245 PLO8 MTT @ Harrah's St. Louis

$245 PLO8 MTT

The structure is very similar to "WSOP"-circuit events. 5k starting chips with levels 25/25, 25/50, 50/75, 50/100, 75/150, etc...

Hero showed up 10 min. late and sat at an existing table. Hero got full stack after watching 4-5 hands.

----------
level 2:

hero dealt: As Kc 9d 3s (A3 suited)
hero limps in sb

(5 players to flop; pot size = 250)
flop: K 4 8

hero bets flop (200)
4 players fold.

Analysis: Standard to bet flop w/ TPTK + 2nd nut low draw.

------
Hero was not involved in this hand.

SB showed aggression on all streets w/ stacks were all in by the river.

board: 2 T Kc 4c 7c

(2 players to the flop)
sb: AA3Ks - PFR in SB
mp: Ac 3c Jx 8y

Analysis:
Play seems standard for SB, while MP looks like it might have been a loose peel on the flop. Turn and River are standard.


================
"Tournament status screen" shows blinds 75/150 and TD announces it. A little later, players notice it's the wrong amount for blinds at that level (it should be 50/75). What should happen?

==============================
Introduction to Level 3

Hero finds it weird and remembered that structure was supposed to be identical between the PLO and PLO8 MTTs. He tries to find George (Tournament Director) to ask about the blind structures.
George confirmed with the tech (who "programmed the blind structure") that the NLHE blind structure was partially used and he was mad about it. It was the first time something like that had happened.

Hero asked if chips should be given back since it was just a limped pot and only 1 hand got through. TD said that they can't go back in time to replay the blinds at that level because everyone played that at same blind structure.

Hero actually limped UTG and ended up checking it the whole way to win a pot for ~725 chips. (4 bb and 1 sb) rather than 350 chips.

Needless to say, this is a question for Matt Savage on his twitter account (IMO, the best tournament director)!

================
------------
75/150
hero's stack at level 5:
5725

hero in CO: dealt A338 (A3 suited)

hero limps in CO
Hero had relatively tight image compared to rest of villains who had 30-40% VPIPs or higher!

4 players
limped pot preflop

flop: 7h 2h Kx
all players check

turn: 7h 2h Kx 6y
all players check

river: 7h 2h Kx 6y 9h
check to hero on river
hero bets 1/3 pot
1 of 3 villains call
hero shows nut low + pair of 3s
hero scoops!

Analysis: Guess of villain's range: 2nd nut low and ace hi or pair of deuces


ak82 (a2)(k8)
folds to hero on button
hero raises

flop:
Qc 8x 2c
Analysis: This is actually not a good flop for hero: bottom 2 pair + no low draw. Hero showed aggression and was bet/folding here.

-----------------
hero moved to new table:

Q56 (rainbow)

hero in BB: dealt Q962 (rainbow)

checks around on flop

turn:
Q56T (2 tone)
sb: checks
hero: bets 2/3 pot
villain: raises pot

sb: folds
hero: folds

Analysis: Hero is bet/folding 2 pair on turn. Villain (who was unknown) is representing top 2 pair plus.
Without a low draw, hero doesn't have enough equity (or stack depth) to do much more than fold.

------------------
hero: dealt A952 (A2 suited)
UTG - raised utg (somewhat competent)
hero called

933 2 diamonds
UTG: checks
hero: bets 2/3 pot
UTG: check raises all in
hero: calls

villain: shows A532
Hero does not catch a low to get a quarter and doubles up villain.

stack: 6400 -> 2600

Analysis:
Villain appeared to be competent at the time (relatively tight in terms of pre-flop).
Hero should have checked back flop. If villain shows no aggression on turn card (and say it's a low card), then it's valid to bet.
At the time, hero is representing naked 3 on "locked down board", but if villain has AAxx, they're probably never folding (especially if villain has flush draw too)

villain hand - hero equity
AA** - 21%
A2** - 60%
A3** - 20%
composite range:
aa,a2,a3 - 41%

against a 5% range (usually consisting of AA*, A2*) - hero only has 36% equity

-----------------
hero on button: dealt AT52 rainbow

hero limps behind 2 other players

(4 players to flop, bb checks)
Qx Js Qy 8s Td
4 checks

Qx Js Qy 8s
3 checks
hero bets 3/4 pot
villain: middle-aged woman - calls bet

Qx Js Qy 8s Td
villain: middle-aged woman - calls bet
hero tanks river, then checks

villain: shows AAKK double suited

Analysis: Hero should have bet less on the turn bluff (50-60% pot). Hero may have (defaulted) to thinking about "balancing". It's kind of dumb considering no players really had baseline on my post-flop bet sizing.
Hero's turn bet is representing Qx and is willing to give someone with Qxxx a free draw on a rainbow board.

---------
200/400 blinds

hero can't find any playable hands/situations - ex) Q568 rainbow UTG+1

hero's stack: 1800
UTG: hero dealt AAT4 (A4 suited)
hero raises to 1000
folds around

Analysis: I'm unsure if raising (versus open limping) is smart here as there was a somewhat "preflop" aggressor on button which have might have gotten me into a heads up situation with a hand that can "crush" (ie: 60+% equity).

-------
blinds: 300/600
hero: 1600
hero folds to player with ~30-40% PFR with KQJ9 no suit

analysis:
hero got "reminded" by villain who plays 40-80 "mix games" due to pot odds, but it's definitely standard to fold here, IMO.
Against a random hand, hero's out of the tournament 50% of the time. There's better places to get it in at that time.
If it's a pot odds question, hero barely has ~37% equity against a random Axxx hand. It plays ok post flop (ie: fit/fold), but is really a balancing hand at best.

---------
hero dealt: AA35

folds to hero in HJ:
hero: raises all in

(3 players to flop)
action was checked through on all streets

JJ835
one player backdoored a low to get half

hero's stack - 1000

Analysis: Standard. 2 "competent regs" (40-80 mix reg + a guy who played a bunch of MTTs) who had recently been talking about players waiting 5-6 hours for KK or AA in NLHE thought it was funny I was "waiting for them" (Hero obviously wasn't waiting just for them to get it in - Ace-wheel or better is sufficient).

------------
[blinds pass]

hero in HJ: dealt AQ72 (no suits)

2 limpers
hero raises in HJ all in (1400)
original 2 callers call hero's bet

board: 87jaq

no betting by either villain

1 player shows: straight for high (bb had t9xx)
1 player shows: 45xx for low
hero is scooped and out of the tournament

---------------
busted: 13/42 (5 places pay)

PLO Cash Gaming @ Harrah's St. Louis

After waiting an hour to get on either 1-2-5 NLHE or 1-2 w/ 5 bring in PLO, I get placed at the 3rd PLO table (must move to one of the 2 ring games).
There was also a 5/10 PLO (1k min - 5k max)

3rd hand

all involved players' effective stacks (bb = $5) - 100bb

AKQJ (AJ) (KQ) double suited

hero: UTG - limps
button: calls
sb: pre-flop aggro villain who pretty much made sure it was a raised pot raised
hero: calls
button: calls

pot: 28bb

flop: j93 (2 suits to hero's KQ flush draw)

sb: checks
hero: bets pot
button: calls
sb: folds

turn: j93 3
hero: bets all in (60bb)
button: folds

I played 3-4 rotations before our table was broken and all players moved to one of the 2 main games. I felt tired and didn't move to 1 of the 2 main games.

I also tried to get into cash game on Saturday night, but they only had 1 (1/2 PLO) and 1 (5/10) PLO.`

---------
hero played ~1.5 hours
+47bb

245 PLO MTT @ Harrah's St. Louis

$245 PLO MTT

The structure is very similar to "WSOP"-circuit events. 5k starting chips with levels 25/25, 25/50, 50/75, 50/100, 75/150, etc...

I arrived 15 min. late and a new table was opened up consisting of late regs + 1 or 2 players randomly added to the table to balance number of players at each table.

(Q9)(75) double suited)
hero: 5k
bb: 5500

folds to hero in CO
hero raises to 125
bb: calls

2 players
Ax 9c 5c (hero does not have flush draw)

bb: checks
hero: bets flop ~2/3 pot
bb: calls

Ax 9c 5c 2x (hero does not have flush draw)
bb: check
hero: check

Ax 9c 5c 2y Az (hero does not have flush draw)
bb: check
hero: check

hero wins pot

Analysis:
Hero sometimes/probably should have bet 2nd/3rd pair on turn. Villain likely had a flush draw (or gutter) and shut it down when the turn was a brick.

------
25/50 level

w/ 4 limpers in front
hero decides to check BB with AAQ4 (AQ) single suited [ss]
hero missed flop (it was a relatively mid connected board with a flush draw - ex) QT7 two tone) and folded

Analysis: Hero can try to get it in on good flops/turns, but hero decides to try to play well post flop.
--------------

2 limpers:
hero on button: dealt A553 (A5) ss

hero limped in multiway pot
UTG+1 was older man who seemed weak-tight and showed very little aggression over 2 rotations

UTG+1 limps
HJ: limps
button (hero): limps
sb: folds
bb: checks

(4 players)

Kh 6h 5x
bb: checks
UTG+1: bets 200
HJ: folds
hero: calls
bb: folds

(2 players)
Kh 6h 5x Ky
Hero misread turn bet as 200 and put 200 in chips. Rest of table told me it was 600, so hero tanks, then end up calling for 600.
I was told my 200 was binding, but given the option to fold. However, i was not planning on it.

Sadly, the 100 and 500 color chips are very close color shades. Since villain was on other side of table and lighting was horrible, it was relatively easy to miss. It's always worth it to ask about bet sizes if not sure (although I didn't realize the colors were that similar when examining them in my stack.

Kh 6h 5x Ky Ax

villain: bets 600
hero: folds

Analysis:
Hero can fold preflop.
It was a good laydown by the river...the question is when do you let it go? A case can be made to fold the turn (and was original hero's action when seeing 200 bet)...
River bet sizing screamed crying call from villain and was somewhat easy fold.

A trend at this MTT: lots of people played their buttons with any 4 cards in limped/raised pots. It seemed kind of excessive...unlike previous MTTs.

hero in late position: dealt A994 (A9 suited)

early position raise
1 call
hero calls


on AT7 (monotone) board.
Checks to hero in position
hero bets ~1/2-2/3 pot
all players fold.

------------------
Level 4: (blinds: 50/100)

Hero gets moved to a new table and observed this hand at the new table.

