits later, now with blinds at 25/50. I’ve been chipping up a little bit, but haven’t been very active.


I’m the button with JJ (stack 4435).

UTG, MP1 and the CO all limp and I raise it up to 290 total, which is my standard here (140 normal raise + 3 limpers at 50 á piece). The SB (stack 2505) immediately pushes all-in and the limpers get out of the way. In my experience, this is AK almost all of the time. Not many people play AA and KK that fast and although there’s a slight possibility that villain has QQ in his range here, I think I’m most likely to be up against AK or a baby-pair. I elect to go for the small-equity play (in case he has AK) and call. He shows big-slick and I move up to 7140 chips, when the board runs out 8-high. Now normally, I try not to take these flips too early in a tournament, as I feel confident I’ll be able to chip up with less risk, but I was so confident in my read that I just had to go with it.


My first big pocketpair came along during the 50/100 level, when I picked up kings. There’s always that excitement for a player, when he/she picks up aces or kings during a tournament. Is someone going to raise? – can I get it in before the flop? – can I fold my big pair if the flop is ugly and there’s too much action? – and if you’re holding kings, at least for me – there’s the old classic: God, I hope someone doesn’t have aces. The hand played out like this:


I’m MP1 (stack 8000) with KK. Villain is UTG+1 (stack 6165). Blinds 50/100.

UTG folds and villain minraises to 200. As I’ve stated before, I usually hate playing against a minraise, but obviously a lot changes when I’m holding kings. I re-pop him and make it 650 total (which, when I look at it now, should’ve been 750… hmmm, not sure what went wrong there). Everyone else folds and villain calls.

(Pot 1450) FLOP: 8 2 6
I can’t hate that flop, since I am holding the king of hearts, but since I put his min-raising-range on small pairs a lot of the time, this might have hit him. He checks to me and I bet 950. He just calls. At this point, I know he doesn’t have a set, but his range includes medium pairs Ah-X type hands and obviously a flopped flush, if someone really has it in for me.

(Pot 3350) TURN: 7
He checks to me again. I don’t mind the 7 at all, especially since it was black. A strange 87 type hand is not part of his range, I think, so I confidently bet again. This time 1900. He calls again.

(Pot 7150) RIVER: 4
He checks a third time and now I know I’m good. I’ve got 4500 left in my stack, constituting roughly 60% of the stack and as a value-play I stick it all in. He ponders briefly and then folds. My new stack stands at a hearty 11650 and I’m quite happy with the way I played the hand. He only had approx 2600 left by the time we got to the river, so I’m not sure I could have extracted more out of him than I did. I have to wait a bit again for my next spot, but in general my patience is very good and I’m staying away from marginal hands.


I’m the BB with QJ (stack 11500). Villain is in the SB and is the same guy from the last hand (the KK hand), but he has managed to double up in the meantime, so now sits on 4590 chips. Blinds 100/200.

It folds to the SB who completes and I decide to disguise my hand a bit and just check.

(Pot 400) FLOP: 9 7 T
He leads with 200 (minimum bet) and I figure I’ll just end the hand here with a raise, so I make it 700. To my surprise he calls the extra 500. Guess he has something.

(Pot 1800) TURN: 4
Well that just got me a flushdraw to go along with my straightdraw. There’s no way I’m folding now. Again he bets the minimum of 200 into me and I instantly move my stack in. I figure I’ve shown strength on the flop already and he’s been pretty weak up until now, so I should have a decent amount of fold equity. He surprises me once again and calls almost immediately. He shows 5c8s (must have been steaming since the KK hand?) which actually gives me the best hand at that point. The Ah on the river is therefore irrelevant. My new stack is a respectable 16090 and I’m amongst the leaders of the tournament.


