Radii's Poker Dynasty - 2005 Edition
 

As with other incarnations of this dynasty, I make no promises, and occasionaly get off track for sometimes months at a time. My goals playing poker change from time to time, and the ways I attempt to accomplish those goals change too. Over the past couple of years, i think only one constant has been established: As long as I play hold 'em, and avoid Omaha and Stud, I can expect to be a winner long term at most games that I play(NL, Limit, Tournaments, with the exception of big multi-table tourneys, which I suck at).

Recently I have finished a move and the "free" time to play poker is very slowly creeping back. My poker time may remain as low as 5 hours a week many weeks though, and if much of that time is spent bonus whoring this dynasty may not get going full steam again for awhile, if at all.

Currently I am playing above my bankroll, going back to the game that I have always felt I can beat the most consistantly, 5/10 short tables. That may not last long at all. I do not have the bankroll for this and cannot sustain swings at 5/10, but I fully believe in streaks and i have absolutely been on fire the past few sessions.


I sit currently at $1500 in my poker bankroll after the move and some rebuilding. that's 150BB at 5/10, and that is low. High enough to 'take a shot' as they say, but low enough that early variance will drive me away quickly.

Current goal: Get back to $2500, my former baseline.

After that I want to seriously explore the possiblity of continuing to build to about $4000 or so and make the 5/10 shorts on party skins my main game, variance and all. But I am the first to admit that I have changed gears so many times in the last two years that there is no guarentee that i'll stick with that goal beyond this weekend :P


Why start this dynasty now? The answer: Josh Groban.


That's right. Josh Groban. You see, "Joshy" as my lovely wife refers to him, is in town tonight, and Oliegirl will be attending with one of her friends. So tonight is a great night to get a new dynasty off to a good start.


there is, apparently, a new empire reload bonus coming up that I need to take advantage of. But tonight, look for an old fashioned 5/10 short table writeup, and we'll go from there.

New in my arsenal is the gametime+ software and the near realtime importing of hand histories. I still pay close attention to the table at 5/10, but the realtime stats are great to re-inforce my reads, so far they have helped me be a lot more confidant in using my reads on players to make decisions.

I hop around for 15 minutes or so. The first table I join has 2 tight players that I've seen before. The next table doesn't see a flop for 4 hands that I'm watching. The third table looks a little agressive but multiple people seeing the flop the first few hands is a start. The times I've absolutely run over these tables there have been 2 fish at the table... high VP$P low agression players. So I want people seeing flops.

I watch two orbits and join Table 12556. It might be a big agressive for my tastes, too many agressive players can really rattle me and keep me out of a rhythm, but I think I can do well here.


Oppon3nts (to my left):

SleepyZZZ, hoytbuck, brwells, mchuggin, Andrey7, radii

SleepyZZZ seems to be in every hand. brwells raises pre-flop a lot and looks real agressive. Everyone at the table seems capable of folding post-flop so far.

Hand #1: A4o, BB - three way flop, I check the 976 flop and it's bet and raised back to me. I fold.

Hand #3: A6o, button - I fold instead of trying to steal.

Hand #6: I give up J5o to a SB raise in my BB.

Andrey7 leaves, which is fine. He hadn't played a hand in 15 yet.

Hand #11: I give up 45o in my BB to a raise. two limpers, raise, then to me. fold.

new guy to my right... seekupdown, posts BB early, raises his first hand. pushes it hard on the flop($88 pot to the turn, 3 ppl left still), and calls down a raggedy board to see QQ hold up for a $138 pot(nearly 14 big bets, nice sized).

very next hand, 5 people see the flop, 4 go to the river.

Hand #17: I defend my blind, T5 suited to a raise. I flop two pair, JT5. raiser raising 30% of his hands. I bet/he raises the flop. I call him and check-raise a scary turn(brought the flush). I bet the river, he calls with his set of 5s and I lose a $108 pot.


Hand #18: Again I cold call, this time w/ ATs. mchuggin raised it. 30 hands in, he has 45% VP$P and 38% PFR numbers, agressive as hell post flop... I hit an ace on the flop in a 4 way pot(A44 flop), I bet out and only 1 calls. He calls me to the river and my ace is good. $58 pot I believe.

I am at $212 (start with $250 at the table).

two players here worth note:

to my left, SleepyZZZ - 30 hands, 70% VP$P, 13% PFR, very passive post flop.
2 to my right: mchuggin: 44% VP$P, 34% PFR

Hand #25: AQ on the button. mchuggin raises, I re-raise, he calls. Board is 567 suited. I bet, he check-raises me, and I give it up.

Down to $185.

Two other players here:

brwells: 35 hands, 26% VP$P, 9% PFR. Looks solid and agressive.
seekupdown: 13 hands, 31% VP$P


hand #28: 66, SB - one limper, I raise, BB and limper call. I bet into the crappy flop(QJ8) and fold when I'm raised.

We get 3 handed... brwells and seekupdown, not the two I want to play against.

Hand #30: KQ, button. I raise and am called by brwells. Flop comes KQx. He bets, I raise, he calls. Turn is a queen. He checks, I bet, he check-raises me, and I just call, hoping to get more bets out of him on the river than I might w/ a re-raise on the turn. River is a blank, he leads out, I raise, he calls. He shows K5.

I win a nice sized pot there to get back to $202.

I leave this table down $48, not wanting to go 3 handed vs these two opponents. Time to find a new table.

new lineup:

Canes94, Championator, sims2003, Rolled_Up_As, and slagteren.


Hand #1: I fold 56o to a raise in the BB

Canes busted early but re-buys. He looks like the fish at the table.

Hand #6: Free Q3 flop. 5 way action. No queen, no 3, no bet.

sims2003 has played 6 of his first 8 hands, not a huge sign yet but worth noting.

Hand #8: I limp KJo on the button behind 1 limper(raise or fold, dumbass). It ends up 4 way and I get out of the way on an A26 flop. 72s from the SB ends up winning it with a flush.

Hand #10: I open-raise AQo UTG+1. championator(tight maybe) and sims(loose?) call me. I have to grow some balls here. K74 flop, I bet, champ calls. J turn, at least I have inside straight draw. I bet, he calls. River brings flush. I go the distance and champ folds.


canes plays 36% VP$P after 15 hands, maybe not the nutjob I first hoped. sims2003 is still at 75% after 20 hands, there is hope there. Rolled_Up_As is tighter than me. Championator 35% VP$P, 10% PFR, but very passive post flop. Perhaps he just bets what he has pretty straightforward.

frenchstew joins to my right. full table again. that's 3 people in that spot in 20 hands.

hand #22: sims2003 raises for the first time in 24 hands. What do I do with pocket 8s? I call, so does canes. Now, what do I do with an overpair? 773 flop. I call again, about $40 in the pot there. Now on the turn? Well, how much do I trust my read on a guy who hasn't raised PF in 25 hands? On a 7732 board. With 88? I bet out, trusting he'll slow down to the pair on the board, but I think that's the last bet I'll put in here. He calls. An 8 on the river. I bet, he calls, I win. My read was right. Overpair. JJ. So what do you do here? shorthanded table, in the BB, two loose calling stations but one raised for the first time in 25 hands. Do you fold your 88? Then what do you do when your 8s are an overpair on the flop? What sould I have done if a non-8 hit the river?


Letes look at our players a little:

canes94: 59% VP$P, 7% PFR, 27 hands.
sims2003: 70% VP$P, 3% PFR, 30 hands.
Championator: 37% VP%P, 13% PFR, 30 hands
Rolled_Up_As: 10% VP$P, 3% PFR, 31 hands.

Hand #29: JJ in the SB. Champ raises UTG. I re-raise. He calls. Flop is 3 unders. I bet the flop, bet the turn when one of the unders pairs, and I win the pot there.


canes and sims sit out... ugh.

A9o, button. I open-raise(4 handed at the moment). rolled up a's calls. I bet the ace on the board and win the pot.

I'll play another round or two but without sims and canes I don't like this table.

championator calls canes94 a fish, sims thought he was talking about him and left. canes still sitting out. OH THE DRAMA.

I sit out to leave the table. But as I do rolled up A's loses a big pot (AK vs A7) and leaves, and Canes returns. Ok, I'll stay.

Sting3693 joins.

I win two small pots while I'm typing all this out, AJ unimproved and T4 in the blind, floped a 4 bet out and won.


I am sitting with $335 right now.

Hand #39: I raise with 6s, bet out when Sting calls me from the BB. Flop A42. I bet the turn, a queen, and fold when he raises me back.


Another new player, philny76.

Table lineup:

Canes94 (54% VP$P, 6% PFR)
Championator (38%, 16%
Sting (just 2 hands)
philsny76(new)
frenchstew(24%, 19%) - agressive post flop too. He gets a moneybag icon if he keeps this up. Glad I act after him.


Hand #44: I limp with 44. Bad move. 4 handed, flop comes 662. I lead out and bet, only Canes94 calls me. I bet to the river(king/3) and he calls it down. He had Q2 for 6s and 2s. My 6s and 4s is good. A perfect example of gametime+ helping me even though I'm paying attention. If I didn't have the numbers telling me he was a fish, I may not have had the balls to trust my gut and take control of the hand.

Hand #47: I fold my BB w/ A2 suited when Frenchstew raises. He raises a lot so I may be ahead bt I don't want to mess w/ him here. He did have KJ but king hit and he took Championator for a lot of money.

Hand #48: I open raise with KT, canes calls me. I bet it down to the river, and fold when he raises me on the river.. in retrospect, this might have been a mistake. Flush hit the river, I should have put in 1 more bet to see if I caught him bluffing. (a check/call to induce a bluff would have even been better here...canes wasn't folding a hand that beat me, even bottom pair).

Hand #54: I raise w/ QTo out of the small blind. canes folds, my blinds.


Explorer is acting up, posting this in case i have to reboot. Hopefully not losing my spot at the table though.

I sit at $294 currently.

Sweet. I like the new '05 edition.

I end up getting a new table after I have to log out and back in.

Hand #1: KQo, BB - A short stack raises me, I re-raise to isolate, but a 3rd person comes in... I flop an inside straight draw and try to push it. I'm pushed back at on the river and have to fold when I miss totally. I lose $36 on that pot.

Hand #2: KQs, SB - I call an open-raise from ABBIEZ, 2 others do also. We are 4 way to the flop. Flop coems queen high and I bet out. Abbiez raises, abbiez caps it. One other stays in. Turn is not scary but I am scared. I check, and abbiez checks behind me. 3 to the river. I bet out on the river(another low card) and both call me. I beat Q3 and AT for a $130 pot.

Hand #3: AKo - GoodDrunk raises, I re-raise, he calls. heads up. Flop is rags, I bet he calls. Turn is a blank. I bet he folds.

8 hands in now, after typing up that first crazy 3, and I am up $70 early here.

Hand #17: QTs, I limp in the SB for a 4 way pot. I flop a flush draw, J76, two clubs. I call all the way to the river, hit top pair on the river but lose to the backdoor flush, turn/river both diamonds to bring the diamond flush. I give up a little on this hand(i bet my pair of queens and got raised by the nuts).

Hand #19: I fold 92o to a SB steal raise.


Hand #22: I make a bad limp with 86s from the button and we go 3 handed to the flop. I flop top pair and bet out, only TheDarkness calls. Turn brings a 10 and he bets out. He's a bit loose and ab it agressive, and I make what is probably a bad decision to callh im down. Being results oriented though, I see my pair of 8s beat his 92o pair of twos.

Hand #26: I open raise w/ A8 from the button. both blinds call. I lead out on the bad flop and get one caller(thadarkness again). Turn is an 8(2nd pair), but it brings a flush. I bet, and ThaDarkness checkraises me. I decide again to call him down. I beat A2, the two was a heart. He did bet the blank on the river. I win two pots to get a nice sized stack at the table by making what were two sets of very uncomfortable(in theory and in practice) calls.

Hand #27: I see a 3-way flop with A7, I fold when the flop misses and a new guy(Butter1989) bets out.

Now we are 3 handed... deucex2, ThaDarkness and myself. I'll give this a shot but I am not so confidant in my 3 handed game against an agressive player capable of bluffing a lot.

I call thadarkness' raise with A2s. I flop a 2. I lead out, he calls. I bet it all the way down and he folds on the river.

ThaDarkness is now very likely the person I've won the most from in pokertracker.

I flop top pair in the blinds about 3 hands later against Deuce, a loose passive player. He folds on the turn.

I raise 45 suited in the small blind, flop middle pair and lose a little back to deuce, he flopped top pair.

fold 63o in the BB to a thadarknes raise.


up to 4 but only for a moment... cydrover has $20 left, and puts $12 of it in pre-flop on the first hand back. He does fold his first hand back and has $8 left, woohoo.


We are on hand 37 now by the way, hard to keep up shorthanded.

And, we are now up to 5. ABBIEZ is also back after sitting out awhile. And a new player, tinge8 joins. Full table for a moment.


Here's the lineup:

radii, deucex2(52% VP$P/4% PFR/45 hands, many 3 handed), cydrover(7 hands only), ThaDarkness (35%/29%/31 hands), ABBIEZ(29%/11%/28 hands), and tinge8.

ABBIEZ seems solid enough but of course it's early. Right now I have an overagressive ThaDarkness and calling station deucex2 to contend with, 1 solid player and 2 unknowns though Cydrover is going to be gone soon enough.

Hand #42: ATs in the big blind. cydrover is all in, and I call a raise from ThaDarkness. I miss the flop and let him take it. KQ for ThaDarkness, I would have lost bad had I fought him.

Hand #44: I open raise A6s on the button. Both blinds call. I give it up on the flop to the passive deuce, I trust it when he bets out(post flop agression 0.62 in 50hands)

ThaDarkness leaves, probably good for me in the end. I caught him being overly agressive in some spots but a mid 30s VP$P at the 6 tops can be very dangerous if he plays well after the flop.

cydrover has gone from $3 back to $67 in the last 10 hands or so. He bought in for $50, so he's actually shown a profit.

anthonnav joins in the empty spot.

Hand #49: ATs on the button. anthonnav posts UTG. I open-raise and both big blinds call me. Flop comes Q76 and I bet out. both call. Turn is another 6. I fold to a bet/call before me. cydrover wins with 88.

At this point i've given back some of my profits and sit with $303.

Hand #50: I limp with 87s, something I did too much at full tables and have to do much more selectively on the 6-tops, even as I click call I'm telling myself this.

Hand #51: I open with AQo UTG+1. I am called by both blinds. Bingo. AQT flop. I fear KJ but that's really it. I bet and get check-raised by anthonnav. Luckily my decision is easy. He's down to $2(only bought in for $75). so I re-raise to get his last two in the pot and hope it's not KJ. Oh dear. He calls. A jack on the turn, and his K6 wins it.

I sit with $276 after that one, as the $55 pot goes bye bye to the inside straight.

Anthonnav busts out two hands later, losing his last $27 with K7 vs AK on a A88 board. He dropped $75 in 6 hands.

Hand #57: Free flop with T5s, 3 handed. Flop comes T33 and I bet out. Turn is an ace, I bet again. Cydrover raises me and I have a tough decision. I go ahead and call, and we check the river. My hand bets his King-four.

Hand #58: I put $3 in with J8s to see a 5 way flop. I fold early.

We are now 6 handed again. My good friend anthonnav has bought in for a full $250. ABBIEZ is back again.

But cydrover is going broke again. He's doen to $5 pending this $87 pot. Nope, he's down to $5.

So lets check out the lineup:

deucex2 (52%/3% - 64 hands)
cydrover (62%/0% - 26 hands)
anthonnav (plays everything for about 10 hands, but will that change withthe $250 buyin?)
ABBIEZ (34%/11%/47 hands)
tinge8(42%/32%/19 hands - looks like a borderline maniac, 3+ postflop agression too).

that's right, I'm at a table where 3 opponents play over 50% of their hands and the other two play about 40% and raise almost as often as they play. Wanna talk about variance? This is the textbook definition, no?

Aww, cydrover is broke and Mrs_Gold sits down, and does not post UTG+1.

Hand #62: 77, BB 4 way flop - AJ7! Two spades. I bet, two call. Turn is a jack. Bottom boat for me. I bet, deuce calls. River blank, I bet/deuce calls. $73 pot is mine with the boat. Deuce had the nut flush draw and rivered a pair with K8s on the river.

That win puts me up nicely again, $337 at the table.

Hand #66: I open-raise UTG with AQo. two call. Tinge bets the flop, I call. Bets the turn, I raise, he re-raises and I fold. He's an agressive bastard. I decided on the turn raise to try to get a free showdown. I put in two bets, same as calling him down, but figure that improves my chances of winning the hand.

Hand #67: Free 4 way with JT. I flop top pair, T63. tinge bets the flop, I raise, and we'er heads up. Turn blank, I bet/he calls. River king. He bets into me, and I call. He shows Q3 for the bottom pair on the flop. My $78 pot.

What did I say about variance?

Hand #69: I open raise w/ A8 from the button. deuce calls me. He may call me down with shit, so I hate this when I miss. I bet the flop and turn(3TQ5 board) and he folds on the turn. My pot.

Hand #71: I check ATs for a 4 way flop(raise this maybe?). Checked to the turn, I bet the scare card and win the $29 pot.

Hand #75: I win the blinds with a raise on A8s in the cutoff. No flop? WTF!


We are now 4 handed. deuce, anthonnav and abbiez. All 3 of my opponents are showing a -20 BB/100 hands win rate so far.

Hand #77: I limp in the SB with Q8 suited. flop an inside straight draw, free turn where I hit, and bet and get called by deuce. River makes my flush, I bet and deuce folds. small pot, but mine.

Hand #81: A3s in the BB. Free 3 way flop. Ace on the flop. I bet, deuce calls. Turn king, I bet/he calls. River queen, I bet/he calls and I chop with his A4.

new guy, RichZone at the table. Another new guy, TwoTimesJ at the table. Both buy in for under $100.

Hand #82: I hope for a set w/ 22 in the SB. BOOYA(parden the stuard scott-ness of my cry). T62, two clubs. I bet, deuce calls, 2timesj raises, I re-raise, deuce folds, 2times caps me. Turn brings the flush. I bet/he calls. River a ten. Boat. I bet, he calls. $103 pot, mine. He flopped TPTK, he had AT.

TPTK = top pair top kicker, picked that up elsewhere.

If anyone questions any of the lingo please ask! Playing poker plus trying to use gametime to explain how i make some of my decisions leads to a lot of buzzword dropping, which I know can be annoying.

Hand #84: KJs, I open raise in the cutoff. Called by Abbiez only. I bet the ragged flop, he calls. Turn is an ace. I bet. If he calls or raises its his pot if he wants it. Wow. It's his pot. 63o for a pair of 6s. he calle dthe turn and we checked the river. His "gone to showdown" % is well over 50%, so I figured I'm not pushing him off of anything, so I didn't fire that last bet on the river.

Hand #86: Q5o, BB. Free flop, flopped top pair. I bet/Abbies calls. Turn is a jack, he raises me. I call. River an 8. I chck, he bets. I debate for awhile. $70 pot. If I'm not folding to the turn raise I'm not going to fold the river. I call and beat his pure bluff(K7 for... nothig, not even a draw). $80 pot is mine.

My stack, by the way, is at $466.

This post is going to be long as hell, isn't it? I bet my power goes out and I lose all of it any second now.

I'm still playing, just posting b/c this has gotten so long and I don't want to risk doing anything dumb to erase it.

Well, I lied. Oliegirl is home, and I'm UTG. Time to click the deal me out button and leave, with a profit of $217 on the night.


I know I hit some good hands, but this is how I've been feeling at the tables lately. Confidant in my reads, right more than I am wrong, and pulling in big profits without seeing AA/KK/QQ a single time all night. A big change as old readers might notice is that I have become better(with the help of gametime+) at reading my overall table conditions. Instead of staying at a table and seeing if I can beat it or not, I am more than willing to table hop, which is something I didn't really do before. Tonight I found a solid table and beat the hell out of it. Hopefully that continues.

Hand discussion or any other comments are encouraged! I am winning and have confidence but not playing perfectly, feel free to point it out :D

Hopefully even if I only get 5 hours of play a week,it can be in this style, as this is the setting I have the most fun in, the 5/10 shorts.

What's your standard buy-in for these tables?

$250.


Right now my bankroll is only $1750(after the big win last night). To be truly confidant that I can handle the variance at the 5/10 6 max tables I'd want 400 BB(6 max has a lot higher variance than full tables, so I want more than the standard 300BB). I am not even halfway there. That's where my initial comments came from, that if I take a couple of hits at these tables I may have to change gears and bonus whore for a month or more to get back up to $2500 and take another shot.


I noticed that I made a ton of typos as I was typing all of that up. Hopefully as i play more I'll get more proficient at including enough info to be accurate and provide a good view of the table without making things unreadable.

Glad to see this back. Looks like gametime+ is really helping. I have never play in shothanded games before so these may be stupid comments/questions.

Shouldn't this be an autoraise? I am pretty sure SSH has you raise this from the BB but it's right on the border of raising/calling. Still, with the 6max tables doesn't that push this even more towards a raise?


I think you played it perfectly. You just can't fold pocket 8's there. Good bet on the turn BTW.

Barring a really tight caller I think you're probably right. I should raise that a pretty large majority of the time out of the BB in that situation, and couldn't really tell you why I didn't there :)

Play durign the late afternoon is often much better than the evening play, so we'll see what kind of tables I can find here with time for just a short session.

I join a table and watch 2 orbits go by before I throw out my first BB

Hand #1: 3 way flop with K8o, I flop a king(KQ9 board) and bet out. Both opponents call. Turn is a 6, I am raised and decide to call it down. I am dominated by K9 and lose the pot.


Table lineup:

egilmann: 0 hands played in 10 so far.
kenan83: 3 hands out of 10 played, no raises PF
jack174: 7 hands played out of 10
RRR11: 4 out of 12 hands played
Schultzer04: 5 hands out of 11 played.

There has not been a single pre-flop raise at this table since I've been here.

Hand #7: My 2nd Big blind. AQo, I limp with 4 opponents. Yes I have the edge but I don't take it. Lets go ahead and label "raising out of the big blind without AA-QQ and AK" a hole in my game that I need to work on. Flop is A23 with 2 diamonds. I bet, Schultzer check-raises after a couple of callers. 3 to the turn. I bet the turn(a 9) and get two callers. I bet the river, a 5, and Schultz folds(flush draw?) while jack147 shows me A8. My pot, $123 and I am ahead now.


Hand #10: I limp with A7s, and fold on the flop when I miss. 4 ppl saw that flop.

Hand #13: 77 - again in the big blind. Do I raise this or not? I pussy out. CHECK. I seem to be hitting sets a lot lately. K76 flop. Jack turn. 6 river for the boat. I bet all the way down and RRR11 calls all the way down with K3, pair of 3s. My $65 pot. See? Poker is easy. Flop set. Bet. Get called. Win money.

Hand #17: A BB without a decision... T3o. check/fold.

Hand #18: 88 in the SB. I raise one limper, BB and limper calls. Flop comes AJ4. I bet/both call. Turn is a 9. I give it up. Check/fold. egilmann hits a boat with A4 on the river to bust jack147.

lineup:

egilmann: tight, agresive post flop.
kenan83: 33% VP$P, passive pre-flop, agressive post.
danxo: new
RRR11: 52% VP$P, average post flop agression (1.0)
jk5631896: new


Hand#25: I open raise with ATo and win the blinds.

Hand #27: I limp 55 UTG. I don't like that. But hey, my streak is alive and well. This is 4 sets in my last 200 hands or so. K85 flop. I get one caller on the flop and folds on the turn. $36 pot.

Hand #32: I open-raise AQo UTG+1 and win the blinds.

Hand #34: Free flop with A4s, 4 way. T93 flop, checked around. 4 on the turn. I bet out, one caller. River pairs the 9, I bet, opponent folds. $48 pot

Hand #35: I complete with 55, family pot(all 6 of us). I do not flop a set. The world is ending.

Hand #36: I limp with Q9s from the button after two limpers, giving us a 5 way pot. 9xx, two hearts on the flop. Danxo bets out, I raise, he calls. Ten on the turn, he bets out and I decide to call him down and see what he's up to. AT, heart draw on the flop, top pair on the turn.

