Saturday, December 18, 2010

12-18-2010 NLHE and LO8 cash game sessions at Borgata

2-5 NLHE at Borgata

Sadly, my hand history was not as detailed as other reports....
Hero in seat 9.
A good chunk (3-4) were "internet type players"/competent players

hero dealt [44] UTG
hero raised preflop and took pot down uncontested.

Hero was kinda nitty and folded 98o in CO (instead of opening with it).

Hero raised in MP with TT and got called IP.
(2 players to pot)
Cbet 982 board
hero takes down pot

KK - hero raises and gets no callers pre-flop.

--------
A hand i was not involved in:

65 in preflop
board:
A43 2 q (not sure if it was rainbow or not)

Donk led into p f r 35
Short stack ships 135
Pfr calls
Ch Ch turn
River shove from Donk lead both started w 120 bb
Other guy folds

--------
They attempted to get a PLO game up, but only 3-4 people ended up showing up. Thus, the PLO game never got off the ground.

--------
I had a brief table change to another 2-5 NLHE table (many of the people had left/sat out, so the table composition was different and not very good) before a seat opened up at 10-20 LO8.

--------
Within a couple hands, I got into some a hand.

Hero picked up A542 2 cards suited to ace
Hero was PFR in CO and bet/raised on every street.

On the flop, there were 3 players (villain in SB, villain in EP, hero in CO).

I got aggressive and raised initial
A q 7 8 3 (i think it was 2 tone on the flop, but flush draw never got there on the river)
SB end up folding river (probably had counterfeited 23 for low or busted flush draw) and I got half with nut low.versus female villain's aces up.

+40 from 2-5 NLHE
~3-4 big bets at LO8

(
4 hours at Borgata
3 hours NLHE
1 hour LO8 - 10/20 w/ HK
)

--------
Harrah's
I wanted to log some time in to give myself the max amount of time to not have to get comps for my next trip. I waited ~20-30 min. for a 1-2 or 2-5 game.
They also had a 1-2 PLO8 wait list, but only 4 people were on it (and many of them had started interest late a couple hours ago.)

I found out that the "new day" according to Harrah's was 7:00AM for the purpose of tracking comps. ie: If I play at 6:59AM on 3/1/2011, it counts my last day of play was 2/28/2011.

9s
C r on j73 board

could have sized bet smaller not 2/3 pot

-69 @ 2-5 NLHE at Harrah's (1 hour)

Friday, December 17, 2010

12-17-2010 NLHE and PLO cash game sessions at Parx and Harrah's Chester

Chester:
2-5 NLHE - 1 hour
The table I was at had a couple of weak tight players who bought in for 40bb, and some relatively tight players. There were some that were bleeding slowly though.

Parx:
2-5 NLHE
I played briefly (about 1/2 hour) at 2-5 NLHE before I realized there was a PLO game going, albeit at smaller (1-2) stakes. Perhaps I should have stayed at the NLHE game as I felt ok mentally, but the action was somewhat slow/tight (which isn't bad per se, but may not be the best use of my time.)

1-2 PLO

I bumped into 1 guy at the PLO table who recognized me from my play at Rivers. He mentioned that the PLO game at Rivers has been kind of dry. Thus, that's why he's been trying to go out to Parx. He plays kinda tight, which is ok given that many of the players are "transitioning" NLHE players that don't really understand the nuances of the game per se.

One guy fired 2 barrels with AAxx on a 2 tone board (something like KT6) on flop/turn (the guy ended up folding top pair, maybe even top 2 pair). It's leaky b/c you're not going to get called by worse very often + almost all turn cards suck. The guy barrelling 2x with aaxx was lucky he got the other guy to fold...

hero: Aaq8 ss to a
villain: Qqt2 ss to q
Both players have heart flush draw

money gets in preflop

Hit nut flush
100

--------
Harrah's Chester:
-50 @ 2-5 NLHE (1 hour)
+35 @ Parx
.5 NLHE -> -65
1 PLO -> +~100

An embarassment....

Quick update:
12/16
1. Min cash (30/~271)
2. I'm going to be extremely embarassed when I post the hand history!
3. I think I played about 2 hands right all night...
4. < 1 bb at dinner break (500/1k/100), not by choice...the $20 in food vouchers was easily worth more than my cEV...
5. Can't believe i didn't 3 bet shove in some easy spots against loose raisers when I'm so easily ahead of their range. Villains were capable of bet folding too....
6. Didn't bet/call my stack with AQo (1.5k/3k/500 - 7.5k raise; 40k reship)
7. ATo < AQo for busto...

Simply put - get ready for some LOL (and completely wrong play - which I will note) nitty hand history reading when I (hopefully) post the hand history!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

12-16-2010 570 NLHE

12/16/2010
570 NLHE @ Harrah's Atlantic City
12k starting chips

--------
12k starting chips

Hero pre-registered for tournament and arrived approximately 15 min. into level 1.

--------
Initial table reads:
(1 hole)
guy who didn't talk/
    very limp/weak tight
    had pencil in hand/wrote stuff down (likely hand history), then acted
    overall, seemed player played tight, but then made weird plays.

seat 5 & 6 ran deep together in the 1.5k regional event
player 9 - older person - talked about his experiences with
there's no "crying" in poker
met him at the Borgata next day playing in the MTT in "survivor" MTT


asian guy
    wrote every hand down in notebook
    folded KK face up

player 7

slow methodical asian player (maybe mid-late 20s) - took 2 min. to make action
(player who raised/4 bet bluffed and got guy to fold KK face up)
showed up 1-1.5 hours late

--------
Called Cbet w 3s
bricked flop and didn't try to resteal

hero dealt: 75s
hero in BB checks
(3-4 players)

623 rainbow backdoor flush
7
A


hero checks flop | checked around
hero bets turn/is raised
villain raised turn/hero calls
hero check/folds to small value bet on river.

12.025k at break

--------
level 5

~hero was dealt 86s and was PFR versus 1 opponent.
972 2s
(hero has flush + open ended straight draw)


hero dealt in EP: AKs
hero flat calls utg+1 raise
5 players end up seeing the flop
Hero bricks (ie: misses flop) and is forced to fold to bet

Analysis:
Hero probably should have 3bet isolated here, but decided not to and played fit/fold on flop.

--------
This hand occurred sometime b/w levels 5-8.

hero dealt AKo in CO
limp UTG.
limp in EP
Hero ISOs with AKo
UTG: calls
EP: folds


Kh Qh 6h
EP checks
hero bets 1/2 pot
villain calls

Kh Qh 6h 5s
villain checks
hero checks

4h
Villain leads into PFR for full pot
hero folds


Analysis:
I'm pretty sure hero should have bet the turn as well and price out naked flush draws. Hero's not sure why he went for pot control there on a drawy board. Easy fold on the river.

