Step 4

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.

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.

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.

Done Already

Yes, it's not even 10:30 and I'm home already from the tournament. I actually played quite well and didn't get blinded off as usual. I got my money in with the best hand and was the victim of a donkey.

Here's the final hand. We were in level 5 with the blinds at 300/600 and I had the 2nd highest chip stack at my table with about 8000. I had AdKd on the button and a MP player raised to 1500. He had me slightly out-chipped with about 8800. I just called.

I looked at his stack and decided not to push all-in which is what basically everyone else at the table had been doing during that round. Since we were the 2 chip leaders at the table I thought I'd see a flop and go with it if it hit me.

The flop was KQ2 all hearts. He bet 2500 into me and I could only fold or move all-in. There's no point in calling here because if another heart came on the turn or river I would have to fold if he bet into me. So I moved all-in for my last 6500.

The dude took a while to decide which made me think he must've had a piece of the flop or at least a big heart. I was thinking I didn't really want him to call me. Finally he did call and turned over KcJs. He had top pair with a mediocre kicker and I was in great shape.

That didn't last long as the Jd came on the turn and the meaningless 5h came on the river. I was out after being beaten by a 3 outer. As usual, I just don't understand this play.

Why would he put his tournament life at risk with that hand? He had to assume that I was drawing with a big heart or maybe a straight draw or both. It still doesn't make much sense since he would've still had over 5000 chips and would be in good shape at our table still.

As it turns out, I was a 75% favorite before the flop and an 82% favorite after the flop. This is why so many people play poker. Anyone can win even when they make a bad decision.

I really only had 3 other significant hands. The first I had AcKc under the gun and was raised all-in on a flop of AK4 all spades. I made the call and my opponent turned over AdQs for top pair and the nut flush draw. My 2 pair held up and I doubled up.

The 2nd hand I had AK again (off-suit this time) and was re-raised all-in before the flop. It wasn't much of a raise so I made the call. My opponent turned over AQo and I was again in great shape. The flop came AJ2 so I was still looking good. But then the turn and river both brought Jacks so we split the pot.

The 3rd hand came just after the first break. I was in MP with 99. The UTG player raised all-in to 1500 with blinds at 200/400. I had about 5200 in chips and made the call. I only called because the BB had been playing almost every hand - even to a raise - and I wanted him to play this one.

The BB surprised me by re-raising all-in for about another 1500. Since the pot was almost 5000 I had to call the extra 1500 and hope I was in the lead. The BB actually had a better hand than I expected as he turned over AKo. The initial raiser had AJo so I was basically racing both of them. The final board was 77662 so I scooped the pot and eliminated 2 players. That was the highlight of my tournament.

Overall, I'm pissed that I went out so early and that I was the victim of a bad beat but I'm also happy because it was a great experience. I'm still trying to decide if I'd prefer to be the victim of a bad beat or if I'd rather go out by being blinded out of chips. The bad beat victim knows he got his chips in with the best of it but the other way I get to play a lot longer. I guess either way I don't make any money.

Recovering

I guess it's been a while since I posted on here. I've basically been recovering since the beating I took at both FullTilt and PokerStars. Since that beating I've dropped down to lower blind levels and I've started playing 6 handed tables.

So far the results for me have been great. I've been playing much more aggressively and I attribute that to being more willing to take some risks on draws. The bet amounts don't seem quite so huge and so I'm willing to put my money in to chase a draw more often now and it seems to be paying off.

In addition, I'm much more willing to attempt a bluff at someone who shows weakness. I've had this happen against me and now I'm willing to try it myself.

The scenario usually occurs when I'm in one of the blinds and I call a preflop raise and then call a bet on the flop. I usually do this with medium pocket pairs or AK and I can comfortably call a pot-size flop bet even when I don't hit the flop. Then if the preflop raiser checks on the turn I will usually bet into him on the river unless a scare card appears. I rarely get called when this I do this and it's easy to get away when I get raised.

I've had people do this to me especially at the higher blind levels I was playing at before and I've always suspected I'm being bluffed but the bet amounts were so large that I just couldn't call. Now I feel much more comfortable with the bet amounts that I'm willing to make this play myself.

