New desktop & no mojo

I ran out of mojo apparently. I was playing like a mentally challenged monkey today, but the deck was hitting me in the face constantly. I got quads twice, sucked out twice as a 4:1 underdog, and generally got away with playing like a dumbass.

I played good at the first table, but couldn't get anything going at the second table, so I played almost randomly. After my last suckout, I started playing good again, and we were down to 56 players. I got 99 on the small blind, and I moved in for 12k, on blinds of 800/1600 with an ante of 80. The big blind had about 50k and decided to make a bad call with A5o. Unfortunately, he sucked out and I was out on the bubble instead of being 18th in chips.

Just to piss me off even more, two shorter stacks busted on the same hand I did, but I got 56th, and they got 55th and 54th, with 54 places paid. Apparently, they forgot to check out the stack sizes in case of ties in their software, so busting 3 seconds before them cost me 250$.

Cards     win   %win      lose  %lose       tie   %tie        EV
9s 9d 1180452  68.94    524931  30.66      6921   0.40     0.691
As 5c  524931  30.66   1180452  68.94      6921   0.40     0.309

My desktop died 'cause it wasn't pretty enough

On another note, my desktop computer could not handle the incredible amount of ownage I displayed on Saturday, and decided to die with a loud 'pop'. Apparently, I played so good that the capacitors couldn't take it and exploded.

I'm now in the market for a new desktop, or possibly a humongous laptop. If anyone has any deals or tips, feel free to contribute. I'm currently considering a nice little AMD system for around 1500$ on ncix.com, but as I have not followed the market in over 6 months, I can't be sure it's a smart pick.

Out of mojo

The poker gods decided that I got a bit too lucky Saturday, and as every good sport referee would do after a bad call, they evened it out today.

Down to about 100 players, I had about 6k, on blinds of 400/800 with an ante of 40. It's folded to me on the cutoff, and I make a no brainer all-in with KQo. The SB decides to call, and I think to myself 'Oh well, I can't win them all'. Then, I see his incredible hand: Q8o. Yep, very good call there, and I was all happy inside...

...until the board decided to softly kick me in the nuts with an 8 on the flop. The guy said it was a misclick, but it doesn't change the fact that I was out instead of being on my way to some good money again.

Not Chokage: Mansion 100k

Name: 025 100k Guaranteed
Buy-in: 100$
Prizepool: 100 000$ Guaranteed
Game: No Limit Texas Hold'em
Rounds: Only 15 minutes
Starting stack: 2500
Starting blinds: 10/20
Finish: 8th/566
Prize: $2400

All I can say right now is: WOOOH! I just raised the bar for my biggest cash-in, and for my biggest win in a single day. With a 2300$ profit in a little less than 5 hours, this will be hard to beat.

I started the tournament relatively slowly, making a few basic plays, with no memorable moment. I don't even remember how I went up to 6200 at the first break, and 13k at the second break. What I do remember is that I changed my strategy a bit for this tournament. I played a bit tighter, and made a lot of small raises against average stacks. Small raises win the blinds almost as often as big raises, but you can mix in a lot more bluffs and it can't cost you more. I sized my preflop raises a lot better today than in any other tournament I've played, and I guess I owe that to the latest book I read: No Limit Hold'em: Theory & Practice.

Everytime I was all-in, I was way ahead, usually after getting my opponent to try to bluff when I had the goods. I won a coinflip with 44 against ATs, and that's all it took to guarantee a 600$ prize.

When we were down to about 20 players, I moved in with KQ, got called by AK, but spiked a Q on the turn to more than double up. I guess I had some good mojo today!

After that, I was card dead, and bled chips away as blinds went up. On blinds of 3k/6k with 300 antes, a short stack moved in for 18k from late position, and I had to call from the big blind with 94s. I lost it, and then I never got a hand.

