So, I am back playing online at Full Tilt Poker. Despite the fact that I have always been a winning player in live games and tournys, I have never been a winning player online. This is not to say that there have not been times when I was ahead a pretty substantial amount online, but I always seem to give it right back. I am still not 100% sure why I have troubles online, as it is essentially the same game with weaker players. I have some friends that I consider myself better or comparable to in live games, who are winning thousands of dollars a month playing online, and I do not see how they do it and I seemingly can not.
Nevertheless, I am back online and trying to grind out a profit. As usually happens with me online, I won the first few sit-and-go's I played in and made some profit early. I then subsequently gave it back playing in multi-table tournys. I took an especially brutal beat close to the money in a multi-table tourny. I woke up with pocket queens and had roughly 5,000 in chips. The blinds were 100/200 ans I open raised for 600. It folded around to the button who re-raised to around 2,000. I immediately re-raised all in and he called just as quickly. He turned over A/K and I was not happen to see I was in a coin flip for my tourny life (or close to it as I had him slightly covered). The flop and turn were blanks and all I had to do was sweat out the river and I would be well above the chip average and coast into the money. But, as often happens, the game of poker can be vengeful. The king hit on the river and crippled me. I was all in on the next hand and lost, I hit the rail like 3 players off the money. I was stunned and annoyed that once again 2 hours of play went up in smoke with a brutal river card. Earlier in the day I had pocket aces cracked by jack/10 suited to bust me out of a tourny. This is just how online poker seems to go, though I seem to get the worst of it, or at least that is how it feels. I used to get a lot more upset about beats like this online, and it probably cost me money. I never tilt in live games, but I used to a lot online. I have worked on that and have gotten a lot better. Hopefully that will lead to some big online wins.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Donk Fest
I got home from work just in time for my roommate (also a poker junkie) to talk me into going to play in a one table poker tournament at a bar. I of course accepted, because I like both poker and beer, so clearly this was a win/win proposition. On the way to the bar, my roommate explained to me that this game was a bunch of bad players (aka. Donkeys) who played every hand and called down every draw. I have played in plenty of games like this, so I just adjusted my style of play to be tighter and more trappy, hoping to win a couple big hands and wait for the bad players to go broke.
This table was as advertised. The first hand I played came about 10 hands in, and I open raised with AQ suited, and was called by 3 players. The flop came 3,3,10 and I checked and folded to the player behind me who bet. He turned over 2,3 offsuit. He called my raise with 2,3 offsuit! This was definitely a table of bad players. I was getting few hands, which is a problem when playing at a loose table, because you are not guaranteed to get your big hands paid off because there is always someone to out flop you. I was the short stack early on, with 8 or so players still left and the blinds were rising pretty fast. I kept playing tight, scooping the occasional small pot and eventually a couple uncontested all-in's when the blinds got up there. Next thing I knew I was at the final 4 players. I was still somewhat short, but not totally. As luck would have it I picked up AQ suited again and my roommate (who was the big time chip leader) raised in front of me. I immediately went all in and he made the call with A9. Jackpot. I doubled through and coasted into 2nd place and a 50 dollar profit from the night. My roommate made 12o, and our other buddy came in 3rd. We could have just stayed at home and played I guess. I managed to make more money than I spent on my tab, and that is a good thing.
This wasn't exactly the biggest or best game I have ever played in, but it was fun. And fun is important, because that is why we play, to have fun. It is ok to play in a loose game with bad players sometimes for the sake of fun, even if it isn't always great for the bottom line.
This table was as advertised. The first hand I played came about 10 hands in, and I open raised with AQ suited, and was called by 3 players. The flop came 3,3,10 and I checked and folded to the player behind me who bet. He turned over 2,3 offsuit. He called my raise with 2,3 offsuit! This was definitely a table of bad players. I was getting few hands, which is a problem when playing at a loose table, because you are not guaranteed to get your big hands paid off because there is always someone to out flop you. I was the short stack early on, with 8 or so players still left and the blinds were rising pretty fast. I kept playing tight, scooping the occasional small pot and eventually a couple uncontested all-in's when the blinds got up there. Next thing I knew I was at the final 4 players. I was still somewhat short, but not totally. As luck would have it I picked up AQ suited again and my roommate (who was the big time chip leader) raised in front of me. I immediately went all in and he made the call with A9. Jackpot. I doubled through and coasted into 2nd place and a 50 dollar profit from the night. My roommate made 12o, and our other buddy came in 3rd. We could have just stayed at home and played I guess. I managed to make more money than I spent on my tab, and that is a good thing.