I think this has really improved my game and my bankroll. I've read lots of articles about bankroll management and how sometimes you need to drop down in levels until you've recovered from a bad stretch. I've had bad stretches before but I've usually been able to struggle through them and remain at the same blind levels. This time I decided to drop down and see what happened. So far I'm happy with the results.

On another note, tonight I did something I haven't done in a long time but something I've wanted to do for a while. I went to Canterbury Park (my local card room) and registered for a tournament that's part of their "Fall Poker Classic". They've been running this series of tournaments each year for a while now and I've always thought of playing but just never made the effort to do it.

So tonight I plunked down my cash and registered for a tourney on next Tuesday the 16th. Hopefully I'll have some good results to post. I really don't play very many tournaments because they take so long to play and usually I only have a couple of hours each night to play.

I played in a tourney at Canterbury a couple of years ago. The top 11 places were given a trip to Vegas and entry in a satellite to play in one of the World Poker Tour events. Out of about 225 players I came in 23rd. For my first live tourney I thought that was pretty good but I was still disappointed that I didn't win a trip to Vegas.

On my last trip to Vegas I played in a small tourney and came in 6th place but of course only the top 4 were paid. It seems kind of common for me to just miss the money and I think that's because I keep playing tight as the tourney progresses. I've read lots of books about making moves as the tourney goes on and how you can't let yourself get blinded off but I just can't seem to pull the trigger when I'm actually playing. I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen next Tuesday.

FullTilt Crap

When I first started playing online at FullTilt Poker I was somewhat surprised by my results. After all, I had already been playing online for over a year at many sites and done quite well at each of those sites. But when I played on FullTilt I would win a little bit for about 4 to 5 days and then I would lose it all and then some. I couldn't decide if the players were better than me or my luck was just bad at FullTilt for some reason.

At one point I actually vowed never to play there again because I just couldn't win. After reviewing my play I decided the players were not better than me. They were just much looser than the other sites at which I played. And that led to much worse luck because that loose play invited bad beats.

I can't tell you the number of times I would see someone raise pre-flop and get called from someone in late position. Both players would get their money in after the flop. The cards would be turned over and the pre-flop raiser would have pockets Aces and the caller would have Q9o or other similar garbage. The flop would have a Queen on it and so the pre-flop caller would think they were good. And the bad beat 9 (or Queen) would always come on the river. I've seen this occasionally at other sites but not with the frequency that it occurs on FullTilt.

I'm writing this because even after I vowed not to play at FullTilt, I still went back to play. I am a "bonus whore" and FullTilt offered me some pretty good bonuses if I played on their site again. Plus I found a way to earn rakeback of 27% so that was enough incentive for me. Plus many of the other online poker sites no longer allowed U.S. players because of some idiotic legislation that the U.S. government passed so I was limited as to my choices.

After about 3 months of play on FullTilt, my results had changed and I was actually doing quite well. Until 3 nights ago that is. I cannot believe the plays I saw and the results that occurred.

Here's a replay of some hands at one particular table - a $3/6 no-limit hold'em table. After about an hour at this table I was about even and nothing terribly interesting had happened. Then a new person joined the table and he sat down 1 seat away from where the blinds currently were. And he immediately posted. This is one of the dumbest things I see people doing. They're going to have to post the BB on the next hand anyway so all they have to do is sit out one hand and then they'll be able to play.

But this donkey posts and checks when it's his turn to check or raise. Everyone folds and the button raises to the size of the pot. The donk calls. After the flop brings an Ace and rags he checks and calls the button's bet. The turn is another rag and he bets into the button and the bet calls. The river is another rag so this board has a bunch of junk and both players check. The button turns over AQo so he has a pair of Aces and the donk turns over K3o for absolutely nothing.

To summarize this hand the donk called a big pf raise with K3o when he was out of position and then proceeded to call a pot-size flop bet with nothing and bet on the turn with nothing. This was all I needed to confirm that a donk was at my table.

He solidified my belief when he proceeded to play almost every hand after that by limping into the pot and then calling down all bets when he had nothing better than bottom pair. He did this on many hands and actually won quite a few of them. I guess that's why he kept doing it.

