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You Play Here?

06-29-2017 07:39:55 PM

After a month of hiatus from pub poker, having turned to more legitimate tournaments elsewhere, I was in the neighborhood and wanted some catered Chinese food for dinner. And so I stopped by for a quick game.

And quick it was, lol. Late reg and the blinds were already at 600/1200 when I sat down. The TD had just set up for a new table for the waiting list folks and we all stared at one another with 20k starting stacks. That is less than 20 BBs!?!

I sat down at the middle of the table and helped speed up the action: pulling in pots, chopping pots, etc. Got a lot of friendly winks from around the table as we got through more hands in a level than they have seen all week.

Blinds were at 800/1600 by dinner break. I was sitting on a measly 15k stack and needed to double up quick. And I did, right after my table got super boozed up. KQ > TT to a lady who cluelessly flatted all of my barrels to a Q high board and AA > A9 after the case A came on the flop and I check raised and induced a jam.

Then I was moved to a new table and reminded of everything that's wrong with pub poker. With no antes in the structure, you have to steal every blind you can in late position. An elderly at the table tank FOLDED for a solid minute EVERY time her big blind was raised pre-flop. She would follow it up with a 5-minute speech about how she got bluffed. The regulars were used to it. I felt disgusted.


Then we had a donkey with headphones who shoved 50 BBs pre-flop every time he caught a pocket pair, no matter how small. Bad play being one thing, but unwarranted and excessive celebration after winning a pocket 3 to my AJ suited coin flip is beyond revolting.

I support the small businesses that sponsor these games. I also support the hard working TDs who tirelessly run them day after day. The players...well...haven't changed.

Idiot's Guide to Winning an EPT Pub Tournament

05-14-2017 10:21:40 PM

In last week's post, I wrote about game selection within the Eastern Poker Tour. Be sure to check it out!

I joined the EPT for two reasons: 1) to meet 1/2 talented players who are at the top of their game and are willing to coach me and 2) to be like them and crush the competition. As of tonight, I have accomplished both.

Tonight I won a tournament (Billy and I chopped the prize pool and I gave him the "win") at Maxamillian's. We were both sitting at around 250k in chips at heads-up with blinds at 30k/60k, so there was no point in continuing.



Below are my top tips for winning. Hopefully you will find them useful.

1) Don't limp. Really don't. Open pre-flop with premium hands and fold garbage ones. One of the beauties of tournament play, according to my coach, is to steal the blinds and antes (when there are antes). Limping increases the chances of going to show down. Poker becomes a game of luck when you have the entire board in front of you to see. It's a game of skill when you can force a fold or induce a wrong move from your opponent before that. That said, game selection is again key. Don't pick N Shore where some loose aggro with no intention of winning will call every raise and all-in. As the saying goes, you can't bluff a fish.

2) Be fairly tight before dinner break. So many rec players bust before they had a chance to hit the buffet table. You can absolutely float at around your starting stack of 20k or lower and build up a stack after dinner (as I did tonight going into 1k/2k blinds with a 13k stack).

3) Turn up your aggression level after dinner. Most players are fairly passive after a full meal, making it a great time to capitalize on poor plays. Don't be afraid to apply maximum pressure with your stack when it is the right strategic move. Chip up before heading to the final table.

e.g.
Final 11 and blinds at 1k/2k, I had a 40k stack and KJ on the BB. Mid position limped and SB limped. I raise 2.5X and it folded to the SB who called. Flop came K86 rainbow. She bet 17k. I put her on K and small kicker and 3-bet jammed my remaining 35k. SB had me covered by 15k, but unwillingly folded after deliberating for a good 20 seconds.

4) Defend your blinds so that you don't get bullied. It's rarely a good idea to be isolated by a good aggro player. But when the price is right, try to see the flop.

e.g.
Final table with blinds at 10k/20k, JJ was raising 2.5x preflop every time he had the button and I was on the BB. Carol on the SB was playing extremely tight and giving up a lot of blinds. The first time this happened, Carol folded and I folded AT off suit, giving JJ credit that he had a bigger A. The second time JJ raised with TT and Carol shoved all in with AK off suit, I tanked for a long time before folding my pocket 8s. K came on the turn.

With just a few seconds before the level was over, JJ again raised to 50k on the button. I figured I had to at least see the flop with my pocket 6s as I had won a few hands prior with pocket 10s to two Ace rags and was sitting on 200k.

