Radii's Poker Dynasty - 2005 Edition

[Radii]

I started a new tracker DB when I started playing 5/10 6 max again, i only have 3000 hands in it so far so my stats mean virtually nothing. That said, I am 20.5% VP$P and 10% PFR.

I had a crazy session this afternoon, down $100, back to even, down $90, up $100, down $70... 3 guys at the table 60% VP$P, ended up down $40, but got me in the mood to play some more tonight for sure Hopefully I can find a good table of guys drunk on a friday night to take some money off of later on in the evening.

[Radii]

After having given in to the whim of playing a pokerstars qualifier(spent $39, qualified for the Sunday $200+$15 300k guarenteed tourney, I may not play in that for a few weeks though, I'm saving my T$215 there, we have plans this sunday)... anyway, I sit at a 5/10 6 max table for a bit.

I jump right in after just watching a couple of hands.

me, dJchong, bigj0e03, fast1111111, KarateKid69, Abazoinks are at the table. No stats on any yet.

Hand #2: I limp with QJs after two ilmp before me. 4 way flop. Flop is pretty solid T85, one of my suit. I call a bet along w/ one other. Turn is a jack. I check-raise after djchong bets and abazoinks calls. djchong is gone but Abazoinks calls. I bet the river(a low card) and win the pot, I am up to $298(from a starting stack of $250) after 2 hands.

Hand #7: 1 limper, I complete with 97s in the SB. I flop an open ender. I bet and get 1 call on the flop, win it on the turn.

HAnd #8: AA. I raise, two call. 766 flop. I bet, both call. Turn 8. I bet both call. River 4. I bet both fold...


I am up $112 after 8 hands and have not had to show down yet.

Hand #10: 88 UTG. I raise, 3 call. Flop comes QQ8. I bet, two call. Turn is a 6. I bet, both fold. Christ.


I didn't have pokertracker on. Now that my stats have loaded, I see that fast111111 has played every one of his first 11 hands. Raised 3 of them, gone to showdown only 3 times and won twice.


Newish lineup 15 hands in.

me. Tisle46Me(just 2 hands), bigjoe (15 hands/33% VP$P), fast111111 (15 hands, 100% VP$P), KarateKid (15 hands, 40% VP$P), kingjack333(6 hands, played 5 of them so far).


Hand #17: 5 way flop with K9 in the big blind. K75 flop. I bet, Tisle raises, everyone calls... 5 to the turn. I check the 2 on the turn, tisle checks it too. We check around, whoops. The river brings a runner runner flush. With 3 to act behind me I decide to check/call here. fast1111 bluffs at it, 3 of us call. my top pair is good. A7 and T7 stayed in, 2nd pair... That is a $113 pot.

In 17 hands I am up $221 at 5/10.


Hand #24: I limp on the button with 64s, 3 way pot. Flop a four flush, AJJ flop. checked to me, I bet, my pot.


After 28 hands fast111111 is down to 86% VP$P

This is a beautiful table. VP$Ps are, starting to my left: 53%, 32%, 86%, 43%, 54%

I resist the temptation to limp with A3o even on the button.

Hand #31: I open raise in the cutoff with 76s, only fast111111 calls. He folds when I bet the flop. I think I hit a pair or something, its really irrelevant.


Hand #33: free four way flop with J7. Flop is jack high. I bet, onyl tisle calls. Turn is another jack. I bet/he folds.


this time I resist the temptation to limp A5o even on the button.


Hand #39: I raise AJ in the SB after karatekid limps. BB folds. Flop AK9, I bet, KK calls. Turn he calls again, river he folds. River brought a flush(after 2 spades on the flop).


I have now doubled up in 30 minutes/39 hands.


New guy, viper18111 joins to my right, replacing the way too loose kingjack3333. BigJoe looks to be solid, 27 VP$P/14 PFR, while karatekid is at least reasonable at 35% VP$P.

Hand #44: fast1111 raises, I call with AT. A44 flop. We check the flop(I was going to check'call then CR the turn, he didn't bet). Then I bet the turn/he called, I bet the river/he raises/I call. He has A4o. for the win.

Hand #45: I open-raise A5o in the SB, tisle calls. He raises me on the flop when I miss so I fold.

sitting at $464 after those two losses(up $214)


Hand #48: I make a loose and bad open limp with Q9s. Fast raises, karate kid calls. I call and fold the flop when it misses. Settle down, radii.


Hand #50: karatekid open-raises on the button. I re-raise out of the BB with KQo. Flop comes T9x. I bet/he calls. Turn is my inside straight (a jack). I bet/he calls. River is a blank, I bet/he calls. I have the nuts, he has AJ for top pair. I win an $80 pot. Back to $492.


Hand #55: I open-raise ATs UTG. bigjoe calls. Flop is queen high and misses totally. I bet/he calls. I fire again on the turn and he folds.

Hand #56: I have 82s in the BB. fast raises and I defend my blind w/ a call(bad move against a guy who is such a maniac pre-flop). I call a bet on the flop on an JT9 board. I fold the turn though.


Table lineup after 56 hands:

tisle: 45 hands/42% VP$P/2% PFR
bigjoe: 58 hands/31% VP$P/12% PFR
fast11111: 58 hands/81% VP$P/33% PFR
karatekid: 58 hands/40% VP$P/14% PFR
viper18111: 16 hands/25% VP$P/0% PFR


btw, if anyone is looking for a friends list entry, there are 7 1's at the end of the name:

fast1111111


Hand #59: I open-raise KTs in the cutoff. fast calls. T69 flop. I bet/he calls. 8 turn. makes a flush. I bet/he calls. 7 river. straight on the board :P He bets/I call. I split the pot with his 84o.


Hand #62: tisle calls, bigjoe raises, I re-raise out of the BB with KK. both call. T76 flop. I bet/tisle raises, bigjoe folds. I re-raise, tisle calls. 6 turn. I bet/he calls. I put him on AT at this point, unless he slowplays TT. 9 river. I bet/he has autoraise on. He has 88. Fucker. That is a stinging $135 pot.

I'm at $434 after that.


Hand #65: I raise Q9s in the cutoff(open raise of course). fast calls in the BB. I flop 2 pair, I bet/he folds. I'm really hitting good tonight... understatement of the year, huh?

Hand #68: fast raises, viper calls, and I call out of the BB with 54s. I flop bottom pair, T65 flop. fast bets and we both call. turn is a 9, checked around. river another ten, checked around. viper had AJ and fast had K4, my $40 pot.

Hand #70: I wanted to play QJs on the button but karatekid raised for only the 2nd time in 57 hands, I step out of the way. He Had AT to open raise UTG there, either he's bored or he's been crazy card dead or something, weird raise for someone so passive preflop.


Hand #73: I open raise TT UTG. Only viper18111 calls. I bet the J97 flop and win the pot.

Playerview just went apeshit on me, the numbers are giant and covering the screen. I haven't seen that before.


A restart has me back to normal.

everyone but fast1111111 is under 40% VP$P now, tightening up just a little. Fast just got a lot of action w/ AK though and has over $350 at the table.

Hand #79: I have AK in the big blind. fast limps on the button, I raise, he calls. I bet/he folds on the flop.

after posting my SB I have exactly $500 and I decide to call it a night.

1 hour, 80 hands, 25 BB, or $250 won.

[Radii]

I sit at a 5/10 6 max table, I recognize "Sachman" to my left, 82 hands/44% VP$P/20% PFR. Way up last time I saw him.

Rest of the table is OLDTEX7, empty seat, ticketmanrt, and Aruncikas

Hand #1: A5o in the big blind. Free 4 way flop. Crap flop, checked around, ace on the turn, I bet and win the pot.

Hand #3: 97s, button. I open-raise and get called by oldtex out of the BB. Flop comes T7x. I bet/he raises/I call. The turn is a queen and makes a diamond flush. I fold to a bet here.

Hand #6: I check KQs. I fold it on the flop, I was BB, shouldn't have checked that...


Hand #7: I open AQo from the SB. I'm called by the BB, who folds to my flop bet.

Hand #8: I open-raise 55 on the button. Oldtex calls. Flop is ATT. we check the flop(remembering his check raise last time). he CRs me on the turn, a lower card, I call. I plan to call the river... until I spike a 5 for a boat. He bets/I raise/he folds. My pot.


This table is probably too tight for my likeing. Too many real small pots.

Hand #12: oldtex raises, I re-raise out of the BB with AKo. Flop is all low cards. I bet/he calls. He raises me on the turn and I decide to see what kinds of hands he's playing again here... I call the river with ace high. He has AA.


