Orleans Day 2

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Quote of the day: "America has a leader, but he’s not in the House. He’s walking here among us, and we’ve got to seek him out” Neil Young from his Living with War album

I started a post on day 2 last week, which was last Wednesday, but didn't get a chance to finish it till today.

So I decided to go to the gym for a quick sweat before day 2 of the tournament. Just a little cardio always seems to help me feel better at the poker game. I’ve put on quite a bit of weight since being basically immobile since February. While there are still a lot of things I can’t do physically, like I can’t stand for long periods of time etc., the cross training cardio machines at the gym are great because I can put some of my weight on my arms and it is less painful to the nerves in my legs, much easier than walking or even just standing.

Anyway, poor planning left me changing in the locker room when I should have been on my way to the Orleans, but it was good to get in the workout first. It just makes me feel so much better when I’m at the table.

So I arrived a little late, but actually only missed 3 hands and no blinds. I had 14,800 chips and the blinds started at 300/600 with 100 ante for the final 20 minutes of that level. After that the levels were the full 30 minutes.

I never got involved with an interesting hand the entire day. As I figured, there were a lot of short stacks, and lots of bustouts quickly. After the first hour we were down to 65 players. The only hands I played were where I raised and picked up the blinds. I seemed to keep up with the average stack but I was never involved in an action hand. After about 2 hours we were down to 50 players and another payout level of $250. I was having fun at the table, joking around with guys and stuff. One guy looked like Lou Holtz, and he said he played 2/4 limit regularly. When we got down to 50 players and the $250 payout level he said that now he was moving up to 4/8 lol. He kept winning with Jacks, not pocket jacks, I mean he kept flopping a jack. When he doubled through I told him he could play 4/8 with a kill now. I had fun talking back and forth with some of the guys and it made for a fun table. I was very relaxed at the table and really enjoying it, which was a benefit as I think everyone else except Lou Holtz was tense about the prize money. I put the money out of my mind and minimized the distraction it could cause to my game. There was a guy at the table next to me that was trying to get everyone to chop it 35 ways when it gone down that far. He had a buddy at my table who tried to convince our table on the 35 way chop! And most people were going for it! They were obviously distracted by the money.

Twice I had 88 when a player went all-in in front of me from early/mid position, once in my big blind, and I mucked both times. I think most of the players at the table would have called with it. I continued to keep up with the average stack Jones’s but the blinds were increasing. My first flop/action came with 500/1500 blinds (a stupid level?) with 200 ante. My stack sat at about 16,000 and there was 4,000 in the pot in blinds/antes and it was folded around to me on the button and I looked at T8o. With an M of 4 and two scared players behind me with stacks a little less, I pushed all-in. The SB quickly folded and the BB took a long time to consider and finally called. He showed 33. I think it was a bad call by him as he had 11,000 chips and no chance of being a big favorite in the hand, but he held up and I was down to around 5,000. I needed a hand, and two hands later I caught an AK. A player went all-in in front of me so I called in this spot and Lou Holtz called behind us. They showed 77 and QJ, and I hit two Kings to beat them both and my stack was back to 18,000.

I picked up TT soon after that and the player on my right raised to 5,000. I had been watching him and knew his range was like 44+, AQ/AJ. There wasn’t much room left with the blinds in this spot, so even with 6 players to act behind us I pushed my 18,000 chips in with the tens. The BB was somewhat short and called about 6,000 worth, and the raiser thought for an eternity (someone else called a clock on him) and finally mucked 77 face up. I held over the BBs A8 and had around 30,000 chips as we hit 20 players and the $500 payout mark. 11-20 would get $500, 6-10 got $1,000, 5th $5,000 4th $7,500 3rd $10,000 2nd $20,000 1st $35,000. I was sure that the last 5 or 6 would propose an equity chop, so that was the goal to reach the last 6 or so in decent shape and then decide what to do.