Hand #37: AQs in the cutoff. I raise, one caller(kenan83). I bet the 944 flop, he calls. He check-raises me on the turn(another 4). and I fold.

I gave back a lot of my profits those last two hands. Down to $268 from a high of $315 or so.

Hand #40: K2o in the BB, 4 to the flop. KQ7 board. I bet and 2 call. Turn pairs the queen, I bet, one call, danxo raises, and I fold. kenan calls it down to see QT for the 3 of a kind.

Hand #41: I open raise A5 out of the small blind and take it.


Hand #49: I limp with 33 early, Danxo raises, I call with 1 other looking for a set. I miss, I fold.

Hand #54: I raise 1 limper from the button with TT. two callesr, flop comes KQ3. Danxo bets out into me, he's been very straightforward so far and I give it up easily.


AFK a minute and I miss my blind so I'm sitting out a round.

egilmann: 13% VP$P/3% PFR - 68 hands
kenan83: 39%/0%/64 hands
Danxo: 53%/3%/36 hands
RRR11: 47%/8%/64
jk563...: 15%/0%/41 hands

Danxo bets hard when he hits post flop and has not shown down a bluff yet. He's up over $200 in his 37 hands, playing over half of them...


Hand #57: 3 way flop with 66, I fold to 3 overs on the flop.

I am down to $214 by the way.


danxo leaves and aam811 joins almost immediately.

Hand #??: On the phone so some details off maybe. I call a raise out of the BB with KQ from aam811. Flop a queen and push it hard, I win a modest pot on the turn.

Hand #69: ATo in the BB. I check for 5 way action. Flop comes A82. I taike the lead, aam is my only caller. He folds on the turn when I bet again. $43 pot is mine and I'm slightly in the black again.

Hand #74: QQ in the big blind. This even I can raise. I raise the one limper, he calls. T72 flop, I bet, he calls. 6 turn, I bet he calls. 6 river, I bet, he raises, I call. 89 for the straight and the $90 pot.

Hand #78: I open raise with AT. aam811 calls me. He's been very agressive any time he plays so I push him. 9xx flop, I bet, he raises, I re-raise, he calls. Turn brings a four flush for me(to my ace) and I call a bet. By the river I'm a little stuck, 7 bets in the pot, I think he's overly agressive, and I call a bet "just to see" his Q9 top pair.

Those two hands hit pretty hard and I'm down almost 9 BB now.

With that it's dinnertime. Down about $91 over 85 hands. Can't win them all. I gave most of my money to two players, both of them were very loose, but I was calling when they were hitting today.

I join a table and watch a couple of orbits.

First hand:

Hand #1: AQo, BB. One limper pre-flop, I raise him. he calls. Flop QJ4, two hearts. I bet/he calls. Turn 5, brings spade draw too. I bet/he calls. River a low heart. I bet/he calls. I win. He was on pocket deuces.

Lineup:

MrAqua
dirtyernieb
elb76
rmuise3244
DWW11


dirtyernie I've seen somewhere else, but only for 10 hands or so. I haveh im for 18 hands, playing 4 of them, raising 3 of them. Everyone else I still just have about 7 hands on.

Hand #6: I limp early with JTs. elb76 raises and I call. Flop comes ATx. He bets, I try a raise, he re-raises and I call. I fold the turn when he bets out again.

Hand #9: I open raise with A4s on the button. dirtyernie calls me. I try to push him all the way down, but he hit 2nd pair and called me down.

Couple of bad plays early, not a good start.

early reads show MrAqua as a very loose player, agressive but not maniacal pre-flop w/ the raises, and agressive postflop.

dirtyernieb looks very solid. elb76 is at 30% VP$P through 14 hands but raises whenever he plays.

rmuise and DWW are both a little lose, and haven't raised PF in 15 hands each.

Hand #24: I limp early with 77 and have middle pair 4 handed. One bet takes it.

Hand #27: I open raise from the button with AQ. MrAqua calls. Flop comes KQx and he checkraises me. He has been very loose and a bit too agressive so far, and he's almost out of chips, so I decide to call him down. He has 9To for the inside straight draw. I take down the pot.

Hand #32: I raise with AK from the button. BB calls me. Flop comes A83 all clubs. I have king of clubs. I bet/am called. Turn is a king. opponent bets out, I raise, he calls. River a blank. He checks, I think a bit on whether he has the flush or not and bet(top two pair? I think a check there would have been a bit wussy) and my opponent folds. $80 pot.

we are currently 4 handed with dirtyernie sitting out and MrAqua and his 65% VP$P busted out.


4-handed lineup:

elb76: 18% VP$P/8% PFR/39 hands
rmuise: 47%/5%/38 hands
DWW11: 49%/10%/39 hands

a new guy joins, wT95ty8... nice name. He sits out for now though.

Hand #39: I have 44 in the BB. elb76 raises PF, and I call. The flop comes ATT and I check-raise him on the flop, I figure that is a scary board and he'll fold almost any pocket pair. When he calls I figure him for an ace. I try to bet the turn but he doesn't fold and we check down the river. His AJ takes it. I think my CR on the flop was good, but I don't know about the turn bet.

new player Josh504 joins and we're full again.

Hand #53: I raise with 88 UTG. I get two callers and AK flops. I don't like this, but I do bet the flop. I give it up on the turn when a spade flush hits as well.

Hand #58: I fold 98 suited. No big thing but I've been playing suited connectors a touch too much for the 6-tops.

Hand #61: I complete from the SB with KT suited for a 4 way flop. I have to fold on the flop.

At this point I'm down $41 on the session.

Hand #63: I open raise with AQo in the cutoff and get one caller(loose BB). He bets out on the flop and I call with my overcards. The turn is no good and I fold.

Hand #66: I try to steal with J9s in the SB. I'm called by a loose passive player. I flop a 9, middle pair, and bet it all the way down. I lose to 94o, a rivered 4.

Hand #69: I limp with 88 and we see a 5 way flop. Flop comes Q65 and I take it on the flop with a bet.

Hand #72: I limp KJs on the button after a limper. New player raises from the SB and I calll. The flop is no good and i'm gone.


The loosest player at the table leaves, leaving me with no one over 45% VP$P to play with. I leave the table down about $90 and move on. I'll try another table before bed.

New table:

hand #2: 99 in the SB. I open raise and am called by the BB, a guy who appears to be a total fish so far. AQx flops, I bet it all the way down and my hand is good. Opponent had 52o.

Off to a good start.


Early on it looks like klajdipoker, the fish above, may be the only fish at the table. The other 3 have VP$P's below 40% but it's still early.

Hand #7: I complete with QJs only to see kaljd raise out of the BB(I'm SB). I call for a 4 way flop but fold on the flop.

Hand #12: I complete A2s in the small blind for a 3 way flop w/ our fish. AQT flop. I bet, fish raises, flop is scary enough that I decide to call him down instead of push. I lose to A9.

Fish is not a calling station by the way. 84% VP$P, 26% PFR, 2.5+ postflop agression after 19 hands.

Hand #13: I raise with KTs, fish calls me, I flop a ten and he calls me all the way down I win the pot.

Hand #17: I complete with T8o and again get heads up with fish. T87 flop. I bet/he raises/I re-raise on the flop, he calls me down the rest of the way and I actually had him dominated, T8 vs T3, my two pair are good for a $78 pot.

Hand #21: I fold A8o in my big blind when one of the tighter players at the table raises PF.

Hand #26: I call a raise in the BB with 54s(raise is from UTG fish). I know I need to outflop him but I know if I do I'll win a ncie pot. Flop comes Jx4, and I call a bet getting about 5.5:1 on my call. Turn is another 4, and I check-raise him. An ace on the river and he calls me down. He had A9, I was ahead from the flop on. $90 pot.

Hand #32: AQo in the SB. I raise, fish re-raises I cap. Flop comes KQT. I bet, he raises, I just call. I call him all the way down to see his KJo win the pot and that was a large one. $98 pot.


Hand #37: free flop with K8, 4 handed. KQ9 flop, I bet out and get two callers. I bet the turn and get raised, and what to do now? Raiser is moderately tight and very passive. I fold instead of putting two more bets at stake here.

Here's the lineup:

klajdpoker: 76% VP$P, 29% PFR, 42 hands. Winning $120 per 100 hands of course.
jimmylu: 28% VP$P, 7% PFR, 45 hands
hl123: 30%/7%/30 hands
limeyboy: 32%/2%/47 hands
Radiohead: 25%/13%/8 hands only

Hand #39: I limp with KJs on the button and then call a raise from the fish, 4 handed flop. I flop an open ende straight draw, QT7, and call a bet. I call another on the turn, with all 4 in i have the odds easily. Unfortunately, I don't hit and have to fold.

Hand #40: I open raise with KQ and wni the blinds.

Hand #41: I open raise with AKs and get two callers. Flop misses totally but I bet ayway. Turn pairs the top card on the board and I still have two opponents. We check it around. The river is a 4 and I fold to a bet.

the lineup above isn't all that great if not for the 76% VP$P from our fish. Of course, I've now lost a few pots to him and he's ahead of me.

Hand #59: Oh dear god. Here. This is the guy's first hand at the table.



*SIGH*

Lost about $50 on that hand and am down over $100 on the session, the 3 straight losses put me down a little over a full buyin on the day.

Ugh. Lost a final hand with T9s on the button, I hit the 3rd best flush (AJx diamonds on the board) and lost to the 2nd best flush, a queen high. Dropped another $50 on that hand and ended up down about $140 at this table, and about $300 on the day.

So yesterday and today work out to being a little in the red for the dynasty(I have pokertracker keeping track of it all).

So far in 12 5/10 6 max sessions I've won 7 times, net win of $404, win rate of 5.88 BB/100 hands.

It's very very very early yet, 688 hands total, but it's always nice to remember the winning after a losing day.

Dunno how the poker gods conspired to find 3 nights in a row of poker time for me, but here we are. Friday and Saturday nights I traditionally have time to play so we may get some updates in 5 days in a row.

I watch an orbit and I think the table I'm at is suitably loose, though one player is about to bust out.

Hand #1: free flop with J2, 3 way. Flop, J92! I bet, two call. Turn brings a spade flush, no spades for me. I bet one caller. River is a blank. I bet, one calls, I win $68 pot.

Hand #2: I complete A9o for a 4 way pot. Checked around on a bad flop, the turn brings the flush, I have the ace in that suit, and an inside straight draw, I end up calling a $10 bet and missing and folding.


We have only 4 players now.

Hand #4: I open raise with 55, only Ike99 calls, I bet/he folds on the J33 flop.

Hand #6: I win the blinds with a SB raise of AJ.

Hand #8: I open with JJ. GR8mind re-raises me, he has not played a hand in 10. I call as does Ike99 who plays every hand. A74 flop Checked to me, I bet to see both call. Another ace on the turn, GR8 bets out, and I am surely beat. By both of them.. QQ and AT.

new guy, MRSUCTION joins to my left. and fish_n_bowl fills the final seat.

Hand #10: I complete for a 4 way pot with QT. Flop comes QJ4. I bet out and all call. Turn is an ace. I bet out and 2 call. River is a deuce, brings a flush. I check, fish_n_bowl bets... 8:1 odds here on a call, that's a catastrphoe if I fold the best hand. He shows 35 suited, flush draw on the flop, runner runnerd an inside straight.

ike99 is the fish at the table. He has played 14 out of the 15 hands he's been dealt. Very passive so far(no raise preflop, 0.4 AF after).

LUCKYDOG05 joins in a recently vacated seat.

Hand #18: JJ, I open raise and get two callers(fish_n_bowl and GR8mind). 442, two diamonds flop. checked to me, I bet out. diamond on the turn and fish_n_bowl bets out... now what? I call it down again and find him to be bluffing without outs. A8. No diamond. Nice pot for me.

Hand #19: I open raise with KQ hearts, two call. 456 flop, two hearts. I bet, luckydog raises, ike and I call. Turn puts 4 to a straight on the board, 4567, two herats still. I get 8:1 on my turn call, no problem w/ the flush draw. River is no flush, and I have to fold. LuckyDog had JJ and lost to ike's 46o. Two pair.

Hand #21: I complete for a 5 way pot with J9o. Is that too loose? pot is $24 after the $1 rake, I put in $3 of it. Flop comes T95. fishnbowl bets, GR8mind raises, and I fold it easily.

Hand #22: fish_n_bowl raises UTG, 2 people before me call so I call on the button with 89 suited. Flop comes 974. I have top pair. fish bets, any hand is likely to have tons of outs against me... I think it's a mistake anyway in retrospect but I check it down for a free turn. Turn is a ten. Now I have 2nd pair and a straight draw. fish_n_bowl bets, I call, river pairs the 7 on the board, he bets, I call again and win the pot over his KJo. I didn't play it well I don't think, but I got the money in the end.

GR8mind leaves, which is good, he was pretty solid.

ike99 sits out, which is not at all good.

drunkassht joins the table. Hopefully he actually is. We're currently four handed.

MRSUCTION: 27% VP$P/20% PFR but only 20 hands.
drunkassht - 3 hands.
fish_n_bowl: 47% VP$P/13% PFR/15 hands.

ike99 still sits with us, hopefully he will grace us with his prescence again soon.

Hand #31: Ike is back, and posts $7 UTG to get back in! I catch AK and raise, fish_n_bowl and Ike call me. 332 flop. I bet out here. fish folds, ike calls. Ace on the turn and I bet again. ike check-raises me. Does he have a 3? or 45? He is fairly passive so I'm inclined to actually believe him. I just call. The river brings a flush possiblity, and we check it down. ike has 53o for the win. That is an $82 pot.

Hand #35: I call a raise from new agressive franka30, I have 99. We are 5 way to the flop. Flop comes K66. I'm getting over 10:1 on a call here, but is that enough? The turn brings the 3rd 6, does franka have a king or is he just hyper agressive? The pot is a monster by now... I make the wrong call and call it down, losing to his AK. That pot got up to $120 but I drop to $180(down $70) with the probably pretty bad call here.

Hand #39: I limp early with A9s. pot is 5-way. Flop comes AKJ. I bet out and a couple call. Turn is an 8. I bet/1 calls. River is another 8. I bet/he calls, I win pot.


Here's the current lineup:

MRSUCTION: 43% VP$P/13% PFR/30 hands
drunkassht: 6%/0%/18 hands
fish_n_bowl: 57%/10%/30 hands
franka30: 63%/25% but only 8 hands so far.
ike99: 82%/0%/39 hands

Potentially 4 players who are too loose, 2 or 3 of them waaaay too loose for their own good.

Hand #50: I open-raise with 88. I get two callers. Decent flop. 976, two diamonds, I do have a diamond. franka bets, I raise, he and MRSUCTION call. turn is an ace. I bet out and win the $76 pot there.

Hand #51: I misclick (ugh) and limp with AJs. franka raises, 4 of us to the pot for 2 bets. Flop misses totally(Q96) and I fold.

franka is up to 18 hands now, and still maintains a 70% VP$P and 26% PFR... he raised that last hand in the BB with KTo (and won a big pot of course).

Dear god if I could hit a hand or two I could make a killing here... key point being, I have to hit a hand. The action between fishnbowl, franka and ike99 is insane right now.

Hand #59: I raise 1 limper with AJs from the button. drunkassht and franka call. 823 flop, franka bets, I raise and we get heads up. I bet the turn, another blank, and franka calls. The river is another blank. franka30 FOLDS without me betting. He'd shown down 72o and 53o after some severe agression earlier... guess he didn't want to show this?

I sit with $258 after 61 hands.

franka is going to go broke, he's under $50

franka leaves. Aww. 70% VP$P, 23% PFR, 30 hands, down $200.

fishnbowl and ike99 are still enough to make this a great table.

Hand #67: I open raise with QJ suited. The two referenced above call me. Flop comes T63 all clubs. I have spades. Fishnbowl bets, and he may be bluffing, but with just a queen I might have to hit anyway to win, I fold this one.

Hand #78: I call a raise from fishnbowl with 55, ike's in too, I was in the BB. Flop: AAK. I bet out, fish folds and ike calls. Turn is a 6 I bet again, ike calls. River is a King. Damn. Counterfitted. The pot is large now so I bet again, ike check-raises me and I am out of there.

Hand #79: I complete with JT, 3 way flop. Flop comes ten high, two diamonds. I bet out, ike raises me... he's passive so I believe he has something but I'm not folding this. I end up calling him all the way down... he had Q4s, flush draw. Those two pots cancel out and I sit at $235, down $15 after 82 hands.

Hand #92: First playable hand in a bit, KQ suited on the button. zmen500, new player, no read, riases and I call along with fishnbowl. Flop comes Q62, all clubs. he bets, Ir aise. turn is the jack of clubs. I bet out and I win the pot.

93 hands in,I am up $6.

I have to sit out an orbit, and ike is sittingout when I get back.

zmen500 looks a little loose(41% over 22 hands) and crazyriver is a new guy.

Hand #101: I limp on the button with QT suited. 4 way flop. Flop is QJ6. checked to me, I bet. I win the $24 pot...

Ike is back, and just when it looks like he might bust out, he wins a $135 pot with quads beating a boat.

Hand #111: I complete for a 5 way pot with 98s. I miss, I fold.

Hand #114: I raise AJ after ike limps. zmen calls too. I win it on the flop with a bet(K52 flop).

Hand #117: For the first time in this dynasty, I get dealt AA. Still waiting on my first KK. I win a $43 pot as ike calls me only to the turn.

Hand #121: I limp with JT suited and call a raise from zmen500. Ten high flop, he bets, I raise he calls. Turn is an ace and I am probably beaten here. I call the turn bet but not the river bet. zmen plays too many hands, but rarely raises, gotta figure him for better than my pair of 10s.

Hand #124: AQ suited on the button. I open raise. I'm called by drunkassht. Great flop for me, A46 two of my suit. I win the small pot there though.

Hand #125: 99, I raise, zmen and ike call me. Flop is 356 all clubs. ike check raises me, but he's running real low on chips... tilt? I re-raise him on the flop and he ends up slowing down, but he flopped the flush, jack high.

Hand #126: KQ suited. 3rd raising hand in a row. I push the flop and turn when I have a flush draw, but check the river and lose to ike's TT. I am down $60 in those 2 hands Bleh.

Hand #129: I limp after 2 limpers with KQo. We go 5 way to the flop, which comes A63 and I fold.

Hand #149: the cards have gone to crap... I have K8 on the BB. free 4 way flop and I hit top pair, I bet, get raised by a maniac in crazyriver, a loose zmen calls, I re-raise and both call. Turn and river are both 10s, I bet out and zmen calls me down and I win my best pot of the night, $103. Unfortunatley i've been dropping chips in the last 50 hands here... so this win only brings me back up to $183, down about $70.

ike is still here and still alive somehow. zmen is 49% VP$P/11% PFR but passive post flop, crazyiver is 39% VP$P/11% PFR but hyperagressive postflop, a rating of over 4.

crazyriver sits out and I say to myself, 1 more orbit.

Hand #153: AK suited. BB. two limp, I raise, two call. AT3 flop, two hearts. I bet, both call. Turn 5, no heart. River heart. I totally pussy out. I check. I win $73 pot.

Hand #154: QJo inthe SB. I complete then fold.

crazyriver is back and I say maybe more than 1 more orbit.

new guy, Mr_Wej to my left.

Hand #159: free 3 way flop with 53s. I flop a straight draw and call a bet on the flop and on the turn, only to miss and fold.

Ike wins two $100 pots in a row, flush vs top pair and boat vs 3 of a kind, he's up $80 on the night. I'm down $44.

Ike hits two flushes in 4 hands. He's now up $125.



I play 177 hands and its time for bed.

I am down $67. I didn't play good, but I don't think I played terrible. I gave away an extra bet here or there that was noticible, and that might be the difference between breaking even and dropping 6 BB over 3 hours, but I don't see how i could have won here tonight w/ the way the cards fell. Sucks too, I sat with one guy the entire time that played 75% of his hands. Four others played over 50% of their hands that I sat with for signifigant stretches. And I couldn't win shit off them.

Time for the Friday after work session.

After losing a couple of big blinds(didn't open this window up right away) and one limp/fold I get my first playable hand:

Hand #9: QQ UTG, I raise and get two callers. Flop comes 665 two clubs. I bet/1 caller. Turn king of clubs, river a blank, I bet both times and get called, i win the pot.

Hand #11: Ahhh, the too painful for words beat to get me in the hole early:


And I am down $35.


guymbeaty is the only loose player at this table so we'll see how long I last... course it's only been 14 hands:

norespect04: only 4 hands
willheidebre: 25%/0%/16 hands
guymbeaty: 63%/6%/16 hands
fsvensson: 31%/13%/16 hands


And, by the way, after reading up on some 2+2 stuff today, I find a desired VP$P over time at this level to be in the low 20% range, I saw "20-27%" floating around, the higher numbers coming from strong blind defenses and stealing a lot. Right now I sit at 22% over my only 880 hands. I still don't disregard someone who shows a VP$P in the low 30s as a terrible player but I don't really pinpoint them til it's 40 or 50% or more.


Hand #21: I raise out of the SB with AKo. two callers, including guym. I bet the ragged flop, he calls. He check-raises me on the turn, and I sould probably fold there. But I call him down and I see his T6o for two pair on the turn. I never improved.

Hand #22: I raise with KQo on the button. Only guym calls me. He leads out on the flop. I fold.

Hand #24: free flop with 64 suited. 954 flop. I bet out(3 handed) and guym raisese me. I call. Turn brings a 3, so I have an open ender. He bets/I call. River makes my straight with a 2. I check-raise him and the pot is mine.

Hand #25: I complete with KT suited in the SB. Flop comes K42 rainbow. I bet, only guym calls. Turn a blank. I bet he calls. River an ace. I bet he calls. A6o. His pot. Jesus Christ.

Hand #26: I raise with KQs, only guym calls. I catch a king on the flop, I bet, I win the pot.

Hand #28: heads up with KTo in the BB. A82 flop. Free to the turn. King o nthe turn. I bet and am called. blank on the river. I bet and get raised. willheidebre is my opponent here, reasonably tight and not terribly agressive. I fold. He shows A2.


guym leaves after taking over $100 off of me in less than 30 hands. I leave down $108. That was amazing. (he leaves, I leave, no one else there worth playing).

Lets try again.

Hand #2: I limp for a 4 way pot with QJ suited. FLop comes J9x. I bet, one person raises, everyone else calls so I call. Turn pairs the 9. I check. This time a different person bets, and I call, as does everyone else. River is a queen. I've got top two but a single 9 beats me. I bet out anyway, and 2 players call. KK(who never raised a single time the entire hand) that I beat, and 98 that I lose to. 98 bet the flop but just called the turn and river.

So I am down 3.5 bets early.

Hand #6: I have 66 in the SB. a probably loose button limps. I raise, BB and button call. Flop comes A7x. I bet out and win the pot there.


There is one player i've seen before at this table. rdbails, 46%/10%/52 hands.

skybuster50 is to my right, 57%/7% over 14 hands.

the two players to my left are rioght at 30% VP$P over 15 hands. I'd rather have them to my right shouldthat prove accurate.

Hand #18: I complete with A3o for a 3 way flop. Flop is AJx. I bet and BB calls. BB has not bet or raised post flop yet(only 19 hands, but still). I bet the turn which brings a diamond draw. River brings the flush but it also gives me two pair with a 3. I bet and my opponent folds. $53 pot ismine.

Hand #25: I limp with 9T suited after a limper, we're 5 to the flop. Flop comes KJT with one of my suit. I call a bet with most of the table. Turn is interesting... it's a 9. I have two pair but a queen makes a straight. The bettor is playing his first hand at the table. I know nothing about him. Call it down with bottom two? Raise? Fold? Well, I call it down and he has A8 for a straight draw of some sort I guess... That's a nice $93 pot.

I am curious how others would have played that.

Hand #28: I can already tell this is going to be tough too. Free 4 way flop with A5o. Flop comes 975, two diamonds. (I have the ace of diamonds). I check/call the flop, 3 way to the turn. Turn is a 9. I figure my best shot to win the pot is represent the 9 with a bet here... And it works, I win the pot.