3 players in limped pot

flop: Kd Jd 5x

utg+1 checks
mp: checks
button: bets ~4/5 pot
utg+1 calls
mp: folds

Turn: Kd Jd 5x 4y

utg+1 checks
button: bets near pot again
utg+1: c/r all in
button: calls

utg+1 shows KKxx (no flush draw or J54 side cards)
button shows: Qd Td 8d 3x

button bricks and is out of the MTT.

Analysis: I'm not sure what to think about the play from UTG+1 for checking back twice. Stacks are getting in on the flop if UTG+1 bets.
My perception of UTG+1: it seemed like button was more of a "NLHE" player and would more often check top set there.
Normally, it's ok to be checking back this board if it's a lower set (treating as drawing hand to boat) sometimes as hands (such as button) are equity favorites on flop...it can be deceptive seeing as 2-3 PSBs are good enough to get it in.
But, IMO, the higher the set, the more a player should bet and get money from JJxx and 55xx.

------
hero in CO: dealt AQJ7 (AQ suited, Q or J were 2 big cards T-K)

1 player limped in front
hero: isolation raised in CO
all other players fold
1 player folds and accidentally shows 6432 rainbow

Analysis: I'm not limping 6432 rainbow in a PLO game, even a cash game w/o flush draws. It's rarely going to flop nut draws... Because the highest card is a 6 and it has a gap, the straights will almost always be "non-nut".


hero's stack: 4275 @ 1st break
blinds: 75/150

-----------------------
limped pot (2 players)
hero in bb: Ks Qd Ts 5c

flop:
Kd 8s 3s

hero checks
older villain bets 3/4 pot
hero: check raises to 575

(2 players)
Kd 8s 3s Jc
hero leads 1025 on turn
villain tanks/folds

Analysis:
Hero checkraising 2 pairs + flush draw is relatively standard. Hero is happy to get villain to fold the turn though.

Equity against top 2:

On the Flop 600,000 trials (Randomized)
board: Kd8s3s
Hand Equity Wins Ties
k8 50.57% 298,470 9,842
ks qx ts 5y 49.43% 291,688 9,842

On the Turn 1,152,480 trials (Exhaustive)
board: Kd8s3sJc
Hand Equity Wins Ties
k8 53.40% 605,076 20,736
ks qx ts 5y 46.60% 526,668 20,736

---------------
hero in mp: dealt Ad Ks Jd 7c

folds to hero in MP
hero raised as PFR in MP
button (young lady) calls
BB calls

(3 players)
flop: Td 4d 2c
bb: checks
hero: checks
button: checks

(2 players)
turn: Td 4d 2c Qd
bb: checks
hero: checks
button bets 1100
hero: calls

(2 players)
river: Td 4d 2c Qd 2h
hero: checks
button quickly bets 2200
hero: tanks, calls

villain shows QQxx
hero mucks and decided to show Ad Jd..

hero's stack: about 1850

Analysis:
Flop: Argument can be made to c-bet flop. But, hero just has a naked nut flush draw, so equity is not super great.
Turn: This is a big difference b/w PLO and NLHE. Hero really should bet the turn here (rather than hesitate, then check). Medium flushes are calling at least one street. Sets are also calling to "hope" to boat up. As played, hero can c/r too, but it reps naked ace high flush blocker, or nut flush.
River: At the time, hero thought about it a while and thought hard about folding. But, there was suspicion that villain may bet medium flush draws on the river even with the board paired as villain seemed to be (kinda) NLHE oriented for lines.

---------------
2 other players were involved with this hand.

effective stacks: 3000 at 100/200 blinds

JT7 rainbow flop

player 1: checks
player 2: bets 1450
player 1: raises all in (3000 total)
player 2: calls all in

player 1: Q98X
player 2: A983

Analysis: With stacks this shallow, freerolling is not the hugest of concerns and usually very standard if getting freerolled in this spot. C/R by player 1 is good too.

-----
hero in BB: dealt JT97 (T9 suited in spades)

hj: limps
same young lady raises on button to 3x (600)
sb: folds
hero calls (hero had 600 chips left)
hj: calls

(3 players, 1900 in pot)
5x Ks Qx (hero has backdoor flush draw)
all players check

5x Ks Qx 8s  (hero has flush draw)
hero checks
button bets: 2/3 pot
hero looks at hand and calls

villain shows: KQxx (no flush draws)

5x Ks Qx 8s Ay

hero doubles up to 3100
Analysis: Hero should have bet the turn, but forgot there were 2 spades in hero's hand!
Checking turn by villain is ok b/c the only real draws are broadway wraps.

hand equity
range flop turn
turn equity:
kq** 54.22% 51.13%
jx ts 9s 7x 45.78% 48.72%


===================
HJ: Has been very loose and passive preflop, never raising preflop.
hero in CO: dealt KK54 (K5)(K4) (double suited)


HJ: limps
hero: raises

but: calls
bb: calls
CO: raises, but dealer says he doesn't hero CO say he wants to raise pot, so it's assumed a min raise.
hero: tanks, then helps and repots
but: tanks sometime, then calls all in
bb: tanks for ~2 min, then folds

button: shows AJJT (JT suited)
hero: KK54 (K5)(K4) double suited
CO limper: shows AA**
bb (older lady) - folds, saying she folded QQxx

Board:
236
236 8 (flush draw on turn; no one has flush draw)
236 8 t

Hero's stack: 12800
CO: eliminated
button: very short stack


Analysis:
When villain limp-raises, 99% of time it's aaxx. For some reason, hero was dumb and tried to get rid of player to trap dead money...
Older lady tanked forever and said she folded qqxx (which is a super standard fold given the action in front, IMO.) Some at the table were saying it was a tough laydown...which points towards the lack of PLO MTT experience (not that hero really got it right either...)

Hero should have just taken a flop multiway in this spot and still wonders how that mistake even happened.

PPT Equity preflop
AA** 65.76%
KK54 ds 36.81%

---------------------------
blinds: 100/200

hero: dealt Ah Qh Td 9s

folds to hero in HJ
UTG+1: limps
UTG+2: limps
hero: raises 5.5x (1050)
folds to UTG+1
UTG+1: reraises pot
UTG+2 calls
hero: tanks/folds

UTG+1 eventually shows naked AAxx

hero's stack: 11750

Analysis:
This time around, I (correctly) surmised the limp-reraise = AA**. I'm not sure why this didn't happen before. The difference with my hand is having an A against likely AA** means my equity is bad preflop.
Basically, having the ace decreases equity a lot. An argument can be made to call, to be honest. It could have went either way.

AA** 65.71%
As Q Ts 9d 34.24%

------------
hero had Ad Kd 9y 6x

UTG+2:  limps
hero (HJ): raises 3.5x
button (female player from before): calls
UTG+2: folds

[Effective stack sizes: 9000, sorry for lack of bet amounts]

(2 players, pot approximately 1500)
Qs 7d Kh
hero: checks
button: checks

(2 players, pot approximately 1500)
Qs 7d Kh 8d
hero: bets (approximately 900)
button: calls

(2 players, pot approximately 3300)
Qs 7d Kh 8d Qd
hero: bets (approximately 1900)
button: bets all in
hero: folds

Analysis:
Preflop: The raise to ISO UTG+2 could be a limp behind as well. Isolating seemed better as the UTG+2 seemed to play straightforward postflop.

Flop: Check/calling here is debatable. A cbet probably should have been made.
Diamonds are good turn cards, but lots of drawy/connecting straight cards can complete on the turn.

Turn: Donk leading when turning a nut flush draw is good to rep a turned 2 pair+. No straights got there. I bet ~60% pot for stack depth considerations on the river.

River: Bet/Fold seems standard.
Hero can get calls from lower flushes, so it's more of a thin value bet. Some low boats may call and not raise.

After hero bets, Villain is repping a boat here and it becomes a fold.


hero's stack: approximately 8300

-----------------------
limped 8754 (87 suited)
check/folded a JJ3 board when faced with a bet

level 7 -> level 8
hero's stack = 7775

---------------
break: 5k @ 300/600

shortly after the break, a couple eliminations led us to the final table of 10

hero: dealt Ah Ac 2c 8s
3300 @ 400/800

UTG+1 - min raise
MP: calls
sb (hero): raises all in

UTG - calls
MP: calls

48J5 x
One of the 2 players shows straight and hero is out.

Analysis:
It kinda sucks for UTG+1's raise to 1200 and the flat call from MP. My raise isn't really big enough to elicit much fold equity (especially after UTG+1 calls). It seems standard.

-----
busted: 10/48 (5 pay)

Online Update + Prep for Live MTTs!

Cash Gaming: PLO
1. I'm still bleeding at 25plo...it's really discouraging. Sometimes, I feel like I just "snap make a decision" (ie: usually calling station plays), rather than being methodical, thinking things through, tailoring plans against opponents, and acting accordingly. At least I've cut down on my multi-tabling (4 max) which (I think) helps me to really observe and think through opponents' actions carefully.
2. Other times, I just get into aggro mode and spew chips...
3. I think I need to realize that players just aren't as nitty as their PLO8/NLO8 counterparts.
4. Additionally, I really need to just watch more videos/discuss/post, etc... (~10-15 min/day)
5. One thought on my prolonged PLO downswing: I try to put in ~30 min. a day playing at minimum whether I'm 100% playing A game, B game, C game, etc...to try to continually learn and improve.
I wonder if I'm playing my C game so much that it's causing this downswing...

6. Live PLO has been "normal" for the most part. Rivers Casino has ~20 or so regs and there hasn't been any unusual situations per se. 
7. One of my real life poker "peers" just started out with her online poker journey and it's kinda weird to be sitting at the same online PLO table with her (ok, it was 30 hands and I didn't realize it at the time). We've played live together (recently it's been PLO at Rivers). Like me, we both think 10plo is relatively straight forward, but have had struggles at 25plo. It definitely seems the Merge network's PLO players are PS/FTP 50plo or 100plo "regs" who don't want to deposit huge amounts of money online at the moment (although there are some aggro and passive fish).
She's still learning PLO, so we're sorta of in the same place although she's much "greener" at understanding PLO and (sometimes) the online dynamic in some spots...

Cash Gaming: PLO8/NLO8
1. This is going about par for the course. I'm trying to allocate 30-35% of my time in this domain at the moment.

