It’s time for me to move up the limits! Don’t get too excited though, I won’t be playing high stakes poker just yet. I will, however, be moving up from my current $0.25/$0.50 limit to a whopping $0.50/$1.00. Look out!

Now you could argue that $0.50/$1.00 is nothing to get too excited over and I’d tend to agree with you except for one thing, I’ve worked my way up to this level from a lowly $30 deposit over at Poker Champs nearly a year ago where I played $0.02/$0.04 no-limit.

Thing is it’s never really been about the money, true I’d love to make some decent cash playing this game one day but unlike some I have never had illusions that I could just deposit a few hundred on-line and start turning a profit in the middle/high stakes games. Much better in my opinion to start low and work up, sure I’m probably not facing the best opponents in the world but I am still constantly learning I have no doubt that the 60,000 hands of hold’em I have played at these micro-limits have had nothing but a positive impact on my overall game.

So if it’s not about the money (yet) why am I moving up? Well, I’ve thought about this and here are my reasons:

1. Even though I’m not withdrawing any cash from the game I am building up a bankroll and I’m now bankrolled sufficiently to play the higher limit.
2. I feel like I’m getting a little complacent at the $0.25/$0.50 limit, almost like I’m in a rut. At a higher level (even low stakes) I immediately notice that I’m more attentive. It’s nice to mix things up.
3. Even if it’s just a little bit, moving up is a sign my game is getting better. Improving my game is my current aim.
4. I want to move from the “Micro” to the “Low” tab over at Poker Stars ;)

So here I go then, up the ladder. Wish me luck!

Played in three Sit and Go’s over at Party Poker tonight, after going out in fourth in the first one (losing most of my chips after I folded to a bluff made by the big stack at the table, still kicking myself about that one) I wasn’t in the best of moods.

Then to make matters worse, in the third hand of my next tournament I’m dealt:

:Ac::As:

I raise 3 X BB and get one caller, the flop is:

:6c::Qs::8d:

I bet the pot and get re-raised all-in. I call and he shows:

:8s::8h:

For set of 8’s. I don’t improve and am out… 10th place. Question is should I really fold aces here? I’m playing in low level Party Poker SNG’s, opponents would (and do) make this same move with AQ, KQ … heck half the time their hand wouldn’t even need to be that good! Maybe I’m just making excuses but I think that calling this bet in these games will win more often than it loses.

Ok, so that was fine… I mean, not great but it happens right? Ok, so back on the horse I up the stakes from a $5+$1 to a $10+$1 game.

Things didn’t start so good, I lost a big pot when my AK missed the flop and my continuation bet was raised. So, I tighten up a bit and eventually I’m dealt:

:As::Ah:

*gulp*

I raise it up 3 X BB again and again I get one caller, the flop is:

:Tc::Ts::5h:

My opponent checks to me, I bet the pot and he calls. The turn is a king and he checks again, I go all-in (for my last few remaining chips) and he instantly calls showing:

:Ks::Th:

For a full house, I’m out in 9th. Sure, I fell for a trap here but am I really going to check the flop heads up just because it’s paired? Perhaps I should have analysed his call on the flop a little further, but honestly I don’t see myself getting away from this one. If I check the turn and he goes all-in on the river what then? I have to think if I second guess myself too often I’ll lose more times than I win.

So, something for me to analyse in a couple of days time once the adrenalin dies down. The question is, was I just unlucky a couple of times in a row or should I have laid these hands down? In hindsight obviously I should have played them differently, but to actually do that in the heat of battle… well I’ve still got a bit to learn before that happens.

EDIT: At the end of the day I went out of these tournaments with nothing more than a pair. Sure, it’s a nice pair but just a pair nonetheless. Heads up a pair of aces is going to win most of the time, but you’ve got to ask yourself in these kinds of situations is this move worth my tournament if I don’t have the best hand? Honestly, if I asked myself that and I wasn’t already tilting a little bit from the previous beats I probably would have been able to answer “no” and fold (in the first case) or slow down (in the second). This was just a case of two good hands at the wrong time, luckily it’s not going to happen too often and hopefully the next time it does I’ll be in the right frame of mind to make the correct play.

Low stakes limit hold’em game on Party Poker. Loose, generally fishy table. In the big blind I am dealt:

:Kh::Qc:

Two players limp, the small blind raises and I call. The first limper calls the second re-raises, small blind re-re-raises and I have a think.

