Monday 30 June 2008

Forum of the fools

Poker forums are useful for a person's development as a player, but they can also be poisonous. Here is a thread that is a good example. Nearly every answer is in some respects bad, and some are extremely wrong.

First of all, the OP. For starters he should not play at Absolute Poker. AP employees cheated the players, and AP was not straight about it. No selfrespecting player should give them any of their money. Second, playing the 1.20s is not a great idea. The rake is horrible and the play is too bad to make any progress as a player. Better to play higher and reload if you go busto. Third, the OP thinks he has TPTK, but he does not. He has TP2K. Not that it matters much. Few enough players limp AK that you will not usually find it in MP1's range.

So Green Kool Aid is first to answer. I don't know him, but he ought to have a clue. He has a ton of posts. It may be that he habituates another forum though, so his advice probably isn't particularly good in STTs. I dunno. Anyway, his advice here is no good. It doesn't matter whether you bet 90 or 120 in this spot because you are not folding, regardless. It seems a bit results oriented to suggest raising less anyway.

NoLimitLeagues is a new poster, whose advice has been a bit iffy. He sticks to making a crack about AP.

backrhodes14 is new to me. His advice is bad. You should not fold in this spot. MP1's most likely hand is Ax where x < Q. He may have hit two pair, but he's more likely to have AJ/AT/A9 and to be overvaluing his hand. He could have a flush draw, although it's a bit unlikely (the most likely draw would be Asxs, but he can't have that). Of course, he can also have a set, but if he does, you're shit outta luck.

ShowUthExit has the right idea.

13ball is wrong. Staying in won't always make you money at $1 and it's not much different at higher levels. I would not fold this at any level I play. It's swings and roundabouts as far as buyin goes: play higher and they're slightly less likely to have limped A2; play lower and they're slightly more likely to get it in with hands you beat.

juandadi's post is the most interesting. He's a winning player at the 16s, but his posts on 2p2 make me wonder how. His second suggestion is okay. Check/shoving the turn would be fine. However, few players at the low levels raise you on the flop only to fold when you shove. They are usually expressing their intention to go all the way. So just shoving is fine. If the guy folds, oh well. You win a decent pot with no further risk. That's always okay.

But where he is wrong is his suggestion that we are way ahead/way behind (WA/WB). We are not, and it's important to realise it, because WA/WB hands should generally be played the same way.

The concept is familiar to limit players. You raise with a hand like KK and are called by a tight player. You are able to narrow his range to big aces and pairs TT+ or something like that. The flop comes A73r. You are likely to be WA/WB. The other guy either has a pair of aces, and you are drawing to two outs to beat him, or he has a pair that is drawing to two outs to beat you. The key to it is that you are either just about dead or the other guy is but you don't know which. The standard way to play this kind of hand out of position is to check and call all three streets. In position, you check behind flop and turn, and bet the river.

But here, the other guy can easily have a hand like A5, which has seven outs to beat you, or a flush draw, which has nine. He can even have 65, which has four outs, 44, which has four outs, or 6s5s, which has 13 outs.

WA/WB doesn't just mean "you're either winning or losing". It means that in most cases you have either won or lost the hand already. You play it to lose the minimum when you're behind, because you will not make much when you're ahead. It's the kind of hand that you can only really lose money on. One reason is that it's usually apparent to the other guy that he's ahead.

What juandadi means is "if he has Ax, x < Q, we are WA/WB", which is true. But his range is a lot wider than Ax, x < Q, and he can be many shades of ahead or behind.


sengiokang's post is just wrong all the way through. It's fine to limp preflop. Raising will tend only to bloat the flop OOP. Checking the flop would be bad here. Leading is good, because you want to charge flush draws and make crap aces pay you off, which they will happily. You are perfectly happy to be raised, because you will get it in with $1 fish all day long with TP2K. What would really suck would be to check, have everyone else check behind and then see a spade come on the turn, making the donk's flush for free. A key point in deciding whether to lead at this flop is that there was no raise PF--which not only means that your hand is likely best but also means that you do not have a likely bettor. He continues to get it wrong by suggesting you want to make your hand look stronger by CRing. You do not want to make your hand look stronger! You want AT to get it in with you, not to conclude you have a monster and fold.

Friday 27 June 2008

bong

What goes up must go down. My run of average luck has now ended.

A set of eight today:

PokerStars Game #18409785892: Tournament #93541180, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/06/27 - 01:06:10 (ET)
Table '93541180 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 2: misty613 (3265 in chips)
Seat 3: BigAlinCal (2505 in chips)
Seat 5: OntheBus (4920 in chips)
Seat 8: FR Vessant (2810 in chips)
misty613: posts small blind 100
BigAlinCal: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Th Tc]
OntheBus: folds
FR Vessant: raises 2610 to 2810 and is all-in

Awkward stack size, so hard to know what to do. So I shove.

misty613: raises 455 to 3265 and is all-in

Played like a donkey all tourney. Has KK.


Game 2.

PokerStars Game #18409830423: Tournament #93541274, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/06/27 - 01:09:31 (ET)
Table '93541274 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: s_t_bux_a_x (3230 in chips)
Seat 4: erichardson (3297 in chips)
Seat 8: FR Vessant (4110 in chips)
Seat 9: pegan121 (2863 in chips)
erichardson: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Jh Js]
pegan121: folds
s_t_bux_a_x: raises 200 to 400

He's a tight player so I think he's just trying to steal my blind. Probably doesn't have much. I can repop and take it down easily but I get all fancy. I've played this guy before. He's a winning player but his big leak is not knowing when he's beaten.

erichardson: folds
FR Vessant: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [7h 5c Th]

Very nice flop for me.

FR Vessant: checks
s_t_bux_a_x: bets 400
FR Vessant: raises 800 to 1200

I have you beat sucker.

s_t_bux_a_x: raises 1630 to 2830 and is all-in

Terrible play with his hand, which is QT.

He is never ahead here and should know that. He's aware that I'm tight.

FR Vessant: calls 1630

So an easy double up, right?

*** TURN *** [7h 5c Th] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [7h 5c Th 7s] [Tc]

Wrong.

I whine a bit and he says, well, you should have reraised. Fucking idiot. I got him to put his whole stack in miles and miles behind.


Later on, after I've recovered some:

PokerStars Game #18410005476: Tournament #93541274, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2008/06/27 - 01:23:13 (ET)
Table '93541274 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: s_t_bux_a_x (4417 in chips)
Seat 4: erichardson (2544 in chips)
Seat 8: FR Vessant (2410 in chips)
Seat 9: pegan121 (4129 in chips)
s_t_bux_a_x: posts the ante 25
erichardson: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
pegan121: posts the ante 25
erichardson: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ac 4s]
pegan121: folds
s_t_bux_a_x: folds
erichardson: calls 100

A bit weird, but he has seen me fold on the flop, so he's probably going to try a steal.

FR Vessant: raises 2185 to 2385 and is all-in

Easy shove. He will fold most of what he's limped. If he's trapping, oh well.

erichardson: calls 2185

Yeah, he's trapping with K8. This is a terrible call. He's just throwing money down the drain.

*** FLOP *** [9d Js 2s]
*** TURN *** [9d Js 2s] [8d]

That's nice.

*** RIVER *** [9d Js 2s 8d] [3c]

Game 3. Both other players have been tight.

PokerStars Game #18410119800: Tournament #93541286, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2008/06/27 - 01:32:42 (ET)
Table '93541286 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: Umlauft76 (3948 in chips)
Seat 3: alricks (4564 in chips)
Seat 6: FR Vessant (4988 in chips)
Umlauft76: posts the ante 25
alricks: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
Umlauft76: posts small blind 200
alricks: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ad 5s]
FR Vessant: raises 4563 to 4963 and is all-in

12BB and an ace, so I shove. I probably only get called by a better hand but I'd need to be unlucky to run into one.

Umlauft76: folds
alricks: calls 4139 and is all-in

And I am. He has 66.

Uncalled bet (424) returned to FR Vessant
*** FLOP *** [4c 7c 4s]
*** TURN *** [4c 7c 4s] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [4c 7c 4s Tc] [8c]


Game 4. This guy is a retarded bluffaholic. I have been card dead throughout, and have stayed alive by judiciously shoving and outplaying him postflop. He has basically limped a ton of hands and then bet every flop.

PokerStars Game #18410133934: Tournament #93541345, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2008/06/27 - 01:33:53 (ET)
Table '93541345 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: TexAce (7273 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (6227 in chips)
TexAce: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts small blind 200
TexAce: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qc Ac]
FR Vessant: raises 5802 to 6202 and is all-in
TexAce: calls 5802

He has T9. His call is beyond retarded. He can fold and still have 14.5BB. No need at all to gamble.

Except that he's totally shit, and knows that I will crush him given time.

*** FLOP *** [7h 8c 2h]
*** TURN *** [7h 8c 2h] [4s]
*** RIVER *** [7h 8c 2h 4s] [6d]

That's nice.

Game 5.


PokerStars Game #18409689271: Tournament #93541321, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/06/27 - 00:59:04 (ET)
Table '93541321 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: pdeforge (3170 in chips)
Seat 4: dez777 (3200 in chips)
Seat 5: tastyrib (2505 in chips)
Seat 8: FR Vessant (1560 in chips)
Seat 9: Vegas Coyote (3065 in chips)
tastyrib: posts small blind 75
FR Vessant: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Jd Qd]
Vegas Coyote: folds
pdeforge: raises 150 to 300

Has minraised my blind several times.

dez777: folds
tastyrib: folds
FR Vessant: calls 150

I call this time with a decent hand. I plan to get it in on most flops.

*** FLOP *** [Js 5s 8c]

This one will do. Let's see whether he'll put a bet in for me.

FR Vessant: checks
pdeforge: bets 450
FR Vessant: raises 810 to 1260 and is all-in

Nice.

pdeforge: calls 810

He has 88. Not so nice.

Unreal that I should hit flop when he sets.


*** TURN *** [Js 5s 8c] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [Js 5s 8c 3d] [2c]


Game 6. I have sat and watched dez777 suck out when a huge dog several times.


PokerStars Game #18409995378: Tournament #93541334, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2008/06/27 - 01:22:24 (ET)
Table '93541334 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: lefty_21 (7550 in chips)
Seat 2: dez777 (4250 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (1700 in chips)
lefty_21: posts the ante 25
dez777: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
lefty_21: posts small blind 100
dez777: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Td Ad]

Nice hand with less than 10BB. Get it in.

FR Vessant: raises 1475 to 1675 and is all-in
lefty_21: calls 1575

He has KQ.

dez777: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qs Kc Qc]

GG me.

Game 7. This villain is loose, crazy and awful in every way.

