Alright, first things first, I final tabled the Riverchasers but one big mistake later, I reraised swimmom all in with KK, only to get it cracked by her TT. She did put those chips to good use and secured a TOC seat. And no, this wasn't intended to be a bad beat story. It was a no brainer call for her considering my short stack and to her credit, it wasn't an instacall. If I didn't have a massive suckout of my own with QTs when I shoved from EP, only to get called by Lucko who had AK, and Lightning36 who had AQ, I wouldn't even be there so it sucks but I can deal with that. I'm more upset about the mistake I made when I incorrectly thought that actyper did not have an A on a A-high flop and so I foolishly put him all in with my AT and he calls with AQ, I double him up and I go from chip lead to short stack.
But I didn't really care. I did but that didn't hurt nearly as much as my loss to Emptyman in the finals of the Heads Up Challenge. Twice. 2nd place both times. I honestly didn't even know what second place prize was. I didn't know and I didn't care. It wasn't even about the money. It was about the glory of winning it. Something to add to my completely blank poker resume. And yet, after last night, I still got nothing.
After our match ended where in the last match, I had a 2:1 chip lead and only to see it disappear in a matter of few hands when my AQ < JT (all in pre) and QQ < K7 (all in on flop of 456), I was devastated. I really wanted to win. This meant a lot to me. For all of you out there, who thinks, dude, you make a good amount of money playing poker, what do you care... well, I care a lot. I have no credentials to back up my "skill." I haven't won any major tournaments, I've never played in the WSOP, I've never really won anything. Hell, even my buddy, Pouringreign, who doesn't take poker nearly as seriously as I do has won a 1000+ person (I think) tourney on PartyPoker back in the day. To say that I have a tourney complex is an understatement. But, again, this is not a please tell me how great I am post. It's just my honest take on how I feel and hence, how much winning the HUC would have meant to me. I listed the hands above just as an example but not as a "Emptyman sucked out on me and that's the only reason he won" type of post. I was probably like a 60% favorite on the first, and a virtual flip on the second. So, it's not even really a suckout. As a matter of fact, I will say this for the record.
I got pwned by Emptyman.
I really did. After the first two games, I felt so lost. I have never felt as confused and worried in a heads up match as I did against him. He played real well, I couldn't tell when he was bluffing, I called his value bets, probably folded to his bluffs, let him catch up when I had hands, and just played poorly overall. I had to keep making adjustments which was fine and I finally felt like I was starting to get into the groove. I really wish I coulda taken down game 4. It woulda been interesting to take the match to game 5 but it wasn't meant to be. Emptyman played great and deserved to win. Honestly, even if I ended up winning a seat to the TOC last night, it really woulda done nothing to how shitty I felt about losing the HUC. I mean a seat to the TOC is great but it's not the end goal. The goal is to win a WSOP seat and TOC is just a means to get that. My goal was never to GET a seat to the TOC. I will get that. My goal is to get a seat to the WSOP. Gotta start somewhere.
GL to all this weekend and again, congrats to Emptyman for taking down the Finals and becoming the latest HUC champion.
Note: I'll link up everyone later. Unfortunately, I gotta get back to work. Busy Fridays blow.
Showing posts with label Heads Up Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heads Up Challenge. Show all posts
Friday, March 14, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Recess "Golden Glove" Rampage defeats Fuel55!
Well... the title should I guess say, Dirty "Golden Glove" Vizzer since we played on Pokerstars and my pokerstars account name is Dirty Vizzer.
Well, before I go into the hands and such, here was the deal between me and Fuel.
1) We will play at pokerstars, static blinds (ie blinds stay at 15-30 the whole match)
2) We will play at $20 stakes.
3) We will have a side bet of $400.
4) If either one of us go 3-0 (best of 5), the side bet will double.
Basically, all of the above ideas were by Fuel who brilliantly stated that instead of playing a $100 match and paying a lot of rake to PS, we can just do a side bet with no rake.
Well, around 9:30pm last night, our first match kicked off. 3 hours later, I would come out victorious. As a matter of fact, I didn't lose a single match and as such, I ended up winning $800 and advance to the HUC finals in back to back HUC events. But I'm not one to really gloat on my victory or anything. I am also not one to try to justify the moves I made or what not. I am generally not an insecure person. As such, I don't need to justify luck or anything for that matter. Plus, it's poker. Luck is obviously a factor so denying that winning all 3 yesterday was all skill would just be silly. Having said that, I shoulda known that last night was my night when this was the very first hand of our heads up match.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1500 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Jh Qs]
Fuel55: raises 60 to 90
Dirty Vizzer: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Tc 7s 9c]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 120
Dirty Vizzer: calls 120
*** TURN *** [Tc 7s 9c] [2d]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: checks
*** RIVER *** [Tc 7s 9c 2d] [Kc]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 260
Fuel55: calls 260
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Jh Qs] (a straight, Nine to King)
Fuel55: mucks [8c 8s]
Dirty Vizzer collected 940 from pot
Fuel55 said, "nice catch" <--- at this point, he had no idea how significant that phrase would be.
15 hands later, same match.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1150 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1850 in chips)
Dirty Vizzer: posts small blind 15
Fuel55: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [9d Tc]
Dirty Vizzer: raises 60 to 90
Fuel55: raises 90 to 180
Dirty Vizzer: calls 90
*** FLOP *** [Kc 4c Qh]
Fuel55: bets 60
Dirty Vizzer: raises 180 to 240
Fuel55: calls 180
Just to give a quick background here - Fuel hardly ever reraises preflop. The fact that he did and the reraise was so small (it was a minraise), I figured he must have a fairly strong hand. When he came out betting a small amount on the flop, I've seen him do it with flopped sets but it's a HU match and I thought it's possible he had a hand like JJ so I figured I'd make one raise to see what he does. I also felt (believe it or not, Fuel) that by me raising, if he just calls and I actually catch my 4 outer, it would be impossible for him to figure me for a straight.
*** TURN *** [Kc 4c Qh] [Jh] <--- golden glove baby!
Fuel55: bets 270
Dirty Vizzer: raises 1160 to 1430 and is all-in <--- overbet a la Fuel
Fuel55: calls 460 and is all-in
He instacalled and so I knew he had a set. I was almost certain the board will pair. But this was gonna be my night.
*** RIVER *** [Kc 4c Qh Jh] [Th]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55: shows [Kh Kd] (three of a kind, Kings)
Dirty Vizzer: shows [9d Tc] (a straight, Nine to King)
Dirty Vizzer collected 2300 from pot
DV 1 - 0 Fuel
One thing I noticed about Fuel is that he really tries to keep the pot small unless he's got some semblance of a hand. So, I tried to keep up the pressure on him. On the same token, I knew that I had to control my aggression because he would be setting up a trap at the right time. But, keep in mind that he and I think alike in terms of the way we try to get all the money in the middle. I lost the hand count but the second match took a lot longer (maybe like 180+ hands?). In the end though, I had a 2:1 chip lead and then this happened:
Seat 1: Dirty Vizzer (2115 in chips)
Seat 2: Fuel55 (885 in chips)
Dirty Vizzer: posts small blind 15
Fuel55: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Ks Ah]
Dirty Vizzer: raises 60 to 90 <--- for the umpteenth time
Fuel55: raises 795 to 885 and is all-in
Dirty Vizzer said, "I pray that I don't get unlucky"
Dirty Vizzer: calls 795
*** FLOP *** [4c 6s 6h]
*** TURN *** [4c 6s 6h] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [4c 6s 6h 2d] [8d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55: shows [As Jc] (a pair of Sixes)
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Ks Ah] (a pair of Sixes - Ace+King kicker)
Dirty Vizzer collected 1770 from pot
Again, I was raising a fair amount so against my range, Fuel probably thought AJ was ahead. More often than not, it probably is and considering his stack size, he was hoping that I would call off that much with a hand like KQ, KJ, QJ or a smaller pocket pair for a race. But again, another indication that this was to be my night. I had a dominating AK.
DV 2 - 0 Fuel
At this point, Fuel complained that he wasn't getting chit in cards so he suggested we move up to the $30 level for karma. I'm freerolling at this point so I figured why not. Also, the time was fairly early (10:30pm) and I told him that I don't want to play/start a new game after 11pm because I was going to wake up early to play basketball. Well, this was not meant to be. The game we started at 10:30 will be an epic match that will last 2 hrs... 344 hands I think (maybe more).
Well, match 3 started off interesting. Either he started catching hands or he turned up his aggression (I have his HH also so I could check but I'm too lazy). Either way, I found myself in a hole early. I clawed my way back to even and then I decided to get cute which hurt me pretty bad.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1545 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1455 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Ac 5d]
Fuel55: raises 60 to 90
Dirty Vizzer: raises 150 to 240
Fuel55: calls 150
I felt that he was starting to raise more so I figured I'd reraise.
*** FLOP *** [3s 8h 4s]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 330
Fuel55: raises 720 to 1050
Dirty Vizzer: folds
Fuel55 collected 1140 from pot
I caught my gutter draw so I bet out. Fuel was not gonna have any of that and he raises me, basically committing me and obviously, I'm not gonna call off with a 4 outer so I fold. This brings my chip count down to <900. Not good. But not bad if you're a gold glover.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (2040 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (960 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Kh Td]
Fuel55: calls 15
Dirty Vizzer: checks
*** FLOP *** [9c 8h Qd]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 30
Dirty Vizzer: calls 30 <--- gutterball baby, how do I not call???
*** TURN *** [9c 8h Qd] [Js] <--- Torii Hunter is proud of the catches I make
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 60
Dirty Vizzer: raises 120 to 180
Fuel55 said, "you hit a gutter?" <--- he sees right through me
Fuel55: calls 120 <--- but calls because...
*** RIVER *** [9c 8h Qd Js] [Ac]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 380
Fuel55: calls 380
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Kh Td] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Fuel55: mucks [7s Tc] <--- it turns out he did too
Dirty Vizzer said, "I did"
Dirty Vizzer collected 1240 from pot
Dirty Vizzer said, ":)"
Fuel55 said, "i knew it"
Stupid PS hand history shit, you actually have to look it up so obv, in the chat, I didn't know... until few seconds later, I went to check the HH, found out he caught his straight... I was pissed that I didn't end the match here. To his credit, instead of raising me on the river, he opted to call and kept his loss to a minimum. Now THAT's impressive.
After that, we once again, trade blows but I am starting to spew a little and at one point, my chips are down to 705. However, I keep clawing and trying to stay alive until this key hand happens:
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1860 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1140 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [3h 3c]
Fuel55 said, "fawking irver rat" <--- yes, just caught a 3 outer in the previous hand. Shoulda bet at one point Fuel. Don't complain if you're checking it down.
Fuel55: calls 15
Dirty Vizzer said, "<--- golden gloves"
Dirty Vizzer: checks
*** FLOP *** [3d Jd 9h]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 60 <--- bet my set
Fuel55: raises 180 to 240
Dirty Vizzer: calls 180
I obviously debated whether I should shove here or not. But I opted to call just to switch gears and also, I didn't want to give him two cards if he's on a diamond draw. So I called, praying for a nondiamond turn.
*** TURN *** [3d Jd 9h] [Ah]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 870 and is all-in
Fuel55 said, "at least 12 outs"
Fuel55: folds
Dirty Vizzer collected 540 from pot
Dirty Vizzer: doesn't show hand
Though I was fairly down in chips, I didn't want to gamble. I felt like I had a good chance to beat him if I didn't get all my chips in a near coinflip situation so I was happy to take down pots without going to showdown. When the A comes on the turn, it's so draw heavy so I elect to shove and try to take down a decent sized pot that would bring me back to even if Fuel folds and will cripple him if he calls and loses this pot.
Well, once again, we are back to even and once again, I find myself in a 2:1 chip deficit after a while. At this point, I am aggressively stealing but also trying to find a spot where Fuel is willing to commit a lot of his stack because one thing that's very difficult with Fuel is getting chips out of him. Extracting those extra chips are extremely hard so I knew that I had to try to trap him. Always helps when you're running good.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1890 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1110 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [9c 7c]
Fuel55: raises 60 to 90
Dirty Vizzer: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [5d 7h 6s]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 90
Dirty Vizzer: calls 90
This wasn't necessarily the kinda board that I want to go crazy with. Since he's seen me float his flop bets a few times, I figured this was a easy hand to get away from without much improvement but unless he had something, it would be a hard hand for him to keep betting on as well.
*** TURN *** [5d 7h 6s] [8h] <--- Didn't I tell you???? Gold glove lives here.
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 1710 and is all-in
Dirty Vizzer: calls 930 and is all-in
This is the first time I thought he lost control of his overbet for value. This is an extremely dangerous board and it's one thing if he had a 9 or had T9. But the only call he would get if he did this would be if I had a 9 or two pair. What did he shove with?
*** RIVER *** [5d 7h 6s 8h] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [9c 7c] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Fuel55: shows [Ts 8s] (a pair of Eights)
Fuel55 said, "of course" <--- dude, you had to know that was a bad shove
Dirty Vizzer collected 2220 from pot
This was very key. For the first time in Match 3, I had a 2:1 chip lead. I was determined to not let this one go. And yet once again, 15 minutes later, our chips are back to even. This looked like a match that will never end. But I'll stick with the theme of how I caught everything.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1155 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1845 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Tc Jh]
Fuel55 said, "might not be a race"
Fuel55: calls 15
Dirty Vizzer said, "it woulda been a race. I was just far ahead of the race though"
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Conversation is where Fuel revealed he had 22 when I had repopped him and he folded. I said I wish he shoved for a race. (I had AA).
*** FLOP *** [Kc 8d Qh]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 60
Dirty Vizzer: calls 60
*** TURN *** [Kc 8d Qh] [4h]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: checks
Free card Fuel?