This wasn't exactly the biggest or best game I have ever played in, but it was fun. And fun is important, because that is why we play, to have fun. It is ok to play in a loose game with bad players sometimes for the sake of fun, even if it isn't always great for the bottom line.
Monday, May 21, 2007
May $50 Tournament
So every month I play in a 50 dollar buy-in tournament with around 30 people. This months tournament came around Saturday night at 7pm. I was hoping to do well, because I felt I had been playing well, but have just not had the results to match. This would not be easy, because there are a lot of very good players in this game, most of the best players I know in Orlando would be playing. The month before I had played very well but managed to bust out on the money bubble when my pocket queens got run down by pocket 10's. This made me even more pumped up about playing well this time around.
This all sounded good in theory, but an hour into the tournament I had already lost 3 thousand of my 10 thousand starting stack when the bad luck would get worse. I picked up K10 suited in diamonds and called a small raise from the big blind. Me and 2 other players (both I felt I could outplay after the flop) took a flop of 8,9,9 with 2 diamonds. This was a good flop for me until the player from the small blind bet 500 into a 300 dollar pot. I certainly was not getting the pot odds I needed to call here, but I felt like if I hit a 3rd diamond, I could double through him. I made the call and was very surprised to see the player behind me call as well. The more the merrier since I am on a draw. The turn brought the beautiful 4 of diamonds and the small blind checked to me. I bet out about 2/3 of the pot and the guy behind me finally folded, but the small blind called. I had figured him for an 8 or 9 all hand and damned if an 8 did not hit the river, giving him a full house with an 8 or a 9. I was 95% sure I was beat when he bet out a thousand into a 6 thousand dollar pot. I made the call because I was getting 6 to 1 and I think he would have played pocket aces or kings like this. He turned over an 8 and scooped the pot. At this point I was fairly annoyed by my bad luck and also the call on the river when I knew I was beat. I pride myself on being a player who can make tough laydowns and I should have done it there and saved that thousand.
At this point only a couple players had busted out and I was among the shortest stacks in the room. I decided that my table was playing too tight and I would take advantage of that. I started raising liberally with mostly good hands, though one of my first raises was with 85 suited. The guy across from me showed pocket jacks and laid them down. I guess my luck wasn't so terrible after all. Soon enough I was up over 20 grand and had some chips to play with. The game would continue to be a grind, not getting great hands and losing with a lot of good ones, but then the biggest hand of the tournament came for me. I had like 22 thousand and the blinds were 800/1600 when I picked up A10 on the button. It was folded around to me and I had to decide what to do. If I put in a standard raise I would be putting a lot of chips at risk, so I decided to go all in, hoping to take it down right then. The table chip leader behind me is a pretty loose player, and when he started thinking, I thought I may have been in trouble. After a few minutes he decided to make the call for nearly 2/3 of his chips. To my surprise he turned over KQ offsuit. I didn't know whether to cheer or cry. My tourament was down to a 60-40 coin flip. An ace came on the turn and doubled me through to 2nd in chips right before the final table.
At the final table I started with 39,500 in chips, good for 2nd in chip count. The bad news was the leader had over 90,000 and was a very good player. We took turns raising the smaller stacks out of the blinds and soon enough the players were dwindling. Not everything was all rainbows and happy time, as I lost a lot of chip when I lost with AK and AQ to weaker aces and then lost with pocket queens to pocket aces. Still, my stack remained solid and I never dipped blow 2nd. We were back to the money bubble with 5 players left, and damned if the guy who knocked me out last month didn't become the bubble boy this time. Karma for that bad beat he gave me last time i suppose, be he did play very well. The big stack and i were the final 2 players just as we had come to the table in first and second. He still had a commanding chip lead though. I have played him heads up numerous times and knew this would not be easy. I had made up some ground, despite the blinds being an astronomical 5,000/10,000 at this point, when the final hand came. I had 95 offsuit and limped in and the flop came 9,4,2 rainbow. I decided to check thinking he would bet at the pot like had been doing a lot and then I could reraise him all in. He checked behind me and the ugly king of diamonds came on the turn. I bet out 2/3 of the pot and he immediately went all in. I knew right away I had check the hand away and given him a free chance to hit his king. I called because I had too much invested to fold. He had a king and it held on to win him the tournament. He played outstanding all night long and very much deserved to win. I feel like I played pretty well too, and was glad my results final showed that as well. I pocketed $260 for 2nd place and went home in a 3 way tie for the overall point lead in the group. This is also important because the top 10 players will freeroll at the end of the year for 1,500 dollars or so.