I held steady for a while as we got down to 16 and I was moved to the other table to even things out. I wished everyone good luck at the table and joked around right away as I was late in putting out my ante. I asked how much the ante was and they said 800, and I said “That’s the same as it was at the other table! I don’t know why they moved me over here!” and they all laughed. I think it’s good to show a relaxed image as it becomes intimidating to players who are tense. None of them wanted to bust out and get $500 after coming this far. There were some very tense guys at the table. But the blinds were now 3000/6000 and I had 30,000 so my M was only about 2, and the average stack was around 60,000. On the first hand at that table I saw 66 as the cutoff, and as first in I raised. The button had only around 15,000 chips but the blinds were large stacks. The button mucked quickly, the SB took a long time but mucked, and the BB called and he showed A5. Questionable call for 24,000 chips which was about ¼ of his stack, perhaps my loose attitude made him think I was pushing with any two cards, but my 66 held and I doubled through. I said Now I know why they brought me over to this table!”

As it turned out, that 66 was a profitable hand. Soon after that, we were down to 15 players and an equity split was proposed. After some confusion the stacks were counted and numbers were figured, my equity was $5,130. The shortest stack equity was $2,100+ and the largest was $9,100+. I was happy to leave with $5100 which was basically 5th place prize money but I was also the most relaxed person in the field and wouldn’t have minded playing against a bunch of guys who were desperate to hang on for 5th or better. But if everyone else wanted the chop I’d go along. The equity deal was accepted by all and we all went home.

Overall, a nice score and I was happy with my play. I think I’m going to start playing some more live tournaments.

Day 1 at the Orleans tourney

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“Fear leads to anger, Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering” Yoda

I played my day#1 of the Orleans/Coast freeroll yesterday. There were four heats, 2 Monday and two yesterday, and each one played down to 27 players. There were 133 showed up for my heat, and I survived down to 27. So today the remaining 108 players will play. The average chip stack will be around 8,500 and I have about 14,500 so I am in decent shape, but the blinds will be 400/800 with 150 ante so there isn't too much room .

What I’m most pleased about though is that I feel I played well throughout the day yesterday and had a good feel for where my opponents stood in every pot I entered. I hadn’t played a live n/l tourney in quite a while so it was fresh and new to me, but once the rustiness is shed, I think I tend to make better decisions when I hop into a game I haven’t played too much recently.

My first table broke quickly, then my second table was great! Although they said there were only 6 no-shows the entire first two heats, my heat had 23 no shows and for more than an hour there were four no-shows at my table. So we were six handed with some dead blind money, but unfortunately all 4 no-shows were seated in succession and I acted immediately after them. Essentially this meant I was UTG 4 hands in a row, and another player was on the button 4 hands in a row. But the table was very readable, and within twenty minutes I felt in full control. I sat in seat #1. The player to my left telegraphed his preflop actions every time, allowing me to steal easier and fold when he was planning to raise. The next player was aggressive and strong, but I think did not have much live experience. He raised a lot and I took an opportunity to come over the top of him and make a nice resteal. Seat #4 was very passive, and seat #5 was passive preflop and on the flop, but would let go to further aggression. The last guy, seat #6 who was on the button 4 hands in a row, was interesting. He was semi-aggressive but seemed to pick bad spots. He seemed to understand the concept of aggression but not when to apply it, and not when to fold to it. I felt he was someone who could be a good player but lacked some experience right now and I thought I could outplay him.

I made myself a fairly tight image, then went to work with a few steals. I raised on a 96o in the hijack after seat 2 and 4 had telegraphed they were folding. This left seat 3 who would likely respect my early position raise and a BB who would call with a decent holding, put more chips in, then fold later. Seat 3 indeed folded and the BB called and called my CB on a QJ4 flop. He had already discussed his style of play and made it known that if someone bet twice that his top pair weak kicker couldn't be good, so I fired off a second barrel on the 6 of clubs turn after making it seem like I was trying to figure out how much I could milk him for. He flashed me the AJ and I said "good fold" as I took down a nice pot with 9 high. Then with A2 and blinds at 50/100 in the small blind, I completed when the BB telegraphed that he was checking his option (I'd normally fold here except when I feel I have a good handle on the table) and saw a 4-way flop of 227 two spades and a king of spades turn. I held the ace of spades. I had such a good feeling here that the play was to check it twice, and seat #6 (shows aggression at wrong times, doesn't realize to fold to further aggression), indeed fired 300 into a 400 pot on the king and I came over the top for 900 with 3 dueces and the nut flush draw. I was certain he would have bet a flush draw on that flop so he didn’t have a flush. I was hoping he had a hand like KQ with the queen of spades. The other two players in the hand quickly folded but he called the raise after taking some time, then called my 600 bet on the river when a jack came. He had KJ. By the first break I had more than doubled my 2,000 stack to 4,400.

