I played a blinder in my first game, the 10-45 £3.30 BH. I spent almost the entire tournament card-dead winning only two hands at showdown in nearly two hours. Plenty of patience and some creative plays in carefully chosen spots were necessary to maintain fold equity and negotiate my way to the bubble.
It was to no avail, I stone-cold bubbled in a harsh manner. The tournament short-stack open-shoved from UTG with A7s, the chipleader 3-bet with AKs, I 4-bet shoved with QQ on the big blind. If my pair wins the main pot (50% chance) I double-up to above average and win the shortie’s head-prize. If the AK wins (35% chance) the short stack is bubble boy and I bust with a min-cash. The only possible way for me to bubble was for the A7s to win the main pot and the AKs win the side pot. The flop came down A77, I was eliminated and the shortie trebled-up despite holding only 14% equity pre-flop.
From there I went into a hyper HU match. You know it’s not going to be your day when you lose it with JT < K9 on a JT2 flop as the pre-flop aggressor.
I bricked a £3.30 Freezeout when my pocket TT failed to hold against a 3-bettors KQo on a 7-high flop. My exit came soon after with 55 into JJ aipf.
In an afternoon £5.75 after a promising start I lost a flip JJ < KQ aipf on the river in level 4 where a hold would have given me my second head-prize and the chip lead. I kept my cool, busting a shortie soon after, then took my third bounty in spectacular fashion when my AK flopped quads aipf against JJ. It went pear-shaped after that. I made a tight but almost certainly correct fold with AQ to a turn shove on an ace-high flop, then doubled a shortie with AQ < KK aipf. With four tables left a harsh table draw saw me saw between the three biggest stacks in the tournament, they had plenty of chips to throw around and I was hand-cuffed. Soon after I got my stack in with AK again. There were no miracle quads this time as I lost that most standard of all tournament flips; AK < QQ aipf.
A small losing day but I don’t really mind. I had a fair bit of fun at the tables and played much better than yesterday.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance Small blind 50.00 50.00 3217.25 Tings89 Big blind 100.00 150.00 2062.50 Your hole cards K A F_Ivanovic Fold GaryQQQ Raise 200.00 350.00 3612.75 deawatts14 Fold Raise 450.00 800.00 2767.25 Tings89 Fold GaryQQQ All-in 3612.75 4412.75 0.00 All-in 2767.25 7180.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 545.50 6634.50 545.50 Show J J GaryQQQ Show K A Flop K K K Turn A River 5 GaryQQQ Win Four Kings 6634.50 7180.00
The bad, making use of 'creative' play when short-stacked and card-dead;
The ugly, a miracle for the short stack sees me bubble a Bounty Hunter tournament the hard way;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceLuke62 Small blind 300.00 300.00 13704.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 600.00 900.00 6867.00 Your hole cards Q Q All-in 1635.00 2535.00 0.00 Raise 3600.00 6135.00 25158.25 brass777 Fold Luke62 Fold GaryQQQ All-in 6867.00 13002.00 0.00 Call 3867.00 16869.00 21291.25 GaryQQQ Show Q Q Show A 7 Show A K Flop A 7 7 Turn 10 River 5 Win Full House, 7s and Aces 5205.00 5205.00 Win Flush to the Ace 11664.00 32955.25
No joy in the two morning £3.30s today. I was disappointed with myself and didn’t deserve anything; I busted from both after getting my stack in well behind when I should have known better.
Some luck came my way in a lunchtime Speed £5.75 Bounty Hunter. It only attracted a small field of 25 runners, however I was delighted to bink first place. It became my first Bounty Hunter win for three weeks and my third win at £5.75 during this challenge. I feel I played good aggressive turbo MTT poker throughout and deserved this overdue win. I was assisted by running well in all-in situations too, as are all MTT winners. My only big suck-out came on the stone-cold bubble when 4th/4. My JT was an open-shove from the button with effective stacks only 10BB deep and a level increase imminent. The BB made a good call with KTs but I spiked a jack to score a lucky double-up. However it certainly wasn’t all one-way traffic, that came not long after the same player had doubled off me with KJo > A7s (king on the river) on the bubble for his tournament life and a pot that could have given me 70% of the chips in play with three left.
HU play didn’t last long. The hand that effectively won it for me was waking up with pocket AA on the BB. I slowplayed my monster by flatting an open raise rather than risk scaring away my opponent with a 3-bet. The villain flopped top pair, stacks went in and he didn’t improve. It was all over in the next hand when my open-shove with K-high held against 8-high.
