This guy had been playing table captain for a good while, so it was very interesting when I saw you join the table as I know how you like to get stuck in. I think for the first 4 or 5 hands the rest of us just sat there watching you 2 thrash it out, in my mind it was always going to end in a similar way. You could've easily both had nothing much at all there!
Yeah I know my play is high variance Geldy. It's just been a horrible few days.... Made more irritating by the fact that I clearly started this diary at the wrong time! 3 weeks ago, I was running so well and this swing has just come at a time when I've decided to share it with the world! Embarrassing much? I doubt I'll change my style of play. Maybe i'll be a bit more conservative around the bubble (although I find it's always much more rewarding to put pressure on people at this time). Who knows... Heres hoping to a change of fortune in the next few days... need it for pride more than anything else. Posted by gazza127
from 6 months ago!
you have to chill out with regards the downswings if you want to play your style - they will happen and will hurt. sharkie says you've made decent money, and your downswings are pretty small in context. problem seems to be you withdrawing too much in the good times to ride out the bad.
assuming you don't want to change your style you either need to have a bigger bankroll or stronger brm. But brm isn't about all or nothing as you are currently suggesting but adjusting the stakes to the available bankroll.
This guy had been playing table captain for a good while, so it was very interesting when I saw you join the table as I know how you like to get stuck in. I think for the first 4 or 5 hands the rest of us just sat there watching you 2 thrash it out, in my mind it was always going to end in a similar way. You could've easily both had nothing much at all there! Posted by bbMike
Yeah think thats the only reason why i decided to do what I did - he seemed reluctant to let me come in and try and boss the table, which is fair enough. So when he did click it back I thought there was a fair chance he could be doing it with any two cards. I was never worried about a set or two pair here - the raise makes no sense on this board. At best he was holding a Kx hand that wasnt AK... one he had, and one I thought if he did have I could shift him off.
Bit wreckless looking at it in a vacuum, but given player dynamic I wasn't too unhappy with the play.
Heck by all means spend the 2k on beer money! Maybe 2k is too much but what about a smaller amount of 600, where you could at least play some 5p/10p mixed in with the odd 20NL game that was really good. I mean I just think you might struggle trying to grind out 2p/4p. It really is a different game - rake is huge and we just have to play ABC for the most part. Plus there's less motivation to sit down and play when winning sessions are never going to be that huge. But each to their own! And depositing a heap isn't reckless just cause you're on a downswing - as I said and as you know you're a winning player, so as long as you're making ev+ decisions you're going to be winning money long term. Just have a better BRM.... then it's not so reckless!
A7 hand was somewhat spewy but at least you had a backdoor nut flush I'm a big fan of small bet sizes in tournaments and they work really well for the most part but if you've just sat down at a table and a player knows nothing about you they might wrongly assume your weak bet size is weak - which is great when you actually have a hand. Not so good when you are just bluffing! Judging by oppo going ALL IN after your shove instead of just CALL I think he was more than happy to get it in btw! It's a massive tell that can't be exploited (people clicking all in instead of just calling meaning they are strong)
A6 hand - it seems standard but on sky vs many players it often isn't standard. Pay more attention to player tendancies and watch how often everyone is opening - too many players make far too few BTN steals. So we can exploit this by folding some hands we otherwise would jam with. In fact lots of players are positionally unaware in such a sense and will open with the same/similar range UTG as BTN. So I adjust my shoving range as so and instead ask myself "Would I shove XX hand vs UTG open" - in your case with A6s the answer would be no!
In Response to Re: The ramblings of a young man (gazza127 diary) : from 6 months ago! you have to chill out with regards the downswings if you want to play your style - they will happen and will hurt. sharkie says you've made decent money, and your downswings are pretty small in context. problem seems to be you withdrawing too much in the good times to ride out the bad. assuming you don't want to change your style you either need to have a bigger bankroll or stronger brm. But brm isn't about all or nothing as you are currently suggesting but adjusting the stakes to the available bankroll. gl Posted by GELDY
It is awkward reading these kind of posts back (the ones I post), because time and time again I post something like 'eurgh... horrible downswing is getting to me' followed by a post a few weeks later 'binked a tourny for x amount '.
