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Thread: mathare's Poker Diary

  1. #91

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    18th June 2009
    Another day, more STTs and more profit Played four tourneys and bagged a 3rd and a 1st (plus a 5th and an 8th but I'd rather gloss over those). Up another $26 tonight :)

    My total record is now played 14, 4 x 1st, 1 x 2nd and 2 x 3rd for an ITM of 50% and a ROI of 75.32%. It's still very early stages but I am pretty happy with those figures and long may it continue



  2. #92

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    21st June 2009
    I played two more STTs yesterday afternoon and wasn't in the groove at all really - I could tell my some of my early play in the first one - but played regardless. I bagged a 3rd and a poor 6th to record a small loss ($2) there.

    This evening I was even further out of the groove so I'm not really sure why I played. I had fancied a game earlier in the afternoon but other things got in the way so I didn't have time. This evening I had a spare hour to hour and a half so planned a two table assualt, staggering the tourneys by around 15 minutes as has become my usual trick. Except I was playing more out of habit than desire. I wasn't focused, I didn't feel in that poker mood once I had started but the plan was in motion and without thinking I played both tables. I was poor though and when it came to the pushbot stage I was on a small stack and didn't have my reads dialled in busting out in 5th and 6th for a $22 total loss on the day.

    I hope to be more in the game tomorrow and to get back on track



  3. #93

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    22nd June 2009
    Rubbish again this evening, played two STTs and lost 'em both. I started play about the same time as last night (9.30pm) and got the same result. I played poorly in the first and averagely in the second. I don't think I should play if I don't get on the tables before around 8.30 else I think my mind is too tired and zoned out to get into it properly. It's a theory, anyway.



  4. #94

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    1st July 2009 (part 1)
    I'm in a bit of a slump when it comes to STT results at the minute. I've only cashed once in my last 12 tourneys, a second place the other day. After such a bright start I wanted to reflect on how I busted out of the last 12 events. Was it beginners' luck that has now ended? Or have I been unlucky in the last dozen STTs?

    1. 20/06/09 - 6th
    The blinds are at 100/200 (level 4 on Empire), there are 6 of us left, I have an average stack and get dealt TT in the big blind. Second to act goes all in for 2100 so I have him covered and it's folded round to me. Another 1900 to call with the pot at 2200. TT is a good hand but is this a calling hand in this situation? What could the early player have? There hadn't been too much in the way of pre-flop shoving before this hand yet this gut has shoved for around 10xBB. I saw my cards and didn't think this one through enough, in hindsight, as I saw I had him covered and called. He still had wiggle room with his stack, even with the blinds as they were so he was probably shoving with two picture cards or an overpair to my tens, thinking about it now. He had AQ so I was actually ahead (just, the 54/46 favourite here) but an Ace on the flop did for me and I doubled him up and left myself short-stacked (1080). I shoved the next two hands to steal the blinds then shoved again with 87s. I got a caller in the form of the villain from the TT v AQ hand and this time I was in bad shape as he flipped QQ, making him a 77% favourite. I hit two of my suit on the flop and luckily completed the flush on the river - phew!

    I folded some dross hands for a little while, including in the blinds. I then got A6s and was lining up a solid raise to steal but the player before me stole my march and raised to 3xBB. I didn't even think about the re-raise steal here, at least not seriously, but in hindsight perhaps I should have. It's a suited Ace in the pushbot phase of an STT so all such moves have to be considered. The guy did have me covered though and I was still on a roughly average stack so there was no real need to get stupid and risk busting out too soon. My stack was 15xBB so I had chips to play with. Another steal move (with 89s making it a semi-bluff I guess) followed by some folds through the blinds takes us on to the next key hand. The short stack is in the small blind, I'm the button. It's folded to me with A9o so I shove, figuring I can steal back the blinds I had just folded and also were I to get a caller I have a decent (but not great) Ace. SB calls with AKo and rivers a straight, not that I was ever ahead in the hand, or even splitting it really. That set me back to a stack of 1810, not a short stack in STT terms really (9xBB) but in the terms of the current table I was in some trouble and needing to make some moves soon certainly. Two hands later I thought I had my chance and shoved J2s expecting the blinds to give it up as they had been doing so far. And they did, but the button (the villain from the TT v AQ and 87s v QQ hands) shoved over the top of me to make sure the blinds backed away from the hand. His 99 was way ahead of my hand (68% fav) and the cards I needed didn't come so I busted out in 6th.

    I went into this level with an average stack but busted out first of the players remaining when this level started. Was it a fair bust out though? I lost a coin flip, won a 3/1 hand I didn't expect to win, got unlucky with the call on the A9o and then panicked a little with this J2s. I wouldn't say I was tilting but I knew I needed to make moves and steal some chips and fast else I wouldn't pose any threat to anyone else at the table. I just mis-timed the last steal attempt somewhat. I guess that J2s looked more attractive than it actually is but these are the kind of shots you sometimes need to make to get anywhere in these events. I think this one is just the way the cards fell although I do feel I perhaps went a little cheaply and could perhaps have held on for a couple more hands and received something better to steal with, who knows.

    A mixture of bad play and bad luck with the former probably dominating

    2. 21/06/09 - 5th
    My stack was 2200 with the blinds at 200/400 so I was severely short-stacked with the table down to five players. I went for a steal in mid-position with T6o - I said I was desperate - hoping to add nearly a third to my stack with a successful steal attempt. Unfortunately the button had AKo and the small blind had AA so I could hardly have picked a worse time to try this. The flop and turn gave me a gutshot straight draw but I didn't hit it on the river and busted out.

    How did I get so short-stacked? That's what I am wondering now. Did I miss a lot of steal attempts before this hand, opportunities I should have taken to build at least a respectable stack. Another 1000 or so chips could have made a significant difference (and probably seen me bust out in 4th ). A few hands earlier I raised to 3xBB with the blinds at 100/200 with ATo and laid it down when the SB shoved and the BB called. They showed AKo and AJs respectively so it was a good fold. There are a number of successful steals throughout levels 4 and 5 which kept my stack steady at around the starting level of 2000 chips but throughout the tourney I didn't win a hand that netted me more than the blinds really. I maintained my starting stack in the face of rising blinds but when I got a good hand (the ATo) my opponents found better hands. It was just a series of nothing hands forcing me to play tight, steal the odd pot here and there but as the blinds increased I was short-stacked and unfortunately picked precisely the wrong moment to try and steal. As it happens had I folded that T6o the AA held up to beat the AKo and knock him out so I would have been up to 4th, and there was a stack of a similar size to mine that was in the BB that hand so I was really just up against him for 3rd and I would no doubt have found a better situation in which to attempt to steal the blinds. Ain't hindsight wonderful?

    I don't mind the way I played this event though. The cards forced me into a tight stealing strategy and I would have shoved with any two in the right position with the blinds at 200/400 and me having only 5.5xBB, it was just bad luck to run into better hands when I did.

    I'd say bad luck here

    3. 21/06/09 - 6th
    This one overlapped with the previous tourney by a couple of levels, which is how I tend to multi-table these STTs now. It was right near the end of level 3 (50/100) and my stack was down to just 1250 so with the blinds set to double to 100/200 I was soon to have just 6xBB in my stack and be short-stacked so when I got 44 as the short-stack in middle position (2nd to act with 6 players remaining) I shoved looking to add more than 10% to my stack and put me in a slightly better position bearing in mind the blinds will be on me soon and will be 100/200. I got a call from the other short stack, who had me covered with 1785. He had an overpair, sixes, so I was a 4/1 dog and got no help from the board so was out in 6th.

