I’ve recently started playing in the 45-person $10 Sit and Gos and out of 6 games I have been in the money 2 times. I’ve placed 3rd and 1st. I used to always play the $1 and $5 but didn’t do as well as I have so far. Maybe it’s too soon to judge and I have not played enough games to make this conclusion, but I’ve noticed that there are a lot less donkeys playing the higher stakes tables. But they are out there, and once I have spot them, I have been able to make them pay for it before they suck out (which of course still happens). I’ve also noticed that people are a little more conservative at the higher stakes tables making it easier to steal blinds when you are big stack. It has backfired on me a couple of times when people slow play me, but most of the time I’m able to steal a lot of blinds when big stacked. So if you find yourself losing to a lot of 3 outers or other suck outs on the low stakes tables, give the higher stakes a try and draw your own conclusions.

Share This

I just receive a copy of Phil Gordon’s Little Blue Book yesterday, for which many of us signed up to receive at the WPBT summer event.  Happy reading to all the recipients and I hope this book will improve our game.

Share This

I went there with the wife, so I had a thought time getting away to go and meet everyone, but the people that I met were very cool. Overall, I feel I had a good game and learned a lot from my mistakes. The level of play was above average with some very good players in the mix. I finished in the Mid 30s but feel I could have gotten further if it wasn’t for two unfortunate plays. One of these plays was of course the one that took me out of the tournament, but more about that later. Since this story may be too long, I will divide it into two parts. Early in the game I made a tough fold to Jay Greenspan when there had been a raise from a third person pre-flop and Jay and I called (I had AQ suited) and the flop came at Q-9-8 (rainbow) and Jay bet 1/3 of the pot, the other person folded and I re-raise him doubling his bet…but he went all in. It was a tough fold for me, but it was too early in the tournament (like the 7th hand) and Jay had shown some very good hands prior to that, and to tell you guys the truth, I was a little intimidated by him, so I laid it down. For my first mistake on the tournament, I actually mucked pocket Kings. Yes, that was not a typo…I MUCKED KK (accidentally). My table was too loud because there were too many side conversations and the dealer did not help much because he was tired and didn’t repeat whether the person had raised, folded or gone all in. In this case, I had raised 4 times the blinds from about middle position with KK after everyone had folded in front to me. I saw everyone folding (at least that’s what I thought) after my raise and the dealer was gathering the chips, so I figured there were folds all around, so I threw my cards on the table faced down and the dealer proceeded to hand the chips over to a lady in the big blind. When I asked why he was doing that, he said…well, you mucked your cards after she went all in!! Agghrrr. I was pissed. I told him I did not hear her go all in and thinking I had won the pot, I had thrown my cards in. But that did not matter at that point. Had I heard her, I would have called her for sure since I had a 3 to 1 chip advantage over her and I highly doubt that she had a better hand than I did. So, a noisy environment and the inability to pay better attention put a dent in my stack. Continued in part II.

Share This

Earlier in the day, I received a gift from StatikKling: a golden hammer pin. So in the evening when I was playing at a $5 SnG I was thinking that I should play the hammer at least once in honor of that pin. I did not get the hammer until late in the game in which I was heads up with another player which I had a 3.5 to 1 chip advantage over him. So when I saw the hammer (off-suit) at the small blind, I went all in thinking my opponent would fold. To my surprise, I got called and he flipped over K5 os. In the flop my opponent paired his 5, but the turn came a 7 and the river a 2: giving me two pair and the victory. I did scream ”The Hamma” when I won. It turns out that pin was lucky….I think.

Share This

If anybody can answer this question or give their opinion, I would really appreciate it: If a person raises in front of me and I put more chips on the table than the original raise, and say “raise” while I’m letting the chips go from my hand, is this interpreted as a raise or just a call. How is this different from someone just pushing all his/her chips on the table implying they are all in and not saying anything (besides the obvious all in)?

Share This

That’s the comment I got from one of the tilters while I made my way to 1st at a 9-person/$30 SnG last night.  I had never played more than the $10 SNGs before, but since I was only going to play one game and this was my first game the whole week, I went for the $30 table.  The first few hands put me on the chip lead and I pretty much cruised to the final 4 after that.  On the first hand I was at the BB holding QJ offsuit and someone in middle position raised to 3x the blinds and everyone folded but me.  The flop was 6Q8 and the bet to me was 1.5x the pot.  I called again and another Q came on the turn.  The better pushed again and I pushed back all in and got called.  He was holding A8 (No chance or winning) and to make things worse for him, the river came a 6 giving me a boat and putting him out of the game.  The next big hand I won early in the game was when I was at the BB again with 67suited and a player in 4th position raised 3x the blinds.  Again everyone folded but me.  To my luck, the flop came 7j7.  He did a continuation bet of the pot and I put him at two over cards (maybe AQ or AJ) and just called. The turn came a 9 and he bet 3/4 of the pot and I called again.  Finally on the river shows a K and he bet the pot.  I re raised him putting him all in and he called.  His pair of Kings and 7s (he was holding AK) was no good for my three of a kind 7s.  Overall I feel I played well, calling some raises when I knew I didn’t have the best hand but flopped the better hand and let the other person do the work for me, occasionally re raising. I also did some good folds of AK, AQ and AJ. About 4 times I folded AK, AQ or AJ after raising before the flop and not pairing up anything on the flop and 3 of the four times, the other person showed their cards after my fold displaying trips, or top pair (I was behind all 3 times, therefore I considered those good folds).  The fourth lay down I was not able to see because the person who went all in on the flop was short stacked and didn’t want to show his hand.  Because I had shown a lot of strength throughout the game, displaying the best hand at showdown and occasionally showing my cards when no one called me, I won the respect of the table and I was able to steal some blinds and some pots by bluffing a few times.  This also allowed me to put people on hands because I realized they would only stay on a pot if they figured they had the nutz or the best hand out there. The bubble is where most of the time playing took place, but I knocked out the last 3 players with a boat, trips and on the heads up, with a pair of 7s. I had been playing almost every day and I had been doing ok (except that I got in trouble with the wife) but I think taking a few days off and coming back with a fresh mind really helped me increase my loot.  (Are you reading this StatikKling =))

Share This

Except when you are the one doing the sucking out, right?
This was at a fight for 1st place.  I was heads up at a 9-person, $11 SnG last night and I really sucked out bad on my opponent which crippled him and eventually led me to victory (and an argument with the woman over playing too much, but that’s another post =)).  The blinds were at 500/1000 and he had little more chips than I did.  Then, I’m at the BB with As3h and I raise 2.5x the BB, I get called and the flop came Ah8s2h.  So I bet out the pot and I’m left with about 1.5 blinds. My opponent re-raises putting me all in and I called.  He flips over AdKc - no hearts.  At this point, I think I’m dead and a miracle happens; two more hearts show up on the turn and river and gave me the flush suck out.  He wrote LOL, I apologized and he replied “np, it happens sometimes”.
The next hand would be the last one.  I was holding A6 suited on the small blind and my raise of 1x the blinds put him all in.  He called, flipping over 89os and no one paired up giving me the victory.  That’s when the next battle began….

Share This