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A new Blog Jan 27, 2012

01-27-2012 08:08:27 AM

Wow what a year last year.. I hit five figures in tournaments at FW and MOH since MAY.
Playing against the best players and cashing 36.67 percent in all of the events I played.

Now its 2012 and I have not cashed at either place as of yet but I am looking forward to playing up there again as I finish up my almost three week break from the big games,

I got my first win last week at North Kingston and was on a streak of  top sixteens until Dave C crushed my hopes to continue it,, I had pocket fives and under the gun so I limped,, He also limped with 5 other players ,, flop is 5 k 8 with two diamonds. I immediately raise to 900 and everyone folds to Dave who re-raises me to 2500,, think ok maybe to pair so I got him,,,I go all in to find out Dave had floped a set os 6's the problem I had was that 6 is higher than 5 so I am out after the second hand,,

Thanks again to EPT as I have learned this game so much and how not to play at the casinos and have done extremely well since starting to play bigger events,,

Recap,,

I finished 2nd in a 15 k event had 6 wins in events lower than $200 dollar events .. 8 2nd places and numerous final tables at both FW and Moh,,

I found some software for those interested in tracking your stats,,

http://www.pokerdominator.com  

well for now Ill say

see you at the tables.


Mike C  ( pocketnines

On a roll

05-29-2011 09:49:39 AM

Wow what a month,, 5 cashes at Foxwoods for over $3000 total. 1 at ,Mohegan for over $900 and a second place at Pellys on Friday for $200.00  I am still learning this game and thursday was the first time ever I got quads. I probably could of made more money with them but maybe wanted to just end the hand,

One of the greatest things that has happened since I have begun to play poker with  EPT is the friendships that have been created.. I have made several friends and enjoy the game now even more.

I have learned to play more solid and occassionaly getting lucky

I attribute my reading player skills to my 25 plus years as an investigator and body language . It is most benificial to me at reading people. I can somtimes smell a bluff and sometimes capitilize on it,

I read everything I can and am a student of the game,



One thing is for sure is that I have made more money playing poker in the last 9 months than most of my bass fishing tournament  experience in 20 plus years and spent far far less on expenses, and in Bass tournaments you don't have the ability to chop.



Mike

3 way all in chipped up to finish 3rd March 29, 2011

03-30-2011 12:46:26 AM

Wow   When timing a marginal hand and position come into play things can change quickly.

I was the big blind with pocket nines,,,,a few callers and I called or min raises and three left in the hand, 

flop is nine ace duece.... ok I go all in with over 12,000 one caller to my right and another all in for less, noth had around 11 to 12 thousand also,,    I turn over the nines and the player to my right turns over ace king and the player to his left truns over pocket dueces for trips, Trip nines win and I trippled my stack to go on to the final table and finish third,, I made one mistake at the table where I think I was bluffed by the small blind and did not call his all in,,, Think I may have been ahead,, but as we know anything can happen on the flop, turn and river..

The championship ( I lost and I won}

03-13-2011 08:51:37 PM

The championshhip was great at Coral's Seafood in Worcester , MA.
The doors were open right on time and we were all assigned our seats.
I was seat 1 table 19 the first day and at break I had over 130,000 in chips.

At second break I was over 200,000 and things were going well.

I went up against pocket aces with a much inferior hand and won about 200,000  more.

I got my chip stack up to 420,000 and was in fairly good shape with three tables left.

At some point before this  Francisco was seated at my table and we entered into a hand together. I had jack, 9 of hearts and I was in the small blind.. The blinds were 4,000- 8,000 with a 1,000 ante at this time.

I called the blind and my oppenent checked.. The flop  was Jack of clubs, 7 of hearts and 4 of hearts.

here is my mistake I checked it,instead of pushing or raising frst.
.. He bet 25,000 which I called. The turn was a 4 of spades and I checked it again and he bet 25,000 again..  I re-raised all in with over  250,000 and he called.