I pull off my first 3-bet-steal of the tournament during the next blind level. The guy one to my right has been really active, coming into pots with a variety of limps, minraises and standard raises. When I pick up A8 on the button, I decide this might be a good time to slow him down a bit. Surely enough, it folds to him (blinds 100/200/a25) and he makes it 650 to go. I decide to make it a little less than 3 times his raise, as I know that a lot of players perceive it as a sign of strength. I make it 1850. He thinks for a while, using up some of his timebank and finally lays down his hand. Even acknowledged me with a ‘nh’ in the chat afterwards! Safe to say I was probably behind in that hand.


I tangle with the same guy once more, not too long after the above hand. Blinds are now 125/250a25 and I’m in the HJ (stack 16790) with A5. Villain is still next to me (stack 17475). We are the two biggest stacks at the table. It folds to villain who raises to 600. Given our history and his general activeness, I elect to smooth call.

(Pot 1800) FLOP: Q 6 Q
He checks and I see no need to get pushed off my hand right now, so I check back.

(Pot 1800) TURN: 3
This time he puts out a small bet of 750 and something doesn’t feel right. It’s the sort of bet most guys would make after seeing the flop go check-check. I elect to call and see a river, before I make up my mind – also, I’ve got position.

(Pot 3300) RIVER: A
The ace on the river is fine, I guess – as it does give me a better hand against some smaller pairs, but at this point I’m really just concerned with whether he’s sandbagging a queen or whether he’s got air. He bets out again, but it’s only 1250. A blocking bet, as I see it now (didn’t think that far ahead while I was playing). Obviously, a spot for me to raise here as I most likely have the best hand. I didn’t do that though – instead I just called. He shows J,10 and was basically full of it.

Analysis afterwards: I should’ve raised the river. I don’t see him playing a queen that way (turn, maybe – but not the river) so when the ace hits, I should be confident about having the best hand. Pair of 4’s, 5’s or maybe even something like 9’s might call me off on the river.


Then I folded. A LOT. For the longest time that I can remember ever having to continually fold. Absolutely no playable hands and when there were, someone had raised in front of me. By the time the next hand came up, my stack had dwindled a bit, but I was still in good shape. Once again, I chose not to believe:


I’m the SB with A6 (stack 12715). Villain is on the button (stack 12530) with blinds at 200/400/a50. It folds to villain who raises to 1100. I elect to call and the BB folds.

(Pot 3050) FLOP: A J J
I check to him, expecting the mandatory c-bet. He obliges, but only puts out 900. I just call. At this point, I’m not putting him on a jack as I don’t think anyone would play it that way. A smallish bet, when you flopped trips gives your hand away, so either you check it or you bet properly (half or 2/3 of the pot).

(Pot 4850) TURN: 3
I lead out this time with 1200 once the “safe” card hits. If he has an ace and has me outkicked, perhaps he’ll buy that I have the jack. He raises after a bit of thought to 3200. I’m still not buying that he has a jack, but I am a little concerned about my kicker. What I don’t understand though is why he doesn’t buy me having a jack? If he has a hand like A10, wouldn’t he – in position – just call my turn bet to keep the pot small and then evaluate on the river? I call.

(Pot 11250) RIVER: 9
So the flushdraw got there and I’m a little thrown off. Had almost forgotten about that. I check. He thinks for a while and I get the feeling he wants to move in on me (I’d have to call, the way I played it) but eventually checks. When I shove my hand, he mucks and the pot slides my way. I check the history and he raised me on the turn with 2,2. Gutsy. New stack: 18665


Again I go back to folding. I’ve checked my hand history and as I noted in one of my previous blogs, a lack of aggression late in tournaments is something I need to work on. There were however no +EV spots that I missed out on since my last hand – either there was a raise in front of me, or someone was coming over the top. In particular one guy, I noticed, was being very active. He was calling a lot preflop and taking stabs postflop, which was working well for him. I waited until I had position on him and a decent hand to do battle.


We’re 7-handed and I’m the HJ with 910 (stack 17440). Villain is the BB (stack 33945) with blinds at 400/800/a75. It folds to me and I raise to 2100. Both the SB and the BB call.

