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
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
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
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
Monday, November 2, 2009
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
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
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
Thursday, October 29, 2009
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
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?
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?
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