Betting is capped, I’m up against four loose players who even with all this action could have just about anything. I have to put at least one of them on a big pocket pair which could leave me drawing close to dead but given that these players seem pretty comitted to their hands I decide it’s worth at least seeing a flop where I can re-evaluate the hand and throw it away if I don’t hit two-pair or better. So I call, as does everyone else and we see the flop:

:Jc::Kd::Kc:

Just the kind of flop I was hoping for, but I still have to be wary of the preflop action and look out for JJ, AK or even KJ. Still I like my chances and I can’t be too scared of the bigger hands and even if they are out there I do have outs against all of them. So, the UTG player bets and I raise. The player to my right re-raises, the button caps and I wonder what I’ve gotten myself into. I’m gettng 14.5:1 to call and if I don’t already have the best hand I figure I’m drawing to 4 outs to win (3 queens and 1 king) as well as a jack to tie if no one has JJ. So if I’m behind I’m almost getting odds to call and certainly my implied odds are good enough, add to this the chance that I’m already winning and I have to call. So I do. As does everyone else and we go to the turn:

I blink a couple of times and once again am thankful that I’m playing on-line (I can only imagine I was grinning like a mad man). Great card for me, but surely now these guys are going to slow down… right?

Well, UTG bets, I raise, player to my right re-raises and the button caps. Ok… I can play this game. I call. The river is a ten and we dance the same dance again, four players capping the betting. Once all the money is in I turn over my quad kings and take a look at what everyone else had.

UTG:

:Ad::Ah: – no real business being there after the flop.

Player on my right:

:Jd::8d: – optimistic, probably hoping for a tie. Why re-raise?

The button:

:Js::Jh: – unlucky, but should have slowed down on the third king.

This hand now takes the record for largest pot (in terms of big bets) that I’ve won at limit hold’em table – 46 big bets! Sometimes I really love this game :P

I’ve been so sidetracked with limit hold’em ring games lately that I’ve been neglecting my sit and go’s (SNGs) which is a shame because single table no-limit hold’em SNGs are my favourite kind of poker. I enjoy them because they give you a chance to play with and study ten opponents from the start of a tournament until the end, they really give you the opportunity to play the players much more than you get to in a ring game.

The other thing I love about them is that each one is different and you need to be able to adjust your game accordingly, there’s no getting up and finding another table or seat. You’re stuck there until the end and it’s adapt or bust… fantastic!

Since it had been over a month since my last one I decided to jump into one this evening over at Party Poker. I expected that since I hadn’t played one in a while I would be a bit rusty, this combined with the fact that this was my first time playing in a tournament on Party made me want to start out small so I signed up for a $6 game and waited for my opponents to arrive.

Arrive they did and we got started, first hand of the game went to the player to my directly to my left who took around 500 chips off the player directly to my right who was chasing a gut shot draw (against a big raise) vs a set of tens. I knew I was in for some fireworks!

Second hand in and I’m dealt in late position (one off the button):

:As::Qs:

Blinds are at the starting 20/40 and the under the gun player min raises to 80 and two players before me call. I don’t like these callers and raise it up to 200 in an attempt to isolate. The player on the button calls as does the small blind and one other player, we’re four handed to the flop:

:2d::7c::Tc:

Raggedy flop, no help to me at all but the action is checked to me and I decide to try a continuation bet. Half the pot feels right here so I make it 500, the player on the button smooth calls and the other two players fold. We see the turn:

The pot is 2080, I’m out of position against a player I have only seen play one hand in my life where he chased an unlikely gut shot against the odds. I have no idea what he would have smooth called with on the flop, but I like my chances that I’m now winning with my TPTK. I have 1300 in chips and he has 820, given the size of the pot I decide to put him all-in. He calls and shows:

:Kd::Ts:

Nice! Until, the river:

Giving him two pair and leaving me as the new table short stack with 480 in chips. Ouch, not the position I wanted to be in at this early stage. However, instead of tilting and blowing of the last of my chips on some crappy holding I decide to grin, bear it and do everything I can to make a comeback. So I start folding… and folding… players start dropping out but due to the blinds my stack has shrunk down to 390 and the blinds have already jumped up to 50/100. Things were looking grim when under the gun I was dealt:

:Ac::As:

But how to play them? An all-in bet probably would have sufficed here as my stack wasn’t really going to intimidate anyone but that would have been the obvious short stack move. I decide to min raise with the idea that I’ll either call a re-raise or push all-in on the flop. So, I raise. My old friend on the left (let’s call him lefty) calls, the short stack on the button re-raises all-in for another 64 the blinds fold and I call as does lefty. We see a flop:

:9s::3h::5c:

I move all-in for another 127 and lefty calls. We turn them over:

Lefty:

:Kh::Th:

Button:

:Ad::6d:

The turn is the last ace and my opponents are drawing dead. I (almost) triple up to 1200 in chips but am still the short stack but at least now I have something to play with and it seems I’ve gained a little respect as the next hand I steal the blinds with a 3X raise holding JJ. I go back into fold mode and just as the blinds go up to 100/200 in the big blind I’m dealt:

:Ah::Qs:

