Tournaments are a waste . You played 3 days nothing in return. Stick to $2 $5 cash if you really want to make money playing poker

He got 29th for a decent return. He made a lot considering his investment into the tourney. Stop trolling.

Yeah we really need more racist cheaters that are giant nits like Mike in the game. Sigh.

Your first big buy in event with world class players and you make final 3 tables. Very, very impressive. Keep up the good work!

!!!

Congratz Dan and keep crushing these live games

Almost final 3 but not quite!

So as others have mentioned I did get eliminated today after we made the money. Paul Volpe on my direct left led to me being very very handcuffed. Not only is he a great player but his style led to him absolutely ABUSING the bubble. Early in the day it folded to my button and I opened A8o to 12K. Paul made it 30K and I had to sit there and think for a bit. A few things to consider:

1) Paul can pretty easily have any two here.

2) We are about 10 from the money and I cover probably over 20 people.

3) I am just starting to realize that Paul is not going to be taking any hands off. Some players who abuse the bubble do so in a way where they'll occasionally fold bottom of the barrel hands, just so that it isn't super obvious that they are completely taking advantage of the situation. Not Paul. He's so supremely comfortable with his postflop game that he almost dares you to 3 or 4 bet him and you're not going to be getting folds.

4) That being said, I wasn't sure how he'd react to a 4 bet at this point, but he's obviously more than capable of 5b jamming on me. I start the hand with about 45BBs so my 4b would still leave me room to fold.

5) Maybe 4 betting to 72K and folding to a shove at least sends the message that I will not just be laying down to die when he 3 bets me. Maybe it is important to get that message out there, even if the 4b is slightly -EV.

I tried to weigh everything in the 30-45 seconds I took thinking and eventually elected to fold. I guess calling isn't CRAZY but I don't really like it as A8o does not flop well.

Paul went on to play 90/80/70 for the length of the bubble. I'm not exaggerating, those numbers might be dead on. At one point he might have won 20 hands in a row. The closest spot I had was when I opened AJo from MP and Paul 3b me again. It was then that I realized completely that I would not be able to open a hand unless I was willing to play for stacks. I folded and he showed me KK. Unreal that the closest spot I had he actually had it. Really fortunate for me that I chose to shy away from that one.

After a pretty lengthy bubble I had 175K or so halfway through 3K/6K. I played 2 very frustrating hands against Anthony Spinella, who had just sat down on the other side of the table and was the only player giving Paul any resistance. In the first, UTG shoves for 9K at 3K/6K (he'd just lost a big pot). It folds to me in HJ and I raise to 23K with AsQx. Anthony takes his time before calling from the BB.
Flop comes KQ4ss and we now have an interesting 38K in the main pot and 28K in the side. We both check.
Turn is the Ac. Anthony checks, I bet 20K and Anthony calls. I'm not sure what sizing is correct with this dynamic. I decided to go somewhat close to the full amount of the side and about a third of the total pot. Maybe I can go bigger but I think I have a lot of Ax in my range and I don't want to fold out his Kx or Qx. I also want to get 2 streets from his Ax.
River is the worst card in the deck in the form of the Ks. Anthony leads 32K which is soooooo irritating. If he ever has Ax then folding the chop really sucks, but in reality this is never a bluff. I'm probably supposed to fold but I call and get shown K7hh. Strange. I'm under 100K.

Fortunately the next couple orbits go well. I shove A8s in SB and Paul starts doing live pro bull**** that I almost fall for...he squeezes his first card, a 10, then laughs along and invites me to take a peak at the 2nd. I realize it's probably not in my best interest to be giving off whatever live tells I have to the GOAT so I laugh along but cover my eyes with my hands and tell him to let me know when it's over. Honestly I think he's great for the game; he was incredibly friendly to me, found a way to let people have fun despite the fact that he was trying to literally win every pot, and overall just had a fun demeanor to him. So he then verbally tells me he has paint and I just keep my eyes closed until I hear that he has folded. Later the button has 90K and opens to 20K, I find AQ and shove SB and button hems and haws and folds which is just unreal. He even showed an ace. Good lord.

I shove 16BBs UTG1 8 handed with KQs which gets through and all of a sudden I'm over 150K again. I find JJ and open bigger this time since Anthony is in the BB and likes to peel. He peels and flop comes Q65dd. I check back. Turn is a 8x and he leads. I call. River is 9d and he bets something like 1/4 pot again. He had set up a river shove with his turn bet and now he bets very small. I again took a long time for a somewhat small bet because I just don't think he's ever bluffing, but if he is just 20% of the time I need to be calling. Eventually I fold given how easy it is for him to have a 2 pair, straight, or flush combo and how little hands there are that can be bluffing. He insists he had the king of diamonds and was hoping I'd shove over him. Shrug.

