First up today was a £2.20 rebuy. I had a good start when a bingo player made one of the worst bluffs I’ve ever to double my stack (see below). After the hour break a mistake dented my chances badly, I called a 3-bet shove with AQ and ran into a dominating hand. I'm angry with myself because I'd already made an identical mistake earlier this week. Note to self; do not raise/call AQ against tight players with 15 to 20 BB stacks. With 7 left a harsh beat finished me off; my AQ lost to AJ aipf with a short stack’s KT also in the pot when a hold would have sent me to final table second in chips.
Next I registered for two £2.30 Bounty Hunters. In the first I got donked out by a bingo player who cracked my KK with Q9o. Pocket KK continues to be the unluckiest hand in poker for me by far; it almost never holds and has been my bust-out hand in multiple tournaments over the last couple of months. The second game started well and I held a top two stack for most of the first hour. The wheels started to come off when my JT was unable to hold vs K5 after the chips went in on a J52r flop. 5 minutes later I lost with JJ<77 aipf to leave me with 10BB, a few hands after that I was out.
After running so badly I almost snap quit for the day, then had second thoughts and registered for the 3-30pm £5.75 Bounty Hunter. It was a wild start; 25% of the entrants were eliminated within two levels. I kept out of the early madness and played very few hands. Forty minutes in my AA got paid off by a maniac to put me above average for a while. I started to play more pots but couldn’t make a hand and my chips ebbed away. Getting short after 75 minutes of play I found a good shove spot over a serial limper, he made a light call and flopped trip tens with his KT to bust me.
It was one of those frustrating days where I feel I played pretty well and got myself in to some promising positions only to see it come to nothing due to running badly in key pots. The only mistake that really stands out being my raise/call with AQ (again)in the rebuy. I finished up with a few hyper HU matches to give myself the pshycological boost of a £400+ closing balance.
The afternoon Bounty Hunters were farcical today, flooded with bingo maniacs who just want to gamble. It makes the games very difficult to play. You have to make a series of big holds to stand any chance of running deep. I tried one £5.75 game in which I took on a maniac with my AK in level 1, all my chips went in against his KQ pre-flop. A queen was the first community card dealt and I was out. While I don’t mind investing £5.75 of my balance in a poker tournament I’m not prepared to put that much into a roulette game so I retreated to £2.30 tables.
In the first four £2.30s I drew blanks, unable to get anything going in the mayhem. In the fifth I managed to make the money after a rollercoaster ride that included just about everything including a Royal Flush. After a long period as chipleader a brutal beat deprived me of a commanding position; with 16 left from 75 entrants I got my chips all-in on the flop with 85% equity against a maniac player standing a close second to me in chips with an all-in shortstack also in the pot. A hold would have won me two head prizes and left me with 3x as many chips as anybody else in the field with only 14 players left. I couldn’t make the hold; my opponent hit his 3-outer with 2 cards to come and my stack was crippled. A few hands earlier the same player had already doubled off me with A3 />AK on an A-high flop when he spiked a 3 on the river. He later went on to win the tournament somehow hitting his miracle cards again and again. A flush trebled me up and gave hope of a comeback, however soon after the bubble burst I lost back to back flips to bust in 9th; my overcards < pair, then my pair < overcards.
It was a very frustrating afternoon of poker. At the moment I’m seriously considering giving up low stakes MTTs at the weekend. I’m here because I want to play poker, lately the games could be better described as bingo or roulette.
After a couple of hours break I returned to try my luck in some evening games without success, probably because I was starting to tilt and play like an idiot. In the Mini I rebought twice to no avail.
Overall I didn’t enjoy my poker at all today. At the moment I’m not sure if I’ll even bother playing tomorrow, I’ll see how I feel in the morning.
Today's Royal Flush, made in only the third hand of a Bounty Hunter tournament. This time the bingo player didn't get me, however I was unable to survive the minefield and another maniac eventually took me down 2 hours later.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancelaurynda09 Small blind 10.00 10.00 4030.00 Big blind 20.00 30.00 1980.00 Your hole cards A J Meredydd Fold GaryQQQ Raise 60.00 90.00 1940.00 14u Fold laurynda09 Fold Call 40.00 130.00 1940.00 Flop Q 3 10 Check GaryQQQ Bet 75.00 205.00 1865.00 Call 75.00 280.00 1865.00 Turn K Bet 280.00 560.00 1585.00 GaryQQQ Call 280.00 840.00 1585.00 River 10 All-in 1585.00 2425.00 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 1585.00 4010.00 0.00 Show 7 7 GaryQQQ Show A J GaryQQQ Win Royal Flush 4010.00 4010.00
Sorry to see that you're on a bit of a downswing at the moment... but it seems like you've got the skillzez to come back from it
You said though that you're not prepared to invest £5.50 in a roulette game... now I'm not knocking your knowledge cause I'm sure you're a better MTT player than me, but don't you want these players on your tables? I mean, the majority of the time when they get it in bad they're going to lose which means that your obviously going to get their chips more often that not.
Got to agree with Mogul, you only win money in poker from people making mistakes, these can be very big mistakes like the hand above or through players slightly worse than you making quite small mistakes where you have a small edge.
Personally I love playing BH's for the very reason that people don't care if they go out and will play lots of hands VERY badly to take dat bounty, this results in us getting max value much of the time with our best hands. Yes we will lose like you mention AK < KQ in first paragraph but that's brilliant as 73% of the time we get a double up and can then cruise the first few levels under no pressure.