*** RIVER *** [Kc 8d Qh 4h] [9h] <--- another one!!!
Dirty Vizzer: bets 120
Fuel55: calls 120
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Tc Jh] (a straight, Nine to King)
Fuel55: mucks [Qd 7d]
Dirty Vizzer said, "lol"
Dirty Vizzer collected 420 from pot
Fuel55 said, "jesus christ"
And then finally... after nearly 2 hrs of intense back and forth battle... I get dealt like my 5th AA for the night.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1185 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1815 in chips)
Dirty Vizzer: posts small blind 15
Fuel55: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Ah Ad]
Dirty Vizzer: raises 60 to 90
Fuel55: raises 150 to 240
Dirty Vizzer: raises 1575 to 1815 and is all-in
Fuel55 said, "please be good" <--- no way it's good
Fuel55: calls 945 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [3s Kc 9s]
Fuel55 said, "come on"
Dirty Vizzer said, "no suckout"
*** TURN *** [3s Kc 9s] [7h]
Dirty Vizzer said, "hold"
Dirty Vizzer said, "hold"
*** RIVER *** [3s Kc 9s 7h] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55: shows [Js Jd] (a pair of Jacks)
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Ah Ad] (a pair of Aces)
Dirty Vizzer collected 2370 from pot
And that's all she wrote. DV 3 - 0 Fuel
One thing to note here. On the last hand, I don't think many could get away from JJ in a HU match. However, I did put in the 4th raise for an overbet all in. I hadn't done that all night, he should know that I knew it was impossibly hard for me to get his chips, he hasn't been reraising much so I had to give him credit for a hand and yet I came over the top all in. The only hand, and I mean the ONLY hand, I could have that he has me beat is AK. Not TT, not 99, not KQ, not AQ. Believe it or not, I am not a spew monkey even in HU match against an opponent like this. The only hands I woulda done that in this spot is AA, KK, QQ, JJ, or AK. And I would say JJ is a maybe and an AK is a maybe. But again, after 2 hrs of grueling HU match and if he was really not getting anything to work with, I don't blame his call here.
Either way, this put an end to our intense battle and I am back in the HUC finals baby!
Well, before I go into the hands and such, here was the deal between me and Fuel.
1) We will play at pokerstars, static blinds (ie blinds stay at 15-30 the whole match)
2) We will play at $20 stakes.
3) We will have a side bet of $400.
4) If either one of us go 3-0 (best of 5), the side bet will double.
Basically, all of the above ideas were by Fuel who brilliantly stated that instead of playing a $100 match and paying a lot of rake to PS, we can just do a side bet with no rake.
Well, around 9:30pm last night, our first match kicked off. 3 hours later, I would come out victorious. As a matter of fact, I didn't lose a single match and as such, I ended up winning $800 and advance to the HUC finals in back to back HUC events. But I'm not one to really gloat on my victory or anything. I am also not one to try to justify the moves I made or what not. I am generally not an insecure person. As such, I don't need to justify luck or anything for that matter. Plus, it's poker. Luck is obviously a factor so denying that winning all 3 yesterday was all skill would just be silly. Having said that, I shoulda known that last night was my night when this was the very first hand of our heads up match.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1500 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Jh Qs]
Fuel55: raises 60 to 90
Dirty Vizzer: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Tc 7s 9c]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 120
Dirty Vizzer: calls 120
*** TURN *** [Tc 7s 9c] [2d]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: checks
*** RIVER *** [Tc 7s 9c 2d] [Kc]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 260
Fuel55: calls 260
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Jh Qs] (a straight, Nine to King)
Fuel55: mucks [8c 8s]
Dirty Vizzer collected 940 from pot
Fuel55 said, "nice catch" <--- at this point, he had no idea how significant that phrase would be.
15 hands later, same match.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1150 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1850 in chips)
Dirty Vizzer: posts small blind 15
Fuel55: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [9d Tc]
Dirty Vizzer: raises 60 to 90
Fuel55: raises 90 to 180
Dirty Vizzer: calls 90
*** FLOP *** [Kc 4c Qh]
Fuel55: bets 60
Dirty Vizzer: raises 180 to 240
Fuel55: calls 180
Just to give a quick background here - Fuel hardly ever reraises preflop. The fact that he did and the reraise was so small (it was a minraise), I figured he must have a fairly strong hand. When he came out betting a small amount on the flop, I've seen him do it with flopped sets but it's a HU match and I thought it's possible he had a hand like JJ so I figured I'd make one raise to see what he does. I also felt (believe it or not, Fuel) that by me raising, if he just calls and I actually catch my 4 outer, it would be impossible for him to figure me for a straight.
*** TURN *** [Kc 4c Qh] [Jh] <--- golden glove baby!
Fuel55: bets 270
Dirty Vizzer: raises 1160 to 1430 and is all-in <--- overbet a la Fuel
Fuel55: calls 460 and is all-in
He instacalled and so I knew he had a set. I was almost certain the board will pair. But this was gonna be my night.
*** RIVER *** [Kc 4c Qh Jh] [Th]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55: shows [Kh Kd] (three of a kind, Kings)
Dirty Vizzer: shows [9d Tc] (a straight, Nine to King)
Dirty Vizzer collected 2300 from pot
DV 1 - 0 Fuel
One thing I noticed about Fuel is that he really tries to keep the pot small unless he's got some semblance of a hand. So, I tried to keep up the pressure on him. On the same token, I knew that I had to control my aggression because he would be setting up a trap at the right time. But, keep in mind that he and I think alike in terms of the way we try to get all the money in the middle. I lost the hand count but the second match took a lot longer (maybe like 180+ hands?). In the end though, I had a 2:1 chip lead and then this happened:
Seat 1: Dirty Vizzer (2115 in chips)
Seat 2: Fuel55 (885 in chips)
Dirty Vizzer: posts small blind 15
Fuel55: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Ks Ah]
Dirty Vizzer: raises 60 to 90 <--- for the umpteenth time
Fuel55: raises 795 to 885 and is all-in
Dirty Vizzer said, "I pray that I don't get unlucky"
Dirty Vizzer: calls 795
*** FLOP *** [4c 6s 6h]
*** TURN *** [4c 6s 6h] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [4c 6s 6h 2d] [8d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55: shows [As Jc] (a pair of Sixes)
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Ks Ah] (a pair of Sixes - Ace+King kicker)
Dirty Vizzer collected 1770 from pot
Again, I was raising a fair amount so against my range, Fuel probably thought AJ was ahead. More often than not, it probably is and considering his stack size, he was hoping that I would call off that much with a hand like KQ, KJ, QJ or a smaller pocket pair for a race. But again, another indication that this was to be my night. I had a dominating AK.
DV 2 - 0 Fuel
At this point, Fuel complained that he wasn't getting chit in cards so he suggested we move up to the $30 level for karma. I'm freerolling at this point so I figured why not. Also, the time was fairly early (10:30pm) and I told him that I don't want to play/start a new game after 11pm because I was going to wake up early to play basketball. Well, this was not meant to be. The game we started at 10:30 will be an epic match that will last 2 hrs... 344 hands I think (maybe more).
Well, match 3 started off interesting. Either he started catching hands or he turned up his aggression (I have his HH also so I could check but I'm too lazy). Either way, I found myself in a hole early. I clawed my way back to even and then I decided to get cute which hurt me pretty bad.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1545 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1455 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Ac 5d]
Fuel55: raises 60 to 90
Dirty Vizzer: raises 150 to 240
Fuel55: calls 150
I felt that he was starting to raise more so I figured I'd reraise.
*** FLOP *** [3s 8h 4s]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 330
Fuel55: raises 720 to 1050
Dirty Vizzer: folds
Fuel55 collected 1140 from pot
I caught my gutter draw so I bet out. Fuel was not gonna have any of that and he raises me, basically committing me and obviously, I'm not gonna call off with a 4 outer so I fold. This brings my chip count down to <900. Not good. But not bad if you're a gold glover.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (2040 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (960 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Kh Td]
Fuel55: calls 15
Dirty Vizzer: checks
*** FLOP *** [9c 8h Qd]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 30
Dirty Vizzer: calls 30 <--- gutterball baby, how do I not call???
*** TURN *** [9c 8h Qd] [Js] <--- Torii Hunter is proud of the catches I make
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 60
Dirty Vizzer: raises 120 to 180
Fuel55 said, "you hit a gutter?" <--- he sees right through me
Fuel55: calls 120 <--- but calls because...
*** RIVER *** [9c 8h Qd Js] [Ac]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 380
Fuel55: calls 380
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Kh Td] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Fuel55: mucks [7s Tc] <--- it turns out he did too
Dirty Vizzer said, "I did"
Dirty Vizzer collected 1240 from pot
Dirty Vizzer said, ":)"
Fuel55 said, "i knew it"
Stupid PS hand history shit, you actually have to look it up so obv, in the chat, I didn't know... until few seconds later, I went to check the HH, found out he caught his straight... I was pissed that I didn't end the match here. To his credit, instead of raising me on the river, he opted to call and kept his loss to a minimum. Now THAT's impressive.
After that, we once again, trade blows but I am starting to spew a little and at one point, my chips are down to 705. However, I keep clawing and trying to stay alive until this key hand happens:
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1860 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1140 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [3h 3c]
Fuel55 said, "fawking irver rat" <--- yes, just caught a 3 outer in the previous hand. Shoulda bet at one point Fuel. Don't complain if you're checking it down.
Fuel55: calls 15
Dirty Vizzer said, "<--- golden gloves"
Dirty Vizzer: checks
*** FLOP *** [3d Jd 9h]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 60 <--- bet my set
Fuel55: raises 180 to 240
Dirty Vizzer: calls 180
I obviously debated whether I should shove here or not. But I opted to call just to switch gears and also, I didn't want to give him two cards if he's on a diamond draw. So I called, praying for a nondiamond turn.
*** TURN *** [3d Jd 9h] [Ah]
Dirty Vizzer: bets 870 and is all-in
Fuel55 said, "at least 12 outs"
Fuel55: folds
Dirty Vizzer collected 540 from pot
Dirty Vizzer: doesn't show hand
Though I was fairly down in chips, I didn't want to gamble. I felt like I had a good chance to beat him if I didn't get all my chips in a near coinflip situation so I was happy to take down pots without going to showdown. When the A comes on the turn, it's so draw heavy so I elect to shove and try to take down a decent sized pot that would bring me back to even if Fuel folds and will cripple him if he calls and loses this pot.
Well, once again, we are back to even and once again, I find myself in a 2:1 chip deficit after a while. At this point, I am aggressively stealing but also trying to find a spot where Fuel is willing to commit a lot of his stack because one thing that's very difficult with Fuel is getting chips out of him. Extracting those extra chips are extremely hard so I knew that I had to try to trap him. Always helps when you're running good.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1890 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1110 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [9c 7c]
Fuel55: raises 60 to 90
Dirty Vizzer: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [5d 7h 6s]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 90
Dirty Vizzer: calls 90
This wasn't necessarily the kinda board that I want to go crazy with. Since he's seen me float his flop bets a few times, I figured this was a easy hand to get away from without much improvement but unless he had something, it would be a hard hand for him to keep betting on as well.
*** TURN *** [5d 7h 6s] [8h] <--- Didn't I tell you???? Gold glove lives here.
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 1710 and is all-in
Dirty Vizzer: calls 930 and is all-in
This is the first time I thought he lost control of his overbet for value. This is an extremely dangerous board and it's one thing if he had a 9 or had T9. But the only call he would get if he did this would be if I had a 9 or two pair. What did he shove with?
*** RIVER *** [5d 7h 6s 8h] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [9c 7c] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Fuel55: shows [Ts 8s] (a pair of Eights)
Fuel55 said, "of course" <--- dude, you had to know that was a bad shove
Dirty Vizzer collected 2220 from pot
This was very key. For the first time in Match 3, I had a 2:1 chip lead. I was determined to not let this one go. And yet once again, 15 minutes later, our chips are back to even. This looked like a match that will never end. But I'll stick with the theme of how I caught everything.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1155 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1845 in chips)
Fuel55: posts small blind 15
Dirty Vizzer: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Tc Jh]
Fuel55 said, "might not be a race"
Fuel55: calls 15
Dirty Vizzer said, "it woulda been a race. I was just far ahead of the race though"
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Conversation is where Fuel revealed he had 22 when I had repopped him and he folded. I said I wish he shoved for a race. (I had AA).
*** FLOP *** [Kc 8d Qh]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: bets 60
Dirty Vizzer: calls 60
*** TURN *** [Kc 8d Qh] [4h]
Dirty Vizzer: checks
Fuel55: checks
Free card Fuel?
*** RIVER *** [Kc 8d Qh 4h] [9h] <--- another one!!!
Dirty Vizzer: bets 120
Fuel55: calls 120
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Tc Jh] (a straight, Nine to King)
Fuel55: mucks [Qd 7d]
Dirty Vizzer said, "lol"
Dirty Vizzer collected 420 from pot
Fuel55 said, "jesus christ"
And then finally... after nearly 2 hrs of intense back and forth battle... I get dealt like my 5th AA for the night.
Seat 1: Fuel55 (1185 in chips)
Seat 2: Dirty Vizzer (1815 in chips)
Dirty Vizzer: posts small blind 15
Fuel55: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dirty Vizzer [Ah Ad]
Dirty Vizzer: raises 60 to 90
Fuel55: raises 150 to 240
Dirty Vizzer: raises 1575 to 1815 and is all-in
Fuel55 said, "please be good" <--- no way it's good
Fuel55: calls 945 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [3s Kc 9s]
Fuel55 said, "come on"
Dirty Vizzer said, "no suckout"
*** TURN *** [3s Kc 9s] [7h]
Dirty Vizzer said, "hold"
Dirty Vizzer said, "hold"
*** RIVER *** [3s Kc 9s 7h] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fuel55: shows [Js Jd] (a pair of Jacks)
Dirty Vizzer: shows [Ah Ad] (a pair of Aces)
Dirty Vizzer collected 2370 from pot
And that's all she wrote. DV 3 - 0 Fuel
One thing to note here. On the last hand, I don't think many could get away from JJ in a HU match. However, I did put in the 4th raise for an overbet all in. I hadn't done that all night, he should know that I knew it was impossibly hard for me to get his chips, he hasn't been reraising much so I had to give him credit for a hand and yet I came over the top all in. The only hand, and I mean the ONLY hand, I could have that he has me beat is AK. Not TT, not 99, not KQ, not AQ. Believe it or not, I am not a spew monkey even in HU match against an opponent like this. The only hands I woulda done that in this spot is AA, KK, QQ, JJ, or AK. And I would say JJ is a maybe and an AK is a maybe. But again, after 2 hrs of grueling HU match and if he was really not getting anything to work with, I don't blame his call here.
Either way, this put an end to our intense battle and I am back in the HUC finals baby!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Fuel v Recess - tonight!?