I should know by now that my game is high variance - a decision I make consciously... and a style of play which has proven to work long term. So yeah, need to stop moaning and get on with it. Yes, it doesnt help that I decide to withdraw some money when things are on the up as my BR doesnt let me breath when im on the down. One of those things - I like treating myself to things now and again, and if poker can pay for that holiday I have planned rather than digging into my savings I tend to think 'why not?'
Maybe i'll deposit more in the near future and kick on, however short term im going to play it semi conservatively by playing £5 games where I don't need the biggest roll in the world to keep me occupied whilst bored, whilst also riding the downswing im on.
Heck by all means spend the 2k on beer money! Maybe 2k is too much but what about a smaller amount of 600, where you could at least play some 5p/10p mixed in with the odd 20NL game that was really good. I mean I just think you might struggle trying to grind out 2p/4p. It really is a different game - rake is huge and we just have to play ABC for the most part. Plus there's less motivation to sit down and play when winning sessions are never going to be that huge. But each to their own! And depositing a heap isn't reckless just cause you're on a downswing - as I said and as you know you're a winning player, so as long as you're making ev+ decisions you're going to be winning money long term. Just have a better BRM.... then it's not so reckless! A7 hand was somewhat spewy but at least you had a backdoor nut flush I'm a big fan of small bet sizes in tournaments and they work really well for the most part but if you've just sat down at a table and a player knows nothing about you they might wrongly assume your weak bet size is weak - which is great when you actually have a hand. Not so good when you are just bluffing! Judging by oppo going ALL IN after your shove instead of just CALL I think he was more than happy to get it in btw! It's a massive tell that can't be exploited (people clicking all in instead of just calling meaning they are strong) A6 hand - it seems standard but on sky vs many players it often isn't standard. Pay more attention to player tendancies and watch how often everyone is opening - too many players make far too few BTN steals. So we can exploit this by folding some hands we otherwise would jam with. In fact lots of players are positionally unaware in such a sense and will open with the same/similar range UTG as BTN. So I adjust my shoving range as so and instead ask myself "Would I shove XX hand vs UTG open" - in your case with A6s the answer would be no! Posted by F_Ivanovic
Yeah im probably not going to be grinding 2p/4p. I do think im much more likely to spew at this level than at 50nl for example - without being disrespectful to those that grind 4nl day in day out and make good money... I cant take it that seriously, know that a decent winning session will likely be a tenner. Think i'll stick mostly to tournaments in the coming weeks and see how that goes.
I've explained the A7 hand and my reasonings for doing what I did. As I said I think villain is clicking it back very very wide here so shoving in this scenario is going to be +ev long term.
The A6 hand was against a guy with a wide opening range anyway... let alone the button so I was more than happy to ship my hand expecting to see a lot of KQ, QJ, Q10, J10, 109 hands and worse call me. Just a bit unfortunate that I ran into aces given his opening range.
I may deposit more money in the coming weeks, but going to see how I fair at lower stakes than I usually play. I started at those stakes and built my roll up fairly quickly so I dont see why I wont be able to do it again. Come the end of November i'll see where im at and reassess... I may not need to deposit at all.
Entered a number of £5 tournies with my epic £124 BR. Cashed in two of them. 3rd and 5th respectively... But as I played something like 7/8 tournaments in total the overall profit was marginal.
Experienced a bit of run good tonight which made for a pleasant evening. Although that one bit of run good was against Geldy getting towards the cash in one of the £200 Gtds. I was above av stack on the Button with KJ. Geldy was on the SB with roughly 11BBs if I remember correctly and I decided I would minraise/call any shove thinking Geldys shoving range is still going to be relatively wide with enough FE to fold out my average hands. So I min-raised... he shoved and I called. He had AK. Woops. Lucky for me the board decided to give me the nut straight - sorry Geldy. If it makes you feel any better geldy my luck swiftly turned back the other way.
