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

Table Image and the Table Captain

One of the more important factors of playing no limit texas holdem tournaments is table image... there are many different images that you can give off to your table that will affect the way they react to your bets, being in control of this image and using it to your advantage can prove very profitable...

When I started out playing tournaments I believe I had a basic understanding of the principles of poker but I wasn't very good at reading or making moves... this meant that I played ABC poker which is only playing the best hands pre flop and folding everything else... this is a successful strategy to a degree, It will get you deep into a tournament but it is unlikely you will be able to win against some of the more advanced players... the table image that you will be projecting to your opponents will be that of a very tight player who wont mess around with marginal hands...

The tight image has the advantage that your bluffs wont be called but the disadvantage that your good hands wont get much value against good players... this style works a treat against muppets who don't watch what their opponents are doing and only pay attention to their own hands... these muppets will pay you off with second pair or worse and not even realize that you haven't been playing any hands... this is the suggested strategy against muppets... boring but gets the job done...

The image that I attempt to display in the later stages of the tournament (when the muppets have been weeded out) is that of the loose aggressive player... this style is hard to pull off and I don't believe that I have mastered it yet... this image means playing more hands and raising a lot... I personally don't like splashing around too much with weak hands so I try to accomplish this image by the way I act at the table... I usually talk a lot to the people I'm playing and make it look like I'm here for a good time not a long time... this strategy works to a degree but the good players at the table realize that I'm switched on and will be wary... another factor that is important in tournaments is being the table captain...

The table captain is the player at the table who controls the action and the flow of the game... in the later stages of a tournament the chip leader is usually decided by who has the largest chip stack... but early in the tournament when the stacks are about the same being the table captain is going to put you in good stead for heading to the end of the tournament... being aggressive can make you the table captain at some tables but at the pub games that I play it just wont work because there are so many muppets that your aggressiveness will just be called down by 4 players and just cause larger pots decided by luck... so in order to get respect from at least some of these muppets and become the table captain you need to employ a few other tricks...

One thing you can do to improve your image is to perform chip tricks at the table... I don't know that many tricks but the few I do serve my purpose just fine... there's not much more intimidating to an opponent than for them to look across the table and see you handling chips like you were born on the felt... they might think twice before drawing at their gut shot straight...

Knowing your odds and outs is another way to stay in control of a table... it isn't really appropriate to yell at your opponent that they weren't getting the right odds to draw at their flush draw and that they are a stupid muppet even though that is exactly what you are thinking... when this comes in handy is when somebody at the table starts talking about the maths of the game, when this happens you can join the conversation and show that you aren't a muppet... not including the fact that it will help your game...

Another way to become the table captain is to know your maths when it comes to using chips... what I mean by this is that you are able to change a $500 chip for four $100 chips and four $25 chips... or being able to calculate the size of side pots when they arise (when a player is all in while there are still active players in the hand)... or being able to split pots as accurately as possible... I personally am terrible at calculating side pots and split pots but I'm working on it...

These tips should help you on your way to being the table captain and getting your bluffs respected and making opponents fearful to play you...

Signing off

Shane

Heads up against v@no66

So I played in an 18 player $1 S'n'G (Sit and Go) and started off with my usual style and picked up a few hands early and became the chip leader... When I get the chip lead early I never take risks with it or try to push people around early because the blinds are so small that it isn't worth the risk... when the blinds go up and there are less people, that's when I open up and start stealing blinds...

So it comes down to the final four and out of the remaining players I have pegged two of them as absolute muppets... it's rare to see two muppets at the final four but I have seen it before... by this time the blinds are too big for them to get away with their terrible limp/folds from UTG so after a while they get knocked out...

That leaves me and v@no66, when somebody has a number behind their name it usually represents their age, v@no would be 43 this year if he was born in 1966... I believe age should have a lot to do with the quality of the player, I am only getting better at the game with age and I'm only 21 so therefore older people should be way better than me... sadly this isn't the case... especially on the $1 tables were a lot of people learn how to play properly... so due to his age I had given v@no a level of respect...

Then heads up play began... my heads up style is different based on the appropriate Ms of the players... my M was 46.89 and my opponents 43.11... so we each had a lot of room to move for the moment... at this point I believed I could beat v@no unless he showed some radical change in style during heads up... I started off testing the waters, raising on the button different amounts to see how high I had to raise for him to fold mediocre hands... this is were the first problem with v@no came up... he WOULD NOT fold pre flop... I believe that there is no reason for me to go all in preflop with Ms this large unless I'm holding a high pair or my opponent is being stupidly aggressive... this means that I like to raise between 2 to 5 times the BB with a strong hand... the reason I was testing when he would fold were for the later stages when the Ms would be down to 13 or 14 and the blinds really mattered... at this point I didn't really care that v@no wasn't folding preflop, I assumed that it would change once the blinds went up...

So due to v@nos inability to fold it meant we saw a lot of flops... which was fine by me, I knew I could outplay v@no after the flop... so the game continued on at a steady pace neither one of us taking stupid risks or anything but my chip stack was steadily increasing... as the blinds went up I continued to attempt my pre flop raises with higher and higher frequencies to see if v@no would fold... it was apparent v@no would never fold pre flop... I even raised 6x the BB with AJc one time for him to call and then fold to my continuation bet on the flop...

Due to v@nos style of play (which I had never encountered before) I was thrown off guard... I was used to dominating the heads up play and winning without too much hassle... I had to change my style, I no longer raised pre flop unless I had an exceptionally strong hand, but I always called the small blind (an interesting point is that v@no never raised preflop unless he had a monster)... so we saw a lot of flops, v@no was calling most of my continuation bets after a while so I had to cut that out, I wouldn't be so critical of v@nos plays if he was raising more and trying to steal pots... but the fact is he would flop middle pair and check to me, I would then make a continuation bet and he would call, I would realize that he wont go away and after he checks again I would also check, v@no would then check the river and after I check show down a hand... this progression started happening more and more often, and no matter how I bet he just kept on calling... of course this meant that every time I had top pair he would call me down and pay me off, that happened a few times as well but not enough for me to dominate...