EDIT - it appears we will be playing on Stars maybe at the $20 level of static blinds HU match. There will be a decent side bet (amount yet to be finalized) that will go to the winner of the best of 5.
I am hopeful that we will get started tonight. Depending on how the match goes, I don't know if we will be able to complete the best of 5 match. We shall see. Some of you showed interest in watching so I will post the time/stakes as soon as I nail down the details with Fuel. I will say though, watching a HU match without knowing the hole cards would seem to me like watching paint dry. I'll be on girlychats tonight so if any of you are watching and want to know my hole cards, I'll mention it. I trust that no one will leak this info to Fuel. Even if you did, I don't think he'll use it against me since I don't think either one of us want to have any type of unfair advantage.
Admittedly, I tried the static blind HU match on pokerstars for the first time this weekend and it is a very different game. So, I'm going to have to make a lot of adjustments. And, it could be something that takes a while. I'm hoping that we can get started by 9:30pm EST. It's generally hard for me to start playing poker before then because Monday nights are generally my workout night so I just don't get home till like 8-8:30 at which point I'd cook dinner and it won't be till like 9:30 that I'm ready.
Either way, I do want to at least get the showdown started. Funny how I never woulda played these heads up matches if Fuel didn't give me such a hard time before HUC5 to get me to sign up. After a shockingly successful HUC5 campaign, I find myself in a good spot once again. Hopefully, I can make whatever adjustments I need to make to play a successful static blinds match against a guy who seems to be playing this thing all day long.
See you all tonight!
I am hopeful that we will get started tonight. Depending on how the match goes, I don't know if we will be able to complete the best of 5 match. We shall see. Some of you showed interest in watching so I will post the time/stakes as soon as I nail down the details with Fuel. I will say though, watching a HU match without knowing the hole cards would seem to me like watching paint dry. I'll be on girlychats tonight so if any of you are watching and want to know my hole cards, I'll mention it. I trust that no one will leak this info to Fuel. Even if you did, I don't think he'll use it against me since I don't think either one of us want to have any type of unfair advantage.
Admittedly, I tried the static blind HU match on pokerstars for the first time this weekend and it is a very different game. So, I'm going to have to make a lot of adjustments. And, it could be something that takes a while. I'm hoping that we can get started by 9:30pm EST. It's generally hard for me to start playing poker before then because Monday nights are generally my workout night so I just don't get home till like 8-8:30 at which point I'd cook dinner and it won't be till like 9:30 that I'm ready.
Either way, I do want to at least get the showdown started. Funny how I never woulda played these heads up matches if Fuel didn't give me such a hard time before HUC5 to get me to sign up. After a shockingly successful HUC5 campaign, I find myself in a good spot once again. Hopefully, I can make whatever adjustments I need to make to play a successful static blinds match against a guy who seems to be playing this thing all day long.
See you all tonight!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Final Four BABY!!!!
I just played WillWonka in the Heads Up Challenge (HUC6) and won 2-0 to advance to the final four of this tournament. 2 more matches till I can claim that I bested a field of 32 contestants to become the HUC6 champion... ok, I know I know, I'm getting a little too far ahead of myself.
WillWonka and I squared off in HUC5 also where I beat him 2-0 and so admittedly, I was fairly confident going into the game. However, I also know that the poker gods are cruel and so I wasn't overly confident. I just felt that if I played my game, I could probably beat him. So, what was my game plan going in? I was going to be the aggressor. The same way I was when I beat him last time. Except he must have had other plans. I think he raised almost every hand preflop that he had the button. He was very aggressive and even after the flop, I felt like he was stealing some pots away from me. I quickly had to adjust as he quickly gained a 2:1 chip lead on me. Fortunately, I had a few well timed big hands that ended when I had about 2100 chips and found TT. WillWonka limped so I bumped it up to 120 (I think the blinds were 20-40). He then shoves. It did make me pause for a minute. I mean only big hands would do this right? But then I remembered this was HU and TT is a monster in a heads up match. So I called. I was relieved to see him flip over K7s (I think it was a 7... it was an undercard to the ten) and fortunately for me, my pocket tens held up. 1-0.
In the next match, we were trading blows when we both had fairly even stacks and then this happens. What can I say. Poker is easy when you run good.
To his credit, on the river, I bet, he raised, I shoved. He had about 460 remaining and he actually thought long and hard. In the end, he said something along the lines of if you have a boat, so be it and called. I mean you can't fold there I don't think but his instincts were working. That's just a major set up hand. Great game by WillWonka. I honestly felt that he played a much more aggressive game this time and I definitely had to adjust.
The other part going into this match up was I really didn't want to look ahead to the next matchup. In other words, I didn't want to overlook WillWonka and then get beat. And it was hard not to. I mean I mentioned this before. Fuel is waiting for the victor of the match between me and WillWonka. The guy that all but mentored me in poker where now I've graduated to the point where I'm critiquing his hands? I mean this is big... even bigger if I take him down. Probably the equivalent of the Lucko match I had in the finals of HUC5 (where I unfortunately lost).
We're probably gonna play on pokerstars with static blinds. I don't know for how much yet since I don't have much of a roll but I'm sure we could do some swap deal where I send him money on Fulltilt and he could send me the money on PS. I'm fairly certain he's not gonna wanna play anything below $50 and I don't blame him. I'm guessing $100 but I could be wrong. Who knows what he has in mind.
This is big. Two guys who play cash games, probably think alike but play different styles of heads up match. And this one is best of 5.
Fuel, you're going down.
WillWonka and I squared off in HUC5 also where I beat him 2-0 and so admittedly, I was fairly confident going into the game. However, I also know that the poker gods are cruel and so I wasn't overly confident. I just felt that if I played my game, I could probably beat him. So, what was my game plan going in? I was going to be the aggressor. The same way I was when I beat him last time. Except he must have had other plans. I think he raised almost every hand preflop that he had the button. He was very aggressive and even after the flop, I felt like he was stealing some pots away from me. I quickly had to adjust as he quickly gained a 2:1 chip lead on me. Fortunately, I had a few well timed big hands that ended when I had about 2100 chips and found TT. WillWonka limped so I bumped it up to 120 (I think the blinds were 20-40). He then shoves. It did make me pause for a minute. I mean only big hands would do this right? But then I remembered this was HU and TT is a monster in a heads up match. So I called. I was relieved to see him flip over K7s (I think it was a 7... it was an undercard to the ten) and fortunately for me, my pocket tens held up. 1-0.
In the next match, we were trading blows when we both had fairly even stacks and then this happens. What can I say. Poker is easy when you run good.
To his credit, on the river, I bet, he raised, I shoved. He had about 460 remaining and he actually thought long and hard. In the end, he said something along the lines of if you have a boat, so be it and called. I mean you can't fold there I don't think but his instincts were working. That's just a major set up hand. Great game by WillWonka. I honestly felt that he played a much more aggressive game this time and I definitely had to adjust.
The other part going into this match up was I really didn't want to look ahead to the next matchup. In other words, I didn't want to overlook WillWonka and then get beat. And it was hard not to. I mean I mentioned this before. Fuel is waiting for the victor of the match between me and WillWonka. The guy that all but mentored me in poker where now I've graduated to the point where I'm critiquing his hands? I mean this is big... even bigger if I take him down. Probably the equivalent of the Lucko match I had in the finals of HUC5 (where I unfortunately lost).
We're probably gonna play on pokerstars with static blinds. I don't know for how much yet since I don't have much of a roll but I'm sure we could do some swap deal where I send him money on Fulltilt and he could send me the money on PS. I'm fairly certain he's not gonna wanna play anything below $50 and I don't blame him. I'm guessing $100 but I could be wrong. Who knows what he has in mind.
This is big. Two guys who play cash games, probably think alike but play different styles of heads up match. And this one is best of 5.
Fuel, you're going down.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Blogger cash game and FTOPS
Before I start my actual post, congrats to Waffles, Willwonka, and Katitude for also advancing to the 2nd round of HUC6. Go to that site for updated brackets. Also, please note that if your 2nd round opponent is set, you can go ahead and schedule/play your match.
So last night was a little different for me. Normally I have 4 cash tables open, grinding as usual at the 2-4NL 6 max tables. But last night, I had 3 tables open... two of which were tournaments. Unreal. I satellited into FTOPS #1 so I had that going. And at 10pm, the Mookie started as well as the deep stack 4/8NL blogger cash game. My buddy Pouringreign asked a good question on the girly chat. "Shouldn't you play against lesser competition at 2-4NL 6 max rather than playing against these known ringers?" My response? "They're all donkeys." Just kidding. That was not my response. My actual response was "yeah, but Fuel said I would be publicly humiliated if I didn't play. Plus after all the cash game posts and the recent posts, if I didn't play, I'd basically be admitting that I can't hang." Gotta get the "felt cred."
Unfortunately (or fortunately), I didn't really get much for cards. I definitely played fairly tight but the cards were just atrocious. Not even suited connectors or one gappers in late position... One AA on the button but it was folded to me and I raise and stole the blinds... One KQ from the CO, button calls my raise, I flop a straight but of course, I fire out a c-bet because that's what I do and the button (nonblogger) folds.
I don't have the HH for this one but one interesting hand was when Rakefeeder, Fuel and I were in a hand. I raised from MP, Fuel calls (because he has position on me and I'm sure desperately wants to rub in the fact that he's got more game or something), and Rakefeeder calls from either the SB or the BB. 3 way. We see a flop 9 high with two diamonds. Rakefeeder comes out firing a pot sized bet. The initial pot sized bet made me think that he either had TT or maybe a hand like A9. Either way, fairly strong for that board but not THAT strong, was my read. What did I have? KdJd. Two overs with a king high flush draw. I seriously considered raising there but I didn't want to get reraised off what I thought was a pretty good draw. Plus Fuel was behind me and I wasn't sure what he might do. If he flopped a set (there was a 5 out there if I recall correctly) and he decides to raise and rakefeeder comes over the top, it would be an easy fold for me. So, I smooth call. Fuel calls. Turn is an offsuit J. Rakefeeder checks to me so I fire out a good size bet (prob 80% of the pot), Fuel folds and Rakefeeder after thinking about it folds. So, Rakefeeder, if you had TT, it's a good fold. And as promised, I'm telling you what I had.
Speaking of which, I got lucky with my seating. I was seated to the left of Gnome and Cmitch, two of the players that I would much rather have on my right than to my left. Cmitch was probably not too excited that whenever he raised, I put in a reraise. However, both times that I 3 bet, I had a hand. One was AK, the next was TT. With Cmitch, I wanted to apply aggression with strong hands and couple that with the fact that I had position on him, it would be very hard for him to play on without premium cards. And since I was playing tight, there's no reason for him to think that I would be getting frisky without cards. At the end of the night, I ended up a little over $800. Nothing crazy considering the stakes but definitely happy about that. Thanks again to Gnome for setting that up. Oh, and before I forget, here's a good HH. Fuel knows what I have before I know what I have. :) Good thing he's a payoff wizard.
Full Tilt Poker Game #5152471555: Table Alise (deep) - $4/$8 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:55:34 ET - 2008/02/06
Seat 1: SirFWALGMan ($945.20)
Seat 2: weak_player ($1,547)
Seat 3: Fuel55 ($1,600)
Seat 4: Bone_Daddy84 ($1,592)
Seat 5: Rake Feeder ($1,403.20)
Seat 6: smizmiatch ($2,127.30)
Seat 7: cmitch ($1,659)
Seat 8: RecessRampage ($1,805)
Seat 9: SPIRITSLAYER ($1,307.40)
RecessRampage posts the small blind of $4
SPIRITSLAYER posts the big blind of $8
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [8c 8s]
SirFWALGMan folds
Fuel55 raises to $24
Bone_Daddy84 folds
Rake Feeder folds
smizmiatch folds
cmitch folds
RecessRampage calls $20
SPIRITSLAYER folds
*** FLOP *** [6c Kc Td]
RecessRampage checks
Fuel55 checks <--- he always checks top pair
*** TURN *** [6c Kc Td] [Th]
RecessRampage checks
Fuel55 bets $24
RecessRampage calls $24
At this point, I did think that Fuel had the K. If he had a draw, he'd bet out the flop. So, I actually thought about making a move on the river if another club comes. Except I forgot Fuel runs so bad (only according to him).
*** RIVER *** [6c Kc Td Th] [8h] <--- gin!
RecessRampage checks (he's got top pair so he'll bet)
Fuel55 bets $64 <--- right on cue
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME (I like to think about my bet sizing)
RecessRampage raises to $244
Fuel55: ceom on
Fuel55: you have 88? <--- he's good...
Fuel55 has 15 seconds left to act
Fuel55 has requested TIME
Fuel55: i am a payoff wizard <--- oh thank god
Fuel55 calls $180
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RecessRampage shows [8c 8s] a full house, Eights full of Tens
Fuel55 mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot ($589) with a full house, Eights full of Tens
Fuel55: fawek i knew <--- I know...
Nothing much to report on the Mookie except I had a decent chip lead that I rode to the final table but couldn't get anything going and busted out in 8th or 7th or something. Admittedly, between the blogger cash game and the possibility of going deep in FTOPS#1, I really wasn't paying much attention to the Mookie.
On the FTOPS, the first hour, I played like... a bitch. Oh my god. I wanted to play tight. Instead, I played some weak tight poker. After the first hour, I knew I had to do something different. Basically, I needed to play my game. My desire to play tight actually made me play weak tight. So, after the first break, I decided to still play tight but be more aggressive. Slowly, I was able to chip up and the big break came when I flopped top set with QQ against a guy who had QJ and doubled up. Chipped up nicely after that until this hand came.