Got bored later on and as there are no tournaments and cash was a no go I decided to play some SnGs. Only 11 quid games were running which was slightly irritating but I decided id enter 1 DYM and 1 HU Turbo. Won both with very minimal fuss.
Not a bad day. Enjoyed most of what I played and ended the day in OK profit of £30... which doesnt seem like much but in terms of a £124 roll its like an extra 23% or something.
Although that one bit of run good was against Geldy getting towards the cash in one of the £200 Gtds. I was above av stack on the Button with KJ. Geldy was on the SB with roughly 11BBs if I remember correctly and I decided I would minraise/call any shove thinking Geldys shoving range is still going to be relatively wide with enough FE to fold out my average hands. So I min-raised... he shoved and I called. He had AK. Woops. Lucky for me the board decided to give me the nut straight - sorry Geldy. If it makes you feel any better geldy my luck swiftly turned back the other way. Posted by gazza127
ironically it doesn't. as long as my chips have gone to a decent player i hope they bring them luck to go deep. and you were certainly playing decently - i was very pleased to be on your left and not the other way round.
not much you say! in the context of your new bankroll that was a storming performance. long may it continue.
Just played the longest HU game ever. It was a normal heads up game... not turbo or speed. Regged it by accident - thought it was speed. So the blinds were 7 minutes which made for a much longer game than I intended. I ground him down and got the massive chip lead quite early on... then a series of all ins all fell his way...
dodger12
Small blind
25.00
25.00
310.00
gazza127
Big blind
50.00
75.00
2615.00
Your hole cards
4
A
dodger12
All-in
310.00
385.00
0.00
gazza127
Call
285.00
670.00
2330.00
dodger12
Show
9
K
gazza127
Show
4
A
Flop
7
K
2
Turn
7
River
9
dodger12
Win
Two Pairs, Kings and 9s
670.00
670.00
dodger12
Small blind
40.00
40.00
165.00
gazza127
Big blind
80.00
120.00
2715.00
Your hole cards
9
K
dodger12
All-in
165.00
285.00
0.00
gazza127
Call
125.00
410.00
2590.00
dodger12
Show
Q
J
gazza127
Show
9
K
Flop
Q
5
3
Turn
6
River
6
dodger12
Win
Two Pairs, Queens and 6s
410.00
410.00
dodger12
Small blind
40.00
40.00
250.00
gazza127
Big blind
80.00
120.00
2630.00
Your hole cards
10
6
dodger12
Call
40.00
160.00
210.00
gazza127
Raise
320.00
480.00
2310.00
dodger12
All-in
210.00
690.00
0.00
gazza127
Unmatched bet
110.00
580.00
2420.00
dodger12
Show
9
8
gazza127
Show
10
6
Flop
6
4
5
Turn
8
River
A
dodger12
Win
Pair of 8s
580.00
580.00
gazza127
Small blind
40.00
40.00
2660.00
dodger12
Big blind
80.00
120.00
220.00
Your hole cards
J
3
gazza127
All-in
2660.00
2780.00
0.00
dodger12
All-in
220.00
3000.00
0.00
gazza127
Unmatched bet
2400.00
600.00
2400.00
gazza127
Show
J
3
dodger12
Show
8
9
Flop
10
9
6
Turn
4
River
10
dodger12
Win
Two Pairs, 10s and 9s
600.00
600.00
gazza127
Small blind
50.00
50.00
2750.00
dodger12
Big blind
100.00
150.00
100.00
Your hole cards
5
4
gazza127
Raise
150.00
300.00
2600.00
dodger12
All-in
100.00
400.00
0.00
gazza127
Show
5
4
dodger12
Show
2
6
Flop
4
7
3
Turn
A
River
5
dodger12
Win
Straight to the 7
400.00
400.00
I couldnt get rid of him!