In an afternoon £3.30 freezeout I busted in the mid-stages soon after losing quite a bit, though probably the minimum, with pocket JJ < pocket AA. My exit hand was QQ < TT for my last 14BB, the player with TT flopped quads. Both were unavoidable situations so I have no problem the my play or the outcome.
Just catching up with this thread after neglecting it for a few days. Excellent bink! ;-) I really do admire your self analysis and was just wondering if you EVER tilt and if so, how do you deal with it. Also, re "table selection" do you spend much time on this?
Just catching up with this thread after neglecting it for a few days. Excellent bink! ;-) I really do admire your self analysis and was just wondering if you EVER tilt and if so, how do you deal with it. Also, re "table selection" do you spend much time on this? GL Posted by Glenelg
Hi Pad, thank-you!
Tilt; I almost tilt to the extent that I feel my decision making process is being affected so it's not really an issue for me. Like anybody I'll be seen yelling an obscenity at my monitor, cursing the RNG and throwing my arms in the air in disgust every now and then. However the cat is safe and I never vent in the chatbox. On the very rare occasions I feel my play is being affected I end the session ASAP.
Table selection; Obviously I mainly play MTTs so table selection doesn't apply. Because my playing time is limited I purely choose my events by the convenience of their start time. Sometimes I table select if play STTs. When I started this challenge and had almost no bankroll I was playing micro STTs only and table selecting everything very careful. I'm at the point now where I'll take on anybody in cheap HU or DYM games, ie £5.50 or less. If I play higher than that I feel a Sharkscope search is prudent before investing.
My session started terribly. I had a rude welcome to the tables in the first orbit of my first game. With 98o on the BB I completed behind a min-raise to see a flop 4-ways and flopped the nuts with 67Tr on the board. I called a pot sized donk-lead from the SB on the flop, then his open-shove on the T turn. He held T5o, the river was a 5 to give him the runner-runner full house.
I busted my second tournament in the first hand, a rarity for me. I went with a read and played for stacks in a 3-bet pot holding AQ on a dry ace-high flop. The villain had me this time with his AK. There was also no joy for me in a cheap Scary.
A final table run came at the fourth attempt with a fifth place finish in a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. This being despite suffering a horrendous cooler in level one when I was rubbing my hands with glee thinking I'd be sitting with 3x starting stack and two head-prizes (see below). I kept my cool and ran deep by keeping it tight/aggressive and making a few hands. Unfortunately the cards didn't fall my way after arriving at final table as one of the shorter stacks. I got aipf withmy AKs against the A9o of the table maniac for a pot that would have put me up to third of six but had to settle with a chop when we both made a wheel. Then when down to 11BB I ran my pocket TT into QQ in the blinds. It was asomewhat frustrating near miss in the end but I wouldn't have played any of my hands differently with hindsight so I'm cool with the result.
In The Mini I had the best possible start with my KK holding over JJ on a low flop for a double and head-prize in the first hand, though I lost 500 chips back on the second hand with ATs < A9o on an ace-high flop when a 9 was dealt on the river. I spent an hour after that playing few hands and treading water due to a lack ofplayable cards while others at my table were in the mood for a gamble. By level 8 less thana third of the field were left and my stack had dwindled to only 20BB, so it was time to bite the bullet and either boom or bust and I started to throw my chips around.
Unfortunately it was bust not boom. After chipping up from 4K to 5.5K I got my stack in with the flopped nuts; QJ with 9TK on the board. Unfortunately I couldn't fade a caller with a low flush draw which hit when the 6c fell on the river. Had I held I'd be sitting with 1.5x average with 25% of the field left. On such things are poker tournaments decided.
I ran pretty badly today but still turned a small profit so can't complain. I'm playing well, as long as I maintain that I'll be able to cash in when the good luck comes my way. I'm going out tomorrow and will next be seen the poker tables on Monday. August Poker Points 259 (£2.59)
Unexpectedly I was able to play a couple of afternoon games, my day out being cut short by a child falling unwell. However it was impossible for me to win today the way the cards were falling.
First game going after I logged-on was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. I ran lol bad. Twice a found myself with an opponent happy to call any post-flop bet with no showdown value, just a gut-shot to chase. Both times he/she got there on the river. With 20BB left I flopped the nuts, KQ in hand with 9TJr on the board. My opponent held 9J, he caught a jack on the river and I was out without having won a single pot.
From there I late registered in the Sunday Super Stack. I carried straight on from where I'd left off in the Bounty Hunter, my opponents continued to catch perfect cards on the river in every pot involving me and my stack gradually eroded to half of average. I kept patient and rallied for a while in the mid-stages finally managing to win a few pots. However it was in vain, when my big chance finally came I busted to a nasty beat after getting my stack in with 89% equity; KK v 99 on a TTJ flop for a pot worth third in chips with half the field left.
