The Stake, Mike's visit, Summer Goals

The last two weeks have been pretty eventful for me. Instead of putting in a lot of play time, because I haven't really been able to without a bankroll, I have been instead putting my time into studying hands and strategies online. My backer actually just purchased a subscription to seatopenpoker.net for me. This site is dedicated to helping live NL HE players, low stakes players at that, and increasing their winrate. The guy who runs it is named Bart Hanson and the past week I have learned a ton. I am taking notes and planning to incorporate his strategies into my game. I mostly wanted to blog actually just to write about a few of them to help me remember them. I know that in high school I used to write down facts over and over again in order to memorize them, and in this case I'd like to talk about them in order to get them into my brain better. 

The last tournament that I played with my backer last week, we discussed the option of playing experimentally, and what I mean by that is this: Either we would play blind, without looking at our cards and solely attacking weakness at the poker table, or we would play  without calling, meaning we would either raise or fold. If we want to call, but cant raise, then we should probably just be folding anyways. Its all about taking control and initiative at the table. Aggression works in tournaments, especially against bad players. If you are just content with calling, and checking, and playing too passively, then you HAVE to hit hands. you HAVE to get lucky to win. While we are still playing the same hands we would normally have played, playing more aggressively only gets us paid off more, and also the bluffs you try to execute work better too because you have a better image. So we decided he was going to play blind, and I was going to play more or less the raise or fold style. What I found was that I was actually a lot more comfortable playing more aggressively! It was EASIER because the hands I was up against and the hands I was playing were more defined. It was almost always a clear fold or a clear raise. I found myself 3betting hands that I would normally just call with, but I never thought about the fact that if I am just calling, in order to win the hand (assuming my opponent is decent enough to be cbetting most flops) then I would HAVE to hit the flop in order to continue unless I felt like bluffing! And bluffing is generally not a great idea against horrible players like this because they arent thinking on the same level that you are.

Anyways, the strategy worked so well that I finally won one. I took it down, after a 10 or so tournament slump. After that tournament, I decided that from now on I was going to stick with that strategy and generally be more aggressive. I also have been listening to Bart Hanson a lot, and while he normally is talking about cash games, I found that his basic strategies could also apply to me in most situations. He is a big proponent of double barreling, and bet folding as opposed to check calling, which is basically just a more aggressive adaptation to the game. What I mean by double barreling is just to continue to bet top pair hands or overpair hands, and get the maximum value out of one pair or overpair type hands. He also advocates the double barrel when you are bluffing or semi bluffing big card over cards to a small, dry board to opponents who will call the flop with even a little piece of the board. The double barrel is pretty powerful and it also works when you hit your big card. I have to remember to keep betting even when I do pair up and not play it sheepishly, but go for max value every time. I think just those basic strategies will already clean up my game a lot and increase my win rate drastically.

The other thing he points out is a common leak in most low stakes players is their preflop hand selection. And while I thought that I had basically gotten to the point in my game where my preflop game was near perfect, there are still times where I get a bit tilty and play hands awfully. So I will also be focusing on making sure I am not playing marginal hands in marginal spots. I am also going to focus on tightening up my opening range in cash games, especially UTG. cant go wrong there :)

Another concept Bart has been preaching is the concept of being either way behind or way out front. What that means is that on a J 5 4 2 9 board, A9 is the same as like pocket tens. or QQ is the same as AJ. Lets say its a JJ529 board. in this case, AA would be the same as TT, generally speaking. Either you have the nuts, or you have the second nuts. It really doesn't matter. Because at that point, why would a guy with just a marginal hand that has any showdown value be betting anything other than the nuts, or a bluff? Most marginal hands would just check back and hope for a showdown. So I think I also make too many hero calls in cash games with marginal hands and always find myself behind, no surprise. Occasionally I will snap off a bluff for a decent pot but it doesnt work often enough to be profitable. I also think that he made a good point when he pointed out that the main reason of poker is to make money, not to impress other players or outplay them. Instead of taking the simpler, more profitable play, we sometimes go for the more creative, macho play, and just try to BEAT our opponents rather than take their money. So I will also be focusing on that aspect as well.

