JeffreyLipsey.com

Now the the future other-side-of-the-family has left after a two week stay, it is time for me to get down to business. This week has been the most productive hours wise, but least productive dollars wise, this year. Prior to today, the past 3 sessions this week I averaged over 5 hours/day and -500/day which isn’t a good number to produce.


I ran real good for a couple months over a smaller sample so its possible its just correcting itself, although I’ve looked over some of my Hand histories and I’m not playing nearly optimal either. So until I’ve made back what I dropped as a downswing I wont be adding in any 200 NL and just stick to the 100 NL tables.


I’ve been taking some notes though as I play so maybe I’ll use this space for that. Here’s what I have so far with the dates:

07/17

Players who have shown the tendancy to slowplay their big hands

habitually tend to have a weak range when they fast play very dry and

bluffable boards

Instant checks on any street seem to be very weak, especially in position

weak turn bet by donk followed by big river bet = nuts?

put players on tilt by calling with weak and marginal hands then hitting,

draws too

guys who try to berate their opponent might be more susceptible to tilt

————————————————————————

07/16

players with wide ranges can also value bet thinner, this is why calling

down more than 1 street with bottom pair or ace high vs opponents with

such wide ranges generally isn’t a good idea.

With effective stacks 150 bb+ and against players who don’t fold to

3bets: make reraise sizes larger, from 3x to 4x etc.

————————————————————————

07/15

against players with tight BB calling ranges OOP, they are probably less

likely to fold to flop cbets due to their higher range

players who raise every button and cbet a high % have air a lot in their

range, these guys are good to check/raise draws

flop check then turn raise line usually air? depends on board texture i

think: flush comes in air

if someone (donkish) normally 3bets a std size then makes it

smaller/larger how does that effect the strength of his hand?

how to play against min4bet

Its not finished or anything mainly because I just copy/paste it from note pad and its nothing more than the thoughts going through my head while I’m playing.

For the first time in several days I’m starting this tournament not feeling bad so I take my seat. It wasn’t long before I realized I had a horrible table draw. The three guys to my left were all online regulars and the player to my right was a solid player from the day before. Out of a field of 600 I got stuck with probably the toughest table of the entire tournament.


There weren’t too many hands today, although I don’t think I won any that saw a flop. There was a player from New York to my left who knew his terminology and could accurately describe ranges, he just wasn’t that great and he liked to talk a lot. He lost 1/2 his stack when he 4bet/folded QQ vs the internet kid to his left. On a hierarchy of bad plays, 4bet/folding QQ is much, much worse than 3bet/folding and I don’t think there is a worse way to actually play the hand (open folding saves you 4000 chips lmao).


So the New Yorker was down to only 9000 chips and everyone else had 15,000 or so. UTG open raises and he’s an OK player, I have no idea what his UTG raising range is but when I see AK I don’t want to make the mistake of 3bet/folding AK. It’s a very standard situation for me to just call and keep all his dominated hands in his range as well as use some deception. So i call the t450 raise and the New Yorker to my left reraises 1/2 his stack up to 5000 even. UTG thinks and then folds and I said “I’ll gamble with you” and ship it in. Both of us flip over AKo and I managed to dodge a flush by him to chop the pot.


That hand sets me up for my next scenario. I get QQ and I face an MP raise; his range is somewhat wide but I don’t think his calling 3bet range is that wide and frankly we’re 100 bb deep. I decide to cold call his 5bb open raise (although sometimes I’ll reraise with a better read) and the New Yorker behind me rather quickly shoves in all his chips, approximately 7000 at blinds of 75/150. The original preflop raiser hemmed and heehawed enough for me to know that if he calls all in then I’ll be shipping afterwards because I have him crushed. He folded though (I later found out he had 99) and I again said “I’ll gamble with you” and flip over QQ. To my surprise the New Yorker actually had KK. The board ran out: A2345 and we chop the pot; I got lucky but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I was thinking later about how good players make their hands easy to play by not putting themselves in difficult situations. If I reraise the MP opener and the guy behind me open 4bets then I’m in a real shitty spot. By flatting the original raise my call is pretty standard there given the over shove behind me. Granted, I didn’t know that he had KK but it really didn’t matter either.


I got into the first break doing OK with 16,000 chips but we’ll know by the end of this next hour where I’ll stand for the rest of the tournament. I pretty much blind down 12,000 before the end of 200/400/25 when an EP raiser makes it a very small 875 and I’m in the big blind with T8s. I call here and plan to play it carefully:
EP Raises to 875, Hero in the BB calls.
Flop: Q87ss (Pot 2600)
Hero Checks, EP Checks
Turn: 9s (Pot 2600)
Hero Checks, EP Bets 1100, Hero Calls
River: 7x (Pot 4800)
Hero Checks, EP Bets 3500, Hero thinks, and calls.


Opponent had been fairly aggressive and from listening to him he plays mid-high shorthanded cash online at FTP, although the way he brags he also plays HU. He has no idea what level I’m on because I never say anything anyway but I assume he thinks I’m a tight reg. His big river bet in comparison to his small turn bet was a bit fishy, especially when the 7 paired. When he checks the flop he either has Qx with no kicker or 99-JJ or maybe a set or missed overs, although I’m thinking he would bet the Qx and the sets to protect against all the draws all out there so mainly 99-JJ or overs. His small turn bet could very easily be a value bet now with 99-JJ but also with any AT, KT and AsJx, AsKx so that’s why I called. The river seemed to help me more than him and his big river bet was not indicative of TT-JJ value-towning me so really his range is 99 (maybe 88) or a missed draw. Given that I was getting over 2-1 on a call he very rarely needs to be bluffing there (6 combos of value max he only need 6 combos for a bluff and either the missed FD or missed straight draw there will be enough to make the call). Unfortunately for me he did have 99 and turned his hand and I missed my redraw. Now I’m down to 7000 chips.