I turned over my jack nine and he actually got up and started to leave and turned over King, queen off
  suit . He started to congratulate me and then the mighty river , the nasty mean unpredictable river hit.


A queen. I lost over 270,00 in that one hand it crippled me and of course now the stupidness set in.

 l lost it mentally and went down hill. I finished in the top 30.  Less than 30th place at number 24 or very
 close to that as I counted the remaining players at that time..

I Lost the opportunity to go deeper and finish in the top 10 but I  won because I gained more experience  about the play of certain hands and exectued well except for this one wrong move.

The right move I think may  have prompted my opponent to fold.. A rerasie would have at least made him think twice about the hand and what I actually had.


Day two was a disaster and I totally did not have the mental part of the game under control and the cards were not coming to me like they were on day 1.

Pocket nines

Playing badly

02-22-2011 07:38:55 AM

Wow the pressure is on to win two more and I have been playing badly. I actually played 9 seven off last night out of position and caught a pair of nines with an eight and a ten on the flop.. A raise of 1800 on the second hand of the game and i was all in. I went up against Jacks and of course the queen fell on the river to give him the straight.. I was beat before the flop but figured if I could double up early with a unsuspecting hand it would be good for a start to get to the final table.. I have been trying to mix it up and it is backfiring on me,, I put my opponet on Ace King as he only bet seven hundred pre-flop and figured I might be good with my nines.. I had to take a chance but it was the wrong time to do it against the wrong opponet.

Looking for win # 3 and Number 4 and no I am second thinking giving two away this season.

Oh I guess it will work it self out in the end.

The Highs and lows

02-13-2011 10:58:34 PM

  The Highs
Wow what a great time at foxwoods even though there were more players than advertised and a lot of people complained that there should not have been that many pros playing. I agree that the original buyin should have been honered with 120 players but it was good for me as I did cash at 23rd spot and took home $258.00 for my efforts. The two highj points of my night is when I doubled up against Jonathan Duhamel twice at my table and was able to take out one of the pro bounties.. I gained a lot of confidence from that tournament.

The lows.. As of today i have not made the top sixteen in the last 9 games and all time low for me.
I have been playing good tight agressive poker but not getting the cards at the ept nightlys and having to play what I get.
When I do get cards seems someone out flops me and I end up with second best. The cards sure do change. Look for me to change it up in the future and start to mix it up a lot.. I am just two top 3s out of first place and I would love to win for the season. With only 19 days left to the season I have to tighten up and pull my chin up and go for the win not just the top sixteen.. Congratulations to Shonna for a great call when I had a set of sevens and she flopped the full house, Look for this girl to make a lot of final tables.

November POTM Braintree MA Jan 22,2011

01-22-2011 07:56:23 PM

Had a real good tournament and made the final table..  2nd place with 1st place money.
I had gotten some good hands early then lost over half my chips.
I had to come back from less than 13,000 when I lost over 9,000 in two hands earlier in the day.

I doubled up with a straight, a set and pair of kings and Ace King and then I started to tighten up.

I started to play only premium hands and folded over 90% of my hands in the last hour and a half.

At the final table I was getting crap for the first 15 hands or so and then got pocket nines, pocket sevens, pocket 10s pocket aces and Ace 8  and Ace 9 when we were down to 5 players.. I got pocket queens when we were down to three and floped the set and then we were down to two,

We had agreed when we were down three that we would chop at $300 a piece and play for the win.

When we were down to two myself and a player from central MA,, We renegotiated that I would take the extra 100 and give him the win .. I did have a 2 to 1 chip advantage however it could have went either way and I don't mind giving up the win because I know Ill have other opportunites to get my 3rd and 4th   for the season.

The dealers did a great job expecialy Ed Wood and his cousin.. Very good dealers.