I will also be taking notes each orbit on what hands I play and basically how the hand plays out. I have a pretty good memory, but I usually cant remember things off the top of my head. But if I can remember just a little bit of something, then the rest comes back to me. So I will be able to remember each hand 100% accurately and record them for later study and review. I also think it will help me be able to calculate my VPIP and kinda help to cut back when Im playing a bit too spewy. 

Another part of his podcasts that are helping is the part where he just breaks down every hand in every way, and even breaks down the ways the hand COULD have gone, instead of just how it went. That helps to give yourself a little "experience" when the time comes and you are in that spot. I hope that if I listen enough to him, that I will start to hear his opinion of what is going on at the table all the time in my head, and think things through. 

A select few of you already know, but to those of you that dont, I did finally meet a backer who is seriously interested. Turns out not only do we have common goals in mind, and similar business minds, but we also get along quite well. I view him as a great friend as well as a business partner, and I know that we will both be able to help each other out significantly. He is not only staking me in tournaments, but in cash games as well, and that is why I have been studying like crazy to learn cash game techniques. I dont want to just take this opportunity and only perform minimally. I am going to be studying and reviewing and playing as much as I can to improve my game as fast and as much as possible before this summer. Ive always thought my best quality was my determination, and I am prepared to use that quality to the max these next few months before the World Series. 

My goal is obviously to win, but I dont want to just win... I want to be able to CRUSH. I want to crush these games and have a winning strategy down pat before I make any big moves. And by big moves, I mean make enough money for my backer and myself that he and I would both feel comfortable with me playing in some World Series events for a possible bracelet. I dont think that just a set winning strategy at the lowest stakes is all that it takes to win a big world series event, 

So the goal is to prove that I am a winning player at 1/2 NL live cash games, and to get some good tournament practice in as well. Then, the goal is to play in a World Series Event, or at least a side event at one of the smaller casinos, and make a big score before the end of the summer. I think everything I just stated is completely doable, and I believe that I will succeed. 

My friend Mike came to visit me from MI, who is actually the reason why I found my backer. Im actually too tired to go into detail about how much fun we had out here in Vegas for the few days he visited, but we basically played a lot of poker, talked a lot, and had a few drinks. He is going to be dealing out here in Vegas for the summer as a WSOP dealer. So maybe he will deal my final table, who knows :P

Im also still going to dealer school, even though this week and last week have been disastrous for my attendance record, as I wasnt feeling well enough to get out of bed this week mostly and last week I was busy with my poker friends. 

But generally speaking I am going to be studying hard and playing hard once my backer and I square away the stake. Im pretty excited and every day I wait to get started I just keep studying and reading/listening. 

The night that changed everything

While I wont post specific details about everything, I can still say that I have found a serious backer who is looking to add a few horses to his team. And he's not looking to put me in little $55 tournaments with horrible structures that I can only hope to win with a long shot. He's looking to put me in tournaments that actually matter. The ones that Im always looking at online and wishing I could play in. The ones that I actually have to do a little bit of thinking in, because I won't be playing against horrible recreational players that know next to nothing about tournament poker. 

I know that the difference between me and my pro colleagues was that they all had backers at some point or another to get them started. Show me a poker player that has never gone broke and I'll show you a liar. Its part of the game, and you have to bounce back from it. For me, I've only been 21 a couple months so I haven't really been able to get out in the casinos and ask people, and it's tough to find backers in today's game and economy. I also dont really like just asking random people because you are essentially asking a stranger for money. You have to find someone that understands poker, and business, and wants to put the two together. Oh first of all you have to find someone with common sense. That by itself is a difficult task. 

But thanks to my friend Mike from MI, back in the good ole' Jackson days where I started my poker career... He introduced me to his buddy and we talked it through. We still haven't hammered out the specific details, but if I knew them I wouldn't post them for the public anyway. But lets just say I will be playing some bigger tournaments I normally wouldn't have had the chance to play in. Its pretty exciting and that means that in my current state of being without a bankroll, I can still try and score a big one. And all the while I will be getting better and discussing strategies and certain hands with him too. and playing against these better players will help my game as well.

Its pretty exciting for me. Definitely looking forward to the future and seeing what I can do. I am very fortunate that I got to meet this guy and that he thinks I could do well for him. I believe I can with a little run good :P Just gotta keep my focus and composure. 

