Nearly that time again - WSOP 2012

In the beginning of this prolific tournament in 1970 there were only 6 players, today this tournament attracts more than 75000 entrants from across the globe generating prize money more than $1 900 000. Its hard to believe that its almost time again, 2012 marks the 43rd annual World Series of Poker.

The tournament will be held in the Rio All-suit hotel and casino in Las Vegas!

This year there will be 62 events, consisting of different buy-ins ranging from $500 to $1mil, the seats are expected to be filled with professionals and amateurs a like. The first event starts on the 27th of May - three days before my birthday (boy, wouldn't that be a great birthday present). the final event of the series begins on the 9th of July.
A couple notable tournaments:

- Event 12    Heads Up NLHE     $10 000

- Event 17   Pot Limit HE            $10 000

- Event 32   H.O.R.S.E               $10 000

- Event 39   Pot Limit Omaha      $10 000
- Event 45   The Poker Players Championship  $50 000

- Event 55   The Big One for One NLHE        $1 000 000

- Event 57   NLHE (6 handed)         $10 000
- Event 61   NLHE championship (Main Event)  $10 000

Hope to see new faces, winners and names holding bracelets. I have a great feeling about Phil Ivey this year though!

Check out these links for more on the WSOP and  WSOP Schedule.

WBCOOP 2012

The World Bloggers Championship of Online Poker has been underway since last Thursday, I have been very busy with varsity and life but managed to squeeze in one sitting. Event #5 NLHE. I played a little rushed as its been a while since my last online tournament, think I place 180 or so.

>> I could blame my early exit on the rust, but the main issue I had after post analyses, was the fact that I played too many hands. K.-7 and K-8 off suit do not deserve the respect I gave them, need to regain my focus. 

There are 13 tournaments remaining, all building up to Sundays MAIN EVENT climax!

I am fixing my schedule so as to have time to play in atleast 3 of the remaining tournaments namely: Event #23 and #24 - NLHE and NL Omaha respectively.

Each tournament will require different strategy, I will save that for my post match report LOL.

It is incredible how many bloggers play poker there are currently over 50 000 players logged into Pokerstars. I kinda hope this tournament not only brings about success in a bloggers poker career but also increase the exposure with in the blogging world.

So lets Shuffle up and Blog!

World Series of Poker Africa.

The highest staked sports event on the planet found its way to the continent of Africa, infact right on our doorstep - Emerald resort and casino. However, despite not having entrants and prize money to the quantity Europe and the US attract it was still a very successful tournament. Having a living legend of the Scotty “The Prince” Nguyen as the host.
The series ran from the February 21 - 26. All building up to the main event! To my complete satisfaction a local took the crown Joe-boy Rahme, Well done! I watched the final hand and once Rahme won the entire arena erupted, South Africa has become very passionate about poker.

Despite the first prize only being $158 595 (R1.197mil), it is a very big win for the tight knit poker community of South Africa. The final table was filled with South African players from all over the country two from Cape Town: Brad Flynn and Mark Mulhall; the majority of the table was made up of Jo-burgers.

Joe-boy's acceptance speech mentioned alot of promise in South African poker and our participation on the world stage. Unfortunately I missed the few Satellites hosted in Cape Town, really wish more Satellites would come down south.

WBCOOP 2012

Over the past few months I started to really use my twitter getting involved and updated by my companies and sites in my country (South Africa) and worldwide. Last night I came across this PokerStars event -World Blogger Championship of Online Poker and thought I have to enter. I have been blogging about poker for the past 7months and have attract hundreds of viewer -blogging about everything from poker news to tips and strategies I have researched and tried throughout my poker career.

If I won the $5000 prize I would be quite well off in my currency and be able to do quite a bit. The first thing I will have to do however is pay my University fees as I am a hard working economics major.The rest of the money will be used for my pilgramage to Las Vegas, my girlfriend and I have been saving up for the trip this would really kick start the trip.

I have been playing on PokerStars since I was 18, thats 4years, it would be a great experience to even get to play in the WBCOOP events scheduled from 23 Feb - 4 Mar.

Check out http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/ for more details on the WBCOOP!

Ivey back in the winners circle!!!

Well done to Phil Ivey, 2011 was a year of drama for his career hanging up his tournament playing boots and now his back stronger than ever. Ivey returned to action in November at the APPT Macau despite not cashing he put in a good performance. This month is looking bright for his 2012 season. First, he placed 12th in the Main Event of the Aussie Million and then a few days later went on to claim his highest purse in his career of $2,000,000 in the Super High Roller event, 2012 Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller.

The event attracted 16 players with only 3 cashing out, the 3rd place claimed $800,000 - not bad considering. Among the entrants were Erik Siedel, Sam Trickett, Tom Dwan, Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, John Juanda and Sorel Mizzi, including several other businessmen.