    How did I let my stack get down that low? By the time the level started I had 1800 chips, from a starting stack of 2000, so while that is below average bear in mind we were still a full table at that point so I was not short stacked by any means. I folded my first BB at this level (T9s) when the button raised to 400. Next hand I called a 200 bet from the small blind with AQo. I thought about raising but the raiser had one caller already so I would be raising into two players with the BB still to act. I missed the flop and check-folded to some decent action losing 200 chips on that hand. I dropped the same amount from my next BB, checking pre-flop right through to the river where I led out for 100 (into a 250 pot) with flopped bottom pair and weak kicker, representing a straight draw that had hit on the river. The bet was probably too weak but I figured I would lead out for 100 to see what he had, and got raised so folded without a second thought. I have no idea what he had but I was almost certainly beaten. And that's basically how I got to where I was, other than a folded SB.

    Both bad luck & bad play really.

    4. 22/06/09 - 7th
    I had maintained a reasonable stack through tight play until a hand on level 3 where I got dealt 99, raised to 250 (50/100 blinds) and got a call from the BB.I led at every street for 100 figuring to be ahead of his range despite a couple of overcards hitting, and he had shown no strength throughout just calling along. He showed me a flopped three of a kind, a four on the board connecting nicely with his pair of 4s. So I was roughly 4/1 ahead pre-flop and put my money in good only for him to hit and me to miss. Oh well. That reduced me to around 1200, so 12xBB. I folded through the blinds, executed a lovely bluff on a flop from the BB next orbit to take down a pot I had little right to even be in but I was given a free look and then came the final hand. The blinds are 100/200 and I have just under 1500 chips. I'm in the SB with TT facing a mid-position raise exactly equal to the size of my stack which suggests to me this guy is gunning right for me. He's picked me out as the short stack and is looking to play for stacks here. I have a good hand so why disappoint him - I call. He flips KQs so I am ahead, just, another 54/46 situation. And once more I came down on the wrong side of this coin flip when he hit a queen on the river. And it was looking so good for a double through here.

    Not much else to say about this one. Was this a calling situation? I needed to gather chips somehow and unless I put this guy specifically on an overpair I had a decent chance here. Sure, JJ+ was certainly in his range but so were a lot of worse hands, including plenty of underpairs. A coin flip was perhaps fair enough but he could equally have been trying it on with something like A7s in which case I am a 2/1 favourite and in good shape. Just another coin flip that didn't go my way.

    Probably bad luck

    5. 22/06/09 - 5th
    I had picked up a few chips early on to build my stack up a little before getting A3s on level 2 that I limped in with from late position, hit a flush draw and backdoor straight draw on the flop, made it a gutshot draw on the turn and rivered the straight on the river, although I was never actually behind in the hand it seems. I made 800 chips on that hand to take my stack up to nearly 3000 from a starting point of 2000. I was in good shape. Some folded blinds, some stolen blinds etc. Down to 7 of us and I try a steal from mid-position with KQo raising to 500 (with blinds at 100/200). It's a raise I can get away from if I get re-raised. And indeed I do get re-raised, the short stack in the BB shoves for 1460 total so it's 960 more to me into a pot of around 2000 so I am getting 2/1 on my money. Turns out he has me dominated with AQo and pairs his Ace on the flop to strip me of half my stack. Damn! A few hands later I shove from the button with J8o, get a call from the big stack in the SB who has A7s but fortunately I hit three of a kind on the flop and fill up on the river to double through. I have a narrow chip lead now. Some more stolen blinds, a few steal attempts gone wrong when I get re-raised so have to fold leaving my 600 (3xBB) on the table each time. I then get JJ and re-raise a mid-position raiser (he raises to 1200 with the blinds at 200/400, I put him all in for another 700) who calls with 77 so I'm a 4/1 favourite again and this time it holds up. I now have 5180, more than a quarter of the chips in play with 6 players left. A while later, with my stack still around the same level, I try to steal from the SB when it's folded to me only for the BB to shove over the top. Hmm, 72o = fold. Things get a little better and I recover the lost chips through well-timed theft and aggression and have narrow chip lead once more - between me and the next bigest stack we have over half the chips in play. So when I shove from early position with 88 I don't expect to get any callers; I have everyone covered. Yeah, but the next largest stack had JJ so was obviously calling and as a result I doubled him through, losing over 4000 chips in the process. I get the 8s again (twice in two hands) and shove my small stack from the BB but only get action from the SB who tables 77. My overpair holds and I double up once more. Back in the game. For two hands when a steal with Q2o goes wrong, finding callers from A6o and KK. The cowboys hold and I am crippled with just 60 chips. I am now shoving with any two and go out two hands later.

    So good early play in this one to build a nice stack. That call of the re-raise with KQo is certainly questionable. I was getting 2/1 on my money but was a 3/1 dog as it turns out. I put big Aces in his range but it would have needed to have been AJ or worse for me to be getting value from an Ace. For big pairs it needed to have been QQ or worse for my call to be correct, in pot odds terms. So he was at the top end of his range and most of it would have been a good value call for me. Such is poker. But the situation at this point meant I didn't have to call his shove so I probably shouldn't have done so. The raise was sized to be one I could get away from but I didn't. Oh well. I rebuilt my stack with a lucky double up as a 60/40 dog. I got my money in good with a pair over pair situation to get a good stack going on. The 72o steal attempt was perhaps sloppy, perhaps unlucky. It was folded to me in the SB so I was naturally going to try and bully with my stack. He made the right move and I didn't have a hand I could defend with. The 88 v JJ was unfortunate but I managed to claw a little back with the 8s next hand. The Q2o steal attempt was, as I said for one of the earlier tourneys, something you need to do from time to time. It's not the best stealing hand by a long way but the situation demanded a shove with pretty much any two so again I was unlucky to run it into big hands. Some more bad luck at the end there perhaps.

    Probably bad luck

    6. 26/06/09 - 2nd
    The only tourney I cashed in out of the twelve I am analysing, finishing second.

    This one started very promisingly when I took a chance on a weak flop bet from the SB in a blind on blind hand in the first level. I had bottom pair and peeled one off, hitting again on the turn and river to finish with quads. Luckily he paid me off along the way and I increased my stack by over 1000. I wasn't chip leader by a long way though as one guy tripled through first hand and was on a proper tear-up. When we reached level 3 he had 8430 and I had 3630 - between us we had 60% of the chips in play. Towards the end of this level I get TT UTG with just 5 of us left and raise to exactly the amount the short stack has. I want him to know I am after him. He calls with pockets 8s and my tens hold up, hitting a third on the flop actually. Down to 4 players. A couple of hands later and I get KK on the button. I raise to 3xBB, the big stack bets into me on every street so I call along and take him for 2000, although I should have shown more aggression and taken a bigger chunk of his stack. By now he has just over 9k and I have just over 7k. There was then a few orbits of blind folding and blind stealing by all players.

    My next big hand came when I was already in the money. I was on equal stacks with the previous runaway leader and raised from the SB as a steal. He called, I flopped second pair and an open-ended straight draw with my 65o so led out. He called again, along with approximately half pot bets on the other streets. My straight had come on the turn so I was a solid winner here so was amused to see him table AKs at showdown. Now I had over 60% of the chips myself. I lost around 2000 of them back to the same guy when I ran 66 into his QQ and doubled his short stack up. A few hands later I lost half my stack to the other guy, who had sneakily built up a stack of around 5000, with my JJ against his AQ. The flop came K-7-K, the turn filled me up being another K and of course the river was exactly what I didn't want to see - an Ace to give him a bigger full house. I was 56/44 before the flop, 77/23 on the flop and 84/16 on the turn. I was ahead all the way and still lost. I was still the second biggest stack at the table though. Steal, counter-steal; punch, counter-punch followed for a good number of hands, including the start of heads-up. The guy who tripled up first hand and was dominating the table finished 3rd, by the way. I doubled up heads-up to take the chip lead, luckily as I had 67o to his T6s. Two hands later the bulk of the damage was done when my A9o came up against his K7s. He flopped a flush draw which completed on the turn and I was down to 4000 giving him a 4/1 chip lead. He finished me off a couple of hands later when I shoved 66 into his K4s. He hit a 4 on the flop and a King on the river. I really thought I was going to win that one too.

