February 1st was a very interesting day for me.
You see, the Los Angeles Poker Classic is running at the Commerce Casino right now. I dropped by on Superbowl Sunday to play a tournament there. All my friends were out of town for various reasons, and without anyone to watch it with, I decided I might as well play some poker too.
I buy into a $335 side event. It's a "deepstack" event, which to me means its about the same as one of the slower structures online. We start with 6,000 in chips, the blinds are 25-25, and increase at a reasonable pace around every 40 minutes. The tables are also 10 handed which means you get fewer hands in, but this is balanced by seeing more hands per round of blinds.
I draw table 42 seat 1, and I look around for my table. For the life of me, I can't figure out any pattern to the table location. I finally locate table 42, and notice someone is in my seat. I am confused, so I ask the dealer if this is table 42. (Note there is a small plaque on the table with the number 42 on it.)
The dealer says "No, its 35."
I am beyond confused now. I ask the dealer where table 42 is then. He points over to the left, and I'm like what?
Then he points up. And for the first time I notice there are numbers hanging along wires above all the tables. And everything is once again right in the world.
I head over to table 42 and eat lunch while waiting for the tournament to begin.
The tournament had over 760 players. Some people had to play downstairs, but the TD promised to have them back in the room before kickoff. Nice guy, yea? Apparently people didn't realize that meant at least 20% of the field would be gone by then.
I get a decent table draw, but there is a guy sitting three seats to my right who seems pretty solid. I mostly stay out of his way, although there is one spot where I two barreled him on a dry board after raising under the gun. I'm pretty sure he decided that my hand range pretty much is almost always an overpair, and he laid it down. That's the kind of play I can only make vs a thinking player who doesn't know me. He simply has to give me respect if he thinks I'm not a bluffing machine. I am, but hey he doesn't know that yet.
After the first break I'm up to about 8,500 in chips. A decent increase, but nothing spectacular. Shortly after I'm moved to a new table that is probably going to break soon. I managed to chip up to 15,000 at this new table, thanks to several weak players, and a few solid hands. I'm feeling pretty good when the table breaks, and I'm shuffled off to table 2. This means I'll be at this table a long time. Assuming I don't bust myself. (Foreshadowing!!!)
At the new table stacks look pretty good for me. I have everyone out chipped except for one guy two to my left.
I enter on the BB due to a lack of planning on my part. (I should've waited for the button to pass before I sat down.) On my first button I get A9o. It's folded to me, so I pop it up to 750. The blinds are currently 150/300/ante 50.
The BB calls me, with about 19k behind. Well I have position and reasonable hand for a button raise, so I'm liking my chances.
The flop comes out 8d 8h 2d. Not amazing, but something I'd probably continuation bet against an unknown live player. Most people will just give it up if they missed. My opponent then surprises me by betting out. This wouldn't be a big deal if he didn't bet half my stack. Yea he bet 8,000 into a pot that was around 2,000. Seems bad. I really have no option, but to fold here. If I had like 99 or better, I'd strongly consider going broke, simply because such a play is so bad with an 8, I'd like discount it almost entirely. My guess is he bet out with a weakish pair or a flush draw. Almost under no circumstances is donking out for 4x times the pot good. But hey it worked for him. Or didn't depending on how you look at it.
I steal a few more times since my table is pretty nitty playing back at my raises. That's the power of a large stack, people are scared of you. Often unreasonably so, but they are.
When I'm 3 off the button, I get A3o. I hadn't raised for a while, and it got folded to me, so I decide this is a pretty reasonable chance to steal. I make it 750 again, and the CO calls me. This is the same guy who bet out 8,000 earlier.
The flop is Js Ts 3d. This is simultaneously a good and bad flop. It's good because a lot of reasonable hands I would raise from middle position hit that board. AK, AQ, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ, QJ, QT, Q9 and so on. And of course AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT and 33. I also have a pair and a backdoor nut flush draw. Those don't mean too much right now, but sometimes the turn and river can make you a monster.
On the other hand, it's a bad flop. For a similar reason. Reasonable calling hands for him include all pocket pairs JJ and lower, JT, AJ, KJ and so on. Also any two spades made a flush draw, and I get the feeling he'll be really hard to push him off that.
I think he would reraise JJ and TT, and if he has like 66 or 78, this would be a really bad spot to call the flop. I think he might do it though, and if it wasn't for the fact I actually had a pair, I might not bet at all. In the end, I bet out 1,100. He calls relatively quickly. Now I've heard from some reliable sources that people at the Commerce like to float a lot. I get a gut feeling here that he isn't that strong.
The turn is a 5h. Changes almost nothing. He only hit that if he has 55, 5s Xs, or something like A4s, 4s6s. That sounds like a lot but really it's not that many hands.
I decide to follow through on my instincts and fire another bullet of 1,700 into the pot. And this is where things get interesting. He raises me to 3,700. I have about 14,000 behind if I fold. And folding is very reasonable here. I check his stack and he has about 14,000 behind if he folds also. So he has about 4,000 more in chips than I do.
I go into the tank. My mind tells me to fold. My gut screams he has nothing. My instincts tend to me right. My mind then rationalizes that a shove would be good against a wide range of hands. All I have to do is be right that he is floating me a lot.
I jam in the rest of my 14,000.
And he audibly groans. I'm estatic. I thought he would snap call or fold. There was almost no inbetween. If he had a big draw, I'm still coinflipping, and I'll take that when I'm putting the pressure on him to call off over 80% of his remaining stack. The second break begins while he's still deciding.
And then he makes a crying call.
With 44.