MTTs:

1. Dear Merge Network -> please remove all antes from PLO8 and PLO MTTs and SNGs! No one in the real world does that and it sucks for practicing for real life MTTs...
2. I was fortunate to get 2nd place again for my 3rd PLO8 MTT (out of 11 PLO8 MTTs) on 11/12 Saturday night (EST) ($11 MTT). I need to work on my heads up skills although I've been at deficits all 3 times and couldn't pull it out :-P
3. It'd be nice if the fields were larger, but alas...
4. The antes make it so much more profitable to 2x/2.25x steal and I think that really propels my stack as many PLO8 players (by default) are nitty. Although, it's tough to get better at short stack math skills...
4. I'm excited for STL's Gateway Poker Classic. http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/65/mttc-live/st-louis-december-classic-dec-1st-11th-lots-plo-plo8-1109368/index2.html
If I had a full week of vacation, I'd like to play the following schedule:

PLO * 3 (including a triple chance!)
PLO8 * 2
LO8
HORSE
[Admittedly, if i was there the whole time, I'd probably play 1 or 2 NLHE, but you get the idea :) ]

Alas, I'll have to settle for PLO & PLO8 on 12/2 and 12/3...

The structures are WSOP quality and good preparation for those tournaments! Blind levels = 25/25, 25/50, 50/75, 50/100, 75/150, etc.

Here's hoping I can get cheap airplane tickets as I just previously missed a sale! I hope to tweet updates @UnknownName3 too.

Variance or Leaks? Maybe/Maybe Not

A week ago, I was this close to being a "rakeback" pro overall at Merge...that was before the last 48 hours where I've put in a massive 6-8 hour session of PLO & PLO8.

1. I'm trying to make a concerted effort to improve my PLO game.
2. My PLO8 game hasn't been too good either...it's been ok.
[At some point, I'd like to play/improve my NLHE game, but that doesn't look that promising at the moment.]

Here's hoping I can fix leaks and can get on the right side of variance soon.

LV Trip 2011 - Summary (tl;dr)

overall:
1. It was great to hang out/meet up with various poker players I've kept in contact and/or met on previous trips (LV 2010, NO/AC 2010, etc...)
2. I met a large number of PLO8 players in both an MTT and cash game setting.
3. I played in my first WSOP event (1.5k PLO8) and felt i was decently +EV.
4. Stud/8 MTTs at the Golden Nugget is about super rare moments. This year: I got all in on 5th street and villain was drawing dead.
5. I didn't really play any mixed games at all :(
6. Odd numbered tourneys on my schedule seemed to do well overall from both a mental and playing perspective. Even numbered tourneys were hit and miss.
7. I have some MTT aspects to work on though especially in PLO8.
8. PLO8 and Big "O" cash games: My first experience playing Big "O" and didn't feel too overmatched. PLO8 was decent play on my part and running well.
9. Roaming photographers seem to float around and take photos at the WSOP. Photos are really expensive ($50 for original, $20 for ~8.5x11).
10. The "WSOP Photostore" (http://www.wsop.com/photostore) has super small tiny thumbnails (96 x 145 pixel) of (almost) every player. If I am adept at decrypting flash, I might be able to snag bigger photos.

--------
MTTs

6/25 230
6/26 350
6/27 560
6/28 200
6/30 1500
7/1 560
total: 3400

--------------------
cash games - about 30-40 hours

wednesday
.75 hours @ 5/5 plo8 = -5bb

thursday
.5 hours @ 5/5 plo8 = -50bb

friday
1 hr @ 5/5 plo8 = +60bb
2.5 hrs @ 1/2 big o w/ 5 straddle = -80bb

saturday
2.25 hours @ 1/2 big o w/ 5 straddle = -40bb
2 hours @ 5/5 plo8 = +150bb

sunday
1 hour @ 5/5 plo8 = -20bb
2 hours @ 1/2 big o w/ 5 straddle = -7bb

total
plo8: +135bb
big o: -127bb

7-3-2011 5-5 PLO8 and 1-2 "Big O" Cash Game Session Night 3

7/3/2011 - Sunday Cash Game Session

5-5 PLO8
1 - Lagish - played lots of PLO hands but seemed to understand relative hand value strength for PLO Hi
*2 - Greg T.
3 - hero
4 - at first, guy who just wanted to gamble and leave
5 - (quiet personality, solid 3-6 reg from brazil)
6
7 - talkative guy but not sure of skill set
8 - unknown
9 - tight older person

peeled with a24q (no suit) in bb against a pfr

flop: 532 2 spades
check/check flop
turn: 532 k (2 spades)
check/check turn
river: 532k5 (2 spades)

hero leads kinda smallish (60% pot)

hero scoops with straight

Analysis:
Hero can/probably should lead on turn as a4xx can get value and not necessarily get stacked.
There is some concern hero's in a bad quartering spot so hero did not necessarily want to get stack in against 2 players.
(esp. a4xx with spades and/or a46) are such small parts of range, but are a concern.

Perhaps hero assumed players were somewhat competent and wouldn't be getting it in w/o 46xx+

-----------------------
multiway w/ seat 7 and seat 5 (seat 6 empty)

I don't remember the exact board, but it was a high board and was devoid of flush/straight draws
ex) K94J9

hero is OOP in sb with awxx (maybe like a3xx no suits)
hero checks
5: checks
9: checks

check/call (3rd player folds - seat 9)
hero: checks
5: bets 2/3 pot
9: folds
hero: calls

hero donk led river, tried to bluff when 9 hits river
hero: bluffs river (80% pot sized bet)
5: calls

hero: shows ace high
5: called with top 2 pair

Analysis: It wasn't the worst play to donk lead a paired river, but there may not have been too many 9s in hero's range. Villain's 2 pair made it an easy call as well.
Hero was obviously trying to fold out a number of better hands.

-------
1-3 Big "O"
overall game seemed kinda nitty

only hand of significance:

UTG+2 - limps (100bb effective stack)

hero isos limper on the button
AQ853 (2 suit to ace)

flop: ak5 2 diamonds
villain: checks
hero cbet in position
villain calls

turn:
ak5 7? 2 diamonds (it could have been an 8)
villain: check
hero: check

river:
ak5 7 j? 2 diamonds (J was a paint card)
villain: donk bets river
hero: call river bet on end

Analysis:
In a heads up situation, I'm not sure if I can get villain to fold enough.
top and bottom + bad low draw isn't really that strong of a hand especially with everyone with 5 cards. River calls seems ok b/c villain's opponent needs to have

7-2-2011 5-5 PLO8 and 1-2 "Big O" Cash Game Session Night 2

5/5 PLO8
hero was dealt this hand in late position and called another person's pfr
a3tt (2 suit to ace)
t82kt

2 players (seat 2 and 7) - call both streets

11bb on flop
31bb on turn

[hero has 20bb behind]

Analysis:
Hero could have avoided 'balancing' and betted more on the flop/turn.

--------
This hand just shows that "freerolls" are bad. Sometimes, you really need to "fold the nuts"
It's extremely applicable in PLO High as well.

2: [~275bb deep]
6: [~300bb deep]
7: [~230bb deep] - probably inexperienced

J89 rainbow
2: checks
6: bets
7: calls
2: raises
6: calls
7: repots
2: folds

6 - KQT3 rainbow
7 - AQTT

J89xT

Analysis:
With AQ and no redraw, 7 has to slow down and not get his stack in w/ naked nut high and no redraws

7-1-2011 5-5 PLO8 and 1-2 "Big O" Cash Game Session Night 1

5/5 PLO8
300-uncapped buyin.

PLO8 (and PLO) games allow Mississippi straddles on the button. I sometimes chose to do it, allowing action to start at the SB.

short session (1 hr)
CO - just moved to my table (b/c other game broke)

CO opens
I repot to 13bb w/ Ah As 3c 4d

Flop: Kh Qh 9s
CO: check
hero: check

Turn: Kh Qh 9s 6c
CO: bets 1/2 psb
hero: calls


River: Kh Qh 9s 6c 4h
CO: bets pot
hero: thinks for a little bit, then repots all in (40bb to win ~100bb)
CO: asks for chip count, then folds

Analysis:
Hero most times should have cbet the flop, tbh. However, it's a board that doesn't hit the standard PLO8's 3b range (AAW*) unless i have nfd.

Hero was calling and looking to bet any river heart. Since there's no low on board, it's a good play.
If it's not a heart, hero can reeval river action
Note: An overpair has almost no equity.

When heart comes on river and villain pots into me, he's repping a flush.
I repot all in repping nut flush using PLO high's "naked ace bluff"

-----------------------------
I move over to play some Big "O" (my first experience). It's played as a 1-3 w/ 5 bringin.
$100-500 min/max buyin.
Mississippi straddles on the button are allowed ranging from $5-10.


1-3 "Big O"
3 potted with AA38Q ds

~48bb preflop after hero 3betted pre (4 players)

approximate flop: 48J (1 of my suits)

hero: checks
another player: checks
short stack: shoves 15-20 bb all in
everyone calls, including hero

Analysis:
1. Hero peeled flop w/ backdoor flush/2nd nut low draw (1/6 pot bet all in with 4 players)
2. hero had to fold when didn't turn my backdoor flush draw on the turn and likely hoping for 2 just to maybe not get quartered


===============
1 other hand involved hero with AKQJ4 (no suit) on button straddle and only BB is in pot.

limped pot (2 players: bb and button straddle)

4KT83 rainbow
bb: checks
Hero bets flop (approx. 80%)
bb: calls

turn:
bb: check
hero: bets turn (approx. 80%)
bb: calls

river:
bb: bets pot
hero: tank/calls

Analysis:
Flop and turn: Cbet seemed ok and gets value from straight draws, etc…
On river: Hero is hoping to get money back. It puts 3 low on board and hero is hoping to get to showdown with bad 2 pair/no low. There weren’t really any straight combos that got there and only a low really got there.
Fortunately, villain showed naked low (and a pair for high) and it’s a chop.

560 PLO8 MTT @ Golden Nugget

starting stack size: 12k at 25/50 blinds

Effective stack sizes were ~12k at 50/100 blinds
hero dealt: aa** (no wheel/suit)

folds to villain in middle position
villain raised in middle position
hero calls
bb falls

(2 players to the flop, hero OOP in sb)

flop: a27 2 tone
hero: checks
villain:

turn: a27 j (2 tone) 2
hero check call about 2/3 psb

river: a27 2 tone j2 (no flush completes)
lead river 3/4 pot
get check raised
slow down and call

Analysis:
Hero should probably have led flop to get counterfeited lows to fold.
Ultimately, hero am getting freerolled here a bunch. I think my line was actually kind of bad, especially leading river.
It feels a lot like WAWB.


------
one hand with "red" (Justin)

folds to hero in CO
hero raises with a*wcwc (a with 2 wheel clubs)

Flop: J9J 2 tone clubs

bb: check
Hero: c-bet 2/3 pot
bb: c/r near pot size bet
hero: tanks and thinks about 3 betting but only has clubs and folds

Analysis:
Hero probably should be just checking behind a bunch here. Board never really hits perceived hero's range since it contains so few jx against a strong, thinking player.
This is a good line when actually holding a J though.