Among the stars taking part in the event were last year's champion Erik Seidel, last year's runner-up Sam Trickett, Tom Dwan, Jason Mercier, John Juanda and Sorel Mizzi. In addition, the event had a handful of businessmen on the felt, including Richard Yong, Paul Phua and Winfred Yu

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2012/01/xxx-wins-2012-aussie-millions-250-000-super-high-roller-11904.htm

--> these are all very big names in the poker world, proving the field to be tough. Play came down to an intense heads up battle between Ivey and Gus Hansen. Gus is considered a formidable heads up opponent.

Ivey vs Gus

Well done to Phil Ivey!!



Aussie Million's million dollar cash game

I wish my home cash game could be so high staked that we have to round amounts off to the nearest thousand!

After elimination from the 10K tournament a couple of the high stake players decided to have a cash game which resulted in some serious cash outs!

Jsaon Mercier

Jason Mercier was again a big winner cashing out $423,100 while Daniel Negreanu cashed out $250,000. Tom Dwan left with roughly what he sat down with, while Patrik Antonius cashed out $156,100 as Sam Trickett finished as top dog with $558,300.
 

The game got so big it needed to move into the Mahogany Room! Along with TV crews....

Here are a couple names that were seated at the table:

Patrik Antonius

Seat

Player Buy-In

1.Sam Trickett           $340,000

2.Kwan Yong             $280,000

3.Daniel Negreanu      $187,000

4.empty

5.Elton Tsang            $205,000

6.Patrik Antonius       $185,000

7.Daniel Cates          $170,000

8.Jason Mercier        $292,000

Update on Aussie Millions Main Event



Phil Ivey





Only 12 players remain in this million dollar event, including past winner Lee Nelson and the infamous Phil Ivey...



Table Seat Name Chip Count
31 1 Daniel Idema 1,840,000
31 2 Lee Nelson 1,651,000
31 3 Oliver Speidel 809,000
31 4 Karim Jomeen 2,063,000
31 5 Bjorn Li 2,471,000
31 6 Mile Krstanoski 755,000
       
32 1 Janis Lesinskis 1,501,000
32 2 Mohamad Kowssarie 2,230,000
32 3 Phil Ivey 699,000
32 4 Yann Dion 2,670,000
32 5 Patrick Heary 1,565,000
32 6 Kenneth Wong 1,498,000


Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2012-aussie-millions/aussie-millions-main-event/

Yann Dion currently has the chip lead with 2,670,000 chips, whilst in contrast Phil Ivey is short stack at the end of day 4 with 699,000. Fingers crossed that Ivey can grind his way back up the leader board. The main event attracted a total of 659 with a prize pool of $659,000. (First Prize is AU$1,600,000)

Top Chip Counts

1	Yann Dion		2,670,000
2	Bjorn Li		2,471,000
3	Mohamad Kowssarie		2,230,000
4	Karim Jomeen		2,063,000
5	Daniel Idema		1,840,000
6	Lee Nelson		1,651,000
7	Patrick Healy		1,565,000
8	Janis Lesinskis		1,501,000
9	Kenneth Wong		1,498,000
10	Oliver Speidel		809,000

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2012-aussie-millions/aussie-millions-main-event/payouts.htm



Top Chip Counts

1 Yann Dion   2,670,000



Yann Dion



2 Bjorn Li   2,471,000

3 Mohamad Kowssarie   2,230,000

4 Karim Jomeen   2,063,000

5 Daniel Idema   1,840,000

6 Lee Nelson   1,651,000

7 Patrick Healy   1,565,000

8 Janis Lesinskis   1,501,000

9 Kenneth Wong   1,498,000

10 Oliver Speidel   809,000

Aussie Millions 2012

The start of the poker year opens with Aussie Millions at Crown Casino, Melbourne. I was really hoping to make the trip but that didn't materialise (hopefully next year). This is the biggest series in the southern hemisphere and attracts players from all around the world. I think the most talked about entrant was the return of Phil Ivey, said to be the Tiger Woods of poker. It is a relief to see his name in poker headlines for actually playing in a tournament and not for the past years drama regarding Fulltilt poker!

Currently the main event #8, day 1d is Live. It is the final of the starting day and consists of 7 levels. Already in the field are seasoned professionals: Phil Ivey, Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem and Erik Siedel. Ivey got off to a great start and snatched an early chiplead, this is great news as having in back on top as that places pressure on the rest of the field.