Hand #18: free flop with Q2s. Flop comes KJT, two spades. I bet/1 caller. Turn is an ace, so I have a straight and a flush draw. We cap the turn. The river pairs the board, and I just check/call. I split with AQ.


I play a couple more small pots, and the table is just a bit too tight. I leave after about 25 hands up $5. Looking for another table.

[Radii]

Ok, I played a bit more earlier but wasn't writing it all down, I did win another $150 so I appear to be on quite a hot streak right now.


Hand #1: 97o, BB. Free flop w/ only the SB, I flop 2nd pair, T92, two hearts. Mirage_USMC bets, I raise, he calls. Turn brings a flush, and an ace. We both check. I check/call the river, and see 52s for the flush.


After 6 or 7 hands it looks like we may have 2 fish, Mirage_USMC has played every hand and nojoek seems to be the mix a lot(4 of 6 so far).


Hand #8: I raise KK on the button. Four people call. AQ4, all spades flop. I end up folding to a bet, too many people, too many ways to be beat or be up against good draws. Turns out, QTo wins the hand. Doh.

Hand #10: I raise ATs UTG, only Mirage calls. Flop is T73. He bets/I raise, he calls. Turn gives me top two, an ace. I bet/he calls, same thing on the river and I beat his Q7o, 2nd pair on the flop for the pot.

So lets look at the lineup:

Woody16: 13 hands/8% VP$P/0% PFR
Homie721: 13 hands/15% VP$P/15% PFR
nojoek: 13 hands/69% VP$P/23% PFR - very high agression ratings so far
chieftan: just sat
Mirage_USMC: 13 hands/100% VP$P/15% PFR

So mirage and nojoek are my new best friends.

Hand #16: 66, UTG. I raise it. Two call, chieftan and mirage. Chieftan bets the flop, I raise, he calls. Flop was two overs by the way. I give it up on the turn.

down to $209 early on here.

Hand #23: free 4 way flop with 66. AJ4 flop, I'll move out of the way on this one.


chieftan looks pretty loose and very agressive. But he's going to bust out soon probably.

Hand #30: Free 4 way flop with KTo. Flop comes JTx. I bet, nojoek calls, chieftan raises, I call, nojoek and chieftan raise/cap it. I get out of the way. JJ vs bottom two for those guys. chieftan won and is still around.

I'm down to $182 here, variance will be high at a table w/ 3 guys who play 60% or more of their hands, eh?


Hand #35: Free four way flop with AJ, but I miss and can't do anything w/ 3 opponents.


Hand #38: I open-raise JJ in the cutoff. homie, tihgt/agressive reiraises me. I just call. Flop is all undercards and the flop is 3-bet. He continues to bet the turn and river and I call it down. He has AA.

Hand #39: I raise AKs and only chieftan calls. I bet the flop, then the turn and he folds on the turn.


Mirage leaves the table, and nojoek is almost broke. I wanted the chance to make my money back


Hand #42: I limp QJs from the button for a 4 way flop. Flop comes J53. nojoek bets/I raise, the other 2 fold and he calls. Another jack on the turn and he folds to my bet this time.


Hand #43: I open-raise ATo on the cutoff. Flop comes 345, I call a flop check-raise by nojoek, but fold on the turn.

beth7 has sat down to my right

Hand #52: K7s in the BB, 3 way flop. AJx flop, two of my suits. I bet/get raised and call the raise. I fold on the turn when theboard pairs.


Beth may be kinda tight pre-flop, leaving chieftan and nojoek as the only fish here, with woody and homie very tight players. homie is a 24% VP$P/13% PFR guy, looks very solid so far. I am down to $109 at the table and am getting my ass beat right now.

UGH. nojoek leaves the table, beth raises my BB, I re-raise with AJ and end up losing another pot defending my blind. I leave the table down almost $200. Going to go get some water and shift to the computer upstairs now that the wife is in bed and try this again.

[Radii]

two tables have been too tight for my liking, still searching.

[Radii]

Ok, time for a little 5/10 before the FOFC tourney tonight.

I find a table with a spot with a solid average pot size(which often doesn't mean much). I recognize one person, to my right, HDiddy420 has a 50% VP$P over 36 hands. Never raises pre-flop.

Mr_Feynman, avshole, bames4444, jghost, HDiddy420 is the lineup starting to my left.

Hand #4: I raise AJ after one limper. I get 3 callers total. Flop comes 947. bames4444 bets, we all call. The turn is another 7, I fold when there's a bet and more callers. bames was betting a flush draw, but HDiddy ended up runner-runnering a boat.

jghost leaves, SWEhenke joins in his spot, 33% VP$P over 24 hands.

This lokos like it has the potential to be an extremely good table. Well one of the fishy types just busted out, but bames4444 and hdiddy look very very promising.


Hand #7: Free 3 way flop w/ T9s. It misses, I fold.



Booo, hdiddy leaves the table too. We'll see nowif the table remains worth playing at.


Hand #22: I open-raise KJs and Mr_Feynman raises me. He's very tight/agressive and I'm not playing against him with KJs without at least a draw after the flop. I let him have it.

Hand #26: I finally win one. I open-raise A7 from the SB, Mr_Feynman calls. I bet my ace on the flop and he folds.


After 35 hands bamse444 is the only real real loose player, 61% VP$P. SWEhenke and lojeb are both in the 35% range, while new guy trippertx and mr_feynam are tight and I avoid them for the most part. I'm down $50 but I haven't been getting any cards at all. This is where I think its debatable whether I should stay or not, lojeb/SWEhenke are loose enough that I should win money off them but should I find a new table with multiple 50% guys?



Over 50 hands AJ is my best starting hand, not a single pocket pair. I leave down about $70.

[Radii]

I join a second table but the two loose loose players leave while I'm still watching, I sit out after about 3 orbits down $7 and wait for the FOFC tourney instead

[dixieflatline]

So I have a few question now that I am playing these 6max tables. Feel free to just ignore them or answer one or whatever.

Hand #30: Free 4 way flop with KTo.
Hand #35: Free four way flop with AJ.

I have been toning down the raising out of the BB after a lot of limpers. All it seems to do is bloat the pot and reduce my post flop advantage. I probably still would be raising AJo but ATo is about the point where I just check. What hands are you raising with out of the BB when 4+ people limp?

Hand #1: 97o, BB. Free flop w/ only the SB, I flop 2nd pair, T92, two hearts. Mirage_USMC bets, I raise, he calls. Turn brings a flush, and an ace. We both check. I check/call the river, and see 52s for the flush.

Depending on the pot size and number of players left to act I have been laying down hands like this on the flop. Even if you are ahead with the two flush, potential straight, and potential overcards you are going to get drawn out on a lot. Clearly though it's a raise or fold situation and I really like the turn check. You certainly saved a bet there.

this time I resist the temptation to limp A5o even on the button.

Yeah Axo seems worth an open-raise on the button or maybe the cutoff but otherwise you just have to fold this. I didn't realize this right away and these hands are my biggest loser right now.

I bet/he has autoraise on.

How good of a tell do you think this is? Several players I have run into have autocall on when they are on a draw which also seems pretty reliable.

I am up to 1K hands(5+ players) now so while still a small sample enough to draw some general conclusions. You weren't kidding about high variance at these tables. I am down exactly 1/2 a BB overall but have been up and down a lot to get there. My big pocket pairs are just barely making money so hopefully I am on the right track. AK is my biggest winner and Axo is my biggest loser but hopefully I have that leak taken care off.

After having given in to the whim of playing a pokerstars qualifier(spent $39, qualified for the Sunday $200+$15 300k guarenteed tourney, I may not play in that for a few weeks though, I'm saving my T$215 there, we have plans this sunday)... anyway, I sit at a 5/10 6 max table for a bit.

Nice. Good luck in that tourney. Hopefully you can increase the bankroll even more with a nice showing.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by dixieflatline

I have been toning down the raising out of the BB after a lot of limpers. All it seems to do is bloat the pot and reduce my post flop advantage. I probably still would be raising AJo but ATo is about the point where I just check. What hands are you raising with out of the BB when 4+ people limp?

I might raise AJs, I'd certainly raise AQo and up, and probably TT and up no matter how many limpers. Whether I would raise any other hands will depend on my table image and whether or not my opponents have shown they'll fold post flop. Also most of the time everyone will call, so you have to be ready to fold post flop if you miss. Raising out of the blinds is probably a weakness of mine, and probably where my PFR is a bit low compared to what most people list as optimal.