-----
Leif Force's table broke and he sits down to my left.
We actually don't get into too many pots for 3-4 rotations.

One hand occurred multi-way...limped pot

AJT 2 tone

raise in EP and lots of callers
Leif is in SB and calls preflop.
1 guy had JJxx
other had NFD
Leif shows KQ for made straight, no redraws.

He ends up calling/gambling with KKQ9 preflop to try to triple up against some solid regs

The river is a T and 1 villain boats up. Leif is out.

[We had played at one of the PLO8 MTTs last year at the Golden Nugget]

--------------
hero dealt a226 (suit to ace)

hero's stack size: about 9000
7: about 6000

1 fold
UTG+1 (hero) - limp (6k chips at 400/800)
seat 7 - nitty player (who hero has played with 2-3 times and seems straightforward) isolates my limp - raises in LP)
hero calls

~7400 (2 players)

hero ships w/o really looking at flop

Analysis: A complete and utter leak on my part.
If his "raising range" is essentially 2-3% (AA**), this board hits him a lot. My "set of deuces/no low" is in horrible shape so often in this spot.

Hero's stack: 1100

---------
a couple hands later, hero ends up getting it in (3 way) and triples up against 2 players by flopped low flush that held up on no low board

hero's stack: 4200

blinds pass (400/800 blinds)

hero's stack: 3000

---------
hero dealt: aa34 ds

2 limpers
hero (exactly) pots all in in SB

up against 3 other players
aa34 ds

4 players total
didn't write down hand, but 1 player got a better high and low

----------
hero out around ~55/95

5-5 PLO8 Post-WSOP Bustout Quick Cash Game at the Rio

30 min. session

hero: dealt A23J rainbow
PFR in UTG+2
2 callers
hero calls PFR for 4bb in SB
BB calls

flop: 5 players, 20bb

c/r on A5T rainbow board
hero checks
other players check to PFR

PFR cbets 2/3 pot
2 folds
hero check raises pot (putting villain all in)
1 fold
villain calls

Villain and hero decide to run it twice - hero chops first (6j?) and loses second (kq?)

hero stops session at big blind b/c it was a spew to get it in with just top pair/mid kicker + naked nut low draw

1500 PLO8 MTT @ Rio

Table 11, Seat 1 (black section of the rio's pavilion section)

starting stack: 1500 with 2 rebuy chips (1500 per rebuy chip)
initially started with 4 players

1 - hero
2 - (did not show up until level 3 or so)
3 - thought you could play PLO + PLO8 hands
4 - "pro" - showed up around level 2 and was only person to use all rebuys immediately
5 - straightforward player
6 - seemed more like a NLHE player; sunglasses and seemed to try take time on decisions
7 - late showed up ~45 min in; seemed somewhat fishy, understood stuff, but maybe not super strong player
8 - "FUIGEA" cap - PLO8 TAG
9 - late reg (did not show up until level 5)

Apparently, at least 2 people had to be there to have cards go in the air.
Hero arrived 4 to start play 4 handed (1, 5, 6, 8). Needless to say, Hero took a couple "free blind hands" when it folded around to me and there were 2 dead stacks in the blinds.
Initially, most of the players were just trying to feel each other out.


3 players

hero dealt [a577 (no suit)]
effective stacks: 1500 (blinds 25-25)
5: limps
8: limps
hero (bb): checks


6s 4c 2h 3s Bs B = T-K

flop: [125 chips, 3 players]
6s 4c 2h

hero checks
5: bets 75
8: calls
hero: calls

6s 4c 2h 3s
checks around on the turn

6s 4c 2h 3s Bs B = T-K
hero leads river
5: folds
8: folds


Analysis:
1. Hero's flop call is kind of loose.
2. Absolute mistake not to bet the turn as wheels are calling (although fold out a3x w/o wheels) and in a huge spot to quarter people.
Hero's intention at the time was to check raise turn, but looking back, if he's betting naked nut low or 2 pair hands, he's not betting turn.
3. River lead is ok after the fact, although can be somewhat thin. Hero doesn’t have a flush, but can still get value out of some naked lows and/or wheels.

-----------------
hero dealt [ad td 4h 2h]

folds to hero UTG+2 (~2.25k)
hero raises to 125
villain (~1.75k) calls in late position
[others fold]

[300 in preflop]
J32 (rainbow)
1: Hero bets 2/3 pot
6: raises all in
Hero thinks for a little bit and calls.

villain shows: ATKK
J3295
hero scoops with wheel

Analysis:
Hero is actually a 60/40 favorite w/ my scoop (wheel), 2 pair outs, and low draw for half. Villain was kind of leaking, IMO. Overpairs are ok to go with in PLO High given short stacks...

---------------
1. level 2 (blinds 25/50)

Hero dealt [As 2s 6c 9c]
folds to hero (UTG+2)
Hero PFR raised with As2s6c9c (125 total)
4: calls

[325 in pot, 2 players]
TA9 rainbow
hero cbet flop (200)
villain - called

TA9K rainbow
(about 725 in pot)
hero bets 2/3 pot (450)
villain - raises
hero - folds

Analysis:
QJ** and AK** are the only hands that overtake me and villain could theoretically have ATK*. At the time, I think it's a standard bet/fold 2 pair spot in either PLO or PLO8.

---------------
just before level 2 break

reads:
Seat 5 had shown down a non-nut naked low to get half earlier in the session.

hero dealt as 2x 6s Bx (B = T, J, or Q)

5 (UTG+1): raises to 150
6: folds
7: calls
8: calls
1 (hero): called in HJ
3: (button): calls

(5 players, 850 in pot)
5KK rainbow
checks around on flop

turn (5 players, 850 in pot)
5KK6 backdoor flush draw (so like 5s Kc Kd 6s)
sb (nlhe player) - leads for 700
7: calls
8: folds
hero: calls
3: folds

river (3 players)
[1.6k in pot, 3 players]
5KK64 (only 2 tone flush, no flush on end - so like 5s Kc Kd 6s 4d)
sb: checks
7: checks
hero: thinks for a while
[20 min. break starts]
Hero bets 1k
2 other players call

hero: shows pair of 6s/nut low
5: mucks
7: shows nut low

hero wins 3/4 pot
7: wins 1/4 pot


Analysis:
Turn:
Hero flats hoping 4th player stays in. if 4th player stays in, hero just gets money back. Sadly, 4th player folds.

River:
There was a huge amount of weakness on the river, which is why hero tanked for a good 3-4 min. thinking about it.

Obviously, hero luckboxed that he actually had the best high hand and quartered a low.
IMO, boats would have bet turn + river (so lows don't just "get there" on turn and to get value from multiple players with low on river).
Given river action, 2nd player may have bet with straights for value b/c of check from initial turn player. There was a lot of weakness shown by both players by river check.
It wasn't meant to be a super-thin value bet for sure :)

Retrospectively, hero was trying to bet to represent a straight (78/73/72) and knock out a high hand (2 pairs, maybe K***) and/or both players. Thus, hero tries to scoop (by getting other players to fold) and/or might be able to get a naked low to call and 3/4 that player.


=======
level 3:
hero's stack: 5.7k with 2 rebuy chips

----------
after level 2's break
2 "bracelet award ceremonies"
Pakistan national anthem (o8/s8)
US Armed Forces Veteran (1.5k nlhe)

It was good to see, but it would have been helpful to get an extra 5-10 min. on break.
---------
=======

level 3:
hero in bb: dealt aa67 no suits calls
folds to seat 6
6: NLHE player raises in late position
Hero: calls

flop: Qx 2h 4h
checks around

flop: Qx 2h 4h lx (low card not a 2/4/6, putting 3 lows on board and giving hero a bad low)
6: bets turn
hero folds

Analysis:
Hero is slight dog to AA-wheel hands and could try to jam here, but decides to play well post-flop. AA67 heads up isn't a horrible hand, but can be tricky if it doesn't flop well.
Hero could have tried to get aggressive pre/post-flop, but decided to play passive here against the straight forward "NLHE" player who could be free-rolling with nut low + hands.

------------
hero dealt [Ah 2h Kc 4c]

Hero
QT6 rainbow
4 checks around on flop

QT6T turn
2 checks to hero
hero bets about 60% pot
everyone folds

Analysis:
Check around flop as it doesn't truly hit hero's range and there's 4 people in the pot.
Paired boards are generally good to bet in PLO8.

----------------
Hero got into a couple pots against the 2 active "PLO" players, mainly seat 4 and 1 spot with "PLO Maniac" (seat 7 after the original seat 7 busted out of the MTT)

Against seat 7 while hero is in BB, i got dealt A2BB suit to ace, but missed flop completely (it was like 2wx and i had only a pair of deuces w/ 3 overs and no low) and had to check/fold.


===============
level 5:
Hero's stack:
Hero's rebuy chips were "auto-cashed" turning 4525 + 2*1500 = 7525.
Blinds 100/200
===============

***hero not involved in hand, but always sick when stacks get in after betting on all 3 streets with essentially identical hands in PLO
board:
69585 (rainbow, no flush draws)

Ah Ks 6x 2y
Ac Kc 5x 2y

pretty sick to hit the 2 outer to 3/4 opponent.


before end of level 6

Player 4 had been steadily gaining chips. He got it all in on a "coin flip flop" and lost and busted out of the MTT. Seat 7 had shown some PLO High characteristics and was now up to 30k or so.

Overall, hero basically had very few playable situations during levels 5 & 6.
A. Either of the PLO maniac(s) (seats 4 or 7) got involved in pfr raised pots.
B. The 1 or 2 times it folded to me, hero didn't even have a raisable (top 30-40%) hand that could even make a low.

===============
level 7 (dinner break):
5400
Blinds 200/400
===============

against relatively deep stacked player w/ PLO experience (seat 7), two different situations where hero gets chips w/o seeing the flop

(folds to CO)
1. 7 raised in CO
Hero tanks with AQww
Hero 3 bets pot OOP [leaving about < psb left]
7: folds

later on
7: limps in UTG+2
folds to hero
hero raises with AAwx
7: folds

-------
They break the table right next to my starting table (table 12) and even though we lost 1 player (seat 9), they make us keep the seat cards.
Basically, our table is breaking next.
-----
Before the table break, hero missed one possible steal spot against 2 relatively tight players.

Hero dealt [Kd Ks Td Qs - 1 suit to king]

folds to hero
Hero decides to not steal, even though it really appeared that our table was breaking very soon.
There was only about 11 tables left in the "White" section of the room.