AugustPoker Points262(£2.62)
Today’sresults;
(tofollow)
I feel I'm playing as well as ever, unfortunately I'm not finding the run-good to go with it. £11 Super Stack exit hand;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 400.00 400.00 15180.00 guess04 Big blind 800.00 1200.00 37488.75 Your hole cards K K goldenb238 Fold tyler88 Fold * Raise 1600.00 2800.00 47590.00 GaryQQQ Raise 2500.00 5300.00 12680.00 guess04 Fold * Call 1300.00 6600.00 46290.00 Flop 10 10 J GaryQQQ Bet 4000.00 10600.00 8680.00 * All-in 46290.00 56890.00 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 8680.00 65570.00 0.00 * Unmatched bet 33610.00 31960.00 33610.00 GaryQQQ Show K K * Show 9 9 Turn 7 River 8 * Win Straight to the Jack 31960.00 65570.00
First game for me today was the 10-45am £3.30 BH. I somehow negotiated my way into the money despite spending most of the tournament below average. A timely AKs /> AQs aipf hold a few spots from the money brought me into contention for the first time. I burst the bubble by check/shoving from the BB when my 93s flopped bottom pair and a flush draw. The short-stacked limper on the button had flopped top two pairs, however his unwise decision to open-limp with AT brought about his downfall when my flush got there, with stacks shallow I'd have folded to any open-raise.
On the final table bubble I lost a standard flip then won one, pairs beating overcards each time. Going into final table I was below average but I took the tournament chip-lead for the first time with five left when I won a big 3-way aipf; my JJ /> TT and KQs. Going into to HU play I was slightly behind. Unfortunately it was all one-way traffic and I barely won a pot. The way the cards were falling I didn't standard a chance, I was coolered several times and flopped ahead only to fall behind on turns and rivers. Second place was OK I suppose but I was disappointed not to get the win having held a healthy lead with three left.
In the afternoon I couldn't commit to an MTT so I sat in a few STTs. It was a total nightmare, I played below my best and ran horrendously, totally unable to win any all-in situations. I lost back more than I'd won in the morning and wished I hadn't bothered.
My session only lasted 50 minutes today. I managed to bust from 4 MTTs in that time, two of them in the first orbit, two of them with flopped sets failing to hold against gutshots. I was running terribly and could feel tilt setting in so I decided to quit for the day before I lost a painful chunk of my balance.
I only played in two tournaments today. In a £3.30 Bounty Hunter absolutely nothing happened, I barely made a hand, only won one small pot with a post-flop c-bet, then busted in my first flip when getting short.
The second, a £5.75 Bounty Hunter, went much better. Unlike most cases recently my flopped sets were filling up to full-houses rather than losing to draws. Three times in the early stages my boats got paid and I soon established myself as chip leader. After slipping back somewhat the mid-stages my decision to slow play quad threes when sitting on the small blind in a 4-way pot paid dividends; the aggressive table leader made a straight on the river and paid me a full double to put me back to the top of the field.
I cruised through the bubble comfortably with my big stack, though after a barren run of cards I was down to 4th/6 when we broke to final table. Then I enjoyed one of those golden poker moments during four-handed play. I found myself aipf as the biggest stack in a 3-way pot, my pocket KK facing ATo and pocket 99. As soon as the cards were turned over I yelled at the screen 'No ace! No nine!'. I didn't sweat for long; I flopped quads again to make a double elimination and get heads-up with a decent lead.
Heads-up went badly for me for quite a while. I was facing a tricky opponent who was playing very well, he put me in several tough spots and deservedly took the lead. Mind you, he was also helped somewhat by the deck, winning three decent pots with hands that were dominated pre-flop including A2o /> QQ after flatting my pre-flop 3-bet .
During a 5 minute break I decided I needed to adopt a more aggressive strategy to stop bleeding chips. It worked and they soon started to come back the other way. The final hand came when I'd built a 92K/36K lead. With blinds at 800/1600 I 3-bet jammed pocket 77 and faced a race when my opponent called with KQ. My pair won the flip and victory was mine. If I remember correctly it was my first and only flip of the entire tournament.
I've been on the wrong side of variance lately, so this win balances things up nicely. I won for two reasons; I flopped really well several times throughout the tournament. Also I played well to make the most of my opportunities. I didn't suck-out once in the entire game, but I did make several big holds. Winning the one and only flip when it arose during HU play was pretty sweet too.