Hand #29: 55 in the SB. I complete for a 5 way pot. I fold when the flop is 3 overs.


skybuster, the one I thought was the total fish, is down to 40% VP$P... still rates a fish, 40%/3% PFR in 31 hands. He is agressive post flop though.

obrien35, two to my left, is up over 50% after 31 hands, raises 10% and talks a lot.

shadocastr stays steady at around 30% VP$P but he's nice becase his PFR is 0, and his post flop agression is 0.10.

rdbails is at 43% VP$P as well.

All in all I rather like this table lineup, of course, being up 7.5 BB helps.

Hand #33: Free flop w/ just the SB with 95o. Flop comes T53. he checks, I bet, he calls. Turn is a 6. He checks, I bet, he folds. $29 pot comes my way. His postflop agression is 2.6. I figure he's betting if he has any piece.

Hand #34: I complete with KTo for a 5 way flop. I fold when it comes 345.

Hand #36: after one limper, I raise with KK. obrien calls in the SB, BB fold, limper folds. QT3 flop. I bet, obrien calls. Turn is a 9. He bets out, I raise, he re-raises and I call. River is a king. I have a set but now a jack makes a straight. He bets and I just call him. obrien shows QT and I pulled down a very nice $118 pot.


Hand #39: I'm in the BB with Q5 suited. rdbails raises, cag87 calls. This one is worth discussion too I though, though it may just be this straight forward. I'm getting 5:1 on a call to try to outflop the raiser. I call. I flop a flush draw. The flop call is easy. I miss on the turn, which is an ace. I think it's like AT73 with two of my suit. He bets the turn. I'm almost exactly 5:1 to hit a flush on the river, and I'm getting exactly 5:1 on my call. So I call. River misses, I check, opponent checks and shows me 99 for the win. Any of that questionable?


Hand #50: AQo in the BB. two limp, I raise and both call. Flop comes A43, two diamonds. I bet, one call. Turn king. I get and get called. River Queen. I bet, get called, win $78 pot.

Hand #51: KQs in the SB. 3 limpers, I raise again here. BB folds but all limpers call. Flop comes 974. I bet, obrien raises, cag87 calls... I have crap, but there's $68 in the pot. I call $5 more for the turn. I fold when the turn doesn't hit my hand. thoughts here? $73 in the pot going into the turn, late player bets, so 8.3:1 with one behind to act. All I have is overs but the board isn't scary. Still a fold?

Hand #53: ATs. I raise one limper. Flop comes 552, none of my suit. I fold to a bet and call before me (was 4 way on the flop).


pbrien is absolutely hemmoraging money. he's in almost every hand recently, he buys in for $50, loses it, buys in for $50 more... he's done that 3 times now I think.


Hand #55: I open raise with 66 UTG. Probably a little too loose there. And I get 3 callers, ick. Flop comes 234. UTG bets out and I raise. 2 call. Turn is a 9. Opponent is almost out of chips and I have seen him semibluff a few times. I call im down and he has 99 to crush me.

That costs me a few bets and was probably a little looser than I should be, but oh well.

Time to log. 56 hands, up $67 here. Leaving me down only about $30 on the day so far, and ending a streak of 6 straight losing sessions, which is nice.

I also feel very good about not tilting after the way things started.

I am anxious to get in a good friday night session and try to find the truly horrid players that seem to come out on friday night. I should have the time to tonight.

Holy crap I'm stupid. I have played 41 hands at a table and just erased what I was typing up by mistake.

So lets catch back up.

Table lineup:

joelouis112: 64%/7%/45 hands
teddy_15: 50%/0%/18 hands (just wetn broke)
xerxez: 29%/22%/45 hands
natedog0311: 60%/2%/45 hands
bridgebluff: 28%/21%/30 hands

and me. Two solid players in there. Two very loose players. One of them is very very passive and is calling down with absolutely anything. But I've let him catch me twice and it's fucking killed me. I've dropped $100 to him in the last 5 hands. TT I raised and bet all the way down, he flopped trips and check-raised on the river. AT I flop 2nd pair on a JT5 board. 5 turn/blank river, he check-raises the rier and gets me again. But give him AK, K52 flop, and he'll just call it all the way down.


So I got no cards for a bit and bled away about $50 from just blinding down. Then I lose $100 in two hands... that leaves me at $108 right now and hurting.

HAnd #47: AKo, I raise out of the SB. toughplayer xerxez calls, as does limper natedog(my nemisis). AQ5 flop. I bet, nate folds, xerxez calls. Turn blank, I bet and win it.

Hand #48: KQ suited on the button, just 4 handed. I raise and xerxez re-raises me. Flop comes AK4 after I call the raise, 1 of my suit. I call his flop bet. Turn brings a 2nd spade. I call a bet tehre, river misses and I call a final bet to lose to AK.

joelouis left the table and natedog raped me, and the other two players here are good. I leave after only 48 hands down 15 BB ($150).

New table. All I know about it is that all 5players saw the flop for 3 bets in my first hand.


Hand #1: I have AKo in the cutoff. There's a raise and a re-raise before me. I call the $15 instead of capping. The flop comes 542 and with 5 people in here I have the odds to draw to an inside straight I believe. I call 2 bets on the flop, 1 on the turn and fold the river, the pot ends up being $250 and A3 suited flopped the straight.


Hand #2: AJo - I raise and get 3 callers. I bet the flop, turn and river. Only one guy calls me down, he has bottom pair.

I am down $100 in 2 hands again. And I don't think I'm tilting. Two players leave the table so I don't know how that will change the makeup.

Hand #7: T5 in the BB. free flop heads up, flop comes QQ5. I bet and my opponent calls. Turn is a 6. I bet, he raises me... I respect the turn raise here and fold.

Hand #8: A9o in the SB. I complete for a 3 way flop. Flop comes A84, two diamonds, I haev the ace. I bet out, gilmore5 raises. I call. turn brings another diamond, the ten. I go for a check-raise here, the bet out the river(no 4th diamond for me). My opponent is on T8o. Turned 2 pair. I am now down to $80.

Hand #12: 84o in the BB. I flop two pair and win a $45 pot on the turn with a bet.

back over $100 now.

Hand #16: 42o in the BB. Heads up against kdenise. 822 flop. Nice! I check/call the flop. 4 on the turn. Niice. I check, kdenise checks. I bet on the river, kdenise raises, I reraise and he calls. He has T7 for two pair. Rivered a ten.

After the hand someone says "glad I folded Q2" kdenise said "who would have thought someone would have played 42 lol" I reply "yeah, free flop from the BB. who would? lol"

Hand #17: I open raise with A5s in the SB, I steal the blinds.

We have a full table now, but one is sittingout.

kdenise looks like the only loose player so I'm not sure if this is a good table long term. The guy sitting out, fixable, was terrible for 10 hands, so we'll see if he comes abck or not.


Hand #27: I raise AT after kdenise limps. Only he calls. Flop comes T9x, two clubs. I bet, he calls. Turn is the ace of clubs, top two for me, flush on the board. I bet, he raises, I re-raise. He calls. River is a jack. I bet out, he raises, I call. I lose. But what do I lose to? Yeah, KQ. inside straight with a club.

Hand #30: I raise AQo, kdenise calls. Flop T64. I bet, he calls. Turn a blank. I bet, he raises. What do I do after he's raised me on all these bluffs so far? I call, and we check the river which doesn't improve me.. He has 74o for the win.


I have now dropped almost 20BB in 36 hands.

Hand #40: A7o in the big blind. Free 3 way flop. I flop top pair on a 764 board. I bet, gilmore5 raises, kdenise folds, I re-raise and gilmore calls. Turn is a 8(four straight). I bet/he calls. He's a solid player, he limped UTG, I don't put him on a 5 doing that. River is a jack. I bet and he folds. I'm back up to $99.

kdenise sits out. Bitch better not leave with all my money. And yeah, he has ALL of it I think.

fixable is back though with a 60% VP$P.

Hand #44: KTo in the BB. fixable raises, he raises over 20% of his hands. I'll defend my BB there. T94 flop. I check-raise himi, and he calls. He calls me all the way down, and shows JJ. Ooops.

kdenise is back. Wins a $102 pot with K6 his first hand back. I am stunned.

Hand #48: I raise with JJ UTG. two callers(kdenise and a tighter player in the BB). 823 flop. bedbuds(tight guy) bets out, I raise, both call. Turn is a king. Brings a flush. bedbuds bets out... and I gotta fold there I think.

with kdenise and fixable I think this is a very beatable table. I reload back up to $250. If I nosedive again then this is my time to stop "taking a shot" and bonus whore my way back up for awhile again.

Hand #55: I open raise with AJ, win the blinds.

Hand #56: T8 suited in the BB. 3 limp, buton raises, I call. gilmore limp-reraises UTG. He's a solid one. That's a strong hand there, I fold this PF. Yup. AA.

Hand #57: I complete with 45 suited for a 3 way flop. Flop middle pair. Bet. win small pot.

Hand #59: I open raise with 55 in the cutoff. only kdenise calls. Flop is 89T. I bet/he calls. Turn is a jack. I fold when he bets out (he was blind, acting first here).

Hand #74: I raise otu of the BB with QQ after 2 limp. both call. Flop comes 568. gilmore bets, I raise, gilmore folds, fixable calls in between us. Turn is a 6, I bet, and I win the $90 pot there.

Hand #75: I raise with A5 from the SB to isolate kdenise. It works, I bet the flop and turn, he raises me on the turn and I can't really call down A5 I don't think.

Hand #81: AQ in the SB. The two loose players limp before me. I raise and only they call. Flop comes JT5. I bet, both call. Turn is an 8. I bet, both call. River is a king, I hit my double gutshot, but it's also a runner runner heart draw that hit. I bet, kdenise raises. I think a bit and I re-raise and he calls. That raise came with J7, a pair of jacks. A healthy $138 pot.


Hand #84: I open with KK, two call(not kdenise). 642 flop, I bet and get called by the loose fixable only. Turn a 3. I bet/he calls. River 8. I bet, he folds. $70 pot is mine. I now sit with $361, but remember I bought bakc in with just about $50 left.

Hand #86: bedbuds raises on the button, I call with 56 suited out of the BB(trying to defend at least a little). I flop a flush draw, KQx two of my suit. I call a bet on the flop. Turn is a jack, no flush. I bet out trying o bet the scary board, and get called. I pussy out on the river and bedbuds checks with AJ, he clearly wins it.

Hand #89: I raise with AA. two callers. Flop comes Q85, two diamonds(one of my aces is a diamond). kdenise and I cap the flop, fixable calls the first $10 but not the second $10. The turn is the jack of diamonds. kdenise bets, I raise, he calls. The river is a ten of diamonds. I have the flush, but 9d makes a straight flush. I bet, he calls. I win it over his two pair(Q8o). A $138 pot.

Hand #104: J8 free flop. 4 total to the flop. J84 flops, nice! I bet, two call. 5 turns, I bet only kdenise calls. 7 rivers... just a 6 for a straight. I bet, he calls. With AQ. $75 pot is mine.

See if this would have happened before I'd dropped $200 in my first 35 hands or so I'd be a happy camper.

Hand #110: I call a raise with 77 out of the BB, 3 way flop. AQx and I fold.

It's time for bed. I made back some but still end up with a $90ish loss here...

and, though I don't think my play is bad, this is really enough of a losing streak when I don't have the big bankroll I need to say its time to go continue building back up at a lower level. Which is unfortunate because I don't think I'm playing poorly.

Some tough luck in the past couple of updates. I think bonus whoring though probably isn't such a bad idea even if that means fewer writeups. Just one quick comment:
Nice read on the limp reraise but did you fold this preflop or postflop? You absolutely have to call this even if you know he has aces. After the limp reraise there is 9sb in the pot. If the other two limpers and the button call it's 14sb back to you. Your even in good relative position with the probable flop bet coming from your left.

You're right, I folded it preflop, which is a big mistake. Chance to kill the betting and there are way too many bets to fold for one more.

I will likely make my updated goal to play as much as I can in the next month or two and see if I can bonus whore my way back up to 2K or so. Once I hit that I'll decide if I want to keep building through bonus whoring of take another 5/10 shot.

Powered through the empire bonus in a few very mundane 4 tabling .5/1 sittings. 1050 hands, +$105 at .5/1(100BB in 1050 hands, whee!)

add in the bonus and I cashed in $800 and am cashing out $1050. Woo!

2 bonuses down, however many more I can clear this month to go.

Deposited ... 200 pounds... into Total Bet. Played 4 tables for a bit over an hour. 333 total table minutes according to poker tracker. Won about 30 pounds at the table and got my 25 pound bonus for playing 5 table hours. Cashed out less than 3 hours after I deposited, for a profit of 53 british pounds, or around $100.


Bankroll is at $1485 right now.

Current plan is likely to bonus whore my way through the rest of this month, and, if I can get pretty close to $2000 this month, take a few more shots at 5/10 to start March and see if I can start winning there again. If I start out losing, I won't give all my profits back or anything, and would back off and use March to get back up close to $2500... that's the plan at least, in my rambling "it's 3am why I am awake" state of mind.

I had another ~2 hours to play just now and finished off the similar bonus at William Hill. I didn't fare as well here, though I did come out ahead after the bonus. I take a net +$14 here and cash out.

I have a little money in a bunch of sites now and as a result have less than $200 in neteller, so I won't be doing much until the total bet and willhill cashouts happen.

Call it playing the lottery, after 2 weeks of small gains bonus whoring I sit down at a 5/10 6 max table.

Table lineup:

me, cipriana2, tetrix, Actionsimon, empty chair and jorief, first time I have seen any of these guys.


Hand #3: I limp after 1 limper with QJ suited. Cipriana raises. 3 call including myself and we are 4 to the flop. It's a pretty AQQ flop. I call a bet on the flop, raise the turn, and lead the river, cipriana calls me down and I win a $108 pot.

Hand #4: I open-raise with 99. cipriana and tetrix call me. tetrix leads out on the T63 flop. I raise, and cipriana re-rises me. I fold. They play it hard to the river. Both of them made flushes. 37s and 24s. That would be the hnads they cold called my raise with.


lj135 joins in the empty chair. Tetrix wins a $200 pot with runner-runner flush from lj135 in the first hand.

Hand #10: I fold A8s to an open-raise from Joreif. good thing, he had KK.

Cipriana busts jorief w/ an UTG raise with Q8.


Hand #15: I open from the button with 99. tetrix is my only caller. He bets the flop(flush draw, KTx) and I raise, he calls. I bet the turn, and we check the river, and his JT takes it with a pair of 10s.


hmmm. Cipriana and Tetrix leave on the same hand. And the table may not be worth playing anymore.

I steal the blinds twice in the next two hands and am up $1.

two new guys join though, petethedog and howji, I sit out an orbit or two to decide if they are worth playing with or not.

Nope. Not at all. Well, that was fast :)

Basically all my money is on the move trying to get enough into neteller before the party reload this weekend... but I somehow ended up with $20 in party... can't cash it out, so I do the next best thing, I enter a single table step tourney.

11+1 single table tourney, top 2 advance to the next level. Friend of mine spent ~$100 entering these before hitting an $1800 payout. I am jealous!


We all start with only 800 chips.

Level 1

J8s, MP, folds
K4o, MP, folds - A4 busts out AK on a 44x flop. Down to 9.

J2o, MP, folds
Q7o, UTG, folds
K2o, BB, folds to raise
38o, SB, folds
65o, button, folds
T7o, cutoff, folds

Level 2 - 15/30 blinds

86o, cutoff-1, folds - wow badbad cards.
87o, MP, folds - this is a suprisingly tight table.
couple crap hands folded.

AJo, UTG... This isn't a great hand in this position... too tight? Well, I fold it anyway.

Q8o, BB, free flop, 99x. Free turn. 99x9. I'm gone.
Q8o, SB, folds

KQs, button, 3 limp, and I'll use my position here. I raise it to 100 chips. Damn... I win all the limps + blinds.

54o, cutoff, folds
54o(again), cutoff-1, folds

Level 3 - 25/50 blinds

I have 865 chips, in the middle of the pack, still 9 remain.


Key Hand
AKs - There's an open-raise to 100. Do I push here? I re-raise to 300 instead of pushing. My opponent re-raises 200 more, and I guess I want to be all in with AK preflop, huh? Wow, I'm up against AA. Flop... KQ4. Turn 3. River KING. I am a suckout master. At least on that hand.

I now sit with 1790 chips with 7 remaining(as one goes out on the next hand while I write this up.

crap,UTG, folds

J5o, BB - free flop heads up I maybe should have pushed back and fought for the blind, but I didn't, and so I wussed out on the flop and gave it up to a bet(KKx flop)

Q7o, SB, folds to raise - there's a raise to 175, and two calls, one of them a small all in. Looks like someone is getting busted as it's KJ vs K5 on a Kxx board, but, the board is 3 clubs, 2 more hit, no clubs in anyone's hands... split.

crap, button, folds

53o, cutoff, folds

A6o, cutoff-1, folds

I have it again... AKs, UTG+1 - I open-raise to 150 chips. And steal the blinds.

A8o, UTG, folds

Level 4 - 50/100 blinds

Folded BB and SB to raises, had crap.

QJo, Button, folds to 3x raise
T7o, cutoff, folds

We are down to 6 by now by the way, I took a quick bathroom break before my last BB and must have missed it.

Q5o, MP, folds

KQo, UTG - I open to 300 chips. I win the blinds.

Q4s, BB - SB open-limps, and I raise to 250. He folds. shoulda done that last time.

T2o, SB, folds - short stack all in for 225, BB calls. A3 vs J2. A3 holds up for a double up.

KTo, button - open-raise, steal. tight-ass table.

T8o, cutoff, folds

Level 5 - 100/200 blinds

55, MP - big stack opens UTG to 400.. I fold this one. short stack all in. TT vs J9, down to 5.

J5s, UTG, folds

I'm 2nd in chips out of the 5 left at this point.

K2o, SB (skipped BB b/c of bust out) - folds - AKs vs TT all in.. TT wins, busts another. Down to 4!

AQs, button - I open to 600, win blinds.

The other three stacks are a massive 4500, and two guys under 700. I have 2190. In a pretty good spot for a final 2 finish, but anything can still happen.

95o, UTG - big stack AA loses to shorter stack T8s, straight flush.

T2o, BB - folds to an all in for a little more than I'm willing to call.

33, SB - I just complete after the big stack limps in. I was ready to push the BB but the big stack limp scared me. I fold on the flop of course.

QTo, button, folds
T2o, UTG, folds - heyseuss is going all in every other hand now, he's solid and agressive. Hasn't gotten called yet, showed 88 this hand. He outchips me now by a bit.

T6o, BB - I win uncontested.


Level 6 - 150/300 blinds

83s, SB - folds
Q3o, button, folds - big stack steals.

53o, UTG, folds - big stack busts small stack, we are down to 3!

I have 1740, heyseuss has 1885. big stack over 4000.

97o, BB - folds to big raise
84o, SB, folds
52o, button, folds
54s, BB - folded to me.

98o, SB - folds

I'm being a pussy, and I know it.

T7o, button, folds

A8o, BB - big stack limps, I push, I win pot.

Level 7 - 200/400 blnids

JJ, SB - I open all in for 1590. heyseuss has been agressive, he thinks awhile, but he folds.

T4o, button, folds - heyseuss raises to 1000, big stack over him for 600 more. big pot, someone is getting hurt real bad here. they're lal in, TT vs 98. heyseuss has 98, and nothing. He's gone.


I win!

Entry into a step 2, for finishing top 2 here.


Step 2 is a $50+$5 tourney.

1st/2nd advance. 3rd gets another try. 4th gets a free try at another step 1, plus $3.

It's already 12:45 though, getting a bit late. I pocket my entry for another time.

Nice to see you back at the STEPS stuff. I think the way you play gets rewarded in a setup like this where you don't have to win it all to advance. You said you were playing like a pussy but I'll play like that everytime if my opponent, who has nearly as many chips as I do, is willing to push with 98.

In any case I am a much worse NL player than limit but I got invited to a NL home game next weekend so I thought I'd ask this stupid question in case a situation like this comes up.


So in this case it really didn't matter what you did as you two were clearly going to get all the money in on the flop even if you hadn't preflop but generally I am really lost playing AK after a raise. At first I really liked your reraise because it left you wiggle room in case he went back over the top but the more I look at it the more I think that it just left you too pot committed. Your reraise put almost half of your chips in so if your opponent went back over the top you had to call even though you would probably be a slight dog at best. You have to reraise this though. Does that make pushing right away the thing to do? Would this get a middle pair to fold more often than your raise of 300? Anyone have any input on what the best way to think about this is?

Good point. And I did think about this after the fact... that shorthanded I usually play to survive, not to win... but in this setting, against that opponent, that was probably correct.



As for the AK hand, I dunno. All in seemed like way too big a raise, but any reasonable raise put me nearly pot committed. Perhaps a mid pocket pair would call me and fold if high cards hit the flop and I bet? I really don't know what I should do there either.

I wish I had recorded it, but I was in chat w/ the FOBL people and rarely try to record hands when I'm playing poker w/ other people I know.

$10+$1 MTT on pokerstars. 1335 entrants. I finished 3rd, $1192 payout. :)

Bankroll back up over $2200, with the money to bonus whore party on the way.

Congrats again... hell of a run. $1200 is a decent payout for a nights work... :)

Something is wrong w/ my partypoker bonus, it didn't credit when I deposited my $1000. So I'm going to play my second steps tourney while I wait for an e-mail back from party/wait to see my bonus moeny.


This is a single table sit n go. Top 2 make the next level, 3rd gets another try here, 4th gets a little cash and another step 1 shot.

Level 1 - 10/15 blinds

J7s, Button, folds

you start w/ 1000 chips here instead of the 800 at the step 1 level.

crap, cutoff, folds
AQo, cutoff-1, 3 limp, and I raise it to 80. SB calls, BB folds, only 1 of the 3 limpers calls. Flop is 826 all clubs. Checked to me, I bet 150 chips, a little over half the pot. I thankfully win it right there and get a quick boost up to 1205 chips.

J2o, cutoff-2, folds
97o, MP, folds
J8o, UTG+1, folds - KK busts out 66 and we're down to 9.
crap, UTG, folds

J8s, BB - free flop 3 handed, which comes QJ8 with 2 clubs. I lead out with a pot sized bet(55 chips) and get called by both opponents. The turn fucks me, a queen. I bet 110, half the pot, and get called by the big stack, and raised by the last guy. My two pair badly counterfieted, I give it up here. Our big stack had T9 for the flopped straight and is not an even bigger stack.

I'm back to even almost, 1015 chips.

Q2o, SB - I complete for 5 chips for a 6 way pot. I fold at first chance when it doesn't hit.

Level 2 - 15/30 blinds

crap, button, folds
K8o, cutoff, folds
T8o, cutoff-1, folds

Key Hand
AJo, MP - I open raise to 90 chips(3x blind) and get a call from the SB and the BB. Flop comes K97, two hearts. I have only the jack of hearts. I refrain from trying to buy the pot here. I check. Turn is the ace of hearts. I have the 2nd nut flush draw and top pair. SB leads out for 100, big stack calls, and I call. The river pairs the king on the board. Now I'm faced with a 500 chip bet that I really can't call. And I'm glad I didn't. Big stack bet it, I almost called, thinking bluff. But no, it was KQ.

I probably needed to throw out a flop bet there but I would not have gotten rid of top pair and I was really afraid of overplaying AJ.

Q4o, MP, folds
couple crap hands, folded

K3o, BB, folds to PF raise - TT > 77 all in, down to 8.

T2s, SB, folds
A8o, button - There's one limper and I try to bully my way to this pot w/ a 3x raise. I bet the flop when checked to me and win it right there.

Level 3 - 25/50 blinds

Key Hand
AA, cutoff - There's a minraise to 100 before me. I re-raise it to 350. The raiser has 530 left and I hope to get him all in. Unfortunately, he, and all left in the hand, fold.

I sit w/ 1085 chips, which is currently good for 3rd. Lots of small stacks, a 1600 stack, and a 4000 stack.

crap, cutoff-1, folds

crap for a few hands, folded

74s, BB - free 3-way flop. Flop comes AQ4. I check it around. Turn is a 6, making a flush possible, and I fold to a bet.

KTo, SB - folds to big stack raise and a call

A5s, button - big stack limps, I limp, both blinds play. Flop is 3 hearts, I have spades. I move out of the way.
K9o, cutoff, folds
74o, cutoff-1, folds

Level 4 - 50/100 blinds

96o, MP, folds

I have 960 chips. I'm still 3rd amazingly enough, out of 8.

two short stacks get doubled up on coin flips in consecutive hands.

some crap folded...