I made a couple steals after the break that didn’t work out and depleted my stack, then was moved to a full table (they got rid of the no-show stacks) and followed a couple limpers into pots that didn’t work out and found myself down to 2,200. With blinds 100/200, I needed to double through, I called on the button after several limpers with KJs, as I wanted to give myself a couple opportunities to hit a flop, but any preflop raise would commit me. I was fully prepared to go to the felt with top pair heads-up, or prepared to bet with a flush/straight draw if checked to me. As it turned out the flop came 34J with two spades, a player with about the same stack went all-in in front of me. I had a good read on him and figured him for a weaker jack or KJ or a draw. I felt that with his stack size he would have raised AJ preflop and wouldn’t be playing any hand that could have made 2-pair there and he would have c/r on a set. I thought he likely held QJ/JT/possibly two spades so I went all-in having him slightly covered. But when the SB (an experienced player) called both of us after checking the flop I didn’t feel so good. When we turned over the cards the bettor had 78s for a spade draw and the SB had 34 for 2 pair. A nice J on the turn meant I needed to dodge just a spade and when I did, my stack was nearly 6,000. These are the breaks needed to win a tournament.

After that I played real well, and only went to a showdown once. At 200/400, the chip leader at the table raised to 1000 preflop when I had TT in the SB. This guy had already said he folded QQ preflop and told us all a story about having a monster stack in his last tourney and losing it all when he could have coasted into the money. He said that he would never make that mistake again…folks, you just shouldn’t go around volunteering this kind of info!! I felt he would lay down anything but AA/KK here to a substantial raise and made it 3500 to go, making it obvious that I was pot-commited. He layed down after giving a frustrated look. He flashed his cards but I didn’t see them, one person said it was JJ another said AQs. Later I made a squeeze play with an 89 from the BB on a 865 board when a woman bet the minimum 300 and there was a caller in between us and I made it 1500. The caller was a good player who used to play all the circuit events before the TV era (I remembered playing with him at Foxwoods 4-5 years ago) and would respect my raise, the woman was someone who wanted to play minimum bets all the time but would fold to significant raises (and now had 2 players to worry about). She folded quickly and he flashed an eight and mucked.

Toward the end of the session, an interesting hand came up. There was only 29 left and 27 made day 2 and the money, we were 7-handed and I raised 77 utg to 1200. The table was tight and I fully expected to take it down without a fight. I was quickly called by a guy who had just doubled through with KK and had a little less than me. Prior to that KK hand he was extremely tight. He had already voiced his concerns over making sure he made the money. The speed of his call here made me think AK right away. I honestly think that he folds, or at least takes time to consider folding AQ there, considers raising AA/KK, and is in agony over QQ, JJ. The speed of his call made me figure AK. Flop was dangerous, 9TQ with two hearts, I bet out 3000 and he called again quickly. I had to consider JJ/AQ/or a set, but with those hands I think he would take some more time to consider his action. Turn was safe, a deuce. If I pull the trigger here it had to be for all his chips and most of mine. I had about 5,000 more and he had 3,000. I figured if I was right about the AK, this guy would take the free card if I checked to him. The other possibility to consider was JJ, but again I felt sure he would take the free card. I knew if an ace, king, or jack came on the river, I could easily release my hand to a bet. It was a tough decision, but I decided to check. I'm still not certain it was correct. He checked behind after considerable thought, and when a four came on the river, I checked and planned to probably call a bet. I still thought he likely had AK, and wasn't sure the possibility of getting him offf JJ warrented the bet. As for calling, I just didn’t see any hand he’d bet for value there. With any one pair he’d be happy checking down without having to risk his last chips, with 2 pair/set he certainly would have protected his hand with a raise on the flop or a bet on the turn. I don’t think he figured his AK was any good and he agonized on the river just as he did on the turn, wanting to pull the trigger but he couldn't bring himself to risk his last chips. I announced “two sevens” and he shook his head and showed the AK.