Eventually got there.
gazza127
Small blind
50.00
50.00
2600.00
dodger12
Big blind
100.00
150.00
250.00
Your hole cards
5
Q
gazza127
All-in
2600.00
2750.00
0.00
dodger12
All-in
250.00
3000.00
0.00
gazza127
Unmatched bet
2300.00
700.00
2300.00
gazza127
Show
5
Q
dodger12
Show
8
9
Flop
6
9
A
Turn
K
River
5
gazza127
Win
Flush to the Ace
700.00
3000.00
So I won it which was good... but doubt i'll be visiting the normal HU SnGs any time soon. Exhausting!
Anyway. Today rather stupidly i played a few of my 'normal' £11 games despite not being remotely rolled for them. They all went fruitless... that was until the midnight tournament. I played the midnight and 12:30 - my two favourite tournaments without a shadow of a doubt. The half 12 I ran awfully. I mean absolutely shockingly. Two hands of note: Got KK in on a 7710 flop against A10 only for an Ace to hit the river. Got 25bbs all in pre with AJs (bounty involved)... cold called by J8 which got there.
But the 12:30 tournament is not the one I want to talk about.
The midnight tournament started off brilliantly actually. I was quickly up to 8k and cruising in a smallish field. Only 5 people were in it at the start (250 gtd) so I thought there was a decent chance of overlay. But no... it got its 26 runners to break the guarentee. A small field... but also a small payout structure - only top 3 were in the money.
I was running OK throughout the tournament, however when we got down to the last 12 (weird as we started with 5) I switched tables and my 10k stack dwindled to 4k and i found myself struggling. I managed to sneak onto the final table and DU only to throw it away straight away raising into my flush draw and not getting there... and I was back to the short stack.
I had about 3.5k to everyone elses 12k+ 4 handed on the bubble at 150/300 blinds. I looked to be in terrible shape. Stealing blinds if and when I could (i never got called which was nice) and rolled my chips up to 5k by the time 250/500 blinds came around. Then the important hand...
gazza127
Small blind
250.00
250.00
5205.50
ryan83
Big blind
500.00
750.00
16645.00
Your hole cards
5
5
jp129
Raise
1300.00
2050.00
19680.50
wi03
Fold
gazza127
All-in
5205.50
7255.50
0.00
ryan83
Fold
jp129
Call
4155.50
11411.00
15525.00
gazza127
Show
5
5
jp129
Show
J
A
Flop
Q
2
2
Turn
9
River
10
gazza127
Win
Two Pairs, 5s and 2s
11411.00
11411.00
A won flip and I was back in it.
Then another spot presented itself and suddenly I was chip leader.
yan83
Small blind
250.00
250.00
16395.00
jp129
Big blind
500.00
750.00
7606.00
Your hole cards
8
7
wi03
Fold
gazza127
Raise
1000.00
1750.00
9661.00
ryan83
Fold
jp129
Call
500.00
2250.00
7106.00
Flop
7
7
K
jp129
All-in
7106.00
9356.00
0.00
gazza127
Call
7106.00
16462.00
2555.00
jp129
Show
K
6
gazza127
Show
8
7
Turn
3
River
5
gazza127
Win
Three 7s
16462.00
19017.00
I managed to swing my weight around a couple of times and put a bit of pressure on the other two players... and after Wi knocked out Ryan (TP v Flush draw) I was heads up.
A couple of weird HHs involved in the HU but not gunna post them.
I'll just post my winning hand.
gazza127
Small blind
300.00
300.00
32698.00
wi03
Big blind
600.00
900.00
18402.00
Your hole cards
K
K
gazza127
Raise
900.00
1800.00
31798.00
wi03
Raise
1800.00
3600.00
16602.00
gazza127
Raise
4200.00
7800.00
27598.00
wi03
All-in
16602.00
24402.00
0.00
gazza127
Call
13602.00
38004.00
13996.00
gazza127
Show
K
K
wi03
Show
10
A
Flop
J
6
5
Turn
10
River
8
gazza127
Win
Pair of Kings
38004.00
52000.00
Thats right. Winning hand.
