Deja Vu

2-0 again tonight in the $5 Double or Nothing Extravaganza! Interesting hands of the night...

Seeing A-A vs. 10-10 all in preflop in the first hand of the night and the flop coming 2-A-A! Quad Aces!

In game 2 I was witness to a flop of QQQd, turn Kd, river Ad, and one player winning a showdown with Jd10d! Royal flush!

Personally, I had another semi-rocky start in game one, but managed to stick around until the money. Only won 3 hands the whole game.

In game 2, I was lucky enough to get the all powerful AA. There was a raise of 3 times the blind to 90 in front of me. I made it 450 to go and shockingly got called! Flop was J83 rainbow and the initial raiser went all-in. I quickly called and he had 99. Double up early to 3000 and the game is that much easier.

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 21
Record: 17-4
Current Money: $85

2-0

Whew. Couple of TOUGH games tonight. Found myself down to 1/3 of a stack within 10 minutes of the first game. I was getting good starting hands, they just always seemed to be second best! Thankfully, the blinds were still super low, so I just had to bide my time and grind my way back into it. Wasn't easy by any means, but happy with myself for being able to do it.

The second game was a marathon as far as these things go. 1 hour 10 minutes. The early chip leader knocked out the first 2 players early and was not afraid at all to flex those new chip muscles. So much in fact that I don't think I even attempted to play a hand for the next 3 rounds. It was a very interesting game. Seeing who was going to get fed up with this raising and make a play. Which happened several times when people went all in against him. Unfortunately he showed a willingness to call those all ins, which meant he wasn't going to be bluffed out of a pot. However, the good news is, if you hit your hand you had a shot to double up against him. I was on the low end in the early going. Not super short stacked, but in around 6 or 7th out of 8 for awhile, while this crazy man raised EVERY pot. Again, I had to bide my time and eventually ended up all in against him after a flop of K76 while I was holding KQ and he had 89. Had to sweat a couple of cards, but doubled up and was never in any real danger after that.

Poker is fun again! :-)

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 19
Record: 15-4
Current Money: $75

The Downward Spiral?

I was a very mediocre 1-2 tonight in the $5 Double or Nothing games. Definitely off my game in those 2 losses. So, on the plus side, I know I could have and should have played better!

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 17
Record: 13-4
Current Money: $65

It Had to Happen

The winning streak is over for the $5 Double or Nothing tournaments! Wasn't a particularly horrible game. Just didn't get dealt many good hands. That, combined with some very aggressive play by the chip leader lead to my downfall.

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 14
Record: 12-2
Current Money: $70

Big Slick & Double or Nothing Wednesday!!

Started off with the Big Slick tournament tonight and played very average until the break. Made a few nice moves right after the break, followed by a dumb call, immediately followed by being dealt K-K, being raised, going all in, and finding out I was up against A-A! What are you gonna do, right? No miracle king for me and I was out in 9th place.

On the bright side, being out early gave me plenty of time to get back to my $5 Double or Nothing challenge on Pokerstars. Really good game for me tonight. Paid close attention to what was going on...who was just trying to hang around...who was folding to raises, etc, etc. Tried my plan of getting more aggressive after the first few people went out and things worked out very well. Slowly crept my way into the chip lead by the end of the game and earned another $5!

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 13
Record: 12-1
Current Money: $75

Easy Money?...not so fast!

Interesting $5 Double or Nothing tonight!

1st hand and I'm dealt J-J. Blinds are $10-$20. Starting stacks are $1500. I raise to $80. 3 other people see the flop of 6-6-6! 1st person to act (small blind) goes all-in! Other 2 stacks fold to me. Not much I can do about this one. I see no other option than to call. I hate putting my whole stack on the line immediately, but what are the chances that person has a 6 or an over pair to my J-J? Fortunately, not good. They end up having 5-5 and are out of the tournament. I've doubled to just over $3000 and figure this tournament is over. No, its not.