Flop came 68T rainbow. I slowly checked my set and JJ quickly shoved all in with his remaining 130k. A good player like JJ would extract value from a set or a flopped straight, so I put him on an over pair or a draw. I snap called and he said he was behind after showing pocket 4s.

5) Having any face cards or pairs in your hand substantially increases the value of your hand when you are 5- to 6-handed.

e.g.
Final 5 and Carol limped with pocket 7s on the SB and checked all the way down to the river, allowing me to hit my nut flush and make a small value bet that costed her a fifth of her stack. When blinds get big, winners don't wait for hands and need to steal pots. I didn't get that concept prior to coaching, but it's exhilarating when you begin to do it right and do it well.

6) And along the way, be nice to people. I gave Marie about 3 walks on my SB at the final table tonight because she was a really decent player from my prior table. And I made a more than fair deal with Billy because I had enough confidence in myself to know that this won't be the last time I'm making a deal.

---

That said, I'm grateful to the Lowell and Charity regions for the players I have met and the education I have received. It has been entertaining and I would gladly return if time permits in the future.

How to run deep at an EPT Tournament

05-10-2017 12:19:04 AM

Modern day tournaments are hardly won alone. Despite poker being an individual sport and everyone competing for the top spot, it is an endurance sport and not unlike a cross country or triathlon race. The best players in the field can't expect to win every or any tournament. There are a plethora of variables; some controllable and some not.

1. Size of the field
It goes without saying that in multi-table tournaments, the smaller the field, the earlier you will get to the final table with small enough blinds, and the greater your chance of winning. Tournament structures typically are made to account for the size of the field so that you don't show up at the final 2 tables to a shove fest. But the structure of EPT (turbo) tournaments, have never changed. So when there are multiple tournaments running daily simultaneously, it is absolutely in your favor to pick the location with a history of the smallest field.

2. Type of players
The amateurs have knowledge about their own hands and the board and that's it. You meet them all the time at the EPT. They play their cards face up: calling when they are on a draw, raising when they have the nuts, and folding when they have nothing. They never bluff or know how to bluff. And most telling of all, these rookies love to show the winning hand.

Good players have the added info of knowing the range of their opponents' hands and their style of play, which is an invaluable resource. I never go into a tournament with a set strategy. I adapt to the type of players on my table. After sitting down to a few hands, you should know when to tighten up against the loose aggros and hope to get all of your stack in on premium hands, and when to bully and steal the blinds against recs who limp/check around to you.

3. Characteristics of a winner
That said, those who have won tournaments would tell you that they were typically 1) fairly aggressive, 2) lucky, and 3) respected.

Aggression is important, especially when it's early. One night I won two key hands before dinner break and maintained a comfortable stack of 50k from that point 'til the final table.

Luck goes without saying. Getting dealt premium hands allow you to make more plays. Winning coin flips is crucial.

When you have a great table image, your raises become uncontested by mediocre hands that might suck out on you. It's much better to win smaller pots than to lose big ones. This is why I love to play at Lowell. On the contrary, if you chose the wrong tournament where nobody is respected and the players are very unpredictable, then it comes to simply who got lucky with the board. And this is why I stopped playing at N Shore.

---------------------------------------------
Results so far:
LWLL Highest finish: 4th, Average Pts: 60
CMA Highest finish: 4th, Average Pts: 52
NSHR Highest finish: 5th, Average Pts: 37
CHAR Highest finish: 7th, Average Pts: 44

New to EPT? A Guide to Choosing Games

05-08-2017 09:23:11 AM

There are 7 regions to play the EPT pub tournaments in Massachusetts and 1 in Rhode Island. When it comes to figuring out your highest likelihood of having a good time and winning a tournament, location is key. Here's my review of 5 regions in Mass:

#1 in Competition/Payout
If you're looking for a solid tournament experience where you are pitting yourself against solid players and will actually learn something to improve your own game, choose Charity games. The games have the highest buy-ins and the players generally take the game seriously. Those who have honed their games at Charity have gone on to do well at this year's EPT Open. And because the structure begins with a higher starting stack with longer levels and antes, there's more opportunities to see some exciting plays. That said, fish still show up and dump their chips.

#1 in Learning Experience
Central Mass players overlap with those of Charity. It's a great learning experience because you can play the same guys for a discounted buy-in. The small field is solid with some aggressive cash game players and past Open winners.

