So it's been a month now since I returned from Vegas, with a total loss (including all expenses and poker losses) of $4000. I actually thought it was worse, but I feel that's a reasonable figure for the three weeks.
The week after I got back I went on a mad rush anyway and won ~$3500 which steadied the ship a bit. I'm not playing so much recently though, as I have been more concentrating on college stuff.
I did, however, have a brush with alot of money in the stars $40k guarentee when I was chipleader in the tournament with 12 left. I ended up busting 9th for $1k when my AKs lost to K10s in a hand that shouldnt have even gotten to a flop, but for the fact that the villian opened for 6BBs when we had ~20BB effective.
For now I'm focusing on getting ready for the world cup of online poker which will run on pokerstars later this year. My edge in these big tournaments is so big compared to the average player, and so I'll probably put more of my roll than usual to try and stretch this edge during the series.
I'll be blogging the WCOOP events as I play them.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Sigh
Alot's happened in the past week. Somehow I've found myself down about $1300 even though I'm playing great. Lost two big $600 pots when I was far ahead (70%/95%) to a couple of pros. It's tough when that happens. Today I cashed in a Binion's poker classic event. They took my details and my name will be on cardplayer's website. Pretty cool.
I've been partying too hard, so I'm going to tone it down this week and play as many tournaments as I can. Going out in this place is just the best fun, I've met loads of new friends and got up to some silly stuff. We went to a nightclub with a waterfall in it, that was pretty cool.
I'm gonna update this better tomorrow, I'm pretty tired right now!
James
I've been partying too hard, so I'm going to tone it down this week and play as many tournaments as I can. Going out in this place is just the best fun, I've met loads of new friends and got up to some silly stuff. We went to a nightclub with a waterfall in it, that was pretty cool.
I'm gonna update this better tomorrow, I'm pretty tired right now!
James
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Ftw
Alot's happened in the last few days, financial situation has me down around $400 overall from a pretty silly run of cards yesterday, but I'm not too worried because the play here is so bad!
For some reason I keep on playing in the game at the stratosphere, where we're staying, which is full of regulars and crazy europeans coming over for the series, so I'm gonna go explore different cash games in the next week. I played for 2 hours at planet hollywood, which was amongst the most ridiculous experiences ever. Being served drinks by Women in their mid 40s with their boobs out makes me a touch uncomfortable. I try not to think to hard about anything that's here though because it's all so fake. Kind of like a Disneyland for older folk.
Played my first big multi-table tournament yesterday, and I pretty much played great. I didn't have any really big hands preflop, but I played ultra-hyper-aggressive because I was at a table full of nits. Ended up busting with about 50 left when I shoved 99 into AJ and lost the flip to some Scandanavian. They're generally the best poker players over here.
Craps has got to be one of the best games ever created, and I'd love to splurge some money on it but I'm not going to. Whoever thought of it is 100% a genius, because the house edge is super massive, but it's such a social game that noone really notices.
I'll keep checking in every now and again,
James
For some reason I keep on playing in the game at the stratosphere, where we're staying, which is full of regulars and crazy europeans coming over for the series, so I'm gonna go explore different cash games in the next week. I played for 2 hours at planet hollywood, which was amongst the most ridiculous experiences ever. Being served drinks by Women in their mid 40s with their boobs out makes me a touch uncomfortable. I try not to think to hard about anything that's here though because it's all so fake. Kind of like a Disneyland for older folk.
Played my first big multi-table tournament yesterday, and I pretty much played great. I didn't have any really big hands preflop, but I played ultra-hyper-aggressive because I was at a table full of nits. Ended up busting with about 50 left when I shoved 99 into AJ and lost the flip to some Scandanavian. They're generally the best poker players over here.
Craps has got to be one of the best games ever created, and I'd love to splurge some money on it but I'm not going to. Whoever thought of it is 100% a genius, because the house edge is super massive, but it's such a social game that noone really notices.
I'll keep checking in every now and again,
James
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Vegas!
Tuesday 9th of June
Hardcore leaching off some house’s wireless
The strip stands out like a sore thumb. The whole city is not like this.
