Another apology for being so lazy with the blog. In fairness, I have been quite busy on the homefront spending quality time with the family, time at work, and grinding online since coming home last Sunday after Regina.
So, pretty easy to recap the last month and a half...complete waste of time!!! Well, at least financially. I finished off Vegas up maybe 5k after expenses for 3 weeks of play thanks to a 16k upswing in the last week, but then I arrived in Regina for the tourney and it cost me my Vegas profits plus a little interest. They raised the playable limits in Regina to 10/25 nl with a 5k cap so now you can win or lose significant cash. How did I lose there? I think it was a combination of being card dead, tough situations, a couple beats, tough games (basically our home game mixed in with a couple local internet players from Saskatchewan), and not playing anywhere close to my best poker as I would play tired after a long day of tournament poker. As well, Little Ivey was playing and he always seems to throw me off my game. He plays me tough and I never flop against him. I said once before and I'll say it again, the kid is deadly and I wouldn't be suprised to see him on high stakes poker banging heads with Ivey, Antonius, and Durr within a couple years.
The Regina tournaments were long and unprofitable once again. Results as follows:
Day 1: 13th out of 150ish. Ran a tough hand where I raised with QQ and was called by this solid player Mark from the big blind. Flop AQ3 two diamonds, multiple bets on flop turn 7 diamonds, he continued betting I called, river offsuit 2 he bet I raised (I raised because I thought he had aces up or trip 3s pounding the flop out of position and I thought my line in the hand would maximize value) he reraised I folded, he later told me he had A8 of diamonds, what else could he have? Too bad, if I win that hand I would have been a monster. After that hand I was crippled and eventually I defended my big blind with A8 against an aggro button who woke up with 9s. We got 3 bets in preflop and I was allin. 13th was good for a $1250, a profit of $750 on the day. Weeeeee!
Day 2: 23rd out of 180ish. I had better than average chips with about 40 left, which is a big stack for me (as I never seem to be the guy with a million chips), but lost 3 hands down the stretch, twice with the best (standard preflop situational allin vs short stacks). When I was knocked out I was low on chips with 25k and blinds 2k/4k. I had an ultra rock to my left and being on the bubble I tried to chip up while everyone was waiting to cash. Unfortunately, when I pushed from the small blind with 83 off the rock woke up with AK, although he tanked for 30 seconds before deciding to call. When I bricked and was knocked out I could hear the whispers at the table 'wow 83, this guy is really bad, risking his tournament on such a bad hand. He must not know what he's doing, what a fish'. Ok ok you dumb farmer teach me then! Just too bad rockzilla woke up with one of 7 hands he would call me with.
Day 3: 140ish out of 350ish. Had about average chips when I got bounced. I had been reasonably active in late position as the players to my right were playing tight. I raised the button with AJ off and was reraised allin by Richard Webb 'The Champ' as I like to call him. He is a great guy and pretty solid tourney player, but also very lucky. The raise was an overbet and I knew right away it was bs by the size of the raise and by how fast and loud his move was. However, it took me about a minute to call because I know how unlucky I am and I know how big his ass is and thought maybe I should wait for a better spot. In the end I said screw that, I'm not going to have him pushing me around with junk so I called. He tabled A7 and the flop came A73 and I did not improve. Don't know why The Champ insists on playing me hard all the time, plenty of blinds to steal elsewhere.