Oh and nice work on the Royal, always great to get paid in full
same thing as dudeskin and mogul really gary, it is uber anoying when your put in a postion with a premium hand and they bingo shove pre or post but the way to think of it is well you want all there chips there holding so you can get a decent stack and keep building on it so you can go on and win the mtt comfortably. If it means taking a few risks with these bingo players and knowing that your in ahead so be it. As long as your a big favorite these types of players are the ones that help you win mtts unfortunately now and again they get lucky but then on the flip side you will get mtts where your hand holds and you win big. The more chips in the pot the better
In a cash game you'd quickly bust these guys as you happily win 80% of your 80/20s and 70% of your 70/30s. Each time you lose; no big deal, just reload, you'll get probably them next time.
In a tournament it's not that simple, when most of the field are shoving either preflop or on the flop you're going to have to win a whole series of 80/20s and 70/30s to run deep. Lets say you have to hold in three 70/30s and three 80/20s to make the money, the chances of that (70% x 70% x 70% x 80% x 80% x 80%) is only 17%. You'll probably have to make a lot more than six big holds and add in some flips if you're going to be the winner.
This style of play is being used by players who don't know how to play poker conventionally. They are here to gamble, they know their best chance of success is just to jam it in and hope they get lucky. It's particularly prevalent in Bounty Hunters because head prizes come into play.
Yes, tightening right up and only playing your premiums will probably work out in the long run. But is this how we want to play poker? Fold 95%+ of hands then just jam it in and hope for the best every once in a while? Meanwhile the rest of the field will be cannibalising quickly and you'll be down to half of average, your premium will have to hold just for you to keep up. When your 6th 80/20 loses after 2 hours of play to a maniac who got that far by gambling and getting lucky it's pretty soul destroying.
hi Gary,don,t let 1 bad session put you off m8 as you are doing great. u r still up to £380 from £51 so that,s how i,d be looking at it. these challenges always have downswings and u r on one atm. get another winning session in & you will be back on track i,m sure. look at me down to £32 a couple of weeks ago,thinking about aborting my mission.... now i,m on £168.that,s how quickly it can change. as all the guys have said,keep on getting your chips in good. it,s another day as they say.... "so go get ,em"tiger........aaaaaargh.
In a cash game you'd quickly bust these guys as you happily win 80% of your 80/20s and 70% of your 70/30s. Each time you lose; no big deal, just reload, you'll get probably them next time. In a tournament it's not that simple, when most of the field are shoving either preflop or on the flop you're going to have to win a whole series of 80/20s and 70/30s to run deep. Lets say you have to hold in three 70/30s and three 80/20s to make the money, the chances of that (70% x 70% x 70% x 80% x 80% x 80%) is only 17%. You'll probably have to make a lot more than six big holds and add in some flips if you're going to be the winner. This style of play is being used by players who don't know how to play poker conventionally. They are here to gamble, they know their best chance of success is just to jam it in and hope they get lucky. It's particularly prevalent in Bounty Hunters because head prizes come into play. Yes, tightening right up and only playing your premiums will probably work out in the long run. But is this how we want to play poker? Fold 95%+ of hands then just jam it in and hope for the best every once in a while? Meanwhile the rest of the field will be cannibalising quickly and you'll be down to half of average, your premium will have to hold just for you to keep up. When your 6th 80/20 loses after 2 hours of play to a maniac who got that far by gambling and getting lucky it's pretty soul destroying. Posted by GaryQQQ
It seems like you're describing this as if it's a rare occurence but surely this is how all MTT's work in that you HAVE to survive lots of spots where you're ahead of even flipping as well as win when you're behind.
Also on average even if you're the best player in the world you won't cash that often probably between 10-20% of the time, and then to go on to actually win or place in the top 3 it must drop even lower to like 1-5%.
What seperates the winners from losers is those who go all out for the win and don't crawl in to the money knowing one big score will pay for many more tourneys down the road, getting that result however can take a very long time but that is also why it feels so great when you do get there.
No joy in the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. I busted each early with flopped top pair and a decent kicker, that’s usually good enough in these games but I ran into better today. In a £2.30 game with a small field I made a run to final table and got second place, though not for much money. On the way I saw one hilarious hand in which the biggest stacks mighty 62s won a 4-way all-in and take 3 head prizes in one go; that’s the sort of play you’re up against in these games. Heads-up there was nothing I could, my opponent connected with nearly every flop and I couldn’t connect with any.
I wasn’t enjoying the poker today and quit at lunchtime after a few quick HU games. May poker points 384
hi again Gary, if u r not enjoying your poker atm as u say,why not try something diferent even if it,s just 4 a day or 2? that,s what i do anyway,and it works 4 me. best wishes, :-) dev
After getting all worked up about ‘bingo’ players over the weekend I returned to the tables in a far more relaxed frame of mind today. Probably helped by seeing the superb Olympic Torch relay twice in the last 24 hours. Yesterday afternoon I took all the family to see it arrive in Exeter. Then I had the chance to see it again this morning as it passed through my milkround while on its way out of the city at 7-30am.
First poker of the day was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. After a slow, card-dead start I successfully doubled off a bingo player with my pocket JJ; he 3-bet shoved 47o from the BB in a BvB pot, I called and held. My table immediately broke and I picked QQ in my very first hand at the new table. I open raised, another player made a big 3-bet, I jammed. QQ is miles ahead of most players’ all-in ranges in these games (as the 47o shows), however this time I regretted not reading my notes before jamming. After being knocked out by my opponents pocket AA I opened the little yellow box and read ‘only seen to 3-bet preflop super strong, QQ+’.
Next up was a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. The play in this was even wilder than in the £2.30 game; multiple all-ins from the off and chips flying around the table, 50% of the field had been eliminated within 4 levels. I tightened right up and missed the few flops I saw in the early stages. When down to less than 20BB in level 4 I decided to gamble with 9d8d against a maniac and doubled vs his overcards. After a lengthy card-dead spell I found myself down to less than starting stack with blinds at 200/100. I had to go with A4s and ran into AK to bust in 17th/56. I’ve reviewed the hand history to see if I was playing too nitty and come to the conclusion that I wasn’t. For example; the strongest pocket pair dealt to me in 77 minutes of play was 66 during level 3 and I didn’t pick up AK once.