This was my fourth £5.75 Bounty Hunter win during this challenge. All the run-bad I've experienced in August has been banished from my mind and replaced with confidence. I'm logging off very happy and delighted to record a new highest balance.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 500.00 500.00 34005.25 * Big blind 1000.00 1500.00 14347.50 Your hole cards K K Limp2Lose Fold GaryQQQ Raise 2000.00 3500.00 35778.10 * All-in 34005.25 37505.25 0.00 * All-in 14347.50 51852.75 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 35778.10 87630.85 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 3272.85 84358.00 3272.85 * Show 9 9 * Show A 10 GaryQQQ Show K K Flop K 7 K Turn 6 River J GaryQQQ Win Four Kings 84358.00 87630.85
Very well done, excellent to break through that 600 barrier too. It must have been frustrationg to fluctuate up and down the 500 mark. I know it was for me as im rooting for you!
Thanks a lot chaps. Breaking through a barrier after a plateau always feels good.
No buy-in jumps are imminent. My 40 buy-in rule allows me to play at £11 or below until I reach £880 at which point £22 games will also permitted. In practice I play very few £11 games, just the occasional STT here and there. The two daytime £11 Bounty Hunters start at a time that's inconvenient to me most days. The £5.75s run far more often, that's where I'm usually found.
Comments
Closing Balance £516.62
Down £5.70 today
I played a blinder in my first game, the 10-45 £3.30 BH. I spent almost the entire tournament card-dead winning only two hands at showdown in nearly two hours. Plenty of patience and some creative plays in carefully chosen spots were necessary to maintain fold equity and negotiate my way to the bubble.
It was to no avail, I stone-cold bubbled in a harsh manner. The tournament short-stack open-shoved from UTG with A7s, the chipleader 3-bet with AKs, I 4-bet shoved with QQ on the big blind. If my pair wins the main pot (50% chance) I double-up to above average and win the shortie’s head-prize. If the AK wins (35% chance) the short stack is bubble boy and I bust with a min-cash. The only possible way for me to bubble was for the A7s to win the main pot and the AKs win the side pot. The flop came down A77, I was eliminated and the shortie trebled-up despite holding only 14% equity pre-flop.
From there I went into a hyper HU match. You know it’s not going to be your day when you lose it with JT < K9 on a JT2 flop as the pre-flop aggressor.
I bricked a £3.30 Freezeout when my pocket TT failed to hold against a 3-bettors KQo on a 7-high flop. My exit came soon after with 55 into JJ aipf.
In an afternoon £5.75 after a promising start I lost a flip JJ < KQ aipf on the river in level 4 where a hold would have given me my second head-prize and the chip lead. I kept my cool, busting a shortie soon after, then took my third bounty in spectacular fashion when my AK flopped quads aipf against JJ. It went pear-shaped after that. I made a tight but almost certainly correct fold with AQ to a turn shove on an ace-high flop, then doubled a shortie with AQ < KK aipf. With four tables left a harsh table draw saw me saw between the three biggest stacks in the tournament, they had plenty of chips to throw around and I was hand-cuffed. Soon after I got my stack in with AK again. There were no miracle quads this time as I lost that most standard of all tournament flips; AK < QQ aipf.
A small losing day but I don’t really mind. I had a fair bit of fun at the tables and played much better than yesterday.
August Poker Points 204 (£2.04)
Today’s results;
8244786HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker13/08/2013 13:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7521/81£0.828245718HNL 0.3GBPSkyPoker13/08/2013 13:00NL Hold'em £3 + £0.322/28-£3.38246371HNLST,HU0.05GBPSkyPoker13/08/2013 12:56NL Hold'em £1 + £0.052/2-£1.058244565HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker13/08/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.311/75-£2.17
The good, the bad and the ugly.