(Pot 6825) FLOP: 9 5 6
The SB checks and the villain bets out 3200. I had seen him do that on one other occasion where he was subsequently raised and then called all-in with a strong hand. However, if I’m raising a suited 9-10 at that point in a tournament, I have to go with it, when I flop top-pair. So I shoved for 15265 total. The SB folded quickly and the BB let me sweat a bit before he too let it go.

Nothing too special about that hand, other than I was happy with my aggression at that point. In previous times I might have folded preflop and I might even have folded post-flop (or just called) – both of which are horrible, IMO. I saw a total of 190 hands in this tournament before busting and I’ve now fast-forwarded to # 180. From here on I play 3 more hands. 1 well and the last two are the basis of today’s blog-title.


Hand #180. I’m the BB with 9T (stack 22165) and villain is SB (stack 32774) with blinds at 500/1000/a100. It folds to the CO who limps in with only 861 chips behind. He had just lost his entire stack in the previous hand, but why he doesn’t shove it all in, I don’t know. It folds to the SB who raises to 3000. That’s an isolation-raise, clear and simple and I bloody hate them. Plus I don’t like people messing with my BB. I therefore elect to call, expecting the limper to put his last few chips in and then I’ll have a chance of outplaying the SB. Unexpectedly (VERY FUCKING unexpectedly), the limper folds. Hmmm… ok champ.

(Pot 7800) FLOP: 8 3 J
The SB bets 4000 and I am giving him credit for absolutely nothing. The bet is weak (considering the drawy type of board) and I’ve got my own draw, so I confidently move all-in for a total of 19065. He folds. Stack 30865 and on to a poorly played hand.


Hand #182. 7-handed with blinds at 600/1200/a125. I’m the button with 55 (stack 30140). The villain is the same guy from the last hand, this time in the CO (stack 25549). Folds to the CO who raises to 3300. I call and the blinds fold.

(Pot 9275) FLOP: 4 3 Q
The CO checks and I check behind for pot control. Not willing to commit myself just yet.

(Pot 9275) TURN: 9
Now he bets, but only the minimum of 1200. Every single bone in my body is telling me to raise. Make it 4200 and win the hand right there. He clearly has nothing. I can’t make myself do it though. My mind starts playing tricks on me, convincing me that he’s trapping with some HUGE hand and instead I just call (again – why call if he has a “HUGE HAND”? To hit a set? Yeah, that’s real clever).

(Pot 11675) RIVER: T
Oh God how I hate that card. Does it get any uglier? Villain bets 1200 again and I feel forced to call. He shows K10 and takes the pot. I curse myself (literally and out loud) for being such a dweeb and look for something to throw from my desk. I find nothing.


Hand #190. We’re now 6-handed with 19 people left in the tourney. I’m sitting on a stack of 21640 which is good for about 14th at the time, but more significantly blinds are still 600/1200/a125, so I’m not in any real predicament yet. I pick up KQ in the HJ (or UTG+1 – whatever you prefer) and raise to 3200. At this point I’m just looking to pick up the blinds, but I won’t mind if someone calls. The SB obliges (stack 67626).

(Pot 8350) FLOP: A 5 9
Talk about completely whiffing that flop. The SB checks and I go to represent an ace with a bet of 4500. Now he minraises me. Already I hate this guy. I haven’t seen him do it yet, but I have seen how minimum raises become part of the arsenal of many players, late in tournaments. And I’ve always wondered…? Is it just a cheap way of testing whether I’m for real? I know I don’t have enough chips to seriously put him to a decision if I were to move all-in and he knows this as well. That way, if I do move in, he’ll know that I have to have an ace in that spot and then he’ll fold even though almost anything he holds would dictate a call? FOR CRYING OUT LOUD WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF?!!?

I reraise all-in for a total of 18315 and he snapcalls with A10. Of course. What was I thinking. Idiot.


Lessons learned:
1. Don’t be an idiot.
2. Don’t be an idiot, when you don’t have fold equity
3. Just don’t be a fucking idiot


Played a few STTs alongside the above tournament, which resulted in an overall session result of: USD 52.14


Starting bankroll: USD 5,347.08
Session result: USD +52.14
New bankroll: USD 5,399.22
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 281

Thanks for reading.