This could have been the night that transforms my poker career forever. 

-ATR

Special Events, the worst play I've ever seen, and my final table mistake

I'm laying here writing this and actually beating myself up for the final table mistake I made today. And it wasnt a mistake I made playing poker.

At the first break of the tournament I was by far the chip leader at the deep stack tournament hosted by the South Point Casino. It seems like I am usually the chip leader very early almost every tournament, and then somehow at the end lose it. But anyway after the first break I played about 3 hands until the final table. It took a lot of discipline to just keep folding and folding and folding... folded for about 2 hours. When we were down 7 handed with two tables left I picked up a few hands and won a few small pots to put me at around 60,000 in chips with the blinds at 2k/4k. When we had finally lost enough players to get to the final table, the guy next to me yells "YES!" And stands up and starts asking people if they want to chop the prize pool.

I'm usually that guy at the final table that tells everyone No, I do not want to chop, and everyone hates me and tells me I will be the first one out because I'm the only one who won't chop, Blah blah blah I've heard it all. I never let it affect me and it never has. Today every single person at the final table wanted to chop.

In case you don't know what that means, it means to chop the prize pool by dividing by the number of players left, giving everyone an equal share of the money that would otherwise be paid out to the top 5 spots. in this case, the chop value was $495. 1st place was $1,960. Out of the 10 of us, I had about 65k in chips and there were a few other stacks of 80 and 90k. Majority of the players had 20-40k.

The dealer went individually around the table and asked everyone if they wanted a chop, because it has to be unanymous, and of course I was in seat 10, so I got asked last. Every single person said yes. This time I fell to the pressure and said ok.

You might be wondering why this is a mistake, $500 is good to me. But you have to see it from my perspective. This is what I love to do, how I am making my money. If I chop, what am I chopping for, so I can make it all the way to the final table again in another tournament to play for 1st place money? I'm playing these tournaments to score big in order to ride out the times where the cards are against me, like they recently were. By making it all the way to the final table, I took my session in which the cards were in my favor and threw it away, and didn't capitalize on it. I had an edge on this final table to play for 1st place. That's why it was a mistake.

I choose to look at it like as if I were to have shoved over the top of a preflop raise with AK and gotten called by AQ and they hit a queen, and I would have lost in 9th, and not even made that $500. I also view it as a learning experience. I will never ever ever do that again.

I also went early for this tournament in order to play a smaller, cheaper tournament. I like to offset long, deepstack tournaments that include a lot of patience, folding, and being bored with playing fast-paced, high variance cheap all in tournaments where I also have an edge. And this is the tournament where I witnessed what might have been the worst play I have seen to this day in live tournament poker.

The hand played like this. The blinds are at 100/200 and I am in the big blind with about 3200 in chips. Action folds around to the cutoff who limps for 200, button folds, SB completes, and I check with T 8 offsuit.

The flop comes 9 7 3, with two hearts. The SB checks, I lead out for 300, the cutoff guy folds, and I expected the SB to fold as well. But he didn't, he calls. Turn brings another 9, this time the 9 of hearts. Kind of an action card. He checks again, and this is the street where I will get all the information I need to know. I bet out 700, and he calls again.

At this point I had a tight image so I was only playing and showing good cards. I put this guy on either the same hand as me, or an 86, or some kind of strong 7 with a high heart going for a flush draw, or maybe even just a 3. The river brought a black 5, and he checked again. I know that this particular player always has lead out with his made hands, and usually just calls down with any draw and then gives up on the river if he misses. So I figured I would do that again. If he has a 7, he might not be comfortable with it as there are two nines and a flush out there (this is also assuming HE doesnt have a 9 or a heart, but I am 100% sure he does not). If he has a draw, hes folding, as the 5 doesnt change anything except bring a straight for 86, in which case he would bet out, but he didn't. So he has to have a pretty weak hand or a busted straight draw, like I have. So I go all in for my last 2200 and hope that it will get the job done.

He called rather quickly. I turned over my T8 in hopes that he would read it for something good and fold his better hand (hey, it has worked before). He asks the dealer what I have, and she says "ten high, sir." He then turns over his cards with the 85.

