Tournament #14

Notes:


Place: 5th or 6th

(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tournament #13

Notes: End of a long afternoon. Just takin a break

etimray, lunamargot, and vitamina x all short stacked b4 big blinds reached 40...

bochtu is playing calling station from the lead

Had to leave so all in w/A 7 and out

Place: 6th

(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tournament #12

Notes: Do not tilt. Chained off of #11. I think the takeaway is: the best smartest player in poker can and will lose on any hand, any bet. IT IS GAMBLING.

(Duh.)

Not that I'm the best smartest player but those were the optimal plays I lost on. Or at least not "blunders"

Oh my pechuma calls all in w/pocket 5's after flop -- no trips, over cards on the board...kayten takes her stack

cashew3 calls through 4th w/ace high, w/2 q's on the board

skycanvas calls all in after hitting his 10, falls to kayten who pushed w/ flush draw

watch for flush draws -- these people will not fold them, it seems.

playing so as to induce the other player to fold is death in these games. it presumes rational behavior on their part.

called kayten's bullying push on 4th after she hit A on flop -- I hit A Q on 4th. She had A 5 no flush draw. I did not see the flush draw on the board but i was pot committed even if i had

Possible strategy: stay super tight until 5th or 4th place is open. Then there might be more rational players remaining.

In the money after cashew goes all in after hitting a 9

Think I got pot committed too soon -- kayten slow plays trip 3's and takes most of my stack

kayten is a calling station

kayten finally shows me some respect -- folds after i reraise

10 bb's in 3rd place -- if I can watch these two kill each other I could live to 2nd

Was ready to go all in blind but pushed from bb after hitting my 9. kayten had held off after hitting flush.

kayten is an upside down player.






Place: 3rd

(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tournament #11

Notes:
Wow, I'm having a reality check. I must not have been doing as well as I thought before.

Or maybe I'm misusing some advice I got (Phil Gordon, I'm looking at you.)

Anyway, I'm waiting for Tasha to get her hair done and listening to B98.5. I'm sitting in Cafe Aroma and itching to get a win under my belt.

Luxedo all in after hitting ace. Sheva takes it with slow played flush (I folded flopped str8 after sheva raised me)

First 3 hands I phantom flopped str8, str8, and set of 3's -- 2 of them would have won

Allisson with slow play of pocket rockets wipes out kathybarrett

I need to stop mucking around pre flop is the thing

flop 2pr, rivered again, this time by pokerjoker who calls all in w/pocket k's tripped on the river

I hate to think like this, but I wonder if this is partly the donk effect of $1 tournaments. Pokerjoker should not have been there for that river. I'm not gonna play the hellmuth game and lecture him or get all bent out of shape but I need to recognize that this shit will happen playing at this level. I read an article about good players adjusting their play due to the presence of lucky maniacs, but I'm not good enough to know what to adjust.

Unbelievable. All in from 150 chip stack w/k 10. Flop k's; 10 on 4th. 4th club on the river and I'm out in 7th.

I know I'm playing right.

That was sort of inevitable -- with a 150 chip stack all in, nobody really had any strong reason to fold.

Place: 7th

(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

All in pre

So I notice my last few losses all came from going all in pre flop. It's obviously a flawed strategy / leak. What's the leak?

KK
KA
QQ

All wound up dominated

It seems I need to understand more about all in pre flop before I try to keep doing it.

Tournament #10

Notes: Just playing for fun. 44 oz of IPA later.

I have a strong sense that I will probably never play the same person twice in these 100 tourneys. So these notes have a shelf life of only one tournament each. Unless I gain some insight into my own play.

Folks seem to be playing tight. Nobody messing with anybody. Dojbop went all in w/trip 6's first hand, fell to white jackal's 4 flush

I'm playing in a style I played prior to this blog -- watching only my hands and reading blogs when not playing.

I'm also abandoning the strategy of cultivating a bs table image in order to rake in when I have a hand.



Jackal is playing ten foot tall and bullet proof from behind the big stack, raising or betting every hand

Basically just watching everybody fall to Jackal's steals and hoping I last longer than they



White Jackal is a maniac. He just pushes every hand he's in.

And he finally falls after everybody including me doubles up on him

kuberman seems willing to call pre flop if it's just you & him but doesn't mess around after that

 I don't seem to have any table image at all that I can figure

5th place all in pre flop w/kk

dominated by drstevil ka on river









Place: 5th

(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tournament #9

Notes: Almost didn't open this window but thought the notes might help. It's what I'm here for, after all.




Everybody's playing really loose -- means I play tight, right?

sens6527 calls (small) push from ivan with k 8 off and ivan finishes 8th

sens plays hard

I'm getting used to the "not limping in" concept. I do follow limpers when I have something. I'm going to stay out of the habit of "raising in" with no cards. That's no way to play marginal cards.


all in pre vs. the sens -- his qq's held up to my k a

Poker is such a fucked up game. Observe: I push w/qq in tournament #8 and lose to caller w/k a. In tournament #9 I push w/k a and lose to caller w/...qq.

