Foxwoods

I ended up staying in Vegas 24 hours too long. During my last day, I managed to get sick (still recovering) and drop almost 5k (playing poorly) in the 10/20 NL game at Bellagio. Still, I had an awesome time during my extended week in Vegas (I highly recommend skydiving to all) and it was a successful trip on the poker front as well. I was up ~8k in cash games, which combined with my tourney cash made for a very nice week. In addition, the whole week reminded me how much I enjoy playing live poker and made me that much more excited for the World Series this June.

I arrived in Foxwoods yesterday afternoon after a very brief weekend in Chicago for a family wedding. I registered for the 2k tourney and immediately sat down in a 10/25 game with Kenna James, Kathy Liebert and Al Krux. The game was full of action and I felt short stacked after buying in for 4k.

After playing in the game for about an hour, I was dealt 4d,4c on the button and I smooth called a raise from late position to 125. Kenna called the raise from the big blind and Al called after limping under the gun. We took the flop 4-handed and it came down 10d,8c,4h. Kenna and Al checked and the preflop raiser led for 400. Kenna and Al were both fairly short stacked and looking to gamble so I decided to play the hand deceptively and just smooth called. Kenna then check raised all-in for ~2,100. Al quicly mucked and the preflop raiser tanked before calling. I shoved over the top confident that the preflop raiser had an overpair. The preflop raiser mucked A10 face up. We didn't flip the hands, but Kenna muttered something about probably drawing dead and Kathy said something about hearts. Turn Ah, river 9h, and Kenna turns over Kh10h for the runner runner stone cold nuts. OBVIOUSLY! I was probably 96% to win after the flop, but that is poker I guess...I grinded back to almost even before giving a little back before the end of the night and ended the session down about ~1k.

I got cracked early in the 2k tourney this morning. There were about 180 players and we started with 8k in chips and 25/50 blinds. I just never got anything going and probably only won two or three small pots the whole tourney. I lost three critical hands and that was it...First, I raised with QQ from under the gun to 300 at 50/100 blinds and got three callers. The flop came down 9c,5h,4h and I led for 875. The one solid player in the hand made it 2200 to go and I thought for a while before folding. Against a solid player early in a tourney (especially given my read that he was strong), this is a pretty standard fold as he most likely has a set or two big hearts. He told me later that he had 55 and I believe him. Next, down to about 6,500 in chips, I checked in the big blind with Js,7h and we took the flop 5-handed at 100/200 blinds. The flop came down Jd,4d,3h. The small blind (kind of a maniac) led for 650. I felt like he was weak and decided to raise small to 1,650. He smooth called and then led 1,400 when the turn came 10s. This bet seemed very very strange to me and I decided that my opponent most likely had diamonds (I also thought he may have turned two pair and just decided to play it weird). I almost raised but decided to call instead. The river came down with the 4h and my opponent checked. I checked behind and my opponent showed Kh,4s for trip 4s on the river. Well played sir! I especially liked the check on the river. In all seriousness, I misplayed the hand on the turn and should have gone with my read and raised. A crippling river nonetheless. Down to about 3,800 in chips, I trail limped with As9s from the button and we took the flop 5-handed at 100/200. The flop came down 8s,7s,3h giving me two overs and the nut flush draw. An agressive player from early position led for 700 and I made it 1,800 to go, committing myself to the hand. The original better shoved in and I called knowing I was behind. He showed 8,7 for top two. The 10d on the turn gave me six more outs, but the Qc on the river missed them all. I misplayed this hand from the start as I probably should have either folded or raised preflop. My read on the flop was poor as well, but when I am short stacked I am looking to gamble and this seemed like a good opportunity. Overall, I feel like I played ok and getting cracked early is not the worst thing (bubbling is much more painful).

My table had two solid pros and several weak players. It may have just been my table, but I was surprised given the 2k buy-in and more importantly, the 10am, Monday morning start time. Still, I expect the 3k and 5k fields to be smaller and much much tougher. Off to grab some lunch and then back to the cash games.