52s, BB - a short stack goes all in from the button, but I can't call with 52...

86o, SB, folds KK/99 all in. KK is now a solid #2 stack, 99 is gone. Down to 7.

A7s, button - a small all-in and a call before me, I fold. JT > A3 for a doubleup.
85o, cutoff, folds The #2 stack goes after the big stack, but they end up splitting AT vs A5 on an AQQQ board.

54o, MP, folds - 405 short stack all in. AK vs 33. 33 wins, AK gone. Down to 6

Two giant stacks... 4000/3000, then we have a 1200ish stack ahead of me now, and them I'm at 710, two guys under 500.

J6o, BB, folded to me.

Level 5 - 100/200 blnids

KJo - a short stack limps, I go all in, short stack calls me with 98o. Why did he limp 98o UTG for over half his stack? I hold up and eliminate the short stack. Down to 5.

A2o, UTG, folds
64o, BB - folds to a raise
65o, SB, folds - big stack and the stack about my size put in a fair amount pre-flop.
J5o, button, folds

2 Key Hands
QJs, UTG - 5 handed? 200 blinds? Good enough for an all in. Everyone folds though.
ATs, BB - big stack min-raises. I push all in again. I gotta come in 2nd here... if I bust now I'm just otu $11. Opponent CALLS with J7o. I hold up for the big win.

I now have 2750 chips for a solid 2nd place.

Level 6 - 150/300 blinds

J8o, SB, folds - big stack min-raises again. #3 guy pushes for 1600. Short stack calls for 540. AQ vs Q8s. Q8 flops a flush but AQ has the ace of the suit, rivers a 4 flush. Down to 4.

Q4s, button, folds

stacks are 3055, 2791, 2746, and 808. I have 2746.

AA, UTG - I raise it 3x, and everyone folds again :(

94s, BB - short stack all in, 250 for me to call, I have to call w/ any 2 there. I lose to his J7.

95o, SB, folds
73o, button, folds

K9s, UTG, I steal the blinds w/ a raise.
J6, BB - folded to me.

T8o, sB, I fold
98o, button, folds

Level 7 - 200/400 blinds

65o, UTG, folds

all of us are still pretty much in the same position now that we were when we dropped to 4.

64o, BB, I fold to a raise.

AA - SB - WTF AA 3 times? Amazing. SOMEONE BET PLEASE. DAMMIT. I min-raise and steal the blinds. I can't limp with them, heads up yes, but not here.

Q7s, button, folds - big pot between the other two largers stacks. our former "big stack" that outchipped everyone early folds to an all in on a flop, and is now in 3rd, i'm in 2nd, taykenz is in first.

87o, UTG, foldsj - AQ vs A3 all in. They split w/ 2 pair on the board, dammit, shoulda been down to 3 there.


QJo, BB - SB min-raises, he's a short stack. I push all in over him. He has 97s, I catch a jack, I win. Down to 3.

KTo, SB - steal blinds

I'm now chipleader. 4600 chips. The other two are at 1800/3500. top 2 is the key here.

KJo, BB - folded to me.
JTo, SB, folds to raise

Level 8 - 250/500 blinds

Q8, button, folds shades46 is now back in 2nd, Taykenz in 3rd, but it's close all the way around.
Q6o, BB - folds to an all in
K2o, SB, folds to a big raise - surely these two are gonna get all in eventually. They're stealing my blinds an awful lot at the moment.

89o, button, folds - other two stacks go at it again, shades goes all in after the pot is 1500 and wins it. taykenz under 2K by a bit now.

73o, BB - folded to me, hooray.

A3s, SB - I min-raise, shades calls. I flop a flush draw. I bet 1500(2000 pot) and he folds. I'm up over 5000, over half the chips at the table.

crap, button, folds

95o, BB - folded to me.

taykenz is under 1K now.

AJo, SB - taykenz all in. I have AJ and call. tay has 42o. He wins. Catches a 4.

I still have over 4K.

crap, button, folds - shades min-raise, tay re-raise, shades all in. KK vs QQ. taykenz is GONE.


shades46 and I advance to step 3!



I win an entry into the $200+$15 3rd step. It loosens up a bit there. The top 3 advance. 4th gets another step 3 entry. 5th-7th drop back 1 step to step 2. 8th back to step 1 + $3 cash. 9th/10th nothing.

Single Table Step 3

I'm on a roll, lets keep it going.

I expect this to be extremely tight

1000 chips, need a money finish(top 3)

Level 1 - 10/15 blinds

A3o, UTG, folds - 1 limp, button raise to 100, no flop.

66, BB - 2 limps, SB completes, I check. Overcards flop. I fold to a bet.
J8o, SB, folds to raise

A7o, button, folds to UTG raise and a call. And a 2nd call. UTG bets out on the flop, one caller. UTG bets the turn, 1 caller. A little bigger bet on the river, its called, set of jacks takes it(w/ a flush ont he board). TJFund down to 390, jonesmcgee up to 1710 early.

T6s, cutoff, folds
A5o, cutoff-1, folds
crap, MP, folds - down to 9 after 77 knocks out A9o two guys over 1500 chips early now.
75o, UTG+2, folds
K3s, UTG+1, folds
A7o, UTG, folds

Level 2 - 15/30 blinds

J4s, BB - folds to raise
T4o, SB, folds
J8o, button, folds
A2o, cutoff, folds

I wonder if I'm playing too tight seeing as how the table is extremely tight. Next time I'm in solid late position I need to open any two really.

52o, cutoff-1, folds. 4 to the flop for a min raise thie time. 1/2 pot bet on the flop by the raiser is enough though.

J5o, MP, folds
J6o, MP, folds
K2o, UTG+1, folds

KQs, UTG - I open raise. Not sure how great that is UTG but the table is tight and I've been playing extremely tight so eh. M3tin calls from UTG+1. Flop comes JT2, 1 of my suit. I bet half the pot. He calls. Turn gives me the flush draw, to go w/ my straight draw and two overs. I bet halfpot again and win it.

J8s, BB - jonesmcgee limps(he does this constantly) - SB completes, I check. Flop is AJx. I bet pot(90) and jonesmcgee raises me. I go ahead and give this up.

Level 3 - 25/50 blinds

J8o, SB, folds

9 of us left still, this is going to come down to a crapshoot if it doesn't loosen up a lot soon. My 1045 chips after my SB has me right in the middle.

Q5o, button - I open-raise and steal the blinds.

J8o, cutoff, folds
crap, MP, folds
Q5s, MP, folds - limp/min-raise before me. jonesmcgee calls, blinds fold, limper calls. its a slow process, but flounderxl hits an inside straight w/ AQ on the river to beat jonesmcgee's AK. no all-in though.

Some crap in the middle folded...

Key Hand
63o, BB - free flop w/ jonesmcgee and the SB. Flop comes 632. floundexl bets 150(he bluffed hard w/ his AQ earlier...), I raise it to 450. Flounder goes all in... I think for awhile, and I've seen him play a bit fishy so far... I call it. He has 23o, no 2 comes and the pot is mine!


Level 4 - 50/100 blinds
A3s, SB - 2 limps, I complete. Flop is no good. I fold at first opportunity.

At present, I am the chipleader with 2240 in chips. chestnut_st has 1660, a few 1000-1300, and 4 guys below 1000.

J4o, button, folds

K7 busts A9, we are down to 8.

33, cutoff, folds to raise

The table should loosen up a ton at 50/100 with 3 guys 1000 getting desparate to make a move.

86o, MP, folds
76o, UTG, folds

another short stack busts out, we are down to 7. gary8888 has 1990 in chips and is now in 2nd.

Key Hand
T8o, BB - button/sb limp, I check. A83 flop. 1 caller to my 300 pot sized bet. On the turn I bet enough to put him all in... just 500 chips into an 800 chip pot. I think I may be beat but I don't want to check/fold, and this seems my only option to bet. Hell, dude has AQ. I lose.


Key Hand
AJ, button - I open-raise to 300. Another situation where I'm up against a much shorter stack than myself. I push on the flop, and get called. I'm up against A5(neither of us hit). FIVE hits the turn. Bleh.

I am down to 500 and now I'm the severe short stack as we go to 100/200 blinds.

Level 5 - 100/200 blinds

I push from mid position with KT. I steal.

crap, UTG+1 folds
KTo, UTG - 800 chips, probably should push? But I fold. there's a raise and an all in before me tho, so good thing I did fold. KK > AQ and we're down to 6.

KJo, BB - Two all ins before me. I fold. AQ vs QJ. AQ wins.

crap, sB, folds

down to 500 chips. easily last of the 6 left.

J2, button, folds to raise before me.

Key Hand
KK, MP - I push. big stack on the BB has to call. He shows Q6 and I double up.


I now sit at 1100 chips. With 100/200 blinds that sucks, but it's not far from 3rd really.

3300/1600 are #1/#2 right now, then 1390/1260/1100/980 for the other 4...

42o, BB, folds to raise.

Level 6 - 150/300 blinds

Q5o, SB, folds

So I sit with 750 after the blinds pass me by. Last but not dead.

Q9o, button - push if I'm opening, but fold to the 600 raise before me. 2 call, and all 3 end up all in. One guy wins all of it. We are down to 4. Crazy shit.


I'm way short here.

KK in the BB for half my stack, and it gets folded to me :(

4th is a replay of step 3, but 3rd would advance me if I can get a few more chips and watch someone else bust.


crap for 2 hands so I'm in for nearly half my stack blind again. 2nd low stack is under 1200, so it's anyone's game still.

A6s, BB, folded to me.


A9s, SB - I go all in and win the BB. I'm not in last anymore, this is gonna be tight though.

I have 1200, opponent 1040 before blinds hit.

Level 7 - 200/400 blinds

short stack in BB, SB raises, he folds. He has 640 to my 1200.

My BB - 82o. Button raises and we both fold agian.

short stack has 440 now.

75o SB - I fold

I have 600, opponent has 440. He hits blinds first.

54, button, folds. short stack all in for 440. AK vs J7(big blind had to call that). SEVEN HITS. SEVEN SEVEN SEVEN. I am 3rd.


Amazing run. I advance to step 4.

Step 4 is insane.

1st: Entry to step 5
2nd: Entry to step 5
3rd: Entry to step 5
4th: Entry to step 5
5th: Entry to step 4
6th-8th: Entry to step 2
9th-10th: Entry to step 1 + $8

Top half hold even or advance.

Step 4 Sit N Go

This is a $500+$35 NL Sit N Go. I of course have won my way here for $12. If I cna finish in the top 4 here then I am on my way to the money-step.

This table isn't going to fill up so fast and I may have to wait til another time to play it.

Only 2 step 4's are even in progress!

After about 5 or 6 minutes we're up to 4 at this table though so I'll wait a bit more.

We fill up after about 10 minutes...

Level 1 - 10/15 blinds

64o, cutoff, folds - 2 players + the BB see this first flop.
97s, cutoff-1, folds
Q4o, MP, folds


shades46 from two tourneys ago and gary8888 from my last tourney are both in this one with me

J5o, MP, folds
83o, MP, folds
K2o, UTG+1, folds
74s, UTG, folds
T8s, BB - UTG min-raises. shades46 calls. gary888 calls. I'll call that and hope to flop big. I don't, 345 flop. I'm out of the hand.

87o, SB - fold to minraise + 125 chip re-raise.
T7o, button, folds
A8o, cutoff, folds to raise

Level 2 - 15/30 blinds

No one is gone yet, and I'm only out 40 chips.

94o, MP, folds - so much for none being gone! AA vs QQ vs AQ all in pre-flop. AA holds up and we are down to 8. gary8888 had the AA and has 2500 chips now. shades46 is gone(QQ)

crap, MP, folds
A3o, UTG+1, folds
74o, UTG, folds

84o, BB - I fold - button raises 175, SB all in for his full 1000. Button calls. A9 vs 33. two pair on the board and A9 wins it.

54o, SB - folds our loser from last hand is gone. Down to 7.

73o, button - folds
Q4o, cutoff, folds

Level 3 - 25/50 blinds

JJ - MP - I raise 3x and win the blinds.
82o, MP, folds

I have 990 in chips, which is next to last, but still in a fine position to take a shot at 4th of course.

A9o, UTG, folds
84o, BB - I give it up to a steal raise
ATo, SB - UTG raises it big and I fold... too tight? Dunno.

KQo, button - gap theory again I suppose. Raise to 200 before me. I'll raise it but can I call it?

52o, cutoff, folds
Q4o, MP, folds

95o, MP, folds - the short stack is finally all in for his last 275 chips. He's called by 1, then another goes all in for 1195. First caller folds. A2 vs QQ. A2 wins and our 275 short stack triples up. The first caller/folder says JJ.

So we still have 7. the bottom 5 of us are between 1145 and 915.

Level 4 - 50/100 blinds

TT, BB - SHIT. Dude before me is all in for 1145. What do I do? Am I 50/50 at best? Probably so right? I fold it.

72o, SB, folds

I am down to 765 after the SB passes, but 3 people are also under 1000(all in the 900s).

Q8o, button, folds - A2 vs AK all in! AK wins. A2 has 10 chips left.

AJo, cutoff - 7th and 6th finishes are the same. I open-push all in here. 10 chip man calls. AJ vs 66. Haha I lose. Awesome. Well except for the part of the blinds I pick up, so I am ahead of the game.

crap, MP, folds
63o, UTG+1, folds One of the other 900ish stacks pushes... and wins a modest pot to get over 1000 again.


crap, UTG, folds - our raiser from last hand raises to 250 on the button. Both blinds(bigger stacks) call. 300 flop bet is check-raised all in. Raiser is elft with 670 on the fold.

I now feel I have a fairly decent chance of wussing my way into 5th(which would mean another shot at step 4).

We are down to 6, 40 chip man is gone.

T8o, button, folds

Level 5 - 100/200 blinds

I have 735 in chips. Short stack has 670(and blinds hit him first).

This spot doesn't advance, but guarentees that you don't drop.

JJ vs Q9 all in. Q9 short stack doubles up :( Still 6 left but the loser there is now left w/ 565 chips.

JT, UTG, folds - 1240 all in on the button vs the two bigger stacks in the blinds. Damn, wins blinds.

CRAP. 565 all in from the short stack vs my BB. Whew. SB calls it. I fold. QJ vs AJ. We're down to 5.

So I am guarenteed another shot at this step.

Q7s, SB - I open-push and win blinds.

KJo, button - I open-push and win blinds.

Now I'm up over 1000 and have a semi-reasonble shot.

2 crap hands are folded.

KTo, BB - big stack SB raises me all in. Pure steal? He's willing to commit 1000 chips to risk if I call.. I decide to be ultra tight here, he woulda been hurting had I won it, I think he was at least a-high.

87o SB folded to raise

Level 6 - 150/300 blinds

92o, button, folds
73o, MP, folds - other short stack folds to BB, he has 790. My blinds hit tho and will drop me from my 735 if I don't pull something out.

96s, BB - ugh. No good. Raise to 900 before me. Big stack calls again. We're gonna see an all-in here I assume. AQ vs KK. Queen turn, worhtless. ACE RIVER. ACE RIVER. ACE RIVER.

I have backed my way into a $1000 entry sit n go.


I have never seen such tight play in my life. My play could have been better for sure, but I'll take it.

To recap, I have paid $12 to enter 1 step 1 single table sit n go. A top 2 finish, then a top 2 finish, then a top 3, then a top 4 finish, all in a row, have put me at the top, step 5.


There are no more steps, no falling back to step 4, none of that. This is a $1000 sit n go where the top 4 win money.

1st: $4500
2nd: $2500
3rd: $1800
4th: $1200


This fills up pretty fast(b/c of the sharks who are playing these as straight +EV $1000 Sit N Go's against us step fish I am sure).

Level 1 - 10/15 blinds

K6o, button, folds - 1 limper+BB... OCarbllino wins a 700ish chip pot with a straight. st0p_whining called a signifigant portion of his chips wit T3 2nd pair(322 flop, 5 turn, J river, he called off 345 chips on the turn and river combined).

crap, cutoff, folds - folded to the blinds. st0p_whining limps, Gordej raises out of BB, wins 15 chips.

JTo, cutoff-1, folds - rickbones(CO) open-raises 3x. donflun calls out of BB. 3 clubs, including AQ flop. 100 chip bet on the flop from the raiser wins it.

J5s, MP, folds - rickbones(CO-1) open-raises 3x. Gordej button comes over for 150. Wins pot pre-flop.

K3s, MP, folds st0p_whining open-limps(CO), blinds play too. SB bets 30 on the flop, wins pot.

Q7o, MP, folds - gordej opens to 35 chips. wins blinds.

This is insanely tight poker.

A7o, UTG+1, folds - vinnipuh(button) open-raises, wins blinds

crap, UTG - rickbones(UTG+1) limps. both blinds play. flop checked. Turn bet wins it for BB.

93s, BB - Gordej UTG+2 opens for 55 chips. SB(Middleman12) calls. I fold. they check it down and AJ beats KQ on a ... 933 board :)

Q2s, SB - I open-raise to 45 and rickbones folds. My blinds.

Level 2 - 15/30 blinds

thanks to my 1 steal I sit at exactly 1000 chips still. Leader has 1365. short has 650.

52o, button, folds
83o, cutoff, folds 1 limp, redsoxr1 raises to 150 from MP, wins blinds+limp.
K2o, cutoff-1, folds - stop_whining wins w/ agressive button play.
98o, MP, folds - redsox raises 85 UTG+1. Wins blinds.

Q5o, MP, folds - SB(carballino) opens-raises to 75. BB calls. SB bets 75 on KKx flop. Folds to raise.

73o, MP, folds


Key Hand
55, UTG+1 - UTG limps. I try to limp too. ocarballino limps. BB plays. No set for me. AT8 flop. Checked around. Turn pairs the ace on the board. I bet the pot, trying to buy this one. Ocarballino calls me unfortunately. River 7, also makes flush. We check it down, and OCarballino shows the nut flush. K3 spades. 385 pot.

I'm down to 845 after that.

crap, UTG, folds - stop_whining and oCarballino limp, both blinds play. stop_whining bets 100 on the flop, takes pot.

82o, BB - gordej raises UTG+2, I fold, he steals blinds.
J2o, SB - folds

Level 3 - 25/50 blinds

52o, button, folds to carballino's nice sized PF raise.

Chip stacks between 800-1350. I have exactly 800. stop_whining also does before the blinds hit on his 1st hand this orbit. still all 10 remain. This can do nothing but turn into "who gets the best cards" after 50/100 it seems.

crap, cutoff, folds

A4o, cutoff-1, folds to raise before me.

Key Hand
AA, MP - middleman12 raises to 100. I re-raise to 250. I am called by stop_whining only. flop JJ3. I push for my last 550 chips. stop_whining calls. He shows QQ. I double up to 1650 chips. I am the current chipleader, and we are down to 9.


ATs, MP - 1 early limper, and I limp. gordej raises to 125. donflun goes all in for 1100. We all fold to him.

82o, MP, folds - middleman12 raises 3x UTG+1. wins blinds.

53o, UTG+1, folds - middleman raises 150 UTG. wins blinds. shows 99.

J9s, UTG, folds - rickbones limps UTG+1. BB heads up. AJJ flop checked. A turn checked. 2 river - rickbones bets 100, wins small pot.

K4o, BB - donflun limps. redsoxr1 raises to 175. I fold. donflun folds.

95o, SB - folds - carballino raises 200. middleman12 all in. carb calls. AQ vs TT. The two queens on the flop seal it. carb down to 560 chips.


Level 4 - 50/100 blinds

I'm in good position but by no means in a powerful position. I have 1525 chips and start the levle on the button. middleman is at 1665 after that last hand. donflun 1420. redsoxr1 at 1050. No one else over 1000.


crap, button - carb all in, called by gordej. A2 vs AK. carb gone.

A9o, cutoff - I open-raise 3x and win the blinds.

63o, MP, folds

Q6o, UTG+2, folds - gordej steals blinds w/ a cutoff raise.

K7s, UTG+1, folds

J5o, UTG, folds - gordej MP raise to 225. wins blinds. Is new chipleaeder by a bit.

82s, BB - folds to 225 raise from redsoxr1.

J7s, SB - open raise to 200, rickbones folds. He check/folds so it's easy to tell when he's just planning on giving aything up... at least he has twice now.

32s, button - I open-raise to 300, pure steal of course. It works. I am new chipleader again.

62o, cutoff - folds

Level 5 - 100/200 blinds

crap, MP, folds - 55 vs AK all in. 5 hits a set. busts a shorter stack. down to 7.

A2o, MP, folds to UTG all in.

T4s, UTG, folds donflun opens to 500(half his stack) from CO. redsox thinks for al ong time, but folds. donflun wins blinds.

42s, BB - folded to SB. he raises all in. Owell.

93o, SB, folds - gordej all in UTG. wins blinds.

ATo, button - middleman all in before me... gap theory. fold. middleman wins blinds.

65o, cutoff, folds. folded to BB.

Q7o, MP, folds - SB raises big, wins blinds.

96o, UTG+1, folds - gordej raises 450, wins blinds.

J9o, UTG, folds - KK vs 66 all in. KK holds up, down to 6.

level 6 - 150/300 blinds



A6o, BB - short short stack all in for 390. SB and I both call(90 for me to call). we check it down, BB wins it with A9 :(

J8o, SB - gordej raises 700. I fold.

I have under 1000 chips now. 2nd shortest stack.

crap, button - middleman all in 1300, all fold.

J4o, MP, folds - rickbones all in 720. BB donflun thinks long time. calls. QT vs J8. J8 wins. We are down to 5. Next spot pays.

I am the short stack big time tho.

Key Hand
AQo, I go all in for my last 985. gordej all in behind me. AQ vs JJ. I lost :( :( :(



And, I think I played that tournament pretty well, but am very disappointed in a 5th place finish, my adrenaline was *really* flowing there in the last few hands after we got down to 6. But I am out on the bubble and win nothing.

But I have to keep in mind I'm only out $12, right?

Wow that sucks to get nothing back after some extremely good poker there Radii. You were very close to turning $12 into $1200+ though. Except for a few intances when you were short stacked you always got the money in when you had the best hand which, I think, is a really good sign. That ment some tight poker and thowing away some good but not great hands but I think all were good decisions. I know you like the 6-max tables for limit but when you play NL I would seriously just keep playing the steps tourneys. Seems like a great alternative to the MTT. You really weren't in a lot of trouble along the way but it's nice to have the cushion of replaying the round on a couple of those steps as well.

Thanks for the comments :) The single table steps feel like a much better deal than the 2 table ones. Coming in top 2 in those first two seems like the hardest part, honestly, until you get to step 5.

I'll definitely try them again at some point, but I am almost back up to my old baseline of $2500 with my big MTT score from Friday night, and it's almost March 1, so i'll spend a good portion of march bonus whoring to get myself back over $2500 and hopefully over $3000...

I don't know how much I'll play in March... I usually go into hiding for the NCAA tournament :)

What an awful, awful, awful day. 250 raked hands of 1/2 6 max. Down $150. Floating around to different tables(4 tabling here, which I've done before w/ much success), I sat at 9 different tables. I did not leave ahead at a single one.

My worst table was down $70.. the rest were just small losses, $10-$20 at a couple and less than $5 at a couple more.

The $70 had me baffled... the person to my right played 60% of his hands and raised 40% of his hands. The person to my left played every single hand. Out of 90 or so that I saw with him. EVERY SINGLE ONE. I think I went on tilt towards the end when my AA got cracked by his 23o. On a runner-runner 2/3. Then the very next hand AK lost to A4, on a rivered 4. At that point(and after dropping quite a bit on those two hands), I decided that I was tilted and would have to come back another day to fight again.

Ugh. And really this is the first time in a very long time that i've felt like I'm not in control of my decision making at the poker table. Hopefully it's an isolated thing that I can control most of the time and recognize all of the time now... it's certailnly something I've worked hard on over the past year.


I did win $50 playing last night during the oscars... down about $100 through 450 raked hands working on my partypoker bonus. I have 950 hands to go and will certainly be turning that back upward... any gain at all in my play + the bonus would put me back over my $2500 baseline. I think I mentioned that last post. I think I won't mention that again b/c I don't want to become too focused on where I stand at any one moment :P

Time for a 5/10 6-max session.

