27 Player $1 NLHE

I entered another $1 27 player tournament recently and did fairly well in it, I ran into a couple of hands worth noting, both of them happened heads up.

So I started out with my usual TAG style as I do in most my tournaments, but I found this table to be particularly weak/passive, so I decided to play a fair bit more aggressive than usual. This strategy worked well against this particular table but it would be unwise to be aggressive at a normal $1 table due to the muppet factor.

After grinding my way through the tourney I came to the final table as the chip leader, I changed gears and started playing extremely tight, attempting to build an image for later use, this worked well and I opened up with 5 players left and pretty much dominated them until I was heads up.

The player I was heads up with was a decent player but I believe I might have had a slight edge on them due to the fact that they were giving off a nervous vibe (they're bluff sizes were too small and they were check folding too many flops etc.). The play started pretty standard with me being really aggressive and trying to impose my will over the game. I believe I may have underestimated my opponent a little bit when he started to three bet me in good spots and he started being more and more aggressive pre flop.

He managed to get back to about equal in chips and I realized I had a fight on my hands. I tightened up and changed gears in an attempt to throw him off. It worked and I managed to get the lead again by a slight margin when this hand came along:

Hand History:

BTN: 18,420 (18.4 bb)
Hero (BB): 22,080 (22.1 bb)

Pre-Flop: Hero is BB with A A
BTN calls 500, Hero raises to 2,500, BTN raises to 4,000, Hero raises to 5,500, BTN raises to 18,420 and is all-in, Hero calls 12,920

Flop: (36,840) 3 4 9 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (36,840) K (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (36,840) 7 (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: 36,840 pot
Final Board: 3 4 9 K 7
BTN showed K K (three of a kind, Kings) and won 36,840 (18,420 net)
Hero showed A A (a pair of Aces) and lost (-18,420 net)

This was a real sick cooler and I actually took it quite well and didn't start tilting to my surprise. after this hand I shoved every hand for about 8 hands in a row and he folded every time (this play works because every time he folds his BB I make about 20% of my stack, so shoving is definitely the right play in my mind, until I hit about 10 000).

I won my way back to about 11 000 and picked up a nice hand in the BB and decided to shove it knowing that my opponent would think i was bluffing again, here is the hand in question:

Hand History:

BTN: 29,340 (29.3 bb)
Hero (BB): 11,160 (11.2 bb)

Pre-Flop: Hero is BB with T A
BTN raises to 3,000, Hero raises to 11,160 and is all-in, BTN calls 8,160

Flop: (22,320) 9 J K (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (22,320) Q (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (22,320) K (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results: 22,320 pot
Final Board: 9 J K Q K
BTN showed J K (a full house, Kings full of Jacks) and won 22,320 (11,160 net)
Hero showed T A (a straight, Ten to Ace) and lost (-11,160 net)

Quite a funny hand and another cooler, I don't mind losing to a player like this, in a hand like this because I know that he wasn't a muppet who got lucky, he was a legitimate player who got lucky, I was gracious in defeat and was happy with 2nd place and $6.

Signing off

Shane

Make Your Own Luck

Tonight I played at the Attfield tavern in Maddington. I started my usual TAG game and quickly realized that the table I was at was particularly crazy even for the free league. So I tightened up even more and watched as player after player was knocked out by three particularly aggressive players who were getting lucky.

Just before the break these three players clashed knocking one out and severely hurting another, thus creating a monster stack who was super aggressive and didn't know how to fold. I managed to make the break with about 3000, giving me 5000 after the break.

After the break my luck spiraled, the best hand I had was AJ which I folded UTG because I knew that a player to my left was going to push all in. I continued to dwindle down in chips for folding all my terrible hands, I didn't even get a chance to bluff one of my trash hands, the only time I was ever first to enter a pot I was UTG and I knew a raise, even an all in would probably be called.

So the only hand I played after the break was when I had 67c in the small blind and everyone limped, I completed the blind and the BB checked. The flop came down 67J rainbow, I shoved my remaining 2000 into the 3000 pot and got snap called by the super aggressive chip leader with J2c as he called me he declared "I'll chip you up". My problem with this is, simply folding would chip me up enough for me to be happy since there is more than I have in the pot, I said this to him as he showed me his cards and I called the 2 which came on the turn to knock me out.

