How is poker going?

About like this:

PokerStars Game #33250242541: Tournament #198265724, $10+$1 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/09/24 22:34:48 ET
Table '198265724 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: arstug (1480 in chips)
Seat 2: VoxTurtle (1510 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (1410 in chips)
Seat 4: bouchaco (1670 in chips)
Seat 5: badboyjayuk (1580 in chips)
Seat 6: rawdog7575 (1410 in chips)
Seat 7: WiredSet (1520 in chips)
Seat 8: KrazyCraig84 (1480 in chips)
Seat 9: MAGNUM8454 (1440 in chips)
KrazyCraig84: posts small blind 10
MAGNUM8454: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kc Kd]
arstug: folds
VoxTurtle: folds
FR Vessant: raises 60 to 80
bouchaco: folds
badboyjayuk: calls 80
rawdog7575: folds
WiredSet: calls 80
KrazyCraig84: folds
MAGNUM8454: folds
*** FLOP *** [8c 7c 6d]
FR Vessant: bets 200
badboyjayuk: calls 200
WiredSet: calls 200
*** TURN *** [8c 7c 6d] [7s]
FR Vessant: bets 1130 and is all-in
badboyjayuk: folds
WiredSet: calls 1130
*** RIVER *** [8c 7c 6d 7s] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Kc Kd] (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
WiredSet: shows [7h 2h] (three of a kind, Sevens)
WiredSet collected 3130 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3130 | Rake 0
Board [8c 7c 6d 7s 9c]
Seat 1: arstug folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: VoxTurtle folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: FR Vessant showed [Kc Kd] and lost with two pair, Kings and Sevens
Seat 4: bouchaco folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: badboyjayuk folded on the Turn
Seat 6: rawdog7575 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: WiredSet (button) showed [7h 2h] and won (3130) with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 8: KrazyCraig84 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: MAGNUM8454 (big blind) folded before Flop

My email to Pokerstars support, subject "Doomswitch"

Hi

Could you turn it off now? I appreciate your sense of humour but this is just sick:

PokerStars Game #31222081385: Tournament #183600842, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (150/300) - 2009/08/03 23:00:31 ET
Table '183600842 34' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 2: FR Vessant (6290 in chips)
Seat 3: RVRchsngDONK (21317 in chips)
Seat 4: gallory8 (7260 in chips)
Seat 5: Perrin57 (16222 in chips)
Seat 6: Chuckzeduck (9645 in chips)
Seat 7: Rick007 (6825 in chips)
Seat 8: stormswa (8665 in chips)
Seat 9: yurntrbl (1950 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
RVRchsngDONK: posts the ante 25
gallory8: posts the ante 25
Perrin57: posts the ante 25
Chuckzeduck: posts the ante 25
Rick007: posts the ante 25
stormswa: posts the ante 25
yurntrbl: posts the ante 25
yurntrbl: posts small blind 150
FR Vessant: posts big blind 300
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [4h 4c]
RVRchsngDONK: folds
gallory8: folds
Perrin57: folds
Chuckzeduck: folds
Rick007: folds
stormswa: folds
yurntrbl: raises 1625 to 1925 and is all-in
FR Vessant: calls 1625
*** FLOP *** [Tc Td Ts]
*** TURN *** [Tc Td Ts] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Td Ts Th] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
yurntrbl: shows [3s As] (four of a kind, Tens)
FR Vessant: shows [4h 4c] (four of a kind, Tens - lower kicker)
yurntrbl collected 4050 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4050 | Rake 0
Board [Tc Td Ts Th 2h]
Seat 2: FR Vessant (big blind) showed [4h 4c] and lost with four of a kind, Tens
Seat 3: RVRchsngDONK folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: gallory8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Perrin57 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Chuckzeduck folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Rick007 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: stormswa (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: yurntrbl (small blind) showed [3s As] and won (4050) with four of a kind, Tens


Thanks

Doomed to stay at the 11s

Why do I always run so badly when I move up? I just don't understand it. I fired up a 22 this morning. Just one, because I'm working. Mostly I folded, then I picked up TT at t50, raised to 3x and got two callers. The flop was 442, so I led out. One of the fishes raised and because I was committed, I got it in. He has JJ. Next up, I have 88. There's a limper, a shortstacked fish raises and I call. I didn't notice the fish was short, or I would have likely shoved over. The flop comes 9xx, the limper checks, and the fish bets out small. I know he has nothing and shove over. The other fish snapcalls with A9. How come they always have it? Every fucking time! The guy limps A9 from early position, calls a raise and flops top fucking pair. So I have a few chips left and get up to 400. I pick up KK in the small blind. Sadly they all fold to me, and I raise but the fishy big blind decides this is the one time he will not defend his blind. FML.

This pretty much sums it up though. Here's my bustout hand:

PokerStars Game #31179674313: Tournament #184216436, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2009/08/02 20:50:43 ET
Table '184216436 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (415 in chips)
Seat 2: decorounder (2210 in chips)
Seat 3: meeks16 (3415 in chips)
Seat 4: geomed (2060 in chips)
Seat 5: O'Brien_6 (3380 in chips)
Seat 6: zapedy (1340 in chips)
Seat 9: jeffery b3 (680 in chips)
jeffery b3: posts small blind 25
FR Vessant: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [8c 5d]
decorounder: folds
meeks16: folds
geomed: folds
O'Brien_6: folds
zapedy: folds
jeffery b3: calls 25

He's very short obv. so I doubt I have much fold equity.

FR Vessant: checks
*** FLOP *** [5c 6c 3h]

That should be an okay flop.

jeffery b3: bets 200

I expected him to bet his whole range here, so I am not folding. I probably have the best hand.

FR Vessant: raises 165 to 365 and is all-in
jeffery b3: calls 165

And I do. He has 32. I mean, fucksake, how can I not beat these clowns? If you want to play that shit, shove it man.

But yeah, you probably spotted that he has a draw to the straight, so that's fucking it for me.

*** TURN *** [5c 6c 3h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [5c 6c 3h 6s] [2s]

And there it is. Like clockwork.

I mean, no fucking kidding, I am doomed never to move up past the 11s. I simply cannot win at a higher level. I can't get to the long run, and I suspect that even if I did, they'd still be hitting every single draw, every single flop, everything against me.

Fuck fucking poker

STTs suck. Early in this one, I had QQ cracked by a guy who shoved when I 3bet a UTG raiser. He had AKs and probably should have folded. So I had basically no chips and clawed my way back. I got to the bubble with 2Kish chips, and lost some when I raised with JJ and a huge fish called and openshoved an A high flop. He probably didn't even have the ace, but you can't risk it. Then I got blinded down a bit, so a few hands later.

PokerStars Game #31116131795: Tournament #183786853, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2009/08/01 7:11:44 ET
Table '183786853 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: kinkykay-de (3881 in chips)
Seat 2: FR Vessant (1225 in chips)
Seat 4: Bluesmansav (6548 in chips)
Seat 5: SezzGecko (1846 in chips)
kinkykay-de: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
Bluesmansav: posts the ante 25
SezzGecko: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts small blind 100
Bluesmansav: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kh 9s]
SezzGecko: folds
kinkykay-de: calls 200

This is our fish, who loves to limp, to call raises, and to make dim stabby bluffs at the flop.
FR Vessant: raises 1000 to 1200 and is all-in

I have been playing tight, so I figure I have a ton of FE.

Bluesmansav: folds
kinkykay-de: calls 1000

Wrong.

The fish has called me with K7s. I mean, wtf. You can't think you're ahead with that. I think the one thing I never get over in STTs, even though I am pretty cool with the truth that it's all about luck now, is these tards who just gamble. Yeah, I know it's all gambling, but intentionally putting your money in behind is awful.

*** FLOP *** [8c 6s 9h]

When I saw the flop, I knew I would be busted. Yes, I have top pair. But what does that matter? He has a draw and it's going to come in.

*** TURN *** [8c 6s 9h] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [8c 6s 9h Jh] [5d]

See? If I played 200 games a day, I'd be over it, because I'd see it all the time. So yeah, maybe play more than 50 this month, Zenners?

bleh

How am I ever going to move up in stakes if I run so badly?


PokerStars Game #31114065461: Tournament #181767859, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/08/01 5:05:49 ET
Table '181767859 35' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: LatzFatz (2980 in chips)
Seat 2: mandymoo77 (2990 in chips)
Seat 3: BIGTONE53 (6140 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (2960 in chips)
Seat 5: arameer (2860 in chips)
Seat 6: Munstah (1640 in chips)
Seat 7: I_win_Hands (3000 in chips)
Seat 8: Daf12 (3000 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: aannaa1 (2980 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 10
arameer: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [7c 8c]
Munstah: folds
I_win_Hands: folds
Daf12: folds
aannaa1: folds
LatzFatz: folds
mandymoo77: calls 20
BIGTONE53: folds
FR Vessant: calls 10

Easy complete.

arameer: raises 80 to 100


Seems bad so I'm going to call and hope to outflop him.

mandymoo77: folds
FR Vessant: calls 80
*** FLOP *** [Jc Tc 5h]

Should be a good flop for my hand.

FR Vessant: checks
arameer: bets 220
FR Vessant: raises 400 to 620

I hope to fold him out here.

arameer: raises 400 to 1020
FR Vessant: raises 1840 to 2860 and is all-in

With 13 outs against top pair, I am going to gamble here.

arameer: calls 1740 and is all-in

He has Ac9c. Fuck my luck.

Get this though:

Uncalled bet (100) returned to FR Vessant
*** TURN *** [Jc Tc 5h] [4c]

It's enough to make you cry.

On coaching

Some guy on 2p2 asked me for coaching. He was angling for free help by buttering me up, but I don't have time, so I said I'd do it for money (not much money -- 30/hr if you want to learn how to crush) and he asked what would be the best way to gain from coaching and how you should do it. So I said this:


There are three indispensable skills if you want to win using a 2p2-type strategy: 1/ Hand selection 2/ Not ****ing up postflop and 3/ most importantly, late game.

In 1, you have to know which hands to play in which spots, which hands you'll threebet, which hands you'll shove over limpers, which hands you'll resteal with against which players. Some of this you can figure out for yourself, some you can be taught, some you just get a feel for as you play.

In 2, there are different approaches, but the most important thing is not to make the bigger mistakes your opponents make: not to stack off light with top pair, not to go broke in unraised pots with hands that are easily beaten, not to chase draws; and more positively, to bet strong hands hard, to apply aggression correctly and to understand bet sizing and have some idea of what your opponents are trying to do. An appreciation of range-based thinking and play is essential, because this is the foundation of good poker.

In 3, you need to know when to push and when to fold. This involves understanding ICM above all, and working through spots in a program like SNG Wizard, which is an essential purchase for anyone who wants to improve at STTs. I don't have a lot of time to study ICM, which is one reason I don't play turbos too much (regular speeds are more forgiving of patchy late-game knowledge), but there are good and bad ways to use it imo.

If you get anyone to help you with your game, you need them first of all to understand what you know. To do that, they need either to sweat you or to go through a HH in a replayer. They can do this without your presence, but tbh talking to a player about why they played their hands a particular way lets you know whether they get it or not. You know what I mean? Someone might do something differently from the way I would, and I'll ask them why. If you understand the game, your answer will make sense to me, if you don't, the flaw in your understanding becomes apparent. Most people have glaring leaks because they just dont' understand areas of the game, or spots that they are in. This is true of everyone bar the very best: I'm a moderate player and I definitely don't know it all.