I couldn't believe it. Not only was he chasing a gutshot straight draw with a flush and paired board out there, he hit a 5 on the river and called my all in, someone who bet all 3 streets!

As of today, this goes down as the worst play I have ever seen in my poker career. Until I see something worse, this will hold the crown.

On the to the last topic: I wanted to discuss some ideas for playing some of the special events that are going on at some of the big casinos.

Caesar's has a WSOP circuit event going on right now. There are a lot of good tournaments with very high buy-ins going on. The Venetian also has a deepstack event going on as well. I still haven't decided what I am going to do about all this. I want to play in some of them, and even if I find that I am outmatched with these players, I will be learning a lot by seeing how they play.I have been looking at the super satellites that they will put on to get into the main events, and they are around $300 just to play in a  high variance sng to try and get into the big one. That is why I needed to bank a big score this weekend or this week before the main events start. But I chopped it 10 ways like an idiot.

I was at Caesar's last night just to play in a high variance tournament and check out the scene. The players there seem pretty good and well established among everyone there. They were also doing some filming of a final table that has been going on for 10 hours. Seems legit, but its also a little scary. I dont know what I will end up doing this week besides concentrating on school M-Thurs.

Still looking for a way to get better without a hand history to study like I had when I played online.

Comments welcome.

-ATR






I

Climbing back up?

After that sick run of bad luck I was basically down to the felt, not playing unless staked. I had a few people back me in a few small events, but they didn't work out.

But last night I made the decision to wake up early and play a low buy in, you-have-to-get-lucky-to-win tournament. $40 buy in at the Green Valley Ranch, the closest poker room to my house. Start with 4500 in chips, and the blinds exactly double every 20 minutes. It gets pretty crazy. This is quickly an all-in or fold tournament. If you dont pick up the right cards at the right spot, you can lose very very quickly.

Fortunately for me I made a lot of good moves in a lot of great spots. I made a lot of disciplined folds and waited for better spots. I stole the blinds in great spots to keep me in the game.

We went from 6 tables to the final table in about 2 hours. I was very short stacked at the final table, but I patiently waited for the right moment to get it all in. But, looking back, I was never actually all-in at the final table. none of my all-ins were called, and so I built my stack from 19k to 68k all by stealing the blinds. But one time I called someone else's all in for less. someone went all in for 12k on the button and I had 6k in the big blind already out there.

With his 12k shove, the small blind with 3k, and me with 6k out there, thats 21k in the pot. It only costs me 6k more to call. or 3.5-1 on my call. If I win 1 out of 3.5 times I will break even here. So I called his 6k without even looking at my cards - they dont matter. Even if I had 72 and he had AA the math is still almost breakeven.

I had a J2. he had a 45, and my J2 held up to win. :D haha but other than that I got it in when I had the best of it.

1st was $613. 2nd was $357 and 3rd was $293. When there were 3 of us left I had about 68k in chips, big stack had about 240k, and little stack had about 45k. We decided to chop up the prize pool, give the big stack $513, and we took $375 a piece. It was better than 2nd place money and with the blinds at 6k/12k I could have lost any hand. In hindsight, I kinda wished I woulda played it out and at least got 1v1 vs the big stack, and then chop it like 500 and 700 or something. But I just needed to win one for my confidence - I was on like a 9 tournaments in a row slump.

So I got a little money under my belt, a little chance to play a few more events and try to grind it up some more so I can get back into the swing of things. I also got my tax returns, so.... thats a little bit of added income. Thats more going toward bills, but it also means that my win money today can all go in my bankroll.

Tonight Im just playing in a $25 buy in home game with my dad at a friend of mine's. Nothing too fancy, first is usually like 150-200. Tomorrow I will probably try my luck at the Mirage again. That always seems to pay out 3500+.

There are a lot of events going on right now that I would love to partake in but I am not rolled for it atm. The Venetian has a "deep stack extravaganza" going on right now with tons of tournaments every day ranging from 300-2500 buy in main event. there are some satellites into the main event I would like to play in, but even those are a couple hundred bucks. Also Caesar's has a WSOP Circuit Event going on too where a $500 buy in goes a long ways in a huge tournament and I heard 1st was around 300 grand last time. If I can get a big win this weekend to properly roll me for some of those events, I will be playing for some huge money next week.