==========
30 min into level 7, our table breaks;
stack: 6500 - move to new table 68, seat 9 (by the dealer again)
==========

Table 68:
1 - "John" (Canadian) - seemed to be solid PLO8 MTTer (played cash with him previous year)
2 -
3 -
4 - [super short stack - (he might have been in seat 4)]
5 - TAGgy PLO8 MTTer. Seemed to understand push/fold.
6 - young Asian player, seemed to have some PLO background and hands within range; somewhat loose/aggro
7 - Men Nguyen, then a TAGgy random after Men busted
8 -
9 - hero


new table with Men the Master Nguyen (seat 7), about 30 min. after dinner break

7x Jd Kd 2y Ad
6
9 (hero) [5.9k]

flop:
all players check

[3 players]
turn:
6: checks
9: hero tanks/calls
2: folds

river:
6: pots
9: hero calls all in

villain shows: [Kx Qd 4d 3y] - q high flush + nut low
Hero shows: [ax jx 4x 3x - no suit] - top and 3rd pair + nut low
Hero gets quartered.

Analysis:

Hero actually should fold even with an uncounterfeitable low draw b/c only hope is to get a chop (although an ace might give a better 2 pair and can counterfeit naked low).
Additionally, it's not like there were any wheel cards to give some scoop outs and increase hero's equity.
River sort of played itself out. Rare situation to get quartered here as there are few combos that actually 3/4 hero.

5900 -> 3200

--------------
2 limpers (stack sizes cover hero and leave 1.5-2 psb after flop)
hero - makes exactly pot size raise

jam AKK5 suit to ace (exactly psb)

K8475

2 players in pot who checked it all the way down (seats 6 & 7)

hero gets 1/2 the pot

Hero gets it all in pre-flop with AA42 no suit against AKQ2
Jx 5h 6x 4h 6y

Hero 3/4 villain
hero's stack - 8200

---------------------------

+++++++++++
Aside:

Men was mad at a dealer for an entire down. He had been drinking even before the move to the table. Overall, he was friendly to everyone at the table.
The situation arose where he was asking the dealer (an older person) how much is it to pot it. Dealer never responded for some reason.
Men asked again slightly louder and more irritated before dealer responded.

Men also seemed to like gambling/getting it all in with KK** even w/o a low. He admitted that to so many people at the table, it was absurd.
[As a side note, KKxx has fairly bad equity in aipf situations.]

He eventually got into a huge pot 3 way hoping to gamble and triple up with KK**, but bricked out and was gone from the tournament. Seats 2 & 6 was the main beneficiary of the chips


A Q 5 (2 clubs) low card, big card
6: xx2c3c - gets 1/2 with naked low
2: had aaxx i believe - gets high
Men: out w/ KK** hand (ironically)

hero was able to get a journalist and detailed some of the notes about the hand. hero essentially pulled him over and said "I think Men's going to be all in really soon, he's commmitted 80% of pot in and he's in the tank."

Seat 6 asked me if i wanted to do poker journalism or if I knew media people. I was like "No, it might be cool for a couple days, but not really. Also, i just want to help people who read the live updates too."

Sadly, it doesn't look like his update made the feed(s) anywhere. This was a first: Actually seeing and getting a journalist to take notes or live updates for a hand at my table.

+++++++++++

-------------------
hero in BB: [qjj3 suit to one j]

hero checks in bb and gets free play in 4 way limped pot

(4 players to flop)

KT9 rainbow
[4 checks]

KT9T backdoor flush draw
sb: checks
hero: bets 1/2 psb
[3 folds]
hero wins pot

Analysis:
Hero can sometimes slow play this flop as it's rainbow and an A doesn't change the nuts, although value can be acquired from sets, etc... by betting.
Hero bets on turn to hope that naked txxx calls.

---------------
hero dealt AK32 no suit in HJ (hero's stack about 8k)
folds to 6: raises to 3x (6 has hero covered)
hero flat calls in HJ w/ AK32 no suit (hero's stack about 8k)
everyone else folds

[2 players - 4.5k preflop]
Ad 3d Qd
6: check
hero: check

Ad 3d Qd 8c
6: check
hero: check

Ad 3d Qd 8c Kd
6: leads 2k
hero: tanks, then folds

Analysis:
Hero has to be right 60% of the time to get 1/2 the pot back. W/o a low, how often is hero calling with top 2 against a low?
Villain was sort of aggressive and had shown down some weird PLO high hands too.

Hero thinks range is geared more toward non-nut flushes w/ no lows (or bad lows) and folds.


---------------
hero: pfr with [AA5Q, no suit]
folds to hero in HJ

5: straightforward player leads flop of Js Ts 6x
hero tanks/folds

-----
4: as UTG, calls 500 (at 300/600) after losing huge pot
3 limpers in front
hero repots with AA2x on the button (hero's stack - about 6k and villains range from 9k-20k+)
everyone folds

board runs: KQ25J

villain "5x ups" w/ 2 pair on the end? (kjxx?)
hero loses about 200 overall


===============
level 9:
Hero's stack: 5500
Blinds 400/800

Hero is not really that super short. Since this is a PLO8 MTT, Harrington "M" zones are effectively larger b/c of the split pot nature of the game.
===============

---------------------------
folds to hero in SB
hero has approximately ~5000 @ 400/800
hero folds KQQ5
seat 1 takes pot down uncontested
hero's stack shrinks some more

It's kind of standard to sometimes see table tighten up in a PLO8 MTT as people don't necessarily want to play out of position.
----------------------

hero dealt: [ah 3h 5x 9y] (2 suit to ace)

2 folds
UTG+2: limps
folds to button (hero)
hero: pots
sb/bb: fold
UTG+2: thought about it for a while, then asked for my chip count.
When he saw i was short (1k behind), he said "i'll gamble" and jammed.
Hero called instantly.

villain (UTG+2) shows A2T9 suited to ace.

board: 48qj5 (2 flush on flop only, but not to either of players' suits.)

Analysis:
At the time, I kind of defaulted into cash game mode, where I'm definitely isolating limper all day.

Because of awkward stack sizes, I should have thought about it more and just limped behind and played a flop.
Looking back:
1. Even if I don't make a hand, I could try to barrel various scary turn/river cards to get straightforward PLO8 TAG to fold.
2. Check/Folding isn't the worse play either. Hero's stack isn't super short and I can definitely take a flop here and sometimes play fit/fold too.
3. I also don't have to risk my tournament life on the ~35% chance I could get scooped here.
4. I'm also done some looking around MTT forums and realize that the high portion/strength of my hand is rather mediocre. If it was AJ/AQ/AK, it's better to ship here.

5. I polled many various people from all walks of life....here's the consensus thus far:
a. PLO8 Cash game pros: limp behind and use post-flop skill
b. PLO8 MTT pro - raise/get it in w/ fold equity
c. other NLHE/PLO/mixed game MTT pros - raise/get it in and flip coins


-------------
hero busts around 190-200th (90 pay)/946

5-5 PLO8 Quick Cash Game at the Rio

session - ~30-45 min.
did not really play any hands of note
very quick - fast dealer
2-3 players were competent
table dried up quickly of new players

-5bb

recognized some people in 1-2 big "O"
mississippi straddle is on (button straddle + action starts at sb preflop)

Some of the cash gamers I met I would eventually see at WSOP PLO8 MTT the next day (1 at table 12 and 13)

Gigging at Open Jazz Mic Night at the Freakin' Frog!

It's great that this was running strong after my last time in LV. I found it once again via Craig's List :)

4 tunes, then listened to varying genres of music (some jazz among other genres). I guess I could have went back on stage and played some more, but for some reason did not decide to do that.

blues

1. warm up - blues in F? (tenor sax solo/intro)
2. Autumn Leaves
3. On Green Dolphin Street
soloist didn't want to switch between swing/latin
i tried to do it during my solos, but couldn't really get it to work too well
4. another blues
didn't know the "C Jam Blues Head" to end the set
ended up bassist played the melody as I made some accompanying figures on piano

200 PLO8 MTT @ Binion's

starting stack: 15000

Only hand of note in 1st 3 levels:

in bb, hero flopped boat on a 2 high board
got value when person led flop and hero called
hero leads turn when low gets on board and everyone folds

level 4: 14700
---------------
bb: hero dealt (aa5t 2-suit to ace)

folds to MP
5: raises 2.5x * bb
hero: calls

flop: QsJs5c
hero: checks
5: checks

QsJs5c8h
hero: donk led turn (about 3/4 pot)
villain folds

Analysis:
It's ok to fold bad aces OOP (the 5's not really good for making more than an "emergency low".
Depending on villain, hero can sometimes call with them, but they are very tricky to play.

--------
my table breaks around level 5
New table has a lot of "regs" and many are familiar from last year.

--------
Villain in this hand is kind of nitty post-flop and straightforward.

2 limps
hero limps in CO with [Ks Qs Js 9x]
sb: checks
bb: checks

flop (5 players)
Kc 7s Tc
sb: checks
bb: checks
8: villain bets flop
1 fold
hero: calls
2 folds

turn (2 players)
Kc 7s Tc Jc
8: check
hero: checks

river (2 players)
Kc 7s Tc Jc 7h
8: check
hero: checks

8: said he had "nothing" and mucked his hand
hero: wins pot

Analysis:
Hero's not getting much value and has to resign to check on all streets once flush hits.
Not too many straights are calling on a flushed/paired board. Hero may also fold to donk lead on river sometimes.

-----------------------
Over 3+ rounds: SB/BB battle (hero is in BB)
At new table during levels 5-6, hero had 3 different instances of folded around to SB and hero is in the big blind.
It's kind of weird, but I think many of the players at the PLO8 MTT table hero was at were rather good at the game and understand that stealing blinds is not a huge priority.
This probably was why it seemed to fold around a lot.

round 1 (300/600 blinds)
sb: 4-5k
hero: 20k
sb: folds

round 2:
sb: 4-5k
hero: 20k
sb: limps
hero: checks J467
ABW board (like AJ5 no suit)
check/check
ABWL (like AJ57 2 suit flush)
check
hero leads
call
ABWLB (like AJ573 2 suit flush)
sb: leads for 2/3 pot
hero tanks/calls

hero calls with backdoor low (8 low) and 2nd/4th pair for high and chops with top and 3rd pair/no low

round 3 (400/800 blinds)
sb: 5-7k
bb: 3-5k
sb: raises
hero: folds QJT5 rainbow (or similar trashy hand)

round 4:
sb: 5-7k
bb: 3-5k
checks around whole way and not interesting hand

----------
level 7:
hero's stack: 20.9k

----------
effective stacks: approximately 18k
blinds: 400/800

hero dealt: [As 5s Ac 9h]

hero: raises 2.5x
BB: repots
hero: pots all in
BB: calls

hero shows: [As 5s Ac 9h]
bb: AKK2 2-suit to ace (ex: Ad Kc Kd 2s)

board: K22 7? T?

hero's stack: approximately 2100
villain doubles up

Analysis:
Kind of standard and hero was actually a decent favorite preflop.

