This might just be the most interesting and enjoyable tournament poker game there is. Some friends encouraged me to play it. I thought about it, thought about how it has been won multiple times by people who have never played it before, and practiced a little this morning online with PiMaster. I busted the $1.5k NL just in time for a primer with some more experienced Deuce players, absorbed as much as I could as quickly as I could, and jumped in.
Although I made some embarrassing mistakes and busted out before the money, I am glad I played. It was one of the most delightful experiences I have had playing poker in a long time. The game is fascinating, and I would encourage all NLHE tournament specialists to give it a shot. Playing the Deuce in a tournament setting incorporates many of the concepts ingrained in NLHE tournaments, but the hand matchups and reads are more complex. This is a great game.
Minggu, 06 Juni 2010
1.5k NL Day Two
I cashed another $1500 NL, lost a couple races, and then registered for the evening event.
Sabtu, 05 Juni 2010
Event #11 1.5k NL
I am on to another day two of a WSOP $1500. I have 19,600 chips going to 600-1200-100. 300 players remain and 270 will be paid. Play resumes at 2:30 PST.
twitter.com/gnightmoon
twitter.com/gnightmoon
Kamis, 03 Juni 2010
Event #9 1.5k PLHE
I knew coming into this one the challenge was going to be staying patient, and I couldn't do it. I played tight for the first three hours and then did this:
Blinds 75-150
I opened to 400 from the hijack with J6s. The small blind raised the pot to 1350. I called. The flop was Q63 with one of my suit. He went all-in for a pot bet and I called.
This was the silliest hand I've played in quite a while. Based on tells I was basically certain my opponent did not have a big hand, but calling with J6s preflop was still an outlandish mistake. His money is going in on the flop and I am not going to be able to call the flop shove enough of the time to make the preflop call reasonable, even if I know for certain he is weak.
So why in the world did I do this?
1. I got overexcited making such a concrete physical read. It's rare that you can make a preflop read with that level of certainty, where you basically rule out big hands. I was so excited by this read that I forgot what a piece of crap I had myself.
2. I hate letting these online tournament pros reraise me. I have it out for young internet pros. I take special relish in beating them. I really wanted to stick it to this player, in particular, as he made a point of letting the whole table know that he was an online tournament pro.
3. I knew if this hand got shown down no one would mess with me without a big hand the rest of the day. This was shortsighted, however, as our table was breaking soon.
4. I had probably grown bored and frustrated, perhaps subconsciously, at being crammed in ten-handed at a table of mostly young online pros playing in a situation where it was most profitable to fold most hands.
5. I was never too psyched up to play this event. I don't think the WSOP should have a $1500 pot limit hold em. I would be fine with a higher buy-in, but the "advantages" of pot-limit are basically nullified without deeper stacks. With one-third the prizepool of the no-limit events, coming in the midst of a string of low buy-in no-limits, I really wasn't excited.
Of course this is pretty silly, as any $1500 poker tournament should still get me excited to play. It's not like I'm such a high-roller that $1500 is a small buy-in.
So my opponent had pocket sevens, I turned a flush draw but lost, then ran my 550 stack up to 6600 before busting, then went and had a nice picnic with Bailey and some friends for the second straight night.
It probably shouldn't be a challenge for me to play my A-game in these $1500 tournaments, but sometimes it is. Today I wasn't up to the challenge, but there's another $1500 event tomorrow.
Blinds 75-150
I opened to 400 from the hijack with J6s. The small blind raised the pot to 1350. I called. The flop was Q63 with one of my suit. He went all-in for a pot bet and I called.
This was the silliest hand I've played in quite a while. Based on tells I was basically certain my opponent did not have a big hand, but calling with J6s preflop was still an outlandish mistake. His money is going in on the flop and I am not going to be able to call the flop shove enough of the time to make the preflop call reasonable, even if I know for certain he is weak.
So why in the world did I do this?
1. I got overexcited making such a concrete physical read. It's rare that you can make a preflop read with that level of certainty, where you basically rule out big hands. I was so excited by this read that I forgot what a piece of crap I had myself.
2. I hate letting these online tournament pros reraise me. I have it out for young internet pros. I take special relish in beating them. I really wanted to stick it to this player, in particular, as he made a point of letting the whole table know that he was an online tournament pro.
3. I knew if this hand got shown down no one would mess with me without a big hand the rest of the day. This was shortsighted, however, as our table was breaking soon.
4. I had probably grown bored and frustrated, perhaps subconsciously, at being crammed in ten-handed at a table of mostly young online pros playing in a situation where it was most profitable to fold most hands.