I won!
Feels so good to bink a tournament. Admittidly as i played a few tournaments during the day a little outside of my BR im not looaaads up in profit today.... but still a decent amount to brag about.
Pleased with how I played. Especially as shortstack... and in the later stages.
Ok day today... although i am pretty annoyed at myself.
Cashed in a small rebuy in 5th for a small profit... and just finished 2nd in a £200 Gtd.
HU was frustrating. I was playing against an aggro opponent who had the chip advantage. I tried to bide my time and wait for the right spot to DU, but it just never came. I couldnt get any hands to showdown. I kept playing back at him but I simply never had a hand worthy to call him even when I knew he was bluffing. I got a bit fed up of drawing so thinly in the HU that I got attached to my 10 on a 5710 board and wouldnt let go simply not believing he could have me beat. He did. I could and should have been more patient. I had the chip stack to get back. Only one DU is what I needed to get to even stacks. Urgh.
Infuriating.
Either way I suppose I can take some positives.
Its another cash. Its another FT. And the BR is on a steady upslope. £124 - rearrange the numbers and you get £241. I suppose thats not bad considering i've not played a great deal since starting with my C4P on Thursday. Keeping myself grounded to the lower stakes and seeing if I can continue along the same lines.
So lets start at the beginning... as most stories should start.
I decided to play quite a few tournaments this evening. I'll only focus on the ones that something interesting actually happened. I started with a 200gtd. I built my stack up nicely and after about an hour I was well above average stack. That was until I was in a bit of a messy all in pre with JJ bvb. I was up against AJ crushing his outs to just 3. Unfortunate for me he binked his Ace and I was back to average stack. The very next hand I pick up KQs on the button. It gets min raised from middle position and I shove for 15bigs. I get snap called by K7. Great... i've got his range covered again. Oops... a 7 on the turn and I was out. Was starting to think it wasnt going to be my night.
I decided to late reg the main and mini. Cant think of anything of too much interest. The only hand I can remember was getting my AA cracked by J2 all in pre in the mini. Don't mind villains play as such as I was quite aggro and he had probably enough FE with 11bb to get a fold from my average hands. But it wasnt to be.
So... this is where the night takes a turn for the better.
I decide to register for a speed BH direct sat... £6 entry - 1 in 10 get seats. I played very well even if i do say so myself. Cant remember making any mistakes. Even folded 88 and AQs near the bubble circa my hand in the clinic . Top 3 got seats and 4th got cash. TBH when 5th got knocked out I was debating just donking myself out and taking the cash... I couldnt do the old trick of registering for the BH, getting my seat then deregistering and getting the money as the tournament just started. I wasnt sure if I wanted to play any more poker and the £44 was a tempting guarenteed addition to my small roll. But the short stack was so short that it was inevitable that id get the seat. Into the £55 Speed BH for £6. Happy days. And who said I couldnt play satellites?
The speed BH went very well. I kept patient in the early stages despite not picking up many hands, grinding out the small pots here and there and trying to avoid playing for stacks unless I had near enough nutted hand. I built my stack up and knocked out a couple of people and I was freerolling. With about 12 left I got into sticky territory with about 8bb. Lucky for me the two guys to my left had similar sized stacks so I could put max pressure on their blinds.
After about 4 all ins in consequetive hands I was pushing my luck a bit. I did have decent hands which included 77, AJ, KQ and QJs, but I was happy to see folds each and every time.
The 5th hand I picked up A10 and decided again, as blinds had just gone up , to shove.
