Maybe my hiatus is over. I played the Bodog Blogger tournament hosted by Smokkee last night. I got kind of slapped down fairly early and then didn't do much for quite a while. Bad cards, bad situations.
At some point, I think after the first break, I managed to get into some good cards at the right time and my stack took a nice jump. Then I was getting halfway decent cards for a little bit and legitimately raised a few pots in a row. It folded around every time. So I kept raising. And it kept folding around.
I've done this a few times in the past but always feel like I'm being horribly transparent. It seems inevitable that somebody will catch on and fight back, costing me a sizable raise, so I always back off after a while. But I pushed it farther and more often than ever last night. And got away with it.
Eventually, via balls and proper timing (i.e. luck), I built a very nice stack and was able to openly bully the table with near impunity. It's been rare that I've been able to do this, but I think I like it.
My game felt good last night, at least until we hit the final table. I had a bit of trouble shifting from five players back to nine. And there was another big stack at the table so I couldn't blindly raise with the knowledge that nobody could put a serious hurt on me. I never really hit my stride again. I ended up bubbling, finishing in 6th.
Kudos to Bodog for sticking with this blogger effort. Given the low turnout in September I assumed they'd terminate the offering when their initial commitment expired. Instead of backing off, they lit the afterburners. They're now adding over T$500 to the kitty, giving each of the top five finishers T$109 in addition to the normal prize pool. Rumor had it finishers 6 through 9 got T$11, making it a freeroll, but that wasn't mentioned in the payout schedule.
Bodog's commitment to this appears to be paying off. We had 22 players last night. A bit short of the 82 the MATH drew on Monday, but considering the last time I played this it was basically a one-table SnG, 22 is a big improvement. If you haven't been playing in this one, you should consider it. A $500+ overlay spread over the fairly small field is quite good, even if it is just T$. They've got a few pretty rich tournaments that will give you opportunity to turn those T$ into some big US$.
Up tonight is the next BBTwo event, The Mookie. Full Tilt, 10pm EDT. Password is "vegas1".
24 October 2007
23 October 2007
I'm back, sort of
I've been on kind of a hiatus from poker. No real reason. I guess I just got tired of it. The PokerStars Blogger tournament was about the only poker I've played this month.
Last night, however, I decided to join in the fun with BBTwo. Sadly, the Tier One SnG I played to win my ticket was more eventful for me. I got a rush of very decent cards early in the MATH, but didn't win a whole lot with them. Languished for a long time, got lucky on an all-in, got unlucky on another all-in. Ended up in 50th of 80-some. Just as well. I'm not sure I could have stayed awake long enough to final table, let alone win.
As I said, the Tier One SnG was far more exciting. Early on I did battle with some fool who absolutely fell in love with the 8's up he flopped. Sadly for him, I had a six to go with the pair that came on the flop. I ended up with quads, and he still wouldn't believe his 8's weren't good. I toyed with doing a small value bet, but figured the best way to get him to call was to look as desperate as possible. Pushing all-in on the river did the trick.
In another hand I was once again called a donkey, this time by someone not even in the hand. It folds to me in the SB. I've got A4o, a semi-legitimate hand in this situation. I raise. The BB figures I'm stealing and tries to re-steal. I call. Cards and chips fly. I end up catching an ace on the river. Turns out he had Q7.
Maybe three hands later Mr. I-like-calling-people-donkeys gets into a hand with this same guy. The hand plays out in a similar fashion. The one guy again has Q7 and the donkey-caller turns over A5. I guess the donkiness of the play is dependent on who is involved. Anyway, I found it rather amusing. I did resist the temptation to make comment.
Next up in the BBTwo is The Mookie on Wednesday. Hope to see you there.
Last night, however, I decided to join in the fun with BBTwo. Sadly, the Tier One SnG I played to win my ticket was more eventful for me. I got a rush of very decent cards early in the MATH, but didn't win a whole lot with them. Languished for a long time, got lucky on an all-in, got unlucky on another all-in. Ended up in 50th of 80-some. Just as well. I'm not sure I could have stayed awake long enough to final table, let alone win.
As I said, the Tier One SnG was far more exciting. Early on I did battle with some fool who absolutely fell in love with the 8's up he flopped. Sadly for him, I had a six to go with the pair that came on the flop. I ended up with quads, and he still wouldn't believe his 8's weren't good. I toyed with doing a small value bet, but figured the best way to get him to call was to look as desperate as possible. Pushing all-in on the river did the trick.
In another hand I was once again called a donkey, this time by someone not even in the hand. It folds to me in the SB. I've got A4o, a semi-legitimate hand in this situation. I raise. The BB figures I'm stealing and tries to re-steal. I call. Cards and chips fly. I end up catching an ace on the river. Turns out he had Q7.
Maybe three hands later Mr. I-like-calling-people-donkeys gets into a hand with this same guy. The hand plays out in a similar fashion. The one guy again has Q7 and the donkey-caller turns over A5. I guess the donkiness of the play is dependent on who is involved. Anyway, I found it rather amusing. I did resist the temptation to make comment.