Full Tilt Poker Game #5153078013: FTOPS Event #1 (35825338), Table 385 - 170/340 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:41:58 ET - 2008/02/06
Seat 1: canuckoo (28,460)
Seat 2: BRAZILUSA (27,306)
Seat 3: bkrake (5,757)
Seat 4: SuperSnoopy (8,685)
Seat 5: ProtekYoNuts (12,188)
Seat 6: 3pounder (6,053)
Seat 7: RecessRampage (14,425)
Seat 8: unemployed (6,170)
Seat 9: SELPARA (20,099)
canuckoo antes 25
BRAZILUSA antes 25
bkrake antes 25
SuperSnoopy antes 25
ProtekYoNuts antes 25
3pounder antes 25
RecessRampage antes 25
unemployed antes 25
SELPARA antes 25
3pounder posts the small blind of 170
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 340
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [6d 4d]
unemployed raises to 725
SELPARA folds
canuckoo folds
BRAZILUSA calls 725
bkrake folds
SuperSnoopy folds
ProtekYoNuts folds
3pounder folds
RecessRampage calls 385
*** FLOP *** [3d 8d 9d] <--- gin!
RecessRampage checks
unemployed checks
BRAZILUSA bets 2,570
RecessRampage calls 2,570
unemployed has 15 seconds left to act
unemployed raises to 5,420, and is all in
BRAZILUSA calls 2,850
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 13,675, and is all in
BRAZILUSA has 15 seconds left to act
BRAZILUSA folds
RecessRampage shows [6d 4d]
unemployed shows [Jd Ad] <--- d'oh!
Uncalled bet of 8,255 returned to RecessRampage
*** TURN *** [3d 8d 9d] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [3d 8d 9d Kd] [Kh]
RecessRampage shows a flush, King high
unemployed shows a flush, Ace high
unemployed wins the pot (18,830) with a flush, Ace high
Fortunately, that only brought my stack down to about average so no big deal. I was able to chip up again and at one point, I was like in top 20 out of 1000ish players left. When this next hand happened, I was like in top 100 out of the remaining 950ish players with 750ish spots cashing. But of course, cashing isn't the goal here. I don't know what the minimum cash amount was but I'm guessing like $300 or something maybe? Anyways, that's not gonna do much to my roll. I wanted at least 4 figures... of course I was dreaming 5 or 6 figures...
Full Tilt Poker Game #5153656456: FTOPS Event #1 (35825338), Table 41 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:29:59 ET - 2008/02/07
Seat 1: RecessRampage (26,850)
Seat 2: fightingchicken (7,804)
Seat 3: ArmenH1 (28,425)
Seat 4: blubboz (7,423)
Seat 5: Donwaldorf (58,438)
Seat 6: Gwermpt (14,927)
Seat 7: ckingusc (12,237)
Seat 8: MrTimCaum (13,446)
Seat 9: GAME OVER 73 (14,413)
RecessRampage antes 75
fightingchicken antes 75
ArmenH1 antes 75
blubboz antes 75
Donwaldorf antes 75
Gwermpt antes 75
ckingusc antes 75
MrTimCaum antes 75
GAME OVER 73 antes 75
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 300
fightingchicken posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qd Qc]
cmitch (Observer): gl alan <--- nice guy, that cmitch.
RecessRampage: ty cmitch
ArmenH1 raises to 1,555
blubboz folds
cmitch (Observer): so what did u have? <--- relentless
cmitch (Observer): i had AK <--- he must've really hated me reraising again
Donwaldorf has 15 seconds left to act
Donwaldorf calls 1,555
Gwermpt folds
ckingusc folds
MrTimCaum has 15 seconds left to act
MrTimCaum raises to 13,371, and is all in
GAME OVER 73 folds
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 26,775, and is all in
fightingchicken folds
ArmenH1 has 15 seconds left to act
ArmenH1 folds
Donwaldorf has 15 seconds left to act
Donwaldorf folds
RecessRampage shows [Qd Qc]
MrTimCaum shows [Ah Kd]
Uncalled bet of 13,404 returned to RecessRampage
*** FLOP *** [As 7h 5d]
*** TURN *** [As 7h 5d] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [As 7h 5d 8s] [8d]
RecessRampage shows two pair, Queens and Eights
MrTimCaum shows two pair, Aces and Eights
MrTimCaum wins the pot (31,127) with two pair, Aces and Eights
This was huge. I felt that the guy's shove meant he was a little weaker so I ruled out AA and KK. I honestly considered folding the QQ here but again, I felt that his shove was an attempt to pick up the two weakish raises from EP. And I didn't have any reason to believe that the other two players involved were tricky players. So, I decided to take a stand here. If I win this race, I'm top 20 in chips. Instead, I lose half my stack but still ok. But then I think one hand later, this happens.
Full Tilt Poker Game #5153680548: FTOPS Event #1 (35825338), Table 41 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:32:04 ET - 2008/02/07
Seat 1: RecessRampage (13,329)
Seat 2: fightingchicken (6,754)
Seat 3: ArmenH1 (26,120)
Seat 4: blubboz (7,273)
Seat 5: Donwaldorf (56,733)
Seat 6: Gwermpt (16,352)
Seat 7: ckingusc (12,087)
Seat 8: MrTimCaum (31,052)
Seat 9: GAME OVER 73 (14,263)
RecessRampage antes 75
fightingchicken antes 75
ArmenH1 antes 75
blubboz antes 75
Donwaldorf antes 75
Gwermpt antes 75
ckingusc antes 75
MrTimCaum antes 75
GAME OVER 73 antes 75
ArmenH1 posts the small blind of 300
blubboz posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ac Qs]
Donwaldorf folds
Gwermpt folds
ckingusc folds
MrTimCaum folds
GAME OVER 73 raises to 1,555
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 4,200
fightingchicken folds
ArmenH1 folds
blubboz folds
GAME OVER 73 has 15 seconds left to act
GAME OVER 73 raises to 14,188, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage calls 9,054, and is all in
GAME OVER 73 shows [Ad Ah]
RecessRampage shows [Ac Qs]
Uncalled bet of 934 returned to GAME OVER 73
*** FLOP *** [2s 3s 2h]
RecessRampage: damn
*** TURN *** [2s 3s 2h] [8d]
RecessRampage: gg
*** RIVER *** [2s 3s 2h 8d] [4d]
GAME OVER 73 shows two pair, Aces and Twos
RecessRampage shows a pair of Twos
RecessRampage stands up
I guess I coulda called there and fold to a flop bet. By reraising, I kinda got pot committed when he came over the top and shoved like that. I thought I would be racing and with me getting 2:1, I couldn't fold... or so I thought. Tough spot I think. I coulda just tried to hang around to cash but again, cashing was not my goal. It was extremely fun playing in this tournament though. I still have a long ways to go with my MTT game but since I actually satellited into this after my first try, it only cost me $24+2. Good times.
Thanks for IT, Buddy, and Smokkee for showing me love on the radio. And thanks to all those who were railing me during the Mook, FTOPS 1 and blogger cash. Good times.
So last night was a little different for me. Normally I have 4 cash tables open, grinding as usual at the 2-4NL 6 max tables. But last night, I had 3 tables open... two of which were tournaments. Unreal. I satellited into FTOPS #1 so I had that going. And at 10pm, the Mookie started as well as the deep stack 4/8NL blogger cash game. My buddy Pouringreign asked a good question on the girly chat. "Shouldn't you play against lesser competition at 2-4NL 6 max rather than playing against these known ringers?" My response? "They're all donkeys." Just kidding. That was not my response. My actual response was "yeah, but Fuel said I would be publicly humiliated if I didn't play. Plus after all the cash game posts and the recent posts, if I didn't play, I'd basically be admitting that I can't hang." Gotta get the "felt cred."
Unfortunately (or fortunately), I didn't really get much for cards. I definitely played fairly tight but the cards were just atrocious. Not even suited connectors or one gappers in late position... One AA on the button but it was folded to me and I raise and stole the blinds... One KQ from the CO, button calls my raise, I flop a straight but of course, I fire out a c-bet because that's what I do and the button (nonblogger) folds.
I don't have the HH for this one but one interesting hand was when Rakefeeder, Fuel and I were in a hand. I raised from MP, Fuel calls (because he has position on me and I'm sure desperately wants to rub in the fact that he's got more game or something), and Rakefeeder calls from either the SB or the BB. 3 way. We see a flop 9 high with two diamonds. Rakefeeder comes out firing a pot sized bet. The initial pot sized bet made me think that he either had TT or maybe a hand like A9. Either way, fairly strong for that board but not THAT strong, was my read. What did I have? KdJd. Two overs with a king high flush draw. I seriously considered raising there but I didn't want to get reraised off what I thought was a pretty good draw. Plus Fuel was behind me and I wasn't sure what he might do. If he flopped a set (there was a 5 out there if I recall correctly) and he decides to raise and rakefeeder comes over the top, it would be an easy fold for me. So, I smooth call. Fuel calls. Turn is an offsuit J. Rakefeeder checks to me so I fire out a good size bet (prob 80% of the pot), Fuel folds and Rakefeeder after thinking about it folds. So, Rakefeeder, if you had TT, it's a good fold. And as promised, I'm telling you what I had.
Speaking of which, I got lucky with my seating. I was seated to the left of Gnome and Cmitch, two of the players that I would much rather have on my right than to my left. Cmitch was probably not too excited that whenever he raised, I put in a reraise. However, both times that I 3 bet, I had a hand. One was AK, the next was TT. With Cmitch, I wanted to apply aggression with strong hands and couple that with the fact that I had position on him, it would be very hard for him to play on without premium cards. And since I was playing tight, there's no reason for him to think that I would be getting frisky without cards. At the end of the night, I ended up a little over $800. Nothing crazy considering the stakes but definitely happy about that. Thanks again to Gnome for setting that up. Oh, and before I forget, here's a good HH. Fuel knows what I have before I know what I have. :) Good thing he's a payoff wizard.
Full Tilt Poker Game #5152471555: Table Alise (deep) - $4/$8 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:55:34 ET - 2008/02/06
Seat 1: SirFWALGMan ($945.20)
Seat 2: weak_player ($1,547)
Seat 3: Fuel55 ($1,600)
Seat 4: Bone_Daddy84 ($1,592)
Seat 5: Rake Feeder ($1,403.20)
Seat 6: smizmiatch ($2,127.30)
Seat 7: cmitch ($1,659)
Seat 8: RecessRampage ($1,805)
Seat 9: SPIRITSLAYER ($1,307.40)
RecessRampage posts the small blind of $4
SPIRITSLAYER posts the big blind of $8
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [8c 8s]
SirFWALGMan folds
Fuel55 raises to $24
Bone_Daddy84 folds
Rake Feeder folds
smizmiatch folds
cmitch folds
RecessRampage calls $20
SPIRITSLAYER folds
*** FLOP *** [6c Kc Td]
RecessRampage checks
Fuel55 checks <--- he always checks top pair
*** TURN *** [6c Kc Td] [Th]
RecessRampage checks
Fuel55 bets $24
RecessRampage calls $24
At this point, I did think that Fuel had the K. If he had a draw, he'd bet out the flop. So, I actually thought about making a move on the river if another club comes. Except I forgot Fuel runs so bad (only according to him).
*** RIVER *** [6c Kc Td Th] [8h] <--- gin!
RecessRampage checks (he's got top pair so he'll bet)
Fuel55 bets $64 <--- right on cue
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME (I like to think about my bet sizing)
RecessRampage raises to $244
Fuel55: ceom on
Fuel55: you have 88? <--- he's good...
Fuel55 has 15 seconds left to act
Fuel55 has requested TIME
Fuel55: i am a payoff wizard <--- oh thank god
Fuel55 calls $180
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RecessRampage shows [8c 8s] a full house, Eights full of Tens
Fuel55 mucks
RecessRampage wins the pot ($589) with a full house, Eights full of Tens
Fuel55: fawek i knew <--- I know...
Nothing much to report on the Mookie except I had a decent chip lead that I rode to the final table but couldn't get anything going and busted out in 8th or 7th or something. Admittedly, between the blogger cash game and the possibility of going deep in FTOPS#1, I really wasn't paying much attention to the Mookie.
On the FTOPS, the first hour, I played like... a bitch. Oh my god. I wanted to play tight. Instead, I played some weak tight poker. After the first hour, I knew I had to do something different. Basically, I needed to play my game. My desire to play tight actually made me play weak tight. So, after the first break, I decided to still play tight but be more aggressive. Slowly, I was able to chip up and the big break came when I flopped top set with QQ against a guy who had QJ and doubled up. Chipped up nicely after that until this hand came.
Full Tilt Poker Game #5153078013: FTOPS Event #1 (35825338), Table 385 - 170/340 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:41:58 ET - 2008/02/06
Seat 1: canuckoo (28,460)
Seat 2: BRAZILUSA (27,306)
Seat 3: bkrake (5,757)
Seat 4: SuperSnoopy (8,685)
Seat 5: ProtekYoNuts (12,188)
Seat 6: 3pounder (6,053)
Seat 7: RecessRampage (14,425)
Seat 8: unemployed (6,170)
Seat 9: SELPARA (20,099)
canuckoo antes 25
BRAZILUSA antes 25
bkrake antes 25
SuperSnoopy antes 25
ProtekYoNuts antes 25
3pounder antes 25
RecessRampage antes 25
unemployed antes 25
SELPARA antes 25
3pounder posts the small blind of 170
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 340
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [6d 4d]
unemployed raises to 725
SELPARA folds
canuckoo folds
BRAZILUSA calls 725
bkrake folds
SuperSnoopy folds
ProtekYoNuts folds
3pounder folds
RecessRampage calls 385
*** FLOP *** [3d 8d 9d] <--- gin!
RecessRampage checks
unemployed checks
BRAZILUSA bets 2,570
RecessRampage calls 2,570
unemployed has 15 seconds left to act
unemployed raises to 5,420, and is all in
BRAZILUSA calls 2,850
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 13,675, and is all in
BRAZILUSA has 15 seconds left to act
BRAZILUSA folds
RecessRampage shows [6d 4d]
unemployed shows [Jd Ad] <--- d'oh!
Uncalled bet of 8,255 returned to RecessRampage
*** TURN *** [3d 8d 9d] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [3d 8d 9d Kd] [Kh]
RecessRampage shows a flush, King high
unemployed shows a flush, Ace high
unemployed wins the pot (18,830) with a flush, Ace high
Fortunately, that only brought my stack down to about average so no big deal. I was able to chip up again and at one point, I was like in top 20 out of 1000ish players left. When this next hand happened, I was like in top 100 out of the remaining 950ish players with 750ish spots cashing. But of course, cashing isn't the goal here. I don't know what the minimum cash amount was but I'm guessing like $300 or something maybe? Anyways, that's not gonna do much to my roll. I wanted at least 4 figures... of course I was dreaming 5 or 6 figures...