I asked him why he didn't just fold considering I hadn't played 3 hands all night and this was the first time I had pushed all in, he replied with "you gotta make your own luck you know". I asked him how you do this and he simply shrugged.

If anyone knows how to make your own luck then please tell me, it could prove exceptionally useful to me, I'll even buy somebodies luck if they are willing to sell it, I simply don't have that much I guess.

Good thing I believe poker is a game of skill.

Signing off

Shane

50/50 Chances

I recently just multitabled three $1 9-player tourneys on Full Tilt Poker, I find that when I multitable tournaments I definitely don't play as good as I do on one table but I decided to give it a go.

I started off fairly well playing tight as normal and picking up small pots here and there when I picked up QQ and raised 3x the BB on the button on one of my tables and the BB shoved over the top, I called and he showed AKos and that was the end of one of my 3 tourneys. I didn't really mind because my aim was to find 50/50 chances like that or small edges and push them as far as I could because I knew I wasn't playing my best on each individual table. Whereas normally I will avoid the 50/50 chances and decline my small statistical edges so that I can try and win using skill and not relying on luck to win for me.

So I had two tables left and one was moving a lot faster than the other and we were down to four players while the other still had 8 so I had to concentrate on beating the four player one and then focusing on the other tourney. I changed gears and started running over the top of the four player tournament and went up to 2nd in chips just behind 1st. I picked up AKos in the BB and the button (who was 1st in chips) made a standard 3x bet, so I three bet him and he shoved over the top, I thought for a moment and considered folding but then remembered my game plan to take my 50/50 chances and go with it, so I called and he showed QQ, no A or K came and that was the end of table number two.

Table number 1 had about 5 players left at this point and the blinds were really starting to get high and players where getting desperate, I changed gears on this table and found that I was running over the top of these players as well. There was one point where I stole the BB from the button about 5 times in a row and the BB said to me "your a donk" after he folded his fifth time straight to me, I thought about asking if I am such a donkey why don't you play me post flop? But instead I decided not to aggravate him because I liked the source of chips, I stole his BB 4 more times until he only had 3 BB left and he shoved over the top of my button raise which I snapped off with AJos and knocked him out, needless to say followed by a barrage of insults.

While on this table I actually didn't run into any spots that I thought me and my opponent where 50/50 and I found myself with a commending chip lead heads up (about 5 to 1), I also knew that the player I was versing was a muppet and folded far too often. the first hand I picked up AJ and ended up all in against him with 1010. He won and we continued, I pushed him back to about 5 to 1 again when I picked up 99 and went all in against his K10, he won again. About three hands later I shoved with KK and he called with 77, that beat hurt, but we continued. At this point I was beginning to tilt because he just wouldn't go away, I turned up the heat and got caught out a couple of times and we ended up about even in chips, I started playing properly again and pushed him back to about 2 to 1 when I picked up AJ and he showed 22, once again losing, this hand completely put me on tilt and I shoved my very next hand which happened to be 89h, he flat called with K3os, another 50/50 to my disbelief. And that was the end of my multitable event. Poker can be cruel at times.

Signing off

Shane

The State Of My Regional Team

The other day I was playing live poker at my local pub again and to my delight I found myself seated at the same table as a player wearing a professional APL T-shirt. I have seen these shirts around the pubs before and the player who I consider to be the best in my region wears one (John Lane).

I'm not exactly sure how you are able to acquire one of these shirts but I have only seen three or four around. The player in question who I shall name "Bob" had "Regional Team" written on the back of his shirt, I hadn't seen this around before.

When Bob came to my table we were down to the remaining 14 people and I had a stack of 15 000 and the blinds were 500 and 1000 (an M of 10). Bob was brought over from the other remaining table to balance the numbers and had a stack of 2500 (an M of 1.6), I had spotted Bob earlier and I was hoping to reach the same table as him at some point so I could pit my abilities against him and try to get a bit of perspective of my chances against an experienced player.

