Rounders Report

As many of you know my office is located in the basement of my home where I have a poker table in the center of the room with my 22″ inch LCD on the far left side of the table and the mouse and keyboard in front of me as I sit in the 5 position of the table. My family jokes that i come up only for food and water.
This past week my days have been starting early around 10:30am and I have been playing mainly N-L cash games and tournaments throughout the day.
No, I have not abandoned limit poker, I still love that game. It’s just important that I concentrate on No-Limit as that is the primary game played at the WSOP. I will not get into how I feel about other games getting over looked by ESPN—–I mean the WSOP, As it seems everybody is discussing that point so I will leave it alone…..for now LOL.
Now for some poker……..
Yesterday, I played a $26 tourney with 155 entrants. It was hard going in the beginning – I had very few playable hands. Whenever I would get K-Q off or 10-J suited I was first or second to act and no chips to be of concern to the rest of the players so I would just fold and wait for a better position. Half way through with about 70 players left I was able to double up when my A-J all-in on the button got called by A-K and my J hit the board. After that I picked up QQ and was all-in against A-10 so I doubled up again.
I played very few hands until we reached the final 9 players, I was short stacked but not crippled. I knew that if I were patient I could outlast the “just happy to be here” players that were at my table.
I was lucky twice when I was not unlucky – meaning I had A-K against 10-J then JJ against 88 this propelled me to the final 4 however I only had 24k The big stack at the table had 107k followed by 37k and 30k I managed to take out the other 2 players so it was down to 2 – I had 105k he had 107k
I was thrilled that I lasted this long and put myself in my best game – Heads Up – This is my game, In the early days of my career I played Heads up matches only 40-60 games/day for hours. I knew that my heads up game would be superior to his, I had studied his play while we were short handed and while he was devastating his betting patterns and tells were obvious, (bet big with middle hands, play strong hands weak and weak hands strong) What I like to call the “I read some poker books method” Unfortunately – My great game lasted 2 hands when I made a HUGE raise with 7-8 off and nothing representing this hand on the board. But let me explain
His opening raise was 3 times the blind – the blinds at this point were 1k-2k, I put him on either 10-J or 9-10 at best he had Q-J but I really felt like it was 10-J the flop came K, 9, 5
He bet Min of 2k, now – If im right all he has here is a belly buster straight draw – Of course I have that as well with a 6 he has to catch the Q for his straight.
Knowing he cannot commit to many chips with a belly buster I raise to 9k. He calls and I am a bit surprised. Quickly I am re-examining what he could have and I am still coming up with the same hands 10-J or 9-10 Now I am leaning towards him having the 9 then the call makes sense because he has middle pair and is on a straight draw.
The turn is a 3 and I love this card, Of course I know that he has my hand beat – But I have gained the betting lead in this hand and since I have a pretty good read I am going to follow through. I shoot out 32k and he quickly calls.
Now I am just flabbergasted that my read on this hand was SO bad. He has at least a K in my mind now. Probably K-Q I check the river, which is another 2 and he checks and turns over 9-10……………. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was right the whole time however somewhere along the way I was not correct on how he would play his hands.
After that hand I was very low on chips and ended up moving all in with K-9 he had 6-6 and I had no luck. I landed 2nd place.
This lesson is a good one to remember, knowing your opponents cards even early on is a great thing – But you must learn how he/she will play that hand. It’s not enough to have the information you must also know what the outcome will most likely be.

Popularity: 3% [?]

As many of you know I have been primarily a Limit Hold’em player for the past few months and playing very few tournaments. A new year is upon us and I look to make a strong return to the tournament circuit!

I have started my training by returning to my favorite and really my best game No-Limit Hold’em, I have been playing 5-6 hours/day at a cash table, To not only strengthen my game but also my ability to stay focused at one table. Playing limit is just so easy that I have to play 3-5 tables at one time in order to keep myself interested, As much as I love the game of Limit Hold’em, playing one table can be compared to watching paint dry.
No-Limit requires a greater deal of concentration and also your reads of the other players MUST be accurate in order to maximize your profits. While my cash games have been very lucrative I have been unable to get back in the swing of tournaments – My day wed looked like this -
$75 Buy-in 134 players, Finished 77th (no money)
$55 Buy-in 234 players, Finished 54th (no money)
$75 Buy-in 149 players, Finished 6th ($565.46 WOW I made the money!)

