My cash game over the last few days has been very good and relaxing so tonight I played some cash tables and MTTs at the same time, doing these at the same time was actually quite relaxing and could be the best way of having it.
Cash game poker was the one which had the most thought in decision making, My hands were played in a balanced to make it difficult for opponents to know what I hold. My toughest spot came when I ch/R as top pair on a 2 spade flop the reason for Ch/R was I at the time held As, the river card itself give a 3rd spade therefore I Ch, the opponent himself shoved a pot size bet, I thought about it but opted to call and proved correct because he held mid pair. The way rake affects the odd on cash poker does spring to mind in one hand, A player bets into me on the turn, I held the straight draw and could see myself going all in if it did hit, My implied odds with this striaght draw was 18% but If I were to include the rake itself I'm thinking this call was actually a long term poor call.
My best results tonight came from tournament poker by cashing out in the 5:30 £500 Bh and winning the 6:30 £1000BH . The 5:30 £500 BH I finished 17th winning £5.58 plus £17.34 in head prizes. The £1000BH could have been lost at the early stages when I called pot size turn bet and AI river bet holding a hand I was unlikely to win, I was sitting with AQ at the time IP with a board 1098 J ddd, The opponent himself pot sized bet 11bb on the turn which I opted to call, the opponent did another pot size 37BB on the river and I called again,The opponent himself turned over QJ and I started to consider myself very lucky because most times this is likely to be a split pot or myself sitting behind to a KQ or two diamonds. My likelyhood of final tabling the tournament came at 200/400 stage, what happened here was a 0.5bb short stack went all in, a player holding 22 then did a 42BB shove, I called this shove with AQ which went on to win the flip giving me a stack size of now 97BB. I had been sharing the table win some very deep stacked players for a large part of the time we'd past the bubble, If I were to make it to the final table a double up was needed and that was done when I shoved 15bb stack as A6o to simply steal the blinds but ended u getting called by 99, my A6 went on to hit the flop therefore I doubled my stack and went on to win more pots with post flop action and take down the £1000 BH.
The great run I've been on has now came to an end.
Putting more focus into the £1000BH tournament than cash poker was the biggest cause of this, I was going very well at the time in the £1000Bh allowing me to build a decent chip stack in the mid-lat stages but the all in luck itself was not going my way therefore, I finished this tournament itself 36th place gaining a cash prize of £5.06plus a head prize of £1.88. I played the 7@7BH today which I failed to cash in but a lack of concentration at one point did cost me the chance of a £2.63 HP when time out make me fold what would have been a called hand that I'd have won. I was running well in the mini until mistakes started to creep in, cash tables were running poor at the time, I didn't feel so relaxed.
My cash table poker today was like a death trap in a way, the game I've been playing throughout the week wouldn't work on today's tables. I started off in a fine way and was able to play style I've played all week, the regulars I know well and can play that game against had started to leave, the players who replaced them were recs and that's when the damage started, I didn't realise this at the beginning, I kept on playing the game I've been playing all week keeping my range balanced playing both good and bad hands in a simular way, this in turn caused my cash to begin draining away, I was slowly starting to notice the tables turning loose but my actual game play remained the same and I was becoming less relaxed.
One instance that stood out on the cash tables was a player with 107dd B3bb/C10bb, he donked £10bb on the flop Kd 8c 7c, I with AcKs calls, the turn improved him to trips and he cbets 1/2 pot with that on the turn, The river card itself is a 3rd club and he pot bets it, I did question was this a fold but holding the Ac myself I went for the call and was left with regret at showdown.
TImes like this I do raise the question, Q. when he did the donk on the flop did he think at all about my overall hand range and how it compares to this board or was this donk done purely as hope that it makes QQ fold and he gives up on a turn card that doesn't improve him? MTT -£24.16 cash -£46.15
An even of poker which begun bad and unrelaxingly has finished in a very nice and relaxing way.
The problems kicked off on cash tables when I came out on the bad side of coolers, a limp caller also took a full stack off me having Ch/C trips and donk shoving his hand on a blocker river card, I was holding AA at the time and without notes of his play so far opted to call.