Nice Score

I played the Bellagio 1k weekly tournament on Friday (81 entrees, $1,080 buy-in) and cashed for just over 11k. With 6 players left, we chopped 80% of the prize pool (~63 k) based on the stack sizes and left 20% (~15k) for 1st place. Typically I wouldn't agree to a chop, but the blinds were so large that it seemed silly to essentially flip a coin for thousands of dollars. Plus, based on my stack size, I was able to lock up better than 3rd place money. I ended up finishing 5th when my AQs lost to 88 all-in preflop.

Vegas

I have been in Vegas since Tuessday morning and have been having a blast. I am here with my brother and a bunch of his bschool friends who are highly entertaining. Between pool time, sweating tourney games, and giving my money away playing blackjack, I have been grinding the 10-20 NL games at Bellagio. I have to say, I enjoy myself much more playing live than I do multi-tabling online. Playing fewer hands is frustrating, but the banter between players and the ability to make live reads more than makes up for it.

The Bellagio regulars (probably ~70% of the players in the game) are very tough and I feel like my live instincts are getting sharper just playing in this tough a game for a few days. Like all big games, though, there are still some weak players and the game is very beatable. I have made quite a few mistakes, mainly calling guys on the river too light (live players don't bluff nearly as much as online players), but overall, I have been very happy with my play. I am up just over 4k in the game, but have given back 650 playing in two smaller tourneys.

Folding KK pre: one of the reasons I really enjoy live play is because the stacks are so deep relative to the blinds...I had more than 5k in front of me when I woke up to KK under the gun. I made my standard raise to 80 and it folded around to the small blind, a tight/solid local pro who had 6k in front of him. He made it 380 to go and I immediately put him on a very big hand (either QQ or AA). Online, with only 2k behind, this is a great spot to trap as I have position and can raise my opponent all-in on the flop (and losing 2k is fine if he does have AA). With over 5k in front me, however, I have to think about protecting my stack. If I smooth call the reraise and the flop comes rags, my opponent will lead for 600, I will have to raise to about 2k and I will probably have to call if he reshoves on me. Given my read and the size of the stacks, I decided that reraising preflop was my best play to figure out where I stood. I made it $1,280 (900 on top) to go and after much deliberation (very obviously acting in my mind), my opponent shoved all-in. I insta-folded my kings face up and my opponent quickly mucked his cards. He never told me if he had bullets, but I am confident that he is only capable of making that move with one hand. Losing the $1,300 hurt, but I like the way I played the hand.

Sorry for the long break in posts. I have not played online in about two weeks and before coming to Vegas there was very little to report on the poker front. My live poker schedule will be very busy over the next few weeks (Vegas and Foxwoods), I will be posting much more regularly.

West Palm

Arrived in West Palm this morning and have been hanging out by the pool all day. I really should move somewhere warm. It is only like 70 degrees here, but sitting in the sun is so energizing. About to go for a run.

Not much to report on the poker front as I have not played in the past two days, and will likely not play again until after my interview on Wednesdday. One scheduling note, I am planning on playing the 2k, 3k, and 5k preliminary WPT events at Foxwoods March 31st-April 2nd (Monday-Wednesday), if anyone feels like hitting up Connecticut with me. The timing actually works perfectly for me as I was planning on being in NYC that Thursday and New Haven the following weekend.

One of my opponents posted a hand involving me below. We were playing 2.5/5 deep stacks NL. I enjoy playing deep stack play online as the action is much more similar to live play.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=147864

My opponent looked me up on the river here and I shipped it with 99.

Getting in Shape

After getting back from London, I decided there is really no excuse for me not to take this opportunity (i.e. not having a job) to get into great shape. I am off to a good start as I have run the past three days, and I shipped a 5.2 mile run this afternoon in and around DC. I jogged at a slow pace (49 minutes), but felt good about doing 5+ miles, which I have probably only done 3-5 times in my life. The first few days are always easy though. I know that I will need to use sports to supplement my runs, because running alone is just too painful to sustain when the motivation starts to wane.

On the poker front, I have decided to take a couple of days off to mentally regroup. I have lost ~60% of my profits in the past week, and I just don't feel like my head is in the right place to play well. I am too focused on recouping my losses right now, which is a good sign it is time to take a break. Forcing myself to play when I really don't want to is a recipe for disaster. Instead, I am focusing on getting in shape and prepping for my bschool interview next week.