My girlfriend is studying for her Master’s degree here in Sydney and from time to time, she seeks my advice on various subjects, when she struggles (she’s pretty smart, so mostly she just takes care of business). The latest example hereof is an accountancy paper that’s due next week. All day Wednesday of last week I spent reading through the bloody thing, trying to make sense of what is still – at least to me – some of the most illogical crap you’ll ever find in the business world! I have a piece of paper from my days at school, certifying that – supposedly – I should know accountancy. Theoretically, I should know all about double-bookkeeping, reading balance sheets, filling in income statements and determining what might be a liability and what is most likely an asset. Here’s the rude awakening: I just BARELY passed that course back in the day and literally had to re-learn it all, just so that I could help my girl out. Result = Less time for poker.


I did play a bit on Thursday and Friday, mostly comprised of STTs, but also a few 18-pp, 27-pp and even regular MTTs in there. I came 14th in a 20+2 MTT which was good enough for an in-the-money finish and I came 2nd and 3rd in 18-pp tourneys, so overall I made a profit, but it wasn’t pretty. In particular one 6-person STT where I finished 3rd (top-two getting paid) still bugs the hell out of me. We came into 3-handed play with me holding roughly 60% of the chips and one of the other two only shoving JJ+. It’s SO easy to play against guys like that and yet I managed to screw it up.


Counting the rakeback I got, the total profit for those two days came to a measly 67.45. I’ll take it, I guess.


So, the plan was instead that I would use the weekend to get a fair bit of playing in. Instead, I decided my time would be better spent enjoying the shit out of myself and simultaneously punishing the crap out of my body. It started Saturday where I played back-to-back season-opener matches (1 for the reserve team, where we won 8-0 and stand-by for the 1st team, where we won 4-3). I scored one hell of a goal in the 1st game, where I lobbed the ball over the keeper from the edge of the 18-yard-box and then turned to face my onrushing teammates, who were rushing to hand out deserved accolades for what will most likely be a goal-of-the-season-contender! Imagine checking the turn, after c-betting the flop and then coming over the top of villain’s river-bet with absolutely nothing (‘cause you just know) – resulting in his fold. Now double that feeling and you’ll get how pumped I was about scoring that goal!

Still left Sunday to get some tournaments in and make some headway towards my goal. Well, never got that far. My girl and I decided to head to Cronulla Beach with some friends of ours to learn how to surf! Our instructors were a couple of happy-go-lucky-blonde-and-long-haired-“dude exclaiming”-and-“sweet wave”-proclaiming-not-a-care-in-the-world-wave-catching-guys who did their jobs well. By that I mean, ultimately we all made it up onto the boards and even managed to stay up for a few seconds, before getting pounded by another wave. I would love to say that I was a natural, at one with the sea and similar crap, but blatantly lying has never been my thing. Instead, stubbornness and crude perseverance is what ultimately brought on some very limited personal success.


Starting bankroll: USD 5,279.63
Session result: USD +67.45
New bankroll: USD 5,347.08
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 283


Thanks for reading.

I spent a few hours these last few days, railing some of the bigger online tournaments. Because I’m in Sydney, a lot of the Sunday tournaments’ final tables form during the morning hours, so I was pleasantly watching the action with a cup of coffee in my hand after a relaxing night’s sleep (I feel for the Europeans in these tournaments).


I was watching out of general interest, but obviously also paying attention so that I might pick up on the intricacies of late tournament play – something I openly confessed to needing assistance with, in my last blog.