Down to 11 players, I was the 2nd shortest stack with only 32k. All the other short stacks had already doubled up, and it would have to be my turn. That's what I resolved myself to think, until big stacks started busting each others. We went down to 10, and I had only 28k left. At this point, you can't move in profitably with crap and hope that the blinds fold. You have to push with an average+ hand, and hope you get called by a mediocre holding. Before I could even do that, two big stacks battled again with 22 vs AKo, and 22 won it. That took me to the final table, and as the seats were shuffled, I got the button!

Two hands later, an average stack moved in on a big stack with AQ, but the big stack called with KJ and won it. Down to 8 players, UTG+1, I got A8s, and I moved in, hoping it'd be folded to the blind and he'd call with anything. Unfortunately, some guy woke up with AJ and took me out.

Still, I'm not disappointed in how I played today. I made tough laydowns, and when I doubled up I could usually survive for a while on small raises. There are only a few plays that I'm still not sure about, but they would have likely resulted in me busting around 15th (or possibly joining the chip leaders and winning even more).



The way the money goes up near the final table, I don't think it is worth playing for first when you are down to about 11 players. 10th is $850, 9th is $1600, and 8th is $2400. Even if you win the blinds, the money you win is not worth the money you risk. The blinds represent about 1% of the chips in play, so they are worth a little more than 240$ theoretically. Not busting is worth a lot more than that.

However, as the blinds keep climbing, once they reach about 3%, it now becomes profitable again to risk your tournament life. The next increase in prize is worth around 1200$ at that point, so the 'worth of the blind'-to-'worth of the next increase' ratio is high enough that it is worth it.

I might be wrong on all this, but it makes sense in my head, and I don't remember reading something that contradicts this. Since people call a lot more liberally on the net, you can't expect them to fold as often when you are low on chips, so what Harrington suggest in his books might not be appropriate when you consider a steep prize increase. As the number of players go down, you have to start going for the blinds often again, but that's mostly because that's how shorthanded is played, not because of the blinds and the stacks.

If you disagree, please let me know and tell me why. All I care about is playing right, so my ego can definitely take it: Don't hold back!

Sick

As some of you might already know, I've been sick for the past two days. I still don't even know why I was sick. You usually don't catch a fever out of the blue like that. For the past two days, my average body temperature was around 38.2C, going as high as 39.3C, pretty close to actually having to make it drop by unconventional means. After my third sweat, it finally stopped going back up, so I could have a decent sleep last night.

This is actually the second time I've been sick in 2007, so I guess something's definitely wrong with me. I don't know where to start so I'll have to cover them all: general exam, dentist, STDs, blood tests, whatever. Thankfully I live in a country with medical insurance for everyone, so I should be able to afford that without cashing out my whole bankroll!

No Limit Hold'em: Theory & Practice

Title: No Limit Hold'em: Theory & Practice
Authors: David Sklansky & Ed Miller
Pages: 317
Rating: Must read for NL ring game players


Let me say this first: this book is not for newbies. It's not even for intermediate players. It's for hardcore players with already some solid experience.

Half of this book is about getting your fundamentals right. Whatever style you play, shorthanded or full, there are some things that make sense, and some things that don't. After playing thousands and thousands of hands, it's hard to remain on the right path, but this book will straighten you up.

Not only does it explain when and why you should bet, it also explains how you should size them and why. It's then up to you to adapt these to your style.

The second half of the book is a series of concepts applied to No Limit Hold'em. The explanations are usually pretty solid, and there's a lot of stuff to digest. I usually read just one chapter a night, and try to see how to apply it the next day.

There are books I read, and don't plan to come back to, but this one is definitely worth re-reading on a yearly basis. It scares me in a way though. This book has so much good stuff, it makes you wonder if you even have an edge anymore.

Chokage: 100k Mansion #6

Name: 013 100k Guaranteed
Buy-in: 100$
Prizepool: 100 000$ Guaranteed
Game: No Limit Texas Hold'em
Rounds: 15 minutes
Starting stack: 2500
Starting blinds: 10/20
Finish: 122th/517

Not much to say about today. I wasn't focused the first two levels and made some mistakes. I lost half my stack with top two pairs against a guy with a double gutshot straight draw, and then finally woke up. I stole some blinds, and doubled up with a hand I forgot. A few hands later, I got a guy to bluff his stack to me when I had 88 on a Q62 flop. He had K4 and did not suck out. That put me back in good shape. Before I knew it, I was up to 9k right before the 2nd break, almost the same situation as in the last event, except that Actyper did not make it that far.

