Saying Uncle

Just about ready to give up on my WSOP chase. Too frustrating qualifying in all those events and with nothing to show for in the end. Failed in the Ultimate Bet 25 seat, Pokerroom 10 seat, Pokerroom 40 player, Cake ME and subevent. In all these events I played well, made it semi deep, but just couldn't run well when it counted. But its jsut monday morning talking, i'll be back at it spewing money by tonight.

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April Recap

In short, had my best month of the year so far playing the least amount of hours so far. What gives??

• Played 43hrs, have been averaging about 60
• Only 1 significant tourney cash - 2nd in Absolute $11k for just under $2k
• Owned at limit, especially at 20/40
• Not much happening in NL
• About 7-8k hands altogether
• Still no WSOP ME seat
• Pretty good at satelliting
• Pretty bad at sng'ing (except for those Action poker ones)
• Total of a $6k month

May I'll prob play about the same or less. Too many busy sundays, damn running out of time for these wsop qualifiers.

A real post!

Been a while since I've made a real post without any shilling! Just wanted to give an update on my poker life. I still suck at donkaments, I still own at satellites, I still suck at Pokerstars WSOP steps, I'm decent at regular sitngos, my NL cash game is playing well just have to get my hands to hold, my limit cash game is still owning (unfortunately 20/40 on cake doesn't run enough).

Took my money out of Poker Heaven and Paradise Poker due to the Boss / Poker Trillion dispute. This is just in case, I don't want my money locked up as I have a good chunk on Heaven. Too bad, their cash games are still juicy, and I sorta enjoy the 5max tables.

Action poker network 50x tournament was a sham. They eventually let it all players who deposited and played a qualifying sit and go. 150+ players and stalling began after 5 exits. I think I was one of the top 5 out. With 8 minute blinds and 1500 starting chips, I wasn't going to let go of KQ on a QJT board. 100th would have paid out $200, but I was more interested in the $10k 1st payout.

I might completely take a break from tournaments for a while, I can't seem to run well in them at all. Maybe I'm just putting too much pressure on myself to win a WSOP seat. Reminds me, haven't played a BBT3 tourney in many weeks now, I should start again, maybe next week though.

Cash games I just need a heater. I feel as if i'm making the +ev decision in most hands i'm involved with. Still need to work on extracting max amounts. I've been getting hands, hitting hands, flopping sets, but not getting paid off on them, especially sets. Been a long time since i've gone set vs overpair.

Started reading Harrington on Cash Volume 1. 1/2 way through it and wow, this might be one of the worst books I have ever read. Perhaps I'm just disappointed since HOH MTT was so valuable. Does Harrington even play cash games? Has he ever played an online game? I don't really know what I expected, but it feels like asking Wayne Gretzky to coach the Toronto Raptors. wtf. His pansy ass approach towards cash games is not how you make money. He fails to realize that NL cash games is a game of stacks. You attempt to win the big pots, not the little ones. Another peeve is that a lot of his examples are off High Stakes Poker (the tv show). C'mon, your using examples that are pretty much irrelevant to the readers of your book. Praising Doyle's play of cold calling on the SB with 1 caller already behind you on a definate call in the BB (Elezera calls with ATC at that point).

Picked up UFC83 tickets, so buddies and I are off to Montreal for the weekend. Going to be some sick parties and a sick event. Going to be crazy loud when GSP walks to the octagon. Can't wait, WAR GSP!!!!

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Finally a decent mtt, though I still can't win a wsop seat

Came 2nd for a score of €2400, or about $3600. Was supposed to be a wsop me sat, but only 16 people entered, needed 20. Kinda sad, I'm guessing it was mostly satellite qualifiers as well. Pretty much chipped up early, trying to remember the hand, but can't remember. Stayed 1/15 for pretty much the entire way until 6 left or so. Didn't really lose any pots, just others won some big ones. Bubble didn't last too long so couldn't take advantage of that. 3 handed, the other 2 players got involved. Under pair vs flush draw, underpair ended with a full house, and most of the chips. Other than that, 3 handed wasn't that eventfull. When it got down to headsup, was about 3:1 over me and I had approx 10BB. He slow played 88, and I shoved on the BB with 65s. I think that was the 2nd hand HU. I could have easily dominated this tourney, but the eventual winner was a calling station, don't bluff him, never raises pf kind of player. I wasn't too sure how to play against him. I tried overbetting for value which didn't work, I was just lost. Oh well, the money is good, and luckily there was no wsop seat, I would have bubbled!