I'm not sure that either of those plays were true blunders. Well -- one of them probably was.

Or both. Maybe the blunder is pushing. Obviously, I need to reconsider pushing so early in the game. I knew sens would call, so I was putting myself at the mercy of fate. Not a good place to be, apparently, for me.

Place: 7

(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tournament #8

Notes:Just got back from a great audition. Here's hoping I'm too busy to play soon!

(Not that I'm scared to play, just would rather be doing a show.)

negro raises first pre, called by blackheart, who plays his aces hard until negro folds

negro pushes w/a k from bb, jenn calls w/a rag and loses now she's all in from position and out

oops I seem to be cultivating a bs table image again got to watch that. I won w/ j high and even bet but now who will fold when I want them to? Nobody, that's who...

num1nana all in w/5 5 pre and dominated by north but i would've dominated them both! Question: I had 1700+ to her 500+ -- was that a call for me? I don't think so, not with north to my left probably raising his kings

2 callers to a push from short stack Ingeborg -- so I push my QQ and get called by the other 2 callers immediately and see my q's dominated by K A in the flop. 6th place.
 

Place: 6th

(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tournament #7

Tournament Number: WHO CARES???

(I'm not gonna bother keeping the tournament number any more)

Notes:

I'm playing a 2nd in the same day because I played well even though I lost. Let's see what happens.

Hopefully I don't go on cumulative tilt.

supermagrao with the opening hand check raise

annabellerose calls my preflop raise with -- 9 8 off? Then keeps calling while Ace and others show on board...gut shot calls...

annabelle rose calling station out the door

3rd place @ 100

I have got to get out of the habit of randomly raising to "keep people on their toes." They're walking around on their toes with my chips.

I'm tied near the bottom but no need to panic we're all in a clump down here

az devils 444 will push in a heartbeat don't play him unless you're ready to push too

i cultivated a bs table image in order to rake in when i got some hands. then i never got any hands

i took az's play away from him -- pushed before he could he called me and i doubled up

cincykid on tilt pushes and finishes 4th I AM ITM

pushed with 7's, tj calls with k 8 (no reason not to) he pulls a straight on the river and I finish 3rd

Maybe pushing wasn't the play there, but I was really short stacked. Probably could have called I don't think tj would have raised.


Place: 3rd
(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tournament #6

Tournament Number:

Notes:
Sort of a whim. Still want to follow Gordon's advice: never limp as the first to voluntarily enter a hand. Play tight in the beginning.

So I limped first hand but I WAS NOT THE FIRST so I feel ok even though I lost

Gildan calling all the way didn't showdown so i don't know what he had

Peirce betting with nothing (I knew cause i had something :)

Should have bet my set q's

pedro all in (from last place) w/6 4 suited & a 4 on the board

peirce calls w/o hesitation w/ 4 ace suited & flush draw -- wins w/flush and bye bye pedro

peirce makes a good bully

gildan is shaping up to be a calling station -- beware & be

nevermind, called all in w/q a off & lost (kong calls w/kk)

peirce plays out of position & check raises

trying something a little different -- limped (not first!) w/kk

Naturally ace on the board so I bet pot and got all folds.

peirce was REALLY thinking of raising...

man oh man peirce loves to check raise

didn't help with robin's quad 8's

llamarhar all in w/flush draw, lost to a higher flush draw

ha ha i check raised peirce and he folded

I must have some crazy table image nobody will call me



Peirce pushes w/pocket 2's AFTER THE FLOP and glenn calls he's down to 470



glenn pushes w/a high pre and loses to pocket 6's from robin

jess can't read me be careful but be aggressive

genghis likes to push out of position when I raise, it seems

jess bets the flop from sb and folds to my raise from the bb

jess calls all in w/ka suited & beats my ka off flops the flush

I don't think that hurt my table image any, anyway

Just won probably my last pure bluff for this tournament -- at least until I chip up a little

i'm in last place but not that far behind



durrr robin pushes when i raise big pre flop -- 2nd time she's done that to me got to remember

and just like that robin is down to 20 chips after going up against jess who had her dominated

i push with jj from 4th place naturally jess's 10 a holds up on the river

I think pushing was the play there.

3rd & 2nd both fell on the river, too, I observe...not to say that justifies my play, I don't think it really needs justification.


Place: 4th
(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tournament #5

Tournament Number: 161082469

Notes: Feeling ok. A little cramped for time. Keep it slow.