In fact, I’ve really gone back to becoming a student of the game and this blog has played a vital role. Because I’m reporting HOW I do (and more importantly WHAT I do) I seem to be more alert and more deliberate in my actions. Because I also wanna do well, I’m a lot more intent on improving my established skill-set by way of learning from others – as well as myself. Just yesterday, I decided to do a full review of all hands from my most recent MTT and I went about it as analytically as I could. I figured the objective would be to gain a more thorough understanding of an MTT in general, but also try to unlock any of my inherent traits, which might be hurting my overall success. Here’s what I got:


The last time I played I – incredibly – managed to make another final table. My tournament selection this time was as follows:


Tournament 1: $5.50 rebuy MTT – 14th place Profit USD -15.50
Tournament 2: $22 Freezeout MTT – 5th place Profit USD 122.00


I thought I’d played well throughout the tournament (another in-the-money finish, 5th overall – I mean, come on – that’s not bad right?), but after having reviewed my hands I’m not so sure. A few stats first:


For the sake of this analysis, the following definitions apply:

- Hands played = Hand that did not fold preflop
- Early Position = UTG, UTG+1 and UTG+2
- Middle Position = MP1, MP2 and HJ
- Late Position = CO, Dealer


TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS SEEN: 194
TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS PLAYED: 44

Comments: I don’t have much to compare this to, but off-hand seems ok. I’m playing roughly 23% of hands and don’t think it should be a lot more (or less, for that sake) than that.


TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS, RAISED: 25
TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS, LIMPED: 5
TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS, CHECKED BB: 5
TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS, CALLED RAISE: 7
TOTAL NUMER OF HANDS, RERAISED: 2

This really bothers me. The limped hands aren’t that bad – except for one. Actually, they’re all from the SB except for 1, so it’s not all bad. Still - just because somebody limps ahead of you, does NOT mean you need to follow suit (no pun intended) and limp along with Qd9h. No, the bothersome part is the number of hands I reraised. I did it twice – both times out of the blinds and both times with a pair (9s9h & JsJh). Incidentally, I won both hands but not the point. With my new focus on late-stage tournament play, I’ve come to realize that this is a leak of mine. I’m simply not protecting my chips well enough. Need to start looking for spots, at that stage of the tourney, where I can come over the top of a raiser, when I think he doesn’t have it.


TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS, PLAYED FROM EP: 6
TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS, PLAYED FROM MP: 6
TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS, PLAYED FROM LP: 12
TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS, PLAYED FROM BLINDS: 18

These figures seem fair enough. Except for 1 hand (raised 7d8d from UTG, just ‘cause it’s soooo pretty) I had the goods each time I raised from EP (inter alia, AA twice), I was very solid from MP as well (KK twice) and apart from a poorly played 6s5s that I raised on the button, as well as a loosey-goosey call with Ac2h from the SB, I can’t find too many errors in my LP/blinds play too much.


The last statistic I’ll share is my ‘frequency of involvement’ – a phrase I coined just now. Please send me a couple of bucks, if you decide to use it. This table is pretty crude, but it proves my point.

Hands 1-30: 9 involvements
Hands 31-60: 8 involvements
Hands 61-90: 9 involvements
Hands 91-120: 8 involvements
Hands 121-150: 1 involvement
Hands 151-180: 7 involvements


From my last blog, “ Once I get close to the bubble, I definitely try to loosen up my game and thereby take advantage of the weak/timid players ”. Well, that’s just a load of bullshit isn’t it? A convenient little sound-bite that I probably picked up from a poker-player with ACTUAL BALLS between his legs. Geez, I’m a pathetic fucking wimp aren’t I. Rhetorical. Don’t answer that.


Starting bankroll: USD 5,173.13
Session result: USD +106.50
New bankroll: USD 5,279.63
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 289


More to come. Thanks for reading.

As the title of this blog hints at, I’m running really well at the moment. I’m not sucking out with 3-outers, in fact I’m not really getting myself into bad spots – it’s more ‘running well’ in the all-of-my-70/30-spots are-holding-up kinda way and as I’m sure you’ll agree with, that just creates a yummy feeling deep down inside, hard to compare with anything else.