PokerStars Game #18409804449: Tournament #93541297, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/06/27 - 01:07:33 (ET)
Table '93541297 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (3685 in chips)
Seat 3: bullets6900 (5995 in chips)
Seat 7: Luke'em (3820 in chips)
Luke'em: posts small blind 75
FR Vessant: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ad Qh]
bullets6900: folds
Luke'em: calls 75
FR Vessant: raises 450 to 600
Luke'em: calls 450
*** FLOP *** [2s Ts Ah]
Luke'em: checks
FR Vessant: bets 600
Luke'em: calls 600

Nice. Should be ahead a ton here.

*** TURN *** [2s Ts Ah] [Tc]
Luke'em: checks
FR Vessant: bets 2485 and is all-in
Luke'em: calls 2485

He has 22. His call preflop is bad, but otherwise, it's just a cooler for me. Again I hit top pair on a flop that gave another guy a set.

It would have been nice to hit an A or T on the riv for a big suckout but

*** RIVER *** [2s Ts Ah Tc] [7c]

... not today.

Game 8. I misclicked and folded a set, then misclicked again and folded AdQd. So eventually I had to shove over a raise and hope my cards were live. They were. But he flopped the pair, not me.

These are just the hands I busted out on. If I posted hands showing how my decent stacks dwindled when some retard sucked out when I got in with him way ahead, you'd probably feel sorry enough for me to shoot me.

I hate poker.

If you're going to bluff...

You have to pick a less obvious spot than this:


PokerStars Game #18408283813: Tournament #93536693, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/06/26 - 23:29:28 (ET)
Table '93536693 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: lvt_glf_22 (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: cr100098 (1400 in chips)
Seat 3: reddiswet (1400 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (1390 in chips)
Seat 5: kpwmba (1460 in chips)
Seat 6: dudo78 (1630 in chips)
Seat 7: Team Protege (1470 in chips)
Seat 8: H8LUZN (1730 in chips)
Seat 9: tiger1031 (1520 in chips)
tiger1031: posts small blind 10
lvt_glf_22: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [8h 8c]
cr100098: folds
reddiswet: folds
FR Vessant: calls 20

Standard to limp a small pair.

kpwmba: folds
dudo78: folds
Team Protege: folds
H8LUZN: folds
tiger1031: calls 10
lvt_glf_22: raises 60 to 80

He hasn't raised yet but we haven't played many hands.

FR Vessant: calls 60

Easy call for set value.

tiger1031: folds
*** FLOP *** [5d Jc 9d]

Now, normally, having missed our set, we'd take no further part in the hand. But if villain did not start with a pair, he's not all that likely to have hit this.

The problem with midpairs is that they are often best, but don't hold up very well, and cannot stand heat.

lvt_glf_22: checks

But I'm interpreting this as he missed. I'll take a stab and fold if he raises big.

FR Vessant: bets 100
lvt_glf_22: calls 100

If he's trapping, he's not making it too expensive, but I expect I'm ahead here. He may have called with overs or even the flush draw.

*** TURN *** [5d Jc 9d] [3c]
lvt_glf_22: checks
FR Vessant: checks

Check behind on this turn, although I do think I'm still ahead. I considered betting here to make the draws pay, but the problem is how much. There are just so many river cards I will hate (any diamond, A/K/Q/T for various reasons) and most $10 tards won't fold a reasonable draw unless you make it very expensive. Even then, they sometimes call.

So I think that checking it back is okay here, with one caveat: if the river bricks, you must call the bet there that you could have made here.

If he's trapped you, you pay him. He can have a better hand that was hoping to CR the turn, but mostly you're going to be ahead. I think you have to call most reasonable bets on rivers that brick. If the river seems to have made a draw, I think you can fairly safely fold. They'll usually have it if they bet it.

I'm not sure my play is sound on the turn though. It may be better to bet. Against the draw I'm best here, and mostly stay best on the river. With a hand like AdQd, he has 15 outs, and is a 2 to 1 dog, and that's about as good as it gets (KdQd has a bit more equity, but it would be odd not to play that harder on the flop). But you are not going to get a bet out of draws on the river if they check it to you. You have to simply check your 88 behind. He could have a worse pair (and can also have a better one, because A9 fits his action) but he may not call another bet with it, and it's not that much of his range. Not everyone will bluff with a missed draw, so your best chance to make value is to bet here and make the draws pay. But I am playing cautiously, trying not to put too much in with a weak hand that can already be beaten by a trapping player.

*** RIVER *** [5d Jc 9d 3c] [2h]
lvt_glf_22: bets 220
FR Vessant: calls 220

So, easy call. This is a terrible card to bluff on, because it doesn't make any of the possible draws, but I think that he has to be trying it on here. So I am paying him when he's trapping, but he won't often be.


*** SHOW DOWN ***
lvt_glf_22: shows [Kc Qd] (high card King)
FR Vessant: shows [8h 8c] (a pair of Eights)

Nice.

bing bang bong

Goddamnit, I need to learn how to fold.

PokerStars Game #18407219796: Tournament #93523329, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/06/26 - 22:32:03 (ET)
Table '93523329 19' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: 1zorb (12017 in chips)
Seat 2: javlinman (2729 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 3: DonkBetMe (13141 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (4806 in chips)
Seat 5: ishouldcallU (4325 in chips)
Seat 6: skkarlet (7083 in chips)
Seat 7: ctopper (5965 in chips) out of hand (moved from another table into small blind)
Seat 8: eMEraLdwPn (3261 in chips)
Seat 9: smallraise (15550 in chips)
eMEraLdwPn: posts small blind 75
smallraise: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qh As]
1zorb: folds
javlinman: folds
DonkBetMe: folds
FR Vessant: raises 300 to 450
ishouldcallU: calls 450
skkarlet: folds
eMEraLdwPn: folds
smallraise: calls 300

Unhappy to be called in two places.

*** FLOP *** [4c 3s 2d]
smallraise: checks
FR Vessant: checks

Hate that flop but I should cbet. I can then close down if called/fold if raised.

ishouldcallU: bets 600

He likely has a pair but he can just have OCs and be on a steal. He's very aggro so this is very possible.

I have ten outs to beat the pair, so I can't fold. Maybe I should push and rep a big pair that has trapped.

smallraise: folds
FR Vessant: calls 600

So I do the wrong thing and call. That's the worst option. Just giving up is fine. It would only have cost me 450. My hand is face up as well, so I don't think I can get any implieds here.

*** TURN *** [4c 3s 2d] [2h]
FR Vessant: checks
ishouldcallU: bets 1050
FR Vessant: calls 1050

I still have ten outs imo, but this call is very poor. Even if I do river an A or Q, can I count on getting paid? I will have to donk it because I won't want him to check behind, and he should have an easy fold with anything that I beat. Worst case, he could have 55 and an ace could be terrible for me.

*** RIVER *** [4c 3s 2d 2h] [Js]
FR Vessant: checks
ishouldcallU: bets 2225 and is all-in
FR Vessant: folds

Have to fold. I could still be ahead here, but it's not worth busting out in hope of it. Very few players will threebarrel you with OCs, because most cannot figure out that you must have a big ace here and will fold.

***

AQ is kinder to me a few hands later:

PokerStars Game #18407299808: Tournament #93523329, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/06/26 - 22:36:04 (ET)
Table '93523329 19' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: 1zorb (11492 in chips)
Seat 2: javlinman (2504 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 3: DonkBetMe (12691 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (2481 in chips)
Seat 5: ishouldcallU (8000 in chips)
Seat 6: skkarlet (7533 in chips)
Seat 7: ctopper (5965 in chips)
Seat 8: eMEraLdwPn (3411 in chips)
Seat 9: smallraise (14800 in chips)
ishouldcallU: posts small blind 100
skkarlet: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [As Qh]
ctopper: folds
eMEraLdwPn: folds
smallraise: raises 400 to 600
1zorb: folds
javlinman: folds
DonkBetMe: folds
FR Vessant: raises 1881 to 2481 and is all-in

Villain is new to the table but big stack suggests that he will have played fairly loosely. Anyway, with 12BB, AQ is looking good to me, so I ship it in.

ishouldcallU: folds
skkarlet is disconnected
skkarlet has timed out while disconnected
skkarlet: folds
skkarlet is sitting out
smallraise: calls 1881

He has KQs. His call is awful here. He's never ahead of even a reasonable range; only just priced in against smaller pairs, crushed by AA/KK/QQ/AK/AQ, way behind other aces. I don't mind though. My money is in good.

*** FLOP *** [Qd Jc 4s]
*** TURN *** [Qd Jc 4s] [5d]
*** RIVER *** [Qd Jc 4s 5d] [Ac]

Very nice.

***

Sigh. The same hand let me down though:

PokerStars Game #18407859443: Tournament #93523329, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (125/250) - 2008/06/26 - 23:05:25 (ET)
Table '93523329 19' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: CoachBoone23 (13990 in chips)
Seat 2: tbod67 (11022 in chips)
Seat 3: DonkBetMe (6690 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (5647 in chips)
Seat 5: Sharp1983 (24528 in chips)
Seat 6: skkarlet (9308 in chips)
Seat 7: ctopper (25840 in chips)
Seat 8: eMEraLdwPn (4772 in chips)
Seat 9: smallraise (24131 in chips)
CoachBoone23: posts the ante 25
tbod67: posts the ante 25
DonkBetMe: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
Sharp1983: posts the ante 25
skkarlet: posts the ante 25
ctopper: posts the ante 25
eMEraLdwPn: posts the ante 25
smallraise: posts the ante 25
eMEraLdwPn: posts small blind 125
smallraise: posts big blind 250
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qc Ah]
CoachBoone23: folds
tbod67: folds
DonkBetMe: folds
FR Vessant: raises 375 to 625
Sharp1983: folds
skkarlet: folds
ctopper: calls 625
eMEraLdwPn: raises 4122 to 4747 and is all-in

I should fold. This guy is bad but he's not that loose. He's only been raising 7%, so I'm not that likely to be ahead here.

smallraise: folds
FR Vessant: raises 875 to 5622 and is all-in

But I figure with the overlay, I can take on his range.

He has AK, so that's not nice.

ctopper: folds
Uncalled bet (875) returned to FR Vessant
*** FLOP *** [6s 3d 9c]
*** TURN *** [6s 3d 9c] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [6s 3d 9c 7h] [8h]

I often do this and it's probably my biggest leak in poker. I know I should fold but I invent an excuse to call. I cost myself a cash with that bad call, because now I'm very unlikely to dig myself out of the pit, even though I doubled up a couple of hands later with AK.