At some point I have 140K in the SB at 4K/8K and it folds to me. Paul informs me he hasn't been walked in a while and I tell him I'll see what I can do. I squeeze J8dd and decide to try a limp. I know that Paul will often just go ahead and blast away but the fact that I have been walking him multiple times today makes me think there's at least a small chance this looks like at trap. Worst case he goes big and I just lose an extra 4K trying to win the 20K in the middle. Paul checks.

Flop comes KJ6cc and I c/c 10K. Turn is 6x and I c/c 25K after some thought. I know there is a good chance Paul will empty the clip and set me in for my last 95K or so (he's set up a slightly less than pot size jam for river) but I think most of his Kx is raising pre and a weak king or a random 6 are all that beat me here. I also think he sometimes checks back a 6 on flop and sometimes checks back a king on turn, so it's definitely not a fold yet, and I decide I'm just going to try to soul read Paul Volpe on the river if he shoves. River is an off suit 10, we both check, and I win the pot.

With 30 left they move Volpe to another table and I have been reduced to 10BBs. I think the JJ vs Anthony actually came after the J8 vs Paul. Our table was set to break at 27 anyway. Damn you randomness! A very interesting dynamic has begun now though that Frank P has sat down. Frank P is a senior citizen who is clearly an Italian New Yorker and an amateur. He is fun to talk to and does things like almost muck his hand after shoving all in for 4x the pot. Frank P is the kind of guy you want at your table with 30 left in a $2700 poker tournament. Frank P likes to limp but sometimes raises preflop as well. I imagine the limps are any two and the raises are good hands. So, after getting a shove of 67K through at 4K/8K with J8s from EP 7 handed, Frank P limps UTG, SB completes, and I look at K9o in the BB with about 85K total. Checking is clearly fine here, but I legitimately think I am ahead of Frank P's range. I have a little bit of fold equity but I think Frank is raising 99+ and AQ+ and limping just about everything else. So I shove. Frank P calls quite quickly and SB folds while saying "I knew it." Frank P has ATo and I will need to hit to remain in the tournament. There is a lovely king in the window with a pretty decent jack and four behind it. Turn is a 2 and river is an ace and just like that the KJ42A runout confirms I have been eliminated in 29th place for $6754.

I had a hell of a time with this tournament and have never felt the way I did on day 3 today. I was excited and focused at the same time. I was relaxed and chatting but only giving away what I wanted to give away. I dealt with arguably the best player in the world on my direct left with the chip lead on the bubble and felt pretty confident in everything I did. I'm very aware of the amount of run good I needed to make day 3, but also quite aware of how I actually ran today. Despite what I consider to be a below average amount of luck (or whatever you want to call it), I think I battled pretty hard to give myself a shot with 30 left. At the end of the day I'm holding my head high and getting ready for the next one.

For now though I'll be going bowling with my roommates. Saturday I'll be at a party with friends, and I'm going to commit to playing online tomorrow and Friday. Time to get back on that grind. Thanks to all for the support throughout this tournament!

My face when the GOAT is on my left and just won't stop: http://summerpokeropen.blog.theborga...iel-Sewnig.jpg

Sorry i didnt see your name in chip counts so i assumed you busted Nice work for first time playing main. I busted in the first hour of day 1. The odors at the table were enough to force me to shove 97o. On my out i was cursing and yelling like a mental patient. Nice that you are partying with friends . I have none to my name

why is he a racist?
I never heard him say anything bad about blacks

Good write up. Can't wait to invest again.

I just farted it smells like cracker jacks

Dan, Frank Passantino played the main event in 2005 in a classic hand with Phil Helmuth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6tRjBacBz0

Well done nice read

lolll had a feeling I'd seen the guy before. and hellofaplaya I don't mind you posting in here but can you ease up with this stuff? You can definitely contribute to this thread without saying weird stuff for attention.

Sorry Dan sometimes i get carried away. Again nice job sky is the limit now. I noticed Elias who was playing at the next table with Colache and Stoudt looked as though the contest was beneath him or he was bored to death. I think he busted soon after. When i saw Volpe stack i nearly had a heart attack. Did not recognize you because i did know what you looked like . If you continue to play with that caliber you will become a legend

Thank you I appreciate that. Darren Elias played the event but busted day 2, so if you were watching that day then I would not have been seated at Volpe's table so you wouldn't have been able to recognize me anyway. It's easy to feel a little bit bored at times, especially since this is borderline small stakes for Darren. For me obviously I was pretty excited and in touch with it all throughout since it was a big deal for me.

They're down to 4 now and I'm hoping my buddy Chris Csik can pull it out. I also had food with Randy Feder before day 3 started and he seemed like a nice enough guy; he's chip leading. And of course Volpe seems like a genuinely good dude and obviously a top notch player so it should be an interesting finish.