I’ve bundled two sessions into one blog this time, cause I couldn’t be bothered to write one for each. My latest sessions involved the following activity/results:


a) $6.60 rebuy MTT – 10th place (FINAL TABLE); Profit USD 25.46
b) $11 Freezeout MTT – 10th place (FINAL TABLE); Profit USD 43.00
c) $11 STT, 6 players – 1st place; Profit USD 31.00
d) $11 STT Deepstack, 10 players – 3rd place; Profit USD 9.00
e) $15 Freezeout – 23rd place; Profit USD 21.36
f) $7.70 rebuy – 27th place; Profit USD 19.09


So 4 MTTs and 2 STTs and I made the money in all of them. Total profit was no more than 148 dollars, but it’s evidence enough that I’m doing something right and that the larger payday is somewhere around the – hopefully not too distant – corner.


MTTs (a) and (b) were pretty standard. In the Freezeout I only JUST made the final table, without actually ever sitting at it, when two of us went out at the same time – he having had fewer chips to start the hand with. My shove was pretty standard. Blinds were 1250/2500/a250, we were 5-handed and with a 25K stack I picked up A10 in the CO. Big blind happened to have jacks – so be it.


My exit in the $6 rebuy was a little more questionable though and after reviewing the hand, I think it’s a VERY marginal situation. Next time I might fold. The final table had just formed and on the 2nd hand I pick up KQ in the CO. Blinds are 2500/5000/a500 and I have the second-shortest stack at 36K. Bear in mind though, that everyone was playing insanely tight leading up to the FT, so the average was no more than approx. 60K. We’re nine-handed and it folds to MP+2 who shoves for 62K, folds to me. What’s correct here? In my experience, as soon as you get to the final table, people loosen up considerably, so I think it’s fair to assume that his range is not just JJ+ here.


I remember clicking call and not liking it very much. Based on the stack-blind ratio it seemed like an insta-call opportunity, yet I wasn’t feelin’ it. My mood didn’t improve, when the dealer snap-called right after. MP+2 flips over two red nines and the dealer showed AK. Hmmm… still unsure.


Not much to tell about the other tourneys or the STTs for that sake. One thing did however become very clear. I have failed to adjust properly to bubble-play and late-stages-play in MTTs. Especially one guy in the $15 freezeout was a real pain in the neck, but I was basically letting him walk all over me. It dawned on me when I was reading Annette_15’s blog earlier. She was referencing a few articles on the Betfair site written by Marcus Bateman and in particular one of them was a real eye-opener. Once I get close to the bubble, I definitely try to loosen up my game and thereby take advantage of the weak/timid players – a sound strategy. I simply failed to be aware that someone might be watching me, like I was watching them. Two to my left was this douchebag, who kept coming over the top of me. God, did I feel owned.


Anyway, something I’ll try to be more aware of.


The one last thing I’ll mention is volume. I’m clearly not putting in enough volume right now to make any serious headway towards my goal, so that will need to be rectified. Right now I’m just happy with my results and hope to keep it going.


Starting bankroll: USD 5,024.22
Session result: USD +148.91
New bankroll: USD 5,173.13
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 294


More to come. Thanks for reading.

Tournament 1: NLHE, 5 dollar buy-in & 584 entrants. $2,000 Guaranteed Prize-pool.
Tournament 2: NLHE, 25 dollar buy-in & 135 entrants. Double-stack event.


That was the line-up for the day. As I hinted in my last post, I made deep runs in both of them and played well for the most part. A few hand histories coming up – you be the judge.


A general note first though. I’ve been doing some thinking about what my general edge in tournaments is. Obviously, I think I’m better than the average player – otherwise I might as well flush the buy-in down the toilet, but that aside, I doubt I’d be able to put a number on my ‘skill level’ if I tried. Does it really matter? Well, probably not, but sometimes I like to boost myself a little bit, before going into battle and reminding myself that at a 10-handed table, at least say… 6 other players are worse than I am, oftentimes does the trick!


Having just written the above paragraph and knowing that mates of mine might be reading this, I just realized how pleased I am that I didn’t start talking about my skill level OUT-LOUD! Make no mistake, had I done so in their vicinity – at least 99% of them would be either rolling on the floor laughing or barking ‘BULLSHIT’ behind muffled coughs. That’s just good-natured needling and part of how we roll. So many tiers of irony and sarcasm, you wouldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t have it any other way though.