Arrived at Vegas yesterday and pretty much just crashed upon arrival. The journey was real long, and the jetlag is still lingering for sure, went to bed at 8pm last night only to wake up at 5 this morning.
Vegas is definitely a weird place, the noises from the slots are unbearable and you have to walk through them every time you want to leave the hotel. The poker room here is pretty cool though, the tournament structure is a bit crap but there’s some others going on around the strip.
Yesterday I played 3 hours of a cash game, with blinds at $1-$2 and an optional button straddle of $4, which is something I hadn’t seen before. We had a good table, and I made friends with two Norwegian guys, one either side of me, who were pretty much over to do the same thing I am. The play was super soft, with a guy who sounded like Buzz Lightyear limp calling any bet up to $20. He was the main target for the table really.
We also had this Philippino guy who was joking around the whole time but who clearly was a good player. Flopped a couple of sets (One against the Buzz Lightyear guy) at the right times to leave with around $200 profit, but subsequently pumped $60 back in the crappy tournament.
I met a guy named Eddy “Kingpin LV” in the tournament, who plays poker, wears a lot of bling and produces records. Thought that was pretty cool. Got his number and he said he’d show me around some pubs/clubs if I wanted a guide. He answered his phone with a “Holla” everytime. Cool.
We then went for a wander around the strip. Caeser’s palace is the biggest and most ridiculous place I have ever seen but they have the most amazing aquarium. There must have been around 20 different types of exotic fish on display, including manta rays and guys who looked like nemo. Went to a load of high street shops of familiar brands (Puma, Nike, Urban outfitters etc.) and there’s just so much clothing I want to get it’s ridiculous. We’ll see how the poker goes…
Today we’re gonna go for pancakes in the place nextdoor, and then probably just bum around the stratosphere. We plan to go up the tower to the bar and get an overview of the place. Also, our hotel does all you drink for 4 hours from 4-8pm for $20?! We’re going to go for unlimited drinks with the Norwegians one day this week.
Gonna head to the Golden nugget on Friday for a $200 tournament with a great structure, so pretty excited about that!
I’ll keep you updated as I go, but I think this’ll probably get out later than Today, so the updates may come in bursts!
James
Hardcore leaching off some house’s wireless
The strip stands out like a sore thumb. The whole city is not like this.
Arrived at Vegas yesterday and pretty much just crashed upon arrival. The journey was real long, and the jetlag is still lingering for sure, went to bed at 8pm last night only to wake up at 5 this morning.
Vegas is definitely a weird place, the noises from the slots are unbearable and you have to walk through them every time you want to leave the hotel. The poker room here is pretty cool though, the tournament structure is a bit crap but there’s some others going on around the strip.
Yesterday I played 3 hours of a cash game, with blinds at $1-$2 and an optional button straddle of $4, which is something I hadn’t seen before. We had a good table, and I made friends with two Norwegian guys, one either side of me, who were pretty much over to do the same thing I am. The play was super soft, with a guy who sounded like Buzz Lightyear limp calling any bet up to $20. He was the main target for the table really.
We also had this Philippino guy who was joking around the whole time but who clearly was a good player. Flopped a couple of sets (One against the Buzz Lightyear guy) at the right times to leave with around $200 profit, but subsequently pumped $60 back in the crappy tournament.
I met a guy named Eddy “Kingpin LV” in the tournament, who plays poker, wears a lot of bling and produces records. Thought that was pretty cool. Got his number and he said he’d show me around some pubs/clubs if I wanted a guide. He answered his phone with a “Holla” everytime. Cool.
We then went for a wander around the strip. Caeser’s palace is the biggest and most ridiculous place I have ever seen but they have the most amazing aquarium. There must have been around 20 different types of exotic fish on display, including manta rays and guys who looked like nemo. Went to a load of high street shops of familiar brands (Puma, Nike, Urban outfitters etc.) and there’s just so much clothing I want to get it’s ridiculous. We’ll see how the poker goes…
Today we’re gonna go for pancakes in the place nextdoor, and then probably just bum around the stratosphere. We plan to go up the tower to the bar and get an overview of the place. Also, our hotel does all you drink for 4 hours from 4-8pm for $20?! We’re going to go for unlimited drinks with the Norwegians one day this week.