Cake WSOP I final tabled, but exited in 9th. At that time I was 8/9 with about 10BB. I thought the button was stealing so I shoved in SB with A9o. I should have figured a button pot bet was not a steal attempt. He had KK and it held up. This was a tourney where I was pretty much average stack all day. Nothing else for the day, bubbled the Party 18k 6 away from the $.

Spent the weekend in Niagara. I really don't like live cash games, or maybe its just there at Fallsview. Service is slow, have to wait forever for a table. Most management types there are pricks, and I just don't get how inefficient the whole poker room is run. Is there something against the gambling commission that makes it illegal to run a good room? Empty seats galores, empty tables with dealers sitting there with no work to do. I waited about 1.5hrs for a 5/5 table. Some guy who joined later said he waited 3hrs. I called out the assistant prick telling him I've just watched him add his buddies and regulars to the top of the list. He gave excuses about callins blah blah, whatever. Other than for WPT sats, I can't see myself going there again anytime soon.

On the playing side, I just don't win live. Extremely card dead, and having to win with garbage. I think I don't know how to bet size properly live. People are willing to pay you off based on the $ amount, and not the pot value of it. Overbetting gets paid off, not sure why I don't do it. Something to learn. And just the retardness of players. 3 limpers to the highjack who limps behind. I limp on the button with T6o, wheee! T69 flop. Bet call. Turn Q or something. Bet call. River was something to complete a flush. check, and I decide to just check behind. He turns over AA, wtf!!! If I knew I'd have your stack you dumbass.

Partied that night at Dragonfly. No redbull... wtf? They give you Rockstar instead. Rockstar and Smirnoff doesn't really taste that great, but it'll do. Next round I ask for Goose, no goose, Belvedere was the premium there. WTF?? Tasted better than Smirnoff at least. By the end of the night was just zoned out.

But all this just gives me a taste of Vegas, can't wait till I go again. Hopefully in July :)

March Break / Reading Week

A couple days ago I decided that next week I would dedicate purely to traing. Watching videos and reading books. Running bad and not playing well, I just have to get my mind in the right direction again. I'll still play the blogger events but thats about it.

I posted on a few message boards but that Cross Country Tour is a bust. Not really worth the free entry in terms of the knowledge you receive back. Probably end up more confused afterwards. I'd skip it.

Been a while since a won a tourney, but I did win a small one.



Was a fun super turbo. 90 players, lasted about 45min. Just pushed at the right times I guess.

I've been pretty killer with my satellites again, with another 2 wsop main qualifiers. Failed my cake one just now in 22nd. TT < AK. K turn. Lost a pokerroom yesterday. So I still have 1 more pokerroom one left and now a Party one. I stink badly at steps, maybe i'll watch some turbo sng videos to improve. Can't get past step 3.

Never going to win a live seat Part III

Wow didn't think the next post in this series would be the day after!

My fault, played like a pansy 3 handed. The two luckboxes are 1 and 2, what can you do. Better lucky than skilled.

Never gonnna win a live seat again part 2

Was a freeroll with optional $25 rebuy/addon. Didn't do either, by the time the break hit, the addon would have bought 3BB. Very weak field so didn't take much thinking to get to the final table. Knocked out most of the players and stayed within the 1st/2nd range. Lost a crucial 3outer with 5 to go. KQ < Ax with a K on the flop. Then lost a flip Q9s vs 33 with 9 possible outs after the flop. By the time it got down to 6 handed, there wasn't much play available, push shove mode. Next time...

I did manage to win 2 $535 buyins for the pokerroom wsop sats though. Didn't realize it was 55 player max so didn't get to play today. Good thing about the pokerroom ones is that it pays out to 7. :)

Thank God Feb is a short month

February sucked, plain and simple. Couldn't get any runs going, couldn't get hands to hold up. My mtt results just sucked, FTOPS was a bust. I guess satellite play was good as I got into most of the events I wanted. Even after all my rakeback numbers are in, I lost money this month. What this does is:

• Screws up your confidence
• Puts you in a sour mood
• Crushes thoughts of starting the year off strong
• Forces you to make it up the month after
• More training/schooling

On the cash game side, my NL game was a big loser. Not ready to step back down as I think I'm still playing ok, just on a bad side of variance. My limit game is pretty good, well maybe 20/40 only. For some reason I lost $ at 10/20 and 5/10, so I'll stay away from those.