Then the game went crazy... I was playing the game I had developed to beet v@no and I was winning when he got smacked over the top of the head with the deck repeatedly... and whats worse is he tried to slow play his monsters... on three separate occasions within the space of 8 hands he flopped a set and each time I made a bet on the flop that he called and then bet the turn and I folded... and each time he showed me trips... he then flopped two pair 4 times and made pretty much the same play...

Now v@no was showing me every time he made a monster and I folded which really wasn't working in his favor because he was rarely bluffing, if he had nothing he just checked it down or check folded to my bets... so in my eyes it looked as if I was versing this superhuman player who was flopping the nuts every second hand and outdrawing me when he didn't... I just didn't know what to do so I went into super tight mode...

Even tho I was barely playing a hand when I did raise v@no decided that I must be bluffing and would call me down... this is the only reason that I had a chip lead when this hand came toddling along...

PokerStars Game #34934015283: Tournament #209668651, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) - 2009/11/04 21:36:10 ET
Table '209668651 2' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 4: v@no66 (10716 in chips)
Seat 5: ShaneWard88 (16284 in chips)
v@no66: posts the ante 50
ShaneWard88: posts the ante 50
ShaneWard88: posts small blind 300
v@no66: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Qs Qh]
ShaneWard88: raises 1000 to 1600
v@no66: calls 1000
*** FLOP *** [5h 6s 6c]
v@no66: checks
ShaneWard88: bets 1500
v@no66: calls 1500
*** TURN *** [5h 6s 6c] [4d]
v@no66: checks
ShaneWard88: bets 2500
v@no66: calls 2500
*** RIVER *** [5h 6s 6c 4d] [3h]
v@no66: bets 5066 and is all-in
ShaneWard88: calls 5066
*** SHOW DOWN ***
v@no66: shows [2s 2c] (a straight, Deuce to Six)
ShaneWard88: shows [Qs Qh] (two pair, Queens and Sixes)
v@no66 collected 21432 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21432 | Rake 0
Board [5h 6s 6c 4d 3h]
Seat 4: v@no66 (big blind) showed [2s 2c] and won (21432) with a straight, Deuce to Six
Seat 5: ShaneWard88 (button) (small blind) showed [Qs Qh] and lost with two pair, Queens and Sixes

This hand really sent me on tilt and destroyed my game... QQ was the best hand I had seen all tournament so I raised knowing that despite the fact I hadn't raised for about 15 mins v@no would decide his two cards are good enough to see a flop... now from my previous play it would be obvious to any one who isn't a muppet that any raise I make would depict strength and that you should be careful with 22... of course a call here isn't necessarily terrible its the play after that is crap... first off the check on the flop is terrible unless he has a read on me that I have two over cards and is trying a funky slow play... then after I bet 1/2 the pot attempting to get information and value v@no flat calls and I start wondering if he really did flop a set again... so when the turn comes down and he checks again... I make another bet knowing that if he had flopped a set he would definitely be raising here... after he flat calls again I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a set but I think he might have some piece of it so I put him on a 5... after the river brings a 3 I am doubtful that he has a 2 or a 7 unless its 57 or 25 and then the pre flop call is just horrendous... so when he goes all in I stop and look back at the hand and I decide that he would have raised me on the turn with the set and the straight is unlikely... the only hands that really match the play is 55 or an over pair like JJ or KK... I decide that the risk is worth it to try and win the tournament and I call...

He shows the 22 and my brain nearly explodes... it would be forgivable if he thought I was bluffing the whole way but I hadn't bluffed past the flop since the blinds were 100 and 200... I just couldn't understand where the calls had come from... I asked him what he was thinking when he called bets on the flop and turn and he said "22"... I'm like I know what your cards were muppet, did you?... but what I said was "nh" and moved on...

I actually fought my way back to about level chip stacks after this but then this hand happened...

PokerStars Game #34934219278: Tournament #209668651, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) - 2009/11/04 21:42:40 ET
Table '209668651 2' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 4: v@no66 (14482 in chips)
Seat 5: ShaneWard88 (12518 in chips)
v@no66: posts the ante 50
ShaneWard88: posts the ante 50
ShaneWard88: posts small blind 300
v@no66: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [2s 2h]
ShaneWard88: raises 1200 to 1800
v@no66: calls 1200
*** FLOP *** [4h 7c 6s]
v@no66: checks
ShaneWard88: bets 1800
v@no66: calls 1800
*** TURN *** [4h 7c 6s] [8h]
v@no66: checks
ShaneWard88: checks
*** RIVER *** [4h 7c 6s 8h] [3s]
v@no66: bets 3000
ShaneWard88: calls 3000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
v@no66: shows [5c Kd] (a straight, Four to Eight)
ShaneWard88: mucks hand
v@no66 collected 13300 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 13300 | Rake 0
Board [4h 7c 6s 8h 3s]
Seat 4: v@no66 (big blind) showed [5c Kd] and won (13300) with a straight, Four to Eight
Seat 5: ShaneWard88 (button) (small blind) mucked [2s 2h]

Now I know that the call on the end looks real shifty but there had been a couple of hands from a while ago that had happened nearly exactly like this one and v@no bluffed the river with nothing... this is the hand that I specifically recall...

PokerStars Game #34933794580: Tournament #209668651, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2009/11/04 21:29:19 ET
Table '209668651 2' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 4: v@no66 (14366 in chips)
Seat 5: ShaneWard88 (12634 in chips)
v@no66: posts the ante 25
ShaneWard88: posts the ante 25
ShaneWard88: posts small blind 200
v@no66: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Ah Qd]
ShaneWard88: raises 800 to 1200
v@no66: calls 800
*** FLOP *** [5d 5c 8d]
v@no66: checks
ShaneWard88: checks
*** TURN *** [5d 5c 8d] [Jh]
v@no66: bets 1200
ShaneWard88: calls 1200
*** RIVER *** [5d 5c 8d Jh] [Ks]
v@no66: bets 2400
ShaneWard88: calls 2400
*** SHOW DOWN ***
v@no66: shows [2h 7h] (a pair of Fives)
ShaneWard88: shows [Ah Qd] (a pair of Fives - Ace kicker)
ShaneWard88 collected 9650 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9650 | Rake 0
Board [5d 5c 8d Jh Ks]
Seat 4: v@no66 (big blind) showed [2h 7h] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 5: ShaneWard88 (button) (small blind) showed [Ah Qd] and won (9650) with a pair of Fives