    I built up a good stack and through good aggressive play took the chip lead when were down to only three or four players. I built this up to over 60% of the chips on the table at one point but got unlucky a couple of times, especially when I was an 84% favourite going into the river with a full house. That one would have tied up the win for me pretty much. I got lucky with the 67o v T6s but not as much as the villain had before. I was 60/40 pre-flop when the hit the flush with his K7s. On the last hand I was an 88% favourite going into that last hand so to lose that was gutting. It's only bad luck that stopped me actually winning this one.

    Definitely bad luck



  5. #95

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    1st July (part 2)
    7. 26/06/09 - 8th

    Things had plodded along rather unexcitedly for a while. I’d been bet off my 9s on level 2 and lost a few chips there but other than that nothing to write home about. The end came on level 3 when I raised it up to 5xBB pre-flop with QQ and got a single caller one off the button. I bet out on the flop, rather weakly in hindsight - 400 into a pot of 1150 – even though there was a King overcard. I guess I wanted to see where I stood; I would have folded to a decent raise. But the guy called. We both checked the turn and I led out on the river, shoving the rest of my chips in for a roughly half-pot bet. The river had completed a flush draw and straight draw but I felt he didn’t have a King, else he’d have bet out on the turn even if he hadn’t come over the top on the flop. I was right – he didn’t have a King. He had two in the hole! I had run my Queens into pocket Kings that had hit three of a kind on the flop. Pah!

    I’m having that one as bad luck mainly. I had made the right reads, sort of, as I didn’t think he had Kx and given his betting I really thought I had a good chance of being ahead here. Oh well.

    8. 26/06/09 - 5th

    This is another event where there is little to report before the final hand. A few hands folded, a few hands won but when the end came my stack had neither been significantly up nor down. I had 2200 chips (from a 2000 starting stack) with the blinds at 200/400 so I was starting to come under some pressure because of my short stack. I needed to start making some chip-gathering moves. So I picked my time and went for it – a shove with T6o, not that I thought the cards really mattered. I had a tight image but a short stack, I just needed to get the blinds to drop their hands and given the play to date I had no reason to expect them to play back with anything less than a monster (bearing in mind we’re 5-handed so monster is a relative term). Oh. The button had AKo and the SB had Aces in the hole. I was screwed! As it happens I had a better chance of winning than the Big Slick but I was still under 16% to win the hand. The J-8-4 rainbow flop saw my chances of winning more than halve. However, a 5 on the turn gave me outs. Admittedly they are outs to a gutshot but all the same I was praying for that 7. It didn’t come, obviously.

    How did my stack get so short? There was a hand on level 2 I should have played, in hindsight. I had AJ in the small blind. The first two players limp, it’s folded to me and I fold. A bad decision in hindsight. I was figuring the two early position limpers for stronger than they were (TJo and K7s!) so regarded my AJ as marginal but even so it was worth another half bet to limp and hopefully see a cheap flop. Had I done I would have hit big time with two Aces coming down on the flop. Oh well. It’s hard to see any other missed opportunities though.

    There’s probably some bad luck in here but it has been coupled with some bad play. That AJ fold is questionable even though I like to play tight early on. As I have said several times before though when it comes to the stealing stages I think in terms of situations before I think about my cards so I don’t mind the T6o shove but to run into AKo and AA – ouch!

    9. 26/06/09 - 4th

    I don’t want to spoil the ending too much here but there is some awful play coming up. I knew it was a terrible move to make the instant after I clicked the button. I hate poker sometimes. Anyway…

    Lots of nothing much happening then AJo again. This time I limp, along with others so 7 of us see the flop. I flop two pair and stack a guy (who was getting on for short stacked admittedly) earning 1360 chips in the process. Then little happens of any interest till we get to 100/200. I folded ATo out the BB after the button raised to 600 and the SB went all in for 2111. It was another 1900 or so for me to call and I had 3070 behind. I folded – sensible decision? I figured the button raise was a steal attempt but was the SB re-stealing? Looking back maybe ATo was strong enough to take a chance on bearing in mind I was getting better than evens from the pot. Oh well, opportunity missed. But it gets worse.

    A few hands later we are down to four players. I am UTG and shove with 3270 with the blinds at 200/400. I get a caller in the BB and he tables 77. The board blanks out and I bust out. I was a coin flip with the sevens so where was the bad play? I was down to 8xBB so we are into shovebot territory and thus QTs is a decent hand to be shoving with four handed. The poor play– actually, let’s be honest it was bloody awful – was not folding that hand, and pretty much anything less than Aces without a second thought as the button had 351 chips, less than the big blind. He was crippled. He was surely on his way out in the next few hands barring a series of miracle double ups. With him out the picture I’m guaranteed third place at least, and the $20 that goes with it. Instead I coin flip with the big blind who has me covered and lose out. I was so angry with myself when I played that hand.

    Definitely bad play here. Why flip a coin for $20, which is what I effectively did?

    10. 28/06/09 – 6th

    I had been looking forward all day to having the opportunity to get back on the poker tables and break this hoodoo they seemed to have over me. Such a bright start at the STTs was bleeding away pretty quickly so this was a chance to put that right. Ahem.

    Once again I’d had nothing much to work with during the first couple of levels. I’d had AKo once and limped in (too weak?) behind one other limper. The flop came 7-J-J and first to act overbet the pot and got a caller. That was enough to convince me to back out of this one and wait for a better chance. I folded pocket 5s the next hand as the action got too heavy pre-flop to justify playing them. So from there it was just folding my blinds away for a while. My stack was 1570 with the blinds at 100/200 (so I was getting on for short-stacked) when I got dealt K6o in the big blind. The button shoved for 380 total so it was another 180 to me to call. I called – I was getting decent pot odds so why not? His A6o had me dominated and it held up. Worth a shot though. Next hand and the short stack from the previous hand is getting frisky again. He raises to 400 from late position, just doubling the big blind and leaving him only 460 behind. I don’t understand this move. With a short stack this is an all-in or fold move. His raise has pot-committed him but was he trying to pick up the blinds (equal to more than one-third of his stack) with a small raise? I shove over the top for 1190 with A2o. He calls, shows me AJo and takes the pot when the board is no help to me. Actually I had a gutshot draw on the turn and river but it didn’t hit, and I would have needed to hit as his Ace dominated mine. Was it bad luck to be dominated twice in two hands or bad play to get into that situation in the first place?

    I tripled up with 66 next hand but two hands later the end came. I’m obviously still short stacked (1090 with blinds at 100/200) so when I get a half-decent Ace in mid-position I figure a shove is the right move. Except the button has AKs, flops a full house and absolutely thrashes my A6o. Oops!

    The first all-in call, the extra 180 out of the big blind was fair enough; I’d make that move every time. The second one I’m now not so sure about. I’m the small blind and it’s another 760 to me bearing in mind I only have 1090 behind. It’s three-quarters of my stack, lose and I’m as good as out. But I have an Ace so is this an automatic call? Looking bad I think I should have folded. I got carried away with the power of the naked Ace without due regard to my kicker. It should have been obvious that at best the other buy would have KJo or similar making me something like a 60/40 favourite. And that’s at best. I was most likely dominated or up against with a pocket pair in which case I am a significant dog. This was one I just didn’t think through well enough.