Depending on the pot size and number of players left to act I have been laying down hands like this on the flop. Even if you are ahead with the two flush, potential straight, and potential overcards you are going to get drawn out on a lot. Clearly though it's a raise or fold situation and I really like the turn check. You certainly saved a bet there.

yeah, I played this one agressively on the flop b/c I was heads up vs a limping small blind. A lot of guys will open-limp in the SB and bet out on any flop, if I catch at all I'm playing back at him.

Yeah Axo seems worth an open-raise on the button or maybe the cutoff but otherwise you just have to fold this. I didn't realize this right away and these hands are my biggest loser right now.

Another player dependant thing of course, but I won't open-raise Ace-little even on the button against guys that defend their blinds too heavily.

How good of a tell do you think this is? Several players I have run into have autocall on when they are on a draw which also seems pretty reliable.

(referring to the auto-raise button). I don't know, I try not to act on those kinds of things too often, and I haven't seen it enough at 5/10 to really make a judgement on it

I am up to 1K hands(5+ players) now so while still a small sample enough to draw some general conclusions. You weren't kidding about high variance at these tables. I am down exactly 1/2 a BB overall but have been up and down a lot to get there. My big pocket pairs are just barely making money so hopefully I am on the right track. AK is my biggest winner and Axo is my biggest loser but hopefully I have that leak taken care off.

it's hard to tell early on if your PT stats are telling you anything. After just 1000 hands if you took a hit with AA it could be your biggest loser.

The variance is insane, when you find good tables with 2 or 3 fish, and push them hard when you've got the goods you make a killing more often than not but on a bad streak you can drop a buyin real damn fast.

These past few nights when I've posted I've had sessions where I've lost $200 followed immediately by $250 winning sessions... it's crazy, and you definitely need a good bankroll and a good head on your shoulders to support it, but damn it is profitable too

Nice. Good luck in that tourney. Hopefully you can increase the bankroll even more with a nice showing.

thanks The winner in yesterday's won $100,000. I like the idea of doing this a lot, if I can get into a $215 entry tourney for $50 or so, I feel pretty good about it. If I just barely cash I should make $300 or more, and of course the real goal is to go deep into the money for a very large profit. I'm a ton better at tourneys than I was last year when I was trying to do this, I am curious to see how consistantly I can win my way into these $215 things, and how I'll fare in them.

I probably won't get to play this one til May 15th or May 22nd.

[dixieflatline]

Bump. Any chance we can get an update on this? Like have you entered any big tourneys lately? Any hands you would like to post?

[Radii]

Originally Posted by dixieflatline

Bump. Any chance we can get an update on this? Like have you entered any big tourneys lately? Any hands you would like to post?

haha, well done. This pretty much died when i decided not to single table at any point anymore. I do intend however to request the hand history from last night's tourney and post a number of hands that were either key or that I had trouble with. I may as well do that here.

[dixieflatline]

Since it wasn't posted anywhere else I just wanted to let everyone know how well you did last night and beg for some hand histories of the hands you thought were interesting. Good work.

[Radii]

Thanks, I appreciate it There were a lot of hands that were interesting, though many of them just in a "this was a key hand" sort of way. There were a few decisions that I struggled greatly with.

[Radii]

EDIT: There we go. Got it working right with minimal self editing.

This was hand #3 of the tourney. Its a rebuy. A lot of people are absolutely nutso in these rebuys and I was more than willing to put AJ up against was often will be a dominated hand, the combination of the image play(I'm willing to call an all in with less than a premium hand) and the possibility that he was a nutjob with A2 made it feel favorable to me. As it turns out, I was a coin flip and I'm cool with that too.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t1500)
Button (t1490)
SB (t1460)
BB (t3050)
UTG (t3000)
Hero (t3030)
MP1 (t3000)
MP2 (t3000)
MP3 (t3000)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with As, Jc.
1 fold, Hero raises to t100, 4 folds, Button calls t100, 1 fold, BB raises to t3050, Hero calls t2930 (All-In), Button folds.

Flop: (t6190) 4h, 3c, 8h (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t6190) Th (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t6190) Ts (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t6190

BB has 8d 8s (full house, eights full of tens).
Hero has As Jc (one pair, tens).
Outcome: BB wins t6190.

[Radii]

I should point out for those that might not have heard, the previous hand and the next large number of hands will all be from the $11 Rebuy tournament on pokerstars that I played Tuesday night. I spent $51 total(meaning the above was my only rebuy, and I added on), finished 2nd out of 1282 and won ~$7,000. Additionally, the final table was a pretty neat experience, as Chris Moneymaker was playing in the tournament and made the final table. He won the tourney, I got to play heads up against him for about a half hour, and he totally destroyed me.

I have the full hand history of the tournament and am going to review it, I plan on posting a fair number of hands, both key hands even if there wasn't a tough decision, and the hands that I struggled greatly with. I have to head home soon so I probably won't get any more hands up today, but I got the format correct and should be able to post a number of them tomorrow.

[Radii]

Hand #8

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG (t1500)
UTG+1 (t2890)
MP1 (t1480)
MP2 (t5860)
MP3 (t6950)
Hero (t2960)
Button (t2970)
SB (t2740)
BB (t2680)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7c, 7h.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t20, MP1 raises to t140, MP2 calls t140, 1 fold, Hero raises to t2960, 2 folds, BB calls t2660 (All-In), UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t1340 (All-In), MP2 folds.

Flop: (t7290) 8s, 5h, 6h (3 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: (t7290) 8d (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t7290) Js (3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: t7290
Main Pot: t4610 (t4610), between MP1, Hero and BB. > Pot won by MP1 (t4610)
Pot 2: t2400 (t2400), between Hero and BB. Pot won by Hero (t2400).



The converter really doesn't deal well with side pots either.

MP1 had QJ for jacks and eights. I had eights and sevens. BB had A2 for jack shit. MP1 doubled up but was a shorter stack. I was able to beat the big blind to retain most of my chips and not have to rebuy again.

[Radii]

I make some small gains to get back up to around 3K in chips. Then we have hand #31.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP3 (t1380)
CO (t2370)
Button (t6475)
SB (t6725)
BB (t2490)
Hero (t2885)
UTG+1 (t4540)
MP1 (t5620)
MP2 (t14045)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Ah, Kc.
Hero raises to t200, UTG+1 calls t200, 3 folds, CO calls t200, 2 folds, BB calls t150.

Flop: (t825) 2d, Qs, Ks (4 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t600, UTG+1 folds, CO calls t600, BB folds.

Turn: (t2025) Jh (2 players)
Hero bets t2085 (All-In), CO calls t1570 (All-In).

River: (t5680) 8d (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: t5680
Main Pot: t5165 (t5165), between CO and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t5165).
Pot 2: t515 (t515), returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
Hero has Ah Kc (one pair, kings).
CO has 6s 6c (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins t5680.

[Radii]

25/50 blinds means at that point we are in level 3. After level 4 the rebuy period ends. My goal based on some 2+2 conversations was to get to 8K in chips before the add-on, 10K after it.

[dixieflatline]

Originally Posted by Radii

Hand #8

Preflop: Hero is CO with 7c, 7h.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t20, MP1 raises to t140, MP2 calls t140, 1 fold, Hero raises to t2960, 2 folds, BB calls t2660 (All-In), UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t1340 (All-In), MP2 folds.

Thanks for doing this Radii. Just a quick question here. Did you overbet the pot here trying to isolate one opponent and get into a coin flip? Is this part of the strategy of getting a lot of chips early or rebuying?

[Radii]

Originally Posted by dixieflatline

Thanks for doing this Radii. Just a quick question here. Did you overbet the pot here trying to isolate one opponent and get into a coin flip? Is this part of the strategy of getting a lot of chips early or rebuying?

I wouldn't do that every time in that situation with a pocket pair like pocket 7s. Its a combination of a few factors. Mainly, if I'm going ot play, I don't want to have to play post flop, and if I call this 140, there's a damn good chance someone behind me is going all in. So if I'm playing, there's a caller, a nice raise and a caller of that raise already in front of me. There's enough in the pot that it helps me a little bit if they all fold, which does happen sometime. And people are crazy enough in the first hour to call me with all sorts of hands, I'm probably a coin flip at best though I A-little and lower pocket pairs could easil call as well.