***

Sigh. I didn't deserve to be this unlucky though:

PokerStars Game #18407929658: Tournament #93523329, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (150/300) - 2008/06/26 - 23:09:15 (ET)
Table '93523329 19' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: CoachBoone23 (14690 in chips)
Seat 2: tbod67 (12472 in chips)
Seat 3: DonkBetMe (12130 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (2000 in chips)
Seat 5: Sharp1983 (24403 in chips)
Seat 6: skkarlet (3443 in chips)
Seat 7: ctopper (23890 in chips)
Seat 8: eMEraLdwPn (10494 in chips)
Seat 9: smallraise (22406 in chips)
CoachBoone23: posts the ante 25
tbod67: posts the ante 25
DonkBetMe: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
Sharp1983: posts the ante 25
skkarlet: posts the ante 25
ctopper: posts the ante 25
eMEraLdwPn: posts the ante 25
smallraise: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts small blind 150
Sharp1983: posts big blind 300
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [5d Kc]
skkarlet: folds
ctopper: folds
eMEraLdwPn: folds
smallraise: folds
CoachBoone23: folds
tbod67: raises 300 to 600

He's new to the table and I put him on an outright steal. I am probably not ahead of his range, but I hope to make him fold.

DonkBetMe: folds
smallraise is sitting out
FR Vessant: raises 1375 to 1975 and is all-in
Sharp1983: folds
tbod67: calls 1375

He has QT. His call is absolutely awful. He was caught stealing and my likely range doesn't usually include K5. It's just that I read him so well. He's very lucky to be as close as he is here. He is just throwing money away most of the time.

*** FLOP *** [Ac 4c 4h]
*** TURN *** [Ac 4c 4h] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [Ac 4c 4h 3h] [Ts]

I hate poker. I make a mistake and get crushed. He makes a mistake and I get crushed there as well.

Bad doesn't even cover it

Sometimes you just want to cry.

PokerStars Game #18406182174: Tournament #93523329, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/06/26 - 21:37:55 (ET)
Table '93523329 6' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: PatrickMagee (1410 in chips)
Seat 2: FR Vessant (2490 in chips)
Seat 3: kackvogel84 (1290 in chips)
Seat 5: CzarII (2250 in chips)
Seat 6: superman3713 (783 in chips)
Seat 7: chiefsalot (837 in chips)
Seat 8: smtty23 (3460 in chips)
Seat 9: slim1620 (2615 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 15
kackvogel84: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ad Ac]
CzarII: calls 30
superman3713: calls 30
chiefsalot: calls 30
smtty23: folds
slim1620: folds
PatrickMagee: folds
FR Vessant: raises 120 to 150
kackvogel84: folds
CzarII: folds
superman3713: calls 120
chiefsalot: calls 120
*** FLOP *** [Qs 7h 3s]
FR Vessant: bets 420
superman3713: raises 213 to 633 and is all-in
chiefsalot: raises 54 to 687 and is all-in
FR Vessant: calls 267
*** TURN *** [Qs 7h 3s] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 7h 3s 2h] [Tc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Ad Ac] (a pair of Aces)
chiefsalot: shows [Qh 3d] (two pair, Queens and Threes)
chiefsalot collected 108 from side pot
superman3713: shows [As 6s] (high card Ace)
FR Vessant said, "totally unreal"


I have a losing record in the 4/180s. Given that they are chockful of idiots, you might wonder why. Well, this is why. It happens to me monotonously, every time I play one. There's no other way to play that hand. Maybe I could raise more pre, but let's face it, if he's not folding for 120 more with his stack, he's not folding for any amount.

***

But sometimes their retardedness favours you:

PokerStars Game #18406582780: Tournament #93523329, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/06/26 - 21:58:48 (ET)
Table '93523329 19' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: trapsterwife (1740 in chips)
Seat 2: yvesdaman (895 in chips)
Seat 3: DonkBetMe (6890 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (1523 in chips)
Seat 6: skkarlet (4965 in chips)
Seat 7: fenix424 (1250 in chips)
Seat 8: eMEraLdwPn (2685 in chips)
trapsterwife: posts small blind 25
yvesdaman: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [7d 7h]
hotdog1984 is connected
DonkBetMe: folds
FR Vessant: calls 50

A bit loose and normally I'd fold, but often when you limp early, you start a limper train. I hope not to be raised of course.

skkarlet: folds
fenix424: folds
eMEraLdwPn: raises 100 to 150

Boo.

trapsterwife: folds
yvesdaman: folds
FR Vessant: calls 100

I make a thin call for set value. I'm not happy about it, but maybe I will take it away sometimes on suitable flops.

*** FLOP *** [5h 8s Ad]

Well, that's not a "suitable flop" at all.

FR Vessant: checks
eMEraLdwPn: checks

???

I had given up, of course. Is he scared of the ace, or does he have one, feel that I fold to a bet and hope that I pick something up on the turn.

*** TURN *** [5h 8s Ad] [7c]

Huzza! Here comes the cavalry.

FR Vessant: bets 200
eMEraLdwPn: raises 200 to 400

Hmmm. I take it that means he actually did have an ace. I think I'll shove and see whether he would like to pay me a big wedge of chips.

FR Vessant: raises 973 to 1373 and is all-in
hotdog1984 has returned
Hyelander is connected
eMEraLdwPn: calls 973

Yes, he would. He has AsKs. He is drawing dead.

It's not terrible to trap there, but I think you will rarely get a huge pot out of it. He is only allowing me to draw to two outs, so he will rarely get bitten by it. There weren't any draws on the board, except for a low straight that even the bad players in a 4/180 are quite unlikely to be holding, so I wouldn't slate his play too hard on the flop. Mind you, I always bet. I want to get paid by Ax, which many players limp and call raises with, and if they fold, never mind, I probably wasn't getting paid in a big way anyway. But I do slate his play on the turn. The minraise is ridiculous. (Anyone even slightly clued in will read his hand easily: he has a strong hand that he wants you to call with--AK is top of your list in this spot. Along with 77, which of course I know he does not have, and A7, which is quite unlikely. He could have had 88/55 too, with 88 a bit more likely, but you'd expect them to bet the flop small, hoping for action from an ace.) When I shove, he should fold. I mean, it's possible I think K7 is good there, or that I have 66 and am making a particularly retarded semibluff, but my most likely hands are sets and two pairs, which leave him respectively dead and drawing thin. But no one ever folds in a 4/180.

Thursday 26 June 2008

nyaaaaargh

On days like today, I just want to give up. I've been donking around in low buyin things because I don't feel well.

First of all, I played a triple draw tourney. I got a decent stack and lost half, drawing one card three times to a number one (75432 -- the best hand in triple draw) and pairing each time. I didn't even have a hand to show down. Then I bluffed the river after missing another draw, and a fish called. His pair of 3s beat my pair of 5s. Unreal. The number of unpaired hands I can be betting is huge, even if I'm bluffing. Then I got into a raising war with a draw to a 7 and missed. The other guy had been betting and raising with a hand I would have discarded. He showed an 86 high at the river. Really. The guy capped it on the first draw with a draw to an 86. He wasn't even made. He didn't have a 2 in his hand. Then I busted against the same guy. He stood pat with a T8 and I couldn't draw out on him.

Then in a $2 satellite, I raised with AJs, one caller and the flop came Q32. I cbet and the guy snapshoved. So I'm guessing that the retard called with QJ and got lucky. Then I raised with AdQd, got one caller in the SB and the flop comes Jxx with two diamonds. Guy bets out and I shove. He calls and shows JTs. I have 15 outs and I'm a favourite and he fades them all. So yet again, a horrible player makes a horrible call (preflop), a horrible bet (on the flop) and another horrible call (I'm never behind on that flop) and gets lucky.

Worse was to come in a 2/180:

PokerStars Game #18387213533: Tournament #93422690, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/06/25 - 23:47:40 (ET)
Table '93422690 8' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: SlimmyPhatz (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: PWROFRED (2960 in chips)
Seat 3: shannan76 (1460 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (1460 in chips)
Seat 5: :Ambush187: (1660 in chips)
Seat 7: jpapc (1460 in chips)
Seat 8: Genoa Joe (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: tribaltat (1500 in chips)
:Ambush187:: posts small blind 10
jpapc: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kc Ad]
Genoa Joe: folds
tribaltat: folds
SlimmyPhatz: folds
PWROFRED: folds
shannan76: folds
FR Vessant: raises 60 to 80

Standard raise.

:Ambush187:: folds
jpapc: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Kh 8h 7s]

Great flop for me.

jpapc: checks
FR Vessant: bets 100
jpapc: raises 300 to 400

Never folding obv.

FR Vessant: raises 980 to 1380 and is all-in
jpapc: calls 980 and is all-in

He has 87.

I mean, wtf? Yeah, fishes will call with connectors because they have no conception of how often they make big hands and no idea how unlikely they are to be paid off by me, but do I have to flop pretty much the only flop I will go bust on?

Still. I improved right? I hit running cards for two pair, or I hit my ace? Right?

smiton is connected
*** TURN *** [Kh 8h 7s] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 8h 7s Jh] [9s]

Are you kidding?

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Hero to big fat zero

Hero to zero in three hands:

PokerStars Game #18368240788: Tournament #93316971, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/06/25 - 02:36:39 (ET)
Table '93316971 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 4: FR Vessant (4020 in chips)
Seat 5: Robdog3464 (4180 in chips)
Seat 6: donkeykong88 (4185 in chips)
Seat 8: lfornadley (1115 in chips)
lfornadley: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [As Tc]
Robdog3464: folds
donkeykong88: folds
lfornadley: raises 915 to 1115 and is all-in
FR Vessant: calls 915

Easy call. He shoves really wide here and I actually have a decent hand.

*** FLOP *** [9d 2d 3d]

Oh.

*** TURN *** [9d 2d 3d] [6h]
FR Vessant said, "OMFG"

I hate getting it right and still losing.

*** RIVER *** [9d 2d 3d 6h] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lfornadley: shows [6d Jd] (a flush, Jack high)
FR Vessant: shows [As Tc] (a pair of Nines)
lfornadley collected 2230 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2230 | Rake 0
Board [9d 2d 3d 6h 9s]
Seat 4: FR Vessant (big blind) showed [As Tc] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 5: Robdog3464 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: donkeykong88 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: lfornadley (small blind) showed [6d Jd] and won (2230) with a flush, Jack high

Well, we're still okay, right?

Two hands later:

PokerStars Game #18368247279: Tournament #93316971, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/06/25 - 02:37:19 (ET)
Table '93316971 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 4: FR Vessant (2805 in chips)
Seat 5: Robdog3464 (4280 in chips)
Seat 6: donkeykong88 (4185 in chips)
Seat 8: lfornadley (2230 in chips)
Robdog3464: posts small blind 100
donkeykong88: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ad Td]
lfornadley: raises 2030 to 2230 and is all-in

He's raising pretty wide still, I think.

FR Vessant: raises 575 to 2805 and is all-in

But yet again I run into the top end. He has JJ.