My tournament run had it's good times and it's bad times, takedown 1 I ran poorly throughout, takedown 3 I was running very well but a short stack limped allowing me to hit 2 pair on the flop but that two pair didn't remain ahead and this same player then got lucky for a 2nd time, we were all in pre flop on this occasion. A limp caller also struck lucky in the mini event having L/C J10 which would create a straight against my QQ set. One tournament which did go my way was the 9:30 rebuy BH, I finished 17th in that one cashing out £8.27+2.25HP
You seem to be having a reasonably good time of it at the moment. I am working on trying to improve my tournament results and have been more effective of late knocking players out so I imagine i'll be hitting the BHs soon for a play around. Don't play cash at the moment but might have a go at that at the weekend as do DYMs during week.
Well done for the good results and hope the run continues.
When I set myself that £30 a week target I was spending the majority of my cash poker on nl4 and pushing myself to become a regular MTT, one thing I didn't expect was to actually win a decent prize in an MTT and get my BR back to the £1000 mark it was before that very long downswing. Monday was the last day I'd play nl10p, I'm now back onto nl20p, the very same stakes I was playing before that bad down swing, I'll remain as a £30 target for now but might revise it the end of January
Tuesdays I require an early night, I had 2 sessions on the cash tables. Session one lasted a few hours before tea, I finished worse off in 3/4 nl20p tables 110BB alone was lost from just 1 table however, I actually finished almost 200BB better off in this session thanks an incredible amount of luck on that 4th table including KK hitting set to go ahead of AA and 99 set surviving a load of outs vs combo draw allowing me to exit that table 500BB. Session 2 was a suprising session itself, my intention was to make a small profit from these cash tables whils playing the freeroll, I started playing the cash at 7pm and exited the freeroll in just 30 mins in that time I made £45 profit.
Tonight I've had a mixture of MTTs and nl20 cash. The tournaments I played in were 5:30 £500BH, £6:00 semi 6:30 £1000BH and the SPT semi all in sats, I didn't cashout in any of them although the £1000BH should have had 2 head prizes and the exit in that MTT wasn't the nicest either, The missed head prizes were the result of two consecutive pieces of bad luck, the first on I lost my flip as 99 against this maniac and short stack, the shortest stack held the best hand and the maniac won the side pot, The next hand I raised as AK and the short stack went all in, the maniac himself called his hand this time but when I shoved my AK he called, he went ahead of me on the flop, I thought the hand was mine when the turn card give me a straight but wrong because the river card make a board straight A-5 therefore we split the pot, the worse damage in the tournament was my exit hand, I was sitting the the SB 28BB deep holding 1010, the pot had been limped round at the time and one of those limpers was an 8bb short stack and because the tournament itself was a BH I fealt the risk of isolation raise was too much therefore I shoved and to my suprise the player who limped UTG held JJ
My cash game poker tonight had a very bad start, 2 hands alone lost me 190BB on was the fault of total bad luck when AA lost to AKs the second one was down could be down to bad luck or bad play, I held TPWK at the time and called a turn pot size bet knowing I've got both TP and flush draw, when the river showed the flop flush I AI bluff my TP thinking it's very weak but that AI bluff proved costly as the cbetter himself held that flush. Putting them losses to one side I continued to play a decent game and took my time when decision making, I've managed to finish my cash game with a small but very good cash profit taking into account what I had at the start
You seem to be having a reasonably good time of it at the moment. I am working on trying to improve my tournament results and have been more effective of late knocking players out so I imagine i'll be hitting the BHs soon for a play around. Don't play cash at the moment but might have a go at that at the weekend as do DYMs during week.
Well done for the good results and hope the run continues.
My good run in the poker at the minute keeps on going. The 5:30 £500Bh was where it all began, when we got near the bubble my stack size was 5bb deep, AQo provided me this double up as well as a few blinds being won when the Sb and/or the BB folded. Being lucky enough to get past the bubble in this tournament I thought job done, it didn't end their because a 2nd AQ double up, 1010 winnig a big side pot in a 3 way all in and some more blinds getting stolen helped me make my way to the final table of this tournament where I'd go on to finish 4th winning £25.77+7.60 worth of head prizes. I also won £1.60 cash in the freeroll but the 1K BH and mini I exited with nothing.