    There are elements of bad luck in that I ran into dominating hands so often but mostly it was bad play that sealed my exit here. That said, I had had nothing card or situation-wise to work with before the blinds had got to 100/200 so there is a little more bad luck there. Probably a score draw.

    11. 30/06/09 – 5th

    The first of last night’s continued attempts to smash the bad run I was on, and another failure.

    I raised to 3xBB, on the second level, with JJ from second position. The next player to act called. Hmmm, hello. The flop comes down 6-9-Q two suited. I lead out for 250 into a 450 pot. He comes over the top all-in. Eek. Think, think! Is he on a draw – straight or flush? Does he have top pair or better? Has he hit a set of 9s? A set of Queens doesn’t make sense, he’d have re-raised pre-flop surely. Set of sixes? Nah, doesn’t feel right. If he has a set it’s 9s. But I’m behind to a naked Queen at the minute so put him on a range. Oh, it has Queens in it but is also has several draws in it, which means I am ahead at present. It’s 900 more to me and I’m getting around 2/1 on the call. I trust my gut which isn’t saying fold and make the call. It’s good, he tables 88 giving me an overpair. The turn is another 9 and the river a J giving me a full house, and all of his chips. I am now in a strong position. Fold a few blinds, steal a couple back, and generally muck trash hands. The usual tight play really. And so it is until the next key hand, at 200/400 with my stack a couple of hundred above where it was after the earlier all-in win. We’re down to six players. It’s folded round to me one off the button and I shove for 3570 with 22 in the hole. The SB calls his remaining 1070 and tables AJs. I’m ahead but in equity terms slightly behind (51/49). You’ve already seen my record in coin flips over the past ten tournaments so I don’t know why I thought I could win this one. 7-4-T on the flop and I’m good so far. In fact I am a 72% favourite. The Q on the turn means he has outs for the gutshot as well as the overcards but I am still a 77% favourite. So when the Ace comes on the river to hand the villain the pot am I surprised? Not really.

    I switch to full-on larceny and what’s more I get away with it building my stack back from 2500 to 4300 and giving me a narrow chip lead. I give a little back in the blinds next orbit but I am still in decent nick. Middle position I get A2s and shove for 3400. The button calls for 2540, the blinds fold and it’s my A2s against his KQs. I’m 56/44 but is it enough? I pair my kicker on the 9-4-2 flop to put me further ahead. Just need to dodge those Kings and Queens. A 3 on the turn, good. He’s on a six-outer now. And the river is a King. Rivered again! I’m now down to under 900 with the blinds at 300/600. I’m less than an orbit away from exiting at this rate. I double up with pocket 3s two hands later but I am still in trouble. I get another double up a few hands later with T8o against K2o when I flop a straight. I was almost competitive again now. The end comes with a hand I am seriously questioning playing ever again – A2o. I shove from the button, the SB calls with pocket 8s to be a 70/30 favourite. The Ace I need doesn’t come so out I go in 5th.

    So I got rivered twice in that one. I managed to build my stack back up from the brink a couple of times so I put a real fight together but ultimately it wasn’t to be. What of that last hand though? Through analysing these STTs I am beginning to really hate A2 as a hand for shoving all-in with. That said given the situation I was in I was looking to steal the blinds again, as I needed to, and figured a suited Ace was good enough. Perhaps I should raise my shove requirements to A5 or something though, and try to get round some of these kicker problems that way. I’m going to put this one down as bad luck because I think any bad play on my part was more than countered by some excellent play in building up my stack again twice in the late stages and at least going for the win.

    12. 30/06/09 – 5th

    Another 5th place, I think that makes it 5 out of the 12 tournaments I have analysed.

    This STT starts with a marginal hand, KTs, that I limp with in middle position behind an early position limper. The cut-off raises to 5xBB, the button calls as does the early limper. I bail out at this point. The betting got heavy on each street and ultimately it turns out the cut-off had 99 and the button 33. Unfortunately for the button they hit a 3 on the flop only for the cut-off to hit a 9 on the turn giving him set over set and busting the button out first hand. I was right to get out of that one it seems. I won those chips back two hands later with an uncalled raise with AQs. I folded a number of hands, including two rounds of blinds then won 290 chips with a re-raise holding QQ. No-one called. I few hands later I make 440 with JJ, which I didn’t have to showdown, and then a few hands later on I get pocket Jacks and this time make 240 without a showdown. I lose those 240 chips back two hands later getting ahead of my hand with 44 but it could have been much worse. The BB called my raise to 3xBB from mid-position, we checked the flop and turn (overcards a-plenty) and I called a weak min-bet on the river despite the T completing a straight draw. He flipped pocket Tens so I was never ahead. Way to passive from him for my liking but I got away from it cheaply I guess. Then it’s the usual fold some blinds, steal some blinds for a few orbits.

    The end came early during the 100/200 level, third hand at those blinds in fact. I had 2340 so 11.5xBB before posting my big blind. UTG min-raises, the SB shoves for a total of 1260 and with AJo I figure I am more than a coin flip here so shove over the top to get rid of the UTG player. He can’t overcall in this situation can he? Yes. I read the weak raise from UTG as a poor steal attempt or a desire to play a marginal hand on a flop without committing too much of his stack but also chancing a raise in case he can take the pot uncontested but perhaps I was wrong there. SB has 98s and UTG has 22 which makes me a narrow favourite (37%). The flop came down T-K-7 rainbow giving the SB an open-ended straight draw and up to 44% favourite with me on 30% narrowly ahead of the 2s. A 9 on the turn did me no favours and a Ten on the river sealed the deal. Grr!

    Without the UTG player in the hand with his pocket 2s I am just under 60/40 against the 98s so the shove over the top to try and squeeze out the pre-flop raiser seems like the right move. A call is weak and opens me up to a re-raise from UTG shoving and also makes it more inviting for the UTG player to join us on the flop in my opinion. A fold is out the question – win this hand and I knock out another player as well as add a nice chunk to my stack.

    I don’t mind how I played this hand at all, although it seems annoying to have gone out with 11.5xBB in my stack. I wasn’t imperilled at all at this stage and could have jousted with the others and probably picked up a few more BB along the way. I was playing well, and feeling confident in my play too. I couldn’t have folded AJo in that situation I don’t think so I am putting this one down to bad luck more than anything.

    Summary
    So that’s twelve sit-and-go tournaments analysed but how has it all panned out? Was it bad luck or bad play that has caused me to lose $102 in this time? Tallying it up it looks like there has been twice as much bad luck as bad play, which is a relief. Luck can change (OK, bad play can be changed too) but it means I do most things right enough I am just not getting the breaks. Look at the coin flips I lost along the way, and the hands where I was a 5/1 favourite and got beaten, or the hands where I got rivered. I was getting my money in good (most of the time) but I just wasn’t getting the breaks. Hopefully there’ll be a correction along soon and I will reap the benefits of my good plays and make some of that $102 back.



  6. #96

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    2nd July 2009
    A bit better tonight, at least I cashed in one of the two STTs I played. Sure, it was only 3rd so I ended up with a loss of $2 on the night but it was better than a loss of $22 I guess.

    I don't think I staggered the tourneys enough tonight, I only had only level between them rather than the normal level and a half as I thought I was going to be pushed for time, and that had an impact on my game towards the end. Also in the event I didn't cash in I made a fundamental error and made too small a raise and opened myself up to an all-in shove over the top when we were into the short-handed stealing phase. I knew as soon as I had made the smaller raise that it was a mistake and I shouted at myself but the other fella made the right move, over the top, and left me in a much worse chip position than I would have liked to have been in. Can't complain too much about the luck in these tourneys though, so that's a start



  7. #97

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    3rd July 2009
    A 4th place in my normal $11 STT on Empire Poker this evening. I just had one table on the go for reasons I will come to in a minute. My exit came a few hands after crippling myself my mis-reading my opponent in a hand, shoving with a low pair and getting called by a much better hand. Oops! Still, live and learn.