Tournament side I better get something going, not sure what leaks I have right now. Probably something on the aggression side as I go into too many lulls and watch my stack disappear. With the BBT3 coming up I have to start winning.

This month my cash games will be mostly on Cake Poker. I'll probably tryout some cryptologic games as they have some good wsop/wpt promos. Earlier read that some bonuses might be gone though. I'll prob play some tournies on saturday instead, and nothing on sunday. Need a sunday break. Will be back sunday night though for the kickoff of BBT3.

Sunday Madness

Decided to just go crazy on mtts today. Was profitable, but not what I expected, could have been better.

WPT Celebrity Inv Sat: -$11 (2nd)
FTOPS KO: -$129
FTOPS NL Sat: -$55
Prima $175k rebuy: -$245 (4 to the bubble, even though I had a top 50 stack with 5 to go)
Titan $200k: -$215
Mansion $150k: +$1650 (10th). Lost many flips to A rag. Otherwise Super Ninja mode activated.
FTOPS NL: -$320 (i just sucked this one)
Action Poker $25k: -$108. Flopped trips, got flushed.
Cake $100k: Still playing. Freerolled a gold chip sat to get in.

20/40 Limit: +$340
5/10 Limit: -$286
10/20 Limit: +$376

Tired, need redbull. 8.5hrs now. damn Sundays.

I don't think i'll ever win a live satellite package again

He had a 3:1 chip advantage going on. Due to a lot of 1ups on me, ie flush over flush. Headsup was back and forth. Sucked out on him 33 > 66. But he often had a hand a bit better than me. Ended up losing 33 < QQ. Man so close once again. Hopefully he doesn't have a passport or something. :)

The Official Mike McDonald thread

From Casino Whore -> Poker Super Balla in 2 years. gg Mike!!! gg Timex!!! gg Hit_21_Hit!!!

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2008/02/ept-dortmund-18-year-old-mike-mcdonald.html

EPT Dortmund: 18 year-old Mike McDonald becomes youngest ever EPT winner
By Stephen Bartley on February 2, 2008 6:29 PM | Permalink

It can sometimes feel like a relief when the best man wins. There were a few likely candidates when play began this afternoon, but it muddies the sceptics view when skill, talent and potential combine in a player and are so easy to spot. Sometimes it can be tougher to put your finger on, but it was punctuated nicely tonight by 18 year-old Canadian Mike McDonald.

His is a fledgling poker career officially just six months old and it’s hard to imagine him having already had a bad patch. He did, but it only last three months and in the last five weeks his upturn in form has involved five cashes now totalling over $1.5 million. And judging by the way he plays – calm, considered, with less gamble than most – it’s hard to see him returning to those ‘dark’ days.


Mike McDonald
McDonald literally leapt into poker the day he turned 18, playing in the World Series of Poker Europe in London. His birthday coincided with day 1b of the event and he turned up, promptly paid his ten grand to play, found himself at the feature table and was eliminated by 2006 World Champion Jamie Gold. But McDonald took few negatives from this experience, playing live more and more and recording his first cash in the EPT Prague back in December.

Back then he seemed like dozens of other young players making their EPT debut, perhaps a little tidier and clean cut than most, but eager, aggressive and with little regard for the value of the chips he was playing with. He finished 14th in the Czech capital, collecting €20,200 before heading to Australia, the Aussie millions festival where a second and first place ignited his form. There was nothing stopping him and the EPT Dortmund was about to see that for itself.


So back to where we started today...