Full Tilt Poker Game #5153656456: FTOPS Event #1 (35825338), Table 41 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:29:59 ET - 2008/02/07
Seat 1: RecessRampage (26,850)
Seat 2: fightingchicken (7,804)
Seat 3: ArmenH1 (28,425)
Seat 4: blubboz (7,423)
Seat 5: Donwaldorf (58,438)
Seat 6: Gwermpt (14,927)
Seat 7: ckingusc (12,237)
Seat 8: MrTimCaum (13,446)
Seat 9: GAME OVER 73 (14,413)
RecessRampage antes 75
fightingchicken antes 75
ArmenH1 antes 75
blubboz antes 75
Donwaldorf antes 75
Gwermpt antes 75
ckingusc antes 75
MrTimCaum antes 75
GAME OVER 73 antes 75
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 300
fightingchicken posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qd Qc]
cmitch (Observer): gl alan <--- nice guy, that cmitch.
RecessRampage: ty cmitch
ArmenH1 raises to 1,555
blubboz folds
cmitch (Observer): so what did u have? <--- relentless
cmitch (Observer): i had AK <--- he must've really hated me reraising again
Donwaldorf has 15 seconds left to act
Donwaldorf calls 1,555
Gwermpt folds
ckingusc folds
MrTimCaum has 15 seconds left to act
MrTimCaum raises to 13,371, and is all in
GAME OVER 73 folds
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 26,775, and is all in
fightingchicken folds
ArmenH1 has 15 seconds left to act
ArmenH1 folds
Donwaldorf has 15 seconds left to act
Donwaldorf folds
RecessRampage shows [Qd Qc]
MrTimCaum shows [Ah Kd]
Uncalled bet of 13,404 returned to RecessRampage
*** FLOP *** [As 7h 5d]
*** TURN *** [As 7h 5d] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [As 7h 5d 8s] [8d]
RecessRampage shows two pair, Queens and Eights
MrTimCaum shows two pair, Aces and Eights
MrTimCaum wins the pot (31,127) with two pair, Aces and Eights
This was huge. I felt that the guy's shove meant he was a little weaker so I ruled out AA and KK. I honestly considered folding the QQ here but again, I felt that his shove was an attempt to pick up the two weakish raises from EP. And I didn't have any reason to believe that the other two players involved were tricky players. So, I decided to take a stand here. If I win this race, I'm top 20 in chips. Instead, I lose half my stack but still ok. But then I think one hand later, this happens.
Full Tilt Poker Game #5153680548: FTOPS Event #1 (35825338), Table 41 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:32:04 ET - 2008/02/07
Seat 1: RecessRampage (13,329)
Seat 2: fightingchicken (6,754)
Seat 3: ArmenH1 (26,120)
Seat 4: blubboz (7,273)
Seat 5: Donwaldorf (56,733)
Seat 6: Gwermpt (16,352)
Seat 7: ckingusc (12,087)
Seat 8: MrTimCaum (31,052)
Seat 9: GAME OVER 73 (14,263)
RecessRampage antes 75
fightingchicken antes 75
ArmenH1 antes 75
blubboz antes 75
Donwaldorf antes 75
Gwermpt antes 75
ckingusc antes 75
MrTimCaum antes 75
GAME OVER 73 antes 75
ArmenH1 posts the small blind of 300
blubboz posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ac Qs]
Donwaldorf folds
Gwermpt folds
ckingusc folds
MrTimCaum folds
GAME OVER 73 raises to 1,555
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 4,200
fightingchicken folds
ArmenH1 folds
blubboz folds
GAME OVER 73 has 15 seconds left to act
GAME OVER 73 raises to 14,188, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage calls 9,054, and is all in
GAME OVER 73 shows [Ad Ah]
RecessRampage shows [Ac Qs]
Uncalled bet of 934 returned to GAME OVER 73
*** FLOP *** [2s 3s 2h]
RecessRampage: damn
*** TURN *** [2s 3s 2h] [8d]
RecessRampage: gg
*** RIVER *** [2s 3s 2h 8d] [4d]
GAME OVER 73 shows two pair, Aces and Twos
RecessRampage shows a pair of Twos
RecessRampage stands up
I guess I coulda called there and fold to a flop bet. By reraising, I kinda got pot committed when he came over the top and shoved like that. I thought I would be racing and with me getting 2:1, I couldn't fold... or so I thought. Tough spot I think. I coulda just tried to hang around to cash but again, cashing was not my goal. It was extremely fun playing in this tournament though. I still have a long ways to go with my MTT game but since I actually satellited into this after my first try, it only cost me $24+2. Good times.
Thanks for IT, Buddy, and Smokkee for showing me love on the radio. And thanks to all those who were railing me during the Mook, FTOPS 1 and blogger cash. Good times.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
HUC 6, FTOPS I, and Blogger Cash Game
Well, it appears that the HUC6 is officially under way. PvanHaribo kicks off this thing with a pseudo upset (I say pseudo because considering her recent successes, it's really not fair to call her an underdog in any tournament) but considering that she was against the HUC5 champion, I think it's fair to call this an upset. Good thing because I woulda hated to have her get bounced and then question the "random function on RecessRampage's computer" as CK31 so cleverly put it. Well, you can see the updated brackets on the official HUC website. I'll try to keep that updated as the results come in. And speaking of CK31, congrats to her for knocking off Cmitch. On paper, it might seem like an upset but I think CK31 plays a pretty disciplined, aggressive game so even though my initial reaction was that of a slight surprise, I'm actually not that shocked anymore.
As for me... my first round match was against lifesagrind who admittedly, I didn't know much about. But, as the commissioner and HUC5 runner up, I wanted to make sure I had a respectable showing. So, I went to check out his blog, found out he's mainly a MTT/SNG guy but beyond that, I couldn't find much else about him, his playing style, etc. So, I played a few HU matches to warm up and then when he was ready, we kicked things off... sort of... these $5 HU matches are so hard to coordinate. I LOVE the new rematch feature that FullTilt now has on the heads up match. I think UltimateBet had that and I liked that about that site so I'm glad FullTilt finally brought that in. But that still doesn't solve the problem of being able to find a table where a random person doesn't jump in. As such, lifesagrind had to play a random dude because apparently, I didn't click on the "ok" button quick enough. Then, after he got done working over some random online donkey, we tried again... this time, I ended up with two tables... neither of which was against lifesagrind. I did win both of them so that was good. Eventually, we were able to land on the same table and finally, we were off.
I don't have the HHs or the number of hands or the stats on me. But I know that I had to adjust my game very early and quickly. Lifesagrind was much more aggressive than any of the opponents I faced in HUC5. In HUC5, I felt that I was the one applying aggression every round. In this one, I could tell that he was going to be the aggressor. So, I hunkered down a bit, played a little tighter and tried to keep the pot small unless I had a big hand. I got lucky in the first match when he had a 2:1 chip lead, I flopped a set with 55 against his overpair to the board, doubling me up and I was able to finish him off. 1-0. Next match, was kind of a blur but it was another instance where I flopped a better hand against his pretty good hand. Sorry, again, no detailed memory because I ended up playing 5 HU matches by accident so they're all kinda running together right now. But I think one was like A high flop, he has top pair, I have two pair, type of situation. Not much you can do in a HU match. I was able to take the second match and advance to the second round of HUC6.
Tonight kicks off the FTOPS. I know that a bunch of bloggers are playing in this thing. I qualified for it as well so we'll see how well I do. Admittedly, I wanted to play a few more MTTs over the weekend but I never got a chance to. Friday night, my buddies and I went out, got totally thrashed, so not much poker was played. Saturday night (though some of us were still struggling from the night before), we had "poker" night. Now I put quotes around that because I can't even call this poker... but it is the same game... I mean we all get dealt two cards and see a flop, turn and river... but really, there's no thought process involved, hardly any raises preflop, I don't think I ever folded preflop, etc. Anyways, so no time for MTT, just enough cash game online for me to earn 200 pts (having to work during the day didn't help). Sunday was Superbowl and catching up on sleep so again, no MTTs. As much as I talk poker, apparently, it's not as high on the priority list as I make it seem...
Ok, back to FTOPS. I wanted to play some more MTTs since I rarely play them and I also wanted to watch more videos on PXF. I'm in the middle of watching Rizen take down the Sunday Million on Pokerstars and he does a great job of explaining his thought process in the tournament. I wanted to complete all 11 or 12 installments of that series but alas... I'm only at part 3... So, I guess I'll just have to hope to get lucky if I want to do any damage tonight on that thing.
One last thing is the Blogger Cash game that gnome is organizing. It's $4/8 NL on Full Tilt. This should be interesting. I have mixed feelings about this game. First off, it doesn't start till 11:30pm EST which is quite late for me since I usually go to bed around midnight. Second, if I'm in the FTOPS still at this point, I would want to focus on FTOPS. But then again, I've seemed to have made quite a name for myself in the cash game blogger world... so it would look like I'm copping out if I'm online but not playing in this thing. Third, this would be an extremely -EV cash game. In other words, you hear everyone preaching table selection and how you want to be at a table full of donks. So why voluntarily sit at a table where everyone is a profitable cash gamer??? Of course, as a guy who wants to prove his worth, I am fairly eager to play in that sense... even if that costs me. So we will see where I'm at when the thing starts.
Good luck to everyone tonight in whatever they are playing.
As for me... my first round match was against lifesagrind who admittedly, I didn't know much about. But, as the commissioner and HUC5 runner up, I wanted to make sure I had a respectable showing. So, I went to check out his blog, found out he's mainly a MTT/SNG guy but beyond that, I couldn't find much else about him, his playing style, etc. So, I played a few HU matches to warm up and then when he was ready, we kicked things off... sort of... these $5 HU matches are so hard to coordinate. I LOVE the new rematch feature that FullTilt now has on the heads up match. I think UltimateBet had that and I liked that about that site so I'm glad FullTilt finally brought that in. But that still doesn't solve the problem of being able to find a table where a random person doesn't jump in. As such, lifesagrind had to play a random dude because apparently, I didn't click on the "ok" button quick enough. Then, after he got done working over some random online donkey, we tried again... this time, I ended up with two tables... neither of which was against lifesagrind. I did win both of them so that was good. Eventually, we were able to land on the same table and finally, we were off.
I don't have the HHs or the number of hands or the stats on me. But I know that I had to adjust my game very early and quickly. Lifesagrind was much more aggressive than any of the opponents I faced in HUC5. In HUC5, I felt that I was the one applying aggression every round. In this one, I could tell that he was going to be the aggressor. So, I hunkered down a bit, played a little tighter and tried to keep the pot small unless I had a big hand. I got lucky in the first match when he had a 2:1 chip lead, I flopped a set with 55 against his overpair to the board, doubling me up and I was able to finish him off. 1-0. Next match, was kind of a blur but it was another instance where I flopped a better hand against his pretty good hand. Sorry, again, no detailed memory because I ended up playing 5 HU matches by accident so they're all kinda running together right now. But I think one was like A high flop, he has top pair, I have two pair, type of situation. Not much you can do in a HU match. I was able to take the second match and advance to the second round of HUC6.
Tonight kicks off the FTOPS. I know that a bunch of bloggers are playing in this thing. I qualified for it as well so we'll see how well I do. Admittedly, I wanted to play a few more MTTs over the weekend but I never got a chance to. Friday night, my buddies and I went out, got totally thrashed, so not much poker was played. Saturday night (though some of us were still struggling from the night before), we had "poker" night. Now I put quotes around that because I can't even call this poker... but it is the same game... I mean we all get dealt two cards and see a flop, turn and river... but really, there's no thought process involved, hardly any raises preflop, I don't think I ever folded preflop, etc. Anyways, so no time for MTT, just enough cash game online for me to earn 200 pts (having to work during the day didn't help). Sunday was Superbowl and catching up on sleep so again, no MTTs. As much as I talk poker, apparently, it's not as high on the priority list as I make it seem...
Ok, back to FTOPS. I wanted to play some more MTTs since I rarely play them and I also wanted to watch more videos on PXF. I'm in the middle of watching Rizen take down the Sunday Million on Pokerstars and he does a great job of explaining his thought process in the tournament. I wanted to complete all 11 or 12 installments of that series but alas... I'm only at part 3... So, I guess I'll just have to hope to get lucky if I want to do any damage tonight on that thing.
One last thing is the Blogger Cash game that gnome is organizing. It's $4/8 NL on Full Tilt. This should be interesting. I have mixed feelings about this game. First off, it doesn't start till 11:30pm EST which is quite late for me since I usually go to bed around midnight. Second, if I'm in the FTOPS still at this point, I would want to focus on FTOPS. But then again, I've seemed to have made quite a name for myself in the cash game blogger world... so it would look like I'm copping out if I'm online but not playing in this thing. Third, this would be an extremely -EV cash game. In other words, you hear everyone preaching table selection and how you want to be at a table full of donks. So why voluntarily sit at a table where everyone is a profitable cash gamer??? Of course, as a guy who wants to prove his worth, I am fairly eager to play in that sense... even if that costs me. So we will see where I'm at when the thing starts.
Good luck to everyone tonight in whatever they are playing.
Monday, February 4, 2008
HUC 6 Brackets are set!
The matchups for HUC 6 is now set. Again, I used the RAND function on Excel so if you hate the matchup, well, blame Microsoft. I'm sure it's hard to read so click on the picture for the enlarged view.
I will send out the email shortly to the contestants with everyone else's email address so you can get in touch with them and start setting the matches. However, I don't have the email address for the following players.
- ck31
- TwoBlackAces
- Bone_Daddy84
- NumbBono
- emptyman
- PercentileDoom
- NoNotReally
- Jeciimd
- SirFWALGMan
You can contact them via their blogs or, it would be much appreciated if the players above could email me at atachikawa AT gmail dot com so I can just include it on the list that only goes out to the HUC6 contestants. Having said that, if you already know how to contact your first round opponent, don't wait for my spreadsheet. Let this post be the actual kick off of HUC6. Good luck to everyone.
I will send out the email shortly to the contestants with everyone else's email address so you can get in touch with them and start setting the matches. However, I don't have the email address for the following players.