I don't play much for awhile, go down about $700 on a hand where I had 2 pair (aces and kings) and lose to 3 of a kind (nines). Lucky to only lose that much. Get about $400 of that back then begin a downward spiral until I'm at $800, am the low stack, and am all in with A-J vs. A-8. It holds up and I manage to stay afloat, bouncing from 2nd to 4th until the low stack with about $1000 left is suddenly 'sitting out'. Something must have come up! Eventually the guy gets blinded out and we're all in the money!

Lesson: It ain't over til it's over!

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 12
Record: 11-1
Current Money: $70

Tough Table

Another $5 Double or Nothing. Pretty tough table. Was on the edge for most of the second half of the tournament. Went all-in once and managed to get everyone to fold. After that, I had to then wait out two lower stacks to mark my 10th win!

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 11
Record: 10-1
Current Money: $65

Big Slick Poker - Season 2

Tonight was the first game of the new season of the Big Slick Poker league. Since the weather has been so crappy there were only 12 people who came out. Didn't get a lot going, but struck gold on a couple of hands in the middle of the game, which allowed me to hang in there until I went out in 4th place. A good start and ahead of all of the previous season's top players.

1st place - 1200 points
2nd place - 900 points
3rd place - 800 points
4th place - 700 points
5th place - 600 points
6th place - 500 points
7th place - 400 points
8th place - 300 points
9th to 12th place - 150 points

9-1

Another $5 game the hard way...way down as the short stack for the 2nd time in the last 3 games, but with an incredibly tight table I managed to 'all-in' and 'raise' my way back into the money.

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 10
Record: 9-1
Current Money: $60

Tomorrow is the start of the next 'season' of the Big Slick Poker league. More on that in the next post.

You Know What ?

...playing poker as the chip leader is a lot easier than as the short stack! I'll have to try that more often! :-P

Played another $5 Double or Nothing game tonight (because I'm obviously addicted to gambling) and after a wary start, I ended up running away with the lead and putting the last few people out of the game. Poker is fun!

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 9
Record: 8-1
Current Money: $55

Whew!

Well, I just got super lucky in another $5 Double or Nothing game. Never got anything going the whole time...maybe won one hand. We were down to 6 players and I was the short stack when the 2nd shortest stack went all in with A-A and got called by the biggest stack, who had 2-2. Nailed a 2 on the turn and I was in the money again! I'll take it.

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 8
Record: 7-1
Current Money: $50

Double or Nothing Time

Played Game 7 in my Double or Nothing series and squeezed out another top 5 finish...

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 7
Record: 6-1
Current Money: $45

Big Slick Poker Finals

The Big Slick Poker league finals were today. 165 players. I finished 22nd. Kind of blew up at the end. We started at 11am and I finished at 7:30pm. One thing I learned is that 8.5 hours of poker can be quite mentally exhausting! New respect for pro players from me!

Kind of hung around the average stack area for the most part until I was down to about 30,000 in chips and went all in with 4-4 after one guy had min-raised to 8,000. Turned out he had K-K. Didn't look good, but I caught another 4 on the flop to double up. Finished that level at my high point of around 70,000 in chips.

The blow up...blinds were at 3,000-6,000...I'm in the small blind. Folded around to dealer, who raises to 20,000. I assume he is trying to steal the blinds. I have AJ of diamonds and put him all in. He calls and has AA. Boooo! So, I lost a big chunk of my stack there. Couple of hands later, I'm at about 40,000 in chips when the short stack at the table goes all in for 21,000. Gets folded to me and I have KQ off suit. This is where I made a mistake. I fully expected that person to have an Ace, but I still called, hoping to get back to where I was a few hands ago. Turns out they had A8 off suit and it held up, putting me down to around 20,000 in chips. That sucked. Not because I lost, but because I KNEW I would be behind and I still called. I guess I was tilting a bit from the AJ hand and should have held on a little longer. Learning all the time. Blinds were then up to 3,500-7,000 and I went all in with a 6-9 of spades and lost to the big blind who had an AJ.

