1. Get money in ahead.
2. Lose.
3. Repeat.

That’s basically how I’ve either been crippled or bombed out of my last 5 or so SNG’s. Some examples:

vs - All in preflop, he turns a straight and I’m crippled.

vs - Flopped set and end up all-in vs a gut shot straight draw that gets there.

vs - Flopped trips, opponent turns the straight.

and the old hand that I told you about before.

Don’t worry, despite the past couple of posts I’m not going to start turning this blog into a “bad beat” whinge fest. I don’t even really like the term bad beat for most of these examples. It’s just getting frustrating when I’m trying to build my bankroll back up and I get my money in ahead only to be repeatedly screwed by lady luck.

I know it will turn around.

Hopefully the formula from here on out can be:

1. Get money in ahead.
2. Win.

At least sometimes?

It’s the old $4+$0.40 180 player no-limit hold’em SNG over on PokerStars. I have an above average stack of around 20K, blinds are 300/600 with a 50 chip ante.

It’s the bubble.

Now like most of these tournaments there’s no real money on offer until the final table and even then not until around 5th place. Places 10-18 pay only $8.64 which is hardly worth the time you invest into one of these. Given that information, when you’re dealt:

In the big blind and the small blind player who’s just recently joined the table and has you covered with about 33K in chips raises it up to 3000 after one limper what do you do?

I went through the options:

1. Fold. This seems weak but will almost guarantee me at least some money. My thinking though is this isn’t the kind of play that’s going to get me into that top 5 at the final table.
2. Call. Nah, I don’t want to put myself into any tricky situations post flop this hand.
3. Raise. Sounds logical, how much? Well, I want to get rid of that other caller (though the action so far has probably taken care of that). I’m thinking up to about 9000. That only leaves me with 11K behind though in what would be a 18K pot plus ante’s. I’m probably going to be all-in this hand if I do this. So…
4. All-In? Sounds good, I can take down an already decent sized pot right here and if he calls he’s way behind.

So I push and am very surprised when he calls and then very happy when he shows:

then very mad when the flop is:

I don’t improve and I go out in 19th.

So, tell me. Do you bubble here too? Even if I don’t push pre-flop I don’t see myself getting away from that pot with that hand on that flop. I don’t even think I’m supposed to be able to… Am I?

Thought I was dead didn’t you?

Well, surprise! I’m not dead, I just haven’t been playing much poker. In fact from about my last post in August ‘07 until the 1st of Jan ‘08 I played approximately 500 hands (give or take) which earlier in the year would have been equivalent to a small session after work. Effectively I’d stopped playing all together.

So why haven’t I been playing? Was it the UIEGA? No, that wouldn’t make sense, I’m not American and apart from drying up a few of the online fish ponds it hasn’t affected me. Perhaps I was scared off by the recent cheating scandals or the fear of being overrun by bots? While these are certainly issues worth keeping in mind, nothing I’ve seen so far has made me want cash out and leave the world of online poker. If anything the strong backlash on these issues throughout the poker blog community has reassured me that the people trying to cheat us out of out hard earned will be tracked down and exposed.

It might surprise you that the real reason I haven’t been playing is actually a happy one, I’ve met someone and she’s pretty special! My focus simply shifted from spending my free time swapping chips on the online felt to spending as much of my spare time as possible with her and I’ve been having a ball. In fact I even cashed out the majority of my online bankroll to fund a trip with her to Perth at the start of this year. It was awesome and also the first time I’d really used my poker winnings to do something meaningful. Good, good times.

New year though and I’ve been feeling the itch to get back to the tables, been playing a bit on the 6Max limit hold’em tables at reduced limits due to my smaller bankroll with the aim of building things up again just like I did before. I’m a little rusty however and down slightly for the month to date. Some of this is due to some very poor play on my part which I might share with you in another post, I feel I’m on top of my mistakes though so it should all come back to me soon. I’ve also been playing some low limit SNG’s where I’m enjoying more success.

So, I’m back (I think I’ve said that before) and even though I don’t really like new years resolutions as they generally don’t last past March I do have a few:

1. Ride my bike to work and back daily and get fit - OK, not poker related but it’s important to me and I’m proud to say I’ve ridden every work day this year and am feeling great.
2. Try to time my poker sessions to when they are most profitable. That is when I’m awake, in the right mood, have the time to spare and if possible during the peak online poker hours (Unfortunately these are approx 9am ’til 4pm local time - GMT +9.5 - which is when I’m at work but if I can get a few hands in these hours on the weekends it would be good).
3. Related to #2, build my bankroll back up to where it was mid ‘07 and start cashing out more reguarly (even if it’s just for a carton of beer I’d like to feel like my poker is actually achieving something more than just ticking over numbers on the screen - it makes the money real and should help my discipline).
   