Phil Ivey, Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, Erik Seidel, Nam Le and Daniel Alaei

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2012/01/2012-aussie-millions-day-13-breadsell-wins-chinese-poker-11868.htm

Ivey and Negreanu

There are plenty non-poker celebrities involved in this tournament. Yesterday I came across a tweet by Australian Cricketer Shane Warne: "My aces got cracked by Phil Ivey's 8 6 of hearts - both all in... Bang - horror I should have folded.."
I will try stay as up-to-date with the latest outcomes in Melbourne.
>> Good luck to Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu.

Busy week!!

Been at the poker table so much over the past week that I struggled to find time to post.
It felt like a months worth of poker though, because I experienced so much over the past week, both the highs and lows of the game (came out with decent profit).
Last Thursday was the first of the trilogy -  started the night off getting disgusting cards 8.2 off, 7.2 off, for the first hour or so i grinded it out winning the few hands I did get involved in, patiently awaiting my "Premium Card Run". It came soon enough, because I was so quiet in the beginning it allowed me to keep a tighter style and letting loose occasionally to snatch up the pot with a bluff.
The next Monday, I arranged a session earlier than normal in the week because I'm going on a little vacation with my girlfriend. This was the most frustrating of nights, card dead and unlike the previous session the cards never lightened up for the most part. However there were two 'highlight hands': Middle position AsKs. I preflop and get re-popped by two players; Smelt trouble and folded! The players had a showdown with AA and QQ. I was glad I got out of the way. Another highlight hand was with a board A 4 8 4 J. Showdown on the river saw QUAD 4s vs Bullets [AA]. I thought the Quad 4s played the hand brilliantly and got maximum out of it. I also hit quad Aces on the flop earlier in the night but didn't make much on the hand because nobody hit the board hard enough to pay my quads off. For the rest of the night I busted out on flush draws, got rivered a few times, still cashed but not enough to cover my buy ins. Very disappointed and determined to recover from the dismal performance.
Yesterday afternoon, the boys called an afternoon gathering, we sat on the balcony soaking in the outdoors while we played some serious poker. I started off like house on fire. Literally! Got about 5 full houses in the first hour, and unlike the previous session i was hitting my flush draws. Having established a substantial chip lead early on allowed me to call medium size bets to see a turn card and hit a runner on the river. The poker gods were watching over me - there were times i made a loose call and miracle hit a 2 outer on the river. I crashed out 3 of the 7 players, until we were 4 handed (one more KO till we called it a day). Then a wild unnecessary bluff got me trapped against the 2nd high stack this damaged not only damaged my chips, but my pride and momentum as well. I allowed it to affect me so much that I just tightened my game up so much which rationed my hands and the amount of pots I found myself involved in.

>> The moral of this entire story is that sometimes a slow and steady start is better than an initial quick burst. In day 3 even though i had the majority of the chips it was unnecessary for me to bluff hands, especially with the cards I was getting, I SAW TOO MANY FLOPS. When you experience day 2, don't let it damage your confidence and morale there is no need to reassess your entire style, even the best of pros are card dead and are challenge to win pots.
It is very important to remember that the actual aim of this game is GET MAXIMUM OUT OF WINS, AND KEEP LOSES TO MINIMUM! That's the only way to come out on top!

Showing too much respect!

The image that you forecast to your opponents at the table is an important factor when they are up against you in a hand. Last week's poker night is a fine example:

I had a solid evening of poker, play lasted just over 5hours and I never found all my chips in the middle once, even though before the first hand was dealt I declared to my poker mates "I will guarantee and show 3 stone cold bluffs for the night". So they knew I would, they just didn't know when, this worked well in my favour because I was getting loose callers when I had the Nuts, and players folding to bluffs.

I felt I played loose aggressive, and the only thing I would change is the unnecessary flops I pay to see. There were many stages in the night where the best cards I received was like 3h 9h, and I would call small raises just to see the flop - even though I folded when I missed, the calls chipped away from my towers of chips. My mental goal was to stay patient, focused and 'incontrol', and by this I wanted to keep it strictly business and not make too many haphazard big calls. As a result the only story I managed to extract from the evening was against a pretty tight and calculated player, that however makes a few 'over calculated' decisions.
Play was down to 4-handed, I'm in Big Blind and receive A5 (off suit). The player UTG raises R5. Action folds round to me, I re-raise what is essentially 7x BB. He calls after a minute or two of thinking.
*I immediately put him on a mediocre hand (small/ medium pair, medium/ high suited cards). Flop comes [5 6 5]. I make it R21, he RAISES 2x my bet. I feel I'm ahead so I RE-RAISE by R60... Then, out of nowhere he SNAPS ALL IN about R200!!!! And without giving it much thought I FOLD. Possibly because I put him on the small pair and his tight play throughout the night made me cautious. Or because I regard him as one of the more experienced and calculated players at the table.