World Series of Poker

I took a look at the World Series of Poker schedule this afternoon and made a tentative list of events I would be interested in playing. The WSOP starts on May 30th and ends with the Main Event on July 3rd. In that 35 day stretch, I am seriously interested in playing 21 events with a total buy-in of $56,000. I only included Pot Limit and No Limit Hold'Em events and excluded both rebuy events and the heads up championship. Still, this is probably too many events to reasonably play in and maintain my sanity. I will probably trim my schedule down to about 15-18 events total.

http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/tourneyDetails.asp?groupID=411

I also need to start thinking about lodging while in Vegas. I will likely be heading out there in mid-May as there are two WPT events in the last two weeks of May in Vegas as well. Renting a condo near the strip with high-speed internet and pool access for 6-weeks would be ideal. I'd rather not live out of a hotel room for that long. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions.

AC: Decided not to go to Atlantic City this weekend. I had to schedule a business school interview last minute for next Wednesday, which is interrupting my trip to West Palm Beach. I am going to push my Florida trip up by two days to compensate and head down there Saturday morning.

Three in a Row

Put in a short 300 hand session today and posted my 3rd consecutive losing online session. I started off playing very well, took a bad beat, and played marginal poker for the rest of the session. I did not do anything egregious, but I was looking to gamble and not playing as sharp as I would be when winning. I am happy that once again I kept the session short when I did not feel I was playing my best. I was down 1 buy-in at 10/20 on the session.

Running poorly: this was the 3rd hand of the session. You know you're running poorly when you shudder to see that you are only 75% to win when the money goes in. This hand played itself out very straight forward. Despite how it feels at the moment, these will even themselves out in the end.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2219600

AQ: This was a tough spot with AQ. In retrospect, I probably should have checked the turn to control the size of the pot. I felt that a fold on the turn was too weak heads up, but perhaps that was the best option after leading on the flop and turn. I was hoping my opponent would weakly call my turn reraise and then check the river allowing me to show the hand down.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2219608

AK: a fairly straight forward hand with AK. I check the flop because there are very few bad cards for me and I wanted my opponent to bluff at the pot on the turn. Turns out, my opponent flopped top pair as well, and the money was going in regardless.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2219613

Running Poorly

I dropped 1.5 buy-ins at 10-20 in less than 100 hands tonight. I lost half a buy-in making the 3rd raise with QQ from the button against a standard reraise from the small blind who had a shortish stake (~1k). Unfortunately, he insta-called with KK and I did not improve. Then I got my money in good with AQ in a reraised pot on the turn, but lost a 4k pot when my opponent rivered a spade.

Bad beat: I make a standard reraise here with AQ against a button raise from Checkmate. After flopping a Q, I make a standard continuation bet. I checked the turn to trap and got it all in with 68% equity. Not the worst beat in the world, but I feel like I played the hand very well and the spade river was tough to take.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2206915

The good news is that I ended the session after just 100 hands rather than playing poorly after taking these hits.

I Miss Live Action

Last night, Trills, Aaron and I decided to check out one of the larger casinos in London. We played blackjack briefly (I lost 100 pounds), and then hit up the poker tables upstairs. I decided to take a seat at 10/25 (1 pound = 2 dollars) as the lineup did not look that tough (two kids under 21 who I could tell were super tight and two older gentleman, one of which appeared to be a stereotypical calling station). I bought in for 3,000 pounds and quickly realized that I was short stacked as people were straddling almost every hand making the game 10/25/50 (just a huge game which apparently gets off every night - maybe I should move to London). Rather than get more money (not really an option), I was forced to play squeaky tight and pick my spots. Fortunately, the game was very loose passive, which is perfect for a tight/agressive player such as myself. Unfortunately, the first big pot I played I lost with KK (playing it strong the whole way) to a river flush (from the calling station who showed me his 9 outer after I folded on the end). I hovered around the 2k level for the next several hours, playing very few pots. I then made a nice river call (against an opponent who bluffed his missed draw), picked up some momentum, and propelled myself up over 4,500. The rollercoaster ride continued, unfortunately, as I then made a mistake with AK (perhaps the toughest hand for me to play in cash games). I raised from early position and got 3 callers including one short stack who had about 1,300 total. The flop came down Ac,9h,8h and I led 200 into the 600 pound pot (trying to feel out if one of the larger hands flopped a set and at the same time wanting action from any big ace). Everyone folded to the short stack who quickly shoved all-in. Online, this is an easy call as his range includes AK-A10, any two hearts, two pair, and a set. Live, I am not so sure (as players play much more passively and rarely raise with just a flush draw). I called and my opponent flipped over A9 for top two pair. I did not improve on the turn or river and lost a large pot I probably did not need to lose. I played for another hour or so and ended the session up 80 pounds. It was very enjoyable to put in a live session as I have not played live in several months. It took me about an hour or so to get comfortable, but once I got settled, I felt like my reads and overall feel for the table was sharp. I am hoping to make it to Atlantic City next weekend for some more live action.