Another £2.30 game followed and a the same pattern continued; I picked up a load junk and my stack slowly withered away while I watched other players making ridiculous plays. Eventually I shoved a strong ace into a light-calling maniac when he happened to be holding a stronger ace. This time I hadn’t picked up any pocket pairs at all, also no AK again.
That was enough for the day. I drew a complete blank, though I think I can honestly say I just didn’t get the cards to work with. My strongest hole cards in three and a half hours of play (QQ) was a bust-out hand, after that I had JJ once and 66 once, nothing better than that. I didn’t make a set, a flush or a straight in the whole session, also I didn't pick up AK or play a single flip. I'll be back to try again tomorrow, hopefully a few cards will come my way.
Fun hand of the day. Can you capable of making this shove? Or the call for that matter? You see it all in the low stakes 'Bingo Hunters'.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance1317 Small blind 20.00 20.00 2515.00 flamefree Big blind 40.00 60.00 3080.00 Your hole cards 4 J GaryQQQ Fold M Call 40.00 100.00 2150.00 b Raise 160.00 260.00 2220.00 fizzy4444 Fold 1317 Call 140.00 400.00 2375.00 flamefree Fold M Call 120.00 520.00 2030.00 Flop J K 5 1317 Check M Check b Bet 360.00 880.00 1860.00 1317 Fold M Call 360.00 1240.00 1670.00 Turn J M Check b All-in 1860.00 3100.00 0.00 M All-in 1670.00 4770.00 0.00 b Unmatched bet 190.00 4580.00 190.00 M Show 7 A b Show 7 8 River 5 M Win Two Pairs, Jacks and 5s 4580.00 4580.00
My first game today was the 10-45am £3.30 Bounty Hunter. As has become the norm in these ‘bingo poker’ was the order of the day. I used the same tactic as yesterday and played uber-tight while watching most of the other players merrily go to war with mediocre holdings. After folding every hand for 20 minutes I 3-bet shoved AK preflop and doubled against AQ. I went on a mini heater after that and took two head prizes and moved well above average. Things started to go awry when I picked up pocket KK (as mentioned here many times before KK is my jinxed hand) and lost a third of my stack. I sigh/folded on the river to a donk shove. The hand history is below. I’ve thought long and hard about this hand and think my fold was probably correct. I had no notes/reads on the villain, he’d been keeping it fairly tight since I joined the table and I hadn’t seen him do anything crazy. Anyway, after that fold I didn’t win another hand and busted when I jammed QdJd into AKo and failed to improve.
Next up was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. I busted in a classic bingo hand; my pocket AA lost to Q8o that got there after calling my check-shove on a T6J rainbow flop. Then I tried a £5.75 game, I lasted for 47 minutes of play during which I only won one hand; picking up a limp and the blinds when I squeeze-shoved with AK shortly before my exit. Apart from that I couldn’t pick up a hand and missed every flop seen. The only pocket pair I saw was 44. My bust came when I jammed KTs from the button over limpers and ran into KQs in the blinds when down to 11BB behind.
My second £5.75 of the day had a more promising start as I added 50% to my starting stack in the first couple of levels. My cause was further helped in level 3 I picked up AA on the button and opened to 3xBB. A bingo maniac 3-bet shoved his 39BB from the BB with KJo, my overpair held and I collected his bounty. Soon after that I made quad aces with my A4o when it was limped around to me on the big blind. I got paid in full and took another two heads. Head number four soon followed when I made a straight to bust a short stack. By now I’d won back more than the buy-in and was free-rolling in 3rd/21 from 38.
During level 5 I picked up pocket KK in the cut-off and raised to 4x over a limper. The big blind flat-called and the flop came down KTJ rainbow. All the chips went in on the flop, I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see my opponent flip over the only two cards that could beat me; AQ. This was the third time in a row that my flopped top set with pocket KK had been behind to a straight. However, something amazing happened this time; I actually filled up to a house on the river to crack the straight collecting a big pot and head number five. The previous two times I’d flopped top set with kings it had been my exit hand. Have I exorcised my KK demon? Time will tell.
Head number six came when I coolered a guy with a 15BB stack; his QQ ran into my AA. It was unlucky for him, one of those hands that plays itself. Number seven followed a couple of orbits later. With a big stack to play with I could easily afford to call from the big blind with my Jd8d and see a flop after a min raise and flat (in a freezeout I’d probably have folded J8s, in a Bounty Hunter the head prizes make it more attractive to see a flop when there are two fairly short stacks in the pot and there's nobody to act after me). I check/shoved the 883 flop to bust a pot committed short stack holding pocket nines. Going to final table (and to the bubble with five paid) I was second in chips and had £14.55 banked in head prizes. After a cagey start to the FT during which I was card-dead I made quads for the second time in this tournament. I opened 88 from the button and flopped a boat with 8KK. I checked the flop, then fired a bet at the 8 turn which was called. Unfortunately the villain folded to my river value-bet. If he’d held a king his stack would have been mine.
The bubble went when the two shortest stacks got it in with AT and AK on an Axx flop. The T on the river put an unlucky beat on the player with AK who became the bubble boy. The fifth place finisher busted with KK<Q9o aipf. Maybe my KK curse has passed to him? Anyway, 30 minutes later I busted the third place finisher and got heads-up with the chip lead.
After a fierce battle I was very disappointed to finish as runner-up. I feel I played well heads-up, the cards simply didn’t go my way. At one point I got it in with flopped flush for the win but couldn’t hold; my opponent redrew to a higher flush. I made £50 profit from this game, very useful with a goal to achieve, however it would have been around £100 had I won. Maybe I broke my KK curse today, but I still haven’t broken my duck in £5.75 games (since this quest started). This was my best chance by far, I cardracked my way through the tournament, played to the best of my ability, just one more hold with that flush heads-up and I would have made it. I’m more determined to win one than ever now.
