Since I felt my I Had Outs experience should not be included with my incendiary post about the WSOP, I continue with a second entry about my trip to Brooklyn to visit the legendary Dawn Summers and her I Had Outs tournament.
I meet Jordan downtown, as we are neighbors, for the trip to Brooklyn. I had never really ventured much in this area before, but Dawn's neighborhood seemed really nice and residential...more Park Slopish than I had imagined.
We enter and the tournament almost looked like it might not occur, but before long we had a full table and I was introduced to some faces that I had read about for a while...Mary, Alceste, Kearns, etc. and of course Dawn herself! And play was underway.
Basically you're allowed 3 rebuys in the first four levels. I had only brought $60 and decided to double buy-in to begin...my usual strategy. Well, right off I am snagged by Jordan early on...he spikes the river to make a straight against QQ. I then bump into Mary's AK against my AJ. How do you say it? Lemon!
So, I rebuy once again, borrowing $30 from Jordan. I proceed to get bluffed off by Kearns, and then run into something that for some reason I have decided to block out, but since others were getting a fourth rebuy and I was at about 2200 chips at 100/200, I rebuy once again with 3000 more...and then I finally start playing some marginally good poker.
Occasionally you feel like you're in a bit of a zone, and my TAG appearance early on started to gain a little bit of respect, combined with a good dose of run-good. I was able to chip up into contention, with new guy Nikos and I fighting on the bubble against Eric and Jordan's big stacks. Nikos was playing rather loose, so I tightened, hoping he would run into some sort of mistake, but he managed to chip up against Jordan while making some good laydowns along the way to put him way ahead of me, and I was back into shove mode. With about 8BB four handed I shove with Jc10c and run into AK, and I miss a K and go out in fourth.
But hey....I Had Outs!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Ladies Event. WTF is the big deal?
Maybe the simple fact is that everyone in WSOP land needs to stir up something newsworthy, but I'm personally sick of reading about the Ladies Event over, and over....and over.
I am not going to languish over my own personal opinion here, but come on, folks! The Ladies Event attracts women who might not otherwise play...to play. Do we not want more people to play poker? Or, do we want to focus on it as some sort of controversy so that more people with decision-making power think that it shouldn't be legal in many states? We are already getting enough bad press because Joran Van Der Sloot decided to thrust his hands all-in on a woman's neck in a casino...do we really need more bad press?
Guesss what? Men have entered many a Ladies Event before, at the WSOP, The Borgata, WPT stops, without a whole lot of fanfare. So, who to blame here? Personally, I'd blame the WSOP reporters and bloggers who have decided to make it newsworthy. All you are doing (Daniel Negreanu included) is giving these interlopers the attention that they are craving. Since it is exponentially more difficult for someone to gain notice in the poker world by ACTUALLY DOING WELL in a tournament, they are getting their attention the easy way. Why encourage it? Well, because while the WSOP is an exciting event, I have to agree with Bill Rini here. The WSOP 'news' community is preoccupied with finding something fantastical to write about instead of just making the chip counts accurate. Let's face it, the same shit goes on at every poker tournament. Bad beats, good runs, just like in baseball there are base hits and double plays. but where it is different is that the color commentary is about the GAME. It seems that the color commentary in poker has gone beyond simple Wicked Chops photos of hot women on the rail. It is no longer about the winners...it is about Shaun Deeb losing a prop bet and playing in the Ladies Event.
WSOP bloggers, I appreciate the work you do (and would probably rather be doing it for two months instead of my own job), but let's focus on the winners...not the losers.
I am not going to languish over my own personal opinion here, but come on, folks! The Ladies Event attracts women who might not otherwise play...to play. Do we not want more people to play poker? Or, do we want to focus on it as some sort of controversy so that more people with decision-making power think that it shouldn't be legal in many states? We are already getting enough bad press because Joran Van Der Sloot decided to thrust his hands all-in on a woman's neck in a casino...do we really need more bad press?