4. Blog. This site was originally meant for me to write down some of the thoughts flowing through my mind about my play, strategies, etc. I find when I write stuff down it can help make it clearer, I want to get back to that this year.
5. This one may be tough but I’d like to start up an online poker league for Australian (and those in timezones nearby or who like to stay up late) bloggers where we can get together and player a regular game similar to those that are run over in the U.S. I need to do some more research into this though and if anyone has any ideas or suggestions please let me know.

Phew, some hard ones and some easy ones, it’s a good thing I enjoy a challenge. I’m looking forward to letting you all know how I do.

Have you seen the new HellKat sit and go tournaments over at Party Poker? They are just like regular SNG’s only they have a maximum time which the game can last (5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes at this stage though the filters in the client hint that there may be longer games to come), at the end of which the prize pool is divided up amongst the top 3 chip stacks. As an added twist some of the games have a random finishing time (within 10% of the scheduled finishing time) that make it more difficult to predict how many hands you have remaining.

My initial thought on these games is “what a crap shoot” with most of the tournaments I’ve been watching quickly turning into all-in fests. However, it does seem there could be some interesting strategies to be tried. Especially in the later stages of the game. I’ve only played in one so I’ll reserve judgment on the idea as a whole until I’ve researched things a bit more, in the meantime consider this final hand from the HellKat tournament I just played in:

Let me set the scene, there are five players remaining:

SB has 670
BB has 5,160
I’m UTG with 3,720
UTG+1 has 7,730
and the button has 2,720

Blinds are 150/300 but that is almost completely irrelevant as the HellKat timer is at 14:45 and this is a fixed time tournament capped at 15 minutes. This is our last hand.

The cards are dealt and I find:

What do you do here?

With my timer already beeping and all eyes on me I quickly consider the current state of the game, my options, my opponents likely moves and how this all affects me and my money chances. I do all this in the few scarce seconds you get to think in these things and then I fold. As the play moves around the table I double check the numbers in my head, I think I got this right…

1. I’m third. The only way this can change is if the current first or second place player doubles up fourth place in this hand.
2. First place will not play this hand as fourth place is going all-in regardless and if first loses he’s back to second.
3. Second place will not call the all-in as a loss will put him out of the money.
4. Since fourth has to push to have any chance of making the money and since I’m around 60/40 give or take against most random hands here it’s a big gamble to try and grab second place.

I’m convinced in this specific situation that folding is correct (and should have been done blind, though AK made it that much more interesting) however, if fourth and fifth place have more than 1860 in chips (half my stack) each here I have to play and in that case we would have been all-in preflop and I would have had a race on my hands for a chance at second place or nothing! That’s what these tournaments can come down to and while it’s interesting to try and run these scenarios in your head while under pressure at the table as the final minute ticks by on a clock it remains to be seen whether or not this type of game suits my style.

As far as a way to kill a quick 15 minutes goes though I can think of worse things to do.

Oh, by the way… the board after fourth and fifth place played the dead rubber of a final hand:

I’d have rivered the win and taken second. C’est la vie!

A week after I took second in my first NPL appearance tonight I again made the final table. Unfortunately due to a pretty cold run of cards I was only there for one hand, all-in on my big blind, where my K7o got beaten by an ace. But still… final table! Gotta count for something?

Pretty boring tournament overall, didn’t get too fancy with many hands and was card dead for a long time with a short-medium stack stuck in between a couple of monster stacks so didn’t have much room to move (hence hitting the final table with one big blind!). Still, was a fun night and I did manage to play a couple of interesting hands, for example:

UTG+1 I’m dealt:

UTG folds and I raise 3xBB to 300. I have around 4000 in chips and everyone else is around a average on 2000-2500. Everyone folds to the button who calls as does the big blind. The flop comes:

The big blind checks, I bet 1000 which is pretty much pot. The button folds and the big blind pushes all-in for another 1500 chips.

Damn.