In the interest of fairness, as I have been moaning about variance of late... this is what happened.
cassa
Small blind
600.00
600.00
10010.00
mrlee17
Big blind
1200.00
1800.00
8210.00
Your hole cards
10
A
mewillows
Fold
gazza127
All-in
12934.00
14734.00
0.00
twicetwo
Fold
high_tea
Fold
cassa
All-in
10010.00
24744.00
0.00
mrlee17
Fold
gazza127
Unmatched bet
2324.00
22420.00
2324.00
cassa
Show
Q
A
gazza127
Show
10
A
Flop
3
8
3
Turn
10
River
8
gazza127
Win
Two Pairs, 10s and 8s
22420.00
24744.00
Take that variance!
So yes, extremely lucky to get there, but after all the bad beats recently it was about time I got a bit of run good!
I got into the cash 2nd or 3rd in chips... And watched as mewillows rolled over the table. I couldnt do anything... I had 0 hands of note and could only look on and watch him ladder me up without me playing one hand of note. He knocked out 3rd place and suddenly we were HU.
HU wasnt long. I was short - after all it was a Speed BH, and after about 6/7 hands I found an ace and shoved. Looked up by a better ace which held.
gazza127
Small blind
3000.00
3000.00
41804.00
mewillows
Big blind
6000.00
9000.00
129196.00
Your hole cards
6
A
gazza127
All-in
41804.00
50804.00
0.00
mewillows
Call
38804.00
89608.00
90392.00
gazza127
Show
6
A
mewillows
Show
7
A
Flop
5
Q
9
Turn
10
River
3
mewillows
Win
Ace high
89608.00
180000.00
The hand plays exactly the same if the hands are reversed. Just a tad unlucky I suppose.
But a second place finish will do me very nicely. I felt as if I played well throughout and that one hand A10 v AQ was pivotal to the cash... so I ran quite good too. Makes a change!
Second place + 3 bounties = £320ish
£6 into £320 isnt bad
Also cashed in the 2k £11 BH for another £25ish.
So from my initial £124 C4P im now looking at a healthy roll of £526 in less than a week. Wowza... maybe I should play lower stakes more often and try out these sats a bit more eh?
Wished I could have DU there so we could get a proper HU game going. It was over before it really got started!
I've come across you on the tables a few times, but must admit I can't remember ever being on a FT with you. You just ran over the rest of us when there was 4/5 left. I was helpless! lol. I'll take a 2nd any day of the week though with how things have been going of late, especially from a sat.
I see you got your seat from a sat too... and got the win, so vwp.
Comments
Bit wreckless looking at it in a vacuum, but given player dynamic I wasn't too unhappy with the play.
It is awkward reading these kind of posts back (the ones I post), because time and time again I post something like 'eurgh... horrible downswing is getting to me' followed by a post a few weeks later 'binked a tourny for x amount
I should know by now that my game is high variance - a decision I make consciously... and a style of play which has proven to work long term. So yeah, need to stop moaning and get on with it. Yes, it doesnt help that I decide to withdraw some money when things are on the up as my BR doesnt let me breath when im on the down. One of those things - I like treating myself to things now and again, and if poker can pay for that holiday I have planned rather than digging into my savings I tend to think 'why not?'
Maybe i'll deposit more in the near future and kick on, however short term im going to play it semi conservatively by playing £5 games where I don't need the biggest roll in the world to keep me occupied whilst bored, whilst also riding the downswing im on.
I've explained the A7 hand and my reasonings for doing what I did. As I said I think villain is clicking it back very very wide here so shoving in this scenario is going to be +ev long term.
The A6 hand was against a guy with a wide opening range anyway... let alone the button so I was more than happy to ship my hand expecting to see a lot of KQ, QJ, Q10, J10, 109 hands and worse call me. Just a bit unfortunate that I ran into aces given his opening range.
I may deposit more money in the coming weeks, but going to see how I fair at lower stakes than I usually play. I started at those stakes and built my roll up fairly quickly so I dont see why I wont be able to do it again. Come the end of November i'll see where im at and reassess... I may not need to deposit at all.