Day 4: 50 out of 260ish. Again, was doing great with about 85 left had 1 1/2 times average chips then in typical fashion started losing chips once we hit shove mode. My AA with A of spades lost to QJ allin on a 1094 all spade board when the K of hearts binged the river. As well, I lost two flips to shorties then ran QQ into Sammy the Bull's KK, although I folded preflop, which is kinda a sick fold givin I was already getting short by that point. Point of discussion: Sam had 45k when blinds were 750/1500 (about to go to 2k/4k) and I had 33k. He raised to 4k from mid position and he was playing tight (for once hehe!). I reraised to 11k and he shoved. In most cases I would take my chances and gotten it in but I felt that Sammy knew I wasn't going to mess with him and vice versa so we both had to factor that into the strength of each others hands. I knew that Sam would fold JJ there and probably even AK chosing instead to fight with 40k against a relatively easy table then to bang heads with me in this situation. Anyway, that combined with the fact I had 3 easy targets on my left I decided to fold because I thought I could chip back up on blind steals. If I had solid aggressive players on my left I probably would have made a stand, but that is hard to find in Regina. Sammy later told me he had KK, which I believe. After that hand I mucked around for another 1 1/2 hours only to be chipped down then out. I had a chance to get back into it a bit but my KJ could only chop against J9 on a J422 board when an A came on the river. My final hand was in the blinds where I had K8 on AQJ flop against KJ. I flopped nut flush draw gutter, brick brick. And so my tournament woes continue in Regina. I felt I played well givin the limited good situations offered to me. I only had aces twice all week and I lost my first allin every tournament but 1 (In the second tournament I actually won a flip with AJs against 88 in the mid stages when I was short stacked). I'll still be going back because those tournies are good value and the company of winnipegers is good fun.
So the plan leading up to WSOP is to grind online and make as much money as possible over the next 6 weeks. I had a good week last week making about 10k playing small stakes, mostly 2/4 PLO and a little 20/40 HORSE and 20/40 Stud H/L all on Fulltilt. Pretty safe games, smaller wins, but without the sick variance of the 5/10 and 10/20 PLOs. Also, I played some tournies online yesterday for the first time in awhile. I actually won the satellite qualifier on Cake to play in the heads up tournament in Calgary in May. Kathy and I were planning on going anyway so its a bonus to get the 5.5k buyin for 200 bucks. I also played the SCOOP 162 heads up and the nightly. I went deep in both and was knocked out simultaneously, both before significant cash. 6th round in the hu and 93rd in the nightly, good for soupage. I wanted to play the 1500 heads up but I told myself when I came home I need to grind so the buyin is too much for grinding mode. Its kind of like a punishment for not producing since January. I have a busy week ahead so I'm not sure if I'll play any other SCOOP events.
Not much else to report. I am enjoying being home spending time with Kathy and Braeden, however, the ridiculas cold weather is pissing me off. I want the snow to melt sooooo bad so I can kick my friend's asses on the golf course....so bad it hurts. Other than that, I may have to head down to Salem then Richmond Virginia for work in a couple weeks. Its getting exciting on the workfront. Signed a deal with a big manufacturer out there and as it turns out I have to go down there to sell product to some of their clients. Would be nice to get rich the old fashion way so I can enjoy poker without the financial stress. Maybe one day....
I think I'll end this post off here. I'll try to describe some of my hands from Vegas below, however its been awhile now and I have forgotten some of the hands.
My night with Jamie Gold
First of all I would like to say Jamie Gold is the biggest fish of all time. Nice guy, but big fish. He seemed more concerned with his $40 meal then winning or losing tens of thousands of dollars. When I first sat down he was short stacked having just under 2k. He said he was either going to double up or go to sleep. As it turned out I was honoured with the priviledge of doubling him up so he could stay, only to stick it in my ass later on. He open shoved his stack blind 3 times in a row. Nobody called the first 2, but on the 3rd attempt he shoved utg and I found AQ in the big blind so I called. He had 1010 blind and I lost. Great way to start a session. Later on in the evening a wonderful hand came up where I opened in the cutoff with KQ of spades to $80. Jamie reraised from the blind to $240 and I decided to call because he can't release a hand if I were to flop big. As well, by this point he was 7k deep and I had him covered. The flop came down J104 all spades, hmmm gin right? Well he bet out $400 and I raised to $1200 and he called (no point in slow playing against a calling station). The turn was a red Q, he checked I bet $1800, he check raised and we got it allin. He shows AK with A of spades and the river brought a spade, unfortunately not the 9 of spades. Kind of a cooler hand no matter who's playing it, and to be consistent with the trip, I could not fade the 6 outer with 1 card to come for another big pot. After that pot I decided to call it a day. Thanks for the memories Jamie!