This hand happened when I was still trying to work out if he would fold, I believe I picked up a read on v@no in this hand and I went with my gut, I thought about it long and hard and I could have easily been wrong... but I had folded to most of his river bets up until now with middle pairs and such and I wanted to see if he was just bluffing them... it turns out he was and I started playing more aggressive later in the hands which did work for a while until the deck decided to slap him in the face as I mentioned before...

so after the hand where I lost with my 22 (ironically the hand that crushed my QQ, which was part of the reason I called on the end, if he can do it why cant I?) I was tilting like crazy and fuming at the fact that I was going to lose... I couldn't believe this muppet could beat me I was so annoyed... I took all that energy and attempted to squeeze every inch of advantage I had out of every hand... I wanted to win so badly but I knew it was unlikely... then this hand appeared...

PokerStars Game #34934298268: Tournament #209668651, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) - 2009/11/04 21:45:13 ET
Table '209668651 2' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 4: v@no66 (24232 in chips)
Seat 5: ShaneWard88 (2768 in chips)
v@no66: posts the ante 50
ShaneWard88: posts the ante 50
v@no66: posts small blind 300
ShaneWard88: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [9s Tc]
v@no66: calls 300
ShaneWard88: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jh 9d Kc]
ShaneWard88: bets 2118 and is all-in
v@no66: calls 2118
ShaneWard88 said, "gg"
*** TURN *** [Jh 9d Kc] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 9d Kc Jc] [As]
v@no66 said, "u2"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ShaneWard88: shows [9s Tc] (two pair, Jacks and Nines)
v@no66: shows [Ks 5d] (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
v@no66 collected 5536 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5536 | Rake 0
Board [Jh 9d Kc Jc As]
Seat 4: v@no66 (button) (small blind) showed [Ks 5d] and won (5536) with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 5: ShaneWard88 (big blind) showed [9s Tc] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Nines

Of course he has K5 when I have 910 and he out flops me... its me and I never win when I'm a slight underdog... oh well I really shouldn't complain because second still wins some money, but I play to win, nobody who will ever be really good at this game plays for second...

Signing off

Shane

6 Handed

Before I go into a description of the hand in question I want to boast a little bit... tonight at the Attfield tavern I made 3 perfect reads and about 8 nearly perfect reads... there is no better way to intimidate your opponent than to call out their exact two cards... in a specific hand I put my opponent on KK when the flop was A5Q... I had A3os I called out that he had KK and then thought for about 2 minutes (if I called I was all in)... I asked my opponent if they would show if I folded and they said yes... so I folded and they showed KK... I kicked myself but was still happy to see a perfect read... this player folded to every one of my raises for the rest of the night...

Now to the hand in question... Down to 6 players (out of 45) and I picked up A5os in the BB (the blinds are 2000 and 4000, I had 13 000... an M of about 2)... the button flat called (he only had 11000)... the small blind went all in for a total of 7000... I had to put in 2000 into a pot of 15 000, 7.5 to 1 odds, its an easy call for me... the problem arises when the button goes all in over the top for his last 5 000... the button really had to push all in before he let us act... this play says to me that he is a muppet and I begin to wonder how he made it so far... regardless of his talent his re raise does scream a monster but the fact of the matter is that I have to put 5000 into a 24 000 pot (nearly 5 to 1) whith half my stack already commited... I believe the call is mandatory...

Needless to say the button turns over K10os, the SB has A4os... I immideately start cursing the buttons terrible play in my head, ofcourse the K comes on the river to knock me down to 2000 and all in blind the next hand... I picked up QQ and was furious that I had to pick up my first real hand when im all in blind... I'd rather get 72os and let me go home... I win 4000 and pick up KJos in the next hand and the cut off (the muppet from before) flat called with K7os... the BB had 63os and they checked it down for the cut off to hit a 7 on the river to knock me out... serves me right for not playing pro league like I planned to...

Signing off

Shane

Corfield Tavern

So tonight i played free APL at the Corfield Tavern in Gosnells... I started with my usual tight aggressive play until the break... after the break i had about 7500 chips (an M of about 25)...

After the break I change to LAG if the table is tight and continue TAG if it is loose... this table was incredibly loose, there wasn't a pre flop raise that wasn't called... So i played extremely tight... I chipped up after a couple of muppets called me down with middle pair... after they saw i wasn't bluffing I managed to steal a few blinds and I went into the final table about 3rd in chips...

I have found that at these final tables players seem to think "Oh wow, I'm at the final table, I might be able to win this!!" and they start playing incredibly tight... I was the only one to raise for about four rounds in a row and i moved into the chip lead... I then picked up KK and put 3 players all in... then the miraculous happened and my hand held up!.. so I found myself with a 3 to 1 chip lead over the person in 2nd...

Then the bad luck kicked in... my strategy was to raise my marginal and decent hands and continue to take down the blinds without effort and fold my terrible hands... I picked up hands like K10os and A9os and I had to raise with them (limping would allow too many hands to see the flop and negate my post flop continuation bets)... I continually ran into dominating hands ( KJ or A10 for example) and lost the majority of my chips...

It came down to three handed and i was in 2nd position (1st had about 80 000, 2nd had about 50 000 and 3rd had about 30 000, the blinds where 5 000 and 10 000)... I picked up KJos in the small blind and put the BB (the small stack) all in, he called with J9os... my KJ held up to put me heads up with the big stack... at this point we both had 80 000 (this figure isn't exact, I think he had about 2000 more than me but for this example it doesn't matter)...