#1 in Donk Plays/Bad Beats/Older Rec Players
If you want to be steamed off the table, witness steaming, and occasionally get the chance to severely punish a fish, then North Shore is your best bet. These tournaments typically have the largest fields of players who are there to "have fun." Every all-in is followed by 3 or more guaranteed calls with mediocre hands. Everyone wants to either chip up early or go bust. Players pretty much play their hands face up. There are no slow plays or traps; I've seen players shoving on a rainbow flop after hitting a set of Aces. The majority of the field is also impossible to bluff and will call down 3 barrels on a draw. That said, there are a few solid players here who make it to every final table by simply capitalizing on the bad players.

#1 in Hot Waitresses/Table Talk/Younger Players
Lowell hosts tournaments in some of the best locations (e.g. Maxamillan's) with good service and food. On any given night, you might run into the Kevin Hart of poker on your table and get involved in hilarious side bets. The field is mixed, but there are a few solid young cash players who will 3-bet bluff and make you think.

#1 in Food
If you want to skip the monotony of pizza and pasta at every other region, then you're in for a treat at Framingham games. When you eat good, you play good. The field is a good mix in terms of skill level, stickler-ness about rules, and appearance. I genuinely enjoy playing in this region and wish I lived closer.

How Mark Colling Won the 2017 $36K

05-03-2017 12:43:39 AM

When Mark sat down at the Featured Table with blinds at 4k/8k and 1k ante, he had a healthy stack of 265k, second on the table. He wasn't under any pressure to play many hands and voluntarily put chips into just 12 pots before reaching the final table (final 8) and 23 more pots before heads up action. When he was in a hand, he always made sure to isolate and rarely went to showdown.

Below is a break-down of those 35 hands:

My YouTube compilation of his hands prior to the final table:

YouTube - Part 1
1. Limped Q♥T♠ and folded to a T♦T♣ shove pre-flop
2. Opened K♥9♦ and won pre-flop
3. Opened Q♥J♥ but folded to 9♠9♥ 3-bet and A♦9♦ all-in pre-flop
4. Called pre-flop raise with K♣7♣. Bet on flop and folded to 9♣9♦ all-in.
5. Three-way all in pre-flop K♦K♣ to AA and QQ. Hit a lucky set on river and a 786k pot.
6. Opened K♣T♦ and won pre-flop.
7. All in pre-flop K♦K♥ > J♣J♥
8. Limped J♣5♦ and won on flop.
9. Opened 2♦2♣ and won pre-flop.
10. Opened A♥2♥ and won pre-flop.
11. All in pre-flop 4♦4♣ > K♥Q♣
12. Opened 7♥7♠ and won pre-flop.

YouTube - Part 2
Final Table
13. Opened A♦K♦ and won pre-flop.
14. Opened K♠T♠ and won pre-flop.
15. Opened J♣T♦ and won on flop > A♣2♣.
16. All in pre-flop A♠K♣ > A♥J♠.
17. Opened A♦9♥ and folded to Q♦Q♣ 3-bet.
18. Called all in pre-flop K♦Q♥ > A♥Q♣.
19. Called pre-flop raise A♠K♣ and won on flop > Q♣T♦.
20. Limped A♠A♣ and won on flop against 2 players.
21. Limped J♣5♦ and won on flop > 8♠4♦.
22. Opened Q♠Q♦ and won pre-flop.
23. Called pre-flop raise J♥T♣ and folded to A♥A♣ pre-flop all-in.
24. Opened K♠9♣ and won pre-flop.
25. Limped 6♣3♣ and won on flop > 7♦6♥.
26. Opened A♠6♠ and won pre-flop.
27. Called pre-flop raise Q♣J♣ and bluffed on flop > 8♣3♣.
28. Limped K♥6♥ and won with 3-bet on turn > J♠5♦.
29. Opened A♠K♥ and folded after missing the flop to 9♦7♣ bluff.
30. All in pre-flop 6♠6♥ and won pre-flop.
31. Opened 4♠4♣ and won pre-flop.
32. Folded button pre-flop A♦2♠ to 9♣2♥
33. Called pre-flop raise Q♥T♦ and bluff all-in on flop to win > Q♠T♠.
34. Opened J♥3♥ and won pre-flop.
35. Called pre-flop all in K♥6♥ > A♥T♠.