The pot is 3000, it’s 1500 to call and I know nothing about this player though earlier this evening I’ve seen some crazy play and I think that may have influenced my eventual decision. I can fold aces here, if I think about it there are very few hands I can beat. Somehow I convinced myself that for 1500 more the chances that he was playing a queen were good enough and I called. Of course he turned over:

I didn’t improve and was back to 1500 in chips. I repeat, I can fold aces here. I should have thought longer about my situation and then mucked those aces face up, it would have given me a whole lot of bluffing equity I could have used when those cards went dead. Ah well, next time maybe?

The next hand was a strange one… blinds were 300/600 and I was in the big blind with around 2500 in chips after posting. UTG calls, it’s folded to the small blind who completes and I check:

The flop comes something like:

Everyone checks.

The turn is:

Everyone checks.

The river comes:

And it’s checked to UTG who bets 2500. The small blind folds and I take a look at the UTG player. We’ve been sitting next to each other for a while, actually we started at the same table and were moved to this table at the same time. He seems nervous. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was, in the end it was just gut feel… he was weak or bluffing. I called with my 7d and he turned over:

For the smaller flush and I took down the pot.  That one felt good and was probably the reason I made the final table at all… I think I’ll be back next week and try to go deep again. It may be a free roll but it’s fun!

… It was a freeroll.

Still reading? Good! I live in Adelaide, Australia and legal live games are nearly impossible outside of the casino and the home game scene and I doubt I’m being invited to the right home game as the best I’ve found so far is a 50c/$1 game that grandma usually cleans up in.

ANYWAY.

Tonight I played in the “National Poker League” (NPL - www.npl.com.au) at my local pub, the Bridgeway hotel in Pooraka. The NPL is one of at least three poker leagues that are running free rolls in pubs around Australia. I haven’t really done my research but as far as I can tell this is a recent phenomena in my home state of South Australia and for the past month or so the NPL has been running games at pubs across my local map. Tonight was a Wednesday and as my luck would have it my local (the afore mentioned Bridgeway Hotel on Bridge Rd in Pooraka - No sponsorship though if they read this I do love free beer) was running the next NPL game starting at 7:30pm. Having nothing else on I decide to do the old pop-in and see what the go was.

Registration was easy, rock up from an hour before the game and sign up (alternatively you can sign up on-line before your first event and save the hassle of filling out a form). It’s free and for your name and contact details you receive an NPL membership card (plastic - good quality - to be used for registration at other NPL events) and two “drink cards” each of which you can get stamped whenever you buy a drink or meal at the bar. Four stamps before the first tournament break and you earn yourself an extra $500 in chips. If you want my advice, come in early and grab a meal… that will net you at least 3 or 4 stamps and the next card can be filled up with a couple of pints. Most others will have the extra $1000 so it’s worth grabbing from the first hand if you want to have the average chip stack.

So enough of the free plug… if anyone is still reading this blog you’re probably wondering how I did? The answer is surprisingly well, I entered expecting a quick game with a steep structure and I was right… $1500 in starting chips before the drink card add-ons and blinds starting at $25/$50 and pretty much doubling every 15 minutes. It’s a fast structure but it’s free. Not what I’d call ideal but for the price you can’t complain.

First hand of the night after seats have been “assigned” on a first come first served basis and the button decided on a high card deal UTG I’m dealt:

First hand, first to act and not knowing what to expect I consider my options. I decide it’s the perfect chance to see what I’m up against and I make the standard play by raising it up 3XBB to $75 and get a couple of callers. The flop comes:

(or something to that effect)

TPTK And I bet pot. A player (Mick) who I’ve made friends with earlier over a pint at the bar calls and we’re heads up after the only other opposition folds.

The turn is a blank and I check. I’m conflicted here however as half of me is expecting my new friend to my left to put me to the test and bet regardless of his hand but at the same time I’m considering that really he could just be a guy in the bar who usually drinks on a Wednesday but now wants to play poker. No reads, first hand, he could have anything. I’m being cautious….

He checks behind me.

This is no tricky play, at this moment I have no doubt I am ahead. Then reality sets in, I just gave the guy a free card. I have got to stop doing that (not talking specifically about this hand or this tournament… it’s been bugging me generally that I’ve recently gotten into the habit of either not putting my opponents on a hand or giving them too much credit for a trap and checking to them to give them a freebie… it’s gotta stop!) On this occasion though I was saved the the turn brought the:

I bet out about half the pot in with the intention of value and took down the first pot of the night with my AQ vs his AJ. Closer than I thought but I was happy to win the first one… I don’t care who you are this always has to put a smile on your face!