Don't forget to tip you dealers even at the nightly ... Its hard work and they all deserve an extra 5, 10 or more from us,

A bad fold cost the top 16 Dec 28th, 2010 Tavern Twelve

12-29-2010 12:46:09 AM

Wow did I mess up tonight.
Some times you can play to tight and tonight was a perfect example,
First I over played Ace 9 and lost to a set of tens with an Ace on the flop and stayed in the hand way to long. Second I get pocket queens and raise to $2000 when the blinds were at 300 and 600/
Ok so I get two callers.. The flop is 7 3 10 rainbow and the person to my right goes all in on the flop, He did call and my original bet and I thought long and hard, Did I want to risk my tournament on the queens when he could have had a set or a bigger pocket pair.. I put him on Aces or Kings so I folded my queens,, The other person goes all in and shows pocket nines and the the person to my right shows pocket 5s   I would have won and tripled up to 21,000 instead I had only 5,000 left and realize I made a bad lay down,, But being in the hand it felt right at the time.. Given the situation again with queens I think I am all in and risk the tournament,, .I wnet out on the next hand with pocket 2s to Q J and the flop was 10, king , Ace.

Win # 2 at Luxury Box Dec 4th, 2010

12-04-2010 11:44:13 PM

Wow what a table we had when we started,, Kevin K was there, Gloria, Steve , Buddy Martin a  three other players I know by site that are exceptional players,,

I played the first hand and second hand and won a small pot and then I did not play for over 23 consecutive blinds,, I was getting garbage and then I won with Ace King just by making a big bet and there were 4 players in the hand so i  picked up a few chips,,, I was short stacked when we went to the final table and tripled up within a couple of hands with 7 c and 8 c and hit the flush, Sorry I was short stacked,,, Not cards I usually paly unless I am short stacked or the blinds are low.. I try to play very tight ,, Once I had control of most of the chips at the final table i did not try to bully and tried to play premium hands,, My last hand was K s and 5 S with only three of us left,, The player to my left raised and I went all in he called,, I caught the flush on the turn and it was the nuts,,

With two of us left and I had over 270,000 in chips and it was a long final table we came to an agreement,, I took the win and Steve )( do not know his last name)  took half of the money..

I must say that that firs table that we started on was the toughest players at one table that I had personally played against,,


See you at the tables
MIke

Luxury Box November 20, 2010 ( learning experience)

11-20-2010 11:22:54 PM

3 rd place.
I was in position to win with ver 290,000 in chips at one point and went from chip leader to 3rd place.. What happened..? One player at the table said I should be bettiing every hand to gain the edge but I am not sure you can do that with garbage,, I was getting crap for cards like 7-2 8-4 J-4 J-6 10-2 and Q-5 ?? How do I bully the table with weak hands like that ( not likely) especially if some one hs an ACE , King, or Queen with a big kicker.. I don't know if it was the right play to limp in but under the circumstances I think I did the right thing.. In time I guess i will learn the final table play and mature as I contiue to get to the final table,, I am happy with my finishes thus far and my play except in maybe 5 games were I really played lousy and played stupid.. I have learned by watching some of the better players and now I can read layers a lot better than I could when I started and gained respect of and for certain players. I recommend EPT for anyone who wants to learn and have fun because the majority of the players will take the time to help a new player.

MIke

November 18th, 2010 New England Sports Bar in warwick, RI

11-19-2010 12:41:18 AM

I got my first win at the new location on the first night.

I was chip leader going to the final tabe by only 20,000 and the blinds were at 4,000 and 8,000



I chose not to play anyhand unless i knew it was a stron hand,

I tightened up as there was only one other player   ( Eddie) who had the same size stack .. I had 125,000 and the average was about 40,000 at the table,,

Eddie and I were left  I had pocket 5s and Eddie moves all in with less than me by  few thousand and I called.. I showed 5s and eddie had Ace 9 .. The flop was something , ace 5 and a five on the river for quads,..


I broke the ice and look forward now to wins 2, 3, and 4..

I love EPT and have to say that the management does and outstanding job..