The next hand I'll summarize is when I was in the SB with Td9d. The above donk limped as usual and by now half the table was limping too because we all knew that we could easily take his money if we hit the flop hard. On this hand the flop came down KdTsTh. Obviously I hit the flop hard and was quite happy when the BB bet the pot after I checked. The donk made his usual call while everyone else folded to me in the SB. I raised to the size of the pot and the BB re-raised all-in. The donk finally folded but there was no way I was going to fold since it wasn't that much more money and I easily had the BB covered.

The BB turned over Ks3s. According to CardPlayer.com I was an 88% favorite to win the hand. Of course the turn and river were both spades so he caught runner runner for a winning flush. I'm stunned when I see this crap. I can understand if he had QJ or a King with a big kicker but did he actually think he had a decent chance with a 3 kicker? And this wasn't even the same donk I was referring to earlier!

The next hand I'll replay occurred against the first donk I mentioned above. I was in early position and limped with 22 because like I said before, everyone was limping to get the donk's money and it seemed to be working (except for me). A player in middle position raised to the size of the pot and the donk called. Everyone else folded but I called since I was getting good enough pot odds and great implied pot odds.

Bingo! The flop comes Q62 rainbow and I have flopped trips. I check and the pre-flop raiser bets about 2/3 pot. The donk raises all-in and I call. The donk has me covered so I cannot raise anymore. The donk flips over QJo and I see that I'm a 98% favorite to win. Of course the turn comes another Queen which knocks me down to an 84% favorite and the river is a Jack to complete his runner runner full house that beats my full house.

These are the kind of donk plays I see at FullTilt all of the time. I have a hard time understanding why I can't win at this site when I'm usually getting my money in with the best of it. I know it's not rigged but this kind of crap sure makes you wonder. And really makes you doubt your ability.

Up Late Again

So once again, I stayed up until 1:00 AM last night playing hold'em on FullTilt and PokerStars. It was the usual 4 table setup - 2 tables on each site. At first I was holding steady at FullTilt but up pretty good on PokerStars. Then my FullTilt tables turned bad.

I was card dead - completely missing every flop when I raised pre-flop or getting no cards even worth seeing a flop. I usually follow up a pre-flop raise with a continuation bet on the flop and now I was getting check-raised pretty big on ugly boards so I had no choice but to fold.

After about an hour of doing well on PokerStars, my best table disintegrated. It usually starts when a couple of people decide to leave at the same time and within one round most everyone else leaves when it's time for the to post the BB.

So I was down to playing 3 tables and not doing well on any of them. The only consolation was that I did well at the other table that I just left so I wasn't down that much.

At this time I was also getting pretty pissed about the action I was getting. I was getting some pretty good hole cards - pocket Aces, Kings and Queens - but no one would call my pre-flop raises so I wasn't winning anything but the blinds. My strategy for entering a pot is to raise almost every time if I'm the first person in the pot and I will always raise the same amount. That way I do not give away the strength of my hand - I may have AA or I could have A4.

But it seemed like everyone knew when I had a big hand and they were folding or maybe I was just getting unlucky that no one else had a good enough hand when I did. Regardless of the reason, I decided to mix up my strategy.

The first time came when a guy in early position made a standard pre-flop raise. I had AA and just smooth called in middle position. I don't usually do this because it gives everyone else better pot odds to come in with things like suited connectors and AA doesn't play well in multi-way pots. After the flop, I made a minimum raise of his flop bet and he called. There were possible straight and flush draws on the flop so he probably believed I was drawing - which is what I wanted him to believe. He checked to me on the turn and I bet 1/2 pot. He check-raised me all-in and I was glad to call. He turned over TT and I won a nice pot. My pre-flop slow play seemed to work.

About 1 round later I had KK and just limped - very abnormal for me as I hate seeing an Ace come on the flop. Everyone else folded to the SB who made a decent size raise. I re-raised him to 3x his raise and he folded. This wasn't a huge pot but it was nice to get some action on my good starting hand for once even though it didn't even get to the flop.

Overall, I won a few bucks on the night but it was another frustrating night of few cards and little action. I'm starting to think about playing some smaller tourneys or at least some Sit-n-Gos just to get a change of pace.