A sigh/fold with pocket KK. I narrowed the villains range on the river down to hands that beat me, a bluff with a missed nut flush draw, maybe AhQh and KhQh. I don't think anything else gets to the river. Some potential holdings got there on the river, particularly KhTh and Qh9h.
Great diary Gary, really easy on the eye and well written, look forward to the next instalment Posted by Oopnorth
Thank-you very much, I'm glad you're enjoying it.
(In case anybody is wondering) I don't sit down for ages typing all this out after my session. I actually type it up between hands while I'm playing. After my last hand of the day all need to do is have a quick re-read, correct any mistakes (usually several), and it's ready to post. If there's a hand history I want to include I'll open it up in a seperate tab at the time and have it ready to copy/paste when I've finished playing.
Nice binkage, over £50 cash in the MTT is a lovely sweetener to all of your hard work and discipline, hopefully that will help you leapfrog your way to your target.
After an early finish at work I was home in time for the 9-45am and 10-45am Bounty Hunters. Fields were smaller than usual, presumably due to the sunny weather. Also I was happy to notice there was a lower proportion of a wild bingo-style players in the field than of late; most of the runners were daytime regulars playing proper poker.
In the 9-45 I had a promising run with 2 head prizes and a spell as chipleader. Close to the bubble a couple of coolers doubled up short stacks and put me below average. My exit hand was 44<Q7. A misclick may have sealed my fate; I meant to open shove my pair from the cut-off but made a min-raise in error from only a 10BB stack. The BB flatted. Plan B was to shove at any flop. Unfortunately it came down 772 and my opponent had the easiest of calls with his flopped trips. A bit unlucky as it turns out, I’d have got folds from most of his calling hands if Q7o is in his range. I much prefer the open-shove in this spot and I’ll only consider a min-raise with a premium. As it happens even a premium would have been cracked this time. AA and 44 would be in equal trouble; each drawing to only 2 outs.
In the 10-45 I could neither make nor win a hand and my stack had dwindled down to 1100 with blinds at 100/50. When I picked up AhQh I squeeze-shoved from the button over 2 limpers but couldn’t improve against a caller with pocket nines.
With jobs around the house needing my attention and an afternoon blood donation appointment I was unable to commit to any more MTTs. I squeezed in a few low stakes Hyper HU STTs when I could. I enjoy the hypers; they’re fast and fun, and a quick way to build up my poker points, ensuring I reach the 500 threshold to qualify for a C4P payment. Variance is high, though over a big sample it’s not too difficult to beat the rake and make a small ROI.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance147Potter Small blind 300.00 300.00 6555.00 Duge Big blind 600.00 900.00 13580.00 Your hole cards 4 4 wilbur65 Fold GaryQQQ Raise 1200.00 2100.00 4735.00 LARGEJIM Fold 147Potter Fold Duge Call 600.00 2700.00 12980.00 Flop 7 7 2 Duge Check GaryQQQ All-in 4735.00 7435.00 0.00 Duge Call 4735.00 12170.00 8245.00 Duge Show 7 Q GaryQQQ Show 4 4 Turn 2 River 5 Duge Win Full House, 7s and 2s 12170.00 20415.00
Comments
Closing balance £400.26
First up today was a £2.20 rebuy. I had a good start when a bingo player made one of the worst bluffs I’ve ever to double my stack (see below). After the hour break a mistake dented my chances badly, I called a 3-bet shove with AQ and ran into a dominating hand. I'm angry with myself because I'd already made an identical mistake earlier this week. Note to self; do not raise/call AQ against tight players with 15 to 20 BB stacks. With 7 left a harsh beat finished me off; my AQ lost to AJ aipf with a short stack’s KT also in the pot when a hold would have sent me to final table second in chips.
Next I registered for two £2.30 Bounty Hunters. In the first I got donked out by a bingo player who cracked my KK with Q9o. Pocket KK continues to be the unluckiest hand in poker for me by far; it almost never holds and has been my bust-out hand in multiple tournaments over the last couple of months. The second game started well and I held a top two stack for most of the first hour. The wheels started to come off when my JT was unable to hold vs K5 after the chips went in on a J52r flop. 5 minutes later I lost with JJ<77 aipf to leave me with 10BB, a few hands after that I was out.
After running so badly I almost snap quit for the day, then had second thoughts and registered for the 3-30pm £5.75 Bounty Hunter. It was a wild start; 25% of the entrants were eliminated within two levels. I kept out of the early madness and played very few hands. Forty minutes in my AA got paid off by a maniac to put me above average for a while. I started to play more pots but couldn’t make a hand and my chips ebbed away. Getting short after 75 minutes of play I found a good shove spot over a serial limper, he made a light call and flopped trip tens with his KT to bust me.
It was one of those frustrating days where I feel I played pretty well and got myself in to some promising positions only to see it come to nothing due to running badly in key pots. The only mistake that really stands out being my raise/call with AQ (again)in the rebuy. I finished up with a few hyper HU matches to give myself the pshycological boost of a £400+ closing balance.
GameIDDate (UTC+0100)TypeEntryFeePositionProfit6351981 18-May-12 18:06 NL Holdem £520/55-£5.756354712 18-May-12 17:17 NL Holdem £31/2£2.856354733 18-May-12 17:10 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056354729 18-May-12 17:06 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056354699 18-May-12 17:00 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956351496 18-May-12 16:51 NL Holdem £223/30-£2.306351299 18-May-12 16:23 NL Holdem £214/41-£0.386354322 18-May-12 15:30 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956352417 18-May-12 14:20 NL Holdem £25/15-£2.206353920 18-May-12 14:00 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956353904 18-May-12 13:48 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.05
May poker points 323
Bingo poker in action. Have you ever seen a worse bluff than this?