Thought I had the nut flush and i did not,, To dark at Tavern 12

11-03-2010 12:18:29 AM

Wow the third hand of the night I played i thought I had caught the nut flush in clubs on the turn,, I was h I was positive I had the hand won when I went all in on the turn. the Ace was on the board and I had the queen... There were three other clubs on the board but I read it as four,,,, oh no I blew the hand on a miss read of the cards,,, Oh well next time I gotta bring a flash light to tavern 12 ..

Finished 2nd for the month and in 10th for the season end of Oct

11-01-2010 10:53:07 PM

Well its been an exciting month for me,, I was able to work up to 2nd place for the month.of October.
I made several final tables and had many top 16s this month.. I got to know how some of the players play and still learning how others play.. I am getting better at reading some of the players and there are a couple that are hard to read.. OK my goal for this month is to win at least one tournament I have a 3rd a 5th a 7th and 8th and several other final table finishes,, One of them I had enough chips to win if I played my cards right. lol but I blew it on an all in against the chip leader..If I had to describe my syle of play I would say I play tight and very aggessive most of the time.. Most of the time when i bet everyone folds and there is no pot to claim.. I have to learn the happy medum.

My new nick name is poket 9"s as I beat another player with that hand on an all in and  thats all he talks about when he sees me.. Pocket 9's

9/28/2010 Tavern Twelve

09-28-2010 11:57:08 PM

Best finish thus far..Think I am in the top 100 this season after only 8 events... Final table I thought I played  extremely well and finished 5th... I had pocket kings and  made the decison to go all in with 73 thousand and was called but the person in seat 6 or 7 and he turned over poket Aces.. The flop a King sshowed up and the turn was an Ace and i was left with 23 thousand with the big blind at 6 -12 thousand so I went all in on the next hand with Ace 3 abd lost to  Ace 5 ... All in all I am gald to have made the final table twice this week and the points are adding up.. I am learning how others play so I can play better against them..

Kingston Bowl 9/26/2010

09-26-2010 11:33:30 PM

Wow, Never have I gotten Pocket Aces, Pocket Kings, Ace King, Ace jack and and Ace in 14 other hands in one game.  10 hands in a row in one stretch.. 18 times I got an Ace.. I made one huge mistke in the 3:30 game I over bet a straingt draw and lost over 18,000 in chips doing so.. I was left with about 20 thousand and coudn't put anything to gether to reach the final table.. Finished 12th

At the 7 pma game I was able to start off good with pocket kings and A K twice and had enough to get to the final table and finish 9th.. My first final table with EPT and I feel I can make the point for the championship by the end of the month.. hopefully.  Now my goal is the top 3

First top 16 Bricktard

09-24-2010 06:31:24 AM

Sept 23, 2010 I made my first top 16 , now the goal is to get to the final table.

Got my feet wet at Sharks 9/20/2010

09-20-2010 10:34:55 PM

Ok I am the new kid on the block so after tonight my nickname will be Ajack.. Why Ajack ?
I lost over $30,000 in chips on Ace Jack off suit with three in the hand.. I know stupid rookie mistake.
I was sick ( no it was not the food) I had come back from short stak to over 30,000 in chips by 9 PM.
I won a huge pot with pocket aces, another with a set of 7's.. Ok so then I get Ace Jack off suit which probably should not have played, no definetly should not have played.. I was playing great up to this point. I got the AJ and called the 1200 blind... Seat to my right raised to 2400 I reraised to 10,000 Imy first mistake. I was called by two players,,,, I moved all in after the 2 , 3 , 6  Flop and immediatley I went all in hoping no would would call. I was called by player in opposite seat who had me more than covered.., other player folded  He showed AK suited and the turn did not help any..The river was a Queen . So I did not cash at my first event for the EPT but then again Iearned a lot about the chips and how some of the players play, and still had fun.. The EPT is a great circuit.
There is always next time and I am looking forward to making the top 16 many times in the future.with a couple of wins.
I really was sick and hugged the toliet when I got home.. This will be my excuse if anyone asks..

Mike  Ajack