Monday, August 29, 2005

Show me the money

So, yesterday I was at the big local tournament, No Limit Texas Holdem with rebuys and addon.

We were 38 players and I brought a laptop with the excellent poker tournament management software The Tournament Director. This makes it easy for all to participate, otherwise you'd almost need one person not playing, just coordinating players.

There are quite a lot of rebuys and many of the players make addons, more than half the prize pool is made up of rebuys and addons. I also make rebuy and addon.

I hit almost nothing, cardwize. Low pairs, face card plus nothing, low suited connectors mostly. When I do hit something everybody folds to my bet or allin. So my stack is eaten up by blinds and I'm out at 26th place.

Well, now I can help out running the tournament. Picking up trash, chip racing, and the most fun part, handling money. All seats at the final table (we had 8 player tables) get paid, albeit that 8th place got 1% of the prize pool. "Feel free to visit your money any time" is an old casino/gambling saying. So I visited the money and counted out the various prizes. Hmm, large sums and in those denominations, money isn't that bulky. You could fit a million in a briefcase. Or in this case, 25000 SEK in a cookie jar.

At the heads up, I saw one (small) pot go to Two Seven off suit (The Hammer) that had hit a pair of sevens.

I recognized most of the faces at the tournament and as always everybody were polite and there to play poker and have fun. Food and beverage was provided during a break.

Finally it's over and I drive home and play online and win two small shorthanded (6 players) Sit-n-Gos out of sheer momentum while also filling a reload bonus requirement at fixed limit tables.

This Wednesday it's our usual biweekly homegame and we'll be quite a lot of people this time. Maybe two tables? And then there's a freezeout tournament this Sunday, booked full with fifty participants. Then it's almost time for a hiatus from poker for me for a week or two.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

A long time in the making

Time for our 19th biweekly homegame, tournament with progressive rebuys in poker, No Limit Texas Holdem.

We were "only" five participants. Three rebuys were made, none by me.

And for the first time (I've had quite a few second places) I WON!

Everybody were very tight this time, and I also. But I plucked them one by one.

A good omen for the big tournament this Sunday, which will have 35-40 participants, rebuys and addons.

Niiice hobby.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Good but small

Played in a multitable tournament at PartyPoker, No Limit Texas Holdem and it went be-a-utifully.

In one of the early hands, could be the third or fourth dealt, I got KK as hole cards. In the very next, AA. And in the very next, QQ. All were played to an all-in situation with me making the allin and someone calling or vice versa and I won all. I won all of them! Three consecutive monsters. I can't recall what hands I made, if I maybe cracked Aces with three of a kind, Queens or something, I just won and that's what matters.

A few deals later, JJ, same story. So, after just about ten, fifteen minutes of play I'm up to 4800 in chips, starting with 1000. One minor setback, down to 3100 with KAo when someone shorter than me goes all-in pre-flop and I call, flop a pair of Aces against his pair of nines as hole cards, and he rivers a Three of a kind, nines. That is recovered soon when I flop a Ten-to-Ace straight.

It's very nice to have the muscle to really play poker; stealing blinds, slowplaying, trapping, semibluffing in addition to the grinding. I have no statistics, but I really haven't played many hands but when I do, I win or know when I'm beat. Had a good run at a Sit'n'Go or two the other day. The statistics in the client said "Showdowns won: 100%". That's good playin' dontcher think?

I take out two players with well not short but vertically sub-par stacks, in one deal when I with JQ call two all-ins pre-flop and get a 9-to-King straight against low pairs as hole cards for both opponents. I cannot be stopped! If only they had a count of scalps, how many players one has knocked out.

After nearly three hours, with 2421 players registered and 220 paid, I'm out, in the money, at 188th place.

Too effing bad that it was a "$2+0 with $500 added to the prizepool" tournament and my prize was $3.73. But I was a contender, and 1st prize was $1122 which isn't bad, considering the buyin of $2.

Oh well, next weekend there'll be a live tournament with the local poker crowd, stakes a bit higher than usual and with rebuys and addon. Last time I played with them, I just made a/one rebuy and finished 8th with six places paid and the prizepool was quite high. This could be a big one and also with more participants than usual, they're aiming for 40 when we're usually around 20. Many participants, rebuys and addons... With this crowd, I've always (except once, but I made up the loss at a cashgame) been at the final table and once in the money (1st place).

The weekend after that, it's a freezeout at the "regional" poker club. Usually a packed event, 40-50 participants.

Oh, this Wednesday, the usual biweekly homegame that was postponed a week.

I feel confident and have a good feeling about this. These could be big ones. Shuffle up and deal.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Texas Neverwinem

Yet again our biweekly homegame tournament of NL Texas Holdem.

As I've repeatedly written here, I've never won and this time was no exception, it even went worse than usual, finishing last out of five players.

Turned a Queen-high flush of diamonds, bet and got an all-in that I called. There was a straight draw and a flush draw on the board and this player often uses bully tactics. Nope, he had the Ace of diamonds. Bye bye.

Some dramatic hands:

  • Player M, chip leader, versus player P. Player P goes all-in preflop, M calls. P has a pair of tens, M 45 suited. The first two cards of the flop are turned over and they're 4 and 5. Two pair for M! The third card is a ten! Trips, set, three-of-a-kind. No further help for M.
  • Final hand. P and M remaining, it's gone back and forth, M sometimes losing his big chip lead. The flop comes T, 7, 6 and P is all-in. M quickly calls. The cards are turned over and P had flopped a 6-T straight. M two pair, tens and sixes. Looks like P is going to win this, eh? Then M's tournament win is seriously in jeopardy.

    Nope. The turn is another six, giving M a full house and P is drawing dead. To add insult to injury, the river is the last six, giving M four of a kind. What are the odds?

Well, well, all in good fun but DANG!

I'm on a semi-hiatus from online poker, waiting for a reload bonus. I've "consumed" all my bonus money and winnings, the only thing I've gained is a poker table, a cap and a visor in merchandise. But as Mike says in that poker flick "You can't lose what you don't put in the middle. Can't win much either.". I've had a shot, at least, at bigger money since my strategy has been to grind out enough to go on to a Sit-and-Go, Steps/ladder games or multitable tournaments for bigger prize money. So for now I'm keeping my bankroll stashed. As I said, waiting for a reload or a really good deal, but I'm reluctant to start playing at yet another site so it'll have to be an excellent bonus wh*ring proposition.