- ck31
- TwoBlackAces
- Bone_Daddy84
- NumbBono
- emptyman
- PercentileDoom
- NoNotReally
- Jeciimd
- SirFWALGMan
You can contact them via their blogs or, it would be much appreciated if the players above could email me at atachikawa AT gmail dot com so I can just include it on the list that only goes out to the HUC6 contestants. Having said that, if you already know how to contact your first round opponent, don't wait for my spreadsheet. Let this post be the actual kick off of HUC6. Good luck to everyone.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
HUC 6 - Registration is now closed
We have 32 players in HUC6 now. Again, go to the official site for the full line-up. Sorry, work has been crazy busy so not much updates. The pairings and brackets will be determined with the random number generator on the Excel spreadsheet. I will put that up this weekend. For those of you who signed up, look for an email from me detailing the process.
For official rules and payouts, etc, click here.
For official rules and payouts, etc, click here.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Quick HUC6 update
We are down to 2 spots. Hurry in! You don't want to miss this opportunity.
In case you're worried that you transfer me the money as the 33rd person, don't worry, if that's the case, I will transfer the money back to you. Hopefully, if you are a reader of this blog, you will know that I'm good for it. I'm pretty positive I have bloggers that can actually vouch for that. So, don't be shy, fork over the $30 and if you're the next two to do it, you're in!
See the official HUC6 site for details on who's registered so far.
Friday, January 25, 2008
HUC 6 Entrants Update - Down to 8 spots
As most of you are aware, the sign ups for HUC6 is under way. You can find the rules for HUC6 here. All you have to do is transfer $30 to me on FullTilt under RecessRampage (city name starts with G) or Dirty Vizzer (on Pokerstars). We got 23 so far.
- Me, RecessRampage, of course
- Fuel55
- PvanHaribo
- Mike_Maloney
- HighOnPoker
- Lifesagrind
- Lucko21
- Kajagugu
- Bluechips
- Schaubs
- ck31
- PirateLawyer
- TwoBlackAces
- Riggstad
- Katitude
- Bone_Daddy84
- smizmiatch (gnome)
- thepokergrind
- NumbBono
- emptyman
- Pouringreign
- jmathewson_III
- Loretta8
- cmitch
Like I said before, keep them coming. 32 would make for a nice prize pool and definitely great bragging rights. So come on out. The more the merrier. And sweeter when I brag about how I beat out the rest of you for the title of HUC 6 Champion.
And special thanks to Mookie for the banner. It's sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!
EDIT - As of Sunday, 1/27 at 9:00pm EST, we got 8 spots open. Let's get them filled so we can start!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
HUC 6
Alright, so as I posted on this headsup challenge website, the sign ups for HUC6 is underway. All you have to do is transfer $30 to me on FullTilt under RecessRampage (city name starts with G) or Dirty Vizzer (on Pokerstars). So far, here are the brave souls that signed up so far.
- Me, RecessRampage, of course
- Fuel55
- PvanHaribo
- Mike_Maloney
- HighOnPoker
- Lifesagrind
- Lucko21
- Kajagugu
- Mdemontecristo
- Schaubs
- ck31
Look at all this dead money!!!! What are you waiting for!? Sign up already. Where are the ones that played in HUC5? Did I beat up on you guys that bad???? Come on out. Take a shot. Bring it!!! :)
Oh, and you don't have to be a blogger to play in this thing. Just thought I'd throw that out there too.
Ok, quick update. While I was typing this, two more signed up. Keep em coming.
- Me, RecessRampage, of course
- Fuel55
- PvanHaribo
- Mike_Maloney
- HighOnPoker
- Lifesagrind
- Lucko21
- Kajagugu
- Mdemontecristo
- Schaubs
- ck31
Look at all this dead money!!!! What are you waiting for!? Sign up already. Where are the ones that played in HUC5? Did I beat up on you guys that bad???? Come on out. Take a shot. Bring it!!! :)
Oh, and you don't have to be a blogger to play in this thing. Just thought I'd throw that out there too.
Ok, quick update. While I was typing this, two more signed up. Keep em coming.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Before someone has to put a gun to my head...
Here's what I posted on the headsupchallenge site.
Somehow, I got cleverly manipulated into doing this but anyways, even though I'm a schlub who actually has a real job and such, I am now the commissioner for HUC 6 (being the runner-up in HUC5 and still being appointed commish is truly a BAD BEAT). Last time, we got 16 players to come out but I think there was some confusion as to which site you had to play on and such. There are no such rules. It's whatever the two players who are going heads up want to do. Hell, if they want to play it live, go at it for all I care. Just tell me who won so I can update the spreadsheet.
Number of Players: 32* (first pay, first served)
Entry Fee: $30 (paid in advance to RecessRampage at FullTilt (city name starts with G)) - Let me know if you only have money in other sites. We can work something out.
Places Paid: 4 (1st thru 4th will be paid $432, $288, $144 and $96, respectively) - assuming 32 players, of course.
Structure: Preliminary rounds will be best of 3 and Final 4 will be best of 5
Organization: Players will have 5 days per round to organize and complete their match - the winner will give me the match results. Also, the buy-in for the HU games should cater to the ones with smaller bankrolls. If you wanna play a $100 HU game but the other guy can only afford $5, don't try to "negotiate" into doing $20. Since this is an attempt at making it fun but a test of skill, I don't want anyone to have to play with scared money.
* Last time, we tried for 32 but only got 16. It was Fuel that was trying to get people... He has no friends... wait, maybe that means I can only get like 8 people???
** These SNGs come in a variety of entry price points ($105, $52.50, $31.50, $21, and $10.50)
Once you pay please email me your full name, blog, user name on Stars and Tilt so that I can compile a player database. I probably should create a new email account for just poker related stuff but I'm lazy... so anyways, my email address is atachikawa AT gmail dot com. Wait, am I like giving away waaaaay too much info???
Somehow, I got cleverly manipulated into doing this but anyways, even though I'm a schlub who actually has a real job and such, I am now the commissioner for HUC 6 (being the runner-up in HUC5 and still being appointed commish is truly a BAD BEAT). Last time, we got 16 players to come out but I think there was some confusion as to which site you had to play on and such. There are no such rules. It's whatever the two players who are going heads up want to do. Hell, if they want to play it live, go at it for all I care. Just tell me who won so I can update the spreadsheet.
Number of Players: 32* (first pay, first served)
Entry Fee: $30 (paid in advance to RecessRampage at FullTilt (city name starts with G)) - Let me know if you only have money in other sites. We can work something out.
Places Paid: 4 (1st thru 4th will be paid $432, $288, $144 and $96, respectively) - assuming 32 players, of course.
Structure: Preliminary rounds will be best of 3 and Final 4 will be best of 5
Organization: Players will have 5 days per round to organize and complete their match - the winner will give me the match results. Also, the buy-in for the HU games should cater to the ones with smaller bankrolls. If you wanna play a $100 HU game but the other guy can only afford $5, don't try to "negotiate" into doing $20. Since this is an attempt at making it fun but a test of skill, I don't want anyone to have to play with scared money.
* Last time, we tried for 32 but only got 16. It was Fuel that was trying to get people... He has no friends... wait, maybe that means I can only get like 8 people???
** These SNGs come in a variety of entry price points ($105, $52.50, $31.50, $21, and $10.50)
Once you pay please email me your full name, blog, user name on Stars and Tilt so that I can compile a player database. I probably should create a new email account for just poker related stuff but I'm lazy... so anyways, my email address is atachikawa AT gmail dot com. Wait, am I like giving away waaaaay too much info???
Monday, October 8, 2007
HUC, Dirty Vizzer, and Points
This is one of those posts that I figured to be all over the place so hence the title. Before I forget, as most of you know, Lucko won the Heads Up Challenge 5. And yet somehow, I got suckered into have the honor of organizing Heads Up Challenge 6. We intend to kick this off in December after the bloggers' gathering where we will certainly spread the word and convince more people to join. So, Lucko has at least a few more months to bask in the glory of his victory.
Last night, after I racked up 200 pts on Full Tilt, I moved over to PS and continued the low stakes adventure of Dirty Vizzer. My account is up to $550ish from the starting $95 about 3 weeks ago. Not too bad considering I really haven't spent much time there. I would hope that by the time I put in enough hands to achieve the silver status, I would have cracked a grand and then I can start playing 1-2NL. I know that's not ideal bank management but if I drop a few buy-ins, I'll drop back down. I'm pretty sure I can beat the 1-2NL so I'm not too worried. I was tempted to try some last night but if I drop a couple of buy-ins now, I'll be down to $150 and then I would be back to the grind...
So, for those of you reading my blog regularly, you know I'm a poker degenerate but I am even more so a points degenerate. I love points. Well, not all points are unhealthy. Last weekend, when I was at the YMCA, I inquired about this "FitLinxx" stuff that they have. Basically, they have like 10 stations of nautilus machines set up with a little touch screen that says FitLinxx. I had no idea what they were but I decided to inquire about it. Well, it turns out it's like a workout program and it's "free" to the members (I put the quotes cuz you know, we're paying for it by the means of membership fees). So anyways, I set up an appointment to sign up for this. Well, this past Saturday was my appointment and this dude set me up and walked me through all the exercises. Basically, what this does is it keeps track of the weights you lift, how many sets you did, what settings you had, etc. It's like an electronic clip board basically.
Well, where is all this going? At the very end, you log out at this main station. And at this main terminal, it shows you your workout summary and stuff. Well, as the dude is showing me this stuff, what do I see? Points! During the initial set up appointment, we just did 1 set on each machine just cuz it wasn't meant to be a work out but rather a set up thing. I lifted a total of 3,750 lbs (sounds impressive right? Except that's the total over 10 stations and I did 10 reps each at each station so that's an average of 37.5lbs that I did per rep). And with the 3,750 lbs, I got 37.5 pts!!! I was like "whoa, you earn points?" The guy proceeded to show me a screen where it shows all the "cool" prizes you can win with the points.
HOLY COW!
The prizes suck. YMCA t-shirt, water bottle, key chain, etc. But do you think I care? Hell, no. All I know is that every time I work out, I earn points baby! So, sure enough, I went back to the Y on Sunday and got a full workout in. I can't remember exactly how much I lifted but it was somewhere between 25,000-30,000lbs. More points. And, you can manually enter in any cardio that you do. I play ball twice a week and I generally squeeze in a run during the week so you know I'm gonna put that in also. This could be the best discovery I've ever made. See, so there are some positives to being a points degenerate.
That's about it from me today. Sorry for the lack of poker content for those of you that come here to read that. Hopefully, I'll start posting some more HH's soon.
Last night, after I racked up 200 pts on Full Tilt, I moved over to PS and continued the low stakes adventure of Dirty Vizzer. My account is up to $550ish from the starting $95 about 3 weeks ago. Not too bad considering I really haven't spent much time there. I would hope that by the time I put in enough hands to achieve the silver status, I would have cracked a grand and then I can start playing 1-2NL. I know that's not ideal bank management but if I drop a few buy-ins, I'll drop back down. I'm pretty sure I can beat the 1-2NL so I'm not too worried. I was tempted to try some last night but if I drop a couple of buy-ins now, I'll be down to $150 and then I would be back to the grind...
So, for those of you reading my blog regularly, you know I'm a poker degenerate but I am even more so a points degenerate. I love points. Well, not all points are unhealthy. Last weekend, when I was at the YMCA, I inquired about this "FitLinxx" stuff that they have. Basically, they have like 10 stations of nautilus machines set up with a little touch screen that says FitLinxx. I had no idea what they were but I decided to inquire about it. Well, it turns out it's like a workout program and it's "free" to the members (I put the quotes cuz you know, we're paying for it by the means of membership fees). So anyways, I set up an appointment to sign up for this. Well, this past Saturday was my appointment and this dude set me up and walked me through all the exercises. Basically, what this does is it keeps track of the weights you lift, how many sets you did, what settings you had, etc. It's like an electronic clip board basically.
Well, where is all this going? At the very end, you log out at this main station. And at this main terminal, it shows you your workout summary and stuff. Well, as the dude is showing me this stuff, what do I see? Points! During the initial set up appointment, we just did 1 set on each machine just cuz it wasn't meant to be a work out but rather a set up thing. I lifted a total of 3,750 lbs (sounds impressive right? Except that's the total over 10 stations and I did 10 reps each at each station so that's an average of 37.5lbs that I did per rep). And with the 3,750 lbs, I got 37.5 pts!!! I was like "whoa, you earn points?" The guy proceeded to show me a screen where it shows all the "cool" prizes you can win with the points.
HOLY COW!
The prizes suck. YMCA t-shirt, water bottle, key chain, etc. But do you think I care? Hell, no. All I know is that every time I work out, I earn points baby! So, sure enough, I went back to the Y on Sunday and got a full workout in. I can't remember exactly how much I lifted but it was somewhere between 25,000-30,000lbs. More points. And, you can manually enter in any cardio that you do. I play ball twice a week and I generally squeeze in a run during the week so you know I'm gonna put that in also. This could be the best discovery I've ever made. See, so there are some positives to being a points degenerate.
That's about it from me today. Sorry for the lack of poker content for those of you that come here to read that. Hopefully, I'll start posting some more HH's soon.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Reading your opponent
I guess the appropriate title will be how I got read by Lucko. Even though last night, I mentioned that I wasn't going to put up any HH, I thought this was worth while since it illustrates how good players remember the sequence of certain hands and aren't afraid to act on their reads.
FullTiltPoker Game #3757965488: $20 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go (28636367), Table 1 - 10/20 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:34:29 ET - 2007/10/04
Seat 1: RecessRampage (2,020)
Seat 2: lucko21 (980)
lucko21 posts the small blind of 10
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [7d 7c]
lucko21 raises to 60
RecessRampage calls 40
*** FLOP *** [3d 5d 9c]
RecessRampage checks
lucko21 bets 80
RecessRampage raises to 280
lucko21 has 15 seconds left to act
lucko21 raises to 920, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage calls 640
lucko21 shows [Tc 9h]
RecessRampage shows [7d 7c]
*** TURN *** [3d 5d 9c] [Kc]
RecessRampage: sh*t
*** RIVER *** [3d 5d 9c Kc] [8h]
lucko21 shows a pair of Nines
RecessRampage shows a pair of Sevens
RecessRampage: nh
lucko21 wins the pot (1,960) with a pair of Nines
The above was from the first match. One of the things I was determined to let Lucko know was that I was not a pushover and that I was willing to make marginal calls. Now of course, the fact that even if I called and lost, it didn't really cripple me helped but I wasn't afraid to play back and I wanted to instill that image. In hindsight, it looks like a bad call since Lucko probably doesn't reraise all in without top pair there... maybe a monster draw if he had like 6-7 of diamonds (double gutted and flush draw) but he probably wouldn't put a third raise all-in with A5 or something so that was probably a bad call on my part. But then again, there also was one hand where I made a hero call with A high on a river bet (which lost to his two pair or trips or something) so maybe I'm just a calling station. The pot was small and he either had air or a monster, so I called. I don't regret that call and I would make that call almost every time. His bet sizing was perfect.