My cash game started was around the break even mark to start, My first big pot of the nice came when QQ came up against 1010 calling my flop turn and riv AI. Things then took a bad turn, A player as J9 raised then shoved to me on flop 933 and hits the turn putting him ahead of my 1010, I had a really sickening hand when 66 called me down on board KQ3 K then hits his set on the river to go ahead of my 33, I also made a poor as 1010 the double barrell made on the flop and turn J56r 2hh was ok the what I'm disappointed with is the Ch/snap call to a pot size all in on the river Q. When the 33v66 was done I had a quick WTF reaction but that was soon put to one side, it was a very sickening hand at the time so I posted it in BBV but apart from that no other reaction came. These sickeners might have seen my chance of a profitable cash night but with a little patience, I remained calm didn't fold so easily on flops and went on to win all that cash lost when a set over set cooler won me 150BB.
Winning cash isn't the only thing I like about this good run, my mental game itself has also seen great improvements
On one occassion today duesenberg said "you like your 1010", I at the tie was puzzled about this because it was the only 1010 I knew about and Ch/R the flop J87 followed by cbetting the turn did seem a good thing.Doing a quick look at my HH I noticed duesenberg was also on the table at the time my 1010 lost to J9 but I couldn't remember that hand at all. The only bad beat I actually remember well from that session is the 33v66, but I can remember a number of the nice wins I got from that session.
My reaction to some limp callers who played deceptive then donk shove on random rivers has change for the better as well, I use to react with annoyance and question why they played their strength so passively in the first place but today I questioned my own play and why exactly I called these river bets when long term folding these could save me alot more blinds that I'd have saved against regs who bet all streets.
Winning cash isn't the only thing I like about this good run, my mental game itself has also seen great improvements
On one occassion today duesenberg said "you like your 1010", I at the tie was puzzled about this because it was the only 1010 I knew about and Ch/R the flop J87 followed by cbetting the turn did seem a good thing.Doing a quick look at my HH I noticed duesenberg was also on the table at the time my 1010 lost to J9 but I couldn't remember that hand at all. The only bad beat I actually remember well from that session is the 33v66, but I can remember a number of the nice wins I got from that session.
My reaction to some limp callers who played deceptive then donk shove on random rivers has change for the better as well, I use to react with annoyance and question why they played their strength so passively in the first place but today I questioned my own play and why exactly I called these river bets when long term folding these could save me alot more blinds that I'd have saved against regs who bet all streets.
Hi Craig
When I mentioned you "liking your pocket tens" after that hand tonight, I was actually thinking about the tourney hand we were discussing a few days back in the poker clinic where you did something similar against me with your tens there. Kind of made me smile to see you turning up with the same hand once again .
My run on the cash poker seems to be getting better everynight, Tonight I made £71.12 from the cash tables, it started off in a bad way with some nasty coolers including an AA losing to an AK but as the evening ware on my hands that were ahead remained ahead and my draws were played in a good way enabling them to get big values, a very LAG player prove very useful at times as well, 3 out of my 4 biggest pot wins involved him as the villian one of those pots was 185BB deep won by bet/C him on flop and trapping him on the other streets as top two pair.
I might have an easy time playing suited connectors, AQo and Axs on the cash tables but the ability to play these hands well in MTTs is still quite poor. I'm thinking it's time now take my MTT game up a level, replace some of my £5.50 MTTs with £11 MTTs and do a direct buy into the odd main event if needed, The amount of calling stations and loose trappers I'll encounter in those £5.50 MTTs means getting away from a tight ABC game is difficult. I managed to pass the bubble in tonights mini event cashing out £23.66, I was very unlucky not to pass the bubble of the semi itself and whilst most cash prizes in that are good tonight's cash prize was the very minimum
Tonight it was the turn of cash poker to have a bad spell and MTT poker to have a great spell.
The table dynampic on the cash tables was a one of my less favoured table dynamics, Alot of the players were less well known players who's game style was that of a loose passive player being passive with everything, I didn't have too many issues at the start of the session but that bad run started to build up and my own game became a boring one. In everyday poker play a KKv JJ set over set would be viewed as a cooler but this one was more like a sickener than a cooler, the reason for this was because the player had L/c me preflop, he then R/C me on the board Kj6hh and B/C me on the turn 2hhh, When the river paired 2 I shoved what was left thinking this hand is mine and become shocked to see him holding the KK. I played for 15 more minutes before giving up on cash poker and becoming total MTT for the night.