Oh well. Lessons learned.

Back At It

Well, it's been a little while since I played some meaningful poker. I say meaningful, because I have been entering a bunch of 'freeroll' tournaments that would eventually lead to an entry in the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). It's a big package...trip to the Bahamas, tournament entry, etc, etc. But, you have to be top 2 in the freeroll to go to another tournament that you have to win to actually get the package. The odds are long! So, those tournaments are basically an All-In fest from the get-go. They're free, so nobody seems to mind putting it all on the line and trying to build a big stack early. Not really a classic poker game, but fun and free, so why not, right? Needless to say, no luck for me yet in those games.

Anyway, the 'meaningful' poker tonight was my $5 Double or Nothing experiment. Managed to grind out another win...

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 6
Record: 5-1
Current Money: $40

Made one major mistake during the tournament...playing A 10 off suit and eventually losing a big chunk of my stack to AK when an Ace hit the flop. Bad Dave! That knocked me down to short stack and I eventually had to put it all in with an Ace that held up against a KJ and put me in the lead with 6 people left in the tournament (remember, top 5 get double their money). So, I'm sitting at about 3100 in chips...short stack is 1200 (the guy I just doubled up through) and everyone else is mid 2000s. About 2 hands later, I get dealt pocket queens and the 1200 guy raises to 450. I figure he is pretty committed and am deciding whether to put him all in. If I do and win, then the tournament is over. If I do and lose, then I'm the short stack and am fighting for my life again. What would you do? Eventually, I decided to fold it. He probably had nothing, but if he had KK, AA I was in real trouble. Even against AK it would only be 50/50. Obviously, it worked out this time, but I'm wondering about that hand.

Tomorrow is the Big Slick Poker finals! Updates tomorrow!

WSOP Final Table

The World Series of Poker's 'Main Event' final table is on TSN tonight. Its a 2 hour broadcast. Everyone at the final table will be walking away with a minimum of $1,000,000, with the winner probably in the $7,000,000 range! Tune in!

Double or Nothing Challenge

About two months ago I discovered the "Double or Nothing" one table tournaments ('Sit & Go') on pokerstars.com. There are a variety of entry fees for these tournaments...$1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100. Ten people enter and after 5 people are eliminated, the 5 survivors get double their entry fee back. Makes sense, no?

So, I started playing some of the $1 tournaments. What can I say? I'm thrifty! Anyway, I started out pretty cautiously in my first few games. Playing pretty solidly. Trying to get a feel for how people played them, etc. And I started winning! Not a lot. But, probably 4 or 5 in a row. Then the wheels started to fall off. I found myself thinking they were easy and stopped playing the optimal game, y'know? I also started getting in situations where there were some iffy calls in front of me and my mindset switched to 'what the hell...it's only $1'! Wrong attitude for any poker tournament! ...if you want to win that is. So, eventually I lost 3 or 4 in a row and was pretty much back where I started.

Solution? Move up to the $5 entry fee tournaments. Still not a huge chunk of change, but enough to make me think about playing properly again. I also set up a couple of personal rules for myself to help keep me in line:

1. Start with $20 total (told ya I was thrifty)
2. If I should lose and get down to $10, I switch back to the $1 tournaments until I am back up to $20 (or broke, I guess) :-)

Tonight was my fifth game of the $5 Sit & Gos. Here's the record so far...

Starting Money: $20
Games Played: 5
Record: 4-1
Current Money: $35

Hopefully, I can keep this up. There are going to be ups and downs, I know, but a nice consistent/reasonable record of 3-2 (or better) out of every 5 games overall will keep me ahead of the game. I'm not sure how long I will keep this up. I'll have to see how it goes, of course, but if things go really well, I've been thinking of trying to run my 'bank' up to $100, then giving the $10 games a shot.

Steady as she goes!