Four players call around to me (including my good mate lefty) and with a stack of only 900 left in front of me I’m left with a decision. With four players AQo is vulnerable, I have to raise which pretty much commits me for the rest of the pot but I decide not to push all-in just yet. I make it 600 to go which lefty calls (I should mention he’s the chip leader right now – somehow!) as does one other player. My raise sucessfully knocked out one of the limpers and I’ve still got 500 up my sleeve to make a play on the flop:

:Ks::5s::9s:

The pot is 2000, I have 500 and the second nut flush draw. I’m 90% sure lefty will call me with anything and I run the risk of either of my opponents holding at least a king but I’m pot committed, I have to push and hope no one has the ace of spades. Sure enough, lefty calls, the other player folds and lefty shows:

:9h::4h:

For a pair of nines (a typical lefty holding ;)) which is excellent news me as it gives me 5 more outs (any non spade ace or a queen – the ace of spades was already an out) We see a turn:

The river is a jack and I take down a pot worth almost 3000 to move from short stack to second position. I then hit some nice cards and lefty doubled me up again my KK vs his 99 and I was the chip leader into the final four.

I won’t bore you with the rest of the details, this post is already way too long but to cut a long story short I came second (and more importantly I beat lefty – he went out in third). I would have loved first but lefty near doubled up my heads up opponent leaving me out stacked around 10 to 1 (I’d lost a few chips by this point due to the large blinds – 600/1200).

At the end of the day though it was a great feeling to come back from down and out with ten players remaining to take second. Just shows that the old saying “All you need is a chip and chair” is true – if you’re calm and patient enough.

Thanks for reading, if you got this far I’m impressed!

As a side note, if you don’t already have an account over at Party Poker use the code “SIMONPOKER” when you sign-up to let them know I sent you and get an extra $25 on your first deposit. If you use this code I get a bit of cash too which helps me keep this site on-line (might also help buy me a beer which is always appreciated!).

Multi-table tournaments are, without a doubt, the game I suck the most at. I play cash games I win. I play single table sit and go’s and I win. I play a MTT and I end up donking off all my chips in some stupid situation, usually after I’ve gotten myself into what should be a good position.

Granted, the fact I suck at MTT’s is probably due to the fact that I don’t play enough and I don’t study them enough, it might also be due to the fact that I play very high variance, low buy-in games. I have to consider though, that if I can’t beat the fishy games, I’ll never beat the real ones. Anyway, I’m rambling – let’s consider tonight’s effort:

It’s about 10 minutes after the break in a $1+$0.10 tournament on Poker Stars, I have just over 5700 in chips and the blinds are 100/200 I’m in middle position and the action has been folded around to me. I look down at:

:Ks::Qs:

Which is an attractive holding so I raise it up to 600, the player to my immediate left (who I have a read on and would describe as a loose calling station – having called large raises earlier with next to nothing) calls leaving himself with a stack of about 3100. Everyone else folds and we’re heads up to the flop:

:6s::Th::Js:

Which is an excellent flop for me, I have an open-ended straight draw, a spade flush draw and two over-cards which may or may not be live. This a good flop regardless of what my opponent has and I have to bet, the pot is 1500 and I bet 1000 which my opponent considers, then smooth calls.

A call like this is strange, but we have to remember we are dealing with a loose player – a gambler. His call though makes me rule out holdings like JJ or TT and I’m 95% sure he doesn’t have Jx as he would surely re-raise such a large bet. There is no doubt in my mind he’s drawing, but to what? He may have spades, but I can’t be scared of the ace of spades here so what about the straight? What cards would he have called my preflop raise with? AK and AQ come to mind, but surely he’s not drawing to the gut shot? Oh yeah, this guy is loose, very loose. He’s not thinking about odds. So we see the turn:

A very interesting card, if my read is correct he doesn’t have a jack and since I bet on the flop I can bluff that I’ve got one. Even if he calls I still have all those outs to beat him. The pot is 3500 and I have 4100 left and he has 2180, only one thing for it. All in!

Which he calls! I’m devastated, he must have had a jack right? So much for my reads… well, we see the river:

I’m stuck with a pair of jacks, king kicker and he turns over:

:Ac::Qd:

He was on a gut shot straight draw the whole way, he was calling whether I had a jack or not. Heck, he would have called if I had two! He takes down the pot, leaving me with under 2K and out a few orbits later when my pocket threes didn’t hold up heads up against KQ.

So did I play this hand badly? Well if bad is losing most of your chips to a player with ace high then yes. But if you consider that I read his hand nearly perfectly after his flop call and put him all-in on the turn when he only had ace high then I played correctly.

However, if you consider that he was going to call any bet no matter what the cards and that technically he was beating me on the turn (about 70/30 actually) as was any ace, jack, ten or six then you’d have to say I played it badly.

At the end of the day my chips were in when I was behind and whenever this happens I’m disappointed. This was a MTT tournament though and you don’t win these things playing passively, problem I have is working out where to draw the line between aggressive play and stupidity. I guess I’ve just got to keep practicing!