Even though many players sitting around the table were unsure as to why I LAID IT DOWN, I feel that as chipleader its not really wise to get too involved in hands with 2nd highest stack at the table.

STRATEGIC and FOCUSED are the two words I will be taking with me to the next poker table I find myself at.

WSOP MAIN EVENT

It has been weeks since I found the time to post a blog, I was writing my final university exams. They went pretty well, the last paper I wrote today Statistics even had a couple questions relating to poker - I had a good few giggles in the exam room. Anyway thats enough about me, while I was slaving away at the books, I had one eye on the Live Broadcasts of the November 9, WSOP!
Whenever I wasnt infront of the pc watching it live I was getting tweets from the pros, or mobile chip updates on www.wsop.com . It was a pleasure watching Martin Staszko and Puis Heinz battle it out for the $8.7million.

I never knew much about Heinz before the final table, but watching the highlights reel, "I run good" -Heinz, was the perfect way to describe his play. The 22 year old German was pretty aggressive when ever he sensed any weakness in his opponent.



WSOP MAIN EVENT CHAMPION

 The tournament started with over six thousand players, only 9 of which returned a month or so later on November 9, these included my personal favourite Ben Lamb, Matt Gianetti, Phil Collins, Eoghan O'Dea, Bob Bounahra, Anton Makiievsky and Sam Holden. A young, yet pretty experienced table of potential champions.
The heads up duel between Staszko and Heinz started off a tad uneven with Staszko having 117,3 million chips to Heinz 88.6 million chips - action went back and forth for 119 hands. Which makes the victory an even sweeter one with Heinz playing pure heads up, and being the more aggressive of the two, which ultimately won him the Bracelet.This hand is what crippled Stasko's stack:
Staszko limped in from the button and Heinz raised to 7.9 million in the big blind. Staszko called it pretty quickly, the flop came 10c 7c Ks and Heinz continued out with 8.2 million. The Czech was having none of it, though, and he raised to 17.5 million total, sending the decision back to Heinz. He spent a few moments thinking, then leaned back in his chair and sipped his water as he pondered. He shuffled chips for a bit, then leaned back over the rail to shoot a glance across the felt. A few seconds later, he announced his all-in reraise for about 70 million total!
Now it was Staszko with the decision, and he doesn't normally tank for the camera. Indeed, the call came just a minute later and the cards were on their backs with Heinz at risk.
Heinz: Ah Qh
Staszko: Qc 9c
"He's ahead!" Heinz's fans began to get giddy as they leaned in and gazed up at the monitors. The ace-queen was indeed the best hand, but Staszko was drawing live to the clubs and the nines left in the deck.
The turn was the 3h. Camp Heinz burst into another celebration as their guy was just one card away from a monster double. He just needed to fade Staszko's draws. The river was black, but it was the 6s, and Heinz and his rail enjoyed a big celebration together. After that hand, heinz was back in commanding lead with 161.5 million to Staszko's 44.4 million.

The tournament end with Ac Ks vs 10c 7c. A very well played and well deserved tournament!

WELL DONE PUIS HEINZ!!!!

There are really only three or four ways to select your bet. You can base your bet on the size of the blinds - many tournament players enter the pot preflop with a raise of 3-4 x Big Blind. The size of the pot, all or a portion, (in many cases 3-4 x BB is a pot sized bet), and finally you may base your bet or raise on stack sizes. Which method you select really depends on the situation, and you may even elect to change during a hand.

The major advantage of NL over Limit is the ability to manipulate the pot odds. So it only follows that the best basis for sizing the bet is to bet the size of the pot. In its simplest form, recommended by some experts, simply bet the size of the pot. If you bet the size if the pot, you are always offering a single opponent 2:1 on his money. Betting "pot-size" regardless of your hand disguises your hand and builds the pot. Using this approach has varied play built in and is excellent for the beginner who should only be peddling the nuts and not trying miracle plays.

Betting a percentage of the pot ranging from 30% to 200% of the pot is a good adaptation of the pot sized bet. You can bluff, bet your draw, for a smaller amount, and use call-able value bets with the nuts. You can actually manipulate the pot size to give yourself the proper pot odds for your hand. If you have a good hand you use pot sized or slightly larger bets to punish everyone on a draw since the pot size bet offers them only 2:1. If you elect to use this methodd of bet sizing you must make a conscious effort to vary. You can actually manipulate the pot size to give yourself the proper pot odds for your hand. If you have a good hand you use , since  your play or you can easily fall into a pattern, detectable by your opponents. When you bet the pot every time your play is varied automatically because you bet every hand exactly the same way. 