Several observations can be made about Mark's play:
1) The winning % was amazing. He won EVERY fucken coin flip, including ones where he shouldn't have.
2) Pure aggression pre-flop and on the flop. Rarely did he win on the turn. If he won a showdown, it was because of a pre-flop shove. Pure aggression and lack of skilled plays. Even limping in with AA with the intention of maybe trapping didn't prevent him from stabbing at the flop.
3) He played his hands pretty much face-up and never once slow played or checked top pair. He also got dealt an extraordinarily high # of pocket pairs.
4) His opponents also pretty much played their hands face-up and made their bet sizes extremely predictable.
5) His opponents gave him way too much credit and let him walk all over them by stealing so many blinds pre-flop.
6) He stayed cool, calm, and collected throughout the tournament. Given his winning %, never once was he on tilt.

The heads up play wasn't much to comment on. He was a terrible heads up player and winning the two terrible shoves with 97 and T6 off suit ultimately made it impossible for his opponent to catch up.

So sadly I would have to say that Mark won the $36K Open via 1) tight but aggressive/scared? play and 2) PURE LUCK by winning every coin flip. His pre-flop aggression reminds me of playing with Paul Giroux from Framingham.

Know Your Opponents

04-26-2017 11:26:24 PM

When I played tournaments online, I was meticulous with making notes on my opponents. In between hands, I reviewed every hand history. I tracked the stats of those on my table: VPIP%, PFR%, raise % on every street, showdown %, and win %. My notes were solid. They were color coded!

And if I had time, I was also making notes on players on other tables (something impossible to do in live tournaments). Pretty soon I was sitting down to every table with players whom I have notes on. Many of those tournaments were won with having notes.

Tonight I got 5th in a field of 40, my highest finish in a North Shore (donkey) tournament. Was I lucky? Not really. The only time I caught a decent pair (K♠K♣) was on the small blind and BB made a big speech about my string betting when I min raised and then folded.

I simply KNEW my opponents from so many previous tournaments. I studied YouTube videos of previous EPT tournaments that showed whole cards and found some of those players on my table tonight. KNOWING your opponents takes the intimidation factor out of playing live tournaments. I stuck to my rules from my previous post: 1) kept the pot small pre-flop because there are a lot of limpers who help build the pot anyways, 2) isolated and punished, and I mean PUNISHED, the notorious loose-passive player on the table, 3) respected raises from solid players and folded my low pocket pairs pre-flop, 4) slowed down my play so that I could look to my left and get tells, 5) didn't chase draws or continuation bet on draws, and 6) extracted maximum value whenever I had bottom set or 2 pair to an opponent with top pair and good kicker. I've come to the realization that tournament poker is not a solitary sport. Keeping up a presence at the table through my chats absolutely allowed me to win several key pots uncontested.



That said, catching cards on the final table is key. I was sitting on a comfortable 100k stack with blinds at 3k/6k, but the 15-minute level soon ended and the big stacks started waking up with hands.

After folding a few blinds, I looked down at T♦9♦ in mid position. With blinds at 4k/8k, I limped four-handed. Flop was A68 rainbow. I raised 15k and chip leader instant raised to 30k. I called. The turn was a brick and he shoved. I folded. He said he flopped 2 pair.

I shoved my remaining 1.5 big blinds on the SB with 7♥7♦ and lost to KJo who hit broadway on the river.

I enjoyed tonight's game. Really played my A-game given the hands I was dealt and the opponents on my table. First table with the loose-aggro was fairly soft and I felt good about reading my opponents correctly. Most people were already thinking about playing at Foxwoods this weekend and didn't take it that seriously. I always run good when my opponents don't care (I have won every bad beat tournament I've entered).

Pub Poker vs. (Real) Poker

04-25-2017 10:58:23 PM

In $50 buy-in tournaments with 25-minute levels at (unnamed poker room), I get busted after shoving QJ to AA, Q9 to KK, AJ to AK. At North Shore EPT, I bust AQ to K9o, A9 to J9o, KJs to 64s. The obvious question is: Why?

Anyone playing pub poker for the first time should read "Seven Tips for Success at Tavern Poker" on PokerNews.com. In it, the Carolina native earnestly summarizes pub poker as fast, unusual, and about as hard to win as an online freeroll.