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance Bingo!Small blind 20.00 20.00 2575.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 40.00 60.00 3070.00 Your hole cards J 10 koskickbol Fold hank1984 Fold Bingo!Raise 60.00 120.00 2515.00 GaryQQQ Call 40.00 160.00 3030.00 Flop K Q A Bingo!All-in 2515.00 2675.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Call 2515.00 5190.00 515.00 Bingo!Show 6 2 GaryQQQ Show J 10 Turn 10 River 10 GaryQQQ Win Straight to the Ace 5190.00 5705.00
This hand sums up how I ran in key pots today;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancecanny3911 Small blind 150.00 150.00 14155.00 orbry Big blind 300.00 450.00 8350.00 Your hole cards J J XXXNETXXX Call 300.00 750.00 1970.00 GaryQQQ All-in 5550.00 6300.00 0.00 jmearns64 Fold canny3911 Fold orbry Fold XXXNETXXX All-in 1970.00 8270.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 3280.00 4990.00 3280.00 XXXNETXXX Show 7 7 GaryQQQ Show J J Flop 8 5 A Turn 10 River Q XXXNETXXX Win Flush to the Ace 4990.00 4990.00
Closing balance £379.81
The afternoon Bounty Hunters were farcical today, flooded with bingo maniacs who just want to gamble. It makes the games very difficult to play. You have to make a series of big holds to stand any chance of running deep. I tried one £5.75 game in which I took on a maniac with my AK in level 1, all my chips went in against his KQ pre-flop. A queen was the first community card dealt and I was out. While I don’t mind investing £5.75 of my balance in a poker tournament I’m not prepared to put that much into a roulette game so I retreated to £2.30 tables.
In the first four £2.30s I drew blanks, unable to get anything going in the mayhem. In the fifth I managed to make the money after a rollercoaster ride that included just about everything including a Royal Flush. After a long period as chipleader a brutal beat deprived me of a commanding position; with 16 left from 75 entrants I got my chips all-in on the flop with 85% equity against a maniac player standing a close second to me in chips with an all-in shortstack also in the pot. A hold would have won me two head prizes and left me with 3x as many chips as anybody else in the field with only 14 players left. I couldn’t make the hold; my opponent hit his 3-outer with 2 cards to come and my stack was crippled. A few hands earlier the same player had already doubled off me with A3 />AK on an A-high flop when he spiked a 3 on the river. He later went on to win the tournament somehow hitting his miracle cards again and again. A flush trebled me up and gave hope of a comeback, however soon after the bubble burst I lost back to back flips to bust in 9th; my overcards < pair, then my pair < overcards.
It was a very frustrating afternoon of poker. At the moment I’m seriously considering giving up low stakes MTTs at the weekend. I’m here because I want to play poker, lately the games could be better described as bingo or roulette.
After a couple of hours break I returned to try my luck in some evening games without success, probably because I was starting to tilt and play like an idiot. In the Mini I rebought twice to no avail.
Overall I didn’t enjoy my poker at all today. At the moment I’m not sure if I’ll even bother playing tomorrow, I’ll see how I feel in the morning.
May poker points 369
GameIDDate (UTC+0100)TypeEntryFeePositionProfit6357314 20-May-12 00:56 NL Holdem £3286/349-£3.306357987 20-May-12 00:55 NL Holdem £2184/191-£2.306357963 20-May-12 00:12 NL Holdem £2168/227-£2.306361178 19-May-12 21:05 NL Holdem £31/2£2.856361182 19-May-12 20:59 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056358442 19-May-12 20:21 NL Holdem (Sat) £2.2030/39-£2.406357316 19-May-12 19:18 NL Holdem £29/75£5.026354465 19-May-12 18:22 NL Holdem £0353/356£06356548 19-May-12 16:50 NL Holdem £218/66-£1.326357217 19-May-12 16:46 NL Holdem £223/32-£2.206356351 19-May-12 16:43 NL Holdem £269/77-£2.306356254 19-May-12 16:06 NL Holdem £565/69-£5.756359637 19-May-12 15:56 NL Holdem £31/2£2.856359659 19-May-12 15:52 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056355747 19-May-12 14:53 NL Holdem £231/68-£1.556359231 19-May-12 13:49 NL Holdem £11/2£0.95
Today's Royal Flush, made in only the third hand of a Bounty Hunter tournament. This time the bingo player didn't get me, however I was unable to survive the minefield and another maniac eventually took me down 2 hours later.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancelaurynda09 Small blind 10.00 10.00 4030.00 Big blind 20.00 30.00 1980.00 Your hole cards A J Meredydd Fold GaryQQQ Raise 60.00 90.00 1940.00 14u Fold laurynda09 Fold Call 40.00 130.00 1940.00 Flop Q 3 10 Check GaryQQQ Bet 75.00 205.00 1865.00 Call 75.00 280.00 1865.00 Turn K Bet 280.00 560.00 1585.00 GaryQQQ Call 280.00 840.00 1585.00 River 10 All-in 1585.00 2425.00 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 1585.00 4010.00 0.00 Show 7 7 GaryQQQ Show A J GaryQQQ Win Royal Flush 4010.00 4010.00
You said though that you're not prepared to invest £5.50 in a roulette game... now I'm not knocking your knowledge cause I'm sure you're a better MTT player than me, but don't you want these players on your tables? I mean, the majority of the time when they get it in bad they're going to lose which means that your obviously going to get their chips more often that not.
Cheers
Mogul
In a tournament it's not that simple, when most of the field are shoving either preflop or on the flop you're going to have to win a whole series of 80/20s and 70/30s to run deep. Lets say you have to hold in three 70/30s and three 80/20s to make the money, the chances of that (70% x 70% x 70% x 80% x 80% x 80%) is only 17%. You'll probably have to make a lot more than six big holds and add in some flips if you're going to be the winner.