Tonight's MTT poker was dominated by the main, mini and SPT semi, The mini was running very well but losing an AI flip against a 27BB player cost me alot of my stack, I did get my stack from 2BB to 12BB thanks to a trip up as AA and double up as Q10s but that was quickly busted when QQ ran into KK. The way I started in the main event, I was highly confident of getting myself past the bubble of this event and work my way onto final table. My stack was building up very well in the early stages, Ch/R my AK on flop 245 like a set proved great because I hit the straight on the turn, When I opted to Ch the turn a value bet my hand on the river my opponent tried to bluff the A meaning I got my stack almost 200BB deep+ a bounty, I could have had a 2nd bounty from AQ hitting two pair but a player 20BB deep doesn't 3bet AK, the full stack could have been won if I cbet A high flop or been able to a bet of his on the turn but he was too passive. My second bounty of the main event came thanks to 99 hitting a set against AJs, I didn't actually need the set because his hand missed. My final bounty of the night came thanks to a JJ getting the set it did need to go ahead of KK and getting this 3rd head prize has proved extra valuable since I exited the MTT just before the bubble. The probably came when I switched tables, I went from being a dominant chipstack to being an average chip stack on a table of large chipstacks, my run in the main event then got even worse when I raised as mid pair on the turn having seen the player D 2BB and cbet 2BB, If I had looked at his/her sharkscope before that hand was played I'd have realized he is a weak passive fish and I'd have been more careful with my aggression. I still had 10-15BB left in the MTT when near the bubble but AK not winning it's flip bust me
Finishing just outside the bubble in the main event might have disappointing my MTT poker tonight has still been a great success because I have won myself a seat into SPT day 1A a direct buy-in into the event itself, The only reason I actually did make a direct entry into this event was because I had high expectation of getting past the bubble of the main event.
Tonight it was the turn of cash poker to have a bad spell and MTT poker to have a great spell.
The table dynampic on the cash tables was a one of my less favoured table dynamics, Alot of the players were less well known players who's game style was that of a loose passive player being passive with everything, I didn't have too many issues at the start of the session but that bad run started to build up and my own game became a boring one. In everyday poker play a KKv JJ set over set would be viewed as a cooler but this one was more like a sickener than a cooler, the reason for this was because the player had L/c me preflop, he then R/C me on the board Kj6hh and B/C me on the turn 2hhh, When the river paired 2 I shoved what was left thinking this hand is mine and become shocked to see him holding the KK. I played for 15 more minutes before giving up on cash poker and becoming total MTT for the night.
Tonight's MTT poker was dominated by the main, mini and SPT semi, The mini was running very well but losing an AI flip against a 27BB player cost me alot of my stack, I did get my stack from 2BB to 12BB thanks to a trip up as AA and double up as Q10s but that was quickly busted when QQ ran into KK. The way I started in the main event, I was highly confident of getting myself past the bubble of this event and work my way onto final table. My stack was building up very well in the early stages, Ch/R my AK on flop 245 like a set proved great because I hit the straight on the turn, When I opted to Ch the turn a value bet my hand on the river my opponent tried to bluff the A meaning I got my stack almost 200BB deep+ a bounty, I could have had a 2nd bounty from AQ hitting two pair but a player 20BB deep doesn't 3bet AK, the full stack could have been won if I cbet A high flop or been able to a bet of his on the turn but he was too passive. My second bounty of the main event came thanks to 99 hitting a set against AJs, I didn't actually need the set because his hand missed. My final bounty of the night came thanks to a JJ getting the set it did need to go ahead of KK and getting this 3rd head prize has proved extra valuable since I exited the MTT just before the bubble. The probably came when I switched tables, I went from being a dominant chipstack to being an average chip stack on a table of large chipstacks, my run in the main event then got even worse when I raised as mid pair on the turn having seen the player D 2BB and cbet 2BB, If I had looked at his/her sharkscope before that hand was played I'd have realized he is a weak passive fish and I'd have been more careful with my aggression. I still had 10-15BB left in the MTT when near the bubble but AK not winning it's flip bust me
Finishing just outside the bubble in the main event might have disappointing my MTT poker tonight has still been a great success because I have won myself a seat into SPT day 1A a direct buy-in into the event itself, The only reason I actually did make a direct entry into this event was because I had high expectation of getting past the bubble of the main event.