Seat 1 -- Mike McDonald – Canada -- 862k
Seat 2 -- Diego Perez – Spain -- 744k
Seat 3 -- Thibaut Durand – France – 148k
Seat 4 -- Johannes Strassmann – Germany – PokerStars sponsored player -- 827k
Seat 5 -- Christian Harder – United States – PokerStars qualifier -- 339k
Seat 6 -- Andreas Gulunay – Germany -- 560k
Seat 7 -- Torsten Haase – Germany - 369k
Seat 8 -- Claudio Rinaldi – Switzerland – 276k

At the start of the day this one seemed straight forward. The story would be simple – Johannes Strassmann and Mike McDonald would gradually eliminate the rest of the field (McDonald in fact saw off five), the two would then shake hands and face a heads-up battle equal in chips with everything to play for. They seemed more confident and skilled than the others – both to people watching and to themselves. McDonald would later say that he had a visit from Strassmann at 3am the night before – with friendly rivalry Strassmann said he was determined to win his home EPT.

And no-one doubted him for the first few hours of the final. The 22 year-old German, likely to feature regularly on this tour in the future, was alive at the table – talking, cajoling, using table talk that was great to watch and harked back to last year’s final when Andreas Hoivold talked to the other finalists into submission without reply.

American PokerStars qualifier Christian Harder, or ‘Charder’ would go first. He was one of the short stacks and took his chance finding A-K in the hole. What he couldn’t predict was Mike McDonald holding aces. The inevitable happened and we were quickly down to seven with Harder picking up €85,500.

An hour later we were down to six. This time it was Frenchman Thibaut Durand pushing with A-4 straight after the break, called by Johannes Strassmann. So far the blue print for the final of McDonald and Strassmann seemed to be playing out. Strassmann held pocket eights which proved enough, sending Durand to the rail with €120,200.


Thibaut Durand
But things would soon go wrong for Strassmann. Keeping his aggression in check ultimately cost him - big raises would be trumped by re-raises all-in and whilst he proved most entertaining, he was also most volatile. Up to over a million in chips he then went through a black period that would see him out earlier than anyone imagined.

Then for a while we hardly saw a flop. A hand would be folded or re-raised all-in and when it was it tended to be Strassmann who suffered. The first two players had gone within the first 90 minutes but now there was a sense of the long haul. Three players, McDonald, Strassmann and another German Torsten Haase were all within a few grand of each other whilst no one, with the exception of Claudio Rinaldi, was ever close to being so low that an all or nothing move was required.

Torsten Haase – Germany -- 863,000
Diego Perez – Spain -- 851,000
Johannes Strassmann – Germany -- PokerStars sponsored player -- 825,000
Andreas Gülünay – Germany -- 643,000
Mike McDonald – Canada -- 528,000
Claudio Rinaldi – Switzerland -- 383,000

To the Strassmann demise, which started with a raise re-raised by McDonald. Painful as it was Johannes had to fold. Whilst Torsten Haase worked his way further ahead attention was still on the two favourites. Then another hand - Diego Perez raised, Strassmann re-raised and Perez moved all-in. He might have been ahead but Strassmann couldn’t risk it – another pot lost.

Then, two hours after Durand’s exit the hand came to send Strassmann out. A raise, a McDonald re-raise and an all-in move from the German – perhaps intended to put an end to this nonsense. But McDonald called, and why wouldn’t he? Holding kings he was way ahead of Strassmann who simply mucked. It was over. Like Michael Norinder in Prague - a million to none in quick time - Strassmann was out, for €152,000.
Strassmann in seventh had taken two hours to depart. Now the other players could relax a little. One of the major threats had gone - no more raising, no more table talk that could open them up at any moment for all to see.

Claudio Rinaldi, who had hung on well, went next. He pushed in against Andreas Gulunay with A-9; pocket sevens for Gulunay which did the honourable thing and held steady. Rinaldi out in fifth for €193,000.
As predicted it was not long before the next player was counting cash on the rail.


Claudio Rinaldi
Diego Perez had spent a good deal of the week as chip leader, holding it on day three well enough to stretch it to the final, third in chips. That he didn’t advance any further was largely due to Mike McDonald. By now the Canadian had manoeuvred passed a few awkward hours and was in a good gear. He raised, Perez moved in and after a few analytical moments picked apart on EPT Live, the press room and McDonald’s head, he called. It was a good one. The 18 year-old only had deuces but was ahead of Perez holding J-T. We were down to three with Perez going out for €193,000.


Spaniard Diego Perez
It didn’t stay that way for long. Third place was taken a short while later by Torsten Haase. The German had become the dark horse of this final, slipping by the favourites to spend a pleasant few hours with the chip lead - the only player with a seven figure stack. But again it was Mike McDonald busy setting himself up nicely, calling Torsten’s all-in on a flop of Q-5-3.