I join a table that looks like it has some solid profit potential.

jb725 to my left seems like a calling station and PokrFaceSam 2 to my right looks like a maniac... this is after only a few hands though so we'll see what happens.

the lineup:

jb725, littleluck1, unclean111, PokrFaceSam, heaven60.

Hand #7: I pay 1 BB to see a flop out of the big blind w/ QJ suited(raise and 1 caller). I fold on the flop though. 22 raised UTG(jb725) and hit a set.

unclean111 has played in 8 out of 9 hands so far. jb and littleluck over 50%. heaven60, to my right, hasn't entered a pot in 7 hands. I'm in a pretty good spot here I think if i can catch some cards.

Hand #13: free 4-way flop with JT suited. Flop comes T85, two diamonds. I check-raise the flop and get it heads up. Turn is a jack, I bet/get called. River a Q. I bet/he folds.

Hand #14: AA, SB. Jancan(who I beat last hand) raises, I re-raise w/ my aces. littleluck is in too. 3 of us for 3 bets. Flop QT7. jancan raises me on the flop. I 3 bet. jancancalls. Ace on the turn. I hope to hell he has AQ. He calls my turn bet. The river is about the worst card possible. King, makes a flush. I bet/he calls. I win. jancan did indeed have AQ. I can't believe he didn't raise the turn. $123 pot is mine.

Hand #19: After 3 limps, I raise out of the SB with KQ suited. Flop comes 245, all diamonds. I have clubs. two call my flop bet. Turn is a 5. one calls. River a 4. I bet out, only way I win this may be to bet. And damn if it doesn't work. I win the $88 pot.

Hand #28: jancan raises on the button, I re-raise out of the BB with AKo. Flop is JTx. I bet jancan raises I call. Turn is a blank. I call it down when I don't hit, and jancan shows down 55 for the win. A 5 on the river gave him a set and I think I gave it up too early(wondr if he'd have folded the turn).


Sucks to have a short run here, but 3 people have left and only one guy at the table is over 40% VP$P through between 15-35 hands. This isn't anywhre near an ideal table anymore.

I leave up a quick $87 after 33 hands.

I join a 5/10 6-max table that looks like it's getting a fair amount of action.

Hand #3: I have JJ, there are 3 limps to me on the button and I raise w/ my jacks. luckyfcukr(a solid looking player) re-raises, and everyone else calls... I decide not to cap here. Flop comes 655. lucky bets, two call, I raise, lucky re-raises. He almost certainly has AK or I'm beat, eh? I call. I call the turn(a queen) and we check the river(a 2nd queen). His KK beats my JJ. one of the seemingly bad players)stuj69) stayed in all the way w/ Ace high.

The cards suck and I blind for the next 3 orbits, sitting down just over 5 big bets.


stuj, one of the two reasons to be at this table, leaves.

The other reason is ranchy, to my right. 66% VP$P/7% PFR. The other 3 players left are pretty ok players it seems.

Hand #21: Hey look, something playable. Two limp, I raise with 88. 3 callers inclding the BB. I was the cutoff here. Flop comes 442. songhunoh bets out, ranchy calls, I raise, lucky folds, song re-raises, and I just call. The turn is my miracle card. An 8. song and I cap the turn. River is an ace, song chcks, I bet, he calls. Oh how I suck out. Song had 99. That $168 pot puts me slightly ahead(up 2 big bets after the next round of blinds).

ohh, table improvement I think. luckyfcukr leaves. mickyd99 joins, no read on him yet but he's played and lost the first couple of hands, I can hope he's a loose sucker. :)

mickeyd99 quickly tightens up, while my cards are real cold, I'm only playing 18% of my hands so far.

2 new guys at the table, Mario27 and MDP430... no read yet.

Hand #40: A5 free flop heads up with Mario27. I thought he'd been overplaying his hands big time so far, so I checked, hopoing to check-raise. He cehcked. He then called me down w/ 2nd pair. Guess that read was no good eh? :) Down a touch after that.

Hand #44: I raise out of the SB with 99, after a button limp. Button calls. Flop is J65. I bet/button calls. Turn pairs the 6. I bet/button calls. River 2, I bet, he folds

Hand #45: I raise 1 limper w/ ATo on the button. BB calls, limper re-raises. I call a rags flop bet, fold to a turn bet of a queen, I didn't know what to do there post flop really.

Hand #46: I raise 2 limpers w/ AJ... chojj behind me re-raises. 25% vP$P, 25% PFR. We see a 4-way pot. AT4 flop, I like, but am I outkicked? I check-raise after chojj bet and everyone called. Choj re-raised. At this ponit I decide to call down. chojj has AQ for the win. mario27 stayed in with 43o, bottom pair, and we have found our new fish. This is a big $163 pot and I am back down 6 BB again.

Hand #48: I limp JTs and fold when I get the chance.

Hand #55: Free flop 3-way with K3 suited. I flop the flush, woohoo. Mario is calling down everything, so I just lead out... he does call me all the way down, and I win the pot, back to only 3.5 BB down now.

Hand #62: I make a call with 45 suited in the BB(raised before me with 3 callers). I flop an open-ended draw, 762 flop. The flop gets capped, and I could see it coming, but I dragged myself along(3 opponents, straight draw, capped flop, how bad is this??). Turn is a blank, and there's only 1 bet this street. The river makes my straight, and I easily check-raise my way into 2 extra bets(the solid mickeyd99 and the terrible Mario), and I win one of the biggest pots I've seen in awhile, a 21 BB $210 pot. I'm up a bit over 10 BB now (up $100).

Hand #74: I raise 88 on the button. mickeyd calls me out of the BB. Flop 552, two spades. I bet/he calls. Turn is the jack of spades. We check. River is another jack... he checks/I bet/he calls. Mickey had AKo and I win the pot. Not sure why he played that so slow.


these people are fucking pissing me off. Mario has dropped $250 in 40 hands, he's going to lose it all, he's nuts. And two guys at the table keep saying "you know you're just going to lose it all? Why are you doing this?" etc... jesus christ people, he's the reason we're at the table, shut the fuck up.

Of course, the two people discussin git, MDP430 and RastaRacer, both have 40+ VP$P numbers after 40+ hands, so they contribute to why I'm here too. Mario can keep us all goign through!


Mario leaves after dropping $350 shortly thereafter(He bought in for $650...). I say "Why the hell would you guys want to berate a bad player until he leaves?" MDP430 says "true, my mistake"

Hand #83: AJo, SB. 2 limp, I complete(why not raise? I dunno). Free flop. 896, two spades. Free turn(now that I didn't raise I'm out ofp osition). Free river. River brings 3 spades, but also pairs my ace. I check though, and win the $19 pot.

Hand #92: Free flop heads up w/ the SB(now mickeyd) with KTo. Flop comes KK5. he bets the flop, I call. He check/calls the turn and river, and I take the pot.

Hand #94: I open AJo and win the blinds.

We are down to 4 people now, and 2 of them are tight enough that I don't want to play with them. Hell, actually, none of them are over 40% VP$P anymore.


I leave after a very productive 94 hand session. Up $159.

With today's winnings, I have officially creeped back over my $2500 baseline from last year :) Very, very pleased to see this!

Lets try a late session.

I've sat for about 25 hands while finishing up something else, so I have ok info on the table.

Chiefpokeaho: 52% VP$P/0% PFR - talks constantly
joshrogo: 28% VP$P/8% PFR
fogemin: 25% VP$P/6% PFR
keisersozeq: 56% VP$P/16% PFR - talks back to chief a lot.
Bud_King: 25% VP$P/7% PFR

Three pretty solid players and two I should be able to take pretty good.

Hand #19: yeah, tight so far. KTs in the BB. Free flop, which hits top pair. I bet/get 1 caller(out of 2 opponents). I win the small pot on the turn.

Hand #20: I complete w/ KQo to see family pot. It misses, I fold. A slowplayed QQ wins that one.

Hand #30: I open-raise w/ KK, only the BB calls me. Flop comes AQx, I win it with a bet.

At around hand 35 keiser leaves the table. My cards suck.

Hand #49: I open-raise with AT and only fogemin calls out of the BB. Flop comes KTx. He check/folds.

at some point chiefpokeaho says "rhiow you just waiting for Aces or what?" ... then like 3 hands later I fold 34o to a raise out of the BB and chief says "you just giving away your blinds?" and I say "yes. I hate money." He says "u must always have a monster hand when you play"

Hand #58: I open raise 78 suited. Win the blinds. chief says "you have great hand, but won't get any action"

Hand #62: I open A6o from the SB, chief(to my left folds), and I say "had AA again, wow"

This is awesome.

hahaha, and, when Chief folds he says "83o. Normally I would give u action"

Fact is, however, my cards have mostly been shit, my flops seen over 65 hands is 13% and I'm $20 down/even/$20 down, etc etc.

Hand #67: T7s in the SB. I try to steal raise again(folded to me) and chief calls. Flop has two of my suit. I bet/he calls. Turn is a blank, I bet/he raises, I call. River a blank, I check/fold. Chief shows a boat.

Hand #70: KJs, open-raise win blinds.

Hand #72: JTs in the BB. 3 way flop, Flop comes J87, two of my suit. jps23(new guy) bets, I raise, chief folds. jps calls. I bet the turn and check the river down after a queen hits(new guy, no read, maybe shoulda bet for value anyway). I win the $50ish pot.

Hand #77: I open AJo UTG. 2 call. I bet the rags flop and win.

Hand #79: I open raise 82s in the SB, chief calls. 98x flop, I bet/he calls. Ace turn, I bet/he calls. 9 river, I bet/he thinks awhile, says "crap, u have an ace. Oh well. I'm rich" and calls. His QQ(EH?! QQ??) beats me.

Hand #82: CindyLuHu(new player) opens for a raise on the button. I re-raise w/ AJ suited. I bet the flop and win the pot.

Hand #84: I open-raise JTs on the button. Flop a gutshot draw after the BB calls me. I bet the flop, but slow down and we check it down to the river after I catch crap after that.

Still hovering between 3 bets down/2 bets up, etc etc.

I fold KTs to poker112a, who has palayed 3 hands out of 32, and raised them both.

Hand #91: poker112a is opening up.. he raises from SB I call w/ K9 in the BB. Flop comes KQQ, he bets, I raise, he folds.

Hand #97: CindyLu raises in the cutoff, SB calls, I re-raise w/ TT. sb calls again. Flop AKx, I bet out and Cindy just calls. She has been very very agressive so I think I may well be ahead. I bet it all the way down and she calls w/ KJ, which is enough to beat me.

Hand #99: 55 UTG. I raise, chief calls. I flop a gutshot draw, 743, I bet/he calls. Turn 2, I bet/he calls. River Ace, I have the wheel. I bet/he folds.

Hand #100: T9o in the BB. Free flop, T22, I bet out and win.

Hand #106: 53s in the BB. free 5 way flop. I flop a flush draw. joshrogo bets, I call as does Chief. Turn pairs the board. Josh bets out again. He only has $7 left so I'm not going to get a raise out of him if I do hit, and of course a boat is possible now... I go ahead and fold.


Hand #109: I open raise with A5s. Cindylu calls. Flop KKJ, two of my suit. I bet/she calls. Turn brings the flush, I bet/she calls. River is the 3rd king. We check it down and I beat her QT straight draw for the pot.

Hand #114: I open with KQo. I win the blinds.

After 36 hands Cindy proves to be borderline maniac... 42% VP$P/31% PFR. That combined with chief's 41% VP$P/1% PFR is enough to stay even with joshrogo and poker112a being too tight.

new guy "whatinthe" at the table.

Hand #118: I open raise w/ A7s out of the SB. Chief calls. Flop comes QTT, two of my suit. I bet/he calls. Turn blank. I bet/he calls. I don't river the flush. I check/fold, saying "your pair wins" , and he shows me QJ for the win.

I had just gotten ahead $5 and am now down $25 again... fluctuating in the down 3BB-even range still after 123 hands.

Hand #124: KQo in the SB. whatinthe limps on the button I raise, chief and what call me. Flop is rags, but I check it(I've auto-bet every time I raised PF so far, this seems like a real bad time to do it). Turn is a king, but brings a flush possible. I bet out and win the small pot there.

Hand #136: J9s in the BB. cindy limps/poker112a raises, I call and cindy calls. Absolute bonehead play of the ngiht, I flop 2nd pair, AJx board. And I call poker112a down. No trying to raise him to see what's up, No folding b/c he's the tighest player at the table. I just call. He has AQ, I lose.

Hand #142: I open K8s in the SB, chief folds blinds.

Hand #151: Ick. Q3o in the BB. Free flop 4 way. Flop Q64, two clubs. Ick b/c I have top pair/shit kicker out of position. But it works out. I bet out and only cindy callsthe flop. I win the pot on the turn.

Hand #159: I open-raise SB w/ AA. chief calls. Flop KTx, I bet/he calls. Turn blank, I bet/he calls. River seemingly blank. I bet/he raises. I say "hm what did you catch on me this time?" and of course I call. He had a queen, which was an inside straight draw that missed. Pot is $80something and I'm right back up to even again(down $3.16 actually).

Hand #167: I open raise AJs and win the blinds.

new guy to my right, kensington77, seems to be pretty LAGy early on(only 14 hand tho). That would make 3 players worth being here for, though none of them astounding fishes on their own.

Hand #175: I call a raise from the BB with T9s. This time I wil not be a moron! No! No! Yes I will! poker112a raised it, I called along w/ Chief. Txx flop, two of my suit. I check/call on the flop, hoping to keep chief in it. On the turn, I'm ready to check-raise, but poker 112a checks behind me. The river is a king, and now I have visions of AK in my head, so I check. He checks behind and I win the $38 pot. He had AJ. This guy is so tight its flustering me I guess.

Hand #192: I take a free flop 4 handed w/ KQo. Flop comes AKK. I check/call to keep people around. The turn amkes a flush though and I just call a bet ont het urn. The river makes a 4 flush and I fold. Another pretty horribly misplayed hand.

Hand #196: I open-raise w/ 99, bet the flop when only cindy calls me and win it.

someone pisses off chiefpokeaho and he states "I only play blind and very good handS" and I wonder what his qualifications are with his 42% VP$P over 223 hands. 223? nice long session... that I can't seem to get ahead in.

I raise out of the SB w/ KJ, chief calls me. I bet the flop and turn and check the river when all rags hit. I lose to his AJo.

Hand #224: I defend my blind w/ 96s vs Cindy... we're down to 4 handed here and Cindy is a bit of an agressive raiser. I flop good, inside straight + flush draw. she bets/I check-raise/she 3-bets. I call and chekc/call the turn. The river makes my flush and I check-raise again, she calls me down and I take down a very nice $118 pot.

That win actually takes me to $269, up $19...

After some short ups and downs 4 handed, i decide to call it a night.

Down $20.

I won't have as long a session tonight but I'd like to get in 100 hands at least if I can find a good table.

I see my good friend ranchy from last night at a table and go ahead and post when it gets to me. No read on the rest of the table except knowing that Ranchy was way too loose last night

Hand #3: 66 on the button. ranchy limps, I raise, he is my only caller. Flop comes 542. I bet/he calls. Turn a 10, I bet/he calls. River is a 6. I bet/he calls. I win the pot. He had me on the turn w/ T8s.

Ranchy and doubledaggers leave before I get the chance to play another hand.

nelnines to my left looks to have reasonably strong fish potential though, so I hang around.

Hand #14: I try to open out of the SB w/ 95s to steal the blinds. nelnines calls. I bet the KT4 flop, the turn is a queen, and I just check/fold here. Probably should have tried one more bet.

Hand #28: I open raise AKo in mid position. I get two callers. I am 2nd to act. I bet the T32 flop and win the pot on the flop.

I go ahead and leave this table, up $12 after 29 hands. I can find looser.

well, that sucked. After this post last night, while i was observing a couple of potential new tables, I went through pokertracker's summary page and everyone with > 60% VP$P who I'd played with for more than just a few hands went on my friends list. Unfortunately none were on last night. Then, my internet went out, so I didn't get to play anymore.

I'm running on low sleep the past two days so I may be exhausted tonight, but, if I'm not, I'm going to have some extra time to get in some hands this evening.

I found a table that looks like it might have a little potential, I won my first hand in the big blind(small $35ish pot) and am going from there tonight:

early on, I see mcadam, 1 to my right, open-limp in the cutoff with 96o, I am encouraged.

Hand #9: with two ealry limpers, I limp KJo on the button. Flop is no good, I fold.

Hand #11: mcadam limps UTG, I raise with my KK. Folds to the blinds... who both call, along w/ the limper. A76 flop, two hearts(no heart for me), pretty bad flop. I bet the flop and get the two loose players claling. I bet the turn and it's just me and mcadam. the river gets checked... KK>88, my $73 pot.

Hand #22: I raise out of the big blind w/ QQ (after 2 limpers). Flop sucks, AT7 all diamonds. I bet the flop and give it up on the turn when I'm called and led into by the SB.

heres the table lineup:

Fateill - new player
yimei_nb - 56% VP$P/4% PFr - 25 hands
empty seat
totowelho - 33%/4%/24 hands
mcadam - 65%/8%/26 hands


... but ZULEH filled the empty seat. Fatelli and yimei are gone. mcadam seems to have spoken something intelligent into chat?

we'll give the new lineup a bit of a chance before table hopping.

BLEH. mcadam leaves. ZULEH shows some potential as being a player I want at my table.

Hand #42: ZULEH open-raises... he's looking maniacal. toto calls, I re-raise, loosecallgirl also calls... flop Q88. I bet/only loosecallgirl calls. Turn a 9, I bet/win pot.

Hand #43: I open raise 75s on the button. BB(sampy) calls. Flop is T43, two of my suit. I bet/sampy raises/I re-raise... sampy folds.

Hand #44: It takes all my might, but I resist cold calling a raise PF with JTs.


ZULEH seems to try to steal half the pots w/ a PF raise, bet the flophard but rarely sees showdowns... not sure what to make of him. Hard to believe anyone who's raised 45% of the time over 22 hands is a good player.

Hand #53: Hooray for good reads. ZULEH open-raises, I defend my BB w/ K6s. Flop is T6x. I check-raise the flop, bet thet urn and river and beat Zuleh's 55.

Hand #55: QQ on the button. I raise, sampy1 re-raises and I cap. Flop comes Axx, I bet out and win the pot.

Hand #58: Just keep pushing. I open-raise 88 out of the SB. loosecallgirl calls. She ses 11% of flops so far. Flop is Q33. I bet, she raises, I re-raise she calls. Turn is a 6, I bet and she folds... my pot.

None of these are massive pots but I have very quickly built a stack of $372 from my initial $250 buyin.

Hand #65: Zuleh open raises UTG. I re-raise w/ QQ. Zuleh calls. Flop Txx. Zuleh check-raises me, and I 3-bet. Turn is a blank, Zuleh check-raises me again and I decide to just call him down. He has TT for the set. That's a nice $65 loss on that hand.

Hand #74: This time I do cold-call a raise w/ JTs. But against ZULEH that's much mroe ok than against toto. Flop coems AT3, 2nd pair, but the ace... I think I play it a little too loose... it's 4 way, and I call a flop and turn bet w/ my 2nd pair. Without agression anywhere else I think it's reasonable that my 5 outs to 2 pair/trips would be good. But my odds weren't that good straight up and I need to discount them a bit anyway... bad flop and turn call I think. Gave up most of my early profits, but with two guys(Zuleh and Sampy) both over 25% PFR this is going to be volatile.


From what I can tell Zuleh will raise any ace/any pair. 57% VP$P/39% PFR so far.

Hand #80: I open 77 from the SB and get called by BB. Flop comes 975. Very very good flop for me but I'm beatable. I bet, loosecallgirl calls. 3 turn. I bet/get called. 4 on the river, also makes a backdoor flush. I bet and win the pot there, whew.

Hand #82: toto raises UTG. I re-raise w/ 99. He calls. Q86 flop. He bets/I call. Ace turn. he's a good player, I can't put him on anything other than a good ace or a good pair raising UTG. I gotta fold.

Hand #85: Sampy limps, toto raises, I catch aces. I re-raise, toto caps. Flop comes Kxx. We cap the flop. Turn is an ace. Dingdingding! I bet/get called on the turn(QQ? JJ? Or he really respects me w/ AK but that seems insane). He calls my river bet and I take down a $125 pot. He had KQs.

mchuggin joins the table after toto leaves. mchuggin is categories as a maniac(I've played 104 hands w/ him before) but he's borderline... 37%/20% ... definitely a maniac but that can be very tough to beat if he's decent post flop.

After 101 hands, I am sitting with $52 in profit at the table.

Hand #104: JTs again... I cold call a mchuggin raise only to have Zuleh limp-reraise. Flop comes KJ6. I check-raise ZULEH(mchuggin folded). I bet the turn, zuleh calls. River queen. I check, but will call a bet(bluff inducer/don't want to be raised if I'm beat), though I suspect a pocket pair. And, he had 55. I win $88 pot.

I'm not sure I've ever played at a 6-max table where 3 players have > 20% PFR.

awww, on hand #111 Zuleh sits out. He's winning big, he should stay.

Zuleh is back on hand #118.

Zuleh and mchuggin both leave and I decide to end this one, I am up $51 after 123 hands. Only once have I really made a signifigant profit but I've ended ahead my last 6 sessions now.

I finished top 2 in another step tournament yesterday to get moving upt he latter... I played a ste 2 and finished 3rd, which entitles me to another step 2 entry. So here we go:

Partypoker Step 2 single table tourney:

1st/2nd move to step 3
3rd gets another shot at step 2.

Level 1 - 10/15 blinds

87s, UTG - I limp, 4 way flop. Flop is A35, two of my suit. Checked around. Turn a jack. I bet the pot(70 chips) when checked to me, two callers. River a blank. Bet 200ish chips to hope he had flush draw and folds, or check it down and take the loss? With two callers I decide to check... both of them had heart draws, which backdoored their way in on the turn. One of them paired a 9 on the river for the win.

Q3o, BB - check/fold on a bad flop.

Couple of crap hands folded

67o, cutoff, folds
T7o, MP, folds
74o, MP, folds

couple more crap hands folded

Level 2 - 15/30 blinds

92s, UTG, folds - two guys are running very low on chips(220/100) after a couple of near all in situations.

T4o, BB - down to 9 as AQ busts KJ
93o, SB, folds
85o, button, folds
A3o, cutoff, folds

Key Hand
KK, cutoff-1, dude w/ 645 chips goes all in before me. Alfawaves to my right thinks a long time w/ his 780 chips. He folds. I go all in, and I am up agaisnt A4o, I win a nice pot and knock someone out. Up to 1535 chips and down to 8.

A2s, MP, folds
63o, UTG, folds
K6o, BB, folds to PF raise

Level 3 - 25/50 blinds

Down to 8 and I am 3rd in chps right now with 1505. Enough to be happy but not an awesome amount or anything.

Key Hand
88, SB - I complete for a 5 way pot. Flop comes AT8, two clubs. I check, hoping to check-raise someone big here, will be a pretty big fuckup if this gets checked around, that's for sure. And it does. Turn is a queen, no flush. I bet the pot, and Alfawaves goes all in. He might have a straight but I have him outchipped by a lot(would still have 800 left if I lost) and I'd have outs. Easy call. He has a straight, the board pairs on the river. I am now the table's chipleader.

Couple of crap hands folded during writeup

New chip leader as two nice size stacks go at it, AK vs KQ on a KQ flop, but runner runner four flush gives the pot back to AK.

Crap, BB - folded to me
K2o, SB, folds
K7s, button, folds

Level 4 - 50/100 blinds

crap, cutoff, folds - AA vs JJ all in. AA wins.

J9s, cutoff-1, folds - AK vs A6(short stack) all in. AK wins. We are now down to 6.

I have 2465 chips, everyone else is in the 1000-2000 range.

85o, BB - free flop which I check/fold.

J5o, SB, folds
K5o, button, folds
82o, cutoff, follds
crap, UTG, folds
75o, BB, folds to steal raise
73s, SB - I steal the BB w/ a raise to 250 chips.


Level 5 - 100/200 blinds

77, button - there's a raise to 600 before me... I give this up, perhaps a little too tight w/ 6 left? But I am in a good position to survive here.

