I just fin in a freeroll (22/511) for - wait for it - 62p!! LOL Was chip leader (or there abouts) for 90% untill I had a cooler - KK v QQ 4 handed - in the allin or fold mode but I did manage to get back up untill the sneaky chip leader limped wiv QQ and called off my allin. Hope you get a bit of luck and win one!
Anyway, have you read a book called Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand At a Time? I've just found out about it and currently half way through and its excellent. Really helping me with reading oppenents hand ranges and its already reaping rewards.
Definitely best to skip the 30p's, maybe cheap, but you could easily lose however many in a row. I think if you took them seriously a player as capable as yourself would easily do well in the 60's to build your bankroll for the 1.15's, if you don't do it in the freerolls. Good luck! Posted by ididit14
Thanks, I agree, my order of preference is; £1.15 /> > 60p > 30p. I'll only consider playing 30p games if my balance gets dangerously low and I'm forced to gamble.
Very steady progress Gary. I just fin in a freeroll (22/511) for - wait for it - 62p!! LOL Was chip leader (or there abouts) for 90% untill I had a cooler - KK v QQ 4 handed - in the allin or fold mode but I did manage to get back up untill the sneaky chip leader limped wiv QQ and called off my allin. Hope you get a bit of luck and win one! Anyway, have you read a book called Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand At a Time? I've just found out about it and currently half way through and its excellent. Really helping me with reading oppenents hand ranges and its already reaping rewards. Posted by CraigSG1
Thanks Craig. Well played, so you had exactly the same exit hand as me today. It's not easy to win those freerolls, in the late stages the average stack is never much more than 10BB, so you'll need to have good push/fold ranges and run well in all-in situations to make final table.
Yes, I do have that book. I've had volumes I and II for about 3 years, they are by far the best tournament poker books I've ever read. Volume III came out recently, I got my copy for Christmas but haven't got round to reading it yet.
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balances; Cash £3.20 Poker Points 585 : Thanks, I agree, my order of preference is; £1.15 /> > 60p > 30p. I'll only consider playing 30p games if my balance gets dangerously low and I'm forced to gamble. Posted by GaryQQQ
Same. It can be done though, even if you don't get much from the freerolls, you just need luck. I was down to 10p and put it on some team called canterbury united lol, got upto 30p and played a few 30p's, got lucky. And now i'm upto £18! And I don't class myself as a good player, so for you it should be a doddle!
I entered the 10-00am Freeroll today without success. I made it to the usual late stages shallow stack push/fold phase, but came unstuck when I jammed my short stack with Td7d into AQo in the blinds. The three diamonds on the flop looked pretty good for me, but the fourth diamond dealt on the turn gave my caller a higher flush.
Drew another blank today. I played in the 12-30pm Freeroll, though the cards weren’t falling my way and I couldn’t win a pot no matter how hard I tried. My exit summed it up pretty well; when down to 10BB I jammed KJ over a min-raise, both of my callers held A5o, they both made a full house as the board ran-out xAAx5.
Just read through all of this thread and also all of your last years challenge, Your a inspiration to lots of players on here i see and with good reason. Apart from your obvious poker skills the main reason for your success has got to be your strict and great BRM. Will be following this thread with interest Best Of Luck !
Just read through all of this thread and also all of your last years challenge, Your a inspiration to lots of players on here i see and with good reason. Apart from your obvious poker skills the main reason for your success has got to be your strict and great BRM. Will be following this thread with interest Best Of Luck ! Posted by Seo1990
Cheers Seo, thanks alot.
With nearly half my points gone and only £3.20 in the bank this hasn't exactly been the best of starts so far.
Ive just fin 4th/497 in 7pm Freeroll for £6.55 - so come on! If i can do it you can! Keep it up. Plus the Freerools have bn boosted so hopefully you can now gain more money even for your min cashes.
Hi again, Ive just fin 4th/497 in 7pm Freeroll for £6.55 - so come on! If i can do it you can! Keep it up. Plus the Freerools have bn boosted so hopefully you can now gain more money even for your min cashes. Posted by CraigSG1
Nice one, well played Craig, I could do with one of those. Hopefully the Poker Gods will read this thread and send me to a final table asap.