I left 7 hours later and 260 dollars richer and headed home happy that my night had gone better than last time. This was a much needed win for the bankroll and the psyche.
This all sounded good in theory, but an hour into the tournament I had already lost 3 thousand of my 10 thousand starting stack when the bad luck would get worse. I picked up K10 suited in diamonds and called a small raise from the big blind. Me and 2 other players (both I felt I could outplay after the flop) took a flop of 8,9,9 with 2 diamonds. This was a good flop for me until the player from the small blind bet 500 into a 300 dollar pot. I certainly was not getting the pot odds I needed to call here, but I felt like if I hit a 3rd diamond, I could double through him. I made the call and was very surprised to see the player behind me call as well. The more the merrier since I am on a draw. The turn brought the beautiful 4 of diamonds and the small blind checked to me. I bet out about 2/3 of the pot and the guy behind me finally folded, but the small blind called. I had figured him for an 8 or 9 all hand and damned if an 8 did not hit the river, giving him a full house with an 8 or a 9. I was 95% sure I was beat when he bet out a thousand into a 6 thousand dollar pot. I made the call because I was getting 6 to 1 and I think he would have played pocket aces or kings like this. He turned over an 8 and scooped the pot. At this point I was fairly annoyed by my bad luck and also the call on the river when I knew I was beat. I pride myself on being a player who can make tough laydowns and I should have done it there and saved that thousand.
At this point only a couple players had busted out and I was among the shortest stacks in the room. I decided that my table was playing too tight and I would take advantage of that. I started raising liberally with mostly good hands, though one of my first raises was with 85 suited. The guy across from me showed pocket jacks and laid them down. I guess my luck wasn't so terrible after all. Soon enough I was up over 20 grand and had some chips to play with. The game would continue to be a grind, not getting great hands and losing with a lot of good ones, but then the biggest hand of the tournament came for me. I had like 22 thousand and the blinds were 800/1600 when I picked up A10 on the button. It was folded around to me and I had to decide what to do. If I put in a standard raise I would be putting a lot of chips at risk, so I decided to go all in, hoping to take it down right then. The table chip leader behind me is a pretty loose player, and when he started thinking, I thought I may have been in trouble. After a few minutes he decided to make the call for nearly 2/3 of his chips. To my surprise he turned over KQ offsuit. I didn't know whether to cheer or cry. My tourament was down to a 60-40 coin flip. An ace came on the turn and doubled me through to 2nd in chips right before the final table.
At the final table I started with 39,500 in chips, good for 2nd in chip count. The bad news was the leader had over 90,000 and was a very good player. We took turns raising the smaller stacks out of the blinds and soon enough the players were dwindling. Not everything was all rainbows and happy time, as I lost a lot of chip when I lost with AK and AQ to weaker aces and then lost with pocket queens to pocket aces. Still, my stack remained solid and I never dipped blow 2nd. We were back to the money bubble with 5 players left, and damned if the guy who knocked me out last month didn't become the bubble boy this time. Karma for that bad beat he gave me last time i suppose, be he did play very well. The big stack and i were the final 2 players just as we had come to the table in first and second. He still had a commanding chip lead though. I have played him heads up numerous times and knew this would not be easy. I had made up some ground, despite the blinds being an astronomical 5,000/10,000 at this point, when the final hand came. I had 95 offsuit and limped in and the flop came 9,4,2 rainbow. I decided to check thinking he would bet at the pot like had been doing a lot and then I could reraise him all in. He checked behind me and the ugly king of diamonds came on the turn. I bet out 2/3 of the pot and he immediately went all in. I knew right away I had check the hand away and given him a free chance to hit his king. I called because I had too much invested to fold. He had a king and it held on to win him the tournament. He played outstanding all night long and very much deserved to win. I feel like I played pretty well too, and was glad my results final showed that as well. I pocketed $260 for 2nd place and went home in a 3 way tie for the overall point lead in the group. This is also important because the top 10 players will freeroll at the end of the year for 1,500 dollars or so.