Q3o, cutoff, folds

ATs, cutoff-1, I open to 500. mmon1955 calls me from BB. I lead out 500 chips on the flop(missed me totally) and win the pot. That's a nice little pot that puts me up to 2915, while 3 guys are in between 1000-1200 and going all in will become a bit more frequent.

QTo, BB - mmom tries a raise on the button, he steals a ton, so I call here. Flop KQQ. I check-raise all in. He only bet the minimum on the flop but by then pot is 600, he has 890 left, if he has a straght draw or some shit I am not letting him hit. He folds. Up to 3515

crap, SB, folds
A7o, button - I steal raise to 500, and fold to an all in behind me for 1770. 1200 more to call is just a bit much.

54o, cutoff, folds
T9s, MP, folds
crap, MP folds
98o, UTG, folds KT/J7 all in(shorter stacks), KT knocks us down to 5 players.

Level 6 - 150/300 blinds

Down to 5, I have 3015, two guys between 2200-2500, one at 1910, and one at 500 and almost gone.

J7s, BB - I fold to a steal raise
72o, SB, folds - KQ > 56, down to 4.

None of us have a real edge here.

82o, button, folds
j8o, utg, folds
BB - folded blinds to me
K3o, SB, folds

A8o, button, steal blinds

64o, UTG, folds
A3o, BB - folds to an all in.

crap, SB, folds -- AQ vs KJ all in, KJ wins and was the shorter stack, so still 4 left.


Level 7 - 200/400 blinds

crap, folds - A3 vs K3 all in, A3 holds up and we are now down to 3!

73o, button, folds

I'm guarenteed another shot, but top 2 is better.

A6, BB, folded to me
T5o, SB, folds

one big stack, one stack near my size

AKo BB - raise to 800 from other stack my size. I push. He folds. He is down to 955, big edge for me now.

87o, SB, folds

AQ button- I raise, short stack all in. AQ vs A2! AQ wins!

I advance to step 3! Which I will be playing shortly.

Step 3 sit n go

Top 3 advance, 4th gets another shot here, most everyone gets at least a little something, though I'd really rather not drop back down a level of course.

We're waiting awhile for this one. But after about 10 minutes we are finally moving:

Level 1 - 10/15 blinds

JTo, cutoff-1, folds
J7s, MP, folds
A7o, MP, folds
AJo, UTG+1, folds to a 3x raise from UTG
83o, UTG, folds

Key Hand
AKs, BB - there's a raise to 30 from UTG. There are about 5 callers. I re-raise to 200 chips, there are 2 callers. Flop is queen high, two clubs(my suit). I push, and both opponents fold. That's a pretty good deal for ace high I'd say. Up to 1480.

crap hand, SB, folds

T9s, button - with 3 limpers, I'll go ahead and limp. I fold on the bad flop. HOLY CRAP.


And we are down to 9, then 8, then 7 in that one hand. Flush/set/two unimproved pairs all in on the flop. Amazing.

Level 2 - 15/30 blinds

73o, MP, folds
97o, MP, folds
crap, UTG/BB, folds
64o, SB, folds

back to traditionally tight play

Key Hand
AQo, button - I open-raise to 3x. BB goes all in for 565. 475 more for me to call, would drop me to 900ish if I lost, 2000 and chiplead if I win. I go ahead and call. I am up against ATo and I hold up for the big win.

And we are down to 6 with that. I have exactly 2000 chips, which is less than 100 chips from the chiplead.

crap, folded during that writeup
Q8s, UTG, folds

Level 3 - 25/50 blinds

Q9o, BB - A4 vs TT end up all in, Ace flop, Ten turn, we're down to 5.

This is going extremely fast.

A4o, SB - I open-raise/steal blinds.

J4o, cutoff, folds
A2o, MP, folds
J2o, UTG, folds
T2s - BB, free flop heads up w/ SB. Flop T77. He bets 65, I raise to 200, my pot.


AKo, SB - I open to 150, BB raises to 555. I'm hurtin if I lose but this is a push position here I think. worse than a coin flip is highly unlikely. And, we both have AK. Split pot.

K6o, button, folds

Key Hand
JJ - MP - there's a PF raise to 150, I just call it(playing JJ like a smaller pair pre-flop here...) Flop is low cards, dude bets 150, I raise it to 500. He has me outchipped so I'm in a danger territory here but he folds. Nice gain for me.

crap, UTG, folds

Level 4 - 50/100 blinds

88, BB - Same guy that I've stolen pots off of the last two raises raises me PF. I call w/ 88. Flop J85, two hearts. He bets 225 into me, I go all in. I am hopnig he thinks I'm pushing him w/ shit constantly here and calls. But he folds. Maybe a bit much.

I am in good shape here, 3090 chips, no one else is over 2000.

95o, button, folds
T5s, cutoff, folds
84o, UTG, folds
J7o, BB, free flop heads up w/ same SB again. I flop top pair, and the same thing happens yet again. He bets 200 flop, I raise to 500, he folds. This is now 4 times I've done this to the same guy.

K9o, cutoff, folds

55, UTG - open to 300, win blinds

Level 5 - 100/200 blinds

34o, BB, folds to big raise
crap, SB, folds
K5o, button, folds
52o, cutoff, folds
crap, UTG, folds

63s, BB - fold to all in
T7o, SB, folds
94o, button, folds
52o, MP, folds
A6s, UTG, folds

Level 6 - 150/300 blinds

J8o, BB - folds, A7 vs QQ all in, QQ good, other guy down to 600 chips.
crap, SB folds - 77 vs K2 all in, 77 spikes a set to beat the pair of kings.
J2o, butto, folds - A9 vs 28 all in. A9 wins. These are back and forth between the two shortest stacks, enither bustin.

K6o, MP, folds

A8s, UTG - raise to 800, steal blinds
T7s, BB - fold to big stack raise
crap, SB, folds
75o, button, folds - A5 beats K4 and we're still going back and forth between those 2 short stacks.

K5o, MP, folds - A7 > J3, both short stacks over 1000 again.

J4o, UTG, folds

Level 6 - 200/400 blinds

I have 2300, good for 2nd for now.

AJo, BB - folded to me(good, I didn't want to have to push a big stack here)
A9o, SB - I push against the now only slightly shorter stacked BB. We both have A9. I *almost* four flush.
J2o, button, folds
QTo, MP, folds
J6o, UTG, folds

one of the short stacks has pushed his way back up to 2000... just one real short guy now.

84o, BB - I fold to a steal raise from the big stack.
72s, SB, folds - 600 stack doubles up to 1200... someone bust out please!!

K8o, button, folds
44 - MP - I fold to UTG all in. UTG is 2nd, I'm 3rd in chips now.

QTo, UTG, folds

Level 8 - 250/500 blinds

starting this level in the BB sucks.

74o, BB, folds to steal raise.

I am now 1490 in chips, still 3rd but ick.

89o, SB, folds... which drops me to 4th in chips.

T6s, folds
43o, folds (MP) - T8 vs J3 all in, T8 wins and we are FINALL?Y down to 4.

I am now guarenteed at worst a replay of step 3.

crap, UTg, folds
32o, BB - 32o :( :( - I have to fold to an all in of course.

33, SB - with only 490 if I fold, this is it. Arrrr, I'm up against JJ and bust 4th. Damn, gotta try it again.

Alright, lets do this again.

Step 3 - top 3 advance, 4th gets another shot, 5th-7th back to step 2, 8th something that sucks worse than that but is better than nothing. 9th/10th are fucked.

Level 1 - 10/15 blinds

96s, MP, folds -- AA vs K9 all in on a 9 high flop. Down to 9
T7s, MP, folds

22, UTG, I'll try to limp here. I do, and flop a set. 3 opponents, 1 calls me. Turn a ten, I bet out 175 now(bet 60 on the flop) and get raised to 350. Do I go all in on bottom set? Yes I do. And I bust out 9th when he cals me with AJ for the straight.


So much for steps tonight!

Hey Radii,

I have been messing around with some 6 max tables and they certainly seem like a good place to make money. I was curious what your stats are looking like and how things are going for you. I am sitting at 25% VP$IP which looks ok but a staggering 14% preflop raise. Very limited sample, requiring at least 5 active players at the table. This looks high to me but maybe it's ok. A lot of steals in there some worked and some didn't.

I find that my PFR % stays a bit below 10% which is probably too low. But of course there are different ways to play this, some people are very successful hanging out in the low 20s for VP$P over time, and some near 30% and are very successful as well. I think, generally, I feel like my postflop play needs more work and that leads me to fold in some raise or fold situations where a better player would raise. Generally I think 25% VP$P/14% PFR is fine, probably excellent actually.


I took most of April "off" from ring game play, just going after an empire and a party bonus and other than that messing aroudn with WSOP stuff. I gave back a little of my earlier profit doing that(totally worth it of course, but I'm done with that for now). I'll start May with a familier $2500'ish bankroll and will be putting in some more concerted time at the tables, so perhaps this will take back off. No promises though :)

Thanks for the quick reply. Good luck with the ring games. My postflop play certainly could use work as well but I wanted to make sure that there wasn't an easily fixed preflop problem. Did you qualify for any of the WSOP events? My poker bankroll is in envy of your poker bankroll BTW.

I spent about $400 on WSOP qualifiers on pokerstars and WSOP Steps tourneys on partypoker. I never made it higher than step 3 on party, and I did qualify for that one big $615 pokerstars qualifier, but I had a pretty crappy run of cards and never really threatened or built up a stack in it. I am pretty much done with that now, though I will probably try for the miracle run from a party step 1 a few more times when I get bored, since its "only" $11 or $12 to enter.

I started a new tracker DB when I started playing 5/10 6 max again, i only have 3000 hands in it so far so my stats mean virtually nothing. That said, I am 20.5% VP$P and 10% PFR.

I had a crazy session this afternoon, down $100, back to even, down $90, up $100, down $70... 3 guys at the table 60% VP$P, ended up down $40, but got me in the mood to play some more tonight for sure :) Hopefully I can find a good table of guys drunk on a friday night to take some money off of later on in the evening.

After having given in to the whim of playing a pokerstars qualifier(spent $39, qualified for the Sunday $200+$15 300k guarenteed tourney, I may not play in that for a few weeks though, I'm saving my T$215 there, we have plans this sunday)... anyway, I sit at a 5/10 6 max table for a bit.

I jump right in after just watching a couple of hands.

me, dJchong, bigj0e03, fast1111111, KarateKid69, Abazoinks are at the table. No stats on any yet.

Hand #2: I limp with QJs after two ilmp before me. 4 way flop. Flop is pretty solid T85, one of my suit. I call a bet along w/ one other. Turn is a jack. I check-raise after djchong bets and abazoinks calls. djchong is gone but Abazoinks calls. I bet the river(a low card) and win the pot, I am up to $298(from a starting stack of $250) after 2 hands.

Hand #7: 1 limper, I complete with 97s in the SB. I flop an open ender. I bet and get 1 call on the flop, win it on the turn.

HAnd #8: AA. I raise, two call. 766 flop. I bet, both call. Turn 8. I bet both call. River 4. I bet both fold...


I am up $112 after 8 hands and have not had to show down yet.

Hand #10: 88 UTG. I raise, 3 call. Flop comes QQ8. I bet, two call. Turn is a 6. I bet, both fold. Christ.


I didn't have pokertracker on. Now that my stats have loaded, I see that fast111111 has played every one of his first 11 hands. Raised 3 of them, gone to showdown only 3 times and won twice.


Newish lineup 15 hands in.

me. Tisle46Me(just 2 hands), bigjoe (15 hands/33% VP$P), fast111111 (15 hands, 100% VP$P), KarateKid (15 hands, 40% VP$P), kingjack333(6 hands, played 5 of them so far).


Hand #17: 5 way flop with K9 in the big blind. K75 flop. I bet, Tisle raises, everyone calls... 5 to the turn. I check the 2 on the turn, tisle checks it too. We check around, whoops. The river brings a runner runner flush. With 3 to act behind me I decide to check/call here. fast1111 bluffs at it, 3 of us call. my top pair is good. A7 and T7 stayed in, 2nd pair... That is a $113 pot.

In 17 hands I am up $221 at 5/10.


Hand #24: I limp on the button with 64s, 3 way pot. Flop a four flush, AJJ flop. checked to me, I bet, my pot.


After 28 hands fast111111 is down to 86% VP$P

This is a beautiful table. VP$Ps are, starting to my left: 53%, 32%, 86%, 43%, 54%

I resist the temptation to limp with A3o even on the button.

Hand #31: I open raise in the cutoff with 76s, only fast111111 calls. He folds when I bet the flop. I think I hit a pair or something, its really irrelevant.


Hand #33: free four way flop with J7. Flop is jack high. I bet, onyl tisle calls. Turn is another jack. I bet/he folds.


this time I resist the temptation to limp A5o even on the button.


Hand #39: I raise AJ in the SB after karatekid limps. BB folds. Flop AK9, I bet, KK calls. Turn he calls again, river he folds. River brought a flush(after 2 spades on the flop).


I have now doubled up in 30 minutes/39 hands.


New guy, viper18111 joins to my right, replacing the way too loose kingjack3333. BigJoe looks to be solid, 27 VP$P/14 PFR, while karatekid is at least reasonable at 35% VP$P.

Hand #44: fast1111 raises, I call with AT. A44 flop. We check the flop(I was going to check'call then CR the turn, he didn't bet). Then I bet the turn/he called, I bet the river/he raises/I call. He has A4o. for the win.

Hand #45: I open-raise A5o in the SB, tisle calls. He raises me on the flop when I miss so I fold.

sitting at $464 after those two losses(up $214)


Hand #48: I make a loose and bad open limp with Q9s. Fast raises, karate kid calls. I call and fold the flop when it misses. Settle down, radii.


Hand #50: karatekid open-raises on the button. I re-raise out of the BB with KQo. Flop comes T9x. I bet/he calls. Turn is my inside straight (a jack). I bet/he calls. River is a blank, I bet/he calls. I have the nuts, he has AJ for top pair. I win an $80 pot. Back to $492.


Hand #55: I open-raise ATs UTG. bigjoe calls. Flop is queen high and misses totally. I bet/he calls. I fire again on the turn and he folds.

Hand #56: I have 82s in the BB. fast raises and I defend my blind w/ a call(bad move against a guy who is such a maniac pre-flop). I call a bet on the flop on an JT9 board. I fold the turn though.


Table lineup after 56 hands:

tisle: 45 hands/42% VP$P/2% PFR
bigjoe: 58 hands/31% VP$P/12% PFR
fast11111: 58 hands/81% VP$P/33% PFR
karatekid: 58 hands/40% VP$P/14% PFR
viper18111: 16 hands/25% VP$P/0% PFR


btw, if anyone is looking for a friends list entry, there are 7 1's at the end of the name:

fast1111111


Hand #59: I open-raise KTs in the cutoff. fast calls. T69 flop. I bet/he calls. 8 turn. makes a flush. I bet/he calls. 7 river. straight on the board :P He bets/I call. I split the pot with his 84o.


Hand #62: tisle calls, bigjoe raises, I re-raise out of the BB with KK. both call. T76 flop. I bet/tisle raises, bigjoe folds. I re-raise, tisle calls. 6 turn. I bet/he calls. I put him on AT at this point, unless he slowplays TT. 9 river. I bet/he has autoraise on. He has 88. Fucker. That is a stinging $135 pot.

I'm at $434 after that.


Hand #65: I raise Q9s in the cutoff(open raise of course). fast calls in the BB. I flop 2 pair, I bet/he folds. I'm really hitting good tonight... understatement of the year, huh?

Hand #68: fast raises, viper calls, and I call out of the BB with 54s. I flop bottom pair, T65 flop. fast bets and we both call. turn is a 9, checked around. river another ten, checked around. viper had AJ and fast had K4, my $40 pot.

Hand #70: I wanted to play QJs on the button but karatekid raised for only the 2nd time in 57 hands, I step out of the way. He Had AT to open raise UTG there, either he's bored or he's been crazy card dead or something, weird raise for someone so passive preflop.


Hand #73: I open raise TT UTG. Only viper18111 calls. I bet the J97 flop and win the pot.

Playerview just went apeshit on me, the numbers are giant and covering the screen. I haven't seen that before.


A restart has me back to normal.

everyone but fast1111111 is under 40% VP$P now, tightening up just a little. Fast just got a lot of action w/ AK though and has over $350 at the table.

Hand #79: I have AK in the big blind. fast limps on the button, I raise, he calls. I bet/he folds on the flop.

after posting my SB I have exactly $500 and I decide to call it a night.

1 hour, 80 hands, 25 BB, or $250 won.

I sit at a 5/10 6 max table, I recognize "Sachman" to my left, 82 hands/44% VP$P/20% PFR. Way up last time I saw him.

Rest of the table is OLDTEX7, empty seat, ticketmanrt, and Aruncikas

Hand #1: A5o in the big blind. Free 4 way flop. Crap flop, checked around, ace on the turn, I bet and win the pot.

Hand #3: 97s, button. I open-raise and get called by oldtex out of the BB. Flop comes T7x. I bet/he raises/I call. The turn is a queen and makes a diamond flush. I fold to a bet here.

Hand #6: I check KQs. I fold it on the flop, I was BB, shouldn't have checked that...


Hand #7: I open AQo from the SB. I'm called by the BB, who folds to my flop bet.

Hand #8: I open-raise 55 on the button. Oldtex calls. Flop is ATT. we check the flop(remembering his check raise last time). he CRs me on the turn, a lower card, I call. I plan to call the river... until I spike a 5 for a boat. He bets/I raise/he folds. My pot.


This table is probably too tight for my likeing. Too many real small pots.

Hand #12: oldtex raises, I re-raise out of the BB with AKo. Flop is all low cards. I bet/he calls. He raises me on the turn and I decide to see what kinds of hands he's playing again here... I call the river with ace high. He has AA.


Hand #18: free flop with Q2s. Flop comes KJT, two spades. I bet/1 caller. Turn is an ace, so I have a straight and a flush draw. We cap the turn. The river pairs the board, and I just check/call. I split with AQ.


I play a couple more small pots, and the table is just a bit too tight. I leave after about 25 hands up $5. Looking for another table.

Ok, I played a bit more earlier but wasn't writing it all down, I did win another $150 so I appear to be on quite a hot streak right now.


Hand #1: 97o, BB. Free flop w/ only the SB, I flop 2nd pair, T92, two hearts. Mirage_USMC bets, I raise, he calls. Turn brings a flush, and an ace. We both check. I check/call the river, and see 52s for the flush.


After 6 or 7 hands it looks like we may have 2 fish, Mirage_USMC has played every hand and nojoek seems to be the mix a lot(4 of 6 so far).


Hand #8: I raise KK on the button. Four people call. AQ4, all spades flop. I end up folding to a bet, too many people, too many ways to be beat or be up against good draws. Turns out, QTo wins the hand. Doh.

Hand #10: I raise ATs UTG, only Mirage calls. Flop is T73. He bets/I raise, he calls. Turn gives me top two, an ace. I bet/he calls, same thing on the river and I beat his Q7o, 2nd pair on the flop for the pot.

So lets look at the lineup:

Woody16: 13 hands/8% VP$P/0% PFR
Homie721: 13 hands/15% VP$P/15% PFR
nojoek: 13 hands/69% VP$P/23% PFR - very high agression ratings so far
chieftan: just sat
Mirage_USMC: 13 hands/100% VP$P/15% PFR

So mirage and nojoek are my new best friends.

Hand #16: 66, UTG. I raise it. Two call, chieftan and mirage. Chieftan bets the flop, I raise, he calls. Flop was two overs by the way. I give it up on the turn.

down to $209 early on here.

Hand #23: free 4 way flop with 66. AJ4 flop, I'll move out of the way on this one.


chieftan looks pretty loose and very agressive. But he's going to bust out soon probably.

Hand #30: Free 4 way flop with KTo. Flop comes JTx. I bet, nojoek calls, chieftan raises, I call, nojoek and chieftan raise/cap it. I get out of the way. JJ vs bottom two for those guys. chieftan won and is still around.

I'm down to $182 here, variance will be high at a table w/ 3 guys who play 60% or more of their hands, eh?


Hand #35: Free four way flop with AJ, but I miss and can't do anything w/ 3 opponents.


Hand #38: I open-raise JJ in the cutoff. homie, tihgt/agressive reiraises me. I just call. Flop is all undercards and the flop is 3-bet. He continues to bet the turn and river and I call it down. He has AA.

Hand #39: I raise AKs and only chieftan calls. I bet the flop, then the turn and he folds on the turn.


Mirage leaves the table, and nojoek is almost broke. I wanted the chance to make my money back :)


Hand #42: I limp QJs from the button for a 4 way flop. Flop comes J53. nojoek bets/I raise, the other 2 fold and he calls. Another jack on the turn and he folds to my bet this time.


Hand #43: I open-raise ATo on the cutoff. Flop comes 345, I call a flop check-raise by nojoek, but fold on the turn.

beth7 has sat down to my right

Hand #52: K7s in the BB, 3 way flop. AJx flop, two of my suits. I bet/get raised and call the raise. I fold on the turn when theboard pairs.


Beth may be kinda tight pre-flop, leaving chieftan and nojoek as the only fish here, with woody and homie very tight players. homie is a 24% VP$P/13% PFR guy, looks very solid so far. I am down to $109 at the table and am getting my ass beat right now.

UGH. nojoek leaves the table, beth raises my BB, I re-raise with AJ and end up losing another pot defending my blind. I leave the table down almost $200. Going to go get some water and shift to the computer upstairs now that the wife is in bed and try this again.

two tables have been too tight for my liking, still searching.

Ok, time for a little 5/10 before the FOFC tourney tonight.

I find a table with a spot with a solid average pot size(which often doesn't mean much). I recognize one person, to my right, HDiddy420 has a 50% VP$P over 36 hands. Never raises pre-flop.

Mr_Feynman, avshole, bames4444, jghost, HDiddy420 is the lineup starting to my left.

Hand #4: I raise AJ after one limper. I get 3 callers total. Flop comes 947. bames4444 bets, we all call. The turn is another 7, I fold when there's a bet and more callers. bames was betting a flush draw, but HDiddy ended up runner-runnering a boat.

jghost leaves, SWEhenke joins in his spot, 33% VP$P over 24 hands.

This lokos like it has the potential to be an extremely good table. Well one of the fishy types just busted out, but bames4444 and hdiddy look very very promising.


Hand #7: Free 3 way flop w/ T9s. It misses, I fold.



Booo, hdiddy leaves the table too. We'll see nowif the table remains worth playing at.


Hand #22: I open-raise KJs and Mr_Feynman raises me. He's very tight/agressive and I'm not playing against him with KJs without at least a draw after the flop. I let him have it.

Hand #26: I finally win one. I open-raise A7 from the SB, Mr_Feynman calls. I bet my ace on the flop and he folds.


After 35 hands bamse444 is the only real real loose player, 61% VP$P. SWEhenke and lojeb are both in the 35% range, while new guy trippertx and mr_feynam are tight and I avoid them for the most part. I'm down $50 but I haven't been getting any cards at all. This is where I think its debatable whether I should stay or not, lojeb/SWEhenke are loose enough that I should win money off them but should I find a new table with multiple 50% guys?



Over 50 hands AJ is my best starting hand, not a single pocket pair. I leave down about $70.

I join a second table but the two loose loose players leave while I'm still watching, I sit out after about 3 orbits down $7 and wait for the FOFC tourney instead :)

So I have a few question now that I am playing these 6max tables. Feel free to just ignore them or answer one or whatever.


I have been toning down the raising out of the BB after a lot of limpers. All it seems to do is bloat the pot and reduce my post flop advantage. I probably still would be raising AJo but ATo is about the point where I just check. What hands are you raising with out of the BB when 4+ people limp?


Depending on the pot size and number of players left to act I have been laying down hands like this on the flop. Even if you are ahead with the two flush, potential straight, and potential overcards you are going to get drawn out on a lot. Clearly though it's a raise or fold situation and I really like the turn check. You certainly saved a bet there.

Yeah Axo seems worth an open-raise on the button or maybe the cutoff but otherwise you just have to fold this. I didn't realize this right away and these hands are my biggest loser right now.

How good of a tell do you think this is? Several players I have run into have autocall on when they are on a draw which also seems pretty reliable.