Robdog3464: folds
donkeykong88: folds
Uncalled bet (575) returned to FR Vessant
*** FLOP *** [5s 8c 2c]
*** TURN *** [5s 8c 2c] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [5s 8c 2c 2d] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lfornadley: shows [Jc Jh] (two pair, Jacks and Deuces)
FR Vessant: shows [Ad Td] (a pair of Deuces)
lfornadley collected 4760 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4760 | Rake 0
Board [5s 8c 2c 2d 3c]
Seat 4: FR Vessant (button) showed [Ad Td] and lost with a pair of Deuces
Seat 5: Robdog3464 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: donkeykong88 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: lfornadley showed [Jc Jh] and won (4760) with two pair, Jacks and Deuces

Oh well. Next hand I pick up 22.

PokerStars Game #18368251406: Tournament #93316971, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/06/25 - 02:37:45 (ET)
Table '93316971 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 4: FR Vessant (575 in chips)
Seat 5: Robdog3464 (4180 in chips)
Seat 6: donkeykong88 (3985 in chips)
Seat 8: lfornadley (4760 in chips)
donkeykong88: posts small blind 100
lfornadley: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [2c 2d]
FR Vessant: raises 375 to 575 and is all-in
Robdog3464: folds
donkeykong88: folds
lfornadley: calls 375

He has T8, so I double up, right?

*** FLOP *** [4s 8s Jc]

Wrong.


Not the first time this has happened today. I'm turning decent stacks into dogmeat at every opportunity.

Roundabouts

Up and down, down and up.

As usual I double up the shorties:

PokerStars Game #18366961679: Tournament #93309380, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/06/25 - 00:49:10 (ET)
Table '93309380 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (4425 in chips)
Seat 5: SpadinaD (1735 in chips)
Seat 6: Aodhan (2900 in chips)
Seat 7: jmlrondl (935 in chips)
Seat 9: lies5317 (3505 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 75
SpadinaD: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Tc Ah]
Aodhan: folds
jmlrondl: raises 785 to 935 and is all-in
lies5317: folds
FR Vessant: raises 3490 to 4425 and is all-in

Shove to shut out BB or make him play for stacks if he has small ace or a king.

SpadinaD: folds
Uncalled bet (3490) returned to FR Vessant
*** FLOP *** [Jc 6s Kh]
*** TURN *** [Jc 6s Kh] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [Jc 6s Kh 5h] [2c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Tc Ah] (high card Ace)
jmlrondl: shows [2s Ac] (a pair of Deuces)
FR Vessant said, "sigh"

Tell them, FR.

Aodhan said, "actually cardiac, he raised preflop and you called. he went all in on the flop and you called again"

Aodhan is explaining this hand. Cardiackid complained that I called an allin with A9. But of course I didn't:

PokerStars Game #18366918250: Tournament #93309380, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/06/25 - 00:46:15 (ET)
Table '93309380 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (2255 in chips)
Seat 3: Wrightnow (325 in chips)
Seat 4: cardiackid42 (1470 in chips)
Seat 5: SpadinaD (1810 in chips)
Seat 6: Aodhan (2825 in chips)
Seat 7: jmlrondl (1160 in chips)
Seat 8: andygnome (1425 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: lies5317 (2230 in chips)
SpadinaD: posts small blind 75
Aodhan: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [9s As]
jmlrondl: folds
andygnome: folds
lies5317: folds
FR Vessant: raises 300 to 450

I think this raise is okay because we're missing one guy and another is very short. I want to steal blinds though.

Wrightnow: calls 325 and is all-in

Don't mind that.


andygnome has returned
cardiackid42: calls 450

Not so happy about that. He's not all that tight, but you don't want a ton of callers with A9s and getting stuck OOP is not good either.

SpadinaD: folds
Aodhan: calls 300

I'll be needing a very decent flop to be continuing with this hand.

*** FLOP *** [9h Ad 3s]

That'll do it!

Aodhan: checks
FR Vessant: bets 1805 and is all-in

No fucking around. I only have pot behind, so I get it in. If they all fold, oh well.

cardiackid42: calls 1020 and is all-in

Lower the boom. He has AJ.

Aodhan: folds
Uncalled bet (785) returned to FR Vessant
*** TURN *** [9h Ad 3s] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [9h Ad 3s 2d] [Th]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [9s As] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
cardiackid42: shows [Jc Ac] (a pair of Aces)
FR Vessant collected 2415 from side pot
Wrightnow: shows [Qh Kd] (high card Ace)
cardiackid42 said, "i'm a ****ed up dude"

Well, you are now, son.

***

Shorty strikes again:

PokerStars Game #18367070365: Tournament #93309380, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/06/25 - 00:56:39 (ET)
Table '93309380 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (3065 in chips)
Seat 5: SpadinaD (1910 in chips)
Seat 6: Aodhan (2320 in chips)
Seat 7: jmlrondl (1370 in chips)
Seat 9: lies5317 (4835 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 100
SpadinaD: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [9s As]
Aodhan: folds
jmlrondl: raises 1170 to 1370 and is all-in
lies5317: calls 1370
FR Vessant: folds

I found this fold easy, even though I probably play okay vs their ranges. I generally don't like to gamble at this level though.

SpadinaD: folds


Shorty has Qc6c; caller has AhJh. So nice fold me.

*** FLOP *** [Tc Ts 6d]

OMG shorty pairs.

*** TURN *** [Tc Ts 6d] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Ts 6d 2c] [7c]

OMG shorty flushes.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
jmlrondl: shows [Qc 6c] (a flush, Queen high)
lies5317: shows [Jh Ah] (a pair of Tens)
FR Vessant said, "wow"

His shove sucks. He's not short enough to shove Q6s from that position by a long chalk. Still, I should be glad lies called him, because if he didn't, I would have done.

***

Not that it mattered. I went completely card dead, and got blinded down to 1.5K. At t200a25, I shoved over a limp with A8. The guy who limped was terrible, so I was ahead of his range, but typically in this spot, I hit the top end and he called with AJ. So gg me. I hate that I turned a 4K stack into dogmeat but what can you do? If you get your money in good and they suck out, that's what happens.

Tuesday 24 June 2008

Weird and wonderful tighty

Here's a hand that makes you go wtf at first look, but I think it's pretty clear what they had if you put some thought into it.

Raiser is playing 16/9 over 30 hands. Caller is 6/0.

PokerStars Game #18343071820: Tournament #93184540, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/06/23 - 23:13:09 (ET)
Table '93184540 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: Krusakcl (1190 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (1490 in chips)
Seat 5: 24-48 (2625 in chips)
Seat 6: PPDirector (3310 in chips)
Seat 7: mitmot83 (3010 in chips)
Seat 8: Philip2006 (1875 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 15
24-48: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [6c Jd]
PPDirector: folds
mitmot83: folds
Philip2006: folds
Krusakcl: calls 30

He has barely played a hand and limps, so his range is at the widest something like KJ+, A9+, 22+. And you'd probably weight it to pairs.

FR Vessant: folds
24-48: raises 60 to 90

That raise is too small after a limper. He should put in at least 3x + 1BB for the limper, and 4x + 1BB is not too much if they will call it.

Krusakcl: calls 60

Easy call with a pair.

*** FLOP *** [3c 3h 5s]
24-48: bets 150
Krusakcl: calls 150

That's a decent bet with 180 in the pot. Caller's range doesn't narrow too much but a tightie can be expected to have a pair more often than OCs.

*** TURN *** [3c 3h 5s] [9d]
24-48: bets 420
Krusakcl: calls 420

That's a very nice bet and still he calls.

His range is now only pairs. I would weight it to 55/99 but he can still have other hands.

He didn't shove. He's left himself 530 behind, which is just odd. Sometimes a passive player will do this because they just want to get to showdown, so he can easily have a hand like 88 here and just not believe that villain has AK/AQ.

*** RIVER *** [3c 3h 5s 9d] [Kc]
24-48: checks

Either has AQ/AJ (most likely) or TT and reasoned that he must be losing to a full on the turn (not likely).

Krusakcl: bets 530 and is all-in

Almost certainly has 99 or 55. KQ would be a real stretch. He could check behind hands like 88 here and hope they were good.

24-48: folds

His fold is just awful. It's hard to imagine what he has on the flop and turn that he bet hard and now cannot call getting such good odds.

***

Here's a hand I butchered, just for balance, against the tight guy from that hand.

PokerStars Game #18343400731: Tournament #93184540, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/06/23 - 23:31:10 (ET)
Table '93184540 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 3: Krusakcl (3695 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (4025 in chips)
Seat 5: 24-48 (1780 in chips)
Seat 6: PPDirector (2230 in chips)
Seat 7: mitmot83 (1770 in chips)
24-48: posts small blind 50
PPDirector: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Jd Ad]
mitmot83: folds
Krusakcl: raises 300 to 400
FR Vessant: calls 400

He's still very tight, so I'm probably doing no better than okay vs his range. I should probably just fold.

24-48: folds
PPDirector: folds
*** FLOP *** [3h Ks 4s]
Krusakcl: checks
FR Vessant: checks

He can be playing tricky with AK, but he probably just missed the flop. He probably also puts me on a pair.

*** TURN *** [3h Ks 4s] [Td]
Krusakcl: checks


BET FR.


FR Vessant: checks

Terrible. I should bet here because he has nothing. As it happens, he might have called with the hand he has, but not betting here is terrible because he's pretty much given up on it.

*** RIVER *** [3h Ks 4s Td] [Ts]
Krusakcl: checks
FR Vessant: checks

Can't bet river though. It's just too obvious a bluff with a pair and a flush in there.


*** SHOW DOWN ***
Krusakcl: shows [Qd Ah] (a pair of Tens)

So I get what I deserve out of that one.

Monday 23 June 2008

AK is teh nutz

AK, though, is teh fucking nutz bwaaaaiiiiii

No reads on either guy. This is only the fifth or sixth hand.

PokerStars Game #18323116777: Tournament #93079790, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/06/23 - 02:18:26 (ET)
Table '93079790 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (1605 in chips)
Seat 2: s_t_bux_a_x (1390 in chips)
Seat 3: mar414 (1410 in chips)
Seat 4: racethig (1880 in chips)
Seat 5: ZoNaRisK (1450 in chips)
Seat 6: BackStabb (1965 in chips)
Seat 7: Laviath (1240 in chips)
Seat 8: golflove21 (1100 in chips)
Seat 9: S.P.M (1460 in chips)
BackStabb: posts small blind 10
Laviath: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kh Ac]
golflove21: raises 60 to 80
S.P.M: folds
FR Vessant: raises 240 to 320

Sometimes I'd just call here, but I've been playing AK a bit too softly, given that it is the nuts.

s_t_bux_a_x: folds
mar414: calls 320

Hmmmm. It's slightly worrying that I have a raiser and a guy who called my repop.

racethig: folds
ZoNaRisK: folds
BackStabb: folds
Laviath: folds
golflove21: raises 780 to 1100 and is all-in

This is slightly scary and I may have misjudged it, but I'm obv. not folding.