I'll be honest with you. Coaching has a value in STTs, but it's limited, because a lot of the knowledge you need is gained through experience and work that you have to do for yourself. So it's valuable to have someone talk through some games with you, and explain broadly where you're going wrong/what you're doing right, but they can't teach you push/fold -- you have to study that for yourself. Having said that, if you are very much a learner, either being sweated or going through a HH in a replayer will work -- using Skype and Teamviewer or similar. I think the second is best because there's no time pressure and you can explain your thought process.

Omahahahahhahahahdfhdhfdhfhdhdhfhdhshshshhs

I thought this was quite interesting. I am playing a $2 PL Omaha 8 tourney (I know, shoot me) because I'm an addict but can't concentrate enough to play anything worthwhile, when this hand came up.

Full Tilt Poker Game #13462676090: $2 + 0.25 Tournament (99453018), Table 10 - 30/60 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 3:54:16 ET - 2009/07/18
Seat 1: superiorbath (5,325)
Seat 2: Darkdeck (1,316)
Seat 3: SexulHrsmntPnda (4,494)
Seat 4: SusieOh (938)
Seat 5: ASD-OCD (4,811)
Seat 6: basatagirl (4,863)
Seat 7: KYKenny (1,339)
Seat 8: RAGS2RICHESXXX (1,587)
Seat 9: daveteezeeme (2,068)
superiorbath posts the small blind of 30
Darkdeck posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to basatagirl [3c 4d Ks Ac]
SexulHrsmntPnda folds
SusieOh folds
ASD-OCD calls 60
basatagirl calls 60

It's reasonable to limp this in this game, where there is very little aggression.

KYKenny calls 60
RAGS2RICHESXXX folds
daveteezeeme calls 60
superiorbath calls 30
Darkdeck checks
*** FLOP *** [8c 8d 2c]
superiorbath checks
Darkdeck bets 120

Doesn't have to have much for that.

ASD-OCD calls 120

This is terrible with his actual hand.

basatagirl calls 120

I call with nut low draw and nut flush draw. If no one has or hits a boat, I could scoop.


KYKenny folds
daveteezeeme calls 120
superiorbath folds
*** TURN *** [8c 8d 2c] [6c]

So I have my flush and the nut low. There aren't too many hands I'm going to hate being against here.

Darkdeck checks
ASD-OCD bets 420
basatagirl raises to 2,100

Pot raise. I don't mind if he comes with me now.

daveteezeeme folds
Darkdeck folds
ASD-OCD raises to 4,631, and is all in
basatagirl calls 2,531

Easy call. He can have me beat for high, but can only chop low, and it has to be unlikely he has it.

ASD-OCD shows [3s 8s Jd 2h]

Fucking awful. He should never limp this pre. It's a dog. 32xx is a trouble hand in OH and he has nothing else going on really.

On the flop, he has high sewn up obviously, but slowplaying it is horrible. Why let
me hit my low for free? I am supposing he thinks he will get more from a flush if it hits, but there's a decent wedge in the pot, and if someone hits a low, he gives up half of what's already there. He has nothing to lose by pumping the pot.
*** RIVER *** [8c 8d 2c 6c] [2d]
ASD-OCD shows a full house, Eights full of Twos, for high
basatagirl shows a flush, Ace high, for high and 8,6,3,2,A, for low
ASD-OCD wins the high pot (5,051) with a full house, Eights full of Twos
basatagirl wins the low pot (5,051) with 8,6,3,2,A

So that sucks a bit, not least that he hit a full with such a bad hand. This sucks more:

Full Tilt Poker Game #13462754587: $2 + 0.25 Tournament (99453018), Table 10 - 40/80 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 4:03:54 ET - 2009/07/18
Seat 1: superiorbath (4,905)
Seat 2: Darkdeck (1,916)
Seat 4: SusieOh (658)
Seat 5: ASD-OCD (4,911)
Seat 6: basatagirl (5,103)
Seat 7: KYKenny (1,279)
Seat 8: RAGS2RICHESXXX (1,587)
Seat 9: daveteezeeme (1,888)
ASD-OCD posts the small blind of 40
basatagirl posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to basatagirl [Tc Ah Ks 2s]
KYKenny folds
RAGS2RICHESXXX folds
daveteezeeme folds
superiorbath folds
Darkdeck calls 80

He should try to steal with the hand he has if he's going to play it, but I wouldn't play it.

SusieOh folds
ASD-OCD has been disconnected
ASD-OCD folds
ASD-OCD has reconnected
basatagirl checks

I have no fold equity for a raise, even though my hand is okay. I prefer not to bloat the pot without any hope of just TingID.

*** FLOP *** [3h As 7c]

Not the best flop because there's a low out there and the ace is really bad for me.

basatagirl checks
Darkdeck bets 200
basatagirl calls 200

I call because I have TPTK on an unconnected board, and he doesn't have to have a low
because these boys will often play high-only hands. I should probably fold, but I hate to give up too easily against these really bad players.

*** TURN *** [3h As 7c] [Kh]

That's a great turn for me, because I now have the best high.

basatagirl checks
Darkdeck bets 400
basatagirl raises to 1,800

I am hoping to make him fold hands that have bad lows and no highs and draws to beat me, like 64xx maybe.
Darkdeck calls 1,236, and is all in
basatagirl shows [Tc Ah Ks 2s]
Darkdeck shows [2c 4s 2h 5c]

Obviously he is not folding a nut low. I am in good shape for high though because he'd need a 4 or a 2 to beat me, and obv. he has one of the 4s and only one 2 is still in the deck.

Uncalled bet of 164 returned to basatagirl
*** RIVER *** [3h As 7c Kh] [4c]

Oh shit.

****

My bustout hand was quite disappointing.


Full Tilt Poker Game #13463062792: $2 + 0.25 Tournament (99453018), Table 10 - 80/160 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 4:36:27 ET - 2009/07/18
Seat 1: superiorbath (7,032)
Seat 2: Darkdeck (3,397)
Seat 3: pokerbill72 (24,917)
Seat 4: back2therail (4,035)
Seat 5: ASD-OCD (7,154)
Seat 6: basatagirl (4,165)
Seat 7: KYKenny (1,139), is sitting out
Seat 8: Boxcar85 (2,783)
ASD-OCD posts the small blind of 80
basatagirl posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to basatagirl [Ad 3s Qh Qd]
KYKenny folds
Boxcar85 folds
superiorbath folds
Darkdeck folds
pokerbill72 folds
back2therail has 15 seconds left to act
back2therail raises to 320

I hate minraises in Omaha. You don't have much, if any, steal equity, so all you're doing is bloat the pot.

ASD-OCD calls 240

Will call with nearly anything, he's that bad.

basatagirl calls 160
*** FLOP *** [Jc 6d 2c]
ASD-OCD has 15 seconds left to act
ASD-OCD bets 960

That's a big bet, so he probably has something. However, I'd think he's more likely to have something like 54xx or Acxcxx than a set of jacks, so I'm probably ahead for high and have hopes for low. Folding here would be far too weak in my view, and given the amount I have to call, I should play for stacks.

basatagirl raises to 3,840

So I do.

back2therail folds
ASD-OCD calls 2,880

I would have rather kept the pot smaller with his hand, and looked to make money when I actually had a hand, but I'm not him.

I now very much don't want to see a club on the turn, particularly not a high one.

*** TURN *** [Jc 6d 2c] [Qc]

FUCK. I mean, on the one hand I have a set, but on the other, the flush made, and he's likely to have it.

KYKenny has been disconnected
ASD-OCD bets 160

Yeah, cunt, you should have done that on the flop, given that I only had 5 left behind.

basatagirl calls 5, and is all in
ASD-OCD shows [2h 3d Ac 7c]

He has the worst possible hand for me. He should have 3bet preflop imo, because it's always better to take it down preflop than to try to let me have a shot at outflopping him on a high-only board getting 5/1.

Sadly, he not only has the flush, but he halves my low too, so I badly need the board to pair.

basatagirl shows [Ad 3s Qh Qd]
Uncalled bet of 155 returned to ASD-OCD
*** RIVER *** [Jc 6d 2c Qc] [9c]

Which of course it doesn't.

Oh well. Just because this fish played nearly every fucking hand and hit perfect against me are not reasons to cry. But his being Australian is. All -- and I mean all -- Australian players are entirely retarded, and should never win a cent at poker imo.

WTF hand of the week so far

It's not the decision to limp that boggles the mind and not the decision to call a raise after that. It's how this guy has the ability to find the on button on his computer:

PokerStars Game #30220353332: Tournament #177710269, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2009/07/08 2:18:18 ET
Table '177710269 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (1560 in chips)
Seat 2: stunt chick (1725 in chips)
Seat 3: LindaLouStar (980 in chips)
Seat 4: Spay Nuter (1390 in chips)
Seat 5: rockxxx (1580 in chips)
Seat 6: barrazor (2120 in chips)
Seat 7: bonez_311 (1785 in chips)
Seat 8: Ultima24 (1080 in chips)
Seat 9: jtran86 (1280 in chips)
LindaLouStar: posts small blind 15
Spay Nuter: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qc Ac]
rockxxx: folds
barrazor: folds
bonez_311: folds
Ultima24: calls 30
jtran86: folds
FR Vessant: raises 90 to 120

I make a fairly standard raise. I never like picking up AK/AQ, suited or otherwise, in the first couple of levels and I don't much like raising limpers because they never fold unless you hit.

stunt chick: folds
LindaLouStar: folds
Spay Nuter: calls 90
Ultima24: calls 90
*** FLOP *** [Jd 8h 9d]
Spay Nuter: checks
Ultima24: checks
FR Vessant: checks

Not betting that flop because there's just so much for a fish to like there.

*** TURN *** [Jd 8h 9d] [Ks]
Spay Nuter: checks
Ultima24: checks
FR Vessant: checks

Could bet there, but then I'm just hating so many rivers.

*** RIVER *** [Jd 8h 9d Ks] [Kd]
Spay Nuter: checks
Ultima24: checks
FR Vessant: checks

I guess I'll just show my hand down and hope they have...

well, I dunno. there's pretty much nothing I can be beating except crappy aces. So I have to check.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Spay Nuter: shows [3c Ad] (a pair of Kings)

Crappy ace, sure enough. Why do these clowns call with them? I am quite likely to have a bigger ace and if I don't, and an ace comes, you're unlikely to get paid. So you can only win a small pot or lose a big one.

Ultima24: shows [6h 9s] (two pair, Kings and Nines)

What. The. Fuck. I can't even imagine a rationale for playing that. Maybe he folded the previous hand and was bored. Maybe he feels it will be disguised if he hits. Erm, yes.


Anyway, this is more usual. I suppose the fish was unlucky that he couldn't make any money when he got lucky, but I think against those parts of my range that he could make money from, his line sucks some.

PokerStars Game #30220404105: Tournament #177708932, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2009/07/08 2:21:47 ET
Table '177708932 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: over-vert (1200 in chips)
Seat 3: titralac (4715 in chips)
Seat 4: the bl12ade (1230 in chips)
Seat 5: huggyville (1020 in chips)
Seat 6: pc318318 (1310 in chips)
Seat 8: rafmd (2460 in chips)
Seat 9: FR Vessant (1565 in chips)
huggyville: posts small blind 15
pc318318: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kd Ah]
rafmd: calls 30

I'll tell you now, he has 22. So that's reasonable to limp. You might consider it more prudent to fold because you're likely to be raised and that will make it expensive, but actually this table is quite passive in the few hands we've played, so it's not such a bad gamble.

FR Vessant: raises 90 to 120
over-vert: folds
titralac: folds
the bl12ade: folds
huggyville: folds
pc318318: folds
rafmd: calls 90

But now he should fold. It's too much money to call to try to hit a set and my range is not narrow enough to guarantee stacking me unless you get the right flop.