So, two matches later, this hand comes up.
FullTiltPoker Game #3758395929: $20 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go (28639209), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:20:01 ET - 2007/10/04
Seat 1: lucko21 (1,150)
Seat 2: RecessRampage (1,850)
lucko21 posts the small blind of 15
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [4d 4h]
lucko21 raises to 90
RecessRampage calls 60
*** FLOP *** [2c 5s 9c]
RecessRampage checks
lucko21 bets 120
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 460
Personally, I actually thought my 44 might be good. It was a fairly ragged flop and it was quite possible that it missed him. I could easily be representing a 9 here.
lucko21 has 15 seconds left to act
lucko21: hmmm
lucko21 raises to 1,060, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage: I can't call
RecessRampage folds
Uncalled bet of 600 returned to lucko21
lucko21 mucks
lucko21 wins the pot (1,100)
That obviously swung the momentum his way, as well as giving him a decent chip lead. The chat that followed basically was something along the lines of how he remembered that I made that move with 77 on a 9 high board before, so when I pulled the same move, he read that as me not having a 9 (on this 9 high board). He told me he had a 5 and I don't know if it's true or not but obviously, I have to fold here. But I just thought it was interesting that an hour later, I made a similar move and he didn't miss that detail. I know when I put hands like these back to back, you might think, yeah, that's obvious but in the heat of the moment, sometimes it's hard to exactly recall how the first hand played out and to use that against the opponent. I thought it was a good illustration of someone paying attention to the game and acting on his reads. Well played.
FullTiltPoker Game #3757965488: $20 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go (28636367), Table 1 - 10/20 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:34:29 ET - 2007/10/04
Seat 1: RecessRampage (2,020)
Seat 2: lucko21 (980)
lucko21 posts the small blind of 10
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [7d 7c]
lucko21 raises to 60
RecessRampage calls 40
*** FLOP *** [3d 5d 9c]
RecessRampage checks
lucko21 bets 80
RecessRampage raises to 280
lucko21 has 15 seconds left to act
lucko21 raises to 920, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage calls 640
lucko21 shows [Tc 9h]
RecessRampage shows [7d 7c]
*** TURN *** [3d 5d 9c] [Kc]
RecessRampage: sh*t
*** RIVER *** [3d 5d 9c Kc] [8h]
lucko21 shows a pair of Nines
RecessRampage shows a pair of Sevens
RecessRampage: nh
lucko21 wins the pot (1,960) with a pair of Nines
The above was from the first match. One of the things I was determined to let Lucko know was that I was not a pushover and that I was willing to make marginal calls. Now of course, the fact that even if I called and lost, it didn't really cripple me helped but I wasn't afraid to play back and I wanted to instill that image. In hindsight, it looks like a bad call since Lucko probably doesn't reraise all in without top pair there... maybe a monster draw if he had like 6-7 of diamonds (double gutted and flush draw) but he probably wouldn't put a third raise all-in with A5 or something so that was probably a bad call on my part. But then again, there also was one hand where I made a hero call with A high on a river bet (which lost to his two pair or trips or something) so maybe I'm just a calling station. The pot was small and he either had air or a monster, so I called. I don't regret that call and I would make that call almost every time. His bet sizing was perfect.
So, two matches later, this hand comes up.
FullTiltPoker Game #3758395929: $20 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go (28639209), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:20:01 ET - 2007/10/04
Seat 1: lucko21 (1,150)
Seat 2: RecessRampage (1,850)
lucko21 posts the small blind of 15
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [4d 4h]
lucko21 raises to 90
RecessRampage calls 60
*** FLOP *** [2c 5s 9c]
RecessRampage checks
lucko21 bets 120
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 460
Personally, I actually thought my 44 might be good. It was a fairly ragged flop and it was quite possible that it missed him. I could easily be representing a 9 here.
lucko21 has 15 seconds left to act
lucko21: hmmm
lucko21 raises to 1,060, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage: I can't call
RecessRampage folds
Uncalled bet of 600 returned to lucko21
lucko21 mucks
lucko21 wins the pot (1,100)
That obviously swung the momentum his way, as well as giving him a decent chip lead. The chat that followed basically was something along the lines of how he remembered that I made that move with 77 on a 9 high board before, so when I pulled the same move, he read that as me not having a 9 (on this 9 high board). He told me he had a 5 and I don't know if it's true or not but obviously, I have to fold here. But I just thought it was interesting that an hour later, I made a similar move and he didn't miss that detail. I know when I put hands like these back to back, you might think, yeah, that's obvious but in the heat of the moment, sometimes it's hard to exactly recall how the first hand played out and to use that against the opponent. I thought it was a good illustration of someone paying attention to the game and acting on his reads. Well played.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Move over Fuel, there's a new champ in town!
And his name is Lucko. I have to admit though. I had A LOT of fun playing HU with him. At least I didn't get blanketed. He won 3-1. I won the first match but my luckboxery wouldn't continue and he eventually outplayed me when I made moves at the wrong time. I thought about going back and analyzing each hand but quite honestly, I'm not even sure I can do that. I guess I can post some of the hands that we ended but even that's not that exciting. 1st match, I had him outchipped so when we both flopped a pair and I had the better kicker, he wasn't going anywhere because of his chip stack. 2nd match, I was getting outchipped and I reraised all in with A6s, only to be called by his A8s. I was reraising fairly light so he probably made a good read on me and called. Generally, I want that call... but then again, generally, I want to be doing that with a hand better than A6s...
The last two matches, I had pretty decent draws on both. The third match, I had As7s on a 9d5s4s and all the money went in. He had QQ (one of them was a spade), turn gave me additional outs when the 3c came but my 14 outer didn't hit. The last match, I had K7 of clubs, 9-T-J, 2 clubs so I figured I have straight draws (even if one of them is a sucker end) and a flush draw and an overcard. Turns out he has KJ, but I miss my 15 outs twice and that's all she wrote. I'm generally not crazy about shoving flush draws but I knew that I had to gamble at some point.
I also raised frequently which has been a tactic of mine that worked pretty much until here and I reraised fairly light. In the end though, Lucko played well and picked off some of the hands that I had. I don't think I got totally outplayed but again, it was very fun playing because he kept me on my toes and I was constantly thinking of what to represent, what he might have, etc.
Lucko, if you are reading this post and you have any thoughts or suggestions or anything you noticed about my HU game, please comment or email me. I would appreciate your input.
To the rest of the readers, sorry for the lack of HH's and a fairly crude recap of the heads up match. I'm just not in the mood to really post them for a heads up match.
The last two matches, I had pretty decent draws on both. The third match, I had As7s on a 9d5s4s and all the money went in. He had QQ (one of them was a spade), turn gave me additional outs when the 3c came but my 14 outer didn't hit. The last match, I had K7 of clubs, 9-T-J, 2 clubs so I figured I have straight draws (even if one of them is a sucker end) and a flush draw and an overcard. Turns out he has KJ, but I miss my 15 outs twice and that's all she wrote. I'm generally not crazy about shoving flush draws but I knew that I had to gamble at some point.
I also raised frequently which has been a tactic of mine that worked pretty much until here and I reraised fairly light. In the end though, Lucko played well and picked off some of the hands that I had. I don't think I got totally outplayed but again, it was very fun playing because he kept me on my toes and I was constantly thinking of what to represent, what he might have, etc.
Lucko, if you are reading this post and you have any thoughts or suggestions or anything you noticed about my HU game, please comment or email me. I would appreciate your input.
To the rest of the readers, sorry for the lack of HH's and a fairly crude recap of the heads up match. I'm just not in the mood to really post them for a heads up match.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
DQB and HUC5
I love lucksacking when I'm "trying out" the 5-10NL table. It's no presto but 66 has been good to me. Not quite the largest pot I've won but close. Dem Quads Bitches!!!
Alright, so on to the main topic for today. I haven't really mentioned much in my past posts but over the course of what feels like the past few months, I've been a part of this Heads Up Challenge 5. Now, admittedly, Fuel had to twist my arm a little to enter because I wasn't too comfortable with my heads up game so I kinda thought it would just be a waste of money. Nonetheless, after some coaxing and trash talking from him, I decided that I'll enter and see how it goes. Surprisingly, I won all three of my matches so far in a complete sweep and so I'm currently 7-0... 3 more wins for me to take the title. Along the way, I beat a former HUC champion (HUC 3), WillWonka and in the Final 4, I beat Matt in the best of 5 series to advance to the Finals... against none other than lucko himself. Now for those of you that don't know... Lucko's blog was one of the first blogs I've read. I'm not even sure how I found his blog because until I started blogging one day, I wasn't even a reader of blogs. I guess maybe I did a random search or something and found his. Nonetheless, from the moment I saw his blog, I kinda became a fan... and by kinda, I mean totally. And I actually learned a lot from the things he mentioned in his blog. So, to say that taking this title by defeating Lucko would be sweet is an understatement. When I first entered this challenge, I didn't really care... I wanted to keep it respectable and advance to the second round or something but I didn't think I'd make it this far. Now that I have, I want the title sooooo bad... Yes, Fuel, so I can be like you, as you so cleverly pointed out in your email yesterday. See the bracket below to see my road to the Final.
Now so far, I didn't really post anything about this challenge because I didn't have much to say... or rather, I didn't have much that I wanted to share with my readers. Especially because I knew that some of my potential opponents read my blog, I didn't want to tip off anything. I don't think Lucko really reads my blog (he might occasionally stop by but that's about it) and I don't think anything I share here is gonna give him any advantage since he probably already knows this stuff.
So, I will say one thing to any of my former opponents who read this... I have one confession to make. I lied to you guys. I wasn't quite the cardrack that I told you I was. Did I get good cards and timely cards? Definitely. But I didn't have good cards every time I raised. And I think I raised often. And by often, I mean 99% of the time. I was gonna do that until I got pushed back and no one so far has pushed back at me. I also did switch gears every now and then so that I didn't become predictable. So I would sometimes call down with top pair and win at showdown, I'd bet top pair at other times, etc. But even in between matches, I'd tell them how sick of a run of cards I was getting... I wanted to give them the image that I was actually catching cards so that my frequent raises would be moderately respected. And that's all I needed. I didn't need them to totally believe me but as long as that was in their heads, I felt that my mission was accomplished. Am I a jerk for lying? Hell no. This is poker. Friends away from the table, war on the felt. Right?
And btw, I'm not in any way indicating that it was easy for me to win. Don't get me wrong. Again, getting timely cards and also being able to hit the flop and avoid bad beats in a close race-type situations (even a 60-40 or 65-35) was key to me winning. So don't take this is a "I actually schooled you but I was being nice about it" type of way. This is not, in any way, intended to come out that way.
I'm pretty sure Lucko will give me a hell of a game and I look forward to it. I think our showdown is tentatively scheduled for Thursday. God, I really hope my Friday post is something along the lines of "I'm the HUC5 Champion!!!" or "Move over Fuel, here comes the new champ" or something along those lines. Oh well, if not, back to the drawing board for HUC6.
Lucko, if you are reading this, just remember that every time I raise, I have AA. Just FYI.
Alright, so on to the main topic for today. I haven't really mentioned much in my past posts but over the course of what feels like the past few months, I've been a part of this Heads Up Challenge 5. Now, admittedly, Fuel had to twist my arm a little to enter because I wasn't too comfortable with my heads up game so I kinda thought it would just be a waste of money. Nonetheless, after some coaxing and trash talking from him, I decided that I'll enter and see how it goes. Surprisingly, I won all three of my matches so far in a complete sweep and so I'm currently 7-0... 3 more wins for me to take the title. Along the way, I beat a former HUC champion (HUC 3), WillWonka and in the Final 4, I beat Matt in the best of 5 series to advance to the Finals... against none other than lucko himself. Now for those of you that don't know... Lucko's blog was one of the first blogs I've read. I'm not even sure how I found his blog because until I started blogging one day, I wasn't even a reader of blogs. I guess maybe I did a random search or something and found his. Nonetheless, from the moment I saw his blog, I kinda became a fan... and by kinda, I mean totally. And I actually learned a lot from the things he mentioned in his blog. So, to say that taking this title by defeating Lucko would be sweet is an understatement. When I first entered this challenge, I didn't really care... I wanted to keep it respectable and advance to the second round or something but I didn't think I'd make it this far. Now that I have, I want the title sooooo bad... Yes, Fuel, so I can be like you, as you so cleverly pointed out in your email yesterday. See the bracket below to see my road to the Final.
Now so far, I didn't really post anything about this challenge because I didn't have much to say... or rather, I didn't have much that I wanted to share with my readers. Especially because I knew that some of my potential opponents read my blog, I didn't want to tip off anything. I don't think Lucko really reads my blog (he might occasionally stop by but that's about it) and I don't think anything I share here is gonna give him any advantage since he probably already knows this stuff.
So, I will say one thing to any of my former opponents who read this... I have one confession to make. I lied to you guys. I wasn't quite the cardrack that I told you I was. Did I get good cards and timely cards? Definitely. But I didn't have good cards every time I raised. And I think I raised often. And by often, I mean 99% of the time. I was gonna do that until I got pushed back and no one so far has pushed back at me. I also did switch gears every now and then so that I didn't become predictable. So I would sometimes call down with top pair and win at showdown, I'd bet top pair at other times, etc. But even in between matches, I'd tell them how sick of a run of cards I was getting... I wanted to give them the image that I was actually catching cards so that my frequent raises would be moderately respected. And that's all I needed. I didn't need them to totally believe me but as long as that was in their heads, I felt that my mission was accomplished. Am I a jerk for lying? Hell no. This is poker. Friends away from the table, war on the felt. Right?