FR Vessant: raises 505 to 1605 and is all-in
mar414: calls 1090 and is all-in

Boom! Boom! AQ and 66 (!). The call by 66 is heroically bad. The original raise, he could call.


Uncalled bet (195) returned to FR Vessant
*** FLOP *** [2h Jc Kd]

Suck on that bitches.

*** TURN *** [2h Jc Kd] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [2h Jc Kd 3h] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Kh Ac] (two pair, Kings and Deuces)
mar414: shows [6h 6d] (two pair, Sixes and Deuces)
FR Vessant collected 620 from side pot
golflove21: shows [Qh As] (a pair of Deuces)
FR Vessant collected 3330 from main pot

Yo, triple up, Dr Zen represent!

But even AK cannot overcome the curse of the shortstack:

PokerStars Game #18323142795: Tournament #93079561, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/06/23 - 02:21:07 (ET)
Table '93079561 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: ussro (80 in chips)
Seat 3: Coleh84 (1550 in chips)
Seat 4: jattila4 (1470 in chips)
Seat 6: num1euph (3250 in chips)
Seat 7: kmurti13 (2905 in chips)
Seat 8: pilotpa23 (1360 in chips)
Seat 9: Kamiunten (1385 in chips)
Coleh84: posts small blind 10
jattila4: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ks Ah]
num1euph: folds
kmurti13: folds
pilotpa23: folds
Kamiunten: folds
FR Vessant: raises 60 to 80
ussro: calls 80 and is all-in

He has AJ.

Coleh84: folds
jattila4: folds
*** FLOP *** [9h 7c 2d]
*** TURN *** [9h 7c 2d] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [9h 7c 2d 8c] [Jd]

Bleh.


I'm still playing this as I write, and the suckout merchant is now up to 940 chips.

***

LOL. As soon as you say a thing, it becomes untrue in poker.

PokerStars Game #18323352092: Tournament #93079790, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/06/23 - 02:43:43 (ET)
Table '93079790 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (3875 in chips)
Seat 2: s_t_bux_a_x (1260 in chips)
Seat 4: racethig (1595 in chips)
Seat 5: ZoNaRisK (1090 in chips)
Seat 6: BackStabb (1320 in chips)
Seat 7: Laviath (2440 in chips)
Seat 9: S.P.M (1920 in chips)
ZoNaRisK: posts small blind 50
BackStabb: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kd Ac]
Laviath: folds
S.P.M: folds
FR Vessant: raises 200 to 300

Standard raise.

s_t_bux_a_x: folds
racethig: raises 500 to 800

He doesn't raise much but I'm not folding.

ZoNaRisK: folds
BackStabb: folds
FR Vessant: raises 3075 to 3875 and is all-in
racethig: calls 795 and is all-in

He has 77. His play is terrible. Calling my first raise would be terrible. Repopping it is awful. Unfortunately, poker is not only about who plays best, but also who gets luckiest.

Uncalled bet (2280) returned to FR Vessant
*** FLOP *** [Th 6s Jc]
*** TURN *** [Th 6s Jc] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [Th 6s Jc 2c] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Kd Ac] (a pair of Jacks)
racethig: shows [7c 7d] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
racethig collected 3340 from pot

And this time it was him.

***


LOL. It hurt him more than it did me.

PokerStars Game #18323480957: Tournament #93079561, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/06/23 - 02:58:36 (ET)
Table '93079561 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (1830 in chips)
Seat 4: jattila4 (2733 in chips)
Seat 6: num1euph (1379 in chips)
Seat 7: kmurti13 (7558 in chips)
num1euph: posts small blind 75
kmurti13: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kh As]
FR Vessant: raises 300 to 450

I'm wary of kmurti13, who has the bigstack and would probably not be scared to use it if he has anything resembling a hand, but I won't fold.

jattila4: folds
num1euph: calls 375

???

kmurti13: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ts 2c 8d]
num1euph: bets 929 and is all-in
FR Vessant: calls 929

Can't fold because this is a bluff so often and I do have outs.

FR Vessant said, "wow"

He called pre with 87s. Which is terrible obviously.

FR Vessant said, "so bad"

Don't tap the aquarium, FR.

*** TURN *** [Ts 2c 8d] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [Ts 2c 8d Th] [Kc]

Boom!

*** SHOW DOWN ***
num1euph: shows [8s 7s] (two pair, Tens and Eights)

Got what he deserved. Next time, fold, sucker.

FR Vessant: shows [Kh As]

The nuts!

Beeyatchesssssss

I will never win a pot with QQ...

PokerStars Game #18323058804: Tournament #93079790, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/06/23 - 02:12:36 (ET)
Table '93079790 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: s_t_bux_a_x (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: mar414 (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: racethig (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: ZoNaRisK (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: BackStabb (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: Laviath (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: golflove21 (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: S.P.M (1500 in chips)
s_t_bux_a_x: posts small blind 10
mar414: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qd Qh]
racethig: calls 20
ZoNaRisK: folds
BackStabb: raises 80 to 100
Laviath: folds
golflove21: folds
S.P.M: folds
FR Vessant: raises 200 to 300
s_t_bux_a_x: folds
mar414: folds
racethig: calls 280
BackStabb: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [3s Ts 4c]
racethig: checks
BackStabb: bets 200
FR Vessant: raises 1000 to 1200 and is all-in
racethig: folds
BackStabb: calls 1000 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [3s Ts 4c] [5h]
FR Vessant said, "LOL nh"
*** RIVER *** [3s Ts 4c 5h] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BackStabb: shows [Qc Qs] (a pair of Queens)
FR Vessant: shows [Qd Qh] (a pair of Queens)
BackStabb collected 1665 from pot
FR Vessant collected 1665 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3330 | Rake 0
Board [3s Ts 4c 5h 9s]
Seat 1: FR Vessant (button) showed [Qd Qh] and won (1665) with a pair of Queens
Seat 2: s_t_bux_a_x (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: mar414 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: racethig folded on the Flop
Seat 5: ZoNaRisK folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: BackStabb showed [Qc Qs] and won (1665) with a pair of Queens
Seat 7: Laviath folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: golflove21 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: S.P.M folded before Flop (didn't bet)

whoosh

This is why you should raise more against reetards.


PokerStars Game #18320350792: Tournament #93064398, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/06/22 - 23:03:59 (ET)
Table '93064398 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: DrBLovemore (2750 in chips)
Seat 2: roadmasterh (3315 in chips)
Seat 3: Scratch14 (1335 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (1150 in chips)
Seat 6: Steve1107 (1660 in chips)
Seat 8: rbaccin (2325 in chips)
Seat 9: pokersam60 (965 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 15
Steve1107: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [6s 6h]
rbaccin: folds
pokersam60: raises 30 to 60

Has raised a ton. He minraised J9 earlier in the game.

DrBLovemore: folds
roadmasterh: folds
Scratch14: folds
FR Vessant: calls 45

So I call for set value.

Steve1107: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qd 5h Ts]

He probably didn't hit that.

FR Vessant: checks
pokersam60: bets 30
FR Vessant: calls 30

So I'll call the minbet and see what he does on the turn.


*** TURN *** [Qd 5h Ts] [6d]

There's my set.

FR Vessant: checks
pokersam60: bets 30
FR Vessant: raises 60 to 90
pokersam60: calls 60

That raise is far too small. My problem is that I put him on absolutely nothing, so don't expect him to call a decent raise. But you should play for the long run and bet what will on average be best. This wasn't it.

*** RIVER *** [Qd 5h Ts 6d] [Kh]
FR Vessant: bets 120

So I make a value bet on the river.

pokersam60: raises 665 to 785 and is all-in

I don't believe he has a hand good enough to beat me. He probably has a king here.

FR Vessant: calls 665
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pokersam60: shows [Jh Ac] (a straight, Ten to Ace)

Fuck. Well, he probably wasn't folding for any money on the turn.

Here's my bustout hand. I post it because it illustrates an interesting point.

PokerStars Game #18320407867: Tournament #93064398, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/06/22 - 23:07:04 (ET)
Table '93064398 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: DrBLovemore (2660 in chips)
Seat 2: roadmasterh (3540 in chips)
Seat 3: Scratch14 (1395 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (185 in chips)
Seat 6: Steve1107 (1615 in chips)
Seat 8: rbaccin (2265 in chips)
Seat 9: pokersam60 (1840 in chips)
pokersam60: posts small blind 15
DrBLovemore: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kd Ac]
roadmasterh: calls 30

Has been quite loose.


Scratch14: folds
FR Vessant: raises 155 to 185 and is all-in

Easy shove. I'll happily fold everyone out but I don't mind being called.

Steve1107: folds
rbaccin: folds
pokersam60: calls 170
DrBLovemore: folds
roadmasterh: calls 155

He has T9. Some guys will do this. If they are in the hand, they're in the hand.

*** FLOP *** [Th 3s 2c]
pokersam60: checks
roadmasterh: bets 420
pokersam60: folds
Uncalled bet (420) returned to roadmasterh
*** TURN *** [Th 3s 2c] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Th 3s 2c Jh] [8d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
roadmasterh: shows [9c Td] (a pair of Tens)
FR Vessant: shows [Kd Ac] (high card Ace)
roadmasterh collected 585 from pot

So meh.

But it doesn't always hurt you:

PokerStars Game #18320600526: Tournament #93064282, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/06/22 - 23:17:42 (ET)
Table '93064282 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Bobs Bet56 (1440 in chips)
Seat 2: txgrilledchz (1650 in chips)
Seat 4: DJGM7 (2165 in chips)
Seat 5: OggO PoggO (655 in chips)
Seat 6: 8806 (1610 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (1325 in chips)
Seat 8: no limp man (1585 in chips)
Seat 9: riverxratx (3070 in chips)
8806: posts small blind 25
FR Vessant: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Jh Ah]
no limp man: folds
riverxratx: folds
Bobs Bet56: folds
txgrilledchz: calls 50
DJGM7: calls 50
OggO PoggO: folds
8806: calls 25
FR Vessant: raises 1275 to 1325 and is all-in

Don't mind just taking this down.

txgrilledchz: calls 1275

Limpcalls a huge push with KQ.

DJGM7: folds
8806: folds
*** FLOP *** [7s 2s 8s]
*** TURN *** [7s 2s 8s] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [7s 2s 8s 2d] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Jh Ah] (a pair of Deuces)
txgrilledchz: shows [Qc Kh] (a pair of Deuces - lower kicker)
FR Vessant collected 2750 from pot

Unreal.