*** FLOP *** [2d 3s 5s]

Which this one isn't.

rafmd: checks
FR Vessant: checks

I check behind obv. because even though it's unlikely he hit the flop, he's unlikely to fold to a cbet here. He can convince himself to continue with overcards and obv. folding a pair would be out of the question for him.

In his shoes, I'd probably bet. If I have an overpair, I'm going to raise, and he can then often get it in. If I don't, I'm not all that likely to cbet this flop and you are hoping that I hit something that I like on the next two streets.

*** TURN *** [2d 3s 5s] [Tc]
rafmd: checks

The fish's urge to trap overcomes any idea of actually making value with his monster. I suppose once I checked the flop back, it's okay not to force the action, because my most likely hand is AK/AQ and I'm not calling a bet with that.

FR Vessant: checks

*** RIVER *** [2d 3s 5s Tc] [Qd]
rafmd: bets 150

Finally, he takes a stab. It's safe, of course. I'm pretty unlikely to have a pair of Qs and AQ is strongly in my range.

FR Vessant said, "sigh"
FR Vessant said, "I have a bad feeling you actually have a Q"

LOL. I was kind of tempted to call because my hand is often good but meh.

FR Vessant: folds
Uncalled bet (150) returned to rafmd
rafmd collected 285 from pot
rafmd: shows [2s 2h] (three of a kind, Deuces)

How we laughed.

Later, I gave him a lesson in why limpcalling is bad:

PokerStars Game #30220786852: Tournament #177708932, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/08 2:49:13 ET
Table '177708932 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 3: titralac (3837 in chips)
Seat 5: huggyville (3495 in chips)
Seat 8: rafmd (4493 in chips)
Seat 9: FR Vessant (1675 in chips)
titralac: posts small blind 75
huggyville: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [As Ah]
rafmd: calls 150
rafmd said, "ty"
FR Vessant: raises 300 to 450

I know, it's ridicutarded, but it sucks a ton if you push and he folds, which he just might have.

titralac: folds
huggyville: folds
rafmd: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [5d Td 7s]
rafmd: bets 600

Well, let's hope he doesn't have 77 or some retarded shit like 75s.


FR Vessant: raises 625 to 1225 and is all-in

Drop the boom.

rafmd: calls 625

He has KdTh.

*** TURN *** [5d Td 7s] [2d]

So that turn is a bit stressful.

*** RIVER *** [5d Td 7s 2d] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rafmd: shows [Kd Th] (a pair of Tens)
FR Vessant: shows [As Ah] (a pair of Aces)
FR Vessant collected 3575 from pot

I know, how come I'm losing money in this company. Beats me too.

Bet or check?

I have no one to talk poker with so I'm stuck with posting hands here. Maybe someone will happen along and comment.

PokerStars Game #30218574186: Tournament #177697288, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2009/07/08 0:35:44 ET
Table '177697288 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: jivehoney2 (875 in chips)
Seat 3: catsonny (1630 in chips)
Seat 4: Gugrand (1835 in chips)
Seat 5: FR Vessant (1660 in chips)
Seat 6: svargas (1120 in chips)
Seat 7: luckyluke711 (1465 in chips)
Seat 8: Kevgj454 (2400 in chips)
Seat 9: Rollar (2515 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 15
svargas: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kh Ad]
luckyluke711: folds
Kevgj454: folds
Rollar: folds
jivehoney2: folds
catsonny: folds
Gugrand: raises 60 to 90

This guy has been pretty tight, but he has the button, so I'm not necessarily putting him on a really tight range.

FR Vessant: raises 120 to 210

So I threebet. I actually don't normally threebet out of position. I'd typically flatcall. However, it seems to me that I can define my hand pretty well here by threebetting. If he's very strong, he is likely to shove over, and if he isn't, he will likely fold, and I won't have to play postflop guessing games with it.

svargas: calls 180

So that's not goodThis guy has been semiloose, but not extremely so. I'm not sure what range to put him on because these guys so often surprise you. I guess he can have a lot of pairs and some broadways in his range.

I mean, I've threebet so he shouldn't be superwide.

Gugrand: folds
*** FLOP *** [7h 8d 3s]

Here's the difficult thing. This flop sucks for me. It's not all that likely to have hit him but he may have begun with a better hand.

I can bet, and if he calls or raises, I think I'm done with it. It's a fairly dry flop, so I can't imagine he's trying to push me off a hand if he shoves. I think he should fold overcards, but I can't be sure. They don't often bluffraise, but you have to give him a small chance of it.

If he has a pair, he's never folding on this flop.

I can check, but I think that turns my hand face up and I have to fold when he bets. It won't even be "if". They never check behind. I mean, checking with AA would make sense because these clowns put you on AK every time and try to push you off it.

So is betting profitable?

FR Vessant: bets 270

Well, I try it.

svargas: raises 640 to 910 and is all-in

But I dunno. I think I should have checkfolded. Now I'm stuck in a shitty position and I hate that I bet.

0000

This is why my month is shitty though:

PokerStars Game #30218901413: Tournament #177697279, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/07/08 0:52:18 ET
Table '177697279 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: marsmac (2218 in chips)
Seat 3: Backwoodsman (1735 in chips)
Seat 4: Mixien (1622 in chips)
Seat 5: JZarse (1455 in chips)
Seat 6: FatStack911 (4175 in chips)
Seat 7: JC Cub (1020 in chips)
Seat 8: FR Vessant (1275 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 50
marsmac: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [9c Ah]
Backwoodsman: folds
Mixien has timed out
Mixien: folds
Mixien is sitting out
JZarse: folds
Mixien has returned
FatStack911: calls 100

Playing 37/11.

JC Cub: calls 100

Playing something like 40/10.

FR Vessant: raises 1175 to 1275 and is all-in

So I should have tons of fold equity here. And even if one calls, I should be ahead, because he ought to be raising better aces and most pairs.

marsmac: folds
FatStack911: raises 2900 to 4175 and is all-in

OMG.

JC Cub: folds
Uncalled bet (2900) returned to FatStack911

He has AQs. If you want to know how you can even conceivably lose money to these droolers, this is how. Who traps with AQs for fuck's sake? It would actually make less money in the long run than taking the blinds.

Again, these fish think that this sort of thing is super clever when they catch you with A9. They consider it a huge injustice when you have 53 in the BB and catch two pair or you suck out and hit your 9. But what they don't realise is that an aggressive player like me makes this shove all the time, and I profit from it. I factor in the dumb traps when I consider doing it.

Not that their traps always work:

PokerStars Game #30219060445: Tournament #177697288, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/08 1:00:41 ET
Table '177697288 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 3: catsonny (1580 in chips)
Seat 5: FR Vessant (3785 in chips)
Seat 8: Kevgj454 (4865 in chips)
Seat 9: Rollar (3270 in chips)
Kevgj454: posts small blind 75
Rollar: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ah Qh]
catsonny: raises 150 to 300

Why minraise in his spot? I guess he could have something but I'm not folding my hand in this spot. The problem is that these guys also steal with minraises and like to minraise small pairs. This guy has minraised more than once, although I haven't seen him do it utg.

I think my hand is too strong to fold against a shorty even if I am suspicious, so I don't fold.

FR Vessant: raises 600 to 900

I raise to discourage the others from entering the pot.

Kevgj454: folds
Rollar: folds
catsonny: raises 600 to 1500

He actually leaves himself with 80 behind, which is cute. I'm not folding obviously.
FR Vessant: calls 600
*** FLOP *** [9s Qc 3d]

Well, if he has AA, this is going to hurt.

catsonny: bets 80 and is all-in
FR Vessant: calls 80

He has JJ.

Couple hands later, just to show that I am not married to AQ or anything:

PokerStars Game #30219076960: Tournament #177697288, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/08 1:01:34 ET
Table '177697288 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 5: FR Vessant (5440 in chips)
Seat 8: Kevgj454 (5015 in chips)
Seat 9: Rollar (3045 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 75
Kevgj454: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qs Ah]
Rollar: folds
FR Vessant: raises 300 to 450

Standard raise.

Kevgj454: raises 4565 to 5015 and is all-in

Thing is, this guy has been loose but not particularly aggressive. I think he has to have a strong hand, given my read so

FR Vessant: folds

Uncalled bet (4565) returned to Kevgj454
Kevgj454 collected 900 from pot
Kevgj454: shows [Jc Js] (a pair of Jacks)

Well, I suppose I had some overlay but I'm pretty content to have folded there.

However later on:

PokerStars Game #30219183005: Tournament #177697288, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/08 1:07:32 ET
Table '177697288 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 5: FR Vessant (5665 in chips)
Seat 8: Kevgj454 (5690 in chips)
Seat 9: Rollar (2145 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 75
Kevgj454: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [9h 9c]
Rollar: folds
FR Vessant: raises 300 to 450
Kevgj454: calls 300

Can have a very wide range.

*** FLOP *** [6c 2h Js]
FR Vessant: bets 600

I am obviously going to cbet even with the overcard.

Kevgj454: raises 4640 to 5240 and is all-in

But now I have to fold.

Having folded earlier, is he encouraged and is now bluffing? I dunno. I do think I can have the best hand but on a flop this dry, it's hard to put him on the bluff because he'd have to have absolutely nothing. So

FR Vessant: folds

0000

Not that it did me too much harm:

PokerStars Game #30219235910: Tournament #177697288, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/07/08 1:10:33 ET
Table '177697288 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 5: FR Vessant (3790 in chips)
Seat 8: Kevgj454 (8315 in chips)
Seat 9: Rollar (1395 in chips)
Rollar: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kh Ad]
Kevgj454: raises 400 to 600
Rollar: raises 795 to 1395 and is all-in

Woah! Hold on!

FR Vessant: raises 2395 to 3790 and is all-in

I'm getting it in because even though Rollar probably has a strong range, I'm going to have to be beaten by both to come third even if Kevgj454 calls (because I outchip Rollar). I'd obviously have a really nice stack if either I win outright or I beat just Kev.

Kevgj454: calls 3190

He has KK. The other guy has a pair of 6s.

Yuk. Still, at least I'm a big favourite to come second. And there's always spiking the ace, right?

*** FLOP *** [5c 9d Qc]
*** TURN *** [5c 9d Qc] [Jh]

Hold on! Now I have a ten or an ace to win. Come on!

*** RIVER *** [5c 9d Qc Jh] [Th]

woot.

Kev decided to do more trapping later, and really, this is why you don't do this sort of thing:

PokerStars Game #30219251392: Tournament #177697288, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/07/08 1:11:22 ET
Table '177697288 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 5: FR Vessant (9575 in chips)
Seat 8: Kevgj454 (3925 in chips)
Kevgj454: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [4d 2d]
Kevgj454: calls 100
FR Vessant: checks
*** FLOP *** [4s 3s 7h]
FR Vessant: checks

I don't bet, even with the flush draw there, because a/ I'm never putting a HU opponent on an FD, and b/ he can and will call with a 5, 6 or overcards.

Kevgj454: checks
*** TURN *** [4s 3s 7h] [4h]

Nice. I'm pretty sure I have the best hand now.

FR Vessant: bets 400
Kevgj454: raises 800 to 1200

Not too scared by that. If he has a better 4 or the flopped straight, that's poker. More likely he thinks I'm bluffing and he can rebluff me.

FR Vessant: raises 8175 to 9375 and is all-in

So let's get it on, bro.

Kevgj454: calls 2525 and is all-in

He has JJ, which he played about as badly as is possible. The idea of poker, put simply, is to make bets when you're a favourite at the odds, and pass them when you're not. Doing it the other way round is not going to make you money. But from time to time, it just might make me some.