--------
Level 7
QQ utg
hero raises, then cbets into 1 villain with j43 2 tone board

6875
Peeled ip w kqs with a couple other players
3low cards
Fold


5.375k at 2nd break

--------
Level 9
4 limps
hero shoves in bb w [44]
everyone folds

Crazy guy who 5 bet shoved
Shows 86s

Kjo
Ali flat calls raise w a k
Aqs
Scoops pot w monotone flop


9.5k

Bet folded 2s utg to small reraise

8.3k

level 11
short stack shoves
hero called 3.375k with Q9s in BB
Villain shows a7o
board: [8779k]

villain doubles up
Hero's stack 4.3k

--------
--------
(recall from memory??)
hero dealt [7s 5s]
pfr and 5 callers
hero's stack is only about 20% of pot
hero folds:

Analysis:
Hero has no fold equity for shove; therefore, hero folds since hand will not flop well 6 way.

Hero left with about ~4bb (M < 2).

--------
8 hands later, folds to hero UTG+1

hero dealt [J4o]
hero folds

Analysis:
Hero can't really shove against 8 other random hands with J4o - almost 0 fold equity at this point and doesn't even have adequate equity against a random hand.

Basically, hero is trying to find any spot where the pot is opened and hero can shove. Sadly, 4 hands pass and hero is even forced to fold BB when multiple people are in the pot in a raised pot.

***Hero's stack with the button at dinner break: 800 (blinds: 400/800)

--------
Aside 1: Dinner Vouchers

About 20-25 min. before the dinner break (while hero was nursing a super short stack), someone mentioned that there were $20 food vouchers for players who made the dinner break.

It turns out that hero's table was one of the last ones to get a food voucher :(. Thankfully, I was still in the tournament, so I received my 2x $10 food vouchers.

At the dinner break, I ended up chatting with my other buddy who was still in the tournament. One of the first things I mentioned was that "I think the food vouchers have more value than my actual tournament chip count" :-P


-------------------------------------
Female Villain raises in MP (used to distinguish people later on in the transcript)
Hero blind calls on the button with K6o
Everyone else folds
Villain shows K6s
Board brings a chop (no flush draw)

Hero's stack: 1.8k after chop (pot had 3700 but hero does not get odd chip b/c hero is OOP).

Folds to hero in CO:
Hero open shoves w/o looking at hand
open shove 8s on blind open
SB: KTo (covers both players)
BB: A7o (all in)
8s hold; BB is out

236
7.2k

Q62q4
Hero shoves UTG with KQs
Aj largest stack calls
Tens shorter stack calls as well.

Hero's stack:
19.3k


villain UTG raises
Hero Folds ajo in EP

Tight player raises
Hero decides to folded 88

folds to hero in MP
hero has AKo
hero raises and called by 1 player in late position
flop: A55 2 tone
Hero and Villain both check flop
Turn: Td
Hero bets
Villain folds


6 folds
folds to hero in CO with [A5s]
hero raises to 2.5x
Slow thinking, methodical Asian player in SB: raises to 7x
hero: folds

--------
One sort of weird hand
villain 2 makes small 4bet against villain 1 hand 3 bet/folded.
villain 1 ends up 5 betting
villain 2 mucks 10s face up.

--------
EP villain (tight asian player) - raises to 2700
hero 3bets ts to 8100
BB (another asian player): raises to 13.4k
EP: raises to 45k
hero tanks/folds
other players - folds kings face up

Put in 1/2 stack to bet fold
18k

Analysis:
Absolute mistake to fold here!
Even if hero is up against aces/kings, hero has 20% "set" equity...and already invested 40% stack likely getting at least 17% equity from the pot.
Hero's equity could be slightly higher by adding some [AK|AQ] into range as well.

Hero's pretty sure 1/2 the table thought I made a horrible play and at the time, I definitely should have just jammed.
The sad part I told to one person, a friend of mine did something similar (bet/folded 30% of stack with 99).

Needless to say, villain 1 folding KK faceup was lol. He said "the villain had played super tight during the whole tournament" which was true, but it's a leak 99+% of time to be folding that with so much money invested (he had invested about 1/3 of his stack, although he was covered).

The PFR/5bettor says he can't believe he got someone to fold KK.
hero left with approximately ~29.4k?

--------
29.4k

"MTT PRO" limps
Hero isolates limper w 43s
T42T2 backdoor flush (may not be T4282 - maybe T4282)
villain/hero check flop and turn
Tournament pro bluffs river

Analysis: Although hero could have bet turn b/c almost every card is an over, hero decides to go into c/c mode to pick off bluffs. The flop rarely hits "tournament pro"'s range as he's decidedly playing more high card combos (Ax; broadways, etc...).

--------
[My table is broken up; down to 4 tables - 36 players; 30 to the money]
seat 1 - chip leader
seat 2 - female player
seat 3 - eventually tight Asian player from initial table
seat 4 - tight/short stack older player
seat 5 - ?
seat 6 - ?
seat 7 - MTT pro (young white player)
seat 8 - MTT pro (young Asian player)
seat 9 - hero
seat 10 - older African American player

--------
Flatter AQo
Bluff raised t42 rainbow board
Bet/fold
Hero around 40k

Probably nitty fold w a8o against button steal
M around 5

7s vs 6s somewhere in this hand history right before color up (3 hands)
Female villain shoves in BB with [66]

Hero's hand holds up and eliminates female player.

Hero has M around ~10.
--------
hero has around ~47k
Hero raises in LP with AQo - 2.5x BB (about 7.5k of hero's 47.5k)
Villain (seat 3) reshoves all in (hero is covered)
hero tanks/folds

bet/folded a 40k all in (for tournament life) with AQo against guy who was probably repopping with 15-20% of range (if not more).
Analysis: I think hero is probably favorite against range and could have probably "flipped" in that spot. Villain may also think hero is coming in light. Thus, villain's range might be wider.


seat 8 (who had been raising preflop a lot (likely internet pro) - raises in CO
hero: dealt AKo on button
I fold AKo against co steal (he had been opening and/or isoing 25-30%). Likely an MTT pro.
Analysis:
Extremely nitty - likely crushing villain's range and villain has bet/folded preflop too

--------
Bubble Analysis:
Hero felt like he was just trying to fold into the money towards the end after a couple of the bet/fold situations preflop and the "non-jam" of AK.
There were 2 "critical stacks" (M < 2-3) before hero would blind out anyway. It's

--------
About 6-8 hands of hand for hand were played with 2-3 players before the bubble.

Hero eventually gets ITM.

--------
2 hands ITM
UTG+1 ("tight" asian player) raises to 10k at 2k/4k/500
folds to hero in CO with AQo
hero raises all in (19k)
UTG+1: calls

UTG+1 shows 2 suited Ax broadway (like AT of spades)
board: 8s 6s 5x Qs Tx

Hero busts

--------
--------
Miscellaneous notes:

1. Additionally, both Allen Kessler and John Cernuto were at the same table, 1 table number before mine. I'm guessing early table assignments were based on preregistration. If you come as a group, you get seated in consecutive order. If i had registered slightly earlier, I might have been sitting with both of them initially.