Next up in the BBTwo is The Mookie on Wednesday. Hope to see you there.
15 October 2007
Pokerstars Blogger Freeroll
I played the blogger freeroll yesterday. My tablemates and I had the misfortune of being seated with an aggressive maniac. Fourth hand of the tournament there was a small raise, a call, and the maniac pushes all-in. Of course, nobody wants to risk their whole tournament this early, so everybody folds. He raised every single hand for about the next 40 hands. And won most of them uncontested.
One guy finally caught a hand he thought he could play sheriff with. Turns out the maniac flopped a set and turned a boat. Minus one player and now we had to deal with an aggressive maniac with more than twice as many chips as anyone else at the table. It wasn't pretty.
I ended up folding a number of hands I would have liked to have played, but wasn't willing to play at what I knew the cost would be. For the most part I wasn't getting cards anyway. The only hand worth mentioning was when I got pocket aces and flopped my set. I played it cool, waiting for Mr. Maniac to go crazy, but he was very restrained and even folded when the other guy in the hand put in a small bet. I did get the other guy to contribute to my cause, though not as much as I'd have liked.
After almost two hours of folding everything in sight, my M was under 10 and I decided to make my stand with pocket 9's. Unfortunately, the other big stack who I thought was just trying to push me around actually had aces. I went home somewhere in the low 800's. Not a good showing at all.
In retrospect, and particularly if Stars had posted the payout schedule early in the tournament, I probably should have picked a couple hands with any kind of promise and pushed back against the maniac. The prizes didn't start until fairly late and the bottom ones were the kind of thing that you wouldn't turn your nose up at but you probably wouldn't wait in a long line to get one either. I don't mean to be critical of the prizes -- it was very generous of Stars to do this -- I'm just trying to be realistic about the relative values of the prizes.
Anyway, thanks to Pokerstars for hosting this. If you do it again, please don't start me at a table with a maniac.
One guy finally caught a hand he thought he could play sheriff with. Turns out the maniac flopped a set and turned a boat. Minus one player and now we had to deal with an aggressive maniac with more than twice as many chips as anyone else at the table. It wasn't pretty.
I ended up folding a number of hands I would have liked to have played, but wasn't willing to play at what I knew the cost would be. For the most part I wasn't getting cards anyway. The only hand worth mentioning was when I got pocket aces and flopped my set. I played it cool, waiting for Mr. Maniac to go crazy, but he was very restrained and even folded when the other guy in the hand put in a small bet. I did get the other guy to contribute to my cause, though not as much as I'd have liked.
After almost two hours of folding everything in sight, my M was under 10 and I decided to make my stand with pocket 9's. Unfortunately, the other big stack who I thought was just trying to push me around actually had aces. I went home somewhere in the low 800's. Not a good showing at all.
In retrospect, and particularly if Stars had posted the payout schedule early in the tournament, I probably should have picked a couple hands with any kind of promise and pushed back against the maniac. The prizes didn't start until fairly late and the bottom ones were the kind of thing that you wouldn't turn your nose up at but you probably wouldn't wait in a long line to get one either. I don't mean to be critical of the prizes -- it was very generous of Stars to do this -- I'm just trying to be realistic about the relative values of the prizes.
Anyway, thanks to Pokerstars for hosting this. If you do it again, please don't start me at a table with a maniac.
06 October 2007
Poker Stars Rules
First Full Tilt kicked back all the rake in the BBT. Very cool of them. Then Bodog decided to get in on the action and tossed in an overlay on each of their blogger tournaments. Thank you Calvin. Now, Poker Stars has thrown down the gauntlet.
On October 14th they are hosting a $40,000 freeroll for poker bloggers. No, I did not put too many zeros in there. $40,000. I don't want to knock the other sites because they've been very generous, but, damn, $40k. That's some serious green for a freeroll that hasn't had a million feeder tournaments. Makes me glad I've moved most of my action back to Stars, even if I am still in ankle-deep waters.
It's too late to start a blog to get in, but if you've had one for a while and have been making regular updates, click the flashy thing on the right and get yourself registered for this.
On October 14th they are hosting a $40,000 freeroll for poker bloggers. No, I did not put too many zeros in there. $40,000. I don't want to knock the other sites because they've been very generous, but, damn, $40k. That's some serious green for a freeroll that hasn't had a million feeder tournaments. Makes me glad I've moved most of my action back to Stars, even if I am still in ankle-deep waters.
It's too late to start a blog to get in, but if you've had one for a while and have been making regular updates, click the flashy thing on the right and get yourself registered for this.
01 October 2007
Nothing new here
It's been a while since I last posted so I thought I'd write up something. But I have little poker-related to report.