The good, flopping quads to win a flip;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance Small blind 50.00 50.00 3217.25 Tings89 Big blind 100.00 150.00 2062.50 Your hole cards K A F_Ivanovic Fold GaryQQQ Raise 200.00 350.00 3612.75 deawatts14 Fold Raise 450.00 800.00 2767.25 Tings89 Fold GaryQQQ All-in 3612.75 4412.75 0.00 All-in 2767.25 7180.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 545.50 6634.50 545.50 Show J J GaryQQQ Show K A Flop K K K Turn A River 5 GaryQQQ Win Four Kings 6634.50 7180.00
The bad, making use of 'creative' play when short-stacked and card-dead;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceLuke62 Small blind 100.00 100.00 12479.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 200.00 300.00 2789.00 Your hole cards 6 Q brains37 Fold All_is_one Fold Raise 400.00 700.00 9820.00 Luke62 Fold GaryQQQ Call 200.00 900.00 2589.00 Flop 3 J 5 GaryQQQ Check Bet 450.00 1350.00 9370.00 GaryQQQ All-in 2589.00 3939.00 0.00 Fold GaryQQQ Muck GaryQQQ Win 1800.00 1800.00 GaryQQQ Return 2139.00 0.00 3939.00
The ugly, a miracle for the short stack sees me bubble a Bounty Hunter tournament the hard way;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceLuke62 Small blind 300.00 300.00 13704.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 600.00 900.00 6867.00 Your hole cards Q Q All-in 1635.00 2535.00 0.00 Raise 3600.00 6135.00 25158.25 brass777 Fold Luke62 Fold GaryQQQ All-in 6867.00 13002.00 0.00 Call 3867.00 16869.00 21291.25 GaryQQQ Show Q Q Show A 7 Show A K Flop A 7 7 Turn 10 River 5 Win Full House, 7s and Aces 5205.00 5205.00 Win Flush to the Ace 11664.00 32955.25
Closing Balance £554.84
Up £38.22 today
No joy in the two morning £3.30s today. I was disappointed with myself and didn’t deserve anything; I busted from both after getting my stack in well behind when I should have known better.
Some luck came my way in a lunchtime Speed £5.75 Bounty Hunter. It only attracted a small field of 25 runners, however I was delighted to bink first place. It became my first Bounty Hunter win for three weeks and my third win at £5.75 during this challenge. I feel I played good aggressive turbo MTT poker throughout and deserved this overdue win. I was assisted by running well in all-in situations too, as are all MTT winners. My only big suck-out came on the stone-cold bubble when 4th/4. My JT was an open-shove from the button with effective stacks only 10BB deep and a level increase imminent. The BB made a good call with KTs but I spiked a jack to score a lucky double-up. However it certainly wasn’t all one-way traffic, that came not long after the same player had doubled off me with KJo > A7s (king on the river) on the bubble for his tournament life and a pot that could have given me 70% of the chips in play with three left.
HU play didn’t last long. The hand that effectively won it for me was waking up with pocket AA on the BB. I slowplayed my monster by flatting an open raise rather than risk scaring away my opponent with a 3-bet. The villain flopped top pair, stacks went in and he didn’t improve. It was all over in the next hand when my open-shove with K-high held against 8-high.
In an afternoon £3.30 freezeout I busted in the mid-stages soon after losing quite a bit, though probably the minimum, with pocket JJ < pocket AA. My exit hand was QQ < TT for my last 14BB, the player with TT flopped quads. Both were unavoidable situations so I have no problem the my play or the outcome.
August Poker Points 220 (£2.20)
Today’s results;
8249020HNL 0.3GBPSkyPoker14/08/2013 13:00NL Hold'em £3 + £0.312/28-£3.38247910HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker14/08/2013 11:15NL Hold'em £5 + £0.751/26£48.128247783HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker14/08/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.346/71-£3.38247496HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker14/08/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.379/79-£3.3
£5.75 HU play, my aces make a crucial hold, victory was mine in the next hand. At long last I've remembered how to make holds when all-in and ahead
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 600.00 600.00 30320.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 1200.00 1800.00 19880.00 Your hole cards A A * Raise 1800.00 3600.00 28520.00 GaryQQQ Call 1200.00 4800.00 18680.00 Flop 5 4 Q GaryQQQ Check * Bet 2400.00 7200.00 26120.00 GaryQQQ Raise 7200.00 14400.00 11480.00 * All-in 26120.00 40520.00 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 11480.00 52000.00 0.00 * Unmatched bet 9840.00 42160.00 9840.00 *Show Q J GaryQQQ Show A A Turn 3 River 5 GaryQQQ Win Two Pairs, Aces and 5s 42160.00 42160.00
keep it going.
dev
Closing Balance £555.89
Up £1.05 today
I’m upgrading to a new laptop today so I didn’t have much time for poker.
MTT’s were out of the question, so I jumped into four STTs instead. Had good fun and won a quid. What is there not to like about that?
FWIW I still haven’t played a single cash hand since starting this challenge.