When Bob sat down I realized that he was in "all in or fold" mode because of his super low M, personally I will rarely let my M get to that point before I make a move of some sort. It was disappointing that Bob would probably be out in the next round of blinds and I probably wouldn't get a chance to play against him unless he gets really lucky.

So I had been playing tight earlier in the tournament but I had recently changed gears and began picking off blinds to increase my chip stack so I was still in this mode when I found my self in a hand with Bob.

I was in the small blind with 15 500 and Bob was UTG with 2500. Bob hadn't played a hand yet and I knew he would be looking to make a move either during this hand or in the BB but I was expecting an all in now, Bob decided to limp in. Straight away I gave him a questioning look and he simply smiled at me, this led me to believe that Bob had to have AA or KK, there is absolutely no reason to limp UTG with anything else (and i personally believe limping even with AA or KK is a terrible play, especially from UTG). It was folded around to me and I looked down at Q4os, absolute trash but the pot was laying me 5 to 1, and I knew if I hit I might be able to win a side pot off of the BB (a muppet). So I called and the BB checked, the flop came down K82 rainbow. I checked ready to fold to Bobs all in when he made it (the pot was laying him 2 to 1 so an all in would be expected if checked to him), the BB checked and then Bob checked.

I couldn't believe it and was so confused, this player was meant to be a regional team player and I couldn't understand his thinking, the only thing that I could possibly think he'd have was KK but again an excellent player really wouldn't play KK like that especially with 3 or 4 calling stations remaining at the table, including the BB. I was doubting that he had KK when a 4c hit the turn and paired me up, I went into a thought process and decided I wanted to see what Bob had and it would only cost me 1500 to see and the BB might call me with nothing so I made a bet of 2000.

The BB insta folded and the Bob calmly mucked his hand, I stared at him in disbelief, obviously bob was playing at a level so far above mine that I couldn't comprehend how his brain works. I asked him what he was thinking and he pointed at the flop and said "I only had ace nine!" I looked at him questioningly for a third time and asked him why he only limped the flop from UTG and he replied "they were suited!" like I obviously didn't understand the game as much as he so obviously did, I simply laughed and raked my chips in and said "ok mate".

He got knocked out the next hand when he went all in on the BB and someone had JJ.

So much for my regional team, I wonder if you can bye those APL shirts at K-Mart?

Signing off

Shane

Terror Final Table

So for the past few weeks I have been solely playing $1 18 player MTTs (Multi Table Tournaments), the reason being that I believe the payout is best for the amount of players versing and I had the highest percentage of wins in this format. I won my way to a bankroll of $50 dollars and decided to try my luck at a $1 45 player tourney.

I started off with my usual TAG style and made it to the halfway mark fairly short stacked due to a dead deck. When the blinds went up to the 100/200 mark with about 20 players left I began to open up and steal those blinds. For some reason in this tournament my strategy worked exactly as it should and my super tight image won me many chips. One hand that caused me a bit of trouble was this one...

PokerStars Game #35377850969: Tournament #212735956, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/11/15 5:00:54 ET
Table '212735956 5' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Lenkaaa (9039 in chips)
Seat 3: Eicky01 (4455 in chips)
Seat 4: ShaneWard88 (4670 in chips)
Seat 5: dewey37 (2105 in chips)
Seat 6: zorro406 (3520 in chips)
Seat 8: Icey-Iceman (7110 in chips)
Seat 9: Mamont-da (2518 in chips)
dewey37: posts small blind 100
zorro406: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Jd Ah]
Icey-Iceman: folds
Mamont-da: folds
Lenkaaa: folds
Eicky01: folds
ShaneWard88: raises 300 to 500
dewey37: folds
zorro406: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [Qd 3h 4h]
zorro406: bets 200
ShaneWard88: calls 200
*** TURN *** [Qd 3h 4h] [8c]
zorro406: checks
ShaneWard88: bets 600
zorro406: calls 600
*** RIVER *** [Qd 3h 4h 8c] [2c]
zorro406: checks
ShaneWard88: bets 1200
zorro406: folds
Uncalled bet (1200) returned to ShaneWard88
ShaneWard88 collected 2700 from pot
ShaneWard88: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2700 | Rake 0
Board [Qd 3h 4h 8c 2c]
Seat 1: Lenkaaa folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Eicky01 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: ShaneWard88 (button) collected (2700)
Seat 5: dewey37 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: zorro406 (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 8: Icey-Iceman folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Mamont-da folded before Flop (didn't bet)