The last tournament when I finally cashed was still a big upset for me, I struggled through the entire event at way below average chips the entire game after the 5th hand was dealt! I was lucky to make it to the final table and even luckier to make 6th place, so while I did cash I was not at-all impressed with my game. To give myself a little credit – I never had cards – Survived only by taking blinds and ante’s and kept myself calm and kept telling myself that when I go out it will NOT be with a bad hand or out of position!
My cash game that day looked like this:
1/2 No-Limit Hold’em Max Buy-In $200, Played for 6 hours and cashed out $898.00

There were a few key hands in this event and one really exciting hand that went like this. There were 3 of us seated, I had apprx: $356 player A had $160, Player B had $235
I was in the BB and player A folds, Player B raised from the SB to $7 and I call with Ac 10c
Flop comes: 10h, 10s, 4c, I check and player B bets $15 I decide to smooth call knowing I was in the lead. Turn Card: Js Now the board reads: 10h, 10s, 4c, Js I really did not like this card – for some reason I just kept thinking that he Had 10, J, or even worse J, J, I had a feeling in my gut that I needed to concentrate here on losing the least that I can, I know it sounds strange that with 3 of a kind 10’s with an A kicker I should feel afraid – but years of experience leads to a great “sense” for what your opponent is holding and frankly I felt he was stronger than I was. I knew however that if my Ace hit the river I would be forced to call so I wanted to lose as little as possible, I lead out with a bet of $18 as I was afraid that he would bet the pot of $29 If I were to check, He called immediately. The river brought a gorgeous 10, giving me 4 of a kind, Now IM SURE he does not have 10, J….LOL, but I am praying that he has J, J, or even better K, K, or A, A This time I check and he bets $36, I raise to $96 and he reluctantly calls, My initial fear was realized when he turned over J, J, I was drawing dead on the turn to 1 card – A 10 and only a 10 and the LAST 10 in the deck would save me! Of course I was very happy that I had dodged a bullet, I was also very proud of the fact that at every turn of a card during this hand I knew where I stood in the hand, Before that last 10 hit the board I was in PROTECTION MODE this is what I call it when I am just trying to get to the end for as little as possible knowing that I am probably beat but a lay-down would just be impossible.
So that was my day, I plan to play many online tournaments throughout the next few weeks to prepare for some real exciting tournaments this next year. I will try to keep you informed!

Popularity: 4% [?]

I am definitely playing at the top of my game these days as far as cash games go -sadly on the other side of the coin I just cant remember my tournament game being any worse! I think a big part of this is my patience level – online I play at least 2 tables usually 3 at one time, so even a 9 handed limit game can keep your interest peaked when you have 3 tables going at once.
A few days ago I decided to play some sit and go’s as it was pretty early in the morning (11am) so I played a $50 + $5 single table. For the most part I played pretty well until I got agitated and needed action. I raised a few marginal hands out of position and was lucky enough to catch some pretty ugly flops for anybody holding a real hand so I was either leading at that point or was sure nobody was willing to risk the tourney on their hands so I picked up a few pots then this hand came up:
The blinds were 20-40 I had about $1,700 in chips – I was dealt 9-9 on the button. A guy in 3rd position raised to $200 this bet told me that he probably had A-K and really did not want a call. Since there were 2 callers limping in behind him and with the blinds out there he could pick up $140 if everybody folds. Or there was the possibility that he had a pocket pair however I was sure it was not a huge pair or why would he bet so much?? HMMMMM………I decided to just call and see what the flop would bring. Flop came 8s 7c 6c I felt this was a huge flop for me – I had top pair and an open ended strait draw. So here is where the impatience clicks in – He bets $500 WOW now I know he has a big pocket pair however if I catch my straight I have a huge chip lead and can easily pick apart the table and put myself easily into the finals – I know he is not going to let me catch for cheap if I call the $500 he moves all in on the turn no matter what! So I move over the top and go all-in. He hesitates for about 30 seconds then finally calls and turns up J-J I did not get lucky and was out in 9th place. WAY TO GO! I put my opponent on a big hand and chose to risk the tourney right there for the chip lead on a draw. BAD…Very BAD!
I then played a $20 + 2 RAZZ tourney that was allot of fun – I love the game and all the action of razz however i have not yet become a very good player and was knocked out in 5 place. If i can play at least a few razz tourney’s a week i think i can become a great razz player.
That kind of play illustrates how I play my cash game – Anytime I am playing a limit cash game I will get in as many bets as I can on a draw knowing that I am probably beat – that is just my game…. but it works! I pick up allot of hands that I should not and I catch sometimes, this type of play will have big swings but your goal in a limit game is to manage those swings and milk your big hands for the most you can. Plus I am seen as an “action” player, sometimes other players will think that I am on tilt or drunk when they call me down with second pair and I have J-9 suited and no pair, however I was probably 4 to a flush or open ended and was hoping to catch. Sure I will lose a few pots however if I am in a pot I am playing very fast and very hard – I may have nothing or the nuts and you will not know until you have put allot of chips on the table.
After the losses at the tourneys and about 3 hours of cash games i ended the day +$209.00

Popularity: 3% [?]