Wednesday 26 August 2009

Broadway Monday + Cash Game leaks

This post was written in August -

Ok so it hasn't been the greatest few days for me in poker, I can't get anything going in any tournaments and I unwisely played a host of $50c-$1 and 10 minutes worth and $-200 of $1-$2.
Basically when I sit down in online cash I become some crazy spewtard who broke his fold button. In all I'm down about $350 since Friday from cash game misadventures. Every few months I get it into my head that I'll become an online cash whizzkid, even though I'm about 5 years too old and have the patience of a 2 year old. So for the last time, I promise, I'm telling myself I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER.

There...that feels better.

So I played Broadway's £25 '(inverted commas accentuated) deepstack' on Monday. It's 8k chips, 30 minutes for the first 3 levels (25-50,50-100,100-200) and then 20 minutes plus an ante from then on starting at 150-300 50.) The average stack once you reach level 5 is roughly 15 bbs so it becomes a shovefest. The fields vary from 100 - 170 players so it's £1k give or take to the winner. It's the best structure you're going to get in a weekly regular tournament for that buy-in , which shows how poor live structures are in general.

I drew the funniest 'lol live poker' starting table ever. Here's a bulletpoint look at some of the collective wisdom espoused:

  • "My mate's favourite hand is 9 6. They did a survey and 9 6 comes out on the flop more than anything else."
  • "In gambling and poker the odds are fixed. It doesn't matter how much you put in you always lose 25%. If you put £1 million in at poker you get £750,000 back. (So Ivey is down roughly $20 million then?)
  • "I'll bet you any money that neither Man United or Liverpool finish in the top 4." (I had been half listening, but at this point I almost jumped up out of my chair and tried to get a bet on with this guy but he wasn't having it.)
  • "Sometimes you just have to go with it you know, I always play my Ace 2 because Ace 2 wins for me everytime I play it so I always go with it."
  • "I've had Quads 7 times and they've lost 4 times."
I doubled up in the second level (50-100). Flatted a fairly tight (but not JD and Turk tight) woman from the cut-off with AQ off who had raised 600 in the hi-jack. Dishevelled Greek guy who I have played against at least 20 times at Broadway and Dudley but who I would prop-bet could not recognise me in a police line-up; pretty sure he doesn't ponder his table image and other players styles when he slopes off back to Greece/Cyprus for his holidays; called out of the small blind. Flop came AA4 rainbow. Greek checked, woman bet 1k which pretty much turned her hand face-up as a pocket pair so i flatted to win some more on future streets but the Greekraised to 4,500 from his 10k stack, woman folded I shoved he super-snap called with A9. He got rewarded for his excellent pre-flop call I guess.

It was going really well until I sometime in about the 6th level I made it 1200 out of a 16k stack from the hi-jack on blinds of 200-400 50ante with K5hh. Obv I want to take down the 1k or so in the middle but I get a call from one of the wise men to my left and the BB. We have about 4200 in the middle on JJ7 hh. I don't think either of these two are folding a pocket pair here so in order to pofitably c-bet I have to hope they have an AhighKhigh suited-connector air type hand. Instead I want to keep the pot smallish and so decline the c-bet. We get to see a black 8 on the turn. Again the BB checks as do I, and then the cut off makes it 4k. He has about 10k back after this. It's gonna cost me 4k to win 8,200 but this guy is a calling station, if I make a flush I could probably stack him. I definitely don't like the fact that I have invested just under a third of my stack on this hand but the call feels right especially as I feel my King might be live. Before making this call, I tell myself very clearly that if I miss, I WILL NOT BLUFF THIS RIVER. The dealer burns and turns a black 9 to complete the board at JJ789. As soon as this card hits the deck, the guy to my left says "CHECK." He has declared out of position that he is checking which means that if I check he can't bet, and if I bet he can only call. How can I not bluff here? Especially as the board is now super super scary. I put him on an 8 or a 7. I bet 6,400 and before the chips even hit the felt he says "Call." What does he have? 55 obviously. Grrrrr.