That's it. Now I really am openfolding QQ:

PokerStars Game #18320636489: Tournament #93064041, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/06/22 - 23:19:44 (ET)
Table '93064041 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (1980 in chips)
Seat 3: rebelhart (2465 in chips)
Seat 5: F4LL3N ANG3L (1755 in chips)
Seat 6: GBPoker31 (1240 in chips)
Seat 8: x Gauntlet x (4130 in chips)
Seat 9: uwcarolina (1930 in chips)
F4LL3N ANG3L: posts small blind 50
GBPoker31: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qd Qh]
x Gauntlet x: folds
uwcarolina: folds
FR Vessant: raises 200 to 300
rebelhart: folds
F4LL3N ANG3L: folds
GBPoker31: raises 940 to 1240 and is all-in
FR Vessant: calls 940
*** FLOP *** [8d Kd 2c]
*** TURN *** [8d Kd 2c] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [8d Kd 2c 2d] [7s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
GBPoker31: shows [Ad Kc] (two pair, Kings and Deuces)
FR Vessant: shows [Qd Qh] (two pair, Queens and Deuces)
FR Vessant said, "sigh"
GBPoker31 collected 2530 from pot

Thursday 19 June 2008

Lesson: more about equity and ICM

This is probably the most important thing to know about STTs and it's what will make you money in the long run. Just learning how ICM works is enough to make, I'd guess, 10% ROI at the 6.5s. If you knew it perfectly, more, but a good knowledge would be sufficient.

Why do I say that it's so important? Think about it. This is the blind structure on Stars (other sites are similar, but Tilt has a weird structure of its own): 20, 30, 50, 100, 150, 200, 200a25, 400a25, and so on. Each level is five minutes in a turbo and if the game goes fairly slowly, that can be as little as four or five hands. So you can easily arrive at t150 having not played a hand, and your stack will be about 1100. Remember, we are playing ultra tight, and letting the other guys knock themselves out. A golden rule of STTs is that with < 10BB you either push or fold. So what do you push, and what do you fold?

Remember that we said that your stack has a dollar value at all times in the tourney. When you begin, in a $10 tourney, it is worth $10. Its value does not strictly correlate to the amount of chips you have, but changes in relation to the other stacks. 1000 chips is worth more fourhanded with a guy with 100 chips than it is if no one is shorter than you are. Why that is becomes clear when you learn what the ICM is.

The best explanation I have seen of the ICM is that an STT where players have equal skill is a lottery, and each chip is a ticket to that lottery. You can win a prize with just one chip (but not often) but the more chips you have, the more chances you have. Remember what we said about EV. It is a value that represents how you will do over the long run, over the millions of hands you will play. It doesn't correspond to any particular value you will get in any particular game. It's an average. But it's the best measure we have of the value of our actions.

So when should you push and when should you fold? You should push when the value of your stack after pushing will be worth more than the value of your stack after folding. Hang on, you're saying, how do I know what value my stack will have?

Well, it's, kof, simple.

Say you are on the first hand of the tourney. Your stack is 1500 chips and it's worth $10. You are in the big blind. Someone shoves. What would you need to call?

Here's the equation. It looks scary but bear with me.

EVcall = (% wins x value of 3030 chips) in $
EVfold = 1480 chips in $

If EVcall > EVfold, call.

Well, that doesn't tell you whether you should call! How do you figure that out? Well, let's call "% wins" x, let's say that EVfold is $9.99 and the value of 3030 chips in dollars is $19 (it's a bit less, I think).

We need the value of EVcall to be more than 9.99. If x(19) = 9.99, the call is break even. To figure out what x needs to be, we can divide both sides by 19 (because we are multiplying x by 19, we can divide out the 19 to make it 1). So x is about 53%.

But how do I know whether I have a 53% chance against his hand? Well, this is the crux of it! You have to put your opponent on a range of hands. What does he do it with? Usually, you're asking what he calls with. Well, it's tough to know! Different players have different standards. How loose or tight they are will help you decide; how they've played; what the average player does (and this will very often be what you decide). Having fixed him with a range, you need to calculate your equity against it. You can do this by hand in Poker Stove, but generally, we do ICM calculations in SNG Wizard.

***

Now that all sounds pretty tough. Putting guys on ranges is tough and you need to do a ton of work with SNG Wizard to learn what is and what isn't a shove. Luckily, you can cheat a bit at the lower limits and it won't hurt you much.

A poster on 2p2, bighomeytim, posted a strategy for the 16s that you could probably print out and it would work okay. You'd definitely win with it at the 6.5s. Luckily, no one reads this blog, because this would probably be sufficient to win at a good clip at that level.

When blinds are 100+, you can do this. Do not limp. That's important. If you cannot raise, fold. Do not even limp in the small blind. Raise or fold. AJ+, 88+, raise 2.5BB when you have more than 14BB. If you face a shove, you need to use your discretion whether you call. In general, if you have AK, AQs or TT+, you're mostly calling. If the other guy is a LAGtard, calling with everything won't be far from correct. If he's very tight, JJ+, AK only, and you might even fold JJ. Shove over limpers with more than 14BB (shoving over limpers is art, not science and you'll learn how not to fuck up). Under 14BB, shove that range from any position. Only shove over raises with AK, JJ+. Under 10BB effective stack (if you were heads up, the effective stack is the smaller one; on the button, it's the smallest of yours or either blind's), shove ATC from the small blind into the big blind. This is often correct and you can assume BB won't call wide enough to make it wrong. You need a good reason not to do it, and "I'm a pussy" is not a good reason. bighomeytim recommends doing the same from the button at t200 with antes, but that's a bit loose. You should be shoving very wide though.

Shove the top 30% (T9s+, J8s+, Q8s+, K8s+, A2s+, JT+, QT+, KT+, A5+, 22+ -- this means these hands plus the corresponding ones higher, so T9s is a no-gap suited connector and you should also shove JTs, QJs, KQs, the corresponding hands at each higher rank, and so on) from button, or from cutoff at t200 plus antes (I'd go a little bit tighter than that from the cutoff but I don't know that I'm right). If you have less than 10BB, shove AT+, 66+, and a bit wider as your position improves.

Don't call too often. You generally need a very strong hand to call a shove, and I mean very strong. AA is very strong. AT is just ordinary. The shorter the shover gets, and the more cards he's shoving (which usually go hand in hand), the more you call. If you are being offered 2 to 1 pot odds, you call with ATC and hope that the poker gods love you one time. This will mostly happen when you're in the BB.

The bottom line is when you are shoving, tend to shove wild and loose; if you are calling, call tight. Err too wide for shoving and it's not so bad; err too narrow for calling, it's also not so bad. And be lucky.

Wednesday 18 June 2008

Playing for third?

I'm running okay but this hurt a bit:

PokerStars Game #18213326096: Tournament #92482124, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/06/18 - 02:47:27 (ET)
Table '92482124 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (5700 in chips)
Seat 4: PSYCHOLOGIE (5600 in chips)
Seat 5: olmcdonal (2200 in chips)
olmcdonal: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Jc Qc]
PSYCHOLOGIE: calls 200
olmcdonal: folds
FR Vessant: checks

I could raise but we are deep and he's pretty loose.

*** FLOP *** [9c Tc 5d]

Nice. I have a huge draw and this guy will pay me off if I hit somewhat. So I'm building the pot right now.

FR Vessant: bets 400
PSYCHOLOGIE: raises 1800 to 2200

Okay. I put him solidly on top pair.

I have 21 outs vs top pair. That means I'm a huge favourite if that's what he has.

FR Vessant: raises 3300 to 5500 and is all-in

I get it in, obv.

PSYCHOLOGIE: calls 3200 and is all-in

He has AcTh. I am a 65/35 favourite and brothers and sisters, I played that hand perfectly, and have no regrets.

Uncalled bet (100) returned to FR Vessant
*** TURN *** [9c Tc 5d] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [9c Tc 5d 6s] [Ah]

Even though he did fade all 20 outs.

Underdog? Me?

This happens literally every time I'm all in against a shorty, or so it seems:


PokerStars Game #18211807276: Tournament #92474979, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/06/18 - 00:39:19 (ET)
Table '92474979 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: x park (1600 in chips)
Seat 2: 7$heaMoney7 (150 in chips)
Seat 3: smokerAce420 (2515 in chips)
Seat 4: pokecancer (470 in chips)
Seat 5: MoN$trMaGNeT (1630 in chips)
Seat 6: MetalSkin (1380 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (2075 in chips)
Seat 8: 888roger (1585 in chips)
Seat 9: MMennace (2095 in chips)
smokerAce420: posts small blind 25
pokecancer: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kh Ac]
MoN$trMaGNeT: folds
MetalSkin: folds
FR Vessant: raises 50 to 100

I actually misclicked and meant to raise bigger.

888roger: folds
MMennace: folds
x park: folds
7$heaMoney7: raises 50 to 150 and is all-in
smokerAce420: folds
pokecancer: folds
FR Vessant: calls 50
*** FLOP *** [7c 8s 7h]
FR Vessant said, "misclicked"
*** TURN *** [7c 8s 7h] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [7c 8s 7h Js] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Kh Ac] (a pair of Sevens)
7$heaMoney7: shows [9h Jc] (two pair, Jacks and Nines)
FR Vessant said, "sigh"
7$heaMoney7 collected 375 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 375 | Rake 0
Board [7c 8s 7h Js 9s]
Seat 1: x park folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: 7$heaMoney7 (button) showed [9h Jc] and won (375) with two pair, Jacks and Nines
Seat 3: smokerAce420 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: pokecancer (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: MoN$trMaGNeT folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: MetalSkin folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: FR Vessant showed [Kh Ac] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 8: 888roger folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: MMennace folded before Flop (didn't bet)


Worse followed at another table:

PokerStars Game #18211860220: Tournament #92473577, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/06/18 - 00:42:57 (ET)
Table '92473577 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (1565 in chips)
Seat 3: taylor725 (3330 in chips)
Seat 4: Deuce2 (2825 in chips)
Seat 7: Lalisa (3295 in chips)
Seat 8: kikini (2485 in chips)
kikini: posts small blind 75
FR Vessant: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [3d As]
taylor725: folds
Deuce2: raises 475 to 625

Has raised my blind at literally every opportunity in this game. I'm not kidding. A3 is several miles ahead of his range.

Lalisa: folds
kikini: folds
FR Vessant: raises 940 to 1565 and is all-in
Deuce2: calls 940

He has QJ.

*** FLOP *** [7h 2s 9d]
*** TURN *** [7h 2s 9d] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [7h 2s 9d Qs] [Qd]
FR Vessant said, "sigh"

Yes.

Remind me that I wanted a call

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.

PokerStars Game #18211271776: Tournament #92474114, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/06/18 - 00:03:22 (ET)
Table '92474114 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: sunnypm (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: eilsel (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: JibTechPoker (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: AGentlemans7 (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: jpadronKA (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: Stich62 (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: Solid Steam (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: longerlife (1500 in chips)
sunnypm: posts small blind 10
eilsel: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ks Ah]
JibTechPoker: folds
AGentlemans7: raises 30 to 50
jpadronKA: calls 50
Stich62: folds
Solid Steam: calls 50
longerlife: folds
FR Vessant: calls 50
sunnypm: folds
eilsel: folds

Flatcalling is okay with AK. I could also have repopped.