Blinds go up to 300/600/50 and a couple new players sit down, one has a ginormous stack but is also rather older. He’s either good and solid aggro, an old nit, or a donk combination of the two. I pick up QJs in the BB and he makes a standard open of 2.5 bb and I’m in a bit of a quandry. If I shove I’m practically giving him 2-1 on a call so I don’t expect him to fold (although he might if he’s bad). He made it 1600, my shove would be for 6600 and he would have to call 5000 to win 9000; since he has the monster stack I don’t expect him to fold so I had to let it go. If I had 2-3 bb more I could feel more confident with a reshove there and have fold equity but with no fold equity I just let it go.
I did make one shortstack shove on the button for 10 bb, I had Q4s and stuck it in and took it down. 6 hands later I would get 77 UTG+1 with 12 bb and make the standard shove; I run into KK and that's good game/summer. That makes it 2 weeks without even a day 2, let alone a cash. Better luck next year I guess, if I decide to come.

Today’s tournament didn’t start like the others have: I didn’t have a lot of success early. I had quite a few marginal hands that didn’t go my way and a couple big ones that didn’t either.


I did my share of isolating and continuation betting the first 2 rounds, but I don’t think I took down a pot. I was picking text-book boards to do it on but nothing really went in my favor. The first big hand was at 100/200 and I’ve got 12,000 chips after starting with 15,000.


There had been a lot of limping and horrible play on my table, including people turning made hands into bluffs and really no idea at all on how to play poker. In this hand, UTG raises to 525 and a big donkey in MP, tired of losing his pots postflop, has decided to just shove preflop when he wants to play a hand. He’s down to 6,000 chips and just shoves them all in at 100/200 with no antes. I look down in the SB with KK and snap call; UTG folds and the MP Donkey flips up AJo… a pretty bad shove and standard fold in that spot. Flop comes Axx and I brick out and lose to the bad beat and I’m down to 6000 chips.


We’re still at 100/200 no antes and I pick up AJo on the button, it folds to CO who open limps and I raise to 800. My plan was to check behind any flop I wasn’t prepared to get it all in with since I have position and my opponent seemed like a donkey. He calls and the flop comes 9s 7c 3c; CO Checks, I check. Turn brings the Js; CO Checks I bet 1000 into the 1900 pot and CO Calls. I don’t put him on any kind of flush draw as if he had the draw there would be a real good chance he’d bet that turn into me instead of c/c. He can’t have much more than just TP because he would raise any two pair/set given the stack sizes and the drawy boards so I figure I have pretty much the near nuts. The river brings the 2c and he fires 2300 into the 3900 pot and I’m confused. Even though the flush hit I’m fairly confident he doesn’t have it. I think he is just block betting me with a worse J but he wont call a shove with much worse than 2 pair so I decide to flat. CO shows Jh 2h for the concealed river two pair and I am confirmed on his donkey status; also my read was right but who puts anyone on J2? He said later it was his favorite hand.


Now I’m down to 2000 chips and EP open limps–I pick up TT in Late Position and just stick it in. For some reason EP decided to bluff catch with KJo and I win my coin flip and double up to 4000 chips right before break.


I’m still not out of the water or anything; blinds are going to 100/200 after break and I’ll pretty much be in push/fold mode. Within 5 minutes after break though the same guy who limp/called the KJ now open shoves his stack (roughly 4200) and I look down and see AA. Nice. I get my chips in and he has me covered by only 1 BB or so–What’s this?! A lady over calls behind and we have a 3-way all-in! Woot! The original raiser had 88 and the overcaller behind had JJ, fairly standard IMO other than the guy’s open shove with 88. I flop top set and hold on to triple up to 12,000 chips; I’m still not at my starting stack but compared to 2000 chips 12,000 sure feels like a lot.


Here’s where the wheels fall off unfortunately. Blinds are still 100/200/25 but it is the last hand before going up to 200/400/25, so I’ll be going from 60 bb to 30 bb. I pick up Tc6c in the big blind and UTG makes it real cheap, like 525 to my left and gets a cold caller. I figure now’s probably the last time I’ll be able to see a cheap flop multiway with a hand like this so I take the opportunity. The flop comes 4d4s3c and I check, UTG raiser checks and the cold caller checks behind; I figure everyone bricked and I’ll be leading most non J+ boards on the turn and take it down quite often. Fortunately for me I pick up a monster draw on the turn: 5c, giving me the open-ended straight and flush draw. I bet 1500 into the 2000 pot to discourage a loose call and I was surprised to see the original preflop raiser make the call. He can’t have much in this spot, possibly on the very bottom of his value calling range and not willing to go much farther. He either has like Ace high or another type of draw that, even if I miss if I fire again I’ll be able to take it down; if I hit a 6 or a T for top pair I’ll probably c/c. The river brings an offsuit Q; I guess it completes a couple of his TP to go with his draws but that would only be like AQ/KcQc/QcJc and that isn’t very many combinations. I fire 2300 into 5000 pot, a very intentional small bet but looking back at it now I thought the pot was 4000 and not 5000. Making it under half pot there on the river is asking for a lot of trouble but to be honest I wasn’t expecting my opponent to fold a pair regardless and I wanted to look like I was going for small value. My opponent quickly calls and shows TT and I was very confused. I didn’t expect him to check that weak of an overpair on the flop multiway but it is possible that I don’t have enough value betting ranges in me that my hand looked like a bluff. Either way I lost 1/3 of my stack and I’m down to 8000 chips.