Last thought on skill-level needed when playing MTTs. This might seem radical to some, might just seem stupid to others, but consider this: If you are consistently the second-worst player at any table, but the best at identifying and exploiting the worst player, you should have a theoretically sound chance of finishing 9th in every tournament you play. Right? Talk about random thoughts…


So, I played the aforementioned two tournaments. Just went through my hand histories and I saw a total of 185 hands in the $5 tourney and 213 hands in the $25 tourney. Won’t bore you with all the hands, but here are a few interesting ones:


NLHE, 5dollar. Standard online tourney which starts me off with 1500 chips and 10/20 blinds. I raise good hands during the first two levels, but don’t get much action and it’s not until the third level (20/40) that I find a good spot. With 1415 in my stack I open AQ to 110 in MP+2 and am called by the dealer and both blinds.

Pot 440, FLOP: 6A9

Check to me and I bet 280, roughly 2/3 of the pot. The dealer, who started the hand with 1870 in chips, now moves all-in and the blinds fold. Without a very specific read, there’s no way I’m ever folding here and the fact that there’s a flushdraw out there helps. I call, he shows A3 which doesn’t hit. A very easy double early in the tournament.


For a long time, nothing interesting happens. I’m not getting out-of-line and because of my early double I have absolutely no reason to. During the 40/80 level I raise two queens to 220 from UTG, get two callers and take it down on the J-high flop. No tough decisions required.


I do get a little lucky during that same level, as not too long after the queens, I find myself in the HJ with two jacks. UTG minraises and it folds to me. I hate this spot. The UTG raise completely polarizes his range (at least in my experience) and I have no idea what to do with my hand. As a result, I just call the 160. It then folds to the BB who moves all-in for 3900 (covers both of us) and UTG SNAP-calls with his stack of 1600. It’s on me and I have an easy fold, guessing the BB is in big trouble. Turns out it’s the BB who’s got the kings, whereas UTG must’ve thought he was picking off a steal, as he shows a measly A7. (Note: Wouldn’t have put A7 in the UTG’s range and have decided to chalk it up to poor play – just because I don’t know what else to do with it, but I’ll be aware of it in the future).


By the time we get to the 60/120 level, my stack is still hovering around 3K with no interesting confrontations to write home about. I then face another UTG minraise:


I’m UTG+1 with QJ and again I just call the 240. MP+1 calls as well, as does the BB. 4 players:

Pot 1020, FLOP: AQ8

The original raiser checks to me and I remember checking my stack at this point. Only in the last few months have I become more aware of my bet-sizing and what opportunities you can create for yourself by calculating what one bet will leave you with, stack-wise, for subsequent streets. After the flop I had 2820 in my stack and was getting ready to bet. Since I might not have the best hand on the flop, I figured I might also need a substantial bet (close to the pot) for the turn, if I’m called on the flop and don’t make my hand. Incidentally, my ‘usual’ flop c-bet would be 2/3 of the pot and that worked out nicely here too. By betting 660, I was leaving myself with 2160 for the turn, which – if called by 1 player – would represent approx 90% of the pot. MP+1 decided to tag along as the only one.

POT 2340, TURN: 6

It’s always nice to get there, but in this spot I was so ready to jam my stack on a semi-bluff, that I really didn’t know what to do with a made hand. My days of playing Omaha eventually took over, meaning I stuck it all in there anyway. It has the added value of actually looking like an all-in-desperation-bluff, which is sometimes rewarded in low-stakes-MTTs. In this case it was – MP+1 thought for a little bit and called me with A10. Stack afterwards: 6660.