Hand	Pot	<1/2 Pot	>3/4 Pot	>5/4 Pot
8 out draw	50%	35%	14%	1%
12 out draw	25%	50%	20%	5%
Made hand	10%	20%	50%	10%
Nuts	*	20%	60%	20%
Bluff		40%	50%	10%

 

 

 

when stack sizes are very large compared to the pot size and implied odds have become more important than pot odds. If both you and your opponent have stacks of $1000 and the pot is only $5, a pot sized bet is insignificant for a good drawing hand. You also need a good read on your opponent, or you need to hold the nuts. When you have the nuts, your goal should be, to get 100% of your opponent's stack.

 

 

Hand	Call	<15% stack	~50% stack	>75% stack
8 out draw	85%	10%	5%	0%
12 out draw	75%	15%	5%	5%
Made hand	10%	30%	20%	10%
Nuts		20%	60%	20%
Bluff		60%	35%	5%

 

 

More than just Texas Holdem....

I know the main focus of this blog is No Limit Hold'em but I have recently grown fond of the other, older variations of poker. In the early years of the game, the preferred form of the game was 7 card STUD. A player receives 7 cards 4 of which are open for the table to see, and 3 are face down.
One of my favourites, because of its fast pace and hand strengths is Omaha this is split into Hi and Hi/Lo... Hi being the best hand wins and Lo where the worst possible hand.
This including Hold'em have 3 limits: Pot limit, fix limit and No Limit. Furthermore, the same hand hierarchy is used.

However, there are other variations of the game that use a different form of hand hierarchy. Example being 'Razz', a player receives 7 cards and needs to make the lowest possible hand A,2,3,4 being the best possible hand. This form of the game much like stud a player receives 7cards four of which are face up.

A very similar version of Razz, Badugi, which is a Chinese game also consists of 4 cards and drawing rounds. However the its abit more difficult than Razz becoz the four cards need to be of different suit. Example: Ac.2s.3h.4d. I have really grown to enjoy the challenge and placed 180/4000 in a freeroll on Pokerstars a few nights ago.

The reason I learnt how to play all these different variations is because I read some where that it is important to be able to participate in more than just NLH in the WSOP. An event that I'm focusing on is H.O.R.S.E (holdem, omaha hi/lo, razz, stud and holdem). Owing to the fact that it tests a players skill in all four variations as well as the ability to adjust between required styles.

Professional players like Phil Hellmuth play in all these events at the WSOP. In his book, Play like the Pros he explains strategies for all forms of the game...
So maybe shuffle up and deal a new variation at your next poker night!

WCOOP 2011

Even though I never got the opportunity to participate in the series of tournaments of all variations, I watched ever one of them, I followed my felt idol Daniel Negreanu mailto:%7B@KidPoker}. The man is a legend live and online and he proved it this year. He managed to cash 15times over the 62 tournaments. (He never played in all of them obviously). I have him on twitter as well, reading his tweets kept me updated on what was happening while I wasn't near a PC.

Negreanus results:
768 WCOOP-03: $215 NL Hold'em
107 WCOOP-06: $215+R NL Hold'em
72 WCOOP-08: $215 Triple Stud
89 WCOOP-11: $320 NL Hold'em
362 WCOOP-14: $265 NL Hold'em
62 WCOOP-25: $215 PL Omaha
95 WCOOP-30: $530 NL Hold'em
4 WCOOP-41: $10,300 NL Hold'em
17 WCOOP-44: $320 NL Hold'em
23 WCOOP-50: $215 NL Hold'em
21 WCOOP-51: $320 PL Omaha H/L
104 WCOOP-52: $320 NL Hold'em
34 WCOOP-53: $530+R NL Hold'em
183 WCOOP-60: $215 NL Hold'em
5 WCOOP-61: $10,300 8-Game

The World Championship of Online Poker was established in 2002 and attracts large numbers of players from all over the world, much more than a Live tournament could because this is from the convenience of your own space. It was interesting to see that despite the online poker laws passed in the USA there were still many US players.
I would really like to be involved in the tournaments next year, as i have learnt a lot from observing. Mainly that even though some of these players are seasoned professionals they are not immune to fatigue and mistakes. Some of the tournaments are over 10 hours long.
*Now that is called grinding
Players like 2010 WSOP winner, Johnathan Duhamel. played from the time they woke up till late at night, non stop online poker, now that is work.
Important things to take into consideration when playing these marathon long tournaments is that its important to stay hydrated and fed snacking and several cups of coffee will keep the body and mind active enough to keep focus.
In conclusion, here are a few tips on how to be successful in big online tournaments: Use all the online statistics that are available, with it there are stats on every opponent online what tournaments they play, how often even how many flops they generally see. In addition while playing an event continuous NOTE making will make decision easier. History sometimes becomes habit...