Before the first hand of heads up started the blinds went up to 10 000 and 20 000... this is were my problem with APL is... this blind structure leaves NO movement for playing heads up (we both have M's of 2.6)... this means that we are pretty much forced into an all-in situation on every hand... to my advantage, my opponent did not realize this and folded the first 3 hands to my all-in bets... this gave me an advantage of 110 000 to 50 000... you can see how this blind structure is stupid... on the fourth hand my opponent picked up AKos and called my all in bet... I had A7os... his AK held up and the chips changed to 100 000 vs 80 000... the next hand i went all in again and he folded giving me 100 000 to his 80 000... at this point I still don't believe my opponent understands the blind levels are so high ( if he folds 4 more hands preflop he'll be all-in blind) the next hand I pick up A4os... he went all-in and I called again, he shows AJos his hand holds up leaving me with 20 000 and him 160 000... the next hand I'm committed to the pot (with %50 of my chips in the blind) and i look down at 67c, I raise all in and he calls with Q7os... dominated, I lose to a Q on the flop and dam my luck and the huge blinds...

I believe that if the blinds were smaller I would have been able to dominate my opponents tight play with an "always raise on the button" strategy because my opponent was consistently folding their big blind... 2nd is the first loser in my book and i always expect 1st when I'm heads up, but with the blinds so high luck becomes a huge factor and I am never lucky so I'll have to live with 2nd... not happy but content...

I also want to comment on a player who I had sitting next to me who had dropped out ages ago... this player insisted on looking at my cards when I was playing 3 handed and heads up... this player is not a quality player but is a regular at the APL venues... I was too kind to tell her that I didn't want her looking at my cards (when I play her I can read her so well that I can guess her exact two cards almost every time)... I know that the players I'm playing are good enough to read her so I feel as if she is giving away my hand every time she looks at them... it doesn't bother me enough to tell her not too (because its only free league) but it still gets on my nerves...

A funny example of this particular player is earlier in this tournament... I picked up A9os in the BB... The player in question called as did three other players including the SB... the flop came K89 rainbow... The player in question was sitting directly to my left... I checked and she went all in, declaring loudly "I'm all in" and slamming her chips into the middle (about 5x the pot)... I immediately realized she probably had the nuts or close to it and prepared to fold... two people called her bet and when it came to my turn she started tapping my leg vigorously... I have found that many armature players think its nice manners to let the person next to them know when they have the best hand... I laughed and almost said to her that she doesn't have to tap my leg to let me know she has the best hand, I refrained and just folded... she turned over 88 to take down the pot...

I find it funny that she can so obviously show she has the best hand by the way she bets and still get two callers (one with a gut shot straight draw, and one with top pair low kicker)... I don't know whether I am missing something in the fundamentals of poker or they really are just that bad... there are so many players who play like this that it amazes me, but i guess it is only free poker in the end...

Signing off

Shane

a winner

Here's a hand that held up against two players... i couldn't believe it...

PokerStars Game #34646699959: Tournament #207801367, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/10/29 9:43:42 ET
Table '207801367 3' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: ShaneWard88 (1390 in chips)
Seat 2: Vinny1124 (5110 in chips)
Seat 3: Victorianna (610 in chips)
Seat 4: robtinnion (235 in chips)
Seat 5: ret7 (2490 in chips)
Seat 6: red5500 (2245 in chips)
Seat 7: Game Jnr (1180 in chips)
Seat 8: steninps (2095 in chips)
Seat 9: JEFFNoLiMpiN (1380 in chips)
steninps: posts small blind 50
JEFFNoLiMpiN: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [9s 9c]
robtinnion said, "woooooooooooooooooopsy"
ShaneWard88: raises 300 to 400
Vinny1124: folds
robtinnion said, "thought ui were bluffing"
Victorianna: raises 210 to 610 and is all-in
robtinnion: calls 235 and is all-in
ret7: folds
red5500: folds
Game Jnr: folds
steninps: folds
JEFFNoLiMpiN: folds
ShaneWard88: calls 210
*** FLOP *** [5d 7c 7d]
*** TURN *** [5d 7c 7d] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [5d 7c 7d Qd] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ShaneWard88: shows [9s 9c] (two pair, Nines and Sevens)
Victorianna: shows [Js As] (a pair of Sevens)
ShaneWard88 collected 750 from side pot
robtinnion: shows [8c Ah] (a pair of Sevens)
ShaneWard88 collected 855 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1605 Main pot 855. Side pot 750. | Rake 0
Board [5d 7c 7d Qd Kh]
Seat 1: ShaneWard88 showed [9s 9c] and won (1605) with two pair, Nines and Sevens
Seat 2: Vinny1124 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Victorianna showed [Js As] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 4: robtinnion showed [8c Ah] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 5: ret7 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: red5500 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Game Jnr (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: steninps (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: JEFFNoLiMpiN (big blind) folded before Flop

This is a pretty standard pre flop raise from me with blinds relatively high... I could limp the nines and play cautious but Victorianna would have pushed any way so the point is mute...

This is my first post of me winning in a marginal situation... so don't say that i always whinge :P

Signing off

Shane

Two Pairs Not Good Enough

This was a free entry tournament which started with about 600 players... i was playing aggressively trying to stop the blinds from killing me...

Full Tilt Poker Game #15672553636: Aus Poker Hero Qualifier (114750757), Table 52 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:43:07 ET - 2009/10/29
Seat 1: A Poker Chief (495), is sitting out
Seat 2: jomoro9 (580), is sitting out
Seat 3: Wardy88 (3,620)
Seat 4: bulldogtyler (8,786)
Seat 5: TyHarms (965), is sitting out
Seat 6: catscan (8,965)
Seat 7: theleaper (560), is sitting out
Seat 8: Aussie_77721 (670), is sitting out
Seat 9: Randy_Knight (9,220)
Wardy88 posts the small blind of 60
bulldogtyler posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Wardy88 [Qh 9s]
TyHarms folds
catscan calls 120
theleaper folds
Aussie_77721 folds
Randy_Knight folds
A Poker Chief folds
jomoro9 folds
Wardy88 calls 60
bulldogtyler checks
*** FLOP *** [Jh 9h 7d]
Wardy88 bets 200
bulldogtyler calls 200
catscan raises to 400
Wardy88 has 15 seconds left to act
Wardy88 calls 200
bulldogtyler calls 200
*** TURN *** [Jh 9h 7d] [Qd]
Wardy88 bets 550
bulldogtyler folds
catscan calls 550
*** RIVER *** [Jh 9h 7d Qd] [Ah]
Wardy88 bets 1,200
catscan raises to 2,400
Wardy88 raises to 2,550, and is all in
catscan calls 150
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Wardy88 shows [Qh 9s] two pair, Queens and Nines
catscan shows [5h 4h] a flush, Ace high
catscan wins the pot (7,760) with a flush, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,760 | Rake 0
Board: [Jh 9h 7d Qd Ah]
Seat 1: A Poker Chief didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: jomoro9 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Wardy88 (small blind) showed [Qh 9s] and lost with two pair, Queens and Nines
Seat 4: bulldogtyler (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: TyHarms didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: catscan showed [5h 4h] and won (7,760) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 7: theleaper didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Aussie_77721 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Randy_Knight didn't bet (folded)