I was able maintain my chip stack at 8000 until 300/600/50, giving me 12.5 bb. UTG Shoves all in for 13,000 chips; something that he had done previously and is the same guy who cracked my KK earlier with AJo. I was really up in the air on if I should get this hand in or not (I had 88), especially since the blinds are going up to 400/800/100 in less than 5 minutes and I’m going to be on life support soon. I take a minute to think about it; he basically never has QQ-AA maybe even JJ in this spot because he’s going to want action on those–even if he is extremely weak and poor. So the hands that he has me crushed are pretty much 99-TT and maybe JJ 50% of the time or so; if he ever shoves there with 66-77 then it basically counteracts the equity from the domination. There might be 3-6 dangling combinations where I have only 20% equity. However, if you throw in the AJ+ of his shoves and maybe even KQ (which would be fairly standard for the player that weak) then that is 48 maybe 64 combinations where I’m a 55% favorite. So if you include KQ I’m a 55% favorite 90% of the time and 20% favorite 10% of the time which gives me: (55*.9 + 2*.1) or 51.5 % equity(ish) and I make the call. Obviously I didn’t do that in my head at the table but that is what I was thinking about and now that I think about it it was a standard call. My opponent flips up TT and I don’t catch up and bust out just before the 2nd break.


Whatever bug I had seems to be letting up, even if only marginally. I had only a few ill feelings during today’s 4 hour session so it looks like I will be finishing up the day tomorrow with another $560. Finally, I’d like to mention I did get 1 walk in the big blind at 300/600/50 with only 15 minutes and it was the only one of the entire tournament. Unfortunately I had KK in the big blind, which pretty much was a spit in the face given that at least 1 person was raising every other hand before and after that.

I didn’t spend much time at the Venetian today, busted in the 3rd hour and what is now my quickest bust yet. I had several interesting hands though, much different from my other tourneys before the first break. Unfortunately my day off resting yesterday did nothing to help my sickness as I felt queezy the entire time again as soon as I sat down. I had to send back my diet Pepsi because I just couldn’t drink it; the waitress brought me a soda w/alka seltzer which tasted bad but she assured me it would work. Well, I didn’t get to finish it in time before I busted so I guess we wont know until later lol.


The very first hand of the tournament I pick up AA and squeeze two opponents, both of which fold. Blinds are 50/100 and we’re all 15,000 chips deep and it was a good start to the day. Meanwhile, an aggressive asian had been raising nearly 30-40% of hands and folding when played back at, so he’s not doing it with too strong of a range (keep this in mind for later). Eight hands later I’m in the BB and squeeze the asian and a donk cold-caller to my right (he was very bad) with AKo and they both fold.


I get AA again in EP with blinds of 50/100 so I open to t300, I get reraised by the aggressive asian so I call knowing he’s at the top of his range and not wanting him to fold QQ/AK to my 4bet. My plan was to c/r any non-Q flop and build the pot that way; unfortunately for me I flop top set with the flush redraw so I practically have the nuts (and changes the way I play the hand. I am trying to do as much acting as possible to make it seem weak and I did get my opponent to cbet the Ace. I called and the turn brought a blank and it went check/check. The river brought another blank and I tried to represent a missed Flush Draw somehow by betting nearly full pot, hoping for a hero call. It didn’t work out and he folded so I’m assuming he had QQ-KK and played it bad on that flop. I’m up to 17,000 chips and feeling good.


Blinds go up to 75/150 and I pick up K7s in the SB. It is 5 way limped so I complete and the flop comes K93 rainbow; I check to pot control my hand and see where the action goes. UTG, who had been fairly weak/tight so far, bets t700 into the t900 pot and I wanted to fold but couldn’t help but feel exploitable if I just c/f TP everytime there. If someone else had come along then I throw it into the muck and not feel too bad about it. I call and the turn gives me two pair and completing the rainbow with the 7. So now the board reads: K937; I’ve got this guy covered probably 2-1 so I was up in the air on whether I wanted to c/r or just c/c down. The pot is t2300 and he bets 1500 into it; he could have a wide range in that position: 33, 99, K9, KQ+ and maybe even KK+ depending if he was going for a limp/reraise preflop. Using those calculations I’m not liking my equity when my shove gets called so I again c/c. The river is a blank and I check to him and he bets t5000 into the t5300 pot and I don’t think he’s bluffing; I have a hard time folding two pair so I call and hope to see AA but my read was right: he had 99 for middle set. It was kind of a cooler and I don’t know if I can fold two pair there given I’m representing a weak King and can beat AA which is still in his range.