2. My one friend had 3-5 people at table with WSOP-c rings (1 person pulled out of backpack for example).

3. There seemed there were some MTT pros in the field too (more so than in my limited experience at the 350 NLHE in AC). One of my friends was mentioning that an MTT pro complained they were running bad for about 2 years because they have not had any major cashes.

4. At table break (at 45 or 36 players), my table got broken up. I had been at the same table all day. Although like 4 people ended up moving to the same table.

As we were racking up chips to move, one lady was like "yeah, I was in a short stack situation like you before and i never gave up. I ended up winning the tournament even though i was really short stacked. When I busted her, she said, "Do well, this is your day."
-> It was really encouraging. I had been beating myself up (and telling that to the table) regarding my preflop fold of TT earlier in the MTT.

5. Hero was texting other friend about the status of the MTT.

6. I got privilege of buying up all the "100" chips for the color up. (this was before the money). This was before level 19 (1500/3000/500) at a break.

7. Older guy (who i had heard was complaining about "there's no crying in poker" and I saw him at the Borgata the next day in the MTT" ended up busting when he got it all in with AK against AQ preflop and was the bubble person. I had sat to his left until we broke down to 4 tables.

--------
Hero gets min. cash:
30/271
min cash

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

12-15-2010 2-5 NLHE cash game sessions at Harrah's

2-5 NLHE @ Harrah's AC
2-4 hour session (probably 2-3)

After having to make a 2 hour round trip drive to go to a Chase bank, I was actually too late to play either the 10 game MTT or the PLO8 Rush mini-FTOPS events.

I ended up watching a friend at the $350 NLHE final table. We hung out some after the dinner break with some of his other friends.

I grinded some cash, but unfortunately lost my hand histories...I called it a session after my friend busted.

Overall, I had played relatively FR TAG style and did nothing really out of the ordinary. There were not any real interesting hands over 3-4 rotations.

Eventually, the table got short handed (5-6 people). I felt a lot more comfortable when the table got shorter and was being somewhat aggro preflop, taking pots uncontested.
This may have been because I was playing short handed online for the month prior to the trip due to the NLHE 6max tournament.

A couple other guys (seat 9 and 10, while i was at seat 9) seemed to be a couple of older randoms that were just there to gamble.
One person who was there the whole time (he sat to my immediate right) the whole time thought I was on a rush, but he seemed tight and was paying more attention to the magazine he was reading.
Another guy (4 to my right) seemed like an online MTT player, but not much of a cash game player and kept complaining about bad beats, etc....

I did get bluffed out of a pot at the end of my session and was not 100% sure I made the right play. Unfortunately, I lost my hand history, but a draw didn't come in on the river and villain donk leads. I had a medium strength hand (2nd pair) which I was trying to get to showdown cheaply, but ultimately should have considered calling...

--------
Overall, I think I was down ~20bb.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Quick Update

12/10 - NLHE in NO
I actually played halfway decent against a field of mainly weak-tight players. Unfortunately, I did not cash (13/66). There was 1 key hand that was borderline +EV that I will post in the full trip report.

12/14 - NLHE in AC
I passed out after arriving in AC and got up super late. Ended up late registering 40 min. into the tournament - only missed 1 30 min. level and 200/10000 (blinds were 25/25, then 25/50)
busted in level 5 trying to 3bet steal. Strangely enough, I think I might have been steaming about not trying to squeeze 3-4 hands earlier when I picked up K7s in BB against 5 players (1 player raised preflop in UTG+1 with 4 callers). At the time, I felt the guy was coming in light and would fold to a 3 bet, but thinking about it after the hand...he had been telegraphing his hand strength preflop (ie: open limping). At least I was in a coin flip in this subsequent instance, but couldn't win it....

1. I'm unsure if i'll pay cash tonight or just wander around AC. After today's debacle, I'm not sure how much I want to play...
2. I may take a break from live play (possibly) to play the mini-FTOPS 10-game (1:00PM EST) and PLO8 rush (5:00PM EST) on Wed (12/14).

12-14-2010 350 NLHE

12/14/2010
350 NLHE @ Harrah's Atlantic City

10k starting chips
The structure is absolutely amazing. It's the best structure I've ever played in!
1st 2 hours:
25/25
25/50
50/75
50/100
I like super deep stack (deep cash game). 30 min. levels are decent up until dinner break, then 40 min. levels. They've included all the in between levels too!

1. I got up super late and late registered about 45 min into the tourney (around level 2). I basically passed out after traveling from NO -> PHI and driving to AC. I'm not really sure why.
2. I end up sitting at the same table as 1 of my real life friends. One other real friend was nearby as well.

--------
level 2

i isoed 2 limpers
got min-check raised on a J62 two diamond board

folded when villain leads on Td turn for 1/2 pot

--------
Level 3:
I made a 3 bet steal with A9s (against CO stealer who raise/folded)
I 3 betted for value in position with AQo and got villain off of JJ on the flop.

--------
level 4
blinds: 50/100
I got into 1 hand against my real life friend too....

UTG stack size: approximately 5k
hero dealt [TT]

UTG+1 - raise
folds to hero
hero flat calls

flop:
AT7 rainbow
UTG+1: checks
i cbet about 2/3 pot
UTG+1: calls

turn:
AT74
UTG+1: leads small (1/3 pot)
hero calls

river:
AT747
he leads small (maybe 1/3 pot)
hero: raises all in (about a 1/2 pot sized raise)
UTG+1: calls

UTG+1 shows AA.

hero's stack: ~3-4k
Analysis: Hero doesn't fold 2nd nuts. The turn/river cards didn't bring anything even remotely threatening (straights/flush draws from backdoor way). Additionally, range of UTG+1 does not really get affected by blank middle [5-9] turn/river cards.

--------
break:
stack around 3k

--------
level 5
table seemed somewhat tight after the break
i stole some blinds after break (2-3 rounds)
seat 10 didn't come back for 10ish min. after break

hero is around 4-5k after stealing some blinds

--------
hero dealt: K7s

raise
4 callers
hero - folds

Analysis: Hero could have "squeezed" in that spot. With so much dead money and only about 1-1.5 SPR, i think i can squeeze and be profitable via fold equity a lot and get 40+% equity when called anyway.

--------
hero: dealt [22]

villain raises to 450 (75/150)
hero: ships (about 3.8k)

villain: calls with AKo
Hero loses flip.

Analysis:
At the time, I thought it was ok b/c he had been coming into a lot of pots.
Thinking about it some more on the drive back to my room, I noted that he was "telegraphing" his hand strength. IE: He limped into hands/then raised with others.
Thus, a horrible candidate (and scenario) to try to 3bet bluff. Additionally, he didn't really fold much preflop (looking back at it...)
Hero also doesn't have the type of stack to be doing that with particular hand(small pocket pairs/suited connectors go down in value).

busto: level 5 - probably around 400/680

Saturday, December 11, 2010

12-11-2010 2-5 NLHE at Harrah's New Orleans

2-5 NLHE @ Harrah's New Orleans

After checking out Bourbon Street and the French Quarter, I wanted to log some time at Harrah's. I'm not sure if it was the smartest decision as my head wasn't really in the game per se.