Unfortunately, that would be the end of my good run as well. I lost 5k in a coinflip with AKo vs TT right before the 2nd break. Coming back from the break, I only had about 3500 with blinds of 200/400, antes 20. I stole enough blinds to stay alive with crap like A5o and 78o, until the blinds went up again. I pushed with a pair of sevens, but the big blind said 'I reckon I'm ahead' and called with QJo. Not entirely a bad call considering he had about 1.6:1 on it, and a decent spot for me. However, the flop came Qxx and I was out in a disappointing 122th, after losing my two coinflips.

I guess I'll stop posting about these when nothing exciting happens from now on. I am up about 900$ so far, which isn't too bad considering my 'limited' experience. I'll keep playing these almost daily though, so hopefully I'll get some good news this week!

Not Chokage: Mansion 100k #5

Name: 012 100k Guaranteed
Buy-in: 100$
Prizepool: 100 000$ Guaranteed
Game: No Limit Texas Hold'em
Rounds: Only 15 minutes
Starting stack: 2500
Starting blinds: 10/20
Finish: 10th/528
Prize: $1000

I wasn't supposed to play yesterday, but when I saw that there would be so few people, I just couldn't resist. Obviously, now I'm glad I did, and I'm happy with the results. I could have done better near the end, but overall I've learned a tremendous amount this week, which gave a good boost to my anemic tournament game.

On my final hand, there were two tables of five players. Shorthanded is my game, and I liked it, despite the relatively high blinds. I was first to talk, and I got a beautiful AT of heart. Shorthanded, that's a pretty good hand, and I had to play it. The exact situation made it a bit more complex though.

I had exactly 100k, with blinds of 4000/8000 and a 400 ante, for an initial pot of 14k. Usually, this is a no brainer all-in, but some other factors should have probably changed my play.

Overall, I was 5th or 6th out of 10, which means I did not have too much pressure. I had two short stacks (between 50k and 60k) to my left, which led for lots of easy stealing opportunities. I had the two bigger stacks (105k and 300k) to my right, so the table setting was perfect. This points toward keeping it small.

The only stack who could call me, lose and not beat himself over it still had to talk, which made an all-in move really dangerous. None of the other players had any reason to come at me without a premium hand, but I'd be pot committed against the short stacks anyway. This is another plus for a small raise or a simple limp.

Finally, the prize structure was a bit unusual. It went like this:
10th: 1000
9: 1600
8: 2400
7: 3400
6: 4500
...

I could have guaranteed myself another 600$, and had a really good shot at another 800$ after that. While the 14k chips in play had some value, I don't think they were worth that much, considering the other factors at the table. 14k was a about 1.25% of the chips in play, worth taking a shot at, but probably not for all my chips.

Obviously, I did not make that whole reasoning at the table. It was getting late, and I have basically no end-game experience, so I had a lot to think about. I made a pretty standard move and shoved all-in, which was probably not bad, but there might have been a better option. The winner of this event, CracknAces , was the 300k stack at the moment, and called me with AQs. I did not suck out, and I was out. He said in the comments that my move was good, but I think there might have been a better move at my disposal. A small raise to 22k was probably enough, and left me an exit strategy against the biggest stack. I'm not sure I would have folded to his all-in raise anyway, but I could have had the choice.

Actyper was also playing in this event, and he got 7th. At one point, we were both at 5k, and we just kept leapfrogging over each others after that. He'd double up, I'd double up and win a pot to take the lead. When he doubled from 49k to 110k, less than 3 hands later, I went from 41k to 100k, and two hands later to 130k. It was just crazy, and it was a blast. I did not have this much fun playing poker since the Grand Series of Poker events on PokerRoom.