    When I started this STT adventure I had $75 that Empire had stolen from me and then given back when I moaned. I am now up just $10 after around 30 STTs, not the best ROI in the world by any means. I need to think now about what to do with that $85. I'll probably continue in the $11 STTs (I'm not dropping down to $6 as the rake is a massive 20%) and see what happens. If I lose all that I'm not sure what I will do but I have a few ideas, including dumping Empire Poker and going to Poker Stars or Full Tilt or somewhere like that and trying my luck there. I'm thinking of drawing my poker bankroll out of Bet365 so I could use that to start a new 'roll elsewhere.

    Before I do that though I should tell you about my latest adventure. And yes, I know I only just started down the STT route and you must think I can't see anything through (which can be pretty much true unless it's going well, unfortunately) but a book I was reading last night basically goaded me into giving low stakes heads-up STTs a go, so that's what I tried tonight. Sheesh! I knew what I was letting myself in for in terms of action etc and I was well prepared for that but what I wasn't prepared for was some of the beats I got tonight. I played seven heads-up matches and won only two of them. Twice I got a full house beaten by a bigger full house. In my last match I was playing a passive trappy sort of player, managed to get it all in pre-flop with AA against his 77 and he hits a 7 on the turn! I got rivered 3 or 4 times again tonight too. I'm only playing $2+0.10 matches just to get me into the groove, and playing off a roll at Bet365 that has about £200 in so I am not worried about the cash as such but sheesh, what do I have to do to win a game of poker sometimes?

    Maybe I need to seriously think about going fishing in the American waters...



  8. #98

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    4th July 2009
    I continued by heads-up adventure on the $2+0.10 tables this morning and I can't see it lasting much longer if my luck continues to run as it did this morning. It was a record of won 4, lost 4 in today's session so far.

    In the first game I got top two pair beaten by a rivered straight to cripple me and then got my Ace outkicked on the final hand. Second match I got pocket Aces cracked, again the guy hit a straight on the river. Hurrah, I won one. The next one was over in 2 minutes when my second nut straight (flopped) got beaten by a rivered full house! In the next game I got two pair beaten by a rivered flush to leave me struggling and on the final hand he hit two pair on the bloody river to beat my flopped pair of Aces. Then finally the luck went my way and I won three on the spin.

    But how many times must a man get rivered?



  9. #99

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    7th July 2009
    My heads-up experiment continues at pace. I have tried to get a few games in each night, with each taking 15-20 minutes I can easily fit them into gaps I find in the evening so I am able to play more a night than I would STTs (obviously). Unfortunately it's not the most successful experiment I have tried. After 32 tourneys I am down $15.20 giving me a ROI of -22.62%. I am only finishing in the money (1st) 40.63% of the time, way down on what I need to make this game pay.

    I think I know what I am doing wrong though. Without realising it at times I regard bets, especially big bets, from my opponents as suspicious. I may have JJ with the flop of T-4-9 two suited when my opponent bets, I raise and he shoves all-in over the top (as happened this evening). I have an overpair so the best he can have is a draw (flush, straight) or top pair with a good kicker right? Wrong! He can (and did) have top two pair which leaves me pretty slim pickings. I have to give my opponents credit for hands more often. I need to play more of a small-ball trappy style and not be afraid to let pots go. I'm normally pretty good at this but I haven't been so hot heads up recently.

    The plan is to get to 50 tourneys and then end the experiment there. It's been fun, taken me 6 hours so far (so I am looking at about 10 hours in total) and if my current win rate continues I will have lost less than 2 normal STT buy-ins, which is OK.

    Talking of STTs, I have separated out the two dodgy speed events I entered on Empire when I first got back into tourney play and having done so looked again at my stats for 10-player STTs. My ROI is 10.39% with an ITM of 35.71% (4 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 4 x 3rd). That's not as bad as I thought although the sample is only 28 tourneys. But I am happy with that so far and that ROI certainly seems to be in the right ball park for STTs according to the guys at twoplustwo. I'd like to get 100 STTs played at that level before re-evaluating where I stand. I'm going to try to do that at Empire and then switch to PokerStars so that I am at least getting some form of reward for my play through their VIP club as Empire's is crap! If I lose my Empire bankroll then I will shift to 'Stars at that point.



  10. #100

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    8th July 2009
    I won 5 out of 6 heads-up matches this evening, and it should have been a clean sweep but I let some chatty git get under my skin a little and he beat me.

    But I am now up to 38 played and nearly back to 50/50 success rate with 18 wins and 20 losses (47.37%). OK, a 50/50 win rate is still a loser due to the tournament fees but it's my first target. My ROI is now up to -9.77% with a net loss of $7.80 so things are steadily improving. There's a possibility I might actually break even on this little folly



  11. #101

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    9th July 2009
    3 winns from 4 tonight, and the one I lost I got trapped very nicely in so I can't complain too much. That brings me to 42 heads-up matches played with a record of 21 wins and 21 losses. I have lost $4.20 during that time in house fees, equivalent to a -4.76% ROI but I am at least up to 50/50 on the strike rate. I said I planned to play 50 such events so I should see that target met tomorrow or on Saturday at the latest. The worst I can do now then is to lose the buy-ins for the last 8 matches, another $16.80 for a total loss of $21, less than two of my normal STT buy-ins. I'd settle for that as my maximum loss given the way I have played at times and the luck I have had.

    I have actually enjoyed this experiment and may use heads-up matches as a quick way to scratch the poker itch when I don't fancy playing an STT, or don't have time to play one.



  12. #102

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    12th July 2009
    During the rain delay in yesterday's cricket I finally managed to reach my target of 50 heads-up matches. I had played 3 of the final 8 matches on Friday night and had lost them all so when I sat down to play the final set of games I wasn't particularly confident about winning. I knew I couldn't make a profit from the full set of 50 matches now, having lost 24 of them and to be quite honest I went in to the final games just looking to get them played rather than worrying too much about trying to play to the best of my ability. I wasn't feeling that great either, which could easily have twisted my mindest further. In despite of all of that I did win though, all 5 of the games. In one I got a little lucky when shoving all-in pre-flop with KK after a series of raises and counter-raises only for my opponent to insta-call and flip AA. He was obviously trying the same thing as me, min-raising to try and get more in the pot before one could reasonably shove all-in and expect to get a call. Fortunately I connected with the flop and he missed everything so my 4/1 shot came in.

    After 50 heads-up STTs my stats are 26 wins and 24 losses for a cash loss of just $1, a ROI of -0.95%.

    But what now? That's a very good question. I think I will go back to standard 10-man STTs as I was playing a week or so ago before I started on this heads-up escapade. That would certainly be the sensible thing to do. I was making a little money at them and I could do with that continuing. As I said in a previous post I am going to stick with Empire for now, until I lose that bankroll (or make it a nicely withdrawable sum) and then switch to somewhere like PokerStars as I feel I should be on a better rewards scheme. Not that I play that much and not that rewards schemes are that rewarding for someone like me but all the same the one at Empire is crap and worth nothing at all to me. And as I am likely to be playing a lot more poker soon I might as well be getting all the benefits from it I can.