One nice thing: Any players is allowed to buyin up to the biggest stack at the table at any time. I didn't really see that happen too much though.

I was PFR in 2-3 pots early with "top of range" (ie: AQ+; TT+) on in the 1st 2 rounds, but was starting to get played back at.

1. hero dealt ak (sb)
2-3 players limp in MP-late position.
hero raises in SB.
Only 1 player calls PFR. Thus, 2 players to the flop.
hero leads into qtx (rainbow) board and gets everyone to fold

2. behind/kings (5 callers)
I raised somewhat large to get it to 1 player. (Probably raised to 8-10 bb, got 1 caller). I cbetted a somewhat wet flop (Q95 two tone) and took it down uncontested.

3. 1 limper
Hero raises with 65s in position

[2 players to flop]
q3q 2 tone board (hero does not have a flush draw)

check/bet/call; Check/Check on flop; hero folds to donk turn bet.

--------
Later on, I was in a limped pot with 2 broadway cards; I stabbed flop when it checked around on a rainbow, non-connected flop (Q74 rainbow for example)
Everyone checked the turn
River was a blank (low card):
sb: leads 3x pot
other villain shoves
guy who 3x potted folds

-~20bb
1-1.5 hour session after hanging out on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter.

Friday, December 10, 2010

12-10-2010 345 NLHE

12/10/2010
345 NLHE @ Harrah's New Orleans

--------
KQo
Ks js 9s ad 8d
Pfr
Barrel 2 street
Fold to psb river



Bad call
K9598 3 clubs third on river (all backdoor)

Bad check flop
Bet got raised (175 -> 500)
Should have folded

Bet draw on turn and check call
2nd pr does not bet

As Pfr does not Cbet that much

hero's note about player 5: Min raise = weakness

--------
(Aside: At first break b/w levels 3 and 4)
I had heard ads about it while I was walking around and getting to the tournament location on multiple days.
I was able to get a "birthday spin".
1. went to Harrah's rewards and they verified my birthday.
2. Someone from the Harrah's reward center then spun a special "birthday slot machine"
3. The 1 free breakfast or lunch buffet is valid for 30 days only at Harrah's New Orleans (eating hours from 7:00AM-2:30PM).
The max bonus = $1k in slot play!

Subsequently, I went and asked at Harrah's in AC and they were not able to redeem it there...


--------
Random aside:
An interesting sort of situation:

Jessica (maybe late 20s-early 30s) late regged and sat immediately to my left. We talked a little bit and she mentioned she knew Dustin (a guy who went deep in the NLHE 6-max).

Hero dealt [87o]
folds to hero
Hero raises
everyone folds
The lady I sat next to slapped me on the wrist and kinda made it feel like a mother hitting her son that it was a bad thing to do.

Sadly, she did eventually bust....
Overall, my table became kinda weak-tight around level 5ish...
I felt I could steal a lot preflop and people played their hands face up for the most part (especially telling were bet sizes; large bet size - big hand, etc...)

--------
Folded 10s to tight player who reraised 1/3 of villain's stack

Raised loose passive w a6o limp in Sb bb
Raised and Cbet jj on k85

Isoed 89o
A98 rainbow
Limped leads
I shove
both players fold

Player reads:
Seat 2
Min raise turn
Does not bet whole stack for value

5
Smallish raise w/ 3kicker
Slowplays nod and bets small on end

Bets pot or on k76 2 tone after being Pfr
Bets sizes his hands based on strength and board danger

9
Barrels turn smallish bet on brick turn

Pfr
Aqo utg

Kj2 1 diamonds
Bb and limpet
Checks 3G

Break (after level 6)
20k

--------
--------
In 3-4 hands, I was dealt
[QQ]
[KK]
[QQ]

At this point, I had raised 4 in a row and won preflop pot w/o seeing a flop

I had to see a flop on the 3rd one, but still won pot uncontested.

I was also the first with a 3-bet.

I was telling the 1 person to my left (who looked like a recreational player - had LSU cap on) that i was on a rush. We sorta talked about rushes for a little bit as well. (The guy had driven a couple hours for the MTT and didn't necessarily want to stay overnight if the MTT paused for final table...)

--------
hero dealt: [T7o] in CO
folds to hero in CO
hero raises
folds to BB
BB: calls


Tx 8h 5h 6y Qh
flop:
villain check
hero: bets (don't have exact amount - likely 2/3 pot)
villain: calls
villain check
hero: bets (don't have exact amount - likely 60% pot)
villain: calls

villain leads pot
hero?

Analysis: Hero folds

A draw hit on the river (flush draw). Maybe I played it too tightly, but villain played seemed to play very straightforward.

--------
Hero dealt AKo
7: raises
folds to hero
Hero 3 bets
folds to 7
7: calls

flop: 953 rainbow
7: leads into me
i bluff raised him
he folds


player read: 5 - Donk leads with flush draw oop after calling flop Pfr
Scared of monotone board as pfr

player read: 3 - Ack that I have raised his bb

hero's stack: 21.5k

--------
Level 9
Tight for 3-4 rounds
Utg raises 3G

3bet 2s
J33 rainbow
Bet 3/4 of my stack
Only 55% of pot
Villain folds

player read: 10 - Always leads low flop

--------
Overall impression of my table (from about 40 players to 18 players when there was a redraw for seats)
Overall, the table played very straightforward and I was sad when it finally broke at 18 players.

I raised about 1-1.5x/rotation and was stealing the blinds w/o anyone seeing flops. This happened for about 5-6 levels.

"The cards told me to raise". Basically, if it folded to me, I raised w/ about 30% of my range. I didn't even really try to raise/float some of the PFRs b/c they opened so rarely.

One interesting hand during this "streak":
hero was still in 1 hole
guy in 7 hole - seemed to play very straightforward

--------
--------
2 tables
only had to move when redraw to 2 tables (sat at same table all night prior to that)
female villain was in 1 hole; she was short stacked and doubled up 2x
9: chip leader had huge # of chips

player read: 7 and 8
Small 3 bet - Ks+


--------
hero dealt [KK]
chip leader - raises
folds to hero in SB
hero 3bets about 3/4-pot
chip leader calls

flop:
Axx two tone board
Hero bets/villain folds

Analysis:
This actually was not that good of a bet. I think I was playing flow/image at the time, even though this is a simple WA/WB spot and I can easily check/call 2 streets and get value from villain.


villain (seat 7): 5x bet w 10s
chip leader: Called shove range (for about 20+bb) - ajo
chip leader: seemed to bully/may be scared of flops

player 9: Folds to small minraise on button steal

[break]
hero's stack size (approximately, not 100% sure b/c i forgot to write it down) - 46k

--------
level 10
eight players (about 16 players left at the time)

chip leader raises in CO (raise to 4k at 500/1k/100)
folds to hero in SB with KK
hero - raises to 12k

pot - approx. 25k

a62 2 tone

hero leads small (about 55% pot)
fold

Analysis: Hero probably could have pot controlled there with showdown value in a relatively close WA/WB (way ahead/way behind) even though it is a 3 bet pot.