I only came upon the article today, after I have already participated in 20 events with the EPT and final tabled but not won, and I honestly wished I had read it earlier. In it are 3 key pieces of advice:

1. "Know that bluffing is generally a bad idea"
This is so true. With everyone sitting down to just 100 big blinds and no room for mistakes, you really should turn that bluffing frequency down to zero. As the article lays out nicely, when there is little or nothing to lose, "players are quick to move all in, or call an all-in bet with some of the weakest holdings imaginable." Hence the explanation for my observations at the start of this blog. This also explains why it has not been profitable for me to build the pot with continuation bets because I would get 2-3 callers who hit a piece of the flop and re-raise me on the turn or river after the pot has gotten too big to give up on.

2. "Be prepared for loose, poor play"
"In these games you’ll witness some of the worst, loosest, most incomprehensible poker play you’ve ever seen. It’s rather like the play-money side of online poker sites." I met newbies tonight who called all streets after catching just one pair with 7 deuce, shoved with a lower full house, and called all-ins with top pair and a weak kicker. To be the one capitalizing from these players would be quite wonderful. But if I'm just witnessing how chips are being squandered and wasted on players who don't deserve them, it can be quite nauseating.

3. "Be ready for an incredibly fast structure"
The structure is sh_t. If you have been card dead (quite likely) or suffered a bad beat (extremely likely) prior to dinner break, you WILL sit down after dinner (1-2 hours into the tournament) to around 10 big blinds and become a participant of a shove fest usually reserved for final tables after several hours of play. At EPT, I have been short stacked to every final table. As a result, the players open and call with an extremely wide range. Given that the cards are also self-dealt and you get about 4-5 hands in per level, you really can't wait around for premium hands.


So what are my reasons for playing in the North Shore games, if it's not to win?

1. Some of the regulars are friends with whom I can chat about hands or life with over the break.

2. I play the player and not the cards. Nothing satisfies me more to crush a loose-passive or a loose-aggressive player who loves to call value bets and only to blow off a third of his stack to me. And if I lost to him because he was chasing that straight or flush draw until the river, then so be it. To these players, playing short stacked is like a deadly sin. They would rather amass chips through bad beats than to conserve their stacks and wait for premium hands. To an aggressor who has busted me countless times before with garbage when I was short-stacked, I like to think that I was the one tilting him tonight when we were even stacked and I was 3-betting him preflop, isolating him in every pot I'm in, and raising big whenever I sensed weakness.

3. The only advantage you have in pub poker, besides luck, is knowledge of your opponents. And this only comes from experience. Recs don't generally analyze their hands after a tournament or try to vary their play or bet sizes. It's like reading a book 100 times; eventually you start to recall every passage. The same is true in reverse. When you've built up a presence in the league as someone who is methodical and has consistently made it deep, your raises become less contested.

4. It's cheap entertainment. I know by now that nobody wants me to win or would be happy if I did. Too many times I have witnessed opponents folding to another player's rags or checking down a monster, only then to later put my all-in. I can only count on myself to find amusement in these situations.

5. It's a shorter drive. If it weren't for the distance, I would choose the charity games in Wadpole ANY day of the week with the bigger starting stacks and greater level of play.

Cards came and went

04-18-2017 11:23:27 PM

I was told today that people read my blog. Woot.

Registered late. Sat down to blinds at 200/400 with 20k initial stack.

Hand #1
T♠T♣ in mid position. UTG, a fairly loose player, raised 15X bb to 6k. Couldn't fold. Could shove my first hand in the tournament or just call. Mid position +1 called and I flatted in the cutoff. SB and BB folded.
*
Flop came Q♥8♣T♠ rainbow. UTG cont bet 4k (I placed him on AK). Preflop caller called with a Q and I called. Turn was a Q♦, completing my full house. Initial raiser checked. Q raised to 4k and I called. AK folded. River was a brick and Q put in another 4k and I snap called.

Hand #2
Limped 400 chips UTG Q♦J♦. Middle position limped. SB and BB both limped.
*
Flop was T♠8♥9♥. SB raised to 1.2k. BB folded. I re-popped to 4k. Mid pos folded. SB shoved all in having me covered. I called and he showed 6♠7♣. The board did not improve for him. He said he put me on an overpair for re-raising on the flop.

Hand #3
Limped 1k chips UTG with A♥A♦. 5 players limped preflop.
*
Flop was Q♠5♥3♣ rainbow. Everyone checked. Turn was a 9♠. BB raised to 1.6k and I called. Mid pos raises to 4.2k and BB folded. I again called. River was a 8♣. I checked and mid position checked. I showed and he mucked. BB said he folded 98 o.