I am up to 1K hands(5+ players) now so while still a small sample enough to draw some general conclusions. You weren't kidding about high variance at these tables. I am down exactly 1/2 a BB overall but have been up and down a lot to get there. My big pocket pairs are just barely making money so hopefully I am on the right track. AK is my biggest winner and Axo is my biggest loser but hopefully I have that leak taken care off.


Nice. Good luck in that tourney. Hopefully you can increase the bankroll even more with a nice showing.

I might raise AJs, I'd certainly raise AQo and up, and probably TT and up no matter how many limpers. Whether I would raise any other hands will depend on my table image and whether or not my opponents have shown they'll fold post flop. Also most of the time everyone will call, so you have to be ready to fold post flop if you miss. Raising out of the blinds is probably a weakness of mine, and probably where my PFR is a bit low compared to what most people list as optimal.



yeah, I played this one agressively on the flop b/c I was heads up vs a limping small blind. A lot of guys will open-limp in the SB and bet out on any flop, if I catch at all I'm playing back at him.


Another player dependant thing of course, but I won't open-raise Ace-little even on the button against guys that defend their blinds too heavily.


(referring to the auto-raise button). I don't know, I try not to act on those kinds of things too often, and I haven't seen it enough at 5/10 to really make a judgement on it


it's hard to tell early on if your PT stats are telling you anything. After just 1000 hands if you took a hit with AA it could be your biggest loser.

The variance is insane, when you find good tables with 2 or 3 fish, and push them hard when you've got the goods you make a killing more often than not but on a bad streak you can drop a buyin real damn fast.

These past few nights when I've posted I've had sessions where I've lost $200 followed immediately by $250 winning sessions... it's crazy, and you definitely need a good bankroll and a good head on your shoulders to support it, but damn it is profitable too :)




thanks :) The winner in yesterday's won $100,000. I like the idea of doing this a lot, if I can get into a $215 entry tourney for $50 or so, I feel pretty good about it. If I just barely cash I should make $300 or more, and of course the real goal is to go deep into the money for a very large profit. I'm a ton better at tourneys than I was last year when I was trying to do this, I am curious to see how consistantly I can win my way into these $215 things, and how I'll fare in them.

I probably won't get to play this one til May 15th or May 22nd.

Bump. Any chance we can get an update on this? Like have you entered any big tourneys lately? Any hands you would like to post?

haha, well done. :) This pretty much died when i decided not to single table at any point anymore. I do intend however to request the hand history from last night's tourney and post a number of hands that were either key or that I had trouble with. I may as well do that here. :)

Since it wasn't posted anywhere else I just wanted to let everyone know how well you did last night and beg for some hand histories of the hands you thought were interesting. Good work.

Thanks, I appreciate it :) There were a lot of hands that were interesting, though many of them just in a "this was a key hand" sort of way. There were a few decisions that I struggled greatly with.

EDIT: There we go. Got it working right with minimal self editing.

This was hand #3 of the tourney. Its a rebuy. A lot of people are absolutely nutso in these rebuys and I was more than willing to put AJ up against was often will be a dominated hand, the combination of the image play(I'm willing to call an all in with less than a premium hand) and the possibility that he was a nutjob with A2 made it feel favorable to me. As it turns out, I was a coin flip and I'm cool with that too.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t1500)
Button (t1490)
SB (t1460)
BB (t3050)
UTG (t3000)
Hero (t3030)
MP1 (t3000)
MP2 (t3000)
MP3 (t3000)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with As, Jc.
1 fold, Hero raises to t100, 4 folds, Button calls t100, 1 fold, BB raises to t3050, Hero calls t2930 (All-In), Button folds.

Flop: (t6190) 4h, 3c, 8h (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t6190) Th (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t6190) Ts (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t6190

BB has 8d 8s (full house, eights full of tens).
Hero has As Jc (one pair, tens).
Outcome: BB wins t6190.

I should point out for those that might not have heard, the previous hand and the next large number of hands will all be from the $11 Rebuy tournament on pokerstars that I played Tuesday night. I spent $51 total(meaning the above was my only rebuy, and I added on), finished 2nd out of 1282 and won ~$7,000. Additionally, the final table was a pretty neat experience, as Chris Moneymaker was playing in the tournament and made the final table. He won the tourney, I got to play heads up against him for about a half hour, and he totally destroyed me.

I have the full hand history of the tournament and am going to review it, I plan on posting a fair number of hands, both key hands even if there wasn't a tough decision, and the hands that I struggled greatly with. I have to head home soon so I probably won't get any more hands up today, but I got the format correct and should be able to post a number of them tomorrow.

Hand #8

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG (t1500)
UTG+1 (t2890)
MP1 (t1480)
MP2 (t5860)
MP3 (t6950)
Hero (t2960)
Button (t2970)
SB (t2740)
BB (t2680)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7c, 7h.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t20, MP1 raises to t140, MP2 calls t140, 1 fold, Hero raises to t2960, 2 folds, BB calls t2660 (All-In), UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t1340 (All-In), MP2 folds.

Flop: (t7290) 8s, 5h, 6h (3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t7290) 8d (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t7290) Js (3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: t7290
Main Pot: t4610 (t4610), between MP1, Hero and BB. > Pot won by MP1 (t4610)
Pot 2: t2400 (t2400), between Hero and BB. Pot won by Hero (t2400).



The converter really doesn't deal well with side pots either.

MP1 had QJ for jacks and eights. I had eights and sevens. BB had A2 for jack shit. MP1 doubled up but was a shorter stack. I was able to beat the big blind to retain most of my chips and not have to rebuy again.

I make some small gains to get back up to around 3K in chips. Then we have hand #31.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP3 (t1380)
CO (t2370)
Button (t6475)
SB (t6725)
BB (t2490)
Hero (t2885)
UTG+1 (t4540)
MP1 (t5620)
MP2 (t14045)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Ah, Kc.
Hero raises to t200, UTG+1 calls t200, 3 folds, CO calls t200, 2 folds, BB calls t150.

Flop: (t825) 2d, Qs, Ks (4 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t600, UTG+1 folds, CO calls t600, BB folds.

Turn: (t2025) Jh (2 players)
Hero bets t2085 (All-In), CO calls t1570 (All-In).

River: (t5680) 8d (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: t5680
Main Pot: t5165 (t5165), between CO and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t5165).
Pot 2: t515 (t515), returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
Hero has Ah Kc (one pair, kings).
CO has 6s 6c (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins t5680.

25/50 blinds means at that point we are in level 3. After level 4 the rebuy period ends. My goal based on some 2+2 conversations was to get to 8K in chips before the add-on, 10K after it.

Thanks for doing this Radii. Just a quick question here. Did you overbet the pot here trying to isolate one opponent and get into a coin flip? Is this part of the strategy of getting a lot of chips early or rebuying?

I wouldn't do that every time in that situation with a pocket pair like pocket 7s. Its a combination of a few factors. Mainly, if I'm going ot play, I don't want to have to play post flop, and if I call this 140, there's a damn good chance someone behind me is going all in. So if I'm playing, there's a caller, a nice raise and a caller of that raise already in front of me. There's enough in the pot that it helps me a little bit if they all fold, which does happen sometime. And people are crazy enough in the first hour to call me with all sorts of hands, I'm probably a coin flip at best though I A-little and lower pocket pairs could easil call as well.

There's nothing wrong with calling and hoping to flop a set really, and if it was a smaller raise I would have done that. But once the pot gets to anywhere near a decent size there's a very high likelyhood that someone behind is goign to go all in just for the hell of it. This hand I decided I wanted to be the moron going all in for the hell of it :)

If the raise was smaller, I call. If I'm not willing to rebuy another time and am not in the mood to be psycho agressive with any decent hands to try to build a big stack before the break, I might just fold this. But at this point with that many chips in the pot I basically said "fuck it, lets gamble"

Hand #33. Again making a loose PF call, watching someone severely underbet the pot on the flop and hitting a nice hand on the turn and taking down a pretty good pot.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t1380)
MP2 (t3000)
MP3 (t6475)
CO (t6700)
Button (t2340)
Hero (t5630)
BB (t4290)
UTG (t5670)
UTG+1 (t14045)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ks, Jd.
4 folds, MP3 raises to t150, 1 fold, Button calls t150, Hero calls t125, 1 fold.

Flop: (t500) Ac, Jc, 5c (3 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t100, Button calls t100, Hero calls t100.

Turn: (t800) Jh (3 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks, Button checks.

River: (t800) Qh (3 players)
Hero bets t400, MP3 calls t400, Button calls t400.

Final Pot: t2000
Main Pot: t2000 (t2000), between MP3, Button and Hero.

Results in white below:
Hero has Ks Jd (three of a kind, jacks).
MP3 has Ah 9s (two pair, aces and jacks).
Button has As 2s (two pair, aces and jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins t2000.

Hand #44.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG (t2705)
UTG+1 (t3100)
MP1 (t5650)
MP2 (t7250)
MP3 (t3465)
Hero (t6555)
Button (t8830)
SB (t5820)
BB (t9155)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 5h, Ah.
UTG calls t50, 2 folds, MP2 calls t50, 1 fold, Hero calls t50, 1 fold, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t250) Jc, 3c, 2h (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, MP2 checks, Hero checks.

Turn: (t250) 8h (5 players)
SB checks, BB bets t200, UTG folds, MP2 folds, Hero calls t200, SB folds.

River: (t650) Th (2 players)
BB bets t200, Hero raises to t900, BB calls t700.

Final Pot: t2450
Main Pot: t2450 (t2450), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero (t2450).

Results in white below:
BB has Jd 7s (one pair, jacks).
Hero has 5h Ah (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins t2450.

At this point we're 45 minutes into the tournament and the blinds just went up to 50/100. I don't remember how I played but at that point I have 7855 in chips and should be content to get to the end of the rebuy period, add-on and have about 10K in chips starting the 2nd hour when it becomes a normal tourney.

Reading through I played 4 hands in the last level before the rebuy period ended. Free flop w/ 89 against about 5 people, I flop top pair and take it down with a bet. I limp A5s late and flop top pair, turn 2 pair and win a 1000 chip pot with a nice sized turn bet. The other two hands I got in late w/ a suited connector and folded on the flop.


After one hour I am in fine shape, adding on and having 10,655 in chips.

After a short discussion on twoplustwo a couple of weeks ago, I read some advice mentioning a goal of getting to 10K in chips after the add-on, so I felt quite happy having reached that goal. now the rebuy is over, blinds go to 75/150 and I have to quickly tighten up and play a more "normal" game. For those that have read Harrington's books, at my table the shortest stack was 4955 after the break, an M of over 20. The entire table is wide open and has tons of play available. My M is over 40.

For those who haven't read harrington's books, he analyzes the chipstacks in terms of "M" (I forget why M is the letter/variable used, its in the book), which is basically how many more trips around the table one can survive. Add up the blinds and antes and see how much is in the pot before any action. divide your chipstack by that number, and that is your "M". anything over 20 is very large and leaves all options and styles of play very open. 10-20 is another zone where play changes, 5-10 is a danger zone where a lot of "moves" you might normally make have to go out the window, and 5 or less is the red zone where you are nearing all in or fold mode and your survival strategy changes greatly.

Seriously, read these books if you ever play tournaments :) Most hand analysis I do during any tourneys now, sit n gos or multi-tables, come directly from things I learned in harrington's books.

The first hand after the break:

radii has timed out
radii: folds


bye bye time bank. I needed to check on a little family thing going on downstairs and didn't set myself to away. This is big later on as I didn't have the time I wanted to think through a few decisions.

Hand #63: I open-raise AK from mid position and steal the blinds.
Hand #64: I open-raise 55 from mid position and get reraised big, I fold.
Hand #65: I open-raise ATs from early position and get one caller out of the blinds. I make a terrible call on a J82 flop, dude bet 750, I flat called it, i had a backdoor flush draw and shit else. No idea why I did that.


Hand #74: Blinds go up to 100/200. I have 8705 in chips after giving a little bit back that level. Two guys at my table have made gains to over 15K in chips.

Hand #78: folded to me in the small blind, I raise 3x the big blind with Q8s and win the blinds.

Hand #80: I open-raise T7o in the cutoff. Table had become a bit tight, so I thought I could steal. SB called me. Flop K96. SB checked to me and I made a continuation bet of 800 chips. He called. i got to see the river for free but didn't hit my inside straight and I folded to a large river bet. I am down to 7305 chips after that mishap.


And then finally something to be happy about.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

SB (t13735)
BB (t18405)
UTG (t8655)
UTG+1 (t6625)
MP1 (t8690)
Hero (t7305)
MP3 (t15305)
CO (t11995)
Button (t8680)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 2s, 2d.
3 folds, Hero calls t200, 1 fold, CO calls t200, Button raises to t800, 2 folds, Hero calls t600, CO folds.

Flop: (t2100) 7h, 2c, 8h (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t800, Hero calls t800.

Turn: (t3700) Ts (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t800, Hero raises to t2400, Button raises to t7080, Hero calls t3305 (All-In).

River: (t16485) Th (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t16485
Main Pot: t15110 (t15110), between Hero and Button. > Pot won by Hero (t15110).
Pot 2: t1375 (t1375), returned to Button.

Results in white below:
Hero has 2s 2d (full house, twos full of tens).
Button has Kc Ah (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero wins t15110. Button wins t1375.

I'm playing some pretty loose poker at this point, and I dont' really have a good explanation why. I basically play these big MTTs as a lark, but occasionally i'll play one on a week night and realize that there's a good chance I'll play til 2am and come away with nothing and feel like an idiot. I think that has in the past led me to make some loose calls in the 2nd hour of the tourney. This was certainly one of those, but it worked out for me. That's not good strategy though, that's stupidity leading to good results :)

Knowing how I play these things normally, I play pretty wild to build up a stack in that first hour but need to get a decent stack in the 2nd hour or I will flounder it away. Now that i've doubled up I would expect to see things settle down quite a bit.

Hand #86: Free flop with K9o vs 3 opponents. Flop comes AKJ. Being first to act my best chance to win is to bet out. i bet out 500 chips into the 800 pot and win it right there.

Hand #88: With one limper, I raise 4x the BB with JJ on the button. I win the blinds+limp

Hand #91: KQo in mid position. I open-raise and steal the blinds.

Hand #92&#93: I fold A7 and A2 from early positions at the table. See, I'm not too stupid :)


Hand #94: Level 7 begins. 100/200 blinds, 25 ante.

The antes are where Harrington's way of looking at things really helps me. blinds are still 100/200 but how does the antes change things? Instead of looking at how many big blinds i have, I now look at the pot size. Pot is 525 pre-flop at a full table. Going into this level I have 16,185 in chips. Here are the chip-stacks, showing one very short guy and everyone else is still in very good shape.

Seat 1: JayBizzle8 (12910 in chips)
Seat 2: BigE1132 (9845 in chips)
Seat 3: scott tuna (14325 in chips)
Seat 4: caniwin12 (16225 in chips)
Seat 5: twit38 (13330 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (16185 in chips)
Seat 7: stokie (18280 in chips)
Seat 8: beeyoung (11570 in chips)
Seat 9: Chezwiz75 (1050 in chips)

Hand #100: I open-raise AK and win the blinds. My standard raise with the antes is now 4x the BB instead of 3x. Raising to 800 instead of 600.

Hand #106: I open raise 66 from the cutoff and win the blinds.

Hand #109: I open raise AJo from early position. Two people call my raise, then an 18K stack goes all in. I fold, a smallish stack of 5K calls. AK vs KJ. Jack high flop and KJ doubles up.


Hand #112: Blinds go up to 200/400. I am down to 13,135 in chips going into this level.

Hand #119: I have ATs in the big blind. There's a raise to 1200 before me and I call. too loose? This is why i hate raising only to 3x the big blinc once the antes are in play. There's a bit over 2000 in the pot and it only costs me 800 more to call out of the big blind. Flop comes AA9. The flop is checked. opponent bets 1200 on the turn and I check-raise to 4400. opponent folds an dI win a 5225 pot. I'm back up to 15,180 after that.

Hand #120: Very next hand... I have 77 in the small blind. Same player raises to 1200. One call behind him. 3225 in the pot, 1000 for me to call. Great odds, only one guy behind who could re-raise. Two people in so I have a better shot at getting action if I hit my set. Easy call or debatable? Anyway, I call. Flop comes Q82 all diamonds, checked arund. Turn is another diamond. I don't have a diamond. I fold to a bet.


Hand #123: I open-raise A7s (to only 3x the blinds, hmm). And win the blinds.


Hand #128: I have A9o in the big blind. The SB open-limps and I probably should have raised him. Instead I check. Flop comes J42, two hearts. Opponent min-bets. Very often this is a bet to try to take a flop from a BB who has shit/flopped shit. I decided to raise him and try to take this pot. I raise to 1200. He re-raises to 3600 and I fold.

I am back down to about 13k in chips at this point.

Hand #131: I limp on the button with Q7s after 2 limpers before me. SB limps, button checks. Flop is 533. Checked around. Turn is a queen. checked to me, I bet 800 and win the 2200 in the pot after all 4 opponents fold. Strange hand.


that is the last hand of the 2nd hour. We go on break and the blinds go to 300/600 with 50 antes. I am still at the same table I started out at.

Stacks after two hours at my table:

Seat 1: matawispar (14525 in chips)
Seat 2: BigE1132 (14245 in chips)
Seat 3: scott tuna (13175 in chips)
Seat 4: caniwin12 (16430 in chips)
Seat 5: twit38 (22785 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (14760 in chips)
Seat 7: stokie (12830 in chips)
Seat 8: beeyoung (19395 in chips)
Seat 9: mntanabanana (16732 in chips)


So I gained a total of about 4000 in chips during the second hour. 300/600 with 50 antes mean there will be 1350 in the pot pre-flop. A 3x raise will be about 10% of my stack. Everyone at the table begins hour 3 with an M of between 10 and 20, the "yellow" zone according to harrington. suited connectors and more speculative hands become a bit less playable, but there is still some room to manuever.

I attempt a steal raise with T9s, and am called by the big blind. Flop comes Axx and I try to take it with a bet after BB checks. I bet 2400. He check-raises me all in and I have to fold. That hurts badly and I am down to 9200 in chips when this hand comes up:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

BB (t12725)
UTG (t14395)
UTG+1 (t27400)
MP1 (t19880)
MP2 (t9760)
Hero (t9210)
Button (t20595)
SB (t20632)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Th, 7h.
4 folds, Hero raises to t1800, 2 folds, BB calls t1200.

Flop: (t3350) 7s, 8h, Tc (2 players)
BB bets t1800, Hero raises to t7360, BB calls t5560.

Turn: (t18070) 6s (2 players)

River: (t18070) 4d (2 players)

Final Pot: t18070
Main Pot: t18070 (t18070), between BB and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t18070).

Results in white below:
BB has Ad Ks (high card, ace).
Hero has Th 7h (two pair, tens and sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins t18070.


If the big blind pushes like he should have I have to fold, but just stealing the blinds is signifigant at this point, and folded to me in the cutoff I'll try to steal with a lot worse than T7s probably. If the BB pushes me off this pre-flop I'm pretty much in all in/fold mode and just about done.

That was hand #141. I now have 19,020 in chips.


Hand #153: The blinds go up to 400/800 with 50 blinds.

Here are the stacks at my table when this happens:

Seat 1: matawispar (5065 in chips)
Seat 2: NoLuckSam (20305 in chips)
Seat 3: scott tuna (40995 in chips)
Seat 4: caniwin12 (17780 in chips)
Seat 5: twit38 (8260 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (17120 in chips)
Seat 7: bolverk (10851 in chips)
Seat 8: beeyoung (23595 in chips)
Seat 9: mntanabanana (20182 in chips)


I have enough chips to scare people but any hand can kill anyone except ScottTuna here.


Hand #156: Here is a pretty obvious all in situation for me against a smaller stack:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t6565)
MP2 (t20155)
MP3 (t40445)
CO (t16430)
Button (t6910)
Hero (t16170)
BB (t10701)
UTG (t26745)
UTG+1 (t20032)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ah, Qc.
6 folds, Button raises to t2400, Hero raises to t6400, 1 fold, Button raises to t6860, Hero calls t460.

Flop: (t14070) 6c, As, 8c (2 players)

Turn: (t14070) Td (2 players)

River: (t14070) 3h (2 players)

Final Pot: t14070
Main Pot: t14070 (t14070), between Button and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t14070).

Results in white below:
Hero has Ah Qc (one pair, aces).
Button has Ts Jc (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero wins t14070.


After that hand I am now up to 24,230 in chips. And I get moved to a new table for the first time on the day:

Seat 1: qwedie (15160 in chips)
Seat 2: robbastow (9210 in chips)
Seat 3: monkey527 (22602 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (24230 in chips)
Seat 5: Rugby1 (9600 in chips)
Seat 6: VilN (27299 in chips)
Seat 7: buchj67 (14164 in chips)
Seat 8: TheFutureJTT (25179 in chips)
Seat 9: Prince_Ace (6840 in chips)



Hand #162: I catch AA for the first time on the night, in the big blind. folded to the SB, who raises to 2500. I flat call and decide to get all in on pretty much any flop if I can. The flop is about as scary as possible, 986 all spades, I have no spade. I bet 4000 and win the pot anyway, whew.

I have 26,830 in chips after that hand.

Hand #166: I try to steal out of the cutoff with Q8o. There's two all-ins after me, so I get out of the way.

Hand #168: I catch AJo and raise to 2400(3x) in mid position. BB calls. Flop comes AT7, checked to me, I bet 4000 and win the pot.


Hand #174: The blinds go up to 600/1200. I am just keeping up, keeping myself a decent sized stack, but not one that couldn't take a massive hit at any time:

Seat 1: qwedie (36720 in chips)
Seat 2: robbastow (6785 in chips)
Seat 3: monkey527 (19102 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (24730 in chips)
Seat 5: Grape (3788 in chips)
Seat 6: VilN (29299 in chips)
Seat 7: buchj67 (20114 in chips)
Seat 8: TheFutureJTT (7269 in chips)
Seat 9: Prince_Ace (11390 in chips)

Hand #176: I open Q9 suited from mid position and win the blinds.

Hand #180: I take a hit with AQ:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t33345)
Button (t4535)
SB (t17452)
Hero (t26755)
UTG (t8326)
UTG+1 (t29186)
MP1 (t23564)
MP2 (t5019)
MP3 (t11015)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Qs, Ac.
UTG calls t1200, 6 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to t6000, UTG raises to t8326, SB folds, Hero calls t2251.

Flop: (t17702) 6s, 4c, 7s (2 players)

Turn: (t17702) 4d (2 players)

River: (t17702) 2s (2 players)

Final Pot: t17702
Main Pot: t17702 (t17702), between Hero and UTG. > Pot won by UTG (t17702).

Results in white below:
Hero has Qs Ac (one pair, fours).
UTG has Jc Jh (two pair, jacks and fours).
Outcome: UTG wins t17702.


I am down to 18K in chips after that one.


Hand #182: I open-raise QQ and win the blinds.

Hand #194: Blinds go up to 1000/2000 with 100 antes. I haven't done anything but fold for 12 hands now.

Seat 1: Gebre (24506 in chips)
Seat 2: robbastow (14365 in chips)
Seat 3: monkey527 (65713 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (17429 in chips)
Seat 5: IFT7 (33853 in chips)
Seat 6: VilN (22711 in chips)
Seat 7: buchj67 (21889 in chips)
Seat 9: Prince_Ace (24295 in chips)


My M is now becoming a major problem. I can only survive another ~6 orbits around the table before busting. Long before that happens I'll have to make a move somehwere.

Hand #196: I receive a not insignifigant blessing when its folded around to me in my BB. I collect 2800 and am up to 18,929.


Hand #198: Here is a 3-way all in that cripples me. I am barely saved by the winner being a slightly shorter stack than me.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 (t27006)
MP3 (t14765)
CO (t62313)
Hero (t17829)
SB (t31453)
BB (t22311)
UTG (t25289)
UTG+1 (t48782)
MP1 (t23895)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Ac, Jd.
4 folds, MP3 raises to t14665, 1 fold, Hero raises to t17729, SB calls t16729, 1 fold.