This style of play is being used by players who don't know how to play poker conventionally. They are here to gamble, they know their best chance of success is just to jam it in and hope they get lucky. It's particularly prevalent in Bounty Hunters because head prizes come into play.
Yes, tightening right up and only playing your premiums will probably work out in the long run. But is this how we want to play poker? Fold 95%+ of hands then just jam it in and hope for the best every once in a while? Meanwhile the rest of the field will be cannibalising quickly and you'll be down to half of average, your premium will have to hold just for you to keep up. When your 6th 80/20 loses after 2 hours of play to a maniac who got that far by gambling and getting lucky it's pretty soul destroying.
u r still up to £380 from £51 so that,s how i,d be looking at it.
these challenges always have downswings and u r on one atm.
get another winning session in & you will be back on track i,m sure.
look at me down to £32 a couple of weeks ago,thinking about aborting my mission....
now i,m on £168.that,s how quickly it can change.
as all the guys have said,keep on getting your chips in good.
it,s another day as they say....
"so go get ,em"tiger........aaaaaargh.
(* *)
"
^
dev
Closing balance £380.22
No joy in the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. I busted each early with flopped top pair and a decent kicker, that’s usually good enough in these games but I ran into better today. In a £2.30 game with a small field I made a run to final table and got second place, though not for much money. On the way I saw one hilarious hand in which the biggest stacks mighty 62s won a 4-way all-in and take 3 head prizes in one go; that’s the sort of play you’re up against in these games. Heads-up there was nothing I could, my opponent connected with nearly every flop and I couldn’t connect with any.
I wasn’t enjoying the poker today and quit at lunchtime after a few quick HU games.
May poker points 384
6361159 20-May-12 13:29 NL Holdem £370/73-£3.306363779 20-May-12 13:16 NL Holdem £31/2£2.856363808 20-May-12 13:15 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056363774 20-May-12 13:10 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.106363757 20-May-12 13:06 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956360905 20-May-12 13:02 NL Holdem £353/66-£3.306363733 20-May-12 13:00 NL Holdem £22/2-£2.106360480 20-May-12 12:45 NL Holdem £22/31£8.46
if u r not enjoying your poker atm as u say,why not try something diferent even if it,s just 4 a day or 2?
that,s what i do anyway,and it works 4 me.
best wishes,
:-)
dev
Closing balance £371.67
After getting all worked up about ‘bingo’ players over the weekend I returned to the tables in a far more relaxed frame of mind today. Probably helped by seeing the superb Olympic Torch relay twice in the last 24 hours. Yesterday afternoon I took all the family to see it arrive in Exeter. Then I had the chance to see it again this morning as it passed through my milkround while on its way out of the city at 7-30am.
First poker of the day was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. After a slow, card-dead start I successfully doubled off a bingo player with my pocket JJ; he 3-bet shoved 47o from the BB in a BvB pot, I called and held. My table immediately broke and I picked QQ in my very first hand at the new table. I open raised, another player made a big 3-bet, I jammed. QQ is miles ahead of most players’ all-in ranges in these games (as the 47o shows), however this time I regretted not reading my notes before jamming. After being knocked out by my opponents pocket AA I opened the little yellow box and read ‘only seen to 3-bet preflop super strong, QQ+’.
Next up was a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. The play in this was even wilder than in the £2.30 game; multiple all-ins from the off and chips flying around the table, 50% of the field had been eliminated within 4 levels. I tightened right up and missed the few flops I saw in the early stages. When down to less than 20BB in level 4 I decided to gamble with 9d8d against a maniac and doubled vs his overcards. After a lengthy card-dead spell I found myself down to less than starting stack with blinds at 200/100. I had to go with A4s and ran into AK to bust in 17th/56. I’ve reviewed the hand history to see if I was playing too nitty and come to the conclusion that I wasn’t. For example; the strongest pocket pair dealt to me in 77 minutes of play was 66 during level 3 and I didn’t pick up AK once.
Another £2.30 game followed and a the same pattern continued; I picked up a load junk and my stack slowly withered away while I watched other players making ridiculous plays. Eventually I shoved a strong ace into a light-calling maniac when he happened to be holding a stronger ace. This time I hadn’t picked up any pocket pairs at all, also no AK again.
That was enough for the day. I drew a complete blank, though I think I can honestly say I just didn’t get the cards to work with. My strongest hole cards in three and a half hours of play (QQ) was a bust-out hand, after that I had JJ once and 66 once, nothing better than that. I didn’t make a set, a flush or a straight in the whole session, also I didn't pick up AK or play a single flip. I'll be back to try again tomorrow, hopefully a few cards will come my way.
