Month: August 2017 Page 1 of 3

Winning in poker is not an easy thing to do, so always take a win and be happy with it. If you are miserable when you  win and miserable when you lose that is too much poker based misery for a happy life.

I played Tuesday evening in the £55 bounty (£25) tournament at Aspers  and cashed for £90 with £75 in bounties for a net win of £110 for 5 hours work/play.

At the final table it all went wrong for me, one minute I was raising almost every hand, stealing the blinds and antes at will then the next it all got away from me.

I was second in chips when the Big Blind was going to go all  in regardless of his holding as he had so few chips left. UTG + 2 made it 5K to go and I re-raised to £10K figuring he was after the £25 bounty. Unfortunately he re-shoved for 35K total, the blinds were 800/1600 with 200 ante and for 20BB I called it off with AQs after some consideration, only to run into pocket aces. Aces held although I did have a flush draw on river.

The next hand raised to 5K with J9s from MP only to be re-raised to 10K from the tightest player who showed me pocket aces when I folded. Next hand a tight player in MP limped for 2K and I made it 7K from the BB with A7o and got called. The flop came 886 with two hearts, I bet 5K and the MP player went all in for his last 21K. I tanked for a while before making the call with ace high  and was pleased to be shown K 10. A ten hit the turn and suddenly I was very short stacked.

The final hand I limped 10 2 suited from the SB and the BB checked, I checked a flop of 10 8 4 two spades and the BB shoved. I called with top pair and he had J 9 for the open ended straight draw (OESD) and he hit his jack on the turn. I had busted in 5th place for £90 and felt miserable as there was £300 up top and I was shooting for it all.

Perhaps I should have flatted the AQ rather than min-raised as that was the pot that killed me. Maybe I should have stack preserved and folded I could then have just carried on stealing the blinds and antes.

The hero call with aces high wasn’t good as there were better spots to get my chips in and even when right you can still lose. I should have perhaps checked the flop and called a bet with my ace high, I think that is the better play although it does allows me to be bluffed but keeps more range wide.

All in all I played well, I banked a £110 win and although frustrated to once again fail at the business end of a tournament, I can’t be too disheartened. There were a few bad beats and a couple of more bounties would have  made all the difference.

Pop into Aspers as was keen to play the £440 888 event tomorrow and there was a 3 pm £30 satellite 4,000 starting stack . I called a min-raise of 200 from the maniac UTG+2 in MP with 57 and the player next to me as does the BB for 4 way to a flop.

The initial raiser c-bets 400 and I call  on a 357 flop two hearts, the player behind raises to 1,000, BB folds as does the initial raiser I go all in for almost 4,000 and get the call. The cards are turned over and he has 35 for bottom 2 no hearts a 3 on the river gives him the pot and all but cripples me, he had 3 outs for nearly all my chips, variance is killing me.

Shortly after I was out and heading home, no point trying to beat a game that is beating you up.

$460K to the loser $230K for the winner $32K to everyone at the table, $1.2K to everyone playing at other tables.

Will Kassouf is at his annoying best, JRB couldn’t take his incessant chatter and over played his pair of nines into Matusow’s pocket Queens. Shortly afterwards he was felted.

He shoves 10BB with Ac4c to be called by pocket Queens of David Williams and hits an ace on the river to double up…then gives the rub down.

David Williams bluffs his stack off to Matusow on the river with 4d2d with no draw or pair. Matusow had picked up 2pr on the river and even though there was a backdoor flush and 4 to a straight he made the call.

Confusing bad play with bad luck.

OK so I lost some hands

I did 200BB $50 with AK v Aces all in pre-flop which isn’t good play.

I then did $25 all in pre-flop with Aces v Kings only for the Kings to hit a set on the turn.

I then limp called with Aces got raised to $1.50 from Button a call from BB and the original limper. I made it $5.50 to go the BB calls, the initial limper goes all in for $9, I call as does BB. BB bets $0.25 into $25 pot I raise to $14 and he shoves $22 into 8QJ with a flush draw with is K4 and hits his flush to win a $71 pot.

Played too many hands but I do feel I got a little unlucky too.

In the $11 satellite tournament I played I shoved Kings near the bubble to be called by AJ and first card out was the ace with 20 left and paying 15. If I won that hand I’d have picked up a $55 ticket for the next level.

This could possibly make it $4M welch in the last few months and a possible world record? Interesting article here

Welch: 1857, racing slang, “to refuse or avoid payment of money laid as a bet,” probably a disparaging use of the national name Welsh.

They have a free roll on a Sunday at Aspers you get 4,000 chips plus 500 extra for each tournament played.

I busted and rebought you get 6,000 per rebuy and 12,000 as an add on, both for £40 so I was in for £80. With 80 runners it paid 16 x £440 1 x £220 and £29 cash.

In the BB 18 left with blind at 1,500/3,000 and a stack of 15,000 behind I call the raise from the big stack with 10, 10 and he shows KQo and hits his Queen on the flop.  I was the short stack and not sure I could gave folded to a £440 ticket, but perhaps to the £220. Down £51 and despondent with poker.

Could/should I have folded under ICM?