After the flop on this hand i was facing two opponents who were pretty much limping every hand and rarely raising... i had pushed them both off pots several hands before with continuation bets... when i was flat called and min-raised, i thought that catscan was making a weak attempt at pushing me off a pot due to the fact that i had raised nearly every flop I've seen... that coupled with the pot odds (nearly 6 to 1) and the fact that i believed i could push catscan off the pot on the turn... i called...

When the queen flopped i knew i had the best hand and i wanted to bet enough to get called but also not give the correct odds to call for a flush draw... my bet size is ok i believe, if i had of made it bigger catscan would have called anyway (he had called me to the river with a middle pair in a previous hand so i believe he isn't a very solid player)...

When the Ah hits i believe its a good card because catscan has played many rag Aces further than he should before... two pair was an option i thought about but the pot was too big for me to make a lay down like this... when i saw the flush i thought i should have bet more on the turn... its a marginal choice but i should have given him less respect and bet more i believe...

If anyone can see any glaring mistakes i made during this hand please let me know... I'm always open to constructive criticism...

Signing off

Shane

KT vs AT

In relation to the last post i made there was a hand were i had AJ against KJ... I played this tourney later that day...

PokerStars Game #34645419255: Tournament #207790808, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/10/29 8:50:45 ET
Table '207790808 4' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: Digivally (1000 in chips)
Seat 3: jugtheripper (6445 in chips)
Seat 4: Wolfe40 (2520 in chips)
Seat 5: VomiD (6770 in chips)
Seat 6: Gotharag (3865 in chips)
Seat 7: ShaneWard88 (530 in chips)
Seat 9: Nikolay14087 (4005 in chips)
Gotharag: posts small blind 50
ShaneWard88: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Ts Kh]
Nikolay14087: raises 100 to 200
Digivally: raises 800 to 1000 and is all-in
jugtheripper: folds
Wolfe40: folds
VomiD: folds
Gotharag: folds
ShaneWard88: calls 430 and is all-in
Nikolay14087: folds
Uncalled bet (470) returned to Digivally
*** FLOP *** [5h 4d 8h]
*** TURN *** [5h 4d 8h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [5h 4d 8h 6s] [Tc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ShaneWard88: shows [Ts Kh] (a pair of Tens)
Digivally: shows [Td Ac] (a pair of Tens - Ace kicker)
Digivally collected 1310 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1310 | Rake 0
Board [5h 4d 8h 6s Tc]
Seat 2: Digivally showed [Td Ac] and won (1310) with a pair of Tens
Seat 3: jugtheripper folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Wolfe40 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: VomiD (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Gotharag (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: ShaneWard88 (big blind) showed [Ts Kh] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 9: Nikolay14087 folded before Flop

Im getting 3 to 1 on my money and i only had an M of 2.8 and i had a quarter of my stack committed... this player had pushed against me with A5 after my preflop raise a few hands earlier so i assumed their range would be large...

I just want to point out that i think its funny how close this was to the last hand of the last tourney i played and how when its me on the receiving end i lose but the muppet makes his two outer when he's on the receiving end... wheres the justice?

Murmuc the Muppet

This is the story about a player I played against in a $1 tourney named Murmuc... these series of hands are pretty much the proof i need to see that i am unavoidably unlucky at this game, bar the first hand which was an obvious mistake on my part but i will explain my thinking after... here is the first hand i was involved with Murmuc in...

PokerStars Game #34639963546: Tournament #207758224, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/10/29 3:23:49 ET
Table '207758224 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: georgie070 (2180 in chips)
Seat 2: tntrn (1490 in chips)
Seat 3: ShaneWard88 (1380 in chips)
Seat 4: yuka17 (1360 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez (1420 in chips)
Seat 6: evalettner (1220 in chips)
Seat 7: murmuc (2370 in chips)
Seat 8: Bearenda (2080 in chips)
georgie070: posts small blind 10
tntrn: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Qc Qd]
ShaneWard88: raises 80 to 100
yuka17: folds
KizzOurAcez: folds
evalettner: folds
murmuc: calls 100
Bearenda: folds
yuka17 has returned
georgie070: raises 200 to 300
tntrn: folds
ShaneWard88: calls 200
murmuc: raises 200 to 500
georgie070: raises 1680 to 2180 and is all-in
ShaneWard88: folds
murmuc: calls 1680
*** FLOP *** [8c 5d 4s]
ShaneWard88 said, "wow"
*** TURN *** [8c 5d 4s] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [8c 5d 4s 7c] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
georgie070: shows [Ah Kh] (a pair of Fives)
murmuc: shows [7h 2s] (two pair, Sevens and Fives)
murmuc collected 4680 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4680 | Rake 0
Board [8c 5d 4s 7c 5h]
Seat 1: georgie070 (small blind) showed [Ah Kh] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 2: tntrn (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: ShaneWard88 folded before Flop
Seat 4: yuka17 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: evalettner folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: murmuc showed [7h 2s] and won (4680) with two pair, Sevens and Fives
Seat 8: Bearenda (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

So as you can see I believe Murmuc is lacking a basic understanding of poker... or didn't care about the $1 and was just goofing around... at the time i assumed he was just being silly so I held back my opinions...