Heads up McDonald held the advantage...

Mike McDonald -- 2,900,000
Andreas Gulunay -- 1,200,000

Was there a gulf between the two player’s outlooks? A solid player s he was Andreas Gulunay had achieved something he hadn’t expected a few days ago. He had survived a volatile final table, kept out of trouble, and secured himself a guaranteed €528,500, and soon his play began to reflect this.


Andreas Gulunay
A McDonald bet saw Andreas moved all-in. Not the gambling type, with the chip lead and feeling no rush, McDonald mucked. Cue the German supporters on the rail to begin chants of “Andy!” Gulunay raised a drink to them and said a few words, all lapped up by the rail. But all the while the flash moves seemed to be heading towards something ready to stop him in his tracks.

The best analogy I could think of was from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. In it there’s a scene where Indiana Jones, in the midst of a chase to find the girl, runs into a mercenary in full battle dress who parts the crowds and prepares to destroy the hero. He puts on display of spectacular swordsmanship intended to frighten the bejesus out of Jones, impressing the crowd who await the final act of victory. Indiana Jones simply removes his pistol, shoots the man, ends the fight, and gets on with the chase.

Mike McDonald tonight performed the poker equivalent.

Bang!

The hand was well underway – a flop of K-7-J. Andreas had checked allowing Mike to bet 120k. Andreas, perhaps underestimating the Canadian or perhaps ready to end this once and for all, re-raised – 300k more which McDonald called. This was now a big pot and the king on the turn would make it even bigger.

300k from Andreas who was reaching terminal velocity – again he was called. The river a deuce and the pot grew to over 1.4 million. Some hands go your way by accident but McDonald had played this one perfectly – Andreas moved all-in leaving the words “I call” the only thing separating himself from an EPT title. Andreas looked over. When McDonald called he simply said “you win”, mucking his cards.

Lee Jones, watching from the press room summed it up, “He played it perfectly – he let him walk right into it.”

Even with the crowd’s heavy preference for the German players there was nothing but applause for McDonald, not yet legally old enough to buy a victory drink in his hometown of Waterloo, Canada.

Gulunay accepted defeat graciously and was a worthy crowd favourite but he had been beaten by the better player - fact he acknowledged in a touching moment as the photographers swarmed around his victor, where he shook hands with McDonald and told him he’d deserved the win.

Some said Mike looked overawed with the result, not quite knowing how to react to the typical media onslaught that accompanies an EPT final hand worth €933,600. But I suspect this was all-in the original plan – that if he played well, didn’t go against his instincts and stayed focused, he could win and win well. He is after all no stranger to success, just the obligations to the press afterwards.


Regardless, at 18 there was something special with this win, the realisation that perhaps we’d seen something more than a simply tournament win – a tournament that will be referred to again and again in the future as the start of a career that will be followed closely. With just three semesters at Waterloo University completed he may opt for a return to college life, but his short term future is one of more EPTs and poker, starting in Copenhagen.

Final table result of EPT Dortmund

1st -- Mike McDonald – Canada -- €933,600
2nd -- Andreas Gulunay – Germany -- €528,500
3rd -- Torsten Haase – Germany -- €307,000
4th -- Diego Perez – Spain -- €234,200
5th -- Claudio Rinaldi – Switzerland -- €193,000
6th -- Johannes Strassmann – Germany -- PokerStars sponsored player -- €152,000
7th -- Thibaut Durand – France -- €120,200
8th -- Christian Harder – United States – PokerStars qualifier -- €85,500

Not yet out of braces, you have to wonder how better he can become. If this performance is anything to go by he may need to get used to the media attention sooner rather than later.

January Review

January was a very up and down month for me. Started off blazing hot, thought I would finish up a huge month. Then I dropped about $2k within a week, and it didn't look as nice anymore. I finished up decently though. My NLH was decent, numerous sets over sets killed me. My LH was hot, I think I made more on LH than NLH. Right now its mostly 5/10 limit with a couple 10/20s thrown in, but going to try and do more 10/20s.