Any given week, my life could be forever changed.

-ATR

The variance monster's debut

As expected, I have hit a wave of variance and unluckiness that I was not prepared for.

You can't run good forever.

The only problem I have now is because of the bills that I am trying to pay off as fast as possible, any win that I get I'm taking half of the profits and using it toward that. So that when I do lose, and lose a few in a row, suddenly I find myself short on funds.

Usually pro poker players, especially in the tournament circuit, have a group of friends that are willing to stake and back their action in order to help them overcome the variance. I dont like to use the word luck, because essentially the modern use for it leans toward superstition, so I use variance. To me, every hand is completely separate from the last, and no hand affects the next hand, except in the sense of players having different images of course. To me, the definition of "luck" is just being prepared when opportunity arises.

So without stakes and backers for my tournaments when I am not doing so well, it is pretty tough for me to bounce back. What I will attempt to do is decrease the size of my buyins from the 100-125 range and play more 50-75 dollar buyins. Hopefully this will allow to me get more tournaments in and overcome this drought of unluckiness.

This morning I played 3 tournaments, and was out of all 3 in a matter of 4 hours. The mirage deepstack had a 1st place prize of 3700, and I thought I would make an early run at it when my 2nd hand I look down at two aces. I had just reviewed a book I had received autographed from an ex champion Tom McEvoy, and he added a play to my playbook, which is just to play 'second hand low' with two aces after an UTG raise. So after the UTG raised to 5k, I just flatted, in hopes that some action would ensue behind me, and they would be trapped when I come back over the top of them with the aces. Sure enough the button goes for the steal play for 20k, and I shoved all in for 50k. She only had 10k left, so I really only went all in for 30k, but she called and showed two fives. But the flop brought Q 5 Q and I was already down to 20k. After the blinds passed me, I am down to just 15.5k (500 antes as well) and its folded around to me on the cutoff, in which I look down at AK. Im all in again, and get called quickly by the big blind with AQ. Sure enough, the flop brought a queen, and I was out.

I decided I would rebuy, considering that I was so far ahead in both situations, and knew I could crush this field of amateurs. So, I re entered. However, I then was card dead for about two levels of the tournament, essentially making me shortstacked once again. After stealing the blinds once, I was at around 28k. After a UTG min raise to 12k, I decided I had no choice but to go all in with my jacks. the small blind also went all in, and the original raiser called his 50k shove, which I knew I was in trouble after that. He showed two kings, and the small blind showed Ace Ten. The flop brought no help for me, but help for the small blind when it came A 8 4. The turn brought a 7. I stood up for the table and got ready to leave, but the J of diamonds on the river gave me one of two cards to keep me in the tournament. I thought my luck had finally turned!

Now at a 90k stack, I was very comfortable at this table of pretty bad players. blinds at 2k/4k there was one limper in late position, and it folds to me on the button, and I look down at KQ of diamonds, so I go for a 14k raise, actually just hoping to win it right there or outplay the limper with a better hand. However the big blind shoved all in for 120k, and i was forced to fold. After a few more hands of folding I found myself short stacked once again as the blinds were now up to 3k/6k and my 65k stack was needing some help. I thought I would get it when I called a small all in in the big blind with AJ, but got sucked out on by KJ. stack now at 48k I wait and wait and wait... My opportunity arises when a player limps UTG and the button goes all in over the top of him for about 50k. I look down on the big blind and see AJ of hearts, and decide to go with it for only 40k total. The limper also calls. Limper has 33, button has KJ. Looks like I actually have a solid chance! But the flop brought 8 3 8 and I was drawing dead, out of the tournament again.

I wasnt too discouraged yet, just figured it wasnt my day. A 2pm turbo tournament had just opened up and so I decided to enter there for only 50 bucks. But things would only get worse.

I got to play two hands in that tournament. A turbo format means everyone basically just goes all in or folds because you start with so few of chips. These tournaments are high variance, but I am also very skilled in knowing push/fold ranges. With the blinds at 15/30 I shoved all in with AK of spades, and got called right away. When he saw my cards he said "ah you got me" and turned over KQ off suit? He got up from the table, but I told him to sit down, because the way Ive been running today he will probably catch his queen. The flop didnt just bring one queen. it brought two. And so I was down to just 60 chips. Next hand I am all in again with AJ and my all in was for just a min raise. The big blind calls for just 30 more with KJ. But of course, the flop brought a king for him, and I was already out of the tournament.