In relation to my fold, I'm not sure that folding queens here is absolutely terrible... I hadn't played against these players long enough to put them in a category of player so i assumed they were generally solid (as I assume most players are when I don't know their playing style)...We were still in the first blind level and I had an M of 46 so there was no need for me to get into a position were i could lose all my chips so early in the tournament... with these factors in mind I had to look at the actual play that had unfolded... I raised from UTG 5x the BB, in my eyes this displays a lot of strength... I was then flat called from Murmuc and re raised from the SB... at this point my range that i had the other two players on was still relatively wide... Murmuc only flat called meaning that he could be playing suited connectors/small pairs... the SB's raise does indicate more strength and i actually put them on a high A and most probably AK... so my plan is to flat call and see if any over cards flop and proceed with caution from there... when the action got back around to Murmuc he min re raises... now this to me so early in the tournament against a raise and a re rais and a call just screams AA, i have seen this move many times when playing the micro limits so I really didnt feel comfortable with my QQ any more and after the SB pushes all in i believe that at best i am a 55 to 45 percent favourite against only one of my opponents... and the likelyhood someone would play JJ like this in the SB is arguable... i still have an M of 36 if i fold so i choose to fold...

In retrospect I should have taken into the account that its a micro limit table where players believe that K 10os is the nuts... I also should know that the blinds are increasing at a rapid rate and my M of 36 will severely decrease in only a few more hands... and finally that its only $1, it may not seem much after talking about it but i only have about $45 in my bankroll so i need to make every tourney count...

So whether my fold was a muppet play or not I was surprized to say the least when Murmuc showed 72os... but happy that i had a good read on the SB... I didnt say anything but inside i was steaming, here i was folding QQ thinking I was so much better than these muppets just to get it thrown in my face that im trying to dam hard...

The next hand in question came about 4 hands later and i was up against Murmuc again... when i was dealt this i was tilting a bit still so that explains my uncautios play...

PokerStars Game #34640019636: Tournament #207758224, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2009/10/29 3:27:53 ET
Table '207758224 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: tntrn (1920 in chips)
Seat 3: ShaneWard88 (1070 in chips)
Seat 4: yuka17 (1330 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez (1720 in chips)
Seat 6: evalettner (2010 in chips)
Seat 7: murmuc (3490 in chips)
Seat 8: Bearenda (1960 in chips)
evalettner: posts small blind 15
murmuc: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Jd Ah]
Bearenda: folds
tntrn: folds
ShaneWard88: raises 90 to 120
yuka17: folds
KizzOurAcez: calls 120
evalettner: folds
murmuc: raises 330 to 450
ShaneWard88: raises 620 to 1070 and is all-in
KizzOurAcez: folds
murmuc: calls 620
*** FLOP *** [6h 9s 3d]
*** TURN *** [6h 9s 3d] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [6h 9s 3d 6s] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
murmuc: shows [Jc Kc] (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
ShaneWard88: shows [Jd Ah] (a pair of Sixes)
murmuc collected 2275 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2275 | Rake 0
Board [6h 9s 3d 6s Kh]
Seat 2: tntrn folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ShaneWard88 showed [Jd Ah] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 4: yuka17 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez (button) folded before Flop
Seat 6: evalettner (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: murmuc (big blind) showed [Jc Kc] and won (2275) with two pair, Kings and Sixes
Seat 8: Bearenda folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Now my pre flop raise was pretty standard with AJos and i started the hand well... when Murmuc made a re raise it just brought back memories of his weak raise with 72os and i instantly pushed all in... this is absolutely an incorrect play... my usual style is to flat call and see a flop because i believe i am better than alot of players at these limits at knowing where i stand after the flop and i can outplay them from there... if i had of taken this approach i may have been able to win the hand instead of just tilting and pushing in... after Murmuc insta called and i saw his KJc i was already berating myself for tilting, even tho i knew i had him dominated i was saying to myself "here comes a king" when the turn didnt bring it i had a spark of hope that the maths might actually work... but no the old faithful river brings my tourney to a premature end once again...

Before i exited i wrote in the chat "nh sir well played"... i don't really like chatting and i rarely take out my frusterations in the chat box but when i do i take this approach, i sarcastically compliment my opponents bad play... this serves two purposes... if anybody at the table is paying attention they will realise i am being sarcastic and get some amusement out of it... and also that the muppet usually wont realise that they made a bad play and it was all "luck", they will then believe this is the way to play and the other 9 times out of 10 that this situation arises i will win all their money...

After i left i began writing this... I had to return to the tournament table to get the hand info, in doing so i realized that Murmuc was no longer in the tournament... i grabbed the hand info on the hand he lost... this happend two hands after i was eliminated...

PokerStars Game #34640076817: Tournament #207758224, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2009/10/29 3:32:04 ET
Table '207758224 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: tntrn (3870 in chips)
Seat 4: yuka17 (1285 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez (3440 in chips)
Seat 6: evalettner (1455 in chips)
Seat 7: murmuc (1745 in chips)
Seat 8: Bearenda (1705 in chips)
murmuc: posts small blind 15
Bearenda: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
tntrn: folds
yuka17: folds
KizzOurAcez: calls 30
evalettner: calls 30
murmuc: calls 15
Bearenda: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ks 8h 5h]
murmuc: checks
Bearenda: checks
KizzOurAcez: bets 90
evalettner: calls 90
murmuc: raises 210 to 300
Bearenda: folds
KizzOurAcez: raises 3110 to 3410 and is all-in
evalettner: folds
murmuc: calls 1415 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1695) returned to KizzOurAcez
*** TURN *** [Ks 8h 5h] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [Ks 8h 5h 8d] [Kd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
murmuc: shows [5s Jh] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
KizzOurAcez: shows [As Kc] (a full house, Kings full of Eights)
KizzOurAcez collected 3640 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3640 | Rake 0
Board [Ks 8h 5h 8d Kd]
Seat 2: tntrn folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: yuka17 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: KizzOurAcez showed [As Kc] and won (3640) with a full house, Kings full of Eights
Seat 6: evalettner (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: murmuc (small blind) showed [5s Jh] and lost with two pair, Kings and Eights
Seat 8: Bearenda (big blind) folded on the Flop

This is one of my biggest problems with losing to muppets... they take all my money on a bad play and then lose it to someone else with another bad play... its like cant you just lose when maths says you should? or at least take my money and realize you now have plenty of chips and don't have to be an idiot anymore? but no they insist on playing like a muppet and just losing all my chips that i deserve... i have noticed that when i get knocked out of a tourney early its rarely to a player who has a chance of winning (these players wont play large pots early even with premier hands just to avoid large swings)...