May poker points 401
6366808 21-May-12 17:23 NL Holdem £223/40-£2.306366238 21-May-12 16:16 NL Holdem £517/56-£5.756368760 21-May-12 15:49 NL Holdem £31/2£2.856365745 21-May-12 15:05 NL Holdem £229/51-£2.306368659 21-May-12 15:00 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.05
Fun hand of the day. Can you capable of making this shove? Or the call for that matter? You see it all in the low stakes 'Bingo Hunters'.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance1317 Small blind 20.00 20.00 2515.00 flamefree Big blind 40.00 60.00 3080.00 Your hole cards 4 J GaryQQQ Fold M Call 40.00 100.00 2150.00 b Raise 160.00 260.00 2220.00 fizzy4444 Fold 1317 Call 140.00 400.00 2375.00 flamefree Fold M Call 120.00 520.00 2030.00 Flop J K 5 1317 Check M Check b Bet 360.00 880.00 1860.00 1317 Fold M Call 360.00 1240.00 1670.00 Turn J M Check b All-in 1860.00 3100.00 0.00 M All-in 1670.00 4770.00 0.00 b Unmatched bet 190.00 4580.00 190.00 M Show 7 A b Show 7 8 River 5 M Win Two Pairs, Jacks and 5s 4580.00 4580.00
Closing balance £413.45
My first game today was the 10-45am £3.30 Bounty Hunter. As has become the norm in these ‘bingo poker’ was the order of the day. I used the same tactic as yesterday and played uber-tight while watching most of the other players merrily go to war with mediocre holdings. After folding every hand for 20 minutes I 3-bet shoved AK preflop and doubled against AQ. I went on a mini heater after that and took two head prizes and moved well above average. Things started to go awry when I picked up pocket KK (as mentioned here many times before KK is my jinxed hand) and lost a third of my stack. I sigh/folded on the river to a donk shove. The hand history is below. I’ve thought long and hard about this hand and think my fold was probably correct. I had no notes/reads on the villain, he’d been keeping it fairly tight since I joined the table and I hadn’t seen him do anything crazy. Anyway, after that fold I didn’t win another hand and busted when I jammed QdJd into AKo and failed to improve.
Next up was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. I busted in a classic bingo hand; my pocket AA lost to Q8o that got there after calling my check-shove on a T6J rainbow flop. Then I tried a £5.75 game, I lasted for 47 minutes of play during which I only won one hand; picking up a limp and the blinds when I squeeze-shoved with AK shortly before my exit. Apart from that I couldn’t pick up a hand and missed every flop seen. The only pocket pair I saw was 44. My bust came when I jammed KTs from the button over limpers and ran into KQs in the blinds when down to 11BB behind.
My second £5.75 of the day had a more promising start as I added 50% to my starting stack in the first couple of levels. My cause was further helped in level 3 I picked up AA on the button and opened to 3xBB. A bingo maniac 3-bet shoved his 39BB from the BB with KJo, my overpair held and I collected his bounty. Soon after that I made quad aces with my A4o when it was limped around to me on the big blind. I got paid in full and took another two heads. Head number four soon followed when I made a straight to bust a short stack. By now I’d won back more than the buy-in and was free-rolling in 3rd/21 from 38.
During level 5 I picked up pocket KK in the cut-off and raised to 4x over a limper. The big blind flat-called and the flop came down KTJ rainbow. All the chips went in on the flop, I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see my opponent flip over the only two cards that could beat me; AQ. This was the third time in a row that my flopped top set with pocket KK had been behind to a straight. However, something amazing happened this time; I actually filled up to a house on the river to crack the straight collecting a big pot and head number five. The previous two times I’d flopped top set with kings it had been my exit hand. Have I exorcised my KK demon? Time will tell.
Head number six came when I coolered a guy with a 15BB stack; his QQ ran into my AA. It was unlucky for him, one of those hands that plays itself. Number seven followed a couple of orbits later. With a big stack to play with I could easily afford to call from the big blind with my Jd8d and see a flop after a min raise and flat (in a freezeout I’d probably have folded J8s, in a Bounty Hunter the head prizes make it more attractive to see a flop when there are two fairly short stacks in the pot and there's nobody to act after me). I check/shoved the 883 flop to bust a pot committed short stack holding pocket nines. Going to final table (and to the bubble with five paid) I was second in chips and had £14.55 banked in head prizes. After a cagey start to the FT during which I was card-dead I made quads for the second time in this tournament. I opened 88 from the button and flopped a boat with 8KK. I checked the flop, then fired a bet at the 8 turn which was called. Unfortunately the villain folded to my river value-bet. If he’d held a king his stack would have been mine.
The bubble went when the two shortest stacks got it in with AT and AK on an Axx flop. The T on the river put an unlucky beat on the player with AK who became the bubble boy. The fifth place finisher busted with KK<Q9o aipf. Maybe my KK curse has passed to him? Anyway, 30 minutes later I busted the third place finisher and got heads-up with the chip lead.
After a fierce battle I was very disappointed to finish as runner-up. I feel I played well heads-up, the cards simply didn’t go my way. At one point I got it in with flopped flush for the win but couldn’t hold; my opponent redrew to a higher flush. I made £50 profit from this game, very useful with a goal to achieve, however it would have been around £100 had I won. Maybe I broke my KK curse today, but I still haven’t broken my duck in £5.75 games (since this quest started). This was my best chance by far, I cardracked my way through the tournament, played to the best of my ability, just one more hold with that flush heads-up and I would have made it. I’m more determined to win one than ever now.