I will be trying to participate in way more big online poker events rather than small cash games. Struggling to find rhythm in online cash games. I am also targeting a recently published book by  Bertrand Grospellier (ELKY), Raiser's Edge as it focus on advanced tournament strategies.

Until next time - Keep up the Grind!!!

Grinding till the river*

The latest word that's been widely used amongst my poker playing friends is "grind". Tonight I tried it and it all most paid! I was invited to the weekly high stakes poker night. There was a 8 seated table... Started the night off dry, card dead. Could even hit the flop. So I stuck it out for the 1st hour n a bit... Till I came down to about R75. Got K5 suited and pushed! Hit the board hard, full house 5s over Ks (triple up)...
I tried to keep it tight, until I wobbled down to R140 got pocket 5s and pushed. 4callers hit a set on the flop!!!
*You can see grinding was working out too well for me, I decided to loosen up, go big or go home... I made a few solid bluffs and big raises with bottom n middle pairs, it paid off managed to expand to about R800...
-then I get dealt JJ. Raise preflop. Board 7 9 Q... Bet on flop (one caller), turn 3. Push all in. He folds... Have about R1400!

Now this is where it gets intense... I go on a card hot streak: QQ, AK, 10s all winning preflop. Takes me 2 about R2100... I get Ac8d I raise. Two callers, including big stack. Flop comes [Kd 4d As]... He bets R200. I push the remaining R1400 all in. Other player gets out the way! Big stack tanks for 5minutes. And makes the call with (5d3d). Turn 6h. Rivers a diamond. Pot was roughly 4k...
-> Insane! I am still replaying the hand in my head... I couldn't of played it any other way. Yes, maybe I could of kept it cheap with my Ace. But that allows him 2 wait for the Diamond, where as now I made him earn it... (He had about 11outs including the straight draw). I still feel that was a sick call...

I consulted the hand with a few poker colleagues and they agree I did all I could... Will have to wait a while before I can take some revenge.
He had about 40% chance on the flop though.

However, tonight reminded me an important lesson. Even if you are card dead for hours, the cards will come in dozens eventually. Stay positive n be patient.

Anyway, hopefully I can sleep and the hand doesn't haunt me tonight. I will catch you on the flop side!!

In The Zone

I havent been playing much poker because of University, but this week was my vacation and I wanted to get as much play time in as possible. Tuesday I decided to purchase some online credit and spend the evening playing online poker.
> Started off like a house on fire, it felt as if I couldn't lose a hand. The cards were coming hard and fast, so fast that I can't even call my style of play TIGHT. I sat down with a R50 on the R1/R2 table. After about an hour of play I had R300, after an hour and a half R500.
*I experienced something that I've never even witnessed before. I get KK on the button two players push ALL IN preflop, the pot is about R400!! so I send R200 of my stack both players flip over JJ (drawing dead!)....
By the end of the evening I had about R750. Unfortunately, being greedy and a tad out of control I had set a target of R1000 for the day. As I'm sure you already guessed I crashed it all. Made a ridiculous strategic mistake in that i move to the R20/R40 table and got bullied by players with over R3000 in front of them.

My confidence took a bit of a hammering, but I kept positive and erased the negative part of the evening from memory. Then, last night I decided to go with two Buddy's to the casino. Sitting at the R10/R20 table with a R1000. The players that a casino poker table attract is very diverse and require a lot of skill if one is to be successful in the long run.
- My table  had a girl on my right that from what I could observed was a regular and played a pretty tight style. There was a serious guy next to me, a player that has a belief ACEs hold up 100% of the time. (they don't) He was pretty lose though. Then two elderly guys one super tight named Paul, and Mike, Mike was lose and loved throwing money into the middle - by the end of the night his name was 9.5 off suit. Mid way through the session a seasoned PRO, an Englishman, I really wish I got his name but I have seen him many a time on TV. And then my two friends.

The night never started that great, never got any hands and when I did I never hit the board or a flush or straight draw was on deck. My R1000 quickly depleted to R200 where I was the short stack at the table. A brave push on the Straight draw with 10.9 off suit landed on the turn - I doubled up and it started the momentum!
There were so many hands that I got involved in, too many to recall because I treated each hand as a separate one so as not to tilt when the run of good cards dried up.
There were two hands however that I will discuss: First, I straddled (UTG) and received [Qd.3c] three callers but once the action got to me I bumped it up 3x POT SIZE. Only one caller the English pro! Flop comes [Qs.Ad.7c], he checks I bet 1/2 pot size. He raises to pot size. I push ALL IN. Roughly R700 on top. After a long tank he folds. And shows me [Q.5]. He was beating me, and after I showed him my hand his response was "You have a quite a bag of tricks up your sleeve".
-That hand was both good and bad, in that my table appearance loosened up making my opponents cautious and more aggressive when they up against me.