Zero again

As always, when I move up, I run terribly. This is doubly painful because first you start thinking that you simply weren't as good as you thought you were, and second you lose twice as much money. Once you start to run bad, you start to play bad too.

In the first of today's 22s, I panicked on a bad bubble and made a big -EV call:

PokerStars Game #30214005607: Tournament #177652941, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2009/07/07 21:32:03 ET
Table '177652941 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 5: bryan lieb (1778 in chips)

This idiot has basically funnelled tons of chips to jonny2jabs, who is a good player, shoving every SB and button, so I lose 600 chips an orbit, but is folding his BB to shoves from tallyyayo, so I am in a terrible position stackwise.

Seat 6: jonny2jabs (7037 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (2444 in chips)
Seat 8: tallyyayo (2241 in chips)
bryan lieb: posts the ante 25
jonny2jabs: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
tallyyayo: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts small blind 200
tallyyayo: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [6d 6h]
bryan lieb: folds
jonny2jabs: raises 6612 to 7012 and is all-in

I should fold, of course, but I figure to be in a very weak position, trying to fold into third, if I do, and a decent one, able to play a bigger stack and a good shot at second at least, if I don't.


FR Vessant: calls 2219 and is all-in

So I don't, and this time the ATC shover has 77. GG me.

So the villain in this hand has been erratic and bad:


PokerStars Game #30212844089: Tournament #177653493, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/07/07 20:51:41 ET
Table '177653493 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: jonny2jabs (980 in chips)
Seat 2: dumbmum (2840 in chips)
Seat 3: TJ PackMan (733 in chips)
Seat 4: Ducky G 6000 (1835 in chips)
Seat 5: TomC69 (3075 in chips)
Seat 6: pieroni85 (1375 in chips)
Seat 8: FR Vessant (1697 in chips)
Seat 9: orbitahole (965 in chips)
TJ PackMan: posts small blind 50
Ducky G 6000: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ac Jh]
TomC69: folds
pieroni85: folds
FR Vessant: raises 150 to 250
orbitahole: calls 250

It's really hard to put him on the hand he has, because this call is soooo bad.

jonny2jabs: folds
dumbmum: folds
TJ PackMan: folds
Ducky G 6000: folds
*** FLOP *** [3s Th 4c]
FR Vessant: checks

That's a decent flop but I don't think I can make him fold.

orbitahole: checks
*** TURN *** [3s Th 4c] [2h]
FR Vessant: checks
orbitahole: bets 300

I'm sure he's just taking a stab. Maybe he has a flush draw. In any case, I don't think I can fold here. Effectively, it's the same as getting it in pre, which I would have done.

FR Vessant: raises 1147 to 1447 and is all-in
orbitahole: calls 415 and is all-in

He has TT.

So a few hands later, I shove 92 on the button, expecting a lot of fold equity, and the same fish snapcalls with KQ.


Next up, I lose yet another big pot with QQ:

PokerStars Game #30214906375: Tournament #177669905, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2009/07/07 22:04:10 ET
Table '177669905 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: tonyandgolf (3970 in chips)
Seat 3: smallbass79 (1458 in chips)
Seat 4: Uncut Haus (1095 in chips)
Seat 6: Hymie_Weiss (1664 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (1625 in chips)
Seat 8: evilgenius76 (2580 in chips)
Seat 9: pokherfinger (1108 in chips)
tonyandgolf: posts small blind 25
smallbass79: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qd Qh]
Uncut Haus: folds
Hymie_Weiss: folds
FR Vessant: raises 100 to 150
evilgenius76: folds
pokherfinger: folds
tonyandgolf: calls 125

Has been fairly tight but doesn't look good.

smallbass79: folds
*** FLOP *** [5c 7s Th]
tonyandgolf: checks
FR Vessant: bets 200

Nice flop for my hand so obv. I bet.

tonyandgolf: raises 500 to 700

Well, he might have a set, but you don't make money by folding overpairs against fish.

FR Vessant: raises 775 to 1475 and is all-in
tonyandgolf: calls 775

You also don't make it by running QQ into AA. GG me.

I defy anyone to fold this one:

PokerStars Game #30215110571: Tournament #177670505, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/07/07 22:11:31 ET
Table '177670505 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (2868 in chips)
Seat 2: AKATheShark (2475 in chips)
Seat 5: DaPorKer42 (3205 in chips)
Seat 6: Dr. Baker75 (1979 in chips)
Seat 8: Uncut Haus (898 in chips)
Seat 9: Jacxxs (2075 in chips)
DaPorKer42: posts small blind 50
Dr. Baker75: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qc Ad]
Uncut Haus: folds
Jacxxs: calls 100

Pretty bad to limp here. He's played sort of semiloose, so I definitely figure to be ahead.

FR Vessant: raises 300 to 400
AKATheShark: folds
DaPorKer42: calls 350

Has played 16/3 or something like that. His call is beyond bad with the hand he actually had. Weirdly, if he'd played it anything like properly, I would have been able to fold pre and get away from it.

Dr. Baker75: folds
Jacxxs: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [8h 6c Ah]
DaPorKer42: bets 2805 and is all-in

WTF.

I know when you see his hand you think I should fold. Isn't it obvious he has me beat? Well no, it's not. It's really hard to see how any hand that beats me plays like this.

I just happened to have the only hand he beat that would call. That's how it is for me at the moment. I'm losing a ton of money to players who are so bad they don't know that their bets are super bad.

Jacxxs: folds
FR Vessant: calls 2468 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (337) returned to DaPorKer42
*** TURN *** [8h 6c Ah] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [8h 6c Ah 9h] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DaPorKer42: shows [Kc As] (two pair, Aces and Nines)

Just fucking awful. He should have AJ or a flush draw, maybe with a 6. When you're running good, that's all they have (although note that the flush draw got there anyway).

It doesn't do my fragile confidence any good. This happens literally every time I move up. I know that running bad is part of poker, but when it happens coincidentally with moving up, you start to fear that you cannot win at a higher level than the goddamn 11s. I had been getting excited about my prospects. Now they are at zero again.

blwhah

I'm hating poker lately. I had an up and down month last month, but I didn't play much, so meh. I am playing really well, as well as I ever have, but I'm running like shit. Sometimes I play a $2 satty for my MTT fix and when I win the ticket, I play whatever 11 is available. So I played a 27-man and won that. With the 100 bucks I played a 33 and the Nightly 70K. In both I took fierce beats from guys who limpcalled with suited cards preflop. So that was that. Never mind, only risked 2 bucks.

So I moved up to the 22s and that worked well. Or not, as you can imagine. Whenever I move up a level I immediately run like shit, just so that my head gets fucked with. I'm 100% certain I'm playing well, but running bad makes you question that so much. When a tight player completed at t150, should I really have shoved 13BB or whatever with T6? Well, I'm pretty sure I should, because how can I possibly know that a player who is winning more than a buck a game is bad enough to snapcall with KJ? And obviously I can't help all my big pairs getting cracked. I'm not talking just about shoving QQ on a K7x flop and the loose big blind having K7; I mean having AA, getting it in with JT on a AJ8 flop and the turn, river are 9,7. I am not fucking kidding, although I wish I was.

So tonight I said fuck it, because my laptop is broken and I wanted to stay upstairs, and played some bullshit games on FTP. I can proudly report that my record in 3.80 superturbos is now 1/0/0/1 and only a bad beat prevented me from cashing in both. However, I remain cursed in the 6.5/90s, where I have never cashed and probably never will. I shove 55 with a decent stack and a fish calls off 10BB with A3s, which is terrible.

Why is that terrible? He has an ace, right? Well, I am shoving more than 10BB effective, so my range is going to be fairly tight, and I haven't shown much sign of insanity yet, so you can definitely figure that you aren't beating much. Maybe KQs if you think I'm superfrisky, but you're not much ahead of that. My range otherwise is pairs, which nearly all crush you, and big aces, which also crush you. So you are hoping it's a pair and that you can suck out. Which the fish did. So I'm left shoving 9BB with KJs and the SB, who has, I dunno, 20BB, snaps with A6. This is also terrible. In case you truly suck at poker, let me tell you two facts: one, raggy aces are shit hands and two, raggy aces play much worse than you think against any sane shoving range. I just have so much Ax in my range and most of it smashes you. The pairs crush you mostly and even hands like the one I had fare okay (in theory) against your dogshit. But hey, you cover me, right, so gambooooooool? Well no. Your chips are worth much more to me than mine are to you. You just do not win poker tourneys by making loose calls, even if you think you miiiiiiiight sometimes be ahead.

This is one of the problems of tourneys. We don't mind too much the guys who limpcall with suited cards and eventually flush on us. They are chasing such longshots that we gain much more than we lose. But the guy who calls with A6 can hurt us much more. Not only does he rob us of some of the value of shoving weaker hands, but even if we have a stronger hand, he still sucks out much more often than he does when he calls pre with a suited hand. The guy who calls off his stack with A3s is an equity burner -- but although you got your money in good, he is burning your equity too by calling. The A6 guy, well, bleh. If there was any justice, I would have binked a J and lol'd him to oblivion. But there is no justice in poker.

I think I prefer lowstakes

OMG. There's just nothing to say about this. But why can't they miss?

PokerStars Game #30141761978: Tournament #175253468, $50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/05 22:45:06 ET
Table '175253468 49' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: howdipartner (3990 in chips)
Seat 2: BaQinBlaQ (2957 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (3980 in chips)
Seat 4: Mariocalls (2725 in chips)
Seat 5: mikeylions (5835 in chips)
Seat 6: mik9182 (9970 in chips)
Seat 7: nutsindaface (2130 in chips)
Seat 8: NdAAMiracle (3345 in chips)
Seat 9: NYSquad (4840 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 75
Mariocalls: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ac Ah]
mikeylions: folds
mik9182: folds
nutsindaface: folds
NdAAMiracle: raises 150 to 300
NYSquad: folds
howdipartner: folds
BaQinBlaQ: folds
FR Vessant: raises 450 to 750
Mariocalls: folds
NdAAMiracle: calls 450
*** FLOP *** [8c Td 6d]
FR Vessant: bets 1050
NdAAMiracle: calls 1050
*** TURN *** [8c Td 6d] [9h]
FR Vessant: bets 2180 and is all-in
NdAAMiracle: calls 1545 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (635) returned to FR Vessant
*** RIVER *** [8c Td 6d 9h] [9d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Ac Ah] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
NdAAMiracle: shows [Jd Kd] (a flush, King high)
NdAAMiracle collected 6840 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6840 | Rake 0
Board [8c Td 6d 9h 9d]
Seat 1: howdipartner folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: BaQinBlaQ (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (small blind) showed [Ac Ah] and lost with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 4: Mariocalls (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: mikeylions folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: mik9182 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: nutsindaface folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: NdAAMiracle showed [Jd Kd] and won (6840) with a flush, King high
Seat 9: NYSquad folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Another day, another wtf

Don't let anyone tell you that players actually get better as you go up buyins:

PokerStars Game #30113095585: Tournament #175252758, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/07/05 6:27:03 ET
Table '175252758 44' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Snooze7am (6775 in chips)
Seat 2: Muso01 (6350 in chips)
Seat 3: jesse6520 (2211 in chips)
Seat 4: Metzy 100 (11151 in chips)
Seat 5: aironevolant (3290 in chips)
Seat 6: HyperR_NL (9758 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (10930 in chips)
Seat 8: Brick7047 (1180 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: kaktus1965 (6550 in chips)
jesse6520: posts small blind 100
Metzy 100: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ac Qh]
aironevolant: calls 200

Horrible fish.