May poker points 426
GameIDDate (UTC+0100)TypeEntryFeePositionProfit6370999 22-May-12 17:24 NL Holdem £52/38£51.756370593 22-May-12 15:54 NL Holdem £539/61-£5.756372938 22-May-12 14:34 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056372914 22-May-12 14:29 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056370121 22-May-12 14:13 NL Holdem £214/36-£2.306370302 22-May-12 13:32 NL Holdem £314/46-£0.776372528 22-May-12 13:19 NL Holdem £11/2£0.95
A sigh/fold with pocket KK. I narrowed the villains range on the river down to hands that beat me, a bluff with a missed nut flush draw, maybe AhQh and KhQh. I don't think anything else gets to the river. Some potential holdings got there on the river, particularly KhTh and Qh9h.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancehammerdave Small blind 75.00 75.00 6245.00 bigbob57 Big blind 150.00 225.00 4710.00 Your hole cards K K mymum Fold GaryQQQ Raise 300.00 525.00 6457.50 craigybhuf Fold hammerdave Call 225.00 750.00 6020.00 bigbob57 Fold Flop 9 7 J hammerdave Bet 150.00 900.00 5870.00 GaryQQQ Raise 700.00 1600.00 5757.50 hammerdave Call 550.00 2150.00 5320.00 Turn 3 hammerdave Check GaryQQQ Bet 1495.00 3645.00 4262.50 hammerdave Call 1495.00 5140.00 3825.00 River Q hammerdave All-in 3825.00 8965.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Fold hammerdave Muck hammerdave Win 5140.00 5140.00 hammerdave Return 3825.00 0.00 8965.00
Fun times as A4o comes up trumps. I saw quads four times in this tourney; three for me and one which I lost to.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceSlykllist Small blind 20.00 20.00 2060.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 40.00 60.00 4562.50 Your hole cards 4 A karlluke Fold murray1605 Fold bagheria70 Call 40.00 100.00 483.75 Slykllist Call 20.00 120.00 2040.00 GaryQQQ Check Flop 10 A A Slykllist Check GaryQQQ Check bagheria70 Bet 120.00 240.00 363.75 Slykllist Raise 500.00 740.00 1540.00 GaryQQQ Call 500.00 1240.00 4062.50 bagheria70 All-in 363.75 1603.75 0.00 Turn 5 Slykllist Check GaryQQQ Check River A Slykllist Check GaryQQQ Bet 1540.00 3143.75 2522.50 Slykllist All-in 1540.00 4683.75 0.00 Slykllist Show J 10 GaryQQQ Show 4 A bagheria70 Show 10 4 GaryQQQ Win Four Aces 4683.75 7206.25
Is this the moment my pocket KK curse was lifted? I can't even remember the last time I won at showdown with pocket KK.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceleonardd23 Small blind 40.00 40.00 1885.00 deawatts14 Big blind 80.00 120.00 4360.00 Your hole cards K K 127RIBEROT Call 80.00 200.00 3227.50 GaryQQQ Raise 320.00 520.00 6521.25 lpotts Fold leonardd23 Fold deawatts14 Call 240.00 760.00 4120.00 127RIBEROT Fold Flop K 10 J deawatts14 Check GaryQQQ Bet 500.00 1260.00 6021.25 deawatts14 Raise 1000.00 2260.00 3120.00 GaryQQQ All-in 6021.25 8281.25 0.00 deawatts14 All-in 3120.00 11401.25 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 2401.25 9000.00 2401.25 deawatts14 Show Q A GaryQQQ Show K K Turn 3 River 3 GaryQQQ Win Full House, Kings and 3s 9000.00 11401.25
(In case anybody is wondering) I don't sit down for ages typing all this out after my session. I actually type it up between hands while I'm playing. After my last hand of the day all need to do is have a quick re-read, correct any mistakes (usually several), and it's ready to post. If there's a hand history I want to include I'll open it up in a seperate tab at the time and have it ready to copy/paste when I've finished playing.
keep up the good work,
(* *)
"
^
dev
Nice binkage, over £50 cash in the MTT is a lovely sweetener to all of your hard work and discipline, hopefully that will help you leapfrog your way to your target.
Well done mate.
Thank-you for your encouragement Dev and Snedds
Closing balance £408.61
After an early finish at work I was home in time for the 9-45am and 10-45am Bounty Hunters. Fields were smaller than usual, presumably due to the sunny weather. Also I was happy to notice there was a lower proportion of a wild bingo-style players in the field than of late; most of the runners were daytime regulars playing proper poker.
In the 9-45 I had a promising run with 2 head prizes and a spell as chipleader. Close to the bubble a couple of coolers doubled up short stacks and put me below average. My exit hand was 44<Q7. A misclick may have sealed my fate; I meant to open shove my pair from the cut-off but made a min-raise in error from only a 10BB stack. The BB flatted. Plan B was to shove at any flop. Unfortunately it came down 772 and my opponent had the easiest of calls with his flopped trips. A bit unlucky as it turns out, I’d have got folds from most of his calling hands if Q7o is in his range. I much prefer the open-shove in this spot and I’ll only consider a min-raise with a premium. As it happens even a premium would have been cracked this time. AA and 44 would be in equal trouble; each drawing to only 2 outs.
In the 10-45 I could neither make nor win a hand and my stack had dwindled down to 1100 with blinds at 100/50. When I picked up AhQh I squeeze-shoved from the button over 2 limpers but couldn’t improve against a caller with pocket nines.
With jobs around the house needing my attention and an afternoon blood donation appointment I was unable to commit to any more MTTs. I squeezed in a few low stakes Hyper HU STTs when I could. I enjoy the hypers; they’re fast and fun, and a quick way to build up my poker points, ensuring I reach the 500 threshold to qualify for a C4P payment. Variance is high, though over a big sample it’s not too difficult to beat the rake and make a small ROI.
May poker points 442
6377485 23-May-12 16:34 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956377106 23-May-12 14:14 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956377098 23-May-12 14:08 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956377070 23-May-12 14:05 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056377061 23-May-12 14:00 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956377052 23-May-12 13:50 NL Holdem £11/2£0.956377031 23-May-12 13:47 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056377018 23-May-12 13:45 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056374434 23-May-12 13:44 NL Holdem £329/52-£3.306376995 23-May-12 13:38 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056376965 23-May-12 13:30 NL Holdem £12/2-£1.056374102 23-May-12 12:29 NL Holdem £310/41-£1.04
Misclick fail, it was my intention to open shove;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance147Potter Small blind 300.00 300.00 6555.00 Duge Big blind 600.00 900.00 13580.00 Your hole cards 4 4 wilbur65 Fold GaryQQQ Raise 1200.00 2100.00 4735.00 LARGEJIM Fold 147Potter Fold Duge Call 600.00 2700.00 12980.00 Flop 7 7 2 Duge Check GaryQQQ All-in 4735.00 7435.00 0.00 Duge Call 4735.00 12170.00 8245.00 Duge Show 7 Q GaryQQQ Show 4 4 Turn 2 River 5 Duge Win Full House, 7s and 2s 12170.00 20415.00