In the 12-30pm Freeroll I was dealt AsKs on the BB in the very first hand and got shoved on. You see wild players in these games happy to gamble with any two cards right from the off. AKs is ahead of an open shove from an unknown, so I made the call. Unfortunately I lost a race against a pair.
With hindsight I wish I’d reluctantly laid it down and waited for a lower variance spot to get my stack in. Mind you, there's also another way to look at it; if you're going to bust out in a race before the bubble you might as well get it over and done with in the first hand, it's far less painful than playing for an hour before losing your flip.
I skipped the extra ‘Freezing Freeroll’ today due to the large field and 50 point entry fee. I also decided to skip the 4-00pm tournament. The prize pool was doubled, however the field was more than double what it attracts on a regular day, so overall it wasn't good value for my precious poker points. I’ll be back tomorrow for a crack at the Omaha Freeroll.
No luck today, I entered two 10 point freerolls without success.
First up I tried the hyper-turbo £25 NLHE Freeroll at 6-45am, this being the first time I have ever played a tournament on my iPhone at work. I decided to enter because I noticed saw 77 players were already registered at 2-00am. My assumption was that most of those would be sitting out by 6-45 and not many would be left competing for the money. As it was there were two away players at my table and four playing. I was toast in level 3 after flopping two pairs against middle set.
My second game was the 2-00pm Omaha Freeroll. I enjoyed a superb start with a full treble-up in the first orbit. I flopped the nuts with 56 in my hand and 478r on the flop, then held-up against two players prepared to play for all their chips with inferior holdings.
A mistake ruined my chances in the mid-stages. I got my chips in on the turn with 6Txx in my hand and 8579r on the board. My aggressive opponent was the only other big stack at the table, both of us on more than double the average. He held TJ, so I was only drawing to only three outs for a chop. I was angry at myself for making a stupid error in the heat of the moment and throwing away a great chance of a deep run.
Note to self; less haste in Omaha tournaments, make sure you have the stone-cold nuts before putting your entire 40BB stack in the middle.
How not to play Omaha, I donate my stack;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 150.00 150.00 11835.00 xdionnex Big blind 300.00 450.00 1600.00 Your hole cards 4 A 10 6 STILETTO Call 300.00 750.00 3905.00 manguwalia Call 300.00 1050.00 11285.00 _Morfeous_ Fold gooligan Fold GaryQQQ Call 150.00 1200.00 11685.00 xdionnex Check Flop 8 5 7 GaryQQQ Check xdionnex Check STILETTO Check manguwalia Bet 1200.00 2400.00 10085.00 GaryQQQ Call 1200.00 3600.00 10485.00 xdionnex Fold STILETTO Fold Turn 9 GaryQQQ Bet 2700.00 6300.00 7785.00 manguwalia All-in 10085.00 16385.00 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 7785.00 24170.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 400.00 23770.00 400.00 GaryQQQ Show 4 A 10 6 manguwalia Show 10 8 J 4 River 9 manguwalia Win Straight to the Jack 23770.00 23770.00
Played 2 f/rolls today (no rebuys or add ons, obv)
Omaha....636 runners
MAXALLY09£1.60
2.15pm £100 freezing freeroll......564 runners.
MAXALLY08£2.20
Joking apart, I hope you turn it around soon. Tough spot your omaha hand above. If your op had been playing a aggro maniac style, I can see why you called. If not, you could of found a fold, saved some chips, and found a better spot later on. Hope to meet you on the FT tomorrow mate.....:)
The first of my two games today was the 12-30pm £100 Freezing Freeroll. Negotiating a field of 523 wild entrants plus their 148 rebuys and add-ons with my one entry isn’t exactly easy, but I managed to make it to bubble, in part courtesy of a late double when I 3-bet shoved my pocket sixes into an openers K9s and won the flip.
Around 20 spots from the money I made a pleasing lay down. With AK on the button and 25BB to play with I flatted an UTG min-raise, not wanting to 3-bet and maybe be forced to flip for my tournament life. The BB completed so three of us saw the flop. The flop came down 66A. The BB donk-jammed and the UTG player, who had me covered, called. I considered it far too likely one of them held trip 6s to play for my stack. My decision was correct; the BB doubled off the UTG opener with his 65o beating AJo.