There's nothing wrong with calling and hoping to flop a set really, and if it was a smaller raise I would have done that. But once the pot gets to anywhere near a decent size there's a very high likelyhood that someone behind is goign to go all in just for the hell of it. This hand I decided I wanted to be the moron going all in for the hell of it

If the raise was smaller, I call. If I'm not willing to rebuy another time and am not in the mood to be psycho agressive with any decent hands to try to build a big stack before the break, I might just fold this. But at this point with that many chips in the pot I basically said "fuck it, lets gamble"

[Radii]

Hand #33. Again making a loose PF call, watching someone severely underbet the pot on the flop and hitting a nice hand on the turn and taking down a pretty good pot.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t1380)
MP2 (t3000)
MP3 (t6475)
CO (t6700)
Button (t2340)
Hero (t5630)
BB (t4290)
UTG (t5670)
UTG+1 (t14045)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ks, Jd.
4 folds, MP3 raises to t150, 1 fold, Button calls t150, Hero calls t125, 1 fold.

Flop: (t500) Ac, Jc, 5c (3 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets t100, Button calls t100, Hero calls t100.

Turn: (t800) Jh (3 players)
Hero checks, MP3 checks, Button checks.

River: (t800) Qh (3 players)
Hero bets t400, MP3 calls t400, Button calls t400.

Final Pot: t2000
Main Pot: t2000 (t2000), between MP3, Button and Hero.

Results in white below:
Hero has Ks Jd (three of a kind, jacks).
MP3 has Ah 9s (two pair, aces and jacks).
Button has As 2s (two pair, aces and jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins t2000.

[Radii]

Hand #44.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG (t2705)
UTG+1 (t3100)
MP1 (t5650)
MP2 (t7250)
MP3 (t3465)
Hero (t6555)
Button (t8830)
SB (t5820)
BB (t9155)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 5h, Ah.
UTG calls t50, 2 folds, MP2 calls t50, 1 fold, Hero calls t50, 1 fold, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t250) Jc, 3c, 2h (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, MP2 checks, Hero checks.

Turn: (t250) 8h (5 players)
SB checks, BB bets t200, UTG folds, MP2 folds, Hero calls t200, SB folds.

River: (t650) Th (2 players)
BB bets t200, Hero raises to t900, BB calls t700.

Final Pot: t2450
Main Pot: t2450 (t2450), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero (t2450).

Results in white below:
BB has Jd 7s (one pair, jacks).
Hero has 5h Ah (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins t2450.

[Radii]

At this point we're 45 minutes into the tournament and the blinds just went up to 50/100. I don't remember how I played but at that point I have 7855 in chips and should be content to get to the end of the rebuy period, add-on and have about 10K in chips starting the 2nd hour when it becomes a normal tourney.

Reading through I played 4 hands in the last level before the rebuy period ended. Free flop w/ 89 against about 5 people, I flop top pair and take it down with a bet. I limp A5s late and flop top pair, turn 2 pair and win a 1000 chip pot with a nice sized turn bet. The other two hands I got in late w/ a suited connector and folded on the flop.


After one hour I am in fine shape, adding on and having 10,655 in chips.

After a short discussion on twoplustwo a couple of weeks ago, I read some advice mentioning a goal of getting to 10K in chips after the add-on, so I felt quite happy having reached that goal. now the rebuy is over, blinds go to 75/150 and I have to quickly tighten up and play a more "normal" game. For those that have read Harrington's books, at my table the shortest stack was 4955 after the break, an M of over 20. The entire table is wide open and has tons of play available. My M is over 40.

For those who haven't read harrington's books, he analyzes the chipstacks in terms of "M" (I forget why M is the letter/variable used, its in the book), which is basically how many more trips around the table one can survive. Add up the blinds and antes and see how much is in the pot before any action. divide your chipstack by that number, and that is your "M". anything over 20 is very large and leaves all options and styles of play very open. 10-20 is another zone where play changes, 5-10 is a danger zone where a lot of "moves" you might normally make have to go out the window, and 5 or less is the red zone where you are nearing all in or fold mode and your survival strategy changes greatly.

Seriously, read these books if you ever play tournaments Most hand analysis I do during any tourneys now, sit n gos or multi-tables, come directly from things I learned in harrington's books.

[Radii]

The first hand after the break:

radii has timed out
radii: folds


bye bye time bank. I needed to check on a little family thing going on downstairs and didn't set myself to away. This is big later on as I didn't have the time I wanted to think through a few decisions.

[Radii]

Hand #63: I open-raise AK from mid position and steal the blinds.
Hand #64: I open-raise 55 from mid position and get reraised big, I fold.
Hand #65: I open-raise ATs from early position and get one caller out of the blinds. I make a terrible call on a J82 flop, dude bet 750, I flat called it, i had a backdoor flush draw and shit else. No idea why I did that.


Hand #74: Blinds go up to 100/200. I have 8705 in chips after giving a little bit back that level. Two guys at my table have made gains to over 15K in chips.

Hand #78: folded to me in the small blind, I raise 3x the big blind with Q8s and win the blinds.

Hand #80: I open-raise T7o in the cutoff. Table had become a bit tight, so I thought I could steal. SB called me. Flop K96. SB checked to me and I made a continuation bet of 800 chips. He called. i got to see the river for free but didn't hit my inside straight and I folded to a large river bet. I am down to 7305 chips after that mishap.


And then finally something to be happy about.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

SB (t13735)
BB (t18405)
UTG (t8655)
UTG+1 (t6625)
MP1 (t8690)
Hero (t7305)
MP3 (t15305)
CO (t11995)
Button (t8680)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 2s, 2d.
3 folds, Hero calls t200, 1 fold, CO calls t200, Button raises to t800, 2 folds, Hero calls t600, CO folds.

Flop: (t2100) 7h, 2c, 8h (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t800, Hero calls t800.

Turn: (t3700) Ts (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t800, Hero raises to t2400, Button raises to t7080, Hero calls t3305 (All-In).

River: (t16485) Th (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t16485
Main Pot: t15110 (t15110), between Hero and Button. > Pot won by Hero (t15110).
Pot 2: t1375 (t1375), returned to Button.

Results in white below:
Hero has 2s 2d (full house, twos full of tens).
Button has Kc Ah (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero wins t15110. Button wins t1375.

[Radii]

I'm playing some pretty loose poker at this point, and I dont' really have a good explanation why. I basically play these big MTTs as a lark, but occasionally i'll play one on a week night and realize that there's a good chance I'll play til 2am and come away with nothing and feel like an idiot. I think that has in the past led me to make some loose calls in the 2nd hour of the tourney. This was certainly one of those, but it worked out for me. That's not good strategy though, that's stupidity leading to good results

[Radii]

Knowing how I play these things normally, I play pretty wild to build up a stack in that first hour but need to get a decent stack in the 2nd hour or I will flounder it away. Now that i've doubled up I would expect to see things settle down quite a bit.

Hand #86: Free flop with K9o vs 3 opponents. Flop comes AKJ. Being first to act my best chance to win is to bet out. i bet out 500 chips into the 800 pot and win it right there.

Hand #88: With one limper, I raise 4x the BB with JJ on the button. I win the blinds+limp

Hand #91: KQo in mid position. I open-raise and steal the blinds.

Hand #92&#93: I fold A7 and A2 from early positions at the table. See, I'm not too stupid


Hand #94: Level 7 begins. 100/200 blinds, 25 ante.

The antes are where Harrington's way of looking at things really helps me. blinds are still 100/200 but how does the antes change things? Instead of looking at how many big blinds i have, I now look at the pot size. Pot is 525 pre-flop at a full table. Going into this level I have 16,185 in chips. Here are the chip-stacks, showing one very short guy and everyone else is still in very good shape.

Seat 1: JayBizzle8 (12910 in chips)
Seat 2: BigE1132 (9845 in chips)
Seat 3: scott tuna (14325 in chips)
Seat 4: caniwin12 (16225 in chips)
Seat 5: twit38 (13330 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (16185 in chips)
Seat 7: stokie (18280 in chips)
Seat 8: beeyoung (11570 in chips)
Seat 9: Chezwiz75 (1050 in chips)

[Radii]

Hand #100: I open-raise AK and win the blinds. My standard raise with the antes is now 4x the BB instead of 3x. Raising to 800 instead of 600.

Hand #106: I open raise 66 from the cutoff and win the blinds.

Hand #109: I open raise AJo from early position. Two people call my raise, then an 18K stack goes all in. I fold, a smallish stack of 5K calls. AK vs KJ. Jack high flop and KJ doubles up.


Hand #112: Blinds go up to 200/400. I am down to 13,135 in chips going into this level.