From there the first round was all about learning and what I learnt quickly was that my opponents were all generally weak passive. In the whole first round I was the only one to raise pre-flop and that was on the hand I just described! I mean players had aces in the hole twice in that first round and both failed to raise… both lost. Both whinged. Me, I just shut my mouth, ordered another beer from Rachel the cute bartender who I claimed to my table had been serving me lucky pints all night and proceeded to try and blend in with the crowd. This was a freeroll at a pub within walking distance of my house… I’m going to have fun goddamit!

The fun philosophy was certainly working when at the end of the first round I was dealt KK in what ended up being a four way pot on a board of:

With one player all-in, a dry side pot and two other live players I briefly considered trying to start something on the side but decided tournament wise I was already in a good position (at this point I had all of my table well covered in chips) and ended up checking it down. I won, TT vs 55 vs JT after a turn and river that didn’t help anyone I’d claimed my first scalp and the first person to be knocked out from our table.

After sharing a piss in the break with a guy called Phil who claimed that he “knew I had KK in that final hand when I reached for chips but didn’t bet after the two aces fell” I decided two things… one no more urinating next to players at my table and two, given the fact this was a freeroll and that I was now the big stack at the table no more giving off tells that even Phil could pick up.

I played one hand between the first break and the second break. I lost. I had 33 and bet pot on the river against 2 others. The board had been paired since the flop with jacks and I folded instantly after a raise from a late position player who had been passive up until that point. The size of the raise was irrelevant, no doubt in my mind he had the jack… I only wish a three had come on the river :)

After the third break I had dropped back to average stack for the tournament and a few new players had joined my table. Realistically I had one hand left before where my chips might actually be taken seriously. I was the big blind and it had been folded around to the small blind who called. I checked with:

Doyles hand! The flop came:

The SB bet out a little less than the pot. He was a new player at the table and for some reason I decided to be stubborn and refuse to put him on the ace. I raised all-in for $1500 more than his stack (and less than the current pot) and he called. I knew I was in trouble and he turned over:

To leave me drawing as good as dead. He won the pot and I was left with $1500 with the blinds at $500/$1000. Needless to say the very next hand I ended up all-in against the big blind with 89s vs JTo. I won and doubled up. I doubled up once more and was average again (repeat: steep structure) and ended up playing the short stack well enough (with the assistance of some good short stack starting hands) to take down my table and head into the final table as near enough joint chip leader) over around $25000 in chips (apologies for the lack of detail in that little run but a combination of no breaks and much beer rendered my note taking ability near useless). Being the final table things changed from the previous table deals themselves structure to the tournament director dealing… I asked him how many chips were in play at the final table and he answered “about $60000, give or take”. I was chip leader! Though the blinds were $3000/$6000 and about to jump tp $5000/$10000. Can’t complain though ‘cos another guy at the final table had Around $15000 and the rest was shared amongst 7 short stacks. I liked my odds even though it was a gamble.

Things happened fast.

Very fast.

Couldn’t even tell you too many hands, short stacks were all-in on their blinds and being busted out all over the place. Before I knew it we were 3 handed.

Let me set the picture, blinds $5000/$10000… 3 handed. I’m chip leader but there’s only $60000 in play. If we see a show down at this point we’re all-in. Blinds go back and forth and we’re as good as even. Heads up starts after a hand I wasn’t involved in… not much vs not much else… I think middle pair won. Heads up finishes a hand later when in the big blind I check Q7o after my opponent calls, the flop comes:

I push, for what has to be about the pot. My oppenent calls with the diamond flush draw that makes it on the turn. I take second place out of over 50 entries and win a $25 voucher for the pub and a deck of cards for my troubles… Guess what though? It’s not about the prize… this was a freeroll. This was about having fun playing poker! I’ve not smiled so much after a poker game in a long time… great bunch of players, a well run tournament, within walking distance of my house… I’m there next week! I had a great time and was inspired to post to the blog for the first time in a few months.

Tonight was about what I really love about poker, the social aspect. No one cared tonight about bad beats, pot odds or the like. I shook the hand of everyone at my table that got knocked out whether I was in the pot or not and each one of them smiled and shook my hand back. Tonight was about playing for the fun of it, getting new players into the game and it was fun! In my books fun beats money any day of the week… especially Wednesdays. See you there next week!