Post bubble play was a rollercoaster ride with luck swinging both ways. Firstly I sucked out to double with AJ>AK aipf. Then lost a huge pot with AK<A7 aipf that could have launched me into the top five at the time. When down to two tables and all stacks below 10BB I was so short I was forced to shove any two cards from the SB into the BB. My jack-high didn’t improve against pocket tens and I busted in 8th for a prize of £2.50.
I have mixed feeling about the result. To finish 8th of 671 buy-ins for only £2.50 is somewhat frustrating, I had my eye on the £25 for the winner. However, I have to consider that £2.50 is my biggest win to date and it almost doubles my cash balance.
The Omaha Freeroll didn’t get much of my attention for the first hour because my concentration was focussed on the Freezing Freeroll and a deep tournament run on another site. I fell short of the money in 128th/595(+142 r/a) after getting my stack in on a very good flop but failing to either improve or swerve a flush draw.
Day 18 Closing Balances; Cash £5.70 Poker Points 455 The first of my two games today was the 12-30pm £100 Freezing Freeroll. Negotiating a field of 523 wild entrants plus their 148 rebuys and add-ons with my one entry isn’t exactly easy, but I managed to make it to bubble, in part courtesy of a late double when I 3-bet shoved my pocket sixes into an openers K9s and won the flip. Around 20 spots from the money I made a pleasing lay down. With AK on the button and 25BB to play with I flatted an UTG min-raise, not wanting to 3-bet and maybe be forced to flip for my tournament life. The BB completed so three of us saw the flop. The flop came down 66A. The BB donk-jammed and the UTG player, who had me covered, called. I considered it far too likely one of them held trip 6s to play for my stack. My decision was correct; the BB doubled off the UTG opener with his 65o beating AJo. Post bubble play was a rollercoaster ride with luck swinging both ways. Firstly I sucked out to double with AJ />AK aipf. Then lost a huge pot with AK<A7 aipf that could have launched me into the top five at the time. When down to two tables and all stacks below 10BB I was so short I was forced to shove any two cards from the SB into the BB. My jack-high didn’t improve against pocket tens and I busted in 8 th for a prize of £2.50. I have mixed feeling about the result. To finish 8 th of 671 buy-ins for only £2.50 is somewhat frustrating, I had my eye on the £25 for the winner. However, I have to consider that £2.50 is my biggest win to date and it almost doubles my cash balance. The Omaha Freeroll didn’t get much of my attention for the first hour because my concentration was focussed on the Freezing Freeroll and a deep tournament run on another site. I fell short of the money in 128 th /595(+142 r/a) after getting my stack in on a very good flop but failing to either improve or swerve a flush draw. Posted by GaryQQQ
Day 18 Closing Balances; Cash £5.70 Poker Points 455 The first of my two games today was the 12-30pm £100 Freezing Freeroll. Negotiating a field of 523 wild entrants plus their 148 rebuys and add-ons with my one entry isn’t exactly easy, but I managed to make it to bubble, in part courtesy of a late double when I 3-bet shoved my pocket sixes into an openers K9s and won the flip. Around 20 spots from the money I made a pleasing lay down. With AK on the button and 25BB to play with I flatted an UTG min-raise, not wanting to 3-bet and maybe be forced to flip for my tournament life. The BB completed so three of us saw the flop. The flop came down 66A. The BB donk-jammed and the UTG player, who had me covered, called. I considered it far too likely one of them held trip 6s to play for my stack. My decision was correct; the BB doubled off the UTG opener with his 65o beating AJo. Post bubble play was a rollercoaster ride with luck swinging both ways. Firstly I sucked out to double with AJ>AK aipf. Then lost a huge pot with AK<A7 aipf that could have launched me into the top five at the time. When down to two tables and all stacks below 10BB I was so short I was forced to shove any two cards from the SB into the BB. My jack-high didn’t improve against pocket tens and I busted in 8 th for a prize of £2.50. I have mixed feeling about the result. To finish 8 th of 671 buy-ins for only £2.50 is somewhat frustrating, I had my eye on the £25 for the winner. However, I have to consider that £2.50 is my biggest win to date and it almost doubles my cash balance. The Omaha Freeroll didn’t get much of my attention for the first hour because my concentration was focussed on the Freezing Freeroll and a deep tournament run on another site. I fell short of the money in 128 th /595(+142 r/a) after getting my stack in on a very good flop but failing to either improve or swerve a flush draw. Posted by GaryQQQ
A great read and I really hope u achieve this mate. A quick question: obv at the time its in the vacuum of play but surely if u had rr with AK the BB gets out the way and u get the double up required once that flop comes?