I realize that i post alot of bad beats and muppet plays and the glaring contradiction i mentioned in a previous post is always in my mind... and i will start posting tourneys that i win and places were my hand holds up against an underdog hand... I do realise that when a bad beat happens it stands out in my mind as opposed to when my hand holds up... but its a bit ridiculous when i can say "here comes a King" when he only has two outs and have it hit... what are the odds of that? The second i find a hand were i am an underdog and i draw out against a better hand i will post it... i cant actually remember that happening and i dont have any in my hand history storage but ill keep my eyes open...

signing off

Shane

TAG Muppet

I was playing in a $1 online tourney on PS (PokerStars) tonight to blow off some steam from my usual bad beat knockout in live poker (had a made flush, went all in on the flop and got called by the nut flush draw which hit... not too bad a beat i guess)...

I was playing my usual TAG for a while until i got bored and switched to LAG (Loose Aggressive)... so to be fair i was raising a lot of pots, and i was tilting a bit because i got out drawn when i put a solid player all in with an over pair and they had a lower pocket pair and hit a two outer... in this hand i want to mention that chip2310 had not played more than two hands in the past half an hour so i had them down as a solid tight player... so here is the hand in question...

PokerStars Game #34606158989: Tournament #207542133, $1.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/10/28 11:26:50 ET
Table '207542133 3' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: pntdan (4095 in chips)
Seat 2: ShaneWard88 (480 in chips)
Seat 3: chip2310 (2220 in chips)
Seat 5: kjauls (6495 in chips)
Seat 6: Chanda39 (725 in chips)
Seat 7: johan bels (1700 in chips)
Seat 8: debmarhome (1770 in chips)
Seat 9: wallacesoare (2140 in chips)
johan bels: posts small blind 50
debmarhome: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ShaneWard88 [Jd Ac]
wallacesoare: folds
pntdan: calls 100
ShaneWard88: raises 380 to 480 and is all-in
chip2310: calls 480
kjauls: folds
Chanda39: folds
johan bels: folds
debmarhome: folds
pntdan: folds
*** FLOP *** [Js As 3d]
*** TURN *** [Js As 3d] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Js As 3d Ts] [Kc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ShaneWard88: shows [Jd Ac] (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
chip2310: shows [Kd Qc] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
chip2310 collected 1210 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1210 | Rake 0
Board [Js As 3d Ts Kc]
Seat 1: pntdan folded before Flop
Seat 2: ShaneWard88 showed [Jd Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Jacks
Seat 3: chip2310 showed [Kd Qc] and won (1210) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 5: kjauls folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Chanda39 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: johan bels (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: debmarhome (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: wallacesoare folded before Flop (didn't bet)

To be fair i did have an M of only 3.5 so i could be pushing with a wide range (tho if someone understands M they will realize my range is narrowed by the UTG call)... my main disappointment is chip2310's call with KQos... i mean i had him down as a good player at the table and he just threw his image away with this call... I mean its not that bad a call really, because I was raising a lot of pots preflop, but with a limper already in? I believe this is an easy fold...

I actually commented when i flopped two pair that the call was disappointing... and then the runner runner was inevitable with my luck... sooo i guess its back to studying the right way to play so i dont get so frusterated with these players...

A very annoyed Shane signing off

Shane

I'm a Muppet

So tonight i played at the Attfield again, i was placed at a table with 6 muppets and one state champion... i started out playing my usual TAG style... i made one bluffing maneuver against a muppet who check called me down with top pair and a weak kicker... a standard play among muppets...

These people seem to think the best way to win is that when they make a pair they check... i cant comprehend how they do this, i would understand it if they think they are beat and are trying to check it down to the showdown... but if you bet... they will call, and they will call pot sized bets and even overbets... this is THE worst way to play... you just giving all your advantage to your opponent, they can just check to any draw and get free cards to beat you... the other way they play is when they pick up a draw... they simply call every post flop bet in the hope that they will hit...

So i made a stupid bluff that i should have just checked down and i lost about half my stack... i changed my style to super tight in an attempt to make the break... i made the break and gained another 2000 chips...

After the break i picked up 77 in middle position and decided to test my luck... i only limped in (raising would only achieve in building a bigger pot which is exactly what i want to avoid)... the SB called and the BB checked... the flop came 6 4 4... it was checked around to me and i made a pot sized bet... the SB then went all in... i thought about it for a while and folded, he could have been making a move but i doubted it... he showed 6 4.

A few hands later i picked up 10 10 and wasn't going to make the same mistake twice... i raised to 3 times the BB, the BB called my bet... the flop came 9c 6s Ac... I bet the 1/2 the pot... the BB thought for a bit and called... at this point i either had them on a club flush draw or top pair and weak kicker... the next card was a Qd, i believe at this point i picked up a tell, my opponent sat up straighter in their chair and checked their cards that their eyes darted to their remaining chips (i little over the pot) i paused for a moment and checked... the SB went all in... here i was torn between my nice pot odds ( over 2 to 1) and my read on my opponent, i spent about 3 mins thinking... during this time my opponent started showing their hand to the people around them i assumed they wouldn't be showing a bluff to their peers with i proud smile on their faces so i folded... my opponent proudly turned over Q9os (offsuit)...

My opponent then proceeded to explain to me as if it was my first time playing that if i had of bet more on the flop they would have folded... i smile and nod sarcastically... then a player next to her pipes up and says... "I love playing against you people who take it so seriously, i don't do any maths or any strategy i just look at my cards and if they look pretty i play them, and when i win you get so angry, I love it!"... i simply smile and nod at him too, i then decide that if they can play like that and win... why cant i?