Wednesday 19 August 2009

$4 180 Night Part 2

Ok, so I played a grand total of 14 $4 180 tournaments and my highest placing out of all of them was.....40th place! I was struggling more than a Columbian drug cartel at a sniffer dog convention; perhaps multi-tabling 4 at a time is too much for me. So I was $61.60 in the hole after all of that, but decided to round the night off by playing a $6.60 90 man turbo. I finished 3rd for $75, rescuing an abysmal night online and ending with a $7 profit.

I'm off to work now, serving the wonderful people of Birmingham. I probably won't play online for a while but will keep myself and the WISBGF updated on my movements nevertheless.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

$4 180 Night

Having a night in tonight. I was going to go to the gym but then....no. I will try to do my best to exercise on my 5 minute breaks which Pokerstars have now synchronised, an excellent move in my opinion. It benefits the player that are multi-tabling who can now recieve a real break; no longer do they have to sit out to grab a bite to eat or to clear their head. Pokerstars shoud feel the benefit as well; players who get a break will be more likely to browse the upcoming tournaments at the hour mark. Even through the economic downturn and the slight drop in mainstream enthusiasm toward poker, Pokerstars keeps looking for ways to stay ahead in the market. Although, I must admit, I have almost no idea what any other sites are doing.

So, here I am, alone at home for an evening. It's not yet payday so I can't wine and dine the WSIBGF* tonight at Pizza Hut or any of the myriad other fine dining establishments we frequent. Online poker awaits! I don't consider myself exclusively an online or live player. I began playing live on the fun but incredibly donkish pub poker circuit, which lead to the addictive world of online poker. I started online by playing at William Hill due to the negligent guidance of my longtime friend and Midlands Pub poker leg end Mr Andrew Docherty. After about a year I turned to Pokerstars. I was a solid losing player online for almost all of 2006 and 2007; but as I was putting in minimal hours and playing nothing bigger than $10 tourneys I was fine. I've been a decent winner in tournaments online since early 2008.

RANDOM INSERTED FUNNY HAND

Home game. 1 table tourney. Yes, that's right. It's the big game. I raise 3x UTG on a 5 handed table with 66. I have about 30 big blinds. A player who will not be named (David Tomlinson) re-raises all-in. He has me covered. I mutter to myself. Decide mentally to muck. Turn to Peter Paul Hansen, sitting to my right and sigh, "6 6." Unamed player (David Tomlinson) mistakes this sigh of a man who will certainly be folding to be, "Peter Paul, I think David has 6 6". Armed with this information, he decided to turn one of his hole cards over, and can you believe it folks, it's the 6 of clubs! Rescued by the kindly hands of stupidity I turn to Peter Paul and blurt out, "whatthehellcanicallwhat'shedoingwhat'sgoingon?". This is followed by the words, "I call." David flips up 67 offsuit and the poker gods give me the 89 board but perhaps, cost the story the ultimate ending by not producing the poker punchline with the 10, 5 or 7.

$4 180s, not quite live updates

I am 1 hour into the evening and have busted out of around 6-8 $4.40s so far, I'm multi-tabling 4 at a time and entering a new one whenever I get bust out of one. I'm in for about $40-50 so far. I have decided that I'm not going to start up any new ones for the time being, will stay with the current 4 and relax and reassess. Wait, wait....there goes another one! So now I am running 3 tourneys at 4/151 (4,300); 14/102 (4,500) and 103/173 (1460). More later.

New update: I am a donk. This is about the worst shift I have ever put in. Mindless plays and insane calls. Busted out of all of them. Now I will bathe, eat and read. I will come back in an hour and a half refreshed and ready and will enter 4 more then call it quits.

*wonderful sexy intelligent beautiful

Monday 17 August 2009

The Difficult First Post

Hey! No idea what this blog is here for or for whom it is speaking to, but I have felt an overwhelming urge to write gnawing at me like a flapping piranha for the past couple of days. I'm Joe from Birmingham, amateur bookseller and professional poker player. Or is it the other way round?

The nucleus of an idea that has not progressed even to its tadpole stage yet is to talk about my experiences playing poker; hopefully I can describe them in such a way that they are interesting to anyone that's not me and the random guy that stacks me every night.

Ok, it's late, I'm going to bed. I played a $3 45 man turbo on Stars after my GF went home tonight, and I duly won so I fall asleep rolling in my bed of virtual dollars dreaming about my massive $43 score. That is how baller this blog will be.