Guesss what? Men have entered many a Ladies Event before, at the WSOP, The Borgata, WPT stops, without a whole lot of fanfare. So, who to blame here? Personally, I'd blame the WSOP reporters and bloggers who have decided to make it newsworthy. All you are doing (Daniel Negreanu included) is giving these interlopers the attention that they are craving. Since it is exponentially more difficult for someone to gain notice in the poker world by ACTUALLY DOING WELL in a tournament, they are getting their attention the easy way. Why encourage it? Well, because while the WSOP is an exciting event, I have to agree with Bill Rini here. The WSOP 'news' community is preoccupied with finding something fantastical to write about instead of just making the chip counts accurate. Let's face it, the same shit goes on at every poker tournament. Bad beats, good runs, just like in baseball there are base hits and double plays. but where it is different is that the color commentary is about the GAME. It seems that the color commentary in poker has gone beyond simple Wicked Chops photos of hot women on the rail. It is no longer about the winners...it is about Shaun Deeb losing a prop bet and playing in the Ladies Event.
WSOP bloggers, I appreciate the work you do (and would probably rather be doing it for two months instead of my own job), but let's focus on the winners...not the losers.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
BBT5 Goose-egg, but good progress otherwise
Well, I have to say I am pretty embarrassed with my BBT5 showing. I think I went, what, 0-15 for the run? Not even a single cash. In reviewing my HH's, I made some unreasonable shoves in spots where I shouldn't have. All in all, here's how the 15 busts shaped up.
2 Bad Beats (set over set, boat over boat)
4 short stack shoves
and honestly, 9 bad plays. That equals nine mistakes. Big leaks. Lack of discipline, call it what you will. I have to own it, I guess.
In other news, my sojourn into coaching has been going well. Without going into too much detail(because hey, if you want to get coaching, you can pay for it yourself), it basically involves a large amount of volume in SNG's and MTT's. Now, because I started with only $200 in FT, I've been restricted to $1-$3 buy-ins, but over roughly 200 tournaments, I've made a $70 profit using the methods I've learned so far this month. for about 24% ROI. Right now I am only multi-tabling 6 at a time(as I only have one monitor) but for June I will be adding another monitor, and will begin grinding up to 10.I find that by grinding 45 and 90 man SNG's I'm getting a good amount of volume in a short amount of time, averaging about 15 per session in a 3 hr span. I hope to double that in June. The people I have been working with show great results when they put in the volume, as basically, it is a huge variance reducer. Unlike them, I have another job so I cant crank out 100 games a day like they do, but my goal for June is to play 500 SNG's with a couple of MTT's peppered in there.
2 Bad Beats (set over set, boat over boat)
4 short stack shoves
and honestly, 9 bad plays. That equals nine mistakes. Big leaks. Lack of discipline, call it what you will. I have to own it, I guess.
In other news, my sojourn into coaching has been going well. Without going into too much detail(because hey, if you want to get coaching, you can pay for it yourself), it basically involves a large amount of volume in SNG's and MTT's. Now, because I started with only $200 in FT, I've been restricted to $1-$3 buy-ins, but over roughly 200 tournaments, I've made a $70 profit using the methods I've learned so far this month. for about 24% ROI. Right now I am only multi-tabling 6 at a time(as I only have one monitor) but for June I will be adding another monitor, and will begin grinding up to 10.I find that by grinding 45 and 90 man SNG's I'm getting a good amount of volume in a short amount of time, averaging about 15 per session in a 3 hr span. I hope to double that in June. The people I have been working with show great results when they put in the volume, as basically, it is a huge variance reducer. Unlike them, I have another job so I cant crank out 100 games a day like they do, but my goal for June is to play 500 SNG's with a couple of MTT's peppered in there.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
BBT5 Ooof! But other fun news
Well, it certainly added insult to injury after seeing Heffmike's BBT5 Rankings tonight. 14 tries, zero cashes. It's really flummoxed me, when you consider I'm playing pretty well in every OTHER tournament I enter...well, not every other, but I'm definitely up for the year tournament-wise. I guess I have only three more chances left, but one of them is during the LOST finale, and the other one, I think I almost certainly can't attend. So, this makes for a grand shitshow I've made of the BBT5.
In other news, I have been doing a bit of study with a coach I'd rather not name, as I don't want to quite promote what's been a nice result so far...but the emphasis of his tournament play hinges on volume...now, the volume they want me to have is impossible as I have a life, but I am doing the best I can, and so far after 10 days trying this particular method, I am posting positive ROI, so I can't complain.
I'm feeling a bit of WSOP envy as well...part of me wants to go and experience it for a few days, but the wallet isn't quite permitting it. I guess I will have to wait for the winter gathering to make my next trip. I will try to live vicariously with a couple of MSOP tourneys and Jordan's Fantasy League - which I think I tanked a bit. I was trying to decide between Michael Binger and Chad Brown and went with Brown, and then fooled myself out of Binger for my last pick when I started looking at Scott Clements' stats. If Binger wins 5 bracelets I'll be pissed.