That takes me down to t10,000 chips and I get AK in the big blind with blinds of 100/200. I’m not feeling very well and at the same time I’m having a conversation with the noob to my right about how he cheated once in online poker. There was an EP raise to t550 and the donk to my right called and I make a horrible reraise to only t1200 for some reason. I totally forgot about the person I raised and as soon as I made the raise I was like ‘fuck me’ because I new I made a mistake. I was then hoping that I would induce a light shove or something but that wasn’t going to happen; both players call and I’m facing a 3 way pot of t3900. The flop comes 953r and even though I can’t represent anything than a monster pair I decide to cbet it to t2300. It was an OK cbet since my reraise size was so small I know the guy to my right never has a hand and the original PFRer might fold a small pair although it is unlikely. The original raiser called though and we both check the turn, then he puts a small 1/2 pot river bet out there and I’m forced to fold. I’m down to 6500 chips.


I pick up 22 UTG and raise it up to t600; not the greatest raise and probably is a fold given my stack size. I get cold called by asian girl to my left but I’m not too worried because she’s a huge station preflop but has played well postflop. The flop comes A96 rainbow and is the textbook board for me to cbet my crappy pair on and hope to get 33-88 to let it go. I cbet to 1000 and she looks at my stack then calls. The turn brings another ace and I just check/fold; I’ve got a little over 5000 left going into the first break.


At this point I text Adil saying I’m playing like shit, he just texted me back saying “stop it” and I lol. Anyway, blinds are now 100/200/25 and I pick up JJ UTG+1 and raise it up to 600. The aggressive asian looks at my stack and then calls, the pot is 1700 and the flop comes Q92 rainbow. I check to him and he bets t700 and I call. The turn brings the 8d which puts the flush draw out there; I check him again and he bets 3000–nearly full pot. I really want to call here as he could have a lot of hands; his weak flop bet followed up by a big turn bet with little to no money behind doesn’t make too much sense for value. I also had the thought in my head where if I fold I can keep playing but with only 3700 chips; I didn’t like that idea and he was aggressive so I stick in my remaining 700 chips and go all in. He calls quickly and for a second there I thought I was behind, but when I flipped up my JJ he had the Ad4d for the flush draw and I hold. I’m up to t10,000 chips and feeling like I’m finally playing well again.


The very next hand I get KK UTG and I’m not even done stacking my chips yet. I raise it to 600 again and get FIVE CALLERS and I’m like ‘Oh shit.’ With an SPR of 3 I’m going to need to play this hand correctly or risk getting owned hard core by a nut camper. The flop comes Q55 with a pot of t3900; I think the best way to play my hand right now is to NOT continuation bet. If I check I get to see what the action is and if I bet I’m representing a monster hand. With only the Ace that I’m afraid of coming on the turn there aren’t many collective cards out there to hurt me if I am ahead. So I check and the very first cold caller, two my right asks how much is in the pot but before he can count it he throws a t5000 chip out there. I’m fairly confident that I have this guy crushed as it makes no sense for this guy to bet a 5 this way; also, if someone comes in and calls that big ass bet (t5000 into a t3900 pot) then I can fold my hand. Everyone folded though so I check/raise all in, knowing he’s committed himself with all his Qx hands. He instantly calls (this was the same guy who open limped the 99 and flopped the set vs me above) and he shows QQ, for the flopped boat. GG. I’m not folding there to the first guy who cold called and vs his massive overbet it would make no sense to.


I might play tomorrow if I’m feeling well enough; I realized today that I was not fit for playing but not until after I sat down. I know if I feel the same way tomorrow as I did this morning (I thought I would be OK) then I will know to not play.

I woke up in the morning with a little bit of stomach sickness but it wasn’t that bad; I felt like it was just some bad pizza I had the night before. After taking some medicine I was feeling good and motivated to play the $2k at the Rio. I wasn’t originally going to play that and instead play the 1500 on Tuesday but after some backing fell through I really wanted to play this one. As soon as I sat down at the table though I got really sick, like I was going to throw up if I didn’t sit extremely still (there’s a way to work on your live reads lmao). My stomach was in my throat and at the break I went to go buy some pepto-bismol; hopefully it will work.


My first table was pretty decent; the players played fairly predictable and had a fair amount of leaks. There was an aggressive guy to my right and a couple of passive players to my left and I think one of them was a live pro, although not that great.


Blinds start at 25/50 and I get AQo in the BB. UTG raises and gets 2 cold callers, one random tag and another internet player who has a ton of leaks; I decide to just call getting a good price. Here is the hand:


UTG raises to t150, 3 folds, MP Calls, 2 folds, Button Calls, 1 fold, Hero Calls
Flop: Ad 9s 4s (Pot 600)
UTG Checks, MP Checks, Button Bets 400, Hero Calls, 2 folds.
Turn: Qs (Pot 1600)
Hero Checks, Button bets 1200, Hero Calls
River: Qc (Pot 4000)
Hero Checks, Button bets 2400, Hero Shoves, 1 Fold.
Hero wins a net of t4500


I don’t think he had a real hand or anything as I saw a 4c in his hand when he mucked. I spent the first 2 levels doing not much else except that one hand. I remember doing a lot of folding and just watching what others were doing. The aggressive player on my right would reraise ANYONE isolating the donk open limper–an interesting and effective strategy and he really didn’t care much about the position of the isolator. I go into the first break with around 9500 chips.