-------------
A couple hands later
As short stack (2100 @ 400/800), folds to hero in CO
hero: goes all in with A36T (no suit)
bb: calls with KKT2

flop: A63xy
no K on river and hero doubles up

hero's stack: 4200 at 400/800
It's kind of standard getting the right price to call with almost any 4 cards.

-------------
level 8:
hero repotted an EP/UTG PLO8 reg with As Ax 2s X and got no action :(

-------------
hero's stack is dwindling in level 9 - 600/1200 blinds

hero's stack: approximately ~5500

hero dealt: [A B w w] - a shovable hand with decent high potential + 3 low cards to back into a low (something like: Ac Qd 6h 3c]

2 limps (stack sizes around 10-12k?)
hero raises in CO
SB [30k+]: repots
BB: folds
2 folds
hero: calls

BB: [Ah As 3s 8h]

hand bricks [did not write down board and couldn't remember it]
hero is out

-----
Hero busts at level 9 (approximately ~56th/149, 15 pay)
On a positive note, hero at least gets the $5 food comp from Binion's before hero busted (although Hero forgot to use it).

560 S/8 MTT @ Golden Nugget

Starting stack: 12000 at 50/100 limits

hero ended up late regging 1 hour
MTT started 10 min. late because there were so few people. Also, TD was aware of problem with such deep stacks in relations to limits and realizes it needs to be fixed or the same problem will keep happening.
The problem with the limit MTTs at Golden Nugget: The limits are too small in relation to stack size.
Stacks should be no bigger than 30 big bets to start.
Add levels in between.

Otherwise
a. unlike big bet games, one can't stack someone ever with super low limits.
b. no real penalty for late regging (late registering)
c. people know you can late reg, so no one shows up on time.

When they opened up a 4th table, they decided to add dead stacks to each table. Based on the number of levels that had been interspersed, they added "dead money" to every table and it was apportioned off a little bit at a time.

We added 100 to each hand for 9 hands at level 3 (25 ante, 75 complete, 150/300 limits)
It added up to people trying to open their stealing ranges a little bit more to get pots.

Just before break at level 4

Hero's (seat 8) [7h2x] 4h 5y 6z

other boards:
2: Jx Ty 9z
4: Kh xh Jh
6: 82x (rainbow)


I ended up "gas piping" with a known made high hand (a flush). We trapped 2 people (1 with bad low draw who ended up folding after 7 big bets on 5th/6th street) as well as a worser high hand.
It was pretty standard even though I couldn't scoop to jam with the best low.
------------
13375 at first break

On a steal attempt with (96a), after 5 folds to the hero (with a high card and a low card with bringin):
Hero ends up getting scooped against a wheel which was bad.
Hero kept catching cards to make a decent low board against someone with a low board as well. (Sadly, hero didn't write the board down.)

Some other notes:
1. 9 high straights seemed to be hitting a LOT (2-3 separate times). Most had a bad low (87*) as well.
2. One villain scooped another out of the tournament with [55]xxxx[5] versus villain's naked 2 pair.

break 2: 12.5k

------------
K - active player - completes
hero: calls with A67 (1 6 is dead)

[bet/call on every street - 5 big bets]
villain: [KQ] Kx Q9 [x] no flush draw
hero: [a6] 7464[q]
Hero got bad 2 pair and called it down even w/o making low on end, even though villain likely has better 2 pair. Hero is beat a lot of the time, but when getting a really good price to call on the end.

------------
dinner break (level 10)
hero's stack: 3.075k
100 ante; 600/1200 limits

------------
hero tried to steal with (67) 8 but had to fold on a J 4th street card.
hero bricked on 4th and had to fold.

------------------
villain: (xx)j5j
hero: (68)86q

Hero ended up sucking out to make a better 2 pair than jacks up to suck out on villain and stay alive in the MTT.

Analysis: Hero has to call here: There's too much money in pot and villain's range is much wider than trips even though door card was paired (because this was s/8 and people less often will start with high pairs in their range(s) with a high door card).
One of the strong stud players (D) mentioned: "You've been playing hold’ em too much" b/c I tanked for 2 minutes.
I joked – "Actually, i've been playing too much omaha."

----
villain: [2 pairs - queens up?]
hero: [A8] 6438 [a]
Analysis: hero ends up getting it all in on 6th street freerolling villain's 2 pair
Hero ends up backdooring a high to scoop.

--------
[sadly, I forgot to write down villain's boards :(]
All in the span of 5-8 hands!

a. hero: [74]2a6 with 2 suit
villain had a pair by 5th street when money gets in
gets 1/2 of antes

b. hero: 7c 4c 3c 5x x x x
hero bricks for low/flush and is down to 2.4 k

c. hero: [7d 6d] 7h 6x 7x
hero gets it in against villain on 5th
villain: [wd wd] kd big diamond brick]
(ex: 3d 5d kd qd ts)

hero's stack: around 5k

d. hero had 83728x2 (hero may have had a 2 flush on 3rd street)
villain had 1 pair > 8s, but never got to 2 pair
hero gets all in by 4th street
hero sucks out for high again and scoops

Analysis on c:
Villain thought it was extremely funny that he was drawing dead on 5th street! Another historic moment for me!
Last year, I tripled up through 2 people - 1 had a boat while the other had 3 2s + low draw on 6th and got quad 2s to lose.

----
down to 16 players: 13.6k @ 400/1k/2k
----

hero: (aj)ax
villain: 2345

betting action: hero bet/villain calls on all streets
villain bricks low/straight and folds on 7th


Hero nearly doubles up (if hero had full stack, hero could have gotten at least 100 more for stack).

hero's stack: around 25k

-------
227kkxx
tt5xx55
hand between 2 villains which crippled one of the deeper stacks at the table. I don't remember the betting action though.

--------
hero: 77456xx
(As Ax) 2s Jd

betting action: hero 3 bets on 3rd street; but eventually folds after bricking on scary board

hero's stack: down to 16k

Hero watched as one of the stronger stud players he met got into some battles and had to pay off w/ a lot of 2nd best hands. Hero got anted off a lot though.
My table was 4 handed while other table was 5 handed until the money bubble burst.

Chip Jett frequented a lot of the tournaments at the Golden Nugget. He also ran deep in the s/8 and was the "final table bubble boy".

----------
Final Table: 8 people

Hero's on short stack: 7.5k
one other player (D) was also short

villain: J** - makes J high straight by 6th street
hero: (a5) 2 2 3 x (4)

hero gets it in on 4th street
Analysis:
Ace wheel wheel is a decent hand to get in short stack situations. It can pair the ace and/or make low possibilities to stay alive.
Thankfully, I binked the low (the wheel sadly was no good) and stayed alive.


------------
hero: dealt (77) a
villain completes
hero: 3b all in with (77) a
villain calls: (63) a

villain: [63] a x 3 3 [x]
hero: [77] a 8 5 k [t]

Analysis:
pair + low draw with ace is an insta-get it all in short stack.
[getting in with razzy lows was always a leak of mine when short stacked in s/8. Hands like 275 rainbow aren't really good in non-MTTs, and they're not really good when short b/c you don't even have a pair + lows don't get there too often....)


------------------
8/29 (although made it to final table)
1 stack still critical when hero busted

I talked with one of the people who made it deep (A) and he said they made an equity chop around 1:00AM (an hour after I busted) when it got down to 6 handed after the other short stack busted.

350 NLHE MTT @ Venetian

Every entry nets you one of four things as a "comp"

1. VDS T-Shirt *new design for 2011*
2. VDS card protector (very heavy) *new for 2011*
3. VDS cap
4. $10 food comp


My table started 5-6 handed instead of 9 handed. People who late registered had to wait for their big blind, then they received their full stack of chips. This was regardless of what time they show up.


Hero had open raised but didn't cbet
qt8 board 2 tone

folded to villain’s turn lead

------
Starting stack: 12k
blinds: 50/100
hero opened UTG+1 (6 handed) to 250 w/ 55
button (who hero read as internet player when raising 2.5x a couple hands a couple times) - 3bet to 600
hero calls

pot: 1350 (2 players)

flop: qt2 two clubs
hero: check
button: bets 700
hero c/r to 2500
fold

-----
hero: dealt ajs
weak player opens on button - 2.5x
sb - calls
hero calls in bb

pot: 750 (3 players)
t54 (two of hero's suit)
sb - leads 450
hero (bb) - calls

pot: 1650 (2 players)
t54q (two of hero's suit)
sb: check
hero: bets 1175
sb: calls

pot: 4000 (2 players)
t54q6 (all flushes miss)
hero: bets 3300
sb: folds

------
hero dealt 98s
folds to hero in hj
hero raises 2.5x
sb: calls


pot: 600 (2 players)
flop 985 monotone
sb: (unknown/no reads in seat 7)
hero: bets ~350
sb: folds

-----
folds to hero in CO
hero raises in CO with t9s
calling station in sb

kq3 (two tone)
sb: checks
hero: cbets
sb: calls

turn: kq3 q (two tone)
sb: checks
hero: checks

river: kq3 q 6 (two tone)
sb: checks
hero: checks

villain shows jto
hero mucks

Analysis: Maybe hero can fire river sometimes, but my analysis at the time is that he's calling with any pair or better the whole way.

-------------------
Table was relatively quiet otherwise. Eventually by mid-way through level 2, the table fills up completely.

Over this time period, the calling station called guy down with 4th pair after sb had 3b small pre/led flop/turn on q8762 board

-------------------
level: 75/150
hero - KJs 4th position
hero (16kish) opens to 375
calling station (18kish) calls on button
guy who had 3 bet me (internet player?) (seat 9) calls

pot: 1275 (3 players)
KJ8 2 tone
seat 9: leads for 675
hero raises: 2100
"calling station" flat calls
seat 9: tank/folds

pot: 6150 (2 players)
kj876 2 tone
hero bets 2/3 pot (~4k)
hero raises in CO with t9s"calling station" flat calls

pot: ~14k with hero about 6k left (2 players)
kj876 2 tone, flush not completed
hero leads all in
seat 9: calls

hero: shows top 2
seat 9: shows 88 for middle set.