August Poker Points 233 (£2.33)
Today’s results;
8252687HNL6MX,DN0.5GBPSkyPoker15/08/2013 13:40NL Hold'em £5 + £0.51/6£4.58252714HNLST,HU0.15GBPSkyPoker15/08/2013 13:16NL Hold'em £3 + £0.151/2£2.858252653HNLST,HU0.15GBPSkyPoker15/08/2013 13:09NL Hold'em £3 + £0.152/2-£3.158252680HNLST,HU0.15GBPSkyPoker15/08/2013 13:01NL Hold'em £3 + £0.152/2-£3.15
Tilt; I almost tilt to the extent that I feel my decision making process is being affected so it's not really an issue for me. Like anybody I'll be seen yelling an obscenity at my monitor, cursing the RNG and throwing my arms in the air in disgust every now and then. However the cat is safe and I never vent in the chatbox. On the very rare occasions I feel my play is being affected I end the session ASAP.
Table selection; Obviously I mainly play MTTs so table selection doesn't apply. Because my playing time is limited I purely choose my events by the convenience of their start time. Sometimes I table select if play STTs. When I started this challenge and had almost no bankroll I was playing micro STTs only and table selecting everything very careful. I'm at the point now where I'll take on anybody in cheap HU or DYM games, ie £5.50 or less. If I play higher than that I feel a Sharkscope search is prudent before investing.
Day 224
Didn't play
Day 225
Closing Balance £561.66
Up £5.77 today
My session started terribly. I had a rude welcome to the tables in the first orbit of my first game. With 98o on the BB I completed behind a min-raise to see a flop 4-ways and flopped the nuts with 67Tr on the board. I called a pot sized donk-lead from the SB on the flop, then his open-shove on the T turn. He held T5o, the river was a 5 to give him the runner-runner full house.
I busted my second tournament in the first hand, a rarity for me. I went with a read and played for stacks in a 3-bet pot holding AQ on a dry ace-high flop. The villain had me this time with his AK. There was also no joy for me in a cheap Scary.
A final table run came at the fourth attempt with a fifth place finish in a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. This being despite suffering a horrendous cooler in level one when I was rubbing my hands with glee thinking I'd be sitting with 3x starting stack and two head-prizes (see below). I kept my cool and ran deep by keeping it tight/aggressive and making a few hands. Unfortunately the cards didn't fall my way after arriving at final table as one of the shorter stacks. I got aipf with my AKs against the A9o of the table maniac for a pot that would have put me up to third of six but had to settle with a chop when we both made a wheel. Then when down to 11BB I ran my pocket TT into QQ in the blinds. It was a somewhat frustrating near miss in the end but I wouldn't have played any of my hands differently with hindsight so I'm cool with the result.
In The Mini I had the best possible start with my KK holding over JJ on a low flop for a double and head-prize in the first hand, though I lost 500 chips back on the second hand with ATs < A9o on an ace-high flop when a 9 was dealt on the river. I spent an hour after that playing few hands and treading water due to a lack of playable cards while others at my table were in the mood for a gamble. By level 8 less than a third of the field were left and my stack had dwindled to only 20BB, so it was time to bite
the bullet and either boom or bust and I started to throw my chips around.
Unfortunately it was bust not boom. After chipping up from 4K to 5.5K I got my stack in with the flopped nuts; QJ with 9TK on the board. Unfortunately I couldn't fade a caller with a low flush draw which hit when the 6c fell on the river. Had I held I'd be sitting with 1.5x average with 25% of the field left. On such things are poker tournaments decided.
I ran pretty badly today but still turned a small profit so can't complain. I'm playing well, as long as I maintain that I'll be able to cash in when the good luck comes my way. I'm going out tomorrow and will next be seen the poker tables on Monday.
August Poker Points 259 (£2.59)
8258410
H
NL
B
0.5
GBP
SkyPoker
17/08/2013 20:15
NL Hold'em
£5 + £0.5
137/542
-£3.62
8257947
H
NL
TI
0.0
GBP
SkyPoker
17/08/2013 18:30
NL Hold'em
Freeroll
463/974
£0
8258458
H
NL
B
0.75
GBP
SkyPoker
17/08/2013 16:30
NL Hold'em
£5 + £0.75
5/83
£19.64
8258324
H
NL
ST
0.2
GBP
SkyPoker
17/08/2013 15:55
NL Hold'em
£2 + £0.2
19/22
-£2.2
8258645
H
NL
B
0.75
GBP
SkyPoker
17/08/2013 15:30
NL Hold'em<span class="NormalTextRun SCX175193579
Day 226
Closing Balance £548.36
Down £13.30 today
Unexpectedly I was able to play a couple of afternoon games, my day out being cut short by a child falling unwell. However it was impossible for me to win today the way the cards were falling.
First game going after I logged-on was a £2.30 Bounty Hunter. I ran lol bad. Twice a found myself with an opponent happy to call any post-flop bet with no showdown value, just a gut-shot to chase. Both times he/she got there on the river. With 20BB left I flopped the nuts, KQ in hand with 9TJr on the board. My opponent held 9J, he caught a jack on the river and I was out without having won a single pot.