Big Slick Poker Final Standings

Well, its official...I'm on my way to the Alberta South Finals. Here are the final standings...top 6 move to the final:

Final Standings with total Points
1. Richard 4950
2. AvenueDave 4025
3. Lisa 3900
4. Larry 3900
5. John 3525
6. Heather 3050

There was also a wild card position available to someone outside of the top 6 who made the final table this week, in addition to a Tournament Director's choice. So, really, a healthy amount of the 35 people overall that have signed up are moving on to the final. Still, an even healthier amount aren't, so I'll take it.

Don't know a lot about the final tournament. Starts at 11am...there are lunch and supper breaks...and the final table resumes play on Sunday morning, so it sounds like it could be a bit of a marathon if you get far enough. Only prize announced so far is the trip to Vegas for the winner, but I have to think there will be others. We'll see soon enough.

Big Slick Poker Nov. 3rd

Well! Tonight was the final night for this cycle of league play for the Big Slick Poker league. About 20 people signed up. Before we began, the tournament director announced that the top 6 in overall points after tonight would be going to the final tournament in Calgary. Good news for me, since the 7th overall person could not mathematically catch up to me! Also, good news since I was the 2nd one to bust out tonight! :-) Now, would I have busted out that early knowing that I needed points to move on? Hard to say. Here was the hand that wiped me out of everything but one big blind. Let me know if you think I was right, it was a toss up, or I made a bad play...

3rd hand of the night. Everyone starts with 5000 in chips, so we're all fairly close. 7 people at my table. Blinds are 25/50. Get dealt AA! Wooo! I am first to act. I just call hoping someone else will raise and I can re-raise. No dice. 1 other call and the big blind checks. 3 to the flop. Flop is As, Qd, 9h. Yes! Big blind is first to act...check...I check...3rd person bets 600! Big bet for what's in the pot. Big blind folds. I raise it to 1600 total. Get called. All is well, so far. Turn card is 10s. There are now straight possibilities and a potential flush if a spade comes on the river. I lead out, betting 1000. Get called. River is the 8c. So, I check. Other player goes all-in for his last 2200ish. I think for a long time. I finally decide that he either has a Jack and has me beat or a busted flush draw. Knowing that my position was secure for the big tournament I finally called and he turned over AJ off suit. Thought he maybe had pocket Jacks. But, obviously leaned toward the flush draw...maybe a KsQs. But, still, he made a fairly risky play for someone who had the nuts, if he was trying to build his stack. 1000 value bet might have been in order. Especially since it was so early in the tournament and people don't usually like to put it all in right away. But, looking back, I probably should have folded. You live and learn! I remember reading that to be a good poker player you have to be able to lay down a big hand...how true!

Next up is probably some online pokerstars play. Calgary tournament is the weekend of the 13th.

Big Slick Poker

5 weeks ago I joined the Big Slick Poker Tour. They are free weekly tournaments held at Legions around Western Canada and Ontario. The tournaments award points only, depending on how well you did. Approximately the top 5 (maybe 6) from each Legion, at the end of each cycle (July 5 - November 14), for southern Alberta move on to a final tournament in Calgary. There, the winner receives a trip to Las Vegas, accommodations, and entry into a World Series of Poker event. I joined the local Legion league a couple of weeks after it had started, so I was at a bit of a disadvantage right from the start points-wise. However, I ended up winning the 1st tournament I was at, placing 5th in the next one, and finishing 1st again in the 3rd! That helps make up some ground! Granted, the tournaments only consist of about 20 people each time, but I'll take it. I've been a regular since I started and have clawed my way up to 2nd place overall. This week is the last tournament of the cycle, so I should know officially by the end of this week, if I'll be at the final tournament on the 13th of November.

Current Standings with total Points
1. Richard 4350
2. AvenueDave 3950
3. Lisa 3750
4. Larry 3750

5. John 3450
6. Heather 2950
7. Cory 2650