------------------------
Hero busts out of tournament at level 2
634 runners

230 PLO MTT Re-Entry @ Caesar's

Starting stack: 20000


an interesting "all in hand" in the first 3 levels

Effective Stack Sizes: approx. 100bb

9c As Tc Ax Jd


hand 1: KKTT DS
flop: middle set + backdoor nut flush draw
turn: Ts full of As
river: Ts full of As
hand 2: Ac Qc Tx 9y
flop: nut flush draw + top 2
turn: aces full of tens
river: aces full of tens
hand 3: A J 8 w
flop: top pair + oesd + no suit
turn: trip aces with J kicker
river: aces full of Js

Analysis/Comments:
Unfortunately, I don't remember all the post-flop action, but it definitely got all in on the flop.
It's always amusing to see the 3 outer suckout, then 1 outer re-suckout in PLO! [Note, I did not say NLHE]!
I'm not sure why player 3 got it in on the flop, to be honest, but seems to be psychic, IMO :P

One person was crippled (down to like 2-3k), 1 person re-entered, and the other person had ~60k.


Sadly, my listing out of preflop/flop action was horrible. Additionally, I forgot to list out
To give a sampling of "all in action"

Board: Th Ah 4c
1: ATT6 (no suit) [middle set]
2: Ac 9c Kh 8h [tptk + nfd]

7A85T (rainbow)
1: AAJ2 (1 suit) [top set]
2: AQT9 (tp + oesd)

===================

hero dealt AAK5 no suit in HJ

2 folds
2 limps
HJ (hero): limps
CO: folds
button raises
bb: repots
HJ (hero):  repots
button: calls
bb: call

a5j rainbow
[hero's hand held up, but unfortunately forgot the board and villain's hand(s).
Hero triples up to ~60k about 10 min. before the break.

Analysis:
I'm not a huge fan of always PFRing aaxx, especially with horrible side cards and no suits.
Once people have so much money in the pot, I can effectively get my stack in preflop or on the flop. In this case, I am fortunate to get it all in preflop.

--------------
Additionally, I was PFR versus 1 limper and had slowplayed AAXX DS when I flopped an NFD and a BDNFD (back door nut flush draw) on a very non-straight board. (ex) 7T3 two tone). On the 5 off suit turn, I was fortunate that my slowplay worked as I picked up an extra bet when villain fired, hero raised, and villain folded.
It's an OK play to sometimes do for a couple reasons:
1. The stack sizes were such that I could still get villain all in with 2 near PSB (pot sized) bets.
2. There are very few straight combos that exist.
3. IMO, for balance purposes, you can sometimes slow play here, but it should be RARE, not often. Was this a good time to balance? ...it's debatable.


Overall, between me (2x) and 1 other player (dealer playing in MTT but dealing WSOP), we were dealt AAxx 5x. Each time, AAxx flopped top set and held!

---------------
level 5:
hero's stack: 57.2k

-----
flip situation with "wsop dealer" chad

aaxx double suited
hero 3 betted OOP
villain called (villain has < 1 psb left)

J62 monotone
flop comes monotone (hero's not sure if he even had nut flush).
Hero insta-pots (putting villain all in).

Villain tanks for a while, then called with j*** with overs to the 6.
J6229
unfortunately, turn is a 2 ruining villain’s 2 pair outs and villain bricks end to lose.

hero's stack: about 80k

Other "all-in hands" which I forgot to write a full transcript:
a. hero lost a small flip with a short stack when hero held AQJJ with [AJ] suited.
b. Hero isolated a competent PLO player (who had 20k total) with AAT2.
Villain tanked/folded. He said that his equity was not good enough to get it in against naked AA**
TBH, it is an accurate assessment to put me at for 3-betting as I had only shown down AA** over a couple hours of play...not by choice...

----------------------
I was moved to new table with 36 remaining.

One reg mentioned a story where he was playing MTTs and cash.
In a NLHE cash game, he opened shoved 800 at 3/6 thinking it was an MTT.
He didn't realize until reviewing his session that he was snap called by KK and it wasn't an MTT.

Sadly, there were not really any interesting situations/hands that I noted or recalled.

-----------
level 9
chip count: 102.5k (blinds 1000/2000)

------------
Hero could not get into any real profitable situations to either 3-bet jam, limp, or iso-raise.

Redraw for seats when we got down to 27 (18 paid).

Hero's stack had shrunk to 75k. This was 2-3 rotations after the redraw (around level 11 - blinds were 2k/4k)
limped UTG Ad Qd Jx 8x
button calls
sb folds
bb: checks

(4 players, about 18k in the pot)
Flop: Qd Jd 4x
bb: checks
hero: leads for 3/4 pot
button: raises ~2/3 pot
bb: folds
hero: raises all in
button: calls

villain shows: 44KT no suit.

Analysis:
The weird part about the situation is that most of the people had played a previous PLO MTT at Caesar's a week earlier.
Many complained about the very long bubble (> 2 hours) and didn't want to do it again.
Additionally, after the redraw to 27 players (3 tables), there were 4 eliminations in ~15-20 min.
Hero could have probably just folded preflop and just try to cruise into ITM, tbh.

Once hero sees flop, it's pretty standard to get it in.

-------------------------
After hero busted, another 2 busted within another 5 min.

22nd
181 entries, 18 places cash.

A weird thing was that there were a lot of Europeans in the field. It's not completely surprising seeing PLO is much more popular in Europe, but I was still surprised at the large number that I met.

LV 2011 edition: background

I've touched down in LV and am planning on playing a large number of MTTs and cash games.

I'm hoping to meet up with other friends: Some have been here for the entire Series, while others are making a 1 week trip.


I originally scheduled to play the PLO MTT at Golden Nugget, but overslept registration.

WSOP Prep - Online Poker Version 3

After Black Friday and after much research, I redeposited money onto an online poker site!
I went with RPM skin on the Merge network mainly due to good customer support and micro-friendly player offers. Fortunately, I was able to get in with a rakeback deal before it was closed off on June 1, but it was not through the affiliate (RTR) that I wanted b/c I apparently somehow messed up the download. Thankfully, RPM room management was still able to get me a rakeback deal after the mistake.

I feared being rusty in both PLO8 cash games (which i would do some in LV and have not done in 6 weeks), but mainly in PLO8 MTTs (which I've never really played a whole lot of while on FTP outside of 1 mini-FTOPS and a bunch of satellites).

For 3 consecutive Saturdays (and a couple other days), I played a bunch of SNGs and a large number of MTTs (mainly PLO, PLO8, S/8, and the occassional NLHE MTT).
It's been a while since I've played micro-low stakes MTTs, but the competition was hugely less skilled than cash game counterparts.

I was fortunate to run very hot and get some nice scores in some of the PLO MTTs and PLO8 MTTs.

But, the one thing that irritated me a lot was that both PLO and PLO8 MTTs had antes!
1. This made it more adept to stealing.
2. It also was not a good simulation for time in LV.
2a. I'd be looser and more aggressive b/c of all the dead antes.
2b. I'd also blind off faster.

For cash games, the player pools were ~30-40% smaller which was to be expected. It was good experience to work on getting reads on new players although I tried to avoid using a HUD b/c I messed up the config in HEM.

WSOP 2011 Approaches

1. It should be an interesting WSOP this year as I know at least 3 people playing full schedules this year! ZH, XL, and CC should do just fine :)
2. I haven't played too much online/live poker, but have been trying to revise my mental approach to individual hands/sessions. I've been reviewing some of my HUD sessions as well.
3. I've signed up for rakeback at RPM (Merge Network) as their deadline approaches for rakeback signups. I'll be restarting my online journey soon in preparation for the WSOP.

FTP: End Era

The "official end of era announcement" was "Black Friday" on 4/15/2011 at around 2:00PM EST when the US Department of Justice indicted various owners of 3 online sites (PS, FTP, and UB/AP). (It's ironic it's "black friday" because the normal analogy is to Black Friday - when retailers make lots of money and "get in the black" on the day after Thanksgiving).

The FTP client software started offering a new download at 4:00AM EST on Friday night. Luckily, I had my computer/FTP software still on and was able to play for a couple days until an official "rebooting" of all the US IP addresses happened on 4/18 (Monday) at 3:00PM EST. After that point, only play money games are available.



FTP's Traffic during the "interim period"
1. Needless to say, traffic was gone 50-60% since it was mainly US players.
2. ~22 players at 50plo8/rush at 11:00PM on a Saturday (normally 100). Additionally, PLO8 ring games were almost non-existent.

Other thoughts about my "grace period" (after Black Friday until Monday afternoon).
1. I was fortunate to be able to play a couple extra days and complete a couple last promos (Silver Iron Man + Take 2 Promo).
2. My overall graph for PLO8 very recently officially made me a non-rakeback pro :) PLO/NLHE were still in the RB Pro status though.
3. I was attempting to change my playing habits to accomodate for the more European crowd (playing more in early afternoon-late afternoon as opposed to late nights). If FTP was still up, i was taking shots at the FTOPS PLO8 events (which would have started on Wed with a Rush event followed by a 6-max event the following Monday)...
4. Sadly, I wasn't able to enjoy those last couple days on FTP as much as I would have because of the large amount of social activities that were going on (figures...)
5. I hope that FTP does the honorable thing to convert and/or pay out for Take 2, Iron Man bonii, medals, FTP points, FT Academy, T$, and the other random "value items".

My concerns/thoughts after the closure:
1. Lack of Preparation for the WSOP. I didn't get a chance to play any PLO8 MTTs and now have almost no way of playing them.
2. Strong desire to play some FTOPS (PLO8)/mini-FTOPS (10 game multi-entry + other) events for the practice/experience. 
3. Continued "practice" for improving cash game play in NLHE and PLO!

Hopefully, some day, FTP (and PS) will come back into the market stronger or a strong US presence emerges. In the meantime, it looks like I'll be devoting lots of time to watching videos/reading strategy/posting in online poker forums.