I ended up stealing 1-2 rounds of blinds from some of the players that had originally moved from my previous table to this table.

--------
Level 12
Chip Leader Encounter v. 2
60k - chip leader w 100k
Aja
Serious edge on the field as much of the field is weak-tight (ie: play fit/fold post flop) and raising big broadway hands (AK/AQ, pocket pairs) and limping lots of broadway cards)

Hero is pfr - dealt AKo
raised to 3k
villain (chip leader) calls in BB

KQ4 2 clubs

villain: checks
hero: Bets flop (about 3/4 pot - 5.5k)
villain: calls

Kq4a 2 clubs
villain: checks
hero: bets turn (13.775k)
villain: Check raise all in (hero left with about 35-40k if bet/fold)

hero tanks for 3-4 min....

Analysis:

My "in game" thought process:
1. I was contemplating my stack size
2. I thought the only hands he could have played this way were
a: queens
b: jto

After the hand thought analysis:
a. what i forgot was that
b. he only 3 betted with ks (from previous hand about 2 rotations ago)
c. seemed to play extremely straight forward post flop
d. is qq really still in his range?
*e. i forgot to think about what his value raising range is! (This is a decided leak that I'm trying to address now.) ie: how many hands can i beat versus how many beat me?

I only thought about 3 distinct hand combo/sets at the time, but ultimately, there are more.

jt combos: 16 (straight - 9% equity)
aq combos: 4 (worse 2 pair - 95% equity)
kq combos: 4 (worse 2 pair - 95% equity)
a4 combos: ? (worse 2 pair - very unlikely - would villain call flop bet with 1 over)
aj combos: ? (ditto - TPTK - would he float and c/r?)
ak combos: 4 (tied - 50% equity)
qq combos: 3 (behind/crushed - 9% equity)
44 combos: 3 (behind/crushed - 9% equity)
AA combos: 1 (drawing dead - 0% equity)

23 hand combos have me crushed
8 ahead
4 tied

Looking at combos of hands, it really looks like I'm absolutely crushed here.

baluga whale theorem stuck out too - when random calls PFR, flop, then c/r turn, 1 pair hands are generally no good


--------
spoiler:
hero ends up calling
villain shows JTo
hero bricks river
hero: out in 13/66

(7 game) Mixaments...

A detailed report will eventually come.
Busto: 14/20 - busted in the 5th/6th level in a big bet PLO game. Situation kinda dictated it, as I would have an L of 1 if it got back to LHE.

Many thought the field was the toughest 20 person field in the history of the casino....3-4 "named mixed game" pros made appearances.

Also made a quick road trip to Biloxi, MS (1.5 hrs away). Nothing really to note, except I should have probably went earlier in the day so I could actually see stuff (and view landscape in non-darkness). Lots of ads for the "Southern Poker Championship" in Jan. 2011...

Thursday, December 9, 2010

12-9-2010 1-2 NLHE at Beau Rivage

Also made a quick road trip to Biloxi, MS (1.5 hrs away). I checked out a couple of "riverboat" casino/poker rooms while I was there (and to augment my chip collection). I also checked out the Hard Rock Cafe (and casino) among other things in Biloxi.

I should have probably went earlier in the day so I could actually see stuff (and view landscape in non-darkness). There were lots of ads for the "Southern Poker Championship" in Jan. 2011...

I played 1-2 NLHE for about an hour (about 4-5 tables going). There was a 2-5 game, but I did not really feel like playing in it.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

12-8-2010 345 7 Game Mix

12/8/2010
345 Mixed Event (7 game) @ Harrah's New Orleans

9k starting chips

Some named pros in the small field:
Miami John Cernuto
    he disappeared for about an hour, likely b/c the structure was so "slow"
Eskimo Clark
Allen Kessler

At one of the tables, at least 2-3 of the guys didn't know some of the games in the mix.

I late regged and missed 2 hands (2-3 min. late)

--------
6 handed at the time i was dealt a hand
sat down - kessler in 1 hole; hero in 7 hole

hero dealt: J8s
fold
hero raises
A. kessler (CO): calls
3 folds

flop:
QT9 2 spades
QT9 x
QT9 x x - spade hits on the end

hero leads & co calls all streets


Analysis:
It may have been too loose in a cash game to open with this hand 5 handed in LHE...
Everything else is pretty standard.

--------
LHE: moved to different table for rebalancing 4-5 hands into tourney.

--------
Table Move:
I played about 3 hands before I was moved to a different table to help with rebalancing due to late registration.

got some early chips when on rush in razz

one hand:
i had (23) A and caught 974 to scoop a pot

another hand:
i had (27)AQQ58
villain: xxx39
peeled b/c it was a big pot (4 players in raised pot...not sure if leak)

Guy decided to randomly just straddle in PLO rounds b/c table seemed "tight".

--------
hero: seated in 1 hole
LHE:
(asian with long hair - involved with c/r pot and stud/8 hand)
led with JT
c/r on turn with set (6s)


s/8

flat called
villain: (a w) 848a (w) (no flush)

hero: (Kx Kx) 5s 7s Qs 4/6/3 (Kx)
didn't bet qs on 5th street


Hero flat calls every street

Analysis:
    I played this super non-standard (and likely leaky).
    I could have repped a 4-flush (w/ all lows) by raising 4th/5th and may have gotten him to fold.
    River: It turns out I caught 1 of 2 cards in the deck to prevent me from getting scooped.

9.375k at end of level 3

Interestingly, Miami John (who was at my new table seated in 3 hole) left for about an hour...the structure was slow enough that he did not lose that many chips.

--------
An interesting hand occurred in S/8.

John Cernuto showed: (xx) 7x 2s 6s 5s)
1 other villain showed: Kc 8 Jc 4
other villain had 2-3 flush cards showing as well, but many were high cards (like (xx) Td Ad Jh 5d)

2 other players were battling for flushes for high. (I don't have exact boards unfortunately)

Miami John Cernuto was helping jam the pot as he was the only one with a low draw. It was capped on 4th and 5th.