HyperR_NL: folds
FR Vessant: raises 600 to 800

So I make an isoraise.

Brick7047: folds
kaktus1965: folds
Brick7047 is disconnected
Snooze7am: folds
Muso01: folds
jesse6520: folds
Metzy 100: calls 600

Another unbelievable fish.

aironevolant: raises 2490 to 3290 and is all-in

I just don't believe he's limpreraising a big hand. I'm thinking it's probably a small pair, and I have the overlay to take it on.

FR Vessant: raises 7640 to 10930 and is all-in
Metzy 100: folds
Uncalled bet (7640) returned to FR Vessant

He has 22. Fuck that.

*** FLOP *** [Kh Kc 5h]

Give me a 5, Q or A.


Three hands later.

PokerStars Game #30113152574: Tournament #175252758, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/07/05 6:30:31 ET
Table '175252758 44' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Snooze7am (6775 in chips)
Seat 2: Muso01 (5150 in chips)
Seat 3: jesse6520 (4522 in chips)
Seat 4: Metzy 100 (10251 in chips)
Seat 5: aironevolant (4819 in chips)
Seat 6: HyperR_NL (11508 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (7440 in chips)
Seat 8: Brick7047 (1180 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: kaktus1965 (6550 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 100
Brick7047: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [6s 6h]
kaktus1965: folds
Snooze7am: folds
Muso01: folds
jesse6520: folds
Metzy 100: folds
aironevolant: calls 200
HyperR_NL: calls 200
FR Vessant: raises 800 to 1000

Hoping to get Hyper to fold and isolate the other guy.

Brick7047: folds
aironevolant: calls 800

You simply will not believe what he limpcalled with.

HyperR_NL: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ad 2d 4s]
FR Vessant: bets 6440 and is all-in

Not afraid of the ace. The fish would have raised if he had one.

aironevolant: calls 3819 and is all-in

He snapcalls with Td4d.

I don't ask how come a fish can call with Td4d in the first place, or how he can call a raise with it. I ask why he must fucking hit the flop. Could he not just have missed?

Uncalled bet (2621) returned to FR Vessant
*** TURN *** [Ad 2d 4s] [7d]

OMG.

Oh well. Still alive, right?

PokerStars Game #30113244440: Tournament #175252758, $30+$3 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/07/05 6:36:02 ET
Table '175252758 44' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Snooze7am (6975 in chips)
Seat 2: Muso01 (4450 in chips)
Seat 3: Ozknackers (6930 in chips)
Seat 4: Metzy 100 (9851 in chips)
Seat 5: aironevolant (16060 in chips)
Seat 6: HyperR_NL (10808 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (2921 in chips)
Seat 8: Brick7047 (880 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: kaktus1965 (6250 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 100
Brick7047: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ad Jh]
kaktus1965: folds
Snooze7am: folds
Muso01: folds
Ozknackers: folds
Metzy 100: raises 200 to 400
aironevolant: calls 400
HyperR_NL: folds
FR Vessant: raises 2521 to 2921 and is all-in
Brick7047: folds
Metzy 100: calls 2521
aironevolant: folds
*** FLOP *** [Kd Th Kh]
*** TURN *** [Kd Th Kh] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Th Kh 9h] [4c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Ad Jh] (a pair of Kings)
Metzy 100: shows [Ts 9s] (two pair, Kings and Tens)

Wrong.

Unreal. That's some of the worst poker you'll ever see and in each case I was on the receiving end of it. Yet again. It sucks though. I don't normally play $33 buyins, I'm so risk averse. And I was absolutely cruising, playing well, with an above-average stack when bang! Sigh.

Goodbye to all that

I seriously believe I will not make an 8,000th post on 2p2. I have used it as a timewaster more than a learning tool, and of course, I like to help others if I can, but I doubt I'm actually good enough to be of that much benefit to anyone.

So I'm going to post a hot chick here and that will do me for 2p2. No one will care; least of all me.

Moving up blues, reprise

So Dr Zen, I hear you moved up to the 22s permanently. How has that been going?

Well, I got a third:


PokerStars Game #30004948785: Tournament #176205984, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/07/02 0:25:12 ET
Table '176205984 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 4: Vegaas (2220 in chips)
Seat 6: zewowwee (9254 in chips)
Seat 9: FR Vessant (2026 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 100
Vegaas: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ah 2d]
zewowwee: calls 200

Has limped, I am not kidding, every single hand ITM since he took a big pot from the other fish.

FR Vessant: raises 1826 to 2026 and is all-in
Vegaas: folds
zewowwee: calls 1826

He has KJ.

*** FLOP *** [3s Qc Js]

Nice.

Next I just about bust when my AQ hits on a 557Q board against slowplayed 77, but I fight back until:
PokerStars Game #30004665227: Tournament #176206581, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/02 0:11:03 ET
Table '176206581 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Memahair (2985 in chips)
Seat 3: orange13 (1340 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (850 in chips)
Seat 5: Russ186 (3870 in chips)
Seat 9: CoachDamey (4455 in chips)
CoachDamey: posts small blind 75
Memahair: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Td Ac]
orange13: folds
FR Vessant: raises 700 to 850 and is all-in
Russ186: calls 850
CoachDamey: folds
Memahair: folds
*** FLOP *** [5d Qs 3s]
*** TURN *** [5d Qs 3s] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [5d Qs 3s Qc] [Th]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FR Vessant: shows [Td Ac] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
Russ186: shows [Ad Ah] (two pair, Aces and Queens)

FML.

PokerStars Game #30005684747: Tournament #176215326, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/07/02 1:04:09 ET
Table '176215326 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: Ricardo Qu. (4050 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (1355 in chips)
Seat 4: jbashir111 (1810 in chips)
Seat 6: boonwatt (3685 in chips)
Seat 7: geminiJules (2600 in chips)
Ricardo Qu.: posts small blind 50
FR Vessant: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [6d Tc]
jbashir111: folds
boonwatt: folds
geminiJules: folds
Ricardo Qu.: calls 50

This guy's a winning player, but he will complete pretty wide.

FR Vessant: raises 1255 to 1355 and is all-in

Pretty standard.

Ricardo Qu.: calls 1255

With KJ. That's pretty indefensible. He is basically gambling because he has no reason to think my range isn't strong here. I find it truly astonishing that a guy can be a winning player at the 22s when he's willing to play so badly.

The standard, and correct, play is to just raise and steal the blinds. "Trapping" with KJ is retarded. You miss most flops and give away your chips.

*** FLOP *** [Jc 2h 3d]

Nice.


PokerStars Game #30005829843: Tournament #176215949, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/02 1:12:31 ET
Table '176215949 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: daveyjhiyo (4370 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (1495 in chips)
Seat 6: landonryan9 (1840 in chips)
Seat 8: BadBeat_Brat (1040 in chips)
Seat 9: geminiJules (4755 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 75
landonryan9: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Tc Kc]
BadBeat_Brat: folds
geminiJules: folds
daveyjhiyo: folds
FR Vessant: raises 1345 to 1495 and is all-in

Standard shove for 10BB. I've barely played a hand all tourney of course.

landonryan9: calls 1345

He has AT.

*** FLOP *** [Th 8c 8s]

Lovely to hit my pair.


PokerStars Game #30006560500: Tournament #176220013, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/07/02 1:56:43 ET
Table '176220013 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (1512 in chips)
Seat 2: dippo (2447 in chips)
Seat 3: expertkotlas (3800 in chips)
Seat 4: sniperjtubbs (3986 in chips)
Seat 7: JamesDoyle (1755 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 50
dippo: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qc Qd]
expertkotlas: folds
sniperjtubbs: folds
JamesDoyle: folds
FR Vessant: raises 200 to 300
dippo: calls 200

Fish, so he has a pretty wide range.

*** FLOP *** [6h 7d Kd]
FR Vessant: bets 1212 and is all-in

Hope to get called by 6x, 7x, straight draws, flush draws, pairs. My hand looks a lot like AQ/AJ that has missed, so these hands do call a lot. I could play it slower and not get stacked when he has...

dippo: calls 1212

K7. But he would have called with J7, so what can you do?

*** TURN *** [6h 7d Kd] [4d]

Can I resuck to the flush?

*** RIVER *** [6h 7d Kd 4d] [6s]

Are you fucking kidding?

Can these fish miss just once vs my big hands?

PokerStars Game #30006734585: Tournament #176220025, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/02 2:07:49 ET
Table '176220025 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: FR Vessant (1445 in chips)
Seat 2: frofessor (2215 in chips)
Seat 4: RJ_3 (2635 in chips)
Seat 6: bobby198325 (2095 in chips)
Seat 8: bunest (2105 in chips)
Seat 9: greywôlf (3005 in chips)
greywôlf: posts small blind 75
FR Vessant: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [As 3s]
frofessor: folds
RJ_3: calls 150

Has limpfolded already and is playing a very wide range.

bobby198325: folds
bunest: folds
greywôlf: folds
FR Vessant: raises 1295 to 1445 and is all-in

I shove because he should fold most of what he has, and I'm going to be ahead if he doesn't.

RJ_3: calls 1295

He snapcalls with JT.

I mean, wtf. He claims he "knew it was a coinflip". Which is bullshit, because I can easily have hands that are much better than a coinflip against him, and even the hand I have is 57-43.

And even if he had a coinflip, he should fold ofc.

*** FLOP *** [3d Qc 8c]
*** TURN *** [3d Qc 8c] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [3d Qc 8c 7d] [Ts]

FUCK. THIS. SHIT.

And here are that guy's figures on Sharkscope: 1,217 $1 $5 13% $1,033.

How? How the fuck are these guys winning? And does that say something about me? If this guy can luckbox his way to a grand in 1K games, maybe I'm just luckier than I am good?

Is the A3s shove good? It seems good to me. I'd shoved over once before, but he probably didn't remember, and anyway, I was right that I was ahead of him. I shouldn't mind so much being called by JT. Well, I wouldn't, but every aggressive play I have been making seems to be leading to busting.

Oh well. This is going to happen, I suppose. I have to bear with it. I'm pretty sure that the occasional wild play makes me money, so I shouldn't stop doing it. I'd like to see them get punished when they make awful calls though, but what ever changed there?

Diagf fishy

I hate these fish. Some days you just want to kill them.

PokerStars Game #29973031681: Tournament #175986535, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/01 4:20:52 ET
Table '175986535 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: opferlamm11 (2160 in chips)
Seat 2: FR Vessant (1660 in chips)
Seat 3: waveydude (1360 in chips)
Seat 4: fobosca (1685 in chips)
Seat 7: Makaveli1977 (2160 in chips)
Seat 8: bizzleburt77 (3000 in chips)
Seat 9: daveymck (1475 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 75
waveydude: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ad Qh]
fobosca: folds
Makaveli1977: folds
bizzleburt77: folds
daveymck: raises 300 to 450
opferlamm11: folds
FR Vessant: raises 1210 to 1660 and is all-in

I have not threebet all tourney.

waveydude: folds
daveymck: calls 1025 and is all-in

This guy won some money at the 5s, but not by playing well, obv. He has KT.

Uncalled bet (185) returned to FR Vessant
*** FLOP *** [8c Ts 8d]
*** TURN *** [8c Ts 8d] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [8c Ts 8d Kc] [3d]


Fuck this.

Anyway, I get into the money with the same idiot and another even worse fish. I have threebet once in this tourney, and I have folded several raises to threebets (the fish keeps picking the bluffs and missing the value hands).