We traded advices on some players (and some shares) and it really helped. At one point, a player named IMustBreakU went all-in UTG for about 40k, and the blinds were around 1200/2400, antes 200, at the time. I had Jacks, so it was very tempting to call, but I really took my decision because Actyper told me that IMustBreakU was good and aggressive, and thus would know better than to do that move with a premium pair. I called, and he turned over 78o. That took me up to 100k.

I played a very good game the rest of the tournament, and I'm proud of that. I made a few small mistakes along the way, but I played a good and aggressive game for most of the event, and only sucked out once to get there (the guy had less than half my stack anyway). I got caught a few times stealing, but I was focused and a vast majority of my attempts worked. My game has improved, and I have a lot to think about now. Also, I'm now completely addicted to tournaments, so hopefully I'll hit something big this year!

Chokage: 100k Mansion #4

Name: 010 100k Guaranteed
Buy-in: 100$
Prizepool: 100 000$ Guaranteed
Game: No Limit Texas Hold'em
Rounds: Only 15 minutes
Starting stack: 2500
Starting blinds: 10/20
Finish: 104th/591

This royally pisses me off. I played a really good tournament today, and I stayed totally focused. I stole the blinds from middle position with 82o, got someone to bluff when I had a decent hand, got my only pair of aces paid decently on a dangerous board, and always had the best of it when I was all-in.

However, I got so many beats, and didn't suck out a single time. First, I lost with KQ vs KJ on a Q66 board. The turn was a T, and river was a 9. Then, I lost with T9c on a QcTs9s board against AQs. It was almost a coinflip, and I had him covered, but it still hurt.

I won with ATs vs Q9o, and then QQ vs K3o. We were down to close to 100 players when I got Jacks, and someone raised 2400 from UTG. I pushed for almost 8k, and he elected to call with...
KTo.

Obviously, the board went KKxxx, and I was out. That pot was worth about 16k, which would have put me around 35th out of 100 players, in very good shape to get some real money.

I really do hate jacks now. Out of four tournaments, they failed me thrice. Something is very wrong. What I also hate is that this was the last of these tournaments I really wanted to play. I won't play them this weekend, and by Monday there will probably be around 700 players, really cutting down on the overlay.

==========================

I really like Sir ChokAlot and iChoke. UBetIChoke is decent too, but I've never been a big fan of the 'u r teh sux' club. 'Choke Norris' is just great, but I'd be afraid He'd roundhouse kick me for stating the impossible: No one can choke Norris but Chuck Norris!

Keep them coming.

Identity crisis

I need new accounts on a few poker sites, on which none of my usual nicknames are available. I'd like to go with something new and donkish, but I have absolutely no idea what to use. If anyone has any idea, feel free to contribute!

Here are some suggestions so far:
- (Sir)Chokalot
- ChokeMeister(/Master)
- ChokaCola
- UBetIChoke
- (The)Chokerer
- Chokeinstein
- iChoke

I see a theme going on here. Bring me more!

Another poker chokage

Name: 009 100k Guaranteed
Buy-in: 100$
Prizepool: 100 000$ Guaranteed
Game: No Limit Texas Hold'em
Rounds: Only 15 minutes
Starting stack: 2500
Starting blinds: 10/20
Finish: 300ish/571

No luck at all tonight. I hit a draw early on, but barely got paid for it. I made a bluff with 27s, and then went on a long streak of absolutely nothing. I finally pushed with a pair of queens. Someone decided to race his Ace-King of spades against them, but the ladies had no love for me. Riverrun and Actyper got owned pretty much as badly. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

I played some ring games in the time allocated for the tournament instead, and I made a good little 150$, enough to cover for the tournament and have some left for a beer. Good enough for me!

Semi-Chokage: 100k Mansion #2

Name: 008 100k Guaranteed
Buy-in: 100$
Prizepool: 100 000$ Guaranteed
Game: No Limit Texas Hold'em
Rounds: Only 15 minutes
Starting stack: 1500
Starting blinds: 10/20
Finish: 48th/532
Prize: 250$

I did make the money in this tournament, so I guess I'm not entirely disappointed. I started really slowly, going down to around 1000 chips at one point. I finally got a decent rush which took me up to 3k, and I moved up from there by stealing some pots and busting short stacks. I'm not too proud of my play though, as it was pretty basic, with some simple steals in it. I guess it's hard to be creative when you can't use your shovel.