5. I was never too psyched up to play this event. I don't think the WSOP should have a $1500 pot limit hold em. I would be fine with a higher buy-in, but the "advantages" of pot-limit are basically nullified without deeper stacks. With one-third the prizepool of the no-limit events, coming in the midst of a string of low buy-in no-limits, I really wasn't excited.
Of course this is pretty silly, as any $1500 poker tournament should still get me excited to play. It's not like I'm such a high-roller that $1500 is a small buy-in.
So my opponent had pocket sevens, I turned a flush draw but lost, then ran my 550 stack up to 6600 before busting, then went and had a nice picnic with Bailey and some friends for the second straight night.
It probably shouldn't be a challenge for me to play my A-game in these $1500 tournaments, but sometimes it is. Today I wasn't up to the challenge, but there's another $1500 event tomorrow.
Event #8 1.5k NL
Busted this one five hours in with tens against aces. I maybe could have/should have played it a bit differently but it wasn't terrible because I was confident my opponent did not have jacks, queens or kings.
I am feeling comfortable in Vegas, getting used to the routine, and regaining ingenuity and confidence.
I am feeling comfortable in Vegas, getting used to the routine, and regaining ingenuity and confidence.
Selasa, 01 Juni 2010
1.5k NL Day Two
Not too much happened today. The structure got a bit out of control because a) it was a $1500 event and b) they started hand-for-hand too early and let the clock run the whole time. Anyways, I lost a pot in the third level of the day and then made a standard (but not for me) shove with pocket sevens and ran into jacks.
PiMaster finished 14th in the $1500 O8; SamENole finished deep last night in the $1k NL; Toph shockingly won his first table of the $5k shootout and plays #2 for the final table tomorrow; Ethan Foulkes aka Remmy is very deep in the $1500 NL as I write this.
It's an exciting time. A lot of money is changing hands.
I'll be playing donkaments for the next week, nothing more than $1500 buyin.
PiMaster finished 14th in the $1500 O8; SamENole finished deep last night in the $1k NL; Toph shockingly won his first table of the $5k shootout and plays #2 for the final table tomorrow; Ethan Foulkes aka Remmy is very deep in the $1500 NL as I write this.
It's an exciting time. A lot of money is changing hands.
I'll be playing donkaments for the next week, nothing more than $1500 buyin.
Event #5 1.5k NL
I have 70k chips going into day two of this $1500 NL. Average is around 40k. Play restarts at 2:30 PST Tuesday. There are 243 players left and 216 will be paid.
Last year at the WSOP I cashed four times, all in $1500 events. Because of these runs, I missed several of the bigger buy-in events I had planned to play. Tomorrow is the $5k shootout. This will be the third straight year I will miss it.
I don't mind missing the bigger tournaments for the $1500s. I love WSOP $1500s. I am very good at these donkaments, probably because I have a round understanding of the different types of players you might encounter in a WSOP $1500. I am not an outstanding online tournament player, but I might be better than most of them in these WSOP $1500s. I know how a lot of the recreational players think.
I generally have a pleasant time playing the $1500s. I am usually pretty social with the other pros as well as the recreational players. A lot of the n00bs are actually pretty interesting people with real jobs, and it's nice to meet other pros I may not have known before as well.
The $1500s are relatively low-stress tournaments. You don't have to make too many difficult, high-equity decisions. But lurking deep in every WSOP $1500 is big money. My best finishes in WSOP $1500s came in 2008, a 22nd place in a 4000 player pme immediately followed by a 12th in a 1200 player 6-max. In other words, I have never made a big score in a WSOP $1500. I am hoping that changes soon.
Last year at the WSOP I cashed four times, all in $1500 events. Because of these runs, I missed several of the bigger buy-in events I had planned to play. Tomorrow is the $5k shootout. This will be the third straight year I will miss it.
I don't mind missing the bigger tournaments for the $1500s. I love WSOP $1500s. I am very good at these donkaments, probably because I have a round understanding of the different types of players you might encounter in a WSOP $1500. I am not an outstanding online tournament player, but I might be better than most of them in these WSOP $1500s. I know how a lot of the recreational players think.
I generally have a pleasant time playing the $1500s. I am usually pretty social with the other pros as well as the recreational players. A lot of the n00bs are actually pretty interesting people with real jobs, and it's nice to meet other pros I may not have known before as well.
The $1500s are relatively low-stress tournaments. You don't have to make too many difficult, high-equity decisions. But lurking deep in every WSOP $1500 is big money. My best finishes in WSOP $1500s came in 2008, a 22nd place in a 4000 player pme immediately followed by a 12th in a 1200 player 6-max. In other words, I have never made a big score in a WSOP $1500. I am hoping that changes soon.
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