PokerStars Game #29973159413: Tournament #175986573, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/07/01 4:30:46 ET
Table '175986573 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: daveymck (3940 in chips)
Seat 2: FR Vessant (6640 in chips)
Seat 3: genevajc (2920 in chips)
daveymck: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kd As]
genevajc: raises 400 to 600
daveymck: folds
FR Vessant: raises 6040 to 6640 and is all-in
genevajc: calls 2320 and is all-in

He has A4s. That's a supereasy fold, Mr Fish.

But we're sweet, right? On our way to glory?

Uncalled bet (3720) returned to FR Vessant
*** FLOP *** [Ad 3s Ac]
*** TURN *** [Ad 3s Ac] [4c]

Nope.

*** RIVER *** [Ad 3s Ac 4c] [2s]


Later, he shoves for 14BB and I call with A8. It's not the first time he has done a ridic overshove, but this time he has TT, and it's gg me.

It's sucking that I cannot turn my cashes into wins. I suppose I should be content that I'm winning, but I obviously have some problems in the money. I'm not sure what else I can do though. I got my money in yet again as a 70/30 favourite and the fish sucked out.

These games didn't help:

PokerStars Game #29972344066: Tournament #175986098, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/07/01 3:28:42 ET
Table '175986098 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: magnum1288 (290 in chips)
Seat 2: NC17ezp (2010 in chips)
Seat 3: Vigilante4 (1530 in chips)
Seat 4: IBda12beatU (2520 in chips)
Seat 5: zach915m (1410 in chips)
Seat 6: FR Vessant (1440 in chips)
Seat 7: Jonah SJ (1550 in chips)
Seat 8: daveymck (1430 in chips)
Seat 9: dckcdc (1320 in chips)
dckcdc: posts small blind 10
magnum1288: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Td Ts]
NC17ezp: calls 20
Vigilante4: calls 20
IBda12beatU: raises 60 to 80
zach915m: folds
FR Vessant: calls 80
Jonah SJ: folds
daveymck: folds
dckcdc: folds
magnum1288: folds
NC17ezp: calls 60
Vigilante4: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [3c 4d 3s]
NC17ezp: checks
Vigilante4: checks
IBda12beatU: bets 160

I didn't notice that this was preflop raiser, which was stupid of me.

FR Vessant: raises 1200 to 1360 and is all-in

And I definitely shouldn't have shoved.

NC17ezp: folds
Vigilante4: folds
IBda12beatU: calls 1200
*** TURN *** [3c 4d 3s] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [3c 4d 3s 3d] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
IBda12beatU: shows [Kc Kh] (a full house, Threes full of Kings)

Whoops.

Oh well, missing the odd one is the price you have to pay for not paying attention, but there's no excuse for this next one, except the previous hand:

PokerStars Game #29972293262: Tournament #175985791, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/07/01 3:24:51 ET
Table '175985791 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: jbashir111 (1610 in chips)
Seat 2: WHITE1340 (1480 in chips)
Seat 3: NickelBeaver (1415 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (1150 in chips)
Seat 5: dougbonk (1470 in chips)
Seat 6: brayden126 (1915 in chips)
Seat 7: zach915m (1460 in chips)
Seat 8: el_vacan (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: Southwyck (1500 in chips)
brayden126: posts small blind 10
zach915m: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kc Ks]
el_vacan: folds
Southwyck: folds
jbashir111: folds
WHITE1340: folds
NickelBeaver: folds
FR Vessant: raises 60 to 80
dougbonk: folds
brayden126: calls 70
zach915m: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [7h 8s Ah]

Always a fucking ace!

brayden126: bets 60
zach915m: calls 60
FR Vessant: calls 60

Dunno why I called. I suppose they could both have flush draws. In my dreams.

*** TURN *** [7h 8s Ah] [6h]
brayden126: bets 60
zach915m: raises 160 to 220
FR Vessant: folds


Obviously, even the biggest fish (me) is going to fold there, so I do.

brayden126: calls 160
*** RIVER *** [7h 8s Ah 6h] [Qh]
brayden126: checks
zach915m: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
brayden126: shows [As 2d] (a pair of Aces)
zach915m: shows [7c 7d] (three of a kind, Sevens)

It's really nice when both callers suck out on you. The second guy shouldn't even have been in the pot. Yeah, I know he has set odds etc etc, but see, he hit his set and did I stack off? No, I didn't, and I wouldn't even if I had had AK, because I scoped him before the game and I can see that he wins too much to stack off with worse on that flop.

So the next hand:

PokerStars Game #29972302892: Tournament #175985791, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/07/01 3:25:35 ET
Table '175985791 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: jbashir111 (1610 in chips)
Seat 2: WHITE1340 (1480 in chips)
Seat 3: NickelBeaver (1415 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (1010 in chips)
Seat 5: dougbonk (1470 in chips)
Seat 6: brayden126 (1555 in chips)
Seat 7: zach915m (1960 in chips)
Seat 8: el_vacan (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: Southwyck (1500 in chips)
zach915m: posts small blind 10
el_vacan: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Kd As]
Southwyck: folds
jbashir111: folds
WHITE1340: folds
FR Vessant said, "sigh"
NickelBeaver: folds
FR Vessant: raises 60 to 80
dougbonk: calls 80
brayden126: calls 80
FR Vessant said, "always an ace when you raise with KK"

Yeah true.

zach915m: raises 245 to 325

OMG. It's going to be really hard to fold here. He should be very strong here.

el_vacan: raises 1175 to 1500 and is all-in

No idea about this guy, but I am going to make what I think is a terrible call. I'm likely to be allin three ways with AK and probably two strong hands against me.

FR Vessant: calls 930 and is all-in
dougbonk: folds
brayden126: folds
zach915m: folds

WTF. It's hard to imagine what he can 3bet me with that he now folds. My stats had looked a bit dodgy, I suppose, because I'd been dealt about six pairs early. However, it's not like I had raised often. But I think some players just play their strat without caring what others are doing. His probably says "3bet AQ+, 99+" or something like that, and it's just a pity that there was the other guy in the hand.

Uncalled bet (490) returned to el_vacan

Who has QQ unfortunately.
*** FLOP *** [4h 4d Jd]
*** TURN *** [4h 4d Jd] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [4h 4d Jd 7h] [Jc]

Still, I'm not complaining too much. Elsewhere, I rode my luck in a 22:

PokerStars Game #29972790320: Tournament #175983606, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/07/01 4:02:48 ET
Table '175983606 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: camo100 (585 in chips)
Seat 2: tleathem (2730 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (2080 in chips)
Seat 8: dekka4409 (6420 in chips)
Seat 9: brav3hearted (1685 in chips)
tleathem: posts small blind 75
FR Vessant: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [As 2c]
dekka4409: folds
brav3hearted: folds
camo100: folds
tleathem: calls 75

A very limpy fish, so stealing his limp is going to be +EV.

FR Vessant: raises 1930 to 2080 and is all-in
tleathem: calls 1930

He has AQ. See, these guys think they're trapping you, but I take that into account when I shove over.

*** FLOP *** [2d 7d 9c]

BOOM!

*** TURN *** [2d 7d 9c] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [2d 7d 9c 7c] [8c]


And later:

PokerStars Game #29973000600: Tournament #175983606, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2009/07/01 4:18:30 ET
Table '175983606 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 3: FR Vessant (2290 in chips)
Seat 8: dekka4409 (8000 in chips)
Seat 9: brav3hearted (3210 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 100
dekka4409: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ac Jc]
brav3hearted: calls 200

Has limped a ton.

brav3hearted said, "o yea"
FR Vessant: raises 2090 to 2290 and is all-in

My hand is easily good enough against his range but he will likely fold most of it.

dekka4409: folds
brav3hearted: calls 2090
brav3hearted said, "have to call hope im not dominated"

Has 99

*** FLOP *** [9h 8s Qh]

Oh shit.

dekka4409 said, "JJ"

Definitely lying.

brav3hearted said, "yes"

Is it?

*** TURN *** [9h 8s Qh] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [9h 8s Qh 2s] [Tc]

OMG! LOL.

So he was pretty bitter about that and made his exit shortly after. So dekka starts playing ultra weirdly, as fishes do when they feel outmatched (or sometimes just because that's how they play heads up, I dunno). She is raising just way too often, and threebetting a ton too, so:

PokerStars Game #29973110260: Tournament #175983606, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2009/07/01 4:26:59 ET
Table '175983606 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 3: FR Vessant (5775 in chips)
Seat 8: dekka4409 (7725 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
dekka4409: posts the ante 25
dekka4409: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Tc Kh]
dekka4409: raises 400 to 600
FR Vessant: raises 5150 to 5750 and is all-in
dekka4409: folds

Keep her honest. And I'm thinking when I do it, that she will likely call with a bad hand if I do it again, because she can bust me. So two hands later:

PokerStars Game #29973123456: Tournament #175983606, $20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2009/07/01 4:28:01 ET
Table '175983606 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 3: FR Vessant (6275 in chips)
Seat 8: dekka4409 (7225 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
dekka4409: posts the ante 25
dekka4409: posts small blind 100
FR Vessant: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ah Kh]
dekka4409: raises 600 to 800
FR Vessant: raises 5450 to 6250 and is all-in
dekka4409: calls 5450

76s. A fine call. Normally, they proceed to hit a 7 or a 6, or both.

*** FLOP *** [8h 3d Qs]
FR Vessant said, "nh"

Naughty!

*** TURN *** [8h 3d Qs] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [8h 3d Qs 3c] [9s]

But not this time, and I went on to win. Veeeerrrrry satisfying.

No, really, fuck my luck

Wow. I have never run that bad ever. -50%, but +29% adjusted.

I lost 180 Sklansky bucks in two and a half hours.

Oh well, the upside is that you simply cannot run that bad forever. The downside is that that probably means I'll run that bad for a couple of weeks and then kill myself.

FML

OMG. I didn't think it could get worse. But it did.

QQ < AK, obv. JJ < AK. I shoved A3s over a guy who was raising half his hands; this time he had JJ. I tilted and shoved AJs on a Q66x turn with two of my suit when the horrible fish had bet the flop; he had Q2 and his hand held up. I got blinded down and ran AJ on the button into KK in the BB. Snapcalled a 5BB shove at t200 blinds with 88, he had JJ and just to make it nice he flopped a set. I get it all in heads up with ATs vs A4, flop a pair and he rivers a straight. Got it in with 66 vs AT, flopped a set and he rivered the straight. Got it in with AT vs KQ, flopped an ace, turned a ten, rivered a J. Ran KQ into AK, hit my Q, he rivered a straight. Had 99 and TT cracked by single overcards. Three times, I'm not kidding, a shorty minraised my big blind when I had AJ, each time the other guy had KK. IN ONE SET.

To cap it off, in two hands at t600 on the bubble, I ran JT into AQ and KJ into AJ to bubble a 6K stack.

That's a set of 12. Nice. I was running great until today, playing really well and getting the reward. The reward's the only thing that changed.

Month ends well.

This is the worst set of ten ever. First I got it all in with a straight against two pair on the turn and he hit his boat.

I had QQ and JJ cracked by AK.

99 beaten by A4s. Then another 99 beaten by A6. A8 beaten by A5s. 88 beaten by KTs, which a retard raisecalled for just about his whole stack (and all of mine).

Well, that's fucked my good month.

And this capped it:

PokerStars Game #29928769601: Tournament #175668943, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2009/06/29 21:42:06 ET
Table '175668943 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: plaon (2470 in chips)
Seat 6: FR Vessant (3535 in chips)
Seat 7: balla,the769 (7495 in chips)
plaon: posts the ante 25
FR Vessant: posts the ante 25
balla,the769: posts the ante 25
balla,the769: posts small blind 200
plaon: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Tc Kd]
FR Vessant: raises 3110 to 3510 and is all-in
balla,the769: folds
plaon: calls 2045 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1065) returned to FR Vessant
*** FLOP *** [8h Td Kh]

Yaaaaaaay!