My thought process with this hand is that zorro406 got sick of my preflop steals and decided to look me up, I love when players who are in the bb do this, they decide that they are sick of their blind getting stolen so they call off some more chips which I just take with a c-bet (continuation bet) 80% of the time, what they should be doing is three betting me light and making my life difficult.

So after his flat call I had the hand planned out (he checks, I bet, he folds), but instead he threw me with a min bet. Now I had to take into account possibilities; one, he is a solid player and is trying to get value for a monster (maybe he flopped two pair) or two, he is making a poor attempt to steal the pot and/or making a protection bet to a flush draw. I decide to float the flop with position in a hope to take the hand away later after I know what the turn brings.

He checks the turn which is a brick and that makes me decide that of the two possibilities the first one is unlikely and he has either given up on his poor attempt to steal or he is still drawing. I make a c-bet on the turn hoping to take it down right there and he is drawing. When he calls my bet a new idea comes to me, he might have a small to medium pocket pair that has missed.

When he checks the river which misses the flush draw i contemplate checking my A high and not risking any more chips but I'm still worried that he might have a PP (pocket pair), a lot of the time I am checking my A high here and hoping its good but this time I decided I could push him off a PP if he had one so I made a raise, he folded and I won. Sometimes I believe that I over think a lot of hands on these micro tables.

After that hand I continued to steal blinds and I built a fairly decent stack. I ran into a really difficult situation one the last hand before the final table (I was unable to acquire the hand history because the table closed as soon as the hand finished but I will try and explain it the best I can).

I was in the small blind and woke up with AQos, the blinds were 200/400 and I had approximately 8000. UTG (approx 6500) opened with a min raise and UTG+1 (2000) pushed all in. This spot was incredibly difficult and I went into the tank for a long time, I knew that UTG+1 was pushing light ( he had pushed several hands previously), my problem was with UTGs min raise, I didn't want to isolate UTG+1 only for UTG to show up with a monster and take more than half my chips. I really was close to folding here and I'm not sure calling was the right play but I wanted to lose as little as possible if UTG pushed.

So I just flat called the raise and hoped that UTG would just fold, but he didn't, he flat called. So now I know that UTG doesn't have a premium hand and probably has a hand around AK or JJ. the flop came down 6Q6 rainbow, I checked, I don't believe in betting at dead pots and if I had and UTG+1 showed up with trips I would feel pretty stupid. UTG checked behind me which made me fairly confident I had the best hand. The turn was an Ac and I still felt that UTG+1 might have trips (remember I know he is light), so I checked for two reasons; one, its courtesy to not bet a dead pot and there was enough money in there for me to be happy winning and two, If UTG hits the A and bets its likely ill stack off. After my check UTG min raised and I knew that now I had to try and stack off, so I min re raised back and he min raised again! So I just flat called knowing that he is probably drawing dead and I want to show a bit of weakness. The river is a brick (a 2c i think) and I decided to put the UTG all in hoping to look like a funky steal or just make my bet not make sense so he can call with a weak A. That is exactly what happens he calls and shows A10 and UTG+1 shows K8os or something stupid and I walk into the final table with a monster chip lead.

The final table begins with only 8 players due to my double elimination and one off the bubble. My plan going in was to throw my weight around and try to close this off without much of a fight. Within four hands I realize that this isn't going to happen, the players on the final table are for some reason not afraid of the bubble and calling off two thirds of their stacks with K4os and similar crap. My analysis of this table changes my strategy and I crawl back into my TAG style and barely play a hand, my idea being when we get to about 4 players I will still have a chip lead and I will be able to use the massive blinds to my advantage.