It was the 3rd and 4th levels where I started to amass a huge stack. UTG open limps and he’s down to t3000 after starting with 6000, blinds are 75/150. This guy is the table fish; he always open limps and then calls raises only to fold the flop and when he doesn’t do that he’ll just fold preflop. The aggressive player, instead of isolating, over limps as well and I isolate to t750 with ATo. It folds around to the fish and he gets a frustrated look on his face before he just says ‘fuck it’ and goes all in. I wasn’t getting 2-1 on a call but I didn’t need it: his hand reeks of a small pocket pair and he’s tired of getting pushed around. I called and he showed 88, probably the top of his range. I binked two pair off and I’m up to around 13,000 chips.


Blinds go up to 100/200. The aggressive player to my right raises to only t475 and I called with QTs (my new favorite hand on this trip). It was such a small raise and we were deep that I can show a profit by calling; 3 others came along with me so it’s a 5 way pot. The flop couldn’t really get much better: QT4 rainbow. Only one hand beats me and if someone outflopped me with a set then gg. The original PFR checks, I check, the suspected live pro bets about 1/2 pot, SB check/raises half her stack to around 4000 then I shove to go over the top. For some reason the live pro hemmed and hawed before folding–he either hand TP or the straight draw but both would be insta-folds. The SB committed herself with her raise so she has to call with AQo and I hold. I’m up to 20,000 chips and we are moved to a new table.


This 2nd table I had a horrible draw. There was a Card-Runners instructor to my left (I don’t know his name though), a (bad) tag to his left, Brief (a very aggressive, very good tourney player) wearing a PokerVT sweater across from me. Later, a Deuces Cracked tourney pro would sit down across from me as well as two other Card Runner players, one a high-stakes pro. Luckily for me I had my big stack.


I had sat there for only 3 hands before I figured out the guy to my right, with the second largest stack on the table other than me (probably only 10k at the time), was the table donk. Inexperienced and he did a lot of calling but pretty much unbeatable because he was so bad lmao. The first hand I played I isolated the fish up in MP with TT to t800; SB 3bets me t2000 and he seemed to be fairly solid player. We’re 50 bb deep and I don’t think I could fold TT in that spot given how deep I am and how wide my range is in that spot. Calling wouldn’t be that great either so I just grab a big stack of 1k chips and ship it in. He thinks for a while so I figured him for the bottom of his 3betting range, either a thinly for value or for a bluff. He open folds JJ face up and I take the chips, narrowly dodging the wrong end of that 80/20 and building my stack up to $22.5k.


The next hand I play I’m in the big blind with QJo. The (bad) tag to my left was going to open raise but instead limped accidentally; everyone on the table noticed so obv no one would raise him here; one other player limped in and I checked in the big blind. Here’s the action:


1 Fold, UTG+1 Open Limps, 4 folds, CO Limps, 2 Folds, Hero Checks
Flop: Ts 9s 3d (Pot t700)
Hero Checks, UTG+1 Checks, CO Bets 300, Hero Calls, UTG+1 Raises to 700, CO Calls, Hero Calls
Turn: Ad (Pot $2800)
Hero Checks, UTG+1 Checks, CO Checks
River: 8d (Pot $2800)
Hero Bets 2000, UTG+1 Calls, CO Folds
UTG+1 says: You rivered me didn’t you?! Fucking bull shit.
He shows: 99 for worst played flopped set in history of WSOP
Hero shows QJ for straight and wins net 3800 chips.


If that back door flush draw didn’t hit I bet I get the rest of his stack. Oh well, my stack is now up to 26k with blinds still 100/200. The next hand I get Ac Jd in UTG+1 and I raise it up to t600. Button, the guy who folded and showed JJ to me before, cold calls in position and its HU to the flop. I was putting him on the range of any pocket pair, including now JJ-QQ and possibly AQ-AK because he’s playing a bit scared. The flop comes Tc 9c 7c giving me a nice little combo draw and we’re only around 40 bb deep. I cbet 1200 and he raises me to 3000 and I put the rest of my chips in. I figured him now for 77+ in his range but I have a ton of equity even vs that range so lets just get it in. He actually thinks for a long, long time and he almost folds; alas he didn’t though and showed QQ. This guy has absolutely no idea what he’s doing haha but oh well, I’m still a favorite with my 1 overcard, straight draw and flush draw. I bink my flush on the river and I hit the top of my stack at a massive 35,000 chips with blinds of 100/200.


For the rest of the hour I pretty much just fold, as I know I have pretty close to the chip lead right now and I can fold to the end of Day 1 and almost fold to cash. The donk to my right though has started to amass a large stack too, he’s up to around 25,000 chips and my goal is to try and get those! We’re about ready to go on break when I get 99 UTG and raise it up to 600 again. Here’s the hand:


Hero raises 600, 7 folds, Button Calls, BB Calls
Flop: Qd 9c 8h (Pot 1900) - This was a sick situation, the very first card I see when the dealer pulls the cards up is my middle set and near nuts vs the guy to my right. My goal is to get his stack and this is the perfect hand to do so.
Hero bets a large 1600 (build that pot), Button folds, BB raises to 4600, Hero shoves for 25,000 and BB calls.
When he raised me I was a little worried about JT, but I mean not that worried. I know he has the extreme top of his range and he’s not bluffing me here so I don’t feel like I was turning my own hand into a bluff. I think he rarely has QQ in this spot too but it is a possibility; given how much he’s calling though he just as likely has 98, 88, or Q9 as he is TJ or QQ. When I shove though he ‘probably’ folds 98 for 125 bb and it would probably be a good fold too. I overshoved for 2 reasons: to represent like I have an overplayed AA to get a call out of Q9 and I don’t want a T or J to come to either give him a possible straight or lose value on a worse two pair hand.


