Online Poker Boring!!!!!!!

So its time to play another 2 day tournament!! The buy in is £200 however I have been lucky enough to be sponsored $150 by Rivercard! So I am in the tournament for about £120 which doesn’t make a huge difference but every little helps. Thanks again to rivercard!!!

By the way plz check out Tommo's blog (link on the right hand side) there is a video of Tony G and Ralph Perry that has to be seen! 'Get out Russian!!!'

I have not had a great month this month but yday I came 4th in the $100 freeze on UB certainly helped. I have started to play Heads up cash and tournaments just on Ultimate bet while I will only play full ring cash games on the rivercard. I actually qualified for the $100 freeze a while go in a $5 rebuy (in for a totally of $15, the absolute min with instant top up) but unregistered and took the Tournament Dollars instead.

The $100 freeze on UB was a good structured tournament like most UB tournaments are. I started off very well but then lost a few chips when check calling with top pair vs bottom set of the flop. I picked up some nice hands but had to play a lot of poker as well. I actually picked up AAs 4 times and KK 3 times. Although when I picked up QQs I lose about 70% of my stack. Although I think I played the hand quite poorly. I had been playing big hands quite strong due to the good structure. In a crap shoot if you pick up big hands like AA KK or QQs (not so much AK) I feel you need to get paid therefore I may be encouraged to play certain hands slow to extract the max. But with the good structure playing them strong was key and sometimes checking the turn was needed to control the pot size.

SO back to the QQs, I have about 5k ish and the average stack is about 3.5k+. I raise 3xBB in MP and both the blinds call. Flop is 5 6 9 2 clubs. Hmmmm no Ace or King but its a very textures board, a lot of draws possible and I feel I need to shut people out. I have both players covered. SB had 1700 and the BB has 3.5k. They both check to me and I decide to bet over the pot! This may come to a surprise to most people as I love small pot poker, but over the pot was half the SBs stack so I feel he will get away even if he has a draw. I also wanted to end the hand now. I also feel if a blank comes on the turn and they play back especially the BB 9as he has more chips, not to concerned with SB) I could get away from the hand but I hope they both fold! They both call!! Turn is a 10c! Not a great card and the SB moves in for about 800 with the pot being over 4k. I also have the Qc!!! I feel he had the flush draw and made it! The standard of players I never rate (as you can see in my last post I rate a few amount of players) so I convince myself he did call off 55% of his stack on a flush draw but likely a small one, I felt the Qc was good. But also the bet was sooooo small I had to call either way but before I come to my decision the BB pushes for about 2k!!!!! (1200 ish more) (the numbers maybe slightly off, hence one of the reason I do not like writing about online poker as I find it hard to remember things after seeing so many hands) Anyway!! Now what!!! Looking at the hand now my decision has changed! The key problem here is, knowing your players, I had recently got moved to this table and I didn’t really know the players. Is he moving in with an A of clubs or top pair or pair + flush draw or a flush, if so how big! I eventually calling convincing my self I have someone beat! And if not I had outs!!!!! I came to the conclusion the SB had a small flush and the BB had Top pair on flop with maybe a Jc something like JT, (very bad read when thinking about it afterwards! Why would he call on the flop!!!! But then again I do not know the players and some people never fold top pair!) I was wrong!!! SB had a made the nut str8 off the flop which was played awfully I bet over half his stack on the flop, he got greedy and didn’t move in! While BB has Kc 7c another big flop for him with an over card flush draw and a gutshot str8 draw! So I was drawing dead!

Looking back after betting big on the flop that was enough information to realise they called with more than just a draw and the 10c is the opposite of a blank!! But the pot was fairly big and I felt the Qc was in play, I would try not to call off my chips again like this! But hey we all make mistakes!!! So I get down to 1400 ish and get three huge hands in a row!

I pick up AA and someone raises in front and I pushed he calls with JJ and AAs hold. Up to 3.2k ish

Next hand AA again!!! Shocking!!! Someone raised, another guy calls, I re-raise and they both fold. Up to 5k ish

Next hand AK, Guy raises, I re raise, and the guy next to me moves in for 4k. I felt I had to call here as I had just raised 3 hands in a row after losing with QQs so I felt people may play back and plus a lot of dead money in the pot and I feel AK cant be in too bad shape, he has QQs and I win a race! Up to something like 8.9k in 3 hands!!! What a rush!!!!