Flyin15sec &ginohouben called twice pre

krebslein raised first time pre flop

both folded

redsox raised 2nd time

gino all in w/flush draw, redsox called with mid pair (pocket q's w/k on board)

mentor poker all in call w/flush draw (3 hearts on board, flyin had it)

whenman plays big w/high pair and loses

whenman not bad doubled up on pocket rockets

flyin pushes with 2 hearts on board, claims it wasn't a flush draw.

truth be told, I don't know what to make of most of these folks. I just play my hands, steal when I think I can, play it straight from the beginning and watch people fall.

whenman, ever in a hurry, pushes with kk and is dominated by krebslein's ka

massagem pushes with rags on the board after i raise him preflop

massagem calls my preflop raise, folds after i bet half my stack on flop. Guy just doesn't care about small bets i guess

remember that for when you have a hand

darkwizard seems to be a bit of a puss -- i will raise when he's in bb unless flyin limps

playing under phil gordon's rules seems to leave me not flying so high but doggone if i'm not doing badly at all. 4th out of 5 and stealing from wizard like a mf

durrrrrr...got into a pissing match with redsox who has like 3x my chips

got into short stack play and finally pushed when i shouldn't have -- didn't intend to call all in but wound up dominated. That was a definite tilt push. Even from short stack there was no reason to call that.

4th place



Place:
(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tempted again

Probably not a good idea to play another tonight. I'm upset about some things, tired and just took a Nyquil. But if it weren't for this blog I probably would

Tournament #4

Tournament Number: 160841166

Notes: Just got up from a nap. Updated spreadsheet. Wanting to play.
grizzly103 seems to be playing every hand
3 hands in and roborangutang hasn't played yet




le gnou all in @flop after reraising robo preflop -- no callers

Played the game, lost to le gnou who flopped top pair and just kept calling my little pair from bb

le gnou likes the all in play




do not go up against le gnou pre flop

and jpmorgado 1st to go: all in with top pair @ flop but not top pair for long
faber23 all in w/set of q's -- loses to agnes's all in @river w/flush

I'm not really here to do play by play of the tournament am I? Still these also give impressions of the players themselves.

I think I'm overplaying the (rare) hands I find myself in

roborangutang seems to play hard WHEN HE PLAYS and he wins without showdowns
krustofskii calls all in with low pair...loses to garretts...not knocked out yet tho
 -- garretts played his pocket 10's straight up, too

roborangutang WILL PUSH if you don't play -- and sometimes if you do

krustofskii goes after calling all in on le gnou -- le gnou had flopped a set (of 6's!)from bb

and robo is gone after calling le gnou's pushing with mid pair (ace kicker) -- le gnou had high pair ace kicker LOL

grizzly slow plays the flush, I push when I hit my A, and I take 5th place again. Probably a dumb play on my part

Truth be told, I should have seen the flush draw and stayed frosty

Place: 5
(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)

Tournament #3

Tournament Number: 160776836

Notes:
Feeling kind of icky but anxious to play.

Phil Gordon: Never enter a pot VOLUNTARILY without raising.

How does that sit with playing tight in the early stages? It means: only play hands you're willing to raise on entry. AND they'd better be super tight because most others will be playing the low stakes / high return game.

1st hand jq off, raised 1 bb -- Gordon also says, only raise the same amount for middling hands as for big hands. I think that makes sense. I might adjust my next raise to 1.5 bb but keep it at that.

Failed to make continuation bet, afrojoemama made an ok bet from the button

afrojoe played big with nothing, down to last place but still alive

I reraise afrojoe w/99, he pushes -- I fold I think that was the play

Next hand he pushes with nothing but outs, and gets called -- with 99! 99 takes the pot and he's gone. I still think I made the right play even though I had him made for a maniac

I LOVE PHIL GORDON

stadebrian calls my flush all in -- he had hit his king. that hand might have been multiway if i hadn't raised.

(This reminds me -- I also like to call all in with high pair. DON'T DO THAT)




I have to type in my bets in order to raise 1.5 bb -- I like it...

I was thinking today -- I had been enjoying my "step" model where I played one tournament at a time at whatever level I'd reached (not the FTP step tournaments which I also enjoy). Maybe I could do 100-tournament steps? So depending on how I do on this 100, make the next 100 $2 tournaments...

Wow -- I just folded k 10 off -- had no position...glad I did too cause yelsew pushed and won with KA suited. See, I would have limped and folded before Phil (BP)

Trupulet all in with Ace high and loses to competetodefeat who calls with -- ace high

Lisandro is playing the calling station angle on compete -- pushed but he didn't go for it

I'm getting folded to almost every time i raise pre flop -- haven't had a single showdown I don't think except for the all in

Blackguards 1bb raise in lb I call in bb -- we tie. He had kq off I had kx -- pure luck but I like the way I played it.

I'm not paying as much attention to the other players as I have in the previous two tournaments.

Maybe because I'm playing so many fewer hands? Maybe because I have a sense they're all goofballs?

I reraise lisa preflop -- she pushes and I fold QQ

yelsew plays the river masterfully -- I didn't bet enough to knock her off her 4 4 w/kicker

And the finale was sick -- yelsew32 raises preflop with 4 5 off suit, I push from last place w/q 10 suited, yelsew flops a full house! SICK!

Truth be told, I didn't have enough to knock her off of anything...no...she made an idiot play and won anyway. That's the definition of sick. I don't think a good player would have called my all in with 4 5 off suit.

Place: 5th
(1st = $4.50; 2nd = $2.70; 3rd = $1.80)