  13. #103

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    13th July 2009
    I played two more STTs last night, 10-man jobs on Empire Poker, staggered by 15 minutes again so it was back to the normal way of me playing these events. And by heck what a difference playing those 50 heads-up matches had made to my game. I had forgotten how to play! I could play aggressive heads-up poker pushing marginal edges and so on but that's not at all what I needed here. I was badly overvaluing hands that would be great heads-up but poor at a full table. I was making fairly solid raises/re-raises but getting bet off the pot but a big re-raise. Oh dear.

    The first STT was certainly just a pipe-opener, blowing away the cobwebs. I ended up short-stacked and went out in 8th trying to push edges that just weren't there. In the second tourney I nearly busted in something like 6th but dragged a very short stack back from the edge of oblivion and built it back to a nice stack, right up there with the chip leaders. I continued to play aggressively, but in a controlled manner and managed to get in the money, then heads-up with the player to my right who had been all over the place. I had a chip lead going into the heads-up and continued to press home by advantage. He would fold a lot of small blinds and often folded to c-bets too so I was winning pots and chipping away at his stack. At one stage I had him down to around 2000 chips so I had around a 9/1 chip lead. Unfortunately he battled back well, brought it back level, nearly gave it away but eventually beat me. I was a bit gutted about that as I really thought I should have won that one but given my stack size at one stage when I was nearly out I should be pleased with second place really.



  14. #104

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    13th July 2009 (part two)
    Three more STTs ticked off this evening and I'm one step nearer my goal, although I have revised it to 50 STTs rather than 100 as I said previously. This is because I lost all focus this evening, especially in the early stages. I got bored, my mind wandered and I did everything else except play poker most of the time. That certainly explains the 8th place finish in my first event - I was cleaning out my e-mail at the same time. That and running into pocket Aces twice on my final two hands of course. I then fired up another, kind of ignored it for a while just folding hands as necessary but when it started to get interesting with 5 or 6 players left I took more notice. I also fired up a second game. I got lucky in both events, probably in all three as it happens, but played well short-handed in the second of tonight's tourneys to see myself into a solid cashing position when 4-handed one player busted the two shorter stacks to take a chip lead into heads-up. But I wasn't daunted and through some solid heads-up play I beat him and netted the win. I busted in 5th in the other event though, rather timidly too. I had pocket sixes, got all the money in the middle with a reasonable stack and a decent chance of doubling up but found myself up against ATo. I dodged the bullets right till the river when his Ace hit and busted me. Ah well. A profit of $17 on the night isn't too bad.

    I have now played 33 of these full table STTs with 5 wins, 3 second places and 4 thirds for an ITM of 36.36%. My ROI is 15.70% which I am pretty happy with, overall. Yes, the sample is small so one tourney can cause great fluctuations but it's going well enough so far.

    My new plan - and knowing me it's bound to change soon - is to play 50 full table normal speed STTs and then look to up the pace of the game. I found myself getting bored today so the answer is more STTs at once or more speed in each game. More speed means pressing more marginal hands as the blinds increase and luck becomes a bigger factor faster but I am in the mood (at the minute) to experiment. I want to play short-handed STTs, speed/turbo STTs and also more heads-up matches, although perhaps not speed/turbo versions of those as I find the normal speed events are usually over in 12-15 minutes so I have my short, sharp dose of poker there anyway. Things can get pretty pacy in those normal speed heads-up games anyway. Whether this plan lasts the week or two it takes me to play the rest of these STTs remains to be seen but it's a plan nonetheless.



  15. #105

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    14th July 2009
    I have found myself with some poker time today and have tried not to waste it. I have played two sessions so far - 4 STTs in the first and 7 more in the second.

    The less said about the first session the better really. I got into four coin-flips, one in each event that had a significant say in my result in that tournament. I say coin-flips, we're talking pocket pair against two overcards which is really 55/45 in favour of the pair generally speaking but you know what I mean. Three times I had the overcards (AK v 77, AK v JJ and AQ v 44) and each time the villain hit trips just to rub it in a bit more. The fourth time I had 99 against AQ so was the favourite there but lost. So nothing doing in any of these events - two more 8th places, a 6th and a 5th. It seems 8th is a popular finishing position for me. More on that in a minute perhaps.

    The second session was much better would could, and perhaps should, have been even better. I recorded three second places and a third, plus another 8th, a bubbled 4th and another 5th place. For the bubble I lost another race, 55 against AJ and in one of the heads-up encounters I got AK cracked by Q3 to drastically reduce my stack. That combined with my impatience at not turning these stacks into wins resulted in me crapping out a few hands later.

    I have played 44 normal speed STTs now and recorded 5 wins, 6 seconds and 5 thirds (ITM of 36.36% still). That's 16 out of 44 in the money. I have also had nine 5th places and seven 8th place finishes so that's another 16 out of the total of 44. The other finishes have been four times on the bubble, five 6th places, two 7ths and just one 9th. I have never busted out first and thus finished 10th. And? In 29 of the 44 events I have finished in the top 5, a strike rate of nearly 67%. I know the games play differently but this could be promising if I decide to give double or nothing STTs another go, as I probably will. Hmm.

    So far today I have lost one buy-in ($11) across all the tourneys I have played. That means my profit now stands at $46 (9.50% ROI) and even if I bust out of the remaining 6 STTs I need to meet my 50 STT target I will still have some money left in my Empire Poker account as my maximum loss is now limited to just $20. That's actually quite reassuring.



  16. #106

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    14th July 2009 (part 2)
    I managed to squeeze a couple more STTs into an unexpected gap that opened up. I finished 7th in the first after getting myself with a steady stack that just wouldn't go anywhere and I ended up getting short-stacked in the face of rising blinds. I went card dead too which didn't help and when I did get a decent hand I shoved AQo for around 4xBB (which is all I had left) in early position and got two callers who tabled AA and AKs. That'll be the Aces accounted for then. The couple of Queens I needed didn't arrive and i was out. No real complaints, I just didn't get the hands I needed to keep my head above water is all.

    In the second event it was heading along similar lines to the first but there was a couple of players intent on building a big stack so the game was moving along at a greater pace than the first. Indeed we were 5-handed in the second event when the first was still 8-handed and was a level ahead. I realised that thanks to the big stacks tangling and consolidating in the hands of one player I ought to be able to fold my way into the money if I can steal a couple of blinds before then, which I managed to do. I went into the money with around 6-7xBB in my stack. The guy in second place at the time had about double that with the other fella holding a massive chip lead. I battled back taking a good chunk off the other short stack with pocket 7s that made trips on the turn and the big stack finished him off shortly afterwards. When we went heads-up I was outchipped by 17000 to 3000. I chipped up a bit with pocket Kings holding up before the villain made a massive mistake trying to trap me. He had flopped a flush with K4s against my 73o but he let me in cheaply enough along the way (and I acknowledge I was gambling here but my reads were that he didn't have much) allowing me to river a full house. He wasn't impressed. That gave me a two-to-one chip lead which I was able to press home and win with a straight on the last hand. Finally I turned one of these recent heads-up battles into a win, and it was from a lousy initial chip position too which makes it sweeter



  17. #107

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    15th July 2009
    I finished off the remainder of the normal speed full table STTs today, the final four to get me to my target of 50 played. I'm not in the mood to go into too much detail on them, too tired for that but my sequence of results was 4th, 3rd, 7th and 2nd. That means I have an overall profif of $80 from the full set of 50 tourneys for a ROI of 14.55%, which I am very happy with. Out of the 50 tournaments I recorded 6 wins, 7 second places and 6 thirds, which I am also pretty pleased with. Still early days and a small sample but looking good.

    After that I moved on the speed events, which on Empire Poker are 5 minute levels. I thought about moving to Poker Stars as their turbo events have 5 minute levels too but I had played two of the speed events on Empire already so thought I'd stick there. I had $133 in my Empire account and cashing out would cost me $3 so I could take the $130 and run or I could carry on and see what I could spin it up too, so that's what I did.