My total tonight Nl20 -£30.07 MTT £163.42
Congratulations on the seat Craig I hope you have a great time at the SPT and cash big.
Just an idea stop using fish / donk bad player when describing other players it makes it an uncomfortable read. The above hand is not a sickner in the slightest no matter what you think of their skill level.
Comments
Cash game poker was the one which had the most thought in decision making, My hands were played in a balanced to make it difficult for opponents to know what I hold. My toughest spot came when I ch/R as top pair on a 2 spade flop the reason for Ch/R was I at the time held As, the river card itself give a 3rd spade therefore I Ch, the opponent himself shoved a pot size bet, I thought about it but opted to call and proved correct because he held mid pair. The way rake affects the odd on cash poker does spring to mind in one hand, A player bets into me on the turn, I held the straight draw and could see myself going all in if it did hit, My implied odds with this striaght draw was 18% but If I were to include the rake itself I'm thinking this call was actually a long term poor call.
My best results tonight came from tournament poker by cashing out in the 5:30 £500 Bh and winning the 6:30 £1000BH . The 5:30 £500 BH I finished 17th winning £5.58 plus £17.34 in head prizes. The £1000BH could have been lost at the early stages when I called pot size turn bet and AI river bet holding a hand I was unlikely to win, I was sitting with AQ at the time IP with a board 1098 J ddd, The opponent himself pot sized bet 11bb on the turn which I opted to call, the opponent did another pot size 37BB on the river and I called again,The opponent himself turned over QJ and I started to consider myself very lucky because most times this is likely to be a split pot or myself sitting behind to a KQ or two diamonds. My likelyhood of final tabling the tournament came at 200/400 stage, what happened here was a 0.5bb short stack went all in, a player holding 22 then did a 42BB shove, I called this shove with AQ which went on to win the flip giving me a stack size of now 97BB. I had been sharing the table win some very deep stacked players for a large part of the time we'd past the bubble, If I were to make it to the final table a double up was needed and that was done when I shoved 15bb stack as A6o to simply steal the blinds but ended u getting called by 99, my A6 went on to hit the flop therefore I doubled my stack and went on to win more pots with post flop action and take down the £1000 BH.
MTT £248.13
NL10 £27.96
Good stuff Craig, well done.
Putting more focus into the £1000BH tournament than cash poker was the biggest cause of this, I was going very well at the time in the £1000Bh allowing me to build a decent chip stack in the mid-lat stages but the all in luck itself was not going my way therefore, I finished this tournament itself 36th place gaining a cash prize of £5.06plus a head prize of £1.88. I played the 7@7BH today which I failed to cash in but a lack of concentration at one point did cost me the chance of a £2.63 HP when time out make me fold what would have been a called hand that I'd have won. I was running well in the mini until mistakes started to creep in, cash tables were running poor at the time, I didn't feel so relaxed.
My cash table poker today was like a death trap in a way, the game I've been playing throughout the week wouldn't work on today's tables. I started off in a fine way and was able to play style I've played all week, the regulars I know well and can play that game against had started to leave, the players who replaced them were recs and that's when the damage started, I didn't realise this at the beginning, I kept on playing the game I've been playing all week keeping my range balanced playing both good and bad hands in a simular way, this in turn caused my cash to begin draining away, I was slowly starting to notice the tables turning loose but my actual game play remained the same and I was becoming less relaxed.
One instance that stood out on the cash tables was a player with 107dd B3bb/C10bb, he donked £10bb on the flop Kd 8c 7c, I with AcKs calls, the turn improved him to trips and he cbets 1/2 pot with that on the turn, The river card itself is a 3rd club and he pot bets it, I did question was this a fold but holding the Ac myself I went for the call and was left with regret at showdown.