I grind my way to final 2 tables and in the money, making a lot of plays along the way on flops and turns. Did not have to fire three shells which is nice and it is very difficult to do. A play I made quite a few times was when raising pre flop out of position to the caller on a missed flop, e.g. I raise with AK and someone calls, flop Q 3 8 I check he bets I call, turn a 2 and I would fire out! This play helped me a lot. I feel it is a strong play that can be made against good players, as that think back thinking why is he firing now?? I had AJ once and got someone to lay down AK on the turn, he had no pair but he was not happy to fold, in the chat box he said WTF, he couldn’t understand the play, I feel if I confuse them they will or should let go on the turn or river. I then chat in the chat box I flopped a set! Which is the way I would play a set(although on that occasion it helps he had nothing but A high)

I then lose basically all my stack with 12 players left, top 20 paid but only (11th to 20th) get $104, (tournament cost $109) was a very friendly comp in terms of payout, just trying to encourage people to play again I guess. Not a fan of that. Anyway in the BB with 9s8s and one limper and the SB checks I check too. Flop J 9 3 2 spades! Nice flop, I would probably check raise a pre flop raiser her but as know one did I felt I could lead out. The limper calls, the turn is a T, not a great card but if he had T8 or QT or spades the T gives him the best hand but it cannot beat a J which is what I am representing so I fire out. He calls hmmmmmmm I think he has QT, hopefully not 333! River I miss my draw or fail to improve my hand however its a Jack, which is a nice card, It means it is very unlikely he had a J on the flop and I feel another bet here will get him off a T and obviously he would fold if he had a flush draw. Now you might say why bet, well the pot is about 22k at this stage I have about 16k back, if he had AT of spades or QT and I check he wins! So I essentially bluffing, by showing strengthen the whole way I feel I have done my job to get him off a T if he has one. So I fire out 12k making it look like a value bet. if he has 333JJ he moves in and I leave my self with 4k (about 5/6BBs) . Ok I left myself with something, I did this to show I was trying to extract the max as I would if I had the J for JJJs. He calls instantly with KT!!!! YUk yuk yuk!!!! Gutshot on the flop!!! Was it a great call?? it was the right call but I do not know how he makes it, with hindsight I think the Jack helps him, it makes it unlikely he has a J which means in his head he is thinking that I cannot have a J I guess! I felt terrible!! I didn’t need to make that play but sick at his gutshot call on the 2 spade board, I know I double up if the Q of spades falls!! Oh well!!!!!

Now to DRU poker!!!! I move in with 5BB with A4 6 handed and the BB calls with 6d7d and I hold. Then the big stack limps with 7s8s and I move in on my BB with AA (yes again!) He calls for like 10BB a bad call (same guy with the KT, now I know the player) I hold up!!! Back with a shot to win it! Final tables starts a few hands later.

A point to make just before final table! I had my eye on both tables as the bubble for final started and would it extremely funny and disappointing, when Rusellxxx moves in for a totally of 1330 and the BB folds!!! Oh btw the blinds were 600/1200!!!! with a 125 ante!!!! he folded for 130 into a pot of 3750!!!! WOW!!!!!!

So I make final and try to steal as much as possible especially after people were folding big hands to all in moves, I didn’t have a lot so there was a lot of allin poker for me. I got 4 handed and moves in a number of times and not getting called. Then found AJ in my BB and told Guv who was railing me that this is the hand unless two people are all-in. UTG raises and I push, he thinks for a while and calls with AK!!! no help for me and i'm out in 4th for $884! A bit annoyed as 3rd upwards get the 1K + to their name! A few badly played hands but happy overall but I am improving online!!!!

Head Up

Due to been a uni I find it difficult to have a long ring game or a long structure tournament on weekdays so I have started playing some heads up poker on UB while playing Black Jack sit and gos!! (gotta stop gambling!) Been playing 50c/$1 and $1/$2 pot limit games! Being doing very well but its all about finding some breaking them and watch them reload after reload after reload with no where to go. The $1/$2 is quite high considering I started with only $93 into my account but with a few tournament results in $10 $20 and $30 comps I have built it up to over $1500 in the last 2 weeks. Although I need to know when to walk away I guess, I find it difficult to play aggressive players but I feel I can read people in the first ten minutes of a game, which is why I love heads up poker it really is the true form of pure poker!

Quotes

'I was in early late middle posistion' Found on the Gutshot Forum

'Its a good thing the English made good trains, you will be home in two hours!' Tony G at the WPT in Paris

Wish me luck 2mr at the Midland Masters!