From there I late registered in the Sunday Super Stack. I carried straight on from where I'd left off in the Bounty Hunter, my opponents continued to catch perfect cards on the river in every pot involving me and my stack gradually eroded to half of average. I kept patient and rallied for a while in the mid-stages finally managing to win a few pots. However it was in vain, when my big chance finally came I busted to a nasty beat after getting my stack in with 89% equity; KK v 99 on a TTJ flop for a pot worth third in chips with half the field left.
August Poker Points 262 (£2.62)
Today’s results;
(to follow)
I feel I'm playing as well as ever, unfortunately I'm not finding the run-good to go with it. £11 Super Stack exit hand;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 400.00 400.00 15180.00 guess04 Big blind 800.00 1200.00 37488.75 Your hole cards K K goldenb238 Fold tyler88 Fold * Raise 1600.00 2800.00 47590.00 GaryQQQ Raise 2500.00 5300.00 12680.00 guess04 Fold * Call 1300.00 6600.00 46290.00 Flop 10 10 J GaryQQQ Bet 4000.00 10600.00 8680.00 * All-in 46290.00 56890.00 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 8680.00 65570.00 0.00 * Unmatched bet 33610.00 31960.00 33610.00 GaryQQQ Show K K * Show 9 9 Turn 7 River 8 * Win Straight to the Jack 31960.00 65570.00
Day 227
Closing Balance £544.71
Down £3.65 today
First game for me today was the 10-45am £3.30 BH. I somehow negotiated my way into the money despite spending most of the tournament below average. A timely AKs /> AQs aipf hold a few spots from the money brought me into contention for the first time. I burst the bubble by check/shoving from the BB when my 93s flopped bottom pair and a flush draw. The short-stacked limper on the button had flopped top two pairs, however his unwise decision to open-limp with AT brought about his downfall when my flush got there, with stacks shallow I'd have folded to any open-raise.
On the final table bubble I lost a standard flip then won one, pairs beating overcards each time. Going into final table I was below average but I took the tournament chip-lead for the first time with five left when I won a big 3-way aipf; my JJ /> TT and KQs. Going into to HU play I was slightly behind. Unfortunately it was all one-way traffic and I barely won a pot. The way the cards were falling I didn't standard a chance, I was coolered several times and flopped ahead only to fall behind on turns and rivers. Second place was OK I suppose but I was disappointed not to get the win having held a healthy lead with three left.
In the afternoon I couldn't commit to an MTT so I sat in a few STTs. It was a total nightmare, I played below my best and ran horrendously, totally unable to win any all-in situations. I lost back more than I'd won in the morning and wished I hadn't bothered.
August Poker Points 295 (£2.95)
Today’s results;
8266414 H NL ST,HU 0.5 GBP SkyPoker 19/08/2013 16:58 NL Hold'em £10 + £0.5 2/2 -£10.5 8266339 H NL 6MX,DN 0.5 GBP SkyPoker 19/08/2013 16:57 NL Hold'em £5 + £0.5 5/6 -£5.5 8266254 H NL ST,HU 0.05 GBP SkyPoker 19/08/2013 16:23 NL Hold'em £1 + £0.05 1/2 £0.95 8266313 H NL L,HU 0.2 GBP SkyPoker 19/08/2013 16:19 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.2 2/2 -£2.2 8266250 H NL 6MX,DN 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 19/08/2013 16:18 NL Hold'em £1 + £0.15 5/6 -£1.15 8266322 H NL ST,HU 0.05 GBP SkyPoker 19/08/2013 16:18 NL Hold'em £0.5 + £0.05 2/2 -£0.55 8266316 H NL ST,HU 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 19/08/2013 16:13 NL Hold'em <p style="font-size:6pt;font-family:'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,'Sans-Serif';vertical-align:baseline;font-weight:normal;color:windowtext;font-style:normal;text-align:center;background-color:transparent;text-indent:0px;" class="Par
Day 228
Closing Balance £527.61
Down £17.10 today
My session only lasted 50 minutes today. I managed to bust from 4 MTTs in that time, two of them in the first orbit, two of them with flopped sets failing to hold against gutshots. I was running terribly and could feel tilt setting in so I decided to quit for the day before I lost a painful chunk of my balance.
August Poker Points 306 (£3.06)
Today’s results;
(to follow)
Closing Balance £605.84
Up £78.23 today
I only played in two tournaments today. In a £3.30 Bounty Hunter absolutely nothing happened, I barely made a hand, only won one small pot with a post-flop c-bet, then busted in my first flip when getting short.