TImes like this I do raise the question,
Q. when he did the donk on the flop did he think at all about my overall hand range and how it compares to this board or was this donk done purely as hope that it makes QQ fold and he gives up on a turn card that doesn't improve him?
MTT -£24.16
cash -£46.15
The problems kicked off on cash tables when I came out on the bad side of coolers, a limp caller also took a full stack off me having Ch/C trips and donk shoving his hand on a blocker river card, I was holding AA at the time and without notes of his play so far opted to call.
My tournament run had it's good times and it's bad times, takedown 1 I ran poorly throughout, takedown 3 I was running very well but a short stack limped allowing me to hit 2 pair on the flop but that two pair didn't remain ahead and this same player then got lucky for a 2nd time, we were all in pre flop on this occasion. A limp caller also struck lucky in the mini event having L/C J10 which would create a straight against my QQ set. One tournament which did go my way was the 9:30 rebuy BH, I finished 17th in that one cashing out £8.27+2.25HP
cash -£44.49
MTT -£18.58
Well done for the good results and hope the run continues.
Tuesdays I require an early night, I had 2 sessions on the cash tables. Session one lasted a few hours before tea, I finished worse off in 3/4 nl20p tables 110BB alone was lost from just 1 table however, I actually finished almost 200BB better off in this session thanks an incredible amount of luck on that 4th table including KK hitting set to go ahead of AA and 99 set surviving a load of outs vs combo draw allowing me to exit that table 500BB. Session 2 was a suprising session itself, my intention was to make a small profit from these cash tables whils playing the freeroll, I started playing the cash at 7pm and exited the freeroll in just 30 mins in that time I made £45 profit.
Tonight I've had a mixture of MTTs and nl20 cash. The tournaments I played in were 5:30 £500BH, £6:00 semi 6:30 £1000BH and the SPT semi all in sats, I didn't cashout in any of them although the £1000BH should have had 2 head prizes and the exit in that MTT wasn't the nicest either, The missed head prizes were the result of two consecutive pieces of bad luck, the first on I lost my flip as 99 against this maniac and short stack, the shortest stack held the best hand and the maniac won the side pot, The next hand I raised as AK and the short stack went all in, the maniac himself called his hand this time but when I shoved my AK he called, he went ahead of me on the flop, I thought the hand was mine when the turn card give me a straight but wrong because the river card make a board straight A-5 therefore we split the pot, the worse damage in the tournament was my exit hand, I was sitting the the SB 28BB deep holding 1010, the pot had been limped round at the time and one of those limpers was an 8bb short stack and because the tournament itself was a BH I fealt the risk of isolation raise was too much therefore I shoved and to my suprise the player who limped UTG held JJ
My cash game poker tonight had a very bad start, 2 hands alone lost me 190BB on was the fault of total bad luck when AA lost to AKs the second one was down could be down to bad luck or bad play, I held TPWK at the time and called a turn pot size bet knowing I've got both TP and flush draw, when the river showed the flop flush I AI bluff my TP thinking it's very weak but that AI bluff proved costly as the cbetter himself held that flush. Putting them losses to one side I continued to play a decent game and took my time when decision making, I've managed to finish my cash game with a small but very good cash profit taking into account what I had at the start
Tuesdays profit £85.66 BB
Wednesday
MTT-£21.05
NL20 £10.76
My cash game started was around the break even mark to start, My first big pot of the nice came when QQ came up against 1010 calling my flop turn and riv AI. Things then took a bad turn, A player as J9 raised then shoved to me on flop 933 and hits the turn putting him ahead of my 1010, I had a really sickening hand when 66 called me down on board KQ3 K then hits his set on the river to go ahead of my 33, I also made a poor as 1010 the double barrell made on the flop and turn J56r 2hh was ok the what I'm disappointed with is the Ch/snap call to a pot size all in on the river Q. When the 33v66 was done I had a quick WTF reaction but that was soon put to one side, it was a very sickening hand at the time so I posted it in BBV but apart from that no other reaction came. These sickeners might have seen my chance of a profitable cash night but with a little patience, I remained calm didn't fold so easily on flops and went on to win all that cash lost when a set over set cooler won me 150BB.