Hand #119: I have ATs in the big blind. There's a raise to 1200 before me and I call. too loose? This is why i hate raising only to 3x the big blinc once the antes are in play. There's a bit over 2000 in the pot and it only costs me 800 more to call out of the big blind. Flop comes AA9. The flop is checked. opponent bets 1200 on the turn and I check-raise to 4400. opponent folds an dI win a 5225 pot. I'm back up to 15,180 after that.

Hand #120: Very next hand... I have 77 in the small blind. Same player raises to 1200. One call behind him. 3225 in the pot, 1000 for me to call. Great odds, only one guy behind who could re-raise. Two people in so I have a better shot at getting action if I hit my set. Easy call or debatable? Anyway, I call. Flop comes Q82 all diamonds, checked arund. Turn is another diamond. I don't have a diamond. I fold to a bet.


Hand #123: I open-raise A7s (to only 3x the blinds, hmm). And win the blinds.


Hand #128: I have A9o in the big blind. The SB open-limps and I probably should have raised him. Instead I check. Flop comes J42, two hearts. Opponent min-bets. Very often this is a bet to try to take a flop from a BB who has shit/flopped shit. I decided to raise him and try to take this pot. I raise to 1200. He re-raises to 3600 and I fold.

I am back down to about 13k in chips at this point.

Hand #131: I limp on the button with Q7s after 2 limpers before me. SB limps, button checks. Flop is 533. Checked around. Turn is a queen. checked to me, I bet 800 and win the 2200 in the pot after all 4 opponents fold. Strange hand.


that is the last hand of the 2nd hour. We go on break and the blinds go to 300/600 with 50 antes. I am still at the same table I started out at.

Stacks after two hours at my table:

Seat 1: matawispar (14525 in chips)
Seat 2: BigE1132 (14245 in chips)
Seat 3: scott tuna (13175 in chips)
Seat 4: caniwin12 (16430 in chips)
Seat 5: twit38 (22785 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (14760 in chips)
Seat 7: stokie (12830 in chips)
Seat 8: beeyoung (19395 in chips)
Seat 9: mntanabanana (16732 in chips)


So I gained a total of about 4000 in chips during the second hour. 300/600 with 50 antes mean there will be 1350 in the pot pre-flop. A 3x raise will be about 10% of my stack. Everyone at the table begins hour 3 with an M of between 10 and 20, the "yellow" zone according to harrington. suited connectors and more speculative hands become a bit less playable, but there is still some room to manuever.

[Radii]

I attempt a steal raise with T9s, and am called by the big blind. Flop comes Axx and I try to take it with a bet after BB checks. I bet 2400. He check-raises me all in and I have to fold. That hurts badly and I am down to 9200 in chips when this hand comes up:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

BB (t12725)
UTG (t14395)
UTG+1 (t27400)
MP1 (t19880)
MP2 (t9760)
Hero (t9210)
Button (t20595)
SB (t20632)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Th, 7h.
4 folds, Hero raises to t1800, 2 folds, BB calls t1200.

Flop: (t3350) 7s, 8h, Tc (2 players)
BB bets t1800, Hero raises to t7360, BB calls t5560.

Turn: (t18070) 6s (2 players)

River: (t18070) 4d (2 players)

Final Pot: t18070
Main Pot: t18070 (t18070), between BB and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t18070).

Results in white below:
BB has Ad Ks (high card, ace).
Hero has Th 7h (two pair, tens and sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins t18070.


If the big blind pushes like he should have I have to fold, but just stealing the blinds is signifigant at this point, and folded to me in the cutoff I'll try to steal with a lot worse than T7s probably. If the BB pushes me off this pre-flop I'm pretty much in all in/fold mode and just about done.

[Radii]

That was hand #141. I now have 19,020 in chips.


Hand #153: The blinds go up to 400/800 with 50 blinds.

Here are the stacks at my table when this happens:

Seat 1: matawispar (5065 in chips)
Seat 2: NoLuckSam (20305 in chips)
Seat 3: scott tuna (40995 in chips)
Seat 4: caniwin12 (17780 in chips)
Seat 5: twit38 (8260 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (17120 in chips)
Seat 7: bolverk (10851 in chips)
Seat 8: beeyoung (23595 in chips)
Seat 9: mntanabanana (20182 in chips)


I have enough chips to scare people but any hand can kill anyone except ScottTuna here.


Hand #156: Here is a pretty obvious all in situation for me against a smaller stack:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t6565)
MP2 (t20155)
MP3 (t40445)
CO (t16430)
Button (t6910)
Hero (t16170)
BB (t10701)
UTG (t26745)
UTG+1 (t20032)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ah, Qc.
6 folds, Button raises to t2400, Hero raises to t6400, 1 fold, Button raises to t6860, Hero calls t460.

Flop: (t14070) 6c, As, 8c (2 players)

Turn: (t14070) Td (2 players)

River: (t14070) 3h (2 players)

Final Pot: t14070
Main Pot: t14070 (t14070), between Button and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t14070).

Results in white below:
Hero has Ah Qc (one pair, aces).
Button has Ts Jc (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Hero wins t14070.


After that hand I am now up to 24,230 in chips. And I get moved to a new table for the first time on the day:

Seat 1: qwedie (15160 in chips)
Seat 2: robbastow (9210 in chips)
Seat 3: monkey527 (22602 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (24230 in chips)
Seat 5: Rugby1 (9600 in chips)
Seat 6: VilN (27299 in chips)
Seat 7: buchj67 (14164 in chips)
Seat 8: TheFutureJTT (25179 in chips)
Seat 9: Prince_Ace (6840 in chips)



Hand #162: I catch AA for the first time on the night, in the big blind. folded to the SB, who raises to 2500. I flat call and decide to get all in on pretty much any flop if I can. The flop is about as scary as possible, 986 all spades, I have no spade. I bet 4000 and win the pot anyway, whew.

I have 26,830 in chips after that hand.

Hand #166: I try to steal out of the cutoff with Q8o. There's two all-ins after me, so I get out of the way.

Hand #168: I catch AJo and raise to 2400(3x) in mid position. BB calls. Flop comes AT7, checked to me, I bet 4000 and win the pot.


Hand #174: The blinds go up to 600/1200. I am just keeping up, keeping myself a decent sized stack, but not one that couldn't take a massive hit at any time:

Seat 1: qwedie (36720 in chips)
Seat 2: robbastow (6785 in chips)
Seat 3: monkey527 (19102 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (24730 in chips)
Seat 5: Grape (3788 in chips)
Seat 6: VilN (29299 in chips)
Seat 7: buchj67 (20114 in chips)
Seat 8: TheFutureJTT (7269 in chips)
Seat 9: Prince_Ace (11390 in chips)

[Radii]

Hand #176: I open Q9 suited from mid position and win the blinds.

Hand #180: I take a hit with AQ:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t33345)
Button (t4535)
SB (t17452)
Hero (t26755)
UTG (t8326)
UTG+1 (t29186)
MP1 (t23564)
MP2 (t5019)
MP3 (t11015)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Qs, Ac.
UTG calls t1200, 6 folds, SB completes, Hero raises to t6000, UTG raises to t8326, SB folds, Hero calls t2251.

Flop: (t17702) 6s, 4c, 7s (2 players)

Turn: (t17702) 4d (2 players)

River: (t17702) 2s (2 players)

Final Pot: t17702
Main Pot: t17702 (t17702), between Hero and UTG. > Pot won by UTG (t17702).

Results in white below:
Hero has Qs Ac (one pair, fours).
UTG has Jc Jh (two pair, jacks and fours).
Outcome: UTG wins t17702.


I am down to 18K in chips after that one.


Hand #182: I open-raise QQ and win the blinds.

Hand #194: Blinds go up to 1000/2000 with 100 antes. I haven't done anything but fold for 12 hands now.

Seat 1: Gebre (24506 in chips)
Seat 2: robbastow (14365 in chips)
Seat 3: monkey527 (65713 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (17429 in chips)
Seat 5: IFT7 (33853 in chips)
Seat 6: VilN (22711 in chips)
Seat 7: buchj67 (21889 in chips)
Seat 9: Prince_Ace (24295 in chips)


My M is now becoming a major problem. I can only survive another ~6 orbits around the table before busting. Long before that happens I'll have to make a move somehwere.

[Radii]

Hand #196: I receive a not insignifigant blessing when its folded around to me in my BB. I collect 2800 and am up to 18,929.


Hand #198: Here is a 3-way all in that cripples me. I am barely saved by the winner being a slightly shorter stack than me.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 (t27006)
MP3 (t14765)
CO (t62313)
Hero (t17829)
SB (t31453)
BB (t22311)
UTG (t25289)
UTG+1 (t48782)
MP1 (t23895)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Ac, Jd.
4 folds, MP3 raises to t14665, 1 fold, Hero raises to t17729, SB calls t16729, 1 fold.