Even though my plan is to play ultra tight I keep running into nice hands that I can call the short stacks all in with. A total of three times I call an all in with a strong A and all three times I was up against hands like Q9os or K6s and all three times I got sucked out. the funny thing about that is that I still had the chip lead by a large margin because the short stacks were calling all their chips off so when they go all in it is a trivial call for me.

So even though I am being sucked out on continually, I am still confident I can take it down as long as I don't go on tilt or run into the cold deck again. I begin picking up a few blinds and increasing my stack to the unreachable when this hand happens...

PokerStars Game #35378498636: Tournament #212735956, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2009/11/15 5:34:42 ET
Table '212735956 4' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Djaina (2523 in chips)
Seat 4: ploOfz (8418 in chips)
Seat 5: olonets (10978 in chips)
Seat 6: cpando (10512 in chips)
Seat 7: Icey-Iceman (3702 in chips)
Seat 8: skodazdesya (8947 in chips)
Seat 9: ShaneWard88 (22420 in chips)
Djaina: posts the ante 50
ploOfz: posts the ante 50
olonets: posts the ante 50
cpando: posts the ante 50
Icey-Iceman: posts the ante 50
skodazdesya: posts the ante 50
ShaneWard88: posts the ante 50
ploOfz: posts small blind 400
olonets: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Qs Qc]
cpando: calls 800
Icey-Iceman: folds
skodazdesya: folds
ShaneWard88: raises 1000 to 1800
Djaina: folds
ploOfz: folds
olonets: folds
cpando: calls 1000
*** FLOP *** [7d 3s Jd]
cpando: bets 2400
ShaneWard88: calls 2400
*** TURN *** [7d 3s Jd] [8c]
cpando: bets 3200
ShaneWard88: calls 3200
*** RIVER *** [7d 3s Jd 8c] [Qd]
cpando: bets 3062 and is all-in
ShaneWard88: calls 3062
*** SHOW DOWN ***
cpando: shows [2d Kd] (a flush, King high)
ShaneWard88: shows [Qs Qc] (three of a kind, Queens)
cpando collected 22474 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 22474 | Rake 0
Board [7d 3s Jd 8c Qd]
Seat 1: Djaina (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: ploOfz (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: olonets (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: cpando showed [2d Kd] and won (22474) with a flush, King high
Seat 7: Icey-Iceman folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: skodazdesya folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: ShaneWard88 showed [Qs Qc] and lost with three of a kind, Queens

In this hand I way over thought my QQ, I really don't like getting involved with the player second in chips and the only one who can considerably hurt me. The reason I played this hand so conservatively was because cpando made a play that matched up with AA perfectly and to be honest that is what I put him on. The preflop UTG limp then flat call of my raise really screamed a monster (a major overestimation, but we are down to the top 6 in a 45 player tourney so I'm expecting a certain level of understanding) so I decide to float the flop, a really weak play now that I see what happened but that's just another leak I have to try and fix.

The turn brings a brick and I'm still afraid I'm beat so then cpando makes what really looks like a value bet committing himself to the pot without going all in. The only reason I called here is because I know that even if I lose I'm only going to be down to 11 000 in chips and still 2nd with a good chance to win and if I win it really would be hard for someone to catch me. The river brings the Qd and he pushes all in, I know that he may have AKs and for some reason double barreled me on the turn for some reason but that really is unlikely. So I insta call and he shows K2d and I laugh at my stupidity for not re raising him on the flop.

I make a note of his terrible pre flop play and say "nh" he actually says sorry and that he just lost his mind for a minute. I don't mind because he actually played it with guts and its my own fault I lost so I say "dnt worry bnout it, thats poker :)". It actually felt good to not go on tilt and throw something across the room for once. The fact that I really took this well makes me happy and I knuckle down planning on getting my money back and winning

About five hands later this happens...