Jumping ahead to 125/250/a25 after a few uneventful levels, I find “that one big hand” which all of a sudden catapults me up towards the chiplead. My stack has at this point grown into approx 10K:


UTG limps with 3700 behind and it folds to me on the HJ with 89. Up until this point, the table has been quite acquiescent towards EP limpers, creating limp-festivals. With that reasoning, I decide to limp behind with my suited connector. The CO, who just covers me, comes along and it folds to the BB who checks. 4 players:

POT 1375, FLOP: 489

I’m obviously loving this flop, but hadn’t quite counted on getting as much action as I did. BB leads for 1350, UTG calls and now it’s on me. The pot is an awkward 4075 and I’ve got roughly 9500 – again a spot where I’m not quite sure of myself. Stick it all-in now because I’m getting it in no matter what happens, or raise a little bit because there’s value in letting them come over the top of me? Still don’t know. I end up making it 4000 to go and then something unexpected happens. The CO, next to act, moves all-in. BB folds, UTG calls and I… well, also call hoping for the best.


UTG shows: JJ - CO shows: A10. Just checked the odds calculator and those two hands combined are approximately 50% versus my hand. Guess I only needed positive equity against the CO, but still – should/could I have played this differently? Think I’d have to do the same thing if faced with a similar situation. As you might have guessed, board bricks out and a little more than 25K in chips slide my way.


At blind level 300/600/a100 it folds to me on the button with 97, I raise to 1800 and the BB calls. I c-bet 3200 on the 5JQ flop, he moves all-in and I have to fold. Not happy with this play. I had been opening quite a few pots and should have known that somebody was bound to play back at me soon – 9,7 offsuit just isn’t good enough for me to go into battle with.


More patient but boring tournament play for the next few levels and by the time we reach 500/1000/a100 I’m sitting on circa 20K in chips. On the button I pick up AK. The CO, who covers me, makes it 3000 – I reraise all-in and the BB calls all-in for a little less than 10K. CO folds, I’m up against 77 and win, when I flop an ace. Stack is now 35K.


We’re now down to two tables in the tournament and I pick a weird line in this next hand.
Blinds 800/1600/a160. I’m the SB with 44. We’re 8-handed and 1 before the HJ raises preflop to 4800. I’ve got 32K and he covers me. I’m the only caller.

POT 12480, FLOP: 45K

Basically, GIN! What SHOULD my thought process be in this hand??

A: “Down to 16 in the tourney, you’ve flopped a huge hand, just check it to the other guy and hope he bets. You’re not afraid of giving away free cards, cause he’ll probably bet draws anyway.”

B: “If you lead into him now, he’ll probably remember that you did the exact same thing 133 hands ago against that other guy, who called you down all the way and picked off your ridiculous bluff, wherefore it would make the most reverse-opposite sense for you to bet out now and completely throw him off. In fact, it is almost guaranteed that he is an absolute maniac, even though he hasn’t shown that yet, but against you he probably will be – cause they’re ALL out to get you – so hurry up and bet into the guy, so that he can push all-in with his hand that most likely hasn’t hit anything”.


I bet 7500, he folded and I felt like an idiot.


I didn’t make the final table in this tournament, but not much I could’ve done: Still 8-handed but with blinds at 1000/2000/a200, I pick up AK UTG+1 and make my standard raise to 6000. The CO who was nursing a 6BB stack moves all-in and a little surprisingly the SB (who covers me) just calls. When it gets back to me, I re-shove my stack for 33,200 total. SB now folds and I’m racing against two red jacks. He makes a set on the flop and wins the hand.


After this hand, I was still left with a little more than 21K, which wasn’t too bad at that point. However, the tables had just been balanced, we were now 7-handed AND the blinds had just gone up to 1250/2500/a250. When I saw a pair of 5’s UTG I insta-shoved. Guess that should be standard when your M is slightly less than 8, but it still hurts when the SB calls with AQ and you go out in 14th place.


The NLHE 25dollar tournament I played simultaneously and ended up coming 13th there. I busted almost at the exact same time as the 5dollar tourney and also here my final hand was a small pair not holding up against two overcards. I’ll get there eventually, but the Aussie Millions is still quite far away.


Starting bankroll: USD 4,991.90
Session result: USD +32.32
New bankroll: USD 5,024.22
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 305

Until next time. Thanks for reading.