Hand #4
Chip leader at the table. Limped 3k chips UTG+1 J♦T♦. Folded to the BB and he checked.
*
Flop was Q♦9♥8♦, another straight. We checked. Turn was a T♠. We checked again. River was K♦, giving me a straight flush. There was about 7k in the pot and I bet 5k. He called with 2 pair and mucked.

Hand #5
At this point the reader of my blog joined our table. UTG limped 3k and he raised UTG+1 to 6k. I looked down at A♣K♣ and flatted. 2 other callers. Pot @ 24k.
*
Flop was A♠Q♣T♣. Checked all the way to me and I raised to 11k. Folded around.


--
Limped a few pots here and there and basically coasted to the final 16.
--


At this point the table was fairly tight and preflop all ins were pretty much uncontested. I even got a walk on the BB with pocket 4s. A particularly annoying player was gunning for me after I stole the blinds on the cutoff with K♠9♣ when his wife was on the BB at the same table. Collusion much?

Final Hand
Chip leader (a notorious donkey who was calling 3-WAY all-ins with QJ in the earlier stages and was now seeing every flop) limped UTG for 8k. I shoved UTG+1 with J♠J♣ for 55k. Folded to the annoying player (who had me covered by just 15-20k and had no business calling). After some trash talk about sucking me out, he called with A♥Q♠. Everyone else folded.
*
Q♥ came on the flop and my hand did not improve. Absolutely ridiculous tournament. The donkey went on to win. So done with EPT.

The Summit on a Wednesday Night

04-13-2017 12:57:49 AM

The Summit is my style of tournament poker: higher stakes, great starting stack, & higher level of play.

Prior to the dinner break, I was fairly card dead after sitting down at 7:45 PM. A few notable hands:
1) K♦4♦ on BB. UTG raised 2.5X, SB folded, and I called. One ♦ on the flop and flush draw on the turn. Called two barrels and checked it down on the river. He had a pair of 9s on the flop.

2) A♠8♣ on SB. Limped and BB checked. Flopped top two pair and checked to induce a bet. Turn was a 6 and river was a 5. Bet 1.5k on the river and got raised to 4k. Same player from the previous hand turned over 74o with a straight.

After dinner:
3) Limped with Q♦7♦ in middle position. Checked all the way to the river and making a KKKQQ full house. Should have bet on the river for value.

4) Pocket Qs and called an all-in from the button with J9o (who was just trying to make a move). He was left with 700 chips.



4) Middle position with JJ raised 4xbb preflop and I rejammed with pocket Qs on the button. JJ called and BB folded AQo. There was an Ace on the flop and the rest were bricks.


Slowly chipping up to 90k before coloring up.

5) Mistake of the night: Middle position raised light preflop to 2xbb (12k) with KJo. I looked down at AQo and called. Player to my left shoved with ATo for about 10k more. The initial raiser asked to see my stack (he's super aggro and won last week) before putting me all in. This player plays pocket Ks the same way he does with 39o. I folded. Short stack won with Ace high. Could have had a crucial triple up.

Final Table (10 players):

At this point players around the table were getting very aggressive pre-flop with ANY pocket pair or AQ AK type hands. I sat down with 70k in chips (short stacked) and folded several big blinds pre-flop. Down to final 7 after aforementioned aggro raising and rejamming 99 with about 190k in chips to KK without realizing he was covered.

6) Last hand: Blinds at 6k/12k with 1k ante. Chip leader limped UTG and folded to me in mid position with K♥T♦. I shoved with 24k and the cutoff rejammed about 30k on top with J♠J♣. The flop had K♠ but the turn was J♥. 6th place paid $270 and I bubbled.

Click below for 
Tournament Results^^^

Two 7PM Tournaments in One Night? [Part II]

04-12-2017 01:27:44 AM

Table change:

5) Blinds at 1/2k. On the button with 8♠ 9♠ and limped. SB called. BB checked. Flop was 8♡ 7♦ 9♡. SB checked and BB raised 4k with a pair of 9s. I shoved with a little more than 15k. He folded. I mucked and told him I had a set.

6) A J o UTG. Shoved and player to my left snap called without asking for a count (I had about 2/3 of his stack). Folded around and he showed A T o. The board was A Q A, brick, brick. I now had a healthy stack.