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points ----- /> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balances; Cash £3.20 Poker Points 490 : A great read and I really hope u achieve this mate. A quick question: obv at the time its in the vacuum of play but surely if u had rr with AK the BB gets out the way and u get the double up required once that flop comes? Posted by phil12uk
Yeah, I agree. I actually put that in today's post, then had second thoughts and deleted it because I considered it results orientated thinking.
If I 3-bet the BB almost certainly folds. If the UTG opener then flats (quite likely in a freeroll) I win a full double on that flop. If I knew both their hole cards that's exactly what I would have done. However without that knowledge I prefer to see a flop in position for 2BB rather than 3-bet to 5BB at the risk of getting shoved on or flatted. 2/3rds of the times when I 3-bet and get flatted I'll miss the flop. My c-bet is then going to cost me another 6BB+, if I'm shoved on at that point I've squandered 36% of my stack.
I didn't want to make a high-variance all-in play for 25BBs while comfortably above average close to the bubble. If I had a decent bankroll behind me I'd go for it, in this unusual circumstance when even a min-cash is precious as I try to scrape together a few quid I prefer to take a lower variance approach in certain spots like this.
Comments
Yes, I do have that book. I've had volumes I and II for about 3 years, they are by far the best tournament poker books I've ever read. Volume III came out recently, I got my copy for Christmas but haven't got round to reading it yet.
Closing Balances; Cash £3.20 Poker Points 560
No change today
I entered the 10-00am Freeroll today without success. I made it to the usual late stages shallow stack push/fold phase, but came unstuck when I jammed my short stack with Td7d into AQo in the blinds. The three diamonds on the flop looked pretty good for me, but the fourth diamond dealt on the turn gave my caller a higher flush.
Closing Balances; £3.20 Poker Points 535
No change today
Drew another blank today. I played in the 12-30pm Freeroll, though the cards weren’t falling my way and I couldn’t win a pot no matter how hard I tried. My exit summed it up pretty well; when down to 10BB I jammed KJ over a min-raise, both of my callers held A5o, they both made a full house as the board ran-out xAAx5.
With nearly half my points gone and only £3.20 in the bank this hasn't exactly been the best of starts so far.
Closing Balances; £3.20 Poker Points 510
No change today
Today I only played one hand on Sky Poker!
In the 12-30pm Freeroll I was dealt AsKs on the BB in the very first hand and got shoved on. You see wild players in these games happy to gamble with any two cards right from the off. AKs is ahead of an open shove from an unknown, so I made the call. Unfortunately I lost a race against a pair.
I skipped the extra ‘Freezing Freeroll’ today due to the large field and 50 point entry fee. I also decided to skip the 4-00pm tournament. The prize pool was doubled, however the field was more than double what it attracts on a regular day, so overall it wasn't good value for my precious poker points. I’ll be back tomorrow for a crack at the Omaha Freeroll.With hindsight I wish I’d reluctantly laid it down and waited for a lower variance spot to get my stack in. Mind you, there's also another way to look at it; if you're going to bust out in a race before the bubble you might as well get it over and done with in the first hand, it's far less painful than playing for an hour before losing your flip.
Closing Balances; £3.20 Poker Points 490
No change today
No luck today, I entered two 10 point freerolls without success.
First up I tried the hyper-turbo £25 NLHE Freeroll at 6-45am, this being the first time I have ever played a tournament on my iPhone at work. I decided to enter because I noticed saw 77 players were already registered at 2-00am. My assumption was that most of those would be sitting out by 6-45 and not many would be left competing for the money. As it was there were two away players at my table and four playing. I was toast in level 3 after flopping two pairs against middle set.