*** TURN *** [8h Td Kh] [8s]

OMG, the board paired.
Please don't let him river his threeouter.

*** RIVER *** [8h Td Kh 8s] [As]

FUCK MY LIFE.

Only a 9/1 favourite on flop though! Why complain?

wham bam thank you ma'am

If you want to know the most infuriating thing in an STT, it is not the allin suckout, which you come to expect. It is this:

PokerStars Game #29788410103: Tournament #174709378, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/06/25 23:22:43 ET
Table '174709378 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Sucho11 (1460 in chips)
Seat 3: harry580 (3040 in chips)
Seat 4: push2shock (1440 in chips)
Seat 5: BigSlick1972 (1680 in chips)
Seat 6: swinger92 (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (1380 in chips)
Seat 8: olly_e (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: SCRAAPNBY (1500 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 10
olly_e: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [4c 3c]
SCRAAPNBY: folds
Sucho11: folds
harry580: folds
push2shock: folds
BigSlick1972: folds
swinger92: folds
FR Vessant: calls 10

I actually misclicked but it's okay. I don't mind playing that.

olly_e: checks
*** FLOP *** [Qh 8s 3d]
FR Vessant: checks
olly_e: checks

I could bet my bottom pair, but olly_e is fairly passive so I'm content to check it down.

*** TURN *** [Qh 8s 3d] [4h]
FR Vessant: bets 40
olly_e: calls 40

Well now I have two pair, so I won't be checking anything. I bet pot but I'm not supposing he'll call. When he does, I figure he must have a 4 or maybe an 8.

*** RIVER *** [Qh 8s 3d 4h] [Jd]
FR Vessant: bets 60

So I bet for value.

olly_e: raises 120 to 180

WTF. Could he have JT? Jhxh? A queen that he's slowplayed? I think these are all likely so I can't fold.

FR Vessant: calls 120
*** SHOW DOWN ***
olly_e: shows [8h Js] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)

That's nice.

Anyway, I won it all back when we got it in with QQ and KK.

***

In the same tourney, this hand came up. This is a bit more interesting. I'm not sure that I didn't play this badly on every street! But it seemed right at the time.

Earlier on, we had had a hand where I had A8s in the BB and called a minraise. The flop had come 8 high but I checked it to him. (It was earlier in the tourney, so I wasn't aware that he was playing 79/46.) He checked it back and the turn paired 5s. I bet and he called. The river was a 9 and I checked it to him. He overbet the pot pretty big, so I folded. That was a poorly played hand in retrospect. I like to check and call the flop, but bet/folding the river is better than checkfolding. Although he is loose and aggressive, not many people will bluff when there's a pair on the board and you're in the big blind, and few villains in the $11s will bluff with hands that have showdown value, so I'd figure to be against a better hand often if he raised.

Anyway:

PokerStars Game #29788677115: Tournament #174709378, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2009/06/25 23:34:46 ET
Table '174709378 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: Sucho11 (1385 in chips)
Seat 3: harry580 (3660 in chips)
Seat 4: push2shock (1595 in chips)
Seat 6: swinger92 (2445 in chips)
Seat 7: FR Vessant (2235 in chips)
Seat 8: olly_e (590 in chips)
Seat 9: SCRAAPNBY (1590 in chips)
FR Vessant: posts small blind 15
olly_e: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Td Tc]
SCRAAPNBY: folds
Sucho11: folds
harry580: raises 30 to 60
push2shock: folds
swinger92: folds
FR Vessant: calls 45

I could and probably should threebet. Because I'm not watching the game closely, I hadn't realised who had raised.

I generally flat midpairs OOP though, and you could definitely argue against threebetting here because it allows the tard to shove over and make you fold.

olly_e: folds
*** FLOP *** [7d 4h 6d]
FR Vessant: bets 120

I lead out because I am not going to risk him taking the free card.


harry580: calls 120

He doesn't have to have much here. His range is still very wide, although it's quite likely only strong hands and air, because he'd play more moderate hands faster (play everything faster bar monsters).

*** TURN *** [7d 4h 6d] [Jh]
FR Vessant: checks

I check to induce a bluff. I'm not keen on giving a free card here, but I'm pretty sure he will bet.

harry580: checks

Whoops.

*** RIVER *** [7d 4h 6d Jh] [9d]

Well, that's not a great river to say the least. Several draws got there. But I am quite doubtful he had a flush draw. If he did

FR Vessant: checks
harry580: bets 330

Well, I induced the bluff so I have to call, right?
FR Vessant: calls 330
*** SHOW DOWN ***
harry580: shows [9s Kh] (a pair of Nines)

Nice.

Later in this game I stacked off with KQs on a K high flop against a nitty sort of guy who had also paired his kicker. That left me with 300 chips. But here's the thing. I didn't give in. I kept shoving, taking risks, mad risks. And they paid. I won it. It's easy to hate poker. It's a rubbish game. You do the right thing and get burnt. But sometimes it's just brilliant.

I fucking hate you fish

If one hand encapsulates why I fucking hate poker, here it is:

PokerStars Game #29121169513: Tournament #170120836, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/06/08 1:47:10 ET
Table '170120836 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: kegstandcox (2200 in chips)
Seat 3: FR Vessant (1330 in chips)
Seat 5: AFaces (8030 in chips)

Has knocked out five players by simply calling with whatever shit he had and beating them.


Seat 9: FOCALSAN (1940 in chips)
FOCALSAN: posts small blind 50
kegstandcox: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Td Ac]

Horrible. I have 13BB so I don't want to raise (fish will call very wide) and my hand's too strong to fold.

FR Vessant: raises 1230 to 1330 and is all-in
AFaces: calls 1330
He has KT.

I mean, wtf. It just goes without saying that I can't possibly be shoving anything he actually beats.

Anyway, another hand where I'm miles in front, so that's nice.

FOCALSAN: folds
kegstandcox: folds
*** FLOP *** [7c 7s 5d]
*** TURN *** [7c 7s 5d] [Kh]

Buyin by buyin, poker just crushes your soul.

Punked

I am quietly simmering with rage. It takes more than 3 hours to get to this point in a 4/180.

PokerStars Game #28750560513: Tournament #167531169, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIII (600/1200) - 2009/05/29 10:18:05 ET
Table '167531169 15' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: Gummihahn (45626 in chips)
Seat 2: Chuguev11 (138893 in chips)
Seat 3: bigboyyy22 (33030 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (31473 in chips)

Has been playing really fucking well and is going to win a 180 for the first time.

Seat 8: Breckam111 (20978 in chips)
Gummihahn: posts the ante 125
Chuguev11: posts the ante 125
bigboyyy22: posts the ante 125
FR Vessant: posts the ante 125
Breckam111: posts the ante 125
Gummihahn: posts small blind 600
Chuguev11: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Qs Ks]
bigboyyy22: folds
FR Vessant: raises 2400 to 3600

Standard raise. The big blind will call though. He's a terrible fish.

Breckam111: folds
Gummihahn: folds
Chuguev11: calls 2400

See?

*** FLOP *** [Jc Kh 4d]

So I have top pair. Nice.

Chuguev11: checks
FR Vessant: bets 3600
Chuguev11: calls 3600

He probably has nothing much. Maybe a worse king.

*** TURN *** [Jc Kh 4d] [3c]
Chuguev11: checks
FR Vessant: bets 24148 and is all-in

Easy shove. I have the best hand like always.

Chuguev11: calls 24148

He has A4o. I mean, let's not even go there. It's not even bad. To call here, he has to either believe it really is a good bet to try to suck out to his ace, or that I don't have a J or K. As if!

So he has five outs.

*** RIVER *** [Jc Kh 4d 3c] [4c]

O. M. F. G.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Chuguev11: shows [As 4h] (three of a kind, Fours)

NH sir.

FR Vessant: shows [Qs Ks] (two pair, Kings and Fours)

Well, how can you expect that trash to be good at the final table of a tourney, huh?

shwong

Dr Zen, your upswing is now finished. We thank you for your custom:

PokerStars Game #28320329441: Tournament #164576059, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2009/05/17 21:36:17 ET
Table '164576059 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: hankaram35 (815 in chips)
Seat 2: Knockout305 (1880 in chips)
Seat 3: grannyc1912 (1255 in chips)
Seat 4: FR Vessant (1575 in chips)
Seat 5: FANUEVO (1485 in chips)
Seat 6: boomerou247 (1655 in chips)
Seat 7: Sucho11 (1795 in chips)
Seat 9: keith11309 (3040 in chips)
Knockout305: posts small blind 50
grannyc1912: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ad Ah]
FR Vessant: raises 145 to 245
FANUEVO: calls 245

Horrible fish.

boomerou247: folds
Sucho11: folds
keith11309: folds
hankaram35: folds
Knockout305: folds
grannyc1912: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qd Ac Ks]

Not bad. Only behind to JT.

FR Vessant: bets 400
FANUEVO: raises 840 to 1240 and is all-in
FR Vessant: calls 840
FANUEVO: shows [Jd Td]

Oh.

Two AA hands

Here are two hands that illustrate what STTs, and poker, is all about.

PokerStars Game #28281049444: Tournament #164301479, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2009/05/16 21:16:33 ET
Table '164301479 1' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: smallss (1460 in chips)
Seat 2: FR Vessant (1540 in chips)
Seat 3: G-Man965 (1440 in chips)
Seat 4: 333PW (1180 in chips)
Seat 5: Shangai2 (1460 in chips)
Seat 6: Evil17 (1470 in chips)
Seat 7: carolann79 (1650 in chips)
Seat 8: ashley lance (2200 in chips)
Seat 9: doctorbling (1100 in chips)
G-Man965: posts small blind 10
333PW: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [Ac Ad]
Shangai2: calls 20
Evil17: folds
carolann79: calls 20
ashley lance: folds
doctorbling: calls 20
smallss: folds
FR Vessant: raises 80 to 100

A bit less than standard, but I want a caller.

G-Man965: folds
333PW: calls 80
Shangai2: calls 80
carolann79: calls 80
doctorbling: calls 80

Maybe not four though.

*** FLOP *** [5s 2h Jd]

Pretty safe flop.

333PW: checks
Shangai2: bets 260

Despite what people think, the donks do lead top pair into you and I'd say that his most likely hand is Jx. The donks routinely slowplay sets, so I'm not expecting to be beat.

carolann79: calls 260
doctorbling: folds
FR Vessant: raises 1180 to 1440 and is all-in

Easy shove.

333PW: folds
Shangai2: calls 1100 and is all-in

He has JT. What does he imagine he's ahead of here? I don't know that he even thinks that deeply. He just goes "I has top pair, call the shove."

carolann79: folds

Not sure what you can call 360 chips off with and then just fold, but I'm not her.

Uncalled bet (80) returned to FR Vessant
*** TURN *** [5s 2h Jd] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [5s 2h Jd 9c] [3s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Shangai2: shows [Ts Jh] (a pair of Jacks)
FR Vessant: shows [Ac Ad] (a pair of Aces)
FR Vessant collected 3490 from pot

So my hand holds up and I TID.

It's a bit annoying that after this good start, I had a super weird ITM, where a winning player and a fish contrived to trade chips to each other hand after hand, as I watched mostly without getting involved. Sadly, the fish snapped off a 10BB shove at t400 with 33 and my AK didn't improve.