The very next hand i get dealt 3 3... I'm 2nd UTG and UTG limps in... i decide to take my newly acquired friends advice and play like a muppet... i push my remaining chips into the middle (6 times the BB) exclaiming that "I like your style"... the button calls the BB calls (all in) and UTG calls... i smile to myself knowing that i will win because I'm playing like a muppet and they always seem to win...

The flop comes 4 4 6... and checks all around then 10, and again checks, then Q... UTG picks up her cards and flashes them to the people sitting around her, in the process she shows me her Q 10... i muck my cards and walk out muttering to myself about how i can be out muppeted...

*Sigh*

Shane

Muppet Philosophy

When it comes to bad poker players a lot of the time i can handle the bad plays and misunderstandings because i know that in the long run i should come out in front, theoretically that is...

The main reason i get upset is when the muppet assumes because they have been playing for a few years and believe they know what they are doing, that they are so much better than everyone else... and far be it for anyone to criticize their playing abilities with mathematics or proven strategies...

These players really get under my skin, they look at me as if I'm an idiot when i release an exasperated sigh after being rivered to a 6 outer... then they assume I'm the muppet for not realizing the old faithful river would pull them out of their predicament...

I do realize as you probably have if you are reading this that there is a glaring contradiction to the points i raise... this being that if muppets are so terrible at poker why am i forever whinging about being beaten by them? this is in fact a good point that i have been pondering over for quite a while now... it is the sole reason that i still play micro stakes or free poker... i believe that if i can't beat the players who lack a basic understanding of fundamental concepts how am i meant to beat the players who not only understand it but can use it to beat me, i wouldn't stand a chance...

So i have come to the conclusion that i am not going to move up in limits until i am winning on a regular basis, until that time i am going to continue to study and play my heart out... hopefully with time i will be able to best the amateurs and become more than a lowly amateur myself

signing off

Shane

Muppeted

So tonight i was playing free league APL (Australian Poker League) at the Attfeild tavern in Maddington...

I started off playing my usual pre-break poker... which is ultra tight.. the reason being that you start with 2000 chips and the blinds at 50 and 100 meaning that your "M" starts at about 13 (If you are unfamiliar with what an "M" is... simply Google "Dan Harrington's M" and you'll know what im talking about)... as you have probably noted... the advised play for an "M" of 10-20 is to loosen up and start raising in position with mediocre hands... this is all well and good if the rest of the field realized the strategic implications of the position, the sad but true fact is that they don't... if i raise 3x the BB (three times the Big Blind) then i will get 4 or 5 callers anyway...

So its tough going until after the break when everybody gets an extra 1000 chips, plus another 1000 if they have used their spend card... after the break i had caught a couple of hands and chipped up a fair amount ( i believe i had about 3500 in chips) after the break i changed gears and started raising and 3 betting people, this seems to work to a degree in the free league because people realize that their chip stack is getting increasingly smaller in relation to the blinds (their "M") so they feel they need to play tighter... this strategy is actually a double edged sword because in me raising a lot of pots people become frustrated and start calling with their usual garbage... so i need to be careful in some spots...

Now to the hand in question... 500 and 1000 blinds and i had about 7000 (actually a larger stack at this point in the tournament) it is folded around to a player that i am unfamiliar with in the cutoff (on the right of the button), this player had 5500 in chips and chose to call... i had not seen this player play many hands at all so i assumed he would be your usual TAG (Tight Aggressive) player who would fold most hands and come in raising with their good hands...

All others folded and i elected to raise to 3000 total due to the fact that i believed he would have raised a premium hand and therefore called with a so so hand, and would fold to a decent bet... this player thought for about 30 seconds and called... at this point i had him on either a small pair (88- 22), KQs,KJs,J10s or a smallish suited A...

The flop came 4d 6h 8c... Ive flopped broad way... at this point im thinking about how i can get all his chips into the pot... i believe that this player is in fact a half decent player ( due to the fact that i hadnt seen him play more than 2 pots since joining the table) so i elected to check knowing that if he had any of the afore mentioned hands that i had put him on, this flop would be begging for a bet after i show weakness, not to mention the fact that the pot has 6200 and he only has 2500 left and an all in bet could win back about 2.5 times his stack... He elects to check.

After the check on the flop my range for his hands broadens a touch due to the fact that a decent player would have at least made a probe bet to find out where they are... the turn was a 7s... this card means that any 5 beats me, it is hard for me to believe that he was sitting on a 5 pre-flop but it would explain his check post flop, due to the scary card and the fact that the pot is big enough for me to be happy to win without a fight... i bet 2000...

He thinks for about 10 seconds and goes all in... right now i have no idea what he has but i assume im best, in either case im obviously pot committed so i call the extra 500... he turns over Ks 9d... hmmmmmmmmmmm

I look at his cards and realize that he is just another run of the mill free league muppet... looks like my original observations were way off... he does have 8 outs ( four 5's and four 10's) but realistically he should have folded preflop...

I am thinking about how ill stack my chips after taking this muppet for all he's worth when the old faithful muppet-loving river shows a 10c and i stare in disbelief as the muppet takes all my chips and has a look on his face as if he new the straight was coming and its just routine for him...

I instantly go on tilt and go all in blind in the small blind... i believe that this is probably the worst part of my game... as soon as i get a bad beat i go on tilt and then its bye bye chippies... in fact i had A9o and got called by KJo and K6 in the BB... just more confirmation that i continue to give people in the free league too much credit ( naturally i lose to 2 pair)...

signing off...

Shane

Introduction

So this is going to be my blog page...

Its mostly going to be about poker (mainly No Limit Texas-Holdem) bad beats and how frustrated i get with muppets, either live or online... They are mostly the same...

The definition of a Muppet in case you don't know is... a poker player who is terrible at poker yet still seems to win... a Muppet relies on luck to win and discards skill as a useless and insignificant part of a largely luck based game...

Anybody with half a brain and an interest in poker understands that skill is required in order to succeed and that if you want to play a luck based game go and play roulette...

If anybody wishes to dispute this irrefutable fact then you simply need to look to the world scale and see the professional poker players that make a living out of only playing poker... have you ever seen a professional roulette player? I think not!

The fact that there can be an obvious domination from a few over the many should be all the evidence required to prove the fact that skill is a required skill to become a successful poker player.