“People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.”
- Otto Von Bismarck

Sometimes I get more of a kick out of reading the chatter of some of my on-line opponents than from actually playing cards with them. See if you can spot the mistakes made by the runner up when defending his taking part in the following, crazy, hand:

Preflop:

UTG folds, Our Lier calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, 1 fold, MP3 raises, 3 folds, BB calls, Our Lier calls, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls.

Flop:

BB bets, Our Lier raises, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP3 calls, BB 3-bets, Our Lier caps, MP3 calls, BB calls.

Turn:

BB bets, Our Lier raises, MP3 folds, BB 3-bets, Our Lier caps, BB calls.

River:

BB bets, Our Lier calls.

BB turns over:

Trip 10’s - good enough to win a pot worth over 20 BB. “Our Lier” sheepishly mucks with the following chat:

Our Lier: nh
BB: thx
Our Lier: trip 5s
BB: no ****
Our Lier: yep

I can think of at least reasons why claiming trip 5’s in this spot is a bad idea if you expect the on-line table to believe you. First, trip 5’s would actually have won this hand with a full house and second Poker Stars allows any player who played in the hand to check the hand history for cards mucked at showdown. Our lier’s true holding? 4s 5h.

Ok, I can’t resist:

Playing 45o in a 1/2 limit hold’em game from early position against a raise. $2.
Jamming the pot on the flop and turn with a sub-par hand. $16.
Claiming a hand that you couldn’t possibly have had after you muck. Priceless.

Ugh, terrible I know, but all tongue in cheek and hopefully good for a laugh, unless of course I’m just easily amused? :)

By the way, I converted this hand using the great hand history converter over at http://www.flopturnriver.com. Check it out if you need some, umm, hands converted!

Of interest only to those WordPress bloggers who use it I’ve released an update for my Playing Card Smilies plug-in:

http://www.simonspoker.com/static/card_smilies.html

It’ll now work with v2.13 of WordPress. This also means that my blog is now working again instead of replacing the middle of innocent words with playing card images :) Enjoy!

… I jump into a low stakes game, 5c/10c. I buy-in short for $6. I’m bored, all my usual limit hold’em games are rock gardens and I’m not in the mood for no-limit hold’em.

As I’m dealt a few hands I start to realise I don’t really know what a good starting hand is. Something about suited aces, big pairs and suited cards that can work together for straight ring a bell. Seems logical then that after folding my first five hands I limp from early position with:

Doesn’t really meet any of those prerequisites does it? Probably an easy fold for anyone with the least bit of Omaha experience but to me this connectedy suitedy holding looked interesting. Three players plus the blinds decide to come along and we see a flop:

Even a newbie like me knows that this is not the premium holding it would be at a hold’em table. With the large number of cards out there it’s likely my 6 is either dominated by kicker or someone has already made a full house. I make a mental not to tread carefully. The two blind players to my left check and I decide to chuck in a half pot-sized bet (with the intention of throwing it away if I get any major resistance). It’s folded around to the big blind who calls and we’re heads up. I know nothing about the big blind player except he has 2.5 times the max buy-in in front of him and therefore must have won a hand or two tonight. Though I know from hold’em experience this does not necessarily mean he knows what he’s doing I can’t discount it. At this micro-limit however, anything is possible.
We see the turn:

He checks and I, still wary of the trap, check behind. The river:

And now he bets, half the pot. Looks like an attack on my weakness to me so I raise and am promptly raised all-in.

What does he have?

Now knowing anything about him or Omaha I decide I can’t lay this hand down. Only two hands beat me (88 and TT) and I’ve only played 6 hands of Omaha, how can I put him on those? I call.

He turns over:

For a bigger full house with his pocket 8’s.

So dear reader, bad luck?, bad play (post flop)? or both? If I’m going to get good at the “future of poker” I’m going to need to know!

P.S. Yes, I’m back… I had a whole comeback post planned but I’ll save that for later.

Actually, I’ve been back for nearly four weeks! Had no time for writing though, I’ve been too busy playing poker. I’ll up date you all on that roller coaster ride soon but until then let me share some table chatter I overheard and found amusing, I’m not sure they ever settled the debate on just who sucks worse… perhaps they never will:

OhSnap222: you’re a joke
DANGER137: ur2
OhSnap222: that’s your retort?
OhSnap222: i suck but so do you?
DANGER137: udo worse