Flop: (t49823) Qh, 6s, 3c (3 players)

Turn: (t49823) 4c (3 players)

River: (t49823) 6d (3 players)

Final Pot: t49823
Main Pot: t49823 (t49823), between MP3, Hero and SB. > Pot won by MP3 (t49823).

Results in white below:
SB has Ah Th (one pair, sixes).
MP3 has Kd Qc (two pair, queens and sixes).
Hero has Ac Jd (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: MP3 wins t49823.

Converter doesn't show it well but I collect 6128 chips by beating the large stack's AT here.

[Radii]

Hand #203: I go all in with 86 suited. 2K blind hitting in 2 hands. I'm desparate as hell with 5628. I win the blinds which is almost a double up, I'm up to 9528 in chips.

I have to fold both of my blinds.


Hand #207: K9 suited with an M of less than 2? Absolutely.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t34806)
MP2 (t54766)
CO (t62313)
Hero (t6228)
SB (t26948)
BB (t18411)
UTG (t21389)
UTG+1 (t48782)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Kd, 9d.
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t6000, 3 folds, Hero raises to t6128, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls t128.

Flop: (t12856) 5d, 4d, Kc (2 players)

Turn: (t12856) 4c (2 players)

River: (t12856) 9s (2 players)

Final Pot: t12856
Main Pot: t12856 (t12856), between Hero and UTG+1. > Pot won by Hero (t12856).

Results in white below:
UTG+1 has Ac Tc (one pair, fours).
Hero has Kd 9d (two pair, kings and nines).
Outcome: Hero wins t12856.


WHEW. copnverter fucked this up too somehow. Blinds aren't included. I actually win 16056 after the blinds and antes are factored in. At this point my M is just about 5 and that is still extremely desparate. I'm probably still going to go all in if I decdie to play anything.

Hand #209: Thanks! Gap concept, buddy. Go all in with QT suited in your siutation, but don't call an all in with it.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 (t42406)
MP1 (t54566)
MP2 (t62113)
Hero (t15956)
CO (t25748)
Button (t15211)
SB (t15189)
BB (t42454)
UTG (t12340)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Ac, Qc.
4 folds, Hero raises to t15856, 2 folds, SB calls t14089 (All-In), 1 fold.

Flop: (t30745) Ad, 4h, 6d (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t30745) 5d (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t30745) Ah (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t30745
Main Pot: t29078 (t29078), between Hero and SB. > Pot won by Hero (t29078).
Pot 2: t1667 (t1667), returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
SB has Qh Th (one pair, aces).
Hero has Ac Qc (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins t30745.


I have 33,845 after this and am thankfully back from the dead.

Hand #216: This was probably a little loose, though I'm not sure if I should call or fold here or what...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t38706)
MP2 (t66466)
MP3 (t62213)
Hero (t30245)
Button (t2894)
SB (t8511)
BB (t62518)
UTG (t66408)
UTG+1 (t10640)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Ah, Jc.
3 folds, MP2 raises to t6000, 1 fold, Hero raises to t30145, Button calls t2794 (All-In), 2 folds, MP2 folds.

Flop: (t39639) 7h, Kh, 5c (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t39639) Qc (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t39639) 3h (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t39639
Main Pot: t9282 (t9282), between Hero and Button. > Pot won by Hero (t9282).
Pot 2: t30357 (t30357), returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
Hero has Ah Jc (high card, ace).
Button has Ad 4d (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins t39639.


I have 42,839 after that win. This is where I was able to make a pretty easy move based on my image. The guy that raised to 6000 in the last hand said that he had 88 and would have busted me that hand. The very next hand, he raises to 6000 again. There's a call and I have KK. Pretty easy all in, and I might have been called anyway, but here my all in with AJ my last hand had to have helped.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 (t38606)
MP1 (t60366)
MP2 (t62113)
Hero (t42839)
Button (t7411)
SB (t60418)
BB (t66308)
UTG (t10540)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Kd, Kc.
2 folds, MP1 raises to t6000, MP2 calls t6000, Hero raises to t42739, 3 folds, MP1 calls t36739, MP2 folds.

Flop: (t92078) 8d, 6h, Jd (2 players)

Turn: (t92078) 8c (2 players)

River: (t92078) 2c (2 players)

Final Pot: t92078
Main Pot: t92078 (t92078), between MP1 and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t92078).

Results in white below:
MP1 has Qd Ad (one pair, eights).
Hero has Kd Kc (two pair, kings and eights).
Outcome: Hero wins t92078.

And I now have 95,278 in chips.

I give back 5000 of it on the very next hand, calling a raise with pocket 7s, folding on a bad flop.


Hand #219: We're done with the 3rd hour of the tourney and the blinds are going up to 1500/3000 with 150 antes.

Stacks look like this:

Seat 1: Gebre (38406 in chips)
Seat 2: robbastow (17427 in chips)
Seat 3: monkey527 (67713 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (90178 in chips)
Seat 5: Duffer721 (70085 in chips)
Seat 6: VilN (7211 in chips)
Seat 7: suspect11 (59218 in chips)
Seat 8: j1eyedj1 (63108 in chips)
Seat 9: Skrewed (5340 in chips)


The blinds are so big here that no one is in great shape. I love my position with over 90K but my M is still only around 13 or 14 or so. Not enough that I can consider limping suited connectors or anything like that. But I know my stack size compared to average is very good at this point b/c of pokerstars' crazy blind increases so I should be able to put pressure on most anyone i run up against.

[Radii]

Hand #223: I open raise to 9K with QTo in mid position and win the blinds.

Hand #224: I have KQo in mid position. There is a min-raise to 6K made by a guy with 65K in chips. I call. guy after me also has 65K in chips and he re-raises to 21K. Folded back to me... 15K to call. about 38K in the pot. I fold. Not sure about any of that. I am last to act when I fold for 15K more.


Hand #227: There's an all in to ~20K before me. I'm in the SB with pocket aces. I go all in, and my hand holds up vs AJ. I have 105,898 chips after that hand.


Hand #239: Here's a hand i'm not really happy with.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 (t21358)
MP1 (t42400)
MP2 (t59915)
Hero (t89248)
CO (t135373)
Button (t31773)
SB (t62220)
BB (t67740)
UTG (t108912)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with As, 5d.
4 folds, Hero raises to t9000, 3 folds, BB calls t6000.

Flop: (t16200) 3s, Kc, 6s (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: (t16200) 4d (2 players)
BB bets t9000, Hero calls t9000.

River: (t34200) Qh (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: t34200
Main Pot: t34200 (t34200), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by BB (t34200).

Results in white below:
BB has Ah 8s (high card, ace).
Hero has As 5d (high card, ace).
Outcome: BB wins t34200.

I am down to 71K in chips after that.

[Radii]

Hand #240: next level. Blinds 2000/4000 with 200 antes. 7800 in the pot pre-flop. My 71K is less than 10M again.

Unfortunately I cannot tell from this log how we are doing in the money. I believe though that we amde the money sometime around here.

Hand #250: After folding through an entire orbit, I open-raise AKo and win the blinds. 70.5K in chips, about the mid point of our table.

Hand #254: I go all in with AQo behind a raise to 11111. The odd raiser folds and I take down a 29K pot. I'm up to 82K in chips there.


Hand #256: I open raise A3s from mid position. BB calls. Flop comes J43, I bet 16K into the ~28K pot on the flop and win it right there. I now have 97K in chips.

Hand #258: a guy with 38K raises to 12K UTG. I re-raise to 24K UTG+1 with 99. he calls. Pot is well over 50K and he has 12K left. I figure we'll go all in on any flop. Flop is the best possible, Q9x. I bet enough to put him all in and he folds. Oh well. I have 128K in chips at that point.


Hand #259: I open UTG with 77 for a raise and win the blinds. Up to 136K.

Hand #260: The small blind goes all in for his last 9542 in chips. There are ~14.5K in the pot, and it's 5500 for me to call in the BB. Call with any two here? I call with 64o. I beat my opponent's J2o to knock him out. I am up to 147K in chips.