So when he calls there rather quickly he showed JTs for the nuts. I’m sure he has JTo and JTs there in his range and if he calls the all in with Q9 that gives him 19 (16 for JT and 3 for QQ) combos that beats me when calling a shove and 12 that I beat (9 for Q9 and 3 for 88). That makes getting it in on that flop a not-so-great play, at least shoving it like that. I think a reraise to like 10.5k keeps 98 in his range for at least the turn and see if I can’t get it in on the turn. Given both our hands though I had a super, super sick cooler in the biggest tournament of my life for 25,000 chips. I missed my draw and now I’m down to 11k going into the 2nd break with blinds going to 100/200/25. I went back to the drug store to buy some aspirin because my stomach sickness moved to my head and I now had a small fever. This is fun.
I pretty much fold my way to the third level where blinds go to 150/300/25 and I'm down to 8000 chips and 27bb. Kinda bad CardRunners player raises in EP and he gets 3 cold callers, all fairly solid but also all on the weaker end of their range; they would have reraised if they had anything. I wake up with AQo and have a solid squeeze opportunity; I shove. Original raiser folds and the first cold caller asks for my stack size--this is a tell of him having a medium strength pair wanting to know if he can call profitably. He did call and showed TT and I was in standard flip mode. I managed to actually win that coinflip; I have little hapiness though because I feel horrible and I can barely stack my chips. I fold to dinner break and will start the next level with 16,000 chips at blinds of 200/400/50.


I blind down for a while after dinner, maybe stealing a couple times but nothing too substantial. I play very tight and before I know it blinds are 300/600/75 and then the final break. Only two hours to go until we end day 1 and it can’t come soon enough; we’ll probably get in the money very early in Day 2 and if I can come back the next day I’d feel so much better and hopefully play better too. Blinds will be 400/800 and I float (both in my head and in my chipstack) around 15 bb ~ 12k chips for as long as I can.


I’m down to 12 bb in the big blind and it folds around to the donk to my right who has managed to donate 1/3 of his stack back to the rest of the table. He’s stolen my blinds a couple times even though I’ve wished for a walk. I’d reraise him if I had something but so far when he goes to showdown he has the best hand. This time though he raises me again to 3x - t2400 and I look down and see KK. If it was a solid player I would reraise all in and expected to get looked up by an extremely wide range. Since he’s a donk though and he should have a fairly blind stealing range I don’t want him to fold and I want to get max value. I flat in the big blind (probably to other regs this would be suspicious) and I’m just hoping for a non-ace flop, even though i’m committed to any board given there is 5700 chips in the pot and I have 6500 behind. Flop comes QQ5 with a flush draw and he checks. I bet 3000 and he raises me all in and I call, expecting to see the flop Q but hoping for something worse. Unfortunately he did have AQ and it didn’t matter how I played it nor if I had even double my stack as we’re getting this in preflop 100% of the time (I’d be more likely to reraise with the larger stack) and he’s beating me regardless.


So that was my very long Day 8, I played for nearly 9 hours and busted 340/1500 with top 170 pay. I feel like I played fairly solid and I was able to stay alive for 5 hours after losing my mammoth stack. I don’t like making excuses but my sickness had to have played a role at some point as I have 1 final hand to share:


Brief, who has been raising my blind every single time (correctly too) as I haven’t done shit, feel like shit and look like shit, throws out several chips while I’m in the big blind. It folds around to me and I look down and see A3o and throw it into the muck. I had no idea but apparently he didn’t raise my blind, in fact he just called it. Granted, I probably wasn’t going to win the hand anyway but it can’t hurt to see a free flop; Brief’s open limping range is probably fairly polar there but even if I hit the weak ace I will be screwed. It didn’t do well for my table image and looking back the dealer never said raise; I might have been tilted had I not been so out of it. Either way it was fairly embarrasing.


I’m taking Tuesday to recover and hopefully play Wed-Friday at the Venetian before I go home on Saturday.

These are taken from the FTR Twitter:

http://twitpic.com/75az8

http://twitpic.com/735y8

I get up and head over to the Rio where they hold all the WSOP Events. Today started my first WSOP tournament in almost 3 years; the last time I played one must have been in 2006 during my first summer in Vegas while I was still playing Limit Hold’em. We start with 4500 chips and blinds at 25/50 and 60 minute levels; I’m pretty happy with their blind structure and it seems to move the tourney along fairly well too.


Nothing much happens in the first two hours for me, I steal a couple blinds and I basically just chip down and enter the first break with 4000 chips with blinds going to 75/150. I met an old friend Maxxscam from FTR (Chris) outside the room and caught up with him for a while, as he explains to me that he knows a guy at a table who is a complete donk (he didn’t have to tell me haha). This guy apparently won 800,000 Euros in Austria and since then buys in to every live event; he’s absolutely horrible but more on this guy later (referred to as Donk).


One thing that I would like to say is that the players and dealers on my table were all very friendly and they made the time enjoyable. I think there was a live female pro but I have no idea who the heck she was; she played fairly straight forward but it seemed she paid off way too much when it was obvious she was behind.