So today my buyins cost me $290. My tournaments Friday cost me $125, and my tournaments Thursday cost me $120. Tuesday and Wednesday cost me $150. Thats a total of $685, which I had set aside about $600 to play tournaments with, and everything else went toward paying things off or sitting in my bank account to pay off monthly bills.

Im a little unsure of what to do now, as I am restricted by finances once again. It seems odd that after all my big wins so early on I am tapped for funds to play poker with, but things would be much easier if I didnt have so many expenses at the moment. I also lost a few hundred playing cash games right after my first big win, and that was a bad experience too. Which is why ever since then I have not played cash, and never will. I dont know what it is, but I do not get good vibes or feel good playing in cash games. The way that I lost was pretty unlucky, but I still dont feel and never have felt that cash is for me. Besides with the rake and dealer tips, its pretty hard to manage a consistent profit playing in swingy cash games against tourists who will bet their $200 with almost anything, since most people here have so much money they dont know what to do with it. And usually its a good thing to play in those games vs them, but you have to be reckless and have no regard for money to get it in with them. And thats not my style. Maybe if I had a lot of money, I would oblige and play those big pots with them fearlessly, but I have to be cautious as I have no other source of income at the moment.

My last shot is tomorrow afternoon at the Orleans for a $75 buy in. The stake comes as a late birthday present from my brother. If I dont manage to make any money from that tournament, I will be applying for low paying jobs, going to school, and playing with whatever stake i can get. Probably go back to playing the $20 home games at a friend's house to try and run my bankroll up again.

Tournament Player of the Month may have to be postponed for now :/

*sigh the life of a poker player....

-ATR

My rather short 2nd Orleans Fri night experience

My return to the Orleans Friday night tournament. 250 players, alternates waiting in line to play all night long... I had a good feeling about tonight. But alas, I am at home, writing about it instead of still playing.

After a few hands I had established a tight image and ended up in a good situation when I looked down at two Kings UTG and raised it up to 700 with 100/200  blinds, with 1 limper in front of me. Everyone else folded and the limper called. The flop came Q 9 3 with two hearts, and I did not have the King of hearts. U of Arizona hat checked, and I bet 1200. He raised to 3000, and I went all in. he called me and tabled J8 of hearts. The turn brought the ten of diamonds, giving him the second nut straight, and leaving me with only a jack to make a higher straight, but it did not come and I was crippled down to just 1800 in chips. Very next hand I went all in for my last 1800 with K2 of clubs in an attempt to either steal the blinds or get lucky, and it ended up being the latter when I rivered a K vs two Queens. Very next hand the blinds are now up to 200/400 and I open shoved with KQs in late position and got no callers, and am up now up to 5k. Very next hand I win a small pot with QJ vs KT. I find myself up to more than 6k. I decided to keep the momentum rolling and raised the very next hand again with 75 of clubs, and got two callers. The flop was 985 with two diamonds and one club. I shoved all in and got a caller, and thought for sure I was finally going to lose. But he tabled QJ off suit? He needs a ten for a straight or a queen or a jack for a better pair. my 75 was actually ahead! The turn brought the 7 though, and it left him with only a ten for the win. The river brought another 5 and my full house knocked out the poor little asian fellow.

VERY NEXT HAND I am now big blind and the button raises me. I look down at AQ of spades and think about 3betting him, but if she shoved all in I would not be so sure what to do, as I have no information on this guy. I wouldnt know if he was trying a steal play or if he really wasnt messing around. So I just call and see a A 3 3 flop with one spade. I decided I would check raise him to make it look bluffy and he might shove with a worse hand. Well, thats exactly what happened, and after his bet of 1200 I raised to 3750, he shoved and I called, he tabled 99. My AQ held up and I suddenly found myself going from 1800 to almost 33,000 in a matter of 10 minutes. Last hand of the break Im in the small blind, and a short stack goes all in for 1.1k, and UTG calls his raise, and I look down in the small blind at T9 offsuit. Theres about 3k out there and it only costs me 900 to call. I decided I would see a flop and wouldnt you know it the flop came T9K. After it went check check though, the turn brought an ugly K, to counterfeit my two pair. Action went check check again, and the river brought a blank. I checked once more, and UTG made a 1.2k bet at me. I called and he showed 55, and so I won that side pot. The all in raiser showed 8 4? so i won that one too. I now had almost 40,000 and went on the first break.