7) Limped on the button with Q J o. The same SB called. BB checked. Won with Q high.

Folds and another table change:

8) 4-handed and shoved with pocket 2s on the button after UTG folded. No callers.

Final table with 45k in chips:

8) A♧ J♧ on BB. Short stack player shoved UTG with A 6 o. Rec shoves over the top with A Q o. With blinds at 4/8k, it was a lot of chips for me to give up. But I was covered and folded with 20k left. Q came on the flop.

9) Shoved UTG with Q J o. Chip leader called with K 4 o and rec called with pocket 4s. J came on the flop and Q on the river. Up to 60k in chips:


Down to four players:
10) Shoved UTG with T 9 o. No callers.

11) 70k chips with blinds at 10k/20k. Folded to rec in SB who looked disgusted by her hand and still limped. I looked down at J♡ 9♦. Could limp and possibly folded to a raise later, or trust my live read and try to chip up and win this damn thing. I tossed in my remaining 5 pink 10-k chips. Rec was sitting on about 200k and flipped over K♠ 4♧.

The flop was A♧ Q♧ J♧. The turn was a brick. And the river was a ♧. Where is the justice?

Brutal way to end the tournament and KOed by the only rec at the tournament who didn't know how to shuffle, didn't know how to deal, didn't know how to post blinds, and frankly, didn't care.

End result: 4th place out of 30 players @ ITALIAN VETS after playing essentially 10 hands.

Click below for
Tournament Results

Two 7PM Tournaments in One Night? [Part I]

04-12-2017 12:04:59 AM

With the traffic tonight and NEEDING to switch it up after witnessing so much aggro/donk plays in the early levels @ North Shore, I drove down to Hanto Gourmet @ Ashland. The field for the past 2 weeks there have been under 25. Ashland did not disappoint with its low turnout. By 7:45 PM, the two tables only had 7 players each.

The first hand I played:
A♡ 7♡ UTG. Min raised to 400 chips and got 4 callers. The flop was 4 6 8 rainbow with one ♡. Raised 1500 and got 1 caller. The turn was 5♡, giving me the straight and nut flush draw. Raised 2600 and got re-raised to 4000. Having just 10k behind, shoved and got a snap call. He turned over 9 7 o. The river was a brick.

Undeterred by a super bad beat, I realized that Italian Vets @ Milford was just 15 minutes away. Got to the venue at 8:05 PM and the TD graciously let me sit down to a 16k stack.

Two aggros at the table made a few preflop raises that I called and had to fold to continuation bets. Played 4 hands before dinner break and was then basically card dead until the blinds were up to 400/800. Had about 4k left. Below is an account of the notable hands:

1) Folded to me on SB with T 9 o. I shoved and BB folded, showing 9 7 o.

2) Folded to me on the button with K♠ J♧. I shoved. BB and SB folded. SB said he had an Ace.

3) The aggro to my right raised 3Xbb in middle position. Since he raised several hands light preflop before this, I looked down at pocket 8s and shoved 10Xbb. Everyone folded.

4) Short stack UTG shoved with 4k in chips. Folded to me and I rejammed 12k to isolate with pocket Qs. Everyone folded. She showed A J o. The flop was A K K, turn was a brick, and river was a Q.

[To be continued]

Playing Live Turbo Tournament

04-10-2017 11:18:22 PM

Every night we start out with 20k chips. That's 100 big blinds at the first 100/200 level. It's NOT much. It's turbo poker and can be highly stressful when you are trying to win the whole thing.

Various commentators of poker have written that in live tournaments, players rarely call all-ins without a premium hand. Why? Because people don't want to look silly. They underestimate how thick-skinned recreational players actually are.

Pub poker, with its tiny buy-in, has its own set of rules. Recreational players rarely care how they play until they actually get close to the bubble. The usual loose, aggressive players who see every flop AND bet every flop help generate action but rarely make it deep. Tight players can expect to enjoy some hot pizza at dinner break, but are then short-stacked.

So how do you make it to final 16? To final 9? To first? Having played just 7 tournaments so far in the North Shore area and made it to the final 9 twice and top 16 four times, I can help answer the first two questions.