The first hand of consequence did happen at 75/150 blinds though, with around 4500 effective stacks. The same lady raises it to 450, Donk from above calls as does Aggro-Asian. I wake up with AQo in the big blind and have no idea if I should reraise or just call. Frankly, I know calling is a +EV play because I’m sure I have a ton of equity against all of their opening ranges. I’m a little worried though on stacking off; the last thing I want to do is turn my hand into a bluff by reraise/folding preflop so if I were to reraise it would be to call the all in. I’m still up in the air on whether I should stick it in or not, but I decide to just call and the flop bricked everybody, including the lady who raised which tells me nothing. So, I spent about an hour debating whether I should have reraised that hand and it would have cost me about 1000 chips on top for value so I hoped that it wouldn’t come back to bite me in the end lol.


So after the first break I raise up AQo in EP and it folds around to the aggro-asian; I feel like I have a pretty good set of reads on him and fortunately I both have position on him and he’s a deep stack so I could eventually get my chips from him. Here’s the hand, we’re about t4000 deep at 100/200.


Hero raises to t600, 8 folds, BB Calls (He had earlier called me in the same spot with 85s and played two pair passively on drawy board when I checked down ace high, my guess is that he was inducing)
Flop: 9c 8h 3d (Pot 1275)
BB Checks, Hero Checks
Turn: 9d (Pot 1275)
BB Checks, Hero Checks
River: 3s (Pot 1275)
BB Bets 1200, Hero Calls
BB Shows 22 for two pair, Nines and Threes with 8 Kicker
Hero Shows AQ for two pair, Nines and Threes with A kicker
Hero wins t3600 pot.


It’s not exactly the hardest of calls as I feel like we split this a lot but I also feel that he would have value bet me on the turn with a marginal 1 pair hand, like 8x or even 77 or something. Secondly, his big river bet was fairly polarized and it seemed like he didn’t want me to call, so I did. I was thinking about this hand afterward and I don’t know of a good amount that he could have bet that would have made me fold, except for maybe a massive overbet or a shove but that would be retarded too. With this hand I’m now up to around 6500 chips.


The next hand I get I call in the bb with a set and enduce a bluff from one guy that got me an additional 1500 chips or so. I then raised up 88 and flopped a set and slow played the flop, resulting in an additional value bet of 1000 chips on the turn.


An aggressive opponent makes it t475 to go at 100/200/25 and I thought this was a ridiculously small sized raise so I cold called in position with QTs. Luckily several other guys came along too which added profitability to my call but at least I was in position (if he made it t600 i probably insta-muck it). The pot on the flop is 2400 or so and it comes QT9r, giving me top two pair. The SB with 3000 chips open shoves, the original PFRer folds and I call; I’m shown JJ for the OESD + 2 out set draw. I couldn’t express joy for too long as he turns the J for the set but luckily I river the K for the split pot. I didn’t ‘lose’ chips but I feel like I lost 4k in value there from the suckout, but I played it pretty well and there isn’t much else I could have done. After these I’m up to 9900 chips and that is as high as I would go as it wouldn’t be long until I busted.


Blinds remain 100/200/25 and I’m in MP and open raise it to t600 with KTo, not exactly the tightest of ranges but it plays fairly standard and I normally raise this up in this spot with my chip stack. I get called on the button from the guy who had JJ earlier and I get called in the BB from the donk I mentioned earlier at the beginning of this post. Here’s how the hand worked out:


Hero in MP Raises to 600, Button Calls, BB Calls
Flop: Tc 7d 2s (Pot 2250)
BB Checks, Hero Bets 1200, Button Folds, BB Calls (t5000 behind)
Turn: Jh (Pot 4650)
BB Checks, Hero bets 3000, BB Raises AI, Hero calls remaining 2000.
BB Shows J9o for Top Pair, Jacks
Hero shows KTo for Second Pair, Tens
River: 3c; BB Wins t12000 pot


After this hand I was down to only 3100 chips, or roughly 16 big blinds. This guy was pretty bad though, three times had he called an all in on the turn with only a draw and he got there 2/3 times too which was just gross. The Jack certainly isn’t a scare card or anything as J9 was the last hand I put him on. My only problem would be my small flop bet but I forgot to add in the antes into the pot size when doing the calculation. I would have liked to have made it 1300-1400 otherwise but I don’t think that is going to effect him folding the flop or anything.


Five hands later I’m in the BB and down to 2800 chips with 66. The donk open raises in MP and he gets two cold callers and I try and find a reason to not resteal/squeeze. I was worried that one of the guys would have cold called with a higher pair but I wasn’t getting correct odds to set mine and I figured I was getting a good enough price that I could make the resteal. Well, the Donk rather quickly reshoves Allin to isolate and he shows AQs for a coinflip. The board comes KJ78T and he hits the broadway FTW and I’m busto.


In all, I’m pleased with the way I played the tournament. The 1000 chips that I might have missed in the first hour didn’t come back to haunt me at all and if I was going to lose a coinflip there wasn’t much I can do about it. No more tournaments for me until Monday so until then I’m out! I’ll continue to update my blog though with non-poker related aspects of the trip.

I got a phone call around 6ish I think to head over to the Venetian, where the FTR Admins and GMML (Carl) have landed and are having drinks in their suite. Sounds fun; I must first buy some mixers though, which turns out to be the least annoying part of my trip to their suite.


Once I get to the Venetian its takes a few minutes to find the right set of elevators to the suites. Before doing that though every person must get checked by security to get up the first set of elevators and if you don’t have a room key then that security person must call the room you’re going to. OK, so, whatever. Just call and get me up there.