MTT poker £3.47
NL20 poker £22.73
On one occassion today duesenberg said "you like your 1010", I at the tie was puzzled about this because it was the only 1010 I knew about and Ch/R the flop J87 followed by cbetting the turn did seem a good thing.Doing a quick look at my HH I noticed duesenberg was also on the table at the time my 1010 lost to J9 but I couldn't remember that hand at all. The only bad beat I actually remember well from that session is the 33v66, but I can remember a number of the nice wins I got from that session.
My reaction to some limp callers who played deceptive then donk shove on random rivers has change for the better as well, I use to react with annoyance and question why they played their strength so passively in the first place but today I questioned my own play and why exactly I called these river bets when long term folding these could save me alot more blinds that I'd have saved against regs who bet all streets.
When I mentioned you "liking your pocket tens" after that hand tonight, I was actually thinking about the tourney hand we were discussing a few days back in the poker clinic where you did something similar against me with your tens there. Kind of made me smile to see you turning up with the same hand once again
I might have an easy time playing suited connectors, AQo and Axs on the cash tables but the ability to play these hands well in MTTs is still quite poor. I'm thinking it's time now take my MTT game up a level, replace some of my £5.50 MTTs with £11 MTTs and do a direct buy into the odd main event if needed, The amount of calling stations and loose trappers I'll encounter in those £5.50 MTTs means getting away from a tight ABC game is difficult. I managed to pass the bubble in tonights mini event cashing out £23.66, I was very unlucky not to pass the bubble of the semi itself and whilst most cash prizes in that are good tonight's cash prize was the very minimum
Nl20p £71.12
MTT -£20.07
The table dynampic on the cash tables was a one of my less favoured table dynamics, Alot of the players were less well known players who's game style was that of a loose passive player being passive with everything, I didn't have too many issues at the start of the session but that bad run started to build up and my own game became a boring one. In everyday poker play a KKv JJ set over set would be viewed as a cooler but this one was more like a sickener than a cooler, the reason for this was because the player had L/c me preflop, he then R/C me on the board Kj6hh and B/C me on the turn 2hhh, When the river paired 2 I shoved what was left thinking this hand is mine and become shocked to see him holding the KK. I played for 15 more minutes before giving up on cash poker and becoming total MTT for the night.
Tonight's MTT poker was dominated by the main, mini and SPT semi, The mini was running very well but losing an AI flip against a 27BB player cost me alot of my stack, I did get my stack from 2BB to 12BB thanks to a trip up as AA and double up as Q10s but that was quickly busted when QQ ran into KK. The way I started in the main event, I was highly confident of getting myself past the bubble of this event and work my way onto final table. My stack was building up very well in the early stages, Ch/R my AK on flop 245 like a set proved great because I hit the straight on the turn, When I opted to Ch the turn a value bet my hand on the river my opponent tried to bluff the A meaning I got my stack almost 200BB deep+ a bounty, I could have had a 2nd bounty from AQ hitting two pair but a player 20BB deep doesn't 3bet AK, the full stack could have been won if I cbet A high flop or been able to a bet of his on the turn but he was too passive. My second bounty of the main event came thanks to 99 hitting a set against AJs, I didn't actually need the set because his hand missed. My final bounty of the night came thanks to a JJ getting the set it did need to go ahead of KK and getting this 3rd head prize has proved extra valuable since I exited the MTT just before the bubble. The probably came when I switched tables, I went from being a dominant chipstack to being an average chip stack on a table of large chipstacks, my run in the main event then got even worse when I raised as mid pair on the turn having seen the player D 2BB and cbet 2BB, If I had looked at his/her sharkscope before that hand was played I'd have realized he is a weak passive fish and I'd have been more careful with my aggression. I still had 10-15BB left in the MTT when near the bubble but AK not winning it's flip bust me
Finishing just outside the bubble in the main event might have disappointing my MTT poker tonight has still been a great success because I have won myself a seat into SPT day 1A a direct buy-in into the event itself, The only reason I actually did make a direct entry into this event was because I had high expectation of getting past the bubble of the main event.
My total tonight
Nl20 -£30.07
MTT £163.42
Just an idea stop using fish / donk bad player when describing other players it makes it an uncomfortable read. The above hand is not a sickner in the slightest no matter what you think of their skill level.