Still probably a relatively aggressive BR, but tournaments im looking at tonight include:
£100 Deepstack at 19:15 - £2.20
£200 GTD at 19:30 - £5.50
£400 BH at 20:05 - £2.30
£2000 Mini BH at 20:30 - £5.50
£200 GTD at 21:05 - £5.50
£100 Deepstack at 21:15 - £2.20
£250 GTD Speed at 21:45 - £2.20
So thats £25.40 of possible tournaments.
I'm definitely not going to play them all. Possibly just one of the £200 GTDs and one of the Deepstacks. Then its 5 tournaments for £17.70.
Sounds good to me.
Entered a number of £5 tournies with my epic £124 BR. Cashed in two of them. 3rd and 5th respectively... But as I played something like 7/8 tournaments in total the overall profit was marginal.
Experienced a bit of run good tonight which made for a pleasant evening. Although that one bit of run good was against Geldy getting towards the cash in one of the £200 Gtds. I was above av stack on the Button with KJ. Geldy was on the SB with roughly 11BBs if I remember correctly and I decided I would minraise/call any shove thinking Geldys shoving range is still going to be relatively wide with enough FE to fold out my average hands. So I min-raised... he shoved and I called. He had AK. Woops. Lucky for me the board decided to give me the nut straight - sorry Geldy. If it makes you feel any better geldy my luck swiftly turned back the other way.
Got bored later on and as there are no tournaments and cash was a no go I decided to play some SnGs. Only 11 quid games were running which was slightly irritating but I decided id enter 1 DYM and 1 HU Turbo. Won both with very minimal fuss.
Not a bad day. Enjoyed most of what I played and ended the day in OK profit of £30... which doesnt seem like much but in terms of a £124 roll its like an extra 23% or something.
Just played the longest HU game ever. It was a normal heads up game... not turbo or speed. Regged it by accident - thought it was speed. So the blinds were 7 minutes which made for a much longer game than I intended. I ground him down and got the massive chip lead quite early on... then a series of all ins all fell his way...
Eventually got there.
Then you realise its even worse as you proceed to tell the table what had happened and the villain says 'Its ok I had you beat. I had two pair'
Sigh.
Anyway. Today rather stupidly i played a few of my 'normal' £11 games despite not being remotely rolled for them. They all went fruitless... that was until the midnight tournament. I played the midnight and 12:30 - my two favourite tournaments without a shadow of a doubt. The half 12 I ran awfully. I mean absolutely shockingly. Two hands of note: Got KK in on a 7710 flop against A10 only for an Ace to hit the river. Got 25bbs all in pre with AJs (bounty involved)... cold called by J8 which got there.
But the 12:30 tournament is not the one I want to talk about.
The midnight tournament started off brilliantly actually. I was quickly up to 8k and cruising in a smallish field. Only 5 people were in it at the start (250 gtd) so I thought there was a decent chance of overlay. But no... it got its 26 runners to break the guarentee. A small field... but also a small payout structure - only top 3 were in the money.
I was running OK throughout the tournament, however when we got down to the last 12 (weird as we started with 5) I switched tables and my 10k stack dwindled to 4k and i found myself struggling. I managed to sneak onto the final table and DU only to throw it away straight away raising into my flush draw and not getting there... and I was back to the short stack.
I had about 3.5k to everyone elses 12k+ 4 handed on the bubble at 150/300 blinds. I looked to be in terrible shape. Stealing blinds if and when I could (i never got called which was nice) and rolled my chips up to 5k by the time 250/500 blinds came around. Then the important hand...
Then another spot presented itself and suddenly I was chip leader.
A couple of weird HHs involved in the HU but not gunna post them.
I'll just post my winning hand.
I won!
Feels so good to bink a tournament. Admittidly as i played a few tournaments during the day a little outside of my BR im not looaaads up in profit today.... but still a decent amount to brag about.
Pleased with how I played. Especially as shortstack... and in the later stages.
Going to bed happy
Cashed in a small rebuy in 5th for a small profit... and just finished 2nd in a £200 Gtd.