Miami John Cernuto scooped a huge 3 way pot with a wheel.
He checked with a wheel on 6th. Villain who kept jamming pot (older person) on earlier streets, checked behind on 6th.
He was easily the chip leader and had ~2.5x starting stack (20k? w/ 500/1k limits (250/500 blinds in limit games; 100/200/50 in NLHE rounds)

--------
level 7:
NLHE
blinds:
200/500/100

hero: dealt 88
7 handed
folds to hero in CO
hero raises 2.5x to 1750
folds to BB
BB: calls

flop:
358 rainbow
villain donk leads about 1/2-2/3 pot
hero calls

turn: (~7-8k)
358K rainbow
check
check
358KT rainbow
villain shoves for remaining stack (about 3000)
hero calls

hero's stack: 2950

--------
Analysis:

hero: dealt 22 in sb
limped pot (4 players)

check
1/2 psb
call
hero cbet raises all in
villains fold

Analysis:
hero c/r all in (overbet) when flopping 2s on 234 board before table break to 2 tables
[refer to ipod touch notes]
2s on 234

--------
table breaks:
3-4k
hero's stack: 2950
table breaks to 2 tables of 8 (16 total)

level 8:
PLO (blinds 150/300)
hero sat in about 4 hands (and folded all of them)

hero: dealt KKT5 (1 suit or possibly unsuited)
3 folds
1 limper
hero raises ~1k
3 folds
limper: calls

flop: QJ7 rainbow
villain: checks
hero: bets pot (all in)
villain: calls
villain: shows Ad Qx 9y 3d

board: QJ7QA

Analysis:
Pretty standard to try to get it in on most boards with KKxx with ~10bb. Decent flop for my hand and got my money in good both "preflop" and "flop".

villain wins pot
hero: busto in 14th

PLO8: Massive misplay on short stack

PLO8 mtt

(full report at some point....probably not until at least Thursday) - busto in 10th (28 runners/3 pay)

I massively misplayed my short stack...and I'm definitely pissed at my play.
Blinds 300/600

I am on the button with A455 one suit to ace
hero (button): 3k
sb: 30+k
bb: (super tight) 10k
sb - calls

hero raises pot to 2.1k
Mistake #1 - I could have easily raised to 1400 and gotten same number of callers. (I would obviously call a repot all in with this hand).
Basically, the same result happens irregardless of raising to 1400 or 2100. Thus, raise to 1400 and it's not even close. (I can fold if I see a bad flop.)

If he doesn't force me to ship it preflop, i don't have to either.

Flop: J9J board
sb pots/hero folds

Mistake #2 - UTG with KJ64
I think I should have waited (3-4 hands) for a spot where I'd get 3 low cards to increase my chances of getting a low that is NOT counterfeited.
2 low cards: ~25%
3 low cards: ~40%
Omaha Planet - Odds of making a Low

The things that irritate/disappoint me the most right now is that:
1. I've shortstacked in PLO8 MTTs and done well before (reference other PLO8 MTT reports)
2. I re-reviewed all the strategy the night before and day of, then promptly didn't use any of it.
3. Admittedly, I am rusty with PLO8 MTTs (although I did play some a couple weeks ago, I did not really get that much of an opportunity. I should have played more of them...). I will definitely need to redevote some time if I want to play the WSOP version in June2011...

If I keep up this trend of not thinking, not playing exploitable poker against fishy villains, and misplay short stack situations, I'll likely be a fish for the rest of my tournament schedule....it's like I've lost faith in everyone/thing and just "gave up" (also in the PLO hi MTT) which is extremely unlikely me...

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

12-7-2010 345 PLO8

12/7/2010
345 PLO8 @ Harrah's New Orleans

9k starting chips
8max (final table of 9)

From what I heard from a different person at 1 of the previous MTTs (and the guy talking about how he actually thinks PLO8 is his best game), i found out that John Gottlieb was actually in the field. I never actually got to play against him though.
He was runner up in 1.5k PLO8 WSOP event in 2010! I OVerheard he busted Phil Hellmuth from the final table!
http://www.wsop.com/tournaments/results.asp?rr=5&grid=764&tid=10862&dayof=

--------
hero late regged 2 min or so.
An older person (Captain Tom Franklin late regged) and sat next to me. He had fold up glasses, an ipad, and sony headphones and really wasn't paying much attention per se.
He originally had a VPIP of 100 (literally), but eventually tightened up after a couple rotations.

Capt. Tom Franklin was in the SB for this hand.

hero dealt [AKJ5 rainbow]
1 limper
1 fold
hero raises to 200
sb: calls
bb: calls
limper: calls

QJ8 board
checks to hero
hero: bets slightly over 1/2 pot (275)
sb: c/r about 3x of my bet (1025)
limper: folds
hero: tanks/folds

Analysis:
    Villain probably thought i was coming in light and check raised me off my hand. Some percentage of the time, hero could 3 bet bluff, although hero does not have any blockers to the nuts (T or 9)

--------
Captain Tom Franklin
    went super short stack

Capt. Franklin was crippled with a3kk vs. a2jt on 9874J board
Bets on every street led him to be super short stacked.
He blind shoved the next hand and busted...

--------
hero picks up
AAK2 (1 suit to ace)
hero cbets and isolates 1 limper
on a J73 rainbow board, hero cbets and villain folds.


end of level 3
hero: around 15k?

--------
a fun all in hand


money got all in on the turn

board:
8s 5c 4s qd 7h

As Kx 9d 2x <--- gets 1/6 pot
Ac Ad 3s 2c <--- gets 1/6 pot
Qs 4c Ks Jc <--- gets 1/2 pot
Ah Tx 8d 2h <--- gets 1/6 pot

--------
hero dealt AA2H (H = 7-K) no suit
hero 3/4 pots monotone Qc 5c 2c board
    gets everyone to fold

Analysis:
Hero is bet/folding here after showing preflop aggression. Hero's hand missed this board extremely badly w/o a flush draw.


Ah Kx 5x 2h

7x 7x 4h 3h 7x

villain check/calls every street
Hero bets every street (only about 75% pot on the river)

Analysis:
Hero misses some value by not making larger bet on turn or river. Hero does not necessarily need to pot (for balance purposes for bluffs) but could have bet closer to pot to get max value.
Hero could be 3/4ed when someone holds pocket pair + A2, but that is a very small holding.


Hero is also dealt Ah Ax 9x 2h
gets 2 preflop raises, but no bets on a dry board.

summary: hero is dealt AAWx 3 times in 6 levels. Unfortunately, hero did not stack anyone.

at level 6 break: approximately 17k

--------
(not involved with this hand)
Ax Ax 2x 3x
vs.
As Ax 2s 7x (suit to ace)

there was a pot raise and pot reraise

money got in on 4s 4x 5x flop


--------
The previous table was relatively inexperienced after Capt. Tom Franklin busted. They had some ideas, but many didn't care about scooping...
After table move, the table was a bit more experienced.

1 - very tight player
2 - plays lots of PLO8 SNG/MTT (has many gears)
3 - very TAGgy (almost nitty)
4 - PLO hi champ from prevoius day (does play PLO8 too)
5 - hero
6 - competent PLO8 player, seemed to isolate a decent amount
7 - unknown
8 - unknown

villain had shipped the PLO rebuy. I'm not sure how good his PLO8 skills were though...

hero dealt [AA5K (suit to ace)]
villain limps
hero raises limper
villain calls

2 players to flop

caller on button
q62 4s 2s

hero cbets 2/3 pot; bb calls

turn - check/ hero tank/checks (he said he would have c/r all in if i had bet)
river - check/check

--------
I felt the table was particularly tougher...1 guy seemed to like ISOing me immediately on my left. I didn't feel I was playing my best game...
He seemed to sense my weakness in 2 spots:

I had to limp/fold a hand OOP with some potential against his raise
2. I decided to c/f (not cbet) after being PFR in a sb/bb battle on a relatively wet board with lows.

