It took a while tonight but I finally made it to Step 4 by winning a Step 3 tourney. I played 3 Step 3 tourneys tonight before finally winning on the 3rd try. Of course bad beats sent me to the rail in the first 2.
My first try at Step 3 ended when I called an all-in raise pre-flop. The pre-flop raiser was in the small blind and turned over 88. I was in the big blind and had JJ. The flop came 88Q. Yes, I was crushed by quad 8's after getting my chips in as an 80% favorite.
My second try at Step 3 ended when I moved re-raised all-in pre-flop with AK and the caller had AQ. This time it took until the river for the Q to show up and beat my unimproved hand. And this time we were down to 4 players so at least I won another try at Step 3 which I used to play immediately and finally win it.
One of the final hands of the last Step 3 that I won occurred with me getting lucky. We were down to 3 players and 2 of us would move on to Step 4. We all had right around 4000 chips with blinds at 300/600 and a 50 ante. We had been alternating winning pots by moving all-in on the button for about the last 2 rounds so we remained about even in chips.
Then I picked up KK in the big blind. I was praying for the button to move all-in because I was barely ahead of him and the tourney would probably end then. Instead he folded for the first time in 2 rounds and the small blind hesitated before moving all-in. I couldn't click the call button any faster.
He turned over AQ so again I was about a 70% favorite. He had me slightly outchipped so the tourney would've ended if he spiked an Ace. Lucky for me the board didn't hit him and he was crippled. The tourney ended a couple of hands later when I had AJ against his Q6.
So it took a while but finally paid off with a ticket to Step 4. I have a feeling the competition is going to be getting tougher but it seems like most of these tourneys come down to an all-in competition at the end anyway. So it seems to be a test of who has the most patience and the best luck.
Monday, March 31, 2008
21
Last night was the first night in a long time that I didn't play any poker. Instead I decided to see the movie 21 after the kids went to bed. I had read the book on which the movie is based over a year ago so I knew the general story behind the movie. I am very glad I chose to see the movie over playing poker.
I thought the movie was very good overall. It probably helps that I'm such a Vegas junkie and that's one of the reasons I was excited to see it. Unfortunately I was also able to pick out some of the flaws (such as you can't see the Bellagio fountains right outside your hotel room window if you're staying at the Hard Rock) in the movie easily because of my Vegas addiction also. Also, I probably should see the movie again to verify this but I think they screwed up on the card counting in the very first scene at the tables in Vegas. This should be something that is perfectly done since that is the basis of the entire movie. Oh well, maybe that's just the gambling addict/math geek in me.
Beyond the movie I've still been playing the WSOP Step tourneys on Pokerstars to try to win my WSOP Main Event ticket. I now have 4 tickets to Step 3 so I feel I'm doing pretty good. I haven't played in a Step 3 tourney yet but it seems to be one of the easier ones to get through since the top 2 move on to Step 4 (as in all the other steps) but also the next 3 get to retry Step 3. So over half of the table will remain in Step 3 or move on to Step 4. Hopefully I'll be reporting that I have Step 4 tickets soon.
I thought the movie was very good overall. It probably helps that I'm such a Vegas junkie and that's one of the reasons I was excited to see it. Unfortunately I was also able to pick out some of the flaws (such as you can't see the Bellagio fountains right outside your hotel room window if you're staying at the Hard Rock) in the movie easily because of my Vegas addiction also. Also, I probably should see the movie again to verify this but I think they screwed up on the card counting in the very first scene at the tables in Vegas. This should be something that is perfectly done since that is the basis of the entire movie. Oh well, maybe that's just the gambling addict/math geek in me.
Beyond the movie I've still been playing the WSOP Step tourneys on Pokerstars to try to win my WSOP Main Event ticket. I now have 4 tickets to Step 3 so I feel I'm doing pretty good. I haven't played in a Step 3 tourney yet but it seems to be one of the easier ones to get through since the top 2 move on to Step 4 (as in all the other steps) but also the next 3 get to retry Step 3. So over half of the table will remain in Step 3 or move on to Step 4. Hopefully I'll be reporting that I have Step 4 tickets soon.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Starting Up Again?