PokerStars Game #35378562792: Tournament #212735956, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2009/11/15 5:37:49 ET
Table '212735956 4' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 4: ploOfz (7818 in chips)
Seat 5: olonets (9178 in chips)
Seat 6: cpando (21124 in chips)
Seat 7: Icey-Iceman (5052 in chips)
Seat 8: skodazdesya (11070 in chips)
Seat 9: ShaneWard88 (13258 in chips)
ploOfz: posts the ante 50
olonets: posts the ante 50
cpando: posts the ante 50
Icey-Iceman: posts the ante 50
skodazdesya: posts the ante 50
ShaneWard88: posts the ante 50
skodazdesya: posts small blind 400
ShaneWard88: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [7s Td]
ploOfz: folds
olonets: folds
cpando: calls 800
Icey-Iceman: folds
skodazdesya: calls 400
ShaneWard88: checks
*** FLOP *** [8d 7c 7d]
skodazdesya: checks
ShaneWard88: checks
cpando: bets 1600
skodazdesya: folds
ShaneWard88: raises 1600 to 3200
cpando: calls 1600
*** TURN *** [8d 7c 7d] [Qh]
ShaneWard88: bets 3500
cpando: calls 3500
*** RIVER *** [8d 7c 7d Qh] [Jc]
ShaneWard88: bets 5708 and is all-in
cpando: calls 5708
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ShaneWard88: shows [7s Td] (three of a kind, Sevens)
cpando: shows [Qc 7h] (a full house, Sevens full of Queens)
cpando collected 27516 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 27516 | Rake 0
Board [8d 7c 7d Qh Jc]
Seat 4: ploOfz folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: olonets folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: cpando showed [Qc 7h] and won (27516) with a full house, Sevens full of Queens
Seat 7: Icey-Iceman (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: skodazdesya (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: ShaneWard88 (big blind) showed [7s Td] and lost with three of a kind, Sevens

This hand really is just a cooler and cpando can be forgiven for limping with Q7os in an abstract kind of way because of the comanding chip lead. I wouldn't have done it but everyone has their own style. The hand played out fairly mechanically and I got owened by cpando twice within five minutes. He was very sympathetic again, and once again I took the cooler and made another note of his terrible pre flop strategy and said "gg, hope we meet again :)".

I guess this just wasn't destined to be my tourney but it still hurts the mind when the same player just seems to have the deck smack them over the head repeatedly. Cpando went on to win from here as he should with the monster chip lead so I was happy to see that he didn't just take my chips and blow them off to the good players.

Signing off

Shane

Ebb and Flow

Poker is a game of ebb and flow. Any one poker situation can be argued for more than one correct answer, there are times when the correct move is apparent to all but there could be an argument against it, I have seen many a muppet argue the fact that calling a raise and a re raise all in with 57s pre flop is perfectly acceptable because "you never know what will come on the flop".

I constantly see people discussing on forums about correct implied odds and +EV plays. I understand the concepts behind these mathematical decisions and I realize that it is correct to play in a straight forward no nonsense way. Don't get me wrong using the basic math skills I have to outplay all the muppets is the main source of my winnings but I believe that if you play poker solely by the numbers you will eventually be a loser, not in a profitable sense but in an emotional enjoyment sense.

Poker is a game of minds and wits, it is a game were each and every strategical decision is full of subtle yet important aspects which may nudge the decision in either direction, these positions are the ones I love being in and even more I love analyzing them after the fact. Trying to find the perfect solution is what drives my game, its why I love playing and when you believe you have found it it is the greatest feeling.

Bubbled

So tonight I played two tournaments... the first one was actually a lot harder than the second but I got on a roll with three players left and won the first one... so i decided to see if i could keep my role going and instantly joined another 18 player $1 tourney...

I was doing really well and went into the final table with the chip lead... some aggressive and silly play led to me being out played into the bottom three where I strengthened up my game and went into the final five with a decent stack size... I was playing strong trying to bubble one of the short stacks when this hand happened...