Overall, did not feel super happy as I felt kinda weak tight...

--------
CO: about 30-40k
button: about 4k (PLO player)
sb (hero): about 15-17k
bb: about 25k

CO raises about 2.5x (200/400) to about 1000
button ships all in (3.1k)
Ah 2h Jh Kx <---  hero tanks/folds
BB folds

short stack ends up doubling up

hero in SB decides to fold this hand
Analysis: Hero probably can consider calling, but decided to fold b/c wasn't sure how bigger stack would play IP.
CO shows junky K86w hand and button ends up winning "flip".

--------
hero - dealt A27T (suit to ace)

folds to seat 4 in HJ (effective stacks around 60-70bb)
4: raises preflop
hero calls


J98 2 diamonds
villain bets/hero calls with 2nd nut straight
villain bets turn on Qd turn
hero tank/folds

Analysis: Hero could have played his hand slightly faster. Villain could have been betting a flush draw there.
I underrepped my hand. I could have raised flop w/ 2nd nuts there and (likely) fold if reraised.
Hero could have continued with a low diamond to enable a low draw(3-7)

[hero's stack - ~8k]

--------
Hero in bb lost a sb/bb "flip" (don't have exact hands, but may have been 55/45 underdog or so, but only scooped ~20% time preflop...) and my stack was down to 3k at 200/400 (not harrington "M" critical, but can't see too many flops w/o pot committment.)
9245 vs. short stacker's A5K8

[hero's stack around 4k]

--------
AKJT ds
    folds to hero in SB
    hero folds

hero left with 3.6k in sb (300/600 blinds)

Hero misplayed preflop raising with high only hand as short stack (he could have raised and tried to steal there, but decided not to. Possibly a leak...)

--------
I massively misplayed my short stack...and I'm definitely pissed at my play.
Mistake #1
Blinds 300/600

Hero on the button with A455 one suit to ace
hero (button): 3k
sb: 30+k
bb: (super tight) 10k
sb - calls

hero raises pot to 2.1k
Mistake #1 - I could have easily raised to 1400 and gotten same number of callers. (I would obviously call a repot all in with this hand).
Basically, the same result happens irregardless of raising to 1400 or 2100. Thus, raise to 1400 and it's not even close. (I can fold if I see a bad flop.)

If he doesn't force me to ship it preflop, i don't have to either.

Flop: J9J board
sb pots/hero folds

--------
Mistake #2 - UTG with KJ64
I think I should have waited (3-4 hands) for a spot where I'd get 3 low cards to increase my chances of getting a low that is NOT counterfeited.
2 low cards: ~25%
3 low cards: ~40%
Omaha Planet - Odds of making a Low

--------
10/28 (3 cash)

The things that irritate/disappoint me the most right now is that:
1. I've shortstacked in PLO8 MTTs and done well before (reference other PLO8 MTT reports)
2. I re-reviewed all the strategy the night before and day of, then promptly didn't use any of it.
3. Admittedly, I am rusty with PLO8 MTTs (although I did play some a couple weeks ago, I did not really get that much of an opportunity. I should have played more of them...). I will definitely need to redevote some time if I want to play the WSOP version in June2011...

If I keep up this trend of not thinking, not playing exploitable poker against fishy villains, and misplay short stack situations, I'll likely be a fish for the rest of my tournament schedule....it's like I've lost faith in everyone/thing and just "gave up" (also in the PLO hi MTT) which is extremely unlikely me...

New Orleans - Brief Summary

(Detailed report to come eventually....)
I have made it down to NO...
So far, 2 tournaments and 7th place in both. Unfortunately, 7/58 (6 pay in NLHE) and 7/20 (3 pay in PLO) means I'm not ITM...

NLHE: 6max
I feel there were some spots where i missed a lot of value (ie: did not extract enough value) with made hands and/or misplayed hands against a maniac where I could have stacked villain multiple times...
Ditto for betting turn/river on a 4 straight board (a235j) with 2 pair against a competent/tight postflop player.

PLO w/ rebuys
It was good to only spend 1 rebuy/1 addon when I binked 2nd set (4433 ds in sb of raised pot) on a J32 rainbow board, 6 on turn should have gotten people to fold (although i guess i would have taken more callers).
I felted a guy during the rebuy period with 54xx even though i had 2 blockers (44)
I was relatively deep until we broke to 1 table.

Kind of wittled down, then got into a dominated situation in PLO in a heads up flip with a short stack (M < 5 for short stack), then went busto when i limp/shoved KQT8 ds against a QQxx from the chip leader.

I think I need to work on mental discipline and thinking through stuff all the time. It was kinda lacking for some stretches of time....

Monday, December 6, 2010

12-6-2010 345 PLO with 100 Rebuys

12/6/2010
345 PLO with 100 rebuys @ Harrah's New Orleans

4k starting chips
2k rebuy at 4k chips or less
2k add on
8max (final table of 9)

$100 rebuys were given to the Tournament Director who gives 2k chips for each $100.
$100 rebuys were placed in 1 of the "chip count bags" that are used when chips are backed at the end of the night for play the next day.

2/3 of the players at my table (4 out of 6) took immediate rebuy to 6k in chips.

Funny story:
1 guy randomly sat down at the table and was confused when he got dealt 4 cards.
Next hand, he calls a raise preflop.
On K5K rainbow board, he calls off stack.

Villain: shows T922 (1 suit to 9).
Villain does not rebuy.

1. Needless to say, some people wanted him to rebuy some more, but he left immediately.
2. Many of the MTT people + even the tournament director laughed about it. It became the story that was told repeatedly...
3. I joked that the winner should send a thank you card for the $150 donation to his winnings.

--------
100/100 blinds
Hero limped with KKJ2 DS
had to fold on TT9 board

--------
hero: dealt 4433 ds
1 fold
villain raises pot
3 callers
hero calls

flop (5 players - 2500):
23j rainbow

hero pots (bets 2500):
1 call
3 folds

turn
23j6
hero pots river (all in)
villain: calls
villain shows 45xx

river
23j6j

Analysis:
This seems very standard. Thankfully not up against nut top set.

hero's stack:
approximately 15k
--------
hero dealt on button: [Ac Kc Jc Tx]

(2 folds)
ep: limp
loose player (HE player, not necessarily PLO player) raises
hero: calls
sb: calls
bb: calls

(5 players to flop - 3500)

flop: Tc 5x 3c
leads somewhat small
PFR: repots

hero tanks/folds


Analysis:
Hero can definitely reraise here with huge hand and position; hero played passively for some reason
Hero can try to gamble here and build an even larger stack, but hero realistically only has ~30% equity (nut flush draw outs, some smaller 2 pair outs (unlikely), tptk not likely good)
If there were fewer people in, there's probably enough equity to consider gambling.