My mtts were just awful, down over $1k on those, and I think I only had $1k in winnings. Lack of patience as previously described, but hopefully that will remain a thing of the past. Looking forward to FTOPs next week, I should be satelliting into a lot of those, though I have yet to play one. Lazy, and want to just wait for the super sats, the ones with like 100 seats guaranteed etc.
Will buy into at least 2 if I can't sat into them, probably the limit one as I'm feeling good about my game.

Finished just short of the 60hours that I wanted to play. Didn't quite average the $100 per hour either, but was at least in the $70 range. Once the rest of my rakeback payments come in, should jump a bit higher.

Feb not looking good so far. Have to dig out of a hole now.

Reminder to stay patient and focused

This is in regards to mtts (donkaments) which I seem to suck at this year. I guess that long xmas break I took really messed up my head. I can't seem to focus in these things, and I'm getting extremely impatient. Like getting a decent stack in with only a slight edge early just aint worth it. Though I have over 1k in mtt winnings this year I'm still down for the month, and playing these things kill my hourly rate. Will more than likely take this weekend off (da bowl) so will regroup by then, hopefully.

On the cash game front, I'm doing ok. Was running extremely well in NL, but coolers = tilt. I have numerous sets over set losses that hurt. But I'm still playing well though my profit should be a lot higher than it is. Limit poker I'm doing very well and loving it. I feel like I have the good fundamentals down pat, while my opponents are mostly clueless as when to bet, when to raise, check, call, etc.. Mixing in some 10/20 games now, though I feel the difference in level of play is huge.

damn donkaments

Its 2am and I've been playing a pretty damn good tourney. $50k on stars, $50+5. Got lucky close to the bubble when button decides to open shove, and magically i'm holding AA on the BB to double to 30bb. Made some great reads like this:

PokerStars Game #14568085330: Tournament #73676345, $50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level XII (600/1200) - 2008/01/15 - 00:34:07 (ET)
Table '73676345 33' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Eschilo (15595 in chips)
Seat 2: cheers98 (28098 in chips)
Seat 3: NewPokerKid (55812 in chips)
Seat 4: ZedzDed81 (32083 in chips)
Seat 5: actyper (24615 in chips)
Seat 6: bigcil (30300 in chips)
Seat 7: graslevy (14948 in chips)
Seat 8: acesupyrs (9185 in chips)
Seat 9: TrackStar488 (11146 in chips)
Eschilo: posts the ante 125
cheers98: posts the ante 125
NewPokerKid: posts the ante 125
ZedzDed81: posts the ante 125
actyper: posts the ante 125
bigcil: posts the ante 125
graslevy: posts the ante 125
acesupyrs: posts the ante 125
TrackStar488: posts the ante 125
actyper: posts small blind 600
bigcil: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to actyper [2d Td]
graslevy: folds
acesupyrs: folds
TrackStar488: folds
Eschilo: folds
cheers98: folds
NewPokerKid: folds
ZedzDed81: folds
actyper: raises 1800 to 3000
bigcil: calls 1800
*** FLOP *** [Qs Jc 6c]
actyper: bets 3675
bigcil: calls 3675
*** TURN *** [Qs Jc 6c] [5s]
actyper: checks
bigcil: checks
*** RIVER *** [Qs Jc 6c 5s] [2s]
actyper: bets 3500
bigcil: raises 6500 to 10000
actyper: calls 6500
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bigcil: shows [9c 8c] (high card Queen)
actyper: shows [2d Td] (a pair of Deuces)
actyper collected 34475 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 34475 | Rake 0
Board [Qs Jc 6c 5s 2s]
Seat 1: Eschilo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: cheers98 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: NewPokerKid folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: ZedzDed81 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: actyper (small blind) showed [2d Td] and won (34475) with a pair of Deuces
Seat 6: bigcil (big blind) showed [9c 8c] and lost with high card Queen
Seat 7: graslevy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: acesupyrs folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: TrackStar488 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lost a lot of chips later though with TT when bigger stack decides to check raise shove a K high rainbow flop (stop tangling with the big boys). Continued up and down until I got low.