The final hand I was involved in, I receive [9c.9s] in early position and bump the action to 11x BB (R220). one caller! Paul, the super tight player. the flop comes down [10s.10d.5s] I bet R300 and get re-raised to R700. I considered the flat call but I decide its all or nothing and Re-Raise ALL IN to about R2000 and odd. Paul tanks for about 5minutes before laying down JJ face up.
The table including the pro was pretty impressed with the way I built back up from R200 all the way to R4400...

know when to throw in the towel..

Poker is a ridiculously exciting and addictive game as I am sure you have already found out. I learn my lesson the hard way everytime. I find myself absorbed into the game after starting a strong run of form, I told my friend "when I start winning I can get out of hand and just want all the chips at the table".
Over the past few days I have hit an expensive bad run of form both online and at the casino. My luck online has been atrocious, I played the R1/R2 blinds until I took my R50 to R300. Then moved to the R3/R6 table where I built it up to R1200 and finally the R5/10 blinds. To many making R1150 is a remarkable achievement, but for some reason because I was running so strongly I wanted to make R5000 before I called it a night. This obviously wasn't the case else I would obviously have made a different title to this post. I lost all of the R1200. Even though at one point I raked up approximately R2000 in front of me...
The hand went like this I'm dealt [Kc5c] board comes [Ac3c4c]... I have the NUT FLUSH. Bet about a third of my stack, one caller. Turn [3d]. I bet the 2nd third of my stack. River brings a Queen... I push all in and get a snap call from this calling station. He shows. [Qs3s] for the full boat... In complete and utter disgust I logged off! I'm still replaying the hand in my head, its incredibly confusing as to his motive behind the calls.

Then tonight myself and a buddy decide to spend some time at the casino, now honestly I'm not a fan of cash games at the casino because of the type of player it attracts - the rich money doesn't matter player, who will call just because they can afford it. Anyway, we play. For about 2hours I receive absolutely nothing better than [87]suited... Eventually I get 10s. Push all in, get called by 3 players with AJ, A7 and KQ. An Ace on the river won it of course. My summary: the poker gods were not watching over me. Not only was I card dead, but when I did receive cards they struggled to hold up.
At least my mate made a substantial profit for the night which made it worth the trip.

There's nothing I can really do about this run of poor luck and bad decision making. Its essential that I regroup by regaining my focus, confidence and maintaining my playing style. Know that it works, it merely needs support from the deck to be profitable....

Etiquette at the table

I'm a pretty keen golfer so I know all about sport etiquette, there is an acceptable behavior in everything from the sports field to the dinner table. It is confusing that many fail to abide to the respectable etiquette. After noticing many things from both the World Series and this months poker games I have played I wanted to expand on some behaviors that need to be enforced.
Speaking at the table, yes poker is a card game and banter is acceptable but not talking over the game. Its ridiculously annoying when players that aren't involved in the hand have a gigantic conversation while another player is tanking. What is worse is when they are discussing the hand that is in progress. Everything that is said can disperse valuable information to all the players involved in the hand. Imagine one player says after the board comes down [J.Q.Q] - "s**t, I just folded a Q...
I don't know if this is an official thing but last night I told a player that he can't force someone on tilt. He was saying after he lost a hand that the player who beat him is weak and plays too many weak hands. Its is pretty probable that by aggravating a player, his more likely to 'target'.

Your only tool at the poker table is your style of play. Maybe its just my opinion but having players ask what did you fold after every hand is somewhat of an invasion of your style.
During the last poker night after I raised on the flop my opponent was about to fold and asked if I would show my cards.
So I told him "if you call me on the flop, I will show you on the turn"... By exposing your cards at anytime in the hand you are relaying unnecessary information to your opponents at the table.

Earphones, I have never tried listening to music while I play. I can understand when players want to get into their own worlds blocking out the world, narrowing it down to them, music and the cards they see. However, I don't respect players who pump the volume up to unbearable. Poker is a very involved game, continuous information and directions are required so it is required of you to listen to what's happening around you and most importantly at the table...
However, I have been considered experimenting with my ipod at the next poker table. I have questioned what to listen to, does the genre, volume or tempo have any influence on your style, behavior and mood.

In conclusion, treat the poker table and the people around it with "competitive respect", they are your opponents however the way you treat them is the way you will get treated. If you remain positive, technically correct in both style and mannerism you are more likely to have a successful and more importantly good time on the velvet.