And btw, I'm not in any way indicating that it was easy for me to win. Don't get me wrong. Again, getting timely cards and also being able to hit the flop and avoid bad beats in a close race-type situations (even a 60-40 or 65-35) was key to me winning. So don't take this is a "I actually schooled you but I was being nice about it" type of way. This is not, in any way, intended to come out that way.
I'm pretty sure Lucko will give me a hell of a game and I look forward to it. I think our showdown is tentatively scheduled for Thursday. God, I really hope my Friday post is something along the lines of "I'm the HUC5 Champion!!!" or "Move over Fuel, here comes the new champ" or something along those lines. Oh well, if not, back to the drawing board for HUC6.
Lucko, if you are reading this, just remember that every time I raise, I have AA. Just FYI.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
HUC5 and Fifty-Fifty
I told myself I was going to bed earlier tonight. I was exhausted from staying up late on Tuesday night so I thought I'll play a few tourneys and if I bust out early, I'll just hit the sac. Being the tournament donk that I am, that's not such an unreasonable thought. Also, in order to get ready for the heads up challenge, I decided to play a few HU SNG's. The first one I saw was a $10+.75 buy in, 4 person HU SNG. I won both matches to take home the $40 first place prize so I thought that this was a good start.
Then Matt saw me crush that competition so he decided to challenge me for a $5 HU match. In the end, he was no match my luckboxery and I thought that this might be a good sign for my upcoming 1st round match with WillWonka. And boy, I had no idea. Since WillWonka had cash in UB (or so he thought), and since UB has the "challenge opponent" feature, we decided to play there. I have about $180 sitting in UB so it was no problem for me. We decided to play the $5 regular HU SNG (no turbo). Well, initially, since I was too stupid to figure out the "challenge" feature on UB, I just put myself on the waiting list and low and behold, I find myself sitting and playing a HU match against a random UB player. Finally, my match with WillWonka started as well... and all this while the Mookie and the Fifty-Fifty were going on. Let me tell you. 4 tabling, 2 of which are HU matches are insanely difficult.
But, luck would be on my side tonight. I beat the random UB player and also won two straight matches against WillWonka to advance to the second round. I'm not sure who I'm playing against next and I'm too lazy to check right now.
So, that would be 6 HU matches I played tonight (not 8 like I incorrectly told some people) and won all of them. But my luck wouldn't stop here...
I honestly don't know much about the Mookie except in the end, I busted out when my JJ couldn't hold up against AK or something like that... I think. It was a blur. Between the heads up matches and the Fifty-Fifty, I have to admit that my concentration was not there. That's really not my excuse. I just don't have any memorable hands or anything to report.
As for the Fifty-Fifty, my luckboxery way continued. I was getting paid off on some big hands and next thing I knew, I found myself in top 3 with about a third of the 1000+ field remaining. Then this hand came up that set me back a little.
FullTiltPoker Game #3405802150: The Fifty-Fifty (25609973), Table 27 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:58:46 ET - 2007/08/29
Seat 1: Titleist432 (19,358)
Seat 2: zestfulyclean (4,575)
Seat 3: Bluffer9 (11,158)
Seat 4: RecessRampage (21,969)
Seat 5: TheAssassinato (3,467)
Seat 6: ChuckSty (10,970)
Seat 7: only1likeme777 (6,105)
Seat 8: charder30 (3,861)
Seat 9: muckthenuts (12,305)
Titleist432 antes 25
zestfulyclean antes 25
Bluffer9 antes 25
RecessRampage antes 25
TheAssassinato antes 25
ChuckSty antes 25
only1likeme777 antes 25
charder30 antes 25
muckthenuts antes 25
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 150
TheAssassinato posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ad Qd]
ChuckSty folds
only1likeme777 folds
charder30 folds
muckthenuts folds
Titleist432 folds
zestfulyclean folds
Bluffer9 folds
RecessRampage calls 150
TheAssassinato raises to 3,442, and is all in
RecessRampage calls 3,142
TheAssassinato shows [Ts 3h]
RecessRampage shows [Ad Qd]
*** FLOP *** [Jd 6s Kd]
*** TURN *** [Jd 6s Kd] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 6s Kd 3s] [4c]
TheAssassinato shows a pair of Threes
RecessRampage shows Ace King high
TheAssassinato wins the pot (7,109) with a pair of Threes
Few orbits earlier, there was an exact same scenario except I limped from the SB when it was folded to me and he shoved and I folded. And so I felt that this was a perfect opportunity to spring the trap. And it was. Too bad FullTilt had other plans for me.
Around this time, I notice that my 3rd place spot was now occupied by another blogger. Yeah, that's right. Mike_Maloney was playing in the same tournament and next thing I know, he's got a huge stack. The money bubble came and went for both of us fairly quickly since we both had decent stacks. Well, he had a big stack... I had a passable stack. Fortunately for me, as my M dwindled down, I shoved with Q9 from the button, only to be called by both the SB and the BB. AJ and K10 were what they had. When it was all said and done, the 9 high board allowed me to triple up and make me healthy again.
At this point, Mike_Maloney and I had similar stacks and I actually had visions of a run similar to what Hoy and Iak had put together previous in this same tournament.
Well, it was not meant to be. This was the hand that did me in.
FullTiltPoker Game #3406900989: The Fifty-Fifty (25609973), Table 82 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:04:43 ET - 2007/08/30
Seat 1: hawkkk (18,496)
Seat 2: superliquid (100,529)
Seat 4: PrincessGlo (44,494)
Seat 5: samloomis13 (64,212)
Seat 6: Joker789 (84,699)
Seat 7: adamskf (107,290)
Seat 8: RecessRampage (51,172)
hawkkk antes 300
superliquid antes 300
PrincessGlo antes 300
samloomis13 antes 300
Joker789 antes 300
adamskf antes 300
RecessRampage antes 300
adamskf posts the small blind of 1,200
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qc 9s]
hawkkk folds
superliquid raises to 4,800
PrincessGlo folds
samloomis13 folds
Joker789 folds
adamskf calls 3,600
RecessRampage calls 2,400
Stacks were deep enough and since I already had money in the pot, no brainer call here. I contemplated shoving but it's also a fishy min raise from a big stack so I wanted to at least see the flop.
*** FLOP *** [9c 3d Tc]
hawkkk: nn catch sam
adamskf bets 12,000
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 46,072, and is all in
superliquid: ace king sucks monkey balls.
superliquid folds
adamskf: wtf
adamskf has 15 seconds left to act
superliquid: jack jack
PrincessGlo: KQ is the worst
superliquid: or queen queen
adamskf calls 34,072
RecessRampage shows [Qc 9s]
adamskf shows [Ks Th]
Honestly, when he bet out the 12,000, I felt that his hand wasn't so strong. Maybe even a draw. So, I thought that if I shove, I can get him to fold. And if not, there's also a chance that my hand was good. Unfortunately, I needed to improve...
*** TURN *** [9c 3d Tc] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [9c 3d Tc 7d] [Jd]
RecessRampage shows a pair of Nines
adamskf shows a pair of Tens
adamskf wins the pot (108,644) with a pair of Tens
RecessRampage stands up
And that, I didn't do... as such, this message pops up. As much as it hurt, I don't think I overplayed the hand. I mean if you just read the hand history, it might seem that way but I read his hand as being weak and so I went with it. And it was fairly weak. But not weak enough.
As I was typing up this blog, Mike_Maloney busted out as well. He came in 26th place, getting him $264 for his efforts. It was very fun to keep track of each other and making it deep in a big MTT like this one. I really wanted both of us to final table this but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
One day, man... one day, I will get a big score.
Thanks to LJ, Matt, InstantTragedy, and Sia aka PouringReign for railing.
Oh... I also did play some cash games tonight and netted more money in less time than the 50-50. But I have to admit. That was fun. I'm gonna be dead tired tomorrow. Thanks again to all who stopped by. Good night now!
Then Matt saw me crush that competition so he decided to challenge me for a $5 HU match. In the end, he was no match my luckboxery and I thought that this might be a good sign for my upcoming 1st round match with WillWonka. And boy, I had no idea. Since WillWonka had cash in UB (or so he thought), and since UB has the "challenge opponent" feature, we decided to play there. I have about $180 sitting in UB so it was no problem for me. We decided to play the $5 regular HU SNG (no turbo). Well, initially, since I was too stupid to figure out the "challenge" feature on UB, I just put myself on the waiting list and low and behold, I find myself sitting and playing a HU match against a random UB player. Finally, my match with WillWonka started as well... and all this while the Mookie and the Fifty-Fifty were going on. Let me tell you. 4 tabling, 2 of which are HU matches are insanely difficult.
But, luck would be on my side tonight. I beat the random UB player and also won two straight matches against WillWonka to advance to the second round. I'm not sure who I'm playing against next and I'm too lazy to check right now.
So, that would be 6 HU matches I played tonight (not 8 like I incorrectly told some people) and won all of them. But my luck wouldn't stop here...
I honestly don't know much about the Mookie except in the end, I busted out when my JJ couldn't hold up against AK or something like that... I think. It was a blur. Between the heads up matches and the Fifty-Fifty, I have to admit that my concentration was not there. That's really not my excuse. I just don't have any memorable hands or anything to report.
As for the Fifty-Fifty, my luckboxery way continued. I was getting paid off on some big hands and next thing I knew, I found myself in top 3 with about a third of the 1000+ field remaining. Then this hand came up that set me back a little.
FullTiltPoker Game #3405802150: The Fifty-Fifty (25609973), Table 27 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:58:46 ET - 2007/08/29
Seat 1: Titleist432 (19,358)
Seat 2: zestfulyclean (4,575)
Seat 3: Bluffer9 (11,158)
Seat 4: RecessRampage (21,969)
Seat 5: TheAssassinato (3,467)
Seat 6: ChuckSty (10,970)
Seat 7: only1likeme777 (6,105)
Seat 8: charder30 (3,861)
Seat 9: muckthenuts (12,305)
Titleist432 antes 25
zestfulyclean antes 25
Bluffer9 antes 25
RecessRampage antes 25
TheAssassinato antes 25
ChuckSty antes 25
only1likeme777 antes 25
charder30 antes 25
muckthenuts antes 25
RecessRampage posts the small blind of 150
TheAssassinato posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Ad Qd]
ChuckSty folds
only1likeme777 folds
charder30 folds
muckthenuts folds
Titleist432 folds
zestfulyclean folds
Bluffer9 folds
RecessRampage calls 150
TheAssassinato raises to 3,442, and is all in
RecessRampage calls 3,142
TheAssassinato shows [Ts 3h]
RecessRampage shows [Ad Qd]
*** FLOP *** [Jd 6s Kd]
*** TURN *** [Jd 6s Kd] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 6s Kd 3s] [4c]
TheAssassinato shows a pair of Threes
RecessRampage shows Ace King high
TheAssassinato wins the pot (7,109) with a pair of Threes
Few orbits earlier, there was an exact same scenario except I limped from the SB when it was folded to me and he shoved and I folded. And so I felt that this was a perfect opportunity to spring the trap. And it was. Too bad FullTilt had other plans for me.
Around this time, I notice that my 3rd place spot was now occupied by another blogger. Yeah, that's right. Mike_Maloney was playing in the same tournament and next thing I know, he's got a huge stack. The money bubble came and went for both of us fairly quickly since we both had decent stacks. Well, he had a big stack... I had a passable stack. Fortunately for me, as my M dwindled down, I shoved with Q9 from the button, only to be called by both the SB and the BB. AJ and K10 were what they had. When it was all said and done, the 9 high board allowed me to triple up and make me healthy again.
At this point, Mike_Maloney and I had similar stacks and I actually had visions of a run similar to what Hoy and Iak had put together previous in this same tournament.
Well, it was not meant to be. This was the hand that did me in.
FullTiltPoker Game #3406900989: The Fifty-Fifty (25609973), Table 82 - 1200/2400 Ante 300 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:04:43 ET - 2007/08/30
Seat 1: hawkkk (18,496)
Seat 2: superliquid (100,529)
Seat 4: PrincessGlo (44,494)
Seat 5: samloomis13 (64,212)
Seat 6: Joker789 (84,699)
Seat 7: adamskf (107,290)
Seat 8: RecessRampage (51,172)
hawkkk antes 300
superliquid antes 300
PrincessGlo antes 300
samloomis13 antes 300
Joker789 antes 300
adamskf antes 300
RecessRampage antes 300
adamskf posts the small blind of 1,200
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [Qc 9s]
hawkkk folds
superliquid raises to 4,800
PrincessGlo folds
samloomis13 folds
Joker789 folds
adamskf calls 3,600
RecessRampage calls 2,400
Stacks were deep enough and since I already had money in the pot, no brainer call here. I contemplated shoving but it's also a fishy min raise from a big stack so I wanted to at least see the flop.
*** FLOP *** [9c 3d Tc]
hawkkk: nn catch sam
adamskf bets 12,000
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 46,072, and is all in
superliquid: ace king sucks monkey balls.
superliquid folds
adamskf: wtf
adamskf has 15 seconds left to act
superliquid: jack jack
PrincessGlo: KQ is the worst
superliquid: or queen queen
adamskf calls 34,072
RecessRampage shows [Qc 9s]
adamskf shows [Ks Th]
Honestly, when he bet out the 12,000, I felt that his hand wasn't so strong. Maybe even a draw. So, I thought that if I shove, I can get him to fold. And if not, there's also a chance that my hand was good. Unfortunately, I needed to improve...
*** TURN *** [9c 3d Tc] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [9c 3d Tc 7d] [Jd]
RecessRampage shows a pair of Nines
adamskf shows a pair of Tens
adamskf wins the pot (108,644) with a pair of Tens
RecessRampage stands up
And that, I didn't do... as such, this message pops up. As much as it hurt, I don't think I overplayed the hand. I mean if you just read the hand history, it might seem that way but I read his hand as being weak and so I went with it. And it was fairly weak. But not weak enough.
As I was typing up this blog, Mike_Maloney busted out as well. He came in 26th place, getting him $264 for his efforts. It was very fun to keep track of each other and making it deep in a big MTT like this one. I really wanted both of us to final table this but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
One day, man... one day, I will get a big score.
Thanks to LJ, Matt, InstantTragedy, and Sia aka PouringReign for railing.
Oh... I also did play some cash games tonight and netted more money in less time than the 50-50. But I have to admit. That was fun. I'm gonna be dead tired tomorrow. Thanks again to all who stopped by. Good night now!
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