My second game was the 2-00pm Omaha Freeroll. I enjoyed a superb start with a full treble-up in the first orbit. I flopped the nuts with 56 in my hand and 478r on the flop, then held-up against two players prepared to play for all their chips with inferior holdings.
A mistake ruined my chances in the mid-stages. I got my chips in on the turn with 6Txx in my hand and 8579r on the board. My aggressive opponent was the only other big stack at the table, both of us on more than double the average. He held TJ, so I was only drawing to only three outs for a chop. I was angry at myself for making a stupid error in the heat of the moment and throwing away a great chance of a deep run.
Note to self; less haste in Omaha tournaments, make sure you have the stone-cold nuts before putting your entire 40BB stack in the middle.
How not to play Omaha, I donate my stack;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 150.00 150.00 11835.00 xdionnex Big blind 300.00 450.00 1600.00 Your hole cards 4 A 10 6 STILETTO Call 300.00 750.00 3905.00 manguwalia Call 300.00 1050.00 11285.00 _Morfeous_ Fold gooligan Fold GaryQQQ Call 150.00 1200.00 11685.00 xdionnex Check Flop 8 5 7 GaryQQQ Check xdionnex Check STILETTO Check manguwalia Bet 1200.00 2400.00 10085.00 GaryQQQ Call 1200.00 3600.00 10485.00 xdionnex Fold STILETTO Fold Turn 9 GaryQQQ Bet 2700.00 6300.00 7785.00 manguwalia All-in 10085.00 16385.00 0.00 GaryQQQ All-in 7785.00 24170.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 400.00 23770.00 400.00 GaryQQQ Show 4 A 10 6 manguwalia Show 10 8 J 4 River 9 manguwalia Win Straight to the Jack 23770.00 23770.00
Closing Balances; Cash £5.70 Poker Points 455
Up £2.50 today
The first of my two games today was the 12-30pm £100 Freezing Freeroll. Negotiating a field of 523 wild entrants plus their 148 rebuys and add-ons with my one entry isn’t exactly easy, but I managed to make it to bubble, in part courtesy of a late double when I 3-bet shoved my pocket sixes into an openers K9s and won the flip.
Around 20 spots from the money I made a pleasing lay down. With AK on the button and 25BB to play with I flatted an UTG min-raise, not wanting to 3-bet and maybe be forced to flip for my tournament life. The BB completed so three of us saw the flop. The flop came down 66A. The BB donk-jammed and the UTG player, who had me covered, called. I considered it far too likely one of them held trip 6s to play for my stack. My decision was correct; the BB doubled off the UTG opener with his 65o beating AJo.
Post bubble play was a rollercoaster ride with luck swinging both ways. Firstly I sucked out to double with AJ>AK aipf. Then lost a huge pot with AK<A7 aipf that could have launched me into the top five at the time. When down to two tables and all stacks below 10BB I was so short I was forced to shove any two cards from the SB into the BB. My jack-high didn’t improve against pocket tens and I busted in 8th for a prize of £2.50.
I have mixed feeling about the result. To finish 8th of 671 buy-ins for only £2.50 is somewhat frustrating, I had my eye on the £25 for the winner. However, I have to consider that £2.50 is my biggest win to date and it almost doubles my cash balance.
The Omaha Freeroll didn’t get much of my attention for the first hour because my concentration was focussed on the Freezing Freeroll and a deep tournament run on another site. I fell short of the money in 128th/595(+142 r/a) after getting my stack in on a very good flop but failing to either improve or swerve a flush draw.
If I 3-bet the BB almost certainly folds. If the UTG opener then flats (quite likely in a freeroll) I win a full double on that flop. If I knew both their hole cards that's exactly what I would have done. However without that knowledge I prefer to see a flop in position for 2BB rather than 3-bet to 5BB at the risk of getting shoved on or flatted. 2/3rds of the times when I 3-bet and get flatted I'll miss the flop. My c-bet is then going to cost me another 6BB+, if I'm shoved on at that point I've squandered 36% of my stack.
I didn't want to make a high-variance all-in play for 25BBs while comfortably above average close to the bubble. If I had a decent bankroll behind me I'd go for it, in this unusual circumstance when even a min-cash is precious as I try to scrape together a few quid I prefer to take a lower variance approach in certain spots like this.