I left 7 hours later and 260 dollars richer and headed home happy that my night had gone better than last time. This was a much needed win for the bankroll and the psyche.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
FTOPS IV - Event #1
When I decided roughly 8 months ago to go back to work and temporarily give up playing poker full time, I told myself that this steady income would afford me the ability to play at higher stakes. Since that time though, I had been playing in the same games and at the same level. Reminded of this recently, I decided now was the time to make a conscious effort to keep this promise.
The Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS, is Full Tilt's (an online poker site) version of the World Series of Poker. It is a series of tournaments that culminates in a main event, a main event with a 1.5 million dollar prize pool. So, after a handful of feudal attempts at qualifying via satellite, I plopped down the 216 dollar entry fee and was ready to play my first big tourny. I have played in tournaments with a bigger buy-in than 216 dollars, but only on a local level. This would be my first tourny with name professionals in it as well. Jim McManus, Huck Seed, Kristy Gazes and the great Mike Matusow would all be playing. I was not nervous, but I was excited when the cards went into the air at 9pm EST with 2,500 players all vying for a first place prize over 70 thousand dollars. By 10:45, I was on the rail. Tournaments this large require a good deal of luck, and i didn't have much. I hovered around the 3,000 chip starting amount without getting much in the way of cards. This was especially frustrating because my table was playing super-tight, and I felt like if i could have gotten some cards, I would have been able to really run over the table early on to grow my chip stack. The fatal blow came with me at around 2,800 in chips and blinds of 40-80. I looked down at AJ offsuit, a solid hand and one i was looking to use to gain some chips. One player limped in front of me and I raised it to around 300. Everyone folded back to the limper who made the call. I immediately put him on two big cards, anything from AK to QJ. The flop came a beautiful Ace, Jack, 4 with 2 clubs. This made me the top 2 pair with a backdoor nut flush draw, so I bet out slightly less than the amount of the pot, and he called. The turn brought a third club, and gave me a nut flush draw to go with my top 2 pair. I bet again and then he immediately went all in for the rest of my chips. I had a hard time putting him on two clubs, because with me holding the ace of clubs, there were few combinations of calling hands with 2 clubs, considering that I had already put 40% or so of my chips at risk and I did have a redraw to the nut flush even if he had made a flush, I made the call. The limper turned over K10 of clubs and no club came on the river to save me. I was on the rail far sooner than expected. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.
Looking back, I still think I played it right. I had to gain some chips as the blinds were moving up and this was by far the biggest hand I had seen. The guy made what seemed a loose call considering the fact that i had played few hands all night, but that's poker. I decided to use this free time to try to qualify for event #3 at the FTOPS, so I sat down for a single table satellite and was sitting right next to Jean-Robert Belande. He is a very good pro, who has made a handful of final tables in big buy-in tournaments. I fared better in this tourny, leading most of the way, before Jean-Robert doubled through the third place guy and took a 8,000 to 3,800 chip lead heads up. He took me out when my A7 lost to his A8 after we both flopped aces. Jean-Robert played very well and deserved to win, I was upset with how my night had gone but left the table feeling like I could play with these great players. I more than held my own with Jean-Robert, a player who's game I respect greatly, that was the silver lining to my night.
After that I sat down at a Pot Limit Omaha table and played for about an hour at very small stakes. While I have been playing Hold Em for years, Omaha is a game that I have only recently started playing with an regularity. I doubled my money in that hour before calling it a night. The night did not go as I planned and I am not thousands of dollars richer, but I still feel like I can play with the very best. I'm off to try to satellite my way into the next FTOPS tourny.
The Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS, is Full Tilt's (an online poker site) version of the World Series of Poker. It is a series of tournaments that culminates in a main event, a main event with a 1.5 million dollar prize pool. So, after a handful of feudal attempts at qualifying via satellite, I plopped down the 216 dollar entry fee and was ready to play my first big tourny. I have played in tournaments with a bigger buy-in than 216 dollars, but only on a local level. This would be my first tourny with name professionals in it as well. Jim McManus, Huck Seed, Kristy Gazes and the great Mike Matusow would all be playing. I was not nervous, but I was excited when the cards went into the air at 9pm EST with 2,500 players all vying for a first place prize over 70 thousand dollars. By 10:45, I was on the rail. Tournaments this large require a good deal of luck, and i didn't have much. I hovered around the 3,000 chip starting amount without getting much in the way of cards. This was especially frustrating because my table was playing super-tight, and I felt like if i could have gotten some cards, I would have been able to really run over the table early on to grow my chip stack. The fatal blow came with me at around 2,800 in chips and blinds of 40-80. I looked down at AJ offsuit, a solid hand and one i was looking to use to gain some chips. One player limped in front of me and I raised it to around 300. Everyone folded back to the limper who made the call. I immediately put him on two big cards, anything from AK to QJ. The flop came a beautiful Ace, Jack, 4 with 2 clubs. This made me the top 2 pair with a backdoor nut flush draw, so I bet out slightly less than the amount of the pot, and he called. The turn brought a third club, and gave me a nut flush draw to go with my top 2 pair. I bet again and then he immediately went all in for the rest of my chips. I had a hard time putting him on two clubs, because with me holding the ace of clubs, there were few combinations of calling hands with 2 clubs, considering that I had already put 40% or so of my chips at risk and I did have a redraw to the nut flush even if he had made a flush, I made the call. The limper turned over K10 of clubs and no club came on the river to save me. I was on the rail far sooner than expected. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.
Looking back, I still think I played it right. I had to gain some chips as the blinds were moving up and this was by far the biggest hand I had seen. The guy made what seemed a loose call considering the fact that i had played few hands all night, but that's poker. I decided to use this free time to try to qualify for event #3 at the FTOPS, so I sat down for a single table satellite and was sitting right next to Jean-Robert Belande. He is a very good pro, who has made a handful of final tables in big buy-in tournaments. I fared better in this tourny, leading most of the way, before Jean-Robert doubled through the third place guy and took a 8,000 to 3,800 chip lead heads up. He took me out when my A7 lost to his A8 after we both flopped aces. Jean-Robert played very well and deserved to win, I was upset with how my night had gone but left the table feeling like I could play with these great players. I more than held my own with Jean-Robert, a player who's game I respect greatly, that was the silver lining to my night.
After that I sat down at a Pot Limit Omaha table and played for about an hour at very small stakes. While I have been playing Hold Em for years, Omaha is a game that I have only recently started playing with an regularity. I doubled my money in that hour before calling it a night. The night did not go as I planned and I am not thousands of dollars richer, but I still feel like I can play with the very best. I'm off to try to satellite my way into the next FTOPS tourny.
A Little Primer
My name is Cameron and I am 26 years old. Most of the people reading this blog initially will no doubt know that already, as they probably already know me. I have been playing poker regularly for roughly 3 years now. I have had good results on a local level but have not been able to go above that by making a big score. My goal is to become a poker professional, and become a player who is regularly doing well in the biggest games and tournaments. I am just a regular guy, I have a day job and rent, and still drive the same car I did when I was 18. I do not have an unlimited bankroll or someone to give me more money when it runs out. This assertion to poker greatness is a lofty goal, but it is a goal none the less.
I created this blog for a handful of reasons. The first is that I feel this would be a good way to chronicle my results and learn from my mistakes. I have never been very good at logging my results, so this could be a more interesting way to do that. The second reason for this blog is so people who know me can keep track with my poker successes (and failures I suppose). This is as good of a way as any of keeping everyone in the know about how my poker is going, and this may also give them some more insight into what it is I do and why. The last reason for this blog is that I like to write, and I feel like this blog may be able to un-cloud the mystery of poker for some people. If people are interested in poker, but do not really know how it works, this blog is also for them.
So thus concludes the prologue to this blog and my poker career, I hope you stick around, this will be nothing if not interesting.
I created this blog for a handful of reasons. The first is that I feel this would be a good way to chronicle my results and learn from my mistakes. I have never been very good at logging my results, so this could be a more interesting way to do that. The second reason for this blog is so people who know me can keep track with my poker successes (and failures I suppose). This is as good of a way as any of keeping everyone in the know about how my poker is going, and this may also give them some more insight into what it is I do and why. The last reason for this blog is that I like to write, and I feel like this blog may be able to un-cloud the mystery of poker for some people. If people are interested in poker, but do not really know how it works, this blog is also for them.
So thus concludes the prologue to this blog and my poker career, I hope you stick around, this will be nothing if not interesting.
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