Edit: Boooo Chris busted as I was submitting this. 4th for $96K, very nice run.

nice playing with you. GL in the future.

Thanks man. Also thanks to you Herm and Buzgon for making me laugh my ass off when Nicky P joined the table. Good luck in bagging more than only 10 blue chips in the future

I would think after playing with this caliber of talent its hard to revert back to the $150 $200 tournament buy in

It's just a different game but won't be hard to go back to. I play most of my poker online and there are a ton of fish that do the same sort of goofy stuff on repeat. There were also more fish than you'd think in the $2700. Guy on my right to start day 3 looked like typical younger guy who might be good. Then he opens 20K on a 90K stack at 3K/6K on the button, I shove 110K in the SB and he tank folds and shows an ace. Just mind blowing (and kinda funny cuz if he open rips like he should with any ace I get it in with AQ and bust him often). Frank P was limping every hand, Volpe was having a tough time not verbalizing how excited he was to have the guy at his table. The other part of it is I think you actually have to play different more because of the structures of smaller buy in tourneys compared to this one. I very very rarely got out of line in this tournament. The only time I felt like I needed to start 3 betting light or opening wider was when there were a ton of good players at the table that would be running me over if I played ABC. Like I said in an earlier post, I was very close to 4 betting Paul with the A8o early on day 3. I would be snap folding to a random in that spot, but against good players you can't just sit back and wait for it. In a poor structured tournament, I'm just taking every spot vs everyone because you can't really be confident that a better spot will come later. When we're playing 90 minute levels, you probably will get a better-than-marginal spot at some point.

Also just want to address this. Whether I missed the money, mincashed, or won the tourney shouldn't determine whether or not it was a "waste." There's a ton of variance in tournament poker and losing one tournament means almost absolutely nothing when it comes to skill. I'm thrilled to have done well in this one but it's not like I played above the rim to get to where I was. I think I played well, but if a heart hits the turn or river early on day 2 I bust for no cash. If my AA doesn't hold vs KK later on day 2 I'm crippled. If at any point I get dealt KK vs AA then I'm losing a big one. This is also true for the very good players who have been around the block more than I have. Volpe, Charder, and anybody else who is top notch and played this tournament would be quick to admit how running good has a lot to do with one given tournament. The reason those guys are crushers is because they make good decisions way more consistently than the rest of us do, which leads to them making the run more often than anyone else. Being a good poker player simply means putting yourself in good positions more often than everyone else. You don't have much control over the results, and the better a player is, the more he realizes this. That is why when the best players win tournaments and are asked how they did it, something about "I ran good" will almost always come up. They just sort of get how it works.

Thanks a lot for the support guys!

I'm currently 6/7 in the Party 10K with 34BBs. I think a win will get me back on the plus side for July which I'd consider a win. I've never had 2 losing months in a row in my poker career (brags) so to avoid that happening now this may be one of my last shots! I was down about $1500 going into today and am in for $650 on the day...annnnnnnnd I'm out in 7th. Correctly predicted I was getting slowrolled by LuckySpewy, top notch guy. AK<AA to bust. July looking like another loser.

Subbed for a fair while now, first post itt. Congrats on the run mate, and an even bigger congrats to all those smart cookies who invested their money in you who saw a positive ROI!

Thanks for the input. I basically just want to get a general idea as far as the difference between both if and when i decide to plunge into the higher buy in events. So what you are saying is that there are some that play the main that would actually get run over by some of those regs that play the bally and Harrah $70 daily /nightlys? I deplore those events for two reasons. I feel embarrassed never shipping those events and 2. Maybe i don't give those guys enough credit because some of them are damn good and would probably give the pros a run for their money. With that said the $70 players would never ever move up in stakes either out of fear or moreso being too damn cheap. During times i have played at Ballys (no more) i asked around if any of them play at Borgata . Most would not respond or say "once in awhile" I got the feeling it was all about feeling relaxed in their comfort zone and playing in another casino was comparable to moving into a newer and more expensive apartment they cant afford EX $70 vs $100 - $150 . Got a few more questions but ill save it for the next post cause i dont want to ramble too much on this one

A few thoughts on Volpe and maybe you can add input since you played next to him. In my opinion he is a master at the game. I watched replay of the Spring open from beginning to end on YT live stream . He picked off several amazing bluffs one in which he only had middle pair where amateurs or even semi pros would have caved into the pressure and folded. Then again he picks up reads on his opponents by playing with them on a consistent basis. Gagliano might have caught Volpe off guard one time but then again nobody is perfect. I also noticed when Volpe is dealt cards he glances at them for maybe a half second lifting them no more than 1/4 inch off the table. The pros are at an advantage because they are accustomed to playing with the same individuals day in and day out which makes it a hell of a lot easier to get reads on them as well as their range

. What makes the daily nightly tournaments or even the series events so difficult to min cash or win outright is the fact that the chances of playing against the same opponents you played with in prior events are slim and none. So in essence you are going in there blindsided every time you enter a new tournament. True after a few hours of playing against them at the same table you can pick up on their patterns in that specific contest but thats where it ends. The next day new faces new table and its like your starting from scratch all over again.