My eyes practically shoot out of my head. That is either the most amazing or most terrible call. And it really depends on the reason he called. Even against my bluffing hands, he's a small favorite. I actually have one of the only hands he's in good shape again.
The river is a Ks, which meant if I was semibluffing with, AK, AQ, 98, spades, or various other straight draws, I would've smashed his fours. But I wasn't. So he knocks me out.
I go outside to take a break. Quite frankly, I'm mindblown. I just got soulcrushed. What can I say? I just got freaking owned.
2/17/2009
The FTOPS just ended. That standards for the Full Tilt Online Poker Series. I played several events, and did ok. I probably lost a bit of money overall, but mostly I want to talk about the FTOPS ME.
I ran good during the FTOPS ME. We started with 7500 chips at 15/30 starting blinds. I picked up a bunch of solid hands, and then made some good decisions when I was put in some tough spots. I was doing well, and then this hand came up. This is just a brag really.
Full Tilt Poker Game #10655702577: FTOPS Main Event (73899945), Table 338 - 200/400 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:26:29 ET - 2009/02/15
Seat 1: Aaron_Hacker (21,114)
Seat 2: steelerjay (9,847)
Seat 3: SvetlaB (11,093)
Seat 4: BeNzitO85 (16,951)
Seat 5: Leviathan101 (32,215)
Seat 6: CPGR (7,098)
Seat 7: I am from ice (24,283)
Seat 8: Tryangle (29,255)
Seat 9: jross1901 (10,415)
Aaron_Hacker antes 50
steelerjay antes 50
SvetlaB antes 50
BeNzitO85 antes 50
Leviathan101 antes 50
CPGR antes 50
I am from ice antes 50
Tryangle antes 50
jross1901 antes 50
CPGR posts the small blind of 200
I am from ice posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Leviathan101 [Jd As]
Tryangle folds
jross1901 folds
Aaron_Hacker folds
steelerjay folds
SvetlaB folds
BeNzitO85 folds
Leviathan101 has 15 seconds left to act
Leviathan101 raises to 900
CPGR folds
I am from ice has 15 seconds left to act
I am from ice raises to 2,150
Leviathan101 calls 1,250
*** FLOP *** [Td 4d 3h]
I am from ice has 15 seconds left to act
I am from ice bets 2,900
Leviathan101 calls 2,900
*** TURN *** [Td 4d 3h] [6c]
I am from ice checks
Leviathan101 bets 4,200
I am from ice has 15 seconds left to act
I am from ice raises to 19,183, and is all in
Leviathan101 calls 14,983
I am from ice shows [9d Ac]
Leviathan101 shows [Jd As]
*** RIVER *** [Td 4d 3h 6c] [2d]
I am from ice shows Ace Ten high
Leviathan101 shows Ace Jack high
Leviathan101 wins the pot (49,116) with Ace Jack high
[x] Soulread
I also busted Jon Turner, a red pro on Full Tilt. Some people may know him better as Pearljammer, although really it doesn't mean much. I get a T-shirt for it though. Woot!
As we approach the bubble, I made a really dumb play that was too high risk. He was reraising pretty lightly, but on the prize bubble, it just so much safer to just fold and wait. I'm guaranteed $650 if I just fold, so that was definitely a mistake.
Full Tilt Poker Game #10657802532: FTOPS Main Event (73899945), Table 285 - 800/1600 Ante 200 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:25:34 ET - 2009/02/15
Seat 1: holla-athca-boy (18,818)
Seat 2: rayfa (35,107)
Seat 3: lei_kung (51,430)
Seat 4: bill0756 (34,018)
Seat 5: Leviathan101 (83,024)
Seat 6: BPV (122,802)
Seat 7: dirkkuijt (26,522)
Seat 8: sirklas (39,777)
Seat 9: KillerKohles (146,218)
holla-athca-boy antes 200
rayfa antes 200
lei_kung antes 200
bill0756 antes 200
Leviathan101 antes 200
BPV antes 200
dirkkuijt antes 200
sirklas antes 200
KillerKohles antes 200
sirklas posts the small blind of 800
KillerKohles posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Leviathan101 [Tc Ah]
holla-athca-boy folds
rayfa folds
lei_kung folds
bill0756 folds
Leviathan101 raises to 3,600
BPV has 15 seconds left to act
BPV raises to 10,250
dirkkuijt folds
sirklas folds
KillerKohles folds
Leviathan101 has 15 seconds left to act
Leviathan101 has requested TIME
Leviathan101 raises to 82,824, and is all in
BPV has 15 seconds left to act
BPV calls 72,574
Leviathan101 shows [Tc Ah]
BPV shows [Ad Qs]
*** FLOP *** [7h 4d 2h]
*** TURN *** [7h 4d 2h] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [7h 4d 2h Qd] [9s]
Leviathan101 shows Ace Queen high
BPV shows a pair of Queens
BPV wins the pot (169,848) with a pair of Queens
Leviathan101 stands up
The 25th Billion hand got dealt on Pokerstars on 2/16/2009. It's kinda crazy. If you think about it, 25 billion is a larger number. And they made money off most of those hands. Pretty sick, online poker is a massively profitable business. I tried to open a 24 tables in order to maximize my chance of being dealt in that hand, but I ended up costing myself $50. LOL, funny how that works. I couldn't focus on that many games at once.
I officially moved up to 1/2 now. I've had some really swingy session so far. I'm bad at poker lol. Spewing off stacks with top pair vs sets and stuff. Somehow I'm still winning. I need to tighten up my postflop play, I'm still playing poorly in too many spots. I'm gonna start doing some study sessions, and examine my play more closely.
I'll see you across the felt.
Bryce
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