Flop: (t49823) Qh, 6s, 3c (3 players)

Turn: (t49823) 4c (3 players)

River: (t49823) 6d (3 players)

Final Pot: t49823
Main Pot: t49823 (t49823), between MP3, Hero and SB. > Pot won by MP3 (t49823).

Results in white below:
SB has Ah Th (one pair, sixes).
MP3 has Kd Qc (two pair, queens and sixes).
Hero has Ac Jd (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: MP3 wins t49823.

Converter doesn't show it well but I collect 6128 chips by beating the large stack's AT here.

Hand #203: I go all in with 86 suited. 2K blind hitting in 2 hands. I'm desparate as hell with 5628. I win the blinds which is almost a double up, I'm up to 9528 in chips.

I have to fold both of my blinds.


Hand #207: K9 suited with an M of less than 2? Absolutely.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t34806)
MP2 (t54766)
CO (t62313)
Hero (t6228)
SB (t26948)
BB (t18411)
UTG (t21389)
UTG+1 (t48782)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Kd, 9d.
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t6000, 3 folds, Hero raises to t6128, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls t128.

Flop: (t12856) 5d, 4d, Kc (2 players)

Turn: (t12856) 4c (2 players)

River: (t12856) 9s (2 players)

Final Pot: t12856
Main Pot: t12856 (t12856), between Hero and UTG+1. > Pot won by Hero (t12856).

Results in white below:
UTG+1 has Ac Tc (one pair, fours).
Hero has Kd 9d (two pair, kings and nines).
Outcome: Hero wins t12856.


WHEW. copnverter fucked this up too somehow. Blinds aren't included. I actually win 16056 after the blinds and antes are factored in. At this point my M is just about 5 and that is still extremely desparate. I'm probably still going to go all in if I decdie to play anything.

Hand #209: Thanks! Gap concept, buddy. Go all in with QT suited in your siutation, but don't call an all in with it.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 (t42406)
MP1 (t54566)
MP2 (t62113)
Hero (t15956)
CO (t25748)
Button (t15211)
SB (t15189)
BB (t42454)
UTG (t12340)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Ac, Qc.
4 folds, Hero raises to t15856, 2 folds, SB calls t14089 (All-In), 1 fold.

Flop: (t30745) Ad, 4h, 6d (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t30745) 5d (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t30745) Ah (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t30745
Main Pot: t29078 (t29078), between Hero and SB. > Pot won by Hero (t29078).
Pot 2: t1667 (t1667), returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
SB has Qh Th (one pair, aces).
Hero has Ac Qc (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins t30745.


I have 33,845 after this and am thankfully back from the dead.

Hand #216: This was probably a little loose, though I'm not sure if I should call or fold here or what...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t38706)
MP2 (t66466)
MP3 (t62213)
Hero (t30245)
Button (t2894)
SB (t8511)
BB (t62518)
UTG (t66408)
UTG+1 (t10640)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Ah, Jc.
3 folds, MP2 raises to t6000, 1 fold, Hero raises to t30145, Button calls t2794 (All-In), 2 folds, MP2 folds.

Flop: (t39639) 7h, Kh, 5c (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t39639) Qc (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t39639) 3h (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t39639
Main Pot: t9282 (t9282), between Hero and Button. > Pot won by Hero (t9282).
Pot 2: t30357 (t30357), returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
Hero has Ah Jc (high card, ace).
Button has Ad 4d (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins t39639.


I have 42,839 after that win. This is where I was able to make a pretty easy move based on my image. The guy that raised to 6000 in the last hand said that he had 88 and would have busted me that hand. The very next hand, he raises to 6000 again. There's a call and I have KK. Pretty easy all in, and I might have been called anyway, but here my all in with AJ my last hand had to have helped.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 (t38606)
MP1 (t60366)
MP2 (t62113)
Hero (t42839)
Button (t7411)
SB (t60418)
BB (t66308)
UTG (t10540)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Kd, Kc.
2 folds, MP1 raises to t6000, MP2 calls t6000, Hero raises to t42739, 3 folds, MP1 calls t36739, MP2 folds.

Flop: (t92078) 8d, 6h, Jd (2 players)

Turn: (t92078) 8c (2 players)

River: (t92078) 2c (2 players)

Final Pot: t92078
Main Pot: t92078 (t92078), between MP1 and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t92078).

Results in white below:
MP1 has Qd Ad (one pair, eights).
Hero has Kd Kc (two pair, kings and eights).
Outcome: Hero wins t92078.

And I now have 95,278 in chips.

I give back 5000 of it on the very next hand, calling a raise with pocket 7s, folding on a bad flop.


Hand #219: We're done with the 3rd hour of the tourney and the blinds are going up to 1500/3000 with 150 antes.

Stacks look like this:

Seat 1: Gebre (38406 in chips)
Seat 2: robbastow (17427 in chips)
Seat 3: monkey527 (67713 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (90178 in chips)
Seat 5: Duffer721 (70085 in chips)
Seat 6: VilN (7211 in chips)
Seat 7: suspect11 (59218 in chips)
Seat 8: j1eyedj1 (63108 in chips)
Seat 9: Skrewed (5340 in chips)


The blinds are so big here that no one is in great shape. I love my position with over 90K but my M is still only around 13 or 14 or so. Not enough that I can consider limping suited connectors or anything like that. But I know my stack size compared to average is very good at this point b/c of pokerstars' crazy blind increases so I should be able to put pressure on most anyone i run up against.

Hand #223: I open raise to 9K with QTo in mid position and win the blinds.

Hand #224: I have KQo in mid position. There is a min-raise to 6K made by a guy with 65K in chips. I call. guy after me also has 65K in chips and he re-raises to 21K. Folded back to me... 15K to call. about 38K in the pot. I fold. Not sure about any of that. I am last to act when I fold for 15K more.


Hand #227: There's an all in to ~20K before me. I'm in the SB with pocket aces. I go all in, and my hand holds up vs AJ. I have 105,898 chips after that hand.


Hand #239: Here's a hand i'm not really happy with.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 (t21358)
MP1 (t42400)
MP2 (t59915)
Hero (t89248)
CO (t135373)
Button (t31773)
SB (t62220)
BB (t67740)
UTG (t108912)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with As, 5d.
4 folds, Hero raises to t9000, 3 folds, BB calls t6000.

Flop: (t16200) 3s, Kc, 6s (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: (t16200) 4d (2 players)
BB bets t9000, Hero calls t9000.

River: (t34200) Qh (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: t34200
Main Pot: t34200 (t34200), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by BB (t34200).

Results in white below:
BB has Ah 8s (high card, ace).
Hero has As 5d (high card, ace).
Outcome: BB wins t34200.

I am down to 71K in chips after that.

Hand #240: next level. Blinds 2000/4000 with 200 antes. 7800 in the pot pre-flop. My 71K is less than 10M again.

Unfortunately I cannot tell from this log how we are doing in the money. I believe though that we amde the money sometime around here.

Hand #250: After folding through an entire orbit, I open-raise AKo and win the blinds. 70.5K in chips, about the mid point of our table.

Hand #254: I go all in with AQo behind a raise to 11111. The odd raiser folds and I take down a 29K pot. I'm up to 82K in chips there.


Hand #256: I open raise A3s from mid position. BB calls. Flop comes J43, I bet 16K into the ~28K pot on the flop and win it right there. I now have 97K in chips.

Hand #258: a guy with 38K raises to 12K UTG. I re-raise to 24K UTG+1 with 99. he calls. Pot is well over 50K and he has 12K left. I figure we'll go all in on any flop. Flop is the best possible, Q9x. I bet enough to put him all in and he folds. Oh well. I have 128K in chips at that point.


Hand #259: I open UTG with 77 for a raise and win the blinds. Up to 136K.

Hand #260: The small blind goes all in for his last 9542 in chips. There are ~14.5K in the pot, and it's 5500 for me to call in the BB. Call with any two here? I call with 64o. I beat my opponent's J2o to knock him out. I am up to 147K in chips.


Hand #262: Blinds go up to 3000/6000 with 300 antes. Here are the stacks at my table when this happens:

Seat 1: demonseed14 (217364 in chips)
Seat 2: DC168 (19250 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (147151 in chips)
Seat 5: johnnyrose (138223 in chips)
Seat 6: wendula (57249 in chips)
Seat 7: gearhead (83314 in chips)
Seat 8: Slip,the kid (62040 in chips)
Seat 9: snake8484 (82651 in chips)


This is right aroudn 2am. From reading the FOFC thread we had going on this we hit the money at about 1:50am, so we are just in the money here, probably in the range of about 100-115 remaining.

HAnd #267: I hate doing this and I don't know why I did it here. I open-limp from the SB with A4o. BB checks. Flop JJ8. I bet and win it.

Hand #268: AA on the button. There's an early limp, i raise to 24K(4x the big blind) and the limper calls. Flop comes 884. i bet 36K and win the pot. I am up to 182K in chips there.

Hands #269 and #270: I open raise with ATs and AKo and win the blinds both times. I have 205K in chips at that point. "8th out of 86 remaining" according ot the running FOFC thread at the time.


Hand #275: the one stack at the table that can cripple me raises to 20K. i'm in the BB and call 14K to see the flop with KQ suited. The flop is all rags and I choose to check/fold instead of fight for the pot. Down to 184K there.


Hand #282: I commented on being terrified making that big bet on the flop against a guy who could crush me if he had a king in this hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t6000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

Button (t163413)
SB (t45253)
BB (t114812)
Hero (t179351)
UTG+1 (t87223)
MP1 (t73114)
MP2 (t163790)
CO (t121202)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with As, Qd.
Hero raises to t24000, 2 folds, MP2 calls t24000, 4 folds.

Flop: (t50100) 9h, Ks, Qh (2 players)
Hero bets t48000, MP2 folds.

Final Pot: t98100
Main Pot: t50100 (t50100), won by Hero.
Pot 2: t48000 (t48000), returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins t98100.


I have 214K after that hand and commented on being 7th out of 71 remaining.

HAnd #285: This one drew a fair amount of comments.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t6000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 (t162513)
MP3 (t41353)
CO (t104912)
Hero (t216551)
SB (t92023)
BB (t48330)
UTG (t72214)
UTG+1 (t138890)
MP1 (t120302)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7c, 8c.
6 folds, Hero raises to t18000, 1 fold, BB raises to t48030, Hero calls t30030.

Flop: (t98160) Kh, Ah, 2c (2 players)

Turn: (t98160) 5c (2 players)

River: (t98160) Ac (2 players)

Final Pot: t98160
Main Pot: t98160 (t98160), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero (t98160).

Results in white below:
BB has Qd Qc (two pair, aces and queens).
Hero has 7c 8c (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins t98160.


So i have 216K in chips, the SB has 92K, the BB has 48K, 42K left after posting his blind. We're moving up to 4K/8K very soon and we're moving up in the money fairly consistantly now, which with my number of chips is no big deal, but I figure I have to try to steal on the button here. When my opponent goes all in ,there is 71,730 in the pot. Its only 30,030 for me to call. I'm getting about 2.4:1 to call. If my math is right that means I am correct to call if I feel that my hand can win more than 30% of the time.

If I know for a fact that my opponent has a pair 8's or higher, I will only win 22% of the time and can safely fold. If I knew he had pocket 7's, I'm 38% to win and should call. A lower pair and we're a coin flip, I must call. Two overcards and I am going to win ~40% of the time, another easy call.

As I said in the running FOFC thread, the only time I can fold this is if he shows me an overpair. There is no way I can put a short stack on an overpair so reliably to fold.

Now, should I try to steal the blinds against a small stack there? Perhaps that's questionable, as you want to pick on medium sized stacks more than short short stacks. But anyway, hand of the night for sure in terms of generating conversation.

And indeed on the very next hand the blinds go up:

Hand #286: Blinds 4000/8000 with 400 antes.

Seat 1: demonseed14 (161813 in chips)
Seat 2: Duffer721 (40653 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (104212 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (269581 in chips)
Seat 5: johnnyrose (88323 in chips)
Seat 7: gearhead (82714 in chips)
Seat 8: Slip,the kid (130190 in chips)
Seat 9: snake8484 (119602 in chips)


Hand #295: An extremely short stack goes all in for 25K. I re-raise to 56K with AK to hopefuly just get heads up against the all in guy. It works and my opponent has A3. My hand holds up. I'm up to 301K in chips now.


Hand #299: I call a min-raise in the BB with Q7 suited. I flop 2nd pair, T7x. I bet out and win the pot. Up to 327K in chips.

Hand #304:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t8000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

BB (t162413)
UTG (t250140)
UTG+1 (t84612)
Hero (t337034)
MP2 (t96323)
CO (t100564)
Button (t67114)
SB (t155190)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Qh, Qd.
2 folds, Hero raises to t24000, 3 folds, SB calls t20000, 1 fold.

Flop: (t46800) Kd, Js, Kc (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t40000, SB raises to t80000, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t166800
Main Pot: t126800 (t126800), won by SB.
Pot 2: t40000 (t40000), returned to SB.


I had 337K in chips, my opponent 155K. If i end up all in and lose here i'm down to about 180K. If I fold to his raise I have 270K. Of course his 40K raise doesn't mean much but he's pot committed at that point and basically may as well be all in.

After discussing this hand elsewhere the conclusion was reached that it is extremely unlikely that my opponent would have raised with a king on the flop there, and would have tried to get me to go all in for him if he had a hand that good. I likely folded the best hand and should have pushed on the flop. He may well have called with a jack.

Results in white below:
No showdown. SB wins t166800.

Hand #308: We are through with our 4th hour. Its 2:40 am on a work night :D Blinds are going to 6K/12K with 600 antes. Over 22K in the pot before any action.

At my table:

Seat 1: demonseed14 (140813 in chips)
Seat 2: spankdeazz (228540 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (177624 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (286634 in chips)
Seat 5: johnnyrose (94723 in chips)
Seat 6: dug565 (114164 in chips)
Seat 7: gearhead (65514 in chips)
Seat 8: Slip,the kid (145378 in chips)


Notes in the running thread show that I was 5th out of 51 left at this point. Once we get down to 45 then there's another bump in money to $155.

Hand #324: I open raise JJ and win the blinds. Yeah, 16 hands folding. I turned into a giant pussy there for a bit. Folded A5 in a decent steal position, folded J7 on the button when I normalyl woudl try to steal.

I have 244K in chips at this point.


Hand #330: Blinds go up to 10K/20K. I have 263K in chips.

Seat 1: demonseed14 (225736 in chips)
Seat 2: spankdeazz (148854 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (375624 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (263834 in chips)
Seat 5: bgsub (216652 in chips)
Seat 6: scott tuna (149398 in chips)
Seat 9: Donkasaurus (378735 in chips)


I am 9th out of 37 remaining.

Hand #330: Backbreaker for me. I am left with just over 5 times the big blind and an M of just under 4 after this. As I said in the running thread at the time, it's all in or fold time.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20000 (7 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t225736)
Button (t148854)
SB (t375624)
Hero (t263834)
UTG (t216652)
MP1 (t149398)
MP2 (t378735)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Qc, As.
1 fold, MP1 raises to t148398, 4 folds, Hero calls t128398.

Flop: (t282796) Jd, Ts, 6s (2 players)

Turn: (t282796) Ac (2 players)

River: (t282796) 5s (2 players)

Final Pot: t282796
Main Pot: t282796 (t282796), between Hero and MP1. > Pot won by MP1 (t282796).

Results in white below:
Hero has Qc As (one pair, aces).
MP1 has 6c 6d (three of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: MP1 wins t282796.

Hand #337: I am moved to Chris Moneymaker's table. I will play at his table for the rest of the night. This is the sequence that should have knocked me out of the tournament, but somehow instead set me up to get to the final table with a great stack.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20000 (7 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t118822)
Button (t122272)
SB (t1026802)
BB (t695523)
Hero (t98436)
MP1 (t474458)
MP2 (t262156)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Ad, Kd.
Hero raises to t97436, 3 folds, Button raises to t121272, 2 folds.

Flop: (t223708) 6c, Qs, 2h (2 players)

Turn: (t223708) Kh (2 players)

River: (t223708) Tc (2 players)

Final Pot: t223708
Main Pot: t199872 (t199872), between Button and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t199872).
Pot 2: t23836 (t23836), between Button and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t23836).

Results in white below:
Hero has Ad Kd (one pair, kings).
Button has Qh Ah (one pair, queens).
Outcome: Hero wins t223708.


I dominate my opponent, but the flop fucks me. The turn saves me, but puts a flush draw on the board for my opponent. I survive and double up.

I'm in the big blind on the next hand and after my BB have 211K in chips left. At that point I am 15th out of 28 remaining. 27th and 18th are the only two jumps in pay between now and the final table. This was insane hand #1.

Hand #339: batshit insane hand #2. Just one hand removed from my AK beating AQ.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20000 (7 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t260644)
MP2 (t22836)
CO (t1014802)
Button (t556701)
Hero (t210872)
BB (t472458)
UTG (t260156)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Qh, As.
3 folds, CO raises to t55000, 1 fold, Hero raises to t209872, BB raises to t471458, CO folds.

Flop: (t740330) 8c, Qs, 5h (2 players)

Turn: (t740330) 2d (2 players)

River: (t740330) 7d (2 players)

Final Pot: t740330
Main Pot: t478744 (t478744), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero (t478744).
Pot 2: t261586 (t261586), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero (t261586).

Results in white below:
BB has Ac Kc (high card, ace).
Hero has Qh As (one pair, queens).
Outcome: Hero wins t740330.


Now I didn't win 740K. Dude had me covered. I won 481,744.


I steal the blinds on the next hand and have 517K in chips, 5th out of 28 remaining.

Hand #342: Batshit insane hand #3, otherwise known as the worst call i've ever made in my entire poker career.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

SB (t414644)
BB (t19836)
UTG (t280624)
UTG+1 (t816802)
MP1 (t553701)
Hero (t516744)
MP3 (t1053987)
CO (t249586)
Button (t227156)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Jh, Js.
2 folds, MP1 raises to t60000, Hero calls t60000, 4 folds.

Flop: (t128000) 9c, 3c, 7d (3 players)
MP1 bets t60000, Hero raises to t180000, MP1 raises to t492701, Hero calls t275744 (All-In).

Turn: (t1076445) Jc (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t1076445) 9d (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t1076445
Main Pot: t1039488 (t1039488), between MP1 and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t1039488).
Pot 2: t36957 (t36957), between BB and MP1. > Pot won by MP1 (t36957).

Results in white below:
BB has As Qs (one pair, nines).
MP1 has 3d 3h (full house, threes full of nines).
Hero has Jh Js (full house, jacks full of nines).
Outcome: Hero wins t1039488. MP1 wins t36957.


My opponent raises pre-flop, bets the flop, and goes all in over my re-raise. Why the hell did I think he couldn't beat a pair of jacks? Honestlyk, here is why. He used his entire time back before raising. I lulled myself into thinking that he *must* have had A9, or a flush draw, or overs an thinking I was bluffing. And I quickly called his all in. Here's the problem. I was 5th overall in chips left. He was 4th. He was one of 4 guys that could bust me, and I was one of the few guys who could totally cripple him. I think that if I had queens it might not be so bad a call, and kings or aces and it is probably an ok call. But with pocket jacks, what hands will a solid player reasonably risk his tournament life with that I can beat? I was suprised as shit to see a set, but, I should have expected either 99 or an overpair.

also, I should have re-raised him pre-flop. He would have dumped his threes and I would have beaten AQ.

At this point, I now have 1,069,324 in chips and am the tournament chip leader.

So in the course of 5 hands I put my tournament life on the line 3 times, twice with far the worst of it, and once I get sucked out on and have to re-suck out to hold up.

Hand #347: Blinds go up to 15K/30K with 1500 antes.

Seat 1: EvilDrSluggo (659800 in chips)
Seat 2: cooolK (242640 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (265624 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (819802 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1055324 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (1018987 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (314543 in chips)


about 20-23 people remain at this point I believe.

Hand #353: I steal the blinds with AKo.

Hand #355: I bust someone out after they call instead of re-raising what could very likely be a steal raise.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30000 (7 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

SB (t572800)
BB (t296640)
UTG (t208624)
MP1 (t929302)
Hero (t1109324)
CO (t1017487)
Button (t242543)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Td, 6d.
2 folds, Hero raises to t70000, 2 folds, SB calls t55000, 1 fold.

Flop: (t134000) 4c, Ts, 4h (2 players)
SB bets t100000, Hero raises to t360000, SB raises to t501300, Hero calls t141300.

Turn: (t1136600) Kh (2 players)

River: (t1136600) Tc (2 players)

Final Pot: t1136600
Main Pot: t1136600 (t1136600), between SB and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t1136600).

Results in white below:
SB has 9d 9c (two pair, tens and nines).
Hero has Td 6d (full house, tens full of fours).
Outcome: Hero wins t1136600.

At this point, moneymaker was raising a ton of hands. Opportunities to steal were few and far between and as a big stack I wasn't pleased about that, but I sure wasn't liking the idea of having to come in over the top of moneymaker if I wanted a pot. He had folded here, and I decided to steal one. I had a tough time deciding what to do on the flop. Top pair/shit kicker, I'm glad now that I pushed it.

At this point we're down to 2 tables. After that last win there are 17 people left in the tournament and I am guarenteed $415. The truly amazing thing?

Seat 2: cooolK (265140 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (207124 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (927802 in chips)
Seat 5: phillyd7015 (872219 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1719624 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (1015987 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (241043 in chips)
Seat 9: demonseed14 (208853 in chips)


That's the chips at my table. swa003 has 700k fewer chips than me. He is 2nd overall in chips out of the 17 remaining. I am a very very dominant first at this point.

Hand #361: Somewhere between 11 and 13 left. Moneymaker scoops a massive pot to take the chiplead, here is my table:

Seat 2: cooolK (344640 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (184624 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (1806021 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1667124 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (928987 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (526396 in chips)


moneymaker and I are running 1/2, as we will for most of the rest of the tournament from here on out.

Hand #362: I steal the blinds with A8.

Hand #363: I raise UTG with 44. Moneymaker calls out of the BB. Flop comes 3 overcards. He bets and I fold.


Hand #364: i have J6 in the big blind. moneymaker limps to me. The flop is 732. I bet 45K and he auto-calls. As in "call any bet" as in if I went all in he would autocall me. Luckily I didn' thasve shit so it was easy to give up the hand.

Hand #365: The blinds go up to 20K/40K with 2000 antes. Stacks are:

Seat 2: cooolK (291640 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (131624 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (1996021 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1660124 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (874987 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (503396 in chips)




Hand #365: I open-raise to 100K with A7. saw800 calls me. Flop is T7x, 2nd pair for me. I bet 200K and he folds. Whew.

Hand #369: I steal the blinds with 77.


Hand #370: I win a pot, albeit a small one, against moneymaker heads up:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t40000 (6 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t295640)
Button (t207624)
SB =#A500AF(Money800)/ (t1948021)
Hero (t1724124)
UTG (t846987)
MP (t435396)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9c, 4d.
4 folds, SB =#A500AF(Money800)/ completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t70000) Jh, Tc, 9h (2 players)
Money800 bets t40000, Hero calls t40000.

Turn: (t150000) 7s (2 players)
Money800 checks, Hero checks.

River: (t150000) 7c (2 players)
Money800 checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: t150000
Main Pot: t150000 (t150000), between Money800 and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t150000).

Results in white below:
Hero has 9c 4d (two pair, nines and sevens).
Money800 doesn't show.
Outcome: Hero wins t150000.


Hand #375: Moneymaker loses a pot with QQ vs AA and I become the chipleader for a little while:

Seat 2: cooolK (541280 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (389248 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (1714381 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1784124 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (593363 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (435396 in chips)



FINAL TABLE

Hand #378. Welcome to the final table. 9th place is guarenteed $778. Here are the chipstacks and seating going into the final table:

Seat 1: El Perrito (385248 in chips)
Seat 2: LURPED (1217455 in chips)
Seat 3: scott tuna (701638 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (1742124 in chips)
Seat 5: Money800 (2197777 in chips)
Seat 6: saw003 (591363 in chips)
Seat 7: BuckyBadger (292972 in chips)
Seat 8: cooolK (497280 in chips)
Seat 9: DaKidCapone (553643 in chips)


I hate being on moneymaker's right. Not only is he the chipleader, he's a world series of poker champ. I'd really really really rather have him acting before me.