after the ten minute break, feeling good about myself, got the solo piano pandora station going, Im ready to roll. First hand it folds around to me on the button, and I raised with J9 of diamonds. The small blind called me and the flop brought A Q T with the QT being diamonds, giving me a straight flush draw. I bet about 1600, and got raised to 4400. He had about 11k behind and I went for the all in move, not caring whether or not he called or folded. He did call with AQ, and I was drawing to a K, 8, or a diamond. None of these cards came and I found myself back down to 23k.

VERY NEXT HAND we have one limper for 600 and Mr Arizona hat comes over the top for 3800. I look down on the cutoff with two tens. Seeking revenge I call his 3800, as does the original limper. 3 way action brought the AQT flop with the AQ of clubs, and the limper leads out for 5k. Arizona hat folds and I go all in for my last 19k. He calls me quickly with KJ of diamonds. I am in trouble but the dealer put the J of clubs out on the turn. I HAD to win it now, right? I mean I have the ten of clubs in my hand, with the AQJ of clubs out there, and a set of tens. A king of clubs would give me a royal flush, any club would give me the winning hand over his straight, or any A,Q,J, or T would give me a full house or quads to beat his straight. Guy next to me says he folded K7 with the 7 of clubs, so now I have EIGHTEEN CARDS TO HELP ME. But the river brought the stupid 6 of spades and I was out rather quickly.

In about 25 minutes I went from 15000 in chips to 1800 in chips back up to 38kish in chips, and then suddenly I was out.

Pretty disappointing.

I did see a contact I made last Monday when I won the tournament whose name is Ralph, hes an older married guy, all around nice guy. He finished 4th in that tournament when his QJ couldnt do it vs my A6. Ralph has been in every tournament I've ever played there, and he claims he plays so much because his wife is always working. We dont talk about personal stuff, just poker. He made me aware of the WSOP circuit events starting next week at Caesar's, and I looked at the schedule. There are a multitude of buyins ranging from 365-1600 and he said there is good money to be made there. However, I do not feel like I could afford a buy in that great for any single tournament. If I can do well this weekend (so far not so good) then maybe Ill play a 365 next Thursday, but highly unlikely.

I also learned that the tournament of the month points literally translate from the dollar amounts won in any given tournament. If you win a Friday or Saturday night tournament, you get 60% of your winnings in points. Any other day, you get 100%. Reason being, Friday and Saturday night tournament winners win about 3-7k, which would skew the data. So if I can prove consistent over the enxt few weeks, I should have no problem getting up there. The leader only had about 5700 points. I think thats doable for me :)

Tomorrow I am playing at the Mirage deepstack at 11am and depending on how I do I will either play the $100  7pm tournament at the Orleans, or play a smaller tournament at the Mirage again. I know that wherever I am there has to be some good tvs close by so I can watch my #1 ranked Michigan Wolverines take on the #3 ranked Indiana Hoosiers in college basketball.

I still cant believe that I lost two hands in a row both with straight flush draws and couldnt hit any of my outs. But I guess thats poker and you cant always get lucky. *sigh

-ATR

My Aria debut, Old ladies, and future plans.

Yikes.

A couple nights a week The Orleans does not host no limit texas hold em tournaments. They host HORSE and PLO Hi Lo tournaments, and so I wont be able to play there each night. Im in no way good enough at all the different forms of poker to fair very well in them. So I will need to figure out the most profitable tournaments to play on wednesdays and thursdays. Tonight I decided to check out probably the nicest casino in town - The Aria. It's brand new, only been around a few years. The forum shops there are ridiculously nice, with the average customer needing to have spending money of at least 5 grand. They have daily tournaments at 1 and 7 that have an awesome structure: $125 buy in with plenty of time to play. Tonight there were a total of 77 entrants at the 7pm tournament. I started off hot, and was the chip leader for the first 3 hours. I had a pretty easy starting table, and it didn't take long to knock out a bunch of players to bring us down to three tables.