Hand #2:
Both hands 2 and 3 are from the same 10/20nl game at the Bellagio. Some middle aged guy sat down with 30k and said 'lets play some poker boys'. I was like ok. The game was playing really deep as I was 15k deep, an aggro solid player George was 30k deep, the new guy who we later found out was a maniac was 30k deep, and a fairly solid asian guy Martin was 50k deep. Anyway, on one of the first hands the new guy played he limped and George raised to $125. I was in the big blind and called with A7 clubs, the new guy called. The flop came A63 two clubs. I checked (to raise) and it was checked around. The turn brought the 2 of clubs so I had the nut flush. I checked again knowing George would not be able to hold back twice with an ace down. The new guy bet $220, George raised to $680. I felt that flatting was useless because I know George would bet a flush draw on the flop so he would check any river if I flatted. I reraised to $1800. The new guy looked puzzled and after a little deliberation he called, George folded. Honestly I felt he had a smaller flush and was confused whether he should raise or call. He struck me as a casual player based on the way he was talking prior to the hand, trying to be 'cool' in front of real poker players so I expected his play to be transparent. The river paired the 3. I was not happy to see the board pair but I thought he had a flush so I value / block bet $2500. He thought for a bit then gave me a speech that I probably had him beat but I raise $8000 more. Wow! The speech then an 8k raise. I thought for a couple minutes and concluded that there is no way this guy would overbet the raise here without 6s full maybe quad 3s. In the end I folded and he showed me 54 offsuit for a straight. He said he wasn't sure if I was feeding off of George's raise with marginal holdings and he thought his straight might be good then but when I bet the river still he figured me for a flush and thought I couldn't take the big raise. At the time I was impressed with the line, although risky, and so sick! Later I realized he was just a complete savage with more balls than brains. He proceeded to lose everything before night's end. Man I wish I would have called that pot, I would be more than 25k richer. Or at least check called the river (had I known he was such a savage that is exactly what I would have done).
Hand #3:
In the same game a little later on in the evening I got involved in a hand I normally would have folded. By this point the game was as hyper aggressive as I had ever seen. The game was 10/20nl but it was playing like a 50/100nl game. There was a pot over 10k at least once every rotation with a 3-bet preflop every hand. I reloaded to about 20k because the maniac was spewing and I knew if I could just catch him in a tough spot I could double through. So, the hand previously I had a touch, straight draw, flush draw that bricked costing me about $1,200 so I was a little upset (about the 10th combo draw I missed in 2 weeks that if I hit I would be paid off big). Anyway, George raises utg to $140 off a straddle and I call in position with KJ of clubs. Martin the tilty asian was on tilt because he lost a big pot to the maniac so he reraised to $460 on the button. George called and I decided to all because I was pissed off from the last hand and because Martin was reraising alot (still KJ out of position in a 3-bet situation is hardly a positive EV play). The flop came down KJ2 rainbow, sweet. George checked, I checked, Martin checked. The turn was an offsuit 3, but brought in a spade flush draw. George checked I bet 800, Martin hesitates then raised to $2200, George folded and the action was on me. I found his line rather strange. I was 20k deep and he had me covered so I didn't want to go too crazy. I felt he was either bluffing or had AA. I think he would bet a flop with KK or JJ to try and build it for a full stack off against me or George who was sitting with over 30k. However, I think he could check AA there fearing George could flop a set or at the very least to pot control AA here to prevent tough big bet decisions against George on later streets because George doesn't mind playing huge pots (sometimes bluffing). Anyway, once George folds and with Martin knowing I won't play big pots without something strong I felt he may raise AA on the turn here for value, or at least to define his position, folding if I reraise. On the other hand, he may think I have a marginal hand like KQ that he could shake me off if he has nothing. And of course there is the off chance he has KK or JJ. In any case, I think my call gives me maximum value here. The river is an offsuit 7 so I don't get negated against aces. I decide to check as I think my line indicates aces are good here as well it opens the door for a river bluff. I probably wouldn't raise the river to a big bet because Martin would fold anything I am beating (we played alot together and I think we both knew each other's tendencies) and I would feel pretty stupid raising only to have him shove with his set of kings. So I check and he fires 6k rather quickly. I was suprised at the size of the bet as a good value bet would be in the 3.5 to 4k range. This bet told me he didn't have AA. It was either an overbet to get paid by a set or a bluff. However, it didn't take long for me to call because overbetting huge hands wasn't the norm for him and I just don't see why he would check a flop with a set when everyone involved was 1000 big blinds deep. The final indicator was the chest heaving, thank you Mike Cairo for your poker tell videos (Ha, hardly a reason to call. I don't know why so many casual or pretend to be poker players feel that physical tells are what its all about. Point of reference *those are the same guys who travel channel it up with bad shades and stupid comments). When I called he said 'nice hand' and mucked. That was my biggest pot of the trip about 18k.