Apparently you go up to the 10th floor and its not really the 10th floor, its the 1st floor again (I’m confused) and we’re at another lobby. I cross this kind of bridge to another wing and head right, where I’m met by another (douchebag) security guard. This guy is such a tool its hilarious; anyway he asks for my room key. I explain to him that I’m just going up to the rooms and I’ve already had security call and he basically just says ‘yeah whatever OK go.’ Before I realized that I was on another lobby I go and knock on someone else’s door until I realized that I was on the wrong floor and I needed to go up another 10 levels.


So I go back the way I came right by the douche bag security guard who stops me again. I feed him the same story and he does just say ‘yeah whatever leave, but you need a key to get upstairs in the elevators.’ This guy reminds me somewhat of Detective Lassiter on Psych, but he knows his life sucks as he works for $10/hour as a security guard. Anyway I go the other way from where I came from, passed another security guard who just nodded at me as I passed (what’s with all the security?) and eventually make my way up to the correct room.


We had drinks between us and probably 8-9 other FTRers which is always a big load of fun. It got to the point where we were all pretty loaded and just started all talking over each other and having a blast. They’re hungry so we go down to get food at the Grand Lux Cafe and afterwords they wanted to play drunken live poker. I wasn’t really interested in that so I make it back to the hotel and crash after a long day.

I decided to play the $550 at the Venetian on Wednesday and I was playing/running pretty well. The very first hand of the tournament I raise AcQc UTG, 15,000 chips deep at blinds of 50/100:


Hero (UTG) raises to t300, 6 folds, Button Calls, SB Folds, BB Calls.
Flop: Jc 7c 3c (Pot t950)
Hero Cbets 700, Button Folds, BB Calls
Turn 8s (Pot t2350)
Hero Bets 2100, BB Raises to 5700, Hero Shoves to 14,000, BB Tanks and Folds
Hero Nets 6700 Chips.


He folded after hemming and hawing, he said the worst I could have there would be a badly played AcAx or something and I figured him for a set. I was debating whether to call the turn or wait to get it in on the river but given the way it is played I’m still up in the air. His c/r range on the turn is only lower flushes and sets and he should probably be folding 100% of his range in this spot; basically I gave him a way to play his hand correctly. The main reason why I didn’t wait until the river was there were a shit ton of cards that were scary or I would lose value from. Any board pair I would have to call because he’s still representing a flush/boat and any club I would lose all value from sets and lower flushes alike. So basically I’m looking at 8 clubs and 10 cards to pair the board out of the remaining 46.


So 8/46 I net 0 chips, 10/46 I lose -(3600+8300), and 28/46 I win 8300. So that’s -2825 + 5052 = Net 2227 Chips, or rather 22 big blinds. That’s actually a rather large EV and if its a cash game its the best way to play it. The biggest difference in this spot though is that if we lose we are out of the tournament and fore go a ton of $ev by busting so early. Either way I ended the hand with close to 22,000 chips and I am feeling good.


The next hand came blinds of 75/150 and I raise up 88 from MP. A semi-station calls from the SB; he’s the type of player who ‘defends’ his blinds a lot and calls down too much so I don’t mind it when he plays. Here’s the hand:


Hero raises 8h8d in MP to t450, SB calls, BB Folds.


Flop Th 5h 2h (Pot 1050)
SB Checks, Hero bets 600, SB calls
Turn 2s (Pot 2250)
SB Checks, Hero Checks
River 4s (Pot 2250)
SB Bets 1300, Hero Calls
SB Shows 9d9s, Hero Mucks


I actually thought I was ahead here almost always and I was surprised to see he value bet 2nd pair there. I feel like my play was fairly standard it’s just annoying I dropped like 10% of my stack on this hand.


The next hand was my final hand, I wake up with AA in the SB vs an Aggressive opponent in the big blind. I had t16,000 and blinds of 100/200/25 and he had me covered. This guy was a pretty solid opponent, and willing to make big bluffs. Already I have seen him make a good bet/3bet bluff with Ace high on the flop vs someone who likes to turn a made hand into a bluff. I’ve also expected some of his other hands to be bluffy as he’s very aggressive and has shown at least one other bluff. He’s also Australian if that matters


Hero raises to 600 with AA in SB, BB calls
Flop Kd Jc 8d (Pot 1200)
Hero bets 800, BB thinks and calls
Turn 9c (Pot 2800)
Hero Bets 2200, BB raises to 5000, Hero Shoves 15,000ish, BB Calls
Hero Shows AA
BB Shows K9
River 2h, BB wins with two pair Kings and Nines
Hero Mucks and Gets up.


I mean obviously we have Aces with less than 100 bb, blind vs blind against an aggressive opponent on a drawy board. Any other opponent and I would try and 2nd guess myself and maybe play it a little slower on the turn; to be honest I didn’t even think I was behind here either and there are a ton of scare cards on the river, including any card 8-K as well as either of the flushes. So I stuck it in there and lost, but if I lose every tournament on KK or AA I should be good to get a couple day 2s.


I get up, head to the Rio to register for the 1500 the next day and go back to the room for partying that night.

The title pretty much sums it up here. I decided I’m no longer playing live cash games because my hourly online is exponentially higher and it doesn’t make much sense, especially when the internet is working well at the casino.


I never left the hotel today; the only times I left the room were to get food or drink. I guess you can call that relaxing I just call that doing what I normally do at home. Otherwise I just played online and made some money that way instead of live.