The second, a £5.75 Bounty Hunter, went much better. Unlike most cases recently my flopped sets were filling up to full-houses rather than losing to draws. Three times in the early stages my boats got paid and I soon established myself as chip leader. After slipping back somewhat the mid-stages my decision to slow play quad threes when sitting on the small blind in a 4-way pot paid dividends; the aggressive table leader made a straight on the river and paid me a full double to put me back to the top of the field.
I cruised through the bubble comfortably with my big stack, though after a barren run of cards I was down to 4th/6 when we broke to final table. Then I enjoyed one of those golden poker moments during four-handed play. I found myself aipf as the biggest stack in a 3-way pot, my pocket KK facing ATo and pocket 99. As soon as the cards were turned over I yelled at the screen 'No ace! No nine!'. I didn't sweat for long; I flopped quads again to make a double elimination and get heads-up with a decent lead.
Heads-up went badly for me for quite a while. I was facing a tricky opponent who was playing very well, he put me in several tough spots and deservedly took the lead. Mind you, he was also helped somewhat by the deck, winning three decent pots with hands that were dominated pre-flop including A2o /> QQ after flatting my pre-flop 3-bet .
During a 5 minute break I decided I needed to adopt a more aggressive strategy to stop bleeding chips. It worked and they soon started to come back the other way. The final hand came when I'd built a 92K/36K lead. With blinds at 800/1600 I 3-bet jammed pocket 77 and faced a race when my opponent called with KQ. My pair won the flip and victory was mine. If I remember correctly it was my first and only flip of the entire tournament.
I've been on the wrong side of variance lately, so this win balances things up nicely. I won for two reasons; I flopped really well several times throughout the tournament. Also I played well to make the most of my opportunities. I didn't suck-out once in the entire game, but I did make several big holds. Winning the one and only flip when it arose during HU play was pretty sweet too.
This was my fourth £5.75 Bounty Hunter win during this challenge. All the run-bad I've experienced in August has been banished from my mind and replaced with confidence. I'm logging off very happy and delighted to record a new highest balance.
August Poker Points 328 (£3.28)
Today’s results;
8270099 H NL B 0.75 GBP SkyPoker 21/08/2013 11:30 NL Hold'em £5 + £0.75 1/64 £79.65 8270450 H NL B 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 21/08/2013 10:45 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 53/78 -£3.3
Flopping quads for fun on my way to victory in a £5.75 Bounty Hunter today. Mid-stages;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 75.00 75.00 7671.75 cashmon634 Big blind 150.00 225.00 7237.50 Your hole cards 3 3 * Call 150.00 375.00 12693.00 cougar196 Fold kpb Call 150.00 525.00 3985.00 GaryQQQ Call 75.00 600.00 7596.75 cashmon634 Check Flop 3 3 4 GaryQQQ Check cashmon634 Check * Bet 150.00 750.00 12543.00 kpb Fold GaryQQQ Call 150.00 900.00 7446.75 cashmon634 Fold Turn J GaryQQQ Check * Bet 150.00 1050.00 12393.00 GaryQQQ Raise 450.00 1500.00 6996.75 * Call 300.00 1800.00 12093.00 River 5 GaryQQQ Bet 1350.00 3150.00 5646.75 * Raise 5850.00 9000.00 6243.00 GaryQQQ All-in 5646.75 14646.75 0.00 * Call 1146.75 15793.50 5096.25 GaryQQQ Show 3 3 * Show 2 A GaryQQQ Win Four 3s 15793.50 15793.50
Boom! Final table;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 500.00 500.00 34005.25 * Big blind 1000.00 1500.00 14347.50 Your hole cards K K Limp2Lose Fold GaryQQQ Raise 2000.00 3500.00 35778.10 * All-in 34005.25 37505.25 0.00 * All-in 14347.50 51852.75 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 35778.10 87630.85 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 3272.85 84358.00 3272.85 * Show 9 9 * Show A 10 GaryQQQ Show K K Flop K 7 K Turn 6 River J GaryQQQ Win Four Kings 84358.00 87630.85
vwp sir
very well played Gary...
soon be opening that champagne bottle...again!
ian
No buy-in jumps are imminent. My 40 buy-in rule allows me to play at £11 or below until I reach £880 at which point £22 games will also permitted. In practice I play very few £11 games, just the occasional STT here and there. The two daytime £11 Bounty Hunters start at a time that's inconvenient to me most days. The £5.75s run far more often, that's where I'm usually found.