Hand #4:
This hand was my worst payoff of the trip by far. Again, at the bellagio in a 10/20nl game. The game had a solid player who was very agressive, but on my right. I think he was solid and just shooting a little as the game may have been to small for him. Previously he tried to make a move on me after a 3-bet preflop on K54 two diamond board when I had AA. He goon check raised where I either had to push or fold, the pot was too big to flat to see if a diamond came off as I thought he had a K with a flush draw. I pushed and pot comitted he shrugged and called. The Q of diamonds came off on the river and I thought I lost, but he had 76 and I won a 12k pot. I was going to leave and take a 7k win as I had lost a couple sessions in a row and could have used the win, but instead I kept playing until this pot came up.
I had AK diamonds and opened utg for $80. A rather predictable tight solid player called and the aggro reraised from the big blind to $400. He could hold a wide range here but now that I was 12k deep and he had me covered I didn't want to get myself in a tight spot by 4 betting so I flatted, the other guy called which suprised me and my first instinct was he was set mining. I find most average tight players only overcall pocket pairs because they are the only hands easy to play after the flop in big pots, hit it or fold. Too bad I didn't listen to my instincts... The flop came down 884 two diamonds. The aggro guy bet $700 and I just flat called. Even if we were heads up I would not raise here because I felt he would not let a hand like JJ or higher go and he would look to jam the flop. I did not want to race for a 24k pot. Suprisingly the third guy flat called as well. The turn was an A and the aggro checked as did I, thinking my hand is probably not the best when the third guy flatted behind me. The third guy bet $1200, which was only about 1/3 of the pot. The aggro guy folded (after the hand he said he had QQ, too bad I didn't 4 bet preflop). I decided at that price I would call. At the time I was thinking he has an 8 or 44, but for such a cheap price maybe I could win with a diamond against an 8, or in miracle city I could bing an A. I told myself I would fold if he bet the river. Anyway, the river brought a 3 of diamonds. I check again and this time he fires $2500. Again, another cheap price and a value bet I think he would make with an 8 givin I think he would expect me to fire if I made a flush. I thought for about 3 minutes and reluctantly called (I almost folded) and he showed me 44. After the hand I cashed out and took a small win under 3k. I felt so stupid for calling the turn and then the river. No way was this guy coming into a pot with an 89 suited for that price, he had to be set mining for sure and based on the way the hand plays out he could only have 44 or 88.
Hand #5:
I was playing 10/20nl short handed at the Wynn when the following hand came up. I raised to $80 with 109 hearts and had 2 callers. The flop came 943 one heart two spades. I bet $200 and was checkraised to $550 by an aggressive punk who thought he was the next Phil Ivey. He was capable of raising any draw here such as a flush draw, 56, even A5. I flat called. The turn brought a 10. He bet $1400. He started the hand with 5.5k. I know the money's going in on the river no matter what. He looked unsettled and I felt 80% confident I had the best so I shoved. He snap called and I thought I ran into a set. Nope. The river brought a Q and he shows me KJ of spades.
I know there were a few other 10k+ pots I lost I just cannot recall right now and for the exception of the AK of diamonds hand I was in good shape in all of them. Without going into whining mode I would like to say that I found it very frustrating not only to lose most of the big ones (The 12k pot with AA and the 18K pot with KJ were my only 10k+ pots of the trip), but I must have had at least 15 hands where I either missed a huge draw or an action killer card came on the turn or river that would otherwise have resulted in a 10k+ pot for the good guys. Oh well, maybe next time.
Till next time....
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