Out Hand

PokerStars Game #14569296452: Tournament #73676345, $50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level XVII (2500/5000) - 2008/01/15 - 02:03:06 (ET)
Table '73676345 106' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: Wabs10 (89244 in chips)
Seat 3: THE BURGLER (55610 in chips)
Seat 4: jasray (115713 in chips)
Seat 5: cguido10 (114392 in chips)
Seat 6: wausau1 (105361 in chips)
Seat 7: herschelw (213328 in chips)
Seat 8: HR_Dub (191232 in chips)
Seat 9: actyper (44898 in chips)
Wabs10: posts the ante 500
THE BURGLER: posts the ante 500
jasray: posts the ante 500
cguido10: posts the ante 500
wausau1: posts the ante 500
herschelw: posts the ante 500
HR_Dub: posts the ante 500
actyper: posts the ante 500
actyper: posts small blind 2500
Wabs10: posts big blind 5000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to actyper [Td Qd]
THE BURGLER: folds
jasray: folds
cguido10: folds
wausau1: folds
herschelw: raises 7500 to 12500
HR_Dub: folds
actyper: raises 31898 to 44398 and is all-in
Wabs10: folds
herschelw: calls 31898
*** FLOP *** [4d 8s Jc]
*** TURN *** [4d 8s Jc] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [4d 8s Jc 7h] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
actyper: shows [Td Qd] (high card Queen)
herschelw: shows [7c Qh] (a pair of Sevens)
herschelw collected 97796 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 97796 | Rake 0
Board [4d 8s Jc 7h 2h]
Seat 1: Wabs10 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: THE BURGLER folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: jasray folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: cguido10 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: wausau1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: herschelw showed [7c Qh] and won (97796) with a pair of Sevens
Seat 8: HR_Dub (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: actyper (small blind) showed [Td Qd] and lost with high card Queen

Booo, when you play for 5hrs you except to go pretty deep, at least final 2. Baaah just watched that luckbox knock out another huge stack AT > KK allin preflop. Time to sleep

Limit Post

Been playing a lot of limit short handed cash games lately, and done pretty well, so might as well share what I've improved in my game.

Most important rule: Preflop = Raise or Fold
Pretty much always either raise or fold preflop. If you are the blinds it is ok to call, and sometimes in a 3bet pot, but the main idea is that if your hand is not good enough to raise then its probably better off left unplayed.

Building pots
If you have a good draw, always build the pot. Don't take free cards, take them if you have a crappy draw.

Don't get sucked in
If your pretty sure your beat after the turn comes out, just give up on the hand. The 4th/5th street hands are expensive, and trying to beat bluffs all the time is -EV. I'm not saying to lay down all the time, just don't think A high or mid pair is always good.

Checking rivers to induce bets
If oop and you figure our oponent has air, check to induce the bluff, they will bet 95% of the time.

Thats all I can think of for now.

2007 Recap / 2008 Goals

2007 Goals
1) Better tracking. I was going to make my own tracking spreadsheet, but I a am pretty lazy. Done. New 2008 version available at VPIPoker.com
2) $ Amount. I'm not going to set a $ amount goal this year. I'll express it this way. Cash games I want to move up to $1000NL by the end of the year. I'm ready to play $400NL now anyways so its only 1 more step higher. Limit I'll stick with 5/10. Don't really want to play higher yet. Tournament goals below.
Boo. Still at $400/500NL after not doing as well, dropped back to $200NL. Very confident at that level. Went back to 400/500 end of the year with mixed success. Limit at 5/10 but didn't really play too much.
3) Qualify for another major event. WSOP/WPT/CPT. Due to vacation time, I don't think I'll be able to take that much time off work. So no week long ones such as Aruba, Atlantis, WPS, Aussie. WSOP will be tough. I need more vacation time, or just go pro.
Boo. No sat entries won, came close many times though.
4) Tournament Cash winnings. First goal is to get to $2k, then take home $5k, then $10k+. Going to try and play at least 1 $50+ tourney a week. Will continue to improve my tourney skills. Maybe rejoin pokerxfactor, though I probably won't have time to watch the videos again.
Boo. Had a few 1k+ cashes but highest was $3800. By november though my tournament game was pretty "on" so I'm confident for 2008.
5) Omaha/Horse. Learn and get better. Seems like more and more players are enjoying Horse games. I might as well join in the fun. I guess I'm an average Omaha/hi or lo player, I know I have a lot of room to improve though. Maybe I'll buy a book.
Boo. Didn't play much of any other games, prob even less than before.
6) Read. I have books galore that I have yet to read or finish yet.
?. Read a few more books, but joined pxf and watched card runner videos which are way better than books.
7) More Live Poker. Port Perry is only 45mins away. Fallsview/Niagara/Brantford are only 1.5hrs away. Yet I don't play much live poker at casinos. I should. Plus more home games as well. Maybe hit some undergrounds.
Boo. Pretty much only played live for WPT Niagara satellites and Vegas. Undergrounds are pretty much out of the question now since too many gone busto.