ANYway, it's late here and I'm tired, but oh-so-ready to be disappointed at 11pm tomorrow when Cuse, Lindelof and Abrams drop the ball.
In other news, I have been doing a bit of study with a coach I'd rather not name, as I don't want to quite promote what's been a nice result so far...but the emphasis of his tournament play hinges on volume...now, the volume they want me to have is impossible as I have a life, but I am doing the best I can, and so far after 10 days trying this particular method, I am posting positive ROI, so I can't complain.
I'm feeling a bit of WSOP envy as well...part of me wants to go and experience it for a few days, but the wallet isn't quite permitting it. I guess I will have to wait for the winter gathering to make my next trip. I will try to live vicariously with a couple of MSOP tourneys and Jordan's Fantasy League - which I think I tanked a bit. I was trying to decide between Michael Binger and Chad Brown and went with Brown, and then fooled myself out of Binger for my last pick when I started looking at Scott Clements' stats. If Binger wins 5 bracelets I'll be pissed.
ANYway, it's late here and I'm tired, but oh-so-ready to be disappointed at 11pm tomorrow when Cuse, Lindelof and Abrams drop the ball.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
BBT Bust, but hey, I'm all in for autism!
I was running ok in the BBT through two breaks, but with my M down to around 6 I shoved with 55 and was called with AQ, and a Queen hit the river. Meanwhile, over at the All In For Autism game that flashed in the message screen while playing the invitational, I made it through about 600 people to finish in 30th with a modest cash.
I'll be running again at PFTR!
I'll be running again at PFTR!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Overall, not horrible
3 tournaments, two of them out of the money, one in.
5th in Josie poker, where Jordan crippled me on a hand I'd rather not look back at.
11th in the Mookie, where while I was sailing in the top 5 for a while, ran into about an hour's worth of dead cards to the point where I had to start shoving with everything, and finally got caught.
3rd in the Dookie! for a profit of $23 bucks, so the three tournaments only cost me 2 bucks.
I am home, kinda sick in bed today. I might try a miniFtops for kicks....
5th in Josie poker, where Jordan crippled me on a hand I'd rather not look back at.
11th in the Mookie, where while I was sailing in the top 5 for a while, ran into about an hour's worth of dead cards to the point where I had to start shoving with everything, and finally got caught.
3rd in the Dookie! for a profit of $23 bucks, so the three tournaments only cost me 2 bucks.
I am home, kinda sick in bed today. I might try a miniFtops for kicks....
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Wham-bam Rush
Now, I won't lie...Rush Poker, as, Julie Andrews sings in Sound of Music, is NOT one-of-my-fa-vor-ite things, but I've found a strategy that I enjoy.
Leave when you're up.
That many hands per hour, you're definitely going to run into a bad beat, you're seeing an hour's worth of hands in 20 minutes, so , if you're up by 3, 4, 5 bucks....why not leave?
I've been employing this strategy for the past week and have crawled up to about a $75 profit, more than covering my FT tournament deficits. Sure, I think I have a good handle on Rush Strategy and could probably make a lot more, but my bankroll can't handle the likelihood of busting too many times. The advantage of Rush is that you never really feel like you have to put your chips at risk because another hand is right around the bend. I'm not an addictive personality like most of you DG's out there, so I have no problem walking away with a modest profit instead of pounding out 1000+ hands and be 50 bucks up, only to have my aces cracked by a set of 6's, or what have you. I look forward to seeing you all at the Mookie and Dookie tonight!
Leave when you're up.
That many hands per hour, you're definitely going to run into a bad beat, you're seeing an hour's worth of hands in 20 minutes, so , if you're up by 3, 4, 5 bucks....why not leave?
I've been employing this strategy for the past week and have crawled up to about a $75 profit, more than covering my FT tournament deficits. Sure, I think I have a good handle on Rush Strategy and could probably make a lot more, but my bankroll can't handle the likelihood of busting too many times. The advantage of Rush is that you never really feel like you have to put your chips at risk because another hand is right around the bend. I'm not an addictive personality like most of you DG's out there, so I have no problem walking away with a modest profit instead of pounding out 1000+ hands and be 50 bucks up, only to have my aces cracked by a set of 6's, or what have you. I look forward to seeing you all at the Mookie and Dookie tonight!
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