I've decided to try this blog thing again and hopefully I can keep this going this time. My current job is unbelievably boring and uninspiring so maybe I'll take some time to write this at work (like I'm doing now). I'm also thinking about expanding some of my posts beyond poker.
As for this post it'll still be about poker mostly as I'm preparing for the World Series of Poker (WSOP). I've dreamt of playing in the WSOP for a few years now but I've never seriously dedicated myself to it. I can't exactly afford the $10,000 buy in to the Main Event so I'm attempting to win a seat through satellite tourneys. I'm playing in a series of "Steps" tourneys to try to win my seat. There are 6 steps total and they're just a series of "Sit and Go" tourneys against 8 other players. For the most part the 1st and 2nd place players move on to the next step until step 6 when only the winner gets a seat to the Main Event.
I tried this type of Step Tournament a couple of years ago and was unsuccessful. I actually made it to the final Step back then but went out in 5th place. Needless to say I was very disappointed so hopefully this year will be different. So far I have a couple of "tickets" to step 2 and another couple to step 3. I'm trying to accumulate a few tickets to each step as I move up to give myself a better chance. That way if I go out in step 6, I will have another ticket to step 6 at my disposal.
I'm already going to be in Vegas during the WSOP but not during the Main Event. I will be there during one of the preliminary events that costs $1,500 to enter. I don't exactly have that kind of cash to blow on a poker tourney either so I've set a goal for myself.
If I don't win a seat to the Main Event as described above, I've decided that if I can win $3,000 (twice the buy-in) that I will use half of it to buy my entry. When I set this goal a little over a week ago, I had already done quite well this year so I thought it was an achievable goal. Unfortunately I have only had a winning session one time since and now I need to make a comeback to have a chance at that goal.
The original reason for my Vegas trip in June was for the Olympic Judo trials with my brother. I'm not big into judo although I find it interesting so I was basically using it as an excuse to go to Vegas (I seem to find lots of excuses for that). So even if I don't get to play in either tourney in the WSOP at least I'll still be in Vegas having lots o' fun.
As for this post it'll still be about poker mostly as I'm preparing for the World Series of Poker (WSOP). I've dreamt of playing in the WSOP for a few years now but I've never seriously dedicated myself to it. I can't exactly afford the $10,000 buy in to the Main Event so I'm attempting to win a seat through satellite tourneys. I'm playing in a series of "Steps" tourneys to try to win my seat. There are 6 steps total and they're just a series of "Sit and Go" tourneys against 8 other players. For the most part the 1st and 2nd place players move on to the next step until step 6 when only the winner gets a seat to the Main Event.
I tried this type of Step Tournament a couple of years ago and was unsuccessful. I actually made it to the final Step back then but went out in 5th place. Needless to say I was very disappointed so hopefully this year will be different. So far I have a couple of "tickets" to step 2 and another couple to step 3. I'm trying to accumulate a few tickets to each step as I move up to give myself a better chance. That way if I go out in step 6, I will have another ticket to step 6 at my disposal.
I'm already going to be in Vegas during the WSOP but not during the Main Event. I will be there during one of the preliminary events that costs $1,500 to enter. I don't exactly have that kind of cash to blow on a poker tourney either so I've set a goal for myself.
If I don't win a seat to the Main Event as described above, I've decided that if I can win $3,000 (twice the buy-in) that I will use half of it to buy my entry. When I set this goal a little over a week ago, I had already done quite well this year so I thought it was an achievable goal. Unfortunately I have only had a winning session one time since and now I need to make a comeback to have a chance at that goal.
The original reason for my Vegas trip in June was for the Olympic Judo trials with my brother. I'm not big into judo although I find it interesting so I was basically using it as an excuse to go to Vegas (I seem to find lots of excuses for that). So even if I don't get to play in either tourney in the WSOP at least I'll still be in Vegas having lots o' fun.