Finally, shaking hands and commenting on your opponents play can benefit you without your opponent even knowing. There are subconscious effects on your opponent. Always remember to acknowledge a 'classy performance', because when your on the receiving end of the acknowledgment you can pocket it to confidence. Now your thinking, why would I want to boost the confidence of my opponent. Yes you are, but you will be taking more out of it than they do. You're subconsciously making a mental note of the hand how it was played and this gives additional information on your opponents hand. Another thing being friendly at the table will help with is the way in which people bet against you, earning the respect that the bets aren't going to be 'targeting'

small buy in, big buy in.....

Wow! Is the only word to describe the way I played yesterday. My afternoon was spent playing at the University's regular small buy in table and my evening at a High-stake private game I happened to receive an invite to, through a friend.

The quality of players at the respective tables were uncomparable, university poker tables are filled with young aggressive players spending lunch money looking for entertainment. However I have utmost respect for these player as they have master great betting strategy and understanding of low-staked cashgame. The buy in was only R20 with the blinds 25/50 cents. It was difficult to adapt my betting style to the small blinds, I have noticed that each table has a "standardized raise" - basically an amount acknowledged by the table as a significant raise. Difficult to explain but at the campus table a bet of 6x BB was still not enough to limit the amount of callers.

High stakes table

- My game plan at the table was an tight style initially whilst I build a chip stack and then once I had an efficient amount of chips infront of me I would loosen up my range. In the back of my mind though POSITION played a vital role in the hands in got involved in. My biggest frustration at tables where the blinds are so low is the range of cards your opponent can have because its so cheap people are involved in the majority of pots. A combination of luck, good cards and great reads I managed to build a winning stack of R350. (A win that was acknowledged by the entire university poker playing community. I played for about 3hours raking up many hands and chips. The most significant hand I was involved in was with a player I deem to be the most calculated and capable player at the table, Cliffie. I start the action off with [10s.7d]Pre-flop bump to R6 (12x BB). I get raised by Cliffie to R12. I call. Flop comes [K 6 3]. I open the betting with R10, he thinks n raises it to R20. While his thinking I'm trying to put him on a hand. Which I can't! I decide to see how serious he was and raise R40, he reraises to R80. I snap push all in R200. He ponders for about 5minutes before tossing away QQ. This 3bet was award winning. I flipped over the 10 7 and got applause from even spectators.

In conclusion, during small-staked games keep your basic playing style. Don't necessarily adapt your game all the way down to 'cheap', attempt to bring it up a notch. Maintain your original playing style but don't be afraid to see more cheap pots. A very important component you may need to adapt is Continuation Betting! Bet preflop and raise on the flop 7/10 times it will win you the hand.

About 2hours later, I arrived home from university on a high from the afternoon's outcomes. I get a call to invite me to a HIGH-STAKED private game. As a student its a privilledge to be seated with these business men at a high rollers table. Riding the highest of confidence I arrive at the well organised and professional looking tournament, while I was driving tho the venue I contemplated playing the same style I did earlier in the day. I Did and it worked! The players sitting at this big money table were pretty seasoned campaigners, people who have been playing long enough to have widened and practiced with a wide range of hands. The evening started off pretty quietly only got involved in one hand pocket 9s - hit a set on the flop and doubled up... Which allowed me to patiently wait over an hour before I got involved in another hand. At one stage I claimed to the table "I am card Dead!", but it was merely a matter of time before decent cards started landing in my hands. But before the card high started I needed to make a few brilliant plays if I say so myself. The most memorable the player behind me (extremely aggressive) raises preflop, I look down at 33 and re-raise so that his all in, he calls and flips over [10s9h], I had a strong feeling he had air... The board comes perfect and my 33 hold up!!

My chip stack at the end of the evening

As tight as it seemed I played, my style was majority tight but played many randomly selected loose hands. Loosest of all 67 hearts. You will scratch your head when I explain how this hand unfolds... So I get [6h7h] and check in the big blind with 3 callers. The flop comes [As.5h.2d] - now according to any strategy I have explained in the past, you should fold right? Wrong. There's a bet half of pot size, only I call. The next card [Qh] giving me a flush draw... BACKDOOR. My thoughts if the next shot this opponent fires at me is anything less than pot size I will call... However, unpredictably and very weak on his part, he checks behind me. The river brings a [9h].. I have the unexpected flush. Yip, I raked in serious chips after I stunned the entire table. Nobody saw that, was an out of character, loose but brave way to play the hand - sometimes you just have the good feeling and you should go with it. My opponent did have two pair so that kind of put him on TILT.

I learnt sufficient lessons from the evening besides the fact I cashed well. It was more the experiences I took from the table. Patience and confidence are the biggest keys to success in this business, if your feeling the cards and are 'in the zone' don't hesitate in making the most of it. Another tip I can offer from this poker day, if you have a good understanding of your own style it will make reading and deciphering your opponents routine easier.