It was surprising how desperately some of the players wanted to hang on for the $100 payout for making the final 108. There was a guy who came to my last table with around 4,000 chips and folded every single hand dealt to him and survived with 175 chips left (at the 100 ante level!!) When the last guy busted he gave everyone high fives at the table, lol.

So I finished the day with 14,400 chips and the avg stack is around 8,500. Hopefully, I’ll play well and have some luck today. With 108 players there is about $1000 payout per person, but $82,000 of it is for the final 10 players, so the final table is necessary to make any real money. I anticipate fast action early, as low-chippers who were hanging on for the $100 payout will likely be going all in quickly, as the next pay jump is not till 50 players ($250).

Kramer!!

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Quote of the day: "Sometimes life's gonna hit you in the head with a brick; don't lose faith" Steve Jobs


I was an hour short to qualify for the Orleans $100,000 tournament, so I went down there yesterday to finish up. I say the Orleans, but it’s actually 4 different casinos all poolng for the tournament and it looks like they’re expecting a pretty big turnout, they have a signup list and four different starting times, you can choose Monday afternoon or night or Tuesday afternoon or night and then the final day is on Wednesday. I figured if I go in the afternoon it will be a higher percentage of retired guys and bingo women, players who I find are generally easier to read and manipulate in the pot, so I chose Tuesday afternoon.

Actually, I had realized yesterday that it has been quite a while since I’ve played any MTTs. It always seems refreshing to switch types/styles of games, so I logged into Stars last night and signed up for 2 MTTs.

The first one I saw on the list was a $33 HORSE tourney with about 150 players signed up and said “accepting late registration” so I quickly signed up. I think HORSE is such a great game! Most of the players seemed to be inept at at least one or two of the games. Too many of them overplayed one-way hands in Omaha, didn’t understand Razz concepts, and made reraises with wired Queens in stud h/l. Most of them seemed to understand the holdem, but the other games usually only one or two players who seemed to grasp the games well, so a lot of dead money in there. I ran fairly well and when we got down to two tables left, one guy called my raise in Razz on two different hands with a Queen doorcard and beat me both times. Both times I had started 643 and A47 and made a nine low. I finally knocked him out at the final table when I reraised his KT in holdem with AJ and we got it all in on an 863 flop and he didn’t hit. With 4 players left I had the chip lead, but the blinds were so high that one hand would turn it and so it did. As the SB 4 handed, I had AQ and the button raised, I reraised, and the big blind cold-called and button called. Flop came 446 two hearts, I bet out, BB called and button folded. I didn’t feel too great here, but big blind didn’t raise the turn so he could have a weaker ace, and if he had a pair I figured my 6 outs were clean. I bet the turn putting him all-in and sure enough he had ATo, but hit running hearts to beat me. A little bit later in Omaha I raised this guy with A3TT and he called, flopped TQQ and he checkraised and we made it maximum bets on the flop putting us just about all-in. I was sure he had a Queen and I had to dodge some cards, and when we turned it over he held AQ35, giving him plenty of outs. The case Queen finished my run in fourth place.

I also tried a deep stack tourney on Stars and thought it was great, lots of play and room to maneuver. You start with 250 big blinds and 30 minute levels. I managed to run my 5000 stack up to 10,000. Unfortunately, after like 2 ½ hours only half the field was gone and I realized this thing was going to outlast my tired eyes. I tried a donk move to try to double through quickly or bust, and I went bust. Looks like a fun tourney to play if you have the time.

Found a funny video, the Lost Seinfeld episode, putting together some Seinfeld clips with the recent Michael Richards incident. Man, I miss that show…Kramer!!