1) Play tight. Cold runs never last. Each hand is really independent. Down to 400 chips tonight after a AK suited < 22 bad beat to a VERY loose player and with blinds already at 400/800, I waited until I had either big pocket pairs or connectors and tripled up 3-4 times to survive the blinds. Why wait? Because North Shore players in general are never shy about calling all-ins when they really shouldn't. Playing position, more often than not, isn't followed. Even when I have a live read on the players to my left, they still called with a weak hand out of position. So play tight. And when you finally get a hand, get it in good. If you are tilted, just stand up and breathe and reset your mind before you sit down for the next hand.

2) Don't show. Never show. It's a turbo as it is, so gaining any information is vital. I can imagine myself only showing a mid-pair or bad kicker at showdown, to let the table know that I can't be bluffed. But why would you ever show A4 suited to your neighbor when you folded to a min raise after completely missing the flop? That also applies to showing a winning hand when it's folded around the table. To me it's not friendly, it's pointless. Be friendly in other ways such as engaging in good table chat or keeping your composure after a bad beat.

3) Don't chase. Really don't. I've seen so many players who love to chase a gut shot straight or flush draw ALL THE WAY to the river, even when they know the player barreling every street has top pair or better. Why? It is very likely that there were already 4 limpers to the pot. Is there really any satisfaction to bad beat someone when you lose valuable chips 9 out of 10 times?

4) Keep the pot small. The times I've busted early were when I raised too big pre- and post-flop with a strong hand and got called ANYWAYS by J8 off suit, KJ off suit, T9 off suit, 68 suited, you get the idea...

5) Vary your timing and bet sizes. Players have been fairly predictable so far with their actions. The top pair players love to barrel with the EXACT same sized bets every street without regard to the size of the pot. The bluffers shove way too quick without any hollywooding. The trappers consistently limp with AQ suited pre-flop. I have yet to see a calling machine re-raise with the nuts or a four-bet bluff.

6) Give river raises some credit. If you haven't yet pushed off a sticky player when the river comes and he/she happens to hit a straight and re-shoves to your raise, take some time to think it over. Even when the pot is 30k and you have 5k left, is it really worth your tournament life to call a potential bluff? If you wanted to see the opponent's hand so bad, then fold and he will probably show you anyways.

7) And finally, know how to play a short stack. Given how I've reiterated the amount of calls, don't loose shove with any Ace or King. You are likely to get the same 3-4 callers to a premium hand as you are to a weak hand, so slow down and be patient. Of course it would be great to have a big stack in mid tournament and be able to bully the short stacks, but when the you are truly card dead, you don't have to make a move like you would in a cash game.

It is very unlikely that anyone reading this post would actually vary his/her style of play. Perhaps I would even get berated for writing this post about how to get to the final table without having won at the final table. But it's a start and perhaps useful to players who have yet to make it to the bubble. Maybe I will write another post about how to win a North Shore tournament very soon.

Reflections from my first week playing the EPT

04-08-2017 01:32:11 AM

- The North Shore community is 95% friendly. It's amazing how everyone knows each other on a first name basis (including mine from day one). The 5% gets tilted easily and gives me the dirty look after a legit beat or move (trips to a flush, better kicker, continuation bets, etc.).

- Lots of regulars. After sitting through a few tables, I've pretty much come to know how everyone plays. A notorious opponent is known for her calling EVERY all-in, matching ANY raise until the river (no matter what the raise amount is or how much she has left), and shoving 8 high whenever she's short stacked. Her stack has always been on a roller coaster. Another opponent calls my two pair all in on the flop with Ace high, but checks down to the river (in position) with someone else after she hit a set of Queens on the turn. So it became pretty clear who plays the cards and who plays the opponent. My general rule has been to conserve chips, because when the tournament gets late, lots of people start making mistakes.

- Enjoy the conversations around the dinner table about healthcare, anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-cancer drugs, autoimmune diseases, and their reasons for playing the game. The buffet food is good.

- Enjoy playing with the younger guys even more. They, like me, have seen so many hands online that we don't get fazed by a bad beat. When I was at the "Bad Beat" Tournament tonight, a buddy took it like a champ after I flopped quads and crushed his full house. After he got knocked out, he stayed after to deal for us and even brought his own dealer button.

- Can't comment too much on the tournament structure. It is what it is: a turbo. So that means tons of raises in position for top pair with garbage kicker or draws, draws, draws. The action on the final table, from what I've seen, is fairly legit. So try to make it deep if you want to be a part of the real excitement.

Won the "Bad Beat" Tournament