Gonna head to the Golden nugget on Friday for a $200 tournament with a great structure, so pretty excited about that!
I’ll keep you updated as I go, but I think this’ll probably get out later than Today, so the updates may come in bursts!
James
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Victory in the 10r
Yesterday was a good day.
I played 3 tournaments in total, and after getting knocked out of the 100 FO and 44 FO 6-max I had only the 10r left to play. The reason why all rebuy tournaments under $50 on stars are so profitable is the amount of money put in by people unwilling to rebuy.
I rode my stack pretty easily up to 200k or so, and then won a couple of nice hands to get into real contention. Two really sticky spots came up however, one at the final table and one with 13 left.
Sticky spot 1.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?4328198
The big decision here was the call of his 3 bet postflop. If he had been a worse player I may have folded, but he had just been playing so super aggressive I had to call.
Sticky spot 2.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?4328207
This was meant to be a trap where I'd just call down the whole way but the river bet was so strange it made me pause for a bit. Eventually made the call.
Chopped for $5k, nice score just before I go away!
I played 3 tournaments in total, and after getting knocked out of the 100 FO and 44 FO 6-max I had only the 10r left to play. The reason why all rebuy tournaments under $50 on stars are so profitable is the amount of money put in by people unwilling to rebuy.
I rode my stack pretty easily up to 200k or so, and then won a couple of nice hands to get into real contention. Two really sticky spots came up however, one at the final table and one with 13 left.
Sticky spot 1.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?4328198
The big decision here was the call of his 3 bet postflop. If he had been a worse player I may have folded, but he had just been playing so super aggressive I had to call.
Sticky spot 2.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?4328207
This was meant to be a trap where I'd just call down the whole way but the river bet was so strange it made me pause for a bit. Eventually made the call.
Chopped for $5k, nice score just before I go away!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Vegas on Monday, some poker updates
Haven't been here in a while, mainly because of the fact that I haven't been playing to much due to exams and stuff.
Couldn't help myself playing the $6k guarenteed on Stars last night however, which I took a nice 3/72 in for 1.1k. Really want to play the 1.5k PLO8 WSOP event, but don't know if I have the balls to put up that much money.
I've taken a new approach to my MTT play in the last few months, and have been going into shove-mode far earlier than I usually would. Poker is not poker if you don't have more than 25 BBs to play with.
Gonna try make this blog a bit more accessible to non-poker players, cuase it's a lil technical right now.
I'll be periodically updating this blog during my Vegas experience, so look out here for thoughts on the game over there.
Jimmy
Couldn't help myself playing the $6k guarenteed on Stars last night however, which I took a nice 3/72 in for 1.1k. Really want to play the 1.5k PLO8 WSOP event, but don't know if I have the balls to put up that much money.
I've taken a new approach to my MTT play in the last few months, and have been going into shove-mode far earlier than I usually would. Poker is not poker if you don't have more than 25 BBs to play with.
Gonna try make this blog a bit more accessible to non-poker players, cuase it's a lil technical right now.
I'll be periodically updating this blog during my Vegas experience, so look out here for thoughts on the game over there.
Jimmy
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The World Series of Poker
Here's my bustout from the $650 WSOP main event satellite I just crashed out of. I hate coolers.