So the next AA hand:


PokerStars Game #28283516323: Tournament #164315536, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2009/05/16 22:47:21 ET
Table '164315536 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: gretzky7 (1570 in chips)
Seat 3: Maus99 (1175 in chips)
Seat 4: Ac/Dc (1565 in chips)
Seat 5: FR Vessant (1170 in chips)
Seat 6: Black2008 (1125 in chips)
Seat 7: olly_e (2230 in chips)
Seat 8: mayor72 (3410 in chips)
Seat 9: CincyNick (1255 in chips)
Maus99: posts small blind 25
Ac/Dc: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FR Vessant [As Ah]
FR Vessant: raises 100 to 150

Standard raise. I don't limp/reraise aces but I have folded out the table a couple of times recently, so maybe I should consider it.

Black2008: folds
olly_e: folds
mayor72: folds
CincyNick: folds
gretzky7: calls 150

Complete fish. Could have anything.

Maus99: folds
Ac/Dc: folds
*** FLOP *** [4s Kc Td]

This is a good flop because the fish can easily have hit it. He can have KT of course, but he has too much in his range to worry about that.

FR Vessant: bets 200
gretzky7: calls 200

So he has Kx/Tx/QJ, maybe Q9 and you couldn't count out A4 and pocket pairs.

*** TURN *** [4s Kc Td] [8d]
FR Vessant: bets 820 and is all-in

I just shove because the pot's a bit less than my stack.

gretzky7: calls 820

He has KJ. Again it's hard to imagine what he could think he's ahead of. He has to put me on the bluff because I just can't have a worse hand than KJ here. He doesn't know me, and probably hasn't noticed that I'm playing tight, but I was under the gun, so it's a stretch to imagine that I could have K9 there.

But the fish do not fold top pair ever. And again I have to dodge six outs.

*** RIVER *** [4s Kc Td 8d] [Kd]

And that's poker. Everything I had control over, I did right, and I still lost. Everything he had control over, he did wrong (terrible call preflop, should raise flop if he's going to continue and he's beating nothing at all on the turn so he has to fold) and won.

If you are playing soundly, and know you are, you can be relaxed about things like this. You know that you have a downswing when they hit their six outs a few times in a row, which they will, and an upswing when they don't.

May I invite you gentlemen to call?

The $3 90-man knockouts are a bundle of fun. Here's the first hand of today's iteration:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12207338630: $3 + $0.30 KO Sit & Go (91255595), Table 10 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:44:35 ET - 2009/05/13
Seat 1: basatagirl (3,000)
Seat 2: MACtech123 (3,000)
Seat 3: str82myhouse00 (3,000)
Seat 4: Dupree11 (3,000)
Seat 5: stgo_tuner (3,000)
Seat 6: DaGambler_007 (3,000)
Seat 7: Tovar76 (3,000)
Seat 8: Hibsgreen (3,000)
Seat 9: boodwa (3,000)
basatagirl posts the small blind of 15
MACtech123 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to basatagirl [Ac As]

Me likey!

str82myhouse00 folds
Dupree11 calls 30
stgo_tuner folds
DaGambler_007 calls 30
Tovar76 folds
Hibsgreen calls 30
boodwa calls 30
basatagirl raises to 150

Question now is, will anyone fold?

MACtech123 calls 120
Dupree11 calls 120
DaGambler_007 folds

Not living up to his name.


Hibsgreen calls 120
boodwa calls 120

Four callers!

*** FLOP *** [5c Qc 4s]

Now. The standard play is to make a potsized bet or thereabouts and a/ make secondbest hands pay and b/ charge draws.

Fuck that. Someone must have a queen and if I shove, they'll never fold.

basatagirl bets 2,850, and is all in

Boom!

MACtech123 has 15 seconds left to act
MACtech123 calls 2,850, and is all in

Nice one.

Dupree11 folds
Hibsgreen folds
boodwa calls 2,850, and is all in

Ooooooo.

basatagirl shows [Ac As]
MACtech123 shows [5s 3s]

Nice call sir. You beat bottom pair and have a backdoor draw. Fine poker.

boodwa shows [Qh 8c]

Put me on AK.

*** TURN *** [5c Qc 4s] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [5c Qc 4s 6s] [Th]
basatagirl shows a pair of Aces
MACtech123 shows a pair of Fives
boodwa shows a pair of Queens
basatagirl wins the pot (9,330) with a pair of Aces

9K after one hand is how all my tourneys should start.

Okay, have the feckin bounty

Here's why a 3/90 knockout is so hard to win. Why am I playing them? I am just doing some nobrain poker because I enjoy it and there's no stress about results.

Full Tilt Poker Game #12188129467: $3 + $0.30 KO Sit & Go (91122751), Table 10 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:28:43 ET - 2009/05/12
Seat 1: Unpossible109 (7,270)
Seat 2: M-I-B--R-O-X (9,168)
Seat 3: basatagirl (5,395)
Seat 4: ELDUDEARENO28 (7,490)
Seat 5: Sal T Huevos (5,790)
Seat 6: 1snl333 (3,345), is sitting out
Seat 7: Smoke_Quack (2,175)
Seat 8: alejandruso (31,415)
Seat 9: DuallyDave (9,540)
1snl333 posts the small blind of 100
Smoke_Quack posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to basatagirl [Kd Qc]
alejandruso folds
DuallyDave folds
Unpossible109 folds
M-I-B--R-O-X calls 200

A total fish who is playing tons of hands and limping often.
basatagirl raises to 800

I raise to isolate him. The players behind are not so loose and I've shown a couple of strong hands so I doubt I will get calls behind often.

ELDUDEARENO28 folds
Sal T Huevos folds
1snl333 folds
Smoke_Quack folds
M-I-B--R-O-X calls 600

The fish obv. calls.

*** FLOP *** [Jh 7c Qd]

Top pair. It's value time.

M-I-B--R-O-X bets 200

He could have anything. If I'm really lucky, QT. But a vast range of hands is possible. Qx Jx draws, who the fuck knows?

Or cares. I hit the flop I wanted and now I'm going to make him pay for limp/calling his weak range.

basatagirl raises to 2,200

I'm hoping to get shoved on by QT and obv. hoping he doesn't have QJ.

Or J7s, which he is bad enough to have limpcalled.

If he calls, I shove any turn, obv.

M-I-B--R-O-X calls 2,000

There is obv. no hand it would be correct to call with here.

*** TURN *** [Jh 7c Qd] [6d]
M-I-B--R-O-X checks
basatagirl bets 2,395, and is all in

Shove for value.

M-I-B--R-O-X calls 2,395
basatagirl shows [Kd Qc]
M-I-B--R-O-X shows [Tc Ad]

Erm, what?

Well, I'm a huge fav--
*** RIVER *** [Jh 7c Qd 6d] [As]

Oh.

If you're a beginner and you want to learn how to play poker, not like that guy is the answer. Limp/calling AT is atrocious. Leading the flop is okay, but you have to make your lead bigger because I will obv. not fold anything for 200 chips. You have to fold to the raise on the flop. You could shove over if you had fold equity, but you don't. I'm committed to the pot. You might as well shove if you're continuing though, because you are also committed to it. On the turn, well, what can you do? You made your big mistake on the flop. Now you might as well take this terrible bet and hope to get lucky.

***

It's not all bad, of course. They often just miss:

Full Tilt Poker Game #12188195874: $6 + $0.50 KO Sit & Go (91122235), Table 1 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:32:27 ET - 2009/05/12
Seat 2: Subman II (3,980)
Seat 3: budman61 (1,600)
Seat 4: basatagirl (11,705)
Seat 5: tgoodwater2002 (6,200)
Seat 6: Thorrrrr (8,540)
Seat 7: francozeff (15,010)
Seat 8: fish6582 (5,330)
Seat 9: rtrorkt (11,573)
Subman II antes 25
budman61 antes 25
basatagirl antes 25
tgoodwater2002 antes 25
Thorrrrr antes 25
francozeff antes 25
fish6582 antes 25
rtrorkt antes 25
budman61 posts the small blind of 120
basatagirl posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to basatagirl [Ac 2c]
tgoodwater2002 folds
Thorrrrr folds
francozeff folds
fish6582 folds
rtrorkt folds
Subman II folds
budman61 calls 120

Had only recently moved to table so not sure what he'd been playing like. My guess is bad though, just because 99% of players in this tourney will be awful.

basatagirl checks

I wasn't paying attention because I should shove over. He's only rarely trapping.

*** FLOP *** [As 2d 5h]

Hello. I has two pair.

budman61 bets 1,335, and is all in
basatagirl calls 1,335

Yeah, okay.
Say I had K5. Would I have folded?

Well no. His bet says, please fold. If he wanted me to call or shove over, he'd bet smaller. If he had an ace, he'd look to checkraise. Sometimes this metric doesn't work but you won't lose much money if you assume that they're not shoving an ace in this spot. The shove wants a fold here and no, I would not fold K5.

budman61 shows [3s Qs]

And I'd be right not to. Maybe I'd even call worse. Dunno. Never folding a pair though.

***

Here's a spot I missed, but I'm not too cut up about it.

Full Tilt Poker Game #12188399897: $6 + $0.50 KO Sit & Go (91122235), Table 1 - 200/400 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:43:52 ET - 2009/05/12
Seat 1: seba03 (19,490)
Seat 2: Subman II (2,015)
Seat 4: basatagirl (13,295)
Seat 5: tgoodwater2002 (4,415)
Seat 6: Thorrrrr (8,735)
Seat 7: francozeff (19,580)
Seat 8: fish6582 (4,510)
Seat 9: rtrorkt (11,558)
seba03 antes 50
Subman II antes 50
basatagirl antes 50
tgoodwater2002 antes 50
Thorrrrr antes 50
francozeff antes 50
fish6582 antes 50
rtrorkt antes 50
fish6582 posts the small blind of 200
rtrorkt posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to basatagirl [8d 8h]
seba03 raises to 1,600

I only have ten hands on this guy, and he's raised twice. He hasn't limped.

So 88 is probably ahead of his range, but he has a big stack. I could make a thinnish call to setmine.

Subman II raises to 1,965, and is all in

I'm thinking about it, but this guy complicates matters. Now I'm thinking I want to shove over and isolate him. But will the first guy fold?

Maybe not, and I'm not necessarily happy against his range. He's under the gun, and even though these fish don't necessarily respect position, he raised 4x and may be trying to get value. Dunno.

Thing is, I have a decent stack and I will get clearer, better spots. This might be thin +EV but it didn't appeal at the time.

basatagirl folds
tgoodwater2002 folds
Thorrrrr folds
francozeff folds
fish6582 has 15 seconds left to act
fish6582 folds
rtrorkt calls 1,565

Awful player who could have anything.

seba03 calls 365
*** FLOP *** [9h Qh 6c]
rtrorkt bets 2,000

With his hand, this bet is terrible. You think he has to have at least a Q here.

seba03 folds
rtrorkt shows [7c 7h]

WTF. I mean, I understand that he is stopngoing to get it HU with the allin guy but I don't like it much.

Subman II shows [Ah Kh]

He's probably quite happy to be allin as a favourite. Me, I wish I had shoved pre and been called by fishtard. If I had called though, I would have had a really tough spot on the flop and I'd now be on monkey tilt if I'd folded.

Uncalled bet of 2,000 returned to rtrorkt
*** TURN *** [9h Qh 6c] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [9h Qh 6c 9c] [4c]

Would have been nice to be allin with fishtard, but tbh, these tourneys present so many clearcut spots that taking a marginal +EV spot isn't necessary. I doubled up in this game on a 7xx flop where I had 99 and had raised pre and some guy got it in with me with 88. That was the top of his range too. He'd happily have done it with a 7 or overcards.