Hand #262: Blinds go up to 3000/6000 with 300 antes. Here are the stacks at my table when this happens:

Seat 1: demonseed14 (217364 in chips)
Seat 2: DC168 (19250 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (147151 in chips)
Seat 5: johnnyrose (138223 in chips)
Seat 6: wendula (57249 in chips)
Seat 7: gearhead (83314 in chips)
Seat 8: Slip,the kid (62040 in chips)
Seat 9: snake8484 (82651 in chips)


This is right aroudn 2am. From reading the FOFC thread we had going on this we hit the money at about 1:50am, so we are just in the money here, probably in the range of about 100-115 remaining.

[Radii]

HAnd #267: I hate doing this and I don't know why I did it here. I open-limp from the SB with A4o. BB checks. Flop JJ8. I bet and win it.

Hand #268: AA on the button. There's an early limp, i raise to 24K(4x the big blind) and the limper calls. Flop comes 884. i bet 36K and win the pot. I am up to 182K in chips there.

Hands #269 and #270: I open raise with ATs and AKo and win the blinds both times. I have 205K in chips at that point. "8th out of 86 remaining" according ot the running FOFC thread at the time.


Hand #275: the one stack at the table that can cripple me raises to 20K. i'm in the BB and call 14K to see the flop with KQ suited. The flop is all rags and I choose to check/fold instead of fight for the pot. Down to 184K there.


Hand #282: I commented on being terrified making that big bet on the flop against a guy who could crush me if he had a king in this hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t6000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

Button (t163413)
SB (t45253)
BB (t114812)
Hero (t179351)
UTG+1 (t87223)
MP1 (t73114)
MP2 (t163790)
CO (t121202)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with As, Qd.
Hero raises to t24000, 2 folds, MP2 calls t24000, 4 folds.

Flop: (t50100) 9h, Ks, Qh (2 players)
Hero bets t48000, MP2 folds.

Final Pot: t98100
Main Pot: t50100 (t50100), won by Hero.
Pot 2: t48000 (t48000), returned to Hero.

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins t98100.


I have 214K after that hand and commented on being 7th out of 71 remaining.

[Radii]

HAnd #285: This one drew a fair amount of comments.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t6000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 (t162513)
MP3 (t41353)
CO (t104912)
Hero (t216551)
SB (t92023)
BB (t48330)
UTG (t72214)
UTG+1 (t138890)
MP1 (t120302)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 7c, 8c.
6 folds, Hero raises to t18000, 1 fold, BB raises to t48030, Hero calls t30030.

Flop: (t98160) Kh, Ah, 2c (2 players)

Turn: (t98160) 5c (2 players)

River: (t98160) Ac (2 players)

Final Pot: t98160
Main Pot: t98160 (t98160), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero (t98160).

Results in white below:
BB has Qd Qc (two pair, aces and queens).
Hero has 7c 8c (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins t98160.


So i have 216K in chips, the SB has 92K, the BB has 48K, 42K left after posting his blind. We're moving up to 4K/8K very soon and we're moving up in the money fairly consistantly now, which with my number of chips is no big deal, but I figure I have to try to steal on the button here. When my opponent goes all in ,there is 71,730 in the pot. Its only 30,030 for me to call. I'm getting about 2.4:1 to call. If my math is right that means I am correct to call if I feel that my hand can win more than 30% of the time.

If I know for a fact that my opponent has a pair 8's or higher, I will only win 22% of the time and can safely fold. If I knew he had pocket 7's, I'm 38% to win and should call. A lower pair and we're a coin flip, I must call. Two overcards and I am going to win ~40% of the time, another easy call.

As I said in the running FOFC thread, the only time I can fold this is if he shows me an overpair. There is no way I can put a short stack on an overpair so reliably to fold.

Now, should I try to steal the blinds against a small stack there? Perhaps that's questionable, as you want to pick on medium sized stacks more than short short stacks. But anyway, hand of the night for sure in terms of generating conversation.

[Radii]

And indeed on the very next hand the blinds go up:

Hand #286: Blinds 4000/8000 with 400 antes.

Seat 1: demonseed14 (161813 in chips)
Seat 2: Duffer721 (40653 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (104212 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (269581 in chips)
Seat 5: johnnyrose (88323 in chips)
Seat 7: gearhead (82714 in chips)
Seat 8: Slip,the kid (130190 in chips)
Seat 9: snake8484 (119602 in chips)


Hand #295: An extremely short stack goes all in for 25K. I re-raise to 56K with AK to hopefuly just get heads up against the all in guy. It works and my opponent has A3. My hand holds up. I'm up to 301K in chips now.


Hand #299: I call a min-raise in the BB with Q7 suited. I flop 2nd pair, T7x. I bet out and win the pot. Up to 327K in chips.

[Radii]

Hand #304:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t8000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

BB (t162413)
UTG (t250140)
UTG+1 (t84612)
Hero (t337034)
MP2 (t96323)
CO (t100564)
Button (t67114)
SB (t155190)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Qh, Qd.
2 folds, Hero raises to t24000, 3 folds, SB calls t20000, 1 fold.

Flop: (t46800) Kd, Js, Kc (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t40000, SB raises to t80000, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t166800
Main Pot: t126800 (t126800), won by SB.
Pot 2: t40000 (t40000), returned to SB.


I had 337K in chips, my opponent 155K. If i end up all in and lose here i'm down to about 180K. If I fold to his raise I have 270K. Of course his 40K raise doesn't mean much but he's pot committed at that point and basically may as well be all in.

After discussing this hand elsewhere the conclusion was reached that it is extremely unlikely that my opponent would have raised with a king on the flop there, and would have tried to get me to go all in for him if he had a hand that good. I likely folded the best hand and should have pushed on the flop. He may well have called with a jack.

Results in white below:
No showdown. SB wins t166800.

[Radii]

Hand #308: We are through with our 4th hour. Its 2:40 am on a work night Blinds are going to 6K/12K with 600 antes. Over 22K in the pot before any action.

At my table:

Seat 1: demonseed14 (140813 in chips)
Seat 2: spankdeazz (228540 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (177624 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (286634 in chips)
Seat 5: johnnyrose (94723 in chips)
Seat 6: dug565 (114164 in chips)
Seat 7: gearhead (65514 in chips)
Seat 8: Slip,the kid (145378 in chips)


Notes in the running thread show that I was 5th out of 51 left at this point. Once we get down to 45 then there's another bump in money to $155.

[Radii]

Hand #324: I open raise JJ and win the blinds. Yeah, 16 hands folding. I turned into a giant pussy there for a bit. Folded A5 in a decent steal position, folded J7 on the button when I normalyl woudl try to steal.

I have 244K in chips at this point.


Hand #330: Blinds go up to 10K/20K. I have 263K in chips.

Seat 1: demonseed14 (225736 in chips)
Seat 2: spankdeazz (148854 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (375624 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (263834 in chips)
Seat 5: bgsub (216652 in chips)
Seat 6: scott tuna (149398 in chips)
Seat 9: Donkasaurus (378735 in chips)


I am 9th out of 37 remaining.

[Radii]

Hand #330: Backbreaker for me. I am left with just over 5 times the big blind and an M of just under 4 after this. As I said in the running thread at the time, it's all in or fold time.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20000 (7 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t225736)
Button (t148854)
SB (t375624)
Hero (t263834)
UTG (t216652)
MP1 (t149398)
MP2 (t378735)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Qc, As.
1 fold, MP1 raises to t148398, 4 folds, Hero calls t128398.

Flop: (t282796) Jd, Ts, 6s (2 players)

Turn: (t282796) Ac (2 players)

River: (t282796) 5s (2 players)

Final Pot: t282796
Main Pot: t282796 (t282796), between Hero and MP1. > Pot won by MP1 (t282796).

Results in white below:
Hero has Qc As (one pair, aces).
MP1 has 6c 6d (three of a kind, sixes).
Outcome: MP1 wins t282796.

[Radii]

Hand #337: I am moved to Chris Moneymaker's table. I will play at his table for the rest of the night. This is the sequence that should have knocked me out of the tournament, but somehow instead set me up to get to the final table with a great stack.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20000 (7 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t118822)
Button (t122272)
SB (t1026802)
BB (t695523)
Hero (t98436)
MP1 (t474458)
MP2 (t262156)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Ad, Kd.
Hero raises to t97436, 3 folds, Button raises to t121272, 2 folds.

Flop: (t223708) 6c, Qs, 2h (2 players)

Turn: (t223708) Kh (2 players)

River: (t223708) Tc (2 players)

Final Pot: t223708
Main Pot: t199872 (t199872), between Button and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t199872).
Pot 2: t23836 (t23836), between Button and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t23836).

Results in white below:
Hero has Ad Kd (one pair, kings).
Button has Qh Ah (one pair, queens).
Outcome: Hero wins t223708.