PokerStars Game #27484963440: Tournament #156615758, $615+$35 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (50/100) - 2009/04/25 16:09:14 ETTable '156615758 6' 9-max
Seat #1 is the buttonSeat 1: liIhoIdem954 (5988 in chips)
Seat 2: painhead (1665 in chips)
Seat 3: mendieta19 (1585 in chips)
Seat 4: oaktree50 (10082 in chips)
Seat 5: ryanghall (8340 in chips)
Seat 6: Rockytherock (2515 in chips)
Seat 8: waz111 (2488 in chips)
Seat 9: jotaele1 (1842 in chips)
liIhoIdem954: posts the ante 10
painhead: posts the ante 10
mendieta19: posts the ante 10
oaktree50: posts the ante 10
ryanghall: posts the ante 10
Rockytherock: posts the ante 10
waz111: posts the ante 10
jotaele1: posts the ante 10
painhead: posts small blind 50
mendieta19: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Rockytherock [Qs Qc]
oaktree50: folds
ryanghall: raises 200 to 300
Rockytherock: calls 300
waz111: folds jotaele1: folds
liIhoIdem954: folds
painhead: raises 1355 to 1655 and is all-in
mendieta19: folds
ryanghall: raises 6675 to 8330 and is all-in
Rockytherock: calls 2205 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (5825) returned to ryanghall
*** FLOP *** [Js Jh Qh]
*** TURN *** [Js Jh Qh] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [Js Jh Qh Ad] [Td]***
SHOW DOWN ***
ryanghall: shows [As Ac] (a full house, Aces full of Jacks)
Rockytherock: shows [Qs Qc] (a full house, Queens full of Jacks)
ryanghall collected 1700 from side
potpainhead: shows [8c 8s] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
ryanghall collected 5145 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 6845 Main pot 5145. Side pot 1700. Rake 0
Board [Js Jh Qh Ad Td]Seat 1:
liIhoIdem954 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 2: painhead (small blind) showed [8c 8s] and lost with two pair, Jacks and EightsSeat 3: mendieta19 (big blind) folded before FlopSeat 4: oaktree50 folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 5: ryanghall showed [As Ac] and won (6845) with a full house, Aces full of JacksSeat 6: Rockytherock showed [Qs Qc] and lost with a full house, Queens full of JacksSeat 8: waz111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 9: jotaele1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
PokerStars Game #27484963440: Tournament #156615758, $615+$35 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (50/100) - 2009/04/25 16:09:14 ETTable '156615758 6' 9-max
Seat #1 is the buttonSeat 1: liIhoIdem954 (5988 in chips)
Seat 2: painhead (1665 in chips)
Seat 3: mendieta19 (1585 in chips)
Seat 4: oaktree50 (10082 in chips)
Seat 5: ryanghall (8340 in chips)
Seat 6: Rockytherock (2515 in chips)
Seat 8: waz111 (2488 in chips)
Seat 9: jotaele1 (1842 in chips)
liIhoIdem954: posts the ante 10
painhead: posts the ante 10
mendieta19: posts the ante 10
oaktree50: posts the ante 10
ryanghall: posts the ante 10
Rockytherock: posts the ante 10
waz111: posts the ante 10
jotaele1: posts the ante 10
painhead: posts small blind 50
mendieta19: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Rockytherock [Qs Qc]
oaktree50: folds
ryanghall: raises 200 to 300
Rockytherock: calls 300
waz111: folds jotaele1: folds
liIhoIdem954: folds
painhead: raises 1355 to 1655 and is all-in
mendieta19: folds
ryanghall: raises 6675 to 8330 and is all-in
Rockytherock: calls 2205 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (5825) returned to ryanghall
*** FLOP *** [Js Jh Qh]
*** TURN *** [Js Jh Qh] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [Js Jh Qh Ad] [Td]***
SHOW DOWN ***
ryanghall: shows [As Ac] (a full house, Aces full of Jacks)
Rockytherock: shows [Qs Qc] (a full house, Queens full of Jacks)
ryanghall collected 1700 from side
potpainhead: shows [8c 8s] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
ryanghall collected 5145 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 6845 Main pot 5145. Side pot 1700. Rake 0
Board [Js Jh Qh Ad Td]Seat 1:
liIhoIdem954 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 2: painhead (small blind) showed [8c 8s] and lost with two pair, Jacks and EightsSeat 3: mendieta19 (big blind) folded before FlopSeat 4: oaktree50 folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 5: ryanghall showed [As Ac] and won (6845) with a full house, Aces full of JacksSeat 6: Rockytherock showed [Qs Qc] and lost with a full house, Queens full of JacksSeat 8: waz111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 9: jotaele1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
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