*** FLOP *** [6h 3d Kd]

Nice.

AGentlemans7: bets 115
jpadronKA: folds
Solid Steam: calls 115

Calling has to be bad. He either has a flush draw or Kx. He might call a shove with either.

FR Vessant: raises 1335 to 1450 and is all-in
AGentlemans7: folds
Solid Steam: calls 1335 and is all-in

Qd9d.

jpadronKA said, "y rais idiot"

Because some fucking retard is liable to call my shove with a bare flush draw, making me a huge favourite.

*** TURN *** [6h 3d Kd] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [6h 3d Kd 7s] [2d]

Shit. Well, that's fair.

Two hands

These hands look a bit perverse, but I had my reasons. I think getting these right is the key to doing very well rather than just quite well. Of course, I'm not sure I got them right. I wouldn't advise a beginner to play these hands in this way, because you're just asking for trouble.

PokerStars Game #18209349337: Tournament #92460769, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/06/17 - 22:15:48 (ET)
Table '92460769 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: tookielover (2740 in chips)
Seat 2: Sheantu (1050 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (1370 in chips)
Seat 4: vaaaarga (2138 in chips)
Seat 5: mrjones415 (1912 in chips)
Seat 6: McDeezQueens (2150 in chips)
Seat 8: crtptrsn (1440 in chips)
Seat 9: Vildsvinet (700 in chips)
Sheantu: posts small blind 50
FR Vessant: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Jd Qd]
vaaaarga: folds
mrjones415: folds
McDeezQueens: folds
crtptrsn: folds
Vildsvinet: folds
tookielover: folds
Sheantu: raises 150 to 250

I think his range is fairly wide here. Normally I would fold, but his bet just looks a little small, so I think that I can put him on a wide range, play top pair like it's the nuts, and also push him off flops that don't seem likely to have hit him. I don't often make this call, but it felt right against a tight and fairly aggro player.

FR Vessant: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [Qs 2d 3h]

Boom.

Sheantu: checks
FR Vessant: bets 400

Easy to play from here.

Sheantu: calls 400

He is going to rep AQ by stopping and going it. But I would need to be really unlucky if he had it, not least because if he really did, he'd nearly always shove it over.

*** TURN *** [Qs 2d 3h] [3c]
Sheantu: bets 400 and is all-in

There's his SnG.

FR Vessant: calls 400

Easy call. He has KT.

*** RIVER *** [Qs 2d 3h 3c] [5c]

Villain in this hand is 33/14/8. That's super aggro and he calls our preflop raise with a wide range.


PokerStars Game #18209367062: Tournament #92460769, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/06/17 - 22:16:44 (ET)
Table '92460769 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: tookielover (2740 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (2420 in chips)
Seat 4: vaaaarga (2138 in chips)
Seat 5: mrjones415 (1912 in chips)
Seat 6: McDeezQueens (2150 in chips)
Seat 8: crtptrsn (1440 in chips)
Seat 9: Vildsvinet (700 in chips)
vaaaarga: posts small blind 50
mrjones415: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [As Tc]
McDeezQueens: folds
crtptrsn: folds
Vildsvinet: folds
tookielover: folds
FR Vessant: raises 150 to 250
vaaaarga: folds
mrjones415: calls 150

The call is not that great with the hand he actually had. Shoving over would have been better, if he wanted to play it at all.

*** FLOP *** [3c 6c 3d]
mrjones415: checks
FR Vessant: checks

I check behind. When an aggro player checks an obvious bluffing flop to you, it's okay to check it back. He likely plans to shove over my cbet, guessing that this did not hit me. If he had hit the flop, he probably bets it.

*** TURN *** [3c 6c 3d] [Jc]
mrjones415: bets 400
FR Vessant: calls 400

I simply do not believe him here and think I have the best hand. He's very very aggro, and I've shown weakness on the flop. You have to call at least some of the time in this spot because a player like him will not often have a jack, and will never have the flush. The former is just unlikely and the latter he will never bet here. Why would he? I clearly have overcards and cannot call a sizeable bet unless I have AJ, so a bet with the flush just won't get paid. Maybe he wants to stop me drawing to the Ac? Well, he can do that more cheaply and it's not the kind of thing aggrotards worry too much about anyway. I have 12 outs against a Jx hand that doesn't have a bigger club than mine, so I have a decent shot even when I have read him wrongly.


*** RIVER *** [3c 6c 3d Jc] [Kc]

I am ahead like always here, but I really doubt he can have anything that would call a bet. It's possible also that he was semibluffing on the turn, so I prefer to show down and lose bets from KJ or worse flushes, which I doubt are much of his range the way the hand played, than to pay off better ones.

mrjones415: checks
FR Vessant: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mrjones415: shows [9h Qs] (a pair of Threes)
FR Vessant: shows [As Tc] (a flush, King high)

Nice. I'm sometimes going to lose this hand, but I think that it does you good sometimes not to let aggro players have an easy ride against your PF raises. I would usually fold on the turn, even though it looks like a bluff, but minimising risk does not mean taking none at all.

Monday 16 June 2008

Queen it up

Villain is a bit loose over the few hands so far. I haven't played a hand.

PokerStars Game #18171722806: Tournament #92258795, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/06/16 - 06:49:45 (ET)
Table '92258795 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Sabrewolf (1440 in chips)
Seat 2: WazaAa86 (1670 in chips)
Seat 3: PeteythePete (1570 in chips)
Seat 4: Tackenberger (950 in chips)
Seat 5: HSB24 (1620 in chips)
Seat 6: FR Vessant (1470 in chips)
Seat 7: DocReno (1360 in chips)
Seat 8: rock020567 (1990 in chips)
Seat 9: guivess (1430 in chips)
PeteythePete: posts small blind 15
Tackenberger: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qc Qh]
HSB24: folds
FR Vessant: raises 90 to 120

Standard raise early with QQ. I've taken to popping it up to 4x and it seems to work. You generally get one or two callers and much more rarely the four or five you can get with 3x.

DocReno: calls 120

They almost always have an ace. When you're running badly, an ace always flops. When you're going okay, you flop all undercards and the ace-rag guy hits his kicker and goes all the way.

rock020567: folds
guivess: folds
Sabrewolf: folds
WazaAa86: folds
PeteythePete: folds
Tackenberger: folds
*** FLOP *** [Kc 7c 5c]

Not as terrible as it looks at first glance. He has more aces than kings in his range, and I am at least drawing to the second nut flush

FR Vessant: bets 150
DocReno: calls 150

He most likely has a flush draw, possibly to the nuts, but I would expect him to play it harder if so

*** TURN *** [Kc 7c 5c] [Qd]

Now this presents an opportunity. I have a set and a flush draw that I have every reason to believe is to the nuts. So I don't mind giving a free card and if I check, I look a lot like someone who had a go on the flop and is now giving up.

FR Vessant: checks
DocReno: bets 420

And it works a treat.

FR Vessant: raises 780 to 1200 and is all-in
DocReno: calls 670 and is all-in

He has Ah8c. The call is beyond awful obv.

Uncalled bet (110) returned to FR Vessant
*** RIVER *** [Kc 7c 5c Qd] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Qc Qh] (a full house, Queens full of Kings)
DocReno: shows [Ah 8c] (a pair of Kings)
FR Vessant collected 2765 from pot

Nice. But then a few hands later...
Guivess is a weak player. He is decently tight but is far too aggro postflop and he'll stack off ridiculously light.

PokerStars Game #18171809228: Tournament #92258795, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/06/16 - 06:59:45 (ET)
Table '92258795 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Sabrewolf (1950 in chips)
Seat 2: WazaAa86 (3065 in chips)
Seat 3: PeteythePete (1495 in chips)
Seat 4: Tackenberger (2240 in chips)
Seat 6: FR Vessant (2690 in chips)
Seat 9: guivess (2060 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 25
guivess: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Tc As]
Sabrewolf: folds
WazaAa86: folds
PeteythePete: folds
Tackenberger: folds
FR Vessant: raises 100 to 150

Worth putting in a raise. You basically don't mind winning the blinds.

guivess: calls 100

He'll call pretty wide.

*** FLOP *** [4d 6d Ad]

Meh. Another monotone flop but we are not too scared because we don't ever put other blind on a flush here.

FR Vessant: bets 200

Smallish bet, but it's enough to fold out anything not legitimate.

guivess: raises 400 to 600

We don't believe he has anything to scare us here.

FR Vessant: raises 1940 to 2540 and is all-in

Lower the boom, and he should be folding.

guivess: calls 1310 and is all-in

But he makes a bad call even by his low standards. He has QcJd. Basically, he's gambling with just the flush draw. He's actually priced himself in against the hand I have because his play is so bad. He is getting just better than 2 to 1.

I guess you could consider that he has the best of it, but basically, this kind of being priced in is achievable simply by making a horrible bet on the flop that leaves you with few enough chips that any bet you call is good.

Uncalled bet (630) returned to FR Vessant
*** TURN *** [4d 6d Ad] [Td]

Sigh.

*** RIVER *** [4d 6d Ad Td] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Tc As] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
guivess: shows [Qc Jd] (a flush, Ace high)
guivess collected 4120 from pot
FR Vessant said, "wow"

He's actually been lucky against me before.

And in case you were thinking that because I had made one decent pot with QQ, the ladies love me...


PokerStars Game #18171943124: Tournament #92258766, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/06/16 - 07:14:40 (ET)
Table '92258766 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: boosh1313 (7850 in chips)
Seat 2: valueschka (1545 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (2740 in chips)
Seat 5: x walks x (1365 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 75
x walks x: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qd Qs]
boosh1313: folds
valueschka: folds
FR Vessant: raises 300 to 450

Standard raise.

x walks x: raises 915 to 1365 and is all-in

Even BvB, his push is bad. I think I might have pushed on his blind once though, so he's maybe interpreting my raise as weak. But I'm not going to be raising anything I think I can fold for 900 more. He has KhTh.

FR Vessant: calls 915

Get ready for that sick feeling.

*** FLOP *** [Qc Kd Ad]

I am not even excited about flopping a set, because I see that there is a nice straight draw, and obviously that's coming in by the river.

*** TURN *** [Qc Kd Ad] [4s]

Wait for it...


*** RIVER *** [Qc Kd Ad 4s] [Jd]

Boom!

*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Qd Qs] (three of a kind, Queens)
x walks x: shows [Kh Th] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
x walks x collected 2730 from pot
FR Vessant said, "oh man"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2730 | Rake 0
Board [Qc Kd Ad 4s Jd]
Seat 1: boosh1313 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: valueschka (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (small blind) showed [Qd Qs] and lost with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 5: x walks x (big blind) showed [Kh Th] and won (2730) with a straight, Ten to Ace

It got worse because the same guy picked up QQ a couple of hands later when I pushed with A9. So not only did I not knock him out, he gained enough chips from me to eliminate me! Oh well. I shouldn't grumble. In that set of eight, I won three, ran up once, and came third in another.