Amazing Frank P limping every hand and getting 4th . That just basically throws out the set theories by Annie Duke , Jonathan Little, Harrington and the rest that you must raise to appraise. Dont' get me wrong . Im an advocate of raising because limping will just attract more limpers but lets face it , when you limp you might accomplish the same results you set out to accomplish if you raised but you save more chips and put less chips (maybe unnecessary ) chips in the pot . Frank P just might be genius as he proved them all wrong

Or sample size 1 tournament loldonkaments #maybehesawizardpostflop

Thanks skillz! Wish it was more but glad I was able to at least make a decent return.

I can't imagine that anyone who is grinding $70 Bally's tourneys is going to "run over" anyone at any point. Most of those players enjoy the game and play to have fun. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you put them in a tournament where they now have to sit and be patient and make tough decisions over and over again, I think they might be in a little over their heads. That being said, anyone can get lucky and Frank P is a very good example of this. I'll talk more about that in a second.

Volpe is undoubtedly world class. That being said, if you want to play at the higher stakes you can't really let that intimidate you. Like I said earlier, for whatever reason I felt incredibly comfortable for this entire tournament. That didn't change when he was on my left. You simply just need to make sure you do everything you can to properly adjust. When I realized he was going to 3b me every time I touched my chips near the bubble, strategy just needed to be adjusted. I folded 88 UTG at one point because I asked myself what I'd do when he 3b me, and I was confident I did not want to 4b and get my stack in on the bubble, and I also knew I wouldn't want to flat and try to play out of position postflop against a player of his caliber. He is an exceptional poker player but he is still just a poker player and you can't let that intimidate you. I was amazed at the way everyone at the table seemed nervous around him. They showed him big hands when they folded to him. What!!! At one point I shove 14BBs in SB, he folded and asked to see my hand and I told him no way! Why would I want the best player in the room to know ANYTHING about me that I don't have to reveal!

Gags is also an exceptional player, so while I haven't seen the stream it doesn't surprise me that he would find ways to adjust. I'm not sure that what you're saying about seeing the same players on repeat being beneficial is correct. If I see you and you see me the same amount of time, then it is just going to benefit whichever one of us is better, not me because I play more. It's just going to benefit whoever uses the information better. The actual act of playing a lot might allow a good player to pick up some of the same tendencies from different players, but if I play with Paul a bunch I'm not gonna have a leg up on him because he is also playing with me for that amount of time.

Yeah it's pretty much this. Frank P sat down at my table with maybe 800K, so I don't know how he went from 30 to 800 but some of the hands I saw after:

Frank gets to the river on J53J8 vs a good opponent and open shoves a massive amount of chips. Somehow Frank has J8 and his opponent has AJ. The turn was 1 in 45 to hit, the river was 3 in 44 to hit. He gets that run out 3 in 1980 times, or 0.15%. When you're getting the 600:1 run outs for full doubles you're going to do well in a tournament no matter how you play.

My bust out hand is a form of run good for Frank. I think I rarely jam weak hands in the BB (though I did this time because of how often Frank was limping) and I don't think AT plays great against it. If he opens the AT like a normal player I probably just fold. So he had to limp, then he had to call, then he had to hold for him to get my chips. After the KJ42 runout he had 7 outs to get there, or 16% chance. Don't get me wrong he was ahead when the money went in so by no means is it a bad beat but all of those events occurring were lucky for Frank.

Frank also went 55>AA with I think 2 tables left to remain alive in the tourney.

The hand I read on the blog at the final table was unbelievable. Frank limps. Player 2 raises. Player 3 reraises. Frank call. Player 2 4 bets. Player 3 folds. Frank calls. Frank has now put 680K in the middle pre and has 650K left behind, and has not yet made an aggressive action at the pot. The flop comes AJT and Frank shoves his 650K. Player 2 calls with KK and loses to Frank's A2 and Frank takes the chip lead. SERIOUSLY this hand history is incredible. That gave Frank the chip lead with 9 left. He finished 7th.


Now don't get me wrong, Frank seems like a really nice guy. A lot of the time I've seen poker players almost get mad at recreational players for playing, well, recreationally. That's irrational and when they beat you you need to just tap the table and say nice hand (as I did in this tournament). There's nothing wrong with playing the game in a strange way and in fact, that's all that allows me to do this for a living. So my sentiments above aren't supposed to come off as bitter or mad or anything. But to think that Frank is doing something above the rim just because he final tabled this tourney is silly. Frank ran very good (and I mean VERY good) and that allowed to him to make this deep run and finish 7th.