HU was frustrating. I was playing against an aggro opponent who had the chip advantage. I tried to bide my time and wait for the right spot to DU, but it just never came. I couldnt get any hands to showdown. I kept playing back at him but I simply never had a hand worthy to call him even when I knew he was bluffing. I got a bit fed up of drawing so thinly in the HU that I got attached to my 10 on a 5710 board and wouldnt let go simply not believing he could have me beat. He did. I could and should have been more patient. I had the chip stack to get back. Only one DU is what I needed to get to even stacks. Urgh.
Infuriating.
Either way I suppose I can take some positives.
Its another cash. Its another FT. And the BR is on a steady upslope. £124 - rearrange the numbers and you get £241. I suppose thats not bad considering i've not played a great deal since starting with my C4P on Thursday. Keeping myself grounded to the lower stakes and seeing if I can continue along the same lines.
So lets start at the beginning... as most stories should start.
I decided to play quite a few tournaments this evening. I'll only focus on the ones that something interesting actually happened. I started with a 200gtd. I built my stack up nicely and after about an hour I was well above average stack. That was until I was in a bit of a messy all in pre with JJ bvb. I was up against AJ crushing his outs to just 3. Unfortunate for me he binked his Ace and I was back to average stack. The very next hand I pick up KQs on the button. It gets min raised from middle position and I shove for 15bigs. I get snap called by K7. Great... i've got his range covered again. Oops... a 7 on the turn and I was out. Was starting to think it wasnt going to be my night.
I decided to late reg the main and mini. Cant think of anything of too much interest. The only hand I can remember was getting my AA cracked by J2 all in pre in the mini. Don't mind villains play as such as I was quite aggro and he had probably enough FE with 11bb to get a fold from my average hands. But it wasnt to be.
So... this is where the night takes a turn for the better.
I decide to register for a speed BH direct sat... £6 entry - 1 in 10 get seats. I played very well even if i do say so myself. Cant remember making any mistakes. Even folded 88 and AQs near the bubble circa my hand in the clinic
The speed BH went very well. I kept patient in the early stages despite not picking up many hands, grinding out the small pots here and there and trying to avoid playing for stacks unless I had near enough nutted hand. I built my stack up and knocked out a couple of people and I was freerolling. With about 12 left I got into sticky territory with about 8bb. Lucky for me the two guys to my left had similar sized stacks so I could put max pressure on their blinds.
After about 4 all ins in consequetive hands I was pushing my luck a bit. I did have decent hands which included 77, AJ, KQ and QJs, but I was happy to see folds each and every time.
The 5th hand I picked up A10 and decided again, as blinds had just gone up , to shove.
In the interest of fairness, as I have been moaning about variance of late... this is what happened.
So yes, extremely lucky to get there, but after all the bad beats recently it was about time I got a bit of run good!
I got into the cash 2nd or 3rd in chips... And watched as mewillows rolled over the table. I couldnt do anything... I had 0 hands of note and could only look on and watch him ladder me up without me playing one hand of note. He knocked out 3rd place and suddenly we were HU.
HU wasnt long. I was short - after all it was a Speed BH, and after about 6/7 hands I found an ace and shoved. Looked up by a better ace which held.
But a second place finish will do me very nicely. I felt as if I played well throughout and that one hand A10 v AQ was pivotal to the cash... so I ran quite good too. Makes a change!
Second place + 3 bounties = £320ish
£6 into £320 isnt bad
Also cashed in the 2k £11 BH for another £25ish.
So from my initial £124 C4P im now looking at a healthy roll of £526 in less than a week. Wowza... maybe I should play lower stakes more often and try out these sats a bit more eh?
Good day
Wished I could have DU there so we could get a proper HU game going. It was over before it really got started!
I've come across you on the tables a few times, but must admit I can't remember ever being on a FT with you. You just ran over the rest of us when there was 4/5 left. I was helpless! lol. I'll take a 2nd any day of the week though with how things have been going of late, especially from a sat.
I see you got your seat from a sat too... and got the win, so vwp.
Must be nice