Even though I failed most of my goals, I had a successful 2007. Made more than any other previous year. Maybe too hard on myself, but I do like to push myself further. I know I've gotten a lot better, so hopefully that continues onto 2008.

2008 Goals

1. Hourly Rate. I finished at an approx $50/hr rate. Had a losing July and a couple of sub 1k months which screwed it up. I'm setting my goal for $100/hr. I averaged 48hrs per month in 07, I should have that up to at least 60.
2. Cash Games. Same as last year, get to $1000NL. Limit $10/20 which should be no prob.
3. Tournaments. Definately should be able to get a 5 digit score.
4. Satellites. Qualify for WSOP ME, WPT Niagara, Aussie or PCA Jan 09.
5. Live Poker. Honestly not much, would rather play online
6. Education. Continue learning and improving.

In summary I would like to be able to step into this full time if something should happen to my regular job either voluntarily or not. Time to make some serious money.

F**k Presto

Was already on Tilt prior to this hand but presto sucks ass if played like a donk.

Hand #1352012030001415: Amsterdam (6-max) 12030
Seat 1: lSmokRcks (948.00 in chips)
Seat 3: QQ1Cup (783.00 in chips)
Seat 8: turtlehed11 (400.00 in chips)
Seat 9: thoue77 (757.95 in chips)
Seat 10: actyper (362.20 in chips)
lSmokRcks: posts small blind $2
QQ1Cup: posts big blind $4
Dealt to actyper [ 5d 5s ]
thoue77: folds
actyper: raises to $14l
SmokRcks: raises to $46
QQ1Cup: folds
actyper: calls
*** FLOP *** [ Ts Kh 5c ]
lSmokRcks: bets $60
actyper: calls
*** TURN *** [ 8d ]
lSmokRcks: checks
actyper: checks
*** RIVER *** [ Qh ]
lSmokRcks: bets $176
actyper: is all in
lSmokRcks: calls
*** SHOW DOWN ***
actyper: shows [ 5d 5s ] (Three of a Kind, Fives )
lSmokRcks: shows [ Qd Qs ] (Three of a Kind, Queens )
lSmokRcks wins $726.40 with Three of a Kind, Queens

Weekend Recap

Nothing too exciting this weekend. Tried satelliting into the sunday majors, FT million and the UBOC ME, but failed. I dunno how I failed the FT one, was chip leader at one point. I guess with turbo tournies, anything can happen. Not sure why UB didn't run any multiple guaranteed seats tournies. All they had were $10r, $30r, and $75rs. For a premium tournament series they sure didn't give many opportunities to get in through satellites. Final tabled a Betfair $5k tourney, and came 20th in the Cake $100k. Betfair took a nice beat KK <> Adanthar's AA. I was reshoving a lot on the bubble with decent holdings, and this time I got caught. Other than that I don't think I won a showdown after that, pretty much just accumulating chips from steals and resteals. Lost a big chunk of chips QQ < 99. But all that aggressive play got me in trouble late, and eventually out 55 < 77.

Cash game side I was tearing it up. 2/4NL and 5/10limit. I've rediscovered my love for limit. Its so easy, and the majority are just so bad. But went on a total downswing yesterday. At one point I was up a buyin on 2 of my NL games and 10bbs on my limit game, but just swung right back down. Stoopid fn short stackers, they are my nemesis. Always manage to suckout on me.

Got Rockband for my birthday, and it rocks. I can't sing for shit, but can bang the drums pretty good. Not that good though, still on the medium level, hard is pretty difficult. The guitar playing is easier than guitar hero though, I can play the songs on hard pretty good.

Last week of poker for 2007 for me, actually probably only 4 days. Off to Mexico (Mayan Riviera) again for another wedding. Will prob do a recap/goal post later this week if nothing exciting happens in between.