I played the WPBT SnG last week, but that was it for the whole week. My performance was not exactly great. For a while I was getting cards at just the right time. Somebody would push all-in just as I was dealt a sweet pocket pair that held up. I knocked out the first three players and doubled against the big stack. Alas, my luck did not hold out quite long enough. And, I must admit, my heart really wasn't in it. My thought when I busted out was -- good, now I can go do something I really want to do. Probably a good thing I haven't been playing much.
I'm still on my quest to turn $5 into $5,000. Well, maybe "quest" is over-stating it. Mildly interested pursuit might be more accurate these days. I'm sure my interest will pick up again in a week or two. Maybe once I discover how badly most of the new TV shows suck.
I played the WPBT SnG last week, but that was it for the whole week. My performance was not exactly great. For a while I was getting cards at just the right time. Somebody would push all-in just as I was dealt a sweet pocket pair that held up. I knocked out the first three players and doubled against the big stack. Alas, my luck did not hold out quite long enough. And, I must admit, my heart really wasn't in it. My thought when I busted out was -- good, now I can go do something I really want to do. Probably a good thing I haven't been playing much.
I'm still on my quest to turn $5 into $5,000. Well, maybe "quest" is over-stating it. Mildly interested pursuit might be more accurate these days. I'm sure my interest will pick up again in a week or two. Maybe once I discover how badly most of the new TV shows suck.
13 September 2007
I'm so proud
Tonight, at $0.01/$0.02 6-max NL, I was called a donkey. I was just bursting with pride. And laughing my ass off. It reminded me of the old Firesign Theater bit, "We're all bozos on this bus."
Actually, this was even funnier than I at first thought. I had pocket kings. There was one limper ahead of me. This was a table that had shown no respect for normal sized raises. I didn't necessarily want to scare everyone away, but I didn't want to take kings up against five other players. I made it 5BB to go.
Okay, here's the funnier part. The guy who called me a donkey called my raise with A2o. Donkey do as donkey see.
I won't go into the full blown analysis. Let's just say I thought it might have been a marginal call. Turns out I had 11 outs, well into make-the-call territory. I river a king to beat his flopped two pair and he went into call the other guy an idiot mode.
In all fairness, this IS $0.01/$0.02. I imagine most of the players aren't even considering what the other guy might have. He saw his two pair and wasn't thinking at all about me raising before the flop or the fact that there were three hearts out there. His push wasn't a bad move, but he needed a lot bigger stack to make it a bad call for me.
Anyway, I loved the donkey stuff. I thanked him just before he left the table.
The quest is getting back on track. The bankroll is back up to $23.94.
Actually, this was even funnier than I at first thought. I had pocket kings. There was one limper ahead of me. This was a table that had shown no respect for normal sized raises. I didn't necessarily want to scare everyone away, but I didn't want to take kings up against five other players. I made it 5BB to go.
Okay, here's the funnier part. The guy who called me a donkey called my raise with A2o. Donkey do as donkey see.
I won't go into the full blown analysis. Let's just say I thought it might have been a marginal call. Turns out I had 11 outs, well into make-the-call territory. I river a king to beat his flopped two pair and he went into call the other guy an idiot mode.
In all fairness, this IS $0.01/$0.02. I imagine most of the players aren't even considering what the other guy might have. He saw his two pair and wasn't thinking at all about me raising before the flop or the fact that there were three hearts out there. His push wasn't a bad move, but he needed a lot bigger stack to make it a bad call for me.
Anyway, I loved the donkey stuff. I thanked him just before he left the table.
The quest is getting back on track. The bankroll is back up to $23.94.
04 September 2007
The Weekend
The Quest took a bit of a hit this weekend. Several down sessions have added up to a mini-slide. Just when I thought it was impossible to lose in the ankle-deep waters of $0.01/$0.02.
In some ways it's tougher way down in the shallows. I never know if my opponent is staying all the way with bottom pair, despite the obvious straights and flushes that are possible, or if he's smart enough to realize the dangers and would never have ventured so far without a premium holding. I lost a buy-in on second nut flush when the other guy had the ace.
There was a bit of that kind of thing mixed with a number of sessions where nothing hit and I did little but blind off until the table broke.
The bankroll now stands at $21.33.
Tonight is the second Bodog Blogger tournament. I've not read any other announcements, so I'm hoping the password is the same as last time. Since I'm freerolling the next several, I intend to be there. Details are in Monday's entry from last week if you're interested. Great overlay, so I encourage you to join in.
In some ways it's tougher way down in the shallows. I never know if my opponent is staying all the way with bottom pair, despite the obvious straights and flushes that are possible, or if he's smart enough to realize the dangers and would never have ventured so far without a premium holding. I lost a buy-in on second nut flush when the other guy had the ace.
There was a bit of that kind of thing mixed with a number of sessions where nothing hit and I did little but blind off until the table broke.
The bankroll now stands at $21.33.
Tonight is the second Bodog Blogger tournament. I've not read any other announcements, so I'm hoping the password is the same as last time. Since I'm freerolling the next several, I intend to be there. Details are in Monday's entry from last week if you're interested. Great overlay, so I encourage you to join in.
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