I dominate my opponent, but the flop fucks me. The turn saves me, but puts a flush draw on the board for my opponent. I survive and double up.

I'm in the big blind on the next hand and after my BB have 211K in chips left. At that point I am 15th out of 28 remaining. 27th and 18th are the only two jumps in pay between now and the final table. This was insane hand #1.

[Radii]

Hand #339: batshit insane hand #2. Just one hand removed from my AK beating AQ.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20000 (7 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t260644)
MP2 (t22836)
CO (t1014802)
Button (t556701)
Hero (t210872)
BB (t472458)
UTG (t260156)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Qh, As.
3 folds, CO raises to t55000, 1 fold, Hero raises to t209872, BB raises to t471458, CO folds.

Flop: (t740330) 8c, Qs, 5h (2 players)

Turn: (t740330) 2d (2 players)

River: (t740330) 7d (2 players)

Final Pot: t740330
Main Pot: t478744 (t478744), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero (t478744).
Pot 2: t261586 (t261586), between Hero and BB. > Pot won by Hero (t261586).

Results in white below:
BB has Ac Kc (high card, ace).
Hero has Qh As (one pair, queens).
Outcome: Hero wins t740330.


Now I didn't win 740K. Dude had me covered. I won 481,744.


I steal the blinds on the next hand and have 517K in chips, 5th out of 28 remaining.

[Radii]

Hand #342: Batshit insane hand #3, otherwise known as the worst call i've ever made in my entire poker career.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20000 (9 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

SB (t414644)
BB (t19836)
UTG (t280624)
UTG+1 (t816802)
MP1 (t553701)
Hero (t516744)
MP3 (t1053987)
CO (t249586)
Button (t227156)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Jh, Js.
2 folds, MP1 raises to t60000, Hero calls t60000, 4 folds.

Flop: (t128000) 9c, 3c, 7d (3 players)
MP1 bets t60000, Hero raises to t180000, MP1 raises to t492701, Hero calls t275744 (All-In).

Turn: (t1076445) Jc (3 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t1076445) 9d (3 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t1076445
Main Pot: t1039488 (t1039488), between MP1 and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t1039488).
Pot 2: t36957 (t36957), between BB and MP1. > Pot won by MP1 (t36957).

Results in white below:
BB has As Qs (one pair, nines).
MP1 has 3d 3h (full house, threes full of nines).
Hero has Jh Js (full house, jacks full of nines).
Outcome: Hero wins t1039488. MP1 wins t36957.


My opponent raises pre-flop, bets the flop, and goes all in over my re-raise. Why the hell did I think he couldn't beat a pair of jacks? Honestlyk, here is why. He used his entire time back before raising. I lulled myself into thinking that he *must* have had A9, or a flush draw, or overs an thinking I was bluffing. And I quickly called his all in. Here's the problem. I was 5th overall in chips left. He was 4th. He was one of 4 guys that could bust me, and I was one of the few guys who could totally cripple him. I think that if I had queens it might not be so bad a call, and kings or aces and it is probably an ok call. But with pocket jacks, what hands will a solid player reasonably risk his tournament life with that I can beat? I was suprised as shit to see a set, but, I should have expected either 99 or an overpair.

also, I should have re-raised him pre-flop. He would have dumped his threes and I would have beaten AQ.

At this point, I now have 1,069,324 in chips and am the tournament chip leader.

[Radii]

So in the course of 5 hands I put my tournament life on the line 3 times, twice with far the worst of it, and once I get sucked out on and have to re-suck out to hold up.

[Radii]

Hand #347: Blinds go up to 15K/30K with 1500 antes.

Seat 1: EvilDrSluggo (659800 in chips)
Seat 2: cooolK (242640 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (265624 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (819802 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1055324 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (1018987 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (314543 in chips)


about 20-23 people remain at this point I believe.

[Radii]

Hand #353: I steal the blinds with AKo.

Hand #355: I bust someone out after they call instead of re-raising what could very likely be a steal raise.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30000 (7 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

SB (t572800)
BB (t296640)
UTG (t208624)
MP1 (t929302)
Hero (t1109324)
CO (t1017487)
Button (t242543)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Td, 6d.
2 folds, Hero raises to t70000, 2 folds, SB calls t55000, 1 fold.

Flop: (t134000) 4c, Ts, 4h (2 players)
SB bets t100000, Hero raises to t360000, SB raises to t501300, Hero calls t141300.

Turn: (t1136600) Kh (2 players)

River: (t1136600) Tc (2 players)

Final Pot: t1136600
Main Pot: t1136600 (t1136600), between SB and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t1136600).

Results in white below:
SB has 9d 9c (two pair, tens and nines).
Hero has Td 6d (full house, tens full of fours).
Outcome: Hero wins t1136600.

At this point, moneymaker was raising a ton of hands. Opportunities to steal were few and far between and as a big stack I wasn't pleased about that, but I sure wasn't liking the idea of having to come in over the top of moneymaker if I wanted a pot. He had folded here, and I decided to steal one. I had a tough time deciding what to do on the flop. Top pair/shit kicker, I'm glad now that I pushed it.

[Radii]

At this point we're down to 2 tables. After that last win there are 17 people left in the tournament and I am guarenteed $415. The truly amazing thing?

Seat 2: cooolK (265140 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (207124 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (927802 in chips)
Seat 5: phillyd7015 (872219 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1719624 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (1015987 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (241043 in chips)
Seat 9: demonseed14 (208853 in chips)


That's the chips at my table. swa003 has 700k fewer chips than me. He is 2nd overall in chips out of the 17 remaining. I am a very very dominant first at this point.

[Radii]

Hand #361: Somewhere between 11 and 13 left. Moneymaker scoops a massive pot to take the chiplead, here is my table:

Seat 2: cooolK (344640 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (184624 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (1806021 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1667124 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (928987 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (526396 in chips)


moneymaker and I are running 1/2, as we will for most of the rest of the tournament from here on out.

Hand #362: I steal the blinds with A8.

Hand #363: I raise UTG with 44. Moneymaker calls out of the BB. Flop comes 3 overcards. He bets and I fold.


Hand #364: i have J6 in the big blind. moneymaker limps to me. The flop is 732. I bet 45K and he auto-calls. As in "call any bet" as in if I went all in he would autocall me. Luckily I didn' thasve shit so it was easy to give up the hand.

Hand #365: The blinds go up to 20K/40K with 2000 antes. Stacks are:

Seat 2: cooolK (291640 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (131624 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (1996021 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1660124 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (874987 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (503396 in chips)




Hand #365: I open-raise to 100K with A7. saw800 calls me. Flop is T7x, 2nd pair for me. I bet 200K and he folds. Whew.

Hand #369: I steal the blinds with 77.


Hand #370: I win a pot, albeit a small one, against moneymaker heads up:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t40000 (6 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

CO (t295640)
Button (t207624)
SB =#A500AF(Money800)/ (t1948021)
Hero (t1724124)
UTG (t846987)
MP (t435396)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9c, 4d.
4 folds, SB =#A500AF(Money800)/ completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t70000) Jh, Tc, 9h (2 players)
Money800 bets t40000, Hero calls t40000.

Turn: (t150000) 7s (2 players)
Money800 checks, Hero checks.

River: (t150000) 7c (2 players)
Money800 checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: t150000
Main Pot: t150000 (t150000), between Money800 and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (t150000).

Results in white below:
Hero has 9c 4d (two pair, nines and sevens).
Money800 doesn't show.
Outcome: Hero wins t150000.


Hand #375: Moneymaker loses a pot with QQ vs AA and I become the chipleader for a little while:

Seat 2: cooolK (541280 in chips)
Seat 3: El Perrito (389248 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (1714381 in chips)
Seat 6: radii (1784124 in chips)
Seat 7: saw003 (593363 in chips)
Seat 8: BigRedmp (435396 in chips)



FINAL TABLE

Hand #378. Welcome to the final table. 9th place is guarenteed $778. Here are the chipstacks and seating going into the final table:

Seat 1: El Perrito (385248 in chips)
Seat 2: LURPED (1217455 in chips)
Seat 3: scott tuna (701638 in chips)
Seat 4: radii (1742124 in chips)
Seat 5: Money800 (2197777 in chips)
Seat 6: saw003 (591363 in chips)
Seat 7: BuckyBadger (292972 in chips)
Seat 8: cooolK (497280 in chips)
Seat 9: DaKidCapone (553643 in chips)


I hate being on moneymaker's right. Not only is he the chipleader, he's a world series of poker champ. I'd really really really rather have him acting before me.