Once we got down to three tables, the new players at the table started to cause me some trouble. A specific guy had moved right to my left, and took advantage of his position over me, and his chip stack was similar to mine. We wasted no time going at it, getting involved in some pretty hefty pots early on. I got the best of him to start, but he soon learned that I was not looking to get into huge pots and risk my tournament on anything but the best of hands, and he began playing overly aggressive, taking away most of my moves. It frustrated me for sure, and I shut down on my aggressiveness and tightened up. I went card dead for a few hours and found myself not even close to the top chip stack anymore. With 3 tables still going, I decided to play a pot with an older lady who I had only seen playing good hands. One hand she didnt even know she had a straight and took a huge pot off the same guy to my left. With the blinds at 800/1600, her around 60,000 and me around 50,000 in chips, she made it 5100 to go from UTG. On the button I decided to call with 33. My plan was to either outplay her, since she was a pretty typical older player who only plays good cards and if they dont hit a pair they fold, or hit a 3 and try and double up through her if she had a big hand. Everyone else folded and left us to battle.

The flop brought a 9 8 2 board with two hearts. She led into it for 13,000 flat. After thinking for a while, I kinda got the feeling that she was just trying to bet so big to get me out of it because she had an uncomfortable hand like AK or AQ. I decided I would try and get a read on her... so I reached for chips to call her 12k bet. When I did, she instantly sat back in her chair and looked very nervous. In Mike Caro's book on poker tells, usually when you reach for your chips and your opponent makes a sudden movement, they are subconciously trying to do anything they can to prevent that action. If they wanted you to call, they wouldnt do anything but sit still in hopes that you would continue the action in which you are about to perform. So I called her huge bet and decided to see the turn card.

The turn was a 4, non heart. She paused for a few seconds, and then looked at me and said "Check" in a manner that was almost pleading, as if she really just wanted me to check behind and give her a free card. With only about 33k left behind me I decided that I would move all in. I really put her on a AK or AQ hand, maybe of hearts and she was looking for a heart. I thought an all in would easily get her to fold.  As soon as I said all in she took a big sigh and said "time," meaning she was asking the dealer for time because she was going to take a minute. I thought for sure that I had her outplayed, that she would just give up, and maybe even fold a better hand than mine. But then she said "call" and I knew I was headed for the door. She turned over two Kings. The river brought the 5 of hearts and I was out.

The table congratulated ME on the play, saying they didnt think she had anything either. I guess that's why they say tells only increase the LIKELINESS of them being accurate, but never 100%. There are no absolutes in body language I guess. I thought I made the right move to aim for that 34,000 out there, but it didnt work. So after all the respect I had at the table, all the chips I had, the massive stack I had in front of me, all ended up being a donation to the old lady charity. She got me good, props to her. Although I really dont think she checked for deception in order to get me to move all in, it still was the best play for her to get all of my chips, and it worked, so....

Im pretty bummed about the outcome of that tournament. It was a very nice room, and I loved the  tables, the chips, the service. I also checked out the sports book room, and its a good place to kill some time in maybe in the future. The only part I didnt like was how hard it was to get to the Aria, and then you have to do the whole valet thing because parking on the strip anywhere is a nightmare. Other than that I think it may be better to play those tournaments on the weekends when the player base is a little softer. A few of those guys seemed to be regulars at the cash games there. Scary. I dont like rich cash game player guys. They are usually reckless and very aggressive. Not my style.

Tomorrow I am not sure what I'll do during the day, if I'll play at all. I know for sure that I will be at the $125 buy in Orleans tournament at 7pm that I saw drew over 250 players and a first place prize of almost 7 grand. Last time I placed 64th, and that was before I made some big adjustments to my game. It was my first tournament at 21. If I can take that down or just cash at the final table, i'll be a happy camper going into Saturday. I know for sure that I will play at the Mirage again on Saturday. I should have won last Saturday but the final table brought only bad luck for me. *sigh*

Good night.

-ATR