    These speed events are weird, and I'm not sure they are entirely my thing but I'll try to get 50 of them played anyway. I got 10 of them played today and bagged two wins plus a second and a third place. I know that I need to press marginal hands more in these events and big cards go up in value pre-flop due to the faster rising blinds. Luck also plays a greater part, due to the faster structure and going card dead can really hurt. It happened to me several times today. Once I was down to under 2xBB but I still managed to cash in that one through some good (lucky) double ups. Bizarrely enough other than the four cashes I also recorded finishes of 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, although not in that order admittedly. But in the 12 events of this type I have played I have filled 9 of the 10 finishing slots. I still keep my proud record of no 10th place finishes in my STTs. Anyway, my stats for the speed STTs are a ROI of 13.64% ($18 net profit) which I would be happy with were it to continue around that level and an ITM of 33.33%.

    Onwards and upwards!



  18. #108

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    16th July 2009
    I've had better evenings at the tables I can tell you that much.

    I played 8 more speed STTs at Empire this evening and things didn't start well. I had battled into the final four of the first tourney and was sat comfortably in terms of chip position. I wasn't leading by any means but I was keeping my stack steady enough and waiting for two of the others to go to war and hopefully one would get eliminated, or at least have their stack crippled. With blinds at 300/600 I shoved for 4820 with AQo when it was folded to me in the SB. The BB was chip leader and had 8100 so I could do serious damage to his stack and put him right back in the scrap. That's assuming he didn't call with AA and knock me out of course. Hmmm. This was followed by a 7th place (I couldn't get my big Aces to stand up so got knocked out quite tamely), a 6th (I got AQ beaten by A3 which rivered a straight), another 7th (AKo beaten by QTo and QTo of my own dominated by KQs on the final hand), another 6th place (I was very short stacked and couldn't get anything going at all due to being card dead) before I lost my cherry and recoded my first 10th place. Here it was another case of running into Aces, this time with AK then on the final hand I lost with AQo against T5s which made a damn flush. Pah!

    Things then picked up, as one would hope they would after losing 6 on the spin with a 3rd place, which could have been better had I shown some bottle on the second level (30/60). I'm in the small blind with KK. Middle position raises to 240. The next player calls, as do I. The BB folds and three of us see a flop of 3-4-5 rainbow. I check looking to check-raise. The pre-flop raiser shoves all in for just over 1500, the caller calls again for 1090 all-in and I have a tough decision. Am I facing a set? Has one got bullets with the other overvaluing a big pocket pair (JJ, QQ)? I can't see a made straight but a straight draw with the Ace maybe but that's a gutshot. I fold as I don't want to risk it all and bust our early. The pre-flop raiser tables 88 with the other one showing TT. I had them both crushed. The turn was an Ace and the river a 6 so any 2 or 7 would have made the straight but I would have won. Hmm. Dissecting the hand again now it was the two all-ins that scared me so I folded and I'm not sure it was that bad a move actually. I went out with T4s against 88, trying to steal the blinds from the button to put myself in a better chip position.

    The final event of the evening I won, and I certainly needed to to bring things back on track. When heads up we swapped blinds about for a few hands, I took a few off him and then got QQ. I min-raised and sucked him in only for a K to hit the flop. We got all the money in and he had K2o. Fortunately I made a straight on the river to take it down and put some respectibility back on proceedings.

    My profit in these speed events is now zero so I don't need to calculate the ROI for you. My win and 3rd this evening gives me an overall ITM of 30%, which I would obviously like to improve on.

    Still not sure these speed events are my thing though, not really.



  19. #109

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    Quote Originally Posted by mathare View Post
    16th July 2009
    I've had better evenings at the tables I can tell you that much

    Things then picked up, as one would hope they would after losing 6 on the spin with a 3rd place
    matt,tuesday and wednesday i lost 18,$10 sit n gos on the trot.
    i was not amused,let me tell you.i was gettting beaten by sharks with an roi of -50% or even worse.
    i was hitting sets on the flop but the fish would call all of their stack just to hope for one card to make straights or flushes and they would always seem to hit
    but since then ive pulled back half of that.at this point of writing i'm even for the week.so by sunday i hope to post a profitible week on my thread



  20. #110

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    Losing 18 in a row is something else indeed, sheesh!

    I don't feel as I am playing that badly, which is good as I am largely a confidence player I think. If things are going my well I can feed off that and play good, solid poker. My instincts seem much more in tune with the game when I am doing well. Conversely when I am in a slump my game can definitely suffer. Not to the point where I will steam and tilt off all my chips, more that I am likely to try to press edges that aren't really there or attempt a steal in the wrong situation. But deep down I have a solid risk-averse base that will stop me shoving all my chips in if I don't think I at least have some chance of winning the hand.

    Talking of being risk averse, it strikes me as weird to think that a few months ago I was grinding limit cash games, perhaps the most risk averse game there is and now I am mixing it up in NLHE STTs and feeling a lot happier with it. I know from my gambling experience that I naturally shy away from risk, other than the risk one has to take in placing any bet. I don't like to risk more cash than I have to so my banks grow slowly but I am taking steps to throw off some of these shackles in a controlled manner and make more from my gambling activities. My dabbling with various tourney types at the poker tables I intend to find a form of the game I am happy to play on a regular basis, perhaps even bordering on full time when I have left this job. At present I don't think speed STTs are it despite my recent craving for action. I'm also not sure I am going to like short-handed STTs as I have always played 10-handed and feel more comfortable with my starting hand requirements at such tables but I am willing to give the short-handed form of the game a go anyway



  21. #111

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    17th July 2009
    I played seven more speed STTs this evening and cashed in four of them. That's more like it

    A win, two second places and a third for my cashes this evening plus a 4th, 7th and an 8th. I should have converted that bubble finish into a cash too but for bad play on my part. There was a real short stack (less than 2.5xBB) and he was in the BB. There was no SB as he had bust on the previous hand. I raise all-in to around 6xBB second to act looking to steal the blind or even better break the short-stack. The button called - not part of the plan! His A8o hit the flop better than my KQo and his pair of Aces beat my Kings. I could have folded my way into the cash but I was trying to attack on the bubble and saw a good enough hand to try it with. Maybe I ought to tighten up more in these situations to guarantee third place money. It's kinda not really my style though.

    That's 4 x 1st, 3 x 2nd and 3 x 3rd place out of 27 tournaments now, or an ITM of 37.04%. I have made a profit of $53 which equates to a ROI of 17.85%. I'm pretty happy with those figures :)



  22. #112

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    this is what i am up against day after day.another night of losing $80 to sharks

    Attached Images Attached Images


  23. #113

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    18th July 2009
    I only managed to get six speed STTs in today - had I put my mind to it I could have got a lot more in but the cricket and gardening took over instead. Perhaps it was best I only got six in based on how they went. 7th, 4th, 9th, 3rd, 2nd and 8th. It was another day of being outdrawn and lucky river cards but that's poker and I'm not going to moan about bad beats. I know this game is a long-term proposition and everything evens out in the end so I don't get het up over being outdrawn. As long as I am getting my money in good - and tonight I was doing that far more often than not - then I will make a profit in the long run.

    My stats for the speed events now read 33 played and 12 cashes (ITM 36.36%) comprising 4 each of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for a profit of $37 or a ROI of 10.19%. I'd take those stats long-term I can tell you that much.