Feeling good about my live session (despite the breakeven result), I took a shot tonight playing an online session at 10/25. I grinded, but overall, I played too conservatively and several of my opponents took advantage of my hesistance to go broke. I badly misplayed one hand which cost me. I raised from the button with JJ and called a standard reraise (resteal) from the small blind. The flop came down 10 high and the sb fired a continuation bet. At this point in the hand, I need to fold or shove, but for some inexplicable reason I just flat called (trying to slow down my opponent and protect my stack if he did have AA, KK, or QQ). The turn was a Q and we both checked, and the river was a K, and we both checked again. My opponent showed AQ and I lost a substantial pot. On the session, I lost just over one buy-in, and playing too passively was the major reason why.

Blog update: I have decided to no longer publicly post my exact financial results on this blog due to a specific concern that has been brought to my attention. I will still certainly give an indication as to how I am doing, but I will not be posting numbers.

London Mini-Sessions

I have put in a few mini-sessions since I've been here as we have been hanging out before dinner and watching episodes of The Wire (which I highly recommend to all).

I have won big at Full Tilt, just over 5k in ~1,000 hands, and lost big at Poker Stars, around 4k in ~500 hands. I do not have Poker Tracker installed yet on my lap top, so I do not have hand histories or exact results (I have detailed records on my desktop at home and will update my results when I get back to DC) to share.

The majority of the win came from one sick hand. I had 77 around back, called an under the gun raise, and then a reraise from the blinds (after the original raiser called). The flop came down A,10,7 rainbow. The reraiser insta-shoved and the original raiser insta-called. I thought through my decision (as the pot was very large), and decided neither were likely to have AA (the original raiser probably repops with AA and why would the reraiser insta-shove with the nuts). The caller certainly could have had 1010, but AK or AQ seemed more likely. I called and both players showed AK. Gotta love getting it all-in against two players on the flop when combined they are drawing to runner-runner. My losses on Stars came from two large hands: one was a standard bad beat as I got it all in pf KK against 99 and my opponent spiked a 9. In the other hand, I needlessly played a big pot with AQ on a Q,4,2 board, and lost to my opponent's 4-4.

I may only play on Full Tilt going forward. I hear players talk about how certain sites are rigged, how they always take sick beats on certain sites, etc., and I always laugh to myself. I certainly don't think Poker Stars is rigged or anything like that and I'm sure I would run equal to expectation there over the long run. That said, I am more comfortable on FT as I have played there longer, like the software better, and know the player pool much much better. As such, I actually think I play slightly better at FT and should probably focus my energies there.

London Update: touch rugby was awesome. Figuring out the flow of the offense was a challenge, as you constantly have to retreat behind the ball and sometimes it is best to just allow yourself to get tagged rather than making a bad pass. I feel like I started to figure it out by the end. Playing d was a lot of fun. It was like constantly trying to guard against an option offense in football. If I lived here, I would definitely start playing regularly.

Goals for March

Tibbar tibbar rabbit rabbit. Happy March people. Just took a look at my schedule for this month and it is going to be insane. I am traveling 24 of 31 days (including trips to Atlantic City, West Palm, Vegas and Chicago), so I want to be realistic with my poker goals. I am hoping to play at least 20,000 hands online (about 10 full days of play), and if I play well, I should be able to make at least 3BB/100 hands (i.e. $12,000).

Having a blast in London. Hit up St. Pauls, Big Ben, and many of the other sites yesterday. Off to play touch rugby right now.