PokerStars Game #35074865846: Tournament #210637452, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2009/11/08 7:54:59 ET
Table '210637452 2' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: kruebsid (8105 in chips)
Seat 5: HouseofIndia (3405 in chips)
Seat 6: deVeertjes (2215 in chips)
Seat 7: ShaneWard88 (8855 in chips)
Seat 9: gusztiplayer (4420 in chips)
kruebsid: posts the ante 25
HouseofIndia: posts the ante 25
deVeertjes: posts the ante 25
ShaneWard88: posts the ante 25
gusztiplayer: posts the ante 25
HouseofIndia: posts small blind 200
deVeertjes: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Js Jc]
ShaneWard88: raises 800 to 1200
gusztiplayer: folds
kruebsid: calls 1200
HouseofIndia: folds
deVeertjes: folds
*** FLOP *** [3s Kh 2h]
ShaneWard88: bets 1500
kruebsid: calls 1500
*** TURN *** [3s Kh 2h] [9h]
ShaneWard88: checks
kruebsid: checks
*** RIVER *** [3s Kh 2h 9h] [Kc]
ShaneWard88: checks
kruebsid: bets 2000
ShaneWard88 said, "hhmmmm"
ShaneWard88 said, "checked a king on the turn?"
kruebsid said, "..."
ShaneWard88 said, "nice bet"
ShaneWard88: folds
Uncalled bet (2000) returned to kruebsid
kruebsid collected 6125 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6125 | Rake 0
Board [3s Kh 2h 9h Kc]
Seat 1: kruebsid (button) collected (6125)
Seat 5: HouseofIndia (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: deVeertjes (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: ShaneWard88 folded on the River
Seat 9: gusztiplayer folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This hand stumped me... looking back at it the river bet does look fishy like maybe he had a smaller pocket pair... or even a higher pocket pair could be played this way... the check on the turn really threw me... I was pretty sure he had a smaller pocket pair and wanted to check it down... but after he bet the river I thought he might have checked a weak king afraid of a set or flush... I'm not sure but I folded thinking that I didn't really want to get involved in a big pot with second in chips.. I'd rather just pick on the small stacks...

After I folded he told me he didn't have a K, this doesn't mean that he didn't have QQ, or AA but I think the fold was a mistake... so I decided to sit back and wait for the good cards and try to bust somebody when the very next hand I ran into AJ and this happened...

PokerStars Game #35074892501: Tournament #210637452, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2009/11/08 7:56:14 ET
Table '210637452 2' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: kruebsid (11505 in chips)
Seat 5: HouseofIndia (3180 in chips)
Seat 6: deVeertjes (1790 in chips)
Seat 7: ShaneWard88 (6130 in chips)
Seat 9: gusztiplayer (4395 in chips)
kruebsid: posts the ante 25
HouseofIndia: posts the ante 25
deVeertjes: posts the ante 25
ShaneWard88: posts the ante 25
gusztiplayer: posts the ante 25
deVeertjes: posts small blind 200
ShaneWard88: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Jh Ah]
gusztiplayer: folds
kruebsid said, "thx"
ShaneWard88 said, ":)"
kruebsid: folds
HouseofIndia: calls 400
kruebsid said, "no K"
deVeertjes: folds
ShaneWard88: raises 800 to 1200
HouseofIndia: raises 1955 to 3155 and is all-in
ShaneWard88: calls 1955
*** FLOP *** [2s 4d 6h]
*** TURN *** [2s 4d 6h] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [2s 4d 6h 8s] [Kc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ShaneWard88: shows [Jh Ah] (high card Ace)
HouseofIndia: shows [Qh Kh] (a pair of Kings)
HouseofIndia collected 6635 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6635 | Rake 0
Board [2s 4d 6h 8s Kc]
Seat 1: kruebsid folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: HouseofIndia (button) showed [Qh Kh] and won (6635) with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: deVeertjes (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: ShaneWard88 (big blind) showed [Jh Ah] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 9: gusztiplayer folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This really upset me because this player had been playing so badly that I was surprised that they were in the top 5 and for me to get rivered it just killed my spirit... so I was tilting and picked up 66 two hands later and pushed only for kruebsid to pick me off with 99...

I continued to watch for a while and saw kruebsid and HouseofIndia go heads up, needless to say kruebsid completely dominated and took it down without too much hassle... it was pleasing to see a solid player demolish a muppet...

Signing off

Shane