  24. #114

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    19th July 2009
    One of my worst days at the tables today. A really, really frustrating day. In cricket parlance I got a start so many times but couldn't capitalise on any of them. Fourteen STTs played and all I have to show for it is one second place :(

    It was another of those days of outdraws and lousy river cards that do all they can to crush my hand. I'd get my money in good with a dominating hand but the villain would hit his undercard and beat me. I'd be on two pair and my opponet would hit a bigger two pair on the river or perhaps runner-runner to beat me. It was that sort of thing all day. It wasn't all bad luck, there was some bad play in there also but bad luck in this form of the game with the fast structure is more damaging than in a slower form. Luck has a greater impact on your results, and that's not what I need when it's not running my way. This has confirmed my earlier thoughts that I prefer low variance games such as the normal speed STTs.

    And my stats will bear that out now. 47 speed STTs played but only 13 cashes (ITM 27.66%) and a loss of $87 or a ROI of -16.83%. That's bad! A loss of $124 this afternoon from 14 tourneys.

    On the bright side there is only 3 of these events left to play



  25. #115

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    19th July 2009
    I wanted to get the last three speed STTs out the way and though I didn't feel I was in the most positive mindset I played them anyway. And my destiny to lose became a self-fulfilling prophecy as I played pretty badly.

    In the first of tonight's events I played two hands (out of 16) before I was busted. I folded JJ into a 9-3-4 two suited flop when a medium stack bet out double the pot. He could have had anything as he was starting to show loose tendencies but I thought I'd wait for a better spot. Five hands later I have QQ and build a bit of a pot pre-flop by re-raising the LAG villain from the JJ hand. The flop comes 6-T-7 two suited and I overbet the pot with a shove (1280 into a 1050 pot). He thinks for a few seconds then calls with J9s with two of his on the board. The turn completes his straight flush and I start to feel a bit sick. I was better than 80/20 pre-flop and even got my money in good (57/43) on the flop. The suited 8 on the river was just evil.

    In the second one I was going along quite nicely as we got down to 5 players. Middle-position raises to 4xBB and I shove for 6.5xBB over the top, knowing he will call. I show AJo and he flips AA. Oh crap! And I'm out.

    To be perfectly honest I was in no fit mental state to be playing the third one but I had already started it and basically bust myself out. I called a short stack when I was on the BB to hopefully eliminate him and chip up. I was getting around 1.3/1 on the pre-flop call and had 68s so I ought to have two live cards at least. He showed me A8s and took the pot with Ace high. Next hand I called an all-in with a suited Ace from the SB after UTG had raised. His ATs held up against my A7s and I knew the all-in call was stoopid but I was short-stacked, desperate and frustrated with speed poker that I just wanted out.

    This has been an expensive experiment then, costing me $120 which is a ROI of -21.82%. Only 13 cash finishes means my ITM is a poor 26%. I'm glad this is over!

    Tomorrow I will deposit into my PokerStars account and then it's the start of a new challenge - the double or nothing tourneys :)



  26. #116

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    20th July 2009
    I still can't believe I only managed 1 cash in 17 games yesterday - that's awful! :(

    As a confidence player this has set me back a bit. Not as far as it could have done had I not had a plan to take my poker forward but it's a knock back all the same. Tonight I will switch to the 10-man double or nothings on PokerStars but probably down at the $5+0.40 level rather than the $10 stakes I had been playing at Empire. I was only playing the $11 tourneys there because of the proportionately smaller rake ($10+1) compared to the $5 tourneys, which also have a $1 rake - 20% of the entry fee! But at 'Stars the rake on the $5 is only 8% for the double or nothings and 10% (I think) on the normal 9-man STTs.

    I dabbled in a quick play money STT on Stars last night just to get some of the options set right and get used to a new interface and table layout. I think I have just about got it sorted but as with any new site it will take a little getting used to. That's another reason to drop down to the $5 tourneys.

    I'm looking forward to tonight and getting started on this new challenge. I need to try and put yesterday behind me and move on...



  27. #117

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    20th July 2009 (part two)
    A mixed start to my life on PokerStars and the $5+$0.40 double or nothing tournaments. I cashed in the first two but bombed out in the second two, in 9th and on the bubble in 6th. Lack of playable cards was the main reason for the two busts I have to admit. I hardly had any hand worth even a sniff at a flop so I was playing ultra-tight. But I felt comfortable on the site, which is one good thing, and soon dropped back into the double or nothing mindset having been away from it for a while.

    So two cashes gives me an ITM of 50% but an overall loss if $1.60 due to the rake. It'll get better...



  28. #118

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    21st July 2009
    I've been thinking back over some of my recent play (although without PokerTracker to help me) and I think I am overplaying some hands such as KJ, KT, QT etc. Decent high-card hands but not world-beaters by any means. These are marginal hands in my book, depending on position and the action before me of course, but I think I end up pushing them harder than perhaps I should when stacks start to get shorter. I need to have a good think about balancing my stack size, those of my opponents and the high-card nature of my hand. After all, two thirds of the time a hand misses the flop and in the late stages of the game when it gets to the pushbot stage players will shove plenty of hands so I want to make sure I am in there with a decent chance against there likely range.



  29. #119

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    21st July 2009 (part two)
    I have been wondering about the structure of STTs across the various sites and how fast/slow they are. I have proven to myself that the fast structure of the speed STTs at Empire (Party) didn't suit me whereas I did OK at the normal speed STTs there. My initial impressions of the 'Stars STTs where that were quite slow and I could easily see myself multi-tabling 3 or 4 of them. So is the structure on Stars that much slower, regardless of the length of the blind levels?

    Party/Empire have normal blind levels 10 minutes long (speed tourney levels are 5 minutes long), the same as PokerStars. Levels seem to be 9 minutes long on Bet365. I took a note of the starting stack at each site and the blind levels, plus any antes, to compare structures. I used Harrington's M (stack divided by cost of an orbit) as a comparator. The calculations are somewhat artificial as I have calculated M based on the starting stack and a full table for each level. I wanted to look at how long I would last under those conditions at each level at each site.

    Party is the fastest structure with level 1 being an M of 33.33 rapidly dropping to 0.38 at level 10. PokerStars has an M of 50 for level 1 going down to an M of 1 in level 10. Bet365 has a similar structure but the levels are a minute shorter so my M drops quicker in time, if not levels.

    So yeah, Party has a pretty fast structure anyway without the speed element to shorten the levels. PokerStars has the slowest structure of the sites I compared so I will need to multi-table these to fit a decent number of tourneys in during a poker session.



  30. #120

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    21st July 2009 (part three)
    It went better this evening - I cashed in 3 out of 5 double or nothing events on PokerStars so I am at least in profit now. It's only $1.40, a ROI of 2.88% but it is still a profit.

    I said last night I had got back into the double or nothing midset quite quickly but I'm not sure that's true. I had forgotten how far removed from true poker these tourneys are. They start off like a standard STT, fair enough, but then it becomes a game of who can make the best folds as we get to the bubble with the shortest stacks all trying to outlast one another. In one of the double up tourneys I played tonight the bubble lasted 53 hands and nearly half an hour! I thought it was never going to burst, especially as it started with one stack much shorter than everyone else. I eventually busted him though :)

    I don't know yet whether it is PokerStars itself or the tourney type (and won't until I start playing other tourney types on 'Stars) but I am still not feeling 100% in these double or nothing events. I can't put my finger on what it is. Maybe I am now used to proper poker and so much of that goes out the window around the bubble in these events as it doesn't matter whether you have one chip or all the chips at the end as long as you survive into the final five. I find myself folding hands I'm normally push simply because I don't need to fight the opponents in the blinds and want to work on the shorter stacks. It's just not proper poker and that may be what is bugging me. The only way to be sure is to play standard STTs at PokerStars too but I won't do that until I have played another 41 of these crazy tourneys. And I'm out for the next few evenings so it won't be then.



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