Later posts:
1. reflections on PLO8 cash, PLO cash, and NLHE cash
2. reflections on Mini-FTOPS 10 game
3. live cash game sessions
4. thoughts about resuming online poker?
5. sifting through all the online poker training videos/literature

Online Update

1. I spent a week playing 25plo/6m/rush and some NLHE (and staying away from PLO8). I really feel I need to spend more time on NLHE as my hope to change my volume didn't exactly happen. (Even the week where I took PLO8 off, my volume was mainly 80-20 PLO-NLHE).
2a. I took some unexpected time off, but decided to put in some serious PLO8 volume to earn a lot of FTPs in coordination with Take 2 (+1x multiplier for all rush + top 2 ring games).  Thus, I can get 4x multiplier for rush + top 2 tables when playing during happy hour.
2b. Coincidentally, I think there's a bug for determining "top 2 ring games" when super multitabling with rush. I've gotten more bonus points than I think I should. For example, I was 4 tabling 50plo8/rush, but had 6 other plo8 tables going ranging from 6 max to fr at 50 or 100plo8 (which I will try to not do so much anymore). I'm pretty sure I got more points than what should have happened.
3. I feel decently comfortable at 100plo8, but there are a lot of smart, aggressive, and talented regs that I have to get adjusted to. It also helps to tile tables better using ctrl-9!
4. The swings are nasty though + misclicks are just as bad. I was getting mentally tired after ~40-45 min. of 7+ tabling. My PLO/NLHE games are shot b/c I think it's ingrained to play PLO8 right now. 
5. I will hopefully really devote time to my NLHE (specifically) and PLO8 games. I think I need to watch more bluefirepoker videos and reread some literature.
6. After Take 2 promo ends, I hope to play some PLO8 sats to either FTOPS events (yay for 2 PLO8 events, although 1 of them is rush)

Milestone: Black Card!

Approaching a milestone...

After putting in larger/longer sessions, I'm approaching FTP's Black Card status! I've gotten 2 reminder emails that "you're getting close".

I'm projecting to get it in the next couple days....

1. Here's hoping that the "benefits" of having "the most prestiguous card in poker" are worthwhile at the RIO/WSOP (which was the whole point)...
2. I actually kind of want the actual physical black card :-P ...and will probably email FTP's Black Card support and hope to get the physical version!

On a side note, I will be trying to mix in a lot more NLHE and PLO. I was really putting in a huge volume of PLO8 (PLO8 - 90%, PLO - 9%, NLHE - 1%) which is good in prep for the WSOP.  But, I'm hoping to get it back to more of a 60-20-20 now that i'm not pushing to get BC so quickly.

2 posts are pending:
1. My Last Live NLHE/PLO session at Rivers
2. My Thoughts about the mini-FTOPS 10 game (which coincidentally, I chose mini-FTOPS 10 game over St. Patrick's Day + NCAA tournament start/bracketology) and the need for me to play/learn some NLHE MTT strategy sometime amidst all the other things I need to improve.

Mass Multi-tabling (over 6-7 tables) must stop!

This is kind of a vent post, tbh...
No longer will i play more than 6-7 tables (4 rush + 2 ring game). I had yet another bad session...

I also think I need to focus just on rush PLO8 for a while...a ~20 buyin downswing is hardly a downswing.
On the plus side - I feel somewhat ok at 100PLO8 (FR and 6m, not necessarily HU), but sometimes feel a little tenative. I think that I will overcome that in time.

Additionally, I need to try to fix my hud, which was misconfigured and seems to run slower since I had to migrate to a different desktop machine.

NO & AC 2010 - Trip Summary

Summary:

1. In NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana), people who busted me generally won the tournament
    1. 6max NLHE
    2. PLO
    3. PLO8 - The guys who ended up taking 1/2 of each of the pot went heads up

2. NO NLHE fields were weak in general from the 2 smaller events I played.

3. A lot of firsts:
    a. first rebuy tourney (PLO)
    b. seeing bling for shipping an MTT (PLO) - the ring was placed at the final table in everyone's view
    c. being on the right side + wrong side of the bubble

4. Borgata
    A decent chunk of the young players seemed to be decently competent online players and were  good with table selection (ie: they left quickly when the table was bad). Most always open raised and seemed to play competently.

5. I felt the most comfortable in an MTT on 12/10 (NLHE FR). I felt I understood all the players I encountered and was poised to make a deep run...

6. MTTs @ Harrah's in AC
    The 570 definitely was a tougher field. Lots of MTT pros, some that definitely knew push/shove ranges....I was fortunate to min-cash, but I definitely feel like I misplayed a lot of situations.
    The 350 had some decent amount of weak players/lots of open limping.

7. AC: It was weird to walk around the various poker rooms.
    a. The Hilton had a 7.50/15.00 LHE game. I was told that the action was very "loose" compared to a standard 10/20 LHE game. Their wait list was a camera pointing to a white board!
    b. The prevalence of stud at the Taj Mahal was huge. I guess I should have played some stud hi at Taj Mahal just to say "I played stud there...." They had some 1-5 spread and i think a 5/10? game. The Borgata had stud as well, but it was 20-40+.

8. I should definitely play more cash games on future trips. Don't get me wrong, sightseeing is definitely something to do, but I felt I did not put in much time for cash games (~6-7 hours only...)

NO & AC Trip Reports + mini-FTOPS start

1. Formal trip reports are embedded within the "December 2010" time frame at the approximate posting times. I left the "intermediate" updates in the blog.

2. To be honest, I really wish I could play the entire mini-FTOPS schedule. It would be fun to grind all of them and help "further my education". I guess I just need to win the mini-FTOPS leaderboard and then magically find off time from day job...

Cleveland Casino! WSOP schedule released!

Cleveland Casino!
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/horshoe-cleveland-casino-coming-to-higbees

Yay to possible WSOP circuit events in a couple years!
Not that the local Nautica stuff was fun, but I think bigger games might happen...A temporary casino site should should open early 2012.

WSOP schedule was released!
I'm excited on the likelihood of the WSOP 1.5k PLO8 event (6/30).
The other casinos (GN/Binion's) likely will have PLO8 events too...

Unfortunately, the 8 game/10 game is too early in the year. Maybe the VDS (or Aria or Bellagio) will come through with a small-medium stakes 7/8/10 game.

Sadly, I also will get burned on the Harrah's point expiration. My last day in AC was 12/18/2010, and I'm not projecting to be in LV until 6/23/2011.

Online Updates

Online MTT updates.
FTP multientry tournaments are pretty epic. I wish i knew before i had to make 75k purchase as that would have weighted my purchases differently.

The "multi-entry" technology is pretty easy to do - it was already done with the introduction of rush poker, but they "waited a year" to maximize the business benefit.

I'm excited about the FTOPS, but do not really have any time to play any of the MTTs. Perhaps time will be better for mini-FTOPS. I might stay up late to play 10-game in the future ($100+9 rather than the $1000+60)...

Online Cash Games:
I think I'm leaking fairly badly in PLO8 (and PLO/NLHE). Is this mainly variance? Very unlikely... I think I'm just firing barrels w/o accurately putting villains on ranges.
PLO8 - seems to happen especially on high only boards where i tend to fire multiple barrels even though it's obvious villain never folds...
PLO - I should probably lessen # of cbets in 3b pots.
NLHE - I think I'm way too aggro and kind of forgetting to "put people on ranges"...

Variance at its finest...

PLO8 variance:
2 separate ~400bb downswings in 2-3 sessions...
Admittedly, I made some serious blunders in multi-way pots ~150-200bb deep which contributed to my downswing, but lol variance. It's back to the drawing board....

Trip reports hope to come soon...

Goodbye 75k FTP points...

FTP's Holiday Promo

Spending 75k points was tough just to get a $50 cash bonus. I was short ~40k FTP for the max bonus ($100 for 140k).

1. I was so close to being at 100k (I had 99.4k) FTP and wanted to take a screenshot. Oh well, I'll probably get there by mid-late this year...
2. I deliberated for a long time how to spend the points. I wanted to spend as close to 75k w/o going under :-P (ie: the opposite of the price is right's - highest price w/o going over).
a. I actually tried to break down how the mini-FTOPS events spread out in terms of buyins and possible games in the past just in case (and to look at historical).
b. I kinda guessed they'd announce the FTOPS 19/mini-FTOPS 19 schedule before the deadline (Jan. 9th) - I was right (kinda). They (finally) expanded the schedule to 2 full weeks (start w/ 1 tourney on Sunday rather than Wed. night). Unfortunately, only 75% of the schedule was released. Per FTPDoug, most of remaining events are NLHE (and all games are represented, sans NLO8, IMO).
c. Ultimately, I ended up purchasing:
5 $22 mini-FTOPS tickets
8 $26 tournament tickets
1 $33 mini-FTOPS ticket
75575 points!
d. I could have went with $26 mini-FTOPS ticket, but decided against it b/c historically, only 2 tourneys use it per series.

At my current pace of rakeback (which gets deposited every Friday), I probably won't get rakeback until sometime in March. At least, I get some "bonii" deposited b/w now and then (Holiday Bonus + Iron Man EOY bonus).

Online Update for Late 2010

I've changed my routine since my return from vacation:
Quota = 250 FTP "Iron Man Quota"
a. PLO8 (and sometimes NLO8) cash only for 150-200 points of quota - 3 tabling rush + lots of open tables at 25 or 50.
b. PLO for about 30-50 points of quota - 3 tabling rush
c. NLHE (6m or full ring) for about 30-50 points of quota - 3 tabling rush

This usually takes about 1 hr/day...sometimes less depending on number of PLO8 tables and if I need to skip PLO and NLHE due to other time constraints.

Overall Thoughts:
1. In retrospect, it probably was never a good idea to try to simultaneously multitable 2 different cash game types...
2. I still have a lot to learn about NLHE and PLO. Results have been meh and I sometimes still don't think about everything...results were likely inflated by the holiday season.
3. I've been on the positive side of variance in PLO8. This has easily been the biggest heater i've had. I've been fortunate to run well, but I'm also getting my money in either freerolling my opponent or at a (relatively) huge equity edge. After today's session, I'm up nearly 2k bb! It's also fun to scoop as a 60/40 favorite 300bb deep :)
My longest session was a (2.1k FTP - 3k hand) point session on New Year's Day...4-5 hours, albeit I did not play as well as I normally liked.

I played a $10 10-game MTT and wasn't paying attention enough in Badugi (while multi-tabling cash) -
between 2 players
guy behind me stood pat on 2nd draw
1st player leads; i call; guy behinds raises; i call...
Should have folded on reraise but couldn't figure it out from "chat"...

Current goals:
1. Keep working on improving my PLO8/PLO/NLHE games. I feel the ceiling is higher in the latter 2 and I have a long way to go in that regard. My hope is to continue to move up and build bankroll to withstand learning curve/variance...
2. I'm looking to meet quota for FTP's Black Card starting in mid-February or so in preparation for the WSOP. It's 500 FTP points/day for a running average of 100 days. I'm looking to get that mark around mid-May. I can then "let it lapse" and be in grace for 50 days during my projected time at the WSOP. FTP is rumored to have some good benefits for people in LV.
3. Play some PLO8/10 game/7 game (hopefully bigger than the max $10 daily) MTT or play some mini-FTOPS events if schedule/timing permits.

PS: I am still working on the NO/AC trip report. I have half of them written up, but some of the longer MTTs are taking a long time...