--------
hero's stack at end of rebuy + 1 addon
17.8k

--------
hero dealt [Ah Ax Qx 9h]

raise preflop
hero decides to flat call

flop:
4x 4c 2c
hero check/folds to bet

Analysis: Hero can raise here some of the time against fit/fold players, but it's not going to be easy to play post-flop b/c it won't flop too many good draws outside of nut flush draws)

--------
at 9 player final table
3 PSB sized stacks get it in pre

9876 rainbow
vs.
AA74 ss to A

9876 doesn't get there

Analysis: I prefer to have suits; not huge fan of getting it in preflop like that considering stack sizes and hot/cold equity.

--------
A fun all in hand at the final table:

Tx 8x 2x

all the money gets in on the flop
Tx Tx Jx 9x <--- shortest stack
8x 8x Ts 5s <--- 2nd shortest stack
Qx Jx 9s 7s <--- eventual champ/chip leader

Tx 8x 2x 6s Js

Tx Tx Jx 9x <--- shortest stack
8x 8x Ts 5s <--- 2nd shortest stack - takes main pot
Qx Jx 9s 7s <--- eventual champ/chip leader - takes side pot

--------
Ac Jx 9x 8c suit to Ace
Ax Kx 6c 3c suit to 6; flush is no good though

hero 2.5 x pot
led HJ
sb call
check

--------
flop
hero check
check
bet 2/3 pot/fold

--------
level 7: 15k - blinds 300/600


hero (CO): dealt [Ah Qx 5h 2x]
folds to CO
hero: raises 2.5x pot
SB: repots almost all in
hero: reraises all in
SB: calls

SB: shows As Kx 5s 2x

board gives SB a flush.

hero's stack around 4k (blinds 300/600)

--------
Qc 8h 3x

QQxx
JT9X (6?)

Jh Th 8c 7c DS (UTG+1)

check
bet
raise
fold

1. chip leader called OOP
2. check raised with double gutter and backdoor flush draws - stressed trying to be as aggressive as possible
3. chip leader gets other players to fold

------
busto
hero in SB with Ks Qs th 8h

folds to SB
hero limps
chip leader (BB) - raises
hero repots all in
shows QQxx

chip leader's hand holds up (no over cards/no paired cards/no flush draws for hero)

--------
7/20
The tournament director actually put the WSOP-C ring out on the table too for people to see.
(3 ITM)

Sunday, December 5, 2010

12-5-2010 345 NLHE 6-max

12/5/2010
345 NLHE 6-max @ Harrah's New Orleans

9k starting chips

Much of the field seemed very weak-tight. In the first couple tables, it felt many were open-limping.
Many seemed to play very straightforward as well (very little check raising).

I late regged about 5 min. into tournament.

--------
2 rotations into first level
3 folds
button: limp
hero (sb): completed with KJo
bb: check

flop:
J84 rainbow
hero: check
bb: check
button: bets

turn: J84K (rainbow)
hero: check
button: bets
hero: calls

river:
hero: leads 1/2 pot
button: calls

--------
Table Move #1

picked up AKo 2x in a row, but was unable to get more than blinds

2 folds
hero: raises with KJs
1 fold
sb: fold
bb: call

flop: J96 (2 of my suit)
bb: check
hero: bets x of pot
bb: call

turn: blank (does not complete any straights/flushes)
bb: check
hero: bets x of pot
bb: fold

Table Move #2
break at level 3: 10.5k

--------
short stack in seat 1: seemed to be very aggro with short stack


Table Move #3

moved to table where everyone tells me the maniac in seat #2 had a huge amount of chips (75-80+k)
got so many of them utilizing fold equity
person in seat 4 did a call down and he showed bluff (busted flush draw)
seat #2 had been bleeding chips since, but had a huge stack otherwise

--------
hands against a maniac (seat #2)

hero raises UTG with small pair
called 3 bet with small pocket pair - may have been marginal call given short stack sizes compared to blinds (~9k starting at level 5 or 6 - 150/30025)
board was free of straight/flush draws
check/called all way/shove river

shove river
call

villain mucks
hero doubles up 18.5k

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person in seat 1: had been very aggro with short stack
hero: dealt [AA]

1 fold
2: raises 3x pot
3: fold
hero: flat calls
sb: shoves for 26k
bb (seat 1): folds
2: folds
hero: calls

sb: shows JJ

hero's hands holds up
Analysis: Hero wants to trap BB who seemed to be shoving/squeezing light. Instead, the solid player in SB shoves.
Hero busts sb

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(maniac)
raise UTG w/ AQo
button calls
flop:
AQx 2 tone? (x is like a 4 or 5)

hero bets 2/3 pot
maniac - button min raises
hero makes sizable 4 bet
maniac folds

Analysis:
Hero probably should have trapped here...
There may not be much that the villain will stack off with that hero beats (sets+)
Could villain stack off lighter?

AQx
k4o - limp in bb

flop: AK4 rainbow
hero: checks
button: bets about 1/2 pot
hero: raises 3x
button: folds

hero stack at dinner break (level 9):
55k
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Random Note: 1 villain picked up aces 3x/5 hands, but were cracked the last time

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60-65k when down to 10 players (2 tables)

Hero faces 12k shove from someone who seemed to be shoving kinda light....
hero has ATo

Analysis:
If villain was shoving 20% hand range, hero is a slight favorite, but it is hard to tell b/c it's a live MTT and people's shove ranges are tighter.
Hero is not super knowledgable about push/shove/call ranges to know for sure though...
Hold'em Simulation ?
4,541,030,208 trials (Exhaustive)
Hand    Equity    Wins    Ties
ATo    50.46%    2,135,453,748    312,173,184
20%    49.54%    2,093,403,276    312,173,184


50k with 9 players remaining

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hero dealt a5o in bb
folds to sb
sb: limps
bb: checks


A325J (monotone)
flop: check/check
turn: hero bets turn
river: hero bets river

villain shows 4x
hero mucks

Analysis: Against a solid/competent TAG, betting river is a huge mistake even with 2 pair. At best, 2 pair is a bluff catcher (I basically turned hand into bluff) and will not get value from competent players.
More often than not, villain will only call with 4x or 46 (raise).


hero
raises with AJo
tight player reraises
hero folds
tight player shows AQo

Analysis:
Hero's equity is not good against tight player's 3 bet range.

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M = 5
16.5k at (1.2k/2.4k/300)


M = 3
12k
folds to hero in Sb
hero raises all in w 4s - no call


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busto hand
(4 handed)
hero's stack: approximately 12k
hero dealt: AJo
2 folds
sb: limps
hero: checks

Ax 9x 6d 8d

flop:
check/check
turn:
bet/raise/call
villain shows: 7d 4d

Ax 9x 6d 8d 5h

Analysis:
Hero usually should raise preflop and should have definitely bet flop. Villain had been playing solid and my preference is to see flop.
Turn call/raise is standard.

Hero out in 7th on bubble (6 pay)
7/58