The hand I went out with was pretty much a no brainer:
Blinds 600/1200, antes 60, I have around 8000, 7 players at the table.
UTG fold, and I move all-in with a couple of treys. Someone wakes up with Jacks, game over.

I really do hate jacks now. They failed me in the last tournament, and now they busted me. Oh well, at least I have a 50$ profit in these so far. I just can't wait to get a real finish!

Chokage: 100k Mansion #1

Name: 007 100k Guaranteed
Buy-in: 100$
Prizepool: 100 000$ Guaranteed
Game: No Limit Texas Hold'em
Rounds: Only 12 minutes
Starting stack: 1500
Starting blinds: 10/20
Finish: 108th/520

Yesterday's tournament was disappointing for most of us. It started rather well for me, but some flaws in my play, plus a cold deck and rapidly increasing blinds, prevented me from using my big stack.

Early in the tournament, I got Aces. There was a raise UTG, and I had been playing pretty aggressively up to this point, so I decided to re-raised to 220 (11BB). The BB and UTG both called. The flop was an unthreatening 345o, and they both checked to me. I put them on a couple of lower pocket pairs, so I decided to check it again. That was probably a mistake, as the pot was already too big for them to get away from a hand like JJ on this flop. We ended up moving in on the turn, and my Aces held up against KK and 22. I tripled up and became the new chip leader.

I might have played a little too tight after that, but I really did not get many hands. I held up to my stack while people quietly passed me. I got Aces again, but someone with TT hit a set. She did not make me pay though, making her play really -EV. As blinds went up, I had no choice but to be more aggressive. I stole a few pots, and called an all-in from the BB with AJo, for about one third of my stack. The short stack had QTo, but a flop of ATT gave him the hand.

I stole a few more pots, but finally misplayed a hand, and went bust. I had JJ, someone limped UTG, and I only raised 2.5BB more (about 25% of my stack). He called. Flop was QQT, which is usually good for my hand. Unfortunately, he had KQ, and as the pot was so big preflop, I couldn't dodge it. I still think he played the hand horribly, even though I made a small mistake.

I ended up around 108th out of 520, with only 54 places paid. Riverrun busted before me around 150ish (I think), Ash went around 70th, and Brian got 63rd. None of us ended up making the money, which was quite disappointing. With the structure as it is, though, you need to get some luck. Fortunately, Mansion will be changing the structure Thursday, which will greatly increase the amount of real playtime.

I'll still play tonight and tomorrow because of the great overlay. Hopefully I can squeeze a money finish and win some real dollars anyway.

Roundup

First, we never got around to actually filming the video. I'm sure it would have been good though. The trick is to use the crowbar to bend the door slightly, so you can then slide a long wooden stick inside, and hit some button like window down or door unlock. It's quite easy actually, and won't leave a scratch. It should work on basically any car that has some of these features. It is pretty easy and fast, and sure beats calling a towing for 75$!

Next, I finally got back into poker this weekend. Party sent me a nice little reload bonus because I'm a 'special' customer (their word, not mine). While clearing that 100$ reload, I managed to squeeze a 280$ profit at NL100. Not bad for less than three hours. My play was really solid, with some moves I wouldn't usually make, but my instincts told me they'd work.

I also happen to have a 100+9$ 100k Guaranteed Prizepool tournament tonight and on Wednesday night. This is on Mansion Poker. You might remember Mansion from the good old Football bet, in which I won a nice little 1k, risk-free. The same network is offering a 100k guaranteed tournament everyday for the month. There are less than 500 people in these so far, which makes for a nice overlay. I'm gonna buy in with a few fellow poker players, and we'll trade some shares. One of us is bound to make it big!

That's it for today. I'll post the tournament results later tonight.