Friday 13 June 2008

Yes, they have monsters

Grrrr.


PokerStars Game #18105204984: Tournament #91896658, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2008/06/13 - 07:13:40 (ET)
Table '91896658 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: royaluck (4830 in chips)
Seat 2: FR Vessant (3245 in chips)
Seat 6: Nikker333 (5425 in chips)
royaluck: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
Nikker333: posts the ante 25
royaluck: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ts As]
Nikker333: raises 400 to 600
royaluck is disconnected
royaluck is connected
royaluck: folds
FR Vessant: calls 400

He's played quite tight so I'm not sure I'm ahead but I can't fold. Call and see what he does.

*** FLOP *** [9d Ah Jh]
FR Vessant: checks
Nikker333: bets 1000
FR Vessant: calls 1000

That bet was far too big. He isn't a good player but he's tight and aggressive, and if he had hit that, he would be betting for value, not trying to shut me out.

*** TURN *** [9d Ah Jh] [2d]
FR Vessant: checks
Nikker333: bets 3800 and is all-in

Hmmm. Well he could have A2, but I'm not folding.

FR Vessant: calls 1620 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (2180) returned to Nikker333
*** RIVER *** [9d Ah Jh 2d] [4s]
FR Vessant said, "omg"

What up FR?


*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Ts As] (a pair of Aces)
Nikker333: shows [2s 2h] (three of a kind, Deuces)
royaluck said, "abus� !"
FR Vessant said, "you lucky reetard"

Well, that's fair.

On all my other tables, I take big stacks and run them into bigger hands. The guy who raises 25% of his hands? I shove over with AJ, he has QQ. Another guy raises, I have TT and call. We are ITM. So the flop comes Qxx and he bets out. I call. He shoves the turn and I call that too. I don't put him on a Q. I should have done though. I'm making a lot of mistakes like that at the moment. I play a lot better when I just credit them for something when they bet big, although as you can see, in the hand I've posted here, I got it right on the flop. I thought about raising though, and I think I should have done. I'd still be in the tourney now if I had.

So as I'm writing this, the guy who's abused the bubble, raising tons of hands, raises once more ITM. I push over with AT. He has AJ. Sigh.

Wednesday 11 June 2008

Don't copy this one at home

This villain was playing 31/4/6 over 46 hands, which basically tells me that he limps into a lot of pots and then plays them hard postflop. Given that you don't hit the flop that often, that means he bluffs a lot. A 6 aggro factor is enormous for 31 VPIP.

PokerStars Game #18055396986: Tournament #91625194, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/06/10 - 21:39:36 (ET)
Table '91625194 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (1495 in chips)
Seat 4: mp576 (2535 in chips)
Seat 5: JontyG_uk (3525 in chips)
Seat 6: remoney (2710 in chips)
Seat 9: GARZ 3 (3235 in chips)
GARZ 3: posts small blind 50
FR Vessant: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Jh Qs]
mp576: calls 100
JontyG_uk: folds
remoney: calls 100
GARZ 3: calls 50
FR Vessant: checks


This table hasn't actually been all that loose.

*** FLOP *** [Js 4s 2s]
GARZ 3: checks
FR Vessant: checks
mp576: bets 100
remoney: folds
GARZ 3: folds
FR Vessant: calls 100

I think I'm probably good here. If by some chance he has KJ, I probably have outs to the three remaining Qs as well as flush outs, so I am calling this. Also, his bet is very small, so it does look a lot like he's trying to steal it.

*** TURN *** [Js 4s 2s] [7h]

The turn bricks, so I'm still in the same spot I was on the flop.

FR Vessant: checks
mp576: bets 300

That's a more respectable bet, so I'm a little more worried. Still, I think I am likely good here. I more or less decide at this point that I won't fold unless another spade comes on the river.

I just feel that he never has a flush here. His bet on the flop was way too small for a flush smaller than the nuts, and he still hasn't bet enough on the turn to make me go away.

FR Vessant: calls 300
*** RIVER *** [Js 4s 2s 7h] [6c]

Another brick and we're not folding.

FR Vessant: checks
mp576: bets 600
FR Vessant: raises 395 to 995 and is all-in
mp576: calls 395
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Jh Qs] (a pair of Jacks)
mp576: shows [As 3c] (high card Ace)

My read was good. I credit him some for threebarrelling, but I don't think many players will fold the river when they've called the turn.


***

Another read. I don't think this guy is a/ ever folding to a threebet preflop, b/ thinking enough to realise what my bet means, c/ folding much postflop. So I prefer how I played it to a shove preflop.


PokerStars Game #18055680699: Tournament #91625194, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2008/06/10 - 21:54:29 (ET)
Table '91625194 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (2165 in chips)
Seat 4: mp576 (4740 in chips)
Seat 5: JontyG_uk (2500 in chips)
Seat 6: remoney (1835 in chips)
Seat 9: GARZ 3 (2260 in chips)
GARZ 3: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ah Ad]
mp576: folds
FR Vessant said, "or a pair"

Chatting with mp576 about a hand he sucked out on me on!

JontyG_uk: folds
mp576 said, "ok"
remoney: folds
GARZ 3: raises 400 to 600
FR Vessant: raises 400 to 1000
GARZ 3: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [Qd 8h 7c]
GARZ 3: bets 1260 and is all-in

This just sucks. He is very unlikely to have anything.

FR Vessant: calls 1165 and is all-in

He has KJs and is drawing very thin.

Uncalled bet (95) returned to GARZ 3
*** TURN *** [Qd 8h 7c] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 8h 7c 2h] [8s]
mp576 said, "nh"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
GARZ 3: shows [Jh Kh] (a pair of Eights)
FR Vessant: shows [Ah Ad] (two pair, Aces and Eights)
FR Vessant collected 4330 from pot
FR Vessant said, "ty"

I would only rarely min3bet, but that was as good a spot as you're going to find, I think.

Thursday 5 June 2008

Ups and downs

Up:

PokerStars Game #17922725366: Tournament #90902527, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2008/06/04 - 22:50:36 (ET)
Table '90902527 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (1695 in chips)
Seat 6: shuggen (2283 in chips)
Seat 8: ampg74 (3787 in chips)
Seat 9: bababoyey125 (5735 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
shuggen: posts the ante 25
ampg74: posts the ante 25
bababoyey125: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts small blind 200
shuggen: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [9d 2d]
ampg74: folds
bababoyey125: folds
FR Vessant: raises 1270 to 1670 and is all-in

Have to shove any two here.

shuggen: calls 1270

He has JT. I think that's a bad call but I'm not sure. I haven't been shoving that light (passed a couple of ATC shoves at t200a25 that wouldn't have changed my position much to preserve fold equity for this level and bababoyey125 keeps limping in front of me, making it impossible to shove trash for fear of the limp/call) so he has to expect a reasonably standard range. Most villains will shove any A, K, Q or pair and some connectors, but not enormously wide.

*** FLOP *** [6s 6h Ks]
FR Vessant said, "woah"
*** TURN *** [6s 6h Ks] [3h]
FR Vessant said, "awful call"

I should stop berating the idiots but it adds to my enjoyment so what can you do?

*** RIVER *** [6s 6h Ks 3h] [2c]

Niiiiiice.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [9d 2d] (two pair, Sixes and Deuces)
shuggen: shows [Jh Td] (a pair of Sixes)
FR Vessant collected 3440 from pot
FR Vessant said, "nice"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3440 | Rake 0
Board [6s 6h Ks 3h 2c]
Seat 2: FR Vessant (small blind) showed [9d 2d] and won (3440) with two pair, Sixes and Deuces
Seat 6: shuggen (big blind) showed [Jh Td] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 8: ampg74 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: bababoyey125 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)



PokerStars Game #17922735749: Tournament #90902527, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2008/06/04 - 22:51:08 (ET)
Table '90902527 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (3440 in chips)
Seat 6: shuggen (588 in chips)
Seat 8: ampg74 (3762 in chips)
Seat 9: bababoyey125 (5710 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
shuggen: posts the ante 25
ampg74: posts the ante 25
bababoyey125: posts the ante 25
shuggen: posts small blind 200
ampg74: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [6d 9d]
shuggen said, "probably the best call you've ever seen"

They always think they're wonderful when they guess right or suck out.

FR Vessant said, "no"
bababoyey125: folds
FR Vessant said, "I haven't been pushing that light"

Don't coach them, you fool.

shuggen plays tightish and was breakeven when I Scoped him a while back. This hand probably shows why. In his shoes, I'd have folded and shoved myself next hand.

FR Vessant: folds
shuggen: raises 163 to 563 and is all-in
ampg74: calls 163
FR Vessant said, "QT, maybe"
FR Vessant said, "JT bad"

Which I think is about right. I'm not certain though. Maybe he has to call with any reasonable hand. I should check it out.

*** FLOP *** [Tc Qh As]
shuggen said, "a fine jest, sir"
*** TURN *** [Tc Qh As] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Qh As 5c] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shuggen: shows [2d 7h] (high card Ace)
ampg74: shows [5h Qd] (two pair, Queens and Fives)
FR Vessant said, "gg"
ampg74 collected 1226 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1226 | Rake 0
Board [Tc Qh As 5c 3d]
Seat 2: FR Vessant (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: shuggen (small blind) showed [2d 7h] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 8: ampg74 (big blind) showed [5h Qd] and won (1226) with two pair, Queens and Fives
Seat 9: bababoyey125 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Down:

PokerStars Game #17922749948: Tournament #90902527, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2008/06/04 - 22:51:53 (ET)
Table '90902527 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (3415 in chips)
Seat 8: ampg74 (4400 in chips)
Seat 9: bababoyey125 (5685 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
ampg74: posts the ante 25
bababoyey125: posts the ante 25
bababoyey125: posts small blind 200
FR Vessant: posts big blind 400
ampg74 said, "gg"
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ks Ah]
ampg74: raises 3975 to 4375 and is all-in
bababoyey125: folds
FR Vessant: calls 2990 and is all-in

Snapcall obviously. He has A5. Hooray!


Uncalled bet (985) returned to ampg74
*** FLOP *** [7c 8s 9d]

Oh noes!


*** TURN *** [7c 8s 9d] [6s]

Booo.


TTTTTTTTT.

*** RIVER *** [7c 8s 9d 6s] [7h]

Fuck.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Ks Ah] (a pair of Sevens)
ampg74: shows [5c Ad] (a straight, Five to Nine)
ampg74 said, "lol"

You laugh now, son, but you'll be the one depositing more money at the end of this month.